The night was deep and silent.
After washing up, Qiao Sang leaned against her bed with her hair still half-wet and checked the Beast Codex, her gaze stopping on a few lines.
【Name: Flame-Listening Hound】 【Level: Intermediate (1255/10000)+】 【Points: 1656】
During this period, Yabao had been fighting with Shui Lu-yana every day, gaining a bonus of 50 points daily. Today, it had defeated two Ghost-type pets, adding a total of 470 points.
It seemed that defeating a higher-level pet while being at a lower level granted around 200 points.
"Wait, wasn't the level value only 1205 yesterday?"
Qiao Sang paused, staring at the level column. The last time the level value had jumped suddenly was when Yabao defeated the Scale-Control Sucker.
That time, it had been a brutal battle and Yabao had gained the Blazing Fire trait, which caused the value to jump by 30.
Although it had faced two higher-level pets this time, the intensity of the battles was far lower than the fight against the Scale-Control Sucker; the best proof was that Yabao had barely been injured.
So why had the level value increased by 50?
Could it be because of the breakthrough in spiritual power?
Qiao Sang pondered for a moment and flipped to the next page.
【Name: Treasure-Hunting Ghost】 【Level: Beginner (329/1000)+】 【Points: 20】
This... Qiao Sang was somewhat bewildered.
While the Treasure-Hunting Ghost's level value hadn't increased as much as Yabao's, it had still increased by 10 points more than usual.
That shouldn't be right. If Yabao's increase was due to the spiritual power breakthrough, then why did the Treasure-Hunting Ghost's increase?
Qiao Sang played back the events of the day in her mind, silently analyzing.
The image froze on the segment from the afternoon where she fed energy pellets to Yabao and the Treasure-Hunting Ghost.
Right, the energy pellets!
Qiao Sang suddenly realized.
Feeding pets energy pellets was a means of improving various aspects of their capabilities. Accordingly, the phenomenon of the level value increasing was now explained.
It seemed that the majority of Yabao's extra value was indeed due to the spiritual power breakthrough.
"I didn't expect that eating one energy pellet would add more value than the total daily bonus from wearing equipment. A Beast Tamer really does need money..."
Qiao Sang couldn't help but sigh. Currently, the equipment she bought for her pets were all E-rank.
If she had the money to buy S-rank equipment for Yabao and the Treasure-Hunting Ghost, wouldn't they just take off given their aptitudes?
As Qiao Sang's consciousness exited the Beast Codex, she suddenly noticed a small puddle of water on the floor.
The puddle was slowly flowing in the direction where Yabao was lying.
Just as it was about to reach Yabao's side, Qiao Sang spoke: "Um, I remember Yabao didn't attack you today, right? Shui Lu-yana."
The puddle stiffened, instantly stopping its flow. Then, as if nothing had happened, it silently flowed toward the door.
Qiao Sang: "..."
"Wait." Qiao Sang called out to it.
For some unknown reason, the water-form Shui Lu-yana actually stopped.
"Little Treasure, milk." Qiao Sang turned to look at the Treasure-Hunting Ghost.
"Xun~"
The Treasure-Hunting Ghost, who was practicing telekinesis on a coin in the room, lowered its short paws which were glowing with blue light and shrugged.
It wasn't hungry yet.
Qiao Sang's eye twitched, and she said, "I didn't tell you to take it out for yourself to drink."
"Xun..."
The Treasure-Hunting Ghost blinked, removed its ring, took a bottle of milk from inside, and floated over to hand it to Qiao Sang.
"I had things to do yesterday and forgot to leave milk for you. Were you hungry?" Qiao Sang got out of bed and placed the milk in front of Shui Lu-yana.
The water-form Shui Lu-yana froze for a few seconds, didn't take the milk, and turned to flow toward the gap in the door.
"Tsk, I didn't expect it to be a tsundere."
Qiao Sang sighed as she watched the water flow out.
She had been leaving milk by the pond every day recently. At first, the milk remained untouched, but in the following days, she noticed marks of the bottle being opened upon returning from school.
Although the amount of milk inside hadn't decreased, the Treasure-Hunting Ghost later tasted it and discovered it had been watered down.
...
The next day.
In the living room.
Qiao Sang and Yabao looked at each other. After a moment, the human and the beast nodded with serious expressions.
Then, another Flame-Listening Hound, looking exactly like Yabao, appeared beside it.
In the next second, Yabao and its clone walked toward the courtyard.
Qiao Sang followed behind, her heart filled with anticipation and excitement. Although Yabao's clone and original body had been able to release different skills simultaneously in the secret room yesterday...
But what if that was a fluke?
After all, some things can only be achieved under extreme stimulation and might not work during normal times.
Just like in her previous life, a female classmate at her school had never passed the running test. To help her pass the PE exam, her father had trained her by releasing a wolfdog directly behind her.
That classmate had instantly become possessed by Liu Xiang, surpassed her own limits, and ran a jaw-droppingly good time. She had bragged on the spot about becoming a female Liu Xiang and participating in the Olympics to bring glory to the country, even posting it on her Moments to announce it to everyone.
As a result, on the day of the school PE exam, without a wolfdog behind her, she still failed. After finishing the run, she immediately set her Moments visibility to "three days."
In the courtyard.
The two Flame-Listening Hounds had serious expressions and struck the same pose.
Then, the Flame-Listening Hound on the left opened its mouth slightly to reveal sharp white teeth, while the one on the right's eyes glowed blue as it glanced to the side, finally locking onto the milk held by the Treasure-Hunting Ghost.
In the next second, the teeth of the left Flame-Listening Hound were instantly enveloped in a ball of scorching flame.
At the same time, the milk held by the Treasure-Hunting Ghost suddenly flew up and began moving continuously around the courtyard.
"It worked!"
Qiao Sang was ecstatic. Although she had a feeling Yabao would succeed, seeing it with her own eyes felt completely different.
"Yabao! You..." Qiao Sang looked at Yabao excitedly, only to find that Yabao was looking back at her with equal excitement.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Wait—" Before Qiao Sang could finish, the excited Yabao suddenly rushed over and tackled her to the ground.
The premonition came true...
"Ya!"
"Ya ya!"
Yabao wagged its tail happily, licking its Beast Tamer's face, completely oblivious to the fact that its owner was being pressed down and couldn't breathe.
On the other side, the Treasure-Hunting Ghost used telekinesis to catch the out-of-control milk just in time. It looked down, saw that no milk was missing, and leisurely began to drink.
In the pond, Shui Lu-yana watched everything happen with half-open eyes.
...
2:12 PM.
Beast Center.
Third-floor Mission Hall.
Just as Qiao Sang finished registering and was about to find a seat, she saw a familiar face.
Buzz cut, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and wheat-colored skin—it was none other than Shi Gaofeng from the second-year school team.
"What a coincidence, have you finished your mission too?" Qiao Sang stepped forward to greet him.
Unexpectedly, Shi Gaofeng was so startled that he took a step back, looking around frantically.
Seeing that there was no one else nearby, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What a coincidence, why are you here? Haven't the missions all been handed in?"
Seeing his strange behavior, Qiao Sang didn't expose him and replied, "I'm here to collect my reward. The mission issuer left the reward at the Beast Center. What about you?"
Shi Gaofeng hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm here to post a mission."
(End of Chapter)