After strengthening his soul, Jiang Ziliu felt refreshed in both body and mind. His thinking and memory had improved dramatically from their original levels.
Even some memories and knowledge he had forgotten resurfaced from the gaps in his memory.
This was one of the benefits of increased soul strength.
Jiang Ziliu headed out early the next morning, but he did not immediately go into the wilderness or a dungeon space to search for his second contracted beast.
Both the wilderness and dungeon spaces represented danger and the unknown.
Conditions inside dungeon spaces were relatively fixed, but the wilderness was truly full of unknowns.
One moment, you might encounter a heaven-shaking windfall that would keep you fed and clothed for life, or even an opportunity to rise to greatness; the next, you might unwittingly meet your end in the Yellow Springs.
By comparison, he might gain almost nothing at the base's open markets, but they were countless times safer!
Jiang Ziliu rode his bicycle around the open markets throughout Base No. 12, hoping to find a young beast he could afford whose skills met his requirements.
He was hoping to pick up an overlooked treasure.
And successful finds of that sort were quite common in the beast-taming open markets.
Beast tamers who adventured in the wilderness or explored dungeon spaces were not necessarily knowledgeable, and they often failed to recognize valuable things.
As he cycled along the main road, Jiang Ziliu felt regret over his contracted beast, the Azurite Rock Man.
It was still a little too small. If it were bigger, he could have it carry him around.
After all, contracted beasts were very fast.
Just look at the streets-many people traveled on four-legged contracted beasts.
Putting a seat on a contracted beast made getting around very convenient.
It made young beast tamers feel imposing and entertained, and it was hardly slow.
However, base regulations prohibited contracted beasts over three meters tall or over one meter long from using ordinary roads inside the base. They could only stay in their tamers' Beast-Taming Spaces.
Only small contracted beasts were allowed to move around inside the base.
After all, some exotic beasts were gigantic or even colossal. The base's roads could never withstand a single step from them.
He reached the first open market, looked around, and came away disappointed.
This market barely had any young exotic beasts, or even many exotic beast eggs.
"What are the chances that I'll encounter a young exotic beast or an exotic beast egg with an S Grade skill or higher at this market today?"
After making a circuit, he performed a Probability Judgment.
0!
Well, there simply would not be anything good in this market. He was destined for disappointment.
"What about within the next three days?"
Unwilling to give up, he asked a follow-up question.
0!
Young exotic beasts and exotic beast eggs had to undergo strict inspections when entering the base, to prevent terrifying exotic beasts from secretly growing up inside.
As a result, most young exotic beasts were bought up by exotic beast specialty stores at the base entrance.
Jiang Ziliu visited nearly three open markets in total without gaining anything.
He went to look at a store specializing in young contracted beasts. Its beasts were all decent, with even the lowest quality being B Grade and having the potential to grow into Bronze Rank contracted beasts.
But the prices were also extremely high. Even the worst cost a hundred thousand yuan each.
Exotic beast eggs were cheaper, but still cost at least fifty thousand yuan.
After looking around, however, Jiang Ziliu found that everything here had clearly established quality. There were no young exotic beasts with S Grade skills or higher for him to pick up as overlooked treasures.
Special low-level exotic beasts with SSS Grade skills, like the Azurite Rock Man, were still very rare.
Unable to find what he wanted, Jiang Ziliu turned his attention back to the beast-taming open markets.
Base No. 12 had nearly five hundred thousand residents and fully a hundred beast-taming open markets of various sizes.
He refused to believe he could not find an overlooked treasure.
"What are the chances that a young exotic beast with an S Grade skill or higher exists in the beast-taming open markets of Base No. 12?"
100%!
Seeing this assessment result, Jiang Ziliu understood that there were indeed special young exotic beasts in the beast-taming open markets that met his expectations.
So he continued visiting other beast-taming open markets, determined to find his desired target.
At the next beast-taming open market, however, he unexpectedly encountered someone he knew.
His famous classmate, Li Wanqiu, who possessed SS Grade talent!
Judging by the dark energy presence she currently gave off, Li Wanqiu, with her SS Grade talent, was at least a four-star Gray Rock Grade beast tamer.
This meant Li Wanqiu had successfully contracted an exotic beast, and a fairly good young one at that.
He could make this judgment because he was also at four-star Gray Rock Grade, and his soul strength had reached 11.3, two to five times that of his peers.
If her level had been higher than his, he would have struggled to sense it clearly.
What utterly puzzled Jiang Ziliu, however, was that Li Wanqiu was not buying things, but selling them!
Beside her stood a middle-aged man with a scar on his face. That savage-looking scar seemed to have been inflicted by the claws of some exotic beast.
The frightening-looking middle-aged man was very likely Li Wanqiu's father. Father and daughter were selling slime gel and slime skins together!
Seeing this, Jiang Ziliu thought for a while and became certain of one thing.
Something might have changed in Li Wanqiu's discussions and negotiations with the Li aristocratic family.
If that family were really supporting them, father and daughter would not have appeared in an open market selling such low-grade goods.
