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

13. 481 - 520

Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 481 - God Bird Bi Fang, Dragon-Slaying Goddess online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 481: God Bird Bi Fang, Dragon-Slaying Goddess

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

The flames of dawn licked at the sky on the other side of the woods, dyeing the green leaves crimson. The morning mist dissolved into the light and faded back into the clouds.

A drawn out, echoing screech could be heard reverberating through the woods. Right after, popping and cracking sounds that resembled those made by the burning of bamboo drifted through the air.

A red one-legged god bird appeared from the woods. Flashes of fire flared up and dissipated around it.

[Monster Name: Sub-Blood Bi Fang

[Monster Level: Level 49

[Monster Grade: Legendary

[Monster Attribute: Fire

[Monster Abilities: Flame Mastery Level 4 Wooden Heart Flame Level 3 Blazing Feathers Level 3

[Special Characteristics: Wings of Fire (omitted)

Soul Exile (An ancient god bird known as Bi Fang. Emperor Huang was once cursed by the malicious spirit of Tribal Chief Chiyou, who afterward, was driven off by Bi Fang.

Passive Effect 1: Enhanced attack damage on Soul-type monsters.

Passive Effect 2: Bi Fang has a natural deterrent effect on all Soul-type monsters. They will be struck by fear if they catch sight of it.

Active Effect 1: Its screeching has the power to exorcise or drive away souls, as well as lift any curse. At the same time, it will cause damage to the soul of the enemy.)

[Monster Description: A monster possessing the sub-blood of Bi Fang, meaning that it has inherited Bi Fang's bloodline in its body. It also possesses some abilities of the original Bi Fang, likes flames, and is capable of repelling evil.

Flamy made an elegant figure, its slender neck in a streamlined shape, smooth and supple feathers shimmering in the light of dawn. The only flaw that marred its ethereal beauty was its round tummy.

Goldie pointed at Flamy's tummy and exclaimed in shock, "You're pregnant?!"

Flamy gave it an incredulous glare. "Stupid baldy, keep your mouth shut if you don't know how to talk pleasantly!"

"But why is your tummy so round?" Goldie was puzzled.

Flamy's expression changed slightly. It appeared wistful as it said, "Actually Bi Fang was just like me."

"Huh, really?" Goldie felt sort of uncertain.

"Absolutely." Flamy nodded gravely. "Actually, Bi Fang and all of his descendants had bellies just like mine, so our bellies were just naturally bigger. We were revered as godly birds since ancient times, and we were also known as the mythical pets of the God of Fire, so we were believed to be harbingers of auspiciousness that brought happiness to people. Tying in with that fact, you're aware that round, plump bellies represent prosperity, right? Therefore, we actually developed round bellies in order to bring blessings to people. You see, we had to sacrifice our superficial beauty for the greater good."

Goldie was dumbfounded by listening to this righteous and noble speech. Even Flamy also almost believed it. Seeing the naive Goldie look so gobsmacked, Flamy laughed sneakily and flew away.

At the other end, Moneymaker had finally stopped zoning out. It shook its head to clear it and ran in front of Gao Peng.

[Monster Name: Treasure Sniffing Rodent

[Monster Level: 41

[Monster Grade: Epic

[Monster Attribute: Mystic

[Monster Abilities: Treasure Sniffing Level 3, Nimble Pace Level 2

[Special Characteristics: Ultimate Treasure Detecting (A ghost has a ghost's smell, a human has a human's smell, and treasure has treasure's smell.

Active Effect 1: Greatly improves the perception of treasures in a brief period. It can sift out the most precious treasure in the vicinity from the extremely faint smell of treasure in the air. Can find the most precious artifact in a certain range after activating this ability for a certain period of time.)

[Monster Description: A greedy rodent that likes to search for treasures, it's quick and nimble.

Looking at these three of his newly-evolved familiars, Gao Peng felt deep fulfillment. An indescribable sense of accomplishment was welling up from Gao Peng's heart. It felt extremely good to watch his own familiars grow up step by step with his own eyes.

However, it had also been Gao Peng's choice to let Flamy advance to Sub-Blood Bi Fang. In fact, he had intended to evolve Flamy to Bi Fang long time ago, another one-legged firebird. As a matter of fact, Bi Fang was the first monster that came to his mind when mentioning these three keywords.

Of course, Gao Peng wouldn't deny that certainly there was a certain degree of sentiment attached to it, however, he would naturally encourage it to go down that path as much as possible, since it was the god bird of Huaxia.

"Oh yeah, escort the two prisoners down and serve them our best food and drinks, so that people won't say that us Huaxia people can't even afford to provide meals for our prisoners." Gao Peng instructed his subordinates, then he sent his people to put the two prisoners in prison and keep an eye on them.

Tong Xiang had been silent since he came to Huaxia. At the same time, he was also discreetly observing his surroundings, but he didn't dare make it too obvious.

Just one thing felt peculiar to him… Why were there so many Holy Individuals in the ancestral land? Along the way, he had met many monster trainers who commanded two familiars at the same time. Some of them had even owned three to four familiars simultaneously.

Tong Xiang was getting a little overwhelmed, as there were too many Holy Individuals in the homeland. Moreover, there were also so many people here! There were dozens of sprawling cities with millions of citizens that he had witnessed while passing through on the way. Where he came from, only a few of the largest tribes could maintain such large populations.

After wrapping up the advancement of his familiars, Gao Peng thought of the three prisoners that he had locked up in the small, black room—the three familiars that he had captured alive from Goddess Peak.

He had left them to starve for some time, but he had assumed that since it was just for a while, they wouldn't have starved to death so quickly. He flung open the doors, emitting a loud clanging sound. A fist the size of a sandbag was unceremoniously hurled from the darkness of the house.

Boom!!! Gao Peng was knocked flying by a single punch before he could even react and defend himself.

Stripey, who was sleeping at the side of the villa, groggily rose and shook its back. Debris and boulder chunks that had fallen onto it were shaken off onto the ground. It opened its eyes, and the dark clouds above started to roll. Clouds of disaster and calamity started to boil, burning scarlet and spitting out wisps of flame from the cracks between the dark clouds.

Da Zi was the fastest to react. Lightning flashed as its six wings whipped up a strong wind, followed by a brewing thunderstorm. Da Zi charged towards the familiar that had attacked Gao Peng.

Bang! There was yet another punch!

Lightning flashed and struck everywhere, leaving large patches of grassland singed and burnt by the arcs of electricity.

The rough stone arm was slender but strong. Its clenched fist and the blocky muscles lining its biceps made the granite sculpture very powerful. Looking up the length of the arm showed that it was wearing a dress carved out of stone, and encircling the shoulders were round rings made of silk ribbons. There was a golden halo shining behind the good-looking face, and from the center of the halo flowed a golden waterfall that reflected rainbow light.

On its left hand, it held a pale off-white book that was about the height of two people. Of course, for a stone statue that was close to the height of three people, the book in its hand was more like a weapon.

Gao Peng was awestruck at the sight of this pretty stone giant. He rubbed his eyes.

[Monster Name: Goddess Stone

[Monster Level: Level 56 (King-tier)

[Monster Grade: Legendary

[Monster Attribute: Rock/Mystic

[Monster Abilities: Hard Body Level 5 Enhanced Regenerative Healing Level 4 Enhanced Strength Level 4

[Special Characteristics: Illusory Clones (Active Effect 1: It can summon two clones of itself once activated. The copies operate at 80% of the main body's strength and will vanish after a certain time limit is exceeded.)

Secret Dragonslayer Mark (omitted)

[Monster Description: A fusion familiar that was created through special means. Possesses monumental physical strength, has a violent personality, and is capable of suppressing Dragon-type monsters. It decomposed into its pre-fusion form after being destroyed, but now the fusion form has been activated temporarily.

Gao Peng stared at the arms that were thicker than an elephant's legs, and the goddess' physique, which was packed with so much muscle that it would put even a bodybuilding fitness coach to shame.

Gao Peng was rendered speechless. With this appearance, not even a single dragon, but ten dragons could be slain by it…

Gao Peng glanced at the left hand of the Goddess Stone. It was holding the Dragon Slaying Chapter (Water). The main fusion core of this monster would most likely be the Dragon Slaying Chapter, which was a significant detail, as the whole fusion and its characteristics would be based on the Dragon Slaying Chapter.

Report chapter

Chapter 482: Squashed

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

The Goddess Stone howled and charged towards Da Zi. It reached out and took hold of its head, viciously forcing it towards the ground.

The terrifying force pressing down on Da Zi's head caused it to scream in fear, both of its front claws hooking into the ground to support itself, causing it to be unable to retaliate. Its neck and body had been contorted at an unnatural angle, and if it hadn't been Legendary-grade, its skull would already have been ripped off.

The white leather-bound book in the Goddess Stone's left hand glowed with blinding brightness. The moment it flipped open, it attempted to smash it on Da Zi's head.

It landed mercilessly on Da Zi. The white light glowed even brighter, completely encasing Da Zi in it.

"Sh*t!" In fear, Da Zi realized that it could no longer manipulate the force of the Lightning Element. It could clearly sense the elements floating in the air, but it couldn't seem to control them. It was as if there was an unseen barrier preventing him from doing so.

Flamy flew towards them, its sharp screech piercing through the Goddess Stone's head. It halted in its tracks, and its body trembled. Within this short interval, Goldie leaped up and struck its forehead with its foot.

The Goddess Stone's actions slowed, its head arching backward from Goldie's kick. Despite that, its forehead was still smooth and shiny, and it seemed that the kick had caused no visible harm. It turned away from Da Zi and instead stared coldly at Flamy.

Gao Peng noticed that the words (Sealing in Process) had appeared in Da Zi's status.

Witnessing the power the Goddess Stone had inherited from the Dragon Slaying Chapter, he had no choice but to admit that he was impressed. That ferocious power most likely stemmed from the Secret Dragonslayer Mark. This characteristic would have dampened the power of any Dragon-type who faced the Goddess Stone, and done worse still for those who had a lower level than it, as the manipulation of their Elemental Force would be sealed—it would have been equivalent to imposing a ban on powers.

Da Zi was bucking its head, desperately trying to back away. It realized, frightened, that its own power was gushing out like a broken dam. Suddenly, the Goddess Stone formed a fist with its right hand and threw a mighty punch. In a trance, Gao Peng felt like he was watching a mountain crash onto a battlefield.

Boom! Dumby charged forward, shielding Goldie with its left arm. A sonorous clashing sound resounded through the air.

"Goldie, come back now," Gao Peng urged Goldie hurriedly.

If Goldie had continued to stand where it was, he was scared that it would have died from a single punch.

Goldie and the Goddess Stone were at the same grade—Legendary—but in terms of monster level, Goldie was far behind the stone. The fact that Goldie's level was inferior to the stone's was important.

If the difference in level had occurred between monsters in the same tier, it would have been fairly negligible, but if the difference was the tier, then it would make a significant impact on battle performance.

Flamy flew in from the side, spewing green flames from its beak. The green flames burned in the air, washing everything an eerie green. Surprisingly, the flames were kind of pleasant to watch, giving off a feeling of joy and vitality, as it was resplendent with the force of life.

The Wooden Heart Flames were a crystallization of the powerful force of vitality. The jade-colored flames ignited the Goddess Stone, greedily attempting to sap its life force as fuel.

However, the flames extinguished as soon as they touched the Goddess Stone. The statue's body was made out of stone, and none of its essence had leaked yet, which was why the flame had failed to flare up on her.

"Bi Yuan, give me a mouthful of spit, now!" Goldie hollered at Flamy.

Flamy did a double take before twirling in the air and flying to a stop above Goldie's head. "Are you talking to me?" Its tone was full of disbelief.

"Yes, I'm talking to you, Bi Yuan!" Goldie nodded with the utmost certainty.

"I'm Bi Fang!" Flamy furiously spewed a fireball at Goldie.

Boom! The ball of fire exploded on Goldie, flames immediately consuming it.

Goldie clenched both its fists tightly and stared wordlessly at the Goddess Stone. The flames were flaring around it as if it was a… yellow roasted duck that had risen from the flames.

Stripey stood up, the dark clouds of disaster above it plummeting towards the ground. The burning flames falling with it were like meteors hurtling onto the earth.

The area where the Goddess Stone was standing was showered by fire meteors, followed by a shattering quake. Each of the meteors had left huge craters in the ground.

The elemental power commanded by monsters was a type of mystical force. As a monster moved up in tier, its elemental power would increase. However, more often than not, the increase in power was more dangerous to the monster itself than the environment that it was living in. Luckily, the basement that functioned as a makeshift imprisonment dungeon wasn't right next to the mansion, or just the aftershocks of the battle would have leveled the mansion.

Dumby was on the offensive throughout the battle against the Goddess Stone, as both of their fighting techniques were combat-based. The fight between the familiar and the monster was a sight to behold, light flashing off of their figures as they clashed and exchanged blows.

Bang, bang, bang, bang! The clashing sounds echoed in the air nonstop.

Gales of wind tore the ground apart along the way. The stones on the ground were all turned into dust, disintegrating into the air as the wind blew by.

All of a sudden, the Goddess Stone pulled back and crouched down with its legs half bent, its arms forming an 'X' in front of its chest to protect itself. Its shoulders, its back, and both its arms were cracked, and tiny holes were peppered all around its body.

Some of the cracks were because of Dumby's punches, while the holes were the result of Dumby's sharp claws. Although Dumby was only Legendary-grade, it was exactly four levels above the Goddess Stone.

"Go." The statue pounded its fists, and its body blurred. The next second, two of its identical doppelgangers appeared to its left and right. Judging from their appearances, the doppelgangers and the main body were indistinguishable.

Dumby's face was stoic. Strength in numbers?

Just as it was considering summoning its ghoul subordinates for backup, Stripey, who was standing off to the side, proclaimed in a low voice, "Let me." Stripey stood up and started to regain its size, then it fell forwards.

At the last moment, Dumby transformed into the Yin Soul Dominator. With its immense Soul Power, it successfully pinned the Goddess Stone in place, and as it turned rigid, it could only look on helplessly when Stripey's huge bottom fell on it like a mountain.

BOOM! Everything shook.

Tong Xiang and Tong Ling, who were imprisoned, could feel the tremendous quake beneath their feet. The entire villa shook. On a table, the water in a glass spilled out.

After a moment, the dust settled and silence was restored.

Gao Peng had the sudden realization that even if monsters shared the same grade, there were still differences between them. Some of the monsters excelled in a particular field but were also naturally restricted in others.

Stripey had a high combat capability and was good in defense, but Gao Peng still believed that its greatest strength was its size. It was just way too large. Nevertheless, despite having a gargantuan body that made it hard for Stripey to move around, it had gained a unique ability for itself.

This type of ability was extremely frightening when it came into play in a situation where it could be fully utilized. With its unnaturally titanic size, it could have obliterated most of its opponents just by relying on its bare hands and body.

Just like what was happening right now. Even though the Goddess Stone was still alive, it was pinned, motionless, under the mountain that was Stripey.

Suddenly, Gao Peng was reminded of a certain monkey…

Report chapter

Chapter 483: Lu Zhiduck Unroots the Carrot

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

The Desolate Frost Lion flexed its neck as it looked at Stripey, who had managed to overwhelm the Goddess Stone. It was rather shocked as it muttered to itself, "What is this extraordinary familiar?! It's too crazy!"

Now that Stripey was sitting on the Goddess Stone to restrain it, Stripey wasn't able to move, or else the Goddess Stone would escape at the same moment.

Stripey twisted its body, swaying from side to side. "Gao Peng, this stone beast isn't staying still and wants to escape. It's drilling a hole."

Drilling a hole? Gao Peng was unsure if the hole was going up or down.

"But I'm using Earth element to harden the dirt underneath, so it won't be able to drill a hole." Stripey was expecting a compliment from Gao Peng.

"Stripey, you're awesome," Gao Peng complimented it.

Things can't go on like this. Stripey can't repress the Goddess Stone forever. Instead, this is holding one of my strongest battle forces hostage.

Gao Peng wasn't embarrassed as he summoned for Desolion and Dumby. The Amorphic Hell Tree stood nearby as it extended its aura to provide backup.

The Slaughtering Aura hovered over all the familiars, a faint blood-reddish glow tainting the surface of their bodies. The Violent Aura was also activated as a layer of faint purple light shed upon the opponent's familiar.

Flashes of red and purple light spread across the place.

"Gao Peng, I have nothing to fear now." Goldie was now 164 times stronger and four times its usual size, with a height up to 65 feet. Goldie walked towards Stripey and looked up to it. "Stripey, let go of it. I want to have a fair one-on-one battle against it."

At this moment, Gao Peng happened to be ordering Stripey to let go of the Goddess Stone. Stripey lifted its butt and moved backward.

Goldie lifted its right arm mid-air as it eyed the Goddess Stone. Both parties made eye contact to lock on their opponent and the battle began. Boom!

As both fists met, Goldie's arm trembled, and it was pushed five steps backward. The Goddess Stone had it worse. It was like a nail being hammered into the ground after taking a blow from Goldie, with its calves sunken into the soil.

Although there was a gap between them in terms of level, Goldie's physical state had been enhanced 164 times. Therefore, the Goddess Stone wasn't able to beat Goldie in terms of strength.

On the other hand, this also proved that the Goddess Stone had incredible power. If Goldie hadn't boosted its powers, it would have been completely overpowered by the Goddess Stone.

It wasn't a surprise when Da Zi was unable to escape from the Goddess Stone's grasp, for it seemed like an adult bullying an infant, hence it had been defeated with the book.

It was highly possible that this had happened because Da Zi was a monster of Dragon-attribute, which the Goddess Stone might have naturally had hatred for. After all, this monster had possibly been created to fight against Dragon-attribute monsters, so the Goddess Stone'd had a natural instinct to slap the book on Da Zi.

But Gao Peng remembered that the myth recorded in the Twelve peaks of the Shaman Canyon was Yu the Great relieving the water disaster. The Goddess Stone had presented Yu the Great a way to solve the water disaster. If that was the case, it should have been the type to restrain Water-attribute monsters. It was puzzling for it to be the type to counter Dragon-attribute monsters.

Could it be that Yu the Great didn't face a water disaster, but a dragon disaster? Gao Peng was still in the midst of his thoughts.

Goldie shouted with rage, then rushed forward and held onto the Goddess Stone's neck, like Lu Zhishen pulling a carrot from the ground, Goldie picked up the from Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature and smashed it onto the ground!

At this moment, Gao Peng saw a resemblance to a wrestler. The ground was fortified by Stripey with his Earth element powers.

Wham! Pow! Boom!

The Goddess Stone was thrown onto the ground into different positions. Even the ground that was hardened was smashed into pieces due to such a strong attack. The Goddess Stone laid on the ground, stunned.

Dumby stretched out a finger, its Soul Power forming a rope that wrapped around the Goddess Stone. Desolion jumped into the air and breathed Frost Breath to freeze the statue.

The ice quickly froze the Goddess Stone. It seemed that the ice had a certain restraining effect. Gao Peng remembered that ice was the Goddess Stone's weakness.

Stripey lifted a leg that it then thrust it onto the ground, which formed many cracks and split into pieces! Under the cooperation of the familiars, the King-tier monster was forcefully defeated.

As the Goddess Stone was ripped open, three lines of white light shot out from its body. It had been made up of three kinds of monsters before the fusion, but two of the monsters were badly injured, and one died on the spot.

The Wu Gorge's Goddess Stone's body surface had several cracks that almost broke its waist in half. The cracks were so deep that it was terrifying to look. Its status was already displaying the word 'Dead' in gray.

Gao Peng sighed. They were already seriously injured when I caught them. Why bother to fuse into a monster and cause trouble after I visited Nihon to let them heal for a month? Now, one of them is dead and two of them have critical injuries.

Stripey carried two young yellow familiars, Nan Ju and Bei Zhi, over before they jumped off its back. They ran to the Dragon Slaying Chapter and the Holy Spring Spirit's side. The two young familiars held oranges in their palms as they squatted to place them on the ground. "Have some oranges. They're good for your body."

Gao Peng was happy that the two young familiars were so kind-hearted.

The other familiars also nodded in agreement as they looked at the younger familiars in adoration, like elders to a younger generation. The two young familiars were rather adorable.

It was a definite that the Dragon Slaying Chapter and Gao Peng would sign a Blood Contract. As for the Holy Spring Spirit, Gao Peng wasn't interested.

The Holy Spring Spirit's ability could be duplicated by the reflection of the holy spring, as it was able to copy its target and produce three living reflections at most. The living reflections could possess ninety percent of the original subject's combat power.

Such ability sounded amazing, right? But there were two conditions that could cause its ability to diminish by half.

First, to activate this ability, large amounts of energy were required. In terms of energy, it needed to use the Holy Spring Spirit's power to show its target. This would create a large restriction for the Holy Spring Spirit on the selection of a target.

Second, the Holy Spring Spirit was unable to show the monster's special characteristics if the monster was above Legendary-grade. This meant that if it were to choose Goldie or Da Zi, it could only project their physical ability. As for Stripey…

Gao Peng was dubious of the Holy Spring Spirit's ability, as it needed to be at least ten levels above Stripey to work well. Therefore, this ability was rather useless, as it could only fight against Epic or lower-grade monsters. It would only be a punching bag if it went against Legendary-grade monsters.

A good monster attribute could increase a monster's combat power. Legendary-grade monsters would possess at least two or more monster attributes. If one was lucky enough to possess Goldie's Gui power, which was extraordinary, then it would be able to evolve into a different type of species.

For now, we lack raw materials, so it could take forever to evolve the Holy Spring Spirit into a Heart-Confusing Mindshadow. Instead, we should put it on hold and ask if Grandfather would like to have it once he's back, Gao Peng thought to himself. As for the Dragon Slaying Chapter… This monster has to be in my control!

The Dragon Slaying Chapter had a huge restraining ability for Dragon-attribute monsters. Besides that, its restraining ability wasn't a basic restraining attribute.

If it had simply had increased damage on Dragon-attribute monsters, similar to harming Soul-attribute monsters like Flamy, then it would be okay, but the problem was, the Dragon Slaying Chapter had the effect of weakening groups of enemies. Furthermore, when the Dragon Slaying Chapter possessed the higher grade, it could even perform anti-magic. It was a strategic advantage that the whole team of familiars could benefit from.

Grandfather had two Dragon-attribute familiars, and I have one on my own, too. If such a naturally restraining familiar cannot be under my control, I'd rather destroy it.

Gao Peng stared coldly. He lowered his head to face the unconscious Dragon Slaying Chapter lying on the ground.

"Everyone did a good job," Gao Peng complimented.

"It's because Master has taught us well."

"Master's commanding is the best."

"Master is wise."

A bunch of the familiars flattered Gao Peng. The air was quickly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

After things calmed down, Gao Peng asked Dumby, "What did you think of the battle earlier?"

Dumby didn't answer immediately, but replied after much thought, "Goldie lacked patience, Da Zi placed Master first, Desolion didn't give its best, and Stripey had no strategy. All of the above happened because they have yet to face a strong enemy and they have little combat experience."

Gao Peng nodded his head as he patted the back of Dumby's hand. "You did a great job. Go be with Xiao Hua."

"All right." Dumby nodded as it left.

Gao Peng turned around to face the lively bunch of familiars as he smiled affectionately. His signature beaming smile slowly crept its way onto Gao Peng's face.

Report chapter

Chapter 484: You've Been Slacking

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

The muddy river of the Shaman Canyon was shrouded by a thick and hazy fog, so only a vast expanse of whiteness could be seen when overlooking the river. The waves on the surface of the river surged continuously. A few boats were navigating the muddy river, with some residents of the nearby base cities on board.

"Following the arrival of the affluent second generation not long ago, I've heard that quite a few of the powerful monsters in the mountains have been taken away." A middle-aged man on the boat who was wearing a green jacket was envious. "There were rumors about Old Deng buying a new familiar after trading information."

A person beside him shook his head and said, "Why am I not having such good luck?"

"There's still a chance. I heard that the Shaman Canyon isn't as eerie as it was before. It was said that the other monsters were busy fighting for territory after the powerful monsters were taken away. People seldom came to the Shaman Canyon back then, so there were actually a lot of precious materials in there," said the white-haired old man as he grinned with an opium pipe in his hand.

After listening to the old man's words, a group of people next to him looked at each other and grinned, too.

Someone on the boat laughed while asking, "Li Gang, I thought your family had a mining business. Why did you follow us here, too?"

"There's no mine left," Li Gang said with a speechless expression. He was annoyed whenever this incident was brought up.

Initially, his family had undertaken a small mine in town, and they had been able to live a comfortable and plentiful life. At that time, his cash and fluid funds were fixed on the mine, hoping that he would be able to earn a fortune if the mining business developed. No one had expected that all of a sudden, a disaster would ravage the town, causing various monsters to appear in the mine, even killing some people. The mine was blockaded entirely, becoming a f*cking forbidden area.

Can you even imagine how it feels to have your own mine turned into a forbidden area? This is mental. The coal mine belongs to me, but you guys are always bringing along your familiars as if you're warriors trying to break into the evil king's nest. Are you kidding me?!

"There's no mine left."

"I think it was a coal mine."

People around him were discussing it like it was an entertaining anecdote. Li Gang had to try his best to keep smiling, although he was actually extremely pissed.

"It was just a small mine." Li Gang waved his hand and acted like he didn't care at all.

The group didn't notice that there was a gigantic shadow following them under their boat in the river.

There were huge mountains behind the Southern Sky Group. One of the highest mountains had its peak flattened into a wide, open space. Two familiars were standing while facing each other in the space.

The one on the left was a big, muscular vulture with shiny black fur and red eye shadow on its lids. Its protruding pectoral muscles screamed violence, and as part of the bird species, its muscles caused fear in a lot of land beasts.

"Goldie, you've been slacking these days," said the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture in a deep voice.

Goldie, wearing a Buddhist's beaded necklace on its neck, was standing opposite the vulture, looking very anxious and serious. "I did train hard."

"You know the intensity that I'm talking about," the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture said sternly. It grasped its wings firmly and struck them hard on its chest.

"I only reminded you because we have the same interests and we belong in the bird species! There's not going to be a second time!"

Goldie was unconvinced. I'm a duck, poultry. I'm noble enough to be presented on a dining table.

"Shall we?" Goldie provoked the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture.

The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture looked at Goldie with its eyes squinted into a line. Its gaze was as sharp as a blade.

Boooom! An explosive cloud burst behind the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture as it skyrocketed into the skies in a flash. The clouds were ripped apart by its strong muscles as its tough, black feathers glittered coldly.

"I'm aware of your skill. You get stronger as you fight. You even defeated a high-quality King-tier monster yesterday with that skill." The voice of the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture was heard in the sky from afar. "But I wanted to let you know that there isn't such a thing as invincible power, only invincible heart!"

Goldie clenched its fist, in a bad mood. I can get over criticisms from Gao Peng, but not from a bird like you. Who are you to speak to me like this?!

In the skies, the vulture tightly covered its body with its wings, forming a bullet shape. After training relentlessly, its body was harder than diamonds, and its beak was sharper than the tip of a bullet.

The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture knew how capable Goldie was, so it wasn't going to prolong the battle and Goldie didn't intend to, either.

Goldie lifted its head and squinted. It saw a black dot approaching it. The burning sun was above, and the dazzling sunlight caused it to see overlapping images. So fast.

The vulture plunged down rapidly from above. Its long curves stretched out from the exploded clouds and could be seen in front of its shadow. The undispersed clouds left a sheer rainbow behind the vulture.

A sense of danger emerged in Goldie. It was this sense of danger that caused it to retreat promptly to avoid the attack.

However, the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture, who was diving at a high speed, was also able to adjust its direction. Although it couldn't make substantial adjustments, a slight maneuver was still possible.

Flowing Light, who was leaping between the mountains, saw the falling meteor. Its sight couldn't move away from the falling meteor as it stopped on the peak of one of the hills.

"That's really fast," Flowing Light exclaimed.

Flamy, who was hovering in the skies, looked down at the ground and saw Goldie clenching its fists while the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture was plunging down. It softly murmured, "Two barbarians."

Goldie bent its legs and stared closely at the vulture, who was growing nearer to it.

Three, two one… Now!

Goldie jumped up and retreated backward at the last moment. I avoided it!

While Goldie was covertly rejoicing, a sudden pulling force caused it to stumble. It staggered and moved forward, being drawn helplessly into the deadly hurricane.

Boom!!! The peak of the mountain trembled severely. Cracks spread out like spider webs from the target.

The two deepest cracks, which were unfathomably deep, almost ripped the mountain into two.

In the midst of the clamor, Flamy was flustered as it flew down. "Baldie, are you all right?"

A voice reached out from the smoke and ashes as it coughed, "Bi Yuan, I'm all right. Are you here to make fun of me, you treacherous and cunning crane?!"

"You don't seem to be hurting, since you can still talk." A low but sharp voice drowned out Goldie's words.

Pow! A muffled voice was heard, and the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture walked out with Goldie in its hands.

Flamy was furious when it saw the unconscious Goldie. The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture threw Goldie on the ground. "This little egoistic yellow duck is fine. It just fainted."

The vulture covered its beak with its black feathers while coughing, then flew away. "Tell it that if it's willing, to come over and train with me tomorrow morning. I won't force it if it doesn't want to."

The vulture coughed again after flying away. There was some blood coming out of its beak.

"It was indeed too much to use this skill that's beyond my limits. My grade has finally risen, and the physical limits of my body may have increased, too." The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture stayed silent. "Is it a must for me to raise my grade in order to increase my physical limits…?"

Report chapter

Chapter 485: Extreme Training

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

Gao Peng returned from the Tiange Academy and found that the familiars were training hard in the backyard of the villa.

"Dumby, what's going on here?" Gao Peng asked Dumby.

Dumby put down the Monster Collection Guide in its hands, ignoring Da Zi, who was trying to secretly gesture to it crazily.

"Master, after you left, Da Zi was promoting something to the other familiars, and then they became like this."

Da Zi glared at Dumby, and Gao Peng had already walked over to it. "You just had to fool around, didn't you? Naughty Zi."

Da Zi retorted, "I didn't fool around. I just want them to work harder…"

"Oh? Why would you need to work harder? Haven't you guys always been hard workers?" Gao Peng smiled.

"If we don't work harder, would you not want us anymore?" Da Zi suddenly asked Gao Peng seriously.

Gao Peng was dazed. He glanced at Da Zi and Moneymaker, who was earnestly doing sit-ups on the ground nearby.

Flowing Light, Xiao Cao, Silly… All of them were peeking in his direction. Gao Peng felt puzzled about what was wrong.

"Why would you have the illusion that I wouldn't want you anymore?" Gao Peng shook his head. After saying this, Gao Peng felt Da Zi's resentful gaze.

"How dare you ask that…? It's only been a few years, and you have so many familiars. Say it. Have you come to like the white-covered book?" It was better not to have mentioned it. Once it was mentioned, Da Zi was full of regrets.

"So I made them work harder to help everyone grow stronger so that you won't want other familiars anymore." As if he was afraid to anger Gao Peng, Da Zi only peeked at him after it had finished.

Gao Peng was speechless.

"All right. It's really been a bit boring lately. It's also related to the lack of your opponents on the Earth Star." Gao Peng nodded. "Continue to help them train well."

Following Gao Peng's words, it seemed that the familiars of the entire villa area became busy. The normally intense training conditions resumed again. In a valley in the backyard hill, a purple thunder-attracting bamboo had been planted, and it was surrounded by plenty of thunderstones. The valley soon turned into a valley of thunder, and the Thunder element in the air was particularly active. This made it very suitable for the survival of monsters with Electric attributes.

After the valley had been built, Da Zi had been spending much less time in the villa area. It spent most of its time training in the valley.

At the same time, an underground passage had been cleared, with Stripey's help, in the mountain next to it. This had sparked the magma deep underground, and simultaneously, the Flamy Feather Tree that had previously been transplanted from the top of Mount Heng was planted on the summit. Some other Fire-attribute materials were also moved to the mountainside.

Then the temperature of this mountain rose slightly out of nowhere. Flamy had disliked it a little at first because after all, it was someone else's nest. It was second-hand. However, there must have been a reason that had caused the Nine-headed Flamy Sparrow to be so fond of the place.

The nest was warm, as if it was paved with a layer of geothermal heaters. It was steamy, and the temperature was just right.

After staying for a night, Flamy secretly snuck all of its belongings that were originally in its nest onto the mountain next to the villa.

"You came." The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture stood on the edge of the cliff with its wings closed. Its neck turned 180 degrees around to coldly scan Goldie.

Goldie raised its head and said loudly, "I'll accept my defeat. Don't worry, I will soon surpass you! I can do what you can do!"

The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture smiled. "Well then, I'll look forward to the day that you can press me onto the ground. Your talent is so strong that it's too much of a waste for you to only be at this level right now."

Goldie opened its mouth, not knowing how to refute. The grade of the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture was two grades lower than its own, yet it had defeated it. It had really been slacking off…

"Are you only Perfect-grade now?" Goldie asked a little reluctantly.

"In the past half a year, I traveled around the mountains. I found the breaths of seven different elements, and I fused them together." The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture squinted its eyes. "Your master said that I could be promoted to the Epic grade if I fused the breaths of nine different elements together, but I've never believed in any prophecy in my entire life. I only believe that I create my own opportunities! So I gave up on continuing to fuse them. I'm going to continue to find three or more elements of different attributes and make the last fusion."

"Well, I wish you success." Goldie cheered for it.

"How do you normally train?" Goldie asked shamelessly. At the same time, it made a resolution from the bottom of its heart. After I follow your methods and succeed in training, I have to beat this bird up.

The day before, it had greatly embarrassed Goldie in front of Flamy. For some reason, being ashamed in front of Flamy had made Goldie very unhappy.

"Extreme weights." The Blood Eye Bearded Vulture walked to the other side of the mountain. "Follow me. This is my usual training equipment." On the other side of the mountain was a pair of black stones that completely absorbed sunlight. They were dull in color and had very rough surfaces.

"These are the Black Core Rocks. They're rocks that condensed in the sinkholes six miles deep in the ground. They're scarce, and there are only enough for you and me to train with."

"Try their weight," the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture said to Goldie.

Goldie stepped forward and tried to lift it. It didn't take it much effort to lift the Black Core Rock that was the size of a watermelon, but Goldie was stunned. Ever since it had been promoted to the Lord tier, all the rocks in the world were very light to it. It could even effortlessly raise a stone of its same height, but this Black Core Rock of a watermelon's size was heavier than a 15-foot-tall iron rock. It was at least a hundred times the weight of an ordinary stone of the same volume!

