Monster Pet Evolution

The Saprophytic Earth Dragon's screams were cut short as it was being swallowed whole by Stripey.

Puffs of black smoke issued from Stripey's nostrils. It coughed a few times, as if its snack didn't quite agree with it. The black smoke from its nostrils gradually merged with the dark ominous clouds over Stripey's head.

Gao Peng absently stroked Silly as he watched the enormous spider devour its meal.

He sometimes hated this ability of his. With it, he could tell what someone was thinking just by analyzing their facial expressions. This ability to pick up on every seemingly trivial detail in his surroundings had been both a blessing and a curse to him.

This was why Gao Peng rarely used it when interacting with others.

"You aren't welcome here!" roared the Desert Pillar Monster. It was now livid. Not only was this human ignoring it, but he was also letting his familiar devour another monster before it.

"Leave this place... Now!" it roared again, causing a small sand dune to explode, sending tiny sand particles flying towards Gao Peng and Stripey.

The Desolate Frost Lion's body gleamed. In the next instant, the sand particles were all frozen in a sturdy web of ice around the Desolate Frost Lion.

"Wow, it sure talks a lot, doesn't it?" muttered Gao Peng. "Its breath stinks, too."

"Stripey, tell it we aren't leaving this place any time soon. We're all exhausted, and we're going to stay here for the night," he ordered.

Hearing what Gao Peng had said, the Desert Pillar Monster grew angrier. Who does this human think he is? No one has ever disobeyed a direct order from me before! I will not stand such disrespect in my own domain. The nerve of this human to disregard my authority here!

In front of it stood a strange, black creature that was just as big as it. At that moment, the Desert Pillar Monster couldn't help but feel that there was something off about this creature's power, that it wasn't an opponent to be treated lightly.

This was one of the reasons why the Desert Pillar Monster wanted Gao Peng and company out of its domain.

Despite not being part of the five main elements, sand was still an element derived from the earth element. If anyone or anything dared to defy its wishes, the Desert Pillar Monster would simply slap them to kingdom come.

However, this human was different. The Desert Pillar Monster sensed a vague feeling of threat that the human and this strange, black familiar of his were giving off.

Irritation began to mount in it. "Human, you dare defy me?" rumbled the Desert Pillar Monster.

"Oh? So what if I do?" said Gao Peng, smiling coldly at it.

The Desert Pillar Monster felt even more troubled by such a brash response. However, it was a stubborn creature, not one to back down so easily. "Watch your tongue, boy. You've drawn my full attention," said the Desert Pillar Monster menacingly. In an attempt to intimidate Gao Peng, it easily slapped away a sand dune beneath it.

Suddenly, Gao Peng had an idea. "Wait... you're attracted to me?"

Sorry, mate, I'm not into that kind of stuff, thought Gao Peng.

"I meant that you've incurred my wrath!" shouted the Desert Pillar Monster. It was now enraged. It had never seen such impudence in its life!

Its anger had reached the bursting point. It could no longer hold it in. The Desert Pillar Monster rushed at Gao Peng, raising a sand tsunami with its huge arms, its Desert Wings spread out behind it. In an instant, the sky went dark. A raging sandstorm had completely surrounded the Desert Pillar Monster.

Gao Peng silently took three steps back. Da Zi and Flamy also followed suit, leaving Stripey to deal with the Desert Pillar Monster.

Stripey took two steps forward, shielding Gao Peng and the others from the sandstorm like an impenetrable wall.

"Don't be scared, Gao Peng, Da Zi! I'll protect you!"

"I'm not scared! I'm just making a tactical retreat, that's all!" retorted Da Zi.

"All right, all right, we all know you're the bravest one here," said Gao Peng, pressing an agitated Da Zi back with one hand.

"You always say that you're making a tactical retreat whenever things get violent. I just picked that up from you," added Da Zi.

"Brat!" said Gao Peng, striking Da Zi in the head. "I never taught you to say these things!"

