RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE...
The rumble of an engine grew louder, and in the blink of an eye, a car pulled up to the gates of the Pet Beast Market. The door flew open, and a chubby young man scrambled out.
A few minutes later, he spotted Li Qian standing in front of a potion shop in the distance. Fatty An couldn't wait and started shouting, "I'm here, I'm here! Where's Teacher Zhu Bingqing?"
As he spoke, he scanned his surroundings, as if searching for that unforgettable, graceful figure he couldn't get out of his mind.
Unfortunately, there were only a few people around, and they were all middle-aged male stall owners. Forget a graceful figure, he couldn't even spot a single female cat.
Li Qian didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the sight. 'Thankfully I only texted him after Teacher Zhu Bingqing left,' he thought. 'If she saw Fatty An looking like such a lovestruck fool, he'd definitely get an earful.'
Walking over and patting Fatty An's shoulder, Li Qian said irritably, "What are you looking at? She's already gone."
Li Qian's words made Fatty An deflate like a popped balloon. He rolled his eyes and said with a dejected expression, "Then what did you call me over for?"
With a smile, Li Qian pointed to a Pet Beast Potion Shop not far away, the very same one he and Teacher Zhu Bingqing had just visited. "That shop over there. Go in and help me buy a potion, it's called the Blood Orchid Potion."
Fatty An was in a completely listless state. He said feebly, "Why don't you buy it yourself?"
Li Qian explained, "Just now, Teacher Zhu Bingqing gave a whole spiel in the shop, pointing out all the potion's flaws in perfect detail. If I go back in to buy it now, they'll definitely think it's weird and might be reluctant to sell it."
Fatty An glanced at the potion shop in the distance and then said nonchalantly, "Then just buy it online."
"Don't be like that. They're having a sale; it's cheaper than online by tens of thousands." Li Qian sighed helplessly. 'It's true what they say, the well-fed don't know the plight of the hungry. So disgustingly rich...'
'Tens of thousands, just like that... It seems he doesn't think twice about that kind of money.'
'Then again, it makes sense. With Fatty An's family background, why would he care about a measly tens of thousands? I guess it's true that with money, you really can do whatever you want.'
Fatty An pointed to the shop entrance not far away, then stuck his hands in his pockets, striking a pose that screamed "I'm the boss here, and I'm not moving." "You tricked me into coming all the way here just for this? Not going!"
"When I sent you the photo, Teacher Zhu Bingqing hadn't left yet." Seeing this, Li Qian had no choice but to once again employ his great art of persuasion. "And yet, the moment you arrived, she left. What does that tell you?"
Fatty An looked at Li Qian, his face full of suspicion, and played along. "What does it tell me?"
"It means that people who aren't fated to be together are destined to miss each other," Li Qian said earnestly. "But since you're already here, you might as well help me out and go buy that potion."
"I have a feeling you're tricking me again." Fatty An shot Li Qian a glance, then, muttering and grumbling, reluctantly started walking toward the potion shop.
About five minutes later, Fatty An walked out of the potion shop, a light-red potion now in his hand.
"Here, this is the potion you wanted." Handing the potion to Li Qian, Fatty An said listlessly.
'Just by looking at him, I can tell he still hasn't gotten over his disappointment that Teacher Zhu Bingqing left.'
After taking the potion, Li Qian asked casually, "How much did it cost?"
"One hundred and twenty thousand," Fatty An replied, his spirits recovering a little.
Hearing this, Li Qian raised an eyebrow, then gave a thumbs-up. "Awesome. You managed to knock off another eight thousand for me."
'I distinctly remember it was thirty percent off, which would have made the price 128,000. I can't believe Fatty An went in there and shaved off another eight thousand in just five minutes.'
'I have to admit, he really is a merchant's son, through and through.'
'With haggling skills like that, he'll have no problem taking over his old man's business someday.'
Fatty An's eyes darted around, and he suggested, "Then treating me to dinner tonight isn't too much to ask, right?"
Li Qian nodded, then, as if remembering something, asked, "Aren't you going back to your Meditation?"
Fatty An gazed into the distance and said mournfully, "After seeing that photo of Teacher Zhu Bingqing, how can I possibly enter a meditative state?"
Li Qian was speechless. "Uh..."
...
「That evening, in a small restaurant not far from Li Qian's house.」
The two sat across from each other. Fatty An took a sip of his drink and asked, "So, buddy, are you really researching the evolution method for a Dominator Level Potential Pet Beast?"
Seeing Fatty An's skeptical look, Li Qian said in exasperation, "What's with that look? You think I'd lie to you?"
He paused, then added, "Just you watch. If I'm lucky, I might have something to show for it before graduation."
The disbelief in Fatty An's eyes didn't diminish much. "Something to show for it? You don't mean a graduation thesis, do you?"
Li Qian shot him a disdainful look. "A thesis? Get real. We're graduating high school; we don't have to write a thesis."
He pursed his lips and reminded him, "Remember that Dominator Level Potential Pet Beast I promised you?"
Fatty An picked up some food with his chopsticks and mumbled, "Fine, fine. I'll believe you for now. I'll just consider it something to look forward to."
...
「After dinner, he returned home.」
Entering his room, Li Qian checked his Golden Finger.
[Current Task Progress: 98%]
He closed the task panel, then took out the Blood Orchid Potion. He examined it carefully before falling into deep thought.
There was a lingering doubt in his eyes.
'According to Teacher Zhu Bingqing, this Blood Orchid Potion is normally used to stimulate the bloodline of Western Dragon Species... so why did the system react to it?' he muttered to himself, a faint guess forming in his mind. 'Isn't the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon a pure Eastern Flood Dragon?'
'What in the world is going on?'
'What's the remaining two percent? Could it be that more than one potion is needed for the evolution?' Unable to figure it out, he put away the Blood Orchid Potion and went back to grinding through the materials Gao Yaxin had sent him.
Looking at the materials, he couldn't help but think of something else. 'Sigh, this one vial of Blood Orchid Potion cost 120,000. I wonder if the rest of my money will be enough to complete the research?'
「The next day, Monday.」
Time for class.
The morning was combat class, and the afternoon was Pet Beast knowledge class.
The combat class teacher was Hu Minghua, and the Pet Beast knowledge teacher was Lv Xinmin. One was a muscular man with a face full of stubble, the other an old man with half-white hair. With graduation just around the corner and everyone scrambling to awaken, very few students were actually paying attention in class.
Neither Teacher Hu Minghua nor Teacher Lv Xinmin paid it much mind.
At a time like this, the most important thing for the students was indeed to focus on awakening.
Besides, with only three months left, it made little difference. For the students who were already good at combat and Pet Beast knowledge, this short amount of time wasn't critical. For those who weren't, it was hardly enough to make a difference.
Li Qian was different. He had already awakened his Beast Taming Space and was just waiting for the school to issue him a Pet Beast before graduation.
So he still took both of these classes seriously.
This also improved Teacher Hu Minghua's and Teacher Lv Xinmin's impression of him even more.
After school, Li Qian wasted no time. He went to the living room, put Ah Fu into an empty Beast Taming Ball, grabbed a couple of pieces of bread to tide him over, and headed straight out the door on his bicycle.
Following the directions on his phone's navigation, he arrived at his destination in about half an hour.
"It's just ahead." Hearing the sound of rushing water nearby, a faint smile of delight appeared on Li Qian's face.
'I've found the place. Next up is training, endless training to hone Ah Fu's and Qizai's Skills.'
Qizai was the name Li Qian had given to the Koi Carp he had bought from the stall of the man with the bushy beard.