Ch. 279 - Everything Depends on Huaxia Academy's Fortune Now [1]

"You're the one who's fucking cold!"Shen Wushuang's eyes bulged. You really do respect your teachers, don't you?!He rubbed his chin, mulling over whether he should just bury Chen Shu one more time, then retire into seclusion for good!

Half an hour later, Xie Sunan finally arrived."Old Xie, you are seriously slow. Aren't you usually pretty on top of things?"Xie Sunan smiled. "Hey, the trip's about to start! Gotta have everything fully stocked!"

Clang!A butcher's cleaver tumbled out of his bag...

All three turned to stare. So this was what he meant by "fully stocked"?Who the hell brings a butcher's cleaver on a vacation trip?Shen Wushuang rubbed his forehead, looked at the three of them, and sighed.He was reminded of last year, when the three had first shown up for class registration.One in a psychiatric gown, one carrying a butcher's cleaver, one hauling a urea bag...Back then, he'd already sensed something was off about these three!Chen Shu spoke up. "Old Xie, are you gonna get that through a train or plane?""Road trip, you get it? Just bought a car!"Xie Sunan grinned and flashed a car key to show off.To Beast Tamers, things ordinary people valued were dirt cheap. In this world, the most expensive things were still Beast Tamer resources.So-called luxury cars and villas weren't worth mentioning. Black Iron-rank resources casually ran into the hundreds of millions — let alone Silver, Gold, and King rank."You got a driver's license?"Xu Xingxing asked, "So jealous, man. Not like me — all these years and I've always had a chauffeur driving me around.""???"Chen Shu and Shen Wushuang both turned to stare at Xu Xingxing."You two stop talking, the food's almost here!"Chen Shu said. He'd nearly forgotten you even needed a driver's license.Once you were in university, you had to drive — otherwise, what was the point of Huaxia Academy's flashy license plates?Nowadays the civilian driver's test was dead simple. Basically wrapped up in a few days.

The four dug in with gusto. Shen Wushuang didn't put on a shred of teacher's authority.In truth, the three of them had never really treated him as a teacher anyway...

After dinner, the four exchanged goodbyes. Odds were they wouldn't see each other again for the rest of the summer."Chen Pi, wait — your stuff!"Xu Xingxing called him back and pulled a backpack from his car. Inside were exactly four Lord materials.Chen Shu had asked him earlier to help acquire some elemental-type skills."How much?"Xu Xingxing said, "Eleven million total. Knock off the profit share from Lieyang Hills, just transfer me seven million."Chen Shu nodded and transferred seven million on the spot.He took the Lord materials and used Partial Summoning.The space beside him suddenly tore open — and a pair of eyes brimming with wisdom emerged!"Holy crap, what the hell!"The three jumped back a step, thoroughly startled."Awooo~~"The Husky stuck its dog head out, scanning its surroundings."Dumb dog, eat up!"Chen Shu tossed the four Lord materials over. The Husky hadn't eaten yet anyway, and swallowed them right down."Did it work?"All four stared. Over ten million yuan in value — if every single one failed, that was a bloody loss."Awooo~"The Slime bounced once, then fired a Wind Blade straight into the sky."One success — didn't lose money!"Chen Shu nodded. Funds were tight right now; he could only pad things out with Black Iron Lord skills.Fortunately, with [Sustained Assault] boosting it, the power wouldn't be too shabby."Chen Pi, that Husky of yours isn't gonna be too outrageous, right?"All three looked at him. The Slime had already blown their minds for an entire year.If the Husky turned out just as freakish, how were the rest of them supposed to keep living?"Nah, just a standard D-rank contract spirit."Chen Shu waved dismissively — and right there in the space ahead, two Husky dog heads unmistakably appeared."Awooo~""Awooooooo~~"The three froze. Then their bodies shuddered, faces twisting with pure horror."This is—?!"The three exchanged glances and gulped hard.Xu Xingxing nearly choked. His voice came out dry and rasping. "Don't tell me... that's the [Clone] skill?""He hasn't activated a skill. Can't tell just by looking."Shen Wushuang said it out loud — but deep down, he already had an answer forming.Knowing Chen Shu's show-off personality, would he ever flaunt an ordinary skill?Factor in the precedent of the Slime's [Gigantification]...The Husky having [Clone] suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable."Impossible!"Xie Sunan's brow furrowed tightly. "I've never heard of an Elemental Beast comprehending Clone!"As things currently stood, Clone could only be comprehended during rank breakthroughs, and only by specific contract spirits. The Husky was clearly not among them."Just a minor skill."Chen Shu bared his teeth in a grin, thoroughly satisfied with their expressions.If you three didn't look at least somewhat shocked, then what was the point of even comprehending the skill?"Heh... heh..."The three forced out dry laughs, their eyes practically glowing red with envy.[Clone]'s versatility was off the charts. Any contract spirit that learned it would have its combat power doubled.Chen Shu wore the lonely expression of one standing at the peak, then departed.

Watching his retreating figure, the three drew deep breaths, ultimately left with nothing but helplessness."Teacher Shen, do you think any of this is scientific?""Scientific... my ass!"Shen Wushuang clawed at his hair. He had never heard of a Slime with Gigantification, or a Husky with Clone.This completely overturned modern Beast Taming science!Xie Sunan seemed to think of something and spoke up."I feel like Huaxia Academy might not survive his shenanigans..."A single Golden Slime had already turned Nanjiang Second High upside down.Add a Husky that could clone itself...The mental image made all three shiver involuntarily...Shen Wushuang let out a long sigh."Whether they can weather this tribulation... everything depends on Huaxia Academy's fortune now."

[1] 造化 (zàohuà): A classical Chinese concept encompassing fortune, destiny, and the creative forces of nature. Often used in martial arts and xianxia fiction to describe the inscrutable workings of fate. Here, Shen Wushuang deploys it with mock-gravity to imply that Huaxia Academy's survival is now a matter of cosmic roulette — entirely out of human hands now that Chen Shu is headed their way.