Surprisingly, the previous hostile crowd had turned into a complete set of different people entirely. The only thing I could read from their eyes was reverence. It was as if they'd gone through a process of bowdlerization.
"Success!" the mechanical voice from the door of the examination announced.
'Oh là là !'
'Now that's what I'm talking about, baby!'
Stepping out, I felt like a superstar. I raised my head up and looked at the numbers floating across the door.
100 points!
Still, as a genius, I couldn't just start crazing over a mere score... I had to add some vibes and play expert.
Before I could even say a word, everyone began to steer clear, as though I was some demon. Tracing their perplexed gazes, I realised it was due to my new pet that they shrunk in fear. Smiling, I turned to it and asked telepathically, "Do you have a name?"
It shook its head.
"I'm only known as a copper-fur wolf, I've never been tamed by anyone, so how could I possibly have a name?"
I nodded in realisation. It was, in fact, very normal for a savage beast of its tier to not have a name. Shaking my head, I said, "I'll call you Little Wolfy!"
It first shot me a perplexed look, before quickly lowering its head in submission and loyalty, saying, "Thank you, Mistress!"
I nodded in satisfaction.
As this conversation was made through telepathy, it did not take more than half a breath, unlike how the process of creating words and speaking out loud would have done.
"Sit down, Little Wolfy!" I ordered out loud.
The copper-fur wolf sat immediately, at order, inducing even a greater fear in the crowd.
"Is that total submission? How could she have induced such a trust level in the untameable copper-fur wolf?"
"And to think its a Transient Mortal Realm savage beast for that matter!"
"She's indeed an unparalleled expert of unimaginable caliber!"
"It's a pity the eighth princess of Tianxuan Empire, Lu Peng, had such a terrible opponent to deal with..."
"Hahaha, that would keep them in their place. Humph!"
The more the crowd looked on, the more their awe for me grew. Still, I made sure not to show the slightest sign of excitement.
Looking at the crimson-eyed Lu Peng and her friends, a curve rose from my lips.
"I passed the trial and beat you to the duel, right? Quick, do as you've promised. Unless you're planning on reneging on your promise!" I said, in a loud voice that echoed in the ears of everyone.
It was obvious that she wanted to interject, but on second look at Little Wolfy beside me, she shuddered and could not help but sigh.
"Okay."
Knowing that there was no way to circumvent the situation to her favour, she compromised without a choice.
The other two with her also shook their head in resignation, without even causing a fuss. That left me with a surge of relief. A certainty was, as princesses, if they chose to disagree, there was actually nothing I could do.
The three of them lowered their heads in shame.
"Before the Beast Hall, we apologise to you for our earlier, ill-mannered behavior. We ask of your forgiveness."
I waved my hand in nonchalance. The truth was, I wasn't even concerned about their half-hearted apology. What I really needed were the spirit stones!
As if she could read my mind, she said, "I'll send my men to bring the spirit stones over to your place, later in the day."
I shook my head in disbelief. Like, does she think I trust her? Take a step back, even if I did trust her, it was possible that her friends would change her heart and they'd plot a payback scheme against me.
"To think that a princess of your tier would not even have just thirty spirit stones on hand."
Infuriated, she clenched her fists. Then she sighed. She turned to the other two with her, and they contributed all thirty spirit stones and collected them together in a jade box.
Lu Peng clenched her teeth and passed it over to me.
Opening it, a gush of spiritual energy pulsated through my acupoints and meridians, and the urge for cultivating immediately poured in. Controlling myself, I held it and nodded in pleasure.
My infuriation actually worked! As the saying goes, 'Better safe than sorry.' I wouldn't want to give them the luxury to my downfall.
Just then, the attendant from before who seemed to have been in a daze all along, came forward with a warm smile.
"Congratulations in successfully becoming a 1-star Beast Tamer! Now, you'll have to come with me to the Hall of Will in order to claim your 1-star Beast Tamer emblem."
I nodded. Remembering the explanations of the halls in the Beast Hall from Bright, earlier, I immediately understood that that was just the next step to take.
As I left with the attendant, I shot a glimpse back at Lu Peng only to see her crying as her boyfriend left her and walked away with a furious look in his face.
'What-evz... I can't care any less.'
We soon arrived in another hall. It was not as big as the others. It was more or less just like a hall of fame, with emblems placed in eye-catching positions.
Activating my Eye of Insight, I realised that each of those emblems carried their own spirit aura. Just being in contact with these emblems could leave one feeling a rise in their strengths as well as mental fortitude.
"Normally," said the attendant, "we ought to test your tamed beast's trust level. However, it's more than obvious it meets the requirements! And for your being able to break the record of the previous beast tamers in clearing the examination quickly and flawlessly, you'll be given a storage ring."
"A storage ring?" I asked, perplexed.
"Yes. It's an artifact that has the ability to store one's possessions. There are three ways to earn one. The first is beating previous records at an unimaginable level, second is becoming a 3-star beast tamer, and the third is paying the sum of 1000 low-tier spirit stones (approximately 1 middle-tier spirit stone)."
My eyes bulged out as my mouth watered.
'In fact, I won't think of what I just heard.'
"Here is your storage ring," said the attendant, after unsealing a particular shelf that had been hidden with a formation. She passed on a gold-coloured ring to me, then asked me to drop my blood droplet on it to claim possession.
I quickly did as she said, and 'weng!' the storage ring vibrated in excitement, before slipping into my index finger in excitement. My consciousness went into the ring, and I saw a large space within. With this kind of space, I could always keep all my possessions with me around! My body trembled in excitement.
I removed my consciousness from the ring and looked at the attendant with excitement written all over. She smiled back, warmly.
Beast taming was actually worth all the stress! As expected of the number one occupation of the Phantom Dynasty!
After a little more conversation, I realised it was already evening, and returned home with Little Wolfy tailing closely.