After a series of continuous plop-plop-plop sounds, Little Coal Ball showed a comfortable expression on its face, with its two front paws dangling on the edge of the litter box, as if it was tired and resting.

Lu Qing guessed correctly; Little Coal Ball was indeed resting.

Gu Fei had just buried its poop when it pooped again on the spot, and the poop was bigger than its body.

It took a full twenty minutes for Little Coal Ball to finally emerge from the litter box.

Its round belly had deflated, its legs were trembling, and it collapsed to the ground after taking only a few steps.

Seeing this, Gu Fei quickly opened a new bag of cat litter and covered all the poop in the litter box. Then she picked up Little Coal Ball and took some wet wipes to wipe its bottom.

Upon seeing this, Lu Qing couldn't help but give Gu Fei a thumbs up:

"Feifei, you are the most suitable person to be its owner!"

Upon hearing this, Little Coal Ball immediately struggled out of Gu Fei's arms, clung to Lu Qing's leg, and burst into tears:

"Master, don't you want me anymore? I'm already your beast, you can't abandon me after starting something!"

Lu Qing frowned and picked it up:

Why do you insist that I be your master?

The little coal ball hung its head, tucked its two little paws in, and muttered:

"It's because you're a cultivator, and you have Qi in your body. By signing a contract with you, I can use your power to grow quickly. It's a beast's instinct."

“If she were a Taoist priest, and as powerful as you, then I would acknowledge her as my master!” Little Coal Ball said, pointing at Gu Fei.

Lu Qing was speechless. So this coal ball was playing favorites and deliberately signed the master-servant contract!

"Little coal ball, you're using me!" A dangerous glint appeared in Lu Qing's eyes.

The little coal ball shook its head repeatedly:

"No, no! It's not about taking advantage, it's about currying favor!"

"Master, you can also use me. If I grow stronger, I will be very useful!"

The little coal ball looked completely sincere, but Lu Qing could see the cunning in its eyes.

This guy has a lot of tricks up his sleeve; he's not as cute and innocent as he seems on the surface.

Lu Qing pondered for a moment, and then came up with an idea.

“You’re right, Five Elements Spirit Beasts are indeed rare. Although you’re still young and don’t have any special abilities, we’ll raise you like this. They might be useful in the future.”

Hearing Lu Qing's words, Little Coal Ball nodded obsequiously:

"Master, I'm relieved that you think this way!"

Lu Qing curled her lips into a cryptic smile, then took a silver bracelet from her bag:

"As your master, I should give you a gift."

As he spoke, Lu Qing grabbed the little coal ball by the back of its neck and forcibly put the silver bracelet on its head.

The silver bracelet is a magical artifact; once it's placed on the head of a spirit beast, it will automatically enlarge or shrink to the appropriate size.

And so, the bracelet hung perfectly around the coal ball's neck, not too tight, but not too loose either.

This thing wasn't uncomfortable to wear, but Coal Ball panicked:

"What did you put on me?"

Lu Qing replied with a smile, "It's nothing, just a contract bracelet. You're my spirit beast, it's not too much to ask you to wear an ornament!"

Little Coal Ball looked at Lu Qing's smile and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"This bracelet...it can't be just an ornament, can it?"

Lu Qing's smile deepened:

"Of course! This bracelet is not only decorative, but it also makes it easy for me to find you at any time. Even if the master-servant contract is dissolved, our contract can still be maintained through this bracelet."

"Little Coal Ball, since you want to be my spirit beast so much, you'll really like this bracelet, right?"

Little Coal Ball's expression was stiff, and his whole body was numb.

Seeing this, Lu Qing feigned surprise: "What's wrong? You don't look happy!"

"Are you lying to me? You don't want to be my spirit beast at all?"

"No, no, no!" Little Coal Ball quickly waved his hands:

"How could that be! I'm happy! I'm so happy!"

The little coal ball revealed a smile that looked even uglier than crying.

"As long as you're happy!"

Lu Qing pulled it off her body, then said to Gu Fei:

"You don't need to treat it like a king anymore. The Five Elements Spirit Beast is very smart and can take care of itself."

"You can bury your own poop, right?" Lu Qing looked at Little Coal Ball with a sinister gaze.

The little coal ball nodded repeatedly.

"You can wipe your own bottom, you can clean your own bed, and you can find food yourself when you're hungry, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes! I can do it, I can do it all by myself!" Little Coal Ball nodded vigorously.

As it spoke, it crawled into the litter box, threw the poop ball that had just been covered in litter into the trash can, and then jumped into the sink to clean its fur.

Gu Fei was dumbfounded.

"It really can do everything!"

Lu Qing chuckled: "Of course! It's a spirit beast, not an ordinary cat."

"If you treat it like a king, it will dare to climb all over you and bully you in the future."

"It's small now and not aggressive, but if it bullies you when it grows up, it could be a matter of life and death."

Lu Qing had long seen through Xiao Meiqiu's little scheme.

It's not that it can't break the contract, but rather that it wants to use Lu Qing's strength to help it grow up quickly.

Once it grows to a suitable level, it can break the master-servant contract and might even devour its master to increase its strength.

Perhaps it doesn't have the intention to devour its master now, but who knows what it might do in the future.

Lu Qing put the contract bracelet on it and gave it a cold look just to make it recognize its identity and correct its status, so that it would not dare to have any disloyal thoughts when it grew up.

Under Lu Qing's intimidation, Xiao Meiqiu became much more subdued.

Because pets are not allowed in the dormitory, Xiao Meiqiu hid his food bowl under the bed to avoid being checked by the dormitory supervisor.

The litter box was taken away because Lu Qing thought it smelled too bad.

Little Coal Ball goes to the toilet just like them. It's a squat toilet anyway, and after you're done, you can flush it and there won't be any smell.

When the dormitory supervisor checks the rooms, Little Coal Ball will hide among a pile of plush toys and won't be discovered.

Days passed, and the weather grew colder and colder.

As the semester draws to a close and final exams approach, the library and study rooms are packed with people almost every day.

Lu Qing and her classmates also entered the review stage, and even without classes, they went out early and returned late every day.

"The exam is tomorrow, everyone should go to bed early tonight!" Gu Fei was the first to put down her book.

The others also gradually went to bed.

The light was still on inside Lu Qing's curtains. It wasn't that she didn't want to sleep, but the calming stone she had kept on her during the day while studying English was still lingering, and she couldn't fall asleep at all.

It snowed lightly outside, and the ground was quickly covered with a thin layer of white.

With final exams approaching, many students are studying all night, so the dormitory curfew has been lifted. It's already 11 p.m., and there are still people on the streets outside.

Lu Qing ran to the balcony for some fresh air. The cool breeze hitting her face made her even more awake.

After standing there for a while, she was about to go back inside when she suddenly heard whispers coming from downstairs.

The person speaking was on the first floor, talking to someone outside through a security window. They weren't very close, but Lu Qing had good hearing and could easily hear them.

Lu Qing originally had no interest in listening to other people's whispers, but the content of their conversation made her prick up her ears.