Boom!
A massive fireball crashed down.
It didn't hit anyone, but it startled the examinees hiding in the grass, who burst out, staring at Su Hao with wary confusion.
"How did he find us?"
While they were bewildered, Su Hao was also observing them.
Ten people.
Ten spirits.
Their spirits hadn't reached the breakthrough stage yet, but they weren't weak either—the truly weak examinees had already been eliminated in the first two days.
Their spiritual power was mostly around seventy or eighty.
Su Hao's gaze lingered a bit longer on one particularly large spirit.
Grumpig!
The evolved form of Spoink.
It was as tall as a person, covered in thick black fur, exuding a menacing presence, and rumbled loudly when it ran.
Its spirit master was a boy wearing a hat.
Su Hao decided to call him Hat Boy.
Hat Boy wasn't in the intel Su Hao had gathered.
Su Hao suspected that Grumpig had stayed in its room ever since arriving at the preparation village.
After all, Grumpig had another trait: it loved to sleep and snored with a rumbling sound.
"Even though its spiritual power isn't exceptionally strong, an evolved spirit is undoubtedly more powerful in combat."
Most spirit masters used the boost from a spirit's first evolution to break through to the entry level.
But spirits evolving before the entry level weren't unheard of.
"Among initial forms, Spoink's combat power is practically the worst—even weaker than a Silkworm—so evolving early makes sense..."
Su Hao guessed that Hat Boy was aiming for the top ten rewards.
Sacrificing a bit of the spirit's potential for a good ranking was a fair trade.
The Silkworm, facing off against other spirits, looked around with a confused expression, feeling like someone was badmouthing it.
"Don't be afraid, he's just one person!"
In the short time Su Hao was observing, Hat Boy had already snapped out of it.
He commanded Grumpig to charge forward.
The other spirits unleashed the moves they'd practiced for months.
"Seed Machine Gun!"
"Water Arrow!"
"Charge!"
Su Hao had already quietly retreated to a large tree. Seeing the barrage of attacks flying toward him, he stepped back and hid behind the thick trunk, which was about a meter in diameter.
Countless attacks smacked against the sturdy trunk.
Without poking his head out, Su Hao shouted directly, "Silkworm, finish this quickly!" After all, they were too close to the finish line.
"Gu no!"
Hat Boy's face twisted with anger. "Grumpig, use Earthquake!"
"Rumble~!"
Grumpig raised its front hooves high and slammed them down heavily, its fat rippling like waves.
The ground trembled, and countless pebbles shot up like rain, falling all around.
The Silkworm didn't dodge or evade. Cloaked in the glow of its charge, it pushed through the falling stones.
On the opposite side.
A small Dirt Wolf and a Grass Sheep also charged forward.
A few water- and wood-type spirits had mist gathering in their mouths, ready to unleash Water Arrows and Seed Machine Guns again.
But the Silkworm was still some distance away.
"Gu no! ?(?`^′?)?)`Д′)!"
With that cry, a peculiar spiritual energy spread out.
The spirits in the middle of their moves suddenly trembled.
Fear flickered in their eyes.
The charging Dirt Wolf and Grass Sheep's front legs gave out, and the two spirits rolled together.
Intimidation!
I'm super scary!
Using the speed from its charge, the Silkworm shot past Grumpig, slamming a Spotted Mushroom over twenty meters away with one hit, then rapidly fired four energy balls in succession, blasting the other spirits in ranged positions into the air with loud booms.
When Grumpig turned around to chase the Silkworm, it froze.
All it saw was the ravaged ground.
Where did all my teammates go?!
Grumpig was dumbfounded, and Hat Boy's face went stiff.
It could use energy balls, fine.
But four in one second?
Why was a cute-looking spirit this strong?!
And... why had the spirits suddenly frozen earlier?!
"That's Intimidation."
The speaker was Heavenly King Zhou Weiping.
As the number of examinees dwindled, those who performed exceptionally had already drawn special attention.
Su Hao was one of King Zhou's key focuses.
"Intimidation?" Some spirit masters pondered for a moment before recalling what that move was. "Isn't that an illusion-type move?"
Illusion-type spirits were rare.
Illusion-type moves were even rarer!
They'd only seen Intimidation mentioned in teaching materials.
Four energy balls in one second!
Aerial turns and counter-charges!
Web-spinning and Intimidation—it had it all!
This Silkworm...
This examinee...
"Very interesting." Heavenly King Zhou stared at the screen for a few seconds. "This Silkworm hasn't reached the entry level yet, but its spiritual power is very high. Raising a spirit to this level is rare, extremely rare."
King Zhou almost wanted to meet Su Hao right away.
In the forest,
The Silkworm's instant five-kill had completely stunned the other examinees and spirits.
The Dirt Wolf and Grass Sheep, after scrambling up from the ground, were still backing away on shaky legs.
Just then,
An examinee on the side suddenly shouted, "Now! Use Seed Grenade!"
His spirit was the reconnaissance-type Cotton Owl, which had been intimidated by the Silkworm's aura but happened to fly near Su Hao.
Hearing the command,
The Cotton Owl flapped its wings and dropped brown bombs, targeting Su Hao, who was pressed against the tree trunk.
Ahead,
Were the Seed Grenades from the Cotton Owl.
Behind,
Was the tree trunk blocking him.
Hope flickered in Hat Boy's eyes.
Boom!!
"Did it work?"
Hat Boy's eyes widened.
The dust gradually cleared.
Hat Boy saw wings folded together like a massive black egg.
The wings spread open, revealing Su Hao, completely unharmed.
And a Little Fire Crow with fury burning in its eyes.
It was furious!
It was supposed to protect the master, and it almost messed up—unforgivable!!!
The black wings extended, casting a shadow over the Cotton Owl.
"Caw—"
A scream rang out, lingering long.
Su Hao looked up and stepped out from behind the tree.
Black wings spread behind him like a demon.
Accompanied by a demonic voice.
"Don't let a single one escape."
The ten examinees scattered in panic.
But could they outrun Silkworm·Spider-Man·Flying Thunder God·Baby?
The farthest examinee made it over a hundred meters before tripping and falling, only to be taken down by the Silkworm catching up.
"Gu no ヾ(????)? "!"
"Alright, alright, you're the best. I'm keeping track of your merits. Besides, the rewards we get will be used on you guys anyway."
"Gu no no~~!"
That's different!
The Silkworm went on a rampage, panting a bit to recover its spiritual power.
The Little Fire Crow took over as lookout.
Just then,
The grass nearby rustled.
Two spirits and Su Hao tensed up.
A panting boy burst out of the grass, a faint yellow glow emanating from the light shield around him.
It was a sign that his energy was critically low, and he was about to be eliminated.
Seeing this, the Silkworm couldn't resist—it was too tempting—and casually tossed an energy ball his way.
It exploded with a bang.
The boy, fleeing in a panic, was knocked to the ground by the shockwave, letting out an "Ouch!"
His wristband vibrated.
Su Hao saw the notification.
Points +1008.
He paused for a moment, realizing this was a huge jackpot.
And it was someone he knew.
Huang Ji.
Fleeing this pathetically?
He sensed something was wrong.
He looked in the direction Huang Ji had come from.
The grass was covered in frost.