"I'll do my best and leave the rest to luck," Chen Shu replied.
He wasn't too concerned about the third-year special training class—it would be nice to get in, but if not, no big deal, after all, he had the system to get him far.
"Mom, Dad, why don't you care about my grades at all?" Zhang Dali complained from the side, looking thoroughly put out. "I'm your actual son here, hello? My final exams are over and you don't even care how I did?"
"Your grades are stable as always. What's there to ask about?" Zhang Dali's father, Zhang Feng, said. "Unless you're telling me you have hope this time? Can you break into the bottom five instead of dead last?"
"Well... not really," Zhang Dali admitted honestly. "I just wanted you to ask."
Zhang Feng shook his head with a wry smile. "Cut it out. You know, when it comes to letting me down, you've never let me down."
Zhang Dali suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh right, Mom and Dad, I'm turning eighteen soon. I want to live independently, get a taste of being on my own."
"Hm? You actually have that kind of self-awareness?"
Zhang Feng's eyes widened as he scrutinized his son, looking genuinely incredulous.
"Of course! I am your son, after all!"
Zhang Dali puffed out his chest proudly. "Mom and Dad, I've already packed all your luggage. You can move out whenever you're ready."
"..."
The dinner table fell into complete silence.
So that's what 'living alone' meant? Chen Shu bit back a laugh. Talk about peak filial devotion¹.
"Brat, is your skin itching?"
Zhang Feng spoke, and suddenly a black shadow appeared. With a 'WHACK,' it smacked Zhang Dali upside the head.
Zhang Dali clutched his head, looking aggrieved. "Dad, who uses their contract spirit to hit their own son?"
Only then did Chen Shu get a clear look—it was a small monkey about three feet tall.
"Just teaching you a lesson." Zhang Feng recalled his contract spirit while Auntie Xue just smiled without comment.
Chen Shu's eyes flickered with recognition. That black monkey seemed familiar.
High school biology classes mostly covered fierce beasts from dimensional spaces, but they also documented some common human contract spirits.
Zhang Feng was a Black Iron rank Beast Tamer, and all his contract spirits had undergone one bloodline evolution.
That monkey was a Violent Monkey, evolved from a Power Monkey. Its potential rating had jumped from C-rank to B-rank.
Although potential ratings could change through bloodline evolution, the initial contract spirit's rating still affected a Beast Tamer's entire life. Chen Shu's slime was F-rank, so if it awakened a common evolution path, when he became Black Iron rank, the slime's potential would only rise to E-rank—but since others' contract spirits would evolve too, the gap would persist forever. Unless Chen Shu could awaken a rare evolution path that dramatically boosted the potential rating, but the probability was infinitesimal, Beast Tamers were essentially sorted into different tiers from the moment of awakening, where natural talent far outweighed hard work.
Of course, cheaters were the exception to the rule.
The family finished dinner in an atmosphere of "loving father and filial son."
Chen Shu returned home, looking forward to tomorrow's Beast Taming exam.
The second day arrived quickly.
Nanjiang Second High had become much quieter, with only first and second-year Beast Taming students remaining. Everyone else had already started summer vacation.
Fang Ke walked in and said calmly, "Today's Beast Taming exam is crucial. I hope you'll all give it your best."
With that, he led Beast Taming Class 5 to the school's Beast Taming Arena.
Outside the arena, long lines had already formed as over two hundred exam participants waited in orderly fashion. Soon, the second-year Beast Taming Class 5 entered the arena in order. The Beast Taming Arena was enormous—besides the combat platforms for Beast Taming students, it had three large exam halls developed internally, one for each grade level, and the second year's one hundred and twenty-one Beast Taming students entered their designated exam hall.
"The Beast Taming exam will follow previous standards, divided into five assessments."
The Grade Director stood before everyone and began announcing the exam rules.
"First is the assessment of each student's contract spirit potential rating. If there are any errors, students can come forward to correct them."
Schools recorded potential ratings when students enrolled, so errors were basically impossible, but if there were mistakes, students could naturally correct them by sharing their contract spirit panel with others—potential ratings couldn't be faked.
"Xu Xiaoyu, Potential Rating: A!"
"Tang Lie, Potential Rating: A!"
"Lin Xingchen, Potential Rating: B!"
"..."
There were only two A-rank contract spirits in the entire grade, while Chen Shu's F-rank stood gloriously alone—a unique achievement in and of itself.
Actually, many regular class students had F-rank spirits too, but they had the self-awareness to become ordinary people rather than burden their families.
"There shouldn't be any objections." The Grade Director glanced around, put away the list, and announced, "Now for the second assessment: Beast Tamer level."
Under their homeroom teachers' guidance, each class formed orderly lines to record their Beast Tamer levels. The Beast Tamer level assessment was equally simple—students simply needed to share their contract spirit panels with teachers, which displayed their Beast Tamer level.
"Xu Xiaoyu, Level 7 Beast Tamer."
"Tang Lie, Level 6 Beast Tamer."
"Lin Xingchen, Level 6 Beast Tamer."
"..."
One by one, students' results were recorded. Beast Taming Class 1 truly lived up to being the best class—even their weakest was a Level 5 Beast Tamer. Soon it was Beast Taming Class 5's turn, with study committee member Xia Bing naturally standing at the front.
"Xia Bing, Level 6 Beast Tamer."
The recording teacher looked surprised but still announced it.
"Hm?"
Instantly, numerous students turned to look, eyes filled with astonishment.
"So it's Xia Bing, the former top student from Beast Taming Class 1."
The Beast Taming Class 1 students understood immediately. Xia Bing achieving this wasn't surprising—it was actually expected.
Only a handful of people in the grade could consistently surpass Xia Bing. If not for her poor family circumstances, she wouldn't have chosen Beast Taming Class 5.
Beast Taming Class 5 consumed fewer resources, so tuition was naturally lower.
"Looks like she's definitely making it into the special training class," Xu Xiaoyu remarked, glancing at her former rival.
"Wang Meng, Level 4 Beast Tamer."
Soon, class monitor Wang Meng's assessment results came out.
Wang Meng hung his head dejectedly, despair clouding his eyes. Despite everything, he still hadn't broken through—he basically had no chance at the special training class now.
"Li Zixuan, Level 4 Beast Tamer!"
"Zhang Yue, Level 3 Beast Tamer!"
"..."
Most Beast Taming Class 5 students were Level 3 Beast Tamers, with Level 4 being quite rare.
Soon, Beast Taming Class 5 finished their assessments.
Homeroom teacher Fang Ke's expression remained unchanged—the results were about what he'd expected.
At least Xia Bing being a Level 6 Beast Tamer was a pleasant surprise.
"Teacher Fang, your class seems to be missing a student?" the recording teacher asked, checking the list.
"Missing someone?" Fang Ke scanned the class, his heart suddenly lurching as his whole body jolted. "Holy crap, where's Chen Shu?"
What the hell—how do you lose track of a person during an exam?²