Notebook of Fortune - Chapter 47

As they rushed to the location marked on the map, Zhao Chen couldn’t hold it back anymore.”Shen Zhe, what is your level in body polishing exactly? The peak of stage seven?”

He was at the peak of level six but he could barely escape after facing the Silver Lion. His friend was obviously much stronger than him.

“It’s probably because of my battle technique…” said Shen Zhe.

He had caught too much attention by creating the eighth stage of body polishing. He didn’t want to reveal this to Zhao Chen even though he was one of his best friends.

Zhao Chen nodded.

Stage seven was already his best guess. As for the eighth stage, it must’ve been created by a super genius. He didn’t think that his brother could’ve done that.

“I need to work harder and surpass him…” thought Zhao Chen with determination while clenching his fists.

They were both known as bad students, but Shen Zhe was refining herbs as well as practicing battle techniques…

The gap was too large!

He had to work harder.

Shen Zhe felt that something had been staring at him while they walked. He was highly vigilant, but he found no danger after walking for ten minutes. He was finally relieved.

“We’re here…” said Zhao Chen.

The two of them had reached a dense wood where the tall trees blocked the sky. The place was gloomy even during the day, not to mention the night.

Nothing could be seen, at all.

Thankfully, they were both high-level Body Practitioners and their sight was extraordinary. They would have been barely able to walk there if otherwise.

“The Blue Fox absorbs moonlight essence and only appears at night, so we have to act now, even if it’s dark…” said Zhao Chen.

Shen Zhe nodded.

He had read the files about the beast. That was why he went there in such a hurry.

It would have been much safer to enter the mountain during the day.

“Give me the Pearl Chicken…”

Shen Zhe extended his hand after he walked for a while.

According to the files, it was impossible to catch a Blue Fox by searching.

After all, this was their territory; it would be impossible to find them without spending half a month searching.

More importantly, if they had fled the area in advance, what could they do?

Therefore…

The only way was to allure them to show up!

The Blue Fox, as a fox, liked chicken the best. Pearl Chicken could radiate an intense fragrance and the beast couldn’t resist the temptation.

However, foxes were naturally paranoid. It wasn’t easy to catch them even with a tantalizing bait.

Zhao Chen took out the chicken and gave it to Shen Zhe, who looked around and found a suitable place.

It was an enormous boulder at the center of the woods; it had no grass nearby.

Shen Zhe tossed the Pearl Chicken on top of the boulder, and a vague fragrance was spread out.

“To the tree!”

Shen Zhe jumped to a tree top nearby and Zhao Chen followed him.

The tree was the only hideout near the boulder.

“Control your power and don’t release any smell…”

Mages and Martial Artists had to use special tricks to cover their auras, but Body Practitioners didn’t have to.

Even a level-one Mage could barely detect them if they controlled their breath and heartbeat.

That was also the reason why nobody discovered that Shen Zhe was a stage-eight Body Practitioner.

If a level-one Martial Artist were there, the Blue Fox would’ve sensed the burning scorch from a distance and would have figured out that the chicken was a bait.

Sha! Shua!

Hiding on the branches for almost an hour, they finally heard noises coming from the dry leaves. A fox that was one foot long was approaching vigilantly.

It stopped and sniffed around after taking each step.

“It’s here…”

Shen Zhe’s eyes glowed.

The Blue Fox was hooked by the smell of chicken on the boulder, but it seemed to have realized that it might be a trap. It observed the environment with care and approached slowly.

The Blue Fox circled around the boulder instead of climbing it.

“It’s truly cunning enough…”

Shen Zhe secretly nodded.

He had known that the creature was cautious, but he didn’t expect it to be so prudent.

The fox circled the boulder three times and was relieved after not finding any traps. Then it charged at the Pearl Chicken on top.

Zhao Chen was about to jump off, when Shen Zhe held his shoulder and shook his head.

He looked again, only to discover that the Blue Fox dashed ten meters away before it reached the chicken.

It found no predators or traps after dashing off. So, it went back to the chicken again.

“It was a… test?”

