Chapter 13: Provocation, Challenge.

Little Mo Xie looked at its claws, seeming a bit wronged, but it bravely walked to another island tree that looked similar to the previous one.

“It took eight cross-claw strikes to fell the tree last time. This time, it must be done in seven.” Chu Mu was not at all vague when training his Soul Pet.

In fact, this training method was the most effective and fastest way to improve a Soul Pet’s strength. Every Soul Pet needed tough training. Being lazy, slacking off, or seeking ease would only lead to being defeated and killed by other Soul Pets in the future.

Little Mo Xie gritted its young teeth, enduring the pain of its claws getting scraped, and began continuously attacking the tree.

“You practice here until you can topple this kind of tree in seven strikes. I’m going to look for some things,” Chu Mu said.

“Woo woo~!” Little Mo Xie immediately made a sound.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go far. If you encounter anything dangerous, hide in that patch of grass and don’t come out, understand?” Chu Mu instructed.

Little Mo Xie nodded.

Chu Mu walked into the nearby blue-colored thicket.

Chu Mu had been here for a while. He remembered that in this blue thicket grew a plant called Blue Healing Grass. Chewed into a paste and applied to a Soul Pet’s wounds, it could make the injuries heal quickly.

Not only that, applying Blue Healing Grass could make a Soul Pet’s worn-out claws regrow. Regrowing meant the claws would become sharper.

Chu Mu searched through the blue thicket. Pushing aside the grass, he immediately found several dark blue Healing Grass plants!

“Dark blue Healing Grass!”

Chu Mu felt a surge of joy in his heart. The grade of Healing Grass was determined by its color. Light blue was the lowest grade. Dark blue was the best grade among Healing Grass, three times more effective than ordinary Healing Grass. If chewed into a paste and applied to Mo Xie’s claws, it could turn Mo Xie’s claws from early-stage to mid-stage within three days!

“It seems luck is on my side. This way, Mo Xie’s strength will increase even faster.” Chu Mu smiled, reached out his hand, and started forcefully pulling the Healing Grass from the ground.

The better the Healing Grass’s effect, the stronger its grip on the ground. Also, the Healing Grass had barbs. While Chu Mu struggled to pull them up, his palm was completely scratched.

Chu Mu endured it. After picking all three dark blue Healing Grass plants, his palm was dripping with blood.

After roughly bandaging it, Chu Mu quickly returned to where Mo Xie was practicing.

“So it’s just a trashy fox.”

When Chu Mu arrived, he saw a boy with a somewhat shorter stature there, mocking Mo Xie.

Next to this boy, following him, was a Ten-legged Centipede over a meter long. It was dark bluish-black all over, looking even more strange and ugly, with a hint of ferocity.

The Ten-legged Centipede belonged to the Demon Beast Realm—Insect Type—Centipede race. It was of a medium level. It was said that for every stage it advanced, the Ten-legged Centipede’s body would grow an extra segment and one more pair of legs.

At a glance, Chu Mu saw this creature had a total of fourteen legs. This indicated the Ten-legged Centipede should have grown to the second stage.

“Training with something like this, you might as well just jump into the sea and feed the hunting sharks. Why waste time?” The boy glanced coldly at Chu Mu with a look of disdain as he walked by.

Chu Mu didn’t know this guy’s name. He spoke up:

“My Moonlight Fox needs a fight. Two days from now, right here. My Moonlight Fox and your Ten-legged Centipede. If you win, I’ll give you the level one Insect Attribute Soul Core in my hand. If you lose, you give me that brown Beast Attribute Soul Core you’re holding. How about it?”

The Stewards on the island had already set the rule: before the competition arrived over two months later, they were not allowed to kill each other. If there was a grudge, they could duel.

“In two days, you’ll just have to go find a new Soul Pet again…” The boy laughed.

“I give the same words back to you,” Chu Mu said.

“I’m Zhang Luo.” The centipede boy said and then didn’t linger there, wearing an expression like he was about to get two more Soul Cores.

…

Soul Cores were very important to Soul Pets. Every Soul Pet had its own attribute. For example, Chu Mu’s Soul Pet belonged to the Spirit Attribute and the Beast Attribute.

If the Moonlight Fox was fed with Spirit Attribute Soul Cores throughout its growth, then its Spirit abilities would become purer and more powerful, and all its Spirit spells would become stronger.

If it was often fed with Beast Attribute Soul Cores, then the Moonlight Fox would lean towards the Beast Attribute, possessing strong power, agility, and defense. Its overall physical constitution would improve greatly.

This method of feeding Soul Cores to a Soul Pet and making it develop towards a specific attribute was called Soul Core Feeding. It was a subtle, orienting process.

Chu Mu just saw that Zhang Luo had a good quality Beast Attribute Soul Core in his hand. It should be perfect to use as food for Little Mo Xie. This specific attribute food could make the delicate Little Mo Xie stronger.

…

“Did you manage to topple the tree in seven strikes?” Chu Mu asked, petting Little Mo Xie.

“Woo~!” Little Mo Xie raised its head, pouting like a little girl, making a wooing sound, clearly a bit resentful. Then it stretched out its small, young claw for Chu Mu to see.

“That’s good if you did. Don’t worry, we will definitely win the duel the day after tomorrow. You’ll also get tasty food,” Chu Mu said.

…

When it came to fighting, Little Mo Xie was quite excited. Clearly, it had the same battle-loving blood in its veins as Chu Mu.

The improvement of a Soul Pet’s strength generally came from five aspects:

The Soul Pet’s own stage advancement. The Soul Pet’s own training. The Soul Pet Tamer’s Soul Core Feeding. Medicine enhancement, and Soul Crystal tempering.

Among these, the most important method was naturally the Soul Pet’s own training. So when training Little Mo Xie, Chu Mu had to be strict with it. If a good foundation wasn’t built in the early stages, improving later would become much more difficult.

After a day of practice, Little Mo Xie was also very tired. Chu Mu had it return to its Soul Pet Space to rest.

A Soul Pet’s stamina and body recovered a bit faster inside the Soul Pet Space than outside. So when a Soul Pet was exhausted or injured, the Soul Pet Tamer would put it into the Soul Pet Space.