Monster Pet Evolution

Gao Peng had entered the forest with five familiars. Now he was going back with six.

Gao Peng frowned at the Adamantine Duck waddling at the far back of his party.

Anyone else might not have thought much about it. After all, no one knew what it was truly capable of.

Only Gao Peng knew its true potential.

He then began wondering if he would be able to encounter more powerful creatures by staying a little longer in the wild. After much thought, Gao Peng dismissed the idea.

Da Zi and the others were already quite a handful to take care of. Gao Peng didn't think he was physically capable of raising any more.

It would also be impossible to bring along a huge entourage of familiars everywhere he went.

If that were to happen, people miles away would see the pillar of dust raised by his herd of familiars and scream, "It's him, the guy with the familiars! He's come again!"

When they finally reached the edge of Yuzhou City, Gao Peng found his grandfather, who was clad in traditional clothing and wearing a pair of sunglasses, fishing on the river bank. There was not a single ripple on the water's surface.

"You're back," said his grandfather, who took off his sunglasses and put away his fishing rod and stool. He got up and said to Gao Peng, "Let's go. I'll cook you your favorite chicken soup."

Gao Peng looked inside the fish basket, where a couple of fish were swimming around in the water.

"I see you've caught some fish."

"Well, my fishing skills have improved," said Ji Hanwu with a smile. He glanced at Gao Peng's party and immediately noticed the Adamantine Duck and the newly evolved Stripey.

There was a slight change in the old man's expression. However, he didn't say anything else.

Silly, who was floating above Gao Peng's shoulder, noticed Ji Hanwu's short gray hair, and its eyes lit up. Sitting on that man's head must be really comfortable, it thought.

It hadn't been worn by anyone as a hat for a long time.

Ji Hanwu's eyes flashed warningly at Silly as it began floating towards him. Silly froze in the air, then circled in the air before landing on Gao Peng's head with a plop.

Gao Peng reached up to touch Silly's slippery body, which felt cold and elastic.

"Grandpa, how are the drugs selling?" asked Gao Peng as he and Ji Hanwu began walking home side by side.

Ji Hanwu glanced at Gao Peng a few times. His body now exuded an indescribable air. The old man smiled to himself. Gao Peng's time in the forest had changed him for the better.

"Not bad. The blood drugs are selling quite well. I've sold more than a hundred of them in the last fifteen days. I've also sold more than a hundred of the Earth Drugs. With both of them having received favorable reviews, I think we'll be able to sell more of them in the coming days. The Petrochemical drug isn't selling as well, but compared to other drugs in the same price range, it's doing quite well...

"I've already applied for patents for all four drugs. Since you're the one who invented them, the Monster Breeder Division invited you to apply for a Monster Breeder license. Did you?" asked Ji Hanwu.

"Nope," said Gao Peng

"All right then, I'll let them know," said Ji Hanwu, chuckling.

After dinner, Gao Peng began checking the attributes of each of his familiars. Da Zi was no longer the highest-level familiar. That title belonged now to the Level 26 Flamy, who would continue to grow at such a fast pace until it hit Lord-tier.

Below Flamy were Dumby, Da Zi, and Stripey, who were all Level 25. Flamy, Dumby, and Stripey all had their own special abilities. Only Da Zi, who didn't have its own special ability, now seemed weaker than the other three.

Gao Peng frowned. Da Zi had been his first familiar. He pinched its feelers a few times as he began thinking about the fact that he would have to focus his efforts on helping it level up from now on.

Silly was now only Level 22. It couldn't grow as fast as the others, seeing that space-type food was hard to come by.

The Level 10 Goldie was at the bottom of the familiar hierarchy. Gao Peng shot a glance at the Adamantine Duck, who was absently looking at its reflection in the lake.

The Adamantine Duck had great potential. Its sturdy bones and flesh complemented its passive ability well.

Gao Peng had his own plans for it. The ingredients needed to help a monster reach Legendary grade were extremely rare. Also, the higher a monster's level was, the more ingredients it would need.

The Adamantine Duck was only a normal-tiered Level 10 monster right then.

Maybe I could help it reach Legendary or higher? thought Gao Peng.

He memorized all the ingredients required in order for the Adamantine Duck to reach Legendary. He would ask his grandfather about it the next day.

Suddenly, Gao Peng heard a sharp cry from the lake. He turned around and saw the Adamantine Duck flapping its wings excitedly, as if it had seen something astonishing.

...

"Classes will begin in two days. Do you still need me to drive you to school?" asked Ji Hanwu. He was on a morning jog with Gao Peng beside the lake.

"It's just school. Nothing to fuss about," said Gao Peng.

"All right then. After registration, be sure to come back home for dinner. I'll wait for you at home," said the old man. Entering university was no longer an important stage in people's lives these days. However, he knew that his grandson had always been looking forward to enrolling in one.

Ji Hanwu also knew that some things didn't live up to one's expectations. Gao Peng would have to experience university life for himself in order to come to this realization.

"By the way, I've asked around about the ingredients that you asked for, and I may have a lead or two on some of them. After this, I'll give you the information you need."

"Okay."

After their morning jog, Gao Peng went back and took a bath. His grandfather had placed a piece of paper beside the steaming plate of breakfast on the table. There was even a note beneath a glass of milk, on which was written, "I'm needed at the company. Here's breakfast and the information you wanted."

Gao Peng looked at his grandfather's bold handwriting and smiled.

After finishing his breakfast, he opened up the piece of paper and began reading what was written on it. "Groups of divers discovered an unknown shiny object at the bottom of the Xihai lake that drew swarms of huge carp to it..."

There were also a couple of pictures on the piece of paper that seemed to have been taken from the sky, some of them blurry. When Gao Peng laid his eyes on the first picture, lines of numbers began appearing before his eyes.

[Item Name]: Forbidden Magic Stone (Water)

"That's it," breathed Gao Peng.