The "Torment" of the Iron-Wire Snake and the Elder's Questioning

When the first freshly processed, intact carcass of a Beast Soldier Rank Iron-Wire Snake was placed before Lin Mo, his heart was filled with anticipation.

It was a serpentine monster about the thickness of an adult's arm and nearly two meters long. Its entire body was a dark gray, with fine, dense scales that truly felt like they were woven from iron wire, radiating a sense of toughness. Even though it was already dead, its body remained rigid, requiring some effort to bend.

'[Iron Bone] or [Tough Skin]? Come on! Become the first cornerstone on my path of evolution!' Lin Mo roared inwardly, opening his tiger maw. Utilizing the nascent Combat Devour talent he had just begun to master, he bit into the snake's body with a feeling akin to a pilgrimage.

"Crunch... creak..."

With the first bite, Lin Mo's face (if he could make expressions) nearly crumpled into a ball.

Hard! Extremely hard!

The texture of this thing was comparable to beef jerky that had been air-dried for decades; it was both stringy and tough, requiring significant effort to tear off even a single piece. Moreover, the taste was atrocious, carrying a thick, earthy stench and an indescribable metallic astringency. It was a world of difference from the tender beast meat he had eaten before!

'Damn it! What is this thing?!' Lin Mo complained frantically in his mind. 'No wonder the handbook said this thing doesn't taste good. Is this just "not good"? This is straight-up torture!'

But for the sake of the talent that might exist, he endured it!

He chewed desperately, channeling his Combat Devour talent, struggling to refine this hard-to-swallow "food." A stream of energy, far hotter and more complex than what he gained from devouring ordinary beast meat, flowed into his body. It strengthened his physique, especially his bones and fur, and it seemed to indeed carry a trace of "toughness."

However, until he had swallowed the entire Iron-Wire Snake, skin and bones included (he deliberately wasted nothing), no special talent fluctuations or information fragments arrived, other than a slightly better physical strengthening effect.

The [Combat Devour] talent showed no reaction.

'As expected... the probability is depressingly low.' Lin Mo sighed, looking at the empty feeding bowl, the nauseating taste of rust and blood still lingering in his mouth.

Failure was expected, but experiencing it firsthand was still somewhat disheartening.

He looked at the fragrant, regular Beast Soldier Rank meat that Wang Keke had prepared for him nearby, then looked back at the empty plate that had held the Iron-Wire Snake, his mind caught in a tug-of-war.

Should he continue to enjoy the delicious food and develop steadily, or endure this "taste bud torture" for that slim chance?

After hesitating for only three seconds, the foresight and ruthlessness belonging to a human took the upper hand.

'Damn it, I'll go for it! It's just bad taste, right? It won't kill me! If you don't risk the child, you can't catch the wolf!' A flash of ruthlessness crossed Lin Mo's eyes. He knew well that the firmer the foundation, the greater the potential. A powerful defensive talent could save his life at a critical moment!

He raised his head, looked at Wang Keke, who was watching him with some concern, and firmly pointed his paw at the Iron-Wire Snake illustration in the Monster Illustrated Handbook again. Then, he extended his paw, unsheathed his five claws (even though the tiger cub only had four he could use), and waved them forcefully.

Wang Keke's eyes widened: "Mimi? You... you want to eat more? Five a day?"

Lin Mo nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with "determination" (which, to Wang Keke, looked like persistence and longing).

Although Wang Keke found it incredible and was even a bit worried about Mimi's digestion, seeing him so "determined," she chose to support him. "Alright... since you like it so much... er, need it? I'll have someone prepare five fresh ones for you every day."

Thus, Lin Mo's "days of suffering" began.

Every day, he had to face five rock-hard, foul-tasting Iron-Wire Snakes. This became his daily "compulsory course," tormenting his will more than any physical training. He had to use his full Combat Devour talent to accelerate digestion just to barely finish these five "iron rods" within a day.

Wang Keke watched him gnaw on the Iron-Wire Snakes with "relish" (in reality, through gritted teeth) every day. She felt both heartache and confusion, but noticing that Lin Mo's fur seemed smoother and tougher, and his bones increasingly sturdy, she let him be.

Just as Lin Mo was silently enduring the "torture" of the Iron-Wire Snakes, desperately accumulating that minuscule probability, a storm regarding him was brewing at a high-level meeting of the Wang Family.

Inside the ancient and solemn council chamber, several core elders of the Wang Family and Wang Keke's father, the current head of the Wang Family, Wang Qingtian, sat in attendance. One of the agenda items was to review the resource consumption of the family's core descendants.

When it was Wang Keke's turn, the Third Elder, a man with graying hair and a stern face, adjusted his glasses and frowned as he looked at the report in his hand:

"Is the resource investment in Keke's pet recently a bit too excessive?" His voice was low, carrying unquestionable authority. "Not to mention the 80 million purchase fee. Just in these past twenty days, the special nutritional paste, the selected Beast Soldier Rank meat, and especially recently, five fresh Iron-Wire Snakes every day... all of this adds up to a significant sum, far exceeding the pet cultivation standards of other descendants of the same age."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally landing on Wang Qingtian: "Qingtian, we know Keke is a genius Spirit Reader, and it is right for family resources to be tilted toward her. But is it worth investing so many resources into a... mutated Winged Tiger cub?"

"I heard that apart from growing fast and having two lumps on its back, the cub hasn't shown any astonishing combat power yet. Wang Xiao's Iron-Claw Wolf can already easily tear apart a mid-stage Beast Soldier Rank target."

The skepticism in his words was obvious. He believed that Wang Keke was wasting the family's precious resources to raise a flashy but useless "pet."

The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became heavy.

Another elder who was on good terms with the Third Elder chimed in: "The Third Elder's words are not without reason. The Pet Battle Tournament is imminent. If so many resources are invested, but we fail to achieve an ideal ranking, I fear it will invite criticism from other families, who might think our Wang Family is acting too... childishly."

Wang Qingtian's expression was calm, his fingers tapping the table lightly; he did not answer immediately. He understood his daughter and trusted her judgment, but faced with the reasonable questioning of the elders, he needed to provide an explanation.

Just then, the Fourth Elder, who was in charge of family intelligence and external affairs, spoke up, his tone relatively mild: "I have actually heard some different news. Word from the family training base is that the mutant Keke chose seems to have... grown wings."

"Wings?" The Third Elder raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, but immediately added, "Even for a Winged Tiger, wings are of little use in the juvenile stage, at most for gliding. And, devouring a large number of Iron-Wire Snakes? What is the reason for this? Aside from being hard to eat, what benefit does that low-level monster have? Could it be that the cub has some strange habit?"

The skepticism was not entirely dispelled.

Wang Qingtian finally spoke, his voice steady and powerful: "Since Keke's pet was handed over to her, she is fully responsible for its cultivation. I trust my daughter's judgment. As for the resource consumption, it is still within the quota allocated to her and has not exceeded the limits. Everything will be revealed at the Pet Battle Tournament. If it is truly not worth it by then, we can discuss it again."

His words temporarily suppressed the controversy, but everyone understood that the Pet Battle Tournament three months later would be a battle of proof that Wang Keke and her "Mimi" could not afford to lose.

And of these undercurrents of controversy, Lin Mo, who was struggling hard with the fifth Iron-Wire Snake in a corner of the training ground, knew nothing.

He only knew that today's fifth one seemed particularly hard to chew.

'Damn it... go for it!' He went all out, channeling all his strength and his Combat Devour talent, and bit down hard!