Monster Pet Evolution

"How on earth did you manage to piss off Bai Du?" Bai Yin asked.

He wasn't too worried about Bai Du. The latter was a talented individual who had recently been promoted to Overlord Tier, but there were others just as brilliant as him in the tribe. He also knew for a fact that Gao Peng was a lot more talented than Bai Du.

What Bai Yin was concerned about was Bai Du's father, Bai Jiyuan, one of the chief hunters in the White Dragon tribe. Being one of the chief hunters of the tribe was already a remarkable thing in itself. He had also heard that Bai Jiyuan's Familiar, a Water Dragon Turtle, had reached the highest point of Overlord Tier. It could be promoted to Saint Tier at any moment. Also, Bai Jiyuan's influence encompassed most of the tribe. One could clearly see that the man himself was not someone who should be trifled with.

"I have no idea," Gao Peng said. He told Bai Yin everything he saw and heard on the beach in the morning.

Bai Yin was silent for a moment before saying, "Bai Ge might have been the one behind your attack."

"Bai Ge?" Gao Peng asked.

"Yeah, he's Bai Du's younger brother," Bai Yin said. "He's the loose cannon of the family. He tends to take advantage of his brother's high standing. Bai Du, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. He's usually the more careful one. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a single bad thing about him."

He gave Gao Peng a toothy grin and said, "Don't worry, I have some influence around this place. If any of them comes back to pick on you again, I'll be sure to give you a hand... Think of it as my way of saying thanks for the wonderful dinner you've prepared for me."

Gao Peng nodded. He didn't even bother asking why Bai Yin wanted to help him.

It was just a matter of weighing the pros and cons of the situation. Bai Yin obviously saw that there was more to be gained from Gao Peng than from Bai Ge and the rest of his family.

No matter what ulterior motives the guy might have had for helping him, Gao Peng could not bring himself to hate him right now. He had to admit that he had truly underestimated Bai Yin. He also knew mediocrity when he saw it.

"Oh yeah, there's going to be a trade fair tomorrow in the village. Will you be going?" Bai Yin asked, suddenly remembering why he came to visit Gao Peng in the first place.

"A trade fair?" Gao Peng fell silent for a moment. He then said, "I'm not part of the tribe. You sure an outsider like me is allowed to join your festivities?"

"Of course, the trade fairs held once every month, Bay Yin said. "It won't just be the White Dragon tribe. People from other tribes in the vicinity will also be coming."

"I guess it won't hurt to see what it's all about," Gao Peng said with a smile.

Bai Yin shivered when he saw that smile. "Don't smile at me like that. You're really giving me the creeps, you know that?"

He thought, What have I gotten myself into?

The next morning, Gao Peng told the high priestess about his intention to go to the trade fair. She did not object to it. Since he was invited to the White Dragon tribe by the high priestess herself, he figured that it was only proper to notify her about it beforehand.

The high priestess simply nodded in agreement as she fed her chickens.

"Go then. Little Yin has always been such a considerate child. Make sure you don't get yourself mixed up with the wrong crowd now," she said with a laugh.

Gao Peng nodded. "Don't worry, high priestess. I'll be careful."

At the start of every month, the White Dragon tribe held a trade fair on a small island in a corner of the archipelago.

"The trade fair used to be open only to members of the White Dragon tribe," Bay Yin explained. "There are approximately 400,000 people scattered across the archipelago. That made it quite difficult for most of us to trade resources and monster ingredients with one another, so we decided to hold a monthly trade fair to facilitate our businesses.

"Of course, once we establish a solid customer base for ourselves, subsequent transactions are carried out on a personal basis, so there's really no need for something as cumbersome as trade fair at this point. Now, most people sell freshly caught monster corpses, monster younglings, and various ingredients in these events, all of which are gathered within the current month."

Even though he could see that Gao Peng did not have anything of value with him to trade at the moment, he added, "If you have something you would like to sell here, you can do so in the trade fair. The main currency we use here is monster core crystals."

To all appearances, Gao Peng had come here empty-handed. It was then that Gao Peng suddenly remembered the raw materials the Great Altar Cutter had produced. He knew that any of the Great Altar Cutter's byproducts would instantly attract many potential customers for him.

There would be a large number of monster corpses being sold in the trade fair. He could buy them all and disassemble them into raw materials, which he could then sell back to the public at an even higher price. He would be able to earn lots of monster core crystals in no time.

However, he soon dismissed this idea from his head. Despite the profit he could potentially receive, the risk that came with it was also just as huge. More importantly, Gao Peng was not in need of money. He had all the freshly caught monster corpses he could ever need at the moment.

A typical monster would also need some time to properly digest the resulting meat and soul essences. He might not be able to sell off all the meat and soul essences in his possession if he went through with this plan of his.

"We're here. That's the trade fair's island," Bai Yin said.

Gao Peng looked down at the island below him. All the trees on it had been chopped down. Buildings of all shapes and sizes were built in their place. The island was teeming with humans and Familiars.

The winged dragon that was carrying Gao Peng and Bai Yin began to descend from the sky. It landed on what appeared to be a "dragon" airport. The place was bustling with dragons, which were either taking off into the sky or landing on what little space was available to them.

As soon as they exited the dragon airport, Gao Peng could hear the cries of vendors desperately advertising their wares to the public.

"Get your water tiger shells here! Replenish your yin-yang essence! Guaranteed to keep you young and beautiful!"

"Striped narwhals' feces over here, straight from the Black sea! Helps promote the growth of water-type plant monsters."

"We've got Nutmeg Moss Flowers here. They have a certain chance of triggering a mutation in water-type familiars. They also have a curious effect on turtle-type monsters."

The air was filled with street cries.

Gao Peng swept his gaze across the vendors' wares.

[Ingredient Name]: Nutmeg Moss Flower

[Ingredient Description]: Can be used alongside the feces of a Striped Narwhal, the fresh urine of a Golden-pupiled Blood-eyed Mink and the innards of a Rotten-hearted Conch to produce a mutagenic concoction. Has a strong mutagenic effect on turtle-type monsters and familiars below Saint-tier.

The descriptions of all kinds of ingredients flooded Gao Peng's field of vision. Even though some of these descriptions barely held any information about the uses of all the ingredients, they at least gave him a general outline of their medicinal properties.

Gao Peng continued surveying the merchandise that was being sold in the trade fair. He was looking for something he could use on his own Familiars.

Most novels usually had their heroes or main characters chance upon an incredible treasure in exotic bazaars like this one. He already had a cheat code in hand. He wouldn't be surprised if he stumbled across something equally incredible at this point.

Along the way, Gao Peng could see that a couple of wares were sold at a cheaper price than they were actually worth. However, he still could not find anything he could use on his own Familiars. This could be due to the fact that his Familiars' grades and tiers were a lot higher than those of the average Familiar there.

"Let's go visit the stalls," Bai Yin whispered, sensing Gao Peng's dissatisfaction. "Their wares may be a bit pricey, but they are top quality materials gathered by the major families in the White Dragon tribe."