"It doesn’t follow the rules."
"Drudgeon doesn’t follow the rules?"
Feng Yuan looked at Drudgeon with some confusion. From what he knew, Drudgeon was a Divine Beast that had survived since the Mythical Era. Although it wasn’t top-ranked in strength, it shouldn’t have done anything odd.
Drudgeon’s face turned slightly red as it said,
"I... I was just feeling a bit nostalgic, none of you understand the feelings of an old creature like myself."
"When I saw it, it was curled up in a woman’s arms like a pet cat, acting coquettishly."
Feng Yuan looked at Agunas somewhat speechlessly, only to see Agunas staring seriously at him and saying,
"A Divine Beast should not show such an attitude in front of humans."
"No, could you be misunderstanding something? Aren’t Divine Beasts completely free to do as they please? As long as they don’t forget their responsibilities."
"According to the records from the Dynasty Era, those Divine Beasts were very self-respecting, but it..."
Rubbing his forehead, Feng Yuan said helplessly,
"I think you should put aside the books from the Dynasty Era for now, and take a look at some modern ones. I think the problem lies with you, not Drudgeon."
Seeing Agunas looking somewhat puzzled, Feng Yuan sighed and said,
"Times are changing, the traditions from the Dynasty Era are not suitable to be applied now."
Glancing at the blushing Drudgeon, Feng Yuan said helplessly,
"As long as Drudgeon is fulfilling its duties properly, it can do whatever it wants. After all, that’s the freedom it should have."
"To be honest... as long as other Divine Beasts aren’t crossing the line, it’s none of your business and you shouldn’t interfere."
Turning to Drudgeon, Feng Yuan said,
"Sorry, Agunas has been reading records from the Dynasty Era lately, so..."
After giving Agunas a glance, Drudgeon shook its tail and said,
"It’s okay, everyone’s been through that, I’ll be off if there’s nothing else."
Watching Drudgeon flee in haste, Agunas stared at Feng Yuan and asked,
"Haven’t you seen how Ernis in the Omeilia Region does whatever it wants without anyone really interfering? To tell you the truth, you’re having a hard time controlling the power you hold."
Looking at Agunas’s confused expression, Feng Yuan shook his head and said,
"You’re going to have to figure this out for yourself. Does the Shrinking Technique require a recording to be used?"
Agunas handed the black Ancient Book to Feng Yuan and said,
"No need, it has been transcribed and can be used anytime."
"Okay then, we’ll try it with Ah Mu after school."
After greeting Teacher Chu, Feng Yuan returned to his seat. While Teacher Chu wasn’t paying attention, Qi Chen whispered,
"What was that about just now? Why did Agunas come over with Drudgeon in tow?"
"Just a misunderstanding. And by the way, Agunas, stop reading records from the Dynasty Era and read something modern," Feng Yuan suggested.
Agunas snorted at Feng Yuan and silently closed the book in his hands, swapping it for another.
"Are you sure it’s okay?"
After class, accompanying Qi Chen to the beast pen, Qi Chen still seemed worried and asked Feng Yuan, who shook his head and said,
"Aside from being unable to fight, there are no other problems. After all, the Shrinking Technique is just a type of control Magic, and it’s very difficult to cause harm with it."
Ah Mu, excited by Qi Chen’s arrival, shook its body and trotted over. Feng Yuan stroked Ah Mu’s rough bark and said,
"Agunas will use the Shrinking Technique on you in a moment. Don’t resist, with the Shrinking Technique you’ll be able to come back to the dormitory with us."
Ah Mu looked at Agunas with some joy. Agunas threw the book in his hand, and began to mutter something. A purple ball of light flew out from the opened book and struck Ah Mu accurately. The light ball enveloped Ah Mu and began to shrink slowly. Moments later, the light ball dissipated, and Ah Mu was about the same size as Xiao Ji.
"Don’t try to pick him up! Ah Mu may look smaller in appearance, but his weight hasn’t changed!"
