Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Chapter 582: The Dangerous 25th District

Read at: /?m=1

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“You’re that little Little Wood Monster from two years ago?” Maiya looked at the Mura Monster in front of her in surprise.

“Mu... mu...”

Mura Monster stiffened and nodded.

Maiya was completely stunned. She had never expected that the little Wood Monster from back then would evolve into a Mura Monster and even come to help them.

The little girl’s eyes lit up. She quickly ran up to Mura Monster and said excitedly, “So it really is you!”

Mura Monster looked a little uneasy as the girl got so close.

Qiao Sang, standing to the side, had a so-I-was-right expression.

Only a prior relationship, especially a good one, could explain why Mura Monster had gone to such lengths to get the task issuer to notice the Scale Moths.

And only if they had known each other would it make sense why Mura Monster had never attacked them.

After all, the real danger of wild pet beasts was that they attacked humans.

A Mura Monster that had been driven away so many times without retaliating was already unusual.

“You know each other?” Qiao Sang asked, pretending to be surprised.

“Well, here’s what happened…” Maiya recounted the events from two years ago.

All over a corn cake? You really remembered that for this long… Qiao Sang stared at Mura Monster in astonishment. Wild pet beasts could be like this? This was nothing like what the books described.

“In that case, do I still need to take Mura Monster far away?” Qiao Sang pondered for a moment before asking.

Maiya turned to look at her daughter happily playing with Mura Monster and smiled gently.

“There’s no need. I misjudged it before.”

Hearing this, Qiao Sang hesitated for a moment.

“But about the mission…”

“Don’t worry!” Maiya cut her off, understanding her concerns.

“I’ll definitely give you a five-star review!”

As long as you say that, I’m relieved… Qiao Sang was satisfied. But then she remembered something and her expression grew serious.

“There’s something I need to mention.”

“What is it?” Maiya adopted a serious look.

“That Beastmaster, Nada Pong, seems really suspicious.” Qiao Sang frowned.

“Once or twice might be coincidence, but he’s just so happened to show up and interfere for months. Something feels off.”

Maiya thought for a moment.

“He’s a Beast master. People listen to him, and he has a lot of people in this area. They probably just reported to him.”

“No.” Qiao Sang said.

“What I mean is… I don’t think he was trying to stop the Beast masters you hired. It felt more like he was trying to stop Mura Monster.”

Maiya froze.

“And...”

Qiao Sang continued, “He doesn’t feel like a C-rank Beast master at all. Something about him is strange. Just be careful.”

A C-rank Beast master, working in the 25th District, a place constantly dealing with wild pet beasts, should not be this incompetent.

Maiya nodded thoughtfully.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

---

Leaving the task issuer’s house, Qiao Sang followed the navigation to the Beast Tamer Center.

She wasn’t going there to report the mission but rather to find a nearby hotel to stay in.

Mission confirmation could be done through the Beast Tamer Center’s official app.

When she went to confirm it earlier, she noticed that the mission had been inexplicably upgraded to a three-star task.

After calling customer service to ask, they confirmed it wasn’t an error, so she knew she wouldn’t need to take on another task.

Staying near the Beast Tamer Center was just for convenience, her assessment instructor hadn’t given her any contact information, only a meeting time and place.

Since there were still two days until the meetup, Qiao Sang walked at a relaxed pace.

The Lower Ten Districts were very different from the Upper Ten. Wild pet beasts could be seen everywhere on the streets.

Unlike before, when she had been preoccupied with her mission, she now had the leisure to stop and admire the unfamiliar wild pet beasts around her.

Street vendors were everywhere, and even wild pet beasts could be seen lining up with Alliance Coins to buy food. The sight intrigued Qiao Sang.

I should really get a pet beast identifier for Chaosu Star… Seeing yet another pet beast she didn’t recognize, Qiao Sang made a mental note.

Suddenly, her eyes stopped on a particular stall.

“Boss, six corn cakes, please.” Qiao Sang stepped forward.

“Alright!” The stall owner, seeing the girl accompanied by two pet beasts, knew she was a Beast master, someone he couldn’t afford to offend. His tired expression instantly changed to enthusiasm.

The six corn cakes were quickly packed up.

After paying, Qiao Sang handed out the corn cakes to Yabao and the others. Then, her gaze landed on a gray bird-like pet beast not far away.

Might as well do a good deed. Who knows, maybe it’ll turn out to be another Mura Monster…

With that thought, Qiao Sang walked up to the gray bird-like pet beast, smiling kindly.

