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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Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 281 - Ruler of The Mountains (Spider) online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 281: Ruler of The Mountains (Spider)

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

"A Mountain… Mountain Spirit!" he screamed in abject terror.

Screaming his lungs out did little to alleviate the all-consuming despair he felt. He had heard of their existence, but he had never seen one up close until that point. The sheer presence of the Mountain Spirit exuded such gravity that looking up at it from the foot of the mountain made him feel like nothing more than a speck of dust.

"Let's go!" said the leader of the Monster Hunting Squad as he dragged his motionless squad member up to his feet. They quickly climbed on the familiar and flew away.

Maybe it was a fear of heights, but Stripey was moving abnormally slowly.

The earth trembled with every step the Mountain Spirit took.

Gao Peng squinted into the distance, motioning for Da Zi and the others to slow down. He saw a giant figure emerge from behind the mountain in front of them. It left a trail of devastation in its wake, slash marks gouged deep into the bark of the broken trees and fallen logs.

The giant figure was over 1,500 feet tall, and its body was as round as it was big. It was clad in layers of jet-black granite, like a suit of armor. Clouds of dark smoke billowed forth from the shell on its back and coalesced around its head, flashing intermittently with streaks of red. It had 36 spidery legs, each as tall as a skyscraper. Without much ado, it started moving in Gao Peng's direction at an alarming speed.

The Mountain Spirit's aura was simply overwhelming. Birds and beasts alike fled in a frenzy to get out of its path.

"Uhhhh—" The beast let out a long, plaintive cry that was heard by every living creature in a hundred mile radius.

"Gao Peng, we need to run now!" Da Zi clamped onto his sleeve and started dragging him away.

Goldie stood rooted to its spot, fists tightly balled up. Its muscles were swelling so quickly it almost ripped its outfit.

On the verge of tears, Silly grabbed large fistfuls of Gao Peng's hair in panic. "That thing is huge. We have to get out of here now!" Instead, Gao Peng grabbed him and turned him in the direction of the beast. "Tell me. What do you see?"

No response. Silly was as still as a corpse. Gao Peng turned him back around only to find out that Silly had passed out from fear. He couldn't help but exclaim in disgust. What a coward!

As he turned around to face the beast, he gasped in shock. Even though he already had an idea of what to expect, he still wasn't ready for what he was facing.

[Monster Name: Disaster Mountain Spider

[Monster Tier: 51 (Emperor Tier)

[Monster Grade: Epic

[Monster Attribute: Earth/Rock/Magma

[Monster Ability: Giant Body Level 1, Earth Control Level 5, Magma Control Level 2, Harden Rock Level 3

[Special Characteristic: Heart of Earth (Absorbs elemental energy from the earth, increases the power of Earth-affinity techniques.)

Passive Effect 1: Earth Control Level increases by a level.

Passive Effect 2: Earth Protection; as long as it's in contact with the ground, it can indefinitely absorb Earth elemental energy to form an impenetrable layer of granite armor. This ability is inextricably linked to its Earth Control ability.

Disaster Cloud (The earth is not its only source of power, nor is the magma flowing deep beneath the earth. Excess magma energy collected is released in the form of ash-gray smog through the holes on its back. This smog is known as the Disaster Cloud, and it surrounds its head like a crown.)

Passive Effect 1: These clouds have incredibly powerful magma energy and can absorb these energies indefinitely.

Active Effect 2: Disaster Cloud Mastery; an incredibly powerful attack that rains magma from the skies.

[Monster Weakness: Impenetrable defense, impossibly large body; as long as it's in contact with the ground, it can raise its defensive power indefinitely. However, mobility is extremely poor, and it has to be in contact with the earth to maximize its battle potential.

[Monster Introduction: An Earth Shield Spider that consumed the heart of an evolving Mountain Spirit King. It was lucky enough to merge and evolve with the Mountain Spirit King to evolve into an extremely rare Disaster Mountain Spider.

[Requirements for Legendary: …

Stripey had really hit the jackpot. Even Gao Peng had to marvel at its luck.

Stripey was Epic now. It must have briefly become a Legendary in the process of evolving and gone back to Epic after hitting Emperor tier.

Unfortunately, that meant that Stripey couldn't travel with him like it used to. Stripey was basically a fortress now, only good for defending a particular location.

A whirlwind of emotions was sweeping through Gao Peng. He was overjoyed for Stripey, yet he was also wracked by an acute sense of loss.

"Stripey." Gao Peng spread his arms, a huge smile on his face. "Congratulations on making it back."

Stripey's enormous body drew closer and closer, uncomfortably so. Gao Peng looked a little nervous. To be hit by something of that size would be tragic. Even Goldie would be pulverized instantly.

All of a sudden, there Stripey was. It was as if a mountain had landed in front of them, blotting out the sky. The sheer amount of air its massive body displaced whipped up a violent gale that flattened every tree in the vicinity.

Head held high, Gao Peng walked up to Stripey with a small smile on his face. Without breaking eye contact once, he gently stroked the parts of its sandpaper-coarse granite exterior he could reach. It was warm to the touch.

"Good boy. You've grown so big now. You can't run around like you used to, you know?"

With a huge rumble, a crevasse opened up within the granite. In the inky depths of the crevasse, there was a single vermillion orb that radiated pulsating waves of immense wisdom and power. It was Stripey's eye.

"Master, I want to to hold you again…" Upon seeing Gao Peng, its mind instantly cleared. Its doubts, fears, and everything in between vanished into the wind.

All it felt was an immense affection for the man in front of him.

"But… I can't hold you like I used to," said Stripey wistfully. Its voice was a low, deep, rumble that seemed to echo and reverberate from the very depths of the mountain.

"You can talk now?" Gao Peng had to pick his jaw up off the floor.

Stripey wasn't communicating with him through their Blood Contract. Through some organ of its own, it had an honest-to-goodness voice now!

Gao Peng realized belatedly that this wasn't the time to focus on that.

The granite rocks on Stripey's exterior weren't uniform in size. There were large rocks and little rocks. Gao Peng picked a small, protruding rock off the surface and gently rolled it between his fingers.

"Why don't you go to the mountains behind the Southern Sky Group? Don't worry about anything else. You're my familiar, and I'll see to it that no one gives you trouble."

"Okay…" Slowly, Stripey blinked. It would go to the ends of the Earth for Gao Peng.

"Since you've absorbed the Mountain Spirit's essence, from now on, you shall be the Ruler of The Mountains."

"Ruler of The Mountains? Ruler, of, The, Mountains!" The Spider's mighty voice was carried by the wind deep into every nook and cranny of the surrounding mountains…

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Chapter 282: Grandfather's Discovery

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

To avoid alerting Yuzhou's military and causing a panic, Gao Peng didn't bring Stripey back with him. Instead, he had Dumby keep Stripey company as Dumby was resting. Gao Peng needed to discuss this development with his grandfather immediately.

As for whether Stripey would cause any more trouble if it was left alone, Gao Peng was fine as long as it didn't bully the smaller creatures around it.

Stripey nodded obediently. Honestly, it was still a little dizzy.

A fear of heights wasn't entirely uncommon, and relatively easy to overcome. A couple of days on a glass plank suspended a few hundred feet in the air would do the trick.

For Stripey, it took a couple of hours for it to get used to its new size. It was now able to look straight down without feeling nauseous, and it looked rather pleased with itself.

I, Stripey, am no longer afraid of heights.

I am Stripey the Courageous!

After Gao Peng left, Stripey remained where it was, rump arched high into the air. He pawed idly at something on the ground, looking very much like he was enjoying himself.

Slowly, shadowy figures emerged slowly from the woods nearby. They kept a safe distance, admiring Stripey from afar.

Mountain spirits of Stripey's size were extremely rare. Mountain spirits also tended to look like well…mountains. Even if they were living breathing mountains, they didn't have quite the same visual impact as one like Stripey, whose arachnoid form, skyscraper legs and granite exterior cut a rather monstrous figure.

Stripey could feel their inquisitive gazes on him, like little pricks of light. It made him very uncomfortable.

The earth trembled and shook as Stripey got up and unleashed a fearsome roar in their direction.

A cloud of gray ash erupted from his mouth and engulfed the entire mountain range.

After 30 seconds of venting his displeasure at those insects, they were nowhere to be seen. Satisfied that they were gone, he flopped on his belly where he was earlier between the mountains.

"Is this what it feels like to mess with other people? It feels amazing! No wonder Da Zi always used to steal my food…"

Stripey lay contentedly on the ground. Every part of its body in contact of with the ground started absorbing earth into its body, like roots of a tree. Energy surged within him. A huge being like him cannot survive on substances like flesh or blood. He has to survive on the energy he absorbs from Nature, like from rivers or mountains. To him, consuming flesh or blood is a luxury that will help him evolve that much faster.

On the way home, Da Zi was downcast.

Gao Peng gently rapped him on the head. "Haven't we seen Stripey? Why do you look so down?"

Da Zi raised his head and briefly met Gao peng's gaze before he resumed his melancholy.After a few moments, he murmured quietly. "Now that he's so big, I can't play with him any more."

Gao peng had no idea what to say to Da Zi. Hopefully, he'd forget this ever happened in a couple of days. Nonetheless, Da Zi did make him realize that there would hardly be anyone left able to play with Stripey at his current size.

Just like a human couldn't possibly spend the rest of his or her days speaking to a colony of ants, Stripey would eventually end up lonely and isolated. That wasn't what Gao Peng wanted to see. He couldn't have cared less if it had been someone else's familiar, but because it was Stripey, he had to worry about these things on Stripey's behalf.

Gao Peng fell deep into thought…

Maybe the other Mountain Spirits would be friends with Stripey. Maybe the White Dragon was secretly lonely as well?

Pondering these questions, Gao Peng made his way back to Southern Sky.

His grandfather was reading in the study, so he knocked before entering. Ji Hanwu glanced at him, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly. All of a sudden, he hurled a punch at Gao Peng with his left hand.

Whoosh—

To be more accurate, the punch was so quick Gao Peng could only see a blurred image of it in the air. The sound of his fist slicing through the air rang as clear as a bell.

The hairs on his back stood on end. He hardened his skin like iron, and in that same breath, retaliated with a similar punch.

He only used twenty percent of his real power, though.

Bang!!

His grandfather's sleeve ripped into shreds. He was almost lifted straight out of his chair by the sheer force of the punch.

While regaining his composure, he nodded slightly. "Not bad. You've gotten stronger. You must be hungry. Let me rustle up some food." He left the study with as much dignity as he could muster.

As he went downstairs, his arm had yet to recover and was still trembling slightly.

"I can't believe this brat tried so hard when I was clearly testing him. I wouldn't have held back if I knew he was going to pull a stunt like this. The nerve!"

The moment Gao Peng had entered the room, Ji Hanwu had been able to sense something different about him. His Emperor-tier Trainer Extrasensory ability could easily pick up the abundant vitality beating within Gao Peng's heart at such a close distance. It surprised him, which was why he had decided to test Gao Peng.

"This little brat…" Ji Hanwu couldn't help but think back to the time Gao Peng had thrown his Mountain Spirit's Heart at the slumbering Mountain Spirit. He couldn't help but marvel at how much Gao Peng had grown. It made him both happy and sad at the same time.

However, now that Gao Peng could take care of himself, it was time for him to let go of more than one thing.

The most pressing matter at hand however was… were they having twice cooked pork or salt fried pork for dinner?

Ji Hanwu put on his apron and went to work in the kitchen.

Over dinner, Gao Peng told his grandfather everything that had happened with Stripey. "Don't worry about it. I'll handle it." His grandfather nodded slowly.

"Chairman Ji, the Wooden Peacock will be defiant until the end. It hasn't eaten anything for the past two weeks and is starving itself to death." The person in charge of lab number five passed him a file with data on the Wooden Peacock and its abilities.

"Hm." Ji Hanwu nodded slightly. He wasn't surprised.

He had actually received reports on the Wooden Peacock's situation a few days earlier. He already knew how it was starving itself, crying out in lament every night alone in its cell.

Ji Hanwu had thought of having the White Dragon knock it out before force feeding it, but had eventually decided against it. He was a traditional man with a deep respect for the strength of the familiar's resolve, and he refused to disrespect it by doing so.

He would grant the peacock's dying wish.

"You can continue researching the other materials in the lab, but leave the remains intact." His eyes flickered from the file to the lab technician before he closed the file.

"Understood."

Clank clank…

The sound of the machine whirring and clanking echoed in the carriage. The faintly metallic smell of blood and the sickly-sweet smell of disinfectant permeated the air.

Clad in black, Dumby slipped out of the bone collection center and bolted the iron doors with well-practiced ease.

It was already close to 10pm and pitch black outside.

It took out a sixth grade textbook of of his robes and started reading it using the light of the Soul Flames in its eyes.

Working in the slaughterhouse was a repetitive chore. Every few hours, one had to do the same thing over and over again, absorbing Soul Flames from the deathly remains sent there.

Soul Flames weren't souls; they were completely unrelated.

Technically, Soul Flames were the dying vestiges of a soul.

Having worked there for a while, Dumby was bored. Since it wanted to tutor Xiao Hua, it had Gao Peng buy it a textbook for her so it could familiarize himself with the lessons. Every spare minute it had, it would go through the textbook.

Absorbing an enormous amount of Soul Flames had not only considerably strengthened its own soul, it had also enhanced both its memory and its cognitive ability.

Lower-tier monsters had little to no cognitive ability. Only when they improved in tier and grade did they become more intelligent. The intelligence of Lord-tier monsters was said to be on par with most humans. All they lacked was common sense and experience.

By chance, Dumby had came across the proverb to "lead by example." That was why it had wanted to go through the textbook. It didn't want Xiao Hua to do this alone, so it wanted to lead by example as her father.

All too soon, it was almost at the exit. Carefully returning the textbook to its pocket, it bounded out with a spring in its step, very happy. After all, its master had already promised to brew the evolutionary potion that Xiao Hua needed in order to evolve.

Red River Apes were good. Dumby had once been a Red River Ape, too. It would never look down upon them. Yet, it was also a matter of fact that Red River Apes didn't lead the greatest lives. This was something that it was always concerned about. As Ghoul-attribute monsters, they had a very long lifespan, yet this wasn't necessarily a good thing. To solve this problem, all it needed was for Xiao Hua to evolve to Commander-tier, or even Lord-tier.

Not knowing if Xiao Hua had actually taken the potion, its mind clouded with worry. It quickened his footsteps.

"Dumby," someone called to him from behind.

He turned around only to see Gao Peng waving at him from a small alley.

"Master." Dumby took a couple of huge steps towards Gao Peng.

"Don't worry. I've already brewed the evolutionary potion that Xiao Hua needs. I have a favor to ask in return."

It nodded resolutely. "What is it, Master?"

"There are two souls that I need you to help me harvest." Gao Peng smiled mysteriously.

Without question, it followed Gao Peng into the woods. Soon enough, they made it to a wide clearing surrounded by a thicket of trees and bushes. In the moonlight, it could vaguely make out the skeletal remains of two creatures, one bigger than the other.

The large skeleton was at least ten yards long, with bones as thin as thorns. The sole exception was its thigh bones, which were particularly thick and powerful. It also had an impressive pair of wings. Perhaps the most shocking sight of all was the bones in its tail. What should have been an elaborate fan-like structure of bones was now a haphazard mess. Some of the bones were twisted at impossible angles, some cracked to the core.

Not far away were the skeletal remains of a far smaller creature, around 13 feet long. It had a powerful frame, especially its arms, which were shaped like battering rams. It also had a huge bone spur growing out of its back that appeared to be retractable.

Even in death, the remains of the two creatures released an immense aura, their pearly white bones gleaming brightly in the moonlight.

Dumby didn't say a word, nor did it ask about the skeletons. It lifted up its right hand, and a burst of Soul Flame erupted from its palm.

The flames formed a spinning ring around the larger skeleton and remained that way for quite a while, but nothing happened. Dumby shook its head. It looked like it wasn't strong enough to revive this particular skeleton just yet. It was one level short of the Wooden Peacock and could only revive monsters that were a lower level than it.

The Level 42 Winged Thunder Ape was a different story, though. The Flames of The Undead flowed like water into and in between every nook and cranny of its skeleton before engulfing it entirely in a sphere of white.

The Soul Flames that laid dormant within the skeletal remains of the Winged Thunder Ape were drawn out and consumed by Dumby's Flame of the Undead.

Dumby could hear a muted ringing in its ears. At the same time, stray memories appeared in quick staccato flashes in front of it. It was nothing it hadn't experienced before. Every Soul Flame it had ever consumed before had also contained lingering memories just like this. It was imperative that it avoided absorbing these memories as much as it could to avoid its brain being affected.

With the precision of a surgeon, Dumby sifted through and cut out the unwanted memories like a cancerous tumor.

These supposedly intangible memories melted like snow near fire upon coming into contact with the material world, gently coloring the night sky rainbow, like a bubble in sunlight.

In the silvery moonlight, the broken pieces of memory slowly rippled outward, like an ink droplet hitting the surface of a lake.

In the image, a little brown monkey pranced around, sneaking quick glances at the two-legged creature in front of it through the bars of its cage.

The leaves rustled soothingly. The sunlight was filtered through the leaves into drops of liquid gold. The brown monkey, now a little older, tried to catch the light with its hands. The good-natured laughter of its keeper echoed in the distance…

Then it was the Cataclysm. The animals around it were in uproar. The keeper fumbled with a set of keys before unlocking a huge metal gate. "Run! All of you, run!"

The other monkeys rushed out of there as quickly as they could. Only the little brown monkey stayed behind, curiously eyeing the man that fed them every day. It scratched its little head, and after a moment of thought, flung its arms around the neck of the man in a great hug. Upon seeing him turn around in shock, the monkey giggled wickedly…

The memory ended there.

This was the Winged Thunder Ape's most indelible memory. Even in death, it was the one most important thing left behind.

Gao Peng sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

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Chapter 284: Vibration

Translator:Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor:Nyoi-Bo Studio

Every life was an epic story.

To the Winged Thunder Ape, the zoo worker, Jia Lu, was extremely important. Even in death, memories of Jia Lu were still deeply engraved into its soul.

As for the Wooden Peacock, which would rather die than submit, it had already proven its worth as a familiar.

What a shame they had to be enemies.

"Roar!" The corpse of the Winged Thunder Ape let out an explosive yell as it slowly stood upright. White-hot flames burned brightly in its dark eye sockets. The sound of the ash-white bones rattling against each other echoed hauntingly through the forest.

Even though this wasn't his first time seeing it, Gao Peng was still amazed nonetheless.

It had the power to bring the dead back to life!

[Monster Name: Winged Skeletal Ape (Subordinate of Skeletal Tyrant)

[Monster Tier: Tier 41

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Ghoul/Bone

[Monster Weakness: Holy/Light

Its grade and tier were one lower compared to before it had been reincarnated. A reincarnated ghoul wouldn't be able to access the full spectrum of its power and abilities from when it was alive. There was a difference in the strength of all reincarnated ghouls, even though what affected this difference was yet to be fully understood.

Dumby ordered the Winged Skeletal Ape to carry the remains of the Wooden Peacock to its master's lab before going with Gao Peng.

"Xiao Hua already evolved successfully this afternoon. She was still sleeping in the cottage when I left. Why don't you go see if she's awake? " Gao Peng said with a grin on his face.

Dumby nodded in acknowledgement. It stood motionlessly as it watched Gao Peng leave. After a few moments, it clenched its right fist in front of its chest and bowed deeply in the direction of the man who had just left.

Everyone within Yuzhou had received explosive news the day before.

The Southern Sky Group had added to its ranks a Lord-tier familiar—the Disaster Mountain Spider.

The news swept through the upper echelons of Yuzhou's society like the wind, and with frightening speed, it made its way through the other base cities, then the entire Huaxia region.

Everyone thought it was a joke, until they found out otherwise. Then they were shocked to the core. Their hearts were torn between feelings of envy, admiration, and awe.

"I heard that Ji Hanwu already has a Lord-tier White Dragon. Now that he has another Lord-Tier familiar, isn't the Southern Sky Group going to be ridiculously strong?" The mayor of Mo Du Base City could be heard saying this to anyone who would listen. Somehow, word got out.

That night, the Yuzhou military and the Yuzhou government held an emergency meeting that lasted a whole three hours.

In the New World Allied Government, the military and the government had distinct and separate roles. They rarely got along well, so such a meeting was unheard of.

"Okay. Report our conclusions to the federal government of the Huaxia region. Let's not make any sudden moves for now. As long as the Southern Sky Group doesn't make any outrageous requests, accommodate them the best that you can."

With that, the mayor of Yuzhou Base City concluded their meeting.

The purpose of their meeting wasn't to oppose the Southern Sky Group in any way. They'd been forced to have the meeting simply because of the huge ramifications of this news. Currently, they had no idea whether or not the other major regions had their own Lord-tier familiars. Even with the formation of the New World Allied Government, tensions and secrecy were still high between these regions. Other than a few shared departments and projects, they were completely in the dark about what was going on in these regions.

It was common knowledge that there was only one Lord-tier familiar in the Huaxia region—Ji Hanwu's White Dragon. Now that he had another Disaster Mountain Spider, things had to change. Who knew what Ji Hanwu had planned? It was best to be prepared for anything.

Gao Peng found out the news the following day.

'Grandfather, you just let the news out like that?" Gao Peng wasn't used to being in the limelight. He much preferred doing all of his work in the shadows.

"I wanted to cover it up for you, but have you seen the size of your familiar? How am I supposed to hide that? People aren't blind, y'know?" Ji Hanwu chuckled.

Gao Peng laughed ruefully. His grandpa had a point. There was no way to hide Stripey from sight unless they were living among the blind.

"So what if people know?" Ji Hanwu said calmly. "What can they do about it?"

"Remember. The strong will always prey on the weak! When I first returned to the Southern Sky Group, we had nothing. The night I came back, I was ambushed six times by snipers, familiars, and even some guy who tossed a bomb into my room." Gao Peng's ears perked up. This was the first time his grandfather had ever spoken about his past.

Gao Peng was shocked. "Who would dare do such a thing?!"

Ji Hanwu waved him off. "Because I was gone for a year, they did whatever they wanted with the group. Naturally, they were pissed when I came back." His icy laugh didn't reach his eyes. "The next day, I took White Dragon with me and I executed them!"

At this point, he turned around and looked Gao Peng straight in the eyes. "That put the fear of God in them."

Gao Peng nodded enthusiastically, looking like a chick pecking at the ground.

"I was hoping to spare you this for another couple of years or so..." Ji Hanwu trailed off. He had never thought his grandson would grow so much so quickly. He smiled wistfully. Who knew that the grandson that he had wanted to protect so much no longer needed him?

"Grandfather, I'll take care of you from now on." Gao Peng's voice was like steel.

"Haha. Don't you worry about me. I still have a couple of tricks up my sleeve." Ji Hanwu grinned widely.

The Shifting Constellations Technique had been discovered by Ji Hanwu in ancient ruins. He had trained in it before, so he knew best just how powerful it was. He could say for sure now that Gao Peng was definitely stronger than him and didn't require his protection any longer.

On the third day, Stripey started moving towards where Gao Peng was. He eventually settled down in the mountains behind the manor.

The Yuzhou government noticed the gigantic creature, but they turned a blind eye. The Huaxia region had issued an order earlier—stand down.

This was the Yuzhou government's official stance. However, the staff at the Southern Sky Group felt differently. All of a sudden, they felt as though they were working in the most secure place on Earth...

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Chapter 285: Goldtail Divine Shrimp

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

"Da Zi, what are you doing? Get your *ss back here!" Gao Peng was pissed.

A streak of purple light flashed across the mountains and landed with a crash in front of Gao Peng.

Da Zi snuck a quick glance at Gao Peng before turning around nonchalantly to leave.

"Stay where you are!" It froze, its antennas starting to twitch wildly. Had it been noticed by Gao Peng?

"What were you doing just now?" Gao Peng asked furiously.

Da Zi turned around with a expression on its face that said "who, me?"

"Hisss?"

Gao Peng lifted up one of Da Zi's claws. "Explain yourself!" He said as he gestured at the dirt and splinters between them.

"These are yummy!" said Da Zi with an innocent smile on its face as it licked its claws clean.

Gao Peng rolled his eyes. Ever since Stripey had come back, Da Zi would go play with it every other day. If Stripey was a lazy sloth and Goldie was a violent duck, then Da Zi was a mischievous monkey.

"Let go of me, ugly!" said Da Zi as it struggled to free itself from Da Zi's grip.

"You're always picking on Stripey. Did you go plant trees on its back again?"

Da Zi stopped struggling, closed its eyes, and pretended not to have heard him.

"It's all good with the trees, but why did you have to go plant oranges as well?"

Da Zi stared at him with eyes wide open. "Oranges are delicious. You know us centipedes love oranges!"

After hearing that, Gao Peng brushed off Da Zi's hand and turned to leave.

"Stay right there, Gao Peng. Let me get you some oranges…"

Gao Peng didn't know whether to laugh or be mad. Ever since it had learned how to use the Internet, Da Zi had been picking up strange things.

Even though the situation had stabilized slightly, the news about the Disaster Mountain Spider and the Emperor-tier familiar was still spreading like wildfire.

Nonetheless, the masses still had no idea about this, because those in power were doing everything they could to control the narrative. However, all it took was one person who knew what was going on to leak it. It was only a matter of time until everyone found out.

Because of this, Gao Peng and Ji Hanwu were flooded with a tide of visitors. A lot of these people were random strangers who just wanted to be seen with the both of them.

The rise of the Southern Sky Group as a major superpower was seen as a sure thing. It had already been a big player before, but with the addition of two Emperor-tier familiars, there was no telling how much bigger the group could grow.

In other news, the Southern Sky Group's "Evolutionary Potion" started selling like hot cakes. Their selling point was the claim that Chairman Ji's familiar had evolved into an Emperor-tier familiar using the product. The customers ate this up and cleaned out their stock. The Southern Sky Group made thousands.

"Young master, a young lady named Lin Xinrui is here to see you."

"Send her in."

Lin Xinrui walked into his lab with her familiar by her side. "Looks like you made a pretty good haul." Since she had been the one to tell him about the Hand of White Gold, he wasn't surprised at all by her razor-sharp eyes.

Gao Peng smiled wordlessly.

The familiar behind her was a 10-foot long shrimp-like creature made of pure gold.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn't an Armored Shrimp but a close relative of it—the Sparrow-tailed Mantis Shrimp. Even though they were related, their battle strengths were worlds apart.

Before the Cataclysm, the Sparrow-tailed Mantis Shrimp had been able to strike with its claws at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour, making it about as fast as a handgun. The heat from the friction generated could cause the water around it to combust spontaneously, and it also had a mystical pair of eyes that allowed it to see multiple spectrums of light.

This kind of creature had already existed before the Cataclysm. The Cataclysm had only helped it take the next step in its evolution.

[Monster Name: Goldtail Divine Shrimp

[Monster Level: 40

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Ability: Muscle Growth Level 2 Shell Harden Level 1

[Monster Attribute: Gold

[Monster Weakness: 1. Fire. 2.The point in its tail where the 3rd and 4th joints connect is very weak.

[Ways of Reaching Perfect Grade: Six

It's abilities seemed fairly common, but Gao Peng couldn't help but notice that it had a set of claws lined with fine, saw-like teeth hidden underneath its body that resembled a pair of swords. The speed of its strikes combined with the structure of its claws meant that it could rip any kind of flesh to shreds at the drop of a hat.

It's diamond-like exterior also meant that its defense was nothing to laugh at. Gao Peng nodded silently in approval. This Goldtail Divine Shrimp had some real potential. If it were ever to make it to Epic grade, it would most certainly be a sight to behold. Unfortunately, it would likely be held back by its grade even though it should theoretically have been strong enough to evolve tier-wise.

After Gao Peng looked through all six ways, he closed his eyes to think.

He did have some of the materials on hand. Some of the others he could find at the other labs. However, he ultimately lacked something for each and every way.

Gao Peng let out a deep sigh. This was truly unfortunate.

"I still lack certain materials," he said regretfully.

"If you're not in a hurry, I can send some men out to gather the necessary materials. If we're fortunate, we should have all we need in a week. If not…" he trailed off.

Lin Xinrui nodded in understanding. There was no such thing as a sure thing when it came to monster breeding.

"Don't worry. I'll definitely keep the promise I made to you." His eyes were earnest and unwavering.

"I'll hold you to it then."

'Master Gao, I've done as you instructed." Huang Ya's voice crackled over the phone.

Satisfied, Gao Peng hung up after giving him additional instructions.

Under his instructions, Huang Ya had taken in orphans from the Bai Ye region and found them honest jobs at the local factory. Furthermore, he'd had Huang Ya build a school in his name for them as well. The school had been built close to the Southern Sky Group, which all but assured the orphans of their safety. Everything was free to these children. Many different kinds of courses were taught to these orphans, but they all carried the same lesson—loyalty to Gao Peng and the Southern Sky group.

As the Headmaster, Gao Peng couldn't guarantee loyalty, but he could try his best.

After the Cataclysm, there had been an explosion of orphans. Even with the considerable resources of the Alliance, it was hard to care adequately for them all. Their lives were definitely not as amazing as they were often portrayed in the media.

Gao Peng wouldn't force anyone to attend. It seemed like a great deal to him. He would provide top-class education, and even familiars, for those who excelled in return for their loyalty.

Quid pro quo. All he wanted was a little bit of loyalty.

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Chapter 286: The Haunting in The Business District

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

Gao Peng wasn't affected by the rumors spreading about him. In fact, he was rather pleased these days. Even though he didn't want Da Zi messing with Stripey, not only did Stripey not seem to mind, it actually looked like it was enjoying itself.

Now that Da Zi wasn't there, Stripey was a little antsy. "Gao Peng, where is Da Zi? Why hasn't it come to play?" It flopped lazily onto the ground.

