When in doubt, ask the instructor.
Li Miao decisively opened her messenger app and found Chen Bin's chat.
[Big Bed Companion]: Instructor, I have a question I'd like to ask you.
She expected to wait a while for his reply but was surprised when he responded instantly.
[Fire-]: Shoot.
[Big Bed Companion]: Shocked—you're actually not asleep at this hour?
Chen Bin: "..."
[Fire-]: Spit it out already.
[Big Bed Companion]: Okay, instructor. I just wanted to ask, if a tamed beast's average base stats exceed 20, how do I level it up?
[Fire-]: Your tamed beast is already at that point?!
Chen Bin was stunned and instinctively blurted out an expletive.
Back then, his tamed beast had taken a full month to accumulate the required stats. But Li Miao had managed it in just two weeks?
The man reflexively reached for a cigarette but had barely touched it when a vine pressed down on his hand.
"Vine!"
The vine creature, with its wide innocent eyes, gripped a gaming controller enthusiastically with a few tendrils while others diligently wiped surfaces with a cloth. The remaining vines were eyeing Chen Bin's hand and phone menacingly.
Chen Bin: "...Can you let me reply to a message, at least?"
"Vine!"
Go ahead—but hand it over when you're done.
Chen Bin was speechless.
Honestly, it felt like the phone belonged to the vine creature now. Ever since it became addicted to the internet, he'd hardly gotten a chance to use it.
He rubbed his face and sighed in resignation.
"Fine, just a minute."
With that, he typed quickly to Li Miao:
*If your tamed beast's stats are averaging around 20, bring it to me tomorrow. I'll take you to the base's Beast Soul Stone repository. With the stone, your tamed beast can level up normally.*
[Beast Soul Stone?]
Li Miao was confused. There was no mention of such a thing in her memory.
She couldn't help asking:
*What's a Beast Soul Stone?*
*A relatively secretive item in the tamed beast world—it's produced from within spatial rifts. Different stones are compatible with different beasts. Our base, for example, has a canine-type Beast Soul Stone that can activate a certain gene in canine tamed beasts, allowing them to awaken and level up.*
*So, if I want to level up Erha, I need a Beast Soul Stone to activate its genes?*
*Exactly.*
No wonder she'd been assigned to this base.
Li Miao pondered silently.
*But why?*
*That's complicated, so I'll keep it brief.*
Under the vine creature's unwavering glare, Chen Bin continued typing:
*Wild tamed beasts accumulate base stats naturally and can awaken on their own once they reach a certain threshold. Contracted tamed beasts, however, are different.*
*Their stat growth is much harder—aside from environmental factors and innate talent, their bodies seem locked by some mysterious force. No matter how many stats they accumulate, they can't level up. Without leveling, they'll fall behind rift creatures and wild beasts. So, after realizing this, our predecessors discovered Beast Soul Stones as a way to break the chains within contracted beasts.*
Finally, he added with a sigh:
*Maybe contracted beasts are cursed. Inside spatial rifts, those creatures view contracted beasts with shame.*
Whoa.
She'd just stumbled upon some serious intel.
Creatures inside spatial rifts… *looked down* on contracted beasts?
Did that mean rift creatures had intelligence? Only beings with self-awareness felt shame.
Wait.
Li Miao suddenly remembered something and glanced at the sleeping Erha.
Generally, the difference between wild tamed beasts and rift creatures was *initiative*.
The former wouldn't attack humans unless provoked or threatened.
The latter actively hunted humans or contracted beasts.
Erha was a domesticated tamed beast. Even if it wasn't contracted, it couldn't become a rift creature because it lived in human society and instinctively befriended people. At most, it'd be classified as a wild tamed beast.
So… *cursed*?
Maybe it was true.
Li Miao lay in bed, deep in thought, until she finally cracked and asked Chen Bin:
*Instructor, what if a contracted beast just keeps accumulating base stats?*
His reply took a long time:
*Difficult.*
*Like climbing to the heavens.*
Her eyes lit up.
*So it's not impossible?*
*There were cases among the first generation of tamers. But that's all in the past now.*
But Li Miao was undeterred.
After checking Erha's base stats, her gaze landed on the training points.
Maybe… she could try?
After all, she had training points she could directly invest in base stats. Plus, Erha's potential was incredible—it accumulated stats rapidly. If she kept up the combat training and sparring, perhaps it could awaken and level up without relying on a Beast Soul Stone.
So… should she give it a shot?
Li Miao turned off her phone, deep in thought as she stared at Erha's stats.
In the end, she succumbed and dumped all her training points into **Defense**.
Within seconds, Erha's **Defense** rocketed to **67**!
At the exact same moment, Li Miao noticed Erha's body had grown slightly larger, its fur glossy and gleaming—as if it had just had a luxury spa treatment.
Satisfied, she closed her eyes.
Finally, all cleared out.
Her OCD was appeased.
---
The next morning, Erha was, as usual, sprawled on the bed.
Li Miao scowled as she shoved its paw off her face and slapped its head.
"Get up!"
Erha jolted awake: "Arf? Arf?"
"Who said you could climb into bed?!"
She fumed. *"How many times is this?! Huh?!"*
Erha wilted and tried to wiggle closer for affection—but forgot this was a *single* bed. The moment it moved, its feet slipped.
**THUD!**
A metallic clang rang in their ears.
Li Miao glanced down—Erha's head was wedged between the bedframe rails, its fluffy backside sticking out.
Priceless.
Only an idiot would miss this photo op.
She snapped a few shots, saved them, then leisurely climbed out of bed.
"You okay?"
Erha blinked.
*Why doesn't it hurt?*
Normally, falling hurt! But now—nothing!
In fact… it almost felt like the rail had *bent* from the impact.
—No.
*Not almost.*
Erha stared in dismay at the **dent** it had left in the metal railing.
Li Miao was also silent, observing the indentation.
"…So."
Dead serious, she suggested:
**"You wanna bump it again?"**
"Try to pop it back into place, yeah?"
Erha: *…*