Su Hao ended up looking for over two hours.
The staff didn’t stay with him the whole time, though plenty of security guards were scattered around to maintain order and prevent anyone from harming the spirits. There were quite a few families like his, wandering around as if visiting a zoo.
"Dad, Mom, take a break. I’ll keep looking."
His parents were both over forty, their energy not what it used to be, so Su Hao had them sit and wait under a nearby tree.
"That mantis-looking one seems pretty good," his mom said, having noticed that Su Hao’s gaze lingered on the Wood Mantis for a while.
"No, I want to keep searching."
Su Hao shook his head.
Besides the Wood Mantis, he’d spotted several other spirits with undiscovered evolution paths. Of course, without spending intelligence points to unlock them, he couldn’t see the details of those alternate paths. But based on his guesses, the undiscovered evolution paths tended to have tougher conditions, often meaning the spirits on those paths had higher future potential. The spirits themselves were mostly more affordable—at least not like the Little Stone Elephant at four to five hundred thousand, or the Gibbon at six hundred thousand and sold out.
Su Hao’s gaze settled on a tree about ten meters away.
There was a spirit that looked like a silkworm, entirely goose-yellow, wriggling along a branch. Wriggling.
A Silkworm Baby.
It was one of the spirits he had his eye on.
According to the Spirit Union’s records, most spirits only had one evolution path, but the Silkworm Baby was one of the few with two. The first path was: Silkworm Baby → Rolling Cocoon → White Feather Moth. The second: Silkworm Baby → Six-Winged Silk Worm → Golden-Winged Sky Silkworm.
Su Hao remembered it clearly because the Golden-Winged Sky Silkworm was a major exam point. Its wings were as hard as blades, its speed as fast as a flash of light, and though it looked like a metal-type, it was actually still a wood-type spirit. The first path’s final form, the White Feather Moth, was mostly used in production with average combat ability, while the second path’s final form, the Golden-Winged Sky Silkworm, was widely recognized as powerful. But its initial form, the Silkworm Baby, had limited combat power, which meant fewer students chose to contract it.
In Su Hao’s eyes, though, the Silkworm Baby had a third evolution path.
The first path cost 3 intelligence points to unlock. The second cost 4. The third cost 6—which was why Su Hao leaned toward contracting a Silkworm Baby. Not at all because it was chubby and cute. Even though a famous person once said, "Strength is just a matter of spending money; cuteness is a lifelong affair."
While he was observing, another student bought a Silkworm Baby, making Su Hao a bit anxious.
"I need to decide fast, or there won’t be much left to choose from."
Su Hao focused, looking at the game interface in front of him. He selected the unlock option for the Silkworm Baby’s third evolution path. In an instant, 6 intelligence points were deducted, leaving him with only 15.
A butterfly with large, bright, watery eyes and beautiful emerald-green patterns on its wings appeared in the evolution path.
— Dreamy Butterfly (Wood-type).
That was the undiscovered third evolution path for the Silkworm Baby.
Su Hao studied it carefully, then let out a small sigh of relief.
"The Dreamy Butterfly’s development potential is indeed impressive, and its evolution conditions are simpler than the Prayer Mantis. I should be able to evolve the Silkworm Baby into a Dreamy Butterfly before the college entrance exam. But what’s with the final form? It needs a full 30 intelligence points to unlock?"
…
"Are you sure you want to contract a Silkworm Baby?" a staff member asked, adjusting their glasses.
Su Hao’s parents, after confirming he wasn’t worried about the cost, didn’t say much more.
Su Hao nodded. "But I’d like to pick which one."
"No problem."
The staff member opened the wooden fence, letting Su Hao step closer.
The Silkworm Babies, only a few months old, were about the length of a palm, entirely goose-yellow with faint green patterns on their backs and eight little short legs underneath. They looked chubby, like… caterpillar bread, even about the same size. Su Hao felt hungry just looking at them.
!!!∑(?Д?ノ)ノ！
The Silkworm Baby Su Hao was staring at shuddered its plump body and quickly crawled to the other side of the tree.
