320: Chapter 320 Xiang

Su Mingyuan saw Chen Rong's return on the screen in the Command Center.

In the drone footage, two heat signatures were moving side by side.

Su Mingyuan glanced at the distance marker in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Twelve kilometers from the Forward Base.

At their current walking pace, it would take about forty minutes.

"Where is Zhang Dabiao's formation?"

The technician switched the view.

Ten blue light dots were following about four kilometers behind Chen Rong.

"Tell Zhang Dabiao to return," Su Mingyuan said.

The technician relayed the order.

Su Mingyuan leaned back in his chair, watching the two side-by-side dots on the screen slowly move toward the base.

He picked up the communicator on the desk and dialed Tao Zhe's number.

"Chen Rong is almost back. Are things ready on your end?"

"Ready," Tao Zhe's voice sounded like he hadn't slept well. "The spectrum analyzer, Divine Sense detectors, and medical equipment are all in place. We've cleared out a laboratory; the space is big enough for the Thunder Leopard to enter."

"Good. Take him directly to the lab when he arrives."

North gate of the Forward Base.

Just past nine in the morning.

Sentry squad leader Xu Ming was handing over duties to the two soldiers on shift.

Having been on duty all night, his eyelids were heavy, and his mind held only one thought—finish the handover and go back to sleep.

"Squad leader, something is coming from the north."

The soldier beside him, Xiao Zhou, pointed toward the area outside the north gate.

Xu Ming looked in the direction he was pointing.

Outside the north gate was a newly paved gravel road. On either side were low shrubs and dark red mossy ground; the view was wide, allowing one to see three or four kilometers out.

At the end of the road, a figure was walking toward them.

Wearing training fatigues and carrying a tactical pack. The walking posture was steady, not looking injured or fatigued.

"It's Captain Chen," Xiao Zhou squinted for two seconds. "I heard he went out yesterday."

Xu Ming knew Chen Rong.

Stories about him circulated in the base—SSS-grade Root Bone, Foundation Establishment Stage, Third-Order lightning-attribute Martial Artist, the strongest individual combat power in the entire base.

Though he looked young, the people in the mecha formations spoke of him with a different tone.

"As long as he's back," Xu Ming yawned. "Register him and let him in."

Then he saw the thing beside Chen Rong.

No, not beside him.

Behind him.

A silver-gray beast, four-legged, with a shoulder height reaching about Chen Rong's waist.

Its fur shimmered with a metallic luster in the morning sun, as if plated in silver. Occasional tiny arcs of electricity jumped across its body with a 'crack' before vanishing in a flash.

It walked about a meter behind Chen Rong's right side at a leisurely pace. Its four paws landed softly, yet with every step, the gravel beneath its feet would bounce slightly.

The thing was looking this way.

Amber vertical pupils.

Xu Ming's yawn froze in his mouth, which hung open.

Xiao Zhou's hand rested on the holster of his rifle at his waist, fingers already touching the grip.

"Don't move," Xu Ming whispered.

His voice was a bit tight.

That was a Yao Beast.

A Fourth-Order one.

He had been at the base for several months and had seen the corpses of Yao Beasts—after the Black Wind Ridge sweep and the plateau battles, the logistics group had hauled back mountains of them. But he had never seen a live Fourth-Order Yao Beast, let alone one walking beside a person.

Chen Rong walked up to the north gate.

He glanced at Xu Ming.

"Registering. Chen Rong. I've brought back a Yao Beast; Group Leader Su is aware."

Xu Ming's mouth closed. He looked down at the registration log, then up at the Thunder Leopard behind Chen Rong.

The Thunder Leopard crouched on the gravel road, its tail curled at its side, head tilted as it looked at the communication antenna atop the sentry post.

It seemed interested in the red flashing light on that antenna.

"Reg... registration complete." Xu Ming's hand was steady as he handed the log back, but his voice was not. "Go on in."

Chen Rong took the log, signed it, and returned it.

Then he led the Thunder Leopard through the north gate.

Xu Ming and Xiao Zhou stood in the sentry post, watching the backs of the man and beast as they walked along the base's main road.

People around them began to notice.

Logistics soldiers moving supplies by the roadside stopped with their crates in hand, standing still to watch.

Technicians performing routine maintenance on mechs poked their heads out from beside the mechs' feet, nearly dropping their wrenches.

Several people walking from the direction of the cafeteria stood by the road holding their lunch boxes, steam rising from the food.

No one spoke.

Everyone was looking at that silver-gray beast.

It walked on the gravel road with a composed gait, its tail swaying gently.

The electrical arcs on its fur weren't as obvious in the sunlight, but an occasional flash of white light could still be seen jumping from the tips of its fur.

As it passed the mecha parking area, it paused, looking up at a nearby forty-four-meter-tall gray mecha.

It watched for about two seconds.

Then it flicked its tail and continued following Chen Rong.

Xu Ming watched this scene from the sentry post and turned to say something to Xiao Zhou.

"Am I still dreaming?"

Xiao Zhou shook his head.

"I saw it too."

The laboratory.

When Chen Rong walked in with the Thunder Leopard, Tao Zhe and Zhao Cheng were already waiting inside.

The laboratory room they had cleared out was large enough—it was originally a warehouse for Engineering Mecha parts, recently tidied up, with traces of hydraulic oil still on the floor.

The Thunder Leopard circled the room after entering.

It sniffed an iron box in the corner, then the hydraulic oil stains on the floor, its ears twitching twice before it walked over to Chen Rong and crouched down.

