"Your contracted beast is an Azurite Rock Man?"
Late that night, his father, Jiang Yuan, returned home after finishing work. When he learned what had happened, a flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes.
He had already saved some money, intending to buy Jiang Ziliu a good exotic beast to contract.
And this was the result!
His eldest son, Jiang Zikong, had awakened an S Grade Contract Mark, earning the chance to receive advanced training at a beast tamer academy in a higher-tier base.
But his second son only had B- talent. It was not outstanding, but it was still above average.
After all, talents of S Grade and above were extremely rare among humans, with perhaps fewer than one in a thousand possessing them.
SS Grade talent appeared in fewer than one in ten thousand.
Fewer than a hundred people in all of humanity possessed SSS Grade talent!
Jiang Yuan regretted that his son had acted on his own, contracting an exotic beast without even informing his parents and rendering all his preparations useless.
"Son, we don't ask you to have some grand future. As long as you can stay safe, that's enough. An Azurite Rock Man isn't bad either. Its offensive abilities aren't powerful, but it's good at staying alive. You made a good choice, Liu'er!"
His mother had an entirely different view. She wanted her son to be safe more than she wanted him to achieve anything great.
Jiang Ziliu said little, obediently accepting the scolding. After all, he had made the choice on his own.
"Summon your beast and let me have a look!"
His father, Jiang Yuan, knew very well that his second son did not make friends or enjoy fooling around. He had loved reading and studying since childhood and had always been someone with firm opinions, hidden wisdom, and considerable depth.
No one knew a son better than his father.
Jiang Ziliu summoned his Azurite Rock Man.
He had his Azurite Rock Man display only Four-Star Gray Rock Grade strength, because feedback at that level would have raised him to precisely One-Star Gray Rock Rank.
As he looked at the Azurite Rock Man, which resembled an exquisitely crafted doll, shock flashed through Jiang Yuan's eyes.
He was a knowledgeable man. He had once reached the peak of Bronze rank himself.
An ordinary Azurite Rock Man had skin like rough mountain stone and looked extremely ugly overall.
Ordinary Azurite Rock Men were also stupid, with dull eyes.
They were nothing like this one, whose appearance resembled a normal flesh-and-blood creature, lively and adorable, like an elven child!
This Azurite Rock Man was of considerable quality!
In fact, Jiang Ziliu had noticed it too. This Azurite Rock Man might have undergone a profound mutation while hatching, one that simply had not manifested in its skill ranks.
In Jiang Yuan's eyes, this Azurite Rock Man was actually only at Four-Star Gray Rock Grade!
Jiang Yuan gave his son a long look. How could he fail to realize that the boy was hiding a great deal? There was definitely something fishy about this Azurite Rock Man!
He suddenly felt both reassured and a sense of loss.
His child had grown up and could develop well without his care and support.
As a father, being unable to lend his children a helping hand was bound to leave him feeling deeply disappointed.
Fortunately, Jiang Yuan's emotions soon faded. If his son wanted to keep things hidden, that was good too.
People skilled at concealment had a better chance of surviving in this age of great contention.
So he simply took out a bank card and said:
"Your mother and I saved 350,000 yuan for you. We originally intended to buy you a better exotic beast. Now that you don't need one, use it to prepare some resources. You've always had firm ideas of your own, so follow your own plans. Just remember to be cautious in everything! A beast tamer's greatest danger isn't the enemy, but the other beast tamers around them!"
Under his parents' encouraging gazes, Jiang Ziliu accepted the card.
His father must have worked very hard to save those 350,000 yuan, but he could not reject their kindness.
His older brother was already self-sufficient. By contrast, having only just embarked on the path of a beast tamer, he needed this money to help him grow!
With this money, he could buy enough resources to neutralize the side effects of that mysterious demon horn and strengthen his soul.
His current soul strength was 5.2.
An ordinary person's soul strength was 1.
For every tenfold increase in a beast tamer's soul strength, they could contract a new beast.
As long as Jiang Ziliu's soul strength surpassed 10.0, he could swiftly contract a second beast, quickly acquiring the offensive capabilities he currently lacked.
This money had come at exactly the right time.
Fortunately, after awakening their Contract Marks, all beast tamers below S Grade received a week off.
Beast tamers with talents of S Grade and above, meanwhile, enjoyed special care from the school during this period.
Unfortunately, Jiang Ziliu was not among them.
But this also gave him time to develop further.
That evening, Jiang Ziliu began his preparations in his room.
He calculated carefully, listing a large number of resources and their methods of use on a sheet of paper to neutralize the side effects of this mysterious demon horn.
"River Marsh Spirit-Cleansing Clam can purify impurities in the soul. Usable!"
"The hoof bones of a Black-Skinned Azure-Horned Donkey can counter evil Qi. Usable!"
"Holy Light Lark feathers can purify dark mental power. Usable!"
"Clotted heart's blood from a Kobold can consolidate and stabilize soul power. Usable!"
In his room, Jiang Ziliu kept searching through the Compendium of Exotic Beast Material Resources while adding to his potion formula.
He had begun studying beast-taming potion materials at eight, memorizing the properties and effects of thirty thousand common precious materials used for contracted beasts. He had long been able to formulate strengthening medicines, medicinal supplements, and the like specifically for them.
It could be said that his knowledge of beast-taming potions and the nurturing and evolution of contracted beasts placed him among the very best young people.
After transmigrating, his memory had become exceptionally good, practically allowing him to remember anything after a single glance.
That was precisely why he had the confidence to choose his own beasts and strengthen them himself.
After listing many usable medicinal materials, Jiang Ziliu began using Probability Judgment.
He now possessed dark energy, and every 0.1 points of dark energy allowed him to perform one Probability Judgment.
