Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

...

Evening.

"Xiaoshu, dinner’s ready!" a caring, stay-at-home husband’s voice called from the kitchen.

"WOOF!" Yu Bao answered for Su Zhi, then turned and nudged the cross-legged Su Zhi on the bed.

A moment later, Su Zhi opened his eyes and sighed softly.

His Beast Taming Space still hadn’t broken through to Tier Three. It felt like he was just missing something. ’Where did I go wrong?’

’Hmm... I should probably ask Luo Sen later...’

"Woof," Yu Bao said, patting Su Zhi’s shoulder earnestly.

The message was clear: ’Don’t be sad. When you’re down, the answer is to eat.’

’If one bowl doesn’t work, have two.’

’Is this the wisdom of the Wise One?’ Su Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He nodded and went to eat with Yu Bao.

Dinner was fragrant: scrambled eggs and tomatoes with yuba. The egg yolk coated the pre-cooked yuba, which was then stir-fried with tomatoes to create a rich, sweet-and-sour sauce that was both savory and appetizing.

Paired with another dish, shredded pork with mildly spicy green peppers, it was a match made in heaven.

Both Su Zhi and Yu Bao squinted their eyes in enjoyment.

At times like this, Su Zhi always felt his mom was truly blessed to have married such a capable man.

’Uh, that doesn’t sound right. She married *him*... whatever, it’s not important.’

"How’s it going, Xiaoshu? Is your advancement going smoothly?" Wang Sujuan asked, placing a piece of yuba in Su Zhi’s bowl.

"Not yet, I’m still a little short!" Su Zhi replied, putting some shredded pork with green peppers into his mom’s bowl.

Yu Bao’s eyes were glued to the strips of meat. Su Zhi gave him one, and the little guy happily wagged his tail, burying his head in his bowl to devour it.

"Still no breakthrough... Should we hire a tutor or something?" Su Mao asked with concern as he snatched the piece of yuba from Su Zhi’s bowl.

Wang Sujuan shot Su Mao a glare.

Su Mao raised his hands in surrender and put the yuba back in Su Zhi’s bowl.

Su Zhi chuckled. "It’s fine. I met a few seniors at the summer camp. I’ll just ask them for advice."

"Seniors from the Alliance Headquarters? That’s amazing!"

"Here, take a look, Su Baby. This tutor is also an Alliance Member from the Alliance Headquarters. Is he as good as that senior you mentioned?" Su Mao insisted, handing his phone to Su Zhi.

So, Su Zhi glanced at the tutor’s profile:

XXX, Alliance Member of the Divine Strategy Alliance, Level Two Blue Star Researcher, apprenticed to the renowned Special-Grade Researcher and Divine Strategy Alliance’s Alliance Leader, Luo Sen...

’Uh...’

’This person’s skill level is probably just a teensy bit—a few hundred million points—lower than the senior I know.’

After declining his parents’ kind offer, Su Zhi went outside, found a deserted corner, and dialed Luo Sen’s number.

"Moshi moshi?"

A creepy, low chuckle came from the other end. "I never thought you’d call me on your own initiative. Not bad. I’m very happy~"

’I really wouldn’t be calling if I had any other choice...’ The moment he heard that voice, Su Zhi was reminded of a flash of red teeth, and goosebumps instantly broke out all over his skin.

Su Zhi then calmed himself and reported his problem regarding the Tier Three Beast Taming Space to Luo Sen.

"Mm, it’s perfectly normal to run into difficulties during advancement. No need to be anxious."

’Luo Sen’s answer was just as I expected.’

"Based on your description, you already have the ability to break through to a Tier Three Beast Taming Space. You’re just missing a specific trigger.

"At times like this, you need to rediscover the feeling you had when you advanced to the Tier Two Beast Taming Space. The advancement of the Beast Taming Space is, in essence, a spiraling ascent. The patterns and methods are repetitive."

"But the people around me say that the advancement of the Beast Taming Space is a very gentle process, that it often happens without you even noticing."

Su Zhi was completely baffled. "When I advanced to Tier Two, it didn’t seem very peaceful..."

Luo Sen said flatly, "So, are you going to listen to the people around you, or are you going to listen to me?"

Su Zhi: "...I’ll listen to you."

Luo Sen continued, "Their experience isn’t wrong. For the vast majority of people, advancing to a Tier Two Beast Taming Space is indeed a peaceful experience, so their subsequent advancements are the same.

"A not-so-peaceful advancement is rare, but not unheard of. Why don’t you describe what happened when you advanced to Tier Two? The more detailed, the better."

"Oh, okay."

So Su Zhi described it in painstaking detail, including how many times he went to the bathroom that day.

Of course, the focus was on everything he encountered in his dream after fainting—like the giant eye and the mysterious purple light... not how many times he went to the bathroom.

After hearing his description, Luo Sen on the other end of the line went silent for a while.

Su Zhi: "...Should I maybe go into more detail about the bathroom trips?"

"That won’t be necessary."

For the first time, Luo Sen’s usually crazy voice sounded somewhat serious.

Su Zhi found it strangely unsettling. "...Is there something wrong with me?"

Luo Sen: "Yes. But I’m not surprised at all. I’d be more surprised if you were too normal."

’Is this the protagonist treatment?’ Su Zhi continued to ask, "So what should I do now?"

"Do what you’ve been doing. Just continue your Meditation and training as you are."

Luo Sen started laughing again. "Just keep at it. When the time is right, your Beast Taming Space will naturally advance."

"And when is the right time...?"

"Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed. Hanging up."

Su Zhi: "..."

’Damn it! From now on, I’m punching every riddle-spouting weirdo I meet!’

As he was lost in thought, a pair of cool, delicate hands suddenly reached out from behind him and covered his eyes.

"Guess who?"

