Monster Pet Evolution

Gao Peng gently stroked the Desolate Frost Lion's wound as it lay before him, sound asleep. The Desolate Frost Lion could have stopped the Black Flood Dragon from escaping with its final gambit. However, it would have been put into a deep sleep if it had done so. All the training it had undergone that year would have gone down the drain. More importantly, Gao Peng didn't know how long the Desolate Frost Long would be asleep this time.

Gao Peng didn't want to take that risk. Also, the situation back then hadn't been so dangerous as to warrant such a risky move. Even though Desolion and the Black Flood Dragon both had the same grades, there was still a four-level difference between them.

It was an uphill battle from the start for the Desolate Frost Lion, not to mention the fact that the Black Flood Dragon was gradually shaping the battlefield into an environment it was more familiar with.

As for Dumby... it had done all that it could against the evil dragon. The same could be said for the Desolate Frost Lion. There was no synergy to speak of between Dumby and Desolion, which was understandable, considering both of them had never fought together in battle.

Gao Peng's face fell. He blamed himself for being powerless to prevent Desolion from getting hurt. Suddenly, he remembered a saying he had heard before: one was powerlessness to change anything in this world that originated from one's own weakness.

He, too, wished to do battle alongside his own familiars, instead of just sitting back with the bombastic title of master hanging around his neck. However, this was a difficult thing to do. Even with the physical augmentation benefit provided by Stripey, Gao Peng was still a human being who just happened to be somewhat stronger than other human beings.

He might have been able to provide some degree of support for his Lord-tier familiars in their battles, but in a confrontation between two King-tier monsters, there was simply nothing he could do. What help would he even be to his familiars if he couldn't even see where the enemy was?

This wasn't a turn-based game, nor was it a childish children's show where the opponent would loiter around waiting for one to finish giving commands to his or her familiars. Most monsters were ruthless and cunning. They would find any opportunity to murder people... even during their monologues.

However, Gao Peng felt that there must have been more that a trainer could do in battle. Maybe his familiars still hadn't reached a certain level? Or perhaps he hadn't fulfilled a certain condition yet? He strongly believed that there was some way he could battle alongside his familiars.

Gao Peng and his familiars had come to a stop at the peak of a mountain. The Desolate Frost Lion's chest was rising and falling rapidly. Its bleeding had started to slow down, its condition seemingly stabilizing.

The floodwaters beneath them seemed calmer now. No longer under the influence of the Black Flood Dragon, the water had lost its former ferocity, like an unruly child cowed by the sight of their mother coming at them with a cane in hand.

The city was built on elevated ground above the Yangtze River. Back then, expert geographers in the nation had been invited to oversee the city's construction. These experts had confidently proclaimed that the city wouldn't be subject to natural floods.

What they had failed to consider back then was the possibility that the city might one day be threatened by floods of unnatural origin, specifically ones caused by evil dragons that had returned from the dead.

The Wu Gorge base city was completely destroyed. Thousands of corpses floated in the water. The air was filled with the discontent of those slaughtered by the Black Flood Dragon.

Suddenly, the water turned black. A thick, putrid smell filled the air. It was as if the ground itself was rotting away.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa..." From the floodwaters emerged hundreds of monsters. Behind them floated a pearly-white brain.

The brain had a ring of light around it. It looked extremely resplendent.

Stunned, Gao Peng stared at the crowd of monsters that had appeared before him.

Sensing that its master seemed to be in a bad mood right then, the Growing Brain sent out a psychic command to its children, silencing them in an instant. "Master, I came as soon as I received your message," said the Growing Brain.

"Master, I've come as well." Another mountainous, spider-like figure emerged from the floodwaters, causing the water to slosh about around it.

"Thank you," said Gao Peng, nodding.

"Xiao Cao, come over here." He beckoned at Xiao Cao, which was sitting on top of Stripey's back.

Xiao Cao skipped down Stripey's back. As it was going a bit too slowly, Stripey decided to build an earthen bridge connecting Xiao Cao to its master's side. Xiao Cao couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain at the sight of Desolion's bloody form.

"Chirp, chirp." Its white dandelions shone a warm light on Desolion's wounds, which slowly began to heal. The Desolate Frost Lion now looked a bit better. It let out a low huff of air through its nostrils.

"Master, that black dragon is heading north," Dumby whispered in Gao Peng's ear.

Gao Peng frowned. The Black Flood Dragon was able to heal any injury by devouring the souls of others. If it were to continue its rampage to another highly-populated base city, there would be trouble.

"Let's go," said Gao Peng resolutely. He then ordered the Amorphic Hell Tree to absorb the air of discontent that still lingered in the area lest it create another, more terrifying, creature.

Goldie clenched its fists as it watched Gao Peng take off with his familiars. The only thing it was feeling now was shame.

I'm still too weak. If only I had reached King-tier, I wouldn't feel so powerless… Truly, weakness is a sin. I, Goldie, hereby swear that I will not let this happen ever again.

Despite not being as forthright with their feelings, both Flamy and Da Zi seemed a bit dejected, as well. With nothing else left to do, all three of them decided to return to the Southern Sky Group together. After chewing on its claws for a long while, Da Zi carved out a line of words on the face of the mountain. It decided to train harder than ever before once they reached home.

...

The Black Flood Dragon flew past the mountains, where not a soul dared to make a peep. The dragon's oppressive aura was enough to unnerve even the wildest monsters in this region.

A couple of monsters tentatively poked their heads out from their dens when the aura that the Black Flood Dragon had left in its wake finally started to dissipate. Before they could even take two breaths of air out in the open, another pack of King-tier monsters flew past them.

Dumby was standing on top of the skull of the Black Lightning Eagle's skeleton, followed closely by a pack of its ghoulish lackeys.

There were four King-tier ghouls in total.

Gao Peng's eyes were closed in meditation. So that's why the Dragon Slaying Chapter and the Wu Gorge Goddess Stone came into existence. Gao Peng had initially thought that the Goddess Stone's ability seemed rather trivial. Weather control? From his point of view, there couldn't have been a more worthless ability than that.

However, after its encounter with the Black Flood Dragon, he had officially changed his opinion about the Goddess Stone's ability. Every ability had its purpose. It had only seemed worthless in the first place because he hadn't thought there would be a situation where it would come in handy.

All monster abilities could be countered by something. No ability was without its weaknesses.

Looks like I'm moving in the right direction. Once I have a sufficiently diverse team of familiars, I'll be able to handle any kind of monster I may come across in the future.

If only I had managed to subdue the Goddess Stone and the Dragon Slaying Chapter back then, I wouldn't need to work so hard to take this dragon down. It would be nothing more than a slightly massive earthworm to me...

Suddenly, the Black Flood Dragon's throat began to itch, as if something was stuck in it. Sinister fumes of decay were flowing out into the air from the bone spear that Dumby had thrown into its neck.

The Black Flood Dragon had to expend a lot of energy in order to keep the invading fumes from spreading further throughout its body. However, no matter how much it scratched its neck, it just couldn't pull out the bone spear. If anything, the itch only became worse.

"Cough, cough…"