I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Chapter 56: Chapter 54: Level Up! Intermediate Beast Tamer

Great Black’s actions showed Jiang Zuo that he was overthinking things.

No matter how ceaselessly the big white dog fawned over him, Great Black remained completely unmoved, acting as if she didn’t exist.

After fishing for over two hours, the two children grew tired. It took a great deal of effort for Sun Yunfeng to pull the big white dog away.

If Sun Yunfeng hadn’t been there, they probably wouldn’t have been able to drag her away at all.

The big white dog clearly hadn’t given up. Just two days later, she and the two children were back to fish again.

The big white dog was still fawning all over Great Black, her intentions perfectly clear.

Unfortunately, Great Black was even more stubborn. When he wasn’t interested, he wasn’t interested. He couldn’t even be bothered to feign a response.

Jiang Zuo watched from the side, nearly despairing on her behalf.

The big white dog was truly beautiful. If even a dog this lovely couldn’t win over Great Black, he was probably destined to be a bachelor for life.

But a mere two failures weren’t enough to make the big white dog retreat.

After that, the two children and the big white dog came to fish again and again.

Jiang Zuo gradually grew familiar with the two children.

The boy and girl weren’t siblings or relatives, but neighbors whose families were on very good terms.

The little boy was named Wen Shulin. He came from a scholarly family in Lizhou that had produced officials for generations.

Wen Shulin was not the eldest son of his generation; in fact, he was among the youngest. His older brothers were all accomplished scholars with boundless prospects.

As such, the Wen Family didn’t have high expectations for him. He was basically free to do as he pleased, as long as he didn’t tarnish the family’s reputation.

The little girl’s name was Zhuang Ruying. Her family background wasn’t as prestigious as Wen Shulin’s, but the Zhuang Family was a well-known and wealthy merchant family in Lizhou.

The Wen Family and the Zhuang Family were on excellent terms. Although Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying were not formally engaged as children, their families had deliberately arranged for them to meet early on, with the clear intention of a future marriage alliance.

After spending more time with them, Jiang Zuo realized their personalities were quite different from his initial impressions.

Wen Shulin had received an excellent upbringing and always appeared gentle, cultured, and polite. He had a quiet personality.

Zhuang Ruying was the opposite. She had a much more assertive personality than Wen Shulin and was very strong-willed.

In Jiang Zuo’s opinion, both were very intelligent. But if he had to say who was smarter, he would pick the more assertive Zhuang Ruying.

Upon discovering that Jiang Zuo was an expert fisherman who also loved to read, the two began asking him for fishing tips.

And each time they visited, they would bring a book from home for him.

And when it came to the art of fishing, Jiang Zuo could talk all day.

Having spent fourteen years raising fish by the Li River, Jiang Zuo understood its various fish better than anyone.

He knew what the different fish in the Li River liked to eat, when they got hungry, which currents they frequented, when they rested, and more.

Jiang Zuo was perfectly clear on all of it.

So, even without using any of his special abilities, fishing was a breeze for Jiang Zuo.

The anglers from his past life who always went home empty-handed would have to call him a master if they saw him now.

With the knowledge Jiang Zuo imparted, the two children’s fishing success rate soared.

They shouted with joy every time they caught a fish.

Even the usually quiet Wen Shulin was thrilled.

Jiang Zuo, of course, never refused the books they brought him.

Over the years, he had often relied on reading to pass the time.

After they had visited many times, the two children even started eating meals at Jiang Zuo’s place.

It wasn’t that Jiang Zuo intentionally cooked for them. It happened one day when Great Black was late for his meal after running off to the river to play with the Black Stone Fish.

When the children arrived, Great Black was in the middle of eating.

As for Bai, the big white dog, she watched Great Black eat with such gusto that she nearly tried to join in.

Meanwhile, Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying noticed that the plate of dog food was surprisingly fragrant.

So, after a brief discussion, they deliberately visited one day during Jiang Zuo’s mealtime and, just as they’d hoped, got to taste his cooking.

Both children came from wealthy families, so it wasn’t as if they’d never had good food, unlike Subai, who used to come by for meals from time to time.

They were simply curious about Jiang Zuo’s cooking ability. After all, it seemed the meals made by their own family chefs were, at best, on par with this.

But Jiang Zuo was a fisherman, not a chef!

Jiang Zuo let them have a meal but also told them that he valued his peace and quiet and asked them not to tell others about him.

Otherwise, if things got troublesome, he would have no choice but to avoid them.

Though young, both children were sensible and promised they wouldn’t tell anyone.

Soon, Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying discovered something else: Jiang Zuo seemed to know a little about everything, from scholarly pursuits to matters of business.

’Is he really a fisherman?’

In their eyes, Jiang Zuo’s image became rather mysterious.

So, whenever they were free, they loved to bring the big white dog and run over to Jiang Zuo’s place.

