Chapter 18: Extreme Training

Early morning, all was silent, and a few lingering stars were embedded in the gray sky, as if draping a silvery-gray veil over the hazy earth.

The sky began to break at dawn, the brownish-red morning glow reflecting on the window bars of thousands of households, and the light of dawn gradually awakened the sleeping creatures.

A day's plan starts in the morning; Li Zhangsheng's life had become increasingly regular, and after taking care of his own and his Demon Pet's needs, he took Aixi to the Training Ground to continue their training.

As for Kailan, he continued to practice skills in the room, and believing in Kailan's serious personality, he surely would not slack off even without anyone supervising.

It was not that Li Zhangsheng did not want to take Kailan out to train, but that Kailan, having been born not long ago, was too frail and needed to pass through a relatively gentle period before he could adapt to high-intensity training.

Now, with less than twenty days left until the family assessment, if Li Zhangsheng wanted to obtain a recommendation spot for the Monster Tamer Academy, he had to improve his Demon Pet's strength as much as possible and defeat his competitors.

Among these, actual combat could be called the most important of priorities, which also made Li Zhangsheng prepare himself; once Aixi possessed a certain level of combat power, he would leave the Manor and head into the wild to adventure.

Unlike the previous period, this time, Li Zhangsheng did not head to the bamboo forest, but came to the Training Ground, preparing to conduct the next stage of training.

Just like other days, the Training Ground was still bustling, and many family Monster Tamers were meticulously training their own Demon Pets.

In this world, there is never a shortage of diligent and hardworking Monster Tamers; many people are working hard, wanting to become more outstanding.

Unfortunately, if one wants to become a Stronger, diligence is not the decisive factor; the most important thing is still talent. Monster Tamers without sufficient talent, no matter how diligent they are, often achieve only limited results in the end.

A Monster Tamer's talent is closely related to their Demon Pet; the higher the Demon Pet's potential, the stronger the Monster Tamer's talent.

Among these early-rising family Monster Tamers, Li Zhangsheng saw the arrogant Li Jianren. Although this guy liked to show off and had various character flaws, he never lagged behind others in diligence.

Monster Tamers primarily cultivate Mental Power and are naturally far more sensitive than ordinary people. Sensing Li Zhangsheng's gaze, Li Jianren pursed his lips and continued training his Flame Wolf.

Under Li Jianren's training, the Flame Wolf had made significant progress, and its size had also grown much larger.

Unfortunately, while the Flame Wolf's level of effort might not be inferior to Aixi's, due to the gap in quality and Bloodline, in just ten days, Aixi had already caught up from behind, and its realm was not a bit worse than the Flame Wolf's.

Li Zhangsheng began to shift his gaze; besides Li Jianren, he also saw several competitors from his same period, who were likewise training their Demon Pets in full swing.

After withdrawing his gaze, Li Zhangsheng prepared to start extreme training for Aixi.

So-called extreme training refers to training at the limits that equipment and various conditions can withstand, so that the Demon Pet's physical fitness, willpower, and psychological endurance can obtain the greatest improvement.

Li Zhangsheng stood tall, his handsome face rarely filled with seriousness, "Aixi, today's training will be very hard. Do you think you can do it?"

Before starting training, one must first improve the Demon Pet's fighting spirit as much as possible, preferably planting the belief of never giving up in its subconscious, so that it can obtain better improvement during the arduous training.

Aixi raised its head, hesitated slightly, and finally nodded heavily, revealing an increasingly vigorous fighting spirit.

"Very good, first put these things on; they can improve your training effect!"

Before the training began, Li Zhangsheng put several auxiliary training props on Aixi.

These were four refined iron shackles, each weighing 2.5 kilograms, totaling ten kilograms. Their design was quite exquisite, and they could expand and contract freely according to the Demon Pet's ankles.

The refined iron shackles were props left behind by Li Zhangsheng's parents; they were also Monster Tamers during their lifetime and naturally left behind some props they no longer used, and the refined iron shackles were just one type.

After putting on the refined iron shackles, Aixi felt its body sink. It only weighed a few dozen kilograms itself, and wearing ten kilograms of refined iron shackles made it very uncomfortable.

