Beast Taming: The Beginning of Hatching an Ancient Dragon

Chapter 6: The Malice of the Golden Finger

“Ah! Does the collection room also handle attribute upgrades?”

On the second page of the hunting notebook, a small white flower mark appeared on the collection room.

The mark was glowing, completely filled.

“Skill Stone [Stealth Technique] +1.”

“Skill Stone [Stealth Technique] +1.”

“Health Points +1.”

A dozen white herbs contributed these three gains, with a slightly higher drop rate than the gacha game’s up pool.

The moment that bit of health entered Li Chang’an’s body, the weakness he felt after opening the beast taming space tonight was greatly alleviated.

The first Stealth Technique was voluntarily experienced by Mao Mao, and unexpectedly, it turned out to be a precious aura-concealing skill.

After delivering the other two skill stones to Mao Mao, according to human society’s grading, Mao Mao’s [Stealth Technique] had reached the mastery level.

Only then did Li Chang’an understand the true value of the words left by those predecessors.

Which beast tamer could resist this!

Wait, I must not be tempted.

Li Chang’an forcibly suppressed the spreading temptation in his heart, as if a devil was constantly whispering in his ear.

Use it, use it.

Using it would allow you to reach the pinnacle of the world!

It took Li Chang’an more than a quarter of an hour to suppress this temptation.

He somewhat understood how those predecessors had met their end. Once trapped in the allure of enhancing abilities, it’s hard to extricate oneself.

Death is not far off then, as the holder is constantly urged by their desires to take risks, hunt stronger beings, and gain more attributes and stronger abilities.

But doing this often, walking by the river, one is bound to get wet.

They would eventually encounter a terrifying opponent beyond their capabilities, and then it’s game over!

That’s how the previous holders died.

Li Chang’an lowered his eyes, his gaze filled with struggle.

Use it, and fear falling into depravity.

Don’t use it, and feel unwilling.

At that moment, Mao Mao’s clear voice sounded,

“Meow? (Chang’an, what’s wrong?)”

Li Chang’an shuddered, and the struggle instantly dissipated.

His first words were, “Mao Mao, you’re not affected?”

Mao Mao tilted its head, puzzled, “Meow meow? (Affected by what?)”

Li Chang’an blinked a few times, his eyes suddenly brightening.

Right, he’s a beast tamer!

He’s not some ancient emperor or great power with immense strength, just a small beast tamer.

Most of his strength lies in his beast.

If he can’t control himself, he can transfer some of the pressure to his beast!

Mao Mao is a perfect candidate.

What’s stronger, what attributes?

Ancient dragon species are naturally at the top, overlooking all beings.

The so-called pinnacle of the world is within their reach just by growing up.

With a bit of effort, they can even become star-traveling behemoths.

They are born in the palaces of ancient Rome.

Such temptations mean nothing to them.

Li Chang’an’s eyes grew brighter; he seemed to have found a bug in the hunting notebook’s influence on emotions.

Just resonate emotionally with Mao Mao.

Coincidentally, beast tamers have a skill called Beast Resonance, which they can attempt to learn when breaking through to the intermediate level.

Li Chang’an thought it feasible; although his strength was insufficient, the basic conditions were met.

Beast Resonance is a technique used by intermediate beast tamers to enhance their beasts.

It requires the beast tamer to have sufficient curse power, mental strength, and a high level of intimacy with the beast.

At least to the level where the beast is willing to open its soul to the tamer.

And curse power isn’t lacking either.

The amount of curse power is related to the beast taming space.

The larger the beast taming space, the more curse power it can hold.

Li Chang’an’s initial beast taming space was 500 cubic meters.

He had checked the data; most intermediate beast tamers’ spaces are between 400-600 cubic meters, so he met the condition.

This means he only needs to fill this level of beast taming space with curse power to attempt Beast Resonance with Mao Mao.

After all, his intimacy with Mao Mao is very high, with a 100% compatibility rate.

Having lived two lives and awakened his past memories, Li Chang’an felt his mental strength had increased significantly.

Although not surpassing the ceiling of low-level beast tamers, he was among the top.

