Under the night sky, the resort remained lively.
Huang Ji, a well-known student from the affiliated high school, was walking back to the hotel.
Scenes of several people flashed through his mind as he analyzed his chances against them. "There's too little known information—there's no record of their Pokémon ever being used in battle!"
Suddenly,
the Fire Pattern Dog beside him let out a low growl. Huang Ji looked up and saw a figure wrapped tightly in a mask.
A mask... not unusual in winter.
But something about this person struck Huang Ji as sneaky.
Just then,
the masked person spoke, their voice carrying a strange tone. "Hey, student, want to buy some intel?"
"Intel?"
Huang Ji frowned slightly.
He didn't trust someone acting so oddly, peddling information out of the blue.
Except for a few top students, he knew most of the slightly famous ones.
Even Su Hao and Liu Ren from Ancheng No.1 High School—who weren't that strong and were overlooked by most affiliated high school students—he had made a point to learn about.
He assumed the masked person was just an info broker trying to make a quick buck.
Skimming the middleman's profit.
But then, the masked person dropped several names he recognized.
"Liu Wen, Ding Jiaxu, Gu Mingrui... you have their Pokémon info? I need detailed info, not just the species!"
The masked person chuckled and rattled off:
"Liu Wen, Pokémon: Cotton Owl, spirit power above 120, wings about 6 centimeters wider than average..."
Huang Ji listened intently, growing more shocked with each word.
The info seemed real, not the kind of fake intel that starts with a name and makes up the rest.
He had the ability to tell.
But suddenly, the masked person stopped.
Huang Ji grew anxious. "Why stop? Keep going!"
The masked person rubbed their thumb against their index and middle fingers, just staring at him.
Huang Ji felt a hint of mockery in that gesture.
—No money? Then buy a pen's worth of intel.
He wasn't angry, but calmly glanced around.
No one was watching. Good.
He asked, "How much?"
Liu Ren held up two fingers.
"Twenty thousand, right? I'll take the others' info too."
"Deal."
One scanned the code to pay, the other handed over the goods.
Both were satisfied.
...
After Liu Ren left, staring at the extra hundred thousand in his account, even someone from a wealthy background found it too easy.
"For a fat cat like Huang Ji, raising the price from five thousand to twenty thousand still feels like a steal!"
Liu Ren was getting back at Huang Ji for his earlier probing.
He also knew Huang Ji could afford it.
Compared to figuring out Pokémon, learning about the family backgrounds of famous students was much easier.
Liu Ren narrowed his eyes, already thinking about his next target.
...
On the fifth floor of the hotel,
a student from Xingyuan High School sneaked back into his room, closing the door, and called to his roommate, "Check this out! See what I got!"
"What?"
His roommate looked over.
"Top ten seed player profiles for the joint exam, detailed info on a hundred tricky Spirit Masters' Pokémon... With this intel, how can we not ace the exam?"
They exchanged glances, and the room filled with snickers.
...
Su Hao returned to his hotel room after dinner.
He had seen most of the targets' Pokémon, except for a few "homebody" types that never came out. Su Hao and Liu Ren had circled around several times without spotting them.
Among them were the two most threatening individuals.
Still, even missing a few, the intel set was highly complete, with no competitors.
Su Hao sat on the bed, glancing over—his laptop was taken over by the Silkworm.
Since it needed to shine tomorrow, Su Hao picked up his phone to read a novel.
Suddenly,
his phone buzzed, and a "@everyone" message popped up on the screen.
From the Spirit Science Class 2 group chat.
He tapped it open and saw a vaguely familiar title.
Shared file—Joint Exam Collector's Edition Intel.
It listed the Pokémon info of over a hundred students participating in the joint exam.
Su Hao scrolled back—the entire group chat was a string of "Awesome" +1.
He couldn't resist hitting "+1" too.
Su Hao: "Awesome."
Classmate A: "It's the big shot Su! Shocked.jpg."
Classmate B: "Big shot Su, need a sidekick? Take me along tomorrow, please, boohoo."
Classmate C++: "Honestly, this intel is detailed, but the top ten seeds don't include Su—that's disrespect to Ancheng No.1!"
Su Hao chuckled.
Of course, it wouldn't include him!
But weirdly, leaking intel made those listed seem honored instead.
Soon,
Liu Ren returned.
Su Hao showed him the group chat and gave a thumbs-up. "Impressive. Spreading the info quietly in no time—true intel expert."
But Liu Ren looked annoyed. "You think I'm dumb? I wanted to make money!"
Having tasted success, Liu Ren had first thought of earning his own cash, but...
"Damn pirates! By the time I approached my next target, they already had the full intel!"
Su Hao opened his mouth, then closed it.
At least they'd made a good amount.
The goal was achieved, and the effect was even better.
...
In the high-level hotel area, where the lead Spirit Masters stayed.
Instructor Xiong looked at the printed Collector's Edition intel, sighed, and spoke with regret.
"Ancheng No.1 has some good prospects this year, but the affiliated high school and No.1 have even more.
"From this data, eighteen students have trained their Pokémon to the spirit power limit. Bing Ning from the affiliated school and Lin Mingzheng from No.1—their Pokémon should have reached the entry level. The champion and runner-up will likely come from these two.
"But even beyond the top two, Su Hao's chances of breaking into the top ten are slim."
Instructor Xiong had high hopes for Su Hao.
But it wasn't that Su Hao was weak—the other schools' students were just too strong.
Pan Jingshan took the intel and looked it over. "It's not just strength—it's numbers. Ancheng No.1 is at a disadvantage in every way, but there's no helping it. In past years, having a student from Ancheng in the top fifty was already a big deal."
They weren't optimistic, but they weren't disheartened either.
School comparisons—wins and losses were normal.
Ancheng No.1 losing to key high schools in Yunhua was also normal.
"I think the student who gathered this intel is the real standout.
"This joint exam is going to be interesting."
...
The next day, 8 a.m.
Su Hao and the other students followed the lead teacher to the north side of the preparation village, near the forest entrance.
Students from different schools stood in separate areas.
The gap was immediately obvious.
Ancheng No.1 and Pingcheng No.1 had the fewest students—just over a hundred each.
Xingyuan High School had a bit more, over two hundred.
Yunhua Affiliated High School's Spirit Science department had over five hundred students.
The largest, Yunhua No.1 High School, had nearly eight hundred!
Because in big cities, the proportion of high school seniors choosing Spirit Science far exceeded that in ordinary prefecture-level cities like Ancheng or Pingcheng.
The disparity was stark.