AUC Chapter 21 to 35

 Chapter 21: Chapter 21 Pet Skill Training

Instead of taking medicine, it’s better to eat food, Chen Xing contemplated as he looked at the remaining 14 bottles of reagent, inevitably facing a tough decision.

This Grade C Universal Nutritional Supplement isn’t even as good as the pet food he made himself.

What’s the use in keeping it? Might as well turn it into cash for myself. Wait a minute… Sell it?

Chen Xing lowered his head to look at the 14 bottles of Grade C Universal Nutritional Supplement; in his eyes, these reagents turned into stacks of thick banknotes.

14*4999=69986

If he sold them, he wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while.

Even feeding Taotie twice a day wouldn’t be a problem!

And he could take out a portion to subsidize household expenses, so his mother wouldn’t have to work so hard at her part-time job.

But how to sell them? It definitely wouldn’t be easy to sell them at the original price. With the same prices, why wouldn’t people go to the official store to buy them with a receipt instead of purchasing an item with an unclear origin?

Since Grade C supplements are sold without quantity limits, reselling them would definitely require dropping the price, and he’d need to find a good buyer.

No, that’s not right, Chen Xing suddenly realized; he didn’t necessarily have to go out of his way to find a buyer.

There are brokers for second-hand houses and cars; there must be similar agencies for Beast Taming related materials. As long as there is a profit to be made, there will definitely be a corresponding industry.

Putting the box of Grade C supplements into his backpack, Chen Xing took it with him to school.

After the first class ended, the class monitor came out of the office with the grade sheet and posted it on the classroom wall.

“The results are out!” the monitor shouted from the doorway.

Classmates crowded around in the classroom.

Exclamations were heard continuously.

“The first place is in our class.”

“Chen Xing ranked first in the grade!”

In the crowd, Wang Qiming tiptoed to look at the grade sheet posted on the wall, feeling somewhat relieved.

As expected, he ranked first in the grade.

Huang Tian from Class One was completely overshadowed; it was quite normal that his Beast Taming wasn’t as good as Chen Xing’s.

Huang Tian’s family owns an OEM factory, and he is the only child in his family. It is said that his Beast Taming drinks Grade B custom nutritional supplements every day.

After the noon class, a boy sneakily slipped into the teacher’s office, looking at the computer on the desk that hadn’t been turned off. He clicked open the backend system and noted down the specific data and scores of the front-row students’ Beast Taming onto paper.

After school, the boy handed over the copied paper to a man wearing sunglasses in the street opposite the school.

“We agreed on five hundred,” the boy reached out his hand.

The man took out two hundred from his pocket, gave them to the boy with an OK gesture, “Continue next month, by the way, did you get the information?”

The boy said, “I’ve got it. Only Chen Xing’s family from Class Four is in average conditions; the families of the other four in the top five are quite well-off.”

Leaving from across the school, the man pulled out his cell phone and made a call.

“Got the stuff.”

“Come back,” the person on the phone gave the order.

The man rode a sedan back to Azure Dragon Secondary School and then went straight to the principal’s office.

Several teachers were already sitting inside the office. After handing over the list to the principal, the man sat down on a sofa to the side and started chatting with the other teachers, “Teacher Li, have you got it too?”

“I’ve got it. This year, some promising kids emerged from First Middle School, hehe, their principal tried to hide them, but I still managed to get the information.”

A teacher next to him struck up a conversation with the man, “And you, how did your inquiries go in the new district?”

“The ones worthy of attention in the new district are Azure Dragon No. 8 Middle School and Wanhai High School. It took a bit more effort with Wanhai High School, but Azure Dragon No. 8 Middle School was quite easy.”

Several teachers exchanged glances and smiled at each other.

High-end school competitions often adopt the simplest methods.

Eavesdropping? Hacking? Fortune-telling?

No no no, you just need to figure out a way to get information from the students.

“Teacher Xie, Teacher Zhang, Teacher Liu.” The principal of No. 2 Middle School gestured for them to come over.

“Teacher Wang has listed all the data you gave on the intranet, and it looks like there are quite a few good newcomers in the other schools this year.” The principal stood with his hands clasped behind his back, leaning forward, and pointed at a name, saying, “Damn it, Xue Jinbao that old guy found himself a good student.”

“Principal, Chen Xing ranked first despite his average family background; his beast must have extraordinary qualifications. Shouldn’t we think of a way to poach him?”

The principal of No. 2 Middle School chuckled, seriously considered the feasibility of the suggestion, and then shook his head, “Forget it, if we really poached him, that guy Xue Jinbao would definitely get mad at me. I’ve been comrades with him for ten years, I know his character best.”

“I heard he’s made a military pledge with the new district’s chief, saying he would definitely provide strong cultivation this year. The resources we can offer might not even compare with his. Plus, this year’s freshman class at our school also has a few good students; we can’t possibly take all the resources to fight for him.”

The principal of No. 2 Middle School bent down, looking at the list, and said meaningfully, “No. 8 Middle School is not a strong competitor, the real contenders among this batch of newcomers three years from now will be Azure Dragon No. 7 Middle School and Tianwu High School.”

On the list arranged on the computer screen, the comprehensive scores of two students from Tianwu High School and Azure Dragon No. 7 Middle School lead by a large margin, leaving the third-place at least two thousand points behind. Keep in mind, all listed here are geniuses from each school.

Teacher Xie looked carefully at the first place’s score.

His beast taming ranked third in all historical records over the past thirty-three years!

The one who ranked second place’s beast taming scored thirty-eighth in all historical records over the past thirty-three years.

He couldn’t help but sigh deeply, this ranking… could almost strive for the top position of beast taming this year, especially the first place was almost a certainty.

The first place’s name was Chi Ziyao, and seeing this family name along with her beast, Teacher Xie thought of a possibility, “Is she from the Chi Family?”

The principal of No. 2 Middle School knew some secrets not known to the public, “She should be. The Golden Iron Beast was the beast the Chi Family presented to the state. With the substantial support of the state and the Jinzhou government, it became a free beast for the public. The record holders for the first and second highest scores in cultivating the Golden Iron Beast are from the Chi Family; they certainly have expertise in this area.”

Although the Golden Iron Beast only ranks eighth in the free beast sequence, it’s not because its strength is only eighth, but generally, Golden Iron Beasts are lethargic and lack aggressiveness, which makes them difficult for new Royal Emissaries to command. Furthermore, they are quite challenging to cultivate, so, taking everything into consideration, they are ranked eighth. However, if they enter a frenzied state, the destructive power of the Golden Iron Beast can be astonishing.

Not just in Azure Dragon No. 2 Middle School, but as soon as the results of the first monthly exam for the freshmen of various high schools in Jinzhou were out, the details of the prominent newcomers were already laid out on the desks of various principals through different channels.

However, all this had little to do with Chen Xing, who was already wearing his potion to the largest auction in local Jinzhou.

After a series of verifications and procedures, he successfully sold all fourteen bottles of Grade C Universal Nutrient Solution in his hands.

He sold them for a total of 48,990 yuan at a price of seventy percent of their value.

The price was due in part to the larger quantity being sold at once, and also because the batch of nutrient solution had been recently manufactured and had a long shelf life still.

With a significant sum in his pocket, Chen Xing did not directly go home but first headed to the corner of the park where he often took his beast for training.

Looking at the three freshly exchanged Skill Points, Chen Xing chose to redeem them.

He activated Pet Skill Training and Affinity Knowledge.

[Pet Skill Training]You are proficient in pet training and can conduct special intelligence-boosting games to train their skills.

[Affinity Knowledge]After learning this, it enhances the host’s affinity, giving others a refreshing feeling, making it easier to establish friendly relationships with the beasts.

“Huh?” Taotie looked up at its master, why did it suddenly feel that the master was exceptionally kind, like the scent of a mother?

Chen Xing lowered his head and picked up Taotie, affectionately stroking its head.

Let’s see how this skill training works.

At the thought, the transparent Stone Booklet in front of him flipped open, turning to the fourth page where Taotie’s State data appeared in the top right corner of the page, including length and weight. A line drawing of Taotie was right in front.Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Hide and Seek

There’s an interactive icon at the bottom.

After clicking on it, only “Water Concealment” was lit up.

There is also a line of text behind “Water Concealment”: Interactive mini-game (Hide and Seek): Find the hidden Beast Taming within a designated area (area radius equals Energy Level * 100m), with over 30% of the terrain in the hide and seek area being water environment. Each round of the game must find the hidden Beast Taming within thirty minutes, and if found successfully, Water Concealment skill’s Proficiency Level +1. If not found within the specified time, Proficiency Level does not increase,

Reminder: During the game, both parties must be fully engaged in the game without any cheating or suggesting behaviors. Playing in a closed environment is not allowed. In the presence of the above behaviors, no rewards will be obtained.

Ah, this…

So the mini-game is a real mini-game, huh.

But is this search for Beast Taming serious? Although it says no cheating, even if we don’t cheat, how smart could a little Karami that’s just over a month old be?

Let’s go!

Chen Xing explained the rules to Taotie and then, in accordance with the game rules, blindfolded himself and squatted in place, giving Taotie one minute to hide.

Taotie stood in front of its master, looking a bit foolish as its eyes swirled around.

It didn’t understand why its master wanted to play this, but it felt inexplicably fun.

It dashed on its four legs into the nearby lake and sank into the water.

Only a pair of eyes peeked out of the water’s surface, watching its master not far away on the shore.

The body, soaked by the water, gradually blurred and merged with the surrounding lush green water.

Chen Xing counted to eighty in his heart to make sure he didn’t count too quickly and that it was less than a minute.

The empty surroundings allowed one to see to the end at a glance; aside from some bushes a bit further away, there was the tranquil little lake nearby.

The soil by the lake was somewhat damp with fine crawling traces on the ground. Some grasses were recently flattened along the way, and he traced the little Taotie’s crawling marks to the lake’s edge.

Chen Xing considered a serious question as he looked out over the lake.

It must have gone underwater, so should he dive in to look for it?

Shallower areas might be manageable, but what about the deeper parts?

Seems like… it’s a bit troublesome.

Chen Xing muttered in his heart.

Was he really supposed to buy a whole set of diving gear to go underwater and search for it?

The radius of this area is Energy Level * 100, which is now 6.68 Energy Level, making the radius 668 meters.

Chen Xing glanced at the expansive surface of the water, the opposite bank of the lake bordered by a dense forest. He occasionally saw some wild ducks and birds flying around when he had been here before.

He had never been in this lake and didn’t know the specifics, but hearsay suggested that the average depth of the lake was at least two to three meters, with deeper parts possibly reaching four to five meters.

The sunset glow reflected on the lake’s surface, glittering with ripples. Chen Xing suddenly noticed something odd about the water’s surface not far from the shore.

While other parts of the surface had ripples, a small section about two to three meters from the nearby shore looked like it was pixelated.

Chen Xing turned to pick up a thin tree branch from the ground, then headed back to the lakeside.

He tapped at the pixelated spot!

Taotie, which had been staring intently at Chen Xing, suddenly got hit by a stick.

“Ow!”

Taotie, who thought it was well hidden, was startled and a big splash of water erupted.

Successful discovery of Beast Taming, Water Concealment Proficiency Level +1.

The Proficiency Level of the skill on the page after that belonged to Taotie in the Stone Booklet showed +1.

Water Concealment (1/100)

To evolve a Passive Skill, it was necessary to accumulate one hundred points of Proficiency Level, meaning that it had to be found a hundred times.

“Awoo~” Taotie was a bit disgruntled, feeling that it was caught only because it had been careless.

Not willing to accept defeat, it insisted on another round.

Chen Xing happily agreed, and within less than three minutes of starting the game, found Taotie. It seemed that this game of hide and seek wasn’t so difficult after all.

Soon, Chen Xing realized he had celebrated too soon.

Taotie, having reflected on its easy capture, ran even further this time, hiding under the water more than ten meters from the shore.

The result was Chen Xing searching around the lake and lakeshore for half an hour. As the sun set, there was still no sign of Taotie. Finally, Chen Xing admitted defeat and called out to the lake for a while before Taotie slowly stuck out half of its head from the water. Upon hearing its master concede, Taotie swam over, all giggly, climbed ashore with a triumphant look, crocodile-snout wide-open and head held high.

Seeing its smug expression, Chen Xing couldn’t help but give it a light kick.

“You really don’t give an inch, do you!”

Damn! Next time he definitely had to find a shallower spot.

Chen Xing looked at the cheerful Taotie at his feet, and the frustration in his heart eased slightly.

Although he had found it only once, it was at least very happy.

He was about to persuade it not to hide in such deep spots next time, as they were hard for him to search, but at the last moment, he remembered the rules stated there could be no cheating or hints, so he swallowed his words back down.

Nah, if it really took his words to heart and later always hid very close to the shore, continually making him seem like a cheat, that would be trouble. It’s better not to interfere artificially; just let it do its thing.

Although he was free to choose the playing field, that was something he could work with.

He needed to find an appropriate hiding area for next time to make it easier for himself to search.

Besides, if he wanted to grind the Proficiency Level of the skills, it would be better to do it sooner. Otherwise, the higher the Energy Level, the greater the area for hide and seek would become, and the more difficult it would be to find the hiding place.

Suddenly, a blinding light emanated from the sky; what had been night turned momentarily as bright as day.

The next moment, a loud boom echoed in his ears.

Staggering, Chen Xing nearly fell as the ground shook beneath him.

Taotie reacted faster than Chen Xing, grabbing onto his trouser leg with its two front paws and howling.

Holding Taotie, Chen Xing looked towards the direction of the sound.

The light had come from the north.

Residents from the buildings and neighborhoods on both sides rushed out in droves; some were even still in their pajamas.

“The officials have announced it’s not an earthquake; it’s a Secret Realm that has appeared north of Jincheng’s Qinglong District,” said a bald man holding a smartphone on the street.

