"Power Points: 5. Speed Points: 6. Mana Points: 39. Last semester's final exam score: 290... Total score: 340!"
After calculating Gu Ming's score, his homeroom teacher, Ling Jun, took a deep breath and entered it into her tablet.
Soon, the latest class rankings were released.
The students simultaneously pulled out their phones, went to their class group chat, and downloaded the score sheet their homeroom teacher had just uploaded.
First place, 401 points, Zhou Ruoyun.
Second place, 375 points, Wang Jianyu.
Third place, 367 points, Wu Zhen.
...
10th place, 340 points, Gu Ming.
...
15th place, 331 points, Wang Teng.
The next forty students were omitted. The student in last place had 215 points, barely half of the first-place score.
Everyone was shocked when they saw the results.
They hadn't expected that the student who was first in their grade could contract a Little Cyan Snake and still hold on to tenth place in the class.
It couldn't be helped. Gu Ming's academic scores were just too good; he was a master of theoretical studies.
Fortunately, this was just the starting line of a Beastmaster's career, not the finish line.
During the second semester of their senior year, the 700 points allotted to Pet Beasts would instantly overwhelm the weight of their academic scores.
Once the courses on cultivation skills and combat training began, the class rankings would be completely reshuffled.
At that time, students skilled in combat would be the first to soar through the ranks.
The scores of students who chose the cultivation path would rise more slowly.
A thousand thoughts ran through everyone's minds. Someone turned to Gu Ming and asked which path he planned to take.
That person was none other than Zhou Ruoyun, the student who had just claimed the top spot in the class.
She was originally second in the grade and had always been ranked below Gu Ming.
She never expected that after the winter break of their senior year, she would suddenly become first in the class.
This made Zhou Ruoyun sigh. She hadn't expected Gu Ming to choose the path of a Mutated Little Cyan Snake.
Within the "economical" options, it was a path that was secretly a massive money sink.
A Mutated Pet Beast's potential could either skyrocket or plummet.
It was like opening a blind box—extremely unpredictable. A family like hers would never have allowed her first Contracted Beast to be a mutated one.
Even if she were to choose a mutated one, it would have to be a type that had already been developed, with a proven track record and examples of High-star Pet Beasts. Only then would she be allowed to choose it.
"Gu Ming, are you planning to go with the Combat Element or the Cultivation Element?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking at him seriously.
"The Combat Element," Gu Ming replied succinctly.
His Little Cyan Snake had already started down a venomous path—Devouring poisons to strengthen its toxins and grinding down opponents with slow-acting venomous bites.
That path was only possible through the Combat Element.
Zhou Ruoyun smiled when she heard his answer.
She was glad Gu Ming hadn't decided to just give up.
The path of a Combat Beastmaster had always been intensely competitive, with millions of students choosing it every year.
If he had chosen the Cultivation Element, he wouldn't need to fight. He would only have to focus on cultivation efficiency and raising his Skill Level to get into a university.
For many middle-class families, the Cultivation Element was a great option for taking it easy. It kept them away from combat and allowed them to focus on technical development. The only drawback was how much money it cost.
Gu Ming's family situation wasn't good; he had a gambler in the family. Choosing the money-guzzling Cultivation Element would have been an unstable choice.
Only through combat could someone from his background truly make a name for himself.
"At next month's exam, I have no intention of just handing first place back to you."
Zhou Ruoyun said with a "hmph," her tone a little proud but also excited. It was her first time ever placing first.
Gu Ming nodded. He was definitely going to take back the title of number one in their grade.
The reason was simple: the student ranked first in the grade received an additional scholarship, and he was determined to get it.
The top ten students in the grade all received scholarships, but the first-place prize was the largest: a monthly reward of 10,000. Over a semester, that would add up to forty or fifty thousand.
This was very important to Gu Ming.
His parents had already exchanged the check for Spirit Medicine, so his family's financial situation was back to where it had been.
He still needed to seize every opportunity to earn money.
He had saved 400,000 over his six years of middle and high school. As long as he planned its Evolution path carefully, that would be more than enough to raise his Little Cyan Snake.
