Monster Pet Evolution

by Stayrr

Three years ago, the animals and plants on Earth underwent crazy and unexplainable changes that included transformations, reversions, and the addition of otherworldly species. And it was the start of a brand-new type of profession in the new generation of humanity – Monster Trainers, people who specialized in taming monsters. On his 18th birthday, the protagonist of the story, Gao

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Chapter 1: Striped Grey Plate Spider

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

(PS: A little note before reading: this book does not reflect reality. Please do not read it with a realistic worldview. The genre of this book is fantasy. Fantasy books are unscientific! Unscientific! Unscientific! I too would like to know how to create fireballs and how to spew lightning).

Carrying a red school bag, Gao Peng fished out a key card. Ding.

There was a creaking sound from a worn metal gate as Gao Peng stepped into the building. The building was a little old, with bits of rubbish piled on the floor. Fortunately, they did not give off any weird smells.

Standing under the dim light, Gao Peng lowered his head and glanced at the ground. A fierce looking black shadow was cast on the ground that made pulling and stretching movements continuously.

Gao Peng frowned and looked up. There was a giant spider the size of a millstone resting by the ceiling light. It had a made a greyish-white web across the entire ceiling of the stairway, and had visible blood-red eyes that twinkled in the light.

Gao Peng sighed. "Looks like the little spider raised by Granny Chen escaped again. This will be the seventh time this month, I guess."

Used to the sight of this escapee, Gao Peng carried on as though he saw nothing and went straight up the stairs…

But as he left the scuttling sounds of the spider behind him, Gao Peng suddenly stopped as though he thought of something. A little hesitantly, Gao Peng turned back around and looked at the giant grey spider scuttling around the ceiling.

"This… looks like a Striped Grey Plate Spider? I recall that the teacher said this is a relatively gentle creature?"

Gao Peng blinked and hesitated for a moment. Then he put down his schoolbag, took out a piece of paper, crushed it into a ball, and took out a lighter from his pocket.

Gao Peng pursed his lips and hesitated again. After all, no matter how gentle this Striped Grey Plate Spider was, it was still the pet raised by Granny Chen from upstairs… No! That's not the main point!

No matter how gentle it was, it was still a monster! Before the change in planet Earth, even a normal tier monster could have rivaled lions and tigers as apex predators at the top of the food chain.

If Gao Peng angered this monster, in this stairwell with nowhere to escape, he would be like a lamb waiting for slaughter.

Sighing again, Gao Peng shook his head and turned around, heading back upstairs.

Suddenly, at lightning speed, Gao Peng lit the paper ball with his lighter and threw it towards the ceiling behind him. Then, he fled like a madman up the stairs.

I remember Mr. Zhang saying that these creatures had gentle personalities.

Zhi! A shrill and angry squeaking sound suddenly came from behind. Gao Peng who was running up the stairs stole a glance behind him as he turned around.

The Striped Grey Plate Spider had fallen to the floor of the stairwell. With its eight legs scuttling around in a frenzy, the spider frantically climbed up to another wall. In the opposite direction that the spider fled was the flaming paper ball, gradually burning out.

Gao Peng's eyes lit up and his heart pounded. The Striped Grey Plate Spider really was afraid of fire!

Oh d*mn! The thing that appeared in his mind really wasn't a figment of his imagination!

At this moment, Gao Peng felt he was one with the wind as he sprinted up the stairs. Behind him, the Striped Grey Plate Spider was making extremely angry squeaking sounds.

"Ah, Mr. Zhang lied to me! Who ever said these things were gentle!"

Currently, Gao Peng's mind was racing but he dared not slow down his steps. Having this kind of angry monster chasing him was no joke. If it caught up to him, it could easily crack his skull open or spill his guts if he wasn't careful.

This was a monster from a different dimension! During the beginning of Earth's transformation, many humans died at the hands of these monsters. No matter how gentle they may have seemed now, it did not change the fact that they were monsters.

As the sounds behind him kept getting closer, Gao Peng could clearly hear the impact made by the Striped Grey Plate Spider before it made each leap up the stairwell. It was like steel pipes knocking against the ground.

One more floor till he reached home!

Almost there!

The Striped Grey Plate Spider with blood-red eyes opened and closed its ferocious jaws. Its strong, well-formed spider legs were like springs, bending downwards and then springing upwards with great force! Each of these leaps could cover four or five flights of stairs.

It was getting closer and closer to Gao Peng…

"Sssss!"

An overbearing and angry hiss permeated the thick walls and filled the entire stairwell. It was a deep and commanding sound.

The Striped Grey Plate Spider's legs that had just started to bend in preparation to leap momentarily froze. The spider stood still. Its blood-red eyes stopped twinkling and it began to produce a string of low squeaking sounds from its mouth.

But the monster that made the sound earlier did not hiss again.

After a moment's hesitation, the spider's blood-red eyes started to twinkle again. With uncertainty, the spider raised one of its legs to climb the stairs.

"Sssss!" As if provoked, this hissing sounded even angrier than the one before.

"Zhizhizhizhi…" retracting its raised leg, the Striped Grey Plate Spider jumped down the stairs and fled.

Gao Peng let out a breath and wiped the sweat off his brow. Why did the spider run back downstairs?

Could it all have been a game of tag for the spider? Chasing me for fun and happily going back down to its web after seeing that I'm almost home? Thought Gao Peng.

Gao Peng rubbed his chin. Hmmmm… Even he did not believe the nonsense that he just thought up.

Gao Peng took out his keys and unlocked the door. "Pa, Ma, I'm back," he said with a bright smile on his face.

Gao Peng pushed open the door to an empty house. It was so quiet that it seemed as though he was in a world inhabited only by him.

A gray-brown sofa was placed in the living room. Opposite was a rather old looking television set. The house was clean on the inside, with minimal decorations and furnishing. It was easy to see that the owner was diligent and cleaned the place often.

Adjusting his mood, Gao Peng took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door. The curtains were drawn, blocking out the glare of the strong sunlight and giving the room a dim look.

The bed in the room was neat and tidy. Gao Peng's face was lit with a smile and he happily said, "Pa, Ma, I finally came in first in class for my exams. You guys must be really happy."

Gao Peng was speaking to a framed black and white photo.

In the photo frame was a picture of a couple. The male looked elegant and gentle while the female looked dignified and virtuous. The couple smiled happily, as though through this thin piece of paper, the people from two different worlds could make eye contact with each other.

But the two people in the photo did not reply Gao Peng. They simply smiled with the same unchanging smile on their faces.

Gao Peng forcefully put on a prideful grin. "My school results have always been bad, and you guys often scolded me for it. But now, I'm finally first in class and fourth in the grade. You guys must be so happy, right? You don't have to worry about my studies anymore," Gao Peng said, as his eyes began to redden.

The thinly clothed teenager simply stood in the middle of the bedroom, his thoughts wandering in the silence. It was only when the sky became dark that the teenager came to his senses with a start. With an apologetic smile on his face, he said to the couple in the picture, "Pa, Ma, the school is organizing an excursion tomorrow, so I probably wouldn't be back for a few days. But don't worry about me! The school has hired professional bodyguards to assure our safety. I will make sure to be careful!

"I've heard that this time, the school has hired bodyguards from the BlueShield Protection Company. According to what I've heard, BlueShield Protection Agency has lots of Monster Trainers. If I could become one as well, that would be the best! At least half of my classmates hope to become Monster Trainers themselves!"

In a dark and dim room, a thin and fragile-looking teen talked to himself while facing a photograph. He waved around both his hands as he spoke, clearly in high spirits. His eyes shone brightly as well, embodying his yearning for the future and his desire to grow stronger.

But no one answered his words. How he wished, at that moment, that someone could give him a thumbs-up, or some words of encouragement. Even if the people in the photo were to pop out just to oppose his plans for the future, it would still be wonderful to him.

But it did not happen. The couple in the photo remained in the photo, smiling warmly, side by side.

The room quieted down. All that was left was the sound of the teen's own breathing.

The teen suddenly felt a little cold and rubbed his elbows with both his hands, looking dejected. But soon enough, the depressing atmosphere was blown away by a sunny and confident smile on his face. He returned once again to being the bright and optimistic teenager that he was.

Leaving the bedroom, Gao Peng carefully closed the bedroom door, as though to avoid disturbing the couple in the photo.

Nobody saw it: it might have been a trick of the light. But for a moment, the smile on the couple's faces in the photo seemed happier and sweeter.

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Chapter 2: Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Da Zi! Come out quickly! Was it you just now?" Gao Peng shouted excitedly as he returned to his bedroom.

Hearing its master's voice, "Da Zi," who Gao Peng was calling out to, simply remained sprawled lazily on the ground for a while. Only after being urged on by Gao Peng a few more times did Da Zi crawl out wearily from under the sofa.

A deep purple carapace was revealed which, under the lamplight, gave off a dark and blurry color. Pale yellow limbs with claws gave off a crisp sound as they moved across the floor, akin to the sound of fingers drumming on a table.

This Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede was what Gao Peng affectionately called "Da Zi" because its body was big, and also because it had the appearance of a purple coloured centipede… Alright, it actually was just a giant, blown-up version of a centipede.

But this Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede was the only pet left behind for him by his parents.

Gao Peng still remembered when his parents brought Da Zi home three days after the Earth changed. Back then, Da Zi was nowhere near its current size; it was merely the length of a chopstick. Back then, Da Zi's carapace was still a light purple, with a little tinge of pink, making it rather cute to look at.

Gao Peng shook his head and expelled the weird thoughts from his mind. He bent his head down to look at the current Da Zi.

With a body length of around two meters, the width of a palm, and fierce mandibles at its head that were constantly snapping, Da Zi looked anything but cute. Even bringing it out for a walk in broad daylight could scare an old granny to tears.

Da Zi's jet black eyeballs were pretty much for show, as Gao Peng knew that its vision was poor. When moving, Da Zi relied on the constantly swaying pair of purple antennae on its head to make sense of its surroundings. This pair of antennae allow Da Zi to smell, detect vibrations, and even differentiate between sounds.

Although Da Zi had a ferocious appearance, Gao Peng was not afraid of it in the least. After all, this guy had grown up under his care, and was his sole companion in this house for three whole years. Most importantly, it was the last pet that his parents gave him before they died.

"Da Zi, was it you that scared away that spider earlier on?" Gao Peng said, as he squatted down and curiously stroked Da Zi's cold head carapace.

It was icy-cool to the touch, like a cold piece of metal.

Da Zi did not reply to him; the antennae on its head simply swayed gently. Gao Peng did not mind the lack of reply. Da Zi's intelligence was not high; it probably only had the thinking ability of a three-year-old.

Da Zi could not understand more complicated phrases or sentences, but could understand some simple commands. For instance, "bite,""play dead," or "twirl three times."

Although Da Zi did not answer him, Gao Peng knew that the furious hissing sound that he heard earlier was made by Da Zi. After living with Da Zi for so many years, he was familiar with the sounds it could make.

Monsters were extremely territorial. Da Zi may have seemed mild, but according to what was taught by Gao Peng's teachers, Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipedes were extremely fierce and vicious monsters.

At the thought of this, Gao Peng tapped his head. Mr. Zhang couldn't have been lying to me again, right? Gao Peng thought suspiciously.

But Da Zi looked so mild and gentle! Peering down at Da Zi, Gao Peng gently pulled its purple antennae. They felt elastic, like two long rubber springs.

Da Zi rolled its jet black eyes upwards to glance at Gao Peng, then continued to wearily sprawl on the ground, as if saying, "This master really has nothing better to do."

Looking at how much of a lazy fella Da Zi was, Gao Peng found it hard to believe that it was a fierce and vicious monster.

Gao Peng hesitated a bit while looking at Da Zi who was by his feet, then he focused his concentration on Da Zi.

As Gao Peng stared at Da Zi, rows of information than only he could see appeared before his eyes.

[Monster Name: Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede

[Monster Level: Level 5

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Yin/Poison

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Happy)

[Monster Weakness: Electric

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: Electric type monster core crystal of above level 10 (not including level 10), 600g of hundred-year lightning-struck wood, 10 stalks of shade grass (Directions for use:…)

Gao Peng was slightly stunned. In the time since his eighteenth birthday, he realized that he had mysteriously gained this ability to see the stats of monsters; for instance, in the form of the table that appeared in front of his eyes.

Every monster had a different stats table. For instance Granny Chen's little spider's stats were as such:

[Monster Name: Striped Grey Plate Spider

[Monster Level: Level 3

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Wood

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Happy)

[Monster Weakness: Fire

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: …

Gao Peng almost died earlier because it dawned on him that a burning paper ball should count as a fire-type attack, and therefore went on to test if his newfound ability gave him accurate information. He took a risk, for no other reason than he could not hold back his curiosity…

Wait, monster condition: happy? So that little spider was really playing tag with me? Looks like it really enjoyed itself, ha! Gao Peng thought as his face darkened.

As to why Gao Peng did not test his ability on his very own Da Zi: firstly, he could not bear to do so. Secondly, it was hard to find anything that could be used as an electric type attack. He could, of course, break a few electric cables to try it out, but with some consideration, he realized that even if Da Zi were not weak against electricity, those cables would still easily burn it to a crisp…

"Promotion to excellent grade…" muttered Gao Peng to himself, as his eyes shone with anticipation.

Excellent grade monsters were extremely rare. Even in a group of a hundred of the same monster, one might not find a single monster of excellent grade. Excellent grade and normal grade monsters did not differ in terms of mere strength; even if the monsters were of the same tier and species, an excellent grade monster could easily take on two normal grade monsters at the same time without being disadvantaged.

After promotion to excellent grade, would it still be possible for a promotion to perfect grade? The promotion to perfect grade was of utmost importance, as only perfect grade monsters could break through the limits to become commander tier monsters!

Gao Peng had only seen monsters of such tiers on the web or on television. The terrifying might of these monsters was etched in his mind.

Unable to hold back his excitement, Gao Peng pet Da Zi's cool head carapace and said with determination, "Da Zi, I will definitely let you promote to be an excellent grade monster!"

In Gao Peng's eyes, Da Zi was more than just a friend; he was a partner. A partner that had accompanied him for the past three lonely years of his life, and the sole partner left behind for him by his parents.

Gao Peng secretly clenched his fist. Then he released it as he got up to go to the kitchen. He opened the freezer and took out a piece of frozen meat. The frozen meat was hard and had bits of ice on it. He took out a mini metal axe from a cupboard and secured the frozen meat on a specially made wooden chopping board.

Dong, Dong!

Forceful chops from the metal axe sent bits of ice flying all around.

After chopping the meat into six smaller pieces, Gao Peng took out a large stainless steel bowl. With a gentle sweep of the axe, the pieces of meat were all swept into the bowl.

Then he took a few carrots from the fridge, washed them, and chopped them into large chunks before tossing them into the stainless steel bowl as well.

This was Da Zi's dinner for today. He ate two meals a day, one in the morning and another in the night.

Da Zi's food was simple and crude, consisting of chunks of raw meat and carrots, or cooked meat and potatoes, for every meal. Its diet was greatly varied. Initially, when raising Da Zi, Gao Peng was highly cautious when deciding what food to give it. After all, before this, no one had experience in raising monster centipedes.

Through searching the internet for information, Gao Peng later found out that centipedes are animals that can feed on a wide variety of things. They typically like to feed on bugs such as mealworms, crickets, beetles, termites, cicadas, dragonflies, spiders, flies, and bees, as well as their eggs, larvae, young, etc. At the same time they can also eat worms, earthworms, snails, and the meat, innards, blood and cartilage of fish, poultry and livestock. They even eat food of plant origin like fruit peels, potatoes, carrots, vegetables, etc. or even milk and bread.

But Gao Peng was a little lazy by nature. Feeding Da Zi with fresh meat and innards were out, as they came with a bad smell and were hard to clean up.

Bugs were an area that Gao Peng explored at first. He used to catch bugs in the nearby gardens and green spaces within the city to feed Da Zi. But as Da Zi grew bigger and bigger, he found that this method would not work out at all. After tiring himself out for half a day catching bugs, he still would not have caught enough to give Da Zi a snack. Meat was easier and simpler. Furthermore, it could be bought in large quantities from the market.

As for buying insects from the market, Gao Peng had to admit that if he were to buy insects for each of Da Zi's meals, there was no way he could continue to keep Da Zi as a pet: it was too expensive!

After Gao Peng's parents passed away, he managed to collect a hefty sum of money from the government as pension. In addition to the savings that his parents accumulated, Gao Peng had enough money to securely live a simple life until the end of his years.

But this was only enough to live an ordinary life, being an absolutely ordinary person.

However, after the death of his parents, Gao Peng could no longer rest at ease with the identity of an ordinary person while he was living in an unpredictable world.

Being ordinary meant being mediocre, which meant being powerless when disaster struck.

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The world underwent a huge cataclysm. It was a completely new place.

Three years before, Earth went through a drastic change that no one could have imagined. The sky turned dark and countless black rifts appeared like vicious claw marks in the sky.

These rifts were like pieces of a broken mirror. Through these pieces, humanity managed to see a vast and boundless world. A great mysterious place was beyond each rift.

However, no human or man-made machine was able to make contact with or enter the worlds within the rifts. Immense spatial turbulence flooded the surroundings of each one.

Back then a certain country sent out fighter jets to attempt to enter the rifts. But even the toughest metal alloys were like brittle building blocks in the face of the spatial turbulence. They were easily shattered and reduced to smithereens, scattering across the sky before vanishing without a trace.

No other country dared to go near the rifts after that. Half a day later, the rifts vanished on their own.

However, the nightmare had only just begun.

One by one, elliptical spatial rifts appeared all across the globe. Some appeared only temporarily, while others were permanent. Each of these spatial rifts big or small acted as a gate connecting to one world to another.

Countless worlds were linked via these gates, and monsters from other worlds came through them to Earth. For some unknown reason—either through contact with the air, with life forms from other worlds, or simply because God decided to make a fool out of humans—the animals and plants that originally inhabited Earth grew at an alarming rate. They all began to transform and evolve.

Only humanity remained unchanged.

But just when humanity thought they had been abandoned by the world, someone found there was a change that occurred in humans. A secret potential was hidden deep within the blood and soul of humanity: the Blood Contract!

With the mutual agreement of both human and monster, both parties could become partners that trusted each other and progressed as one. They were known as Monster Trainers.

This discovery brought excitement to humanity, as well as a new craze. Although they were unable to obtain the powers that these monsters developed, they could control the monsters!

It was only because of the existence of Monster Trainers that humans were able to develop an environment they could survive in. It was getting increasingly difficult to keep such terrifying monsters at bay through the use of artillery weapons alone.

The most important thing was that it didn't take much to become a Monster Trainer. In fact, it was very accessible, making Monster Trainers a common existence.

Anyone could become a Monster Trainer and anyone could have their own Monster Familiar!

Practically every household reared one or two monsters. "Monster" was a general term that could refer to those originating from other worlds or transformed versions of animals and plants that were indigenous to Earth.

Some monsters were of a more brutal nature, possessing extremely aggressive behaviors. Some monsters that were of a docile nature. Those tamed by humans could effectively follow orders from their owners, just like pet cats and dogs from the past. There were even monsters that displayed no aggression at all.

This was a golden age that would influence generations to come; a turning point in human history where humankind could head into uncharted territory. Gao Peng naturally would not settle to be a regular person spending his life doing nothing of note.

There are certain marvelous sights best witnessed with one's own eyes, after all.

The phrase "the world is so vast" was no longer a mere meme. Other than Earth, there were now countless other worlds Gao Peng could discover and explore.

"Perhaps I will be able to find the ability to resurrect my parents in other worlds," muttered Gao Peng to himself.

This conviction was like a seed planted deep in his heart that was now sprouting and growing. He believed that among the endless worlds and across the tens of thousands of planes in existence, there would definitely be the ability he yearned for.

Gao Peng laid down on the sofa and turned on the television. The news was on, showing all the usual content: how the world was becoming more peaceful, how another area had become a safe area for exploration, how humans found dangerous monsters in certain areas, and general reminders for everyone to proceed with caution.

It was the usual news but Gao Peng relished every bit of it just the same, committing everything to memory.

Suddenly, a certain piece of news caught his attention.

According to the news program, the scaly claw of a gigantic beast that underwent some form of extreme atavistic evolution was found outside a spatial rift. The existence of this super beast was unprecedented. Scientists speculated that this beast was comparable to gods that existed only in legends. It was possibly a legendary emperor-tier mythical beast possessing numerous unimaginable powers.

With the end of the news program, the scene changed to one with a blonde lady in a white dress. She was holding a gene gun roughly the thickness of a finger, which had a crystalline, semi-translucent blue liquid flowing through it.

"Introducing the new BluMagic Monster Familiar Gene Enhancement Serum, by the United Dragons Group! 60% success rate in promotion to excellent grade for normal tier monsters, and 20% success rate for elite tier monsters! Using our product along with the professional care of Monster Breeders will greatly increase the success rate! This is a ground-breaking, new era product that you deserve to have!"

Gao Peng turned off the television dumbfounded, but at the same time burning with anticipation. With the release of this product, he feared that the Monster Breeder profession would face an unprecedented challenge. But it could also be an opportunity for Monster Breeders to increase their relevance in society.

After all, a Monster Familiar and its Trainer were emotionally linked. Some even viewed their Monster Familiars as their family. Naturally, they would want their Monster Familiars to be the best they could be.

All this only made the anticipation that Gao Peng felt in his heart grow stronger. As technology became more advanced, ideas began to surface in Gao Peng's mind. Ideas that he never would have dared to think were possible in the past. Perhaps one day more futuristic technology would appear, such as resurrection!

Clenching his fist tightly, Gao Peng decided he would not concede to being mediocre. Being mediocre meant giving up! If the means to resurrect people was available someday Gao Peng would not be able to live with himself if he let the chance slip through his fingers just because did not work hard enough for it.

After preparing Da Zi's dinner, Gao Peng went to the living room and knocked the steel bowl against the ground, giving off a loud and clear peng peng peng sound.

Da Zi already smelled the food with the pair of antennae atop its head, which swayed left and right nonstop. It heard the sound of the steel bowl and scuttled over. Using its maxillipeds against the edges it sent the upper half of its body into the bowl. Its sharp fangs were like a large pair of scissors, cutting the food into tiny bits before swallowing them into its belly.

According to the web and the books that Gao Peng read, Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipedes possessed a potent venom. However, he never saw Da Zi use its venom. Of course, being raised in a home, Da Zi never had any real opportunity to.

Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipedes had venom glands in their bodies, but the venom was not present throughout the body. Venom was only released at two body parts: the mandibles and the first maxillae. The mandibles, naturally, were the large scissor-like mouthparts in front of the head. The first maxillae were the first pair of appendages of the centipede.

Because Gao Peng raised it, Da Zi never bit Gao Peng or released any of its venoms in front of him. The various insect pests in the house, however, suffered plenty from Da Zi.

At some point since raising Da Zi, the insects in his house seemed to go extinct. They all fled from the house or were eaten.

Sitting on the sofa, watching Da Zi wolf down its food, Gao Peng could not help but smile. Then his thoughts began to drift. He had verified that the information panel that he could see showed accurate data. Since that was the case, maybe he could try becoming a Monster Breeder himself!

Monster Breeding was a profession that specialized in monsters, with only one motive: improving the monster grade.

Monster Breeding was not limited to beast-type monsters but included all kinds, no matter what shape, size or type. Because the field required extensive knowledge of all monsters, the field had an extremely high barrier for entry. An ordinary individual would have no chance of becoming a Monster Breeder.

To become a Monster Breeder, one needed to be widely read on all monster habits and characteristics. Secondly, using this knowledge, one would need to deduce the requirements needed to promote the monster's grade, based on type and attributes. This was a profession that was even more well-respected than Monster Trainer.

This was because the lives of Monster Trainers depended on the monsters that they controlled, and a sufficiently high monster grade was a must-have requirement for a monster to advance in level. An increase in a monster's grade even meant a proportional increase in the combat strength of a monster!

Monster Breeders were the only ones who could help Monster Trainers promote their monsters; hence, Monster Breeders held a special position in society.

It had been a mere three years since the cataclysm that changed the Earth. The number of monster species was uncountable. With new monsters being discovered constantly, there was no complete documentation of all the methods available to advance monster levels. The world was still in the midst of feeling its way around this area of development. Gao Peng could not help but feel that he had gained an amazing ability in being able to see the advancement criteria for monsters.

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Chapter 4: New World Allied Government

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Gao Peng intended to promote Da Zi's monster grade, but after going through the prices of the materials he needed, he had no choice but to temporarily give up on this idea. The expenses from the meat to feed Da Zi everyday already burnt a large hole in his wallet. He was simply too poor.

Furthermore, the most expensive ingredient required to promote Da Zi, an electric type monster core crystal above level 10, was easily worth at least 10 alliance credits.

Alliance credits were a new form of unified, high-class currency introduced two years prior, when all the countries on Earth came together and formed a new global alliance. All forms of currency used in countries before this were scrapped. Everyone began to use the two forms of currency set by the New World Allied Government: alliance dollars and alliance credits.

Alliance credits were a form of high-class currency based on the alliance dollar. 10,000 alliance dollars could be exchanged directly for one alliance credit.

In the present, everyday citizens practically only used alliance dollars. The only ones who made use of alliance credits were Monster Trainers, various large financial corporations, and upper levels of the Allied Government. According to hearsay, in the eyes of the strongest and the most powerful people, alliance credits were just numbers. Those at the top only bartered for the items that they required.

Currently, the world was in the midst of a great new era. Monsters came with all kinds of strange and wondrous abilities. Furthermore, the materials that were derived from monsters far exceeded the capabilities of metals and various manmade materials.

The materials that came from the bodies of monsters fetched exorbitant prices, but obtaining them in the first place was no easy feat. This was no game, but actual reality. There was no resurrection or health potion that could be used. Death in the real world was permanent. In order to obtain materials from monsters, one needed to delve deep into the wilderness, or even into other worlds, and engage in mortal combat with these monsters.

If one was just a little careless in the journey into the wilderness, all kinds of accidents could easily happen because this was no mere copy of a game! Monsters would not have fixed spawn locations. It was possible to run into an emperor tier monster in the outskirts of a normal city; even though the odds of this happening would be similar to that of winning the lottery consecutively for an entire month.

As of now, one could only make informed guesses based on collected information and hearsay to deduce the area in which certain type of monster lived.

Gao Peng recalled a huge incident that shocked the whole world a year ago. One of Earth's famous high-tech companies spent a fortune to hire the services of one of the top Monster Trainers at that time. This Monster Trainer possessed two extremely strong commander tier Monster Familiars.

All the company wanted was materials from an ordinary commander tier monster.

Two days after this Monster Trainer led his two Monster Familiars into a particular jungle, a horrifying roar erupted from the jungle. Through the video feed captured by an unmanned aerial vehicle, a terrifying giant beast could be seen rearing its head in the center of the densely packed jungle. It was a dragon!

Atop its forehead was a single metallic, black, spiraled horn, indicating that this behemoth was not a true dragon. According to the classifications in ancient Chinese mythology, having a single horn on its head made this a horned dragon.

Nonetheless, this footage captured by the unmanned aerial vehicle shocked the world.

A mythical beast from legend had actually descended into our realm!

This incident completely overshadowed all other important news that was going on at the time. Everyone was talking about it. Some were terrified, others agitated, and for some, this incident stirred up ambition. However, the Monster Trainer that went into the jungle that day never made his way out.

The center of that jungle remained a forbidden area. No one dared to venture in deep, and even those who had to travel around its periphery hurried their way past it in fear of the horror that resided at the center.

That went to show how difficult it was to obtain a monster's core crystal, which would also explain why the price of monster core crystals remained so high.

Monster core crystals could be consumed by other monsters to promote their evolutions. This was a secret that was made known very early on; hence, no matter how many monster crystals there were, the supply would be insufficient.

The use of military missiles and artillery to wipe out monsters was practiced during the initial period after the cataclysm, when humans were still reliant on artillery to fend off monsters. However, it was quickly found out that these methods were only able to quickly eliminate intermediate and low-level monsters. Artillery simply could not contain truly powerful monsters, and only served to anger them.

Furthermore, using artillery to kill monsters usually reduced them to lumps of meat, destroying most of the usable materials. Only the toughest substances, as well as the monster core crystal, remained. Because of this, using artillery as a method to clear out large numbers of low-level monsters and obtain materials was not feasible.

Of course, it was obtaining of large amounts of core crystals that allowed humanity's pioneer Monster Trainers and Familiars to quickly grow in strength, to fend off monsters together and protect humanity's homeland.

Following the cataclysm, humans also realized that the Earth was also constantly growing and expanding. Because of the happenings at the beginning of the cataclysm, all the satellites that were sent into space were destroyed, preventing humans from observing the changes to the planet from outer space.

It was only two years after the cataclysm, when the aftereffects of the spatial turbulences in the sky began to gradually stabilize, that humanity began to send satellites into space again. Only then did they realize that the Earth had transformed into something foreign to them.

The surface area of the Earth had expanded multiple times! In fact, these numbers were still gradually increasing at a slow and steady rate.

Inhabited areas were largely unaffected by the change. The real transformations happened in the areas that humans rarely set foot on after the cataclysm. These were the jungles, rivers, valleys and uninhabited areas. From outer space, the Earth seemed to have transformed into a completely green planet.

All kinds of terrains experienced great changes, suddenly transforming the Earth that humans were familiar with into a foreign one.

Even more terrifying were the various rifts on the planet the led to other worlds. Although information regarding these other worlds remained highly classified, known only to the highest echelons of society, the knowledge of their existence hung like sharp sword above everyone's head. It reminded humanity that disaster could befall them at anytime, and that they were never truly safe.

Carrying these unfounded worries in his head, Gao Peng drifted into sleep on the couch. At this moment, Da Zi's pair of antennae waved around slightly. It then scuttled its way to the bedroom and, using its large maxillipeds, painstakingly dragged the blanket from the bed all the way to the living room. The segments of Da Zi's dark purple carapace shook and rubbed against each other, making a crisp metallic creaking sound, like that of a bowstring being tightly drawn.

Da Zi shot into an upright position while holding the blanket tightly within its mouth. Then, with a tossing and pulling motion, it flung the blanket on top of Gao Peng.

Da Zi's front limbs touched the ground and it promptly retreated back under the sofa in a swaying motion. Its thousand legs curled up towards its body as it hid on the cold floor.

Its pair of antennae grew limp and rested lazily on top of its head. Da Zi's eyes slowly became dull as it fell into sleep.

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Chapter 5: The Legendary Ms. Murong

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The next day as the sky began to turn bright an alarm clock rang. Gao Peng who was lying on the sofa awoke with a start.

Eh? When did I cover myself with a blanket? Gao Peng wondered to himself as he rubbed his head in confusion. Deciding not to think too much about this, he quickly got up to wash himself.

After a wash-up, Gao Peng speedily wolfed down a sandwich from his bag that was prepared beforehand and went on to drag Da Zi out from under the sofa. Da Zi lazily allowed Gao Peng to drag it around, making no effort to move from its sprawling position on the ground. Its yellow claws scraped against the floor, making a shaaashaaa sound.

Gao Peng put down his big monster to catch his breath. Nope, this fella is too heavy, thought Gao Peng. Gotta get this fella to walk on its own.

He squatted down and patted Da Zi on its hard carapace. It gave off a crisp dang dang sound. "Da Zi, you have to walk on your own, you understand?" Gao Peng said.

Da Zi raised its head and gave some sort of reply by waving its pair of antennae wearily. Then it went back to its sprawling position on the ground, not moving an inch.

Gao Peng was at a loss for what to do. For some reason, this fella was getting more and more lazy. He frowned and thought for a moment. He recalled that Mr. Zhang had mentioned once in class that controlling Monster Familiars required regular methods and routines. Although humans called these creatures monsters, they were basically just another sentient life form that was different from humans.

Being sentient they had emotions, and naturally their own personalities as well. Even monsters of the same species could have a myriad of different personalities, just like humans.

If a person was of a weak and cowardly disposition, then going through a few years of rigorous military training could make this person's personality stronger and more resilient. Using the same logic, monsters that not suited for battle could go through special training methods to make them more suitable for being Familiars.

Da Zi was too young to be this lazy. Being stuck in the house for such a long time might have caused it to develop the temperament of a couch potato. Gao Peng squatted down again and whispered enticingly to Da Zi, "Do you want to eat something? Shall we go out and play? There are lots of yummy bugs out there."

Da Zi's waving antennae suddenly froze and shot upright.

It turned its head, staring straight at Gao Peng. Gao Peng smiled.

Around Da Zi's neck was a leather collar, and attached to the back was a silvery gray chain that Gao Peng held in his hand.

Gao Peng carried his red schoolbag while walking Da Zi along the streets as people passed them.

Although the sight of walking centipedes was rather rare, Gao Peng did not capture that much attention. After all, practically every household kept a monster as a pet, just how cats and dogs were kept as pets before the cataclysm.

Furthermore, monsters came in all shapes and sizes. Most people chose to rear monsters that looked cute or majestic. At the same time there would always be those with unusual tastes that chose the strange monsters instead.

For instance, just to Gao Peng's left was a fashionable looking auntie who was holding a chain as thick as an infant's arm to walk her three-meter tall, six-meter long, medium-sized Snow Lion Dog.

That's right: a dog of this size only counted as a large, medium-sized dog in this day and age, not a large dog.

Ahead walking hurriedly in Gao Peng's direction was a man in a suit and tie who looked like an office worker. Perched on his shoulder was a red and black parrot closing its eyes and napping.

As they passed by the Snow Lion Dog, the parrot opened its eyes, turned around and coldly spat, "Dumb*ss!"

The Snow Lion Dog stopped and turned to look at the parrot. Its eyes, as big as lanterns, were filled with curiosity.

"Dumb*ss! What are you looking at?" The parrot had a sharp tongue.

"Woof!" barked the Snow Lion Dog happily as it stuck out its own tongue to lick the parrot.

The parrot cleverly flew away, leaving its owner, who was dressed nicely in a suit and tie, covered in the Snow Lion Dog's saliva.

The lady quickly to apologize but the man simply smiled wryly and said, "It's alright. It's my silly parrot's fault for having such a foul mouth. I'm already used to it. I'll just change when I reach the office." With that, he opened the briefcase in his left hand, revealing a fresh set of office wear. He was evidently prepared.

This little episode was just part of everyday life in the streets. In this new world, lots of people were still in their adjustment phases with their new pets. Everyone was working hard to adjust to the arrival of monsters in their lives.

Behind the man in office attire was an old man in his seventies walking a colorful millstone-sized toad. The toad had warts all over its back the size of ping pong balls. This was probably a Five-Colored Toad, a non-poisonous species. For some reason, people found this type of toad cute and reared them. It was a popular pet nowadays.

In contrast, Da Zi looked plain gross at first sight. But after careful observation, it was rather cute in an ugly sort of way.

There were quite a few people walking along the streets, many of whom were walking their pets. No matter what kind of monster it was, they had one thing in common. They were all leashed at some part of their body, with the leash held in their owner's hand. Most of these monsters could easily snap the thin ropes that connected them to their owners. But the leash was not meant to hold these monsters back, as using the leash was a form of respect for other people.

Gao Peng soon arrived at school. It was not far from his home, about half an hour's journey on foot. Currently, all schools were public schools managed by the government. The government also prohibited the setting up of private schools.

Education had always been important, and it was even more so in this new world. The minds of children were the most pure and also the most easily led astray. Childhood was the most crucial period for one's thoughts and ideas to be shaped and changed.

In the peaceful times of the past, a troublemaking child would probably grow up to become a troublemaking adult, and at most cause some minor trouble in society. In the new world, however, it was almost impossible to tell what a person might amount to in the future. Should a troublemaker manage to sign a Blood Contract with a high-level monster, even the most minor trouble could result in major damage.

Gao Peng studied at the Chang'an Third High School, located in the suburbs next to the Chang'an City Armed Police Brigade's training grounds. Just a little further, and one would be able to exit the city.

Outside the cities, many areas had already transformed into primeval jungles. Jungles meant danger and the unknown.

