Chapter 122: Taking the Underlings to Level Up

In Far Shore, there were several types of pets, and Monster Pets were just one of them. To have a Monster Pet, one first needed a Magic Treasure that could capture living beings. Besides receiving one from an NPC or as a quest reward, it was possible to use such a Magic Treasure to capture a weakened monster and make it your pet.

However, Magic Treasures with the ability to capture living beings were extremely rare. Even if you had one, the success rate was very low—like trying to win the lottery with just two dollars.

The player who got the walrus Monster Pet was called Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze. His appearance did not match his name at all—he had a bushy beard, a broad face, and a wide nose.

Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze released his walrus Monster Pet. With a loud thud, a blob of fat about ten meters long, ten meters wide, and nearly ten meters tall crashed down, shaking the ground violently.

Ye Rong was speechless. Still, such a huge walrus Monster Pet could scare many people just by its appearance.

Although it was only a common-level Monster Pet, this walrus was already over Level 60 when Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze obtained it. It could level up by killing monsters or even other players. But leveling up a monster over Level 60 was very difficult, and so far, it hadn’t gained even one level.

“You have such a powerful walrus Monster Pet. How come you didn’t do well in the Sect Minor Competition?”

Ye Rong was very suspicious. Just from its size, it was easy to guess that the walrus’s attack power must be terrifying. Under normal circumstances, it shouldn’t have failed to even make the top 64 in the minor competition. And if such a Monster Pet had appeared on the Dueling Stage, Ye Rong would definitely remember it.

“My walrus Monster Pet crawls as slowly as a snail once it leaves the water, and it can’t fly. Summoning it on the Dueling Stage only made it a high-level meat shield—it was practically useless. Since I had no chance of winning, I didn’t summon it later to avoid it getting killed by a powerful Dao Spell. I wouldn’t even have time to cry if that happened.”

Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze chuckled twice and explained his walrus Monster Pet’s flaw, looking quite regretful.

Although there was no Death Penalty on the Dueling Stage during the Sect Minor Competition, that only applied to players. For example, if one encountered Long Wushuang’s Azure Blue Flying Hook, which could damage flying swords, the damaged sword wouldn’t recover after leaving the stage.

If a Monster Pet died on the Dueling Stage, it would still face the Death Penalty—losing all the levels it had painstakingly gained. If it had learned any high-level Monster Pet Dao Spells, those spell levels would also be reduced.

Although this walrus hadn’t leveled up at all in Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze’s hands, it was originally a Level 50+ monster in the sea. It had gained many levels under that Rogue Cultivator’s care.

Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze couldn’t bear to lose even a little bit of his walrus Monster Pet. Losing over ten levels would take who knows how long to regain.

“I am now the Tianshu Hall Chief Disciple, the leader of all Inner Hall Disciples. I have the authority to discipline and advise all players, and every month I can recommend two people directly into Tianshu Hall. Among you, whoever performs well, I’ll report their name to the Sect Leader.”

The news that Ye Rong had become the Chief of Tianshu Hall hadn’t spread yet in Qingcheng; not many players knew about it.

He didn’t talk about it himself, and the other top 16 players who knew certainly wouldn’t spread it for him. The authority of the Tianshu Hall Chief was very great. If other players found out, it would only boost Ye Rong’s reputation.

Ye Rong felt that his foundation was weak and was afraid these players wouldn’t be motivated or confident in following him, so he revealed this news.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, all the players looked excited, as if a smooth path to becoming Tianshu Hall disciples was right in front of them.

Standing out in the monthly Sect Minor Competition wasn’t just about strength; you also needed enough luck to avoid strong opponents early on. With bad luck, it was normal to remain a Formal Disciple for three or four months.

Being directly recommended by Ye Rong to become a Tianshu Hall disciple meant no ranking rewards from the minor competition, but it was much more secure. For these players, it was a big shortcut.

In their eyes, becoming an Inner Hall Disciple meant starting on the path to becoming strong.

“Let’s go! I’ll level up with you today. Report any difficult tasks, and we’ll solve them together!”

Ye Rong had too little contact with these players under him, which would be very disadvantageous for creating his own Faction in the future, even though most of them came because of his reputation.

The group of over ten people left the Qingcheng Mountain Gate, and with a flash of Sword Light, they flew toward the Tuo River.

Ye Rong had just equipped a Fifth-Rank Flying Sword and was eager to test it. He felt that Sword Flight was smoother, and air resistance was reduced.

Among the others, only Hengheng Haha used a Fourth-Rank Flying Sword; the rest all had Third-Rank Flying Swords. He even noticed that Jiafang Yifang and Xuanhu Xiaoyao were still using Second-Rank Flying Swords.

