Beast Taming: Starting From Zero
Chapter 1228: Xiang Wanli (two in one)
She pressed the speakerphone.
A deep male voice came from it: “I am Lei Da.”
Qiao Sang fell silent.
Steel Treasure also fell silent for a moment, flapping its wings and turning to leave the room.
This name was so casual, she almost thought a Pet had given it… Qiao Sang suppressed the urge to complain, turned off the speakerphone, put the phone to her ear, and asked, “When can you come over?”
“I can come over anytime,” the deep male voice said, “but before I go, I’d like to change the reward.”
“What do you want?” Qiao Sang asked.
The reward she had just posted for the task was 100,000 alliance coins per day.
Yan Tian Star is sunny all year round, and it rarely rains or thunders. Yu Beast Masters and Pets who can make it rain, snow, or thunder are extremely valuable. It costs a lot to have them change the weather once. However, Qiao Sang had increased the reward by 10,000 to 20,000 alliance coins above the usual market rate, hoping that Yu Beast Masters or Pets would accept the task quickly.
“I actually noticed you before. You’re very famous in the Purification of Curses circle,” the man said. “I want you to help me purify a curse.”
Speaking, he smiled bitterly and said, “I messaged you privately before, but you didn’t reply to me.”
When a Yu Beast Master accepts a task, their success rate, whether they completed it, what tasks they did, and the other party’s evaluation can all be viewed by clicking through the official Yu Beast Center software, if they haven’t set it to private.
So he had been following me before, no wonder he accepted the task so quickly… Qiao Sang asked, “What curse?”
After several days of practice, Ya Bao has successfully mastered both Purification of Curses and attack abilities, and can skillfully perform them separately without error.
“Aging Curse,” the man said in a deep voice. “My Pet has been afflicted with an Aging Curse, and every day I can see it visibly age by several years. If possible, I hope you can pay me the reward first. No matter how many days of thunder you want, I will do my best to cast it for you.”
The Aging Curse is one of the more evil types of Ghost-type curses. The afflicted target visibly ages every day, and once they are too old to age further, they will die directly.
Qiao Sang had seen this curse when she was looking for Purification of Curses tasks, but she felt it was too evil and too difficult, so she didn’t accept it.
She pondered for a moment and said truthfully, “I can’t guarantee complete success in the Purification.”
After all, Ya Bao had never purified a curse of this level of evilness before.
“It’s alright, you’re already the Yu Beast Master with the highest success rate of Purification I’ve ever seen,” the man quickly said. “As long as you help me purify, whether it succeeds or not, I will complete this task for you.”
“Alright, then come over now,” Qiao Sang said, giving the address of the villa.
“I’m coming right away,” the man said, then hung up the phone.
“Ding-dong~”
Half an hour later, the doorbell rang.
Qiao Sang, who had been waiting in the living room, got up to open the door.
A man who looked to be around fifty years old and a yellow bird-like Pet with very sparse feathers and wearing a miniature shrinking bracelet stood at the door.
Thunder Rain Bird, a King-level Pet with dual Electric-type and Flying-type attributes, loves stormy weather. Unfortunately, Yan Tian Star rarely has such weather, so they are often in low spirits. However, they often cast stormy weather themselves to regain their spirits. If you encounter stormy weather, it might not be natural weather, but rather a Thunder Rain Bird nearby… Information about the yellow bird-like Pet flashed through Qiao Sang’s mind.
“Hello, I am Lei Da,” the man introduced himself.
“Lei Lei,” the Thunder Rain Bird also chirped.
Its voice sounded very old.
“Is it the Thunder Rain Bird that was hit by the Aging Curse?” Qiao Sang asked.
Most bird-type Pets don’t show aging on their faces, but some bird-type Pets will have very sparse feathers when they age.
Lei Da gave a heavy “Mm” and said, “It’s been cursed for a week. I’ve found many Yu Beast Masters and Pets specializing in curse removal during this time, but none of them could remove the curse.”
He didn’t look down on the young girl in front of him, who looked only in her teens. The information on the Yu Beast Center software clearly stated that the person in front of him was a B-rank expert.
“Come in first,” Qiao Sang stepped aside and said.
Lei Da and the Thunder Rain Bird walked into the living room.
Before they could sit on the sofa, Ya Bao walked in and chirped:
“Ya Ya?”
Who needs Purification?
Qiao Sang had already mentioned the Purification to Ya Bao after the other party accepted the task.
Ya Bao’s gaze swept over Lei Da and the Thunder Rain Bird, finally resting on Lei Da.
Without a word, it opened its mouth, and golden flames instantly appeared deep in its throat.
Its Yu Beast Master said it was an Aging Curse, and in its opinion, this human looked older.
“Lei Lei!”
The Thunder Rain Bird was startled and quickly stood in front of its Yu Beast Master.