Gao Peng was about to tell him the truth, that he had told Da Zi to stay away, before he caught himself. Damn those large, soulful eyes.

"It is actually preparing a huge surprise for you."

"Really?" Stripey's face lit up.

"Yup!"

"Good." Satisfied, it shot the mansion an expectant glance, as though Da Zi would show up in front of it if it looked hard enough.

Stripey tried taking a quick nap, but all it could do was roll around restlessly wondering what surprise Da Zi was cooking up for it.

"I actually thought it didn't want to play with me anymore." It smiled shyly. The earth trembled as it wiggled its massive body.

As Gao Peng descended the mountain, he turned around and looked tenderly at Stripey, pain written clear on his face.

He finally understood why these huge creatures with enormous lifespans spent most of their lives asleep. It wasn't that they cared for it particularly, it was the fact that there was literally nothing else to do.

Loneliness was the worst.

He wished their dreams would always be free of pain, worry, and loneliness.

Gao Peng thought of the White Dragon and the Mountain Spirit, and then it hit him. It was the faintest outline of an idea, but he would definitely think through it long and hard.

Yuzhou City, Adamantium Bridge Business District.

Before the Cataclysm, this had been where the most prosperous business district in Yuzhou City was located. Now, it was dotted with brothels where drinks spread quickly and money flowed easily.

Right in the middle of the district was a 50 foot tall bronze statue of the Sage King.

Along with a base of around ten feet, the entire sculpture was around 60 feet tall. Wielding a huge crescent blade and atop a scarlet horse, the striking figure made out of faintly burnished bronze was a landmark of the area. It caught the eye of the many people who passed through the area every day. As time went by, however, people grew used to the majestic sight. They were no longer impressed the way they once had been.

At dawn, a cool mist flowed through and around the streets, engulfing the area in a a ghostly cocoon of white. The streets were littered with stray leaves and empty beer cans.

Clad in blue, the sweeper silently made his way around, cleaning the streets.

Zheng Changshou wiped the sweat off his brow with a flourish. October mornings in Yuzhou could get pretty muggy.

Looking up at the majestic statue, his brow furrowed. Was it just him, or did something look a little strange?

Barely had the thought crossed his mind when he dismissed it. He still had a lot of the street to cover, and it wasn't going to clean itself. He did not want to be caught in the morning rush.

As the morning sun rose ever higher, the sunlight filtering through the steel jungle cast beautiful designs on the streets below. The statue of the Sage King was set ablaze as his massive blade was sheathed in golden light.

"Just like that. Hold that pose. One, two, three, say cheese!"

Tourists loved taking pictures with the statue and they usually did—in hordes.

"Hmm? Liu Ai, why does this picture look different that the one you showed me last time?" Lu Feng stabbed an accusing finger at the photo.

"You're seeing things. The picture was taken from the exact same angle. Are you questioning my skills?" The woman named Liu Ai wasn't happy.

"I don't really know how to explain it…" said Lu Feng as she swiped through her camera roll at lightning speed. "Look. It's different, right?"

Liu Ai peered closely. It was the same photo she had taken her first time at the Adamantium Bridge, from the exact same location.

A chill ran down her spine.

The first picture had been taken a year ago. The Sage King had his head held high, and he had a slight squint. His left hand stroked his beard, while he held his crescent blade in the right.

The second picture was very similar, except for the fact that the Sage King's head was lowered slightly, staring straight at Lu Feng!

Lu Feng had always been the braver one. She tapped Liu Ai on the shoulder. "It's probably just a little loose because of how poorly it has been maintained."

Liu Ai said nothing. She turned around to look at the statue of the Sage King again.

Under the sun, his head was held high, his proud visage a startling sight to behold.

Lu Feng could tell that Liu Ai wasn't interested, so she turned around to look at the Sage King as well.

They were silent. After a beat, they made a beeline out of the place.

"Boss, have you heard? There have been some ghost sightings at the Adamantium Bridge." Xu Qingzhi strolled into the lab with materials in her arms.

"So what? We have two little ghosts right here." Gao Peng said drily as he started working with the new materials.

Upon deeper thought, the boss' words made sense.

"You're right, boss."

"I can't believe you have time for this. It's already been three months, and you still can't even brew a simple Petrifying Potion? Why don't you spend more time on that?" Gao Peng shot her a sharp glance.

She was mad. Who could compare to a freak like her boss?

Having been put down so thoroughly, she didn't feel like talking to the jerk anymore.

The very next day, the central area of the Adamantium Bridge Business District was sealed off. There were several patrol cars stationed by the yellow police tape.

There were several corpses covered in black cloth lying in the middle of the sealed off area.

"Where's the witness?" Police Commander Chang Luoqian could feel a migraine coming on. To have such a gruesome thing happen under his watch in the busiest area of the district meant that he was probably going to hear about it from his superiors.

'The witness is in the car," said one of his subordinates as he mumbled something else.

Luoqian slowly massaged his temples and nodded. "I've got it."

According to the coroner, the victims had been decapitated, their heads completely severed from their necks. The wound patterns suggested that it was probably done with a blunt instrument.

Using a blunt weapon to execute someone?

All that told him was that the suspect was monstrously strong.

"This strength is inhuman!"

"Maybe they were murdered by a monster!"

Thus began a lively discussion among the police officers.

"And how did that damn statue vanish? You're not telling me it ran away on its own!"

There weren't any cameras near the scene of the crime, but most of the surrounding shops did have cameras installed. The forensics team started examining those videos feverishly to turn up any kind of lead.

The sound of footsteps could be heard outside the conference room. "Commander, the report is out!"

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"Hm." Luo Qian's face darkened as he flipped through the report.

The black-and-white photo in front of him revealed a huge figure leaving the crime scene on horseback. If he wasn't mistaken, that was the huge bronze statue from the square.

The statue… had come to life?!

Luo Qian was pensive.

If anything, the Cataclysm had numbed him to phenomena of this sort. He might have been shocked. but it only took him a couple of seconds to regain his composure.

"Pull all available footage. We need to find that statue!" An assistant rushed breathlessly into the room. "Sir, its status has been located. It was spotted at Chengxi Magnet Mouth Plaza.

Luo Qian rubbed his temples slowly. "What? It was found?"

"Sir, it was found at Chengxi Magnet Mouth Plaza. There's already a crowd of people around it."

He drew in a deep breath before issuing a stern command. "Evacuate the civilians—wait." What if that alarmed the statue?

He couldn't figure this statue out. Even though he wasn't sure the statue was the murderer, it was highly likely. Why else would the statue have gone all the way to the Chengxi Magnet Mouth Plaza? Was there any logic to it?

Luo Qian wasn't quite sure what to do, but he knew that evacuating civilians was the top priority. If, for some reason, the statue decided to go on a killing spree, his job would be on the line.

"Do it quietly, and do it quickly. Don't alarm the statue. Evacuate the civilians and bar non-police and non-military personnel from entering Chengxi Magnet Mouth Plaza."

"Yes, sir."

With a grave expression on his face, he quickly made his way to the garden out back.

The garden was a secret enclosure accessible only to the top figures of the police department. Shrouded in mystery, rumors started flying around about it. Some said that it housed an incredibly powerful familiar. Others said that it housed a squad of elite police officers.

It was actually a spacious clearing with gazebos lining both sides of the area. He strode directly into an old building at the back of the garden before making his way downstairs past several secret doors into a room filled with the latest tech.

Magnet Mouth was a famous commercial district in Yuzhou City. The difference between this district and the one at Adamantium Bridge was the fact that Magnet Mouth's main type of business was trading creatures and rare materials.

Business didn't look so good that day. It seemed like businesses there wasn't doing very well.

Gao Peng had come here to buy creatures to experiment on. To ensure that all went as planned, he had decided to do it himself.

For every legitimate shop selling legally sourced creatures, there was an illegal one doing the exact opposite, where none of the creatures there had been properly vetted. If one was lucky, it was definitely possible to walk away with a Perfect-grade creature. Not only did they come a lot cheaper, but there was an element of chance to it that drew people in like moths to a flame.

Prices at a legitimate shop were clearly stated. An Obsidian Crystal for verification purposes, as well as a certification of quality, were included with the sale of the creature. Obsidian Crystals weren't cheap, which is why legitimate creatures cost a lot more.

They also provided a warranty. As long as it was within reason, any problems one had after the sale would be dealt with very professionally.

Naturally, Gao Peng avoided the legitimate shops like the plague. He didn't need the fancy bells and whistles.

After going through several different stores, he was greatly disappointed. Most of the creatures on sale were Normal-grade or below, and the few Excellent-grade creatures he came across were ridiculously overpriced. There wasn't a single Perfect-grade creature to be seen.

Furthermore, these creatures weren't in good condition. Many of them were curled up, motionless, in a corner in their cages. The shyer ones were actually trembling like leaves.

If it wasn't for the fact that he could tell what their attributes were, he would have thought they were sick.

After making a small deposit, Gao Peng left his address and strolled out into a dark alley. The alley opened out into a vast field, but the entrance to the field was being blocked off by several police cars.

Not expecting much, he stood on his tiptoes, trying to see what the commotion was about. He was greeted by the majestic sight of a statue right in the middle of the field.

It looked very familiar. Wasn't it the statue of the Sage King from the Adamantium Bridge Business District?

He did a double take.

As he did, a stream of data faintly started appearing out of the corner of his eye.

[Monster Name:…

Hiss—

He closed his eyes in disgust. What the hell was that thing?

Wasn't it just a regular statue? Why was he getting monster data?

If a mountain could birth a Mountain Spirit, there was no reason why a statue couldn't come to life.

[Monster Name: Animated Bronze Statue (Sage King)

[Monster Level: 41 (Lord-tier)

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Attribute: Gold

[Monster Ability: Iron Skin Metal Bones Level 3, Super Durability Level 1

[Monster Weakness: 1. Earth 2. Electric 3. Items with impurities

[Monster Introduction: Originally, it was just a normal statue, but it gained life energy after being infused by the power of wishes. This life energy was then fully activated by the surrounding spiritual and elemental energies. Thus, it animated.

The power of wishes? It probably wasn't faith.

Gao Peng remembered clearly that there were no signs of worship, like shrines or incense, at the Adamantium Bridge Business District. The closest it ever came to that was passersby nodding in respect as they walked past.

If it wasn't faith, it was probably something else.

His brow furrowed. He was the kind of guy to mind his own business, but he couldn't in good conscience allow a monster to run free in the city, especially when he was in a position to do something about it.

He made a quick call to his grandfather to explain the situation.

"The Yuzhou City Government didn't tell me about this. They used to, but not this time." His grandfather's tone was calm and measured.

Gao Peng understood what he was trying to say. "But the civilians don't know."

"The Thunder Shell Lord is close to you. It'll be there as soon as it can."

This statue couldn't really cause much trouble in this area, but Gao Peng was worried for other areas.

He really hoped that there weren't others like this Animated Statue, especially in this historical area of Huaxia. That thing that had crawled out of the royal crypts had already been a handful. He really hoped that he wasn't being paranoid.

Slowly, the people gathering around the status started to realize something was amiss.

The atmosphere turned grim, and some of the more sensitive ones left the plaza silently.

A group of people in black military garb from the Allied Government entered the plaza.

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Chapter 288: Sage King

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

The men in black all had a small black insignia on their sleeves. The insignia was crimson in the middle and embroidered in gold.

"They're with the Black Flags." Gao Peng could recognize them right away.

His grandfather had told him all about the various departments under the Allied Government, even the secret ones. The Black Flags were a secret unit under the Allied Government tasked with handling emergencies like these within the base cities.

With them were scores of jet-black hounds. Each of these hounds was easily 15 feet long and ten feet tall. Jutting out of each of their backs was an intimidating row of bone-like protrusions, which tented their skin like sheer arches.

Their obsidian fur had a glossy sheen to it, and their muscular limbs hinted at the incredible distances they could cover in a single bound.

[Monster Name: Obsidian Hound

[Monster Level: 23-35

[Monster Grade: Normal (Elite)

[Monster Attribute: Dark Type

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Ferocious) (Alert) (Ready)

[Monster Weakness:…

The level of the hounds ranged from 23 to 35, but not a single one of them had a grade above Normal. These hounds were obviously well trained. Not only had they shown no fear in the face of a Lord-tier monster, they had become even more fired up instead.

Make no mistake, these hounds were an elite combat squad of familiars.

There were at least 50 of them at the scene. That was to say, there were at least 50 Commander-tier familiars, all of them expertly trained to turn on a dime. Still, Gao Peng wasn't quite sure if they could take on the Lord-tier statue.

After all, this wasn't a game with offensive and defensive power. If one couldn't break through an opponent's guard, one couldn't hurt them. That was why numbers didn't really matter.

While enough ants could eventually take down an elephant, that, too, was predicated on the fact that the ants had to actually be able to pierce through an elephant's skin.

"Sir, I'm going to need you leave this area," said a young police officer politely.

"You should stay away, too. That monster is insanely strong." Gao Peng smiled lightly as he turned to leave.

Naturally, he didn't actually leave. He only backed a few hundred yards away.

More and more police familiars were being brought into the plaza. He even spotted a few military personnel there, as well.

They surrounded the statue, eyeing it warily.

In the apartments surrounding the plaza, people gathered on their balconies to watch the unfolding spectacle.

With all eyes on it, even a dumb brute like the statue could tell something was amiss.

Amidst the noise in the background,the head of the bronze statue slowly swiveled around with a creak and let out an ear-splitting cry as it raised its crescent blade, which gleamed spectacularly in the midday sun, to the sky.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bronze steed started trampling wildly into the crowd of people around it, the giant crescent blade letting out a low hum.

A fearsome burst of wind ripped through the air, rattling the bricks on the ground.

Bang! Another stomp. A ring of dark golden light emanated from the point where its hoof had struck and slowly radiated outward. The ring was strangely beautiful in its uniformity, with sharp lances of light decorating the four cardinal points of the ring.

Nobody really paid attention to this, since they were looking at a Lord-tier creature after all!

The curious spectators around the plaza quickly drew their windows and curtains shut, but they still couldn't help peeking out.

Some of the more cowardly ones left the area altogether.

"Control the situation, and let it be known that a Lord-tier familiar has appeared in the city! Hurry!" Upon seeing the ring of light that burst forth from the statue, Luo Qian's face paled. His immediate concern wasn't damage control, but how to save his job. "Evacuate everyone in the vicinity as well! This part of the city is now a Red Zone!"

Anger bloomed in his chest. What are you stupid people gawking at? Don't you realize you're all about to die?

The battle at the center of the plaza was already underway!

With a mighty sweep of its crescent blade, the statue cleared a path through the hounds surrounding it and immediately attempted to break through.

'Woof!" The hound closest to the statue lunged out, a whirling dervish of fangs and claws.

It managed to catch the back of the horse, but its claws, which were strong enough to crush iron, could only leave the merest of scratches.

Thud!

In a flash, the hound was struck down by the crescent blade with an ugly thud. The creature slumped onto the ground like a sack of potatoes. Blood and froth oozed from its nose and mouth, its arched back broken clean in two.

Enraged, the pack of hounds surged forward to avenge their fallen comrade.

That did it. The fleeing statue slowed and turned around to face the pack of hounds, its left hand casually stroking its beard.

"Die!"

Such was its speed that the ghostly afterimages of the crescent blade slicing and dicing through the hounds lingered on even after the hounds fell.

While its technique weren't overly impressive, it was effective nonetheless. Factored in with its god-like strength, and the fight was over before it had even begun.

"Tell them to stand down. Stand down!" Luo Qian was beside himself while watching his familiars being swatted down like flies.

Under orders, those hounds that could still move stood down, but there were only 30 of them left at that point.

The rest were lying motionlessly on the ground. Some of them were distorted beyond recognition, a blood-curdling mess of bone and flesh. The worst of them were barely breathing, their insides leaking out of the gaping holes in their bellies.

All of a sudden, Gao Peng felt the earth rumble beneath him, and a manhole cover shot up into the sky. The ground trembled violently, rough cracks radiating outwards from the epicenter.

There was another huge rumble. A drill of midnight purple emerged from the ground. Intricate patterns of lightning could be seen on the drill, which was crackling with violent electricity.

There was a brief moment of silence before the ground erupted, causing debris to fly in all directions. It was a good thing that the civilians had already evacuated. Other than Gao Peng, there were no civilians in sight.

Somewhere far away, Stripey felt a little itch on its back, almost like a mosquito sting.

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Chapter 289: Sage King vs. the Thunder Shell Lord

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

There was an enormous breach in the ground. The faint odor of rotting sewage wafted through it.

The Thunder Shell Lord emerged slowly from the breach, lightning dancing around it. Maybe it was the sunlight, but the lightning didn't look particularly intimidating. However, it was enough to catch the attention of the surrounding officers.

"Hold it!"

"Who goes there?"

"Have your familiar stand down!"

Several armed officers, along with their familiars, circled the Thunder Shell Lord cautiously.

"Officers, I'm merely a law-abiding citizen of the Alliance. Please, hold your fire." Gao Peng raised both his arms in what he hoped was a non-threatening manner.

"What is it this time?" Luo Qian could hear the commotion. He already had his hands full with the current situation, and he simply didn't have the time for this. He really wanted to throw the troublemaker into jail for a couple of months, just because he could.

"Sir, someone with a familiar from the Dark Alley wants to see you."

"Who could this person be?" he mused. "Send him over." He had already made up his mind. If this person was here just to waste his time, he would throw the guy in jail for a couple of months.

As soon as Gao Peng made his way over, Luo Qian couldn't keep his eyes off of the Thunder Shell Lord. It felt very familiar, as though they might have met long before this.

"Wait. Isn't this…" His eyes widened. Joy surged through him. He remembered the familiar now.

Talk about a timely entrance.

"And you are…?" Luo Qian rarely watched TV. He had no time to watch competitions and the like, so he had no idea who he was talking to.

"Mr. Gao is fine," Gao Peng said modestly.

"Oh, I see. Mr. Gao." He knew it was just an alias, but he didn't care. "Mr. Gao, please lend us your assistance in subduing this rampaging monster. For the sake of the city and all its people, I implore you."

"Naturally." Gao Peng nodded. "This is my civic duty for the Alliance."

'Thunder Shell Lord." Gao Peng turned around to face it.

Hearing that name confirmed what Luo Qian knew, that this familiar did indeed belong to that renowned person. At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder just who exactly this "Mr. Gao" was.

Just because he didn't watch TV didn't mean that his officers didn't. Quite a few of them recognized Gao Peng and quietly told him who he was.

Upon hearing that he was a Lord-tier monster trainer and the grandson of that famous person, Luo Qian's eyes lit up.

He immediately grasped both of Gao Peng's hands. "Thank you, Gao Peng."

"Mr. Gao is fine." Gao Peng waved his hand airily.

Luo Qian was curious. If news of this got out, it would only improve his reputation, and immensely so. Why was he going to such lengths to keep his identity a secret?

"Right now, I'm merely a civic-minded citizen. Naturally, all credit for the subduing of this Lord-tier monster will go to you, Commander Luo."

That didn't make Luo Qian happy at all. If anything, it gave him a bad feeling. Gao Peng was obviously after something much bigger than this.

However, Luo Qian didn't have a choice. He waved his officers away so he could speak with Gao Peng privately. "If there's anything you need from me, please feel free—"

"You want the glory, I want the reward. I don't want the credit for this, but I will be claiming the spoils of victory for myself. I hope we can come to an understanding on this."

Luo Qian was conflicted, yet he had no choice but to agree. "Very well. Is there anything else?"

"Not at the moment, but I'll reach out if I need anything from your side." Gao Peng knew that this bronze Sage King statue was weak to lightning, but he wisely said nothing about it.

Having cut down those who had tried to stop it, the statue turned to leave.

All of a sudden, it heard the tell-tale crackle of electricity behind it. A streak of lightning screamed through the air and blew open a smoking crater right by its feet.

The statue turned around slowly to face the Thunder Shell Lord. It had run out of patience and didn't plan on leaving just yet.

Without warning, it charged straight at the Thunder Shell Lord. Dragging the crescent blade through the ground, it ripped a huge trench in the ground as sparks rained down. Going ever faster, it bore down on the Thunder Shell Lord like a hurricane. As the wind roared, debris started flying with greater intensity.

The Thunder Shell Lord calmly extended two long, delicate laws into the air, reminding Gao Peng of a lightning rod. The next moment, a sphere of pure lightning started forming around its claws. Even the air current surrounding it started swirling. Arcs of electricity flickered and flashed as power surged through its body.

With sickening speed, it unleashed a ferocious attack. Streams of lightning energy slithered along the ground like snakes toward the statue.

Just before the Sage King was struck, its steed leapt more than 30 feet straight into the air. All that could be seen of it was its shadow.

The electric snakes on the ground shot straight into the air in hot pursuit, as though drawn together by magnets. Within seconds, they had latched onto the horse's legs.

In a flash, the leg disintegrated.

The electric snakes then gathered and created a web, ensnaring and immobilizing the statue instantly.

Once the statue was fully trapped, the Thunder Shell Lord yanked it back to the ground with a mighty pull.

It landed in the middle of the plaza with a resounding boom.

As the smoke cleared, the statue was rolling around the ground and trying to escape, looking rather undignified as it did so.

The Thunder Shell Lord amped up its power. Countless webs of lightning started materializing around the statue, entombing it in a grisly cocoon of pure energy.

No matter how strong it was, it could barely move now. The Sage King statue was basically a beached whale at this point.

Mustering one final attempt, it tried to raise its crescent blade. It barely got the blade halfway up before its arm snapped violently and fell limply onto the ground.

"The battle is over."

Gao Peng was amazed. He'd had no idea that elemental submission could be so violent.

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Chapter 290: Suppression

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

Bronze was an extremely good conductor of electricity. The statue was racked with painful jolts of electricity as it laid motionless. The arcs of lightning were so incredibly dense and powerful that they materialized as thick, golden chains that bound the statue to the ground.

The battle was over before Luo Qian could carry out even one of the many strategies he had thought of before the skirmish.

Staring at Gao Peng and the Thunder Shell Lord in disbelief, he opened his mouth to say something but wisely decided against it.

This had all seemed too easy to him, over in a flash.

Deep down, though, he knew. It wasn't that the statue was weak. The Thunder Shell Lord was just that strong. As expected of that man's familiar, to be able to take down a reincarnated Sage King in the blink of an eye.

[Monster Name: Animated Bronze Statue (Sage King)

[Monster Condition: Slightly Hurt (Paralyzed)

A close subordinate whispered slyly in his ear, "Commander, is it possible that the statue expended too much strength against our men earlier and is running on fumes now?"

Luo Qian smiled humorlessly. "Why don't you take Mr. Gao's place?"

The man grinned bashfully. He could tell the difference in their abilities, so he took the hint and shut his mouth.

Gao Peng had extraordinary hearing. Even though Luo Qian was at least 65 feet away from him, he heard their little exchange as clear as day.

He had a growing respect for Luo Qian, the clever man. If he had wanted to burn bridges, Gao Peng would have had no problem playing along. The minute the Thunder Shell Lord stopped releasing its electricity, the bronze statue would instantly spring to life and decimate every officer present.

Gao Peng couldn't help but admire the statue's incredible defense. Even after being subjected to countless lightning-based attacks, there was barely a scratch on it. Given that it was actually weak to lightning, its physical defense must have been even more formidable.

It wasn't without weaknesses, though. The lightning attacks had basically rendered it helpless. If its other weak points had been exposed at the same time, it wouldn't have been able to last as long as it had.

Gao Peng wasn't really too impressed with a Lord-tier creature with such an obvious weakness.

To evolve a Lord-tier creature into an Emperor-tier one would take too much time. If statues like this one were reanimating all over the world, there were surely better ones he could work with.

It would be a huge hassle to transport the statue back to the Southern Sky group. Because it needed to be constantly suppressed with lightning, a normal truck wouldn't do. Even if the truck could handle the lightning, there was no way a normal human driver could.

Eventually, Southern Sky deployed a heavily modified truck to bring the statue back. The container was made of a special insulated material, and the inside was also lined with a special kind of bark that had strong insulating properties.

Once the statue was loaded into the container, the Thunder Shell Lord laid quietly behind it, suppressing it with a constant flow of electrical energy.

After an hour, they were almost home. At this point, the dark purple shell on the Thunder Shell Lord's back had paled considerably. With it's fine claws, it tapped the floor lightly, as though saying, "I need a break."

Gao Peng could tell how exhausted it was. After all, it couldn't have been easy suppressing a Lord-tier creature, whether it was weak to lightning or not.

Once they reached the Southern Sky Group, they entered through the side. The statue, which was still putting up a rather spirited fight, quieted suddenly.

Finally, the statue was unloaded by the lake. The truck driver looked quizzically at the statue before flooring it out of there.

Now that they were there, the Thunder Shell Lord could finally take a break.

Feeling the chains of lightning keeping it captive dissipating, the statue slowly got to its feet. It looked like a centaur the way its legs seemed glued to the sides of its horse.

Flourishing its crescent blade, it shot a quick glance at the Thunder Shell Lord. Narrowing its eyes, it turned around abruptly and took a mighty swing at Gao Peng!

Gao Peng casually intercepted the blade with his left hand.

Raising his eyebrows, Gao Peng flicked the blade away violently, causing the statue to stumble backwards.

The statue was just about to try again when an ear-splitting roar rocked them both. The roar echoed in the mountains and out into the distance.

The bronze statue went limp, and its skin rippled furiously. It felt weak all of a sudden, as though someone had just ripped off its skin.

From between the mountains, an enormous head poked out, its gaze fixed upon the statue.

An enormous fissure opened up beneath the statue's feet. It couldn't escape in time and was swallowed up by the ground from the waist down. Layers of earth started enveloping the statue. It formed what looked like a giant meatball.

Cracks started appearing in the earth, but just as quickly as they appeared, they were plastered over by even more layers of earth.

Eventually, the statue was fully entombed in a 60 foot wide ball of earth.

The ball started rolling towards Stripey and eventually landed somewhere near his rump. Stripey then rather unceremoniously sat on the ball, like a hen warming its eggs.

Under the careful manipulation of both the Allied Government and the Southern Sky Group, this situation was quickly brought under wraps.

Naturally, the Allied Government didn't want people finding out about this crisis, while the Southern Sky Group was perfectly content adding a Lord-tier creature to their ranks in secret.

After all, the news about the two Emperor-tier familiars was still spreading like wildfire. Something like this would barely register in the collective consciousness of the people.

After some digging, Gao Peng found out that statues were animating all over the world. Depending on the material of the statues, their abilities were all vastly different.

Gao Peng had noe huge concern—the statue of the Huan Shan Buddha had yet to show signs of life. The Huan Shan Buddha statue was located in Ba Shu, which was rather close to both the Yuzhou and Suzhou base cities.

Although the Huan Shan Buddha statue wasn't the largest in the Huaxia region, it was definitely in the top five. More importantly, it had a wealth of history that no other buddha statue had. It had been built in the Tang Dynasty and been the destination of pilgrims and travellers alike for thousands of years.

According to reports, the Huan Shan Buddha was located where three rivers met, specifically the Min River, the Qing Yi River, and the Da Du River.

Legend had it that before the statue was built, the place was constantly afflicted by terrible floods. After the statue was built, the floods stopped occurring as often as they once had.

"Young Master Gao, this was a photo taken recently somewhere near the Huan Shan Buddha." Huang Ya slid Gao Peng a couple of pictures. In the pictures, the Huan Shan Buddha had a benevolent smile on its face. The raging rivers were as smooth as a mirror, with not a ripple in sight…

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Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 291 - What Does A Statue Like? online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 291: What Does A Statue Like?

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

(Author's note: Just to clarify, the story is set in a parallel world where Emperor Taizu and other historical figures from our world never existed.)

Gao Peng frowned. No matter how hard he tried to look at the picture of the Huan Shan Buddha statue, he still couldn't bring up its stats sheet. There was a chance that the Buddha statue was, in all respects, still an ordinary stone statue.

The region's geography had changed drastically when the Cataclysm struck. The Yangtze river had became even more turbulent, while the mountains were even steeper and less hospitable to other life forms.

Even the waters of the Min and Da Du rivers had grown more violent after the Cataclysm.

The calm waters of the three rivers depicted in the picture seemed almost unreal to Gao Peng.

He put away the picture and continued his research.

The Huan Shan Buddha statue's awakening was a clear sign that a certain event had caused a ripple effect that had spread across the entire Huaxia region.

The occurrence had taken place in the Yuncheng base city in the Bing province. Yuncheng City was located to the north of the capital, Jingyang, and was one of the smaller base cities in the Huaxia region.

There was a rather popular spot called the Yungang Grottoes located a few miles west of Yuncheng City.

The Yungang Grottoes were renowned for their majestic Buddha statues.

There were 53 caves in total that housed at least 50,001 Buddha statues.

In just one night, all the Buddha statues had come to life.

A golden light shone out from the Grottoes for miles. Arcane chanting filled the caves when the statues came to life.

No one knew for sure what had happened there. However, this mysterious phenomenon had certainly shaken the entire Huaxia region.

According to the information that Gao Peng had received, the Allied Government's Huaxia branch had already dispatched a team to investigate the new life-forms in the Yungang Grottoes.

As the other regions were also swamped with similar troubles, the Huaxia region had no choice but to deal with this alone.

Statues had reportedly come to life all over the world, specifically in places with long and rich histories, like Rome and Egypt.

The Allied Government is losing control of the situation, thought Gao Peng. Even though every nation in the world had decided to come together to form the New World Allied Government in order to prevent humanity from falling too far behind in the evolutionary race, the truth remained that the world was evolving way too quickly.

Humanity had long been booted from the top of the food chain. Its position grew more precarious by the day as the world continued to evolve around it.

Gao Peng shuddered at the thought of humanity faltering in the evolutionary race.

