Wang Keke practically bounced into her father's study, so excited she nearly bowled over the bodyguard on duty by the door. Of course, with her Agility as a Spirit Reader, she sidestepped before she could hit him, leaving the bodyguard staring in bewilderment at his young miss's rushing figure.
"Dad! Dad! It worked!" Wang Keke dashed up to Wang Qingtian's desk like a little cannonball, her cheeks flushed and her eyes shining like stars.
Wang Qingtian looked up from the documents he was reviewing. Seeing his daughter lose her composure like this for once, a hint of a smile appeared on his dignified face. "Slow down. What worked? Did your spiritual power break through again?"
"No, not me! It was Mimi!" Wang Keke exclaimed, waving her arms excitedly. "The Spirit-Rhino Resonance Chapter! I mastered it! Mimi and I... we can feel each other's thoughts now! It's still pretty vague, but I can tell it's hungry, and it likes me! It really likes me!"
She put particular emphasis on the words "likes me," as if they were some astonishing discovery of the century.
At that, a gleam flashed in Wang Qingtian's eyes. He set down his pen and leaned forward slightly. "Oh? Tell me all about it!" He seemed calm on the surface, but inside, his emotions were churning.
His daughter had actually mastered that incomplete secret technique? And successfully applied it to that Mutated Winged Tiger? Such efficiency, such talent...
Wang Keke chattered away, telling him all about how she'd communicated with Lin Mo that afternoon and sensed his "pure and passionate" feelings—mostly about food. She recounted the whole thing in detail, embellishing as she went.
After hearing his daughter's story, Wang Qingtian burst into hearty laughter, his voice full of relief and delight. "Excellent! Excellent! Just what I'd expect of my daughter! Now that you and your battle pet can communicate mind to mind, your combat strength will surely rise to another level! I'm looking forward to the Pet Battle Tournament in a month even more!"
The weight of worry he'd felt over the possibility that Lin Mo might become an uncontrollable variable finally lifted a little. A mental link meant greater control and a deeper bond. This was wonderful news!
With her father's approval, Wang Keke trained with even more enthusiasm. Along with her daily physical training, wing coordination, and tactical drills, she gathered the friends who had chosen battle pets with her for some "friendly" sparring.
And so, scenes like this became a regular sight at the Wang Family Manor's advanced training grounds:
More than twenty battle pet cubs of all shapes and sizes—from snarling Iron-Claw Wolves to Flame Hounds snorting white vapor, from sly-eyed Phantom White Foxes to thick-skinned Iron-Armored Mountain Boars—formed a circle, all with one clear target: the majestic white Winged Tiger in the middle!
Their owners stood to the side, nervously shouting instructions:
"Get in there! Bite its hind leg!"
"Use a groin attack to throw it off!"
"Surround it from the side!"
But Lin Mo, surrounded in the middle, remained utterly unfazed. He even felt like yawning.
That wolf on the left messed up its pounce by fifteen degrees. Terrible.
That fox on the right only has one real illusionary clone. So obvious.
Can that pig do anything besides root around in the dirt?
He strolled leisurely, sometimes giving his wings a light flap to shift his body by an almost imperceptible amount and deftly evade every attack, sometimes snapping them open to stir up a gust and disrupt the enemy formation. Every now and then, an attack proved impossible to dodge. For instance, when a Flame Hound tried to go for his rear, Lin Mo smacked it to the ground with a single slap. Then he angrily went over and kicked it a few more times. That damn dog was so annoying.
Then he began to counterattack playfully.
He wasn't especially fast, but his timing was tricky and his angles ruthless. Often, all it took was a simple charge or an apparently casual swipe of his paw to send a battle pet flying with a wail or pin it to the ground and rub its face in the dirt.
After several "group beatings," the result was as clear as could be—Lin Mo won decisively. The Beast Soldier Rank battle pet cubs were practically like a group of kindergarteners challenging a special forces champion. He beat them so thoroughly that none of them could put up a fight.
Wang Keke watched with a broad grin, her vanity thoroughly satisfied. The other family youngsters went from shock, to disbelief, to numbness, and finally accepted the fact that "Wang Keke brought home a monster." Wang Xiao scowled at every training session. His Iron-Claw Wolf now tucked its tail between its legs whenever it saw Lin Mo.
In the midst of this "everyday bullying of the weak" and the daily feasts of delicious roast rabbits, another fifteen days went by.
When Lin Mo swallowed what had to be far more than his seventy-fifth Irritable Jumping Rabbit, and habitually activated his Devour Talent—
Bzzz!
A wild, scorching force burst forth from the rabbit meat he'd swallowed, like a flood breaking through a dam, surging toward both his hind legs!
Agony! Along with it came a maddening itch as his bones were forcibly stretched and his muscle fibers torn apart and reformed!
"Roar—!" Lin Mo let out a low, pained growl despite himself, his hind legs twitching uncontrollably.
Wang Keke jumped in fright. Through their mental link, she could vaguely feel that Lin Mo was in a state of "pain and excitement." She hurried over. "Mimi! What's wrong?"
Fortunately, it didn't last long. A dozen seconds later, the pain faded, and an unprecedented sense of strength surged through his hind legs!
[Analysis successful! Inherited Talent: Power Burst (Basic)!]
Success! He'd got the power of rabbit legs!
Lin Mo looked down at his hind legs. They were visibly a whole size thicker than before! The muscle lines were more defined, packed with explosive power! He could feel that, whenever he wanted, he could instantly contract his hind-leg muscles to store energy and unleash far greater speed and impact than usual!
He tried a light hop.
Whoosh!
He barely even pushed off, yet his body shot a long way forward like an arrow loosed from a bow—farther than he could jump at full strength before!
"Wow! Mimi, you jumped so far!" Wang Keke cried out in delight.
After more than a month of frantic feeding and evolutionary devouring—including his time as an Iron-Wire Snake—Lin Mo's body finally underwent a qualitative transformation.
He was no longer the little thing Wang Keke could easily hold in her arms. Now his shoulder height was almost that of a large adult dog, like an Alaskan Malamute or a German Shepherd, and he was much longer.
His white fur was sleek and glossy, glimmering in the sunlight. His muscles bulged without making him look bulky, and his streamlined body was full of power. The "King" marking on his forehead had grown clearer and more imposing, and his amber eyes gleamed whenever they opened.
The pair of wings on his back had taken shape, now nearly as long as his body when spread. With each flap, they stirred up powerful gusts.
He was still a long way from the size of a fully grown tiger, but he had begun to develop the imposing aura of an apex predator. Before, he'd been "adorably silly." Now he was "impressive and kind of handsome"—or so Lin Mo thought, at least.
He strode around the training ground with his head held high, feeling the surging power within him and the strength of the wings at his back. His heart swelled with ambition.
Excellent! I've got defense, burst power, and mobility! Next, I'll aim for Beast General Rank and even more delicious food... ahem, I mean, more powerful talents!
He looked at Wang Keke, who was even more delighted by his change in size, and sent her a clear thought through their mental link. It was still rather vague, but somehow, Wang Keke understood.
The thought translated roughly to: "For dinner, add another rabbit!"
Wang Keke said, "...Fine. You're amazing, so you can decide."
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