Chapter 1045: A Crack

Read at: https://blogspot-translatedstories.blogspot.com/?m=1 

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Mikayla looked at Qiao Sang, signaling her with a glance to make the payment.

Qiao Sang fell silent for a brief moment, then pulled out her phone, logged onto the Imperial Beast University's official website, located the relevant gene testing professor, and paid 100 points.

Beside the desk, a mechanical-type pet wearing a lab coat suddenly spoke in a human tongue: "Student Qiao Sang from the Imperial Class has transferred 100 points to you."

The moment the words left its mouth, it went straight back to its work on hand, looking as if it hadn't spoken at all just now.

Daria pointed with a smile toward the most conspicuous instrument on the side and said: "Place the pet you want to test right on top of this."

As she spoke, she caught sight of the pet egg being held and added: "Take it out of its container."

Qiao Sang did as she was told, removing the pet egg from its protective device and placing it down with utmost caution.

Daria walked over to the control panel next to the instrument and pressed a button.

Several antenna-like appendages resembling those of an insect-type pet extended from around the machine, resting lightly upon the surface of the egg.

Daria operated the instrument with practiced ease.

The cylindrical machine began to hum as it whirred to life.

Before long, Daria let out a soft "Huh?".

"What is it? Is there a problem?" Qiao Sang grew tense in an instant.

"Yap... yap..."

Yabao was also incredibly tense.

During this recent period, he had been protecting the pet egg diligently. He had even copied a scene from a television drama that Little Treasure introduced, placing it against his belly to incubate it for a bit, so he had formed a very deep attachment to it.

"Is this a Little Thunder Dragon's egg?" Daria asked, staring at the images displayed on the monitor.

Mikayla gave an "Mm," her expression turning somewhat solemn.

Regardless of whether the Little Thunder Dragon egg was purebred or not, she didn't want any accidents to happen to it either.

"There's nothing wrong with it." Daria stated. 

"I was just marveling that you guys truly live up to being the Imperial Class. Bringing a random pet egg over for an examination turns out to be this rare."

Even for students of the Imperial Class, a dragon-type pet egg with a racial ceiling at the Emperor-level wasn't something that could be obtained just on a whim.

She had only been booked for a timeslot earlier to perform a gene test on a pet egg, without knowing the specific species beforehand.

Qiao Sang: ...

Yabao: ...

Mikayla: ...

Mikayla said with a dry chuckle: "Which is exactly why she was willing to spend 100 points to do a gene test."

Daria commented while continuing her analysis: "How many people actually get their hands on a pet egg with an Emperor-level racial ceiling? As long as someone intends to form a contract with a pet, I always encourage them to come for a gene test. After all, only this way can you truly know whether the pet's potential is good or bad. People from beast-breeding bases can lie to you, but genes won't."

That's true. After all, even though the species has a clearly established racial ceiling, not every individual pet can actually reach its own racial limit. A Beast Tamer's contract slots are limited, so if I didn't have my gold finger, I'd probably want to test every single pet before contracting them too... Qiao Sang agreed in her heart.

While her thoughts flickered, Daria spoke in a slightly sighing tone: "This Little Thunder Dragon isn't purebred."

She knew that once a pet egg was found to be a non-purebred, students of the Imperial Class would generally choose not to contract it.

They actually found out this quickly... Qiao Sang was a bit surprised by the speed, though she didn't feel overly disappointed.

Mikayla knit her brows and asked: "Are you certain?"

"The data won't lie." Daria said, looking at the display. "

However, this Little Thunder Dragon's bloodline purity is already exceptionally high, reaching 87%. If nurtured properly, there is still hope for it to reach its racial ceiling in the future."

Mikayla couldn't hide her disappointment.

If a pet with an 87% bloodline purity was carefully nurtured, it indeed stood a chance of reaching its racial ceiling. However, those odds were far too low, and without exception, it required stacking immense resources and time. 

