Chapter 3 – Achievement Unlocked, Max Growth Rate

“Such a powerful effect!”

A glimmer of surprise flashed in Lin Ze’s eyes.

Though it was only a 1-point increase, the enhanced Soul Strength was now more than double what it had been.

After all, the average Soul Strength of this year’s College Entrance Exam takers was only 0.9.

A Soul Strength of 1.8 was undoubtedly worthy of being called genius-level.

“It seems the student with the highest Soul Strength at Pinghai No. 1 High School is also only at 1.8.”

A Beast Tamer’s power was closely tied to their Soul Strength.

The higher one’s Soul Strength, the higher the Power Level of Pet Beasts they could contract, and the more they could contract.

Beyond that.

Soul Power would also increase alongside Soul Strength.

Whether summoning Pet Beasts to battle or casting Soul Arts, Soul Power was required.

In a sense, one could say that a Beast Tamer’s aptitude was essentially their Soul Strength.

“180 points of Soul Power is enough to sustain a second-tier Pet Beast outside for seven or eight hours.”

Lin Ze nodded in satisfaction, then turned his attention back to the Achievement Points.

According to the system prompt, Achievement Points could increase a Pet Beast’s Growth Rate.

Lin Ze focused his mind on the Pet Beast panel, and a ‘+’ symbol instantly appeared next to the Growth Rate column.

He tried tapping it.

The Growth Rate instantly changed from 23.48% to 24.48%.

At the same time.

The Achievement Points decreased by 1 point.

“1 Achievement Point corresponds to 1% Growth Rate, huh.”

Lin Ze simply waved his hand and directly raised the Growth Rate to 100%.

【Name】: Little Snowball

【Attribute Type】: Ice

【Level】: Tier 1, Stage 2

【Growth Rate】: 100%

【Skill】: Cold Breath

【Empress Path, next Evolution Form 【Ice Crystal Soul】, requires: Growth Rate 100%, Low-rank Ice Element Essence X20, Soul Jade X1】

As a Pet Beast’s Growth Rate increased, so did its Power Level.

Different Pet Beasts had different degrees of improvement.

“Only one small level increase at full Growth Rate—that’s pretty pathetic.”

“It’s no wonder Little Snowball is classified as an F-rank Pet Beast.”

Lin Ze shook his head, but quickly perked up again.

“Now I just need the Low-rank Ice Element Essence and the Soul Jade.”

“I’ll head home first to grab some money, then go to the Pet Beast Shop tonight.”

Lin Ze looked at Little Snowball.

As if sensing its master’s excitement, Little Snowball let out a soft chirp and drifted over to Lin Ze’s shoulder, nuzzling against him affectionately.

“Little one, I didn’t expect your true potential to be so great. From now on, I’ll be counting on you.”

Lin Ze patted Little Snowball’s head.

It felt icy cold to the touch, as if he were stroking a clump of snow and ice.

“Woo.”

Little Snowball let out a joyful chirp.

Lin Ze smiled, comforted it for a moment, then put Little Snowball away and continued on his way.

Before long.

He arrived back at the residential complex where he lived.

The house had been bought by his predecessor’s parents before they passed away. It was a bit old, but the location and environment were still decent.

Walking familiarly to the building entrance, Lin Ze pulled out his access card from his pocket.

“Beep.”

The somewhat worn iron door opened with a creak.

Lin Ze lived on the third floor.

After climbing the dim stairwell, just as he stepped onto the third floor, he saw a youthful, vibrant girl standing in front of his door.

Hearing his footsteps, the girl turned around.

Seeing it was Lin Ze, a bright smile blossomed across her pretty face.

“Brother, you’re back! I was just about to look for you.”

“What’s up?”

Lin Ze smiled as well.

The girl who lived next door was Guan Ning. She and Lin Ze had grown up together and shared an extremely close bond.

The two of them were both third-year students at Pinghai No. 1 High School.

In fact, Guan Ning was a year younger than Lin Ze, so she had always called him “big brother.”

It was worth mentioning that their parents were also close friends.

The two families frequently visited each other.

After Lin Ze’s previous self’s parents passed away, Guan Ning’s parents had helped arrange the entire funeral.

If not for their care, a high school student like his previous self—even without financial worries—would have found it very difficult to live alone.

His previous self had been deeply grateful to the Guan family.

Having inherited his previous self’s memories and emotions, Lin Ze naturally held a very favorable impression of Guan Ning.

“Mom and Dad sent me to ask if you want to come over for dinner tonight?”

Guan Ning said with a grin.

“Sure, I’ll head over in a bit.”

Lin Ze replied casually as he took out his keys to unlock the door.

Suddenly.

A thought occurred to him, and he turned to ask Guan Ning:

“Oh, right, A-Ning. The Beast Tamer Association is holding a probationary qualification assessment tomorrow—are you going?”

Unlike Lin Ze, who had mediocre aptitude, Guan Ning was a renowned Beast Tamer prodigy in the area.

Not only was her Soul Strength as high as 1.7,

but her initial contracted Pet Beast was also a Demon Flame Bird, rated as a C-Rank Pet Beast.

It had a two-stage Evolution Form.

Its final Potential Ceiling was as high as Tier 6.

Under Guan Ning’s careful nurturing, the Demon Flame Bird had already reached Tier 1 Stage 9 in Power Level.

In terms of sheer strength alone, the girl ranked within the top five at Pinghai No. 1 High School.

She was undeniably the school’s ace student.

“Yeah, I’m going tomorrow morning.”

Guan Ning nodded in reply.

Lin Ze gave a slight nod and said casually, “Then I’ll go with you.”

“Huh?”

Guan Ning was taken aback and quickly waved her hands.

“No need, big brother. I can go by myself—I’ll have classmates with me too.”

Guan Ning assumed Lin Ze was worried about her going alone, which was why he said that.

But she knew that Lin Ze had always dreamed of becoming a Beast Tamer, only to lack the aptitude, and he had always felt deeply disappointed about it.

To avoid reopening that wound, she never mentioned anything related to beast taming in front of Lin Ze.

There was no way she would let Lin Ze accompany her to the probationary qualification assessment now.

“It’s settled, then.”

Lin Ze didn’t explain further. He smiled, patted the girl on the head, and walked inside after opening the door.

Guan Ning looked as if she wanted to say something, hesitated for a long moment, but ultimately said nothing more.

Lin Ze stayed home until dinner time, then followed the girl next door to the Guan residence.

“Xiao Ze, you’re here.”

Guan Chongshan, who was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, looked up and nodded with a warm smile.

“Uncle Guan.”

Lin Ze greeted him.

“Xiao Ze’s here.”

Guan’s mother happened to walk out of the kitchen carrying a dish, and said with a smile:

“Perfect timing—dinner’s ready.”

The Guan couple was as warm and hospitable as always, treating Lin Ze entirely like their own son in both words and demeanor.

Throughout the meal.

Lin Ze had a fleeting feeling of being part of a family.

In his previous life, he had been alone, and it had been a long time since he’d experienced such warmth.

A little past seven.

Lin Ze stepped out of the Guan residence.

He went home to grab his savings card, then hurried without pause to the nearest Pet Beast Shop.

“Tonight I’ll buy all the materials and evolve Little Snowball!”

Lin Ze had done his homework beforehand and searched online.

Low-rank Ice Element Essence and Soul Jade were both ordinary low-tier Pet Beast Materials.

They could be purchased at a Pet Beast Shop.

They were very easy to obtain.

More than ten minutes later.

Lin Ze arrived at the entrance of a spacious, brightly decorated shop.