Monster Pet Evolution

Crack!

The two other withered trees reacted to the kangaroo's attack like exploding durians almost instantly. Their gnarled branches swung out like demonic claws.

Shadows crisscrossed the kangaroo's line of sight in an instant, plunging it into darkness.

With the crows crowing atop the trees, the scene immediately turned into something straight out of a horror movie.

The Golden Dazzling Light Boxing Champion Kangaroo seemed to have anticipated this. Its ears twitched, then it bobbed and wove, expertly dodging the trees' attacks.

Branches lashed out like snakes from the trees. Some of them barely grazed the kangaroo's ear. On the other hand, the kangaroo's fists shot out like comets at the trees.

Bam, bam, bam.

The kangaroo intercepted the incoming branches with a flurry of punches. It was now moving so fast that it had turned into a mere shimmer to the naked eye. It wove around the branches and landed multiple blows on both trees with its feet, fists, and even its tail.

At that moment, blinding golden light flooded the area.

Sounds of cracking wood reverberated in the air.

Shards of wood sprayed out as the black branches were snapped off of the trees. The crow's feathers floated slowly in the air as if frozen there.

Bam, bam.

The kangaroo landed two final punches on the trees with a pause between them for added effect. It relaxed its fists and began walking towards the Flames of Darkness calmly.

Behind it lay what remained of the two withered trees and the crows on the cold, dark ground.

The kangaroo's tail swished about behind it, spreading the blood stains on the ground.

The Flames of Darkness seemed to have sensed the approaching kangaroo. Flickering in the air for a moment, they released a small blue flame that floated waveringly towards the Golden Dazzling Light Boxing Champion Kangaroo. The small blue flame approached the kangaroo, shaking like a doddering old man.

It looked simply beautiful. There was something hypnotizing about the way it danced about in the air...

The kangaroo's face remained as indifferent as ever. It stopped in its tracks for a moment before walking around the small blue flame and towards the Flames of Darkness.

The small blue flame paused in the air. Am I not cute enough for you? it seemed to be thinking.

After struggling for a while, it squeezed out two smaller balls of fire. A high-pitched whistling sound could be heard in the air.

However, no one seemed to pay it any mind...

A golden aura began to radiate from the Golden Dazzling Light Kangaroo's body. In a split second, it propelled itself forward, pierced through the Flames of Darkness' periphery and closed its hand around the fire's core.

It was as if the kangaroo had grabbed fate itself by the neck.

The Flames of Darkness struggled for a moment, but after realizing that there was no point in resisting its captor, it finally gave up. The flames grew smaller and smaller until finally, a prune-sized azure rock rested in the kangaroo's palm. The rock was riddled with tiny holes and stained varying shades of blue.

This was the only way to collect the Flames of Darkness without damaging the source.

The problem with it was that one would have to risk being burned by the Flames. The Flames of Darkness could easily burn right through a Commander-tier monster's arm. Only a Lord-tier monster could resist the Flames' heat.

"That's one down," said the high-level combat officer with a sigh of relief. This looked almost simple.

There are still two more materials left. It would be great if the other two were just as easy to collect as this one, he thought.

The party of three continued moving forward, the air around them gradually growing colder.

Crack.

The sound of breaking ice echoed in the air.

A thin layer of ice had formed beneath their feet without them noticing. Even the plants on the ground were frozen over.

An ash-colored building with black tiles stood approximately 300 feet ahead. Its walls were almost completely hidden behind a couple of trees.

"Is anyone still living there?"

"According to our sources, the inhabitants of Changping village have long moved out since the Cataclysm."

"But it looks like someone recently hung those corn cobs on the wall," said Lin Xinrui, pointing at the wall.

"..."

All three of them looked at each other. This was getting stranger by the minute.

Who could possibly be living in a place like this? More importantly, who could possibly still be alive while living in a place like this?

There was also the possibility that the building's current occupant was not even human.

Suddenly, a human silhouette came out of the house and began taking the corn cobs down from the wall.

Xu Heti frowned. That's definitely a human being, he thought. A walking, breathing human being.

While gathering the corn cobs from the wall, the human figure caught sight of Xu Heti and company. They weren't hard to miss, considering how big some of their familiars were. He or she then threw the corncobs to the ground and frantically ran back into the building.

After a while, two human villagers appeared from the village with two familiars behind them.

The two familiars were of the same species and stood approximately 10 feet tall. Both of them looked as pale as if they hadn't seen the sun for a long time. They were wearing red-black leather armor. Strands of withering yellow hair fell from their helmets. Their dark yellow eyes gazed at Lin Xinrui and the others lifelessly.

The two familiars were holding swords in their left hands and shields in their right. Despite their rigid movements, they were able to cover a lot of ground with each step.

"Good day," said the man on the left. His voice sounded hoarse.

Xu Heti looked the man over. He seemed normal. Xu Heti was able to deduce from the brand and newness of the man's clothing that he had visited a nearby base city maybe a month ago.

"Good day. I would just like to ask... Are you locals of this place?"

The two men looked at each other, then they shook their heads at the same time. "No, we're not."

The two men sounded unsure, as if there was something they wanted to say, but couldn't.

"The general would like to see you three," said the man on the left.

"What general?"

"General Zhao Kuo."

Lin Xinrui's face twitched, as if she had just thought of something. After closely observing the two villagers before them, she said, "Then we had better get a move on. Who knows what that man has up his sleeve?"

"Why is it Zhao Kuo?" asked the high-level combat officer. "Isn't the God of Murder, Bai Qi, the victor of the Battle of Changping? I really respect that guy."

Xu Heti looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "Did Bai Qi die here?"

"..." The combat officers fell silent.

Xu Heti looked at Lin Xinrui, who nodded back at him resolutely, for confirmation. Unable to come to a decision himself, Xu Heti decided to simply follow Lin Xinrui into the village.

Most of the buildings in the village looked old but well-preserved. There were almost no signs of renovation on any of them.

After walking along a couple of winding roads, they finally reached the center of the village.

At the center of the village was a spacious compound with a building in the middle of it. Twenty ghostly soldiers stood guard around the perimeter. Judging by their uniforms, they didn't seem to be from the same camp as the two villagers' familiars.

When the gates were flung open, a cold biting wind blew past the threshold from the inside.

Ghost soldiers filled the place. All eyes were now on the three trainers who had entered.

Xu Heti was now screaming on the inside. This was bad; there was no way they could take on that many ghost soldiers by themselves. With 100 or so ghost soldiers patrolling the streets of the village outside, they were now caught between a rock and a hard place.

As they drew closer to the building, Xu Heti could feel the ghost soldiers' collective gaze weighing on them more and more.

The building's door opened. A tall and imperious figure clad in a blood-red suit of armor with straggly black hair sat before them. His face was completely black. A bronze longsword was next to his left hand.

"Greetings, General Zhao," said Lin Xinrui, looking straight at the huge figure sitting in the middle of the room without any trace of fear on her face.

Upon hearing Lin Xinrui's voice, the huge figure clapped his hand on his forehead and began laughing uproariously. "Hahaha, now that's something I haven't heard in a while!"