“Want some?” She held out a corn cake.

The gray bird sniffed at it cautiously, then made a disgusted face, turned around, and flew away.

Welp. Guess not all wild pet beasts are like Mura Monster…

Watching the bird’s retreating figure, Qiao Sang took a bite of her own corn cake, thoughtful.

“Gang gang.”

Gangbao, standing beside her, watched the scene unfold and couldn’t help but look amused.

---

11:50 PM.

A hundred meters away from the Beastmaster Center, inside the Sen Nong Hotel.

As usual, Qiao Sang closed her eyes and entered the Beast master Codex.

Even though she had been staying up late recently, her habit of checking the data at bedtime was already ingrained.

She casually browsed through the stats, but when she reached the last line of Yabao's points, her breath caught.

Points: 83,002

83,002?!

Qiao Sang’s eyes widened in disbelief at the numbers in front of her.

Yesterday, it had only been 56,842, but today it had shot up to 83,002?!

An increase of over 20,000 points in just one day?!

Qiao Sang double-checked multiple times before finally confirming she hadn’t seen wrong.

83,002… So that swarm of Scale Moths was worth this many points…

Taking a deep breath, she shifted her gaze to the top rows of data.

Name: Blazing Star Canine (Yabao)

Attributes: Fire, Psychic

Level: Advanced (14,500/100,000)+

Ever since Yabao evolved, his daily natural point increase hadn’t changed much. Even after consuming specially formulated energy pills, he had only increased by 2,500 points so far, averaging around 40 points per day.

At this rate, it would take about six years for Yabao to evolve into a General-class beast.

But now, with these points, he wouldn’t take anywhere near six years…

If she participated in a few more beast battle tournaments, Yabao might even evolve before she got into university…

Qiao Sang pondered for a moment before making a decision.

The next second, the 14,500 point count under his level started soaring, finally stopping at 90,000.

Level: Advanced (90,000/100,000)+

She planned to obtain a Dream Enlightenment Stone before letting Yabao evolve.

The remaining 10,000 points would take around eight months to accumulate naturally.

By then, high school would be over, and she should have already acquired the Dream Enlightenment Stone.

With an important combat assessment in two days, she needed Yabao to get even stronger…

With this thought in mind, Qiao Sang turned the page and continued reviewing the data.

---

Two days later.

After breakfast, Qiao Sang finished washing up and even had Lubao cast a Healing Light on her. Then she packed up and quietly waited for 5:13 PM.

Time passed by, and at exactly 5:00 PM, she checked out of her hotel and had Little Seeker teleport her straight to the Beastnmaster Center entrance.

There, Tang Yi was already waiting.

“Tang Yi.”

Qiao Sang walked over and greeted him.

“You actually arrived at the last minute.” Tang Yi said with a chuckle.

“No, I didn’t.” Qiao Sang glanced at her phone.

“There are still 13 minutes left. The instructor set the meeting time so precisely, I doubt he’ll arrive early.”

“Fair point.” Tang Yi nodded, then suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, what mission did you pick?”

“Driving away a Mura Monster.” Qiao Sang replied.

“A Mura Monster?” Tang Yi pulled out his phone to look it up.

A few seconds later, he raised his head in surprise and exclaimed, “You picked such an easy mission?!”

Easy? My face, Yabao's face, and Gangbao's face all got beaten into pig heads… If it weren’t for Lubao, you’d be looking at a pig-headed version of me right now…

Qiao Sang silently complained in her heart.

“What about you?” She asked.

Hearing the question, Tang Yi’s face lit up with excitement.

“I picked an ultra-difficult mission, collecting Mist Purification Grass! That stuff grows in a place no one dares to go. If it weren’t for the assessment, I wouldn’t have taken it, the rewards aren’t even that great.”

“Where does it grow?” Qiao Sang asked, intrigued.

Tang Yi lowered his voice and whispered:

“In the territory of a King-class beast, the Water Source Croc.”

Qiao Sang was stunned.

“A King-class beast?!”

“Yep, King-class.” Tang Yi grinned.

“My luck was amazing, when I got there, I saw the Water Source Croc fighting multiple beasts, so I took the chance to grab the Mist Purification Grass.”

Qiao Sang was shocked again.

“How is collecting resources in a King-class beast’s territory only a two-star mission?”

Tang Yi chuckled.

“The rewards are low, and it’s been sitting unclaimed for a long time, so the difficulty rating dropped.”

