After laying her cards on the table with her parents, Fang Lan stormed off in a huff.
Her parents fell silent. Their daughter was getting harder and harder to keep in line as she grew up, though she had never been easy to manage as a child either.
"Honey, what should we do? We've told her all that, but I don't think we can keep her in line."
"At this point, we can only prepare for the worst," her father said gravely.
"Have another child? How could you even think that? I refuse!" her mother snapped.
Her father bristled. What on earth was she talking about?
"If we really can't keep her in line, I'll become a Beast Tamer myself and personally help our daughter level up and protect her. I may be getting on in years, but I was once the king of insect fighting in Green Sea City. I have the talent for it."
"Speaking of which, how do you get a Black Card? Do you think I still have a chance?" A man remained a boy at heart until the day he died.
In the Beast Taming Plaza of Xia Country's Third Infinite City, Lu Ran and Pig Farmer entered a food shop. Both had already recalled their pet beasts, as most small establishments required.
It wasn't some "No so-and-so or dogs allowed" rule, nor was it because they feared pet beasts would lose control at the sight of food. The concern was that certain pet beasts might clash when they encountered each other in a confined space, accidentally injuring others.
After all, Beast Tamers contracted all sorts of strange creatures. Some pet beasts even harbored racial enmity toward one another. Until their Beast Tamers gained sufficient control over them, two pet beasts suddenly getting into a fight was a fairly common occurrence. That was also why Infinite City had Patrol Beasts.
"John Doe, how... how do you use this?" Once inside, both Lu Ran and Pig Farmer were surprised. There were no actual goods in the shop, only rows of self-service ordering machines. Pig Farmer apparently had never seen one before and looked utterly confused.
Self-service ordering? This is ridiculous. Lu Ran hadn't expected Infinite City's facilities to keep up with the times so well. Self-service ordering machines and Shared Motorcycles-who had told him this place was built by an ancient civilization? Every facility was thoroughly modern!
Don't tell me ancient civilizations used these things too!
For now, Lu Ran could only assume the owner had decorated the shop this way. Otherwise, Infinite City's consciousness must have been able to observe the outside world and, like an AI, continually learn modern knowledge and modify itself.
"Here's how." Lu Ran tapped the machine in front of Pig Farmer, and a row of categories immediately appeared on the screen: wind ingredients, rock ingredients, general ingredients, seasonings...
Tapping again brought up icons for individual ingredient resources, with their grades, uses, prices, and other details listed below. Once they had selected everything, they only needed to swipe their cards on the machine. After the Crystal Coins were deducted, the ingredients would automatically appear in their backpacks. It was incredibly smart, but Lu Ran couldn't approve of something this smart not supporting online shopping.
"Oh, I see! That's so convenient!" Pig Farmer said. "But these ingredients are all so expensive... Two Crystal Coins for one potato, and two for a head of cabbage? Why don't they just rob us?"
Lu Ran fell silent for a moment, then said, "Well, Infinite City doesn't allow fighting. Otherwise, they'd have started robbing people ages ago..."
Pig Farmer: "..."
Naturally, potatoes and cabbages that cost Crystal Coins weren't actually ordinary potatoes and cabbages. They were merely similar varieties that looked the same. Like the Blood-Staunching Mushrooms and woodscale fruit Lu Ran had seen, they were common-grade resources with certain special nutritional benefits.
Most Beast Tamer teams that entered secret realms to gather resources collected things like these. They harvested them inside and brought them out to sell. As long as the sale price exceeded the Crystal Coins spent entering the secret realm, they could turn a profit.
"I'll go pick some things out too." The shop was empty at the moment, probably because everyone had been drawn away by the Divine Pet Rankings. Lu Ran went to a self-service machine and quickly began selecting items.
First, following the general wind-type recipes recommended in the basic Beast Taming manual, he selected ingredients such as cooing pigeon eggs, wild wind chicken meat, Windfall Fruit, and Tornado Greens.
Lu Ran bought half a month's worth. At two meals a day and roughly twenty Crystal Coins per meal, that came to six hundred Crystal Coins for half a month! Just for food!
It wasn't that Lu Ran found it too expensive and was limiting General Ha to two meals. These supernatural, nutritious meals weren't easy to absorb, so two a day were enough.
He bought everything to the highest standard for General Ha, picking up practically everything the recipes recommended. Some ingredients helped strengthen the body, while others increased energy strength. In short, he left nothing out.
"At this rate, if I give General Ha top-of-the-line nutritious meals every day, my Crystal Coins won't last long at all."
Lu Ran felt a pang of distress. He suddenly understood why those Beast Tamers had been so excited when the Divine Pet Rankings appeared. Raising pet beasts was a serious money sink.
One pet beast already cost this much. Raising several high-level pet beasts with big appetites would bankrupt him.
