Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

’If I sign that contract, I’ll have to update four thousand characters a day. I can’t be a slacker like Dad.’

’Buying a keyboard has to go on the agenda. I’ll go enter that competition!’

’But Su Zhi left today, and I don’t know when he’ll be back...’

’But that’s okay! I can fight without Su Zhi’s commands!’

Wu Bao slapped his left forelimb against his right, having made his decision.

”Wuu wuu!”

”Eh?” Su Mao, who was doing housework, heard the sound and tilted his head to look.

Wu Bao was perched outside the window, holding up a tablet with a line of text on it:

[I’m going for a stroll.]

”Go ahead! Just don’t go too far.”

Wu Bao was a big bug, after all. It was impossible for him to stay in the garage all day; it was normal for him to wander around the neighborhood a bit.

Su Mao didn’t think much of it and nodded in agreement.

’Look how impatient the little guy is. He must have been bored stiff these past two days, right?’

·

Entrance to the Fengyun Arena—

Wu Bao clutched a tablet in his left foreleg and carried a backpack on his right, a sports headband stretched over his horns. He looked full of pep.

The young woman at the reception desk trembled as she looked at the Black Fighting Emperor, who was almost as tall as she was.

She was just an ordinary person.

Facing such a large Pet Beast that didn’t even have a Beast Tamer with it made her panic. This was a Fighting Element Pet Beast, no less, and she’d heard that the Fighting Element types were all Fierce and Warlike...

If Wu Bao hadn’t proactively taken out his quarantine and rearing permits, she would have already called the Purity Abyss Alliance police.

”Wuu wuu!”

Wu Bao excitedly tapped his tablet:

[٩(๑•̀ω•́๑)۶ I’m here for the competition!]

He even drew the little emoticon himself.

The receptionist scratched her head, completely nonplussed.

’What is this situation? A Pet Beast coming to compete by itself, without a Beast Tamer??’

’They never covered this in training...’

The receptionist probed, ”Um, where’s your Beast Tamer? Maybe you could have him come over?”

Wu Bao wrote for her to see: [He went out of town for a competition.]

The receptionist was flustered. ”But without a Beast Tamer accompanying you...”

Wu Bao: (｡í_ì｡)

The receptionist: ”...”

The receptionist didn’t know how to refuse. It wasn’t because Wu Bao was acting cute, but mainly because she was afraid of what would happen if she made him angry and he decided to give her a horn to the gut...

At this impasse, Yan Dingyi came up from inside. Seeing the strange tableau, he asked curiously, ”What’s going on here?”

”Wuu!”

”Director Yan! It’s like this...”

”...”

After learning the situation, Yan Dingyi looked down and was silent for a moment.

”Should I turn him away?” the receptionist asked, blinking.

”No. Let this Black Fighting Emperor in. Arrange a match for him.”

”...?”

Yan Dingyi, however, looked at Wu Bao, the corners of his mouth lifting into a slight smile.

·

Fengyun Arena, Main Stage—

The Fengyun Arena was even more bustling than usual today, the surrounding spectator seats uncharacteristically packed with people. A red banner hung beneath the main stage suspended high in the center—

[Warmly Celebrating the Smooth Running of the 165th Huai City Masters Tournament (Autumn)]

In the contestant waiting area, a few middle-aged men in studded leather jackets were gathered around a majestic-looking Skeleton Lion, furiously snapping photos—

[Pet Beast: Bone Shards (Skeleton Lion)

Attribute: Ghost Element

Race: High Level Extraordinary

Real-time Energy Value: 1905]

”I gotta say, Old Yang’s Skeleton Lion is just so damn cool!”

”Cool? It’s more than that! Old Yang’s Skeleton Lion is on a forty-win streak, it’s ridiculously strong! It’s almost catching up to the record Su Zhi set...”

”Looks like Old Yang’s got the championship in the bag for this Masters Tournament!”

The middle-aged men were full of praise.

The bald man in a matching studded leather jacket standing beside the Skeleton Lion waved his hand humbly. ”Not at all, not at all. Huai City is full of hidden masters; I’m sure there are many experts.”

Despite his words, the man’s expression was smug, as if he had already won the championship.

Yang Li was a Beast Taming enthusiast. He had dreamed of becoming a Beast Tamer since he was a child, but unfortunately, he never awakened a Beast Taming Space and was fated to walk a different path.

Even so, he wasn’t discouraged and continued to pursue his hobby outside of work.

Although he didn’t have a Beast Taming Space to provide various bonuses, through years of unremitting effort, he had still managed to raise his Skeleton Lion to a level approaching One-star.

