Li Cunxu took out the long-dusty oil lamp, poured in the Guardian Eye Oil, put on a raincoat, and also draped one over his sister. Armed with a shovel, he headed out.
He tied his sister to his back with a rope, mounted his bicycle, and rode to the Pastoral Plains. He randomly chose a spot, dug a hole, and buried his sister, Li Anle, inside.
This was the plan Li Cunxu had devised to deal with the mysterious person who had extracted a Spirit Restriction Nail.
Since the target was Li Anle, he decided to bury her in the ground to hide her from the mysterious figure.
Li Anle pleaded in a pitiful tone, "Brother, don't bury me in the ground. I'm afraid of the dark."
"Which personality are you trying to deceive me with this time? Blood? Evil? Wicked? Demon? The real Li Anle isn't afraid of the dark. She loves it. When we were kids and played on the bed, she would always close the curtains, turn off the lights, and play in the dark," Li Cunxu reminisced with a nostalgic expression.
People's preferences vary; some like to sleep with the lights off, while others can only sleep with the lights on.
Li Anle's preference was slightly different from the norm—she loved the dark and hated the light.
"I'm sorry, sister, for not being able to protect you properly. This is the only way I can keep you safe," Li Cunxu said gently, kissing her forehead and placing her favorite teddy bear in her arms.
"Sister, forgive my incompetence."
The response came from Li Anle's Evil Personality, who clearly did not forgive Li Cunxu and hurled vicious curses at him.
In short, the curses were extremely harsh, involving their ancestors, and are too vulgar to repeat.
Li Cunxu filled the hole back with soil, carefully replaced the turf he had removed earlier, and relied on the heavy rain and the perpetual vitality of the Pastoral Plains to ensure that the grass would grow back lushly by tomorrow, hiding the fact that someone had been buried there.
As for whether Li Anle buried in the soil would suffocate from lack of oxygen or starve to death?
There was no need to worry about that.
Li Anle wouldn't die.
Her monstrous constitution was nearly indestructible. Even if thrown into lava, she wouldn't burn to death.
Speaking of which, wouldn't throwing her into lava be even safer?
Li Cunxu shook his head. Throwing her into lava was too cruel. Besides, lava flows, making it difficult to retrieve her later, and most importantly, there were no volcanoes near the capital.
Li Anle's vitality was tenacious, but she wasn't truly immortal. A King-Ranked Beast Master could kill her completely. Before their father died, he had instructed Li Cunxu to hand Li Anle over to the alliance to be eradicated by a King-Ranked Beast Master. The original Li Cunxu had refused and kept his sister.
What exactly had happened back then? Li Cunxu didn't know. Their father hadn't explained, only saying, "The truth is too significant. Knowing it would mean your death."
But just because their father didn't tell him didn't mean he wouldn't investigate.
Back then, his sister had suddenly and inexplicably disappeared. Their mother went out to look for her, and then she too vanished. Their father then went out to search for both his wife and daughter.
Their father returned with their sister, missing an arm, but without their mother. Their sister had come back, but she had turned into the monstrous being she was now.
Li Cunxu shook the raindrops from his hair. "I need to grow stronger and gain power as quickly as possible."
Li Cunxu decided to use the Defective Contract Slot he had.
The Defective Contract Slot could only be used to contract Pet Beasts with extremely weak life potential.
Green Cotton Worm, Red Weak Carp, Slime... all were suitable candidates.
These Pet Beasts didn't need to be bought from a Creature Pet Store, as such stores didn't sell them. Selling such weak creatures would harm their reputation and brand image.
Green Cotton Worms often appeared in forests, but the area around Tongdu was mostly plains with few forests, making them a poor choice.
Red Weak Carp, a Water-Type Pet Beast, was commonly found in lakes and rivers. While Tongdu had plenty of lakes and rivers, catching them required fishing tools like rods or nets. Li Cunxu wasn't an angler and had no fishing gear. Moreover, the waterside was dangerous. If he were dragged into the water by some aquatic Pet Beast, even the Guardian Oil Lamp in his hand couldn't protect him. Thus, this wasn't a good option either.
Slime, then?
"Let's go with Slime! Rainy days are a carnival for Slimes."
During rain, nature would produce a large number of Slimes.
The principle seemed to be that heavy rain brought abundant Water-Type Spiritual Energy, and in such an environment, Slimes, as Semi-Elemental Creatures, would naturally emerge.
Li Cunxu, holding the oil lamp, ventured into the rain-soaked Pastoral Plains.
The bright light of the oil lamp dispelled the surrounding darkness and danger.
As long as the Guardian Oil Lamp was lit at night, no supernatural creature could harm its owner near Tongdu.
While searching for a suitable Slime, Li Cunxu was pleasantly surprised to find that his game panel was still active.
Unfortunately, it was a stripped-down version, only capable of displaying information about himself and unclaimed Pet Beasts. The most crucial feature, the experience value function, had been removed.
The process of catching Slimes was tense but ultimately safe.
A Muye Wolf, unique to the Pastoral Plains, had ventured out in the rain instead of staying home to sleep. It eyed Li Cunxu but, intimidated by the light of the Guardian Oil Lamp, hesitated to approach.
The Guardian Oil Lamp burned with Guardian Eye Oil, one of its ingredients being the tears of a Flame-Eyed Lion, which emitted the aura of a high-level Pet Beast.
The Muye Wolf, wary of the high-level Pet Beast's aura yet unwilling to give up the tempting prey, lingered nearby.
Li Cunxu, having just buried his sister, was in a foul mood and cursed a few times.
Perhaps sensing Li Cunxu's confidence, the Muye Wolf retreated.
Li Cunxu breathed a sigh of relief. Though the Guardian Oil Lamp ensured the wolf couldn't harm him, being stared at by a wolf as tall as a calf with glowing green eyes was still unnerving.
Using the panel's ability to view information, Li Cunxu managed to catch three Slimes with quite decent talents during the heavy rain. In fact, he saw many Slimes with passable talents, but he couldn't carry them all with just two hands.
Choosing a Pet Beast wasn't just about talent; race and potential also mattered.
Potential? That could be overlooked. Slimes' potential was practically nonexistent.
No matter how high a Slime's potential was, it wouldn't surpass Bronze.
At a glance, their potential was all Iron.
"Which Slime should I choose as my contract partner?" Li Cunxu was torn.
"This Water Slime with the purple talent [Spiritual Energy Spring]?"
"Or this Water Slime with the blue talent [Growth Aura]?"
"Or perhaps this Grass Slime with the green talent [Digest]?"
[Talent]: Spiritual Energy Spring
[Grade]: Purple Epic
[Effect]: Quickly restores its own spiritual energy in a quiet, undisturbed environment.
[Note]: This talent does not activate during combat.
With an exceptional talent for rapid spiritual energy recovery, one can utilize the rotation strategy in Beast Taming battles to fully leverage this ability.
The rotation strategy involves first deploying a Pet Beast with a Spiritual Energy Spring. Before the second round begins, take advantage of the rule that allows switching Pet Beasts after each round. Recall the Pet Beast with the Spiritual Energy Spring back into the Beast Taming space to replenish its spiritual energy. Once it's nearly fully recovered, send it out again in the third round. Repeat this process to maintain continuous stamina.