"Every day, I use my feathers to lift a Black Core Rock of this size. Only after so much hard work and training can I become invincible. Every one of my feathers was trained to the extreme, and with the help of the feathers, the muscles and skin underneath can also be trained together. They can also tell me the control I have over my muscles, and I can then use every muscle in my body when I fight…" the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture said in a deep voice.

Goldie stopped listening to its words after that. There was only one sentence floating in its mind. Every one of its feathers was trained to the extreme… Every single one of its feathers?? You must be joking me!

A strange scene appeared on the top of the mountain. On the left side, a beastly bare yellow and blue striped duck was standing upside down with one wing on the ground and the other wing next to its side. Its arms were crossed on its chest, and a piece of Black Core Rock that was as big as a house was hooked on its legs.

At the same time, the wing on the ground was still slightly undulating as it did inverted single-winged push-ups. Every push-up caused the body's muscle lines to become smoother, and hundreds of small muscle groups tightened and relaxed, constantly pushing the limits.

On the other side, a gigantic Blood Eye Bearded Vulture was maintaining balance as it posed as a flamingo standing on one foot with its wings raised at the same time. The hundreds of feathers on its wings were erect, and on top of each of the feathers was a Black Core Rock the size of a watermelon. With its breathing pattern, each of the feathers fluctuated up and down rhythmically.

Flamy flew past in the sky and saw the scene beneath it. It couldn't help but shake its head in terror. "It's crazy. Goldie has gone crazy."

Report chapter

Chapter 486: The Wu Gorge Base City

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

Waves sloshed against the shore, which was now in a state of disorder. Traces of blood could be seen on the surface of the water. A couple of explorers were lying unconscious near a couple of grounded ships on the shore, their clothes drenched.

A man who appeared to be in shock was leaning against one of the grounded ships. Blood was flowing profusely from his chest. He was desperately pressing his hand against his chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding. However, it was too late. He had already lost too much blood.

"It must be fate, to have to see a bunch of despicable human beings after being woken up so rudely." A huge black creature stretched its head out of the water. Its body was as long and slender like a snake. Black fumes swirled around its scaly body. Suddenly, its neck snapped, raising the great beast's head into the air.

Black and red smoke billowed from its headless neck. The smoke gradually coalesced into the shape of a dragon's head. White spines protruded from its back.

Li Gang was too frightened to say a word, his face pale. He was now finding it hard to breathe.

Chuckling evilly, the black creature took a deep breath.

Li Gang could feel the life rapidly receding from his body. The color on his face was giving way to a deathly pallor, and cracks began appearing across his shriveled skin.

Chunks of flesh fell off his body, revealing the bones beneath his skin. His eyeballs withered and dissolved into nothing, leaving only a pair of dark empty sockets on his face.

Li Gang wasn't the only one suffering from this horrible process of decay. Those who were still lying unconscious around him also had their life forces slowly robbed from them. A few moments later, only their skeletons were left lying in the wreckage.

At that moment, a single dragon whisker moved above the snout of the disembodied dragon head that was floating in the air.

"I see the years haven't changed the nutritional value of human beings. If I am to return to my former glory, I must consume more of these hateful creatures."

The Wu Gorge base city was built on a mountain range. Since the Cataclysm, the Wu Gorge base city, which was situated on the eastern side of Yuzhou, had attracted a lot of trainers. This was due to the fact that the ecosystem near the base city was quite well preserved, allowing all kinds of monsters to flourish.

Approximately 18 miles from the Wu Gorge base city was a Mountain Spirit rest stop. All kinds of buildings and facilities had been built atop a 300-foot-tall Mountain Spirit.

Suddenly, a black figure darted across the air. A moment later, raindrops began falling from the darkening sky, then there was a downpour.

Dusk was still a few hours away, yet the sky had gone completely dark. Through the leaves, raindrops fell from the pitch-black sky like bullets.

There were two groups of trainers currently at the Mountain Spirit rest stop. "It's raining really hard right now. Why don't we wait for a bit until the rain stops?" suggested a man with a long scar across his face as he gazed out at the heavy rain from his room.

Even though they had brought waterproof capes with them, not to mention the fact that their familiars didn't mind the rain too much, most of them thought that it would be best not to go out in the rain lest all of them catch colds. Besides, it was comfy and dry in their rooms atop the Mountain Spirit's body. A couple of stores were also set up there, selling snacks and whatnot.

Knock, knock. Someone was pounding at the door. One of them went to open it. The other group of trainers was standing at the threshold.

"Yes? Have you guys eaten yet? Come on in," said the leader of the Rock Tiger Monster Hunting Party. He was a bit surprised to find the members of the Green Vine Monster Hunting Party standing outside his room, but he greeted them politely all the same. As their areas of operations usually coincided with each other, it wasn't unusual for both parties to recognize each other.

"Our Emergency Alarm Bird went off this morning," said the leader of the other group, his brows furrowed.

"Emergency Alarm Bird?"

"Yes, it's one of our support familiars. It can sense if there's trouble nearby. It's been feeling rather uneasy since this afternoon. Then, all of a sudden, it just… shut itself down," explained the Green Vine party leader, pointing at a red-feathered crow that was perched on top of one of his group members' hands.

It seemed to be a Crow-type monster. However, there were still a few distinct differences between it and an actual crow.

Just then, the red-feathered crow cradled its head in its wings and squatted down on its trainer's palm. A single feather on its head stood straight up. "Warning… warning… warning…" The Emergency Alarm Bird began letting out a low, tired moan.

"We don't know where this danger is coming from, but right now, there are a number of lone trainers and both of our parties on top of this Mountain Spirit. I was hoping we could join forces to face this unknown threat together."

The Rock Tiger Monster Hunting Party leader laughed out loud. "What kind of danger can there really be? We have a Lord-tier Mountain Spirit beneath our feet. Even ordinary Lord-tier monsters wouldn't be foolish enough to challenge it."

"I hope you're right…" said the Green Vine party leader. Such a thought had occurred to him at first, but he still couldn't shake off this feeling of foreboding.

"All right, now. If it makes you feel any better, why don't we take turns keeping watch tonight—" Before he could finish his sentence, the ground shook violently beneath them. A long, piercing cry reverberated through the forest.

Holding onto the wall, the Rock Tiger party leader frowned. It sounded like the distressed cry of a Mountain Spirit. Was something terrible really about to happen?!

A couple of the Green Vine Monster Hunting Party members began screaming in fear as they gazed up at the sky.

"My god, what is that creature?"

"Run for your lives!"

Boom! A huge black dragon claw came crashing down on the entire Green Vine Monster Hunting Party.

Small white barbs covered the scales of the dragon claw, which was wreathed in black fumes. Blood was dripping from its claws…

The Rock Tiger party leader's body stiffened. Cold sweat erupted from his skin when he realized that a pair of green orbs were staring at him through his window.

In the mountains behind the Southern Sky Group, Stripey suddenly opened its eyes and rose to its feet. Nan Ju and Bei Zhi, who were counting oranges on its back, fell on their butts.

Brrrooommm—

Black clouds swam ominously above Stripey's head. A blood-red light flashed across the clouds.

Dead! Stripey sensed that somewhere in the region, a Mountain Spirit had died.

It had never felt such urgency and rage before. Strictly speaking, it didn't really relate to the Mountain Spirits. However, it was thanks to its current identity that they were willing to accept Stripey as their "master." This was a matter of Stripey's pride, which had taken a major hit as a result of letting one of the Mountain Spirits be killed under its watch.

"What's wrong, Stripey?" asked Da Zi. Electricity was dancing behind its back as it appeared before the spider.

"A Mountain Spirit has died."

Upon receiving the news, Gao Peng's face darkened. "A Mountain Spirit has died? How is that possible? A Mountain Spirit is at least a Lord-tier monster. Even Lord-tier monsters that are much stronger than a typical Mountain Spirit would have a tough time killing it. Only a King-tier would be able to deal a fatal blow to a Mountain Spirit."

In any case, this wasn't a matter to be taken lightly.

"Can you determine where the Mountain Spirit died?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," rumbled Stripey.

Gao Peng was now feeling troubled. If there were any casualties at the Mountain Spirit rest stop, there would be most certainly be trouble. The media would have a field day, casting doubt on the safety of his Mountain Spirit rest stops. This would seriously affect his business.

Back in the Wu Gorge base city, black clouds and wind were brewing on the horizon, slowly enveloping the land in darkness…

Report chapter

Chapter 487: Black Flood Dragon

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

Orders were coming out nonstop from the war room, along with attempts to raise the trainers' morale.

"Fire all cannons!"

"Ready the missiles."

"Trainers, don't panic. Combine all your attacks towards it. Just hold on. Backup's on the way."

The dark clouds in the sky seemed to be on the verge of bursting beneath the weight of all the rain and wind that was raging. At that moment, rain fell down from the clouds like a seamless silver sheet.

In the heavens, a massive dark figure wound its way through the dark clouds. At times, a streak of lightning would explode overhead, illuminating the sky and what appeared to be a massive dragon's body for all to see.

"Dragon, it's a dragon!" Panic and fear gripped everyone on the ground as they looked up at the sky.

The trainers in a watchtower nearby were also beginning to feel despair slowly creeping into their hearts. The people of the Huaxia region had held dragons in high regard since ancient times. One could even go so far as to say that the awe they had for these creatures was deeply ingrained in their genetics.

To most of the people there, dragons were the ultimate beings in existence. Now one had appeared before them, and it didn't seem to be on their side. This was the root of their collective despair.

"There's no way we're any match for a dragon. I remember there was once an ancient flood dragon deep in the Daxinganling mountains. That thing was a King-tier creature. I highly doubt that thing in the sky is than King-tier," said someone in the city's square despondently. Pandemonium had reached a fever pitch in the city.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Cannons exploded in the city, releasing their charges into the air.

The malevolent dragon flew out of the smoke in the sky unscathed. The downpour was growing even more intense. Suddenly, from outside the city came the sound of rushing water.

"The Yangtze River's overflowing!" shouted someone from the watchtower.

In the distance, a wave was approaching the Wu Gorge base city at a frightening speed. The sound of rushing water soon drowned out all other sounds. Everything in the water's path was swept up by it.

The incoming wave seemed to reach as high as the sky. The people of the base city were now being threatened by imminent flooding on the ground plus a malevolent dragon in the sky.

"Why did the Yangtze River suddenly flood?" shouted someone in the war room while angrily slamming the side of the table with his fist. "What are those fools in the monitoring division doing anyway? Why didn't they notify us of such a crucial development in our situation?"

"This isn't a natural event, sir. It must be the evil dragon's doing… It probably has the ability to trigger flooding," another person in the room explained.

He fell back in his chair limply, his face white with terror. "Doomed, we're all doomed."

"What's your ETA, Master Gao?" a voice suddenly said into Gao Peng's earpiece.

Gao Peng, who was standing on Da Zi's back at that moment, sensed from the tone that something must have gone awry on the other end. "Is something wrong? Has something happened in the Wu Gorge area?"

In a pained tone, the voice in his earpiece explained, "Just a minute ago, the Wu Gorge base city was flooded by what appeared to be a black dragon. It has the power to cause floods powerful enough to break through city walls. Thousands of lives in the city are at stake as we speak."

Gao Peng frowned. "I'll be there soon." Lowering his head, he said to his familiar, "Da Zi, we need to go faster."

Da Zi was already flapping its wings as hard as it could, seeming flustered by what Gao Peng had said. "All right. I'll try to go faster."

Electricity began dancing around Da Zi's body until a ball of electrical energy formed behind it. The electrical ball exploded, propelling Da Zi forward even faster than before. Any onlookers in the distance would probably have seen a ball of lightning carving a long, yellow trail in its wake as it hurtled through the air towards the Wu Gorge base city.

Gao Peng's face grew solemn. How long would a base city with defenses that had been broken through last against a King-tier monster? He feared that there would be nothing left to save when he reached the city.

Why did a King-tier black dragon suddenly appear? Suspicion began growing in Gao Peng's mind. His thoughts were now on the Dragon Slaying Chapter's anti-dragon ability, the legend of Yu the Great controlling the waters, and the sudden appearance of this black dragon, which seemed to have the power to cause floods. All of this troubled Gao Peng greatly.

Had Yu the Great once been a monster trainer? This black dragon must have been wreaking havoc when he was still alive, forcing the latter to either kill it or seal it away.

Gao Peng's brows furrowed even more. After all these years, why isn't the black dragon dead? he thought. Thinking about how the Dragon Slaying Chapter was a relic passed down through generations, he figured that the black dragon still being alive wasn't all that surprising.

The Yuzhou base city was only 400 miles away from the Wu Gorge base city. In the distance, Gao Peng could see the low-lying terrain completely submerged in water, which was endlessly surging past the banks of the Yangtze River. Most of the Wu Gorge base city was immersed in water, save for a couple of tall buildings that still remained exposed above the surface.

However, even the tall buildings that were still standing erect in the water weren't completely out of the danger zone. Some of them had collapsed into the water, where countless corpses were left to float.

Ants. Gao Peng was suddenly reminded of ants.

When he was younger, he had once seen his neighbor's kid pour water into an ant's nest. Water had overflowed from the nest's entrance, carrying countless ant carcasses with it into the open air. This was eerily similar to what was happening right then.

Weakness was a sin. Stronger people would jump at the chance to trample all over the weak, regardless of what they did or didn't do, either because they were bored and wanted something to play with… or because they were hungry and just wanted a snack.

A black serpentine figure flew above the Wu Gorge base city in the sky, expelling black fumes from its nostrils. The cries of the dead could be heard from said fumes.

The black dragon was greedily gobbling up the souls of the dead from the city. The thousands of souls in the city below it were like an extravagant buffet prepared in its honor. In the past, it probably would have had to travel hundreds of miles just to feast on so many human souls, as opposed to then, since the human population had drastically increased.

[Monster Name: Black Flood Dragon (Moderately Injured)

[Monster Level: Level 59 (King-tier)

[Monster Grade: Legendary

[Monster Attribute: Water/Soul

[Monster Ability: Water Mastery Level 5, Soul Devour Level 4, Sharp Dragon Claw Level 3, Fortified Self-healing Level 4

[Monster Traits: Water Insurrection (The dragon has the innate ability to control all bodies of water, allowing it to manipulate them as it pleases.

Passive Effect 1: Water Mastery 1

Active Effect 1: Causes all the water in the air and any nearby body of water to have a sudden violent reaction. The higher the concentration of water is in an area, the more devastating this ability's effect will be.)

Soul Consumption (The dragon's malformed soul can absorb other souls as a source of power, allowing itself to become stronger in the process.

Passive Effect 1: It can heal any injury it has sustained on its soul or boost the power of its own soul through the consumption of other souls.

Passive Effect 2: Its attacks are capable of inflicting direct damage on its opponents' souls. This effect also acts as a natural deterrent to all other Soul-type monsters.

Active Effect 1: It can activate this effect to momentarily suppress any other creature in its vicinity. It can also directly consume the souls of those significantly weaker than it.)

Report chapter

Chapter 488: Evil Dragon

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

The Black Flood Dragon directed its maw at the hundreds of thousands of corpses floating beneath it and took another deep breath. In the next second, a cyclone erupted from its mouth.

A violent typhoon engulfed everything beneath the dragon, forcibly ripping all the souls in the surrounding forests and the flooded city from their bodies. Those beneath Lord-tier were powerless to resist the dragon's soul-devouring ability.

The sky was now filled with countless disembodied souls, which began merging to form a grayish translucent ball of light before disappearing into the Black Flood Dragon's mouth. Countless translucent threads of light appeared from the rim of the dragon's headless neck like feelers, intertwining with each other at a speed invisible to the naked eye. The translucent shape of a dragon's head gradually took form on the stub of its neck where its head had once been. The threads of light coming out of its neck still seemed unreal.

Gao Peng noticed that the Black Flood Dragon's status as shown on the database had changed from "moderately injured" to "lightly injured."

A Water-type dragon… Isn't this what the Dragon Slaying Chapter is supposed to counter? Shame that I still haven't tamed it. If I had, taking this dragon down would be so much simpler, thought Gao Peng.

Even though the Dragon Slaying Chapter had been beaten by him twice, it was still extraordinarily stubborn and wouldn't give in to his efforts to tame it. Forming a Blood Contract with a familiar would be all but impossible if one party was unwilling to accept the terms.

Even if Gao Peng had beaten the Dragon Slaying Chapter in combat, it still refused to sign itself away to a life of servitude. It seemed that Yu the Great really had confronted this evil beast in the past.

Gao Peng couldn't help but think about the fact that when an evil dragon of this caliber wreaked havoc, it was definitely not something to be taken lightly. It was capable of causing catastrophic levels of flooding wherever it went. To most people back then, the dragon would have likely been regarded as a harbinger of the apocalypse.

While thinking about this, Gao Peng decided to let Dumby make its first move. Dumby immediately entered its Yin Soul Dominator state as it stepped into the air. Yin energy emanated profusely from its body and into the air around it. It pressed its palm out powerfully, dispersing the souls that were being absorbed by the dragon. Untethered from the dragon's breath, the dispersed souls quickly faded into thin air.

Even though Dumby was a familiar, Gao Peng had forbidden it from absorbing the souls of any other humans or Red River Apes. He didn't know if there was an afterlife, but if it did exist, it would probably be better than being swallowed by the Black Flood Dragon.

After its food source was interrupted, the Black Flood Dragon calmly turned to look at Gao Peng in the distance.

Without waiting for an order, the Desolate Frost Lion lunged at the Black Flood Dragon.

"Careful—its attacks can harm your soul. Try to avoid them as much as you can," warned Gao Peng.

He rarely intervened in his familiars' battles or gave them advice on how to fight, simply because most of them could overwhelm their opponents in combat without breaking a sweat. His advice would probably not make any difference.

However, this time was different. Upon hearing Gao Peng's warning, the Desolate Frost Lion hesitated for a moment. Then it shook its head and redirected its attention towards the black dragon.

The Black Flood Dragon swung its tail at its opponent. The Desolate Frost Lion, which had intended to pounce on the dragon's tail, swerved to the side. Smacking the air with its tail, the lion did a 360-degree turn in the air and rolled out of the tail's way.

As the lion rolled away to safety, a white aurora of energy began building up in its mouth. Arcs of white light flew out of the growing ball of light and into the lion's mouth. At the same time, it activated its field of frost and desolation, sending out an invisible ripple that penetrated the Black Flood Dragon's body and ran through the mountains and water beneath its feet for miles. The water beneath them was instantly frozen, now glinting with a frozen light.

The Black Flood Dragon had felt only a slight chill when the ripple hit it. Its movements seemed to be somewhat affected.

Dooonnnggg! A pillar of blinding light illuminated the entire sky. It struck the Black Flood Dragon squarely in its head, which was still in the process of regenerating itself.

One side of the dragon's head was completely frozen. A layer of blue-white ice now surrounded its right eye. On the first turn, not only had the Black Flood Dragon not gained the upper hand, it had already taken a bit of damage from the Desolate Frost Lion. This was in part due to the dragon's own hubris, as well as the fact that its mind was still groggy from centuries of being sealed away.

The Desolate Frost Lion's body was surrounded by a cold, biting wind that gradually evolved into a small snowstorm, allowing it to temporarily float in the air.

A cold sensation began creeping into the dragon's bones. The violent pain that the Black Flood Dragon was now feeling made it even angrier. It narrowed its eyes into sharp slits at the lion. So palpable was its bloodlust that it was as if the dragon was ready to stab through the Desolate Frost Lion's body like a blade.

Boom! The water beneath them began to roil, then a huge wave broke through the layer of ice that had formed on its surface.

A water pillar with a diameter of around 33 feet rose up into the air. Razor sharp teeth protruded from the surface of the spinning water pillar, slicing everything in their path.

All the rock and wood debris that was sent flying into the air by the water pillar exploded into a fine dust before it could even reach very far above the water surface.

Water pillars that were 100 miles high had popped up on the battlefield. The roar of the waves filled the air, as if countless ravenous beasts were presently screaming for blood.

Brrrooommm! The clouds grew darker across the battlefield, the rain falling even harder.

Gao Peng suddenly remembered the Black Flood Dragon's other ability. Sensing that something was about to happen, he quickly shouted, "Stop before it completely changes the terrain of the battlefield. The higher the water concentration is in the air, the more damage it can cause."

Even though Mythical was the highest grade Dumby could attain, it had temporarily dropped to Legendary-grade after reaching King-tier. Strictly speaking, Dumby was still a Legendary-grade monster like the Black Flood Dragon. The only difference was that Dumby had one more monster trait than the latter due to the fact that its highest attainable monster grade was Mythical-grade.

As a result, Dumby wouldn't be able to overwhelm the Black Flood Dragon like every other opponent it had ever faced. Also, Dumby's main ability wasn't especially suited for single combat. Its Heart of the Yin Soul was the only thing capable of supporting it in battle. In the face of opponents whose grades and tiers weren't terribly high, Dumby could simply reach into their souls and bring them to their knees with a thought. However, Gao Peng didn't think that was a humane way to subdue a monster.

Also, this dragon was a Soul-type monster. It had to have some level of resistance to other Soul-type attacks. Even if Dumby had entered its Yin Soul Dominator state, it wouldn't be able to put down the dragon instantly by reaching into its soul.

This was bad. Even though Da Zi, Flamy, and Goldie were Legendary-grade familiars as well, all three of them were only Level 50, just one level away from reaching King-tier. Right now, the three of them wouldn't be of much help in taking down the Black Flood Dragon.

Goldie's Gui power only allowed it to reinforce its physical strength, not its spiritual fortitude. This was one of Goldie's few weaknesses; it didn't have many ways to adequately handle Soul-type attacks.

On the other hand, the Desolate Frost Lion had returned to its peak grade—Legendary. However, the lion was four levels lower than the Black Flood Dragon. It was only Level 55 presently.

Gao Peng had never been in such a pinch before… If only he had managed to subdue the Dragon Slaying Chapter back then.

He read through the database's entries regarding his familiars and the dragon once more. However, the situation before him didn't look any more hopeful. The only thing he could do right then was let the Desolate Frost Lion and Dumby hold the dragon back long enough for Stripey, the Growing Brain, and Dumby's King-tier skeletons to get there. Only then would they be able to gang up on the dragon together.

The Black Flood Dragon had seemed a bit dazed not long before. However, Desolion's attack was enough to bring it back to its senses. It was now staring straight at Gao Peng with its one good eye, which was filled with hatred and disdain.

This human must be the master of these wretched creatures! He must die!

Report chapter

Chapter 489: Water Insurrection

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

Dumby let a powerful spirit shockwave loose at the Black Flood Dragon. The dragon let out a dull groan and shook its head. Then, with a roar, it charged at Gao Peng.

"Retreat!" Gao Peng ordered Da Zi.

Da Zi didn't need to be told twice. Fear gripped its heart as soon as it sensed the dragon's bloodlust. It had repressed the urge to fly away in fear simply because Gao Peng was riding on its back.

Upon hearing Gao Peng's command, Da Zi reflexively turned around and fled. Who knew Gao Peng was just as much of a coward as I am? it thought. Da Zi couldn't help but feel a slight hint of joy at the thought of having something in common with its master.

The Black Flood Dragon was flying towards them at a terrifying speed. Its huge black body stirred the air around it, its tail sweeping away the clouds in its wake. A foul, ominous wind was now blowing in Gao Peng's direction. Dumby launched itself towards the incoming dragon in the form of a golden blur.

The two figures collided against one another. The dragon's momentum was slowed down somewhat by the impact.

While the dragon was distracted, the Desolate Frost Lion came at it from behind, slashing its back with its claws and leaving three bloody lines. Blood spurted out before freezing over and shattering into fragments of ice.

The Black Flood Dragon let out another roar at Gao Peng's receding figure, infuriated that its prey was getting away.

Hmmm… A shiver ran down Gao Peng's spine. He suddenly sensed imminent danger as he retreated with Da Zi. The rain fell hard on his hair, shoulders, and Da Zi's thorax, while the flood raged on beneath his feet.

His hair stood on end as if he had sensed that something bad was about to happen. "Goldie, put up an anti-magic field around us."

At almost the same time, the water around them tore down its benign exterior and bared its fangs at them.

When Goldie's anti-magic field was activated, all the elements inside it would be expelled, like a mean-spirited landlord would kick tenants who hadn't paid the month's rent out of his apartment building. Just as they were forcibly ejected from the field, they exploded.

Boom! Sounds of explosions rocked the air as if someone had struck a gong multiple times. Gao Peng could see countless water droplets explode into a fine blue mist in the air.

Goldie's anti-magic field could only repel the elements. Unfortunately, it had no effect on the corporeal.

The water that had drenched Gao Peng from head to toe "exploded" as well, causing his body to tremble suddenly. It was a good thing that his damage transference effect was active when the explosion happened, allowing all the damage he could have received to be directed to Goldie. Save for his clothes and pants, which were completely ruined, Gao Peng came out relatively unscathed.

A sudden wind blew at him, directing a light drizzle onto his face. Gao Peng couldn't help but shiver.

Everything on the ground was completely leveled. When the explosion happened, Gao Peng saw that a couple of mountains were in the blast radius. Mountains that were as high as 300 feet were subsequently reduced to piles of rubble.

The flooded Wu Gorge base city was blown up beyond recognition. Not a single corpse was left intact on the ground. The few remaining buildings that had still been standing had collapsed. The debris was now being swept up by whirlpools that had appeared during the deluge.

The elements around Gao Peng and company were thrown into a state of confusion. The explosion of every water droplet in the area had sent ripples to other parts of the flood. Water from afar began flowing in to fill in the sudden gaps that were left.

Then, there was silence. Gao Peng's nose was assaulted by the slightly unpleasant smell of river water at that moment.

The Desolate Frost Lion and Dumby didn't seem to falter during the explosions around them. They were able to form elemental barriers over their bodies just in time to shield themselves from the dragon's Water Insurrection effect. However, the force of the explosion had affected their movements somewhat, causing them to slow down momentarily.

Seeing that its opponents were dazed from the effect, the Black Flood Dragon surged forth, its jaws wide open and its huge wicked claws snapping. It seemed to be immune to the explosion it had triggered with its effect. The black dragon twisted its body in the air, its tail whipping about violently behind it. Its head and neck were spinning around grotesquely. It was moving so quickly that a sonic boom exploded in its wake, maneuvering its massive body through the air as dexterously as a salmon in water.

The Desolate Frost Lion's blood went cold. This black dragon isn't after Gao Peng; it's after me! It tried to run away from it. However, it was still sluggish from the dragon's explosions.

The dragon's claws flashed out, easily cutting into the lion's stomach. A 16-foot-long wound was left on it.

Sssccchhh! Blood spurted out.

The Desolate Frost Lion screamed out in pain. It hadn't felt such pain in a long time. It was now frenzied by the pain, its eyes bloodshot.

The Desolate Frost Lion sank its fangs deep into the Black Flood Dragon's neck. The latter turned around and bit into the back of the lion's neck. Both monsters were locked in a struggle with each other, neither one of them willing to release the other from their jaws anytime soon.

The Black Flood Dragon, which was visibly bigger than Desolion, was able to sink its fangs deeper into its opponent's flesh. Blood gradually stained the Desolate Frost Lion's snow-white fur.

The look in the Desolate Frost Lion's eyes grew fiercer by the minute. Realizing what the lion was about to do, Gao Peng shouted at it, "Stay calm, Desolion!"

The Desolate Frost Lion had an ability called Frozen Domain that it would use only as a last resort. This ability would allow it to deal tremendous damage to anything within its range. However, the downside was that the Desolate Frost Lion would enter a deep slumber after activating it, just like the time Gao Peng first met it.

This little lion really is stubborn. It easily slips back into bad habits when provoked. From the moment I first met it, I knew it was a hothead, thought Gao Peng.

Dumby slipped into its Yin Soul Dominator state and thrust its palm out at the Black Flood Dragon, sending a torrent of spirit energy crashing down into its head.

The Black Flood Dragon narrowed its eyes. It could feel countless needles raining down on its soul at that moment. Even still, it didn't relax its bite on the lion. On the contrary, it bit down harder than before.

Then, the unthinkable happened. The Black Flood Dragon pulled a chunk of flesh out of the lion's neck. A large chunk of the Desolate Frost Lion's soul seemed to have been torn off of it, as well. The pain that was inflicted upon the lion's soul was enough to force the lion to relax its bite. It fell from the sky into the floodwaters below.

The big chunk of flesh and snow white fur was still hanging from the Black Flood Dragon's maw.

A terrible cry sounded in the sky.

Dumby had reverted back to its Skeleton Dominator state. A grayish mist exploded from the gaps between its bones, forming a mirage of a mountain of corpses and bones behind it.

Dumby was now holding a dark golden spear in its hands. Looking closely, one could see that the tip of the spear was slightly curved; there was a rib bone missing from its rib cage.

Another sharp cry pierced the air. A moment later, a dark golden streak flashed across the sky. Boom!

The bone spear was deeply wedged in the Black Flood Dragon's neck. Only its handle was left exposed in the air. Thick clouds of Yin energy and deathly fumes began eating away the Black Flood Dragon's body. The grayish mist was flowing into its body via the bone spear.

The Black Flood Dragon let out a blood-curdling roar. It turned around and dove into the waters below.

Instead of going after it, Dumby dove into the floodwaters in order to pull the Desolate Frost Lion out.

Report chapter

Chapter 490: Pursuit

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

Gao Peng gently stroked the Desolate Frost Lion's wound as it lay before him, sound asleep. The Desolate Frost Lion could have stopped the Black Flood Dragon from escaping with its final gambit. However, it would have been put into a deep sleep if it had done so. All the training it had undergone that year would have gone down the drain. More importantly, Gao Peng didn't know how long the Desolate Frost Long would be asleep this time.

Gao Peng didn't want to take that risk. Also, the situation back then hadn't been so dangerous as to warrant such a risky move. Even though Desolion and the Black Flood Dragon both had the same grades, there was still a four-level difference between them.

It was an uphill battle from the start for the Desolate Frost Lion, not to mention the fact that the Black Flood Dragon was gradually shaping the battlefield into an environment it was more familiar with.

As for Dumby… it had done all that it could against the evil dragon. The same could be said for the Desolate Frost Lion. There was no synergy to speak of between Dumby and Desolion, which was understandable, considering both of them had never fought together in battle.

Gao Peng's face fell. He blamed himself for being powerless to prevent Desolion from getting hurt. Suddenly, he remembered a saying he had heard before: one was powerlessness to change anything in this world that originated from one's own weakness.

He, too, wished to do battle alongside his own familiars, instead of just sitting back with the bombastic title of master hanging around his neck. However, this was a difficult thing to do. Even with the physical augmentation benefit provided by Stripey, Gao Peng was still a human being who just happened to be somewhat stronger than other human beings.

He might have been able to provide some degree of support for his Lord-tier familiars in their battles, but in a confrontation between two King-tier monsters, there was simply nothing he could do. What help would he even be to his familiars if he couldn't even see where the enemy was?

This wasn't a turn-based game, nor was it a childish children's show where the opponent would loiter around waiting for one to finish giving commands to his or her familiars. Most monsters were ruthless and cunning. They would find any opportunity to murder people… even during their monologues.

However, Gao Peng felt that there must have been more that a trainer could do in battle. Maybe his familiars still hadn't reached a certain level? Or perhaps he hadn't fulfilled a certain condition yet? He strongly believed that there was some way he could battle alongside his familiars.

Gao Peng and his familiars had come to a stop at the peak of a mountain. The Desolate Frost Lion's chest was rising and falling rapidly. Its bleeding had started to slow down, its condition seemingly stabilizing.

The floodwaters beneath them seemed calmer now. No longer under the influence of the Black Flood Dragon, the water had lost its former ferocity, like an unruly child cowed by the sight of their mother coming at them with a cane in hand.

The city was built on elevated ground above the Yangtze River. Back then, expert geographers in the nation had been invited to oversee the city's construction. These experts had confidently proclaimed that the city wouldn't be subject to natural floods.

What they had failed to consider back then was the possibility that the city might one day be threatened by floods of unnatural origin, specifically ones caused by evil dragons that had returned from the dead.

The Wu Gorge base city was completely destroyed. Thousands of corpses floated in the water. The air was filled with the discontent of those slaughtered by the Black Flood Dragon.

Suddenly, the water turned black. A thick, putrid smell filled the air. It was as if the ground itself was rotting away.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa…" From the floodwaters emerged hundreds of monsters. Behind them floated a pearly-white brain.

The brain had a ring of light around it. It looked extremely resplendent.

Stunned, Gao Peng stared at the crowd of monsters that had appeared before him.

Sensing that its master seemed to be in a bad mood right then, the Growing Brain sent out a psychic command to its children, silencing them in an instant. "Master, I came as soon as I received your message," said the Growing Brain.

"Master, I've come as well." Another mountainous, spider-like figure emerged from the floodwaters, causing the water to slosh about around it.

"Thank you," said Gao Peng, nodding.

"Xiao Cao, come over here." He beckoned at Xiao Cao, which was sitting on top of Stripey's back.

Xiao Cao skipped down Stripey's back. As it was going a bit too slowly, Stripey decided to build an earthen bridge connecting Xiao Cao to its master's side. Xiao Cao couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain at the sight of Desolion's bloody form.

"Chirp, chirp." Its white dandelions shone a warm light on Desolion's wounds, which slowly began to heal. The Desolate Frost Lion now looked a bit better. It let out a low huff of air through its nostrils.

"Master, that black dragon is heading north," Dumby whispered in Gao Peng's ear.

Gao Peng frowned. The Black Flood Dragon was able to heal any injury by devouring the souls of others. If it were to continue its rampage to another highly-populated base city, there would be trouble.

"Let's go," said Gao Peng resolutely. He then ordered the Amorphic Hell Tree to absorb the air of discontent that still lingered in the area lest it create another, more terrifying, creature.

Goldie clenched its fists as it watched Gao Peng take off with his familiars. The only thing it was feeling now was shame.

I'm still too weak. If only I had reached King-tier, I wouldn't feel so powerless… Truly, weakness is a sin. I, Goldie, hereby swear that I will not let this happen ever again.

Despite not being as forthright with their feelings, both Flamy and Da Zi seemed a bit dejected, as well. With nothing else left to do, all three of them decided to return to the Southern Sky Group together. After chewing on its claws for a long while, Da Zi carved out a line of words on the face of the mountain. It decided to train harder than ever before once they reached home.

