Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Lin Yuan plans how to manage the growing demand for Spirit Dew. He will reserve two or three drops a day for his own pet beasts, keep selling a fixed amount through the official Alliance channel, and set aside supplies for possible partnerships or trades. The success of the product makes him realize he needs to hire professional staff.
• He reads messages from three people interested in Spirit Dew:
  • Liu Xing says the dew has helped his pet beasts and offers to sell Lin Yuan ten drops at a supposed “friendship price”—though the offer is far below their actual value.
  • Huang Zixuan says his father, who runs a large shop, wants to meet Lin Yuan about the product. Lin Yuan also advises him that his newly contracted Wonderstar Grass is likely reacting to the dew’s yin-leaning energy; sunlight should help it recover.
  • Chen Xuanbai reports that his Shadow Witch Cat has changed color and become more restless after he followed Lin Yuan’s advice and bought it eighteen female cats. Lin Yuan agrees to examine it at his shop the next morning.
• Lin Yuan reflects on treating Linghuan’s illness, which will require a fifteen-day course using specially ordered materials. He hopes the treatment will help Linghuan shed the cold persona she has been forced to adopt.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Yuan grows more confident as a seller and strategist, recognizing Spirit Dew’s commercial value while prioritizing his family and pets. He also begins to see how much he still needs to learn about business.
• Liu Xing continues to be exuberant and generous, treating his new connection with Lin Yuan as fate and eagerly sharing his experiences.
• Huang Zixuan remains considerate and reserved, acting as a careful intermediary between Lin Yuan and his father. Lin Yuan responds with practical advice and postpones the meeting until he is prepared.
• Chen Xuanbai is embarrassed and anxious: his attempt to improve his Shadow Witch Cat’s mood has left it restless and his recently repaired house in ruins. After other experts fail to help, he trusts Lin Yuan’s earlier observations and seeks his guidance.

Significant themes

• Responsibility and priorities: Lin Yuan balances profit with the needs of his family and pet beasts.
• Opportunity and preparation: Spirit Dew’s sudden popularity opens new business prospects, but Lin Yuan knows he must plan carefully.
• Trust and connection: The chapter develops several relationships through advice, generosity, and a shared belief in fate.
• The costs of incomplete knowledge: Chen Xuanbai’s attempt to follow advice without fully understanding the Shadow Witch Cat’s behavior leads to comic consequences and a need for closer examination.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Yuan begins preparing treatment for Linghuan using two delivered materials: powdered [Red Spirit Tail] and [Spirit Red Bright Liquid]. He mixes them into fifteen doses and refrigerates them.
• He applies the first dose to Linghuan’s tail. The medicine produces a warm red glow and begins easing both her physical discomfort and mental confusion. He follows it with a drop of Zilan’s [Spirit Dew], which further soothes her.
• Linghuan’s status confirms that treatment has begun successfully. She has gained a level from the recent [Spirit Dew], and her two hidden evolution paths will become available once her physical and mental health recover.
• A new, unusually lively [Courier Bird] delivers the materials. Lin Yuan wonders why the familiar bird that has served him for years is absent, reflecting on how ordinary beasts can be replaced as they age.
• Chen Xuanbai visits Lin Yuan’s home as promised. Qin Bailing recognizes him as a longtime customer, while Lin Yuan explains that the teacher has come to discuss pet beasts. Chen’s arrival leads into the next development: Lin Yuan sees the summoned [Shadow Witch Cat] and is startled by its changed appearance.

Character developments

• Lin Yuan shows growing skill as a potion maker, carefully following his notes and prioritizing Linghuan’s emotional well-being by waiting to offer hope until the medicine is ready. He is encouraged by her recovery and intrigued by her hidden evolution paths.
• Linghuan realizes that the divided impulses she has experienced since her evolution were not simply normal behavior, but symptoms of an illness that made her feel controlled and unlike herself. The treatment brings her a first sense of mental clarity, and she responds with deep gratitude.
• Qin Bailing reveals his trust and warmth toward Chen Xuanbai, whom he regards as a good teacher because of his repeated visits and support for the shop.
• Chen Xuanbai continues his established mentorship of Lin Yuan by visiting to discuss pet beasts.

Significant themes

• Care and trust: Lin Yuan’s thoughtful treatment and Linghuan’s faith in him deepen their bond.
• Autonomy and identity: Linghuan’s illness has left her feeling that her actions and emotions are not truly her own; recovery promises a return to herself.
• Change and impermanence: The new courier’s arrival prompts Lin Yuan to reflect on the replacement of older, ordinary beasts.
• Potential and transformation: Linghuan’s hidden evolution paths—and the altered Shadow Witch Cat—suggest that recovery and change may unlock unexpected possibilities.

Character interactions

• Lin Yuan explains Linghuan’s condition, warns that the medicine may sting, and gently applies it; Linghuan accepts his care and expresses gratitude.
• He offers her Zilan’s [Spirit Dew], which she accepts with unusual appreciation.
• Qin Bailing welcomes Chen Xuanbai as a regular customer, then courteously gives Lin Yuan and the teacher privacy to talk.
• Lin Yuan briefly cares for the new Courier Bird by giving it water, while privately worrying about the familiar delivery bird.

Chapter Summary: “Demon Attribute, Baishi Gets ‘Motivated’”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xuanbai brings Lin Yuan his badly distressed Shadow Witch Cat, Xiao Ying. The cat’s fur, wizard hat, and eyes have begun turning pinkish-purple, and he has become uncontrollably driven despite being exhausted.
• Lin Yuan examines Xiao Ying’s status and discovers that a dormant Demon Attribute is awakening. This awakening is also transforming the cat’s Dark Shadow trait into Phantom Shadow.
• The cat’s condition was caused by excessive desire following a year of pent-up urges being suddenly satisfied. His mating drive must be controlled while his attributes stabilize.
• Lin Yuan identifies the necessary treatment: Demon-Control Fruit, Awakening Dew, Spirit Clarity Pill, and medicinal baths using Demon Shadow Dew or Dark Charm Dew diluted in water. The full awakening is expected to take about a month.
• Xiao Ying possesses a surprising second evolution path: the Monarch Low-Grade Nether Shadow Spirit Charm Cat, with 75% compatibility. A hidden evolution path may become available once he recovers.
• Pretending to rely on a research paper, Lin Yuan gives Chen Xuanbai a vague but accurate explanation of the Demon Attribute awakening and its treatment.
• Chen Xuanbai quickly understands the diagnosis, realizes he had overlooked the possibility of a Demon Attribute mutation, and rushes off to obtain the necessary materials.
• Afterward, Lin Yuan discovers that Baishi has become unusually energetic and intensely focused on training. The presence of Xiao Ying has activated Baishi’s Heart Frenzy trait.

