Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm succeeded in being promoted to the Lord tier, so the task could also be considered to be completed. Although a pseudo-lord tier monster had appeared in the middle, the final result was still within expectations.
Perhaps… It was within expectations, Chen Xuehe thought.
The Blood Eye Whisker Vulture grabbed the female spider that had already lost its mobility and flew into the air, leaving the forest.
In the middle of the forest, a huge black ape that was 1.9 meters tall climbed to the top of a tree that was at least 100 meters high. It picked a green fruit and devoured it. After eating that fruit, the fur of the black ape gradually stood up. Green smoke appeared at the ends of the fur and floated into the air.
It had perceived the presence of several not-so-weak beings appear in the periphery of the forest before vanishing again. However, none of the presences dared to enter the depths of the forest to challenge its position as the king of the forest. It snorted triumphantly.
The Lord of the Dark Ember lay on a branch of the tree. It closed its eyes and pretended to sleep with its legs crossed, shaking them lightly. It seemed to be in a good mood.
After a while, rhythmic snoring came from the branches of the tree.
…
After leaving the forest, Gao Peng bid farewell to Uncle Liu and Chen Xuehe’s group. Gao Peng refused the materials that Chen Xuehe promised to give him.
Two days ago, Gao Peng’s grandpa told him that he should just let him know if he needed any materials. When it came to his maternal grandfather, there was no such thing as being courteous. By then, he would also upgrade Uncle Liu and grandpa’s familiars.
The only problem was that it wasn’t convenient for the materials to be sent over at the moment, so Gao Peng was prepared to do all these things after he reached Yuzhou. He would also let his grandpa know in advance what ingredients he wanted.
In terms of helping Director Chen, Gao Peng meant to return a favor. Whether he was willing or not, at least the Director had genuinely wanted to help him back then, and that was enough for Gao Peng.
This should be enough to repay the deep favor he owed to Director Chen, right?
After leaving the forest and saying goodbye to Director Chen, Gao Peng and Uncle Liu headed straight back home.
“Uncle Liu, you never told me that you have a Lord tier familiar,” Gao Peng said to Uncle Liu snappily.
Uncle Liu glanced at Gao Peng and chuckled. “You never asked.”
Gao Peng was speechless.
Who would ask that for no reason?!
“Uncle, is this Lord tier familiar your first familiar?” Gao Peng asked curiously.
“No, my first familiar was a Shadow Japalura,” Uncle Liu answered while shaking his head.
“Actually, the Blood Eye Whisker Vulture only appeared on the island a while after the Cataclysm. When I picked it up, it was covered in blood and missing some feathers. Later, after I brought it back home, I fed it daily, and before long, it voluntarily signed a blood contract with me.”
After a short pause, Uncle Liu continued, “It actually isn’t very talented. Old Ji helped me measure it before…” As Uncle Liu spoke, his voice suddenly turned soft.
Their surroundings were very spacious. Apart from a few familiars, no one else was there.
He stopped for a moment, and seeing that he did not get a shocked response from Gao Peng, Uncle Liu coughed awkwardly. “After we get back, we can get Old Ji to measure the talent of your familiars.”
Gao Peng was shocked. Could it be that Grandpa can also see the data frame?
After a moment of hesitation, Gao Peng asked, “How does Grandpa… measure it?”
“He needs to prepare some materials. Familiars and monsters can all be measured. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt your familiars,” Uncle Liu assured him.
Gao Peng nodded. It seemed like Grandpa did indeed have a different way to measure talent.
“However, even if it doesn’t have great talent, it is fine!” Uncle Liu’s right hand patted Gao Peng’s shoulder. “The Blood Eye Whisker Vulture isn’t very talented, but it still reached the Lord tier.”
“How did it do it?”
“Training.”
“Training?”
“All kinds of heavy weight training. Training every muscle of the body. Repeatedly breaking through one’s limit. However, it looks like it has reached its limit with this kind of training; it has been a while since it grew stronger,” Uncle Liu lamented.
Gao Peng suddenly thought of the Boxing Ape. The two were different, but they grew through the same method.
If it were before the Cataclysm, pure muscle training would never induce such terrifying chemical reactions. However, after the Cataclysm, the rules of the world changed.
Gao Peng suddenly remembered that there was a strength and power evolution pathway for the Blood Eye Whisker Vulture. If it chose that path, would its final evolution form be the Devil Brawn Bird? Gao Peng’s mind raced with inspiration.
He turned around and looked at his familiars. In that battle, Da Zi, Flamy, and Stripey had just been side characters.
However, the level of the battle had indeed far exceeded their range of abilities.
…
On the road, a monster hunting squad was headed back to the city. Several familiars and the corpses of some monsters were in the container of the large truck. Those were their haul from the last two days.
They exposed themselves to the danger of encountering Commander tier monsters and experimented in the periphery of the forest.
They sneakily took out a few Normal grade monsters, occasionally getting Excellent grade monsters or picking common herbs that could be sold later. In the process, they had to pay attention and ensure that their familiars avoided serious injuries; otherwise, the treatment cost would be too high.
If they encountered a Commander tier monster, then it was down to their luck. All they could do was hope that the monster was already full.
The proceeds collected from selling their hunting haul were dispersed equally to all members of the monster hunting squad. After deducting the amount for the household, the remains had to be used to groom and raise the familiars. Otherwise, if they failed to keep their familiars up to speed in terms of evolution, then they would no longer be going to hunt monsters, they would be going to the monsters as extra food.
This was the livelihood of most monster trainers in the world right now.
“But today’s haul sure is awesome—a whole nest of just born Yellow-striped Gray Wolf cubs. Once we bring them back and sell them, I’ll already have the tuition for my kid’s next semester,” a thin-faced man exclaimed loudly.
“Hey, Old Huang, your kid is almost 18 years old now, right? Have you thought about what kind of familiar you’re giving him?”
The face of the man who kept quiet at the back of the car showed warmth when his son was brought up. “I’ve already come to an agreement with Boss Liu. He agreed to leave a Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm baby to me.”
“A Shatuoman Man-eating Earthworm, huh? An earthworm is pretty nice. It would be able to hide in the ground. It should be quite convenient in catching monsters,” replied the man seated on his right.
He suddenly noticed that everyone in the car was silent. “Why aren’t you guys talking?”
“Look over there… What is that?”
Old Huang pointed at a lawn in front of a small villa beside the suburban road.
“Isn’t that just a villa? It can’t be that you haven’t seen a villa be…”
The voice of the man beside Old Huang suddenly froze. After that, he stared dumbly at the two humongous beasts in the front lawn.
The large spider’s body would be 20 to 30 meters in diameter when fully expanded. At that moment, it lay limply on the lawn, and an incomplete halo rotated slowly beneath its body…
On its back stood a huge bird. Although there was no halo beneath the feet of the huge bird, it firmly suppressed the spider.
But the spider alone was enough to stun them.
“That… Is that a Lord?!”
Everyone in the car froze.
