Lu Jinlun hadn't noticed his Guardian Beast's little antics at first. When he followed Su Ya's gaze, he couldn't help but gag.
"Cai Chui, how many times have I told you? Stop digging around in that big walnut's butt."
"If you do it again, I'll nail your beak to the..."
Lu Jinlun realized he was losing his composure in front of Su Ya and quickly cut himself off.
He cleared his throat, about to say something, when Su Ya spoke.
"President, during the Soul Awakening Ceremony I hosted today, there was indeed an Awakened whose potential is, at a minimum, A Level. It's even possible they could reach A+ Level."
"However, I didn't give a final evaluation of this Awakened's potential."
Hearing this, Lu Jinlun's brow furrowed slightly as he looked up at Su Ya.
He waited for Su Ya to continue.
'Failing to accurately assess and record an Awakened's potential would be a dereliction of duty for an Awakening Master like Su Ya.'
'She couldn't have come here just to tell me this.'
"President, the reason I didn't give a final evaluation of this Awakened's potential is because they are the Servant of another Awakened."
"And that master's Lifebound Guardian Beast is an Order Beast!"
"When I was routinely probing the Soul Base during the Soul Awakening Ceremony, I was repelled by the Power of Rules."
Upon hearing this, Lu Jinlun's breath caught, and his furrowed brow instantly smoothed out.
He couldn't help but laugh heartily, repeating the word "good" three times.
"Good! Good! Good!"
"Our Starlight City has finally produced another Celestial Destiny Seeker!"
Compared to the other Heroic Cities of the Xin Xia Federation, Starlight City was ranked in the upper-middle tier in most respects. However, for the last ten years, the number of newly awakened Celestial Destiny Seekers here had been in the lower echelons.
Now, with one more, the number of Celestial Destiny Seekers in Starlight City over the past decade could finally escape the lower tier and reach the middle.
In a full decade, including this new one, only three have appeared in Starlight City.
This just went to show how incredibly rare Celestial Destiny Seekers were!
"By the way, where is our newly awakened Celestial Destiny Seeker now?"
"I must go and pay him a personal visit shortly!"
Hearing Lu Jinlun's question, Su Ya quickly replied.
"The newly awakened Celestial Destiny Seeker is named Zhong Yi. He had his identity authenticated before the Awakening and is the owner of a Guardian Beast Shop."
"He took his Servant to a Secret Realm to raise their Guardian Beasts' Level. He said he didn't need my company, so I rushed over to report to you, President."
Like Su Ya, Lu Jinlun heard this and subconsciously assumed Zhong Yi was headed for one of the three Newbie Secret Realms that the Beastmaster Association kept open for newcomers.
"Su Ya, since you were the Awakening Master for this Celestial Destiny Seeker, you should come with me to see the other leaders."
"News of a new Celestial Destiny Seeker in Starlight City is something they all need to know immediately."
...
Meanwhile, Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling had already left the Zhenchong Commerce Association. They were now at the market located next to the Horned Demon Secret Realm in the North City Suburbs of Starlight City.
A market would form next to any Secret Realm, even those that didn't produce many resources, to say nothing of a resource-rich one like the Horned Demon Secret Realm.
These markets sold goods produced within the Secret Realms and also provided supplies for Guardian Beast Masters preparing to enter.
The market even had a special recruitment area where Guardian Beast Masters could find temporary teammates to form parties.
The whole market was a hub of bustling activity!
But unlike the markets in the city proper, the ones next to Secret Realms weren't as harmonious. They had an extra air of grit and wildness.
However, since squads from the Starlight Army patrolled the Secret Realm market, they would immediately intervene and punish any troublemakers if disputes or bloodshed occurred.
This ensured the security of the market.
Back at the Zhenchong Commerce Association, while Zhong Ling was contracting the Soul Vein Mother Butterfly and using it to control the Shattered Blade Butterflies, Zhong Yi had called Zhong Chenghuai to let him know they were safe.
He also told Zhong Chenghuai that he and Zhong Ling were going to explore a Secret Realm and would be back in a couple of days.
When he learned that both Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling had awakened their Lifebound Guardian Beasts and Beastmaster Talents, Zhong Chenghuai, on the other end of the line, couldn't help but weep tears of joy.
After hanging up, Zhong Chenghuai went about his business at the Guardian Beast Shop, planning to buy a few jugs of grain wine that evening.
He'd make a couple of side dishes to go with it and drink himself into a stupor.
The burden of the Guardian Beast Shop had always rested on Zhong Chenghuai's shoulders. Now, the two youngsters, Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling, could finally take over.
'Otherwise,' he thought, 'relying on an old Guardian Beast Master like me, whose Lifebound Guardian Beast's Origin is severely damaged, would only drag the shop's future further and further down.'
"Young Master, the sun is brutal today. It's so hot, the shirt on my back is almost soaked through."
As she spoke, Zhong Ling fanned herself rapidly with her left hand, beads of sweat already rolling down her face.
Zhong Yi saw this and said with a smile.
"Xiaolingdang, you're a Guardian Beast Master now. In addition to your Lifebound Guardian Beast, you've also contracted the Soul Vein Mother Butterfly, so you have two Beast Patterns on your body."
"Try to activate your Beast Patterns. If you do, you'll find most of the heat will disappear."
When a Guardian Beast was contracted, a Beast Pattern would appear on the Guardian Beast Master's body. It didn't just symbolize the bond between Master and Beast.
The Beast Pattern also served as an enhancement for the Guardian Beast Master; every Beast Pattern, regardless of the Guardian Beast it came from, granted a certain amount of Elemental Resistance.
Although the boost to Elemental Resistance was minuscule at the Mortal Beast Level, it was still very effective against the ninety-seven-degree heat.
Of her two butterfly-shaped Beast Patterns, the one for the Wangyu Butterfly was on her right shoulder blade, which counted as a torso location.
Beast Patterns that appeared on the head, torso, or limbs after contracting a Guardian Beast were known as Major Beast Patterns.
Meanwhile, the Soul Vein Mother Butterfly's Beast Pattern had appeared on Zhong Ling's right ring finger. Patterns appearing on the fingers were known as Minor Beast Patterns.
Major Beast Patterns focused on a general enhancement of the physical attributes of that body part, while Minor Beast Patterns tended to specialize the Guardian Beast Master's use of their Guardian Beast's Abilities through the pattern.
While Major and Minor Beast Patterns were different, both were useful to a Guardian Beast Master, and neither was definitively better than the other.
In Zhong Yi's case, because he hadn't contracted Hong Ji through his Soul Base, she hadn't formed a Beast Pattern on his body.
The Beast Pattern for his Lifebound Guardian Beast, the Resurrection Celestial Lord, was on his left wrist. Normally, when he didn't activate it, the pattern was just an incredibly faint mark, difficult for anyone to spot without looking closely.
But the moment Zhong Yi activated it with Soul Power, the Resurrection Celestial Lord's Beast Pattern would immediately turn a vibrant gold and green and begin to spread.
After activating her Beast Patterns, Zhong Ling said in pleasant surprise.
"Young Master, I'm not hot anymore after activating the Beast Patterns! It really worked!"
"You said we're going to the Horned Demon Secret Realm. We should be able to withstand the high temperatures inside by activating our Beast Patterns, right?"