A Twenty Percent Boost, a Day of Happiness

Purple light filled the panel, and Lin Yuan focused on what had changed.

[Purple Spirit Treasure Orchid]

[Attribute]: Wood

[Quality]: Transcendent High-Grade

[Sex]: Female

[Level]: Transcendent Level 2

[Beast Gear]: [Life-Soul Pendant] (Wood): Growth speed +20%, trait effects +20%

[Traits]: [Spirit Dew LV1], [Treasure Mist LV1], [Pagoda LV1]

[Spirit Dew LV1]: Currently produces 24–25 drops per day.

[Personality]: Protective of home, selfless, sensitive

[Status]: She did not remember her young master's childhood wish, but she believed everything he said. She was grateful that she had always had a place in his heart. The warmth of home made her want to give even more. Filled with strength, she had risen from Transcendent Level 1 to Transcendent Level 2.

[Evolution Path]: [Gift of All Spirits] consumes the [Power of All Spirits] gathered within this beast. The complete Evolution Path will appear once enough has gathered. Increases in the beast's level and growth of its traits can both accelerate the fusion of [Power of All Spirits] within it.

With her level increase and the effect of the [Life-Soul Pendant], [Spirit Dew] could now produce 24 to 25 drops a day!

She had evolved less than two days ago and had already gained a level. Lin Yuan was delighted.

When he read her [Status], warmth filled his heart again.

Then the information under [Evolution Path] caught his attention.

Ever since Zilan had evolved and he had received the [Bonded Enlightenment Art] from [Gift of All Spirits], the information there had been a jumble. Characters seemed to be forming, but layers of mist obscured them.

Only now did he understand: after each beast evolved, the [Power of All Spirits] unique to that individual had to gather before the complete information would appear.

Lin Yuan thought that made sense.

A Beast Tamer's [Talent], like a beast's [Traits], could gradually level up through use and training.

After all, he had only just awakened the [Eye of All Spirits], and it was already a powerful ability.

Besides, Zilan's next evolution had a firm prerequisite—she had to reach Transcendent Level 10. That was the minimum requirement for a beast's second evolution in this world.

"Zilan, congratulations on leveling up! Take some time to adjust and strengthen your resonance with this [Beast Gear]."

"We still have a month with it. Let's make the most of it!" Lin Yuan stroked Zilan's petals as he spoke softly.

Hearing about the time limit did not discourage Zilan at all. Instead, she brimmed with determination.

She had never had many resources before, so she had been willing to wring every last drop from her potential to give more of herself.

Now that her young master had awakened his talent and their lives were improving, she would wring every last drop from their resources too. That was how they would make life better still.

Baishi had watched the whole process: Lin Yuan taking out the [Beast Gear], reminiscing with Zilan, and finally putting it on her.

She had been working hard these past two days.

The flower nectar her new master fed her every day had made her feel much stronger than before.

But ever since she had felt the pressure from that powerful feline beast this morning, restlessness had gnawed at her.

Sometimes, hard work really did seem no match for talent.

Especially for a stunted little kitten like her, with no talent at all.

Then she heard what Lin Yuan had just said: "See? Sometimes childhood wishes do come true, don't they?"

She realized she had been too impatient.

Holding back was not in her nature. She was wild and brave.

But perhaps holding back had also protected her. During her unsettled life over the past six months, it had spared her punishment many times.

She needed to keep a steadier head.

She stopped thinking about the powerful presence of her own kind that she had sensed that morning.

She swung her paws with renewed effort.

Unbidden, she remembered the wish she had held during her first two months as a cub.

Her mother had borne four cubs. Her older brother was a lion, and he lived in glory, showered with affection.

Her two older sisters had no birth defects either. They were graceful, proper [Still Spirit Cats], beautiful and serene.

Only she was unwanted, met with cold looks wherever she turned.

Back then, hadn't she had just one wish?

To become like her older brother.

She wanted to become a lion because she wanted her parents to love her and everyone else to like her.

She remembered what Lin Yuan had told her two days ago: "Want to become a lion? I'll help you."

She did. She wanted it badly.

But over the past two days, she had discovered that she had already found a little of what she longed for even more.

It was here, in her new home, in this warm Plant Room, in her new master's sincere gaze and words.