Qiao Sang was set to compete in the Interstellar Cup, and dragon-type pets were notoriously slow to mature as it was. It would be fine if it were purebred, but since it wasn't, setting aside whether it could reach its racial ceiling in the future, who knew how long it would take just to evolve to a stage capable of entering the Interstellar Cup.

It was highly possible that by the time Qiao Sang passed the age limit for the Interstellar Cup, the Little Thunder Dragon still wouldn't have reached the baseline required to participate.

It looks like I need to start helping her look for a sixth pet that she can contract... Mikayla couldn't help but look toward her student, whom she normally never had to worry about.

Failing to catch Mikayla's look entirely, Qiao Sang asked: "The test is finished, so can I take it back now?"

Daria gave an "Mm": "Of course."

Qiao Sang stepped forward, picked up the Little Thunder Dragon's egg, and carefully placed it back into the protective device.

As if struck by a thought, Daria smiled and said: "If you ever have any intention of reselling the Little Thunder Dragon egg, you can contact me."

Qiao Sang blanked out, replying in astonishment, "I have absolutely no such intention."

Daria was also taken aback, then renewed her smile: "I just said if."

The Dean mentioned that the Little Thunder Dragon might already be able to hear outside conversations from within the egg, so this sort of talk definitely shouldn't reach its ears... Qiao Sang hurriedly snapped the protective device shut.

To be completely honest, even if the Little Thunder Dragon's personality clashed with hers after hatching, she had never once considered reselling it.

"There is no if." Qiao Sang stated.

She failed to notice that inside the protective device, the pet egg gave a tiny wobble.

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Borsay Manor, No. 101.

The open-air training ground.

Little Treasure was drinking energy recovery fluid while channeling his energy, darting through black holes that popped up out of thin air.

Wild winds raged violently all around, yet he remained completely unaffected.

Yabao's hundreds of clones were casting all sorts of skills, while his true body lay beneath the shade of a tree with the pet egg resting right on his stomach.

Miraculously, whether it was the clones or the true body, his surroundings were completely untouched by the wild winds, as if the gales only manifested in the exact zone where Little Treasure was active.

In a safe zone off to the side, Mikayla glanced toward Yabao's direction and asked: "How do you plan to handle the Little Thunder Dragon's egg?"

"I plan to wait for it to hatch first to see if its personality matches mine." Qiao Sang shared her thoughts. 

"If it's a good fit, I'll contract it once I reach a 60% brain development level."

Mikayla wasn't surprised by this answer and said calmly: "It's not purebred."

"I know." Qiao Sang smiled. 

"When I contracted Yabao and the others, I didn't know if they were purebred either, and they're being nurtured perfectly fine right now."

"That was because you didn't have many choices back then." Mikayla countered. 

"It's different now. You have choices."

Every student admitted to the Imperial Class underwent a basic background check. She knew the general situation of Qiao Sang's family, and she knew that almost all of her current funds came from the accumulation of an unlimited-credit card and the clinical fees from Lubao.

Qiao Sang replied with a smile: "This is my choice right now."

Mikayla offered no judgment on that, merely stating slowly: "Then we'll talk after the Little Thunder Dragon hatches."

The Little Thunder Dragon was notoriously arrogant by nature. If its Beast Tamer went against its wishes even slightly, it would turn highly aloof and refuse to stay close. A pet with this kind of personality was someone she believed would likely clash with Qiao Sang.

While she was thinking, she noticed Yabao suddenly strike down with a paw with an immensely impatient expression, instantly blasting a crater into the ground.

With her sharp eyesight, Mikayla spotted that the target inside the crater was a mosquito so tiny it could barely be any smaller.

She fell silent for a moment, then caught sight of Lubao farther away, whose expression was completely aloof but whose actions were incredibly clean and efficient as she wrapped her tail in a torrent of water, swatting away an airborne Yabao clone that was flying backward. Suddenly, Mikayla wasn't quite so sure anymore...

During Mikayla's silence, Qiao Sang walked over to Gangbao's side, pulling out the Ferocious Dark Potion she had purchased in the morning.

