"Lin Mingzheng is similar—he's a descendant of the Lin family, a spirit-taming clan," Liu Ren said. "Legend has it that before spirits were born, the Lin family was already a dominant force in their region. Later, when spirits emerged and shook up countless industries, the Lin family didn't decline. Instead, they successfully transformed into a spirit-taming clan. It's said they already have several master-level spirit tamers among them."
"Lin Mingzheng's initial spirit is a Clockwork Doll, a rare metal-type spirit with unknown abilities. His other spirit is also metal-type—a Leaping Lion. But Lin Mingzheng rarely makes a move, so..."
Still nothing useful.
Liu Ren had marked these two as the most mysterious and threatening. But beyond that, Su Hao had also seen detailed info on many top students from Yunhua Affiliated High School and Yunhua No.1 High School.
A bit daunting!
"Old Su, I feel like we're going to get crushed single-handedly. And the school, seriously—if they're going to have a joint exam, couldn't they pick some weaker schools?"
Su Hao shook his head.
"I think you should stop gathering intel. It's just killing our confidence! And honestly, the really tricky opponents aren't even on your list. As an intel expert, you're slacking."
"I'm desperate too!" Liu Ren whined. "The stronger the spirit, the less it shows itself. Even if I drop tens of thousands, I can't get any valuable info. It's not like I can bribe the spirit tamers themselves... they're not short on cash!"
As soon as Liu Ren finished, he saw Su Hao staring at him intently.
"How much did you say?"
"How much what?"
"Tens of thousands? For intel?"
"It's not really tens of thousands—just ten thousand, five thousand, two thousand... per person's info."
Liu Ren's voice trailed off as he spoke.
In contrast, Su Hao's eyes lit up.
(￥o￥)
"Besides you, are there other people buying intel?"
"Of course there are. Why wouldn't there be? You want to sell intel? Our Ancheng No.1 High School students aren't worth much. My stuff... my stuff isn't worth much either—secondhand goods. And who'd come to us for intel on Yunhua Affiliated High School?"
Su Hao could tell Liu Ren didn't care about the small change.
That was normal.
But...
"What if it's detailed intel? With the spirit's spiritual power data, their specialties, and maybe even the moves they know?"
"How could that possibly—" Liu Ren's eyes widened. "You're not saying you can actually do that, are you? Are spirit nurturers all this insane?"
Su Hao smiled without saying a word.
Spirit nurturers could manage some of it, but it required close observation of the spirits and a lot of mental effort.
He was different.
One look was all he needed—no second glance.
Making money, Su Hao had thought it over carefully... for about three seconds.
He'd earned a decent amount and wasn't as strapped as before. But the silkworm and the fire crow had already cost him over a million, with more big expenses coming up!
His balance just wouldn't climb.
And...
"Do you think I'm only doing this for the money? Am I that shallow? We sell intel, expose those top students' spirit info, and they might get targeted. Remember, in this joint exam, everyone—well, most people—are after the rewards. If there's a chance to take out a competitor, even classmates from the same school won't hesitate."
Just Yunhua No.1 High School alone had more spirit science students than Ancheng No.1, Pingcheng No.1, and Xingyuan Middle School combined.
For Yunhua No.1 students, their own schoolmates and the affiliated school's students were the real rivals. Schools like Ancheng were barely on their radar.
The target buyers for the intel would mostly be from those two schools.
Su Hao used this reasoning to convince Liu Ren.
"Since you're on board, I'll handle gathering the intel, and you'll handle selling it. We'll split fifty-fifty. Don't refuse—your job is heavy. You need to figure out who to sell to, preferably in secret, without making a fuss."
"What about pricing? And how do we make them believe the intel is real?" Liu Ren asked.
"Keep the prices low—three tiers: one thousand, three thousand, five thousand, based on the target spirit's strength. As for making them believe it? You can leak part of the intel first. They've probably done their own research and can tell if it's genuine."
Liu Ren nodded, a gleeful grin spreading across his face.
"Alright, let's move! It's getting late!"
Liu Ren dashed off again with his Charcoal Turtle.
Su Hao followed him out, but seeing the empty space beside him, he turned back and called into the room, "Anyone want to come out?"
"Gu nuo!"
"Ya ya!"
The silkworm wanted to stay put.
The fire crow, on its first long trip, seemed curious instead and fluttered over to land on his shoulder.
On the village streets,
spirit tamers with their spirits came and went.
Some were students from the five schools preparing for the joint exam, others were ordinary spirit tamers.
But they weren't hard to tell apart—Su Hao just had to look for the ones in school uniforms.
A few high-threat contenders, Liu Ren—the intel expert—could spot at a glance.
After walking through several village paths, the two found a spot to sit down.
Liu Ren glanced around furtively, then lowered his voice. "That's it?"
"It's all stored in here." Su Hao tapped his head, earning only one word from Big-Face Liu.
"Freak."
Su Hao shrugged, focused on his panel, found the recorded info, cleared his throat, and said, "Ready to take notes."
He glanced over—Liu Ren had already pulled out a little notebook.
"Male, spirit: Needle Spider..."
Liu Ren thought for two seconds, quickly wrote down "Cai Yangbo," then the spirit.
"Spiritual power: 95 to 98. Strong leg muscles. Possible moves: Steel Needle..."
Su Hao spoke, and Liu Ren scribbled it down.
He then moved to the second target.
"Female, ponytail, spirit: Big-Eared Rabbit."
Liu Ren didn't hesitate, jotting down "Shan Qiuyu" and the spirit.
"Spiritual power..."
The two worked together, quickly recording detailed info on eight top students' spirits.
When they finished, Liu Ren's fingers were sore, but he couldn't help marveling, "Freaking awesome, Old Su."
Su Hao felt nothing.
Just basic stuff.
Though Liu Ren had a real knack for recognizing people.
"Next spot. Let's keep going."
They moved through several areas in the village: training grounds, restaurants, and spots near the forest wilderness outside. Unfortunately, they couldn't go further—it was off-limits—so they could only see a vast expanse of dense, towering trees in the distance.
"Next, let's check out the battle hall. But it's public, so probably no one will be there before the exam."
Su Hao was wrong.
Before they even reached the battle hall, they heard shouts from afar.
On the central battle platform, two spirit tamers were commanding their spirits in a fight, surrounded by a large crowd of students.
Su Hao spotted some classmates from his own school.
Before he got close—
"Boom!"
A spirit flew off the platform, tumbling to the ground, completely unconscious and out of the fight.