Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

Seeing Su Zhi’s anxious expression, Shao Ya turned her head away and covered her mouth to hide a giggle.

’I can’t believe he still remembers the flavor of the grilled cold noodles from last time. I’ve almost forgotten it myself!’

The girl speared one of the octopus balls with her fork and gently placed it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

The soft, tender octopus ball blended perfectly with the sweet and sour Thousand Island dressing. The scallions, the soul of the dish, added the final touch, unleashing a wave of flavor in her mouth.

The girl closed her eyes in bliss. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Su Zhi let out a sigh of relief, and her own eyes curved even more, like crescent moons.

In truth, Su Zhi had been worrying for nothing. She wasn’t that big a fan of Thousand Island dressing.

But now, she decided she loved it. Absolutely loved it.

·

The shopping district was open all night, but after walking for a while, the two headed back toward the dorms.

It was a shame their day off was only for one day. Otherwise, they could have stayed out all night and gone back to the dorms to sleep at dawn.

Before long, the dormitory building was in sight.

”So, Yu Bao is going to the Divine Strategy Alliance to evolve tomorrow?”

As the conversation turned to this, Shao Ya’s face lit up with pleasant surprise. She gave Yu Bao a thumbs-up.

”Yu Bao, you’re about to take off!”

”WOOF!” Yu Bao stood up, striking a cool Superman pose.

Xiaoyue silently padded past him.

He just looked silly, not cool at all.

Su Zhi glanced at the Huajing Cat by the girl’s feet. ”Xiaoyue should be evolving soon too, right? His Real-time Energy Value is almost at the One-star level.”

”Mhm. There’s no rush. I’m planning to take Xiaoyue to one of the wilderness zones after we get back to Huai City.”

Shao Ya blinked. ”As you know, Xiaoyue’s situation is a bit special.”

”That’s true.”

”Su Baby, can you come with me then? You can be my bodyguard. As for payment... zero dollars an hour, but room and board are covered! How about it?”

”What a slave driver...”

Su Zhi grumbled, but a smile played on his lips. ”Fine, my ruthless employer. It seems I’m the only one you can exploit.”

”Ehehe.”

In what felt like a blink of an eye, they were at the dormitory. Even though they had both tacitly slowed their pace, it only delayed the moment they had to part.

”Well, here we are. Thanks for walking me back, Su Baby~”

The girl gathered her skirt, crossed one foot behind the other, and dipped into a curtsy.

Su Zhi instinctively wanted to say something cheeky, but he held his tongue. His gaze swept over the moonlight shimmering on her long, bright white hair. His mouth moved, but in the end, he only managed to softly say two words: ”Good night.”

”’Night!”

Her light footsteps faded into the moonlight.

...

「The next day.」

”WOOF! WOOF!”

”I know, I know...”

It was another bright and beautiful morning. Under assault from Yu Bao’s sonic alarm, Su Zhi yawned and, for what felt like the millionth time, got out of bed, full of vigor.

But the thought of taking Yu Bao for his evolution banished any lingering sleepiness. He even found himself getting dressed a little faster than usual.

”Oh, right. Yu Bao, come here.”

”*Pant, pant.*”

Su Zhi grabbed Yu Bao’s head and gave it a vigorous ruffling—

[Intelligence: 2.00 → 2.08]

[Real-time Energy Value: 1735 → 1770]

With evolution just around the corner, Su Zhi gave Yu Bao one last boost of Points.

After all, he wasn’t sure if his Point-Adding Talent had some kind of reset mechanic. If all the Points were to be cleared out once Yu Bao evolved, it would be a terrible waste.

For this final pre-evolution boost, Su Zhi indulged Yu Bao and put the Points into Intelligence.

After the boost, Yu Bao calmed down, his gaze growing deeper and more profound.

’The Beast Taming Throne has been vacant for far too long. It is I who shall...’

”Cut the act. You’re not even slicking your hair back,” Su Zhi deadpanned, interrupting Yu Bao’s dramatic posing. He picked the puppy up by the scruff of his neck and headed out the door.

Since he was heading to the Divine Strategy Alliance, Su Zhi didn’t go to the usual small plaza where they assembled. Instead, he went straight to the main gate of the Flying Shadow Alliance’s district.

A sports car was parked at the district gate, with two figures standing beside it.

One was a Cold and Refined Beauty in a beige trench coat. The other was also a beauty, but her features were brighter and softer, and her aura was far more mature and alluring than Selena’s.

She wore a loose, pink embroidered robe that only vaguely hinted at her curvaceous figure, which gave her a unique charm.

”You’re here.”

Selena nodded to the beauty in the pink robe. ”This is Su Zhi. I’ll have to trouble you with what comes next.”

”Mmm-hm.”

The beauty in the pink robe nodded, a charming smile on her face. ”He certainly is a handsome young man~”

Selena turned to Su Zhi. ”This is the Alliance Leader of the Huichun Alliance, Elder Qiu Yulian. Elder Qiu will be accompanying you to the Divine Strategy Alliance.”

