The White Swallow Gems were the size of ping-pong balls, some circular- and some diamond-shaped. They were completely sparkly, running about in the murky underground like little sprites.
They were very mischievous, teasing these people by revealing themselves for but the briefest of moments before slinking out of sight. Soil, rocks, and metal; nothing impeded them.
White Swallow Gems were definitely not alive and were merely glittering pieces of crystals, with Xia Fei clueless about why they had the playful nature of sprites, everyone in the Law Realm knew, after millions of years of research by intelligent people, that using these White Swallow Gems could increase their cultivation levels, which was how the value of these seemingly living sprites, which lived underground, had increased exponentially, becoming the priceless treasures that all warriors dreamed of owning.
However, using White Swallow Gems to level up required extremely complex utilization; these gems contained special energy that needed to be separated and merged with Origin Crystals first and Energy Masters needed to purify them next before the gems could ultimately be absorbed by Law Warriors to increase cultivation levels!
Directly absorbing the living energy within these White Swallow Gems was as good as committing suicide! Due to the fact that the energy could not be controlled in any way whatsoever, not only would it run rampant when it entered a human’s body, it might even result in an explosive death if one was not careful the moment the said energy ran wildly!
Busey, one of the four Heavenly Kings of Dragon Ascension, already had a twisted expression on his face! The terminal had clearly stated that not only was Xia Fei quickly capturing all the mischievous White Swallow Gems as he continued his way ahead, many of these shining spots had actually been directly absorbed into Xia Fei’s body!
No human could just consume White Swallow Gems like that, not to mention the fact that Xia Fei was not eating just one!
“How is he doing that?! He’s taking and eating them, too!” Busey’s mouth hung agape as he bitterly shouted.
Zanian Feng was also extremely surprised by this. He had already stated that Xia Fei was a maniac, but even the most insane maniac would not just plainly absorb this lethal energy! Just what exactly was going on here?
Unfortunately, the two wily foxes had forgotten a plain and simple fact: Xia Fei was not alone! He still had a holy beast beside him!
…
*Burp!*
Furball patted his belly in satisfaction, like a glutton who had just had his fill, bouncing around Xia Fei with great glee.
Humans might die from ingesting a White Swallow Gem outright, but the same could not be said for Furball! He was a holy beast, after all!
*Zing!*
A mischievous white glow appeared in front of them, staring at Xia Fei and Furball for a moment before turning to flee.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
*Whoosh*
Xia Fei’s Peacock Blue and Furball both attacked at once!
Peacock Blue opened one of its grass blades in an attempt to capture the gem, but Furball opened his mouth wide as he directly pounced on the gem!
*Chomp!*
A crisp sound rang out as Furball bit down and directly swallowed the White Swallow Gem into his belly!
This pet of Xia Fei’s had always been one who risked it all for good food, and when the precious White Swallow Gems appeared, Furball’s eyes turned green even as his physical agility increased by who knew how many fold. The Mystical Immemorial Armament Peacock Blue actually lost in this contest of speed with Furball!
*Kaboom!*
The sound of an explosion thundered in Furball’s belly. This was the process by which Furball absorbed the White Swallow Gem.
Letting out a burp, the gas Furball gave off had the mild scent of firepowder. Had Xia Fei attempted to swallow the White Swallow Gem like what Furball did, it would surely have resulted in great tragedy.
“Tsk. You rascal ate it again! How are you still hungry!” Xia Fei said with a huff.
Furball patted his big belly as he nodded eagerly. Seeing his pet’s gluttonous look really made Xia Fei feel like just stomping the other to death!
During this entire sequence, Xia Fei’s hands had not even paused for a moment. Xia Fei did not slow down or come to a stop just because the White Sparrow Gems had appeared. Going forward for the first place had always been his goal, and while the gems were very precious, humans must know how to choose. This was not mentioning the fact that Xia Fei did not have to give up on any of the White Swallow Gems as all these small gems they came across ended up in Furball’s belly, anyway.
