PUFF!
Little Bika jumped three feet high, dashing into the cornfield and rolling around, as strands of Fire Element quickly gathered within its body.
"YEEP..."
It felt an unprecedented power filling its entire body; its orange fur became even more vibrant, looking like a blazing fire from afar.
"The aura is getting stronger, Spiritual Energy is increasing, Level 6 now!" Chu Yi noted as he opened the Star Bracelet to scan Bika's current state. Its level had leaped to Rank Six of the First Stage.
Just three Fireball Mice were enough to make Bika level up by 1!
Chu Yi's eyes burned with intensity.
This farmland was vast. Since the five of them were only responsible for one area, there had to be at least a hundred Fireball Mice in total.
Master Chu is kind-hearted; he can't bear to see the Fireball Mice go hungry.
Then why not juice them all? That way, not a single Fireball Mouse will have to starve.
I really am a Living Yama!
"YEEP!"
Bika was delighted with its transformation, rubbing its head against Chu Yi's trouser leg, its eyes squinting like crescent moons.
"Keep hunting Fireball Mice, and you'll have more grape juice to drink," Chu Yi said, gently stroking its little head. The soft fur radiated warmth and felt very comfortable to the touch.
"WHINE..."
"What, that's not juice? Alright, it's carrot juice," Chu Yi declared righteously, continuing to coax little Bika.
Bika tilted its head, its small eyes filled with great doubt.
Is carrot juice really that hard to drink?
Next, Chu Yi scoured the area for Fireball Mice and soon gathered a batch.
According to the Crimson Shadow recipe, he added some corn and carrots, threw them all into the "juicer," and produced a cup of bright red "vegetable juice."
[Feast Product]: Crimson Shadow
[Star Rating]: ★
[Quality]: Ordinary
[Effect]: Slightly increases Fire Element Spiritual Energy, enhances proficiency in Fire Element skills.
[Evaluation]: Just an unremarkable fresh juice.
This time, he had concocted an ordinary-quality feast product.
Bika resisted nausea and drank it all up, surprisingly finding it quite delicious.
BOOM—
At that moment, Bika began to emit smoke, its fur engulfed in flames, the intense heat directly distorting the air.
This feast product had directly increased its Spiritual Energy capacity and strengthened its flame power.
Chu Yi called up the Star Bracelet to check the situation.
The Star Bracelet issued by the Federation automatically displayed this Pet Beast's information.
[Name]: Red Fox
[Rank]: Intermediate Servant
[Level]: 7
[Attribute]: Beast, Fire
[Weakness]: Water
[Skills]: Scratch, Big Fireworks
[Special Abilities]: None
[Status]: Notice, this Pet Beast has a slight potential for Mutated Evolution. Please hand it over to the medical department promptly. Coordinates...
[Evolution Path]:
① Fur Fox: Star Cup Flower*10, Honey*5, Fur Ball*20...
② Wind Chasing Fox: Tier 2 Wind-element Crystal Core*1...
③ Fire Demon: Tier 3 Fire-element Crystal Core*1, Heart of Elements*1...
④ Blazing Fire Fox (Mutated): Details Not Unlocked (Click to inquire)
Its level had increased by 1 again, and its skill [Little Spark] had upgraded to [Big Fireworks].
A lighter to actual fireworks?
What caught Chu Yi's attention most was the 'Mutated Evolution' entry in the status column!
A Pet Beast's rank could be changed in two ways: through manually cultivated evolution paths, or through the beast's own bloodline mutation.
Any Pet Beast capable of Mutated Evolution invariably possessed enormous potential.
The feast product can change potential! It actually allowed the Star Bracelet to make a 'Mutated Evolution' determination! Chu Yi was shocked.
To think that he had only made two cups of Crimson Shadow for Bika, and the effect was already so overwhelmingly strong.
Soon, Chu Yi found another Fireball Mouse.
Bika felt emboldened, no longer luring Fireball Mice but charging in to duel it.
