Locke: Daily intelligence, I'm going crazy finding bargains!

Luo Xing was too lazy to pay him any attention. There were too many people like him in novels, and he never expected to run into one himself.

The redhead glared at them, turned and walked towards an office, turning back before going in to utter a harsh threat: "Just you wait."

Golden Bean curled her lip: "Is this guy crazy?"

"Never mind him, let's go, let's go for the assessment." Luo Xing patted his shoulder.

The four people followed the signs and turned into the assessment area, which was a large indoor venue, twice the size of the one-star venue.

The person in charge of the assessment was a bald, middle-aged man wearing the association's uniform and a three-star magician badge on his chest. He was looking down at the registration form.

Luo Xing glanced at the assessment rules. The assessment for advancing to the second-star mage required defeating two elves of the examiner in succession, one rare and one elite, with a level cap of twenty.

"Who wants to go first?" The bald examiner looked up, his gaze sweeping over the four people.

"I'll go first." Su Mumu raised her hand and walked into the battle circle carrying the Gulu Ball.

The bald examiner threw out the first ball.

A flash of white light, and a grass-headed duck appeared on the field, its green head topped with a tuft of weeds, elite level, level 20.

Footsteps came from the other end of the corridor. The red-haired man had returned sometime earlier, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and a gloating expression on his face.

"I didn't expect you guys to come here to take the two-star exam? But I advise you to go home early!"

Before she could finish speaking, Su Mumu had already summoned the nine-tailed fox.

"Flame Spear"

The nine-tailed fox opened its mouth, and a long spear formed of flame shot out from it at great speed.

Before the Duck could even react, the musket struck it squarely in the chest, blasting the Pokémon away. It crashed into the protective wall and slid down, instantly losing its ability to battle.

The battle was ended in one move.

The bald examiner paused, his pen still in his hand, while the red-haired man stared with his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time.

The red-haired man swallowed hard, forcing a smile: "I was just lucky. I won't be so lucky from here on out."

The bald examiner retrieved the grass-headed duck and threw out the second gulu ball.

The Pokémon that appeared this time was noticeably larger; it was a Blazing Apex.

To Luo Xing's surprise, the examiner actually broke the rules and summoned an elf with epic bloodline. It seems that this is the reason why the red-haired man was so arrogant.

The fiery ape slammed its fists into the ground, and a roar shook the ground.

"Nine-tailed fox, finish this quickly."

The nine-tailed fox swayed and used the Copy technique, creating three afterimages that separated. The three shadows simultaneously released fire spears. The Fiery Ape barely managed to block the first one, but the second fire spear was already in front of him.

The fiery ape staggered two steps, and before it could regain its footing, the third blow had already arrived.

"boom!"

The Flame Spear struck the Fiery Ape squarely in the chest. The ape's body bounced off the ground, slammed heavily to the ground, struggled a couple of times, and then lay still.

The fiery ape with epic bloodline couldn't last even a minute.

The arena was silent for two seconds. The red-haired man's mouth was frozen at a very ugly angle because he knew that the Fiery Ape had an epic bloodline. What kind of monster was that girl's Nine-Tailed Fox?

The bald examiner, his face ashen, wrote "Pass" on the registration form.

"Next."

"Hey, get out of the way." Luo Xing patted the red-haired man on the shoulder and walked past him. The latter subconsciously took a step to the side.

Luo Xing stepped into the battle circle, reached to his waist, and there was already the Meow Meow Gulu Ball in his palm.

The examiner sent out two more Pokémon, one rare and one epic.

"Meow, Thorn Claw." Three rounds, clean and efficient.

The red-haired man finally stopped being stubborn and huddled silently by the door frame.

Then came Liu Ruyan, who was even more outrageous. Before she could even see what kind of spirit the opponent was, two Wishing Stars came crashing down in quick succession, exploding with white starlight and sending dust billowing across the field.

Update released! Book lovers, go read Cola Novels!

When the smoke cleared, the two elves were lying sprawled on the ground.

The bald examiner's face turned ashen.

Golden Bean rubbed his hands together and stepped forward: "It's my turn."

"You've passed too."

The bald examiner slammed the registration form shut and stood up.

"There's no exam today, everyone get out."

He bypassed the golden bean and fixed his gaze on the red-haired man at the door, his eyes filled with hostility. If this bastard hadn't given him instructions to make things difficult for these examinees, he wouldn't have been the one being tested today.

He, a dignified three-star magician, has completely lost face today.

"You! Get out of the association! Don't come looking for me again!" The bald man pointed at the red-haired man, his voice filled with barely suppressed anger.

The four people entered the promotion area with their certificates of passing the assessment, and the association staff led them into four separate magic rooms.

Luo Xing walked into the room, and the door closed automatically behind him.

A crystal ball the size of a fist floated in the center of the room, emitting a soft white light.

He placed his hand on it as instructed, and the moment the magic surged into the crystal ball, the shackles of the Beast Taming Space shattered, and the contract slots expanded to six.

Luo Xing stretched his body, sensing the changes in the magical power within him.

A two-star mage has nearly twice the magical capacity of a one-star mage, and their physical attributes are also significantly improved.

In the corner of the room stood a stone tablet, its surface covered with densely packed runes, bearing the four words: Star Magic.

Luo Xing reached out and touched it. A few seconds later, the stone slab darkened, and he successfully comprehended the Star Magic.

About half an hour later, the four people met in the lobby.

Liu Ruyan put the badge into her pocket, nodded to Luo Xing, and said, "I have to go now. See you in the secret realm tomorrow."

"Brother Xing!"

Golden Bean approached and furtively pulled a gilded invitation from his pocket, bearing a crown logo: Holy Star Auction House.

"There's an auction in an hour, want to go check it out?"

Luo Xing happened to have some Qingxin Grass and ores that he didn't need, so he needed to exchange them for some resources.

"Walk."

The three of them took a taxi to the western commercial district of the city, where a magnificent golden building stood in the very center.

Two security guards in black suits stood at the entrance, and a red carpet was laid on the steps. As soon as Huang Jindou stepped onto the steps, a waiter at the entrance jogged over.

"Young Master Huang! Long time no see!"

The waiter was all smiles and very enthusiastic.

"Arrange a private room for us." Golden Bean waved his hand grandly, displaying great pomp.

"Alright, Mr. Huang, this way please!"

The three followed the waiter inside, and as they passed through the second-floor corridor, a familiar voice came from behind them.

"Hey, aren't these the same little brats from earlier?"

The red-haired man arrived at the auction house at some point, holding a glass of champagne. When he saw Luo Xing and the other two, he put on that smug expression again.

"You're coming to the auction house too? Did you bring enough money? Don't make a fool of yourself by raising your paddle and not being able to pay."

Just then, a waiter came over and gestured for them to enter: "Young Master Huang, this is a private room exclusively for Black Card VIPs."

The red-haired man stood there stunned. There were probably no more than five people in the entire city of Los Angeles who were members of the Black Card.

The three entered the private room, and the door closed in front of the red-haired man.

Luo Xing picked up the catalogue on the table and started flipping through it.

His gaze was immediately drawn to the third item in the collection: a ring-shaped ornament, entirely gold in color.

Item Name: Unknown (Lowest Rarity).

Luo Xing's breath hitched. He was all too familiar with this thing—the Soul Ring Imprint, which could comprehensively enhance the abilities of elves and mages.

He didn't know what the Soul Ring was used for in this world, but he was certain that the duck Gigi was probably more powerful than he had imagined, at least more valuable than the Soul Ring itself.