But of course that only applied to the more desolate jungles. The government had already found out whatever they could about the jungles around Chang'an City. Dangerous monsters were practically nonexistent and, even if they appeared, the top Monster Trainers in Chang'an City would quickly eliminate them.

Military troops were also stationed along the edges of the jungle totally preventing dangerous monsters from escaping the jungle. Only a few low-leveled, non-threatening monsters occasionally wandered in from the outside to the outskirts of the city. But this just allowed senior students from big schools and the various Monster Trainers in Chang'an City a chance to practice their skills.

Outside the school gate was a row of school buses. Each bus was black and red in color with a sturdy metal ring secured around the chassis. The metal ring even had sharp spikes surrounding it. The exterior of each bus was triple-plated with metal boards, each the thickness of a thumb. The wheels of the bus were made with a special material that was obtained from mutated rubber trees after the cataclysm. Wheels made from this new form of rubber were tougher and more resilient, even withstanding gunshots from small caliber rounds.

Gao Peng could not help but look at the buses a few more times. I guess any monster excellent grade and below shouldn't pose a threat to these buses, thought Gao Peng suddenly.

"Year 2 Class 3 students please gather here!" shouted a voice from the school gate.

In front of one of the buses was a red-haired female, roughly five feet six inches tall, wearing a black leather jacket and bell-bottomed jeans. She was holding up a wooden sign that read "Year 2 Class 3."

"Good morning, Ms. Murong," Gao Peng ran over and greeted her politely.

Murong Qiuye who weighed no less than 250 pounds smiled and nodded. She replied in a gentle voice, "Ah, Gao Peng, you've arrived. You can go to the school bus first."

Students that were well-liked by teachers usually fell into two categories: those that scored good grades and mischievous students.

Gao Peng was naturally the former. After all, his results were at the top of the class and the fourth in the grade. He was also a quiet student that did not cause trouble, which set his teachers' minds at ease.

Going up in the school bus, Gao Peng could see that some students had already boarded. Gao Peng generally only got along all right with the other students and was a normal, unremarkable presence within the class.

At least, that was what Gao Peng thought. In reality, Gao Peng, whose grades had improved drastically and who had risen to fourth in the grade since his parents' death, had become a very special student in the eyes of his classmates.

Right now, the Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede that Gao Peng had leashed in his right hand was capturing the attention of many classmates.

"Wow, it's so cute!"

"What a moe little centipede."

"Wow, that's a Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede, isn't it? It's one of the highest ranking monsters among common grade monsters. To think that Gao Peng's family owned such a powerful Monster Familiar!"

"But isn't Gao Peng an orphan? Where could he have gotten his hands on a Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede? He must have borrowed it, right?" a voice suddenly spoke in an inappropriate manner, causing the atmosphere in the school bus to turn cold.

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Chapter 6: Black Raging Kong's Weakness

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Gao Peng raised his head, and looked towards the back of the school bus. In the back row was a boy with a quiff haircut, wearing skinny jeans and a floral patterned shirt. He even had piercings on his ears. He was sitting arrogantly with his two arms resting on the two seats next to his. Next to him was a hulking back figure that looked like a dense dark cloud. Even while sitting down, it was a head taller than him.

This quiff-head's name was Hai Lanyu.

Within the class, he and Gao Peng were polar opposites. While Gao Peng was quiet and low-key, Hai Lanyu was loud and flashy, and the most boisterous presence in class.

Most importantly, his results were amongst the worst in class. Because of this, he had an inexplicable dislike for students with good grades, to the extent that he could not stand the sight of them.

Hai Lanyu laughed slightly while petting his Black Raging Kong, who was sitting next to him, with a proud expression on his face.

This was the birthday present that he just gotten from his father this year! It was, in the true meaning of the word, his first Familiar. One could only establish a Blood Contract after turning eighteen. According to the research results published by the Allied Government, only after the age of eighteen would establishing a Blood Contract not harm the body in any way. Hence, with this knowledge, all the various schools were informed to prohibit any student from establishing Blood Contracts before they turned eighteen.

This year, just after turning eighteen, Hai Lanyu's father had brought him to the Monster Trade Center within the city center to buy him this Black Raging Kong.

Although the Black Raging Kong was only a normal grade monster, it was still one of the highest ranking monsters within the normal grade. By properly training it and leveling it, there was a high possibility of it being promoted to an elite tier monster.

Monster tiers were classified as [Normal, [Elite, [Commander, and so on.

Within each tier, monsters could have different grades, classified as [Normal, [Excellent, [Perfect, and so on.

Other than the monster's tier, its grade was also a factor that affected its combat ability.

A monster's tier could be seen as the cultivation of a monster, whereas the grade could be seen as the difference in combat ability within monsters of the same species in the same tier. For instance, a legendary grade OP character could take on thousands of normal grade creeps of the same tier, or even take on opponents within higher tiers.

Gao Peng took a look at Hai Lanyu and the Black Raging Kong next to him and promptly sat down on a random seat.

Hai Lanyu took that as a sign of fear and could not help but laugh out loud, even whistling in delight.

Gao Peng gently comforted Da Zi who was sitting by his leg. He held Da Zi's antennae from the base and stroked it all the way up to the tip, repeating this motion again and again.

Da Zi slowly began to calm down, its eyes squinting and its mandibles opening and closing. The yellow claws that ran across its body were also shaking slightly in delight.

While seemingly comforting Da Zi in a calm manner, Gao Peng was actually looking at the data that had appeared in his mind.

[Monster Name: Black Raging Kong

[Monster Level: Level 8

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Strength, Earth

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Frustrated)

[Monster Weakness: 1. Poison 2. Spines from the Needle Palm contain paralyzing toxin that can cause severe scurvy effects in Black Raging Kongs.

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: …

Gao Peng secretly committed the words "Needle Palm" to his memory, and at the same time began to think of where he could find those trees.

Needle Palms were newly evolved plants that appeared after the cataclysm; they originally belonged to the palm family. The palm family was a large group of plants that included plants like the hedge bamboo, Alexandra palm, and the Chinese fan palm.

Needle Palms were not rare. It was not possible to determine what species of palm the Needle Palm evolved from, but plants from the palm family had a wide distribution in the south. There were even some planted in the city, so they were not a rare type of plant.

However, Needle Palms had spines on their leaves, which contained a bit of paralyzing toxin. This is why all the Needle Palms within the city had been completely removed. In order to find one, one had to go out into the wild.

During this excursion, they would head into the wilderness, so it was highly likely they would find some Needle Palms along the way. Being the top student that he was, Gao Peng continued to think about which environmental conditions best suited the growth of Needle Palms and how to collect their leaves…

At the back row, the Black Raging Kong suddenly sneezed for no reason. It rubbed its nose with one of its thick muscular arms, and then simply wiped the mucus off onto Hai Lanyu's body.

"A*shole! You…" Hai Lanyu started furiously. He turned to look at the Black Raging Kong's pale yellow eyes, and then looked at its arms, which were thicker than his own thighs. Hai Lanyu could only reluctantly smile and pat his Black Raging Kong on the shoulders, saying, "Don't do that next time, ok? Be good."

The Black Raging Kong sneezed again in a very human-like manner, then glanced at Hai Lanyu with a look of disdain.

Hai Lanyu felt a little depressed. He turned his eyes back to the front of the bus and suddenly seemed to see something that was of great surprise to him.

"Fatty!" The bus was filled once again with the sound of Hai Lanyu making a ruckus. This new arrival on the bus was the not too tall, slightly plump fatty.

"Yup, this is the Familiar that my dad bought for me," said the fatty. He was one of Hai Lanyu's few good friends in high school. His name was Chen Hanqiao.

Before the cataclysm, the two were middle school classmates, sharing a pretty good relationship.

Quietly sitting on the left shoulder of Chen Hanqiao was a tiny pink baby monster the size of an adult's palm. It looked as though there were tiny scales embedded right under its skin.

Its black eyes were vivid and energetic as it cautiously took in its surroundings. It even made the occasional gurgling sound.

But that was not all: the most attractive part about this little baby monster was the constantly crackling electricity, visible around its body. A juvenile monster that possessed elemental powers would be commander tier monster at the very least when it reached adulthood!

A commander tier monster! Hai Lanyu's breath almost stopped. His family was wealthy, but only just a little wealthy, enough to buy a single Black Raging Kong as a Familiar. In order to level up his Familiar, he still needed to find ways to promote his Familiar to perfect grade before being able to advance it to a commander tier Familiar.

Finding a way to do so would be ideal. But in reality, a method to promote his Familiar to a perfect grade, and then advance it to commander tier, practically did not exist.

Getting one's hands on a juvenile commander tier monster was not something money alone could buy. There was evidently someone in a considerable position of power involved.

Gao Peng turned to look at the pink baby monster on top of Chen Hanqiao's shoulders, and figures began to appear in his mind again.

[Monster Name: Electric Luster Bear (Juvenile phase)

[Monster Level: Level 5

[Monster Grade: Excellent (Current grade; upon maturing and entering commander tier, grade will drop to normal)

[Monster Attribute: Electric

[Monster Condition: Healthy (In a daze)

[Monster Weakness: 1. Consumption of large amounts of water attribute ingredients during juvenile phase will lead to a probability of failure in advancing tier to commander tier. 2. During juvenile phase, the use of…

[Requirements for Promotion to Perfect Grade: …

Gao Peng withdrew his gaze, with a feeling of shock in his heart. Not just because of how powerful this juvenile Electric Luster Bear could become, but because he realized that his own ability was more terrifying than he thought.

Da Zi was currently only a normal Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede. If he were to keep promoting its grade and let it grow further and further, what kind of evolution would it achieve in the end?

Gao Peng looked down and gently caressed Da Zi's head, his thoughts wandering. Many people choose their Familiars with the utmost care because the potential of their Familiar determined their own potential.

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Chapter 7: Blood Lilyturf

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

A Monster Trainer's individual strength was not particularly impressive. Even though it was said that at later stages, Familiars could greatly increase the survival abilities of its Trainer, it was only an increase in survival ability. At the end of the day, in order to actually do battle, Trainers had to rely on their Familiars.

The number of Familiars that a Trainer could establish Blood Contracts with was determined by the strength of the Trainer's soul. As a Familiar grew stronger, the Trainer was nourished as well, causing the Trainer's soul to grow and strengthen, allowing them to establish contracts with more Familiars.

In other words, everything was relative. Establishing Blood Contracts required the expenditure of a soul's energy. Even though the 'blood' was in Blood Contract, the blood was only a medium. What truly linked human and monster spiritually was actually the soul.

Of course, this link worked in both directions as well. If a Trainer were to use cruel and violent methods to control a Familiar, the Familiar would constantly putting up resistance, and this would result in an increased burden on the Trainer's soul. If the number of Familiars resisting a Trainer's control increased too much, it could result in terrifying consequences…

Perhaps I could take in a large number of low-ranking Familiars, and then continually raise their monster grade… Gao Peng suddenly thought, as an idea to exploit his ability.

Nope, no can do. This would be too obvious.

Gao Peng quickly banished this thought from his mind. He could not do that. At least not right now. Furthermore, raising Familiars required a large amount of resources, which he could not afford at the moment. Gao Peng also had no intention of exposing his ability to join other powerful groups or organizations. He feared that he would end up being used by others as a monster-breeding machine.

"Is everyone here? Class monitor, please take attendance," said their form teacher Murong Qiuye to class monitor Tan Qianjin as she boarded the bus.

Tan Qianjin was also a small and plump person who had dimples when he smiled. He always got along with others in class and also had a cheerful personality and good grades. It did not take long for the class to eventually elect him as class monitor.

"Ms. Murong, everyone is already here. I made a tick on the class register every time someone came in," said Tan Qianjin with a smile as he handed the class register to Ms. Murong.

Ms. Murong nodded. She then held on to a grab pole, stuck her head out of the window and shouted, "Director, the students in our class is all here. We can leave now."

After a moment, Ms. Murong nodded again, then promptly sat on the driver's seat.

Sitting in the first row, Tan Qianjin's jaw dropped as Ms. Murong very proficiently adjusted gears, stepped on the gas pedal, and started up the bus in one smooth motion.

Such an experienced driver…

The bus's exhaust pipes gave a roar and the bus charged forward like a hulking metal beast.

Behind it were two blue cars following closely behind. The cars were totally blue except for a white shield drawn on the sides of the car. It was the BlueShield Protection Company.

They travelled at high speed and in only a few minutes, they reached the edge of a lake within the outskirts of the city.

"Alright, we've arrived. Students, please alight."

With a tsss sound, the front and rear doors of the bus opened at the same time, allowing bright sunrays to shine into the bus from the doors.

"This… This is so exciting! So this is what the outskirts are like!" said one of the fat boys in class. He was one of those who seemed to have trouble acting appropriately at the right situations. He rubbed his hands together and continued, "It's just… just too damn exciting, ugh." At this moment, a girl in a ponytail and glasses viciously hammered him on the head while wearing a blank expression. "Li Zipang, stop the drama."

Li Zigong angrily responded, "Li Hongdou, don't go too far! If it weren't for the fact that you were my older sister, I would never…" A cold gaze that came sweeping over from Li Hongdou caused Li Zigong to freeze. "I would never dare to raise my voice at you…" he continued.

As Gao Peng tried to lead Da Zi down the bus, its antennae kept twirling around anxiously. Da Zi was hesitant about entering a foreign environment. In the end, Gao Peng had to forcibly throw Da Zi off the bus.

Being tossed out of the bus, Da Zi frantically circled around Gao Peng before getting itself upright to try to climb onto Gao Peng. Gao Peng cold-heartedly refused to let it do so.

This was the first time he saw Da Zi this nervous, and Gao Peng could not help but laugh.

"Roar!" A ferocious roar exploded next to Gao Peng's ear. Gao Peng's eardrums almost burst from the powerful sound waves. This angered Da Zi. Its body sprang upright, then suddenly bent behind Gao Peng's like a giant bow.

Xiu–

Da Zi left a long afterimage as it gave the Black Raging Kong a bite on the thigh. It was a swift motion, like a dragonfly laying an egg on water.

The Black Raging Kong frowned in a very human-like manner, and clutched its thigh, yelping continuously.

Hai Lanyu, who was standing right beside them, had originally been laughing at Gao Peng's misfortune. The moment he saw that his Familiar had been bitten, his smile turned to a look of rage. He was about to act on it when he heard the strict voice of Murong Qiuye scolding them. "What are you two doing? Don't think I didn't see what happened. Hai Lanyu, now that you have a Familiar you are a Monster Trainer! As a Monster Trainer, make sure you control you familiar properly and not let it scare people like that. Gao Peng, you too have to make sure your little centipede doesn't bite people that easily."

Both sides were scolded, but it was clear that Murong Qiuye was more biased towards Gao Peng, probably because of his good results.

The Black Raging Kong was eventually summoned away by its master reluctantly. It looked towards Hai Lanyu with eyes filled with resentment as if to say, You sent me to scare that guy just now, and in the end you called me back after getting me bitten by that little centipede. What kind of master are you?"

It unhappily jumped up and down on the spot, making yelping sounds.

Black Raging Kongs were rather intelligent, and roughly as smart as seven to eight-year-old children. Its emotions, which it wore clearly on its face, were there for anyone to see. Right now, its face was scrunched up and its brows were furrowed; it was clearly putting on a long face.

Gao Peng looked closely at the Black Raging Kong, and from the stats table that appeared in his mind, he could see that the [Monster Condition] had changed from "Healthy (Frustrated)" to "Mildly hurt (Depressed) [Poisoned]"

The last word, "poisoned," flashed with a red glow which grew dimmer as time went by. At the same time, the condition in front of it also eventually changed from "mildly hurt" to "minor injuries."

"Is this a Blood Lilyturf? This is a plant that was evolved from the dwarf lilyturf during the cataclysm. Even before its evolution, the dwarf lilyturf had medicinal purposes that could nourish the lungs and treat coughs. The evolved Blood Lilyturf has the ability to treat internal injuries, especially damage to internal organs. Administering a bit of Blood Lilyturf root can help to replenish blood and aid in the recovery of such injuries." Gao Peng was in a half-squat position, obsessing over a blood-red plant next to his leg.

The dwarf lilyturf was also called Yanjiecao, and was a very common plant before the cataclysm. It could even be seen often in the streets. In flowerbeds along the roads, there were often plants that looked like chives lining the bottom. Those were dwarf lilyturf.

Information regarding the Blood Lilyturf could all be found in "The New Edition Mutant Plant Botany," which was a must read course for all middle school students after the cataclysm.

No matter when, knowledge would always remain the number one productive force. Even in the current bizarre and fantasy-like world they were in, knowledge and science had not fallen behind.

Science was not the same thing as technology. Technology was merely the result of science. Science was a method to sort out one's own knowledge, a system of collating and searching for information, and the use of logic and analysis for research. It was something that could greatly increase the effectiveness of increasing one's knowledge and making it one's own.

It was something that never fell behind.

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Chapter 8: Brown Crag Snake

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Gao Peng studied passionately because he hoped to find a method to resurrect his parents through the knowledge he obtained.

This was how Gao Peng managed to transform from a 'dead fish' student who had no interest in studying, to a top student in school.

Because he had dreams; because he had ambitions. And those were to bring his parents back to life.

If he chose to be an ordinary person, then he did not have any right to chase after his ambitions.

Gao Peng dug up the soil beneath the Blood Lilyturf to reveal the snow white rhizome of the plant. What looked like miniature carrots were growing out from under the rhizome. It was hard to imagine that under such a small plant was such a large mass of underground stems.

Although Gao Peng had read up on Blood Lilyturfs, this was the first time he saw and touched one in real life.

Da Zi kept circling around Gao Peng curiously, its pair of antennae flying about constantly. It stared at the Blood Lilyturf root in Gao Peng's hand, then rested on his elbow and stared at him with pitiful puppy-dog eyes.

Gao Peng laughed out loud. He was just examining this plant and had no intention of actually bringing it back with him. But if Da Zi wanted to eat it, why not? Gao Peng fed Da Zi the piece of root that he held in his hand. Da Zi's mandibles opened and closed as it ate in big mouthfuls. A clear liquid flowed out of Da Zi's mouth parts.

Centipedes were originally omnivorous creatures, and some even ate moss. Eating a bit of Blood Lilyturf root should have been no problem at all.

Afterwards, Gao Peng stepped into what seemed to him a dreamlike paradise, as he searched the grove next to Mirror Lake for all sorts of different plants. Various plants that previously only existed for him in books were right there in front of his very eyes. There was a Transforming Vajra Osmanthus, a Blue-Winged Paperplant…

This little grove was like a treasure trove to Gao Peng.

Da Zi, who was following Gao Peng about, suddenly stopped, the pair of antennae on its head shooting upright like two long towers. Its eyes shone with a cautious light.

The sound of rustling from a bush behind Gao Peng alarmed him. The dark green bush was shaking constantly. From the frequency of the shaking and the size of the bush, Gao Peng could determine that whatever was making the rustling was not too large.

As if sensing Da Zi's presence, whatever was in the bush seemed to not dare to come near. After hesitating for a moment, the shaking in the bush stopped. The creature hidden in the bush seemed to be trying to retreat from the back of the bush.

Da Zi got excited and looked eager to rush into the bush, but was stopped by Gao Peng. There was no way to be sure that Da Zi would not fall into a trap after chasing the creature into the bush. The creature could be trying to lure Da Zi in.

The wisdom that these monsters had was not to be underestimated. Although most monsters did not have very high intelligence, it was not the same thing as wisdom.

Intelligence was inborn; but wisdom could be accumulated through experience.

Gao Peng pulled Da Zi along with him as he took two big steps backwards. After taking a careful look at his surroundings to make sure there were no other threats around, he picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it a bit in his hand.

Then he sent it flying towards the bush!

Su su–

The bush suddenly shook violently as though something in it was alarmed.

After a moment, a grey figure suddenly shot out from the bush. Ssss! It went straight towards Gao Peng.

Gao Peng carefully stepped backwards and at the same time, Da Zi fiercely leapt at that gray figure. Da Zi's speed was not slow either.

A purple and a grey blur crashed in mid-air at a speed so fast that Gao Peng could not see each figure clearly with his naked eye. He only saw purple and gray afterimages entangled with each other in a complete blur.

Momentarily, probably after finally locking onto each other, the two images finally landed on the ground with a thud. Da Zi's thousands of legs were wrapped tightly around the body of a greyish brown python.

Before the cataclysm this would probably be called a python, but now in this new era, this was merely a small, ordinary snake.

The grey-brown python was around three meters long, while Da Zi was only two meters long. Hence, at the rear end of Da Zi, there was a segment of tail sticking out, occasionally thrashing about.

Looking at the python, a stats table automatically appeared in Gao Peng's mind.

[Monster Name: Brown Crag Snake

[Monster Level: Level 6

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Earth

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Panicking)

[Monster Weakness: 1. Wood 2. Snake Saliva Grass is excellent in repelling Brown Crag Snakes, when exposed to high amounts, movements of Brown Crag Snakes will be slowed and their bodies will become stiff.

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: …

Snake Saliva Grass… typically, around the areas that Brown Crag Snakes inhabited, there would be places where Snake Saliva Grasses grew. But for him to rush off at this crucial time to find some Snake Saliva Grass? This was simply too difficult a task. Right now, Da Zi was in a stalemate with the Brown Crag Snake. If he were to run into any other monster while searching for Snake Saliva Grass, he would have no choice but to end his role as the protagonist.

Another reason he wouldn't look for the grass was that the problem at hand seemed to be manageable. Although Da Zi was a level lower than the Brown Crag Snake, it was only a level and not a tier difference; hence there was not much difference in power.

Furthermore, within monsters of a normal grade, the Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede was definitely ranked a lot higher than a Brown Crag Snake. Gao Peng could see that Da Zi had sunk its mandibles into an area just behind the head of the Brown Crag Snake. Da Zi's fangs had sunk deep into the snake's flesh. This was an optimal position for Da Zi, for although the Brown Crag Snake could still move its head a bit, all it could bite was Da Zi's back carapace.

The Brown Crag Snake opened its mouth wide in an effort to bite the purple carapace. Its lower jaw unhinged, opening almost 180 degrees wide. Then it bit down viciously on the carapace.

The fangs did not go through the carapace… The Brown Crag Snake, in a very human-like manner, looked as though it were sh*tting bricks. It's eyes were wide and its mouth just froze in that open, biting position.

At that moment, the Brown Crag Snake was in an extremely compromising position. Its body was trapped by Da Zi's thousands of legs which were like nails sinking into its body. No matter how it thrashed about, it could not get loose. Da Zi's Fangs were also like two drills stuck into its body, continually injecting large amounts of venom into it.

In Gao Peng's vision, the condition section of the Brown Crag Snake kept flashing red. Its status continually worsened as it dropped from "slightly injured" to "minor injuries," to "medium injuries," to "serious injuries." The Brown Crag Snake struggled for its life initially, rolling around the ground and thrashing into trees, leaving pieces of tree bark all over the ground and making dull thudding sounds.

As the injuries worsened, the Brown Crag Snake gave up in the end. It quietly lay down on the ground and stared blankly ahead with eyes that looked as though it had given up on life.

The words "serious injuries" flashed rapidly, and by this time, the words turned into a dark red color. The red color gradually disappeared like blood being drawn out from the words themselves. In the end, only the color of black remained as the words changed into "fatally injured."

After ten minutes, the color of the words "fatally injured" visibly faded, leaving behind a single greyish-white word: "deceased."

Apparently, snakes had something unique about their nervous system that allowed them to react immediately when attacked. This mechanism still remained even after death, as long as the sensory organs around its head had not been decomposed; meaning that they could still pose a lethal threat. As many snakes possessed powerful venom, cases of dying from snake bites after a snake was dead were not that rare.

Even if the Brown Crag Snake were venomous, being bitten by its sharp fangs would be like having two hooks embedded and stuck in one's flesh.

Gao Peng picked up a long stick and poked the Brown Crag Snake experimentally.

The Brown Crag Snake lying motionlessly on the ground suddenly flipped around and bit down viciously on the stick. No matter how hard Gao Peng shook the stick, he could not shake off the Brown Crag Snake. Its eyes however, remained a dull white, without any signs of life in it. The snake simply maintained its position, biting onto the stick.

After waiting an hour, Gao Peng finally used the stick to coil the carcass of the Brown Crag Snake around it. He then took out a nylon bag and placed the Brown Crag Snake into it. Practically every part of a monster's carcass was worth something. All he had to do was to bring this back to certain specialized shop to fetch a good price for the snake.

Da Zi lifted its upper body up, and flopped onto Gao Peng. Its eyes were staring at the dead Brown Crag Snake and its saliva was almost flowing out.

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Chapter 9: Crying Like a 400 Pound Kid

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Gao Peng found it hard to bear, seeing Da Zi's pleading look. But in order for Da Zi to evolve and increase its grade, it needed meat and attributes of precious materials. This Brown Crag Snake carcass was merely a more-nutritious-than-normal meal to Da Zi. It was more worthwhile to sell this complete snake carcass and use the money to buy materials specific for nurturing Da Zi.

Meanwhile, Gao Peng did not notice that on a tree, roughly a hundred meters behind him, was a man wearing a blue security uniform watching him closely. "This kid is rather prudent, it seems. A Brown Crag Snake like that could probably earn him half an Alliance Credit," said the man to himself.

He was one of the security personnel from Blue Shield Protection Agency who was in charge of the security of the students. They were there to make sure the students' lives were not in danger, but not there to be babysitters. The safety of the students was their responsibility, but not the safety of their Familiars. If a Familiar died, then that was it. These students were already high schoolers. In this new era, those sixteen and above were considered legal adults, and adults had to be responsible for their own actions.

At the same time, at another location:

Hai Lanyu was running excitedly around the nearby forests with his Familiar, a Black Raging Kong. The earlier conflict with Gao Peng had already been tossed to the back of his mind. After all, that was just some friction between high schoolers; nothing worth bearing a real grudge over.

The area he chose to explore was a different patch of forest from Gao Peng's. Gao Peng's area was a forest next to the lake that was exposed to sunlight. It had large trees scattered across the place. Hai Lanyu, however, was at a forest on the inner side of the lake that was in between the lake and a mountain. This was an area with low sunlight, and the plants here were lush.

The Black Raging Kong seemed as though it had not been out in the wild for a long time, and was evidently very excited as well.

It beat its chest with its two arms, giving off a dull "dong dong dong" sound.

It raised its head, formed an 'O' with its mouth and made happy Ao-ao sounds.

The Black Raging Kong happily jumped about. With a flex of its leg muscles, it became a black afterimage, jumping a few meters high. It swung around the tree branches in the forest and within moments, went out of Hai Lanyu's line of sight.

Forget it, I'll just let him go; thought Hai Lanyu.

He had initially wanted to try and control it, but then he thought of his Black Raging Kong's large, strong build. Even ten of him would not be able to hold it back from doing anything it really wanted to.

Although it was his own familiar, he did remember the teacher saying something in class along the lines of… occasionally allowing the Familiar free to do what it wanted? Hai Lanyu's grades were bad because he was always absent minded during class, and missed out on the most crucial details.

Actually, what the teacher meant was to balance work and play. While training one's familiar, one needed to also remember to take some time to have fun with it, to promote bonding. With increased closeness between Trainer and Familiar, certain exclusive abilities unique to the Trainer and Familiar would be unlocked. These abilities were vital for the survival of the Trainer.

As the day came to a close, a campfire was set up next to the crystal clear lake. Murong Qiuye took out a bunch of tents from the storage compartment under the bus and gave a step by step demonstration on how to set up the tents. Very quickly, all the students finished pitching their tents. Each tent fit two students of the same gender.

Sharing the tent with Gao Peng was the class monitor Tan Qianjin. After finding out about this grouping, Tan Qianjin smiled brightly, his eyes squinting. He rubbed his head as he stuck out his right hand and said, "It's a pleasure, top student."

Gao Peng was not used to shaking other people's hands, but it would have been rude to refuse. Gao Peng gingerly grabbed hold of Tan Qianjin's hand for a brief handshake.

Entering the tent, Gao Peng took out two tightly sealed packets of pickled mustard from his school bag. He tossed one to Tan Qianjin and kept the other in the pocket of his pants.

Tonight's dinner was roasted fish. The fish were wild, fished from the lake.

Gao Peng knew very well the standard of this cooking; so he had brought along a few packets of Spring Fish pickled mustard as condiments.

Tan Qianjin caught the Spring Fish pickled mustard reflexively, looking stunned at the packet of pickled mustard in his hands. He then looked at Gao Peng and smiled while putting the packet of pickled mustard in his pocket.

He went up and placed a hand on Gao Peng's shoulder. "Let's go, time for some roasted fish," Tan Qianjin said with a smile, revealing the dimples on his face.

By the edge of the lake was a pile of fish caught from the lake. Something flew past the lake surface in a blur before flying up in the sky. With a twist and a dive, it flew straight down and stopped by the edge of the lake. The blur from before revealed itself to be a giant silver bird, roughly a meter and a half tall. Its sharp claws, that were shaped like giant hooks, were holding a fish that was half a meter long. Putting the fish down, it made its way over, using its long slender legs, to Murong Qiuye's side. It then rubbed its head on Murong Qiuye, with a reliant look in its eyes.

This was a Silver Winged Bird, a very commonly raised bird-type monster. Silver Winged Birds had strong reproductive capabilities, a large range of foods that it could eat, making it easy to raise, and moderate strength. Because of this, many who chose to raise bird-type monsters owned Silver Winged Birds.

According to the books that Gao Peng read, Silver Winged Birds only grew to be about a meter tall at full maturity. This Silver Winged Bird was a full meter and a half. Compared to others of its kind, this bird would be a giant.

[Monster Name: Silver Winged Bird (Giant variant)

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Level: Level 12

So, it was an individual that underwent a gigantism mutation. Mutated variants often had a larger size than their ordinary counterparts, and were often of a higher grade too. In this part of the outskirts, excellent grade monsters were apex predators on the top of the food chain. Being level 12 and of an excellent grade, this giant Silver Winged Bird would encounter no natural enemies in the vicinity of the lake.

Bird-type monsters also had a large, efficient range of movement, allowing them to provide support speedily. This one was probably arranged by the school as a second layer of protection for the safety of the students.

"Wow, Ms. Murong, you have such a huge bird," said Li Zigong excitedly.

Everyone around them suddenly fell silent.

"Pa!" Li Hongdou gave Li Zigong a loud slap on the back of his head. "Do you know how to speak properly?!"

Li Zigong gave his sister a frustrated look. "Sis! Stop hitting me at the back of my head! I suspect that my IQ is this low because you keep hitting me there."

"Oh," said Li Hongdou as she glanced at him, while rubbing her wrist. "I was getting sore from hitting you anyway."

No one had never seen such a large Silver Winged Bird before. Soon, there was a crowd surrounding the Silver Winged Bird.

If not for the fear of being pecked by the Silver Winged Bird, some of them would have definitely reached out their hands to pet it.

Murong Qiuye's plump face was all smiles. "Students, please approach slowly. Ling Que's character isn't very sociable. You all can look, but please don't touch."

"Hi, Silver Winged Bird; If I call, will you respond?" said Tan Qianjin while smiling from ear to ear.

The Silver Winged Bird simply turned its head, its eyes filled with a look of spite.

Tan Qianjin choked back some tears. To think that he would be despised by a bird.

In the end, seemingly losing its patience, the Silver Winged Bird flapped its wings and flew off, leaving behind a few silvery feathers which slowly fell to the ground.

"Ms. Murong, my Kong has gone missing! I've tried to summon it using the Blood Contract but there was no response; could something have happened to it?" Hai Lanyu suddenly rushed over from the side. There were tears streaming down his face; he was crying like a 400 pound kid.

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Chapter 10: Devil Mantis

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Where is your Black Raging Kong?" Murong Qiuye asked and furrowed his eyebrows. Normally these royal animals' safeties were out of her hands. But as Hai Lanyu burst out in tears like a kid she became soft-hearted.

"Over there," a Blue Shield security in blue uniform said and pointed at the grove behind them.

Teardrops were still hanging on his face, but Hai Lanyu gawked at the man who suddenly appeared by his side. "How do you know?"

"Because I was standing behind you, only 100 meters away." The Blue-Shield security smiled.

"Then why didn't you get my Black Raging Kong back!" Hai Lanyu hurled the question at the man in a loud voice. His veins stood out from his anger.

The security put his forefinger over his lips. "Hush."

Hai Lanyu felt a chill radiate through his body. He lowered his head as a dark shadow silently shrouded him. The other students screamed.

He turned around, and almost knocked into something. He raised his head and his heart almost jumped out of the chest.

A ferocious trophi opened and closed and emotionless compound eyes stared at him, a cold-blooded killer looking down at its prey. He could see hair wriggling in the mouth, and piercing teeth that gleamed white.

Its huge bulk leaned forward, with a pair of sharp arms like decapitation broadswords, looking like the loneliest sculpture in the world.

"My baby is irritable, especially when seeing someone shouting at me," the security smiled at Hai Lanyu. But in Hai Lanyu's eyes, it was a devil's smile.

"Sir, You scared my students!" Murong Qiuye suddenly growled.

Like a mother lion protecting her cub, Murong Qiuye dragged Hai Lanyu behind her and blocked him.

"Sorry; I didn't mean to scare this young gentleman. Besides, he shouted at me first. That was why my pet came out in such a frightening manner." The security called out his Devil Mantis. The seven-foot-tall mantis glanced at Murong Qiuye. Its head rotated 180 degrees, and its strong legs slightly bent. Then it transformed into a shadow and vanished.

"This should be sufficient to prove that I mean no harm." The security spread his hands, looking meaningfully at Hai Lanyu who stood behind Murong Qiuye. He said indifferently, "I just want to tell you that our job is to protect your individual securities. As for your Familiars, they are not under our protection. You probably have reached adult age. If so, as an adult, you should be responsible for your behavior. Not everyone spoils you as your parents do."

After he said so, the security guard sneered at the boy, turned around, and left.

Hai Lanyu's face was livid with anger. His fingers became fists, his body trembled. But he dared not flare up.

Hai Lanyu clenched his teeth as his chest heaved.

Murong Qiuye sighed in her heart. She wanted to comfort him but wasn't sure what to say. She knew that these half grown-ups were at the age where their self-esteem was most volatile.

She was a teacher for years before the cataclysm. She protected Hai Lanyu out of habit this time. Although the current law lowered the legal adult age to sixteen, in her eyes these students were just a bunch of kids.

"Let's find it." Murong Qiuye called her Familiar and walked towards where Black Raging Kong disappeared.

Many students hesitated but finally followed their teacher, carrying their Familiars with them as they gathered in flocks.

Hai Lanyu sighed with relief and put down his concern. There was nothing to worry about with so many people going together. Gao Peng followed; the pets students took with them didn't comfort him much.

The fact that the Familiars stayed in the city all the time without seeing even a drop of blood was equivalent to the difference between a domestic pig and a wild pig. Although domestic pigs looked bigger than boars, domestic pigs would flee in disorder if a boar confronted them.

What truly comforted him were the Devil Mantises, who made long shadows on branches. A Devil Mantis paused on a branch as a stick of deadwood and swayed to vanish. In the next second, it appeared on another branch in the same position.

Even Ms. Murong's variant Silver Winged Bird would turn into prey in front of these Devil Mantises.

He randomly chose a Devil Mantis's data.

[Monster Name: Devil Mantis

[Monster Level: Level 15 (Elite)

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Attribute: Wood

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Calm)

[Monster Weakness: Fire

This was the strongest monster Gao Peng had met so far: Grade Excellent plus Elite level. Every Blue Shield security agent was equipped with a Devil Mantis. The level differences among these mantises were two to three, with slight competence distinctions.

With so many Devil Mantises, they would not be in danger unless they met any Commander monsters.

They searched along the direction of Black Raging Kong's disappearance. The mountain behind Mirror Lake was not big, but it was covered with dense wood.

It didn't take long for them to find the evidence the Black Raging Kong left, a pool of blood surrounded by thick yellow stinky liquid.

"It should be somewhere around here," Murong Qiuye instructed calmly. "Be careful my students. Don't go too far and stay close to your classmates."