"This is madness… Why have the statues come to life?" muttered Gao Peng as he rubbed his temples.

There was no point complaining about it now. The only thing Gao Peng could do was accept it and focus his efforts on becoming even stronger.

As long as he kept himself ahead of the evolutionary race, he would always have the power to protect his loved ones.

"Bring it on. Let's see if my familiars can evolve faster than you, world…" mumbled Gao Peng.

Gao Peng had never performed an experiment on a Lord-tier monster. A bronze statue of Guan Gong would be his first subject.

Despite its intimidating appearance, the Guan Gong bronze statue wasn't terribly strong.

It wouldn't attack any other life form unless provoked. Its Buddha-like stoicism was what had intrigued Gao Peng in the first place.

After doing his research, Gao Peng found out that it had killed someone in the commercial district near Jingang Bridge and later been found in a porcelain shop.

This was all that Gao Peng had gathered so far about the statue. Luo Qian had also warned him that it was extremely aggressive and a Lord-tier monster to boot. "If you can't handle it at your place, you can always hand it over to the police," suggested Luo Qian.

"Thanks, I'll think about it," said Gao Peng before hanging up the phone. Then he turned around and looked at the stone cottage that was designed to hold the Guan Gong bronze statue.

He didn't need to assign a guard to it. He had Stripey stay with the statue every day. Every time the spider felt bored, Gao Peng would let it play with the statue.

Inside the building, the Guan Gong bronze statue stood rooted to the ground, as if it had accepted its fate as Gao Peng's prisoner.

[Monster Name: Animated Bronze Statue (Guan Gong)

[Monster Status: Healthy (Calm)

[Likes: 1. Standing motionless on the ground, pretending to be an ordinary statue 2. Decapitating evildoers.

Huh, an animated statue that likes standing still all day like an ordinary statue. Nothing wrong with that, thought Gao Peng.

Gao Peng entered the stone cottage and looked the Animated Bronze Statue up and down, from its feet to its head.

The Animated Statue didn't seem to have heard him come in. It had an imperious expression on its face while holding its spear to its side. The horse it was riding was frozen in place with both its front hooves up in the air.

"Can you hear me?" asked Gao Peng.

Gao Peng shook his head. Even though it was just a statue that was made in Guan Gong's likeness, he was quite impressed that it had the imperial air of one of the greatest figures in Chinese history down pat.

"I'll just let you do your thing," said Gao Peng before leaving the building.

The next day, Gao Peng sent someone to bring a couple of chickens into the stone cottage. He also had someone set up a watering trough and some chicken coops there.

The bronze statue remained standing there without showing any signs of life.

In less than a day, the ground was already littered with chicken droppings.

The stench of the droppings became unbearable after a few days. Some of the chickens had even taken dumps on the statue's feet.

A week later, the ground was caked with a layer of droppings. The chickens had left poop tracks all over the statue's feet. Gao Peng noticed that all the chickens were still alive.

The bronze statue had remained completely motionless for the whole week.

"There's no way I can beat a statue in a patience contest," muttered Gao Peng.

He ordered someone to bring out all the chickens and clean up the stone cottage.

Gao Peng then brought his laboratory equipment into the stone cottage. He had decided to stay alongside the statue for the next few days to continue his experiment.

Naturally, Stripey was ecstatic about this.

"So black dog blood can't corrupt it…" Gao Peng frowned. He had gathered quite a lot of information about the statue during his experiment, including its hardness, defense, and elemental resistances.

He had also discovered that all awakened statues shared the same weakness: the propensity to be corrupted.

If he could figure out what the Animated Bronze Statue's corrupting agent was, he would be able to break it.

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Chapter 292: The Yungang Buddha Statues

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

There's a chance that its corrupting agent isn't something that can usually be found in this world. Maybe it's something that the Cataclysm brought into existence, thought Gao Peng.

He put away his laboratory equipment and said to Stripey, "Stripey, I'll leave you here with the statue. Go play with it if you're feeling bored."

Stripey nodded and watched as Gao Peng left the stone cottage.

Poke, poke.

When Gao Peng was finally gone, Stripey began playfully prodding at the statue.

This new toy that Gao Peng had given it was quite sturdy. No matter how much Stripey played with it, it still remained intact.

As tolerant as the Guan Gong statue seemed, it wouldn't let just anyone or anything touch it like that.

The bronze statue glared at Stripey as it silently judged its own size against the mountain-sized spider.

Don't test me, spider!

Still having too much fun with its new toy, Stripey poked it gently with one of its massive legs and sent it tumbling to the ground.

"Hey, have you ever heard of me?" asked Stripey happily.

Monsters of the same species were usually capable of communicating with one another.

Even though Stripey was a spider, it was able to communicate with other rock-type monsters, an ability it had obtained after absorbing the Mountain Spirit King's essence.

The Guan Gong statue simply didn't want to engage with the spider.

"I think you have heard of me. I've been getting a lot of praise from the humans outside recently. They've been talking about how I'm the greatest familiar in the world. Can't blame them; it's the truth!" Stripey was overjoyed to have finally found someone to talk to. It crawled to the Guan Gong statue's side and began talking excitedly to it.

However, the conversation was mostly one-sided, as the bronze statue didn't say a word to it.

"Metal man, did you know? That was probably one of my coolest moments ever," Stripey gushed enthusiastically while tapping on the Guan Gong statue's head with its leg.

The Guan Gong statue remained mute.

"Hey, did you know? I think that the mealworms that Gao Peng bought for me in Chang'an City were the tastiest things I've ever tasted. I haven't had anything tastier since," continued Stripey, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"Have you eaten mealworms? Oh, I completely forgot that you're a metal man. You probably don't need to eat, do you? It's a shame. You probably don't even know what it's like to taste."

The Guan Gong statue continued to say nothing.

"Have you ever been to Chang'an City? You've probably never been there. It's almost as big as Yuzhou City," Stripey went on.

Finally, the Guan Gong statue blurted out, "Could you please stop talking?"

Stripey looked at the bronze statue in surprise. "You can talk?"

That night, Gao Peng was searching for information on recently discovered monsters from other regions when suddenly, he heard Spidey's voice in his head. "Gao Peng, I finally cracked the statue."

"How did you do it?" Gao Peng was taken aback. It had only taken Stripey a day to accomplish what he had been trying to do for a week.

"Nothing, we just chatted for a bit," said Stripey happily. "It probably just wanted to be my friend."

"All right. Did you ask it why it killed someone that day?"

"It said that it saw a couple of hooligans causing trouble in the neighborhood that night, so it decided to step in."

Gao Peng nodded to himself. "So why didn't it flee from Yuzhou City immediately after killing them? Why did it hide in a porcelain shop instead?"

Stripey fell silent for a moment, then it said, "The statue said that it wanted to leave Yuzhou City by following the western side of the city, but it got lost, so it decided to rest in the store during the day and resume its journey at night."

At first, Gao Peng had assumed that the statue was searching for an elemental artifact or some sacrificial offering in the city to help it evolve.

Hearing that it had only gotten lost and stopped at the porcelain store to rest somewhat diminished the mystery around the statue.

However, despite its cold, impassive exterior, the bronze statue was still a monster.

Every news outlet in the Huaxia region was abuzz about the Yungang Grottoes.

Although the Huaxia Government issued quick responses to silence the matter, news about the grottoes still managed to leak, making everyone antsy.

Every news channel had captured footage of the grottoes from various angles.

In them, one could see that the grottoes' walls, which had once been a dull gray, were now awash with a golden light. Small stone statues were caught peeking out from their shrines and staring curiously at the reporters. Some of them were a bit shy and timidly hid from the cameras.

They appeared to be a new species of monsters that had evolved from stone statues. The short Buddha statues seemed like children, filled with curiosity and wonder about the world around them. On the other hand, the adult-sized statues appeared more mature and dignified.

Some of the Buddha statues sat cross-legged in the grottoes and generally ignored the reporters as they chanted their Buddhist verses.

It was as if a whole new world had popped up out of nowhere.

"These Buddha statues are actually alive. That's just incredible. I remember visiting the Yungang Grottoes once. Back then, they were all just inanimate mounds of stone."

"Really gets you thinking. Will we become extinct one day?"

"Man, this world really has it out for us humans…"

Everyone began expressing their wonder and fears about this after watching the news.

Some even began discussing the possibility of taming these statues to become their familiars.

"In accordance to the agreement made between the Allied Government and the Buddha Statues of the Yungang Grottoes, the Allied Government has agreed to delineate the 20-mile area around the Yungang Grottoes as the statues' critical habitat and has forbidden anyone or any organization from entering the place to capture these creatures for their own means. In exchange, the Buddha statues of the Yungang Grottoes will be providing their assistance to the base city of Bingzhou in their efforts to curb the monster invasion that has troubled the city for weeks…"

Gao Peng turned off the television.

He had seen the monsters' stats in the news.

[Monster Name: Yungang Buddha Statue

[Monster Level: Level 6-40

[Monster Grade: Normal, Excellent, Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Earth, Rock

The news footages had captured mostly Normal-tier to Commander-tier Buddha statues. The highest monster grade among them was Perfect. Gao Peng hadn't seen any Epic-level monsters, but then again, the reporters hadn't ventured that far into the grottoes.

Even though Gao Peng hadn't seen any Lord-tier Buddha statues on the news, he had a feeling that they did exist in the caves. Otherwise, the Huaxia government wouldn't have been so secretive about the whole affair.

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A few days later, the furor around the awakened stone statues gradually died down.

This was because most people soon found that it was extremely difficult to sign a blood contract with them.

Some had even captured these statues by force and tried to coerce them into signing a blood contract, but their efforts were all in vain.

These stone statues were a remarkably resolute species.

They would have rather had their bodies shattered into a million pieces than submit to anyone else.

Most trainers trained their familiars with the carrot-and-stick approach. Some even chose to raise their familiars from a young age so that they could grow more intimate with each other. Doing so would also make it easier to sign a blood contract with their familiars.

It was also noted that more intelligent monsters were easier to train, as they were more receptive to fear.

After dinner, Gao Peng and his grandfather sat by the lake while enjoying the peace and quiet outside.

After hesitating for a while, Gao Peng finally said to his grandfather, "Grandpa, I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's going to work."

"Well, if you think it's a good idea, just do it," said Ji Hanwu with a warm smile.

"Yeah…" said Gao Peng, nodding.

He began explaining his idea to his grandfather. "There are countless treasures still waiting to be found in the mountains outside Yuzhou City. There's a chance we might strike gold in this endeavor, but I also think that we wouldn't be able to cover enough area with the Southern Sky Group's influence alone. Instead of just having the whole cake for ourselves, I think it would be better to split the cake for everyone to eat."

"Go on," said Ji Hanwu.

"After absorbing the Mountain Spirit King's essence, Stripey now has a bit of Mountain Spirit aura in it. I'm thinking about letting it bring the Mountain Spirits together and possibly establishing a Mountain Spirit outpost of sorts in the wild.

"The wild has always been a dangerous place to explore, especially at night. For the past few years, Yuzhou's Monster Hunter Association has stripped the forest area near the city of its valuable resources, while only an intrepid few have dared to venture into the depths of the wild. You've probably noticed that the overexploitation of these resources has caused their prices to go up a lot.

"I think that we could provide a safe place for organizations or adventurous individuals to rest in the wild by building an outpost in the mountains. We could also set up living spaces on the Mountain Spirits and maybe even a commercial area where we can sell supplies at five times the market price. I think that's quite reasonable, seeing that we would be the ones handling their transportation. We could also charge our guests for accommodation, maybe even a fixed amount per hour in the morning…"

"Not a bad idea. Have you tried reaching out to the Mountain Spirits? I don't think this idea of yours would require too much finessing. The only hard part about it would be to persuade the native Mountain Spirits to help you with your plan."

After thinking for a while, Gao Peng replied, "I'll try."

In a manner of speaking, Stripey had become a Mountain Spirit King, albeit an unofficial one. This could work, thought Gao Peng.

If Stripey could convince the other Mountain Spirit Kings to help him, he would be able to proceed with the rest of his plan.

The next day, Gao Peng headed out to the mountains alongside Stripey.

Despite its increase in size, Stripey's speed hadn't diminished in the slightest. Each of its steps was equal to 100 steps made by any other monster. However, Stripey had grown too big to ride on an airplane or a helicopter. The only way Stripey could move from one point to another now was by putting one foot in front of the other.

Gao Peng and his familiars were all riding on Stripey's back, which was covered with lines of ravines and hills. Only a small portion of it was flat.

Gnarled tangerine trees had sprouted from some of the ravines. Their leaves were yellowing, and some of the oranges on them seemed small and shriveled.

These trees had all been planted by Da Zi.

There were rows of holes near the trees. Columns of black smoke issued out of the holes and into the dark clouds overhead. Streaks of red flashed across the clouds at times, as if a malevolent entity was spying on them from the sky.

"Whew, it's kinda hot here." Gao Peng wiped some of the sweat off his face.

The heat from the black smoke was coming from beneath the Earth's crust. Gao Peng figured that he could probably smoke meat with it if he wanted to.

"Next time, don't put anything on Stripey's back without its permission. It's not polite," said Gao Peng, flicking a finger on Da Zi's head.

"All right… But Gao Peng, didn't you build a house on Stripey's back as well?" asked Da Zi, pointing at the little cottage behind Gao Peng. It had a black roof, white walls, and a huge umbrella in front of its entrance.

Gao Peng coughed. "Well, I asked for Stripey's permission first!"

"I did too…"

Gao Peng quickly clasped a hand over its mouth and said, "Have you completed today's drills?"

Upon hearing this, Da Zi's head drooped slightly, and it obediently scuttled towards the training equipment area.

"Stripey, are we making you feel uncomfortable with the things we've built on your back?" asked Gao Peng.

Stripey happily replied, "Not at all, Gao Peng. My back's literally made of stone. I can't feel anything there. Also, this way, you can all live on my back and keep me company all day."

All of a sudden, a crack appeared on the ground, where a pair of eyes blinked at Gao Peng mischievously.

Gao Peng couldn't help but smile at this. "Brat."

Stripey had a steady gait. Even when it was walking over a bumpy area, Gao Peng didn't feel the ground sway beneath his feet.

Gao Peng poured himself a cup of tea and lazily watched his familiars work out diligently in the training area.

They really take after their master! thought Gao Peng with pride.

Suddenly, Gao Peng heard a sharp cry overhead. A crane gracefully landed on Stripey's back with a fish thrashing about wildly in its beak. "Gao Peng, you'll never guess what I found just now!"

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Chapter 294: A Collaboration

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

Flamy swallowed its catch and said, "I just saw a huge whale flying in the sky. It was flying north."

"A whale?" Silly startled from its sleep on Gao Peng's head and looked around in panic. "Where? Where is it?"

"It flew away," said Gao Peng, pinching Silly's head.

"Oh, thank god," it said, sighing in relief.

It then sprawled across Gao Peng's head, rumpling his hair in the process.

Out of the corner of its eye, Flamy saw a pillar of black smoke rising from a hole. Being a fire-type familiar, it was quite drawn to the heat that was being given off by the smoke.

When it breathed in the black smoke, it started coughing uncontrollably and immediately covered its nostrils with its wings.

Suddenly, a bony black hand clasped Flamy's shoulder. Dumby had appeared out of nowhere behind Flamy with a compassionate look on its face.

"It's not healthy to breathe in smoke like that," said Dumby, fierce flames crackling in its eye sockets.

Silly stared back at it dumbly.

Dumby let go of the bird and plodded towards the black smoke. Suddenly, the fire in its eye sockets burned even more fiercely as Dumby breathed in deeply, sucking in the black smoke through its nostrils.

Dumby turned to Flamy and said, "The smell's a bit difficult to handle, especially for a beginner like you. Come with me."

Flamy's jaw dropped. There must be some sort of misunderstanding here, it thought.

When Dumby saw that Flamy was still standing there, it waved a hand at the bird and said gently, "Relax. I'm not addicted to this stuff. It's just that friends who like the same things I do are so hard to come by these days."

Before it realized what was happening, Flamy found itself staggering over to Dumby's side.

Dumby bent down to open a wooden crate on the ground that was filled with rows of two-foot-long, seven-inch-wide packets. Each packet was mounted with strips of silver and felt rough to the touch.

Dumby took a packet from the crate and shook a small rod-shaped object out of it.

"Here, take a puff of this. It's made from powdered Yin cedar needles mixed with Spirit Fruit juice. Long-term use of it can help sharpen your senses and calm your nerves. Go on, try it," said Dumby, handing the rod-shaped object to Flamy.

Flamy blinked a few at times at it and shook its head furiously.

Dumby didn't try to push the bird to take the joint. "It's cool. I never smoke at home. I only smoke two of these at a time when I'm outside."

"Why don't you smoke at home?" asked Flamy curiously.

"Xiao Hua doesn't like the smell," replied Dumby as it patted a bit of dust off itself. "Sorry, can you help me light this thing?"

With a shrill cry, Flamy spat a small fire at the cylindrical object in Dumby's hand.

Soon, green smoke filled the air.

Dumby leaned back on a stone wall, its black robe billowing in the wind. It leisurely breathed in the smoke while taking in the scenery around them.

"Goldie, why aren't you wearing your feather coat?" asked Flamy when it saw the naked duck passing by.

The seven-foot-tall duck coldly looked at it and patted the prayer beads it was wearing around its neck. "I don't need it!" Then it walked away with a humph.

Has it outgrown its coat? thought Flamy.

A Mountain Spirit was standing motionlessly on an empty patch of ground before Stripey.

The Mountain Spirit stirred from its sleep when it sensed Stripey's heavy footfalls. One by one, the black empty holes on its body flickered to life.

"Say, traveler, what brings you here?" said the Mountain Spirit slowly.

Stripey remained silent for a long while.

Gao Peng was growing restless. "Say something, Stripey."

"M-me? Why do I have to…" Stripey sounded nervous.

"Aren't you the one who goes around telling people that you're my bravest familiar?"

"I'll let Da Zi have that title. I'll settle with second bravest familiar," stammered Stripey.

Why bring me into this? thought Da Zi, who was curled up in a corner. I would kick your massive behind for stabbing me in the back like that if you weren't already so massive.

"Just repeat what I say," said Gao Peng.

The Mountain Spirit seemed apprehensive at first about Stripey's proposition. It didn't think that it would have anything to talk about with the other Mountain Spirits.

Mountain Spirits never needed to make deals with anyone or anything.

"We can help you solve your Armadrillo problem," said Stripey.

The Mountain Spirit hesitated for a moment.

"We can also provide blood offerings for you. That way, you won't have to look for food every day, and you can just sleep there to your heart's content.

"We have two Emperor-tier familiars with us. We've also convinced ten other Mountain Spirits of our plan, so you don't need to worry about being attacked by others, and you can concentrate only on your evolution."

The Mountain Spirit nodded slowly. It had finally decided to take part in Gao Peng's plan. Of course, Stripey's Mountain King Spirit aura had played a huge role in convincing it to agree.

"Okay, I'm in," said the Mountain Spirit moodily. "However, if you don't keep your end of the bargain, I'll be very angry."

"You have my word," said Stripey.

Later, Gao Peng had Stripey go around convincing two other Mountain Spirits in the area to join their cause.

Gao Peng frowned at the setting sun. This is taking way too long, he thought.

In truth, the whole process had gone quite smoothly. Stripey's presence had also greatly contributed to this.

However, the Mountain Spirits were all scattered in different areas. They had wasted too much time going from one Mountain Spirit to the next.

"Stripey, can you sense where the nearest Mountain Spirit is?"

Stripey closed its eyes as it began feeling the earth's pulse beneath its feet.

Suddenly, it sensed a powerful throbbing in the ground not too far away. It was as if someone was striking the ground with a huge mallet.

"Master, I have a lead on one," it said.

"Then let's get a move on. We're going to be here for a while," muttered Gao Peng.

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Chapter 295: The Bladed Bees

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

Gao Peng finally managed to hammer out a deal with a fourth Mountain Spirit when night time came. He took out his solar-powered tablet from his backpack and began jotting down the Mountain Spirits' coordinates on it. It would be quite embarrassing to forget where they all were when it came time to carry out his plan.

Gao Peng had tried to come up with a more efficient way to bring the Mountain Spirits together. However, as none of the Mountain Spirits had cell phones on them, he had no choice but to go to each of them personally.

Gao Peng went around negotiating with Mountain Spirits for a whole month.

He had already told his grandfather about this over the phone.

In that time, Gao Peng's skin had darkened considerably. He had also lost a lot of weight.

While Da Zi, Goldie, and Stripey had also slimmed down quite a bit, Flamy was the only who had become even rounder during their time in the wild.

"So we've been thinking about making soup out of you, Flamy," said Gao Peng.

"Why?" asked Flamy, startled.

"Well, you're the only one who gained a lot of weight this past month."

After thinking for a while, Flamy said flatly, "I think there's some sort of misunderstanding here. I get fat easily. Even drinking water makes me fat."

"That's no excuse. Look at Da Zi. He's been training all day and night so that he won't be too much of a burden to Stripey, who had to carry all of us every day on its back," said Gao Peng, pointing at Da Zi, who was sound asleep in a corner.

"Aren't you the one who's always making Da Zi train his butt off?" said Flamy.

"Don't start talking back to me now," said Gao Peng warningly.

Suddenly, an idea dawned on Flamy. "Gao Peng, why don't I bring back food for you to eat every day?"

Flamy was always the first to fly off somewhere every morning and always came back happy and full.

Whatever it had been snacking on, it had certainly made its flesh and feathers fuller.

"All right then. Bring back some fruits for me. I'm tired of eating meat every day," said Gao Peng, nodding.

"Got it!" said Flamy happily.

Woken up by the commotion, Da Zi scuttled towards Gao Peng and grabbed his ankle. "Gao Peng, Gao Peng, when we get back, you have to let me eat as much as I want to make up for lost time."

"All right. Since you've been working so hard, I'll let you eat anything you want when we get back," said Gao Peng, stroking Da Zi's head gently.

"Stripey, let's move on to our next destination," said Gao Peng, patting a nearby rock protrusion.

For the past month, even though most of the familiars had lost a lot of weight, they had gained much in terms of level.

Flamy, Da Zi, and Goldie had each reached level 39 or 40. They were now one step away from reaching Lord-tier.

If everything went as planned, all three of them would be able to make a breakthrough before they returned home.

If all three of them reached the next stage of their evolution, Gao Peng would have four Lord-tier familiars and one Emperor-tier familiar.

Due to its massive size, Stripey wouldn't be able to accompany Gao Peng on his escapades. He would have to stay behind in the Southern Sky Group.

However, with four Lord-tier familiars by his side, Gao Peng would be all but unstoppable. He would be able to take the next step in his plan to explore the rest of the world!

As soon as he had amassed enough power for himself, he would probably work on becoming a world-renowned hunter, exploring every corner of the post-Cataclysm world.

Still, in order to achieve one's ambitions, one first had to have both feet firmly grounded in reality.

Hum…

Gao Peng's ears pricked up at an unusual humming sound in the air.

It sounded like millions of wings beating feverishly in the air.

Suddenly, the sky darkened as a dark buzzing cloud appeared, blotting out the sun.

[Monster Name: Bladed Bees (Swarm)

[Monster Level: Level 11-20

[Monster Grade: Normal, Excellent, Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Gold/Poison/Wind

[Monster Ability: Armor-piercing Stinger Level 2, Anesthetic Poison Level 1

[Special Characteristics: Soundwave (Can only be activated when their swarm number reaches at least 100,000. Effect: Causes auditory discomfort to nearby monsters.)

[Monster Weakness: A Bladed Bee is weak by itself.

[Description: As descendants of the bumblebee, Bladed Bees are a vicious and bloodthirsty species. They tend to shy away from others when alone. However, as a swarm, they fear nothing and would even try to take on a dragon.

Gao Peng had heard of these critters. There were two things to look out for in the mountains: the Mountain Wolf Bird and the Bladed Bees.

As swarming monsters, both usually compensated for their low levels with their numbers.

A Bladed Bee's stinger was usually laced with an anesthetic poison that was capable of immobilizing its victims. The last thing they would see would be the sight of their bodies being devoured by a swarm of bloodthirsty Bladed Bees. It was said to be one of the worst ways to go.

The noise grew louder as the Bladed Bee swarm closed in on Gao Peng and his companions.

Normally, low-level monsters would flee fearfully in the face of such a vicious swarm.

Goldie glared at the incoming onslaught of bees, ready to take them on.

"Stripey, if you would be so kind," said Gao Peng.

Stripey stopped in its tracks and turned towards the angry dark cloud.

The next instant, a fissure opened up on its massive back, from which a fiery red light shone out.

Boom!

A sound like thunder shook the heavens as lava and black smoke spewed forth from the giant spider's back.

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The dark clouds moved abruptly towards the swarm of Bladed Bees.

Blazing with infernal heat, the clouds engulfed the swarm of bees like a slow-moving avalanche of magma.

With a sharp crackle, the same kind one would hear when one lowering tempura into a wok of hot oil, could be heard as charred bees dropped like dumplings unsticking from the sides of a pan onto the ground below.

Boom!

The fallen bees were charred to a golden crisp. Their clear wings shriveled up like worms, and the fine white feathery fluff on their backs was a burnt mess.

They had been charred alive.

Even from a considerable distance, he could vaguely smell the fragrance of something being deep fried.

Gao Peng looked on at the massacre with a tinge of regret in his eyes.

What a shame…

Within moments, small, dark shadows could be seen flying out of the cloud in twos and threes.It was funny how desperately they were trying to get away when they had been swarming angrily at them just minutes before.

After taking care of the bees, he motioned Flamy over and climbed onto him. "Let's head on over."

There should have been a couple of Monster Core Crystals lying around. Actually, given the fact that these bees were Elite-tier, there would definitely be more than a few Monster Core Crystals.

He couldn't have cared less about the odd core, but this was thousands they were talking about.

With a flap of his massive wings, Flamy took to the skies.

The forest rippled beneath its feet as they soared across the towering canopies. The gentle fragrance of nature tickled his nose.

As it rounded a small valley, it saw the blackened corpses of the bees strewn across the ground, some caught in the trees.

From up close, it could clearly see what these bees actually looked like. They were around three feet long, with a rather swollen abdomen that was marked with red and yellow stripes. There was a fine layer of down on its body, but it had already been burnt to a crisp. From its rear extended a long, silvery blade. Gleaming coldly in the night, such was the quality of the blade that it had remained intact under such extreme heat.

Kneeling down in front of a dead bee, Gao Peng gently ran his fingers across its surface. It was prickly to the touch, and when he exerted just a tiny bit of pressure, his palm was covered in black ash.

Flamy's tummy rumbled. These bees smelled absolutely mouthwatering. It could definitely see itself eating a couple of them.

Flamy couldn't wait any more. It sank his fangs into the divine-smelling charred bees and ripped off a huge chunk of meat.

Flamy's eyes lit up. Delicious!

Gao Peng summoned Dumby. From the mountain behind him, a shadowy blur could be seen leaping and bounding towards him, black robes whipping furiously in the wind.

"Master." The Soul Flames in Dumby's eyes burned brightly.

"Try resurrecting the bees." Gao Peng pointed at the dead creatures.

"Yes!"

Dumby raised his right hand and flames spewed forth, going deep into the midsection of the dead Bladed Bee by his feet.

The corpse of the Bladed Bee writhed uncontrollably on the ground. Yellow ooze with streaks of black gushed out of its numerous orifices. Its swollen belly shriveled rapidly, like a deflated balloon. Its eyes exploded, as though they were being crushed by an invisible vice. In the hollow sockets where its eyes once were, a white flame burned brightly.

As the corpse started to vibrate, layers of blood and flesh started sliding off its body until only its pearly-white skull remained. Immediately after, it levitated eerily in mid-air for a few seconds before exploding with a bang. What remained of the skull clattered to the ground, spinning around for a bit before slowly coming to a stop.

The Soul Flames flowed out of its eyes and back into Dumby.

"Master, this monster's remains are incomplete. I cannot resurrect it…"

Gao Peng frowned. This was a shame indeed.

"Then just revive every dead creature buried in the earth here."

Dumby took a single step forward and spread his arms. A ring of light slowly emanated from the soles of his feet outward into the ground.

The forest was fairly deserted. Without a caretaker, the fallen leaves had formed layers of brown-speckled green on the floor. The leaves now trembled as a bony hand thrust its way out of the ground, grasping wildly at the mossy roots around it. Slowly but surely, the rest of its skeletal body followed suit.

All around the forest nearby, similar scenes were unfolding.

In the damp, shadowy forest, skeletal remains of men and beasts alike were crawling out of the ground ablaze with pale white Soul Flames.

The humanoid skeleton was still clad in an old garment with a yellow flask attached to his hip. It swayed to and fro unsteadily, like it could fall at the drop of a hat.

"I think we should let this one just rest in peace." It had probably been an adventurer in a past life.

The next second, the skeleton collapsed into a heap of bone.

The revived ghouls numbered in the hundreds and came in a variety of sizes. The largest one was a 1,600-foot-long Earthen Lizard.

Under Dumby's orders, these ghouls gathered the dead bees lying around and put them in the middle of a large clearing.

Very soon, it was the size of a small mountain.

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion in the distance, interspersed with the angry roars of his little ghoul army.

Dumby turned his head. "Master, something has happened. The ghouls have encountered a monster."

As the other ghouls made their way towards the commotion, the area of the encounter grew more and more crowded.

Whoosh!

A golden figure burst out into the clearing. Upon seeing Gao Peng and Dumby, it spun around rather violently and immediately fled as fast as it could in the opposite direction.

Gao Peng glanced at the figure and did a double take.

"Dumby, Flamy, get it!"

Without hesitation, Dumby charged at the golden figure with startling speed. On all fours, it flew like the wind, its body nearly pressed flat to the ground. The stray leaves on the ground were swept violently up into the air.

