Beast Taming: My System is Bugged

Chapter 298 - 289: Then, Together

To be honest, it had been a long time since he’d seen the system update so much of the plot at once.

Seeing the system stalled, Gu Ming took the initiative to chat with Manager Ruan in an attempt to advance the plot.

"Manager Ruan, can I keep working here during the summer break?"

"You still care about that little bit of pay? Aren’t you going to spend the summer cultivating your Pet Beasts?" Ruan Jing rolled her eyes, thinking Gu Ming was just messing with her.

The monthly salary from this community shop was probably only enough to cover a single meal for his Cyan Treasure.

Cyan Treasure wasn’t the same Little Cyan Snake it used to be.

Now a Two-star Pet Beast, it had mastered multiple Cultivation Techniques and possessed extraordinary abilities. It also carried the Seed of Rootless Wood Grass within it, which had stunned the entire national competition. Furthermore, the Great Dao Foundation in its Dantian had drawn widespread attention.

Packing so many treasures into a Two-star Pet Beast went far beyond the needs of an ordinary Little Cyan Snake. It was more in line with the requirements for raising a top-tier Snake King hatchling.

It might even be higher, perhaps reaching the level of a young Flood Dragon King.

For a creature with the potential of a young Flood Dragon King, the daily expenses wouldn’t be ten or twenty thousand—you’d have to multiply that by five, at least.

And Gu Ming wasn’t about to let it stop at the Two-star Level.

He would definitely strive to evolve it to the Three-star Level.

Even though there were no known cases of a Little Cyan Snake evolving to the Three-star Level.

Others wouldn’t even attempt it. The investment required for a Little Cyan Snake to evolve from Two-star to Three-star was immense with no guarantee of success, the returns weren’t proportional to the effort, and most simply lacked the necessary Talent.

With that kind of time and resources, it would be better to invest in a Snake Pet with more potential; it would have already evolved to Three-star.

But investing all that into a Little Cyan Snake? You’d pour in the time and still might not see any return.

Only someone like Gu Ming, with his unique Talent for Cultivation Technique Study, could possibly unearth the full evolutionary potential of a Little Cyan Snake.

Manager Ruan shook her head.

Gu Ming was unfazed. Instead, he asked her in all seriousness, "Do you know of any high-paying jobs? I want to work this summer."

’Gu Ming knew that his family had just enough money to get by for now.’

’As the Visualization Images for his various Cultivation Techniques go on sale, his income will steadily grow, eventually becoming enough to support the Cultivation of both his Pet Beasts.’

’But that was only one side of the resource equation.’

’What Gu Ming needed was a future supply of Spirit Stones.’

’If he didn’t work and earn those Spirit Stone rewards...’

’...Cyan Treasure’s Cultivation progress would be severely hampered.’

’Right now, no Cultivation Spiritual Medicine on the market could compare to the effects that Spirit Stones had on his two Pet Beasts.’

’Especially after they both evolved to Two-star.’

’The benefits from Spirit Stones were like the difference between heaven and earth.’

’Gu Ming was even considering letting Mouse Treasure use Spirit Stones for its Cultivation as well.’

’As for how to explain it to Lu You, he could just say it was a confidential Cultivation Resource that he couldn’t disclose.’

’As long as he didn’t say anything, she would understand its importance and wouldn’t go spreading it around.’

’At the same time, Gu Ming also needed to prepare a Concealment Array to avoid prying eyes. This would prevent people from spying on him when he used Spirit Stones for Cultivation at the university.’

’No one had discovered it in Lanqi City, mainly because no one had been paying him any mind.’

’People with status and power wouldn’t have paid excessive attention to him when he was at the Zero-star or One-star level.’

’But once he got to university, his competition wouldn’t just be other Two-star students. Third and fourth-year Beastmasters might get bored and decide to pry into the secrets of Cyan Treasure’s Cultivation.’

’Gu Ming had to be prepared.’

Manager Ruan and Gu Ming chatted for a while.

Seeing how seriously he was insisting on finding a high-paying job, she couldn’t help but frown and ask, "Are you serious?"

This time, Manager Ruan’s tone was no longer lazy and indifferent. She asked with conviction.

Gu Ming nodded solemnly. Completely ignoring the bewildered looks from the Gu family elders and the questioning glance from Lu You, he said firmly,

"Of course I’m serious."

He paused, then added, "Actually, my goal isn’t just to make money. A job is also the best place to train my Pet Beasts.

