Beast Taming: My System is Bugged

Chapter 332 - 319: Sudden Appearance

Gu Ming set down the freeze-dried food and waited for a moment. A rustling sound echoed from the forest.

Gu Ming immediately grew alert. However, when he scanned the area with his Divine Sense, he found that it wasn’t the stray kitten he was anticipating, but other animals roaming the woods.

They didn’t even have a trace of Spiritual Qi—they were just ordinary animals.

"Looks like another fruitless day. Let’s try again next time," Yuan Ge advised.

Gu Ming was also thinking of calling it a day. He waved his hand, sending Cyan Treasure to drive the animals away.

Cyan Treasure didn’t use brute force to swat at them.

Since its Breathing Technique had already reached the Perfection Realm, this was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the power of the Green Treasure Breathing Technique at Daoist Skill Perfection.

It raised its serpentine head, opened its mouth, and like the ocean swallowing a hundred rivers, instantly drew all the stray Grass Element Spiritual Qi from the woods into its maw.

It then refined the energy in its belly at the speed of light. With a flex of its abdomen, it let out a gentle breath. All the miscellaneous Spiritual Qi it had inhaled—every Attribute that wasn’t Grass—suddenly transformed into a cloud of mist and gushed out from its mouth.

A RUSHING sea of clouds, as if descending from the high heavens, surged into the dark forest with the force of an avalanche. It lifted the ordinary animals—those that weren’t Spirit Beasts—and gently blew them far away, completely unharmed, driving them out of the area.

Terrified by that indescribable power, the small animals bolted and didn’t look back.

However...

It was this one, very spiritual, breath that spread the scent of the freeze-dried food throughout the entire forest.

As Gu Ming smelled the familiar scent wafting through the forest, a line of text suddenly scrolled past his eyes.

"Cyan Treasure’s Daoist Skill has reached Perfection. Its breath nourishes a thousand branches, spreading the scent of the delicious freeze-dried food throughout the entire forest. Even the hidden space crack within has been suffused with Spiritual Qi."

"The Chaos Creature hidden in the crack, attracted by the scent, has suddenly awakened and is heading toward Cyan Treasure."

’It’s here!’

Gu Ming had been about to give up and come back another day.

According to Yuan Ge, the stray cat’s routine was erratic. After a full meal, it might not show up again for days until it was hungry. It might even get food from someone else and disappear for half a month.

Gu Ming had planned to return in a few days, but he never expected Cyan Treasure’s Breathing Technique to suddenly come through in such a big way. He stroked Cyan Treasure’s head in approval.

"Good job, Cyan Treasure," he said.

Yuan Ge shot him a puzzled look.

Meanwhile, Lu You had Mouse Treasure burrow into the ground and hide.

Gu Ming also had Ah Kun hide and move to the rear to block any potential escape routes.

He also instructed Yuan Ge not to use Nightfall this time. To guarantee its capture, they couldn’t give it any opportunity to use its Talent Ability.

Yuan Ge nodded and asked, confused, "Are you sure it’s here?"

"Just trust me. My Divine Sense has already picked it up," Gu Ming replied.

The words had barely left his mouth when the Divine Senses they had both stationed in the treetops near the freeze-dried food detected the aura of a Dark Attribute Pet Beast. It was in the woods, moving against the flow of the scent and heading their way.

After all, the ordinary animals in the woods had already been pushed out by that overwhelming tide of Spiritual Qi.

Any creature capable of moving against that tide of Spiritual Qi had to be a Spirit Beast with at least a One-star Level of physical ability.

At this, both of them grew attentive and looked in that direction.

Sure enough, a scrawny little black cat appeared. Its two long, pointed ears and the tip of its tail looked as if they had been deeply corroded by darkness.

It propelled itself with its hind legs, occasionally lifting its front paws to deftly push aside obstructing bushes, much like a humanoid Pet Beast’s skilled use of its limbs. Its paws would then land softly on the ground.

Its gait through the mountain forest looked a bit clumsy, but the way it flickered in and out of sight with each pause and leap was a clear sign of it intermittently using the Shadow Escape skill.

It was using its skill this way, rather than remaining a shadow for the entire approach, because doing so consumed both its Physical Ability and Mana.

