Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Lu Wang waved a hand at him. “Think nothing of it. It’s only valuable when it’s in the hands of someone who needs it. It would be a waste to let it gather dust here with me.”
“Still, you’ve helped me out big time, and one good turn deserves another. Such is the way of our family. Uncle Lu, if there’s anything I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to tell me,” said Gao Peng seriously. He placed the box on Da Zi’s head. “Don’t drop it now.”
“Uhm?” Da Zi looked at Gao Peng quizzically.
“It’s an ingredient for your evolution.” Da Zi hugged the wooden box in its spindly arms and curled around it beside Goldie. Realizing that it would be quite inconvenient to hold it with its mandibles or appendages, Da Zi said to Goldie, “Goldie, I’ll give you 3,000 dollars if you help me hold this box. I’ll give you an extra 7,000 dollars if you can get it back home without damaging it.”
Goldie accepted Da Zi’s proposition without any hesitation and took the box from the centipede. Da Zi sure is pampered by Gao Peng. I’m sure he gives it a lot of spending money. Maybe I could strike up a long-term deal with it so that I could continue milking more money out of this golden goose. But first, I have to keep this box safe for it.
Da Zi glanced at Goldie uncertainly. I may have raised this duck’s hopes a bit. There’s no way I have 10,000 dollars on me. Ah, what the heck, I can always ask Gao Peng for more money! All it takes is a bit of wheedling, and he’ll give me anything I want. The meals I eat cost a pretty penny, anyway. I’m sure 10,000 dollars means nothing to Gao Peng, thought Da Zi.
Hanzhong City wasn’t too far away from Yuzhou City. The distance between both cities was only a few hundred miles more than that between Yuzhou City and Chuan Fu City.
In order to survive in this world, one needed to make as many connections as possible. Connections were usually made through the reciprocity of goodwill. With enough connections, one wouldn’t need to worry about having someone to rely on in times of trouble.
Lu Wang chuckled to himself. A bond of goodwill had officially been established between him and Gao Peng the moment the latter accepted his gift. In the post-Cataclysm world, even a trainer as strong as Lu Wang couldn’t say for certain that there wasn’t anything too big for him to handle.
That night, Lu Wang invited Gao Peng and Ji Hanwu to dinner. “Two days ago, I was hunting in the Qinling mountain range when I came upon this Lord-tier Ghostfire Crow. Even though it’s a bony creature, I’m sure its meat will be able to satisfy all three of us.”
Crow? Gao Peng had never eaten such a thing. However, he had heard that cooked crow meat was a common delicacy among those living in the wild.
Rubbing his belly, Gao Peng said with a smile, “You’ve been far too kind to us. I can’t accept any more of your kindness without at least doing something for you in return. Ah, I know. How about this?”
Gao Peng whispered something in his grandfather’s ear. The latter nodded. A moment later, the White Dragon flew towards the Qinling mountain range with the Desolate Frost Lion on its back.
The Huai River in the Qinling mountain range ran across the Huaxia region from the north to the south. It was just as majestic and domineering as the ancient people of the Qin dynasty had been.
The mountain range was rife with life even before the Cataclysm. When the Cataclysm happened, the place had turned into a monster paradise, with all kinds of monsters living in it. Even a Lord-tier familiar wouldn’t dare wander through the mountains by itself.
The sound of thunder filled the air. Inhuman sounds echoed across the mountain range. Somewhere, a lion roared. A wolf howled in response. Suddenly, the trees in the mountains trembled as a huge, slender creature slithered past them. Startled by this disturbance, other, smaller creatures fled off in all directions.
“That one.” The Desolate Frost Lion had spotted a huge grayish snake whose muscles shifted across its body like granite. It opened its mouth and let a sub-zero frost beam fly at its target.
The beam instantly froze everything in its path, including the grayish monster snake. The Desolate Frost Lion’s aura had a calming effect on the agitated creatures in the forest, which shrank back and scurried off into their holes beneath the trees.
That’s a King-tier fellow. There’s no way anyone here can deal with it.
Suddenly, a terrifying aura surged forth from the depths of the Qinling mountain range. The clouds in the sky seemed to be frozen solid by it.
The White Dragon narrowed its eyes. It was a prideful creature with a nasty temper. Ji Hanwu’s presence was usually the only thing holding its anger back, but it was now seething at the nerve of this unnamed creature that had dared challenge it. With no Ji Hanwu around to hold it back, the White Dragon let its aura explode from its body.
Every creature in the mountain range had fallen silent. No one dared move a muscle in the face of two King-tier monsters.
The Desolate Frost Lion’s mane stood on end. It had originally been an Emperor-tier monster. Even though its power level had dropped considerably, it hadn’t forgotten its roots. It also let its aura explode from its body as it swept its gaze across the mountain range in search of this unnamed challenger.
The creature at the other end of the Qinling mountain range seemed to have stopped breathing. Its aura was now in disorder. It had sensed the auras of not one, but two King-tier monsters.
Its aura began to waver and relax a bit.
The White Dragon’s mouth curved into a cruel smile, revealing its sharp white teeth. Not exactly the forgiving kind, the White Dragon pushed its aura out with the intention of making its challenger yield to it.
The creature at the other end of the mountain range had fallen silent. It decided not to do anything that might provoke these two King-tier presences.
The Desolate Frost Lion snorted. “That’s enough. Let’s go back. Don’t want to keep the others waiting now. We’ll come back here some other time and have this guy killed for even thinking about challenging us.”
As if it had just remembered its master, the White Dragon calmed down. With a humph, it descended to the ground and picked up the frozen snake before flying off into the distance.
When the White Dragon and the Desolate Frost Lion finally left the place, the presence deep in the mountain range silently retracted its aura and eased itself into a dormant state.
The Desolate Frost Lion was now standing on top of the White Dragon’s head. Its eyes were alive with excitement. It had never felt such a rush before. So that’s how it feels to gang up on someone else…
The Desolate Frost Lion had always been a lone wolf. Most of the subjects living in its territory before had served as nothing more than fuel for its body. They had rarely been of any use in the Desolate Frost Lion’s scuffles with other Emperor-tier monsters.
Life as a lone wolf wasn’t easy. There were times when the Desolate Frost Lion would encounter other monsters that had an elemental advantage against it. In such cases, it had no choice but to flee, lest it was eaten by its enemies.
In its prime, the Desolate Frost Lion had been able to easily deal with most King-tier monsters alone. However, now that it was demoted to King-tier, it had no choice but to pick its battles more prudently than before.
That day, it had been able to scare off another monster alongside the White Dragon with their auras alone. The Desolate Frost Lion couldn’t help but grin as it replayed the scene in its head. Truly, there was no greater joy in this life than ganging up on someone else with another familiar as strong as itself.
The Desolate Frost Lion’s eyes widened at the thought of Gao Peng increasing the number of King-tier monsters at his disposal.
Lu Wang had defeathered the Ghostfire Crow. Before he could get started on its innards, thunder rumbled overhead.
A black shape fell to the ground before him. The ground shook and cracked beneath the weight of the black shape.
There before him lay a frozen Mountain Granite Snake.
“The Ghostfire Crow will certainly be enough for the three of us, but it’s not going to satisfy our familiars. This snake will be their dinner,” said Gao Peng from the corner.