“Ya Bao,” Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched slightly, and she said, “It’s not him who needs the Purification of Curses, but the Thunder Rain Bird.”
Ya Bao didn’t know who the Thunder Rain Bird was, but besides a human, there was only one Pet in front of it.
It focused its gaze on the yellow bird-like Pet blocking the way.
“Lei Lei…”
A King-level Pet has an inherent majesty, and even though Ya Bao was just looking at it calmly, a strange fear rose in the Thunder Rain Bird’s heart, and it couldn’t help but cower, taking a step back.
“Don’t be afraid,” Lei Da comforted, “It’s the Pet that helps with Purification.”
He had learned about the B-rank expert in front of him, seen the task completion evaluations, and knew that the other party’s Pet for Purification of Curses was a Fire-type Pet.
The Thunder Rain Bird was stunned for a moment.
Just as it was momentarily dazed, Ya Bao sprayed out the golden flames, which landed entirely on the Thunder Rain Bird.
“Lei Lei…”
The Thunder Rain Bird instinctively tensed its body at first, then showed a comfortable expression.
Lei Da saw this and showed a nervous expression.
Ya Bao kept its mouth open, maintaining the Sacred Fire.
After about three minutes, the flames disappeared.
The Thunder Rain Bird felt its body lighten. It was stunned for a moment, hopped twice, then looked at its Yu Beast Master, showing an excited expression, and chirped:
“Lei Lei!”
Its voice was clear, completely devoid of its previous oldness.
Lei Da didn’t know what he heard, but he also showed an excited expression and started hugging the Thunder Rain Bird, shouting, “Great! Great!”
Is it completely purified? Qiao Sang looked at Ya Bao with a questioning gaze.
“Ya Ya.”
Ya Bao nodded and chirped.
Although it took a bit longer, it seems Ya Bao can now purify curses of this level of evilness… Qiao Sang looked at Lei Da and said, “The curse has been lifted. Can you help me with the task now?”
Lei Da put down the Thunder Rain Bird and nodded, “Of course!”
Speaking, he showed an embarrassed expression and continued, “There’s one thing I might not have made clear before. The thunder weather cast by the Thunder Rain Bird might only last for half a minute.”
Qiao Sang: “???”
Noticing the B-rank expert’s expression was off, Lei Da quickly added, “However, when the thunder weather is about to end, the Thunder Rain Bird can continue to cast it.”
Qiao Sang’s expression softened, and she smiled, “That’s fine.”
Lei Da breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and asked, “How long do you need the thunder weather to last?”
“About a minute should be enough,” Qiao Sang said.
The main reason was that it takes time to ascend to high altitudes to absorb lightning.
“Are we casting it here?” Lei Da asked.
Rain, Snowfall, Hail, and thunder are all relatively rare weather phenomena on Yan Tian Star. Many Yu Beast Masters, tired of seeing the sun, would call Pets that can change the weather to cast it near their homes and then enjoy it indoors.
“No,” Qiao Sang said, “We need to go to Gao Qiu Mountain.”
Gao Qiu Mountain? Lei Da was stunned for a moment: “Isn’t that the territory of Fragrance Moth?”
He remembered that Fragrance Moth were afraid of lightning.
“It is the territory of Fragrance Moth,” Qiao Sang said.
Why would a dignified B-rank expert use thunder weather to scare Fragrance Moth? Is there some kind of grudge between them? That doesn’t seem right either, with a B-rank expert’s strength, dealing with a group of Fragrance Moth would be a matter of minutes… Lei Da thought for a long time but couldn’t figure it out, so he didn’t ask any more questions and said, “Let’s go, I can go now.”
“Lei Lei,” the Thunder Rain Bird nodded and chirped, indicating that it was also ready.
“No hurry, I’ll call my Pets back first,” Qiao Sang said, then called out, “Qing Bao.”
She could directly summon Xiao Xunbao and Ting Bao back, but Ting Bao was currently in a match, and it wouldn’t be good to summon it back during a battle.
“Qing Qing.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Qing Bao appeared beside her.
Lei Da was startled by the sudden appearance of the Pet.
Although he didn’t recognize what kind of Pet it was, it clearly looked like a super rare one.
“Is your clone with Xiao Xunbao and the others right now?” Qiao Sang asked.
She remembered that Qing Bao was also in the room just now.
“Qing Qing.” Qing Bao nodded.
The wind had already told it the location of Xiao Xunbao and the others.
“Call Xiao Xunbao and Ting Bao back,” Qiao Sang said.
“Qing Qing.” Qing Bao chirped obediently, then focused on controlling its clone.
After about three minutes, Xiao Xunbao appeared out of thin air with Ting Bao.
“Ting Ting?”
Ting Bao chirped impatiently, asking if they could go collect points quickly now.
“Before we go, you first practice holding your breath for one minute,” Qiao Sang said calmly.
