Chapter 117: Hide-and-Seek (12th update, seeking first subscriptions)

This training method can effectively improve the agility, speed, reaction, and stamina of the Demon Pets. Among them, the burden on Aixi is even heavier; not only must she avoid obstacles along the way, but she must also constantly guard against the Burrowing Mouse's ranged attacks.

Of course, this refers to Aixi and Kailan; the Paradise Bird and the Burrowing Mouse are more like training partners. Their training results are certainly not as good as the former two, though they still gain something more or less.

During the high-intensity training, the Demon Pets' stamina drained rapidly. After a quarter of an hour, they were all panting heavily, and their movements had changed to varying degrees.

This is a sign of massive stamina loss. If training were to continue, it would not only make the training results worse but also easily lead to injury.

"Everyone, take a break. We'll continue training in five minutes!"

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng clapped his hands. The Demon Pets all breathed a sigh of relief and trotted over to Li Zhangsheng.

Li Zhangsheng did not hold back; he poured out the Healing Spring that Kailan had recently produced to help them quickly recover their stamina.

While they were resting, Li Zhangsheng took the opportunity to praise the Demon Pets' performance and gave them some advice to avoid developing "bad habits," such as correcting their force-exertion methods and eliminating unnecessary movements.

Training is always hard work. If one blindly demands effort from Demon Pets, they will easily become slack over time. Properly praising them will make them happy, and combined with maintaining competition with other Demon Pets, this can better stimulate their fighting spirit, thereby helping them forget the monotony of training.

The Demon Pets were very receptive to Li Zhangsheng's praise and showed happy expressions one after another. Their physical fatigue seemed to be swept away, and when the rest was over, they spontaneously threw themselves back into training without needing Li Zhangsheng's supervision.

The Demon Pets did not want to let Li Zhangsheng down, nor did they want to be outdone by their companions, so they had no thoughts of slacking off during training and always completed it in their best state.

Whether for a Monster Tamer or for Demon Pets, one minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage. Even with the highest talent, it is impossible to achieve success overnight; without years of tempering, it is impossible to climb to the peak.

The reason why the Stronger can become the Stronger is that, besides sufficient talent, they are often strict with themselves and possess a level of effort that ordinary people lack, maintaining a process of constant striving for improvement. In this process, they also set goals for themselves; even if the path is full of thorns, they still force themselves to move forward, ultimately turning all their potential into strength.

During the arduous training, the four Demon Pets always completed their training meticulously. Of course, this was also thanks to the efficacy of the Healing Spring; their stamina could always recover quickly, allowing them to start training in the best state without wasting too much precious training time on rest.

As night approached, Li Zhangsheng ended the training almost exactly on time. In the total of five hours, the Demon Pets' performance had all improved, their strength had increased to some extent, and they had even corrected some bad habits.

After painfully paying five Low-grade Soul Crystals, Li Zhangsheng wanted to leave the Paid Training Ground.

It was a bit expensive, but Li Zhangsheng believed it was worth more than the price. The training effect of just the first floor was far superior to the Public Training Ground, and he wondered what differences the second or even third floor might have.

Just as Li Zhangsheng was preparing to leave, he suddenly saw a familiar, beautiful figure coming down from the second floor.

She was none other than Li Zhangsheng's rival—Zhao Shuyi!

"Classmate Zhao, I didn't expect you to be here too!" Seeing Zhao Shuyi, Li Zhangsheng took the initiative to greet her. Although both sides were eager to step on the other to get ahead and establish themselves as the No. 1 freshman, they still had to maintain a facade of grace.

"That's not surprising, is it? It's not just us; Zhang Yi and the others are all here too!" Zhao Shuyi shrugged and pointed to the second floor.

"Alright then!"

Li Zhangsheng appeared indifferent on the surface, but in his heart, he was quite envious. The background gap between him and them was huge, especially reflected in their "money power." This could be seen from the floors they trained on; the cost of the second floor was three times that of the first, which Li Zhangsheng could not afford for the time being.

If the gap between their Spirit Beasts was not large, as long as time passed, the gap would widen. This gave Li Zhangsheng a sense of urgency; he had to earn enough Soul Crystals as soon as possible.

The two did not say much. After exchanging greetings, they walked back together in silence and soon returned to their respective courtyards.

The first thing Li Zhangsheng did was check the status of the Red Sparrow. The Red Sparrow was still lying on the ground in a deep sleep, seemingly having not moved all afternoon.

