13: A perfect score on the exam makes you an intermediate trainer.

Everyone focused their gaze on Xie Ning. After a long silence, the President was the first to speak.

He cleared his throat, suppressing his excitement, and asked, "Candidate, how many Iron-Eating Ants can the Yao Beast you evolved deal with at most?"

It was no wonder he was so excited. Judging from the Trapping Vine Tree's performance just now, it would be a Sharp Weapon against Iron-Eating Ants—winning without spilling blood by making the Iron-Eating Ants kill each other. More importantly, it was a plant type.

Plant-type Yao Beasts do not get tired, which is something other Yao Beasts cannot compare to.

Xie Ning didn't keep them waiting. After inspecting the Iron-Eating Ant carcasses, he replied, "It has no combat power itself, but the flowers on the vines can make designated Yao Beasts excited and briefly interfere with their information transmission, inducing them to act on their own and kill each other. At the same time, the flowers contain toxins; any Yao Beast that consumes the flowers will die of chronic poisoning."

"When a Yao Beast dies, it emits a scent similar to the flowers, attracting its own kind to scavenge and spreading the toxin again. It can spread up to twice, with the effect diminishing each time."

Hiss—

The sound of people sucking in cold air echoed through the crowd, and they could see the shocked expressions in each other's eyes.

Compared to the Yao Beast Xie Ning evolved, the ones they evolved—even Mo Yu's Projectile Fire Crow—felt incredibly weak.

The President re-evaluated Xie Ning, who stood before him having overturned his perceptions. Perhaps he had set aside his prejudices, or perhaps it was because the Yao Beast was so well-evolved; in any case, he was now a hundred percent satisfied and full of praise for Xie Ning.

"Good! Good! Good! A very excellent Yao Beast. Candidate, you have passed the assessment! A comprehensive score will be given shortly." After saying this, the President returned to the front to personally grade Xie Ning's assessment.

At the same time, the results of the previous written exam were delivered to the President's hands by the staff.

Xie Ning glanced at the other candidates, smiled, ignored them, and walked straight back to his seat to wait for the results.

He had heard the cold mockery and sarcasm from these people earlier, but he just couldn't be bothered to explain. Now that the results were out, although he didn't feel the need to lash out at them, he was also too lazy to be superficially polite.

However, Mo Yu's performance also surprised him a little; he hadn't expected this classmate, whom he had only met a few times, to be willing to stand up for him.

The others didn't dare mock Xie Ning anymore; their faces were still stinging from the metaphorical slap they'd just received.

Li Yongfu also understood that the person he had mocked was not a novice at all, but someone with genuine talent and learning. He couldn't help but start worrying about his storage stone... Soon, Li Yongfu shook his head, dismissing his own thoughts.

"No, even if he gets a high score in the practical, if he didn't get any points in the written exam, he still can't beat me."

Thinking this, he felt relieved.

After everyone was in their seats, the President and the deputy Examiner came before them with several other staff members.

They all turned their gaze toward Xie Ning's position. Their strange expressions led many candidates to speculate secretly, while some gloated.

The deputy Examiner cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention and then said, "Next, I will announce the results of this Breeder qualification exam."

"Zhao Hongmao, written exam 52 points, practical 21 points, total score 73 points, fail."

"Zheng Maoquan, written exam 30 points, practical 28 points, total score 58 points, fail."

"Lü Qiyan, written exam 41 points, practical 47 points, total score 88 points, pass."

"Wang Xiuqiong..."

The scores were read out one by one by the deputy Examiner.

As each name was called, some were happy and others were sad. Finally, it was Mo Yu's turn.

When the deputy Examiner said 'Mo Yu', her face immediately filled with tension.

"Mo Yu, written exam 49 points, practical 50 points, total score 99 points, pass."

Hearing this, Mo Yu jumped up from her chair in excitement, cheering, "Yeah~ I passed!"

"Alright, alright, little girl, sit back down. Others are still waiting for their scores."

"Oh~" Mo Yu stuck out her tongue, gave a playful smile, and quickly sat back down.

Then, the deputy Examiner continued reporting the scores. However, strangely, following the order of the seats, he skipped Xie Ning's name and continued reading those behind him.

"Li Yongfu, written exam 43 points, practical 40 points, total score 83 points, pass." Having said this, the deputy Examiner added, "Congratulations, this will be the last time you participate in the Elementary Breeder qualification exam."

Ignoring the reactions of others, the deputy Examiner continued reporting the scores, but many people turned their gaze toward Xie Ning.

Why wasn't his score announced?

The crowd's confusion was soon resolved. After the deputy Examiner finished reading the score for the last seat, he nodded to the President. The President stepped forward, casting an appreciative look at Xie Ning.

"I know you are all curious why Xie Ning's score wasn't included. The reason is actually very simple," the President said, looking around. "Because his results were too outstanding."

"Xie Ning! Written exam 60 points, practical 60 points, a total score of 120 points—a perfect score! He is exceptionally granted the Intermediate Cultivator qualification certificate!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was an uproar. The shocked eyes of all the candidates darted back and forth between Xie Ning and the President.

"I don't believe it! There must be foul play! Why should we work so hard and fail so many times, while this guy slept through the written exam and got a perfect score!"

"Right! There must be foul play. I demand to see Xie Ning's exam paper!"

"We hope the President gives us a reasonable explanation, otherwise we will definitely report this to the very end!"

Those who had failed no longer cared about the difference in status and clamored for the truth.

The President didn't waste words. Xie Ning's exam paper appeared on the crystal screen, and he said coldly, "See for yourselves. If any of you are confident you did better than him, I can also give you 60 points."

When the crowd saw Xie Ning's exam paper, they couldn't help but be shocked.