Character Developments

• Lin Yuan: Demonstrates his ability to interpret creature panels and apply the information strategically. He helps Chen Xuanbai while maintaining the cover story about the research paper, showing both intelligence and social tact. He also becomes more confident in his role as a knowledgeable beast tamer.
• Chen Xuanbai: Shows strong concern for Xiao Ying and takes immediate action once Lin Yuan offers a plausible diagnosis. He recognizes that his own assumptions about Little Black Cats and mutation may have caused him to miss the real problem.
• Xiao Ying: Begins undergoing a major transformation as his dormant Demon Attribute awakens. His personality and physical appearance are affected, but the condition is treatable and may eventually lead to a powerful Monarch-quality evolution.
• Baishi: Becomes competitive and anxious that Lin Yuan might replace him with another cat-type beast. His insecurity turns into intense motivation, causing him to train harder and activate Heart Frenzy.

Significant Themes

• Hidden potential and mutation: Ordinary or underestimated creatures may possess powerful dormant attributes and unexpected evolution paths.
• Knowledge and inference: Lin Yuan’s ability to interpret information—and present it convincingly—allows him to solve problems without revealing the true source of his knowledge.
• Care and responsibility: Chen Xuanbai’s concern for Xiao Ying and Lin Yuan’s willingness to help emphasize the bond between beast tamers and their contracted creatures.
• Competition and insecurity: Baishi’s fear of being replaced motivates him to improve, showing how affection and rivalry can drive growth.
• Transformation as both danger and opportunity: Xiao Ying’s awakening causes severe physical and behavioral instability, but it may ultimately lead to a far stronger form.

Character Interactions

• Lin Yuan carefully examines Xiao Ying and gives Chen Xuanbai a controlled explanation of the cat’s condition.
• Chen Xuanbai trusts Lin Yuan’s judgment, reacts with hope, and leaves hurriedly to find the treatment materials.
• Lin Yuan privately recognizes that Chen Xuanbai’s knowledge made the vague information sufficient, allowing him to preserve his secret.
• Baishi does not directly interact with Xiao Ying in conversation, but Xiao Ying’s presence triggers Baishi’s competitive instincts and renewed dedication to training.
• Lin Yuan responds positively to Baishi’s determination and plans to surprise him with the Lionbright Fruit once it arrives.

Plot points and events

• At the family pet food shop, Lin Yuan considers how to build on the popularity of Zilan’s [Spirit Dew]. He worries that the shop’s other main product, [Purple Star Vine], is too ordinary to capitalize on the new attention, and begins planning a broader upgrade.
• Liu Xing arrives, recognizes that the shop belongs to Lin Yuan’s family, and realizes Lin Yuan had been teasing him in their messages. After some friendly banter, the two move upstairs to talk.
• Liu Xing analyzes [Spirit Dew] as unusually valuable: it combines recovery, healing, and gradual relief from lingering ailments, while remaining easier to produce than higher-grade alternatives. Its official price cap therefore does not reflect its full market value.
• Lin Yuan explains his strategy: sell fixed quantities through his online shop, reserve some for personal use and walk-in customers, and partner with merchants to promote processed products—while keeping raw [Spirit Dew] exclusive to his family shop.
• Liu Xing agrees that exclusivity can help the business, then advises Lin Yuan to barter rather than sell valuable goods outright when possible. He offers to trade a glowing green stone for [Spirit Dew], saying it can help a plant-type pet beast produce more without harm.

Character developments

• Lin Yuan shows a thoughtful, business-minded side. He has a clear plan for protecting the shop’s identity and using [Spirit Dew] to expand its reach, and he is willing to think beyond immediate financial needs.
• Liu Xing shifts from potential customer to trusted adviser and friend. Though he is a Two-Star Beast Breeder, he is impressed by Lin Yuan’s judgment and suggests they treat each other as brothers rather than senior and junior.

Significant themes

• Value beyond price: A product’s worth depends on scarcity, demand, and distinctive qualities—not just its official price.
• Building lasting business strength: Lin Yuan aims to promote the shop while retaining control over its signature product.
• Barter and relationships: Rare resources may be more useful exchanged for things money cannot buy.
• Trust and collaboration: Liu Xing’s advice and proposed trade reflect growing friendship and mutual respect.

Character interactions

• Lin Yuan and Liu Xing trade playful remarks about Liu Xing’s recent romantic troubles before turning to business.
• Liu Xing offers candid advice, while Lin Yuan shares his plans and listens closely.
• Their conversation deepens their friendship: Liu Xing drops the formal “senior” relationship, and the two agree to regard each other as brothers.
• Liu Xing’s offer of the green stone introduces a potentially valuable exchange, leaving Lin Yuan surprised by its life force and significance.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Xing reveals the upper-grade Monarch support Beast Gear, the Life-Soul Pendant, and offers to lend it to Lin Yuan for a month rather than trade it. It will continually nourish a compatible wood-type pet beast and improve its growth and traits.
• Lin Yuan recognizes the pendant from The Complete Guide to Beast Gear of the Chenlong Kingdom, a hand-illustrated book he once thought was only a children’s picture book.
• They agree that Liu Xing will lend Lin Yuan the pendant, and Lin Yuan will give him half of the extra Spirit Dew it produces. Liu Xing also wants ten drops for a breeding experiment and hopes to publish a short paper.
• Lin Yuan insists on charging a “friends’ price” of 9,999 Alliance Coins for the ten drops, turning Liu Xing’s earlier joke into a reciprocal gesture of friendship. He quietly puts two extra drops in the bottle.
• Liu Xing offers to visit each Saturday and help Lin Yuan with his studies. Lin Yuan asks him to arrange a meeting with a business-minded member of Liu’s Lineage so he can discuss potential shop partnerships; Liu Xing agrees to set one up for the next day.
• Lin Yuan brings the pendant to Zilan, his Purple Dew Orchid, and recalls that as a child he had wished for a real green pendant for her. Once he places it on her flower, she visibly improves, and her phantom Pagoda takes on a green glow.

Character developments

• Lin Yuan shows deep knowledge of Beast Gear, practical business sense, generosity, and growing willingness to regard Liu Xing as a friend. His childhood memories also reveal his long-standing affection for Zilan.
• Liu Xing balances academic ambition with respect for others’ boundaries: although curious about Zilan’s mutation, he waits rather than intruding. His enthusiasm for research and eagerness to help Lin Yuan reinforce his sincerity.
• Zilan does not remember the specific childhood story, but she senses Lin Yuan’s feelings and responds calmly to his affection and to the pendant’s energy.

