The class group chat quickly hit 99+ messages.
Su Hao turned it off. Why bother with group chat? Isn't raising a spirit or reading a novel more fun?
Suddenly, his phone buzzed again. He saw it was Liu Ren inviting him to a small group. —First High Newbie Spirit Tamer Mutual Aid Exchange Group.
Besides classmates like Chen Qi, a few others gradually joined, all students from Ancheng First High who had contracted spirits.
After showing off their spirits for a while, they finally got into more serious topics.
"My Vine Snake is a bit lazy. It just wraps around the防盗窗 and basks in the sun every day. I can't even get it to move. Any solutions?" "Wood-type spirits sunbathing—that's normal, right? It should help with growth... probably?" "Once a spirit enters the growth stage, you can start training. But how? Have it do a hundred push-ups? My Fluff Ball doesn't have hands or feet." "Training spirits requires proper methods. Better wait until school starts and train under the teacher's guidance. Don't mess them up."
Su Hao silently lurked and watched.
Liu Ren popped up then. "Speaking of school, I've got some insider info. Apparently, there's an entrance test for the Spirit Department at the start of the term." "An exam?? I haven't even finished my summer homework!" "Could it be spirit battles? I'm hyped!" "Don't get your hopes up. How can you battle without any training?" "@Dreaming of Becoming a Spirit Master Newbie Liu Ren, Big Shot Liu, how are you planning to train your spirit?" Liu Ren: "Huh? No training needed. I just feed Charcoal Tortoise three meals of Scorching Jade Powder daily, a Fire Spirit Fruit for a midnight snack, and some supplements now and then. By the time school starts, whether it's battles or whatever, I'm sure Charcoal Tortoise can handle it." Chen Qi: "..." Ma Ruomei: "..." Su Hao: "..."
He counted on his fingers. The price of Scorching Jade Powder was over ten times that of the Silkworm's main meal. The Fire Spirit Fruit was even rarer, a type of energy fruit usually unavailable in stores.
Liu Ren wasn't feeding supplements; he was feeding money. With that much spending, and Charcoal Tortoise being one of the beginner Five Elements, how could it not be strong?
The group fell silent instantly, and Liu Ren earned the title of "Conversation Killer."
...
In his bedroom, Su Hao opened a newly bought hardcover notebook, recording the Silkworm's development details.
From the data, it really changed day by day.
"Probably by tomorrow, the Silkworm will enter the growth stage and can start training."
The Silkworm, watching TV in the living room, suddenly felt a chill. It looked left and right, then grabbed a blanket with its mouth and draped it over itself before continuing to stare at the TV show.
A translucent panel unfolded before Su Hao. Without hesitation, he spent 15 Intelligence Points to unlock the "Basic Cultivation" in the training plan.
A 3D model of a Silkworm appeared on the interface, and a flood of information poured into his mind.
[After the spirit consumes Jade Powder, exhausting its stamina and spiritual energy within an hour accelerates digestion (specific plan as follows: ...)] [The Silkworm's current training limits: Stamina XXX, Spiritual Energy XXX, Endurance XXX...] [Superior plan required supplements: ...] [Medium plan required: ...] [Standard plan: ...]
After a while, Su Hao let out a long breath.
"So that's it..."
Basic cultivation meant comprehensive training and nurturing of the spirit to unlock its potential.
A large part of the senior year curriculum was related to spirit cultivation.
Different attribute spirits required different cultivation methods.
Previous generations had summarized many cultivation plans.
But individual spirits varied.
Standard plans were generic and universal. Skilled spirit breeders could tailor plans for specific spirits, but they were still far from perfect.
The basic cultivation unlocked by Intelligence Points, however, targeted the spirit's specific data—strength, stamina, spiritual energy—and combined it with supplements to create a training plan that perfectly unlocked the spirit's potential.
It was like the difference between gym class and guidance from a top-tier personal trainer.
Training without guidance could lead to mistakes. Most rookie spirit tamers didn't dare train their spirits recklessly and waited for school to start for teacher-led cultivation.