He looked out the window at the Divine Pet Rankings standing in the center of the plaza, feeling that he needed to start earning Crystal Coins through secret realms as soon as possible.
"Keep shopping."
After buying the basic food, Lu Ran didn't hurry to leave. Instead, he tapped into the advanced resources section. Basic food was indispensable-living creatures had to eat-but it couldn't create a particularly large gap between pet beasts. To grow stronger faster, he still needed some more expensive special resources.
[Name]: Spirit Rice [Grade]: Advanced [Description]: Long-term consumption can improve control over energy. [Price]: 1 Crystal Coin/grain
So cheap... Wait, per grain???
What a rip-off. That's too expensive. Don't need it. General Ha already has good control over his energy.
This wasn't the kind of resource Lu Ran wanted.
He kept flipping through the pages.
Finally, a set of details caught his eye, and his face lit up.
"Found it! This is exactly what I wanted! I knew there had to be a resource like this."
[Name]: Energy Surge Fruit [Grade]: Advanced [Description]: After consumption, the energy within a low-level creature will expand slightly and flow at a speed its body cannot withstand, greatly increasing its combat power for a short time. However, once the effect ends, the strain from the high-speed energy flow will inflict massive damage on the creature's body. [Price]: 50 Crystal Coins/fruit
Without another word, Lu Ran bought five.
Even though they were expensive.
To Lu Ran, this fruit seemed tailor-made for them. The Energy Surge Fruit's effect was otherwise of rather limited practical value. It essentially put a pet beast into an enhanced state of Energy Flow, boosting its combat power.
If they encountered a desperate situation in a secret realm, eating one could give them a burst of power that might get them through the crisis. But if they still couldn't turn things around, it would leave them in even greater danger.
Veteran Beast Tamers' pet beasts had generally mastered Energy Flow, so this wasn't especially useful to them. For pet beasts that hadn't mastered Energy Flow or weren't proficient in it, however, the boost was enormous, raising their combat power several notches. But an ordinary newcomer who used it without an effective means of healing would only be asking for trouble.
Lu Ran bought a few for emergencies, so they could unleash a burst of power if they encountered danger in a secret realm. As for injuries from the strain? That was what the Divine Deer Pendant was for. Other people might have to use this cautiously, worrying about the side effects, but he didn't.
There was no way an epic-grade resource couldn't heal the backlash caused by an advanced-grade resource.
They could also eat one during everyday training to experience the state of violent Energy Flow ahead of time. With General Ha's aptitude, he should quickly be able to apply what he learned and gain some experience.
This was the best method Lu Ran could think of to maximize the Divine Deer Pendant's advantages in everyday training. It was essentially a legal training-speed cheat, one that wouldn't get his account banned.
"Have you finished shopping?" After buying everything, Lu Ran looked over and saw that Pig Farmer was still agonizing over his choices.
"Ah... I still need to think about it. If you're done, go ahead. You don't have to wait for me," Pig Farmer said miserably.
Lu Ran shrugged. Sure enough, money was indispensable. Without it, every purchase became a struggle.
Lu Ran had intended to wait for him, but just then, a sudden friend request drew his attention.
[Five Poisons Cult Saintess has requested to add you as a friend.]
"Hmm..." Lu Ran fell silent for a moment. Fang Lan, huh.
Accept.
As soon as he accepted Fang Lan's friend request, she began bombarding him with messages.
Fang Lan: [You dog! You screwed me over! Mom and Dad won't let me challenge secret realms anymore. What am I supposed to do?!]
Lu Ran: [If I were your dad, I wouldn't let you challenge them either. It's too dangerous.]
Fang Lan: [???]
Lu Ran: [Did you know Infinite City's facilities have been updated? There's a new Divine Pet Rankings board in the Beast Taming Plaza.]
Lu Ran's attempt to change the subject failed miserably. Fang Lan replied:
[Don't give me that. I got a push notification about the Divine Pet Rankings on my phone before I came in. That's why I came here.]
Lu Ran: [Good, then you know. Challenging secret realms is dangerous, but you could practically live in the Arena instead. Standout performances in Arena battles can get you onto the rankings too. You get training and Crystal Coin rewards, and most importantly, it's less dangerous. Surely your parents won't forbid that.]
Fang Lan: [Huh???]
Fang Lan paused. Right, that was a pretty good option. Once she became the champion of the Arena and demonstrated her overwhelming strength, surely her parents would stop restricting her from challenging secret realms.
That's Lu Ran for you. Excited, Fang Lan replied: [Great idea. Starting today, I'm living in the Arena. To celebrate, I've decided to dye my hair purple. What do you think?]
Uh... Lu Ran's stomach ached. Are you afraid people won't know you use poison?
Hopefully the newcomers heading to the Arena survive!
Before you continue