Significant themes

• Friendship and reciprocity: the characters use bargaining and playful teasing to express mutual trust and generosity.
• Childhood wishes and memory: Lin Yuan’s old picture book and long-forgotten wish become real, linking his past to his present.
• Curiosity and restraint: Liu Xing’s scientific interest is tempered by respect for privacy.
• Growth and opportunity: the pendant strengthens Zilan, while the proposed research and business meeting point toward new opportunities for both young men.

Character interactions

• Lin Yuan and Liu Xing negotiate the pendant loan and Spirit Dew sale while teasing one another about friendship and “friends’ prices.”
• Liu Xing respects Lin Yuan’s privacy by waiting outside the plant room, then offers regular academic support.
• Lin Yuan shares a tender childhood recollection with Zilan and equips her with the pendant, whose powerful effect is immediately apparent.

Key events

• Zilan’s new Life-Soul Pendant boosts her growth speed and trait effects by 20%. Her Spirit Dew output rises to 24–25 drops a day, and she advances to Transcendent Level 2.
• Lin Yuan learns that Zilan’s complete Gift of All Spirits evolution information will appear only after her individual Power of All Spirits has accumulated. Her next evolution requires her to reach Transcendent Level 10.
• Lin Yuan encourages Zilan to adjust to the pendant and make the most of its limited one-month period.
• After a difficult morning, Baishi regains her motivation. She reflects on her wish to become like her lion brother—not just to be a lion, but to earn affection—and begins to recognize that she has already found warmth and acceptance in Lin Yuan’s home.
• The Lionbright Fruit and other ingredients arrive. Lin Yuan bakes them into a cake designed to gently harmonize Baishi’s bloodline. Baishi eats it eagerly and, feeling warm and strong, declares it the happiest day of her life.

Character development and interactions

• Lin Yuan shows care through both practical support and affection: he celebrates Zilan’s progress, reassures her about the pendant’s time limit, and prepares Baishi’s treatment himself.
• Zilan responds to improved circumstances with greater determination, resolved to use every available resource to help her household thrive.
• Baishi moves from insecurity and comparison with a powerful feline to renewed focus. She begins to value the love and security she has found with Lin Yuan, while still holding onto her dream of becoming a lion.
• Lin Yuan and Baishi share a gentle, playful moment as he presents the cake and reminds her of his promise to help her. Her delight contrasts with her earlier deprivation and uncertainty.

Significant themes

• Found family and belonging: Home and sincere care give Zilan and Baishi strength.
• Hope and childhood wishes: Lin Yuan’s promise revives Baishi’s long-held dream.
• Effort and opportunity: Zilan and Baishi both channel their determination into making the most of new resources.
• Kindness toward the overlooked: Lin Yuan’s small kindness to the exhausted Courier Bird highlights how rarely such workers receive warmth.

Plot points and events

• Lin Yuan invites Baishi to become his first contracted pet beast, emphasizing that he values their bond and Baishi’s wishes—not merely his potential.
• Baishi, expecting to be exploited as he was in the past, is stunned by the offer. Trusting Lin Yuan’s sincerity, he accepts.
• During the contract, Lin Yuan feels Baishi’s buried pain and fierce determination through Baishi’s [Heart Frenzy] trait.
• The contract triggers a breakthrough: Baishi absorbs energy from the [Lionbright Fruit] cake and reaches transcendent low-grade quality. He also awakens [Lion Spirit], which lets him summon a lion spirit and imbue attacks with a dominating presence.
• Baishi is overjoyed by his growth and the prospect of becoming lionlike. While [Heart Frenzy] remains active, he immediately begins training.
• Lin Yuan’s mental power rises by nine points, to 21/100. The chapter explains that stronger contracted beasts can feed mental power back to their tamers, helping them advance.

Character development

• Baishi begins to trust Lin Yuan enough to accept a contract, moving beyond the suspicion shaped by years of being passed between people and treated as an object of study. His renewed strength also helps him feel proud rather than rejected.
• Lin Yuan shows that his approach to taming is founded on respect and emotional connection. He is delighted by Baishi’s breakthrough and sees the contract as the start of a shared future.

Character interactions

• Lin Yuan’s gentle, direct invitation contrasts with Baishi’s painful expectations of exploitation.
• Their sincere exchange of trust culminates in a contract that lets them sense one another more deeply and strengthens their affection.
• Baishi responds to Lin Yuan’s belief in him by training eagerly, convinced that Lin Yuan means to help him achieve his dream.

Significant themes

• Trust and compassion: Respecting a creature’s wishes creates a stronger bond than treating it as a resource.
• Growth through connection: Their contract provides Baishi with the emotional and mental momentum to break through, while also strengthening Lin Yuan.
• Hope and self-worth: Baishi’s transformation suggests that past rejection need not define his future.
• Patience and potential: Lin Yuan’s care, the cake’s stored energy, and Baishi’s perseverance combine to unlock growth that neither expected.

Plot points and events

• Lin Yuan discovers that his mental power has risen by nine points, putting him unusually far ahead for a second-year student. He suspects his two talents and the recovering effect of the Bonded Enlightenment Art are responsible.
• He plans to use the art on Baishi’s Bond Trait when it becomes available again.
• At home, Zilan adjusts to her improved growth and new responsibilities, while Baishi enjoys increasingly energetic training. Lin Yuan also senses joy from the normally ungraded Purple Star Vine.
• Linghuan, after Lin Yuan applies ointment, begins setting its own work pace. It realizes that taking breaks improves its efficiency and makes its work more satisfying.
• Lin Yuan celebrates the day’s good fortune by relaxing and reading fiction. After finishing a short story, he exchanges messages with Liu Xing, arranging to meet Liu’s business consultant the next afternoon, and with Huang Zixuan, arranging a meeting two days later.
• Preparing to work with the Yellow Crane Tower Shop, Lin Yuan researches the shop online. He searches for information about its owner’s pet beasts and finds a post about Huang Tao and his Fortune Dog.

Character development and interactions

• Lin Yuan grows more confident about his unusually rapid progress and remains attentive to his beasts’ wellbeing. He also balances business preparation with leisure, then turns his attention to researching a potential business partner.
• Zilan and Baishi both respond to their recent gains with renewed purpose and happiness. Baishi’s freer, more vigorous training reflects its trust in Lin Yuan.
• Linghuan takes an important step toward independence: with its discomfort eased, it chooses its own rhythm and discovers that rest and work can coexist.
• Liu Xing supports Lin Yuan by arranging an expert consultant and warmly inviting him to visit, also encouraging him to see their shared-fate beasts, Zizi and Jinjin.
• Lin Yuan and Huang Zixuan confirm plans to discuss matters in person.

