My beast taming system has absolutely no problems!

The confusion in Madam Xue Ling's eyes lessened slightly, and her gaze towards Xia Yu softened.

While it wasn't enough to dispel the gloom brought by the Beastmaster's passing, it was enough to support it to continue on its journey.

"Anyway, Aunt Xue, could you show me around the pet house first?"

Xia Yu's words made Madam Xue Ling put aside her thoughts and nod.

"Hey~"

Although she has a cool and aloof wife-like appearance, Madam Xueling's voice is actually quite cute.

Isn't this a kind of endearing contrast?

Lady Xueling led Xia Yu into the pet area.

The space, which used to be more than 80 square meters, was filled with pet cages and shelves, but now it is covered with dust.

Lady Snow Spirit's fingertips gently traced the bars of an empty cage, her movements as soft as if she were touching a piece of the past.

Xia Yu asked curiously, "What kinds of animals used to be kept here?"

Lady Xueling tilted her head and thought for a moment, then gestured a round shape with her hand.

"Rolling worms?"

"Eek!"

Xia Yu pictured a fist-sized, hairy worm in his mind.

My great-aunt's shop used to sell mostly low-level pets.

She always says that everyone should have their first pet, and the first one shouldn't be too expensive.

Walking past the display area, a few yellowed price tags remained on the shelves.

Xia Yu picked it up and saw that it read "Calming Grass, 50 yuan/plant," with crooked handwriting, like a primary school student's homework.

"My great-aunt's handwriting is still so...unique."

Lady Xueling let out a soft "yelp," her expression surprisingly somewhat helpless.

Clearly, it also agrees with this assessment.

Further inside is the cleaning and care area.

A white ceramic bathtub was placed against the wall, next to a heater for drying, the pipes covered with a thick layer of dust.

Like the pet shops of the past, these small pet shops take on all kinds of jobs, including cleaning the pets boarded up by beast tamers.

Lady Snow Spirit paused for a moment by the bathtub, and Xia Yu noticed that her gaze softened.

"Did your great-aunt often bathe you here before?"

"Hey~"

Lady Snow Spirit nodded.

Xia Yu imagined that scene in his mind.

An elderly woman with gray hair rolled up her sleeves, humming an old song as she rubbed Madam Xueling's back.

Lady Xueling sat in the bathtub, her snow-white skin appearing and disappearing in the steam.

That must be its most relaxed moment.

"I'll wash you from now on too."

Xia Yu blurted it out.

He felt a little embarrassed as soon as he said it.

This sounds like something a pervert would say.

Fortunately, Madam Xueling didn't think much of it, she just let out a soft "oh" and turned to continue walking forward.

The childcare area has eight small rooms arranged in neat rows, each with a different number.

Xia Yu stopped in front of one of the doors. There was a faded sticker on the door panel with a simple line drawing of Madam Xue Ling and the words "Exclusive to Aunt Xue" written crookedly next to it.

"Did I draw this?"

Lady Xue Ling smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

Xia Yu remembered.

During the summer vacation when he was ten years old, he stayed at his great-aunt's shop for a whole month.

Before leaving, he pasted the painting on the door of Madam Xueling's room, saying it was a "personal mark".

Surprisingly, more than ten years later, the sticker is still there.

"Grandma hasn't torn it yet?"

"Hey~"

Xia Yu touched the edge of the mottled sticker, a warm feeling welling up in his heart. The old lady was keeping this ridiculously ugly painting as a treasure.

Continuing on, passing through a wooden door with peeling paint, Xia Yu's eyes lit up.

The backyard wasn't big, about forty or fifty square meters. In one corner grew a few small trees about half a person's height, with some shriveled fruit hanging from their branches.

The ground was overgrown with weeds, clearly indicating that it hadn't been tended to for a long time.

Based on the original owner's memories, Xia Yu asked, "This is... a spirit fruit?"

Before humans awakened their beast-taming space, pets were called spirit beasts.

In nature, there are also some plants that live alongside mythical beasts, which people call "spiritual fruits".

There are many kinds of spiritual fruits, and their effects are also different.

But they have one thing in common: they are quite popular with pets and provide them with considerable benefits.

Increase the strength of attribute energy, increase resistance to a certain attribute, enhance a certain ability...

In the context of fantasy and martial arts worlds, this could be considered a "magic pill" for pet beasts.

"Hey~"

Madam Xue Ling nodded, walked to a tree, picked a fairly plump fruit, and handed it to Xia Yu.

The fruit was cool to the touch and had a slightly sweet aroma.

Suddenly, the system's voice came back to life in Xia Yu's mind.

Wild tree fruit detected; can be crafted into energy blocks!

[Unlock Basic Energy Cube Recipe: 3 Custard Apples, 3 Pomegranate Fruits, 2 Okra Fruits, blend and press, add a little sweetener, and one bucket of Moo Moo Milk...]

Xia Yu: "......"

understood.

Pet beasts are the same as Pokémon, and spirit fruits are the same as tree fruits, right?

Xia Yu found that he was slowly beginning to understand and accept Tongzi's amazing thought process.

There's no way around it; the principle of joining forces when you can't win works in any world.

and many more...

Energy Cube?

Xia Yu suddenly had an idea: why not... make some energy cubes for Madam Xue Ling to try?

As the saying goes, the way to a pet's heart is through its stomach.

Making a dessert by hand is obviously a good starting point.

Pulling himself back to reality, Xia Yu looked at Madam Xue Ling.

"Aunt Xue, wait a minute, I'll make you something delicious."

Lady Snow Spirit tilted her head, indicating her confusion.

Xia Yu turned around and rushed into the kitchen area of ​​the store, rummaging through drawers and cabinets.

The kitchen area was still usable, so he found a juicer, a stainless steel bowl, and a fruit knife.

"Let me think... custard apple, durian, hibiscus..."

He ran back to the backyard and compared the system's description with several trees.

Even though he was a die-hard Pokémon fan in his previous life, it was still quite difficult for him to distinguish which tree fruit corresponded to which spirit fruit.

He could only rely on his memories of this world to make comparisons, and finally picked a few fruits that he remembered were the most similar.

Back in the kitchen, Xia Yu began his energy cube making adventure.

The first step is to wash the fruit.

The water pressure from the faucet fluctuated, and it took him half a minute to get a normal flow of water.

The second step is to cut it into pieces.

The flesh of the blue tree fruit is translucent, and when cut open, it emits a refreshing, minty aroma.

The red berries were so sour that Xia Yu almost cried.

Green tree fruits are the most normal; they have the fresh aroma of ordinary fruits.

The third step is to juice the fruit.

The manual juicer, like this pet shop, is an old relic.

After cleaning the machine, Xia Yu used a lot of effort to squeeze out only half a cup of mixed juice.

Step 4...

Wait, the system says "mixed pressing", but shouldn't Pokémon Energy Cubes be solid?

Xia Yu stared at the suspiciously dark purple liquid in the glass, lost in thought.

If we give this to Lady Xueling, will she be accused of poisoning her?

"Forget it, when in doubt, just add flour."