"Of course, more money is always good—I’m not going to complain about that. But the most important thing is finding a job where my two Pet Beasts can use their special skills and get some real training."

Gu Ming’s reasoning made sense.

Manager Ruan nodded thoughtfully after hearing his explanation. In fact, her family had sent her to work in this small community shop for a similar reason—to gain experience.

Now that her assignment here was nearly complete, she was getting ready to be promoted and transferred elsewhere for a new job.

If that happened, she could easily arrange for Gu Ming’s employment to be transferred to the city where she would be working.

However, Gu Ming hadn’t even decided on a university yet. How could he possibly settle on a job?

If it was just a summer job, there were certainly plenty of local positions she could recommend.

Manager Ruan could easily find him a summer job paying ten or even twenty thousand a month, the kind specifically meant for recent high school graduates.

But with Gu Ming’s current Talent Ability, that kind of ordinary work was no longer a good fit.

Therefore, Manager Ruan gave him some serious advice. "If you want a high-paying job, you need to decide on a university first. Then I can look for a suitable position for you in a major city."

When it came to choosing a university, Gu Ming became much more cautious.

After lunch, he invited Lu You to his bedroom to talk face-to-face about her university choices.

It was Lu You’s first time entering Gu Ming’s bedroom.

Before, whenever she came to the Gu residence to train, she had stayed downstairs, used the training area in the shop, or gone to Gu Ming’s old family home.

Entering his bedroom for the first time, she looked around the tidy room with an expression of curiosity mixed with nervousness. It was as if everything was new and fascinating. She wanted to take a closer look but held herself back with considerable restraint.

Her hands were clasped tightly together, her head bowed slightly as she stared at the floor. She was as cautious as a skittish creature emerging from a dark corner into a new environment.

Seeing her display of social anxiety, Gu Ming figured she was probably feeling a bit overwhelmed after talking to so many unfamiliar teachers earlier.

Seeing this, he asked gently, "Which university do you want to go to?"

’Gu Ming knew she had left the decision to her parents, but he still wanted to hear what she truly wanted. Just because she wasn’t assertive didn’t mean that, deep down, the socially anxious girl didn’t have her own preferences.’

’She was just used to going with the flow, making passive choices, and letting others decide for her. This made it easy to overlook what she truly wanted.’

Lu You didn’t even lift her head. "It doesn’t matter to me," she mumbled. "Any university is fine."

Gu Ming turned to look at Mouse Treasure and asked,

"Mouse Treasure, do you know which university your master really wants to go to?"

Mouse Treasure raised a paw and nodded adorably. Of course, it knew.

Lu You’s expression suddenly turned to panic. She reached out to cover Mouse Treasure’s mouth, but the little hamster struggled.

’For its master’s happiness, and for its own as well!’

’It decided to reveal its master’s true feelings! Using a Body Technique, it easily slapped her hand away and squeaked loudly at Gu Ming in hamster-speak.’

*She wants to go to the same school as you!*

*I want to cultivate with Cyan Treasure and Boss Ah Kun and get stronger together!*

"So she wants to go to school with me,"

Gu Ming’s expression cleared with understanding. After a moment’s thought, he didn’t dwell on the underlying logic; it just seemed perfectly reasonable.

After all, he had basically raised Mouse Treasure himself.

Now that Mouse Treasure had grown so much, he didn’t want to be separated from it either.

In fact, his earlier thought about giving it some Spirit Stones for its Cultivation stemmed from the same sentiment.

’In that case, I need to think about this seriously.’

’Actually, if he wanted to make full use of the system, he had to leverage its advantages for his own benefit.’

’In the system’s eyes, he possessed the knowledge and achievements of a fifty-year-old. To "win," he had to rely on the new generation of Beastmasters.’

’And as for Lu You—though her real name was never revealed to the system—it viewed her knowledge and innovative ability as far superior to his own.’

’She was skilled in both Cultivation Techniques and Arrays, so either Wenquxing University or Venus University would be perfect for her to develop her Talents.’

"I’ve decided," Gu Ming said after closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, finally choosing the country’s number one private university. "Let’s go to Wenquxing University."

’He had considered going to the second-ranked university, where the competition would be less intense.’

’But then he thought again. With the system on his side, he shouldn’t be so timid. If he was going to go, he should aim for the very best.’

’The more intense the competition, the more geniuses he would encounter. And that meant more characters would appear in the system’s plotlines.’

’When every person he met had a name and a powerful Talent, it would mean more opportunities for him to leech off of.’