Gu Ming returned home with his two pets.
When his parents saw him bring back a Fish Pet, they both gave him a strange look.
"Gu Ming, why did you bring another Pet Beast home? You didn't form a contract with a second pet, did you?"
"No, this is a Pet Beast I'm temporarily fostering. It's being cared for with resources from the shop."
Gu Ming briefly explained the shop's policy on fostering elderly Pet Beasts.
His parents breathed a silent sigh of relief. 'Good, he didn't form a contract with a second Pet Beast.'
Since Gu Ming had already formed a contract with one pet, he still had the chance to get a second. At most, it would just require spending some extra resources to expand the capacity of his Sea of Spiritual Consciousness.
His parents had been saving for over a decade and had factored in unexpected risks, so this was still within their means.
"Um… Gu Ming, come over here. We want to talk to you."
Gu Ming first put the Fish Tank in his room, then came back out. "What is it?"
"Tomorrow is your birthday. We've talked it over, and the Little Cyan Snake's potential is just too low.
"Why don't we cash that ten-million check today and buy a Spiritual Expansion Elixir? That way, you can form a contract with a second, high-potential Pet Beast."
Mrs. Gu pulled her son down into a seat and held his hand. She had a pained expression, as if it hurt her to say it, but she still wanted her son to have a shot at a better future.
But Gu Ming was instantly on his guard.
'If something seems amiss, there's usually a catch.'
Given his parents' gambling addiction, he knew their real interest wasn't in the medicine, but in the money itself.
'Ostensibly, it was about buying a Spirit Medicine, but in reality, they were just after the money.'
"No. I won't let you two waste this money. Don't even think about taking a single cent to gamble," Gu Ming said, shaking his head firmly.
Mrs. Gu gave a wry smile.
"Gu Ming, we're not joking. This money is for you. Your college entrance exams are coming up soon. No matter how foolish we can be, we would never gamble with your future."
Gu Ming's expression turned cold. He pulled his hand away from his mother's, not buying their act for a second.
"Stop kidding around. How many times have you promised you wouldn't gamble again? You said you'd save money to buy a Pet Beast, but then you gambled it all away in less than a week.
"Now you're trying the same routine. Do you really think I'm going to believe you?"
Mrs. Gu's expression instantly darkened.
Behind her, Mr. Gu opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.
He realized it, too; no matter what they said, their son wouldn't believe them.
That if they had money, they would only gamble it away—this was the impression the two of them had left on their son.
The couple exchanged a look, wondering if they should summon their own Pet Beasts to prove their innocence. 'The truth is, our family still has twenty million in savings. We can afford to take this hit.'
After all, no matter what they said now, they couldn't convince their son to trust their decision.
Just then, not wanting to make the family atmosphere too tense, Gu Ming relented slightly.
"It's not that I'm trying to hoard all this money for myself; I'm just worried you'll blow it all.
"How about we use one-fifth of the money to improve our family's quality of life, and the rest can be spent on Pet Beast cultivation expenses?"
Out of ten million, two million would be for improving their lives, and the rest would be for cultivation.
Eight million for a Pet Beast sounded like a lot.
But if he took the route of lavishly raising the Little Cyan Snake, eight million would only last him until he graduated from college—it wasn't that much in the grand scheme of things.
'In truth, the money itself wasn't that important anymore.'
'After figuring out the true purpose of his system, Gu Ming had plenty of opportunities to produce Spirit Stones.'
'Besides, he needed something to cover up the origin of all the extra resources he was about to acquire.'
'This eight million was the perfect way to disguise his ability to obtain Cultivation Resources through the system.'
'Therefore, he couldn't spend the eight million all at once, which meant forgetting about that so-called Spiritual Expansion Elixir for now.'
'With the system on his side, spending the money slowly and steadily was the most suitable path for him.'
While Gu Ming was busy with his own calculations, his parents were so moved by his careful planning that their eyes turned red.
'Even at a time like this, he's still thinking about improving our family's lives.'
Mr. and Mrs. Gu were deeply moved, their hearts full of guilt.
