Zheng Dong paid no mind to the gazes of his classmates, leading Xiao Zi to the center of the valley. He dug through the thick soil and unearthed a piece of silvery-gray stone.
The stone was oval-shaped, about the size of a goose egg, and looked unremarkable. Zheng Dong didn't recognize it.
However, Xiao Zi informed Zheng Dong that the stone had a powerful energy fluctuation, equivalent to at least a Level 5 resource, valued at several million.
Zheng Dong quickly checked on his phone. This stone was likely a Thunder Crystal, capable of strengthening the attributes and increasing the energy cap of Thunder-element pet beasts.
Over the next period, Zheng Dong found several more valuable Level 5 and 6 resources, dozens of Level 3 and 4 resources, and a large quantity of Level 1 and 2 resources.
It could be said that he was now wealthier than most advanced beast tamers, essentially a mobile treasury.
Furthermore, Xiao Zi's treasure-hunting skill had advanced from proficient to perfect due to continuous treasure finding, making it even easier to locate valuable items.
This naturally caused a stir.
Zheng Dong's name spread throughout the entire relic space.
Principal Liu, Principal Ma, and others looked on with envy. They themselves didn't possess many Level 5 or 6 resources, as their pet beasts also required evolution, leading to significant consumption.
Otherwise, Principal Ma wouldn't have been so heartbroken over a bottle of Sea Dragon's blood.
"Old Liu, if Zheng Dong's treasure-hunting rat has offspring in the future, save one for me!" Principal Ma said.
He planned to have it as a contracted pet beast for his grandson in the future.
However, Principal Liu had the same idea.
He glanced at Principal Ma, thinking, "You must be dreaming. I should be the first in line."
At this moment, time was up, and all students were teleported out.
They had spent sixty days in the relic space, and everyone had gained something. Zheng Dong's harvest was the most substantial.
Subsequently, led by Principal Liu, they returned to the school.
Upon returning, Principal Liu kept Zheng Dong behind, praised him specifically, and handed him the Sea Dragon's blood.
Next, Zheng Dong and the others had five days of rest. After five days, the school ranking competition would begin.
Following the school ranking competition would be the graduation exam.
After the exam, during the summer vacation, the Rongcheng Newcomer King Competition would commence.
Zheng Dong planned to have Xiao Zi evolve after the school ranking competition and then go to Heavenly Monkey Mountain for treasure hunting.
Xiao Zi had been to Heavenly Monkey Mountain multiple times, even unexpectedly obtaining the Origin Fruit there. It was possible that the mountain harbored a relic space or some unknown secret realm.
Back home, Zheng Dong completely let loose. He ordered a lavish spread of takeout, ate his fill, and then collapsed into sleep.
He slept until the next morning when Grandma Wang from next door began knocking.
Zheng Dong groggily got up.
"Damn it, who is it? Disturbing my sleep so early in the morning."
Before Zheng Dong could voice his internal complaint, a voice from outside reached him.
"Xiao Dong, hurry up and help! Xiao Hua is having a difficult labor..."
Hearing Grandma Wang's voice, Zheng Dong quickly got dressed.
Grandma Wang had always been good to him. After his parents went missing, she often invited him over for meals.
Xiao Hua was a Gem Cat raised by Grandma Wang. It was unexpected that she would encounter problems during her first birth.
Immediately, Zheng Dong helped Grandma Wang transport Xiao Hua the Gem Cat to the pet hospital.
The doctors here were also beast tamers, having contracted pet beasts with various healing abilities.
With the doctors' assistance, Xiao Hua the Gem Cat successfully gave birth to nine Gem Cat kittens.
After scanning them with his pet beast illustrated book, Zheng Dong discovered that one of the white Gem Cats was a mutant.
[Name] Mutant Gem Cat
[Attribute] Space, Spirit
[Species Level] High-tier Extraordinary
[Growth Level] Unawakened
Normal Gem Cats were un-attributed before awakening because they could use different elemental gems to awaken different attribute abilities.
However, the value of the gems was higher than that of the Gem Cats themselves.
Moreover, each Gem Cat could only use one type of gem, unable to use gems of multiple attributes, limiting their future growth potential.
It remained to be seen if this mutant Gem Cat could use multiple gems and awaken multiple attributes.
Zheng Dong felt a surge of interest and decided to raise this Gem Cat first to see if it could bring any unexpected surprises.
If it had growth potential, he would contract it.
If not, he would simply treat it as a pet.
Zheng Dong then conveyed his intention to adopt this mutant Gem Cat kitten to Grandma Wang.
Grandma Wang was very willing.
After all, she was also worried about how to give away these nine Gem Cat kittens. She couldn't raise so many Gem Cats herself.
However, the Gem Cat kittens were still too young and needed to stay at Grandma Wang's house until they were a bit older to be raised.
In the blink of an eye, five days passed.
The school ranking competition officially began.
The top three students from each class would participate.
Besides Zheng Dong, the most highly anticipated competitor was Ke Jun from Teacher Deng Feng's class.
Ke Jun was also very famous in the school.
He had many supporters who believed that this year's school champion would be Ke Jun.
