Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

“Yap.”

Yabao’s eyes glowed blue as he used his telekinesis to send Little Treasure back, signaling for him to train properly and not slack off.

“Xun…”

Little Treasure looked confused for a moment.

Weren't we supposed to be acting?

“Lu lu!”

Lubao pointed at the tiles she had just set up, calling out to Little Treasure.

Get back to training!

Little Treasure: …

Not far away, Qiao Sang quietly observed. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it felt strangely like watching parents urging their child to study.

That evening, Little Treasure sneaked glances at the door, ensuring Lubao wasn’t in the living room, before turning around and pouting, questioning Yabao on why he hadn’t cooperated in the acting.

“Yap?” Yabao looked puzzled.

“Xun Xun!” Little Treasure protested.

Just now, in the courtyard!

“Yap…”

Yabao’s eyes widened. Oh, so it was all acting!

Qiao Sang, half-reclining against the headboard with a book, spoke almost in sync with Yabao: “So you were acting just now!”

“Xun…”

Little Treasure staggered, as if deeply wounded.

At that moment, Little Treasure began to seriously doubt his acting skills.

“Actually, there’s no rush.” Qiao Sang said.

“We should wait until Lubao has mastered Healing Light to its peak before we put on a performance. It’s still early; let’s try again in a few days.”

Seeing Little Treasure still looking dejected, she comforted it: “At least nobody noticed you were acting just now. If Lubao’s Healing Light evolved prematurely, it might not have been ideal.”

“Yap!”

Yabao nodded firmly in agreement.

“Xun…”

Little Treasure wobbled again, feeling even worse.

What’s with this growing sadness?

---

At 2:30 a.m., in the dead of night.

Little Treasure, holding a phone, practiced various facial expressions in the darkened living room, copying the actors in the video.

Just then, Yang Du, yawning, came out of his room to go to the restroom.

He noticed the faint glow downstairs and instinctively walked over to the railing. As he looked down, a shiver ran through him, instantly dispelling any sleepiness.

The light from the phone screen cast an eerie glow over Little Treasure's face, already smaller and more unusual in shape, creating a creepy atmosphere.

That alone wasn’t too alarming, Yang Du had encountered many ghost-type pet beasts before. He wasn’t easily frightened.

The issue was that Little Treasure's expression morphed in a split second from sadness to a silent, wide grin, creating a terrifying, horror-movie-like scene.

Yang Du quickly returned to his room, suddenly no longer needing the restroom.

Little Treasure, engrossed in practicing serious expressions from the video, was completely unaware that he had just extinguished someone’s desire to go to the bathroom.

The next morning.

Qiao Sang entered the classroom, finding her fellow top students meditating as usual.

After morning self-study, someone suddenly exclaimed, “Hey! Where’s my breakfast?!”

Everyone turned their gaze over.

“What’s wrong?”

“My breakfast I left in my desk drawer, gone!”

The class didn’t believe it.

“No way. Maybe you just misplaced it.”

“Are you sure you brought it to class?”

“Maybe you’re remembering wrong?”

Only Qiao Sang froze, a sense of foreboding creeping over her.

She turned her head, covering half her face with her hand, and whispered, “Could it have been you?”

No one answered.

After about half a minute, the same student who’d lost their breakfast exclaimed again, “This is creepy! My breakfast is back!”

They eagerly retrieved the bag from the drawer and opened it, only to have their expression fall.

A voice full of sorrow echoed through the classroom: “Who ate half my breakfast?!”

That day, word spread through the school: The snack-stealing pet beast from the third-year classes had likely set its sights on the first-year wing.

6:57 p.m.

Qiao Sang was working on her homework in her room.

“Lu.” Lubao flowed in through the door crack, re-forming and nudging Qiao Sang with a paw.

Qiao Sang turned and blinked.

“You mean Rain Prayer?”

“Lu!”

Lubao nodded, then sat on the floor and started counting with her claws.

It’s been days!

“Well, I’ve thought about how to learn Rain Prayer, but right now, we still need to spend most of our time on Healing Light.” Qiao Sang replied.

“Lu!”

Lubao set down her half-counted claws and nodded in agreement.

Qiao Sang put down her pen and led Lubao to a part of the courtyard unaffected by the meteor rain, saying, “To do Rain Prayer, you must first transform clouds into dark clouds, which are formed by condensed mist droplets. Your first task is to figure out how to condense mist droplets.”

“Lu lu?”

Lubao asked what mist droplets were.

“Mist droplets are the tiny drops that make up fog.” Qiao Sang explained.

“You can already create water mist, which is another form of fog, just in a different state. Try gathering the water mist as tightly as possible to see if you can convert it into droplets.”

“Lu lu!”

Lubao nodded and started regulating her energy.

Soon, a soft, veil-like mist blanketed the area, increasing the humidity noticeably.

“Lu lu.” Lubao tried condensing the mist.

Gradually, the mist darkened, and the air grew even more humid.

But soon the mist dispersed.

“Not bad! It looks like this is the right direction. With more practice, you should be able to do it.” Qiao Sang encouraged.

“Lu lu!” Shuilu Yana nodded vigorously, feeling confident too!

“But for now, the focus is still on practicing Healing Light. If you want to practice Rain Prayer, maybe wait until Little Treasure isn’t smashing tiles.” Qiao Sang reminded.

Actually, once you evolve, you can practice whenever you want. She added this thought to herself, careful not to mention it aloud, afraid Lubao would remember her unfortunate evolution requirements.

“Lu lu!” Lubao gave a no problem expression.

Over the next six days, Yabao, Little Treasure, and Lubao all kept up their training, adding an extra task, sparring practice.

Following the original schedule, they would normally have no time for sparring except on weekends.

But to help Lubao’s progress, Qiao Sang sped up her homework, finishing an hour earlier each night.

Otherwise, at Lubao’s current training pace, without any special advantages, it would be challenging to master Healing Light’s final form before evolving.

At the Hong Ying Beast Battle Club, in the sparring room.

The training was wrapping up, and Qiao Sang checked the time, calling out, “Water Stream Jet!”

In an instant, a little Fat Dove lay defeated at Lubao’s feet.

“Lu lu.”

Lubao swished her tail proudly and trotted over to Qiao Sang.

“Your little Fat Dove’s speed is decent, but its flight path is too predictable. Anyone could read it instantly.” Qiao Sang pointed out.

The sixteen-year-old girl blinked, then looked thrilled.

“My Fat Dove’s speed is decent, really?!”

Qiao Sang paused.

“In comparison to others of its species, yes.”

Girl: ...

That night, after her nighttime routine, Qiao Sang lay in bed, entered the Beast Taming Book in her mind, flipped to Lubao’s page, and added more points to Healing Light.

Soon, the data changed.

Healing Light (Peak: 10,001/20,000) +