Of course, compared to what the system could provide, his personal savings were just the icing on the cake.
His Little Cyan Snake had gained such high Mana Points just by relying on future Spirit Stones. He couldn't even imagine what its score would be in five days, once its Mana was completely full.
Once its Mana was full, it meant the Little Cyan Snake would have met the basic requirements to condense an Inner Core.
Just then, the system's plot commentary updated.
He glanced at the text curiously, and his expression turned strange.
"You revisit your old stomping grounds, returning to the 'Beast Taming Sect' that is Qing Lake High School. Gazing at the youthful vigor of the young Pet Beasts, you recall Ah Chai's wish."
"You go to see the Head of the Grade, Ling Jun, and choose to repeat the year, hoping to remedy the old regret of failing to get into a Beast Taming University."
"The national Sect college entrance exam can be taken by anyone with a Pet Beast, regardless of age or number of attempts."
"This is the second step on your path as an Old Deng staging a comeback—a firm and powerful step."
"Elder Ling is skeptical, but the rules of the national Sect college entrance exam don't allow her to refuse, so she has no choice but to agree."
"You are temporarily placed into Repeater Class One. There, you meet Zhou Ruoyun's daughter, Zhou Qingyun."
"Who would have thought that after thirty-two years, the former second-place student, Zhou Ruoyun, would now wield a Five-star Pet Beast, be on the verge of entering the Six-star Realm, have taken a live-in husband, and given birth to a daughter named Zhou Qingyun."
"Zhou Ruoyun would never have guessed that the student who was once first in their grade would lead such a failed life, choosing to repeat his senior year at the age of fifty—and end up in the very same class as her daughter."
"Zhou Qingyun is unaware of the rivalry between you and her mother. Her eyes hold only curiosity: a fifty-year-old Old Deng has chosen to repeat a year. How well could Gu Ming possibly do on the monthly exam?"
...
'This plot twist is ridiculous.'
'The real Zhou Ruoyun is the same age as me.'
'But in the system's timeline, she's a middle-aged woman who even has a daughter named Zhou Qingyun.'
However, based on his own judgment, Gu Ming figured this so-called "Zhou Qingyun" was probably the system's stand-in for the real Zhou Ruoyun.
Gu Ming had no idea how the system's logic worked; trying to figure it out made his brain smoke.
'Forget it. I'm not looking at the system anymore. I have to get to class.'
A short while later, the students returned to the classroom.
Wang Teng returned to his seat, placed his Dumb Flower to the side, and curiously sized up the Little Cyan Snake next to Gu Ming.
"Gu Ming, how did you manage to train up 39 Mana Points? That's insane..."
'Wang Teng's Dumb Flower has Four-star Potential. If I work backward from that, does that mean the Little Cyan Snake's potential is roughly equivalent to Four-star Potential?'
'No, no, that's not how a Pet Beast's Star Level potential is calculated.'
'A Pet Beast's potential rating is determined by the highest Star Level its species has ever been known to reach.'
'No matter how strong the Little Cyan Snake's Mana Cultivation is, at the absolute most, it's a Two-star Pet Beast.'
'Unless Gu Ming's cultivation skills are so incredible that he breaks the historical limit and raises a Little Cyan Snake to the Three-star Realm, thus resetting the potential rating for the entire species.'
'Otherwise, the Little Cyan Snake will always be considered a Pet Beast with Two-star potential.'
'Its Mana Points are high only because its body has mutated, giving it an extremely high affinity for the elemental Spiritual Qi in the air.'
'Aside from that, it's probably useless.'
'If it had any other strengths, it wouldn't have scored a measly five and six points for Power and Speed.'
'Any Pet Beast with Four-star Potential wouldn't have such crippling weaknesses.'
'For example, his Dumb Flower scored nineteen Power Points after just a month of light training.'
'If it were the Little Cyan Snake, it could use Head Hammer until its head broke and it still wouldn't score nineteen Power Points.'
At this thought, Wang Teng felt much better and was no longer jealous.