"A pig costs a hundred thousand."
"A chicken costs three hundred thousand!"
"My personal suggestion is to buy the chicken."
"If you don't have money in hand, you can purchase through our Beast Sale Loan, with an annual interest rate of just twenty-six percent."
"You're still young, the future is limitless. Once you have your first combat pet and become a Beastmaster, you can change your destiny, win the favor of female Beastmasters, and reach the pinnacle of life."
"Of course, if you need a stronger Spirit Beast, you only need to verify funds of five hundred thousand to enter the auction."
At the pet sales section, a woman in professional attire passionately delivered her pitch, showing a meticulously calculated 37-degree smile while looking at Lin Chen, who was bewildered in the wind.
Lin Chen was indeed shocked; he never thought there would be a day when his perception of prices would be completely overturned.
Not to mention the issue of chickens being more expensive than pigs, the thing he couldn't accept was having to take out a loan to buy a chicken.
"I expected it to be expensive, but not this expensive."
As Lin Chen came back to his senses, he heaved a deep sigh, memories gently surfacing.
He was a transmigrant, having traveled to this strange world, Blue Star, after dying from a terminal illness.
Here, one could originally cultivate Spiritual Qi and prove the Dao to become immortal, with the Human Race at its peak.
Until the Late Taichu, when the Spiritual Qi of Blue Star waned, humans could no longer cultivate normally. The Postnatal Dao Mutation allowed Spirit Beasts, which originally couldn't evolve, to evolve.
At this point, the great path struggle between humans and demons began, with the Demon Race rising to power and the Human Race declining, and Blue Star soon to be controlled by the beasts, with human habitats being extremely compressed.
Humans forged a new path, opening Beast Taming Spaces through meditation, allowing them to contract Spirit Beasts for combat.
After thousands of years of struggle, humans and beasts gradually reached a balance, and Demon Beasts discovered mutual benefits from contracting with humans.
Contracted Spirit Beasts were no longer called slaves, but combat partners. Human cultivators were renamed Beastmasters, thus Blue Star began the Celestial Beast Era.
In this world, the coming-of-age ceremony at eighteen involves contracting with a Spirit Beast, serving as a ticket to the working world.
Lin Chen glanced at his nearly empty pocket and said, "I want to buy a Semi-Support Class one."
Spirit Beasts are divided into three categories:
Combat System, Semi-Support System, and Pure Support System.
Combat System Spirit Beasts mainly use their skills in combat.
Semi-Support System Spirit Beasts have slightly weaker combat power, with skills that can assist Beastmasters or be used in daily life.
Pure Support System Spirit Beasts deal with mental, healing, and other aspects.
In this world, everyone wants a lifetime of glory, so combat pets are mainstream, leading to extremely high prices for them.
The vast majority of ordinary people can't afford combat pets and are immersed in the dream crafted by capitalists, so many have no choice but to take out loans.
In this world, fifty percent of adults live under loans.
The female salesperson saw Lin Chen not falling for it and persistently spoke again:
"Are you sure you've thought it over?"
"The first Spirit Beast in life is crucial. Combat System Spirit Beasts are often more favored by women and..."
"I'm sure," Lin Chen interrupted, casting his spell.
"Alright." The female salesperson, while taking out another Spirit Beast catalog, pretended to unintentionally continue promoting the shop's Fighting Rooster:
"If you nurture a basic Spirit Beast well, it can also evolve into an Immortal Beast, just like the Fighting Rooster I just introduced to you. It contains 0.0001% Phoenix Blood. If you're lucky..."
"Thank you," Lin Chen interrupted her spell for the second time.
Chickens are more expensive than pigs because they've got that Phoenix bloodline, no matter how minuscule.
Of course, combat pets are naturally the best, but he can't afford them, nor can he sustain them.
You think getting a loan to buy a beast is the end, but it's only just the beginning.
Combat pets are usually very picky about their food, consume a lot, and are harder to upgrade, costing ten times more to nurture than a Semi-Support Class one.
Hence, this world not only has Beast Sale Loans but also Beast Rearing Loans and so on.
Lin Chen, being orphaned, received a twenty thousand inheritance, but the money isn't much and quickly dwindles.
In his past life on Earth, Lin Chen was a stock data analyst, already sensitive to money. Over the years, he wore out books like the "Beast Taming Treasure Manual," concluding:
No money for Beast Taming means a dead end.
The first Spirit Beast should be a manageable Support System; when you have money, get a Combat System for the second Spirit Beast.
"What type are you looking for?" the female salesperson started flipping through the catalog.
"Diligent, easy to nurture..." Lin Chen clearly stated his goal.
Everyone wants a Spirit Beast like that...
The female salesperson internally rolled her eyes but professionally said, "What you're describing fits the cattle type best."
Lin Chen thought the same.
As an analyst, he's sensitive to data. His research in several books showed that Beastmasters with cattle-type Spirit Beasts have the lowest debt ratios.
Because cattle can till the fields, and in this Beast Taming world, both humans and beasts have large appetites.
The female salesperson remembered something and advised, "You should still choose based on your innate talent."
The so-called talent is the divinity of the Beastmaster.
When opening the Beast Taming Space, Beastmasters awaken a divine talent. The names and abilities vary, but they generally fall into four categories:
First, Feedback Return: While Spirit Beasts grow stronger, Beastmasters benefit as well. This divinity is common among Beastmasters, but some awaken this special talent, able to receive unique skills from Spirit Beasts or multiplier returns in cultivation. These talented Beastmasters usually have stronger personal abilities.
More than ninety-nine percent of Beastmasters fall into this talent category.
Besides these, there are some special mutation talents, but they are extremely rare.
Second, Human-Beast Unity: Beastmasters and Spirit Beasts team up for combined skills, usable when both reach satisfactory strength and harmony in the later stages.
Third, Beast Taming Enhancement: Beastmasters can enhance a Spirit Beast's abilities through their own talents, helping strengthen them. Beastmasters with this talent often have more powerful Spirit Beasts, though it's rare.
Fourth, Beast Forge Weapon: Spirit Beasts can attach to Beastmasters, becoming their weapons. This is somewhat like a dark art and is the hardest to come by.
Lin Chen's pupils flickered with a light upon hearing this and asked, "I remember there are free Meditation Stones available in the store, right?"
"You haven't opened your Beast Taming Space yet?" The female salesperson was stunned, quickly realizing Lin Chen was here just to use a free Meditation Stone.
These aren't expensive outside, only costing a hundred bucks.
But a lot of people come to get free Meditation Stones, as most are ordinary people, saving wherever they can.
The female salesperson didn't look down on Lin Chen; instead, she swiftly brought over a Meditation Stone, instructing Lin Chen on its use, and took him to a private room.
Lin Chen thanked her, holding a rugged Meditation Stone in his palm, biting his fingertip, and letting a drop of blood fall on the stone.
"Crack!"
The surface of the Meditation Stone split with web-like cracks, a mist of azure blue seeping from the crevices and wrapping around his wrist like a snake.
A chill pierced into his bone marrow, and his vision suddenly distorted.
Lin Chen could feel a space gradually opening within his mind.
As the space expanded and took shape, a sudden change arose; a white light flashed...
Lin Chen was expectant, having waited long for this moment.
As the white light gradually subsided, a golden compendium appeared in his mind, while a torrent of information flooded his brain:
Bloodline Golden Hand.
"?"
Lin Chen was surprised, the first thought crossing his mind:
Golden touch, turning stones into gold.
He wanted to make money, but how does this relate to Beast Taming?