Start With Contracting Sprites

In the end, there was no clear winner between Reverie Butterfly and Marionette.

— The battle arena's protective panel couldn't hold on any longer.

This was a venue for students to battle in the first place. At the start of the school's establishment, it had never crossed their minds that there would be sprites with super specifications among the students.

If it was two to three years ago, it would already be considered good if two to three entry-level sprites appeared in a batch of students.

A few years ago, it was normal for third-year students to not have entry-level sprites.

Old Chen was really surprised.

It was already her third year at An City First High.

In the previous batch, before the College Entrance Examination, there were only three official Sprite Trainers in the entire First High.

But this year, excluding Su Hao, the students Liu Ren, Li Songting and Gu Lingyao were also very outstanding. At the start of the second semester, their sprites had already broken through to entry level. Now, there were still more than three months to the College Entrance Examination. If they worked hard, the chances of them getting into a prestigious school would also be pretty high.

After the round of examination, she was very satisfied with Su Hao.

Not only did he not slack off at all, the extent of his sprite's improvement was much greater than she had ever imagined.

"That previous move was an eye-type illusion, right?"

"Yes."

Old Chen didn't ask further.

After all, she couldn't give much guidance in cultivation anymore. She could only give Su Hao some experience advice.

In her eyes, the current Reverie Butterfly already possessed extremely strong competitiveness for the College Entrance Examination.

She was looking more forward to its performance three months later.

But as a teacher, she couldn't say these words out loud, in case Su Hao became too proud or complacent.

"Your Little Fire Crow has also evolved. You have two entry-level sprites now, but you still can't let your guard down."

She said, "Apart from those top students from Sprite Trainer families and sect heirs, your opponents also include some candidates who cannot be underestimated."

Under Su Hao's somewhat surprised gaze, she said three words.

"Repeat students."

"A repeat student of the Cultural Department may not be able to achieve better results even after a year of revision, but the Sprite stream is different."

"The Sprite stream emphasizes on nurturing sprites. All contracts are made before the third year of high school. Your sprite is only cultivated for a year, while the sprites of the repeat students are cultivated for two years. Even if their efficiency is inferior to yours, their sprites are definitely not weak."

"Apart from repeat students, there are also some who contract sprites in advance or some whose families have money and connections. Their descendants don't need to wait until the legal age of 16 to contract sprites. As long as the soul power evaluation criteria is met, they can totally contract sprites at the age of 15 or 14."

Su Hao was indeed surprised.

His slightly inflated mentality completely withered.

The sense of danger increased.

Indeed, in the line of Sprite Trainers, the duration of sprite cultivation and the amount of resources consumed largely determined the strength of a sprite.

If he hadn't spent millions, he wouldn't have been able to bring out the value of the interface plan.

Perhaps the cultivation plans of those top students were not as good as his.

But with the support of their families, they had access to even more resources. It was even possible that they had high-level sprites to guide them step by step in learning unique skills and profound meanings.

They had also cultivated sprites for a longer time than him!

No, the College Entrance Examination is too difficult!

Looks like I have to speed up the formation of my battle team!

Looking at Su Hao's expression, Old Chen knew that he had listened to her words.

She was very satisfied.

Outstanding, but not complacent.

They were the teachers' favorite students.

But Old Chen knew.

The competitiveness of repeat students was, in fact, not that strong.

Most of the repeat students did not manage to enroll in Sprite Universities and this was why they had to study for a second year. According to the Dragon Nation's regulations, Sprite Stream students could only enroll for one additional year.

There were also a minority who would study for an additional year in order to enroll in a prestigious sprite school.

These people were threatening candidates on the same level as Liu Ren and Gu Lingyao.

Why would truly outstanding students waste an extra year's time revising when they could enroll in a prestigious sprite school?

The descendants of Sprite Trainer families who could contract in advance were indeed the most competitive candidates.

But most families wouldn't do that.

The third year of high school was only a year to lay the foundation. Entering university was the stage of rapid progress. Contracting in advance and then defeating a bunch of mediocre people? It was meaningless.

There are still Sprite Trainer geniuses who contracted in advance.

But those geniuses also took the College Entrance Examination and entered university in advance.

...

On the way back to class, Su Hao remembered that Liu Ren previously wanted a battle.

"What do you think? Shall we fight after class?"

Liu Ren shook his head like a rattle-drum. "Your Butterfly God has experienced a hearty battle. It's no longer suitable for another battle."

"I can use my Flaming Cloud Crow, after all, fire-element is better for warm-ups."

Liu Ren casted a glance at the Flaming Cloud Crow.

Its feathers were rich with luster, red and bright like flames, black and cold like steel.

It stood on a branch and looked straight ahead, not moving at all.

However, it gave off a vague invincible aura.

It was invincible.

Liu Ren declined decisively.

In the afternoon, Li Songting's challenge highlighted Su Hao's foresight even further.

Li Songting sent out his main force, Kungfu Pup's evolved form, Ascetic Dog—a dog-type sprite reaching an adult's chest.

Su Hao sent out Flaming Red Crow.

Liu Ren was very familiar with Li Songting's ascetic dog.

Its actions were swift. Its every punch was able to hit the opponent's flesh while its every slash could cut the water…

But Flaming Crow was faster.

The boxing master who had been painstakingly cultivating couldn't win the ghostly blades in the end.

It was badly beaten.

Li Songting and his Ascetic Dog were still full of fighting spirit. They still wanted to have a battle with Reverie Butterfly after they recovered.

"I can't do it, I can't do it."

Liu Ren looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh.

...

After taking a walk around the school, Su Hao still didn't participate in the school's training.

He just came to report his attendance and experience the long-lost campus atmosphere.

"I'm clearly just a high school student, why should I bear the loneliness that I shouldn't be experiencing at my age?"

With a tablet computer, he logged into the forum of the Union of Sprite Trainers.

"Butterfly, if I add a new partner for you, what do you hope it will be like?"

"Gurgle (๑ ° ๑)?"

"Gurgle!"

"Gurgle, gurgle. ( ̄ ̄ ̄) ̄ 」…"

It gave him a glance and flew away.

Flaming Cloud Crow was on the tree.

"Squawk, squawk?"

It tilted its head and continued to stare blankly.

Su Hao's fingers fiddled with the tablet.

Now that he had better conditions, he naturally wanted to contract sprites with higher aptitudes.

Even though no sprites were of bad quality and as long as one had resources and cultivation plans, the sprites' future was limitless.

Isn't contracting a higher starting point sprite that was easier to nurture still more attractive?

Fire Cloud Crow was a chance discovery.

While the discovery of Reverie Butterfly was luck.

Su Hao discovered that the little rascal had some extraordinary qualities.

For example: an outstanding learning ability.

It could understand most of the words in a month, and it could also operate the computer skillfully in just two months.

It knew how to draw inferences in battle. It could complete the training tasks that it was assigned to on time.

He originally thought that sprites' learning abilities were all so strong.

It was only later that he discovered that, hey, why were all the other sprites so dumb?

It must be because he nurtured the little rascal from a young age into a cultured sprite.

Moreover, he had taken a fancy to it at first glance among the vast number of Silkworm Babies and then contracted it.

As expected of me!

Su Hao felt that contracts emphasized affinity between the eyes. He scrolled through the forum with his fingers, hoping to find a sprite "fated with him".