At four that afternoon.

The [Lionbright Fruit] Lin Yuan had bought yesterday arrived, along with the Ordinary-quality materials meant to be used with it.

The delivery was made by the same [Courier Bird] on her first day of work.

Compared with how excited she had been at seven that morning, though, she looked rather wilted.

Getting battered by work on her very first day hardly seemed like a good start.

But the water Lin Yuan gave her put a little spring back in her step.

Lin Yuan had found that beasts like [Courier Birds] needed very little to feel happy.

Treat them with just a little kindness, and they would give three hundred percent of their strength.

This was not inborn. It was a learned response shaped by the way they worked and by people treating them as nothing more than delivery tools.

After all, in this world, even the least talented Beast Tamer would not choose to form a contract with a Courier Bird.

It seemed hard for them to feel genuine human warmth...

Materials in hand, Lin Yuan went upstairs.

He carefully took the ingredients for Baishi's treatment out of the parcel.

The Transcendent High-Grade [Lionbright Fruit] was only about the size of a fist, but it was golden all over and shaped like a little lion baring its claws and teeth.

The other ingredients—[Red Spirit Powder], [White Star Egg], [Mountain Spring Water], and the rest—were all Ordinary Low-Grade materials. They were as commonplace as could be and inexpensive too.

He carried them into the kitchen.

Yes, the panel's recommended method for preparing this "medicine" was baking.

Unlike the medicine applied to Linghuan, this one had to be eaten.

And because it was meant to harmonize Baishi's bloodline gently, it needed careful preparation.

Lin Yuan had not come from a wealthy family in his previous life. He had grown up in the mountains, and a poor family's child learned to shoulder responsibilities early. He had learned to cook when he was young.

In this life, by contrast, his parents had taken good care of him despite their illnesses, seeing to his meals and daily needs.

So even after his parents had passed away and his memories of his previous life had awakened, he was hardly helpless in the kitchen, despite Qin Bailing looking after him and Linghuan tending the household.

Cooking for different beasts and matching their diets to their needs was also an important part of being a Beast Tamer.

He had honed his cooking over the past two years. Cakes, supplementary foods, and the like were easy for him now.

About an hour later.

He had made a four-inch cake. It was plain, just the cake itself, but the bright golden color of the [Lionbright Fruit] made it look delicate.

He carried the cake into the Plant Room.

Baishi, still training, was instantly drawn to it.

Is that...

A cake!

She had lived with many families and seen cakes many times, but not once had she been given a bite.

The cake in Lin Yuan's hands was not the prettiest she had seen. For some reason, though, it drew her in. She could feel her blood racing and her limbs tingling.

But...

He must have made it to celebrate Zilan leveling up, right?

Oh, wait. Can plant beasts eat cake?

Baishi stopped swinging her paws and gave the question serious thought. She had never seen one eat cake before, had she?

But Zilan's so amazing. She probably can, right?

Sensing her mood, Lin Yuan could not help laughing.

She was only six months old, after all. No matter how much life had forced her to mature, her adorable side still slipped out when she least expected it.

According to the panel, Baishi's treatment did not need to be divided into courses.

Once she ate all the baked ingredients, their energy would accumulate in her body and work constantly to harmonize her bloodline. As long as she kept training every day, she would gradually grow until she reached the normal size of a [Still Spirit Cat].

How long that took would depend on how hard she worked.

"Baishi, I promised I'd help you become a lion." Lin Yuan set the cake gently on the floor. "The first step is eating this cake."

Baishi tilted her head, puzzled.

Eating cake will turn me into a lion?

But the ordinary-looking cake was already too tempting for her to think straight. She leaned toward it.

At first, she took only a few tentative nibbles. Then...

She ate faster and faster, until crumbs covered her mouth.

She licked up the bits that fell to the floor, then kept eating.

And she felt a strength in her body unlike anything she had known before.

This cake is delicious!

No wonder my old masters never let me have any. It really is something special!

It's a little sour, but it makes me feel warm inside, all through my body!

Ten minutes later.

"Meow... burp..."

Baishi no longer cared about the strange sound she had made. She was probably the least elegant [Still Spirit Cat] in history.

But right then, she was so content and happy she could burst.

It was the happiest day of her life!