The next day,
"In short, that's roughly the situation. Everyone doesn't need to do anything else these days, just focus on meditation."
"Yes, but there should always be two people on standby at the rescue station; there are likely to be more emergencies during this period."
"Let's start with Yang Song and Dong Rong today."
"The earlier one becomes a Beastmaster, the more attention they attract from above."
"If I can join the Beast Taming Academy, maybe I can benefit from it in the future."
"Lastly, don't rush to tell your relatives and friends; wait for notification from the higher-ups first."
As he walked out of the meeting room, Chen Yuan's mind echoed with the leader's speech, while the colleagues around him were still talking animatedly.
"Wow, those people online really guessed it right; it's truly the Spiritual Energy Revival!" Zhang Hao, who had started working the same year as Chen Yuan, was visibly excited, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Becoming a Beastmaster through meditation and then contracting Extraordinary Creatures doesn't sound too difficult," another colleague remarked.
"I told you, my family's ox has grown two or three times larger recently, and its appearance has changed a lot; turns out it's evolved into an Extraordinary Creature."
"Old Wang, you need to hurry up and become a Beastmaster and contract your ox."
"Makes sense, makes sense. I'm going back to meditate."
After some discussion, the group, eager to get started, left one after another.
"Yuan, aren't you going back to meditate?" Zhang Hao asked as he saw Chen Yuan standing still.
Chen Yuan smiled, "I'm heading back soon."
Zhang Hao nodded, then lowered his voice, "Yuan, I heard you caught a Fire-breathing Bird the other day. Looks like that's an Extraordinary Creature."
Chen Yuan nodded, "Yes."
Zhang Hao glanced around out of the corner of his eye, lowering his voice even further, "That bird must be something special. You better contract it quickly to avoid any unnecessary complications."
Chen Yuan smiled, "Okay, you should hurry up too."
After exchanging a few more words, Zhang Hao quickly left the rescue station while Chen Yuan followed suit.
"First, it was Xiang Wenhao's teachers who were informed, then their students, then the students' relatives, and now it's our turn, the grassroots cadres."
"It makes sense. With the Spiritual Energy Revival and world changes, if everything was made public to the whole society from the start, it would likely cause chaos."
"Taking it step by step is the best solution."
In the past couple of days, Chen Yuan had also been collecting information online and discovered that the officials from various countries remained silent, letting the public speculate on their own.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, he headed towards the eastern part of the village.
Xuanhe Village was particularly lively these past few days. Some villagers were outsmarting and competing with their evolving livestock, others were busy with sickles cutting weeds, and some were following the village chief on patrol around the village perimeter.
Recently, wild animals had been occasionally wandering into the village, such as several-meter-long snakes or furious Wild Boars, so the village chief had to bring strong villagers, along with a pack of Chinese Village Dogs, to patrol the area.
Among this pack, one had already successfully evolved into a Gale Hunting Dog, larger than Cola.
This Gale Hunting Dog was the Dog King of the village, frequently leading a pack of dogs across various corners of Xuanhe Village, taking over the countryside, and becoming every passerby's nightmare.
Walking through the village roads, it wasn't long before he arrived in front of a two-story house, and he called towards the pigsty behind the house:
"Uncle Zhao, has your pig eaten yet?"
After a while,
a middle-aged man wearing a straw hat, clad in cheap work clothes, and wearing rubber boots quickly walked out with a tired smile on his face, "Yes, it has."
He pursed his lips and wore a slightly strange expression, "It's just that its appetite is quite frightening."
"Being able to eat is a good thing," Chen Yuan nodded, "Can I take a look inside?"
"Of course, of course," Uncle Zhao stepped aside, leading Chen Yuan into the pigsty.
The smell of the pigsty needed no further mention, but Chen Yuan didn't mind it too much. He simply looked forward—the pigsty was divided into two sections. In a corner on the left were four ordinary domestic pigs curled up, and on the right stood an exceptionally large one, covered all over with a gray cuticle layer resembling steel, with a long tail like a whip, an Extraordinary Creature.
Chen Yuan estimated roughly that this domestic pig stood at least a meter tall and over two meters long, and its jet-black eyes exuded a strong sense of pressure.
"It's eaten over ten pounds of feed today and three watermelons," Uncle Zhao's voice sounded next to his ear, his eyes filled with a deep grievance.
"At this rate, it will eat me out of house and home."
Chen Yuan consoled, "Don't worry. With its current appearance, it might sell for a higher price."
"Perhaps," Uncle Zhao sighed.
"Uncle Zhao, can I observe it up close?"
"That would be best."
Hearing this, Chen Yuan opened the iron gate, entered the pigsty, quietly approached the rear of the pig, and slowly extended his right hand.
Compared to the other domestic pigs, this one's body was very clean, without any unpleasant odor, so Chen Yuan had no psychological barriers about reaching out his hand.
The pig apparently hadn't noticed the hand approaching from behind, as it continued lowering its head, devouring the watermelon on the ground with coarse and unsightly eating manners, occasionally emitting grunting sounds.
Chen Yuan successfully touched the steel-like gray skin.
[First time collecting a Gray-armored Wild Boar, Source Point +1]
[Race: Gray-armored Wild Boar
Attribute: Earth
Level: 1 (Tier One)
Favorability: 10
Skills: Earth Step (Basic 0.1/3)+
Quality: Ordinary
Promotion to Elite Quality Conditions: Insufficient Source Points (2.1/5)]
...
After parting ways with Uncle Zhao, Chen Yuan went to Mrs. Liu's home, touched a fully evolved Ghostly Sheep, and earned another Source Point.
Subsequently, Chen Yuan hurried to the coworker's house, who claimed his ox had evolved, touched the Boba Ox, and gained a Source Point.
As a result, Chen Yuan's Source Points instantly reached 4.1, leaving only one more point needed to unlock the advancement method.
Unfortunately, even after searching the village for a long time, Chen Yuan didn't find more Extraordinary Creatures. Instead, he encountered several animals in the process of evolving.
"Don't rush; it's only the second day," Chen Yuan quietly told himself.
With this thought, Chen Yuan returned to his farm by dusk.
"Kaka."
He squinted slightly, suddenly noticing the Steel-headed Ground Rat from yesterday was busy digging in the wasteland, sometimes burrowing into the ground, other times leaping out.
When it had finished its work, it scampered over to the shade of a nearby large tree, where Chen Weiyi had already been waiting, offering a slice of watermelon.
Thus, person and pet exchanged a smile, and in unison, lowered their heads to eat watermelon.
The setting sun cast a golden glow over them, drawing shadows that reflected in Chen Yuan's eyes.
Chen Yuan smiled.
"Spiritual Energy Revival might not be such a bad thing," he thought.
In the past few days, many conflicts between citizens and Extraordinary Creatures had occurred nationwide, with even some injuries among the people, greatly triggering a resistance towards Extraordinary Creatures.
Yet, in countless nooks and crannies, in many unknown places, people were peacefully coexisting with Extraordinary Creatures.