"I haven't heard of anything major happening, it seems those were just regular police, probably some dangerous fellow sneaked in."
After looking out the window, Qi Chen replied to Feng Yuan with a bit of helplessness, while Feng Yuan, after glancing at the police searching around with Fiery Hounds, said with some confusion,
"Shouldn't be any dangerous fellow, right? Otherwise, the school should have evacuated the students by now."
Seeing that the police were only searching around, Qi Chen also felt puzzled, and after pondering for a moment, Feng Yuan said,
"Forget it, let's not worry about it. If there's really an issue, the school won't just ignore it."
At that moment, Xiao Ji, perched on Feng Yuan's head, chirped quizzically.
"Xiao Ji, what's wrong?"
Xiao Ji chirped a few times with confusion, as if it had noticed something, and Feng Yuan said curiously,
"What have you discovered?"
After sensing intently for a while, Xiao Ji chirped with a touch of disappointment.
"It's okay if you didn't find anything, let's go eat."
In front of the canteen's display, Feng Yuan, looking at the various foods, asked Xiao Ji on his head,
"Xiao Ji, what do you want to eat?"
Xiao Ji tilted its head, seemingly puzzled.
"Cut it out! Xiao Ji, don't listen to him. I'll share some of Ah Mu's food with you later."
"Be careful, or Ah Mu will get angry if you skimp on its food."
"Spirit Beasts should be fed Spirit Beast Food properly! Don't feed it weird things, please!"
"I'm just letting Xiao Ji taste some human delicacies~"
Xiao Ji on Feng Yuan's head seemed puzzled.
Carrying Xiao Ji, Feng Yuan searched for a seat with a tray in hands, and upon seeing Feng Yuan's tray filled with food, Qi Chen said somewhat helplessly,
"Can you even finish all that food?"
"I should be able to."
"Xiao Ji, try this~"
After the two found a place to sit down, Feng Yuan scooped up a spoonful of food and brought it to Xiao Ji's beak, who after taking a pleased taste, swiftly backed away a few steps with a look of having eaten something unpalatable. Feng Yuan tasted a spoonful himself, confused, and said,
"It tastes completely normal though? You don't like it?"
"The taste buds of Spirit Beasts and humans are different, after all. You'd better just feed it the specific food for Spirit Beasts. Want me to share some of Ah Mu's food with it?"
"No need, if Xiao Ji, you can't enjoy those delicacies, then that's too bad."
Seeing Feng Yuan take out the Spirit Beast Food and give it to Xiao Ji, Qi Chen summoned Ah Mu, moved away from Feng Yuan, and took out Spirit Beast Food to feed Ah Mu.
"Why are you putting it so far away?"
"I'm worried you'll bother my Ah Mu for no reason."
"Really now..."
Feng Yuan looked at Ah Mu, who was eating, with some dissatisfaction. Ah Mu's droplet-shaped body was topped with a cluster of leaves. Spotting Ah Mu's bouncy body, Feng Yuan slowly moved towards him, prompting Qi Chen to glare at Feng Yuan saying,
"What do you think you're doing!"
"Ahaha~ Caught me!"
"Seriously, Ah Mu is already scared of you, okay!"
While the two were talking, a fashionable girl with long black hair walked over, leaned down to take a glance at Xiao Ji, and said to Feng Yuan with some strangeness,
"Your egg hatched into this one?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
After hesitating for a moment, the girl said,
"Although it might be a bit unpleasant to hear, I think all those materials you used were a waste. With the money spent on those materials, you could have easily bought a Spirit Beast of Good Level, right?"
"But if I didn't save it then, it would have surely died."
"That's true... You don't plan to choose it as your first Spirit Beast, do you?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Based on your spiritual power, your first contract should've allowed you to choose a Spirit Beast with good-level potential. Why insist on choosing this one?"
The young girl looked at Feng Yuan with some confusion. Feng Yuan glanced at the dazed Xiao Ji and rubbed its head, saying,
"What I choose doesn't affect you, does it?"
"But for the sake of your future, you should choose a Spirit Beast with good-level potential! Although a Native-Level creature like the Eggshell Chicken has a chance to evolve into a Spirit Beast with good-level potential, don't you think that probability is too low?"
"Why must I choose one with good-level potential? Xiao Ji is the one I saved. It likes to follow me. Is there a problem with me signing a Beast Tamer contract with it?"
