3: Xuanwu bloodline? Advancement

As Lin Chuan approached, the Black-backed Turtle immediately retreated into its shell, playing dead.

Lin Chuan pinched a corner of the Turtle's shell and gently flipped it over.

"[Divine Beast Xuanwu Bloodline detected. Do you wish to form a contract?]"

"Huh?"

Xuanwu Bloodline? This simple? Is it real or fake?

Lin Chuan was pleasantly surprised, yet also a little hesitant.

On one hand, he could become a Beast Tamer. On the other hand, this Black-backed Turtle seemed a bit weak, just an ordinary Turtle.

"[You are too weak; you haven't even had an Awakening. You can't contract extraordinary Yao Beasts.]"

Only then did Lin Chuan remember that he hadn't even awakened his Beast Tamer talent, yet he could directly contract?

Sure enough, a Golden Finger was a Golden Finger. It was extraordinary, even if he was looked down upon.

This was good too; there were no extra expenses.

Normally, even after Awakening, contracting a suitable pet beast egg was a considerable expense; a slightly better pet beast egg would cost tens of thousands. If there wasn't a Beast Tamer in the Family to guide them, ordinary people really couldn't afford it.

"Then let's contract it. At least, let's become a Beast Tamer first before talking about anything else."

As Lin Chuan's words fell, a golden light enveloped both Lin Chuan and the Black-backed Turtle.

A moment later, the golden light disappeared.

"[Contract successful.]"

At this moment, the Black-backed Turtle no longer bothered to retract its head, staring at Lin Chuan with a bewildered expression.

It was as if the Turtle's expression and intelligence had become richer.

With the successful contract, Lin Chuan officially entered the door of Beast Tamers.

master: Lin Chuan

Rank: Black Iron 1-star

Talent: Unawakened

Pet Beast: Black-backed Turtle (Ordinary)

Skills: None

Potential: Unknown

Strength Assessment: If you eat sparingly, it's enough for two meals.

This was an attribute panel that only the Beast Tamer himself could see; the Rank could be detected by instruments.

As for talent, apart from the individual, others could not know it, and instruments could only detect a general idea.

For example, a C-Rank fire attribute talent, Flame Affinity (increases the pet beast's fire resistance and the growth rate of fire attribute pet beasts), and a C-Rank talent, Flame Enhancement (enhances the pet beast's fire attribute attack).

For these two, instruments could only detect C-Rank fire attribute but could not know which specific one it was; only the Beast Tamer himself knew.

Lin Chuan glanced at his lonely panel and immediately closed it; he couldn't bear to look.

He felt an invisible bond between himself and the Black-backed Turtle, as if he could store it in his sea of consciousness space.

With a thought from Lin Chuan, the Black-backed Turtle instantly disappeared and then reappeared, looking bewildered, beneath the tree in the Sea of Consciousness.

If the Black-backed Turtle could speak, it would definitely be cursing:

"I'm just an ordinary Turtle. Why are you tormenting me like this? You might as well just kill me directly."

"Really, Old Black? You'd rather die than become a pet beast?"

Old Black was the name Lin Chuan came up with temporarily.

After all, the Black-backed Turtle was at least over a hundred years old, so calling it Little Black was inappropriate.

"???"

The Black-backed Turtle hadn't expected its thoughts to be known by Lin Chuan, making it even more terrified.

"It feels different from the pet beast space described online."

Lin Chuan muttered.

Online, it was said that the pet beast space was like a black hole, where Divine Sense could not reach, and it was only known that it could provide rest for pet beasts and accelerate their growth.

His own was clearly not like that.

However, since he wasn't some proper Beast Tamer, having directly contracted without even Awakening his talent... Thinking of this, Lin Chuan simply stopped dwelling on these thoughts. Anyway, he had successfully contracted, so who could say he wasn't a Beast Tamer?

However, an ordinary-level pet beast, this was a record-breaker, the record for the weakest pet beast.

