He took out the oil lamp that had been gathering dust for a long time, poured Sheltering Eye Oil into it, put on a raincoat, and also put a raincoat on his sister. Then, grabbing a shovel, he went out.
He tied his sister to himself with a rope, got on his bicycle, and headed towards the Muye Plain. Randomly, he found a spot, dug a hole, and buried his sister Li Anle in it.
This was the countermeasure Li Cunxu came up with against the mysterious figure who extracted the Forbidden Spirit Nail.
Since the target was Li Anle, the plan was to hide Li Anle by burying her in the ground so the mysterious figure couldn't find her.
Li Anle pleaded in a voice filled with pity, "Brother, please don't bury me in the ground; I'm afraid of the dark."
"Which of your personalities is speaking, little liar? Blood? Evil? Malice? Demon? The real Li Anle isn't afraid of the dark. She loves the dark. When we played around on the bed as kids, she always pulled the curtains and turned off the lights to play in the darkness." Li Cunxu reminisced fondly.
People have different preferences; some like to sleep with the lights off, while others need the lights on to fall asleep.
Li Anle's preferences were slightly unusual; she loved darkness and disliked the light.
"I'm sorry, sister. I lack the ability to protect you, so this is my desperate measure to keep you safe."
Li Cunxu gently kissed her forehead and placed her favorite teddy bear in her arms.
"Forgive my helplessness, sister."
What responded to Li Cunxu was the evil personality of Li Anle, clearly unforgiving, as she unleashed a string of vile curses.
In short, the curses were unpleasant, cursing everyone's ancestors—and best left unrepeated.
He filled the soil back into the hole, carefully replaced the sod he had set aside, and with the cover of heavy rain and Muye Plain's year-round lushness, by tomorrow, the spot would be overgrown and no one would discover that a person was buried there.
As for whether Li Anle, buried in the soil, might suffocate from lack of oxygen or starve to death?
No need to worry about that.
Li Anle wouldn't die.
Li Anle's monstrous constitution was almost at an immortal level; even being thrown into lava wouldn't burn her to death.
Speaking of which, would it be safer to toss her into lava?
Li Cunxu shook his head. Throwing her into lava was too extreme. Lava flows, making it hard to retrieve anything later, and besides, there aren't any volcanoes near Tongdu.
Li Anle was resilient but not truly immortal; a King Beastmaster could kill her outright. Before he died, their father instructed Li Cunxu to hand Li Anle over to the League for elimination by the King, but the original didn't agree and kept his sister.
What happened back then was unclear to Li Cunxu. His father only said, "The truth is too significant; knowing it could get you killed."
But just because his father didn't reveal it, that didn't mean he couldn't investigate on his own.
Back then, first, his sister vanished mysteriously. His mother went to search for her, then she vanished too. Finally, their father went out to look for both mother and sister.
The father returned with the sister, having lost an arm, but he didn't bring back their mother. The sister returned, but changed into the ghostly figure she was now.
Li Cunxu shook the rain off his hair, "I need to get stronger and grasp power quickly."
Li Cunxu decided to use the incomplete contract slot for a pet.
The incomplete contract slot could only contract with a pet beast of very weak life potential.
Green Fluff Worms, Red Weak Carp, Slimes... all were suitable choices.
These pet beasts weren't sold in Pet Beast Stores, as selling such weak pets would harm their reputation and brand image.
Green Fluff Worms usually appear in forests. Since Tongdu is a plain area with few forests, it's not a good choice.
The Red Weak Carp is a water-type beast, commonly found in lakes and rivers. Tongdu has many lakes and rivers, but catching a Red Weak Carp requires fishing tools, like a rod or net. Li Cunxu wasn't an angler and had none of these tools. Also, the water's edge is dangerous; if a water pet dragged him in, even his oil lamp couldn't protect him. That was not a good choice either.
Slime, then?
"Slime it is! Rainy days are a time of rejoicing for Slimes."
In the rain, numerous Slimes are birthed by nature.
The principle seemed to be that heavy rain brought a torrent of water-type spiritual energy, and in such a densely charged environment, semi-elemental creatures like Slimes naturally emerged.
Li Cunxu, holding the oil lamp, ventured into the rain curtains of the Muye Plain.
The bright light of the lamp dispelled the surrounding darkness and danger.
As long as the Sheltering Oil Lamp was lit at night, no extraordinary creature near Tongdu could harm its bearer.
While searching for a suitable Slime, Li Cunxu was pleasantly surprised to find his game panel intact.
Unfortunately, the game panel was a limited version, only usable for viewing information on himself and unowned pet beasts, with the crucial experience point feature stripped away.
The process of catching a Slime was fraught with thrills but ultimately harmless.
A Pasture Wolf, unique to the Muye Plain, instead of staying home in the rain, set its sights on Li Cunxu. However, it was intimidated by the light from the Sheltering Oil Lamp and didn't dare to approach.
The Sheltering Oil Lamp's fuel included tears from a Flame-Eyed Lion, which exuded the aura of an advanced pet beast.
The Pasture Wolf feared the aura of the advanced pet beast, yet couldn't resist the alluring feast before it, lingering around.
Having just buried his sister, Li Cunxu was in a foul mood and cursed a few times.
Perhaps sensing Li Cunxu's calm arrogance, the Pasture Wolf retreated.
Li Cunxu breathed a sigh of relief. Although the Sheltering Oil Lamp protected him from the Pasture Wolf, having a calf-sized wolf with its glowing green eyes staring was unsettling.
With the help of his information panel ability, Li Cunxu captured three Slimes with decent talent amid the rain. In reality, he saw many Slimes with passable talent, but he couldn't catch all of them with just two hands.
Choosing a pet beast wasn't just about talent but also about species and potential.
Considering potential? It could be ignored; Slimes had practically no potential.
No matter how high a Slime's potential, it could reach no higher than Bronze.
At a glance, all their potential was Iron Rank.
"Which Slime should I choose as the contract creature?" Li Cunxu was somewhat conflicted.
"This one has a purple talent, 'Spiritual Energy Spring,' a Water Slime."
"Or this one, with a blue talent, 'Growth Aura,' a Water Slime."
"Or this one, with a green talent, 'Digestion,' a Grass Slime."
[Talent]: Spiritual Energy Spring
[Rank]: Purple Epic
[Effect]: In a peaceful environment without disturbance, it can quickly recover its spiritual energy.
[Note]: This talent cannot be activated in battle.
With an extremely strong mana regeneration talent, it could employ alternate tactics during beast battles to fully utilize its talent.
The alternate tactic would first let the pet beast with the Spiritual Energy Spring fight. Before the second round starts, use the match's intermission rule that allows exchange of pet beasts, retract the pet beast with the Spiritual Energy Spring into the Beast Taming Space to restore its energy. Once recovered enough, send it out again for the third round, repeating the process for continuous sustenance.