The Black Flood Dragon flew past the mountains, where not a soul dared to make a peep. The dragon's oppressive aura was enough to unnerve even the wildest monsters in this region.

A couple of monsters tentatively poked their heads out from their dens when the aura that the Black Flood Dragon had left in its wake finally started to dissipate. Before they could even take two breaths of air out in the open, another pack of King-tier monsters flew past them.

Dumby was standing on top of the skull of the Black Lightning Eagle's skeleton, followed closely by a pack of its ghoulish lackeys.

There were four King-tier ghouls in total.

Gao Peng's eyes were closed in meditation. So that's why the Dragon Slaying Chapter and the Wu Gorge Goddess Stone came into existence. Gao Peng had initially thought that the Goddess Stone's ability seemed rather trivial. Weather control? From his point of view, there couldn't have been a more worthless ability than that.

However, after its encounter with the Black Flood Dragon, he had officially changed his opinion about the Goddess Stone's ability. Every ability had its purpose. It had only seemed worthless in the first place because he hadn't thought there would be a situation where it would come in handy.

All monster abilities could be countered by something. No ability was without its weaknesses.

Looks like I'm moving in the right direction. Once I have a sufficiently diverse team of familiars, I'll be able to handle any kind of monster I may come across in the future.

If only I had managed to subdue the Goddess Stone and the Dragon Slaying Chapter back then, I wouldn't need to work so hard to take this dragon down. It would be nothing more than a slightly massive earthworm to me…

Suddenly, the Black Flood Dragon's throat began to itch, as if something was stuck in it. Sinister fumes of decay were flowing out into the air from the bone spear that Dumby had thrown into its neck.

The Black Flood Dragon had to expend a lot of energy in order to keep the invading fumes from spreading further throughout its body. However, no matter how much it scratched its neck, it just couldn't pull out the bone spear. If anything, the itch only became worse.

"Cough, cough…"

---

Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 491 - White Skeleton Demon God Apparition online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 491: White Skeleton Demon God Apparition

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

The Black Flood Dragon's already incorporeal head became even more transparent after being infected by the undead death aura.

"That annoying bunch behind me is catching up." The Black Flood Dragon turned to look at the group of approaching undead with hatred in its eyes. The dead envied the living, but the living detested the dead, as well, because that was what they became when they died.

The Black Flood Dragon had little love for the undead, especially when this group of them was after its life.

The Blackwater Nightmare Dragon turned around and bellowed, "Roar!"

Gao Peng's face was expressionless, ignoring the dragon's fearful attempt at a bluff. Even if it were to go down on its knees and beg to become one of Gao Peng's familiars, he wouldn't show any mercy. After killing so many people, it had to go.

In the hundreds and thousands of mountains below, scattered trainers and monster hunting teams were making their way through the jungles. At this moment, they all stopped to peer through the canopy above their heads to observe the black dragon overhead.

"That's a dragon…" someone muttered to himself.

Another person whispered, "Is that the familiar of that important figure from Yuzhou City? I heard that his familiar was a dragon."

"Nope," said the first person, shaking his head. "That man's familiar is a white dragon, but this one is a black dragon."

"How great it would be if I were to own a dragon…" These words were filled with yearning and admiration.

This was a dragon, and in the hearts and minds of the Huaxia people, dragons were always a special existence.

The black dragon stopped, turning around to face the group of undead behind it. "Don't force me, or I'll eat all of you!" roared the Black Flood Dragon viciously.

Gao Peng remained expressionless. Beneath him, the Black Lightning Eagle Skeleton's eye sockets glowed strongly with blue electricity.

Two slim arcs of electricity shot forth. In the air, the arcs of electricity quickly grew in size as they intertwined, accumulating and forming a net of electricity that threatened to envelop the Black Flood Dragon. With a single thought, numerous swirling vortexes of water appeared around the dragon. The electric net clashed with the vortexes, sending out bursts of intense bluish-purple light. Light flashed at high speeds and spread outwards, surrounding the area around the Black Flood Dragon with a halo of bluish-purple light.

Whoosh—

Dumby leaped off the head of the Black Lightning Eagle Skeleton and through the bluish-purple halo towards the Black Flood Dragon's head. The dragon turned its gigantic mouth in an attempt to bite at the approaching Dumby. Behind it, the eyes of the Six-Tusked Brahman Elephant shone, and a soul attack hit the Black Flood Dragon right in the face.

Bang!!! With trailing whiskers, the Black Flood Dragon's large head flew to the side. Dumby landed safely right on top of the dragon's head.

Dumby's legs bent, sinking its feet into its face, causing the scales on its face to cave inwards. Charging forward a few steps, Dumby stretched out its right arm and grabbed hold of the black horn on the dragon's head.

Sensing a foreign object on its head, the Black Flood Dragon angrily thrashed its head around, trying to fling Dumby off, but no matter how hard it tried, Dumby stayed secure, grabbing onto the black horn on its head and not budging.

The dragon's talons clawed at its head. Even though the dragon couldn't see the top of its head, its strong ability to sense souls allowed it to accurately grasp Dumby's exact location. With surgical precision, three slender dragon talons cut at Dumby.

Dumby remained expressionless. The moment the dragon talons that glinted with a sinister cold light landed, Dumby activated its Yin Soul Dominator, causing the talons to go right through. Dumby looked down at the dragon talons that went through its chest, actually feeling some pain…

Its claws can actually damage my soul.

But the damage wasn't serious. In the Yin Soul Dominator state, the outer layers of Dumby's soul form were made up of the souls that it had swallowed. The inner layer of souls was its actual core. The "inner" and "outer" layers here didn't refer to spatial layers, but "inner" and "outer" layers in a conceptual sense.

The area of Dumby's chest that had been pierced through by the dragon talons let out a large amount of gray-brown soul mist. It drifted outwards, swirling around the dragon talons and following them as the talons moved upwards.

Soul Power seeped into its dragon claws. As though it had been pricked by a needle, the Black Flood Dragon quickly removed its talons.

Dumby reverted back to its Skeleton Dominator state, then bent over to grab hold of the bone spear still stuck in the Black Flood Dragon's body.

Thick and concentrated death energy was transmitted into the bone spear, causing it to tremble wildly. Endless amounts of death energy poured like a raging river into the Black Flood Dragon's body, destroying its body from the inside.

For the majority of monsters, death energy was a negative substance, with the exception of Dark-type, Yin-type and Undead-type monsters, which possessed an extremely high resistance to death energy.

The Black Flood Dragon could feel cold and deathly energy spreading from its throat to the rest of its body. It thrashed around wildly, somersaulting through the air. Its tail came crashing down from the sky, sweeping across a mountain top. After the tail swept over it, the mountain's peak was swept clean off.

Suddenly, the Black Flood Dragon looked towards Gao Peng. Resisting the pain, it opened its mouth, and a silvery gray swirl of light began to gather. Even if I die, I'll make sure to drag someone down with me.

Sensing the Black Flood Dragon's intentions, Dumby let out a loud roar. His arms flickered with a raging gray mist, which then materialized behind Dumby as the apparition of a White Skeleton Demon God. The White Skeleton Demon God Apparition's two arms were wrapped with dark red demonic flames. The two figures, one big and one small, overlapped, and upon a closer look, the White Skeleton Demon God Apparition actually looked very similar to Dumby.

What kind of ability is this!? Gao Peng, who was standing behind Dumby, was shocked by the sight. This was the first time he had seen Dumby transform into such a state.

In this state, Dumby seemed to have entered some sort of mysterious and godly realm. Its aura became exceedingly terrifying as it looked over the Black Flood Dragon under his feet. Dark golden bone claws swept down from above, stabbing into the Black Flood Dragon's brain.

The Black Flood Dragon's head was already in a semi-transparent state. At that instant, its head looked like jelly, and Dumby's claws like a spoon. Digging down, they scooped and stirred.

The Black Flood Dragon began to spasm. Viciously slamming downwards, dark flames quickly enveloped the Black Flood Dragon's head. The dragon's struggles gradually grew weaker… The silvery gray light that it was about to spit out of its mouth suddenly dissipated.

With a desperate wail, it could no longer maintain the ability to fly and fell down from the sky onto the mountains with a crash, shattering a large number of rocks.

Dumby only managed to maintain this state for roughly ten seconds. After that ten seconds, the White Skeleton Demon God Apparition behind Dumby vanished, and Dumby's aura became extremely weak.

The Black Flood Dragon's corpse lay across two separate mountain peaks, its pitch-black scales shimmering with a metallic sheen. With its death, its head that never actually completely materialized disappeared with a poof.

Blood dripped from the neck of the headless dragon corpse. The dark red dragon blood dripped onto the surrounding vegetation. The green leaves quickly swelled in size, turning a much glossier dark green that continued to turn into a richer and richer color…

The veins on the leaves also became clearer, with the thick leaf veins appearing like white bones. Some plants even grew dark green scales, their roots splitting apart and gradually growing dense, dark green scales.

However, almost all of the plants that went through such changes suddenly wilted and died after ten minutes. Mutations required the use of energy. Although the dragon's blood provided a portion of that, the remaining energy needed was way more than the minute amounts that these plants had within their bodies.

Only a few lucky rare old trees managed to survive after coming in contact with the dragon's blood. They only underwent the slightest of mutations, such as growing scale-like substances on certain areas of their bark.

Gao Peng jumped off the Black Lightning Eagle Skeleton and checked Dumby's condition. After finding out that it had simply entered a state of weakness, Gao Peng heaved a sigh of relief.

Report chapter

Chapter 492: Runaway Da Zi

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

"Dumby, do you still remember the kind of state you were in just now?" Gao Peng questioned Dumby.

Gao Peng thought that that state was very rare and simply too strong. Under that state, Dumby's power had increased frighteningly.

Be it strength or the hardness of bones, both increased markedly.

Before entering that state, it definitely would not have been that easy for Dumby to penetrate the Blackwater Nightmare Dragon's defenses.

It was just like sticking a shovel into sand.

Although it could not be said that there was no resistance at all, it was not at all difficult for Dumby either.

Dumby thought for a moment, then shook his head.

He held up his right arm towards the Blackwater Nightmare Dragon beside him, and the immense soul power surged into Dumby's body.

The aura in Dumby's body continually grew, growing stronger and stronger…

Finally, reaching a certain threshold!

The increase in aura suddenly stopped. The aura of his soul had already reached the limits of King Tier.

The next step up would be Emperor Tier. When it came to Monster Grade or accumulation of power, Dumby had already reached what it took to ascend to Emperor Tier. However, in this land, it seemed as though there was an invisible barrier keeping Dumby stuck at this tier.

He had already reached the ceiling, any breakthrough right now was impossible. Unless he could shatter this ceiling… or perhaps make a small hole in the ceiling, but neither of this was possible for the current Dumby.

This ceiling was also known as this world's limit, even if making a small hole was considerably easier that shattering the ceiling, it was still an extremely difficult task.

Dumby turned and placed a hand onto the corpse of the Blackwater Nightmare Dragon. The cold corpse suddenly shook, its flesh and blood shrinking away, its spine protruding upwards and looking menacing with its multiple white spurs.

"Roar…"

A deep and expansive rumble reverberated through the lands.

Rumble.

The mountain tops shook.

Dragon talons tore at the sides of the mountains leaving a scratch mark hundreds of meters long from the top of the mountain all the way down.

The headless dragon corpse struggled to stand on the mountain top, with its headless neck stretching upwards to the sky. The moment it reached as high as it could, it fell back to the ground with a thunderous crash.

It became a corpse once more.

Dumby stood transfixed for a moment, then shook his head. "Master, it's missing the dragon head, it can't be resurrected."

"No matter," Gao Peng shook his head, indicating that it was all right.

There was no real problem even if it could not be resurrected. This was a corpse of a dragon at the peak of King Tier, and it was huge as well. [1]

After cleanly absorbing the Blackwater Nightmare Dragon's soul, Dumby still looked slightly weakened, but much better than before. "Master, I feel that as long as I want to, I can still enter that state like before."

Gao Peng's heart leapt with joy. Although he still did not understand how that state worked, it was now another ace up his sleeve.

"Dumby, how do you activate that state of yours?" Gao Peng asked Dumby curiously.

Dumby was confused, and did not manage to say anything.

"Then, are there any aftereffects?" Dumby already possessed the ability to control souls, if there was any damage to his soul or body, Dumby would definitely be able to sense it.

"After entering the state, I will become a little weak, but nothing major other than that."

"That's good."

Seeing the situation, Gao Peng did not press further. He will have Dumby properly train this ability whenever he could.

"Let's go, we'll bring the dragon corpse back."

But the dragon corpse was too large, making it troublesome to bring back. Thankfully, Stripey managed to reach them at that time, providing pretty good manpower.

After Gao Peng and the rest had left, a team of Trainers crept their way over from the other mountain. One of them had a camera around his neck, looking down and looking through the photos as well as the video taken. Around him, the others gathered, letting out shocked gasps.

"We actually personally witnessed a dragon-slaying battle."

"Too scary, even a dragon was killed."

By the time Gao Peng had returned to the Southern Sky Group, the dragon corpse on Stripey's back had shocked everyone within the Southern Sky Group and everyone who witnessed the sight along the way.

Xu Heti just knocked off from work and walked out of the Southern Sky Tower only to see a mountain clamorously making its way past the outer walls of the building. Naturally, he already knew that that was Young Master Gao's Familiar.

But what made his jaw drop was the pitch black dragon corpse on the mountain peak that was still dripping with blood. Where the dragon's head should be was a thick layer of soil that served as a cover to prevent blood from further flowing out of the wound.

A dragon???

When did Young Master Gao head off to slay a dragon?

Even a Lord-tier Familiar such as Xu Heti was in shock. Needless to say, others were even more in awe.

Back at the Southern Sky Group, Gao Peng summoned others to help with dealing with the dragon corpse. The corpse had to be handled as quickly as possible.

Xu Heti and other members of the senior management hurried over as soon as they heard the news. They had all seen a live dragon, but never a dead one.

Over a few hundred meters in length, the black dragon seemed mighty even in death. Their Familiars all stood dozens of meters away, not daring to approach.

Very soon, a few large trucks drove over. The soil cover was removed and the severed neck of the dragon was exposed to the air. Dragon's blood flowed from the wound and dripped into the modified container at the back of the truck. Ten full trucks were needed to completely contain all of the dragon's blood.

These dragon blood were premium materials. Gao Peng recalled that some monsters required dragon's blood for their evolutionary pathways.

After using dragon's blood on some monsters, they could be evolved into dragon-blooded monsters. The dragon's blood could also be used to create medicines, or made into dragon blood pudding [2]…

Up next was the splitting up of the dragon corpse. Gao Peng had Flowing Light help cut up the dragon meat.

The scene was literally hot and buzzing with activity, with a whole flock of Familiars lining up at the side with puppy eyes waiting to get a share of dragon meat.

A bunch of laboratory supervisors under the Southern Sky Group had also flocked to the scene after getting the news, hoping for a share of materials from the dragon for their research.

Logistics Department, Weapons Department…

Not one to beat away all these people coming up to him pleading for a share, Gao Peng was extremely frustrated, so he left it all for Huang Ya to settle.

"Keep all the important materials such as the organs, bone marrow and spine for me. Other secondary materials like the bones, blood, flesh and scales can be partially distributed to them," instructed Gao Peng.

"Yes, Young Master."

"Oh, that's right. Extract the dragon's liver for me, and then send a chef over." Gao Peng suddenly had an idea.

He had heard of "dragon liver and phoenix marrow" before. Although it was mostly used as an idiom for extremely rare and precious food ingredients, he had his hands on a literal dragon liver right now. There was no way could let such an opportunity go to waste.

"Where's Da Zi?" Gao Peng shouted for Flamy. He realized that he had not seen Da Zi come over even after being back for so long. That fella was extremely clingy, for it to not appear after so long was extremely uncharacteristic of Da Zi.

"Da Zi left you a letter," said Flamy as it brought Gao Peng to the place where Da Zi carved a message.

Gao Peng saw a row of words written in a shaky and messy scrawl.

——"I am leaving, I want to become strong, I will return when I am strong."

That joker, does it even know the way home?

Gao Peng could not help but worry.

But with regards to Da Zi's ability, Gao Peng was still at ease. Da Zi was already at level 50, just a step away from King-tier, there would hardly be any opponent for it on the entire Earth. Furthermore, Da Zi could fly, so he did not have to worry about Da Zi's safety too much. It was just that the fella was simply not too bright. Gao Peng suspected that even if Da Zi were sold into slavery it would still help its seller count his change.

"Gao Peng, I already had others send a Familiar to follow Da Zi, Da Zi definitely would not be lost." Flamy struggled to hide a smile as it saw Gao Peng's worried face.

Translator's Notes:

[1: Which means lots of usable materials, in case this wasn't clear. Our protagonist is mercenary

[2: 毛血旺 is a specialty dish from Yuzhou (Chongqing), which is made of duck blood pudding and beef tripe in spicy soup. The author uses 龙血旺, suggesting that they could use dragon's blood for the dish instead.

Report chapter

Chapter 493: Ferment

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

After awakening, the Dragon Slaying Chapter fell into silence, refusing to respond to Gao Peng. Even when Gao Peng wanted to make it his Familiar, there was little reaction; it just rejected the Blood Contract.

From the looks of it, it seemed to have the gall to start a war of attrition with Gao Peng.

Back then, Gao Peng paid it no mind. Although the Dragon Slaying Chapter had a pretty good attribute and a rather decent level, Gao Peng already had Familiars with a grade equal to or even better than it, hence he did not think much of it.

"Gao Peng, that white book wants to speak to you," said Silly as it drifted slowly towards Gao Peng with a bottle of juice.

With that, Silly drifted slowly away again.

Gao Peng was at home, just preparing for the next big thing that could happen. Hearing Silly's message, he was stunned for a moment. He then put on a coat, packed his things and left the house.

Gao Peng had been wondering at that time, if he had never taken away the Dragon Slaying Chapter and the Goddess Stone in the first place, would the Blackwater Nightmare Dragon have made its appearance?

Back then, Gao Peng did not think too much. But now, this question was like a heavy stone in his heart.

In the specially constructed underground confinement room, Gao Peng met up with the Dragon Slaying Chapter.

The Dragon Slaying Chapter was quietly floating in mid-air, releasing its psychic waves. "I have sensed the aura of that black dragon. That black dragon is an evil dragon, it's best that you avoid contact with it."

Gao Peng stared at it. "I have something to ask you. Were you guys at the Wu Gorge

The Dragon Slaying Chapter seemed puzzled. It's pages flipped open, and then closed again. "You want to face that black dragon? Give it up. With your current strength it's not possible. The black dragon can fly, there's no way that giant crab of yours can kill it. If you are unable to kill the black dragon, it will go eat people."

"No, I just want to know, if I had never taken you two from the Wu Gorge, would the black dragon appear?" Gao Peng's voice shook as he spoke. He only managed to steady his voice again after two deep breaths.

The Dragon Slaying Chapter seemed to have understood something and fell silent for a moment. "The black dragon had actually long been showing signs of awakening. Back then, that man had only managed to severely inure that black dragon and not kill it. Even if I had not been taken away it would still have awoken. It was just a matter of time."

"Back then, while dealing with the black dragon, I was only able to provide some assistance. The one that had dealt a crippling blow to the black dragon was another Familiar, so if you are asking me to kill the black dragon, you're getting ahead of yourself." The Dragon Slaying Chapter continued calmly, "Nonetheless, I still advise you to stay away from that black dragon. Back in our time, it ate a lot of people and even brought about a huge flood. It is truly an infamous beast."

"It's dead."

Dragon Slaying Chapter, "???"

"It's been killed by my Familiars, its body is just outside."

The Dragon Slaying Chapter began to flip its pages. From the front cover all the way to the back, and then back to the front again.

"You guys didn't manage to kill the black dragon back then? Was it really that strong?"

Hearing Gao Peng's doubtful tone, the Dragon Slaying Chapter snapped back, "We could kill it. How could we not? We even had its head chopped of, all we had to do was extinguish its soul to kill it. It was just that that man wanted to seal it under the mountain and use it to repress the fortune of the nation [1, that was why it was allowed to cling on to its life for so long."

Afterwards, the Dragon Slaying Chapter could not hold back its curiosity and asked, "How did you actually manage to kill it?"

Gao Peng suddenly spoke in a serious tone. "Have you eaten cake? Just use a spoon, and with a gentle scoop, dig out the soul that's in its brain."

The Dragon Slaying Chapter shuddered. Although it had never heard of 'cake', it believed that it could not be anything good.

"Do you want to be my Familiar?" Gao Peng offered.

After knowing that Gao Peng had killed the black dragon, the Dragon Slaying Chapter's attitude had changed, but it still did not immediately accept Gao Peng's invitation. "I will need to consider first."

"The saddest thing in the world is having a full set of dragon slaying skills but not a single dragon in the world for you to slay," Gao Peng said enticingly.

"But… I've heard that you like to trick monsters," said the Dragon Slaying Chapter, still doubtful.

Gao Peng stared back in disbelief, "When did I trick any monster?"

The Dragon Slaying Chapter glowed with a white light. "I heard that you once promised a monster to make it tall… but it probably ended up becoming even shorter…"

Gao Peng, "???"

Gao Peng was shocked, which darned individual had let this spread?

But Gao Peng was indeed at fault in this matter. He sheepishly coughed and then replied, "That was an accident, I did not expect it to grow shorter after evolving… but it did become stronger after that! It evolved to an even stronger Familiar did it not? If I gave you the option of promoting to Mythic Grade, but the price was growing 10cm shorter, would you do it?"

The Dragon Slaying Chapter showed visible joy. "When will you promote me?"

Gao Peng let out a smile as wide as the Cheshire Cat. "The opportunity will come."

Flowing Light was on the dragon's back slicing meat when it sneezed. With a slip of its blade, the piece of meat in its hand that was supposed to be 5kg suddenly became 8kg.

Dressed in beach shorts and carrying a plastic washbasin, Uncle Liu beamed. "How nice of you, lil Flowing Light. Uncle Liu will buy you something good to eat later so that you'll grow big and tall."

After establishing the Blood Contract, the white book floating behind Gao Peng as they left the underground basement.

"You're a white covered book, so let's call you White Paper then." Gao Peng gave the Dragon Slaying Chapter a nice name.

The Dragon Slaying Chapter had never been to school, so it thought its name was not bad.

At the same time, the matters regarding the destruction of Wu Gorge Base City had finally fermented.

News had exploded and spread like wildfire!

In just a matter of a few hours, the news head spread across the entire Huaxia, and had continued to spread outwards.

What started as a ripple had caused a huge wave!

The destruction of a base city was not something new, and Wu Gorge Base City was no big city either, it was just considered a medium sized base city, and this was based on the high population density in Huaxia areas.

But the most important reason for the uproar is that no one managed to escape Wu Gorge Base City alive, every single person died!

The Blackwater Nightmare Dragon's ability to control souls in an area to instantly kill all within it was terrifying. Soul-based attacks are a truly unreasonable attribute.

Because many life forms had weak defenses against soul-based attacks, leaving them with no means to withstand any attacks to the soul. Hence, in the face of a soul-based attack greatly exceeding what they could take, the only result was instant death.

Of course, no matter what the reasons were, what happened had already happened.

The total annihilation of Wu Gorge Base City had begun to ferment, and within that area, created widespread panic amongst the citizens.

Some were worried that disaster would befall them next. The world was getting more and more dangerous. Today was Wu Gorge Base City, could their city face the same fate tomorrow?

Online forums and social media exploded with activity, with people sending out posts and messages.

In the streets, in companies and groups, in public places, people were uneasy and in panic. Some debated loudly, while others whispered in quiet discussions. This seemed to be the only way to dispel some of the fear and unease in their hearts.

Upon receiving the news, the world government had immediately took steps to shut down large forums and deleted related threads from dominating discussions online.

A raging dark current had been hidden under the peaceful exterior of the world.

Translator's notes:

[1: this is probably based on fengshui (Chinese geomancy). In this case, it probably comes from the belief that having certain important objects placed at important locations could influence the luck and fortune of the land. Similar to the idea of ley lines and having objects along them that could boost or block the flow of energy along the ley lines.

Report chapter

Chapter 494: World in Chaos

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

If this had been in the past, such a large event might still have been covered up, but the repercussions of this event were simply too great. The more effort that was put into covering it up, the more it fanned the flames of the citizens' anger.

In the darkness of the night, the Southern Sky Tower's lights remained lit.

Because the dragon corpse that they had just obtained had to be distributed and properly dealt with, the majority of the departments in the Southern Sky Group had to do overtime. Of course, all of the employees working overtime would be given two pounds of King-tier dragon meat as compensation.

The factory was roaring with activity, the sounds of its processing machinery reverberating across the night sky. Elsewhere, in other districts, branch offices were working hard, as well. The materials and live monsters that Gao Peng required were being transported overnight through various roads and channels.

"Things are going to get messy…" Gao Peng mumbled to himself, his brows furrowing.

Grandpa was still not back yet, so he needed to man the helm at the Southern Sky Group. He had just put down the phone when another person called to ask Gao Peng to join their organization. Gao Peng rejected the offer with thanks. If he had never met the person, Gao Peng very well would have thought it was a prank call. However, everything from the person's tone of voice to their special telephone number told Gao Peng that this person was no fraud.

"How did things happen so fast…" said Gao Peng, a complex expression on his face. Indeed, time and tide waited for no man. The situation of chaos had come too quickly. Gao Peng had thought that he could give himself a few years to develop, but little more than a year had passed.

Over the past year, whenever he was back at the Southern Sky Group, Gao Peng would spend most of his time raising the grades of familiars that belonged to loyal members of the senior management or a select few members of the Explorer's Union. Other than that, he would raise rare monsters and then reproduce them in large numbers.

After going through this large scale reproduction, he had raised monster armies one by one. Some were sent out to complete missions, while the others underwent training deep in the mountains.

"If I were given a few more years, I could even create a monster army comprising of only Lord-tier monsters."

Knock, knock, knock. There was a sound from the door.

"Come in," said Gao Peng.

"Young Master, this is the expert you asked us to invite over, and these here are professors of archaeology from the Huaxia district." Xu Qingzhi, who had been a researcher all this while, was now Gao Peng's temporary secretary.

The door opened and seven or eight old men walked in. These were all either proficient researchers of ancient history or professors with unique views on certain areas, accompanied by an old researcher who had done extensive research on ancient languages.

"Your humble student Gao Peng is honored to meet such distinguished teachers," said Gao Peng as he turned around, smiling and bowing earnestly. Gao Peng's attitude eased the anger of a few of the professors who had been forced to come over.

"You said that you had certain works of ancient literature for us to research?" The rosy-cheeked and white-haired old man standing on the left spoke up loudly. "Let me get things straight; if there's no ancient literature for us to examine, I demand a return flight immediately. I still have a class to give tomorrow."

Gao Peng smiled. "I wouldn't dare make a fool of you all, but your humble student must admit that he did tell a lie. I don't actually have a work of literature written in an ancient language…" Without waiting for them to grow angry, Gao Peng immediately continued, "But I do have two people from an ancient tribe with me here. I believe they can serve as research subjects for you, distinguished teachers."

"What do you mean?" said the same professor in shock.

In the room, the seven or eight old men were surrounding Tong Xiang and Tong Ling, staring at them intently.

Dressed in a brown wooly nightgown and carrying a large watermelon, Tong Xian shifted uneasily in his seat. The sofa was nice and soft, but for some reason, he was seated very uncomfortably.

"You sure you aren't joking with me?" Professor Wang was still a little doubtful.

"Don't let this old man be happy over nothing," warned another professor.

"Don't worry. I'm definitely not," Gao Peng said to the professors. The reason why Gao Peng had invited these professors over was to study writings of the ancient language.

Although these were ancient people, Gao Peng knew his stuff. He understood that these ancient people had a very unique understanding of monster breeding and had come a long way in developing their techniques.

If one knows themselves and knows their enemy, one will never taste defeat, even in a thousand battles.

Whether it was to facilitate communication or to understand their writing, learning their language and alphabet was very important. At the very least, it would prevent these two ancient tribesmen from speaking openly right under Gao Peng's nose without him understanding anything that they discussed.

After he had learned the language, Gao Peng also planned to have the senior management of the Southern Sky Group, as well as a few of his loyal followers, learn the ancient writing system and language. This was to prepare before he spread it to the whole Southern Sky Group.

But Gao Peng wasn't relaxed just having Tong Xiang and Tong Ling teach them. They were once his enemies, after all, which was why Gao Peng had sought out the authorities in this field. These were all legitimate old professors who had put in years of hard work. With both their expertise and the help of the ancient tribesmen, Gao Peng believed that he would be able to learn the ancient language and writing system in no time at all.

"Young Master, the Yuzhou City mayor is on the phone," said Xu Qingzhi, running over with the phone in hand.

Gao Peng addressed the various professors, saying, "Let me take this call."

While leaving the room, Gao Peng picked up the phone. On the other end, the Yuzhou mayor's voice sounded tired and hoarse. He wanted to hear the detailed happenings of the events at the Wu Gorge base city from Gao Peng.

Although they roughly understood how the situation had unfolded through the use of satellite surveillance, the impacts of this matter were far too large, and they needed to know the exact details.

Gao Peng didn't hide anything, except for the abilities of his familiars. With regards to all other details, he held nothing back, especially the abilities of the Blackwater Nightmare Dragon.

There was silence on the other end of the phone, then after a while came the reply. "Thank you."

The next day, news spread that the Great Britain district had officially left the Allied Government, establishing the Holy Day Alliance.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Southeast Asia district, as well as Jiangnan base city, the Jinling base city, and the Modu base city of the Huaxia district, announced their independence, forming the Poseidon Alliance and the Freedom Alliance, respectively.

The authority of the World Allied Government plummeted. Base cities all around the world, along with wealthy corporations, all began to recruit trainers, hiring strong trainers by offering high salaries and valuable positions.

Suddenly, the market value of all the strongest independent individuals soared. Across various large online forums, the same few videos were at the top of the feed.

In the Great Britain district, up in the air above Big Ben, a giant red dragon soared through the city sky, giving off blistering flames that created a sea of fire that covered the sky.

In the middle of Stonehenge, a 160-foot-tall magma stone giant bellowed at the sky.

Along the shores of the Maldives, a giant turtle that was as big as an island with a black shell that looked as though it was covered in coral raised tidal waves.

In the sky of the Jiangnan base city, a giant green bird circled a green mountain. At the peak, a tornado materialized, creating a funnel that leading straight up into the heavens. Gray clouds swirled around the tornado, forming a spiral above the mountain.

All of these videos had one common point. On the heads or backs of each of these monsters was the tiny figure of a human. It was small, but its presence was one that couldn't be ignored. This meant that none of these were wild monsters—they were all familiars with a master!

These videos were uploaded across various forums and video sharing sites and went viral immediately. An active forum member who was also a Lord-tier trainer left the message: "This is King-tier."

Overnight, the global situation had turned completely. Storms were brewing ahead.

Report chapter

Chapter 495: The Adventures of Da Zi

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

Before, the only known King-tier Trainers in the world were Ji Hanwu and Gao Peng from the Huaxia Region, as well as Hua Lun from the Kushan Region.

Plenty of King-tier monsters have been discovered but there were only three King-tier Trainers, going to show how rare they were.

But suddenly, just overnight, four new King-tier Trainers had suddenly appeared. And this happened right when so many base cities and large districts announced their exit from the Allied Government. This sent the masses into an even greater panic.

According to the news that Gao Peng received, right now, most of the base cities across the world were in a strained relationship with the World Allied Government. They would comply with explicit orders from the Allied Government, but that was the utmost limit of their cooperation.

This was not unlike ancient dynasties in the past. With non-compliant state governments despite having the emperor still on the throne. Some areas even had rebels, or self-declared kings of their own.

The World Government was now showing signs much like dynasties about to fall. The situation was hard to salvage.

Furthermore… being someone who knows certain facts, Gao Peng was well aware that these Trainers that appeared out of nowhere could very well not be from Earth, but rather members of an ancient tribe returning to Earth.

For the Sang Tong tribe alone to be able to send out four relatively strong King-tier Trainers, this clearly showed that the strength of these tribes were much more scary than he could have imagined.

Currently, they were only limited by the Earth's level limit and were only able to send King-tier Trainers. If not, Emperor-tier, or even Overlord-tier Trainers would appear in front of the inhabitants of Earth. Their existence was a terrifying threat. As long as the Earth's level limit were to go up, they would immediately send more experts of the corresponding strength.

Those that had revealed themselves were only the minority, there were many more Trainers still lurking in the darkness.

Gao Peng secretly sighed.

He did not wish to continue on like this. He was well aware that if his name became more well-known, there would definitely be those who would want to challenge his position.

He was not afraid of challenges though, but having an incessant number of challengers would be… just too troublesome.

If he stayed on Earth, he would forever be a mere chess piece. Gao Peng did not wish to become a chess piece, he wanted to be the one moving the chess pieces.

To become that person, the only way forward was to leave Earth. The Earth has its built-in restriction against monsters or Familiars that were too strong. This could be seen as protection, but in other ways also a form of imprisonment.

The previous day, the Mayor Jiangnan Base City, He Wei, had called, expressing his wishes for Gao Peng and his Grandpa to join Jiangnan Base City. His words were full of praise, clearly showing how he valued them.

Although He Wei's tone and attitude were sincere, Gao Peng rejected his offer in the end.

Over the next few days, news of Trainers committing robberies and other crimes appeared in other districts.

In times of crisis, the extremes of human nature become much more prominent.

However, with the Southern Sky Group as well as Gao Peng manning the helm, Yuzhou was much more stable than other districts.

Gao Peng had also lent a hand to the Yuzhou City Government to control the situation in Yuzhou.

"Da Zi still isn't back yet?" asked Gao Peng, "It's not safe anymore out there, Da Zi needs to hurry back soon."

Flamy replied with a frown, "Gao Peng, Da Zi is missing."

Gao Peng froze. His voice went up a few pitches as he spoke, "Missing!? Didn't you say there were Familiars following Da Zi? How is Da Zi missing now!"

Flamy was in panic, "There were Familiars following Da Zi, but Da Zi ran into a rift yesterday, and today the rift has vanished."

Gao Peng's heart sank. He tried to contact Da Zi through the Blood Contract, but to no avail.

"Bring me to where Da Zi disappeared."

Gao Peng rode on Flamy to the location, reaching there in around half an hour. The distance from Southern Sky Group was only around 300km, not too far.

