31: Chapter 31 The Girl's Thanks
The night sky was like ink-soaked silk, slowly unfurling from the horizon.
Pan Xuan brought Xu Qingfang and the other three to a hot pot restaurant. They all set aside their teacher-student formalities, and the atmosphere was harmonious.
Yue Yun was ravenously hungry at the moment.
He didn't stand on ceremony with Pan Xuan, specifically ordering various meats. Soon, several large plates of meat piled up on the serving cart and the table.
"Can we really finish all this meat?"
Su Lixia didn't have a large appetite to begin with. Seeing the waiter continue to bring out more meat, she asked with a hint of uncertainty.
Xue Qin also gestured toward her own stomach.
Yue Yun looked up, a bit dazed.
"This is just for me. You guys still need to order your own."
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.
Pan Xuan looked at the meat, which was enough to last him several meals, and his eyes widened. "Are you a tiger or something, kid?"
Fortunately, his salary was high; otherwise, Yue Yun would have eaten him out of house and home.
As the aroma of meat rose from the boiling broth, everyone's appetite was whetted, and they all picked up their chopsticks to join the gluttonous feast.
Seeing the youngsters feasting heartily, a satisfied smile appeared on Pan Xuan's face, and he felt genuinely happy.
"Cheers!"
He raised his beer, and everyone else raised their coconut milk in response.
Estimating that everyone was about seventy percent full, Pan Xuan finally said, "There are two weeks left until the Campus Championship. No. 1 High School is forming an exchange team to visit other cities for study and exchange. You all should make the most of your time to synchronize and bring out everyone's strengths."
The four youngsters nodded in unison.
Pan Xuan looked at Yue Yun, who understood immediately: "Teacher, I don't know much about the format of the Campus Championship!"
Pan Xuan showed an expression that said, "You're a quick learner."
"The format of the Campus Championship is quite simple. For the team competition, the first-place winner is decided at the city level before moving on to the provincial level. Our only real opponent is No. 1 High School. Once we beat them, everything will be fine.
The individual competition is an important standard for measuring rookies. Participants go directly to the provincial level. Just do your best.
Yue Yun, you'd better give it your absolute all!"
He looked solemnly at Yue Yun. Yue Yun's originally indifferent gaze sharpened, and his heart surged with emotion.
Pan Xuan and the four youngsters raised their glasses again.
"Cheers!"
After the meal, everyone left the hot pot restaurant.
They stood by the roadside, letting the summer night breeze brush against them, carrying away the heat and leaving a touch of natural coolness.
A luxury car drove up from a distance and stopped in front of them.
An elderly butler, Uncle Zhou, got out of the car and stood beside Su Lixia with a smile, carrying a gift box.
Su Lixia looked at Yue Yun: "Thank you for saving me!"
Yue Yun waved his hand dismissively.
"No need for thanks for such a great favor; just remember to repay it manifold!"
The young girl smiled faintly.
She took the gift box from Uncle Zhou and handed it to Yue Yun, then added, fearing he might misunderstand: "I'm not saying this can repay you for saving my life; I just want you to catch up to us faster."
Yue Yun was clearly a bit surprised.
He quickly said with a sheepish grin, "I was just joking!"
"I took it seriously,"
the girl said with a half-smile.
Uncle Zhou was also very grateful: "Thank you for your help, Student Yue. This is a small token of our gratitude; please do not refuse it."
Yue Yun accepted the gift box, feeling a bit at a loss.
Xue Qin gave Yue Yun a heavy pat on the arm.
"We're off, see you tomorrow!"
She and Su Lixia got into the car and left.
Xu Qingfang explained at this point, "Su Lixia is the Young Miss of Jianghai City's Su Group. Just take what she gave you and don't overthink it."
Yue Yun relaxed a bit upon hearing this.
Pan Xuan, with a cigarette in his mouth, asked, "Those three people who ambushed you haven't been found yet. Do you want to come back to school with me tonight?"
