"Dad, how did you know it was fifty-one Circulations?" Gu Ming asked, surprised his father had hit the nail on the head with his first words.
'Isn't my dad just an ordinary person?'
'And Mom's expression... it's like she somehow figured out the Little Cyan Snake's actual Cultivation progress.'
Mr. Gu immediately laughed. "Didn't you have a physical exam at school? Of course we'd know."
As Mr. Gu spoke, Mrs. Gu's fingers, hidden behind her back, moved slightly.
Gu Ming subconsciously filled in the details in his mind and felt it made perfect sense.
'It must have been the homeroom teacher.'
'With the homeroom teacher's power, it would be easy to measure the Little Cyan Snake's Mana reserves.'
Gu Ming nodded and went inside, not suspecting his parents.
Mr. Gu breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, his wife's Hidden Mist Butterfly had given a Mental Illusion Technique suggestion; otherwise, that last sentence might have made their son suspicious.
The two of them were still sticking to their frugal upbringing plan. After all, the college entrance exam wasn't over yet. A drastic change in their family's environment could easily affect their son's mindset.
Back at home, the couple asked a barrage of questions, interrogating him about nearly every detail of the Little Cyan Snake's life at the Pet Beast Store.
Gu Daguo's main concern was to understand Cyan Treasure and see if it could handle the heavy responsibility of the college entrance exam and accompany his son through it.
Gu Ming knew it was because of the Spirit Stone, but he couldn't say so directly. He could only exaggerate Cyan Treasure's achievements over the past month.
It was born with a passive breathing ability, cultivating and absorbing Spiritual Qi at all times.
After learning the Snake Swallowing Elephant Breathing Skill from Manager Ruan, it became unstoppable. Its talent for Mana exploded, and it reached fifty-one Circulations in just five days.
At this rate, it would reach one hundred Circulations in another four or five days, meeting the requirement to form an Inner Core.
The couple exchanged a glance, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.
'A rare constitution!'
"If there's nothing else, I'm going back to my room to study," Gu Ming said.
In reality, he wasn't going to study, but to read his thesis to the Grouper Fish.
Cyan Treasure was Gu Ming's first Pet, and the Grouper Fish was his intended second Pet Beast.
As long as it could comprehend the Devouring Evolution Talent Ability, its age wouldn't be a problem.
"Go on, then. Let us calm down for a bit." An excited flush appeared on Mrs. Gu's face, and she could barely contain her excitement.
As a Five-star Beastmaster, Mrs. Gu could clearly sense how powerful Cyan Treasure's Cultivation Talent was. It had clearly hit the jackpot after its mutation.
The two waited until Gu Ming was in his room. Mrs. Gu immediately had her Hidden Mist Butterfly create a shielded Space to muffle their conversation in the living room and prevent their son from hearing.
"This is an Innate Cultivation Sacred Body! Daguo, have you ever seen a Little Cyan Snake like this...? I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Mrs. Gu pinched Mr. Gu's thigh, her fingers digging in hard.
He yelped in pain, but his voice was full of joy. "Stop pinching! This isn't a dream!"
Another Pet Beast materialized beside them—an ape-like creature with a black head and white arms. It beat its chest, letting out a joyful series of whoops.
This was Mr. Gu's Five-star Pet Beast, the Black and White Long-Armed Ape. It was naturally active, so he usually didn't dare to let it out for fear it wouldn't be able to resist wrecking the house.
Both of their Pet Beasts were cheering for their young master's New Pet's aptitude. Finally, they wouldn't have to see their masters looking so worried all the time.
Five minutes later, Mr. Gu recalled the Black and White Long-Armed Ape to his Beast Taming Space.
"Since it has an Innate Cultivation Sacred Body, let's hold off on finding a New Pet Beast for now. We'll focus all our resources on the Little Cyan Snake and get it to evolve to One-star first."
"At this rate, it might even evolve to Two-star by the college entrance exam."
"The Little Cyan Snake's foundation may be poor, but its cultivation time is short."
"High-star Pet Beasts take a long time to raise. By the college entrance exam, they're usually still at Zero-star. Only the geniuses aiming for the Top Ten universities can get them to One-star."
"This is the Little Cyan Snake's advantage. While others are still at the Zero-star or One-star Realm, we can use a Two-star Level advantage to close the gap with their High-star Potential. Getting into a Top 100 university isn't just a dream."
The more they talked, the more excited they became, returning to the passionate phase of raising their son.
Fifteen years ago, their original plan was to save up money to aim for a Top Ten university for him.
A decade later, the prices of Beast Taming-related resources had skyrocketed a hundredfold. They could no longer afford to aim for the Top Ten, and their bottom line had plummeted to just getting into a second-tier university. Their emotions had been on a rollercoaster.