For a Lord-tier Familiar on the brink of King-tier like Da Zi, this was rather close…

But at this moment, Gao Peng evidently was in no mood to consider such things.

This was a quiet valley. Within the valley, there was an area with wilted vegetation. Some of the plants there were even burnt to cinders from electricity.

In the forest around them, a Li Hua Tiger Cat was secretly eyeing Gao Peng. Flamy turned to face it. The Tiger Cat leapt up a dozen meters in the air, raising its bristled tail. In a blink of an eye, it had hopped away like a rabbit and vanished back into the forest.

Gao Peng knelt down, gently passing his hand over the burnt vegetation. Some were prickly to the touch. He rubbed some of the material with his fingers and his palms became covered in black.

"An arc of electricity has swept through these." After playing with Da Zi regularly in the past, Gao Peng could recognize the signs left behind on these plants.

According to what Flamy said, Da Zi had most likely entered a spatial rift. Gao Peng kept his fingers crossed. "You're sure Da Zi vanished here?"

"Yup yup." Flamy nodded.

With the search yielding no results, Gao Peng gave a long sigh in the end.

Based on how Flamy described it, Da Zi had entered a spatial rift with purplish light coming from the edges of the rift. Da Zi had curiously observed the edges of the rift first, before crawling all the way in.

"That fool." Even though Gao Peng had prepared himself mentally for this, he still wanted to try just a bit more.

He closed his eyes and connected to the Blood Contract, trying to call out to Da Zi. Once again, the signal was like dropping a rock into the ocean, no reply came.

Gao Peng's heart sank again. With one last look at the valley, Gao Peng rode on Flamy and left the valley.

Flamy was like a child that did something wrong, not uttering a single word throughout the whole journey.

One day ago, Da Zi was waddling its backside crawling on with no destination in mind.

The three pairs of dragon wings on its back unconsciously twitched. Back then, Da Zi had made up its mind to set off on a training journey after a setback. After all, that was what always happened in anime.

I've already walked for two days and five hours, and Gao Peng still hasn't come look for me. I'm writing this grudge down in my notebook.

Da Zi was a little angry, did Gao Peng not see my message?

I already said I was out on a journey, why has Gao Peng not come to look for me yet.

Does Gao Peng not like me anymore!?

The petty Da Zi took a bite out of a tree bark, wolfing it down in large mouthfuls.

Centipedes were omnivorous. Even though Da Zi was now a dragon centipede, but its nature would not stray far from its original centipede nature.

Suddenly, a flash of purple appeared in front. Da Zi was very unhappy. The shiny thingy in front was getting in the way of Da Zi getting angry.

Although that was what Da Zi thought, its body still chased after it.

Eh? What's this?

Da Zi saw that up ahead was an oval hole glowing with a purple light. Inside was thick with concentrated electric elemental energy. This drew Da Zi closer.

Its two dragon claws clung on to the edges of the spatial rift as it peered its head inside curiously.

Putting its head into the spatial rift, Da Zi saw an expanse of purple. Inside, it was all purple, blue, silver, red, a mix of colors all blended together.

The concentrated electric energy had Da Zi unconsciously drawing in a deep breath. It was just like a fish being placed back into water. With this feeling, Da Zi's eyes opened wide, as it quickly scrambled into the rift.

In the air there, the thick electric elemental energy had condensed into various shapes. Some spherical, some conical, some linear. But these were only the most basic ones. In the distance, Da Zi saw silver arcs of electricity forming a snake, leisurely slithering across the horizon. There was also a rabbit made out of red electricity, hopping around.

Da Zi was stunned from shock, what is this place?

Report chapter

Chapter 496: Da Zi's Bizarre Encounter

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

Where is this? Da Zi was too surprised to speak. When it turned to find the way back, it realized that the road it had come by had disappeared.

Da Zi was very upset. It held a crispy clump of thunder sadly and gnawed away at it. The sadder it was, the more difficult it was to accept the pain of not being able to find its way home. At last, Da Zi burped in sorrow.

What if I can't find Gao Peng? Da Zi thought anxiously.

A red lightning rabbit jumped before its eyes. Da Zi was angered. I'm so pissed off. You knew that I couldn't find Gao Peng, yet you're flaunting in front of me. I'm going to devour you! So Da Zi rushed off to chase it…

In the vast void, there was an inexplicable world. It was extremely large. Thunder roared and lightning flashed in the air., and one wouldn't be able to differentiate between north and south or see any clear road signs.

The vast void's sky had a strange gravitational force, causing all living organisms to float. Da Zi had wings on its back, so it could travel quickly in the void without any inconvenience.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Da Zi finally caught up with the lightning rabbit. Its dragon claws grasped the body of the lightning rabbit. However, the moment the dragon claw touched its red fur, the smooth fur turned into a slender dark red arc. The arc exploded and spread out in the void, disappearing into the gap between Da Zi's dragon claws. At last, it gradually faded away.

The red lightning rabbit turned back and smiled at Da Zi, revealing its two big front teeth. Whoosh!

It transformed into a bolt of red lightning and escaped. Da Zi was stunned in place. It wondered repetitively if it had done something wrong or made a mistake somewhere along the way. How had the rabbit escaped from its own claws when it had clearly caught it?

Had it just turned its body into a bolt of lightning? Lightning?

Da Zi was deep in thought, and it looked up seriously. For Gao Peng's sake, I must hunt you down today! And then devour you!

After sorting out its thoughts, Da Zi put on a grave face and began the chase. Its three pairs of wings desperately flapped, and it was so fast that it formed a large blur in the void. Boom, boom, boom! A thunderous storm was stirring up.

Da Zi's wings channeled the Electric element, and the scattered thunder in the air was pulled into its wings, becoming a lightning storm around its wings that filled the entire sky.

The violent seven-colored lightning storm drew out a long shadow behind Da Zi.

"There's nothing that I, Da Zi, can't eat! Even Gao Peng can't stop me!" Gao Peng wasn't there anyway. Da Zi was so arrogant that it seemed like more than a centipede.

Finally, the distance between Da Zi and the red lightning rabbit was becoming smaller, and Da Zi's eyes were also brightening. There's nowhere to run anymore!

Boom!

The lightning storm that was caused by its wings charged hard at the lightning rabbit, causing it to stagger and nearly fall.

Da Zi's eyes shone brightly. Are physical attacks harmless to it? It only takes elemental damage? At that thought, Da Zi took action right away. It opened its mouth, and a thick plume of lightning gathered gradually…

Boom, boom, boom!

The lightning tipped violently, and then the electricity in the entire sky tilted. Thunder rumbled in the air, and the lightning ran amok. The red lightning rabbit was immediately shrouded in attacks and released a poignant cry.

Da Zi's claws were covered with purple arcs as if it was wearing a pair of purple gloves. This time, the red lightning rabbit was ready to play the same trick, but when its red lightning was just extending out, it instantly rebounded the moment it made contact with Da Zi's claws.

It was forced to return to the figure of a rabbit, and it opened its eyes wide, looking at Da Zi with puppy eyes. Its big eyes were so watery it seemed as if water could drip right out of them.

"Don't act cute in front of me," said Da Zi. Then it placed the whole rabbit into its mouth. "Hmph, I'm the cutest. That's what Gao Peng said."

After eating the red lightning rabbit, Da Zi suddenly felt sated. It didn't know if it was an illusion, as it may not have been a real creature, but a satisfaction of the soul instead. It was as if every cell in its body was cheering and jumping.

Right then, silver-white lightning flashed in front of it, leaving a beautiful afterimage behind.

Da Zi touched its small belly. It smacked its lips, and followed right behind it…

Three days later, Da Zi felt like its back was so itchy that it couldn't help wanting to scratch it. The day before yesterday, Da Zi had found this large luminous ball while it was pursuing a blue leopard. The ball was light, and it looked a little like the sun. However, Da Zi could sense the extremely concentrated Electric element in it. It was a type of Electric element that was compressed to the extreme, and a large amount of white light were on the surface. Each ray of light was as thin as a strand of hair, like highly concentrated white lightning.

Da Zi spent a great deal of energy stretching its claws to reach its back to scratch it. After scratching for a while, it broke all of its scales there. But after breaking them, Da Zi was actually relieved. It felt a lot more comfortable.

It gave a long sigh. A couple of tiny purple seedlings emerged from its wounded scale, and the area around the scale cracked. Tender, pinkish, new flesh was exposed to the air, and wings grew from this area. Da Zi's body quietly grew.

With a gentle shake, the purple seedlings grew with the wind, and they grew rapidly in an instant. Within a few breaths, they grew bigger. The ends of the lilac wings were still slightly tender.

The part that connected the wings to its body was relatively small, and it grew thicker the further up it went. After growing this pair of wings, the hunger echoing from its soul was regenerated. Da Zi was deep in thought. Can I grow a pair of wings every time I'm full?

Da Zi then glanced with disgust at the wings that grew on its back. They're too ugly. Only an ugly monster would grow wings. Has anyone ever seen a centipede with wings? Forget it. I won't think about this anymore.

Da Zi shook its head. It laid on the large luminous ball again and continued to gnaw on it under its feet. "Well, it's delicious."

After happily fooling around for a few days, Da Zi seemed to have already forgotten Gao Peng…

"The chairman is back." There was a cheerful cry outside the door.

Gao Peng, too, heard the familiar cry of the dragon.

As he opened the window, Gao Peng saw a large group of monsters, like a huge black cloud, flying over in the distant sky. The White Dragon and the Silver Dragon were leading in the front, followed by many other Flying-type monsters at the back.

Gao Peng even saw another dragon among them. It was another White Dragon, but its body was more bloated compared to his grandfather's White Dragon. It had a slender tail and a flat head, its pointed horns aimed at the sky above its head. It was more like an Aquatic Dragon, and it had an extremely vicious aura.

Gao Peng saw the figure of the man standing on it. He squinted his eyes and summoned his familiars out to serve the guests.

"Is this is our ancestral land? The city itself is rather big, but there are too few powerful people here. We only have two to three people with King-tier Familiars." A man stood on the head of one of the White Aquatic Dragons, his hands behind his back. He looked at the land under his feet in disdain.

He had been careful when he first returned to his ancestral land. He had been worried that he might meet a strong person, but he came in only to find that he was already on the top of the world.

The contrast made them feel slightly intoxicated and faintly enchanted.

Next to him, a man dressed in blue standing on an Icy Dragon shook his head and retorted, "They've just begun developing. After a few more decades, countless aces will emerge."

"It's not that easy to catch up." The man on the White Aquatic Dragon smiled with contempt. He was a young man in a white robe that was made of some kind of precious silk, with a golden dragon sewed on the chest of the robe.

The group suddenly stopped as a vast cloud floated in the void in front of them. The dark clouds rolled, and a striking red light could be seen from the gap. Although it was just a dark cloud, they felt a sense of danger from it.

Beneath the dark cloud was a pitch black mountain standing tall among a group of mountains. It was neither superior in size nor height compared to the other mountains around it, but a glance at it made it unforgettable.

Suddenly, the mountain blinked like a mischievous child.

Report chapter

Chapter 497: The White Dragon Tribe

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

The man on the back of the Aquatic Dragon flinched in fear before he rubbed his eyes.

The crowd that was initially in the midst of discussion gradually quieted down as they turned around to stare at Stripey gravely.

"This is my grandson's familiar, Stripey. It's adorable and very obedient," Ji Hanwu introduced it to the crowd.

Adorable? Haha. Furious, the crowd desperately wanted to cry their anger out. Yet they didn't even dare to scoff. Didn't we agree that only King-tier familiars were allowed at the ancestral grounds? What is this? What! Is! This!!!

"Grandpa, you're back." Alongside Gao Peng, there was the Desolate Frost Lion, Dumby, the Dragon Slaying Chapter, and the subordinates of the King-tier Ghoul. They were welcoming Grandpa on the lawn.

Gao Peng was wearing a knitted brown-collared top with a fitted white windbreaker on the outside. On his legs, he wore straight cut dark blue jeans. With a gentle smile on his face, he appeared clean and tidy.

Bai Yin hopped down from the back of the Chalky Aquatic Dragon. In disbelief, he was stunned by Gao Peng's beauty.

"Roar," warned the Chalky Aquatic Dragon as it glared hostilely at Dumby. In the meantime, it reminded its master through their Blood Contract, "Master, this skeleton is very dangerous!"

The Chalky Aquatic Dragon squinted, and its pupils become as thin as needles. The scales on the Aquatic Dragon's body were leaning closely against each other with no gaps in between. Its sharp claws left scratches on the ground.

Bai Yin looked at Dumby with a frozen grin on his face after he heard his familiar.

It was wearing a black cape. With the hood hanging on his shoulders, its dark golden skeletal head was exposed. Its sharp humerus extended and formed the shape of a crown at the back of his head. A mysteriously white flame glared quietly within his orbit, perfectly demonstrating its ruthlessness. Despite not knowing the exact level and quality of the monster, one could easily deduce its fierceness by its appearance.

"I heard that the people at the ancestral ground were all Holy Individuals and are allowed to reserve familiars without any restriction. So, it's true…" an audience member said in envy.

"Why are we being treated unfairly? We can only reserve one familiar for each person and are only permitted to reserve a new familiar after our familiars die."

"Yes, that's so unfair. I'm so envious that they can train so many familiars."

"Do you think this is the reason why the ancestors have always wanted to return to the ancestral ground? Because we'll be given the chance to have more familiars at the ancestral ground?" another person asked abruptly.

They were talking loudly and thoughtlessly, as though they knew that Ji Hanwu couldn't understand their language.

They interacted with Ji Hanwu only via their familiars. Unlike humans, communication between the familiars was simpler, and there wasn't much difference between their languages. As they leveled up, familiars could basically understand all other familiars. This seemed to be a part of their survival instinct.

Gao Peng remained still. Despite the fact that he failed to comprehend a major part of the conversation, he was able to grasp a few keywords, like familiars, envious, and die.

As his soul was receiving more and more Feedback, Gao Peng noticed the growth of his memory and learning ability. He had always been a smart student, and it had never been a tough job for him to learn the ancient language. By now, he had learned approximately two hundred basic terms.

Puzzled, Gao Peng looked at the crowd behind his grandpa and asked, "Grandpa, they are…?"

"They are the people of the ancient tribe," Ji Hanwu answered. "They're acting like psychopaths and won't leave me alone." Ji Hanwu seemed to have more to say, but after some consideration, the words died in his mouth.

"You might not know about the ancient tribe. In fact, they were part of Earth Star, but they eventually left Earth Star. Now, they intend to return to Earth Star. They're a very strong tribe, and the ones who visited Earth Star now are a weaker group."

"I know. I met four people from one of their tribes some time ago," Gao Peng said softly.

Ji Hanwu raised his brows as he exchanged gazes with his grandson.

With the same expression, Gao Peng continued, "I killed two of them and captured the other two alive. I've also hired an expert to study the ancient language from them."

Ji Hanwu nodded in acknowledgment. His grandson had definitely matured. "Yes. You should separate the two of them when the expert is doing the study and check the progress of the study regularly. This can prevent the two captives from colluding and teaching false phrases. You should punish them if you discover that their words don't match," Ji Hanwu lectured.

Happy to learn from him, Gao Peng nodded humbly. "Grandpa, I intend to depart to Black Fog World after I learn the tribe's language completely," Gao Peng said to his grandpa.

Ji Hanwu contemplated it. "You're going to Black Fog World… It's not safe over there. According to rumors, there are Emperor-tier familiars lurking around the entrance, and no one knows if they've left or not."

Gao Peng shook his head. "That shouldn't be an issue. Dumby is already at the peak of King-tier. It will immediately upgrade to Emperor-tier the moment it enters the Black Fog World."

After a brief pause, Gao Peng continued, "Moreover, our objective is very clear. Although the majority of the population is within the normal range of intelligence, when Woody grows up, it might experience an unexpected rise in intelligence. I wish to take shelter in the Black Fog World. In the meantime, I can escape from the battlefield."

Gao Peng had a bigger picture in mind. He didn't wish to be a major villain, as there would be a never-ending list of challengers, especially when the challengers were backed up by a group of old men.

Despite being protected, the entrance to Earth Star was regulated. Gao Peng had no choice but to stay in the field forever if he stayed in Earth Star. That was why Gao Peng wished to leave. For that, he had set a short-term goal for himself to dominate the Black Fog World.

The tribes always sent their strongest and youngest team to Earth Star, trying to take control of the situation. For now, Gao Peng intended to leave the place and rejoin the game if he had the opportunity in the future.

Ji Wuhan fell into deep thought. After a while, he grinned suddenly. "Fine. I'm old, too. The world needs to be explored by young people like you. It's a good thing for you to keep your enthusiasm."

"Grandpa, you should tag along. The Southern Sky Group is strong enough to sustain themselves without us now."

"Nah, that group is what this old man is leaving behind for you. How can I leave it alone? You go ahead with your adventure and don't worry about me. I'll take care of the family!"

Gao Peng only found out that the group of people had come from the White Dragon Tribe after speaking to his grandpa. From their tone, they were apparently very proud of their tribe.

During dinner, Bai Yin's face was flushed red from the few shots he had taken. He burped, turned around, and grabbed Gao Peng's hand as he said, "I'm so envious of you. You're not facing any danger. Instead, you're enjoying good wine and having delicious food."

Later, Bai Yin heaved a sigh. He shut his eyes and sat under the bench. He made an indistinct and incomprehensible noise.

Gao Peng didn't understand him. He merely looked at the drunk man on the ground and ordered the people of his tribe to take him away.

That night, Gao Peng visited Tong Xiang's room, since he was on house arrest. He intended to ask Tong Xiang if he had heard about the White Dragon Tribe before.

Tong Xiang was startled. Despite not knowing the reason behind the question, he answered frankly, "The White Dragon Tribe is one of the three strongest tribes, right beside the Green God Tribe and the Mysterious Serenity Tribe."

Report chapter

Chapter 498: Leaving in the Night

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

"Other than the three strongest tribes, there are seven other tribes that are secondary to them," Tong Xiang explained cautiously. He was discreetly observing Gao Peng's expression as he spoke. He realized how talented the man before him was, as Gao Peng had taken merely three days to learn their tribal language.

Despite his lack of proficiency, Gao Peng was able to conduct simple conversations. Tong Xiang was extremely shocked at Gao Peng's ability to achieve the impossible. Was this a gift that came from being a Holy Individual?

After being in captivity for such an extended period of time, Tong Xiang knew next to nothing about the outside world. He still thought that Gao Peng, who had caught him, was the only Holy Individual.

"Then, is your tribe one of the seven secondary tribes?" Gao Peng asked.

Awkwardly, Tong Xiang took a deep breath and replied, "No." Raising his voice, he continued, "Despite not being on par with them, our Sang Tong tribe has a huge population, and we're united."

"I see," Gao Peng replied with a grin. Initially, Gao Peng thought that the Sang Tong tribe wouldn't have a vast difference despite not being one of the seven secondary tribes. However, based on Tong Xiang's tone, it seemed that the Sang Tong tribe had a lot to catch up on.

"So the familiars of the White Dragon Tribe are White Dragons?"

"Yes. They have a herd of White Dragons. The elite members of the tribe are allowed to choose their familiars according to their talent and ability after they reach adulthood… The best among them will get a White Dragon." Tong Xiang strained to hide the envy in his tone.

Without much expression, Gao Peng agreed, "Yes, that does make people envious."

After a few days of rehabilitation, Desolion had almost recovered from its injury. Although it wasn't yet capable of fighting in an intense battle, it was able to carry out daily activities. It was even able to run around.

The Desolate Frost Lion turned around and told Gao Peng, "The Black Fog World is a huge place, and there are a lot of powerful monsters."

"But going there is my only option. I have no choice." Gao Peng shook his head.

"Why are you smiling?" The Desolate Frost Lion was puzzled.

"You've made a mistake." Gao Peng put on a straight face.

"Were you smiling?" The Desolate Frost Lion frowned.

"I think you've recovered from your injury. You can train with Dumby now."

"Gao Peng, are you a demon?"

Gao Peng had learned some new information about the Black Fog World from the Desolate Frost Lion. The Black Fog World was an enormous, almost borderless world. There were humans who had escaped to the Black Fog World and accidentally offended a few overlords there. They were then chased out. Eventually, they'd had to escape to other worlds.

Legend said that a very long time ago, there had been two powerful gods fighting against each other. The defeated god fell from heaven and landed in the Black Fog World. The western side of the Black Fog World had been covered in black fog throughout the years, and that was how it received its name.

The Desolate Labyrinth and the Black Phoenix Mountain Range were located at the border of the middle and southern regions of the Black Fog World.

At the center of the Black Fog World sat hundreds of millions of mountains. The mountains were huge and steep, and most of them were volcanoes. Rumor had it that there were many powerful monsters that resided in the mountains.

The southern region of the Black Fog World was a wide plain, occupying the biggest area of the five regions. And in the southern region, there were numerous… labyrinths. Labyrinths of unknown origins were found at multiple places, on the ground, at the bottom of lakes, and even on the peaks of mountains.

Most of the labyrinths were made of rocks compared to other types of labyrinths. Besides rock labyrinths, there were rumors saying that there were also gold and jade labyrinths. These unique labyrinths were popular among the monsters.

The Desolate Frost Lion sighed in disappointment from time to time when it spoke of the labyrinth. It was reminded of how close it had been to finding these rare labyrinths years ago.

Besides labyrinths, there was absolutely nothing in the southern region. Even forests were rare. It was as if all the life in the area had been plundered by the labyrinths.

In the east was the sea. A profound number of islands were spread sporadically across the ocean.

And the north… was too far away.

The Desolate Frost Lion had almost no knowledge about the north. Every region in Black Frost World was huge.

"My master of masters, I have peeled an orange for you." The extremely ugly Nan Ju, who was wearing a yellow gown, swiftly used its claws to peel the orange in its palm before it handed it over attentively. The translucent red flesh sat in the middle of the peeled skin, making the orange look like a blossoming red chrysanthemum.

"Don't worry and hand me a protection fee! Give me a protection fee, and I, Goldie, will take care of you in the Black Fog World," Goldie told Bei Zhi confidently.

Bei Zhi promptly nodded to acknowledge it, not arguing. In fact, it didn't have the courage to argue.

"Oranges are important if you want to please someone." Goldie smirked as it rubbed its bald head.

"Hey, Da Zi, how could you just go like that? Master wants to bring us to the Black Fog World. We won't meet again in the future." Flamy sighed in sorrow as it wiped away its tears with a wet tissue.

Stripey ate a Guise Fruit, as it had been chosen to tag along with Gao Peng this time.

The crack at the center of the Baiye district was already 160 feet in diameter.

Stripey's body began to shake. After a brief quiver, a few rocks fell from the top and hit its head. It shook on. This time, more than ten huge rocks fell off its chest. It appeared as if Stripey didn't think that was enough, as it carried on to scratch its body and rub its more than dozen legs against each other while the gray rocks continued to fall like rain.

On the edge of a tree branch, Flowing Light lay on its stomach with its crossed arms supporting its chin while it stared blankly, dwelling on deep thoughts.

Dumby held its resting daughter on its shoulder. The young monster was reluctant to let go of Dumby. "Be a good girl and stay at home. This is the safest place. You stay right here and wait for Daddy's return," Dumby said in a soft tone while it gently patted its daughter's shoulder. Its voice was hoarse as usual but overflowing with care.

Xiao Hua knocked Dumby's chin with its head, letting out a snort of displeasure.

"You're so naughty," Dumby scolded it, yet its tone was full of affection.

Xiao Hua was unwilling to leave its father, although it always said that their home was the safest place. No matter how safe this place is, it's the loneliest place without Daddy.

Dumby was reluctant to leave, as well. It understood that the trip to the Black Fog World wouldn't be a short one. After much consideration, Dumby made a request to Gao Peng to bring Xiao Hua along.

With its arms wrapped around Dumby's neck, Xiao Hua's big and round eyes misted over with tears.

Gao Peng heaved an inaudible sigh, rubbed Xiao Hua's head, and said, "…Fine."

After intense and prolonged exercise, Stripey dusted off the Earth Armor that it was wearing. Its size had been significantly reduced.

It shrank from an approximately 230-foot-tall fat kid to a 130-foot-tall thin kid. "How did I get shorter?" Stripey looked at its shrunken body, feeling strange.

Flowing Light, who was right beside it, rolled its eyes. It turned around and faced Stripey with its back.

They went through the Spatial Rift, as Gao Peng planned to leave Earth Star and head to the Black Fog World that night.

Stripey's body size was overly conspicuous. They had been discovered by many reporters despite departing at night. The next day, the internet was flooded with the news.

"Breaking, why did this man leave Earth Star in the middle of the night?"

"An unidentified monster trainer has left town in the middle of the night. Is he trying to run away from the limelight?"

"Which tribe has the strongest trainer? A list of the strongest monster trainers over the years."

Report chapter

Chapter 499: Bone Prison White Lotus

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

Of course, Gao Peng wouldn't be able to see the articles and the comments. In fact, he wouldn't have been bothered even if he had seen them.

This was merely a group of people who had jumped on a bandwagon, and also forums and media that craved the public's attention. All their efforts were spent on earning views and comments online. Hence, they always favored the more controversial articles.

When Stripey went through the Spatial Rift and arrived at the Desolate Labyrinth, it suddenly felt a mysterious force acting on its body, holding it down. By the time Gao Peng turned around, he saw that Stripey's height had been reduced by half.

Its height was accurately 65 feet, not exceeding this even a bit, and it was the exact same height as the walls around them. Gao Peng gasped at the terrifying yet creepy scene as Stripey's body size and height were reduced so significantly.

"Gao Peng, I'm fine. I only find it a little difficult to breathe," Stripey muttered.

So, being tall will affect your breathing, Flowing Light thought in relief. Luckily, I'm not tall.

Desolion was startled, too. This was its first time hearing about this. There weren't many monsters that were taller than 65 feet. While monsters wider than 65 feet were somewhat common, those taller than that were extremely rare.

"Aren't you the owner of the labyrinth? I think you're a fake," Gao Peng teased.

"I didn't make the labyrinth. It was here before I was!" Stripey complained.

Gao Peng led Stripey as they made one turn after another inside the Desolate Labyrinth before they finally left the via the exit. The moment they left the labyrinth, Stripey expanded abruptly and returned to its normal size, like a suppressed spring that had been released, rapidly returning to its original shape.

"Where do we go now?" When the words faded, they were overwhelmed by a massive elemental wave. The intense Air of Death formed a gray river and rushed toward them like a wave. The Air of Death was everywhere. The only difference was its intensity in different regions.

"Don't get too close." Gao Peng ordered the other familiars to stay away from Dumby.

Dumby had left Xiao Hua on Goldie's shoulder when it noticed the unusual behavior before the others. Hanging on Goldie's neck like a koala, Xiao Hua stared at Goldie's bald head, stupefied.

Under the sunlight, Goldie's head was coated with a layer of colorful oil. It resembled a huge, beaming light bulb.

With both its fists clenched, Dumby lowered its head. The Air of Death around it was turning into a Death Storm. The gray storm was swirling at a high speed mercilessly. Every plant at the border of the area that came in touch with the dense Air of Death wilted immediately.

Five hundred miles away, there was a valley. It was a red valley, with red soil covering the slopes on both sides. From far away, the ground seemed to be soaked in blood. Scarce grass grew on the slopes stubbornly.

There was a lake lying in the middle of the valley. The surface of the lake looked like a mirror. There was a big black python of a length that no one was able to justify lying on the shore of the lake. A small part of its body and its head were lying on the shore, enjoying the sun, while the rest of the python's body was dipped inside the lake.

The entire sky of the Black Fog World was red. The blood-like sunlight shone on the scales of the black python and coated them with a blood-red hue.

The python briefly sniffled. Its eyes that were initially shut were now open and formed slits as it looked to the east coldly. It seemed to have sensed that a monster was breaking through to the Emperor tier.

A hint of hatred showed in its eyes. Someone has the guts to break through right under my nose? It seems like I'll have another great meal today.

The black python opened its enormous mouth nonchalantly as its maroon tongue licked the corner of its lips.

Rustle… A loud sound of movement could be heard. A deep trench was left on the ground from the friction.

The 23 ghouls, who were led by the Amorphic Hell Tree, were standing firmly at the edge of the Death Storm, the intense Air of Death continuously flooding their bodies.

The Air of Death was harmful to most creatures. However, it was different for them, as it was a very nutritious substance for them. Moreover, a Death Storm that was initiated by Dumby's evolution was especially favorable for them.

"A strong monster is on its way," Desolion said in a low voice as it turned around to look to the west.

A gigantic black shadow was approaching them without pause. As the shadow came closer, Gao Peng realized that it was an enormous black python. Indeed, the big guy was being attracted to them. Gao Peng flinched a little.

[Monster Name: Black Flame Rock Python

[Monster Level: Level 64

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Stone/Flame

[Monster Weakness: Water

[Monster Ability: Magical Rock Scale Level 5, Strong Muscle Level 5, Earth's Power Level 3, Sharp Buckteeth Level 2, Fire Elemental Resistance Level 3, Earth Elemental Resistance Level 3

[Monster Description: The Black Flame Rock Python can reach King-tier after reaching adulthood. A small number of elites can reach the Emperor tier at adulthood. They are greedy and gluttonous in nature.

Its gigantic body was bigger than a train. It accelerated as it saw Dumby, who was leveling up.

Gao Peng and the rest, who were standing beside it, had been completely ignored. They were just ants who had barely hit King tier, and the python could consume them at any time.

It wanted to consume its most menacing prey during the prey's crucial time of evolution. The Black Flame Rock Python's eyes were filled with greed. It knew that the defense system of the prey was the weakest at this moment.

Ghouls weren't its favorite food, as they were thin and bony, and its stomach would be upset, but it had been starving and couldn't be bothered.

I'll take the bones as a supplement.

"Phew…" A creepy sigh escaped the Death Storm. All the monsters were scared by it.

A vague silhouette appeared from the Death Storm. Many of the familiars couldn't even detect the silhouette with their eyes.

Dumby landed steadily on the top of Black Flame Rock Python's head before its five fingers penetrated through the python's scalp. "Bone Prison White Lotus."

Dumby closed the gap between its fingers. The next second, the python shivered briefly, and a weary groan escaped from its bones. It could feel the movement of the bones inside its body, as though they were no longer under its control. It quickly focused to wrestle against this unsettling feeling.

There was another weird and unexplainable idea in its head. It felt fortunate that all its bones were in its spine, and they were all made of cartilage. The next moment, it felt an intense pain in its abdomen, as if something had dug out of the ground and pierced through its body from underneath.

Finally, it understood what was happening. It stared at the ground as it continued to crack and, one after another, sharp bones penetrated through the cracks. Bone spurs of different heights could be seen sporadically popping up close to each other. There was no proper order to it.

In a blink of an eye, the whole area turned into a hell made of bone spurs.

The python felt constant pain in its abdomen. It intended to move, but it was held still by the bone spurs that had pierced through its abdomen, firmly pinning it to the ground.

Dumby squatted on the top of the Black Flame Rock Python's head. The bone spurs expanded to the radius of a 3,300 feet, with the python at the center. From a bird's view, a gigantic white bone lotus was blossoming on the ground…

The Black Flame Python was surrounded by the blossoming white bone lotus. Suddenly, the petals of the white bone flower started to close inwards.

The bone spurs were drenched in fresh blood. The gruesome but beautiful blood ran down the bone spurs and dripped on the ground. The white and the red formed a beautiful scene on the field.

Goldie's mouth opened, and its eyes widened. Meanwhile, Xiao Hua, who was hanging onto its neck, began to slide down. In the mayhem, Goldie quickly scrambled to hug Xiao Hua tightly.

Report chapter

Chapter 500: The Mystery of the Labyrinth

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

Goldie smacked its own bum and ran quickly towards Dumby. It even took the two oranges that it had picked from Nan Ju's head and warmed them in its hands.

Dumby jumped down from the head of the Black Flame Stone Python. The blooming Bone Lotus was spreading everywhere in the air. Dumby gently picked up Xiao Hua from Goldie's back and took the oranges. It carefully peeled the oranges and gave them to its daughter.

Goldie lingered around behind Dumby. After thinking, it said in a low voice, "Brother Dumby, what you did just now was amazing! I really want to learn."

Dumby nonchalantly smiled and said, "All right. Just come to me whenever you want to learn."

"Get over it, Baldie. You won't be able to learn that," Flamy said scornfully. They had known Dumby for a long time, which was why they talked so freely.

Goldie shook its head, its expression full of determination. "With hard work, a determined duck shall prevail. If I work hard enough, I will definitely learn it. Even if I fail to accomplish 100 percent of what Brother Dumby is capable of, 70 to 80 percent of it will be enough for me to survive in the Black Fog World."

Flamy rolled its eyes after hearing its words. Talk is cheap. You're just talking like a punk. I wonder what kind of fool would fall in love with a bald goon like you.

Gao Peng went back to the Desolate Labyrinth to tell his insider about slaying the Emperor-tier monster so that he could tell it to Gao Peng's grandfather. That way, the Southern Sky Group would gain an enormous advantage during the development of the business route.

Gao Peng brought along almost every single one of his familiars when he left the labyrinth. He even brought along Stripey, which was slow because of its large size.

That was the first time that Stripey came to the Black Fog World. Stripey wasn't used to the scenery there, but it was very happy. "So, this is the Black Fog World that Master often visits."

"Master, which way should we go? To the north? Or to the south?" Desolion asked.

Gao Peng was thinking. To the north was the Black Phoenix Mountain Range, where there was an Emperor-tier monster. There was no use for them to go to the Black Phoenix Mountain Range if they couldn't defeat that Emperor-tier monster.

Dumby had leveled up to the Emperor tier. Unlike when it was still at the King tier, it was one tier away from the Overlord tier now. Similar to how a tiger had its own territory and would only allow prey like rabbits and chickens to live in it, there wouldn't be any room for fierce beasts like bears and wolves in its area.

To the west was the Lukasa base city, while even further from the west was fully covered by the black fog. Gao Peng didn't intend to challenge the mysteries of this world.

To the east was the ocean, where many islands sat. Gao Peng had no familiars that could effectively fight in the water, so he was out of options.

After careful consideration, Gao Peng decided to head south. He had also heard that there were many labyrinths in the south, and most of the strong monsters in the southern region were in those labyrinths.

