Lin Fan was lying on his desk, swiping his cell phone in boredom. A video was playing on the screen: an Imperial Beast Master clad in silver battle armor stood on the back of a nine-tailed fox, soaring over the city. The pop-ups were scrolling frantically:
"Oops! A seven-star Earth realm powerhouse!"
"Lord White Night yyy!"
"I'm so envious, if only I could awaken the Imperial Beast Talent as well ..."
Lin Fan sighed and turned off the video. As a child of an ordinary family, he knew too well what a Royal Beast Master meant in this world.
Ever since the recovery of aura three hundred years ago, when humans started to awaken the Royal Beast Talent, this world had completely changed. Imperial Beast Masters harnessed all sorts of powerful spirit beasts, from mythological beasts to modern-day creatures mutated into exotic beasts, and they became the topmost existence in society.
The most powerful Imperial Beast Masters could even influence national policies and control the global economy. For example, China's "Green Dragon" Li Tianming, whose spirit beast is a true oriental green dragon, is said to have reached the realm of Jupiter's five stars and is able to manipulate the weather. And "Thunder" Johnson of the United States rides a thunderbird that has reached three stars of Jupiter in strength and is able to manipulate thunder and lightning.
Even the lives of ordinary people were deeply affected. Lin Fan raised his head to look out of the classroom window, a few courier birds were shuttling through the air, they were Gold Star realm spirit beasts mutated from ordinary pigeons, specializing in courier delivery. On the streets, the cleaners were directing the mutated cockroaches to clean up the garbage, these Mercury Realm Spirit Beasts known as "scavengers" were inconspicuous, but they greatly improved the cleaning efficiency of the city.
"Lin Fan!" The angry roar of the math teacher pulled him back to reality, "You've been distracted in class again! Do you know how high the cultural score line for the Imperial Beast Master exam is now? Even if you can't awaken your talent, as long as you get good grades in culture class, you can still enter the Imperial Beast Master Association as a clerk!"
A burst of laughter rang out in the classroom. Lin Fan stood up with a brush, who didn't know that the clerk position in the Imperial Beast Master Association was a joke, the real power was in the hands of those big shots above the Earth realm.
Suddenly, a burning heat came from his wrist. Lin Fan looked down, a strange mark appeared on his wrist at some point, like a rotating nebula.
"Damn!" Lin Fan couldn't help but cry out in shock.
The whole class looked at him in unison, and the math teacher pushed his glasses, "Student Lin Fan, what's your problem?"
"Teacher, I. My stomach hurts!" Lin Fan covered his stomach and stood up, "I want to go to the restroom!"
Without waiting for the teacher to answer, he rushed out of the classroom. The mark on his wrist was getting hotter and hotter, and Lin Fan felt his consciousness being pulled into an unfamiliar space. Surrounded by an endless starry sky, each star represented a spirit beast.
"Is this the legendary Royal Beast Awakening?" Lin Fan was dumbstruck. He had heard of the legend of the Imperial Beast Master, but had always thought that it was an urban weirdness.
A dark red star suddenly lit up and Lin Fan felt his consciousness being sucked in. When he came back to his senses, he realized that he was standing in the corridor outside the classroom, and in front of him squatted a ... Uh, a creature that looked like a husky?
The creature was pitch black, with two curved horns on its head and bizarre blood-red eyes. The most outrageous thing was that it was holding in its mouth half of the meat sandwich that Lin Fan hadn't finished in the morning.
"This is my innate spirit beast?" Lin Fan was in tears, "Why does it look so two-dimensional?"
"Mortal, I am Taotie." The monster swallowed the meat sandwich and raised its head proudly, "It is your honor to be my master."
The corner of Lin Fan's mouth twitched, "Wipe the scallions from your mouth before you speak."
Taotie stuck out his tongue and licked his mouth, suddenly his eyes lit up, "It smells so good!" It violently rushed towards the end of the corridor, where the scent of cafeteria food was wafting in.
"Wait!" Lin Fan hurriedly chased after it, "Don't run around!"
One person and one beast chased through the campus, causing a gasp of surprise. Lin Fan panted and chased him to the entrance of the cafeteria, only to see Taotie had already rushed into the back kitchen.
"It's over it's over ..." Lin Fan held his forehead, he could already imagine tomorrow's campus headlines, "Shocking! Students actually let dogs loose in the cafeteria!
Just then, a man in a black trench coat suddenly appeared in front of him, "Student Lin Fan?"
Lin Fan took a wary step back, "And you are?"
