Starting With Contract Pets
chapter-125

Chapter 125: Pray Forgive My Ignorance, Su Bai

“Brother Hou, do you know what it is?” he whispered.

“My field of study is medicines and spiritual plants, so I don’t know much about egg appraisal.” The young man shook his head slightly.

Su Bai was about to say something when the girl in men’s clothing beside him said, “Teacher Tong, if I’m not wrong, it should be an extinct Two-headed Dragon Lizard monster.

“It is a hermaphrodite, has a strong defense, and has the characteristics of Damage Swapping, making it a very good pet.

“One evidence is the fine lines on the egg. If you observe it under light, you should see two egg yolks.”

“Oh, it turned out to be an extinct monster egg. I knew it!”

The others also came to a realization.

“Haha! Xiao Xia’s knowledge reserves have really improved tremendously for her to actually recognize it. You’re right. This egg was unearthed from some ruins, but I didn’t expect you to actually know it.

“You can choose a treasure from here later on.”

Elder Tong nodded with a smile.

“Thank you, Elder Tong.” The girl smiled happily.

“As for the second item, everyone just needs to guess what seed it is and what its specific function is.”

Soon, the old man took out the second item. It was a black seed with a marble-like shell, smooth and round, forming a whole body by itself.

The difficulty of identifying a seed was much higher than a pet egg, since there were several more varieties of seeds. Even the ultimate master cultivator could not know all of them.

“Is that the Night Chrysanthemum?” someone finally asked after a long silence.

Elder Tong said nothing and simply shook his head.

Everyone else grew more curious but was unable to be certain.

“Brother Hou, do you know this?” Su Bai noticed the man hesitating and quickly asked.

“I’ll have to take a closer look to be sure,” replied Hou Lan, looking abashed.

“Teacher Tong, can we bring the seed over for closer observation?” Su Bai asked directly.

“Yes.” The old man glanced at Hou Lan and nodded.

Su Bai brought the seed to Hou Lan’s side for him to examine. The latter looked at it, smelled it, and then stammered, “I-If I’m not mistaken… this should be the seed of the rumored Light Chrysanthemum.

“Originally born in the dark, it is transparent and crystal-like. It’s rumored that the Light Chrysanthemum can let pets of the light attribute comprehend the profound meaning of light. It’s also said to grow on light and dark stars where the sun never sets.”

“The seed of the Light Chrysanthemum? Isn’t Light Chrysanthemum an ordinary chrysanthemum that has undergone more than ten thousand days of undead mutation and supposed to be seedless?”

A young man with fringe and glasses asked in confusion.

“Haha! Hou Lan is right. This is indeed the seed of the Light Chrysanthemum. Only the seeds of a Light Chrysanthemum, which has lived for more than a hundred years, will be born.

“You’re very knowledgeable. Pick a treasure you like later.”

Elder Tong chuckled and rubbed his beard.

Hou Lan hurriedly thanked him upon hearing this. He naturally hoped that he could obtain a treasure now that he was here.

The next third item was a round, white stone.

“I know what that is! I’ve seen it before. It’s not a stone but rather a calculus from a deep sea Giant Whale King. If you crush it, it’ll exude a special fragrance.”

The blond young man exclaimed happily, finally recognizing something.

With the third treasure already recognized so quickly, everyone else showed traces of regret on their faces.

Su Bai was a little puzzled. Why were they regretful. Were there not four treasures to be identified?

“As you know, Elder Tong usually takes out seven treasures. The first three are for everyone’s benefits, while the latter four are more difficult. For so many years, few people have recognized the last four treasures.

“So everyone already considers this the end of this little appraisal meeting,” explained Hou Lan to him in a whisper.

He nodded and asked again, “Then am I qualified to answer?”

“Of course, you can answer since you’re sitting here, but everyone only has three opportunities to speak, so grab hold of it well yourself.” Hou Lan nodded.

He was not particularly optimistic about this youth, for even though he was Gao An’s disciple, knowledge still needed to be accumulated, especially when it came to appraising treasures.

“This is the fourth treasure.”

Elder Tong smiled and took out a diamond-shaped white stone.

Everyone frowned upon seeing this item. What the hell was it?

Some people took it to take a closer look but still could not identify it.

“Meteor Tears?” someone asked tentatively.

“No.” The old man shook his head.

