Chapter 16: I want it all!

After practicing for another half hour like this, Jinrui collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

Liu Hao walked over, picked up Jinrui, fed him some nutrient solution, and then recalled him to the Spirit Awareness Space.

Da Liu was in decent condition, but the sky had gradually darkened; it seemed today's training could only go this far.

Ge Bai also called Da Liu and Xiao Tao back into the Spirit Awareness Space, not forgetting to tighten the cap on the nutrient solution Xiao Tao had been sipping all afternoon without finishing.

The two of them then walked toward the welfare institute.

The efficiency of practicing skills alone couldn't compare to sparring. Ge Bai glanced at the Spirit Plant Cultivation Manual and clearly noticed that during the final sparring stage, the proficiency of the Wind Blade skill had increased extremely quickly.

At this moment, it was already 【Skill: Willow Whip - Proficient (21/200); Wind Blade - Proficient (119/200)】.

Jinrui's stamina and energy were far behind Da Liu's; she still needed to find a sparring partner for Da Liu.

As she walked, Ge Bai calculated in her mind.

Spirit Plant Training Halls were rare, but Spirit Beast Training Halls were plentiful.

Ge Bai prepared to go to Martial Arts Street, where the martial arts halls were clustered, after school tomorrow.

Yes, the Spirit Awareness development test and the affinity attribute test were both scheduled for the weekend; tomorrow, they, as third-year junior high students, had to attend school as usual.

There was less than a month left until the completion of interstellar compulsory education.

Starting tomorrow, the school would arrange the compulsory education graduation exams, fill out applications, prepare for special recruitment registration, and conduct student streaming.

Ge Bai ran through the process in her mind, knowing it would be full of trouble.

Take it one step at a time.

She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms without her even noticing.

"Jinggang No. 1 Middle School, scholarships, special recruitment—I want it all!" — The next day, Ge Bai, Wu Dami, and Liu Hao left home together as usual.

They all attended the Chongming District Public Junior High School, just never in the same class.

"Ge Bai! I missed you to death!"

A short, slightly chubby girl saw Ge Bai walk into the classroom and waved at her happily.

This was He Leyao, Ge Bai's desk mate for three years of junior high; her grades were average, but her personality was exceptionally cheerful.

"I've heard it all! Your Spirit Awareness development level is close to 10%! That's truly amazing!"

Just as Ge Bai reached her desk, He Leyao hurriedly took her schoolbag and helped her stuff it into the desk compartment.

She kept talking without stopping.

"Let me tell you, Jiang Yan in the next class turned red with jealousy when he heard about your Spirit Awareness development level."

For three years of junior high, Ge Bai's grades had been excellent, ranking first or second in the grade.

Jiang Yan in the next class was the same.

But unlike Ge Bai, who came from the welfare institute, his family background was extremely good; he was a rich young master who was arrogant and exceptionally hardworking.

Unfortunately, he was suppressed by Ge Bai everywhere.

For three years, Jiang Yan couldn't beat Ge Bai in exams or fights.

Coming over to show off his wealth high-profilely had no effect; Ge Bai wouldn't even look at him straight.

Rumor had it that Jiang Yan confessed to Ge Bai and was directly ignored; from then on, the rich young master turned dark, targeted Ge Bai everywhere, and always viewed her as a formidable rival.

Of course, He Leyao had asked Ge Bai to confirm the truth of this gossip, and Ge Bai had directly rolled her eyes at her.

Seeing He Leyao's schadenfreude, Ge Bai couldn't help but interject.

"Alright, it's not like only one or two people in the whole city have high Spirit Awareness development levels; it's not that exaggerated."

"How many junior high schools are there in the city! How many students! Our school probably only has two or three!"

Ge Bai shook her head, not wanting to pay her any mind.

He Leyao leaned in again, carefully observing Ge Bai's expression, and said cautiously.

"They also say it's such a pity for you, having no Spirit Beast affinity, only able to become a Spirit Plant Master."

