"This is..."
Gu Yuan was dumbfounded, suddenly feeling a strange sense of familiarity.
After a brief thought, he remembered a pet-raising game called "Mountain and Sea Divine Beast" he played in his previous life.
In his past life, Gu Yuan was just an ordinary worker.
Busy at work during the day, coping with company leadership, under immense pressure, by night he would return home and, after completing tasks for his wife, finally have his own time to relax and entertain himself.
At that time, the various spirit beasts, relics of the wilderness, and divine beast descendants he kept in the game's blessed land, were growing well, especially one ten-thousand-year-old poisonous flood dragon, which he successfully upgraded into an Ink Jade True Dragon!
This also made Gu Yuan the first player in the game to cultivate a divine beast, with a reward of half a million in cash.
Overwhelmed with excitement, Gu Yuan blacked out and died suddenly, and then he transmigrated.
"Could it be that this pet-raising game also transmigrated with me?"
Gu Yuan was both shocked and delighted, and though he still had doubts in his heart, he made a choice:
"Tame!"
As soon as he spoke, Gu Yuan felt as if his spirit was being continuously drawn by something, forming into a mysterious talisman that fell on the brow of the mountain rat, flashed, and disappeared.
Soon after,
[Taming successful, you have acquired the pet mountain rat!]
[Mountain Rat (White)]
Description: A type of ordinary rat larger and smarter than common ones, agile in movement, with keen smell, and fully matured. Evolving to "Iron-toothed Rat" requires consuming 30 Dao Rhyme Points!
Status: Hungry
Phase: Mature (100%)
...
[You have obtained the mountain rat's talent bonus "Rat Smell"!]
Gu Yuan swayed his body, feeling slightly weaker.
It was somewhat like the exhaustion after staying up all night pulling three "all-nighters", feeling mentally sluggish and weak.
Yet he could also sense a peculiar connection with this rat, as if a single thought could command it.
Gu Yuan could even perceive the mountain rat's slightly confused excitement!
Releasing his grip on his clothes, the mountain rat no longer ran away, instead it chirped and climbed up Gu Yuan's pant leg onto his shoulder, nuzzling his face affectionately.
"Alright, stop nuzzling."
Gu Yuan, a bit uncomfortable, held it in his hand.
But as he looked at this mountain rat with its sleek, shiny coat and chubby, adorable appearance, feeling the affection emanating from it, his initial aversion faded slightly.
He staggered back to bed and noticed other changes in himself.
His sense of smell had significantly improved!
Just taking a breath, he could smell the dank, moist air in the room, the lingering scent of porridge, and the stench of the mud soil Gu Father had gotten from digging ditches earlier.
These scents were faint, yet he could detect them keenly.
It is well-known that a rat's sense of smell is extraordinarily acute, far surpassing that of dogs!
And with the mountain rat's talent "Rat Smell" bestowing him, Gu Yuan's sense of smell far exceeded normal, able to detect even the faintest whiffs and distinguish various odors...
"Since your fur is yellowish, I'll call you Ah Huang from now on."
Gu Yuan casually placed the mountain rat to the side.
Even though this mountain rat was just a common (White) grade spirit pet, Gu Yuan was quite satisfied.
At least it was a good start, and the mountain rat's grade was not fixed and could still be promoted.
As for the grading of spirit pets, Gu Yuan figured it was no different from the settings in the spirit pet games of his past life:
There were seven grades in total: Common (White), Elite (Green), Excellent (Red), Rare (Gold), Precious (Dark Gold), Legendary (Purple), Mythical (Purple Gold).
Among them, Common and Elite were ordinary pet beasts.
Excellent and Rare were spirit species pet beasts.
Precious and Legendary were divine beast bloodline level pet beasts.
Mythical was naturally the immortal level pet beasts, such as True Dragon, Phoenix, Qilin, Long-armed Divine Ape, Golden-winged Roc, Kunpeng, Golden Crow, Gold-devouring Divine Ant, and other divine beasts.
Immediately, Gu Yuan's thought stirred, and he opened the status panel:
[Beast Master]: Gu Yuan
[Status]: Weak (Injured)
[Beast Pet]: Mountain Rat (can evolve into Iron-toothed Rat, requires 30 Dao Rhyme Points).
[Cultivation]: None
[Dao Rhyme]: None
...
This status panel was unexpectedly simple, lacking the complexity and hassle of the games Gu Yuan had played in his past life.
As for "Dao Rhyme Points", they were introduced in the previous life's game, everything in the world has Dao Rhyme, which is some mysterious and unique power between heaven and earth, though concentrated more in natural creations, and even in things humans poured their spirit into crafting, and spiritually endowed items.
For example, rare stones, scenic wonders, stone carvings, deities, antiques, paintings, famous swords, jewelry, etc., all of these embody human insights into nature and all things.
...
In the dead of night, a gust of chilly wind blew outside, making a "woo woo" sound.
In the room, Gu Yuan felt little drowsiness.
"After the autumn harvest, there must be quite some grain in those field mouse nests and mountain rat burrows. Although most have been dug up, there must be some left over!"
Pillowed on his crossed arms, Gu Yuan glanced at Ao Huang, the mountain rat huddled aside, and a thought popped into his mind.
"With Ao Huang at my disposal, not only can it help me explore mouse holes but also warn and guard, it's worth trying to see if I can dig out some grain..."
"Moreover, this world has martial arts cultivation, and it's rumored that profound cultivators can even fly and achieve immortality, something to explore when the chance arises."
Gu Yuan's mind buzzed with ideas:
"By taming just a mountain rat, my sense of smell has become extraordinary! If I could tame a tiger or a golden eagle, the benefits would be even greater. If I could tame demons or immortal beasts, the sky's the limit..."
Though his situation was challenging now, with the mountain rat Ao Huang and the pet game system as support, the future was promising!
Daydreaming for a while, Gu Yuan fell into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, Gu Father and Gu Mother had already gone off to work.
After breakfast, Gu Yuan wrapped himself in warm clothes, grabbed a rusty machete, and went out.
As for the mountain rat Ao Huang, it hid beneath his clothing, occasionally poking its head out, its beady eyes scheming.
After a night's rest, the pain from Gu Yuan's wounds was not as severe as yesterday's, tolerable as long as he didn't move strenuously.
The Gu Family Village wasn't very populous, with only over seventy households and two hundred people; the mountain villagers worked by day and rested by night.
It was a slack farming season, except a few making extra money through labor or hunting, most stayed home to conserve grain and strength, avoiding unnecessary consumption, eating only twice a day.
When Gu Yuan left the village, two figures emerged at the village entrance, whispering as they watched his departing figure.
"I thought that boy named Gu wouldn't make it after being nearly mauled by a dog, but here he is walking. Quite the survivor!"
"So what do we do?"
"Steward Wu said to keep an eye on him, and if he harbors any improper thoughts, we'll report it and someone will deal with him."
"I think Steward Wu is just being extra cautious, why not just kill him if he's a threat, why bother..."
"You don't understand! This isn't some major incident warranting murder. And those aristocratic families, though ruthless, maintain appearances; if harm comes to someone, it's no big deal, but if someone dies and it tarnishes Young Master Qian's reputation, it'll backfire!"
"Oh... that's wise of you, Brother Gui!"
"Less chatter and let's follow him!"
...