28: Smart people

Li Wen was watching with great interest when Chen Ping suddenly tugged his sleeve and gestured with his eyes towards the Shadow Bear struggling not far away. This sudden action left Li Wen utterly confused.

He turned his face to Chen Ping in confusion, only to see Chen Ping looking serious, his eyes revealing an inexpressible focus and urgency.

At the same time, the Azure Wind Bird, which had been soaring in the sky, suddenly swooped down. Accompanied by a strong hurricane, its wings, like sharp blades, cut through the air, creating a series of whistling sounds.

Immediately after, a Wind Breath was exhaled from the Azure Wind Bird's mouth, instantly binding the Shadow Bear struggling in the water, rendering it immobile.

"Let's go, let's check that spot from earlier."

Seeing the Shadow Bear completely controlled by the Azure Wind Bird, Chen Ping finally revealed his true intentions.

The two hurried forward to the spot where the Shadow Bear had just been hunting and carefully examined the situation in the water.

Li Wen was still bewildered, completely unable to guess what could make Chen Ping stay here despite the danger.

"I just noticed that these two Mudkips the Shadow Bear was eating were also of the Commander Tier, and it didn't eat them cleanly."

As Chen Ping spoke, he reached out and retrieved a beast core shimmering with a faint light from one of the fish.

He gently cupped the beast core in his palm, showing it to Li Wen, "Look, this is my real reason for staying."

With that, Chen Ping's hand reached towards the other fish.

"No, buddy, what are you? How far were we just now, and you could still see that?"

Li Wen was completely astonished by Chen Ping's incredible perception. It seemed that no one who could complete their pet's initiation early in such a small city was ordinary.

He was a cheater, Li Muyun had resources, Lu Chen was cultivated through education, and Chen Ping had special abilities?

"Didn't I remember you also had an Earth-elemental Enhancement Talent? What is this then?"

Hearing this, Chen Ping smiled slightly and said,

"You might not believe it, but this is a 'talent' that all of us in the Old Chen family possess—an extraordinary sensitivity to materials."

"My academic scores aren't that great, but in the subject of Material Science, few people in the entire school, or even the entire Shanghe City, can surpass me."

"So, this is nothing at all. You could just randomly pull out any material, and there wouldn't be one I couldn't recognize."

The flat-headed guy looked honest and straightforward, but unexpectedly, besides combat, he also had this skill.

Listening to his slightly proud words, another water-elemental beast core appeared in his hand.

"Finders keepers, one for each of us."

Upon hearing this, Li Wen was instantly enlightened.

If even Chen Ping could discover the beast cores left by these two Commander Tier Mudkips, then how could someone with much higher soul power not discover them?

He pondered silently, then turned to look in the direction of the Azure Wind Bird, a warm smile on his face, and said, "Brother, this thing..."

"Since you two are quite smart, I'll give these things to you."

In fact, Lin Bufan, with his extremely high soul power, had long noticed that two people were still lingering there and had not left.

The reason he had stayed silent all this time was purely to see what they were trying to do.

Not only those two beast cores, but even their conversation had been overheard by him.

Including the phrase, "Finders keepers, one for each of us."

Lin Bufan: What about mine?

Complaining aside, if they hadn't come to dig them up, he probably wouldn't have bothered to collect them. Eavesdropping on their conversation was purely a personal little quirk.

"Thank you, Brother. Li Wen, let's go."

Chen Ping's casual remark successfully piqued Lin Bufan's interest.

"You are Li Wen? The teacher's new student?"

Lin Bufan's eyes held a mix of curiosity and scrutiny. At the same time, he gently patted the feathers of the Azure Wind Bird beside him.

He signaled it to use Wind Breath to slowly place the newly captured Shadow Bear into the already prepared transport device and quickly notified the professional transport team to take over.

His mind had originally been focused on this semester's research plan—delving into one or two topics, cultivating his second Monarch Tier pet, and planning to participate in the upcoming National Collegiate Beastmaster Competition.

However, his mentor suddenly received an urgent mission requiring him to return to his hometown for an important research project, and Lin Bufan had encountered a bottleneck in some key aspects of the new topic, urgently needing his mentor's guidance.

Therefore, he followed his mentor here. After all, he had already completed enough projects in the Breeding Department during his freshman and sophomore years to graduate with honors.

However, at this critical moment, the company originally responsible for transporting important research subjects made a blunder, causing the Shadow Bear to go missing for a time.

Fortunately, because he inherently suffered from 'idiot-phobia,' Lin Bufan's careful rearing of the Shadow Bear not only kept it in good condition but also made it understand that harming people would not lead to 'good juice,' thus averting a potential danger.

If other mentors knew he couldn't keep up with the topic, they would certainly understand. After all, who would assign a topic like the possible branching evolutionary paths from Tier 2 to Tier 3 to a third-year student?

Isn't that just pure insanity? Only Lin Yan, who was also a genius, could do such a thing, which is also why he only had students who attended his lectures in college, and no students he personally mentored.

"If it's Teacher Lin Yan, then yes."

As soon as Li Wen said this, it instantly ignited Lin Bufan's desire to confide.

When Li Wen confirmed he was Teacher Lin Yan's student, Lin Bufan's emotions suddenly became agitated, as if he had found an outlet for his feelings.

"Do you know the teacher's other student?"

Lin Bufan's tone carried a hint of urgency, and his eyes flickered with complex emotions, seemingly holding a deep resentment towards the student named Lu Chen.

"I know him, but we're not very close."

Lin Bufan's change in mood caused Li Wen to enter a cautious mode.

"How on earth do you put up with that person? I've never met anyone like him."

"In my life, I've seen countless foolish people and smart people, but I've never encountered someone as both foolish and smart as him."

"It makes me, someone who suffers from 'idiot-phobia,' wonder how to deal with him. Although he performs exceptionally well in cultivation, one could say he's meticulous in every aspect, but when it comes to dealing with people..."

"He's practically... no, he's like a completely different person. Do you know what it's like to have him roll his eyes at you while you're working on a project with him?"

Seeing his senior's frantic state, a scene flashed through Li Wen's mind. It was indeed something Lu Chen would do, and he almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

Lin Bufan looked at Li Wen, who had a smile on his face, and suddenly had an immature idea.