```
Gu Ran didn't know exactly how much time had passed during his leisurely stroll, but one thing he could be certain of was that it must already be night outside.
After all, it had been around 4 p.m. when he activated the Void Trading Ground.
...…
To Gu Ran's surprise, as night descended in the outside world, the hustle and bustle of the trading space not only didn't decrease but actually grew even more boisterous.
But upon further thought, it seemed quite normal.
Before the world changed, night markets were usually packed, weren't they? Now, with the great changes in the world, people might need to work hard for a living during the day and usually stayed at home in the evenings.
Consequently, they naturally had more energy to ponder the Void Trading Ground invitations that they didn't have time to consider during the day.
...…
The result was that the number of points on Gu Ran's card binder began to grow again. Although the increase wasn't large, the points had once more surpassed the 100-point mark.
As expected, this rekindled Gu Ran's enthusiasm. However, after being quite selective, he still hadn't made a purchase.
At last, he stood in front of a stall owner who was donning sunglasses and a mask, covered up very thoroughly, and pointed at a basketball-sized creature egg on the stall, asking,
"Boss, can you tell me more about this Battle Pet Egg? Since you've put it up for sale, you must know quite a bit about it!"
[Name: Battle Pet Egg]
[Quality: Common]
[Species: Black-Backed Ape]
[Status: Uncontracted]
[Skills: ???]
...…
Although the Eye of Insight had already helped him capture the attributes, after reading the introduction on the attribute panel, Gu Ran still felt somewhat unclear.
He had obtained only three pieces of information from the attribute introduction.
This was a Battle Pet Egg of some Black-Backed Ape.
It had not yet been contracted.
The quality of the Battle Pet Egg was just Common, not high.
Beyond that, everything else was still unknown.
For example, how exactly one should acquire the Battle Pet Egg, what the so-called "contract" was, what the quality of the Battle Pet Egg signified, and what qualities lay above Common quality.
At his inquiry, the stall owner merely glanced at him lightly but showed no intention of speaking.
However, Gu Ran wasn't angry and took out a pack of cigarettes from his backpack, stuffing it directly into the boss's hand.
Seeing it was "Huang Fu," the staple cigarette from Nanhu Province, something the stall owner particularly enjoyed, the latter happily pocketed the cigarettes and then began to explain,
"This Battle Pet Egg..."
After hearing the stall owner's series of explanations, Gu Ran had largely resolved most of the doubts in his mind.
First of all, according to what he said, the Battle Pet Egg had been found almost entirely by luck. Not long after the world had changed, a Black-Backed Ape fought with other monsters and the stall owner had picked up a bargain in the aftermath, with this Battle Pet Egg being one of the items dropped.
Initially, when Gu Ran heard this, he felt somewhat envious, thinking why such good fortune never befell him?
Then he looked at the stall owner's attribute panel, saw that he too was Level 3 and close to Level 4, and confirmed that the other party hadn't lied.
Moreover, the Black-Backed Ape mentioned by the seller probably had a high level, with the bonus of Source Energy Points for defeating stronger opponents, which was why he had reached his current level.
```
...…
Gu Ran didn't dwell on this problem for long, his attention was quickly attracted by another piece of information mentioned by the vendor.
Once the contract with a battle pet egg was successful and it hatched, it would be able to assist its owner in battle by being summoned like many summoning cards.
Moreover, the key point was that, compared to those summoned creatures, war pets had many advantages. Not only did they have no time limit for summoning, but their level could continuously increase along with their owner, and they had the ability to resurrect infinitely.
Hearing this, Gu Ran's expression in his eyes remained unchanged; no matter how elaborate the vendor's pitch was, his demeanor was consistently calm.
"Besides these advantages, there must also be disadvantages, right? Like the difficulty of contracting or the success rate? And this infinite resurrection you mentioned, there must be a cost involved, right?!"
"Eh!" Caught off guard by Gu Ran's pointed remarks, the vendor's tone abruptly faltered.
Then he looked up at Gu Ran again, and although hidden behind sunglasses, Gu Ran figured the vendor's gaze must be quite "resentful."
After a moment of silence, seeing that Gu Ran handed over another pack of cigarettes, the vendor began to explain:
"Actually, you guessed wrong about one thing. The success rate of the contract is not important; what's difficult is how to obtain the contracting item. As long as you have the contract item, you can repeat the contract process indefinitely. Failing once or twice doesn't matter at all; eventually, it will succeed after tens or hundreds of attempts!"
As he spoke, to prove his point, a card suddenly appeared in his hand with a flash of light.
Gu Ran's gaze focused, and soon the attributes of the card were revealed before his eyes.
[Azurestone Card•Contract Card•Black-Backed Ape]
[Quality: Green Stone Two Stars (Rare)]
[Contracted Battle Pet: Black-Backed Ape (Level 3)]
[Passive: Equipping this card, you can summon the contracted battle pet "Black-Backed Ape" to fight alongside you at will. (Passive does not consume card points)]
Note: The Black-Backed Ape has resurrection ability, but its level will decrease by one each time it dies, and its aptitude will also decrease. To resurrect again, it must wait for twenty-four hours and consume a certain number of card points from the contractor.
Note 2: The Black-Backed Ape has growth potential; it can be enhanced by gaining source energy through joint combat with its owner or by devouring the essence of monster flesh.
Note 3: When the Black-Backed Ape kills a monster, the contractor will also gain corresponding source energy points according to the situation.
Note 4: There is a certain degree of mind communication ability between the Black-Backed Ape and the contractor, enabling command through mental thoughts.]
[Active (Howl of the Black-Backed Ape): Consume 4 card points, surge with the fervor of battle, let out an ear-piercing roar. For the following 10 seconds, increase your own strength by 20% and speed by 15%. (Cooldown time: 10 minutes)]
...…
After reading the card properties, a flicker of realization crossed Gu Ran's eyes. As he had anticipated, the benefits of this battle beast were indeed numerous compared to those of the summoning cards, but it was not without drawbacks.
Although it had the ability to resurrect infinitely, the cost of each resurrection was not insignificant: level decrease, aptitude reduction, card points consumption, and so on.
However, overall, Gu Ran believed the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
As the thought crossed his mind, he asked subconsciously:
"Boss, do you have any uncontracted contract cards left?"
"I'll offer 60 source energy points!"
Hearing the first question, the vendor shook his head subconsciously, but when Gu Ran spoke his second sentence, the vendor's shaking head suddenly froze.
"Cough, cough, cough…"
After an awkward cough, the vendor gestured a seven with his hand, the message was clear.
The contract cards were available; if he wanted one, it would be 70 points, not 60.
Seeing his reaction, Gu Ran's temper flared, he rolled up his sleeves and began to painstakingly analyze the situation for the vendor.