Flamy unleashed a huge ball of flame right into the path of the golden figure, which immediately erupted into a fiery wall after making contact with the ground.

The golden figure screeched to a halt while trying to turn around, but it was too late.

Dumby had already caught up at this point. It easily grabbed the figure, who struggled desperately in attempts to escape, in its left hand.

A slender, golden tail covered in delicate scales gleamed brightly in the sun. Two tiny ears twitched mischievously as its doe-like eyes flickered curiously in all directions.

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Chapter 297: Prosperity Mouse

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

The slightly oversized mouse squeaked indignantly in Dumby's hands as it scrabbled wildly in the air.

"What a pleasant surprise," Gao Peng said cheerfully as Dumby passed him the mouse.

Although the mouse looked tiny in Dumby's hands, it could barely fit in Gao Peng's.

It was actually the size of a cat. Its fur was raised stiffly, making it almost like a tiny porcupine. Staring ferociously at Gao Peng, it bit down hard.

A quick cuff from Gao Peng was enough to make the mouse see stars.

[Monster Name: Prosperity Mouse

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Level: 18

[Monster Attribute: Mystic

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Fearful)

[Ways of Evolving to Elite-grade: 3

This little mouse had a very old-fashioned name. It's level wasn't very impressive, either. The only thing that caught Gao Peng's eye was the fact that it was a never-before-seen Mystic type.

Statistically speaking, this type was almost impossible to find. In fact, this mouse was possibly the only one of its kind in the world.

Its low grade was something Gao Peng could work with.

The mouse struggled mightily after being captured by Gao Pengall the while snarling and growling to seem as menacing as it could. When Gao Peng didn't react, it started whimpering and begging pitifully to be let go.

Emotionless, Gao Peng tossed the mouse high into the air. It was promptly caught by a swooping Flamy and brought over to where Stripey was.

It looked like there were quite a lot of goodies to be found in the wild. Unfortunately, first dibs would go to the Monster Hunting Squad's own familiars should they have found these goodies. Only the second-tier or unusable items would be sold in the market.

Take this Prosperity Mouse, for example. Gao Peng could tell how special it was just from the name alone. If a Monster Hunting Squad got ahold of it instead, they probably wouldn't know enough about it to do business and would end up keeping it. If Gao Peng hadn't come personally, he wouldn't have encountered this mouse.

After an hour or so, all the Bladed Bees were collected and placed in a giant heap in the middle of a huge clearing.

Flamy incinerated the mountain of corpses with a gigantic flame.

In the piles of ash left behind, scores of golden Core Crystals glowed brightly. After another giant gust of air cleared the ash, a veritable trove of Core Crystals was left.

While the corpses of the Bladed Bees were indeed flammable, their Core Crystals were not. In fact, they were naturally resistant to any element, not just fire.

Even though these were relatively low-level Elite-tier Core Crystals, the sheer volume of them meant that he would still be walking away with a handsome profit.

Gao Peng was struck with the realization of just how easy it was to become rich if one had power.

No wonder Core Crystals were used as the official currency in high-value transactions. The market economy would have been too easily disrupted if that wasn't the case.

In a year, becoming a monster trainer had become the hottest job in the world.

Before, maybe half of the student population had wanted to become a monster trainer after they graduated. Now, that number was closer to nine in ten.

Wealth, social status, proving your strength—this job would allow you fulfill all three desires and more.

More importantly, the requirements to becoming a monster trainer weren't exactly strict. Anyone could do it as long as they had the passion and grit for it. Even though the mortality rate for trainers who didn't undergo proper training was incredibly high, there was no shortage of new trainers every month.

People fantasized all the time about hitting the jackpot—coming across two Lord-tier monsters fighting each other to the death, collecting their corpses for loot, picking up their young as a bonus after. These stories could be heard being peddled to potential new trainers every day.

In reality, they would probably be destroyed by the baby.

As he collected his thoughts, he stashed the Core Crystals in a pit in Stripey's back. They glittered brightly, the honey-golden hue a startling splash of color in the otherwise drab surroundings.

After a few minutes, a tiny shadow flitted into the pit. It was Silly.

Even though Silly's eyes were closed, its tentacles were still actively in tune with its surroundings. As it wiggled around in the air, it eventually came to lay on the pile of Core Crystals. It felt so good that its body almost went numb.

Silly had never seen so many Core Crystals before in its life. It didn't know what they were, but it did feel extremely good lying on a bed of them.

After a while, it couldn't help but consume a Core Crystal using its tentacles.

Its eyes were shut during the entire duration of the heist.

If I close my eyes, it doesn't count as me taking Gao Peng's things. Silly chuckled happily.

Having just completed his training, Goldie came sauntering by, too, and caught sight of the Core Crystals.

Slowing down, it grabbed a handful of the Cores and popped them into its mouth.

It shook its head in disgust as it ate. How bitter!

Then he grabbed another handful.

Ugh! How bitter!

With less than half a month to go on his current expedition, Gao Peng managed to convince the final Mountain Spirit to join his coalition of Mountain Spirits.

He was overwhelmed by a sudden sense of accomplishment as he traced his fingers along the map in front of him. The map was filled with a sea of red dots, each indicating the location of a Mountain Spirit.

Besides these red dots, Gao Peng had discovered quite a few new areas as well, some still untouched by human civilization.

Of course, with Stripey escorting them, they encountered no trouble at all.

"Looks like these mountains are pretty safe after all," Gao Peng said rather reluctantly.

"Come, let's go back." Gao Peng squinted toward the east, in the direction of Yuzhou City.

Underneath him, a mountain-sized creature grunted in response. The clouds roiled as it slowly made its way eastwards.

"Hm. I clearly recall putting the Core Crystals here, though." Gao Peng wracked his brains. Was he missing something?

Gao Peng stood at the edge of the pit, wondering where in the world he could have put them. He was quite positive that he had put all the Core Crystals in the pit here.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Silly looking at the pit rather guiltily. Then it hit him.

"Did someone steal them?" Gao Peng wondered aloud.

Silly trembled like a leaf.

"If I ever found out who did this, I'm going to skin them alive!"

Silly fainted…

Chapter 298: Ancestral Viridian Crocodile

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

After landing a solid punch on a certain jellyfish, Gao Peng dropped the the issue.

While those Core Crystals were indeed valuable, they had actually been pretty useless just sitting there anyways. Absorbing the essence of the crystals to grow stronger might have actually been a better use for them.

The moment they set foot in the Southern Sky Group, Silly, who was still perched on Gao Peng's head, let out a string of unintelligible sounds that sounded like, "Fish, fish!"

Right next to the lake, a new pool the size of a soccer field had been built. Within the pool lay an enormous creature, silent and unmoving.

Nasty-looking spikes could be seen growing out of its electric blue skin, like the teeth of a chainsaw.

The moment Flamy caught sight of the creature, it started snarling violently, every feather on its body quivering in rage.

Sensing the disturbance, the creature's enormous tail swished gracefully through the water as it swept a lazy glance in their direction.

"Where did Grandfather find this crocodile?" Gao Peng was puzzled.

It looked like something out of the Jurassic era. It was a 65-foot-long crocodile with electric-blue scales. It's yellow eyes were clear and serene.

There was a lake not far from there that was the White Dragon's territory.

If the White Dragon could accept the presence of this creature, that must have meant that the crocodile was Grandfather's latest acquisition.

This wasn't surprising, to be honest. Ever since the White Dragon had evolved to Emperor-tier, Grandfather's soul strength had to have increased considerably. Taming a few more creatures like this one was hardly a difficult task.

"He's back." Upon hearing the commotion from the mountain out back, Ji Hanwu knew.

Seeing how thin Gao Peng had become, Ji Hanwu was proud and sympathetic all at once. "You got a tan."

Ji Hanwu pointed at the crocodile by way of introduction. "A month ago, there was a huge flood at the Pearl River Delta that unearthed an enormous underwater cavern. That's where it crawled out from. I was just feeling like training a new familiar, so I caught it and brought it home with me."

"I didn't know there were crocodiles in the Pearl River Delta…" Gao Peng couldn't quite hide his confusion.

"Crocodile remains have been found there before, so it's not entirely impossible. Maybe this one escaped from a zoo? Or some rich family's private collection?" Ji Hanwu didn't really care where it had come from. All that mattered was that it was his now.

"This crocodile is majestic." Gao Peng sighed in admiration.

His grandfather's familiars were all so dang cool. A regal dragon and a ferocious crocodile. Just their appearances alone exuded a sense of absolute, indomitable strength.

He couldn't help but notice that his grandfather's familiars were all amphibious. The White Dragon, the Thunder Shell Lord, and now this crocodile.

[Monster Name: Ancestral Viridian Crocodile (Ancestral Variant)

[Monster Level: 46 (Lord-tier)

[Monster Grade: Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Water

[Monster Ability: Water Control Level 3, Harden Level 3, Explosive Crunch Level 4

[Special Ability: Berserker Blood (Blood undergoes violent mutation. High chance of inducing bloodrage.)

Effect 1 (Passive): Gains a violent bloodlust proportional to the severity of the damage taken, which increases strength and explosiveness for a short period of time.

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Calm)

[Requirements for Epic grade: (The Ancestral Viridian Crocodile is currently in the process of reversing its mutation. This is an irreversible process, and it will not be able to evolve until the process is completed.) Needs to consume Water-type treasures. The more it consumes, the faster its blood will reverse the mutation, and the purer it will become.

As an Ancestral Variant, all it needed to evolve was to consume Water-type treasures. Even though it was unable to evolve before completing its mutation, it actually wasn't the worst thing in the world. One wouldn't need to find any rare materials for it to evolve. All one needed was money!

"This kind of familiar really suits you well," he said to his grandfather.

"Oh!" Flamy let out a loud cry as it flapped his way into the shade of a large tree.

Then it wrapped its wings around itself and tucked its head in. Wisps of flame rose and coalesced around it like a cocoon.

The swirling flames gradually dissipated, leaving behind a blood-red egg carved with intricate feather-like markings.

Flamy had already hit level 40 half a month earlier. It had been waiting all this time for the right place to commence its evolution.

Evolution wasn't an easy process. It was best done in a quiet environment without being disturbed.

Da Zi could feel the strength leaving his body. It started to itch all over and was overcome by a sudden wave of fatigue. Just as it plopped down on the ground for a quick nap, Gao Peng abruptly hauled it off towards the research lab.

As they entered the research lab, Gao Peng threw it into a silver glass container as tall as him and sealed it shut. The container was filled with a liquid that was charged with Electric-energy.

Still groggy, Da Zi looked around in a daze. "Why did he throw me in here? What's going on?"

"I made this Electric-energy charged formula for you. Be a good boy and evolve well in there," Gao Peng told him.

Da Zi pressed its claws to the glass wall as it tenderly watched Gao Peng's figure slowly disappear from sight.

"Boss, the creatures you bought the last time have been trapped in storage for almost a month now. I've had to feed and clean them every day." Xu Qingzhi glared balefully at Gao Peng.

Could he have been any more irresponsible? He would spend less than a third of his time in the lab, then disappear mysteriously somewhere.

This time, he had been gone for nearly a month and a half. Sometimes, she felt less like an assistant and more like a janitor.

"Have you mastered the Petrochemical drug I taught you last time?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah… Around 70 percent of the time?" She sounded unsure.

"Too slow. If it's taking you this long to master such a simple drug, then it looks like you still have a ways to go before you can take on the mantle." He shook his head. "Since you've already got most of the petrochemical drug down, I'll teach you another formula first. However, I'll still check on your progress periodically."

"Got it…" she said weakly.

Even though these low-level drugs could be mass produced in any decent factory, there was still value in learning how to create them personally.

Only low-level drugs could be made in one shot, because they weren't hard to make. All one needed to do was mix certain pre-set ingredients in a certain ratio. The higher the level of the drug, the more complicated it became. Even the size and weight of the materials could affect the process by adding or subtracting several seconds needed. Those few seconds could be the difference between failure and success.

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Chapter 299: The Explorer's Union

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

Machines were precise, but they lacked a human's touch. Creating drugs wasn't easy, and problems could arise at any stage of the process. A machine programmed a certain way wouldn't be able to react to problems as they happened and could ultimately ruin the whole process.

Gao Peng really wanted to mentor Xu Qingzhi. Even though she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, she was diligent and never gave up. As long as she kept putting in the work, there was still plenty of room for growth.

She kept on working and finally called it a night around eleven. In the afternoon, Gao Peng guided her through the process three times and taught her some extra tips and tricks to boot.

She had a pretty good memory, memorizing it all after seeing it only a couple of times.

All that was left was for her to practice and practice until she could do it in her sleep. Talk was cheap, and there were lessons to be learned in failure, too.

Gao Peng had already stocked the lab with plenty of materials and ingredients for her to practice with, including the creature essence she needed to make the Blood Drug.

The effectiveness of a drug could not solely be determined from appearance. What happened after taking the drug is what mattered the most.

When night fell, Gao Peng handed his grandfather a tablet containing the locations of the Mountain Spirits. "I found 168 of them that were willing to work with us."

His grandfather put down the tablet and steepled his fingers under his chin. "Are you only on planning on setting up a network of outposts, or do you have something else in mind? If that's all you plan on doing, all you need to do is to fork over the initial capital and watch the cash roll in." Ji Hanwu shot Gao Peng a quizzical glance.

Gao Peng sighed deeply. "I need your advice, grandfather."

"The fact that the Mountain Spirits are willing to join you is all due to Stripey. It's the key to all your plans. With it by your side, no one will dare make a move against you. It has its pride, after all." His tone was somber.

"Using the Mountain Spirits only to make a quick buck would be incredibly crass." His grandfather paused. "On the other hand, I believe that the hunters who depend on these outposts for their livelihood should be fair game."

His brow furrowed. "Are we taking a cut from the hunter's loot?"

Ji Hanwu burst out in laughter. "That's pretty bold of you, going after their loot like that. Honestly, doing that won't end well for anyone."

Gao Peng smiled bashfully.

"The key is to gather these hunters and make them your customers. No matter what it takes, you must. " His grandfather's tone grew serious.

Hearing it said so starkly, Gao Peng finally understood what his grandfather was trying to say. While his plan was certainly risky, it was possible.

Now that he had a renewed perspective on the issue, he started engaging his grandfather in a lively discussion to hammer out the kinks in their plan.

After a night of consideration, they decided to name their new group the "Explorer's Union."

The Mountain Spirit outposts would be the flagship offering of the Explorer's Union. Members would enjoy a fifty percent discount on lodging.

Naturally, Gao Peng marked up the prices twofold before offering the discount.

Because of how close the outposts were to Yuzhou Base City, thirty percent of the profits would go to the Yu Zhou government. Wealth had to be spread around; no one liked a miser. Sharing the profits this way would mean less bureaucratic hassle and help them avoid any unexpected headaches.

This arrangement wasn't limited to just the outposts. Any future business venture under the Explorer's Union would split thirty percent of their profits with the nearest base city.

The union would be led by Ji Hanwu.

Ji Hanwu was initially reluctant to take up the post, thinking that Gao Peng should be the one to do it. Gao Peng steadfastly refused.

"Such a busy and important job can only be handled by you. I'm fine being second-in-command," Gao Peng insisted sternly.

In addition, twenty percent of the profits would be distributed as a year-end bonus to the staff of the union. Their share of the bonus would depend on factors like their performance and rank.

The remainder of the profit would be pocketed directly by Gao Peng…

Another benefit that came with being a member of the union was a ten percent member discount anytime one purchased anything under the Southern Sky Group brand.

It may not have sounded like much, but those credits added up. It would definitely come in handy, not only for the buyer, but also for the merchants carrying Southern Sky products.

Once this initial venture took off and stabilized, Gao Peng would open chapters of the Explorer's Union all over the world.

Places like the Dong Ting Recreational Zone, the Sky Villa, the Amazon Hall, and the Baimu Delta Recreational Zone were all within the realm of possibility…

Ever since the Cataclysm, these areas had been strictly off limits.

Yet myth and legend had swirled around these places since ancient times. Who knew? It could have been possible to evolve a rare and powerful creature in these places.

The Explorer's Union was a separate entity from the Southern Sky Group.

Of course, anyone who was privy to the truth would know that the two entities were led by the same person.

Half a month had passed since the union had been established.

Business had been slow at first, but it had kind of exploded towards the end.

The union was established in the western outskirts of Yuzhou City, not too far away from the Southern Sky Group.

The gates to the union were framed by a massive wall, around 100 feet tall. The wall was made of pure dragon granite that Stripey had called forth from the earth using its ability. Obsidian and menacing, the rough, jagged wall was topped with deadly spikes.

The pure dragon granite that Stripey had manipulated out of the earth was nigh impenetrable.

From the lobby to the front gate, trainers were lining up in droves to sign up.

At first, there had only been a couple of Monster Hunting Squads who signed up out of curiosity. Then they started hunting and brought in double the amount of their normal loot. News started spreading like wildfire.

As more and more squads found out about the Explorer's Union and the legion of Mountain Spirits under their control, they were struck speechless. What kind of union had the power to man a network of outposts with freaking Lord-tier Mountain Spirits?

Another factor that drove the trainers to sign up with the union, besides the increased loot and the perceived strength of the union, was the cost of renting a Mountain Spirit. While it was indeed an invaluable service, the disgusting prices all but ensured that the name Gao Peng was, to put it mildly, soundly cursed by trainers, rich and poor alike.

It was a good thing that members of the Explorer's Union received a fifty percent discount on the use of the Mountain Spirits.

For this discount alone, teams were driven to join the union.

The outposts were only a platform to attract talent. Those who dared to venture into the deep mountains where the outposts were located had to be trainers of a certain caliber. Half a month in, more than ninety percent of the high-level trainers in Yuzhou City had already signed up to join the Explorer's Union.

As a result, a new powerhouse was born in Yuzhou City.

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Chapter 300: Spring Scar Beast

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

The Monster Trainer League caught wind of what was happening with the Explorer's Union, but they didn't think too much of it, since there wasn't any direct conflict between them for now. Furthermore, organizations similar to the Explorer's Union had been sprouting up like weeds in the past year all around the world, so it wasn't really a big deal.

All the league wanted was to be the official authority when it came to the world of monster training. Whether it was the official rating of a trainer, the administration of the Monster Trainer Examination, or the issuing of official Monster Trainer IDs, it was all only a part of their limitless ambition.

To them. organizations like the Explorer's Union were a community that posed no threat at all. To even engage with them would look bad. However, they considered working with a few of these community groups.

Unfortunately, while this idea of using Mountain Spirits to form a network of outposts was well-received by most, there was a small pocket of resistance among the higher ranking officials, who thought it was a colossal waste.

"These are Lord-tier Mountain Spirits. Having them in the wild as security is such an incredible waste!" said a high-ranking official angrily in the Huaxia branch of the Monster Trainer League.

These were Lord-tier creatures, for crying out loud! Not to mention that there were hundreds of them!

Even he didn't own one, but he wished he did.

The official was well aware of his capabilities. He wouldn't make it back alive if he tried. If he had the backing of the Monster Trainer League though, that would be a different story entirely.

With so many Lord-tier creatures out there, he knew he wasn't the only one who was tempted to do something about it.

"It's rather a waste to have hundreds of Lord-tier creatures just roaming free in the wild like that," Cao Xuansheng agreed. He was the branch head of the Huaxia region.

He wouldn't have cared if it was a hundred Commander-tier creatures, but this was Lord-tier creatures they were talking about for God's sake. There was also a good chance that these creatures hadn't yet signed Blood Contracts, which really spurred his greed.

If he could find some way to get these Lord-tier creatures on the side of the Monster Trainer League… The Huaxia region would instantly become the most influential region in the world.

"Do you take people for fools? You think they would allow Lord-tier creatures without contracts to just roam around freely?" Zhou Tianmin strode through the front door, an icy look on his face.

Cao Xuansheng was furious, but when he realized it was Zhou Tianmin reproaching him, his face flushed in embarrassment. Even though leading the Huaxia branch of the Monster Trainer League, Zhou Tianmin was one of the Twelve Elders.

Zhou Tianmin held a special rank. He could very well relieve him of his duties at the Council of Elders.

"I've never seen a Mountain Spirit, but I've heard enough about them… As the head of this branch, you should be well aware of their temperament, right?" Zhou Tianmin shook his head in disgust.

Cao Xuansheng was silent.

Ever since the statues had come to life a few months before, people had been desperately trying to sign Blood Contracts with them. After all, not only were these statues already fairly high profile before their reanimation, their level, grade, and abilities were very strong, too.

However, these animated statues were incredibly stubborn and almost impossible to tame.

There were only a few people alive in the world that had the ability to sign a Blood Contract with these statues. That led to these people being labeled somewhat mockingly as "Heaven's Chosen."

It was all in good fun, but it also illustrated just how hard it was to sign a contract with these once inanimate creatures.

"I know what you guys are thinking, but think about this. Let's assume by some miracle that these Mountain Spirits have yet to sign a Blood Contract, and by some other miracle, you manage to sign one to a contract. You know who owns the only two Emperor-tier familiars in the Huaxia region." Zhou Tianmin let out a short, humorless laugh. "If you get on his bad side, Elder Ye and I won't intervene on your behalf."

In the end, this half-baked plot died before it ever saw the light of day.

Da Zi had completed its evolution and was now Gao Peng's second Lord-tier familiar.

Flamy was still evolving. Goldie just started his evolution two days earlier.

That meant that only Silly, Da Zi, and the golden mouse he had captured before were with him at that moment.

He wanted to let the Prosperity Mouse ride on his shoulder, but Silly objected vehemently.

Nipping furiously at Gao Peng's hair, he was resolute. "If you let it ride on your shoulder, I'll make you as bald as Goldie."

"If Goldie heard that, you'd be in trouble," said Gao Peng with a straight face.

Silly looked torn…

Due to Silly's objections, Gao Peng eventually decided against letting the Prosperity Mouse ride on his shoulder. Instead, he put it in a cage made of pure gold and carried it along with him.

Here he was trying to keep a low profile, and what did his employee get him? A golden cage that made him look like a sleazy pimp.

The Prosperity Mouse's level and grade were both pretty mediocre. Being in the presence of several Lord-tier creatures, it was the very picture of docility without Gao Peng even having to lift a single finger.

After signing the Blood Contract, Gao Peng realized that the mouse wasn't very intelligent. In fact, it was probably at the level Da Zi had been when Gao Peng first met it. It had the intelligence of a four year old, and it could only express simple emotions like anger, joy, and sadness.

"Big brother, big brother. There's treasure. So much treasure—" the Prosperity Mouse squeaked feverishly. Its eyes were literally bulging out of their sockets.

It had never seen so much treasure before in its life. God! Did humans just leave their treasure out in the open like this?

The Prosperity Mouse was bouncing off the walls of the cage in excitement.

Maybe it was because it had been out in the wild for the long time, but the Mouse really liked calling Gao Peng "Big Brother."

"You'll get used to it." Gao Peng chuckled softly.

Hearing the Prosperity Mouse talk like a country bumpkin, Da Zi snorted coldly.

I was clearly the first one to be with Gao Peng, but I see him picking up more and more strays now!

Out of sight, out of mind. With a flap of his mighty wings, Da Zi disappeared in a flash of purple lightning.

"Will the beautiful couple help me out with my research here?" Gao Peng could hear an earnest plea from somewhere close by.

A woman dressed in black work attire was aggressively jabbing a microphone at a young couple. Behind her, her assistant had a pink creature with an extraordinarily large nose on a leash. The creature had freakishly smooth skin and was prowling, sniffing around on all fours.

At the very back was a guy holding a huge camera.

"Uh…" The young couple appeared to be engaged and in the middle of taking their wedding photos.

"What kind of research?" the bride asked curiously.

The groom stood mutely by her side.

"Our company is gathering data on our latest invention, a new breed of creature called the Spring Scar Beast."

It was a strange name, and both the bride and the groom seemed nonplussed.

"The Spring Scar Beast is extremely sensitive to hormones and pheromones. It can detect how many times you've been intimate with both the opposite and the same sex in the past week. That's why I think that…"

"Let's go take our photos." The bride turned abruptly towards the groom.

"Huh?" The groom was taken aback.

"We're not done taking photos, and we're on a tight schedule. Let's not waste any more time."

"But… this will only take a couple of minutes, right?" The groom hesitated.

"Yes. It will only take 10 minutes at most," said the woman in black hurriedly.

Upon hearing this, the bride looked somewhat uneasy. Shooting the groom a quick look, her voice hardened. "Let's continue with our photoshoot."

Even an idiot would have known something was wrong by then. The groom had a very ugly look on his face. It was a nasty cocktail of humiliation and resignation.

"Are we taking the photos or not!" Seeing that the groom was still rooted to the ground, her voice took on a steely edge.

The groom's chest rose and fell as he drew in a couple of deep breaths. Then he turned to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?!" The bride paled.

"We're not taking the photos anymore."

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Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 301 - The Journey Back online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 301: The Journey Back

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

As Gao Peng looked at the back of the groom, he wanted to lend Silly to him so that he could wear it.

Gao Peng took another glance at the Spring Scar Beast. The monster's body surface was very unique, but Gao Peng felt a sense of familiarity.

However, Gao Peng knew that he had definitely not seen this monster before. If he had read about it in a book somewhere, he definitely wouldn't have forgotten it.

A row of data continued to flash within Gao Peng's field of vision.

[Monster Name: Spring Scar Beast

[Monster Level: Level 16

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Wind

[Monster Weakness: Very weak resistance to strong irritating odors.

[Monster Introduction: A variant of the Sniffing Beast. It has lost the sense of smell of the Sniffing Beast, but it's very good at distinguishing different hormones. It's very cowardly and dislikes battle.

Sniffing Beast… Gao Peng had heard of this monster before. After he looked at the data, he looked at the Spring Scar Beast again, and no matter how he looked at it, he could see traces of the Sniffing Beast on the Spring Scar Beast.

No wonder I felt weird when I looked at it.

Gao Peng knew that some companies were conducting very cruel experiments on monsters. They commonly believed that cruel experiments could better stimulate the potential of the monsters.

In truth, basically every laboratory had conducted its own experiments on monsters before. It was human nature to want to become stronger and strive for progress. In an environment where there were no clear laws that dealt with experimenting on monsters, it was natural that such a situation would occur.

However, the experiments carried out by large-scale laboratories were usually bound by strict requirements and procedures. At the very least, with the condition of reaching their experiment objectives as the prerequisite, they would guarantee the test subject wouldn't be in too much pain.

Gao Peng carried the Prosperity Mouse and walked forward. The rodent became excited about everything it saw.

Gao Peng felt embarrassed by it and was left speechless.

The things that got the Prosperity Mouse excited were just everyday items, like the Elite-tier monster Core Crystal, body parts of Elite-tier monsters, and other items in the laboratory that Gao Peng used all the time.

"This Prosperity Mouse sure is… a little low-class, huh…" Gao Peng whispered to himself.

Naturally, the Prosperity Mouse didn't realize that Gao Peng was already complaining about it on its first day as Gao Peng's familiar.

"I can only hope that it'll improve once its grade is promoted." Gao Peng felt frustrated. The Prosperity Mouse's level was too low. It thought that everything it saw was a treasure. With its level, it would be easier to make money doing nothing compared to what it was currently doing.

"Boss, boss, I haven't seen enough. Does the human world have this many treasures?" The Prosperity Mouse leaned into the gap of the cage, its eyes looking eagerly at the shops on both sides of the road.

"Treasures…" Gao Peng was truly at a loss for words.

This ugly rat actually likes treasure?! Silly suddenly became more alert and secretly held its fruit juice tighter.

When the Prosperity Mouse looked over at it, Silly suddenly grew nervous. "I'm warning you; I know Gao Peng."

It could sense the presence of treasure. As long as there was a treasure that attracted it nearby, its senses would be activated.

The last time it had felt this excited was two winters before. It didn't know the exact time, since the concept of time was too complex for a small rat like it.

When it heard the master say he was bringing it back home, it became visibly disappointed. It turned out the treasures didn't belong to him, and they had just been out for a walk.

It placed its claws on its teeth and used its teeth to scratch its claws. It did this to get rid of any unwanted particles on its claws and sharpen them, and to grind down the size of its teeth.

Its teeth grew very quickly, by two inches a week.

The Prosperity Mouse has three evolution paths… Gao Peng thought in silence. Among all the monsters Gao Peng had seen, it was one of the monsters with the smallest number of evolutionary paths.

Perhaps it was because it was a Mystic-type monster, or maybe because it was a rat.

However, no matter the reason, Gao Peng decided to promote the Prosperity Mouse's grade before making any further decisions.

Gao Peng was able to accurately predict the ability of the Prosperity Mouse. It could detect the general direction of a treasure, so the closer it was to the treasure, the stronger its senses would be.

Gao Peng whistled, and Da Zi flew over from afar. It looked at Gao Peng proudly. "Did you miss me?"

"Oh, you don't need to explain. I know that you missed me." Da Zi lifted up its head.

It glanced over at the Prosperity Mouse. It's just a small little rat. It poses no threat to me. Nothing will be left of it after just one bite.

"Gao Peng, I want to eat roasted rat for dinner!" Da Zi intentionally said in a very sinister tone.

The Prosperity Mouse in the cage let out a whimper and looked at Da Zi with terrified eyes.

"Stop messing around." Gao Peng shook his head, gathered his familiars, and headed back.

They passed by a shop, and Gao Peng decided to walk in. He lifted his head and looked at the name of the store.

Oh, it's one of ours.

The shop was very spacious, and the floor was made with a special kind of glass. It shone brightly when the white lights from the ceiling hit it. Golden sand that looked like the kind one would find on a beach was visible beneath the glass floor.

There was a display counter every ten feet. The display counters used glass covers, and precious materials were encased in them.