"BAKA!"
This corn-stealing Fireball Mouse was massive, a head taller than Bika, and a skilled fighter among Fireball Mice.
"Bika, this Fireball Mouse is unusual! Look for an opportunity to ambush it!" Chu Yi shouted, then turned and hid in the cornfield to set up an ambush.
BAM!
The Fireball Mouse made the first move.
It drilled into a hole, and the earth rapidly bulged as it tunneled quickly towards Bika.
It was the unique Earth-attribute skill, [Ground Assault].
Ducking underground to evade damage, it was a swift attack on aboveground targets that caught opponents off guard.
The precursor skill was [Earth Stealth].
"Dodge quickly!" Chu Yi yelled, using the most common Divine Technique of a Beast Tamer.
Everyone knew that as long as you shouted this phrase, no matter how high the opponent's skill hit rate, your pet could easily dodge it.
This, along with "Hold on!" "Get up!" "Calm down!" and "Now's the time!" were collectively known as the "Five Great Comeback Divine Techniques," and they didn't occupy skill slots at all.
During battles, shouting these phrases in cycles supposedly guaranteed victory.
"YEEP!"
Bika shook its fluffy tail, suddenly flinging out a dazzling firelight, as if hundreds of flames had exploded together, and smoke billowed.
In the next moment, it jumped three feet high.
BAM!
The ground exploded.
The Fireball Mouse leaped out, its claws weaving a web of silver light, but its vision was obscured by the flames, allowing Bika to narrowly evade this round of attacks.
From afar, it looked as if the Fireball Mouse had taken a face full of firecracker explosions.
"Now's the moment!" Chu Yi, who had been observing from the shadows, seized the instant the Fireball Mouse was airborne and made his move.
[Tearing Claw]!
SWISH...
His hand turned dark red, resembling a beast's claw. He thrust it forward, and a sharp, blood-red glint flickered in mid-air.
CRUNCH!
With a sickening tear, a sharp claw pierced the Fireball Mouse's soft belly, tearing its body nearly in two, and blood sprayed through the air.
The abdomen was the Fireball Mouse's weakness.
Its skin here was not as resilient as on other parts of its body.
[Evolution Point +1]
This Rank Nine, First-Stage Fireball Mouse had shown a flaw in mid-air, and Chu Yi had killed it with a sneak attack.
Battle... it all comes down to that decisive strike in a split second.
Indeed, it seems I can only plunder Evolution Points from the more distinctive, outstanding Pet Beasts. Chu Yi began extracting materials. He retrieved a heart the size of a walnut, resembling a hexagonal starfruit. It was entirely crimson, bright as crystal, and surprisingly beautiful.
[Alive Heart*1]
If I use this material to craft a feast product, it would surely create an even higher quality one?!
...
"Damn Fireball Mice! They should all be turned into preserved meat!"
Zhang Han had had enough; he was genuinely sick of it.
Beside him, a Gale Dog was frantically digging at a pit.
His Spiritual Power aptitude was only average, and his perception was poor, so it had taken him ages to find the tracks of the Fireball Mice.
In the end, this cunning bunch of underground mice had dragged bundle after bundle of corn into their burrows right before his eyes.
And yet, his Pet Beast's level was the highest among the four, a whole Level Seven of the First Stage, but it was still to no avail.
Because the Fireball Mice's fur defense was so high, he couldn't break through in time, giving them a chance to escape!
After half a day's effort, he had only managed to kill three slow-moving Fireball Mice.
The price was an entire cornfield burnt to the ground by the enraged Fireball Mice.
Once provoked, the Fireball Mice would retaliate as a group.
Damn!
As for the other companions, they weren't faring any better.
The best performer among them was, surprisingly, the girl Lin Xiaomeng.
Her Pet Beast was a Water-type Mosquito Repellent Frog. She poured water into the Fireball Mice's burrows, adding some poison and sedatives, so the fields she was responsible for weren't much bothered by Fireball Mice.