As Gao Peng was arguing with Da Zi, he was also keeping an eye on what was going on between Stripey and the Desert Pillar Monster. In terms of their special characteristics, both of them had the same level of mastery over their respective elements.

However, they were now in the middle of a desert. Gao Peng feared that Stripey might be out of its depth. In the chaos of the sandstorm, the Desert Pillar Monster's harsh sand elemental energy collided against Stripey's massive form.

Thankfully, Stripey's body was covered with a layer of rock. This layer of rock was the result of it concentrating its earth elemental energy into an earthen armor over itself.

The sand rattled noisily against Stripey's earthen armor. The rustling sound of sand flowing down from Stripey's body echoed across the dunes. Stripey remain unmoved, like a mountain. The Desert Pillar Monster couldn't even put a dent on its earthen armor with its sandstorm attack.

Even though they were in the middle of a desert, they were still essentially on land. The desert, hills, mountains, and plains all belonged to the land. The land held all of them on its surface, just as it held all life living on it.

Seeing that its sandstorm attack had absolutely no effect on the black mountainous creature, the Desert Pillar Monster's eyes glinted with a fierce light. Without warning, it pounced on Stripey and began driving its fists into Stripey's back.

Boom!

Its arms went numb from the impact. A dull thud reverberated across the desert.

The Desert Pillar Monster looked up, sensing that something had gone wrong. Then, it felt itself soaring through the air… The ground was sinking further and further away from it.

Sprawled across Stripey's mountainous back, the Desert Pillar Monster looked around in confusion. It began to sense its connection with the desert weakening as the desert gradually fell away beneath it.

What is this? What's going on?

...

Boom!

The sand dunes swayed as an explosion shook the desert a few hundred miles away. What appeared to be a living mountain shook itself as the yellow light around its body slowly faded away. The swirling sand in the air began to slow down.

The Desert Pillar Monster lay defeated on the sand. Slowly, its body began to disintegrate, letting the sand that made up its body trickle back into the desert.

The sky was now filled with the sulfurous clouds that were coming out of Stripey's head. Huge comets rained down from it, covering the desert in lava for miles. In an instant, the place was transformed into a hellish, lava-filled landscape.

Stripey, who now towered over Gao Peng and the others like a mountain, rumbled, "Gao Pen, I don't think it's dead. I think it escaped."

"Hmm." Gao Peng nodded. The Desert Pillar Monster's attack had managed to dispel the Guise Fruit's size-altering effects. As a result, Stripey was brought back to its normal size, allowing it to use its full power against the Desert Pillar Monster.

Gao Peng hadn't seen this coming. The fight between a Disaster Mountain Spider and a Desert Pillar Monster had been completely one-sided.

Throughout the fight, the Desert Pillar Monster thought that its high endurance would allow it to whittle down the Disaster Mountain Spider's defenses. However, Stripey had simply expanded outward at the right moment and sent its opponent flying away. Knowing that it was severely outmatched, the vanquished Desert Pillar Monster had disintegrated its body and slipped away into the depths of the desert before the spider could finish it off.

Gao Peng noticed that in a desert environment, the sulfurous clouds above Stripey's head seemed more active than usual, probably due to the heat stored beneath the desert's surface.

"Yeah, it must have escaped," said Gao Peng. He didn't see the Desert Pillar Monster's corpse anywhere. However, he wasn't worried. It couldn't hide from him for long.

Unlike other types of monsters, the Desert Pillar Monster could only bring out its full potential in a desert environment. There was no way it would abandon its home.

Its weakness was ice. However, Gao Peng didn't let the Desolate Frost Lion take on the Desert Pillar Monster. Only when the lion cub reached King-tier would he let it help him capture the Desert Pillar Monster.

"It must be seriously injured. It will need at least a few months to recuperate and heal its injuries. It should consider itself lucky if it still has access to its full power at the end of its recuperation period," said the Desolate Frost Lion solemnly. "By then, I'll be able to kick its butt with my eyes closed!"