This was because Ke Jun's Earth Bear had evolved into an Earth Blast Bear, and its growth level had reached the Commander tier.
As for others, most of their pet beasts were still at the Extraordinary tier. Facing the Commander-tier Earth Blast Bear, they had almost no chance to fight back.
In addition, it was rumored that Ke Jun had also contracted a second pet beast.
However, it was not yet clear what level of pet beast he had contracted.
Zheng Dong paid no mind to Ke Jun.
It was Ning Wei, who was chattering away about Ke Jun's details.
"I say, Brother Dong, are you listening to me? You and Bei Wen shouldn't be careless this time. Ke Jun is not easy to deal with!"
Bei Wen nodded seriously.
Although her Three-Colored Elk had also evolved, it was more adept at healing and support. In terms of combat, it was inferior to the Earth Blast Bear.
However, she had also contracted a second pet beast, a Three-Headed Firebird.
Unfortunately, her Three-Headed Firebird's growth level was only at the Extraordinary tier, not yet at the Commander tier.
Therefore, she felt somewhat lacking in confidence against Ke Jun.
At this moment, Zheng Dong and the others were gathered on the school's large plaza. Each class was seated in their pre-assigned areas, forming a fan shape.
In the center was a massive arena, with the main stage in front of it. Principal Liu and Teacher Wang Guixiang were seated on the main stage.
The rules for the school ranking competition were also simple: opponents were determined by drawing lots. The winning party continued to fight until the last three were selected. The losing party would then participate in a series of arena matches to select one person, followed by a final round to determine the top four.
As for the subsequent rankings, they would be determined by the performance during the matches, with Principal Liu, Teacher Wang Guixiang, and others ranking them based on their scores.
The competition began. Zheng Dong had good luck and was the third to appear. His opponent was Luo Hao from his own class.
Luo Hao had previously lost to Zheng Dong and intended to get his revenge this time.
His Ice Kai Giant had also grown to the Commander tier, and he had also contracted a second pet beast, the Frost Duck.
The Frost Duck resembled a platypus, covered in a layer of transparent ice armor, with blue feathers. Unlike the platypus that could only dive, it could fly.
To win first place in this school ranking competition, Luo Hao had made a determined effort, selling everything he had to invest in nurturing this Frost Duck, rapidly increasing its growth level to the Commander tier.
This was Luo Hao's trump card.
He believed that with two Commander-tier pet beasts, he could easily defeat Zheng Dong.
Unfortunately, he was unaware of Zheng Dong's performance during the trials in the relic space. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so self-assured.
Soon, it was his turn and Zheng Dong's.
He confidently walked onto the arena, looking excitedly at Zheng Dong.
"Zheng Dong, you haven't contracted a second pet beast yet, have you! For the sake of being in the same class, I advise you to surrender quickly. Otherwise, when we fight, I can't guarantee your treasure-hunting rat will survive!"
Zheng Dong couldn't help but want to laugh.
"Who gave you the confidence to be so arrogant?"
Before Zheng Dong could speak, Luo Hao summoned his two pet beasts. He clearly didn't want to give Zheng Dong any chance, intending to finish him off with overwhelming advantage as quickly as possible.
Seeing the Commander-tier Ice Kai Giant and Frost Duck, everyone was astonished.
"Holy crap, Luo Hao was hiding this well!" Ning Wei exclaimed, unable to refrain from cursing.
Teacher Wang Guixiang also frowned. She didn't know when Luo Hao's Ice Kai Giant had grown to the Commander tier, nor did she know that Luo Hao had contracted the Frost Duck.
Principal Liu couldn't help but look at Teacher Wang Guixiang.
"Why didn't you tell me your class had another genius?"
Teacher Deng Feng frowned, feeling that Ke Jun had gained another strong competitor.
Sensing the reactions of everyone, Luo Hao became even more smug.
This was exactly what he wanted – to shock everyone.
He wanted to be this year's dark horse and soar to fame.
When Zheng Dong summoned Xiao Zi, Luo Hao became even more unrestrained.
"Zheng Dong, why hasn't your treasure-hunting rat evolved yet? It's been so long, and it's still at the Extraordinary tier. I think you should just surrender quickly, lest my Ice Kai Giant loses control of its strength and injures it, which wouldn't be good."
Seeing this, Ning Wei and the others also became worried.
After all, Zheng Dong's treasure-hunting rat was now facing two Commander-tier pet beasts.
"Brother Dong, if it's not possible, let's just come down!"
Bei Wen and Yu Qian also nodded.
Yang Xue, however, looked excited. She finally got to see Zheng Dong in trouble.
At this moment, Luo Hao's two pet beasts launched their attacks first.
The Ice Kai Giant, upon seeing Xiao Zi, unleashed its ultimate skill, Icebound Paradise.
It was clearly holding a grudge, remembering the humiliating memory of being defeated by Xiao Zi last time.
The Frost Duck also used its advanced skill, Blizzard.
Instantly, the entire arena transformed into a terrifying world of ice and snow.
The two referee teachers quickly reinforced the defensive barrier to prevent accidental harm to the surrounding students.
