Beast Taming: Starting From Zero - Chapter 780: The String Snapped

Lubao looked in good condition…

Qiao Sang watched the figure that appeared dozens of times larger than usual through her visual senses and finally felt relieved.

But then she remembered that Lubao probably hadn’t reached the later stage of absorption yet, and worry crept into her gaze again.

Teacher Pirite was right, Lubao possessed the Healing Light. Theoretically, even if her talent wasn’t high enough, she was the most likely to absorb energy all the way to the peak of the later stage.

And knowing Lubao’s personality, she would definitely try to do so.

But since she was still in the energy absorption state, it would surely be painful if she had to forcefully absorb energy while simultaneously channeling energy to heal herself.

Because the source of her injuries was the energy itself…

While she was thinking, a large yellow bird suddenly flew toward her, clutching a wriggling insect in its beak.

Before Qiao Sang could react, the yellow bird landed beside her, dropped the worm in front of her, and chirped twice.

—

Feeling the squirming worm at her feet, Qiao Sang froze in shock.

Did I just transmigrate into a bird?

Is this bird trying to make me eat this worm?

Qiao Sang looked down and instinctively analyzed the situation.

After more than a year in the beast-taming world, her courage had grown exponentially. Even seeing this worm only 0.01 centimeters away from her foot, or rather, her claw (yes, it seemed she really had turned into a bird), she didn’t feel the overwhelming fear she would’ve had in her previous life.

She used to keep her distance from bugs…

Just then, the yellow bird picked up the worm again and shoved it toward Qiao Sang’s beak.

Chirp chirp!

“!!!”

Qiao Sang jumped in fright, her thoughts freezing as she instinctively leapt backward.

Making her eat bugs was one thing, but actually feeding her bugs was another!

She flapped her wings, trying to fly away, but alas, her body seemed to be that of a fledgling bird, not fully developed. After two flaps, she fell back onto the branch.

The yellow bird again approached with the worm.

As the wriggling bug neared her beak, countless thoughts flooded Qiao Sang’s mind.

Maybe I should just jump off the tree and end this!

But… this body seemed to be a fledgling. Falling from such a height might kill me…

Ahhh!

Lubao, save me!

I don’t want to eat bugs raw!

“Lu Ai!”

Just as Qiao Sang was about to despair, a painful roar echoed through the air.

Suddenly, a chaotic gust swept through the surroundings, bending and flattening the nearby plants.

Ordinary creatures within hundreds of meters were scared off, fleeing in all directions.

Even the yellow bird that had tried to feed her the worm flew away in fright.

Qiao Sang clung to nearby leaves and branches with her claws and wings, struggling not to get blown away.

Once everything calmed down, she let out a deep sigh of relief.

Thank you, Lubao!

If she guessed correctly, Luba had likely started forcibly absorbing energy…

Thinking of this, Qiao Sang’s gaze toward the figure in the distant vortex filled with worry again.

The staff had said the energy absorption process usually took around two hours, probably the average for General-level beasts.

But it hadn’t even been an hour yet, and Lubao had already reached the point of forcibly absorbing energy.

Thı𝐬 𝘤h𝖺p𝑡єr 𝘪𝘴 pⲟѕ𝘵𝖾ḍ b𝙮 𝘬𝐢𝓉𝑒ṉ𝗼𝙫𝖾ḷ

Either her innate talent wasn’t enough…

Or Lubao had been accelerating the absorption process from the start…

That’s right, others had said it was supposed to be passive soaking, and if it were simply soaking, the energy pool wouldn’t have formed a vortex.

Clearly, Lubao had been accelerating her absorption…

—

“Lu Ai…”

A constant stream of energy poured into Lubao’s body.

With each bit of energy absorbed, her body glowed faintly and gradually grew larger.

Under the frenzied absorption, the dense energy pool thinned out noticeably, its green hue fading rapidly.

As her internal energy increased, each influx brought sharp, stabbing pain to Lubao.

Every second she remained in the energy pool became torture.

“Lu Ai!”

Lubao roared, and the gemstone on her forehead glowed blue, enveloping her entire body.

All the pain vanished in an instant.

But as soon as the blue light faded, the searing pain returned, assaulting every part of her body inside and out.

“Lu Ai…”

The blue glow flared and faded, flared and faded…

Time slowly passed.

No one knew how long it had been, but Lubao began to feel exhausted.

This should be enough now, right…?

But she felt like she could still absorb a bit more if she just endured…

Her Beast master had given her such a precious spot…

She had to absorb everything! Otherwise, it would be a waste…

With that in mind, the gemstone on Lubao’s forehead glowed blue again.

—

Meanwhile.

“Are there other ways to obtain a spot for the energy pool?” Pirite asked idly.

“Sorry, I’m not sure.” The staff member replied politely.

“The methods for earning energy pool spots change every year.”

Pirite took a sip of the coffee just delivered to him and said, “I heard your energy pool doesn’t allow King-level beasts to enter?”

The staff replied gently, “That was last year’s policy. This year, our energy reserves are sufficient to let King-level beasts absorb enough to advance by a small stage.”

A small stage meant going from early to mid-stage or mid to late-stage.

For a King-level beast to advance a stage with no side effects showed just how abundant this year’s energy pool was compared to last year.

More energy was always better, the more energy there was, the faster Ice Aipalu could absorb it…

Pirite thought to himself as he took another sip of coffee.

“Sir, aren’t you interested in trying the soul-dive experience yourself?” The staff member asked.

Pirite set down his cup.

