Monster Pet Evolution

"Okay," said Gao Peng, nodding. He called up Xu Qingzhi to have her prepare a couple of ingredients for him.

Back in the Southern Sky Group's laboratory, Xu Qingzhi hung up her phone and stopped whatever she was doing, then ordered her assistant to retrieve the ingredients that Gao Peng had requested from storage.

Cao Huan was standing in the corner without a sound, staring curiously at her principal.

"Come to my lab later in the afternoon, and bring along your familiar." After saying this, Gao Peng turned around and left the place, leaving behind him an even more confused Cao Huan.

Back in school, Cao Huan later found out from one of her classmates that the school's principal was also a famous monster breeder. In the afternoon, she went to Gao Peng's lab alongside her Stormcloud Sparrow. She left the place with her Stormcloud Sparrow's appearance drastically changed. It was now a lot smaller than before, standing ten feet tall from tip to tail. Its wings had grown longer, and its plumage was now a pristine white.

When night fell, Gao Peng told the five students who were participating in this year's high school championship to stay back after class. "Try not to stress yourself out too much, and just remember to do your best out there," said Gao Peng, smiling at all five of them.

"Mr. Principal, do you think we have any chance of winning this year?" asked Wei Gongfan with a smile.

Some of the students tended to act a bit too freely in Gao Peng's presence, possibly due to the fact that he didn't seem older than them.

"You squirts are still aiming for first place? I think you're overestimating your own skill just a smidge here. I've seen the performances of the other schools in this year's event. Consider yourself lucky that you're able to enter the semifinals," said Gao Peng bluntly.

"Ah." Save for Cao Huan, the other four seemed offended by his response. They exchanged glances at each other before turning around to look at Cao Huan in unison… Cao Huan was sitting at the back of the classroom, reading a book with an impassive expression.

Gao Peng didn't say much else to the students. He had no intention of intervening in the students' preparations. Even if he were to help them win first place in this year's championship, it wouldn't do him or them much good. If anything, it would only draw unwanted attention to Tiange Academy. As the saying went, the higher one climbed, the harder one fell.

As his grandfather had put it, the purpose of these events was to train and mold these students into better trainers. There was simply no intrinsic value in rankings and titles.

To Gao Peng, the high school championship was nothing more than a venue for these children to play pretend. The only things that mattered were what they could get out of it: experience and personal growth as an aspiring monster trainer.

"Mr. Principal, I think that we were just unlucky to be matched against last year's champion. If luck is on our side this year, I believe we can easily win a spot in the top four positions," said Zhang Leda.

"Do the rest of you think that as well?" Gao Peng asked the other three.

Wang Jiujiu, Mo Yingming, and Jia Zhengjing nodded like little chicks pecking on grains of rice on the ground.

"You guys sure are confident," said Gao Peng, laughing out loud.

He couldn't be bothered with bringing down their spirits at this point. I guess being this confident in your own abilities isn't such a bad thing. Let's hope they surprise me out there.

Suddenly, Gao Peng sensed that they were being watched, and he turned to look at the window. The sky had grown dark, with the moon peeking out from behind a couple of clouds. He couldn't see much from where he was sitting, other than the streetlights shining a pale white light on the school's facade.

Gao Peng rose from his chair and walked to the window. Nothing stirred outside. Most of the students had already gone home, though some had stayed behind in the library to finish their homework and assignments. The school building opposite their classroom laid dark and empty.

He then looked out into the distance. The mountain behind the school was submerged in darkness, its outline merging completely with the night sky. Gao Peng furrowed his brow. He could feel his stalker's eyes boring into him. This sensation... it's starting to piss me off.

The five students were now looking at their principal strangely, wondering why he had suddenly walked over to the window. Being the most adventurous of the bunch, Wei Gongfan got up from his desk to try and peek out of the window on the left side of the classroom.

"Stay where you are," said Gao Peng, his tone sharp.

Wei Gongfan stopped in his tracks, wondering if he had done something wrong.

Hum— A sudden streak of white light pierced through the air from the shadows outside.

"Get back!" shouted Gao Peng. He then kicked at the wall in front of him, causing it to explode. Blam! Bricks flew out into the air, forming a somewhat flimsy line of defense against the oncoming attack.

However, they were instantly reduced to dust by the air pressure around the streak of light.

Gao Peng managed to sidestep the attack by a hair. An almost imperceptible whistle sounded close to his ear.

He was now looking straight at a huge translucent spider that was sitting quietly in the shadows. It had unleashed its attack by swinging out one of its front appendages at Gao Peng. Realizing that it had missed its target, the spider pulled its other appendage back, ready to unleash another attack on Gao Peng.

Gao Peng had no intention of taking this spider head-on. No matter how strong he was, there was no way he could survive its attacks.

Whir... A cold, metallic sound rang out in the air. In the next second, a dark form pounced on the spider from the shadows. Streaks of fluid sprayed out from the spider's back.

Two huge figures could be seen glaring at each other outside the school building. To the left stood a dark feline creature, its fur soft like cotton.

To the right stood the white translucent spider. Its innards lay exposed on the surface of its body, white blood flowing profusely from its injuries.

[Monster Name]: Moonshadow Spider

[Monster Level]: Level 55

[Monster Grade]: Perfect/Perfect

[Monster Ability]: Shadow Mastery Level 4, Moonlight Agility Level 3, Sharp Spider Claws Level 3

[Monster Attribute]: Shadow

[Monster Weakness]: Holy

[Monster Description]: A cold, calculating monster that usually lives in underground burrows. It likes to feast on the brains of other monsters. It does not like intense lights.

The forms of the two Shadow-type monsters stirred slightly before melting into the shadows around them.

Gao Peng called his students over to him before exiting the classroom in order to inspect the scene below.

"Chirrup." Upon hearing the commotion outside, Moneymaker climbed out from a wall in the corridor and stared at its master inquisitively. "Master, what are your orders?"

"Find the spider's trainer. He or she is probably hiding nearby," said Gao Peng calmly before continuing down the corridor alongside his students.

Sensing that Gao Peng wasn't in a good mood, Moneymaker quickly ran down the stairs, sniffing the air for any unusual smell. Its sense of smell was second to none. However, it was its instincts that made it an exceptional familiar. Moneymaker tore through the empty corridors swiftly and silently.

"Here? No…

"Close... very close…"

Its eyes lit up when it picked up an unusually strong scent up ahead. Found you!