After putting the Black Flame Stone Python carcass into Dumby's space, Gao Peng began his long journey on Stripey's back. Gao Peng didn't know how long that journey would take. Hence, he had made enough preparations and stored an enormous amount of seasonings and daily necessities. He hadn't brought any food, as the python would be enough to fill them up for quite some time.

The Desolate Frost Lion could deposit the air's water vapor into ice, then Flamy could melt the ice into water. They could make naturally distilled water.

In their six mile walk towards the south, the flatland along the way was extremely barren. There was rarely any sign of monster activities in the barren land. The malnourished yellowish green grass was rooted in the soil stubbornly. Goldie was bored and had tried to pick up a few of the weeds on the way.

Three-feet-high plants like Sword Grass had their roots in the soil for almost 26 feet. Their roots were as thick as a thumb and had tiny pores all over them, which indicated their extreme thirst for water.

After continuing their walk towards the south for over 18 miles, Gao Peng finally encountered some monsters. They were red monsters that had human-like bodies and the heads of animals. With their backs hunched like bows, they looked a little bit like Jackal Wolfmen. Their red hair was long, and their dark green eyes kept scanning around.

One of the Jackal Wolfmen seemed to be hungry. It crouched, seemingly searching for something on the ground. Then it pulled up the grass on the ground along with its roots, rolling it all together to put it into its mouth. The mud on them didn't seem to taste too good, as the Jackal's face scrunched together.

Just as Gao Peng noticed them, they also immediately discovered Gao Peng and his crew on the empty plains. With no hesitation, the Jackal Wolfmen instantly started to swiftly spread in different directions.

Over thirty Jackal Wolfmen fled as they separated in dozens of groups. Gao Peng stopped Goldie, who was trying to chase them with a loud shout. They were just Excellent-grade garbage. They didn't deserve any attention.

Along the way, Gao Peng also encountered monsters like Grassland Gray Cloud Wolves, Withered Golden Eagles, and Bloodthirsty Minotaurs. These monsters mostly lived in groups. Gao Peng could seldom find monsters who were by themselves, since basically all of them lived in social groups.

And most of the monsters who were low-level… ate grass. Gao Peng had witnessed a wolf eating grass, and he had also witnessed a lion-like monster eating grass. He had even seen an eagle monster with the head of a lion fly down from the sky to put turf into its mouth.

In order to survive, they had all evolved into omnivores. Perhaps it was because they ate grass, but Gao Peng was surprised to discover that their meat tasted quite good.

"Gao Peng, we've already walked for more than 1,200 miles." Desolion licked its paw.

"Be patient. We should see something soon. The Black Lightning Eagle Skeleton has been scouting in front of us for days now. We'll know where the nearby labyrinths are when it comes back," Gao Peng tried to comfort Desolion.

At night, the sky of the Black Fog World was blue. The blue dark sky was gloomy with two clear moons hung high in the sky. The two light yellow moons hovered in the sky of the entire Black Fog World, like two bright eyes dangling in the sky.

A black figure flying in the sky continued to approach Gao Peng. Finally, it landed in front of Gao Peng. With his head slightly slanted, he reported to Dumby.

After a short while, Dumby turned its head and said to Gao Peng, "Master, there are three labyrinths in front of us. Two of them were made of stone. Another one is a red labyrinth with a shining wall."

"A special labyrinth—?" Gao Peng was a little interested.

"I don't recommend us going to the special labyrinth right now. The monsters within the special labyrinth are very strong," the Desolate Frost Lion interrupted them.

"To be honest, why would you suggest we come to the southern labyrinths?" Gao Peng looked at the Desolate Frost Lion curiously. Although the Desolate Frost Lion hadn't said it out loud as it explained the situation in the Black Fog World that day, between the lines, Desolion had been suggesting Gao Peng and the rest head south.

The Desolate Frost Lion smiled scornfully. "Are you implying something?"

"You know it deep down in your heart. And I'm very curious why so many of these monsters like to fight for these labyrinths. Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm not out of my mind. I wouldn't do anything that has no benefit for me. The main reason is that our growth rates are sped up in the labyrinth. For example, if I need 100 years to become an adult lion, it'll only take 50 years if I stay in the labyrinth.

"Also, some of these labyrinths naturally generate substances that aid our growth. It would be extremely advantageous for the awakening and purifying of our bloodlines," continued the Desolate Frost Lion.

Report chapter

---

Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 501 - The Red-Skinned Pigmen of the Labyrinth online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 501: The Red-Skinned Pigmen of the Labyrinth

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

"I see…" said Gao Peng thoughtfully. He still found it hard to believe that there was a way for any monster to purify and awaken its bloodline. It was simply incredible. He just had to see it for himself…

If Da Zi found out about this, it would surely want a piece of it, as well! That greedy little rascal… Gao Peng couldn't help but smile at the thought of Da Zi at that moment.

He had no idea where Da Zi was right then. He only knew that it was still alive somewhere, judging from the fact that their Blood Contract was still intact. It might have been a slacker and a glutton at times, but Gao Peng had to admit that it had its cute side as well.

Back to the subject at hand, Gao Peng had never heard of such an incredible material. He had never even seen any mention of it in a monster's evolutionary route. It must have been some sort of evolutionary shortcut that defied all conventions in the realm of monster evolution.

Gao Peng had never believed that this ability of his was without fault. He hadn't thought that it would lay out a monster's entire evolutionary route and all the possibilities it could unlock before him.

Every monster had a life of its own, possessing a vast range of possibilities and potential. For instance, an aquatic dragon would be able to evolve once it received an actual dragon's dragon orb and anointment. This would constitute an evolutionary shortcut. However, such a method couldn't be easily replicated. In fact, it was extremely reliant on one's chances of meeting an actual dragon.

After conducting countless experiments, Gao Peng came to the conclusion that no human or monster was born blessed with luck. Could this material that Desolion was talking about be something that couldn't be replicated?

Gao Peng began to feel a thrill of excitement. "These materials you speak of, can they be found in every maze?"

"No, they can only be found with absolute certainty in one of these rare labyrinths. Ordinary stone labyrinths also have a certain chance of spawning them," replied the Desolate Frost Lion.

"Are you sure? Have you eaten one?" asked Gao Peng.

The Desolate Frost Lion nodded. "Yeah. Once, back in the labyrinth you found me in. It was only then that I found these materials could be found in ordinary labyrinths, as well."

So that's why its monster grade is so high. A thought suddenly dawned on Gao Peng. "What's the average tier of the monsters living in one of these special labyrinths?"

"At least Overlord-tier," the Desolate Frost Lion said hesitantly. It didn't sound sure. "However, the tier of those living in ordinary labyrinths may vary. The lowest among them may be King-tier, while the most powerful among them would probably be Emperor-tier."

Gao Peng frowned. Looks like I had best steer clear of these special labyrinths for now. Let's start with the ordinary labyrinths first.

After making his mind up, Gao Peng turned in for the night, but not before ordering his familiars to take turns keeping watch.

The next day, he set off alongside his familiars. The nearest labyrinth lay approximately 600 miles away from them, in the southeast. Standing on top of a hill, it was built with brown stone, crude and primitive-looking.

As he had no idea what kind of monsters awaited him in the labyrinth, Gao Peng decided to first capture a monster nearby to ask for more information before venturing inside. The monster he captured was a yellow-feathered parrot called a Wolfskin Parrot.

Before it was captured by the White Steel Bladed Beast, the Wolfskin Parrot had its tail feathers up in the air, hiding in a corner of the woods and watching a couple of other monsters engaged in intercourse.

[Monster Name: Wolfskin Parrot

[Monster Level: Level 31 (Commander-tier)

[Monster Attribute: Wood

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Ability: Reinforced Hearing Level 1

[Monster Description: A critter living in the northern plains of the Black Fog World, it is a cowardly yet quick-witted. It likes to pry on the secrets of other monsters, which usually gives it a huge sense of accomplishment. Dislikes include water.

The yellow-feathered Wolfskin Parrot warily observed its captors, who had now surrounded it. As if knowing that the bipedal creature standing before it was calling the shots, the Wolfskin Parrot began ingratiating Gao Peng by making itself look as pitiful as possible. It waggled its wings about in a strange dance before Gao Peng, as if trying to appease him. It seemed to honestly think that it could buy its freedom from Gao Peng by dancing as ridiculously as possible in front of him.

Clearing his throat, Gao Peng allowed Dumby to connect his soul with that of the parrot. This was a new ability that Dumby had gained after upgrading his Soul Power ability to Level 5. Furthermore, after its ascent to Emperor-tier, Dumby had also awakened another ability—Bone Mastery, which was already at Level 5 when it was first awakened.

Dumby's Bone Mastery ability served to reinforce its Yin Skeleton of Death ability, allowing it to further increase its own combat power and versatility.

"Tell me, what kind of monsters live in the labyrinth over there?" Gao Peng asked the Wollfskin Parrot.

Stunned, the Wolfskin Parrot squawked, "Pigs. Lots of them."

After interrogating it for a while, Gao Peng now knew that a species of red-skinned pigs lived in the labyrinth on top of the hill. These creatures could walk upright, cook, and sew clothing like human beings.

The Wolfskin Parrot had seen a couple of these red-skinned pigs walking around outside the labyrinth, preparing some sort of stew in a huge cauldron with seven of the parrot's sons and a few other monsters in it.

When they finally finished the stew, they threw their leftovers down the hill.

"How did you know all this?"

"I only had a sip of that stew!" Finally, the Wolfskin Parrot was released, free to resume its voyeuristic ways, while Gao Peng led his familiars to the labyrinth's entrance.

Unlike the Desolate Labyrinth, this one only had one main entrance. Also, the walls of this labyrinth were three feet taller, give or take, than those of the Desolate Labyrinth.

A huge bronze door was fitted in the main entrance. It was riddled with tiny holes, through which Gao Peng could see absolutely nothing. After peeking through the holes of the door a few times, Goldie tried to push it open. It hadn't expected it to swing open so easily. The bronze door slowly swung open with a creak…

Inside the labyrinth, Gao Peng could see a number of soot-covered cauldrons hidden away in a corner, each as big as an aquarium. Stacks of neatly chopped firewood were arranged in another corner, each of them bound with vines.

Gao Peng could only let Dumby and the White Steel Bladed Beast enter the place with him, as Stripey was just too big.

Two days earlier, the White Steel Bladed Beast had finally reached King-tier by leveling up to Level 51. Its overall power had increased drastically as a result.

Behind the door hung five Jackal Wolfmen corpses. Each of their heads was nailed to the bronze door with a rusty nail, some of which were covered with dried blood. They were hung in such a way that their eyes were perfectly level with the holes on the bronze door.

Gao Peng frowned. Something felt off about these pigmen. They seemed almost civilized. They had their own culture, were capable of manufacturing metal instruments, and even knew how to cook and bleed their quarry out by letting them hang on the wall.

Gao Peng had a strange feeling about this…

Dumby casually waved a hand at the dead corpses nailed to the back of the door. Coming back to life, the five Jackal Wolfmen corpses began pulling the nails out of their heads. Once they had both feet firmly planted on the ground, they began lurching stiffly towards Dumby.

Flesh that had long been dried-out fell off their bodies with each step they took…

Report chapter

Chapter 502: The Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demons

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

The five Jackal Wolfmen corpses began lurching forward, their footsteps unsteady, their shoulders hanging loose, and their mouths slightly ajar.

Just as the foremost Jackal Wolfman corpse turned a corner, a gust of wind blew down the corridor. In the next second, the Jackal Wolfman corpse's head was knocked clean off by a sturdy wooden stick that had swung out of nowhere. The corpse's head exploded with a squelch.

A porky, meaty claw firmly clasped the corpse's shoulder before dragging it away, the same way an overly intimate brother would pull his little brother into an embrace. The porky claw was oily and reddish. There were also tufts of white fur on it. For some reason, Gao Peng was reminded of roasted pork legs.

The second Jackal Wolfman corpse, which continued shambling after the first, also had its head exploded before being dragged away around the corner in the same manner.

Gao Peng and Dumby looked at each other.

As the third Jackal Wolfman corpse began shambling forward, this time, the White Steel Bladed Beast decided to follow it. Considering its small stature, it was able to stand inconspicuously behind the reanimated corpse.

Suddenly, a feeler tapped on the back of Gao Peng's head. He turned around and saw a huge jellyfish floating in the air just behind his head. Silly had one tentacle wrapped around a juice box. It whispered in Gao Peng's ear, "Gao Peng, what are you guys doing…?"

Gao Peng pressed his index finger against his lips, shushing it. Hugging its juice box tighter in its tentacles, Silly obediently kept quiet and watched what was going on alongside Gao Peng and the others.

The wooden stick slammed through the corpse's head. At that moment, the White Steel Bladed Beast erupted from behind the corpse and disappeared around the corner in a black-red blur. A couple of frightened squeals followed.

Dumby began walking down the corridor, with Gao Peng close behind it. As they turned the corner, the sight of red-skinned pigmen lying in their own blood greeted them. Some of these red-skinned pigment were bigger and bulkier than the rest. Their bodies were wrapped in dead animal skin, held together with vines.

These pigmen lay on the ground, groaning in pain. Some of them had reverted to their quadrupedal ways and ran off on all fours.

"We're going to venture deeper into the labyrinth. There's no need to keep any of them alive," commented Gao Peng.

Dumby lowered its head as it began working its power through the bodies of these pigmen. A moment later, there was a series of cracks and pops coming from the pigmen's necks. After a few spasms, their bodies fell limply to the ground.

Upon closer observation, Gao Peng could see that the strips of skin around their necks were ruptured, revealing their twisted spines, which had pierced through their skin. Blood oozed out from their wounds…

The scent of blood now filled the air. Looking at the pigmen's stats, Gao Peng heaved a sigh and said, "All right. We'll just murder our way through this labyrinth."

[Monster Name: Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demon

[Monster Level: Level 38 (Commander-tier)

[Monster Attribute: Blood/Dark

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Ability: Bloodscent Level 1, Enhanced Strength Level 1

[Monster Trait: Horde Brutality (It is a violent and wily creature. When their numbers grow, so do their overall strength.

Passive Effect 1: When ten or more of these creatures gather together, each of them will gain a Level 1 Bloodscent Aura. Every time their numbers double, their Bloodscent Aura's level will increase by one. The highest attainable Bloodscent Aura level is Level 6.

Caution: When their numbers reach 320, their Bloodscent Aura will reach its highest level.

Passive Effect 2: Their strengths will increase to a certain extent when ten or more of them are together.)

[Monster Description: They were originally the gray-skinned pigs that once roamed the plains, dim-witted yet docile. After accepting the doctrines passed down by the labyrinth god, they became even more bloodthirsty and developed a taste for meat.

Gao Peng knew what the Bloodscent ability was. This ability allowed monsters that possessed it to become even more perceptive of the smell of blood. They would also be stimulated by the smell of their enemy's blood in combat, the same way the human body would be stimulated by adrenaline in a high-tension situation.

These pigmen must have been alerted to their presence by the blood of the Jackal Wolfmen. Unfortunately, none of Gao Peng's familiars had the ability to mask scents. Even if they had, they wouldn't have been able to hide their scents completely from the labyrinths' inhabitants.

However, what had piqued Gao Peng's curiosity the most was the mention of a labyrinth god in the monster description section. This was the first time Gao Peng had come across these two words.

He thought of all the labyrinths spread out across the southern region of this place. Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to Gao Peng. Could this labyrinth god be the creator of these labyrinths? Does an actual god exist in this world?

This idea seemed incredibly exciting to him. Gao Peng licked his dry lips. He had never believed in the existence of a god.

All manner of legendary creatures were now tamed in this world as familiars, from dragons to the Bi Fang bird. Gao Peng couldn't imagine what this god person was supposed to be.

Maybe it's just a familiar like everything else in this world, only stronger. Who knows, I may even be able to tame a couple of these gods as my own familiars. That would be awesome.

Suddenly, the sound of marching footsteps echoed from the depths of the labyrinth. The sun was shining down on one of the walls. Long shadows fell across it at that moment.

Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demons surged forth from the corridor up ahead. As there were just too many of them, some of them were even trampled to the ground by their own comrades. They roared and let puffs of white mist out of their nostrils when they saw Gao Peng and company on the other end of the corridor.

Gao Peng noticed that these pigmen had multiple rings of light beneath their hooves. These rings of light began stacking on top of one another until they formed huge hexagrams that slowly spun beneath their legs.

This was the pigmen's Bloodscent Aura, which served to convert any damage they dealt their enemies into restorative energy for themselves. This ability was best suited for attrition warfare.

Looking at Dumby furtively out of the corner of its eye, the White Steel Bladed Beast realized that Dumby was exuding a dangerous aura. Dumby held out its left hand and gently flicked it in the horde's direction. Countless bone spikes shot out from deep beneath the ground. However, before they could reach their mark, they were stopped short in mid-air, as if an invisible wall was blocking their paths.

Dumby was stunned for a moment. No sooner had it recovered from its initial surprise than the foremost Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demon appeared 100 feet away from it.

It shook its head, and the white of its bones peeled away as it entered its Yin Soul Dominator state. It pressed out a hand. In an instant, a huge invisible hand pierced through all of time and space, wiping away everything in front of Dumby.

The pigman's soul faded away like flowing sand.

A wind blew down the corridor. All the Red-Skinned Sanguine Pigmen fell stiffly to the ground. The pigmen's confused squeals were cut short, as if an invisible force was holding them down by their necks. Who had known that there would come a time when these Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demons would come to know fear?

Dumby took a step forward, ripples spreading out across the fabric of space around it. Its bones were slowly turning into a dark golden shade. When its foot hit the floor, it was back in its Skeleton Dominator form. Dumby walked briskly past the fallen Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demons.

As it strode past, the pigmen's souls evaporated from their bodies and merged into Dumby's body. One by one, their skeletons rose to their feet.

Dumby's voice echoed in the labyrinth. "Wait here, Master. I'll take a look inside."

Report chapter

Chapter 503: The Bronze Altar

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

Boom, boom!

Two Red-skinned Sanguine Pig Demons were sent flying into the air. Upon hitting the ground, their lifeless bodies rolled a couple of times until they collided against the farthest corner of the wall.

Their assailants were a pair of meaty arms that had swung out of nowhere. A massive form stepped out from a corner, bringing with it the overwhelming stench of blood. Its shadow fell upon Dumby, enveloping it entirely in darkness.

Its arms were massive and sinewy, its reddish skin covered with a layer of coarse grayish hair that seemed to be slick with sweat. Its hair was bunched up into a beard of sorts that spanned from its lower jaw to its throat. A pair of white tusks protruded from its lower jaw, as well.

Its voice box rumbled thunderously each time it inhaled. The tiles on the ground cracked beneath its feet with each step it took.

What are these tiles made of, really? The pig demons' bodies barely made a dent on them. Not at all intimidated by the sight of this massive pig demon that had appeared before him, Gao Peng seemed more preoccupied with the mystery behind the floor tiles' sturdiness.

[Monster Name: Red-skinned Sanguine Pig Demon

[Monster Level: Level 54 (King-tier)

[Monster Grade: Excellent

[Monster Ability: Muscular Body Level 4, Sanguinary Reaction Level 2, Violent Temper Level 3, Sturdy Pigskin Level 3, Enhanced Durability Level 3, Extreme Violence Level 3

[Monster Attribute: Blood/Dark

[Monster Description: A pig demon with a tyrannical temperament. Originally the leader of the gray-skinned pig monster pack, it received an incredible boost in strength after consuming the labyrinth's Precept Fragments. Unfortunately, it did not receive a boost in intelligence.

Seeing that it was only a King-tier Excellent-grade monster, Gao Peng didn't think it deserved his attention.

Silly, however, seemed serious about the upcoming battle. After finishing its juice box, it put it back into its portable space and took out another one. "Wow, Dumby is so amazing. He's just all over the place…" It took a long sip from its juice box and nearly choked.

Dumby, who had reached King-tier not too long ago, had barely broken a sweat when it cut down the Red-skinned Sanguine Pig Demon. All it had taken were a few clean strokes from Dumby, and the pig demon was down for the count. The fact that the latter towered over Dumby was the only reason why the battle took longer than it should have.

The now-deceased Red-skinned Sanguine Pig Demon lay on the ground, motionless. It was clad in a simple armor that covered even its private parts, suggesting that the pig demon seemed to have some sense of propriety.

Silly's eyes lit up. With just two sips, it was able to suck its juice box dry, then it wiped its mouth clean with its tentacles. Upon seeing Dumby's triumphant form over the pig demon's lifeless body, it couldn't help but imagine itself growing extremely, vastly enormous one day.

Then it could easily lift a normal-sized Stripey in its tentacles and maybe even juggle it in the air. Silly giggled at the thought of itself growing so huge that it could carve out a valley with just one stroke of its tentacle.

After having Dumby reanimate the Red-skinned Sanguine Pig Demon, Gao Peng led his familiars deeper into the labyrinth. The path into the depths of the labyrinth was easy to follow. They only needed to retrace the Red-skinned Sanguine Pig Demon's steps.

The pig demon's scent still lingered in the air. Flowing Light sniffed the air for it like a small dog.

After rounding countless corners in the labyrinth, they finally reached the heart of it. It was an empty stretch of ground that seemed to be stained in red. It was at least as big as a football field. In the middle of the field stood a number of crudely made houses made of wood and stone. They didn't seem to be arranged in any clear order.

Near the edge of this "village" was a wooden rack, on which various dried-out monster corpses were hung. This must have been the pig demon's food reserve.

Gao Peng surveyed his surroundings intently, then noticed a bronze altar not too far away. Against this rustic backdrop, the bronze altar seemed out of place.

This strange altar was sitting quietly against the northern wall of the village. Dumby sent one of its pig-shaped cannon fodder ahead to investigate.

Nothing happened when the pig skeleton went to the edge of the altar, then climbed onto it. Still, nothing happened.

Even so, Gao Peng wasn't willing to let his guard down. Only after sending a few more pig skeletons to check out the altar was he finally convinced that it wasn't a trap.

Gao Peng walked up to the altar and lightly ran a finger against the edge. The bronze altar was marred by countless dark stains. Interlocking gears of all shapes and sizes were on its rim.

The altar's surface felt rough to the touch. Suddenly, Gao Peng felt a sharp pain in his finger and quickly pulled his hand away from the altar.

Gao Peng was enraged. He realized that he had been playing into the hands of the altar. There was no way someone as cautious and paranoid as he would ever willingly stroke strange altars found in strange labyrinths.

This altar must be up to no good, Gao Peng decided. "Dumby, destroy it!"

Suddenly, bright red light erupted from the altar. There was a strange mumbling coming from it. A dark dwarvish figure appeared on the altar, screaming in a shrill voice, "Don't break me. Whatever you do, don't break me. I can help you become stronger!"

However, the strange figure's words went unheeded. Dumby's face remained unmoved as it swung its fist at the altar. Boom!

The altar shook violently when Dumby's fist landed on it. However, the ancient stained altar still remained intact.

The dwarf's pleading face turned joyful as it chuckled happily. "You can't break me. You're too weak, oh ho ho ho!"

Dumby's face remained expressionless. It swung another fist at the altar, then a third, then a fourth. Each of its punches fell on the same spot.

Dang, dang… A hint of worry appeared on the dwarf's face. This loon. Isn't it obvious you can't break me with your punches? Why are you still punching? Aren't your hands hurting by now?

Considering that it wasn't as young as it used to be, the dwarf didn't know how many more of Dumby's punches it could take.

It heaved a sigh and in a tone that seemed to suggest that it was ready to negotiate with him, said to Gao Peng, "Mr. trainer, sir, you should know that your familiar will not be able to break my body. I see that you're a man of exceptional ability. I now acknowledge you as my new master. Now, would you please tell your familiar to stop?"

Gao Peng looked at the dwarf and smiled. "Well, that was easy."

The dwarf sat on the edge of the altar, its head cocked to one side as it gazed at Gao Peng.

"What are your abilities? Can you fly me around?" questioned Gao Peng.

"In my prime, I could certainly fly," said the dwarf in an uncertain tone.

"What about now?"

"I probably still could," it mumbled. "But I can also power up your familiars," it assured Gao Peng.

"How so?" asked Gao Peng curiously.

"You'll need to give me an offering first. Only then will I be able to give you what you want," explained the dwarf.

Gao Peng chuckled, then intently gazed at the bronze altar for three seconds.

[Item Name: Great Altar Cutter (Ruined)

[Item Description: Once it receives an offering from its user, the altar will break it down and channel its disassembled contents to its user's intended target. (Will not work on live subjects. Also, due to the altar's dilapidated state, the efficiency and rate of disassembly have been somewhat affected.)

It disassembles things? Sounds fascinating. After much thought, Gao Peng proceeded to pick up a piece of wood nearby and placed it on top of the altar.

The dwarf was stunned. This is what you're offering me? It looked at Gao Peng in the eye.

Gao Peng gave it an encouraging smile. "Good luck," he said.

The dwarf began to feel exasperated at the sight of Gao Peng's hopeful face. Good luck my *ss! You're expecting me to turn this broken piece of wood into gold? Are you the devil?!

Report chapter

Chapter 504: The Altar's Ability.

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

The dark dwarf-like figure on top of the Great Altar Cutter shot an exasperated look at Gao Peng. The piece of wood on the altar gradually began to blur, its color fading away. Finally, with a pop, it vanished, leaving a faint brown crystal in its place.

Gao Peng was taken aback. He hadn't expected the dwarf to actually produce something. He narrowed his eyes at the brown crystal.

[Item Name: Rough Wooden Crystal

[Item Effect: A crystalline object that contains the rudimentary nutrients normally found in wood. It can be used to feed herbivorous and omnivorous monsters.

Is it supposed to be a food-processing instrument? Gao Peng's eyes lit up. This is incredible! Now I don't have to worry about starving in the wild ever again.

Like a child eager to try out his new toy, Gao Peng began placing other objects he could find in the immediate vicinity on the altar.

The dwarf was livid at this point. I wouldn't have minded too much if you were testing me out with high-grade materials, but now you're just placing stones, pieces of wood, and monster hides that you found lying around on my altar… This is just degrading.

Later on, Gao Peng began using higher quality materials, such as monster carcasses, medicinal concoctions that he had personally brewed, and an assortment of minerals. Gao Peng realized at this point that the altar's main function was refining materials.

It could bring out the essence of a material and process it subsequently. However, it couldn't conjure something out of thin air. This wasn't the kind of altar that Gao Peng had initially imagined it to be, the kind that could completely disregard the laws of equivalent exchange and bestow upon its user more than what it was offered.

It was more like a processing medium that could only process inanimate objects. It probably couldn't disassemble a live insect even if it wanted to. Unfortunately, its ruined state had considerably affected its efficiency.

As if sensing Gao Peng's disappointment, the dwarf hesitated for a moment before saying, "If you bring me a high-level monster carcass, I can definitely turn it into something better."

Gao Peng shot it a sideways look and let out a soft groan. After ruminating on the dwarf's words, Gao Peng said to Silly, "Bring that huge black snake out for me, will you?"

Nodding, Silly produced the Black Rock Infernal Boa's corpse from its portable space. The corpse was way too big, filling up the labyrinth's interior completely as soon as it left Silly's portable space.

The large serpentine body took up a huge portion of the space they were standing in.

"And how am I supposed to offer this to you?" The altar could barely hold the boa's head. This was like trying to cook an elephant with a wok. It was a fool's errand, or so Gao Peng thought.

The dwarf on the altar was hugging the Black Rock Infernal Boa's head like its life depended on it. It had all but disappeared in the snake's shadow. "Just watch," said the dwarf.

A moment later, the Black Rock Infernal Boa's body began to turn transparent. Its body was gradually fading away. Its blood, flesh, and bones slowly turned translucent until finally, it disappeared into thin air. Gao Peng then noticed that a small black serpentine shape was floating above the altar. At least as thick as a thumb, it was idly orbiting above the altar.

"Burp." The dwarf's belly suddenly expanded outward, as if it had been pregnant for ten months. "That was quite filling…"

Seeing that this could take a while, Gao Peng ordered the White Steel Bladed Beast to bring in the other familiars to rest in the labyrinth for the night.

The night passed without incident. The next day, just as the first rays of dawn hit the sky, Gao Peng crawled out of his tent and saw three spherical objects floating above the Great Altar Cutter. On the left was a red meatball-like object. It was dark red, and there was a faint smell of cooked meat lingering around it.

[Item Name: Meat Essence (Emperor-tier)

[Item Description: Distilled from the flesh and blood of a King-tier monster, it can be consumed to fill one up. It is rich in high-level nutrients.

An earthy yellow ball of light floated in the middle.

[Item Name: Level 2 Earth Resistance Fruit

[Item Description: Capable of bestowing Level-2 earth resistance upon the user, who won't be able to further enhance this effect via any other means. Once it has served its purpose, the fruit will disappear.

On the right was a fiery ball of light. It somewhat resembled the earthy ball of light in the middle.

[Item Name: Level 2 Fire Resistance Fruit

[Item Description: Capable of bestowing Level-2 fire resistance upon the user, who won't be able to further enhance this effect via any other means. Once it has served its purpose, the fruit will disappear.

Gao Peng thought that the name "One-Time Fruit" suited them well. This was the first time he had come across these items. In fact, he had never even heard of them until that day.

Gao Peng could still remember that the Black Rock Infernal Boa had Level-3 Earth Resistance and Level-3 Fire Resistance in its arsenal of monster abilities. Level-3 abilities weren't especially remarkable as far as an Emperor-tier monster was concerned. It was a shame that the Black Rock Infernal Boa's Level-4 and Level-5 abilities weren't converted into fruits as well.

"I didn't think you could extract a monster's abilities from their bodies," said Gao Peng. He really was surprised by this.

This goes against all conventions… Well, maybe not that much, considering that the extracted abilities are all downgraded in the process, and they can't be further upgraded through other external means. This means that once any of my familiars receives Level 2 Earth Resistance from its corresponding fruit, that ability will remain at Level 2 forever.

The word "accessory" suddenly crossed Gao Peng's mind. This is just like equipping a familiar with an enchanted accessory.

Any ability received from the fruits could no longer be upgraded through any other means. However, Gao Peng was fine with that.

"So you can extract the abilities of other monsters from their bodies. No wonder you were so sure of yourself back then," said Gao Peng, as if a life-changing revelation had suddenly dawned on him.

The dwarf was startled. "How on earth did you know that?"

"I know everything. I just wasn't sure who you were until now," said Gao Peng, nodding sagely.

The dwarf stared at Gao Peng. It didn't remember telling him about his other ability. It knew for a fact that it had erased all traces of its existence from this world.

It began pestering Gao Peng as to how he had come across such information. Gao Peng simply smiled at it without another word. Paranoia now gripped the dwarf's heart.

Did some of them survive…? That's not right. If they knew I was still alive, they wouldn't be silent about it. This is strange…

"I'm not exactly in the best shape right now. Once I've regained my former glory, I'll become even stronger, and my ability to extract other monsters' abilities will become even more complete," assured the dwarf.

There's definitely more to it than meets the eye… Gao Peng shot it a sideways glance, then looked away. "All right. Seems like there's still some use left in you. I'll keep you." He then ordered Stripey to keep an eye on the altar and make sure it didn't try to flee.

The dwarf was silently celebrating its good fortune. This human certainly seems like the reasonable type.

Gao Peng placed the altar on Stripey's back, where a couple of boulders shifted around the altar, firmly locking it in place.

For the rest of the day, Gao Peng and company searched the entire labyrinth for anything valuable. Unfortunately, the Red-skinned Sanguine Pig Demons were still incapable of understanding the concept of personal wealth. There was absolutely nothing of value in the labyrinth.

Gao Peng couldn't even find a single scrap of this Precept Fragment that was mentioned in the Pig Demon's monster description. The altar was the only discovery of note that he had made in this labyrinth.

He led his familiars to the next labyrinth.

Report chapter

Chapter 505: Dragon Ant

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

Gao Peng realized that there was a loophole in this ability of his. Even though it still allowed him to read the stats and attributes of other monsters, thus giving him an advantage in combat, he had also discovered that ever since he received a considerable boost in spiritual strength, the [Monster Description] bit had become quite useful lately.

It would sometimes give him access to important information about the monsters they were dealing with. Said information sometimes proved to be critical in subduing these creatures.

Even though he didn't find any sign of this Precept Fragment, the name of which sounded supremely awesome, he did manage to obtain an altar capable of breaking down inanimate objects, which was better than going back empty-handed.

No matter how much disdain Gao Peng threw at the altar, constantly letting it know how worthless it really was, to the point that the altar began to suspect Gao Peng's words were indeed true, the reality couldn't have been further from the truth. Gao Peng saw more value in the altar than he was willing to let on.

Unsure if these fruits would have any side-effects on them, Gao Peng decided to let the recently reanimated Black Lightning Eagle Skeleton take the Earth Resistance Fruit.

When the Black Lightning Eagle Skeleton swallowed it, nothing happened. Then, its bones began to radiate a soft yellow light, which gradually spread throughout its entire body.

When the yellow light finally faded away, Gao Peng saw that a new entry had been added to the Black Lightning Eagle's stat sheet.

[Monster Ability: Earth Resistance Level 2 (No longer upgradeable)

For the next two days, Gao Peng began observing the Black Lightning Eagle for any side effects. Only when he was sure that the fruits were safe for consumption would he let his own familiars eat the fruits themselves.

Before, Gao Peng had no interest in any of the monsters that they came across in the wild. Most of the time, he would just let them be. Now, he was on a killing spree, slaughtering every monster he could find along the way, all so that he could place their bodies on the altar as an offering.

Goldie was greatly amused by Gao Peng's sudden interest in wanton bloodshed. The latter would pounce on anything that moved before breaking its neck with his bare hands and then bringing it back to the altar. Meanwhile, Goldie was squatting beside the altar, staring at it without moving an inch. When Gao Peng couldn't find any more prey to bring to the altar, Goldie slowly rose to its feet, a vacant look in its eyes.

"Brother, how are you able to stare at something for so long?" asked Bei Zhi. It thought that Goldie was incredible, to be able to stare at something for so long without falling asleep. It truly was the gangster of gangsters. Bei Zhi couldn't even keep its eyes open after a while. Watching Gao Peng bustle around was about as fascinating as counting the oranges on Stripey's back.

Goldie, who was now standing upright, shook its head. "It all comes down to experience, kid."

In truth, Goldie didn't understand what it was watching. It had only said what it said to sound cool. It then strode off, hoping that Bei Zhi wouldn't ask it any further questions.

