"By the way... why do you think the guardian deity is an Abyss Species rather than a Monarch Species?" Luo Yu wanted to know the reasoning behind Lin Li's judgment.
"Well, it only appears at the celebration once a year and spends most of its time 'sleeping,' so I thought maybe it was absorbing Abyss Power!"
"Some people gossip behind its back, saying the guardian deity is lazy... but I don't think that's true." Lin Li shook her head.
They actually dared to gossip about the guardian deity behind its back? Then Luo Yu remembered that he and Yu Wan had been gossiping too... never mind, then.
In the eyes of some islanders, the guardian deity, the Mirror Moon Giant Crocodile, really was a little "lazy."
It only woke up briefly when people offered it delicious food at the Mirror Moon Celebration.
When things like the Tidal Corpse Transformations brought on by the once-a-decade great tide occurred, it never intervened unless the island faced destruction. It left everything to the islanders to resolve themselves, even if that meant many casualties.
It only stepped in when an enemy appeared that the island couldn't handle, such as a zombie king beast.
The island's public explanation was that the guardian deity couldn't protect the island forever, and they couldn't rely on it for everything. Thus, beast tamers were expected to deal with each problem themselves first, and the guardian deity would intervene only when a situation arose that they truly couldn't handle.
Luo Yu thought that made sense. Mutant beasts might live for a very long time, but they could still die. An island couldn't last forever by relying on a single guardian deity and a single mineral vein. It needed a system and institutions of its own for nurturing talent.
If they left everything to the guardian deity, the islanders would all become giant babies. Once the guardian deity died, the island would be finished too.
"Absorb Abyss Power? Can it do that outside the Abyss Zone?" Luo Yu asked.
Deep in the Pacific Ocean lay a bizarre fissure on the seafloor that constantly spewed a special kind of energy. It was like a passage to the abyss and was known as the Abyss Zone.
It released an extremely evil power. Even the slightest contact with it would cause mutant sea beasts to undergo erroneous evolution, turning them into mindless Aberrant Corpse Beasts.
The Abyss Zone was therefore also known as the Sea of Aberration. It was a paradise for zombie sea beasts and one of the ocean's forbidden zones.
But it was different from the Seven Mysterious Sea Regions. The Seven Mysterious Sea Regions appeared in random locations and benefited humanity, while the abyss had a fixed location and harmed humanity, so they weren't considered equivalent.
Aside from the first batch spawned by the torrential-rain apocalypse, a large proportion of the Aberrant Corpse Beasts around the world had subsequently been spawned in the Abyss Belt and spread everywhere.
However, dangerous as Abyss Power was, it was also tremendously powerful and could be used to strengthen oneself and raise one's life level. Of course, not just any creature could wield Abyss Power at will-not even Monarch Species.
Only a tiny number of creatures with more powerful species bloodlines had a chance of absorbing that power into their bodies.
Mutant creatures of this level were called "Abyss Species": species capable of resisting the abyss's corrosion.
Of course, even Abyss Species had to be extremely careful when absorbing Abyss Power, and the risks were still considerable. One wrong move could still cause their genes to collapse and make them lose their minds. It was a double-edged sword.
As a rule, Abyss Power existed only in the Abyss Belt. Thus, many Abyss Level beast tamers stood guard on its outskirts, partly to prevent Aberrant Corpse Beasts from spreading and partly to divide up the Abyss Power there.
The Mirror Moon Giant Crocodile stayed on Mirror Moon Island all the time, not in the Abyss Belt. Where would it get Abyss Power to absorb?
"An Abyss Core!" Lin Li said. "Abyss Level corpse beasts have a core inside them called an Abyss Core, which is filled with a tremendous amount of Abyss Power."
"Absorbing the power inside an Abyss Core is essentially the same as absorbing Abyss Power directly in the Sea of the Abyss."
"In fact... the Abyss Power inside an Abyss Core is a little more stable. So far, there apparently haven't been any cases of an Abyss Species mutant beast's genes going out of control from absorbing the power of an Abyss Core."
"Of course, Abyss Cores are also extremely expensive-even more expensive than the young of a high-quality Monarch Species..."
"You mean our guardian deity might have been holding on to an Abyss Core and absorbing Abyss Power from it all this time?" Luo Yu asked.
"Mm-hmm." Lin Li nodded and ventured a guess. "Remember how Mirror Moon Island used to have a rare mineral vein? But after it was mined, the island didn't seem to get much richer..."
"So I was wondering... could Island Lord Bai Ling have used the money to buy an Abyss Core? That way, the guardian crocodile could absorb Abyss Power and grow stronger without leaving home, so it could keep protecting the island... It wouldn't have to risk going to the Abyss Belt to grow stronger like other Abyss Species."
"I see. That's certainly possible." Luo Yu nodded. He looked at Lin Li, who wasn't very bright, and felt she was actually quite smart. Luo Yu hadn't yet had time to encounter or study these high-level matters. After all, there was already a great deal to learn about Common Species and Monarch Species.
"I've decided," Luo Yu said, pondering. "I'm going to meet the guardian deity too."
"???" Lin Li froze. "You really want the guardian deity's blood? What if you make it unhappy..."
Luo Yu smiled. "Either way, I'll show my face and build a good relationship first. I won't mention the blood for now."
"Then are you going to study cooking too?" Lin Li was perplexed.
Luo Yu shook his head. "That's too much trouble. You study cooking and make sure the guardian deity is in a good mood this time."
"I'll just go talk to the director and take part in the zombie challenge at the Mirror Moon Celebration as one of the island's rookie beast tamers."
