That night, the moon was bright and the stars sparse.
Su Hao strolled along the main campus road, with streetlights on both sides casting a soft glow.
"Eee~ Fwee~"
A small white orb of light floated around him. It suddenly let out an "Eee!" and flew down onto Su Hao's head, settling like a hat.
Soft and warm.
A perfect fit.
It turned his head into a giant lightbulb.
After the little orb settled in, as if remembering something, it abruptly twisted to look around. Not seeing that figure, it sighed in relief, its entire form softening as it rested securely on its throne.
"Eee~~~"
Su Hao raised his hand, glanced at the time on his wristband, did a quick mental calculation, and summoned his bonded mount.
A Qilin-Husky hybrid appeared. He swung onto its back, and before long, they arrived at the mission building... next door, at the exchange counter.
"Hello, I'd like to exchange for a dark-element crystal weighing about eight jin."
"Eight... eight jin?"
The staff member at the counter looked up and saw a giant light... a glowing lightbulb.
He paused, but professionalism snapped him back to reality. He emphasized again, "You're sure it's eight jin?"
"Yeah, eight jin."
"Please show your student card."
The staff member took the card, swiped it with a "beep," and the payment went through.
The way he looked at Su Hao was truly different now.
An eight-jin dark-element crystal—how many years of his salary would it take to afford that? Yet this student bought it without batting an eye.
After swiping the card, the staff member printed a receipt and handed it to Su Hao. "Please wait in the lounge..."
Su Hao called over the Qilin-Husky and the orb, heading to the lounge next door.
He also checked the credit balance on his spirit beast wristband.
Hmm...
A little more than a little.
Over fifty thousand credits... leftover.
Three S-rank exchange vouchers, seven A-rank exchange vouchers... basically, he could pick any treasure in the exchange.
The school had also opened its treasury to him, promising he could use credits to exchange for up to three treasures.
"Who knew the school had a secret treasury too?"
In reality, the Spirit University was essentially a faction.
The principal and professors were the high-ranking members.
The mentors were core members.
And students like him were peripheral members.
Normally, they wouldn't have access to the school's true treasury.
Su Hao hadn't visited the treasury yet.
But he had already bought many useful items.
Like... element crystals.
Every spirit had one, crafted into accessories by master artisans and worn on their bodies.
The Qilin-Husky had one hanging around its neck.
He waited in the lounge for a while until the staff member finally brought over a box about the size of a waist pouch.
Su Hao opened the box and peeked inside. It was a dark-element crystal.
Just sitting there, it seemed to absorb all the surrounding light, making his vision dim.
"Snap."
He closed the box and left the exchange.
...
The Dark Garden.
Silent and cold.
Not a single person or spirit in sight.
Only the "clop, clop" of the Qilin-Husky's hooves on the ground echoed.
Su Hao had come here to arrange the evolution of the little orb.
When they had formed the contract, it was at the uninitiated level, but its spiritual energy had already exceeded a hundred. After Su Hao nurtured it for a while, it broke through to the initiated level.
Now, its potential in its initial form had been mostly tapped.
It was time to evolve.
Su Hao pulled the orb off his head, gave it a casual rub, and placed it on a flower bed.
Before long, it floated back up, bobbing around like a helium balloon.
"Eee~"
"Eee~"
"Eee~"
It chirped.
Its glow illuminated the surroundings.
"You're about to evolve. You need to be calm, regulate your breathing, understand?"
Su Hao checked the time again.
The evolution conditions for the Twilight Spirit were extremely strict.
Not only were the materials expensive, but precise timing was also crucial!
"The orb's evolution window is at the third quarter of the Yin hour.
"Not that it has to be down to the second, but even a slight deviation could cause it to evolve into a Dawn Spirit or a Dusk Spirit.
"The amounts of light-element and dark-element crystals also need to be just right."
Su Hao took out the materials from his backpack one by one.
Using lab instruments, he trimmed down the light-element and dark-element crystals, then measured the energy of the two crystals—one large, one small.
The larger one was the dark-element crystal.
The reason was simple: the little orb had absorbed a lot of light energy before, so it needed more dark element to balance it out.
Su Hao set up the evolution site and waited patiently.
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
Time passed.
Su Hao glanced at his wristband, then again...
"Time's almost up. Go ahead."
"Eee~ Eee~ Eee~ Fwee~!"
It swallowed five light-element essences and five dark-element essences, then quickly flew into the evolution site.
Threads of light appeared, wrapping around it and weaving into a massive cocoon.
Unlike the cocoons Su Hao had seen before, this one was a mix of black and white, with light and dark elements dispersing, colliding, and annihilating each other.
Compared to the evolutions of Butterfly and the others, the orb's evolution cost ten times more!
The collision and annihilation wasted far too much elemental energy.
Even Su Hao couldn't avoid it.
"Good thing I'm not short on cash. No pain, no pain."
He muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the massive cocoon.
Time ticked on, until finally...
Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—
Cracks appeared, spreading across the entire cocoon in an instant.
"Eee—"
A cry emerged from the cocoon, no longer as childish as before, but carrying a hint of softness and a touch of coolness.
It was like an overlapping tone—Su Hao couldn't quite describe the feeling.
The next moment, the cocoon shattered.
The fragments disintegrated into countless particles of light that dissipated.
A brand-new spirit appeared before Su Hao's eyes.
It seemed to be made of mist, with a humanoid silhouette, standing gracefully. Its face was indistinct, with countless ribbons intertwining like bangs in front and long hair flowing behind.
What was astonishing was that its hair was half black, half white.
Its lower half had no visible feet, with mist covering it like a long skirt, floating a handspan or two above the ground.
Su Hao estimated that the floating Twilight Spirit was about half a head shorter than him.
[Spirit: Twilight Spirit (Renameable) (Initiated Level)]
[Traits: ① Healing Light ② Corrosive Darkness]
[Training Plan: Omitted (Locked)]
[Special Moves: Light Shield, Healing Light, Light Energy Ball, Dark Energy Ball]
[Evolution Path: Orb → Twilight Spirit → Eternal Night Radiant (Unlock with 29 Intelligence Points)]
"Two traits—the evolution is perfect!"
Healing Light slightly boosts the healing ability of light-type moves and converts them into pure healing energy.
It is light, yet not light.
It doesn't directly conflict with dark or ghost attributes... though the healing effect might be slightly weaker.
Corrosive Darkness, on the other hand, gives the Twilight Spirit's dark-type spiritual energy a devouring effect.
In other words...
"Its current state is unstable, and it can't use both traits simultaneously.
"It needs constant training."
After the cocoon shattered, the Twilight Spirit floated toward him with a "Fwee fwee."
It rose high, as if trying to return to its familiar throne on top of his head, but then realized it was no longer a tiny orb but a fully grown Twilight Spirit.
"Fwee fwee—"
Its head drooped, looking dejected and pitiful.
Suddenly,
Under the night sky, the faint glow radiating from its body dimmed, and its long hair turned pitch black like ink.
Around it, dense dark-element energy swirled.
"Eee! Eee, eee!"
It chirped, its dejected demeanor vanishing, replaced by a sense of contentment as it let out a soft, eerie "Eee, eee, eee" laugh.
Su Hao facepalmed.
The Twilight Spirit really wasn't the brightest.