The rest remained silent. As they, too, thought that this was Meteor Tears, they could not figure out what else it could be.

The lowest-ranking people here were intermediate trainers, pharmacists, and the like. All of them were all professionals, or else they would not have been invited.

Without conviction, these people did not guess blindly and shook their heads in silence.

“Nobody can recognize it? I’ll reveal it if nobody can.” The old man scanned this small crowd of young people before saying.

Everyone shook their heads, letting the old man reveal the answer.

At this moment, Su Bai raised his hand, much to the astonished gaze of Hou Lan and the others. “Elder Tong, am I qualified to answer?”

“Of course, you’ll obtain a reward as well if you answer it correctly.” Elder Tong looked at him and nodded, realizing that he did not know who this boy was.

“That item is called the Void Mayfly. It’s actually a rare monster living in the void and looks like that out of self-protection after being eaten by the Void Devourer.

“It’s very simple to awaken it and only needs a bit of wind from the void.”

Su Bai spread his hands and explained.

“I know of the Void Mayfly, but I’ve never heard of it having such a form.”

The girl in men’s clothing next to him spoke in puzzlement.

“Yes, I’ve never heard that the Void Mayfly can look like this.”

Everyone else looked confused.

“This lad is right; this is a Void Mayfly. The reason why it hasn’t been discovered is there are very few of them left after being swallowed by the Void Devourer. Even if they become like this, they’ll still be killed.”

The old man nodded as he reaffirmed Su Bai’s answer. “Boy, your knowledge is quite profound. You even know how to awaken the Void Mayfly.”

“It’s just a coincidence.” He quickly shook his head.

The others also sighed in relief, thinking that lady luck must be shining on the boy for an item he coincidentally recognized to have been introduced. He was really lucky.

If even a junior trainer was so strong, then their statuses were unstable.

“This is the fifth item.”

Soon, the old man took out the fifth item. It was a round fist-size crystal, which reflected the bright light of the lamp.

After observing the item for a few minutes, everyone took turns holding it in their hands but no one could still identify it.

“Elder Tong, you should just tell us what it is and broaden our horizons. Our standards aren’t high enough,” said the blond young man.

“Exactly. I can’t tell what this is at all.”

Several others also nodded in agreement.

At this moment, under the astonished gazes of everyone in the room, Su Bai raised his hand again. “Erm… I just happen to know it, too.

“Its full name is Seed of Flesh. If you place it on a monster that has just died, it’ll take roots and bloom into a myriad of colored-crystal flowers.

“The crystal flowers will eventually produce a few crystal fruits, which can perfectly decompose the monster. Generally, flesh and blood crystal fruits will be formed by absorbing the monster’s body, including the crystal fruits with different spiritual powers. If you’re lucky, you can get skill, profound meaning, or law crystal fruits.

“It’s extremely precious and can only be used once. The quantity is scarce and there’s no fixed place where it grows, so obtaining it depends entirely on luck.

“Many people don’t know about it because it doesn’t have a fixed appearance.”

Su Bai was actually very enthusiastic about this thing since it was extremely useful.

An example was if he happened to raise a Flame Crow, which was neither able to break through nor comprehend the control of fire.

At that time, if he had a crystal fruit, he only needed to kill a more powerful Flame Crow and used the Seed of Flesh’s fruit to prepare potions. Once it was fed to the Flame Crow, its breakthrough was almost guaranteed.

However, this thing was too rare, and even the Pet Alliance might not have many.

According to the information he saw, it was not born naturally on earth and was related to a pet.

Legend had it that when the world was born, the four types of substances between the heavens and earth gave birth to a creation-level pet.

Among them was the representative of the formless wind-bred pet called the Infinite Shuttle Dragon. Its movement generated wind, and there was no place on earth that it could not reach.

The representative of the formless fire-bred pet was called the Eternally Miraculous Beauty. It represented miracles, and legend had it that, as long as a creature could find it and make a wish with his most precious belonging, he could obtain miraculous care and complete an impossible dream.

This Seed of Flesh was related to the miracle power of the Eternally Miraculous Beauty, but Su Bai did not understand the complete situation.

There was no other record in the data panel.

When he finished speaking, all twelve people stared collectively at him. Σ(゚∀゚ノ)ノ

How could he just happen to know all these?

