On the track, Su Hao and the Silkworm gradually squeezed out of the chaotic starting area, and suddenly, even the air seemed fresher.
Looking back, the chaos continued.
Quite a few playful, mischievous spirits had run off the track, frolicking freely on the open path, while some anxious novice spirit tamers chased after them, shouting nonstop.
This only made the spirits run even more joyfully.
Thanks to this, the originally somewhat crowded track had cleared up a lot.
Among the classmates Su Hao knew, Chen Qi and his Little Stone Elephant were running ahead of him. Classmate Zhou Yuzhe couldn’t find his Bubble Squid and was spinning in place, frantic.
Classmate Ma... Mei was running ahead with her Green Bamboo Leaf, but the leaf was swimming in a graceful S-curve.
As for Liu Ren, that guy...
His Charcoal Little Turtle wasn’t running wild, nor was it tracing S- or Z-shaped paths—it was just... a tiny, tiny bit slow.
Like an old man strolling in the park, it ambled forward at a leisurely pace.
Big-Faced Liu was hopping around with tiny steps beside it, pleading, "Turtle sir, Turtle sir," but the Turtle sir didn’t spare him a glance, moving forward step by step at its own rhythm.
In no time, Big-Faced Liu had fallen to the third tier.
Su Hao shot him an "I can’t help you" look, then adjusted his breathing rhythm and sped up with the Silkworm.
Before long, he overtook the tall and sturdy Chen Qi.
Oh, don’t misunderstand.
It wasn’t that Su Hao’s athletic ability was better than Chen Qi’s—it was purely that Chen Qi’s Little Stone Elephant was running a bit slowly.
No, it was actually quite slow.
About the pace of an average person jogging, but Su Hao could tell the Little Stone Elephant was trying its hardest.
He glanced at the other classmates... and their spirits.
The spirits in the first tier were obedient to their spirit tamers’ commands and weren’t causing trouble, but their tiny bodies and clumsy running postures made Su Hao’s mouth twitch.
Some spirits even stumbled every three steps, did a somersault, got up, and kept running.
He seriously doubted it.
In the days since the other classmates had contracted their spirits, had they only fattened them up without even taking them for a walk?
"Gu-nuo~ Gu-nuo-nuo~!"
The Silkworm proudly stood upright and chirped at him.
Su Hao wanted to pour cold water on it, but he couldn’t think of a reason.
Why did this weakling Silkworm, under the contrast with the other novice spirits of the same batch, seem... just a little bit outstanding?
Something had to be off.
Su Hao lowered his head and kept running.
He had already overtaken many classmates, and in the blink of an eye, the first tier he was in only had five students, including himself.
He never thought he’d be this strong now.
Silkworm: (︶︿︶)＝凸
Among the first tier was a classmate he knew—Gu Lingyao.
Her ponytail swayed with her running rhythm, and her Little Spring Spirit pushed its long skirt forward, its water color deepening—a sign of this spirit going all out.
"Gu-nuo (﹁"﹁)" The Silkworm, overtaking from the side, used Taunt.
The Little Spring Spirit paused but ignored it and kept moving forward.
"Gu-nuo—╬(′-灬-｀)"
The Silkworm taunted again.
The Little Spring Spirit still ignored it, though its little face turned a deep blue.
"Gu-nuo-nuo~~"
The Silkworm unleashed a triple taunt.
The Little Spring Spirit couldn’t hold it in anymore.
"U-mu... U!!!"
Splat—
The Little Spring Spirit lost its balance, face-planted onto the ground, flattening like a puddle of liquid, then slowly pulled itself back up.
"Silk! Worm! You behave yourself!"
Su Hao’s big hand came down from above, but the Silkworm dodged it with a nimble sidestep.
Su Hao’s face flushed red.
He coughed dryly and could only resort to his skill—Spirit Tamer’s Authority.
Stare—
The Silkworm turned its head away.
Hmph, Spirit Tamer!
...
Su Hao gradually got into the groove, adjusted his breathing, and after one lap, felt nothing much.
The first tier had formed, with only six students.
The sixth was a classmate he knew, Chen Qi.
Gu Lingyao was in fifth place, the only girl in the first tier.
However, the Little Spring Spirit was slower than the Little Stone Elephant and seemed likely to be overtaken.
Su Hao himself was in third place.
He hadn’t expected that he, usually average in athletic ability, would rank among the top in the grade-wide test.
And it wasn’t a sprint that drained his stamina—it felt like an endless stream of power surged from within, as if he could run another hundred laps...
Of course, that was wishful thinking.
But aiming for a top-three reward was entirely within reach.
‘Sure enough, I’ve gotten stronger without realizing it~!’
The Silkworm glanced at its spirit tamer, panted, and continued to slack off.
It had no choice but to slack off!
The starting point of the track was no longer crowded.
The novice spirit tamers used various methods, coaxing and persuading, to finally stabilize their spirits and get them onto the track.
Uh... some couldn’t stabilize them.
The Salted Fish King rolled over and went back to sleep.
The Grass Sheep had already gnawed a patch of grass bald... wonder if compensation was needed.
Su Hao’s mind wandered, but his pace didn’t slow—in fact, it gradually picked up.
Then...
He gracefully jogged past Liu Ren, waving a hand, taking only one lap with him.
Liu Ren: "???"
He looked at the Silkworm, which could easily keep up with Su Hao’s running speed (Silkworm: ???).
Then at his own Charcoal Little Turtle, slow as an old man strolling in the park, and he fumed.
"If you don’t speed up, I’ll, I’ll..."
Cut off its food?
If the Charcoal Little Turtle didn’t grow, he’d be the one losing out.
Anything else? The Turtle sir had zero interest.
Big-Faced Liu looked up at the blue sky and white clouds.
He wondered if he should splurge on some treasure to boost his spirit’s speed.
...
In the blink of an eye, three laps had passed. Su Hao kept accelerating, successfully rising to second place and leaving the third-place runner dozens of meters behind.
He glanced at the first-place runner, about ten meters ahead—a boy with a crew cut.
His rhythm was as steady as Su Hao’s.
His spirit was a Kung Fu Dog, looking like a little puppy standing upright.
It was a type of earth spirit, but Su Hao remembered it was relatively rare.
The Kung Fu Dog’s steps were equally rhythmic.
Su Hao adjusted his state and gave the Silkworm a small look.
Time to speed up.
The distance between them quickly closed.
Just then,
the crew-cut boy turned back, saw someone catching up, and a flicker of excitement seemed to flash in his eyes. He gave Su Hao a thumbs-up, then...
Whoosh—
He shot ahead like a rocket.
Su Hao chased for ten seconds, but the distance kept growing.
He sped up for twenty seconds, his breathing turning ragged.
Su Hao... Orz.
Guess he’d just settle for being second place.
After all, the rewards for the top three were the same—why bother fighting for a hollow title?
All hollow!
The Silkworm, "Gu-nuo gu-nuo," buried its head and accelerated, a fighting spirit called mutual admiration burning in its big eyes, when it suddenly noticed something missing beside it...
"???"
Where’s the spirit tamer?
Where’s that big spirit tamer gone?