The Training Expedition Ends

After Eleven mastered Thunder Palm on his own, Shi Yu felt it was time to train somewhere else.

Although they could stay on Magnetic Mountain and continue searching for Electric Ore to strengthen the lightning skill Eleven had just learned, there wasn't much point.

Electric Ore was only a level-one resource, and it wasn't particularly expensive or rare. Its value was close to that of Iron Bamboo, so buying it in bulk or purchasing higher-level resources after they returned would be a better choice.

They had basically searched the exposed Electric Ore deposits in the Magnetic Mountain Area, such as those in the three electric caves. The rest were hidden and difficult to find, so continuing the search wouldn't be very efficient.

They might as well use the remaining time to gather some other resources.

"Eleven, let's help the Green Silkworm find some nutritious food next."

After giving it some thought, Shi Yu spoke to Eleven. The Green Silkworm had been with them for so long, yet it seemed he hadn't eaten anything decent.

The Green Silkworm had also helped them quite a bit over the past two days. Even if he hadn't earned merit, he had still put in hard work, so it was time to reward him.

"Mm!!!"

Eleven nodded without concern. Of course, of course!

Every day after training, Chongchong looked half-dead. Eleven really was afraid of losing this little companion.

"Chirp, chirp!!!" The Green Silkworm in the backpack was moved to tears.

Generally speaking, evolution materials prepared for a Green Silkworm were only used when it was nearing level nine or ten and about to form a cocoon.

Using rare materials at other growth stages wasn't particularly worthwhile. After all, only during the cocoon stage, with the nourishment of the cocoon, did a Green Silkworm have a good chance of comprehending a new racial skill.

At other stages, it seemed Worm Silk was the only thing worth strengthening.

At that moment, Shi Yu also began to consider what evolutionary path he should nurture the Green Silkworm toward.

When nurturing a pet, it was important to decide on its role.

With Eleven, Shi Yu was following the standard template for a battle pet: being a strong, versatile fighter was enough.

But Shi Yu didn't want the Green Silkworm to be like a traditional battle pet. After all, with the Skill Index, it was relatively easy to DIY.

He might as well choose an evolutionary path that was rarer and more practical.

A healing butterfly?

That way, he might later learn a skill that could help Shi Yu, his beast tamer, recover stamina and mental strength, to use alongside the Skill Index.

A support butterfly?

For example, the Goddess of Light Butterfly, which possessed light manipulation and illusion abilities, made an excellent personal bodyguard for a beast tamer, and its abilities had a wide range of uses.

Or... nurture him in the direction of mythology?

Traditional mythical creatures were essentially dragons, phoenixes, and the like, all of which belonged to inherently noble races.

The Ice Phoenix Moth that Lu Qingyi had mentioned, which evolved from the first Green Silkworm in the country to master Supreme Level Worm Silk, had completed its evolution by incorporating an Ice Phoenix bloodline during the process.

It was precisely because it possessed a mythical bloodline that this Green Silkworm could rise directly from the bottom of the pet world to become a noble Monarch Level species.

And... if the compatibility was high enough, he could also pick some rare attributes.

For example, space or time!

If he had a pet that could teleport, his ability to escape would be maxed out, and he would have basically nothing to fear when faced with danger.

Besides, pets with these rare attributes weren't necessarily weak in other respects either.

Thinking it over like this, Shi Yu realized that the Green Silkworm had so many possible evolutionary paths that the dazzling array left him unable to choose.

The key is still skills and materials!

Rare skills and materials aren't that easy to get. Take the evolution materials used for the Ice Phoenix Moth, for example. Where would I even find those? Probably only through the Eleven Bureau's channels.

Forget it. It's too early to think so much about this. When the time comes, I'll see what materials I come across first.

For now, the most important thing is to train Worm Silk to the highest level!

Shi Yu flipped through the illustrated guide and found a spiritual plant that was very suitable as food for the Green Silkworm.

Dragon Whisker Grass.

A level-one spiritual plant, named for its resemblance to the whiskers of an Eastern dragon.

It was the favorite food of pets that had mastered thread-type skills, and it could effectively increase the toughness and sharpness of Worm Silk.

"This is the one."