A voice, intentionally lowered but still very pleasant, came from behind him.

Su Zhi: "You’re my dad."

"Wrong, it’s Su’s Mother."

’Whatever you say...’ Su Zhi smiled helplessly, gently removed her hands, and turned his head.

Time is a strange thing. Even though he hadn’t seen her for only two days, the girl seemed to have gotten even prettier.

Her bright white hair seemed even silkier, and a brilliant starry sky flowed within her azure eyes.

Perhaps because of the dimness of the night, the fair-skinned girl seemed to be faintly glowing, like an elf descended to the mortal world.

At this moment, the girl stood watching him with her hands behind her back, her gaze earnest and expectant.

Su Zhi was already prepared. He counted on his fingers as he reported fluently, as if reciting from memory:

"We got back around one o’clock this afternoon. We were gone for a little over two days. During the training, we encountered a few One-star Exotic Beasts. The strongest was a Two-star Earth-necked Dragon, which gave us quite a bit of trouble, but we resolved it without any real danger in the end. No one was injured.

"The food over the past few days was fine, pretty balanced nutritionally, and we also had a whole roasted bear. They were drinking and wanted me to join, so I had a bottle of beer with them, but no hard liquor..."

Seeing Su Zhi’s serious, matter-of-fact report, the girl covered her mouth with her hand, smiled, and stepped forward to hug him.

"You’ve worked hard. Get some good rest these next two days."

"Mhm." Su Zhi hugged her back gently. The soft, warm feeling was very comforting.

Yu Bao also wanted a hug like that from Big Brother Xiaoyue, but all he got was a flurry of Cat Cat Fists for his trouble.

"Alright!"

The girl only hugged him for a moment before letting go.

’Who told him to ask for so much on his birthday? I have to give him less now. If I keep spoiling him, who knows, one day I might be the one giving myself away for free. That would be terrible.’

"You and Yu Bao should rest up for the next two days. Don’t train too hard; you need to conserve your energy. That way, you can be a better bodyguard for me~!"

The girl murmured her instructions while straightening his slightly messy collar.

—The Ancient Jing Forest was where Shao Ya planned to take Xiaoyue, and it was also the evolutionary site for all Huajing Cats.

"Meeow."

Xiaoyue glanced at the silly-looking Yu Bao, the corner of its mouth twitching upward.

Because Yu Bao had evolved first, Xiaoyue had been feeling utterly wronged lately. He was called "Big Brother" in name, but in reality, he was just Yu Bao’s plaything.

’Once I evolve, too, that dumb little dog will go back to being my little bro!’

Su Zhi nodded. "Okay, I’ll be sure to pack my daily necessities."

"No need. Since you’re my bodyguard, your food, clothes, and lodging are on me, of course!"

"There’s a deal that good?"

"Hee hee... See you Wednesday!"

The girl covered her mouth, giggled, and then with a "Bling," she turned and ran off.

.

「Wednesday.」

"WOOF WOOF WOOF..."

"Stop with the chanting, Master Yu."

Su Zhi finished dressing, looked helplessly at Yu Bao, and sighed. "Big Sis Shao Ya already told you to rest up these two days. But look at you, still training so hard."

"Woof."

Yu Bao indicated that he had already lightened his own load.

For example, he usually practiced a thousand sets of Desert Concealment, but for the past two days, he only did nine hundred. That’s a whole hundred sets less!

Su Zhi: "..."

’You’re a real master of load-lightening.’

"Dad, Mom, I’m off!"

"Take care, son! Remember to look after Xiaoya!"

His parents waved goodbye. After all, it wasn’t Su Zhi’s first time traveling far from home; they were used to it.

Although Su Zhi wasn’t great at taking care of himself, they felt quite at ease with Shao Ya going along.

Su Zhi met up with the girl downstairs, just like any other day.

What was different today was that Shao Ya was wearing a camo-style shorts-and-short-sleeve-shirt combo suitable for outdoor sports. Compared to her usual casual wear, it gave her a cool, heroic vibe.

At the same time, the outfit perfectly complemented the girl’s natural beauty without creating a sense of distance.

Having grown used to the energetic girl-next-door look, seeing this outdoorsy athlete style was a refreshing change of pace for Su Zhi.

In reality, the physical fitness of a Beast Tamer who had reached a Tier Two Beast Taming Space completely trounced that of an ordinary person. They could even self-heal from moderately serious injuries, so this kind of clothing wasn’t really necessary...

’So... was she wearing this for me? To give me a change of pace?’

"What are you looking at?"

Shao Ya hopped in front of Su Zhi, her hands behind her back, and tilted her head up slightly.

"Nothing."

Su Zhi averted his gaze and took a tactical step back.

The girl covered her mouth and giggled, pretending not to see his slightly flushed cheeks.

Afterward, the two boarded the subway. The Ancient Jing Forest was located within Shanyou Province; after getting off the subway, they just needed to take a long-distance bus to get there.

On the subway, the girl began to chatter on:

"The UV rays in the Ancient Jing Forest are pretty strong, so you have to be good about sunscreen. You can just use this one later; it’s the one I always use. But don’t use too much, a pea-sized amount is enough...

"The climate in the forest is pretty humid, so it’s better to eat spicy food. I brought a few spicy self-heating claypot rice meals. But since you can’t handle a lot of spice, I brought both mild and medium spicy. You can just eat whichever one you find tastier, and I’ll have the other...

"And it gets a bit damp and cold at night, so I picked out sleeping bags with an automatic heating function! The button is a little hidden, though; you can only feel for it after you’re already inside. But that’s okay, I can teach you how to use it then..."

"..."

Su Zhi’s eyes widened as he suddenly realized:

She had him completely wrapped around her finger for the next two days of food, clothing, and lodging.

’This devious little woman!’

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