But being moved was one thing; there was no way the two of them would let their son take the college entrance exams with only the Little Cyan Snake.
'Hadn't they scrimped and saved resources for over a decade precisely so their son could soar to greatness?'
'Now that they had reached this point, they had to continue investing in him, to ensure he didn't crash before he even took off.'
Mr. Gu cleared his throat and said,
"Gu Ming, back when your grandfather used to go hunting in the mountains, he found a bird's nest.
"We don't know its Star Level, but it's definitely much better than the Little Cyan Snake.
"As long as you use that ten million to buy the Spirit Medicine and form a contract with a second Pet Beast, it won't matter if our family has to struggle a bit.
"With your grades, as long as your Pet Beast has enough potential, you can definitely get into a Top Ten university. Our family can't pass up this opportunity."
Just then, the Little Cyan Snake woke up.
It had been sleeping motionlessly in its master's shirt pocket. Listening to the conversation, it remained silent.
Its once bright and lively eyes grew dim with confusion.
'My master's parents... they don't seem to like me.'
It felt a little sad.
'I wonder what Master will choose.'
It knew its master would have a second Pet Beast someday, but hearing his parents, it sounded like it was completely unimportant. The thought made it miserable.
'Am I so disposable?'
As a Beastmaster, Gu Ming immediately sensed his Pet Beast stirring and the shift in its emotions.
"That's enough. Right now, I only want to train the Little Cyan Snake."
Gu Ming stated this resolutely, leaving no room for his parents to mistakenly believe the matter was negotiable.
"I'm in charge of the family finances. You promised me this yourselves the one-hundredth time you gambled everything away.
"So that's that. The discussion is over. One-fifth will go to improving our family's life, the money will be deposited into my account, and the rest will be used to cultivate my Pet Beast."
After saying his piece, Gu Ming didn't give his parents a chance to respond. He simply turned and returned to his room.
Hearing this from inside the pocket, the Little Cyan Snake was stunned.
'It had never imagined its master would defend it so fiercely.'
The Little Cyan Snake could feel how important it was to its master.
It was deeply moved, and the rims of its eyes reddened slightly.
Back in his room, Gu Ming took out the Little Cyan Snake and stroked its head.
"Don't listen to them. Now that you're part of this household, you're my family.
"We'll face the college entrance exams together. It doesn't matter what rank we get; what's important is that we tried our best."
With that, Gu Ming held out his pinky finger to make a promise with the Little Cyan Snake, as if to pass his courage on to it.
Sensing its master's sincerity, the Little Cyan Snake was moved and wrapped its tail around Gu Ming's pinky to seal the promise.
Then, Gu Ming took out a Spirit Stone. "Let's try to reach one hundred Circulations as soon as possible."
In his class, some students who had already come of age had formed contracts with Pet Beasts.
Gu Ming hadn't formed his contract particularly late, but he wasn't early either, so he was a bit behind schedule.
The exams in the first half of the school year didn't include scores for Pet Beast combat. Everyone was still in the cultivation phase or waiting to come of age, so the competition wasn't intense.
He had a chance to catch up slowly and maintain his number-one rank in his grade when the new semester began.
The Little Cyan Snake nodded, and clutching the Spirit Stone, it began the next Circulation of its Cultivation.
The Grouper Fish in the Fish Tank swished its fins. With its poor eyesight, it couldn't clearly see what the person and pet were doing, but it knew the Little Cyan Snake had started its Cultivation again.
「The Time Dragon once again undergoes a long period of Cultivation, falling into a deep slumber.」
「The Juvenile Kunpeng at its side looks on with envy, it too craves a Spirit Stone.」
「Possessing the Devouring Evolution Talent, it is in desperate need of someone to unlock its potential.」
Gu Ming had no intention of giving the Grouper Fish any Spirit Stone resources. After all, it only had a few months left to live; he had adopted it purely out of pity.
But after seeing these lines of text, Gu Ming's mind started turning.
'The Devouring Evolution Talent?'
'A Grouper Fish at death's door has a Talent like that?'
He turned to look at the elderly Grouper Fish in the Fish Tank, examining it carefully.