Chapter 192: Xiao Huo Evolves
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Both creatures moved at breakneck speed. In an instant, Goldy was battling the yellow sand snake. The latter was not at all wary of Goldy who was minuscule compared to its gargantuan size. It simply opened its mouth, ready to chomp down at Goldy. Despite his bravery, Goldy was no fool. Since he couldn’t match up to the other in size, he could only fight guerrilla-style.
He flapped his wings and flew upwards. At the right moment, the bird swooped in and pecked at one of the snake’s eyes.
It was fast, efficient, and ruthless.
There was no hesitation in Goldy’s attack and because of how unexpected it was, the attack was a success. Goldy had flames in his beak so the attack felt like a scorching metal rod stabbing the snake’s eye.
Even Lin Jin who was several hundred meters away could hear the wet sound of an eyeball bursting.
There was a loud and painful hiss following that grotesque sound.
Ruzero felt his heart wrench. That was his pet beast, the face of Snake Country. It was shocking how such a precious creature was blinded by a chicken’s peck.
Enraged, the state preceptor immediately invoked another spell. However, even without his enhancement spells, the yellow sand snake would endure its excruciating pain and continue attacking.
After his successful attack, Goldy shamelessly flapped his wings in glee, clucking out loud as if trying to provoke the snake before turning and running.
Even Lin Jin was dumbstruck by Goldy’s actions.
Enraged, the yellow sand snake tossed everything else to the wind and gave chase. Soon, it was led away from the battlefield by Goldy.
When Ruzero realized what was going on, so he quickly ordered the snake to stay back.
If the pet beast ran away, how could the fight go on?
And without his pet beast by his side, what if the enemy attacked him?
Ruzero felt cold sweat form on his back. Finally, after Goldy had disappeared without a trace, the snake who was blinded in one eye returned reluctantly.
Somehow, its empty eye socket from which blood poured made the serpent look all the more menacing.
It was to be expected. Whoever got pecked in one eye would be equally as pissed.
While Goldy was keeping the snake preoccupied, Ye Yuzhou managed to call his flood dragon back so they were probably in for another huge fight.
Just then, a wave of energy surged out from the cave behind Lin Jin.
Sensing the change, delight surfaced on Lin Jin’s expression.
It had only been one day since he fed Xiao Huo the pills but Lin Jin could now feel the difference. Xiao Huo was awake.
No, he was more than awake.
In the next moment, the silhouette of a wolf leaped out of the cave.
Flames licked the sky at the very moment it emerged from the cave. The whole scene looked like a volcanic eruption, illuminating the night sky with a golden hue.
Everyone below the hill was stunned.
“Why is there another beast?”
“It’s a fire wolf. Wait, this fire wolf looks a little different.”
A fire wolf was no rare breed; many people had them and they could be found in every street corner. However, it was uncommon to see high-rank fire wolves. Most of them were Rank 1 with only a handful that made it to Rank 2. Rank 3 fire wolves would be regarded by most as legendary.
These people obviously had never seen a Rank 4 fire wolf before.
Xiao Huo began to grow in size, but even in his giant wolf state, he was still tiny compared to the snake and flood dragon. However, the flames on his body were abnormally huge.
He resembled an erupting volcano with jets of flame that went up to a hundred feet tall. Xiao Huo was enveloped in flames as if he was a fire spirit.
Lin Jin had once seen a smaller version of this intimidating display. It was when Xiao Huo evolved into Rank 3 when the flames burned Lin Jin’s house down.
This time, however, the flames burned ten times brighter and more intense than they did back then.
No doubt, Xiao Huo had evolved.
A perfect evolution.
The evolution process ended faster than Lin Jin had anticipated. But what caused this remains unclear. It could have been the five elemental fire pill, or it could have been the pressure emitted by the soaring cloud flood dragon and yellow sand snake’s duel.
Still, the evolution couldn’t have come at a better moment. At least Lin Jin could now relax for now.
This was good.
Xiao Huo’s aura had completely overwhelmed both the flood dragon and the snake’s auras. Even if they were all Rank 4, Xiao Huo who had achieved perfect evolution was far stronger than his opponent.
Perhaps Xiao Huo managed to leapfrog to Rank 5, just like how it did the last time.
This was merely Lin Jin’s assumption. He had yet to appraise Xiao Huo so he couldn’t be sure.
But what he could confirm was that the pitiful state preceptor had just lost his chance to take revenge.
He only had one Rank 4 pet beast. How could he possibly win this battle?
If he were smart, he would change his strategy. At least he shouldn’t be dumb enough to challenge them head-on.
Sure enough, the visibly startled Ruzero didn’t command his pet beast to attack. He wore an uncertain look on his face. Not only did he lose his son, but a humiliating defeat seemed imminent for his pet beast.
