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[1] 螺旋升天 (Spiral to heaven): A comedic Chinese internet expression for dying spectacularly, combining the visual of spinning upward with "ascending to heaven." Popular in gaming contexts for dramatic deaths.
Everyone on the bus was buzzing with excitement, heads swiveling left and right like elementary schoolers on a spring field trip.
Shen Wushuang sat at the front. Suddenly sensing something, he whipped his head around.
There was Chen Shu, pulling out pots, pans, various meats and vegetables, and a bag of hot pot seasoning.
Chen Shu called out: "Qinghan, help me light a fire. We can have hot pot for lunch."
Wang Qinghan froze, feeling a bit dazed. "Is... is that allowed?"
Chen Shu nodded casually. "It's fine. I've cooked river snail noodles on a bus before."
The Fire Elemental Spirit materialized instantly. Everyone nearby felt the surge of heat and scrambled to get away.
Shen Wushuang's heart lurched. Cold sweat instantly ran down his back as he shouted: "PUT THAT CONTRACT SPIRIT AWAY!"
Wang Qinghan quickly recalled the Fire Elemental Spirit.
Shen Wushuang's lip twitched as he stared at Chen Shu. "You're literally insane!"
Chen Shu had once again shattered the limits of absurdity!
Shen Wushuang bellowed: "Hot pot on a fucking bus—using a contract spirit to cook it, no less! Aren't you worried the bus will EXPLODE?!"
Chen Shu blinked. "Uh... Qinghan, you just need to summon half of the Fire Elemental Spirit's body."
Wang Qinghan looked confused, spreading her hands to indicate she had no idea how to do that.
Shen Wushuang snapped: "That's Partial Summoning! Like hell any high schooler can pull that off!"
"It's not hard."
Chen Shu spoke up, and suddenly two big, cute eyes appeared right in front of Shen Wushuang.
"Holy shit! What the—?!"
Shen Wushuang did a tactical backstep before realizing they were the Slime's eyes.
"You... you know Partial Summoning?!"
Shen Wushuang's eyes went wide, looking like he'd seen a ghost.
"What's the big deal!" Chen Shu recalled the Slime.
Fang Si had shared the secrets of Partial Summoning with him back then, and Chen Shu had picked it up quickly. He'd only achieved basic mastery though—nothing close to Fang Si's skill level.
It took a while for Shen Wushuang to recover. He kept staring at Chen Shu with an astonished look.
"Just because YOU can do it doesn't mean everyone can! Put all that crap away! What the hell did you even bring?!"
Chen Shu reluctantly packed everything up. So much for hot pot.
"Don't casually summon contract spirits on the bus—especially fire-attribute ones. Look how hot you made everyone!"
Shen Wushuang sighed.
"Also, Xu Xingxing, can you PLEASE take off that damn down jacket!"
He rubbed his temples, feeling a splitting headache coming on.
This class was absolutely the most ridiculous he'd ever taught!
Right now, a crowd of parents was watching intently from the school gates.
He'd just assured them their children would be safe.
If the bus exploded right after leaving the school grounds—all the students spiraling straight to heaven[1]—
That scene would be too beautiful to even imagine...
Shen Wushuang didn't sit at the front anymore. Instead, he planted himself right next to Chen Shu, watching him like a hawk the entire trip. He didn't even dare take a nap.
---
That afternoon.
The Special Training Class arrived at Ice Valley Town in Qingyang City without major incident.
Ice Valley Town was similar to Qingyuan Town—a frontier settlement built outside an Alternate Dimension, handling resource trading and providing supplies to Beast Tamers.
"We'll rest here tonight. Tomorrow morning, we head into Frost Canyon!"
Shen Wushuang added a specific reminder: "Make sure you've got cold-weather clothing ready, sleeping bags, tents, food, and water!"
With that, Shen Wushuang led the Special Training Class to a hotel and got everyone checked in.
"You can explore the town this afternoon. See the sights. Don't start any trouble."
Shen Wushuang's gaze drifted toward Chen Shu. "Especially you three—don't blow up Ice Valley Town for me!"
"..."
Chen Shu was speechless. Am I really THAT wild?
The trio left the hotel and enjoyed some of Ice Valley Town's specialty fierce beast cuisine.
It was already October, well into autumn, but Ice Valley Town was noticeably colder. Many of the locals wore long sleeves and jackets.
Clearly, the town was affected by Frost Canyon's presence.
"Come on, let's pick up a mission!"
Chen Shu wanted to try his luck. Maybe there'd be a Lord-level fierce beast mission available.
The three of them arrived at the Beast Tamer Association's Mission Hall in town.
"Got any Lord-level beast missions?"
Chen Shu slapped the counter and got straight to the point.
For a moment, everyone else in the hall turned to look, expecting some big shot to have arrived.
Then they saw three obvious teenagers and couldn't help but twitch.
Great, three more greenhorns...
The service staff spoke with obvious skepticism: "There's one mission to hunt a Frost Giant Wolf Lord."
The trio took a look at the posting.
[Mission Name]: Hunt the Frost Giant Wolf Lord (Black Iron rank)
[Difficulty]: Extremely Dangerous!
[Requirements]: Submit a complete Frost Giant Wolf heart. Private commission—50,000 yuan deposit required.
[Reward]: 4,000,000 Huaxia Currency
[Challenges]: 1) Frost Giant Wolves are pack animals skilled in ice and snow combat; 2) The Lord has a violent temperament and will fight to the death; 3) This mission has been completed once before—a Lord was killed, so surviving Lords may be on high alert.
[Advisory]: Do not accept this mission without absolute confidence in your abilities!
"It's not an official posting?"
Chen Shu frowned slightly. That meant they'd need to pay the deposit.
Xie Sunan shook his head too. "Too expensive. Let's pass."
Fifty thousand yuan was no small amount. And hunting a Black Iron-rank Lord? With their strength, that was simply impossible.
Unless they could rope in... Shen Wushuang.
"I'll take the mission!"
Just as Chen Shu and Xie Sunan were discussing, Xu Xingxing waved his hand and spoke decisively.
The service staff reminded him: "This mission requires a fifty-thousand-yuan deposit."
She emphasized "fifty thousand," given that all three of them were obviously students.
Hearing this, Xu Xingxing frowned slightly. "If outsiders saw that, they'd think I couldn't afford it! We'll each take one—that's three missions!"
With smooth, practiced movements, Xu Xingxing pulled out a bank card.
So this is the pressure of facing a rich second-generation kid?
Chen Shu and Xie Sunan gulped, feeling that Xu Xingxing's card-pulling motion was unbearably suave.
"I'm sorry, sir. You can only accept the mission once." The staff member paused, surprised that this young man was actually loaded.
Xie Sunan whispered: "Xiao Xing, we just came to see if there were any easy missions. Maybe show off a little. We can't actually do this one."
Xu Xingxing waved dismissively, completely unconcerned. "Whatever. It's my first time accepting a mission, so of course I want something high-end. Fifty thousand yuan? That's just for kicks."
"..."
The other two exchanged glances, the same thought crossing their minds:
Is this what happiness feels like for rich people?