Normally, ordinary beasts that hadn't entered the extraordinary realm, like unawakened humans, couldn't even perceive a contract. How could they become a contracted pet beast?

One could only say that Lin Chuan and the Black-backed Turtle were truly a bizarre combination.

That being said, even the weakest Beast Tamer was still a Beast Tamer and could enjoy the welfare benefits and subsidies of a Beast Tamer.

At least, it was incomparable to a pet beast poop scooper.

Thinking about the Beast Tamer subsidies, Lin Chuan directly exited the sea of consciousness space, intending to check the official website first.

If he could live a life of ease by relying on his Beast Tamer status, that would be wonderful.

For him to go outside the city, level up by fighting monsters, and snatch resources in a sea of corpses and blood... that was impossible.

In this life, his only goal was to lie flat and enjoy life.

"Hmm, did I forget something again? Never mind, I won't bother with it. Let's see what benefits and treatment there are first."

At this moment, under the golden tree in the sea of consciousness space, the Black-backed Turtle stared with wide eyes, utterly devoid of life.

"I need to eat, hey!!!"

..."Turtle, hungry, hungry!"

Inside the sea of consciousness space, every second felt long.

Suddenly, the Black-backed Turtle vaguely smelled a fragrance.

The fragrance penetrated deep into its bones, as if to lure its Soul away.

Looking up, it saw that among the originally crystal-clear fruits, there was a green one that was particularly striking, with a jade-like luster, resembling emerald.

The Black-backed Turtle stared intently at the green fruit, its mind filled with "want to eat... want to eat."

"If you want to eat, order takeout yourself; don't bother me."

Outside, Lin Chuan finished checking the information, took a shower, ordered takeout, and then watched two hours of drama before falling asleep.

Muttering in his sleep, Lin Chuan continued to sleep.

Inside the sea of consciousness space, as if having received Lin Chuan's permission, the twig bearing the green fruit slowly lowered, bringing it before the Black-backed Turtle.

The Black-backed Turtle did not hesitate, swallowing it in one gulp.

Subsequently, as if struck by a heavy blow, it closed its eyes, kicked its four legs, and also fell into a deep sleep... The next day at noon, Lin Chuan slowly woke up from his slumber.

He hadn't rested well during five days of Hell-like school life, and he finally got a good night's sleep.

He quickly washed up and then took out his phone to order takeout.

"Wait, Old Black seems to need to eat too. Damn, I forgot!"

Yesterday, immersed in the excitement of becoming a Beast Tamer, this guy completely forgot about Old Black in the Sea of Consciousness.

Now, he finally remembered.

"Old Black, come out and eat."

With a "bang," Old Black fell directly onto the floor, cracking the tiles.

"Sorry, Old Black, I'm still not used to it. It'll be fine after a few more tries."

Lin Chuan rubbed his head, laughing awkwardly.

However, the Black-backed Turtle remained motionless, its eyes still tightly closed.

"Damn it, Old Black, you're not dead, are you! I just became a Beast Tamer, don't scare me!"

As he spoke, he reached out and touched Old Black's head.

It was cold, icy cold.

"It's over..."

Now he really didn't need to order takeout; he could make do with one meal for lunch and another for dinner.

Lin Chuan couldn't understand how it had suddenly died when it was perfectly fine.

Could it be that it really starved to death?

However, wasn't it said that if a pet beast died, the Beast Tamer would suffer Soul damage? He didn't seem to feel anything.

Could it be?

Thinking this, Lin Chuan widened his eyes and checked Old Black's attribute panel.

Pet Beast: Black-backed Turtle (Ordinary → Extraordinary One-star, Evolving)

Skill: Hardening Armor Lv1 (Active, physical defense increases by 20% when activated, lasts 10 minutes)

Potential: Unknown

Strength Assessment: More chewy now.

"Damn it, why does this panel have a 'Strength Assessment' thing? Is it specifically trying to piss me off!"