Ch. 256 - Like a Lonely Patient Pulling Itself Apart

At that moment, the giant golden Slime's eyes opened, still delightfully dopey.

But its aura had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.

It had become a Black Iron-rank contract spirit!

However, it still wasn't over!

Five meters in front of Chen Shu, a massive cloud of white mist swirled, impossible to see through.

This wasn't heaven-and-earth spiritual energy — this was a phenomenon unique to spatial passages.

His second contract spirit was about to cross over!

At that moment, the senior-year students, the examiners, and the Spirit Suppression soldiers all fell silent, their gazes locked onto that cloud of white mist.

A new contract spirit was like the lottery results being announced — it made your heart race with uncontrollable excitement.

"What kind of contract spirit will the Nanjiang Bandit get? A-rank? S-rank? Could his second one be SS-rank right off the bat?"

"Very possible — after all, his poop monster is super-S-rank."

The crowd buzzed with speculation, endlessly guessing what contract spirit might appear.

Chen Shu had only shown his Potential Rating to the examiners — naturally, the others couldn't see it.

By now, the vast majority would rather call his Slime an S-rank poop monster.

After all, an F-rank contract spirit beating the crap out of S-ranks was just too hard to accept.

"It's almost here! Almost! I'm suddenly so hyped!"

Xu Xingxing shouted at the top of his lungs: "Push, Chen Pi! Push harder! It's almost out!"

Chen Shu's body shuddered and he nearly collapsed onto the ground. What the fuck... 'push'?!

By this point, he had already completed his breakthrough and had become a Black Iron-rank Beast Tamer himself. His physical fitness had also been significantly enhanced.

He stroked the golden Slime, now a full five meters in size.

Just as he had expected, it had only gone up one Potential Rating, becoming a D-rank contract spirit. Its base attributes had improved, but unfortunately it hadn't comprehended any new skills or talents.

"Could it really be a Divine Beast?"[4]

Chen Shu's face was full of anticipation, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on the cloud of white mist.

Finally, an incredibly majestic head slowly emerged, and appeared before everyone's eyes.

Ye Qing's gaze turned toward it and he spoke:

"A wolf-type contract spirit? Then its rating won't be too bad!"

Sure enough, a "wolf" stepped out of the white mist, its back black and its underside white — it looked incredibly handsome.

A smile tugged at the corner of Chen Shu's mouth. Putting everything else aside, at least it was way better-looking than Little Yellow!

However, the moment his gaze met those eyes, his heart skipped a beat...

"Those eyes, filled to the brim with stories... why do I feel..."

Chen Shu swallowed. He wasn't quite ready to accept what he was thinking.

The next moment.

That "wolf" burst into motion — still as a maiden one moment, darting like a fleeing rabbit the next. Its eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Awooo awooo!!"

Its four legs kept scrabbling at the grass, its body bouncing back and forth like it was having a seizure...

"Uh... this... don't tell me..."

Everyone immediately understood — this looked an awful lot like a Blue Star husky...[1]

"Awooo awoo!!"

Chen Shu's new contract spirit bounced around, then started running circles around the crowd — clearly bursting with excess energy.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Chen Shu rubbed his forehead. He felt like he could barely draw breath.

After a long moment, he steadied himself and opened up the contract spirit panel.

Name: Elemental BeastPersonality: Lively, CleverAttribute: All-Round TypeSpecies: Monster BeastTalent: [Elemental Mastery: +3% additional damage to any elemental skill]Skill: [Fireball Barrage Lv1: Fires five consecutive fireballs at the enemy]Potential Rating: DContract Host: Chen Shu (Black Iron One-Star Beast Tamer, Beast Taming Talent: Common)

"This isn't how the script goes!"

Chen Shu wailed at the sky. Where were the promised dragon and phoenix Divine Beasts? Or at least a White Tiger or Qilin or something![4]

And what he fucking got was an Elemental Beast with the personality of a husky![1]

"Chen Pi..."

Xu Xingxing stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and ultimately chose to stay silent.

"It's fine, cheer up!"

Xie Sunan walked over too and said, "Contract spirits are definitely otherworldly creatures. They're different from Blue Star's dumb huskies — their intelligence is much higher."

"Ha... ha..."

Chen Shu let out a dry laugh, pointed ahead, and said, "You sure about that?"

"Awo! Awo!"

