Monster Pet Evolution

The Monster Trainer League caught wind of what was happening with the Explorer's Union, but they didn't think too much of it, since there wasn't any direct conflict between them for now. Furthermore, organizations similar to the Explorer's Union had been sprouting up like weeds in the past year all around the world, so it wasn't really a big deal.

All the league wanted was to be the official authority when it came to the world of monster training. Whether it was the official rating of a trainer, the administration of the Monster Trainer Examination, or the issuing of official Monster Trainer IDs, it was all only a part of their limitless ambition.

To them. organizations like the Explorer's Union were a community that posed no threat at all. To even engage with them would look bad. However, they considered working with a few of these community groups.

Unfortunately, while this idea of using Mountain Spirits to form a network of outposts was well-received by most, there was a small pocket of resistance among the higher ranking officials, who thought it was a colossal waste.

"These are Lord-tier Mountain Spirits. Having them in the wild as security is such an incredible waste!" said a high-ranking official angrily in the Huaxia branch of the Monster Trainer League.

These were Lord-tier creatures, for crying out loud! Not to mention that there were hundreds of them!

Even he didn't own one, but he wished he did.

The official was well aware of his capabilities. He wouldn't make it back alive if he tried. If he had the backing of the Monster Trainer League though, that would be a different story entirely.

With so many Lord-tier creatures out there, he knew he wasn't the only one who was tempted to do something about it.

"It's rather a waste to have hundreds of Lord-tier creatures just roaming free in the wild like that," Cao Xuansheng agreed. He was the branch head of the Huaxia region.

He wouldn't have cared if it was a hundred Commander-tier creatures, but this was Lord-tier creatures they were talking about for God's sake. There was also a good chance that these creatures hadn't yet signed Blood Contracts, which really spurred his greed.

If he could find some way to get these Lord-tier creatures on the side of the Monster Trainer League... The Huaxia region would instantly become the most influential region in the world.

"Do you take people for fools? You think they would allow Lord-tier creatures without contracts to just roam around freely?" Zhou Tianmin strode through the front door, an icy look on his face.

Cao Xuansheng was furious, but when he realized it was Zhou Tianmin reproaching him, his face flushed in embarrassment. Even though leading the Huaxia branch of the Monster Trainer League, Zhou Tianmin was one of the Twelve Elders.

Zhou Tianmin held a special rank. He could very well relieve him of his duties at the Council of Elders.

"I've never seen a Mountain Spirit, but I've heard enough about them... As the head of this branch, you should be well aware of their temperament, right?" Zhou Tianmin shook his head in disgust.

Cao Xuansheng was silent.

Ever since the statues had come to life a few months before, people had been desperately trying to sign Blood Contracts with them. After all, not only were these statues already fairly high profile before their reanimation, their level, grade, and abilities were very strong, too.

However, these animated statues were incredibly stubborn and almost impossible to tame.

There were only a few people alive in the world that had the ability to sign a Blood Contract with these statues. That led to these people being labeled somewhat mockingly as "Heaven's Chosen."

It was all in good fun, but it also illustrated just how hard it was to sign a contract with these once inanimate creatures.

"I know what you guys are thinking, but think about this. Let's assume by some miracle that these Mountain Spirits have yet to sign a Blood Contract, and by some other miracle, you manage to sign one to a contract. You know who owns the only two Emperor-tier familiars in the Huaxia region." Zhou Tianmin let out a short, humorless laugh. "If you get on his bad side, Elder Ye and I won't intervene on your behalf."

In the end, this half-baked plot died before it ever saw the light of day.

...

Da Zi had completed its evolution and was now Gao Peng's second Lord-tier familiar.

Flamy was still evolving. Goldie just started his evolution two days earlier.

That meant that only Silly, Da Zi, and the golden mouse he had captured before were with him at that moment.

He wanted to let the Prosperity Mouse ride on his shoulder, but Silly objected vehemently.

Nipping furiously at Gao Peng's hair, he was resolute. "If you let it ride on your shoulder, I'll make you as bald as Goldie."

"If Goldie heard that, you'd be in trouble," said Gao Peng with a straight face.

Silly looked torn...

Due to Silly's objections, Gao Peng eventually decided against letting the Prosperity Mouse ride on his shoulder. Instead, he put it in a cage made of pure gold and carried it along with him.

Here he was trying to keep a low profile, and what did his employee get him? A golden cage that made him look like a sleazy pimp.

The Prosperity Mouse's level and grade were both pretty mediocre. Being in the presence of several Lord-tier creatures, it was the very picture of docility without Gao Peng even having to lift a single finger.

After signing the Blood Contract, Gao Peng realized that the mouse wasn't very intelligent. In fact, it was probably at the level Da Zi had been when Gao Peng first met it. It had the intelligence of a four year old, and it could only express simple emotions like anger, joy, and sadness.

"Big brother, big brother. There's treasure. So much treasure—" the Prosperity Mouse squeaked feverishly. Its eyes were literally bulging out of their sockets.

It had never seen so much treasure before in its life. God! Did humans just leave their treasure out in the open like this?

The Prosperity Mouse was bouncing off the walls of the cage in excitement.

Maybe it was because it had been out in the wild for the long time, but the Mouse really liked calling Gao Peng "Big Brother."

"You'll get used to it." Gao Peng chuckled softly.

Hearing the Prosperity Mouse talk like a country bumpkin, Da Zi snorted coldly.

I was clearly the first one to be with Gao Peng, but I see him picking up more and more strays now!

Out of sight, out of mind. With a flap of his mighty wings, Da Zi disappeared in a flash of purple lightning.

"Will the beautiful couple help me out with my research here?" Gao Peng could hear an earnest plea from somewhere close by.

A woman dressed in black work attire was aggressively jabbing a microphone at a young couple. Behind her, her assistant had a pink creature with an extraordinarily large nose on a leash. The creature had freakishly smooth skin and was prowling, sniffing around on all fours.

At the very back was a guy holding a huge camera.

"Uh..." The young couple appeared to be engaged and in the middle of taking their wedding photos.

"What kind of research?" the bride asked curiously.

The groom stood mutely by her side.

"Our company is gathering data on our latest invention, a new breed of creature called the Spring Scar Beast."

It was a strange name, and both the bride and the groom seemed nonplussed.

"The Spring Scar Beast is extremely sensitive to hormones and pheromones. It can detect how many times you've been intimate with both the opposite and the same sex in the past week. That's why I think that..."

"Let's go take our photos." The bride turned abruptly towards the groom.

"Huh?" The groom was taken aback.

"We're not done taking photos, and we're on a tight schedule. Let's not waste any more time."

"But… this will only take a couple of minutes, right?" The groom hesitated.

"Yes. It will only take 10 minutes at most," said the woman in black hurriedly.

Upon hearing this, the bride looked somewhat uneasy. Shooting the groom a quick look, her voice hardened. "Let's continue with our photoshoot."

Even an idiot would have known something was wrong by then. The groom had a very ugly look on his face. It was a nasty cocktail of humiliation and resignation.

"Are we taking the photos or not!" Seeing that the groom was still rooted to the ground, her voice took on a steely edge.

The groom's chest rose and fell as he drew in a couple of deep breaths. Then he turned to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?!" The bride paled.

"We're not taking the photos anymore."