This level couldn’t compare to a proper Beast Tamer, but in the amateur circuit, he was undoubtedly among the top tier.

Due to his job, he usually lived in the provincial capital and was one of the perennial winners at the Fengyun Arena. Now that the Huai City Masters Tournament had started, he had returned to participate.

Huai City was just an ordinary prefecture-level city, so it definitely wouldn’t be as cutthroat as the provincial capital, and the competition wouldn’t be as intense.

Yang Li was determined to win the championship of this tournament!

”By the way, Old Yang, have the matchups been decided? Who’s your opponent?”

Yang Li glanced at his phone and raised an eyebrow. ”Someone named... Wu Bao?”

”What a weird name. It doesn’t sound like a person’s name, more like a Pet Beast’s.”

”Never heard of him. Probably from out of town.”

”Hah, just cannon fodder then. Old Yang’s got this!”

”Old Yang, remember to go easy on the guy. Don’t make the loss too ugly...”

The group of middle-aged men chatted excitedly, then suddenly fell silent in unison.

A Black Fighting Emperor with a sports headband on its horns and a backpack slung over one shoulder was walking slowly out of the contestant tunnel. It stopped across from them.

”Wuu.”

Wu Bao skillfully unzipped its backpack, took out a sports drink, and took a sip before waving at Yang Li and his Skeleton Lion.

’So you’re my opponents? Looking forward to our match.’

The Skeleton Lion: ”...?”

Yang Li: ”???”

He glanced around. The match was only five minutes away, but he didn’t see his opponent’s Beast Tamer.

Just then, the host walked onto the stage.

”Hello everyone, and welcome! The first round of Group A in the Huai City Masters Tournament is about to begin! On the left side of the stage is Bone Shards, a Skeleton Lion Pet Beast, with its Beast Tamer, Yang Li! On the right side of the stage is Wu Bao, a Black Fighting Emperor Pet Beast, with its Beast Tamer... uh?”

”Oh, okay, I see... For this match, Wu Bao is not accompanied by a Beast Tamer!”

The crowd in the stands went wild, and everyone whipped out their phones to take pictures.

Yang Li’s mouth twitched as he walked to the command position.

’Someone must have pulled this stunt just to get attention. How can a Pet Beast fight without its Beast Tamer on the field? They’re not like wild Exotic Beasts that fight all day; they don’t have any real combat experience on their own...’

’If the other side wants to put on a show, let them. It won’t stop me from taking the championship, anyway.’

”The match begins!”

”Bone Shards, Ghost Dash! Ghost Claw!” Yang Li quickly issued the command.

At Yang Li’s command, the Skeleton Lion charged toward Wu Bao and brought its claws down hard.

Seeing Wu Bao’s carapace suddenly turn perfectly smooth and shiny, Yang Li’s expression changed, and he broke out in a cold sweat. ”Something’s wrong, get back!”

BANG!

It was too late. Bone Shards’ claws had already slammed into Wu Bao’s shell, failing to break through.

Instead, Bone Shards itself began to tremble violently like an oversized vibrator, flying backward with a shriek, unable to get up again.

Yang Li was petrified.

Wu Bao nonchalantly walked over to Bone Shards, glanced at Yang Li as if asking for his opinion, then gently lifted a leg and pushed Bone Shards off the stage.

”The Skeleton Lion... is off the stage! Wu Bao is the winner!”

”Holy shit, that was badass!”

”This Black Fighting Emperor is so damn crafty! It reminds me of that pair, Su Zhi and Yu Bao.”

”Well, it’s still a ways off from Yu Bao...”

”Go, Wu Bao, go! Mama—”

”No male mama fans allowed!!”

Amidst a chorus of cheers, Wu Bao defeated several opponents in a row and quickly advanced.

—Unlike the city league, the Fengyun Arena’s Masters Tournament was mostly composed of amateurs. The matches weren’t very draining, so the schedule was often tight, with the top four decided in the morning and the semifinals and finals held in the afternoon.

”Congratulations to our final four! They are: Xu Kailei, Xi Xingguang, Ding Daozhi... and Wu Bao!”

”Wuu~!”

Hearing its name, Wu Bao gave a smug little wave to the crowd.

Yang Li, who had been brutally knocked out in the first round, sat among the other middle-aged men, looking dejected and watching Wu Bao with a stunned expression.

He had thought that, as someone who worked in the provincial capital, a big city person, coming back to compete in a small town tournament would be a curb-stomp battle in his favor.

He never expected to be on the receiving end of that curb-stomp, and he hadn’t even seen his opponent’s Beast Tamer.

’Are all the Pet Beasts in Huai City like this??’

·

·