Chapter 140: [King of Illusions]

Indeed, phantom spirits can drop crystal cores, just like spirit beasts do," Ai Mulian said with a smile. "Student Luo Chen, there is some other information you might find even more interesting. After some phantom spirits disintegrate, besides crystal cores, they may also leave behind certain foreign objects. These foreign objects all have special and useful purposes!"

"Oh, Student Alycie, please tell us about them. What special purposes do these foreign objects serve? Are they made of a different substance than crystal cores?"

"Yes, they are fundamentally different from crystal cores. A crystal core is a carrier of energy; once the energy contained within it is depleted, it vanishes into thin air, just like coal! But foreign objects are different. They are not disposable items that disappear once used up; rather, they can be used repeatedly! These foreign objects can be divided into two types. The first type is called Condensed Essence, which is similar to minerals and can be used in smelting to make weapons tougher, improve spiritual energy transmission efficiency, and even imbue them with elemental attributes!"

Luo Chen asked in surprise, "Student Alycie, what you're describing sounds like enchanting materials, doesn't it?"

Enchanting materials are raw materials used in smelting, much like ores, but compared to ordinary metals like iron and copper, enchanting materials possess a special function: spiritual energy conversion. For example, a spirit warrior without any elemental attributes might use a weapon forged with enchanting materials to project combat aura infused with elemental attributes.

Aileen's legendary weapon, the Dagger of Moonlight, was forged using enchanting materials—and not just any, but the highest-grade enchanting materials. Aside from converting spiritual energy into the ice attribute, it could even store a massive amount of spiritual energy within its tiny blade, a life-saving treasure in critical moments.

Calories also chimed in, "I thought enchanting materials only came from nature. I never expected them to drop from phantom spirits!"

Alycie explained, "That's right, some enchanting materials come from nature, while others come from phantom spirits. However, only certain types of Condensed Essence are enchanting materials, and those are considered the higher-quality Condensed Essence!"

Luo Chen then asked, "Student Alycie, besides Condensed Essence, what is the second type of foreign object that phantom spirits might leave behind?"

Zhuo Yuqing continued, "The second type of foreign object is called the Spirit Heart. This is an even better item than enchanting materials, Student Luo Chen. Even if you've never heard of a Spirit Heart, you must have heard of spirit pets!"

Luo Chen nodded. Spirit pets were extremely precious entities. They were "raised" by humans and possessed battle-support capabilities. Come to think of it, they were somewhat similar to phantom spirits, except they weren't aggressive toward humans like phantom spirits were—they wouldn't attack humans on sight, and they were loyal helpers to their masters.

Luo Chen didn't know much about spirit pets because they were luxury items, the patent of the wealthy. He simply didn't have the capacity to raise one, not even the trashiest spirit pets.

Alycie explained, "Actually, spirit pets are born from Spirit Hearts. Spirit warriors who possess a Spirit Heart can use special methods to summon phantom spirits that obey their commands, and those are spirit pets!"

"Student Alycie, let me take it from here! I'm a spirit pet fanatic and know a lot about them!" The lovesick girl, Lulu, jumped into the conversation. "Spirit Hearts can be divided into two categories. The first type is the consumable spirit pet. The type of spirit pet summoned is the same as the phantom spirit's previous form, but its abilities are lower. Moreover, every time it is summoned, the Spirit Heart weakens a bit, until it weakens to the point where it can no longer summon the spirit pet, rendering that Spirit Heart useless. More people call consumable spirit pets puppet beasts because they lack emotion and thought, and only know how to execute their master's combat commands!"

Seeing that she had captured everyone's attention, the lovesick girl felt a great sense of accomplishment. She deliberately tossed her hair, struck a pose she thought was elegant, and continued, "The second type of Spirit Heart is the growing Spirit Heart!"

"The spirit pets summoned by this type of Spirit Heart start out as very weak individuals, but they slowly grow. At the same time, they do not weaken with use; instead, they continuously grow and strengthen alongside their master, so there are no usage restrictions. However, if this type of spirit pet is injured in battle, its Spirit Heart will also weaken, and if the injury is too severe, the spirit pet can even die! Growing spirit pets possess intelligence. Aside from combat, they can do other things, such as communicating with their masters or fetching items. They are very well-behaved!"

Luo Chen said with a beaming expression, "To sum it all up, whether the foreign object that drops is Condensed Essence or a Spirit Heart, it can be sold for a lot of money!"

