It's all up to luck, I'll do my best, Chen Shu replied.
He didn't care too much about the advanced training class for the third year of high school. It would be great if he could get in, but it didn't matter if he couldn't, as he had the system.
"Mom, Dad, why aren't you concerned about my grades?" Zhang Dali, standing beside them, said with dissatisfaction.
"I'm your son, aren't I? My final exams are over, and you don't have any expectations?"
"Your grades have always been stable, what's there to ask about," Zhang Dali's father, Zhang Feng, said. "Could it be that this time you have a chance to aim for second to last?"
"Well, not really," Zhang Dali admitted. "I just want you to ask."
Zhang Feng shook his head and chuckled. "Forget it. You've never disappointed me in disappointing me."
Zhang Dali suddenly thought of something and said, "Oh right, Mom and Dad, I'm turning eighteen soon and I want to live alone to experience independence."
"Huh? You have this realization?"
Zhang Feng's eyes widened as he scrutinized his son, finding it hard to believe.
"Of course, I'm your son after all!"
Zhang Dali proudly patted his chest and said, "Mom and Dad, I've already packed your luggage. You can take it away anytime."
For a moment, the dining table fell silent.
"So this is what living alone means?" Chen Shu suppressed a smile, truly an act of filial piety.
"You brat, are you looking for a beating?"
Zhang Feng spoke, and a black shadow suddenly appeared, hitting Zhang Dali with a thud.
Zhang Dali clutched his head, looking aggrieved. "Dad, why are you hitting your son with a contracted spirit?"
Chen Shu finally saw that it was a small ape about three feet tall.
"To teach you a lesson," Zhang Feng put away the contracted spirit. Aunt Xue smiled knowingly.
Chen Shu's eyes flickered, and he had an impression of the black ape.
Most of the biology curriculum in high school was about fierce beasts from other dimensions, but it also recorded some common human contracted spirits.
Zhang Feng was a Black Iron level Beastmaster, and his contracted spirits had undergone a bloodline evolution.
That ape was precisely the Great Force Monkey that evolved into the Violent Monkey, and its potential rating also jumped from C to B.
Although potential ratings could change after bloodline evolution, the initial rating of a contracted spirit still determined a Beastmaster's life.
Chen Shu's slime was F-class. If it awakened a common evolutionary path, its potential rating would jump to E-class when he became Black Iron level.
But others' contracted spirits would also evolve, which meant the gap would always exist.
Unless Chen Shu could awaken a rare evolutionary path and his potential rating surged directly, but the probability of that was too low.
Therefore, Beastmasters could be said to be divided into different ranks from the very beginning of their awakening. Talent was far more important than effort.
Of course, except for those who cheated.
The family finished dinner in an atmosphere of filial piety and father-son affection.
Chen Shu returned to his own home, looking forward to the Beastmaster exam the next day.
The next day arrived quickly.
Nanjiang Second High School became much quieter, with only the Beastmaster students from the first and second years remaining. The other students had already started their summer vacation.
Fang Ke walked in and said calmly, "Today's Beastmaster exam is crucial. I hope you can all perform to the best of your abilities."
After speaking, he led Beastmaster Class Five to the school's Beastmaster Hall.
Outside the Beastmaster Hall, long queues had already formed, with over two hundred students participating in the exam waiting in order.
Soon, Beastmaster Class Five of the second year orderly entered the hall.
The Beastmaster Hall was extremely large. Besides the combat arenas for Beastmaster students, it also had three large examination halls, designated for the three grades.
The one hundred and twenty-one Beastmaster students from the second year entered the examination hall.
The Beastmaster exam, according to previous standards, was divided into five assessments.
The Head of the Grade came before everyone and announced the examination rules.
First, the potential rating of the students' contracted spirits. If there were any errors, students could come forward to correct them.
When students enrolled, the school would record their potential ratings, and errors were generally nonexistent.
If there were errors, they could naturally be changed, but it required sharing one's contracted spirit panel with others. The potential rating on it could not be faked.
Xu Xiaoyu, Potential Rating: A!
Tang Lie, Potential Rating: A!
Lin Xingchen, Potential Rating: B!
There were only two A-class contracted spirits in the grade, but Chen Shu's F-class contracted spirit was even rarer, standing out alone.
In fact, many students in the regular classes were F-class, but they were self-aware and chose to be ordinary people so as not to burden their families.
"There should be no objections."
The Head of the Grade looked down and put away the list.
"Now, let's begin the second assessment: Beastmaster Level."
Led by their homeroom teachers, each class queued up in order to record their respective Beastmaster levels.
The Beastmaster Level assessment was also very simple. Students needed to share their contracted spirit panels with their teachers, which would display their Beastmaster Level.
Xu Xiaoyu, Level Seven Beastmaster.
Tang Lie, Level Six Beastmaster.
Lin Xingchen, Level Six Beastmaster.
The results of each student were recorded. The students of Beastmaster Class One were indeed the best class; even the weakest was a Level Five Beastmaster.
Soon, it was Beastmaster Class Five's turn. Xia Bing, as the class representative, naturally stood at the front.
Xia Bing, Level Six Beastmaster.
The teacher responsible for recording was surprised but still announced it.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, many students looked over with surprise in their eyes.
"It's Xia Bing, the former top student of Beastmaster Class One."
The students of Beastmaster Class One understood to some extent. Xia Bing achieving this result, while seemingly unexpected, was actually a matter of course.
There were only a few people in the grade who could consistently outperform Xia Bing. If it weren't for her poor family background, Xia Bing wouldn't have chosen Beastmaster Class Five.
Beastmaster Class Five consumed very few resources, so the tuition fees were naturally not too high.
"Now it seems she's definitely going to the advanced training class for the third year," Xu Xiaoyu looked at her former rival.
Wang Meng, Level Four Beastmaster!
Soon, the results of class monitor Wang Meng's assessment came out.
Wang Meng drooped his head, his eyes filled with dejection. Even by the end of the semester, he still hadn't managed to break through, and was basically destined to miss out on the advanced training class.
Li Zixuan, Level Four Beastmaster!
Zhang Yue, Level Three Beastmaster!
Most of the students in Beastmaster Class Five were Level Three Beastmasters, and Level Four Beastmasters were very rare.
Soon, Beastmaster Class Five's assessment was completed.
Homeroom teacher Fang Ke's expression remained unchanged. The results were more or less as he had expected.
At least Xia Bing being a Level Six Beastmaster was a pleasant surprise for him.
"Teacher Fang, doesn't your class have one more student?"
The teacher responsible for recording the scores looked at the list and asked.
"One more?"
Fang Ke looked at the class, his heart skipped a beat, and his body suddenly trembled. He exclaimed, "What the heck, where's Chen Shu?"
"What's going on? How did someone disappear during the exam?"