Experience +1!
A miracle!
'I can't believe the Grouper Fish can actually learn the Kunpeng Secret Technique.'
Gu Ming looked at his phone and took a deep breath.
The progress was small, but it was definitely working.
'As long as the Grouper Fish learns the Devouring Evolution Talent, its future potential will surely surpass the Little Cyan Snake's.'
However, he didn't know how long the training would take. The Grouper Fish's time was almost up; it only had a few months left to live.
'If it dies of old age before it learns the technique...'
The thought alone was tragic.
Life-extending medicines were all astronomically priced, not something Gu Ming could consider at his current stage.
He could only leave it to fate.
He would read the paper to the Grouper Fish whenever he had time. After all, his main focus was still on cultivating the Little Cyan Snake.
The Grouper Fish flapped its fins, its large, murky eyes looking at Gu Ming.
'What did I just hear? It felt like the knowledge went in one ear and out the other.'
The Little Cyan Snake flicked its tongue, hissing softly to show that it had memorized it.
The Grouper Fish was powerless to argue.
Rumor has it that fish only have a seven-second memory.
It was a Spirit Pet Fish, so its intelligence was much better than an ordinary fish's.
But it was old and truly had trouble remembering things, to say nothing of long-winded dissertations.
Gu Ming chatted with his two pets for a while longer, then left for work.
After today's "Experience +1" incident, Gu Ming's desire to study the system grew even stronger.
The system mistook the elderly Grouper Fish for a Juvenile Kunpeng, and the Little Cyan Snake for a Time Dragon whose time was running out.
'If I keep training it like this, I might actually manage to raise a "Kunpeng" capable of Devouring Evolution.'
At this thought, Gu Ming glanced at the Little Cyan Snake on his shoulder.
'Maybe I can go along with the system's mistake and raise the Little Cyan Snake as a "Time Dragon" too.'
Despite the Little Cyan Snake's small size and delicate appearance, it was only a month old and still in its Juvenile Stage.
The Mana fluctuations from its body were on par with, or even faintly surpassed, those of a two or three-month-old Cyan Snake.
An entire night of Cultivation had allowed its Cultivation Technique to complete ten Circulations.
If it continued like this every day, it might meet the requirements to form an Inner Core in just nine days, far ahead of schedule.
Cyan Snakes have a relatively short growth cycle; they reach their Adolescent Stage at six months and their Adult Stage at one year old.
Generally, a Cyan Snake will form its Inner Core and step into the One-star Realm somewhere between its Adolescent and Adult Stage.
If it could form its Inner Core before the Adolescent Stage, its future potential would surely rise even higher.
Gu Ming tucked the Little Cyan Snake's head into his pocket to hide it from Sister Ruan, then stepped into the shop in the community complex, greeted her, and went inside to change for work.
After a busy day, as Gu Ming was getting off work, he casually asked Sister Ruan a few questions.
The questions were all very simple. Sister Ruan found it strange, but she answered them anyway.
"Why are you asking about all this?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just saw some stuff online that I didn't really get, so I thought I'd ask you. I'm good now."
Gu Ming acted mysterious and didn't reveal the truth.
He left a bewildered Sister Ruan behind and departed the shop with the Little Cyan Snake.
Sister Ruan had no idea what Gu Ming was up to, though she did find it odd that she hadn't seen the Little Cyan Snake all day.
By the time she thought to ask Gu Ming, he was already gone.
"What's he running off so fast for..." Sister Ruan muttered.
...
[You consulted Elder Ruan at the office about the Elder Dragon's secret Talent.]
[Elder Ruan nodded, acknowledging that this Elder Dragon indeed possesses a Time Talent that can lock its lifespan.]
[In other words, it possesses an extremely rare Time Element Talent, but it is unknown for how long it can lock its lifespan.]
[A rare Time Element Talent like this is a once-in-ten-thousand-years occurrence. Even Elder Ruan had to admit that Gu Ming is now in great danger. She even regrets giving him this Elder Dragon, as she herself has become greedy for it.]
[Wielding a Time Element Pet Beast without having advanced to One-star, and bringing an unevolved Kunpeng cub back to the Sect, you will surely be targeted by villains later on.]
