Chapter 208: Meditation (2-in-1)

It was already hard enough for Qiao Sang to get a little closer to Water Luyana, only to receive the devastating news that it was old and didn’t have long to live. Qiao Sang’s heart was incredibly complex at this moment.

No wonder Water Luyana seemed to have seen through human nature, was highly guarded, and unwilling to be close to humans.

In the last year of its life, it was still chased by people from the Ancient Mist region to the Yuhua region. Such a desolate old age, it would be unbelievable if it didn’t turn dark.

With this realization, Qiao Sang couldn’t help but squat down and stroke Water Luyana’s head, saying with a heavy heart, “You’ve had it tough.”

Water Luyana’s first reaction was to turn its head away, but seeing the human’s eyes, it stopped.

“Lulu…” Feeling the touch on its head, Water Luyana’s ears twitched involuntarily, and it awkwardly called out.

When it thought about how it would have to train hard every day like Yan Ling Dog and Treasure Hunting Ghost, it did feel quite tough.

But training hadn’t even started yet, and the human in front of it already felt it was tough and stroked its head; it felt strange…

“You can follow me when I go out from now on,” Qiao Sang said, looking at Water Luyana.

“Lulu?” Water Luyana showed a puzzled look.

Although it was young, it knew that any Pet without a contract found in human-inhabited areas would be captured.

“Although that person yesterday might be fired, there are many ways to get in. If I go out, it’s not safe for you to stay here alone,” Qiao Sang didn’t understand Water Luyana’s words and thought it was asking why they should go together.

“Lulu…”

Water Luyana nodded, feeling that what the human in front of it said made a lot of sense.

Seeing Water Luyana nod, Qiao Sang assumed it agreed, and she contentedly stroked its head, saying, “After we go out, you’ll stay in my bag. Our school has a fountain, so you can stay there first when we get to school. I’ll bring you back after training ends in the afternoon and it’s time to go home.”

“Lulu.”

Water Luyana nodded, considering this method feasible.

It felt that the human in front of it was quite thoughtful; this way, it would indeed be difficult for outsiders to discover it.

Although Qiao Sang and Water Luyana were talking past each other the whole time, they fortunately reached an agreement on daily outings in the end.

…

Half an hour later.

“Ya…”

“Lulu…”

In the living room, Yabao and Water Luyana stared intently at each other.

Little Treasure Hunting Ghost drank milk on the side, looking at Yabao for a moment and then at Water Luyana.

Qiao Sang had a headache. She didn’t know if Yabao and Water Luyana were naturally incompatible or if Water-type Pets and Fire-type Pets had conflicting attributes. Even though they didn’t fight immediately upon seeing each other like they did at first, they still looked ready to fight at any moment.

“Yabao, come here, I have something to tell you,” Qiao Sang said.

“Ya.” Yabao’s bared teeth instantly closed, and it obediently walked over.

Qiao Sang led Yabao into the room, closed the door, and said solemnly, “You should try to be nicer to Water Luyana from now on.”

“Yaya?”

Yabao pouted, not understanding why. That guy used to splash it with water every night while it was asleep.

“I didn’t want to say this originally,” Qiao Sang sighed, her tone heavy, “Water Luyana doesn’t have much time left.”

“Ya…”

Yabao’s eyes instantly widened, its expression extremely shocked.

Qiao Sang continued, “The lifespan of Water Luyana’s species is seven years, and it happens to be seven years old this year.”

“Ya…”

Yabao’s mood became low, its mouth drooped, and its expression was guilty. So it had been bullying an elderly Pet all this time…

“It’s okay,” Qiao Sang stroked Yabao’s head to comfort it, “Although it’s old, it’s still strong. If it hadn’t said anything, we definitely wouldn’t have known its age.”

“Ya…”

Yabao was very remorseful. While that was true, the thought that Water Luyana didn’t have many days left and that it had been bullying it all this time made it feel terrible.

Qiao Sang looked at Yabao seriously and said, “Don’t worry, I will find a way to make Water Luyana evolve, and then it will be fine.”

“Yaya?”

Yabao blinked its wet eyes, looking at its Yu Beast Master.

Really?

“Really,” Qiao Sang nodded solemnly.

It was indeed very difficult for Water Luyana to evolve. To fall in love with a Pet and then experience heartbreak in its final days was like an elderly person finally finding a twilight romance only to become widowed—it was too damn difficult.

But she had a Gold Finger. As long as she worked hard to awaken the third page of her yu beast codex as quickly as possible, with the power of the Gold Finger, Water Luyana could evolve without having to suffer heartbreak.

Although brain region development was not an overnight matter, Qiao Sang felt that developing her brain region in a short time was more reliable than having Water Luyana go through a breakup in its old age.

Outside the door.

