Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

All the materials were laid out in a row.

Little Treasure put the ring back on his head, then pressed his sharp claws together, drawing energy from the materials and channeling it into the ring.

Purple and red specks of light could be seen transferring from the materials to the ring, which was glowing faintly yellow.

Looks like I'll need to buy another batch... Qiao Sang looked at the few wilted materials with some pain.

She used to think buying pet beasts was expensive, but later realized that compared to the money spent on raising them, that was hardly worth mentioning.

At the end of the day, it still comes down to a lack of money.

Even the seven-figure balance in her bank account no longer gave her a sense of security.

Thinking of this, Qiao Sang returned to her room and picked up her phone, dialing her mother’s number.

"Hello, Mom? It's been two days. When are you coming over?" As soon as the call connected, Qiao Sang eagerly asked.

"Just got back to Hanggang?" Qiao Sang was startled.

"Where were you these past two days?"

"...I'll explain later, the signal is bad up here. We'll talk when I get there."

"Coo~"

Beep... beep... beep...

Qiao Sang stared at the phone, a bit speechless.

What kind of world are we living in where even the Fat Dove flies high and fast, but still has poor signal? Who would believe that?

An hour later.

In the living room.

Ye Xiangting placed a few bags on the coffee table.

"I bought some red crispy fruits, toru fruits, and memory fruits. They’re all favorites of Yabao and Little Treasure. Call them over to eat."

Qiao Sang glanced at the fruits on the table and asked, "Mom, what about mine?"

Ye Xiangting was taken aback, then coughed lightly. "You're a grown-up now, can't you buy your own snacks?"

Well, guess she didn’t buy me anything...

Qiao Sang went out to the yard and called to her two pet beasts, "Yabao, Little Treasure, come quickly, there's something good to eat."

"Xun!"

Little Treasure chirped happily and instantly disappeared from the yard.

After absorbing the materials and practicing skill release for half the day, he was starving.

Yabao, meanwhile, retracted his clone, walked over to his beastmaster, and looked up with wide eyes.

"Yap?"

Qiao Sang blinked and replied, "I didn't make the food."

"Yap!"

Yabao's eyes brightened, and he excitedly ran toward the living room.

Qiao Sang stood there, a bit confused.

Was it her imagination, or did Yabao seem especially happy to hear she wasn’t the one who made the food?

When Qiao Sang returned to the living room, she saw her mother enthusiastically taking pictures of Yabao, who was eating a red awl fruit.

Little Treasure floated nearby, munching on a Toru fruit while curiously looking at the pictures on the phone.

Yabao, instead of eating the fruit, held it in his mouth, posing for the camera.

"Yes, just like that, so cool!" Her mother praised the photo in admiration.

"Let’s do another shot. Lift your head slightly." Her mother crouched down to adjust the angle for the next photo.

Yabao raised his head about 15 degrees, holding the fruit firmly in his mouth.

"So handsome, absolutely perfect!" Her mother said with satisfaction.

After three minutes of continuous photos, her mother finally put the phone down. Then, turning her head, she noticed Little Treasure nearby.

"Do you want a picture too? I'll take a few for you." She smiled.

"Xun~"

Without hesitation, Little Treasure struck a pose.

Qiao Sang: ...

Five minutes later.

Her mother sat on the sofa, watching Yabao and Little Treasure happily munching on their fruits, and sighed, "You’ve raised them so well. Yabao, of course, is amazing, but look at Little Treasure. When he first came to our house, he wasn't nearly this lively."

"He’s grown up now." Qiao Sang suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, Mom, you never told me where you went these past two days."

Her mother cleared her throat.

"Since you weren't home anyway, I went to Fuzhou to watch a beastmaster competition."

Qiao Sang was surprised.

"Fuzhou? That’s on the border of Yuhua District. You went all that way to watch a competition?"

"Well, after losing the autographed poster of Armor-chad Sharpclaw Bear, I heard that Wang Dian'ao would be at this event. I figured I'd try my luck and see if I could get another autograph of Armor-clad Sharpclaw Bear." Her mother said with a sigh.

This conversation wasn’t going anywhere good... Qiao Sang quickly shifted topics.

"So, have you thought more about opening the breeding shop?"

"There’s nothing much to consider, really, except that the shop won’t be up and running quickly. By the time it’s ready, will anyone still be buying Fire Fang dogs?" Her mother asked, concerned.

"Don’t worry about that." Qiao Sang reassured.

"The method for evolving Fire fang dogs into Flame hounds hasn’t been discovered yet. It’ll likely take the research institute a few more months to figure it out. By then, there’ll be plenty of demand."

"Just go ahead and prepare for the store as planned. We’ll focus on selling beast eggs. Even if the research takes longer, we’ll still have measures in place to handle things."

"Becoming a beastmaster has made you so sharp." Ye Xiangting said proudly.

"Alright, I’ll start working on it. You focus on your studies and leave the rest to me."

"I still have some money. I'll transfer it to you to help set up the shop." Qiao Sang said, picking up her phone.

But her mother quickly snatched it away and frowned.

"Your mother still has some savings. I don’t need your money. You’ve just become a beastmaster and have two pets to care for. Keep your money for yourself."

Qiao Sang blinked, then smiled and said, "Mom, I knew you had money!"

Ye Xiangting: ...

---

That night.

In the quiet of night.

After making sure Qiao Sang and Yabao were both asleep, Little Treasure quietly removed the ring from his head and put a virtual helmet inside it.

He then floated out of the room, into the living room, and put on the helmet, just about to start it up, when he noticed a puddle of water on the floor.

Above the puddle, half a head poked out, with a pair of eerie eyes staring right at him.

Little Treasure and the water creature, Luriana, stared at each other.

After three seconds of silence, Little Treasure took out a bottle of milk from the ring and handed it to Water Luriana.

"Xun... Xun..."

Keep it a secret...

Water Luriana hesitated, then reached out a paw to accept the milk, nodding solemnly.

"Lu!"

---

The next morning.

When Qiao Sang woke up, she found Little Treasure asleep on her bed.

Three days in a row now. Is this normal for a ghost-type pet?

Not thinking too much of it, she quickly freshened up, had some bread and milk, and headed off to school.

Just as she arrived at the school gate, she saw Shi Gaofeng pulling and arguing with a pale-looking girl.

"I told you to stop following me!" Shi Gaofeng shouted.

"I won’t, not unless you change your mind!" The girl replied stubbornly.

"I'm not going to change!" Shi Gaofeng yelled.

"If you don't change, I won't leave!" The girl persisted.

High school drama? Qiao Sang tried to avoid them and sneak into the school unnoticed.

But Shi Gaofeng spotted her and waved excitedly, "Qiao Sang! Help me out here!"

How does he have such sharp eyes... Qiao Sang reluctantly walked over and asked, "What's going on?"

Shi Gaofeng complained, "You tell me, isn't it unfair? Just because Phantom Water Baby wasn’t performing well, Zheng Baolong called my mom yesterday. Now I have no idea what I’m walking into today, and this girl still has the nerve to ask me to change my rating."

"When I got a one-star rating, I never went back to beg for more."

Qiao Sang: ...

So it's not high school drama, after all...