”Oh, right!” Su Zhi nodded quickly, a little shy as he sized up the beauty before him. ”But... wasn’t Alliance Leader Qiao supposed to come with me?”

”Disaster relief mission,” Selena said succinctly.

”You can go now, Xiaosai~ I’ll take good care of your little one~” the woman in the pink robe said to Selena.

Selena nodded, then left the district gate to go ”look after her own kids.”

Su Zhi, meanwhile, awkwardly followed Qiu Yulian into the car, seating himself nervously in the back. Catching a glimpse of her charming, oval face in the rearview mirror, he had the strange feeling he was being whisked away by a sugar mommy.

He knew it was nothing of the sort, of course, but what high school boy could handle getting into a gorgeous, wealthy woman’s car out of the blue?

”So the little genius that four Alliance Leaders were fighting over is this shy?”

Qiu Yulian smiled gently. ”You won’t be able to woo any girls this way, you know. You’ll just have to wait for them to come after you.”

Su Zhi instantly replied, ”I’d be fine with that.”

”Pfft. So young and you’re already into that sort of thing!”

Qiu Yulian smiled radiantly, then glanced at the little brown dog in Su Zhi’s arms. ”How old is Yu Bao now?”

”A little over three months,” Su Zhi said, rubbing Yu Bao’s head.

Qiu Yulian smiled. ”That’s good. Yu Dian Dogs stop being so cute after three months. If you have him evolve now, you can switch back to his original form later to keep him cute forever~”

”Woof?” Yu Bao pouted, looking at Su Zhi.

’Will I not be cute anymore if I don’t evolve?’

Su Zhi gave him a thumbs-up. ”No matter what, Yu Bao is always the ultimate, invincible, super-duper-freaking-cutest.”

Yu Bao’s tongue lolled out, and his eyes curved into happy little crescents.

The woman in pink in the front seat saw this exchange in the rearview mirror. She chuckled behind her hand but didn’t say anything else.

Ten minutes later, the sports car entered the gates of the Divine Strategy Alliance district, stopping in front of a tall building shaped like a Lu Ban Lock.

Qiu Yulian led Su Zhi into the building. She navigated the labyrinthine corridors and switched between elevators with an unhurried, effortless grace.

’I really want to ask her how she knows her way around here so well...’ Su Zhi thought.

Finally, at the door of a private research lab on the twentieth basement level, Su Zhi saw Luo Sen.

Upon seeing Qiu Yulian, Luo Sen, who was usually all smiles, put on an uncharacteristically serious face. ”What are *you* doing here?”

Qiu Yulian smiled sweetly. ”The Alliance Leader of the Flying Shadow Alliance is on a mission, so she entrusted me with accompanying little Su Zhi.”

”Come on in.”

Luo Sen said sullenly, opening the door and heading inside.

Su Zhi shot a shocked glance at Qiu Yulian. ’She can actually keep Luo Sen in line? Looks like she’s an even bigger deal than I thought.’

Following Luo Sen’s instructions, Su Zhi placed Yu Bao on a spacious platform.

Yu Bao looked around curiously when an Energy Barrier suddenly shot up around the platform, trapping him inside.

Su Zhi’s body tensed up instantly.

”Don’t be nervous. This is part of the evolution ceremony. As you probably know, wild Exotic Beasts often evolve in the midst of life-and-death battles. Combat is the best way to stimulate a creature’s latent potential.”

Luo Sen explained as his hands flew across a keyboard, the incessant clacking echoing through the lab.

”Unlike the faith-based evolutions of the Classical Era, modern Beast Taming has far more mature and reliable methods. I’ll use the Alpha Equation to analyze Yu Bao’s combat data, which will allow me to select the most suitable opponent to provide high-intensity battle stimulation before his evolution.”

Su Zhi asked, ”So, the best opponent is one who’s evenly matched with Yu Bao, but can still put him under pressure?”

”A little stronger than evenly matched,” Luo Sen said, hitting the enter key.

Su Zhi said, ”By the way, what was that equation called again...?”

Luo Sen: ”I just finished writing it last night. I gave it a random name.”

Su Zhi: ”...”

As they spoke, a string of numbers flashed across the light screen before resolving into a teardrop-shaped icon.

Immediately after, a silver Beast Taming Light Array materialized on the platform. A pure white duck with a single blue feather on its forehead emerged from the Light Array and waddled toward Yu Bao—

[Pet Beast: Turbulent Duck

Attribute: Water

Race: High Level Elite Race

Real-time Energy Value: 2501]

”—_—Quack!” The large duck ruffled its feathers at Yu Bao.

Yu Bao tilted his head and wagged his tail. ’Is this big duck a relative of Xue Li?’ he wondered.

A Turbulent Duck, the evolved form of a Hao Waterfowl, a tyrant of freshwater and coastal regions... Su Zhi was utterly stunned.

’This is *a little* stronger than evenly matched!?’

”My equation is never wrong.”

Luo Sen ignored Su Zhi’s shocked expression and grinned, revealing a mouth full of crimson teeth.

”Now, let the evolution begin!”

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