“Hey, so it’s just a Secret Realm, I thought it was the Earth Dragon turning over.”

“Let’s go back home.”

The residents on the streets returned to their homes one after another. The Secret Realm was too far removed from their lives. As such phenomena appeared across the nation yearly, they were used to it.

Yet, some residents with different thoughts did not go back, instead heading directly towards the north of the city.

Meanwhile, Chen Lingya, who was at home, received a text message. After reading it, she quickly changed into a hoodie and sports pants and hurried out the door.

Chapter 23: Chapter 23 The Origin of the Secret Realm

In the northern outskirts of Jincheng’s Qinglong District lay Qingfeng Mountain.

Qingfeng Mountain was not very tall, standing only four to five hundred meters high. It used to be a modest scenic spot in the northern suburbs that occasionally attracted local residents for weekend hiking and leisurely strolls.

“From now on, Qingfeng Mountain is going to be bustling.”

At the peak of a small hill diagonally opposite Qingfeng Mountain, Wan Hailong stood in a grey trench coat, wearing sunglasses, his expression stern, followed by two tall girls.

The girl on the left was relaxed, her brown curls peeking out from under a white hat, chewing bubblegum with her arms crossed in front of her chest, which puffed out prominently.

On the right was Chen Lingya, dressed in a hoodie and sports pants, with her black, straight hair tied into a low ponytail. Compared to the girl on the left, she was obviously much more restrained, standing up straight.

“Wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night? Who’re you trying to be?” the girl on the left said casually.

“…” Wan Hailong didn’t respond. After a moment of silence, he took off the sunglasses, his deep eyes looking towards the throngs of cars at the foot of the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, it was a dense mass of cars. From this vantage point, one could see that the highway leading here from the city was completely jammed with cars, the sound of urgent horns echoing in the air.

He pointed to the rows of bomb-proof vehicles parked outside the cordon at the foot of the mountain and said, “See that man there? That’s You Jinghong, You Kaihui’s biological father, and also the deputy director of the Tactical Bureau of Jincheng’s new district. According to what we know, there’s the shadow of a certain organization behind You Jinghong, most likely their dark piece planted in Jinzhou.”

“I thought he would slip up, but he’s really patient—started wondering if he’s really biological.”

Wan Ning spat out her bubblegum, “Then just off his wife as well, see if he can still hold back.”

Wan Hailong chuckled lightly, “You Jinghong came from a family of lesser status. Although his father-in-law is dead, the remaining connections have helped him get to where he is today, and his relationship with his wife is not that great.”

“Getting promoted, getting rich, and the wife dies—that’d actually be letting him off easy.” Wan Ning shook her head.

“This secret realm’s projection briefly appeared ten years ago. Based on the projection at that time, this secret realm is of low stability, and lifeforms over Energy Level 60 cannot enter. This secret realm is likely a part of the Exotic Region’s Nightmare Swamp in Dream City, and there may be rare beasts of the Illusion Element within.”

Wan Hailong said to Chen Lingya, “For your second Beast Taming, you could consider capturing an Illusion Element beast from the Nightmare Swamp. I sent you the Beast Taming Compendium for the swamp three days ago; you can collaborate with Wan Ning on the details.”

“Don’t worry, sis, just stick with me once we enter the secret realm, I’ll protect you.” Wan Ning slapped Chen Lingya on the shoulder, slapping her own chest with a guarantee, carefree and confident.

Chen Lingya subtly moved her shoulder away from the unfamiliar woman’s hand.

She didn’t like strangers touching her.

“Hey, why don’t you want to go to headquarters? Our organization’s presence isn’t too strong in Jinzhou, and it’s a waste of your time here.”

Chen Lingya’s voice was cold, “You talk too much.”

Wan Ning waggled her finger, “Nonono, I’m just curious, that’s all. But I still have to thank you. My uncle was ready to give that spot to you, and it only came to me because you didn’t go. If you had gone earlier, with the resources at headquarters, your Beast Taming Level could have been at least a dozen levels higher by now.”

“Let me guess, you don’t want to go because you don’t want to be too far from home?” There was a sly glint in Wan Ning’s eyes.

Chen Lingya pulled up her hood, her face cold. This person really talked too much! Do people with big chests all talk this much?

Wan Ning chuckled lightly, “But it’s pointless. From the moment we accept the gifts of the Angel Envoy, we all must move forward to fulfill the ultimate goal of the Angel Envoy. If you don’t want to move forward, naturally, there will be a hand pushing you to leave.”

“The Secret Realm is about to open.” Chen Lingya looked toward the top of Qingfeng Mountain across from her, where there was a twisted vortex in space, constantly emitting a dark purple light.

But at this moment, the dark purple light was fading, and the scenery inside was gradually becoming clear, as if a hole had been made in the wall, allowing one to see the scenery of another room behind the wall through this hole.

Just that the hole wasn’t just open in one direction; no matter from which angle one stood around it, the same scenery was visible.

And right now, around the Secret Realm, some simple structures had been erected.

“Do we have a chance to go in?” Chen Lingya asked the doubt in her heart; it seemed as though the Great Xia officials had known about this Secret Realm’s arrival for quite some time, as many buildings had been constructed near the Secret Realm.

“Of course, there’s a chance.” Wan Hailong pointed to the jam-packed highway and said, “The Secret Realm is freely accessible for the first month after it appears. After one month, it will be taken over by the Great Xia officials; the military will station and develop it before opening it to the public. Look at all these people; they’re here for the chance to explore it for free this month.”

Seeing Chen Lingya still somewhat puzzled, Wan Ning kindly explained, “This is Great Xia’s compromise with the powerful families because Great Xia needs to unite their strength to fight against the Exotic Region. So, in some areas, they have to make concessions.”

Chen Lingya nodded in understanding.

…

“Mom, where’s Sis?”

“She went out a while ago.”

Chen Xing found it a bit strange; his older sister had never gone out this late before, but he didn’t think much of it. It was perfectly normal to perhaps go downstairs to buy something.

He had intended to ask Chi Yu to refresh his skills’ Fragments for the day, but that would have to wait until his sister came home.

But the wait turned into four hours, and she still hadn’t returned by nearly midnight.

Chen Xing grew anxious. The day was almost over, and why hadn’t she come home this late?

His cell phone indicated she wasn’t in the service area when he called, and she didn’t reply to his messages either.

Great, Chen Lingya, you really have grown up!

Chen Xing sighed; she couldn’t possibly have run off to some Secret Realm in the north, could she?

He had actually noticed something off about his sister for a while now; he wasn’t stupid.

Someone who usually liked to stay home suddenly going out in the middle of the night, losing cell signal, and given the new appearance of a Secret Realm in the north of the city—if he couldn’t guess, it would be an insult to his intelligence.

He had seriously listened in middle school too. The origin of the Secret Realms was introduced in the textbooks.

Centuries ago, when the gate to the Exotic Region was first opened, this world began to see the emergence of Secret Realms of varying sizes.

These Secret Realms depend on the Main Plane yet are independent from it. Inside the Secret Realms are the shattered fragments of the Exotic Region’s world, a vivid image being that when the Exotic Region collided with our world, many areas were shattered, and these broken spaces became Secret Realms that fell into their world. It was through the exploration of these Secret Realms that our Beast Taming system was developed.

Chapter 24: Chapter 24 Evolution of the Passive Skill

As a whole night had passed and my sister had not yet returned home.

While Chen Xing was worried at heart, he did not rashly take action, mainly because he was quite aware of his current strength. It was best for him not to cause any trouble…

Not to mention others, just the residents who had been running towards the north of the city that he had seen on the street yesterday; their Beast Taming was probably at least above Energy Level 30.

Even without taking potions, just by eating ordinary beast meat and growing normally, a Beast Tamer could mature over ten or twenty years, naturally increasing their Energy Level significantly.

After a night of accumulation, Taotie’s body length had grown to 150.5 cm, an increase of 9.3 cm compared to yesterday, while the Energy Level reached 7.01, an increase of 0.33.

As the Energy Level increased, although the growth of its size maintained the original speed, it had gradually slowed down since breaking through to Energy Level 5.

However, this speed was still enough for now; it would definitely be possible to break through to Energy Level 10 in a month.

After arriving at school and finishing morning self-study, Chen Xing left the classroom and went straight to the principal’s office.

The door to the principal’s office was ajar, and judging from the sound of conversation inside, the principal had already arrived. It was indeed true, as he had heard, that our school’s principal always arrived very early.

Hearing footsteps outside, the conversation inside stopped.

Chen Xing knocked on the door, and a calm and even voice came from inside, “Come in.”

Chen Xing gently pushed open the door, and standing in front of the principal was the grade director.

The grade director nodded kindly at Chen Xing before leaving the office, closing the door behind him.

Xue Jinbao asked with a smile, “Chen, do you have any difficulties that you need assistance with?”

“Principal Xue, I just wanted to ask you about something,” Chen Xing said shyly.

“What’s the matter, please tell me.”

“Do you know about the Secret Realm that just appeared to the north? Is that Secret Realm dangerous?”

“Hahaha, you want to go to the Secret Realm?” Xue Jinbao laughed, “This morning, an internal notification was just issued; you guys will probably see it in the news tomorrow. This Secret Realm has currently been named Nightmare Swamp 03. Its spatial stability is at a low Energy Level, and the Beast Taming Level must not exceed Energy Level 60. According to the degree of danger of the realm, it is relatively low, but for you guys right now, it’s still very dangerous.”

“If you want to visit the Secret Realm, you might wait another year. When you’re in the second year of senior high, the school will organize a Secret Realm exploration class, and then you can go to the Ze City Secret Realm in Guanghu District. The Ze City Secret Realm has been developed for more than three hundred years, and the entire realm has been very well trained, especially since your Beast Taming is amphibious, the Ze City Secret Realm is most suited for your Beast Tamer!”

Chen Xing knew the principal might have misunderstood his intention, thinking he wanted to go to the Secret Realm.

“It’s not that I want to go, but I have a friend.”

Xue Jinbao realized, “I see, you have a ‘friend’ who wants to go.”

Seeing the principal’s expression, Chen Xing felt somewhat helpless, aware that the principal might have misunderstood something, but it was better to maintain the misunderstanding. He subconsciously felt that his sister’s matter should be kept as quiet as possible.

From the principal, he learned some early news: although the Secret Realm had risks, fortunately, it was not an extremely perilous place of no return.

Chi Yu’s Energy Level had already reached 40, so he believed his sister would have a sense of measure.

When he went to the school cafeteria at noon to feed Taotie, there were always students from other classes peeking at Taotie, sometimes letting out a gasp or two.

Even the auntie in charge of meal tickets in the cafeteria commented that Chen Xing’s Beast Taming was getting a good deal! Not only could it eat, but it also grew fast!

Although Taotie had one pet meal every night, during the free lunch provided by the state at noon it still ate with relish, never wasting any bit of food.

In the afternoon, Chen Xing spent his time in class searching for a suitable area to play hide and seek.

By now, Taotie’s Energy Level had reached 7.01.

According to the rules, the hide and seek range needed to be within a circle of 1.542 square kilometers, and the area of the Water Element environment within this zone had to account for no less than 30%, or 0.462 square kilometers, approximately the size of six and a half football fields.

Such a large area had to contain water, and considering the ease of finding Taotie himself, it was best if the water was no deeper than one meter.

The more Chen Xing calculated, the more daunting it seemed; there weren’t many places that met the criteria!

Swimming pools definitely didn’t meet the standards, and some large water amusement parks might, beyond that, there were the lake parks in the city, but the water in the parks would certainly not be shallow… at least not convenient for him to swim down and find Taotie.

If he went into the water directly, it probably wouldn’t take long for the park’s staff to fish him out.

Suddenly, Chen Xing came across a piece of information and hesitated. If this location could also be assessed as a Water Element environment… He opened the map and carefully compared it online, formulating a plan in his mind.

However, this would require a considerable amount of time, and Chen Xing did not want to delay the growth progress of his Beast Taming just to expedite the upgrade of his Proficiency Level.

After the first afternoon class, Chen Xing went to the office to ask his homeroom teacher for a half-day leave. Lu Junxiang, having been reminded by the grade director, readily granted the leave. Leaving the school, Chen Xing headed straight to the suburban fish ponds in a taxi.

During the ride, he began to contact the other party, who hesitated upon hearing Chen Xing’s request.

After much deliberation, the other party finally agreed to the favor, considering the “element” they had in common.

Half an hour later, he arrived at his destination, a large pond undergoing desilting at the edge of the new district in Jincheng’s suburbs. The bottom of the pond was piled with thick mud, surrounded by some shrubs, but not many. Near the large pond was a reservoir, less than four hundred meters from the pond to the reservoir in a straight line. If Taotie could enter the reservoir, it would surely be impossible to find.

But it had short legs and couldn’t have gone that far in one minute.

Having chosen a good position, right by the pond near the reservoir, Chen Xing saw that the hide-and-seek game indeed lit up as activate-able.

This pond, half-muddy and half-dry, really counted as a water environment!

Chen Xing summoned Taotie, “Let’s continue playing the hide-and-seek game from last time.”

Taotie lifted its head in confusion, but it understood it was time to play. After observing the unfamiliar surroundings and smelling the unique fishy odor of the mud pond, it bellowed to signal the start of the game.

It spun around in place, its sensitive nose distinguishing the thick moisture in the air.

Turning its head toward the east, where the reservoir was located, it instinctively moved towards the area with more water vapor. Thus, it began crawling towards the reservoir on its four short limbs. Taotie had a vague concept of time and didn’t know how long a minute was, but it knew it was being followed by the sound of footsteps as it moved.

“Oh~” Taotie sprawled its legs and bolted, but it hadn’t run a few steps before it was caught.

“Stop running, stop running, you’ve lost this round,” Chen Xing caught up from behind, somewhat amused and exasperated.

