BTSBH 05

Chapter 05

The Beginner’s Gift Pack

“The Beginner’s Gift Pack has been delivered. Please check it, Host.”

A book titled Basic Knowledge of the Beast World suddenly appeared before Su Yuzhi.

This was practically a lifesaver sent from heaven.

Since there were no beastmen around at the moment, she could quickly cram some essential knowledge about this world.

Thousands of years ago, the Beast God and the Demon God fought a great war that split the continent into two separate lands, which can temporarily be referred to as the Demon Realm and the Beastman Continent.

The Beastman Continent worshipped the Beast God, while the Demon Realm followed the Demon God.

According to legend, the Beast God and the Demon God were originally twins. However, for reasons unknown, they eventually turned against one another and waged a world-shaking war.

The Beast God had no desire to harm his people, so he used his divine power to protect them before the battle began.

The Demon Realm, however, suffered greatly.

The Demon God cared nothing for the lives of his followers. Once the battle started, he fought without restraint.

In the end, both gods disappeared.

Since the two continents had long been separated, and no one except the Beast God and the Demon God had ever been able to travel between them, no one knew what had become of the Demon Realm.

There were only rumors that somewhere deep beneath the sea, a temporary rift connecting the two worlds could occasionally appear.

Putting the Demon Realm aside for now, the book continued with the Beastman Continent.

On the Beastman Continent, females were far rarer than males, with an approximate ratio of one female to every eleven males.

Most females had several mates, while some even had dozens.

The inhabitants of this world were divided into intelligent beastmen capable of taking human form and ordinary wild beasts.

According to legend, the ancestors of all beastmen who could transform had once received the Beast God’s blessing.

However, there was still a chance that later generations would experience atavism. Such individuals could speak human language but were unable to transform into human form.

Male beastmen gained the ability to freely switch between beast form and human form upon reaching adulthood.

Females, on the other hand, were born in human form.

After a male transformed into his human form, a beast mark representing his race would appear on his arm.

Once he formed a mating bond with a female, that beast mark would transfer onto the female’s arm.

This symbolized that they had become mates recognized by the Beast God.

Male beastmen were extremely loyal.

After forming a mating bond, they would never look at another female again.

Beastmen generally lived either in tribes or cities.

Most tribes consisted primarily of members of the same species.

For example, the Leopard Tribe where Su Yuzhi was temporarily staying was inhabited almost entirely by leopards, though there were also a few beastmen from other races who had successfully courted leopard females and moved there.

Cities, on the other hand, were home to beastmen of many different races.

They resembled modern towns, with regular morning and evening markets.

Patrolling beastmen maintained order to prevent disturbances.

These patrols were usually made up of members of the City Lord’s own race and the Four Great Beast Clans.

The current City Lord was a tiger beastman.

Because the Tiger Tribe was exceptionally powerful, it had held the position of City Lord for many years.

Besides the City Lord, there were also the Four Great Elder Clans: the Leopard Tribe, the Fox Tribe, the Snake Tribe, and the Wolf Tribe.

Managing a city was an exhausting and troublesome task.

Normally, straightforward beastmen disliked such work.

However, there was a good reason why everyone wanted to become City Lord.

Powerful wild beasts that had not yet gained intelligence produced crystal cores within their bodies.

These crystals came in two varieties: green and red.

Green crystals represented vitality and could extend one’s lifespan.

Red crystals represented strength and could increase one’s power.

For this reason, countless beastmen competed for the position of City Lord.

Green crystals could prolong the lives of both themselves and the females in their families, while red crystals made them stronger.

Within the cities, whether someone wanted to buy a house, open a business, or conduct other activities, they were required to pay crystal taxes, somewhat similar to legitimate protection fees.

Half of the collected crystals belonged to the City Lord, while the remaining half was divided equally among the Four Great Elder Clans.

Choosing a City Lord was extremely simple.

Fight.

Whoever defeated everyone else became the City Lord.

Among beastmen, strength determined everything.

The strongest ruled.

Of course, besides tribes and cities, there were also a small number of beastmen who lived alone.

Most had either been expelled from their tribes or simply preferred a solitary lifestyle.

The Beastman Continent was divided into four major regions: the Forest, the Desert, the Snowfields, and the Ocean.

The Forest occupied the center of the continent.

To the north lay the frozen mountain snowfields.

Most rivers flowing through the forest originated from melting snow.

To the west stretched the arid desert.

To the south and east lay the vast ocean.

As for where the ocean ended, no one knew.

Like Earth, the Beastman Continent also had twenty-four-hour days.

However, its climate was completely different.

Each year consisted of nine months of clear season and three months of rainy season.

When the rainy season arrived, the forests became damp, and continuous rain fell for three straight months.

During that time, beastmen generally stayed indoors.

Not only did the rainy season make wild beasts more aggressive, but it also made finding food much more difficult.

Most beastmen spent the month before the rainy season storing enough food to survive until it ended.

During the rainy season, the already vast ocean became even more dangerous.

The snowfields were buried beneath heavy snowfall, where a single careless mistake could cost someone their life.

Only the desert remained unchanged, with clear blue skies day after day, because any moisture evaporated into the air before it could ever reach the ground.

Su Yuzhi read Basic Knowledge of the Beast World with great interest.

Everything still felt unreal to her, so reading the book felt more like reading a fantasy novel than studying a survival guide.

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.

Claire had returned from his hunt.