Alycie smiled and said, "That's right, they are both expensive items! However, Student Luo Chen, don't hold out too much hope, because the drop rate of foreign objects from phantom spirits is extremely low, especially for low-level phantom spirits. Even if you defeat thousands of them, you might not drop a single piece of Condensed Essence. And the drop rate for Spirit Hearts is even lower! High-level phantom spirits have higher drop rates, but given our current strength, running into them is definitely not a good thing!"

"You really are an idiot, wanting to sell everything!" Joanna bluntly scolded Luo Chen. "Do you know how precious a Spirit Heart is? There is simply no market supply for them right now; even the Spirit Heart of the trashiest earth dog is hard to buy. Who wouldn't want to get a spirit pet to keep by their side? Even a consumable, low-ability spirit pet can help you harass enemies or lure away spirit beasts when you encounter danger. They have huge uses!"

"Indeed," Alycie agreed. "People who own spirit pets are jokingly called the luxury version of superpower warriors, because superpower warriors use magic skills to assist in combat, while spirit pet owners use spirit pets to assist in combat."

"Either way, it's an extra helper!" Luo Chen said with envy. "Student Alycie, do you guys own spirit pets?"

Given Alycie and Joanna's backgrounds, they should definitely be able to acquire spirit pets.

Alycie smiled and said, "I do."

Luo Chen asked curiously, "Then why have I never seen it?"

At this moment, Joanna said, "My spirit pet is a growing type, and it has high requirements for its master. Only by breaking through to the sixth rank of spiritual energy is one's spiritual energy imprint sufficient to activate the Spirit Heart and allow a growing spirit pet to be born. We've only been at the second-tier sixth rank for less than half a year, and our spiritual energy is still relatively weak, so it's temporarily unsuitable for use!"

As Joanna spoke, a ball of flame appeared in front of her. The flame rapidly took shape, eventually turning into the appearance of a small bird, only about the size of a palm, with its entire body engulfed in raging flames.

"This is my spirit pet, Qiaoqiao. Come on, Qiaoqiao, say hello to everyone!"

The fire bird was very obedient and chirped twice. Although they couldn't understand what it was saying, it sounded completely devoid of malice.

"Wow, Joanna, this spirit pet of yours is so cute, and it has the fire element too." Lulu, the round-faced lovesick girl from Zhuo Yuqing's dorm, crowded over, looking at the tiny fire bird with great envy. Seeing a small flame crest on the bird's head, she seemed to realize something. "This... looks like..."

"A Vermilion Bird," Joanna said. "Before coming to Blue Emperor Academy, I broke through to the sixth rank during the vacation when I returned home for graduation, and my grandfather gave me this Vermilion Bird Spirit Heart. After I continuously poured my spiritual energy into it for a week, it was activated."

"A Vermilion Bird! It really is an eighth-grade spirit pet, the Vermilion Bird!" The round-faced lovesick girl shrieked in excitement. Aside from being lovesick, this girl particularly liked collecting information about spirit pets and knew quite a bit about them.

The grades of spirit pets were similar to battle skills. Higher-grade spirit pets grew more easily, though this wasn't absolute, as it was also related to the master's spiritual energy attribute and growth rate. For example, Aileen, whose combat aura distinctly leaned toward the ice attribute, was completely unsuited for raising a fire-attribute Vermilion Bird. As for the class, it was tied to the spirit pet's special abilities.

"I'm so envious of you, Joanna, for having such an eighth-grade spirit pet." The round-faced lovesick girl turned to Alycie and asked, "Aileen, where is your spirit pet?"

"Oh, my spirit pet Kaka is Joanna's sworn enemy; they'll fight the moment they're summoned, so I'd better not..."

"Alycie, just let me broaden my horizons!" Lulu was itching with curiosity and pestered Aileen relentlessly.

Unable to withstand her soft and hard persistence, Aileen had no choice but to summon her spirit pet. It turned out to be a snow-white pocket-sized tiger, also only the size of a palm.

Aileen was right; these two spirit pets were indeed at loggerheads, completely lacking the friendship shared by their masters. As soon as the pocket tiger appeared, the fire bird immediately flew over, chirping noisily at it. This time, the chirps were filled with hostility, and the pocket tiger roared back, though the roar completely lacked the majesty of the king of beasts from the ancient civilization era.