"Hello, sir. May I ask what kind of materials you're looking for? We at the Southern Water Store carry ninety-nine percent of the materials available in the market."

Gao Peng waved his hands and said, "Call your manager."

The beautiful young worker was slightly taken aback. However, due to her gentle nature, she just smiled sweetly and said, "As you wish, sir."

She turned around and went to the back to get the manager.

Gao Peng knew that if he were to order materials when he got back, the order would still have to be processed there, so he decided to just get the materials he needed while he was already there.

The shop manager walked out wearing a white shirt with a blue tie. He recognized Gao Peng immediately.

Perhaps Gao Peng didn't know the lower-level employees, but almost every one of the lower-level employees recognized him.

They only needed one look to know it was Gao Peng.

The manager tidied up his clothes, made sure he looked respectful, and then quickly walked closer to Gao Peng.

Gao Peng shook his head. "We'll talk inside."

The manager nodded to show he understood.

The young female worker who had attended Gao Peng at the beginning threw a few more secret glances at Gao Peng.

Although she didn't know who Gao Peng was, the manager's attitude toward him showed that he was important.

She felt that it was a pity that Gao Peng had just walked by her. She kept staring at him.

This made her feel a bit depressed.

Da Zi gave her a glimpse and swung its head upwards.

"Hmph!"

The worker saw the centipede walk past her. She thought she saw… contempt in its eyes?

"Do you have golden silver fruits, huangming flowers, lingxinzi, king grass, nine-clawed peacock top feathers…" Gao Peng mentioned a list of names of different materials.

He mentioned all the materials that were needed for all three evolutionary paths of the Prosperity Mouse at once. He also included materials that were good for kidneys for him to heal his body later that night.

The manager was very familiar with all the materials. He only needed to think for a while before replying smoothly, "We have all of the materials you mentioned at the start, but we don't have any nine-clawed peacock top feathers. We do, however, have quite a few six-clawed peacock top feathers. We still have three blue heart solanum nigrum…"

Since he could get all of the materials he needed for all of the future evolutionary paths, he decided to just buy all of them at once. He informed the manager of the materials he needed and waited for half an hour. Half an hour later, he went back to the Southern Sky Group along with the materials.

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Chapter 302: The Return of the Iron Pot Technique

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

In the laboratory, Xu Qingzhi carefully threw the Bloody Butcher reagent in her hands into a room. There was a clunk when the bottle of bloodthirsty reagent shattered on the floor.

The smashing of the bottle was like a signal.

The Black Raging Kong that was lazing around the house suddenly got up and rushed over hurriedly, throwing itself over the shattered bottle of Bloody Butcher reagent and starting to rapidly lick it off the ground.

After licking for a while, it was as if the reagent wasn't strong enough. It used its arms to push itself up, the fur on its chest sticky with bits of glass stuck all over it.

The Black Raging Kong's breathing grew heavier, and its eyes turned red. It started to growl furiously…

Bang! Gao Peng smacked the door with his left hand, and Xu Qingzhi turned around in shock.

"Help me deal with the ingredients." Gao Peng turned and left after speaking.

Xu Qingzhi turned and looked at the commotion the Black Raging Kong was causing. She didn't know whether or not her experiment had been successful.

Since the boss had already told her to help him, she could only take her things back into the laboratory obediently.

Soon, she arrived at the laboratory. Having two people deal with the ingredients increased the speed of the process considerably.

It didn't take more than half an hour for them to process all of the ingredients.

Gao Peng couldn't help but sigh when he saw the steps of the method on the data frame.

Is it true that all rodent types monsters have to get past this stage?! I can't help but feel hesitant about this step.

Gao Peng took a deep breath and motioned for Xu Qingzhi to leave, then he walked to a big cabinet, bent down, opened the cabinet, and took out a large pot.

All the ingredients were already prepared. He simply put the correct measurements into the pot at the correct time.

The liquid in the pot boiled.

Gao Peng shook his head violently. I shouldn't imagine things! This is just a pot of the reagent.

The liquid in the pot boiled even more, and a strange aroma filled the laboratory. It smelled like overcooked pumpkins. A sweet scent drifted into Gao Peng's nose.

Gao Peng waved to the Prosperity Mouse.

The Prosperity Mouse looked over obediently. It nodded towards Gao Peng and lightly hopped onto the table.

"Nice rat." Gao Peng patted the Prosperity Mouse gently on its back.

He then pointed towards the pot and said, "Jump inside."

Questioning him, the Prosperity Mouse looked up, stunned. It stared into Gao Peng's cold and emotionless eyes.

"Well, jump inside."

The Prosperity Mouse gulped. It kept widening its bean-sized eyes. Even if its eyes had been wide enough to see through flowers, it couldn't see anything at that moment.

The pot was filled with a thick yellow liquid.

It might have tasted a little strange, but everything else about it was fine.

Gao Peng saw that the Prosperity Mouse wasn't very brave, so he decided to give it a little help. He lifted his right hand, aimed it at the Prosperity Mouse, and gave it a light push.

Before the Prosperity Mouse could react, it had already fallen into the pot like a dumpling falling into a pot of soup.

With a bang, Gao Peng slammed the lid shut.

Only miserable howls and squeals could vaguely be heard.

Gao Peng lifted up the lid after ten minutes, then used a pair of long glass sticks to grab the Prosperity Mouse and keep stirring it inside the pot.

A strange fragrance filled the air…

The Prosperity Mouse's eyes turned white, its belly became round, and its tail pointed upwards. Gao Peng took it out of the pot, aimed at its belly, and gave it a tap. The reagent gushed out of its mouth like a fountain.

Before the Prosperity Mouse could rest, Gao Peng threw it back into the pot again.

The sound of miserable howls reverberated in the laboratory…

The cooking lasted half an hour this time. It was boiled until the yellow liquid became clear and transparent, like water.

The Prosperity Mouse changed drastically; its body went from being all gold to all yellow. It had become much thinner and lost quite a bit of mass.

So ugly… Gao Peng squinted his eyes. Why is this b*stard getting uglier as it evolves?

The Prosperity Mouse that had just come out of the pot was soaked. Its fur was clumped together, and its tail laid on the floor listlessly.

It exerted great effort to lie on the table, looking at Gao Peng with a degree of fear in its eyes.

[Monster Name: Treasure Sniffing Rodent

[Monster Level: Level 18

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Attribute: Mystic

[Monster State: Healthy (Dispirited)

[Monster Introduction: Evolved from the Prosperity Mouse. It's extremely sensitive to the smell of treasure. It's able to sniff out the odor of treasure that it passes by.

[Requirements for Promotion to Perfect Grade: …

It only went up to the Excellent grade. There's still a lot of room for growth. The increase shouldn't have been too huge.

Gao Peng looked at the pathways for it to reach the Perfect grade. This time, there were only two left.

The last time he had checked, there had been three pathways for its evolution, but now there were only two left. Is it possible that Mystic types are that rare? Even the evolution pathways are so limited.

One of the evolutionary pathways this time was to strengthen the treasure finding ability of the Treasure Sniffing Rodent. The other was to evolve it into a Treasure Swallowing Rodent that could grow by eating treasure. The latter option would give it a slew of Mystic-type abilities.

Both routes sounded good, so Gao Peng began to use the method of exclusion.

His family was rich, and he had a lot of treasure at home, so of course he would choose to strengthen its treasure hunting ability.

He didn't need to rely on the creature to be able to attack. He only needed it for its treasure hunting abilities. Moreover, the Treasure Swallowing Rodent… One glance and one would know that it was a loser, which didn't suit Gao Peng's taste.

He took his phone out of his pocket, called the logistics department, and asked them to send a batch of materials to him from the warehouse.

This batch had all the materials, except for the blood of an Emperor-tier monster, which wasn't a big problem.

Gao Peng asked the logistics department to send the other materials over. He would collect the blood of an Emperor-tier monster himself.

He first thought of Stripey. Since Stripey was his own familiar, it would be easier. However, after thinking about it, he realized that it would be quite difficult to get Stripey's blood.

That left the White Dragon.

"White Dragon!" Gao Peng shouted by the lake.

The tranquil water started to rumble, then half of a white head emerged from the lake. It looked at Gao Peng suspiciously.

"White Dragon, come here. I want to borrow something from you." Gao Peng waved his hands.

"Fuuuuu—"

A giant beast slowly flew out from the lake, its snow white claws shining brightly under the sun. The White Dragon looked down at Gao Peng from above and spat water out of its nostrils, which created a rainbow under the sunlight.

Gao Peng stepped forward and lifted a large bucket in his hands.

"Brother dragon, I need to borrow some of your blood. I only need one bucket."

The White Dragon widened its eyes and growled threateningly with its throat.

"Okay, okay. I already told Grandpa. Didn't Grandpa already talk to you?"

In the end, the White Dragon reluctantly lifted up its left arm, then used the claws on its right hand to create a small wound on itself.

Fresh blood gushed out of the wound. Some of the blood splashed outside the bucket and hit Gao Peng's hands.

The White Dragon's blood was hot, and Gao Peng was able to initially feel warmth on his hands, but the temperature suddenly dropped down. The back of his hands felt colder and colder, as if ice had formed on them. A bitter chill started to spread inwards and quickly, his hands became stiffer and stiffer.

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Is this legendary dragon blood?

This was Gao Peng's first thought after his hands were frozen.

But this blood is really, really cold. It is after all an Emperor-tier familiar… This was Gao Peng's second thought.

The White Dragon's wounds started to heal inwardly. The flesh on both sides of the scratched muscle moved toward each other and, relying on the strong muscles, they were forcefully sealed together.

The muscles that had forcefully met kept rubbing against each other, and strips of new flesh started to grow and form… The wound healed completely within ten minutes. The only thing that could be seen was a shallow scratch on the surface.

The bucket of blood was as heavy as mercury and much heavier than water. When Gao Peng lifted the bucket, there wasn't even the tiniest bit of a tremble on the surface. It was calm even though there was shaking. It remained as smooth as a mirror.

Is this really blood? Gao Peng was stunned.

Gao Peng happily left the side of the lake with the bucket of blood, and the White Dragon turned around and returned to the lake.

The Primitive Jade Armored Crocodile looked over suspiciously from a nearby puddle. From its understanding, the White Dragon was very strong, the most powerful monster it had ever seen. That was the reason why it had been willing to become Ji Hanwu's familiar.

The weak had to yield to the strong. This was in its nature.

The only thing that confused it was why such a powerful White Dragon would give its blood to a weak human.

It was too weird.

It just couldn't figure out the answer to this question, even after thinking about it for a while. As it continued to mutter to itself while laying in the puddle, enjoying the cooling water and the surrounding heat, it didn't take long for it to fall asleep.

Gao Peng returned to the laboratory and continued with his experiment. Half an hour later, the experiment was finished.

The Treasure Sniffing Rodent's appearance had changed completely, though its name was still the same. This meant that it hadn't evolved into another creature, but its grade had gone from Excellent to Perfect.

Its color also went from yellow to a light yellow, including shades of white.

Its eyes became smaller, shrinking from the size of soybeans to the size of green beans. A few black whiskers hung on both sides of its nose.

It went up two grades in a row. Its treasure sensing ability should've improved significantly, right?

Gao Peng took an Elite-tier monster core crystal and circled it front of the Treasure Sniffing Rodent. Its reaction was very tame. It just looked at it in disinterest.

Huh! This fella.

Gao Peng felt amused. Before its grade had been promoted, the Treasure Sniffing Rodent would become extremely excited when it saw an Elite-tier monster core crystal.

But now, it had learned to act cold and condescending.

"Do you want to take a look? You really don't want to take a look?" Gao Peng placed the core crystal right beneath the Treasure Sniffing Rodent's nose.

The Treasure Sniffing Rodent took a breath and placed its right claw on Gao Peng's finger, then bit down on the core crystal reluctantly.

Actually, I really don't want to eat it… The Treasure Sniffing Rodent lifted up its eyes. Why is Master not letting go?

"I only asked you if you wanted to take a look at it, not eat it," Gao Peng said seriously.

The Treasure Sniffing Rodent was blank.

Its claw held on very tightly, not willing to let go. However, Gao Peng pulled it away forcefully.

Gao Peng set aside the Elite-tier monster core crystal and took out a Commander-tier monster core crystal.

This time, there was a slight reaction in the Treasure Sniffing Rodent's face. Its tiny eyes kept staring at the Commander-tier monster core crystal in Gao Peng's hand. However, when it remembered how Gao Peng had treated it just now, its expression turned dark. It turned its head around and stopped looking at the core crystal.

It seems that the Commander-tier core crystal can only attract the Treasure Sniffing Rodent's attention, but is unable to excite it.

Gao Peng thought for a while. At least I now have a yardstick.

Not bad. Moreover, the Treasure Sniffing Rodent will reach the Commander tier soon. Once it reaches the Commander tier, its ability will improve by quite a bit.

I won't ever have to experience another unfortunate situation where I spend half a day searching tirelessly in the forest only to find a readily available material that costs ten measly Alliance credits.

After he finished with the Treasure Sniffing Rodent's evolution, Gao Peng lifted his head to look at the clock. It was only three o'clock in the afternoon.

He suddenly remembered that Huang Ya's school day was already over. The school was already preparing matters related to recruitment. Huang Ya had even asked him at noon if Gao Peng would be able to attend the opening ceremony of the school.

Of course, he had to attend the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony was the next day at ten o'clock in the morning. Gao Peng was preparing to go to the school.

It wasn't far from the Southern Sky Group. Because of special circumstances, the school had been built in the middle of a mountain in the suburbs.

The inside was spacious, while the building was simple. In front of the school's main entrance, there was a round stage that was three stories high, and in front of the podium was a big incense bowl. There was dirt in the incense bowl so that people could light their incense sticks.

The stage was reserved for the Guan Yu Statue.

After spending a period of time with Stripey, the Guan Yu Statue had gradually gotten used to life at the Southern Sky Group.

Thus, Gao Peng wanted to ask the Guan Yu Statue to become the gatekeeper of the school, although the Southern Sky Group didn't need a gatekeeper there. As far as the monsters of the world were concerned, the entrance to the Southern Sky Group's headquarters was the gate to a cave full of tigers and dragons.

Although this suburb had been cleared before, low-level monsters would still sometimes appear. If the Guan Yu Statue was present, it would be able to protect the school.

Gao Peng went around to the dorm, cafeteria, gym, field, classrooms, and offices to take a look. He was satisfied with what he saw.

This school had been hastily built in two months. It was unrealistic to expect it to look exquisite, but there were no problems with the quality. Gao Peng's impression of it was that it was clean and simple.

There were already students living in the dormitories. There were three types of students at the school.

The first kind were orphans who had lost their parents and were living hard lives alone. The second were students who had been recommended because of the cooperation between the school and the orphanage. Of course, it wasn't compulsory. The last kind were the children of Southern Sky Group employees.

The school utilized a full-time boarding school model. They would have a field trip once a month. At the same time, the students could freely choose to work part-time at any of the factories and departments under the Southern Sky Group during the winter and summer holidays. Those who didn't have homes to return to could stay at the school during the winter and summer holidays, as well. The school wouldn't arrange for classes during those times, but it would offer many interesting extracurricular activities.

The school was a combination of middle and high school, since it had both. Once students graduated, they would be able to sign a Blood Contract to become a monster trainer straightaway.

An elementary school was also planned, but it was still in the midst of construction. Moreover, it wouldn't be combined with the school for middle and high school students; it would be independent.

On the second day, Gao Peng stood on Tiange Academy's stage and gave a speech wearing a brown suit and a bow tie. His hairstyle was that of an adult, and his face was solemn and serious, so he looked very stern.

Gao Peng, dressed up this way, no longer looked young. He looked like he was around 26 or 27 years old.

"Greetings, everyone. I am your principal, Gao Peng. You can call me Principal Gao. Today is the day we found Tiange Academy. This is a very special day, one worth remembering. I believe that many years in the future, you'll feel very proud of the fact that you were once a student at Tiange Academy…" Gao Peng had prepared a 30,000-word long script for his speech.

Gao Peng read the script word by word. It took him an hour to read out the whole thing.

"…So I want to welcome all of you! We'll definitely start a new era!"

Clap, clap, clap! Loud applause rang out.

The new students who had been standing below the platform under the sun for an hour clapped loudly.

Gao Peng smiled. He turned around and said to Huang Ya, "These students are good young pupils! So enthusiastic! So positive! So generous! Most importantly, they understand gratitude."

Who knew that being loved by students was such a happy feeling? Gao Peng licked his somewhat dried out lips, feeling like he hadn't said enough.

Forget it. I'll continue next time.

"Okay, my speech ends here. We will now welcome Dean Huang Ya to say a few words!" Gao Peng laughed heartily and gave way for Huang Ya to step forward.

The applause of the new students below the platform became slower and slower, softer and softer. They looked dumbfoundedly at the thick script in Huang Ya's hands as he walked towards the microphone…

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Chapter 304: Phone Call from Chang'an

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

The speech lasted for two hours before it ended, and the legs of the students below the podium had already gone numb.

After they made sure that the speech was really finished, they clapped their hands feebly.

Today was the day classes officially began. A big car was parked in front of the school gate, and behind it, there was a huge 50-foot bronze statue.

The Guan Yu Statue walked down from the back of the car by itself and surveyed its surroundings. The scenery was wonderful, the place wasn't crowded, and the platform built for it was to the side of the school gate.

Maybe it was because it had grown used to it on the busy street, but when it saw the platform, it stood on it habitually. Then, after standing on it, it found the platform suited it, and it was also very comfortable, so it just stood on the platform with ease and acted as the gatekeeper of the school.

"You must burn incense for it every day, and the incense should never be extinguished, okay?" Gao Peng instructed them strictly.

"Yes, understood."

"Don't worry, Principal Gao. We'll definitely give it the incense every day."

"From now on, don't say 'it.' That isn't polite." Gao Peng went silent for a while. "Call it Teacher Guan from now on."

Huang Ya and the other teachers of the faculty nodded, then they exclaimed loudly to the Guan Yu Statue, "Teacher Guan."

The Guan Yu Statue's gaze was fixed to the front.

Gao Peng laughed, turned, and left.

By night, the trees in between the mountains swayed and rustled. A big fat honey badger peered its head out of the bushes. This fat honey badger was different from ordinary honey badgers. Its pupils were crimson, and its fur was thick and long, as if countless pine-like needles grew out from under its skin. It dragged a large furry tail on the ground, and with its nostrils pointed high in the air, it assessed its surroundings cautiously.

Then it raised its head and looked into the school,. There seemed to be a lot of delicious food inside. Transparent saliva started dripping from the edge of the honey badger's lips. It crawled carefully towards the school's main gate, then it suddenly stopped moving halfway.

It turned and crawled to the wall on the side.

Hmph, there's definitely something wrong with such a big entrance. I'm too smart to enter from here.

When it went past the Guan Yu Statue, the honey badger monster glanced at the bronze statue. It relaxed after it made sure it wasn't alive. It thought for a while before moving towards the leg of the bronze statue and peeing on it.

After it finished peeing, its body trembled a little. Just as it turned around, a dark gold-colored crescent descended from the sky above its head.

Puchk!

The head flew into the sky.

It rolled on the ground twice, covered in dust, as its eyes continued to stare at the Guan Yu Statue even as it died.

Two guards in the guard house heard the commotion and ran out. After seeing the body of the honey badger monster on the ground, they sucked in cold air.

"With such a big honey badger, the meat must be oh so very tender. The school cafeteria can add something extra to their menu."

"The principal said that every animal caught by Teacher Guan would be handled by the school's cafeteria. It looks like we'll have a good meal tomorrow."

Compared to being called Master Gao, a title that kind of implied being the son of a rich and wealthy family, Gao Peng preferred to be called Principal Gao by others, as it gave him a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in teaching and educating people.

He was a noble person who was above vulgar interests.

His phone, which had been left on the table, rang. Gao Peng grabbed the phone, and the display showed that it was Director Chen, the director of Chang'an Monster Breeder Association. Of course, one had to add an "ex" in front of the title.

Gao Peng accepted the call. "Director Chen."

"Hey. I haven't been the director of Chang'an Monster Breeder Association for a long time. It's not like you don't know that I've joined the military, Master Gao. You can just call me Chen Xuehe," said Director Chen jokingly from the other side of the phone.

"Then you should also just call me Gao Peng, like before. Master Gao is too unfamiliar," said Gao Peng, smiling.

"Actually, I'm quite embarrassed to ask for you this time, but I really have something that I need to bother you with," said Chen Xuehe on the other side with a sigh.

"Just say it straight out, Director Chen." Gao Peng was certain that Chen Xuehe needed something from him. Unfortunately, it was more like the Chang' an Military District behind Chen Xuehe needed something from him.

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you. The Desert Ruler in Dali Desert hasn't been quiet recently," Chen Xuehe said seriously.

Gao Peng frowned. He remembered that the Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm Lord had successfully evolved last time. Two mighty beasts had competed against each other, so even if the Desert Ruler had won, it wasn't possible for it to have healed that soon.

"The Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm Lord…. It surrendered to the Desert Ruler." Over the phone, Chen Xuehe's voice was very low. "Its power has expanded further. Although it suffered some injuries in the battle with the Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm Lord, the injury has already completely healed by now, and with the help of the Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm Lord, it has become even more powerful."

The Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm Lord had successfully evolved. After successfully evolving into a Lord-tier monster, it would bring its entire clan back to their territory, the Dali Desert. After all, they had been driven out of the Dali Desert by the Desert Ruler in the first place. Now, since it had the strength, of course it was going to fight back.

No one was willing to be driven from their home.

Now, the two Lord-tier monsters were on the same side. That was a frightening power.

"You can't be asking me to take care of these two monsters, right? You're overestimating me. We're talking about two Lord-tier monsters. If you want to find someone, shouldn't it be my Grandpa?" Gao Peng refused Chen Xuehe's plan.

Although Chen Xuehe was still considered a close acquaintance, it didn't mean that Gao Peng would use his Grandpa's strength and forces to help someone just because he knew them.

This was a different matter. If he had the ability to do it, then so be it. However, even if Gao Peng were to personally go there, there was no guarantee that he could take care of these two Lord-tier monsters, especially when the two monsters were located in their favorite environment. If he were to go there, the most likely situation would be meat dumplings trying to fight a dog.

If he could take Stripey there, then it definitely wouldn't have been a problem. Even if their number doubled, the Lord-tier monsters still wouldn't be able to do anything.

Stripey would be able to send those two monsters into the ground with just one slap, easy, casual, and maybe with a yawn.

But the problem was that Dali Desert was at least 1,800 miles away from Yuzhou City… After the Cataclysm, the distance had increased even further. Stripey's body was too big to get it into any kind of transportation, so it could only walk there, step by step.

"You've misunderstood. Of course, I'm not just asking you to handle them. This time, it's not just you—the Golden Deity will also personally head out. At the same time, we'll try our best to get those two monsters out of the desert. We only want you to delay the Desert Ruler while the Golden Deity deals with the Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm Lord. After he deals with the Earthworm Lord, then we'll all finish off the Desert Ruler together."

The plan sounded good, however, actually executing it wouldn't be that easy.

"Why do you need to kill these two Lord-tier monsters?" Gao Peng asked sharply. Lord-tier monsters didn't have low IQs. Unless humans really threatened their existence, they wouldn't attack human base cities on purpose.

The other side of the phone went silent for a while, then Chen Xuehe said, "A grandson of one of the heads of the military region was attacked by the Desert Ruler during his mission in the Dali Desert, and unfortunately, he died on duty."

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Chapter 305: Returning to Chang'an City

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

In the end, Gao Peng rejected Chen Xuehe's invitation.

From the moment that Chen Xuehe had uttered that sentence, Gao Peng had roughly understood its cause and effect.

From the Chang'an military district, a high ranking senior military officer sacrificed his life while on a mission in the Dali Desert. Of course, the authenticity of the task and sacrifice was subject to discretion.

The high ranking officer wasn't well acquainted with Grandpa, otherwise he wouldn't have needed to contact Gao Peng through Chen Xuehe. He could have contacted Grandpa directly.

Looking him up was just a ruse. Taking advantage of his relationship with his grandpa and getting Ji Hanwu to act was the real intention.

If Gao Peng had acted to help, whether it was fake or not, Grandpa would definitely follow him secretly to ensure his safety.

Gao Peng resented being taken advantage of by others. He despised this behavior.

With the arrival of numerous large trucks along the roads, the air became dusty and smoky. The trucks finally stopped beside the lake.

When the rear iron doors of the big trucks were unbolted, huge boxes in the compartment were being slid down the ramps onto the ground, and when they were opened, there were rows and rows of fresh meat.

Firetail Monkeys wearing white gloves served as movers. They carried the boxes down, took out all the meat, and placed it by the lakeside. Very quickly, the meat piled up in small mountains.

After that, the Firetail Monkeys sat on the top of the trucks and exited via the other end of the villa. The atmosphere was filled with furious humming and the vigorous roars and rumbles of the trucks.

The surface of the lake started to ripple. A strong, rough white claw appeared from the lake and gently took aim at the mountain of meat, forming a large wave in the lake's surface, resulting in a large quantity of meat dropping into the dragon's mouth. On the other end, the Primitive Jade Armored Crocodile crawled out of the water. It opened its mouth and started sucking as if it were whizzing into the void, inhaling the pile of meat on the ground into its mouth like a gust of strong wind.

"Do you want to go back to Chang'an City after a while?" asked Ji Hanwu as he was cutting up the steak on his plate.

Gao Peng thought about his own home. Although he was living with Grandpa, he still considered the small house in Chang'an City his real home.

It wasn't very big, but it was cozy and warm.

"I want to go back and tidy up the old place." Gao Peng didn't lift his head as he forked a cherry into his mouth.

"Did the Chang'an military district call you?" Ji Hanwu placed a piece of well-cut steak into his mouth.

His glistening teeth were like two rows of saws, chewing and smashing the beef, then swallowing it down his throat and into his stomach.

"I rejected them." Gao Peng knew what Grandpa was talking about.

"Oh… If you're going there and it's convenient, just help them out."

Surprised, Gao Peng lifted up his head to look at Grandpa.

Grandpa let out a cough. "Someone approached me for a favor. Once you're there, you can assess the situation. If you can help, then help. If it's too inconvenient for you to help, then just turn around and leave!"

"Okay!" Gao Peng smiled.

Gao Peng was preparing to go back home to Chang'an City two days later. His main purpose was to tidy up the place, although there wouldn't be much dust in his house, because he had closed all the windows when he left.

Secondly, he would go to Dali Desert to assess the situation. Grandpa had already made an agreement with the military that if Gao Peng eventually had to help, he would be entitled the priority of selecting the final reward.

He rested a day before heading out. The best surprise was that Flamy, who had remained quiet for a month, evolved successfully on the final day.

Flames rose from the surface of the eggshell, and the red flame ignited the surrounding trees, making the fire larger and larger.

It looked like a great fire was about to happen. Unknowingly, the sky turned dark and gloomy, and a sudden storm extinguished the fire.

The giant burning egg in the forest was particularly eye-catching in the downpour.

The rainwater evaporated before it could even touch the giant egg, so there was a thick mist surrounding the surface of it. The combination of the light from the fire and the mist created a yellow glow around the egg.

A green-black beak poked out from the top of the giant egg as if a sword had been thrust straight into the sky.

The red egg suddenly burst into pieces, creating a red smokey haze in the air. A bright flare shot high up into the sky and turned the dark clouds in the sky a slight red color.

Screech—

The rainfall started to get lighter and lighter, with rainwater hitting the grass gently.

Gao Peng was watching the rain from the house. Behind him was a 13-foot-tall giant crane that was stretching its wings. Its white feathers were slightly mixed with green feathers. There were also a few red feathers at the tips of its wings.

Its scarlet eyes were like jewels, while its slender legs were as black as ink. White rings covered much of its legs. Its four sharp claws were like silver hooks. Its feathers looked bright and shiny, without any trace of being soaked by the rain.

It was November, and the weather had started to become cold, however, the inside of the house wasn't cold at all.

A slight warmth exuded from its body. There wasn't even any need to turn on the house heater; the temperature just rose automatically.

"I thought that I would only be going with Da Zi and Dumby to Chang'an City. The timing of your breakthrough was just right," Gao Peng said to Flamy.

Flamy laughed and lifted up its neck with pride.

Ever since its evolution, Flamy's body had become more attractive, slim and streamlined. It no longer gave others the impression that it was a penguin. It looked like a proper one-legged crane. However, it was still a bit fat.

The color of its feathers was peculiar. There was a mixture of green and red among the white feathers that looked rather dazzling.

The result of this evolution was really something that Gao Peng hadn't expected.

[Monster Name: Forest Flame Spirit Crane (Ancestral blood veins reawaken)

[Monster Level: Level 41

[Monster Grade: Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Fire/Wood

[Monster Skills: Flame Mastery Level 4, Flame Resistance Level 4

[Special Characteristics: Fire feathers (…)

[Monster Introduction: It has awakened a new kind of blood veins in its body. It only needs to devour fire spirits to continue to promote its grade…

Gao Peng didn't know what kind of blood veins had been reawakened in Flamy. He didn't want to come to any conclusions before Flamy completed all of its evolution.

"It's been raining non-stop in Yuzhou City since two days ago. The temperature has dropped considerably, as well. However, it's still bright and sunny here in Chang'an City." Gao Peng looked at the sun above him. Da Zi, Flamy, Dumby, Silly, and the Treasure Sniffing Rodent were beside him.

Bringing the Treasure Sniffing Rodent along was a decision made at the spur of the moment by Gao Peng.

There were no major changes in the old courtyard at home. The mottled courtyard wall was covered with vines. Gao Peng heard the sound of children playing in the yard from a distance.

There were a few elders chatting on chairs in the courtyard, but a few familiar faces were missing.

When Gao Peng walked by, he didn't attract any attention. However, Flamy and Dumby, who were walking behind, attracted the attention of others.

