Yang Qi walked over and placed the three bowls of warm Spirit Rice Porridge he had set aside in front of them.
Bai Wan couldn’t wait. He rushed over, gulping down the porridge and yelping excitedly.
’Master, I can feel it! My mind is so much clearer.’
’I can cultivate now, too!’
"Woof~"
Hu Zi was more composed, but he was also clearly overjoyed. He gave an assenting bark before lowering his head to eat quietly.
"Good."
Yang Qi patted their heads, pleased.
Ta Xue hopped down from the sofa. Seeing the clear change in Hu Zi and Bai Wan’s demeanor, she let out a questioning meow.
’Mrow?’
’You can all cultivate now?’
"You’ll be able to cultivate soon, too."
Yang Qi picked Ta Xue up and rubbed her fluffy forehead.
Ta Xue seemed to only half-understand.
Then, Yang Qi used their contract to transmit the cultivation method for the Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Moon Technique to Liu Fu as a stream of consciousness.
Liu Fu, coiled on its perch, visibly stiffened. A flicker of confusion passed through its pale yellow eyes, quickly replaced by immense, joyous surprise!
It flicked its forked tongue, letting out a series of rapid, grateful hisses.
’Thank you, Master.’
"Cultivate diligently. It will be good for you," Yang Qi said gently.
He then formally introduced Liu Fu and Ta Xue to one another.
Liu Fu slithered down from its perch, its scales shifting to a light gray to match its surroundings. It proactively dipped its triangular head toward Ta Xue.
Ta Xue, curious, drew closer. She cautiously sniffed the unique, fresh, plant-like scent coming from Liu Fu, then reached out a paw and gently tapped its back.
The two Guardian Beasts had made their first acquaintance.
In the living room, Xiaojiu licked her paws, Leopard huddled close to Bai Wan for a hushed "chat," Hu Zi sat calmly, Liu Fu slithered back onto its perch, and Ta Xue leaped onto the sofa to resume watching cartoons.
For a moment, all was happy and harmonious.
After dinner, Yang Qi went upstairs to cultivate as usual. He sat within the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array and circulated the Great Derivation Spirit-Controlling Technique, consolidating his cultivation at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.
The night passed peacefully.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Yang Qi deactivated the Demon Extermination Array in his backyard. Tallying his gains, he found he had earned over seven hundred contribution points.
"Seven draws in a row!"
’Congratulations, Host, you have drawn the following prize...’
...
Out of five regular supply draws, he received a Spirit Awakening Pill twice.
"My luck is finally turning!"
Yang Qi was overjoyed. Staring at the two pills in his palm, he felt a great weight lift from his shoulders.
He now had Spirit Awakening Pills for both Ta Xue and Qi Zai!
Back inside the house, Ta Xue was just waking up, stretching lazily on the sofa.
When she saw Yang Qi enter, she leaped down gracefully and rubbed against his leg.
"Ta Xue, come here. Eat this."
Yang Qi crouched down and held a Spirit Awakening Pill to her mouth.
Ta Xue sniffed it. The aura from the pill, which calmed the Beast Heart and cleared the Spirit Platform, made her feel an instinctual affinity for it.
With a flick of her tongue, she swallowed it.
The next moment, the pill’s power began to dissolve within her.
Ta Xue’s body swayed and her eyes glazed over. She let out a huge yawn, then wobbled over to her soft cushion, curled into a ball, and fell into a deep sleep with a tilt of her head.
"When you wake up, it’ll be a new beginning."
Yang Qi gently patted her, then turned, picked up the other Spirit Awakening Pill, and headed straight for the Horned Eagle Cage.
The Raptor District was still quiet in the early morning.
Inside the Horned Eagle Cage, Qi Zai was perched on a branch, preening his black and brown feathers. His sharp, golden eyes gazed toward the distant mountains, ready to begin a new day of patrols.
Seeing Yang Qi enter, Qi Zai let out a low, melodious cry, then flew down and landed on Yang Qi’s protected forearm.
"Qi Zai, you’re not going out today. I have something good for you to eat."
Yang Qi fed it the Spirit Awakening Pill.
Trustingly, Qi Zai swallowed the pill.
A moment later, its powerful body swayed, and its gaze quickly went unfocused. It let out a muffled cry before sliding off Yang Qi’s arm and collapsing onto the hay-covered resting platform, fast asleep.
Yang Qi carefully moved it to a more comfortable corner.
Afterward, he sent a message to Jiang Kai.
"Director, Qi Zai needs to undergo monitoring for a special physiological condition today. He requires 24 hours of quiet observation and will not be going out."
Jiang Kai quickly replied, "Received."
With that taken care of, Yang Qi put away his phone and returned to his dormitory.
He prepared a day’s worth of cat food, dog food, and fresh water for his furry children at home. After checking on the sleeping Ta Xue and the other Guardian Beasts who were either cultivating or resting, he changed into his work uniform and headed out to start the day.
Feeding, cleaning, recording data, observing the animals’ conditions...
His daily work proceeded in an orderly fashion.
With Ta Xue and Qi Zai undergoing their spiritual awakening, it meant that all of his currently contracted Guardian Beasts—
Xiaojiu, Bai Wan, Hu Zi, Leopard, Liu Fu, Ta Xue, and Qi Zai—were now on the path of cultivation as Spirit Beasts!
...
...
The next few days at the Zoo passed peacefully and busily.
Yang Qi worked during the day and cultivated at night.
Under the transformative effects of the Spirit Awakening Pills and their cultivation of the Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Moon Technique, the auras of his Guardian Beasts grew stronger and purer with each passing day.
That evening, Yang Qi had just finished the homework assigned by Song Chunfang when his phone suddenly rang.
The caller ID read: Old Village Chief of Liujiagou.
Yang Qi’s interest was piqued, and he answered the call.
"Hello, Old Village Chief?"
"Ah, hello there, Expert Yang!" came the old village chief’s voice from the other end, thick with a rustic accent but brimming with excitement. "I’m not disturbing you, am I, Expert Yang?"
"Not at all. Old Village Chief, is something the matter in the village for you to call so late?" Yang Qi asked.
"Something is the matter! Something big, and it’s good news!"
The old village chief’s tone was rushed. "Expert Yang, do you remember that ’Huang Daxian’ you caught last time you were in the village? The one that was killing chickens but not eating them, the one that got poisoned, and you healed it and let it go!"
"I remember. What about it?"
Yang Qi asked, "Did it come back to kill chickens again?"
"No, no, no, it wasn’t killing chickens this time."
The old village chief hastily explained, his voice trembling with excitement, "This time, it came to repay a debt of gratitude! The Huang Daxian... it... it saved someone!"
"Saved someone?" Yang Qi was taken aback.
"That’s right! It saved Widow Chen’s little grandson."
The old village chief spoke in a torrent. "Just this afternoon, the little tyke was playing behind the village by the old cemetery hill and somehow fell into a collapsed tomb pit from way back when. That pit is real deep, and the boy couldn’t climb out. He cried himself hoarse, but it’s a remote spot, so nobody heard him for the longest time."
"And then, you’ll never guess what happened! The Huang Daxian came and found us to raise the alarm!"