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

Because the Lunar New Year was approaching, Zhou Heng only stayed in the Yongxu Sacred Realm for two days before returning to the Canglan Plane with Tianyin Marquis and Qianren Marquis.

In the deep courtyard, the aroma of tea wafts from the stone table beneath the ancient trees.

The old patriarch Zhou's hand, holding a teacup, froze in mid-air as he looked at his grandson with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.

More accurately, it was Zhou Heng's steed that was looking at him.

Zhou Heng's four tamed beasts usually stay by his side in a shrunken form.

Although tamed beasts consume energy after shrinking their size, this consumption is negligible for tamed beasts of Overlord quality or higher.

The Azure Phoenix with its wings shimmering with five-colored light, and the Eternal Night Dragon with its dark purple body and ruby-like pupils, sat quietly on Zhou Heng's shoulders, one on each side.

On his wrist was a silver dragon with shimmering silver scales, resembling an exquisite bracelet.

What caught the attention of the Zhou family patriarch was the Star-Devouring Kunpeng, which was entirely golden, had shrunk to one meter in size, and maintained its divine Kun form.

It was carefree, slowly circling around Zhou Heng, like the moon revolving around the earth.

The old patriarch Zhou put down his teacup, his voice filled with disbelief, his gaze fixed on the Devouring Star Kunpeng: "Heng'er, how did Wuji advance to the seventh level of the fourth rank? Just half a month ago, Wuji had only advanced to the sixth level of the fourth rank!"

He took a deep breath: "A beast tamed of superior mythical quality, is it really that powerful?!"

Zhou Heng reached out and patted the head of the Star-Devouring Kunpeng: "Two days ago, Wuji was just one step away from the seventh level of the fourth rank. I injected some spiritual energy into it, and it broke through in one fell swoop."

Looking at the radiant, confident Zhou Heng, the patriarch of the Zhou family couldn't help but exclaim, "Truly worthy of SSS-level talent! It's truly enviable!"

What's the use of your envy?

Sitting to the side, Old Madam Zhou gave her husband a reproachful look, then swept her kind eyes over the four little ones beside Zhou Heng, her face full of pride: "Heng'er is such a peerless genius, only one appears in the entire universe on average every five hundred years. The Zhou family has been established for thousands of years, and finally we have found one! This is all thanks to the favor of heaven, a blessing that others can only envy."

The old patriarch Zhou wholeheartedly agreed: "Yes! If I had even half of that talent when I was young, I would be laughing in my sleep."

Zhou Heng smiled and said, "Grandpa, you don't need to envy me. Your S-level talent is already top-notch among ordinary beast tamers."

"Compared to the average person, my talent is indeed quite good."

The old patriarch Zhou shook his head: "But compared to you, my talent is far inferior."

Zhou Heng comforted him, saying, "Including collateral branches, the family has tens of millions of people. If you include vassals of other surnames, the population is over 100 million. But among all these people, only my ancestor, my tenth uncle, and I have higher talents than you. Apart from the three of us, your S-level talent is already the highest talent in the family."

"You're right. At least the family has your SSS-level talent, as well as the ancestor and Yuan Yong, both of whom have SS-level talents. I'm already proud enough to have such a wonderful grandson like you. I can stand tall in front of our ancestors."

Although Patriarch Zhou had a good relationship with Patriarch Li, he couldn't help but feel a little smug: "Your maternal grandfather's family only has Senior Linglong with SS-level talent now. The rest of the family members' talents are at most S-level. There is no successor among the younger generation. If it weren't for the fact that you have half Li family blood in your veins, your maternal grandfather would be in a lot of trouble."

SS-level talents, while not as rare as SSS-level talents which appear only once every few centuries, typically appear only once every few decades.

Currently, there are only thirty or forty people still alive in the entire alliance, and the Four Religions and Three Societies still need to take up some spots.

The number of SS-level talents scattered among various aristocratic families is actually very small.

