What does it mean when a pet evolves incorrectly?

"Lin Chen".

After learning the name, Zhou Ming nodded: "Okay, let's go treat the pet's injuries first."

Afterwards, the two brought their respective injured pets to Zhou Ming's home treatment room.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of all the energy expenditure and injuries during the sparring session. You don't need to have any concerns."

Looking at the high-quality energy cubes Zhou Ming brought, the clean and well-equipped treatment room, and the expensive-looking medicines, Lin Chen's eyelids twitched, and four words inexplicably popped into his mind—"accidentally trespassing into the Heavenly Palace."

Living in one of the best villa districts in Qinglan City, with a treatment room, a veterinarian, a butler, and a professional training ground, this young master's family background is unimaginable.

"By the way, I just thought about it, and 500 per hour is indeed a bit low. I asked the housekeeper to increase it a bit. You can go sign the contract later."

Zhou Ming spoke while eating an energy-boosting capsule.

Lin Chen nodded decisively: "Okay."

Refusing to pay extra is the act of a bastard.

"By the way, you must be a repeat student, right?" Zhou Ming recalled the previous battle, his tone certain.

A seasoned and composed fighting style, a Flameclaw Beast whose combat power surpasses that of the Flamehawk, and a proficient Flame Breath Bullet—each of these things, taken individually, are merely excellent, but when combined, they are terrifying.

Zhou Ming is a socially active person. He knows about the growth of the pets of outstanding graduates in his class and knows that there are certainly peers who are better than him, such as Su Qingyuan from No. 1 High School.

He had sparred with Su Qingyuan at the battle club a few days ago, and was completely crushed in both pet strength and on-the-spot command.

The sight of Lin Chen before him gave him a vague sense of the same feeling.

But these fellow beast tamers are all busy with breeding and training, how could they possibly become private training partners with a mere five hundred in salary?

That's absolutely impossible.

Then there is only one answer—Lin Chen is a repeat student with one more year of experience than them.

Correct!

Absolutely!

Meeting Zhou Ming's inquiring gaze, Lin Chen shook his head: "I'm a graduate this year."

Zhou Ming was stunned, then shook his head: "How is that possible?"

"You're not a repeat student?"

Lin Chen smiled and said, "I'm from No. 1 High School."

Zhou Ming, still in a daze, quietly added, "It's from the No. 2 Middle School next door."

After a slight pause, Zhou Ming, filled with doubt, frowned and said, "How about this, let's add each other's contact information first."

After exchanging contact information via QR code, Zhou Ming looked at Lin Chen's profile picture and muttered, "This profile picture looks familiar."

Lin Chen also felt that the face looked familiar.

Suddenly, Zhou Ming looked up sharply: "By the way, what was your name again?"

Lin Chen spoke: "Lin Chen."

Zhou Ming froze, his finger still tapping the screen, muttering to himself, "Lin Chen..."

His eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly opened the group chat of the [Qinglan City Beast Tamer Talent Reserve Base], searching for group members until he saw a group member whose nickname was Lin Chen.

He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "I knew that name sounded familiar! Turns out you're that lurker who never speaks in the group!"

Lin Chen gave an awkward smile: "..."

But soon, Zhou Ming remembered that Lin Chen had said he wouldn't participate in the Young Eagle Cup, and then he recalled that Lin Chen had come here today for a part-time job interview, and a guess quickly surfaced in his mind.

He didn't say much, but put down his phone and said with a sigh, "This is fate."

A member of the group was a job interview coach, who also easily defeated himself in the process.

Well.

It's not shameful to be defeated by a fellow group member.

Lin Chen hadn't expected that the young master in front of him was Zhou Ming, who was very active in the group chat. He also exclaimed, "It really is fate."

But the next second, Zhou Ming looked up at Lin Chen, his brows furrowing slightly: "Wait, I remember I talked about finding a sparring partner in the group chat, and I even said that the sparring partner would be home soon."

He stared intently at Lin Chen: "Didn't you see?"

Lin Chen took out his phone, glanced at the group chat he had already set to "Do Not Disturb," and forced a stiff smile: "I didn't notice."

Zhou Ming glanced at Lin Chen suspiciously, but said nothing.

After their roles shifted from employer and sparring partner to future alumni, the two became quite familiar with each other.

Zhou Ming no longer displayed the arrogant attitude he had shown when they first met. Instead, he put his arm around Lin Chen's shoulder and said with a grin:

"Dude, your Flameclaw Beast is really amazing, isn't it? It's a proficient Flame Breath Bomb and it's even mastered the Blazing Charge."

"It's such a shame you're not going to the Young Eagle Cup. I feel you have a chance to compete with Su Qingyuan."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Ming realized he had said the wrong thing. He coughed lightly and quickly changed the subject:

"By the way, how long did it take for the Flameclaw Beast to break through to the proficient level with its Flame Breath Bullet?"

Lin Chen calculated the time: "About thirteen days."

Zhou Ming didn't hold back his emotional appeal, giving a thumbs up: "Awesome."

He paused, then asked, "How long did it take you to master the Fiery Charge?"

He was eagerly awaiting Lin Chen's answer, because it had only taken his Flame Eagle two days to learn and master the Blazing Charge.

For a Tier 1 pet, this is an excellent number.

Before Lin Chen could answer, the Flameclaw Beast sitting on the hospital bed raised its head, raised its claws, and said smugly, "Gagoo!"

Less than a day!

Zhou Ming couldn't quite understand what the Flame Claw Beast was trying to say, but he could see the smugness in its expression, so he turned to look at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen whispered, "I just learned it this morning, during my battle with the Flame Eagle."

Zhou Ming: "..."

Zhou Ming: "I want to be alone."

Young Master Zhou's psychological adjustment ability exceeded Lin Chen's expectations. After one blow after another, he quickly recovered and began to discuss with Lin Chen the various details of raising and training pets.

Both pets are fire-type, and their battle styles are quite similar, with many similarities in their breeding and training methods.

But as they talked, Lin Chen realized that he was the one who gained the most.

Zhou Ming's cultivation and training methods largely consist of knowledge from premium courses, which require a large investment. Lin Chen, on the other hand, usually relies on pirated and free courses.

However, when it comes to acquiring knowledge, piracy is not shameful; it is shameful not to be able to find pirated resources.

And so, Zhou Ming proceeded to explain a series of valuable breeding and training techniques in detail, while Lin Chen listened attentively and nodded repeatedly.

"Oh, I see."

"really."

"Young Master Zhou's insight is brilliant."

"Wow, that's amazing! How come I didn't think of that?"

Once the two pets had fully recovered, Zhou Ming couldn't hide the smile on his face, and even wanted to pull Lin Chen aside to continue the discussion.

However, theoretical discussions and learning must ultimately be put into practice, so the two returned to the training ground and continued their sparring matches.

This time, both sides focused on training and exercised restraint in their attacks, without unleashing their full firepower.

After countless battles and clashes, time passed quickly and it was already 9:30 PM.

Lin Chen received his daily wage and left Yunxi Villa with satisfaction.

After watching Lin Chen leave, Zhou Ming returned to his bedroom. He didn't mention the matter in the group chat, but instead fell into deep thought.

To have shown such outstanding talent as a beast tamer at this stage, even though the potential of the two pets is relatively low, they can definitely be my little brothers in the future, helping me solve some minor troubles during my university years.

Zhou Ming thought about it more and more and felt that his idea was worth putting into action. His eyes flickered, and he murmured to himself:

"Alright, let's make subduing our first follower our first small goal on the road to becoming a legendary beast tamer."