Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Chapter 140: The Ghost Ring Phantom

Due to their contract, Qiao Sang could sense where Little Treasure was.

However, Liu Yao wasn’t so fortunate. The monitor was right at his feet, and when he glanced down, a ghost-type beast with gray and yellow patterns appeared in his field of vision, making his heart skip a beat.

Fortunately, Liu Yao had developed a strong heart from being startled by Sky Bat's vanishing act during his younger years, so he managed to avoid losing his composure and yelling out loud.

After steadying his nerves, Liu Yao crouched down to examine the Little Treasure-Seeking Ghost.

"Xun~"

Little Treasure handed over the endoscope with one paw and pointed to his own ear with the other.

Although Liu Yao couldn’t understand its language, as a breeder, he could often discern a pet beast’s intentions through its behavior.

“You don’t need to check your ears.” Liu Yao said.

"Xun..."

Little Treasure pouted, his golden eyes staring directly at Liu Yao, as if asking, “Why?”

At this point, Liu Yao’s attention was completely drawn to his eyes.

He exclaimed in surprise, “This Little Treasure-Seeking Ghost has golden-yellow eyes!”

Qiao Sang paused, feeling nervous.

“Is there something wrong?”

She knew normal Treasure-Seeking Ghosts had pale yellow eyes, but golden-yellow still fell within the range of yellows.

Just like how the eye colors of people in Dragon Nation ranged from black to light brown, she thought it was merely a hereditary difference.

Could it be more complicated than that?

“There’s nothing wrong. I just think the color looks nice.” Liu Yao replied.

Qiao Sang: ...

She could feel her patience waning!

It was like going to the hospital for a check-up, only to have the doctor say that one of your organs looks different from other people's. That’s terrifying!

After inspecting Little Treasure-Seeking Ghost for a while, Liu Yao asked, “You’ve raised it well. Have you thought about its future evolution path?”

Qiao Sang was taken aback. Little Treasure had only one evolution form, Treasure-Seeker Demon, but after that, it could evolve into two different paths.

Those were the Treasure-Seeker Spirit and the Ghost-Ring Phantom.

To be honest, Qiao Sang hadn’t given much thought to this.

Whether he evolved into a Treasure-Seeker Spirit or Ghost-Ring Phantom, both were advanced beasts, and right now, Little Treasure was still just a basic beast.

It felt too early for her to consider this; She thought she’d decide after it evolved into a Treasure-Seeker Demon and became a mid-tier beast.

“I haven’t thought about it yet.” Qiao Sang answered truthfully.

“Well, you should start thinking now.” Liu Yao said, stopping his examination and looking up at her.

“If you want it to evolve into a Treasure-Seeker Spirit, there’s nothing special you need to do, just raise it as you have been. But if you want it to become a Ghost-Ring Phantom, you’ll need to start following a different cultivation plan while it’s still a Treasure-Seeking Ghost.”

Qiao Sang genuinely didn’t know this.

Most beasts’ cultivation plans were meant to prepare them for their next evolutionary stage, but she’d never heard of starting so early to prepare for a cross-stage evolution.

After a few seconds of contemplation, she asked, “What do I need to do if I want him to evolve into a Ghost-Ring Phantom?”

After contracting Little Treasure , Qiao Sang had naturally researched the species extensively online.

Even though she hadn’t yet decided between the Treasure-Seeker Spirit or the Ghost-Ring Phantom, it didn’t stop her from studying both evolutionary paths.

The Treasure-Seeker Spirit was a ghost- and dark-type beast. It could evolve smoothly as long as it accumulated enough energy.

The Ghost-Ring Phantom, a ghost-type beast, lacked a dark attribute, but compared to the Treasure-Seeker Spirit, it learned ghost-type skills more easily.

There was also a chance it would awaken a curse-type skill when evolving into a Ghost-Ring Phantom.

It was similar to how Yabao awakened his ability to sense through touch and spectral fire when he evolved into Flame Hound.

However, to evolve into a Ghost-Ring Phantom, the Treasure-Seeker Demon’s circular ring had to first split into two, but Qiao Sang didn’t know the exact process.

She only knew that the number of Treasure-Seeker Spirits far exceeded that of Ghost-Ring Phantoms because the evolution conditions and materials required for the latter were much more difficult to obtain.

Between the two, Qiao Sang preferred the Ghost-Ring Phantom.

Little Treasure already had a psychic attribute, and his skills didn’t need to be numerous, the psychic and ghost-type skills alone would keep it busy.

So, it seemed more advantageous to evolve into a Ghost-Ring Phantom, which could master ghost-type skills more easily.

Liu Yao wasn’t surprised by her choice, as Ghost-Ring Phantoms were far rarer than Treasure-Seeker Spirits.

“If you want it to evolve into a Ghost-Ring Phantom, you need to first teach it Will-o’-the-Wisp. Then, for a week, use the flame to temper its ring. Once the ring splits into two, you can use Dark Soul Crystals at night to trigger its evolution.” Liu Yao explained.

Qiao Sang was stunned. “Will-o’-the-Wisp? Isn’t that a fire-type skill?”

“That’s why I told you to prepare while it’s still a Treasure-Seeking Ghost. Even though Treasure-Seeking Ghost is a ghost-type, its ring can absorb materials of different attributes. It can use the ring as a medium to release Will-o’-the-Wisp.”

“As it evolves, the ring’s capacity to absorb energy increases. If you wait until it becomes a Treasure-Seeker Demon to teach it Will-o’-the-Wisp, the materials required would be more than ten times greater.” Liu Yao explained further.

Qiao Sang felt overwhelmed by this sudden knowledge.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Is the ring really that powerful? Does that mean as long as I have enough materials, it can learn other attribute skills too?”

Was the Treasure-Seeking Ghost’s ring really that amazing? How had she never heard of this before?

Wouldn’t that mean the Treasure-Seeking Ghost could use its ring as a medium to release all sorts of skills from other attributes?

If she rounded up, wouldn’t that make it an all-attribute beast?!

That couldn’t be right!

If that were true, the Treasure-Seeking Ghost would be selling like crazy. Why would it still be out there struggling to get by?

“You’ve got quite the imagination.” Liu Yao laughed.

“Of course not. The ring can absorb materials of different attributes but only extracts the energy needed to expand its internal space.”

“Will-o’-the-Wisp is an exception because it contains a ghost element. The materials required to teach it that skill have been carefully studied over time.”

“You can’t just use random fire-type materials to get it to absorb and release Will-o’-the-Wisp.”

Ah, so that’s how it works!

Qiao Sang finally understood. She couldn’t be blamed for her confusion, though, Liu Yao’s explanation had touched on her knowledge blind spots.

After the examination, Liu Yao went to his desk and quickly wrote up two cultivation plans by hand.

Qiao Sang leaned in for a closer look.

Thankfully, unlike doctors’ handwriting, it wasn’t completely illegible…

---

After leaving the school, Qiao Sang, holding the two cultivation plans prepared by an A-level breeder, headed to the nearest beast cultivation institute.

Beast cultivation institutes didn’t just help design a beast’s growth trajectory; they could also create energy pellets based on specific material formulas.

Energy pellets perfectly blended all necessary nutrients and were easy to carry.

They could even be customized to match a beast’s preferred flavor, making them the ideal choice for energy-based meals.

Although Qiao Sang now had the formula, she had never made one before. If anything went wrong during the process, all the materials would be wasted.

Figuring it was best to leave professional tasks to professionals, she decided to visit the institute.