It was the first time he had seen Taotie run like that.

Taotie bellowed softly and rolled its eyes.

Back at the starting point, Chen Xing continued the game.

This time, Taotie bolted right from the start, but it overestimated its stamina. Dragging its body across the land to run was too slow, so it was caught about thirty meters away from the reservoir.

“Let’s go again!”

Taotie was unresigned.

Chen Xing decided it was time to properly deal with this stubborn creature.

After being caught five times in succession, Taotie finally learned to adapt.

This time, it didn’t run towards the reservoir, seeming to realize it could never make it there. Cleverly, it turned and hid in the mud of the pond.

Its body sank into the mud, its exposed edges seamlessly blending with the surroundings, but it forgot to erase its tracks, which perfectly exposed it.

After being easily found once again, Taotie felt this game was not fun at all.

“Let’s play a little longer today, and I’ll give you an extra meal tonight, okay?” Chen Xing tempted it with promises.

Taotie: ԅ(✧_✧ԅ)!

Is that true or false?

“Really, I’m not lying to you, silly croc.”

Taotie: Deal! Ah, who’s to refuse when the master is so childish, I might as well humor you.

The landlord, who had rented out the fishpond for five hours, initially speculated whether there was some treasure in his pond, so he stood on the ridge with his hands in his pockets, observing.

Twenty minutes later, the fishpond landlord frowned, wondering if he had been overthinking it. Maybe this really was a young man full of childlike wonder.

But surely there wouldn’t be someone so bored in this world, right?

Half an hour later, the fishpond landlord was finally convinced that there indeed were people this bored in the world!

Oh well, he was getting paid anyway, and as long as the young man was happy, that was all that mattered.

After five hours straight, as the sky began to darken, Chen Xing finally managed to accumulate the full one hundred points for the Water Concealment passive skill.

Taotie advanced quickly, starting with hiding in the mudpond, then learning to clean up its traces, and finally realizing that the more it tried to cover its tracks, the more evident they became. Chen Xing observed its quick learning and improvement.

Toward the end, Taotie had taught itself to crawl through the mire, using its tail to erase its tracks behind it. Although it couldn’t clear them completely, its actions were quite convincing…

Once the Proficiency Level reached one hundred points,

The text for the Passive Skill Water Concealment became blurry; moments later, the text cleared and changed from Water Concealment to [Water Mimicry · Calmness].

Passive Skill: [Water Mimicry · Calmness] When it is near a water body and stationary, its body patterns and color will mimic the surrounding environment. This reduces its presence, lowers life signs, provides immunity to detection skills below advanced level, and reduces damage from Water Element Skills.

Looking at the evolved passive skill effect, Chen Xing suddenly felt neither back pain nor fatigue, finding all the effort and the three thousand yuan he had spent for rent for the day entirely worthwhile.

Water Mimicry · Calmness was clearly a powered-up version of its previous passive.

Not only could it hide effectively, but it could also protect him while doing so.

Chapter 25: Chapter 25 Polishing and Waxing

After the Passive Skill changed to “Water Mimicry: Stillness,” the Proficiency Level progress bar disappeared, suggesting it had reached the maximum level.

Does it mean it can no longer be upgraded, or is this passive state already at its highest form?

But it seems that I’ve never heard of this skill before. It would be helpful to have an active skill to refer to.

Through observation over time, he discovered that active skills do have a Mastery Level of proficiency displayed, but Passive Skills do not; once mastered, a Passive seemed to remain constant.

However, Chen Xing soon encountered a problem—it seemed impossible to catch a cab around here.

After asking the fishpond owner, he learned that this place was called Xinghua Road, which used to be a village before being incorporated into a new district a few years ago.

“To go to the city, you can take the bus. The Xinghua Road bus stop is just over there, with buses every half hour. But the last one is at seven in the evening, and it’s already seven-thirty, so I think there are no buses now. How about I drive you back?” the fishpond owner offered readily.

Having just made some money, and since it was indeed difficult to hail a cab at that time, he did not mind lending a hand.

Chen Xing thanked him, “Thanks, Uncle, but there’s no need to go that far—just drop me off somewhere it’s easy to get a cab.”

“No problem at all.”

The fishpond owner turned and shouted towards the house, “Wife, I’m going to give this young man a lift.”

“Come back early, and pick up two bottles of soy sauce from the supermarket on the way; we’ve run out at home,” came the reply.

Just as he started the engine of the van, a woman came running down the slope in a panic, crying out, “Lao Liu, Lao Liu, come quickly and help! The Li family’s child has been dragged into the reservoir by a water monster!”

Lao Liu was stunned. Dragged into the reservoir by a water monster?

He turned and said apologetically to Chen Xing, who was seated in the back, “Young man, could you wait a bit longer if it’s not urgent for you?”

Chen Xing shook his head. “I’m not in a rush.”

Humans’ lives were of utmost importance; he was not in a hurry for the moment.

The woman got into the van, panting heavily, and said, “Downstream at the reservoir, Huang Mazhi’s son, Huang Liang, and Li Xiaoshu went swimming in the water. Huang Liang felt something moving under his feet, saying it was slippery, and then he saw Li Xiaoshu, who was swimming nearby, dragged into the water by something.”

Lao Liu quickly drove the van towards the downstream of the reservoir.

Quite a few people were gathered on the embankment outside the reservoir.

Seeing the fishpond owner, someone hurriedly shouted, “Xi Ge, there’s a water monster in the reservoir!”

“Nonsense, there’s no such thing as water monsters.”

Li Xi stood on the embankment, spreading his hands to summon his Beast Taming.

Chen Xing was somewhat surprised; this fishpond owner actually turned out to be a Beast Tamer.

After the Array of Light faded, a gigantic frog, over a meter long, lay in its place.

The muscles on its two hind legs were extremely exaggerated, with green skin stretched over blue-purple veins visible underneath.

This seemed to be… the Taotie, a Beast Taming frog.

The Taotie’s Energy Level Limit wasn’t high, with 24 being the Species Limit.

The books had mentioned that this kind of frog had a big appetite, fond of consuming various insects, birds, and even small mammals.

It used to be that many rural villages liked to raise a few Taoties.

On the one hand, they were easy to raise, and on the other, they could eat pests. At night, they could be placed in the fields to protect the crops; some places even used them to drive away or even hunt wild boars.

However, in the ever-changing cities, this type of Beast Taming creature had become increasingly rare. One reason was that they didn’t have the required aesthetic appeal—after all, they had to be either cute or fierce. Another reason was the initial low Energy Level Limit of their species.

“Bring Li Xiaoshu’s clothes over,” Li Xi extended his hand.

A woman with swollen red eyes handed over the clothes that were prepared in advance.

Li Xi gave the clothes to the Taotie to sniff.

The Taotie’s throat swelled, emitting a sound like thunder.

The next moment, with a powerful leap, it jumped over twenty meters and plunged into the reservoir with a splash.

The water stirred up waves of ripples, and after about ten minutes, there was a sudden splash on the surface, and the Taotie emerged from the water.

In its mouth, it held a child whose skin had turned pale from being in the water.

After identifying the child, it was confirmed to be Li Xiaoshu; his mother let out a cry and knelt down, throwing herself on top of Li Xiaoshu.

“See if he can still be resuscitated,” someone stepped forward to compress the chest.

Some also sighed, fearing that after such a long time, the child was probably long gone…

After spitting out the child, the fish-eating frog leapt back into the reservoir.

A few minutes later, the water surface suddenly splashed up vigorously.

Someone took a flashlight and shone it towards the source of the noise, observing two things wrestling near the surface of the water.

Sounds of water being agitated echoed intermittently, and after a while, the noises ceased.

One minute later, the fish-eating frog dragged the corpse of a large fish to the shore, croaking several times at Li Xi.

“Is this the thing that dragged Xiaoshu into the water?”

“Such a big fish, it must be nearly two meters long.”

“I’d believe it if you said it eats people.”

Chen Xing was also standing among the crowd, observing the large fish which was even longer than Taotie.

Extremely plump, it resembled a fat catfish with a very large mouth. Its dorsal side lacked scales and was covered with dark green spots that spread across its back like moss.

(Approximate picture)

“Green Baby said it only saw this big thing in the reservoir,” said Li Xi.

Chen Xing realized that this fat catfish was not any Beast Taming species he recognized; of course, his not recognizing it didn’t mean it definitely wasn’t a Beast Taming creature, given that the world was full of all sorts of strange creatures.

The middle school textbooks only taught about some more common species.

“Didn’t the government just clean the reservoir last year? How could such a big fish suddenly appear? Can it really grow this big in a year?”

“Yeah, where did this fish come from? Is there an underground river beneath the reservoir?”

Li Xi shook his head; he didn’t know the answers to these questions either. He looked at the wound on the fish-eating frog’s back that was oozing blood and advised the other villagers, “Don’t let the children play near the reservoir anymore. Although Green Baby has patrolled the reservoir, it could still overlook something. Today this fish appeared, next time something else might.”

The street office personnel had also arrived upon hearing the news and reported the situation to their superiors.

Li Xi apologizingly said, “Let’s go, young man, I’ll take you to the city. Given what just happened here, it might not be convenient to take you all the way home.”

Chen Xing nodded, “Understood, just drop me off somewhere convenient to hail a cab.”

After taking Li Xi’s car to the city, Chen Xing got out and hailed a taxi home. On the way, he received a call from his worried mother, reminding him to be careful. It was only after hearing that he was nearly home that she relaxed.

Putting down his phone, Chen Xing looked out the window, the events that had just unfolded were sudden; a life had vanished just like that.

Sitting in the back of the taxi with his eyes closed, Chen Xing checked the Stone Booklet for three new skills that had appeared.

After activating Beast Taming Linguistics in the Pet Trainer career tree, a passive skill waiting to be unlocked appeared.

It was the first passive skill to appear in any of the three career trees, called – Quantitative Skills Guidance.

[Quantitative Skills Guidance](Passive) Your skill training techniques always lead to unexpected gains for your pets, allowing them to gain double the Proficiency Level during active skill practice and mini-games. (0/10)

After activating Affinity Knowledge in the Pet Caretaker career tree, two new active skills waiting to be unlocked appeared.

[Basic Polishing Technique]You can polish the rough, dull leather of your pets. After polishing, their bodies will become light, slightly increasing their movement speed and agility. (0/5)

[Basic Waxing Technique]You can wax your pets’ unkept fur. After waxing, the fur will shine and gleam, slightly increasing elemental resistance during the duration of the wax effect. (0/5)

It really was polishing and waxing…

His previous guess had been correct.

There are six skills waiting to be activated now.

[Large Jar of Pet Carnivore Freeze-dried Food][Intermediate Carnivore Pet Food Making][Basic Herbivore Pet Food Making][Quantitative Skills Guidance][Basic Polishing Technique][Basic Waxing Technique].

Drumming his fingers on his thigh, Chen Xing fell into hesitation, considering that his main task now was to focus on cultivating Beast Taming creatures; the last two skills for polishing and waxing could be put on hold for the time being.

After all, the skills were cheap.

There was no need to unlock Basic Herbivore Pet Food Making either, as he had only one Beast Taming creature, and nobody would eat the herbivore food he made.

As for using this craft to make money… He had also thought about it.

But in the end, he rejected the idea, mainly because the pet food was too effective and would certainly attract envy from wrongdoers, especially since he had no means of protecting himself. In all likelihood, he would be coerced and threatened by various means to surrender the pet food-making skills.

If certain people learned that he was the only one who could make this pet food, the rest of his life would most likely become that of a heartless cooking machine, probably even without a salary.

Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Team Selection

After coming home, Mom emerged from the bedroom, “Have you had dinner? I left some dishes for you in the fridge.”

“Not yet.” Chen Xing glanced at his sister’s tightly closed room. “Where’s Sister? Hasn’t she come back today?”

“Her teacher called, your sister has been in the Ze City Secret Realm these past few days, and they told us not to worry, saying that the teachers are accompanying them,” said Liu Yuzhen, bustling about in the kitchen.

After dinner, and feeding Taotie its pet food, Chen Xing returned to his room and began searching online for information about the Ze City Secret Realm.

The Ze City Secret Realm has been in existence for three hundred years, having a history of two hundred years before the Great Xia’s reforms.

The interior of the Ze City Secret Realm isn’t large; it’s an ancient city that was submerged by floodwaters.

Many of the city’s buildings had been soaked in water for a long time throughout the years, damaging their foundations, combined with the destruction caused by the numerous Beast Tamers who explored and developed the secret realm over the centuries, leading to the collapse of many houses within it.

In the last few decades, Jincheng has been dedicated to the secret realm’s sustainable development, repairing and reconstructing many buildings and establishing 8 safety supply points and 4 medical points inside the realm.

The Ze City Secret Realm also became Jincheng’s most comfortable adventure realm, attracting large numbers of Beast Tamers from other places every year.

There are 8 species of wild beasts in the realm.

N18 Red Silkfish, N20 Thorn Crownfish, N19 Star-patterned Loach, N31 Reaper Crab, N24 White Fluff Spotted Spider, N19 Earth Doll, N20 Giant-Belly Prawn, N35 Azure Conch.

‘N’ is the capitalized first letter of ‘Energy Level,’ and the number that follows is the Energy Level Limit for that species. For example, Taotie is an N38 Salty Bay Crocodile.

Beyond these things, Chen Xing also saw some strange stuff.

“Fisherman’s Evening Pavilion launches spicy stir-fried Azure Conch meat, limited to 888 servings.”

“Giant-Belly Prawn barbecue, limited time 20% off.”

“Offering a 99% new Earth Doll figurine for transfer, DM if interested.”

“For sale, high-quality Reaper Crab hatchlings, just half a month old, with clear back patterns and large scythes, father a 31 full Energy Level robust male crab, mother has evolved once, at Energy Level 43 Red-faced Rakshasa Crab, with certificate, those in the know, come forth!”