Luo Yu had watched the rookie assessment that day too. Several rookie beast tamers had contracted Superior Species, and no matter how hard Bing Liang and the others worked, it would be difficult for them to catch up.
Even so, they were still a little behind July. Luo Yu was confident he could stand out.
That way, he could become the best rookie beast tamer of the year and receive the guardian deity's blessing.
Of course, the guardian deity's mood that day was especially important. Luo Yu didn't want to end up like the unlucky Yu Wan and receive nothing but a verbal blessing.
So he decided to supply Lin Li with "high-quality ingredients." He would find some chicken, duck, and fish with the "Delicious Flesh" talent beforehand, so she could win on the quality of her ingredients.
When the time came, the guardian deity would surely be in a good mood after eating the delicious food.
He and Lin Li could both receive the guardian deity's blessing. If he could also use the opportunity to have the guardian deity help July break through to "Commander Level," that would naturally be even better.
If not, he could still see the guardian deity's strength with his own eyes and gain a clear understanding of Mirror Moon Island's ultimate trump card.
"Oh, okay." Lin Li said, "So, can we have honey-glazed garlic-chili offal stew for lunch...?"
"..." Luo Yu said, "Let's have that today, then. Buy more ingredients tomorrow, and I'll decide the menu."
That very day, Luo Yu went to ask the director.
"Well, I know your Earth Penguin has been raised exceptionally well, and you also have the Sting Training Method, but..." Director Yu Lei pondered. "I wouldn't advise you to participate."
"Why's that?" Could it be that the director thought July couldn't compare to those Superior Species?
"On land, I trust you two. But the problem is, the Mirror Moon Celebration is held on the island's Moon Reflection Lake, and the part where the island's rookies challenge zombie sea beasts takes place on the water..."
The director wasn't looking down on July. On the contrary, he thought July was a freak, but he also had to consider the overall environment.
"The island's outstanding rookies have contracted either water-type or wind-type mutant beasts, so fighting on the water is basically no problem for them. But that Earth Penguin of yours..."
Earth Penguins couldn't fly or swim.
Luo Yu understood. Indeed, in an all-water venue with no land, July might not perform as well as those water-type Superior Species. But there was still time, and they could treat it as a challenge. He told the director, "Don't worry. He's working hard to learn how to swim now."
The director: "..."
It still had to fucking learn how to swim? Did that pet beast of his sound reassuring at all?
Other people's pet beasts knew how to swim from birth!
"All right... I'll put your name down." Director Yu Lei was helpless. Luo Yu had rendered the island great service, so he could do as he pleased with a small matter like this. Besides, even if the Earth Penguin drowned, there would be lifeguards.
"But let me warn you first: the guardian deity is actually quite stingy. It's only willing to be a little generous when it's eaten well, so don't expect too much from its blessing. My niece Yu Wan..."
This was the story Luo Yu had already heard.
After confirming that he could participate in the Mirror Moon Celebration, Luo Yu went back and had a satisfying sleep.
Early the next morning.
After twelve days, the batch of eggs laid by the two Breeding Paragons hatched. However, before they could be put back to work breeding, they would need to be raised for a few more days to let them develop. Besides that, the first batch of Honey Water Bees to mate at the research institute also began laying their first eggs...
However, the first eggs were all of poor quality. Among the whole batch, only one had a Senior Level talent, and that talent was "Bee King," the most common Senior Level talent.
Even the one with the "More Children, More Blessings" talent had only just begun breeding and had laid an egg with an ordinary talent.
She was a late-game hero, so Luo Yu wasn't in a hurry.
But without the participation of a "Breeding Paragon," it would presumably take a long time pulling the gacha to achieve significant breeding results with the Honey Water Bees.
"Let's make another trip to the Ancient Grotto..." This time, Luo Yu brought a Honey Water Bee with the "Rock Element Affinity Talent" and had her touch the Ancient Evolution Stone to see what would happen.
And the result... was as expected.
Sure enough, a rock-type talent alone wasn't enough. They had to be direct descendants of dinosaurs to have a chance of evolving.
After a quick experiment, Luo Yu didn't stay long this time, for the sake of his physical and mental health.
When he returned to the research institute, he saw that Lin Li had already bought new ingredients that day. He couldn't help going to the kitchen himself to pick them out, lest she combine them into some new dark cuisine for everyone to eat.
"Huh..."
As he looked around, Luo Yu's gaze suddenly settled on several squid.
[Species]: Coral Flower Squid [Attribute]: grass [Species level]: Low-Rank Ordinary Species [Life level]: 1 [Species ability]: Flower Blade [Individual talent]: Whetstone (ordinary talent; its body is sharper than that of an ordinary individual.)
The Coral Flower Squid was a grass-type mutant aquatic beast. It looked like a squid with a flower growing on its head. The flower was quite sharp and could help it deal with small prey, while also giving its delicious flesh a floral fragrance.
Luo Yu paid special attention to them not because any of them had a powerful talent, nor because he wanted to eat grilled squid...
But because they were rare grass-type mutant beasts.
These grass-type mutant beasts reminded Luo Yu of a Honey Water Bee with a special talent he had obtained three days ago.
[Individual talent]: Flower-Picking Bandit (Senior Level talent; can steal nutrients from the bodies of grass-attribute mutant beasts and turn them into a special, highly nutritious honey.)
Luo Yu had found the talent interesting at the time, but grass-type mutant beasts were scarce, and his schedule had been thrown into disarray by the Ancient Grotto over the past two days, so he hadn't had time to test its effects. He hadn't expected Lin Li to bring back a grass-type ingredient today... He felt he could give Flower-Picking Bandit a try!
"Little squid, come with me. Let me pick your flower..."