Su Ping slowly opened his eyes.
He had slept rather deeply this time. After all, starting a few days ago, he had dealt with the evolution related to the Fogbound River Pine, learning about the Spirit Land, and the subsequent unexpected event of the Flame Heart. Consequently, Su Ping really hadnât had a proper sleep these past few days.
Now, at last, he had time to rest. This situation, however, didnât seem entirely out of place.
Because after opening his eyes, Su Ping was astonished to find that his spiritual power had increased again, reaching Commander Sixth Order. The boost in spiritual power from Xiao Qingâs evolution feedback had also been gradually and completely assimilated, so this increase wasnât unexpected.
Su Ping yawned and glanced at the time before taking out his phone. Last night, after seeing off Ding Yan and welcoming Liu Fuhai, and then lying down in bed, Feifei had told him about the barrage of calls from Ye Zhou the day before yesterday. But he was just too tired, and since Ye Zhou could wait a little longer, Su Ping wasnât in a hurry.
Now, early in the morning, Su Ping could finally sense Ye Zhouâs urgency regarding this matter from the sheer number of calls.
Looking at the several dozens of missed calls, Su Pingâs eyelids twitched. Feeling somewhat guilty, he didnât call back directly. Instead, after some thought, he decided to first send the videos of Toothyâs evolution and the subsequent battles, showing the use of Skills. Of course, all footage of Little Flame was edited out by him.
Afterward, he waited a bit, and, sure enough, a call from Ye Zhou soon came through.
"Hello, you finally saw your phone, huh?" Ye Zhouâs voice, filled with reproach, came from the other end.
"Hahaha, sorry about that, my bad, my bad. These past few days have been kind of hectic; I really wasnât paying attention. Iâve sent you the ancestral evolution of the Darkflame Ancient Raven..."
"I saw it. So it was as you said, related to that matter, and caused by those ancient energies..."
"It should be, but the situation is complicated..." Su Ping wasnât at liberty to explain much to Ye Zhou.
The Space Absorption with its Space Characteristics was not something he could discuss liberally. Moreover, Su Ping himself was still unaware of what exactly the Flame Secret Realm he had absorbed from the Flame Venerable was.
Su Ping believed the existence of âAncient Fireâ was surely not known to him alone. If he were to rashly reveal anything, he couldnât guarantee what issues might arise.
Clearly, Ye Zhou on the other end of the phone seemed to understand something.
"Alright, weâll have a good chat face to face when weâre in the Imperial Capital. By the way, are you okay? I saw your video from the Eastern Sea. You should be fine..."
Ye Zhouâs words made Su Ping pause. "What the heck? What Imperial Capital? What do you mean by âfineâ?"
"The Youth Professional Assessment! The schedule was released yesterday morning. The preliminary test is in two months! Only the top ten young Beast Tamers under twenty-four years of age and not exceeding the Commander Level from each province are eligible to attend the final assessment in the Imperial Capital. This is also the last Youth Professional Assessment before the education reform. After this, the professional assessments will be reset with the education reform. Didnât you know?"
Clearly, Ye Zhou was somewhat surprised that Su Ping wasnât aware of this. After all, this topic had sparked widespread discussion online in recent days and was the most attention-grabbing issue, making it somewhat unreasonable that Su Ping wouldnât know.
However, how could Su Ping be aware? He had been cloistered, working on refining the Flame Heart these past two days, without paying any attention to the news on the internet.
Still, the matter Ye Zhou spoke of had also been mentioned before by Qin Erlong and Sang Sheng.
"The top ten from each province? Not over twenty-four years old? Those requirements are quite harsh," Su Ping smacked his lips.
Though he wasnât yet twenty years old and had reached such a Realm in just over a year since his awakening, Su Ping naturally didnât compare himself with the vast majority of people. The amount of precious resources he and his Pet Beasts had used for his growth to this point was countless! Add to that his Meditation Talent, which was indeed extraordinary.
Su Ping was not the type to be aloof from reality. After all, he had gone through days when he had to split a single dollar into two to make ends meet, and he well knew how difficult it is for ordinary people to obtain such a massive amount of resources.
"It should be alright. I guess the competition will be fierce, since this is a rare opportunity for young Beast Tamers to make a national appearance. You, you rascal, I never thought you were hiding such depth! But you canât hide it this time! Iâm looking forward to a Beast Tamer battle with you. I guess Iâm taking advantage of you. If you were my age, Iâm afraid I wouldnât be confident I could beat you."
Su Pingâs eyelids twitched. "Youâre quite confident, arenât you?"
Ye Zhouâs words were filled with unmatchable confidence.
But this guy just said he saw my battle at Crescent Island on West Dragon Lake. Did the strength shown by the Paperman and Xiao Qing in that battle not make this guy wary? Even if Qian Yi hadnât demonstrated the terrifying capabilities of the Zhou Tian Five Elements Body, Xiao Qingâs External Incarnation alone should have been a clear indicator. That was a Cultivation result capable of easily fighting opponents of higher levels!
"Hehe, youâll see when the time comes, Su Ping. I owe you one! The theory of this successful ancestral evolution has done me a great favor. This time, I, Ye Zhou, am determined to take the nationâs top spot in the Youth Professional Assessment! Whether itâs you, anyone from the Imperial Capital, or someone else, or even Qin Xiaoxue, nobody can stop me!"