The Blue Shield Security agents also ordered their Devil Mantises to protect students' safety.

A person dressed like a Captain tossed an interesting look in their direction. It looks like that thing's style, he thought. As he made the assumption he relaxed, for there was nothing to worry about. If it was that thing it's no threat and the situation is under control. As for these young hands… A smile appeared on his face as he mulled it over. They will probably suffer from nightmares tonight. The blood seems to extend this way.

Murong Qiuye lowered her head to check for bloodstains. Spots of blood scattered in the dead leaves all the way to a mossy boulder in the distance.

"Bell Sparrow, check that boulder. Is there any potential danger?" Murong Qiuye ordered.

Hovering low in the woods, the Silver Winged Bird made a crisp call, then dove sharply!

As the bird swooped down its silver wings cut branches like a sharp knife. Finally it landed on a branch behind the boulder, its acuminous eyes shining with a chilling light. Staring at the bottom of the boulder, it made a shrill cry.

At the same time, a baby's cry burst out from under the boulder.

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Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 11 online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 11: Horrifying Human-Face Centipede

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

A foul smell lingered in the air. As a gust of wind swept the dried leaves off the ground, and the thick, foul stench surrounded the jungle in a blink of an eye.

"Ugh…" A few students could not stand the intensity of the smell and dropped on one knee, vomiting.

A large beast crawled out slowly from behind the huge rock. At a glance, it looked to be four or five meters long, with thick limbs that made crunching noises as they stepped on the dried leaves on the ground.

The limbs of the beast were covered in white fur and had twisted, irregular joints. Its body was covered in a deep green carapace that looked like a rock covered in seaweed, but what was most horrifying were the individual severed heads that lined the carapace. Between the gaps in the carapace was a yellow pus that occasionally oozed out. Some of it was even half dried, with leaves and dirt stuck in it.

Some of the heads that were attached to its body had probably been there for a long time and looked like dried, cured meat.

Other heads, however, were fresh and dripping with blood, with eyes that were large and staring.

Hai Lanyu almost burst into tears. He recognized who that head belonged to; it was the head of his Black Raging Kong!

He felt a mix of pain and sadness.

After all, the Black Raging Kong had cost quite a fortune. It cost as much as a car did before the cataclysm. It was bought only two days ago, and now it was dead. His father would surely scold him to death when he got back home.

Ying, Ying… This horrifying giant centipede was making cries that sounded like an infant's crying.

Could this be a Horrifying Human-Face Centipede? Gao Peng thought as he suddenly recalled what the teacher had introduced in class. It was brought up as a negative example as how monsters come to be, and the example of the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede was a meaningful one. It was also a monster that had easily identifiable features, as it was rare to find a low ranked monster that was this horrible and disgusting.

According to what was known about it, the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede was the result of a sudden malignant mutation. It was originally supposed to be a giant centipede variant. Due to the large number of deaths during the cataclysm, certain areas were left with piles of dead bodies that were not taken care of in time.

During the early periods after the cataclysm, these giant centipedes were thriving, and mutated easily. Because of the large number of dead bodies available, some giant centipedes mutated from feeding on dead bodies over a long period of time, and even developed the gruesome habit of adorning their bodies with the heads of their prey. Possibly because they fed on human bodies initially, Horrifying Human-Face Centipedes had a preference for the heads of primate species.

According to researchers, the behavior of wearing the heads served to scare away natural predators and other competitors. This was because other than the venom it originally possessed, the only other defense that the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede had was its large body size. Adult ones could grow to a length of five to six meters, but in the wild, that only counted as a medium sized creature.

"Everyone be careful. No matter what, do not go too close to the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede. It can spit venom out of its mouth with a range of more than 10 meters. Its venom has a strong corrosive effect, and it is also very revolting…" said Murong Qiuye with her brows furrowed. She was not in the best condition either, as it was the first time she had encountered such a savage and perverse monster.

"The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede has only one other method of fighting other than spitting venom: that is to overwhelm its prey with its relatively large size. Everyone, we should be fine as long as we do not get too close. The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede does not move very quickly. It usually hides under a large rock or in a cave, and waits for its prey to come close. But just to be safe, we should all take a few steps back," asserted Gao Peng calmly, before taking two careful steps backwards.

Mr. Zhang had gone through the weaknesses of the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede in class before, and it was also written in their textbooks. But who knew if the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede had evolved any new abilities, or if there were gaps in the existing knowledge of it. Gao Peng was not willing to bet the safety of his life on mere words and pictures on paper.

The retreating of the crowd seemed to allow the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede to relax quite a bit. After all, on its list of prey, humans were one of the most delicious…

Just like how a shark would be less cautious of humans after tasting human flesh, a tiger that had eaten human meat would naturally place this new organism under its list of prey.

The eyes of the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede lit up as it saw the oppressive crowd of humans taking two steps back. It took two experimental steps forward before stopping, with its antennae up high and erect with caution.

Immediately, it saw the crowd of humans take another two steps back.

This set its mind at ease. It needed not worry anymore.

It began a mad scuttle, stepping on the dried leaves below it and causing a continuous crunching sound. With each movement of its body, the human heads and the Black Raging Kong head moved along. The hollow eyes of the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede stared straight at the crowd in front of it, as though laughing at them from the depths of hell.

The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede clambered out from behind the huge rock, revealing its entire body. It made its way towards the crowd triumphantly, with swagger, constantly making noises that sounded like an infant crying. It was moving like a landlord patrolling his property, as though nothing had a right to stop it.

[Monster Name: Horrifying Human-Face Centipede

[Monster Level: Level 12 (Elite)

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Corpse/Poison

[Monster Condition: Minor injuries (Arrogant)

[Monster Weakness: 1. Light 2. Fire

Light type and Fire type… As Gao Peng focused on these two words, they suddenly went dim, as though a ripple was going through them. A new line of words suddenly appeared below them.

[Countering Methods: 1. Light type attack (capable of dealing additional damage to the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede) 2. Bright light (capable of causing strong stun effect on juvenile specimens. Long-term exposure can lead to a mutant variant) 3. Powdered Light Mandrake can be used as a powerful repellant which is capable of causing devastating injuries…

There was a lot more below, but this alone was enough to surprise Gao Peng. A lot of this information was never even mentioned in the books that he had read. Maybe certain books had selectively picked out some of the methods here, but most of these were definitely new pieces of information that Gao Peng had never seen before.

At this moment, without anyone's notice, large mantises started appearing one by one on the tree branches.

These were the standard Familiars used by the Blue Shield Protection Agency, the Devil Mantis. Just from the statistics of the Devil Mantis, every one of them should be able to easily dispatch the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede.

Right now, the sky was already dark and only a few flecks of light shone into the forest. Coupled with the flickering lights of the torches, these Devil Mantises blended in perfectly in the darkness.

"Bell Sparrow!" Murong Qiuye suddenly shouted out.

The Silver Winged Bird that was silently perching in the trees suddenly dove down in a flash of silver. Before the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede could react, it had flown past the centipede's back. One of the heads on its back was cut off and sent flying.

From the rupture on the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede's back, large amounts of yellow pus started flowing out. The pus got thicker as it flowed out, turning from a pale yellow to a dark yellow. This thick fluid covered the entire wound and stoppered it.

The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede let out a mournful shriek and spat out a viscous black liquid towards the sky. It missed completely.

The liquid that landed on the ground corroded the dried leaves, letting out a cloud of white smoke.

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Chapter 12: Are You having a Kinder Party?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Silver Winged Bird turned into a silver flash rushing through the woods. The rather heavy Centipede could only be the target.

It opened its giant mouth, roaring to intimidate the silver flash above its head.

The Silver Winged Bird wasn't affected at all. The silver flash swooped across the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede, splashing blood all over the ground.

The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede's wound became more and more intensive; finally it couldn't stand such violent consumption. It turned around crying, running towards the bottom of the boulder.

Seeing this, the Silver Winged Bird accelerated attack frequency.

Cunning flashed across the centipede's eyes. It raised its middle body, and formed a "Π" shape.

When the Silver Winged Bird hawked again, the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede suddenly jumped up, as if a firm bow was pulled with a jerk.

Bang!

The Silver Winged Bird was whipped away by the centipede's tail, like it was hit by a baseball bat.

Immediately, the centipede's tail fractured, and abundant thick black and yellow liquids sprayed from the wound onto the Silver Winged Bird.

The Silver Winged Bird was pushed away by the spout. It gave a plaintive cry, and fell heavily to the ground.

The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede scrambled fast to the bird, the massive thick liquid still weeping from its tail.

The liquid stained the ground, and looked extremely terrifying.

The Silver Winged Bird wanted to fly, but its feathers were firmly glued by yellow pus. it could not spread its wings at all. Some feathers had already been corroded by black liquid.

The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede was on the same level, 12, as the Silver Winged Bird, which meant that they were about the same when it came to evolution levels. Besides, the Silver Winged Bird was graded Excellent, which was one grade higher than the centipede's normal grade. It was absolutely unexpected that the Normal Grade Centipede won the battle.

Victory was never decided by grades or tiers; combat experience and geographic environment were also quite influential. Now Gao Peng had a better understanding on that.

This centipede was very decisive; at the beginning, when it tried to fight back, it always failed. So later it just ran away to save effort.

Then, when its enemy slacked a little bit, it promptly decided to give away a part of its body to make a deadly attack.

Da Zi watched, on the alert for the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede, which was hissing in provocation.

The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede paused and glimpsed aside at Da Zi, as well as Gao Peng, who was holding Da Zi in his arms.

Then it turned back, ignored them, and crawled to the Silver Winged Bird.

Murong Qiuye clamped her hand over her mouth, and tears fell from her face.

The Silver Winged Bird had been following her for two years; she still remembered the first day she cautiously brought Bell Sparrow home. It was just a tender squab, chirping in her arms.

In the last two years she always took it out for training; battling in suburbs, fighting in the field. She watched it grow bit by bit, like it was her own child.

Silver Winged Bird weakly lay on the ground, turning to Murong Qiuye. Its eyes were full of emotion.

"Alright; that's enough. It's like watching a soap opera." The captain shook his head.

As if receiving an order, a branch on the peripheral slightly wobbled.

A shadow flashed across the air; something hawked through the woods with a sharp cry.

Whoosh.

The Horrifying Human-Face Centipede's body became stiff. Its head was thrown high into the sky.

The head rotated in the air, then dropped on the ground. There was a pause; then a massive amount of blood spewed from the broken neck.

Time was frozen. A slender figure gradually appeared on the ground in the woods, its arms crossed, its long knife-like arms gleaming with faint purple light.

[Monster Name: Variant Devil Mantis

[Monster Level: Level 20 (Elite)

[Monster Grade: Perfect

Level 20 Elite, perfect quality; it had met all the requirements for becoming a Commander monster! Upgrading to Commander was just time issue. One more level, and it could become a Commander monster.

So strong. Most students in the class goggled at this terrifying Devil Mantis with jealousy. In their eyes, the Silver Winged Bird was already a strong Familiar, and the Horrifying Human-Face Centipede who defeated the bird was also formidable.

But even such a powerful centipede was sec-killed by the Devil Mantis.

"Is this… is this a Commander Familiar?" Some student asked, slack-jawed.

"Not really, but very close." Chen Hanqiao looked deeply at this Variant Devil Mantis.

Glimpsing at Hai Lanyu aside, who lost his wits, Chen Hanqiao patted his shoulder, saying, "Alas, don't be so sad."

Considering for a while, Chen Hanqiao said, "I will ask my dad to find a new baby Familiar for you next time he is out for work."

"Thank you." Hai Lanyu puckered his lips, with tears in his eyes.

"It's nothing. We are brothers!" Chen Hanqiao chuckled.

"Yes, brothers!"

Gao Peng turned around in silence. He gave himself a hug, only to feel that his back was covered with gooseflesh. But in his heart, he sensed something different.

Brother… What was a brother?

Gap Peng was confused.

After his parents passed away, relatives rarely came to visit. His beloved grandfather had also disappeared. When the cataclysm happened, grandfather was on vacation in the overseas island he bought; it was almost impossible for him to survive.

I don't need any brothers; I have them, that's good enough.

When Gao Peng looked at Da Zi in his arms, a smile involuntarily came to his face. Da Zi raised its sleepy head, antennas winging in the air. It lay in Gao Peng's arms languidly, moving inward with reliance.

"Don't move… I can barely hold you."

Gao Peng put Da Zi down, breathing heavily. This guy was too heavy. Although it looked inconspicuous, it was at least two meters long, and weighed more than one hundred pounds.

After Hai Lanyu's accident, the other students were on alert. They didn't allow their Familiars to run about.

Gao Peng half-squatted on the ground, patting Da Zi's exoskeleton. Its cold exoskeleton was tough like iron.

Gao Peng picked up a stone then stood straight, narrowing his eyes and staring off into the distance. He threw the stone high into the air. Beside him, feeling connected with Gao Peng, Da Zi rushed out. The centipede's speed was not slow among monsters of same size. In the blink of an eye, it was meters away.

At the last second, it jumped forward, its body curled tight; then it suddenly jerked. Its sharp teeth clenched, directing the stone into its mouth.

Da Zi quickly ran back and spat the stone into Gao Peng's palm, shaking its antennas as if it were claiming credit. Gao Peng patted its head as a reward.

"Are you having a kinder party?" A voice came from a tree next to him. Gao Peng turned around, realizing that the Blue Shield Security Team captain was crouching on a branch, looking at him with great interest.

"Um… No. I'm training Da Zi's speed and accuracy." Gao Peng raised his eyebrow.

Puff.

Gao Peng was assured that he heard this snort.

"Excuse me… It's just… Your training method is like playing house, which is hilarious." The captain patted his face. It was over-laughed and become stiff.

"To be honest, your training method… is indeed like a kid playing games; boring, and wasting time." The captain shook his head, looking deeply at Gao Peng. "You should never train a real Familiar in this way, especially when your Familiar is a fierce Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede. You are wasting its potential."

"Then what should I do?" Gao Peng's eyes suddenly brightened.

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Chapter 13: Uncle Liu

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Centipedes have a vicious nature. If you want to train them, you need to keep allowing them to hunt and kill prey. Also, you should feed it fresh meat for every meal to maintain its fierceness. Only then will it be able to unleash its full capabilities in battle." The security captain tried to jump off the branch he was standing on after saying this. But after looking at how high up the branch was, he ended up slowly climbing down with his four limbs instead.

All the pretense of him being cool suddenly vanished…

"You know how to train centipedes?" Gao Peng asked suspiciously. This security captain sporting a mutton chop beard did not look like an expert in training monsters.

"Hey, you brat, don't go around looking down on others. I trained this Devil Mantis of mine all on my own." The security captain stretched out his right hand. Out of nowhere, a Devil Mantis suddenly appeared on his left, half kneeling on the ground, its strong chest heaving up and down as it breathed in and out.

"But there are specializations in every kind of industry. I specialize in training mantises, but that does not mean I'm an expert in training centipedes. If you really want to train this centipede into a killing machine, you will need to find an expert in that field. All I can give you are some pointers and suggestions," said the security captain, pulling a long face.

"Mmm, thank you, sir," Gao Peng said while nodding with thanks.

"Sir, do you know of any centipede training experts within Chang'an City?" Gao Peng asked.

The security captain was stunned for a moment. It was the first time someone had actually called him 'sir.' This way of addressing him made him feel a little weird.

After a moment's silence, he said, "There are many famous powerhouses with centipede type Familiars in Chang'an City, but because their centipede Familiars were strong to begin with, only one of them is known for becoming that strong based on his training methods." The security captain gave an imposing look and said, "The head of the Five Poison Dojo, Cao Jinyan.

"But Cao Jinyan is a known loner; it's hard for most people to get close to him. Apparently, all of his family tragically died during the cataclysm. Since then, he's developed an irritable personality. It's a taboo to mention anything related to his family in front of him."

"Oh, then forget it. I should just train on my own first I guess." Gao Peng immediately lost interest. He was not used to trying to warm up to people who were cold. It would be like using his own warm cheeks to warm up someone's cold butt cheeks, and even risking having the other person fart in his face. Most importantly, he felt a little weird about all of this. This security captain was a bit too talkative.

A Familiar's battle experience can only be trained through actual battle, thought Gao Peng. He knew what he needed to do know. Furthermore, he had confidence in himself.

The security captain's mouth hung open. This… this was different from what was agreed upon! This wasn't how it was supposed to go in the script! Shouldn't the kid be asking him more to find about what Cao Jinyan likes!?

This security captain clearly had some intent behind his actions. After all, he was acting so proud and aloof before. Those who provide benefits for nothing are usually up to no good.

Gao Peng turned around and left without hesitation. He did not intend to get wrapped up in any kind of scheming or drama. He already had what it takes to become strong. All he needed was to stick to his plan step by step to get stronger.

The three day excursion quickly came to an end.

Although there were still some monsters out in the outskirts, they were all of low tiers, mainly common tier. With the addition of the almost omnipresent Devil Mantises secretly protecting the students, it would actually be strange if a student met with an accident.

These few days were for the students to actually come into contact with wild monsters in real life. These monsters were different from those raised in their homes. Those at home were largely gentle and rarely got angry whereas those in the wild were feral and hard to tame. Allowing the students to have real-life experiences with wild monsters would be greatly beneficial to both their future and current capabilities.

Sitting back on the bus, Da Zi quietly lay down by Gao Peng's feet as he watched the surroundings outside the window fade into a blur. Over the last few days, there was little visible change in Da Zi's outer appearance. But if one were to take a closer look, Da Zi's eyes definitely looked a lot fiercer than they had a few days before. Each individual limb shimmered with a cold light, and lingering around its fangs was an almost undetectable murderous glint.

Other than routinely training Da Zi's agility and explosive strength, for the past few days, Da Zi had also constantly battled the wild monsters in the jungle.

The most dangerous encounter they had was when Da Zi was struck by a Bullet Beetle and almost got its brains blown out. A centipede's head is its Achilles heel, and is the most fragile part of its body.

Da Zi's brain was covered by a thick and hard carapace, but under that was its fragile brain matter.

The wounds that it got almost cost Da Zi its life. In the end, it was the security captain's variant Devil Mantis Familiar that killed the Bullet Beetle in one hit, saving Da Zi's life.

Because of this, Gao Peng naturally owed the security captain one. But strangely enough, the security captain simply waved his hand and did not need any thanks from Gao Peng. He simply turned and left after glancing at Gao Peng with a complicated look in his eyes.

Gao Peng gently stroked Da Zi's skull. There was a patch there that was a different color from its surroundings. It was the lighter and paler color of a newly grown carapace. That was the area where the Bullet Beetle had pierced through.

It took a full day for a full recovery, and that alone shocked Gao Peng greatly. Such a fast recovery speed… this was indeed a monster. Before the cataclysm, such recovery speed was practically unimaginable.

The bus drove past the school and continued into the city area, finally allowing everyone to alight together there.

Murong Qiuye rubbed her eyes, opened up a black leather notebook and said, "After alighting, all of you are to go home immediately. No going to places like monster amusement parks, no exploring haunted houses, and definitely no visiting the Monster Battle Arena! In half an hour's time, I will be calling all of your parents. If I find that any of you have secretly went out to play instead of going home on time, you will be copying your textbook ten times."

"Okay… Understood," replied a bunch of adolescent boys and girls weakly.

After getting off the bus, Tan Qianjin made his way towards Gao Peng while beaming and patted him on the shoulder. "Wanna go take a look at the Monster Battle Arena together?"

"Nah, I should get back home on time," Gao Peng refused politely.

"But aren't your…" Tan Qianjin wanted to say something, but suddenly laughed awkwardly as he remembered, and apologized profusely.

"It's alright," said Gao Peng, shaking his head to show that he was okay. After three years, he was able to accept reality calmly. He was not a teenager bursting with self-esteem who would easily blow up with a single touch. He was not the kind who would hate the world and be jealous of others just because he lost his parents.

Instead, because he had personally experienced such pain, he was able to better treasure life.

"Ok." Tan Qianjin seemed to have some regrets and seemed to want to say something. But in front of him, Gao Peng had begun to turn and leave. Looking at Gao Peng's frail-looking back going further away from him, Tan Qianjin had no choice but to swallow back the words that he wanted to say.

Gao Peng gently pursed his lips and, leading Da Zi with him, slowly vanished into the crowd.

"Little Gao, you're back." Uncle Liu was having a leisurely stroll in the microdistrict's garden. He greeted Gao Peng as he walked by with Da Zi.

"Uncle Liu," said Gao Peng with a smile and a nod. Uncle Liu was his neighbor, who moved in two years ago. At that time, Gao Peng was experiencing the darkest and most painful period in his life. It was only because of Uncle Liu's guidance that Gao Peng managed to do away with the morbid mentality that he had initially.

He had heard that Uncle Liu's sons and daughters had all met with accidents after the cataclysm and died, leaving him all by himself. Hence, the old man and young man who underwent the same experience became fast friends despite the age gap. Many things that Gao Peng would not share with outsiders, he would share with Uncle Liu.

"Eh? This little centipede seems a lot more energetic since the last time I saw it a while back. Little Gao, have you taken it to see blood?" Uncle Liu asked in surprise.

"Yup, we just came back from the Mirror Lake in the outskirts. We were there for three days," said Gao Peng with a nod.

"Mm, not bad. Things like these centipedes aren't like cat and dog-type Familiars. It is in the nature of these Familiars to do battle to survive; so it has to see blood often." Uncle Liu paused for a moment, then continued, "Although this centipede is of a pretty good breed, it is still a normal grade monster, after all. One's first Familiar has to be chosen carefully. If you don't mind, I can give you two rather good little familiars to raise." Uncle Liu smiled as he finished.

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Chapter 14: The First Familiar

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Uh?" Gao Peng froze, then shook his head. "Thank you for your kindness, but Da Zi is all I have left of my parents, and he has been by my side for three years. I have already decided it will be my first Familiar."

Uncle Liu seemed dazed. Da Zi, who stood by Gao Peng's feet, seemed to understand Uncle Liu's words. It hissed at Uncle Liu with annoyance, showing its claws to Uncle Liu.

"Alright, enough," Gao Peng snapped. Da Zi glanced at its owner, feeling aggrieved. It lay down next to Gao Peng unwillingly with its back towards Uncle Liu.

After talking to Uncle Liu, Gao Peng took Da Zi back home upstairs. He swiped his access card at the front door on first floor. The door opened after the beep.

Looking at Gao Peng's back, then looking at Da Zi, Uncle Liu sighed. He smacked his lips. Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede… So be it. After all, it won't occupy much soul room. Um… Should I tell Old Jiang now?

Hesitating for a long while, finally Uncle Liu sighed again. Well, that fuddy-duddy is as stubborn as a bull in some ways. Let me wait until Peng signs the contract.

When passing he second floor, Gao Peng heard something rubbing the wall. Then he saw a gray shadow poke its head out of the staircase window, observing him secretly. Da Zi hissed impatiently, and the gray shadow vanished at once, as if its butt was on fire.

After entering home, Gao Peng closed the door, put down his school bag, and walked into the kitchen.

When signing a Blood Contract, newbies needed to use a drop of blood from the left-hand ring finger as a medium. If that person didn't have a ring finger, than heart blood would have the same effect.

Gao Peng held a bottle of medical alcohol in his left hand, which he bought on his way back home. He poured all the alcohol into a bowl, dipped a cotton ball into the alcohol, then wiped a boning knife back and forth.

Gao Peng didn't stop until the edge of the boning knife became a silver arc.

As he sharpened the knife on a whetstone, the knife clinked. He poured some water, and the knife emitted cold light, as if a crescent were polished. He could even see his face clearly on the knife.

Gao Peng sighed with relief. The reason he took such a long time for preparation was because he was afraid of pain, as well as tetanus. The boning knife was used to cut pig legs, and unavoidably contaminated with bacteria.

He clenched his teeth, then lightly swept his ring finger over the cutting edge.

A wound finer than a hair gradually emerged, a dark red blood drop oozing from the wound with gravity.

"Da Zi, come here!" Gao Peng shouted out at once.

Sharp tunk tunk tunk noises came from the living room, like numerous fingers drumming a steel plate.

Gao Peng closed his eyes and recited the contract, while putting his ring finger on Da Zi's head. When he closed eyes, it was dark all around. But when he put his finger on Da Zi, a cold touch rippled through his heart.

In the unseen world, Gao Peng heard some noise. It was clear but messy, as if thousands of people were murmuring next to him.

"So hungry…

"Why is it not time for dinner yet…

"Stupid master, is he planning to starve me?

"I'm hungry…"

These were all the thoughts he could hear, plain and simple.

Are these—are these Da Zi's thoughts? Am I connected to Da Zi's mental space?

Da Zi? Gao Peng tried to send his thought.

Um? All noisy ideas were gone immediately, and only a unified thought was left. Who are you?

No wonder Monster Trainers and their Familiars could connect their minds, with the trainer being able to instruct Familiars to do complex actions. This was the reason.

But it was not time for chatting. Gao Peng asked Da Zi hurriedly, I want to sign a blood contact with you; are you willing to be my partner?

In the black mind space, a blood red parchment scroll rose, going up in golden flames.

Even the most stupid creature could understand the contract at once.

Then Gao Peng saw the contract burn, moving slowly toward the deep void. It indicated they had signed the contract successfully.

Without hesitation, Da Zi totally trusted Gao Peng. It signed the contract directly.

A sense of warmth rose from the bottom of Gao Peng's heart.

He moved his finger and opened his eyes. Soon he heard Da Zi's voice again in his head: Hungry! Hungry!

Da Zi bared its teeth and showed claws, glaring at Gao Peng. Its two antennae kept waving in the air.

A warm smile emerged on Gao Peng's cold face. "Alright, let's have dinner."

Then he turned around, and took out Daiko, apples, and frozen pork from the refrigerator.

He washed the vegetables and fruit while boiling water on the oven. He was quite busy in the kitchen.

After a short while, a hotchpotch was ready. It was served in a steel plate, giving off a pleasant smell.

Completely boiling a piece of frozen pork needed much time; hence the reason the pork in the steel plate was medium rare. Gao Peng only heated it up a little bit, just in case the frozen pork made Da Zi sick. Food at room temperature would be fine.

Yummy, Yummy! Da Zi was enjoying its food. Sometimes it raised its head, secretly observing Gao Peng.

Gao Peng made some noodle soup for himself. As he sprinkled some chopped scallion, a delightful smell wafted up from the kitchen.

Suddenly, Da Zi stopped eating. It stared at Gao Peng's noodle soup surprisingly.

Gao Peng curled his lips, turning around speechlessly, preparing to eat his noodles. He heard feet crawling on the floor.

Then he saw a purple figure lying in front of him, eagerly looking up.

"Hey, you are a centipede." Gao Peng found it ironi.

Hiss! Da Zi was full of bravado. It waved its claws and bared its teeth, and kept threatening Gao Peng. Gao Peng's rejection didn't work at all.

"Alright, alright, here you go. Don't annoy me when you feel sick," Gao Peng sulked. He put the bowl on the floor.

Da Zi didn't reply at all. It pounced on the noodles and devoured them like a wolf. Gao Peng felt happiness passed through his body continuously.

After making another noodle soup for himself, Gao Peng hesitated for a while, and began to consider improving Da Zi's grade.

To upgrade from Da Zi's current level to Elite, it required 500g of Hundred-year lightning-struck wood, Electric Monster core crystal of above Level 10, and 10 stalks of Shade Grass.

The most expensive of these was the Monster Core Crystal. Level 1 to 10 were normal monsters, while Level 11-20 were Elite monsters.

Besides, the monster needed to be Electric. The most common attributes were Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, for these were the five elements were the most essential and commonly seen. But Electric monsters were hardly found, even in rarer attributes.

The lowest price to buy it was 10 credit points, which was enough to buy a living Familiar.

Shade Grass was a special herb growing in the area where Yinqi gathered with great evil. Usually such evil area attracted strong monsters who preferred shadowy places; hence it was quite challenging to pick Shade Grass.

Gao Peng inquired about its price; 200 Alliance dollars for one stalk of grass, and ten stalks for 2000 Alliance dollars. But this price was obviously too high. Since Shade Grass could be of no use except serving as a high-value food for Yin, Dark, and Corpse monsters, he could bargain for the price if he bought ten Shade Grass stalks at a time.

The cheapest ingredient was the Hundred-year lightning-struck wood. It didn't require a tree to live for at least a hundred years, but something that provided similar medical effect as a ginseng, which had been growing in a normal environment for a hundred years.

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Chapter 15: Registering for Assessment

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Back then, after Gao Peng's parents had their mishap, the government had given a sum of money as compensation. Apparently, as long as one met with some mishap during the cataclysm, they would be given a pension of 10 Alliance Credits.

One Alliance Credit was equivalent to 10 thousand Alliance Dollars. This did not seem like a large number, but taking into account the huge number of people that encountered mishaps during the initial periods of the cataclysm, the amount of money spent was absolutely terrifying.

Initially, the only countries that were willing to give out such pensions were the Chinese. As such, China became the country with the lowest crime rates after the cataclysm, and also the country that responded the most positively to the government's rebuilding of order.

This stunned many western countries, who quickly began to emulate the Chinese. The pension of Alliance Credits would not have let many people live their lives in comfort, but they at least let them live, and not be driven off the deep end.

Gao Peng had already used most of the 20 Alliance Credits that were given by the government as compensation. He only had had 11 Alliance Credits left. If he used them sparingly he could probably cobble together enough to afford the materials needed to raise Da Zi's grade.

But that was not how the math worked out. If he spent all that money, what would he use to pay water and electricity bills, as well as his living expenses? Because of that, Gao Peng did not immediately head off to the market to buy the materials.

But that was Gao Peng's worry before. After the trip to the outskirts, he could spend the money with a lot more ease.

After battling monsters with Da Zi continually for a few days, they had hunted down quite a few. On the way back home, he had sold off the monster carcasses at a shop with good reviews, earning him a total of two Alliance Credits.

That would be enough to cover living expenses for a good half a year.

Right now, the most profitable job in the world would be that of a Monster Trainer. The costs of maintaining the profession were high, but money came quick and, if one was lucky, it would not be impossible to become rich overnight by discovering some amazing treasure in the wild.

The only drawback was that hunting monsters in the wild carried a large risk. If one had the bad luck of encountering a high-levelled monster, their survival would be simply up to fate.

But for those who made up their minds to become Monster Trainers specialized in battle, they would have to face such risks sooner or later. There was no such thing as a job that allowed one to get rich and get strong simply by lying in bed.

Sitting on the couch, with Da Zi lying by his side, Gao Peng turned on the television and absentmindedly scrolled through the different channels.

Currently, there were many programs that had to do with Familiars. Even those that originally had nothing to do with Familiars would forcefully add in some elements of things related to Familiars. Such a huge change in a mere three years was the best testament to the adaptability of humankind.

"Welcome everyone, to the second season of Jiangnan King of Familiars! I am you host, Zhu Dazhang."

The venue of the programme seemed to be an open-air stage. There were a couple of tens of contestants, each with a number tag on their waist.

Opposite each contestant was a metal cage each with a different kind of monster.

The monsters were all restless. Some were ramming against the cage and others were making deep growling sounds. The most ferocious of them all was Familiar that looked like a lion. It looked wondrous, as though someone had poured liquid silver into a lion-shaped mould. It was madly attacking the grills of the cage with its paws, giving out a roar each time that could shake the heavens.

But the cage seemed to be made of some special metal alloy that did not bend or break no matter how that silver lion attacked it.

What shocked Gao Peng most, however, was not this but the rows of information that appeared before him.

[Monster Name: Silver Demon Lion

[Monster Level: Level 22 (Commander tier)

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Attribute: Ice

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Maniacal)

[Monster Weakness: Electric

To think that he could even see monster attributes from a television screen…

Gao Peng was dumbstruck.

If that were the case, the ways that this skill could be used were a lot broader.

Turning off the television, Gao Peng rested his jaw on both his hands and fell into deep thought.

Now that Da Zi had become his Familiar, he could more or less consider himself to have taken the first step to becoming a Monster Trainer.

But he still had a long way to go from becoming a real Combat Monster Trainer. There still was no fixed criteria for becoming one, but it would seem that having an excellent grade Familiar or an elite tier Familiar would be the bare minimum.

It was also worth noting that after the few crazy days of battle training at the Mirror Lake, Da Zi's monster level had risen by one, and it was now a level 7 monster.

Combat was indeed the fastest way for a monster to level-up.

Other than hunting down monsters in the outskirts to cover living expenses, there was another possible route. That was to become a Monster Breeder.

Monster Breeding was a new type of profession. The standards for assessing Monster Breeders were different from place to place. Even the assessment methods were different based on the region.

If it were a practical assessment that would be alright, but if they were to assess theory and knowledge… It should be alright, I guess. Gao Peng was a little unsure.

He checked the internet for previous assessment methods for Monster Breeders. All kinds of strange methods turned up.

Some simply gave each applicant a monster at the assessment venue. If the applicant could raise the grade of the monster within the allocated time, he or she would successfully receive a Monster Breeder qualification certificate.

This sort of assessment method was known to be the hardest, as the monsters were allocated randomly. No one had any idea what kind of strange monster they would get! If one ended up with a type of monster they were not familiar with, they could be at a total loss. After all, there was no Monster Breeder that could claim to know everything.

These monsters had only appeared within the last three years. Humankind was still in the process of exploration. Even in the present, less than 20% of the Earth's surface after the cataclysm consisted of explored territories. The remaining 80% were all dangerous, unexplored lands. Even within the explored 20%, there existed many dangerous areas, prohibited areas, and so on…

The greatest change after the cataclysm occurred to the oceans. Before the cataclysm, the oceans took up 70% of the Earth's surface, but that shrank after the cataclysm. They now only took up 60%, while the land took up 40%.

In other words, this meant that humans had only explored half of the land area on Earth, while the other half was still unknown. No one knew what kind of new and unfamiliar monsters were hidden in those areas. The oceans were even more of an unknown, prohibited area, with totally new monster species discovered there every day.

For Gao Peng, however, this difficult assessment was the easiest to pass. In a theory assessment, there was no guarantee that he would make mistakes as he had not systematically studied everything and he could very well waste the money he spent on registration fees.

Gao Peng logged onto the Monster Breeder website and chose to register. The registration fees were expensive, coming up to a total of 1000 Alliance Dollars. This amount could feed him and Da Zi for a month.

After registering successfully, he received a notification. According to his registration location, he had been allocated to Chang'an City Monster Breeder Division for his assessment, which would happen on the 15th of the month. The current date was the 14th, which meant that it would be happening tomorrow.

He called his form teacher to inform her of his registering for a Monster Breeder assessment. Murong Qiuye was pleased. Having Monster Breeding qualification was like having a golden rice bowl. She definitely would give her full support for a student that had plans for his future so early in life.

At once, Murong Qiuye approved Gao Peng's short leave from school, as Monster Breeding assessments could take varying amounts of time based on the assessment method. Gao Peng could always come back and attend school after finishing the assessment. After all, he had always been an obedient student, which put her mind at ease.

At the end of the conversation, Murong Qiuye even took the effort to comfort Gao Peng, saying things such as "failure is the mother of success,""you are still young, the future will eventually belong to you," and so on. Gao Peng did not know whether to laugh or cry when he listened to this kind of chicken soup.

He realized that sometimes, Ms. Murong was actually pretty adorable.

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Chapter 16: Monster Breeder Assessment

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After having a day off, early the next morning, Gao Peng washed up, then knocked out Uncle Liu's door.

The iron door opened. Seeing Gao Peng, Uncle Liu showed a big smile. "Morning Peng, you are quite early today."

"Sorry to bother you Uncle Liu," Gao Peng said, embarrassed.

"I'm going to have the Monster Breeder Assessment, but I'm not sure how long will it last. Would it be possible to let Da Zi live with you for a few days? Don't worry, Uncle Liu, I promise that Da Zi will be a good boy. It won't run about, or hiss around. If you think it annoying, I can lock it at home and give you the key. The only thing you need to do is to feed it once a day."