Little Treasure Hunting Ghost’s head poked halfway through, listening to the conversation between its Yu Beast Master and Yabao.

It pulled its head back and turned to look at Water Luyana with a complex expression.

If eyes could speak, that sentence would be: I can’t believe you’re an old geezer.

“Lulu?”

Water Luyana was puzzled by Little Treasure Hunting Ghost’s gaze, completely unaware that it was already a Pet on the verge of kicking the bucket in others’ eyes.

When Yabao came out of the room, Water Luyana’s tail stiffened, and it subconsciously showed a hostile expression towards it.

This time, Yabao didn’t show the same expression. Instead, after a moment of internal struggle, it grinned and smiled at Water Luyana.

Water Luyana: “???”

…

Qiao Sang arrived at school, took Water Luyana to the fountain, and then went to the training room.

When it was time for free training, Qiao Sang didn’t scroll on her phone as usual. Instead, she went to Zheng Baolong and asked, “Teacher, can you teach me the Meditation method now?”

Zheng Guoping was stunned for a moment. She hadn’t thought about learning it a while ago, and now school was starting in two days. Why did she want to learn Meditation at this critical juncture?

If it were another student, Zheng Guoping would definitely ignore them.

Every teacher had their own subjects to teach. He taught how to battle in the School Team, not how to Meditate.

But the person asking was Qiao Sang, so Zheng Guoping didn’t hesitate and said, “Wait for me.”

After speaking, he quickly walked out of the training room.

Ten minutes later.

Zheng Guoping walked over with a book and said, “Take this book, ‘Meditation Techniques.’ Read it first; it has annotations and illustrations. Ask me if you don’t understand anything.”

“Okay.” Qiao Sang nodded and took it.

Yu Beast Masters were not unfamiliar with the book ‘Meditation Techniques.’ Even if Qiao Sang hadn’t read it yet, she knew that Yu Beast Masters in high school and college basically Meditated according to the methods in this book.

There were countless Meditation methods. Many researchers had studied Meditation, and the final unanimous conclusion was that ‘Meditation Techniques’ was the most suitable mental training method for Yu Beast Masters.

Meditation, also known as mental exercise.

Studies using scientific technology, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography, showed that regular Meditation could significantly enhance brain activity, and the brain region would also develop accordingly.

However, Meditation also required talent. Many people, even after becoming Yu Beast Masters, still couldn’t enter a state of Meditation no matter what, and could only let their brain regions develop slowly on their own.

Qiao Sang felt she had no problem and immediately opened the book to read.

Time was life now. Learning Meditation early to strengthen her brain region would increase the possibility of Water Luyana evolving into Ice Dew Qiya within its final lifespan… With this mission in mind, Qiao Sang seriously read ‘Meditation Techniques,’ and following the illustrations, sat cross-legged, relaxed her brain, took deep breaths, until her mind was clear…

“Look at you all. Others are already thinking about Meditation before school even starts, and they enter the state so quickly. What about you? You’re just letting your Pets freely control energy output, lowering skill proficiency. It’s been days, and there’s no progress at all!” Zheng Guoping pointed at Qiao Sang, who was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, and said dissatisfiedly to Wang Yao and others.

“Well, I also achieved Meditation in the first class back then,” Wang Yao muttered.

Zheng Guoping looked over with sharp eyes.

Wang Yao instantly shut up.

“The National Campus Pet Beast League will be held soon. If you don’t work hard in the competition with your current grades, what will you rely on to get into a good university? The college entrance exam?” Zheng Guoping scolded.

Wang Yao couldn’t help it and raised her hand, saying, “I got sixth place in the entire grade for the final exam.”

Zheng Guoping’s eye twitched, and he raised his voice, “Was I talking about you? I was talking to those two!”

Shi Gaofeng: “…”

At this moment, Xu Yajie suddenly asked, “Do you drool when you Meditate?”

“Who drools when they Meditate?” Shi Gaofeng scoffed.

Xu Yajie was silent for two seconds, then pointed in Qiao Sang’s direction and said, “She does.”

Wang Yao and Shi Gaofeng suddenly turned their heads and indeed saw drool hanging from Qiao Sang’s mouth.

How could Zheng Baolong tolerate such a misunderstanding of a genius among geniuses? He frowned and explained scientifically:

“Some people do drool. When Meditating, the body relaxes and consciousness focuses, and saliva continuously flows down from the palate. This is a normal physiological phenomenon.”

So that’s it… Wang Yao and the others suddenly understood.

“Does the upper body also sway when Meditating?” Xu Yajie asked, puzzled by Qiao Sang’s swaying upper body.

“No wonder your grades aren’t good; you don’t even know this,” Zheng Guoping said dismissively, “This is a natural phenomenon that occurs for some people during Meditation, and the degree of swaying will vary depending on each person’s physique and vestibular balance function.”

