I Am a Cat (5)

Actually, being a cat isn’t so bad.

After all, Li Jiewei even lets her sleep in the same bed—something she never got to enjoy when she first started out.

Little Wei covered her face with her paws.

Li Jiewei placed her on the bed, bending down with a soft smile. "I’m heading out now."

Watching Li Jiewei leave, Little Wei quickly shapeshifted into her human form and vaulted over the wall. Luckily, this world wasn’t too densely populated, and the buildings were low enough that with her staff supporting her, she landed safely.

"Good thing there’s no surveillance, or you’d have a hard time explaining this," the staff remarked.

"Doesn’t matter. We need to get to school now." Little Wei dashed across the street and soon spotted Li Jiewei walking ahead, carrying a single-strap canvas bag.

"Found her." Seeing Li Jiewei’s back, Little Wei hurried to follow.

"Doesn’t this count as stalker behavior?" the staff quipped.

Little Wei: ?

"What nonsense are you spouting? I’m just looking out for her. Besides, I still haven’t encountered any monsters or cultivators, but I bet some of the other hosts are definitely among them."

Little Wei was tempted to kick the staff.

But considering its age, she resisted the urge to bully a child.

"There might be, but most probably aren’t as strong as you," the staff added from behind.

Still, in this world, a mix of spiritual energy and technology wasn’t unusual. With so many professions to choose from, finding the right world to showcase one’s abilities was only natural.

Otherwise, what was the point of picking a profession?

When the pair arrived at the school, they saw a crowd of young men and women dressed in silver-lined short robes and white silk ankle boots, swords hanging at their waists—a modern take on cultivation attire.

So this was the so-called Cultivation Academy Li Jiewei had mentioned.

Who knew there’d be so many people?

"Is this some kind of trendy cultivation school now?"

The staff rubbed its chin. "Think of it as an era of spiritual revival. You’ve probably read novels like this before."

Little Wei pondered. "You’re underestimating me. I haven’t actually read those, but I’ve heard of them."

Like The King’s Avatar—super popular.

"So what do we do now?" The staff didn’t bother delving deeper into the topic.

After all, any cultivator could tell at a glance that Little Wei was a spiritual beast.

In this day and age, rare creatures like her were practically treasures to cultivators—coveted and pampered.

"You’d be a hot commodity among them," the staff said.

Little Wei thought for a moment, then smirked. "Guess that makes us the same, huh? Since hosts probably fight over you too."

The staff: …

"Not even close. I’m something even gods would kill for, but they can’t use me even if they tried. I’m born from your soul—if you die, I’m gone. Murder and theft would be pointless." The staff pouted.

"Then let’s just fly in." Little Wei glanced at the sky.

She wanted to soar higher.

"That’s way too obvious. Honestly, we can just walk in like normal people and see if any hosts are among these cultivators."

If things went south, Little Wei could always turn back into a cat and escape.

"Fine. Doesn’t seem like there’s any security anyway." With that, Little Wei strode forward.

The cultivators were chatting among themselves, with a group conducting aptitude tests nearby. Spotting Little Wei, a refined-looking young man approached her.

"Miss, would you like to test your cultivation potential?"

Little Wei’s lips twitched. The way he said it sounded like a sales pitch.

"No thanks," she waved him off.

"No worries! Just scan the QR code, take the test over there, and you’ll get a snack gift bag!"

Little Wei: ???

This whole setup reminded her of supermarket promotions.

No, wait—more like those pushy campus salespeople.

The last time she felt this exasperated was… well, the last time.

"Sorry, I’m busy." She brushed past the young man, only to be swarmed by a dozen more.

The bombardment of cultivation ads nearly buried her alive.

"Damn it! This is insane—I can’t take it anymore!" Little Wei felt dizzy, on the verge of vomiting.

"Pfft—hilarious." The staff snickered from the sidelines.

"You’re laughing?" Little Wei kicked it.

But after wasting so much time at the entrance, she’d lost sight of Li Jiewei.

"Hey, kiddo, where’s Li Jiewei?" Little Wei asked urgently.

"Her? Let me check. I wasn’t paying attention earlier—too many people here. But she’s probably in class by now," the staff replied. "I’ll locate her classroom for you."

"Okay, okay." Little Wei panted, needing a breather.

But before she could catch her breath, a group of cultivators surrounded her.

"Hello! We’re second-years from Tomorrow’s Cultivation Academy. Nice to meet you!" The leader, a girl, extended a friendly hand.

Little Wei: ?

Without waiting for a response, Little Wei bolted.

Worried the staff couldn’t keep up, she transformed it back and sprinted nearly 400 meters before slowing down—only to crash into someone.

"Cough—" She staggered back, hacking.

Before her stood a young man in a blue-silver short robe, his semi-long hair tied back. His eyes widened at the sight of the staff in her arms.

"Jiang Xixi?"

Hearing the name, Little Wei froze.

She looked up at the man.

Wait—wasn’t this an elimination round?

How was Zhao Hanyu here?

"You’re Zhao Hanyu?" she ventured.

"Yeah, but my real name isn’t Zhao Hanyu. It’s Zhao Ming—the ‘Ming’ with the metal radical and the character for ‘name.’" He held out a hand.

"I’m Gu Wei."

Zhao Ming frowned at the name.

"That doesn’t sound like a girl’s name."

Little Wei: …

Would he freak out if she told him she used to be a guy?

But that was her secret, so she kept it to herself.

"Anyway, how’d you get in?" she asked.

Zhao Ming smiled faintly. "My ranking was high, so the system gave me a chance. If I finish the mission early, there are extra rewards."

Little Wei eyed him skeptically, then whispered, "Mind telling me what your mission is?"

Zhao Ming scratched his head.

"Wasn’t planning to, but I guess it doesn’t matter. We probably don’t have conflicting goals."

"Our mission is to find the last surviving cat demon in this world."