Beast Taming: My System is Bugged

For a Snake Pet, the most suitable Sub-dragon Race skills were undoubtedly those of the Flood Dragon Race.

It wasn’t that cross-species Cultivators didn’t exist in this world, but successful Pet Beasts were few and far between. Most only succeeded in their Cultivation after evolving into a Flood Dragon.

If it could learn the relevant Skills before Evolution, then evolving into a Flood Dragon afterward would naturally be a smooth process.

Secretary Zhong observed Cyan Treasure’s Plant Life Light Wave. He witnessed the Life Energy produced by its Light Spiritual Root and Grass Spiritual Root, and he also saw its incredible Earth Escape Technique.

All of this was built upon the "Life Energy" system, which was still within the bounds of his understanding.

In Celestial Cloud City, there had been several generations of Pet Beasts that developed combat styles based on the "Life Energy" system. He had heard of them, but they weren’t the Pet Beasts of students he had personally mentored.

Now, with Cyan Treasure right before him, he subconsciously started to plan its development path based on those students’ methods, but he felt it wasn’t quite right.

The main reason was that those students’ Pet Beasts didn’t have something as miraculous as the Bronze Tripod inside them.

This Bronze Tripod was truly a bit mystifying.

He walked a circle around Cyan Treasure, watching it attack the training posts in the exercise room.

With every one of Cyan Treasure’s attacks, its internal Foundation Establishment Platform would emit waves of draconic roars.

Its outward performance was as swift and powerful as a striking Flood Dragon.

However, its small body created a huge contrast. It looked imposing, but its actual Power was just so-so, giving off an "all thunder, no rain" impression.

After a round of standard Power tests, he discovered that Cyan Treasure exhibited a rather bizarre, fragmented state.

It was a snake on the outside, but it possessed the characteristics of the Dragon Race on the inside.

Because of this, the Power of its moves far exceeded expectations. It wasn’t Power a Little Cyan Snake could possess at all; instead, it was more like the Power of a Snake Pet with Three-star Potential.

Thinking of this, he brought Cyan Treasure to an enclosed room for testing, preparing to conduct another Power test.

Cyan Treasure had a physical check-up every week, but Power wasn’t its strong suit, so Teacher Zhang had only conducted standard Power tests before, not an in-depth one.

"Hasn’t its Power already been tested?" Gu Ming asked, confused.

"This isn’t just a simple Power test. Watch closely.

"This is my Pet Beast, Soft Sand Binding Shadow. You can just call it Sandbag," Secretary Zhong said.

Soft Sand Binding Shadow’s appearance was inconspicuous, looking extremely similar to a common punching bag.

It was long and cylindrical, tightly wrapped in tough, dark brown leather. The surface of the leather flickered with the strange light of Runes, and it stood perfectly still and upright on the ground.

When Gu Ming saw Teacher Zhong release this "sandbag," he was bewildered:

’Is this really a Pet Beast? Are you sure it’s not a piece of professional equipment?’

’No, that’s not right.’

He sensed an aura of flesh and blood, as well as the aura of a Pet Beast’s Star Level—a Five-star Level aura, at that.

The next second, the "sandbag" opened its eyes.

The leather lines on its body began to flow, and it gradually grew limbs with plant-like skin, hands, and feet, along with tree-shaped eyes.

At this point, it no longer looked like a sandbag but had transformed into a mutated, elongated creature.

Its center was a thick, cylindrical sandbag, while four slender limbs stretched out, pinning themselves firmly to the ground. The sight was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Seeing this, Cyan Treasure felt an abyssal pressure wash over it.

This pressure was similar to the pressure of Realm exerted by the Black and White Long-Armed Ape, making it subconsciously take a step back.

However, it had endured similar pressure many times in the Dream Training Space, so it wasn’t immediately overwhelmed by this imposing aura.

Cyan Treasure gritted its teeth, straightened its body again, and stared wide-eyed at the strange Pet Beast before it, resisting the pressure.

"This is a Grass Element Flood Dragon, Soft Sand Binding Shadow. It usually disguises itself as a sandbag for Pet Beasts to beat up during tests."

Secretary Zhong said with a hint of pride, seeing the astonished look on Gu Ming’s face.

"Does it have some kind of masochistic hobby?"

