Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

After her conversation with Water Luriana, Qiao Sang returned to her room, too excited to fall asleep.

Although she hadn’t secured a contract yet, she was 60% closer to it, and at least Water Luriana was willing to accept her.

As the saying goes, acceptance is the beginning of change.

With plans to get closer to Water Luriana, Qiao Sang brought her laptop to bed, propping herself up to study Water Luriana’s preferences, thinking of how to progress the remaining 40%.

An hour later…

Sigh… Qiao Sang rubbed her temples, her youthful face showing slight fatigue.

It wasn’t that she was tired from research, but more frustrated that after all that effort, she hadn’t found any useful information.

The sheer volume of information online was overwhelming. She’d thought she’d at least find a few helpful clues, but apparently, she’d overestimated netizens’ knowledge of endangered pet beasts.

There weren’t even many articles or posts discussing Water Luriana, let alone anyone from the media publishing anything on it.

#How can I spot a Water Luriana camouflaged in water?

There was only one reply, and it was from the original poster:

[Begging for help, I'd be grateful if any experts could respond!]

Even with such a humble plea, no one answered him.

Qiao Sang thought for a moment and opened the forum, deciding to start her own post.

To avoid the same fate as the previous user, she gave her post an eye-catching title:

#I just saw a Shui Lu'ana with my own eyes, really, just at 5:46:32 AM on August 28 this year#

There are plenty of night owls out there, and the title quickly piqued everyone’s curiosity.

“August 28 at 5:46:32 AM? Isn’t that a minute ago?”

“Water Luriana?! What does it look like?”

“Never heard of it; what kind of pet beast is this?”

“Same question.”

“Its name has ‘water’ in it. I’d guess it’s a water-type pet beast.”

Nice, she’d generated interest.

To keep the post from getting buried, Qiao Sang started typing:

[It’s a near-extinct water-type pet beast from the Ancient Guwu region. It looks incredible; you all can look it up.]

Immediately, people joined the discussion.

“Wow! That’s the treasure of our Ancient Guwu region!”

“OP must’ve used up all their good luck for this lifetime!”

“Ahhh! I looked it up! It’s right on my aesthetic wavelength!”

“Did you get a photo? Show us!”

“With an opportunity like that, why didn’t you catch it, OP?”

Qiao Sang seized the moment and replied:

[I’d love to, but my pet-beast Codex doesn’t have any spare contract pages. Does anyone know what Water Luriana likes? I feel I have a connection with it, and I want to be prepared if I run into it again.]

“OP is dreaming.”

“I seriously doubt OP’s story here.”

“If you really saw it, wouldn’t you have captured it, even without a blank contract page?”

“That’s dangerous thinking, buddy.”

“Clearly you’re not aware, Water Luriana has a merge with water ability, so even if you wanted to, you couldn’t capture it.”

Qiao Sang’s eyes lit up as she read the latest reply; someone knowledgeable about Water Luriana had appeared!

She checked the user’s ID: LetMeMergeWithWater.

Several users were commenting as well.

“Whoa, merging with water, does that make it unbeatable in water battles?”

“What’s ‘merge with water’? Does it mean exactly what it says?”

LetMeMergeWithWater responded:

[It’s nothing special. Water Luriana can blend into water, but the species likes cleanliness. If you suspect it’s in a water source, you don’t even need to look hard; just pollute the water, and it’ll definitely come out.]

Qiao Sang blinked in surprise. She hadn’t known that!

This user, LetMeMergeWithWater, seemed very knowledgeable about Water Luriana.

LetMeMergeWithWater continued posting:

[I wonder where OP spotted Water Luriana. Fewer than a hundred Water Lurianas are alive worldwide. It’s everyone’s duty to protect endangered pet beasts, so please, OP, let me know, and I’ll do my part in protecting them too.]

“I can hear the schemes all the way over here in Lianke!”

“And from Yuhua!”

“Heck, I can even hear them from my bathroom!”

