Chapter 8: Race Mutation, Moonlight Fox

“A Gexi Monster just passed from here, and yet another Soul Pet dares to come this way. Could it be another fierce one?” Chu Mu guessed quietly.

The Gexi Monster with strength beyond the Ninth Tier was not far ahead. This kind of creature had its own aura that could make weak Soul Pets keep their distance.

A rustling sound came from the grass. A moment later, a small and delicate Soul Pet crawled out from within.

This little Soul Pet warily glanced at the Gexi Monster waddling its large body forward not far away, then slowly approached the food…

“A Blue Star Fox? Why is it another little fox…” Chu Mu looked at the little creature and was momentarily speechless.

The Blue Star Fox at the trap location was even smaller than the young fox Chu Mu had encountered before. Including the tail, its body length was no more than forty centimeters.

And judging from its sparse fur, it should still be very young. Using human standards, it was probably like a baby who had just learned to walk not long ago.

“Blue Star Fox should be a little higher rank than Red Cloud Fox, but it’s still suitable as a pet for girls…” Chu Mu shook his head with a bitter smile, helplessly watching the little creature take away his bait.

When the little creature took Chu Mu’s bait, it carefully observed the surroundings. It was clearly a rather clever Soul Pet.

“Either too strong or too weak, sigh…” Chu Mu’s heart also darkened. He absentmindedly broke off a piece of rations and fed it into the mouth of the Little Green Worm standing on his shoulder.

The Little Green Worm happily accepted it and then sprawled on Chu Mu’s shoulder, making a soft rustling sound as it nibbled away.

Waiting was very tedious. Chu Mu didn’t chase the Little Green Worm away, treating it as company. Besides, although this Little Green Worm couldn’t even be considered a proper Soul Pet, it was very alert. Every time a powerful Soul Pet appeared, this little worm could always warn Chu Mu.

…

After waiting for another three days, still with no success, Chu Mu had no choice but to change locations again.

…

“What’s going on… Did I disturb a fox den? How can it be another young fox!”

On the fifteenth day of waiting, Chu Mu once again saw a young fox coming to steal his food!

Chu Mu’s baits were fragments of Soul Cores from Soul Pets. The Soul Core came from a Soul Pet’s body. Generally, many Soul Pets considered them delicious food.

Chu Mu’s Soul Core fragments were limited. How could they withstand this group of fox cubs continuously stealing and eating them?

Finally, Chu Mu had had enough. When a young Moonlight Fox tried to steal his Soul Core fragment, he decisively triggered his trap!

“Woo~!” The young Moonlight Fox immediately sensed the danger and reacted very quickly. The moment the trap began to sink, it used its small claws to grab a tree root buried under the soil layer, its body dangling about fifty centimeters below the trap.

“Swish, swish!” The young Moonlight Fox moved very nimbly. Using several points of leverage around the pit, it jumped back onto the ground!

Chu Mu was stunned. This young Moonlight Fox, at most a first-tier infant, had actually shown such agile movement. Remember, this trap was set for third-tier Soul Pets!

“Rustle, rustle!”

Just as Chu Mu thought the little creature was about to escape, the little worm on his shoulder suddenly made a sound. Immediately after, a streak of white silk shot out from the Little Green Worm’s mouth!

The white silk very accurately wrapped around the Moonlight Fox that had jumped into mid-air. The Moonlight Fox panicked. Its body had just touched the edge of the trap pit when it was bound and toppled by the white silk.

“Pfft~!” The Green Worm continuously spat out white silk, sticky threads that wrapped around the Moonlight Fox several more layers, bundling the Moonlight Fox’s body tightly, giving the young fox no chance to escape.

The young fox kept struggling, trying to break free from the silk’s entanglement. Although it was fast, its strength was too weak. It simply couldn’t pull free and gradually lost its strength.

Chu Mu looked somewhat dazedly at the Green Worm with its big round eyes, then at the trapped little young fox. He couldn’t help but laugh, patting his little companion and saying, “Well done. I didn’t know you could spit silk. You really do bring me good luck.”

The Green Worm wriggled its body on Chu Mu’s shoulder, looking very proud.

Chu Mu rewarded the Green Worm with another piece of dry rations, then walked over to the Moonlight Fox. He decisively picked up the little creature and climbed back up the tree.

Powerful Soul Pets often walked on the ground below, so Chu Mu naturally didn’t dare to stay there.

The little young fox lay there, its eyes darting around constantly, showing an unwilling expression and looking ready to seize any chance to escape.

“Strange, why does this guy also have a silver-white crescent moon mark on its forehead?” Chu Mu quickly noticed the mark on the Moonlight Fox’s forehead.

Within the Bestial Type of the Demon Beast Realm, among the fox clan Soul Pets, only the Silver Moon Fox had a silver-white crescent moon mark on its forehead.

The Moonlight Fox was called Moonlight Fox because this Soul Pet had the special ability to absorb moonlight and transform it into power.

Chu Mu remembered that the first time he encountered a young fox, it was a hybrid of a Red Cloud Fox and a Silver Moon Fox, with a Race Rank only at the lower tier.

The second time he encountered a Blue Star Fox. Blue Star Fox was also a lower tier, slightly higher than the Red Cloud Fox by a small level. Chu Mu vaguely remembered that the Blue Star Fox’s forehead also seemed to have a silver-white crescent moon mark, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time.

This third time, the Moonlight Fox he encountered was a middle-tier Race Rank. What puzzled Chu Mu the most was that this guy’s forehead still had that silver-white crescent moon mark.

“The crescent moon mark should only belong to the Silver Moon Fox. How come all three little young foxes I’ve met have it? Could it be that these three little young foxes are the same one?” Chu Mu stared at the young fox and talked to himself.

“The same one… that’s impossible. The three young foxes are different breeds. They can’t be the same…”

Chu Mu was just speaking offhand. In fact, although Red Cloud Fox, Blue Star Fox, and Moonlight Fox were all from the fox clan, they belonged to different sub-clans. They couldn’t possibly be the same individual.

The race a Soul Pet was born as, it would always remain that race. It wouldn’t change…

Of course, there was also one very, very special situation…

…

The quality of a Soul Pet was determined by its Race Rank. Race Rank was fixed by the Soul Pet’s race and naturally could not be changed.

But within the Soul Pet domain, there was also a very, very rare situation—that was Race Mutation!

Theoretically, all Soul Pets’ strength could continuously increase. For example, a high-tier Fang Wolf could advance from the first stage to higher stages.

However, every Soul Pet eventually had a bottleneck. Even if its stage continued to increase, due to the limitations of its race, the increase in its actual strength would be minimal.

At this time, some Soul Pets with mutated bloodlines had a very small chance of undergoing Race Mutation, evolving from a low-tier race into a different, higher-tier race!

Chu Mu had once heard about a true event where a Fang Wolf with great potential mutated into a more powerful Terror Wolf.

The Race Rank of a Terror Wolf was also much higher than that of a Fang Wolf. A Sixth Tier Terror Wolf could defeat at least three Sixth Tier Fang Wolves!

Mutation was a wonder in the Soul Pet domain, and it was absolutely the most unique and surprising gift for Soul Pet Tamers!