"Pay attention to hygiene. Don't touch anything you don't recognize with your tongue. Don't do that again!" Chen Wei lectured Color Spirit, trying to get her to break the bad habit.
After all, Color Spirit was only a month-old baby. Chen Wei needed to teach her some basic human common sense in everyday life.
He knew snakes generally used their tongues to gather information, but as a transcendent creature, Color Spirit no longer needed her tongue to smell. Those adorable, dazed eyes of hers weren't just for show.
"Yi yi?" (Isn't it food?)
Color Spirit looked at it in confusion, clearly still unable to understand.
"This is just the packaging. The food's still inside. Here, this is your dinner."
Chen Wei opened the package in his hands, then pointed to the inferior Ice-type Source Crystal and fresh spirit fish inside.
"Yi." (Got it.) Color Spirit tilted her head indifferently.
"Go ahead and eat."
Chen Wei took out a fresh spirit fish and gently held it up to Color Spirit's mouth.
Color Spirit stared at the fish in Chen Wei's hand, lost in thought. She was afraid she might attack her master.
"Yi." (Let it go.)
Color Spirit stared at him with her big, watery eyes.
"Huh?" Chen Wei had been hoping to feed her by hand, but disappointedly set the wriggling fish down on the clean table.
Color Spirit launched herself forward and instantly bit down on the fish as it flopped across the table. She breathed out a gust of Cold Breath, freezing the fish in her mouth into a lump of ice.
"Looks like Color Spirit prefers frozen food."
Watching Color Spirit eat, Chen Wei gathered up the remaining fresh spirit fish and Source Crystals, then put them in the fridge to keep them fresh.
At seven in the evening, after Color Spirit had eaten her fill, Chen Wei finished dinner as well and began his daily cultivation.
After he finished cultivating, Chen Wei felt he'd made some progress. He called Color Spirit awake from her sweet dreams.
"Color Spirit, wake up. Time for strengthening."
The sleeping Color Spirit heard the word "strengthening" and immediately perked up. She opened her eyes wide and coiled around Chen Wei's wrist in a flash.
Seeing how eager Color Spirit was, Chen Wei smiled. What an impatient little thing.
He gently stroked her tiny body and used Dragon Power twice to strengthen her.
Color Spirit contentedly enjoyed Chen Wei's caresses, feeling her strength grow at a visible pace. The only pity was that she could enjoy it for just a few minutes each time.
"Yi?" ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3 (That's it already?)
After the two rounds of strengthening, Color Spirit looked up at Chen Wei. She wasn't satisfied yet. She wanted to keep experiencing the feeling of growing stronger.
Feeling Color Spirit's aggrieved gaze, Chen Wei gave a helpless smile.
"Didn't we agree? You'd get strengthened four times a day if you won your battles. Including these two rounds tonight, that makes four for today. I still need to prepare a delicious Dragon Crystal for you, too!"
At that, Color Spirit reluctantly left Chen Wei's wrist. She slithered over to his pillow and went back to sleep.
She couldn't resist the temptation of food. She might as well sleep, out of sight, out of mind. Besides, her master had said that Dragon Crystal was a gift to prepare her for advancing to the first rank.
Once her strength broke through to the first rank, she'd finally be able to savor that long-awaited Dragon Crystal!
"Keep growing strong, my future ace."
Watching Color Spirit drift off to sleep, Chen Wei's lips slowly curled into a smile.
Chen Wei got up and stretched, loosening his muscles and bones. Then he let out a deep breath, releasing the fatigue pent up inside him. He still had Dragon Crystal homework to finish!
But he wouldn't strengthen a Dragon Crystal tonight. Based on his previous experience, with what little energy he had left, he'd barely be able to make one basic Dragon Crystal.
As for why he'd chosen to make a Dragon Crystal, that was because he'd already found his second pet beast: the Titanium Crystal Ragdoll of his dreams. He just hadn't had a chance to go pick one out yet.
It wasn't the lack of something that worried people, but the unfair distribution of it. Even if it was a future pet beast, he still needed to prepare its gift in advance, to avoid any discord in the team later.
Leaving everything else aside, as a beast tamer, Chen Wei wanted to be as fair and impartial as possible when it came to providing resources for his pet beasts, sharing them equally among all.
"Sorry, Color Spirit. Please forgive me."
"I just can't resist a fluffy silver-shaded Ragdoll."
After a bit of self-mockery, Chen Wei deftly took a disposable lancet, disinfectant alcohol, and a bandage out of the backpack on the bedside table.
He had no choice. Making a Dragon Crystal required a drop of his blood.
As someone who'd read the Spring and Autumn Annals, he couldn't possibly bite his finger open with his mouth to collect blood like the characters in novels did.
Aside from the fact that it would draw too much blood, which would be wasteful and unhygienic, Chen Wei couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't have that kind of ruthlessness, and he couldn't imagine what kind of tough guy would draw blood that way.
Chen Wei pressed his right thumb against his left index finger several times to make blood rush to the fingertip. After disinfecting it with alcohol, he pricked the skin with the lancet.
He let the blood drip into his palm, then covered the wound on his fingertip with a bandage.
Looking at the blood in his palm, Chen Wei didn't hesitate. He immediately activated his second talent, Dragon Taming Power.
With a soft sizzle, a phantom blue flame blossomed from the blood in his palm. Under the flame's refining, the liquid blood gave off an enticing aroma.
As the aroma spread, it seemed to draw Color Spirit from her sweet dreams. Her head swayed slightly, then she abruptly opened her eyes and looked toward where the scent was coming from.
Chen Wei watched as the blood in his palm gradually shrank and solidified into a red crystalline essence. His expression grew grave. He felt his physical strength rapidly flowing into the red crystal in his palm, and this time it was taking far more energy than when he'd made Dragon Crystal before.
Chen Wei tried to stop the Dragon Crystal's formation, but there was no response at all.
He squeezed the muscles of his thigh hard, trying to use the pain to fight off the drowsiness surging over him.
By now, Chen Wei's slightly pale face was beaded with sweat, but he still held his left palm steady with all his might.
He gritted his teeth and held on. He didn't know how long it had been—perhaps a minute, perhaps much longer. Then, with a crisp crack, the Dragon Crystal finally formed, and the enticing aroma vanished in an instant.
"Success!" Chen Wei breathed out, then his vision went black. His whole body went limp, and he collapsed onto the bed.
"Yi ya yi? Yi?" (╯﹏╰)b (Making something tasty? What happened?)
Through their contract, Color Spirit sensed that Chen Wei was weak. She cautiously crawled to his side and rubbed her tiny cheek against his sweat-covered face. Worry filled her watery eyes.
Her unconscious beast tamer needed protection. Color Spirit warily scanned the room.
A moment later, her gaze fell on the Dragon Crystal clenched in Chen Wei's hand.
"Yi ya!" (_) (I'm so moved!)
A few tears welled up in Color Spirit's eyes.
He'd exhausted himself making food for me? She thought of how the aroma had woken her, and how she'd watched Chen Wei making the Dragon Crystal.
The determination she'd sensed through their contract, the resolve he'd shown—this... this was her beast tamer!
Color Spirit was touched, but also a little worried. This was the first time she'd felt such a strange feeling.
"How can I repay him?"
Color Spirit immediately thought of the battle earlier that day. Every time she won, she could feel Chen Wei's joy and excitement through their contract.
"I'll bring you victory!"
Color Spirit had made up her mind. She pressed herself against Chen Wei's body, trembling slightly, her eyes seeming to burn with a flame.
Before you continue