Significant themes

• Growth through balance: Rest does not undermine diligence; it can make work more effective and joyful.
• Trust and care: Lin Yuan’s attention helps his pet beasts gain confidence, comfort, and purpose.
• Joy in everyday life: Lin Yuan’s family, reading, and friendships provide happiness alongside ambition and business.
• Preparation and opportunity: As Lin Yuan advances, he combines expert advice with his own research to prepare for new ventures.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Yuan researches a five-year-old forum thread about Huang Tao, the wealthy owner of Yellow Crane Tower Shop, who contracted an old Fortune Dog despite already being a four-star Beast Tamer. Though others call him superstitious, Lin Yuan reads the affection in their relationship and suspects the dog’s presence at business events may signal how seriously Huang Tao takes their upcoming deal.
• The following day, Lin Yuan tends to his beasts and trains with Baishi before visiting Liu Xing’s family estate to prepare for their meeting with Huang Tao.
• Lin Yuan arrives early and brings Liu Xing a wreath woven by Linghuan from Purple Star Vines. Liu Xing welcomes the thoughtful gift and invites him to see his private breeding facility.
• There, Lin Yuan finds that Jinjin, Liu Xing’s Mist-Hiding Spider, has become energetic after receiving better care—but has been overfed and is releasing excess metal energy by scraping the floor. Lin Yuan advises Liu Xing to moderate its rich diet and account for its past condition.
• Liu Xing recognizes Lin Yuan’s insight and asks him to assess Zizi as well, concerned that she has been paying him little attention.

Character developments

• Lin Yuan continues to grow more capable and deliberate: he researches before negotiations, cares for his beasts, and uses his perceptiveness to diagnose Jinjin’s needs.
• Liu Xing is affectionate and receptive to advice, but his wealth has encouraged indulgent feeding habits. He begins to reconsider his approach to animal care.
• Linghuan is recovering and rediscovering its interest in handicrafts, creating wreaths and arrangements that bring warmth to Lin Yuan’s home.
• Jinjin has moved from withdrawn and neglected to lively in a suitable environment, though its unfamiliarity with visitors reveals its timid nature.
• Huang Tao is not present, but the thread suggests his attachment to his Fortune Dog is genuine rather than mere superstition.

Significant themes

• Understanding over appearances: Lin Yuan looks past rumors about Huang Tao and reads the bond behind the public image.
• Care tailored to individual needs: Jinjin’s case shows that costly food is not automatically good care; an animal’s history and condition matter.
• Thoughtfulness and reciprocity: Lin Yuan’s handmade gift strengthens his friendship with Liu Xing and reflects Linghuan’s recovery.
• Progress and renewed hope: Lin Yuan’s improved circumstances make even an ordinary journey feel brighter.

Character interactions

• Lin Yuan interprets the forum discussion about Huang Tao and his Fortune Dog, forming a cautious theory about the coming business meeting.
• Liu Xing warmly greets Lin Yuan and accepts the wreath, then gives him a tour of the breeding facility.
• Lin Yuan points out Jinjin’s overfeeding; Liu Xing listens, acknowledges his habit, and asks for further help with Zizi.

• Lin Yuan accompanies Liu Xing to see Zizi, the Illusion Dream Butterfly Liu Xing hopes to contract. Liu Xing admits that, despite his family arranging a powerful Commander-rank beast for him, he feels more drawn to Zizi and Jinjin. He wonders whether contracting Zizi might make it less cold toward him; Lin Yuan cautiously suggests it might, though he doubts a contract would change the butterfly’s personality.
• Zizi is sleeping in a lavish enclosure filled with purple flowers. Lin Yuan’s special perception reveals that Liu Xing’s generous feeding has made it grow quickly. Zizi is lazy, attracted to attractive people and glasses, and finds Liu Xing’s appearance uncomfortable—even while acknowledging that he treats it well. Most intriguingly, its panel now lists a hidden evolution path as “None yet,” suggesting one may emerge later. Lin Yuan is unsure what conditions might unlock it.
• Liu Xing then shows Lin Yuan his other pets. Huohuo, a playful and fiercely loyal Fierce Guardian Hound, is a high-grade Commander at level eight and has no hidden evolution path. Jingjing, a musical blue whale, practices on a custom-made saxophone in a large aquarium. Liu Xing explains that his family’s breeding legacy includes a rare evolution route that produces Spirit-Music Blue Whales, and that the whales may eventually reach Overlord quality. The family requires its members’ whales to study music, but Liu Xing worries Jingjing may have learned to love music only because of that tradition.
• Lin Yuan realizes that his panels expose even the Liu family’s closely guarded, lineage-exclusive evolution secrets. He resolves to keep that knowledge hidden.
  Character developments and interactions: Liu Xing’s devotion to Zizi reveals his sentimental, fate-oriented nature: he is willing to spoil the butterfly and hopes a bond will bring them closer. His concern for Jingjing shows a more thoughtful side, as he questions the cost of family expectations. Lin Yuan remains observant and guarded, balancing his interest in hidden evolution with concern for Liu Xing’s feelings and the need to protect what he has discovered.
  Themes: The chapter explores affection that cannot be forced, the tension between inherited duty and personal passion, the sacrifices behind exceptional potential, and the responsibility that comes with possessing sensitive knowledge.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Xing shows Lin Yuan around his breeding base, explaining that Beast Breeder students are expected to gain practical experience and may benefit from publishing research. He recommends Lin Yuan ask Teacher Chen Xuanbai for advice and offers help with staffing.
• Their conversation turns to leisure. Lin Yuan says novels can offer useful ideas and argues that people should value ordinary life—and the spirit of all pet beasts—instead of treating high-quality beasts as treasures and low-quality ones as mere tools.
• Intrigued by Lin Yuan’s mention of novels about Illusion Dream Butterflies, Liu Xing downloads a reading app and starts one while Lin Yuan attends his meeting.
• Lin Yuan meets Huo Yu, a Liu Family business executive, to prepare for negotiations with the Yellow Crane Tower Shop over Spirit Dew. Lin Yuan lays out three priorities: preserve his shop’s role as the seller of raw Spirit Dew, secure a profitable partnership, and gain access to products that could broaden his shop’s limited inventory.
• Huo Yu believes Yellow Crane Tower is pursuing healing-related products for its own research or expansion, so it is more likely to want a reliable supply than exclusive rights. He estimates Spirit Dew could sell for 60,000–100,000 Alliance Coins per ten drops, depending on the negotiations. He also stresses that the shop’s future partnership prospects will depend on whether Lin Yuan can offer more than Spirit Dew.
• The two spend nearly an hour testing negotiation scenarios. Lin Yuan also shares his deductions about Huang Tao’s Fortune Dog, which gives Huo Yu a new angle to consider. Lin Yuan leaves feeling prepared, though he suspects the Fortune Dog’s appearance could simplify the meeting.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Yuan shows maturity, preparation, and strong commercial instincts. He has organized his research and defined his goals and boundaries before seeking advice. His view that pet beasts should not be reduced to their rank or usefulness also reveals a compassionate, grounded outlook.
• Liu Xing is supportive and protective, advising Lin Yuan to rest and offering practical help. At the same time, his curiosity quickly gets the better of him: he starts reading the recommended novel and, by the chapter’s end, admits he is hooked.
• Huo Yu initially arrives prepared to deliver his own analysis, but Lin Yuan’s clear agenda earns his respect. Their exchange becomes collaborative, and Huo Yu recognizes Lin Yuan’s unusual ability to connect business questions with less obvious information.