All these are wild beasts as well, but why don’t they seem so scary once they’re served on the dining table…

“Oh!”

I really want to eat!

Taotie, who had sneakily crawled up beside him, drooled over the food pictures on the phone.

Chen Xing chuckled lightly, “When you grow up some more, I’ll take you to a buffet.”

“What’s a buffet?” Taotie cocked its head.

“It’s a feast where some people voluntarily help you eat your fill.”

Are there really people as kind as the master?

Taotie’s nostrils flared with disbelief.

Patting the surprised Taotie, Chen Xing chuckled softly, “When you become powerful, everything around you will be kind.”

Taotie struggled to understand such complex matters; it only knew that once it grew up, it could eat lots and lots of things.

Embracing its dreams, Taotie lay beside Chen Xing and peacefully closed its eyes. After a while, intermittent whimpering sounds came from its side.

Chen Xing turned his head. Taotie’s eyes were tightly shut, its mouth sealed shut, the whimpering coming from its nostrils, and its two front claws clutching the sheets tightly, unaware of what it was dreaming about.

Is this guy now falling asleep so quickly?

The insomniac Chen Xing, watching Taotie which had such good sleep quality, couldn’t help but pull his hand out from under the blankets.

“Slap!” A palm landed softly on its belly through the blanket.

Taotie opened its eyes, filled with bewilderment in their purity.

“Having a nightmare? There, there, we’re not scared, are we?” Chen Xing stroked its head.

“Whimper.” Taotie nuzzled its head against Chen Xing’s shoulder, burrowing forcefully into his embrace.

…

“Brother Chen, I heard you’re going to join the school team?” Zou Minghan asked Chen Xing.

“`

“???” Chen Xing was baffled, how could I not know about this?

“I don’t know, nope.” Chen Xing continued reading his book.

Zou Minghan looked enviously at the Taotie lying on the ground next to them. Taotie had grown too large to fit on the desk by now, sprawling across it would fill up two tables.

Its size was quite exaggerated, he felt that his own Beast Taming body was probably only half the length of Chen Xing’s Beast Taming.

“I heard that you might join the school team?” Wang Qiming from the back row asked in surprise.

Chen Xing frowned, “Who said that?”

“It’s the rumor going around. They discussed it in the class group chat last night, but you didn’t say anything, so you might not have seen it.”

Chen Xing thought about it, he had gone to the reservoir area last night and was quite busy. After returning in the evening, he warmed up pet food for Taotie, browsed the forum for a while on his bed, and then went to sleep.

“That’s not the case. School just started for me as a freshman, my strength is nowhere near enough to qualify for the school team.”

“The legendary school team! I heard it’s filled with the top student masters from our school, legendary figures.” Zou Minghan said.

Chen Xing shook his head.

In Great Xia today, the competitive spirit is strong, and various competitions and challenges are constantly emerging.

For instance, the Rushing Rams Challenge that he participated in a while ago was a product of this environment.

And as the future of a country, the student population was receiving a lot of attention, with many expectations placed upon them.

Especially since there’s the threat of the Exotic Region as a great enemy, the atmosphere from top to bottom simply couldn’t be weak.

Under various factors, the High School Cup came into being. The High School Cup is divided into two groups, the college group and the high school group.

Even though the high school group events don’t attract as much attention as the college ones, their value and interest are also not low.

On top of that, in addition to the High School Cup, other regional competitions were born.

Therefore, any school with the means would form a school team, and Azure Dragon High School was no exception.

The location of Azure Dragon High’s school team was behind the three large cafeterias, in that open space enclosed by walls. Sometimes you could hear the sound of combat from inside when going to have a meal.

It’s said that the school team is comprised of senior and junior students from the second and third year. A first-year freshman like himself had no place in the school team.

During the lunch break, Lu Junxiang invited Chen Xing to his office to talk about the school team.

“What, the school is really selecting people to join the school team?”

Lu Junxiang mentioned, “This news came out yesterday afternoon from the headmaster. You left early, so you missed the announcement.”

Actually, Lu Junxiang didn’t quite understand the senior school officials’ decision, thinking it was too early.

It’s only the first year of high school; one should be focusing on learning and cultivating their Beast Taming skills. It wouldn’t be late to join the school team in the second year. In fact, in the five years since the school team was established, almost all the members who joined were in their third year.

After all, this involved real competitions, where one had to fight for real on the stage.

Potential? Competitions don’t look at potential; they look at strength!

If you don’t have the strength, just wait your turn honestly, participating in the next round won’t grant you any special treatment because of your age.

So even the reserve members of the school team recruited in previous years were mostly third-year students. The two exceptions that were second-year students had nearly reached that level, and the school intended to cultivate their competition experience, which is why they were included as reserves.

But now, recruiting a first-year student directly into the school team… what for?

Although he didn’t understand, he didn’t interfere; after all, there were additional resources allocated to the school team. If his student could be selected, receiving extra resources every week, he naturally wouldn’t object.

“The school is planning to hold a selection in the gym this Saturday. You should prepare yourself. Apart from you, there are three other students from your year also participating in the selection. It’s best to perform at your fullest to get selected by the school team. The school team members receive extra resource subsidies every week; this isn’t from our school, it’s directly from the New District Education Department,” Lu Junxiang reminded Chen Xing kindly.

Extra resource aid?

Chen Xing’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.

The four thousand-plus in his bag had just started to warm up, and now there came another sum of money!

He admitted he was somewhat tempted. After all these years, he had come to deeply realize the importance of money. Money isn’t everything, but without money, you can’t do anything.

He, for one, was scared of being poor.

Chapter 27: Chapter 27 Quotas

Saturday selection, huh? Today is Friday, so the school team selection is exactly tomorrow.

A sense of urgency rose in Chen Xing’s heart.

Seeing Chen Xing’s tense expression, Lu Junxiang couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. He really is still a child.

“You don’t need to worry. Tomorrow’s selection is just for measuring the Beast Taming physique. Your beast has been progressing quickly. Others should be the ones feeling the pressure, not you.”

Upon leaving the school, a man in a suit blocked his path at the corner of the street, “Hello, our boss would like to have a word with you.” He then gestured politely for Chen Xing to follow.

Following the direction of the man’s hand, Chen Xing saw a bald man sitting in a car, his face displaying what he deemed a benevolent smile.

“Let’s talk at the tea house up ahead,” said the bald man through the rolled-down car window.

Chen Xing pondered for a moment, then followed the man to a private room on the second floor of the tea house.

“I came to you for a deal,” the man got straight to the point. “Withdraw from the school team selection, and this check for one million is yours.”

The man across from him took a pre-prepared banknote from his pocket and slid it across the table. The check gleamed with six zeros on its surface.

Chen Xing weighed his options carefully. One million was not a small amount, but if they could offer one million to purchase this quota, it meant its value far exceeded that amount. Besides, they believed he had a high chance of securing the place. He immediately replied earnestly, “Could you give me one hundred million?”

The man was taken aback. Before he could respond, Chen Xing continued, “Give me one hundred million, and I’ll drop out right now, I’m not lying to you!” Chen Xing spoke from the heart; with one hundred million, he could immediately get his dad the treatment he needed.

The man across chuckled in frustration. If he could casually hand out one hundred million, would he even need to bargain for this spot?

“You might not realize how much one hundred million is. It’s not a big radish in the field, young man. Don’t be too greedy. Not even an official team member’s spot is worth one hundred million, let alone a reserved spot.”

Chen Xing wasn’t disappointed. He picked up his backpack from the chair and slung it over his shoulder. “Then let’s forget it and compete based on our abilities.”

“I can add another half a million. My offer is very fair. And it’s only a reserve spot. When you’re a senior, you can still make the school team if you’re good enough.”

Chen Xing turned and said, “Then I’ll lower my price too. Ninety-nine million and five hundred thousand. Uncle, contact me anytime you’ve made up your mind.” If they couldn’t give him one hundred million straight away, then the one million was meaningless to him as the value of the school team spot was obviously greater than one million, and it could allow him to accumulate a billion faster.

Having said that, he addressed the suited bodyguard blocking his way, “Please let me through.”

The bodyguard looked at the bald man, who after a silent moment, waved his hand, and the bodyguard stepped aside.

When the bald man got home, a woman in a qipao and with curl('')

[Body Length]180cm

[Body Weight]45.02kg

[State]Healthy (Slightly Hungry)

[Attribute]Water Element

[Energy Level]7.42

[Energy Level Limit]38

[Skills]

Passive Skill: Water Mimicry·Rest

The results came out, and it was as expected by everyone present, but some procedures still had to be followed.

Director Sun suddenly took out his phone and answered a call, “Hello, Principal? What? Alright alright, I’ll notify them right away.”

After hanging up, Director Sun announced a message, “There’s been a change in plans.”

Amid the confused and anxious looks from everyone, Director Sun said, “All three of you have been selected.”

“What!”

“That’s great.” Zhou Hao didn’t expect this pleasant surprise, thinking he was just going through the motions.

“Principal Xue has just been to the city education department and secured 3 additional spots from the director. Later on, notify the other students who made the top ten in the last monthly exam. The last spot will be competed for by the remaining students.”

Chapter 28: Chapter 28 Opportunity

Upon hearing Director Sun’s remarks, Wang Bing, who knew some inside information, suddenly wore a subtle expression.

Both he and Zheng Weixin’s families were in business, and they lived in the same neighborhood. Being the same age and with their families’ businesses having some minor connections, they had become friends over time.

Yesterday, Zheng Weixin revealed that his family had arranged for him to transfer schools and mentioned that he might see Wang Bing at the Jincheng High School competition, should the opportunity arise.

Wang Bing could easily hear the bragging between the lines—this year, his school had produced an exceptional Beast Tamer rumored to rank within the top thousand in history. The principal took a great interest in this, leaving Wang Bing no chance to compete for a place.

And yet, Zheng Weixin’s family had promptly used their connections to transfer him out. They were quite decisive.

However…

Thinking of the news he had just heard, Wang Bing couldn’t help but think, “That’s a total waste of a transfer!”

Who could have expected the principal to be so tough, securing three spots from the education department?

Could those rumors be true? It was said that the principal once won a second-place municipal prize for an essay he wrote as a student—”My Mentor and Father.”

Wang Bing couldn’t help but observe a minute’s silence for Zheng Weixin, who initially wouldn’t have needed to transfer to obtain a placement—educational resources at his school were certainly better than those at Xintian Middle School.

This was true in terms of teaching staff, support from higher authorities, and the overall strength of the school team.

Was the placement really that important?

He had asked Zheng Weixin, who didn’t reveal much. His parents also weren’t clear on the details but vaguely understood it was a good thing.

After the selection ended, Lu Junxiang called Chen Xing over and introduced him to Kuang Shiyi, “This is Coach Kuang Shiyi from the school team. Coach Kuang is a retired military service member and an experienced Beast Tamer. In addition to your regular classes, you will also have to undergo training with the school team. If there’s ever a scheduling conflict, prioritize the school team.”

The other two were also brought by their respective instructors to get acquainted with Kuang Shiyi.

Kuang Shiyi, with his sharply defined features, squeezed out a hint of a friendly smile, “My name is Kuang Shiyi, don’t listen to your teacher’s nonsense. I’m just an ordinary Beast Tamer. The seniors in the team all like to call me Old Kuang. You can call me that too if you like.”

“Old Kuang,” Zhou Hao called out, mustering some courage.

Chen Xing and Wang Bing respectfully greeted, “Coach Kuang.”

Zhou Hao turned his head toward the two in confusion: “????”

“All right, follow me to the school’s team base at the back. You can come here after school or during the weekends if you’re free.”

Wang Bing asked, “Coach Kuang, can we come train even if we’re just reserves?”

Kuang Shiyi said indifferently, “I don’t have distinctions like ‘reserves’ and ‘active members’ here. Once you’re here, you are my student.”

“Aren’t you curious why we suddenly had to select candidates this time?” Kuang Shiyi suddenly said.

The teachers standing nearby exchanged glances and, in tacit agreement, walked away.

Honestly, Chen Xing was quite curious as to why the school suddenly chose to include freshmen in the team. The High School Cup didn’t differentiate between specific grades within the high school and college divisions, just as high school math competitions didn’t classify competitors by grade.

“It’s simple. A location was discovered in the newly appeared Nightmare Swamp Secret Realm,” Kuang Shiyi announced without significantly lowering his voice since it wasn’t exactly top secret information.

For now, the news was only circulating within certain circles. Many didn’t spread it widely to maintain their advantage, but the information would eventually get out—it wouldn’t take long.

Kuang Shiyi explained, “You all know about the origins of secret realms, right? The Nightmare Swamp Secret Realm falls under the jurisdiction of Dream City in the Exotic Region and is part of the Nightmare Swamp.”

Chen Xing nodded; he understood Mr. Kuang’s point.

If the Exotic Region was likened to a large, complete jigsaw puzzle, then when the Exotic Region collided with their world, some pieces of that complete puzzle were knocked loose. These fragments appeared to travel through the river of time, intermittently appearing in various corners of the world. No matter how much time passed, the time within them remained frozen, resuming its flow only upon their full arrival in the present world.

These puzzle fragments were once part of the Exotic Region’s territory. It was said that some contained cities established by intelligent species of the Exotic Region—like Ze City Secret Realm. Rumor had it that in Great Xia’s imperial city, Dragon City, a giant library was even found within a secret realm.

Upon hearing Kuang Shiyi’s words, the three youngsters could hardly contain their quickened breaths. Had something valuable really been found within the secret realm?

“We discovered a Legacy Tower within the Nightmare Swamp Secret Realm 03. This tower is related to Dream City and was used to train their subordinates in the past. However, this Legacy Tower has an age limit—Beast Tamers must be no older than 16. None of you are 17 yet, right?”

