The Ghost Dog Guarding the Family Home

More than a few centuries had passed since the Primal Secret Realms descended. Beast Tamers had come to understand Pet Beast Secret Realms quite well, and had even developed [Secret Realm Monitoring Technology], capable of predicting when and where Secret Realms would appear.

However, this technology was still imperfect and only worked on a small portion of Secret Realms.

The overwhelming majority of Secret Realms still descended unpredictably, causing accidents and damage—

Not only because unlucky passersby could be swept into them.

Within newly descended Secret Realms, even docile and friendly Pet Beasts could become violent and restless due to spatial turbulence, sometimes even attacking humans on their own initiative!

In fact, quite a few Beast Tamers who risked their lives to explore Secret Realms ahead of others had died at the hands of rampaging Pet Beasts.

So when Jiang Xing saw a family of three being dragged into a Secret Realm and realized they did not seem to be Beast Tamers, he immediately rushed in with his Pet Beasts.

As his figure vanished and his vision blurred, he found himself in a dimly lit place when he came back to his senses.

Jiang Xing swept his gaze around. He seemed to be standing inside a rural courtyard. A dead tree stood in the yard beside a collapsed house, while a rotten aura of death hung in the air.

Clusters of ghostly blue Ghost Fire floated through the air, providing a little illumination.

Above and farther away, the void looked like shattered glass—a broken sea of darkness surrounding a narrow isolated island.

"An Ultra-Micro Secret Realm. It's only as large as this courtyard..."

Jiang Xing relaxed slightly.

The smaller the Secret Realm, the fewer Pet Beasts it contained, and the safer it was.

In an Ultra-Micro Secret Realm like this, there would be no more than two or three Pet Beasts. There might even be none at all.

Just then, movement came from outside the courtyard.

The family of three who had just been dragged into the Secret Realm stood at the entrance to the courtyard.

Beside the gate stood a Purple-Black Puppy. Its eyes glowed red, ominous energy swirling around it. Its fur curled upward like flames, and it held a wisp of purple Ghost Fire in its mouth as it emitted vicious growls.

The child of the family was very young, only four or five years old, and had burst into tears from the sudden turn of events.

The woman held him in her arms and tried to retreat, but the ground behind her had already broken away, leaving only fragmented void.

The man had grabbed a stone from somewhere and stood in front of them, every muscle in his body tense with fear.

Yet no matter how small the Purple-Black Puppy looked, it was still a genuine Transcendental lifeform.

Without even using Snap, it opened its mouth and spat out a pillar of purple flame, illuminating the terror in the man's eyes.

The next moment—

The expected burning pain never came.

A young man stepped over the wall and descended from the air, sweeping out a black cape as he blocked the three of them.

When the purple fire pillar struck the cape, it scattered apart without causing the slightest damage.

At the same time, a stream of water fell from above and struck the Purple-Black Puppy's side, sending it flying into the wall.

The Purple-Black Puppy had only just climbed back up when psychic force bound it in place before it could act.

The Lucky Cloud Qilin stepped forward and let out a cry.

"Ah-li~ Don't move around."

Judging from the intensity of its flames, Jiang Xing determined that this Purple-Black Puppy was merely at the High-Level Awakening Rank. It had not even reached the Transcendental Rank.

Forget moving around—controlled by a Pseudo-Legendary Qilin, it could not even bare its teeth.

Well... as a mere Awakening Rank Pet Beast, being able to fight one against three against Little Qilin, Little Dragon, and Little Doctor was enough for it to boast about for the rest of its life.

"It's safe now." Once the situation had stabilized, Jiang Xing lowered his cape and turned around.

The family of three had been left speechless by the sudden twists and turns. After standing frozen for several seconds, the man suddenly asked hesitantly, "Mr. Jiang Xing...?"

"You know me?" Jiang Xing paused.

"I'm your fan!" Having seemingly calmed down, the man spoke more smoothly, saying excitedly, "I followed you a month ago, when you first revealed the evolved form of the Golden-Veined Koi! Unfortunately, my wife and I both had to work, so we couldn't go to Yuzhong City to attend your Dragon Gate Assembly in person..."

"We came to the Breeding House today because we wanted to buy a Golden-Veined Koi for our son as his initial Pet Beast!"

"..." Jiang Xing knew that he had become popular online. That was why he had asked Little Qilin to help reduce his presence whenever he went out.

He just had not expected that the unlucky passerby he encountered by chance would also be his fan.

His gaze shifted to the five-year-old child in the woman's arms behind the man...

"He's still so young. Is he going to become a Beast Tamer this early?"

"Of course not." The woman had calmed down as well. She stared eagerly at the two cute Pet Beasts nearby and said excitedly, "Golden-Veined Koi have fairly long lifespans. We plan to raise one at home first, so our son can build a bond with it from a young age. Once he's old enough, he can form a contract with it right away..."

"Come on, Xiao Yu. Say hello to Uncle Jiang Xing."

The child wiped his tears away and obediently said, "Hello, Uncle Jiang Xing."

"Hello, little one..."

Humans in the Beast Taming World seemed to have strong hearts. Even a child this young could recover so quickly.

Especially when the conversation turned to Pet Beasts and Beast Tamers, the young couple became endlessly talkative, and the tense atmosphere vanished completely.

Still, a Secret Realm was no place for chatting. They had to find a way out first.

Jiang Xing had them follow him over to the Purple-Black Puppy.

The Lucky Cloud Qilin had already confirmed through psychic sensing that this puppy was the only Pet Beast inside this Secret Realm.

Looking at the Purple-Black Puppy, Jiang Xing could not help but grow curious—

Since ancient times, Secret Realms had been the birthplace of Pet Beasts. Brand-new Pet Beasts often descended along with them.

Then what about this Purple-Black Puppy?

Jiang Xing carefully searched through his memories of the Beast Taming Compendium, but could not find any description related to it.

However, its appearance reminded him of a certain Pet Beast.

[Name: Howl Dog]

[Attribute: Typeless]

[Talent: Howl / Chase]

[Racial Rank: High-Level Extraordinary]

[Racial Skills: Intimidate, Snap, Tackle, Training Power.]

[Description: A canine Pet Beast. Its small body stores enormous strength, and it can frighten enemies away with astonishing howls. It likes to guard the entrance of its home and wait for its owner to return. It is regarded as a symbol of loyalty.]

Howl Dogs were also one of the more common Pet Beasts, especially popular in the countryside.

Many people living in rural areas liked to raise a Howl Dog to guard their homes.

This Purple-Black Puppy looked very similar to a Howl Dog. It had appeared at the gate, and its habits were also extremely similar to those of a Howl Dog.

However, Howl Dogs were typical Typeless Pet Beasts. They could not release Metal Type, Wood Type, Water Type, Fire, Earth Type, Wind Type, or Lightning Type powers, possessing only impressive physical qualities—they awakened various elemental powers only after evolving.

Yet this Purple-Black Puppy could breathe fire. Its appearance also differed greatly from that of a Howl Dog, and it carried the aura of the Necro...

Wait, Necro?

Something stirred in Jiang Xing's heart as he walked toward the courtyard gate.

Seeing his movements, the Purple-Black Puppy became even more agitated, though it remained unable to move.

Jiang Xing pushed open the rotten gate and swept his eyes around. Sure enough, he found something unusual in a corner behind it.

In the shadows, a small human skeleton lay crooked in the corner. Scattered in its arms were several tiny canine skeletons.

Case solved.

The Purple-Black Puppy was a Howl Dog.

However, it was not a "living creature." After dying, it had revived in spiritual form and had no idea how long it had been guarding this place as an Undead Dog!