Little Gold

"Young man, don't be afraid. What's your name? I won't hurt you. My name is Deloris, and I'd like to ask you for a favor. Would that be alright?" the Golden Giant Tiger said to Wharton.

"My name is Wharton Baruch," Wharton said.

"The Baruch clan... I remember that the Dragonblood Warriors of old came from the Baruch clan," the Golden Giant Tiger said.

"Lady Deloris, yes, I am a descendant of the Dragonblood family," Wharton replied respectfully, without relaxing his guard in the slightest.

"I'm already close to death. Could I ask you to look after my child? I noticed you while I was fighting Rastel just now, but I had to burn my life essence to kill him. I can no longer care for my child. I held on until now only because I wanted to entrust my child to you," Deloris pleaded. Her expression was exceptionally weary; clearly, she had been forcing herself to hold on for her child's sake.

Wharton looked beside the Golden Giant Tiger and indeed saw a tiger cub. However, this little tiger had an extra pair of wings.

"To thank you, you may take that Thunder Dragon's Saint-Domain Magic Crystal Core as payment. Little Tiger is a mutated Golden Divine Tiger. He will certainly grow into an even more formidable Saint-Domain Magical Beast in the future and will definitely be of great help to you," she said again, her tone even more humble this time.

"Don't worry, Lady Deloris! I'll treat Little Tiger well, just like one of my own family." Looking at the adorable little tiger before him, Wharton would have been lying if he said he wasn't tempted. Given sufficient resources, a Saint-Domain Magical Beast cub could definitely grow into a Saint-Domain Magical Beast. And this was a mutated Saint-Domain Magical Beast—perhaps it might even become a Divine Beast.

After agreeing, Wharton signed an equal contract with Little Tiger in front of the Golden Giant Tiger. Wharton knew that only this would avoid damaging Little Tiger's foundation. As long as he slowly nurtured their relationship, they would surely become like brothers.

Compared to signing a master-servant contract, one only needed to look at Pusro to know that Little Tiger might well come to resent him in the future.

"Thank you."

Seeing that Wharton had only signed an equal contract, Deloris said happily.

"One last gift for you." With that, the Golden Giant Tiger spat out a ring and sent it directly into Wharton's hand.

"A spatial ring!" Wharton said excitedly.

"I obtained it in my early years after killing a human Saint Domain expert. It's of no use to me now. It contains my collection from all these years, so I'll give it to you as well."

"After I die, give my Magic Crystal Core to Little Tiger to eat. That way, he'll be able to grow much faster." After the white tiger finished giving her instructions, she breathed her last.

Before Wharton could react, Little Tiger seemed to know that the Thunder Dragon before him had caused his mother's death. He immediately ran to the wound on the Thunder Dragon's head and began devouring its flesh and blood. By the time Wharton noticed, it was already too late to stop him.

Saint-Domain dragon blood was extremely tyrannical. Even high-level magical beasts did not dare consume it lightly, much less a tiger cub like Little Tiger.

Following the mother tiger's request, Wharton placed both the Golden Giant Tiger's Magic Crystal Core and corpse into the ring, intending to give them to Little Tiger later. Then he went to the Thunder Dragon's corpse, but after searching for a long time, he failed to find the Thunder Dragon's Saint-Domain Magic Crystal Core.

"Could Little Tiger have swallowed the Thunder Dragon's Magic Crystal Core just now?" Wharton thought carefully. Then Little Tiger, who had seemed perfectly fine moments ago, suddenly let out a series of mournful howls.

"Awwooo! Awwooo!"

Soon after, a cocoon formed around Little Tiger's body, wrapping him inside. Wharton had no idea what to do. He became even more certain that Little Tiger had eaten the Thunder Dragon's Magic Crystal Core. Two streams of energy were now swelling wildly within Little Tiger's body. Through their contract connection, Wharton knew that Little Tiger was still relatively safe, but he had no idea whether he could survive this ordeal. If he made it through, he might truly mutate again and gain even greater potential. If he failed, Wharton could only bury him beside the giant tiger.

After an entire week, Wharton sensed that Little Tiger's soul was gradually growing stronger, while the cocoon had become covered in cracks. It was clear that he had survived. Wharton was immediately overjoyed. Sure enough, not long afterward, Little Tiger completed his transformation. After half a month of metamorphosis, he finally appeared before Wharton again, having reached the sixth rank of magical beasts. After communicating with Little Tiger through their souls, Wharton learned that Little Tiger had indeed eaten the Thunder Dragon's Magic Crystal Core. Combined with absorbing the Thunder Dragon's essence blood, it had caused this transformation. He had become a wind-and-lightning dual-element magical beast, though his body was covered in dark golden dragon scales. Wharton did not know whether he had evolved into a Divine Beast, however. After all, Divine Beasts were far too rare on the Yulan Mainland, and it was not so easy for a Saint-Domain Magical Beast to break through and become one.