Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Clang!!!

The force meter shattered into pieces, the specially reinforced target burned through with a lingering scent of scorched material.

Fire Fang Dog looked at the results with satisfaction.

It turned around, eager to show off to its Beastmaster.

But it found her standing there, frozen, her eyes vacant as if she had just been struck by lightning.

“Yap?” Fire Fang Dog ran over, worried.

Could it be that its Beastmaster had suddenly gone dumb?

Qiao Sang stood in a daze for a long time before she accepted reality.

If heaven gave her another chance to do it all over again, she swore she would never set foot in this Pet Beast Gym with Fire Fang Dog.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone in the gym, Qiao Sang trembled as she took out her phone and dialed a number.

“Hello, Mom…”

An hour later, with her mother leading the way, Qiao Sang left the Pet Beast Gym.

“This is the third time in just a month.” Her mother said.

Qiao Sang knew exactly what she meant.

Once for the TV, once for the porcelain vase, and now the force-testing machine.

What her mother didn’t know was, there was also that wall in the alley…

“It’s all my fault." Qiao Sang admitted.

She was the one who brought Fire Fang Dog to watch TV, made it clean the house (which led to the vase incident), and insisted on testing its strength on the force-testing machine.

And that time in the alley…

“Of course it’s your fault.” Mother Ye said with a meaningful glance.

“The money will be deducted from your allowance, 2,000 alliance coins each month until it’s all paid off.”

Qiao Sang’s mind worked quickly.

Her mother had just compensated the pet beast gym 34,000 alliance coins.

At 2,000 per month, it would take over a year and five months to pay off…

What a human tragedy…

---

7:30 PM.

Qiao Sang studied the remaining competitors in the Bai Xin Competition with serious focus.

Today’s matches had narrowed the field to the top 16.

If she could win tomorrow, she’d be in the top 8.

Even though the rewards for places 4 to 10 weren’t as grand as those for the top three, the 30,000 alliance coins prize for finishing in the top 10 would be enough to cover her losses from today.

Qiao Sang glanced at the list she had just organized.

Of the top 16, including herself, only four Beastmasters had just one beginner-level beast.

The other 12 competitors had mid-level beasts.

Among those 12, three even had two mid-level beasts each.

A total of 15 mid-level beasts, if she could just avoid facing any of them…

She studied the list for over an hour.

“Yap.” Fire Fang Dog barked softly.

Qiao Sang looked down.

On the ground were three pairs of sunglasses in yellow, purple, and green.

“Yap Yap.” Fire Fang Dog looked at her, then at the sunglasses, clearly struggling with the choice.

“This one.” Qiao Sang pointed at the purple pair.

During the past few days of the competition, Fire Fang Dog had worn a different pair of sunglasses each day.

It had developed a mild case of decision fatigue, leaving Qiao Sang to make the choice.

Fire Fang Dog picked up the purple sunglasses and put them on, then turned to check itself out in the standing mirror nearby.

Qiao Sang chuckled at its actions, then suddenly remembered something and accessed the Beast Codex.

She had been so focused on the money she lost that she had forgotten to check what skill Fire Fang Dog had awakened.

Name: Fire Fang Dog

Attribute: Fire

Level: Beginner (160/1000)+

Skills: Bite (Beginner 74/100)+

Charge (Proficient 466/500)+

Fire Fang (Basic Mastery 609/2000)+

Ember (Basic Mastery 745/2000)+

Shadow Clone (Beginner 72/100)+

Fire Whirl (Proficient 118/500)+

Flame Charge (Beginner 1/100)+

Points: 220

In the past couple of days, Fire Fang Dog hadn’t stopped training, and all its stats had increased slightly.

Fire Whirl had advanced from Beginner to Proficient.

Since defeating Sand Fox, it had gained an additional 80 points, with another 14 points from defeating Mighty Pig.

The points from the two Sand Fox battles weren’t the same.

Qiao Sang guessed it was because the first time, Fire Fang Dog had fought alongside the family's Fat Dove, and although Fire Fang Dog landed the final blow, it only received a portion of the points.

The points earned from defeating Mighty Pig were also slightly different from those from previous battles with beginner-level beasts.

This must be due to the difference in strength.

Qiao Sang’s gaze shifted to the final skill on the list.

It turned out to be Flame Charge!

This skill was considered one of the more difficult mid-level skills to learn. Enrolling in a specialized training program for Flame Charge could easily cost six figures.

If she had the money to buy medicinal herbs for Fire Fang Dog’s baths, each bath would cost over 10,000 alliance coins. Soaking for half a month would cost nearly 160,000 alliance coins…

Qiao Sang was stunned for a moment.

In that case, she might have actually made a profit!

---

The Next Day.

Shouke Garden.

Beast Arena.

Qiao Sang spotted Bai Yunmiao in their usual spot.

“What’s up, did your parents argue again?” Qiao Sang asked, hugging Fire Fang Dog as she sat down beside her with a smile.

“Genius Qiao, you’re so smart!” Bai Yunmiao said with admiration.

Qiao Sang: …

“What were they fighting about this time?” Qiao Sang asked.

“Same as yesterday. I asked Golden Vine if it wanted to evolve into Sweetbinding Vine, then I told my parents, and my dad said it was because of my mom that I made this decision. Then the two of them started arguing.” Bai Yunmiao explained.

Qiao Sang: … Such a real married life…

She hadn’t even figured out how to console her when Bai Yunmiao suddenly exclaimed, “Genius Qiao you look different from a few days ago.”

Qiao Sang was taken aback and asked, “How am I different?”

“Your expression has changed. You had this calm, expert demeanor before, but today you look like you’re in high spirits.” Bai Yunmiao said with a grin, leaning in closer.

“Did something good happen?”

“How could you tell?” Qiao Sang sighed.

“What is it?” Bai Yunmiao asked eagerly.

“Well, yesterday, Fire Fang Dog broke a force-testing machine…” Qiao Sang paused.

Bai Yunmiao’s gaze involuntarily shifted to Fire Fang Dog, who was wearing sunglasses.

As expected of a fire-type beast. Its temperament could only be tolerated by someone like Genius Qiao. If it were her, there’s no way she could handle it.

Even if she ever contracted a second beast after further brain development, she would definitely never choose a fire type…

“Then, it learned Flame Charge.” Qiao Sang continued.

“Holy crap!” Bai Yunmiao’s eyes widened in shock.

Please give her ten thousand of these fire-type beasts!

Because there were fewer competitors and more time available, the 16-to-8 matches didn’t display all the pairing results on the big screen at once like previous days.

Instead, the pairings appeared one group at a time after each match.

The competitors didn’t have to line up in the back in advance either.

After each match, there would be a performance by a Beast Performer to entertain the audience.

As fireworks lit up the arena, the Beast Performer began their warm-up act.

Once the commentator and guest speaker finished their opening remarks, the photos on the big screen above the arena began to rotate.

Five seconds later, a pair of photos appeared on the screen.

“The first battle pairings are up! On one side, we have Lu You, with his mighty and powerful symbol of strength, the Little Dragon! And on the other side, we have Qiao Sang, the daring Beastmaster who chose a fire-type Fire Fang Dog as her first contract beast!” The commentator introduced with enthusiasm.

-----

-----