Spirit-Tailed Raccoon and Purple Ghost Orchid, talent awakening

In a corner of the eastern outskirts of Lin Hua City stood Yuanming Pet Food Shop.

It was an unassuming pet food shop with white walls and a neatly ordered layout.

Canned food, nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables, vines and grasses, along with syrups and honeydew of different colors and concentrations, brought color to the shop.

A red raccoon about seventy centimeters long stood upright in an apron, arranging items on the shelves.

A faint red light shimmered along her tail, making the fresh pet food look even more succulent.

Lin Yuan glanced at her panel out of habit.

[Spirit-Tailed Raccoon]

[Attribute]: Spirit

[Quality]: Lower-grade Transcendent

[Sex]: Female

[Level]: Transcendent Level 3

[Traits]: [Crafty Heart], [Spirit Tail]

[Personality]: Hardworking, conscientious, orderly

[Status]: In excellent spirits because today's sales have been good.

[Evolution Path] (gray)

Yuanming Pet Food Shop had been run by Lin Yuan's parents while they were alive. Now it belonged to him.

The Spirit-Tailed Raccoon, a Transcendent-quality pet beast, was the most precious presence in the shop.

Hearing movement, she glanced toward the door. When she saw Lin Yuan, her eyes immediately narrowed into smiling slits, but she soon returned her attention to the shelves.

At the counter, an elderly man with graying hair was tallying the accounts.

He was Qin Bailing, and he had worked at the shop for eight years.

"Grandpa Qin, business looks pretty good today. Linghuan seems to be in a great mood." Lin Yuan put down his schoolbag and said to Qin Bailing, "You should head home and rest early, too. I can look after things here."

"Little Yuan, you're back." Qin Bailing looked up from the accounts, a smile immediately spreading across his face. "I heard your awakening ceremony is tomorrow. Don't busy yourself with work today. Get some proper rest."

"Dinner's ready, too."

"But Zilan doesn't seem quite herself today. She's closest to you, so go check on her in a bit."

"Thanks, Grandpa Qin. Sorry for the extra trouble today." Lin Yuan did not argue.

There really were plenty of things to do the day before the awakening ceremony.

On the second floor.

The main room held plenty of fresh flowers and plants, especially vines with purple stripes.

These Purple Star Vines were Yuanming Pet Food Shop's main product.

Such vines could grow only near a plant pet beast called a Purple Ghost Orchid.

Zilan, whom Qin Bailing had just mentioned, was a Purple Ghost Orchid.

She was another precious pet beast left behind by his parents.

Lin Yuan pushed open a side door. Inside a plant room of about five square meters, an orchid bearing two blossoms stood gracefully in a flowerpot.

Beside the pot sat a basin containing some dew that had dripped from the orchid.

The whole room was filled with a delicate fragrance.

But the Purple Ghost Orchid's petals were visibly drooping. Every so often, a few drops of dew fell into the basin, as though they were her tears.

Sensing Lin Yuan's arrival, she straightened a little.

Lin Yuan looked at her panel.

[Purple Ghost Orchid]

[Attribute]: Wood

[Quality]: Upper-grade Ordinary

[Sex]: Female

[Level]: Ordinary Level 10

[Traits]: [Purple Dew]

[Personality]: Protective of home, giving, sensitive

[Status]: Today is her former master's birthday. Longing has left her especially sad.

[Evolution Path] (gray)

Lin Yuan had already more or less guessed why Zilan was feeling down.

She was a pet beast his mother had once contracted, and she had been there for as long as Lin Yuan could remember.

In a way, she had watched him grow up.

She had played the greatest part in making Yuanming Pet Food Shop a success.

As long as a plant-type pet had a production or support trait, even one of the most ordinary quality was more valuable than some common Transcendent-quality flesh-and-blood pet beasts.

"I came from the mountains, bringing orchid grass. I look three times a day, hoping the flowers bloom soon..."

Lin Yuan hummed the song his mother had always sung in front of Zilan.

Whenever Zilan was upset, the song never failed to lift her spirits a little.

As he hummed, his thoughts drifted away.

For as long as he could remember, both his parents had been in poor health.

His father could not bear heat, and his mother could not bear cold.

Two years ago, they had died of illness within a week of each other.

Overcome with grief, Lin Yuan had fallen unconscious for two days. When he woke, memories of a past life as a university lecturer in botany and zoology had awakened within him.

The memories were incomplete, but his knowledge of plant classification and animal behavior was extraordinarily clear.

And those nearly thirty years of life experience that had suddenly appeared had helped him endure the hardest period.

Later, he discovered, to his amazement, that he could see pet beasts' panels.

Besides basic information, quality, and level, those panels showed personality and status.

That always gave him access to information others lacked.

Driven by curiosity, he had also kept searching for the reason [Evolution Path] appeared gray on the panels.

"Maybe I'll find out tomorrow..."

Zilan was still downhearted. That was part of her sensitive nature.

All Lin Yuan could do was help her rally a little.

He stroked her petals. "Zilan, I'm still here."

"When Mom and Dad were around, all they wanted was for me to live a healthy life and not be at the mercy of heat and cold."

"They also hoped I'd become a Beast Tamer. The higher a Beast Tamer's star rating, the stronger their abilities, the better they can withstand changes in their surroundings, and the longer they can live."

