Chapter 16: I Want Them All!
Just like that, they trained for another half hour or more, and Jin Rui collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.
Liu Hao walked over, picked up Jin Rui, fed him some nutrient solution, and then took him back into the spiritual consciousness space.
Big Willow’s condition was still okay, but the sky was gradually darkening, so it seemed today’s training could only end here.
Ge Bai also called Big Willow and Little Peach back into the spiritual consciousness space, and didn’t forget to tighten the cap on the nutrient solution that Little Peach had sucked on for half the afternoon without finishing and put it away.
The two then walked toward the Welfare Institute.
Practicing skills solo was less efficient than sparring, and Ge Bai glanced at the Spirit Plant Cultivation Atlas, clearly noticing that in the final sparring stage, the Wind Blade skill proficiency had increased extremely quickly.
At this point, it was already [Skills: Willow Whip-Proficient (21/200); Wind Blade-Proficient (119/200)]
Jin Rui’s stamina and energy were far from matching Big Willow’s; he still needed to find a sparring partner for Big Willow.
As she walked, Ge Bai pondered in her mind.
Spirit Plant training halls were rare, but Spirit Beast training halls were plentiful.
Ge Bai planned to go to Shangwu Street, where martial arts schools gathered, after school tomorrow.
Yes, the Spiritual Consciousness Development Test and Affinity Attribute Test were both scheduled for the weekend, so tomorrow these third-year junior high students had to attend school normally.
There was less than a month left until the end of interstellar compulsory education.
Starting tomorrow, the school would arrange the compulsory education final exam, fill out volunteer forms, prepare for special recruitment registration, and conduct student diversion.
Ge Bai went through that process in her mind, knowing it would be full of troubles.
Take it one step at a time.
She clenched her fist tightly, her nails digging deep into her flesh without her noticing.
“Jinggang No. 1 Middle School, scholarship, special recruitment—I want them all!”
——
The next day, Ge Bai, Wu Da Mi, and Liu Hao went out together as usual.
They all attended Chongming District Public Junior High School, but had never been in the same class.
“Ge Bai! I missed you so much!”
A short-haired, slightly chubby girl saw Ge Bai enter the classroom and happily waved at her.
This was He Le Yao, Ge Bai’s desk mate for three years of junior high, with average grades and an especially cheerful personality.
“I already heard—your Spiritual Consciousness Development Level is close to 10%! That’s really amazing!”
As soon as Ge Bai reached her desk, He Le Yao quickly took her backpack and stuffed it into the desk pocket for her.
She kept talking nonstop around her.
“Let me tell you, Jiang Yan from the next class heard about your Spiritual Consciousness Development Level and turned green with jealousy.”
Over three years of junior high, Ge Bai’s grades were excellent, always ranking in the top two in the year.
Jiang Yan from the next class was too.
But unlike Ge Bai from the Welfare Institute, he came from an extremely wealthy family—a rich young master who was arrogant and exceptionally hardworking.
Unfortunately, he was always surpassed by Ge Bai in everything.
Over three years, Jiang Yan couldn’t beat Ge Bai in exams or fights.
Even flaunting his wealth ostentatiously had no effect; Ge Bai wouldn’t even glance at him.
Rumor had it that Jiang Yan confessed to Ge Bai and was completely ignored, after which the rich young master turned dark and targeted Ge Bai everywhere, always seeing her as his arch-rival.
Of course, He Le Yao had asked Ge Bai to confirm the truth of this gossip, and Ge Bai had just rolled her eyes at her.
Seeing He Le Yao’s schadenfreude expression, Ge Bai couldn’t help but interject.
“Alright, there are plenty of people in the city with high Spiritual Consciousness Development Levels—not just one or two, nothing that exaggerated.”
“How many junior highs are there in the whole city! How many students! Our school probably has just two or three!”
Ge Bai shook her head, not wanting to pay her any mind.
He Le Yao leaned in closer, scrutinizing Ge Bai’s face carefully, and said tentatively.
