Chapter 7

Generally speaking, a mystical beast’s skills are learned from other mystical beasts, which is why Xu Ling was so surprised to hear that Xiao Feng the little Swiftwind Dog had independently comprehended the skills “Wind Vortex” and “Cloudfall.”

But Xia Muqing knew very well that in the game, whenever any of the five-dimensional attributes exceeds 90, the mystical beast has a chance to spontaneously comprehend skills related to that attribute. However, the timing and effectiveness of this comprehension depend on the environment and the beast’s learning talent.

When the five-dimensional attribute is between 70 and 90, the mystical beast cannot comprehend the related skills on its own, but it can learn them through training. The lower the attribute value, the slower the learning and the weaker the skill’s effect.

Raising the five-dimensional attributes is very demanding, with evolution being the most common method, and the amount of improvement varying widely. When a mystical beast’s one five-dimensional attribute exceeds 95, it has the potential to become a divine beast. It’s expected that it will most likely learn divine skills in the future and might enter a hidden evolution path during its second stage of evolution.

The requirements for the five-dimensional attributes differ among various divine beasts, and divine skills vary in all kinds of strange ways. These have to be analyzed case by case.

Early the next morning, Xia Muqing took Xiao Feng to a training ground.

She had already booked a teacher on the app the night before.

The teacher was a Flame-Patterned Hawk mystical beast belonging to a third-year senior at the Beast Master University. She was taking advantage of the school holidays to earn some extra money.

When she saw Xia Muqing holding the Swiftwind Dog, the senior was quite surprised: “Are you sure you want it to learn ‘Intimidation’?”

“Really sure? That’s a mental-type skill, and we charge by the hour. If it can’t learn it, I won’t pay for it,” the senior warned.

Xia Muqing nodded repeatedly.

While the Swiftwind Dog worked hard to learn, Xia Muqing sat nearby and asked the senior about the situation at Beast Master University.

The senior’s surname was Wen, and she was very kind, answering all Xia Muqing’s questions.

When Xia Muqing asked about exploring alternate dimensions, Senior Wen looked a bit fearful: “The Adventure major really does have related practical activities, and it’s quite dangerous. Last time a friend of mine got injured there and barely escaped… But don’t worry, that’s far from where you are.”

“Beast tides? I haven’t experienced them but heard about them from teachers. However, those are managed by security departments, so students don’t have to worry about them before choosing careers.”

Time flew by during their chat, and soon the entire morning passed. After the training, Xia Muqing transferred two thousand star coins to the senior’s account. Looking at the balance, her heart ached.

Raising a mystical beast is really expensive.

Previously, Xiao Feng had independently comprehended two skills, which saved her a lot of money, but this time, paying for learning the ‘Intimidation’ skill made Xia Muqing finally feel the terrifying drain of money.

The key was the learning progress…

Xiao Feng drooped its head and ears, pitifully curling up at Xia Muqing’s feet: “Awooo.”

It hadn’t learned it.

This was normal. Many mystical beasts take months to learn skills, and since Xiao Feng was timid and ‘Intimidation’ wasn’t its strong suit, it was especially difficult.

Xia Muqing rubbed its little head and comforted it: “It’s okay, we’ll keep going tomorrow.”

“Are you still going to learn it?” Senior Wen came over, “I actually think the Swiftwind Dog doesn’t need this skill, it’d be better off learning ‘Fierce Bite.’ But if you insist on learning it… why not book me again for tomorrow?”

“I’ll give you a 10% discount.”

—

On the way home, Xia Muqing suddenly received a phone call.

It was from Teacher Li. Her voice on the phone was soft and seemed a little apologetic: “Xia Muqing, actually, even if you’re placed in the regular department, you can still continue to train your mystical beast. If the training goes well, there’s still a chance to transfer into the Beast Master Department before the college entrance exam… though you will miss out on some of the school’s training resources.”

“Also, I think your little Swiftwind Dog has great talent. I did some more research these past two days, and the path to learning non-melee skills isn’t without basis. Don’t give up on yourself…”

Xia Muqing: “…?”

Xia Muqing was completely puzzled. How come yesterday Teacher Li thought she was rebellious and independent, but today she’s saying she’s giving up on herself?

Just as she was wondering this, Xia Muqing received another call—this time from Xu Ling.

On the phone, Xu Ling was furious: “Muqing, have you seen the class group chat?”

“I’m so mad! That bastard Liu Pan exposed that the Swiftwind Dog you raised was a defective mystical beast he returned! He said you couldn’t even afford a proper mystical beast and would pick up trash like that—damn him!”

Xia Muqing: “…”

Xia Muqing laughed and cried at the same time: “So that’s what’s going on. No wonder Teacher Li thought I was giving up on myself.”

