Kent was pleasantly surprised to find that Wukong had actually managed to catch a Phantom Bug Spirit. He quickly put the bug into the cage on his back, a special cage distributed by Mr. He, the class supervisor, for storing the captured creatures.
"Show me how you caught it, Wukong," Kent mentally communicated with his beast.
Wukong, delighted, leaped lightly, grabbed a vine, and swung himself up into a massive tree, climbing rapidly with both hands and feet. Within moments, he was over a hundred meters high.
Although Bullhorn Mountain was only a small-scale secret realm, it was home to many towering ancient trees, with some reaching over a hundred meters. It would take several people to encircle a single tree.
Without special abilities, Kent would find it impossible to climb these trees, and could only rely on high jumps to reach the branches.
From the heights, Wukong's eyes sparkled with golden light as he spotted something. He pointed toward a direction, then jumped from the top of the tree, using several vines for cushioning, before swiftly swinging to the ground.
Kent followed, and soon saw Wukong land on a large leaf. With a quick sweep, he caught the Phantom Bug Spirit that was about to escape.
Kent was amazed by Wukong's agility. He had never expected his beast to be so swift and skilled at capturing creatures. It brought a smile to Kent's face.
The purpose of this trial was to train the students' skills, and Wukong's abilities made capturing the Phantom Bug Spirit look easy.
However, Kent didn't take the bug right away. Since it was a trial, he intended to take it seriously to hone his own skills. Even if he didn't manage to catch a single bug by the end, the most important thing was to engage fully in the process and improve himself.
At first, Kent didn't know how to approach the trial, but after watching Wukong's technique, he had an idea. Monkeys, especially in dense forests, were naturally agile, so Kent decided to learn Wukong's movements, including acrobatic flips in mid-air.
After a moment's thought, Kent decided to release the first Phantom Bug Spirit, stow the cage in his spatial bag, and asked Wukong to teach him the techniques.
Wukong, of course, had no problem with this. He began teaching Kent diligently.
However, when they came across a huge tree laden with fruit, Wukong's eyes lit up, and for a moment, he ignored Kent and focused solely on harvesting the fruit.
Wukong darted up and down the tree with incredible speed, using both hands and feet, and even his tail for leverage.
Soon, the tree was full of Wukong's shadow as he plucked fruit in various creative ways, tasted a few, and found them delicious. He then started throwing the fruits down to Kent, who caught them eagerly.
Kent treated this as part of his training, trying to catch the large fruits with his acrobatic skills, just as Wukong had done. As he worked, he began to incorporate some of Wukong's techniques into his own movements.
The tree had over a thousand fruits, and Kent had never seen or tasted anything like them. He couldn't resist sampling one and found it delicious. The more he ate, the more energized he felt.
The entire afternoon passed with Wukong and Kent entirely focused on gathering fruits instead of catching bugs.
Finally, Kent had to signal for them to stop picking. There was simply no more room in his spatial bag.
Wukong was disappointed but soon brightened up. He began stuffing his face with the fruits, his stomach growing round with each bite.
Kent, on the other hand, observed the notifications flashing across Wukong's attribute panel.
Ding! Notification: Your beast, Wukong, has eaten a Longyuan Fruit, gaining 1000 experience points.
Ding! Notification: Your beast, Wukong, has eaten a Longyuan Fruit, gaining 1000 experience points.
Ding! Notification: Your beast, Wukong, expresses joy after eating, gaining 50 experience points.
Ding! Notification: Your beast, Wukong, is very happy, gaining 6 loyalty points.
Kent stared in amazement, unable to believe his eyes. This was truly remarkable—Wukong gained experience just from eating fruit!
After understanding how this worked, Kent laughed, "Haha, I didn't expect you to be such a Buddha-like monkey."
With so much experience accumulated, Kent decided it was time for Wukong to level up.
Wukong glowed with three flashes of gold, signaling that he had reached level 13, his size increasing significantly and his belly shrinking.
Kent looked up at the sky. This space didn't have the cycle of day and night, nor did it have sun or moon, so the environment remained unchanged.
However, Kent set an alarm on his identity wristband, and by six o'clock, he and Wukong headed back to the camp.
When they arrived, the first group had mostly returned, and they were showing off their captures to each other.
Leng Zimu, who had many followers due to his influential family background, had caught the most, with nine Phantom Bug Spirits.
Zhao Mengxi came second, looking pristine and clean despite the trials, having caught six.
The third place was a group of eight commoners who had managed to catch five.
Zhao Zhi had ventured alone, and though he wasn't part of a team, he managed to catch one.
When Kent returned, many people turned their gaze to his cage, only to find it empty, prompting laughter and mockery.
Leng Zimu sneered, "Kent, you're a joke. You thought you could handle this on your own, but look at you—didn't catch a single one! I bet you thought you were some expert, but you couldn't even capture a bug. Pathetic."
Even Zhao Zhi, in last place, looked smug and mocked, "You clearly overestimated yourself. Do you really think catching a Phantom Bug Spirit is that easy? It's almost a waste for you to be here. Why don't you just leave and wait for us outside?"
Kent glanced at them but said nothing. Instead, he walked over to Zhao Mengxi and said, "Goddess, how about selling me a few of your Phantom Bug Spirits? I don't want to keep hearing people talk behind my back."
Zhao Mengxi's eyes flashed with amusement as she lightly laughed, "I thought you had transcended beyond such trivial matters. A mere mortal like you shouldn't care about their disrespect."
Kent sighed dramatically, "Alas, I'm a fallen celestial being, doomed to stay in this mortal world, forced to dwell with the goddess of this realm."
Zhao Mengxi blushed slightly from Kent's teasing, but knowing she couldn't win this verbal battle, she took out three Phantom Bug Spirits and, with an eye roll, handed them to him, "Here, take them."
Kent grinned as he accepted them, then raised the bugs in front of the sneering Leng Zimu and Zhao Zhi, playfully saying, "Ah, life is so hard."
This remark sent the other men into fits of rage, and even Mr. He couldn't help but twitch his face, thinking, What does he mean by this? He's hanging out with the goddess, and she's even giving him her catch, yet he still acts like life is tough. He's really asking for a beating.