"That looks like… the boy from the Gao family?" one of the elders asked.

"Huh? I heard that he moved away a long time ago. Why did he come back all of a sudden?"

"The familiars behind him look quite imposing."

"The crane looks quite good."

"Fleshy."

Both Dumby and Flamy were far too big to take the stairs.

Gao Peng led the rest of his familiars up the stairs, leaving those two beneath him.

A couple of heads poked out from the top of the stairs, curiously observing Dumby.

Dumby naturally noticed the little pipsqueaks taking a peek at it in the distance. However, it didn't pay them any mind.

"That's a walking skeleton," muttered one of them.

"It's a monster," one of his friends corrected him.

"An ugly-looking one."

"Ugh, it's so ugly. It doesn't even have any flesh!"

"What does a walking skeleton need flesh for?"

"I once picked on this pile of bones," one of the bigger boys loudly proclaimed.

"Rubbish. There's no way you would dare do such a thing…"

"What's there to be afraid of?" The boy picked up a stone and threw it at Dumby.

The stone spun a few times through the air until it landed at Dumby's feet.

Dumby slowly looked down at the stone, then raised its right foot and stamped down on the stone.

The stone was instantly reduced to dust!

Dumby turned towards the boy who had thrown the stone at it, cold white flames now burning fiercely in its eye sockets.

The boy shuddered. His eyes soon began to redden, and he exploded into tears. Some of the children quickly fled the place.

Ten minutes later, the children came back.

A stocky-looking child walked in front of the group. He must have been their leader. He was holding a rope in his hands, the other end of which was bound around the neck of a 13-foot-tall, 22-foot-long dog.

The huge dog didn't seem to have any fur on it. Blood vessels could be seen crisscrossing the surface of its body. Its bloodshot eyes were fixed steadfastly on Dumby.

The children threw Dumby dirty looks. Some of them still had tears in their eyes.

"Sic 'em, boy!"

As soon as the leader loosened his grip on the rope, the huge dog immediately barrelled towards Dumby.

Some of the elders had heard the commotion.

"Hey, Lee, isn't that Wang Cai's barking?" asked one of them.

"Yeah, it is…" The old woman named Lee quickly got to her feet and shouted, "Wang Cai…"

Suddenly, the dog's barking stopped.

A moment later, a naked dog came bolting around the corner with its tail tucked between its legs, as if something had scared the living daylights out of it.

"Wahhh…" A child came running after the dog, screaming his lungs out until his voice went hoarse.

After dusting the entire room, Gao Peng came down the stairs, only to find Dumby surrounded by a crowd of angry-looking old people.

Upon seeing Gao Peng come down from his room, an old woman strode over to him and said, "Little Gao, we've watched you grow up."

"That's right. Even if your parents aren't around, you should at least call me 'Auntie.'"

Gao Peng frowned. He didn't know what was going on. He looked at Dumby for an answer.

Through their Blood Contract, Dumby told him what had happened. After hearing Dumby's side of the story, Gao Peng nodded to himself.

"My grandson was only fooling around with your…"

An old man helped her complete her sentence. "Familiar."

"That's right, familiar. He was only playing around with it. Did it have to give him such a fright?" said the old woman, stroking her grandson's head as if fearing that Dumby had done something to it.

"My grandson's a smart and obedient boy. I'm not saying this is your fault, but there's no reason for you to bring that pile of bones around in public."

"I'm so sorry. Please do excuse me. I still have other matters to attend to," said Gao Peng flatly.

He left the place with his familiars.

Nobody else tried to stop him. They simply watched him walk away into the distance.

After leaving the house, Gao Peng stopped by a travel agency and asked about any trips bound for Dali Desert. However, the only answer he received was a resounding no from every travel agency and adventuring party in the agency.

"No, we're not going to Dali Desert any time soon. That place is way too dangerous. A lot of people have died there. Also, I hear that the army has locked down the place. Anyone wishing to enter the desert will have to register for a special pass. However, if you're thinking about going anywhere else, I'm at your service," said one of the travel agents that Gao Peng had approached.

Gao Peng frowned when he heard that a lot of people had died in Dali Desert. It would seem that things were a lot more complicated than the military in Chang'an had let on.

Gao Peng had no choice but to dismiss the idea of entering Dali Desert via official means. However, he still had to see what was going on there for himself without exposing himself to the people in the military.

After leaving the travel agency, Gao Peng saw a couple of shady-looking people loitering outside the agency. Every time someone came out of the agency, they would try to chat him or her up. If the other party had no interest in continuing the conversation, they would simply back off and wait for their next customer.

These people were scalpers, hyenas fighting over scraps left behind by travel agencies outside their doorsteps. Due to the shady nature of their business, these people had to do things with the utmost discretion.

Gao Peng waved a hand at a man in a black jacket who was standing not far away from him.

The man took a long drag on his cigar and blew the smoke out through his nostrils, then threw what remained of his cigar to the ground and stepped on it before walking briskly towards Gao Peng.

Gao Peng took out his wallet and threw a stack of Alliance dollar bills at the man.

"I'm looking to join a group that's headed for Dali Desert. I'm planning to go there today," he said.

The man in the black jacket swiftly inserted the stack of dollar bills inside his pocket.

Looking left and right to make sure that no one was looking at them, the man nodded and said, "Follow me."

Gao Peng followed the man into an alley until they reached a shabby-looking building. The man walked straight into it.

Not at all worried that he might be entering a trap, Gao Peng followed the man into the house.

Suddenly, a black figure streaked past him, barely grazing his hair. Gao Peng was not at all shaken by this. He didn't even stop to see where it went.

On a shelf on the far end of the corridor, a black snail was coldly staring at Gao Peng.

The snail stretched its neck out from its shell, which was covered entirely with spikes.

Gao Peng looked at it indifferently.

The snail widened its eyes at him. Then it withdrew its head into its shell. The snail seemed to be shuddering inside it…

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From the depths of the house echoed the sound of breaking glass.

After leading Gao Peng through three corridors and two courtyards, the man in the black leather jacket finally came to a stop.

The man didn't turn around. He simply stood there with his back to Gao Peng.

Lines of sweat trickled down his forehead and onto his collar.

The man had set his familiar, the Black Spiked Snail, on Gao Peng as his first test. Even though it wasn't terribly powerful, it was still an Elite-tier monster.

However, all it took was a casual look from Gao Peng, and the snail was instantly cowed into submission. Even the man in the black jacket had felt the snail's terror the moment it locked eyes with Gao Peng through their Blood Contract.

He could tell that this boy was the real deal.

"I've already made a few calls to prepare for your trip to Dali Desert. We'll be leaving tonight at ten," said the man in a low voice.

Gao Peng nodded. There was bamboo all around him, each plant wedged into the walls just above his head. All kinds of junk cluttered the place.

"Why don't you rest for a bit? I've already made the necessary arrangements. Just remember that we'll be departing tonight at ten. Any later than that and we'll leave you behind," said the man.

Gao Peng narrowed his eyes, then slowly nodded at the man.

Night soon came.

A group of people came into the building from the other side.

There were six of them in total. Behind them stood a couple of shadowy figures completely enshrouded in layers of thick black cloth.

"Since every checkpoint on the main road is being guarded by the army, we'll be taking a lesser-known route leading out of Chang'an city," explained a black-robed girl at the front of the group. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail. Her eyebrows were slender, and her movements were agile and refined.

Considering how big Chang'an City was, there was no way the army had its men stationed at the city's every exit.

They began walking towards the outskirts of the city. They could hear the occasional wail of car horns from a highway in the distance.

Without an experienced guide, they would definitely not have been able to make much headway in the dark.

After walking for two hours, they finally reached the other side of a small mountain. Under the cover of darkness, they could see the outline of a huge truck parked on the side of the road.

The black-robed girl produced a whistle from her backpack. She then let out one long whistle and two short ones.

The truck roared to life.

"Let's go," said the girl urgently as she rushed towards the truck.

All of them climbed into the truck's cab, while the compartment at the back was reserved for their familiars.

Gao Peng didn't get a good look at any of their familiars, as most of them were covered under a thick black cloth. He could only see a number of huge figures being ushered into the truck's back compartment. One of them suddenly cried out and bumped into another familiar.

The latter shook its head and let out a deep growl.

It seemed like a fight was about to break out between the two familiars.

Suddenly, a pair of bony arms pierced through the black cloth and touched the two familiars' heads.

In an instant, both of them calmed down.

The two familiars now stood stock still in the back compartment.

In the cab, Gao Peng sat in the middle. On his right was a woman in a dark red dress, her exposed shoulders round and smooth. She had let down her black, curly hair. Her slender legs were folded over each other to complete this picture of feminine appeal.

Realizing that Gao Peng was looking at her, the woman turned to Gao Peng and smiled at him. Her lips were painted red, two alluring arcs glistening in the darkness.

Gao Peng hastily looked away, realizing how rude it was to ogle at a woman.

The other two in the cab seemed to be acquaintances. He tried to remember what they looked like.

They were a couple. Judging from their appearances, Gao Peng figured that they didn't look like they were in desperate need of money.

Perhaps they were just looking to have some fun and excitement in Dali Desert.

They drove along the road for around three hours. The truck jolted a bit from time to time. This wasn't surprising, seeing that the road they were on had fallen into disrepair through years of neglect. They had to drive slowly, as there were potholes in certain parts of the road.

"Awooo!"

Suddenly, there was a chilling howl outside the truck.

Gao Peng looked out the window and saw green dots of light floating in the darkness by the roadside.

He soon made out the outlines of huge wolf-like creatures that were now chasing after the truck in rabid excitement.

No matter how fast the truck was moving, they couldn't seem to shake off these terrifying creatures.

"I'm already driving at top speed!" cursed the driver. "We are so dead!"

With how fast the truck was moving, the wolves on both sides of the road grew more and more excited. They let out another chilling howl.

"Stop the truck," said the black-robed girl.

The driver switched gears and slowed down the truck. Finally, it came to a complete stop.

The wolves now surrounded the truck in every direction. Their green eyes were especially unsettling.

In the back compartment, Flamy's Lord-tier aura spread out from the bottom of its feet.

The wolves, which were slowly approaching their prey from all sides, suddenly froze up. In the next instant, all of them scampered away from the truck, yelping in fright.

"Awooo!"

"What the…" The black-robed girl, who had already braced herself for a confrontation, looked at the wolves incredulously. She then looked down silently at the unsheathed machete that she had in her hands…

"Let's keep going," said Gao Peng, breaking the awkward silence in the cab.

The black-robed girl blinked and looked at Gao Peng, then said to the driver, "Drive on."

She didn't believe that she had scared off the wolves by unsheathing her machete. She also didn't believe that her familiar, which had only recently been promoted to Commander-tier, would be able to intimidate a pack of Elite-tier wolves.

However, she decided not to dwell on it. Her job now was to get these people safely to the edge of Dali Desert. Anything else wasn't her concern.

After driving for half an hour, the scenery outside gradually looked even more desolate, while the plants on the roadside looked even more stunted and sparse. Under the dim moonlight, Gao Peng could only make out their misshapen shadows scattered across the barren landscape.

"We're here. Up ahead is Dali Desert. Follow that small trail branching out of the main road, and you'll reach a gathering spot for mercenaries and other lovely folk. It's just outside the army's jurisdiction," said the black-robed girl before returning to the truck and leaving Gao Peng and the others on the road.

The earth beneath their feet was soft. A light, dry breeze blew past them.

Looking out into the distance, Gao Peng could see a vast expanse of sand with a tinge of silver stretching out to the horizon.

Dali Desert lay just ahead of them.

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Chapter 308: The Desert Mamba

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

The woman in the red dress turned around and beckoned to one of the monsters squirming under the black drapes.

A silver-gray serpentine shape tore through the drapes like an arrow into the open air.

A huge cobra reared its head at least three stories above the ground. Its tail was tipped with a silver point that flashed dangerously like a dagger behind it. There were also faint yellow bands around the dagger-like tip of the tail.

A faint rattling sound could be heard every time the snake shook its tail.

[Monster Name: Desert Mamba

[Monster Level: Level 36 (Commander-tier)

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Ability: Sand Immunity Level 2

[Monster Attribute: Sand type

[Description: The Desert Mamba is an extremely aggressive monster that can usually be found in the desert. Sand is its primary food source.

Level 36… Not bad.

While the market was becoming even more saturated with Commander-tier monsters as everyone gradually acclimatized to the post-Cataclysm world, a late-stage Commander-tier familiar was still a rarity. The woman in the red dress flashed a smile at Gao Peng, then began walking towards Dali Desert with her familiar.

After whispering something to each other for a moment, the couple took one of the small paths branching off of the main road and disappeared into the night.

Da Zi, who had been cooped up under the black cloth for so long, squirmed out of it and began circling around Gao Peng like an excited puppy.

"Thought I was gonna suffocate in there," chirped Da Zi.

"Let's look for a place at the gathering spot to turn in for the night," said Gao Peng. He breathed in the sandy air and hastily rubbed his nose.

Being on the road the whole night was a tiring affair. The only thing Gao Peng wanted to do now was lie on a soft, warm bed.

Even though they were wiped out from their night-long drive, Gao Peng and his familiars still had enough energy to continue the rest of their journey. A few minutes later, Gao Peng could make out the vague outline of buildings behind a hill in the distance that looked like a small town. However, as it was already three in the morning, there probably wouldn't be anyone out on the streets at this hour.

A flag on a wooden post fluttered in the bleak wind in front of one of the buildings.

An earthen wall surrounded the small town. There was a guard on lookout duty right now with a hunting dog by his side. Suddenly, the dog began barking at something in the darkness.

The guard, who was moments away from dozing off, woke up with a start. He took his gun out of his backpack and strained his eyes at whatever his dog was barking at. In the distance, he could see a few blurry outlines approaching the town. They didn't look human.

Just when he was about to report this, he heard a voice calling out in the distance. "Do you have any places to stay there?"

A human?

The guard put away his gun. No monster could possibly speak a human tongue that fluently.

A few minutes later, a young man came into view. He looked to be about 20 years old and had quite handsome features—clear skin, a high nose bridge… Damn, how is he so handsome?

The guard was beginning to feel a bit jealous.

"Why are you still out at such a late hour? The Dali Desert can be quite dangerous at night, you know," said the guard.

"I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the nocturnal monsters in the desert," said Gao Peng, casually raising his right hand to show a recently deceased Night Sand Scorpion.

"Well, you can still come in," the guard mumbled. "However, it's already late, so most of the inns are already sold out. You should know that we have a hard time accommodating all our visitors, even during the day."

"I can pay more," said Gao Peng without any hesitation.

A toothy smile spread across the guard's face. "Let me ask around."

He began exchanging a few words with someone else on his walkie-talkie.

Ten minutes later, someone came out to bring Gao Peng to his sleeping quarters.

Setting up an inn near a desert was no easy task. Gao Peng was lucky that there was even a place to stay in the middle of nowhere.

After settling his familiars down, he finally went to bed.

The next day, Gao Peng was woken up by the blinding sunlight and the bustle of the street outside. It took most of his willpower to pull himself out of bed. For a moment, he thought that he had been completely pinned to his bed by an unseen force.

Gao Peng shielded his eyes from the blinding sunlight as he looked out the window.

Outside, he could see buildings shaped like cow sheds lining the street. Between them stood a few low-rise buildings.

The shoddy brick walls made Gao Peng think of a primitive civilization. They looked as if they had been built using a familiar's Earth Mastery ability.

People filled the streets like schools of fish.

Most of them were either wearing a hat or a mask over their faces. Some of them were even walking their familiars out on the street. On both sides of the street, besides a few stalls selling street food, there were also others selling all kinds of materials.

On the surface, it seemed like there were all kinds of materials being sold. However, thanks to his enhanced eyesight, Gao Peng could see that there was little variety in the merchandise being sold.

He was able to make out some of the more ubiquitous items currently out on display in every stall.

[Material Name: Exploding Cactus

[Description: It can be applied directly to any wound to achieve a cauterization effect. It can also used as a medicinal ingredient.

[Material Name: Normal Sand-Type Monster Core

[Description: A crystal core formed from the residual energy inside a Sand-type monster's body. Can be used on a familiar to increase its elemental power. Is most effective when used on a Sand-type monster.

[Material Name: Sand Soul Stone

[Description: A stone that's saturated with Sand-type and Earth-type elemental energy.

These were the three most popular items being sold in every stall.

Gao Peng figured that said items wouldn't be hard to find here. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been for sale in every corner of the street.

The second, third, and fourth floors of the inn that Gao Peng was staying in were rooms for guests, while the first floor was a dining room. Gao Peng went down to the first floor and ordered a couple of dishes for himself. Then he poured himself a cup of water and quietly listened to the chatter around him.

Just then, Silly slid off Gao Peng's head and dipped one of its tentacles into the soy sauce, then slurped up the sauce.

It was revolting. A wave of nausea washed over Silly all of a sudden. That's not right, it thought.

"The army had the entire Dali Desert locked down. Now, they're only letting their own people in."

"Those army people are just trying to hog the good stuff for themselves," grumbled someone else after downing two cups of wine.

"You speak—" He hiccuped. "The truth, brother."

Gao Peng didn't hear any useful information from the crowd. For the most part, all of it was idle chatter.

It seemed that the army held quite a lot of influence over the public in Chang'an City, as most of the people there didn't dare bad-mouth the army, at least in public.

However, the fact that the army had locked down the Dali Desert and forbidden anyone from entering meant that something big was about to go down there.

After breakfast, Gao Peng got up and headed out to the Dali Desert with his familiars.

The desert was situated in the northeastern region of Chang'an City. Before the Cataclysm, it had once been a popular tourist spot. Since then, the desertization problem had grown worse. The desert began encroaching upon the area around it. Eventually, the place had become a wasteland with no signs of human life.

Ever since someone had discovered the existence of Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworms in the Dali Desert, the place had been branded a dangerous area that wasn't for the faint of heart. The desert gained even more notoriety when the Desert Ruler came in and chased the Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworms out of th domain.

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Chapter 309: A Sand Monster's Weakness

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

When Dumby placed one foot on the desert's surface, it sank into the sand almost instantly.

It was as if it had stepped into a pit. Sand began flowing into the depression created by Dumby's foot, threatening to swallow it whole like, a whirlpool.

Dumby viciously stamped its left foot on the sand, raising a huge plume of it into the air.

Both its feet were now stuck in the sand.

Flamy hovered down and hooked its claws into Dumby's shoulder blades. With all its might, it flew up and plucked Dumby out of the sand.

Dumby looked at the desert that had almost swallowed it alive in bewilderment.

"The desert's not the same as solid ground. You'll need some time to get used to it," said Gao Peng, trying to stifle a chuckle.

The desert sand was loose and almost fluidlike. In order to avoid sinking into the flowing sand, some level of control over one's weight distribution beneath one's feet was necessary, even more so for familiars of a wider girth.

Flamy circled overhead, cackling in the air as it watched Dumby flounder on the sand.

Da Zi had also taken off and was now zipping to and fro through the air, like a purple streak of lightning.

After a few tries, Dumby gradually learned how to properly walk across the desert surface. The trick was to bend its body slightly forward and tiptoe each step.

Suddenly, a gray sand snake slithered out from the sand beneath its feet.

It lunged at Dumby with lightning speed and sank its fangs into Dumby's ankle!

After writhing about in the air for a few moments, the snake slunk back into the sand, leaving one of its broken fangs behind…

It was noteworthy that the Desert Ruler was a monster composed purely of sand. Its movements wouldn't be impeded in the desert.

While Dumby could still walk normally across the desert, it would have a hard time maintaining its balance on the loose sand if it tried to exert itself.

As Dumby was now a Lord-tier monster, it could unleash a lot of destructive power with every move. Dumby also had a rather slender physique. It would probably sink itself into the flowing sand if it so much as sneezed.

A confrontation with the Desert Ruler was the last thing they needed right then.

Gao Peng's face grew solemn. "Let's not go too deep into the desert. We'll just walk around here for a bit."

Gao Peng and the others turned back and began walking along the desert's periphery.

Gao Peng had been to the Dali Desert once before. However, the desert of back then was a lot different from the one they were walking through right now.

The air smelled of sand. From time to time, clumps of sand particles would hit them out of nowhere. Even though it was already November, the sun still shone high in the sky. The desert heat was almost unbearable.

"The sand here is… angry," said Dumby slowly as it came to a halt.

"Angry?" asked Gao Peng.

"When a Lord-tier monster has been in a place long enough, its presence have an effect on the environment around it, including the air," explained Dumby.

Gao Peng nodded. He remembered how cool and clean the White Dragon's lake had seemed. At first, he had chalked it up to natural causes. Thanks to Dumby's explanation, he now knew that this had been brought about by the White Dragon's presence.

Sand was regarded by most as a flexible element. However, Gao Peng had never heard anyone call it angry.

He figured that whatever Lord-tier monster was in the depths of the desert, it must have been an ill-tempered entity.

Suddenly, the sounds of clashing could be heard somewhere in front of them. As sound couldn't travel far in the desert air, the fight couldn't be too far away from them.

Flamy flew higher up into the air and said, "Gao Peng, someone's fighting off monsters up ahead."

Gao Peng quickly led his familiars up a sand dune. On the other side of the dune, he could see someone clashing against a pack of wild monsters with his familiars.

These wild monsters didn't share one unifying feature other than the fact that they were all brown and made of moving sand. Some of them looked like misshapen porcupines with sand spines squirming across their backs. Others looked like snakes slithering across the sand. A few of them had even sprouted seven arms on the sides of their bodies, baring fangs and claws at their prey.

There were at least 40 of these Sand Monsters in total.

The Sand Monsters had surrounded a ten-man party and their 20 or so familiars, who were now backing away slowly from the sand creatures.

Standing at the head of the party were their more defensive familiars, which were able to absorb the Sand Monsters' attacks without sustaining too much damage thanks to their thick skin and muscle. It was thanks to their familiars' line of defense that the party was still able to hold out against the Sand Monsters' attacks.

A couple of cactus-like familiars were standing close to the party. They were around 16 feet tall and had their spine-covered arms stretched out in front of them defensively.

[Monster Name: Savage Toothpick Cactus

[Monster Level: Level 18

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Wood

[Monster Weakness: Fire

They swung their arms out like baseball bats and sent a flurry of spines flying towards the Sand Monsters.

When the spines landed on the Sand Monsters' bodies, they froze for a moment. Then they regained control of their bodies and continued advancing towards their prey.

Evidently, piercing-type attacks had little to no effect on Sand Monsters.

Gao Peng gazed coldly at the fight below. What he had now was an opportunity to observe the Sand Monsters' collective behavior in a fight and their reactions to various attacks up close.

He had noticed that the cactus' spine attacks had only caused the Sand Monsters to itch. He figured that only blunt attacks would have any effect on them.

A Black Steel Rhinoceros viciously charged at the Sand Monsters, its feet sinking into the sand with every step. When it collided against one of the Sand Monsters, the single tusk on its snout pierced through the Sand Monster and knocked what appeared to be a yellow heart out of its body. The Sand Monster trembled for a moment, then it collapsed to the ground.

Sand particles were now undulating around the yellow heart on the ground…

[Monster Name: Sand Monster

[Monster Level: Level 12

[Monster State: Mortally injured (Unconscious)

[Monster Attribute: Sand

[Monster Weakness: 1. Ice 2. The sand core in its body can be destroyed. 3. Chopping off any part of its body will considerably reduce its overall power. It needs a lot of time to heal itself, which is done by absorbing sand from its surroundings.

The heart-like object must have been the Sand Monster's core. A Sand Monster could be rendered unconscious if one forcibly removed its core from its body.

Gao Peng made a mental note of this.

Some of the Sand Monsters had gotten their arms ripped off during the battle. They picked their dismembered appendages up from the ground and slowly backed away from their prey. Then they held their arms to the stumps on their bodies.

A few minutes later, their arms were reconnected to their bodies. However, their movements now seemed even more rigid.

Suddenly, an idea dawned on Gao Peng. He willed Dumby, who was standing beside him, to touch his Heart of the Bloodseeker through the gaps of his ribcage.

Dumby's heart began throbbing against his fingers…

This strange rhythm was pulling on every Sand Monster's sand core, causing them to shrink inward!

Thump, thump, thump.

The Sand Monsters were slowing down.

The Sand Monsters' bodies began to twist and turn as Dumby's heart throbbed even more quickly. Their limbs were bent at impossible angles, as if they were all trying to do a robot dance at the same time.

Then there was the sound of breaking glass in the air.

All the Sand Monsters beneath Gao Peng had exploded into plumes of sand!

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Chapter 310: The Sandstorm

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

Dumby pulled back its right hand. The scene beneath it was now one of chaos, as the Sand Monsters exploded spontaneously into clouds of sand around the people at the foot of the sand dune. The members of the group looked at each other in bewilderment, trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened.

Gao Peng silently gazed down at them for a moment before turning around and leaving the place alongside Dumby and the others.

"Someone's on the other side of the sand dune," said one of them who had managed to catch a glimpse of Gao Peng's back disappearing behind the sand dune.

"He must have helped us," said an older gentleman in the party pensively. "Should we go thank him?"

"Seeing how quickly he walked away, I don't think he wants to be thanked," said a woman.

"Tch, shows how much you know," muttered the woman's husband. "We should always remember to thank those who've helped us in life, regardless of whether they want to be thanked or not."

When the party climbed up the sand dune, Gao Peng was nowhere to be seen. Some of them seemed a bit disappointed.

"Would have been nice to have an Ice-type familiar here with me," muttered Gao Peng.

There was still too little diversity in the familiars he had right now. He could probably overcome any obstacle in his path if he had a powerful familiar for each element on his team.

He had once ran a couple of experiments on Sand Monsters and had been able to gather substantial information on them.

Sand Monsters were generally resistant to Electric-type attacks. While Dumby could take on the Desert Ruler on its own, there was no way it would be able to do so out here in the desert.

Then there was Flamy…

Gao Peng had noted in his most recent experiment that a Sand Monster would experience an increase in speed and agility when exposed to extreme heat. It would also not receive any noticeable damage from Fire-type attacks.

"Let's hope we don't run into the Desert Ruler out here," muttered Gao Peng. This was the first time he felt the inconvenience of being at an elemental disadvantage so acutely.

When all this is over, I'm definitely going to catch an Ice-type familiar, decided Gao Peng.

Gao Peng spent the next three days in the gathering spot, trying to gain a better grasp of the current situation there.

"The Chang'an government has ordered everyone to evacuate from the Beihekou gathering spot before ten in the morning tomorrow. It won't be responsible for anything that happens to those who fail to comply," announced a megaphone that was attached to the roof of an army jeep.

The announcement echoed across the area. Everyone in the gathering spot heard it loud and clear.

After hearing the announcement, some of the people hurriedly packed up their things, ready to leave the place as soon as possible.

Others huddled together in a corner as they began planning their next moves.

After broadcasting the announcement around the gathering spot for half an hour, the jeep finally left the place.

The army was now about to make their move.

Back in Chang'an City's military base…

"Still no news of Gao Peng?"

"Sir, according to our sources, Gao Peng was last seen asking around for a tour group that was headed for the Dali Desert. However, it would seem that he may have resorted to less legitimate means of travel, as no travel agencies in the region are currently offering that service, in compliance with the government's travel ban."

"Have you searched all the possible places he could be?"

"Sir, we've checked every inn in Chang'an. There's just no sign of him."

The senior commanding officer in a dark green uniform who had been lying on the sofa got to his feet. His hooked nose flared.

"Forget it then. Does anyone seriously think we can't handle even two Lord-tier monsters without him?"

The subordinate officer sighed inwardly. If they were dealing with any other type of monster, his superior officer's confidence wouldn't have seemed so out of place. However, this was the Desert Ruler they were talking about. No one in this world had ever faced a Lord-tier elemental-type monster before and lived to tell the tale. According to the calculations made by the military statisticians, their chances of victory weren't terribly high.

"Go make the announcement. Tomorrow at ten, we'll be setting off a huge explosion in the middle of the desert. We're gonna drive the sand b*stard out of its hole!"

"Sir, we won't be able to evacuate everyone from the Beihekou gathering spot in time—"

"Yeah, that's not what I want to hear. We've already issued the evacuation order. The people have more than enough time to pack up and leave. Anyone who's still there when the bombs go off will just have to face the music," interrupted the commanding officer with the hooked nose.

After a moment's silence, the subordinate officer nodded. "Understood."

Yang Lin was one of the rising stars in Chang'an's military. He had a firm way of doing things and a rather tyrannical way of dealing with monsters. His boss, who had recently lost his grandson, had asked him to be in charge of this operation.

At first, he had been averse to the idea of recruiting Gao Peng. If it weren't for his boss's orders, Yang Lin wouldn't be going through all this trouble to seek him out.

Another reason why he wasn't that excited at the prospect of Gao Peng joining him in his operation was the possibility that he might take all the credit for vanquishing the Desert Ruler.

The youngest Lord-tier monster trainer in the world, whose only Lord-tier familiar was a walking bag of bones…

He didn't think that a walking skeleton would be of much help here, even if it was a Lord-tier monster. His boss only wanted to use Gao Peng to draw his grandfather, Ji Hanwu, out into the open.

Will Ji Hanwu take the bait, though? wondered Yang Lin.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Missiles fell from the sky toward the far reaches of the desert in quick succession.

The resulting explosions could be heard even from the edge of the desert.

"Look at all those mushrooms," said Da Zi in the air hungrily.

Gao Peng was speechless. Just how hungry can you be, you gluttonous centipede?

Three bombs were then detonated consecutively in the desert, setting off an explosion that covered 70 percent of the region.

The resulting heat from the explosion was capable of burning all the oxygen in the region.

An oxygenless vacuum was formed in the blast zone, causing anything that hadn't already died from the explosion to suffocate within seconds.