Even a tiny trickle of resources from an aristocratic family's hands could let an ordinary beast tamer grow rapidly.
Jiang Ziliu also understood that an aristocratic family's resources were not so easily obtained. Li Wanqiu would certainly have to face extremely harsh conditions.
Everyone understood the character of the powerful and privileged.
At that moment, he saw Li Wanqiu, and Li Wanqiu saw him too.
Since they were classmates, Jiang Ziliu went over to greet them. "Hello, Uncle. I'm Li Wanqiu's classmate. I didn't expect to run into you here. Li Wanqiu is famous at our school, with a great future ahead of her. You're a fortunate man, Uncle!"
"Mm, you're a fine young man too. You'll certainly have a promising future!"
Li's father spoke politely, but his eyes were full of wariness as he looked at Jiang Ziliu.
This boy has some tact. He didn't touch on our current straits at all, and instead brought up Li Wanqiu's strengths. He's no simple little fellow.
Could this boy have designs on Li Wanqiu?
Li's father knew very well how beautiful his daughter was.
Li Wanqiu gave Jiang Ziliu a curious look. She had not interacted much with him-or rather, Jiang Ziliu was the quietest person in their class, and the least inclined to socialize.
Only now did she discover that this classmate of hers merely disliked socializing, but was very clever.
With most people, she would have counted herself lucky if they did not embarrass her and her father.
After all, many classmates envied her exceptional talent and beauty, and there was no shortage of jealousy and resentment either.
She knew her classmates' tendency to flatter the high and trample the low. If they discovered a blemish on someone dazzling, they would probably magnify it as much as possible at once, to make themselves seem not so far beneath those lofty figures.
Li Wanqiu had experienced the darkness of human hearts countless times since childhood.
Yet Jiang Ziliu had not uttered a single barbed word. This made Li Wanqiu realize that this unremarkable classmate might not be as simple as people thought.
Jiang Ziliu also noticed Li Wanqiu's curious gaze, and realized that this famous classmate of his was no slouch in the mental department either.
"I still have things to do. I'll leave you to your work, Uncle!"
With that, Jiang Ziliu left of his own accord.
He simply did not make friends, had distant relationships with his classmates, and disliked talking. That did not mean he had completely cut off contact with them.
Everyone would have their own fate and opportunities in the future. He was hardly going to pity a genius with SS Grade talent.
Even without an aristocratic family's help, the school would not ignore her.
After Jiang Ziliu left, Li's father watched his retreating figure and finally realized that this young fellow perhaps had no designs on his daughter at all. He had simply seen a classmate and come over to say hello.
"That classmate of yours is rather interesting. You could build a better relationship with him."
He suddenly said this to his daughter.
Li Wanqiu found his words rather strange. Aren't you always extremely wary of my male classmates?
What her father did not tell her, however, was that his intuition was extremely powerful thanks to a certain contracted beast. His intuition told him that Jiang Ziliu was far from simple, but did not seem to be a bad person!
It was precisely this intuition that had led him to reject the assistance contract offered by the main branch of the aristocratic family sharing their clan.
His intuition had told him that letting his daughter receive help from the Li aristocratic family would not be a good thing for her.
But he had never told his obedient daughter this.
Perhaps running into Li Wanqiu had brought good luck.
Not long after Jiang Biliu left, he noticed an extremely listless little creature: a white snake with faint flashes of electricity flickering over its body.
After being captured and brought to a human market, this wild exotic beast had remained in a state of instinctive terror. Despite its poor condition, it kept instinctively discharging electricity to defend itself.
He recognized it at a glance as a B+-grade Lightning Snake capable of growing into a Silver Rank exotic beast.
An ordinary Lightning Snake had bluish-white skin, but this one's skin was pure white.
This was a mutant Lightning Snake!
Exotic beasts had a fairly substantial chance of mutating, but 97% of their mutations developed in a bad direction rather than a good one.
It was just like mutations among living creatures in nature. Most mutations were unfavorable to their survival, ultimately causing them to perish in the torrent of life's struggle for existence.
The same applied to exotic beasts. Most mutations were bad, and could even be called degeneration.
But the existence of dark energy in this world turned some mutations into advantages. Otherwise, disadvantageous mutations would have been even more common!
For example, a two-headed snake in an ordinary world might look strange, but it was a failed specimen.
In this world, however, under the influence of dark energy, a two-headed snake was a beneficial mutation with greater growth potential and greater strength.
The stallholder selling this white Lightning Snake here also had that possibility in mind.
However, this two-meter-long Lightning Snake was not truly a juvenile. It had probably already entered the early part of its growth stage.
Exotic beasts at this stage were difficult to contract!
By this stage, exotic beasts had endured the harsh tempering of survival in nature, and their minds were already relatively mature and stable.
Unlike simple-minded newborn exotic beasts, they had extremely strong resistance to the power of a contract.
Furthermore, they were full of wariness toward ordinary humans and found it difficult to feel favorably toward them, making contracting even harder.
This was also why juveniles were chosen for contracts. Their minds were weaker, and they were more easily drawn to the power of a contract.
