Read at: https://blogspot-translatedstories.blogspot.com/?m=1
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Suddenly, the clouds above began to churn in an eerie, twisting motion.
In the next instant, a massive cyan figure, so huge it seemed to block out half the sky, shot down from above the clouds.
At the same time, the white clouds on both sides of the aerial passage surged upward, completely obscuring the cyan figure from view.
When the clouds dispersed, the enormous cyan beast had already stopped in the middle of the aerial passage, with some of the white clouds forming stair-like steps beside it.
The person seated above descended neatly down the cloud stairs, her hair untouched by the wind, clothing pristine.
“Gang Slice…”
Gangbao looked at the calmly resting cyan beast and the cloud steps beside it, feeling a sense of wonder.
She had never seen such a sight while flying in the air before.
“Put Yabao and the others into your Beast Codex.” Mikayla said once the person above had nearly reached the ground, as if suddenly remembering something.
Qiao Sang froze for a moment.
“Why?”
Mikayla replied calmly, “Tickets for the aerial passage also apply to beasts. If your beasts board, they each need a ticket. I only bought for the two of us.”
Without another word, Qiao Sang waved her hand and recalled Yabao and the others into the Beast Codex.
At that moment, a sweet voice echoed from above as though amplified: “Dear passengers, hello. The aerial passage is now arriving at our next stop, Pantian City. Passengers traveling there, please board in an orderly fashion. This stop will last for ten minutes.”
As soon as the voice faded, attendants in uniform appeared beside the cloud steps.
After Mikayla handed over their tickets for inspection, she led Qiao Sang to their assigned seats atop the cyan avian beast.
During this time, the giant bird-like beast remained perfectly still, as if it wasn’t even breathing.
“I didn’t expect this beast to have trained in Conceal Breath.” Mikayla remarked after a short while.
Conceal Breath, a general mid-tier skill, allowed a beast to suppress its own aura. When mastered to perfection, even breathing could be paused. Many weaker wild beasts naturally learned it as a survival method.
But this cyan bird had clearly trained it for a different reason: To ensure passengers had a calmer, more stable ride.
“They’re all professionally trained before going into service.” Qiao Sang replied.
Right after she spoke, the same sweet voice rang out again: “Dear passengers, we are about to take off. Please be mindful of your safety and do not leave your seats casually. In this brief journey, may you relax and fully enjoy an efficient and comfortable travel experience.”
Five seconds later, the massive wings of the cyan bird spread wide, lifting it higher into the air.
This height was level with the aerial passage.
At the same time, a transparent protective barrier enveloped the bird’s body, preventing any airflow from disturbing the passengers.
---
An hour and a half later.
Pantian City, Beastmaster Center, Third Floor.
Inside the examiner’s office, where assessment matters were handled.
A tall, lean middle-aged man stared at the file on his computer screen for several minutes before turning his head to ask: “You’re from the Yuhua Region. Why aren’t you competing in Yuhua’s regional tournament, and instead came to our Central Hollow Region?”
Because my opportunity is here… Qiao Sang didn’t say what she was truly thinking. Instead, she answered, “My teacher brought me here for training.”
The man’s gaze shifted subtly again.
The girl before him was clearly of school age, yet she wasn’t in class, and her teacher had brought her out to train, straight into a regional tournament no less.
Impressive… The middle-aged man came to a decision in his mind and began searching the assessment tasks.
Since it was training, he’d assign something with high difficulty. Otherwise, she might think qualifying for the Central Hollow Region’s official matches was too easy.
With that mindset, he made his choice and said: “A week ago, a 31-year-old man went missing in Secret Realm No. 88. Your task is to find him.”
After a pause, he added, “If he’s already dead, I want you to bring back his remains. Before disappearing, he sent a distress signal. I’ll send the coordinates and his information to the backend of your Beastmaster Center app shortly.”
Inside a secret realm… the difficulty just skyrocketed.
Qiao Sang’s mind jumped to a grim thought.
“What if his entire body was swallowed by a wild beast?”
Wild beasts inside a secret realm had never been tamed, nor had they encountered humans. Some even viewed humans purely as food.
Back in her hometown in the Yuhua Region, she had often read online accounts of people being chased by wild beasts inside secret realms.