As a stray kitten living a hand-to-mouth existence, it simply couldn’t afford to use Shadow Escape the entire time. It had to conserve energy wherever possible while approaching the freeze-dried food.

Seeing this stray kitten—the one he’d been trying to catch for days—finally appear, Gu Ming’s heart began to POUND.

The more he looked at it, the more he liked what he saw. Although the stray kitten’s appearance was a far cry from the High-star Level Potential Pet Beasts in the adoption groups, he wasn’t someone who judged by looks alone.

Suddenly, it let out a MEOW that carried through the forest.

Yuan Ge’s Night Demon Cat instantly understood. The other cat was greeting it, but it was also a test.

Without a familiar response, it would remain wary and wouldn’t dare to come closer.

The Night Demon Cat looked to its master, and Yuan Ge in turn looked at Gu Ming.

Gu Ming nodded, giving it the signal to respond.

"MEOW—"

A long meow carried through the woods.

Hearing the familiar meow, the kitten’s expression immediately relaxed. It continued its stop-and-go approach to the freeze-dried food, lowered its head, and began to devour the contents with loud GOBBLES, as if it intended to swallow the entire bowl.

Seeing his target, Gu Ming wanted the Night Demon Cat to go out and calm it, and also to ask if it wanted to end its life as a stray and live with a Beastmaster, no longer having to brave the elements.

The Night Demon Cat did as instructed, landing on the ground and walking toward the stray kitten, meowing. It stopped about seven or eight meters away, not getting too close.

The kitten ate quickly, devouring the freeze-dried food in the bowl like a whirlwind, leaving nothing behind.

After listening to the Night Demon Cat’s explanation in their feline tongue, the kitten showed no desire whatsoever for a new life with a human Beastmaster. Instead, it turned, transformed into a shadow, and escaped into the darkness without a moment’s hesitation.

And it was, of course, nighttime.

It wasn’t a night created by a Daoist Skill, but it was true darkness all the same. By turning into a shadow and melting into the other shadows, it became incredibly difficult to catch.

Gu Ming started to feel a bit anxious. He’d been searching for days and had finally managed to find it. If he let it get away now, there was no telling when he’d see it again.

Cyan Treasure, Ah Kun, the Night Demon Cat, and the other Pet Beasts all sprang into action, rushing after it.

Yuan Ge’s other Pet Beast, a Shadowy Vine Snake, was also lying in ambush from another direction.

The stray kitten was terrified by the sudden, multi-pronged assault.

’It had just come for a meal.’

’Why would the Spirit Beast it knew suddenly turn on it? And why did it bring so many other Pet Beast helpers?’

This terrified the kitten, sending it fleeing for its life in a panic.

Furthermore, because the kitten had turned into a shadow, even when Gu Ming’s Cyan Treasure caught up to it with its Rootless Wood, it couldn’t grab hold. The powerful tendrils simply passed right through the shadow and plunged into the ground.

This forced Cyan Treasure to pause for a moment. As its speed dropped, the kitten pulled ten meters ahead.

The ability to turn into a shadow was just that absurd.

You couldn’t attack it, nor could you effectively restrain it.

Not unless Gu Ming had set up an Imprisonment Array beforehand and lured it inside.

But Gu Ming wasn’t a Prophet; he hadn’t thought of that in advance. Besides, purchasing the materials for an Array was a huge expense, and it would have all taken time to prepare.

He could only watch as his Pet Beasts gave chase, until at one point, they suddenly lost their target.

The Pet Beasts converged at the base of a tree, staring at each other in confusion. They couldn’t find any trace of the stray kitten.

Gu Ming and the others weren’t as fast as their Pet Beasts and only caught up a good while later.

Through his Pet Beast Contract, Yuan Ge was already perceiving events from his two Pet Beasts’ perspectives.

It was clear they had suddenly lost the trail.

But something about the situation was strange.

Yuan Ge’s Shadowy Vine Snake had been positioned to intercept it from the opposite direction, yet it had somehow failed to block the kitten’s escape. It was truly bizarre.

"Is its Shadow Escape skill even stronger than your Night Demon Cat’s?" Gu Ming asked.

Yuan Ge spread his hands; he couldn’t answer.

Gu Ming paced back and forth. He wasn’t frustrated, but instead, an idea struck him. He began scrolling through the system’s history of pop-up messages.

His gaze paused on the words "space crack."