“Next, I will provide you with targeted training. The main branches of beast taming in Dream City are the Illusion Element, Water Element, Wood Element, and Poison Element. You need to learn how to deal with these four types of beasts as quickly as possible, which will help you in challenging the tower,” he continued.

Chen Xing understood—a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

This secret realm appeared near Jincheng. Local forces in Jincheng, both official and private, tacitly chose to collaborate and take the first bite at the cake. Presumably, the same principle would apply to secret realms discovered elsewhere.

The prizes within the Legacy Tower were finite, having already fallen into their world. Naturally, no one from Dream City would come to “restock” the prizes inside, so the rewards were non-renewable resources.

The quantity of good prizes was limited; it was first come, first served.

Chen Xing guessed that as the largest local force, Jincheng’s officials were undoubtedly the main force divvying up the cake. But was the reason this opportunity ultimately fell into the school’s lap because of the age restriction of the secret realm?

Beast Tamers had to be at least sixteen years old to sign contracts with beasts, and this was true both here and in the Exotic Region; therefore, the Legacy Tower must have been intended specifically for training newcomers.

Suddenly, Chen Xing wondered about his sister—who appeared to be in the Nightmare Swamp Secret Realm. She didn’t meet the age requirement; he wondered how she felt about that. She must be quite disappointed.

“Damn it! That’s too much!” Inside the Nightmare Swamp Secret Realm, Wan Ning kicked a tall, dark tower in frustration, “Why can’t people over sixteen enter! What, they look down on me? My psychological age is forever sixteen!”

“Lingya, let’s not take this lying down. Later, I’ll take you to the Underground Palace Legacy Tower in the original secret realm of Dongning. This damn tower even has an age limit, which is just absurdly unfair!”

“It’s fine. I’ve already obtained my second Beast Taming,” Chen Lingya said nonchalantly, gently stroking her new Beast Taming—a snow-white snail the size of a lid, leisurely chewing on a leaf.

My brother does meet the age criteria. If he knew about this, he’d surely pester me to come, but I’ll see how he behaves. If he can make his sister happy, I’ll grudgingly bring him here for a visit.

Thinking this, Lingya’s slender neck arched slightly, an unintentional smile spilling from the corners of her mouth.

Chapter 29: Chapter 29 School Team

“What are you laughing at? Fantasizing about some lover, huh? Don’t tell me you have a boyfriend now?” Wan Ning perked up his gossip-attuned ears and leaned in to whisper.

Chen Lingya’s smile faded from the corners of her mouth, her expression instantly turning cold. “I don’t need a boyfriend.”

“How about a girlfriend then?”

“I don’t need one of those either! Please keep your distance, classmate Wan Ning.” Chen Lingya pushed away Wan Ning’s wandering hand.

The white jade snail in Chen Lingya’s arms seemed to sense its owner’s mood, ceased nibbling on the leaves, turned its head, and opened its mouth nearly 180 degrees wide, bristling with sharp teeth, as it “threatened” Wan Ning.

“Tch, little lap dog.” Wan Ning pointed his finger towards the white jade snail.

The snail lunged forward, attempting to bite.

“Hey, I retracted it.”

“Then I thrust it forward again.”

“And I’ve pulled it back.”

“Go on, bite me, dummy.”

“Alright, now that we’ve got what we came for, let’s head back,” Chen Lingya said.

The two retraced their steps, and after a while, they came to a sudden stop.

Chen Lingya and Wan Ning exchanged a glance, silently nodding in mutual understanding.

Leading the group, Chi Yu suddenly stopped in her tracks, her powerful front limbs propping her up as she rotated ninety degrees to face the dense forest on the left. Her snowy white claws shone brilliantly as the treetops quivered, a cold stream descending in a cascade from the treetops.

The bone-chilling wind carried bits of ice, which grew more numerous until they formed a sweeping blizzard when they reached their destination!

The sudden onslaught of snow covered the target area, instantaneously encrusting a large swath of bushes with ice and then shattering them to pieces.

An ice-based skill—Snowfall Cascade!

The nearly ten-second onslaught of Snowfall Cascade gradually subsided, the mist cleared, and a giant sphere, formed by entwined tree roots, became visible to the pair.

The tree roots writhed like living things, slowly boring back into the earth.

Three figures appeared at the center of the area protected by the sphere.

Thud, thud.

Footsteps came from behind as well.

Three figures emerged from the diagonal rear, blocking the path.

The summoning array of light brightened, and each of the six individuals had a magical creature at their side, closely watching the two.

Wan Ning narrowed his eyes; the magical creatures of these six were not weak, their energy levels were definitely not low.

However… sometimes it’s not just about how many you have; before becoming an Advanced Beast Tamer, the Beast Tamer is often the greatest weak point of their magical creatures.

A muffled groan came from the crowd; one person clutched his ankle and squatted down. His body trembled uncontrollably, his face quickly turning a shade of blue as he spat out foam from his mouth.

The others, seeing this, changed in complexion, realizing that there must be a magical creature launching stealth attacks from the shadows.

The remaining five had a faint luminescent glow emanating from their bodies, as though they had donned an invisible armor.

Another man leaped up, his foot sending the dry leaves flying to reveal a fleeting black shadow hiding among them. “It’s a scorpion! Damn, there’s a scorpion under the leaves, everyone be careful.”

Watching the stealthy escaping scorpion, the man breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he had cast a Defensive Secret Technique in time, or else he would have ended up like his companion. Nevertheless, the Defensive Secret Technique was constantly draining energy from his magical creature, and they needed to end the battle quickly.

“You can even cast Defensive Secret Techniques; it seems you’re not ordinary Beast Tamers,” Wan Ning commented as he grabbed Chen Lingya’s shoulder. A transparent luminescence similar to the four others spread from his arm to Chen Lingya, protecting them both.

Chen Lingya looked at the transparent, film-like layer covering her body with curiosity, but this wasn’t the moment for such thoughts.

“They’re only two people, take them down!” The five charged forward, paying no mind to the fallen comrade, whose only guardian was his own magical creature, loyally staying by his side, desperately nudging his chest with its head.

The five ferocious magical creatures charged in.

“Let’s go.”

Chi Yu ran to the front and crouched down, and Chen Lingya along with Wan Ning mounted Chi Yu’s back.

With a mighty leap forward, Chi Yu sprinted ahead, the five magical creatures in hot pursuit.

“Who’s there!”

Passing through the dense woods, a group of men in black uniforms sat on a relatively flat stretch of land ahead, in groups of three, with silver giant wolves, nearly three meters in length, lying next to them.

Although not far apart, their positioning created a strategic triangular formation.

Spying the group that passed by, the men in black uniforms didn’t seem to care, simply munching on their rations.

Suddenly, one of them glanced at the person riding on Chi Yu’s back, frowned in thought, then took out his phone, opened his photo gallery, and looked at a picture. He immediately stood up.

“Brothers, lend a hand.”

The group sitting beside him didn’t ask why and simply got up, dusting the dirt off their behinds, as the nearby silver giant wolves aroused and positioned themselves in front of the five people.

“Why are you meddling in a matter among us civilians, this frontier Secret Realm is not under legal protection,” said the leader of the five people from behind.

Seeing Chen Lingya and her companion getting further away, a hint of anxiety flashed in his eyes.

“Scram! We of the military district are protecting these two.”

“You can’t just be so unreasonable,” the leader said with frustration.

“Military affairs are none of your business. Scram, gutter rats!”

With no alternative, the five individuals wanted to retaliate but didn’t dare to, and eventually retreated dejectedly.

The woman with straight black hair, dressed in a black strapless top with a loose black coat draped over her shoulders, took a lazy sip of her drink. “Since you’re already involved, why not just kill them all?”

“It’s merely a personal grudge, not fitting to involve the military in this. Besides, we have other tasks,” Yue Chongshan shook his head.

Chen Lingya and her companion noticed the commotion behind them, and after some hesitation, they returned to the group to express their gratitude.

The surrounding comrades pointed to the man who had just stood up for them. “No need to thank us, it was the vice-captain’s idea.”

Yue Chongshan said in a deep voice, “I’m simply fulfilling a request. If you want to thank someone, thank Xue, the principal of No. 8 Middle School.”

Chen Lingya and Wan Ning were a bit confused; they didn’t know this principal Xue of No. 8 Middle School.

Chen Lingya suddenly thought of something, realizing she indeed had a close relative in No. 8 Middle School. Although unlikely, after eliminating the impossible, that seemed to be the only answer.

Her expression complex, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, yet a smile couldn’t help but emerge once again on her lips.

Kuang Shiyi led Chen Xing and the other two to the back of the school canteen, and after facial recognition at the entrance machine, the gate opened. Kuang Shiyi, without looking back, said, “Later, your information will be registered, and next time you can come, you can also use facial recognition to enter.”

“Right, now that you’ve joined the school team, you’ll have to follow the team’s training rules. You’ll receive the same resources and treatment as everyone else, but your training time will also have to match that of the other students,” Kuang Shiyi said with a serious look. “If you can’t do that, you can leave now, and I’ll talk to the principal about it.”

“We can do that,” Chen Xing firmly agreed with Mr. Kuang’s words. The amount of work should correspond to the pay—one’s responsibilities and obligations are tied to their treatment. Since they enjoy the resources, they should put in the work.

Taking money and not doing the work, that’s not right, is it?

Wang Bing also thought there was no problem. Anyway, he would train his Beast Taming at home after school, and training could happen anywhere. “I can do that too.”

“So can I!” Zhou Hao quickly chimed in.

Kuang Shiyi hummed, “Come on in, these are your school team’s senior brothers and sisters.”

Passing through the gate, Chen Xing saw the spacious field behind the school.

The wide open space was comparable to a large sports field, equipped with various training apparatuses.

Wang Bing noticed that his family didn’t even own some of the auxiliary equipment. “Teacher, did the school buy all these?”

“No, these auxiliary devices are funded by the district education bureau, simply leased to us for use. We have two units coordinating above us, one is the district education bureau and the other is the school,” Kuang Shiyi shook his head.

“Mr. Kuang, got some new recruits?” A Beast Tamer training under a fitness device not far away greeted Kuang Shiyi with a smile.

“These are your junior brothers; in the future, they’ll be your teammates in the same team,” Kuang Shiyi said. “This is your senior, Tong Xuhua from the third year.”

“Welcome, junior brothers~” The grey-haired young man in a white tank top greeted the three with a cheerful smile not far away.

“Where’s Wu Ju?”

“Fatty Ju went out to buy snacks, his licking dog went to pay, and the sick one took leave to get treated today. Ah, can’t help it, I’m the only one diligent in the school team! Working hard every day alongside my Beast Taming training.” After saying this, the grey-haired young man turned and patted the hands of Wildflame Monkey, who was doing squats behind him. “Come on, come on! Do one more set of squats!”

The Wildflame Monkey’s face was flushed red, nearly matching the color of its buttocks, with closely packed sandbags tied around its body. Holding onto a huge barbell, it squatted down slowly, the barbell’s ends sagging with oversized weight plates, curving into an exaggerated arc.

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: The Challenge of the New Field

“There are only four people in the school team, and I was originally planning to select another member from this year’s senior class to enter the reserves, but since the principal chose you guys… just train well.”

Kuang Shiyi said to the three of them.

Wang Bing nodded in agreement while pondering, finding it somewhat strange.

Normally, a school team has 4 official members and 1-3 reserves. Why does our school team only have four? Is there no reserve team?

“On regular days, you’ll eat in the cafeteria, your daily training venue is right here, and sometimes we do practical training in the Secret Realm on weekends. The place where you’ll have classes is that teaching building over there. Oh, and now that you’ve joined the school team, you can go pick a favorite room in the dormitory behind us. Sometimes, if the training finishes too late, you can stay here without going home.”

As Kuang Shiyi introduced the surroundings, he led the three newcomers through the teaching building to an office at the end of the first floor where he pulled out three contracts from a drawer and laid them on the table.

“Take a look, and if there’s no problem, you can sign. Don’t worry, the contract format for school teams across the country is basically the same. The only difference lies in the benefits. You can find all this information online.”

After speaking, Kuang Shiyi took a pack of cigarettes from the drawer, “I’m going out for a smoke, take your time to look over them.”

Kuang Shiyi also closed the door on his way out.

Chen Xing took out his phone and did a search online, confirming that it was indeed a standard contract as Teacher Kuang had mentioned.

On the other hand, Zhou Hao called his family, then took a photo of the contract to send to them. After his family consulted a lawyer and confirmed that there was no problem, they replied to him.

Wang Bing also took photos while sending messages to someone.

In the end, the three of them went over the contract together one more time, confirming that there were no issues.

The clauses in the contract were very clear. The main agreements stated that after joining the school team, one must accept the training organized jointly by the school and the district education bureau, participate in various competitions on behalf of the school, divide team competition prizes internally based on contribution, and keep individual competition prizes to oneself. Outside the competitions, participants must maintain a good image and promote their alma mater and hometown. There were also some specific rules, but these were mainly extensions of the main regulations.

Chen Xing read very carefully; there was a weekly basic living allowance of eight thousand yuan, and on top of that, there were two bottles of Grade B Universal Nutrient Solution every week.

The value was indeed high. The Grade B Universal Nutrient Solution alone was worth about twenty-five thousand yuan per bottle on the market; two bottles would be fifty thousand. Including the allowance, that added up to fifty-eight thousand yuan a week.

His mother, working several jobs, couldn’t earn that much in a month even if she tried.

Chen Xing signed his name in a bit of a daze.

Unlike Chen Xing, Wang Bing and Zhou Hao beside him noticed the weekly “resource” allowance too, but they were more focused on the deeper significance behind their school team membership than the income brought by this allowance.

In fact, if spending money could get them into the school team, they would be willing to give the school such a large amount of money every week.

