The challenge segment had ended.
The spirits returned to their respective homes, each seeking out their own summoner.
When the Dream Moth flew up, it was followed by a flock of flying spirits, a dark, imposing mass that was exceptionally spectacular. The little one waved to the other spirits.
"Gu no~"
The spirits in the battle group gradually dispersed, returning to their respective summoners.
But those freshmen, gazing at Su Hao, still had an indelible shock in their eyes.
He was too terrifying!
……
Liu Ren's Lava Turtle was still on its way back, but he was already excited.
Who was this incredibly awesome person?
It was Liu Ren... his golden ticket!
And he still had a spot on that ticket!
"Hey, Old Su, quick, check how many mentors have invited you. Any Heavenly Kings?"
"What about you?"
"Me? My wristband hasn't buzzed."
Liu Ren wasn't discouraged; it was expected.
Even if he coasted to victory with the group, his spirits were still unremarkable in the battle group.
But he figured that after the school tallied things up, he'd at least get some credits.
The freshmen had won big, after all.
That meant profit.
"Don't sweat it, don't sweat it. Anyway, if you perform well later, you'll still get mentor invitations."
Liu Ren had one more thing he didn't say.
Mentors and stuff—were they more important than a golden ticket?
His resolve to cling to that golden ticket was unwavering!
Su Hao then asked Li Songting and Gu Lingyao.
Their wristbands hadn't buzzed either.
Same as most freshmen.
Li Songting had it worse; he was eliminated early and didn't even earn any credits.
But he didn't care at all, just added more training to his regimen. "I'll run ten more laps on the mountain road tomorrow!"
Su Hao: "..."
Meanwhile, his summoner wristband was still buzzing.
He opened it, and emails popped up one after another. Thankfully, the Whale Island University custom wristband didn't lag—worthy of a five-star rating.
He glanced at his inbox and casually opened one.
It was from a second-level mentor named Ye Xing'an. Clicking on the mentor's profile revealed an introduction about him.
[Ye Xing'an: Second-level mentor at Whale Island University, employed for eight years.] [Main Spirits: Cloud Water Dragon Horse, Giant Strength King, Pure Jade Lotus] [Other: Chairman of Xing'an Company, Safety Consultant for Red Lotus Mining Group...]
In the email, this mentor offered quite generous terms.
① All basic nutritional supplies provided for free. ② Cloud Water Dragon Horse personally teaching the Water Cloud Horse. ③ Any questions could be asked at any time, and all techniques and ultimate moves he possessed were available for free.
The terms were undeniably generous.
Clearly, they were tailored specifically for him.
Other students, if they performed well, might receive nutritional supplies, techniques, etc., from mentors, but not in such abundance.
Q&A sessions once or twice a month would be considered good.
After all, mentors were busy.
Take this one, for example—not only did he have to meet quotas for mentoring students and teaching, but he also ran a sizable company and served as a safety consultant for a mining group.
"Speaking of which, what does a safety consultant for a mining group even do...?"
This Mentor Ye had many titles, but the fact that safety consultant came after chairman suggested... the Red Lotus Mining Group was no simple entity.
Su Hao had never heard of it, though.
"The terms are generous, but they don't appeal to me. "Basic nutritional supplies are just basics, buyable with money... techniques and ultimate moves—a second-level mentor doesn't have many. "As for the Cloud Water Dragon Horse..."
Su Hao shook his head.
After all, he was just a second-level mentor; he couldn't offer better terms.
Su Hao browsed through the emails one by one.
Even though the email titles had the mentor's rank marked, out of respect, he read them all.
"So, Old Su, any Heavenly King professors invite you?"
"Yes."
"Which one?"
"King Wu..."
Liu Ren: "That one's good."
"King Wei..."
Liu Ren: "That one's good too."
"King Yu..."
Liu Ren: "That one's also... wait, Old Su, can you just say it all at once?"
"Fine." Su Hao complied readily. "There's also King Bu and King Yan."
Liu Ren: "..."
Even though Golden Ticket Su was predictably awesome.