"Not at all. This is its unique method of Cultivation. But let’s not get into that. Cyan Treasure, circulate all your energy and attack it. It will withstand all of your attacks."

As he spoke, he patted Soft Sand Binding Shadow, which immediately retracted its limbs and reverted to the appearance of a punching bag, standing still on the ground.

At that moment, Gu Ming noticed that the sandbag had no chains. Its surface was pure leather, and even the tree-like texture had retracted, making it look nothing like a Pet Beast.

’What a strange Flood Dragon.’

This wasn’t the first time Gu Ming had seen a Flood Dragon.

In his memory, the Flood Dragons he had seen as a child were all majestic and mighty, capable of overturning rivers and seas. The style of the one before him was completely different, completely refreshing his understanding of the Flood Dragon Race.

’So there are such peculiar Pet Beasts in the Flood Dragon Race.’

"This time, I don’t want you to use Laser Skills, nor do I want you to rely on Muscle Memory to throw a Head Hammer.

"I want you to use your Breathing Technique, Earth Shifting Technique, and Digestion Technique to mobilize the power of the Bronze Tripod and your Inner Core. Unleash all of your Power, and then attack right here."

Secretary Zhong pointed to the very center of the sandbag, signaling for Cyan Treasure to start circulating its energy.

"But isn’t that still a Head Hammer Skill in the end?" Gu Ming interjected.

"The difference is huge. A Headbutt Skill utilizes less than one-thousandth of the body’s full potential. I’m having it expend energy from its entire body for the attack to see how large the Bronze Tripod’s area of influence is," Secretary Zhong said, shaking his head.

Secretary Zhong had just sensed several interconnected forces within Cyan Treasure, like a "tree" that had taken root and sprouted. It was just that the full form of this "tree" had not yet been revealed.

The Bronze Tripod was like the roots growing beneath this "tree," supporting the growth of the entire invisible structure.

This was very strange.

Despite clearly having the beginnings of an unknown power system within it, Cyan Treasure hadn’t fully revealed it.

’Could it be deliberately holding back to hide the secret of the Bronze Tripod?’

In any case, as long as Cyan Treasure delivered a full-power strike, Soft Sand Binding Shadow could carefully savor the power transmitted from its opponent, then interpret and digest it in the way of the "Dao."

This was Soft Sand Binding Shadow’s method of Cultivation, and it was also a rather high-level Cultivation Method.

No matter how exceptionally talented Gu Ming was, he was ultimately just a high school student. In terms of knowledge and experience, he was still no match for Secretary Zhong.

「A short while later.」

Cyan Treasure activated its Breathing Technique, causing Life Energy to flow throughout its body. It then began running in circles on the spot to build up Power.

The body of a Snake Pet is naturally flexible, and it isn’t a race that grows an exoskeleton. If it wanted to deliver a full-power strike, it had to rely on Speed to accumulate Power.

It ran for a full half-minute.

At this moment, Cyan Treasure was like an engine with its fuel burning at maximum efficiency. Then, it fiercely swung its head in a Head Hammer attack at the sandbag-shaped Flood Dragon.

BOOM.

Cyan Treasure’s head felt scorching hot. The attack had dazed even itself.

A proper Head Hammer wasn’t supposed to be used like that.

The reason a Head Hammer was a low-consumption minor Skill was that the attack was delivered while protecting one’s own body. After the strike, the force endured by the body would be offset by its own reverberations.

But just now, it had been completely unaware of this, solidly taking the full force of its own blow. Its forehead throbbed with intense pain.

Secretary Zhong placed his hand on the sandbag, letting out a sound of "Hmm." His face was quite excited; he had clearly thought of a certain type of Flood Dragon Combat Technique suitable for Cyan Treasure’s Cultivation. He said:

"Excellent, excellent! The Power within your Pet Beast actually bears a slight resemblance to the Wood Escape Flood Dragon Power."

"But it’s only a One-star, so it definitely can’t be Wood Escape Flood Dragon Power. It must be the influence of that Dragon Pattern Bronze Tripod."

Gu Ming’s heart stirred. ’Wood Escape? What a coincidence.’

"So what Skill is it?" he asked.

"Flood Dragon Tail Swing!" the latter exclaimed, clapping his hands.