East Lake Mountain, the back mountain.
Splash—
A crow with a tuft of fiery red feathers on its forehead was flying through the woods.
It flapped its wings, circled around, and flew back, landing on Su Hao's shoulder.
Su Hao pressed the timer.
"56 seconds, not bad, improvement."
"Caw caw!"
"One more lap, target is 54 seconds."
"Caw??"
"Finish it, and you get an extra meal at noon."
"Caw!!"
The little fire crow fluttered and suddenly shot off again.
Su Hao looked to the other side.
In front of a pitted boulder.
The silkworm looked serious, its big watery eyes focused ahead.
After a long pause.
Finally,
In front of the silkworm's mouth,
A faint green light dot appeared, gathering into a small green sphere.
The sphere rapidly grew, becoming the size of a fist in the blink of an eye.
Energy Ball!
From Su Hao's perspective, it looked like two concentric circles stacked together.
The inner ring was filled with dense wood-type energy, while the outer ring was semi-transparent, with many tiny green particles wildly jumping.
This energy ball was already showing signs of instability.
The silkworm quickly flung it out.
The fist-sized energy ball shot off with a whoosh.
Skimming the ground, it stirred up countless fallen leaves.
They swirled and danced.
The energy ball flashed past, crashing straight into the pitted boulder.
Boom!
A blast rang out.
Dust filled the air, and gravel flew everywhere.
Su Hao looked over.
The boulder had a shallow crater the size of a basketball cross-section.
The power wasn't very strong.
After all, it was just a beginner-level Energy Ball, not fully utilizing the silkworm's current 90 points of spiritual power.
But,
It was still much stronger than the Rice Grain Machine Gun and Charge.
"Goo no no (?＞︶＜?)?"
"Not bad, not bad. Your tactical system is basically taking shape."
Su Hao said, "Next, all you need to do is keep accumulating spiritual power, compressing it until it reaches its limit, and then you can prepare to break through."
"Goo no~"
"Evolution? You need to break through the beginner level first, then evolve, so you don't waste your potential, got it?"
"Goo no.. (??ˇ?ˇ??)…"
Su Hao didn't know why the silkworm was so fixated on evolution.
But it was a good thing.
With a goal, the silkworm indeed showed a different level of training intensity.
...
Once the silkworm mastered the Energy Ball, its progress became obvious.
The Silk Spit ultimate move was also about to be learned.
For the rest of the training, the silkworm didn't need his supervision.
But the little fire crow...
Where was the little fire crow?
Su Hao went looking for it.
He found the little fire crow standing on a tree branch, quietly... staring at a leaf in thought.
"I've already raised the silkworm, and now there's another little fire crow to worry about."
Su Hao rubbed his brow, thinking.
Suddenly,
An idea struck him.
He found the silkworm, who was practicing the Energy Ball.
"Silkworm, I have an important task for you."
"Goo no! Σ(?д?lll)"
The silkworm scurried back several meters, staring at him with wary big eyes.
The last time Su Hao said that, what happened!
It wouldn't fall for it again!
Su Hao froze for a moment.
The silkworm must have misunderstood him.
But that was fine.
"Silkworm, let me ask you something. Is the little fire crow your underling?"
The silkworm thought for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Then as a senior, isn't it reasonable for you to guide a junior?"
The silkworm decisively shook its head.
Su Hao's face stiffened.
His mind raced, and after a moment, he said, "You know, if you want to have an underling you can boss around, what's the most important thing?"
The silkworm still stared warily, not answering.
Su Hao continued, "It's prestige.
"Right now, in the little fire crow's eyes, you're just a senior with seniority, but relying on that alone to boss it around isn't enough.
"Because you don't have enough authority in the little fire crow's mind."
He paused, seeing the silkworm show a contemplative expression, and pressed on:
"But if you guide the little fire crow in training to get stronger, you'll become a reliable big senior in its eyes.
"If you want it to fly east, it won't fly west.
"Then, you'll truly have an underling you can boss around."
The silkworm thought for a long time.
In the end, it decided Su Hao had a point.
For the sake of having an underling to help out, this important task it...
Accepted!
"Goo no!"
Watching it run over to the little fire crow, Su Hao showed a relieved smile.
"The little fire crow's basic training will be handled by the silkworm. Once it reaches a certain level, I'll just unlock the moves it needs to learn.
"Now, I can finally focus on my own stuff."
What was he busy with?
Making money, of course.
Buying the little fire crow cost 200,000.
And he only had about 30,000 to 40,000 left before.
Brother Zhao Liangcai offered to front him 200,000, but Su Hao didn't take it.
If he really couldn't afford it, owing a favor wouldn't be a big deal.
After all, he had the ability to pay it back.
But his family could cover the expense.
Su Hao's parents had already set aside 300,000 to 400,000 for his year's expenses in the Spirit Beast Department.
Aside from the 180,000 spent on buying the silkworm, that money had barely been touched.
Su Hao originally didn't plan to use it either.
But he couldn't resist the fate with the little fire crow.
If he missed it and wanted to contract another spirit beast like the little fire crow, it might cost three to five million and still not be guaranteed.
He wasn't stubborn.
When it was time to spend, he spent.
But after spending, he had to earn money quickly.
"From now on, after school on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday afternoons, and all day on Saturday and Sunday, I'll go sit at the Spirit Nurturing House."
The few spirit nurturers at the Spirit Nurturing House seemed to have already earned enough money; aside from the mandatory half-day shifts, they rarely showed up.
What if a client came and couldn't find a spirit nurturer? They'd have to wait until the next day.
That was the prestige of a spirit nurturer.
Su Hao decided that during times when no other spirit nurturer was on duty, he would go.
"Also..."
He opened the Spirit Tamer Alliance intranet on his phone.
Logged into his account.
In the top right corner, a red notification dot appeared.
Su Hao's eyes lit up.
He opened it.
A message appeared.
"Junior Spirit Nurturer Su Hao, your 'Improved Charge' has passed review and is now listed at a price of 1,000 yuan."
"Ding! You have received 300 Alliance points."
Su Hao read the description.
Alliance points were used to upgrade account permissions.
He was previously at LV1 permission, and now he had risen to LV2, allowing him to browse more content and purchase more items.
"That's not important."
Su Hao filtered through the skill shop and finally found his uploaded "Improved Charge."
"The Alliance reviewer gave a good rating."
"And it's even been promoted on a small scale."
Su Hao checked.
It had only been a few hours since the review passed, and "Improved Charge" had already sold over a hundred sets.
"I get 500 per set, so a hundred sets is..."
Su Hao's eyes turned into the shape of money.
It seemed like going to sit at the Spirit Nurturing House wasn't that important anymore.
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