‘I joined the school team in my freshman year. If word gets out, it will certainly make all my fair-weather friends green with envy.’ Wang Bing thought under his breath, unable to stop a smile from spreading across his face.

Zhou Hao couldn’t help but lick his lips. ‘Now that I’ve performed so well and really made the team, my dad will probably give me more pocket money every month.’

Not long after they left, Chen Xing saw the other two members of the school team.

A girl and a boy, one following the other.

The girl had curved eyebrows and shoulders covered with slightly curly hair and wore a beige sun hat. Her figure-hugging white dress with floral patterns accentuated her delicate curves, paired with a pair of white sneakers, giving her a bright and captivating appearance. She entertained herself with an ice-pop while curiously watching the three new junior boys.

Standing beside her was a boy in a black T-shirt paired with jeans. His hair loosely hung over a tanned face, radiating a vibe of sunshine and athleticism. Although he was not particularly handsome, his charisma and outfit added a dash of rugged charm.

A thought struck all three of them, and it seemed that these must be the “Fatty Wu Ju” and “Bootlicker” that Senior Tong had mentioned before.

Presumably, the girl in front couldn’t be the “Bootlicker,” so that left the boy in the black T-shirt…

But the girl looked so slim, why call her Fatty Wu Ju?

Their eyes drifted downward, noticing the tight buttons bulging on her blouse, and they suddenly understood.

Indeed, there are no wrong nicknames, just mistaken names.

“Hello, Senior Wu Ju, Lick…” Chen Xing suddenly stopped, realizing no one had mentioned the last name of this male senior.

“Old Tian, why are you guys back so late? Master Kuang has been waiting for you for quite a while,” Tong Xuhua said with a smile as he approached.

“…and hello to you too, Senior Tian,” Chen Xing finished after a pause.

Tian Xuechuan nodded kindly, “Hello, little juniors, ah, I am really envious that you could join the school team so early. Unlike me, I only got selected in the second semester of my junior year.” After he said this, he flipped his hair and his gaze swept past Wu Ju.

Unfortunately, Wu Ju wasn’t paying any attention to him. Hearing that Master Kuang had been waiting for them for a while, she hurried to the office.

Tian Xuechuan quickly followed her.

In the office, Kuang Shiyi didn’t hold them accountable for skipping class to buy snacks; he just asked them to gather the rest of the team and announced a piece of news.

“Next month, the school team from New Tian Middle School will come to our school for a friendly match. There’s one month left, and I hope all of you will work hard.” He looked at Chen Xing and the others as he said, “Do you think this has nothing to do with you? Hah, New Tian Middle School has proposed having a sparring match between the reserves as well. So, the three of you had better not slack off. If the seniors win but you lose, it will get out that I, Kuang Shiyi, can’t teach students properly, and I can’t afford to lose face like that. The other side will definitely undergo intense training, so for the next month, you three should come here for weekend training too.”

He had just found out that the student who had left their school joined New Tian Middle School. In recent years, New Tian Middle School had been covetously vying for the title of top public high school in the new district.

If a student who left their school went to a different school and then came back to beat the old school…

What would people say about that?

That Number Eight Middle School isn’t as good at teaching its students as New Tian Middle School? That Number Eight Middle School lacks judgment in recognizing talent?

Regardless of which it might be, for Number Eight Middle School, either would be a resounding slap in the face.

Chapter 31: Chapter 31 The Marrow-eating Evil Snail

“This is for you, there are many methods of teaching Beast Taming, and the simplest is through food temptation and video memory techniques.”

Kuang Shiyi took out a bunch of keys from the drawer and tossed them to Tong Xuhua.

“Take the juniors to the second-floor audiovisual room, teach them the energy circulation structure.”

Tong Xuhua took the keys, turned back, and gestured to the three of them, “Let’s go.”

They arrived at a spacious multimedia classroom on the second floor of the teaching building.

The walls, painted on all sides, had been patched up many times, with uneven patches of white like repeatedly sewn-on patches, and at the front was a huge projection screen.

Tong Xuhua took out three black cloth bags from a small drawer in a cabinet and handed them to the three, “You can watch these on your computer or TV when you get back.” He walked over to operate the CD player.

Chen Xing opened the cloth bag and took out a stack of blueprints folded several times over. He unfolded it to find a 2*2m nine-grid chart.

At the top were the words “Seventh Set Of Energy Circulation Structure Diagrams”, and in the middle was a CD.

The energy circulation structure diagram resembled a closed-loop figure like an elevated bridge where one had to visualize and make the energy within the body “flow” according to the patterns of the three-dimensional diagram. This nine-grid chart detailed the steps of the energy circulation structure.

The body needs regular exercise to become stronger, and the mind too must be kept active to become sharper; the energy within the body is the same.

But for Beast Taming, this process is rather dull, akin to asking a primary school student to learn advanced mathematics. Over time, some beast tamers who are naturally averse to studying start to feel sleepy at the mention of practicing the energy circulation structure, and within three minutes of practice, their eyelids would droop, and they would sleep more soundly than usual, more effectively than any sleeping pill or lullaby.

Chen Xing could rather understand this feeling.

That’s because Taotie had a bit of a “slacker” potential, not fond of learning this energy circulation structure. He had already been teaching it for almost a week with little success.

Every time he asked if it had learned, it would wag its tail and say it had.

Then when he asked which step it had reached, it would say the first step.

Actually, Taotie was quite smart, as could be seen from its daily interactions and conversations with Chen Xing, indicating its intelligence was not low, but it was simply unwilling to put in the effort to study.

Meanwhile, having set up the video, Tong Xuhua drew the curtains, and the room’s light darkened, with only the front wall’s projection showing a 3D animation. The video was of the energy circulation structure’s motion model, and to accommodate the beast tamers’ vision, the model’s colors were more vivid than usual, appearing garishly colorful, so glaring to the human eye that one could hardly help turning their head away after a while.

“You can summon your beasts now, the video is more illustrative, and if you want to train them to learn, it’s best to use rewards to guide them. Depending on the species of the beast, the speed of learning can vary.”

As he spoke, Tong Xuhua asked for updates, “How far have your beasts progressed?”

Wang Bing summoned his armored rhino, “We’ve got to the fourth step; though Maru doesn’t learn fast, he works hard.”

The rounded armored rhino was like a bowling ball, squinting its small eyes and nudging its owner with its head.

Zhou Hao summoned his Salty Bay Crocodile, “My beast has only reached the third step, alas, I’ve done all I can, studying at least three to four hours every day after returning home.”

The three turned their eyes toward Chen Xing and in unison asked, “Which step has your beast reached?”

Chen Xing,

He suddenly understood why some parents disliked attending parent-teacher conferences.

He then summoned Taotie and said confidently and steadily, “Almost to the second step.”

The three were taken aback for a moment, looking at his confident expression; they had thought his beast had finished learning!

At his feet, Taotie looked back at its master, seemingly sensing the emotions hidden by him.

It snorted lightly through its nostrils with a “hmm”.

Then it turned its head and watched the video being played on the projector intently.

On the way home, Taotie was in high spirits, seeking credit from its master for being hard-working.

“Well done, it learned the second step.”

Chen Xing, too, was quite pleased. Today Taotie had suddenly applied itself diligently, as if it had an epiphany, and in just one afternoon, it had advanced to the second step of the energy circulation structure diagram.

Given this rate of progress, the second step today, the third step tomorrow, and the fourth step the day after. Becoming bigger and stronger is just around the corner!

Upon reaching home and before he could open the door, he heard a familiar voice from inside.

As he opened the door, he saw his sister sitting in the living room.

Chen Lingya laughed playfully, “What, haven’t seen me in a few days and you can’t recognize me anymore?”

Chen Xing snorted, then immediately turned his attention to the Jade Snail sneakily nibbling at the sofa cover on the couch.

“Is this your second Beast Taming creature?”

Chen Xing walked over and crouched down in front of it; the Jade Snail stopped its gnawing, watching Chen Xing warily as he approached.

Chen Lingya humphed softly, “Impressive, right? I’ve already started raising my second Beast Taming creature.”

“Not bad, but you’ll need to work harder, or else in a while you might be overtaken by me—” Chen Xing abruptly pulled back his hand as the Jade Snail in front of him opened its mouth full of sharp teeth.

Bang~

A hand reached out from the side and tapped on its head.

“Don’t be fierce with him.”

After being tapped, the Jade Snail calmed down and continued staring with a pair of intelligent eyes as it chewed on the sofa cover.

“What Species of Beast Taming creature is this?” Chen Xing curiously sized up the Jade Snail, something he had not seen introduced in his textbooks.

“Spinal Cord Devouring Good Snail.” Chen Lingya took a bone from a bag on the table and placed it in front of the Jade Snail.

The completely white Jade Snail seemed to smell something delicious; it cocked its head and slowly examined the cow leg bone in front of it.

Then it opened its large mouth and slowly extended a straw-like appendage from its mouth into the leg bone.

The tough leg bone was vulnerable like paper before this needle-like appendage; from up close, Chen Xing could see the transparent bone marrow being sucked up the straw and into the snail’s mouth.

This sight gave Chen Xing the shivers; if this thing crawled onto his head, wouldn’t it be like sucking coconut juice?

“It’s of the Illusion and Water dual elements; it’s actually quite timid by nature, just a bit protective of its master,” Chen Lingya explained.

This was her new Beast Taming creature and would become a member of their big family from now on.

Chen Xing crouched down and observed its data.

[Species]Spinal Cord Devouring Evil Snail (Platinum Mutation)

[State]Healthy (Full)

[Attribute]Illusion, Poison

[Energy Level]2.9

[Energy Level Limit]44

[Skills]None Mastered

“What’s its name?” Chen Xing asked, turning around.

“Xiao Snail,” Chen Lingya blinked her eyes.

“I meant its Species.”

“It’s called Spinal Cord Devouring Good Snail. Our school just happened to have the Monster Manual from Nightmare Swamp, and it has a close relative called Spinal Cord Devouring Evil Snail, which looks very similar to it but is completely different in color—Spinal Cord Devouring Evil Snails are black,” Lingya explained, feeling somewhat regretful. “Spinal Cord Devouring Evil Snails are of the Illusion and Poison dual elements and are stronger in combat than Spinal Cord Devouring Good Snails. It would have been great if it were a Spinal Cord Devouring Evil Snail.”

Seeing her brother’s strange look, Chen Lingya thought for a moment and felt she might have inadvertently hurt her brother, “I didn’t mean that Water Element creatures are weak, I just think the Poison and Illusion elements are more complementary.”

“Heh, a woman who’s stepped in dog shit luck,” Chen Xing stood up.

Chen Lingya felt puzzled, then suddenly had an epiphany and raised her eyebrow, “So you’re jealous that I have a second Beast Taming creature.”

Originally, Chen Xing didn’t want to explain more, but considering that feeding a Beast Taming creature with an A attribute long-term food of a B attribute could be detrimental to its growth and development over time.

So he kindly reminded, “I’ve seen these two types of Beast Taming creatures on the internet before, and I think it looks more like the Spinal Cord Devouring Evil Snail. You might want to check on that.”

Chen Lingya was skeptical, “You’ve seen it? But the colors are different.”

“The color could be different due to a mutation, even tigers can be albinos,” Chen Xing didn’t go into detail, only suggesting that Chen Lingya check for herself, mainly because the previous statement was made up, and he wasn’t sure how to explain if questioned further.

So Chen Xing gave Chen Lingya a knowing look that said everyone who understands, understands, and no matter how much I explain, those who don’t, won’t get it.

Chapter 32: Chapter 32 Vegetarians

The joy of my sister getting a new Beast Taming was an unexpected surprise, and watch the King of Favorability lightly and easily brush the little snail’s favorability to 90—after all, young Beast Tamings are the easiest to deceive.

Chen Xing was thinking, all pleased with herself.

Once the favorability increases, the little snail will be my second-largest source of Skill Point Fragments at this stage!

The largest source, of course, belongs to Taotie, without contest!

As for Chi Yu… perhaps it’s because it’s a feline, but after reaching a favorability of 80, it’s been hard to increase further, especially since I’m not its Beast Tamer.

Having the favorability brushed over 80 points while living under the same roof is already “feline master” kind and benevolent.

Taotie squinted its eyes and eyed its owner suspiciously. The expression on its owner’s face just now seemed a bit off.

“Come on, come on, I’ve got hot food for you,” Chen Xing warmed up a meal of pet food for Taotie.

It’s been a long time since Chi Yu had eaten the delicious meat meal made by its owner’s brother.

Walking into the kitchen with cat-like steps, it stared at Chen Xing’s silhouette as he cooked.

“You want some too? Good, there’s enough for everyone today!”

With a grand gesture, Chen Xing declared; he was no longer the youth who used to be frugal over a few dozen yuan!

“By the way, Mom, here’s eight thousand yuan in salary.” The school team advanced their this week’s “salary” today since it happened to be Sunday. Although it was their first day on the team, the school decided to settle this week’s “salary.”

Liu Yuzhen refused, “Keep the money for yourself.”

Chen Xing said, “It’s fine, I’m in school now, and the school team hands out a nice sum in bonuses each month. Plus, the school covers food and accommodation, so stop fussing.”

Chen Xing slapped the money down on the table.

“Take it, a child’s willingness to give is also a kind of loving intention,” Chen Guohai, who was sitting on the balcony, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Alright, I’ll save it for you,” Liu Yuzhen took the money, her movement of wiping the table subtly quickened a bit.

Three servings of Primary Carnivore Pet Food were warmed up. Chi Yu and Taotie gobbled it down, but the little snail just sniffed at it before sluggishly moving its head away.

“You don’t like it?” Chen Xing wondered.

Thinking he hadn’t made it well, he picked up the pet food and placed it next to Taotie, who took a bite without hesitation.

It seemed that the problem wasn’t with the food he made.