"You! Although you possess the Power of the Spirit Beast, in the end, we have to rely on the strength nourished by the Spirit Beast to enhance our spiritual power! The gap between the good-level and native-level potential is so vast that the initial advantage of your Power of the Spirit Beast will soon be negated by the disparity in potential!"
Looking at the girl's fervent expression, Feng Yuan helplessly shook his head, trying to console the disheartened Xiao Ji.
"Liu Yan, what are you doing?"
A well-dressed young man with short black hair walked over, looking curiously at the girl. She shook her head, saying nothing. The young man glanced at Xiao Ji and the comforting Feng Yuan and said disdainfully,
"It's actually an Eggshell Chicken? I said that egg couldn't possibly be from any precious Spirit Beast."
"Enough."
The girl stopped the young man from speaking further. Seeing Xiao Ji becoming gloomy again, Feng Yuan glared at the young man and said,
"Pei Yu! Do you have to meddle with what hatches?!"
"I never said that. It's just a pity for all the materials you invested. If you'd converted them to money, who knows how many Eggshell Chickens you could've bought."
"None of your business! I like to hatch my own Spirit Beasts, what can you do about it!"
"Tch, don't think anyone would bother advising you if it wasn't for your talent. And don't forget, you've got to fight in next month's grade competition."
"Liu Yan, let's go!"
"Hey! Wait a minute!"
Watching the two leave, Feng Yuan, a bit peeved, turned to the hesitant Qi Chen and said,
"You're not going to also advise me against making a contract with Xiao Ji, are you?"
After hesitating for a moment, Qi Chen said,
"No, I can see you've already made up your mind, and advice would be useless. Just be sure you won't regret it."
"How could I possibly regret it? Seriously, what are those two doing? Xiao Ji, don't be upset."
Xiao Ji responded sadly, still hanging its head low, looking listless.
Seeing Feng Yuan comforting the dejected Xiao Ji, Qi Chen said helplessly,
"Zhong Liuyan and the others are just concerned about you. After all, your talent is so high..."
Seeing Feng Yuan's glare, Qi Chen swallowed his ensuing words.
In the afternoon, Feng Yuan entered the classroom with the dispirited Xiao Ji. Seeing that others wanted to say something to him, Feng Yuan glared at them fiercely, making them swallow their words unhappily and glare back at Feng Yuan.
"Are you overreacting?"
"Shut up, can't you see how heartbroken Xiao Ji is now?"
Xiao Ji let out a faint cry.
"Really, is the potential of Xiao Ji that important?! Always saying such things."
Seeing Feng Yuan still comforting Xiao Ji, Qi Chen, sitting beside him, didn't know what else to say. During the class, the teacher, noticing that many students had their own Spirit Beasts, said,
"Has everyone got their first Beast Tamer yet? Raise your hand if you have signed a Beast Tamer contract."
"Oh, quite a few of you. Here, I want to emphasize something. Although everyone has a limit of eight contracts for Beast Tamers, you must choose the strongest potential Beast you can contract with for your first one."
"Don't just choose any and sign a contract. If the Spirit Beast you've contracted with now doesn't have the strongest potential... as harsh as it may sound, please sever the contract with it before you develop feelings for its sake and your future."
As the teacher said this, he specifically glanced at Feng Yuan, who was still consoling Xiao Ji, and continued with a hint of dissatisfaction when he saw Feng Yuan not raising his head,
"Don't think that because a native companion has the random chance to evolve and surpass the potential quality that you should sign a contract with one. Evolution is not a simple matter; it takes a long time. During this period, the minuscule power your Spirit Beast can nourish you with will affect your future development."
Seeing Feng Yuan still consoling Xiao Ji, the teacher shook his head and went on,
"Keep in mind that you can only contract with a Spirit Beast if your spiritual power can accommodate the power it nourishes back to you. For most of you, apart from a few whose spiritual power can support a contract with a good-quality Spirit Beast, the rest of you can only contract with an ordinary quality beast. Your spiritual power needs to be strengthened by your Spirit Beast's nourishing power! The strength of the power nourished back by your first Beast Tamer directly determines how long it will take for you to contract with a higher-quality Spirit Beast."
At this moment, Zhong Liuyan stood up, bowed to the teacher and asked,
"What about Divine Beasts?"