Lilliput

The moment Zhou Lu obtained the Lilliput, he felt that no matter how his day ended, this trip to the secret realm was already worth it.

Not only did he acquire the White Jade Snail Shell he planned for, but he also gained a brand new skill. Even if he couldn't do anything else for the next six days, his 5 Academic Credits wouldn't be wasted.

Zhou Lu took a deep breath and recalled Huohuo, who was having a blast.

Huohuo, carrying several bags of Nightmare Butterflies, proudly ran to Zhou Lu's front.

It lifted its shell and nudged Zhou Lu's ankle.

Patting Huohuo's shell, Zhou Lu looked at the sweating merchant beside him and said, "We can settle the transaction now."

The merchant swallowed.

The moment Huohuo returned to Zhou Lu's feet, everyone present turned their gaze to him.

The merchant, who had never felt so many eyes on him, immediately felt immense pressure.

But his professionalism still made him very dutifully say, "These Nightmare Butterflies are all injured due to the mucus, so the price will be a bit lower..."

Well, his professionalism meant he was going to haggle even at a time like this.

Zhou Lu wasn't one to quibble over every little thing, and Huohuo's use of mucus to catch the butterflies had indeed caused some damage to the Nightmare Butterflies: "About how much lower?"

Perhaps Zhou Lu's calm demeanor, even under everyone's scrutiny, intimidated the merchant. The final transaction price, while not reaching Zhou Lu's expected one hundred thousand, was still ninety-seven thousand per unit.

The Ghost Face Nightmare Butterfly's wings, when spread, occupied a large area. Each butterfly took up a significant amount of space, so Huohuo had caught thirty-three in these five minutes.

Zhou Lu didn't hesitate and exchanged them all for Academic Credits.

At this stage, Academic Credits were far more useful than money.

"32 Academic Credits again? What a coincidence," Zhou Lu said with a smile, looking at the credits on his student card.

According to the current market, the purchasing power of 1 Academic Credit was equivalent to one hundred thousand yuan. This meant that the Academic Credits from his combat preliminary exam, if converted to money, would be ten million.

For wealthy families, this might not be much.

But for ordinary families, this was definitely a substantial fortune.

Sighing inwardly about how lucrative being a Beast Tamer was, Zhou Lu calmly looked behind him.

After Huohuo left, the Ghost Face Nightmare Butterflies finally began to fly again, as if they had seen off a plague god.

But the other Beast Tamers were now watching Zhou Lu cautiously.

Zhou Lu, who had expected these people to try and rob him, was somewhat surprised by this scene.

However, having already recouped his losses, he felt completely at ease. He nodded to everyone present, then turned and left the scene with Huohuo.

The merchant who followed Zhou Lu was even more decisive. He immediately activated his bracelet and made a swift escape from the secret realm.

With thirty-three Ghost Face Nightmare Butterflies, he would be able to live quite comfortably for a while.

Huohuo was very happy all the way. It had clearly sensed that it had learned another skill.

However, it was already late at night, and Zhou Lu didn't dare to linger in the wilderness. He hurried back to the camp with Huohuo.

After settling into the booked inn, he finally put Huohuo down to test the effect of the Lilliput.

[Lilliput]: A racial skill of the Ghost Face Nightmare Butterfly, capable of shrinking itself or objects within its light range.

Huohuo first took out everything from its shell, then activated the Lilliput skill.

A faint light appeared on its leaves, and all objects covered by the light rapidly shrank at a visible speed.

At that moment, Zhou Lu had the illusion of watching Doraemon use the Shrink Ray.

Starting the next day, Zhou Lu conducted more detailed tests on the Lilliput. He felt that this skill could have better applications than just allowing Huohuo to store more items in its shell.

The Linxi Secret Realm contained a large number of small Spirit Beasts, so Zhou Lu didn't need to worry about a lack of materials for experimentation.

After several days of testing, Zhou Lu finally determined the general limits of the Lilliput. It could shrink the volume and weight of objects.

However, there was an upper limit to the objects that Lilliput could affect. It seemed unable to affect targets significantly larger than Huohuo. The shrinking was also not infinite; there was a limit.

Specific scientific testing was required, which was not Zhou Lu's forte, and he didn't intend to expose Huohuo's abilities.

Secondly, the shrinking effect of Lilliput was actively applied, not passive. It could also be actively canceled. Huohuo could revert its stored items to their original size and weight by canceling the skill.

The skill range of Lilliput was not large, only affecting areas within Huohuo's light.

However, the range for canceling the shrinking state of Lilliput was almost infinite. At least, Huohuo could cancel the shrinking of an object located at one end of the safe zone from the other end.

Looking at a stone that Huohuo had shrunk to the size of a soybean in his hand, Zhou Lu suddenly had a rather devilish thought: using this Lilliput to shrink objects and trick others into eating them...

Then, cancel the Lilliput's shrinking state, and the object would directly enlarge inside the opponent's stomach.

It was like the Stand "Goo Goo Dolls" from JOJO's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind.

Nightmare Butterflies couldn't do this because the largest object they could shrink wasn't enough to instantly kill a human by bursting them, but Huohuo could.

Zhou Lu quickly dismissed the thought. He still needed to consider more advanced usage techniques.

Using the remaining six days, Zhou Lu also tested the effect of Lilliput on living creatures.

As long as the skill was not actively canceled, non-living objects shrunk by Lilliput remained in that state for almost infinite time. However, shrunk living creatures had a duration, which varied depending on their original size. The longest duration tested so far was about ten minutes.

After ten minutes, the target would automatically revert to its original size.

If a creature dies while shrunk, it immediately reverts to its original size. Shrinking a corpse is considered non-living.

However, shrinking oneself can be maintained for a long time…

Thinking this, Zhou Lu helplessly tapped Huohuo on his head.

Ever since he got the [Lilliput] ability, Huohuo's favorite thing was to shrink itself and then perch on Zhou Lu's head or hands. It would occasionally crawl around on its own body, sometimes peeking out from its pant legs or sleeves, and other times extending a leaf or two from its collar.

Of course, its favorite place to stay was Zhou Lu's head.

Little Grass Grass perched on Zhou Lu's head, like a strangely shaped hat.

When Zhou Lu tried to shake it off, it would tightly wrap its vines around Zhou Lu's head, refusing to let go.

This was really tough on Zhou Lu's head and neck, and this was even after the [Lilliput] ability had reduced its weight.

At this moment, he finally understood the correctness of Xiao Xi's words:

"You can't even lift a three-ton Super Star Stone, what kind of Beast Tamer are you?"

While he was thinking, Zhou Lu felt his hand suddenly become heavy.

It turned out that at some point, Huohuo had climbed onto Zhou Lu's right arm.

Huohuo extended its vines, affectionately wrapping around Zhou Lu's arm, occasionally nuzzling with its tender shoots, looking comfortable and happy.

If one ignored Huohuo's weight, the scene was quite heartwarming.

Suddenly, Zhou Lu thought of a usage trick for [Lilliput]:

"Huohuo, try to see if the [Lilliput] skill can be used on your offshoots."

Thanks to Wúyǔ996 for the 5000 coin tip.

Thanks to the Frontier Bureau member for the 100 coin tip.

I'll add more updates here for now, I'll save up some drafts for a big release once it's on the shelves.