Test

After understanding the first skill, Xu Bai turned his gaze toward Little Blue and asked with a smile:

"Little Blue, what does the skill you awakened this time do?"

Little Blue's vines swayed, but instead of answering Xu Bai's question, it timidly questioned him back: "Beast Tamer, you still haven't answered my question from just now..."

Xu Bai paused, realizing what it meant, and said with a sincere attitude: "I'm sorry, Little Blue. It was my fault for not considering your feelings and scaring you. I was wrong, I've reflected on it, and I..."

Watching the Beast Tamer apologize so sincerely, Little Blue's leaves swayed slightly, and the tiny bit of resentment in its heart dissipated.

"If you want to do that again in the future, you must warn me in advance, do you hear me, Beast Tamer..."

Little Blue's tone was serious.

"Understood~" Xu Bai smiled.

But I'm not going to change it... he added silently in his heart.

He knew Little Blue's personality too well; if he had told it in advance, he didn't know how long it would have dragged on before it finally agreed to the dangerous act.

Little Blue was unaware of Xu Bai's inner thoughts. It assumed the Beast Tamer had deeply repented and decided to turn over a new leaf, so it was currently swaying happily in place.

It could only be said that Little Blue was as easy to fool as ever.

"I've answered your question, now it's your turn to answer mine. What exactly does your newly awakened skill do?"

Xu Bai spoke, pulling the conversation back on track.

"The skill, it seems to have strengthened the power of my Entangle."

Little Blue replied, thought for a moment, and began to explain the ability of "Binding Absorption" to Xu Bai.

The result was much as Xu Bai had guessed; aside from "Parasitism," all the core abilities of the Azure Vine had been fully integrated by Little Blue.

As for its specific performance—

Xu Bai looked at Little Blue and pointed to a tree as thick as a bowl not far away: "Come on, Little Blue, show me how powerful it is."

"Okay, Beast Tamer."

Little Blue responded happily, controlling its vines to plunge into the ground. They quickly burst out of the soil next to the target tree and instantly wrapped around it.

Then, the vines suddenly lit up with a faint emerald glow. The moment the light appeared, the target tree withered and decayed at a speed visible to the naked eye until it was completely dead.

"Tsk tsk tsk, such strong suction. At this rate, even a Soul Ancestor might not be able to hold on for long..."

Xu Bai was left speechless in amazement.

On the other side, First watched with envy.

Since we both awakened new skills, why didn't I awaken a skill with such offensive capabilities? By the Beast God, how unfair the heavens are...

"First, First, what are you spacing out for?"

Xu Bai jumped up, landing on First's head, and waved his hand in front of its eyes.

He had called out two or three times already, but First hadn't responded, staring straight at the Blue Silver Grass vines that were still wrapped around the target tree.

Feeling the weight on its head, First finally came back to its senses.

"Is something the matter, Beast Tamer?"

It lifted its eyes to glance at the Beast Tamer on its head.

Looking at the somewhat melancholy Big White Tiger, Xu Bai chuckled. He had probably guessed what was wrong with First, so he said leisurely:

"First, are you feeling down because you awakened a treasure-hunting skill?"

First remained silent for a long time before nodding slightly. Fortunately, the movement was small enough that it didn't shake Xu Bai off its head.

"I am clearly a tiger, so why would I awaken a treasure-hunting skill? It would have been better not to awaken anything at all; it just made me happy for nothing..."

First's massive tiger paws scratched the ground unconsciously, leaving deep furrows in the earth, while a faint, rumbling sound squeezed out of its throat, sounding very aggrieved.

Seeing this, Xu Bai couldn't help but burst into laughter: "First, I thought you were quite smart, but I didn't expect you to be as silly and simple-minded as Little Blue."

Little Blue, who was watching the show from the side and got hit by a stray bullet: [・ヘ・?]

It felt looked down upon by the Beast Tamer, but it didn't know why. Was it just an illusion?

Little Blue was confused, and First was also confused, though it was wondering why the Beast Tamer was calling it stupid.

Could it be that this skill had some powerful offensive method that it hadn't discovered yet?

It asked this question with anticipation, but was met with Xu Bai's ruthless blow: "It is impossible for 'Metal Spirit Perception' to have any attack power, so you can stop thinking about that."

First: (ó﹏ò｡)

Big White Tiger looking dejected.jpg

"However..." Xu Bai's tone shifted, instantly reigniting First's sense of hope: "Haven't you noticed anything since you became my beast?"

"Notice, what?"

First's eyes were clear.

"Dummy, Gold Soul Coins."

Xu Bai patted First's large head, feeling as if it were failing to live up to his expectations:

"I found the method to help you evolve a long time ago, but the reason I haven't done it yet is simply because I don't have the money."

"Besides, I remember telling you before that helping you all get stronger quickly is very expensive. Did you forget?"

I know that. Di Yi nodded, recalling how its Beast Tamer could only afford to help Little Blue and not it back then, a memory that had made it quite sad for a while.

But...

What does that have to do with my skills?

Di Yi posed the foolish question.

Xu Bai fell silent.

Once I have more beasts in the future, you can sit at the same table as Little Blue.

He hopped off the tiger, looked into Di Yi's clear, foolish eyes, and explained helplessly:

"Because precious metals are very valuable; sometimes even a small piece is enough to easily buy the materials needed for your evolution."

Really!? Then what are we waiting for? Let's go find some precious metals right now!

Di Yi's eyes immediately turned into the shape of Gold Soul Coins. At this moment, its greed even faintly surpassed Xu Bai's.

This was the Temptation of Becoming Stronger.

"No rush. Rare metals can be found anytime. For now, help me test the strength of Little Blue's vines."

Xu Bai waved his hand, pointing toward the vines wrapped around the withered target tree.

Hearing this, Di Yi gradually calmed down. It looked at the spot its Beast Tamer was pointing to, a curve forming at the corner of its mouth.

Testing the strength of the little brother's vines?

That's interesting.

Beside them, Little Blue's delicate body shivered instinctively; it felt as if it had just sensed something malicious coming from its boss.

Was it another illusion?

It muttered to itself, while Di Yi had already arrived before the withered tree. It extended a finger, and a sharp claw unsheathed from its paw.

It hooked onto a single vine and applied a bit of force.

The vine remained completely intact, not even a scratch on its skin.

Di Yi was surprised and increased its strength, but the vine remained unmoved.

Helpless, it retracted its finger and slammed down with a powerful palm strike.

The withered tree was shattered to pieces, yet the vine only suffered a slight graze.

Di Yi: [○･｀Д´･○]

Refusing to accept this, Di Yi directly activated "Metal Spirit Power," pulling a large chunk of iron ore from the ground.

Under its control, the ore condensed into a small, sharp Refined Iron Blade, which it then swung down fiercely.

Only then did the vine finally snap.

A mere vine, nothing more.

Di Yi, appearing to have exhausted all its means, wore an expression of disdain.

Seeing this, Xu Bai in the distance silently calculated.

Except for the night he escaped the Xu Family, he hadn't seen a powerhouse above the level of a Soul Venerable in action, so he could only estimate the strength of Di Yi's attacks and Little Blue's defense by comparing them to himself.

Di Yi's final strike should have reached the level of a Soul Ancestor, or perhaps even a weak Soul King.

Only then could it have severed Little Blue's vines.

In other words, unless the target was two major realms higher than Xu Bai, it would be very difficult to break free from Little Blue's Entangle.

Hmm, why does this feel strangely familiar?