21: strengthen

Not far away, "The Complete Book of Beast Languages" lay quietly on the bookshelf.

This book recorded the languages and behavioral habits of various beasts, and for Beastmasters who wanted to deeply understand beasts and establish a deeper connection, it was undoubtedly a treasure-level existence.

Compared to information directly obtained through contracts, Li Wen was actually more curious about what his pet beasts were saying in their own native languages.

"Chapter One: Linguistic Analysis of the Little Green Worm." Right from the start, it was exactly the part Li Wen was interested in.

"The 'ying' sound of the Little Green Worm actually contains many syllables, and each syllable has four pronunciations, with three syllables forming a word."

Li Wen felt as if he had found a treasure, meticulously studying it. Every time he unlocked a new beast language vocabulary, the panel gave feedback.

"Knowledge Point +1"

"Knowledge Point +1"

Just as Li Wen was immersed in the ocean of knowledge, unable to extricate himself, a book titled "The Beastmaster's Love Secrets" suddenly caught his eye.

He paused, then a playful smile curved his lips.

Opening it, he found it contained peculiar techniques on how Beastmasters could build emotional connections with their pet beasts, and even... uh, how to use pet beasts to attract the opposite sex.

Although it was far from orthodox Beastmaster knowledge, Li Wen couldn't help but be amused.

The panel actually reacted too.

"Knowledge Point +1"

?

There was no time to dwell on this; what came next was even more significant.

"Hmm? 'The Gossip History of the Beast World'."

The cover art was unconventional, clearly an entertainment-oriented work.

Li Wen flipped through a few pages, which recorded some interesting anecdotes, and even unverified rumors and hearsay from the Beast World.

Things like: Green Cotton Worms can eventually evolve into Azure Dragons, nutrient-fed pet beasts can also become a generation's Celestial Emperor, and there are even fairy butterflies that can transform into a celestial realm.

What a joke, is this scientific? This is completely plot from a novel, alright?

However, these light-hearted contents did allow his tense nerves to relax.

The panel also unceremoniously displayed:

"Knowledge Point +1."

After reading these, Li Wen couldn't help but complain, "This system really accepts anything; even gossip counts as a knowledge point. However,"

"...that being said, this kind of learning process is quite interesting, at least it doesn't make me feel resistant."

After speaking, he was ready to borrow "The Gossip History of the Beast World" to read thoroughly. Since it was a good book recognized by the panel, he definitely needed to study it carefully.

Li Wen, having finished his tasks, returned to the gym with light steps.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Lin Xian, who immediately grabbed Li Wen and praised Sprout Beast.

"Li Wen, you've really struck gold! I've never seen such a self-motivated Sprout Beast in my life!" Lin Xian exclaimed with a look of astonishment, as if he had discovered a rare species.

Li Wen smiled, pushed open the door, and walked in. Sprout Beast was sitting upright in the center of the training ground, its small body exuding a determined aura, engaged in self-training.

Every one of its movements appeared extremely serious.

"Pet beasts usually learn from their masters; it must have been influenced by me." Li Wen proudly lifted his chin, his face full of pride.

Lin Xian continued, "And, it even knows how to control its own training volume! I was ready to force it to rest if it didn't, but..."

"...it turned around and went to rest, which really made me look at it in a new light."

Li Wen, however, didn't think much of it. No kidding, the training method given by the panel must be the most extreme training method to maximize potential.

He had spent knowledge points on these, but aside from that, Sprout Beast's self-awareness was the most important thing.

But thinking about it carefully, pet beasts are all like Beastmasters. Isn't this just proof of his good eye for choosing pet beasts?

After preening, before leaving, he intentionally or unintentionally took another look at Gym Leader Lin's Sprout Beast, which had already evolved into a Life Tree King.

"Skill acquired successfully."

Only then did Li Wen bid farewell to Gym Leader Lin, satisfied, and returned home.

Seeing the knowledge points he had gained from the library, Li Wen knew that not spending them was impossible.

As the saying goes, increase income and reduce expenditure. First, he would improve Little Green Worm's Skill that could generate small amounts of money.

"Balance: 106 Knowledge Points"

"Do you want to teach the Skill?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for your hard work, Little Green Worm."

"Time Limit"

"00:09:58"

This time, Little Green Worm did not encounter the problem from last time; there was only a time limit, which wasn't very long due to its unranked status.

Instead, it felt as comfortable as Sprout Beast had before; the entire worm was truly enjoying itself.

"Sure enough, it's still because multiple Skills are taught simultaneously."

Li Wen immediately understood the key point. Now, the pet beast's physique could meet the Skill's requirements, so it could learn unacquired Skills through materials.

Teaching already acquired Skills, however, improved proficiency through Energy Value and memory, but the pet beast's body couldn't withstand the excessive Energy Value loss.

So, in fact, this was the effect of his two traits combined: the All-Knowing Eye formulating the plan, and Creation Evolution optimizing and executing the plan?

In a sense, Skill improvement was also preparation for evolution, so it could be considered a pseudo-evolution?

"Who cares? As long as it's useful."

Just as Li Wen was pondering this, ten minutes passed.

"Ying~"

"I want more."

Good heavens, he knew it would get addictive sooner or later... Li Wen spent his Beastmaster class's unique vacation in this three-point-one-line manner, and his pet beasts were strengthened as a result.

"Contracted Pet Beast: Sprout Beast"

"attribute: Wood"

"growth level: Beginner Primary"

"Energy Value: 350"

"trait: Self-Healing"

"Taught Skills: Low-level Skill: ① Low-level Self-Healing (Proficiency +1)"

"Intermediate Skill: ① Growth (Proficiency +1)"

"Racial Skills: Low-level Skill: ① Leaf Blade (Proficiency +3) ② Ram (Mastery +2)"

"Intermediate Skill: ① Leaf Slash (Mastery)"

"High-level Skill: ① Life Vitality (Beginner) ② Desperate Counterattack (Beginner)"

"Contracted Pet Beast: Little Green Worm"

"attribute: Bug"

"growth level: Beginner Primary"

"Energy Value: 118"

"trait: Gluttony"

"Racial Skills: Low-level Skill: Insect Silk (Mastery +64)"

"Intermediate Skill: Fire Velvet (Proficiency)"

Due to the simple materials and ample knowledge points, Li Wen went crazy with adding points to Sprout Beast.

This caused Sprout Beast to also experience several periods of weakness, just like Little Green Worm before. Fortunately, under Li Wen's conscious restraint and Sprout Beast's self-healing ability, it recovered.

Finally, while suppressing its state to Beginner Primary, it successfully reached 350 Energy Value.

Compared to Sprout Beast's active addiction, Little Green Worm was passively addicted. While it enjoyed the pleasure of adding points, it also feared becoming weak.

Still, with the money exchanged for high-quality Insect Silk and Li Wen's unyielding spirit, it was finally determined that it took 16 point additions to go from Mastery to Grandmaster, and not 64 times from Grandmaster to Master.

According to the current pattern, it would be either 128 times or 256 times.