After reviewing a set of competition questions, Teacher Zhang glanced over at Cyan Treasure and Mouse Treasure sparring with each other. He then saw Ah Kun’s lonely figure by the river, breathing deeply as it cultivated on its own. An idea suddenly struck him.

Speaking of which, Gu Ming had already contracted two Pet Beasts, putting his progress far ahead of everyone else’s.

With the competition yet to begin, perhaps he could put Ah Kun through some intensive skill training to make it more useful.

So he turned to his old classmate beside him and asked, "What do you think of Ah Kun’s potential?"

Upon hearing this, Teacher Zhong’s gaze fell upon Ah Kun.

This Grouper Fish, just like Cyan Treasure and Mouse Treasure, was a basic Pet Beast.

Back when he was a student, no one was interested in this type of Pet Beast.

Even students from poor families were more inclined to choose land-based Pet Beasts.

In Gu Ming’s hands, however, the Little Cyan Snake had already displayed astonishing potential, so this Grouper Fish was likely no ordinary specimen either.

Based on Gu Ming’s description of its performance during the exam, both teachers believed Ah Kun could handle a heavy load. It could serve as the second Pet Beast after Cyan Treasure, responsible for finding resources and acting as the secondary fighter.

But to figure out how to best develop Ah Kun’s abilities, they needed to look at its tri-stat score.

Teacher Zhang took out his phone and pulled up the tri-stat scores from the school’s midterm exam.

Both of Gu Ming’s Pet Beasts had participated in the test, but the midterm exam results were based on the tri-stat score of just one Pet Beast.

Cyan Treasure’s tri-stat score was 267, but Ah Kun’s score left Teacher Zhong utterly stunned.

"Are you sure this data is correct?"

Teacher Zhong pointed at the outrageous score, asking the question twice.

Ah Kun had somehow scored 260 points in the evaluation, just 40 points shy of a perfect 300.

Speed: 74.

Power: 86.

Mana: 100.

’How could a Grouper Fish have such a high score?’

’A Mana score this high? Is that even possible?’

’A Power score of 86... That must be equivalent to several hundred pounds of force. How in the world did he raise it?’

The idea that these were the scores of a Grouper Fish completely baffled Teacher Zhong.

Among the three striking scores, only the Speed of 74 seemed somewhat reasonable.

After all, it could envelop itself in water to reduce air resistance.

It wasn’t out of the question for it to be incredibly fast if it used blasts of water vapor for propulsion during a hundred-meter dash.

Teacher Zhong immediately asked Teacher Zhang to pull up the data for the second-ranked Grouper Fish at Qing Lake High School, only to be told, "There are no other Grouper Fish."

It turned out that, aside from Gu Ming, no one else in the school had contracted a Grouper Fish.

There weren’t any at the One-star level, not even at the Zero-star level.

During their Zero-star Period, these Pet Beasts haven’t mastered the ability to leave the water, rendering them unable to move on land.

Almost no students chose them as their first option.

Ah Kun was the only Grouper Fish in Qing Lake High School, and likely in all the high schools in the entire city.

Teacher Zhong then asked about the situation in other cities.

Teacher Zhang shook his head. "Don’t bother asking. There aren’t any. Even teachers from Tian Nan City have been asking our school about Ah Kun. If they’re that surprised, it definitely means there aren’t any elsewhere."

Tian Nan City was the provincial capital; they would certainly have more information than the teachers at Qing Lake High School. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The fact that even they were curious made the answer obvious: the Grouper Fish was so rare it had become a topic of gossip.

"Oh? Teachers from Tian Nan City took the initiative to ask about Ah Kun?"

"It’s a long story. It’s because Gu Ming had such a standout performance in the midterm exam that he caught everyone’s attention," Teacher Zhang said, shaking his head.

He hadn’t been at the midterm exam site, but he knew that after the Golden-Eyed Dragon Gate went missing, teachers from all over the province and powerful experts from every field had mobilized to search for it.

Gu Ming had performed brilliantly inside, obtaining critical information on the Demon Fiends three separate times and receiving massive bonus points for it.

This led to teachers from all over the province taking notice of Gu Ming.

As Gu Ming’s second Pet Beast, Ah Kun also came onto everyone’s radar and became a hot topic of discussion. Everyone was surprised that a student had not only contracted a Grouper Fish, but had even evolved it to the One-star level.

"There’s no second Grouper Fish, but we can compare it with other Fish Pets," Teacher Zhang said.

