"The principal wants to see me?"
Chen Xing was somewhat surprised to hear the homeroom teacher's words; after pondering for a moment, he couldn't recall doing anything out of the ordinary recently.
The sudden request from the principal must have had its reason, and the only "big event" lately had been the monthly exam.
"Principal Xue, the student is here."
"Come in."
Entering the principal's office.
The spacious office, spanning several hundred square meters, was lavishly decorated. An entire wall was lined with bookshelves brimming with books, and in the center of the room, a middle-aged man was freely brandishing a writing brush at a desk, energetically creating a splash-ink painting.
In a corner of the room sat a large, antique pendulum clock, its pendulum swinging left and right, ticking and tocking rhythmically.
On the other side, a spacious area featured artificial mountains and flowing water, where an enormous turtle lay in a pond.
The turtle's shell, about two meters in diameter, shone with a slick gloss, dark as if polished, as the creature lay motionless amidst the artificial landscaping.
Putting down his writing brush, Xue Jinbao looked at his work with satisfaction.
Not bad; he was in a good state today and had produced a fine piece.
"Come, Director Sun, Xiao Chen, have a look at my work and tell me what you think."
Director Sun quickly stepped forward and couldn't help but exclaim after glimpsing the artwork on the desk, "What a divine stroke, Principal, this painting is extraordinary."
Chen Xing secretly snickered, thinking that Director Sun's flattery was way too exaggerated. He walked over for a look and saw that the painting on the rice paper depicted a group of four spirited horses.
The lead horse faced the front, its hooves capturing the essence of motion; three horses followed behind it, with the transition from dry to wet ink appearing natural and effortlessly conveyed, as if the horses in the painting could leap forth at any moment.
Initially suspecting that Director Sun was simply brown-nosing, he now recognized that Principal Xue indeed had quite the talent.
Chen Xing cautiously complimented, "The principal's painting is quite good, it looks almost the same as those illustrations in books."
"Our principal is also the chairman of the Jincheng Calligraphy and Painting Association; it's possible that the illustrations you've seen were done by the principal himself," Director Sun added from the side.
Xue Jinbao chuckled lightly, waving his hand dismissively, "Vice-chairman, alright, Old Sun, you can leave now."
"Yes, Principal."
Director Sun left the office, closing the door behind him.
"Chen Xing, could you show me your Beast Taming?" the principal asked.
Chen Xing summoned Taotie; the moment Taotie appeared in the room, the huge turtle that had been lying quietly in the pond stealthily extended its head out of the water, its closed nostrils opening to take in a breath of air before closing and submerging once again.
With his back turned towards the pond, Chen Xing did not notice this scene; the principal's gaze shifted from the pond and he felt reassured.
It seemed Chen's Beast Taming was indeed naturally developed, not enhanced by any illegal hormones or doping agents.
Xue Jinbao nodded and said, "Not bad, quite spirited. This Salty Bay Crocodile of yours has awakened a passive skill; it should stand out in certain exams."
"Originally, the reward for ranking first in the monthly exam for your grade was 10 bottles of Grade C universal reagent, but I've decided to increase the amount to 15 bottles."
"Thank you, Principal!" Chen Xing expressed his gratitude.
Seeing Chen Xing's appreciative attitude, Xue Jinbao nodded with satisfaction. His motive was also self-serving; naturally, he didn't want to cultivate an ingrate.
"We compared your results with those of students from other major high schools nationwide who trained the same species of Beast Taming in previous years. Your Beast Taming ranked 987th, which means there's still significant room for improvement."
"I'll work hard," Chen Xing thought, but inside he was considering that Taotie had been eating the beginner-level meat pet food for not even half a month. If he had started feeding it from the first day he got it, its ranking would probably have risen even higher.
Xue Jinbao continued, "In the skill scoring, the passive skill added 1000 points. The fact that you entered the top thousand is largely thanks to your Beast Taming's passive skill.
At the 5 Energy Level stage, apart from passive and innate skills, a Beast Taming can only possess a maximum of intermediate skills. Intermediate skills are only worth 300 points, and your Beast Taming's energy level isn't advantageous, as in the weighted score, the energy level is considered slightly more important than earlier factors like weight and body length."
"Next month's monthly exam will still be a physical check, and I saw that other Salty Bay Crocodiles that ranked in the top thousand last month have reached over 12 Energy Levels in their second month, with even the top hundred achieving 15 Energy Levels and mastering three skills."
To reach 15 Energy Levels in only two months?
"Of course, don't feel too much pressure. This ranking includes all students from the past thirty-three years; the earliest batch might even be older than your father. On average, making it into the top hundred is roughly equivalent to being in the top three amongst the nationwide students training Salty Bay Crocodiles each year."
"Although the Salty Bay Crocodile is only ninth in the national ranking for free Beast Taming, it is the only amphibious Beast Taming to make it into the top ten, and one of the only two aquatic Beast Tamings there; its popularity is still quite high."
Xue Jinbao went on to say, "This time your Beast Taming was lucky enough to awaken a passive skill. But you can't always rely on luck. Once your Beast Taming reaches 10 Energy Levels, come back to my office, and I will have something good for you."
Chen Xing had some guesses about the principal's intentions.
"Thank you, Principal," Chen Xing acknowledged, understanding the implication and bowing respectfully to the principal.
The principal nodded secretly in approval, "Work hard on training your Beast Taming; our school has plenty of opportunities. If you have any difficulties in life or studies, feel free to come to me."
Returning to the classroom and after school, Chen Xing went to the academic affairs office to collect the Grade C universal reagents.
Back home, he opened the black box containing fifteen bottles of ruddy-brown transparent glass reagents.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination... Chen Xing felt that the glass bottle seemed less premium than the one his sister had given him.
But it's just a packaging bottle and shouldn't mean much.
He searched online and found that this was the Grade C universal nutritional reagent openly sold by Great Xia's First Laboratory, priced at 4,999 yuan per bottle.
He had never tried such expensive stuff before.
To check its effectiveness, Chen Xing had specially not given Taotie pet food tonight, only a bottle of the Grade C reagent.
He was also curious to see how his pet food compared with the reagent.
It was his first time giving Taotie a commercially sold reagent; the ones his sister had given before were unlabeled products without any brand.
Overnight passed, and the next morning, Chen Xing measured Taotie's body length with a tape measure.
141.2 cm.
It had grown 4.6 cm since yesterday.
Compared to his own pet food... the improvement was so much less?
Could this be a fake drug?