Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The next morning, Gao Peng was still lying in bed, but Da Zi had already eagerly climbed onto Gao Peng’s bed, flattening Gao Peng with its entire body and lowering its antennae to rub against Gao Peng’s face.
Woken by Da Zi’s constant pestering, Gao Peng groggily opened his eyes. He was greeted by the sight of two ferocious mandibles snapping in front of his face.
“All right, all right, stop being naughty.” Gao Peng tried to push Da Zi aside, but Da Zi was just too heavy. He couldn’t make Da Zi budge, even after a few attempts.
“If you keep squishing me, you can forget about going out today.”
Upon hearing its master’s words, Da Zi finally obediently crawled off the bed.
After getting out of bed and washing up, Gao Peng shook his head and smiled wryly. Right now, although the government had already begun negotiations with the Mountain Spirits, the situation still didn’t look optimistic. The wilderness was still rather dangerous.
After explaining his reasons for heading out to Grandpa, he was first hesitant, then he nodded his head. “Go quickly and return quickly then. Don’t hang around out there for too long. The situation with the Mountain Spirits is currently stable, but the words of those monsters can never be trusted. Monsters are known for going back on their word. The reasons for their actions are usually simply based on their mood.
“Also, since you’re just looking for materials, don’t bring too many familiars, or else it will affect your maneuverability.”
Gao Peng nodded to show that he understood. This time, he had only prepared to bring Da Zi and Dumby, as well as Flamy and Silly. Only four familiars for this trip.
Dumby’s level and grade was the best among his familiars, and because of Flamy’s species potential, its growth was extremely fast. It had already reached level 28 a few days before. According to how humans have classified monsters, Flamy was already an intermediate Commander-tier familiar.
Bringing Silly along was no hassle, as its size was small. But most importantly, having Silly beside him was like having a portable storage space, which was extremely convenient.
Gao Peng was just hoping for a day to come where Silly’s portable space could contain living things. That way, it would be like having his own portable floating fortress. Just by opening up the portable space, he could release his familiars. Furthermore, Silly was able to travel in the water, land, and sky.
Thinking of this, Gao Peng couldn’t help reaching out to Silly, who was just resting on his head, and rubbing its head.
Mm, it’s getting smoother. If I’m rubbing it every day, sooner or later, it’s going to shine.
“Old Liu is coincidentally free nowadays. Let him join you on this trip.” Ji Hanwu was still a little worried. He told Gao Peng this after a bit more thought.
With that, he made a call to Uncle Liu. In no time at all, two black figures could be seen in the distant sky, flying at an extremely fast speed. Finally, they made a firm landing right next to the lake.
The two Lord-tier halos rotated slowly beneath their feet.
[Monster Name]: Phantom Japalura
[Monster Level]: Level 41 (Lord Tier)
[Monster Grade]: Excellent
[Monster Skills]: Hardened Scales Level 3 Heightened Dynamic Vision Level 1
[Special Characteristics]: Shadow Assassin (Effect 1, Passive Effect: when it is silent and still, it will blend in with its surroundings perfectly, matching both color and body temperature to its surroundings; Effect 2, Passive Effect: its special skin allows it to absorb sound as well as vibrations, allowing it to move silently and remain almost undetectable.)
The Shadow Japalura had undergone a complete transformation. Not only had its name changed from Shadow Japalura to Phantom Japalura, it’s body had also undergone great changes.
Originally, it had the appearance of a camouflage print lizard that had grown multiple times in size. Right now, its body had increased by at least eight times, which meant that its length, width, and height had all doubled.
Its multicolored scales changed in color with the surroundings, blurring its appearance. The ratio of the size of its head to its body seemed to have decreased a lot from before, and its yellow eyes had a vertical line in the middle for pupils.
What was most eye-catching about the Phantom Japalura, however, was the pair of wings that stretched outwards from the area spanning its ribs to its pelvic bone.
There was also a membrane as thin as a cicada’s wing covering the area where the wings were connected to the body. The wings had a large surface area and were roughly twice the size of its entire body.
When the Phantom Japalura lay quietly on the floor without moving, these wings would be folded inwards and tucked neatly by the sides of its body. With the camouflaging effects of its scales, one could vaguely notice that there were two bulges at the sides of the Phantom Japalura’s body, but it would be hard to tell that it had actually grown a pair of wings.
If Gao Peng were to describe this monster, he would say that after evolving, the Phantom Japalura was like a giant dragon from Western mythology.
The other Lord-tier familiar was the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture. Its level hadn’t changed since two months earlier, remaining at level 42, but its body had many more scars compared to the last time Gao Peng had seen it. Some of the scars were small and others were large; some were already close to healing while some were just scabbing. It gave off an oppressive, ferocious aura.
Gao Peng recalled Uncle Liu mentioning that the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture had relied on manic training in order to breakthrough to Lord-tier. Its grade was also the lowest possible at Normal grade, and this was hard to promote based on pure physical strengthening alone.
For such a type of familiar, it was almost a miracle that the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture had managed to reach its current level.
After just one look, Goldie’s attention was captured by the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture, its eyes lighting up. It felt that this large bird seemed to give off the same kind of vibes as itself.
Goldie hurriedly waddled over, curiously staring straight at the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture.
The vulture’s originally shut eyes opened to a tiny slit, giving Goldie a cold look. Then its brows knit together ever so slightly.
The air rang with a crack like thunder, and in the next moment, Goldie’s yellow feather jacket was suddenly stripped off, revealing its bare, naked body.
“Quack!” Goldie’s eyes opened wide as it immediately closed its legs, trembling in fear as it looked at the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture.
“Uncle Liu, let’s go here first. If we don’t find anything, then we can head here, here… and then here.”
Uncle Liu nodded his head slowly. “Okay, let’s go then.”
With that, Uncle Liu had Gao Peng rde on the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture. The vulture had feathers on its back and was a much more comfortable ride than the Phantom Japalura with its smooth scales.
After that, the Phantom Japalura’s sharp claws threaded through Dumby’s shoulder bones and lifted him up into the air. In the next moment, the two familiars were already ascending into the skies.
“Ah, wait! Uncle Liu, I still haven’t gathered my other familiars!!!” The air rang with the lingering sound of Gao Peng’s screams.
“We’re not out to play house. What was the point of bringing so many familiars? We’ll head out fast and return early.”
Silly was still being worn on Gao Peng’s head, and its tentacles were being whipped around wildly by the wind. It happily made its excited puchi puchi noises.
Sensing the aura of two Lord-tier monsters, the monsters flying in the air hastily made way, and their trip was smooth.
After half an hour, the two familiars descended from the skies.
“This should be the first location.” Uncle Liu took out a GPS locator, tapped on it a few times, and extracted a map to compare to their surroundings.
Gao Peng’s face had turned purple from the cold. He released his trembling hands and slid off the back of the Blood Eye Bearded Vulture, sneezing many times in a row after he got down.
Gao Peng took a look at the GPS locator in Uncle Liu’s hands and said, “We’re here.” Gao Peng was suddenly speechless. He recalled how he’d had such a tough time running around the jungle, taking a few days to arrive at the location. It had only taken Uncle Liu a half hour flight.