The same person could only attempt to contract the same exotic beast once. Failure was final, with no possibility of trying again.
Although there was a slim possibility of successfully contracting an injured Mutated Lightning Snake like this, failure was much more likely.
Moreover, this mutant Lightning Snake had deep wounds on its body. Even if the contract succeeded, treating it would be no small expense!
Most importantly, no one could say for certain whether its mutation was beneficial or harmful.
Unless they possessed an extremely powerful detection skill!
All these disadvantages were the many reasons why this Lightning Snake had ended up in this open market with no one paying it any attention.
But when Jiang Ziliu saw this Mutated Lightning Snake, his intuition told him it was far from ordinary, as though it were somehow very well suited to him.
"What is the probability that this Lightning Snake possesses an S Grade attack skill or higher?"
Prompted by that feeling and drawing on his knowledge, Jiang Ziliu immediately performed a Probability Judgment.
100%!
"Then what is the probability that it possesses an SS Grade attack skill or higher?"
100%!
"What is the probability that it possesses an SSS Grade attack skill or higher?"
The more Probability Judgments Jiang Ziliu performed, the harder his heart pounded.
I'm about to pick up a treasure!
100%!
Sure enough, he was right!
Good heavens, this Lightning Snake actually had an SSS Grade attack skill, or something even stronger!
Jiang Ziliu forcibly reined in his emotions, walked over, and asked the price very directly. "It's wounded this badly. How much would it cost?"
The stallholder was a middle-aged man who looked very much like a Rogue Person beast tamer, with a trace of shrewdness showing through his shabby appearance.
"Three million yuan!"
Jiang Ziliu countered directly. "Five thousand!"
He slashed its price straight down to that of cabbage. Aside from him, no one was interested in this thing.
Hadn't he seen the nearby stallholders looking at him as though he were an idiot?
Even materials from an ordinary adult Lightning Snake started at five thousand.
"That won't do. At least three hundred thousand!"
Seeing that he genuinely intended to buy it, the stallholder feared scaring him away and cut the price tenfold.
"Five thousand five hundred! Everyone knows what condition it's in. If I don't buy it, your loss could be even greater. This price will do. Money's only safe once it's in your pocket!"
Jiang Ziliu's meaning was clear: this Lightning Snake was dying. If the man could not get rid of it, it would be a loss.
"All right, I'll lower it a little more. Thirty thousand!"
Jiang Ziliu turned to leave.
Only when Jiang Ziliu was about to disappear from view did the shrewd fellow dart over and stop him.
He had been afraid Jiang Ziliu was only pretending to leave, but when he saw him almost vanish, he finally confirmed that he really was leaving.
"Fine, I'll count myself unlucky. Ten thousand! Take it if you agree. Otherwise, I'd rather kill it and sell the materials!"
The stallholder pulled Jiang Ziliu back and finally chose to compromise.
Just as Jiang Ziliu had said, all he wanted now was to get the money safely into his pocket.
He had displayed this snake here for nearly three days, and it was almost dead. Only this one person had even asked the price.
Now that a young sucker had come knocking, he would take a complete loss if he still refused to sell.
Jiang Ziliu was straightforward too. "All right. I still have to find a way to treat its wounds, and the risk is considerable. But ten thousand won't do. Eight thousand yuan at most!"
In the end, the stallholder hesitated for a while and compromised once again. They struck a deal.
Jiang Ziliu spent another three hundred to buy the insulating cage holding the Lightning Snake. Only then did he leave at an unhurried pace, carrying the Mutated Lightning Snake as everyone around looked at him as though he were a young fool.
Once outside the open market, he wanted to burst out laughing, but restrained his expression and immediately took the Lightning Snake home.
Then he immediately went to the open market nearest his home and spent twenty thousand yuan on various materials.
Among them were materials such as clotted heartblood from a kobold, slime gel, blood threads from a swamp octopus, and demonized plantain.
The swamp octopus's blood threads, in particular, were quite effective at healing injuries.
The demonized plantain was also extremely effective at clotting blood and treating wounds.
After using a beast core from a plant-type exotic beast, heating the ingredients, and mixing them in the right proportions, he spent an hour preparing a specialized wound medicine.
"I'm going to treat your wounds, so don't shock me!"
Jiang Ziliu carefully put on insulating gloves and applied the medicine to the white Mutated Lightning Snake.
This fellow was no ordinary creature either. It seemed able to sense Jiang Ziliu's goodwill, reining in the electric currents all over its body without attacking him and allowing him to apply the medicine successfully.
Once the medicine was applied, the Lightning Snake began recovering rapidly under the effects of the specially prepared wound medicine.
Only when its injuries were nearly healed did Jiang Ziliu cast the Contract Mark to form a contract.
After receiving treatment, this Mutated Lightning Snake had a very high affinity toward Jiang Ziliu, and its own level also met the requirements, allowing him to complete the contracting process very smoothly.
This snake's quality was also within the B Grade range. Had it been A Grade, the likelihood of failure would instead have been very high.
The successful contract meant that Jiang Ziliu now had his second tamed beast!