Understanding her intent, Gangbao opened her mouth.

Qiao Sang applied the potion onto her teeth and said: "Try to channel Dark energy to coat your teeth."

"Gang Zhan."

Gangbao nodded, and then began to circulate her energy.

Very quickly, a layer of black energy coated her sharp teeth.

Seeing this, Qiao Sang revealed a look of delight and followed up: "Now try to manifest a phantom projection."

Without a second word, Gangbao's gaze grew serious as she dialed up her energy output.

At this point, Mikayla walked over to their side and said: "Doing it this way won't work. You should have her try to bite things using teeth coated in the Dark attribute first. Once the Dark energy accumulated on her sharp teeth reaches a certain threshold, then have her try to manifest a phantom projection to execute the bite."

Qiao Sang: ...

No, wait, that's not what you said previously...

In the end, Qiao Sang didn't voice her thoughts aloud, turning around instead to yell: "Little Treasure!"

The moment the words left her mouth, a black hole popped open right in front of her eyes.

"Xun... xun?"

Little Treasure poked the upper half of his body out from it, letting out a cry to ask what was the matter.

"Bring out the Blunt Crafting Stone." Qiao Sang said.

There was no training material more suited for Gangbao than the Blunt Crafting Stone.

"Xun... xun~"

Little Treasure obediently complied.

As he reached down to unfasten his ring and fished around for a bit, he suddenly thought of something. He lifted his head toward his Beast Tamer, his eyes sparkling as he let out a cry: "Xun... xun?

Was this for Gangbao's training?

Qiao Sang nodded with an "Mm."

"Xun... xun~"

Little Treasure pulled his paw out from the ring, slipped it back onto his ear, and crawled entirely out of the black hole. Straightening his posture, he let out a thoroughly solemn cry, indicating he believed Gangbao required a far better training partner.

Mikayla looked over.

The corner of Qiao Sang's mouth twitched: "You're talking about yourself, aren't you?"

"Xun... xun~"

Little Treasure raised a thumb and split his mouth into a grin, indicating she guessed right. He could accompany Gangbao to practice this skill, and it wouldn't matter even if Gangbao bit him ten thousand times.

His underling hasn't mastered this skill yet, so it won't hurt to get bitten, and he can use the opportunity to practice his Destiny Bond trait at the same time. Truly flawless... Little Treasure suppressed the urge to let out a "jie jie jie" cackle.

Looks like he wants to practice Destiny Bond... Qiao Sang thought to herself.

"Gang Zhan." Gangbao called out inside her mind, indicating she felt the same way.

"Gang Zhan."

Following that, Gangbao let out a verbal cry, indicating she thought it was fine.

"Then Little Treasure, you accompany Gangbao to practice." Qiao Sang said.

"Xun... xun!"

Little Treasure raised a paw, striking a hold on posture.

Then, he split into two.

Little Treasure nodded toward his substitute.

The substitute flashed a don't you worry expression, immediately turned around, teleported high into the air, and began to continuously dart through a series of black holes.

"Xun... xun~"

The original Little Treasure then teleported to the other side, hooking his short toe toward Gangbao.

Gangbao fell silent for a brief moment, then flew toward the spot where Little Treasure was.

I should be feeling gratified... Qiao Sang looked at Little Treasure, who was simultaneously training both his substitute and his true body, and felt a somewhat complicated mix of emotions.

Mikayla's mood was equally complex. Staring at the two identical Little Treasures, she muttered: "Your Night Ring King just awakened Shadow Penetration, yet he can already have his substitute execute it..."

Qiao Sang's heart stirred, and she said: "Little Treasure isn't purebred either."

A purebred pet could never be a shiny mutant variant.

Mikayla fell silent.

Given Qiao Sang's past background, it was practically impossible for her contracted pets to be purebred. Yet she had to admit that the pets nurtured through Qiao Sang's hands progressed far faster than purebred ones.