It simply didn’t like to eat meat.

“But you, a creature that feeds on bone marrow, don’t eat meat?”

“Oh,” the little snail called out softly, retracting its head into its shell, not deigning it with another look.

“You wouldn’t happen to be a vegetarian, would you?” Chen Xing thought of a possibility.

Chen Lingya, drying her hair with a towel, stepped out of the bathroom and saw Chen Xing feeding the little snail, “What’s up, it’s not eating?”

“It’s a vegetarian?”

“That’s right. Although the little snail likes sucking bone marrow, it indeed is a vegetarian. The meat in the pet food you made is too much for it; it doesn’t like the smell of meat,”

“Alright,” Chen Xing thought for a moment that the pet food shouldn’t go to waste, so he divided it between Taotie and Chi Yu.

Perhaps due to Affinity Knowledge, one night passed, and the next day the little snail was already willing to accept Chen Xing’s touch.

Before leaving the house in the morning, Chen Xing petted its white, jade-like shell.

Its shell was warm and slightly elastic, similar to a layer of heated plastic.

On Sunday, the vast school felt somewhat empty.

After arriving at the school team’s exclusive training area behind the cafeteria, the sounds of training were already echoing from the field.

“You’re quite early,” Tong Xuhua, who was in the midst of training with his Beast Taming, was surprised to see Chen Xing arrive so early at school. Brother Kuang had said the meeting time was at 9 o’clock, and it was just after seven now.

“I woke up early today. Since I couldn’t fall back asleep, I thought I might as well come over,” Chen Xing said and glanced at the Wildflame Monkey behind Tong Xuhua.

[Species]Wildflame Monkey

[State]Subhealthy (Lumbar muscle strain) (Central nervous fatigue)

[Height]153cm

[Weight]62kg

[Attribute]Fire

[Energy Level]35.8

[Energy Level Limit]36

[Skills]

Primary Skills: Blazing Fist (Mastered) Flame Armor Embodiment (Mastered)

Intermediate Skills: Meteor Wave Heavy Kick (Mastered) Great Fire Blaster (Mastered) Cross Flaming Charge (Proficient)

Advanced Skill: Heavenly Star Burst Dragon Fist (Beginner)

Passive Skill: Frenzied Blood

This Wildflame Monkey is powerful, a true ace of the school team, and nearly at its Energy Level Limit. Once it reaches the limit, it could start preparing for evolution.

Looking at its skills, Tong Xuhua’s Wildflame Monkey seems to specialize in close combat, delivering punch after punch.

Chen Xing realized he might be able to use this ability to see through the skills of his enemies and strategize accordingly.

Of course, for a Taotie who had just awakened a skill, tactics were still a bit beyond reach…

However, the next skill wouldn’t take too long to awaken; based on his current progress, Taotie would break through to level 10 Energy Level in about a week. Reaching level 10 would allow for the awakening of a second skill.

In one week, he should also have almost gathered the needed Skill Points for the next skill, unlocking Intermediate Pet Meals as well!

“What are you planning to train?” Tong Xuhua asked enthusiastically.

Tong Xuhua’s enthusiasm made Chen Xing a bit uncomfortable; this was only their second meeting, right?

Sensing Chen Xing’s discomfort, Tong Xuhua chuckled, “When I joined the school team, there were no seniors to guide us. No one from our second-year class was selected for the school team, so we joined during the summer after the college entrance exams, by which time the seniors had already graduated. They only came back during the summer to give us a few pep talks.

That’s why I thought that if I ever had a junior of my own, I would make sure he felt the warmth from his senior. Don’t worry, the school team will soon be in your hands.” After he said this, Tong Xuhua patted Chen Xing on the shoulder.

Chen Xing asked, “Do you seniors often go out for matches?”

At this, Tong Xuhua coughed and said, “Young man, don’t be too fixated on competitions. At this stage, we mainly focus on training our Beast Tamings. Matches are just one way to test the results of our training.”

“In fact, there are only two major events our school team is sure to participate in: one is the Shu State Cup in November of the upper semester every year, and the other is the College Cup in March of the lower semester.”

Tong Xuhua spoke bluntly, “Don’t expect too much from the College Cup; just participating is good enough. Those who make it to the finals are freaks from all over the place. We should focus mainly on the Shu State Cup. Our school’s best achievement in the Shu State Cup was the top eight, and we also made it to the top sixteen twice…”

As he said this, Tong Xuhua seemed a bit embarrassed; not to mention first or second place, the school had never even reached the top four.

Even now, his real goal was only to make it to the top eight…

Chen Xing’s voice of admiration suddenly came through, “That’s impressive! There are a total of eight hundred and nine high schools in Shu State, and every match after the top thirty-six gets televised! Haha, Senior, I’m looking forward to seeing you on TV. Remember to give me an autograph then.”

Tong Xuhua was taken aback, and as he met Chen Xing’s sincere gaze, confident he wasn’t being sarcastic, he couldn’t help but laugh along, “Hahaha, sure, not just one autograph; you can have a hundred!”

Chapter 33: Chapter 33 The Value of the School Team

“`

Meanwhile, at home, Chen Lingya was perusing a manual.

This color-printed manual wasn’t a book from the school library but a Monster Manual of Nightmare Swamp, personally given to her by the principal. Although she didn’t know its value, she couldn’t find any information about this book online.

“Could Little Wo really be a Taotie?” Chen Lingya compared the pictures of a benign and a malevolent snail, occasionally glancing at Little Wo beside her. On the desk next to her, Little Wo’s two antennae drooped weakly as it rested peacefully.

Comparing with the high-definition pictures in the manual, the benign and malevolent snails, though closely related, still had slight differences in detail.

Though she had no evidence, Chen Lingya was beginning to believe it.

“Could it be a variant? Are you a Taotie?” she asked, prodding Little Wo’s head with her finger.

“Hmm?” Little Wo squinted its eyes, uttering words Chen Lingya couldn’t understand.

…

“You’re here pretty early today, what did you practice this morning?” asked Kuang Shiyi, who walked in around eight o’clock wearing slippers and shorts, and a colorful short-sleeved shirt, holding a steamed bun, and greeting Chen Xing.

“Did some weighted crawling for a while.”

On a sandy patch at the edge of the field, Taotie was crawling back and forth with several sandbags tied to it while Chen Xing occasionally splashed it with water to prevent its skin from being injured due to the friction with the sand.

Endurance and speed were Taotie’s weaknesses, especially on land.

Of course, here ‘speed’ refers to long-distance running speed, not short-distance burst speed.

“Speed is something we can work on,” Kuang Shiyi said, swallowing the rest of his bun and scrunching the plastic bag into a ball before tossing it into a trash can.

“But we shouldn’t be fixated on speed, after all, a weakness is a weakness, something innate that can’t be changed. But we can play to our strengths!”

“Come on, there’s a swimming pool in the back; help me clean it up.”

Behind the teaching building, they came upon a 50*50m swimming pool covered with a layer of green waterproof tarp. “Come give me a hand.” Kuang Shiyi went over to the opposite side to unfasten the hooks securing the tarp, and Chen Xing also went over to help. Together they pulled the cover off the swimming pool.

The pool water was dark green, surfaced with a thin layer of algae and scattered dead leaves.

“Clean it up.” Kuang Shiyi brought out two long-handled nets from the storeroom, tossing one to Chen Xing and taking the other for himself.

The two of them worked half the day to finally clean the debris from the pool.

The water wasn’t replaced; instead, they scattered some white powder into it, which Kuang Shiyi said was used for disinfection and to inhibit the growth of algae. In about half a day, the water would become clear.

“The swimming pool hasn’t been used for a long time, as the last two cohorts of students didn’t have Water Element Beasts, so it has remained idle,” Kuang Shiyi wiped the sweat from his forehead, somewhat sentimental, “Speaking of this pool, our school made it to the top eight in the Shu State Cup back two years ago. There was a senior student with a Water Element Beast who would spend every day in this pool and that underwater raceway over there.”

“Underwater raceway?” Chen Xing was taken aback, looking around, he couldn’t see anywhere that looked like a raceway.

Kuang Shiyi chuckled, “Building that underwater raceway cost over a million!”

“Come on, I’ll show you something new.”

Chen Xing followed Kuang Shiyi further back behind the school; since the new district was newly planned, Azure Dragon Middle School, despite being located in the bustling new district, had a sizeable campus, with a large empty space at the back.

“This is the underwater raceway!”

On the cement ground, winding glass “long lanes” spread across an area the size of a basketball court.

Beneath the tempered glass was a hollow pipeline, similar to the city’s extensive sewer network, with a machinery room next to it.

“As long as you start the machine, the pipes underneath will fill up with water. Then, with four pumps in different directions to accelerate the flow, the maximum speed can reach up to 25m/s. Beasts can swim against the current or go with the flow; there are many branching paths in this underwater raceway. With different pumps activated, it can even create intersecting water flows.”

“A calm swimming pool can only be used for simple daily training, to really hone speed you need a special venue like this,” Kuang Shiyi patted Chen Xing’s shoulder, “But we’re not practicing this today; it hasn’t been used in a while and is covered with moss and algae. I’ll let the school know and have someone come clean it tonight, so it’ll be ready for tomorrow.”

“In a bit, we’ll test all the team’s beasts on land running speed, giving you a direct understanding of the speed differences between different beasts on land.”

At lunchtime, Chen Xing finally met the last senior member of the team, Wen Jin.

With a bob haircut, thick black-rimmed glasses, not very tall, and pale as paper.

Seeing the newcomer, he offered a polite smile.

“After this, we’ll do a speed test for the beasts on the field, to see if you’ve been slacking off lately,” he said.

Tong Xuhua looked towards the bob-haired senior, “Wen Jin, want to have a speed competition with the beasts? Maybe bet a bottle of Grade C universal reagent?”

Hearing this, Wen Jin coughed several times, covering his mouth and turning his head away, while waving his other hand.

He wasn’t interested.

“Why do you always pick on Wen Jin? If you’re so brave, compare speed with my beast,” Wu Ju said to Tong Xuhua.

“It’s no fun playing with you.” Tong Xuhua had no enthusiasm. Compete in speed with Wu Ju’s beast? He would have to be crazy to do that.

Chen Xing glanced at the three senior schoolmates; he roughly knew what their beasts were by now. He was only left to find out about senior Tian’s beast.

After lunch, everyone took a short rest and then went to the field where the four senior team members summoned their respective beasts.

Beside Tong Xuhua stood a Wildflame Monkey, Wu Ju cradled a Shadowcat, Wen Jin stood beside a land tortoise, and with Tian Xuechuan was a Ghostface Bulldog.

“`

Chen Xing couldn’t help but criticize inwardly as he looked at the beast alongside Wen Jin, comparing the speeds of a Wildflame Monkey and a Dryland Tortoise…

Senior Tong’s tastes are pretty bad huh.

…

[Species] Shadowcat

[State] Healthy

[Body Length] 88cm (Tail Length 30cm)

[Weight] 14kg

[Attribute] Wind

[Energy Level] 36.6

[Energy Level Limit] 37

[Skills]

Primary Skill: Jade Wind Blade (Perfect), Wind Walking Technique (Proficient), Flowing Wind Dart (Proficient)

Intermediate Skill: Storm Verdict (Mastered), Sandstorm Summon (Mastered)

Advanced Skill: None

Innate Skill: Shatter Fang (Active) (Proficient)

Passive Skill: Agile Body (Passive)

…

[Species] Dryland Tortoise

[State] Healthy (Shell Dry)

[Shell Diameter] 2m

[Weight] 1460kg

[Attribute] Wood, Earth

[Energy Level] 38

[Energy Level Limit] 38

[Skills]

Primary Skill: Earth Wall Shelter (Proficient), Vigorous Growth (Proficient)

Intermediate Skill: Earthquake (Proficient), Parasitic Seed (Proficient), Heavy Armor Stomp (Proficient)

Advanced Skill: Wild Forest Dance (Mastered)

Passive Skill: Breath of the Earth (Passive)

…

[Species] Ghost-Faced Mastiff

[State] Healthy (Hungry)

[Body Length] 201cm

[Weight] 125kg

[Attribute] Fire

[Energy Level] 31.1

[Energy Level Limit] 37

[Skills]

Primary Skill: Heavy Strike Slap (Proficient), Demonic Tear (Mastered), Malicious Gaze (Mastered)

Intermediate Skill: Great Fire Blaster (Proficient), Magma Armor (Mastered)

Advanced Skill: None

These beast tamers are all very strong, having mastered more than one skill to a high level of proficiency, and only Shadowcat has mastered a primary skill to a level of perfection, indicating how difficult it is to improve skill proficiency to perfection, at least for high school students.

But Chen Xing suddenly remembered that Chi Yu had mastered three perfect proficiency skills and had an energy level of 41, which seemed to make Chi Yu a bit more formidable.Chapter 34: Chapter 34 Targeted Training

Seven beast tamers ran on the playground, and the results of their speed checks came out one after another.

Unquestionably, the Shadowcat was the fastest, completing a lap around the 400-meter playground in just 18 seconds, followed by the Ghost-Faced Mastiff in 26 seconds.

The third place went to the Wildflame Monkey at 35 seconds, and the fourth to the Armored Rhinoceros at 49 seconds; Wang Bing’s Armored Rhinoceros was still in its growth phase, and its speed and eruption force would increase significantly once it reached adulthood.

The fifth place was the Desert Tortoise, which took 89 seconds, at an average speed of 4.4m/s—considering its huge size, this speed was quite acceptable.

The last two places were taken by the Salty Bay Crocodiles.

They finished the 400 meters in 152 and 203 seconds, securing sixth and seventh place respectively.

Zhou Hao held his beast tamer with heartache, as its paws bled from the run around the 400 meters.

Chen Xing also checked Taotie, finding slight abrasion marks on its claws and belly scales, but fortunately, there was no bleeding.

