Monster Pet Evolution

The Qin Qiong and Guan Yu Statues were of the same species. They even shared the same weaknesses.

Da Zi had gained three levels since its last encounter with the Guan Yu Statue. Not only was it a level higher than the Qin Qiong Statue, but it was also superior to the latter in terms of grade. Unable to block Da Zi's lightning attack, the Qin Qiong Statue was instantly electrocuted by it.

"It's called electrotherapy," said Gao Peng casually.

The Qin Qiong statue fell to the ground, half-kneeling. Its dark bronze face remained expressionless as arcs of electricity leaped across its body.

The statue's metallic body was now surrounded by purple electricity. Da Zi clamped its mandibles down on one end of its electrical web. However, no matter how hard Da Zi pulled on it, it still couldn't get the Qin Qiong statue to budge.

The 30-foot-tall statue probably weighed at least a few tons. There was no way Da Zi could pull something that heavy.

Gao Peng narrowed his eyes at this scene. As he stepped forward, a layer of faint purple energy began to form around him. Then he reached down and gave the electric web a good yank.

He managed to pull the statue at least two feet across the ground.

The security guard gaped at Gao Peng.

Da Zi also stared at its trainer, speechless.

I'm sorry, are you the familiar here? How am I supposed to show my face around the others now?! it thought.

Gao Peng, who had received a portion of the combined strengths of Stripey and Dumby, had no idea just how strong he was by then. He didn't think he would be able to obtain an accurate measure of his own strength through conventional means of strength-testing. It would also not be feasible for him to drag a hundred-ton object off the street and start bench-pressing it back home.

Gao Peng began climbing up the mountains, dragging the Qin Qiong Statue behind him, until they reached Stripey's valley.

A dark pillar of smoke was rising up into the sky at that moment, and the smell of sulfur permeated the air around them. It was noticeably hotter here than anywhere else outside of the valley.

"Stripey, I brought you a new toy." Gao Peng loosened his grip on the electric web. Da Zi dispelled the electricity around the Qin Qiong Statue. The statue, which had been lying prone on the ground all this time, suddenly sprang up to its feet and swung its mace out. A loud wail reverberated across the valley as a pair of golden weapons sailed through the air from the statue.

Bang!

Stripey sent the Qin Qiong Statue flying with one kick.

It wasn't even a proper kick. Stripey had simply wiggled the one of its legs that was closest to the statue.

Just like that, the Qin Qiong Statue was thrown into the face of a mountain, where it carved out a human-shaped hole.

"Gao Peng, will it break?" asked Stripey in a tone of concern.

"Nonsense. Just remember not to play too roughly with it," said Gao Peng reassuringly.

"Okay. I won't," replied Stripey happily. It had been a while since it had a new plaything. Nothing interesting ever happened in the valley. At first, Stripey had tried to distract itself by admiring the scenery around it, but that quickly grew old. At times, it would catch a couple of small monsters in the forest for its own amusement. The weak-hearted ones were immediately frightened to death by the sight of it. Some of them were too scared to even touch their food, so they ended up starving themselves to death. Only one or two lasted for a few weeks with Stripey before breaking down completely.

"Gao Peng, Gao Peng, why are the mountains around the valley getting shorter?" asked Stripey.

"Uhm..." Upon hearing this, Gao Peng looked at Stripey and noticed that it had grown a lot bigger than the mountains around it.

Is it getting bigger?

"Gao Peng, you're also getting shorter. Da Zi... you're still the same as ever." Stripey lay on the ground. A bright red crack opened on its head as it gazed down at Gao Peng and Da Zi.

Da Zi stared at its trainer, speechless.

Outraged, Da Zi jumped into the air and sank its teeth into Stripey's rock-hard skin.

Stripey simply giggled like a little child. It seemed quite happy about this.

The Qin Qiong Statue climbed out of its hole and stared at Stripey in bewilderment. Only at that moment did it notice the hulking monstrosity in the middle of the valley. It had thought that it was just another mountain.

It slowly took a few steps backward. Gripping its mace tightly in its hand, the statue turned around and ran for its life. It had no intention of staying around to see what would happen next!

Whoosh!

The world around the Qin Qiong statue suddenly went dark as a long shadow fell over it.

Boom.

The ground beneath the statue's feet shook violently.

The only exit out of the valley was blocked off in an instant.

Blood-red light spilled out from the cracks on the craggy rock wall that had sealed off the valley's exit. The statue was shaken to its core by the menacing aura around the rock wall at that moment.

The Qin Qiong Statue eyed the rock wall warily. Looking up, it saw that that the wall stretched all the way up into the sky, completely blocking all sunlight.

"Don't worry, Stripey. I'll find a way to make you smaller," said Gao Peng, smiling at Stripey.

Stripey nodded happily. "Okay! Gao Peng, you're the best!"

When Gao Peng and Da Zi left the valley, Stripey hurriedly stood up and propped four of its feet on the mountain peaks around it. The mountains trembled and cracked slightly beneath Stripey's weight. From this position, Stripey looked out over the mountains and stared at the receding figures of Gao Peng and Da Zi in the distance. When both of them finally vanished into the horizon, Stripey despondently climbed back down from the mountain peaks.

"I'm not stupid... I know that I'm getting bigger," mumbled Stripey. "Gao Peng, will I be able to see you again?"

Taking advantage of Stripey's distracted mumbling, the Qin Qiong Statue had already run a few miles into the forest. Branches slapped against its metallic body as it made a mad dash for freedom.

Stripey threw a disdainful look at it and said, "Get back here!"

Then it slammed one of its legs on the ground.

Boom...

A powerful shockwave spread out across the ground from Stripey's leg.

The ground rose up like a tidal wave. In an instant, it managed to cover a distance of three miles through the forest.

The statue stumbled as the ground beneath its feet went soft. It suddenly felt half of its body tipping forward and then soaring through the air in the opposite direction. as the seismic wave threw it back to where Stripey was. The statue landed unceremoniously before the mountain spider's feet.

"Gao Peng said that you're supposed to play with me!" said Stripey.

The Qin Qiong Statue stared at it mutely.

What the hell do you people want from me? I was just excited to find one of my own kind and got curious about it. Now I'm not interested anymore!

Once he was back at the academy, Gao Peng began asking around about what had happened during his absence.

Nothing much had happened, aside from a scuffle between the students. Some of the students had fought with each other in the corridor during recess one day when one of the students slammed a door on someone else's thumb.

"The injured student was sent to the infirmary to be treated. Fortunately, the Holy Angora Rabbit was able to fix her thumb. There were no side effects," said the academic director.

"That's good to hear," said Gao Peng, nodding. "It's normal for the students to be a bit excitable. However, a school is still a place of learning. If the students have nowhere else to channel all that excess energy, I'd suggest that the school start a number of clubs for the students to join, like a Monster Hobby Society, a Monster Breeder Exchange Society, a Monster Trainer Exchange Society, or maybe even a Treasury Club. How you go about this is entirely up to you," said Gao Peng. He had offered a general outline of a solution. The details of its execution would be left to those below him to handle.

"Also, the other day, I had someone contact Yuzhou's National High School Association. They've agreed to let us join them. How you use the opportunity that I've given you to make this place one of the best schools in the region will also be up to you," added Gao Peng flatly.

"Understood," said the two rows of school officials sitting on both sides of Gao Peng.

After pausing for a moment, Gao Peng said, "I know that our school's students aren't academically on par with the other schools. Still, you don't need to put unnecessary pressure on them. Just make sure they're able to improve at their own pace."

"Understood."

"All right then. Meeting adjourned."