"Excuse , could you move for a mont? I want to grab a book."
Gu Ming heard her words and imdiately knew the system had gotten the dialogue wrong. The content was a complete mismatch.
But it wasn’t a major issue. As long as he initiated a conversation, the system would automatically fill in the details to match the future tiline.
"Let get that for you. Is it up high?" Gu Ming offered.
"Mhm."
The girl in glasses was obviously startled, as if she rarely interacted with strangers.
She spoke in a very quiet voice and gave a small nod.
On her shoulder sat a juvenile Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster.
It had brownish-gray fur, a round, dark-brown tail, and striking heterochromia—one yellow eye and one black. Standing about five centiters tall, its chubby paws clutched a sunflower seed.
Looking at the hamster’s unique heterochromatic eyes, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if it were a Pet Beast he had raised from birth.
There was only one place that could evoke such a feeling: his workplace.
Over the New Year, a large batch of Pet Beast cubs had been born at the neighborhood Pet Beast Store.
Gu Ming had spent a month caring for them, from the mont they were born until they could live on their own.
The Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster saw Gu Ming’s face and heard his voice. It revealed a surprised little expression, its beady eyes widening into perfect circles.
The little creature had recognized Gu Ming.
Just then, Gu Ming looked again at the girl in glasses and suddenly rembered that she was the custor who had been picking out a Pet Beast a few days ago.
’It’s her!’
She had originally wanted to choose between a cat and a dog, but in the end, influenced by her family, she had reluctantly chosen the adorably dopey-looking and easy-to-raise Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster.
The girl kept her head slightly lowered, not daring to look at people, her eyes hidden beneath her bangs.
The Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster reached out a paw to gently touch its owner’s neck, but she didn’t react.
She didn’t continue the conversation, but the system kept going.
[You proactively ask about the common Ultimate Skills that Dragon Race Pet Beasts are learning in this era, or if not those, a lesser Flood Dragon Secret Manual.]
[The curious classmate looks at the Elder Dragon on your shoulder and directs you to the fifth book from the left on the top shelf, directly overhead.]
’Oho?’
His interest piqued, Gu Ming reached up to the top shelf and took down the fifth book from the left in the first row.
*Ultimate Skill: Snake Health Exercises*
’Aren’t these just thumb exercises?’ Gu Ming’s expression darkened. ’Are the system’s recomndations reliable at all?’
Hearing him take down the book, the girl beside him glanced up at the title and shook her head. "That’s not the one."
"Which one is it, then?" Gu Ming asked, sliding the book back into its spot. He didn’t think this was the book he needed.
[She is very surprised that you’d look down on *Ultimate Skill: 550 Edition Dragon Race Health Exercise*.]
[This is a publicly available Ultimate Skill that can benefit both Sub-dragon Bloodline Pet Beasts and purebred Dragon Race Pet Beasts. It seems you need an Ultimate Skill more focused on health and wellness.]
’Wait, why is it pushing toward wellness techniques?’
Gu Ming looked at the young Cyan Treasure, brimming with Life Force and boundless youth. It was only in its Juvenile Stage; what did it need wellness for?
But there was nothing to be done. In the system’s eyes, Cyan Treasure was a Ti Dragon whose end was near. To outsiders, it was a Flood Dragon so old its teeth were about to fall out, not even rated as One-star.
If she wasn’t going to recomnd a wellness-focused Ultimate Skill, what other kind of Cultivation Technique could she possibly suggest?
The girl raised her head, straining to see the top shelf, and pointed to the eighteenth book from the left—*Ultimate Skill: Earth Escape Technique*.
After taking the book, Gu Ming realized it was an Ultimate Skill that any Earth Attribute Pet Beast could learn. It had nothing to do with Snake Pets; even a hamster could practice it.
The Little Cyan Snake was a Grass Attribute Pet Beast and couldn’t learn the Earth Escape Technique, making the book useless to Gu Ming.
[You have obtained *Ultimate Skill: Mastery of Wood Escape*. This is a new-era Ultimate Skill for both the Earth and Grass Attributes. Upon mastery, one can control the Power of trees and earth, granting vegetation the unyielding strength of rock.]
