Chapter Summaries

Xu Ran welcomed a dejected Shadow-Hunting Lizard to the foster shop, arranged a dark stone-forest habitat, and fed it a delicious meal. The lizard took heart from the Steel-Armored Rhino’s cheerful attitude and began to hope its Beast Tamer might return.

• Xu Ran recognized the Shadow-Hunting Lizard as the new resident left by a thin young man and led it to the basement foster area.
• Xu Ran used the Control Hub to create a stone forest where shadows gathered, and the Shadow-Hunting Lizard slipped into them, apparently satisfied.
• The Steel-Armored Rhino noticed the new habitat, invited the lizard to play in the mud, and then happily splashed around by itself.
• Xu Ran brought the Shadow-Hunting Lizard a meal and encouraged it to settle in, while the lizard wondered if its Beast Tamer might remember it.
• As the lizard ate, its happiness points increased, and it resolved to learn optimism from the Steel-Armored Rhino.

Su Xiaoxiao brought her childhood friend Gu Ling to Xu Ran’s shop, where Gu Ling arranged grooming for her Dark-Scaled Dragon and Su Xiaoxiao brought Little Flame. Purple Cloud challenged the Blazing Fox to a rematch after grooming, leaving Gu Ling surprised by the shop’s unusual bustle.

• Purple Cloud alerted Xu Ran that customers had arrived, and he hurried out from the Preparation Room.
• Su Xiaoxiao introduced Gu Ling to Purple Cloud and explained that Gu Ling had returned to Qingzhou City and might become her classmate.
• Xu Ran agreed to groom Little Flame and scanned Gu Ling’s newly summoned Dark-Scaled Dragon, which his system identified as a Transcendent Rank beast.
• Purple Cloud asked Xu Ran to arrange a rematch with Su Xiaoxiao’s Blazing Fox, and Su Xiaoxiao accepted the challenge for after grooming.
• Gu Ling watched the grooming customers arrange a beast fight and wondered whether Qingzhou City’s people had become unusually simple and honest.

Xu Ran groomed Su Xiaoxiao’s Blazing Fox and Gu Ling’s Dark-Scaled Dragon, impressing both Beast Tamers with the results. He then took Purple Cloud to Tianhong Arena for its rematch against the Blazing Fox, and the match began.

• Su Xiaoxiao brought her Blazing Fox to Xu Ran for grooming while Gu Ling watched and wondered about the fox’s strange cries.
• Xu Ran groomed Gu Ling’s Dark-Scaled Dragon, leaving it comfortable and its scales gleaming; Gu Ling paid him 26,666 yuan.
• Su Xiaoxiao urged Xu Ran to start the planned match, and Purple Cloud showed eagerness to fight the Blazing Fox.
• Xu Ran and Su Xiaoxiao met referee Xu Long at Tianhong Arena, where Purple Cloud and the Blazing Fox began their rematch.

Xu Ran and Purple Cloud defeated Su Xiaoxiao and the Blazing Fox in a rematch, avenging their earlier loss. After both Contract Beasts recovered, Gu Ling asked Xu Ran to let the Dark-Scaled Dragon spar with Purple Cloud, and Purple Cloud eagerly accepted before reconsidering when it heard the dragon’s skills were all at starlight level.

• Xu Ran sent Purple Cloud charging at the Blazing Fox, but Su Xiaoxiao used Flame Eyes to help it target Purple Cloud and cast Flame Wall to block its path.
• Purple Cloud used Combat Instinct to leap over the flames and dive toward the Blazing Fox, but Su Xiaoxiao ordered the fox to use Flame Dance and retreat.
• Purple Cloud unleashed Electric Spark through the pillar of flame and struck the Blazing Fox, knocking it out and winning the match for Xu Ran.
• Su Xiaoxiao took the Blazing Fox for treatment, and both Contract Beasts recovered before Xu Ran, Su Xiaoxiao, and Gu Ling met outside the Medical Room.
• Gu Ling asked Xu Ran to arrange a spar between the Dark-Scaled Dragon and Purple Cloud, and Purple Cloud accepted until Su Xiaoxiao pointed out that the dragon’s skills were all at starlight level.

Gu Ling brought her groomed Dark-Scaled Dragon home and learned her transfer was arranged, then agreed to enter the Rookie Beast Tamer Challenge. Over three days, Purple Cloud trained hard and grew stronger, while the Steel-Armored Rhino was summoned away for the Hunting Squad's outing, leaving the Shadow-Hunting Lizard heartbroken.

• Purple Cloud's pride turned into determination to grow strong enough to fight the Dark-Scaled Dragon after it declined to spar.
• Gu Ling showed her father her groomed Dark-Scaled Dragon, told him about the Starfire Foster Shop, and agreed to enter the Rookie Beast Tamer Challenge.
• Xu Ran used two Stamina Potions to boost Purple Cloud's skill proficiency, and its growth progress rose from (183/500) to (251/500).
• The Shadow-Hunting Lizard's condition improved as Xu Ran cared for it, though the shop gained no new foster residents.
• The Steel-Armored Rhino ate before Du Heng summoned it away, and the Shadow-Hunting Lizard watched it vanish in a Six-Pointed Star Formation, losing its appetite.

