Font Size:
Chapter 37
With two weeks left until the start of the ranking competition, Mu Huiyue and her two pet beasts smoothly carried on with their training and daily routines.
Thanks to the Resting Cabin within the Beast Taming Space, it was essentially like having an always-active healing center, eliminating worries about the pets’ condition in the wild.
As for the World Tree leaves used as consumables for healing—which essentially represent Mu Huiyue’s stamina—her sense of security was bolstered by the massive supply of Beast Tamer Outdoor Survival Energy Food that had already been delivered to her home.
Even with the Resting Cabin, Mu Huiyue still purchased a sufficient quantity of dark-element crystals as extraordinary resources to store in her Beast Taming Space, ready for any unexpected situations.
In addition, supplies such as medicinal sprays for humans, emergency sprays, and outdoor camping equipment were all prepared.
After completing the preparations, Mu Huiyue was faced with a dilemma as she stared at the mountain of supplies.
Unfortunately, items without extraordinary energy could not be stored in the Beast Taming Space. Moreover, this world had not yet developed true spatial technology, so items like spatial pouches usable by humans simply didn’t exist.
Being well-prepared was one thing, but carrying this massive pile of supplies into the wild was clearly impractical—it would slow Mu Huiyue’s movements.
Even though Beast Tamers don’t directly engage in combat, they also shouldn’t become a burden that drags down the team or affects the outcome of a battle.
The issue of carrying supplies was ultimately resolved with Ellen’s help.
Having evolved into a Shadow Fang Soldier and gained the innate skill Shadow Stealth, Ellen’s control over shadow spaces had deepened significantly. It could now bring other dark-attribute beings into its stealth space along with it.
Non-living supplies such as camping gear and energy food could also be stored in the shadow space, as long as Ellen wrapped them in a layer of its accompanying dark-attribute black mist.
In particular, the shadow space associated with Mu Huiyue’s own shadow, where Ellen spent most of its time, was perfectly suited for storing various items that were inconvenient to carry directly.
Although prolonged storage would inevitably cause the items to absorb a dark-attribute aura, it was of no consequence to Mu Huiyue, who had a natural affinity and enhancement for dark attributes.
This skill essentially gave her a personal storage space hidden within her shadow, which left Mu Huiyue astonished.
She even asked Ellen specifically about the capacity of this space: how much could it actually hold?
The answer she received was that it could accommodate roughly the size of an average three-bedroom apartment.
Mu Huiyue was stunned once again.
Underneath her shadow… there was actually such an expansive space?
She had assumed the space would only be as large as the shadow cast by her body, but it seemed that the shadow space and real-world dimensions were not directly equivalent.
Either way, solving the problem of carrying supplies was all that mattered.
Relieved, Mu Huiyue entrusted all the prepared supplies to Ellen. She watched as the Shadow Fang Soldier slowly enveloped everything in black mist before disappearing into her shadow with it, a process that felt truly magical.
Additionally, during the special training period, Mu Huiyue completed several battle and cultivation tasks from the previous two weeks, earning enough for a new ten-pull draw, which she used just before the training ended.
This time, she didn’t manage to draw any SSR-tier items, but she did get two SR-tier items as guaranteed pulls: one Spatial Fruit for expanding the Beast Taming Space, and one Enhanced Experience Fruit for her pet beasts.
As for R-tier items, she received the familiar Experience Fruit, along with a C-Rank Skill Book: Missile Shot.
This was a C-rank steel-type ranged attack skill. Since neither Ellen nor White Fang could learn it, the skill book was essentially useless.
Most of the remaining items were small snacks for Ellen and White Fang.
Mu Huiyue decided to let White Fang consume the Enhanced Experience Fruit regardless.
SR-tier resources were of excellent quality, and the improvements they brought were significant.
With two SR-tier experience fruits, combined with the rigorous training over this period, the Little Cloudhound advanced three stages in one go. It finally broke through the tenth stage of its juvenile phase and reached the first stage of its growth phase.
During this Minor Evolution, which accompanied the rank breakthrough and a substantial increase in its base latent energy, it also evolved one of its skills. The Little Cloudhound mastered an upgraded version of the C-rank Shadow Ball, advancing to the B-rank dark-type attack skill: Lunar Burst.
[Name]: White Fang (Little Cloudhound)
[Attribute]: Dark
[Species Rank]: Mid-tier Battle General
[Growth Stage]: Growth Phase, Stage 1
[Core Talent]: Howl (Dark, C-rank)
[Skills]:
[Base Latent Energy Value]: 12,405P
Since White Fang’s species rank hasn’t evolved, the latent energy increase upon reaching the growth phase wasn’t as dramatic as that of the Shadow Fang Soldier, which belongs to a Monarch species. However, exceeding 10,000P in base latent energy is still an exceptional and rare feat among pet beasts of the same stage.