So young, yet speaking so calmly about something so horrific… The man’s expression flickered briefly before he composed himself.
“Then bring back evidence that he’s dead. If you find that, the assessment counts as passed.”
This task was brutal.
“I understand.” Qiao Sang nodded.
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“Yap!”
The moment they stepped out of the office, Yabao excitedly stretched out a paw and pointed ahead, eager to set off immediately.
Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched.
“No rush. Let me first gather information about the secret realm.”
This mission was clearly different from the previous one.
A secret realm was considered a death trap by ordinary beast masters.
Unlike a warehouse, where you could leave instantly if nothing happened, once you entered a secret realm, you had to be fully prepared, or you might never return.
Still, Qiao Sang wasn’t too nervous. After all, she had an S-rank beastmaster powerhouse right beside her.
Even if the task failed, her safety was absolutely guaranteed.
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“What? You’re not going in with me?!” Qiao Sang stared in disbelief after hearing Mikayla’s response to her explanation of the task.
She had never imagined that Mikayla would say she wouldn’t accompany her inside.
“I told you before, I won’t interfere with your assessment tasks.” Mikayla said calmly.
“You don’t need to help me fight.” Qiao Sang quickly argued.
“Just follow me in.”
Mikayla gave her a long look.
“I’ve been inside Dragon Nation’s secret realms before. I know what it’s like there, you must remain constantly alert. If I go in with you, will you still feel that sense of danger? Will you still maintain vigilance at all times?”
Qiao Sang froze, unable to answer.
Honestly, she would stay alert, but not always.
With an S-rank beastmaster by her side, who could possibly feel in danger?
Seeing her silence, Mikayla knew she understood. She said seriously: “This task will be an excellent training opportunity. You need to solve the problems before you on your own. No beast master competing in the Interstellar Cup grows up in a greenhouse.”
Qiao Sang was quiet for a moment, then nodded.
“I understand.”
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Beastmaster Center, Residential Area.
Room 907.
Qiao Sang opened her laptop, clicked on the search bar, and prepared to look up information on Secret Realm No. 88.
For safety reasons and information sharing, almost every secret realm had its own dedicated forum.
People who had been inside, as well as those preparing to enter, would discuss things there.
I wonder if there’s a post about that missing young man… Qiao Sang’s gaze moved downward, and soon she found exactly what she was looking for: #My Teammate Went Missing in Secret Realm No. 88#
Qiao Sang clicked in to read.
[OP] A word of advice: if you go into Secret Realm No. 88, make sure you have a beastmaster with a beast that never sleeps as a teammate. Half a month ago, I went in with three others, a professional beastmaster, a breeder, a healer, and an adventurer. We had a full lineup. But after just one night inside, we woke up in the morning to find that the breeder had vanished. The thing is, none of us heard a single sound during the night.
Scrolling down, she saw plenty of comments, and one caught her attention: [Comment] Four of you, and you didn’t take turns keeping watch at night?
The original poster replied: [OP] The missing breeder was the one on watch that night.
Another reply came in: [Comment] Then it’s the breeder’s fault. I say having a no-sleep beast is useless, even if you all woke up, could you really take down the kind of wild beast that comes for you? What you should find is a beast master with a space-movement beast as your teammate.
“Xun Xun…”
Just as Qiao Sang was about to keep reading, she heard Little Treasure's voice beside her.
Turning her head, she realized she didn’t even know when Little Treasure had come over. He was staring intently at the comment on the screen, expression unusually serious.
His gaze lingered on the words find a beastmaster with a space-movement beast, and he nodded in agreement.
“Xun~”
When the computer screen stopped scrolling, Little Treasure finally looked at his beastmaster, chirping as if to say: Keep reading.
Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched. Instead of scrolling further, she closed the thread and began checking other posts.
The man she needed to find for her assessment had gone missing a week ago, not half a month ago.
In that case, the people in this post either didn’t wake up when their companion vanished, meaning he was snatched without making a sound, or they were put under some kind of sleep-inducing skill.
If she ran into that kind of situation, the first scenario could be countered by Little Treasure using space movement.
