Chapter 277: Chapter 269: Mouse Treasure Deployed

Cyan Treasure opened its eyes. An indescribable Power surged from within its body. ’Is this the Two-star Level Realm?’

After evolving to Two-star with the Foundation Establishment Platform, it could clearly feel the connection between the platform and its Magic Power Inner Core growing tighter.

Previously, mobilizing the Foundation Establishment Tripod required a large amount of Spiritual Power. Now, a single thought was enough to make it vibrate.

It darted back and forth over a few meters. Its reaction Speed and Mana burst had improved by more than a single leap.

More importantly, the Life Energy within its body was still overflowing.

The fully nurtured Seed of Rootless Wood Grass was simply heaven-defying. The newly accumulated Life Energy in its Dantian was entirely the seed’s overflow—so much that it couldn’t be contained.

To find an outlet for this Life Energy, Cyan Treasure looked at the bag of Black Ghost Wood Grass Seeds in its master’s hand.

Gu Ming took out a Black Ghost Wood Seed and handed it to Cyan Treasure, reminding it not to exhaust its Life Energy. He then turned to Lu You, ready to discuss business.

As you wandered around, Cyan Treasure took a moment to sneakily absorb the Spiritual Dew of the Eight-star Dao Field. Using the last remnants of the Power of Time in its body, it accelerated the Refinement of the Seed of Rootless Wood Grass until it took shape.

The moment the Seed of Rootless Wood Grass took form, it drew a boon from the Celestial Dao, allowing Cyan Treasure to complete its Super Evolution and reawaken the Power of Time!

Two Pet Beasts reaching Two-star simultaneously. You have taken another firm and powerful step on an old-timer’s path to a comeback. Achievement Points +30!

Gu Ming glanced at the system and noticed the reward was quite high this time—a surprising thirty points, equivalent to two hundred and ten days of training time.

’Speaking of which, I can do more than just train in the dreamscape. I can also use it for time-consuming tasks like Array design and Cultivation Technique innovation.’

’But there’s no rush. I haven’t made a plan with my teammate yet. I can’t just spend all my time taking care of everything myself. The dream training time is precious.’

"Let me see the collection of papers you sent. Oh, and Ah Kun, tell Mouse Treasure about the various Array designs we just saw."

You and your classmate with severe social anxiety reviewed the concepts behind Array design. From over a hundred opening strategies, you summarized five mainstream approaches to initial Array Formation.

They are: the Big Pot Stew Array, the Energy-Gathering Spiral Array, the Mirror Reflection Array, the Tide Array, and the Void Rift Array.

As Gu Ming gave the instructions, his eyes were already fixed on the tablet, rapidly reading through the papers.

He was completely focused, trying to commit all the papers to memory to gain a clear understanding of Alchemy-related Arrays.

He knew the knowledge in his mind was already being synchronized and replaced, with the five mainstream opening Array Formation strategies summarized by the system now appearing.

The "mainstream" the system referred to wasn’t the mainstream in the market, but rather the mainstream decisions made by the candidates present in response to the exam question.

This brought up the future timeline and the Array exam question as seen by the system.

Array Question: Simulate tidal motion inside an Alchemy Furnace, maintaining precise control of the furnace temperature within a two-thousand-degree range. A maximum of four Pet Beasts may be used to tend the furnace, with Divine Sense assisting control throughout the entire process.

Compared to the actual exam topic, there were similarities. Both required Divine Sense control, and the temperature parameters were much higher than those for typical One-star Arrays on the market.

The difference was the requirement for tidal motion.

Gu Ming had no knowledge of tide-related Array design. The future exam question was completely beyond his current curriculum; he was utterly in the dark.

At least with the real-world exam question, there were papers to reference. It didn’t completely force candidates to innovate from scratch.

While Gu Ming read the papers, Lu You found herself with nothing to do.

She looked at Cyan Treasure, who was coiled up like a mosquito coil. She saw it suddenly open its eyes, flick its snake-like tongue, and let out a series of hisses.

She focused her mind and connected with her Pet Beast’s thoughts.

The previously incomprehensible hissing suddenly became clear.

"What’s wrong, Cyan Treasure?" she asked softly.

