Chapter 63 - Chapter 63: Chapter 62 The Second Test

Chapter 63: Chapter 62 The Second Test

The next day, Chen Xing got up early and had breakfast with Old Qiu.

Afterward, Old Qiu had someone prepare a yacht, and he took Chen Xing to go fishing in deeper parts of the lake.

Not long after they left, a tall sporty girl with a ponytail returned to the island in the lake, “Auntie, have you seen where Grandpa went?”

“Your grandpa and that new boy went to fish in the deeper part of the lake. The boy is about your age, just a year younger, and he’s also a Salty Bay Crocodile, just starting his first year of high school.”

The girl curiously asked, “Did he also choose the route of the Sea Emperor Crocodile?”

“Exactly, the old master also chose the Sea Emperor Crocodile route for him,” the woman replied.

“So his Beast Taming Aptitude is pretty good, huh?” The girl sounded somewhat envious. Her own talent for Beast Taming was lacking; although she had just about managed to inherit the Sea Emperor Crocodile route from her grandfather, that was only after taking a treasured item he’d given her which barely allowed her to evolve to the minimum standard of a Water Mansion Greedy Crocodile.

“It must be, the old master seems to think highly of him. What, are you jealous?” the woman teased.

The girl rolled her eyes, “Am I that petty? Grandpa has raised crocodiles all his life; naturally, he is happy to see a prodigy. It’s just that my own little crocodile lacks talent.”

With that, the girl sighed deeply.

According to her grandfather, her talent for Beast Taming was marginal, and evolving into a Water Mansion Greedy Crocodile was the limit; to evolve again into a Sea Emperor Crocodile was nearly impossible, unless she could obtain a treasure like the Tears of the Sea God.

…

On the lake, the elderly man and the young boy were leisurely fishing on the yacht, enjoying the cool breeze.

“Old Qiu, the Sea Emperor Crocodile is the name after the second evolution; what is it called after its first evolution?”

“Water Mansion Greedy Crocodile. The size doesn’t change much after the first evolution, it might grow a few meters at most. The real transformation in size depends on the second evolution.”

“Actually, I can feel that there’s still a path beyond the Sea Emperor Crocodile, but unfortunately, the inheritance I received back then wasn’t complete. Over the years, I’ve been trying to collect a more complete inheritance, but I’ve only managed to gather bits and pieces, achieving nothing,” Qiu Shangqing sighed.

“The only thing I’ve managed to find out is that the name of the third evolution contains the character ‘heaven’,” Qiu Shangqing said with self-mockery, shaking his head.

He hadn’t even managed to fully collect the name, and he wondered if he would ever uncover the true essence of the third evolution in his lifetime.

“Even though the Sea Emperor Crocodile has only evolved twice, those are two rare evolutions. Some Beast Tamed creatures might evolve three times, but their Energy Level Limit wouldn’t surpass that of a Sea Emperor Crocodile.”

“The potential of a Tamed Beast cannot be simply discerned by the number of evolutions,” Qiu Shangqing explained.

“Just like how an ant, even if it evolves once and becomes a gecko, its Species Limit still doesn’t compare to that of an elephant.”

“So rare evolutions are more precious than common ones. If your other Tamed Beasts get a chance to undergo a rare evolution, don’t miss it!”

“One rare evolution is worth two, or even three common evolutions.”

Chen Xing nodded solemnly, taking Old Qiu’s words to heart.

“The essence of evolution is actually seeking a higher level of life. Although I don’t know if there’s a limit to the number of evolutions a Beast Taming creature can undergo in its lifetime, every evolution that jumps further is definitely the right choice… Here comes one now!”

Old Qiu swung his fishing rod, lifting a palm-sized silver-scaled fish. He smiled as he unhooked it and tossed it into the storage tank.

“Old Qiu, I’ve always thought, if my Tamed Beast gets big enough, I’d like to ride it out to sea for fishing, no need for a boat,” Chen Xing said.

At this, Qiu Shangqing laughed heartily, “Hahaha, I’ve actually tried that.”

“And I ended up with nothing but air catches all day!”

“Why?”

“The Beast Taming was too intimidating, it scared all the fish away. Let me tell you, if you go fishing in the future, you can’t let your Beast Taming follow along or you’ll end up with empty catches every day.”

At this moment, several kilometers away on the shore of the island, the Sea Emperor Crocodile lying down pretending to sleep suddenly opened its eyes and let out an unhappy, long howl.

The lingering cry echoed, and Qiu Shangqing coughed.

“Let’s just fish and not talk about this anymore.”

That night, the two returned from the yacht with their bucket full of fish. Qiu Shangqing handed the bucket to the butler nearby, “Make fish soup tonight.”

“Very well, Mr. Qiu,” the butler, with gloves on, accepted the bucket and took a white gift box off the sightseeing car beside him, handing it to Qiu Shangqing, “This is the gift you asked to prepare.”

