Innate Talent

Beneath the azure sky, the lake water appeared crystal clear. Sunlight shone upon the finely rippling surface, as though it had laid down a layer of glittering silver shards.

By the reservoir, a young man sat fishing with a rod in hand. A bucket sat beside him, but aside from water, there was nothing inside it.

"Boss, can I extend my time? Add another two hours for me," Chen Wei said unhurriedly.

Upon hearing that unforgettable voice, the reservoir owner's brows immediately furrowed.

He looked up and, sure enough, it was that handsome young man with refined features and fair skin again. He hurriedly refused, "You can't extend your fishing time here!"

Then he instinctively grumbled, "Come to think of it, it's strange. Other than you, hardly anyone can catch the Redtail Gold in this reservoir. How's your luck today?"

[Name]: Redtail Gold

[Attribute]: None

[Race Level]: Low Ordinary

[Race Skills]: Water Leap

[Description]: An ornamental dragonfish that lives in lakes and is said to contain a faint trace of dragon blood. It possesses almost no combat ability, and basically no one would choose to contract this pet beast. However, it is beloved for its striking appearance and is often raised for viewing.

After all, he was raising one at home. The detailed information on this pet beast immediately surfaced in Chen Wei's mind.

"My luck seems a little bad today," Chen Wei said helplessly.

"Not bad..." Upon hearing this, Boss Lin could not help but smile. He then said, "There's still an hour left. Go easy on me, kid. Don't catch several Redtail Gold like last time, or I'll lose my shirt!"

"No problem."

An hour later, Boss Lin looked at the single Redtail Gold in the bucket, disbelief written all over his face. "This is you going easy on me?"

"Four hours in total, and I only caught one fish." Chen Wei spoke as though it were perfectly natural. "Of course I went easy on you. A fishing man never returns empty-handed."

It was Boss Lin's first time seeing a fishing man who could not catch any other fish. Of all the fish he could catch, why did he have to pick a fight with his Redtail Gold!!!

"Are you still buying these?" Chen Wei lifted the bucket in his hand, tilting his head as he smiled.

"I'll buy it. This Redtail Gold is slightly smaller than the ones last time." Boss Lin rolled his eyes helplessly. "The four last time came to 8,000 Star Coins. How about 1,800 for this one?"

"Sure." Chen Wei took out his phone and skillfully brought up his Star Coin QR code.

Boss Lin, on the verge of tears, transferred the money to Chen Wei. This was truly bizarre—since when had the Redtail Gold in the reservoir become so easy to catch?

Though he could still make some money by reselling it, to him, earning less was the same as losing money!

Boss Lin suddenly recalled something. He raised his head and looked seriously at Chen Wei. "If I remember right, you and that kid Zhicheng are classmates. You're entering your senior year of high school this year?"

"Mm-hm. School starts tomorrow." Chen Wei glanced at Boss Lin.

"If school starts tomorrow, then isn't it just the right time to contract your initial pet beast?"

Boss Lin raised his brows and asked eagerly, "Have you chosen your pet beast yet? I've got connections for high-tier Extraordinary pet beasts, with huge discounts!"

"No need. I can't afford that kind of pet beast." Chen Wei turned to look at the Earth Wolf Hound not far from Boss Lin. "Instead of talking about that, you should get it something more to eat. Look, it's eating dirt again."

Boss Lin tilted his head in confusion.

[Name]: Earth Wolf Hound

[Attribute]: Earth

[Race Level]: Medium Special

[Race Skills]: Scent Detection, Rock Claw, Bite

[Description]: A Special-grade creature evolved from formerly domesticated wolfhounds. It can obtain nourishment by consuming soil and excels at using its nose to search for and detect an enemy's scent.

"I was only kindly recommending pet beasts to you. If you don't want one, forget it. But let me make this clear: things never happen more than three times. If you come here a few more times, I'll have to shut down and go bankrupt, and then it'll be my turn to eat dirt!" Boss Lin shook his head and changed the subject.

"You're not allowed to fish here anymore!"

