Chapter 35: Harvest in Progress

Very quickly, Aixi found an Intermediate Grade Monster Core of the Earth Element, as well as a bear gallbladder larger than a bowl; this was also the most valuable thing on the Dadi Manxiong.

Seeing this monster core, the Burrowing Mouse immediately revealed a covetous expression, hurriedly turned around, and looked at Li Changsheng with eager eyes.

"You did a great job this time; this Intermediate Grade Monster Core is the reward I'm giving you!" Li Changsheng was not stingy. Although an Intermediate Grade Monster Core is far more valuable than a Lower-rank Monster Core, the Burrowing Mouse had contributed significantly to his ability to counter-kill Lin Zheng this time.

Even though the Burrowing Mouse was only a temporary spirit pet, it could still exert miraculous effects. What's more, given the quality of the Burrowing Mouse, it had a not-insignificant hope of advancing by absorbing this Intermediate Grade Monster Core.

Squeak, squeak~

After obtaining Li Changsheng's permission, the Burrowing Mouse stood up on its hind legs and, under Aixi's disdainful gaze, cupped its paws toward Li Changsheng in a decent manner.

The next moment, the Burrowing Mouse swallowed the Intermediate Grade Monster Core. Its expression changed instantly, and it hurriedly lay on the ground, focusing on digesting the energy of the monster core.

Compared to gentle Alchemical Pills, the energy of a monster core is clearly much more violent.

Judging from the contained energy, an Intermediate Grade Monster Core is far superior to a Lower-rank Monster Core and is also much more pure; it would take the Burrowing Mouse a certain amount of time to digest it completely.

"Everyone has worked hard. Aixi, this Intermediate Grade Monster Core of the Wind Element is the reward I have for you!" Without hesitation, Li Changsheng handed the Wind Wolf's Intermediate Grade Monster Core to Aixi.

Adhering to the principle of fairness and justice, Li Changsheng said to Kailan with an apologetic look: "I'm very sorry, Kailan; I'll make it up to you when I have an Intermediate Grade Monster Core of the Wood Element someday!"

Kailan landed on Li Changsheng's shoulder, tilted its head to think, and said with a serious demeanor: "Then you owe me for now, but you have to write an IOU so you don't go back on your word!"

"Fine, fine! I'll write it for you when we go back!"

Li Changsheng felt quite speechless regarding Kailan's eccentric sense of humor, but he agreed nonetheless.

While they were talking, Aixi also swallowed its monster core and began to digest the energy contained within.

In an instant, a pale cyan light emerged, circulating on its body surface, rapidly turning from weak to strong, emitting a brilliant and dazzling radiance.

While they were absorbing, Li Changsheng was also recovering from his injuries. Fortunately, Kailan was there; otherwise, even with the Green Jade Hemostatic Ointment, it would have taken a period of time to fully recover.

It took a quarter of an hour, and under Kailan's efforts, Li Changsheng's wounds had completely scabbed over; as long as he didn't engage in strenuous exercise, he would recover in a few days of rest.

At this time, Aixi was the first to complete its breakthrough. Because it was a breakthrough of a minor realm, with the help of the Intermediate Grade Monster Core, the difficulty of the breakthrough was naturally not great.

As a price, a lot of the Intermediate Grade Monster Core's energy was also wasted.

After advancing, Aixi's injuries recovered significantly; with Kailan's healing ability, it wouldn't be long before it could fully recover.

Compared to humans, the recovery ability of demon pets is clearly much stronger.

【Spirit Beast Name】: Hanging-Forehead White Tiger (Infancy Stage)

【Spirit Beast Realm】: Lower 9th Rank

【Spirit Beast Race】: High-Level Servant

【Spirit Beast Quality】: Superior Quality

【Spirit Beast Bloodline】: White Tiger Bloodline (Inferior Quality)

【Spirit Beast Attribute】: Wind Element

【Spirit Beast Status】: Healthy

【Spirit Beast Weakness】: Thunder

Race Trait: Intimidation

Comprehended Skills: Bite, Tearing Claw, Tail Whip, Shadow Clone, Rise Wind, Crushing Claw, Wind Blade, Crunch

In this life-and-death battle, Aixi successfully comprehended the advanced skill of Bite—Crunch. Coupled with the improvement in its realm, its strength had increased significantly once again.

Under the amplification of quality and bloodline, even though Aixi had not yet become a Mid-Rank Beast, its overall strength was likely no worse than that of an Intermediate Grade Wind Wolf.

Not long after, the Burrowing Mouse underwent a change. Its bones made a crackling sound, and its body began to grow larger at a speed visible to the naked eye, only stopping after reaching a height of one meter.

