Murphy's Law had struck again… Lin Guang let out a quiet sigh and turned his head. Standing before him were Wang Dawei and the chubby Deng Yifeng, both wearing expressions of utter disbelief.
These two were the type to vanish the moment class ended. Now they had already gotten their food and were looking for seats.
"Holy crap, did you finally figure things out? So you turned down all those girls last semester not because you were focused on studying, but because your standards were just that high, huh?!"
Deng Yifeng's eyes were wide as saucers, darting back and forth between Lin Guang and W—so wide, in fact, that it was the first time Lin Guang had ever seen his eyes push past the surrounding fat.
Then he gave a thumbs-up. "Gotta admit though—she's top-tier among top-tier beauties!"
After the initial shock wore off, Wang Dawei snapped back to his senses, a sly grin flashing across his face. "Well, well, Lin Guang. Keeping a low profile while secretly getting yourself a girlfriend outside school? And you even snuck her in here? If you don't want me reporting this to Ouyang Wei, you're covering my meals starting tomorrow."
Lin Guang looked completely speechless, but Wang Dawei seemed to take that the wrong way. He chuckled and was about to keep running his mouth when Deng Yifeng dragged him away, muttering something about not being a third wheel.
Watching them leave, W tilted her head. "Your… tongue? That's a word, right? What were they saying?"
"It's 'classmates.'" Lin Guang corrected.
"Right, my bad for being uncultured. So what did they say?"
"Nothing much. Just saying you're pretty."
He toned it down a bit—telling the full truth would've sounded more like teasing.
"Complimenting a Sarkaz?" W raised a brow. Her instincts told her he wasn't telling the whole story. "Are they stupid, or are you messing with me?"
"They're not the type to flatter strangers."
Her amber eyes narrowed slightly. "You think so too?"
"Yeah." Lin Guang nodded honestly.
From a purely visual standpoint, she was indeed flawless.
It was just… her lifestyle made it hard to treat her as the opposite sex.
"…Tch. Boring. What a peaceful era."
Back in Kazdel, no one cared what you looked like.
She clicked her tongue, looking indifferent—but as she glanced at Lin Guang's profile, a subtle, unfamiliar feeling stirred within her.
Since Terra lifeforms weren't officially listed in the Spirit Beast Index, there was naturally no scientifically optimized diet for them. Lin Guang had to pick suitable dishes for W himself, though thankfully she wasn't picky.
In the end, her lunch consisted of a large plate of chili pork belly and a big carton of milk.
Even without using the all-knowing system, Lin Guang could tell from the unshaven bristles on the pork skin that it came from a Steel Pig—a white-grade spirit beast. The magatama-shaped red fruits were from the gray-grade Explosive Pepper Vine, and the milk came from a gray-grade Sweet Milk Cow, all around level 5.
The cafeteria only served white-grade ingredients once a week, so W had gotten lucky. And Class 1 students got an additional 50% discount—though takeaway wasn't allowed.
Steel Pig meat was rich in life energy, Explosive Pepper fruits contained abundant fire-element aether, and Sweet Milk helped protect the stomach from the effects of that volatile fire aether.
Still, after tasting it, W gave her verdict: "The effects are decent, but the cooking sucks."
"You're basically getting this for free. Don't complain." Lin Guang replied.
After lunch, the two strolled around the spacious plaza in front of the cafeteria to digest. Around them, plenty of students were spending time with their spirit beasts or chatting in groups.
First-year students mostly talked about how to raise their newly contracted beasts. Second- and third-years had broader topics—occasionally mentioning the wilderness, secret realms, or school team trials.
Lin Guang even spotted Wang Dawei bragging to a girl from Class 2 about how rare and powerful his bird was, and how he had overcome countless hardships to capture and contract it.
They wandered aimlessly for about ten minutes before Lin Guang noticed three students walking straight toward him.
Leading them was He Shenghuang, with two lackeys flanking him as usual.
Shenghuang first glanced at W in surprise, then quickly shifted his gaze back to Lin Guang. A polite smile sat on his lips—but it felt more forced than genuine.
That wasn't surprising.
His father was the general manager of Zheng Sheng City's Stock Exchange—a true second-generation rich kid. He was also highly intelligent, with a green-grade spirit talent—one in a hundred—and had always been a standout genius.
But high school had changed everything.
He ran into Lin Guang.
At the entrance assessment, Lin Guang was identified as having a blue-grade talent—meaning one in a thousand, a true prodigy.
Then came the first placement test—Lin Guang scored full marks in the written exam, shocking both He Shenghuang and the teachers.
This sparked the teachers' competitive spirit. The exams got harder and harder, and while they eventually managed to stop Lin Guang from getting perfect scores, the gap between him and He Shenghuang only grew wider.
That's when He Shenghuang finally realized why the difference in their first test had only been six points—it was simply because the total score was capped at 120.
Eventually, he even earned the nickname "eternal second place."
For a proud sixteen-year-old rich kid, pretending not to care about that was impossible.
The two rarely interacted. But given today's timing, Lin Guang already knew what he wanted.
Eye contact—time to fight!
"Want a match? The Spirit Tamer way?" Lin Guang asked first, phrasing it in a way W would understand.
Shenghuang's smile instantly stiffened. His mouth opened, but no words came out for a moment.
"Huh?!"
Since Lin Guang didn't lower his voice, Wang Dawei caught the scene from a distance. He immediately ditched the girl he was talking to and rushed over, eyes wide.
"He Shenghuang, have some shame, will you?! Lin Guang just contracted his spirit beast, and you've had yours for half a year already! There's at least a five or six level gap! And you're challenging him? Picking on someone weaker? Why don't you go fight the second-years instead?!"
By now, He Shenghuang had recovered from his surprise. His smile returned, but deep in his eyes flickered a faint sense of superiority as he looked at Wang Dawei.