In many large and powerful families, only the patriarch who holds the fort is often an SS-level talent.

Madam Zhou changed the subject at the opportune moment, looking lovingly at the Silver Dragon Overturning the Sea on Zhou Heng's wrist and the Eternal Night Demon Dragon on his shoulder: "Fei Hong and the Tyrant have also broken through?"

"That's right."

Zhou Heng nodded: "They have already advanced to the third level of the fourth tier."

The Silver Dragon Overturning the Sea on Zhou Heng's wrist raised its head, while the Eternal Night Demon Dragon on his right shoulder lazily opened its scarlet eyes.

The old patriarch's eyes lit up, and then he looked at the magnificent colorful phoenix on Zhou Heng's left shoulder: "Although Jiu Xiao is still at the fourth level of the fourth rank, it seems that he is not far from the fifth level of the fourth rank."

"Jiuxiao only reached the fourth level of the fourth rank a little over a month ago. I didn't use spiritual energy on Jiuxiao a couple of days ago. I will upgrade its level again in forty days. So Jiuxiao may have to wait a while longer to accumulate more foundation before it can advance again." Zhou Heng gently stroked the feathers of the Rainbow-Winged Azure Phoenix with his palm.

The colorful-winged phoenix nuzzled Zhou Heng's fingertip in response.

The old patriarch poured Zhou Heng a cup of tea: "Your arrangement is reasonable. Wuji is of superior mythical quality, needless to say. As for Jiuxiao, Feihong, and Tyrant, they are all of mid-level overlord quality, and their levels should indeed be kept at a similar level."

Zhou Heng picked up his teacup and took a sip: "I understand what Grandpa means."

Madam Zhou reached out and patted Zhou Heng's arm, her gaze sweeping over the four unique and exceptionally promising beasts beside him. Her expression was one of great satisfaction: "Heng'er, each of your contracted partners is so outstanding, but what's even more remarkable is that you are never arrogant or complacent, always humble and modest, like a true gentleman, gentle and refined. We have always seen your excellence."

The old patriarch Zhou nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Heng'er is exceptionally talented, yet far more mature than his peers. He's clearly destined for great things!"

When Zhou Heng saw his grandparents, who were genuinely proud of him, a warm feeling welled up in his heart.

The Eternal Night Dragon on his shoulder closed its eyes and pretended to sleep, the Azure Phoenix with Colorful Wings stood gracefully and quietly, the Silver Dragon that covered the sea on his wrist swayed its tail, and the Star-Devouring Kunpeng beside him stopped circling and leaned against Zhou Heng's arm, snuggling close to him.

"Thank you for the compliment, Grandpa and Grandma." Zhou Heng's lips curled into a happy smile, and his eyes sparkled with happiness.

……

The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month is exactly the 15th day of the second lunar month.

Outside Zhou Heng's courtyard, two aged figures stood quietly.

These were the two top-tier assassins, Feng Zhong and Feng Yong, who had been given to Zhou Heng by his grandfather.

After Zhou Heng revealed his second talent, the two people were transferred away from Zhou Heng because they were not strong enough. Later, Zhou Heng brought them back.

Although they are fifth-tier warrior beast tamers, they can no longer protect Zhou Heng, since the Devouring Star Kunpeng can easily kill the two of them, but they can still handle some miscellaneous tasks for Zhou Heng.

The two of them held up a silver dress with great solemnity.

The dress was not made of ordinary brocade, but rather woven from silk spun by an eighth-order extraordinary silkworm creature, mixed with various precious treasures.

The front and back of the garment are adorned with purple dragon patterns representing the Zhou family's identity, while the edges are decorated with many small, high-grade gold crystals that flow with a brilliant and profound radiance like stars.

This is a dragon-patterned ceremonial robe specially prepared by the family for Zhou Heng's ancestral worship ceremony today. The name is a homophone for "prosperity" and is specially chosen to bring good luck and symbolize the prosperity of the family.