Celestial Beast Taming

It was impossible to let those two Mythical Tier Bizarre hold Zhong Yi hostage for more than ten hours.

When Yu Juanjuan told him to call You Weiwei and ask about the situation, Bai Chen inwardly rolled his eyes.

’Calling Sister Weiwei at a time like this would just be making things worse!’

As time ticked by, Zhong Chenghuai, Shen Xuan, and Zhong Ling grew increasingly tense.

When Zhao Kai returned, he went to the front of the house to assign tasks to the Creator Apprentices.

He returned to the main residence almost two hours after Zhong Chenghuai, and as soon as he was back, Zhao Kai sensed that the atmosphere was off.

Just as Zhao Kai was about to ask what was going on, Zhong Yi appeared in the doorway.

Bai Chen, Yu Juanjuan, and Xu Anjun, who knew what had happened, let out a huge sigh of relief at the sight of Zhong Yi.

Zhong Ling and Shen Xuan rushed over to Zhong Yi. The frantic look in their eyes vanished, but they were no less worried.

"Young Master, where have you been all day? You didn’t even come back for lunch."

"Did you run into some kind of trouble, Young Master? Uncle Huai and Xiaolingdang have been worried sick."

On his way back, Zhong Yi had already arranged with Lin Zhuo, Wen Tao, and the others to downplay the ambush and prevent word from getting out.

The battle at the entrance to the Central District was impossible to hide.

However, Yan Han had locked down the news right after it happened.

He had prevented the public from thinking the attack was related to the Celestial Destiny Seekers.

The less trouble, the better. If people got the idea that they could achieve certain goals by abducting a Celestial Destiny Seeker, that would be a disaster for the entire burgeoning community of Celestial Destiny Seekers!

Feeling Zhong Ling and Shen Xuan’s concern, and seeing Zhong Chenghuai walk up behind them, Zhong Yi smiled.

"I was delayed by something on the way back from the Exotic Beast Garden. It’s nothing serious."

At Zhong Yi’s words, Bai Chen and Yu Juanjuan couldn’t help but exchange a glance.

’Shen Xuan and Zhong Ling care so much about him, and he’s really just telling them the good parts.’

’He was held hostage by two Mythical Tier Bizarre, and he’s still saying it’s nothing serious.’

’By saying that, he’s clearly not planning to tell his family about the ambush because he doesn’t want them to worry.’

’Good thing the two of us didn’t say anything out of turn just now.’

Shen Xuan was a very perceptive person. Back at the Greenfield Tavern, he never had a chance to show that side of himself.

Ever since his conversation with Bai Chen and Yu Juanjuan at noon, Shen Xuan had felt that something wasn’t right.

Now, witnessing the look they exchanged, Shen Xuan knew the situation was definitely not as simple as Zhong Yi was letting on.

However, since Zhong Yi wasn’t talking, Shen Xuan didn’t press the issue.

He decided he would secretly call You Weiwei later that night to get the full story.

After Zhong Yi finished speaking with Zhong Ling and Shen Xuan, Bai Chen stepped forward and enthusiastically took Zhong Yi’s hand.

He spoke in an extremely sincere and earnest tone.

"I’ve heard a lot about you for a long time. Sister Weiwei mentioned you when she took us to networking events."

"Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Bai Xuan, and I’m an S Level Combat-type Celestial Destiny Seeker."

"My Order Beast, the Six-armed Saint Mantis, wields the Truncation Rule."

Among S Level Order Beasts, the Six-armed Saint Mantis was considered lower-middle tier at best.

And that was even with the backing of the Bai Family’s resources.

Coming from the Bai Family, Bai Chen could provide his Order Beast with far more resources than a Celestial Destiny Seeker from a common background could.

Take Zhong Yi, for example. Even though he was an SSS Level Celestial Destiny Seeker...

...the Potential Points he received from the Celestial Destiny Society each year were five times what Bai Chen received.

But for the Bai Family, spending billions of Federation Coins every year to help Bai Chen increase his strength was a trivial matter.

When introducing himself to Zhong Yi, Bai Chen didn’t mention the Bai Family backing him.

Nor did he show the slightest bit of awkwardness or insecurity about his own potential level.

Zhong Yi could sense that Bai Chen was genuinely trying to befriend him.

Zhong Yi returned the favor, introducing himself just as earnestly.

Yu Juanjuan came forward, casually draping an arm over Zhong Ling’s shoulder, and spoke to Zhong Yi with the ease of an old friend.

"I’m Yu Juanjuan, and my Order Beast is a Sea-Devouring Squid."