The Great Altar Cutter was forced to process every monster corpse that Gao Peng could find for the next few days without rest. The fruits of its labor were then stored in Silly's portable space. The altar mostly yielded Meat Essence. On the other hand, monster ability fruits would only appear once or twice on the altar. Fresh corpses sometimes yielded Soul Essence, as well.

The abilities distilled from the monster corpses all seemed to be downgraded by a level. This was likely due to the altar's current damaged state. It still hadn't managed to extract a monster ability above Level 3.

The altar felt like it was gradually losing its standing in Gao Peng's team as the extent of its abilities became more clear.

They trudged on towards the southwest for three days straight. Soon, the outline of an impressive-looking labyrinth rose from the horizon before them. It was made of stone. However, unlike the previous labyrinths that Gao Peng had visited, this one seemed somewhat different, its walls standing approximately 160 feet tall.

A strange power seemed to radiate from these labyrinths. Stripey basically towered over all of them. However, every time it passed through one of their entrances, it would feel a mysterious force slowly shrinking it until it was as tall as the labyrinth itself.

What a huge labyrinth. I wonder if there's something huge living inside…

"Gao Peng, there's a monster up ahead. I think it's fighting for ownership of the labyrinth," said the Desolate Frost Lion. Its injuries had completely healed. However, its recovery had left it lethargic. It still preferred to laze around on Stripey's back.

On the horizon, Gao Peng could see a huge monstrosity just outside the labyrinth. Its dark gold exterior gleamed dazzlingly beneath the sun. Its twelve slender appendages were splayed out across the ground on both sides.

The most impressive part of it was its head; it looked almost draconic. The creature's emerald eyes gleamed coldly. It looked like a Bug-type monster.

This was the first time Gao Peng had come across a Bug-type monster since entering the Black Fog World. On the surface, it looked like a strange-looking beetle that had been magnified multiple times.

Looking closely, one could see that it somewhat resembled an evil dragon that had clawed its way out of hell. Its face was distorted by cracks and blemishes.

[Monster Name: Dragon Ant

[Monster Level: Level 67 (Emperor-tier)

[Monster Grade: Epic

[Monster Attribute: Wind

[Monster Ability: Hardened Shell Level 6, Explosive Wind Level 5, Gigantified Body Level 3, Wind Mastery Level 4, Accelerated Digestion Level 4

[Monster Traits: Ruined Dragon Head (A dragon head born from the blood of a Dragon of Destruction. Intimidation is not its only function.

Passive Effect 1: The ant's dragon head is the source of its destructive power. It is also equipped with Level-6 Sharp Dragon Fangs. Any injury they inflict will take an incredibly long time to heal.

Active Effect 1: Spews out Rays of Destruction from its dragon maw. Capable of bypassing a monster's magical resistance with its destructive power.

[Monster Description: Originally a Thief Dragon Ant from the Valley of Fallen Dragons, it has evolved into a full-fledged Dragon Ant by awakening what little dragon blood was coursing through its veins. It prefers snacking on dragon corpses, from which it draws power and dragon blood. It then uses the latter to make any part of its body take on a more draconic appearance.)

Gao Peng raised an eyebrow at the Dragon Ant's description. It was like a graverobber of sorts whose only prize was the blood of long-deceased dragons. It would then use the dragon's blood to jumpstart its own transformation.

The White Leather-bound Book was now floating beside Gao Peng, flipping its pages open excitedly. "I've never seen this kind of dragon before. Following you here was the best decision I've ever made."

The Dragon Ant still hadn't noticed Gao Peng and the others. It was lying on the ground before the labyrinth's entrance, then it let out a resounding roar at it.

"The Dragon Ant wants to take control of the labyrinth," said the Desolate Frost Lion. A moment later, heavy footfalls echoed from the labyrinth.

Gao Peng could tell from the sound of the footsteps that they belonged to the feet of a huge creature. The labyrinth's black steel doors were flung open. Behind the threshold stood a giant that was at least 130 feet tall. Its bald scalp seemed to be covered with countless blue lines.

An incredibly explosive power rippled across its muscles, which gleamed with metallic light under the sun.

"Baldie, is that your cousin?" shouted Flamy when it saw the giant's hairless scalp.

Report chapter

Chapter 506: The Excitement of Flowing Light

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

Goldie's expression changed, "How could I have such an ugly relative?"

Staring at Flamy, Goldie whispered, "I have no relatives, my mum was eaten by a mountain cat when she was young."

Flamy was about to continue comforting Goldie, but Goldie turned away and ignored Flamy after it had finished talking.

While they were casually chatting, two monsters were fighting in the distance.

[Monster name: Six-armed Giant

[Monster Level: Level 69 (Emperor)

[Monster Grade: Epic/Epic

[Monster Attributes: Earth/Rock

[Monster Skills: Elemental Resistance Lv4; Earth Elemental Mastery Lv5; Enhanced Strength Lv5; Protection of Earth Lv5

[Special characteristic: Boiling Power (Strange Unmatchable power originated from their blood.

Effect One. Passive Effect: Strength type Abilities Level 1

Effect Two. Active Effect: Burns the earth element inside the body and transforms the burnt earth element strength into one's own power.)

[Monster Weaknesses: Weakens when the sole of the feet leaves the earth, earth elemental mastery will disappear.

[Monster Description:

The giants are the favored child of the earth. The Six-armed giant is one of the favorite illegitimate children of the earth…

They are resolute, they are passionate,

when they step on the earth, they obtain endless supplement from the earth,

when they leave the earth, their strength will be greatly impaired.

Behind the Six-armed Giant, there were six arms, each one was strong, as if freshly poured reinforced concrete, the well-defined muscles pulsing in the sun as if the muscles were dancing.

"Bang!"

There was an enormous explosion when hand and palm met each other.

Where the hand and palm connected, the air twisted, as white cloud burst forth.

The strong legs bent downwards, it was visible to the naked eye that the ground was cracked in the place where the soles of the feet touched, just like a mountain shaking.

Goldie said deeply " That was terrible!"

Dragon Ant had no fear, bending down its head, it was stable, its 12 sharp dark golden claws hooked into the ground deeply, no matter how the earth shook, it didn't shake at all.

The aftershocks that seemed more exaggerated to bystanders were mere protest to them.

When the Dragon Ant slid its carapace behind its back upward, the dark golden carapace wrapped up the dragon's head, as if putting on a helmet.

The Dragon Ant gradually moved toward the Six-armed Giant, looking for an opportunity to attack.

With a rumble, the earth shook violently. The Six-armed Giant leapt forward, its arms coming down from the sky, resulting in a thunderstorm, making rattling sound.

Angry fists rained down on the carapace of the Dragon Ant, letting out dense and crisp beatings.

The sound continued echoing between the heavens and the earth. This was a confrontation between strength and hardness.

Grasping the fist that was equivalent to the size of a car, the yellow light that protected the wrist and the back of the fist formed into a tough glove. Meanwhile, the sky's whistling entangled with the sound of the wind.

The two giant beasts were entangled, and the earth sunk under the feet, as if they had been bombarded by countless bombs.

The Dragon Ant, who had been in a defensive stance since the beginning, did not move, it only hid its head behind the protection of the helmet.

Burning powerful flame ejected from the Dragon Ant's stomach, the fiery flame devoured the Six-armed Giant's back leg.

"Dong!"

The Six-armed Giant's sole was so hot that it kicked on the Dragon Ant's stomach violently.

The ejecting flame suddenly stopped and then, the Dragon Ant burped suddenly.

Without having the time to understand why it burped, the Dragon Ant felt itself flying up to the sky.

The Six-armed giant knew that its weakness was that it could not leave the earth, therefore when it fought, and in daily life, it would consciously avoid letting its foot leave the earth.

And because of its own weakness, it felt that other huge monsters also had the same weakness of not being able to leave the earth.

Just as a human being would die when they lose their brain , it was natural for them to assume that other living things would die after losing their brain. This was the habit of most living things that had intelligence.

The Dragon Ant was not small, its length was around 20 meters. Its dark golden carapace looked rather bloated, thus it looked more like a beetle.

Even then, the Dragon Ant was easily lifted up. Its 12 claws danced wildly, but in mid-air, it had nothing to propel itself.

The Dragon Ant was lifted up by the Six-armed Giant.

In a low, angry roar, the power of the yellow earth exploded madly. In a flash, that part of the sky seemed to have been lifted up by it.

Even the air was trembling. Layers of transparent ripples spread in all directions.

"This power must be close to Lv7!" Gao Peng was a little shocked.

The Six-armed Giant gripped at different parts of the Dragon Ant's body and tore them outward madly. It had stripped numerous number of enemies with this abnormal power, its eyes revealed a cruel excitement, "This monster will also be…. shred to pieces by me."

Flowing Light looked at this scene shockingly. Its bright pupils reflected the outlines of two giant beasts. It could not help feeling a hint of envy.

In Flowing Light's sight, strips of light red lines gradually emerged from the external body of these two giant beasts. The color of these lines darkened gradually.

Flowing Light looked at the knife's blade in its own palm, the bloody blade had condensed into a touch of an astounding halo.

Heaving a long sigh, Flowing Light began to dream … it longed for the day when its own blade would one day chop up these large beings.

The Dragon Ant was in pain, its body felt extremely horrible under such monstrous tear, it even felt that its leg and other connecting points were about to break.

Without hiding, the savage dragon head suddenly burst. The sharp dragon teeth was biting the wrist of the Six-armed Giant closest to it.

At this particular moment, the eyebrow of the Dragon's head cracked, then a dark, destructive light burst into the head of the Six-armed giant.

It was too late to avoid this destructive light though the Six-armed Giant might have noticed it at such a close distance. It went right into its left eye, blood was splashing everywhere.

In great pain, the six-armed giant howled. It didn't let go, instead, its energy increased drastically.

"Roar!!!"

"PSSsttt La!"

In cries and screams, the Dragon ant was torn into pieces.

The Dragon head that remained was still biting its wrist on the left side which was almost bitten off.

The Six-armed giant breathed heavily. The other three arms held on to Dragon Ant's head and wanted to tear it open.

Flowing Light disappeared from where it was.

"Flowing Light!" Gao Peng couldn't stop it from rushing toward the Six-armed Giant.

A few days earlier, Flowing Light had already been upgraded to the King tier. However its quality had temporarily been downgraded from Epic grade to Perfect grade after the upgrading.

"I will go after it." Dumby followed from behind immediately.

At this stage, Dumby was the only force capable of facing those Emperor tier monster.

Flowing Light's body prostrated slightly, with eyes glowing.

At this point, although the heart was beating wildly, and it was so excited that its carapace was trembling slightly, Flowing Light had never been so excited before.

"If I don't go and kill a monster, I will become useless soon."

"Even if I can't win, even though it may be at th4 Emperor tier, at least I must…. I must thrust out this first cut!"

Flowing Light's body began to burst, just like its name, it had truly became a ray of light.

Report chapter

Chapter 507: Snatching Food from the Tiger's Mouth

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

To Flowing Light, the Six-armed Giant was as tall as a mountain.

But in its eye, nine bloody red lines also emerged on the Six-armed Giant's body.

It knew that as long as it could strike at these blood lines, harm would befall the Six-armed Giant.

This was a belief that arose from deep within its heart, it was also this same belief that made it so brave.

Flowing Light fixed its gaze on one of the blood lines on the Six-armed Giant's ankle, actually there were eight other blood lines above its knee, but these were overlooked by Flowing Light.

Because… they were too high.

Of course, Flowing Light overlooked them not just because these blood lines were too high, but it was the lowest one that attracted it the most.

The wind howled as its shadow burst forth, the wind along its path surrendered to its feet.

Within breathing moments, Flowing Light fell onto the leg of the Six-armed Giant, pulling out with arms crossed.

There weren't any obstacles to the red lines, and it just kept on cutting by following the red lines of the wound.

Very tough, just like cutting the tough buffalo's skin with a small knife.

Actually, in proportion to the Six-armed Giant's size, the position that Flowing Light strode at was considered its external muscle, or even just scratching the skin….

But strange enough, after Flowing Light's cut at the red line, a striking dark light spread outward from the wound.

A weird power began penetrating inward, and broke all the muscle and bones along the way.

The Six-armed Giant didn't bother to pay any attention to Flowing Light, this was just a little monster of the King tier that was so short, and it couldn't be bothered.

But the next moment, its ankle became terribly painful, followed by a brisk brittle sound.

The Six-armed Giant staggered and knelt on the ground with one knee.

The one leg that knelt down was twisted beyond shape.

The broken ankle looked extremely distorted, and the fracture was smooth as a mirror.

After making that slash, Flowing Light turned to look at the Six-armed Giant that was kneeling on the ground. Having hit it with a single attack, it jumped with great delight, its body was full of fighting spirit and strength.

"I actually did it!"

"I have truly accomplished it."

"Though this is an Emperor tier monster, I was able to break its ankle with a single slash."

For the first time, Flowing Light was aware of its strength after it had been upgraded.

Along with this, its initial dissatisfaction with its shortness in height after the evolution also decreased a great deal.

In conclusion, all who pay attention to their height stems from an inferiority complex, it is because one isn't confident in oneself that one wants to find confidence from height.

Those with real strength would not be bothered by their physical outlook, that was because having inner strength was a real proof of being strong.

There was a change in Flowing Light's attitude.

The Six-armed Giant looked at Flowing Light who had escaped to the distance angrily. "This detestable small worm attacked me and then ran off." Its left arm grabbed at the ground and the gray rock began condensing in its palm.

Within this rock hid some terrible power, even if it were the earth element, it could get angry.

Focus and throw.

The rock was pulled out, just like a bullet out of the shell.

"Boom!"

The rock exploded upon hitting the ground, leaving a pothole in the ground.

Flowing Light easily avoided such a huge rock, it even had time to cast a sarcastic glance at the Six-armed Giant.

"Such clumsy fellow."

Dumby rushed forward, his body leaning forward, almost flat on the ground.

Spreading out the five fingers on the right hand, the fingers gently pressed against the horizon lightly that was retreating rapidly. The fingertips that tore the earth left a long trace, causing earth waves that burst and filled the air. In the midst of this, a huge bone broke through the earth in the spattered earth waves.

The earth waves rolled, and the white bones in the tumbling soil waves seemed to spur the devil to tear the earth.

As if a spine was being pulled out from the depths of the earth, the white bones that were like a spur on a sharp sword rushed upward.

Boom!

For the last 300 steps, Dumby stamped its right leg suddenly. The action of rushing forward stopped abruptly, The right leg became the center that turned 180 degrees with the right arm crossed.

Along with this that flew out was the spur giant whip that had been hidden in the earth.

The shadow of the whip tore the earth and the sky to pieces.

In the midst of a series of intensive gas explosions, the head of the Six-armed giant was sharply beaten.

Sharp spurs were like saw tooth that tore off the cheek of the Six-armed Giant, the whole place was splashing with flesh and blood.

The Six-armed Giant's head was pushed backwards. Its two arms supported the ground to prevent it from falling, the other two arms protected its chest, and the other two were lifted high up, just like two sets of heavy hammer, full of godly power that was on standby and will destroy the enemy with thunder completely.

Dumby jumped up, with arms crossed that protected its chest, extending the slim bone spear forward with both hands, as if it were a continuation of the body.

"Pierce!"

Leaping from the sky, the spear descended from heaven.

This spear landed on the arm of the Six-armed giant deeply, and almost pierced through the arm.

With an angry roar, the Six-armed Giant threw off Dumby furiously, then it pushed opened the main door of the labyrinth and plunged in.

Gao Peng stopped Dumby from chasing it, this labyrinth was the old home of the Six-armed Giant, nobody knew if there were some kind of traps in there. To be on the safe side, it would be better to wait till Dumby's level had risen.

The Dragon Ant's body had been torn to pieces by the Six-armed Giant, but its corpse was well maintained.

Gao Peng felt that he was like a hyena on the grassland, waiting for the cheetah to capture their prey and then rush to snatch the prey…

"It's better to stay far away." Gao Peng was also afraid that the Six-armed Giant would come after him after its recovery.

However, he was hesitant to sacrifice the Dragon Ant's corpse.

After all, this was an Epic grade Emperor tier monster corpse. It was a pity just to sacrifice it. On the other hand, if he did not sacrifice it, Dumby's resurrection level was not enough. Dumby was able only to resurrect monsters of the same level.

Shaking his head, he took out the monster crystal of the Dragon Ant, an egg-sized golden crystal was lying quietly in Gao Peng's palm.

"I can let Goldie use this." Gao Peng thought of Goldie and gave this Dragon Ant's Crystal to Goldie.

Goldie put this crystal into its mouth and swallowed it just like chewing crispy bone. Its aura within its body calmed down gradually…

"You have been broken down." The corpse of the Dragon Ant was pieced together and then used as sacrifices.

The dark small man had bloated to become a balloon, quietly floating on the altar.

"It will finish breaking down after three days. This time I will do my best to make some good stuff."

Yuzhou Base City

A group of unknown guest had arrived at Yuzhou, the leader was not old, dressed in a red beast robe, with long shoulder-length hair, wearing grass wreaths on the forehead; there were about ten people behind him.

Familiars of different shapes and sizes followed along. There were many species with one common characteristic, they were of the fire element.

"So, this is the city where the so-called 'First Champion' dwells?" The youngster took a look at the tall Yuzhou city wall and laughed disdainfully. "Come with me."

"How do you do, please show your pass," the soldier on duty said politely.

The youngster looked a little lost, he couldn't understand what these people were talking about.

Showing slight irritation, he waved at a person behind him," What did they say, please interpret."

The person from behind came and whispered at the youngster's ear. After listening, the youngster frowned and left the matters to this person.

The person dressed in a suit nodded respectfully, then walked to the soldier, and said with a smile, "How do you do. We are from Holy Day Alliance. These are our identity cards, we hope to enter Yuzhou, we have some personal issues to look into in this trip."

Report chapter

Chapter 508: Blood of the Dragon of Destruction (1/3)

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

Not far away from southwest of South Sky Group was Jialing River.

Since the previous period, Jialing River and the mountain near it had become the new base for the visitors of White Dragon Tribe.

Numerous trucks rumbled on as they traveled on the hillside, continuously transforming the mountain and land, at the same time constructing buildings.

Dragons like water. Most dragons like to live in cold and humid environment, except those from the fire element, which loved to build their nests on volcanic craters.

The water temperature of Jialing River was cold, much much lower than that of the Yangtze by a few degrees.

Large monsters were rolling in the river.

The scales were brightly lustrous under the moisturizing water.

By the shore, Bai Yin, covered with tiger hair, stared at the river beneath him.

A girl came from behind as she held Bai Yin's waist, resting her head against the back of his shoulder.

Bai Yin held the girl's hand and remained silent.

The girl looked at him compassionately. She was Bai Yin's wife. People from the White Dragon Tribe usually married early. Most boys married when they were 15, while the girls at 14. They had already been married for four years.

She knew her husband's identity, he was the 37th son of the White Dragon Tribe Head and one of those unfavoured sons.

Actually, being the eldest son of the White Dragon Tribe, and as long as his talent was valued, it wasn't difficult to sign a contract with a white dragon familiar.

But her husband's familiar was just a Chalky Aquatic Dragon, even among the Aquatic Dragon it wasn't considered a top grade.

To many people, returning to the Ancestral Land was considered a dangerous matter. Nobody knew how dangerous the Ancestral Land could be, if it were not for the fact that he was unfavoured, otherwise who would be sent here.

Other minor tribes might send the cream of the crop to the Ancestral Land to grab their first opportunity. But to the White Dragon tribe, which was the most supreme, no matter when they chose to return to the Ancestral Land, they would be a force to be reckoned with, this was their confidence.

"Did you say that he is really the grand priest?" Bai Yin muttered to himself, "I have seen the portrait of the grand priest in the temple, he looks exactly like him, I thought I was giddy."

Naturally, Bai Luo didn't believe that Ji Hanwu was the grand priest. She had not seen the portrait of the grand priest before. In her opinion, there were far too many people who looked alike in the world. It was just a coincidence. But after listening to her husband's muttering, she quietly sighed.

Instinctively, she hugged him even more tightly.

"Probably, he is probably the grand priest."

"I know that you don't believe me, but truly, it isn't just similar, but it is exactly the same, just like the person walking out of the painting." Bai Ying wanted to continue talking, but in the end, he paused, shook his head, and smiled wryly.

Yeah, even if it was truly the reincarnated grand priest, there was no difference. His own familiar was only an ordinary white dragon, of the lowest blood grade, which was at the King tier.

Even the grand priest also couldn't be of any help, after all, it was a world where strength and power made every difference, where there wasn't any real power, there wouldn't be any spoken authority.

"Brother Yin, the people from Yan Yi tribe is in town." From a distance, a youngster ran towards him quickly, behind him floated a gigantic beehive with purple bees as large as the fist hovering around the hive.

"Yan Yi Tribe?" Bai Yin was stunned for a brief moment, and then he frowned. What are these people from Yan Yi Tribe doing here, although the Yan Yi Tribe is incomparable with our White Dragon Tribe, they are just next to White Dragon Tribe among the seven major tribes.

Are they here to make trouble for me?

Bai Yin's thinking was stirred, but he dropped off his thoughts. Though he wasn't the Tribe Head's favorite, he was still his son. Apart from the three tribes that were of the same level, the people from Yan Yi tribe shouldn't have such guts.

"Come, let us go and find out." Being fromf the same ancient ancestry, Bai Yin's first reaction was that they were after him.

Immediately, other tribe members went along together with their familiars.

Noticing Bai Yin and the other tribe members from the White Dragon Tribe, Yi Zhou was stupefied. Why is the White Dragon Tribe here?

"I was wondering who this is, so it's young master Yi Zhou." Bai Yin recognized Yi Zhou, who was the eighth, the youngest, and favorite son of Yan Yi Tribe Head. "Why are you here?" Bai Yin was rather unhappy. The homeland is so spacious, of all the places, why did you choose to come here, do you think that I, Bai Yin, is easily bullied?

Though I am not favored I still belong to the White Dragon Tribe, if anything happened, the person to be punished will be you.

If Yi Zhou knew what Bai Yin had been thinking, he would be full of queries and would scold him ferociously saying that he was too dramatic

Yi Zhou's mouth twitched. "I am not here to look for you, I am looking for the champion from the Ancestral Land, Ji Hanwu, I wish to find out just how powerful this champion of the Ancestral Land is."

Bai Yin's doubts were cleared, so it was he who had made a mistake.

Bai Yin's mind started to move, and then he said to Yi Zhou, "You should have found out about his familiars before coming here? What do you mean when you openly challenge him before me, who is from the White Dragon Tribe?"

Yi Zhou was stunned, glancing at Bai Yin, he then remembered Ji Hanwu's familiar, a white dragon….. Suddenly, he understood everything…. Such a huge and forward-thinking plan. So, The White Dragon Tribe had predestined this since long ago, and everyone else had been unaware of it.

"So that's how it was, that's how it was." Yi Zhou kept shaking his head, "Looks like I have intruded."

"Now I understand, looks like I have caused some disturbance, goodbye." With both hands holding his fists, Yi Zhou turned and left.

Bai Yin, "???"

What have you understood?

Bai Yin knew that Yi Zhou might have misunderstood certain things, but he was too lazy to explain.

In the Black Fog world, three days had sped by in a blink.

Goldie was doing push-ups on the ground. This time, Goldie's size didn't increase after being upgraded to King tier, it just maintained its present size of five meters.

This strange monster core crystal ran out only after Goldie had shot up to Level 54.

So, coming to this Black Fog World was a correct choice. Although the spirit on Earth Star was very rich, evolution through absorbing the elemental power from the heaven and earth was too slow, it was much faster to devour the monster core crystal of more powerful monsters that had similar attributes.

The disintegration of the corpse of the Dragon Ant on the altar had been completed. Though the corpse was in pieces, it was still fresh, the items that had been disintegrated were quite numerous.

There were five big lumps of light floating above the altar.

The most obvious one was the essence of flesh and spirit.

Gao Peng discovered the new uses of the essence of flesh and spirit, which made him rejoice greatly. That was to substitute the same property of the heavenly treasures that could restore the grades of the familiar when they were upgraded.

This, in turn, had saved Gao Peng a lot of energy. He didn't need to spend much time searching for spiritual items that were of similar attributes, he only needed to continue hunting and killing monsters.

Gao Peng bestowed Goldie the flesh and spirit essence of the Dragon Ant, allowing Goldie to recover its Legendary Grade.

The next three disintegrated items were Gigantificatied Body Lv2, Wind element Mastery Lv3, and the thin Blood of the Dragon of Destruction.

Report chapter

Chapter 509: Ownership of the Giantification Fruit (2/3)

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

Gao Peng turned his gaze on the Gigantified Body.

A gray-brown round crystal-like ball was picked up from the altar. Touching it, it felt like a crystal, there were strips of bloody red threads.

The threads were viscous and thick, just like a beating vein. It looked strong and powerful.

[Item Name: Gigantified Body Lv2- Fruit

[Item Description: The targeted unit would possess the skill, Gigantified Body Lv2, after consumption . The skill cannot be upgraded. Gigantified Body can increase the targeted unit's size by eight times.

Gao Peng began pondering, To increase the body eight times would be the exact total length, width, and height of a monster multiplied by two.

Gao Peng' s first thought was Flowing Light. He knew that Flowing Light was very conscious of its height. This time this little fellow would be extremely delighted.

The other Wind Element Mastery Lv3 was rather dubious. Only the main skills of Lord tier monsters were Lv3. The main skills of King tier monsters were at least Lv4.

This Wind element Mastery's level was too low, and it couldn't grow through other methods. This was because it wasn' the natural talent of the monster, it was just a plugin attached to their body.

Furthermore, this was not a strong skill. If this were the passive support skills such as Combat Smell or Bloodlust Aura, then this would be considered good, but it would be rather useless for element mastery.

The wind element could allow the monster to fly, but Lv3 was neither too high nor too low, so to let Stripey fly, level three was definitely far from enough, it should be at least Lv7.

The last one was the Blood of the Dragon of Destruction, it was especially specified that it was thin.

Gao Peng was not very keen of a thin bloodline.

It was because it was just thin bloodline. What Gao Peng wanted was something complete. It was a pity, but even if it were the complete bloodline, it would definitely be harder to obtain. To get more, one would have to put more effort into it.

But thinking about the destructive power of the Dragon Ant's Light of Destruction that could ignore magic defense and deal frightening damage that almost pierced through the head of the Six-armed Giant's head… And this was when the Six-armed Giant had a pretty decent magic defense.

Goldie's elemental resistance was restrained by this Light of Destruction. It would be best if it were possible to awaken the Light of Destruction after fusion, but nobody knew what could happen if there was blood fusion.

As if it was fearful that Gao Peng would demand an answer if there was fusion failure, the Little Black Guy quickly said, "I can't guarantee what you can get from this bloodline after fusion, it is just thin bloodline, using it is gambling your luck."

"Then, can you get me the complete bloodline?"

"If you have ten sets of thin bloodline from monsters of the same species, I can give it a try…. But I can't guarantee definite success."

"I don't encourage you to integrate the bloodline simply. I noticed that the bloodline quality of these familiars is not poor, why do you insist on integrating other's bloodline? The powerful ones may not suit you. There is a greater conflict if the bloodline is more powerful. Once, I refined the bloodline of a Phoenix of Hades for a Heavenly Green Bull. It wished to have the wings of a Phoenix of Hades. It exploded into a hell of volcanoes after the blood fusion." Little Black Guy sounded solemn.

"Why are you telling me this? By right, you should not be wishing me death." Gao Peng glanced at it.

Little Black Guy looked as if nothing mattered, "I am not such petty altar. In the past, many powerful monsters, even the Gods, possessed me, at first, they thought that I was unlucky and wanted to destroy me, but after some time, they couldn't leave me anymore. After all, I was just an instrument, it doesn't really matter who uses me."

"According to what you said, it sounds dangerous, isn't there any successful cases?" Gao Peng frowned.

"Of course yes, how could there be none. Once, there was a Light Ray Day Wolf that integrated with the bloodline of a Dark Demonic Night Wolf, then it became a Light and Darkness Mixed Wolf, the bi-attributes of darkness and light expanded greatly. That same night, it snatched away the wife of the wolf gang's leader."

"There was an after effect too. It is due to it possessing attributes of both dark and light simultaneously. Light and Darkness Mixed Wolf was rather impulsive, ugh… It may not be considered impulsive, just very active, and it likes to bite things."

"Oh? What happened to that wolf after that?

"As it had this bad habit of biting things, later on, it bit and broke a sky fire pillar that was used to suppress the ice crystal inside the abyss, and then, was killed by that irritable old man, the God of Fire.

"This isn't considered a successful example….

Gao Peng was speechless. Well, it was better not to think of this. In the beginning, he thought it was something good, but after listening for a while, he knew that this blood issue was a trap.

Squatting and biting some pine nuts, Flowing Light's cool eyes were full of wisdom. The real strength behind a strong being is its attitude, not its physical body.

The size of one's physical body was determined by the parents, but the nobility of the soul was determined by oneself…..

"Flowing Light, Flowing Light, come here quickly."Gao Peng shouted loudly at Flowing Light, who was not very far away.

Upon hearing Gao Peng's calling for Flowing Light, who was in the sage mode, it turned around and looked at him blankly.

"Flowing Light, do you know what this is? This is a fruit that will cause one to enlarge in size after eating."

Flowing Light, "…"

The half-eaten pine nuts dropped to the ground.

Flowing Light's thoughts changed, What was I thinking about just now?

"If you don't want it, I will give this to Silly."

"Whiz…"

A black shadow flashed past, the gigantification fruit disappeared from Gao Peng's fingertips.

Flowing Light swallowed the fruit quickly.

Then, it waited for the fruit to produce its effect happily.

This fruit could only increase one's size. When the size had grown in attributes such as strength, durability, and defense, then growth would be in the normal scope, unlike the one ignited by Goldie which could continue to expand.

Therefore it would not be worth its value if it were given to Goldie because that would increase its size and not the strength in proportion and would just become fleshy.

Gao Peng had seen this kind of fleshy monster by the name of Corn Pig Monster, it loved eating corn, it was gigantic, and it belonged to the kind of monster that could put on weight just by drinking water. And the weirdest part was that only lean meat was grown, no fatty meat would grow. When it reached adulthood, its average size was five meters tall and ten meters long. Though it was muscular, it was useless, it couldn't even fight against a Commander tier monster.

So they had become the little star monsters on a farm.

Many standardized farms liked to breed corn pig.

After ten minutes, Flowing Light was surprised to discover its body growing, a sense of warmth spread from the vertebrae to the cerebral cortex, and the body was growing and expanding.

Half an hour had passed, and Flowing Light realized that its height had increased.

At this point, phrases like heroic attitude, the nobility of the soul that had been stored in its mind were all thrown to the corner.

Flowing Light's eyes were brimming with tears. Gao Peng didn't lie to me, I have really grown taller!

When the growth of the body stopped, Flowing Light's height was fixed at 80 cm. Though it hadn't reached one meter, the increase from 40 to 80 was really a lot.

Report chapter

Chapter 510: Young Dragon Ant (3/3)

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

Gao Peng didn't give the Wind Element Mastery fruit to Flowing Light because Flowing Light itself possessed Lv4 Wind Element Mastery.

"Silly, do you want to eat?" Gao Peng called out to Silly.

Silly crooked its head and looked at Gao Peng, or rather to be more exact, at the small fruit in his palm.

"What is this?"

Silly was rather timid and held tight to its own small fruit juice.

"This is a big shark." Flamy threatened Silly. Ever since it knew that Silly was afraid of birds and fishes, it was very happy. And it gained its happiness by threatening Silly; it just felt delightful when it saw this small jellyfish trembling and shivering with fear.

"Big shark does not look like this," Silly replied with an air of complacency. You hateful bird, your small trick would not escape my Silly's eyes.

"This is a delicious ice candy fruit, it tastes best in the juice."

Initially, Silly was not interested, but when it heard that it would taste good in the juice, it hesitated momentarily.

Finally, it touched the fruit that contained the power of the wind element. The Wind Element fruit looked like a transparent QQ candy, with navy wind swirl pattern within.

Silly listened to Gao Peng's words and threw the fruit into the juice, and then looked at the juice rather worriedly.

After looking at it for a while, it finished drinking it completely.

Ten minutes later, a small wind swirl was born at the vicinity near Silly.

Whoosh!

A small swirl tornado wind swept up and smashed against Gao Peng's face.

Two more swirls of tornado wind dropped on Gao Peng's head. Then one on each side, the swept up wind rolled up Gao Peng's hair.

By the time the swirl of wind tornado disappeared, two goat horn-like braids had appeared on the left and right side of Gao Peng's head.

Under Gao Peng's dangerous eyesight, Silly escaped dejectedly….

Finally, Gao Peng did not decide to bestow the thin blight dragon bloodline to anyone mainly because he was scared by what Little Black Guy said, he did not want to use his familiars for experiment rashly.

If their body accidentally blew up and died, it would be disastrous, it would be better to gain more confidence first. All must be based on stability.

Gao Peng did not enter the maze hastily, but he used the maze as the center for hunting monsters in the vicinity.

Though the maze became a hot spot for hunting monsters, numerous monsters were living in the vast southern land beyond the maze.

Further in the south, the density of monsters living there was greater. Many of the underlying monsters had evolved and had the ability to eat the soil.

And those monsters higher up on the food chain would consume these earth-eating monsters as food.

What aroused Gao Peng's interest was the Dragon Death Valley.

If there was one Dragon Ant born in the Dragon Death Valley, then there was the possibility of having the second one.

"Moneymaker, come here." Gao Peng shouted at Moneymaker and let it smell the smell of dragon ant in the air.

"Remember this?"

Moneymaker nodded its head.

"Good, you follow the trail and find it."

Gao Peng hoped to find the Dragon Death Valley through the smell of the dragon ant in the air.

Though he wasn't sure whether this would work, at least this was a method that he could try…..

Moneymaker stuck close to the ground, smelling the air continuously, shaking its silver tail very quickly.

"That direction." Moneymaker pointed at one direction.

Gao Peng and his team started moving towards that direction.

After walking for about half an hour, Moneymaker jumped down and smelled the air again, directed everyone to go backward for a short distance, and then continued with a new direction.

So they walked for about half a day after changing the directions a few times.

On the front of the horizon was a stretch of hills which were undulating, with the top covered with low and dense shrubs.

"Inside." Moneymaker stood up and turned its head, pointing the inside with its claws.

Deep in the hills, dense forests began to emerge.