However, Gao Peng didn't think that this would be enough to damage the Sand Monsters or the Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworms.

The former was a creature made entirely of sand, while the latter could simply dive back into the ground. Gao Peng remembered from his experiments that Sand Monsters didn't seem to need oxygen to sustain themselves.

An airless vacuum hung above the Dali Desert as soon as the explosion died down.

Silence reigned over sky and sand. Not a single sound could be heard from the desert. Suddenly, a wind howled angrily from the depths of the desert!

Gao Peng strained his eyes in the direction of the desert and saw that a sandstorm was now brewing on the horizon, completely blocking out the sun in the sky. Even though it was still morning, an unnatural twilight seemed to have descended upon the desert at that moment.

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Chapter 311: The Gengjin Eagle

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

The Desert Ruler's power was at its peak in the desert.

A sandstorm was now brewing in the desert. Suddenly, a terrible roar echoed from afar. In the distance, a human shape could be seen resolutely trudging towards the missile through the growing swirl of sand.

[Monster Name: Desert Ruler

[Monster Level: Level 44

[Monster Status: Slightly injured (Angry)

As the missile was coming from a different direction, there was still some distance between the Desert Ruler and the place Gao Peng was standing at now.

The Desert Ruler was at least 30 feet tall, its form obscured by the sand swirling around it. The only thing one could see outside the sandstorm was a dark shape moving through it.

There also seemed to be a huge rope-like object wrapped around the Desert Ruler's body.

[Monster Name: King Sandworm

[Monster Level: Level 41

[Monster Status: Healthy (Alert)

The Desert Ruler came to a halt at the edge of the desert. The trees outside the desert were now swaying violently in the wind, their leaves rustling noisily against each other.

Sand had pooled beneath the trees and piled on their leaves at an incredible rate. Their stems were now drooping under the weight of the sand.

The Desert Ruler's presence had transformed its surroundings into a desert. Rings of white light slowly spread out from it, somewhat different from Dumby's Lord-tier aura in that they seemed to be made of smaller particles.

The monster's Lord-tier aura also seemed to have a desertizing effect on the areas it came into contact with…

There was a ripping sound in the air as the burning missile hurtled towards its mark.

The Desert Ruler lifted its right hand. In an instant, a geyser of sand erupted from the ground, intercepting the missile mid-flight and causing it to explode in the air before it could even reach its target.

The resulting explosion merely left a dent on the Desert Ruler's body.

The monster then waved its hand. From the seemingly endless desert expanse behind it, Sand Monsters popped out one by one and swarmed behind the Desert Ruler like an army of formless soldiers who were ready to act according to their general's whims.

The army of Sand Monsters was growing without any sign of stopping.

The human soldiers were now starting to grow uneasy. A barrage of missiles were unleashed upon the growing sand army. Even though the Desert Ruler was able to intercept a portion of the missiles in the air, some of them still managed to get through and land on the Sand Monsters behind it.

Gao Peng's hands immediately flew up to his ears as deafening explosions filled the air.

Some of the Sand Monsters were completely torn apart by the explosions. Even the sand cores in their bodies weren't spared.

At that moment, the sandstorm around the Desert Ruler gradually subsided.

Suddenly, a yellow arm emerged from the sandstorm and closed its hand tightly into a fist.

Sand particles flew up from the desert and swirled into the shape of a spear in the Desert Ruler's hand. The spear grew larger and larger until it looked more like a mace than a spear.

The swirling sand around the Desert Ruler gradually solidified into a sturdy armor. On its face was a single empty eye socket that was fixated on something in the distance.

A mouth cracked open across its face. Sand dribbled from the upper half of its mouth down to the ground. The mouth-like hole on the Desert Ruler's face contorted into a snarl.

"Hu… mans!" it roared. The King Sandworm wrapped around its body and slithered down from it to wriggle into the ground, raising a geyser of sand behind it.

"All of you… must die!" The Desert Ruler let out another roar, then rushed forward, each step covering at least 100 feet across the ground. It had retracted its aura back into its body, as the extent to which a Lord-tier monster let out its aura could significantly affect its power output.

As the Desert Ruler rushed forward, a violent wind whipped against the trees in its wake.

Suddenly, a golden eagle descended from the mountains in the distance.

Then it unleashed a golden beam of light from its beak at the Desert Ruler! Its attack left a smouldering six-foot-wide hole on the Desert Ruler's shoulder.

The Desert Ruler looked up angrily at its assailant, then pulled back its spear, getting ready to throw it at the golden eagle.

The huge sand spear flew out of the Desert Ruler's hand, leaving a sandy trail in its wake.

The golden eagle simply dodged the incoming spear by twisting its body to the side. Dodging an attack that had been coming from such a long distance wasn't a difficult task for it.

The golden eagle then dove towards the Desert Ruler with its wings spread out on both sides, making it resemble a golden boomerang.

The Desert Ruler simply stood rooted to the ground as the golden eagle dove towards it. Just when the eagle's wings were about to touch it, part of the Desert Ruler's body exploded into a cloud of sand.

The golden eagle's wings passed harmlessly through its opponent. It was noteworthy that with the speed the eagle used to dive towards the Desert Ruler, its wings could cut through solid steel with ease.

All of this had taken place in the span of a mere second.

Gao Peng, who had a good view of all the action from a safe distance on top of a sand dune, couldn't help but gasp at how quickly the Desert Ruler had reacted to the golden eagle's attack by dispersing part of its own body into a cloud of sand.

It'd had to time it perfectly in order to avoid being hit by the golden eagle's wings.

If the Desert Ruler's reaction had been a second too late, it would definitely have taken a hit from the golden eagle. If it had been a second too soon, its opponent would have been able to pull back and come at it from another angle.

Gao Peng strained its eyes at the golden eagle that was now circling the sky above the Desert Ruler.

[Monster Name: Gengjin Eagle

[Monster Level: Level 47

[Monster Status: Healthy (Calm)

[Monster Grade: Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Metal

[Monster Ability: Hard Feathers Level 3, Sharp Feathers Level 3, Elemental Gold Mastery Level 4

[Special Characteristics: Gengjin Divine Feathers (Its feathers were tempered to be as hard as steel. Passive Effect 1: Feather hardness 1, Feather sharpness 1. Active Effect 2: It has a certain level of resistance against other elemental attacks.)

[Monster Weakness: …

The Gengjin Eagle's passive effect could be used in conjunction with its Monster Ability, which meant that its feathers' hardness and sharpness were, in fact, a good Level 4.

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Chapter 312: The Desert Ruler

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

The Desert Ruler suddenly stopped. A metal forest of missile launchers and tanks laid before it.

The metal forest slowly edged away from it as it took a step forward.

Out of nowhere, the Gengjin Eagle came at it with its metallic wings. However, the Desert Ruler was able to dodge the attack with unnatural agility. It swung an enlarged arm at the eagle and struck its tail feather, causing it to falter in its ascent.

The Desert Ruler let out a roar as it grabbed ahold of one of the eagle's feet, then swung the eagle down so hard that it created a huge crater in the soft soil!

The Gengjin Eagle was disorientated by the impact for a moment. Before it even had the chance to regain its senses, the Desert Ruler viciously stamped its foot on the eagle's abdomen.

A golden energy barrier had formed around the Gengjin Eagle's body as a layer of protection. However, the Desert Ruler's foot broke through the barrier easily.

A clanging sound echoed in the air as the Desert Ruler's foot struck the eagle's golden metallic feathers, which overlapped one another like armor plates. However, this didn't completely cushion the foot's impact.

The Gengjin Eagle squawked in pain. It swung its wings at the Desert Ruler, leaving two deep grooves on its body.

The eagle had left a bit of its golden energy residue on its opponent, preventing the injuries from healing.

Not at all fazed by the eagle's attack, the Desert Ruler proceeded to grab the Gengjin Eagle's wings.

Suddenly, there was a golden flash of light. A smoking hole could be seen on the Desert Ruler's hand.

The Gengjin Eagle was glaring at it coldly, its beak glowing with a golden light.

"Sir, the Golden Deity is still engaged with the Desert Ruler. Should we continue firing at it?"

Yang Lin shook his head somberly. "No, let's stop for now."

Not only was the Golden Deity the most powerful Lord-tier familiar in the Chang'an army, it was also the city's symbol of hope.

With the Golden Deity's help, the Chang'an base city had been able to expand its borders.

If the Golden Deity were to perish here, the city's military strength and the morale of its people would take a huge hit.

"Get ready, people. As soon as the Golden Deity pulls out, take your shot at the Desert Ruler immediately!"

Suddenly, the earth shook beneath his feet as a couple of tanks sank into the ground. Then a huge head emerged from the ground and bit a gigantic chunk of metal off of one of the tanks.

The creature then stuffed its head inside the tank, as if it was trying to squeeze out every bit of its contents.

The Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworms emerged from the ground one after another, disrupting the army's formation.

One of the Man-eating Earthworms' notable features was its physiology.

The tip of its head would open up like a flower, revealing a long tongue lined with sharp teeth inside.

Its tongue was equipped with thermoreceptors capable of sensing body heat in its vicinity. It would wrap its tongue around its prey and drag it into its digestive tract, where it would then be digested by a powerful acid.

Close-range weapons wouldn't be able to do much damage to it, while the collateral damage caused by weapons of mass destruction had never made them an enticing option to take these creatures down.

"Tanks, scatter out. All familiars move in," commanded Yang Lin. He had already done his homework on the monsters that lived in the desert.

One by one, the army's avian familiars swooped down and snatched the Man-eating Earthworms out of the ground.

A chicken-like familiar with green scales covering its neck rushed at one of the earthworms while flapping its wings wildly. It snapped its beak shut around the earthworm, splitting it in two.

"Gao Peng, should we help?" asked Flamy, stretching its neck out.

"Not yet… If they look like they're about to lose, then we'll go in," said Gao Peng. These people must have had a contingency plan up their sleeves. There was no way they would take on the Dali Desert with only this much firepower.

Gao Peng suddenly noticed a strange figure clad in black from head to toe beside Yang Lin.

One had to be either foolish or mad to be dressed entirely in black under the scorching desert sun.

Gao Peng strained his eyes at the black figure. However, he couldn't read anything useful about them. He would have to personally remove the person's attire in order to more accurately appraise him or her.

The Desert Ruler was now in a frenzy.

The Gengjin Eagle tried to fly away from it, but every time it opened up its wings, its opponent simply forced it back down.

The Desert Ruler grabbed the eagle by its neck and pinned it to the ground.

The Gengjin Eagle frantically beat at the Desert Ruler with its wings and dug out a gruesome hole in its abdomen with its claws. However, this seemed to have little to no effect on the Desert Ruler. As long as its core remained undamaged, it would still be able to regrow any part of itself.

As the Desert Ruler approached the desert, strings of sand flew out from the ground, refilling the gaping hole in the monster's abdomen.

It seemed to be growing stronger and stronger as more and more sand filled up its body.

Gao Peng was impressed by this. The Desert Ruler was evidently in its element. On a scale from one to five, with one being its combat power outside the desert, the monster's combat power was a solid five in the desert.

In the next instant, countless Sand Monsters from the desert began moving in tandem towards the Desert Ruler. They melted into its body, causing it to increase in size!

The Desert Ruler's eyes were now filled with rage.

The Gengjin Eagle was completely immobilized by its opponent. Two rows of sand protrusions emerged from Desert Ruler's back. One could see the distorted faces of the Sand Monsters that had merged with the Desert Ruler on its massive arms.

Suddenly, a sandstorm began brewing around the Desert Ruler…

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Chapter 313: The Terracotta Soldier

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

The Desert Ruler had the Gengjin Eagle pinned to the ground at the edge of the desert, and its appearance had changed drastically.

Its massive arms had expanded twofold, while sand spikes now lined its back. It swept its sturdy tail past the desert surface, whipping up a fierce wind.

The muscles in its shoulders were now so accentuated that its deltoids had become solid triangular shapes.

The distorted faces of the Sand Monsters that had merged with the Desert Ruler could be seen moaning on its shoulders. The Desert Ruler was now a monstrous sight to behold.

In terms of level, the Desert Ruler was still inferior to the Gengjin Eagle. However, warfare was all about the struggle between life and death, which hinged on many other factors, such as the battlefield's geography, the participants' battle experience, and physical conditions. Anything could happen in a fight between two monsters.

In an environment far away from the desert, the Gengjin Eagle could slowly chip away at the Desert Ruler, which would have no sand to replenish itself.

However, they were now near the desert, where the Desert Ruler reigned supreme. The only highlight of this fight was the Desert Ruler knocking the Gengjin Eagle out of the sky and essentially subverting its air superiority.

With its unique ability, Sand Combination, the Desert Ruler was able to absorb any number of Sand Monsters and receive a huge boost to its power for a short period of time.

"Get ready to attack…" muttered Gao Peng. The Gengjin Eagle was Chang'an city's guardian deity. There was no way he would let it perish here.

Before he could finish his sentence, the dark figure beside Yang Lin suddenly tore its black shroud into pieces and leapt into action!

The figure was clad in a battle robe and holding a sword in its left hand. On its head was a swallow-tailed crown and a hair bun.

[Monster Name: Terracotta Soldier (Meng Tian)

[Monster Level: Level 44

[Monster Grade: Epic

[Monster Attribute: Corpse/Dark

[Monster Ability: Divine Power Level 2, Reinforced Armor Level 4

[Special Characteristics: Sarcophagus (Originally a receptacle containing a human corpse, it mysteriously evolved into a monster.

Passive Effect 1: Its armor is reinforced by the fumes released from the decomposing corpse inside its body.

Active Effect 2: It absorbs all the fumes inside its body to give itself a boost. There are no negative side effects to this. However, the effect only lasts for a short while.)

[Description: The body inside it used to belong to a distinguished human general who was unfortunately poisoned and stuffed inside a terracotta soldier, where its soul has remained ever since.

The Terracotta Soldier's body was now letting out puffs of gray vapor.

Some thought that it was naturally letting out the fumes that had been building up inside it.

However, Gao Peng could clearly see that it was part of its Sarcophagus' ability, which allowed it to momentarily boost all of its statistics.

The Terracotta Soldier leapt towards the Desert Ruler, letting its fumes carry it through the air.

At that moment, the Desert Ruler took a deep breath and stuck one of its hand into the sand beneath it.

Rumble…

Hand-shaped geysers of sand erupted from the ground and reached for the Terracotta Soldier.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The Terracotta Soldier easily penetrated the disembodied hands like a comet.

"Um?" The Desert Ruler's right hand suddenly slipped as it felt a powerful energy building up beneath it.

Even though the Gengjin Eagle was no match for the Desert Ruler in terms of sheer strength, it was still three levels higher than the latter, and a Lord-tier familiar to boot!

Screech!

A golden light exploded from the ground, scattering a huge chunk of sand from the Desert Ruler.

The Gengjin Eagle rose, its feathers now giving off a brilliant golden light.

The Desert Ruler staggered back. Its opponent's attack had caught it completely by surprise.

The Gengjin Eagle quickly launched itself into the air, not giving the Desert Ruler any chance to pin it back on the ground.

Upon seeing this, the Terracotta Soldier immediately pulled back from the Dali Desert. A conspiratorial smile was now playing on its face.

Its thousand-year-long sleep hadn't dulled its mind one bit. The strategies it had learned when it was still alive were still fresh in its memory. Instinctively, it knew that the monster before it was way too much for it too handle.

However, it didn't believe that the Desert Ruler would be able to remain in this state indefinitely. Also, its only purpose here was to help His Highness hold up his end of the bargain with the humans. It had no intention of getting on the Desert Ruler's bad side.

It had already fulfilled its mission by freeing the Golden Deity from the Desert Ruler's clutches.

The Desert Ruler looked up at the Golden Deity, who was now soaring high in the air, and then looked down at the Terracotta Soldier, which was fleeing from it.

There was no way of telling from its distorted face what it was feeling right then.

However, there was a pretty good chance that it was angry.

Yang Lin sighed in relief when it saw that the Golden Deity had managed to escape. Then his face darkened. He had to admit that he had severely underestimated the Desert Ruler.

It was a shame that the Desert Ruler didn't want to be too far away from the desert. Otherwise, he would definitely have been able to give it the surprise of a lifetime.

He also hadn't expected the Golden Deity to lose so badly to it…

He had even been forced to use his trump card against the Desert Ruler.

Damn it, Yang Lin cursed silently.

He wasn't at all satisfied with this outcome.

"Let's retreat," said Yang Lin.

From the sand dune, Gao Peng silently watched the army slowly withdraw from the desert.

At the sight of the retreating army, the Desert Ruler lumbered heavily back towards the desert.

"That's my grandson… My son gave his life to protect the people during the early years of the Cataclysm, leaving me with one grandson…. I'll leave this world someday. I only wished that once I was gone, my grandson would be able to protect himself from anything. But now he's gone too," said an old general mournfully in an underground room back in Chang'an City's army base.

Another elderly general sat opposite him.

"My only wish now is to send that monster to hell," said the old general softly. "This is something I'll have to do alone."

Silence fell over the room…

I'll try to capture an Ice-type Lord-tier familiar. With it, I'll definitely be able to bring the Desert Ruler to its knees, thought Gao Peng.

He had no intention of picking a fight with the Desert Ruler in its domain.

Suddenly, a growing sense of danger crept up on Gao Peng. Dumby immediately threw itself on Gao Peng.

On the ground, Gao Peng could see a black object hurtling in the air towards the desert through the gaps in Dumby's ribcage.

What was that?

Before Gao Peng had time to come up with an answer, a huge explosion of light burst forth from the depths of the desert.

"That's a big mushroom," muttered Silly, who was sitting on Gao Peng's head at that moment.

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An enormous mushroom cloud rose on the horizon before Gao Peng.

His heart was now pounding hard against his chest. He couldn't believe that he had just witnessed a nuclear bomb detonate with his own eyes.

Before the Cataclysm, the nuclear bomb had been mankind's deadliest weapon.

This knowledge had been deeply ingrained inside humanity's subconscious since the weapon's conception. Nothing could compare to the sheer horror of one watching a nuclear bomb blowing up in front of him or her.

A white pillar of light pierced through the sky as a monstrous mushroom cloud slowly rose into the air.

The white light then gradually subsided, giving way to a murky shade of red, which made Gao Peng think of boiling lava.

White-gold rings of light spread out in the air from the center of the explosion.

The murky shade of red gradually dissolved inside the gray cloud.

Countless sand particles were swept up into the air, making the mushroom cloud in the air seem even thicker and heavier than before.

A few hundred miles away, in the Dark Ember Forest, a gorilla woke up with a start from its sleep on a tree branch and looked towards the Dali Desert, panicked.

Its jaw fell at the sight of the mushroom cloud in the distance.

"Ook, ook." It thumped its chest with its fists and dropped from the tree branch to the ground. After grabbing a bamboo shoot from the ground and stuffing it inside its mouth, the gorilla quickly left the place.

Three minutes earlier, the Desert Ruler had seen a mysterious object falling from the sky. Instinctively, it waved a hand at it and sent a jet of sand hurtling towards the object.

In the next instant, an incredible explosion of heat and energy engulfed the Desert Ruler completely. The explosion lasted for a full minute.

When it finally subsided, a huge crater could be seen in the middle of the desert through the swirl of sand in the air.

All that was left of the Desert Ruler were strange crystalline fragments that were a result of subjecting the sand to extreme heat.

A deathly silence had fallen over the area. There was no sign of life for miles. The explosion had turned the area into a literal dead zone.

A breeze blew past the explosion site, sweeping the glittering crystalline fragments up into the air.

Suddenly, the sand in the crater stirred. A mysterious glow could be seen emanating from it…

Like they always say, if you haven't been through hell, you get nothing, thought Gao Peng.

As the nuclear bomb had detonated far away from him, there had been no risk of him being exposed to the blast wave of the explosion or any lingering radiation in the area.

A nuclear bomb might have been able to seriously injure a Lord-tier monster, but that didn't mean that it would be able to kill it.

While a Lord-tier monster would instantly evaporate at the center of a nuclear explosion, it would still be sturdy enough to survive the blast at its periphery.

There were, in fact, people who had considered the possibility of mutating their familiars via nuclear radiation.

However, after much experimentation, it had been found out that such a process was extremely difficult. As it turned out, the higher a familiar's level was, the more resistant its cells would be to radiation.

On the other hand, while one might be able to mutate low-level monsters via radiation, their potential for further growth would be severely affected as a result.

Consequently, radiation was no longer considered a viable agent to mutate one's familiars.

"Not only is the Desert Ruler a Lord-tier monster, it's also an extremely hardy creature. There's just no way it would be killed so easily in its own domain," Gao Peng explained to Dumby as they headed towards the explosion site.

Da Zi simply said, "That mushroom doesn't look edible."

A huge empty crater slowly came into view before them. As Gao Peng approached it, all the damage he could have received from the radiation in the air was absorbed by Dumby, who didn't seem to mind this at all.

Squinting at the crater, Gao Peng saw a set of footprints walking away from the crater's edge and towards a sand dune in the distance.

At the base of the sand dune was a gaping hole.

Gao Peng ran his hand across the sand around the hole. It was still a bit warm. It was like touching a smooth glass surface.

"Chirp!" squeaked the Treasure Sniffing Rodent inside Dumby's skeleton. "Treasure!!" It poked its strangely misshapen head out of Dumby's bones, its eyes almost popping out of its sockets. Its claws thrashed about madly in the air.

"Oh, everything is treasure to you," said Gao Peng, rolling his eyes.

Even though he didn't believe that the Treasure Sniffing Rodent had detected any real treasure in the area, since they had already come this far, he decided to indulge the rodent for a few minutes.

An hour passed.

"Are you sure there's anything beneath the sand?" asked Gao Peng, wiping sweat off his forehead.

They had been shoveling sand out of the hole for a full hour. So far, they had found nothing more than sand in it.

The Treasure Sniffing Rodent's eyes were still fixed on the hole, its tail wagging excitedly behind it.

"Almost there, almost there," it squeaked.

"Dumby, let's keep digging," said Gao Peng, who was now endowed with a portion of Stripey's power, making him even stronger than Dumby.

The hole in the ground grew wider and deeper as the two continued digging it.

Suddenly, there was a dull thud in the air. Gao Peng had struck something hard in the sand.

He quickly swept away a layer of loose sand to reveal what appeared to be a block of white jade embedded in the ground. Gao Peng quickly cleared away the sand around it.

Finally, the block of white jade was dug out of the sand. It was approximately 10 feet long and somewhat jagged around its edges. Intricate markings covered its surface.

While it was mostly white, there were strange red spots scattered at its cross sections.

As Gao Peng touched the red spots, a sharp pang of pain pricked his fingers. Ever since mastering the Shifting Constellations technique, he had almost forgotten what it was like to feel pain.

Beside him, Dumby's bone fingers suddenly turned crimson and began issuing a greenish smoke.

Gao Peng hurriedly pulled his hand away from the white jade and looked at it strangely.

For some reason, he thought that the object resembled a huge piece of bone.

"Chirp!" The Treasure Sniffing Rodent leapt towards the piece of white jade as soon as it was unearthed from the sand.

Gao Peng immediately grabbed it by the tail and pulled it away before it could reach its prize. It seemed that the white jade was what the rodent had detected.

Gao Peng took Silly off of his head and gave it the white jade.

Silly easily slid the piece of white jade into its portable space, which had grown as big as a small room.

"Let's go home," said Gao Peng.

The Treasure Sniffing Rodent had certainly served him well this time.

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Chapter 315: The Nuclear Ruler

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

Gao Peng brought the block of white jade back to Chang'an city for further studying.

[Item name: @%#% Bone

Damn it, cursed Gao Peng under his breath. What's with this garbled nonsense?!

This was the first time something like this had happened since he had awoken his stat-reading ability.

This could mean that it still had room for improvement.

Gao Peng scratched his head. There was no denying that what he had stumbled upon was no ordinary object.

The Treasure Sniffing Rodent's reaction to it and the fact that its properties were simply beyond his stat-reading ability was proof enough of this.

Also, the word 'bone' in its name confirmed Gao Peng's initial suspicions, that the object was in fact a piece of bone.

I wonder what would happen if I let Dumby take it with him? thought Gao Peng.

Dumby picked it up and swung it around a few times. It tried to place the bone in its chest. However, it didn't seem to fit.

Then Dumby snapped one of its exposed bones in two and inserted the curious bone-like object between the two broken bone fragments.

The bone fragments immediately fused with the object. The cracks in the newly-formed bone glowed with an intense red light as white smoke billowed out from them.

Dumby let out a roar and fell to the ground, half kneeling. At that moment, the curious runes etched across the white jade bone seemed to have come to life.

A thunderous sound filled the air around Gao Peng. However, every time Gao Peng tried to focus on it, the sound immediately gave way to silence.

A spectacular display of light and colors swirled around him.

He saw the huge black figure before him cocking its head back and letting out a monstrous roar again.

It spread its wings out behind it, completely blocking out the sky.

The only thing that remained of the sky was a dim red outline around the figure's wings. In the next instant, the monstrous figure folded back its wings, revealing the twinkling stars in the sky overhead.

Finally, the illusion ended, and the white jade bone that Dumby had inserted in its rib cage fell to the ground with a clatter.

Dumby fell forward with both hands planted on the ground.

Gao Peng frowned at the mysterious markings that had appeared on both of its arms before vanishing almost instantly. If he wasn't mistaken, they looked a lot like the ones etched across the white jade bone.

"Are you all right, Dumby?"

"I'm fine," mumbled Dumby, shaking its head. It waggled its arms around to show that there was nothing wrong with it.

Gao Peng checked Dumby's stats and noticed that a new ability had appeared in the familiar's "Ability" section.

[Dark Flame Mastery Level 2]

He asked Dumby to try and use its new ability. At first, Dumby fumbled with it clumsily. However, after a few tries, it finally got the hang of it. It was now able to conjure a dark red flame at the center of its palm that could engulf both of its arms.

With both arms ablaze, Dumby looked like a demon that had clawed its way out of hell to reach the mortal plane.

Strangely enough, the dark red flames that had engulfed Dumby's arms didn't seem capable of burning anything, as Dumby's black robe was still intact in the flames.

Gao Peng then asked Dumby to put out the flames as he gazed at the white jade bone thoughtfully.

On the outskirts of Chang'an City, a strange figure was slowly lumbering towards the city.

"Something's coming toward us."

"We need to stop it."

"That's not good. It's picking up speed!"

The soldiers stationed at the sentry towers outside Chang'an City were now panicking at the sight of the lumbering creature.

They left their posts, armed to the teeth. A couple of familiars had emerged from the nearby forest as well, ready to cut off the intruder.

The creature looked up at them and simply lifted its glittering right hand, then pushed its hand out, and what followed was a powerful shockwave in the air that managed to knock down all the trees around it.

The sentry towers, too, were instantly blown to pieces by the monster's attack.

Every soldier and familiar was wiped out instantly.

The monster pulled back its right arm and looked up at the clouds in the air, then it continued trudging forward.

Alarms were now blaring throughout the eastern side of Chang'an City.

Helicopters and fighter jets streaked across the sky towards the edge of the city.

Every person from a secret organization in other parts of the city had begun their exodus towards the city's eastern side.

A couple of powerful trainers had also answered the call to defend the city from the incoming threat.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on Gao Peng's door outside his hotel room.

Two uniformed figures greeted him when he opened the door. "Are you Mr. Gao Peng?" asked one of them solemnly.

"Yes, that's me. Is something wrong? I don't remember committing any crimes recently," said Gao Peng with a frown.

"We're currently in a state of emergency. We've begun enlisting all available trainers to defend the city against an unknown threat." One of them handed him a small red book.

Gao Peng had heard of such a thing before. However, back then, he still wasn't a full-fledged monster trainer, so he had simply forgotten about it. "Hold on. Let me just grab my things," he said.

Half an hour later, Gao Peng had reached Chang'an City's eastern city walls. He looked out into the distance.

On the horizon, a dark figure could be seen edging closer and closer to the city.

It was at least 30 feet tall and human-shaped. Its entire body seemed to be made of transparent crystal.

However, it wasn't completely transparent. The creature's body had an iridescent shine to it.

All of a sudden, a sense of deja vu washed over Gao Peng. The creature's material reminded him of the crystal that he had dug out of the desert not too long ago.

[Monster Name: Nuclear Ruler (Radiation variant)

[Monster Grade: Epic

[Monster Level: Level 46

[Monster Attribute: Earth

[Monster Ability: Hard Body Level 3, Elemental Resistance Level 3, Gravitational Mastery Level 4

[Special Characteristics: Nuclear Core (In order to survive the nuclear radiation, its sand core developed the ability to absorb nuclear radiation. Passive Effect 1: It can strengthen itself using nuclear radiation. Active Effect 2: It can tap into the nuclear energy contained within its core in order to give itself a temporary power boost.)

[Monster Weakness: Its hard body is now as brittle as glass.

[Description: After being exposed to extreme heat and terrifying levels of radiation in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, the Desert Ruler has evolved into the Nuclear Ruler.

The Desert Ruler's abilities had undergone a major change after being exposed to nuclear radiation. Even its physiology had changed completely. Gao Peng had no idea if this was a good or bad thing.

Its defenses and elemental resistances seemed to have increased considerably. However, it probably couldn't heal its wounds as quickly as before, seeing that nuclear energy was a bit harder to come by in nature than sand.

The Golden Deity was now hovering in the air, carefully assessing the Nuclear Ruler in the distance.

The Nuclear Ruler looked up. Its eyes burned with rage when it saw its sworn enemy, the Golden Deity, flying high and mighty in the air!

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Chapter 316: Salted Fishman

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

"What is this monster? Why hasn't anyone ever heard of it?" a trainer on the city walls asked rather gravely.

"I'm not sure, but I know that we've never heard of it or where it came from."