"It's adapting quite quickly," Tao Zhe remarked, looking at the Thunder Leopard.

"It's not afraid of people," Chen Rong said. "A Fourth-Order Yao Beast has no natural enemies in these mountains; it doesn't know what fear is. Since entering the base, it's only been curious, not nervous."

"Do you feel the link? Can you perceive its emotions through the link?"

"I can," Chen Rong thought about how to describe it. "It's roughly like having an extra thread in my mind. I don't feel it normally, but as long as I actively pay attention, I can receive things from its side. It's not language, but emotions and perceptions."

Tao Zhe made a few notes in his notebook.

"Alright, let's do the testing first."

The testing was divided into two parts.

The first part was testing Chen Rong.

Old Song, the military doctor, used standard medical equipment to run through Chen Rong's physical data—heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen, grip strength, reaction speed, and lung capacity.

Then he used the Root Bone detector to scan the state of his Meridians.

The results came out quickly.

"Comparing physical data with the baseline from his Foundation Establishment Breakthrough, there are no significant changes," Old Song said, looking at the report. "Meridians are in a normal state. Dantian Qi reserves are about forty percent lower than before departure—likely consumed during the beast taming. A day or two of normal cultivation should replenish it."

"No abnormalities?" Tao Zhe asked.

"None. Perfectly healthy."

Tao Zhe glanced at Chen Rong. "What about feedback? Have you personally felt any changes in your Qi or physical attributes?"

Chen Rong shook his head. "None for now."

"As expected," Tao Zhe said. "It's written in the Beast Taming Art that when a Soul link is first established, it's in a 'hollow pipe' state—the channel is open, but feedback requires the Qi of both parties to repeatedly circulate and synchronize within the channel. It only begins after a stable cycle is formed. Perfected Lord Yushou's notes mention that the feedback between him and the Heavenly Erosion Python only began to manifest in the third month after the link was established."

"Three months?"

"That was for a Golden Core Stage Cultivator and a high-order Yao Beast. You are at the Foundation Establishment Stage and the Thunder Leopard is Fourth-Order; theoretically, it should be faster. But exactly how long is hard to say; there's no precedent."

The second part was testing the Thunder Leopard.

This step was more troublesome. The Thunder Leopard wasn't human and wouldn't cooperate with instructions.

Tao Zhe had Chen Rong transmit intentions of 'quiet' and 'don't move' through the link, and then Zhao Cheng approached with the spectrum analyzer.

When the spectrum analyzer's probe was about half a meter from the Thunder Leopard, its ears folded back, and a low vibration sounded in its throat.

Chen Rong transmitted an 'it's okay' signal through the link.

The Thunder Leopard's ears perked up again, but its eyes stayed fixed on Zhao Cheng.

Zhao Cheng's hand was very steady.

He hovered the probe over the Thunder Leopard's head for a scan, then moved to its back, belly, and limbs, staying at each position for about ten seconds.

The data was transmitted back to the screen.

"Qi attribute confirmed—Lightning," Tao Zhe looked at the screen. "Intelligence level—Upper Fourth-Order. Bloodline information—"

He paused.

"Tianheng's matching model has no reference data for this entry because we've never scanned a live Fourth-Order Yao Beast before. This is the first time."

He put the Thunder Leopard's Soul data and Chen Rong's Root Bone data on the same interface for comparison.

"Qi attribute resonance frequency—ninety-four percent."

Zhao Cheng let out a whistle.

"Tianheng's ideal matching threshold is above seventy percent," Tao Zhe said. "Ninety-four percent means their Qi attributes are highly consistent."

"Right in the optimal range."

He put down his pen.

"The first beast taming experiment is a success."

Chen Rong stood beside the Thunder Leopard and looked down at it.

The Thunder Leopard lay on the ground, chin resting on its front paws, tail slowly sweeping the floor.

It showed more patience during the testing process than anyone expected—perhaps because Chen Rong had been transmitting soothing signals through the link, or perhaps because it was in a good mood after eating those Yao cores.

"Arrange a place for it," Chen Rong said. "Preferably outdoors; it doesn't like being in enclosed spaces."

Tao Zhe glanced at Su Mingyuan.

Su Mingyuan had walked in halfway through the testing and had been standing by the door without making a sound.

"There's an empty lot on the east side of the base, originally for stacking construction materials, now cleared out," Su Mingyuan said. "Have the engineering team put up a perimeter fence. It doesn't need to be high, just symbolic. After all, if a Fourth-Order Yao Beast wants to run, no fence can stop it."

He glanced at the Thunder Leopard lying on the floor.

The Thunder Leopard also looked up at him.

Amber vertical pupils scanned him once, then it rested its head back on its front paws.

Su Mingyuan withdrew his gaze and said to Tao Zhe, "Send me the finalized test report. Also, send a copy to Zhou Peide of the Deep Blue Group so he can update the matching model."

"One more thing," he said. "Today's test data proves that the optimization plan for the Beast Taming Art is effective. Starting tomorrow, incorporate the Beast Taming Art into the formal cultivation system. All Third-Order Martial Artists are to prioritize learning it, and everyone with S-grade Root Bone or higher is to be listed in the first batch of beast-taming candidates."

He turned to walk out the door.

He paused at the doorway.

"Give the Thunder Leopard a name? Serial numbers are too hard to remember."

Chen Rong thought for two seconds.

"Xiang."