Xu Ling: “I can’t wait. When will that guy finally realize that your little Swiftwind Dog has top-tier traits?”

“I want to see him get slapped in the face, a big slap, hurry up!”

Xia Muqing smiled gently: “Don’t worry, that day will come.”

“Besides, now that this has spread, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Everyone thinks my mystical beast’s aptitude is poor and looks down on me, right?”

“Being underestimated by your opponent is perfect for me to quietly develop.”

As for the fact that her contracted mystical beast is a Swiftwind Dog, Xia Muqing didn’t mind it being revealed.

Actually, if you observe carefully, you can figure out what kind of mystical beasts everyone is raising. But even if they know the type, they don’t know her training path. And since everyone is underestimating her now, they won’t bother targeting her.

But Liu Pan’s behavior was truly disgusting.

Xia Muqing picked up the little Swiftwind Dog, pressed it gently against her forehead, and softly shook it: “Xiao Feng, people are looking down on us.”

“Yes, that scary green snake. We’re not afraid of it. One day, we’ll knock it down, okay?”

“Okay, you’ll help me get back at it. So Xiao Feng, you have to learn ‘Intimidation’ quickly.”

—

That said, the learning process for Xiao Feng was not smooth.

Even though it had made up its mind, its personality weaknesses were not easy to overcome, and learning skills wasn’t something that happened overnight.

In the following five days, Xia Muqing booked Senior Wen to teach every day, spending nearly ten thousand star coins, but Xiao Feng still couldn’t grasp the threshold of ‘Intimidation.’

It felt very frustrated with itself, believing it had let Xia Muqing down. For several days it was listless and barely interested in eating.

Xia Muqing had to temporarily pause the training of “Intimidation” and instead focused on strengthening the training of “Wind Vortex” and “Cloudfall” to help the little Swiftwind Dog regain confidence.

“This can’t go on like this…”

How could she find a way to help Xiao Feng quickly master the new skill?

Xia Muqing thought hard and tossed and turned in bed at night, worried.

But this wasn’t something that would improve just because she was anxious.

In fact, the more anxious Xia Muqing appeared, the more helpless the Swiftwind Dog would feel, which was even worse for learning the new skill.

So even though she was anxious inside, Xia Muqing had to act very relaxed—for the sake of helping Xiao Feng relax, she took a day on the weekend and took it to an amusement park.

After playing all day, when the park closed, it was already completely dark.

The amusement park was on the outskirts of the city, with few people around, and the bus only came every ten or so minutes. Xia Muqing held the little Swiftwind Dog at the bus stop, with only a few scattered passengers nearby, boredly sitting on benches smoking or playing on their phones.

The outskirts were wide and sparsely populated, with no residential areas or shopping districts along the road—just a dark, empty stretch as far as the eye could see.

Standing in the cold wind, Xia Muqing touched her exposed elbow and felt a chill.

The little Swiftwind Dog immediately curled up close, resting its small head in the crook of her arm. Its fluffy fur naturally gave off warmth, helping to chase away the night’s cold.

Xia Muqing stroked its back and occasionally scratched under its chin, the Swiftwind Dog let out a few comfortable whimpers.

But suddenly, its body stiffened.

“Xiao Feng?”

Xia Muqing looked down, confused, and saw the Swiftwind Dog’s back arch slightly. Its paws gripped her hand, teeth slightly bared, and its fur was trembling.

It was sensing danger!

Xia Muqing immediately became alert and looked in the direction the little Swiftwind Dog was warning her about.

The danger came from a man dressed in black standing behind her, his black hood pulled down low, carrying a huge, bulging canvas bag—

Just as Xia Muqing looked over, the man happened to lift his head, their eyes meeting exactly at that moment.

His gaze was filled with coldness, making Xia Muqing shiver instinctively.

She immediately realized: this is bad!

She shouldn’t have made eye contact with him! People with malicious intent have very sharp instincts, now he probably realized that she had noticed something was wrong!

Xia Muqing started to run, but the man reacted faster. He suddenly stepped forward and pressed tightly against her back, something hard pressed against her waist from behind.

“Don’t move, I have a gun!”

Xia Muqing: “…”

She felt like crying but had no tears—this was truly an unexpected disaster. At this close range, if he shot, the little Swiftwind Dog wouldn’t be able to save her, she would surely die.

“How did you find me?” the man’s voice was very low. “Are you from the security department?”

Xia Muqing’s mind raced: “Ah… yes, my teammates are nearby. If you don’t want to get caught, don’t act rashly…”

Maybe pretending to be from the security department would make him hesitate?

But the next second, Xia Muqing was disappointed because the man casually pulled out a student ID from the side pocket of her backpack.

“Bullshit, you little student,” the man licked the corner of his mouth, “Don’t make a sound, slowly back away. If you don’t, I’ll kill you!”