The attack on Central Beach started suddenly and ended just as abruptly, without any warning.
Even after the incident was completely over, countless ordinary people still lingered, whispering amongst themselves.
There were hushed whispers and murmurs.
Without a doubt, what had just happened had shaken them to the core, and they were still struggling to calm down.
While the crowd was buzzing with discussion, Li Qian had already slipped away quietly.
There was no point in staying any longer.
Central Beach was utterly devastated, no longer resembling a scenic spot in the slightest. Calling it a ruin wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Faced with such a scene, Li Qian naturally had no desire to stick around and admire the view.
He retreated to the bustling city proper and found a random hotel about three kilometers from Central Beach to check into.
After finding a place to stay, he found a small restaurant near the hotel and grabbed a bite to eat.
Just as he returned to his hotel room, his mother suddenly called.
Li Qian saw it was his mother’s number and froze for a moment, but he quickly put two and two together and figured out what it was about.
"Mom, calling me at this hour? Is something wrong?" he asked, pretending not to know, even though he had already guessed why she was calling.
The next moment, his mother’s anxious voice came through the earpiece of his VR glasses, "Xiaotian, I’m so glad you’re okay. So glad you’re okay!"
"Haha, Mom, what could happen to me?" Li Qian laughed, his tone lighthearted.
"I saw the news on my phone. It said there was a wild Pet Beast attack in Zhonghai City just now..."
Hearing Li Qian’s voice and seeing his current surroundings, his mother, Han Yuqing, relaxed considerably. She continued, "But now that I see you’re okay, I can rest easy."
"Mom, don’t worry. I saw the news about it too, but by the time it happened, I had already left Central Beach," Li Qian explained.
He chose to tell a white lie so his mother wouldn’t worry.
After chatting a little longer and confirming he was safe, his mother, Han Yuqing, hung up the phone.
Li Qian watched his mother’s image disappear from the VR glasses, a warm feeling spreading through his chest.
This is what home feels like.
You don’t really feel it when you’re at home, but once you’re away, a single phone call is all it takes to bring that feeling rushing back.
Just before hanging up, his mother had urged him to come home soon, saying it wasn’t safe outside.
To this, Li Qian could only agree profusely while finding an excuse to placate her for the time being.
He had just gotten here. There was no way he was going back now.
Besides, he still hadn’t figured out the evolution method for the Golden Pearl Bud.
He still had to help Sun Ruirui with her Apocalypse problem. Forget returning to Lingshui City—he wasn’t even considering leaving Zhonghai City right now.
And to be honest, it wasn’t necessarily any safer to return to Lingshui City now.
When it came to real danger, there was no difference between Lingshui City and Zhonghai City.
Just like the last attack by the Mechanical Desecration Association, which had caused a huge stir.
Of course, besides these reasons, there was another point why Li Qian wasn’t planning to leave Zhonghai City... After all, Zhonghai was the largest city in the entire Dongxia Federation.
The resources he could obtain at the Beast Taming Center here were simply incomparable to what was available in a small city like Lingshui City.
For this very reason, the hotel Li Qian had chosen was not far from the Beast Taming Center.
Only about three kilometers away.
After hanging up, Li Qian put his VR glasses back on and started looking through some files he had saved.
His top priority right now was to find the evolution method from Gray Bean Dove to Sky Escape Eagle.
Only by completing this task could he move on to a new one.
Namely, the evolution method from Golden Pearl Bud to Tidal Sea Spirit.
After reading for a while, he suddenly thought of something and started searching online.
’Since I’m not planning on going back for now, I might as well find a Cultivation Base that researches these areas and affiliate myself with them for a while.’ Having come to a decision, Li Qian couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
He searched carefully, focusing his attention on the Beast Taming forums for Zhonghai City.
These posts covered all sorts of topics. Some people published their research papers, others were just shooting the breeze, and of course, some were posting recruitment notices.
Li Qian’s targets were these recruitment notices.
Of course, he couldn’t just pick any Cultivation Base.
He had to find one that would be helpful to his own research.
Therefore, he focused his attention on research bases for Flying-type, Water-type, and Life-type Pet Beasts.
Flying Pet Beasts and Water-type Pet Beasts were manageable; there were plenty of Cultivation Bases researching them.
But Life-type Pet Beasts were a different story. Cultivation Bases for them were as rare as phoenix feathers.
It wasn’t that Li Qian hadn’t looked at large, comprehensive Cultivation Bases. But on one hand, these large bases rarely recruited Trainers through posts on the internal Breeder network. On the other hand... although Li Qian had completed some research and had some results—including the evolution methods for the Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon and the Frostfire Salamander, which he had discovered himself.
At the end of the day, he was still just an Intermediate Breeder.
Among the vast sea of Breeders, he was just an inconspicuous nobody.
Large Cultivation Bases wouldn’t give him the time of day.
After searching for a while, Li Qian finally locked onto a target. ’This Sky Realm Cultivation Base looks pretty reliable...’
He checked the time. It was still early, not even eight o’clock at night. Wondering if anyone from the Sky Realm Cultivation Base was online, Li Qian went ahead and sent a direct message.
His luck was good. The other party happened to be online, and it wasn’t long before a reply came back with an address attached.
They directly invited him to come over tomorrow for a face-to-face discussion.
Li Qian didn’t overthink it. He glanced at the address—it was in the South Suburb of Zhonghai City, a bit of a trek from his current location.
It was also a considerable distance from the Zhonghai City Beast Taming Center.
Li Qian thought for a moment, then decided he would go check it out tomorrow anyway.
The next day, Li Qian got up early, had a simple breakfast, and hailed a cab straight for the South Suburb.
Around half-past eight, the taxi arrived at the Sky Realm Cultivation Base in the South Suburb.
The Cultivation Base had an elegant and grand name, but Li Qian could tell with a single glance that it was just a small-scale operation.
’There wasn’t a single star on the gate. It probably wasn’t any better than his own Jiaoyang Cultivation Base.’