Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Quest Reward
The small town was quiet at a little past four in the morning, with only the occasional crow of a rooster.
The air was especially fresh. Jiang Zuo took a deep breath of the cool air, and the last vestiges of sleepiness vanished completely.
On the town’s streets, the scattered lights of oil lamps or the glow of fires for cooking breakfast began to appear.
The most crowded place at this hour was the row of pork stalls under the large banyan tree at the end of the street.
Jiang Zuo walked up to one of the pork stalls.
"Jiang Zuo, the usual?"
The owner of the pork stall was a sturdy, middle-aged man with a fierce-looking face, named Niu Shuanghu.
Seeing Jiang Zuo approach, he asked immediately.
For the past two years, aside from a few days of heavy rain, Jiang Zuo had come at around this time every morning. He was a long-time regular.
Besides, as long as the meat was good, Jiang Zuo was quick to pay and never haggled back and forth over a few copper coins to get a lower price.
That was why he usually saved the good cuts Jiang Zuo preferred for him.
"I need to buy more today. Hmm, I’ll take this whole half-carcass."
Jiang Zuo gestured at the half-carcass laid out on the butcher’s table.
He had used up almost all the freshly rendered lard last night making sweet potato chips.
Today, he needed a lot of both lard and meat.
"So much!"
Niu Shuanghu was taken aback.
A half-carcass was a quarter of a pig. The pig Niu Shuanghu had slaughtered today was not small, weighing nearly three hundred pounds.
This half-carcass weighed a good seventy to eighty pounds.
Usually, only restaurants would buy that much.
But those restaurants had standing orders with the butchers, who would deliver early in the morning. They wouldn’t come to buy meat at this hour.
"I’ll chop it up for you right away!"
Though he sounded surprised, Niu Shuanghu was inwardly ecstatic, bringing his cleaver down with a powerful chop.
He didn’t bother asking what Jiang Zuo planned to do with so much pork.
’What else would you do with pork besides eat it? Besides, Jiang Zuo never just buys it for himself anyway.’
Soon, Jiang Zuo was carrying the half-carcass of pork home on his shoulder.
It was a good thing Jiang Zuo was strong; otherwise, carrying it back would have been quite a struggle.
Afterward, Jiang Zuo went to other vegetable stalls and vendors in town, buying a large quantity of other ingredients.
He steamed buns, cooked meals for the Porcupine Obsession, and occasionally had to pack up meat buns for customers who came to buy them.
Great Black was already fully raised, so Jiang Zuo didn’t need to train it as he usually did.
But this morning, Jiang Zuo was busier than ever.
Finally.
Just before twelve noon, as a line of text announcing he had gained 1 Beast Soul Power appeared, several more lines floated before his eyes in quick succession.
『The Porcupine Teeth Obsession has disappeared!』
『You have obtained the Beast Pattern "Porcupine Roar"!』
『Quest Complete!』
『You have obtained the skill "Beast Pattern Engraving"!』
『You have obtained the skill "Beast Pattern Drawing"!』
『You have gained 100 Beast Soul Power!』
...
Jiang Zuo had never seen so many notifications appear at once. He was startled for a moment.
He knew the quest rewards would be good, but this seemed a bit excessive.
And just as he’d expected, the quest had given him special rewards!
’Wait, the Porcupine Roar Beast Pattern seems to have come from the Porcupine Teeth. The two Beast Tamer skills, Beast Pattern Engraving and Beast Pattern Drawing, plus the 100 Beast Soul Power—those are the quest rewards.’
But upon closer inspection, Jiang Zuo noticed something else.
It seemed that resolving the Beast Soul Obsession of an Obsession Relic could yield good things besides Beast Soul Power, even without a quest.
His attribute panel had also changed significantly, so Jiang Zuo immediately looked at it.