A few red beings that looked like ostrich emerged from the shrubs and peeked out to sneak a peek at Gao Peng and his team.

[Monster name: Red-Scaled Landed Ostrich

[Monster Level] : Level 27 (Commander)

[Monster Grade: Normal

[Monster Attribute: Fire

[Monster Weakness: Water

[Monster Description: Subordinate monster species of the tribe of the Dragon Ant, alert by nature, feeds on mulberry leaves, also provides warning for Dragon Ants. When they are grown, Dragon Ants protect them.

"Quack." Sound of birds' singing arose from the bushes.

Gao Peng laughed. Looks like there are Dragon Ants inside.

But no Dragon Ants were in sight after waiting for some time. This hill couldn't hide the size of an adult Dragon Ant. Unless they were hiding underneath, but Gao Peng remembered that they did not belong to the earth element and did not have any earth-related skills.

Stripey moved forward. The earth began to roll like the waves, the mountains shook, and there were waves of soil, seven golden dots mixed among the soil flew out and finally fell in front of Gao Peng.

Seven half-meter young Dragon Ants fell and became dizzy, their 12 weak legs kicking the air aimlessly.

[Monster Name: Dragon Ant (youngling)

[Monster Level: Level 15 (Elite)

[Monster Grade: Perfect

[Monster Attribute: Metal

[Monster Condition: Healthy (Fearful)

[Advancement Route to Epic Grade: Devour dragon corpse

[Monster Description: Young Dragon Ant

"Ho, there are seven little brothers." Goldie moved forward and lifted up a few Dragon Ants, the half-meter long Dragon Ants carried by Goldie looked like it was carrying a cat.

"Gao Peng, let me raise these seven little brothers." Goldie was very interested in these little friends.

Gao Peng kept shaking his hands, "No, take good care of yourself first. If you can't even take proper care of yourself, don't think of raising these as pets."

Goldie's eyes glared, " Don't bully this poor duck!"

Gao Peng just ignored Goldie. The seven Dragon Ants were of the Perfect Grade. Nobody knew whether it was the elders of their father or the mother that had a lower grade, this might be due to the reason that they had not devoured the dragon's corpse and sucked their blood yet.

Gao Peng did not sign any blood contract with these seven baby Dragon Ants, probably because there were too many of them. Conversely, Gao Peng did not pay too much attention to them.

After all, even if he didn't sign any blood contract, it didn't mean that there was no control over them. Monsters had intelligence too. Treating them well and raising them from young meant that he could train them to obey simple commands, except that it would not be as convenient and safe as signing a blood contract.

"Just raise them first."

So, there were seven dog-like little Dragon Ants at Stripey's back.

Seeing these Dragon Ants being taken away, the flock of red-scaled landed ostrich screamed and rushed forward.

Despite the fact that this large group was made up of King tier and even Emperor-tier familiars, they were fearless, they screamed very fiercely. As it rushed too fast, the one at the front dropped to the ground. Crouching on the ground, it signaled its mates to rush forward, then squatting on its buttocks, it sneaked away backward.

Goldie lifted its neck high, then snorted coldly, "Well, well, you are a flock that is loving and loyal, Grandpa Goldie will excuse you for once."

Dumby looked blank, turned its head to seek its master's opinion.

Gao Peng waved his hand, " Just leave them, these ostriches are rather loyal, Dumby, just scare them away."

Dumby released its Emperor's tier aura, and the ostriches were completely suppressed by its strong pressure.

The bodies of these red-scaled landed ostriches were shaken, then an amazing scene appeared on the plain.

Countless ostriches' heads were deeply buried in the soil…..

Report chapter

---

Read Monster Pet Evolution Chapter 511 - Seven Brothers online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 511: Seven Brothers

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

It turned out to be a flock of ostriches that were surprisingly loyal. Besides that, their low level meant they were only useful as food if sacrificed. Touched by their loyalty, Gao Peng decided to spare them.

"Gao Peng, Gao Peng, since you're going to be the godfather of these Dragon Ants after their mother died, do they have a villain for a father now?" Silly remarked scornfully.

Gao Peng's face darkened. "What rubbish! I'm not the one who killed their parents. They should find that Six-Armed Giant if they want revenge. We're just transporters."

"Oh, I see." Silly slowly drifted away while trying to act like an adult. Unfortunately, a small pink jellyfish drifting in the air with its tentacles trailing behind looked too cartoonish. It was as if a three-year-old was trying to act mature, only to come off as goofy instead.

The Dragon Ants gathered together and looked at Gao Peng warily.

"Where are your parents?" Gao Peng asked in concern.

"Dunno," one said

"They went out," another added.

"You're lying. They're not out!" said one of the Dragon Ants as it smacked the one next to it. "Don't tell the bad guy that our mom went out."

"All right," answered the remaining Dragon Ants in unison.

Gao Peng was speechless. "Kids, how old are you?"

The seven Dragon Ants just gave him blank stares, as if asking what he meant by such a question. They were quickly driven into a panic over this unknown term and began running around in circles.

"I mean, when were you born?" Gao Peng asked with a smile, as if he was a friendly old man. What a cute bunch of innocent little things.

The antennae on the little Dragon Ants swung back and forth as they began their little discussion.

"Ah, he's asking for our age! Mom said that we should never tell that to any monsters, especially humans."

"Should we tell him that we were born six months ago?"

"Don't tell him. He's a bad guy."

"Yeah, he's an absolute pervert."

"I fell on my butt because of him. Let's not tell him anything."

It seemed like they were finally done with their discussion when they turned around and yelled in unison, "Not telling!"

Gao Peng kept quiet. It would be easy dealing with these kids. "Silly, come here."

Silly flew over and said, "What?"

"Just looking for something." Gao Peng shoved his hand into Silly's internal space, looking for something.

He pulled out an aromatic, red, marble-sized meatball. It was made of nutritious essences of flesh and blood. Especially for a monster, it was a very nourishing food source.

The Dragon Ants were stunned when they saw the flesh and blood essence and kept their eyes fixed on Gao Peng's fingertips. An audible gulp could be heard from one of them as they all tried not to drool.

"Anyone want some?" Gao Peng asked temptingly.

The Dragon Ants kept their eyes locked on the essence, but none of them said anything. After a while, one of the ants decided to step forward. "Let's not be fooled. This human is definitely trying to trick us so that he can cook us up and eat us," the ant declared with indignation.

"Big Brother is right."

"Listen to Big Brother."

"He's the smartest, so he definitely won't lie to us."

The ant that had spoken walked up and gave Gao Peng a proud look. "I don't want it."

"That won't do. I insist that you eat it," Gao Peng urged.

The little Dragon Ant answered slyly, "If you insist."

After eating the essence, the Dragon Ants began to lower their guard and open up to Gao Peng.

Gao Peng decided to give it a name. "You have big eyes and thick brows. I'll call you Elder Baby, then."

The little Dragon Ant paused for a moment before retorting in frustration, "I already have a name… My mom named me Yi Jin…"

"Your name is Elder Baby now!" said Goldie in a commanding tone. Not taking "no" for an answer, Goldie walked up to the ant.

The little Dragon Ant was stunned. It had never seen a duck bully an ant. It suddenly missed its mother. If its mom were still here, she would never have allowed a weirdo to bully them.

"But my name was…"

"No 'buts!'" Goldie lifted the little Dragon Ant up like a little toy. "Kid, don't tell me you don't like this name?" Goldie said in a slow, suggestive tone.

The little Dragon Ant heard the thinly veiled threat from the duck and decided not to talk back anymore. "Whatever you say, then," replied the little ant unwillingly.

"Yes, good boy," said Goldie, satisfied. How can I be the only one with a mundane name like Goldie while you guys get cool names?

"Gao Peng, can I name our future comrades?" asked Goldie excitedly. It seemed to think this was a fun thing to do.

As expected, Gao Peng rejected its proposal. Looking at the dumb little duckling, Gao Peng suddenly felt a sense of guilt. He reminisced on how cute and innocent this yellow duckling had once been. What could have moved an innocent duck to this horrible state?

This suddenly reminded Gao Peng of that tall creature lost in movies and TV shows… This memory stirred a tinge of sadness into Gao Peng's heart, "You can't name any new comrades we find later. But you can name the remaining six Dragon Ants, appropriately."

Goldie's face lit up. "Thanks, boss."

Moneymaker ran over and hugged Gao Peng's legs. "Master, there's still treasure inside," Moneymaker said as it pointed at the Dragon Ant's nest.

Gao Peng asked it to describe the grade of the treasure inside. Moneymaker scratched its head before saying, "About three that are super heart-throbbing."

Moneymaker described the grade of treasure using a scale of "heart-throbbing," which started from "heart-throbbing," then "super heart-throbbing," and finally, "super super heart-throbbing…" Its grading system was marked by the number of times it said "super."

Usually, a "heart-throbbing" grade treasure was equal to Normal or Elite-tier monsters. And by that assumption, it didn't seem like its taste had improved, but Moneymaker could hold more surprises now that it had leveled up. The three "super heart-throbbing" items were likely treasure or materials that could be used by King-tier monsters. Since the monsters under his possession could probably use it, Gao Peng brought a few monsters to collect the materials in the nest.

Gao Peng decided to leave the little Dragon Ants behind. It wasn't exactly ethical to pick their home clean in front of them.

"Gao Peng, I'm done naming them," said Goldie happily, the seven Dragon Ants following right behind it. The one trailing behind walked listlessly, its face filled with despair.

"This is Elder Baby, Second Baby, Third Baby… this is Sixth Baby, and Baldie." Goldie felt happy. This little Dragon Ant will be called Baldie instead of me. I'm a genius! Sigh. I guess this is the pain of growing up. I never expected to become a cruel and unfeeling duck one day.

Report chapter

Chapter 512: The Valley Where the Dragons Fell

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

"Baldie?" Gao Peng sighed. Why did you give it such a… weird name? Suddenly, a thought emerged in Gao Peng's mind. The one who was called Baldie before was…

"Damn you, bald duck! Just because you're bald yourself, you can't give these cute little ants such nasty names!" Flamy flew over and spat at Goldie.

Goldie was mad. "Fatty, don't think I'm afraid of you just because you share the same name as the snake and you can play with fire. You don't even have a grandfather!"

"They aren't bald! Ants don't have hair. It would be stranger if ants had hair to begin with!" Flamy retorted.

When the youngest ant, who was walking at the back, heard this lovely older familiar speaking highly of it, it immediately burst into tears, extremely grateful, and nodded repeatedly. Yes, we don't have hair to begin with!

By the time it had heard that six of its older siblings were named Elder Baby, Second Baby, Third Baby, and so on, the seventh kid, who already knew how to count, started to think what it would be called. Finally, the outcome was obvious; it would be called Seventh Baby!

Although Dragon Ants weren't taught Arabic numerals, they did have a similar counting system, so that wasn't difficult to deal with.

However, when it was its turn, suddenly, it heard a word.

Baldie.

It was as if a sledgehammer had hit the back of its head, making everything a blur. Little Seventh was as stunned like a stiff chicken. Had there been a mistake? Was the number after six not seven, but bald?

Its six older siblings came and took turns comforting it, and they reassured it that the number after six was seven, not bald. "Don't think too much about it," they consoled it.

"I don't care. It has no hair anyway!" Goldie was suddenly anxious.

"I wasn't born without hair! I just lost my hair after evolving, so how dare you call me Baldie!"

Anyhow, Goldie was not pleased. Gao Peng promised to let me name it!

"Ah, old Baldie," Flamy sneered.

Gao Peng had walked inside with a few familiars and arrived in front of a cave. This cave was built at the bottom of the hill, clinging tightly to the foot of it. Surrounded by dense shrubs, the huge cave was revealed when the shrubs were uncovered. Because the size of an adult Dragon Ants was huge, the size of the cave wasn't small.

The opening of the huge cave was pitch black, and only the blurred interior could be seen through the light. They didn't have to bend down when they walked in, as there was a lot of space, even when they walked with straightened backs.

The Dragon Ant's nest was simple, without any complicated structures. Perhaps it had been confident that no monsters nearby would dare to break into its nest.

At the base of the nest was a large open area. At the edge of the area was a storage area like a warehouse, piled with a few items. Among them, the monster carcasses occupied most of the space, and there were also many monster bones that seemed to have been used by the Dragon Ant to grind its teeth.

There were some materials in the corner. An animal skin scroll seemed very striking and unique among the other materials in the pile. The animal skin scroll was folded in several layers, but even then, it was as big as a tabletop. The scroll was white, and the white skin felt good to the touch. The soft, warm skin was smooth, fresh, and perfectly preserved, except for a tear in the upper right corner.

Opening the animal skin scroll, Gao Peng almost thought he was looking at a cartoon. There were black lines on the scroll, smooth and simple. The simple lines looked odd, but they were enough to tell that this was a map.

The map recorded a path from the lower right corner of the scroll to the upper left corner. There were also rough arrows that could be used to determine the direction according to the pattern.

In the bottom right corner was a drawing of a big-headed lizard, its head almost a third of its entire body, and it had two little tiny wings. Gao Peng had never seen such a strange animal, but this was supposed to be the place the Dragon Ants had come from.

Gao Peng couldn't help but think of three words—Dragon Death Valley. Could this be Dragon Death Valley?

Going up to Dragon Death Valley, they would pass a river and forest along the way, and also a terrain that Gao Peng was unable to identify from its depiction.

There were also patterns of labyrinths along the way. There was one located next to the final destination shown in the upper left corner, and a matchstick figure with six arms was painted next to it.

This isn't a six-armed giant, is it?

No one knew how far Dragon Death Valley was from there. Before, Gao Peng might have thought that it was too far away, but if he could tame these seven small Dragon Ants and train them in Dragon Death Valley, they could become seven powerful combat forces.

Maybe I can try to tame these seven Dragon Ants, Gao Peng secretly thought to himself. The White Dragon Tribe's ace familiar was a dragon. Gao Peng thought he could also tame monsters that could restrain dragons, so as to be prepared.

Gao Peng left the Dragon Ant's nest after putting the materials and the monster carcasses and bones into Silly's portable space.

"Do you know what this is?" Gao Peng squatted down in front of the seven small Dragon Ants and showed them the animal skin scroll.

"No idea."

"It smells like home…." said the small Dragon Ants, bewildered.

"I know! Mother told me that this is the map to home," Second Baby announced loudly. It looked around haughtily after speaking, as if saying, None of you knew, only me.

"Then how did you know?" These babies weren't convinced at that moment.

"The last time I saw it was when I snuck in for a snack. I even took a bite, and then I was scolded by mother," Second Baby recounted proudly.

"Ah, we're so jealous. We can't believe that mother punished you behind our backs," said the other small Dragon Ants in envy.

Gao Peng was speechless.

In the next few days, with the flesh and blood essence of the King-tier monster found in the Dragon Ant's nest, Flamy was able to break through to the King tier easily. In the myths, the Bi Fang bird had blue feathers, while Flamy's feathers were only red. However, after breaking through to King-tier, a circle of blue feathers had appeared around its neck.

The flames that it spat out were no longer pure red, but rather, red flames with many light blue spots, not to mention that Gao Peng had noticed that the flame was more powerful. This was mainly reflected in Flamy's new monster ability, Spiritual Burning Level 3.

Perhaps because Goldie had named them, the group of Dragon Ants baby liked to play with Goldie, besides Little Seventh, of course.

But Little Seventh followed Flamy all the time, likely because Flamy had stood up for its name before.

"Stop following me. You can't even fly!" Flamy was about to go crazy.

Report chapter

Chapter 513: Earthen Medusa, Bi Fang

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

In the sky, this Dragon Ant liked to always follow behind its back. Whenever it flew up high, the Dragon Ant would stand up like a human and scream loudly. It sounded miserable, like a child that had been abandoned at home.

"I can fly! Someday, I will fly up to the sky," Little Seventh said to Flamy in a serious tone. The expression in its eyes was extremely solemn, as if it was much older.

Looking into Little Seventh's eyes, Flamy couldn't bear to make fun of it. After all, it was good to have dreams. "Good luck," wished Flamy.

Gao Peng took a look at the map and followed it, heading south. When he opened the map, it was difficult to see any obvious landmarks on the southern plains. The labyrinth was an eye-catching sign. This time, he was on the road for thirteen days until the labyrinth appeared before his eyes.

"It's here, the labyrinth on the map," Gao Peng said to himself. It was a common stone labyrinth and not that large. On the map, there was a mermaid with a tail that had become slightly more pointed and hair that had grown slightly longer.

Gao Peng looked like he was deep in thought. "This must be a mermaid, though I've never seen one before."

Considering the size and type of labyrinth, one could usually tell the level of the monsters there. The level of this mermaid shouldn't be higher than Emperor-tier. Moreover, legend has it that mermaids are pretty and kind. They're man's best friend.

The labyrinth looked old from the outside. The green front door was made of bronze, with two bronze rings hanging from the right and left.

"Flowing Light, go knock on the door," ordered Gao Peng. With Flowing Light's speed, even if there was any danger, it would still be able to escape.

Flowing Light didn't decline. It went up and knocked on the door frame with the edge of its knife.

Dong, dong, dong. The knocking sound on the bronze door didn't travel far in the spacious plain before vanishing from the air.

The owner of the labyrinth was startled. The sounds of sand rustling could be heard coming from behind the door; it sounded like something was gliding across the floor.

The strangest thing was how this mermaid had survived. Mythical mermaids all lived in the sea, or at least in rivers and lakes. After all, they had a human's body with a fish's tail.

Could it be that there's a pool in the labyrinth? Gao Peng was suddenly curious.

The green bronze door opened slowly. Gao Peng had a feeling that danger was closing in on them. "This isn't good, hide!" Gao Peng immediately ordered Flowing Light and the other familiars to retreat. This feeling of danger made Gao Peng's blood run cold.

Flowing Light's body withdrew immediately, leaving a ray of light behind. The other familiars all had their guards up and stared alertly at the open green-bronze door.

A charming and slender figure stood in front of the opened bronze door quietly. What were those eyes? Gentle, yet seductive, with two different expressions intertwined. Thick dark green hair hung down like dreadlocks, and on top of these dreadlocks were small snakes with closed eyes. Its skin was an abnormally light green. Its upper body was covered with interwoven wood and leaves. From its belly button down, it was completely a snake's tail, and on the gorgeous tail were circular patterns.

When he made eye contact with its gaze, Gao Peng's heart skipped a beat, and inexplicable energy entered his soul.

Snake hair and a snake tail; it was Medusa! The legend of Medusa was widely known, especially her weird and penetrating power to petrify victims.

Gao Peng quickly shut his eyes, but it was too late. The energy had already entered his body. This energy flowed around his bloodstream a few times and then was transferred to Dumby, who was beside him.

But when the energy came in contact with Dumby's body, it disappeared without any trace.

[Monster Name: Earthen Medusa

[Monster Level: Level 62 (Emperor-tier)

[Monster Grade: Epic/Epic

[Monster Attribute: Rock/Mystic

[Monster Weakness: Weaker close combat ability among creatures of the same level.

[Monster Skills: Sturdy Scales Level 4, Venomous Snake Hair Level 5, Sharp Claws and Teeth Level 3, Snake Hair Regeneration Level 3, Snake Hair Toughness Level 3, Snake Hair Extension Level 3

[Special Characteristics: Eyes of Medusa (every power that Medusa possessed is also their signature talent.

Passive Effect 1: Every element that comes in contact with Medusa's eyes will have to undergo a petrifying test. Elements that cannot pass the petrifying test will then be petrified. This power cannot be shielded from.

Active Effect 1: Releasing a ray of petrifying light, any elements that are hit by the light will undergo the petrifying test even without meeting Medusa's eyes. Elements that do not pass the test will be petrified.

Note: Earth elements have higher immunity against Medusa's eyes.

Note: Medusa's snake hair can lift the petrifying effect.

Note: Health condition will affect the element's resistance against the petrifying effect.

Note: Medusa's eyes are unable to petrify monsters of Mythical-grade and higher.)

[Monster Description: Medusa, who lives on land, is quiet and likes to live alone. Because of its petrifying ability, it has few friends, therefore Medusa is often unsociable and will display odd characteristics after a long time.

At that moment, almost all the familiars under Gao Peng looked toward Medusa. Silly, seven Dragon Ants, Flowing Light, Flamy, and Goldie were all petrified to different degrees.

Among them, the seven Dragon Ants, which were at the lowest level, were fully petrified.

The only one that was able to escape was Desolion. The moment Desolion was warned by Gao Peng, it immediately turned its head. After surviving for so long in this dark world, it understood the weird powers of some monsters that it would easily fall for if it was careless.

Earthen Medusa glanced at Gao Peng and the others with a tilted head. Looking at the few familiars that were petrified before its eyes, it felt a bit sorry for them. Its hands ran through its hair as it chopped off ten strands of snake hair, grasping them in hand.

It threw the snake hair toward Gao Peng and coldly said, "Put the hair on their bodies."

The ends of its chopped snake hair continued to grow. Strands of hair were growing out of the wound, and new hair formed in no time.

Gao Peng took the hair from it. The hair was like real snakes, so touching it felt icy cold, wet, and smooth, and even the scales on it were lifelike.

When the snake hair was put on the petrified bodies of the Dragon Ants, the closed-eyed snakes suddenly opened their eyes and bit the petrified bodies like they were sucking on jelly, swallowing a large amount of grayish-white mist from the petrified bodies.

As the grayish-white mist disappeared, the Dragon Ants' stone-like bodies returned to their original pale gold color. When the mist was completely sucked away, the snake hair withered, falling onto the ground and decomposing into the soil.

It was the same for the other familiars. Soon, everything was lifted from them.

Dumby and Stripey were the only ones that could look Medusa in the eyes. One of them was completely immune because of its high grade, and the other had very high resistance against Earth elements.

Goldie stared blankly at the soles of its feet. This must be a very strong monster, since I can't even look it in the eye. Is this the level of strong monsters?!

Report chapter

Chapter 514: Earthen Medusa's Past

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

Except for Dumby and Stripey, Gao Peng could also look into Medusa's eyes, since the harm was transferred to Dumby…

But this Medusa had what was considered a good temper, totally different from the fierce Medusa in mythology.

Medusa and Gao Peng exchanged glances, and it said softly, "There are very few monsters that can talk to me while making proper eye contact. Can you talk to me for a while?"

"My pleasure." Gao Peng gave it a standard formal smile.

Medusa smiled lightly.

Dumby was following Gao Peng as if it was his bodyguard. It would be there to break Medusa's neck once it showed any sign of abnormal behavior.

Gao Peng and Medusa talked for a long time. This Medusa had come from another labyrinth far away from this one. It was born there, and that giant labyrinth was dozens of times larger than this one.

After it turned into an adult, it was driven away from the labyrinth by its mother, since Medusa was of the kind that didn't like to live in groups.

Their secluded character made it difficult to coexist with other species except during a period of reproduction. Even their own offspring were treated the same.

Listening to what the Medusa in front of him had said, its mother was actually considered to have a good temper, which was absolutely rare, since it had only been driven away when it became an adult.

But of course, Medusas had no specific gender. They were, in fact, hermaphrodites, or at least, this was true for the Medusas in the Black Fog World.

Their mating process was similar to that of snakes, where they would entangle, while the stronger one would become the "mother" and the weaker one would act as the "father." Thus, it was possible for one to either be a father or a mother.

Gao Peng listened with gusto, as these were facts that he had never heard of.

"Do you want to go with me? I'm a wandering monster trainer, and these are my monsters. Let's go on an adventure together. Perhaps you'll meet another Medusa." Gao Peng tempted the Earthen Medusa.

But the Earthen Medusa rejected him. These temptations had no effect on it. It didn't like to be in contact with other Medusas and also disliked lively environments. It liked to stay alone in the depths of the maze, watching the changing of the seasons, looking at the majestic sea, seeing these things as the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Gao Peng didn't understand its thoughts, but he wouldn't force anyone to follow him if they were unwilling to. The Medusa waited until Gao Peng and the others were gone before returning to the labyrinth.

Deep in the labyrinth was a small and exquisite stone house. There were some fine stone sculptures on the empty land in front of the stone house.

The stone sculptures were both large and small, and they consisted of different types. The smallest one was a fist-sized stone sparrow with its wings closed. It looked gentle, and its eyelids were hanging down, just like it was falling asleep. The large stone sculptures included all sorts of monsters.

The Earthen Medusa sat on the stone bench, hand under its chin as it looked at the sculptures, then slowly closed its eyes.

A hundred years before, a two-foot-tall little Medusa had left the labyrinth for the first time and stepped foot into the forest outside. In the empty forest, a group of small chirpy sparrows had been flying over. It was curious since it had never seen a sparrow before.

At that time, it hadn't awoken the Eyes of Medusa yet. With kindness, it had soon become friends with the sparrows.

However, one day, a sharp-toothed wolf suddenly rushed out from the forest when it was playing with the sparrows. At that critical juncture, it awakened the Eyes of Medusa to petrify the wolf. Unfortunately, two of the sparrows accidentally flew in front of its eyes and turned into stones. The other sparrows flew away in horror. They thought it was an ominous monster, and they had never appeared again since.

The little Medusa had felt wronged as it laid on the ground holding the two sparrows that had turned into stones. It saved the two sparrows with its hair. One escaped after, and the other was willing to stay and become friends.

It was the only friend it had; a sparrow.

When it made contact with others later, although it tried to avoid using its eyes as much as possible, their power was too horrible, so there were always accidental injuries. All the monsters who made friends with the Medusa for various purposes at first had ended up leaving. The only one which stayed was the sparrow.

It clearly remembered that it had accidentally "injured" and petrified the sparrow six times, yet the sparrow didn't seem to mind. Every time after being relieved of the petrified curse, it happily flew in circles above the Medusa's head. "Hey, this is really great. I think I'm living again, don't you think so?"

Every time this happened, Medusa would bow its head down and not dare to look up at its friend for fear of accidentally injuring it again. "I'll pay attention next time."

It was ridiculous to say that it had been friends with the sparrow for 30 years, but there were only a handful of times when it made eye contact after awakening the Eye of Medusa.

Sparrows had a limited lifespan, commonly about ten years, but the sparrow had extended its life to 30 years after eating the many spirit fruits Medusa gave it. However, this was already the limit.

At the end of its life, the sparrow said to Medusa, "I don't think that you're a Medusa. I've never heard of a kind of Medusa like you.

"Did you know? Medusas as kind as you are the most easily deceived," the sparrow said seriously. At this time, the sparrow's eyelashes had already turned white, and the feathers on the top of its head and wings had turned gray. It was too old, resembling a wise man.

"Did you know that when we first came into contact with you, all we wanted was to trick you into giving us some spirit fruits?" asked the sparrow.

"How can sparrows take the initiative to make friends with a Medusa? It was because you were a Medusa, and we knew that in those pockets of yours held the spirit fruits that we needed to prolong our lives, so we got close to you."

Medusa didn't burst into anger and merely smiled, "That's actually not so bad."

Medusa didn't care about the fruits. There were many fruit trees in its mother's yard and it could just casually pick some to eat. It was wonderful if the fruits could be exchanged for some friends.

"You…" The sparrow was suddenly speechless. What a fool! It wanted to be angry at Medusa, but couldn't bring itself to do so. But… it was because of its foolishness that the sparrow had agreed to be its friend.

The sparrow smiled and looked up at the sky, where there were two round blue moons above, leaving the back garden extraordinarily quiet under the night sky.

"Medusa, I would like to see you," the sparrow said suddenly.

"Okay." Medusa raised its head and closed its eyes. Its light green skin was dyed blue by the moonlight, the skin on its face smooth and glowing.

After staring for five seconds, the sparrow blinked. "I would like to see you with your eyes open."

"You'll be petrified," Medusa said with its eyes closed.

"…I have lived too long and will probably die tonight. I want to really look at you before I die. When I'm petrified, don't save me; just let me become a stone to stay with you," the sparrow said sincerely.

Medusa opened its eyes and the sparrow looked at it while standing on the branch. "Your eyes look beautiful." These were the sparrow's last words before it was petrified.

The Earthen Medusa blinked and woke up from the memory. The stone sculpture in front of it had two little claws grasping the branches tightly with its head tilted to one side, its eyes silently uttering words as if it was still alive.

Report chapter

Chapter 515: Inferno King Crab

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

"Gao Peng, that Medusa is pretty good at playing games," Goldie said casually. "It actually took the initiative to cut its hair off to save people.

"Why don't you go make it yours?" Goldie suddenly touched on an idea.

"It's not willing to be caught. I can't just tie it to a tree and force it to." Gao Peng laughed and knocked Goldie lightly on the head.

Dong—

A clear, brisk sound indicated a good hit. Goldie smiled faintly; it still thought that this could really work. It didn't matter if a forcibly plucked melon wasn't sweet as long as it could quench one's thirst.

It was beyond Gao Peng's expectations that the artwork of the Big Dragon Ant was so quaint and elegant as to depict Medusa like a mermaid. They were lucky that Medusa wasn't malicious, as this was the first time Gao Peng had confronted a neutral, and even friendly, monster. What a pity it was that just being friendly didn't make one willing to join him.

Looking at the labyrinth on the map that seemed like a child's doodles, Gao Peng couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

How about we continue walking to the south? Gao Peng was looking at the map of the next maze, where there was a marking in the monster's doodles—a crab. It was a big, stout looking crab, with two claws occupying almost a third of its body.

Gao Peng pondered for a while, could this possibly have been… a spider? He glanced at his feet with a guilty conscience—a spider deviating from its course.

Stripey was happily playing with mud, pressing onto it while walking. With a swipe from its claws, the mud on the ground flung into the sky, crumbling into balls of dirt. These mud balls, with a diameter of nine to twelve feet, were considered tiny to Stripey. With one kick, the mud balls flew out with a thump.

Using its Earth element, Stripey had created a huge pit in the distant horizon. The mud balls rolled a few times and finally ended up dropping into the pit.

Goldie became excited and also started kicking. Boom. The mud balls burst, and the mud spilled all over Goldie.

There wasn't much entertainment on the journey. For the Desolate Frost Lion who had already lived in the Black Fog World, the journey wasn't boring at all, yet for the little familiars like Goldie who had lived in the big city since they were young and had already grown used to the comforts of the human world, the loneliness of this tedious life with no entertainment, movies, animations, dramas, games, or novels in the Black Fog World was beyond imagination.

Fortunately, these familiars were naive. They had adapted themselves easily to this kind of dull life, fully appreciating self-entertainment.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the city to the barbarous suburbs, they could have been in danger at any minute. Despite the risk, it was extremely thrilling.

Moving freely in the Black Fog World was still considered inconvenient for Gao Peng, who owned an Emperor-tier and a bunch of King-tier familiars, not to mention monsters with levels lower than the Emperor tier.

Bang! The ground ahead split open. Seven or eight brawny tentacles drilled through the layers of ground from different directions and launched an attack on Goldie, who was walking at the front. The top part of each tentacle looked like a ruptured mouth in the shape of a chrysanthemum, attacking Goldie with the malicious stench of murder. The teeth on the tentacles were tremendously sharp, leaving tons of bloody scratch marks on Goldie.

A purple light flashed, and Goldie grew in size along with the activation of its passive skill. The tentacles that surrounded Goldie were tightly stretched, and with an upward stroke of its arm, the tentacles of the King-tier ground monster were torn off alive as thick yellow blood sputtered out.

With a nasty grin, Goldie broke the ground beneath it with a punch, sticking its arm into the dirt as it caught onto something. Using brute force, Goldie pulled out a muscular tentacle with numerous beige teeth growing out of the side. The whole monster below the ground was pulled out along with its tentacles.

A frightening shriek cut through the air. The sound frequency of the ground monster was so low that it was almost inaudible to ordinary people. They lived underground and liked to hide in the soil when hunting for their prey. Once prey was close, they would burst out from the group and tie their prey up, then use their tentacles to strangle the victim to death, just like how a python killed their victims by strangling them.

There was quite a number of ground monsters living in these plains. The ground monsters that Gao Peng had encountered were between Commander and King-tier. They were a type of immensely sinister and fierce monsters.

They tasted good, too, just like squids and very chewy. The cumin, chili noodles, MSG, and pepper that Gao Peng had brought along came in handy. As the saying went, no matter what food it was, after grilling it with fire and sprinkling some cumin on top, the smell would be irresistible.

The ground monster coming out of the soil was just like a fish coming out of water, terrifyingly flapping its tentacles in the air, then a few punches from Goldie brought it to its grave… Ten minutes later, the older outer skin was peeled off, exposing the fresh light purple inner meat.

Flamy squatted at the side, spitting fire to help with the barbeque.

Goldie acted like a mentor, continuously giving advice to Flamy. "Slower, slower, your fire is getting strong… Here, I asked you to spit the fire here, not on top, your fire went off target!"

Flamy was flustered. "Fine. Spit fire and grill it yourself. Don't order me around."

Goldie sighed and shook its head. "Fatty, why are you so hot-tempered? I'm doing this for your own good. We can train your control of flame with this."

"When did Goldie learn how to barbeque?" Flowing Light was astonished.

The Desolate Frost Lion crawled onto Stripey's back and said softly, "When did you ever see him learn how to barbeque?"

"Then…" Flowing Light turned around and looked at Goldie, who was instructing Flamy in a serious tone.

Half an hour later, Goldie held a black piece of burnt ground monster meat and sighed. "Fatty, there's a problem with your fire. You need more practice."

Flamy was dumbfounded.

Continuing the journey down south, there were fewer and fewer plants growing out of the soil, as this was a desert. In the center of the desert, there was a labyrinth, where according to the map, there were many monsters.

The flesh essence of monsters could be used to restore the grades of familiars that were lowered during an upgrade in tier. Until now, Flamy's grade still hadn't returned to Legendary, and the grades of both the Desolate Frost Lion and Flowing Light were also lowered a level after an increase in tier.

"Um, isn't this an abstract painting?" Gao Peng was extremely surprised while looking at the enormous flaming red crab ahead of him. It really was a crab!

On the back of the flaming red crab's shell were immensely sharp barbs, growing tightly all over its back. From afar, it almost seemed like its back was on fire. Its two huge claws were extremely overbearing, while the eyes located on top of its head slanted sideways to look at Gao Peng and his team in disdain.

[Monster Name: Inferno King Crab

[Monster Level: Level 68

[Monster Grade: Perfect/Epic

[Monster Attribute: Fire

[Monster Weakness: Water

[Monster Skills: Hardened Shell Level 5, Rampage Claw Level 6, Energy Amplification Level 4, Flame Resistance Level 5, Flame Control Level 4

[Special Characteristics: Swallowing Fire (Born in an inferno, the Inferno King Crab has an innate ability to swallow flames.

