Zhang Yunpeng had just finished teaching a training session and was in his office researching his paper on Cultivation Techniques.
With a DING, a video arrived from Gu Ming.
'He's already started Cultivation?'
He was very surprised. 'As expected of the former top student in the grade. Not only is he sharp, but his Pet Beast is too.'
He opened the video and watched the entire thing without fast-forwarding. Teacher Zhang's mouth hung open in astonishment until the video ended.
'Wait, I haven't even finished adjusting the latter part of the breathing technique's circulation path, yet the Little Cyan Snake actually managed to execute it and even kept it up for several minutes.'
Although he couldn't perceive its Mana levels through the video...
But from the way the Little Cyan Snake could still get up and eat a snack after becoming exhausted, he knew this Cultivation Technique was viable.
If it hadn't become exhausted, it would have been perfect.
This also showed that while the Little Cyan Snake could cultivate this technique, the energy drain was as high as mainstream training methods, meaning it required specific adjustments.
And that would require a lot of training data to fine-tune; it wasn't something he could figure out with just a glance.
Thinking of this, Teacher Zhang dragged the progress bar back to the beginning and watched it again.
After watching it again, he was still thrilled. He kept dragging the progress bar back and forth, admiring his own masterpiece.
It wasn't until Gu Ming pinged him again, asking if he was busy.
Teacher Zhang finally snapped out of it. He had been watching the video for so long that he'd forgotten the matter at hand.
"The breathing rhythm still needs more adjustment. It's draining too much energy. We have to slow the tempo down even more."
"How do we slow it down? By adjusting its breathing speed, or should the Refinement rhythm be changed?" Gu Ming asked in return.
"You..." Teacher Zhang was surprised all over again.
The fact that Gu Ming could ask such a question showed that he had completely grasped the core of this Cultivation Technique.
To be honest, he couldn't answer that right now either.
Zhang Yunpeng knew that with such high energy consumption, the adjustments had to come from both the breathing and the Refinement, but he would have to examine the snake in person to figure out the right approach.
"Let's meet this afternoon. I'll guide it personally."
After sending the message, he glanced at the time. It was only the fourth period. There was still a long time until the afternoon.
The wait suddenly felt too long for Zhang Yunpeng.
'Maybe I should just move the session to the lunch break.'
He couldn't wait to see Cyan Treasure's training results after the adjustments.
Teacher Zhang picked up his phone again and sent a message: "Actually, let's make it noon. Are you free during your lunch break?"
...
「School Cafeteria.」
For the first time in a long while, Wang Teng saw his classmate Gu Ming looking for a seat in the school cafeteria, eating slowly and deliberately.
Before, he would always wolf down his food and rush off to his volunteer job.
"No volunteer job today?" he asked.
Wang Teng couldn't quite figure him out. The college entrance exams were just around the corner and winter break was long over, so why hadn't he quit his job yet?
Besides, during class that morning, Gu Ming's attention had clearly been elsewhere. Wang Teng had seen him fiddling with something inside his desk.
He wasn't usually like this.
"I took the day off. I'm waiting for someone."
"Oh, you actually took time off? Who're you waiting for? A girl?" Wang Teng asked, sitting down with his Dumb Flower.
His Dumb Flower was also holding a food tray, which was filled with a shimmering plant essence. Its fragrance wafted over, making the Grass Element Little Cyan Snake unable to resist staring, its mouth watering.
This meal for Wang Teng's Pet Beast wasn't cheap—a single serving cost over five hundred. It could fully supplement all of the Dumb Flower's nutritional needs, as well as help it grow taller, increase its skin hardness, and boost its strength.
As they were speaking, Teacher Zhang sat down with a food tray.
"It's a guy. What do you think, disappointed?" he teased.
The Fiery Monkey beside Teacher Zhang also sat down with a tray. It landed on the table with a heavy THUD. The portion was huge, twice the size of anyone else's.
