The Divine Concealment Core’s primary function is to increase Meditation efficiency and help advance the Beast Taming Space. It’s not considered an especially powerful, high-grade resource.

However, because pure space cannot be generated on Blue Star itself, the Divine Concealment Core can only be produced in various Space Element Secret Realms, so it has never become widely available.

It was the kind of thing that top-tier experts didn’t need, but was quite difficult for rookies to obtain.

—And now, Su Zhi had gotten his hands on one.

With the boost from the Divine Concealment Core, his Beast Taming Space would now advance at a much faster rate. Before Yu Bao reached One-star, his Beast Taming Space should be able to reach Tier Two!

Su Zhi cradled the cool-to-the-touch Divine Concealment Core and looked at Yu Bao, a wave of emotions washing over him.

’As a Beast Tamer, I’m finally not going to be left in the dust by my own Pet Beast!’

Ever since awakening the Point-Adding Talent, Yu Bao had been progressing at an astonishing pace, leaving many opponents in the dust.

And had left him, the Beast Tamer, behind as well...

In reality, the Point-Adding Talent wasn’t a cure-all; it still depended on acquiring Points, and the number of Points was directly linked to the effort Yu Bao put in.

If Yu Bao hadn’t tirelessly worked to improve himself every day, constantly thinking about how to fight better in the next battle, it was hard to say how much stronger he would have become.

Because of this, Su Zhi had always felt a little uneasy.

He watched Yu Bao advance by leaps and bounds, while his own Beast Taming Space progressed at a snail’s pace.

If Yu Bao’s Real-time Energy Value reached the 2,000 mark while Su Zhi’s Beast Taming Space was still at Tier One, Yu Bao’s Energy Value would be temporarily capped.

Su Zhi had always felt anxious and guilty about this.

From now on... everything was different!

Su Zhi felt his vision suddenly blur.

"Whine?"

Yu Bao, who had been completely absorbed in his book, froze for a moment, then lifted his head and hurried to Su Zhi’s side.

"Whine! Whine!"

With a BLING BLING, Yu Bao scrambled onto Su Zhi’s shoulder and stuck out his tongue, licking away the tears that had welled up in the corners of his eyes.

’Don’t cry! Dad said real men don’t cry in front of others!’

"It’s nothing, I’m just happy," Su Zhi said with a soft smile, nuzzling Yu Bao in return.

Yu Bao panted happily, keeping a perfectly innocent smile on his face, pretending not to notice that Su Zhi had just wiped his tears and snot on him.

And that wasn’t the only reason Su Zhi was happy.

Tier One to Tier Three Beast Taming Spaces were levels that ordinary people could achieve through hard work alone.

Tier Four was the watershed moment. Reaching a Tier Four Beast Taming Space required the aid of an external resource—the boost from a Divine Concealment Core.

From now on, his path to a Tier Four Beast Taming Space would be completely unimpeded!

"I’m going to start meditating now. I’ll try to break through to a Tier Two Beast Taming Space as soon as possible and get you a bigger house."

Su Zhi lifted Yu Bao from his shoulder and sat cross-legged on the floor.

Yu Bao froze for a second, his gaze toward Su Zhi turning wary.

’My Beast Tamer is acting strange. I was nice enough to comfort him, but now he’s trying to out-grind me.’

’Damn it! I’ll grind too! Who’s afraid of a little competition!’

With a BLING, Yu Bao hopped onto the bed, spread open a textbook, and resumed absorbing knowledge.

Su Zhi sat cross-legged on the floor, placed the Divine Concealment Core before him, and began to meditate, saying no more.

Sure enough, this time the sensation of Meditation was clearer than ever before.

If before it had been like running through a dense fog, afraid to go too fast for fear of unseen obstacles, now it was as if someone had switched on a powerful searchlight!

Su Zhi had never experienced such a smooth Meditation session.

For that very reason, he seized the feeling, continuously focusing his consciousness according to the prescribed technique.

In the depths of his mind, the darkness surrounding his Beast Taming Space seemed to grow ever clearer.

Su Zhi suddenly grew curious.

’According to the textbooks, the Meditation Technique is supposed to illuminate more regions of the mind, allowing them to be absorbed by my Beast Taming Space.’

’So why am I just seeing pitch-black darkness...’

"Xiaoshu!"

His dad’s voice echoed from outside the room.

"Time to eat with Yu Bao, Xiaoshu! Xiaoya is here too!"

"Woof!"

Before Su Zhi could answer, Yu Bao responded first, shutting his book with a hind leg and, with a BLING, leaping off the bed.

In the grand scheme of things, nothing was more important than food.

A girl’s voice came from the doorway. "Is Su Baby in?"

"Woof." Yu Bao ran to the door, leaped up, and pressed down on the handle, opening it for Shao Ya.

Xiaoyue had come prepared. This time, she was nestled in Shao Ya’s arms, refusing to let the clumsy little dog get his way.

Then Shao Ya put him down on the floor.

Xiaoyue: "..."

Yu Bao: *Pant pant~*

Xiaoyue could only look on with an expression of resignation as Yu Bao nuzzled him. He’d been nuzzled so many times already; what was one more?

Shao Ya crouched down, resting her chin in her hands as she looked at Su Zhi. "Is Su Baby meditating?"

Su Zhi rolled his eyes. "Don’t call me Su Baby in my own house..."

"Su Baby, Su Baby, Su Baby~"

Su Zhi: "..."

"You must be hungry. Let’s eat first, okay?"

"Fine, let’s eat." Su Zhi decided not to argue with the childish girl, but he did need to eat. He had to be full to continue his grind against Yu Bao.