Then, the two spirit pets began to tussle. The fire bird flapped its wings to shoot out tiny fireballs the size of fingers, while the pocket tiger spat out a milky-white chilling mist. Their power was indeed still very weak and incapable of helping their masters in battle yet, but for spirit pets that had just been born not long ago to already master innate skills, they certainly weren't ordinary objects.

"It's also an eighth-grade spirit pet, the Ice-Soul Tiger!" The round-faced lovesick girl's eyes turned red with jealousy. "You guys are so lucky to have such top-tier spirit pets! And Yuqing's 'Kong' is a ninth-grade one!"

Everyone chimed in together: "'Kong'?"

A ninth-grade spirit pet was something everyone wanted to witness, and they simultaneously turned their gazes toward Zhuo Yuqing.

"Alright, I'll summon it out to join the fun as well," Zhuo Yuqing shrugged. "However, 'Kong' doesn't really like crowds."

A cloud-like entity appeared before everyone's eyes, semi-transparent and barely noticeable unless observed carefully. This thing was much larger than Joanna's Qiaoqiao and Aileen's Kaka because Zhuo Yuqing currently possessed the strength of the seventh rank of spiritual energy, and she had raised her spirit pet for a longer time.

Two little eyes poked out from the cloud, darting around to scan the crowd before looking away with an aloof, indifferent expression. It was said that a spirit pet's personality was heavily influenced by its master, and it seemed this "Kong" was equally arrogant. Yet, it had the capital to be arrogant—who told it to be a ninth-grade, spatial-attribute spirit pet?

This attribute of spirit pet was quite rare; it could create barriers to protect its master. The Saint Martial Hall had given it to Zhuo Yuqing, greatly enhancing her self-preservation capabilities. When she encountered that formidable spirit pet with mental attacks in the Forest of Fear, "Kong" had saved Zhuo Yuqing's life.

Luo Chen smiled and said, "Student Zhuo Yuqing, this cloud of yours is really interesting!"

Upon hearing this, "Kong" turned its head back and glared at Luo Chen with an angry expression, as if to say, "I am not a cloud, I am a high-level spirit pet!"

At this, everyone found it even more amusing. Aside from helping their masters, spirit pets were also very cute and brought joy to people. Who would have thought they were born from the Spirit Hearts left behind by vicious phantom spirits?

Luo Chen turned to Shi Feng and asked, "Hey, birdman, do you have a spirit pet? Don't tell me it's a horse?"

Shi Feng scratched his head and said, "Damn, you actually guessed it right, beast! It is a horse!"

A gentle breeze stirred, and a winged white horse floated in the air, also miniature in size. Luo Chen laughed heartily: "You birdman! Your spirit pet is actually a winged horse!"

The round-faced lovesick girl looked at Luo Chen with disdain. "Country bumpkin. Do you know that this is an eighth-grade wind-attribute Pegasus? Student Shi Feng, you actually have such a great spirit pet too."

Thinking of this, the lovesick girl's gaze toward the stud-like brother instantly became much warmer, because being able to own an eighth-grade spirit pet meant Shi Feng's family background must be very good. Even though this boy was a bit promiscuous, under the influence of her own charm, perhaps he would become loyal and devoted.

The lovesick girl quickly sank into a dreamy state. Her tender, watery gaze made the stud-like brother shudder. *Good grief, you are definitely not my type!*

Next, Sarah and Lulu also released their respective spirit pets. One of them was a third-grade pet, and the other was a third-grade-plus pet. Although their grades were a bit low, they were both growing-type spirit pets, which wasn't bad at all.

As for those of Erya and Calories, they were consumable puppet beasts. These puppet beasts looked like the phantom spirits they were before, appearing rather ferocious and quite bulky. The two of them retracted their pets after releasing them for just one minute, because every extra second a puppet beast stayed in the outside world consumed its Spirit Heart. Although the consumption was very minimal in a non-combat state, it was still heartbreaking.

As for Kaira, who didn't have a spirit pet, she said with great grievance, "Everyone, I don't have a spirit pet. I'm so pitiful."

Night Desire immediately declared, "It's fine, darling. My pet is your pet, and even I am your little pet!"

Everyone: "I can't take it anymore, blech, blech, blech..."

The lovesick girl turned to Luo Chen and asked, "Hey, Student Luo Chen, what about you?"

She was asking knowingly. A poor wretch like Luo Chen, whose weapon was only slightly better than a basic white-tier blue equipment, how could he possibly own a spirit pet?

