Cola's Advancement Requirements

Moistening Duck ultimately chose to refuse.

Thanks to Flame Tail Fox setting a precedent, Chen Yuan was not disappointed by this sort of thing, only somewhat regretful.

This was a ready-made elite-quality Water-type Contracted Beast.

But Chen Yuan respected every contracted beast's wishes and understood the choices they made.

Unlike ordinary wild animals, Extraordinary Creatures had developed self-awareness and possessed considerable intelligence. Faced with matters, they would make different choices.

"Aw."

Cola, on the other hand, was quite disappointed. Its ears drooped, and it looked utterly dejected.

Cola somewhat regretted treating Moistening Duck as its friend and sharing its fried little fish.

But when it remembered that Moistening Duck had also selflessly shared that delicious spiritual fish, and that they had thrown their arms around each other and basked in the sun together, Cola no longer regretted it.

"It's okay, Cola." Chen Yuan crouched down, rubbed Cola's head, and said gently, "Not every friend will choose to go to the farm. They have their own lives, and things they cannot let go of."

"But being able to become friends is already fortunate."

Cola abruptly raised its head. Its azure eyes shone like stars, and as it nodded vigorously, it pounced toward Chen Yuan.

"Quack."

Moistening Duck watched the intimate interaction between man and beast. Its gaze flickered slightly, but it did not react much. It merely watched the scene quietly.

Then, with a splash, it jumped into the water.

After Moistening Duck left, Chen Yuan continued fishing for over an hour before finally catching a spiritual fish.

It was another Wave-Patterned Salmon, only much smaller than the previous one, merely palm-sized.

"A juvenile spiritual fish. Let's bring it back and raise it." Having completed his task perfectly, Chen Yuan did not linger. After packing up his gear, he headed back the way he had come.

"Aw."

For once, Cola was not merrily running at the very front. Instead, it trailed far behind, looking burdened with thoughts.

"Keep up, Cola." Chen Yuan glanced at Cola in confusion and called out.

"Aw."

Cola answered, then instinctively looked back at Mingyu Lake, nestled among verdant mountains. Its gaze was distant as it remained silent for a long while.

Its tail drooped as its steps quickened from slow to fast, gradually catching up to Chen Yuan.

On the way back,

Chen Yuan temporarily took over the three-wheeler and sped all the way back to the farm.

Carrying the bucket, he ran straight to the fishpond and poured the several small fish inside, along with the Wave-Patterned Salmon.

The fishpond was fairly large, but because Chen Weiyi had limited energy, it had remained unused, with only a scant few fish within.

"Grow up quickly."

Watching the Wave-Patterned Salmon swim beneath the water and vanish in the blink of an eye, Chen Yuan murmured to himself.

This was only the first spiritual fish to enter the pond. He believed there would soon be a second, then a third...

After handling this matter, Chen Yuan had a thought and summoned Cola's data panel:

Race: Condensing Wind Hound (Collected)

Attribute: Wind

Level: 3 (Tier 1)

Favorability: 86

Skills: Wind Blade (Basic Mastery 2.6/3) + Wind Treading Step (Basic Mastery 1.7/3) +

Quality: Ordinary

Conditions for Advancing to Elite Quality: Unlockable

Chen Yuan now had enough Origin Points to unlock the advancement conditions, but he was unwilling to spend these hard-earned Origin Points here.

He remembered that he could directly purchase Cola's advancement conditions with Contribution Points.

Taking out his phone, he logged into the Beast Tamer Association's official website and opened the Beast Taming Knowledge section.

Over the past few days, two more people had purchased the advancement conditions for Flame Cloud Falcon, bringing his Contribution Points to 335.

Condensing Wind Hound Ordinary—Elite Quality Advancement Conditions

Chen Yuan clicked purchase directly, and an option immediately popped up:

80 Contribution Points required. Confirm?

Confirm!

Condensing Wind Hound Ordinary—Elite Quality Advancement Conditions: Wind Whisper Grass x2, Proficient-level Wind Blade

Chen Yuan quickly found the basic introduction to Wind Whisper Grass in the Spiritual Plant section—Wind Whisper Grass, a Level 2 resource that grew in places rich in wind resources and was immensely beneficial to the growth of Wind-type Contracted Beasts.

"Rich in wind resources?" Chen Yuan frowned and pondered for a moment before quickly shaking his head.

As far as he remembered, there was nowhere near Xuanhe Village that met this condition.

"Looks like I'll have to think of a way."

Spark had already successfully advanced. As his second reserve contracted beast, Cola should also begin preparing for advancement.

"As for Proficient-level Wind Blade?"

"Unlike Spark, it actually requires the proficiency level of a specific skill."

Spark's requirement had been any Proficient-level skill, while Cola's specifically required Wind Blade.

"But that's easy. With Cola's own efforts, it'll reach that goal soon enough." Chen Yuan silently considered.

Afterward,

He turned to glance at Cola, which was lying in the yard and yawning, and murmured softly, "Mm, it really is working hard."

With nothing to do that afternoon, Chen Yuan simply remained at the farm, supervising Cola's training while planting the seeds of the Flame Flame Fruit Tree.

After several days of hard cultivation, Ironhead Kid had successfully cleared out a large stretch of farmland.

"Ka."

Standing beside Chen Yuan as he inspected the results, the usually taciturn Ironhead Kid looked slightly uneasy.

Its work was finished. Would it still have a chance to be fed and housed in the future?

Could it be that it would have to drift from place to place again?

At that thought, Ironhead Kid could not help but panic. When it saw Chen Yuan remain silent, it grew even more nervous, its heart hanging in its throat.

Who knew how long passed before—

"You did very well." The instant those words rang out, the heavy boulder in Ironhead Kid's heart finally fell halfway. Yet its heart still hung suspended as it waited for Chen Yuan to continue.

Chen Yuan looked at the nervous Ironhead Kid and smiled. "No need to be nervous. I'm not firing you."

"Ka?" Ironhead Kid's eyes widened as it stared at Chen Yuan in utter disbelief.

"I mean it." Chen Yuan said solemnly, "I'm very satisfied with your work ethic. I need you to stay on the farm and set a good example for the other employees."

Hearing this, Ironhead Kid looked somewhat dazed. But upon hearing that Chen Yuan was not planning to drive it away, it finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After a slight pause, Chen Yuan continued, "Besides, the land needs turning every year. This work can't do without you."

"Ka~"

The simple-minded Ironhead Kid scratched its head and revealed a reserved yet proud smile.

Turning the soil—this was what it was best at.

After reassuring his uneasy best employee, Chen Yuan carefully planted the four fruit seeds in the ground.

Since Flame Flame Fruit Trees could grow over twenty meters tall, Chen Yuan deliberately spaced them apart, lest they be too close and compete for sunlight.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a Water-type Contracted Beast for now, so I can only water them myself." Chen Yuan still clung to the idea of having a Water-type Contracted Beast help with watering.

"Aw aw aw!"

However, at that moment, Cola, which had been training, seemed to catch some scent. Its nose twitched, and its expression immediately became excited.

The next moment,

It cried out excitedly as it broke into a run toward the outside of the farm.

As it drew closer and closer to the farm gate, a white figure gradually came into view.