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Looking forward to the moment when the little beast will be able to communicate with its "pet owner." Do you think they will get along or will they tease each other?
Ling Qingxue continued to hunt magical beasts. Besides the ones Wu Liang had devoured, she had two First Level early-stage 1 magical beast corpses left.
She couldn't feed them all to Wu Liang; she needed to save some to exchange for a few Vitality Pills to boost her vital energy.
With just the current support from Wu Liang, who had not entered the First Level yet, the improvement was too small.
Her current vitality value was around 105. Although there had been a slight increase, it was still far from the 200 points required for the mid-stage of the First Level. Only Vitality Pills could help her improve quickly.
[Ding! First Level early-stage Burrow Rat digestion completed. Strength +5, Defense +4, Evolution Points+7!]
A little weaker than the Wood-Spotted Snake. This rat is really useless. I need to find a way to steal a magical beast corpse from the pet owner to eat.
He had to eat more; the improvement was too slow.
At Ling Qingxue's pace, when would he be able to evolve again?
The next evolution required 100 points, which meant she needed to kill at least fifteen First Level early-stage magical beasts.
And this was all without upgrading any skills.
Receiving Wu Liang's message, Ling Qingxue's expression grew even more grim.
What kind of pet was she raising?!
Eight meals a day weren't enough; how was she ever going to afford to feed it at this rate?
Clenching her teeth, she fed Wu Liang another Shadow Cat corpse.
This was the last time, absolutely the last time for today!
[Ding! One First Level early-stage Shadow Cat consumed. Estimated digestion time: 18 minutes!]
Phew~
Wu Liang's mood quickly improved after eating.
His human was a bit cold, but she was still a nice person.
He'd take care of her from now on.
Suddenly, Ling Qingxue's gaze turned ahead.
A series of hurried footsteps approached from not far away, the rhythmic cadence clearly indicating that they belonged to soldiers.
Since they were soldiers, it was easy to deduce their identity—guards from the City Lord's Mansion!
Soldiers of the City Lord, Zhao Tianlan!
In Linjiang City, Zhao Tianlan was undoubtedly the number one figure, his Fifth Rank martial artist strength granting him absolute authority.
Furthermore, he commanded the entire Linjiang City army, including five thousand garrison soldiers, all at least Second Rank strength. Among them, every junior commander was a Third Rank martial artist, and there was even a Fourth Rank late-stage martial artist as the senior commander.
A well-trained squad approached Ling Qingxue upon seeing her.
Now that they had been discovered, leaving was impossible.
Moreover, the city guards rarely acted without reason; something must have happened.
"Hello, we are garrison soldiers from the City Lord's Mansion. Have you encountered anyone else in the Green Forest?" the squad leader asked in a deep voice.
Ling Qingxue shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry, I've only been here for half a day and haven't seen anyone."
Hearing this, the squad leader showed disappointment.
"If you see a girl around seventeen or eighteen years old here, please be sure to inform us. The City Lord's Mansion will offer a generous reward!"
"Okay," Ling Qingxue replied.
After a brief exchange, the squad leader led his team of about twenty people away, their eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.
Wu Liang seemed very interested.
They're looking for someone. Seventeen or eighteen years old… could it be the City Lord's daughter?
Ling Qingxue thought so too.
Zhao Tianlan did indeed have an eighteen-year-old daughter, who also attended Linjiang Middle School and was currently in her final year of high school. She was in the same grade as Ling Qingxue, except that she was in Class Ten, while Zhao Tianlan was in Class One.
"This seemed to have happened in the previous life as well. The City Lord's daughter, Zhao Xin, was captured by the Wolf Fang Squad. Unaware of her true identity, they robbed her of her resources, then, driven by lust, raped her and dumped her body in the wilderness. By the time she was found, the corpse had been gnawed to pieces by various beasts. Zhao Tianlan was furious and dispatched five thousand soldiers to capture the Wolf Fang Squad."
The Wolf Fang Squad was a martial arts squad known for its ruthless tactics, their favorite pastime being ambushing and robbing other martial artists.
Murder and arson were lucrative, while killing magical beasts was extremely dangerous. Robbing people was much faster.
The squad leader, Lin Lang, was a Second Rank late-stage martial artist with nearly 2000 Vitality Points, far beyond Ling Qingxue's capabilities.
The squad's final fate was also tragic; they were brutally tortured to death by Zhao Tianlan, their bodies displayed on the city walls of Linjiang City for half a month.
This served as a warning to everyone in the city.
Ling Qingxue didn't dwell on it much, but she was somewhat interested in Zhao Tianlan's secret place.
There should be a few decent treasures that she could try to get.
If she could save Zhao Xin, she might get a chance, but the risk was high, and it depended mostly on luck.
Ling Qingxue felt sorry for Zhao Xin, but she wasn't a saint. She wouldn't risk her life just because someone was pitiful.
In short, she would save her if there was a chance; otherwise, she'd pretend she never saw her.
This was Ling Qingxue's way of survival!
Bored, Wu Liang watched the ever-changing expressions of his pet owner. Through their contract, he could also feel her thoughts.
Not bad, not bad, we're a match made in heaven. Both of us— refined individualists with the belief that growing stronger is the only thing that matters. What else is more important?
This godforsaken place was full of villains; acting like a saint was just asking for death.
Ling Qingxue became Empress because of her ruthless nature.
Ruthless to herself, and even more ruthless to others!
The "Ten Thousand Sources Return to One" technique involved immense pain each time elemental spirits were fused into the body, yet Ling Qingxue, in her previous life, managed to fuse twenty different elemental spirits.
This technique became increasingly difficult as it progressed, known as the most difficult Imperial Rank technique to cultivate, and Ling Qingxue was the only human in the world to have reached this level.
Calling her monstrous was no exaggeration.
Ling Qingxue only pondered for a moment before regaining her composure and continuing her search for magical beasts.
Wu Liang crawled on the ground, swallowing everything edible to digest.
Even the most ordinary things, through quantity, could lead to a qualitative change.
[Ding! 300 pounds of ordinary stones consumed. Defense +1!]
[Ding! First Level early-stage Shadow Cat digestion completed. Strength +4, Speed +6, Evolution Value +8!]
"Wow, my speed has increased dramatically, my strength has reached 40 points, and my evolution, 15 points. Reaching 100 points doesn't seem so difficult."
Wu Liang was delighted. At this rate of strength improvement, he could reach the First Level within a few days.
His only problem was his spirit, which was currently only 10 points—the improvement rate was too slow.
He only saw an increase when he consumed the Spirit-Gathering Grass and when his bloodline evolved.
Even consuming magical beast corpses didn't provide any improvement.
Given the System's usual behavior, magical beasts with the spirit attribute should also be able to increase my spirit power, but it's very difficult for me to increase it right now. Does that mean I won't be able to communicate with my human for the time being?
With less than 100 points of spirit power, he could only vaguely convey his thoughts, making communication too costly.
Being unable to speak was too troublesome; he was a chatterbox, and this would drive him crazy.
Damn it, the System should have given him the talent to speak human language. It was not proactive enough. Other people's Systems started with the highest level.
I actually have to upgrade myself? How stupid! (* ￣︿￣).
As he was thinking, Wu Liang caught a delicious aroma, like a piping hot red soup, sprinkled with scallions and steaming.
"Wow, this smells amazing! I have to eat it!"