Ch. 257 - The Bug Isn't the Slime, It's Chen Shu

One of the chief examiners spoke: "If there had been a Beast Taming rank test this year, you would have earned extra points. Unfortunately, there isn't one."

Chen Shu spread his hands helplessly and looked toward Ye Qing. "Elder Ye, weren't we promised an acceptance letter delivered to my door?"

Ye Qing shook his head. "Take the exam properly first!"

He had a headache about it too. If Chen Shu had broken through to Black Iron a little earlier, then with his provincial championship title and exceptional strength, he might have qualified for a guaranteed admission slot at Huaxia Academy.

But the bastard had broken through on the spot — pulling a surprise move like that, who could have seen it coming?

Ye Qing couldn't exactly abandon his proctoring duties and head to Huaxia Academy right now to fight for Chen Shu's guaranteed admission slot...

If Chen Shu quit the exam, and Ye Qing couldn't secure that slot either...

Then wouldn't the kid just end up a street loafer?[1]

Seeing that Chen Shu was still somewhat reluctant, Ye Qing urged him: "Just take the exam properly. Double insurance!!"

"Fine."

Chen Shu shook his head, then seemed to think of something, a glint of excitement appearing in his eyes.

Come to think of it — now that he had two Black Iron contract spirits, couldn't he just do whatever he wanted?

"My Potential Rating is D — I'll probably only get 20 points out of 100. That's eighty goddamn points down the drain."

Chen Shu calculated in his mind: I need to pull off something big and ace the combat practical!

Add the twenty bonus points from the Beast Taming competition, and it'd still be rock solid.

Soon, order was restored at the venue, and the Potential Rating exam continued.

About an hour later, this exam session officially concluded.

"Everyone get something to eat. This afternoon, the ten-day combat practical exam officially begins!"

The five thousand-plus examinees had lunch right there at the Spirit Suppression Army outpost.

During the meal, every topic of conversation revolved around Chen Shu's... husky.

Aside from how absurd and bizarre it was, everyone felt a sense of relief.

Sure, Chen Shu's poop monster was absurdly strong.

But this husky was a solid D-rank, and without any melee capability, it really wasn't powerful.

Smiles spread across everyone's faces. "Looks like once we reach Black Iron, we've got a real shot at surpassing him!"

For a Beast Tamer, if even one contract spirit was no good, becoming a top-tier powerhouse was impossible.

"Chen Pi, your luck is seriously otherworldly."

Chen Shu and his two friends sat together, eating a simple boxed meal.

"What do you mean?"

"First it was a bizarre Slime, and now a husky. Is there a single one of your spirits with above-average intelligence?"

Chen Shu looked speechless. You think I wanted this?

He shook his head. "You don't know jack. This is the heavens' design — because my IQ is too high, my spirits are a bit dumb to balance it out. This is the way of balance!"

Xu Xingxing said: "Anyway, congrats! For the gaokao, let's blast our way straight through Lieyang Hills!"

Neither of them had expected Chen Shu to break through to Black Iron at such a critical moment.

But deep down, they actually felt it was a bit of a shame — the Potential Rating of Chen Shu's second contract spirit was just too low.

Chen Shu, however, wasn't particularly bothered.

Not a single person knew that the real bug wasn't the Slime — it was Chen Shu.

Any contract spirit could be cultivated into something heaven-defying in his hands.

After lunch.

The third-year examinees officially began the combat practical!

The proctors explained the various rules and precautions, then ordered the students to leave the Spirit Suppression Army outpost.

"Chen Shu! I'm your proctor!"

A middle-aged man spoke. He was responsible for recording all the actions of Chen Shu's trio.

"I've heard of you. I look forward to your..."

The proctor hadn't even finished speaking.

The three of them directly mounted the Mutant Thunderbird and vanished in a flash...

"What the hell?!"

His eyes went wide, face filled with utter bewilderment. I got ditched at the very frickin' start?!

"Du Ming, you go."

Ye Qing spoke. His eyesight was exceptionally sharp — he could faintly make out the Mutant Thunderbird in the distance, wiggling its rear as it accelerated...

The middle-aged man beside him nodded and directly summoned a fierce-looking red avian.

To have a Silver-rank Beast Tamer personally proctoring him — Chen Shu was truly one of a kind.