Occupation: Novice Beast Tamer (56/100)
Race: Human Mortal (Possesses one chance to change Race)
Lifespan: 16/104
Beast Taming Reputation: 23
Attributes: Strength 15.7; Physique 14.9; Agility 15.1
Beast Taming Talent: Learning LV1 (52/100)
Skills: Beast Pattern Engraving LV1 (0/100), Beast Pattern Drawing LV1 (0/100)
--Beast Pattern Engraving LV1: Allows you to engrave a Beast Pattern onto a Pet Beast, granting the Pet Beast the ability contained within the Beast Pattern. Engraving a Beast Pattern places a burden on the Pet Beast. The lower the compatibility between the Beast Pattern and the Pet Beast, the heavier the burden and the less effective the Beast Pattern will be. As a Beast Tamer’s engraving technique improves, the burden on the Pet Beast can be effectively reduced.
--Beast Pattern Drawing LV1: A Beast Tamer can use Beast Blood to imitate and draw possessed Beast Patterns. Drawing consumes Spiritual Power. The better the drawing technique, the higher the success rate and the better the effect of the drawn Beast Pattern.
Cultivation Beast Cage (1/1): Great Black
Obsession Relic: None
Beast Soul Power: 130
Possessed Beast Patterns: Porcupine Roar
--Porcupine Roar: Tier 1 Beast Pattern. Roar like a porcupine, increasing your own strength and causing a certain deterrent effect on weaker enemies.
Active Quest: 1. Successfully cause one Pet Beast to undergo Mutation.
Current System Time:
11:42
...
’So when an Obsession Relic disappears, you get a corresponding Beast Pattern?’
’The two new Beast Tamer skills are both related to Beast Patterns... This Beast Pattern Engraving, does it mean I can give the abilities of one beast to another Pet Beast?’
’And I can even draw my own Beast Patterns! Not bad, not bad. I’m starting to feel more and more like a Beast Tamer!’
Jiang Zuo scanned it quickly.
There weren’t many new things on the attribute panel, and with the descriptions, it was all simple and clear.
The Beast Pattern Engraving skill had a level, but no success rate was mentioned, so it seemed to be 100% successful.
The only thing to watch out for was the burden that engraving a Beast Pattern placed on the Pet Beast.
’This "compatibility" probably depends on the family and genus of the Beast Pattern and the Pet Beast.’
’For example, the compatibility wouldn’t be low if this Porcupine Roar Beast Pattern were engraved onto another pig.’
’But if I wanted to engrave it on a fish, the compatibility would definitely not be high.’
Aside from that, his Beast Soul Power had reached a total of 130 points.
However, 100 of those points were from the quest reward.
In other words, the Tier 1 Obsession Relic, the Porcupine Teeth, had ultimately only given Jiang Zuo 30 points of Beast Soul Power.
He had to personally see an Obsession Relic to identify it, and in all these years, this was the only one he had ever encountered.
Clearly, obtaining an Obsession Relic was not easy, which made Beast Soul Power even more precious.
’Beast Soul Power enhances a Pet Beast’s attributes, and Beast Patterns grant it new abilities. With these two functions, I can already train all kinds of unique Pet Beasts. The entire Beast Taming System is almost complete.’
Jiang Zuo mused, rubbing his chin.
If there was any shortcoming, it was that the number of Cultivation Beast Cages was too small.
However, Jiang Zuo remembered his colleagues being able to raise several Pet Beasts at once. This problem could probably be solved by raising his Beast Tamer level.
"Next up... Great Black, you’re in for a treat!"
Jiang Zuo glanced at Great Black, who was lying on the ground beside him.
He decided to use his Beast Soul Power to perform a bloodline enhancement on Great Black!
If not for the 100 Beast Soul Power from the quest reward, and with only a meager 30 points from the Porcupine Teeth, Jiang Zuo would never have spent 10 points on Great Black.
Jiang Zuo had a feeling that these 10 points of Beast Soul Power would most likely go to waste.
However, to better understand the Beast Taming System, Jiang Zuo felt it was necessary to use it once to test the effects.