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Night, 10:20 PM.

The bedroom.

Qiao Sang sat cross-legged on the bed, watching television.

It was a channel interviewing a pet expert.

A fashionable, beautiful host asked: "It is often said that pets can actually be nurtured while they are still inside their eggs. Is this true?"

"It is true." The expert nodded.

"Pets can be taught while they are still inside their eggs, much like prenatal education. If you show them beast-taming battle matches, they will be a bit more interested in battling once they hatch. If you show them more coordination contests, they will take a greater interest in coordination."

"Can a pet with a bad personality undergo behavioral correction to become good-natured?" The host asked.

"A pet's personality is inborn." The expert stated. 

"Just like humans, they are born with traits of bad and good. A pet's personality is shaped heavily through post-natal changes. While they are still inside the egg, the most you can achieve is making them feel close to you the moment they break their shell."

"Therefore, I suggest that if anyone wishes to contract a pet, it is best to start nurturing them from the egg stage..."

Qiao Sang couldn't help but look toward the pet egg sitting on the nightstand.

To be honest, aside from the fact that she didn't care about purebreds due to her gold finger, the Little Thunder Dragon's attributes were incredibly appealing to her, happening to be exactly what she wanted and lacked.

If the Little Thunder Dragon's personality doesn't have any major issues, there's a high probability I'll still contract it... While she was thinking, Qiao Sang picked up the remote to switch to a beast-taming battle match channel. She then cradled the pet egg in her arms so they could watch together.

The pet egg rested quietly inside its safety device, showing no signs of movement.

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2:00 AM.

The dead of night.

Qiao Sang and Yabao's group were all fast asleep.

A black hole materialized out of thin air inside the bedroom.

"Xun... xun..."

Little Treasure crawled out from the black hole, wiping away non-existent sweat from his forehead. He then unfastened his ring, fished out a bottle of energy recovery fluid, and began to drink.

Promptly remembering something, he floated over to the nightstand and carefully picked up his Beast Tamer's phone. While sipping his recovery potion, he began to play on it, letting out occasional "xun xun xun" snickers.

The dim glow of the phone illuminated his face.

The pet egg sitting on the nightstand began to rock from side to side.

"Xun... xun..."

Hearing the movement, Little Treasure turned his head. Catching sight of the rocking pet egg, he blanked out for a second, clapped a paw over his mouth, and then hit upon an idea. Floating over to his Beast Tamer's side, he began to shake her frantically.

"Xun... xun!"

"Xun... xun!"

"What's wrong..." Qiao Sang asked groggily.

"Xun... xun!"

"Xun... xun!"

Little Treasure pointed toward the pet egg, calling out two times with a face full of excitement.

Qiao Sang force her eyes open with immense effort. Glancing over at the completely motionless pet egg, she rolled over and said with utter drowsiness, "Where is it moving? Don't disturb me, I want to sleep..."

"Xun... xun..."

Little Treasure looked back toward the pet egg, finding that it was indeed completely still.

It was clearly moving just now...

Little Treasure hovered right in front of the protective device, staring intently at the pet egg inside.

After staring for about five seconds, Little Treasure went right back to playing on the phone.

At that exact moment, the pet egg gave another wobble.

Little Treasure snapped his head around to look over.

The pet egg stayed perfectly still, halting its rocking.

Little Treasure lowered his head to look back at the phone.

The pet egg began to rock once again.

"Xun... xun!"

Little Treasure whipped his head around.

The pet egg remained absolutely motionless.

"Xun... xun..."

Little Treasure finally chose to give up. He placed the phone back, materialized a black hole, crawled inside, and vanished from the room.

With a sharp crack, a fissure split open on the surface of the pet egg.

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T/n: I see familiar mc's on the previous chapters. Now I'm curious what's your current holy trinity reads? For me, my old one were Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Trash of the Count's Family, and Lord of the Mysteries (The action genre). My new one's are with Kim Soleum, Return of the Blossoming Blade, and then Debut or Die. 

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