Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

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"Register?"

Shi Gaofeng was momentarily stunned. He turned to Xu Yajie, who was nearby training a Power Duck, and asked, "What did you say she went to register for?"

Xu Yajie thought for a moment before replying, "I'm not sure, but it probably wasn't for registering a pet beast."

Shi Gaofeng couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

"No kidding. Thanks for the obvious."

Qiao Sang already had two pet beasts. Registering another one would make it her third, anyone could figure that was unlikely.

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Window No. 10

Qiao Sang handed over her number slip and information card, saying, "Hello, I’d like to register a pet beast."

The center had closed a minute ago, meaning staff were technically allowed to refuse service and head home.

However, the female clerk at Window No. 10 cheerfully accepted Qiao Sang's documents.

Typically, such courteous and conscientious employees who don’t mind staying a bit past working hours are newcomers to the workplace, still filled with excitement and passion for their jobs.

"Of course." The clerk responded with a smile, taking the information card and placing it on the scanner.

After a full day of smiling, her expression had grown slightly stiff. But soon, that professional smile she’d built as muscle memory started to falter.

She stared at the information displayed on her screen, momentarily dumbfounded.

Fifteen years old? Two pet beasts already?

What did she just say? She’s here to register another one?

Having registered pet beasts twice before, Qiao Sang knew the registration process.

Without waiting for the clerk to say anything, she formed a hand seal and summoned her pet, Lubao, ready for inspection.

A green star array illuminated outside the window, nearly blinding the clerk.

A green star array isn’t unusual, let alone green, even the red star arrays representing B-rank Beast Tamers are occasionally spotted here.

But a Beast Tamer with a green star array who was only fifteen? Now that was shocking.

Fifteen years old, and already has a green array?

It took the clerk a while to find her voice.

"Could you please place your pet in front of the window for scanning?"

Part of this job involves being able to recognize every pet in the local Yuhua region. If an unfamiliar or non-local pet appears, it can be verified with a scanner.

At a glance, the clerk knew this pet wasn’t native to the Yuhua region.

If there were such an adorable pet in Yuhua, word would have spread long ago.

There’s no way someone who memorized the Yuhua Region’s Pet Beasts Encyclopedia wouldn’t recognize it.

Qiao Sang placed Lubao in front of the window.

Lubao glanced at the person before her, then sat halfway down and lazily raised her right forepaw to lick it.

The clerk aimed the scanner at the pale-blue pet and scanned her.

A five-inch virtual screen soon appeared above the scanner, followed by a mechanical voice:

"[Water Luriana, a rare, endangered water-type pet beast from the Ancient Guwu region. The gem on its forehead emits a magical healing light.]"

The clerk was dumbfounded, the exhaustion from a long workday instantly replaced by a surge of adrenaline.

Endangered? One of the last few left in the world?

The clerk took a deep breath, trying to contain her excitement as she completed the registration.

"All set. Please take your information card." She handed the card back with both hands.

"Thank you." Qiao Sang replied, reaching for the card.

But as she pulled, it didn’t budge.

She paused, pulling again, but it still wouldn’t come free.

"What’s the matter?" Qiao Sang asked, looking up in confusion.

"My apologies." The clerk quickly let go, offering an apologetic smile.

"No problem." Qiao Sang pocketed her information card.

Just as she turned to leave, the clerk, after hesitating for some time, finally couldn’t hold back.

"I’ve never seen an endangered pet beast before. May I take a picture?"

"Of course." Qiao Sang agreed readily.

She was used to people asking for photos of her pet beasts. Yabao used to attract crowds all the time.

Besides, this clerk had gone out of her way to help her after hours. A good first impression deserved to be returned, refusing a simple photo wouldn’t make sense.

The clerk excitedly picked up her phone, opened the camera, and snapped a photo of Lubao licking her paw.

Then, remembering something, she subtly raised her phone to include Qiao Sang in the frame.

A fifteen-year-old Beast Tamer with a green star array was as rare as an endangered pet beast. She’d surely become a big name someday!

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Tianjing Garden, Apt. 1705

Sitting at her desk, Qiao Sang opened her computer and began browsing forums on how to train the Rain Prayer skill.

Though she wasn’t in a hurry, Lubao had already asked her three times within the first hour of being home.

Since it was the weekend and she wasn’t pressed with homework, she opened her computer.

There were many posts on training the Rain Prayer skill.

Since Rain Prayer has broad applications, anyone who masters it will have no shortage of opportunities.

She casually clicked on a high-traffic thread and skimmed it.

"Anyone with common sense knows that a high-level skill like Rain Prayer requires professional training. Discussing it online will only lead to the names of training centers."

"You have no idea! I’m broke! I’m broke! Do I need to spell it out?"

The words stung a bit, so Qiao Sang quickly switched to a more popular post with various replies.

"Some genius suggested taking a pet beast to a place with constant rain to experience it. I tried, and after over three months, my beast didn’t learn Rain Prayer, but I got arthritis."

"Don’t remind me. Another genius said to take it somewhere with constant drought to push it to the limit. I went, stayed for half a month, and now my beast went from whimpering to growling, it almost bit me."

She chuckled at the stories and kept scrolling.

"To communicate with the heavens, one must be devout, preferably with dance skills. Rain Prayer guaranteed!"

"Someone’s having fun here, huh?"

"To make rain, there must be clouds. We should start by figuring out how to get the pet beast to form clouds."

"I know this! Clouds are formed by condensed mist, which becomes darker as it thickens."

"Everyone knows this. But how do you get a pet beast to condense mist?"

As she read more about condensation, Qiao Sang’s mind started racing.

She wasn’t sure about other pet beasts, but Lubao could already create water mist.

The only difference between mist and cloud droplets is the degree of concentration, training could definitely bridge that gap!

These online geniuses were full of ideas!

Not even five minutes in, and she had found such a useful lead!

Qiao Sang was about to call out to Lubao but remembered she was currently practicing her Healing Light beside Little Treasure.

Better not disturb her for now.

Lubao only had about ten days left before evolving with the support of point boosts. The priority now was to get her Healing Light skill to reach mastery during this period.

After some thought, she went to call Yabao into her room.

"Yal!"

Yabao wagged his tail, looking up at Qiao Sang with eager, watery eyes.

After a moment of silence, Qiao Sang finally spoke:

"I have something to tell you. It’s about Lubao."

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