"No worries. I will take care of it. It won't be starve," Uncle Liu promised.

Gao Peng trusted Uncle Liu. He nodded with appreciation, then went down and left.

He didn't notice that after Da Zi entered into Uncle Liu's room, it remained in silence, being unnaturally quiet.

After Gao Peng left, Uncle Liu hesitated for a while, and finally dialed a number. "Old Jiang? Yes, it's me. Calm down, calm down, he is alright. Your grandson has signed a Familiar. It's a Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede. Looks like a normal grade.

"Persuade him how? Your grandson and you are exactly alike; you two look like you don't care about anything, but actually you are as stubborn as bulls. Nothing can change your decisions. Plus, this Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede is what your daughter and son-in-law left for him.

"Things haven't been handled yet? I say that you kill those who don't listen, and find some good boys. This world never lacks talent." Uncle Liu was chatting casually like he was talking about small family affairs, but his words were terrifying.

"Well, alright, you have your plans… Don't worry about Peng. He won't be in any trouble with me here."

On the other side of the call, the phone hung up, a curtain opened, and light came into a dark office, showing a robust figure facing the window.

Silver cropped hair made the man seem experienced. He was in a loose black Hanfu (Traditional Chinese kimono) rimmed with gold. Although the man looked old, his figure conveyed a terrifying determent, like a dormant volcano which could fire up at any time.

The old man pressed a red button. A slim fairy-like figure came in, bowing respectfully. "President."

The old man looked out the window calmly, "Give Experimental Department the ultimatum; I forgive their caprices because I appreciate their talents, but it doesn't mean that they can challenge my patience. Work for me, or die. I only give them five months. Don't disappoint me. As for issues in Qinghai, I want them to be handled and clean within seven months. Bring my original words to Li Ye. If they can't make it, I will deal with it. And they know what will happen then. Don't waste my time."

Then the old man waved his hand to let the secretary leave.

Turning to the window, the old man showed a poker face: no happiness nor sorrow. Only in the depth of his eyes could one see a flash of love.

One year: everything should be cleaned up within a year. He hadn't seen his only relative in the world for too long.

Before everything settled, he dared not to go for his grandson, for the boy would not have any self-protection without signing the blood contract. He didn't want to risk the boy's life, nor even chance it.

Monster Breeder Assessments were held in Chang'an City Monster Breeder branch, which was located in the suburbs.

It took several hours to drive there.

When Gao Peng finally reached the destination, it was about noon. The assessment time was 2 p.m., in order to leave enough time for candidates to travel.

Once he got off the car, he saw a huge black and white building standing on the square. Alongside the square were huge trees. Sunlight was blocked by the crowns of trees, leaving shadows on the ground.

Until he exited the car, he didn't see how enormous the building was. It looked like a hill, with ash-colored, ragged bars on the sides, exposed in the air. Wide steps extended all the way to the gate.

Quite a few people had arrived, crowding the square. People were everywhere. Shade under trees had already been taken; some people sat on newspapers or a plastic bags.

Doesn't the assessment begin at 2 p.m.? How early did they arrive? Gao Peng wiped sweat off his forehead, looking around, but failed to find any space to sit.

Whatever. Gao Peng shook his head, and checked the time on his watch. It was half past twelve. He turned around, and was about to find a cafe to eat, when suddenly someone called out, "Gao Peng."

Sounds like someone's calling me.

Normally, when being called, many people habitually turned around to check who was there. Gao Peng didn't. he was not a normal person.

He had few friends; his parents passed in the accident. His grandpa on his mother's side disappeared, and his two grandmas and grandpa on his father's side died from illness before the cataclysm happened.

Therefore, the guy behind could not be calling him, but someone else. There were too many people named the same.

"Gao Peng! Hey, curve wrecker." Callings came again.

This time Gao Peng paused, turning around with confusion. Is he calling me?

Because only one person called Gao Peng curve wrecker.

Not far away under a tree, a group of people gathered together. Among them was a medium-height, heavy boy waving his hand excitedly towards him. Standing beside him was a girl wearing a red dress. The two looked familiar. He thought for a while, and finally recalled their names: Li Hongdou, Li Zigong.

Oh, my classmates.

These two were Gao Peng's classmates, and they were sister and brother. The elder sister Li Hongdou was polite and kind, while the young brother Li Zigong was a chatterbox.

"Hello, Mr. And Mrs. Li." Gao Peng nodded in greeting, then nodded to Li Hongdou and Li Zigong.

"Kid, are you here alone?" Mr. Li looked like he was in his thirties, dressed in suit and tie. He greeted Gao Peng with a smile.

"Yes," Gao Peng nodded.

"Are you here to watch the Monster Breeder Assessments, too? Ha-ha, we are here with mom, she is a candidate in today's assessment. Although she has failed three times, I believe that she will pass this time!" Li Zigong said without consideration. By his side, Li Hongdou's face was clouded with anger; she slapped Li Zigong in the back of his head.

Li Zigong turned around glaring at his sister, "How many times have I told you, don't slap my head, I suspect my IQ decreases because…"

"It's not my problem," Li Hongdou replied coldly.

"No, I'm here for the Monster Breeder Assessment," Gao Peng finally said, hesitating.

"What?" Li Zigong was dazed.

By his side, Li Hongdou also stunned. Mr. And Mrs. Li couldn't help looking Gao Peng up and down.

Mr. Li paused, then burst out in laughter. He patted Gao Peng's shoulder and said, "Good job! Young men should have clear purposes like you do! My boy knows nothing but 'eat;' he is as lazy as a pig."

Mrs. Li smiled. "You might be one of the youngest candidates for the Monster Breeder Assessment. Maybe soon we will have the youngest Monster Breeder in Chang'an today."

"Thank you Mrs. Li. I will try my best, but I'm not 100% sure about my competence. I'm here to chance my luck," Gao Peng said sincerely.

They chatted for a while. It was half past one. The Monster Breeder branch's door used to be tightly closed, but it opened innocuously.

Several fully armed security guards holding riot shields in their left hands, and long black sticks in their right hands, came out to maintain order.

Candidates entered from the front gate. At this time, Gao Peng realized that there were not many candidates. Most people remained outside; they were probably friends and relatives.

"Your ID," a woman dressed in gray suit said without raising her head.

Gao Peng handed his ID card through the window. The woman swiped the card on a detector, and a green light went on.

She raised her head to give the card back to Gao Peng. When she saw Gao Peng was so young, she was stunned for a second; then her good professional quality calmed her down, and she said, "Next."

Gao Peg followed the crowd walking along a corridor, and they entered a lobby. There were rows of tables, with white paper neatly placed on top. Gao Peng was nervous, for it was likely to be a written examination.

He found his seat and sat down. Soon the examiner walked in the lobby, put a thermos on the lectern, and cleared his throat. "This assessment is different from previous ones. This time, the Chang'an branch decided to use both a paper and practical test.

"The Traditional Chinese Medical System has four ways of diagnosis: Observing, Listening, Questioning and Feeling the Pulse. Your paper test requires you to observe a video record first, then write down the monster's attribute, hobbies, and weakness in detail. A good Monster Breeder must be able to find out a monster's habits and characteristics.

"In the first test, we will eliminate 90% of candidates, which means only 50 people will be permitted for the practical part.

"The practical test is easy; I believe you have heard about it before. Our Monster Breeder branch will offer practical test participants 50 normal Familiars, as well as all the materials you will need for the test." As he said this, the examiner gave a big smile.

"As long as you can upgrade your Familiar within the given time, the materials you consume will be paid for by our association. However, if you can't upgrade your Familiar; sorry, you have to compensate for your materials. Of course, there is a standard for your cost. If you spend too much, you will fail as well."

"That's so difficult," A fat man who sat next to Gao Peng wiped his sweat and murmured. "I have been here four times; this time is the hardest one."

He turned around and glanced at Gao Peng. "Don't worry, dude. The registration fee doesn't cost much. You can always come back for another try."

Report chapter

Above the podium, a projector descended, gradually showing some images.

"Eh? It's starting so soon?" Some people barely had time to react. To think that it began so soon.

The visuals showed blue-green waves, rippling across a calm ocean surface that stretched out to as far as the eye could see. A gentle wind blew across and suddenly picked up a huge wave.

A creature with a snow-white back broke out of the ocean's surface for a brief moment, then vanished again.

The scene then followed the creature underwater. The figure of an enormous body could be roughly seen swimming around in the water.

The figure noticed the camera and began to circle the camera in curiosity.

While circling the camera, the appearance of this marine creature became clear. It looked somewhat like a dolphin. Because there was nothing in the water that could be used as a reference for its size, one could only guess how big it was. But from a glance, it looked to be easily ten to twenty meters long.

It made a frequent qiu~qiu~ sounds before finally poking its entire head towards the camera. It had a long, sharp bill, making this movement similar to a thrust from a long staff. With a pala sound, the screen went black…

The invigilator coughed and spoke. "Alright, that was the first video. All of you have fifteen minutes to think and write down your answers. Please write down all the characteristics and features of the monster that you have observed from the video."

The examinees below all had a dumbfounded look on their faces. What was this? Where did this monster come from? It had to be a new species right? What could we possibly observe from this little footage?!

For Gao Peng however, a whole different image was appearing before his eyes…

[Monster Name: Windstorm Dolphin

[Monster's Likes: 1. Enjoys soothing, light music 2. Likes sunbathing 3. Likes eating various types of squid and exploded shrimp

[Monster Weakness] 1. Fears dark-type attacks 1. Hates jarring soundwaves. Can cause serious disturbances to the monster.

The contents were different from normal conditions. It seemed that the information provided was affected by his subjective consciousness.

Gao Peng found no reason to feel bad about his advantage. After all, this was his very own ability and he naturally felt no guilt when writing down his answers. It may have seemed like a cheat, but since he was not actually relying on any outside help, he saw no reason to feel bad.

Following that, another four short clips were shown, all containing new species that no one there had seen before. These were all new species recently discovered by scientific research teams.

These examination questions seemed tough, but in fact, with a deep understanding of the habits and characteristics of monsters, it was entirely possible to deduce some of the characteristics from the behaviors of similar monsters.

For instance, ape-like monsters would all share certain characteristics. Even in different types of spiders, there would be similarities in their behaviors.

The written test that lasted an hour and a half was quickly over and the exam scripts were collected.

Marking all the scripts took up quite a bit of time. In half an hour, all 500 scripts were read and marked.

"Now, I shall announce the names of those who have successfully made it to the second round," the invigilator said, looking down at the list of names. "Chen Xueqin, Zhang Senlin… Gao Peng."

The full list of names were announced in no time at all. The fat guy sitting on Gao Peng's right, who was clamoring about how the exam was too tough and how he would surely not pass, heaved a sigh of relief. "Whew, somehow managed to pass," he turned to Gao Peng on his left and said. "Lil' bro, this test was really too difficult. I passed this first round by luck. Who knows, maybe I might get eliminated straightaway in the second round."

"Mm," nodded Gao Peng, "It was lucky that I managed to pass too."

"Huh?" the fatty was dumbfounded. This kid is pretty lucky, he thought to comfort himself as he bitterly withdrew all the words of comfort he intended to say.

While getting up and following the invigilator to the venue for the second round of examination, Gao Peng noticed that Mrs. Li had also passed the first round. Well, she was, after all, someone who had taken the test thrice. She must be an experienced veteran by now, Gao Peng figured after some thought.

Little did he know that Mrs. Li was even more shocked on the inside. This boy was the classmate of her daughter and only looked like he just come of age. The fact that someone like him could pass the first round as well, really made adults like her break out in a cold sweat.

Following the invigilator into the compound, they suddenly reached a bright and spacious area. Above them were rows of metal scaffolding like a large metal skeleton and below them crude, muddy ground. There were also various types of plants being grown around the four corners of the examination hall.

Right in the middle of the hall were many cages, each containing different types of monsters.

These were all relatively uncommon monsters. Most probably had low combat ability but were definitely not common. Some were even monsters that were native to the South. Chang'an was situated in Northern China.

The most sadistic part about the test was that these monsters were allocated to examinees randomly. No one had any idea what kind of monster they would get.

No wonder the internet said that a Monster Breeder certificate was one of the hardest to obtain. Gao Peng finally understood why. To be able to emerge at the top from this extremely difficult examination, one really must have certain capabilities.

"Gao Peng, number 50." The invigilator paused and passed the identification card to Gao Peng. He looked at Gao Peng hesitantly, and finally could not resist saying, "If you wish to request for a change, I can help you fill in the application for free. Then you can come back next month and enter the second round of examinations."

Gao Peng looked suspiciously at the invigilator.

The invigilator shrugged his shoulders and said, "The monsters used for the assessment are all raised by the Monster Breeder Association ourselves, so the monsters basically do not display aggressiveness. Number 50 was supposed to be eliminated, but right now, the association has no other monsters to spare for you to nurture."

At the back of all the rows of cages, one cage stood out. In it was a large, deformed looking creature that was quietly lying down. Its head lay on the ground, breathing feebly. It had thick, strong arms like two water tanks, but it was lying face-down and totally quiet, looking as though the entire world had given up on it.

"This is… a Red River Ape?" Gao Peng did not rely on his gift and deduced its identity just from observation.

"That's right," the invigilator nodded and sighed. He was looking at the Red River Ape with a complicated emotion in his eyes.

The invigilator was human after all. This Red River Ape had been experimented on ever since it was caught, and brought here by the association.

It was hard to say if this Red River Ape was lucky or not. It had an extremely resilient life force that allowed it to survive every experiment it underwent. But unfortunately for it, every examinee that managed to get this Red River Ape did not know what they were doing.

After a full six months, this Red River Ape had undergone six failed experiments. In that time, other monsters would have either successfully gone up in grade or become totally useless. Only this Hongshui Ape still hung on resiliently.

"Because it has been experimented on so many times, lots of unwanted and conflicting energies have accumulated in its body. This has far surpassed the usual difficulty level and the possibility of raising its grade is simply too low. It has only managed to survive until now based on its extremely strong willpower," the invigilator explained.

"Thank you for your consideration, but I have made up my mind to use this guy." Gao Peng turned around and met the Hongshui Ape's gaze through the rows of cages.

There was no way he could wait a month.

Getting a Monster Breeder certificate sooner meant being able to get a job sooner. Every minute and every second cost money. But most importantly, he had told Uncle Liu as well as his form teacher about his participation in this Monster Breeder assessment. Going back empty-handed was a result that Gao Peng found hard to accept.

"Alright." The invigilator was just doing his duty in informing Gao Peng. Seeing that this boy did not wish to accept his good intentions, he found no reason to press any further.

Around the hall were a number of rooms. Each person could choose a room and enter. Each room had things like beds and mattresses and all. The time limit for the test was one week. Increasing the monster's grade within that one week would mean a pass.

The monster cages came with wheels at the bottom and could be easily pushed into the rooms.

As its cage was being pushed, the Red River Ape looked at Gao Peng.

At such a close distance, Gao Peng finally began to observe the Hongshui Ape carefully.

Its body was twice the size of a normal Red River Ape. Red River Apes were usually between a meter and a half to two meters tall and were a type of smaller sized ape monster.

The one in the cage however looked to be at least two and a half meters tall.

Its swollen arms looked a little twisted and deformed and its body looked like a badly kneaded clay figurine. There were also signs of edema on its torso and its breathing was heavy, sounding like a worn out bellow.

[Monster Name: Red River Ape (Pathologically altered by Yin-disease)

This was the first line of information that appeared before Gao Peng's eyes. Just from the look of it, one could tell that this Red River Ape was in a bad shape.

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Chapter 18: Distorted Evolution [Skull Ghoul Ape]

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

[Monster Name: Red River Ape (Negative Pathological Changes)

[Monster Level: Level 10

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Earth

[Monster Condition: Diseased (Depraved)

[Monster Weakness: Yin

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: 1. Normal evolution: Getting rid of its Yin impurities, then evolve to Excellent Red River Ape. 2. Distorted evolution with pathological changes: Absorbing Yin power and completely eliminate Yin weakness. Highly possible to become a brand new species, monster grade above Excellent (Including Excellent).

What?

This was the first time Gao Peng saw two options for grade promotion. It used to be only one way.

Why is that? Gao Peng began to consider.

He suddenly recalled what the examiner said previously. "…The reason it holds on until now is because of its extraordinary willpower."

"Extraordinary willpower." Gao Peng murmured, looking carefully at the Red River Ape through the cage for the first time.

Lying in the cage, the Red River Ape weakly raised its head, its black eyes looking at Gao Peng.

Deep in its gaze, eagerness and prayer were hiding. Its glowing eyes were filled with strong emotions.

"What are you… insisting on?" Gao Peng talked to the Red River Ape, then he laughed at himself. "How can it understand me, it's just a normal monster."

Suddenly the Red River Ape used all its strength to get up, placing its head to the edge of the cage, its black eyes focusing on Gao Peng with eagerness. Its hands clenched the fences tight, and with all the power it had left, it crazily roared. "Oooh!"

"Oooh!"

"Oooh!"

The room was sealed off. The Red River Ape's roars kept resounding in the room, and gradually the sound faded out.

These roars seemed to suck the ape dry. It ran out of energy and dropped to the floor, but its eyes still looked at Gao Peng with strong emotion.

Seeing that Gao Peng didn't respond, the passion in its eyes gradually burnt out, then eclipsed…

"OK, I will help you evolve; I promise," Gao Peng said, making the vow. He didn't know why he acted bewitched. Perhaps he never saw a pair of eyes with such strong feelings, or perhaps he was ambitious. Maybe… maybe he just didn't want to let these eyes down.

Without checking whether the Red River Ape understood him or not, Gao Peng tiredly closed his eyes.

After all, to get the Monster Breeder Certificate, he needed to promote this Red River Ape's grade. There was no conflict between the two things.

After checking the two evolution options again, finally Gao Peng decided to use the latter method.

Words faded like the moon in the mirror, and a line of new words came out.

[Distorted Evolution with pathological changes: Take 250g Black Candle Grass with meal, three times daily for three days. Then take one Elite Ghoul Monster Core Crystal for the Red River Ape, and steep the ape in sulphuric acid solution. Sulphuric acid solution needs to be specially made according to a certain proportion of concentrated sulfuric acid and water, while adding 150g Luminous Powder, 50g Skull Mushroom, 15g Withering Grass…

What would this Red River Ape evolve to? Gao Peng had a bad premonition.

These materials don't sound good. Plus, that Ghoul Monster Core Crystal; that's not a snack. Even if a healthy monster accidentally the Ghoul Monster Core Crystal, it would feel terribly sick, or worse.

Gao Peng didn't mean to chose the latter one, but he lacked funding.

Materials for the first method were too expensive, and he had already exceeded the assessment expense limit.

Which would be easier; to continue painting on an ink-stained canvas, or to remove stains before painting on the canvas? Relatively speaking, the first one was easier.

Comparatively, although the second evaluation method still needed expensive materials, the total cost could be controlled within the association's free fund limit.

It better work; if I fail, that's going to be a large debt.

After hearing Gao Peng's material requirement, the material distributor stared at Gao Peng with a strange look. Is this boy going to kill the Red River Ape…?

Gao Peng ignored the other's curiosity. After gathering all the things he needed, he went back and locked the Red River Ape as well as himself in the room.

In the next few days, Gao Peng didn't go out. The room had a bathroom, and meals were delivered through a small window. It was unnecessary to go out.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. After taking Black Candle Grass continuously for three days, the Red River Ape became energetic. Its eyes brightened, its fur took on a sheen, and swelling was reduced.

Black Candle Grass acted as a stimulant, so after taking uppers for three days, the Red River Ape's physical and mental conditions probably reached the top, temporarily.

After taking a deep breath, Gao Peng opened the cage. To be honest, this behavior was quite dangerous. Although the ape was gentle and tamed, it was not guaranteed that it could remain obedient without character distortion, since it had been tortured by so many unsuccessful experiments. If anything bad happened, in this closed room, Gao Peng would have nowhere to escape.

The Red River Ape looked at the open cage with blank eyes, then looked outside. Finally, it cautiously stretched its right leg out of the cage and tap-touched the floor, in order to sound out Gao Peng's intention. Seeing that Gao Peng was not angry, but encouraging it to come out, the ape smiled, excited. It crawled away from the cage cheerfully, and gathered Gao Peng in its arms with a strong embrace.

Its big hand patted on Gao Peng's back; then the Red River Ape loosened its arms and sat in front of Gao Peng obediently.

Gao Peng pointed at the bath beside them, which was filled with transparent deep blue liquid. "Go lie down there."

Red River Ape resourcefully plucked some hair, then hip-swiveled to the bath, and threw the hair into the liquid.

Dark red hair floated into the liquid, twisting, shrinking. At last, it vanished.

The Red River Ape was astonished, with its mouth wide-open, just like a human.

It looked at the liquid, then turned to Gao Peng.

Then it crawled to Gao Peng and sat down, staring at Gao Peng innocently…

Gao Peng wasn't sure he should cry or laugh.

Perhaps yesterday when he was blending the liquid, his method of testing Sulfuric acid corrosiveness was observed by this ape.

Who said these monsters were stupid.

Gao Peng was speechless. But to continue his experiment, he had to trick this Red River Ape into the bath.

"Young boy," Gao Peng said, and put his hand on the ape's forehead.

"Ho, ho." The Red River Ape curiously stared at the hand on its forehead cockeyed.

"I can give you power, but you only need to offer your courage," Gao Peng said bizarrely.

Since there was no one else in the room, he was a little bit adolescent-delusive…

Alas, can an ape understand these big words?

Gao Peng wasn't sure whether it got the idea or not. The Red River Ape hesitated for a while, then gently moved Gao Peng's hand away. It stood up and headed for the bath.

The Red River Ape turned around to give Gao Peng a glance with a smile, then flung itself forward into the water with a great splash.

This bath was specially made: two meters high, three meters long and two meters wide.

Gao Peng immediately moved forward. The bath was see-through, and everything was clear and easy to observe.

The Red River Ape sank itself completely under water, as it was such an experienced monster.

As a test subject, it has plenty of experience and jump into the liquid voluntarily; this is sad but hilarious.

Gao Peng wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. There was a leaden weight in his heart.

He tried to turn around but failed. His legs somehow were petrified and couldn't move even one step backward.

He stood there, and watched unfeelingly.

The Red River Ape's fur began to shrink inward like a fluffy ball.

Next, a large amount of black liquid went spewing out through its hair, rising to the surface. It then transformed into a thick haze of acrid smoke which hung in the air.

The fire alarm suddenly rang ear-piercingly, and red light was flickering in the room.

Ten seconds later, the door was suddenly pulled open. A group of people gathered outside, with two firemen holding extinguishers standing in the front.

They goggled at the bath continuously spewing dark smoke in the air, as well as the black twisting thing in the liquid.

Where was the fire!

"Uh… sorry to disturb you."

"Ha-ha, there might be something wrong with the fire alarm," Another staff joked.

At this moment, the Monster Breeder Association's top manager came. Seeing the crowd outside the room as well as the billowing smoke, he frowned and asked, "What's going on here?"

Someone explained the situation. After hearing the whole story, the manager's face was filled with surprise. "You mean, this was caused by someone fostering a monster?"

The crowd cleared a path for the manager. The man walked closer. Finally he saw what happened in the room.

There was a bath in the center of the room, which was filled with dark blue liquid. A vague twisting figure could be seen indistinctly in the middle of the liquid. That thing was now lying still.

Dark smoke was billowing from the bath.

Then less smoke came out. The dark blue liquid in the bath gradually turned into pure black. The bath calmed down, and it seemed that it was all over.

"Has the experiment failed?" Some other candidates were startled. They stood outside the door, joking at Gao Peng.

"Oh my, this young boy is really good at making trouble!" A fat man who sat beside Gao Peng sighed subconsciously. The boy was definitely not a common person, for normal people rarely made such a big mess.

Suddenly, great waves emerged at the surface of the liquid. Water splashed from the bath. It looked as if a terrifying giant monster was hiding below the dark water.

After a great splash, through the black liquid waves, a part of a black, hideous bone rose above the water.

"What- what is that!" Someone screamed, stepping backward.

The others were not as panicked as him, but they all goggled at this scene.

The black skull came out first, with blue, ghostly fire flaming in the middle of its sunken eye sockets. Fiendish fangs bared outward; no doubt it had horrible biting force.

The monster put its hands on the edge of the bath, pulling itself out of the liquid.

Bang!

It fell heavily to the ground. The room was shaking.

People finally saw the whole monster.

It was two and a half meters tall, with a big black lustrous skeleton. Its fur, flesh and guts were corroded clean; there were only bones left. Dense, sticky red strings connected its joints together, just like steel wires pulling on a motor shaft.

In its empty eye sockets, only dark blue fires flickered. The "eyes" looked cold with desperation.

The other candidates were stunned. What is this? Are we in the same test?

Data flashed in front of Gao Peng: Evolution completed– Distorted Evolution: [Skull Ghoul Ape]!

Report chapter

Chapter 19: Intermediate Monster Breeder Certificate

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Skull Ghoul Ape looked down at its fleshless hands. It was impossible to discern its emotions from its hollow eyes.

It then raised its head again and looked at Gao Peng and simply stood there, staring blankly at him.

[Monster Name: Skull Ghoul Ape

[Monster Level: Level 11 (Elite tier)

[Monster Grade: Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Ghoul

[Monster Condition: Weak (Excited)

[Monster Weakness: Light

[Requirements for Promotion to Epic Grade: …

A perfect grade monster. Once it managed to hit level 20, it could immediately be elevated to commander tier.

This could be said to be a monster that would definitely become a commander tier monster. It would be an exaggeration to say that it was worth a whole city, but that would not be far off. It was definitely worth a fortune. It was also rare; even more so because ghoul-type monsters were already rare in the first place. If it were seen by ghoul-type lovers, they would definitely be willing to spend a fortune to buy it.

But all this had nothing to do with Gao Peng anymore. This monster was provided by the Monster Breeder Association. Even the venue and the materials used were provided by the Monster Breeder Association. He had no reason to expect to gain possession of the Skull Ghoul Ape.

This was only a small display of his capabilities anyway. With that ability of his, as long as he had the materials, monsters of this grade could easily be mass produced.

As he turned to leave, the Skull Ghoul Ape suddenly reached his hand out and grabbed on to the edge of his shirt, gently whimpering.

"C'mon, your grade already went up; is there anything you're not satisfied with?" Gao Peng smiled and loosened the Skull Ghoul Ape's grip on his shirt.

The Skull Ghoul Ape stared blankly at Gao Peng once again. It looked like an abandoned child. Even the flames in its eye sockets grew dimmer.

"This… this seems like a never-before-seen new species of monster," a senior member of the association said while clutching his chest, as though he were seeing a rare treasure of absolute beauty.

Then his burning gaze turned to Gao Peng. No, the real treasure isn't the new monster species, but the one who managed to create this new monster.

Gao Peng's young age shocked him. A special talent! A genius!

In his head, he had no hesitation whatsoever in giving this child overwhelming praise.

"Haha, this monster seems pretty attached to you," the senior member of the association said, laughing out loud. "Since that's the case, you can have the monster."

"But, director." A member of the staff could not help but butt in. He seemed unwilling to let the monster go.

The other members of the staff also had complicated expressions on their faces.

These successfully upgraded monsters were usually awarded to members of the staff with the best work ethic. It was a form of welfare provided by the Monster Breeder Association.

Having suddenly lost such a possible reward naturally made some of them bitter.

Gao Peng was staring in shock at this man in his thirties who was apparently the director of the Monster Breeder Association.

"How many times has this Red River Ape been tested on, huh?! Did you really think I wouldn't know? According to the association regulations, how many times is a monster allowed to be experimented on before being eliminated?" The director's expression turned cold. "It was lucky that this kid has talent. Anyone else would have definitely failed the test. Word could have gotten around that the Chang'an Monster Breeder Association couldn't even afford a healthy monster. I am here wiping your *sses after you have failed to do your job properly!"

The various staff members hung their heads and said no more.

Even the contestants who were around the area could not help but feel awkward as well. Even though that was the truth, there probably was no need to spell things out so bluntly.

But as for the director, these members of staff were simply his employees. What he lacked the least was employees. He could simply holler out in Chang'an City and job applicants would come lining up all the way to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. His employees could easily be replaced.

Gao Peng however was a different case. This was the first time he had met someone as talented as Gao Peng.

He had heard of such Monster Breeder geniuses but never had the luck to meet one. He never thought that he would get a chance to meet one in person today.

He was a person that did not believe in luck. The use and applications of all the materials used by Monster Breeders had to be extremely precise. Even if the materials used were exactly the same, any errors in obtaining the correct amounts and ratios of materials used would result in failure.

"My young friend, if you would not mind, could you explain your thought process and let Old Chen here learn a few things?" the director said with a laugh.

This request was phrased in a way that allowed Gao Peng a way out.

A lot of people in the examination venue were suddenly all ears.

Gao Peng hesitated for a moment and sighed on the inside. Since he could not keep a low profile, he might as well do the opposite.

After all, there was probably no way he could keep a low profile after the events today.

Gao Peng's usual casual expression turned serious. He stayed silent for a while to try to get in the right mood.

"I figured that those examinees who experimented on this Red River Ape previously had no idea what they were doing," Gao Peng began coldly, not mincing his words at all.

"Although there's the word "river" in the Red River Ape's name, its attribute has nothing to do with water. Its name comes from the Red River which runs next to the area where these apes are found.

"Some fool thought to feed the Red River Ape large amounts of water-type and Yin-type ingredients just because of the word "river" in its name. It would have been alright if only water-type ingredients were used, but the Red River Ape's weakness is actually the Yin-attribute." Gao Peng paused before continuing. "That kind of thinking was not only limited to one fool. One or two bad experiments would not have been enough to cause this Red River Ape to be in the state that it was in."

"Oh; are you saying that the Red River Ape's weakness is Yin-type?" Director Chen was a little surprised. "Shouldn't it be wood-type?"

"According to the interactions between the Five Elements, wood should be part earth right?" Someone who was listening also voiced out his suspicion.

"For such a simple matter, a simple test would be enough for us to find out. Hongshui Apes don't exist in large numbers but they shouldn't be hard to catch either, right?" Gao Peng said casually.

"A monster's attribute doesn't always follow the interactions of the Five Elements. It's just that most of them do. There are still some rarer examples of monsters that deviate from this norm," Gao Peng continued. This was a point that Director Chen himself knew as well.

"The water-attribute and Yin-attribute energies had already run so deep into the Red River Ape's body that it had permeated the bone marrow. To totally remove them from its body would have wasted too much time and energy, so I decided to work in a direction opposite of the usual."

"For the past three days, I gave it Black Candle Grass to strengthen its soul and its willpower. Afterwards, using the Yin-attribute as a base, I gave it undead-type and ghoul-type materials as well as a ghoul-type monster core crystal to stimulate its evolution." Gao Peng kept this part concise. There was nothing worth hiding regarding the materials that he used as anyone could easily find out if they tried.

The crux of this procedure lay in the amounts and the order of the materials used.

Gao Peng was no fool. He had not requested for the exact amount of materials that he needed. For every material, he had asked for just a little more than was necessary.

If someone tried to do the same experiment with the amounts that he had ordered, the experiment would surely fail.

Even if someone wanted to deduce the exact ratio and amounts needed, the amount of energy and resources that had to be expended would be astronomical.

"Truly a fearsome youth," said Director Chen while nodding his head. "The most I can give you right now within the limits of my authority is an intermediate Monster Breeder certificate. You will have to go to the Yanjing Headquarters and pass the assessment there in order to obtain an advanced Monster Breeder certificate. With your abilities, possessing only a basic Monster Breeder certificate would be an injustice."

"I was just lucky", Gao Peng said humbly.

"This is definitely not as simple as mere luck," Director Chen laughed.

Everyone in the crowd was absolutely green with envy. They had all put in their blood, sweat and tears just for a basic certificate. Over here, this guy had immediately gotten an intermediate certificate.

But despite being envious, they knew well what their own standards were and did not foolishly jump to kick up a fuss. If they had such time and energy to spare, they knew they might as well focus on getting that basic certificate…

The spectating examinees quickly dispersed. The events of the day was a great motivation to them.

In no time at all, with Director Chen's assistance, the Skull Ghoul Ape's identity card was created. Every Familiar had to be registered with the government. This was mandatory according to the law.

Without an identity card, a Familiar not considered an illegal resident. Only with a card could a Familiar be used for participating in tournaments or competitions.

But all of this was not done for Gao Peng unconditionally. At the end, Director Chen also brought up a request. He hoped for Gao Peng to represent Chang'an in next year's World Monster Breeder Tournament.

Director Chen did not try to rely on the benefits that he had given Gao Peng to convince him to join, but instead put forth a sincere request. "There are few talented Breeders among us Monster Breeders in Chang'an. You are the most talented one I have met, so I do sincerely hope that you will represent Chang'an for the World Monster Breeder Tournament."

The World Monster Breeder Tournament had no age limits. As it was only three years after the cataclysm, be it old people, middle-aged people, or young people, everyone was basically standing on the same starting line on the path to be a Monster Breeder.

Initially, Gao Peng was not really interested. He found this matter too troublesome and he was not the kind that enjoyed the limelight either.

But Director Chen added, "As long as you enter the top thousand, you will be able to get a reward. The better your standing, the better your reward will be. If you make it to the top ten, you would receive at least 10,000 Alliance Credits…"

"With great power comes great responsibility. I'll do it, Director Chen; you need say no more," Gao Peng replied calmly.

Leaving the Monster Breeder Association, Gao Peng looked at the Skull Ghoul Ape standing next to him. It felt unbelievable somehow, to end up with an additional Familiar after going for the assessment.

Of course, as Gao Peng's soul capacity was not sufficient; he could not establish a Blood Contract with the Skull Ghoul Ape yet. To be more accurate, it still was not his Familiar yet.

But the difference was not big. He was just missing a Blood Contract.

Establishing a Blood Contract required mutual agreement between both monster and human, so Gao Peng had no fear of anyone taking this silly ape away from him.

Thank goodness it was a ghoul-type and did not need to eat food, or else food expenditures for his household would increase again. With this thankful thought in mind, Gao Peng walked out of the Monster Breeder Association entrance with his Skull Ghoul Ape, which had a 100% rate of causing people's heads to turn.

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With an Intermediate Monster Breeder Certificate in his bag, Gao Peng felt his heart warm.

People say this certificate means an extra 30 points for my College Entrance Exam, he thought.

The square was cold and cheerless. No one was waiting there. Friends and family had gone home. After all, the practical test lasted a whole week.

At the bus station, the Skull Ghoul Ape stood beside Gao Peng. It was quiet as long as no one talked to it. It could stand still for a whole day without moving and felt no pain or tactile sensation.

A bus came from afar, braking at the station. The driver turned around and glanced at Gao Peng, calmly turning his head back to the front. Then he immediately turned his head again with his eyes wide open. A Skull Ghoul Ape! he thought.

Something was wrong.

The old driver turned around again and goggled at the Skull Ghoul Ape.

"Sir, this monster has an identity. Look, here is its ID card." Gao Peng showed the ID to the driver. The card was made with President Chen's help.

The driver took the card and checked, then looked at the Skull Ghoul Ape. On the card the Skull Ghoul Ape was staring at the camera with a stupid face.

"That's going to be three peoples' fare," the driver told Gao Peng.

Monsters also needed to pay a bus fare. According to monsters' figures, fares varied.

After getting off the bus and walking on the street the Skull Ghoul Ape followed Gao Peng. Its unique appearance attracted everyone's attention.

"Hey man, where did you get this Familiar, it's f*king cool!" a young man with dyed yellow hair asked excitedly.

Gao Peng glanced at him but didn't answer. What could he say? That he created it through experimentation?

Seeing that Gao Peng ignored him, the yellow-hair was unhappy. He had a ferocious face.

The extremely quiet Skull Ghoul Ape suddenly stepped forward, fire blazing in its empty sockets. It roared deeply.

The yellow-haired boy shuddered, jumping two steps backward and squeezing out a smile. "Hey dude, calm down. I meant no harm, I just think this Familiar is cool and want to buy the same one. If you are unwilling to tell me, it's no big deal. We are civilized, let's not get into a fight. Please."