[Elder Ruan reminds you not to go out for the time being. It is best to enter seclusion until you can protect yourself before venturing out again.]
The text above was the system's story progression, triggered after Gu Ming questioned Sister Ruan.
In reality, Gu Ming hadn't asked about the Time Dragon at all. He had only asked about minor details regarding the Little Cyan Snake's cultivation—all trivial points of knowledge.
He could have found most of it with a simple online search.
Sister Ruan's demeanor had also been perfunctory and casual; she showed no sign of being moved by greed.
After all, it was just a Little Cyan Snake. The shop had plenty of them, so who would get greedy over one?
Gu Ming was actually using a real-world interaction to advance the plot in the other world.
He guessed that the system had somehow misaligned a future timeline or a parallel world with his reality.
Perhaps it was more appropriate to call the system's function "Text-Based Beast Taming" for now.
"A Time Element Talent... No, that's not right."
Gu Ming analyzed silently. 'The system has some sort of cognitive impairment, and I can't afford to be led astray by its foolishness. The real Little Cyan Snake is only a month old. Its lifespan should be several years at a minimum, and it's right in the middle of its growth phase. It's impossible for it to die. And because the real Little Cyan Snake can't die of old age, the "Time Dragon" in the system's plot can't die either. The two are connected, yet distinct from each other.'
As for the villains mentioned by the system, that part made Gu Ming concerned.
'Will I be ambushed?'
'Modern society is much safer than it was decades ago. Robbery and murder aren't that common anymore. The core of the law enforcement teams are also Beastmasters. If someone commits robbery and murder, a Beastmaster from the team will come to enforce the law. That kind of thing is more likely to happen in the poorly regulated areas outside the cities. Considering the system's tendency for exaggeration, this "calamity" could just be something like a sparring match.'
Mulling over this analysis, Gu Ming returned home. As soon as he opened the front door, he noticed his bedroom door was open.
'What's going on? Did we get robbed?'
A suspicious look crossed his face. He remembered closing the door before he left, so how was it open now?
'The system just warned me about a potential ambush, but weren't they supposed to be after the Little Cyan Snake? Don't tell me the system wasn't exaggerating this time?'
He released the Little Cyan Snake and secretly gave it a look, signaling for it to go inside and scout the area.
The Little Cyan Snake hit the floor, quickly zipped around the room, and then came back.
Nothing was wrong.
Through the Pet Beast Contract, Gu Ming knew that the Fish Tank was still in the room, the Grouper Fish was fine, and nothing inside had been disturbed.
He then had the Little Cyan Snake slither into the other rooms to check them out.
A moment later, the Little Cyan Snake crawled back, flicking its tongue to indicate that there was nothing unusual.
"Did I forget to close the door?"
'That can't be right. I have that ten-million check. I definitely wouldn't carry it with me to work. I left the check in my room and locked the door specifically to keep my family from taking the money.'
'Oh no! They were after the check!'
Gu Ming instantly understood the crucial point. He rushed into his bedroom, found the third textbook on the right side of his desk, pulled it out, and flipped to the page in the middle where the check was hidden.
Completely empty.
He frantically flipped through the other pages, but even after going through the entire book, he still couldn't find it.
At that moment, he knew who had opened his door.
'It was Mom and Dad!'
"Damn it, they took the money to go gamble!"
Gu Ming had barely finished speaking when he heard footsteps.
It was the sound of his parents returning home. He'd heard those footsteps for years and recognized them instantly. They must have come back from gambling. They might have even won, otherwise they wouldn't be humming.
"Humm humm~ Oh, son, you're here! Quick, come see the Pet Beast I caught~"
"Don't be nervous, son. We did this for your own good. This is Spirit Medicine to expand your Sea of Spiritual Consciousness. We didn't waste the money, see? Our family's future is all on you now."
The old couple played off each other perfectly. Anyone who didn't know the situation would have thought they'd really just come home after a big win.
Gu Ming had been about to get angry, but when he heard they had bought Spirit Medicine to expand his Sea of Spiritual Consciousness and even brought back a cub, he hesitated.
'Two gambling addicts took a ten-million check... and didn't go gamble with it? Has the sun risen in the west?'
He turned and went back to the living room, his eyes falling on the juvenile Pangolin that Mr. Gu was holding.