By the time Xu Ran returned to the shop, most of the afternoon had passed. After Duan Anxun left, the Starfire Foster Shop received no more customers.
As the sun slowly sank below the western horizon, Xu Ran went to the backyard and cooked himself a meat dish and a vegetable dish, then poured Purple Cloud a small bowl brimming with purple candy beans. Man and pet ended their business day with a delicious dinner.
His training that afternoon and his analysis of Su Xiaoxiao's and Lin Yue's Contract Beasts made Xu Ran increasingly aware of the importance of knowledge.
So he washed up and went to bed early. Just as he had the night before, he leaned against the headboard and hungrily filled the gaps in his still-limited knowledge.
Purple Cloud nestled beside Xu Ran as on the previous night, felt the warmth radiating from him, and drifted peacefully off to sleep once more.
Late that night, the light went out, and the night passed without incident.
Outside Qingzhou City, at dawn.
Morning light spilled over Qingzhou City's towering walls. As the gates slowly opened, the Hunting Squads that had long been waiting inside filed out.
At an hour when most of the city's residents were still asleep, the Beast Tamers who risked their lives for high rewards had already begun another day's work.
Among these Hunting Squads was a five-person team called Fierce Tiger. Its strength ranked somewhere in the middle of the pack, so it attracted little attention.
At that moment, Zhang Yun, captain of the Fierce Tiger Hunting Squad, turned to look at Liu Gu behind him. "Liu Gu, are you sure your new Contract Beast will be all right?"
"Don't worry, Captain Zhang. We've already reached an understanding!" Liu Gu laughed heartily. "Starting today, our Fierce Tiger Hunting Squad has a healer supporting us!"
"I seem to remember you complaining just yesterday morning that your new Contract Beast was aloof and refused to communicate." His teammate Yan Fan raised an eyebrow. "Who knew you had such a knack for talking to Contract Beasts!"
"Heh!" Liu Gu looked positively smug, but offered no explanation. "Just watch what happens today!"
"Speaking of which, Liu Gu, have you started dating someone?" Liu Xue, the team's only female member, covered her mouth with a laugh. "You've finally tidied up that scruffy look of yours."
"Uh..." The corner of Liu Gu's mouth twitched. "You're kidding, Sister Liu."
Before Liu Xue could press him further, he immediately summoned his two Contract Beasts to divert everyone's attention.
A six-pointed star formation flashed twice behind Liu Gu. Amid howling winds, two figures, one large and one small, emerged from thin air.
"Awoof!"
The high-spirited Wind Lion Dog threw back its head and roared, its imposing appearance drawing startled looks from several passersby.
Just the previous afternoon, it had successfully won back its sweetheart and enjoyed a shamelessly amorous night.
Nothing lifted a dog's spirits quite like a happy occasion.
"Liu Gu, how come your Wind Lion Dog looks completely different?"
The teammates who should have been focusing on Liu Gu's new Contract Beast were immediately distracted by the Wind Lion Dog's arrival. None of them noticed the Sea Wave Flower beside it, surveying the surroundings and drawing back its fluttering tentacles in distaste.
"Haha, I took it for a grooming session." Liu Gu grinned proudly and patted his old companion's big head. "Handsome, right?"
"It really does look handsome. How many thousand did it cost? I'll take my Three-Armed Demon Ape there sometime, too," Yan Fan said with a touch of envy.
It might have been all show and no substance, but it looked seriously cool!
"A few thousand?" Liu Gu's eyes widened. "26,666!"
"Huh?" Yan Fan promptly backed away two steps. "Forget I said anything."
The other teammates couldn't help looking at Liu Gu as though he were an idiot.
You spent tens of thousands just to give your Contract Beast a bath?
Wasn't that a complete waste of money?
"You don't understand!" By now, Liu Gu no longer considered the grooming price expensive, but it wasn't something he could easily explain to his teammates, so he gave up. "Come on, let's get moving. Otherwise, another squad will take the clearing site we picked out."
"We can chat on the way. Let's move out," Zhang Yun said firmly. "Du Heng!"
"Here!" Beside Captain Zhang, a quiet, taciturn man who hadn't spoken until now stepped forward. A six-pointed star formation flared behind him.
Amid gusting winds, a rhinoceros a full five meters long stepped out. Steel scales covered its body, reflecting a cold gleam in the sunlight, making it look like a self-propelled armored vehicle.
An earth-type Elite Rank Contract Beast, the Steel-Armored Rhino!
The Wind Lion Dog, as tall as a person, could only be considered a medium-sized Contract Beast. This behemoth, however, was unmistakably a large Contract Beast.
"Move out!"
The members of the Fierce Tiger Hunting Squad climbed onto the Steel-Armored Rhino's broad armored back. Moments later, it accelerated into a full charge. Like an unstoppable armored vehicle, it sent the ground rumbling beneath it and vanished into the distance.
At a gathering ground for supernatural creatures outside Qingzhou City, the Fierce Tiger Hunting Squad fought fiercely for several hours before finally clearing the area.
Looking at the mountain of supernatural creature corpses piled behind them, the exhausted teammates slumped to the ground, yet couldn't help cheering.
They would make a substantial sum by extracting valuable resources from those remains.
"We've made a big haul this time. We can afford a longer break." Zhang Yun smiled. "Liu Gu's second pet deserves a lot of the credit. Without it, even with information about this gathering ground, we wouldn't have been able to handle the whole place ourselves."
A Hunting Squad with a Contract Beast responsible for healing was an entirely different proposition from one without.
"You'll get an extra share of this haul." Zhang Yun looked at Liu Gu. "Once we're back, you need to focus on raising it. Get it to elite rank as soon as possible."
The other teammates all nodded, having no objections to Zhang Yun's allocation.
If the Sea Wave Flower was already this helpful at transcendent rank, it would only be more useful once it reached elite rank.
"All right!" Liu Gu smiled at the Sea Wave Flower flying toward him. "Even if I have to bury it in resources, I'll get it to elite rank!"
"Also..." Zhang Yun glanced at the blood-drenched Wind Lion Dog beside Liu Gu. "What was going on with your Wind Lion Dog today?"
"Well..." At Zhang Yun's question, the corner of Liu Gu's mouth twitched. Equally puzzled, he looked at his old companion beside him.
"Awoof!" Out of combat, the Wind Lion Dog had turned back into a goofy pooch. It stuck out its tongue and panted at Liu Gu, its eyes shining with pure, unclouded stupidity.
Yet just moments earlier, this same dog had fought like a god of slaughter descended upon the world, single-handedly holding its own against several Elite Rank supernatural creatures at once. More than once, it had even charged recklessly into the pack, then returned unscathed.
The dog had always been brave, but it had never performed anything like this.
As for what it had experienced over the past two days...
There had only been a grooming session, followed by winning back its old sweetheart.
Could it be...?
Liu Gu wasn't an academically trained tamer like Su Xiaoxiao or Lin Yue. With his wealth of practical combat experience, it took him only a moment to identify the key.
"It was the grooming!" Liu Gu's eyes lit up. "After that grooming session, my Contract Beast was in better condition than ever before. That's why it performed beyond its usual level in battle!"
"Huh?!"
Before you continue