"If I use all these materials, what's the highest probability of eliminating the demon horn's side effects?"
Probability Judgment result: 64%!
He swiftly obtained the Probability Judgment result.
This indicated that some of these materials were unnecessary.
After thinking carefully for a while, he performed another Probability Judgment.
"What if I remove the Purple Star Fruit?"
Purple Star Fruit was a plant fruit found only in D Grade Dungeon Spaces. It could clear the mind, brighten the eyes, and suppress mental agitation.
Probability Judgment result: 75%!
He screened them one by one and eventually found that three materials produced the greatest effect.
Holy Light Lark feathers, clotted heart's blood from a Kobold, and a material called Beholder's Eye.
Used together, these three had a maximum probability of 100% of eliminating the side effects.
This was the result Jiang Ziliu wanted.
Through his repeated use of Probability Judgment during this process, his dark energy had dropped to 2.3.
A 100% removal of the side effects was what he wanted.
The side effects of demonic materials were terrifying. He had no desire to develop problems with his soul.
Although determining this 100% result required repeated Probability Judgments and the continual expenditure of dark energy.
Absolute stability was what he wanted.
With Probability Judgment allowing him to determine the highest success rate, he naturally strove for the most perfect result.
He then listed countless possible proportions and selected a ratio that could eliminate the side effects with 100% certainty:
36% Holy Light Lark feathers, 35% clotted heart's blood from a Kobold, and 39% Beholder's Eye!
These three materials were relatively common.
But they were not cheap. Fortunately, C- versions of these three materials were sufficient, and Jiang Ziliu could afford them with the money he had.
The next day, he visited another open market in Base No. 12 and gathered all three materials at relatively low prices.
It was difficult to distinguish genuine goods from fakes on the stalls, but most of them really were cheap.
Anyone looking for a bargain came here.
The truly good goods were all in beast-taming resource specialty stores affiliated with powerful beast tamers. Their goods were guaranteed genuine, but their prices were also relatively high.
Jiang Ziliu had Probability Judgment and could directly determine the probability that something was genuine, so he had no fear of counterfeits.
He spent less than 60,000 yuan to buy all three items.
But in specialty stores that guaranteed authenticity and quality, he would not have been able to buy them for less than 120,000 yuan.
Most resources in this street market were C and D Grade. There were also B Grade resources and above, but they were extremely rare.
After buying the three materials, Jiang Ziliu began preparing the potion.
These three were mixed and processed together, but they were not fused through heating. Instead, they were placed together with one milliliter of Rock Python gastric fluid and left in sunlight for three hours, whereupon they would naturally fuse into a gel under the gastric fluid's effects.
The gel would then be spread over the demon horn to soften it.
This softened substance would then be applied between the eyebrows before bed and absorbed naturally during sleep at night, producing a soul-strengthening effect.
Jiang Ziliu followed these instructions that very night.
But he had nightmares all night long.
In those nightmares, he sank again and again into desperate situations within his dreams!
But each time he sank into despair, a mysterious spiritual light would pull him out of the danger in the dream, allowing him to escape disaster.
When Jiang Ziliu woke the next morning, he was drenched in sweat, and his quilt was completely soaked through.
Only then did he understand where the demon horn's side effects manifested.
It was in dreams.
His knowledge of demonic exotic beasts told him that these dreams were dangerous.
After all, this was a supernatural world. Dreams were not as harmless as those in an ordinary world.
If there truly was supernatural power within them, the damage inflicted would manifest as real damage.
If he truly died in a dream, then the demon horn's side effects would indeed have taken effect, very likely upon his soul.
After all, some demons were half-energy, half-soul lifeforms. It was hardly strange that their remaining materials could create dream attacks.
Fortunately, the supernatural properties fused from the Holy Light Lark feathers, Beholder's Eye, and clotted Kobold heart's blood had helped him block these side effects.
Only thus had he escaped life-threatening danger again and again within the nightmares.
Jiang Ziliu understood that once such side effects occurred, they would cling to the soul like medicinal toxins, forming shadows upon it that were difficult to remove.
Fortunately, he had chosen the 100% safe solution.
Jiang Ziliu: Profession: Four-Star Gray Rock Grade beast tamer Lifespan: 16 (125) Vital status: Healthy Soul strength: 11.3 Life tier: Gray Rock Grade lifeform Dark energy level: 4.9 Personal skills: Probability Judgment (innate skill): Can determine the probability of a specified outcome at any time Feedback skill: Life Aura Concealment (SSS Grade) Contracted beast: Black Iron Grade Azurite Rock Man Contracted beast skills: Life Aura Concealment (SSS Grade), Rock and Earth Evasion (C Grade), Rock and Earth Concealment (D+ Grade), Earth Space Evasion (unawakened) Contracted beast rank: Black Iron Grade Contracted beast status: Extremely healthy and effectively strengthened by beast-taming potions. The Azurite Rock Man's favorability toward its beast tamer is 81%.
This demon horn was a good resource. Once its side effects were removed, its soul-strengthening effect was truly formidable.
Materials from demonic exotic beasts of this kind were indeed good things, though their side effects were terrifying.
This enhancement had directly increased Jiang Ziliu's soul strength by nearly double, bringing it to 11.3.
This meant he could already contract a second beast.
He was only sixteen this year, yet there might not be many among his peers who could strengthen their souls to this extent!
As his soul strength increased, the soul connection between him and his contracted beast grew closer. Even its favorability had risen by 1%!
Next, it was time for him to contract his second exotic beast.
Jiang Ziliu decided to look around the open market. If he could not find a good exotic beast he liked, he would search in the wilderness or in more dangerous Dungeon Spaces.