You call this beast taming?

What is this...?!

Wen Zhixu stood in the rain, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped by a giant hand, and he held his breath.

I dared not move, for fear of attracting attention.

"Ugh..."

Erliang also felt that immense fear and tried to struggle, but was held tightly and could not move.

Wen Zhixu was even prepared to take the little guy back into the beast-taming space at any time.

The shadowy figure seemed both far away and very close.

Is that a ghost?

What is the other one?

dragon?

We're already close to the Huai River...

The older generation once said that a terrifying and extremely fierce dragon dwells in the Huai River. Whenever the dragon goes out, there will be torrential rains on both banks for a month, causing the river to overflow and the dikes to break.

Could it be a dragon?

But then I thought about it again.

If it were that dragon, it would probably have been submerged by the flood just now after that one glance.

Furthermore, shouldn't the area around Jianghuai City have already been "cleaned up" by the Beast Tamer Association? Powerful wild supernatural creatures should have been driven away long ago...

As his thoughts raced, the churning dark clouds suddenly exploded, and a bolt of silver lightning struck down. In the dazzling light, Wen Zhixu finally saw one of the dark figures clearly.

It was... a large bird with magnificent, deep blue feathers!

To his even greater surprise, there was a person standing on the back of that large bird!

Beastmaster!

What level of beast tamer is this?

Phew——! ! !

The loud chirping of birds echoed through the night sky. Another dark shadow seemed to sense the threat, stirring up rain and shadows, and disappeared into the banks of the Jianghuai River.

Ran?

"Woo woo, woo woo..." The two liang in his arms squeezed its head out, sniffed lightly, and called out twice to Wen Zhixu.

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhixu's expression immediately changed.

They're coming this way?!

Seeing that the beast tamer and the large blue bird in the sky remained unmoved, he immediately shouted, "Behind those three trees!"

I heard his voice.

The beast tamer finally reacted again.

He gently raised his hand.

The rain suddenly intensified, and the sky brightened again. Wen Zhixu and Erliang closed their eyes in pain. When they opened them again, they saw a soft light and a pitch-black shadow collide like Mars colliding with Earth. Then... the whole world seemed to fall into calm.

The next instant.

A terrifying gust of air, carrying raindrops, lashed out horizontally.

Wen Zhixu's pupils contracted, and he quickly hugged Erliang tightly, turned around, faced away from the direction from which the blast wave was coming, and squatted down on the ground, ready to meet the impact.

“Wuwu!”

Erliang struggled twice to no avail, and a warm aura emanated from his body, as if he wanted to use this method to help Wen Zhixu resist the impact.

but.

The anticipated horrific impact did not materialize.

Ok?

Wen Zhixu slowly raised his head. The trees and lawns on both sides of them were already a mess, but only their side was unharmed, as if... a wall had shielded them from the impact.

"Thank you."

Looking in the direction of the sound.

Then I saw a man who looked to be about twenty-five years old, dressed in gorgeous clothes, with a sweet smile and long light blue hair.

Although Wen Zhixu knew that the word "sweet" was inappropriate to describe a man, ... when he saw the man's appearance, that was indeed the only word that flashed through his mind first.

On his shoulder stood a small, light blue bird, no bigger than the palm of his hand.

However, in Wen Zhixu's opinion, this little bird gave people a... very aloof feeling, with a calm look in its eyes, just preening its feathers on its own.

Could this be the big blue bird from earlier?

It's gotten so small?

Extraordinary beings are truly amazing...

"Let's go, brother."

After saying this, the person's figure blurred for a moment, and when he reappeared, he was already several meters away. After blurring again, he disappeared into the night, as if he had flashed by.

"They're quite polite..." Wen Zhixu thought to himself.

But to be honest, how does this person's ability compare to his own teacher, Yang Pingjiang?

"Waaah..."

The storm subsided, and Erliang began to sob softly.

Wen Zhixu looked down and smiled, "It's good that you're alright."

The little guy gritted his teeth, nodded, and gripped his clothes tightly with his paws.

It wasn't just because it was nervous, but also because it sensed the gap between itself and the two extraordinary creatures it had just encountered.

Will I still need to hide in Ah Xu's arms from now on?

Do not!

"Ugh!! (♯▼皿▼)"

You must become stronger! You have to become much stronger!

At least.

You must be able to stand in front of Ah Xu!

After confirming that he and Erliang were both alright, Wen Zhixu realized that the system had just popped up a message.

However, the scene was too shocking and tense, and the commotion was too great, so he overlooked it.

When he scanned the information again.

His cheek twitched.

[Our meeting was no accident; now that we've met, how can we not have a thrilling and exhilarating battle!]

[Special Side Quest 2: Challenge Gym Leader Wallace!]

[Mission Reward: Top-Tier Coordinator Training Tips]

nerve....

With his and Erliang's current strength, what's the difference between fighting against them and letting Benbo Ba'er deal with Sun Wukong?

However, to be fair, that extravagantly dressed man does bear a striking resemblance to Michael, the champion of the Grand Prix...

It seems I've gained a better understanding of the triggering conditions for this "special side quest" in the system.

As for the rewards...

It doesn't seem very appealing.

If there were a so-called "Grand Contest" in this world, with Erliang's adorable appearance, it might actually be worth a shot.

But after sending that message, Wen Zhixu discovered there was another one.

[Overachieve rewards for completing the seventh major side quest: Find the Ghost (cumulative)!]

[Reward: Mastery of Seed 'Blue']

Ok?

Upon seeing this, Wen Zhixu almost jumped up from the ground.

Did they exceed their targets?

So, the system's tasks can be exceeded?

Moreover, the reward for exceeding the task limit is a blue-quality "Mastery Seed"!

After green quality comes blue quality...

"So that dark shadow is indeed a ghost-like supernatural being, and it should be much stronger than the Wandering Mask."

The reason why the masked figure fled in haste was because there were stronger members of its kind guarding the area.

Ghostly beings and other supernatural creatures with ghostly attributes, such as wandering spirits and wandering masks, seem to have a "social" attribute.

So that one just now... could it be an evolved form of the Wandering Mask?

Speaking of which...

"Where's my senior sister?"

He suddenly remembered that during the torrential rain and lightning, Ye Qingzhu had discovered the wandering mask, and the two had become separated.

"Ah Xu!"

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive.

Slightly disheveled, Ye Qingzhu emerged from the nearby woods, gave Wen Zhixu an "OK" sign, and looked relaxed.

It seems the Wandering Mask has been dealt with.

"That was...."

"It could be someone from the Beast Tamer Association, or one of the other two parties..." Ye Qingzhu said, not entirely sure.

I thought I had realized the seriousness of this incident, but now it seems...

It's not even close.

Fortunately, when the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. The truly powerful beast tamers in Jianghuai City are also silently protecting this city.

The rain gradually subsided, the dense dark clouds gradually broke apart, and the moonlight poured down, a silvery white light highlighting the mess on the ground.

With a sense of relief, Wen Zhixu looked at the space unique to the system.

Six seeds lay quietly inside.

Four white quality stones, one green quality stone, and one blue quality stone.

He couldn't take his eyes off the blue-quality "Mastery Seed" in particular.

Which skill's proficiency should I increase? ...That's hard to guess.