The largest boost to its stats naturally came from the B-rank skill Lunar Burst.
Lunar Burst channels dark energy from within, triggering a chain reaction with external energies to create a violent explosion that impacts both mental and physical realms. It is one of the most outstanding offensive skills among dark-type abilities.
Even when directly colliding with the countering skill Light Flame, it holds its own without any disadvantage.
Combined with Mu Huiyue’s Beast Taming Talent, Combat Resonance, it undoubtedly delivers extraordinary power during battles.
After White Fang’s advancement, Mu Huiyue also attempted to teach it the B-rank dark recovery skill, Moonlight Glow, but unfortunately, it was still unable to learn it.
As a mid-tier Battle General species, even after reaching the first stage of its growth phase, White Fang’s energy attributes are insufficient to sustain the demands of a B-rank teaching skill.
Learning the B-rank Lunar Burst during the Little Cloudhound stage was possible because White Fang had a solid foundation, having gradually upgraded from a C-rank skill.
Additionally, the teaching at Yanluo Book House and the effects of the Enhanced Experience Fruit played significant roles in this achievement.
With the Lunar Burst skill, Mu Huiyue felt confident that White Fang now had the strength to stand its ground against Lin Fei’s Rainbow Kite.
On the other hand, Ellen also made substantial progress during this special training period.
[Name]: Ellen (Shadow Fang Soldier)
[Attributes]: Dark, Undead
[Species Rank]: Low-tier Monarch
[Growth Stage]: Growth Phase, Stage 3
[Core Talent]: Shadow Stealth (Dark, B-rank)
[Skills]:
[Base Latent Energy Value]: 31,425P
By consuming several R-rank Experience Fruits, along with intense effort in the Training Grounds, Ellen successfully advanced to the third stage of its growth phase, surpassing the 30,000P threshold for base latent energy.
If White Fang is considered an outstanding contender among its peers of the same tier, Ellen’s presence has already surpassed what would typically be classified as the strength of a high school-level Beast Tamer.
Even if Mu Huiyue were to join a prestigious university’s competitive battle club as a first-year college student, she could secure a spot in the starting lineup.
Once Ellen advances to the Mature Phase, she would, like Xiang Xun, become a core member of a university battle club’s main team.
For monarch-species beasts, advancing to the Mature Phase is a guaranteed progression, without any thresholds or uncertainties.
Looking at Ellen’s stats alone, it’s hard to imagine it was once a low-tier Elite-species Little Skeleton, or even believe it is now merely a Shadow Fang Soldier.
With three B-rank skills and as a Growth Phase monarch-species beast equipped with Intimidate, Ellen’s power rivals what one might expect from a Secret Realm Lord in the upcoming Ranked Assessment Tournament, in Mu Huiyue’s estimation.
Moreover, Ellen’s strength isn’t limited to what the data panel shows.
It was Ellen’s exceptional battle instincts, honed to perfection during her time as a Little Skeleton, that truly formed the foundation of her strength, as if she had been tempered through countless battles.
Up until now, Ellen has never even appeared at a Gym, and almost no one knows that her Little Skeleton has long since evolved and transformed into a formidable monarch-species beast.
The Shadow Fang Soldier is undoubtedly Mu Huiyue’s hidden trump card. Therefore, for the pre-registration of the Ranked Tournament, she only submitted White Fang’s information as her primary public pet.
Considering that not all participants had advanced to the second-tier Beast Tamers, the Beast Tamer Association only required participants to submit the information for one pet.
Mu Huiyue had only recently awakened as a Beast Tamer a few months ago, and the general impression people had of her was that she was Mu Tong’s legendary daughter. The fact that she was bringing Little Cloudhound to compete was something that nearly every competitor and spectator could have guessed, making it the perfect cover.
She wasn’t arrogant enough to think that Ellen was invincible just yet.
Even Lin Fei, from her own school, who had not revealed his main pet, was enough to keep Mu Huiyue on alert. Moreover, there were participants from Hongzhou, whose performances in recent years at both high school and university level Beast Tamer competitions had been outstanding, and they were watching her closely.
Having an extra layer of preparation means an extra layer of backup and assurance, so it’s better to remain cautious during the preparation phase.
…
Not long after, the Beast Tamer Association sent out gathering notices to each participant.
Contestants from various states within the Great Yan Territory were required to first gather in the capital, where the Beast Tamer Association’s headquarters would dispatch an examination team to escort everyone to the exam venue, which was located in a secret realm.
Mu Huiyue had made all her preparations. In these final days, she canceled her rental apartment near the school and visited Yanluo Book House.
Boss Xiao’s business was gradually getting back on track.
With Mu Huiyue’s additional investment, she was able to rehire the training staff she had previously let go and find a new teaching space. Both online and offline teaching appointments were back up and running.
However, at present, the Travel Diary in Xiao Book’s collection contained fewer than ten skills. Restoring the previous scale of the business would still take a long time.
