Wildlife rescue station.
"Woof~"
Cola, having evolved into a Wind-Condensing Hound, lay at Chen Yuan's feet with its tail wagging frantically, occasionally glancing sideways at Spark with a smug expression.
"Chirp—"
Spark looked at Cola expressionlessly, but inexplicably felt a sense of urgency in its heart.
Something's not right!
Chen Yuan paid no attention to the two little ones' interaction, silently analyzing Cola's data panel.
"Wind-Condensing Hound, wind attribute, currently mastering only Wind Blade skill, with common quality."
"This Wind Blade's power probably isn't much."
Chen Yuan's mind recalled the scene of Spark breathing sparks yesterday, and he wasn't optimistic about Wind Blade at its current proficiency level.
But to verify his speculation, Chen Yuan still brought the two little ones to the courtyard.
"Use Wind Blade on that big tree." Chen Yuan pointed to the camphor tree dozens of meters tall directly ahead.
"Woof!"
The spirited Cola responded, its round eyes staring intently ahead, tail swaying left and right, with a breeze suddenly rising around its body.
The next moment, a substantial wind blade formed on Cola's left side, like a transparent crescent moon, spinning rapidly forward!
There's potential!
Seeing this scene, Chen Yuan's eyes lit up with some anticipation in his heart.
Almost instantly, this wind blade got closer and closer to the tree, seemingly about to hit.
At this moment, Cola's eyes were full of expectation, even imagining the scene of its master praising it.
However, the next second, the wind blade whistled past the tree trunk and dissipated into the air.
Cola's expression froze.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
Spark, who had been tensely watching, suddenly burst into laughter, its body trembling with each laugh.
"Woof—"
Cola first glared fiercely at Spark, then looked up at Chen Yuan who was pursing his lips slightly. Its heart trembled, and it hung its head, letting out a sad whine.
Sure enough, it had disappointed its master again.
"It's okay, you're already doing great." However, the next moment, Chen Yuan's gentle voice rang in its ears. Cola suddenly lifted its head to look at his smiling face.
"Successfully using Wind Blade on the first try—you're already very smart."
"We don't need to pursue other things now. As long as we can successfully use it and hit the target as much as possible, that's enough."
Chen Yuan's eyes reflected Cola's rapidly changing expression, his clear voice continuing: "Cola, let's continue working hard together."
"Woof woof woof!"
Cola suddenly pounced toward Chen Yuan, its massive weight nearly causing Chen Yuan to fall backward.
Chen Yuan steadied his center of gravity, allowing Cola's front paws to rest on his shoulders while its tongue licked his cheeks.
He pulled out a tissue from his pocket, expressionlessly wiped off Cola's drool, and looked at the dog's head: "Anyway, let's start training now."
"Woof!" Cola responded.
"And you too, Spark." Chen Yuan slightly raised his head, looking at the orange-yellow figure flying in mid-air.
The corner of his mouth curved up: "Let's work hard together."
The sun was setting in the west.
Three figures walked on the road home, with the setting sun dragging out long shadows and clear bird calls rising and falling.
"You all did great today. Continue working hard tomorrow."
"Woof!" Cola bounced around, responding excitedly.
"Chirp." Spark nodded slightly.
There were no villagers disturbing them in the afternoon, so the two little ones focused on training all afternoon.
Due to his currently limited understanding of beast companions, Chen Yuan couldn't formulate a scientific and efficient training plan. He could only repeat skill usage over and over, discovering shortcomings and making progress through repeated practice.
Fortunately, with the data panel, Chen Yuan could clearly perceive the positive feedback from training.
As long as proficiency increased, it meant his training method wasn't wrong.
After an afternoon of diligent training, Spark's [Flame Surge] skill proficiency improved to 1.3, and Cola's [Wind Blade] skill proficiency improved to 0.3, now able to hit targets with reasonable accuracy.
Lost in thought, he had already entered his family's farm, with patches of crops coming into view.
"Woof woof woof!"
Cola suddenly barked repeatedly, turning sideways to stare at the front left, tail standing high.
Chen Yuan glanced at Cola entering alert mode, then looked up toward the front left—that was a wasteland.
This wasteland was located on the west side of the farm. In earlier years, it had been used for growing grapes, but in recent years, due to grandfather's declining health, it had been abandoned.
But at this moment, his grandfather was holding a hoe, confronting a strange creature half the height of a person.
This creature was entirely deep gray, with a somewhat bulky figure. Its forehead and claws extended several sharp points like artificial drill bits, gleaming with sharp metallic luster like steel.
Its short tail seemed stuck to its rear, its lower limbs equally pitifully short, with irregular red stripes distributed across its body.
Obviously, this was a successfully evolved extraordinary creature.
However, Chen Yuan couldn't tell which wild animal it corresponded to for a moment, only vaguely feeling it was a rodent.
The thought passed in an instant. Chen Yuan quickly walked to Chen Weiyi's side and asked: "Grandfather, what's happening?"
Hearing Chen Yuan's voice, Chen Weiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He put down the hoe and looked at the strange creature before him with annoyance: "Look at the good work it's done!"
Chen Yuan looked down to see that the small patch of wasteland before them was full of turned-over traces, with fresh soil exposed outside.
And in the corner, there was a dark, gaping hole.
Chen Yuan's eyes couldn't help but light up as he murmured: "Innate Earth-Tilling Sacred Body!"
Anyone who had done farm work knew the hardship of tilling soil—it often left one drenched in sweat after laboring for a long time.
And small-scale planting in mountainous areas couldn't use machinery, only people carrying hoes to till bit by bit, with extremely low efficiency.
If there was a beast companion to help with tilling...
Thinking of this, Chen Yuan's gaze toward the extraordinary creature across from him became somewhat heated.
Grandfather was absolutely right—it really had done good work!
With this thought, Chen Yuan's face beamed with an enthusiastic smile as he said: "Let's have a good talk."
"Squeak?"
The mole-like extraordinary creature looked up at Chen Yuan, its semicircular orange eyes showing contemplation. It first tilted its head with movements like a robot with low intelligence, then bent down to pick up a stone and threw it at Chen Yuan!
The opponent rejected your greeting and threw a stone!
Chen Yuan instinctively wanted to dodge sideways, but the stone landed a meter in front of him. He couldn't help muttering: "Seems like there's no hostility."
This behavior was more of a rejection of communication.
"Woof woof woof!"
But when Cola saw that the opponent dared to take the initiative to attack, it instantly couldn't hold back. Its eyes flashed with ferocity, muscles tensed throughout its body, as if it would charge out the next second.
Chen Yuan stopped Cola's behavior: "Don't rush."
Cola had just evolved today and hadn't completely adapted to its post-evolution body. Moreover, its skill proficiency was low, so facing an opponent of unknown depth could be dangerous.
"Spark, go."
"Chirp!"
Spark flew up without hesitation, gently flapping its wings with its feathers burning vigorously.
Spark was now level 2 with skill proficiency at 1.3, its overall combat power considerably exceeding Cola's.
But to be safe, Chen Yuan used the source points he had originally planned to unlock advancement methods to improve skill proficiency instead. [Flame Surge]'s proficiency instantly became 2.3!
Thus, Spark's first battle was about to begin!