Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Qiao Sang was stunned for a moment before she remembered that Yabao's second photoshoot hadn’t been completed.

She had thought it would start in mid-August, but only now did they reach out. If Song Yuan hadn’t called, she might have completely forgotten about it…

Qiao Sang quickly picked up her phone and answered, "Hello?"

"Qiao Sang, how’s the special training going?" Song Yuan’s voice came through the speaker.

"It’s going well." Qiao Sang replied.

"Good to hear. By the way, when do you have some free time soon? Our fall collection of sunglasses is ready, so let me know when you’re available, and I'll arrange the shoot." Song Yuan said, finally revealing the real reason for her call after some small talk.

"How about 6:30 tonight?" Qiao Sang asked.

"Perfect, I’ll set it up." Song Yuan replied happily.

---

18th Floor, Jin Entertainment Building

In the studio, under the spotlight.

"Perfect, absolutely perfect!" The photographer praised wildly, holding the camera as he snapped photos of Yabao, who was wearing rectangular red sunglasses.

"Yap." Yabao tilted his head and struck another pose.

"Great, just like that!" The photographer praised excitedly.

"This cyberpunk-tech-inspired sunglasses design was custom-made based on Flame Hound’s image. What do you think?" Song Yuan asked with a smile, looking at the Flames Hound wearing the futuristic shades.

The designers at the shop had nearly worked themselves into exhaustion finalizing this design, all to harness the traffic Flame Hound could bring in.

She was absolutely confident these sunglasses would be a hit!

"Very impressive." Qiao Sang genuinely complimented.

Compared to the pink heart-shaped sunglasses from last time, these matched Yabao much better.

At this moment, everyone was watching the Flame Hound under the spotlight. No one noticed a small blue head peeking out from Qiao Sang’s backpack, staring at Yabao intently.

Aqua-blue eyes reflected Yabao’s image.

"Lu lu..."

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Who would’ve thought he had a cool side too…

After the shoot ended, Song Yuan suggested, "To celebrate a successful shoot, why don’t we go out for dinner?"

Qiao Sang paused for two seconds, then replied, "I already ate before coming over."

Song Yuan: ...

"Alright."

Song Yuan said after a pause, then casually asked, "Are you short on money?"

How could she be, with a seven-figure balance in her bank account...

Qiao Sang thought to herself, but honestly replied, "Yes."

Truth be told, those seven figures were just an illusion, she really did need money.

Though her balance looked large, two-thirds of it was earmarked for Yabao and Little Treasure’s food, and now she had to add Water Luriana’s expenses too.

After subtracting various other costs, the money didn’t stretch very far.

Thankfully, she had a golden finger allowing her to evolve her beasts directly through attribute points without having to buy evolution materials.

Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to afford three pets.

"So, what do you think about us continuing to work together?" Song Yuan’s eyes lit up as she asked.

"Sure." Qiao Sang nodded.

Working with Song Yuan had been pleasant. When Yabao evolved early and breached their contract, she hadn’t used it as leverage, leaving Qiao Sang with a good impression of her.

Song Yuan took a deep breath, surprised by Qiao Sang's straightforwardness.

Many beastmasters, after gaining a bit of fame, would look down their noses at others and raise their rates. But Qiao Sang was still the same as before, unchanged.

For a moment, Song Yuan felt sentimental, after all, a newly minted beastmaster was different from a seasoned adult in the workforce.

While Song Yuan was deep in thought, Qiao Sang spoke up, "But I have two conditions."

"Go ahead." Song Yuan said seriously.

"First, I want to make sure Flame Hound's evolution won’t affect our contract terms during the contract period." Qiao Sang said.

"Of course."

Song Yuan smiled and assured her, "No need to worry. In fact, I'd be thrilled if he evolved during the contract period."

As the latest evolution of Fire Fang Dog, Flame Hound’s next stage would be highly anticipated.

If he could evolve during the contract period, her store would be guaranteed to profit.

"Second."

Qiao Sang said seriously, "I want a pay increase."

Song Yuan: "...Of course."

Forty minutes later, Qiao Sang walked out of the building, satisfied, with a million-a-year contract in hand.

---

Over the next two days, life continued as usual.

Yabao's resistance to dizziness showed significant improvement.

After spinning for half a day, he could stop without feeling unsteady, although he still struggled with combining spinning and shooting a fire whirl at the same time, it kept sputtering out halfway.

This was just because his skill with the fire whirl wasn’t yet perfected. Once he reached mastery, the counter-shield would work seamlessly.

As for Little Treasure, aside from spending three hours a day with the virtual helmet, he was mostly training his rings, and his routine had settled in.

Water Luriana, on the other hand, was giving Qiao Sang a headache.

After browsing countless online compilations of famous pet stars’ videos from the past century, she still hadn’t found one she liked.

It was confirmed that Water Luriana had exceptionally high standards.

---

September 1st, the first day of the school term for all high school students.

Qiao Sang got up early, washed, ate a piece of bread, and headed to school with a backpack containing Water Luriana.

Since there would be a lot of people on campus, Qiao Sang decided to keep a low profile by storing Yabao in the Beastmaster’s Codex.

Having spent all of August at Shengshui High School, she was quite familiar with the layout.

She headed straight to the notice board for freshman class placements.

She remembered Wang Yao mentioning that special admissions students were all assigned to Class Nine.

Class Nine…

Qiao Sang scanned the Class Nine list from top to bottom and paused.

Why wasn’t she on it?

Qiao Sang pondered for a moment, and then a memory surfaced.

Oh, right. Her mom had mentioned during a call for training that she’d been placed in the Elite Class...

Qiao Sang checked the Elite Class list and, sure enough, spotted her name in the 39th spot.

Grade 10, Class 1.

The Elite Class, or the Honors Class.

Students selected for this class had gone through a rigorous process. They were either guaranteed admissions, scored top marks on the entrance exam, or were exceptional talents among the special admissions.

In short, the class was full of geniuses.

Qiao Sang had thought that the academic stars in Shengshui High’s Elite Class would all be sitting quietly with books from home, waiting for the teacher’s arrival.

Instead, the classroom was a frenzy, with students chasing their pets around in utter chaos.

"White Sand Fox, don’t run away!"

"Whose Sand Digger Rat is this?! Why is it biting my Little Sand?"

"Green Claw Cat, give that guy his glasses back!"

"Oh no! Twin-headed Raven! Why is there a dark-type pet in our class?"

"Someone, please get this Fat Dove off my head!"

"Who owns this Short-Tail Snake? It’s crawling on me!"

"My hat’s floating! What on earth-”

Qiao Sang looked over, feeling a hunch, and touched her head. As expected, it was Little Treasure's…