Genius Beast Taming: Starting from Awakening an S-Rank Talent

Li Lang's eyes welled up slightly, and he nodded heavily. His tense shoulders finally relaxed, and his face regained its usual cheerful yet slightly roguish smile: "Ah Heng, hearing you say that puts my mind at ease!"

At this moment, the invisible barrier between the two, created by their changed identities, seemed to quietly melt away with that familiar address.

Immediately, Li Lang resumed his usual open and talkative manner in front of Zhou Heng. Although he was much more cautious than before, at least on the surface, nothing seemed amiss.

After chatting for a while, Li Lang briefly recounted what had happened since Zhou Heng left over the past two months, giving Zhou Heng a general understanding of what had transpired since he left No. 3 Middle School.

Nothing major happened at No. 3 Middle School in the past two months; it was all just trivial matters. But Zhou Heng listened patiently to everything.

Zhou Heng was more concerned about Li Lang's beast-taming ability: "What level is your Ice Bear King now?"

Li Lang felt somewhat embarrassed because his strength improvement was relatively slow: "Before you left, Xiao Bing had just broken through to the first level of the third rank, which was less than two months ago. So Xiao Bing is still at the first level of the third rank. If she wants to advance to the second level of the third rank, it will take at least another half a year."

Zhou Heng waved his hand, and a large pile of resources suitable for the Ice Bear King's current stage appeared directly in front of Li Lang: "Keep these safe, and feed them to Little Ice when you get back."

Li Lang hurriedly tried to refuse: "So many precious treasures, I..."

Zhou Heng said directly, "I know what you want to say, so don't say anything meaningless. I have now become Emperor Xuanchen's disciple. Emperor Xuanchen is not only the strongest in the alliance, but also the first ancestor of the Xuanwu Ling family, the head of the four top families. These days, not to mention the treasures that my master and senior brother have given me, just the treasures that people who want to please and flatter me have given me are almost filling up my newly bought sixth-grade top-quality storage watch. You can help me share the burden."

Li Lang was deeply grateful: "Thank you, Aheng."

Zhou Heng didn't want to add any psychological burden to Li Lang: "No need to thank me. Have you forgotten our deal? The token of the Miaoyi Secret Realm is worth at least one eighth-tier treasure. The resources I gave you are only worth a hundred or two hundred billion Alliance Coins. Even if you add the resources I gave you before, it's still far less than one eighth-tier treasure. I will give you more resources in the future."

Li Lang understood perfectly: "Although the token of the Mystic Realm is quite valuable, I dare not let anyone else know that I have this treasure except you. Therefore, the token of the Mystic Realm is a hot potato in my hands. If I hadn't given it to you back then, I wouldn't have been able to use this treasure to exchange for resources. So it's like I didn't spend a penny, and you gave me so many resources. In the end, I still made a profit."

Zhou Heng smiled broadly: "Six thousand five hundred years ago, there was a saying that the best trade is when everyone feels they've made a profit, right? You think you've traded a hot potato for a bunch of treasures, and you've hit the jackpot. But I also think I've traded a bunch of resources below the seventh rank for a token of the Mystic Realm, and I've made a profit too."

Li Lang seemed thoughtful: "You mean the value of an item depends not only on its intrinsic worth, but also on who owns it?"

Zhou Heng has always been a big fan of the win-win philosophy: "That's exactly what I meant. You traded a treasure you don't need right now for resources you can use at this stage. I traded some insignificant third- or fourth-tier resources for a treasure that will be very useful in the future. In the end, we both benefit; it's a complete win-win situation. So there's no need to dwell on who gained or lost in this transaction. It was a very fair transaction from the start; no one lost out. It's just that everyone benefited."

Li Lang collected the large pile of resources in front of him: "Hearing you say that makes me feel much better. I'll accept all these resources. I will definitely use them all on Xiao Bing to help her grow quickly. Although I know I'll never catch up with you in my lifetime, I hope to be as close to you as possible, at least to be able to see your back from afar."

Zhou Heng encouraged him, "Keep it up! You have an A-level talent, and Xiao Bing is now a lower-level diamond-quality beast. Without considering resource consumption, there is still a good chance that you can reach the third tier, eighth level before the college entrance examination. At that time, we can go to Hanyue University together."

Li Lang asked, "Have you decided to attend Hanyue University?"

Zhou Heng explained, "My master took in four disciples before me. My eldest brother, second sister, and third brother have all passed away. My fourth brother is Rongtu Wang, the second patriarch of the Zhang family of the Heavenly Serpent. He is now the fourteenth elder of the Alliance's official elder council and also serves as the president of Hanyue University. Moreover, Hanyue University happens to be located in Weidu, which is the stronghold of the Xuanwu Ling family. As my master's fifth disciple, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to go to university in the stronghold of another top family."

Li Lang nodded: "I understand. Anyway, wherever you go, I'll go with you. The only thing I'm worried about is that my grades might not be high enough for Hanyue University's admission requirements."

Zhou Heng was very patient: "So you need to work hard to train Xiao Bing to the third tier, eighth level before the college entrance examination. According to past patterns, although the third tier, seventh level is possible, it is not guaranteed. Only a third tier, eighth level diamond beast can definitely be ranked within the top two thousand."

Li Lang assured him, "I will try my best."

Zhou Heng then asked, "How are Xiao Gao and the others? Have they made any breakthroughs in their strength?"

Li Lang replied, "Gao Wenwu's Black Fiend Wolf just advanced to the second tier, tenth level a few days ago."

Zhou Heng then asked, "What about the others?"

Li Lang rattled off the list effortlessly, as if reciting a familiar story: "He Hongmei's Savage Stone Ox has reached the second tier, sixth level; Chen Hui's Azure Demon Tiger has reached the second tier, eighth level. Ji Chao's Crystal Giant Elephant and Li Shiliang's Sword Shadow Mantis have both reached the second tier, seventh level. Wang Xuchen and Shi Jingqi also advanced to the third tier, fourth level a couple of days ago. Pang Jie is still at the second tier, tenth level, but should be breaking through to the third tier soon. Zhang Yunfeng is now at the second tier, sixth level; Pei Ge, Nangong Cuiyi, Zou Lei, and Yan Shouzhen's tamed beasts are also at the second tier, sixth level. Fang Yushu from the third year of high school has advanced to the third tier, fifth level, and Xiao Luo from the first year of high school has advanced to the second tier, fourth level."

Zhou Heng smiled with satisfaction: "It seems everyone has made progress while I was away."

"Everyone has made progress, but your progress is the greatest. We all heard you talking to the principal in the sky yesterday. The Star-Devouring Kunpeng you contracted is of superior mythical quality, something that ordinary beast tamers wouldn't even dare to dream of."

Li Lang first praised Zhou Heng, then asked curiously, "Teacher previously mentioned the Starfire Contribution Beast Taming Inheritance System. Since the Star-Devouring Kunpeng was given to you for free by the Alliance, did you go to the Alliance headquarters? What is the Alliance headquarters like?"