"Dumby," Gao Peng said and looked over to scold the Skull Ghoul Ape.

Dumby: this was the name Gao Peng gave it, for it always looked dumb when it was alone.

The Skull Ghoul Ape turned around and looked at its owner. Dumby lowered its head, stepped backward and stood behind Gao Peng again.

After returning to the community, Gao Peng became a star again. wherever he went, he caught people's attention. A big group of naughty kids followed Gao Peng, looking at the Skull Ghoul Ape up and down cautiously. Some brave kid even threw stones at the ape. "Hey, let's hit this evil monster!"

Gao Peng felt helpless. I'd better make a black gown for Dumby, he thought. Otherwise it is too eye-catching.

Ghoul Familiars were rare in the Chang'an area. There were also no suitable habitats for them, so few people had ever met a Ghoul Familiar. That was the reason for the phenomenon.

But people said that in Xiangxi, Ghoul and Undead Familiars gathered.

Walking upstairs, all was quiet. Those little annoying neighborhood monsters were mute today. Gao Peng found it interesting and glanced at Dumby behind him.

"Uncle Liu, I'm back." Gao Peng knocked at Uncle Liu's door.

Before the door opened, Da Zi hissed with excitement. Uncle Liu's exasperated voice followed. "You ungrateful brat, I have served you for days, I gave you good food and drink, and see how you repay me! Your owner just came back for a second, and look how excited you are!"

After Da Zi's continuous requests Gao Peng finally saw a fat purple figure struggling to squeeze itself through the door crack.

Gao Peng lowered his head to look at Da Zi, who was stuck in the crack, dumbfounded.

What the hell is this three-sizes-too-big thing! Gao Peng thought.

If the Status Bar didn't show Da Zi was in healthy condition, Gao Peng would have suspected that his Da Zi had received crueler torture than Dumby!

Its glowing dark-purple exoskeleton was shimmering with oil; even its long sharp yellow feet had turned into stubby yellow triangular pyramids.

If Da Zi's previous figure was a long chopstick, now it was a clumsy purple skateboard.

The corner of Gao Peng's mouth twitched into a smile. "Uncle Liu, be honest. What did you feed it?"

Uncle Liu pushed back his presbyopic glasses and explained slowly, "Your Da Zi ate too little, that was why it looked skinny. I gave it something nutritious. The more food it has, the stronger it will grow. A strong figure means power."

Strong?

Uncle Liu's words made sense but no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, Gao Peng still couldn't build any connection from Da Zi's current condition to a strong monster's.

"It needs to gain weight first so it can develop muscle and be stronger! Without fat, how can it be strong! No fat means no power!" As Uncle Liu finished his speech, he happened to see Dumby, who stood quietly behind Gao Peng.

Uncle Liu cleared his throat and shifted his sight elsewhere, pretending that he didn't see Dumby at all.

In Gao Peng's database, Da Zi's status bar was revised with an extra two words: Extreme Overnutrition.

Alright, Uncle Liu meant well. But he believed that Uncle Liu definitely fed it more than "something nutritious."

"Sorry to bother you these days. Thank you so much for your kindness," Gao Peng said and paused to smile. "I got my Monster Breeder Certificate."

"Really?" Uncle Liu was surprised but happy.

"Excellent; that's a good job, my boy!" Uncle Liu nodded, gratified. "You are just 18, aren't you? It's really cool to get a Monster Breeder Certificate at your age."

Gao Peng was just about to tell Uncle Liu that what he really got was an intermediate certificate when he heard Da Zi's angry cry from behind.

He looked back and saw Da Zi lying between him and Dumby, making a semi-circle around his legs to protect him. Da Zi was glaring and roaring while Dumby stared at Da Zi but didn't budge.

"Well well, what is this?" Uncle Liu pretended to notice Dumby for the first time and was surprised.

"This is Dumby." Gao Peng briefly explained the whole story at the Monster Breeder Association to Uncle Liu.

Uncle Liu looked at Gao Peng differently.

He used to think that Gao Peng just had some talent for breeding monsters, but now it looked like things would not so simple

Old Ji would be satisfied.

But it was not good to expose talent so early. The tallest tree in a forest would be destroyed earliest by the wind. Especially when new world orders were being built dirty deals happened a lot, without a doubt.

Remaining silent for a while, Uncle Liu said: "Peng, do you know why Monster Trainers have such high status? You know no matter how strong our Familiars are, they are nonego. A sniper, a bullet, can easily threaten us."

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Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 21 online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 21: Pie in the Sky

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"I've heard that when Monster Trainers reach a certain level, they are able to develop certain techniques that can ensure their survival," said Gao Peng after furrowing his brows in thought for a moment.

"That's right, but a Trainer's survival isn't just limited to one type of technique. It is also not necessarily true that one must attain a certain level before being able to use such a technique," Uncle Liu said, evidently hinting at something.

After saying that, Uncle Liu simply stood where he was, as though he had some reservation in continuing on with the topic.

C'mon and ask, ask me how to obtain such a technique.

"Mm, thank you for enlightening me." With that, Gao Peng gave a slight nod and turned to leave.

Uncle Liu cleared his throat and said, "Wait. Actually, I have a Monster Trainer survival technique that is suitable for you right now."

Gao Peng gave Uncle Liu a careful look. If he still had not realised by now that there was more to Uncle Liu than met the eye, he might as well have bashed his head into a wall. But since Uncle Liu did not seem to have any intention of explicitly revealing his identity, Gao Peng found no reason to purposely expose him either.

Everyone had some secrets of their own. If he were to try to get to the bottom of everything, he might just lose a friend.

Uncle Liu looked at his surroundings then nodded his head. Gao Peng suddenly felt a change in the space around him, but he could not be sure if he simply imagined it.

Uncle Liu spoke in a serious tone. "The secret technique I am about to tell you must never be revealed to anyone, or else it will bring you a lot of trouble."

"I understand," Gao Peng nodded.

In Gao Peng's mind, he imagined that Uncle Liu would place a finger on his forehead and the knowledge would flood into his mind.

But in reality, Uncle Liu simply took out a piece of paper and began scribbling on it with a pen.

After he was done writing, he passed it to Gao Peng. "Memorize this, then burn the paper."

Gao Peng took the note in his hands and began to read carefully. His memory had always been rather good, otherwise he would not have been able to get such good grades. After all, a lot of knowledge had to be memorized.

After a moment, Gao Peng nodded his head. He found some matches in Uncle Liu's home and burned the note to ashes.

Uncle Liu did not ask if Gao Peng had memorized it all properly but reminded him once again to never reveal what he learned today. At least not before he had become powerful enough to protect himself.

After seeing Gao Peng go back home, Uncle Liu secretly took out his phone to call Old Ji. That old fogey. He's clearly misses his grandson to bits but he still refuses to visit him. But Old Ji does indeed have his own reasons. The old fogey should be delighted to hear that Peng has become an intermediate level Monster Breeder.

Uncle Liu leaned back and out of nowhere, a six-meter long chameleon slowly became visible behind him. It was lying on the ground lazily. He unreservedly planted his bottom on the chameleon's body. Its back was soft and fluffy, just like a sofa.

Familiar Secret Technique – Shifting Constellations. Gao Peng was thinking about the contents of the piece of paper.

He let out a deep breath. This is evidently a method of transferring damage. It allows all the damage taken to be transferred to the body of one's Familiar.

But it has a flaw. Although it is able to transfer every bit of damage sustained to one's Familiar, it is only effective within a limited range. Beyond a certain distance apart from the Familiar the damage cannot be transferred. Also, this effect cannot be triggered by the Trainer alone and requires the Familiar to consciously initiate the technique.

Even if that were the case, a Familiar's defensive power was way beyond a human's. Furthermore, as a Familiar got stronger, its defensive power and life force would only grow stronger.

Gao Peng shut his eyes and quietly recited the secret technique and communicated with the Blood Contract in his consciousness. In his mental sea, a black and gold contract appeared, before slowly disappearing again.

Suddenly, Gao Peng felt the existence of a new special connection being established between him and Da Zi.

Gao Peng looked over at Da Zi who was crawling by his feet. It had a thick expression on its face. Gao Peng jokingly scolded, "Look at how fat you've become! You're like a little purple fat pig."

"Hiss!" Da Zi made an unhappy noise.

"Oho, talking back now, are you? You don't have any self-awareness do you? Have you any idea how fat you are?"

"Hiss!" Da Zi was furious.

"Come, come, come. Dumby, come carry Da Zi over here."

At first, Da Zi seemed to be struggling for dear life. But after Dumby managed to bring it in front of the mirror, it stiffened up in alarm after taking a good look at the fat centipede in the mirror.

After that, Da Zi stopped struggling.

It just lay still in Dumby's arms as though it had given up on life, staring blankly at itself in the mirror.

"Hey," Gao Peng said while patting Da Zi's head.

Da Zi did not move, maintaining its blank look.

"Stop playing dead and get up quickly. Get plenty of exercise in these next few days to lose that flab. Once you've lost weight, I'll increase your grade," said Gao Peng snappily. With how fat Da Zi was currently, he did not dare to simply raise its grade. If Da Zi evolved and got stuck in that fat state, he would not know what to do.

A flying fat centipede?

Just the thought of it hurt his eyes.

Right now it was noon. There was no need for Gao Peng to rush back to school today. He could work on finding a part-time job first.

There were two simple ways to find part-time work as a Monster Breeder. The first was to open his own office or shop front. After making a name for himself, customers would naturally keep coming to find out more. Unfortunately, such a method was draining and would take up a lot of time. Gao Peng did not plan to become a top Monster Breeder in the future. This was just a means to support his expenses and would at the most be just a part-time job.

The other method was to join a large corporation or powerful organization. With his abilities, he should have been able to come to the fore in no time at all.

But this was something that Gao Peng did not like to do.

Joining a large corporation would involve dealing with politics and human relations in order to climb the corporate ladder. This was too tiring to Gao Peng.

So he decided to choose a method that was a compromise between both of the above methods: to join some small Monster Breeder agency or store. He would not have to worry much about getting customers as that job would naturally fall to the boss. He also would not have to worry about fighting hard for benefits or recognition since there will not be many employees in a small store. If the work did not suit him, he could simply leave.

Furthermore, these small Monster Breeder agencies and stores employed people easily. All that was needed was a Monster Breeder certificate. Resignation would also be convenient and fast.

Once he put his mind to it, he would go ahead and do it. As Gao Peng was putting on his clothes to prepare to go out to look for work, he suddenly remembered about Uncle Liu next door.

Uncle Liu knew a lot and had good connections…

Gao Peng was a little hesitant in troubling Uncle Liu for such a small matter, but he thought of how he had been spending every day in school for the past few years. Although he was well-acquainted with all the changes to everyday life that had occurred in recent years, he still had very little idea about where and what kinds of Monster Breeder agencies can be found in Chang'an City. He naturally had even less of an idea of which agencies were well acclaimed and which were not.

With this thought in mind, Gao Peng decided to knock on Uncle Liu's door in the end.

The door opened almost immediately the moment he knocked. Uncle Liu saw him and smiled. He hurriedly pulled Gao Peng by his elbows into the house. "Peng, I have something I have to trouble you with."

Gao Peng very politely replied, "If there's anything at all, just give the word. I still feel bad for leaving Da Zi in your house under your care for so long. Please do not hesitate if you need anything of me."

Uncle Liu heaved a sigh of relief. "I'll get straight to the point then. Previously, I had worked together with a partner to open a small Monster Breeder Agency. I even put quite some money into it. But just a while ago, that partner of mine up and left, taking all the money and even all the Monster Breeders in the agency with him. Well, seeing that you've got an intermediate Monster Breeder certificate now, I was hoping you could help out uncle here. Do you mind helping out in the agency for a bit? Don't worry, regarding the pay, I will give you the best prices within the trade, and also 20% of the company free shares. This will not affect your studies either. You only need to go down to the agency every weekend. The job of a Monster Breeder is actually quite relaxed."

The more Gao Peng listened, the more he felt that something fishy was going on. He had a strange expression on his face. This was akin to someone gifting him a pillow the moment he felt like sleeping. It was as though the pie in the sky had fallen down.

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Chapter 22: Flying Roc Studio

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In order to prove that he was not boasting, Uncle Liu took Gao Peng downtown. Uncle Liu's studio was in central downtown, in the busiest section. Right beside the studio was a shopping mall, and the city government was not far.

"Well, my studio is right there," Uncle Liu said and pointed at the third floor of Tianmao Tower. There was a brand new signboard hanging on the wall: Flying Roc Monster Breeding Studio.

Gao Peng was confused.

Uncle Liu cleared his throat and said, "We can change the name if you don't like it, you know."

Gao Peng was speechless. You are the boss, you can call it whatever you like.

"Um, you think this studio is nicely located? My studio used to do well, but pitifully, after my Monster Breeders left, my business suffered a disastrous decline."

"There are so many Monster Breeders on the market, you could randomly choose two to meet the urgent need." Gao Peng found it nonsense.

"No, the fewer the better. I'd rather have no business at all than destroy my fame," Uncle Liu said seriously.

"Alright," Gao Peng nodded. You are the boss, you can do whatever you want.

"Uncle Liu, let's forget about the share thing. You can pay me with the highest wage amongst my colleagues." Gao Peng paused, then said, "You have been taking good care of me for years, I can do nothing to pay you back. This is the only thing I can do."

If it was some other person's stock, he would have accepted it comfortably; because he believed that his competence deserved such value, and the future profit he could create was far more than this amount of share.

But this studio belonged to Uncle Liu, who had been helping him a lot directly and indirectly.

There were some things that he discovered later; he didn't talk to Uncle Liu about those things for he was not willing to embarrass Uncle Liu. There must be some reason for Uncle Liu to do them.

Otherwise, as an orphan, how could he live a steady life till now? No gangster was able to give him trouble twice on the next day, and he was admitted to Changan's best public secondary school.

Some kindness should never be forgotten!

He always discriminated between love and hate. He gave kindness for kindness, and hatred for hatred!

Three years of orphan life brought him through social upheavals and hardships, he had seen through human nature.

Therefore, he treasured goodness, while showing no mercy to evil.

"No worries, just accept it. One day you will understand that this amount of share is far from enough for you," Uncle Liu smiled gratifyingly. "Alright then, no more arguing. I have transferred the share to you through procedures, it doesn't matter whether you agree or not. I'm just informing you about this."

As he said this, Uncle Liu took out a contract as if by magic, and handed it to Gao Peng.

Staring at black words on the white paper, Gao Peng was stunned and said, "But I haven't signed it yet."

"Now you know what power is." Uncle Liu patted Gao Peng's shoulder with a meaningful look. "OK, now let's continue our trip to the studio. Today your job is to get familiar with your working environment and future tasks. You can start your work today if you want. Feel free to tell me your dissatisfactions, I will make them change."

They walked in Tianmao Tower. The tiles were clean and shiny like it was newly decorated. An elevator opened, and a group of people in suits and ties came out of it one after another.

Amongst those people, there was a young man with a black-and-red parrot standing on his shoulder. The parrot turned around and stared at Gao Peng coldly and said, "Idiot."

Then it turned back, looking forward arrogantly.

The young man looked awkward, and kept apologizing to Gao Peng.

[Monster Name: Black Light Parrot

[Monster Weakness: 1. Wind type monsters. 2. Qianxin Herb's smell makes Black Light Parrot vomit or causes diarrhea. If it eats Qianxin Herb, Black Light Parrot will faint. 3. Thunderbolt Macaw Fruit is a particular hatred of Black Light Parrot, to the bird; Thunderbolt Macaw Fruit tastes like shit.

"It's OK. Your bird is a Black Light Parrot, isn't it? You can buy some Thunderbolt Macaw Fruit for it, people say that Black Light Parrots love this. Your parrot looks small and skinny, it must lack nutrition," Gao Peng said with a significant look.

"Wow, thank you!" The young man appreciated. "I have been wondering what it likes. It is a picky bird, and always eats little, I will buy some for it later."

The Black Light Parrot had no idea what Thunderbolt Macaw Fruit was, it just somehow felt the hairs on the back of its neck stand up.

Its claws were holding tighter, and its head raised higher. The parrot stood on the young man's shoulders, looking around, like a prince inspecting his territory. These stupid human beings, they look dumb.

Gao Peng and Uncle Liu want to the third floor. The whole floor was rented by the studio. Two pots of half-a-person-high black bamboo stood on both sides of the gate.

A light aroma came from black bamboo and perfumed the whole floor.

At the front desk stood a girl in light-blue fitted suit. She wore her hair in a bob and and had simple make-up.

Seeing Uncle Liu came in, the girl looked dazed and then immediately greeted them. "Good afternoon, sir." Meanwhile, she snuck a look at Gao Peng, who was standing by Uncle Liu's side. Gao Peng looked young; he might be the new boss's grandson.

This new boss's identity was unclear, but he was probably rich. A few days ago he came here and bought the whole studio directly, as well as fired the original Monster Breeders. At first she was worrying about losing her job, but soon she was relieved. The new boss only fired the Monster Breeders, but kept all the other workers. The only thing that confused her was the new boss's requirements: that no one was allowed to tell the upcoming Monster Breeder this studio was recently transferred, or that he even colluded with them.

For the sake of extra 1,000 Alliance dollars per month, workers all shamelessly surrendered to the vicious capitalist.

But sometime they signed secretly; why were these capitalists rich but weird?

"Go assemble everyone," Uncle Liu said calmly with a frowning face, looking dignified.

"Yes," The girl nodded.

At this moment, Gao Peng finally realized how serious Uncle Liu could be when he was talking.

Soon all the workers in Flying Roc Studio assembled in the lobby.

There were only ten people in total, including two female cleaners.

"From now on, this person will be our chief Monster Breeder in Flying Roc Studio. He is also one of our shareholders," Uncle Liu said and pointed at Gao Peng, who stood behind him.

What?

The crowd was shocked. Isn't this boy too young?

Looking at a group of workers waiting for his speech like kids in a class listening to their teacher, Gao Peng was anxious. His face was taut. "I'm Gao Peng. We will work together as a team, and hope we can get along well."

"Peng is an intermediate Monster Breeder, as well as the youngest intermediate Monster Breeder in Chang'an City. He just broke the record." Uncle Liu cleared his throat, then guided Gao Peng to the rest of the floor.

"Such a young Monster Breeder."

"He is an intermediate Monster Breeder. Look at him, he is so young and adorable." Some single female workers were excited, and looked at Gao Peng up and down straightforwardly with bright eyes.

The office didn't occupy much space, only one tenth of the floor, for there were only ten people.

The rest included a fitness center, yoga room, guest center, lobby, bar, etc, among which was an eye-catching huge empty room, which took one third of the floor. The room's inner walls were decorated with black sound-absorbing plastic boards. It was for Familiars. Some guests brought their familiars there for training and cultivation.

"So, how do you feel? Are you getting used to it? Don't worry, you have a share in hand, so to some degree this is your own studio," Uncle Liu smiled.

Gao Peng nodded, "My classes start tomorrow, I can start work this afternoon. There is nothing I can do at home."

"OK then, it's up to you. You can get off work whenever you want. I will go back home now, home is the most comfortable place for an old man." Uncle Liu waved his hand to stop Gao Peng from sending him out.

Staring at Uncle Liu's back, Gao Peng remained silent for a while. Finally he said, "Thank you."

"It's not me you should thank," Uncle Liu chuckled.

Then who? Gao Peng frowned. He was confused.

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Chapter 23: Making a Big Loss

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Gao Peng had not eaten anything since morning and was feeling hungry.

He rubbed his belly. He would have liked to head downstairs to buy some bread to eat but he was afraid that a customer might come in the moment he decided to leave the studio.

While trying to decide whether or not to leave the studio, half an hour gradually passed, but no customer came.

Suddenly, Gao Peng sniffed the air. A pleasant fragrance had suddenly wafted in.

Following the source of the fragrance, Gao Peng noticed that the receptionist girl had a strange expression on her face. Her eyes were darting around and she seemed to be struggling to stand still.

Gao Peng walked over and she smiled sweetly and said, "Good morning, boss." Gao Peng, being a shareholder himself, was naturally viewed by the employees here as their boss.

Gao Peng pointed at the corner of her mouth. "You missed a few bread crumbs. And the bread that you're hiding under your desk is sticking out."

"Ah! I woke up a little later today, boss. I didn't have time to prepare breakfast so I bought some bread. Please don't dock my pay for this." The receptionist girl frantically wiped her mouth in panic and attempted to act cute to gain some pity.

"Just take note and be more careful in future. Actually, I just wanted to ask if there were any bread stores nearby," asked Gao Peng.

"Ah…" the receptionist girl blinked a few times before continuing, "if you head down the elevator, turn left and walk about 100 meters you will reach an overhead bridge. Cross that bridge and walk another 50 meters and you will see a Treasure Garden Bakery. The bread there is the best! Their almond chocolate bread and freshly squeezed banana juice popsicles are exceptionally tasty."

"Mm," Gao Peng nodded. He took note of the name tag the receptionist girl wore on her chest. Xun Quanquan.

The receptionist Xun Quanquan's Treasure Garden Bakery was easy enough to find. Gao Peng found that they had plenty of customers the moment he entered.

Sometimes, to know how good an eatery's food was, there was no need to search for reviews online or to ask for other people's opinions. Seeing how many customers they had was very telling.

Typically, if there were a lot of people buying the food, the taste would not be bad. At the very least, the specialty sold there would most likely not disappoint.

Gao Peng was carrying a bag full of waffle cookies in his left hand and munching on a piece of bread in his right hand as he returned and entered the elevator.

As the elevator doors were about to close, he heard running footsteps from outside. "Sorry about that," said a bespectacled man in his thirties, dressed smartly in a suit and tie who smiled apologetically at Gao Peng. His left hand was holding on to the hand of a little girl in a red dress. He was about to press the lift button only to find that the third floor button had already been pressed. He turned curiously to look at Gao Peng.

Seeing Gao Peng turn to look at him as well, the man smiled politely.

In the lift, the little girl tilted her head to look up at Gao Peng and at the bread that he was holding in his hands. She sniffled a little and unconsciously pursed her little lips. With much effort, she turned her head away so as to not look at the bread in Gao Peng's hands.

But after a few seconds, she could not resist stealing a glance at the bread again.

Gao Peng could not help but laugh. He opened up the bag in his left hand and handed a waffle cookie to the little child.

"No!" replied the little girl sharply. She hugged the man's arm tightly and looked at Gao Peng with a cautious look in her eyes.

Ding. They finally reached the third floor, saving Gao Peng from the awkward situation.

The bespectacled man and the little girl were there to find a Monster Breeder to promote the grade of their Familiar. When they saw how young Gao Peng looked, they gave a look of suspicion at first. But Gao Peng calmly proceeded to show them his intermediate Monster Breeder certificate.

"A talented youth, a talented youth indeed." The bespectacled man clasped his hands together in a show of respect.

"Have you brought your Familiar? Usually it would be best for me to personally look at your Familiar in order to better give you my suggestions."

"Da Bai is just downstairs. The lift couldn't fit it, that's why we did not bring it up," said the bespectacled man. "Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Xu Chang and this is my daughter Doudou."

"The lift building was designed initially for humans so, naturally, it wouldn't be able to fit your Familiar. But we have our own special passageway." Gao Peng stood up and brought Xu Chang and Xu Doudou to the biggest room in the studio. As he brought them over some of the employees followed along.

They took out a remote control, pointed it at the ceiling and pressed the button.

Puchiii –

There was the sound of steam escaping as the wall with the windows suddenly opened outwards. Sunlight streamed in from the opening in the wall.

The spot of light that shone on the floor grew bigger and bigger until the whole room was bathed in sunlight. The wall where the windows were had already become parallel to the floor, becoming a structure similar to that of a drawbridge.

The drawbridge was lowered at a very slow speed. Pedestrians below either avoided the area hurriedly or stopped in their tracks.

"You can tell your Familiar to come up," said Gao Peng.

Xu Chang hurriedly called at Da Bai who was sprawled on the streets, sitting in a daze. Da Bai looked up. Only then did Gao Peng get a good look at what this Familiar looked light. It was a dog-type Familiar similar to the Great Pyrenees breed that existed before the cataclysm; it was a Great White Pyrenees.

Before the cataclysm, the Great Pyrenees was an extremely large dog breed. Unfortunately, when it was evolving during the initial periods of the cataclysm, there was little change in the body size. It did not keep up with the growth of other dog breeds, hence it only counted as a small or medium-sized dog currently.

The Great White Pyrenees was brought up using the drawbridge. It was overjoyed to see its master and leapt onto Xu Chang, knocking him to the ground, licking his face while panting.

"This Great Pyrenees must have been living together with you since before the cataclysm right?" Gao Peng could not resist asking after observing Great Pyrenees' characteristics and behavior.

"That's right," said Xu Chang emotionally. "Da Bai has been with us for six years already, it's even a year older than Doudou. I hope that it can continue living with our family."

After the cataclysm, the energy of planet Earth was invigorated, and the lifespan of monsters was shortened as a result. Dogs before the cataclysm that would have normally taken a year and a half or two years to reach maturity only required around one year now.

"Since your Great White Pyrenees is of an excellent grade, I am guessing that you are hoping to promote its grade to perfect, and have it advance into a commander tier monster?" Gao Peng could easily see the Great White Pyrenees' data with a simple glance.

This surprised Xu Chang. He did not think that Gao Peng would be able to determine that his Da Bai was of an excellent grade in such a short time using nothing but his naked eye. He had certain reservations about Gao Peng's abilities initially but he was utterly convinced that Gao Peng was the real deal now. "That's right," he replied.

"Mm," muttered Gao Peng. He was different from other Monster Breeders. As long as his instructions were followed, any monster under his care practically had a hundred percent rate of success in grade promotion.

Although he still did not know if there were failure rates involved in the methods provided by his ability, no indication of it was shown yet. Which likely meant that, when working on monsters of this stage, failure rates did not exist.

Since that was the case, there was no way that he could use the same standards as other Monster Breeders when charging for his services. That would be too cheap to do himself justice.

It would be an insult to knowledge, and to his remarkable ability.

The pay the Uncle Liu had agreed to give him was minimum salary, plus a share of the earnings.

That would be a monthly salary of five Alliance Credits plus 90% of Gao Peng's consultation fees.

Usually, consultation fees were split 50-50 between the studio and the Monster Breeder, but Uncle Liu chose to split the earnings nine to one, with him receiving 10% and Gao Peng receiving 90%. Gao Peng had no idea how Uncle Liu intended to make a profit this way.

Uncle Liu had simply replied as such when asked: "I opened this studio only in the hopes of keeping it running. Don't really intend to make money out of it. If you wish to help me, then work hard at making a name for this studio."

The main source of income for the studio was consultation fees.

So for now, Gao Peng decided on charging three times the normal fees of an intermediate level Monster Breeder.

Since this father and daughter was his first pair of customers, he decided to only charge them twice the normal amount.

Gao Peng thought that his offer would be a very amiable gesture. He would definitely be making a big loss.

Gao Peng made up his mind and told Xu Chang and his daughter his charges. Xu Chang could not believe his ears. Gao Peng looked like a decent young man. Little did he know that he was such a rip-off.

Xu Chang simply shook his head and proceeded to leave with Doudou.

"Wait, how about this? If the promotion fails, I will not charge any fees," Gao Peng added.

Xu Chang stopped and turned around. His bespectacled eyes revealed a hint of slyness. "That's still not fair. How about this instead? If the promotion fails, you compensate us at the full price that you charge."

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Unfair?

Gao Peng was quite sure that he wouldn't fail but win for sure. To compensate according to the set price was no big deal; even compensating ten times or a hundred of times its original price was nothing to be afraid of.

But-

Gao Peng suddenly felt mad.

He knew he should not do this by over-ranking himself. No one else knew about his true abilities except himself. There were no big problems in Xu Chang's words, it was just a normal philistine attitude.

Gao Peng wasn't sure about the other intermediate Monster Breeders' success rates of evaluating an Excellent monster to a Perfect one, but what he did know was the rate wasn't high.

Therefore, to Xu Chang, this debt was quite profitable.

He would either spend double the consulting fee to get a Perfect monster, or to win double-consulting-fee compensation for free.

Receiving no reply from Gao Peng, Xu Chang smiled. "Well, it's OK, I understand. After all, there is no 100% success rate in this world. Doudou, come on, let's go."

Xu Chang took Doudou's hand and left, walking steadily, neither fast nor slow. Finally, he paused in front of the elevator, but didn't wait for Gao Peng's detainment. He was a little upset, but he had predicted this would happen. At last, he opened the elevator and stepped in.

The door gradually closed…

On the other side, a worker lowered Da Bai through the lift shaft.

Gao Peng was speechless; his first business ever in life ended up in this way.

When the other workers in the studio heard about this, they looked at Gao Peng differently.

This new-comer little boss is arrogant.

In their eyes, Gao Peng was arrogant and thought too highly of himself, all because of his success at such a young age.

But they only dared to discuss Gao Peng secretly. They dared not to say anything wrong directly in the office. After all, they worked under Gao Peng, no one was brave enough to talk about his boss in public. Didn't he want the job any more?

Gao Peng felt helpless, too.

But he didn't want to decrease his consulting fee at all; on the contrary, he even wanted to raise the price on impulse.

Fortunately, at last, good sense triumphed over unreasoning impetuosity.

To be honest and face the reality, to consider from the other's side, to be understanding and sympathetic… Gao Peng knew the truth, but he couldn't take it.

As the saying went, it was easier to decrease a price than increase it. If he lowered the consulting fee now, it would be hard to raise the price later. He understood his customers didn't know he wouldn't always follow their wishes. They had their thoughts, but he had his own stubbornness.

As long as his fame spread out, customers would come constantly for sure. Gao Peng couldn't believe that there was nobody who knew about his goodness (or was brave enough to) in the whole of Chang'an City.

An afternoon passed quickly. Three more customers came, but none of them could accept Gao Peng's price.

"Boss, we have a new customer," Gou Quanquan called to Gao Peng's office. She was exhausted. Why couldn't the young boss lower his price? He could earn less at a time, but as quantity went up, total profit would increase simultaneously!

I can't understand rich people's ideas.

In Gou Quanquan's eyes, her boss was a hidden rich man.

"Are you the Monster Breeder here?" A figure pushed the door and came in, sized Gao Peng up with suspect.

"Yes, I am," Gao Peng nodded. "Let me make this clear first: my price is three times higher than the other intermediate Monster Breeders."

"I don't care how much it costs. As long as you help my Familiar evolve, I can give you ten times as much as the regular price!" The young man in jeans put his hands on the table and leaned forward, his eyes bloodshot.

"Ten times! As long as you succeed, I will give you ten times the price the other breeders have!" The young man said rapidly, looking anxious and impatient.

"That's forthright!" Gao Peng sighed. "Where is your Familiar? Let me take a look before I give you a more accurate answer."

"Here." The young man in jeans unfastened his neck band, and carefully took out a baby's-palm sized purple rat from his inner pocket. However, at this moment, this purple rat was covered with dense blood lines, like there was a ferocious blood python crawling on its skin. The purple rat was at the gate of death, and lightly squeaked from time to time.

"One word, yes or no!" The Young man stared at Gao Peng, breathing hurriedly.

Gao Peng glanced at the purple rat in the young man's hand, squinted his eyes, and said, "What did it eat? I'm a Monster Breeder, not a vet." As he said this, he leaned on the chair slackly.

In Gao Peng's eyes, this rat's status bar showed its status as a conflicting variation.

"I fed it a Blood Jade Ganoderma; I was hoping to help it evolve. Who knew that it would become like this!" The young man's face flushed. "Its evolution is conflicted; if you know how to help, help it, please."

Therefore, studying is really important. It is an Electric monster, but you gave it a Blood value herb; do you think you are buying lottery tickets? Gao Peng felt speechless.

"Alright, I will take care of it. But you know Monster Breeders' rules, don't you? We offer plans, you pay for materials."

"Yes I do, just tell me what you need." The young man was now a drowning man clutching at a straw, for there were only two advanced Monster Breeders in Chang'an City. One of them was the president of Chang'an Monster Breeder Association, and the other also had a high status. Time was limited; how could he meet with such big men?

[Monster Name: Purple Electric Rat (conflicting variation)

[Monster Level: Level 19 (Elite)

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Attribute: Electric

[Monster Condition: Mild injury (suffering)

[Monster Weakness: 1. Mud…

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: 1. Normal evolution. 2. Variation evolution…

After checking, Gao Peng realized that the most suitable way for the Purple Electric Mouse to proceed was with a variation evolution, for it was currently in the evolution process, just suffering from the conflict between Blood and Electric power.

[Variation Evolution: Put five Shadow Fruit, 5g Scarlet Maple Pit, and 50g Golden Lightening Leaves together into millstone, mill them, then boil the powder. Add one (Elite level) Blood Bat monster core crystal into the portion, then…

"Go get five Shadow Fruit, 5g Scarlet Maple Pit, and 50g Golden Lightening Leaves, as well as one Blood Bat monster core," Gao Peng instructed the young man.

The young man nodded without hesitation, and immediately called his men to bring those materials. No matter how much he did or didn't trust Gao Peng, since he had chosen Gao Peng, he had no other way to go.

What if this boy failed… Coldness flashed across the young man's eyes at the possibility. He, Ma Jian, was someone with fame in this city. He would make this boy pay for his loss.

Luckily, these materials were not rare. They were collected and sent to Gao Peng within half an hour.

At this time, the Purple Electric Mouse was lying on the table. It didn't even have the effort to mumble; only its chest going slightly up and down, indicating that it was still alive.

Gao Peng milled the Shadow Fruit, Scarlet Maple Pit and Golden Lightening leaves according to the order, then poured the mixed powder into a boiling pot. He put on the cover, waited for half a minute, then threw smashed Blood Bat monster core crystal into the potion.

Ten minutes later, Gao Peng moved the cover. Then in front of Ma Jiang's astonished face, he picked up the Purple Electric Mouse and threw it into the pot, then covered it…

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Chapter 25: Purple Electric Blood Mouse

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

When he saw his precious mouse being tossed into the pot, Ma Jian almost fainted. Are you trying to make a stew? You just dumped everything in!

He rushed over and tried to grab Gao Peng's collar, only to have Gao Peng calmly look him in the eye and say, "How fragrant. Would you like a taste of mouse soup? It nourishes Yin energy and replenishes Yang energy."

"What?!"

"It was just a joke. To lighten the mood." After half a day, Gao Peng had lost the nervousness he had at the start and was beginning to get used to this new job.

Ma Jian stopped what he was trying to do, his hands trembling. He felt like crying but no tears came out. "You're really not trying cook my mouse and eat it?"

"Relax," said Gao Peng as he removed the pot lid. Using a pair of chopsticks, he stirred the pot and even flipped the Purple Electric Mouse around while he was at it.

The Purple Electric Mouse's white belly was flipped face up. Its belly was round and it was making gurgling sounds as bubbles came out of its mouth.

"Stir it evenly…" Gao Peng mumbled to himself. "Relax, I am making sure all the medicine is mixed evenly, so that it can be absorbed more effectively."

Ma Jian stared fixedly at Gao Peng and struggled to resist his violent impulses. I must stay calm, I must stay calm…

Gao Peng was not worried about Ma Jian secretly learning his Monster Breeding techniques. Having a Purple Electric Mouse absorb a Blood Jade Ganoderma and entering a state of conflicting variation was a rare occurrence, after all. Under most circumstances, the monster would have simply died from the conflicting energies in its body and would not have lasted long enough to be treated.

Furthermore, every Purple Electric Mouse has its individual differences, and would require different amounts of material. This Purple Electric Mouse required five Shadow Fruits, but another Purple Electric Mouse under the same conditions might have required six.

After half an hour, Ma Jian asked shakily, "Is it done yet?" He was staring hard at the Purple Electric Mouse in the pot. It was in the pot for so long, its bones might have just been boiled to mush…

Tears were beginning to well up in Ma Jian's eyes.