Significant themes

• Respect for pet beasts beyond their rank: Lin Yuan challenges the tendency to value beasts only for quality and utility.
• Preparation and collaboration: Lin Yuan’s careful groundwork, combined with Huo Yu’s expertise, makes the coming negotiation more manageable.
• Business growth and leverage: Spirit Dew may open the door, but Lin Yuan’s long-term success depends on expanding his shop’s offerings and proving its broader potential.
• The unexpected value of leisure: Lin Yuan sees novels as a source of insight, while Liu Xing’s sudden enthusiasm provides a lighthearted payoff.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Xing worries that he should call his [Illusion Dream Butterfly] “Mom” after reading a bizarre novel. Lin Yuan recognizes the book as likely machine-generated, teaches Liu Xing how to choose more reliable novels, and reassures him that Zizi’s affection for beauty does not make it shallow.
• Lin Yuan visits Liu Xing’s breeding facility, reviews his experiments, and suggests changes to the variable-control groups. He avoids criticizing the paper’s broader structure, judging Liu Xing too inexperienced to take that setback all at once. Liu Xing treats him to an extravagant dinner and suggests asking about storage-type Beast Gear during his upcoming negotiations.
• The next day, Lin Yuan meets Huang Tao and Huang Zixuan at the Yellow Crane Tower Restaurant. Huang Tao is warm and offers a draft contract for buying Lin Yuan’s [Spirit Dew]. Its terms include a monthly minimum, a favorable price, restrictions on resale, source attribution for processed products, and a two-year term.
• Although the contract meets Lin Yuan’s basic needs, he wants to show that his shop can offer more than [Spirit Dew]. He asks Huang Tao how long he has been contracted with the [Fortune Dog] and whether he knows what it is thinking.
• The [Fortune Dog] reacts with sudden hostility, revealing that Lin Yuan’s question has touched on thoughts and secrets it has concealed from Huang Tao.

Character developments

• Lin Yuan demonstrates tact, patience, and business judgment: he coaches Liu Xing without humiliating him, studies Huang Tao’s contract carefully, and chooses to establish his value through insight rather than immediately bargaining over terms.
• Liu Xing moves from distressed confusion to renewed confidence about his bond with Zizi. He is eager to learn from Lin Yuan and values his advice.
• Huang Tao appears unexpectedly kind and cooperative during negotiations, but his confidence that his bond with the [Fortune Dog] leaves nothing important unknown is challenged.
• The [Fortune Dog] emerges as emotionally guarded and resistant to change. Though its physical ailment is no longer the main threat, unresolved emotional troubles are undermining its health; it has less than two years to live unless those troubles are addressed.
• Huang Zixuan is surprised by both his father’s unusual gentleness and the [Fortune Dog]’s hostility toward Lin Yuan.

Significant themes

• Trust and understanding: Even a contract that connects Beast Tamer and pet beast may not reveal everything one is feeling.
• Emotional health and change: The [Fortune Dog]’s concealed distress, rather than illness alone, is central to its decline; its path to evolution depends on resolving that distress.
• Mentorship and tact: Lin Yuan helps others while weighing when to offer criticism and how to make it useful.
• Discernment and credibility: Lin Yuan distinguishes reliable information from machine-generated fiction and reads business terms carefully.

Character interactions

• Lin Yuan gently corrects Liu Xing’s reading assumptions, and Liu Xing responds with relief and renewed enthusiasm.
• Lin Yuan advises Liu Xing on his experiments, while withholding harsher criticism of the paper’s structure.
• Huang Tao offers Lin Yuan a fair draft contract, and Lin Yuan responds respectfully while considering a broader partnership.
• Lin Yuan’s direct question about the [Fortune Dog] unsettles Huang Tao and provokes the dog, leaving Huang Zixuan bewildered and setting up a deeper confrontation about the dog’s hidden feelings.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Yuan’s question triggers an intense reaction from Huang Tao’s Fortune Dog. Lin Yuan’s status panel reveals that the dog has failed ten evolutions, carries hidden injuries, and has learned to conceal its feelings after repeated examinations. It resents being pushed to change.
• Lin Yuan sees no clear solution to the dog’s profound emotional wound. Huang Tao recalls it to its Beast-Taming Space, and the meal becomes tense and quiet.
• Huang Zixuan urges his father to take Lin Yuan’s sensitivity seriously. Huang Tao admits he knows the dog’s history but asks whether Lin Yuan truly sensed something or was using the dog to gain leverage in their business negotiation.
• Lin Yuan insists he was honest. He describes the dog’s panic, fear, and wish to live its remaining time without change—while also sensing that it believes it cannot change.
• Lin Yuan compares the dog to his own Zilan, who resisted evolution while burdened by an unresolved concern. He suggests that easing the burden might allow Fortune Dog to evolve and live longer.
• Huang Tao reveals that he has always believed Fortune Dog wanted to live longer: he contracted it, encouraged it to evolve, and supplied it with medicines and treasures for that purpose. Lin Yuan wonders whether the dog is waiting for someone or something, and refuses to change form until it arrives.

Character developments

• Lin Yuan moves beyond the possibility of using his insight for business advantage. He chooses honesty and becomes more convinced that respecting a beast’s feelings may mean uncovering the reason behind them.
• Huang Tao shifts from guarded businessman to emotionally exposed owner. His devotion to Fortune Dog is clear, but he begins to question whether his efforts to help it have misunderstood its wishes.
• Huang Zixuan supports Lin Yuan, trusting his perceptiveness, though he recognizes how much the truth matters to his father.
• Fortune Dog, though present only briefly, emerges as deeply traumatized, resistant to change, and seemingly holding onto a powerful hope or attachment.

Significant themes

• Respecting autonomy versus trying to help: Huang Tao’s efforts to extend the dog’s life may conflict with its desire not to change.
• Emotional wounds and hidden burdens: The dog’s suffering cannot be seen or solved through physical examination alone.
• Trust and honesty: Lin Yuan’s truthful account becomes the basis for Huang Tao to open up.
• Hope and waiting: The possibility that Fortune Dog is preserving its old form for someone or something gives its refusal to evolve a deeper meaning.