“They also say it’s such a pity for you—no Spirit Beast affinity, so you can only become a Spirit Planter.”
After saying that, He Le Yao paused, saw no reaction from Ge Bai, and continued rummaging through her backpack and drawer, getting out the things needed for class.
She quietly breathed a sigh of relief, slapped her thigh, and deliberately changed the subject.
“I don’t think it’s a pity at all—what’s wrong with Spirit Plants?”
“My dad, my mom, and me—we’re all Spirit Planters in our family.”
“Later, we can contract a few pretty ornamental Spirit Plants together and do stage design or something—wouldn’t that be great! Pays really well.”
“Several rising first-line young stars lately are all Spirit Planters, starting from stage design and extras!”
This had actually always been He Le Yao’s dream; she loved chasing stars and had researched this deeply.
What He Le Yao said was indeed a good choice for many Spirit Planters.
Although technology was very advanced with realistic special effects, in an era of maxed-out tech, people preferred real things even more.
Some Spirit Planters seized this trend, contracting and cultivating ornamental Spirit Plants, participating in film and TV set design, providing dazzling background effects on stages and at large events, making a fortune.
Now it had developed to the point where extras with ornamental Spirit Plants were prioritized.
Actors alone aren’t enough on stage; they need Spirit Plant coordination too, which isn’t easy.
As a girl who loved chasing stars, this was a dream He Le Yao had pondered for many years.
They were close, and she knew Ge Bai wanted to become a Beast Tamer.
Over the years, the effort Ge Bai put into Spirit Beast types, Beast Taming methods, and meditation training—she had seen it all.
Seeing Ge Bai’s dream shattered, she felt really bad inside.
Today, she was not only deliberately joking around and acting casual to cheer Ge Bai up.
She was also sincerely willing to share half her dream with Ge Bai.
How could Ge Bai not see through He Le Yao’s antics? She was deeply touched.
She deliberately lifted her chin, put on a tsundere face as she looked at He Le Yao, and said in a pretentious tone.
“Hmph~ I don’t want to chase stars with you—Spirit Planters can be awesome too, you know!”
With that, she slapped He Le Yao on the other thigh.
He Le Yao jolted from the slap, grinned in pain, couldn’t help but retaliate, and the two laughed and goofed around.
After a while, He Le Yao seemed to remember something and asked, “Did you contract a Spirit Plant? What variety? An auxiliary Spirit Plant? Devil Vine or Flame Pillar?”
Ge Bai shook her head.
“It’s a Weeping Ancient Willow.”
He Le Yao’s face turned constipated upon hearing those words.
Ge Bai was about to explain in detail when she saw the homeroom teacher Old Qian carrying a water cup and a stack of blank booklets, sauntering into the classroom.
The originally noisy and chaotic class instantly quieted down a lot.
Old Qian set the water cup and booklets on the lectern, picked up the pointer and tapped the blackboard, and everyone quieted down obediently.
Cough cough, as always, Old Qian cleared his throat before speaking.
“Last weekend, the Spiritual Consciousness Development Level test results and affinity test results for the students have been fed back to the school by the testing center.”
“Overall, our class did quite well.”
“All 55 students in the class have Spiritual Consciousness Development Levels above 2%, 21 students reached 5%. All students’ Spirit Beast or Spirit Plant affinities are above the up to standard level—this score is first in the whole school!”
Wow! Applause and cheers erupted in the classroom.
Old Qian smiled with pursed lips, letting everyone cheer for a few seconds, then raised both hands and pressed down, signaling quiet.
“Also, there’s another piece of good news!”
“Our classmate Ge Bai has a Spiritual Consciousness Development Level close to 10%, ranking first in the school and in the top 50 among all students who took the test citywide.”
“Let’s congratulate classmate Ge Bai for winning honor for the school.”
Although quite a few students had heard this news in the past couple of days, everyone still turned their gaze to Ge Bai.
Some curious, some jealous, some pitying, some disdainful.
But the applause was still very enthusiastic—after all, for the students, no chance to make a racket would be missed.
