"Something this simple shouldn't be hard for you, right?" Chen Shu said with a shit-eating grin. "Your silence means you agree."
He pulled the 100,000 yuan from his backpack, along with a white Beast Orb. "Here, take the Beast Orb you gave me last time. It's useless to me, so I'll lend it to you as well."
Even after consuming a Beast Orb, one still needed time to cultivate and refine it into Beast Taming Power. But for Chen Shu, cultivation was impossible—never in this lifetime. He could only maintain his lifestyle through system rewards...
"Chen Shu, even if you can't get into a Beast Taming university, I hope you'll take this path seriously," Xia Bing said earnestly, clearly thinking he had already given up. As the study committee member¹, she naturally felt the need to save him.
"Committee Member Xia, I've got this under control. One Low-Grade Beast Orb - black market rate is 20k, so that's 120k total. Friends are friends, but business is business². Let's get an IOU written up."
Chen Shu wrote out the IOU, and only after both had signed did he finally relax.
"Thank you, Chen Shu," Xia Bing said solemnly. Since none of the Beast Taming students had any real money-making abilities yet, him lending her this much at once was undoubtedly a huge favor.
"We're all classmates, don't mention it," Chen Shu waved dismissively, then quickly added, "Oh, but do remember to pay the interest on time."
"..."
Chen Shu shouldered his backpack, ready to head home.
Meanwhile, Xia Bing headed to the black market. Though she had money now, Beast Orbs were extremely rare items, so whether the black market had any in stock would depend entirely on her luck.
Days passed by.
Chen Shu had been looking for a chance to teach Zheng Yi a lesson, especially after his brother tried to have him beaten up. With Zheng Nan now graduated and gone, Zheng Yi was the only target left. But Zheng Yi had been paranoid as hell lately, never giving Chen Shu an opening by always moving in packs and refusing to even piss alone.
Two weeks passed, and Chen Shu successfully broke through to Level 4 Beast Tamer. Every single point of Beast Taming Power was 'painstakingly' earned through the system, making him deeply understand the hardships of being a Beast Tamer. At the same time, he'd completely mastered all high school Beast Taming knowledge and basically never made mistakes, with his academic scores actually surpassing Xu Xiaoyu, the grade's top student.
One day, homeroom teacher Fang Ke walked in with a heavy expression.
"Students, this year's college entrance exam results are out," Fang Ke said seriously. Instantly, all the students became curious, since with less than a year until their own exams, they naturally paid close attention.
Beast Taming scores came out on exam day, but academic papers took time to grade, with both scores combining for the total.
"Nanjiang Second High's overall ranking dropped two spots to fifth place, with our top scorer's 630 points failing to even crack the city's top ten." The school's performance was as terrible as expected, at least compared to previous years.
"The school is pinning its hopes on all of you. If next year's results are still disappointing, Nanjiang Second High might never recover," Fang Ke said heavily. "This is both pressure and opportunity for you."
"The school will provide various resources to nurture you. Barring any surprises, next year's exam scores should improve across the board." Fang Ke continued, "There's only one week left until final exams. I hope everyone can seize this time and push yourselves higher."
With that, Fang Ke surveyed the classroom. "The remaining time is yours for self-study."
After Fang Ke left, the students all buried themselves in their books.
Chen Shu yawned, looking somewhat bored. He'd already mastered all high school knowledge - the only thing left to improve was his Beast Tamer level.
He was still some distance from Level 5. To make the grade's top twenty, he'd need to be at least Level 5.
Just as Chen Shu was getting bored, options suddenly appeared before him.
[Option 1: Stay in the classroom and study.]
Completion reward: Title - 'Diligent Scholar'. Effect: Learning efficiency +20%
[Option 2: Leave the classroom for free activities.]
Completion reward: Potion Studies unlocks new recipe - Body Type Potion
Did this even need consideration?
Chen Shu stood up decisively and walked out of the classroom with steady steps.
"Chen..." Study committee member Xia Bing was about to stop him.
But Chen Shu had just lent her money. As they say, taking someone's money makes your hands soft. Xia Bing swallowed her words.
"New recipe: Body Type Potion unlocked!"
Chen Shu was in an excellent mood. He hadn't expected such a simple choice to unlock a new potion type.
As he walked past the men's bathroom, a bruised and swollen little fatty emerged. "Little Fatty Zhou? Who bullied you?" Chen Shu immediately recognized his former regular class classmate. Zhou Xiaoming froze, then immediately poured out his grievances: "Brother Pi!"
"Holy crap, stay away from me." Seeing Zhou Xiaoming about to wipe his snotty, teary face on him, Chen Shu executed a tactical retreat.
"Brother Pi, it was Zhao Qi and Zheng Yi from Beast Taming Class 3."
"You provoked them?" Chen Shu asked.
"I accidentally peed on them..."
"Pfft!" Chen Shu lost it completely, bursting into laughter.
"It really was an accident," Zhou Xiaoming scratched his head. "Brother Pi, I want you to help me get revenge."
"Hmm?" Chen Shu's laughter stopped, his eyes spinning as he schemed.
"Zheng Yi, you say? Why, that man is my dearest friend, my brother in arms!"
Chen Shu's words made Zhou Xiaoming's heart sink. "Brother Pi," he said quickly, "I'm sorry, I didn't know about your relationship."
"No, no, no," Chen Shu waved his hand, frowning. This little fatty really didn't get it.
He cleared his throat and said with utmost seriousness: "What I mean to say is..."
"That'll cost extra!"