Chapter 1: The World of Beasts

“Rebirthed? Perhaps transmigrated?”

Jiang He looked at the surface of the water. He was a little dazed.

His face was reflected in the water and somehow, he looked younger.

Jiang He majored in civil engineering. It was almost the end of the semester and he stayed up late to prepare for his examinations. He only fell asleep at dawn.

When he woke up, he found himself lying on the bank of an unknown river. There were many red scars on his body. They were probably caused by the aquatic plants and pebbles.

Jiang He looked around his surroundings. The river was flowing down from the top of a waterfall. Large trees were everywhere. He appeared to be in an unfamiliar forest.

It was very likely that he had transmigrated.

His original body had suddenly died and his soul had transmigrated to this body in a parallel world.

Jiang He stood up and moved his limbs.

Fortunately, all parts were still intact.

‘Good!’

Jiang He did not panic. In fact, he was excited.

As a veteran web novelist, he was no stranger to a transmigration setting! It was so common and even fell off in terms of popularity.

Nonetheless, he was still interested in this genre.

Jiang He tried to figure out his current location.

After struggling to take a few steps, countless pieces of information entered his mind.

‘The era of familiars… New World… Beastmasters… The book of contracts… The beast-eared lady.’

The memories of the original host flashed through his mind like a movie at thirty-two times the speed.

It took Jiang He more than ten minutes to digest the information.

He had indeed transmigrated to a foreign world where familiars were mainstream.

Four hundred and twenty-one years ago, humans discovered the “New World”. There were all kinds of magical creatures and rare resources that contained extraordinary powers.

At first, humans could only cautiously explore this new world.

Then, they discovered the “Ruins”.

The ancient characters in the ruins were continuously deciphered. Humans learned more about the new world and managed to subdue the beasts. They used the book of contracts to capture and control these extraordinary creatures.

Hence, the legacy of the beast-taming began. More and more people became beastmasters.

As time passed, more new worlds appeared. There were countless creatures and rare resources. People could not help but explore.

With beastmasters as the main force, mankind officially entered the era of “Great Voyage”.

At the end of every school semester, the Ministry of Education would collaborate with the Beastmaster Association to test the students’ talents. Those who were promising would be provided with a book of contracts and become reserve beastmasters. The Beastmaster Association would also help them to condense the book of contracts.

Of course, possessing the book of contracts did not mean that one had become a beastmaster.

The individual had to subdue a beast first.

This was the cause of death of this body’s original owner.

After obtaining the book of contracts, most people would go to a local area to subdue a beast of their choice.

The price of these subdued beasts ranged from thousands to millions. An ordinary person would definitely be unable to afford it.

The familiars bred by pet shops were basically hybrids and their growth was limited.

These hybrids were produced by crossbreeding native creatures on Earth and the extraordinary creatures of the New World. They were more docile and had a higher fertility rate.

The original host’s father had reserved a Lightning Lizard for him. It was bred in Suhang City and was considered pretty decent among hybrids.

However, the original host was arrogant and wanted a purebred familiar. He wanted one that was powerful and had high growth potential.

Purebred familiars that met his requirements were all extremely expensive. They usually cost more than a million. Furthermore, they were very uncommon.

In any case, it was not realistic to obtain one.

Thus, the original host persuaded his parents to change his final exam reward to a “One-week trip to the Rose Forest”.

On the way, he left the tour group and went to the depths of Rose Forest alone, hoping to find a Windstorm Wolf cub.

This was suicidal, but the original host was a bold person.

At the same time, the original host had awakened his talent called “Acting” and it was very practical in the wild.

When beastmasters successfully condensed the book of contracts, they would often awaken a familiar talent.

There were a variety of familiar talents but they could be categorized into two main types. Mainly, battle-type and support-type.

“Acting” was a standard support-type talent. It was similar to mental hypnosis. The wild beasts would be tricked into thinking the beastmaster was one of their own. In short, it could be considered a godly capturing skill.

The original host had sprayed his body with the Windstorm Wolf’s scent and even learned how to howl like them.

After all, the only way to get a wolf cub was to enter a wolf’s den!

Once he left the tour group, the original host searched for two days before successfully finding the Windstorm Wolf pack. He almost succeeded in his infiltration.

However, he had learned the wrong wolf howl. It was actually a mating call.

After howling, dozens of male wolves chased after him.

Howling in another male’s territory was viewed as a serious provocation.

Luckily, there was a river not far away. The original host jumped into the river to escape but in the end, he drowned.

Sometime later, he got washed ashore.

Jiang He thought to himself, ‘This world is not bad.’

He had liked animals ever since he was young.

‘But how am I supposed to survive now?!’

Jiang He had already given up on the idea of capturing a young Windstorm Wolf. His priority was to safely return to human society.

The original host’s father had already reserved a Lightning Lizard for him, so he could make do when it came to familiars for the time being.

Jiang He composed himself and tried to recall his knowledge about survival in the wild that he had previously seen in books and television.

A prominent figure called Bai Ye popped into his mind. Unfortunately, he was not an expert like the latter.

After wandering around the area, Jiang He fell into despair.

First of all, he should be somewhere at the bottom of a valley surrounded by steep mountain walls.

There was a cave on the east side. It might be a way out, but the cave was too dark for him to enter.

Furthermore, the original host would have been rescued long ago if he did not spray the Windstorm Wolf scent all over his body.

It would be a miracle if the rescue team managed to find him.

Since there was no hope of escaping, Jiang He had to figure a way to survive.

For now, the most important thing was food.

The original host’s backpack that contained some biscuits and maps had been washed away by the current. The only tool he had was a dagger pinned to his pants.

There were fish in the river but with his skills, harpooning them was impossible.

‘That’s right! Acting!’

Jiang He had a flash of inspiration. He suddenly remembered his original host’s talent.

If he could act like a fish, then he could launch a surprise attack.

Before that, he wanted to take a look at the book of contracts.

Ultimately, it was an incredible item that was condensed by the original host’s spirit.

Jiang He closed his eyes and held his breath. His mind was calm. He pictured a book and used his consciousness to materialize it.

Shortly after, the book of contracts appeared in his hand.

Jiang He was a little stunned.

“D*mn, the color changed?!”