"I don't have a spirit pet. Besides, I still believe that strengthening one's own power is more important."

"Hmph, sour grapes because you can't reach them!" The lovesick girl mocked Luo Chen with biting sarcasm. This woman really didn't have much brains; if she had intentions toward Shi Feng, she should have also shown goodwill to Luo Chen. She had to know that Luo Chen and Shi Feng were close enough to share a pair of trousers.

"Do you even know how useful a spirit pet is? Aside from directly attacking enemies, some high-level spirit pets can even fuse with their masters, directly boosting their strength. The owner of a high-level spirit pet can even leap over ranks to defeat opponents stronger than themselves! Wait a minute, you couldn't possibly have a fusion-type spirit pet, could you? Otherwise, how could you possibly have defeated Raphael!"

After saying this, the lovesick girl shook her head again. "Impossible, you definitely wouldn't have such a good spirit pet, looking as shabby as you do!"

*Fuse with the master and boost their power? Wait, that fat bird boosted my spiritual energy, and it can also be summoned. Could it be that it's my spirit pet?*

*No, that's not right. I've never acquired a Spirit Heart, so where would I get a spirit pet from?*

That fat bird had an unknown origin. It would be better to take this opportunity to let the knowledgeable people in the team appraise it. Thinking of this, Luo Chen issued a call: *Fat bird, come out!*

With a thought, it suddenly appeared before them. Everyone couldn't help being startled, especially Lulu the lovesick girl, who never expected Luo Chen to actually own a spirit pet.

"Student Lulu, please help me take a look. Does this thing count as a spirit pet?"

Before Lulu could speak, that chubby, round appearance already caused Shi Feng to burst into uproarious laughter: "Luo Chen, my innocent friend, it seems you really are too innocent. Even your spirit pet is a total dodo! Look at it, all silly and goofy, it's killing me, wahahaha..."

Upon hearing this, the bird glared fiercely at Shi Feng: *You're the dodo! Your whole family are dodos! I am the Phantom Spirit King, Nightmare!*

Shi Feng's words proved that it truly was a spirit pet, and moreover, this pet's gaze could change, indicating it was a growing-type spirit pet. Not only was Luo Chen very surprised, but even Joanna wondered aloud, "Hey, when did you get a growing-type spirit pet?"

Luo Chen scratched his head and said, "I don't know about this either."

"Hmph, this isn't any kind of secret; what's there to hide!" Joanna thought Luo Chen was unwilling to disclose it, little knowing that Luo Chen was speaking the absolute truth.

Aileen chimed in, "This spirit pet's appearance is very strange. What grade of spirit pet is it, and what abilities does it have?"

Luo Chen smiled bitterly, "I told you, I really don't know."

His words led Lulu to a misunderstanding. The lovesick girl looked down on him with utter contempt, assuming it was just some trashy goods: "Looking all brainless and clumsy, it's probably just a low-level type similar to an earth dog. It's understandable that Student Luo Chen is embarrassed to say it out loud."

"Squawk!"

The bird was furious. As the Phantom Spirit King, it had its dignity, yet it was being compared to an earth dog. Naturally, its heart was filled with extreme displeasure.

*Ugly woman, you're the earth dog! Your whole family are earth dogs!*

Zhuo Yuqing's extremely arrogant spirit pet, "Kong," suddenly floated over upon seeing the bird, glaring with a hostile expression and chirping provocatively.

The lovesick girl smiled and said, "It seems 'Kong' is interested in it. 'Kong,' you're a ninth-grade spirit pet, don't get too close to such a low-level fellow, it lowers your status!"

Hearing this, the bird grew even angrier. It blinked its eyes, and that arrogant ninth-grade pet "Kong" that had been provoking it abruptly tumbled headfirst out of the air. It took a long while before it managed to float back up, swaying unsteadily like a drunkard as it flew back toward Zhuo Yuqing. Its usual arrogance had also vanished, and the eyes peering from within the cloud looked somewhat frightened.

Everyone was stunned and puzzled. Why had "Kong" suddenly dropped out of the air? Could it be that this spirit pet shared its master Zhuo Yuqing's eccentric personality and wanted to test what falling felt like for no reason?

Only the bird was smiling smugly in its heart. *Hmph, a brainless spatial creature wants to challenge me, the Phantom Spirit King? What an idiot!*

What was that human saying again? Ah, right: *A lean camel is still bigger than a horse!*