"Sigh, who would have thought... just yesterday we were hoping to scrape by with a second-tier acceptance, and now it looks like we might be able to shoot for a first-tier one."
Overjoyed, the two of them began taking stock of their current assets and resources. They had already returned the Iron Gall Lone Dragon, losing a million on the restocking fee, leaving them with only nineteen million. They needed to carefully plan their future spending.
Outwardly, their frugal upbringing policy would remain unchanged. They had various ways to get the Cultivation Resources into Gu Ming's hands.
Since the Cyan Snake was now set, there was no need to keep the Sea of Consciousness-Expanding Elixir. They would sell it to recoup the funds.
They didn't need the money urgently. The Spirit Medicine couldn't be returned since it was unsealed, so they would have to slowly find a buyer and try to sell it secondhand for a high price to recover some of their losses.
Meanwhile, Gu Ming was oblivious to his parents' plans. He was still in his room, reciting his text to the Grouper Fish.
As he finished reading the thesis one more time,
[Kunpeng Devouring Secret Technique EXP +1]
[Current Progress: Kunpeng Devouring Secret Technique (902/1000)]
'Ninety-eight more times to go!'
Gu Ming's mouth was dry from reading. He had tried using his phone's text-to-speech feature to read the manuscript.
But it had no effect. The system only recognized the thesis when he read it, and the Grouper Fish would only gain Secret Technique experience when he recited it aloud.
'There's no other way. Who asked me to be a Beastmaster? I'll just have to grind the EXP manually.'
While Gu Ming was reading, he didn't forget to use his other hand to do "finger exercises" with Cyan Treasure to expend its physical energy.
He kept reading, all the way until eleven-thirty at night.
It wasn't until his parents knocked on the door to remind him that he hadn't showered yet that he smacked his lips and shouted to the door, "Almost done, almost done!"
In reality, he made no move to leave.
Seeing that the progress bar only needed one last reading, Gu Ming really had no mind for a shower.
'Keep reading!'
The Grouper Fish was already dizzy from listening.
'Could anyone imagine what it feels like to have a Beastmaster come home every day, do nothing, and just read some incomprehensible scripture at you?'
The Old Grouper Fish was exhausted from listening. It shook its head, flapped its numb fins, and with tears in its eyes, indicated that its brain was overloaded and it simply couldn't fit that thesis inside anymore.
Gu Ming had already read it 999 times. The Grouper Fish felt like it had only remembered seven words; the rest went in one ear and out the other.
'I feel so unworthy. I shouldn't be the recipient of my Beastmaster's love.'
'Perhaps this love should be given to the Little Cyan Snake instead, not to me. I'm too stupid, I can't remember anything at all.'
Gu Ming didn't understand the Old Grouper Fish's complaints and just went on to read the thesis for the thousandth time.
'Today, I have to make the Grouper Fish learn the Devouring Talent.'
A few more minutes passed.
When Gu Ming finished the last word, he felt a sense of release. He grabbed the water bottle on his desk and chugged it down, GLUG GLUG GLUG.
"So? Did you learn it?" Gu Ming asked the Grouper Fish in the Fish Tank.
The old fish was numb, its eyes glazed over. It hadn't understood a single thing its master had taught it.
[Kunpeng Devouring Secret Technique EXP +1]
[Juvenile Kunpeng Current Learning Progress: 1000/1000]
[With tears in its eyes, after listening to the Wordless Celestial Scripture for five days, the Juvenile Kunpeng has finally comprehended the true meaning of the seven words. So this is how the Devouring Secret Technique works.]
"Here, try eating a Spirit Stone." Gu Ming reached into his pocket and took out his last Spirit Stone.
Cyan Treasure instantly woke up.
Its master was going to take its Spirit Stone. It started to panic.
It had cultivated very quickly today, so its Spirit Stone consumption was also fast.
It had planned to save one for later tonight, but now its master was giving it to the Grouper Fish. What was it supposed to do?
HISS—
Cyan Treasure coiled around his hand, repeatedly licking it with its forked tongue. It blinked its big eyes, begging him to use something else and not waste the Spirit Stone.
"Cyan Treasure, Old Ban brought back a Spirit Stone for you before. Now that you've eaten it, you have to repay the debt. You can't be a selfish snake," Gu Ming lectured.
Cyan Treasure could only whimper and agree with tears in its eyes.
In the Fish Tank, the Old Grouper Fish heard this and waved its fins, indicating that it didn't need the Spirit Stone. It couldn't digest that thing anyway; they should just leave it for Cyan Treasure.
Gu Ming didn't listen to it and dropped the stone into the water.
"Old Ban, I didn't give you a proper name before because I was afraid you wouldn't be able to live up to it."
"If you trust me, then see yourself as a Kunpeng, eat this, and use the Seven-Word Mantra to begin its Refinement."