Chapter 202 — A Second Bloom
The Beast-Taming Craftsman · Page 3 of 7
Shi Jue wasn't surprised to see Senior Bai Xi drop by — that happened all the time. But what was the legendary old chancellor of the Ancient Capital University suddenly doing here?
"Senior Bai. Feng Jin."
"Chongchong, wash some fruit and brew some tea."
Shi Jue hurried to play host to the two of them.
A moment later, the three of them sat down, and Shi Tang said, "Feng Jin, Senior Bai... may I ask what brings you here?"
Bai Xi waved a hand and said with a smile, "I'm just here for fun."
Shi Qi turned to Feng Jin.
Feng Jin laughed heartily and said, "Nothing major for me either. I've just kept hearing Qingyi talk about you, and then there was that Metamorphosis Butterfly Convention business — this time I finally couldn't resist coming to meet you."
The moment the old chancellor finished speaking, Chongchong came flying over with tea and juice under its control, Eleven came trotting over hugging a few bottles of milk, and the Ginseng Baby followed behind, hoisting two bottles of soda.
"Didn't know what you'd like to drink, so I prepared a bit of everything."
"So this is the Dreaming Butterfly? Much prettier than in the photos," Bai Xi said, eyes shining with envy.
Well, girls will be girls — they do like pretty things.
Unfortunately, butterflies were far too fragile. Bai Xi preferred fist-to-flesh combat; she had no interest in playing mage or assassin through a fusion talent.
"Truly a very beautiful species," Feng Jin agreed with a nod.
"But precisely because of that, Shi Jue, you need to be careful when you're out and about."
The old chancellor looked at Qi — a high-tier Overlord race sword spirit and a mid-tier Overlord race Dreaming Butterfly, and both beastmaster and beasts were still weak. Under such circumstances, even one of their own might well hatch crooked ideas.
The mere identity of Bureau Eleven was nowhere near enough to deter some madmen who didn't even care if they lived or died.
"I understand. I'll be careful," Shi Heng said with a nod.
"Even I'm jealous. An Overlord race... others will be even more jealous," Bai Xi said, eyes wide with longing. The highest-tier beast she had right now was only a quasi-Overlord race.
It was her Six-Tailed Light Fox, which had now evolved into a Nine-Tailed Light Fox, replacing her former white tiger beast and becoming her current top fusion partner.
Even a beast as powerful as the nine-tailed line still fell a little short of Overlord race. Shi Jue contracting an Overlord race — that was just too lucky.
"Haha, well, the country is very stable right now, not like a dozen-odd years ago. Back then, a piece of news this big would have made it very hard to stay safe," the old chancellor of the Ancient Capital University said with a laugh.
"A dozen-odd years ago?"
Shi Jue had always thought the atmosphere in Donghuang was quite good — which was rare for a high-martial fantasy world.
"Mm. A dozen-odd years ago, Donghuang wasn't nearly this peaceful. There were all sorts of xenian cults, underground organizations, and countless protective umbrellas for black forces. Back then, if some beastmaster with no backing got lucky and contracted a somewhat special mutated beast, the most likely thing awaiting him was being forced to dissolve the contract, having his beast snatched away, and then the beastmaster himself mysteriously vanishing..."
"The stability we have now is the fruit of a long campaign against the black forces afterward." Feng Jin had no qualms about telling Shi Jue what Donghuang had been like before.
"I know about that," Bai Xi said. "I even heard my grandpa say that in the Totem Zone there was a legendary beastmaster who, when he was young, had his beast snatched and was framed on top of it, and his whole family was ruined. In the end only he escaped by luck to the Totem Zone — and as a result, he became Donghuang's enemy... Even though justice eventually came and that conglomerate was uprooted, he still chose never to come back."