The First Nationwide Professional Registration Program...

"Come on, sign this contract, and I'll be your servant forever!"

The giant panda wore a fawning expression.

Xin'er hurriedly shoved her away. Without even having time to wipe her tears, she suddenly ran behind Xu Nan and clutched the hem of his clothes.

She pointed at the giant panda, her eyes full of terror.

The giant panda looked utterly bewildered. "Do I look a little ferocious?"

Xu Nan spread his hands. "You're okay. Xin'er, it's fine. This thing may have become a spirit, but it probably won't hurt anyone."

Xin'er stomped her foot, suddenly grabbed the phone from the table, and sent a WeChat message:

"What is that thing!?"

Her face was still deathly pale.

Xu Nan was somewhat nervous as well. He had never seen Xin'er run out of her room, much less hide behind him looking so frail.

As her brother, a protective urge naturally rose within him.

He replied on his phone as well:

"It's a giant panda. Haven't you seen one on a computer before?"

Xin'er stomped again and gritted her teeth as she replied:

"Of course I know it's a giant panda... Why is there a talking giant panda in our house!?"

Xu Nan paused slightly and said thoughtfully, "That's a long story..."

The giant panda blankly watched the two of them stand face-to-face and chat over WeChat, suddenly feeling as if she might be hallucinating.

Xin'er took a deep breath, then touched Xu Nan's arm to make sure he was unharmed before suddenly dashing upstairs.

Bang! The second-floor bedroom door slammed shut again.

Xin'er: Are you okay?

A warm feeling flashed through Xu Nan's heart. So she had been worried that he would never come back. That made sense. Without him, how was someone with such poor self-care skills supposed to survive?

No matter what, this national treasure had to be dealt with properly.

So he shoved the giant panda rather rudely. "Hey, I don't care where you came from or what you want. This is my home now."

"You need to leave."

The giant panda rolled onto the floor and shamelessly pleaded, "No! I've finally found my goddess, the master of my dreams. How could I leave her!"

"I want to protect her!"

Xu Nan rolled his eyes. This thing had none of the dignity of a national treasure. She was practically a rascal.

Could this thing have taken a liking to Xin'er?

Xu Nan felt a chill run down his spine, and his guard rose even higher. He gave one final warning. "Don't force me to cast a spell. I'm a very powerful spellcaster."

"Kill me, then. Kill me and let my corpse stay with my goddess."

The giant panda simply sprawled across Xu Nan's sofa without moving, like a salted fish that had lost its dreams. She muttered, "That makes no sense. With such a cute appearance, how could anyone refuse to make me their familiar?"

Xu Nan's mouth twitched. Without a word, he took the Iron Gauntlets and Innocent Staff from his Storage Bag, preparing to drive her out.

Even if he had to bear the crime of beating up a national treasure, he would drive this creature, which was even more shameless than himself, out of the house!

But just then, the giant panda rolled over and stared at him seriously. "Who are you to the goddess? Why do you live together?"

Xu Nan puffed out his chest. "I'm her brother!"

"Doesn't look like it." Xiao Xiao looked astonished as she scrutinized Xu Nan beneath her dark circles. "Your sleazy aura and the goddess's pure, noble aura are completely different styles."

Xu Nan chuckled. "That's none of your business. Also, the goddess you keep talking about is a man."

The giant panda sneered. "Don't even think about lying to me. Do you think I can't tell men and women apart?"

"Anyway, I don't care. I'm staying in your house until I earn the goddess's approval."

"Fine. Since the goddess doesn't want it, I'll reluctantly stay with you for now. This is a Lesser Familiar Contract. You should be satisfied, right?"

With that, she handed him a brand-new magical contract.

Xu Nan was actually somewhat surprised. Even a second-rank mage would need a long time to carefully draft a magical contract of this level.

Yet this giant panda had produced three contracts in succession, all conjured casually. Could she be an extremely powerful mage?

He carefully read it over, and the Innocent Staff in his hand nearly smashed into her forehead.

What Lesser Familiar Contract? It was practically an unconstrained Familiar Contract. Other than the nominal fact that this giant panda named Xiao Xiao was his pet, he got no benefits whatsoever!

"Are you a spellcaster?"

Xu Nan asked.

"No."

"Could you possibly become a Pandaren Monk?"

"Absolutely not."

"Would you make a qualified familiar?"

"Do I look like someone meant to be a mortal's familiar? Don't expect too much from me."

Xiao Xiao picked at bamboo as she spoke disdainfully.

Even Xu Nan, with his good temper, was thoroughly enraged.

He tore up the contract as he said, "Sorry, you should leave."

"I'd still prefer a cat, or maybe a crow."

Xiao Xiao immediately exploded. "You're looking down on giant pandas? I'm amazing."

"Have you watched Kung Fu Panda?"

Xu Nan was startled. "You know kung fu?"

Xiao Xiao said, "I can learn."

Xu Nan said, "...Leave!"

He waved the Innocent Staff and began mercilessly driving her out with a beating!

At first, Xiao Xiao relied on her thick hide and tried to remain glued to the sofa. But after taking several hits, she began howling, "What kind of staff is this!? Why does it hurt so much when it hits people?"