Qiao Sang quickly searched for a street name in a city within the Ancient Guwu region and then returned to the forum to type:

[Not to hide anything, I spotted it near the west gate of the Wetland Park on Shuwu Street in Gong City. Just walk 50 meters down the road from there.]

“OP is straightforward. Anyone up for a group trip?”

“Great, it’s only 3089 km from me.”

“Awesome, only 910 km. I could get there in 13 hours and 46 minutes on my eagle.”

“Am I the only one wondering why OP was there at 5 AM?”

Ignoring the other comments, Qiao Sang tagged LetMeMergeWithWater:

[You seem to know quite a lot about Water Luriana, @LetMeMergeWithWater.]

LetMeMergeWithWater replied:

[I study endangered pet-beast protection; my focus is specifically on those at risk of extinction.]

Qiao Sang was floored, she’d actually encountered someone in such a niche field!

Hurriedly, she typed:

[Do you know what Water Luriana likes or the best way to nurture it?]

Without a contract, all she could do was ask online. The allure of a near-extinct pet beast for a pet master was like the pull of a compass to the North Pole, not something to risk carelessly.

Even though she had a knowledgeable vice-principal around in real life, Qiao Sang had never considered mentioning it to him.

After all, she’d seen plenty of posts about people turning against each other over rare pet beasts in hidden realms.

After a minute, LetMeMergeWithWater posted again:

[Water Luriana likes clean water. I’m unsure of its nurturing needs, but its near-extinction is largely due to its difficulty evolving. It can’t advance its life stage, so the species’ lifespan tends to be short.]

[Its personality affects its evolution into an Ice Qiya form. When it’s stubborn, naive, lively, impatient, mischievous, brave, or straightforward, it evolves into a bold form. With personalities like lonely, slow, timid, gentle, calm, reserved, cautious, or serious, it evolves into a low-profile form.]

[Besides personality, there’s another crucial condition: It must experience a heart-wrenching breakup in the rain. Only the emotional energy from facing heartbreak can help it evolve.]

[Water Luriana has high standards, it’s hard for it to find a compatible mate. You need to monitor its mood constantly while raising it and keep a rain-summoning pet nearby. Otherwise, if you miss its one chance to evolve through heartbreak, waiting for another chance within its lifetime is nearly impossible.]

Qiao Sang stared at the post in shock.

She’d never heard of such a bizarre evolution condition before. This was truly eye-opening…

Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she typed:

[How long is Water Luriana’s lifespan?]

LetMeMergeWithWater: [Seven years.]

Qiao Sang took a deep breath. No wonder Water Luriana was endangered.

Even under protection, its population hadn’t increased much, meeting such extreme evolution conditions within such a short lifespan was almost impossible.

Yet the alliance was impressive, they had somehow even figured out these conditions…

---

She chatted online until sunrise, while Yabao was still asleep.

Qiao Sang changed clothes, tied her hair into a ponytail, and yawned as she stepped into the courtyard.

“Water Luriana, are you awake?” Qiao Sang called by the pool.

“Lu Lu.” Water Luriana’s head emerged from the water.

Qiao Sang was startled. Recently, she’d gotten used to Water Luriana ignoring her, so it felt strange to have it respond right away…

Looking at Water Luriana in the pool, Qiao Sang cleared her throat and said, “To help you train better, I need to know how old you are.”

“Lu Lu.”

Water Luriana didn’t hesitate, answering her question.

Qiao Sang: …

The frustration of not having a contract, it was like hearing gibberish!

Just as Qiao Sang was about to call Little Treasure for a translation, Water Luriana seemed to realize she didn’t understand.

It leaped out of the pool, sat down with its tail propping it up, and used its front paws to show seven short digits.

Qiao Sang: !!!

“What?! You’re already this old!” Qiao Sang was stunned.

Who would’ve thought Water Luriana was already seven years old? If it didn’t evolve soon, it would… be gone!

“Lu Lu?”

Water Luriana looked confused.

Seven months is old?