Gao Peng maintained a calm expression on his face, but in actual fact, fears were creeping into his mind. He would not end up actually making mouse soup, would he?

"It's alright, Heaven is about to confer a great office onto this mouse, it must be boiled a little further," Gao Peng calmly said as he patted Ma Jian's shoulder.

Chii chiii-

The Purple Electric Mouse that was lying in the pot all this time suddenly opened its eyes wide and began squeaking maniacally. It spewed out the black medicinal liquid from its mouth and began to convulse like crazy.

Boom!

With a display of strength that no one thought such a small-sized Purple Electric Mouse could possess, it lashed out its tail in a blur, sending the pot lid flying.

It darted and leapt around the room madly, like a purple lightning bolt.

"You will have to pay for the damages to my office," Gao Peng told Ma Jian in a serious tone.

Ma Jian's attention was currently fixed on mouse that was suddenly full of vim and vigour. "No problem," he said.

Looking at his Purple Electric Mouse, the worries in his heart were finally eased.

It took a few minutes before the Purple Electric Mouse got tired and finally came to a stop on the table. It's long thin, pale purple tail was swaying gently and its ruby-red eyes were bright and sparkling.

[Monster Name: Purple Electric Blood Mouse

[Monster Level: 20 (Elite tier)

[Monster Grade: Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Electric/Blood

"You've hit the jackpot. Perfect grade, dual attributes, and all you have to do is train it a bit more so it can directly advance into a Commander tier Familiar," said Gao Peng with a yawn. In an offhand manner, he also passed Ma Jian the booklet in his hand. "Listed here are the damages to my office and the consultation fees. You can go through it and see if you have any questions."

"No need, there's no problem." Ma Jian was no longer concerned about these things at the moment. He was absolutely transfixed by his familiar.

Normally the average intermediate Monster Breeder would charge a consultation fee of 40 Alliance Credits per visit for Elite tier monsters. That would be 400,000 when converted to Alliance Dollars.

The base consultation fees for intermediate Monster Breeders was 10 Alliance Credits. A promotion in grade would double the total fees, and an advancement in tier would mean doubling the fees again.

For Commander tier and Perfect grade Familiars, it was a whole different set of prices all together.

With this one deal completed today, Gao Peng received 400 Alliance Credits. As for the payment for the damages to the office, Gao Peng did not pocket a single cent, and had it all spent on repair works.

What was his he would take, but he would not take a single cent of anything that did not belong to him.

"Please come again," Gao Peng said with a smile. Such forthright customers were his favorite.

"Alright. I will be back again tomorrow, I have another Familiar that I would like to place under your care. After today, Ma Jian really had to hand it to Gao Peng! This guy, he really is the real deal!

"Umm…" Gao Peng only said those words to be polite. He had to go to school tomorrow, there would be no time to meet Ma Jian. "Let's set the appointment to this weekend, shall we? I still have to attend classed tomorrow and I will not be available."

Ma Jian was stunned. He wondered if his ears were alright. "What classes are you attending? A Monster Breeder training class?"

"Regular senior high, third year classes. If that's all, I'll have to leave work and go home to finish my homework." Gao Peng calmly waved Ma Jian goodbye.

"If there are any questions afterwards regarding your Purple Electric Mouse, you can call and look for me. You can note down my number from reception. If you wish to rest for a while you can do so in our studio. We have basic entertainment facilities here. Have a pleasant afternoon."

With that, under Ma Jian's stunned gaze, Gao Peng pushed open the door and left.

Are all high schoolers nowadays this terrifying?

Leaving the studio, Gao Peng headed to the mall to buy the materials needed for Da Zi's evolution, and also bought some materials that a Skull Ghoul Ape would need.

At first, after successfully evolving his Skull Ghoul Ape, Gao Peng had thought that he could directly evolve it again. Unfortunately, he found out that he could not immediately proceed with another evolution. It was as though he had increased the water capacity of a pond, but the amount of water remained unchanged. He had to make efforts to fill it up with water again.

The Familiars he had worked on before had already accumulated a lot of levels over time, hence they could be evolved straightaway.

Gao Peng spent less than fifteen Alliance Credits on the materials.

Because of the large amount of money that Gao Peng spent, the shop even provided a free delivery service. Gao Peng used this opportunity to hitch a free ride home.

After reaching home, Gao Peng could see that Da Zi's body size had slimmed down quite a bit. He opened up Da Zi's attribute tables and frowned.

[Monster Name: Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede (Evolving)

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Level: 8

(Consumed large amounts of Thunder Titan Centipede core crystal and large amounts of Thunder Titan Centipede meat. Materials belong to a centipede-type monster and meet the requirements for the path of evolution of a Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede. Currently evolving…)

What's going on here?

There were no other evolution methods in the evolution column. What was recommended there was made according to his views and opinions. Furthermore, the names of the materials needed were all names that Gao Peng understood or recognized.

There was one method that was the fastest and most convenient way to allow a monster to evolve, and that was to feed it the meat and core crystal of a stronger monster of a similar type.

No matter how Gao Peng thought about this matter, he felt that it must have had something to do with Uncle Liu. Who knew what kinds of things he fed Da Zi in those few days.

One hour before all this…

Uncle Liu heaved a sigh of relief after he hurried back home. He did not think that Peng would actually be back home this soon. Wasn't the assessment supposed to last for a whole week? What a miscalculation. He still had not had the time to feed the little centipede the most important thing.

A giant chameleon with constantly changing skin color squeezed out of Uncle Liu's front door and made its way to the edge of the window of Gao Peng's home.

Da Zi, as though feeling something amiss, displayed irritable behavior and began scuttling around on the spot.

The chameleon blended in perfectly with its surroundings. No one in the entire neighborhood noticed such a giant monster climbing the wall.

Only a few sensitive monsters in the area felt something, either displaying their unease, or laying down silently while trembling.

The invisible chameleon squinted as it looked at Da Zi in the room. It opened its mouth wide and an invisible tongue shot into the room from a half-opened window.

The invisible chameleon then slowly crawled back to Uncle Liu's house.

Gao Peng's house became peacefully quiet again. In the living room, a purple monster core crystal shimmering with a ghostly light lay on the ground. Da Zi seemed to have sensed something. Its antennae waved about as it crawled out carefully from under the sofa…

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Chapter 26: Evolution· Purple-Backed Thunder Centipede

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

This time no mistake was made during evolution. Gao Peng had been monitoring all the time.

Uncle Liu gave Da Zi materials directly without his permission. Gao Peng was annoyed but also found it hilarious.

It was like when eating at home, there would always be someone picking food for you, again and again, ignoring the fact that you were already stuffed.

His intention was good, so was his consideration.

Even though they were kind but clueless, how could we blame them.

Therefore…

Gao Peng crouched down and stroke Da Zi on its head, saying, "Glutton! Don't eat anything you see! Understood?"

Why it's me taking the bag?

Da Zi was shocked, it raised head goggling at its owner with great astonishment, seeming to blame him. How come you are such a partial owner, you know this has nothing to do with me!

But it was still evolving. Soon it was exhausted, lying weakly on the ground.

Da Zi's evolution didn't stop until eleven p.m. It's length increased dozens of centimeters, looked well-proportioned.

Its exoskeleton shifted color from dark purple to bright purple. If one was observing closely, they could see there were tiny thunder patterns on the edge of its exoskeleton. Its antennas drooped limply on the ground.

[Monster Name: Purple-Backed Thunder Centipede

[Monster Level: Level 9

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Attribute: Thunder/Poison

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: Mill Silverleaf into powder, mixed with water, drink the portion for a week; one Commander Thunder monster core crystal.

Not only it was upgraded to Excellent, its breed also changed. Its attribute transferred from Yin/Poison to Thunder/Poison.

Finally it was all set. Gao Peng glanced at Da Zi. It was lying lazily on the ground, white smoke enshrouding it. Insects did not sweat; they had spiracles, which opened and let vapor come out.

Lying on the ground, Da Zi looked like an overheated engine gradually cooling as vapor came out from spiracles.

After taking care of Da Zi, there was a dumb ape waiting to be babysat.

Gao Peng opened the black bag he brought home. Plenty of white ice cubes were piling in the bag, with some having melted into water, gathering at the bottom.

On the top of the ice cubes, bundles of pine needles were stacked.

Pine needles were silver gray, each as thick as a pen refill, around ten centimeters long, covered with silver light spots, just like twinkling stars.

This was Yin Cedar, which was mutated from cedar before the cataclysm. This kind of cedar preferred Yin and cold circumstances, and grew in Huaxia region. Only the World Roof in the Himalayas had this tree. Later on, Yin Cedar was widely grown along the country; it was no longer rare.

After the cataclysm, cedars mutated in different directions, among them a valuable one, Yin Cedar. Its pine needle was a high-nutritional food to Ice, Yin, Ghoul and Dark monsters.

Gao Peng bought sixteen pounds of Yin Cedar needles, which was a month's food for Dumby.

Dumby was currently at Perfect grade. If it upgraded again, it would be of legendary Epic grade. Gao Peng had never met any Epic monsters before, he only heard about them on TV or in books.

However, Dumby just evolved; it needed to be nourished for a while before its next evolution.

Gao Peng took half pound pine needles out from the bag, then put them into an steel bowl, which was used by Da Zi, for Dumby. Dumby turned around, and deep in its eye sockets, dark blue flames danced for a few seconds. Then Dumby lowered its head to look at the Yin Cedar needles, hesitated for a while, and finally realized what those thin leaves were. It stretched its big fingers and picked several needles out from the bowl. Then put it them into its mouth.

As its sharp teeth were chewing the pine needles, silver and black mist raised from them, then drifted away in its skull. It looked like a skeleton smoking a pipe.

Mist was completely absorbed by soul flame, and as absorption went on, the flame grew bigger, as if it was in extreme excitement.

As the pine needles were chewed, its light spots all disappeared. Grayish brown dry debris fell off from Dumby's jaw holes.

He stiffly repeated the same action, picking and chewing Yin Cedar needles.

"Wait." Gao Peng observed for half a minute, then stopped Dumby's further action. Dumby was dazed, turned around and looked at Gao Peng. Gao Peng took out a broom to sweep the debris first, then put a trash can right below Dumby's jaw.

"OK, continue," said Gao Peng.

Dumby followed Gao Peng's instructions. It kept chewing while debris kept falling out from its jaw. But this time, it didn't fall on the floor, but into the trash can instead.

"Clever me!" Gao Peng gave himself a thumbs-up.

He glimpsed at the clock on the wall, it was about twelve o'clock.

He stretched himself. It's still early, let me read some pages before I sleep.

Late at night, stars were twinkling in the sky. In the couch, a boy hugged a book in arms and fell asleep. Under starlight, the boy's face looked soft and gentle.

Da Zi glanced at Gao Peng, stood up and crawled into the bedroom. Later it came out with a quilt, then chucked it over Gao Peng.

After that, it lied down lazily on the floor next Gao Peng, and didn't move anymore.

Dumby had finished the Yin Cedar needles; its finger rubbed on the bottom of the steel bowl, the bowl rattled. It leaned its head, goggling at the bowl, wondering why the bowl was empty. Its head remained tilting to one side, and the flames in eye sockets gradually calmed down. At last they shrank into tiny light-blue light spots floating deep in its eyes. Dumby fell asleep.

The next morning, Gao Peng walked to school.

Unlike in streets where Familiars were everywhere, there were none at school. Familiars were not allowed to be in schools.

"I disagree, I would never say yes! The school is the last peaceful land for children, how can these monsters be permitted to enter!" in the president's office, dressing in gray Chinese tunic suit, the school president argued strongly.

Standing in front of his desk was the director of Chang'an City Education Bureau.

The director looked at the president with a complicated expression, and smiled bitterly. "Mr. President, it's not me who made the decision. Upper levels gave us this order just a few days ago; every high school around the world must follow this new rule."

No.3 Middle School president used to be his headmaster, and had taken good care of him. That was why he came to persuade the president himself.

The president looked straight into the director's eyes. After a while, he took a long sigh, and at this moment he seemed to be ten years older than before.

"I'm not a fuddy-duddy, my wife has a Familiar, too. It looks like a pet, but is more dangerous than a pet. Have those decision-makers thought of its potential threat?"

"They mentioned a way to solve this problem. They will separate junior high schools from senior high schools. In the city bureau, they just had a meeting this morning, and decided to merge No.7 and No.3 senior high schools into one; so did their junior high schools. No.3 school will continue to be a senior high school teaching area, while No.7 will be the junior high area. Meanwhile, senior high freshmen will move to No.7 middle school. Basically students will not reach their 18s until they're sophomores.

"By the way, this method also eradicated acceleration." the director said in a tough joke.

"Um… well, sounds like a deal." The president looked tired and worried, but finally he accepted this.

"Yeah. And there will be instructors from military to take care of new courses."

The president was shocked with his brows furrowed. He smelled something different. "Is the situation so tense right now?"

"Although we human beings have been developing techniques, as well as cultivating Monster Breeders, the speed is… still too slow." the director sounded very down. "In the real wild, numerous monsters have been reproducing and killing in a crazy way. Their evolution speed is way faster than Familiars in cities. As time goes by, one day when our technique can not treat them anymore, it will be too late. Our students are still kids in peacetime, but in ancient wartime they were already grown-ups and could join in armies."

"Protecting our country is not just empty talk," the director said seriously, then smiled. "But don't tell these things to kids. At present the frontline situation is OK. My little girl was super happy when she heard the news, she thought that she could bring her Familiar to school for fun."

"OK. Then I will only tell teachers later," the president nodded.

High school courses were easy. Gao Peng had self-studied all senior high courses, and had been self-studying college courses. Sometimes when he had spare time, he read extracurricular books.

It was why Murong Qiuye easily permitted Gao Peng's leave. To be honest, if Gao Peng took the College Entrance Exam right now, there would not be any problems.

The reason that Gao Peng was ranked No.4 in his grade rather than No.1 was he just barely passed his PE test…

The total grade of PE test was 100 points. In the new era PE grade had been increased. The World Coalition Government appealed that kids in this new era should make all-around development, not only to do well in academics, but in physical conditions as well.

As he entered the class, Gao Peng immediately caught everyone's attention. He didn't feel very comfortable, and walked directly to his seat and put down his bag.

Soon Murong Qiuye showed up in class, monitoring students to do morning study. However, in the middle of process, Ms. Murong was called by grade headmaster to have a grade meeting.

Ms. Murong left the class hurriedly. Seeing the teacher left, the quiet class suddenly became buzzing, as if it was switched on.

Students discussed, playing around.

"Gao Peng." Tan Qianjin sat right in front of Gao Peng. He turned around and put one arm on Gao Peng's desk and said, "I heard that you got an intermediate Monster Breeder certificate?"

"Eh?" Gao Peng was astonished. How does he know that?

"You don't know? You are on the newspaper now, the youngest intermediate Monster Breeder in Chang'an City, and according to Chang'an's Monster Breeder Association, you break its the Youngest Monster Breeder record," Tan Qianjin said with admiration. "Besides, Li Zigong told me that his mother was present, she told him the whole story, and regretted that he was not as good as you. His mother has been pushing him to read various kinds of monster breeding books. He has suffered a lot since then."

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Chapter 27: Silver Moon Wolf

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Oh, I'm really sorry." Gao Peng shook his head. He never thought that he would actually cause Li Zigong that much trouble.

"Umm… Gao Peng, I have a presumptuous request to ask of you," Tan Qianjin began awkwardly.

"Then it's best that you don't say it." Gao Peng made the unpleasant decision to refuse him bluntly.

"…" Tan Qianjin choked on his words.

"Since you said yourself that it was a presumptuous request, it would be better left unsaid. Or else it might just make the both of us uncomfortable." Gao Peng lowered his head and began to flip through his textbook.

"Alright." Tan Qianjin rolled his eyes and turned his back to Gao Peng.

"Ahem, ahem!" A tall and large figure walked in from the door and stood at the podium.

All those who were chatting happily suddenly went quiet.

All the noise came to a sudden stop.

"Just now, the principal called for an emergency level meeting. From tomorrow onwards, throughout the whole world, all schools will have to undergo certain urgent reforms." Murong Qiuye looked at the young faces that stood before her. She found it hard to break the news to them.

"Our school's junior high section as well as the senior high juniors will be moved to Chang'an Seventh High School premises. On the other hand, Seventh High's senior high sophomores and seniors will be moving to our premises. Of course, class will not change and all of you will be sticking to your original classes.

From today onwards, senior high sophomores will have to take an additional Familiar class. There will also be a new category of special admissions: Monster Trainer cadet. If you wish to become one, sign up with me after class. This decision has been passed jointly by the Alliance Education Department and the Alliance Armed Forces. Cadets with exceptional results will be granted direct admissions to the top colleges or military schools."

There was silence initially, then the class exploded, like water suddenly coming to a boil. The students with poorer results were especially excited. This seemed to be a chance for their comeback.

Those students who already had plans to become combat Monster Trainers were also exhilarated. In no time at all, the class next door also erupted cheers.

Murong Qiuye did not stop her students from making noise, giving them the time to celebrate. Only after a few minutes did she finally bang on the table.

"Quiet!"

The classroom became silent.

"Do you all think that you all won't need to study language, mathematics and politics after you become cadets? Studying is for you to learn right from wrong, so that you can learn the right values and not simply follow the crowd. You will still have to study all the things that need to be learned. Do not simply neglect your studies after applying to be a cadet." Just from the looks for the students in her class, it was clear that many of them still did not agree with what she just said. Murong Qiuye smiled to herself in resignation.

"Alright, I figure that nothing will go on if you all were to study right now. You all can take a break for now, but don't make too much noise. If you disrupt the class next door, I'll have you all go back to studying."

"Gao Peng, come to my office for a while," Murong Qiuye said as she left the classroom.

"Ms. Murong," greeted Gao Peng as he entered the office. Currently, other than Ms. Murong, there was no one else in the office.

"Mm." Murong Qiuye opened the spectacle box on her desk and put on her spectacles.

"You have done really well this time. You've even managed to get a intermediate Monster Breeder certificate. The principal brought up your name and praised your performance during the meeting." Murong Qiuye looked at Gao Peng with a face full of approval.

"Tomorrow morning, when Seventh High students come over, the school hopes that you can represent the school to address the new students," Ms. Murong began discussing with Gao Peng.

Gao Peng was stunned. To think that they would want him to be a student representative.

"No, no." Gao Peng shook his head profusely.

Gao Peng thought that such things were too high profile for him. He did not enjoy being high profile.

Murong Qiuye did not expect Gao Peng to actually refuse. This was totally unexpected. Weren't boys of this age especially fond of being at the center of attention?

The unexpected refusal made her feel slightly awkward and she did not know how to continue to convince Gao Peng otherwise.

In the end, after trying to encourage Gao Peng a little more, she decided to let him return to the classroom.

Gao Peng did not leave immediately. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Ms. Murong, I wish to apply to be a Monster Trainer cadet."

Murong Qiuye raised her head in alarm. "You wish to apply to be a Monster Trainer cadet?!"

Her brows were furrowed. "I think you should seriously consider this. Being a Monster Trainer cadet is a decent path to take, but it isn't especially beneficial to you.

Your grades are exceptional. As long as you continue to do well, and with your Monster Breeder certificate, getting into any top college within Huaxia should not be difficult at all. Even overseas colleges should not be much of a problem for you."

She paused. "Even if you do intend to be a combat Monster Trainer, you could use your results from the literary examinations to enter military schools and apply for the specialties that you are interested in. The outcome will be the same."

"Ms. Murong, I think you are mistaken. I do not intend to give up on the literary exam. It's just that I've pretty much learned everything in the senior high syllabus. I'm hoping to learn more of the things that interest me by applying to be a Monster Trainer cadet," Gao Peng said apologetically.

Murong Qiuye was speechless. In the end, she simply shook her head and laughed.

Gao Peng's exceptional results were evident to all. If her students had their own ambitions, there was no way she could stop them, anyway. "Since you have already thought this through, I will not stop you."

"Thank you, Ms. Murong." Gao Peng bowed and left the office.

The teacher from the next class was carrying a stack of scripts into the office as he saw Gao Peng walk out. "That was Gao Peng from your class right?" the teacher sighed. "So much better than my little rascal at home! Obtaining an intermediate Monster Breeder certificate at such a young age."

That afternoon, loud rumbling noises could be heard outside the classrooms as a large number of trucks drove into the school. Afterwards, the fence on the outer side of the school's sports field was taken down. Beyond that was a large empty patch of land. There were plans to develop the land and expand Third High before the cataclysm, but there were delays for various reasons and the land was never developed.

Large troops of soldiers came down from the trucks one by one. Very quickly they began pouring cement over the plot of land. Loud noises from the heavy machinery filled the entire school compound. Many of the students simply lost the ability to concentrate in class and the teachers felt helpless about the situation.

When school ended, Gao Peng glanced at the construction site as he left the school. The groundworks were beginning to take shape in the large open field. He had long heard that Huaxia construction was famed to be the fastest and the most effective in the world. They lived up to their name indeed.

The next morning, when Gao Peng arrived at school, the foundations of what was being built could already be seen. It was a large, flat concrete surface. There were even patches that were still not dry yet.

Today in school, there were fewer students, but many fresh faces as well.

These should be the students from Seventh High.

Below the mathematics building were three rows of uniformed soldiers, all wearing stern expressions on their faces, giving a very serious atmosphere.

What attracted the most attention however were the three rows of giant silver wolves that stood behind these soldiers. Their fur looked like it was made out of liquid silver and glistened under the light. Each of them looked steadily ahead, with their forelimbs straight as poles. Each individual wolf did not seem all that powerful, being only of Elite tier. But with such large numbers gathered together, even a Commander tier monster would be forced to temporarily retreat.

Such awe-inspiring giant wolves lined up in straight rows was extremely eye-catching. Many students simply stopped to look at these giant wolves.

Gao Peng himself could not help but take a few more looks.

[Monster Name: Silver Moon Wolf

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Level: 19 (Elite tier)

Each wolf differed only in level, and each of them reached around level 18 – 20.

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Chapter 28: Grouping

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After taking a quick look, Gao Peng went upstairs. Since the army brought these Familiars here, they were definitely not taking a walk here. There must be other chances later.

During the first class, Murong Qiuye went into the classroom through the front door. She smiled to Mr. Zhang as an apology, then knocked at the door. "All student Monster Trainers come out."

Chairs were moving away with a big noise.

Almost half of the class stood up…

Standing on the platform, Mr. Zhang joked, "Seems that many students would like to be Monster Trainers. Well, well, this new career has a bright future; you have a nice dream to chase after."

Students burst out laughter.

"Wait, Gao Peng, when did you register to be a Monster Trainer special student?" Tan Qianjin was surprised. He asked Gao Peng in a low voice, "Aren't you a Monster Breeder? Moreover, you have good grades."

"You have good grades, too. Why did you register?" Gao Peng replied.

"Hey, that's for my childhood, you know. I have always liked pets. Since I was a little boy, I have kept cats and dogs at home. Besides, my favorite childhood animation is Pokemon, the monsters are super cool!" Tan Qianjin was excited with an animated expression. "I won't miss this for anything. After all, I intend to be a man who will become the strongest Trainer." Hearing Tan Qianjin's words, Gao Peng smiled involuntarily.

Who didn't have Fourteen Sickness?

Who didn't dream a sparkling daydream?

Who didn't want to be a hero in his own story?

He believed that Tan Qianjin's words reflected many student Trainers' thoughts. At this age, young and hot blooded, everyone had a big dream.

"You intend to be a man? Are you not one yet?" Gao Peng joked.

Tan Qianjin was dazed, then immediately understood. He replied, "Argh, I meant 'I intend to be THE man who will become the strongest Trainer.' Don't pick on my words!"

From one joke to another, they soon went downstairs. There were at least hundreds of people standing on the ground, and the amount was still increasing.

All students gathered together and formed a huge phalanx.

Murong Qiuye turned to her students and said, "You get into the phalanx first, then follow the commander's instruction."

Gao Peng and the other students nodded, then walked into the phalanx. Like a drop of water falling into the sea, no wave was made.

After all the students assembled downstairs, a colonel who was wearing an army cap strode out from the soldier phalanx, looking around at the crowd. "I'm your chief instructor, my family name is Chen, you can call me Instructor Chen."

He only heard a scatter of reply in return.

Instructor Chen's black eyebrows frowned together, like dark clouds getting low. He commanded, "Say it louder, you got it? Answer me!"

His voice was like a clap of thunder. Some timid students trembled, and raised their heads fearfully.

"Look at yourself, losers! How is it possible that you can become Monster Trainers? Go back to your mommies!" the Instructor roared, pacing back and forth, like a fierce tiger inspecting its territory.

"You know what a Monster Trainer is? Do you think a so-called blood contract can transform you into Monster Trainers? That's bullsh*t!" Instructor Chen roared in a low voice. "No strong belief, no iron will. You will p*ss in your pants when there is a bird monster! Your legs will tremble like spaghetti, you can't even run away! People like you are not Monster Trainers, but some chickens!"

He didn't show any sympathy. His straightforward rudeness discomforted many students, and some murmured in the crowd.

"You. Come out." Instructor Chen suddenly pointed at a student.

"Uh?" the student was astonished.

"Uh what, get the hell out right now. What did you say?" Instructor clasped his hands behind him, pacing forward.

"No, nothing." The student was not tall, only around 5'5 tall, with pale skin and a pair of black frame glasses; he looked like a common high school student.

"You think me deaf? If you were my man, I would kick your *ss!" Instructor Chen narrowed his eyes. "You coward! Get the hell back."

The poor boy's courage was half-vanished when he was pulled out from the crowd; now he had run out of energy to argue back or to display sham courage.

"All of you, stand in a square, follow the person in front of you. Hurry up," ordered Instructor Chen.

Soon they were all set, the total amount of them were checked. There were 2,316 people.

"Final chance for you to quit; if you miss this chance, you won't be able to quit later," Instructor Chen said carelessly.

The crowd looked at each other, hesitating.

After a while, one student walked out from the team shyly.

He was followed by another student.

At last, 36 people stood out.

Instructor Chen didn't say anything bad, nor did he scorn. He nodded in silence, stepped forward, and patted one student on his shoulder, saying, "Be a good student, studying for your future is also a wise choice."

That student was surprised. It seemed that he didn't expect to hear such sweet words from this mean Instructor.

"Alright, get the hell out of here," Instructor Chen said, then turned around to the phalanx. "They are not deserters, they just made their final choice to leave, while you chose to stay. From now on, if any of you give up during training, you will be real deserters! Don't let me hear your names." Instructor Chen put on a cold face. "Start from the first row. Every 38 people from a group, 60 groups in total. I give you ten minutes."

Gao Peng was in Group Ten.

His group instructor, like the other instructors, was a dark-skinned, tall, lean sergeant; not like a muscular man, nor like a pretty woman.

"Attention! This is not a military training, but I want your attitude! Remember your group number, don't go wrong tomorrow!" The sergeant's family name was Zhang, a common surname. His full name was Zhang Renbai, and had been in the army for five years. He joined the army before cataclysm.

Then he instructed for about ten minutes, and gave the group general information of schedule and procedures. Then the team was dismissed.

The high efficiency was impressive.

Students went back to classes, until the whole day's lessons finished.

Gao Peng didn't need to do night study at school; this was his privilege of being a straight-A student, he was permitted to study at home.

On his way back home, Gao Peng was considering Instructor Chen's so called bad news: "Students enlisted less enthusiastically than I imagined; this is a good thing, but also a bad thing.

"Our maximum amount of student Monster Trainers is 1,200, which means, after one month, only 1,200 will be permitted to stay for further training. The others, who are not able to reach the standard, go back to your damn textbooks. If you wanna stay here, show me your abilities, show me your faith! Get your *sses out of your comfort zones and fight!"

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Chapter 29: Thunder Fig

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

When Gao Peng got back home, he found that Dumby's soul flames seemed to be burning stronger after eating Yin cedar needles for the past two days.

He opened the drawer of the refrigerator. Eh?

Where are all the Yin cedar needles?

The refrigerator drawer that was originally stuffed full with Yin cedar needles was now empty.

Gao Peng turned the fridge drawer inside out to search for the Yin cedar needles. In the end, all he found was half a needle stuck to the side of the drawer.

What was going on?

Gao Peng frowned. Could there have been a thief? Was his first reaction.

Looking at the Skull Ghoul Ape innocently standing in a corner and the Purple-Backed Thunder Centipede quietly lying under the sofa, it did not seem like a thief had come in.

The only conclusion was that this was an inside job.

"Dumby, come over here."

Dumby turned its head and walked over stiffly.

"Did you eat all of these?" Gao Peng pointed at the empty drawer.

Dumby lowered its head, saw the half-needle stuck at the side of the drawer, walked over and put it in its mouth.

While chewing, it walked over to the dustbin and stuck out its head, positioning its jaw cavities right above the dustbin. The chewed dregs of the Yin cedar needles fell nicely in to the bin. After eating, it went back to staring at nothing dumbly, maintaining its position with its head stuck outwards.

Gao Peng went over to look. The dustbin was filled with Yin cedar dregs.

The culprit was caught. Dumby began to panic under Gao Peng's fierce glare. With stiff steps, it slowly retreated until it reached a wall and finally turned around to face the wall as though reflecting on its mistakes.

Da Zi saw an opportunity and crawled out from under the sofa. It climbed onto Gao Peng's leg and raised its head up high.

"He ate it! He ate it!" Da Zi's voice rang in Gao Peng's head.

"Yes, yes, I know that." Gao Peng patted Da Zi's head.

"He didn't let me eat!" Da Zi took the chance to tattle-tale.

You weren't upset because of this reason were you? Gao Peng thought.

Gao Peng was not actually angry with Dumby eating all the Yin cedar needles, since they were meant for it to eat anyway. It was just that eating without permission was a bad habit, so Gao Peng decided that he had to properly educate this guy.

"Next time you want to eat more, just tell me, do you understand?" Gao Peng said while patting Dumby's skull.

There was no indication that Dumby actually understood any of that. It just continued staring dumbly at the wall.

The sky was not dark yet, so Gao Peng decided to make a phone call. The boss of the store that sold him all the materials the last time had given him their number. He had promised that anything that Gao Peng bought from them would be delivered straight to his doorstep.

Over the phone, when the boss heard that Gao Peng wanted another 30 catties of Yin cedar needles and 10 catties of thunder fig, he immediately sent an employee to deliver the goods over to Gao Peng.

The delivery boy was a tall and skinny young man. Seeing that it would have been tough for him to make a specialized trip here, Gao Peng poured him a glass of water. After drinking the water, the delivery boy nodded in appreciation, "Thank you."

"It's nothing. It's been tough for you too," Gao Peng replied with a smile.

Gao Peng received the items, paid for them, then closed the door. He patted Dumby on the shoulders and said, "OK, this will be your food for the next two days."

Dumby smelled the aroma of the food and turned to look at the black plastic bag.

"Two days," Gao Peng stuck out two fingers, "Eat half each day, understand?"

Dumby nodded its head, the flames in its eyes burning brightly. Gao Peng had not established a Blood Contract with Dumby, so he could not communicate with it via the soul.

Gao Peng was not afraid that he could not afford to maintain Dumby's diet. He could still afford these Yin cedar needles that were priced at 1000 Alliance Dollars per catty. Dumby ate 15 catties a day, so that would only be 1.5 Alliance credits. Being able to eat more was a good thing anyway. The more nutritional materials it absorbed, the closer it would get to its next evolution.

From Dumby's attributes table, Gao Peng could see that it needed to take in roughly 600 catties of Yin cedar needle to meet the requirements for the first step of its evolution.

Evolving into epic grade was no easy task. Just the expenditure on the materials would amount to at least a few million Alliance Dollars. That was the amount needed for Dumby at elite tier. At higher tiers, the materials needed would be more precious, and naturally cost even more money. Some of these precious materials would probably also be in short supply.

No matter what grade a monster was at, as long as it advanced in any tier beyond the elite tier, its grade would drop by one.

For instance, a perfect grade, elite tier monster after advancing to commander tier would become an excellent grade, commander tier monster; an epic grade, elite tier monster after advancement to commander tier would become a perfect grade, commander tier monster.

This was because a monster's evolutionary process was one that expended its potential. It was only natural to lose something after gaining something.

But of course, as long as a Trainer put in the effort to raise the Familiar, there was no need to fear dropping in grade after advancing in tier. The grade could be slowly raised again through effort and cultivation.

After talking to Dumby, Gao Peng opened another red-colored plastic bag. In it was roughly ten catties of pale purple figs. Their outer appearance looked exactly like figs, except that the color was changed to purple. From the cracks on the fruit, deep purple seeds could roughly be seen.

Smelling the fruits, Da Zi was evidently excited, saying, "I wanna eat! I wanna eat!" To promote Da Zi to a perfect grade, it needed 200 catties of thunder fig to consolidate a strong foundation of internal energy. Thunder figs were cheaper than Yin cedar needles, and cost only 200 Alliance Dollars a catty. They had a crisp and numbing flavor and were often used in accompaniment with high-grade food ingredients.

Gao Peng poured the thunder figs in to a metal basin. Looking at the fresh thunder figs, Da Zi's eyes sparkled. But without its master's word, Da Zi did not dare to begin eating and just raised its head to look at its master. After Gao Peng gave it permission, Da Zi's two maxillae were propped on the edges of the metal basin as it chewed up the thunder figs in large mouthfuls. Da Zi ate up everything, even the skin and the seeds.

Da Zi only ate about a third of the amount in the basin before stopping, as though having eaten its fill. It lazily lay on the ground nearby and curled into ball.

Thunder figs had a long shelf life, so even leaving them out exposed to the air should have been no problem. Gao Peng picked up the food basin and placed it next to the sofa.

The next day, at the request of the new instructor, all the students that had established Blood Contracts had to bring their Familiars to school. Gao Peng put a leash on Da Zi before leading it out of the door.

As he entered the school, Da Zi almost thought it had entered some theme park for pets. All sorts of Familiars were standing or lying about the school. The entire school compound seemed to be filled with Familiars.

Monster roars and screeches combined together in a cacophony of monster sounds, making it extremely noisy.

There were really large and really small Familiars, but the most ridiculous of all was a fully white Familiar that had the appearance of a domesticated pig. It stood at a height of three meters, and was five meters long, looking like a large fleshy mountain. With each step it made, the fat on its body rippled like waves on the sea.

Next to it was a delicate and pretty young lady. Her face was red and burning with embarrassment.

Things were not like this when she bought her Familiar at first…

What she saw initially at the Familiar store was such a cute little white piglet, with a pink ribbon on its head. She fell in love with this cute piglet at first sight. Little did she know that it would become like this in just about a year. Its body size grew bigger and bigger each day, along with its appetite.

After a taking a glance at its master, the white giant pig lazily lied down in front of the school gate and began sunbathing. There was no pretense in its relaxed and satisfied expression. It acted as though it were relaxing in its own backyard.

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"Eh… Sorry Miss, your Familiar is blocking the way," The security guard persuaded dutifully.

The girl nodded; she was not an unreasonable person, it was just that no matter how hard she tried to urge this white pig, it didn't move at all, and even started to snore.

"Come on. Get up," The girl instructed with annoyance.

The Big White Pig's eyes were tightly closed, it didn't move even a little bit. One could never wake up a pig who was pretending to be asleep.

Unless… the butcher showed up.

"What's going on here?" A sergeant in military uniform noticed the noise and came to check. A Silver Moon Wolf followed him.

The sergeant glanced at the "sleeping" pig as well as the anxious girl, and understood the general situation. He couldn't help shaking his head. "You are a Monster Trainer, this is your Familiar. Aren't you ashamed of failing to control your Familiar?"

He lowered his head looking at the lying pig, and scolded, "Get up! Don't sleep here!"

The Big White Pig didn't move, but fanned its fan-like ears, curled its lip.

The Pig was not stupid; rather, pigs were one of the smartest animals in the world. They somehow fooled humans by their dumb appearance.

"You understand me, don't you?" The sergeant laughed in his exasperation.

As he stepped backward, the Silver Moon Wolf paced forward from behind. Its arrogant eyes coldly glimpsed at the lying pig, and its teeth snagged murderously.