But...
Couldn't he just say all five Heavenly Kings had invited him!
"Which one are you picking?"
"Yeah, which one do I pick."
Su Hao looked up, tilting his head at a forty-five-degree angle to gaze at the sky.
His expression was utterly conflicted.
So conflicted it made you want to hit him.
……
The terms from the five Heavenly Kings were all tempting. Su Hao hadn't expected to be so outstanding that the Kings would all throw their hats in the ring, and now he was suddenly troubled.
"No, there's still one I can rule out."
It was King Bu.
Not because his terms were bad, but... the vibe didn't fit.
Yeah, the vibe.
It had nothing to do with worrying his frail body couldn't handle it.
The other four...
"King Wu specializes in wood element, and one of his main spirits, the Puppet Master, has psychic attributes, good at using mental power. "King Wu definitely has advanced mental training methods too."
"King Hanhai specializes in water element, but he's also contracted wood and fire spirits, so he's more than qualified to guide me."
"King Yu specializes in wind element, mastering many flying techniques, which also fits with the little ones."
"King Yan is famous for poison, but she has two ghost-type spirits, highly skilled in illusion arts."
The Kings had also promised plenty of resources and benefits.
When a Heavenly King made an offer, even a small portion of what they gave was more generous than what ordinary mentors could provide.
"More precious are the vision and knowledge of a Heavenly King-level big shot."
Knowledge was important.
No matter what the panel unlocked, it required a clear direction or even prerequisites.
The next steps for the three spirits' development also needed guidance.
These were exactly what Su Hao currently lacked.
After all, he was just an ordinary student from an ordinary family.
At most, he was just that little bit more outstanding.
"Too many options, and it's only a single-choice question... "What do you think, Dream Moth?"
"Gu no?"
It slowly typed out a question mark.
……
Meanwhile,
On the observation deck.
Some mentors had chosen their students and left.
Others didn't care about students and left to handle other matters—not enough students? Just send out a random invitation.
King Wu sat there, outwardly calm.
But inwardly, he was a bit anxious.
Something's off, this shouldn't be happening!
He glanced at Muscle Tu and the others, thinking to himself, "Could it be that some shameless one offered terms that break the rules?"
King Wu pondered.
Considering whether to add more conditions.
Whether to go invite him in person.
But that might lower his Heavenly King-level prestige.
After all, a chance encounter was one thing; going personally was different.
He was conflicted.
Suddenly sensing someone approaching, King Wu looked up.
"Teacher, why are you here?"
The other Kings also noticed the figure that had appeared.
The newcomer wore a Zhongshan suit, hands behind his back, silver hair, but with hardly any wrinkles on his face.
At first glance, he seemed like an ordinary old man.
But the Kings all stood up, faces full of respect. "Principal."
"Teacher, don't you need to guard that place?"
The old man sat down casually, his gaze fixed on the group of freshmen, and said with a chuckle, "I built this school but can't come back more than a few times a year. I come back to take a look, and you're not happy about it?"
"I'm not, I didn't, I welcome Teacher's return with both hands and feet."
The old man glanced at Wu Cuizhi. "I saw the freshman challenge just now. What, thinking of taking a disciple?"
King Wu nodded honestly.
"That freshman is pretty good, interesting. His spirits too—they've got personality, they're fun."
"Then..."
King Wu glanced at Muscle Tu and the others, a hint of smugness showing.
See, with Teacher's support, Little Su's mentor will definitely be me.
The next moment,
King Wu heard his teacher say:
"Then he'll be your junior brother from now on."
King Wu had just started to smile when it suddenly froze.
What did Teacher just say...
Junior brother?
Not disciple?
Wait, something's definitely wrong!
A few minutes later,
Watching the old man's retreating figure, King Wu wore an indescribably complex expression.
Logically, Teacher didn't have much time to mentor disciples.
Logically, he'd end up handing the task over to him.
And logically, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
Teacher took disciples on a whim like this.
But...
The student I had my eye on suddenly becomes my junior brother?
King Wu's face was a mess of emotions.