“You ought to keep Furball in check; your pet has eaten too much already, and given how precious the White Swallow Gems are, I’ve already come up with several dozen medicinal concoctions that can use them and help you level up,” Phantom said with regret. He liked Furball, too, but he wished to see Xia Fei go further down this path of Law more. Over the years, his relationship with Xia Fei had deepened a lot.
Xia Fei did not reply to Phantom immediately, smiling as he asked, “Is the invigilator Busey a fool?”
Phantom was stunned and replied, “How can he be considered a fool? Though he’s constantly stern looking, like an unfeeling rock, he’s actually very crafty. So many of the candidates have all played into his hands, so I doubt that he’s someone who would eat a human and not spit the bones.”
Xia Fei then continued. “So do you think he doesn’t know just how precious these White Swallow Gems are?”
Phantom contemplated the question for a good while. “There’s no way he doesn’t know. Even if he had no idea about them before, he would have at this point. However, judging from the fact that the assessment wasn’t halted even after discovering these gems, there should be something off here.”
Xia Fei laughed. “That’s a very accurate analysis. If I’m not mistaken, the reason why he boldly lets the candidates discover these White Swallow Gems is he knows that no one can immediately use them. Why would it matter for the candidates to have these in their hands if that were so? Can anyone hide them if Busey asks them to forfeit what they find?”
Phantom instantly came to the realization. “So that’s why you don’t care even though Furball keeps eating these precious gems! It’s because you already knew that even if you were to acquire them yourself, you wouldn’t benefit from them at all. That’s why you decided to just let Furball eat them! Meanwhile, using Peacock Blue is just you playing a game with Furball to encourage him into eating as many gems as he can!”
“Look.”
Phantom looked over to where Xia Fei had indicated, and he saw Furball’s body glow. Its fur, which had been burned by the quasi-Divine Beast Evil Wind was rapidly growing anew!
“Furball’s about to be promoted!” Phantom yelped.
Furball was a Holy Beast, and he needed plenty of energy to support his promotion. This was precisely such a moment, where after he had ingested so many White Swallow Gems, Furball was close to reaching his fourth form!
*Zing zing!*
Two White Swallow Gems appeared while Phantom was talking, and Xia Fei laughed uproariously. “Go ahead. Eat! Eat to your heart’s content! Don’t let a single one of them off! Since yours truly have set my eyes on them, don’t expect me to spit them back out!”
Furball was elated. A banquet was about to begin!
……
Busey was a dark-skinned human, but his dark skin right now had already turned as white as a blank sheet of paper.
The terminal indicated that Xia Fei had already left the planet’s core, yet Furball was taking each one of the White Swallow Gems he had collected and was consuming them one by one, not at all intending to return any of these precious gems back to the ground.
How could they know that Xia Fei had already seen through their scheme, knowing full well that it did not matter how many of these gems he collected as they would not ultimately belong to him? As such, he knew he was better off feeding them all to his little Furball; it would be the greatest help if his pet could be promoted as a result of this!
That was why Xia Fei had fed Furball the White Swallow Gems one after another after leaving the core. He would force him to eat them even if he did not want to!
It was as the old saying went: ‘Eating what others have saved at his own expense.’ If he missed out on this opportunity, Xia Fei had no idea when or where he could go to acquire so many supplements!
Today would be the day his pet got promoted!
*Shing!*
A dark shadow loomed in the middle of the peaceful lake water! Water splashed, creating a burst of falling rain about!
Xia Fei did not have the highest cultivation, yet he was the first candidate to finish! This was all because of the tenacity he demonstrated! His perseverance!
Doing a somersault in the air, Xia Fei landed on the ground and placed a white and fat creature next to him.
This white and fat creature was none other than Furball!
He was presently so bloated that he could not even move on his own, lazily lying down on the grass with a look of complete bliss, burping non-stop.