Zhao Chen’s eyes widened.

The Blue Fox would’ve probably escaped before he landed if he had jumped down just then.

No wonder Blue Foxes were hard to catch. They were too cautious.

The Blue Fox jumped to the boulder and ran off immediately two more times. Seeing no anomalies, the Blue Fox was finally reassured.

“Do it…”

Shen Zhe made a gesture.

He realized that the beast was testing the waters because of its behavior and its eyes.

It would never really go for the food as long as there was wariness in its eyes.

Swoosh!

The Blue Fox moved. As quickly as lightning, it flashed to the boulder, bit the Pearl Chicken that was even larger than itself and retreated to the darkness of the woods.

However, Shen Zhe was even faster. He stomped on the trunk and propelled himself like a cannonball; not to the boulder but to the place where the Blue Fox was escaping to.

The Blue Box was cunning enough to test three times, but it had also exposed the beast’s habits and escape route. Therefore, Shen Zhe was able to lunge at it directly.

Creak!

The Blue Fox turned around in fright and accelerated.

Although it was fleeing, it did not let go of the Pearl Chicken in its mouth.

Cunning as it might be, the Blue Fox was still too gluttonous.

Since it had already bitten the chicken, it would never let the food go.

“Even the smartest beast cannot avoid greed…”

Chuckling, Shen Zhe flipped and dashed six meters away.

The advantages of the Falling Leaves Palm were manifested in the short-distance hunt.

He reached the Blue Fox in the blink of an eye.

Although it was fast, Shen Zhe had been well prepared, so he caught up with the beast very soon.

He opened his fingers and snatched.

Creak!

The Blue Fox struggled hard when its neck was grabbed, but it was useless.

“You got it?”

Zhao Chen finally reached him, surprised.

Body Practitioners with battle techniques were too strong. He was quite envious.

Nodding his head, Shen Zhe looked at the fox in his hand.

It was panicked, yet it did not abandon the Pearl Chicken.

The chicken was even larger than the beast itself, which was quite hilarious.

“What a foodie…”

Shaking his head, Shen Zhe was in a great mood.

“I’ll give it some anesthetics, so that it doesn’t run away or tries to kill itself. The anesthetics may slightly reduce the effect of its blood, but there are no other ways. It’s barely possible to tame such an animal!”

Zhao Chen took out a bag of powder from his backpack.

He had it prepared in advance, too.

The beast could not be executed or injured when it was caught. To prevent it from fleeing, anesthetics were necessary.

“Tame it?” Shen Zhe looked at him in confusion as he accepted the powder.

“Yes, while Mages and Martial Artists are honored the most in our continent, there are a lot of other professions. There are Druggists like Mr. Xin Qi, or Body Practitioners like us. There’s a profession that studies living creatures and can tame beasts for their own usage. They are known as Tamers!”

Zhao Chen explained, “They have special ways to command beasts. If this fox is tamed, it will follow you and won’t escape even if no anesthetics are applied.”

Shen Zhe nodded.

Mages were mathematicians, Martial Artists were physicians, Druggists were chemists who studied the characteristics of minerals and plants, Body Practitioners were sportsmen who had more brawn than brains, and Tamers could probably be compared to biologists.

Biologists could understand and tame creatures, as well as improve themselves with the power of nature!

“How can beasts be tamed?”

Shen Zhe was rather curious.

He could easily resolve the crisis he was in if he could tame a beast on par with a level-one Martial Artist.

The question remained… How to go about it?

Did he have to be familiar with them, too?

Should he catch a beast and boil it in a pot?

On the other hand… the beast would probably be edible after it was cooked. Taming a pile of meat would be useless!

“I’m not very sure. Most beasts are proud and will hardly surrender. The successful Tamers mostly try to be kind to the beasts and make them feel grateful. However, I don’t know the specific approaches…”

Zhao Chen shook his head.

There were few Tamers in Green Abyss. He didn’t know much about them.

“Make them feel grateful?”

Shen Zhe frowned and looked at the Blue Fox in his hand, thinking, “Should I try with this one?”