"Aixi, run around the Training Ground, sprint one lap at your fastest speed!" At this moment, Li Zhangsheng issued the order.

The next moment, Aixi began to exert force and started sprinting at full speed along the Training Ground.

At the same time, Li Zhangsheng inverted an hourglass to test Aixi's speed. With data for comparison, every bit of progress could improve the Demon Pet's attitude toward training.

The Training Ground was large, one lap being about eight hundred meters in distance, and by the time Aixi finished the full course, the hourglass had just passed 1/10.

1/10 of the hourglass was equivalent to 1.5 minutes. Judging from the results, under the condition of carrying ten kilograms, Aixi's average speed reached 8.9 meters/second.

If viewed by human standards, being able to maintain such a speed while carrying a load could be called unimaginable, but for a Demon Pet that excelled at running, this speed was clearly not up to standard.

However, given Aixi's potential, once it fully adapted to the refined iron shackles, there would still be a process of great improvement in the short term.

"Well done, Aixi, I'll give you five minutes of rest!"

After running this lap, Aixi's consumption was not small, and it stuck out its tongue and panted heavily.

At this time, Li Zhangsheng took out a pottery jar. After removing the lid, an exceptionally fresh aura began to leak out, giving one the feeling of being in a primeval forest.

Li Zhangsheng's movements were lightning fast; he quickly poured a bowl of emerald-green viscous liquid, placed it in front of Aixi, and then sealed the pottery jar as quickly as possible.

This was the Healing Spring, the product of Kailan's training last night, which could quickly restore a Demon Pet's physical strength.

Smelling this aura, Aixi hurriedly lowered its head, as if wanting to bury its head into the bowl.

After drinking the Healing Spring, Aixi's originally somewhat listless spirit was jolted, its body surface faintly glowing with green light. Under the soothing of the Healing Spring, an extremely comfortable feeling surged through its whole body, and the soreness in its body even disappeared.

It was unknown if it was an illusion, but after its physical strength recovered, it felt its limbs seemed to have become lighter and more powerful; such an improvement made it quite fascinated.

So after finishing it, Aixi held the large bowl in its mouth, placed the bowl in front of Li Zhangsheng, and then squatted on the ground, wagging its tail hard, revealing a longing, human-like gaze, signaling Li Zhangsheng to pour some more.

"Aixi, you are not a dog!"

Li Zhangsheng shook his head and continued, "If you want to drink the Healing Spring, then give me double the effort. As long as you exceed your previous result, I will reward you with a bowl of Healing Spring! If you don't meet the standard, then naturally don't even think about drinking the Healing Spring!"

It was not that Li Zhangsheng was stingy; he did not want Aixi to rely too much on external objects.

Most importantly, the Healing Spring was too scarce. Kailan had worked hard all night and only condensed one jar.

Rejected by Li Zhangsheng, Aixi had no choice but to droop its head, its gaze looking into the distance, revealing an eager-to-try look.

Soon, the moment the hourglass was inverted again, Aixi started at full speed, sprinting crazily around the Training Ground.

In the process of training, time slowly passed, and soon an hour had gone by.

In the loaded state, Aixi gave its all every time, not daring to have the slightest bit of slack, and completed breakthroughs time and time again.

Unfortunately, after passing the adaptation period, the extent of Aixi's progress began to decline; if it weren't for the remarkable efficacy of the Healing Spring, it would have long since collapsed from exhaustion.

Even so, there were several times when Aixi did not meet the requirements, and according to their agreement, Li Zhangsheng did not give it the Healing Spring.

After running another lap, Aixi finished the course quite disheveled, its magnificent fur covered in mud, and it lay on the ground not wanting to move.

"Hard work, Aixi, you've made progress again this time. This is the Healing Spring to reward you!"

Looking at Aixi's exhausted appearance, Li Zhangsheng poured another bowl of Healing Spring.

When Li Zhangsheng announced the results, Aixi, who had not wanted to move, immediately stood up and began to lap up the Healing Spring in large gulps.

"Hey, Changsheng, what did you give it to drink?"

Just at this moment, Li Jianren took the initiative to walk over here, his eyes staring fixedly at the pottery jar in Li Zhangsheng's hand.

(End of this chapter)