"Don't you know abusing a national treasure is illegal?"

"...I was wrong... Stop hitting me, I have internal injuries..."

"Boohoo... Have some pity on me and take me as your familiar... I only want to stay by the goddess's side..."

The giant panda sobbed miserably, clinging tightly to Xu Nan's leg while fearfully watching the Innocent Staff in his hand.

"Heh."

Xu Nan remained expressionless. "I'll get a big truck later and dump you in the nature reserve in the neighboring province. Do whatever you want there, but don't come harass me again."

"Our fate ends here. I know your first half of life was carefree, but now I'm teaching you a lesson. You need to understand that even national treasures can't do whatever they please."

Xiao Xiao was aggrieved to the extreme and lay listlessly on the floor.

"...My goddess... Can I really never see her again... Boohoo..."

Xu Nan felt a little sorry for her. This giant panda was obnoxious, but she was also rather mystical. Still, her earlier behavior had been utterly unbearable.

Besides, although another world had descended and a massive era of change was coming, raising a panda at home was ridiculous no matter how he looked at it.

"Could you take another look? Is this Familiar Contract okay?"

Xiao Xiao weakly handed over a formal Familiar Contract. Xu Nan accepted it with a pretense of seriousness, though he had already made up his mind.

But as he skimmed the contract, he suddenly saw a line—

Article 17: The familiar may share any form of energy required by the master. Energy consumption will be reduced by approximately half...

"Any form of energy?"

"Share it? Or split the burden? Wait..."

A flash of insight suddenly struck Xu Nan. He opened the Ron Sorcerer bloodline system and made an inquiry, receiving an answer that delighted him immensely!

The next second, his expression immediately changed.

"Forget it, forget it. I can't stand seeing others cry. Let's sign it."

With lightning speed, Xu Nan signed the normal Familiar Contract.

The giant panda looked confused. "Eh? Didn't you just say our fate ended here?"

Xu Nan smiled kindly. "No, that was just something I said in anger."

"I suddenly feel like we can continue it a little longer."

Xiao Xiao was utterly bewildered, but being allowed to stay in the house instead of getting thrown out by Xu Nan was enough to make her completely satisfied. She immediately scampered back to the garage.

Not long after, the cheerful sound of bamboo being gnawed on drifted out.

Xu Nan smiled faintly.

According to the system's prompt, familiars could help their masters complete tasks and provide some additional energy income—including the Shame Points unique to Ron Sorcerers!

In other words, the giant panda Xiao Xiao could help Xu Nan gain extra Shame Points. Although the points earned would be halved, where else could he find such a brazen and shameless familiar?

He believed that even if the quest system did not issue any tasks, this panda named Xiao Xiao could still stir up plenty of Shame Points for him!

"Profit, profit!" Xu Nan rubbed his hands excitedly, happily cleaned up the mess on the floor, and began making lunch.

After informing Xin'er through WeChat that the giant panda would be living in their garage for the foreseeable future, Xin'er seemed to gradually accept the fact.

After all, she was an online streamer and knew a great deal about the changes in the world.

Her brother had suddenly started keeping a panda. At first, she found it quite terrifying, but later, it did not seem like such a big deal.

After lunch, Xu Nan briefly checked Xiao Xiao's attributes and was shocked.

"You're actually female?"

Xu Nan could not help crying out.

In the garage, Xiao Xiao vigilantly hugged the bright green bamboo stalk tighter. "What do you want? Even if you're my master now, that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to me!"

Xu Nan felt his head ache. "What are you thinking? I'm just surprised... Besides, do I look like that kind of deranged person?"

Xiao Xiao disagreed. "Aren't sorcerers known for being deranged?"

Xu Nan thought about it and found that he could not come up with a reason to refute her.

"Remember to install air conditioning for me. Also, I want to watch TV, and I want to eat meat..."

Xu Nan lovingly patted Xiao Xiao's head. "Go to sleep, child. Everything is possible in your dreams."

Xiao Xiao snorted coldly. "If you won't help me, I'll just do it myself!"

Xu Nan did not take it seriously.

He took a nap. After dinner, when it was time for his appointment with his senior, they met at the entrance of the famous couples' café on Xin Kou Street.

But when he and Zhang Yingluo arrived near Lü Junyi's hospital, they were shocked to discover that the area had already been sealed off!

Huge clouds of smoke and dust billowed out from inside as people gathered around to watch.

Stern military district soldiers armed to the teeth had established a blockade. Xu Nan could even see tanks amid the smoke!

"What the hell? This is the new district of H City. How did things get this bad?"

Xu Nan was somewhat worried.

"I just received word that Lü Junyi ran away. Apparently, he offended a very powerful woman. He may have fled to South America or Australia by now."

Zhang Yingluo borrowed two phones, her expression strange as she said:

"The person involved is named Wen Xin, and she has quite a powerful background."

"Lü Junyi's hospital has already been flattened by tanks... But I don't think it's that simple. How could a personal grudge escalate this far..."

"Junior Xu Nan, let's go back and discuss this carefully first."

"I have a Thousand Rays Society registration form here, and I hope you'll fill it out. You would have had to fill out this form sooner or later anyway, because in at most a week, the first nationwide professional registration program will begin..."