Two hours later.

Shi Yu walked out of the Iron Bamboo Breeding Base, feeling completely satisfied.

Page six of the Skill Encyclopedia.

[Skill]: Hardening

[Skill Level]: Low-Level

[Description]: A metal-type skill that hardens the whole body, acting like an invisible armor, and can be evolved into an attack.

[Status]: No Teaching Target Available

Shi Yu's process of copying the Hardening skill was still smooth and easy. He only did one simple thing, which was to feed a wild Iron-Eating Beast.

Unlike the small Iron-Eating Beast that hadn't awakened the Hardening ability and gnawed on iron bamboo as if it were bone, adult Iron-Eating Beasts would first use the Hardening skill to arm their teeth before eating.

Then, they would eat the iron bamboo, which was as hard as steel. In this way, their eating efficiency could be increased several times, one stalk at a time, crisp and crunchy.

Shi Yu fed it a stalk of iron bamboo and then gently stroked it afterward, and the skill was acquired.

"I won't have to come back for at least a month."

Shi Yu, now a true Beast Tamer, said after leaving the Iron Bamboo Breeding Base.

At this time, in addition to taking away Iron-Eating Beast Cub No. 11, he also carried a backpack of high-quality bamboo shoots, which was No. 11's food for tomorrow.

Different from the bamboo on Earth, the mutated plants here were still very nutritious, with nutritional value no less than some meats, and the Iron-Eating Beast's digestive organs were also completely different from ordinary giant pandas. Therefore, as long as the quality of the bamboo was good, the Iron-Eating Beast didn't necessarily need to eat dozens of pounds a day to supplement a little nutrition.

But no matter what, iron bamboo was only the most basic food for the Iron-Eating Beast, and there were definitely many more expensive upgrades, but Shi Yu might not be able to afford them for the time being.

Make money!

After becoming a Beast Tamer, he had to find a way to make money first.

He was fine, as long as he didn't starve to death, but if the Iron-Eating Beast wanted to grow quickly and healthily, it wasn't enough to just have various skills, nutrition also had to keep up.

And before that, he had to hurry home to settle himself and No. 11 down.

Eating, drinking, and living were all very important.

Soon, Shi Yu arrived home.

There were already many high-rise buildings in Pingcheng, but Shi Yu's old home was a large courtyard of bungalows.

For Shi Yu, bungalows were actually better than living in high-rise buildings.

After all, now that he had become a Beast Tamer, it was really inconvenient to train pets in apartment buildings.

He would have to rent a venue at that time, which would be troublesome and a waste of money.

On the other hand, this place, although a bit old, was spacious and completely a good training ground.

After returning home, Shi Yu casually threw down his luggage and found that the place was full of dust, so he decided to do a big cleaning first.

But how could he do all the work alone...

Panda No. 11, my partner!

My turn, summon!

A transparent, textured circular array appeared in front of Shi Yu, and Iron-Eating Beast No. 11 climbed out from under the water-like ripples.

According to the level of the Beast Taming Space, the color of the space barrier and the summoning array would be different.

For apprentice Beast Tamers like Shi Yu, the space barrier and summoning array were transparent and colorless.

At this time, No. 11, who had been summoned from the Beast Taming Space, looked a little dazed, as if he had just woken up.

It first shook its body quickly a few times, flicked its soft black and white fur, and after feeling much more relaxed, it turned to look at Shi Yu, who had summoned it.

No. 11 slightly wagged its short tail. Having become Shi Yu's pet, it was no longer like it was before, shouting "Never be a slave!" "Fearless!" There was already a natural sense of intimacy between it and Shi Yu.

This connection between spirits was even more intimate than the connection between bloodlines.

No. 11 subconsciously walked to Shi Yu's side and rubbed against his leg, melting Shi Yu's heart.

It looked... much more obedient!

Shi Yu was gratified and showed a fatherly smile.

"Come, I'll teach you the Hardening ability first!"

It was enough for him to do the cleaning himself. The Iron-Eating Beast was so cute, how could he let it get tired? Training was already tiring enough!

Well, he should first establish his excellent image in the Iron-Eating Beast's heart.

"Awoo?"

Iron-Eating Beast No. 11 stood up, Hardening?

Speaking of which...

It stretched out its fist, and in the next second, its black-haired fist immediately became darker, harder, and had a metallic texture. It was the Hardening ability.

After sleeping in the Beast Taming Space, No. 11 finally awakened.

It was really comfortable there. No. 11 felt that it wasn't hungry there, it slept better, its body was warm, and its head became clearer.

