Edited by RED
Zhang Che transformed into his previous appearance by the stream, wearing a faint smile on his face as he chewed on a compressed biscuit.
Thinking of the Myriad Transformation Lizard he had just obtained, Zhang Che's excitement wouldn't calm down even after a long while.
This was a fusion transformation-type beast card; a rarity that was scarcer than one in ten million. Even though this beast card wouldn't increase his combat strength by even a sliver, this card's usefulness didn't show itself on the battlefield.
During crucial times, this could very well save his life!
"Even if I accidentally offend someone in the beast world in the future, I don't have to worry about them finding out my identity when I'm outside."
After eating a piece of the compressed biscuit, Zhang Che drank another few mouthfuls of the clear water. He stood up and continued his journey, moving up along the stream.
Watching as his beasts around walked by his side in a straight row, Zhang Che felt incredibly confident of himself.
From the battle against the Myriad Transformation Lizard earlier, Zhang Che roughly estimated that the Psychedelic Ghost-Patterned Butterfly's powders were able to put down exotic beasts which are at the same quality and level without any resistance, leaving it unconscious without it realizing.
Even if it was an exotic beast that was one tier higher in quality, it would be affected if caught off-guard. The Myriad Transformation Lizard was the best example of this.
What did this signify? It didn't need any explanation.
In their upcoming journey, as long as the beasts they encountered weren't at both a higher level and quality, they were as good as free experience for Zhang Che.
"Perhaps, raising Fusion to level 2 won't need that much time, after all."
Zhang Che was looking forward to it.
As long as Fusion successfully advanced to level 2, and his beastmaster tier broke through to another rank, he would be able to employ a three-star Psychedelic Ghost-Patterned Butterfly.
And once he was able to do so, Zhang Che could easily hunt much more exotic beasts; this was simply a virtuous cycle!
The only regrettable point was that the Psychedelic Ghost-Patterned Butterfly's quality was a little too trashy. It was actually the lowest quality level, black iron. If he was able to raise its quality in the future, then its effects would truly be unimaginable!
As Zhang Che continued up the stream, the terrain gradually became more rugged. On the way, there were also a few encounters with low-level exotic beasts, and Zhang Che's subdued beasts ganged up on them with their advantage in numbers, killing them almost effortlessly.
In these encounters, the one that directed the battles was none other than the Psychedelic Ghost-Patterned Butterfly.
Zhang Che's previous assumption was indeed right; as long as their level wasn't above the Psychedelic Ghost-Patterned Butterfly, and there wasn't too big of a difference in their quality, they would basically be knocked unconscious by the butterfly's hallucination powder.
Even though in one of the battles, a two-star silver quality exotic beast didn't fall completely to the powder, it was greatly affected regardless. In the end, it was firmly held in place by the Wind Shadow Wolf, followed by the Brown-Haired Boar grasping the opening to shoot out its Mane Projectiles, piercing it full of holes.
Regrettably, the exotic beasts only contributed a considerable sum of soul force to Zhang Che; none of them dropped any beast cards.
"As expected, there's no drop rate to speak of when it comes to the beast cards; everything depends on my luck!"
Zhang Che sighed in disappointment as he hesitated whether he should continue moving up along the stream.
He was already extremely far away from the safe zone; he would be deep into the beast world if he continued on, and the chances of encountering powerful exotic beasts would rise exponentially.
Zhang Che's subdued beasts might be able to kill those low-level exotics beasts very easily, but if he were to encounter any powerful beasts, there was virtually no hope of him emerging victorious. He might even lose his life in the end!
"I'll advance another five km, then turn back and choose a different direction no matter what happens."
After deliberating for a while, Zhang Che finally made up his mind to continue venturing ahead.
After advancing another kilometer or so, the terrain changed abruptly.
To his front, there was a huge waterfall about a hundred meters tall. The rumbling from it could be heard clearly even from a few hundred meters away.
Underneath the waterfall was a rough circular pond of aquamarine water, with a diameter of about fifty meters.
On both sides of the pond were steep cliffs that was almost ninety degrees vertical. Looking up, the summit on both sides seemed to pierce through the layer of clouds.
"Damn, it's actually a dead end!"
Zhang Che looked at the pond ahead of him, surrounded by cliffs on three sides, speechless.
He actually walked into a dead end by accident. How depressing; turning back would waste quite some time.
The sky was starting to turn dark, and he didn't know whether the area around the pond was safe, either. If there weren't any powerful exotic beasts here, he could set up camp here for the night.
Thinking of this, Zhang Che ordered the Wind Shadow Wolf to lead the way, while the other three beasts guarded by his side, carefully walking forward along the serene flow of water.
They carefully trekked ahead, not seeing any signs of activities of exotic beasts. This let Zhang Che feel a little relieved.
-It's good this way; I'll set up camp here tonight!-
"Huala!"
However, just as the scouting Wind Shadow Wolf reached the pond, a figure suddenly shot out of the water and attacked it like a bolt of lightning.
Zhang Che faintly saw a streamlined figure. As for what exactly was it, his eyes really couldn't catch it; that just showed how fast that thing was.
However, the Wind Shadow Wolf wasn't only for show, either. In the moment that figure shot out of the water, it had reacted in time and swiftly dodged to the side like the wind, narrowly avoiding that unknown beast's attack.
The lightning-fast figure fell into the bushes by the pond, finally revealing its true appearance to Zhang Che.
It was actually a puffer fish that looked rather strange. Its body was over two meters long, of which, its upper jaw was mutated into a green, thin sword that was about half a meter long.
=====
[Mutated Puffersword]
Level: One Star (Level 4)
Quality: Gold
Characteristics: Mutated Upper Jaw, Extremely Sharp
Weakness: Incomplete Mutation, Defense On Its Skin Is Rather Low, Speed Greatly Reduced After Leaving Water
Innate Attribute: Lightning Strike, Able to Break Out of Water Like Lightning, Dealing a Fatal Blow to Beasts
Potential: D Rank
Cultivating Directions: ...
=====
"It's actually a gold-quality beast!"
Zhang Che's eyes went wide, feeling fear afterwards.
It was fortunate that he got his agile Wind Shadow Wolf to lead the way. Otherwise, if the Mutated Puffersword's target was him instead, there would probably be a gaping hole in his body by now.
Immediately after, Zhang Che's eyes were beaming with excitement.
It seemed like the Mutated Puffersword has no strong suits other than its astonishing speed.
The more important point was, now that it had left the body of water, its speed was far lower than before.
-It looks like I can afford to mess with it..?-
The Mutated Puffersword missed its surprise attack and fell into the bushes by the pond. It didn't continue its assault on the Wind Shadow Wolf, either, and was instead wiggling its body in an attempt to get back into the water.
Alas, the grasses growing by the pond were rich and abundant. This gold-quality exotic beast couldn't get back any time soon.
-What is there to deliberate, then? Kill it!-