However, judging by the number of Demon Cores on the ground, it indicated that the Red Sparrow had woken up once during this period and devoured more than a dozen Fire-type Demon Cores.

Li Zhangsheng was pleasantly surprised. The more energy it absorbed, the more it showed that the Red Sparrow's still-activating Bloodline was extraordinary; it might even be a Divine Beast Bloodline.

"Everyone, you've worked hard. From now on, we'll cancel the evening training and strive to put all our energy into the daytime training! I hope everyone can continue to work hard. I believe it won't be long before your strength rises to a new level."

After verifying the effectiveness of the Paid Training Ground, Li Zhangsheng abandoned the idea of evening training. Rather than adding extra training at night, it was better to concentrate his energy on the Paid Training Ground.

Additionally, if they trained all day long, it might be fine for a short time, but over a long period, the Demon Pets would easily become slack.

Roar~

Chirp~

Woo~

"Yay, no training tonight! Let's play hide-and-seek. This time it's Aixi's turn to be the blind one!"

As soon as Li Zhangsheng finished speaking, the four Demon Pets let out cheers. After finishing their respective dinners in a few bites, they all ran toward the backyard, and in the blink of an eye, they had disappeared from sight.

Li Zhangsheng shook his head with a smile. Ever since he taught them how to play hide-and-seek, they had been tireless in their enjoyment of it.

The Demon Pets' hide-and-seek was quite similar to that of humans: first, they would determine the area, blindfold the "blind one" with a black ribbon, spin them around until they were disoriented, and then call out to the "blind one" to tease them. The blindfolded one would then chase them, and everyone would dodge until they were caught.

Unlike humans, the Demon Pets had a much keener sense of smell, so even with their eyes covered, they could use their noses to sense the general direction of the others.

Even so, the Demon Pets were still tireless in their enjoyment. This was one of their few pleasures, making it easy to forget the hardships and troubles of training; this was what is called the balance of work and rest.

The Number One Courtyard became their fixed place for playing.

While they were playing, Li Zhangsheng went to the bedroom and began to cultivate his Mental Power.

About an hour later, Li Zhangsheng opened his eyes. There was no trace of fatigue on his face, and his spirit remained excellent. Because of the cultivation of Mental Power, he only needed to sleep for two or three hours a day to satisfy his body's needs.

Li Zhangsheng did not go to sleep immediately; after thinking for a moment, he began to flip through the "Geographical Records of Yuan Prefecture's Mountains and Rivers."

This book was not just thick; the table of contents alone was dozens of pages long, comparable to the "Fairy Illustrated Handbook"!

After opening the table of contents, Li Zhangsheng recorded every place that contained the two characters "Qingshan," preparing for future exploration.

On the map left by his parents, "Qingshan" were the last two characters. In addition, the text on the map was in the Common Tongue, which indicated that the map's history was not very old, basically avoiding the possibility of major geographical changes, which could save him a lot of detours.

About five hundred years ago, the Qianyuan Empire unified the entire continent, and the language of the Qianyuan Empire naturally became the Common Tongue. The only pity was that, for some unknown reason, the Qianyuan Empire did not last long before it fell apart, eventually evolving into a situation of warring states.

For five hundred years, no country has unified the continent again.

However, just relying on the two characters "Qingshan" to find the specific location was not an easy task. Even in the Langya Kingdom alone, there were many place names that met the requirements. If expanded to the entire continent, they were countless.

Under these circumstances, Li Zhangsheng could only hope that the treasure location was within the Langya Kingdom. If it were not in the Langya Kingdom, he would not waste any more energy; rather than wasting too much energy on searching for treasure, it would be better to work hard to improve his strength.

Li Zhangsheng's searching speed was very fast, which could be described as reading ten lines at a glance; almost every minute, he would flip to the next page.

During the search process, Li Zhangsheng automatically ignored rivers, basins, grasslands, and other terrains, focusing only on mountains, mountain ranges, hills, and other mountain-related terrains.

In addition to the suffix containing the characters "Qingshan," Li Zhangsheng also recorded all places that had previously been called "Qingshan."

This book looked very thick, but in fact, most of it described the terrain, famous people, and legends of various places. Plus, Li Zhangsheng was focused on mountain-related terrain, so his search speed was naturally very fast.

Unknowingly, time passed slowly. By the time Li Zhangsheng had finished flipping through the whole book, the sky was already showing signs of dawn.

(End of chapter)