Moreover, in Beast Resonance, mental strength doesn’t play a huge role.

If curse power is the power source and intimacy is the start button, then mental strength is the software program.

The amount of mental strength merely determines how long the software can run.

He only needs to clear the negative emotions brought by the hunting notebook, which won’t take long.

Having decided, Li Chang’an explained the situation and reasons to Mao Mao.

Since they were going to perform Beast Resonance, it was better to be upfront than to hide it.

To avoid any rift between them.

Upon hearing Li Chang’an’s plan, Mao Mao showed no resentment but seemed quite interested in the effects of the hunting notebook.

Li Chang’an twitched his mouth; as expected of the ancient dragon lineage, even their interests are unique.

Beast Resonance is simple; both parties open their souls, and the beast tamer enhances with curse power.

That’s all.

The hard part is the step where both parties open their souls without defense; the rest can be easily done even by a novice beast tamer.

Thanks to the Ancient Dragon Heart talent, Li Chang’an and Mao Mao’s intimacy was high, easily achieving Beast Resonance.

Then, Li Chang’an and Mao Mao began their initial attempts, choosing to first use skills to adapt.

Under Li Chang’an’s guidance, Mao Mao gradually completed the intermediate skill [Flame Spirit Coil].

They chose this because Mao Mao sensed Li Chang’an’s concerns through their soul contract.

The exposure of their ancient dragon identity would put them in great danger, so hiding their identity was crucial.

While the forward use of Flame Spirit Coil converts energy into a physical form, its reverse use can achieve the effect of converting physical forms back into energy.

The ability to use it in reverse is also because the Prison Flame Dragon is inherently the emperor that suppresses flames; partial body elementalization is just a basic operation for it.

After a long adjustment period between Li Chang’an and Mao Mao, its pair of red wooden dragon horns turned into two dark red hairs hidden within the red mane on its head.

The pair of dragon wings transformed into golden patterns embedded in the scales on its body.

The scales on its tail completely turned into red fur.

Only the scales on its torso still proclaimed its dragon lineage.

Paired with the newly acquired aura-concealing skill [Stealth Technique].

“You now look like a red-maned lion that has just awakened its dragon bloodline.”

Li Chang’an chuckled lightly; Mao Mao didn’t mind, as long as it had Li Chang’an’s approval.

Others’ evaluations meant less to it than the harassment of a magma dragonfly.

Li Chang’an then had Mao Mao try out Prison Flame and Flame Claw; Prison Flame is a dark red flame, exclusive to the Prison Flame Dragon.

Its rank increases with the Prison Flame Dragon’s strength; currently a low-level skill, it will become an intermediate skill once Mao Mao advances to the elite level.

And so on.

Most importantly, after skill advancement, the skill proficiency only drops by one level.

Quite user-friendly, a testament to the Prison Flame Dragon lineage’s innate stubbornness.[Flame Claw] is essentially the Prison Flame Dragon’s version of Flame Claw, just with more destructive Prison Flame entwining around its claws.

Not worth mentioning! (`へ′)ノ!

“Mao Mao, are you ready?”

“Meow! (Ready!)”

Mao Mao emerged from the beast taming space, standing face to face with Li Chang’an.

“Alright, Beast Resonance!”

As soon as the words fell, dark red flames erupted from Li Chang’an’s body, and Mao Mao’s red fur now resembled flames.

Radiating intense heat, swaying with the wind.

In an instant, Li Chang’an terminated the Beast Resonance.

Not due to insufficient mental strength or curse power, but because his body couldn’t handle it.

His state was like driving a sports car for the first time, unaware of its horsepower, and flooring the accelerator.

The initial speed was fast, but the car was about to fall apart.

Because he and Mao Mao were interconnected, his strength was easily bearable for Mao Mao, but the power flowing back from Mao Mao was overwhelming.

Once the Beast Resonance compatibility exceeded 50%, he felt a near-death sensation and immediately canceled the resonance.

All distracting thoughts in Li Chang’an’s mind vanished, replaced by the shock of nearly being overwhelmed.

But this bug-exploiting method works!