Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

As they prepared to depart, the summer camp members boarded the plane in an orderly fashion.

Whether by coincidence or not, Su Zhi and Shao Ya were seated next to each other again.

Fang Yuan was on the same flight, but since he wasn’t a camp member, he didn’t sit in the cabin reserved for them.

”What’s so interesting, Su Baby?”

After stowing her luggage, the girl dusted off her hands and—Bling!—sat down next to Su Zhi, tilting her head to see.

”Just looking up some information.”

Su Zhi replied, scrolling up and down on his browser.

He was currently searching for the Hundred Rivers Earthquake that Selena had mentioned.

The encyclopedia entry on Hundred Rivers was actually quite detailed. Ever since the Classical Era, it had been a region plagued by disasters.

The Hundred Rivers People were born into disaster, grew up amidst disaster, and fought against disaster. Throughout history, they have created countless epic and moving legends.

Providing aid to Hundred Rivers was practically a graduation ceremony for members of the Flying Shadow Alliance.

However, among the many detailed records, the cause of the Hundred Rivers Earthquake always seemed to be a mystery.

From the Classical Era to the present day, research into the cause of the Hundred Rivers earthquakes has never ceased, yet various theories have been overturned one after another.

The latest theory was the Giant Pet Beast hypothesis, proposed by Luo Sen, the Alliance Leader of the Divine Strategy Alliance. Using newly developed Pet Beast detection methods, he had tagged active energy—a type of energy unique to Pet Beasts—near Blue Star’s Mohorovičić discontinuity. The energy signature had Gold and Earth dual Attributes.

There were no flaws to be found in his deductive process, yet almost no one was convinced. It wasn’t even mentioned in the supplemental sections of textbooks.

This was because, according to Luo Sen’s speculation, this Pet Beast was likely tens of kilometers long, with a height and width also measured in kilometers...

The largest known Pet Beast on Blue Star was the Sea God Whale, and it was only about ten kilometers long.

If Luo Sen’s theory was true, it would be utterly ridiculous...

’I’ve been searching for a while and still have no real leads. Since I have Luo Sen’s contact info now, maybe I should just ask him another day?’

As Su Zhi pondered, his nose twitched. He suddenly caught a whiff of a pleasant fragrance.

The girl was also leaning in to look at his phone, so her waterfall of long, white hair cascaded over his forearm, tickling him slightly.

She was back in her usual attire today: a blue top, a white miniskirt, and her hair tied up in a crisp, neat ponytail. A sliver of her slender, exceptionally fair waist peeked out from under her cropped sweatshirt.

”Where are you looking, Su Baby!”

Shao Ya puffed out her cheeks and gave him a couple of light thumps.

”Nowhere.”

Su Zhi looked at her and gave a mischievous arch of his brows. ”Yesterday was great. Thanks for the birthday present.”

The girl’s face flushed red. With a huff, she whipped her head away and ignored him.

’Cleaning his ears was already the biggest concession she could make, and he still wanted to turn over so she could get the other one!’

’If he’d actually turned over, that would’ve been crossing a line!’

’If it hadn’t been his birthday yesterday, she would’ve beaten him to a pulp!’

Just then, the plane taxied down the runway and took off with a roar.

They both turned to look out the window in unison. The magnificent architecture of the Alliance Headquarters shrank, growing smaller and smaller until it was swallowed by the clouds and vanished from sight.

’And just like that, the summer camp was officially over.’

Su Zhi pulled his gaze away from the window and looked at the girl.

She had also been leaning over to look outside, bringing her closer to him again, with one hand now resting on his leg for support.

Their eyes met for a moment. The girl huffed, gave him a light punch, and sat back properly.

’This time she didn’t turn away in a huff, which meant she’d let it go.’

”A-wooo...”

The pitiful, whimpering sound, however, came from the Beast Taming Space, leaving Su Zhi unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Yu Bao had gotten rather big after evolving and hadn’t yet reached the point where he could freely control his size, so he had to temporarily return to his Space after they boarded.

Being unable to snuggle up to Xiaoyue for the entire trip had made Yu Bao absolutely miserable.

Xiaoyue, on the other hand, was lying contentedly on the girl’s lap, belly-up, enjoying her master’s caresses.