"The awakening ceremony is tomorrow. I hope the talent I awaken lives up to their hopes."

Zilan understood.

Her petals reached down, pointing toward the dew in the basin.

It was as if she were telling Lin Yuan to drink some.

The dew was produced by Zilan's [Purple Dew] trait. It could restore energy and heal injuries, and it was currently the shop's most valuable product.

"Thanks, but customers have already reserved all this dew. I can't just drink it."

"My teacher at school gave me a Spirit-Nourishing Fruit today. That'll help me a lot, too!"

As usual, Lin Yuan shared what had happened at school with Zilan.

Hearing this, Zilan seemed to brighten considerably and stood tall again.

Purple light flickered, and even the air seemed fresher.

To her, now that her former master was gone, Lin Yuan—the young master she had watched grow up—was the one she would protect and devote herself to.

Good things happening to Lin Yuan often lifted her spirits, too.

Now her petals stirred, as if she were telling him, "You can do it."

Then a petal flicked, sending a drop of dew squarely onto the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth, as though she were "forcing" him to drink it.

Lin Yuan licked it up.

So sweet...

Lin Yuan had committed to memory every step and precaution Chen Xuanbai had given him for consuming the Spirit-Nourishing Fruit.

Now he bit into the last piece. Drowsiness came with a profound sense of inner calm, and he soon fell fast asleep in bed.

He dreamed of nothing all night.

The Spirit-Nourishing Fruit's calming effect was better than he had imagined. He did not even turn over once...

The next day.

At the awakening ceremony.

All twenty first-year classes, some twelve hundred students in total, had gathered in the school's largest assembly hall.

They were tested one by one, in class order.

It would be hours before Class Nine's turn.

Fortunately, the students from the first eight classes were nearly finished.

Among the almost five hundred people tested so far,

one had awakened [Blazing Heart], an S-rank talent ranked ninety-ninth.

Another sixteen had awakened A-rank talents.

No one found those results surprising.

Puquan Beast-Taming Experimental High School was the best high school in Lin Hua City, and it conducted preliminary tests when admitting first-year students.

In other words, every student who got in could awaken a talent.

S-rank talents appeared every year, too.

Chenlong Kingdom currently had records of 106 S-rank talents and 384 A-rank talents. Based on official assessments, they had been ranked from one to five hundred.

If an S-rank talent in the top fifty, or even the top twenty, appeared, it might cause a stir.

"Class Nine, Huang Zixuan."

"Good luck, class monitor!"

The awakening ceremony was simple.

The person being tested walked into a dazzling magic circle. In less than ten seconds, its energy would draw out their talent, and a corresponding vision would appear.

Huang Zixuan took a deep breath and strode into the circle.

In less than ten seconds,

a magnificent scene appeared above it—

A towering tree sprang from the ground. All around it, grasses burst into growth, and everything flourished.

"An S-rank talent, [A Hundred Grasses Flourish], ranked sixty-eighth overall!"

As soon as the announcement rang out, excitement rippled through the hall. This was the second S-rank talent to appear and the highest-ranked so far.

"Wow! That's our class monitor for you. Incredible!"

The students of Class Nine shared in his glory. Their first student tested had set a strong example, and the others were not quite so nervous anymore.

Lin Yuan looked at Huang Zixuan, happy for him as well.

But the Spirit-Nourishing Fruit's mind-clearing effect kept his emotions from stirring much. He remained calm.

"Next, Class Nine, Lin Yuan."

Hearing his name, Lin Yuan walked steadily into the testing circle.

"Wow, one top student right after another!" The students of Class Nine grew excited.

"Lin Yuan's always been so amazing. Think he'll awaken a top-ten S-rank talent?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Who can predict talents? Still, someone like Lin Yuan has to get at least an A, even at worst."

Lin Yuan's reputation clearly extended beyond Class Nine.

At the sound of his name, the entire year turned to look.

But by then, caught in the awakening circle's summons, Lin Yuan could no longer sense anything happening around him.

The circle's guiding energy poured over his head like a clear spring.

He seemed to feel the splendor of life and the rhythm in which every plant and animal grew. He could hear their joy and touch the traces of their innermost feelings.

Then a vision appeared.

A hazy figure stood surrounded by countless living creatures. They seemed to be pouring out their hearts and sharing the joys of their lives as pets.

"An A-rank talent, [Living Creature Affinity], ranked one hundred and twelfth overall!"

At one hundred and twelfth, it stood among the top ten A-rank talents.

Yet it somehow fell short of everyone's "expectations."

Lin Yuan... without an S-rank talent? That did not seem quite right.

That was what everyone thought.

Still, such cases had happened before. Every year, outstanding students who had excelled before the awakening ceremony ended up awakening even D-rank talents.

At least Lin Yuan had awakened an excellent A-rank talent.

It would certainly be more than enough to get him into the Kindling Class.

Even so, for some reason, the word "pity" crossed many people's minds.

Even Huang Zixuan, who had just awakened an S-rank talent, felt that way.

When Chen Xuanbai saw Lin Yuan's A-rank talent, a smile began to rise on his face, though he, too, thought Lin Yuan deserved something better.

But at that moment,

none of them knew

that after seeing that vision, Lin Yuan

saw the scene before his eyes change once more.

This time, no multitude of living creatures surrounded him.

He seemed to be gazing out from a distant vantage point at the boundless expanse of life...