“Now you understand the advantage your beasts have on land compared to other beast tamers; your beasts are not yet adults. Their speed will increase slightly when they grow larger, but only to a certain extent.”

As Kuang Shiyi spoke, he paused, “Alright, let’s go and check their speed in the water—you all have to go.”

The last sentence was directed at the four senior students.

“Ah? We have to test too?”

“You must test. Combat terrain will never cater to you; you also need to test the speed of your beasts in water,” Kuang Shiyi said with a meaningful glance at the Wildflame Monkey and Ghost-Faced Mastiff.

Both beast tamers furrowed their brows, sensing that the matter wasn’t simple.

…

“Woof, woof, woof~”

The Ghost-Faced Mastiff jumped into the water as if electrocuted, its fluffy fur standing up like bristles, as it instantly leaped out and ran far away.

Tian Xuechuan called out to it in vain; it just stood at a distance, face grim, warily watching its owner.

“Come here, it won’t hurt you, come here,” Tian Xuechuan beckoned.

“Woof, woof, woof!!!” the Ghost-Faced Mastiff barked loudly.

Chen Xing struggled to keep his mouth from turning up; he understood the Ghost-Faced Mastiff’s barks, which were quite foul-mouthed.

Seeing the Ghost-Faced Mastiff’s miserable state, the Wildflame Monkey sat restlessly by the pool, occasionally lifting its head to offer a polite smile to its owner.

“Tong Xuhua, prepare your beast,” Teacher Kuang’s voice rang out.

“Get ready to go into the water,” Tong Xuhua commanded the Wildflame Monkey.

The smile on the Wildflame Monkey’s face gradually faded, and it sat by the pool like a lost child, as if mentally prepared for its impending fate.

A splash as it hit the water~

Gurgle gurgle gurgle…

Reacting swiftly to the advance instruction, Taotie quickly dragged the Wildflame Monkey back to the surface from underwater.

“Both of your beasts being afraid of water is not going to work,” Teacher Kuang said.

“Ahem, Teacher, it’s not particularly afraid of Water Element skills; it’s just these large pools it fears, it has thalassophobia.”

On hearing this, Kuang Shiyi replied irritably, “But is this the sea? It’s just a small pool.”

In truth, he had high hopes for this year’s school team. If they performed well, there was a chance they could make it into the top eight of the Shu State Cup, and possibly even the final four if they were lucky with their group and overcame their weaknesses.

It was just that these two Fire Element beast tamers were both afraid of water!

Encountering water-fearing beasts was not something new to him. It was normal for Fire Element beasts to be averse to water, but to fear it to this extent was quite rare.

“`

And to encounter two at once! Both in my own team!

This is an obvious weakness. If targeted by an enemy, it would only take a Water Element Beast of above-average level to give them a severe disadvantage.

Compared to these two Fire Element Beasts with a fear of water, the performance of the Shadowcat and the Arid-land Tortoise was much better.

Though the Shadowcat also dislikes water, at its owner’s command, it still swam back and forth with ease, completing a 100-meter round trip in 32 seconds.

The Arid-land Tortoise was particularly impressive in its performance. Despite the word ‘arid’ in its name, it’s not a landlubber. It took 64 seconds to swim a 100-meter round trip in the water.

The Armored Rhinoceros was a bit faster than the Arid-land Tortoise, completing the 100-meter round trip in 57 seconds.

Chen Xing felt that there was something wrong with the way these creatures were named; all this ‘arid land,’ ‘Armored Rhinoceros.’

The names made them sound like total landlubbers, but their swimming was smooth sailing, the opposite of their clumsy forms.

Wang Bing coughed, “It’s normal for a ‘Land Tank’ to swim, isn’t it? What kind of tank would it be if it couldn’t enter the water?”

Zhou Hao rolled his eyes, “Stop being so Versailles.”

A hint of surprise flashed in Chen Xing’s eyes. The fact that the Armored Rhinoceros was not afraid of water was unexpected.

Next up was his turn. Chen Xing said, “Get in the water.” With a slick move, Taotie, who was angled by the poolside, slipped into the water and turned into a sword darting straight forward. After reaching the opposite side of the pool, it made a nimble turnaround.

The shadow burst through the water’s surface, splashing water everywhere. Taotie’s upper body emerged from the water, its crocodilian snout lifted high like a little dog begging for a reward.

“That’s impressive!” Chen Xing did not skimp on his praise.

Taotie seemed very happy to receive the encouragement.

“Sixteen seconds, not bad. An adult Salty Bay Crocodile generally takes 7 seconds for a hundred meters in water,” Kuang Shiyi nodded, quite satisfied with the result.

Sixteen seconds for a hundred meters, clearly much faster in water than on land, and the movements were agile; you could only see a fleeting black shadow underneath the shaking surface of the water.

Zhou Hao’s Salty Bay Crocodile was a bit slower at 19 seconds but still surpassed the Shadowcat to take second place.

“Every Beast Tamer has their strengths. This test is only meant to show you which aspects to target in training, and of course… weaknesses shouldn’t be too obvious. In two months, you and the beasts of Chen Xing and Zhou Hao will spar in combat training.”

Zhou Hao turned pale with shock, “Ah? Me?”

Their developmental time lagged by two years, didn’t it?

“Of course, in the water,” Kuang Shiyi added with a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“Ah? What!” This time, it was Tian Xuechuan and Tong Xuhua whose faces drastically changed color.

Kuang Shiyi, however, felt a bit regretful, “It’s a pity that Chen Xing and the others are two cohorts ahead of you. The difference in Beast Taming is too great; otherwise, the practical effect would be much better.”

The gap in Energy Level was too wide, making it difficult to create pressure; they could only forcefully compete in an extreme environment like the swimming pool that was entirely water.

And if their Salty Bay Crocodile and Armored Rhinoceros could grow a bit bigger, that’d be great; if not an adult size, then at least 70-80% of an adult’s size. It would also allow for training on how to handle heavyweight opponents.

But speaking of which, Chen Xing’s Salty Bay Crocodile was indeed bigger than Zhou Hao’s by a good measure.

He glanced at Chen Xing’s Salty Bay Crocodile; its size was almost approaching two meters, wasn’t it? Its development was quite rapid; its Physical Body Talent was indeed impressive.

“Teacher Kuang, didn’t you say we were going to do targeted training? When will we start training?” Zhou Hao boldly asked.

Kuang Shiyi stood with his hands behind him, looking at the two crocodiles swimming in the pool, “Are you in a hurry?”

Zhou Hao was taken aback, unsure of the teacher’s attitude. He thought his words might have been disrespectful and was about to apologize when Kuang Shiyi continued, “Before training, I also need to assess the level of your beasts to prescribe the right solution. Moreover… no matter how targeted the training is for you novices, there’s a limit to how much you can improve.”

At this point, Kuang Shiyi looked at Zhou Hao with a half-smile, “I know you’re eager, but don’t get ahead of yourself.”

That evening, after the team disbanded, Zhou Hao grasped the meaning behind Teacher Kuang’s words.

Looking at the book in front of him, roughly the size of an elementary school language textbook, especially when he heard that they had to memorize the contents of the book within a month, his face turned a dismal green.

“You are the brains commanding the beasts; your brain needs to hold a wealth of knowledge. This book contains all common mid- and low-tier skills of the four elements, as well as traits and attack patterns of creatures typically found in Nightmare Swamp. Take it back and memorize it thoroughly; I’ll be testing you on it later.”Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Awakening the Second Skill

The following week, Chen Xing settled into a fulfilling, routine life.

Attending classes, training with the school team after school, studying material at home, and grinding for daily Skill Point Fragments.

His sister stayed at home for two days before temporarily moving into a residential school, taking Little Wo along. Apparently, Wanhai High School had prepared the materials necessary for Beast Taming Evolution; she took Chi Yu for evolution, and her return time was uncertain.

Over the week, Taotie’s body size grew at an average rate of 9 centimeters a day.

His Energy Level also increased steadily at the pace of one level every three days.

That day, a faint blue light emerged on the surface of Taotie’s body.

“Has it broken through?” Kuang Shiyi, looking at Chen Xing’s beast, had not missed the fleeting glow.

“It seems that with resources provided, your Beast Taming Level has increased much faster than before,” Kuang Shiyi mused, having seen Chen Xing’s midterm grades.

It had only been two weeks since the midterms, and he had improved four Energy Levels. This pace was not slow for beast taming; it seemed that Chen Xing’s beast taming had previously lacked resources. After the resources were provided by the school following the midterms, the Energy Level growth rate had noticeably increased.

It looks like I need to apply for more resources from the higher-ups.

Actually, not all beast tamers absorb resources with the same efficiency.

Even for the same type of Beast Taming, digesting the same kind of generic nutrient reagent, the daily improvement in ability varies.

In academics, this phenomena is termed “Individual Energy Absorption Physiological Disparity.”

Simply put, the better the talent in this aspect, the faster the energy absorption efficiency.

“Let’s see what Skill your beast has awakened.” Kuang Shiyi didn’t hold much expectation, actually.

After all, Awakening Skills are random, and the odds of randomly getting a usable and suitable skill aren’t high.

Of course, it’s not that other skills aren’t usable, but over the years, Great Xia had conducted extensive research on different skill combinations for various series, according to the individual combat styles, species differences, and schools of Beast Taming, and had matched many different schools of skill sets.

Some skills cannot be awakened by the Beast Tamer’s own bloodline talent and must be learned using Skill Orbs.

Chen Xing glanced at the panel showing Taotie’s awakened skills, having already known what skill it had awakened.

He still issued the command, “Cast the newly awakened Skill towards the front.”

Taotie stamped his paw on the ground, the air around churned with mist, and the center of the swimming pool kicked up waves, as if an invisible hand was stirring the pool intensely. The swirling pool surface produced strands of white vapor, turning the whole pool into a churning washing machine, with large water masses being dragged ashore.

Kuang Shiyi was stunned for a moment at the sight of Taotie’s awakened skill, then smiled the next moment and said, “It really is fortuitous.”

“I didn’t expect it to awaken Great Vortex,” Kuang Shiyi remarked. “This skill combines damage with control, and it matches your Beast very well, although with its current internal energy, using this skill once must have depleted its energy.”

Chen Xing looked toward Taotie, and indeed, Taotie was now lying on the ground after using the skill.

In the status bar, an indicator of Magic Power exhaustion had also appeared next to its state.

“Actually, it’s best for the first skill in Beast Taming to be a Primary Skill because Primary Skills consume the least Magic Power, which facilitates skill training for the beast,”

“Intermediate Skills consume too much energy for the current stage of Beast Taming. Usually, using one will exhaust all the Magic Power inside the beast, and then you have to wait for it to naturally recover… That process is too long; you can’t train the skill many times in a day,” explained Kuang Shiyi. He paused, “Unless you can afford to continuously consume Magic Power restoration capsules, the cheapest ones on the market cost 2000 yuan.”

“The cheapest, low-grade Magic Power restoration capsules are aimed at a 20 Energy Level beast, allowing it to recover 70%—100% of its internal Magic Power.”

“So, if you want to train an Intermediate Skill quickly at the beginning, be mentally prepared to spend two thousand yuan per release…” Kuang Shiyi said, shaking his head, too extravagant. “Although the Department of Education does provide us with certain resource subsidies, they wouldn’t allow us to be so extravagant…”

Only those real wealthy families could afford such luxury, completely splurging money!

“Not only in the current stage of combat, but even in the battles around the 70-80 Energy Level, Primary Skills will be the most frequently used,” stated Kuang Shiyi.

Chen Xing pondered. He thought of his sister and several seniors in the school team; it seemed their beasts all possessed highly proficient Primary Skills.

He had been wondering why they didn’t learn Intermediate or even Advanced Skills, since surely Intermediate Skills would be more powerful than Primary Skills.

Kuang Shiyi said, “Actually, it’s quite coincidental; you might not know what skill the school has prepared for you.”

Chen Xing was curious, “Which skill?”

“Whirlpool Stream,” Kuang Shiyi said meaningfully.

“Whirlpool Stream?” Chen Xing’s expression turned odd, for Whirlpool Stream had another name online — Poor Man’s Great Vortex!

Great Vortex is an Intermediate Skill of the Water Element combining damage and control, whereas Whirlpool Stream is merely a Primary Skill with some control abilities.

A high-energy Water Element beast using Great Vortex can create a high-speed swirling large sea vortex that can even swallow small boats.

“You might not be aware, but some skills can actually be perfected; they are like simplified versions of more advanced skills. You start mastering the simplified versions first, and moving on to more complex, advanced skills becomes much easier later on because the techniques and methods of their release have many similarities,” Kuang Shiyi explained.

“Primary Skill Whirlpool Stream, Intermediate Skill Great Vortex, Advanced Skill Burial Abyss — these three skills are all connected,”

Chen Xing was astounded; this was the first time he had heard of such a secret.

Kuang Shiyi stated, “Not everything is written in textbooks.”

“Actually, what the school has prepared for you is a set of Skill Orbs for Whirlpool Stream and Great Vortex, allowing your beast to start training with Whirlpool Stream and once proficient, move on to Great Vortex. Although it’s a bit troublesome, it will enable your Beast to master the skill faster.”

“In fact, your first skill awakening a passive has already delayed your training speed. If the second skill is not quickly accessible to enhance proficiency, it will delay you too much in terms of time.”

Chen Xing pondered, looking at Kuang Shiyi, “Teacher Kuang, may I consider it?”

“Of course, it’s your right to do so. Take your time to think about it,”

Chen Xing nodded.

He had his considerations too; he had been saving Skill Points all this while, and there were still skills on the Skill Tree that hadn’t been activated. He wanted to see the effects of these skills once activated before making a decision.

Furthermore, there was also “Pet Skill Training,” which was specifically for skill training.