Character interactions

• Lin Yuan’s probing question provokes Fortune Dog’s distress, while Huang Tao tries to calm it before recalling it.
• Huang Zixuan encourages Huang Tao to trust Lin Yuan’s emotional insight.
• Huang Tao tests Lin Yuan’s honesty; Lin Yuan answers directly, earning a more personal response.
• Lin Yuan’s final question reframes the conflict: perhaps Fortune Dog does want to live longer, but only if it can remain unchanged until what it is waiting for arrives.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Yuan’s question about who Fortune Dog is waiting for exposes a painful family secret: Huang Tao’s wife died giving birth to Huang Zixuan sixteen years ago.
• Zixuan explains that Fortune Dog was raised by both his parents and was especially cherished by his mother. After she died, it mourned for days, then quietly watched the sky and distance. It has endured repeated failed evolutions and painful treatments, yet seems determined to keep living.
• Huang Tao returns after taking time outside and changes the subject to Lin Yuan’s contract. Lin Yuan accepts the terms but asks to speak with Fortune Dog again, now hoping to understand rather than gain leverage.
• Lin Yuan tells the family about his Purple Ghost Orchid, Zilan, and how she mourns his deceased parents. He describes how his father’s reserved affection confused Zilan, and how she learned to express love by holding back.
• Lin Yuan’s story moves Fortune Dog. It turns toward the sky, and its status reveals that it knows its mistress died—but Huang Tao had told it she was far away in the sky, watching over them.
• Fortune Dog fears evolving because it might no longer look like itself. It worries its mother might not recognize it if she returned.
• Lin Yuan offers a possible alternative: some Fortune Dogs can live for a very long time without changing appearance, remaining loyal to what they watch over.

Character developments

• Lin Yuan shifts from probing Fortune Dog’s condition for practical reasons to approaching the family with empathy and personal honesty. He recognizes that the dog’s resistance to evolution is rooted in love and fear, not stubbornness.
• Huang Zixuan shares what he knows about his mother and Fortune Dog, revealing his own lifelong sense of distance from his father.
• Huang Tao remains guarded, retreating from painful memories and quickly redirecting conversation. His past attempt to comfort Fortune Dog may have unintentionally shaped its beliefs.
• Fortune Dog is shown to understand its mistress is dead, but it has held onto the hope that she watches from the sky. Its unchanged appearance is a deliberate way of preserving the possibility of recognition.

Significant themes

• Love expressed indirectly: People and pet beasts can care deeply while hiding or misunderstanding how to show it.
• Grief and memory: Fortune Dog’s mourning is bound to its memories of its mistress and its fear of losing its familiar self.
• Miscommunication across generations: Huang Tao’s silence and protective explanation left Zixuan and Fortune Dog with incomplete ways of understanding the family’s loss.
• Identity and change: Fortune Dog’s refusal to evolve reflects the fear that change could erase the bond it hopes to preserve.

Character interactions

• Zixuan confides in Lin Yuan about his mother, his father’s silence, and Fortune Dog’s history.
• Lin Yuan responds by sharing his own family story, creating common ground with both father and son.
• Huang Tao listens while remaining emotionally restrained; Lin Yuan’s account reaches him and Fortune Dog more deeply than Zixuan can yet grasp.
• Fortune Dog silently responds to Lin Yuan’s words by looking toward the sky, exposing its grief and its continuing hope.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Yuan tells Huang Zixuan and Huang Tao that he may be able to help Fortune Attraction live longer without changing his appearance.
• Fortune Attraction senses Lin Yuan’s sincerity, approaches him, and shows trust—giving Huang Tao hope that Lin Yuan can help.
• Huang Tao revises the business agreement with Lin Yuan. They sign a long-term contract for Yellow Crane Tower Shop to buy at least 600 drops of Spirit Dew each month, at a fixed minimum price or in equivalent supplies. The contract also sets partner pricing for five pet-food products, gives Lin Yuan a discount at Yellow Crane Tower auctions, and requires proper attribution if Spirit Dew is processed.
• Lin Yuan agrees to visit twice a week to check on Fortune Attraction. He tells Huang Tao that the dog’s emotional knot can only be resolved if they open up to each other.
• Huang Tao gives Lin Yuan a Transcendent-quality Spirit Cage Ring as a gift, which Lin Yuan accepts.

Character developments

• Fortune Attraction moves from guarded distance to trust and hope, believing Lin Yuan may help him remain with his family.
• Huang Tao begins confronting the possibility that his own long-standing misunderstanding and emotional distance have contributed to Fortune Attraction’s distress. He chooses to trust the dog’s instincts and work with Lin Yuan.
• Huang Zixuan is excited and readily believes Lin Yuan, motivated by his deep attachment to Fortune Attraction.
• Lin Yuan demonstrates compassion alongside business sense: he secures a beneficial deal while recognizing that he can guide Huang Tao and Fortune Attraction, but cannot heal their relationship for them.

Significant themes

• Trust and emotional understanding: Fortune Attraction’s response to Lin Yuan reveals the importance of recognizing unspoken feelings.
• Healing through honest connection: The dog’s health is tied not only to physical care but also to resolving years of suppressed grief and avoidance.
• Mutual benefit and cooperation: The contract supports Lin Yuan’s growing business while giving Yellow Crane Tower access to Spirit Dew and helping Fortune Attraction.
• Hope and continuity: Fortune Attraction longs to remain recognizable to his family and preserve his place beside them.

Character interactions

• Fortune Attraction’s shift from avoiding Huang Tao to leaning against Lin Yuan visibly affects Huang Tao, giving him hope.
• Lin Yuan speaks candidly to Huang Tao, linking Fortune Attraction’s survival to the need for father and dog to face their feelings.
• Huang Tao praises Lin Yuan’s insight, formalizes their commercial partnership, and offers him the ring as both a practical gift and a gesture of goodwill.