“As long as this phenomenon is not very impactful, there’s no need to pay attention to it. This symptom will gradually lessen or stabilize and disappear with long-term, accumulated Meditation.”

So that’s how it is…

Wang Yao, Shi Gaofeng, and Xu Yajie indicated that they had learned something new.

Half an hour later, Qiao Sang opened her eyes.

Damn it, she actually fell asleep…

…

Evening.

Qiao Sang, with her backpack zipper slightly open and Little Treasure Hunting Ghost on her head, rode on Yabao’s back back to the neighborhood.

From afar, she saw the Yu Beast Master from the Ancient Mist region at her doorstep.

He was still wearing the uniform black suit of a security guard.

He actually wasn’t fired… Qiao Sang couldn’t help but think to herself.

Li Songhai had his hands in his pockets, resisting the urge to smoke, patiently waiting. Finally, he waited for the person he wanted to see.

“Why are you here? Is something wrong?” Qiao Sang walked forward and asked with a smile.

Li Songhai took a deep breath and said seriously, “I need to tell you something. You need to stay calm and not be scared.”

Qiao Sang paused, “Okay, tell me.”

“There’s a Ghost-type Pet in your house,” Li Songhai said with a grave expression.

Qiao Sang: “…”

“Xun?”

Little Treasure Hunting Ghost tilted its head, its expression confused.

No, it hadn’t seen any other Ghost-type Pets in the house for so long.

Seeing Qiao Sang remain silent, Li Songhai thought she didn’t believe him and emphasized, “What I said is true. My Shui Di Chong fainted because it saw a Ghost-type Pet in your house.”

He was talking about Little Treasure Hunting Ghost, wasn’t he?… Qiao Sang nodded and said, “Thank you, I’ll keep an eye out.”

After speaking, she prepared to open the door and go inside.

Just then, Li Songhai raised his voice, “If you don’t mind, I can go in and check for you!”

This was his ultimate goal.

Although Ghost-type Pets were scary, the thought that Water Luyana might be inside made Li Songhai feel that this fear was not insurmountable.

Qiao Sang looked at the uncle in front of her, who still hadn’t given up on Water Luyana, and said earnestly, “Actually, I quite like Ghost-type Pets.”

“Huh?” Li Songhai froze in place.

Likes Ghost-type Pets?!

“Bang!”

Before he could react, Qiao Sang had already opened the door, walked in, and closed it.

“Xun~”

As soon as they entered, Little Treasure Hunting Ghost happily hugged Qiao Sang’s head and rubbed its cheek against it.

Water Luyana saw this scene as soon as it came out of the backpack. It froze for a moment, then twisted its head away, not wanting to look, only to meet Yabao’s gaze.

“Lulu!”

Water Luyana glared.

What are you looking at!

It had expected Yan Ling Dog to assume an attacking stance as before, but to its surprise, the other party actually shifted its gaze and stopped looking.

Water Luyana: “???”

“Ya…”

Yabao felt tired. What else could it do but give in when facing an elderly Pet that could kick the bucket at any moment?

After dinner.

Yabao trained its anti-dizziness ability, and Little Treasure Hunting Ghost absorbed materials with its ring.

Qiao Sang held her phone in front of Water Luyana and asked, “Are there any types of Pets you like in here?”

After a day of Meditation, Qiao Sang understood that the chances of saving Water Luyana by relying on a breakthrough in her brain region were less than 50%.

She had made some progress after a day of practice, but it didn’t feel like much. It seemed that it mainly depended on long-term accumulation, and it was impossible to see significant results after just a day or two of practice.

She didn’t know exactly how many days Water Luyana had left, or if it could last until the day her brain region broke through.

She had to make two-pronged preparations.

Qiao Sang was currently playing a compilation of videos of celebrity Pets in TV dramas.

Different Pets, different appearances, different attributes, different personalities—there had to be one that Water Luyana would find appealing.

Then, she would rent one as an actor based on Water Luyana’s standards.

Simply perfect…

Just as Qiao Sang was secretly praising her plan, Water Luyana’s eyes widened in surprise at a segment in the video.

In the video, ethereal background music played as two cat-type Pets looked at each other. The cat-type Pet wearing a white bow on its head glared at the cat-type Pet wearing a black bow tie opposite it.

Two seconds later, the camera zoomed in, and the cat-type Pet wearing the black bow tie turned its head away, no longer looking at it.

Then the camera focused on a close-up, revealing a shy expression on the cat-type Pet’s face.

The background music swelled accordingly.

Water Luyana: “!!!”

So that guy liked it!

Yabao, who was diligently practicing spinning, suddenly felt its nose tickle a bit…