They saw that husky lying on the grass, continuously biting its own hind leg with its mouth while simultaneously kicking its own mouth with that same leg.

The two sides had begun their confrontation...

Like a lonely patient pulling itself apart...[2]

"Uh..."

The crowd glanced at the Slime sleeping soundly to the side, then looked at the husky — and instantly felt their brains short-circuit...

Was there not a single normal creature among them?!

"Awooo!"

Suddenly, the husky bounced right back up, and a flash of red light gleamed from those wise eyes.

In an instant, five scorching fireballs shot out!

"What insane skill-casting speed!"

Everyone's hearts jolted. Sure, it looked adorably dumb.

But this husky before them was a Black Iron-rank contract spirit — not something their own contract spirits could compare to.

The Elemental Beast's constitution wasn't strong. It wasn't good at melee combat. Its talent and skill were fairly average. Its intelligence was deeply concerning...

But every loss came with a gain — its hidden talent was that it possessed an extremely fast skill-casting speed.

This was also its only advantage...

"You little punk, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you!"

Ye Qing's anger-laced voice rang out. The five fireballs' target was none other than that Gold-rank Black Bear's butt...

The damage wasn't high, but the humiliation was off the charts!

"Uh, Elder Ye, really, it's not me — this thing is kind of uncontrollable!"

Chen Shu's mouth twitched. The husky wasn't just low on intelligence — its obedience was low too. It had pretty much cornered the market on flaws.

Left with no choice, he could only forcibly recall the husky back into his Beast Taming Space for now.

Chen Shu sighed, looking at everyone's strange expressions.

He suddenly felt like his flex had failed...

Under normal circumstances, everyone's eyes should have been full of envy. But now, no matter how he looked at it, all he could see was a sea of pity...

"Alright! The gaokao continues!"

Ye Qing's expression turned stern as he put an end to this farce.

The proctor in charge of recording was about to write down "D."

Chen Shu immediately spoke up to stop him: "Hey, wait!"

The teacher looked startled. "Hm? You underwent an over-rank evolution?"

"No — don't I have two of them?"

Chen Shu displayed the Elemental Beast's — that is, the husky's — panel again.

"Two Ds, added together — according to Chen's Algorithm,[3] that equals SSS. Go ahead and write it."

"???"

Everyone's faces were covered in question marks. The hell are you doing, making up your own score right here?

Chen Shu looked utterly matter-of-fact. His algorithm, his rules![3]

A powerfully built man walked over and spoke: "According to Gaokao Rule 3, Beast Tamers above the Foundation level are evaluated based on their highest-rated contract spirit!"

He was also one of the chief examiners, the same rank as Ye Qing, just not from Nanjiang City.

"Oh, right."

That teacher wrote down a "D."

"Wait — I'm Black Iron, no preferential treatment?!"

Chen Shu's eyes went wide as he looked at Ye Qing, hoping to squeeze out a higher score. Two Ds — he should at least get an A...

[1] 二哈/哈士奇 (Èr Hā/Hāshíqí): The Siberian Husky (nicknamed 二哈, "dumb husky") is one of China's biggest animal internet memes — famous for destroying homes (拆家), dramatic howling, and chaotic stupidity despite looking majestic. Chen Shu receiving an Elemental Beast with ALL these husky traits (when he hoped for a divine dragon or phoenix) is peak comedic disappointment.

[2] 孤独患者 (Gūdú Huànzhě): "Lonely Patient" — lyric from Eason Chan's (陈奕迅) 2011 hit single of the same name. Eason Chan is one of the most celebrated Chinese-language singers, often called the "God of Song." The lyric "像个孤独患者自我拉扯" ("like a lonely patient pulling at themselves") describes emotional self-torment; here it's applied literally to a husky biting its own leg while its leg kicks itself — transforming poetic angst into slapstick dog comedy.

[3] 陈式算法 (Chén Shì Suànfǎ): "Chen's Algorithm" parodies the Chinese academic tradition of naming theorems after their discoverers (like 勾股定理/Pythagorean theorem). Chen Shu invents his own formula — D + D = SSS — dressing up absurd self-justification in pseudo-academic language.

[4] 神兽 (Shénshòu): Divine beasts from Chinese mythology, most famously the Four Symbols (四象): Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise — directional guardians dating to the Han dynasty. Chen Shu hoping for one of these legendary creatures makes the D-rank husky-like Elemental Beast an especially crushing disappointment.