Chapter Summary: “Things Are Getting Better, Cooldown Over”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lin Yuan completes the soul bond with the Spirit Cage Ring, allowing him to store items such as his schoolbag securely. Huang Tao explains that the ring cannot be used by anyone else unless Lin Yuan removes his soul imprint.
• Huang Tao asks Lin Yuan to look after his son, Huang Zixuan, once school begins. He leaves in visibly better spirits after successfully discussing business with Lin Yuan.
• Huang Zixuan admits that he initiated the meeting because he wanted to understand his father better. He is grateful that Lin Yuan helped him and recognized the love behind Huang Tao’s strictness.
• Lin Yuan and Huang Zixuan study together. Zixuan, an extremely dedicated student, brings out test papers and asks Lin Yuan to explain difficult general-knowledge topics. Lin Yuan helps him for an hour.
• Lin Yuan returns to the Yuanming Pet Food Shop, relieved after completing his first serious business negotiation. He tells Qin Bailing that he secured a deal to sell the Transcendent-quality Spirit Dew produced by Zilan.
• Through the agreement with the Yellow Crane Tower Shop, Yuanming will receive five new entry-level products within the week and may soon become a two-star pet food shop.
• Qin Bailing is delighted by the shop’s improving prospects and reports that Linghuan’s efficiency has dramatically increased, allowing it to handle most of the work while also making flower crowns and handicrafts.
• Lin Yuan brings Qin Bailing expensive, nourishing restaurant food as thanks for his past care. Qin Bailing and Linghuan enjoy the meal, which leaves them energized.
• The following day, Lin Yuan stays home to rest and trains Baishi. He focuses on refining Baishi’s natural combat instincts—especially jumping, claw strikes, and biting—and teaches it to use Heart Frenzy and Lion Spirit more effectively.
• Baishi’s body has grown stronger after digesting the Lionbright Fruit cake. During training, it enthusiastically performs leaps, flips, and attacks, showing how far it has progressed from its former weak state.
• Lin Yuan senses that the cooldown for Bonded Enlightenment Art has ended, setting up the next stage of Baishi’s development.

Character Developments

• Lin Yuan grows more confident and experienced as a negotiator and shop manager. He reflects that business dealings are more difficult for him than study or research, but recognizes the valuable experience he has gained.
• He shows increasing responsibility toward the people and creatures around him, supporting Huang Zixuan, expanding the shop, caring for Linghuan, and rewarding Qin Bailing.
• Huang Zixuan remains intensely focused on academics but becomes more open and emotionally honest with Lin Yuan. He begins to better appreciate his father’s affection.
• Huang Tao is shown to be strict but deeply caring. His successful discussion with Lin Yuan and his visible happiness suggest renewed confidence in his son’s future.
• Qin Bailing becomes more relaxed and hopeful as the shop improves. Having meaningful work and seeing Lin Yuan’s success greatly raises his spirits.
• Linghuan makes major progress in controlling its condition and work rhythm. It is now productive, socially responsive, and willing to enjoy food with Qin Bailing.
• Baishi transforms from a weak, underdeveloped kitten into a vigorous and agile lion cat. Its confidence, combat ability, and bond with Lin Yuan continue to strengthen.

Significant Themes

• Growth and recovery: Nearly every major character or creature is improving—Lin Yuan in business, Zixuan emotionally, Qin Bailing in morale, Linghuan in stability, and Baishi physically.
• Family and affection: The chapter emphasizes that strictness can coexist with love, particularly through Huang Tao and Huang Zixuan’s relationship.
• Mutual support: Lin Yuan’s success is built on cooperation with friends, family, employees, and pet beasts, while he also repays their efforts through care and generosity.
• Responsible cultivation: Lin Yuan trains Baishi according to its natural instincts rather than forcing it into an unsuitable fighting style.
• The rewards of effort: Business planning, treatment, study, and training all begin producing visible results, reinforcing the sense that the characters’ difficult period is ending.
• Healthy bonds between Beast Tamers and pet beasts: Lin Yuan’s ability to understand Baishi’s emotions and instincts allows their training to proceed smoothly and deepens their partnership.

Important Character Interactions

• Lin Yuan and Huang Tao: Their business discussion earns Huang Tao’s respect and leaves him happier. Huang Tao entrusts Zixuan to Lin Yuan’s care.
• Lin Yuan and Huang Zixuan: They discuss Huang Tao’s personality, share a meal, and study together. Their friendship combines emotional support with academic cooperation.
• Lin Yuan and Qin Bailing: Lin Yuan informs him of the shop’s expansion and thanks him with nourishing food, strengthening their affectionate grandfather-grandson-like relationship.
• Qin Bailing and Linghuan: Qin invites Linghuan to eat, and Linghuan responds positively, showing its improved emotional stability and willingness to interact.
• Lin Yuan and Baishi: Their training demonstrates strong communication and trust. Lin Yuan adapts to Baishi’s instincts, while Baishi responds with enthusiasm and growing confidence.

Key events

• Lin Yuan tells Baishi he will use the Bonded Enlightenment Art to awaken a new ability, as he previously did for Zilan. Baishi initially worries the process will exhaust Lin Yuan, but agrees after he reassures it.
• The enlightenment triggers Baishi’s [Heart Frenzy] and [Lion Spirit] traits. Baishi briefly takes on a powerful, lion-like form, then unexpectedly reverts to its former ordinary-kitten appearance before returning to normal.
• Lin Yuan discovers Baishi has gained [Hidden Transformation]: it can temporarily draw on an incompletely awakened bloodline to enhance itself, and may later revisit forms it once possessed. The ability depends on Baishi’s circumstances and state of mind, and is currently difficult for it to sustain.
• The transformations leave Baishi exhausted. Lin Yuan gives it Spirit Dew, and its body rapidly uses up the energy stored from the Lionbright Fruit.
• That evening, Baishi wakes refreshed and has advanced from low-grade to mid-grade Transcendent quality and from level 4 to level 5. Its breakthrough also raises Lin Yuan’s mental power from 21 to 26.
• As Baishi resumes training, Lin Yuan tells it to practice quietly and prepare for the next day. He researches the talents of his thirty-nine classmates, anticipating assessments beyond the assigned task of contracting a first pet beast.
• The chapter ends with Lin Yuan waking on the first morning of school, Baishi asleep at his feet.

Character development and interactions

• Baishi shows growing pride in its bond with Lin Yuan, but also concern for its Beast Tamer’s wellbeing. Its new ability reflects its latent power and changing forms; after its breakthrough, it is eager to train again.
• Lin Yuan demonstrates confidence in his growing mental power and care for Baishi, reassuring it, treating its exhaustion, and directing its practice. His former experience as a teacher informs his preparations for class.
• Their relationship is affectionate and trusting: Baishi worries about burdening Lin Yuan, while Lin Yuan encourages its growth and considers its needs.

Significant themes

• Growth through bonds: Lin Yuan’s connection with Baishi enables its awakening and strengthens both of them.
• Power and its cost: Baishi gains a powerful transformation ability, but cannot yet control it without severe exhaustion.
• Preparation and ambition: Lin Yuan anticipates the challenges of school and researches his classmates, while Baishi eagerly seeks further training.