“It seems like Hou Lan has brought us a master, who even knows the Seed of Flesh in such great detail. You even recognized it at a glance. Little friend, dare I ask, where are you from?”

Elder Tong laughed and sized up the boy.

Everyone else also looked carefully at him. They did not have any impressions of him and had never heard of a cultivating genius in the Alliance.

Originally, they thought that he was just a rookie whom Hou Lan had brought over to broaden the horizons of and had only greeted him politely. In fact, they had not taken him seriously at all and had mostly ignored him.

As geniuses in the alliance, they naturally had their own pride.

That was until Su Bai recognized the Void Mayfly. They were a little surprised but felt relieved when he said that it was a coincidence.

Never did they imagine that the guy would also recognize the Seed of Flesh and even know a lot about it.

Even if they themselves had heard of this item, they had never seen it in real life before.

“I won’t talk about that; I’m just a rookie. I’m afraid that I’ll bring shame to my master if I say it and will be beaten by him when I return.”

Su Bai shook his head and continued speaking. “The Seed of Flesh is easily distinguishable. As long as you test it with a corpse, it’ll turn blood red.”

The others: “…”

You’re a rookie? Then they’re not even a match of a rookie!

Was he deliberately hinting that they were worse than a rookie and were rubbish?

“Howl! (๑oั╰╯oั๑)”

The cub howled softly, indicating that Ah Bai was calling everyone else rubbish.

“Cough, cough…”

Su Bai coughed lightly and motioned for the cub not to bring hatred to him.

“You’re just being humble. No ordinary person can recognize the Seed of Flesh, and there’s no such item for you to do experiments, either, but since you’re unwilling to talk about it, then I won’t force you.”

Elder Tong chuckled and shook his head, silently noting down Su Bai’s name. After this, he would check the boy’s origins.

He then turned around and brought out the sixth treasure.

“This is the sixth treasure tonight; see if everyone can recognize it.”

Everyone examined the item which looked like a piece of black wood with a jade-like luster, and cringed at the foul smell it exuded.

“Is it a Blackpool Unicorn’s bone? The Blackpool Unicorn’s bone is rumored to emit such a strong stench,” someone asked.

“Su Bai, what do you think?” He did not answer immediately and just turned to the boy.

“This isn’t a bone but rather a piece of wood called the Fallen Branch. It’s said that some places in this world are devoid of heaven and earth’s laws. Fallen Branches grow in such places.

“Due to being born devoid of laws and profound meaning, its body emits such a unique stench. It can be used to reverse profound medicines. I think my master has used it before,” said Su Bai.

He had indeed seen his master, Gao An, use such an item before. Back then, he was about to touch it, but Gao An stopped him, saying that if he touched the Fallen Branch, the law of his life might be broken.

“Amazing. Now, I’m increasingly curious about who your master is to have such a knowledgeable apprentice.”

Elder Tong smiled.

The others were rendered speechless. They only wanted to know who Su Bai learned from. That person was too terrifying.

“Finally, this is the seventh treasure. If anyone knows it, I’ll give this item to him.”

Elder Tong took out a blood-red ant the size of a fist.

“Isn’t that an ordinary Blood Ant? The reason why it’s so big is that it absorbed Blood Power and mutated, right?”

The girl in men’s clothing voiced.

“Yeah, that should be an ordinary Blood Ant; I can’t see anything special about it.”

The others also echoed.

“Su Bai, what about you? Do you think so, too?”

The old man glanced at Su Bai.

“I’ve already spoken three times; I can’t break the rules.” He shook his head.

The others: “…”

So he is saying that he can identify it?

“It’s alright. I’ll make an exception for you.” Elder Tong laughed. “Nobody else has any objections, right?”

“No, no.” Everyone quickly shook their heads, looking expectantly at him, waiting to see what unique insights he had.

Su Bai was silent for a while before slowly saying, “This should be an ant that has only recently mutated into a blood pet.”

Everyone else: “…”

Elder Tong: “…”

Why was he stating the obvious? Was he insulting them?

They thought that he would shock them with more insights, but what was up with this?

“I can only see this much. My knowledge is shallow. Please bear with me.” He spread his hands.

In fact, both he and the cub were familiar with this ant. Was this not the ant that the Little Blood Dragon had infested with First Dragon Blood previously?

Who would have thought that he would see it here? It seemed like people still heavily coveted the Ancestor Blood Dragon.