It gradually approached the white pig, creeping forward. Although it was on flat ground, it looked like a silver wolf quietly approaching its prey under moonlight in a big forest.

"Hum, hum!" The Big White Pig suddenly jumped up, grunting and shaking its huge body to the roadside in a slackened pace.

"See, you understand our language. I thought you didn't," The sergeant said coldly.

The Big White Pig grunted unsatisfyingly, shaking a way out from the human and the ferocious dog. Can't I just take a peaceful nap?

All the Familiars were kept on the playground, gathered into groups. Being two and a half meter longs, the dreadful purple Da Zi was quite eye-catching.

In the morning, students studied in class. After lunch, they assembled on the playground at one p.m.

The previous half-built square was completed. The whole square was made of concrete, occupying thousands of acres. In the square there were some simple constructions, such as stone platform, stone stelae, etc.

Sergeants arrived, checked their group members, then started training directly.

Gao Peng surprisingly found that the previous "gate block" Big White Pig was also in Group Ten. It took up two Familiars' space; what an overbearing monster.

"According to different monster types, training methods vary. Familiars' functions are definitely distinct from each other. They could be aggressive, defensive, assisted, therapeutic and field-controlling: five types in total. Some Familiars can have several functions at a time; for example, Green Devil Vine can be both defensive and field-controlling, and some particular training talents can train it to be aggressive," said the sergeant. "This has much to do with training methods and focuses.

"Say you want to develop your Familiar as defensive type. You have to focus on enhancing its patience and endurance, and so on and so forth," said the sergeant. "Of course, these are too early for you. There is one thing I'd like to remind you of: we are doing beginning level training now, but we will regroup you after we select 1,200 people during the kick-off audition. Then, based on your are of interest, we put you into five different groups, Attackers, Facilitators, Defenders, Therapists and Controllers. We will also subcategorize each group.

"I know that many of you want to contract more Familiars and form teams by yourselves. But what I'm going to tell you is, that's not gonna happen right now! The TV shows said Familiars reflect and enhance the strength of your soul, and based on that you would be able to sign more Familiars, which is correct. However, they didn't tell you what conditions you needed to follow. The reflections and enhancements of soul strength are based on you Familiar's power. The stronger your Familiar grows after signing the blood contract, the more reflection it provides. This is also a part of the blood contract. Otherwise, who would give you its soul power for free? They are not stupid monsters. "

Hearing these words, many people's faces went cloudy. They did plan to do so at the beginning: sign quite a few Familiars, including aggressive, defensive, assisted, therapeutic and field-controlling types. That would have been cool.

Then the instructor took out 38 white rubber balls from a black box behind him, and handed them to everybody. "Today, let's start with your command capability. This is a vital and essential part of training. No matter how strong your Familiar is, if it doesn't follow your command, it's nothing." The instructor glanced the girl in white dress as well as the Big White Pig next to her. This is the wrong example.

The Big White Pig grunted annoyingly, rubbing the girl with its head, demonstrating against the instructor.

Standing behind the instructor, the Silver Moon Wolf snorted, staring at the pig coldly.

The Big White Pig was afraid when it glanced at the wolf. Then it seemed to think about something happy. It smiled, rubbing its owner with joy.

"To train your Familiar, you must know its habits and hobbies. Then you can build up a well-directed relationship with it. Take my Silver Moon Wolf, for instance. It was arrogant and unwilling to be talked to or touched, so I bought a Black Armoured Pig specially for it, and fed it all by myself. I spent every spare moment playing with it, sleeping with it. One month later, it relied much more on me, and was willing to follow my instructions." As he said this, Zhang Renbai patted Silver Moon Wolf's head. The wolf squinted its eyes into a seam.

Seeing this, the Big White Pig laughed and puffed.

"I don't care what method you use; you can try by yourselves this afternoon, and find a suitable way out. This is more about practice than talk. You have to figure this out on your own," said the instructor. "I will check your progress after an hour. People who are able to let your Familiars pick the white ball voluntarily pass the assessment. Otherwise, stay and practice until you pass. Now you are dismissed."

The crowd spread around.

Gao Peng lowered his head, looking at Da Zi, while Da Zi looked up at him.

"Roll on the ground."

Without hesitation, Da Zi rolled continuously, its hard armor and feet rustling on the ground.

Zero difficulty. Da Zi had been relying on him all the time; this task was a piece of cake.

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Chapter 31: Specialized Training

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

An hour's time passed by quickly. Most students basically managed to achieve the objective. Only a small handful of students were still locked in a bitter struggle with their Familiars.

Like the short plump boy in the next group. His Familiar was a Golden Husky, a mutant variant of the husky. It was even of excellent grade.

But being of excellent grade became an increase to the boy's burden instead. Around him, most students had achieved the objective and were cuddling together with their Familiars. His familiar, on the other hand, was enjoying its freedom and was unrestrainedly running across the open field while going, "Aooo~ Aooo~ Aooo… Woof!"

Running without a care, no one could stop its desire for freedom as it stretched out its legs freely while running.

"Come back! You come back here now!" the short plump boy shouted his lungs out.

The Golden Husky looked over at its master and seemed to be very happy to see the expression on his face. It ran even faster.

Others began to sympathize with this boy. Some even went over to give him a pat on the shoulder.

"Bro, of all things to raise, you had to choose a Golden Husky. These monsters would sometimes even team up with enemy Familiars to bully you."

Suddenly, the Golden Husky came to a halt mid-run. Its brows were raised high and it stared idly ahead of it. In front of it was a mighty-looking giant silver wolf.

Its silver fur was like liquid, and a stare from its eyes could send chills down one's spine. It was making a deep guttural growling sound.

"Woof, woof… woof aooo?" the Golden Husky tried to imitate its foe. The Silver Moon Wolf slowly walked forward and raised its paw. It brought the paw down with unreasonable amount of force onto the Golden Husky's head, stepping its head to the ground.

The Golden Husky made no effort to resist and remained on the ground with a pitiful look.

In group 10, only three people failed to complete this training. Three of them were taken aside by the instructor to begin individual training. The remaining 35 of them proceeded on to the second step of training.

Before the training began, instructor Zhang Renbai took a red brick and placed it on the stone platform.

Then, he motioned for his Silver Moon Wolf to launch an attack on the brick.

The Silver Moon Wolf glanced at the instructor and casually took a few steps backwards. Lowering its body in preparation, it suddenly charged forward, leaving a silver afterimage!

Right before it reached the stone platform, it suddenly leapt into the air and twisted its body, loading up like a large, powerful spring. It's silver-grey tail suddenly lashed out from behind it like a metal whip, making a sound as it cut through the air.

Whoosh!

The tail collided with the brick, which spontaneously blew into pieces upon being struck, making a loud noise.

Shattered pieces of brick floated through the air before landing more than ten meters away. Carried by the momentum of its charge, the Silver Moon Wolf travelled a few more meters before coming to a complete stop. Its sharp claws left deep, white claw marks in the concrete ground.

"A well-trained special forces soldier under unarmed conditions can easily take down numerous untrained adults. Relying on advantageous terrain, such a soldier could even kill more than ten untrained adults. Monsters are the same! There are huge differences between those that have undergone special training and those who have not.

"At the beginning, this was also just an ordinary Silver Moon Wolf pup when I took it under my wing," Zhang Renbai stroked the head of his Silver Moon Wolf as he spoke. Its eyes squinted in enjoyment. "A Silver Moon Wolf's strength does not lie in its tail, but after long arduous months of training, its tail gradually became tougher. Its tail movements also became faster and more accurate! This allowed it to have another method of attack other than using its teeth and claws. This training strategy of mine has aimed to increase attack options for a more diversified offense. Other than that, there is also the strategy of improving the strengths of the monster."

After saying this Zhang Renbai turned to the group instructor of a nearby group and said with a grin, "Li, have your Silver Moon Wolf show us its expertise, will you?"

Over there was another lean soldier with tanned skin. He looked at Zhang Renbai and simply nodded his head before looking toward his Familiar. He produced a piece of cobblestone out of nowhere like magic, and tossed it high in the air.

The silver wolf next to him got up lazily and locked its eyes onto the cobblestone above its head. With a slight bend in its legs, it leapt up into the air.

With a swish of the head and the snap of the jaw, a crisp crunching sound filled the air. It opened its mouth when it landed. Shattered pieces of cobblestone and debris fell to the ground.

What terrifying bite strength!

Gao Peng's pupils shrank. This was cobblestone, and not any ordinary rock. Cobblestone was far harder than a regular piece of rock. To be able to easily shatter cobblestone meant that a bite from this wolf could easy bite a human into two.

Such a terrifying bite strength was unbelievably strong.

"That's it for our demonstrations. What's next would be your own training," Zhang Bairen began, "but before you begin, I would suggest using easier materials. For instance, for training bite strength, you can choose wood blocks to start off with, before slowly increasing the hardness of the materials used. You should also prepare large amounts of food and medicinal ingredients, which will greatly increase the effectiveness of the training."

After speaking, Zhang Bairen pointed towards a large truck in a camouflage coat. On the truck, soldiers were commanding Familiars to bring down large sealed wooden crates.

Carrying the crates were monkey-like Familiars with reddish-brown fur. Their fur on their heads were bright red and complicated patterns ran across their faces. These monkeys looked to be around five feet tall, but were incredibly strong. They carried the wooden crates around with apparent ease.

"In those crates are your training materials. I need a few members of group ten to bring our training materials over."

A few boys enthusiastically raised up their hands, as though this was the most glorious job they could be tasked with.

Gao Peng was however focusing his attention on the Familiars that were carrying the crates atop the camouflage coated trucks. After carrying the crates off the truck, a few soldiers took out a few Devil Chilies to reward the monkeys. The monkeys excitedly took the chilies and began munching on them.

As expected of the Devil Chilies that appeared after the cataclysm, the monkeys' faces turned a burning red that was as red as their bottoms. Their mouths were open wide and the bright red fur on their heads seemed to be standing on its ends. They looked as though there was a bright flame lit on their heads.

Gao Peng looked back down at Da Zi. What areas of Da Zi needed to be strengthened?

Speed? A centipede's speed was not slow to begin with. He could choose to increase Da Zi's speed, making speed its specialty, but speed would most probably be the trait that was hardest to train.

Offense? That could work as well. Da Zi's mandibles were sharp like a tiger's fangs and its bite strength was not weak either. Any prey that was caught in its jaws rarely managed to escape. Or, he could train the penetrating power of Da Zi's clawed limbs and use this to increase Da Zi's lethality. But this seemed to be an unnecessary move. After evolution, Da Zi had developed an electric attribute. Once it advanced to a commander tier monster, it would gain the ability to release its attribute externally. Other than electricity, Da Zi also possessed the poison attribute. Its current lethal weapon was not its knife-like clawed feet, nor its scissor-like mandibles, but its deadly venom. Increasing the potency of its venom would indeed be an excellent choice, but the thing about venom potency is that Gao Peng had no idea how to work on improving it.

Defense? Possessing a hard carapace, defense was not Da Zi's weak point either. Scaled monsters usually possessed a stronger defence than beast monsters.

Gao Peng felt a little troubled, not knowing where to begin.

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Chapter 32: Devil Training

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

If I'm thinking in this way, my Familiar seems to be perfect, no defects at all.

Gao Peng thought seriously.

Pitifully, he was just thinking. When he considered Da Zi's defects seriously, he realized that Da Zi was not perfect.

First of all, it couldn't fly, nor did it have sky-control ability. Once its opponent could fly or do ranged attacks, it would become the target.

Next, it could not fight in water. When in water, its flexibility and speed would largely reduce; it could even drown.

Lastly, although Gao Peng said that his Familiar didn't have defects, he meant that Da Zi was not weak, rather than being strong. When compared with Familiars who were good at certain aspects, it became nothing.

The key task at present is to increase its defensiveness, thought Gao Peng.

Increasing self-defensiveness was the vital role. Since they signed the blood contract, whatever injury Gao Peng suffered would be transferred to Da Zi. Without high defensiveness, once he transferred attacks to Da Zi, it wouldn't stand long.

Da Zi's head was its weakness. Gao Peng had watched some battle records, and one had impressed him a lot. It was a centipede-like Familiar fighting against a scorpion Familiar.

The two Familiars had similar levels and grades. When in battle, with high flexibility, the centipede teased the scorpion, and gave the scorpion the final attack from the side. At that second, scorpion waved its claw with lightning speed, and clamped centipede's head accurately.

With a crack, thick white and red liquid went all over the ground. The headless centipede twitched on the ground.

This video had impressed Gao Peng. It was a big scale Familiar-in-cage battle, neither side could escape unless one killed the other. Finally the scorpion gained a complete victory.

A scorpion also had hard armor; in addition, it had severe toxicity and high immunity to most poisons. When challenging a scorpion, most centipede attacks were in vain.

On the contrary, the scorpion's heavy claws could destroy its opponent's most defence.

In similar battles, centipedes sometimes won. But most of their victories were due to their well-protected heads. No matter how hard their bodies were attacked, as long as the heads were fine, a centipede's major fighting capacity remained.

But… how do I improve defensiveness?

Gao Peng muttered to himself.

He suddenly recalled a monster called Boxing Ape, which was a hairless mutant ape. This kind of ape was bellicose and aggressive.

But its thinning hair couldn't offer much defensiveness for itself. Therefore, soon after it was born, the Boxing Ape was trained by its parents, to use its body to insanely hit trees. At the very beginning its delicate skin broke with wounds; but then the ape would eat a large amount of food to simulate the wounds to close up.

The cured skin became tougher. The Boxing Ape continued this action again and again. Later when hitting trees could no longer hurt them, they hit rocks or cliffs instead.

After a Boxing Ape grew up, its thick muscle and scars integrated into an armor-like shield. Then they wouldn't get any injury even when they hit a cliff.

Hence they went for enemies or prey, to fight against strong monsters, and strengthen themselves through attacks.

Once in a primordial forest a science team witnessed a battle between a Boxing Ape and a Commander monster. The Boxing Ape was more than six meters high, its hair mutated to gray. It smashed the Commander monster into meat paste. At last the Boxing Ape noticed the science team, but it ignored them, for human beings were too weak. This news made a stir at that time, which impressed Gao Peng, too.

The monster's high healing power meant they cured themselves quickly during their hard training, and prompted them to be stronger.

Feeling its owner's eyes, Da Zi suddenly felt something was wrong. It was slipping away.

"Stay," Gao Peng sighed, patted Da Zi's head. "I'm doing this for you. It's better to suffer for several minutes than suffer for the rest of your life.

"Sweat now and you won't bleed in the future," Gao Peng persuaded.

Da Zi raised its head. These words were too complicated for it. Things like sweat and blood were not in its word bank.

It stared at the owner with blank eyes. Two antennae swung on its forehead.

There was a wooden hammer in the wooden box. Gao Peng held the hammer and weighed it in his hand, then was tempted to hit Da Zi's exoskeleton.

They heard a clunk.

The wooden hammer bounced. Da Zi vigilantly raised its head.

Gao Peng squeezed a smile. "Good boy; I will be gentle."

Bang, another hammer attack.

Da Zi suddenly bowed its back, running away in dejection.

The owner looks not himself today, did he eat anything wrong?

"Freeze."

Da Zi lay on the ground, bitter-faced…

"Hum," Gao Peng took a long breath. This is exhausting, my arm is about to dislocate. Am I training my Familiar or myself?

He felt that, after one month's training, he was not sure whether Da Zi would be stronger or not, but he could guarantee that he would be stronger with a pair of iron kirin arms.

Being hammered for a whole afternoon, Da Zi felt quite dizzy; it couldn't even walk straight. Gao Peng's hands were numb and strengthless.

After he returned home, Gao Peng surprisingly found out that Dumby's level went one level up, now it was at level 12. Taking Yin Cedar needles for a long time could increase levels; that was amazing.

In fact, that was his narrow view. Level was the objectification of a monster's current evolution status. When a monster became stronger on its original basis, its level naturally increased.

Just like a wolfling started at level one, as it kept growing, it would finally turn into a level 20 adult wolf. This was a natural process, while offering nutritious food could shorten the time it cost for growing up.

As for evolution breaking through, it was like a level 20 adult wolf transforming into a level 21 baby dinosaur, which would naturally grow up as a level 40 dinosaur.

This was only an example, but the situations were alike.

Gao Peng came home with sore arms, threw himself into the bed and immediately fell asleep.

In the blink of an eye, a week quickly passed, and soon it was the weekend.

Days of training were not enough to see any obvious change, but being "tortured" everyday, Da Zi increased its appetite. It seemed that daily training stimulated its digestion.

As its appetite grew, Da Zi became one size bigger, and tens of centimeters longer than before.

Its level also went one level up; now it was at level 10, which was at the top of Normal level. One more level and it would become an Elite Familiar.

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Chapter 33: Monster Breeder Consultant

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

These few days were tiring, so Gao Peng decided to take a proper rest. He curled up in bed and wrapped his blanket around him, becoming like a huge furry ball.

In the early morning, the sounds of hawkers peddling their wares could be heard from the window.

Quite a number of them had already started their day's work, adding a bit of liveliness to the world.

Ding ding dong dong… The jarring sound of an alarm came from beside the pillow. Along with the sound, vibrations were also felt from the pillow.

A hand reached out from under the blankets and accurately grabbed the phone. With a click, the alarm sound went off.

Only after a few minutes of silence did Gao Peng get out of the blanket. He sat up and yawned. His hair was messy like a bird's nest.

"Ah this won't do. If I don't work I won't be able to afford feeding those two heavy eaters." Gao Peng rubbed away the crusty stuff from his eyes.

Then he got out of bed, got dressed, washed up and prepared breakfast.

Clang, clang, clang-

Rhythmic knocking sounds came from the living room.

Gao Peng turned around to look while frying his egg. The corners of his mouth twitched.

In the living room, Da Zi had its food basin in its mouth and was staring expectantly at him. Its two maxillae were like a pair of chopsticks, hitting against the edge of the basin, making loud clanging sounds.

The food basin was empty, with nothing inside.

"Wait a while," Gao Peng motioned Da Zi to keep still.

With a flip of the pan, the egg flipped over and sizzled. A fragrant aroma filled the air.

Quickly, Gao Peng removed the lid from the pot on another stove. His radish and spare rib soup was boiling inside. He turned off the fire and sprinkled some chopped green onions on top.

The green onion fragrance and meat aroma mixed wonderfully together. Gao Peng motioned Da Zi over with his hand, "Come here."

Da Zi tottered over with its food basin and stared with wide eyes as its master put all the radishes and spare ribs into the basin.

Gao Peng looked at the leftover soup in the pot. He would make a bowl of delicious pork rib soup noodles with this.

"Boss." Xun Quanquan was already at the reception when Gao Peng arrived.

Gao Peng nodded his head in reply and went into his office.

Slightly past 10am, Gao Peng suddenly received a call from an unknown number.

"Hello?" Gao Peng was a little suspicious. There were few people who knew his number.

"Little boss, it's me, Ma Jian."

Gao Peng finally realized what was going on. It was the rich Mr. Ma.

The bold and forthright manner in which Ma Jian parted with his money during his last visit left a deep impression on Gao Peng. Ma Jian did not even think twice about paying ten times the normal consultation fees.

"Little boss, I said before that I have another Familiar that I hoped you could help me with right? Do you have time for me today?"

"Yes, I do have free time. Please come over," Gao Peng said, nodding his head.

"Alright!" Ma Jian happily put down the phone.

After putting down the phone, Gao Peng saved Ma Jian's number. The contact read: Big Money Ma.

Gao Peng's office was relatively large. His office desk was placed along the side of a floor-to-ceiling window, allowing the sunlight to shine onto the desk, outlining Gao Peng's shadow.

Knock-knock-knock. The sound of door knocking came from outside his office.

That's quick, Gao Peng thought with surprise. He had only put down the phone less than ten minutes ago. Did that guy live within the city center?

"Come in," said Gao Peng.

"Hello," said a middle-aged man in a simple grey suit and gold-rimmed glasses as he stepped into the office.

The middle-aged man was surprised to see that Gao Peng was such a young man at first. But almost immediately after, his good upbringing prevented him from showing any inappropriate expressions on his face.

"You are Mr. Gao, I presume? I am the general manager of BlueShield Protection Company. My name is Liu Senlin."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Liu," replied Gao Peng with a nod.

"We have heard of your renown, Mr. Gao. You are Chang'an City's youngest Monster Breeder, and even more impressively, our youngest intermediate level Monster Breeder as well. As such, we would like to invite you to be our company's Monster Breeder consultant." Liu Senlin gave Gao Peng a polite and formal smile.

"Monster Breeder consultant? What is that?" Gao Peng did not simply agree straightaway.

"Right, I forgot to explain," Liu Senlin said apologetically.

"Our company mainly provides security personnel for our clients, hence, fast and lethal Familiars would be the best choice. For our Familiars, our company has chosen the Devil Mantises bred by the Southern Sky Group."

Gao Peng was momentarily stunned when he heard the words "Southern Sky Group." His maternal grandfather was once the helmsman of the Southern Sky Group, but he had suddenly vanished during the cataclysm. The upper echelons were in turmoil because of his grandfather's disappearance. Things only regained stability within the last two years.

"Right now, our company's first batch of Devil Mantises are slowly reaching the brink of evolution; hence we are hoping to hire a Monster Breeder consultant. This Monster Breeder consultant will be our company's distinguished Monster Breeder, and will be tasked with evolving our Devil Mantises."

"This position will not affect your current work. We will only trouble you when our company's Familiars need to be evolved," Liu Senlin finally added.

Gao Peng's brows furrowed, "Why look for me? Chang'an City should have other intermediate Monster Breeders. Also, if I recall correctly, we have a few advanced Monster Breeders too. Their standards should be much higher than mine."

Liu Senlin shook his head. "Mr. Gao, having achieved an intermediate level at such a young age, we believe you must definitely possess some impressive skills. Also, you might not be aware, but although it is true that there are two advanced Monster Breeders in Chang'an, we are simply not in the position to hire their services," smiled Liu Senlin bitterly. "One of them is Director Chen of the Monster Breeder Association. His hands are full just from running the association alone. Where would he find the time to be the consultant of such a small company like ours?"

"The other is Mr. Gu Xianlin," said Liu Senlin with a hint of admiration in his voice. "Mr. Gu Xianlin holds the title of Chang'an's number one Monster Breeder and holds a position in the government as a full-time Monster Breeder consultant. I certainly do not have the power to request his services."

"As for other intermediate Monster Breeders, honestly speaking, how big a difference can there be between yourself, Mr. Gao, and other intermediate Monster Breeders? Rather than those other Monster Breeders, I would rather put my trust in the young and promising Mr. Gao."

Whether or not Liu Senlin's words were meant to flatter him, Gao Peng could not help but feel rather happy to hear them…

He was, after all still in his teens, and lacking in experience and maturity.

But being happy from hearing praise was one thing and following his principles was another thing altogether. "We can discuss the matter of the fees later, but I would first like to bring up a few conditions.

"Firstly, I have to attend school from Monday to Friday, except in the case of an emergency. Please do not disturb me during these times. Secondly, I am alright with being a Monster Breeder consultant, but not a full-time Monster Breeder consultant for you company. I can only promise not to work under your competitors. If you agree with these conditions, we can continue discussions. If not, I hope this will not affect our working relationship." With that, Gao Peng sat back and sipped on his cup of tea. He was prepared to be rejected. In all honesty, he was only working here to earn some money for his living expenses. He had no actual plans to pursue this as a career.

"Monster Breeder Consultant" might sound mighty and important, but it was just a job in the end. Gao Peng was a little too lazy to take up this proposition.

Liu Senlin could not help but frown. His lips twitched as though he wanted to say something, but those words never came out in the end.

He stared straight at Gao Peng and said, "Alright, I agree."

"EH?" Gao Peng was dumbfounded. You would even agree to such conditions?

After expressing his agreement, Liu Senlin took out a contract from his briefcase. He passed a copy of the contract to Gao Peng.

Gao Peng took the contract in his hands and speedily read through it. Its contents were simple, but just to be safe, he called for one of his employees who was in charge of contracts to check it for him.

"There's no problem." This contract was not complicated and many of its clauses were clear and simple. The employee nodded his head with certainty only after a quick look at the contract, reaffirming that it was alright.

But Gao Peng was still a little suspicious. This was not consistent with the way such companies worked. Such a simple and clear contract… seemed as though it was meant to bring him benefits.

There were no mandatory requirements, and an annual salary of 500 Alliance Credits plus commission.

The commission was 50 Alliance Credits for every one of the company's Devil Mantises that Gao Peng manages to evolve.

This Blue Shield Company… did the boss himself open the company?

Gao Peng was not entirely familiar with the market rates, but the offer definitely felt too low, at only 500 Alliance Credits a year and a 50 Credit commission. Just a few days ago, he had earned 400 Credits from promoting the grade of just one Familiar. Although Ma Jian's wealth had to play a part, Gao Peng's "normal" rate alone was already at 120 Credits.

There were other Monster Breeder consultant jobs that offered a higher pay in the market, but those were usually buyout contracts that required the consultants to work full-time. This meant that after signing the contract, these Monster Breeders would no longer be allowed to work for other companies as consultants and could at most only take on private jobs.

After the contract was signed, Liu Senlin stood up and forced a formal, polite smile again. "Thank you for your trouble."

As he was going down the elevator, Liu Senlin took out his phone. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to make a call.

"Uncle… The contract has been signed, yes, Mr. Gao chose the non-full-time contract. Uncle, there are so many intermediate Monster Breeders in Chang'an, why must we…" Something was said over the other side of the phone then. Liu Senlin wore a complex and confused expression on his face. In the end, he simply sighed in resignation.

As the lift doors opened on the first floor, Ma Jian was there carrying a flowerpot, waiting for the lift to come.

He frowned a little as he saw the middle-aged man exit the lift. This person looked familiar somehow.

He thought for a moment then suddenly slapped his forehead. He remembered. That was the general manager of the Blue Shield Protection Company. He also acted as the person-in-charge for the Blue Shield Protection Company.

He seemed to have come from the third floor, which meant that he could have came to look for Mr. Gao too.

What would he be looking for Mr. Gao for? Ma Jian thought for a while until his head hurt. He decided to think about it no more. Ma Jian merrily entered the lift, carrying his flowerpot. He did not care if that man had looked for Mr. Gao. Whatever matter that was, he was determined this time to claim the title of Chang'an Flower King.

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"Mr. Gao, Mr. Gao, I'm back." Ma Jian came in with a flowerpot.

Today Ma Jian dressed casually. The flowerpot in his hand was as big as a basketball, with an attractively bright-colored flower in it.

The flowerpot was put on the table. The plant looked pretty: the straight, meaty, hairless stem, looked bright and clean. Its serrated leaves were asymmetric with burgundy patterns, releasing a light fragrance.

Pinkish red petals danced without breeze, tinging the air with its faint scent. Gao Peng felt himself awakened.

He frowned, stepped back and immediately turned on the ventilator.

He recognized the plant's origin, which was a Begonia Semperflorens before the cataclysm. What he saw in front of him was its mutant.

In his eyes, a property box suddenly appeared.

[Monster Name: Begonia Semperflorens Sprite

[Monster Level: Level 3

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Wood

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Happy)

[Monster Weakness: Fire/Electric

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: one Hundred-Year Wood Essence, 100 drops of Flower Dew.

"Is this a Flora Familiar?" Gao Peng asked, surprised.

Flora Familiars were rarely seen. Although the cataclysm caused a worldwide mutation on flora and animals, only a few plants transformed into sapiential flora Familiars.

This type was as rare as Ghoul monsters.

But Flora were more popular than Ghoul monsters, for most of Flora monsters were Facilitators; many of them were Therapists as well.

A thing was valued if it was rare. The rarer it was, the more popular it became.

"You wanna evolve this Sprite?" asked Gao Peng.

"Yeah, half a month later there will be a Flower King contest. I'm going to fight for the crown," Ma Jian said seriously.

"Flower King…" Gao Peng was speechless. Is it OK for you, a man, to compete for Flower King?

"I trust myself." Ma Jian looked at the Begonia Semperflorens Sprite earnestly. At this moment, Gao Peng saw rare earnest on his face.

"This is my second Familiar, I hope to give it a nice start." Ma Jian stretched his finger on a branch of the flower. It gently unfolded its leaves, hooking Ma Jian's pinky like a girl's finger.

The flower quietly lowered its head, leaning close to his palm.

Golden sunshine came from the window, gilding the palm and petals. Everything looked harmonious.

"I know your rules. Triple charge; here are 30 Credit points." Ma Jian immediately paid by card.

"Two Hundred-Year Tree Essence, 150 drops of Flower Dew, one leaf from Psionic Flower, 5g Fructus Toosendan, 500g Boat-Fruited Sterculia seed, and one Black Wind Grass." These materials were not expensive, except the necessities Hundred-Year Tree Essence and Flower Dew. The others were for confusing people with schemes.

Unlike the previous Purple Electric Mouse, this Begonia Semperflorens Sprite was just Normal grade, which meant that this species was not rare. The normal Familiar evolving method was more valuable than the others, for it could be wide-spread.

As for the leaf from Psionic Flower, Fructus Toosendan, Boat-Fruited Sterculia seed, and Black Wind Grass, those were just ingredients. Gao Peng heard that there was a nutritious recipe, and planned to buy an old female duck to make a healthy duck soup.

After all the materials arrived, Gao Peng asked Ma Jian to wait outside. Ma Jian nodded agreement. This was the unwritten rule among monster breeders. He forgot to obey it last time, for he worried too much about his mouse.

Waiting until the door closed, Gao Peng turned his back to the Begonia Semperflorens Sprite and concocted his portion.

He followed special procedures to extract the Hundred-Year Tree Essence, then blended it into Flower Dew, stirred them well, then poured them into an injector.

Then he put the rest materials into a black plastic bag, and locked them in a drawer.

He held the injector approaching the flower. As he moved closer, the flower slightly trembled, the stem "shortened" two inches, and its leaves covered the flower like a thin armor.

"Relax; just one sting, I'm not going to hurt you," Gao Peng persuaded gently.

The sprite was not convinced. Its leaves opened a slight seam, measuring Gao Peng vigilantly.

"Be a good girl, open your leaves, it's not going to hurt you, I promise." Gao Peng convinced the sprite to uncover itself.

Without cooperation it was hard to inject the sprite. This flower sprite looked gentle and fragile, but actually its defensiveness was quite strong. Its thin petals and leaves could be as tough as a pile of cardboard, a normal needle could not sting through them.

Besides, the edges of leaves had sharp sawteeth, just like a saw. If he didn't concentrate, his skin would be torn to shreds and bleed.

Finally, after ten minutes of persuasion, the flower sprite reluctantly loosened its cover, and presented its tender stem.

Gao Peng didn't lose attention. He put on gloves to protect his hands from being cut.

The injector stung the stem, the flower sprite trembled for a few seconds. But as the light green liquid gradually went into the stem, the sprite calmed down.

After all liquids went into the stem, the Begonia Semperflorens Sprite shrank together, and strips of green silk came out and covered it as a green silk ball.

Gao Peng opened the door, and Ma Jian asked nervously, "Mr. Gao, did it work?"

"Yes, it works. Your Familiar is evolving right now, be careful, don't bother it." as he said this, Gao Peng took off his plastic gloves.

Ma Jian stayed by the Begonia Semperflorens Sprite's side, waiting nervously for half an hour. Finally something happened.

The green silk ball finally opened, and a bright green stem raised. On the top of it, a bud appeared, getting bigger, and bloomed. It was no longer pinkish red, but bright rose red instead.

Looked like the sprite transferred from an active girl to a mature modest woman.

Monster Name: Begonia Semperflorens Sprite

[Monster Level: Level 4

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Attribute: Wood

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Happy)

[Monster Weakness: Fire/Electric

[Requirements for Promotion to Excellent Grade: …

The name remained unchanged, which indicated that the Familiar didn't change its type, only increased its grade.

Feeling the his Familiar now had a totally different but more noble quality, Ma Jian was extremely excited. He held Gao Peng's hands tightly and said, "Thank you Master Gao, thank you so much. I have made a decision. From now on, all my Familiars will be under your care. Not only mine, but my friends and relatives' Familiars too; I will recommend you to them."

Flora Familiars were too rare to have models or samples. Therefore, intermediate monster breeding specialists on Flora Familiars were quite uncommon.

Ma Jian was trying his luck on Mr. Gao, but to his surprise, Mr. Gao even knew about Flora Familiars. He was indeed a young talent!

Now Ma Jian was completely convinced. To have such a high success rate, Gao Peng's competence was unmeasurable.

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Chapter 35: Iron Rhinoceros

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

For the next two days, Gao Peng stayed in his office, but customers were scarce. Maybe his reputation for charging exorbitant fees was spreading. Whatever it was, he only managed complete one job in those two days. That job was to help a customer promote a level 7 Giant Pasteur Rat from excellent grade to perfect grade. Gao Peng had spent a total of two days in order to successfully evolve the Giant Pasteur Rat.

No one was born wise or learned. Such people only existed in stories or fairy tales. Gao Peng was an ordinary person. What set him apart from others was that he would work extremely hard. Every time he did something he would make the effort to be even more prudent. Although he could have finished that job in just two hours, he chose to be more low-key about his abilities.

His customer was still satisfied overall by the success of the job; just that the paying of Gao Peng's fees pained him quite a bit.

After the two days, it was back to regular school life. From the previous week of training, Da Zi had gotten stronger. Its body length reached a total of nine feet, and its girth had increased too. Because of the tough training every day, Da Zi's appetite also increased substantially. Its carapace had also turned a deeper color with an increase in its defense. Its limbs were also thicker and stronger.

The busy classes practically filled up all of the students' time. Even after school, they had to put in extra hours of training in order to catch up with the progress of the lessons. Within the last few days, citizens of Chang'an City noticed that there were suddenly many more 17 to 18 year old teenagers training their Familiars around their neighborhoods and within secluded open areas.

"Say, what are we actually working our butts off for? Even if we do pass the test, we might not make it into a top school anyway. After we graduate we would probably end up doing a nine-to-five job all the same. Actually, who knows if we could even find a job then, let alone become Monster Trainers," someone secretly said to a person beside him during training.

That person agreed. "You're right. Why don't we ask the instructor if we call pull out?"

"… Didn't the instructor say before? If we leave now, he'll treat us like deserters. Why don't we just slack off for this month. After all, they said they would only be choosing 1,200 people. After a month, we can go back to studying for the literary exam. We can just treat this one month as a holiday," The first person smiled while replying.

"Mmhmm, that makes sense."

There were many amongst the students that thought that way. These few days of boring and repetitive training made many of them want to quit.

This was a natural thing and also an embodiment of laziness in human nature.

Monster Trainer cadet classes were not as easy as they thought, and definitely not as fun as they thought. Many of the students were beginning to give up. After all, there was still the literary exam that could be taken. They did not need to work that hard and get so tired every day.

As the saying goes, even if the sky falls down, there will be people taller than you to withstand it first. Being a combat Monster Trainer meant braving the wilderness. It was hard to say that whether or not they could simply die a horrible death in the wild.

When one decides to give up, there will be thousands of reasons one can think of to do so.

All of these behaviours were all clearly seen by the instructor, who had no intention to give the students any reminders. He simply stood at the side observing the students train, without trying to interrupt them to convince them otherwise. He only spoke when the students themselves approached him for questions.

Even if there were students hiding in a corner, skiving off, he would turn a blind eye to them.

Gao Peng was working hard at the side, enjoying the tough training. Training was naturally boring, but as long as he had an ambition to work towards, even the most boring tasks could be transformed into motivation to carry on.

Gao Peng was holding a timer in his left hand. Before him, Da Zi was racing its way through a row of stone pillars with extreme agility. Gao Peng stopped the timer the moment Da Zi made its way through all of the pillars. "7.47 seconds. 0.4 seconds faster than the last time," said Gao Peng while wiping the beads of sweat off his brow. The temperature had risen these few days and it was rather hot standing under the sun for long.

Completing the shuttle run, Da Zi scuttled over with his many little legs for a reward. Gao Peng patted its head, then took out a few giant mealworms from a box he kept on him and fed them to Da Zi.

