After learning about First's skill, Xu Bai turned his gaze to Little Blue and asked with a smile:
"Little Blue, what does the skill you just awakened do?"
Little Blue's vines swayed. Instead of answering Xu Bai's question, it timidly challenged him: 'Beast Tamer, you still haven't answered my question from before...'
Xu Bai paused, then realized what it meant. With sincere remorse, he said, "I'm sorry, Little Blue. I didn't consider your feelings and scared you. I was wrong. I'll reflect on what I did, I..."
Watching the Beast Tamer apologize so earnestly, Little Blue's leaves swayed gently. The little bit of resentment in its heart faded away, too.
'If you're going to do that again, you have to warn me first, okay, Beast Tamer...'
Little Blue's tone was serious.
"Got it~" Xu Bai said with a smile.
But I'm not changing... he added silently.
He knew Little Blue's personality too well. If he really warned it beforehand, who knew how long it would take to coax it into going along with it?
Little Blue had no idea what Xu Bai was thinking. It thought its Beast Tamer had deeply repented and resolved to mend his ways, and was happily swaying in place.
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, bringing the conversation back on track.
'The skill? It seems to make my Entangle stronger.'
Little Blue replied. After thinking for a moment, it began explaining the ability of "Binding Absorption" to Xu Bai.
The result was about what Xu Bai had guessed. Aside from "Parasitism," Little Blue had gotten the Azure Vine's entire repertoire of core abilities.
As for what it actually did—
Xu Bai looked at Little Blue and pointed to a nearby tree as thick as a bowl. "Come on, Little Blue. Show me what it can do."
'Okay, Beast Tamer.'
Little Blue replied cheerfully, directing its vines into the ground. Soon, they burst out beside the target tree and instantly wrapped around it.
Then the vines suddenly glowed with a faint green light. The moment the light appeared, the target tree visibly withered and decayed, until it died completely.
"Good grief, it can really suck. At this rate, even a Soul Ancestor might not last long..."
Xu Bai clicked his tongue in amazement.
Meanwhile, First watched with envy written all over his face.
We both awakened new skills. Why didn't I awaken one with attack power? Beast God above, how unfair can Heaven be...
"First, First, what are you spacing out for?"
Xu Bai bent his knees and sprang onto First's head, waving a hand in front of his eyes.
He had called out two or three times already, but First hadn't answered. It had just stared blankly at the Blue Silver Grass vines wrapped around the target tree.
Feeling the weight on his head, First finally came back to its senses.
'Is something the matter, Beast Tamer?'
It glanced up at the Beast Tamer perched on its head.
Looking at the dejected Big White Tiger, Xu Bai chuckled. He could more or less guess why First was feeling down, so he said leisurely:
"First, are you feeling glum because you awakened a treasure-hunting skill?"
First was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly. Thankfully, it didn't move too much, so Xu Bai didn't get thrown off its head.
'I'm a tiger, so why did I awaken a skill for finding treasure? I'd be better off without it. I got my hopes up for nothing...'
First's massive paw absently scraped at the ground, gouging furrows into it. A muffled, rumbling sound rose from its throat, making it sound terribly aggrieved.
Seeing this, Xu Bai couldn't help laughing. "First, I thought you were pretty smart, but it turns out you're as silly and simple as Little Blue."
Little Blue, an innocent bystander who'd been watching the show, had caught a stray bullet: [・ヘ・?]
It felt like its Beast Tamer had insulted it, but it had no idea how. Was it imagining things?
Little Blue was puzzled, and First was puzzled, too—but it was wondering why its Beast Tamer had called it stupid.
Could this skill have some powerful attack that it hadn't discovered yet?
It eagerly voiced the question, only to be struck down mercilessly by Xu Bai: "'Metal Spirit Perception' can't possibly have any attack power. You can stop wondering about that."
First: (ó﹏ò｡)
The Big White Tiger hung its head in dejection.jpg
"But..." Xu Bai changed tack, instantly rekindling a glimmer of hope in First. "Now that you've become my Beast Tamer's beast, haven't you noticed anything?"
'Noticed what?'
First had clear, innocent eyes.
"Idiot, Gold Soul Coins."
Xu Bai patted First's huge head in exasperation.
"I found a way to help you evolve ages ago. Why haven't I helped you evolve yet? Because we don't have any money."
"And I remember telling you before that helping you all get stronger quickly costs a lot. Did you forget?"
'I know that.' First nodded, remembering how the Beast Tamer hadn't had enough money to help it and had helped Little Blue instead. It had been upset about that for quite a while.
But...
'What does that have to do with my skill?'
First asked a foolish question.
Xu Bai fell silent.
When I have more beasts, you and Little Blue can sit at the same table.
He slid off the tiger and looked at First's clear, vacant eyes, then helplessly explained, "Because precious metals are worth a lot. Some of them are so valuable that even a small piece could easily buy the materials needed to help you evolve."
'Really!? Then why aren't we going to look for precious metals right now!'
First's eyes instantly turned into Gold Soul Coins. At that moment, its love of money even seemed to surpass Xu Bai's.
This was the Temptation of Becoming Stronger.
"Don't rush. We can look for rare metals anytime. For now, help me test how strong Little Blue's vines are."
Xu Bai waved his hand and pointed at the vines on the withered tree.
At that, First gradually calmed down. It looked at the spot the Beast Tamer was pointing to, and the corners of its mouth curled up.
Testing the strength of its little brother's vines?
Sounds interesting.
Little Blue's body trembled instinctively. It seemed to have sensed ill intent from its boss.
Was it imagining things again?
It wondered to itself as First had already walked over to the dead tree. First raised one finger, and a sharp claw sprang from its sheath.
It hooked just one vine and gave it a gentle tug.
The vine was completely unharmed—not even a scratch.
First was surprised and applied more force, but the vine still didn't budge.
With no other choice, it pulled back its finger and delivered a forceful slap.
The dead tree shattered, but the vine only suffered a slight scrape.
First: [○･｀Д´･○]
First wasn't satisfied. It immediately activated "Metal Spirit Power" and drew a large chunk of iron ore out of the ground.
Under its control, the ore condensed into a small Refined Iron Blade, which it brought down in a fierce slash.
Only then did the vine snap.
A mere vine, nothing special.
First, which seemed to have used every trick at its disposal, wore a look of disdain.
Seeing this, Xu Bai silently made some calculations from a distance.
Other than the night he escaped the Xu Family, he hadn't seen any experts above the Soul Elder level in action. So he could only make a rough estimate of First's attack power and Little Blue's defense by comparing them to his own.
That final strike from First should have reached the Soul Ancestor level, or even the level of a weak Soul King.
Only a blow like that could have severed Little Blue's vines.
In other words, unless a target was more than two major realms above Xu Bai, it would be very difficult to break free of Little Blue's Entangle.
Hmm. Why does that feel so familiar?