"This doesn't seem right!" Zheng Dong said politely.
"Just take it. If your strength improves, you can better help me with my work and eliminate the Spirit God Cult. Next, I will help you with the procedures to join the Special Affairs Bureau. In two to three days, the benefits from the bureau will be issued.
By the way, what kind of pet skills do you need? Is your pet that treasure-hunting mouse!" Tu Qionglan continued.
"Then I'll trouble you, Sister Lan! Sister Lan, you guessed right, my pet is that mutated treasure-hunting mouse. I need attack-type pet skills, preferably gold, earth, or dark element skills!"
As Zheng Dong spoke, he also summoned the treasure-hunting mouse from his beast-taming space.
The lazy treasure-hunting mouse, Xiao Zi, glanced at Tu Qionglan, then hopped onto the sofa and started watching TV, paying no mind.
"What a cute little fellow! Unfortunately, its potential is limited and it's not suitable for long-term cultivation. You should consider getting a pet with growth potential."
The current known evolution path for treasure-hunting mice only leads to gold-devouring rats, and even gold-devouring rats can only grow into Commander-level extraordinary beings.
Pouring a large amount of resources into a treasure-hunting mouse that can only grow to Commander-level in the future is completely not worth it.
Xiao Zi, who was watching TV, immediately let out a dissatisfied cry.
"Bad woman, stay away from my master."
Zheng Dong had no intention of switching. Xiao Zi's combat power might be lacking, but it could be cultivated slowly. Moreover, he wanted to take Xiao Zi to collect all sorts of resources and treasures around the world.
"Sister Lan, if it weren't for Xiao Zi, I wouldn't have awakened my beast-taming talent so quickly. I won't abandon it, and in the future, I can also contract other pets," Zheng Dong said.
This answer was quite satisfactory to Tu Qionglan.
She also disliked beast-tamers who easily changed their pets. Zheng Dong, being so grateful, was worth her dedicated cultivation.
She felt she hadn't misjudged him.
"It's not that there's absolutely no way. After the treasure-hunting mouse evolves into a gold-devouring rat, if you want it to evolve further, you can try your luck at the Qin Emperor's ruins!"
Zheng Dong knew about Emperor Qin. He was recorded in history books as the first legendary beast-tamer of the Yanhuang Kingdom, and the one closest to a mythical-level beast-tamer.
It was Emperor Qin who ended the rule of totem-level extraordinary beings over the Yanhuang Kingdom, liberated the human race from the enslavement of totem-level extraordinary beings, and founded the first nation controlled by humans.
Emperor Qin's beast-taming talent was said to be infinite evolution; he could continuously evolve his pets, breaking the racial limitations of pets.
However, Zheng Dong had never heard of the Qin Emperor's ruins before.
"Sister Lan, what are the Qin Emperor's ruins?"
"The Qin Emperor's ruins open once every thirty years. Those who can enter are all beast-taming geniuses. If you want to enter, you first have to win the Rookie King of Rong City this year!
If you can gain Emperor Qin's recognition, you might inherit his talent for infinite evolution.
However, don't get your hopes up too high.
Since the Qin Emperor's ruins were discovered, six batches of beast-taming geniuses have entered the ruins, and not a single one has received Emperor Qin's recognition," Tu Qionglan said.
She intended to set a goal for Zheng Dong to strive for.
Even if Zheng Dong worked hard and didn't succeed, he should have grown rapidly.
Zheng Dong looked at Xiao Zi, who was lazily watching TV on the sofa. With his beast-taming talent and infinite evolution, Xiao Zi should be able to grow.
Moreover, it was an opportunity that came once every thirty years, and since he had encountered it, he had to give it a try.
However, winning the Rookie King of Rong City didn't seem easy.
But with Tu Qionglan's help, it should be fine.
"Sister Lan, I want to try. Maybe I'll succeed!"
"Alright, if you need anything, feel free to ask me anytime.
I've been thinking, and there are attack skills suitable for your treasure-hunting mouse: the intermediate gold-earth dual-element skill Earth Spike, the intermediate dark-element skill Shadow Control, the intermediate earth-element skill Clay, and the advanced gold-element skill Gold Shattering Claws.
Besides these, you could also consider the advanced support skill, Shadow Clone."
Although the Special Affairs Bureau had quite a few skill inheritance pearls stored, there weren't many suitable for treasure-hunting mice, and even fewer attack skills.
All five skills were excellent!
Using Earth Spike would cause countless cone-like metal spikes to erupt from the ground, quickly injuring or killing opponents.
Shadow Control allowed control of the opponent through their shadow.
The earth-element skill Clay wasn't the kind used for pottery, but a pet skill that could make the ground as sticky as glue, restricting the opponent's movement range and speed.
Gold Shattering Claws would allow the treasure-hunting mouse to easily tear through steel plates.
Shadow Clone was the skill Zheng Dong wanted the most. It could be used not only for escaping and confusing opponents but also for performing attack skills in place of the main body to attack enemies.
Thinking of this, Zheng Dong was somewhat looking forward to the state of using Shadow Clone after he had imprinted it.
Choosing two out of five was so difficult!
"Can I have them all? I feel like they're all pretty good!" Zheng Dong said.
"You're quite greedy!"
Tu Qionglan pondered for a moment, then continued, "It's not that more skills are better; it also depends on the pet's proficiency with the skills. You won't be trying to bite off more than you can chew, will you!"
"Don't worry, Sister Lan, I'll definitely let the treasure-hunting mouse master these skills as quickly as possible and cultivate them to the proficient level," Zheng Dong guaranteed.
