An hour later.
It could no longer stand the hunger and jumped onto the bed, using its mouth to pull the blanket aside.
“Ya Ya!”
The Fire Tooth Dog tried to wake its Beast Master.
“Let me sleep a bit longer,” Qiao Sang mumbled as she turned over, still in a daze.
Upon hearing this, the Fire Tooth Dog hesitated for a moment, then gently covered the blanket back over her.
Forty minutes later.
The Fire Tooth Dog jumped onto the bed again, pulling the blanket away.
“Ya!”
“Ya Ya!”
“Just let me sleep a bit longer, just for one... ah!”
...
At the dining table, the Fire Tooth Dog finished the last bite of its energy meal, satisfied, and pawed at its belly.
Since the holiday began, Qiao Sang had learned to make two different flavors of energy meals with her mother.
Both were the simplest to prepare.
As long as the weight ratio of the ingredients was correct, chopping and mixing it together with a bit of energy gel would complete the task.
It was somewhat similar to making a salad.
Whenever Qiao Sang cooked, the Fire Tooth Dog would politely finish half of it.
Now that it had eaten all the energy meal, it was clear that it had been quite hungry.
“Ya Bao, a girl's face is very important, so don’t just jump up without thinking, okay?” Qiao Sang said earnestly.
The Fire Tooth Dog tilted its head, blinking its moist eyes at her.
“Ya?”
Qiao Sang understood its question and explained, “Ya Bao is your name, I just gave it to you yesterday. Did you forget?”
“Ya.”
The Fire Tooth Dog recalled and responded happily.
Thinking back to the feeling of being pressed against her face in the morning, Qiao Sang felt a bit scared.
But seeing her Fire Tooth Dog so obedient, she comforted herself.
Luckily, she had contracted the Fire Tooth Dog, which had a soft body.
If it had been a Mighty Beast instead, she might have had her face ruined...
...
At 9:45 AM.
In a shaded area beneath the Qingcheng Gardens residential complex.
“First, use Shadow Clone, then have all the clones use Fire Tooth,” Qiao Sang instructed.
After thinking for half a day yesterday, she concluded that the problem might lie with the Shadow Clone technique.
All data could be traced.
Firstly, it was normal that the Fire Tooth Dog’s level increased by 30 points in one day.
This could be seen from how it gained points by eating the red fruit before.
In a properly nurtured environment, the Fire Tooth Dog could indeed grow.
Even without the red fruit, it would still gain a point or two in level every day.
With that being the case, after yesterday's intense battle with the weight control expert, the Fire Tooth Dog had activated its special abilities for the first time.
It made sense that it had also grown stronger after that match.
As for the other skill data, only Charge, Fire Tooth, and Fire Whirl were different from before.
The difference lay in the fact that the Fire Tooth Dog's Shadow Clone used those skills yesterday.
If her guess was right, this would mean that as long as any Shadow Clone used the skills, the points gained when the clone disappeared would be the same as the main body performing the skills itself.
During the recent competition, the Fire Tooth Dog's Shadow Clone had indeed used skills.
However, after each day’s match, she hadn’t immediately checked the Beastmaster Codex but waited until the Fire Tooth Dog was done training at night before looking at the data.
This had led her to mistakenly think all data changes were due to training.
The Fire Tooth Dog nodded and immediately put her instructions into action.
With a total of seven Shadow Clones, plus the main body, all the Fire Tooth Dogs unleashed Fire Tooth together. Qiao Sang entered the Beastmaster Codex.
[Fire Tooth (Minor Completion: 653/2000)]
Though she had guessed she was right, seeing the value that had changed from 645 to 653 made Qiao Sang impulse shout in excitement.
A nearby four- to five-year-old boy, who had come to see the Fire Tooth Dog, was startled and ran to his mother, crying.
The boy's mother, sitting on a long bench nearby, thought from afar that her child was scared by the Fire Tooth Dog.
“I told you fire-type companion beasts are frightening. Let's see if you dare run over again next time.”
The Fire Tooth Dog twitched its nose, feeling a sudden itch.
...
At 2:45 PM.
Qiao Sang took the Fire Tooth Dog on the subway to the Hanggang Companion Beast Base.
In Hanggang City, each district has specific bases for nurturing companion beasts, and there are also many individual vendors selling companion beast eggs.
However, the best business and most popular place remains the Hanggang Companion Beast Base.
The companion beast egg vouchers rewarded from the hundred new competitions also belong to the Hanggang Companion Beast Base.
Last time she came, it was early and she happened to arrive just as they opened, so there weren’t many people.
But this time, as soon as she walked in, she noticed it was different from before.
The reception hall wasn’t too crowded, but people were chatting in pairs or threes.
Qiao Sang looked around.
In each group, there was a staff member in professional attire assisting the customers.
Just as she was about to approach the service area, a woman in her twenties, dressed professionally, came over.
“Hello, may I ask if you have an appointment?”
The staff member smiled warmly, treating Qiao Sang like any other customer despite her young age.
Being part of the largest companion beast base in Hanggang City, the staff must have good judgment.
It wasn’t about looking down on her; it was simply having the ability to read people.
Though the girl looked young and dressed plainly, holding a Fire Tooth Dog in her arms and exuding a calm demeanor, it was clear she wasn’t an ordinary child.
Generally, no one would come alone to visit the base, but if it was for buying a companion beast contract, this girl already had a Fire Tooth Dog.
At her age, it was impossible for her to contract a second beast.
She must have either arrived early to wait for someone or had a particular beast she liked, wanting to check it out and make a reservation.
The staff member assumed it was the latter.
“No, I'm here to buy a companion beast egg,” Qiao Sang replied.
The staff member perked up at this.
Not just a booking, but a direct purchase—this was a potential client.
“Have you decided on a companion beast egg you are interested in?” the staff member asked.
“Yes, I’d like to see Cherry Cotton first,” Qiao Sang said.
Not only a potential client but indeed a major client!
If she bought it, the month's sales target could be met early.
Just as the staff member was excited to lead Qiao Sang into the base, someone behind her called out her name, summoning her over.
The staff member remembered that the customer in front of her had not yet been fully attended to…
She had only approached Qiao Sang during the previous customer’s bathroom break.
But letting someone else take over and handing off the sales achievement was not something she could do.
The staff member quickly thought of a solution.
She formed a hand sign, summoning a Blue Joy Butterfly, and said, “Miss, let this accompany you inside the base for a while. I’ll be right with you as soon as I finish here.”
Beast Masters and their companion beasts share a mutual sense.
As the Mind Domain expands, the distance over which this sense operates can also extend.
Qiao Sang naturally had no objections.
She had nothing else planned and thought it would be pleasant to tour the base.
“Yue~”
The Blue Joy Butterfly spun around in place.
With its guidance, Qiao Sang carried the Fire Tooth Dog into the channel inside the companion beast base.
(End of this chapter)