Much of the Yao Beast knowledge on it was things they had never even heard of, yet based on their own past experience, they couldn't find a single flaw. Some questions focused on detoxification and treatment, and Xie Ning had even provided several consecutive solutions, which left them in awe.

"This..."

In the end, everyone accepted the result. When they looked at Xie Ning again, they no longer dared to show any dissatisfaction or hostility.

No one dared to easily offend an Intermediate Cultivator.

After the exam results were announced, Xie Ning also obtained the Spatial Storage Stone from Li Yongfu. Of course, the items inside the storage stone had already been moved out.

The space inside this storage stone wasn't large, about 30 square meters, but for the current Xie Ning, it was perfectly adequate.

After the exam, everyone headed back. Some tried to build a relationship with Xie Ning, but he declined them all. However, just as Xie Ning was about to leave, he was invited over by the President... Led by the staff, Xie Ning arrived at the President's office. Invited along with him was the runner-up, Mo Yu.

Seeing the two arrive, the President said with a chuckle, "You're here, please have a seat."

"Thank you, President." Xie Ning and Mo Yu sat opposite the President, and then Mo Yu asked, "I wonder why the President has called us here? Is there something you need?"

The President didn't answer Mo Yu's question directly, but said, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Lin Yangqiu. Your older sister, Mo Han, calls me Grandpa Lin."

"Ah! You're Grandpa Lin?" Mo Yu covered her mouth in surprise. "I didn't expect Grandpa Lin to be the President of the Flower City Cultivation Association. My sister has mentioned you many times. But, how did Grandpa Lin know I was her sister?"

"Although you aren't as identical as other twins, there is some resemblance. Combined with your surname and your talent for cultivation, there aren't that many coincidences in the world," Lin Yangqiu replied with a smile.

"I see." Mo Yu nodded and immediately started smiling, clearly in a good mood.

Lin Yangqiu then turned his gaze toward Xie Ning and said, "This time, I mainly invited Young Friend Xie over because I have a favor to ask of you."

"You are a Senior, please feel free to speak," Xie Ning replied with a smile.

Lin Yangqiu thought for a moment and asked, "I wonder how much Young Friend Xie knows about Demon Tamers Beast treatment?"

"It's hard to say; it depends on what the problem is."

Lin Yangqiu took a picture out of a drawer and handed it to Xie Ning. "Take a look at this one."

In the picture was a severely burned Yao Beast. All its fur had been burned away, its entire body was bright red, with scabs in some places and pus in others. Its expression was distorted in pain.

In the photo, a slender jade hand was stroking the injured Yao Beast. In the high-definition picture, one could see droplets of water on the back of the hand.

Clearly, this was not a masterless Yao Beast, but a Demon Tamers Beast.

[Yao Beast Name] Ice Lion

[Yao Beast Grade] Extraordinary Medium Grade

[Yao Beast Rank] Bronze Rank 6

[Yao Beast Attribute] Ice

[Yao Beast Weakness] Fire

[Yao Beast Status] Being consumed by Poison Flame

[Yao Beast Description] A lion possessing the Bloodline of an Ice Lion King (Lord Level), with strong control over the ice element.

[Evolution Paths] 37

Why does this feel like I've seen it somewhere before?

Xie Ning looked at the burned Demon Tamers Beast in the photo and the attributes that popped up. He felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't recall where he'd seen it for a moment.

However, looking at the 'Poison Flame' in the status bar, he couldn't help but feel tempted.

If these Poison Flames could be extracted, they would be an excellent Materials for the Little Wolf Cub's evolution.

"How is it? Are you confident?" Lin Yangqiu stroked his beard, looking at Xie Ning.

Xie Ning nodded slightly and then said, "Although Poison Flame is troublesome, it shouldn't be a big problem if the President takes action. Why look for me?"

"Although I can also provide treatment, it would take a lot of time. At this critical juncture, I am already stretched thin. Coming to oversee the Breeder assessment today was also to find a way to solve the Iron-Eating Ant problem." Lin Yangqiu nodded.

So that's how it is.

It seemed the Iron-Eating Ant problem was much more severe than imagined.

Thinking this, Xie Ning nodded. He decided to take on this task. Regardless of the reward, just being able to get the Poison Flame was a huge gain for him.

Lin Yangqiu asked curiously, "Aren't you going to ask about the reward?"

"For a task that reaches the President of the Cultivation Association, the reward won't be small." Xie Ning smiled after saying this. In fact, he really had forgotten to ask, his mind was only on the Poison Flame.

"Haha~ What a clever fellow." Lin Yangqiu laughed loudly, then his eyes darted to Mo Yu. "Then how about this: tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM, you go there with little girl Yu. I believe she can be of some help to you. I also have a bit of a selfish motive; regardless of how much or how little the reward is, just give her a share."

Hearing this, Mo Yu repeatedly waved her hands in refusal. "Ah, no, no, no, Grandpa Lin. I'm already very grateful to be allowed to go and learn. I really don't need a reward."

"I still know your situation. Let's leave it at that. Young Friend Xie, what do you think?" Lin Yangqiu asked Xie Ning.

Since it had been put that way, Xie Ning couldn't say much. Besides, it would be a bit embarrassing to have an unfamiliar classmate work for him for free, whether she was there to learn or not.

"Then let's settle it. Regardless of the reward for the task, we'll split it seventy-thirty."

"Hahaha~ Good lad, then it's settled." Lin Yangqiu laughed while stroking his beard.

Mo Yu, on the other hand, looked quite embarrassed.

Afterward, Xie Ning and the two added each other as friends. He took his Intermediate Cultivator qualification certificate and then took his leave.