The Hardening ability that it couldn't awaken no matter what before was now mastered after a sleep.

Shi Yu: ???

Shi Yu: ???

Shi Yu rubbed his eyes and looked at No. 11's fist.

What!

It awakened on its own?

I just said I was going to teach you, and you already knew it?

Shi Yu was silent. Was that Lin Xiuzhu reliable or not? Didn't he say that it would take about a week for it to awaken the Hardening skill?

How could it be so fast?

Shi Yu was happy, but also had a stomachache. He was so looking forward to the Iron-Eating Beast's adoring expression after he taught it Hardening.

"Let's clean the yard then."

No. 11: o((⊙﹏⊙))o.？

Clea-cleaning?

"Forget it, forget it." Seeing No. 11's blank expression, Shi Yu decided to forget it.

Cleaning wasn't urgent. He suddenly thought that the Skill Encyclopedia could teach skills that had already been learned, and teaching the same skill repeatedly could increase the skill proficiency!

Skill proficiency was also very important. The effect of the same skill would definitely be different if one pet had just mastered it and another pet had used it for ten years.

It was not impossible for the effect of a high-proficiency low-level skill to crush a low-proficiency high-level skill.

Shi Yu found the Iron-Eating Beast basic cultivation manual that Lin Xiuzhu had given him.

The Hardening ability mastered by the Iron-Eating Beast, or rather, all skills, could basically be divided into five stages of proficiency.

The manual had already summarized it. Skill proficiency could be roughly described with five words.

Adept, Skilled, Proficient, Masterful, Transcendent!

Respectively representing Entry-Level, Skilled, Proficient, Perfect, and Transcendent.

Like the Hardening ability that No. 11 had mastered right now, the proficiency was at the Entry-Level stage. It had just learned it and could only perform partial hardening on a certain part of its body.

According to the manual, after reaching the Skilled stage, it would be able to harden its entire body.

Generally speaking, it would take at least a month of serious training for a low-level skill to go from the Entry-Level stage to the Skilled stage.

Shi Yu was very curious how many days of proficiency would be equivalent to teaching once with the Skill Encyclopedia.

He looked at No. 11, who was observing its surroundings, and then fell into deep thought.

Speaking of which, using the Skill Encyclopedia for teaching seemed to consume physical strength.

How much stamina would it consume to teach the low-level skill Hardening once?

Shi Yu, who had no experience with it, wasn't really sure. He seemed to have been a little impatient just now. What if teaching a low-level skill exhausted him to death?

"Why not use the Skill Encyclopedia's trashiest, no-level skill, Silk Spit, to test the consumption first?"

After all, the lower the skill level, the less consumption.

It seemed worth a try...

But unfortunately, Shi Yu could only find another experimental subject, because the Iron-Eating Beast and the Silk Spit skill had no compatibility at all and could not be taught.

It would be too difficult for the Iron-Eating Beast to spit silk.

"Since you've already learned the skill, why don't we have our first battle?"

Shi Yu suddenly looked at the two persimmon trees in his yard.

To be precise, he was looking at a green figure on a certain persimmon tree.

A Green Caterpillar was resting leisurely on a branch, very daring, not even afraid of being eaten by passing birds.

As the shame of the extraordinary world, the Green Caterpillar's combat power was touching. Even ordinary sparrows, which were ordinary spirits and had not undergone any evolution, had a chance to kill it.

At the same time, it was also ubiquitous. After Shi Yu saw it, he immediately felt that it was the perfect experimental subject.

This Green Caterpillar was obviously malnourished and was thinner than the ones raised in the pet breeding base.

Generally, such Green Caterpillars would never evolve... Most of them would end up as food for birds... But encountering him, Shi Yu, was lucky for this Green Caterpillar.

I'll give you a chance to mooch skill proficiency in Silk Spit!

"Iron-Eating Beast, catch it, gently."

Shi Yu issued the order, and No. 11 looked at the Green Caterpillar, slightly stunned.

The first battle opponent was this little guy?

But the Beast Tamer's orders still had to be carried out. It immediately climbed the tree and slapped the branch where the Green Caterpillar was, breaking it. The Green Caterpillar then fell down together with the branch without using any skills.

The fall immediately made the Green Caterpillar confused.

"Awoo."

I won, I won, Iron-Eating Beast No. 11 happily shouted from the tree.

The first battle was a breeze.

"Nice!" After all, the Iron-Eating Beast was still a child, so Shi Yu praised it a little.

Cultivating pets was like raising children, you had to praise them more and not always criticize them.

Green Caterpillar: ???