"Mom, I'm home!" Zhou Ran parked his electric scooter and shouted.
"You're a bit late today. Looks like business is good at the shop!" Wang Qian came out carrying a plate of hot food.
"Yeah, it's okay!" Zhou Ran smiled.
"By the way, Mom, do you believe I'll suddenly get the hang of it and become a beast tamer?" Zhou Ran asked while eating.
Wang Qian paused for a moment. She knew why her son was asking this—he desperately wanted to become a beast tamer, but fate had played a cruel joke on him.
"Ah, Ran'er, the doctor has already thoroughly examined your body. There's no hope for you..." Wang Qian said sadly, her eyes brimming with tears.
Zhou Ran hadn't expected his casual question to elicit such a strong reaction from his mother. He almost blurted out about the system, but managed to hold back.
After all, from years of reading novels, he knew that once such things were discovered, they usually ended badly.
He quickly dismissed the thought and buried himself in his food.
After dinner, Zhou Ran took a hot shower and returned to his room.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he focused his mind and began practising the Divine Mind Technique.
From the Divine Mind Technique, he had learned that when a person's spiritual energy was severely depleted and weakened, the chances of fusing with starlight energy were very high. Therefore, even though Zhou Ran was extremely tired, he decided to begin his practice.
He saw the pale blue starlight energy and golden spiritual energy swirling around his body. Zhou Ran furrowed his brows; this was the same as this morning—they kept swirling and couldn't merge.
No way, I don't believe it! There's no way I can't merge them!
Once, twice, three times...
"You can choose to fuse them in the dantian. First, use the starlight energy to create a small vortex and draw in the spiritual energy." The system couldn't bear to watch anymore and prompted him.
Zhou Ran was startled and felt an epiphany.
Right! Creating a vortex to draw it in should work!
What a simple method! How did I not think of it...
"Who needs your reminder? I would have figured it out anyway. Mind your own business!" Zhou Ran was grateful, but still stubborn.
The system remained silent, ignoring Zhou Ran.
Zhou Ran dispersed the starlight energy outside his body while simultaneously activating the starlight energy within his acupoints, continuously gathering it into his dantian. A faint blue vortex began to form.
He immediately began to guide the spiritual energy into his dantian. Sure enough, with just a slight pull, the spiritual energy flowed endlessly, slowly flying toward the dantian and being absorbed into the blue vortex.
Gradually, the light blue vortex turned into a blue-gold colour, simultaneously spreading to all the acupoints throughout his body.
The light blue energy connected to the acupoints throughout his body also slowly turned into a blue-gold colour, though it was very faint.
Two hours later, Zhou Ran concluded his cultivation, and during this process, his Beast Tamer rank had changed, unexpectedly breaking through to the third tier—it was simply unbelievable.
'This Divine Mind Technique has only just entered the threshold and has already advanced to the third rank. Isn't that a bit too powerful? If it were perfected, wouldn't it directly reach the ninth rank?' Zhou Ran said, both exhausted and excited.
Zhou Ran was extremely excited, as this meant he could now use the Dark Star Wolf Dog without restraint. However, his body was drained of spiritual energy, and drowsiness overtook him, causing him to fall asleep quickly.
The next morning.
Zhou Ran woke up early, having rested exceptionally well the previous night and feeling full of energy.
After breakfast, Zhou Ran hurried to the shop. He wanted to see if the Dark Star Wolfhound, which had spent the night in the cultivation chamber, had undergone any changes.
Soon, Zhou Ran arrived at the shop and opened the cultivation chamber. The white light on the Dark Star Wolfhound had already disappeared. Since he could now control it, he had the system revoke the effect.
The Dark Star Wolf Dog soon woke up, and Zhou Ran immediately threw a Pet Appraisal Device at it.
Growth Form Dark Star Wolf Dog
Attributes: Wind-type, Demon-type
Level: Lower Fourth Tier
Skills: Fierce Dog Charge, Piercing Scream, Wind Demon Cloak, Wind Demon Roar, Demon Descent, Hell Roar, Phantom Clone, Demon Confinement
Potential: C
Score: 50
Zhou Ran was surprised. Although this was only a basic cultivation platform and not as effective as the Snow Woman Beast last time, it was still quite good.
It had even mastered a high-tier Demon-type skill, Demon Confinement.
'Hmm, not bad. Good job, Erbao.' Zhou Ran was very happy and patted its dog head.
'By the way, how many points does it take to upgrade this breeding platform?' Zhou Ran suddenly asked.
'1,000 points can upgrade three of them to intermediate breeding platforms at the same time. If the host finds the breeding platforms insufficient in the future, they can purchase more on their own, at 1,000 points each.'
'Upgrade: Advanced cultivation platforms cannot be upgraded or purchased yet; the host must expand their store to do so.' The system prompted.
Zhou Ran's expression darkened. That's way too expensive! Upgrading three for 1,000 points is acceptable, but purchasing them individually is also 1,000 points each—that's 1 million points...
And they're complaining my store is too small... I'm so struggling...
" Erbao, I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but I'll definitely earn enough money to take you places." Zhou Ran said as he stroked the Dark Star Wolf Dog's head.
He then swiped his right hand, sending the Dark Star Wolf Dog into the Beast Space.
Zhou Ran sat at the storefront, quietly waiting for customers to arrive. Although he had flaunted his wealth last time, this street wasn't very busy and was quite remote, so there were still no customers.
The neighbouring beast shop had also closed after the incident, and the owner had vanished without a trace.
After a while, seeing no one coming in, Zhou Ran opened his computer and started watching a movie...
At that moment, a young man wearing headphones and sportswear walked into the shop.
He was sweaty, clearly having just returned from morning exercise.
"Sir, do you have any food for combat-type exotic beasts? Give me a bag." The young man took off his headphones and said.
Zhou Ran immediately stood up, turned around, and searched through the shelves, finally spotting some yellow leaves in a box.
"Here you go. This is Three-Leaf Strength Grass. It increases the strength of combat-type exotic beasts and is very filling. It costs 500 yuan."
"Alright, where do I pay?" The young man fiddled with his headphones and didn't hear clearly.
Suddenly, he exclaimed in surprise, "Did you just say 500 yuan?"
"500 yuan," Zhou Ran wasn't particularly surprised, as this price was indeed high for monster food, but he couldn't change the system's pricing.
'That's so expensive! Is this golden leaves?' The young man was startled, looking at the sparse few leaves in the box and shouting.
'This Three-Leaf Strength Grass, when used long-term, can significantly increase the strength of beasts, and there's also a chance to master skills!' Zhou Ran patiently explained.
'Increase strength? Master skills? Can just these few leaves do that?'
'You're pulling my leg!' The young man frowned, glancing at the shelves behind Zhou Ran, and was immediately speechless.
Every item was priced at no less than 300 yuan, and the three golden boxes in the middle were astronomically priced. The young man didn't even look back, bolting out the door and muttering curses all the way.
Zhou Ran shook his head, saying nothing, and continued watching the short film on his computer.
By noon, Zhou Ran hadn't entered the dimension today, so he soon felt hungry. He took out a packet of Wang Shifu Beef Noodles from the drawer, poured boiling water over them, and began eating.
"So delicious, a true earthly delight!" Zhou Ran watched the film while eating the instant noodles, savoring every bite.
...