"Good agility."
Su Hao commented seriously.
Silkworm Babies preferred quiet, and their free-range area wasn’t large—just a few trees. The trunks and branches were dotted with long bread-like shapes… I mean, Silkworm Baby spirits.
Just by looking, Su Hao couldn’t tell the difference between them. After all, they were all uniformly bred by the Spirit Union and still in their infant stage. Maybe only experienced spirit breeders could tell them apart… maybe?
Su Hao locked onto one Silkworm Baby and spent 1 intelligence point to unlock its detailed information.
Length, height, weight; physique, spiritual power; age, traits.
[Introduction: Silkworm Babies usually live in warm forest environments, prefer slow movements, and have gentle temperaments. But when in danger, their little short legs can burst out with unimaginable speed, though their endurance is slightly lacking. The wood-type patterns on their backs deepen in color as they grow, helping them learn wood-type moves. They can absorb nutrients from plants to speed up their recovery…]
[Note: This is a Silkworm Baby born at the ‘Blue Wood Spirit Breeding Base.’ It prefers light foods like leaves, bamboo leaves, and tea leaves, and dislikes sour and spicy flavors. It was sent to the ‘Yunhua Infant Spirit Free-Range Center’ a month ago.]
Streams of information flowed into his mind. It felt like he didn’t even need to read it; the data was just stored in his brain.
Among it, physique and spiritual power were key indicators of a spirit’s strength, especially spiritual power.
With limited intelligence points, Su Hao could only unlock information for spirits that caught his eye. He unlocked detailed data for 16 Silkworm Babies in total—and during his observation and unlocking, he gained 1 more intelligence point.
The 16 Silkworm Babies ranged from three to nine months old. Before being contracted, spirits grew very slowly, so whether three or nine months, they were all in the infant stage with almost no difference. But after gathering data on 16 of them, Su Hao had a clear benchmark in his mind. Upon closer inspection, he quickly noticed subtle differences, surprising even himself.
After a moment of thought, Su Hao pointed at a Silkworm Baby hiding behind some leaves.
"That one."
This Silkworm Baby’s length, height, weight, and physique weren’t outstanding, but it had a bit more spiritual power inside it—a noticeable gap in Su Hao’s eyes. After all, spirits born from heaven and earth generally had decent aptitudes. Infant-stage spirits had very similar stats; the real difference came from later training. Truly exceptional infant spirits wouldn’t be sent here for a bunch of students to pick from—the breeders weren’t blind.
The staff member took out a special spray and spritzed it on the grass.
Immediately, the Silkworm Babies on the tree scurried down on their little legs, circling the sprayed patch of lawn. Su Hao kept his eyes on the one he’d chosen, and the staff member didn’t mix them up. They fed that Silkworm Baby some jade powder, then picked it up, its little legs kicking in the air.
Led by the staff member, Su Hao and his family went to a quiet room for contracting spirits. The contract wasn’t complicated—just a drop of blood. Whether buying from a free-range center or a spirit shop, contract services were included, partly to prevent reselling.
A blood collector pricked his fingertip, drawing out a single drop of crimson blood. The staff member took out some spirit food—jade powder—and fed it to the Silkworm Baby, which was staring around with big, curious eyes. Then they mixed the blood into the jade powder and had the Silkworm Baby eat it all.
No flashy contract arrays, no obscure incantations. Contracting between humans and spirits was that simple and casual, as if spirits were born just to be contracted.
In an instant,
Su Hao felt a faint connection, his mind linking with the Silkworm Baby. The sensation grew clearer.
The Silkworm Baby looked at him in confusion, circled him a few times, then crawled up his pant leg. Su Hao’s parents were charmed and reached out to touch it, but the Silkworm Baby nimbly dodged them, eventually climbing onto Su Hao’s shoulder.
Su Hao cupped it in his hands, meeting its watery big eyes.
"Silkworm Baby, from now on, let’s work hard together."
"Gu nuo (づ?????)づ"