Chapter 114 He Couldn't Reveal His Secret

"John, get up here!" Zane finally lost it. He'd never met anyone so annoying.

John stood up, grinning and nodding at the other students, "Yep, that's me, 'Number One' John!"

He made sure to emphasize "Number One," which only made everyone more irritated.

But they couldn't beat him in a fight, and their contract spirits were no match either, so they had to put up with it.

"Is everyone here? Let me say a few words!" John clasped his hands behind his back, acting like he was in charge, completely ignoring Zane.

John continued, "To get first place, I have to thank all of you. If you weren't so weak, I wouldn't have won so easily."

The room went silent.

"Especially you, Karl! I have to thank you!" he added.

Karl, sitting in his seat, clenched his fists, fuming. He'd never been so insulted.

"Finally, let me describe myself in one sentence," John cleared his throat, "I am really amazing!"

"Get off the stage already!" Zane threw the reward box at him.

If John kept talking, the whole class might lose it.

"Zane, I haven't finished speaking."

"Second place, Karl!" Zane cut him off and called Karl up.

John shook his head and went back to his seat.

"This reward is awesome!" John opened the box and saw four white beads and some beast innards. He recognized the beads as top-grade Beast Taming Orbs, worth about 120,000 Stellar Coins each on the Black Market. Four of them would be worth 480,000 Stellar Coins, and with the beast innards, the total value exceeded a million Stellar Coins.

The school got these materials cheaper, but he could sell them on the Black Market for quick cash.

Both the beast materials and the Beast Taming Orbs would sell well.

The beast innards came from a mutated roar lion from the Ice Canyon, whose skill was a battle roar that could briefly stun enemies—a pretty versatile skill.

"This reward is awesome!" Uriah looked over, rubbing his hands with envy.

John hadn't expected the first place in a class competition to be worth a million Stellar Coins.

The school was really generous.

The second-place reward was only about 500,000 Stellar Coins.

Just as Zane was handing out the rewards, someone showed up outside the classroom. It was Theodore Stormborn, the principal of City of Wisdom High School!

"Zane, can you step outside for a moment?" Theodore said.

Zane left the classroom.

"Zane, I know you have a lot of teaching experience, but isn't it a bit wasteful to give such a big reward to an F-level Beast Tamer?" Theodore frowned, looking a bit annoyed.

The school could use Stellar Coins to reward the students in the special training class, but they couldn't waste resources. It was fine to spend a lot on students who could get into Quantum Academy of Techno-Magic.

But John's F-level contract spirit would only get him into a normal university, and spending too much on him seemed wasteful.

Zane smiled, "Theodore, John might still get into Quantum Academy of Techno-Magic. For now, he's better than the others."

Theodore shot back, "Do you really think Quantum Academy of Techno-Magic would accept an F-level contract spirit?"

Zane hesitated, falling silent. The quality of the first contract spirit was crucial. It impacted a Beast Tamer's combat power and future potential.

Typically, if someone's first contract spirit was A-level, their subsequent spirits wouldn't be much worse.

But with John's F-level spirit, his future ones would likely be E or D-level, making it hard for him to get into Quantum Academy of Techno-Magic. That's why potential rating was a key exam criterion.

Zane shook his head, "I have to ensure fairness. The second-place reward can't be higher than the first."

Theodore suggested, "You could reduce the first-place reward."

As principal, he wasn't wrong. Resources should go to students with the most potential.

Zane stood firm, "Theodore, I have my own approach. If you think someone else should be the class teacher, I'll resign."

Theodore was taken aback. He hadn't expected Zane to be so resolute. Quickly, he smiled, "That's not what I meant. I trust your teaching. You've trained many special classes."

Theodore smiled, "Alright, since you have your own ideas, I won't interfere. You can still manage the school's resources."

Their conversation ended, and Theodore sighed as he left.

The school was determined to improve its exam results, and as principal, Theodore felt the most pressure.

Success would reverse the decline of City of Wisdom High School while failure would make him the scapegoat.

"Joshua, Uriah, do you know any channels to exchange these materials for Beast Taming Pearls?" John asked, wanting to deal with his reward. Beast Taming Orbs needed refining, which was time-consuming, and the Battle Roar skill wasn't very useful.

Uriah's eyes widened, "Are you crazy? Exchange these for Beast Taming Pearls?"

Basic-level Beast Taming Pearls were 150,000 Stellar Coins, while top-grade Beast Taming Orbs were 120,000. But the Orbs were slightly better in terms of efficacy, though it took time to refine them, unlike the Pearls, which could be used immediately and be turned into Beast-Taming power.

John blinked, "Have you ever seen me train?"

They were confused. They'd never seen John train or absorb spiritual energy. At night, while they trained, John would be sleeping.

"Then how did you get your strength? Just from consuming Beast Taming Pearls?" Joshua asked, incredulous. Even wealthy people wouldn't train like that.

John sighed, explaining mysteriously, "You don't get it. Training isn't just about meditation. To the truly enlightened, eating, sleeping, attending classes, even going to the bathroom are all forms of training."

They still looked puzzled. They'd never heard of bathroom breaks being training.

John sighed again, deciding not to explain further. He couldn't reveal his secret.