The rest of the examinees left the outpost in succession. No one chose to fly away — they all advanced cautiously and steadily.

Although proctors followed them, so there would be no life-threatening danger,

if a proctor had to step in to save them, their scores would be drastically reduced, and they'd basically have no shot at top-tier universities.

If you couldn't even safeguard your own life, no matter how high your talent was, it'd just be a joke.

"Chen Shu, what's the plan?"

Xu Xingxing and Xie Sunan looked at him. He'd call the shots, just like back in Frost Canyon.

Chen Shu was about to speak when options appeared before his eyes.

[Option 1: Head directly into the depths of Lieyang Hills! Completion reward: Skill Book — Ice Ball Spray]

[Option 2: Set up camp on the spot and go on vacation! Completion reward: Elemental Beast fire attribute +5%]

[Option 3: Convince other examinees that there's "strength in numbers" and move as a group! Completion reward: Three bottles of Black Iron Grade Flame Potion]

Chen Shu paused briefly. Now that he was a Black Iron Beast Tamer, even the System's rewards factored in the husky.

"Fly deeper in!"

Lieyang Hills wasn't even as dangerous as Qingyuan Forest.

The vast majority of beasts here were Common-grade. For him, there was no pressure at all.

Only the depths might have powerful fierce beasts. Besides, the skill book was clearly more valuable.

The husky was omni-attribute — while it didn't get a bonus to elemental skills, it didn't suffer any penalty either.

For example, a fire-attribute contract spirit would, depending on its Potential Rating, receive a 5% to 30% bonus to fire-attribute skills.

But if it learned skills from other attributes, the power would be reduced.

Omni-attribute and single-attribute each had their own advantages and drawbacks.

The husky had [Elemental Mastery], so it could clearly learn omni-attribute skills.

The Mutant Thunderbird wiggled its rear and directly accelerated forward.

"Proctoring these three... I feel like there's some pressure here."

Du Ming frowned. An ominous premonition had actually crept into his heart.

He shook his head, and the avian beneath his feet immediately pursued.

A Proctor Badge hung on his chest. Aside from proving his identity, it also contained a camera device specifically for recording all of the trio's actions.

The scoring, of course, wasn't done by him — afterward, dedicated proctors would assign scores based on the video footage.

...

The Mutant Thunderbird had barely flown for a short while when a strange roar suddenly came from below.

"Hm?"

The three of them looked down together. Xie Sunan summoned his Winged Caterpillar and activated its reconnaissance skill.

"Xiao Xing, lower our altitude!"

The Winged Caterpillar's compound eyes gleamed, as if it had detected something.

Xie Sunan said: "Variant-grade, level-nine fierce beasts!"

Chen Shu nodded. His enhanced vision allowed him to see the beasts below as well.

Three giant rats, each about half a meter long, had clustered together.

Their fur was a yellowish-brown, but their front claws were exceptionally sharp, glinting coldly from time to time.

"Drill Beasts?"

Chen Shu recognized them immediately. Their bloodline wasn't high-tier — even with the Variant-grade bloodline, they were only at level nine.

"Let me test it out!"

Chen Shu's interest was piqued. He hadn't even gotten a chance to see the husky's strength since contracting it.

The three of them immediately descended. Du Ming followed from a distance, recording their actions.

"Come out! My dumb husky!"

Chen Shu opened his Beast Taming Space. The dumb husky immediately hopped out, its wise eyes scanning the surroundings.

"Awooo!"

The husky spread its Black Iron aura, howling fiercely — at a glance, it looked seriously tough!

The three Drill Beasts instinctively felt fear and retracted their snarling expressions.

"Now you're showing fear?"

Chen Shu grinned. "Get 'em! Dumb Husky King!"

However, the husky strolled around in a circle.

Its wise eyes landed on the still-open entrance to the Beast Taming Space.

Under everyone's watchful gazes, it actually crawled right back inside...

"Uh..."

Chen Shu's eyes went wide. What the hell?!

Xie Sunan and Xu Xingxing covered their mouths, doing their absolute best not to laugh out loud...

[1] 街溜子 (jiē liū zi): Colloquial northern Chinese slang for an idle vagrant or street loafer with no prospects. Ye Qing uses it to describe Chen Shu's potential fate if he abandons the gaokao — falling through the cracks between the exam and a guaranteed admission slot.