It was an even more dazzling nutritional meal. A large chicken drumstick with golden-brown skin shimmered with a faint glow, and the aroma of the Spiritual Flesh was incredibly appetizing.
The Dumb Flower didn't react; it was a strict herbivore.
Cyan Treasure, on the other hand, was getting hungry just by looking. To a snake, every single dish on the table looked more tempting than the last.
Gu Ming had ordered the hundred-yuan nutritional combo for Cyan Treasure. The free meal plan had a cap, so he couldn't add extra dishes without limit.
This combo was a standard mid-range option. It covered the basic needs for nutrition and development, which would help accelerate the Little Cyan Snake's muscle growth and replenish the energy it had expended that morning.
Besides, the Little Cyan Snake's Star Level potential was low and its digestive capacity was poor. Paying out of his own pocket for extra food would be a waste of money, as it wouldn't be able to digest it all anyway.
It wouldn't be able to digest more food unless it officially reached the Entry Level in the Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique.
He had also practiced the Elephant-Swallowing Demon Technique for a short time during that night of Dream Training.
The Cultivation efficiency for that technique was low, and one's Cultivation level doesn't increase in dreams, so he had focused on practicing the Headbutt Skills instead.
When Wang Teng saw the newcomer was the PE teacher, along with an unfamiliar Pet Beast, he felt awkward for a couple of seconds before quickly changing the subject.
"Oh, hi, Teacher Zhang. Are you out training your Fiery Monkey today?"
"Mhm, a job off campus."
Teacher Zhang turned to look at Cyan Treasure and its food tray. He picked a plump piece of braised Spiritual Flesh from his own tray and placed it onto Cyan Treasure's.
"Here, eat this. Fill your stomach, quick. I want to see you train in a bit," Teacher Zhang said, not bothering to be discreet in front of Wang Teng.
Wang Teng glanced over, and an "oh?" escaped him as he recalled the strange scene from that morning, when Gu Ming had stuffed both his phone and his snake into his desk.
'So that's what it was. Cyan Treasure was secretly training.'
Wang Teng easily made the connection to the idea of customized training. Otherwise, there would be no reason for Teacher Zhang to share his food.
It was common knowledge that the school's curriculum was a one-size-fits-all approach, suitable for all Pet Beasts. They wouldn't give special, individualized attention to any particular person or pet.
Unless a student paid a teacher for private, customized training after class.
As outrageous as it might sound, this was actually quite common at Qing Lake High School.
Students from slightly wealthier families were never satisfied with conventional training; they all wanted a personally tailored regimen.
From diet and Magic Power Cultivation to customized Body Forging, the weekly cost started at a minimum of twenty thousand.
After all, a teacher's time was precious. If you didn't hire one of the school's teachers, someone else would.
And private tutors outside of school charged a whole different rate.
There were expensive options and cheap ones; in the end, how much one spent all depended on what their family could afford.
'But wait,' Wang Teng suddenly thought, 'not many students ask Teacher Zhang for customized training plans. He's just an ordinary PE teacher, after all.'
Wang Teng deliberately ate slower, waiting for Cyan Treasure to finish its meal.
Cyan Treasure coiled its body up like a mosquito repellant coil, opened its mouth, and began a Breathing Technique. Wisps of green Spiritual Qi flowed into its mouth.
Immediately after, its skin began to ripple, as if it were digesting a meal, and its body slowly swelled up.
'Is it digesting?'
Wang Teng couldn't make heads or tails of this custom training technique. All he could see was that Cyan Treasure's muscles were constantly undulating and that fine beads of sweat were gradually forming on its skin.
It was clearly a very draining technique. Wang Teng had only watched for a moment before Teacher Zhang called for a stop.
"Stop."
Teacher Zhang reached out and pressed a hand against Cyan Treasure's abdominal muscles, using a Spiritual Technique to perceive the state of its body and the amount of new Mana it had generated.
'Strange. The Mana growth is close to zero.'
'This doesn't seem like the cultivation potential of a technique designed for a Four-star Pet Beast.'