If he had known about Obsession Relics earlier, he would have paid more attention to beast remains. Maybe then he could have obtained other Obsession Relics long ago.
Enhance Bloodline!
Without hesitation, Jiang Zuo performed a bloodline enhancement on Great Black.
The next moment.
Great Black, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly shot to its feet.
It felt its blood begin to boil, as if countless ants were biting it from the inside, and it couldn’t stop itself from bolting into the backyard and running frantically in circles.
After thrashing about for a good while, Great Black felt the strange sensation in its body gradually fade.
Not only did the strange feeling disappear, but its body also felt more comfortable than ever before.
However, its stomach, which had been full just a short while ago, was starting to feel a little hungry again.
’The bloodline enhancement is complete?’
Jiang Zuo could vaguely sense Great Black’s thoughts, and he immediately looked over at it.
--Great Black: Medium-sized black canine, has undergone one bloodline enhancement. Lifespan 50 years, gentle temperament, enjoys eating, very strong, possesses one Talent Slot, equipped with the "Learning" talent, current cultivation progress 100%.
Its lifespan increased from 35 years to 50 years!
Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but be shocked when he saw this.
As expected, Great Black hadn’t undergone a Mutation.
But the effect of the bloodline enhancement far exceeded his expectations.
Great Black’s lifespan had increased by more than forty percent!
And that was the effect of just one bloodline enhancement.
’What about another one?’
Without hesitation, Jiang Zuo selected Great Black again and attempted to perform a second bloodline enhancement.
He wasn’t actually planning to go through with it, however; he just wanted to see the cost.
『Second Bloodline Enhancement: Consumes 50 Beast Soul Power. Can perform a second bloodline enhancement on the current Pet Beast. Success rate: 10%. The presence of Mutated Mortal Beast blood or Spirit Beast blood can greatly increase the success rate.』
’Fifty Beast Soul Power for only a 10% success rate. If it succeeds, it might actually cause a Mutation.’
Mutated blood and Spirit Beast blood could significantly increase the success rate. If the enhancement succeeded, it would most likely cause the Pet Beast to undergo a Mutation.
But the Beast Soul Power cost was exorbitant, and without the boost from special blood, the success rate was too low.
With the small amount of Beast Soul Power he had, Jiang Zuo couldn’t possibly gamble on a 10% chance with Great Black.
Shaking his head, Jiang Zuo turned his attention to the other new thing: Beast Pattern Drawing.
It was impossible to use his only Porcupine Beast Pattern on Great Black.
But if he could draw a Beast Pattern himself, even if its effect wasn’t great, he could at least test it out on Great Black.
To draw a Beast Pattern, he first needed to know its structure.
With a thought, Jiang Zuo conjured the image of the Beast Pattern, which looked like an angry pig’s head, before his eyes.
Countless silver, tadpole-like characters arranged themselves to form the angry pig’s head.
These tadpole-like characters seemed to be alive, constantly swimming about.
But before he could get a closer look, Jiang Zuo felt dizzy. His vision went black, and his legs nearly gave out from under him.
He managed to steady himself against a wall, but an intense wave of drowsiness washed over him, and he couldn’t keep his eyelids from drooping.
Signaling Great Black to guard the house, Jiang Zuo used all his remaining strength to walk back to his room, where he collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.
「A long time later.」
Jiang Zuo only woke up after sleeping for a full two hours.
He was awake, but he still felt mentally drained.
It was just like the dazed, disoriented feeling from his previous life after pulling an all-nighter at work and then walking out of the office to see the morning sun.
’The Spiritual Power consumption is insane.’
He had only glanced at the Beast Pattern; he hadn’t even started drawing it yet.
Drawing a Beast Pattern also consumed Spiritual Power. He probably couldn’t even draw one at all right now.
Fortunately, even though just a single glance had nearly made him pass out, some impression of the Porcupine Beast Pattern remained in his mind.
If he looked at it a few more times, he should be able to see the whole thing.
He could try drawing it then.
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