“Is it free for me?”

“Only those with an Honor Ring can participate for free.” The staff member replied tactfully.

“Then I’ll pass.” Pirite said calmly.

Staff member: …

—

Inside the barrier.

In the energy pool.

Lubao gradually grew confused.

She remembered her Beast master had said that absorbing this energy was supposed to be pleasant, with no side effects. Pain would only come if she kept absorbing after reaching her limit.

Little Treasure had even pulled up information on a computer and explained that the longer one stayed in the energy pool, the higher their talent.

Yet here she was, feeling pain so quickly…

Did that mean her talent wasn’t high enough?

“Lu Ai!”

The intense pain interrupted her thoughts.

The gemstone on her forehead glowed again, granting her a brief moment of clarity.

If she returned like this, wouldn’t her Beast master be disappointed…?

“Lu Ai!!!”

Thinking of that, Lubao’s gaze sharpened, her expression filled with determination.

She let out a fierce roar.

In an instant, the previously calm energy pool churned into a violent whirlpool once more.

At the center, Lubao felt as though she was being torn apart.

At the same time, the Stabilizing Stone hanging around her neck shone with a blinding white light.

Chirp chirp!

The swirling currents turned into a raging storm.

Qiao Sang was blown off her branch.

Quickly, she grabbed onto a passing green leaf with her wings and claws.

But in the next second, the branch supporting the leaf snapped under the pressure, and she was blown away again.

Fortunately, the surrounding trees were dense and lush.

Qiao Sang tumbled from one tree to another, then into a bush.

The successive impacts softened her fall, so she wasn’t badly hurt.

When everything calmed down again, Qiao Sang found herself just a dozen meters away from the energy pool, hidden among the shrubs.

Her first instinct was to look toward Lubao.

And then her pupils contracted sharply.

Her first thought: From this angle and distance, Lubao looks huge!

Her second thought: Holy crap, the Stabilizing Stone is glowing?!

The Stabilizing Stone was used to suppress a beast’s evolution. When a Beast master wanted their beast to grow stronger in its current form, unlock more potential, or follow a planned evolution path instead of an energy-based evolution, they’d use it.

If the Stabilizing Stone was glowing and activating its effect, that meant the beast’s internal energy had reached the point of evolution!

Lubao had absorbed enough energy to evolve?!

At that moment, Qiao Sang was stunned.

The level points recorded in the Beast master Codex showed which stage a pet beast was in.

Lubao was undeniably still at the early General-level stage.

Yet in such a short time, she had gone from the early to the peak of the later stage?!

No…Lubao didn’t follow a normal energy evolution route. She had surpassed the General-level limit purely through energy. Her level data now exceeded one million!

Chirp chirp!

Suppressing her excitement, Qiao Sang cried out: That’s enough! Stop absorbing!

Unfortunately, the only sound she could produce was bird chirps.

Qiao Sang grew anxious.

Why was Lubao still absorbing? Wouldn’t something go wrong if she kept going…?

No, she had the Healing Light. Even if something went wrong, she could heal herself…

But it would definitely hurt. She already had enough energy, yet she was still absorbing, unable to evolve…

Chirp chirp!!

Qiao Sang screeched again.

Stop it already!

“Lu Ai…”

In her daze, Lubao seemed to hear her Beast master’s voice. Enduring the extreme pain, she looked to the side, but saw nothing.

This wasn’t going to work. Her current body was too small…

Just as Qiao Sang was about to slam herself into a tree to wake up and forcibly recall Lubao back into the Beast Codex-

The yellow bird flew back and landed nearby.

It still had that wriggling worm in its beak.

Suddenly, a strong sense of danger surged in Qiao Sang’s heart.

The next second, her premonition came true.

The yellow bird pinned her down with its wing, then slowly brought the worm close to her mouth.

Chirp chirp!!!

Qiao Sang’s mind went blank. She struggled desperately, using every ounce of strength she had.

No!

I don’t want this!

Let me go back!!

Let me go back!!!

The disgusting, slimy sensation touched her beak, and Qiao Sang, overwhelmed by terror, disgust, and despair, felt her consciousness go into overdrive.

Then-

Something snapped inside her.

—

Inside the Soul Dive Across the World experience pod, Qiao Sang suddenly opened her eyes and sat up abruptly, panting as if she’d just woken from a nightmare, gasping for air.

Her face was pale, and her forehead was drenched in cold sweat.

“Yap!”

“Xun!”

Yabao and Little Treasure, who had been waiting nearby, let out relieved cries when they saw their Beast master wake up.

But they quickly sensed something was wrong.

“Yap!”

Yabao looked worried, asking what had happened.

“Xun…”

Little Treasure showed a concerned expression too.

Before, they’d thought it was amusing when other humans woke up like this, but now that it happened to their own Beast master, they were genuinely worried.

“What happened? Did something go wrong?” Pirite, who had been sitting in the lounge, stood up and asked.

Qiao Sang waved her hand, about to say she was fine, but at the memory of that final sensation, nausea surged from deep within her.

Urgh…

She clamped her hands over her mouth to keep herself from throwing up.

She instinctively wanted to run to the restroom, but suddenly remembered something, and with a wave of her hand, she summoned Lubao back into the Beast Codex.

—–

T/n: Sorry I wasn’t able to update yesterday😔 It’s my birthday and drinking was brought up… And guess what, I’m a light drinker after all🥹 I was knocked out all afternoon and even for the whole night that I didn’t wake up to update. So here is it😔 Forgive me, dear readers.