While searching for Dragon Whisker Grass, he would take Eleven along to challenge powerful beasts they encountered. That was how they would spend the next day.

Collecting Dragon Whisker Grass was actually a much easier objective, because the spider-type beasts near it were basically nothing formidable.

The strongest was a beast at Awakening Level Ten, a Ghost-Faced Wolf Spider, worth 4,000 points.

But in the end, Eleven killed it all the same.

Although the fight was a little harder than the PK with the Electric Slime, it did prove that Eleven's current combat strength surpassed that of these untrained, wild level-ten beasts.

The reason was simple: even if these wild creatures had relatively high growth levels, their skill proficiency was too low. They basically used their skills on instinct, and few creatures trained on their own.

For example, both the slime's Discharge and Size Alteration skills were at Entry Level.

Only one of the racial skills of the troublesome Ghost-Faced Wolf Spider Shi Yu encountered later was at Proficient Level, so when it faced Eleven, who had several Proficient Level and even Expert Level skills, the gap in their levels wasn't so obvious.

Shi Yu actually wished the nearby spider-type beasts were stronger, preferably with a danger-prediction skill like Spider-Sense... That would make him very happy.

Shi Yu wanted Eleven to cosplay the Three Types of Haki from One Piece, a well-known comic from Earth. Now he had Hardening for Armament Haki and Intimidation for Conqueror's Haki; all he lacked was a perception skill for Observation Haki.

But if he didn't have one, so be it. He could make do by pretending Super Vision was one.

Proficient Level Super Vision gave Eleven extremely powerful dynamic vision, allowing him to lock onto targets clearly even in extreme conditions such as heavy fog. It was already very impressive.

According to the information Shi Yu had found on his phone, once it reached Expert Level or Perfect Level, it could even provide a 360-degree field of vision and the ability to see the flow of energy.

As for Supreme Level... he didn't know, but its effects would certainly be stronger. With max-level Super Vision as a scouting skill, the results wouldn't be too bad.

In any case, the Green Silkworm was delighted on this last day and felt the training expedition hadn't been a waste. The Dragon Whisker Grass was much tastier than Shi Yu's leftovers.

In less than three days, Shi Yu, Eleven, and the Green Silkworm had each gained something different.

Shi Yu had gained the Size Alteration skill, Eleven had learned Thunder Palm on his own, and the Green Silkworm had gotten extra meals... It was obvious at a glance who had gained the most.

In the blink of an eye, the three-day training expedition on Tianmang Mountain was about to end.

Inside the training base.

Five professional beast tamers studied the final scores displayed on the big screen.

First place: Shi Yu, 20,000 points.

Besides the four level-ten creatures and five Long-Spined Wild Boars, Shi Yu had gathered and handed in some resources along the way at the end, bringing his total to 20,000 points.

"He really did come in first."

"Although they used a trick to hunt the slime, hunting the Ghost-Faced Wolf Spider on their own afterward undoubtedly proved their true strength."

Zhou Wanshan, the person in overall charge, listened to the comments from his teammates around him as he silently studied Shi Yu's information.

"The pets of the trainee beast tamers assigned to our training base are below average in level. Not one beast tamer has a pet that has reached level ten."

"Level ten is the highest level of beast currently on Tianmang Mountain. For him to command a level-six Iron-Eating Beast to defeat four level-ten beasts is truly remarkable. He fully deserves first place."

"It's rare to see a beast tamer in Ping City who can fight above their level... I wonder how he'll perform in the ruins next."

With Shi Yu's current results, there was no doubt he had qualified to enter the ruins!

"It's over!!"

"It's fucking over at last. I ate nothing but tree fruit for two whole days. I'm gonna puke."

"I want a bath! I want a bath! If I can't bathe soon, I'm going to die!"

"Do mosquitoes like me that much? I got forty-nine bites in less than three days."

After the training base announced the end of the assessment through the Mechanical Birds, the trainee beast tamers on Tianmang Mountain poured out their complaints as they descended.

Shi Yu, meanwhile, walked along gazing calmly at the sky. He had worked hard on this training expedition, so he might as well take part of that ten million as a reward for himself. It was time to buy some fancy supplements.