Xu Ran discovered that the Shadow-Hunting Lizard had become despondent after the Steel-Armored Rhino left, while Du Heng was stunned when the Rhino chose to return to Xu Ran’s shop instead of spending time with him. Xu Ran mistook their attachment for romance and rushed to intervene, leaving Purple Cloud desperately trying to stop him.

• Xu Ran found the Shadow-Hunting Lizard frozen and dejected, and it withdrew into the Stone Forest despite his promises to help.
• Du Heng praised the Steel-Armored Rhino after it performed well, then offered to take it to an amusement park, but the Rhino asked to be teleported back to Xu Ran’s boarding shop.
• After the Rhino returned, Xu Ran realized the Shadow-Hunting Lizard had been earning Happiness Points by watching it and concluded that the Lizard was in love with the Rhino.
• Xu Ran decided to make the two Contract Beasts try accepting each other and hurried to meet them, while Purple Cloud grabbed his trouser leg to stop him.

Xu Ran stopped the Shadow-Hunting Lizard and Steel-Armored Rhino from fighting, but the lizard still refused to discuss its Beast Tamer. Meanwhile, Zhang Yun decided to find a grooming shop for his Stone-Armored Dragon before leaving it to be fostered.

• Xu Ran realized the Shadow-Hunting Lizard had attacked the Steel-Armored Rhino after mistaking it for another abandoned beast.
• Xu Ran used the Control Hub to separate the two Contract Beasts, then explained the misunderstanding to the Steel-Armored Rhino and Shadow-Hunting Lizard.
• The Shadow-Hunting Lizard accepted that its assumptions had been wrong, but retreated into the shadows when Xu Ran brought up its Beast Tamer.
• Xu Ran failed to coax the Shadow-Hunting Lizard out and returned upstairs, leaving its distress unresolved.
• Zhang Yun told his Stone-Armored Dragon he would leave it at a foster shop for a week and decided to find it a grooming service first.

Zhang Yun reluctantly brought his Stone-Armored Dragon to Starfire Foster Shop for grooming before boarding it for a week. Xu Ran cleaned grime from between its scales and began grinding them smooth, while the dragon’s dulled senses returned and the treatment overwhelmed it with pleasure.

• Zhang Yun questioned Starfire Foster Shop’s high prices but paid for a grooming session because he had little time before leaving Qingzhou City.
• Xu Ran assessed the Stone-Armored Dragon and led it into the Grooming Room while Purple Cloud watched the shop.
• Xu Ran used a curved hook to remove grime from between the dragon’s uneven stone scales, gradually sharpening its senses and earning happiness points.
• Xu Ran began smoothing the dragon’s scales with a portable electric grinding wheel, and the vibrations made the dragon tremble with intense pleasure.

After seeing the Stone-Armored Dragon’s remarkable grooming results, Zhang Yun toured Xu Ran’s boarding facilities and considered leaving his Contract Beast there. Xu Ran also realized that skills he gained from grooming could accumulate even when he had no beast suited to learn them, and Zhang Yun recognized one of the beasts already boarding at the shop.

• Purple Cloud watched Zhang Yun admire the Stone-Armored Dragon’s polished scales and wondered whether grooming had produced a new skill.
• Xu Ran saw that grooming the Stone-Armored Dragon had given him the Rock Spike skill, which he could not teach Purple Cloud, and considered how to handle useless skills.
• Zhang Yun asked to see the boarding facilities, and Xu Ran demonstrated how the Control Hub could reshape the ground to suit a Contract Beast.
• Xu Ran showed Zhang Yun the Preparation Room and explained that he prepared the boarded beasts’ meals himself.
• Xu Ran introduced the boarding Steel-Armored Rhino and Shadow-Hunting Lizard, and Zhang Yun raised an eyebrow at the familiar Shadow-Hunting Lizard.

Xu Ran learned why the Shadow-Hunting Lizard had been separated from Zhou Hao and tried to open up a conversation with it. After the Stone-Armored Dragon enjoyed its first meal at the shop, Xu Ran asked the Shadow-Hunting Lizard if it wanted to surpass the Brilliant Dragon Sparrow.

• Zhang Yun recognized the Shadow-Hunting Lizard as Zhou Hao’s Contract Beast and told Xu Ran that Zhou Hao had chosen to keep his jealous Brilliant Dragon Sparrow instead of it.
• Zhang Yun paid for a week of boarding for his Stone-Armored Dragon and left it in Xu Ran’s care.
• Xu Ran made a pebble mound for the Stone-Armored Dragon and served it a meal that earned it Happiness Points.
• Xu Ran approached the Shadow-Hunting Lizard, which had overheard Zhang Yun’s story, and asked if it wanted to surpass the Brilliant Dragon Sparrow.