Judging from the changes, the Burrowing Mouse had successfully become a Mid-Rank Beast.

【Spirit Beast Name】: Burrowing Mouse (Mature Stage)

【Spirit Beast Realm】: Mid-Level 1st Rank

【Spirit Beast Race】: Medium Servant

【Spirit Beast Quality】: Mid-grade

【Spirit Beast Bloodline】: Xi Mouse (Inferior Quality)

【Spirit Beast Attribute】: Earth Element

【Spirit Beast Status】: Healthy

【Spirit Beast Weakness】: Wood

Race Trait: Earth Power

Comprehended Skills: Bite, Tearing Claw, Sand Splash, Dig, Mud Shot, Quicksand Hell, Earth Wave, Crushing Claw, Crunch, Giant Sound

Although it was only a temporary contract, it was Li Changsheng's first Mid-Rank Beast. However, after advancing, the contract brand on the Burrowing Mouse's head had clearly dimmed significantly.

When a demon pet's realm exceeds that of the Monster Tamer, the mental connection between the Monster Tamer and the demon pet will be suppressed, making it difficult to command it as easily as one's own arm. If it is a temporary spirit pet, as the stronger party, the temporary spirit pet can forcibly break the temporary contract as long as it spends some time.

However, the Burrowing Mouse had no intention of breaking the temporary contract; there was no helping it, it was particularly fond of Fairy Food.

Even though the Burrowing Mouse had advanced, Li Changsheng still did not use up his Blood Contract quota.

There was no helping it, the Blood Contract quota was limited, and Li Changsheng only had two slots left. Moreover, this had a huge impact on his future growth; the extent to which he could grow in the future was closely related to the quality of his demon pets.

Regarding his future, Li Changsheng had to be cautious. Unless the Burrowing Mouse's quality improved, he would not waste a Blood Contract slot, but the difficulty of improving a demon pet's quality was extremely high.

Under Aixi's lead, Li Changsheng arrived in front of Lin Zheng's corpse.

Looking at Lin Zheng's corpse with eyes wide open in anger, Li Changsheng felt a faint sense of discomfort, though it was not strong.

It was not his first time seeing a dead body, but this was his first time killing someone. Although Aixi had killed Lin Zheng, Aixi was his Life-Bound Demon Pet, so there was no real difference from him killing him himself.

Li Changsheng took a deep breath and suppressed the discomfort in his heart. He knew very well that he could not stay at Qingyun Mountain for long; who knew if there were other Monster Tamers from the Lin Clan besides Lin Zheng.

This time, the Lin Clan had plotted something big, not just for the Soul Crystal Mine, but very likely with the intention of weakening the Li Clan.

Given the value of a Miniature Soul Crystal Mine, it was impossible for the Lin Clan to have sent only Lin Zheng. There were definitely accomplices nearby, perhaps even a Third-rank Royal Beast Master.

If he encountered a Third-rank Royal Beast Master, even if Li Changsheng had calculated every move, he feared he would not even have a hope of escaping in the face of absolute strength.

Without hesitation, Li Changsheng squatted down and began to search Lin Zheng's blood-soaked corpse. Lin Zheng was a Second-Rank Beast Master and a direct descendant of the Lin Clan, so his personal wealth must be substantial.

Very quickly, a pile of items appeared beside Li Zhangsheng.

After confirming there were no omissions, Li Zhangsheng first picked up a token; this token had special inscriptions used to prevent Pseudo-forgery. Its front was engraved with the character "Lin," and the back with the character "Zheng."

Without a doubt, this was an Identity Token.

After putting the token away, Li Zhangsheng casually picked up a crystal the size of an infant's fist; there were more than ten such crystals in total, and they were crystal clear throughout, looking no different from quartz.

The difference was that after holding the crystal, Li Zhangsheng could feel a special energy, and judging by the nature of the energy, it was fundamentally different from a Demon Core.

"Soul Crystal!" After sensing it for a while, Li Zhangsheng recognized the name of the crystal; it was precisely the specialty of the Soul Crystal Mine—the Soul Crystal!

Judging by the quality, these were all Low-grade Soul Crystals; it couldn't be helped, as a Miniature Soul Crystal Mine could only produce Low-grade Soul Crystals, and there were even quite a few defective ones among them.

Even so, it was enough to accelerate the speed at which Li Zhangsheng tempered his Mental Power.

Besides these, there remained a small golden sword and a special bag.

Thanks to Fusheng Ci Weiliang's book list, and thanks to Poxue Yueya for the 100-coin tip.

(End of this chapter)