"Then, alright, I'll try to apply for them. If I can't get them approved, I'll buy them for you out of my own pocket. Don't disappoint me!" Tu Qionglan nodded.
"Thank you, Sister Lan. From now on, the Special Affairs Bureau is my home, and you are my sister," Zheng Dong said with a smile.
It felt good to have someone to rely on.
"Don't try to butter me up. If I don't see results from you, you'll be in trouble," Tu Qionglan said with a smile.
She had always wanted a younger brother since she was young.
Unfortunately, her father went missing, and her mother was busy with work.
Afterward, Tu Qionglan got up to leave.
"Live your life as usual these few days, as if I hadn't been here. If people from the Spirit God Cult dare to show up and attack you, you don't need to worry too much. My people will handle it then."
Zheng Dong suddenly felt a little anxious.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Tu Qionglan, but he didn't know if the people under Tu Qionglan were reliable. He still needed to become stronger as soon as possible.
"Sister Lan, I'll wait for you. Come back quickly!"
If he could get the skill inheritance pearls soon and Xiao Zi learned attack skills, he would also have the ability to resist.
Tu Qionglan left.
She transferred five million Dragon Yuan to Zheng Dong's account and called her subordinates to quickly repair the door of Zheng Dong's house.
Zheng Dong had money in his hands, but he didn't plan to go out.
He decided to stay home and order takeout.
To quickly improve his strength, Zheng Dong planned to eat a good meal and see if the dietary supplement effect could help him recover his stamina quickly.
Technology was also advanced in this world; anything he wanted could be bought online.
Soon, the takeout arrived.
After eating a portion of grilled fish, two roast chickens, and a few meat buns, Zheng Dong finally felt no longer hungry.
He tried to use his beast-taming talent skill, Domain, again.
As expected, there was no problem, and his stamina had recovered.
At this moment, he also noticed that the range of his beast-taming talent skill, Domain, covered the entire beast-taming space. Did this mean he could have multiple pets cultivate simultaneously?
If so, cultivating multiple pets would save even more time.
However, he couldn't verify it at the moment.
His beast-taming space had to reach level two before he could contract a second pet.
For the next three days, Zheng Dong stayed at home, familiarizing himself with the beast-taming talent skill, Domain, and accelerating Xiao Zi's cultivation of pet skills.
He also imprinted Xiao Zi's low-level skills, Harden and Earth Evasion.
He didn't imprint the high-level skill Amplify, not because he didn't want to, but because he planned to imprint the high-level skill Shadow Clone later.
Under the influence of Zheng Dong's beast-taming talent, all of Xiao Zi's skills' proficiency levels increased to proficient, and it reached Awakening Level 7.
[Name] Mutated Treasure-Hunting Mouse
[Attribute] Gold, Earth, Dark
[Race Level] High-Class Extraordinary
[Growth Level] Awakening Level 7
[Skills]:
Low-Level: Harden (Proficient), Earth Evasion (Proficient), Shadow Transformation (Proficient)
High-Level: Amplify (Proficient)
Special Skill: Treasure Hunting (Mastered)
Xiao Zi could now skillfully enlarge or shrink its body by four times using the Amplify skill.
However, after its body enlarged, the consumption also increased proportionally, while the consumption decreased when it shrunk.
The Amplify skill was very useful, but cultivating it to the proficient level also took more time.
Zheng Dong estimated that cultivating a high-level skill to the proficient level within the Skill Domain would take four times longer than a low-level skill, which was twenty-four hours.
Fortunately, after stamina was consumed, it could be replenished through food or medicine.
And medicinal supplements were even more effective.
Otherwise, Zheng Dong wouldn't have been able to persist in accelerating Xiao Zi's cultivation for three consecutive days.
Of course, the stamina-replenishing medicine was also purchased online.
A bottle of Life Essence and twenty drops of Earth Marrow cost him nearly six hundred thousand.
The effect was indeed good; a sip of Life Essence with two drops of Earth Marrow could quickly restore his stamina, saving a lot of time.
Cultivating three skills to the proficient level in three days would take others three months.
For example, it took one to two months for a high-level skill to reach the introductory level, let alone the proficient level.
Taking Xiao Zi, the treasure-hunting mouse, as an example, without the guidance of a beast-tamer, its high-level skill Amplify had never even reached the introductory level.
Yet, Zheng Dong was still somewhat dissatisfied.
It was a pity it was only proficient; it would have been even better if it were mastered.
He sat on the sofa and tried to use the Harden skill.
Black hardening substance quickly covered his fist, making his fist as hard as a hammer.
As Xiao Zi raised the proficiency of the Harden skill to proficient, the Harden skill he mastered also naturally reached the proficient level, as if he himself had practiced it countless times.
This was an unexpected surprise.
This meant that any skills imprinted in the future would not require him to cultivate them himself, unless the pet died or the contract was terminated.
Next, Zheng Dong tried the Shadow Transformation skill again.
His body gradually turned into a shadow. The speed of Shadow Transformation was affected by proficiency and wasn't very fast.
However, once Shadow Transformation was successful, even if he was stabbed with a knife or shot with a gun, he wouldn't be injured.
But it was a bit awkward that his clothes couldn't transform with his body and all fell to the ground.
"Damn, this move is so awkward!"
Then, Zheng Dong continued to activate his Skill Domain talent to help Xiao Zi accelerate its skill cultivation.
It wasn't until almost noon that a knock on the door sounded.
Then a familiar voice came.
"Zheng Dong, open the door, it's me!" Tu Qionglan called from outside the door.
This time, she was no longer in her combined state. After disguising herself, she looked completely different from last time, appearing like a very ordinary girl next door.