His dignity was gone.
Submitting was not an option though.
But there was nothing else he could do. Ye Yuzhou alone could probably stop him from going on a rampage and who could have thought the man on the hilltop would have a Rank 4 pet beast?
How could they continue fighting?
If they did, he would undoubtedly lose the battle.
As expected of a state preceptor. Ruzero was fully aware that his revenge couldn’t be fulfilled today. He simply shouted at Lin Jin, “Fine, I, Ruzero, admit defeat today. Who are you? Do you dare to name yourself?”
These were usually the lines said before one escaped from the battle. Logically speaking, now was the time for Lin Jin to use Xiao Huo’s power to wipe out the enemy, destroying the root of the problem.
But this was actually difficult to do.
Setting aside the question of whether or not he could actually kill the man. Even if he did, it would be a blatant challenge to Grassy Continent’s Snake Country. If that were to happen, it wouldn’t be just a war coming for them.
Ye Yuzhou might not join him in this ridiculous act either. Also, this didn’t rest well with his identity as the Curator.
After some thought, Lin Jin responded in a deep voice, “They call me ‘Curator’. If you’re reluctant to surrender, then you’re welcome to seek me out anytime. But let me warn you, if you do show up again, I won’t be letting you off so easy.”
“‘Curator’. How domineering and mighty! I, Ruzero, will remember you. Let’s just wait and see,” Ruzero threatened back.
At that moment, Ye Yuzhou suddenly said to Ruzero, “State Preceptor Zero, allow me to give you a piece of advice. Forget about what happened today and don’t try to pursue the matter. It’s your luck that the Curator is letting you off the hook. Don’t provoke a calamity unto your Snake Country.”
Ye Yuzhou had said it out of goodwill but to Ruzero, it sounded like mockery. A blatant mockery.
“Mr. Ye, just how powerful do you think your Jade Dragon Country is? Are you guys a large country? How dare you spout such shameless nonsense. What you said is more than enough to serve as a casus belli for the Snake Country to declare war on your pathetic kingdom,” Ruzero warned through gritted teeth.
He was Snake Country’s state preceptor, so his words carried a lot of weight.
Ye Yuzhou frowned, musing, ‘If I’d known, I would’ve never said that. How can this Grassy Continent local return my kindness with hostility?
Was this an issue between the Jade Dragon Kingdom and Snake Country?’
But if Snake Country truly intended to wage war on the Jade Dragon Kingdom, it was probably not a joke. Ye Yuzhou had no authority to decide such a huge national matter on his own.
Zuo Wentang and the others were just as frightened.
Was a war in the making?
If so, they would definitely be in trouble when they returned. Even the City Lord Bai Zhenkong might be penalized, much less them.
Ruzero left immediately after saying his line. He was probably afraid of any sneak attacks.
This situation was getting increasingly troublesome.
“Mr. Ye, wh-what do we do?” Zuo Wentang was panicking. Despite being a dignitary, the great steward of the City Lord Manor, he was too frightened to think when it came to national issues.
Ye Yuzhou on the other hand managed to keep himself composed.
He would panic too if he was the one who was responsible for their current situation. After all, going to war was a huge deal, but things should be fine with the Curator around.
“Steward Zuo, stay calm. With the Curator around, our Jade Dragon Kingdom won’t be involved in a war.” Ye Yuzhou wasn’t completely confident when he said this. Hence, he left a confused Zuo Wentang right after that to seek out the Curator.
“Curator, this might be bad. A person like Ruzero would never let things go that easily. What do you think…” Ye Yuzhou was evidently troubled.
Lin Jin understood the severity of this issue as well. Of course, this all was a result of the actions of Little Five and Shang’er so he couldn’t remove himself from the issue. Now, his only option was to hold out until the end.
Though, it wasn’t right to drag the Jade Dragon Kingdom into this issue as well.
The only solution he could think of right now was to use his identity as Curator to seek assistance from the Visitation Hall’s visitors.
In addition, he also had to calm the authorities in the Jade Dragon Kingdom, to advise them to not give in to provocation. In other words, don’t try to give him trouble.
At this, Lin Jin said, “Old Ye, matters with Snake Country do not concern the Jade Dragon Kingdom. Please help me explain this to the relevant authorities. Also, will you be able to contact Black Crow and Ghost Child?”
The only idea Lin Jin had now was to send some people to ‘advise’ Snake Country to give up on their daring idea.
After much consideration, he felt that Black Crow and Ghost Child were most suited for the task. Both of them were independent individuals who feared no repercussions, unlike Ye Yuzhou. Ye Yuzhou’s status and personality restricted him from doing anything that was ‘out of bounds’.