After speaking, He Leyao paused, and seeing Ge Bai had no reaction, she went back to flipping through her schoolbag and drawer, tidying up the things needed for class.

She quietly let out a sigh of relief, slapped her thigh, and changed the subject very deliberately.

"I just don't think it's a pity at all. What's wrong with being a Spirit Plant Master?" "My dad, my mom, plus me, our whole family are Spirit Plant Masters."

"When the time comes, we can book a few beautiful ornamental spirit plants and do stage art or something together, isn't that great! The pay is really high."

"Several of the popular A-list young actresses who have become famous recently are Spirit Plant Masters, starting from doing stage art and playing bit parts!"

This had actually always been He Leyao's dream; she originally liked chasing stars and had researched this area very deeply.

What He Leyao said was indeed a good choice for many Spirit Plant Masters.

Although technology was already very advanced and special effects were realistic, the more technology-saturated the era, the more people liked real things.

Some Spirit Plant Masters targeted this trend, contracting and cultivating ornamental spirit plants, participating in film and television set design, and providing gorgeous background effects on stages and at large events, earning a fortune.

Now it had developed to the point where some bit-part actors were prioritized if they possessed ornamental spirit plants.

Actors going on stage wasn't enough; they also needed spirit plants to cooperate, which wasn't easy either.

As a girl who liked chasing stars, this was a dream He Leyao had pondered for many years.

The two were close, and she also knew Ge Bai wanted to become a Beast Master.

Over the years, she had seen the effort Ge Bai put into spirit beast types, beast-taming methods, and meditation practice.

Watching Ge Bai's dream shatter, she really felt terrible inside.

Today, this wasn't just deliberate joking and feigning ease to cheer Ge Bai up.

She was also sincerely willing to share half of her dream with Ge Bai.

How could Ge Bai not see He Leyao playing the fool? She was exceptionally moved.

She deliberately raised her chin, pretending to look at He Leyao with a haughty face, and said in a pretentious tone.

"Hmph~ I don't want to go chasing stars with you; Spirit Plant Masters can also be very powerful, okay!"

As she spoke, she slapped He Leyao on her other thigh.

He Leyao was startled by the slap, bared her teeth, couldn't help but retaliate, and the two started laughing and fooling around.

After a while, He Leyao seemed to remember something and asked: "Have you contracted a spirit plant? What variety? Is it an auxiliary type? Devil Vine or Flame Stake?"

Ge Bai shook her head.

"It's a Weeping Willow."

After hearing these words, He Leyao had a constipated expression on her face.

Ge Bai was just about to tell her in detail when she saw the head teacher, Old Man Qian, carrying a water cup and a stack of blank booklets, swaying as he walked into the classroom.

The originally noisy and chaotic class instantly quieted down quite a bit.

Old Qian put the water cup and booklets on the podium, picked up the teaching pointer, and tapped the blackboard; everyone quieted down very consciously.

*Ahem, ahem*, as always, Old Qian had to clear his throat before speaking.

"Last weekend, the Spirit Awareness development test results and affinity test results of the students have all been fed back to the school by the testing center."

"Looking at the overall results, the students in our class are still quite good."

"All 55 students in the class have reached over 2% in Spirit Awareness development, and 21 students have reached 5%. All students in the class have spirit beast or spirit plant affinity at or above the passing level; this result is first in the whole school!"

Wow! Applause and cheers erupted in the classroom.

Old Qian smiled, pursed his lips, let everyone cheer for a few seconds, stretched out his hands, pressed down, and signaled for quiet.

"At the same time, there is another piece of good news!"

"Our class's student Ge Bai has a Spirit Awareness development level close to 10%, ranking first in the school, and has also squeezed into the top 50 among all students in the city who participated in the test this time."

"Let us congratulate student Ge Bai for winning honor for the school."

Although quite a few students had actually heard this news over the past two days, everyone still cast their gaze toward Ge Bai.

There were curious ones, jealous ones, as well as pitiful and disdainful ones.

However, the applause was still very enthusiastic; after all, for students, they would never miss a chance to make a scene.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 17 =====