Seeing Qi Chen attempting to lift Ah Mu, Feng Yuan hurriedly stopped him. As Qi Chen cautiously tried to pick up Ah Mu after hearing Feng Yuan’s words, he found that Ah Mu didn’t budge from his spot. Feng Yuan, somewhat at a loss for words, said,
"The Shrinking Technique only made his form smaller, his weight stays the same, Agunas, try adding a Levitation spell."
Agunas waved his pen, the pages flipped, and a cyan light flashed by, with little stars glittering on Ah Mu, to which Feng Yuan said with some surprise,
"This seems to be one of the Rune Bark characteristics."
Qi Chen looked puzzled at the twinkling lights on Ah Mu, as Feng Yuan glanced at Agunas and said,
"First, dispel the Shrinking and Levitation effects on Ah Mu."
With Agunas’s movements, Ah Mu gradually returned to his original size, and the twinkling stars disappeared. However, the bark on Ah Mu’s body now had cyan streaks running through it. Feng Yuan pushed Ah Mu gently, and Ah Mu floated to the side as if weightless.
Seeing Qi Chen’s confusion, Feng Yuan chuckled and said,
"Looks like you usually keep the mysterious tree branches on Ah Mu, huh~"
"It’s not that I keep them on him, it’s that for some reason, Ah Mu can take the mysterious tree branches like personal items and store them inside himself. What’s the matter? Is there a problem? Is it serious?"
Seeing Qi Chen’s worried expression, Feng Yuan smiled and looked at Ah Mu, saying,
"What could be the problem? This is great news, Rune Bark is a marvelous trait. But Ah Mu, you’ve got to learn to control it; you can’t keep that effect on all the time."
"What kind of effects does Rune Bark have? I don’t think the books mention it."
"It can record and maintain beneficial status effects that are applied to it. Now Ah Mu needs to learn how to control the Rune Bark, or continuously having Levitation active can be troublesome."
"As for why the book doesn’t mention it, that’s because this trait is extremely rare. After all, it can only possibly be obtained by tree-type Spirit Beasts, and it demands a lot from them. Let’s see, how should we showcase Ah Mu’s Rune Bark trait in the competition..."
"This needs to be showcased, too?"
Qi Chen seemed confused as he looked at Feng Yuan, who nodded, laughing softly and saying,
"Of course, the appearance of Rune Bark implies that the Spirit Beast has reached a strong point in the mastery of its own power. It’s only during evolution that Rune Bark might appear as an affirmation of Ah Mu’s strength; there’s no harm in that."
Seeing Qi Chen look at Ah Mu with a hint of surprise, Feng Yuan stroked his chin in thought for a while before saying,
"After dinner, let’s go to the small woods; I’ll teach Ah Mu how to control the Rune Bark and also teach it some new tricks."
Noting the skepticism in Qi Chen’s eyes, Feng Yuan smiled and said,
"What? Are you reluctant?"
"No, it’s just, are you really up for it?"
"Let’s just give it a try and see."
"Oh, I see... alright then..."
On Friday night, Feng Yuan hung up the phone with a sense of resignation and opened his wardrobe. Qi Chen looked at him, puzzled, and said,
"Yeah, the special operations team called me over. I have to set up a task tonight, and early tomorrow I’ll probably be off to maintain order. I’ll call you on your cell phone when it’s time."
"But aren’t you a contestant? How will you manage the competition tomorrow?"
"It shouldn’t be a big issue, I’ll probably rest near the competition ground. Including the journey, you’ll likely wake up around the same time as me tomorrow, and besides, I can’t really say no, can I?"
"Alright then, just be careful out there."
The Dreaming Dragon Baby floated in front of Feng Yuan looking at him. Feng Yuan, a bit helpless, patted the Dreaming Dragon Baby’s head and said,
"You want to come along too?"
Seeing that Big Cat had also shut down his computer and was looking at him, Feng Yuan scratched his head and pointed at Xiao Ji, saying,
"I was only planning to bring Xiao Ji along. You can’t participate in the contest, and if I take you..."
At that moment, Najia landed on Big Cat’s head, looking at Feng Yuan with anticipation.