’Time away from that dumb puppy~ Soooo nice~’

[Pet Beast Xiaoyue (Huajing Cat)

Attribute: Wood Element

Race: Intermediate Extraordinary

Real-time Energy Value: 1879]

”Xiaoyue’s Real-time Energy Value is already that high?”

Su Zhi said in surprise, ”In another couple of days, she’ll probably break through to One-star before she even evolves, right?”

”Shouldn’t be a problem~”

The girl stroked the cat in her arms, raised her eyebrows smugly, and looked at Su Zhi. ”And your Beast Taming Space must be close to Tier Three, right?”

”No way, I’m not even close.”

Su Zhi gave a helpless smile. ”I just reached Tier Two not long ago. How could I get to Tier Three so quickly...”

But the girl just wagged her finger.

”No, no. Getting from Tier Two to Tier Three is much faster than getting from Tier One to Tier Two. Reaching Tier Two means you’ve already mastered your own Meditation method. Otherwise, how could there be prodigies who reach Tier Three or even Tier Four before the college entrance exams?

”It does get harder to advance after Tier Four. Besides resources, you also need certain corresponding promotion rituals or requirements... But that’s not a big deal, and it’s not something we need to worry about yet.

”Anyway—Su Baby has what it takes to become a Great Emperor!”

”There you go again...” Su Zhi laughed, speechless.

Then, somehow, both of them unconsciously stretched their hands toward the other’s side, and by pure coincidence, they touched.

It was as if a jolt of electricity passed between them.

The boy subconsciously pulled his hand back, and so did the girl.

But then, in a moment of tacit understanding, neither of them turned to look the other in the eye. They even looked away, each pretending to gaze at the scenery outside.

And so, their hands drifted close together again, gradually growing accustomed to each other’s weight.

·

Off the plane, onto the subway.

Coming out of the subway station and seeing the outline of Wudu New Village, Su Zhi felt a little dazed.

’Just a few minutes ago, I was on the plane, and now, in the blink of an eye, I’m practically home. It feels like someone hit the fast-forward button.’

He zoned out for another moment, and it was as if he’d used Instant Teleportation to appear downstairs from his apartment.

”Does Su Baby want to come home with me?” Seeing the girl’s mischievous gaze, Su Zhi finally snapped out of his daze and stopped in his tracks.

’Whew, that was close. I was almost led astray and taken home by this little minx!’

’Then again... I guess I’m the one who zoned out and followed her...’

Su Zhi then turned his gaze to Yu Bao. He had been following Yu Bao the whole way.

Yu Bao had been going stir-crazy since they got off the plane, and he’d been stuck to Xiaoyue’s side the entire time. Since Xiaoyue couldn’t overpower him at the moment, she could only endure the humiliation.

So, when it was time for Xiaoyue to go home with Shao Ya, Yu Bao was still clinging to her, which in turn meant Su Zhi was logically led astray as well...

’Yep, it’s all Yu Bao’s fault.’

The girl smiled softly, standing at the entrance to her building with her left hand on her suitcase. She waved her right hand gently. ”See you next Wednesday.”

Next Wednesday was the day they had agreed on to help Xiaoyue evolve.

”Okay,” Su Zhi nodded, waving goodbye to the girl.

Her bright, white-haired figure disappeared into the stairwell.

The boy let out a long breath and headed home with his Pet Beast.

”Xiaoshu’s back!”

”Son! I missed you like crazy!”

The moment he walked in the door, Su Zhi was ambushed by his parents, who had been lying in wait and trapped him in a crisscross bear hug. Yu Bao, having already evolved and thus no longer small enough to be carried in Su Zhi’s arms, managed to escape the ordeal.

Then, Su Mao hoisted Yu Bao up and gave him a separate hug.

”Whoa! Yu Bao, you’re pretty heavy now!”

Su Mao only lasted two or three seconds before staggering and putting Yu Bao back down. He was just an ordinary, albeit well-built, man; he didn’t have the freakish physical constitution of a Beast Tamer.

Su Zhi tucked his hands in his pockets. ”Getting weak in your old age, pops?”

”Hey! Laughing at your old man, are you? No dinner for you tonight!”

Su Mao joked, then put on his apron and bustled into the kitchen to start cooking.

’Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I’ve had Dad’s cooking,’ Su Zhi thought.