Qiu Shangqing took the gift box and passed it to Chen Xing, “Open it.”

Chen Xing took the gift box, lifted the lid, and inside was a sky-blue fruit lying quietly.

It was the first time he had seen a fruit with such a color.

About the size of a lemon.

“Let your Beast Tamed creature eat the fruit inside, it’s nothing valuable, just a fruit that grew in the environment where my Beast Tamed creature lived for a long time, but it can enhance the aptitude of the Salty Bay Crocodile,” Qiu Shangqing said.

“This is too precious.”

“It only achieves its greatest effect when given to the right individual,” Qiu Shangqing said. “This fruit can only improve a Salty Bay Crocodile of ordinary aptitude to a good one. But if your Beast Taming animal consumes it, it can advance further, as good steel should be used on the blade’s edge.”

Chen Xing summoned Taotie, who couldn’t help but frequently glance at the fruit in Chen Xing’s hand upon smelling it.

After observing for a while and realizing that his master did not seem to plan on eating it himself, Taotie’s mouth slightly opened.

“Aoo aoo aoo.” (I’ll taste it for you)

Chen Xing squatted down and handed the fruit to Taotie.

Taotie swallowed it whole summarily.

But after eating it, no apparent changes could be observed.

There was no body glowing, nor were there frequent visions.

Only Taotie kept smacking his lips, as if still savoring the taste of the fruit.

At the dinner, Chen Xing noticed that there were several new faces compared to the night before.

Among them was a young girl about his age, who seemed to be Old Master Qiu’s granddaughter according to the conversations of the others around.

Out of politeness, Chen Xing didn’t look too much, keeping his head down and focusing on eating.

Whenever someone mentioned him, he would lift his head and respond with a polite smile.

Then he continued to keep his head down and eat.

Not to mention, the food at Old Master Qiu’s house was quite delicious…

….

The next day, Qiu Qiuyu drove Chen Xing to the airport, arriving in Jincheng by noon.

After leaving the airport, he directly took a taxi outside the airport back to school.

Today being the weekend, the campus was nearly empty.

Except for the school team.

Perhaps because the Shu State Cup was nearing, the four senior students of the team had become more dedicated, and the Beast Tamers that had been injured during the previous scrimmage with New Field Middle School had completely recovered.

“Back already, was Cangwu fun?” Kuang Shiyi came over.

“I didn’t have much time to play. The city had a lot of water; inner city rivers were everywhere. People were walking their Beast Taming animals all over, one walking on the bank and another swimming in the water.”

“Cangwu City is a key development city for Water Element beasts. There’s a famous Heavenly Lake Secret Realm there. It’s said that the place where the Salty Bay Crocodile was first discovered was in Heavenly Lake; your trip was kind of like taking your Beast Taming animal back to its ancestral home.”

Chen Xing chuckled, “I didn’t have time for Heavenly Lake. Maybe I’ll visit when my Beast Taming Level has increased.”

“Let’s take some measurements of your Beast Taming animal. Although we know it’s progressing quickly, we still need to present precise data to the upper management.”

Kuang Shiyi led Chen Xing to the school’s storage facility equipped with testing instruments to test Taotie.

The results came out quickly.

Body length: 598.4cm, weight: 350.1kg, Energy Level: 19.1, Awakening Skills: Water Hiding, Water Devouring (Master), Great Vortex (Master)

Overall score: 16918, overall ranking: 1.

Although the results were anticipated, the moment they were officially recorded, Kuang Shiyi couldn’t help but marvel, “No wonder Old Master Qiu invited you to Cangwu; only a monster like this would make the old master eager.”

“What’s the score of the second place?” Chen Xing curiously asked.

The second-place Salty Bay Crocodile had an overall score of 14001.

It lagged behind Taotie by two thousand nine hundred points, was physically outmatched, only measuring 4.68 meters and weighing 212kg, but it was far ahead in Energy Level, at 22.6.

“Do you know who came in second?”

“Who? Old Master Qiu?” Chen Xing pondered a possibility.

“Old Master Qiu’s beast doesn’t count, he was already old before compulsory education became common,” Kuang Shiyi chuckled. “But someone closely related to him, Old Master Qiu’s third son. You should have gotten a sense of that at the Qiu family’s estate; the financial power of such a large family isn’t something ordinary people can comprehend. It’s normal that he surpasses you in Energy Level; other people’s Beast Tamers have been raised on top-tier nourishment since young.

However, you still surpassed him despite this… Of course, your testing was five days later than others, but the credibility of your result is solid.”

“Right, after the Shu State Cup, you’ll be heading to the Nightmare Swamp Inheritance Tower. You’ve already experienced the potency of the Illusion Technique last time; the school has arranged for a master of Illusion Techniques to come after a while to show you how to deal with it.”