"Spending 15 Intelligence Points was worth it, but I don't have many points left, and no stable way to earn them."
A spirit textbook gave Su Hao about 3 to 6 Intelligence Points. Books like *The History of Spirits (Part 1)* offered fewer, while *Recognizing Common Spirits* and *Key Points in Spirit Cultivation* gave more.
But Su Hao had already thoroughly read all the spirit textbooks from his first two years of high school, netting him a total of 51 Intelligence Points.
Plus the two points he got from the Spirit Free-Range Center.
"When school starts, new textbooks will provide some Intelligence Points. I can also search online... but online sources only give shallow knowledge."
"Never mind. The priority now is to create a training plan based on the cultivation method... and figure out how to make money."
The cultivation plan unlocked by Intelligence Points wasn't singular. Instead, it branched into countless variations based on supplement combinations, training conditions, and so on.
This required Su Hao to weigh his options.
But he helplessly realized there was no choice. Only the cheapest plan was affordable, and even then, besides the Green Bamboo Jade Powder he already had, he needed to buy other auxiliary items.
The monthly cultivation cost was hard to estimate.
"Still, there are two issues: the training venue and the Silkworm's effort level."
Training definitely couldn't happen at home, even if a spirit just entering the growth stage might not beat a husky.
Effort level was even more critical.
Plans were just plans. Su Hao had a friend who wrote novels and set a goal of writing 10,000 words daily a year ago. A year later, he was still stuck between being a one-chapter slacker and a two-chapter slacker.
Su Hao waved at the Silkworm. "You've been cooped up for days and gotten chubby. Today, I'll take you out for a walk."
"Gu-nuo!"
The Silkworm glanced at him. Was this called chubby? It was clearly growing, okay!
Its watery eyes locked back onto the TV screen.
"Ahem." Su Hao put on a stern face.
Activating skill: Spirit Tamer's Gaze.
Stare—
"Gu~ nuo—"
The Silkworm reluctantly crawled over, looking back at the kids' show on the TV every few steps, until Su Hao walked up and turned it off under its pitiful gaze, then picked it up and placed it on his shoulder.
Not bad. It wasn't heavy.
Leaving the neighborhood, Su Hao grabbed a shared bike from the street. Apparently, in top-tier cities like Longdu and Binhai, shared spirits were already being piloted.
Riding the shared bike into the breeze, Su Hao felt cheerful.
The Silkworm had long stopped sulking and was now staring at its surroundings with wide, curious eyes. It refused to stay in the bike basket and instead perched on Su Hao's head, staying steady no matter how he swerved or braked, though it messed up his hair a bit.
Su Hao wasn't wandering aimlessly. His target was Spirit Plaza.
Spirit Plaza was a comprehensive plaza themed around spirits, including buildings like the Spirit Medical Center, Battle Hall, and Training Grounds. Many spirit-related items could only be bought there.
Su Hao parked the bike at a nearby spot and, like the Silkworm, curiously looked around.
In Ancheng, spirits were rarely seen on the streets, but near Spirit Plaza, spirit tamers with their spirits were everywhere.
At the center of the plaza stood a statue of a beast-type spirit with snow-white fur, four hooves on the ground, and blue patterns all over. Its forehead had a lightning-like horn.
"That's a Thunder Beast, an ultra-rare spirit. Its control over thunder can change the weather."
Su Hao remembered soon after his rebirth, he saw a news headline: "XX Champion's Main Spirit Thunder Beast Defeats Strong Typhoon." The power of high-level spirits was beyond his current imagination.
In comparison, the Silkworm was still a weakling.
"(╯▽╰)" What could the Silkworm do? It was helpless too.
As he observed, he and the spirit arrived at the Spirit Battle Zone.
The vast indoor space was divided into battlefields the size of basketball courts, with spectator stands on both sides.
The front rows were already filled with spectators, including ordinary people and rookie spirit tamers like him. There shouldn't be any official spirit tamers—don't ask how he knew; the answer was weaklings.