Yue Yun refused without a second thought.
Pan Xuan didn't press further and started walking back with his hands behind his back.
"How about coming to my place?" Xu Qingfang put his arm around Yue Yun's shoulder. "My dad just got back from a Secret Realm. He's a Four-Star Beast Tamer; dealing with three Three-Star Beast Tamers would be a piece of cake for him."
"I'd rather not trouble your father."
Yue Yun thought for a moment and felt that they wouldn't move against him again so soon, so he wasn't too nervous.
"Alright, see you tomorrow!"
The two bid each other farewell.
Each scanned a shared bike and pedaled away toward their respective homes.
...
Returning to the residential building, Yue Yun released Miao Sang.
Its plump yet agile body bounded up the stairs and then squatted obediently at the door.
Yue Yun noticed a cardboard box underneath Miao Sang.
"What are you sitting on?"
"Meow?"
Miao Sang let out a cry and moved its bottom, revealing the flattened cardboard box. Its intuition told it that there was something good inside.
Yue Yun had no choice but to bring the box inside.
He sat down in the living room, and Miao Sang lay down beside him.
Man and cat together opened the box for inspection.
What met their eyes were vials of Low Grade potions the size of oral liquids, specifically the low-grade spirit-absorbing potions that Yue Yun was familiar with.
In addition, there were low-grade rock potions, low-grade life potions, and low-grade strength potions for Pet Beasts.
Yue Yun found a note left by Li Moyun at the bottom of the box.
"Sent by Teacher Li?"
He gave an embarrassed smile. Miao Sang stared intently at the potions, its mouth watering, and let out a pleasing purr.
Yue Yun rubbed Miao Sang's belly with a sigh.
The remnants of the previous potion were still continuously releasing life energy.
He said, "I just fed you a low-grade life potion the day before yesterday. The energy hasn't been fully digested yet. I'll feed you more once it is."
Miao Sang nuzzled Yue Yun with its head in an endearing way.
Yue Yun opened Su Lixia's gift box. An invisible wave of energy instantly spread outward, revealing a peculiar potion.
The potion was in a test tube and was larger than the others.
The liquid was a deep dark red. After a slight shake, it bloomed like fireworks inside the test tube, with red and yellow colors constantly diffusing, vanishing, and reappearing.
"What kind of potion is this?"
Yue Yun picked up the never-before-seen potion and began to study it.
He immediately snapped a photo and sent it to Pan Xuan. Before long, he received a call back from Pan Xuan, the speed of which was startling.
"That's dragon blood potion no. 14," Pan Xuan said with a chuckle. "Dragon blood potions are products of the Huaxia Research Institute. They are rare and often unavailable even if you have the money; ordinary people find them very hard to obtain."
"The effects of this specific potion are relatively mild, making it suitable for low-star Beast Tamers like you. Feeding it to an Earth Spirit Cat can increase its obedience and boost all its stats by 10%."
Miao Sang's obedience to Yue Yun had already reached its limit.
Although a 10% boost to all stats seemed small, it could save a significant amount of resources and shorten the time needed to train an Earth Spirit Cat.
It could even be said to directly increase Yue Yun's combat power by 10%.
On the other end of the line, he continued, "This potion only requires one day to digest, which is perfect for you."
Yue Yun looked at Miao Sang and saw it cowering beside him, intimidated by the pressure of dragon blood potion no. 14, yet its beautiful cat eyes were full of greed.
It was both cowardly and gluttonous.
"You little glutton!"
Yue Yun scolded it with a smile and fed the potion to Miao Sang.
After consuming the potion, a faint blood-red light emanated from Miao Sang's body. The immense power caused it to fall into a deep sleep while simultaneously flushing through its blocked meridians, making the flow of energy smoother.
Yue Yun looked at the sleeping Miao Sang and amusedly plucked at its whiskers. Seeing no reaction, he placed it back into its cat bed.