“Ting Ting.”
Ting Bao didn’t understand, but Ting Bao complied.
Lei Da’s gaze fell on the score recorder worn by the Dragon-type Pet in front of him, and he instantly understood something, asking:
“You want to defeat a group of Fragrance Moth to accumulate points?”
Qiao Sang hummed in affirmation.
She hadn’t intended to hide this matter anyway.
“But thunder weather can only change the weather; it can’t direct lightning to attack Fragrance Moth,” Lei Da suggested, “How about I have the Thunder Rain Bird hide in the clouds and secretly cast other lightning skills?”
Although the Pet Free Point Battle Contest has many restrictions, the battlefields are spread throughout Hua Chang City, and there is still a lot of room for maneuver if one wants to accumulate points quickly.
Generally speaking, contestants would arrange to fight opponents in locations that are advantageous to themselves.
He also had a mid-level Pet registered for the Pet Free Point Battle Contest, so he naturally knew the ins and outs of it.
He had originally wanted his Pet to win first place in points, but later found that the top few contestants were more or less cheating, and he couldn’t out-cheat others, so he gave up within the first month of participating in the competition.
Good gracious, even more ruthless than me… Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched slightly, and she said, “There’s no need for that.”
“But you went to such lengths to find a Pet to cast thunder weather, you must want to get first place in points, right?” Lei Da couldn’t help but say, “I heard that the points of the top three Pets are ridiculously high now. The third-ranked Swaying Grass is said to be the most talented in its entire species. Its entire species has made deals with many other Grass-type and Bug-type species, specifically sending weaker contestants to let Swaying Grass farm points.”
“If it weren’t for the competition being quite formal, with full records and referees watching, making it hard to fix matches, Swaying Grass would probably accumulate even more points.”
“The second-ranked Fire Monkey, however, relies on its true abilities. It has the Sun Power characteristic, so as long as there’s sun, it’s basically invincible among Pets of the same rank. It can perform with double its usual state no matter where it competes in Hua Chang City.”
“However, a Pet Battle Club behind it recognized its talent and sponsored it with energy recovery fluid, which is why it can battle so many times every day.”
“The first-ranked Earth Land Dragon is not only strong but also has a group of Bug-type minions. Who knows how many points its Bug-type minions have farmed for it? If it weren’t for the rule that Pets that have been defeated cannot be battled again after one’s own Pet wins, the Earth Land Dragon’s points would probably double.”
Qiao Sang listened in silence, then expressed a different opinion, saying:
“I don’t know about other Pets, but the Earth Land Dragon would definitely not use its Bug-type minions to farm points.”
The Earth Land Dragon wasn’t even willing to battle Ting Bao a second time, so how could it repeatedly battle weaker Pets to farm points?
Lei Da was stunned for a moment: “You know it?”
“Ting Bao battled it before,” Qiao Sang said.
Lei Da looked at the Dragon-type Pet he didn’t recognize, and just as he was about to ask who won the battle, Ting Bao took a deep breath and chirped:
“Ting Ting…”
It couldn’t hold on anymore…
“It’s been a minute already,” Qiao Sang had been estimating the time, and said, “Let’s depart now.”
After speaking, she reminded, “When we battle the Fragrance Moth later, remember to hold your breath.”
“Ting Ting.”
Ting Bao’s eyes lit up, and it nodded vigorously.
“Xiao Xunbao~”
Xiao Xunbao still remembered the coordinates it had previously set. Its eyes glowed blue, and it took the figures in the living room, disappearing from the spot.
…
Gao Qiu Mountain.
Qiao Sang stood on the mountaintop, looking out, and didn’t see many Fragrance Moth.
“How are you going to convince so many Fragrance Moth to come out and battle?” Lei Da asked.
Qiao Sang looked at Xiao Xunbao and said, “Take out the Scent of a Thousand Miles.”
Scent of a Thousand Miles, an item bought on Super Dormant Star, can diffuse a strong scent into the surroundings, attracting some Pets that like the fragrance.
When it was first introduced by the salesperson, they said that any Pet that likes fragrance would be irresistibly drawn to it, even if just a little was sprayed, Pets far away, even a thousand miles away, might smell it and specifically rush over.
If it was truly as magical as the salesperson claimed, then spraying Scent of a Thousand Miles should bring all the Fragrance Moth on Gao Qiu Mountain over.
“Xiao Xunbao~”
Xiao Xunbao chirped, took off its ring, pulled out a brown bottle from inside, and instantly teleported to various positions in the air, spraying it.
Before long, the branches and leaves of the mountain range rustled, and groups of Pets suddenly emerged from underground, in the grass, among the trees, and in the air, gathering together.
Besides Fragrance Moth, there were also various other species.
Holy cow, why are there so many Pets… Qiao Sang’s expression changed slightly as she looked at the Pets gathering from all directions. (End of Chapter)