After learning that Mu Huiyue would be participating in the national Ranked Tournament, Luo Yin originally planned to provide more training for the two pets but couldn’t find suitable skills.
White Fang had already mastered Moon Explosion and Shadow Step, and Ellen wasn’t particularly interested in those skills. She suggested to the Beast Tamer that it would be better to continue improving the effectiveness of Shadow Stealth.
The Shadow Fang Soldier had excellent battle awareness, and when it came to learning skills and preparing tactics, Mu Huiyue had always respected his opinions.
Ellen believed that the necessary skills and combinations were the ones most suited to her.
She handed over the skill books Flame Tail and Missile Shot from her recent card draws to Luo Yin.
However, the skill books she had were all C-tier skills, which didn’t have much market advantage in the training institution scene. The future of Yanluo Book House still relied on Boss Xiao’s own efforts.
The day before leaving, Mu Huiyue made a special trip to the gym’s training grounds to visit Red Flame Fighting Wolf Pari.
It was said that fire-type pets had a quick temper and were easily angered, but Pari was completely the opposite. All of its emotions were restrained, and it always trained silently, quietly completing everything its human needed.
Even though Mu Huiyue wasn’t its Beast Tamer, Pari had never shown impatience with her.
Mu Huiyue wasn’t sure if this change came after Pari was “abandoned,” but she really liked the gentle, silent Red Flame Fighting Wolf.
After this trip to the capital for the national Ranked Tournament, she probably wouldn’t return to Changning City in the short term.
After the tournament, it would be time for college admissions. With just one month left of summer vacation, she planned to visit the city where her future university was located.
Mu Yixia had already been designated to attend Xingzhou University, which was affiliated with Mu Tong, but Mu Huiyue didn’t want to deal with the tense family dynamics once she entered university. She would definitely choose a university outside of Xingzhou.
Perhaps the Capital University, where Xiang Xun was, would be a good option?
No matter where she chose, she would likely rarely return to the Changning City dojo during her university years.
So, she wanted to say a proper goodbye to Pari, the one she would miss the most here.
White Fang was being held by the Beast Tamer, its little paws clinging to Mu Huiyue’s arm as it reluctantly touched noses with the tall Red Flame Fighting Wolf.
For the past two months, every day, it has spent its time in the dojo’s training grounds, training alongside the Red Flame Fighting Wolf.
It can be said that all of its combat techniques were taught by Teacher Pari, step by step.
The powerful figure of the Red Flame Fighting Wolf also provided White Fang with immense emotional support, and it wants to become as strong and handsome as Teacher Pari.
However, Pari’s gaze towards it was filled with sadness.
The fate of a pet beast that cannot evolve is the best proof of what lies ahead—Pari himself.
White Fang’s situation is even more severe. The Little Cloud Dog’s talent core skill doesn’t even have an evolutionary form to the Fighting Wolf stage.
Even though Pari worked hard to pass on combat skills and proficiency to White Fang, these slight advantages can only sustain it at the Little Cloud Dog stage.
Once White Fang’s companions begin to evolve into the Lord or even Emperor species, no matter how hard it tries, it will never be able to catch up with the power of its kind.
Seemingly sensing Pari’s concerns, Mu Huiyue reached out and gently rubbed the thick neck fur of the Red Flame Fighting Wolf, which burned like flames.
“I know that no words can make a difference right now… But I will prove that the path of evolution is not limited to just this one way, Pari.”
Mu Huiyue said earnestly.
Since Ellen was able to change her core talent skill during her evolution, White Fang should be able to as well, as long as she can figure out the reasons behind it…
“You’ve never wanted to believe this, which is why you’ve kept working so hard until now, right?”
“Don’t give up on everything, Pari. Your efforts will never be in vain. The future will surely reward you somewhere.”
“Woof woo…!”
White Fang paused for a moment, then tilted its head up and gently rubbed against the Beast Master’s chin.
The same words had been spoken to it when they first met.
The Little Cloud Dog’s gaze became resolute for a moment as it looked at the tall, sorrowful Red Flame Wolf in front of it.
“Woof woo!” (I will try my best too, Teacher Pari!)
“Woof woo woof woo!” (So, Teacher, wait here for the good news of our victory!)
Pari’s gaze softened slightly. It lowered its head and licked the Little Cloud Dog’s head.
It also hoped to see Mu Huiyue and White Fang walk a path different from their predecessors.
“Well then, let’s go, Pari.”
Mu Huiyue said her final farewell, taking White Fang in her arms and walking away with Ellen hidden in her shadow.
Pari watched the human girl’s retreating figure, then tilted its head back and let out a mighty, sorrowful howl.
“Howl—”
“Howl—”
It was the Red Flame Fighting Wolf’s heartfelt farewell, filled with reluctance and its sincerest blessings for the humans and its kin it cherished.