After the video finished playing, Qiao Sang asked, âDid you see one you like?â
âLu lu!â
Water Luriana shook her head vigorously like a rattling drum.
Seeing this, Qiao Sang wasnât ready to give up. She picked up her phone, preparing to search for other videos of famous pet beasts.
Just then, Water Luriana pressed her paw against the phone screen.
âWhatâs wrong?â Qiao Sang looked up, puzzled.
âLu lu?â
Water Lurianaâs expression was one of confusion, curious as to why Qiao Sang was showing her these videos when theyâd agreed to focus on training to grow stronger.
Although Qiao Sang couldnât understand what Water Luriana was saying, after raising Yabao and Little Treasure for a while, she had gotten somewhat used to interpreting her petsâ emotions from their expressions.
Of course, she wasnât exactly sure how accurate her guesses wereâŠ
âAre you asking me why Iâm showing you this?â Qiao Sang ventured.
âLu lu.â Water Luriana nodded.
Great, I guessed rightâŠ
Qiao Sang explained, âIf you want to get stronger, the most effective method is to evolve. I looked it up, and if you want to evolve, you need to experience the feeling of heartbreak on a rainy day. The surge of emotions will help trigger your evolution.â
âLu luâŠâ
Water Luriana looked shocked, clearly stunned by the bizarre requirements for her evolution.
âThatâs why Iâm showing you these videos, to see what type of pet beast you might like.â Qiao Sang said.
âLu luâŠâ
Water Luriana looked lost, having never thought about such things.
When Yabao finished his training for the day, he was greeted by the sight of his trainer and Water Luriana with their heads close together, watching videos on a phone.
âHow about this one?â Qiao Sang asked.
âLu lu.â Water Luriana shook her head.
âWhat about this one?â Qiao Sang continued.
âLu lu.â Water Luriana shook her head again.
âYap?â
Yabaoâs head leaned in, curious about what they were watching.
âLu lu!â
Before Qiao Sang could answer, Water Luriana let out a panicked cry and immediately dashed toward the courtyard as a flash of blue light.
Qiao Sang: ???
Yabao: ???
âDid you scare her?â Qiao Sang muttered after a moment of confusion.
âYapâŠâ Yabao shook his head, equally puzzled.
That old pet beast didnât seem like the type to get scared so easilyâŠ
---
August 29th
Qiao Sang woke up early, not from her biological clock but because Little Treasure was pestering her awake.
âWhatâs up?â She asked, still groggy but in a good mood.
âXun!â
âXun xun!â
Little Treasure held a ring in both claws, eagerly showing it to her.
Qiao Sangâs eyes flew open, and she shot up in bed, exclaiming, âDid you master Will-o'-the-Wisp?!â
âXun xun!â
Little Treasure nodded enthusiastically. He tossed the ring into the air, where it hovered, with a ghostly green flame flickering at its center.
He really did it!
Qiao Sang gazed at the cold, eerie flame within the ring, feeling a bit dazed.
She remembered researching how long it usually took for a Treasure-Seeking Ghost to master Will-o'-the-Wisp.
The unanimous answer was around three months, and for those with lower aptitude, it could take twice as long to fully absorb the materials and produce Will-o'-the-Wisp from the ring.
Yet her Little Treasure had managed it in less than 20 days.
That level of talent was unheard ofâŠ
On reflection, though, it made sense that Little Treasure mastered Will-o'-the-Wisp so quickly.
After all, he had even learned advanced shadow control skills just by playing with a virtual helmet, so speeding up his Will-o'-the-Wisp training seemed minor in comparison.
With that in mind, Qiao Sang couldnât help but smile.
âWow, mastering it in such a short time.â
She praised him with a grin, âEven older Treasure-Seeking Ghosts arenât as impressive as you.â
âXun xun~â
Little Treasure scratched his head bashfully, shy from the compliment.
âNow that you have Will-o'-the-Wisp, itâs time for the next step.â Qiao Sang continued.
âYou need to use Will-o'-the-Wisp to train the ring and eventually split it into two, like this.â
She then searched for short videos on how Treasure-Seeking Ghosts could use Will-o'-the-Wisp to train their ring and showed them to him.
Short videos, known for their interactive and entertaining nature, spread rapidly among young people. Many trainers uploaded videos of their petsâ training sessions to gain followers.
Just searching the keywords brought up tons of options, with numerous apps devoted to short videos. The most popular one, called
YuYu
, was filled with all kinds of pet-related content.
Qiao Sang found a Treasure-Seeking Ghosts training video on
YuYu
and clicked on it.
In the first video, the Treasure-Seeking Ghost on screen wore the ring on its head, eyes closed, with two short toes together in front of it.
In the next moment, the entire ring ignited with a ghostly green flame.
Why does that pose look so much like performing a ritual?
Qiao Sang thought, amused, as she scrolled to the next video.
In this one, the Treasure-Seeking Ghost spun the flaming ring on its toes.
Then, as if that wasnât enough, it tossed the ring up, catching it on another toe to keep it spinning.
Well, thatâs practically acrobaticsâŠ
Qiao Sang gave up and turned to Little Treasure, saying, âBasically, you just need to ignite the entire ring with Will-o'-the-Wisp like in the video. When you reach a certain threshold, you should start to feel the ring splitting into two.â
âXun xun!â
Little Treasure nodded, face full of determination.
---
After washing up and having breakfast, Qiao Sang went out as usual, only to notice that people were staring at her more than usual.
Before, people had been curious about Little Treasure, sneaking glances at him. But today, everyone she passed openly gawked, with nearly everyone snapping photos with their phones.
Some people even hung up their calls to start recording.
Qiao Sangâs heart skipped a beat.
Did Water Luriana somehow poke her head out of the backpack?
She quickly turned the bag around.
The zipper was only slightly open, revealing nothing of Water Lurianaâs presence from the outside.
Relieved, Qiao Sang wondered,
If they canât see Water Luriana, why are they acting like theyâve seen something unusual? Could Yabao have suddenly become more handsome?
âYapâŠâ
Yabao also thought he might be the center of attention. Head held high, he strutted proudly down the street.
Neither of them realized that the real spectacle was Little Treasure, who was resting on Qiao Sangâs head with his eyes closed, two toes pressed together, while his ring burned with eerie ghost fire.
Just as Qiao Sang was pondering the sudden attention, her phone vibrated.
Who would call her now?
She glanced at the screen: Song Yuan.