"You're finally awake."
A somewhat familiar voice rang out, bringing a little comfort to the nervous Little Blue Silver Grass.
'Y-you... who are you? Why am I here?'
Little Blue Silver Grass asked.
"It's me, the bad guy you knew before, who's a good guy now."
Xu Bai appeared, though he wasn't there in person. What showed up was only a hazy projection.
His Beast Taming Space was much like an incomplete little world, but it still existed within his body. And since he couldn't enter it himself just yet, he could only send in a phantom like this.
"As for where you are..." Xu Bai thought it over, then smiled. "You could say you're inside my body."
'Inside your... body?!' Little Blue Silver Grass sounded stunned. Then the entire plant wilted in an instant. 'I thought you were a good person! You ate me while I was asleep! You really were just toying with my feelings. A bad guy will always be a bad guy. Waaaa...'
Looking at Little Blue Silver Grass crying so hard it was practically streaming tears, Xu Bai was speechless. He couldn't help but admire the way its mind worked.
Looking at the drooping Blue Silver Grass, he said grumpily, "I really can't tell if you're stupid or just pretending. If I'd eaten you, would you still be able to talk to me? Besides, you're only a ten-year Blue Silver Grass. Do you think I'm starving enough to want to eat you?"
'Oh, right...' Little Blue Silver Grass decided he made sense, and its limp leaves unfolded again. 'So I'm still alive?'
"Of course you're still alive," Xu Bai replied, exasperated.
'Yay!' Little Blue Silver Grass was overjoyed, and the entire plant instantly perked up.
After a pause, it asked, 'If this place is inside your body, why did I end up here?'
"You were asleep, remember? I was worried you might be in danger outside, so I brought you in."
'So that's what happened.' Little Blue Silver Grass understood, then suddenly thought of something and exclaimed excitedly, 'Right, I did fall asleep! The stuff you watered me with before raised my age by five years. Thank you, kind person! If I ever become capable, I'll repay you!'
At that, Xu Bai smiled faintly. "We can talk about repayment later. Stay here for now. I'm heading back out."
He was about to withdraw the projection when Little Blue Silver Grass hurriedly called out, 'Wait! I forgot to ask earlier. Can I still go outside?'
"Why do you ask? This place can speed up your cultivation," Xu Bai asked, puzzled.
'Because there's no sun or moon here!' Little Blue Silver Grass answered without a second thought. 'If I can't bask in the sun or moon, life will lose a lot of its fun.'
Xu Bai fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "I'm outside right now. I'll let you out when I get home."
'Okay! Thank you, kind person.' Little Blue Silver Grass waved its leaves.
In the outside world, Xu Bai came to and slid off First's back. He patted the tiger's head. "Thanks for your hard work, First. Where are we?"
'We're about to leave the Hengduan Mountain Range.'
First answered, then gave Xu Bai an inquisitive look. 'Did you just go into the Beast Taming Space? What happened?'
"Your future companion woke up. The Blue Silver Grass."
Xu Bai replied, then paused before warning First, "It may be Blue Silver Grass, with a weaker bloodline, but don't even think about bullying it. You'll be companions and comrades from now on. Helping each other is what you should do, understood?"
First nodded, a dazed look flickering through its eyes.
A future... companion?
Time passed, and before long, it was noon the next day.
After returning home, Xu Bai replanted Little Blue Silver Grass in its original spot. Then, after a short rest, he recovered his spiritual power to its peak.
Once he'd brought himself into the best possible condition, Xu Bai focused his thoughts and opened the Manual:
[Name]: Mutated Green-Red Tiger
[Attribute]: Metal
[Race Potential]: Millennium
[Evolution Route]: None
[Introduction]: Its bloodline may have reverted to an ancestor. It lost its original wood attribute and gained the more murderous metal attribute.
[Note]: Consume a large amount of spiritual power to deduce the evolution route and method? (Yes/No)
The second-stage training method has been unlocked (viewable).
Xu Bai took a deep breath and began deducing the first stage of the evolution route.
The next moment, the Manual's display changed, and the familiar loading screen appeared. His restored spiritual power began rapidly draining away, making Xu Bai's heart pound.
It was fortunate he'd been cautious and hadn't recklessly tried to deduce the evolution route earlier. Judging by how quickly his spiritual power was being consumed now, he wouldn't have lasted half an hour before it was completely drained.
Time passed slowly. Xu Bai had no idea how long it took. The deduction finally ended only when his head was spinning and his mind was pierced by waves of tearing pain.
Xu Bai hurriedly checked the sky and found it had already turned dusky yellow. He estimated that consuming "a large amount of spiritual power" took roughly two shichen.
He committed that conclusion to memory, then looked at the Manual:
[Direction Selection]: Emotion, metal, wood.
[Note]: Look at the target to check attribute compatibility.
"Both are mutated Soul Beasts, yet the Mutated Green-Red Tiger has only three possible attributes, while the Mutated Blue Silver Grass has five. Looks like Grandmaster does know a thing or two after all. Blue Silver Grass really is quite compatible with different attributes."
Clicking his tongue, Xu Bai studied the results closely.
"Metal and wood make sense, but emotion..."
After pondering for a while, a saying suddenly came to mind.
"When a tiger has three cubs, one will be a Biao!"
Tigresses usually gave birth to only two cubs. Only in rare cases would a third be born, and that was when a Biao appeared.
In folk tales, the Biao was the weakest cub in a tiger's litter, so its mother would abandon it.
Left behind to fend for itself in a forest ruled by the law of the jungle, the cub would either be eaten by another beast or, driven by a heart full of hatred, fight its way to the top and become a king in its own right—a wicked beast, a Biao.
The purpose of a Biao's life was to avenge itself on the mother and siblings who had abandoned it. Hence, the folk saying: "One Biao can fight three tigers."
This was Douluo Continent, so perhaps they didn't have the concept of a Biao. Still, First's current situation did give it the potential to become one.
"First, come here," Xu Bai called softly.
First had been playing by itself in the courtyard. It came trotting over, looking at Xu Bai in confusion, unsure why its Beast Tamer had called for it.
Xu Bai said nothing. He simply looked at First and silently began the test:
[Target]: Mutated Green-Red Tiger (First)
[Attribute Compatibility]: Emotion 95%, metal 81%, wood 5%
[Note]: Select an attribute to begin the deduction.
As expected, emotion had a compatibility rating of 95%...
Was this the hatred that cut to the bone? The compatibility was damn near maxed out.
Xu Bai sighed inwardly. Looking at the innocent expression in First's eyes, he focused his thoughts and selected "metal."