Seeing this, except for Principal Liu, almost everyone believed Zheng Dong was doomed to lose.
They all looked at Zheng Dong, wondering how he would cope.
Would he surrender directly?
But to everyone's surprise, Zheng Dong's face remained calm, showing no trace of emotion. He looked at Luo Hao peacefully, showing no intention of using his beast taming talent to help the treasure-hunting rat fight.
Could it be that he had already given up?
Yang Xue frowned, guessing.
She didn't want that. She wished Zheng Dong would persevere until he was beaten so badly he couldn't get up, that would be truly satisfying!
Unfortunately, she was disappointed.
The next second, Xiao Zi launched its attack. Instead of dodging, it chose to confront the Ice Kai Giant and Frost Duck head-on.
It used a combination of Earth Vein Resonance and Booby Trap skills to form the ultimate skill, Earth Vein Rampage.
Instantly, the ground rolled as if an earth dragon was turning over, accompanied by violent explosions. Soil and rocks surged like raging waves, rising dozens of meters high, burying everything in their path. This forcefully blocked the Ice Kai Giant's Icebound Paradise and the Frost Duck's Blizzard.
Following that, Xiao Zi used the combination skill, Ultimate Booby Trap Arrow, aiming at the Frost Duck.
Although the Frost Duck was covered in ice armor, it couldn't withstand the Booby Trap Arrow. It was shot in the head, and with the explosion of the Booby Trap Arrow, it fell from the sky, unconscious.
"No... impossible..." Luo Hao muttered to himself.
He looked at the severely injured Frost Duck with disbelief, unwilling to accept that this was real.
The two referee teachers were also dumbfounded.
"Holy crap, what happened?"
They were still immersed in the astonishment of Earth Vein Rampage, trying to maintain the defensive barrier, when the Frost Duck was taken down by an arrow in the next moment.
What kind of skill was that?
It wasn't that they were ignorant, but they rarely saw Extraordinary-tier pet beasts mastering ultimate combination skills.
Meanwhile, Principal Liu on the main stage was also surprised. Although he knew Zheng Dong had performed exceptionally in the relic space, he hadn't expected Zheng Dong to enable his pet beast to master so many ultimate combination skills.
As for Teacher Wang Guixiang, Teacher Deng Feng, and the others, they were even more astonished.
"This... this... what's going on?" Teacher Deng Feng was filled with confusion.
He couldn't imagine that a treasure-hunting rat could master such combination skills.
Even the young of Hegemon-tier pet beasts at the Extraordinary tier couldn't master such powerful ultimate combination skills.
Unfortunately, no one could answer him.
Because Teacher Wang Guixiang also didn't know how Zheng Dong had grown so quickly.
However, Luo Hao had no intention of giving up. He commanded the Ice Kai Giant to destroy Xiao Zi at all costs.
He also used his beast taming talent, Ice Element Reinforcement, to assist the Ice Kai Giant.
The Ice Kai Giant then used the advanced skill, Ice Seal.
Blue ice rapidly spread from beneath the Ice Kai Giant's feet in all directions, accompanied by creaking freezing sounds, as if it were about to freeze everything on the ground.
Just as the blue ice was about to spread to Zheng Dong and Xiao Zi's feet, dense, sharp earth spikes emerged from the ground, directly shattering the blue ice.
Following that, Xiao Zi once again used the Booby Trap skill.
A large, peculiar bomb condensed beneath the Ice Kai Giant's feet.
The Ice Kai Giant, however, remained completely unaware of any anomaly.
When it intended to use the advanced skill Avalanche to attack again, the peculiar bomb exploded.
Boom...
The immense explosive force sent the Ice Kai Giant flying.
If not for the defensive barrier, it might have hit the students outside.
As the Ice Kai Giant collided with the defensive barrier, it fell back down, crashing heavily onto the ground and losing consciousness.
Luo Hao was stunned. He couldn't fathom how his two Commander-tier pet beasts could lose so thoroughly to Zheng Dong's Extraordinary-tier treasure-hunting rat.
"Am I dreaming?"
"Or is fate playing with me?"
"This is no treasure-hunting rat! This is a monster!"
Not only Luo Hao, but most of the surrounding students thought the same. Many stood frozen with their mouths agape in astonishment.
No one spoke.
After a few seconds of silence, a referee teacher was the first to react and quickly announced Zheng Dong's victory.
On the main stage, Principal Liu was quite pleased. The stronger Zheng Dong's strength, the greater his hope of winning the Rongcheng Newcomer King title this year.
Subsequently, the competition continued.
The two referee teachers used their own pet beasts to repair the arena, and medical teachers came to treat Luo Hao's pet beasts.
After Zheng Dong and Luo Hao left the arena, the next pair of students took the stage.
Zheng Dong would then need to draw his next opponent.
As for Luo Hao, after losing, he could only participate in the arena matches. If he could win, he could still contend for the top four.
Zheng Dong returned to his class's seating area. Ning Wei started chattering again.
"Brother Dong, your treasure-hunting rat is too powerful! How did you train it? I've also been following your method of giving it supplements..."