"Even though my Order Beast is a Water Attribute, its Rule Authority has nothing to do with water."

"I can directly infuse my Power of Rules into other Order Beasts, acting like a power bank to replenish the Power of Rules for other Celestial Destiny Seekers."

"You could say I’m a purely Support-type Celestial Destiny Seeker."

"Because I can support SS Level Celestial Destiny Seekers, my own potential was rated S+."

In the Xin Xia Federation, Celestial Destiny Seekers with an S+ Level potential rating made up only one-tenth of the total.

For any Heroic City, producing a Celestial Destiny Seeker with an S+ Level potential rating was a major point of pride.

Yu Juanjuan, however, wasn’t particularly impressed by her own potential rating.

As a pure Support-type, Yu Juanjuan had never had any kind of standout performance in actual combat.

Yu Juanjuan was far more interested in livestreaming than in combat.

Because of the ambush on Zhong Yi, Yu Juanjuan didn’t bring up her desire to join his and Shen Xuan’s team today.

The reason Yu Juanjuan had so deliberately detailed her Order Beast’s Ability was to sell herself to Zhong Yi and Shen Xuan.

The group hadn’t been talking for long when the Daytime Food Shop delivered their meal.

There were eight Celestial Destiny Seekers at the dinner party, and the spread prepared by the Daytime Food Shop was incredibly lavish.

Because of Yu Juanjuan, the portions were a full three times larger than what would normally be prepared for eight Celestial Destiny Seekers.

Hong Ji was not only Zhong Yi’s Guardian Beast, but also a Household Beast. Like Big Bell, she was considered a member of the family.

Seeing such a sumptuous dinner laid out on the table, Hong Ji’s appetite was instantly whetted.

After getting Zhong Yi’s permission, she gleefully joined them at the table.

The main reason the Daytime Food Shop had prepared such massive portions was the unique nature of the Rule Authority belonging to Yu Juanjuan’s Order Beast, the Sea-Devouring Squid.

Yu Juanjuan needed to constantly absorb Energy from food to store inside the Sea-Devouring Squid.

Seeing the sheer quantity of food, Hong Ji also ate without restraint.

Watching Hong Ji eat her fill, Yu Juanjuan felt as if she had found a kindred spirit.

Before the meal was even over, she couldn’t resist extending an invitation to Hong Ji.

She wanted to invite Hong Ji to stream with her, to be a co-host on her channel.

Mukbangs these days were getting more and more bizarre!

Compared to those bizarre mukbangs, a conventional competitive-eater streamer like Yu Juanjuan was finding it increasingly difficult to gain new followers.

Hong Ji was stunningly beautiful and a natural fit for the world of livestreaming.

Yu Juanjuan was the cute and innocent type, whereas Hong Ji was the glamorous, older-sister type.

If she added Hong Ji, a mukbanger with a completely different style, as a co-host to manage the channel with her, her follower count would definitely skyrocket.

Yu Juanjuan purely wanted to gain more followers, so she made her offer to Hong Ji with the utmost sincerity.

She proposed that Hong Ji could keep 100% of the revenue from all the gifts sent during her streams.

Hong Ji was very tempted by this and hurried to ask for Zhong Yi’s opinion.

Zhong Yi didn’t see any problem with Yu Juanjuan wanting to pull Hong Ji into livestreaming.

’Hong Ji eats wherever she is anyway. If she wants to try livestreaming, she might as well go for it with Yu Juanjuan.’

’It’s just, Yu Juanjuan clearly wants to recruit Hong Ji for competitive-eating streams, but Hong Ji isn’t really a pure competitive eater.’

’Compared to competitive eating, Hong Ji’s specialty is probably more... bizarre!’

The livestreaming industry in this world wasn’t as booming as in Zhong Yi’s previous life, but it was extremely well-regulated.

In fact, it was very rare for an influencer like Yu Juanjuan to gain tens of millions of followers just by doing mukbang streams.

Those mega-influencers with tens of millions of followers usually came from the various Beastmaster Clubs.

They were the star competitors cultivated by these Beastmaster Clubs, representing their organization in touring duels against competitors from other clubs across the various cities.

The Xin Xia Federation had a Top 100 and a Top 1000 ranking for these clubs.

Clubs that made it onto the Top 100 ranking would receive an influx of official resources.

During the meal, Zhong Yi heard Bai Chen mention that the Bai Family sponsored several Beastmaster Clubs.

Every club was extremely strict in its management of its star competitors.

Occasionally, when the mood struck him, Bai Chen would also get involved in managing these Beastmaster Clubs.