Da Zi gobbled them up with saliva flowing everywhere. It was eating them like noodles.

Petting Da Zi's ice-cool head, Gao Peng's mood also gradually cooled down.

Mealworms were Da Zi's favorite type of worms. They were rich in nutrition and proteins.

Especially these giant mealworms that were mutated after the cataclysm. They were as long as chopsticks and their bodies were filled with nutrients. They were also fat and juicy, making them delicious.

"Gao Peng, you seem to have trained your Familiar well," said a voice that sounded like barbells.

Yup, the voice was masculine and strong. Barbells was the right word to describe it.

Gao Peng turned around and all he saw was black, as though the sky had suddenly turned dark.

He took two steps back in order to get a better look. Standing in front of him was a girl in a ponytail who was a full two meters tall, wearing grey sports attire. She had an angular nose, wide eyes and thick eyebrows. If all these features were on a boy, it would definitely make him look like really manly.

With such a tall frame, just standing there alone brought an immense feeling of pressure to anyone around her.

"Thank you for your praise," Gao Peng nodded. Beside him, Da Zi noticed that a stranger was talking to its master, so it lay down on the ground obediently without moving.

Given the girl's striking appearance, there was no way Gao Peng would not have heard of her before.

This was Mu Tieying. She was Seventh High's bell curve wrecker, who was constantly among the top three students in the level in terms of results. After the two schools merged, she had chosen to be a Monster Trainer.

In the eyes of many, she was a weird person along with the likes of Gao Peng.

This was because among the students that scored as well as her and Gao Peng within the two schools, only she and Gao Peng chose to apply to be Monster Trainer cadets. They already had a bright future ahead of them with their results but they chose to walk such an uncertain path instead.

A lot of people did not understand their actions. Would it not be just as feasible to get into a good college before developing as a Monster Trainer? Why choose to be a Monster Trainer cadet now?

"I am here because I wish to form a group with you," said Mu Tieying in a forthright manner.

"Forming a group?" Gao Peng was a little surprised. But he also recalled that the instructor had brought this up before. After choosing 1,200 students, they would be split into groups with two members each. Each member needed to have a different type of Familiar, in order for them to train their cooperative skills.

Towards the end of the training program, battles would be carried out between these small groups. Their scores will also be given based on group performance.

"Why look for me?" Gao Peng was a little perplexed. After all, he did not know her at all.

"Because the rest of them are all plebs when it comes to studies. I have no common language between them," answered Mu Tieying with brutal honesty.

This Mu Tieying… really has a way with words! Gao Peng sighed.

"Where's your Familiar?" Gao Peng saw Mu Tieying standing alone without her Familiar around and asked out of curiosity.

"Lotus Seed!" Mu Tieying turned around and made a whistle.

In the distance, a small hill that was silently standing there suddenly came to life. Bright eyes looked over in their direction and two little ears popped up. Then with its thick and strong limbs, it ran over in a mad rush. The cement ground that it passed shook under its movements as though a tank was cruising across the open plain!

The 6'5 tall Mu Tieying looked petite next to it.

Snort –

It made a loud snorting sound.

Mu Tieying gently rubbed the Iron Rhinoceros' head. This behemoth seemed to enjoy it a lot. It gently closed its eyes and rubbed its head on Mu Tieying's body.

[Monster Name: Iron Rhinoceros

[Monster Level: 12 (Elite tier)

[Monster Grade: Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Metal

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Happy)

Chapter 36: A Gentle Big Guy

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Your Iron Rhinoceros hasn't grown up yet, has it?" Gao Peng looked the Iron Rhinoceros up and down. This big monster should be in its growth period; otherwise an adult rhinoceros would not be only this big.

The Adult Rhinoceros was regarded as one of the strongest Familiars in the Commander tier.

Its tough and thick skin was as strong as iron board, its huge body could smash every enemy in front of it, and as for its terrifying horn on its head, that thing was definitely not a decoration.

"Yes, Lotus Seed is one year old. It's hard to count monsters' adult ages after the cataclysm happened. But compared with other monsters, she is equivalent to a human's 12 years old." As she said this, Mu Tieying patted the Iron Rhinoceros's skin.

"One year old," Gao Peng nodded.

Da Zi heard the conversation. It immediately stood up and leaned on Gao Peng's shoulder, talking in Gao Peng's mind. "I'm three years old! I'm three years old!"

Hearing its words, Gao Peng smiled. He patted Da Zi's head backhanded. "Yes, I know you are three years old."

Da Zi leaned on its owner's shoulder, looking at this big rhinoceros curiously. This Iron Rhinoceros's big size threatened it. Gao Peng could feel its panic. He gently pinched its antennae to relax it.

He glanced at the Iron Rhinoceros. This big guy could be determined as an Attacker or a Defender; it all depended on how Mu Tieying planned to train it. Or she could do both.

"What type do you expect it to be?"

"A Defender, I think." Mu Tieying gently patted the Iron Rhinoceros's horn. "Lotus Seed is always shy and timid. She used to make way for monsters which were dozens of times smaller than it."

It is so timid. Gao Peng couldn't help but size up this Iron Rhinoceros. Don't judge a rhinoceros by its look.

Being measured unscrupulously by Gao Peng, the Iron Rhinoceros turned, embarrassed. It lowered its head, pushing Mu Tieying lightly.

"Here is my condition. If you think it's not doable, then let's forget about it," Mu Tieying told Gao Peng earnestly.

Gao Peng thought for a while, then asked, "It is gentle now, but what if it is pissed off? Have you ever tried to irritate it to check its aggressivity?"

Mu Tieying looked dazed, thinking for a while. Then apologized with a smile, saying, "Sorry, since my family and I like it a lot, it has never suffered from any severe injury. I'm not sure whether it would be aggressive when angry."

"But she is OK to be a defender now. Perhaps due to the fact that she is slow in sensing pain, she has strong tolerance of pain." Mu Tieying's confidence was gone. Whenever people met her Familiar, they would sigh at how "big and strong" the Iron Rhinoceros was. But only she knew that her Lotus Seed was not suitable to be an Attacker at all. This is not fair to Gao Peng. Mu Tieying sighed, planning to leave.

Standing next to her, Lotus Seed seemed to have sensed its owner's depression. It sobbed gently, and wanted to comfort the owner, but didn't know how. So it could only rub the owner with its big head.

Mu Tieying was amused by its stupid-cute look. She pushed its big head away. "Go play by yourself."

"You said you wanted to be my teammate? Sure; I agree that it's exhausting to communicate with slackers," Gao Peng said behind her.

"What?" Mu Tieying was shocked. This answer was unexpected. She turned around and looked at Gao Peng. Gao Peng shrugged. "It's OK to be gentle. Skills are acquired through training." It's just hard to find gifted Familiars, Gao Peng told himself in his mind.

There were quite a few Familiars at present, but 99% of them were Normal monsters.

There were only a few dozens of Excellent Familiars, while only two of them were at Perfect grade. One was his classmate Chen Hanqiao's Electric Luster Bear, the other was this Iron Rhinoceros.

It was not easy to detect a Familiar's grade. First of all, trainers needed a large amount of samples on this Familiar, then needed to compare that data with the same type of monster samples. Only Gao Peng found it simple, for he only needed to glance at the monster.

Therefore, a lot of new species grades remained undetermined. At the very beginning, when Dumby was born, Director Chen probably labeled it as an ordinary Excellent Familiar.

People might think that monster breeders dealt with rare or high-grade Familiars all the time, but actually this was not true. These Familiars were not common, it was only because of their special identities that they met these Familiars more easily.

"Your Familiar is gifted; you'd better work hard with it. Don't waste its talent." Gao Peng glanced at the Iron Rhinoceros, walked closer.

Seeing a stranger approaching, Lotus Seed shook its head anxiously.

Gao Peng paused, staying two steps away from Lotus Seed. Lotus Seed was a little bit nervous. Then it opened its eyes, looking at Gao Peng curiously, but also timidly.

"Hey, big guy," Gao Peng greeted Lotus Seed.

"Huh~" Lotus Seed moved two steps backward with embarrassment. It had a shrill voice, like a baby acting pettishly. It glanced at Gao Peng, then suddenly turned around and ran away.

"It is too timid, you need to train it hard. I know that you are not willing to see it suffer from any hard work, since you watched it grow. But if you really want it to be an Attacker, spoiling it will only ruin its future, and yours." Gao Peng shook his head. After all, this was not his Familiar, so he should not interfere other people's training. He was offering his advice. Since they were going to be teammates, he was taking his own responsibility.

When he came home from school, Gao Peng went to the market to get some materials. Every material was sold in different shops, so it took him a long time to got everything ready and head home.

After he arrived, he first put extra materials aside, then sorted the rest into order.

Da Zi was about to upgrade to Perfect level. It had been two weeks after its last evolution to Excellent grade.

To Da Zi, upgrading to Perfect level meant being a Commander was not a tough job; it only needed to follow regular training.

Gao Peng was really careful when dealing with the materials. There were some highly toxic materials; if he distracted even for a second, he would be in big trouble.

He went to the bedroom to put on a white type of disinfectant suit. Da Zi thought the owner's suit was hilarious, and it circled around Gao Peng for a while, like it was going to pounce upon him. Gao Peng stopped it hurriedly. "Stop, you naughty boy. Don't you want to evolve anymore?"

Gao Peng dealt with each material separately, then boiled them with a large fire for two hours.

At last, he uncovered the pot. A black smoke raised from the pot, then went into the ventilator.

Gao Peng frowned. This dark smoke was not very poisonous, it didn't took long for it to disperse in the air. But later on, when he concocted more toxic portions, he couldn't be as casual as this. It seemed that he would need a special laboratory. But it would cost much to build one. He felt a headache for a moment.

The pot was dried. Only a layer of semi-soft black colloid was left at the bottom.

After boiling these materials, this pot could not be used anymore, without a doubt. Gao Peng moved the pot to the ground, then hit its edge with a chopstick. "Time for dinner."

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Chapter 37: Horrifying Savage Spiders

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The clanging sound of chopsticks made Da Zi raise its head. After finding the direction of the noise it began to crawl over. Da Zi looked at the black goo within the pot. Its antennae swayed around a bit but it did not begin eating.

It sniffed the goo a bit then stealthily removed its maxillae from the edges of the pot. It turned away with a look of disgust. "It's poisonous, it's poisonous…"

Gao Peng did not know what to say. He thought to himself, This whole pot of stuff was made with poisonous materials. Of course it is poisonous. But you're telling me that you're afraid of poison? You must be a disgrace to all poison-type Familiars.

"Come back and eat it all. You have to eat it in order to evolve. If you don't eat, how will you get stronger?" said Gao Peng in a strict tone.

After Da Zi ate everything without leaving a single drop, Gao Peng gave a relieved smile. Da Zi seemed a bit sluggish. It quietly found a corner to lie down in, curling into a ball.

Beside the Dark Ember Forest was a quiet valley. There, in a dark cave, a few gray-colored giant spiders slowly crept from the depths of the cave. Their eyes were a shimmering blood red, and they sniffed the surrounding air.

Nearby in a dense thicket emerged a Golden Pangolin, its scales glittering under the sunlight. A spider opened up its mouth and shot large amounts of greyish-white viscous liquid. The viscous liquid sprayed everywhere on the leaves, branches, and grass.

Upon contact with the air, the greyish white substance quickly solidified, losing its stickiness but becoming resilient and tough instead. The Golden Pangolin struggled to break away from the substance forming long sticky white threads, like damp chewing gum being stretched apart.

The Golden Pangolin made a low growl and raised its golden scales, transforming them into countless sharp blades. It curled its body, transforming into ball form.

By curling up, hugging itself and rotating, its sharp scales became a formation of whirling blades.

The spider silk could withstand blunt force, but against a sharp edge, it offered little resistance. As the threads of spider silk were cut, the Golden Pangolin thought it could finally escape. However, another wave of greyish-white, viscous fluid came raining from the sky again.

The sticky fluid kept increasing, gradually covering up the Golden Pangolin. The group of spiders surrounded the Golden Pangolin like a bunch of rogues, continually spitting white spider silk at it.

Finally, a large white cocoon began to form.

No matter how the Golden Pangolin struggled, it could not break free of the unending amounts of spider silk. Its whole body was secured firmly to the ground. It finally lay unmoving on the ground after expending all its energy, looking in despair at the group of slowly approaching spiders.

From that cave, an endless number of spiders poured out. It must have been their nest.

"Old Chen, give me the usual. 30 pounds of Yin cedar needles," Gao Peng said as he walked into the shop. It was Saturday, and he had just left his studio. He was too lazy to trouble others to deliver to his door, so he decided to pass by the store and buy what he needed.

"30 pounds?" the man Gao Peng called Old Chen replied. He was a tall, thin, and tanned youth, but he had the look of a matured older man. Many of the regular customers were used to addressing him as Old Chen.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gao, we only have ten pounds of Yin cedar needles left in our store today," Lao Chen said apologetically. "As you can see here…"

Gao Peng was surprised, but he waved his hand and said, "If ten pounds is all there is I'll have all ten. Pack them all up for me."

Gao Peng went to a number of stores nearby, only to find that Yin cedar needles had been out of stock for a few days already. From what he remembered, Yin cedar needles were not extremely common, but they were not rare either.

If these stores were all out of stock it probably meant that there were hardly any Yin cedar needles left in Chang'an, as the stores in the city center had the most variety of wares.

Because Gao Peng's studio was nearby, the stores were quite familiar with him.

One of the store owners kindly told him, "It's not just Yin cedar needles; quite a few materials have been out of stock recently."

"Oh? What happened?" Gao Peng was curious.

Although there was more than one method of promoting Dumby to epic grade, it had already eaten over 200 pounds of Yin cedar needles. Changing to an alternate method would be troublesome.

"Our store gets Yin cedar needles and a whole bunch of other materials from privately-owned grounds near the outskirts of Chang'an city. Because the goods are cheap and plentiful, many of Chang'an City's shops get their materials from that patch of land."

The store owner paused to take a breath of smoke before continuing to share his troubles. "Maybe news of the area being sealed off has not spread yet, but that patch of land is located near the Dark Ember Forest. About a week ago, a bunch of Scoundrel Spiders came out of nowhere and not only ate up most of the Yin attribute plants in the patch of land but also the other monsters in the surrounding forests. According to the owner, if they hadn't escaped his whole family would have become food for the Scoundrel Spiders. The whole area around that patch of land has been sealed off by the military. I'm afraid you won't be able to purchase any Yin cedar needles for the time being."

"Scoundrel Spiders…" Gao Peng wracked his brains to think if he could recall any monsters called Scoundrel Spiders.

"Scoundrel Spiders are just a nickname we use. The authorities have given them their own scientific name. They're called Brutal Grey Devil Spiders or something." The store owner took a deep puff and finished the cigarette in his hand before stepping on the cigarette butt. A few new customers entered the store and the store owner smiled apologetically before going to entertain them. "If there's anything else you need you can simply take a look around the store."

Gao Peng looked at the store owner who was introducing ingredients to the customers and then turned towards the crowded streets. It was the off-work peak hour. Traffic was jammed and he could see drivers playing with their Familiars while waiting to move.

Cheerful sounds came from the car windows. In this concrete jungle, man and Familiar came together and painted a picture of harmony.

Gao Peng exhaled and left the shop carrying his shopping bag. He needed to hurry up and finish his business he could go home and check if Da Zi had finished its evolution.

Yin cedar needles were in rather high demand because they were high-grade feed for Yin-attributed monsters. Gao Peng did not dare to relax once he heard the news and hurriedly went around the various stores in the city where there was still time in order to buy up all the remaining Yin cedar needles. In the end, he managed to purchase over 100 pounds of Yin cedar needles. But that meant there would hardly be any left within the city.

After that, he went to the Monster Hunting Association to put up a short-term assignment request for 300 pounds of Yin cedar needles which he would pay for at 1,100 Alliance Dollars per pound.

There were also Yin cedar needles in the wilderness, but they were unevenly distributed and rare. To gather them would take up a lot of time and energy.

But if he could accomplish such a task with money then there was no need to make the risky trip to the wilderness.

Back home, Gao Peng went online to search the news for "Brutal Grey Devil Spiders."

Entering these four keywords gave a whole row of news articles.

"Shocking! Extremely brutal, horrifying giant spiders are actually…"

"City resident Mr. Zhang recounts: The most horrifying night I almost became food for the spiders."

"A new species of spider monsters have appeared in Chang'an City's Dark Ember Forest which is now completely off-limits! Government issues strict warning to citizens against entering the Dark Ember Forest."

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Chapter 38: I Only Need Three Days

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Gao Peng skipped those titles and clicked the third link.

This news was published by Chang'an City news press, and was written officially. But this kind of news wouldn't carry too much subjectivity.

Gao Peng scanned the content seriously. The general idea of it was that a threatening species suddenly appeared in the Dark Ember Forest, that it had awesome destructive power, and liked to store food.

Unlike pythons which didn't move around after eating, the new coming Brutal Gray Devil Spider spent a large amount of time hunting for food, then tied prey up by cocooning it, and took it home. Therefore, its threat was way higher than the other monsters. Luckily, the government evacuated forest neighborhoods on time, so this species didn't cause many human injuries…

The news also briefly mentioned that the massive emergence of Brutal Gray Devil Spider caused much property loss. Now the Chang'an government had been actively detecting Brutal Gray Devil Spiders' active regions and habits, and figuring out methods to handle the situation. Meanwhile the government suggested that citizens stay away from the Dark Ember Forest and wait for further instructions.

At last was the evaluation of the threat level: three stars.

This was not a low level. Last year when a Commander monster approached Chang'an downtown, its threat was ranked four stars.

It seemed like he could not buy Yin Cedar needles in downtown recently. This also reminded Gao Peng, if he needed to buy materials in the future, he'd better make only one purchase, otherwise, once an accident happened, he would be in trouble.

Previously, Gao Peng thought that if he bought too much at a time, it would be hard to keep materials fresh. His refrigerator was a small one, so it would be fine to store dozens of pounds, but definitely not enough for hundreds of pounds.

Gao Peng left his bedroom. In the living room, Dumby was still working hard on its pine needles. If he could make a photo-comparison, it would obvious to see that Dumby was one size bigger than two weeks ago. Its gray bones now had a silver gray shine, and it looked tougher.

Da Zi was still cuddling up in a heap at the corner. Gao Peng looked at it for a while, making sure that it was fine. Then he went into the kitchen.

"Let's have kelp rib soup tonight." Gao Peng planned to show himself up. He was really good at this.

Soon the kitchen was filled with tantalizing aroma. The smell spread out into the living room.

Lying on the ground, Da Zi's limp antennae suddenly trembled. Its eyes were still closed, but the body crawled to the kitchen automatically.

Bang…

When Da Zi walked in with its eyes closed, it hit on a table leg. It opened its sleepy eyes, detoured around the table, then kept heading to the kitchen.

Dense legs held its long, shaking body all the way to the kitchen. It raised its head, looking at its owner, who was busy cooking.

Hiss! "I'm hungry!"

Two different sounds rang in Gao Peng's brain.

"Soon, just give me a second," Gao Peng replied habitually. Suddenly he realized, Is this guy finished evolving?

He turned around. Da Zi's data frame finally showed its grade had changed from Excellent to Perfect.

Nevertheless, Da Zi's appearance didn't change much. Gao Peng looked closer; nothing else changed except extra golden patterns on its antennas.

After dinner, Gao Peng received a phone call from Blue Shield Protection Company's manager Liu Senlin. "Sorry to bother you so late at night, Mr. Gao," Liu Senlin kept apologizing in the phone.

"It's OK, I'm not in bed. No worries." Gao Peng muted the TV and asked, "Manager Liu, is there an emergency?"

"Yes. I wonder whether Mr. Gao has time tonight." Liu Senlin tried to control his emotions, but Gao Peng still felt his anxiety.

Gao Peng raised head and glanced at the clock on the wall; it was only eight o'clock. "Yes I do." He took money from them, then helped them solve problems. It was fair.

"That would be great. Thank you so much." Liu Senlin sounded relieved.

Gao Peng didn't wait long before a black commercial vehicle came to pick him up. Liu Senlin was in the car.

"Eh? Why did Manager Liu come so quick?" Gao Peng asked confusingly.

"Mr. Gao, have you heard about the newly found Brutal Gray Devil Spiders in the Dark Ember Forest?"

"Yes, I have heard something about them," Gao Peng nodded.

"Then I'm not going to re-explain the story. The government has called many protection companies together, as well as private organizations, to discover the Brutal Gray Devil Spiders' habits and weaknesses. Our company received a new task this morning, and is about to leave in three days. Therefore, we want to ask you to take care of our Devil Mantises beforehand. It would be great to upgrade some Devil Mantises before we started our mission, for stronger Devil Mantises can increase our probability of winning. Of course, it is fine if they are not able to evolve. No matter what the result, please help us," Liu Senlin said earnestly.

"If I'm right, I remember that the government didn't allow private organizations or protection companies to touch these missions in the past." Gao Peng was surprised. The government used to keep missions secret and didn't allow organizations or protection companies to participate for social security reasons. These missions used to be done by armies and government-owned laboratories.

"The coalition government held a meeting days ago. They have made some reformations, as well as abolishments," Liu Senlin sighed. "From now on, the coalition will go on a different path. It used to suppress organizations, companies and all the unofficial forces' growth. But in recent years, rapid monster evolution has been bothering the government so much that they finally realized they were not able to fight alone. Therefore, this time, they opened up many of the policies."

As the manager of a protection company, Liu Senlin was willing to see this happen.

Soon the car stopped in front of a building. They got of the car and walked into the building. On both sides of the gate, two security guards in blue uniforms were guarding vigilantly. Next to them stood two Devil Mantises, like two sculptures.

The big square behind the building was also under protection. Three tall walls surrounded the square, which were covered by electrified wire netting.

Gao Peng glanced over; there gathered hundreds of Devil Mantises in the square. The atmosphere was tense.

"These are all the Devil Mantises we have," Liu Senlin nodded.

Gao Peng stepped forward. He looked at the mantises, and only saw dense data frames. He finally selected 10 Devil Mantises.

"Let's try these ten mantises."

"Nice choice, Mr. Gao!" Liu Senlin thumbed up. These ten were exactly the best Devil Mantises in the company.

"I will write down the materials on a piece of paper; you go find them as soon as possible. If everything goes well, three days will be enough," Gao Peng said emotionlessly.

"Roger that."

After a short while, Gao Peng handed Liu Snelin a note with materials on it. Liu Senlin glanced at the note, and, daring not to waste time, immediately sent people out for purchasing. He ordered them to got everything prepared with an hour, no matter how much it cost.

Being in Chang'an City for such a long time, Liu Senlin had built his own networks. Everyone was sent out. It didn't take long to collect all the materials.

"Mr. Gao, materials are ready." Liu Senlin was dripping with sweat. He was anxious and worried.

Gao Peng didn't look back. He carefully put on his gloves and mask.

In front of him, a big pot was boiling, and heat blew ino his face.

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Chapter 39: Four-Winged Jade Devil Mantis

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

If Ma Jian were there, he would have found the scene extremely familiar.

There was a boiling pot of water, and a table next to it lined with chopped materials that looked like ingredients for cooking…

Water hydrates, hence it is able to nourish wood. The materials on the table consisted mostly of wood-type materials, with a few water-type materials mixed within. Devil Mantises had wood-type attributes.

Gao Peng picked up what looked to be a fish's swim bladder in his hands. It was about the size of a fist and transparent. In this air bladder, there was a bit of greyish white liquid.

He took a silver needle and carefully poked a small hole in the air bladder. He drained the liquid out until, finally, a seed came out as well.

This was a Fish Bubble, a type of material that grew from trees. It was extremely resilient, could withstand high temperatures, and was waterproof as well.

Gao Peng blended the other chopped materials together and placed it into the Fish Bubble. Gently flipping the Fish Bubble around, it became a little pocket, wrapping all the materials together. After tying up the opening on the Fish Bubble with a dead knot, the materials were all properly contained within the Fish Bubble.

He repeated these steps until he had filled 10 Fish Bubbles, before putting them all in the boiling water.

This step was really troublesome. He needed to cook the materials in boiling water, but at the same time, he had to prevent the materials from being contaminated by the steam or else the medicinal properties of the wood-attribute materials would be damaged.

Ten minutes later, he fished out all the Fish Bubbles and placed them on a wooden board. Because metal overcomes wood, the medicinal materials could not be allowed to come into contact with metal or else contamination would occur then as well.

Using a glass knife, he gently cut open the fish bubbles. The medicinal materials were stuck together after being cut, blended and cooked. He rolled them into balls before feeding them to the Devil Mantises.

After eating them, the Devil Mantises began to tremble before suddenly collapsing. They lay on the floor with their wings twitching mildly.

The first step was now completed. Only two more steps left. Gao Peng worked without stopping, preparing the next batch of medicinal herbs.

At night, the laboratory lights remained bright.

Gao Peng was the only one in the lab, so all the steps needed to be completed by him alone. All the materials were weighed using high-precision electronic scales to the accuracy of 0.01 grams.

The experiment continued all the way until next morning before finally coming to completion. In the lab were ten Devil Mantises that had fallen into deep comas.

Gao Peng tidied up all the excess materials and tossed them into concentrated sulfuric acid before taking of his mask and gloves.

He opened the laboratory doors. Outside, Liu Senlin, who had waited for a whole night, was awakened by the door opening. He got up from his chair and hurriedly went up to Gao Peng. "Mr. Gao, the results of the experiment…"

"It should have been successful. They should be able to wake up in the afternoon." Gao Peng was a little fatigued after working through the night. Right now, all he wanted was to have a good rest.

"That's great, thank you Mr. Gao," Liu Senlin nodded repeatedly. "Our company has already arranged for a room. If Mr. Gao requires it, you can head to the room to rest. If you would like to head home instead, we also have a car specially prepared to send you home."

Gao Peng thought for a moment. "Please send me directly to my studio then. Sorry for the trouble."

Entering his studio, Gao Peng lowered the backrest of his chair and adjusted it to a comfortable position for sleeping. Since there were few customers anyway, he could probably sleep with peace of mind.

Gao Peng slept into the afternoon before waking up on his own. As expected, there were no customers throughout the whole morning.

He saw the thank-you text sent by Liu Senlin after he woke up. It said that some of the Devil Mantises had begun to evolve. Gao Peng was not surprised because the Mantises that he had chosen were the best among the lot, and were the most suitable for evolution. Each of them was at level 20. Just a promotion in grade would fulfil the requirements for evolution. It would be surprising if they had not evolved.

At the other side, Liu Senlin's heart was beating fast. A Devil Mantis was beginning to evolve right in front of his eyes. Its body was slowly increasing in length. On its back, its wings raised high. A tearing sound came from its skin as a new, stronger-looking pair of wings emerged from under the skin.

Whoosh~

With a gentle shake, the fluid that was stuck on the wings was blown off.

A mere flutter of its wings sent the dust on the ground flying and made a mess out of Liu Senlin's hair.

Its body bent forward and its bladed forelimbs sunk into the cement floor.

Blurry-looking balls of light surrounded the Devil Mantis, and were rushing into its body one by one. With each ball of light, its body grew in size.

The evolution process took around fifteen minutes before coming to an end.

The Devil Mantis before Liu Senlin had changed completely. Its height was one and a half times its original size, and its body had ballooned to three times of what it originally was.

The number of wings it had behind its back had doubled, such that it had two pairs now. Its sleek, emerald-bladed limbs were thrust into the cement floor, cutting through it as easily as cutting a block of tofu.

Its color had also turned into a jade green, as though the monster was carved out of the highest quality jade.

The surrounding Devil Mantises took a glance at it and cautiously backed away from it. Mantises were not social animals. When facing a stronger member of their species they would not choose to submit to it, but to run or hide instead.

"Commander tier, Four-Winged Jade Devil Mantis…" muttered Liu Senlin as he pushed up his spectacles. He felt as though he were looking at a distinguished work of art.

Before this Devil Mantis evolved, his entire company only had a total of four commander tier Devil Mantises. With this one, it would bring the total number to five. With its evolution, it proved that it had successfully promoted to a perfect grade.

In the past, Liu Senlin had approached other intermediate level Monster Breeders before. But because Devil Mantises were rather niche Familiars, they found little success in promoting them. His only alternative was to approach the Experiment Division of the Southern Sky Group, where he had bought the Devil Mantises from, as these mantises were created by the Experiment Division themselves. In the past, each successfully promoted Devil Mantis came at the price of spending huge amounts of money.

This Gao Peng was really his lucky star.

At the thought of Gao Peng, Liu Senlin felt a burning wave of relief in his heart. Hiring Gao Peng to be the company's Monster Breeder consultant was definitely the wisest decision he had ever made.

Back then, he had only agreed to sign a contract with Gao Peng at the request of his uncle. But right now, he truly admired this young man from the bottom of his heart.

It was not clear what Gao Peng's actual identity was, but his uncle had specifically reminded him not to give him too much slack, nor to offend him.

But even excluding his mysterious identity, Gao Peng's abilities alone were worth paying plenty of attention to.

Three days later, along the perimeter of the Dark Ember Forest, a large amount of soldiers had already sealed off the area inside and cleared out a large open area outside the perimeter.

In the rear, numerous artillery vehicles were at the ready, like cold, hulking metal beasts. There seemed to be traces of cannon fire along the edges of the forest.

"We are glad to have all of you here," the military representative addressed his large audience.

There were a few groups of people in front of him, each clearly separate from each other, and each divided into a few teams of their own.

Within this group of people, those from the Blue Shield Protection Company were the most eye-catching.

Within their ranks were eight jade-green giant mantises that were much larger that the surrounding Devil Mantises. They caught plenty of attention from the surrounding groups.

A regular Devil Mantis was two meters tall, but these Four-Winged Jade Devil Mantises reached a height of almost three meters. Their presence brought an immense feeling of pressure to everyone around them.

Eight commander tier Familiars!

Each of the organizations around them sent only three to four commander tier Familiars. After all, there was no way they could have sent their full strength on a single mission.

"According to the experiments we have performed on a few live samples that were captured, we have found that the Brutal Grey Devil Spider's weakness is fire. They clearly react in terror towards flames."

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Chapter 40: Lord of the Dark Ember!

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Hearing the Brutal Gray Devil Spider was afraid of fire, many people present looked at the western team.

This was a women's team. They all wore white fighting suits with ponytails or bobs. They were guided by a tall woman.

Next to them quietly stood their Fire Familiars.

Besides companies and organizations, some combat squads also came to hunt. These squads usually formed by friends or families. Some had clear individual functions, while some teams followed a certain person's Familiars.

One years ago, official Monster Hunting Alliance was set up. They not only offered individual registration, but group registration as well.

This further guaranteed these combat squads' legality.

People said that in southeastern Huaxia, hundred-people large combat squads already existed.

"Seems that this time, Captain Song is going to win," Liu Senlin smiled submissively.

"You flatter me. Your Devil Mantis is regarded as Forest Killer; I say you will complete this mission first-"

"I believe that you all read the data yesterday. Brutal Gray Devil Spiders hunt a large amount of prey and bring them back to their lair, probably to provide sufficient food for the matrix. Once their matrix has acquired enough food, it will reproduce a tremendous spider tide," a government official interrupted.

"This is a vital mission. I hope everybody tries their best and cooperates well. As long as the mission is completed successfully, you will be rewarded." The official convinced them. The government was afraid that these voluntary organizations fought with each other for mission rewards. They didn't want to see these teams had wasted their energy before the mission was done.

At the edge of the Dark Ember Forest, through gaps among trees, gray spider legs peeped up. But it was had to tell exactly how many spiders there were.

Army's rear fire formation changed direction, aiming at the forest.

A military senior official with a service cap said seriously, "Wish you luck!"

Then he turned to the forest and looked far into it, commanding out loud, "Fire!"

Flames of rage burst forth from cannons all together.

Boom boom boom!

Booms were everywhere. Bombs fired with anger. They flew into the forest, leaving shadows behind.

Brutal Gray Devil Spiders' faint panic screaming spread. It was too late for those monsters to retreat.

As bombs fell to the ground, fierce shock waves and flames engulfed the woods. Scorching air and continuous booming filled the woods. There was screaming and floundering as Brutal Gray Devil Spiders were burned into ashes.

After a round of fire attack, a breach was made at the edge of the Dark Ember Forest, as if the woods were bitten by a giant monster.

The remnant fire burned broken trees. Black dead bodies were lying on the dumpy ground. Miles of forest was destroyed into nothing. Only few surviving spiders were wailing in fear.

This was the power of modern weaponry, that used to be the force for humans ruling the Earth.

"Grrrrr!" An angry shout rented the air like a thunderbolt. Deep in the forest, woods began to shake, trees were broken one after another, and black hair could be vaguely seen in the dark.

The snarl came closer. An invisible pressure threatened everybody. Even the air was frozen!

A car-sized fist suddenly broke the forest's edge, stretching into a ferocious shadow.

Boom!!!

The fist pounded on the ground, and people felt the earth shake.

A four-floor-tall Black King Kong craned forward from the forest. Faint semi-concrete golden halos spread from its feet.

Lord Halo! It was a Lord Monster!

There was deathly silence.

Present Familiars which were below Commander level all threw themselves down on the ground and trembled, cowards too scared to pee. Commander Familiars looked a little bit calmer. They barely stood still, and dared not to make any noise.

"This is the Lord of the Dark Ember Forest." Liu Senlin tasted bitterness. How come they disturbed the Lord of this forest?

Bang, bang…

Strong arms propped it up on the ground as the monster slowly approached them, every step it made bringing great pressure.

Its giant body was like a monster from the times of great antiquity, and its face, cloudy and as black as the bottom of a pan, frowned tightly.

It was the first time many people present to met this legendary Lord of the Dark Ember.

No one ever expected that this Lord of the Dark Ember would come out from the deep forest. It was said that the Lord rarely came out from its territory.

Some people began to think of an escape route. Facing a Lord monster, they had no chance to fight back. Even though there were dozens of Commander monsters, plus guns and cannons, they didn't even have a tiny probability of winning. Cannons could not threaten a Lord monster at all.

Skreee!

A bird's screech rang above their heads. The sun was suddenly covered as an enormous shadow appeared. Someone looked above in the sky, seeing a giant golden eagle gleaming in the sky.

"It's Golden Deity!" People were excited. They would be saved.

It was the strongest protector of Huaxia Chang'an military region: the Golden Deity.

The biggest reason for Chang'an to be well protected was the Golden Deity. People said that the Golden Deity was a mutant golden eagle, which was raised and cultivated under good care. After the cataclysm, it fought at the front line, defending mutant monsters.

The Golden Deity's appearance was a big threat to Lord of the Dark Ember. The black King Kong stepped back, roaring with anger, pointing at the messy forest, as if it were hurling a question.

The Golden Deity spiraled in the air, crying coldly.

The Lord of the Dark Ember seemed not willing to reconcile. It stood up and punched its chest, making heavy noises.

The Golden Deity glanced at it with scorn, cried, then flew away.

Lord of the Dark Ember breathed heavily. It glared at the humans with hatred, stamped and roared with rage. At last, it pointed at the Dark Ember Forest, turned around, and disappeared in the woods.

"There are some things we can't help. You have to do it quick, and remember, do not over-destroy the forest. Otherwise, if Lord of the Dark Ember gets pissed off again, you will be in great trouble." The military brass hat narrowed his eyes, watching the Lord leave.

Those present, except for the military, were specialists in Chang'an. They came here with confidence and pride.

But they first went through Lord of the Dark Ember, then met the Golden Deity. Either of them could wipe humans out with a snap. Such experience tore their arrogance apart.

To catch up with the world's top, they still had a long way to go.

Staring at these people's backs, the military bass hat frowned, "We can solve this by ourselves; why let them do it?"

The government officer shook his head. "Long ago, countries in the world detected the upcoming world change, so they prepared in advance. But the world changed in an unexpected, fierce way. We are only one step before them. As time goes by, the gap between the government and non-governmental organizations gets smaller and smaller. What we need to do right now is prepare for our future."

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