Chapter 44

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[Elephorse]

Level: Two Star (Level 14)

Quality: Black Iron

Type: Mount Type

Characteristics: Strong Explosive Strength, Good for Long Distance Travel, Able to Traverse 500 km per Day

Weakness: Poison Attacks

Potential: E Rank

Cultivating Directions: No Value In Cultivating

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“As expected, Elephorses are really mount-type beasts. No wonder their attributes are so bad, yet they can still sell for more than what a similar-levelled bronze-quality beast. Wasn’t this exactly like the saying, scarcity breeds value?”

However, despite their rarity, Zhang Che definitely couldn’t let go of all sixty-odd Elephorse cards at one go, or their prices would suffer more than just a minor setback. It truly wasn’t worth it.

Moreover, although Elephorses were weak, this kind of beast was unusually united. It was fine if he was able to pick off a few of them and obtain a card or two, but if he were to say that he killed off a herd at one go, that would shock anyone who heard the news.

With several hundred Elephorses stampeding, even Tier Five beastmasters could do nothing but run. How could a low-Tier beastmaster like him kill them all?

“It seems like I can only let them go slowly. I don’t need that sum right away, anyway. No hurry.”

The matter of earning money was no hurry, of course, but Sun Lan’s illness couldn’t be dragged on for more than three years. Otherwise, the genetic repair medicine would no longer be effective, and her condition would worsen rapidly.

He definitely had to find a healing-type beast within three years!

No matter if Zhang Che obtained one himself, or finding one through other means, he had to accomplish this task within three years. Rather, the earlier, the better.

Healing-type exotic beasts were extremely rare; it was impossible to find one without venturing deep into the beast world. This required Zhang Che to raise his strength as best as he could, to avoid losing his life when he did venture deep into the beast world.

As for finding one via other means, Zhang Che basically held little to no hope for it turning out well.

Beastmasters who were able to own a healing-type beast would be powerful mid-Tier beastmasters, at the very least. Why would such a figure help cure his mother’s illness for no reason?

If there wasn’t an offer sufficient to move others, the possibility of this happening was almost nil.

As such, the problem was back to the starting point. That was, Zhang Che had to rise in strength rapidly within three years, and obtain sufficient benefits in the beast world to have a chance of asking for a favor from those huge figures with healing-type beasts.

“In that case, I’ll set a small target for now: advance into a high-Tier beastmaster within two years!”

If anyone were to hear Zhang Che’s thoughts right now, they would definitely mock him for his ignorance. To become a high-Tier beastmaster, how was two years going to be enough time to achieve such a feat?

Which of the renowned high-Tier beastmasters didn’t spend at least a few years, or even over a decade, to climb up to that status, one heavy step at a time?

The method to advance in Tier as a beastmaster was very simple. It was to hunt as many exotic beasts as possible, obtain soul force points, and expand their spiritual sea. There was no other way.

However, since when were exotic beasts so easy to hunt?

In the beast worlds that were fraught with danger, even a mid-Tier beastmaster might find himself in a sure-death situation if he was ever-so-slightly careless.

Moreover, as their Tier increased, the amount of soul force points they were able to obtain by hunting low-levelexotic beasts was next to nothing. Compared to the amount of soul force points needed to advance to a higher Tier, that was practically like throwing a cup of water into a burning cart of firewood: negligible!

The reason why Zhang Che had such confidence was one, his fusion skill; and two, the seven-colored crystal prism floating high up in his spiritual sea.

If his guess proved to be right, the seven-colored fog released by the crystal prism was truly able to raise the quality of beasts, then wanting to advance into a high-Tier beast master was no longer just a pipe dream.

“If my feeling is right, I only need to kill around two hundred more two-star exotic beasts to successfully advance into a Tier Three beastmaster!”

In this battle that had annihilated the entire Elephorse herd, Zhang Che’s spoils weren’t just those sixty-some beast cards. The three hundred-plus Elephorses also contributed a huge amount of soul force points to him, closing a huge chunk of his journey towards a Tier Three beastmaster.

This story would shock anyone who heard it.

Yet, the truth was just that. With the gold quality Mutated Puffersword that came with the sonic wave attack, it was akin to Zhang Che having a very powerful large area attack. How could his hunting speed not be fast?

“Now, should I continue forward, or return to the safety zone?”

Zhang Che only contemplated for two seconds before he decided to continue his journey through this long, narrow basin.

Before he set off, he erased his spiritual imprint off the Brown-Haired Boar card after thinking for a short while, branding an Elephorse card instead.

The Brown-Haired Boar’s strength could no longer keep up with the rest. It was better to prepare an Elephorse card in advance. In case of any danger, he could summon it right away to run for his life.

After making his preparations, just as he was about to set off, Zhang Che suddenly turned his head to look at the entrance of the ravine.

A round of hurried footsteps rang out. Three unfamiliar men, along with a group of subdued beasts, happened to be looking in Zhang Che’s direction with their eyes wide, mouths agape.

“Damn, someone actually got here before us!” a tall, muscular man with a short buzzcut said in disbelief.

The leader of the group was another man with a tall, slim build, his appearance handsome. He creased his brow, saying, “Old Gang, didn’t you say this place was hard to find and wouldn’t be discovered by others? How do you explain this?”

On the other hand, this man addressed as Old Gang was short in stature, with an oval face and pointed mouth. Who knows if he was malnutritioned when he was young; he looked like he didn’t mature fully.

Looking at the desolate grass field in front of them, and Zhang Che who was surrounded by his three subdued beasts, Old Gang was depressed beyond words. He thought this place he had discovered by chance was hard enough to find, and the Elephorses here were as good as theirs! Alas, someone else had discovered this place as well, and from the looks of it, he had already wiped out the Elephorses here.

“Zhang-shao¹, I didn’t think someone else would discover this place either.”

“What bad luck!” A hint of anger flashed across Zhang-shao’s handsome face. “It would’ve been fine if we rushed here through the night yesterday; the Elephorses here wouldn’t have fallen into others’ hands.”

“Zhang-shao, why don’t we rob his ass?” The buzzcut man revealed a savage appearance, eagerly looking at Zhang Che who was standing about a hundred meters ahead.

In his train of thought, it was no big deal that the Elephorses were killed by others first. Rather, it saved them energy. Everything was fine if they just snatched them directly. With their group’s strength and Zhang-shao’s name, did they have to be worried that that kid over there wouldn’t submit to them?

“Rob his ass? Why don’t you rob his grandmother too, while you’re at it!²” Zhang-shao turned to stare at the buzzcut man angrily, before saying earnestly, “Xiaoru, I’ve said this many times before: you must use your brain before doing anything. Why can you never remember that? Do you think that someone who could hunt a herd of Elephorses by himself is someone to be messed with so easily?”

The fierce-looking man called Xiaoru immediately chuckled, mumbling, “I saw that that kid only had three subdued beasts and thought he was some trash. I didn’t think he’d know how to act weak. Luckily Zhao-shao is wise, and saw through him with a glance.”

Zhang-shao couldn’t be bothered with this fellow whose brain was all muscles. Putting on a kindly smile on his handsome face, he walked over towards Zhang Che with long strides.

“Come, we’ll go meet this expert, and see if we can buy those Elephorse cards off him.”

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Translator’s Note:

1: Shao is a less formal term to address someone as ‘young master’, or ‘shao ye’.

2: Doesn’t make much sense here. The part about robbing his ass was literally rob his mother in the raws, contextually meaning ‘f-ing rob him’.