However, Wen Shulin came more often. Zhuang Ruying was frequently busy.

As the eldest daughter of her generation in the Zhuang Family, Zhuang Ruying had a great deal to learn. Even though she was exceptionally smart, it still required a vast amount of her time.

Aside from some rare moments of leisure, she could basically only visit once a week.

When Wen Shulin came over, it usually wasn’t to play. Instead, he wanted to ask Jiang Zuo questions to which he couldn’t find answers in his books.

Jiang Zuo was quite fond of these two sensible children. However, when it came to Wen Shulin’s questions, even if Jiang Zuo knew the answers, he wouldn’t act as if he had a deep understanding.

Often, Jiang Zuo would only offer a small piece of his own understanding, encouraging Wen Shulin to think for himself more.

The two children had burst into his life, but they only occupied a small part of it.

For the most part, what Jiang Zuo did with his time was no different than before.

「Another year passed since he’d met Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying.」

Jiang Zuo looked at his Beast Tamer experience points, feeling a bit of anticipation for the future.

His experience as a Junior Beast Tamer had already reached 450 points.

In another two years, he would be able to level up to Intermediate Beast Tamer.

Jiang Zuo was quite excited to see what changes the system would undergo after he reached Intermediate Beast Tamer.

At the same time, his "Learning" talent was also about to reach LV3.

Then, taming Pet Beasts would become even easier.

Observing Beast Patterns, Beast Pattern Drawing, the Refining Stone Stele... everything had been proceeding in an orderly fashion over the years.

The only source of regret for Jiang Zuo was Ruan Jianglan’s Beast Bone Jewelry shop.

Five years had passed since the discovery of the Sea Turtle Shell.

Over these five years, the shop had earned Jiang Zuo a profit of over a thousand silver annually, but there had been no further discoveries of any Obsession Relics.

Jiang Zuo was already mentally prepared for how difficult it was to find Obsession Relics in the Mortal Territory.

After obtaining several Obsession Relics, the conditions for their creation had become quite clear.

First, the creature must have awakened a certain degree of Spiritual Wisdom.

Birds and beasts without awakened Spiritual Wisdom live purely on instinct; how could they be thinking about all sorts of things as they die?

This condition alone filtered out countless Mortal Beasts.

Second is a powerful desire.

Basically, only a lifelong desire that remains unfulfilled even at the moment of death can become an obsession.

It’s hard enough for a person to be fixated on one thing for their entire life, let alone a wild beast.

With these two conditions combined, one could imagine how low the chances of an Obsession Relic forming were.

Still, the shop was profitable, so Jiang Zuo couldn’t complain.

’It would be great to find another one, but if not, I’ll just leave it to fate.’

「Two more years passed.」

The big white dog had tirelessly pursued Great Black for three whole years.

Great Black remained unmoved, but his attitude toward her was no longer as dismissive as it had been initially. He would even occasionally play with her for a bit.

Wen Shulin and Zhuang Ruying were now thirteen years old. Wen Shulin had grown into a refined young scholar, and Zhuang Ruying already carried the graceful air of a young lady from a prominent family.

On this day, as two Black Stone Fish successively reached 100% cultivation progress, a long-awaited text prompt appeared before Jiang Zuo’s eyes.

You have become an ’Intermediate Beast Tamer’!

Cultivation Beast Cage limit +1!

Advanced Beast Cage unlocked!

Obtained Beast Taming Talent ’Longevity’!

...

Reading the text that appeared, Jiang Zuo’s spirits soared!

The number of his Cultivation Beast Cages had increased by one, meaning he could gain more attributes each year.

As expected, he had gained another Beast Taming Talent.

But this time, something new had appeared!

An Advanced Beast Cage!

Jiang Zuo immediately opened his status panel to check the description.

—Intermediate Beast Tamer (0/5000): Your hard work has paid off. Building upon the foundation of a Junior Beast Tamer, you have mastered more advanced Beast Taming techniques. You can communicate more effectively with Pet Beasts you have a taming bond with. You can help a tamed Pet Beast unlock one Talent Slot. You can conduct further enhancement training for adult Pet Beasts.

—Advanced Beast Cage (0/1): Can be used to conduct further enhancement training for adult Pet Beasts. In its current state, you can consume Beast Patterns to give a Pet Beast a chance to master a similar ability without any additional burden. Success, time required, and the number of Beast Patterns consumed are dependent on the compatibility between the Pet Beast and the Beast Pattern, the Pet Beast’s Learning ability, and your Beast Pattern Drawing and Beast Pattern Engraving skills.

—Longevity LV1 (0/100): A universal talent that can be equipped to any Pet Beast currently in cultivation. Increases a Pet Beast’s lifespan. At the current skill level, when cultivation progress reaches 100%, it can increase the Pet Beast’s lifespan by a maximum of 10%.

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