Metal Spirit Power!

Opening the Beast Taming Space, Di Yi stepped out slowly.

He held his head high and puffed out his chest, exuding the majestic aura of a king of beasts—a stark contrast to the cute, kitten-like appearance he had when they first met.

Xu Bai watched from the side with a sense of gratification; not bad, he finally looked a bit like a bodyguard.

Having stepped out of the Beast Taming Space, Di Yi was also incredibly excited, leaping around the courtyard and examining his new skin with pleasant surprise.

However, while Di Yi was happy, the flowers and plants in the courtyard suffered. His one-meter-tall frame might not be much among Soul Beasts, but it was still larger than most big dogs.

The courtyard itself was small, and since Soul Beasts were much heavier than ordinary beasts of the same size, his jumping about kicked up a cloud of dust and trampled quite a few flowers and plants.

"Di Yi, take it easy. Don't step on that Blue Silver Grass over there; it might become your companion in the future."

Seeing Di Yi gradually moving toward the corner where the Blue Silver Grass was, Xu Bai hurriedly issued a reminder.

Hearing this, Di Yi realized that everything he had now was thanks to his Beast Tamer.

As a Soul Beast that knew how to be grateful, he naturally understood what he should do now.

Without waiting for Xu Bai to react, Di Yi pounced on him, pinning him to the ground, and turned into a "lick-dog," showering him with enthusiastic licks.

"Alright, alright! Don't you know how dirty you are? Why are you pouncing on me?"

Xu Bai pushed Di Yi aside with a look of disgust, then quickly stood up and patted himself down, trying to shake off the black dust.

Although he had been rebuffed by his Beast Tamer, Di Yi remained high-spirited, his eyes filled with gratitude and adoration as he looked at Xu Bai.

If not for his Beast Tamer, who would have thought that he—a beast once deemed by his pack to have impure blood and destined to never awaken a racial skill—would not only awaken one after just a few days, but also see his age break through to the hundred-year level?

It remained the same truth: the debt of gratitude to a Beast Tamer could never be repaid, not in this lifetime.

Xu Bai was very satisfied with this. Which Beast Tamer wouldn't love a pet that was both talented and grateful?

After giving Di Yi's tiger head a vigorous rub, Xu Bai moved his mind and opened the handbook in his consciousness:

[Beast Taming]: Mutated Green-Red Tiger (Di Yi)
[Attribute]: Metal
[Current Age]: 100 years
[Racial Potential]: 1,000 years
[Racial Skill]: Metal Spirit Power (Entry)
[Evolution Path]: None
[Current Handbook Records]: 6 (Viewable)

"A hundred-year-old Soul Beast standing one meter tall... it seems Di Yi belongs to the mage category."

Xu Bai pondered to himself, then looked at Di Yi and smiled. "Di Yi, unleash your racial skill. Let me take a look."

Hearing this, Di Yi perked up. Back before he was driven out of his pack, his greatest source of shame was his inability to awaken a racial skill. Now that he had finally succeeded, he felt that his skill was somewhat different from those of his kin...

Di Yi took two steps back, focused his mind, and began to manipulate the mysterious power he had just mastered.

The next moment, a subtle golden energy radiated from Di Yi as the center, rapidly spreading outward and soon covering the entire small courtyard.

"A domain-type racial skill? What is its effect?"

As this thought crossed Xu Bai's mind, he immediately understood what the skill did.

He heard a clattering sound coming from the kitchen, like metal striking walls, and a creaking sound from the house as if nails were being pulled out of wood.

At the same time, Xu Bai suddenly felt a tug at his waist. Looking down, he realized that his only remaining metal accessory was flying toward the source of the pull—Di Yi.

"That's enough, Di Yi! Stop!"

Xu Bai was startled and hurriedly shouted to stop him.

Hearing this, although Di Yi wanted to continue testing the effects of his racial skill, he reluctantly retracted the energy.

As the energy was withdrawn, the anomalies in the courtyard instantly ceased.

Only then did Xu Bai let out a long sigh of relief. He had basically figured out Di Yi's racial skill; the Metal Spirit Power was likely the ability to manipulate metal, similar to the Iron Fist of a certain male god.

Presumably, because the skill level was only at the "Entry" stage, he hadn't reached the point of pulling metal elements directly from the earth. Once the skill level and age increased, Di Yi should be able to do that.

Still, even this level of performance was terrifying. If Xu Bai hadn't stopped him in time, his courtyard would likely have collapsed by now.

After all, the worldview of Douluo Dalu leaned toward the Western style, and aside from major factions, most buildings were Western-influenced.

His small wooden courtyard didn't use mortise-and-tenon joints; it was held together by things like steel nails.

If Di Yi pulled those nails out, even if the courtyard didn't collapse immediately, he wouldn't dare to live in it.

Di Yi realized he had almost caused trouble and instinctively shrank his neck.

However, remembering that it was his Beast Tamer who had ordered him to use the skill, he regained his confidence, flicking his tail slightly and acting as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, Xu Bai chuckled. He hadn't intended to blame Di Yi, so he just said helplessly:

"It seems that when I train this skill with you in the future, I'll have to take you to an open space. My little courtyard can't handle many more stunts like this."

Skills were all about practice making perfect; as long as he used it enough, he would eventually grind the proficiency up.

Xu Bai already had some ideas on how to train this skill, though he wasn't sure if the handbook contained more systematic methods.

Thinking this over, he tapped on the "Collection" tab of his handbook:

[Name]: Mutated Green-Red Tiger

[Attribute]: Metal

[Species Potential]: Millennium

[Evolutionary Path]: None

[Description]: Suspected bloodline atavism; has lost its original Wood attribute and gained a Metal attribute with a more lethal aura.

[Note]: Consume a large amount of mental energy to deduce the evolutionary path and method? (Yes/No).

Consume a small amount of mental energy to deduce the second-stage cultivation method? (Yes/No).

The mental energy cost for the evolutionary path and method remained unchanged, likely because the branch library contained too few books documenting the Green-Red Tiger.

But the problem was that he had already finished reading every book in the branch library regarding tiger-type Soul Beasts.

It seemed that if he wanted to help the first one evolve, he would have to wait until he had collected enough Soul Beasts to raise his mental energy, then brute-force it with sheer power.

However, the good news was that the cost for deducing the cultivation method had decreased.

"At least the reading wasn't in vain..."

Xu Bai muttered to himself and immediately began the deduction.

After a loading circle spun on the handbook for a moment, he instantly regretted it...

In a split second, he felt as if his head were about to explode, and his eyelids began to uncontrollably slam shut.

His complexion turned frighteningly pale, and cold sweat poured down his temples, as if he were on the verge of sudden death.

"Damn it, I clicked too fast!"

Cursing inwardly, Xu Bai didn't even care about the results of the handbook's deduction; he rushed into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

He had already been forcing himself to stay awake when he had the first one use its racial skill earlier.

Now, after performing the deduction, his mind was running in a state of total overload; it was a miracle he hadn't just dropped dead on the spot.

As for the first one, it stood blankly in the courtyard, looking at its fur covered in black powder, then glancing toward the kitchen, and finally toward the direction Xu Bai had left, letting out a low whimper: You don't have to help me wash, but... are we still eating today?