Chapter 434 - 403: Special Treatment
Chapter 434: Chapter 403: Special Treatment
About half an hour after Dean Pan Bing and Headmaster Park Ji Yong left, Dean Fei arrived.
"Dean Fei, please, have a seat!" Li Qian welcomed Dean Fei into the Cultivation Base, changed the tea leaves, and brewed a fresh pot.
Thankfully, he’d had Feifei prepare some tea leaves in the Cultivation Base. Otherwise, he would’ve had no idea how to serve his guests. He couldn’t just have them drink plain water, after all.
Taking their seats again at the small tea table, which was being used for the third time today, the two of them began to chat. After a short while, Dean Fei got straight to the point.
He held out his hand, and a badge materialized in his palm. Li Qian stared at it, immediately recognizing it as a standard Adventurer’s Badge.
Looking at the standard Adventurer’s Badge, Li Qian’s mind immediately raced with the implications, and a flicker of excitement crossed his face.
He didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly, "Dean Fei, is this for me?"
"Yes!" Dean Fei smiled, the corners of his lips curling up slightly as he gave an affirmative reply. "Based on your outstanding performance in the freshman challenge, I made a special application to the Beastmaster Association on your behalf."
"That’s great!" Li Qian looked at the Adventurer’s Badge, which had a different background color than his own, the joy on his face evident. "Now I can finally go out and train in the wilds of the Dimension Plane."
Seeing how happy Li Qian was, Dean Fei added a reminder. "With your abilities, you were bound to get an Adventurer’s Badge during your freshman year anyway. I just got it for you a little ahead of schedule. But you must be careful. When you go train in a Dimension Plane, your personal safety must be your top priority."
Li Qian knew Dean Fei was only looking out for his well-being, so he nodded with an "Mm" in response.
After handing over the Adventurer’s Badge, Dean Fei wasn’t finished. He had more news. "I heard you’re researching the evolutionary path of the Nine-tailed Cat. As a Pet Beast with a known, clear path of advancement, its Potential is quite excellent. Many university and corporate Cultivation Bases are studying it."
He looked at Li Qian and continued, "In the Dimension Plane our Shazhou Beast Taming University watches over—the regions containing Yuntian City and Flying Frost City—there are a great many feline Pet Beasts, a large number of which are of the tailed-cat variety."
"So, as you might have guessed, our university has also been researching the Nine-tailed Cat family. In fact, we’ve already figured out the evolutionary method for the Five-tailed Cat."
Seeing the expectant look in Li Qian’s eyes, Dean Fei didn’t keep him waiting. "This evolutionary method will be sent to your email shortly."
Li Qian understood the dean’s unspoken meaning. He pointed to his own nose and said, "You mean you’re giving this evolutionary method... to me?"
Dean Fei smiled. He didn’t respond verbally, but simply nodded, making his intentions clear.
The university giving him the Five-tailed Cat’s evolutionary method was a huge help. He could now skip that stage entirely and move on to researching the Six-tailed Cat.
Li Qian had previously promised Senior Brother Du that he would provide him with a Four-tailed Cat. A Four-tailed Cat’s Potential only reached Commander Peak, so its Potential Value was just average.
Back then, Li Qian felt he was short-changing him a bit. But now, by upgrading it to a Five-tailed Cat, its Racial Potential would ascend to the Overlord Initial Stage. That was more than enough to repay the debt; in fact, it was more than generous.
With this in mind, Li Qian made a decision. In a few days, after he evolved a Five-tailed Cat, he would leave a message for Senior Brother Du to see if he could get in touch.
Logically, Senior Brother Du couldn’t stay in the Dimension Plane forever. He would have to return to the real world to rest and resupply at some point, and he’d see the message then.
Not long after revealing this second reward, Dean Fei took his leave. Li Qian personally walked him to the entrance of the Cultivation Base.
As he was leaving, Dean Fei shared one last piece of good news. The university had granted him a special privilege: from now on, he could choose whether or not to attend any of his classes at the Cultivation College.
As long as he passed the final exams, he would receive the credits as usual. He could even take the final exams for the sophomore or junior years; if he passed, he could skip grades.
Even more incredibly, starting next semester, Li Qian could submit his graduation thesis. As long as it passed the university’s review, he could graduate immediately.
This sort of special treatment was an unconventional way of cultivating exceptional talent.
Li Qian was thrilled with this arrangement. He had already self-studied most of the freshman curriculum, so attending those classes would have been a waste of his time.
With this privilege, he could now devote much more time to researching Pet Beast cultivation methods.
’After all,’ Li Qian figured, ’for the university, it’s far more valuable for me to discover a new Pet Beast evolutionary path than to sit obediently in a classroom.’
After Dean Fei left, Li Qian couldn’t help but pump his fist. He had seriously hit the jackpot with this freshman challenge.
And so, Li Qian spent nearly the entire day inside the Third Secret Realm, staying within his Cultivation Base.
After Dean Fei’s departure, other Breeders within the Secret Realm heard the news and came by one after another to offer their congratulations, some even bringing gifts.
Li Qian accepted everything without refusal. He figured since he was probably the youngest person in the Third Secret Realm, he could consider them gifts from his elders.
As dusk approached, Li Qian left the Third Secret Realm and returned to his dorm in Xianya Garden. It wasn’t that he couldn’t stay overnight in the Secret Realm, but... Lu Tianjiao and Fatty An were back, and they were planning a get-together for the evening.
After going through thick and thin together in the freshman challenge, a get-together for the three of them was definitely in order.
He had barely returned when Lu Tianjiao was already hurrying him out of the dorm. They were having dinner at a small restaurant near the university’s back gate.
According to Lu Tianjiao, the food at this place was universally acclaimed by students and faculty alike.
The two hadn’t reached their destination yet. Just as they arrived near the back gate, they ran into two people, both of them large men.
However, "large" meant two different things for them. One was fat, the other was muscular. The fat one was, of course, Fatty An. The muscular one was his roommate, Zahar, a man from the Gaochang Race with a full, bushy beard who looked to be in his thirties.
"Qianzi, over here!" From a distance, the pair spotted Li Qian and Lu Tianjiao, and Fatty An immediately waved to get their attention.