Plot and events

• The forty top students of Senior Year 2’s Kindling Class enter a newly furnished classroom and find their seats assigned according to their rankings from the awakening ceremony. Lin Yuan is seated at desk seven, behind Huang Zixuan.
• Their four teachers introduce themselves and their subjects: Chen Xuanbai teaches fundamentals and serves as homeroom teacher; Sun Xingtian handles practical training; Zhao Liang teaches Beast-Taming and Nourishment Arts; and Zhu Neng covers resources and Beast Gear.
• All students summon the pet beasts they contracted during the previous week. The room becomes noisy as the young beasts react to one another, but Zhao Liang silences them with the Beast-Taming Art Tranquil Heart Technique.
• The teachers announce a three-hour, four-part in-class exam. Chen tests students with a written paper; Sun evaluates pet-beast discipline and the bond between beast and tamer; Zhao tests mental strength by gradually weakening his calming technique; and Zhu assesses students’ judgment in using the supplies and equipment in their desk boxes.
• The exam will determine class rankings and seating. Each subject’s top student receives a small reward, while the highest overall scorer gets a surprise.
• Chen’s written paper has three demanding questions: identify every classmate’s talent and its function; describe each classmate’s pet beast; and create the strongest possible teams of three, balancing attack, defense, and support.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Yuan is surprised by the combined exam but quickly becomes enthusiastic. His preparation proves relevant, and he recognizes that Chen’s questions reflect the teacher’s familiar way of thinking.
• Baishi remains calm amid the commotion, drawing on past experience being crowded among unfamiliar beasts. Lin’s reassuring exchange with him marks the beginning of their work together in the exam.
• Huang Zixuan comforts his nervous Wonderstar Grass. The beast settles further when it sees Lin Yuan smiling at it.
• Zhao’s effortless calming of the classroom demonstrates his skill, while the teachers’ coordinated exam reveals how they assess different sides of beast-taming.

Significant themes

• Partnership and control: Success depends on the tamer’s bond with a pet beast, especially under pressure.
• Broad competence: The exam tests knowledge, practical judgment, mental strength, discipline, and resource management at once.
• Preparation and adaptability: Lin Yuan benefits from studying in advance, but must still respond to an unexpected format.
• Competition and recognition: Rankings, rewards, and the promised surprise motivate the students to demonstrate their abilities.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• The Kindling Class begins a multi-part exam testing students’ knowledge, their pet beasts’ performance under pressure, and their ability to manage resources and mental energy.
• Teacher Chen Xuanbai displays the students’ and pet beasts’ information. Lin Yuan has already studied his classmates’ beasts and correctly predicts suitable first-pet choices for all but one of them, giving him confidence on the knowledge questions.
• Lin Yuan quickly completes the first two questions. For a practical team-building question, he writes ten possible three-person teams, ranking them according to how well they balance defense, support, and offense.
• During the exam, Zhu Neng records when students open their resource boxes. Most students eventually use the supplies inside, but Lin Yuan waits, suspecting that the timing alone cannot be the whole assessment.
• With ten minutes remaining, Lin Yuan is the only student who has not opened his box. He finally unlocks it and finds an item familiar from his family’s pet-food shop; the chapter ends before revealing exactly what it is.

Character developments

• Lin Yuan shows strong preparation, analytical thinking, and confidence. He also questions the apparent purpose of the resource-box test rather than simply following an assumed strategy.
• Baishi turns boredom into determination. Remembering the hardship of his months away from home, he decides to use his composure as an advantage and help Lin Yuan earn first place.
• Chen Xuanbai is impressed by Lin Yuan’s knowledge, fast and thorough answers, and choice of Baishi.
• Sun Xingtian notices that Baishi grows more focused rather than more unsettled as the exam continues, and recognizes his unusual resilience.

Character interactions

• Lin Yuan and Baishi support one another without needing constant communication: Baishi remains calm and purposeful, allowing Lin Yuan to concentrate.
• Sun Xingtian’s repeated scrutiny becomes a source of pressure for Baishi, but Baishi responds by becoming more motivated.
• Chen Xuanbai and Sun Xingtian both observe Baishi’s performance and react with approval and curiosity.
• Lin Yuan watches his classmates’ resource use, while Zhu Neng monitors when each student opens a box—an unexplained interaction that keeps the exam’s purpose uncertain.

Significant themes

• Preparation and adaptability: Lin Yuan’s advance study helps him excel, but he also stays alert to what the exam may really be testing.
• Pressure and resilience: Baishi’s past hardship gives him confidence amid the unfamiliar exam setting.
• Partnership and mutual support: Baishi’s determination to help Lin Yuan reinforces the bond between Beast Tamer and pet beast.
• Looking beyond appearances: The locked-box test seems simple at first, but Lin Yuan suspects it has a deeper purpose.

Key plot points

• During the endurance exam, Lin Yuan realizes the assessment is testing more than knowledge—and that he misunderstood its purpose by opening the resource box late.
• With only a minute left, he gives Baishi some Happy Water. Baishi relaxes, enjoys the treat, and insists Lin Yuan share it. Their small celebration becomes a warm contrast to the exam’s pressure.
• The exam ends. Students submit their papers and leave, having learned that life as a Beast Tamer will demand far more stamina and adjustment than their first year did.
• The teachers compare assessment results. Lin Yuan ranks first in both of the subjects already scored, though Zhu Neng’s resource assessment gives the class low marks overall.
• While grading, Chen Xuanbai finds Lin Yuan’s theory answers exceptionally strong. Lin Yuan’s response to the advanced team-composition problem is unusually detailed, complete with a chart and ranked strategies—and includes a combination Chen had never considered.

Character development and interactions

• Lin Yuan shows humility and care by sharing his drink with Baishi, while his exam answers reveal just how far his knowledge and analytical ability exceed the class’s level.
• Baishi becomes more relaxed and affectionate after Lin Yuan rewards its effort. Its insistence that he share the Happy Water emphasizes their mutual trust.
• Chen Xuanbai is proud of Lin Yuan but also recognizes that ordinary lessons may not challenge him. He realizes he may need to tailor his teaching to Lin Yuan’s ability.
• Zhu Neng remains a formidable, hard-to-read examiner, but is warm and considerate toward his former student Chen. Zhao Liang quietly evaluates the students with an unusual purple-eyed ability, paying special attention to those who improve under pressure.

Significant themes

• Care and partnership: Small acts of kindness strengthen the bond between Beast Tamer and pet beast.
• Growth through pressure: The assessment tests endurance and adaptability as much as academic knowledge.
• Exceptional talent and its challenges: Lin Yuan’s ability impresses his teacher, but also raises the question of how to keep him learning.
• Teaching and assessment: The chapter contrasts standard instruction with the need to recognize and challenge individual strengths.