Su Zhi got up and put the Divine Concealment Core away. Xiaoyue had already been "escorted" to the dining room by Yu Bao, and Shao Ya turned to head there as well.

Just as he took a step, Su Zhi suddenly felt his body go limp.

It wasn’t the feeling of fatigue, but a numbness that felt as if all the nerves and blood were being siphoned from his body.

As the girl watched in astonishment, Su Zhi felt himself toppling backward.

Unable to speak, unable to breathe, his vision blurred.

The last thing he saw was the girl rushing desperately toward him, her arms outstretched...

...

...

When his consciousness returned, Su Zhi looked around.

All around him was nothing but endless darkness, as if he were in a universe before the birth of stars.

’Yu Bao? Shao Ya?’

’Dad? Mom?’

He couldn’t make a sound. There was no reply.

Yet, despite being in such dead silence and nothingness, Su Zhi felt no discomfort or fear.

On the contrary... he felt a sense of familiarity.

’Could this be my Beast Taming Space?’

Su Zhi frowned.

’Doesn’t seem like it.’

A Beast Taming Space was supposed to give a Pet Beast a feeling of warmth and security. Although this place didn’t frighten him, it was a far cry from warm and secure.

’Then where is this...’

As he pondered, a colossal, deep-blue pupil opened before him with horrifying suddenness.

It hardly seemed like the eye of a living creature, for no creature’s eye could be large enough to hold an entire city.

Only a colossal being with a body rivaling a planet could possess such an eye—one that made you feel utterly insignificant, because his limited vision couldn’t possibly take in the full scale of the behemoth!

And now, that terrifyingly massive pupil had locked onto him, and it was closing in fast!

With nowhere to retreat, Su Zhi instinctively clenched his fists, preparing to fight.

However, just as the giant eye was about to collide with him, a flash of purple light burst forth.

Everything before him blurred—

When he opened his eyes again, he was met with the lazy glow of dusk. Su Zhi felt a slight, ticklish pressure on his chest.

Yu Bao was lying on his chest, ears drooping, his button-like black eyes blinking as he stared down at him.

The instant he woke, a light sparked in Yu Bao’s eyes, and with a BLING, he pounced onto Su Zhi’s face.

"SLURP SLURP SLURP"

"I’m fine, stop licking, stop licking..."

Su Zhi propped himself up on his pillows and only then noticed the slight weight on his legs.

The girl was lying by his legs, her head pillowed on her arms, her bright white hair fanned out around her. She now lifted her head, her mouth slightly agape, her sapphire-blue eyes trembling as tears welled within them.

Before Su Zhi could say a word, Shao Ya let out a cry and threw her arms around him.

"You scared me to death!"

The girl in his arms burst into unrestrained sobs. "You wouldn’t wake up... I was so worried about you! *Sob*!"

The door banged open, and Wang Sujuan came pattering into the bedroom, followed by Su Mao—who was still clutching a half-chopped carrot in his hand.

"What on earth happened to you at noon, Xiaoshu?"

"Xiaoshu! How are you feeling now? Are you okay?"

His parents sat anxiously on the edge of the bed, their eyes red-rimmed.

For a moment, the entire family was crowded onto the small single bed, with Su Zhi completely surrounded in the middle.

"Relax, relax, I’m fine!"

Su Zhi gently patted the girl’s shoulder, touching his forehead as he tried to recall what happened. "I was practicing Meditation to train my Beast Taming Space, but I suddenly passed out right after. Then I had a nightmare... and then I woke up."

"Ah... as long as you’re okay."

Su Mao let out a sigh of relief. "After you fainted, we were all too scared to move you, worried we might accidentally aggravate an injury or something."

"It was Xiaoya who had the presence of mind to call a doctor. We only started to relax after the doctor examined you and said there was nothing seriously wrong."

"You’ve probably been under too much stress from the competition these last couple of days. You were just exhausted."

Wang Sujuan muttered as she wiped away her tears, "You have to balance work and rest! Don’t push yourself so hard all the time!"

Su Mao put his hands in his pockets. "Weren’t you the one who kept telling Xiaoshu to go, go, go..."

Wang Sujuan shot Su Mao a glare.

Su Mao fell silent, looking down to fiddle with his carrot with a wronged expression.

Noticing Su Zhi’s strange expression, Wang Sujuan quickly asked, "What is it, Xiaoshu? Do you feel unwell?"

"No."

Su Zhi’s eyes lit up, his voice filled with an irrepressible joy.

"My Beast Taming Space... I think it just reached Tier Two."

Shao Ya instantly went from tears to a smile, her eyes sparkling as she looked up. "Really?"

"Yeah!"

Su Zhi looked at Yu Bao and recalled him into his Beast Taming Space.

When he summoned Yu Bao again, the Beast Taming Light Array had changed from pale white to silver—the very sign of a Tier Two Beast Taming Space!

Su Mao immediately heaved a long sigh of relief, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

"I was so worried something was wrong, but this is great news! That’s my boy, Xiaoshu! Dad’s going to go make you something delicious!"

’I didn’t really do anything...’ Su Zhi thought. He nodded and smiled at the burly, aproned figure. "Yeah!"

"Perfect. Now I have an excuse to skip this afternoon’s update."

Su Zhi: "..."

Su Mao pulled on Wang Sujuan’s sleeve, whispering, "Juan’er, let’s go, let’s go."

"Stop pulling me. What’s the rush..."

"What do you think? We should give the kids some space."

"Oh, right... Good point!"

"Woof."

"See? Even Yu Bao gets it."

His parents whispered to each other as they furtively exited the room, turning back with knowing, teasing smiles on their faces.

’Go for it, Xiaoshu!’

Su Mao gave him an energetic thumbs-up, then pulled the door shut.

Su Zhi: "......"

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