Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Qiao Sang didn’t immediately head to the Beast Center to collect her reward. Instead, she went straight home.

As soon as she returned to her familiar room, she collapsed into bed. After staying up all night, her eyelids could no longer hold up.

Barely a minute into her nap, Qiao Sang felt like she had forgotten something. After a moment of struggle, she got up and plugged in her phone to charge.

Now she could finally sleep peacefully...

3:00 PM.

When Qiao Sang woke up, there was no trace of drowsiness. She felt completely refreshed, and even the air seemed much cleaner.

There wasn’t a single hint of wanting to stay in bed.

She got up and freshened up.

After washing up, Qiao Sang suddenly noticed something strange: Little Treasure that usually stayed by her side for 23 out of 24 hours a day wasn’t around.

How odd…

Qiao Sang closed her eyes and focused.

Now that her Beast Codex had two pages and her brain capacity was over 10%, as long as Little Treasure was inside the house, she could sense his presence.

The page in the Beast Codex related to Little Treasure glowed blue. Her mind whirred, and various fragmented images flashed through her head.

The next moment, the fragments pieced together into a complete picture.

A familiar background. A grayish-yellow figure.

He’s in the courtyard…

Qiao Sang opened her eyes and went to the courtyard, where she saw Little Treasure staring intently at something on the ground.

As she approached, she saw nine ants lined up neatly on the ground.

Qiao Sang was taken aback. Didn’t Little Treasure usually prefer shiny, interesting things? Had his tastes changed?

“You…” Qiao Sang turned her head to ask, but before she could finish, she noticed Little Treasure’s eyes had turned purple, staring unblinkingly at the ants.

Qiao Sang paused for a moment. Was he practicing hypnosis?

Unlike Yabao, Little Treasure rarely trained his skills without supervision. At first, training was novel for him, but when he had to practice the same skill for an extended period, he quickly lost interest, just like a student who doesn’t enjoy studying, daydreaming or dozing off when the teacher wasn’t watching.

Qiao Sang found this surprising. In the past, Little Treasure only trained under her supervision, but now he was practicing on his own, without her even noticing.

Had something happened that she wasn’t aware of?

She thought back to the events of the day. Aside from the dream Little Treasure had while under hypnosis, he had been with her the entire time.

It must be something from the dream, she concluded.

“Little Treasure, what did you dream about today while you were hypnotized?” Qiao Sang poked the focused little treasure-seeking ghost.

She hadn’t asked before because she wasn’t that interested in the dream.

Honestly, she was a rational person. She could already guess some of what had happened between the old lady and the ghost lamp without needing to overthink it.

After finding the ghost lamp, she had a vague idea of what would happen. But aside from a moment of reflection, she hadn’t given it much thought.

However, the fact that Little Treasure had changed because of it made her curious about the dream.

“Xun!”

Little Treasure was so focused on practicing hypnosis that Qiao Sang’s sudden poke startled him.

The purple glow in his eyes faded. When he turned around and saw his Beast Master, he happily floated up to her head, habitually tugging at two locks of her hair.

“Xun!”

Qiao Sang picked him up and asked, “You still haven’t told me what you dreamed about after being hypnotized today.”

Little Treasure paused, then floated into the air and animatedly described the dream’s scenes.

After he finished, Qiao Sang hesitated.

“So, you’re practicing so diligently now because you want to evolve quickly and give me feedback?”

“Xun!”

Little Treasure nodded seriously.

Qiao Sang fell silent. To say she wasn’t touched would be a lie. Who would’ve thought that such a small ghost could have such deep thoughts?

She reached out and patted the little treasure-seeking ghost on the head, pleased.

“Work hard then. Evolve seven or eight times, and that should be enough.”

Little Treasure froze for a moment. Seven or eight times…

“Xun!”

He clenched his paw into a fist and raised it to the side of his face, determined.

The next second, Little Treasure suddenly remembered something and teleported away. When he reappeared, he was holding a book.

“Xun Xun.”

Little Treasure handed the book to Qiao Sang.

Qiao Sang was stunned for a moment. When she looked down, she was dumbfounded.

The Overbearing Champion Fell in Love with Me.

This was the book Jin Feifan had lent her when they were boarding at school.

It wasn’t that she had asked for it, Jin Feifan had brought it to her out of the blue in an effort to get on her good side.

Back then, seeing how nervous Jin Feifan looked, she hadn’t refused.

She had read two pages, found it too cliché, and set it aside.

She had completely forgotten about the book, but now Little Treasure had found it and was solemnly handing it to her…

Qiao Sang stared at the book for two seconds, then looked up and asked, “Is this for me to read?”

“Xun!”

The little treasure-seeking ghost nodded seriously.

“Why?” Qiao Sang couldn’t help but ask.

“Xun.”

“Xun Xun.”

Little Treasure explained.

He had learned in the dream that for a Beast Master to receive feedback, it wasn’t enough for the pet to evolve, she also had to read more books to develop her brain.

Qiao Sang blinked.

“So, you’re giving me this book to help me develop my brain?”

“Xun.”

Little Treasure nodded.

Qiao Sang: ...

Maybe it was time to teach Little Treasure to read...

“By the way.”

Qiao Sang set the book aside and changed the topic, “what did the old lady say at the end?”

If there was anything that intrigued her, it was the old lady’s final words, because it was clear those words had changed the ghost lamp’s mind.

“Xun Xun.”

“Xun Xun.”

Little Treasure hesitated, then repeated:

“Don’t save me, Spirit. This is my final wish.”

Qiao Sang fell silent. A wish, huh…

---

Little Treasure wanted to stay in the courtyard to continue practicing his skill releases.

Although his motivation was different from Yabao’s self-driven training, their goals were the same.

Qiao Sang clasped her hands together and summoned Yabao.

“Yap!”

As soon Yabao appeared and saw the familiar surroundings, he became instantly excited.

He didn’t know why he had suddenly appeared at home, but home was great! Plenty of space to move around!

Seeing Yabao’s energetic demeanor, Qiao Sang was reminded of how impossible it had been to wake him up at dawn.

She suddenly felt the urge to knock on his head…

But she held back. Instead, Qiao Sang had Little Treasure take out the two jars of energy pills.

She had high hopes for these energy pills; otherwise, she wouldn’t have spent so much money on them.

Each pet had its own preferences.

The energy pills not only catered to the pets’ tastes, but they also refined and crystallized energy, using different formulas to help the pets improve in specific areas, building a perfect foundation.

In the past, she had only fed Yabao and Little Treasure regular milk and easy-to-make energy meals.

This was the first time they’d be trying properly formulated energy pills.

“Give them a try.” Qiao Sang took one energy pill from each jar and placed them in front of Yabao and Little Treasure.

“Yap!”

Yabao didn’t even take a close look. Since his Beast Master had offered it, he immediately lowered his head and swallowed the pill in one bite.

As soon as the energy pill entered his mouth, Yabao’s body trembled, and his eyes lit up instantly.

“Yap Yap!”

He wagged his tail at Qiao Sang excitedly.

He wanted more!

Little Treasure, on the other hand, was much more cautious. He looked at the pitch-black energy pill, then glanced at Yabao’s reaction.

“Xun.” Little Treasure sighed.

Big Brother Yabao wasn’t picky at all; he ate everything. But he wasn’t the same. He only wanted milk right now…

Looking up at his Beast Master’s expectant gaze, Little Treasure hesitated, sniffed the pill, and, after a moment of doubt, stuck out his tongue for a lick.

“Xun!”