Passive Effect 1: Weakened by all flame attacks.

Active Effect 1: Able to swallow certain types of flames and transform its own flame power into these types of flames in a short span, lasting a certain period of time.)

[Monster Description: The Inferno King Crab was born in the flames, likes to wallow in the fire from a young age, and is most eager to eat flames. When they were young, most crabs' Flame Resistance wasn't strong enough, hence, most Inferno King Crabs died by being burned alive in the flames at infancy due to their hunger.

Report chapter

Chapter 516: Gang Up

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

Some of the Inferno King Crab's brothers and sisters were burned alive for gorging themselves on their favorite snack. This reminded Gao Peng of mankind's own self-destructive behavior in its eternal quest for profit.

The Inferno King Crab stared at Gao Peng and company, motionless. After a while, as if its eyes had grown tired from all that staring, it turned around and gave them a sideways glance.

The Inferno King Crab had an intense look on its face, as if wondering why all these people had decided to bother it.

Bang! One of its huge pincers slammed into the desert, raising a 20-foot-tall geyser of sand. Thinking's too hard! Time to smash!

Flames erupted from the crab's body before converging into a massive ball of fire that hurtled through the air towards Gao Peng. The inferno screamed in the wind. Tongues of fire licked at the ground ravenously. The ground cracked in its path, every particle of water in the air being evaporated by the intense heat.

Stripey took a step forward and plunged its claws into the earth. Boom!

It took a few steps back, eyeing the Inferno King Crab in surprise. This thing's strong. Ever since it had become an actual mountain, it had been a long time since Stripey had encountered any other creature capable of pushing it back.

"This crab is strong," said Gao Peng in amazement.

"Yes, its strength is incredible. I probably would have to activate my passive ability at least a few hundred times just to push Stripey back like that," said Goldie, who was impressed as well.

"I guess miracles do happen," said Flamy pensively.

Dumby was looking at the Inferno King Crab with admiration. It certainly has the air of a tyrant. It would make a fine addition to my undead army.

"Wow, you're so strong. Don't be shy; show us a few more tricks. Here, have some oranges," shouted Bei Zhi and Nan Ju as they threw a couple of oranges at the Inferno King Crab from Stripey's head.

The oranges landed on the crab's head. In an instant, they melted in the heat that the crab's shell was giving off. At that moment, Gao Peng and his familiars were pointing and gawking at the crab, in awe of its awesome strength.

The Inferno King Crab was livid. What do you take me for? A circus attraction?

The crab angrily slammed its body against Stripey. Anger was coming off of it in waves.

It was like watching Gong Gong crashing into Bu Zhou mountain. Boom!

This time, Stripey was prepared. Impressive as it might have seemed on the outside, the impact barely budged Stripey. Stripey had recently reached Level 59, just a few levels away from the Emperor tier.

It might not have been as powerful as other Emperor-tier monsters in terms of elemental mastery or pure physical strength, but when it came to raw power, nothing could compare to Stripey.

The Inferno King Crab was stunned. Strange. Why can't I push it over? This thing's only taller than me by a few feet. When did it suddenly become so strong?

Thanks to the Guise Fruit's size-altering effect, Stripey looked about as tall as a 30-story building.

The Inferno King Crab's torso was at least 30 feet long. If it were to stand up on its hind legs, it could probably reach 20 feet tall. The heights of both monsters were in the double digits.

The crab might have been a dullard and a tyrant, but it certainly wasn't a fool. It took a few steps back and held up its pincers over its eyes. It then opened one of its pincers and peered through it at Gao Peng and the others.

Something seemed off. These people should have long fled by now.

Gao Peng began weighing his options. The White Steel Bladed Beast's monster tier was too low. It could easily hurt itself if it tried to pick a fight with the Inferno King Crab. Goldie would have to activate its passive effect a number of times before it could take on the crab. Desolion's monster tier wasn't high enough to challenge the crab, either…

Gao Peng didn't think that it would be wise to let Dumby enter the battlefield just yet. None of his familiars were capable of countering the Inferno King Crab's skillset. Most of the crab's abilities were also a few levels higher than those of his familiars.

It seemed to rely heavily on brute strength to overwhelm its opponents. However, its movements were sluggish. It also didn't seem to have any high-level elemental abilities.

Gao Peng figured that they should proceed with caution. In addition, this was also a good opportunity to raise his familiars' combat power.

"Dumby and Stripey, you two stay put. The rest of you, move in on the crab together," ordered Gao Peng.

"Goldie, hang back just a bit and let Flamy attack you. Flamy, attack Goldie so that it can build up its passive effect. Desolion, distract the Inferno King Crab by attacking it head-on. Flowing Light, back Desolion up. Focus your attacks on any redlines that appear around the crab's appendages and joints.

"As for the Dragon Slaying Chapter… just stay there and maybe flip a few pages if you're feeling bored. Xiao Cao, you're on healing duty. Any time any of them gets hurt, heal them. Silly… make sure nothing drops out of your portable space."

Gao Peng didn't let Flamy attack the Inferno King Crab with its flames, as he knew the crab might turn them against Flamy and the others with its flame-devouring ability. Things could become a touch dicey if the crab was allowed to replicate Flamy's flames and use them against it.

Flamy's fire wasn't any ordinary fire; it was able to inflict burning damage on its opponent's soul.

Gao Peng could only give his familiars a somewhat broad plan on how to proceed with the upcoming battle. His familiars would have to figure out the specifics on their own along the way. He was like a hunter giving his hunting dog only a general idea of how best to approach its quarry and the occasional order to pull out when things seemed a little dodgy. It would be unrealistic of him to micromanage his familiars' every moves.

If that were the case, his familiars would become so used to being told what to do by him that they wouldn't even bat an eye if they were told to jump off a cliff.

"Chirrup?" Moneymaker was hugging Gao Peng's pants. What about me? You didn't give me any orders.

"You're their cheerleader," said Gao Peng encouragingly.

Desolion leapt forth, leaving a trail of ice and swirling mist in its wake. This immediately caught the Inferno King Crab's attention.

Flowing Light crept around the crab and nestled in the sand, where it quietly observed the crab's every move. It saw a faint red line floating up from the Inferno King Crab's shell.

Flowing Light shook its head. Not this one. Master told me to strike at its joints and legs. I'll wait for the next one.

Goldie shut its eyes and opened its arms wide, bracing itself for Flamy's attacks, which Flamy subsequently unleashed upon it. In an instant, Goldie was engulfed in flames. Flashes of light appeared across its body as Flamy's fire burned around it.

Is this dumb duck being roasted alive? thought Flamy. A shiver ran down its spine.

Xiao Cao had rooted itself on Stripey's head. It was now swaying gently in the wind, letting dandelions float down from its head. Soon, points of white light filled the air over the battlefield.

Boom! Fire and ice clashed against one another. The Inferno King Crab angrily slammed its pincer into the desert, leaving a huge crater in it.

A streak of white light shot through the falling sand. Desolion instantly froze the air around it with one swing of its paw before landing heavily on the crab's head.

Clang! Its frozen claws clanged against the crab's shell, sending shards of ice flying into the air upon impact. The lion's attack barely left a scratch on the latter.

That's a really hard shell.

Report chapter

Chapter 517: Bi Fang Soul Dispersal Technique

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

The white claw marks on the crab's shell began to fade away. A few seconds later, it was back to normal.

Desolion frowned. There was no way it could penetrate the crab's defenses at its current power level. Even back in its prime, the crab would probably still give it a hard time. Though it had reached King-tier, it was still a long way from Emperor tier.

Despite being equipped with years of experience on the battlefield, there was only so much Desolion could do to it, especially against an opponent which was just as experienced as itself in the art of combat.

The Inferno King Crab was now swathed in flames. The inferno raging around it had scorched the desert red.

Gao Peng finally understood how this desert had come to be. The earth had probably been desiccated by this ill-tempered Inferno King Crab every time it threw a tantrum until the place was completely transformed into a desert, bereft of water and nutrients.

The crab angrily clacked its pincers at its opponent. Flames swirled around them in the form of a fiery cyclone that consumed everything in its path. A long tongue of fire lashed out from one of the pincers' maw. Flames cascaded from the crab's body on all sides.

The desert was instantly turned into a sea of fire, in the middle of which the Inferno King Crab held its pincers aloft like a pair of red-hot hammers.

Bam! The crab slammed its pincers against each other. Both of them seemed to be throbbing with heat.

Then it swung its red-hot pincers towards Desolion. The latter could feel an oppressive pressure weighing down on it as the crab's pincers drew closer. Desolion roared as it conjured multiple ice walls before itself in an attempt to block the crab's pincers.

However, the pincers managed to break through the ice walls with ease. Upon impact, they cleaved through the ice walls that the lion had put up before itself as if they were mere sheets of paper.

A sudden gust of wind blew around the Desolate Frost Lion, threatening to pull it towards the oncoming pincers.

Seeing that Desolion was in danger, Flowing Light launched itself across the desert to come to the lion's aid. It could see countless crimson lines bisecting the Inferno King Crab's body, one of which was positioned near the joint connecting one of its legs to its torso.

It lunged at the crab, blade flashing out. The tip of its blade broke through the crab's shell like a hot knife through butter.

There was a flash of red light. An unseen force seeped into the crab's wound. The Inferno King Crab, which was standing solidly on the ground like a mountain, suddenly tipped to the left.

This slight slant in the crab's posture was enough to deviate its pincers' trajectory by a few degrees. The pincers grazed past the Desolate Frost Lion as they fell to the ground.

Boom! A nearby dune was leveled by the impact.

The Inferno King Crab's pincers were wedged deep in the sand, which threatened to pull the crab's entire body underground.

It managed to pull its pincers out of the sand, but not before struggling for a bit. Thick streams of sand flowed down from them as they hung above its head once more.

Flowing Light immediately ran off as soon as its blade found its mark, then hid in the sand, safely away from the Inferno King Crab, where it continued watching the ongoing battle.

The Desolate Frost Lion had pulled itself away from the Inferno King Crab. Even though the crab's pincer attack had missed it by mere inches, the heat it gave off was enough to burn the fur on the lion's forehead and chest to a scorched black.

Before it could tend to its fur, the enraged Inferno King Crab was already charging towards it, holding its pincers up in the air menacingly like a pair of shields. They were, after all, its sturdiest weapons.

There was a sudden rush of air. Goldie, whose body had expanded considerably thanks to Flamy's repeated attacks, rushed forward to intercept the Inferno King Crab's advances.

Goldie now towered over the Inferno King Crab, which barely even had time to contemplate the appearance of its new opponent. The massive duck was able to catch the crab's pincers with its bare hands.

The Inferno King Crab's pupils shrank. It felt as if its pincers had suddenly hit something hard.

Goldie was now holding the crab's pincers in its hands. The tiny barbs on the pincers' surface managed to pierce through its skin, causing it to bleed from its palms. There was a grim smile on Goldie's face. "I'm going to teach you how to be a proper monster," it said through gritted teeth.

Goldie then leaped atop the Inferno King Crab's back. A sharp pain stabbed its buttocks as soon as they hit the crab's shell.

Tiny hook-shaped barbs covered the Inferno King Crab's entire shell. As there was no way around it, Goldie had no choice but to endure the pain as it slammed its fists repeatedly against the crab's head.

The Inferno King Crab's low-level flames didn't seem to have any effect on Goldie other than activating Goldie's passive effect a couple more times. Goldie and the Inferno King Crab began wrestling with each other.

Soon, the Inferno King Crab was able to turn the tables against Goldie. It pinned the latter to the ground, one of its pincers piercing into the duck's elbow.

Goldie could feel that its arm was about to be torn off. The crab's pincer was relentlessly tearing through its muscles.

Goldie tried to pull its arm out of the crab's pincer. However, the crab tightened its grip around the duck's arm even more.

"Baldie!" shouted Flamy. A sharp cry escaped its beak. It seemed to resonate with the souls of every living creature in the vicinity.

Bi Fang Soul Dispersal Technique! Even though every living creature could hear it, that didn't mean that it would bring harm to those within earshot.

To Gao Peng, Flamy's cry came only as a minor irritant to his ears. However, to the Inferno King Crab, it was not unlike having a sharp thorn embedded deep in its soul. An excruciating pain gripped its body at that moment.

Goldie immediately seized the opportunity to break free from the crab's grip. It was shocked and somewhat disorientated from its fight with the Inferno King Crab. This crab is strong. It completely outclassed me.

The white points of light that Xiao Cao had released into the air settled upon Goldie's injuries, which immediately stopped bleeding and began healing.

Doesn't matter. I might not be a match for you right now, but soon… I'll be able to put you in your place. Goldie cricked its neck menacingly. After resting for a while, it charged back onto the battlefield, raring to resume its fight with the Inferno King Crab.

Boom, boom, boom!

With Dumby's support, the battle finally came to a conclusion.

Goldie was now standing 160 feet tall, so tall that Flamy barely reached its heel. Its body was riddled with wounds that seemed to have been caused by something sharp. Scabs had formed over most of them, giving Goldie a battered look.

There were a few close calls during the fight. Dumby and the others had to intervene a couple of times in order to allow Goldie to persist in its fight with the Inferno King Crab.

The Inferno King Crab lay lifelessly on the desert surface, its eyes glazed. Its corpse was still warm. Its crimson shell had cracked, its appendages torn off. The bottom of its torso was covered with a network of spidery cracks. Yellow bodily fluids were oozing profusely from its injuries.

"Break the corpse apart and see if you can find something nice inside," said Gao Peng hopefully. It was like opening a treasure chest in an RPG game; he had no idea what he was going to get until the crab's corpse was properly disassembled to its barest components.

"Before I forget, I would like to ask you something." Gao Peng turned to the altar. "Can you filter the traits of other monsters as well?"

The dwarf on the altar asked, "What do you mean by 'traits'?"

Gao Peng raised an eyebrow. It would seem that the word "trait" didn't exist in the local vernacular.

"I meant the unique characters a monster has awakened in itself," explained Gao Peng.

The dwarf hesitated for a moment. "I'm not sure. It depends on one's luck. A monster's innate abilities are harder to process compared to its flesh and soul. The element of chance plays a huge role in the process. I've only ever done this twice."

Report chapter

Chapter 518: Flame Devourer Fruit

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

Upon being placed on the altar, the Inferno King Crab gradually shrank as if it was being cooked. Smoke began rising from the crab's shell into the air, as if the altar actually was cooking it.

Strange. Why did this cooking analogy suddenly pop into my head? thought Gao Peng, shaking his head. "How long will this take?"

The dwarf pondered Gao Peng's question for a moment. "Four days, give or take. This crab's level is higher than the ant from before. Breaking it down completely will be a lot harder."

"You've been telling me that you've broken down the bodies of gods and Overlord-tier monsters by the hundreds in the past, so why do I get the feeling that this is all just empty bragging on your part?" Gao Peng had a hard time believing that breaking down an Emperor-tier monster corpse would take so long, especially if the dwarf was as good as it claimed to be. If that were the case, wouldn't an Overlord-tier monster or higher take months or even years?

"I'm not in the best shape right now. My altar is still damaged. Back in my prime, I could definitely break down monster corpses a lot quicker," said the dwarf with an awkward cough.

The dwarf's display of its abilities so far had fallen short of all the expectations it had built up with its bragging to Gao Peng.

"So what will it take for you to regain your former glory?" Gao Peng wondered aloud.

"Just let me continue breaking down monster corpses." The dwarf's eyes twinkled. "Think of it as exercise. I also benefit from the process, if only slightly. Every monster corpse I disassemble will contribute to my altar's recovery."

"Oh? So how much have you recovered since joining my crew?" Gao Peng shot back.

The dwarf looked away, at times glancing at Gao Peng. It then let out another cough. "Probably only a hundredth."

Upon hearing what it said, Gao Peng knew that something was up. This altar had quite an appetite. Notwithstanding the corpses of two Emperor-tier monsters and a number of King-tier monsters that Gao Peng had already offered it, the altar was still a long way away from a full recovery. One might even liken it to a bottomless pit.

"Let's just take things slow, eh?" The dwarf didn't seem to mind this at all. It didn't have a strong concept of time. It was, in a manner of speaking, immortal. The Great Altar Cutter was no ordinary object. It had been stolen before and even reduced to a pile of rubble a few times.

However, none of that mattered in the long run. It was a permanent fixture in the tapestry of life. Even if it were reduced to dust, it would always put itself back together. The only problem was that this was a time-consuming process.

Even though it was long accustomed to this eternal cycle of deconstruction and reconstruction, the fact still remained that immortality could be a tad boring. It would never slip into a deep slumber unless it absolutely had to.

Only when one had tasted the boredom of immortality would one come to appreciate the meaning of life. The altar sometimes even treated the threat of pain as a welcome distraction from the tedium of eternity.

When night fell, Gao Peng ordered Goldie and the others to search the Inferno King Crab's den. The Inferno King Crab had kept huge amounts of Wood and Fire-type artifacts.

Even though a Fire-type monster such as itself couldn't directly absorb the wood element contained within Wood-type artifacts, it could still use them through indirect means. Wood-type artifacts usually worked well with fire elemental energy, especially in places that were abundant in the fire element.

On the other hand, most of the Fire-type monsters in the crab's den had all been consumed by it, save for a few that were still in their growing phase. The seven little Dragon Ants they found were completely submissive after witnessing Goldie's clash with the Inferno King Crab.

They had gradually come to terms with reality. They hadn't seen their mother in quite some time, so something must have happened to her. Even though reality was sometimes a bitter pill to swallow, the only thing they could do was make the best of it.

These seven little Dragon Ants had been working hard to appease Gao Peng the past few days.

Sometimes, the intelligence of these creatures far exceeded the human imagination, especially when their survival and evolution were concerned. Only then did their intelligence truly shine. Even though they could tell that Gao Peng was the weakest in the group, the seven Little Dragon Ants knew that the person they should be sucking up to was him.

After being fed and nurtured by Gao Peng for the past few days, the little Dragon Ants had each grown fatter and bigger than an adult golden retriever.

Elder Baby was standing on its hind legs right now, using its front legs to give Gao Peng a shoulder massage. Third Baby and Fourth Baby were curled up near Gao Peng's feet, both giving him a foot massage. The other little Dragon Ants were waiting in line to pamper Gao Peng.

Silly gave its juice box one last sip as it gazed at Gao Peng's back. After carefully placing the empty box back inside its portable space, Silly shook its body, which in an instant, expanded a few times back to its original size. It floated behind Gao Peng with a solemn look on its face.

Silly wrapped its tentacles around the little Dragon Ants that had surrounded Gao Peng, like an adult lion picking its cubs up with its mouth by the scruff of their necks. One by one, they were placed in an empty space nearby.

"Go play somewhere else. I'll give master a massage myself," declared Silly, asserting its monopoly over all things massage-related.

It then let its tentacles dangle over Gao Peng and began pinching and squeezing various parts of his body.

"Gao Peng, is this okay?" asked Silly.

Gao Peng was somewhat taken aback by Silly's sudden enthusiasm. Why does it suddenly want to give me a massage? However, he soon pushed his suspicions out of his mind and simply let Silly massage his body.

"Yes, it's just right, though you could try digging your tentacles deeper into my back. Also, I have quite a stiff neck after last night. Could you massage my shoulders some more?"

"Okayyyy."

Four days passed, and the Inferno King Crab had vanished without a trace on the altar. In its place were six items.

"I was able to break down the Inferno King Crab's corpse completely," said the dwarf proudly. "I think it had a dream while it was still alive."

"A dream?"

"You may not know this, but I've noticed something after centuries of breaking down so many monster corpses; the intensity of a monster's obsessions when it was alive tends to affect the number of materials I can make from it," explained the dwarf. "I have no idea why this happens."

"So do you know what this Inferno King Crab's dream was?"

"How should I know? I'm not a psychic." The dwarf yawned. "This disassembling business really wears me out. Go take a look at what you got. I'm sure you can identify your loot yourself."

The dwarf had seen many monsters and even humans in its lifetime, but it had never met anyone as strange as Gao Peng. Fundamentally speaking, only it knew the properties of the products of its disassembly process. However, Gao Peng was able to figure them all out on his own without being told what they were.

The dwarf wasn't interested in knowing his secret. If he didn't feel like letting it in on his secret, then that was fine.

"Go take a rest then." Gao Peng gathered up all six items that were left on the altar.

On the left were a Soul Essence and Meat Essence. Next were the crystallized products of the Inferno King Crab's Level-3 Energy Amplification, Level-3 Flame Resistance, and Level-3 Flame Control. The sixth and final item was a faint red twelve-sided crystal.

[Item Name: Flame Devourer Fruit

[Item Description: Any monster that consumes it will have a certain likelihood of obtaining the Flame Devourer ability. Usage is limited only to Fire-type monsters. Should the ability fail to adjust to its new host, it will be considerably weakened.

Report chapter

Limited only to Fire-type monsters… I guess this is for Flamy.

Gao Peng began explaining the pros and cons of consuming the fruit to Flamy, clarifying what would happen if its body failed to accept it and what sort of ability it would receive if its body succeeded.

Naturally, Flamy was willing to take the risk. Gao Peng will just have to take care of me for the rest of my life if the worst does come to pass, thought Flamy. I'm okay with that.

"Bring it on!" the bird said, puffing up its chest.

"You are one brave bird," said Gao Peng, impressed.

Flamy closed its eyes as it chewed on the fruit. It then laid down on the ground, wings spread out on both sides, its crimson feathers glistening beneath the sun.

The fruit soon took effect. Waves upon waves of pain began assaulting Flamy's brain with seemingly no end in sight. Flamy's body didn't feel any pain. The pain it was feeling right now seemed to be coming from deep within its soul. It soon fainted from the intense process.

This was probably for the best. At least it was spared from feeling any pain while it remained unconscious.

Flamy woke up the next day. Goldie, which had been watching over Flamy the whole night, immediately reported this to Gao Peng. "Gao Peng, Fattie woke up, Fattie woke up." The very foundations of heaven and earth seemed to quake as its voice carried for miles.

Flamy's eye twitched.

Gao Peng quickly rushed over.

Flamy was still somewhat groggy from its sleep. It looked at its surroundings with a dazed look on its face.

The only noticeable change Flamy had undergone after eating the Flame Devourer Fruit was losing a couple of pounds. Its belly had noticeably shrunk.

"So did it work, Gao Peng?" asked Flamy in a worried tone. Even though it was fine with Gao Peng taking care of it for the rest of its life, it still didn't want this to end in failure.

"It worked," said Gao Peng, nodding.

Upon hearing Gao Peng's "official" confirmation, Flamy heaved a sigh of relief, then felt an irrepressible urge to dance in joy. I am truly the greatest bird in existence.

[Monster Name: Sub-blood Bi Fang

[Monster Grade: Legendary

[Monster Attribute: Fire

[Monster Tier: Level 51 (King-tier)

[Monster Trait: Wings of Fire (omitted)

Soul Dispersal (omitted)

Flame Devourer (Originally the Inferno King Crab's innate talent, it was later extracted from its body and integrated into the Bi Fang bird's body.

Passive Effect 1: Increased fire resistance.

Active Effect 1: Automatically absorbs certain kinds of fire, whose essences are then used to strengthen the user's spiritual essence.)

[Monster Description: A Bi Fang bird with an impure bloodline. Various kinds of fire exist in this world, where both man and monster covet the title of king. Upon awakening its Flame Devourer ability, the Bi Fang bird now walks the path of taking power by force. All the flames in the world now belong to it.

Gao Peng frowned at what he had just read. Flamy nervously looked at Gao Peng, wondering if there was something wrong with it.

"It's nothing too serious. In fact, it's probably good for you," said Gao Peng assuringly.

Flamy grew even more nervous. Nothing almost always means something!

"I guess there's no point in hiding it from you. Your new ability seems to have mutated." Gao Peng began telling Flamy about the changes it had undergone.

Goldie's eyes lit up. It gave Flamy a pat on the back, the muscles on its arms rolling like waves. "Not bad, Fattie. Path of usurping power and whatnot. Sounds really cool if you ask me. Don't forget me when you make a name for yourself one day."

Flamy glared at Goldie. Usurping power, my *ss. You're not the one bearing this burden.

"Don't worry too much about it. Whatever it is you're going to take over in the future, we'll always be by your side," consoled Gao Peng.

Flamy calmed down somewhat. It couldn't have cared less about wealth or glory, and it wasn't as given to histrionics as Goldie was. Flamy's Wings of Fire had already given it a boost in fire resistance. Its newly gained Flame Devourer ability had increased this ability even further.

Gao Peng asked the dwarf if it had ever heard of this path of usurping power.

The dwarf was stunned. "Why the hell would you want to know that?"

Gao Peng had only casually posed this question to the dwarf. He hadn't expected it to have an answer for him. "So tell me. What is this path of usurping power?" he asked.

The dwarf replied, "It's just a couple of dunderheads killing each other over something. A title, perhaps…

"The title of god, or maybe the world's most powerful monster alive. In any case, I think it's all rubbish. It's not like you can break it down with my altar…" The dwarf's voice trailed off.

Flamy absentmindedly walked up to the dwarf and kicked its altar over. It then walked away, still distracted by whatever was on its mind.

"Watch where you're going, damn bird!" the dwarf shouted after Flamy as it picked itself up and pushed its altar back upright.

Bam. Goldie excitedly rushed by, upending the dwarf's altar once more with a kick.

Flashes of lightning illuminated the sky overhead. Da Zi's massive form was snaking through the air, a solemn look on its face. All six pairs of its wings were spread out behind it. Balls of electricity orbited its body like planets around the sun. It was warily observing the path ahead, its dragon claws tucked beneath its abdomen.

Boom! The sound of thunder rocked the heavens as Da Zi flapped its wings violently behind it. It tore through the air in the form of a purple flash of light before sinking its fangs into one of the fruits hanging from the branches of the Lightning Tree that had appeared in front of it.

The silvery tree had bloomed in the sky, illuminating the sky like a beacon. Its branches were as thick and countless as the strands of hair on one's head.

Da Zi seemed almost insignificant compared to the Lightning Tree.

The Lightning Tree's stem seemed to stretch deep into the infinite darkness beneath as if it was a pillar holding up the heavens on its canopy. The tree had eight fruits on its branches, each of them shaped like a pentagram and giving off starlight, pure and enigmatic.

Da Zi leaped onto one of them. The tree's fruits were extraordinarily huge, so Da Zi began digging into one of them like a worm burrowing its way through an apple. It squirmed for a moment inside the fruit, which juice squirted out from. Da Zi's body was soon soaked in the stuff.

When it finally managed to dig its way into the fruit's core, the fruit began shrinking, its juice rapidly flowing into Da Zi's body.

Da Zi couldn't breathe. Its eyes rolled back into its head. The fruit then fell off, discarded unceremoniously by the Lightning Tree.

Ten minutes later, the fruit had withered completely, its dried-out skin surrounding Da Zi like a cocoon. Da Zi's body spasmed for a moment in the dried-out fruit, then it fell into a deep sleep, floating silently in the emptiness of space…

After what seemed like a decade, voices echoed in the void.

"It sure can eat."

"Yeah, it's like a bottomless pit."

"Is it a pig in disguise?"

"Why did you agree to help this pig… I mean, this centipede dragon? It doesn't seem remarkably talented."

"The portal between worlds opened by chance. It was probably fate that brought us together."

"All right. I'll take your word for it."

A month had passed, and Gao Peng and the others were drawing nearer to the Dragon Death Valley.

The seven little Dragon Ants had grown a lot in that time. They were each now approximately five feet long.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of rushing water up ahead. A golden light peeked out from the horizon. A few moments later, sunlight flooded over the land.

Report chapter

Chapter 520: A Dying Dragon

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

When they were close enough, Gao Peng could see a river flowing before him like a golden streamer meandering down from higher ground.

Countless tadpoles were frenetically swimming about in the water. There were a lot of them, and they were moving extremely quickly. Just looking at them was enough to make Gao Peng's eyes hurt.

Gao Peng shut his eyes, which suddenly began to hurt. These tadpoles seemed to be shining with intense golden light. The torrent of tadpoles surged past Gao Peng for ten minutes straight.

[Monster Name: Sunlight Tadpole

[Monster Level: Level 10-20

[Monster Grade: Normal (Excellent) (Perfect) (Epic)

[Monster Attribute: Fire

[Monster Traits: Sunlight Torrent (Sunlight Tadpoles are capable of generating more heat than the sun itself by gathering in swarms.

Active Effect 1: When threatened or needing to assert dominance, these tadpoles will instinctively summon a huge ball of Solar Flames out of thin air. An average swarm usually contains around ten thousand tadpoles. Every time their number increases tenfold, their Solar Flames attack will increase by one level. Its highest attainable level is Level 10.

Active Effect 2: When their number reaches ten quadrillion, they can trigger the Solar Flames ability.)

[Monster Description: A physically weak yet incredibly violent creature. When threatened, they muster all their bodily energy to unleash their Solar Flames attack, burning everything around them to ashes.

Gao Peng ruminated on this for a moment. Ten quadrillion Sunlight Tadpoles could generate a Level 10 Solar Flames attack.

Ten quadrillion is equal to a trillion multiplied by ten thousand. Are there actually ten quadrillion Sunlight Tadpoles in the river?

Gao Peng didn't think counting them one by one would be a good use of his time. However, he knew that he wouldn't be able to handle even a trillion of them at his current level. He couldn't imagine how powerful a Level 10 Solar Flames attack would be.

When the swarm of Sunlight Tadpoles finally swam away, calm fell over the river; not a single monster peeked out from its surface.

Such stillness was almost hard to come by in the Black Fog World. Gao Peng had assumed from his own experience traveling down south that incredibly powerful creatures existed in every type of terrain here.

The Black Fog World's northern area seemed to consist mainly of flatlands. Low and high terrains generally stood out more, drawing various kinds of monsters to them. Without a sufficiently high power level, no monster would be able to maintain their presence for long in these places.

The river had become unnaturally quiet. As Gao Peng waded through the water alongside his familiars, he half-expected the residents of the river to ambush them out of nowhere. However, nothing happened. Gao Peng suspected that the swarm of Sunlight Tadpoles might have had something to do with this.

His senses were taut in anticipation of some terrifying monstrosity popping out in the middle of the river. This river was depicted on the Dragon Ant's map as a strangely rotund fish with three knives sticking out of its back. An 'X' mark was made on the body of this fish.

Gao Peng thought that something bad might occur to them. He didn't expect things to go as swimmingly as they were. Then again, it was always best to avoid any confrontation with the native creatures.

In the past month, Gao Peng had developed a good relationship with the seven little Dragon Ants. After negotiating with them in an amicable fashion, all seven of them had finally agreed to become his familiars.

Under ordinary circumstances, signing Blood Contracts with seven familiars in one go would have been a bit too much for him to handle. Thankfully, the little Dragon Ants were only around Level 10. The Soul Power necessary to take them in as his familiars was almost trivial.

Once they were past the river, they were only seven days away from reaching Dragon Death Valley.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye, and the road ended at an unbelievably steep cliff. Thick, white mist roiled restlessly before them. The cliff seemed to stretch down into a seemingly bottomless abyss.

Standing on the edge of the cliff, Gao Peng gazed at the scenery below. The bottom of the pit was more than 3,000 feet away from him. There, he could see strange rock formations growing out of the ground. They were, in turn, covered with stubby-looking plants.

The pit seemed to taper to a narrow bottom, giving Gao Peng the impression of a huge funnel sinking deep into the ground. The strange rock formations grew sparser the farther down they were in the pit. Stranger shadows squirmed behind them, keeping a wary eye on Gao Peng and the others.

With one quick sweep of his gaze, Gao Peng was able to make out the shapes of a couple of Dragon-horned Lizards and Rock Dragon Beetles lurking in the shadows. There seemed to be a thriving ecosystem at the bottom of the cliff.

He checked his map again to make sure that Dragon Death Valley lay just ahead of them. He knew that the valley would be deep, but… he hadn't expected it to be this deep.

He couldn't see where the valley ended, as his vision was obstructed by a sea of fog stretching over the entire valley.

Upon reaching the place, the seven little Dragon Ants leaped down from Stripey's back before laying prone at the edge of the cliff, excitedly observing the great unknown below.

Their feelers waved about excitedly on their heads like a pair of reeds in the weed, showing how excited they were at the prospect of finally returning home.

"Yummy."

"Something smells good."

"I want to go down there."

The seven little Dragon Ants chittered excitedly among themselves.

Suddenly, a resounding dragon roar sounded from the depths of the valley. The sound carried far into the heavens, dispersing the clouds overhead. The dragon roar echoed across the valley for a full minute before fading away.

"Food! A dragon's about to die!" gushed Elder Baby.

Even though it was its first time coming here, regardless of how alien everything seemed, it could immediately tell from the dragon's roar that it was on the verge of death. This was an ability embedded deep in their genetic memory since the beginning of time.

Elder Baby suddenly stood up.

"Master, a dragon is about to die. What you just heard was the sound made by an old dragon on the brink of death."

"How did you get all that from its roar? Do you know the way down, then?" asked Gao Peng curiously.

"No idea. I must have been awakened some memory buried deep in my consciousness. That's probably how I knew it was dying," explained Elder Baby. "I also picked up the scent of a dragon corpse. Still, I don't really know how to get down there."

"Flamy, Xiao Cao, Dumby, Flowing Light, and White Paper, you five will lead the way. The rest of you will stay here on the cliff in case we need you," ordered Gao Peng. Their mission this time was quite straightforward.

There was a dragon living somewhere in the valley. Even though Gao Peng had no idea what its level was, judging from the oppression he had felt from its roar, it was most definitely a high-level creature.

The valley was also the home turf of the Emperor-tier Dragon Ant from before. Who knew what other monstrosities lurked in the area?

As Stripey was basically a huge walking target, Gao Peng decided that it would be best for it to stay at the top of the cliff alongside Goldie. That way, both of them would be able to protect the rest of his familiars—Silly, Xiao Hua, Nan Ju, and Bei Zhi.

Flamy could provide aerial support if needed. Dumby had the highest combat power among them. Flowing Light was also able to provide reconnaissance thanks to its inconspicuous size and ability to fly. White Paper's ability to weaken Dragon-type monsters made it a valuable asset to have in a place called Dragon Death Valley.

"I'll be assigning you your tasks. Our mission is to let these Dragon Ants feed on a dragon's corpse. Everyone, watch each other's back out there," said Gao Peng.

Report chapter