Cyan Treasure flicked its head toward Mouse Treasure, then made a breathing motion, drawing the Spiritual Qi from the air into its mouth.

The vibrations of the Foundation Establishment Platform Dragon Pattern Tripod and the roar of the Refining Technique combined with the Breathing Technique rumbled from within its body.

It was a sound it made on purpose.

Lu You quickly understood its meaning.

"Are you saying I should have Mouse Treasure perform its Breathing Technique and cultivate here too, to seize the opportunity for Evolution?"

She spoke, half-guessing, half-thinking. By the second half of her sentence, she had already realized the secret to Cyan Treasure’s Evolution.

’So it was borrowing the top-tier environment of the Eight-star Dao Field.’

An opportunity like this—so rare it was like seeing the sun and moon shine together—was something she probably couldn’t have earned in several lifetimes.

Due to the recent Demon Fiend invasion, the higher-ups had feared an accident and temporarily moved the national competition grounds here.

For Pet Beasts cultivating in the Eight-star Dao Field, it wasn’t as simple as getting double the results for half the effort. The overall Cultivation efficiency was at least ten times greater.

One could imagine how tempting it was to cultivate here. Very few people could resist the temptation and focus on the exam.

Unless these people were backed by major resources and contracts that granted them access to such special resources, or the pressure of their "genius" contracts was too great to allow for any distractions.

Lu You glanced around and saw that most people were engrossed in the exam. Very few were like Cyan Treasure, wandering around to sip dew and absorb the highly concentrated Spiritual Qi.

Hearing Cyan Treasure’s "persuasion," Lu You’s heart was stirred.

Just then, Gu Ming looked up from the tablet and said, "That’s fine. I still need some time to go through these papers. You can take Mouse Treasure to cultivate. Just remember the exam rules: you can’t pick the Spirit Medicines."

"Okay!" Lu You agreed immediately.

She didn’t want her Pet Beast to fall behind Gu Ming’s, so she immediately led Mouse Treasure around the site to absorb the dew.

She didn’t go far, because she discovered the nutritional content of the dewdrops here was incredibly high.

Mouse Treasure only downed a few dozen drops of dew before its body was overflowing with Water Element Spiritual Qi.

Mouse Treasure didn’t need Water Spiritual Qi for its Refining Technique. It drank the dew only for the Medicinal Power and Dao Charm within it.

But more than the dew, the earth beneath its feet was what truly excited Mouse Treasure.

She made a quick decision and had Mouse Treasure burrow into the ground to cultivate. It would transform into a swimming dragon within the earth, utilizing the Dragon Pattern Tripod as much as possible to find the "Dao" in the soil and use a Memorization Array to remember the feeling.

Mouse Treasure nodded, its entire body melting into earth and flowing into the ground.

Mouse Treasure’s "swimming dragon" movements underground naturally caused a stir. With so many talented candidates at the site, it wasn’t long before Pet Beasts with strong Perception abilities detected the commotion.

Nearby candidates looked over. Some were tempted, others frowned and hesitated, but most ultimately decided to continue with the exam.

For these genius candidates, the Eight-star Dao Field was indeed tempting.

But making a name for themselves in the national competition would grant them access to even more Dao Fields in the future.

Even though the Eight-star Dao Field was hard to enter, Pet Beasts in their Juvenile Stage had their limits. No matter how good the Cultivation was here, they would quickly hit their ceiling and need time to digest their gains.

It was better to save their energy for the exam. The test was what mattered most.

Only a small number of students with weaker resolve let their Pet Beasts wander the Dao Field, competing with Jiang Jinling’s Grass Spirit for dew. Some even had their Pet Beasts burrow into the ground, fighting with the Earth Escape-capable Mouse Treasure for the subterranean Spiritual Qi.

Before long, nearly thirty to forty percent of the students on site were neglecting their duties, letting their Pet Beasts cultivate all over the place.

A proctor at the back of the field glanced over but didn’t interfere.

An old man with a full head of white hair sat under a tree, his eyes closed in contemplation. Hearing the discussions of the nearby teachers, he waved his hand and said:

"People must always make choices between loss and gain. Only by tasting the bitterness of youth can one understand the meaning of effort."

The implication was to let them be.

In the examination hall, they only cared about the final result.