Su Zhi leaned against the kitchen doorway, peeking in to see what was for dinner, only to find his dad typing on his phone—

[Leave of Absence Notice]

My son’s Pet Beast evolved and accidentally broke my equipment. I just got it fixed, so no update today.

To make it look more convincing, he even deliberately set the post time to 23:58, as if he were a truly dedicated author who rushed to notify his readers the moment his equipment was fixed.

Su Zhi: ”...”

’Looks like when it comes to being a troll, Yu Bao still has a lot to learn from my old man.’

Back in his bedroom.

Life returned to its usual rhythm.

Yu Bao read by himself, absorbing nourishment from knowledge. He even wanted to use the computer and the phone, but unfortunately, his paws were too short to operate them properly.

Su Zhi sat cross-legged on his bed, entering Meditation with the help of the Divine Concealment Core.

Just as Shao Ya had said, his cultivation speed had become incredibly fast after reaching Tier Two. Su Zhi could even feel himself faintly touching the threshold of Tier Three.

What made Su Zhi even more curious, however, was that the bizarre giant eye had not reappeared.

’Of course, it’s not like he was hoping for that thing to show up again... It’s just that the last incident was truly bizarre,’ he thought.

’You could call it a nightmare, but the feeling of my hair standing on end was too distinct to be a dream. The memory was as vivid as if I had truly been facing a Giant Beast.’

BUZZZ... His phone vibrated.

Yu Bao, who was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and reading a book, lifted a hind leg and poked him without looking up.

’Why does it feel like *I’m* the Pet Beast here...’ Su Zhi glanced at his phone, a brow slightly raised. The caller was Peng Kai.

”Senior Peng Kai?”

”Brother Su, long time no see!”

Peng Kai’s powerful voice boomed from the other end of the line. ”You’re damn impressive, kid! I heard all about you from our Alliance Leader. You’ve really got some skills!”

’Right, Peng Kai is from the Cui Feng Alliance...’ Su Zhi remembered. He laughed. ”Not at all, I was just flailing around blindly.”

”Flailing around blindly and then getting fought over by four Alliance Leaders, huh? Looks like Fellow Daoist Su has learned how to humblebrag.”

Peng Kai laughed as well. ”Anyway, let’s get to business! This Friday, the Huai City Alliance committee is organizing a training session for Alliance Members in the Exotic Beast Activity Zone. We’ll be going fifty kilometers deep for two and a half days.

”Normally this wouldn’t have anything to do with you, but now that Yu Bao has evolved, he just meets the entry criteria. You in? If you are, I’ll take you with me.”

”There’s an opportunity like this? Of course I’m in.”

Su Zhi immediately agreed.

The field training trips organized by the school usually only went about fifteen kilometers deep. You basically wouldn’t encounter any powerful Pet Beasts, and correspondingly, it was hard to get any good resources.

The Alliance Member training was much more exciting, going more than three times deeper.

He’d be traveling with experts, and with a powerhouse like Peng Kai looking out for him, he wouldn’t even have to worry about danger.

Yu Bao had just evolved and was in desperate need of real combat experience. Peng Kai’s call couldn’t have come at a better time!

”Alrighty then, remember to come to the Huai City Branch Alliance on Friday morning. No need to be too early, haha. We all like to slack off a bit, unlike you high school workhorses.”

”Haha, sounds good.”

After hanging up, Su Zhi found the Huajing Cat profile picture and was about to start typing, but he paused.

’Xiaoyue isn’t One-star yet, nor has she evolved. She probably can’t go.’

After a moment’s thought, he quickly typed—

[Su Zhi]: Senior Peng Kai just told me about an Alliance Member training session and wants to take me along. It’s in the Huai City Exotic Beast Activity Zone, fifty kilometers deep. We leave this Friday and should be back by Monday evening.

The words ”Shao Ya is typing...” immediately appeared on the screen.

[Shao Ya]: Yup, he already gave me a heads-up. Go on, go!

[Shao Ya]: Do your best, Su Baby~!

[Shao Ya]: /HuajingCatMakesAHeart

”Kiddo, dinner’s ready!” Su Mao’s voice called from outside.

Su Zhi called out, ”Coming!” A smile touched his lips as he and Yu Bao went to the dining room.

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