Chapter 15: Ten-legged Centipede

…

“Ding Yu sat on her bed. “I heard you have a match with Zhang Luo tomorrow,” she asked as soon as she saw Chu Mu enter.

Chu Mu had been leaving early and returning late recently, and Ting Yu herself was busy training her own Soul Pet, so they hadn’t talked much.

“Hmm,” Chu Mu nodded.

“His Ten-legged Centipede has already reached the third tier, but your little Moonlight Fox is only at the second tier, right…” Ting Yu said.

“Hmm,” Chu Mu still nodded.

“Moonlight Foxes are Soul Pets with relatively weak attack power. Even if it’s fast, its claws probably can’t tear through the Ten-legged Centipede’s flesh armor. Its flesh armor is already at the mid-stage,” Ting Yu said.

“Oh? Mid-stage already?” Chu Mu raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised that guy had already upgraded his Ten-legged Centipede’s defense. He remembered that when he saw the Ten-legged Centipede a couple of days ago, its flesh armor should have still been at the early stage.

“Yes. If the match were at night, you might barely be able to hold your own against him…” Ting Yu said.

Moonlight Foxes possess the Racial Skill “Moonfrost Radiance.” If there’s moonlight at night, their combat power increases!

“The match is at noon. He’s not stupid either,” Chu Mu said.

“I don’t understand. There are so many Soul Pets on this island, why did you specifically choose a Moonlight Fox?” Ting Yu said.

Ting Yu was a girl, and normally she should have a unique fondness for beautiful and cute Soul Pets like Moonlight Foxes. However, the girls on this island wouldn’t receive any sympathy. They too had to survive, and to survive they had to discard that kind of meaningless, excessive pity.

Chu Mu didn’t answer. The secret that Little Mo Xie was a continuously Mutating Soul Pet absolutely could not be known by anyone, otherwise it would definitely bring disaster.

Seeing that Chu Mu didn’t seem to want to talk, and feeling tired herself, Ting Yu lay down on the bed, pulled up the covers, and went to sleep early.

It was dangerous to be out at night on the island, so most Soul Pet Tamers here went to bed relatively early and got up very early the next day.

Chu Mu looked at the “Soul Pet Guidebook” for a while, memorized the information about the Ten-legged Centipede one more time, and then went to sleep.

…

Early the next morning, Little Mo Xie let out excited sounds, as if it had some good news to tell Chu Mu. Not understanding, Chu Mu summoned it.

“What is it, Mo Xie?” Chu Mu asked, puzzled.

“Woo woo woo~!” Mo Xie extended its claws. Immediately, several flashes of cold light streaked out and sank into the floorboards of the wooden cabin.

Chu Mu was stunned for a moment, then an expression of wild joy spread across his face. “Late-stage! Your claws have reached the late stage!”

“Woo woo~!” Little Mo Xie also grinned.

“Hahaha!” Chu Mu burst into laughter.

This Little Mo Xie truly lived up to being a continuously Mutating Soul Pet! Even while being of the Moonlight Fox race, its aptitude was unbelievably high!

Generally, for a Moonlight Fox with ordinary growth, its claws would only possibly reach the late stage by at least the sixth tier. Even with the catalyst of deep blue Healing Grass, it could at most reach the mid-stage.

Yet, Little Mo Xie, at only the second tier, had its young claws grown to a late-stage state. The improvement in attack effectiveness wasn’t just a little bit; presumably, even without using Tearing Claw, it could absolutely break through the Ten-legged Centipede’s defense!

The pleasant surprise brought by Little Mo Xie greatly boosted Chu Mu’s confidence. At noon, he headed to the agreed-upon location to meet Zhang Luo.

“Wait for me, I’ll go with you.” Ting Yu, who had left early in the morning and returned at noon, saw Chu Mu leaving and immediately followed.

Chu Mu nodded and went together with Ting Yu.

When they reached the grassy field, Chu Mu saw Zhang Luo. Besides Zhang Luo, there were five other people, probably those who formed a small circle with Zhang Luo.

When capturing Soul Pets, many Soul Pet Tamers naturally formed small circles to ensure they could obtain Soul Pets or not have them snatched by others, making sure they wouldn’t be bullied before the Life-and-Death Duels.

Chu Mu preferred to act alone, so he hadn’t joined any circle. Ting Yu naturally joined the circle formed by the female Soul Pet Tamers.

“So it’s you he’s competing with. Zhang Luo, you’re really embarrassing…” One of the youths with long hair showed a look of disdain as soon as he saw Chu Mu.

The others obviously hadn’t expected Zhang Luo’s opponent to be Chu Mu, who had a Moonlight Fox as his first combat Soul Pet. They all found it rather uninteresting.

The fifty Soul Pet Tamers on the island all had to undergo Life-and-Death Duels. Understanding other Tamers’ Soul Pets was very necessary. Those who formed circles would generally collect information about others and then tell the people in their own circle, giving them more confidence when encountering opponents from other circles.

Chu Mu’s Soul Pet being a Moonlight Fox wasn’t exactly a secret. It could be said that among the various circles, it was commonly considered non-threatening, even inferior to many Female Soul Pet Tamers.

Zhang Luo, feeling looked down upon by the person next to him, explained awkwardly, “I just want to get his Soul Core.”

…

As for the indirect mockery from the people opposite, Chu Mu secretly found it amusing.

“That long-haired guy over there seems to be Ge Qing. I heard his Soul Pet is a Scale Snake, a high-rank Soul Pet, ranked sixth,” Ting Yu said.

Chu Mu could also tell that this small circle clearly revolved around that long-haired youth, Ge Qing. He should be considered one of the threatening figures for oneself in the Life-and-Death Duels.

“Alright, alright, let’s start. Don’t waste time.” Ge Qing had no patience and urged Zhang Luo and Chu Mu.

Zhang Luo gave an embarrassed smile, placed the Beast Attribute Soul Core in his hand that served as the bet with Chu Mu in the middle, and asked Chu Mu to also put down the Insect Attribute Soul Core.

Chu Mu had three Soul Cores. Two had already been used as bait and were consumed. Now, he only had the last Insect Attribute Soul Core left. Zhang Luo mainly wanted to fight Chu Mu precisely because Chu Mu had an Insect Attribute Soul Core.

Duels between Soul Pet Tamers were divided into two types: one was purely a fight between Soul Pets, and the other also involved the Tamers joining the battle.

Soul Pet Tamers possessed Soul Power and could perform some skills. However, the Soul Pet Tamers here hadn’t yet obtained the Tamer’s Skill Books, so they almost had no skills. During combat, they could only rely entirely on their Soul Pets.

“Ten-legged Centipede!” Zhang Luo chanted his Soul Contract Incantation.

A faint brown light shimmered, slowly forming a Soul Pact Pattern about two meters in diameter on the grass. After the pattern flashed with a curtain of light, the dark brown Ten-legged Centipede dramatically appeared on the pattern.

Its body was over a meter long, with sixteen blade-like legs swaying back and forth. Its fierce head and centipede tail pincers all indicated this was a rather nasty, fierce Soul Pet.