"It started attacking the base city almost immediately. Looks like it isn't too fond of humans. We need to exterminate it!" said another trainer coldly.

The trainers on top of the city walls were humans, after all. They weren't going to waste time thinking about why this creature was attacking their city.

Gao Peng knew exactly why the creature was attacking, but he chose to stay silent instead of embarrassing the Chang'an military.

A ring of ethereal light emanated from the Nuclear Ruler and slowly rippled outwards. Every single tree that the light touched snapped like a twig. The ring of light petered out a few hundred yards away from the city walls. Fortunately, it seemed as though the recently evolved Nuclear Ruler hadn't fully grasped the extent of its own power.

The Nuclear Ruler paused for a second before lowering its raised arm and proceeding to advance rather nonchalantly.

The Golden Eagle wasn't going to stand idly by. With a flap of its massive wings, every feather on its wings started glowing brightly. Intricate markings could be seen weaving and curling their way across the eagle.

The sky was now positively blinding. Every feather on the eagle was a lance of golden light, hovering over the Nuclear Ruler like the Sword of Damocles.

A quick flicker, and the next moment—

Like a mythical waterfall, a deluge of light rained on the Nuclear Ruler with devastating force.

Rumble.

The force of the attack reduced the area to rubble and whipped up a huge cloud of dust that streams of residual light leaked through.

"Is it dead?"

"It should be."

The trainers on the city walls chattered lightly among themselves.

Gao Peng squinted a little, then tapped Dumby on the thigh.

"Go and slow him down. Try to avoid direct contact if you can."

Even though the Nuclear Ruler had indeed seen an explosive growth in its level and grade, there was still a limit to how much it could grow. Gao Peng had originally planned to capture an Ice-type familiar before taking on the Desert Ruler, so it was a shame…

Nothing ever went as he intended.

He understood. That was just how life worked.

The radiation of the nuclear core had been so deadly that the Desert Ruler had been forced to evolve just to survive. While this evolution might have increased its battle power immensely for a short time, it had also sapped a considerable amount of energy from the Desert Ruler. The Desert Ruler was in no shape to engage in a war of wearing each other down.

It was like an army being cut off from their rations.

Right by the edges of the city walls were a group of young teenagers.

"Hey, beansprout. That creature down there looks pretty scary. Do you think your dad's familiar can take him on?"

"Don't call me that!" said a skinny boy at the back of the group. "Hmph. My dad's Golden Deity is invincible. He'll take care of that beast with no problems!"

The skinny boy was pretty good looking. He was young, but he had great features. His eyes were clear, and he had a great smile.

"Huang, that guy over that is sending in his familiar." A pimply-faced youth jabbed his finger repeatedly at Gao Peng.

Gao Peng was deployed right in the center of the of the city walls, a location that gave him the widest field of vision—and also drew the most attention from the crowd below.

Another lad with a mole on his brow sneered, "He's probably going in to finish what your dad started and steal all the credit."

"It's okay. My dad is too generous to fight that man for credit," Huang Quan said rather pompously.

Gao Peng, who appeared to have heard them, turned around to shoot them a quick glance.

They instantly fell silent while steadfastly trying to avoid his gaze.

Only after Gao Peng turned away did someone pipe up, although somewhat hesitantly. "He looked so fierce. I thought he was coming over to kick our a*ses."

"Who's that? Why does he look so familiar?" Mole Lad wondered aloud.

"He looks like the Salted Fishman!" another teenager exclaimed loudly.

"What? The Salted Fishman?! I have his trading card in my bag!" The Salted Fishman had quite the reputation among these youth. Since Gao Peng was originally from Chang'an, he was always a source of pride for these locals.

Huang Quan muttered rather nastily under his breath about how the Salted Fishman was all talk and could never beat his father in a straight fight.

"You're sending in your familiar now?" asked an officer quizzically.

"If not now, when?" Gao Peng was speechless.

As the dust cleared, the Nuclear Ruler could be seen standing in the same spot, seemingly unscathed. It craned its neck lightly to peer at the microscopic cracks on its chest before blowing lightly over them. The wound started bubbling like mercury.

All of a sudden, it could feel its movements slowing down, as though it was being restrained by an invisible force.

Rooted to the ground, the creature slowly turned its head around, only to see a shadowy figure in black robes rapidly closing in on it. Two orbs of white flames could be seen flickering in the depths of its attacker's hood.

Dumby raised its right arm and clenched its fist in the Nuclear Ruler's direction.

A small ball of white flames seeped slowly into the ground.

Immediately, the ground underneath the Nuclear Ruler started trembling violently.

Rumble. Rumble. Rumble.

Hordes of skeletons erupted from the ground to the surface.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!!" The skeletal remains of a 100-foot-long centipede roared majestically as it unleashed a putrefying wave of decay.

"That was the Elder King Centipede that was slain by the Golden Deity six months ago!" someone on the castle wall exclaimed.

The earth beneath Chang'an City was teeming with skeletal remains due to its history of successfully repelling waves of hostile creatures before. Once these creatures were stripped of everything useful, they were thrown into a huge pyre, and any remains left were buried in the land around the city.

The weaker creatures were usually burned to ash. Only the bones of the strong remained.

These bones now came pouring out of the earth like an army of angry ants.

The witnesses on the wall couldn't help but feel chills run down their spines. This wasn't their first time seeing the undead summoned, but it was their first time seeing it in such a high volume.

It was an unstoppable tide of ghouls.

Dumby walked slowly towards the Nuclear Ruler. Ghouls parted like the Red Sea, creating a path for it. They nodded their heads in deference as it passed, like a vassal would to his liege.

Huang Quan was beside himself now. My dad is being completely upstaged by this no-name, but damn if that guy doesn't look incredibly cool right now!

I'm so jealous!

On the wall stood a dark-skinned behemoth of a man. His eyes narrowed. This was his chance!

"Golden Deity, now is the time! Wing Slash! Take its head!"

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Chapter 317: Fall Of A Tyrant

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

Soaring majestically in the skies above, the Golden Deity was seething. It had never been humiliated by any other creature like this before.

With icy rage in its eyes, it flared its mighty wings. A golden blade of pure light materialized and seemingly split the heavens in two before fracturing apart into millions and millions of microscopic blades.

There was a brief moment of calm before the blades started raining down torrentially. The Nuclear Ruler tried to evade the deadly deluge, but found its path blocked by an enormous creature. Even though the Nuclear Ruler managed to send the creature flying with a single blow, it was momentarily slowed down, and that was all it took.

The wings of the Golden Deity flashed, aiming a vicious swipe at the Nuclear Ruler.

With a ferocious roar, the Nuclear Ruler raised its right arm to block the strike.

It might as well not have even tried. The wings of the Golden Deity bit deeply into its arm like a cleaver, narrowly lopping the entire arm off!

Well and truly enraged, the Nuclear Ruler lashed out with its left arm and struck the Golden Deity with a sickening crack. The feathers on the Golden Deity were twisted and broken, some of them hanging limply at awkward angles.

Wounded, the Golden Deity tried to disengage but was sent crashing to the ground in a heap by another powerful strike.

Bang!

The Elder King Centipede rushed the Nuclear Ruler with a bone-crunching tackle. Clamping onto the legs of the Nuclear Ruler with its pincers, the centipede slithered and coiled its way around the creature, strangulating it like a cobra.

As large as the Nuclear Ruler was, it struggled to break free.

"Roar!"

The Nuclear Ruler was even more furious now, if that was even possible. Every time it wanted to exert its strength, the flow of blood in its body would be slowed down by an invisible force, rendering its monstrous rength impotent.

Grabbing on to the centipede, the mercury-like blood in the Nuclear Ruler began pumping at double speed as it activated its nuclear core ability. It sounded like the roar of a rushing river. From the body of the Nuclear Ruler, a massive cloud of silvery-white fog slowly rolled out.

With both arms gripping on to the pincers of the centipede like a vise, the Nuclear Ruler slowly started ripping them apart, like a baker stretching dough.

Bang!

The pincers were easily ripped in two. The Nuclear Ruler landed another ferocious blow to the centipede's head.

The skull shattered, revealing weakly burning Soul Flames within.

Boom! A dragon made of pure fire crashed into the Nuclear Ruler, engulfing it in a gigantic prison of flames.

The Elder King Centipede retreated, picking up a few bones that were lying around. Placing those bones around its head, they quickly fused with what was left of its skull to become whole again.

Wreathed in scarlet fire, Flamy spread its wings and took to the skies again.

Even if the Nuclear Ruler had increased resistance across the board, taking an attack from a Fire-type Lord-tier familiar was never pleasant.

With the merest of thoughts, the Nuclear Ruler struck back. Flamy could feel an incredible pressure weighing it down, almost like there was a mountain on its back. Struggling to stay aloft, it was futile and he sank like a stone.

Boom! Dumby was a blur. Vanishing and reappearing behind the Nuclear Ruler, he threw a powerful haymaker right at the back of its head.

The Nuclear Ruler's head whipped forward violently. Looking slightly disoriented, the pressure on Flamy also dissipated.

Sensing an opening, the Golden Deity unleashed another hail of golden blades from its mouth, right at the Ruler's knees. The Ruler roared in agony as every one of those blades found its mark. Unable to withstand the stress, its knees buckled and sent the Nuclear Ruler crashing to the ground.

As it slowly and agonizingly turned around to face the Golden Deity, the Golden Deity simply took off, refusing to engage the Nuclear Ruler in direct combat.

While the Ruler's head was turned, Dumby's Heart of The Bloodseeker started throbbing explosively. As a surge of incredible power coursed through every fiber of its being, its robes simply exploded. Dark, blood-red flames sprung to life and gathered around its fist. Quick as lightning, it landed a flame-enhanced strike on the Nuclear Ruler's back.

Boom!

The Ruler was sent flying.

A rather terrifying crack emerged on its back that started spreading outward. The Nuclear Ruler could sense that things weren't going well.

Along with the revived Elder King Centipede, it was surrounded by four Lord-tier creatures. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, given the fact that its defensive and offensive firepower were off the charts, but worryingly, it could sense that its regenerative abilities were failing. Things would get dicey very quickly.

Discretion was the better part of valor, people said.

The Nuclear Ruler may have been enraged, but it wasn't stupid. Swallowing its pride, it turned to escape with no hesitation.

"We held off the Nuclear Ruler," a rather nondescript lad cheered.

Huang Quan stared at the unfolding scene in disbelief. Although he had always been proud of his father, he wasn't stupid. He had always believed in his own two eyes over empty boasts and unwarranted hype. That was why he had always believed that his father was the strongest trainer alive, which was a point of pride for him.

Now, doubts were creeping in. This confused him.

Two Lord-tier familiars.

Even though Flamy hadn't released its Lord-tier aura, its presence was unmistakable.

How was that even possible? How had he done it? For a normal human being, raising even a single Lord-tier familiar would take an insane amount of time and effort, be it raising their level or their grade. And he had two?

While Huang Quan was mulling over this, the Golden Deity and a few other familiars had already caught up to the Nuclear Ruler.

There was no way a wounded, bipedal creature like the Nuclear Ruler could outrun a couple of flying familiars.

Raining hell from above, Flamy and the Golden Deity made sure that the Nuclear Ruler had to fight for every inch of distance that it covered.

"Let's go." Gao Peng hopped on Da Zi. "We need to catch up."

In a streak of purple lightning, Da Zi surged forth from the city walls.

The other trainers on the city walls eyed one another rather uneasily. Reluctantly, trainers with Flying-type familiars followed suit.

One of Huang Quan's friends tapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go. How often do you get to see a Lord-tier creature being brought down?"

The pursuit of the Nuclear Ruler lasted nearly 30 minutes. Flamy was complaining noisily through the Blood Contract. "Gao Peng, my throat is all dried out. I'm exhausted!"

"Just hold on a little longer. If you're thirsty, I have some juice here," he gently placated Flamy.

Silly wasn't happy. Pulling on Gao Peng's hair, he muttered under his breath. "That's my juice though. Give him three cups… No, two cups at most."

Flamy rolled its eyes. It'd rather go thirsty if it meant having Silly nagging it about juice for the next month.

The Nuclear Ruler was clearly on its last legs. It's crystalline exterior was marked with scores of slash wounds and scorch marks. It was even melting in some parts.

The Nuclear Ruler finally came to a stop. Glaring at both Flamy and the Golden Deity, its eyes barely flickered to Dumby and the Elder King Centipede, which was a little further away, before charging madly at Dumby with a bestial howl.

The flames in Dumby's eye sockets danced a little more brightly than usual. Heeding Gao Peng's orders, it suppressed its bloodlust and retreated.

Boom, boom, boom—

Light and flames bombarded the entire area.

When the dust had cleared, the Nuclear Ruler was kneeling on the ground, motionless, its heartbeat faintly but perceptibly slowing down until it stopped beating entirely.

The Nuclear Ruler had been defeated.

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Chapter 318: Flesh Enhancing Tablet (Part 1)

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

"It's finally dead. It's finally dead…" In an underground base, an old general kept muttering to himself as he watched the scene unfold on a grimy screen.

Vengeance was finally his, but all he felt was a deep sense of loss.

He clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly. Finally, he let out a long sigh.

As he stood up, he started removing his military garb, piece by piece, before laying it neatly on the table in front of him.

After a moment of silence, he bowed deeply to his garments.

As he strode out of the room, there was already a group of people waiting silently for him.

"General." A soldier to his left had an apologetic look on his face."I hope you can understand."

He nodded, a calm expression on his face. He had been preparing for this moment ever since he had given the order.

After a momentary pause, he said, "Please help me apologize to Yang Lin and the other heroes who conquered the desert. I owe it to them."

"Roger that."

"When I was younger, I had it all. Now, I'm left with nothing and no one. Maybe this is fate," the old general mused sadly.

Already, crowds of people were surrounding the corpse of the Nuclear Ruler.

Most of them were apprehensively sizing up the corpse, trying to decide if it was safe to approach. Such was its presence that even in death, it struck a healthy amount of fear into those around it. As though fearing that the Nuclear Ruler was only taking a nap and could wake up at any moment, only a few brave souls actually stepped up to it.

"We had an agreement. I was supposed to have first rights of selection when it came to the spoils of war. You're all the same. Lying, dishonest scoundrels who have no regard for the law at all." Gao Peng shook his head disapprovingly. He threw himself onto the Nuclear Ruler and refused to let go.

The military representative didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Taking down the Nuclear Ruler had been a collaborative effort, after all.

"How about this? I have three Lord-tier familiars here, and you have one. That's a three to one ratio. Let's split the loot that way. I'll take seventy-five percent, and the rest is yours. What do you think?" Gao Peng said rather magnanimously as he made a sweeping gesture with his arm.

Gao Peng could tell that the military representative was still uneasy. Winking at him, Gao Peng said, "I know what you people plan on doing with this corpse. You're trying to figure out a way to revive it and harness the nuclear technology, right?"

The military representative paled. How had he known?

"Yes. The Chang'an military has numerous state-of the-art research facilities, as well as five high-level monster breeders working for us. We're willing to share those resources with the Southern Sky Group and work on this together." An olive branch was extended.

Honestly, Gao Peng didn't really care much for the Nuclear Ruler's corpse. It was too much effort for too little return. However, Gao Peng was just about to turn down the offer when he hesitated. Just because he knew about the Nuclear Ruler's potential (or lack thereof) didn't mean that other people did. One on one, not a single one of their familiars could take the Nuclear Ruler on.

Such immense power could be dangerous.

Ever since the Cataclysm, it felt as though human technology had hit a dead end. They could only turn to their familiars. The presence of the Nuclear Ruler could lead some of the more conservative into thinking that human technology wasn't entire obsolete, that it was a still a viable option.

If he really insisted on taking the Nuclear Ruler's corpse back with him as his right, it would be missed by quite a number of people.

He made up his mind. "You can have the corpse, but I want a cut of whatever research you derive from it."

The eyes of the military representatives lit up with joy, as hard as they tried to hide it. Trying to look as reluctant as possible, one of them sighed. "You should know this… but we don't really have the authority to promise you that right now."

Another representative chimed in, "We'll definitely try our best to get you those terms. I don't think it'll be a problem." The rep chuckled lightly.

Enough with the good cop, bad cop routine already! Gao Peng thought to himself. It might have worked on someone else, but not on his strengthened sixth sense.

"I do have two additional requests. If you agree to them, you can take this mid-level, Perfect-grade, Lord-tier creature away this very instant."

"Name your terms."

"I want the Nuclear Ruler's core crystal. I'm also aware that you have two Flesh-Enhancing Tablets in your possession. I want one."

Their expressions turned ugly. The core crystal alone held half the value of the entire creature. It wasn't simply the concentrated essence of the creature. There was something else, something mysterious in there that was still beyond the comprehension of human technology. However, the fact that familiars could gain levels and grades by consuming other core crystals left no doubt as to their market value.

The Flesh Enhancing Tablet was a tool that could enhance the latent nutritional values of monster flesh to incredible levels… It was extremely valuable and belonged to a highly-ranked lab manager in the military.

"I'm only asking for one. That's a fairly reasonable item to ask for in return for this magnificent corpse, no?" Gao Peng grinned widely.

The reps laughed bitterly. This gentleman had probably had his eye on these items the entire time. The corpse had merely been bait to reel them in.

In the end, they agreed to his terms. After collecting the two items, Gao Peng left for Yuzhou without much fanfare.

Gao Peng fiddled idly with the tablet, a foot-long slab of solid rock.

So, this was the Flesh Enhancing Tablet.

How had they gotten their hands on this item? If it hadn't been for his conversation with Chen Xuehe, he would never have thought to search for such a priceless treasure in the military.

At first, he sent some men to negotiate with the Chang'an military, but they were soundly rejected, the reason being that the military didn't actually own it. It was a personal item belonging to a high-level monster breeder working for the Chang'an military.

For the right to research the Nuclear Ruler's corpse, that person had been willing to offer up this tablet.

Gao Peng put a piece of fresh meat on the the tablet. Instantly, the grayish tablet started absorbing the blood from the meat. As the blood slowly seeped into the stone tablet, the color of it slowly turned a pale red.

Something viscous started dripping out of the tablet. It was bloody and had the consistency of minced meat. Was this the processed meat?

The slab of meat he put on the tablet was the size of his palm, but after the process, he was left with a sliver of meat only the size of his thumbnail.

The moment he popped it into his mouth, his taste buds were overwhelmed by what tasted like the distilled essence of meat. The taste was incredibly powerful without being overly gamey. In fact, it had a refreshing hint of sweetness to it that Gao Peng quite enjoyed.

As he felt the meat gently settling into his belly, a surge of warmth suffused him that made him curl his toes in contentment.

"Finally, I have what I need to evolve the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture." Gently stroking the tablet, he left the airport.

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Chapter 319: A Bloated Goldie

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

In a tightly sealed basement somewhere in the Southern Sky Group, Goldie, who had been hibernating for the past month, woke up.

As it stretched and unfurled itself, a clear liquid dripped off its back. Underneath its wings, it slowly rotated and stretched its arms, trying to shake off some the numbness that came with a month of inactivity. Its faintly yellowish skin was still a little wrinkled, as though it was withering.

The intricate blue markings on its body had grown even more intricate, but the markings on its neck seemed to have lessened somewhat. There also appeared to be a crown of similar blue markings around its bald head. As it wrapped its wings around itself, it felt like a reborn hero.

I've become stronger.

There are even fewer people now that can bully me.

Its eyes narrowed as it jabbed at the air a couple of times, each punch seemingly faster than the last.

Bam!

As it made a fist with its right hand, the air slipped through its fingers like water. To be more accurate, it literally crushed the air in its hands, releasing an explosive barrage of air bullets. The skin on its human-like arm was taut and shiny.

An unknown emotion bubbled up inside it, warming it from top to toe. This had to be happiness.

No, what I'm feeling inside my chest isn't happiness. It's the universe!

Goldie thought of a movie it had watched a while ago. A bunch of humans in armor had talked about exploding universes and stuff like that. I must have a universe inside me right now. Look how strong I am! Goldie thought to itself.

As it walked up the stairs, it encountered a great set of doors that were bolted shut with an iron rod.

Without breaking a sweat, it unleashed a mighty blow. The iron door caved easily at the point of impact. It might as well have punched through paper. With a creaking groan, the door exploded.

Goldie attempted to leave the room, but it kept bumping its forehead against the doorway because it was so tall. Without so much as a blink, it violently headbutted the doorway, leaving a nice head-sized gap to pass through.

Huang Ya, who just happened to be passing by, saw everything. He was concerned with Goldie's increasing level of violence.

As soon as Goldie left the basement, it noticed that Gao Peng was gone. It could hardly detect Gao Peng's scent anywhere in the mansion, which meant that he must have been gone for at least a week or so, or else there would have been a stronger scent in the air.

It wasn't too concerned, though. It could tell through their Blood Contract that Gao Peng was still alive.

Goldie was bored out of its skin though, with no idea what to do. Then its eyes lit up.

The entrance to the Gao family mansion was extraordinarily grand and spacious. Pushing open the doors, Goldie made its way to the living room and plopped down onto the sofa, which squeaked gently in protest. It then started surfing the TV channels with a well-practiced ease.

If Gao Peng could have seen Goldie's status right then, he would have noticed that Goldie was extremely bloated.

Goldie wiggled his butt contentedly. So this was Gao Peng's sofa.

"Today, I, too, am sitting down!

"Hmph. Who knows when Gao Peng will be back? I'll keep his seat warm for now." Leaning back on the sofa, it felt like it was being embraced by a huge, fluffy cloud.

Goldie closed its eyes in pleasure. No wonder Gao Peng liked sitting on the sofa.

Spying a mug that Gao Peng often used out of the corner of its eye, its eyes sparkled mischievously. It was already sitting on Gao Peng's sofa, after all… Why not go all the way and…

At this moment, the television lit up. The slightly distorted sound caught Goldie's attention.

There was no way a mug was more interesting than a movie, except that this movie wasn't the kind he was familiar with. There were three men standing together. One of them had a cigarette dangling from his fingers as he said, "To succeed and win big in life, you need three things: cash, cash, and cash!"

Goldie's eyes grew as round as saucers. The man made perfect sense!

Goldie had been about to change the channel, but it changed his mind.

"It's all about your word. You have to be able to walk the walk. If you say you're going to kill his entire family, then you better damn well kill his entire family!

"You think this money came easy? We lost some good men out there, you know?"

These tired old lines had Goldie hanging onto every word. It didn't even notice that Gao Peng had already returned.

Gao Peng couldn't bring himself to interrupt the spell-bound Goldie. Out of curiosity, Gao Peng glanced quickly at the TV, trying to figure out what had captured Goldie's attention.

Upon seeing the title of the film, a strange expression crossed his face. He immediately snatched up the nearby remote and switched it to the children's channel.

Surprised, Goldie turned around to face Gao Peng. "Huh?"

"What are you doing watching these gangster movies? Back to the children's channel for you!" Gao Peng reprimanded him sternly.

A few dolls were chasing each other merrily on screen. One of them wiggled its butt at the camera before shyly uttering "Miku miku?"

"Master Liu, I have the full treatment ready for the Blood Eyed Bearded Vulture," said Gao Peng into the phone.

Master Liu was rather surprised by the news, but he was well aware of Gao Peng's talents. If he said he had the "full treatment" ready, that must have been the case. "Understood. I'll summon the vulture back right now. It should be training in the mountains at the moment."

On a mountain peak not too far away from Southern Sky, a powerful looking creature that was essentially a super-sized Goldie was standing upright on a single wing.

It's other wing was lifting a block of granite twice its size. Up, down, up, down. Its blood-red eyes had a steely determination to them.

Suddenly, it slowed down. With a casual flick, it sent the block of granite hurtling down the mountain. Both claws gripping the mountainside tightly as it drew a deep breath before letting out a long, piercing screech.

With a mighty flap of its wings, it shot off into the sky like a rocket!

The vulture looked skeptical as Master Liu stood by apprehensively.

As its owner, Master Liu had tried to improve the vulture's grade repeatedly over the years, but he had never succeeded.

Evolving the vulture was tricky. Only by undergoing a torturous, Spartan-like kind of strength training could it actually grow, so much so that anyone who came across the vulture training would think it was a form of self-torture.

Even though this made the vulture incredibly powerful, it also made it extremely hard for the vulture to evolve.

Breeders who had studied the vulture were often shocked. To them, it was a miracle that the vulture could be as strong as it was.

"Trust me. This is the best evolution path it can take," Gao Peng said confidently.

He raised his head respectfully to meet the Vulture's proud gaze.

"Are you ready?"

The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture closed its eyes for a long moment before slowly reopening them. It nodded.

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Chapter 320: Blood Evolution!

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

Thinking of the Blood Drug he had concocted before, he couldn't confirm if there would be a relationship between it and the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture.

Their names were similar enough that there was a chance. Anyhow, there was no way to tell until the vulture finished evolving.

Master Liu saw Gao Peng take out a slab of rock before pouring some kind of concoction onto it.

The color of the rock shimmered and shifted from ash-white to an ever darkening shade of green that ranged from chartreuse to dark forest green, the color deep and rich.

Master Liu had no idea what Gao Peng was up to. Maybe there was something special about this rock? Could it have been a vessel of sorts?

After tinkering with it for another 30 minutes, Gao Peng carefully picked up the rock and held it in front of the vulture. "Swallow it."

Master Liu looked extremely confused.

Without a sound, the vulture swallowed the Flesh Enhancing Tablet in a single gulp.

Its iron stomach could even digest steel. A small slab of rock like that might as well have been a block of tofu.

There were quite a few ways the vulture could have evolved, but Gao Peng had selected the Blood Evolution path for no other reason than the fact that he only had the materials required for that path…

Other than a few necessary ingredients, he would still need at least a hundred tons of fresh meat, the higher the level, the better.

Erring on the side of caution, he had prepared over 200 tons of Commander-tier meat, fresh from the slaughterhouse that afternoon. There were quite a few large Commander-tier creatures, so even though 200 tons may have sounded like a lot, it was probably ten to twenty creatures at most.

The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture's eyes flew open. There was a burning sensation in its guts, as though it had swallowed a ball of fire. It felt… exhilarated?

It felt like it could do a thousand single wing push-ups and go on a six-mile sprint with weights on its back.

Thunk!

The vulture sank to its knees, propping itself up on its wings. Even in a moment of weakness, it had to look good. Lifting its trembling wings, it laboriously smoothed down a few stray feathers on its head.

The pain was now causing it to draw breaths in ragged gasps. It felt like it was going to explode as agony lanced through every fiber of its being.

This wasn't the ordinary soreness after a long workout; it was a whole new level of pain. It left the vulture writhing in agony, its eyes bloodshot and strands of drool dripping off its beak.

Even though it was extremely painful, the vulture could also feel an unexpected wave of pleasure at the same time.

This strange feeling lasted close to 30 minutes before it finally receded.

Before the vulture even had time to process the events, it was wracked with intense pangs of hunger and an all-consuming desire to devour everything in sight.

Without being prompted, it started tossing slabs of meat into its mouth. Since this was too slow for its liking, it dove headfirst into the pile of meat, ferociously ripping out huge chunks and inhaling them like air.

Blood smeared across its face as it continued working through the mountain of meat, devouring it with blinding speed until it was all gone.

Two hundred tons of meat was rapidly digested by its powerful stomach, and the nutrients were absorbed just like that. That would explain why it was in a constant state of hunger—it would stay that way until it ate something it was unable to digest.

After finishing all the meat, the vulture could feel its bones and muscles tingle and itch, as though they were being tickled by a feather.

The vulture's muscles could be seen growing and expanding explosively.

A row of data labeled [Evolution Successful] flashed before Gao Peng's eyes.

[Monster Name: Blood Eye Bearded Vulture

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Level: 43

[Monster Attribute: Wind

[Monster Ability: Gale Force Level 3 Savage Claw Level 1

[Specialty: Blood Enhancing Stomach (After evolving, its stomach will be able to convert any material into the nutrients it needs to evolve. Side effects include a state of permanent and insatiable hunger…)

Effect 1 (Passive Effect): The Blood Enhancing Stomach will absorb and digest anything inside it and convert it into valuable nutrients.

[Monster Weaknesses: 1. Electric-type 2. Fire-type 3. Metal-type

[Epic Requirements: Ten tons of Stomach Soothing Fruit, five tons of Hidden Gold Flower, 3,000 Breaths of Frost, 3,000 Breaths of Flame, 3,000 Breaths of Lightning, 3,000 Breaths of Darkness…

Now that the vulture had finally reached a higher level, it meant that the vulture had smashed past its previous limits and was now capable of growing even more.

Nonetheless, Gao Peng thought that this self-imposed limit was only temporary. Even without his help, it would only be a matter of time until the vulture overcame it.

For a creature who trained as hard as the vulture, there was no such thing as limits.

Of his familiars, only Goldie was equal to the vulture when it came to work ethic. Da Zi and the rest couldn't even be considered. It was too bad they had never learned to work hard the way he did.

Gao Peng also recalled that a non-Epic creature could rarely develop a special ability, and those that did had a pre-existing unique talent, like the Water Bear Worm.

Its Blood Enhancing Stomach would allow it to absorb the monstrous amounts of energy it needed to evolve. That, combined with its insane work ethic, would allow it to maximize its ability.

Now, the vulture finally had all the tools it needed. The rest was up to it.

The vulture could feel an incredible wave of energy surging through its body. It had never felt this way before, not even with its maniacal training. All it had taken was 200 tons of meat?

The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture was ecstatic.

Turning around to face Gao Peng, it swept a wing across its chest and lowered its head in a stately bow, a gentleman's thank you.

The thing was…

It looked rather terrifying with flecks of blood and bone marrow still smeared across its face.

As the vulture grew stronger, so did Master Liu, both spiritually and physically.

"It worked." The smile on Master Liu's face could have brightened the entire city.

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