"From the Imperial Beast Master Association." The man flashed a badge with the seven stars of the Big Dipper engraved on it, "We observed that you have just awakened the talent of Imperial Beasts and..." He glanced at Taotie who was feasting in the back kitchen, "Summoned a Mythical Grade Spirit Beast."
Lin Fan froze, "Mythic level? Just that eater?"
The man laughed, "Taotie is indeed a Mythic Level Spirit Beast, although now it looks... Uh, a bit special. But its potential is unquestionable."
Taotie ran out from the back kitchen with a roasted chicken in his mouth and wagged his tail excitedly when he saw Lin Fan, "Master! This is delicious!"
Lin Fan held his forehead, "Is it too late for me to return it?"
The man shook his head, "Once the native spirit beast is awakened it cannot be changed. But don't worry, the association will provide you with the necessary training and resources."
Lin Fan looked at Taotie, who was still gnawing on the roasted chicken, and sighed, "Then... It can eat so well, does the association take care of the food?"
The man's mouth twitched, "This... We will provide a basic living allowance."
Just then, a commotion came from the cafeteria. Only to see that Taotie had climbed onto the dining table at some point and was feasting on the table full of food. The students watched this scene with dumbfounded eyes, and some even pulled out their cell phones and started recording.
"Quickly stop it!" Lin Fan rushed into the cafeteria and tried to yank the Taotie down. But Taotie nimbly dodged his hand and jumped to another dining table to continue eating.
"Mortal, although this food is crude, it's barely edible." Taotie commented as he ate, "But it's still far inferior to the dragon's liver and phoenix marrow from the ancient times."
Lin Fan wanted to cry, "Can you come down first? This is embarrassing!"
Taotie turned a deaf ear and continued its culinary journey. Just then, a clear female voice sounded, "Let me try."
Lin Fan turned his head to look, only to see a girl with a ponytail walking over. She wore a silver-colored bracelet on her wrist with seven stars embedded on it.
"I'm Su Yuqing, Mercury Realm 3 Star Imperial Beast Master." The girl introduced herself and then looked at the Taotie, "Let me help you subdue it."
Before Lin Fan could stop it, Su Yuqing had already summoned her spirit beast - a Pho with a snow white body. It was a creature shaped like a civet cat, with golden rings on the tips of its ears and a fluffy cloud-like tail.
"Pho Pho, use Charming Sound!" Su Yuqing ordered.
Pho Pho opened its mouth and let out a pleasant chirping sound. The sound seemed to contain some sort of magical power that made people want to listen to it.
The Taotie's movements paused for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. It glanced at Pho Pho and said disdainfully, "A mere beast, how dare you show off in front of this seat?"
After saying that, Taotie opened its bloody mouth and let out a deafening roar. The sound wave swept across the entire cafeteria, and the glass windows trembled. Pho Pho was so frightened that he shrunk into a ball and hid behind Su Yuqing.
Su Yuqing's face paled: "This... What grade of spirit beast is this?"
The man from the Imperial Beast Master Association smiled bitterly, "Mythic level, the exact level needs further testing."
Lin Fan looked at the messy cafeteria and cried without tears, "This is over, I can't afford to pay for it..."
Taotie jumped off the dining table and elegantly licked his claws, "Mortal, there is no need to worry. When this seat recovers its strength, what is this small amount of money?"
Lin Fan rolled his eyes, "Then can you stop eating for now?"
Taotie thought about it and said, "Just have another roast chicken."
Lin Fan: "..."
Just then, the cafeteria's TV suddenly inserted an emergency news: "Attention all citizens, an out-of-control spirit beast has appeared in the eastern district of the city, please evacuate the neighborhood immediately..."
On the screen, a huge nine-headed monster bird was hovering over the city, its nine heads constantly spewing venom. Wherever it passed, buildings were corroded and the streets were filled with people fleeing in panic.
"That's... Nine Underworlds Ghost Carriage?" Su Yuqing exclaimed in shock, "How could a spirit beast of this level appear in the city?"
The man from the Imperial Beastmaster Association had a grave expression on his face, "The situation is not good, this Nine Underworlds Ghost Carriage has at least the strength of an Earth Realm 5-star..."
Before the words left his mouth, Taotie suddenly stood up, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes, "Nine Underworlds Ghost Car? It's been a long time since I ate such delicious food."
Before Lin Fan could react, Taotie had already turned into a black shadow and rushed out of the cafeteria.
"Wait!" Lin Fan hurriedly chased after him, "Don't mess around!"
Su Yuqing and the man from the association glanced at each other and followed. They all knew that a big battle was about to break out...