"Got it. I won't come next time." Chen Wei turned and walked out of the reservoir. The pet beasts Boss Lin had were not easy to get, and Chen Wei had long since set his sights on his initial pet beast.

Chen Wei slung his bag over his back, carried the bucket in his hand, and boarded the bus. The bus sped along its route, reaching the city before long. He got off and followed the crowd toward home.

After passing through one street after another, his steps gradually slowed. Before him was a dim alley. On the right side of the alley stood a rundown apartment building, surrounded by noisy restaurants selling food.

The apartment's front door stood open and unlocked. He climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. To the left of the stairway was a cramped single room, and the worn-out door bore the number 403. This was the home he had lived in for two years.

Lying on the comfortable bed, Chen Wei rested his right forearm across his forehead. In the shadows, his eyes revealed a faint trace of disappointment and longing.

This world was exceedingly peculiar. Supernatural power existed here: source power.

Because of it, most animals and plants in the world could awaken greater intelligence and powerful talents. Even elements such as wind, snow, lightning, fire, and flowing water could evolve into living beings.

Humans could also awaken supernatural abilities through source power. However, while ability users were not weak, their strength still fell far short of the naturally gifted exotic beasts.

Weak humans were regarded as ants by the vast majority of exotic beasts. Some human tribes even had to offer sacrifices in exchange for the protection of powerful exotic beasts.

But humanity's greatest strength lay in creation and application. Over the course of long development, humans discovered that absorbing the source power between heaven and earth gave them a chance to awaken a Beastmaster talent in their minds: Source Star.

Through a Source Star, one could forcibly contract and capture exotic beasts, even forcibly control them. Those powerful beings capable of commanding exotic beasts were respectfully known as Beastmasters.

At the same rank, Beastmasters possessed combat power far beyond that of ability users. Thus, Beastmasters gradually rose to prominence, while the number of human ability users dwindled.

Now, tens of thousands of years later, humanity had established a glorious Beastmaster civilization. Unfortunately, Blue Star's rulers were still the exotic beasts, while humanity could only occupy one corner of the world.

Thus, the great human nations all shared a common dream: to explore the origin of all things—the pillar of the world, the Source World Tree.

If they could successfully explore and study the Source World Tree, perhaps humanity could become Blue Star's ruler.

Unfortunately, all manner of powerful exotic beasts lived around the Source World Tree. Rumor had it that even divine beasts capable of destroying heaven and earth perched upon the World Tree. To this day, no human powerhouse had ever reached its roots.

Some scholars even speculated that source power might have been born directly or indirectly through the World Tree.

At present, Blue Star was still ruled by exotic beasts. They would occasionally launch attacks on human cities, and Chen Wei's parents had died twelve years ago in a king-tier beast tide disaster.

Chen Wei had therefore spent a long time in an orphanage, only choosing to leave after coming of age at sixteen and awakening his talent.

On Blue Star, everyone had three chances to awaken a beast-taming talent—the Source Star—at the ages of sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen respectively. Failing to awaken a Source Star after all three attempts meant one possessed no beast-taming talent. Those who did awaken a Source Star, however, also had a chance of awakening an innate talent at the same time.

Source Stars encompassed the five elements, of which one was chosen. One could awaken one—and only one—innate talent. This was an iron law throughout the known history of Blue Star's humanity.

Not every beast tamer possessed an innate talent, but anyone with an innate talent was certainly a beast tamer.

At the school ceremony for awakening beast-taming talents, Chen Wei awakened the innate talent [Appraisal]: it could detect an exotic beast's species, rank, and potential; the effects and functions of heavenly treasures; and even sense an exotic beast's emotions.

The talent Chen Wei had awakened was not suited for combat, but compared with the bizarre talents awakened by his classmates, it was still fairly good.

Teacher Zhou, his homeroom teacher, had strongly advised Chen Wei to pursue the path of an appraiser, but Chen Wei refused.

With his parents' inheritance, a single-room apartment allocated by the state, and the pension he received each month, Chen Wei had a considerable sum in savings to purchase and raise pet beasts.

He did not want to become a professional appraiser. He wanted to become a powerful professional beast tamer—even a dragon tamer.