Chapter 48 Dog Training

However, Xiao Jie was a bit hesitant about how to farm these three fiends.
Judging from the information obtained so far, it seemed that repeatedly farming scarecrows up to a certain number would spawn a fiend.
However, Xiao Jie was not entirely certain of this. Yesterday, he and I Want to Immortal had farmed scarecrows for a full two hours and only managed to spawn a single fiend.
Whether there was a direct correlation remained to be confirmed.
Moreover, what if the respawn of these fiends was entirely random? That would pose another problem, as who could know which specific fiend would unlock the gate?
Still, none of this mattered much. Whether it worked or not could be tested by going back today.

Looking at Tian Bao before him, Xiao Jie asked, "Did your ancestors have any particular traits or hobbies?"
The strength of the fiends was likely related to their abilities during their lifetimes. Understanding this in advance might help anticipate the monsters' skills.

Tian Bao (Farmer): "Ah, my ancestors were quite well-known in their time. My great-great-grandmother, Madam Tian Li, was an absolute expert at managing the household. She understood domestic affairs inside and out; with her keeping watch, not even a single blade of grass in the fields would ever be stolen by outsiders.
My great-great-uncle, Tian Daniuh, possessed infinite strength and loved martial arts. He enjoyed fighting others and would spar with any martial arts expert he met, rarely ever tasting defeat.
My great-great-grandfather, Old Master Tian, understood the value of frugality best and could not bear to see even a shred of waste. It is said that our family fortune was initially built up by him, coin by coin, through sheer diligence."

Xiao Jie mentally recorded all this information. Normally, information provided by NPCs served a purpose and was rarely meaningless; it might prove useful later on.

"Alright, knowing this much is enough. If I find that land deed later, I will definitely bring it back to you. Farewell then."
Xiao Jie said, executing the cupped-fist salute gesture.
Then, he headed toward the hunter's cabin. It was time to feed the dogs.

When Xiao Jie arrived at the hunter's cabin, I Want to Immortal was already busy feeding the dogs. It seemed he was equally determined to master dog training.
The chore of feeding the dogs was much simpler than herding sheep; all one had to do was toss the meat to the hounds.

"How is it? Does feeding the dogs level up fast?" Xiao Jie asked.
I Want to Immortal replied, "It's alright, but the skill proficiency gains are unstable. Sometimes feeding them once raises it by 1% or 2%, while other times feeding them two or three times doesn't raise it at all. It's really strange."

Xiao Jie thought to himself: Could this mechanic have some hidden nuance, just like chopping wood?
Looking at the barking hounds, he silently activated Beast Language. The barking instantly transformed into understandable information.

Scar: "Rabbit meat, give me rabbit meat. I love rabbit meat."
Fortune: "I want to mutton, don't give me venison."
Meatball: "Meat bun, I really want to eat a meat bun."
Thunder: "I don't know what's wrong with my appetite today, it's terrible. If only I could have a fish to stimulate my appetite."

Listening to the barks of these dogs, Xiao Jie instantly understood what was going on.

"Stop, stop feeding for a second. Listen to me: feed Fortune mutton, feed Scar rabbit meat, and feed Meatball a meat bun."
I Want to Immortal had a sudden flash of insight. "Oh right! I almost forgot, Brother Feng, you can talk to animals."
Following Xiao Jie's instructions, he fed them accordingly, and his experience points immediately surged upward.

Xiao Jie nodded; things would be much simpler now.
It seemed that feeding the dogs required catering to their individual tastes. Feeding a dog its preferred food yielded a 2% or even 3% experience increase, whereas feeding generic or disliked food resulted in smaller gains, or sometimes none at all.

Under Xiao Jie's guidance, I Want to Immortal's dog-feeding skill proficiency rapidly shot up to 23%, though he quickly ran out of dog food.
"Brother Feng, you feed them first, I'll be right back."
Next, it was naturally Xiao Jie's turn.

Xiao Jie similarly fed the dogs according to their preferences. Feeding over a dozen portions of venison, mutton, and rabbit meat from his inventory directly raised his dog-feeding skill to 27%.
Unfortunately, the game they had hunted yesterday was still too scarce, as the rest of their time had been spent farming scarecrows without further hunting.
Watching the dogs eating with exceptional enthusiasm, Xiao Jie thought with a trace of regret:
Should they go hunting first today before farming scarecrows?

Just as he was about to leave, I Want to Immortal hurried over in a flurry.
"Brother Feng, come trade with me."
With that, he directly initiated a trade request.

Huh? Xiao Jie was startled, only to see a pile of food items pop up directly in the trade window.
Various meats, and even finished foods like meat buns, roasted chicken, and smoked pork.
"Where did you get so much meat and food?"

"Bought them from the butcher and the peddler. Cost me over a thousand copper coins. Efficiency is key right now; let's max out the dog-feeding skill in one go. Learning dog training sooner means having an extra helper, doesn't it?"
Spending ten thousand cash just to feed dogs... Xiao Jie thought to himself that he truly was dealing with a wealthy player.
However, he did not hesitate. I Want to Immortal was right: the top priority was to boost their strength as quickly as possible, and having dogs would undoubtedly vastly improve leveling efficiency.

Accepting the trade, Xiao Jie continued feeding the dogs while guiding I Want to Immortal.
The tastes of these dogs changed randomly; after eating rabbit meat, they wanted venison; after venison, mutton; and after mutton, they craved roasted chicken or smoked pork, sometimes even demanding eccentric foods like meat buns, steamed bread, or fish.
Without Beast Language, one would have to rely purely on guesswork, in which case a thousand cash worth of dog food probably wouldn't have been nearly enough.
But now, equipped with Xiao Jie's Beast Language, the feeding success rate was 100%. In less than an hour, all the hounds were completely satisfied, wagging their tails and shaking their heads at the two players with plump, rounded bellies.
Both players' dog-feeding skills directly advanced to the Master level.

The system prompt finally sounded at the appropriate moment.
System Prompt: Through prolonged feeding of the hunting dogs, you have gradually grasped their living habits, thereby comprehending the related skill [Dog Training] from [Dog Feeding].
System Prompt: Your Beast Lore skill has gained new related content.

It worked! A wave of joy washed over Xiao Jie, and he hurriedly opened his skill menu to check.

[Dog Training (Novice)]
Usage: Attempts to tame a canine creature.
Skill Description: A skill mastered through long-term feeding of hunting hounds, allowing you to command canine creatures to fight alongside you and execute your issued instructions.

I Want to Immortal also let out an excited roar, "Haha! I succeeded too!"

Yang Baichuan (Hunter): "Well done, the two of you. You've fed the dogs quite well; I can tell they're already very familiar with you. Now you can take the hounds out hunting. As your master, I shall present each of you with one. Hounds are a hunter's best companions. Choose well and take good care of them. You may pick any of the hunting hounds here in the kennel, but Black Whirlwind is off-limits—that's my personal dog."

"Many thanks, Master," the two quickly expressed their gratitude before eagerly preparing to pick out their dogs. However, although these hounds looked different, their levels were uniformly identical at Level 4.

That made things a bit tricky.
I Want to Immortal asked, "Brother Feng, can you ask these dogs which one is stronger?"