Lu Wu's sudden dash toward his room caught Lu Haikong's attention.
"Could it be that this kid really managed to enhance that Little Skeleton's quality?"
Lu Haikong was skeptical yet particularly curious, so he followed.
Piggy from Pang Duddu's family had been eyeing the soup Lu Wu had been boiling for a while. The moment Lu Wu opened the door, the pig darted inside. It was hard to imagine that such short legs on a round pig could muster such astonishing speed in an instant.
Seeing his pig rush in, Pang Duddu quickly followed.
Seeing her son, husband, and Pang Duddu all rush in, Li Ruyu hesitated for a moment but then followed. Even the little girl with short legs walked in with a "tap-tap."
In an instant, Lu Wu's ten-square-meter room was packed to the brim.
At the room's center was the pot with the Little Skeleton. The cover on the Little Skeleton's head had already been lifted, and Lu Wu and the others could roughly see its current appearance.
After all, having advanced in quality, the Little Skeleton had undergone some changes in appearance.
Its frame had grown quite a bit taller, from 1.5 meters to almost 1.6 meters.
The color of its bones had also changed.
Originally pale and seemingly brittle, they now appeared much darker, giving a sense of weight.
For Lu Wu, the most noticeable change was in the Little Skeleton's pupil fire.
Lu Wu could feel that the pupil fire was much brighter and more lively than before, giving the impression that it had become smarter.
This made Lu Wu very satisfied.
The 50,000 yuan he'd extorted from Li Kai hadn't been wasted, at least visibly. He wondered about the changes in its attributes.
To further confirm the Little Skeleton's improvement, Lu Wu went hands-on.
As Lu Wu reached out, someone else did too.
Actually, it was both a person and a pig.
The pig, of course, belonged to Pang Duddu. It had been craving that soup, seizing the opportunity to get into the pot for a drink.
But once inside, it realized there was only about one-third of the soup left.
Even so, it couldn't drink the remaining bits as it jumped in and collided with the Little Skeleton, which then held it.
With no soup left, the pig hugged the Little Skeleton's bones, slurping whatever soup residue remained.
The other person reaching out was Lu Wu's father, Lu Haikong.
Lu Wu's touch was gentle, caressing the Little Skeleton's head as if it were a delicate ceramic. In contrast, Lu Haikong knocked on it like testing watermelons with his knuckles.
"Weird, you really managed to do it. This little guy's quality did improve! Impossible! Not scientific!
Brat, did you cheat?"
Lu Haikong knocked on the Little Skeleton with a face full of suspicion. Lu Wu ignored him and looked to Li Ruyu for help.
Soon, Li Ruyu grabbed Lu Haikong by the ear and dragged him out of the room. She also took Lu Ni, who was there causing trouble, and didn't forget to close the door, leaving Lu Wu and Pang Duddu inside.
Lu Wu felt speechless, wondering what his parents were thinking. Did they want something to happen between him and Pang Duddu?
Lu Wu wasn't in the mood for that. He picked up the pig from the Little Skeleton's bones and handed it to Pang Duddu, then shooed Pang Duddu out as well.
Once everyone was out, Lu Wu finally had some peace and time to study the enhanced Little Skeleton.
Touching it, the kid's attributes came out.
...
Name: Little Skeleton
Power: 0-stars (Ordinary)
Quality: Black Iron (Inferior) (Enhanced)
Attribute: Undead
State: Energetic but a bit dazed, might need a reboot. Try tapping its head to restart it.
Skill: (Training plans - 3)
Weakness: Light, Fire, Thunder
Description: Its quality has improved somewhat, not as dumb as before. Basic qualities are a bit better, though it's still a weakling.
...
After looking at the Little Skeleton's attributes, Lu Wu felt so-so.
He wasn't overly excited but not too disappointed either because the results were about what he expected, without any surprises.
First, the quality improvement meant the previous plans had all disappeared.
This implied the old plans were now ineffective for the current Little Skeleton, and he couldn't continue using them to enhance its quality.
Next was the skill aspect.
Lu Wu had some hope here.
He was looking forward to the Little Skeleton awakening a few skills with the quality boost, but there were none, leaving him quite disappointed.
"Indeed, having too many expectations is no good. If they fall through, it feels awful."
It took Lu Wu some time to adjust his mindset.
Then he began pondering over the Little Skeleton.
"With the quality enhancement done and half the summer vacation passed, my first small goal is complete. The first half of my summer plans is almost over. It's time to draft new plans for the next stage in this environment."
"My initial summer plan was clear.
The first phase was to enhance the Little Skeleton's quality, followed by strengthening it to compete for top-class selection in the new academic year.
But an unexpected situation arose regarding the summoner beast cultivation master's assessment."
"I now hesitate whether to focus on the summoner beast cultivator exam. Given my apparent advantage, surpassing Li Kai in a month, passing it would be no problem, and becoming a cultivator is less stressful than the high school league."
"The issue is, if I focus on the summoner beast cultivator exam, it will be hard to ensure the Little Skeleton reaches top-class level during this summer.
Achieving both goals might be tough.
Even though passing the cultivator exam makes top-class less critical, what about that girl?"
"I need to carry her along!
If I pass the professional summoner exam and go to Summoner University, who will carry her?"
Muttering this, Lu Wu hesitated but soon decided with unusual conscience, settling on the next-phase summer plan.
Anyway, the professional summoner cultivator exam is next year, still time, no rush. This summer, I'll focus on training the Little Skeleton and helping Pang Duddu!
With that, Lu Wu spent several hours drafting a comprehensive plan.
Just as Lu Wu finished, his phone suddenly rang. When he answered, Pang Duddu's tearful, panic-stricken voice came through: "Lu Wu, come quick..."