“What’s going on? Where are the Third-Rank Flying Swords your Sect elders gave you after completing the Trial Mission?”

Ye Rong slowed down and waited for the others to catch up, asking with confusion.

He remembered that Qingcheng players who completed the Trial Mission to become Formal Disciples would receive a Third-Rank Flying Sword from their masters. A few very lucky players might even get a Fourth-Rank Flying Sword with poor attributes. There was no way they should be in such a state.

“Ahem, Yijian, you passed your Trial Mission early and might not know that this benefit was canceled over a week ago. Even after becoming Formal Disciples, our masters no longer give us Flying Swords or Magic Treasures.”

Hengheng Haha stepped forward and cleared up Ye Rong’s doubt. Jiafang Yifang and Xuanhu Xiaoyao had only completed their Trial Missions with Hengheng Haha’s help in the last couple of days, so they certainly couldn’t have obtained Third-Rank Flying Swords.

Ye Rong thought for a moment, then took out two Third-Rank Flying Swords he had just appraised and tossed them to Jiafang Yifang and Xuanhu Xiaoyao.

“Take these two Third-Rank Flying Swords. Don’t let others laugh at me for not even having a Third-Rank Flying Sword to give.”

Even though prices were falling, these two Third-Rank Flying Swords combined were still worth about seven or eight hundred dollars. Ye Rong felt a little sting, but his perspective had broadened. He knew that if these two developed well, the benefits they could bring him were immeasurable. This small early expense was just to win their loyalty.

“Wow, thank you, Yijian!”

Just as Ye Rong expected, not only Jiafang Yifang and Xuanhu Xiaoyao, but the others also showed envy on their faces. Even when killing monsters on the river all day, the whole group would be lucky to get one Third-Rank Flying Sword per day.

Ye Rong casually giving away two Third-Rank Flying Swords made the gap so huge they were extremely jealous.

With the two slowest members now having better Flying Swords, their speed increased a bit, and they could finally head to the Tuo River faster.

Once at the Tuo River, Ye Rong led them straight into the water. Fortunately, everyone had Water-repelling Pearls.

“Chicken, take a few fast brothers and lure monsters—the more, the better.”

“Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze, keep an eye on those two low-level players.”

Ye Rong gave orders one by one. Because he was bringing these underlings, they had to stay in water about ten meters deep and couldn’t dive further. If he took people to level up and ended up getting them killed, it wouldn’t be worth it and would harm his invincible image.

“Damn, Chicken is really crazy—he lured so many monsters!”

Hengheng Haha shouted in surprise. He didn’t expect Pecking Chicken to go all out luring monsters. Pecking Chicken attacked every Aquatic Demonic Creature he saw, and after a couple of rounds, they had attracted at least a hundred different monsters behind them.

“Perfect!”

Ye Rong exclaimed happily. Usually, he could only attract so many monsters by rushing near the Water Eye; otherwise, it was impossible.

Raising the Black Phoenix Sword, he activated the spell Nether Phoenix Black Prison on this newly upgraded Fifth-Rank Flying Sword. Within a hundred yards centered on Ye Rong, fierce black flames rose from the water, but they didn’t boil the river—fire and water coexisted peacefully.

Since he and the other dozen or so players were in a party through their Sect disciple relationship, Nether Phoenix Black Prison wouldn’t harm them.

As soon as these Aquatic Demonic Creatures—Black Carp, white carp, blackfish, water turtles, etc.—entered the Nether Phoenix Black Prison area, they were wrapped in small black flames.

A spectacular row of neat “-20” damage numbers floated uniformly above these Aquatic Demonic Creatures’ heads. There were at least two or three hundred monsters packed together. Ye Rong hadn’t expected that the debut battle of his Nether Phoenix Black Prison would welcome so many guests—a great start.

“Eight Trigrams Dragon-Binding Array!”

Ye Rong swapped another slot in his Sword Case for the Sinking Water Sword and activated the Eight Trigrams Dragon-Binding Array. Immediately, there was a dull hum as the eight golden characters—Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, Kan—flew out one by one from the sword, heading to the eight directions. Golden light flared, turning this water area into a sealed zone. Neither monsters nor Ye Rong and his group could leave.

At the same time, he also activated Myriad Birds Pay Homage. Eighteen Finch Essences fluttered out and began randomly attacking the monsters everywhere.

Ye Rong used almost all his means to wipe out this group of Aquatic Demonic Creatures with overwhelming force. While testing the two additional spells on his new Flying Sword, he also aimed to firmly establish his authority and let them personally feel his powerful strength.

With Finch Essences gnawing from above and black flames burning from below, Ye Rong wielded his two swords, and the monsters fell one by one rapidly. Even if they tried to escape, they crashed into a shining golden wall—there was no way out.