3: Gambling

“Is this newly hatched turtle your beast? You've become a Beast Tamer?” Wang Zi asked as he approached Su Ze while Xu Yao used a handkerchief to wipe her face.

Since newly hatched monsters have a certain probability of automatically recognizing a master, no one found it strange.

The turtle had now completely crawled out of its shell and climbed up Su Ze’s arm to rest on his shoulder, looking no larger than a palm.

Its shell was covered in intricate patterns that made one feel dizzy just by looking at them.

However, it seemed incomplete, lacking a certain natural sense of effortless Dao.

Due to the system, the newly hatched little turtle had already automatically signed a contract with Su Ze.

Perched on Su Ze’s shoulder, it affectionately rubbed its rounded head against his cheek.

“That’s right, this is my first beast. I’m a Beast Tamer now too!” Su Ze said excitedly.

Wang Zi and Xu Yao beside him seemed to be infected by his emotions and felt happy for him.

“Strange, what kind of monster is this turtle? I actually can’t recognize it...” Xu Yao said as she finished wiping the water off her face and approached Su Ze to curiously examine the turtle on his shoulder.

Although there are countless types of monsters in the world, the most common course they studied at school was how to identify the species, rank, and danger level of monsters.

Xu Yao was an expert in this field, yet she still couldn’t identify the species or bloodline of this turtle.

Perhaps because it hatched after Xu Yao’s kiss, the little turtle was also very affectionate toward her.

This made Xu Yao’s beast, the Azure Phoenix Butterfly, very jealous and dissatisfied, but it refrained from attacking out of wariness.

It was precisely because she was in sync with her beast that Xu Yao guessed this monster was definitely not simple.

Meanwhile, a status panel for his first beast appeared before Su Ze’s eyes.

“Species: Void Spirit Turtle;

Bloodline: Gold-rank (Evolvable);

Level: level 10;

Skills: Jetting Water Gun, Water Prison, Minor Healing;

Talent Skill: void spirit shield.”

Even for monsters with a Gold-rank bloodline, their level at birth ranges from 7 to level 10.

For instance, when Xu Yao’s Azure Phoenix Butterfly first emerged from its cocoon, it was only level 8, and it had only reached level 10 after a period of growth.

The fact that the Void Spirit Turtle was level 10 at birth also represented the system’s affirmation of Xu Yao’s beauty; after all, the system had stated that the higher the beauty of the person who kissed it, the stronger the monster would be.

Although Su Ze hadn’t been able to contract a monster before this, he had never given up on training his mental power.

Coupled with his innate talent for mental power, his beast taming level had reached level 10 long ago.

This is the limit for humans before contracting a beast; to break through further, one must rely on the power of a beast, which was why Su Ze had been unable to progress.

Due to years of accumulation, even though Su Ze had now contracted a beast, breaking through the tenth level barrier would be much more difficult for him than for an average person, requiring external help.

Just then, Lin He spoke up, “Laughable. Do you really think you can call yourself a Beast Tamer just because you contracted some turtle you picked up from who-knows-where? Fine, since you’re a Beast Tamer now, I won’t be violating the Beast Tamer Management Manual.”

Wang Zi immediately retorted, “Everyone saw it. My brother’s beast only hatched and automatically recognized him as its master after you attacked. So, when you attacked, he was still an ordinary person!”

But Su Ze interrupted him, saying, “That’s right. Lin He attacking me, a Beast Tamer, naturally doesn’t count as violating the Beast Tamer Management Manual. As far as I know, proactive exploratory attacks between Beast Tamers are considered a duel. I assume that’s what Lin He meant just now?”

Wang Zi was puzzled. In his impression, Su Ze had always been a devious person; why was he speaking up for someone who had just attacked him?

There’s definitely something fishy going on!

Lin He let out a cold snort and said, “That’s right, I’m challenging you to a duel. But does a piece of trash like you, who just became a Beast Tamer, dare to fight me? Heh!”

Instead of getting angry, Su Ze smiled upon seeing the other party take the bait. “It’s just a duel; it’s not like anyone will die. Why wouldn’t I dare? But since it’s a duel, it wouldn’t be right without some stakes. How about... we bet your quenching thought bead.”

A quenching thought bead was a single-use orb that could refine mental power, and they were extremely expensive.

If Su Ze wanted to break through the tenth level barrier now, he had to use the power of a quenching thought bead, but with his financial situation, he could never afford one.

However, to ensure good results in the upcoming Beast Taming College Entrance Examination, the school had prepared a quenching thought bead for each of the most promising students this year, including Lin He.

Before Xu Yao contracted the Azure Phoenix Butterfly and became Beishan City’s most talented high school senior this year, there were actually two or three people competing with each other, and Lin He was one of them.

“Someone like you wants a quenching thought bead?” Lin He raised an eyebrow disdainfully at Su Ze.

“It’s not that I don’t want to agree, but since it’s a duel with stakes, you have to put up something of equal value, right? Otherwise, I’m not interested in wasting my time with you!”

Before Su Ze could speak, Wang Zi immediately pulled out a smooth, emerald-green orb the size of a pigeon egg from his pocket.

“It’s just a quenching thought bead, what’s the big deal? I have one too! Little Ze, take this and bet against him!”

“Fatty, are you sure you want to bet for me? If I lose, I don’t have the money to pay you back.”

“Cut the crap! I have plenty of money. Little things like quenching thought beads, I play with them like marbles at home,” Wang Zi said with a generous wave of his hand.

In reality, the high price of the quenching thought bead was secondary; the main issue was that they were rarely available on the market.

The vast majority of quenching thought beads were controlled by the government, used to train talented Beast Tamers and supply the Daxia Spirit Guard.

The only reason Beishan High School could produce a few to reward students was because they had applied to the government to purchase them.

The number of quenching thought beads circulating in the market was extremely small.

This quenching thought bead was also something Wang Zi’s father had gone to great lengths to obtain, and it was the only one they had.

If his father found out he had so casually taken it out for a bet, he would surely get a sound thrashing.

But Wang Zi believed, based on his understanding of Su Ze, that he would never act on impulse. Since he dared to proactively propose a duel, he must have at least a 98% chance of winning.

On Su Ze’s other side, seeing that Wang Zi had beaten her to it by bringing out a quenching thought bead for the bet, Xu Yao had no choice but to push the item she had been about to take out back into her pocket.

Opposite them, Lin He’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the quenching thought bead in Wang Zi’s hand.

By winning this one and adding it to his own, he was confident that he and his beast could break through to the tenth level before the Beast Taming College Entrance Examination.

By then, aside from Xu Yao, he would be the strongest candidate this year.

“Fine, since some sucker is willing to put up the stakes for you, I’ll agree. See you at the school’s arena!”