After eating so many White Swallow Gems, Furball might very well end up laughing himself awake in the middle of the night, dreaming about this experience.
He suddenly realized that following Xia Fei was the smartest choice he had made his entire life!
“Ah! I forgot that you still have a Holy Beast with you!” Busey was vexed, yelling uncharacteristically.
Zambian laughed as he came around to Xia Fei’s side, eyeing Furball on the ground as he said, “Holy Beasts sure are Holy Beasts; any other exotic beasts would have already exploded to death after all that. This guy truly lives up to his name as the greatest energy based existence, and it’s energy absorption capabilities are the envy of others.”
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and took out an Origin Crystal to replenish his energy. As the first one to complete the assessment, he was given a rare moment of respite.
The most pitiful of the lot ought to be those candidates who had lost their pavements as a result of trying to collect the White Swallow Gems. They originally had the chance to take the lead but ended up losing sight of the original goal due to their greed. When it was time for them to learn that no matter how many of the gems they collected, nothing would belong to them, they would most likely end up vomiting blood in anger!
Busey stalked to one side with a grim look on his face, letting out a heavy sigh before sitting on a boulder without saying a word. He was already helpless to the situation at hand at this point; Furball had eaten all those White Swallow Gems, and he could not possibly ask the creature to spit them out now.
Zanian flicked a glance over to Busey while he flashed a thumbs-up at Xia Fei. “I got to hand it to you. Not only did you feed your exotic beast, you even got first place. I really must congratulate you this time. This particular assessment was a test of your resistance to temptation, and you succeeded.”
Xia Fei furrowed his brows. “I don’t think I resisted the temptation; I merely fed all the White Swallow Gems I got to Furball.”
Zanian and Xia Fei exchanged smiling looks, while Busey appeared to be even more depressed. He had calculated all possible variables and factors, yet he had failed to account for Furball. He had really struck himself in the foot this time, and the pain was unbearable.
Suddenly!
The pot-bellied Furball let out an excited cry! Waves rose across the peaceful surface of the lake, with Furball the eye of the violent storm!
“Your Holy Beast is about to get promoted! Your Shatterstar is on the verge of promotion!” Zanian exclaimed in his excitement.
Being able to witness a Holy Beast get promoted was definitely a rare opportunity, which was not to be missed. Zanian and Xia Fei both watched with bewildered eyes, and even Busey could not resist but turn his attention over to this from a distance. He was still pissed at Xia Fei, so he did not get close, though the shock in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.
Like a fearsome warrior, Furball let out a powerful bellow, and it was as if the entire planet stirred in great chaos by the Holy Beast’s promotion. Even the candidates still underground could feel this strange phenomenon.
“What’s going on? It feels like a massive fluctuation of energy!”
“Could the planet be exploding?!”
The candidates were all extremely surprised. Plenty stopped their chase for the White Swallow Gems and rushed for the gathering point, instead. Unfortunately, they were all too late as Xia Fei had already reached before them all!
*Whoosh!*
A beam of white light shot down from the sky, enveloping the Holy Beast Shatterstar within. The howling wind and tumultuous water came to a halt, and the sky cleared as if this was the legendary descent of heavens.
The promotion of a Holy Beast was very extraordinary, and the entire planet was flooded by this silent yet strange atmosphere.
The glowing light became all the more incandescent, making it hard for anyone to open their eyes.
*Bang!*
Like a resplendent burst of fireworks, white lights shot out in every direction and then disappeared.
Furball had finally been promoted!
The Holy Beast Shatterstar’s fourth form came to be!
Covered in white fur like the purest of jade, it lacked even the slightest blemish. Furball was akin to a newborn lying on the ground, gurgling, looking like the cutest rascal ever.
“How could it look like this!” Zanian and Xia Fei both exclaimed out loud as Busey looked on with knitted eyebrows from a distance.
