Taming the Beasts of Mountains and Seas, They Make Me Their Master

Jiao Wenshu was a half-mermaid with an unknown father and an unidentified mother, scraping by in secret in the human world. When she woke up one day, she discovered that the entire world had changed.

The human world had once been peaceful and beautiful. But the new world seemed like a Classic of Mountains and Seas written into the modern age??

All it took was a walk down the street for a strange old man to notice she was different. Before she knew it, she had been bundled off in the middle of the night to a Beast Taming Academy.

With her impure merfolk bloodline, she should have been despised and reviled. Instead, she was found to possess the very highest level of beast-taming talent!

The good news was that becoming a Shanhai Beast Tamer meant she could walk openly in the human world!

The bad news was that the boundary between the Shanhai world and the human world was on the verge of collapse, and she had to make a pact with the divine beast that was about to bring down a small world!

Jiao Wenshu's pupils dilated in shock. Who was going to make a pact with Taotie? Me?!!

You people don't know how dangerous Taotie is, but even I, a half-mermaid, know that much! You're trying to get me killed!!

--

The Inner Shanhai Realm.

Facing an utterly empty sea, the mermaid, who had been hungry for three days, burst into tears.

Crystal-clear tears streamed from her eyes in great glistening drops, then turned into luminous white pearls that scattered across the seabed.

Just then, a huge beast's paw, broad enough to blot out the sky, reached up from underwater and caught all the pearls, then stuffed them into its mouth.

Beside the mermaid, the head of a giant beast covered in blue fur and as big as an island suddenly appeared. Taotie drawled, "Roar." Tasty.

Jiao Wenshu: "...Tasty? Aaaaaah!"

--

This new world really was so interesting. People could cultivate, and they could also make pacts to help regulate the chaotic energy inside Shanhai beasts and promote their evolution.

As scenes from myths and legends became reality, the beast-tamer profession began to flourish.

Ordinary beasts became commonplace, while the fierce beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas were pursued by countless people.

To select the most talented beast tamers and beasts, the World Alliance held one thrilling competition after another.

The 32nd National College Beast-Taming League, the Huazhou Cup Youth Beast Tamer Championship, the Blue Star Alliance Shanhai World Cup...

After half a year of school and skipping three grades, Jiao Wenshu had made a pact with only a glutton and a miser. The strange old man dragged her off to compete.

The battle began.

Her opponent, a beast tamer, waved his hand and summoned a divine bird clad in fiery red feathers. The young man smirked arrogantly. "My beast has the bloodline of a Bifang."

"Its cry is its own, and when it appears, its town is plagued by strange fires... Ah, my bird!"

Before he could finish, Taotie appeared out of nowhere and eagerly swallowed the firebird whole.

"!!!"

The crowd stared in stunned silence.

The young man went berserk.

The referee got a headache.

Jiao Wenshu spread her hands and sighed. "You insisted I come. Now that I'm competing, you're not happy."

Everyone: "???"

"Hey, classmate??? This is a competition, not a meal!"

Amid the commotion, Taotie opened its sleepy eyes and drawled, "Little Fish, I'm still hungry..."

Jiao Wenshu: "...Then you'll just have to wait."

Taotie obediently replied, "All right."

Reader's Guide:

1. An emotionally volatile, super-strong mermaid girl x a gentle Taotie who's always hungry. One-on-one romance. Taotie isn't the only beast she makes a pact with; there will be lots of Shanhai beasts.

2. The heroine is very strong, incredibly strong, and loves putting on an act and crying.

3. There will be many kinds of beast-taming competitions, as well as adventures capturing beasts in the Shanhai Realm.

Theme: Sincere devotion, and harmony between humanity and nature