For a Fish Pet to be contracted by a high school senior, it must be born with the ability to survive out of water.

Therefore, the Fish Pets on the results sheet had at least Three-star Potential, with most being Four-star. Their prospects were exceptional.

In terms of Realm, nearly thirty percent of the students’ Fish Pets had already grinded their way to the One-star Realm by the midterm exam.

This proportion of One-star Realm pets was far higher than that of other types of Pet Beasts, which was precisely a unique trait of Fish Pets.

When Teacher Zhang pulled up the tri-stat score for the school’s second-ranked Fish Pet,

Teacher Zhong fell silent.

The second-ranked pet, a juvenile Little Thunder Fish King, had Five-star Potential, was born with the ability to survive out of water, and had mastered Skills like High-Speed Water Gun and Fish Leap. And yet, it had only scored 200 on the tri-stat physical test—a full 50 points lower than Ah Kun.

A 50-point gap might not sound like much, but in actual combat, one could easily overwhelm the other using only physical abilities, without even using any Skills.

The Little Thunder Fish King was still in its growth phase, its Mana not yet fully developed.

This was despite it having already evolved to the One-star Realm and learned multiple High Tier Skills, far surpassing Ah Kun’s own repertoire.

Ah Kun’s advantage lay in its Breathing Technique and its extremely high Skill Level in its Devouring and Digestion Technique, giving it astonishing endurance.

Even so, it was difficult to explain why its base Attributes completely crushed those of other Fish Pets.

A glint appeared in Teacher Zhong’s eyes.

"We can have Ah Kun learn some high-intensity, high-difficulty Water Element moves now."

He hadn’t known that a mutated Grouper Fish could have this much potential.

Whether it was just Gu Ming’s good luck, he didn’t know, and he couldn’t be bothered to find out.

Right now, he just wanted to help Gu Ming plan out some new Skills for Ah Kun.

First would be a Water Element Domain Exploration Skill, to leverage Ah Kun’s expertise with the Water Element.

Second would be its offensive capabilities.

Ah Kun’s Water Gun wasn’t fast enough, nor was it powerful enough.

It would be best for it to learn Spiral Compressed Water Gun. By applying pressure, the water jet spirals as it shoots out, making its destructive power far greater than the original Water Gun Skill.

However, learning this Skill required Talent; the pet’s Physical Ability had to be strong enough to handle the strain, otherwise it was impossible.

But he soon noticed something else: Ah Kun’s tested Water Element affinity was incredibly high. It surpassed all other Fish Pets, completely overwhelming the second-ranked juvenile Little Thunder Fish King.

For a moment, Teacher Zhong couldn’t tell which one was the Little Thunder Fish King and which was the ordinary Grouper Fish.

’Has this so-called Star Level potential evaluation system completely fallen apart when it comes to Gu Ming?’

’Are Pet Beasts with natural bloodline mutations really this ridiculous?’

Teacher Zhong took a deep breath.

As a teacher from a province known for its competitive college entrance exams, he possessed a systematic knowledge of pet cultivation.

Although he specialized in cultivating Grass Element Pet Beasts, he knew that the synergy between Water and Grass Element Pet Beasts created an extremely powerful Life System combination.

"Fortunately, I have a few manuals for Water Element Combat Techniques on me. I think we can give this one a try."

He took out a manual for a Combat Technique called the Wave-Swallowing Technique.

Teacher Zhang was slightly taken aback when he saw it.

"You’re going to teach it this Combat Technique?

"It’ll be very difficult for it to learn, won’t it?"

Teacher Zhang found it hard to imagine a mere Grouper Fish learning a high-end Combat Technique like the Wave-Swallowing Technique.

"Haha, how will we know if we don’t try?

"With its Talent, you never know. It might actually pull it off." Teacher Zhong looked like he was just in it for the entertainment.

If it succeeded, the upcoming competition would be quite a show.

It was common knowledge that Techniques were superior to a Combat Technique, which in turn was superior to individual Combat Techniques.

Under certain circumstances, a high-end Combat Technique could even rival a low-end Technique.

The Wave-Swallowing Technique was a renowned, high-end Water Element Combat Technique.

The Pet Beasts that learned this technique were almost exclusively Water Element Pet Beasts with High-Level Bloodlines and high potential, such as Fish Kings, Flood Dragons, and Giant Whales.

’How could a little Grouper Fish possibly be worthy?’

If Ah Kun actually managed to learn it,

it would truly make jaws drop.