[When trained to the Great Success Stage, one can summon an endless sea of trees to erupt from the ground and bind enemies over a large area. Their durability will be on another level, and they won’t be easily ignited by ordinary Fire Attribute Skills.]
Gu Ming hadn’t cared much at first, but after taking the book in his hands, he changed his mind.
’This is way more reliable than those health exercises.’
"Thank you."
the shy girl beside him said, her eyes lifting slightly from beneath her bangs. She noticed Gu Ming was staring blankly at the book.
She was suddenly at a loss for words. She was socially anxious and didn’t dare to speak with strangers, nor was she very assertive.
Seeing that Gu Ming wasn’t handing her the book, she suspected he had taken a liking to it.
The Earth Escape Technique was a Body Technique-type Ultimate Skill for Earth Attribute Pet Beasts. It had nurous prerequisite Cultivation Techniques and Skills and was not sothing that could be learned in a short amount of ti.
The main reason she wanted to read this book was because, while scrolling on her phone, she saw a hamster blogger recomnd that new owners who don’t know what to teach their pets should have their little hamsters begin Cultivation of the Earth Escape Technique Ultimate Skill.
The Earth Escape Technique Ultimate Skill itself covered three aspects—Body Forging, Cultivation, and Body Technique. It was a complete and well-docunted system, with years of training case studies available for reference. As the most balanced path for growth, learning the Earth Escape Technique wouldn’t lead a Pet Beast’s developnt astray.
Those were her reasons for wanting to read *Ultimate Skill: Earth Escape Technique*. ’But why is the boy in front of staring at it in a daze?’ she wondered. ’His Snake Pet is clearly a Grass Attribute Little Cyan Snake.’
As she noticed Gu Ming’s Pet Beast, she also happened to get a good look at his face.
Coupled with the fact that the Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster beside her was constantly trying to greet him, she too caught a flash of familiarity.
"Sorry, I forgot. Here, you take it and have a look."
"By the way, when you return it, could you let know? I’d like to borrow it for a look too," Gu Ming said.
He was certain now. The book had triggered a reaction from the system, which ant it couldn’t be ordinary.
He had just flipped through several other books without any reaction, which ant their contents couldn’t be linked to the future.
But this book was different. A Grass Attribute Pet Beast could also practice it. It didn’t restrict by species, only by the Pet Beast’s elental Attribute.
A Pet Beast with both Grass and Earth Attributes would progress twice as fast with this Cultivation thod. Since the Little Cyan Snake lacked the Earth Attribute, he figured it would only benefit from a normal training efficiency.
The girl paused, surprised that Gu Ming actually wanted to read the book.
She hesitated for a mont, then pushed the book back into Gu Ming’s hands. "Why don’t you read it first? I’m not in a hurry."
"I’m not in a rush, just browsing," Gu Ming said, accepting the book nonetheless.
She shook her head shyly. Rarely speaking to boys, she just wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible and avoid causing anyone trouble.
Gu Ming had a sense of her personality; he figured that pushing the book back and forth would only cause her more anxiety, so he relented.
"Should we exchange contact info? I’ll let you know when I’m finished," Gu Ming suggested, pulling out his phone.
Hearing this, she let out a long sigh of relief and nodded vigorously. "Okay, okay."
Gu Ming pulled up his digital contact card on his phone for her to scan.
*BEEP.* A new friend was added to his contacts.
ID: Sunflower Seeds.
Her profile picture was a photo of the Sunflower Seed-eating Hamster eating. The little hamster was clutching a sunflower seed, its head buried as it gnawed away. Its chubby little mouth made its cheeks puff out as it chewed, looking both very serious and very cute.
It fit her personality perfectly. One look was enough to tell he was dealing with a true pet lover.
As Gu Ming took the book to the front desk to check it out, he had a sudden thought. ’Wait, did that co off like I was hitting on her? I really didn’t an to. I hope it didn’t bother her. She seems really socially anxious.’
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