“Wow, you were really lucky to get out of there unharmed.” Qiao Sang commented.

“Yeah, I never knew my luck was this good.” Tang Yi said, scratching his head.

At that moment, a rock-like beast walked up to them, holding a phone.

“Head-Head.”

It glanced at Yabao and twitched its mouth before turning the phone screen toward them.

Qiao Sang blinked and looked at the screen.

Holy crap.

Who… is this?!

On the screen was a person wrapped head to toe in bandages, with only their eyes and mouth exposed, looking like a mummy.

“You two…” The person on the screen spoke weakly.

“Come to Lisher Hospital with Head Rocker.”

Qiao Sang and Tang Yi exchanged looks, both seeing confusion in each other’s eyes.

Although the person's face was completely wrapped, Head Rocker was a unique beast only found on Blue Star.

And at this time, the only person who could be looking for them was their assessment instructor from Central Hollow University.

“Instructor… what happened to you?” Qiao Sang asked in confusion.

That one simple question made the ‘mummy’ suddenly agitated.

He seemed to want to jump up but failed due to his injuries.

After struggling a few times, he gave up, lay back down, and panted:

“Don’t ask unnecessary questions. Just come to the hospital.”

The video call ended.

Qiao Sang and Tang Yi looked at each other, both feeling the weight of the situation.

Tang Yi said seriously, “Looks like this place is a lot more dangerous than we thought.”

Qiao Sang nodded slightly.

“Once the assessment is over, we should leave immediately.”

---

Following Head Rocker, they soon arrived at Lisher Hospital and entered Qu Zhuo’s hospital room.

Qu Zhuo, wrapped in bandages, lay on the hospital bed and slightly turned his head.

“You’re here.”

He looks this badly injured…

Qiao Sang’s expression turned serious.

The 25th District is really dangerous…

“Instructor, are you okay?” Tang Yi asked with concern.

Qu Zhuo snorted.

“Do I look okay to you?”

Tang Yi instantly shut up.

Qu Zhuo glanced at him.

“You did well on your mission, good job taking the chance to collect the resources.”

So the instructor was secretly watching…

Tang Yi was just about to humbly respond when-

Qu Zhuo suddenly changed his tone:

“But when someone was in danger, did it never occur to you to help?”

Tang Yi blinked in confusion.

“Instructor, do you mean the other Beast masters fighting the Water Source Croc? But how could I possibly help in a battle of that level? And didn’t you say that ensuring our own safety is the top priority? That’s also part of the assessment criteria.”

Qu Zhuo fell silent.

Then, he slowly turned to Qiao Sang and spoke through gritted teeth:

“You did very well on your mission.”

…Was it just her imagination, or did he stress the word ‘very’?

Qiao Sang thought back to her mission, it had gone well, despite some surprises. She’d protected the task giver, eliminated the Scale Moth swarm, and even resolved the misunderstanding with Mura Monster.

It really was a job well done.

Seems like the instructor is quite satisfied… Qiao Sang thought, then said, “There were some unexpected events, but in the end, everything worked out fine.”

Everything worked out fine…?

Ha. Ha.

Qu Zhuo looked down at his bandaged body, his barely stabilized mental state crumbling again.

He really wanted to shout, Do you even realize that I'm in this state because of you?!

But his dignity as a teacher forced him to restrain himself.

Just as the two conflicting thoughts were battling in Qu Zhuo's mind, Qiao Sang formed a hand seal and summoned Lubao.

"Lubao, Healing Light."

"Lu."

Lubao glanced around and immediately understood who needed healing. She let out a cry, and the gemstone on her forehead emitted a blue glow, enveloping Qu Zhuo in light.

Qu Zhuo instantly felt his pain disappear, replaced by a soothing warmth, like soaking in a hot spring.

Once the blue light faded, Qiao Sang asked, "Teacher, how do you feel now?"

Qu Zhuo first wiggled his fingers, then suddenly flipped up from the hospital bed like a carp leaping out of water.

So this is the endangered pet beast from the Ancient Guwu Region, Ice Xilu... Don't think I’m going to thank you. This Healing Light was something I rightfully deserved, you hear me… Qu Zhuo cast a deep look at Lubao, then at Qiao Sang.

He stepped down from the bed, put on his shoes, and while slowly unwrapping the bandages on his body, he said,

"I originally planned to delay the assessment for a few more days, but it seems unnecessary now. Follow me, we're heading straight to the pet beast energy detection test."