Chapter Forty-Eight

The terrifying power of a fully developed level 47 could already rival some newly emerged Calamity monsters. With the unique traits of the Totem God, it was no wonder that it suddenly ascended to Calamity status that day. Yet, even with a diminished version at level 31, Cheng Yuan felt the challenge was daunting. The Totem God, weakened at level 31, would require Cheng Yuan to be well-prepared before attempting anything.

Having clarified his thoughts, Cheng Yuan hurried home. After more than a week of mountain climbing, he was curious about what gains the two little companions had brought him with their idle leveling.

Upon returning home, he found the Barbaric Marsh Giant Lizard basking in the sun. Cheng Yuan could tell it had grown—especially, it had become rounder. The sound of the door opening drew the lizard’s attention; it raised its head, and upon recognizing Cheng Yuan, it immediately scrambled over to him.

Cheng Yuan waved his hand, saying, “Keep sunbathing.” The lizard halted, then resumed lying in the sun. Cheng Yuan walked up and stroked its deep black scales. “A week’s progress—impressive. No slacking off.”

The Giant Lizard lifted its head and gave Cheng Yuan a look, as if to say, “Of course.” It was fond of its trainer; in its days of wandering, it would never have dared to bask so brazenly, let alone eat its fill and sleep each night in a warm little corner. Life had never been so comfortable, especially with a gentle trainer—at least in its eyes.

Cheng Yuan glanced at the lizard’s stats: it had reached level 13. After maxing out Water Shield, it gained a passive self-purification—the shield would dispel negative effects upon activation, unlocking the advanced skill Azure Wave Shield.

It was also the first time skills had synergized, resulting in two new abilities. Water Shield combined with Night Vision to yield Instant Membrane. Water Shield and Swimming produced Rapid Surge. Evolution was just a step away; Cheng Yuan immediately dug out a measuring tape and checked its length—from snout to tail, it measured 1.3 meters. The Giant Lizard’s maximum for level 14 was 1.5 meters; while not as extreme as the Little Tiger’s evolutionary length, even 1.4 meters at level 14 would suffice.

He then took out the skill book “Tiger’s Back, Bear’s Waist,” checking its compatibility with the Giant Lizard—60%. Cheng Yuan sighed; his own compatibility was 70%. Oh well, it was a close-combat passive ability anyway, and he didn’t expect a water-element burst mage to excel at melee.

Cheng Yuan couldn’t quite predict when the Giant Lizard would evolve—it could be a week, or overnight. His lackluster system didn’t display experience bars or similar metrics.

Regardless, every maxed skill contributed to evolution. Currently, the Giant Lizard’s highest skills at level 13 were Bite and Day-Night Pupils, both at level 8. Active skills were much easier to train than passives, so Cheng Yuan decisively took the Giant Lizard into the simulation dungeon “The Angler’s Secret.” Compared to the fragile Icefeather Chicken, the undead Bladeclaw Skeleton was far more durable for gnawing practice.

At level 13, the Giant Lizard fully exploited its margin for error: it opened with Azure Wave Shield, and the Bladeclaw Skeleton’s frenzied slashes, though still effective, were greatly slowed by the shield’s greenish water barrier.

The Giant Lizard also prudently dashed toward the riverside. In water, it was truly in its element—swimming prowess, surfing, rapid surge, and other water-melee skills, complemented by its water mage nature. Cheng Yuan wasn’t worried about things going awry.

As he expected, within minutes, the Giant Lizard became a white streak amid the waves—swift, straight as an arrow. In its agile maneuvers, it dismantled the Bladeclaw Skeleton underwater until only its skull remained. The lizard maintained its Azure Wave Shield; it was impressively steady.

When the Giant Lizard bit through the skeleton’s skull, Cheng Yuan checked its stats—already level 9. He continued to let it hunt Bladeclaw Skeletons in the water, and finally Bite reached max level. The lizard gained the passive Jaw Muscles I, which branched into new bite skills, though only one could trigger. When combined with Water Gun and Water Shield, it unlocked a new skill: Flowing Serration.

Other skills like Venom Fang, Instant Membrane, Surf, Rapid Surge, and Azure Wave Shield also leveled up to 4.

When Bite hit max level, Cheng Yuan quickly withdrew the Giant Lizard from the simulation dungeon.

After several hours of grinding, if it had been the Little Tiger fighting head-on on land, they would have stopped long ago. Even so, this intense session left the Giant Lizard exhausted—swimming for hours, with bursts of speed and underwater turns, and though it had rest periods, it was genuinely tired.

Upon exiting the dungeon, the Giant Lizard simply collapsed and fell asleep to restore its strength. Cheng Yuan gazed at the setting sun outside and pondered what the lizard should train next.

Evolution was crucial—the more perfect the individual, the greater the benefits gained during evolution. The world had its own standards for rating perfect creatures. For beasts like the Little Tiger, the larger the individual, the better its nutritional status—that is, whether it was well-fed. If you could feed yourself into a plump ball, it helped your rating.

But the catch was, being fat meant good energy absorption, and another standard was energy utilization—could you fight? This was measured by skills. Maxed skills granted potential development rewards; the more skills mastered and the stronger they were, the better your fighting ability. Except for those top-tier monarchs obsessed solely with eating and fighting—bigger, stronger, fiercer—this rule applied perfectly.

As a trainer, it was impossible to remain relaxed when your contracted monster was on the verge of evolution. Moreover, the monster’s evolution would bring benefits to the trainer as well.

Just then, Cheng Yuan heard the door open. He turned, and a familiar presence approached swiftly. The Little Tiger placed its paws on Cheng Yuan’s shoulders, licking the back of his head, then snorted and burrowed into his arms.

His mother’s voice rang out, “You’re back. How’s the dungeon strategy going?” Cheng Yuan hugged the Little Tiger. “The final boss is a Totem God—tough to handle. I’ll stay home and train for a while.”

His mother noticed the exhausted Giant Lizard sleeping on the floor, picked it up, and said, “Why didn’t you choose a better place to sleep? You’ll catch cold lying here.” She placed the lizard on Cheng Yuan’s bed.

At that moment, Cheng Yuan exclaimed, “So high!” His mother peeked inside. “What is it?” She noticed the skill book in his hand.