In the second case, most sleep skills didn’t work instantly, there would be a few seconds of drowsiness first. During that brief window, Lubao could cast Healing Light or Little Treasure could use Lick.
Qiao Sang skimmed through all the relevant posts, then clicked on the pinned #Secret Realm No. 88 Information Overview# thread.
[Post] Secret Realm No. 88, Location: Jinwu Mountain. Difficulty: C.
There’s only one entrance to this secret realm. As soon as you enter, you’ll encounter a swarm of beginner-level bug/poison dual-type beasts, Venomfang Worms. They’re numerous, bold, and already know humans might appear at any time. Be prepared: You could face an immediate swarm attack.
Remember: Always bring a beast master with a healing-type beast. If possible, bring a healer who specializes in detoxification, because there are quite a few poison-type beasts inside.
To reach the deeper areas, head southwest. There’s a group of poison-type beasts there called Hair-Sting Scorpions, they love eating hair. Just bring in a few boxes of wigs and scatter them along your path, and their attention will stay on the wigs instead of you.
If you can’t afford wigs, shave your head before going in, the Hair-Sting Scorpions won’t bother you.
The least recommended route is northwest. There, you’ll find a ground swarm of Swamp Mud Men, who can suddenly drag you into the swamp. In the air, flocks of Wailing Birds circle constantly. If you take the aerial route and they cry, you’ll be overwhelmed by grief, bursting into tears, your beasts too. That’s when you’ll be attacked, most likely falling from the air, only to be dragged into the swamp by the Mud Men.
Also, at night, always keep someone awake on watch, in recent years, quite a few people have gone missing in their sleep.
In short, if you’re going to Secret Realm No. 88, go in with at least three people.
Qiao Sang carefully read the entire post, noting down the key points. When she reached the part about having at least three people, she began to seriously consider it.
Yabao and the others had attack, escape, and healing skills, but this was still her first time entering a secret realm. For safety’s sake… should she recruit two more people to go in with her?
“Xun Xun…”
Little Treasure's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
She turned to look at him.
“Xun Xun…”
He wore an expression that clearly said: So scary. Let’s find two strong humans to go with us.
Qiao Sang: …
“Do you actually understand every single word on the screen?” She asked, her expression complicated.
“Xun!”
Little Treasure froze for a moment, then quickly waved his paws, insisting that he could barely read anything, absolutely not suited for studying!
Qiao Sang: …
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Meanwhile.
Next door, in the bathroom.
Mikayla glanced at the off-white, humanoid-but-footless, mud-like beast beside her.
“Spit one out.”
“Nyeh nyeh.”
The mud beast made a sound, then opened its mouth and sprayed a slightly sticky white clay onto Mikayla’s face.
She didn’t dodge, letting the white clay splatter across her skin.
Looking into the mirror, she rubbed it evenly across her face.
The clay seeped into her skin and vanished.
Mikayla pressed her nose, the tall bridge instantly flattened noticeably.
She pinched her cheeks, they hollowed out, transforming her face from an oval to a narrow, angular shape.
She adjusted her eyebrows, eyes, and chin in turn.
Three minutes later, the woman in the mirror was thin, her cheeks slightly sunken, her eyes small and sharp, brow ridge pronounced, a completely unfamiliar face.
Mikayla smiled with satisfaction.
As Qiao Sang’s mentor for the decades to come, she had to ensure her safety. A dangerous place like a secret realm was absolutely not somewhere Qiao Sang should enter alone.
But if she stayed openly by her side, Qiao Sang’s mentality toward the challenge would be different, and it wouldn’t be much of a trial at all.
That problem, however, was easy to solve… all she had to do was make sure Qiao Sang didn’t recognize her.
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Elsewhere.
Qiao Sang reviewed the assessment information sent to her through the Beast master Center app.
Missing Person Information: Liu Bo, male, 31 years old, C-rank healer. Went missing one week ago. Entered the secret realm as part of a team of three. The other two were Zhai Yang (Contact: 18…0765) and Yuan Jiewen (Contact: 18…3443).
The teammates from that day would know the situation best, it would be safest to take one of them with her.
Thinking this over, she tapped the contact info on the screen and dialed Zhai Yang’s number.
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