Chapter 22: Leveling Up
—Youlan Academy East Wilderness, Youquan Cave—
After passing through the initial dark and gloomy entrance area, Lian Xing soon saw a cluster of crystal-clear, ice-blue crystals. The dreamlike crystal structures grew on the surrounding cave walls, filling the cave with a soft blue glow, making it look like a crystal mine.
The star patterns in the golden-haired, bun-wearing girl’s eyes twinkled. She walked up to the ice-blue crystals and licked them with her pink tongue.
“Lick, lick, lick~~~”
Then, she immediately determined the quality of the crystals.
Trace Pet Essence Crystals. Battles fought nearby would grant a 20% increase in training value gain speed.
“It seems the information provided by the academy is accurate. In areas where Trace Pet Essence Crystals grow, there are usually only two or three High-Tier pet beasts gathered.”
“If it were Medium Pet Essence Crystals, I would have to give up…”
“But this area is perfect for the Moonlight Rabbit to level up~~~” Lian Xing observed the cave thoughtfully.
In the next second, the Moonlight Rabbit wriggled out from between her buns. Landing on the ground, it quickly grew in size and weight, transforming into a massive snow-white creature in the blink of an eye. Its thick, soft ears drooped to the ground, swaying like mops.
Mid-Tier — Biological Species — Giant Moonlight Rabbit!!
“Let’s go, bunny. Try not to make too much noise…”
“Try to resolve the battles quickly and quietly…”
Following Lian Xing’s command, the Giant Moonlight Rabbit nodded obediently and began to walk carefully. Unlike ordinary Moonlight Rabbits, which crawled on all fours, it walked upright on its hind legs like a human. Its small, cute front paws dangled by its belly, and its swaying ears looked more like forelimbs.
A few minutes later, venturing deeper into Youquan Cave, Lian Xing and the Moonlight Rabbit finally encountered their first wild enemy. A crystal sphere, emitting a bright blue light, floated in the air, slowly rotating, as if containing a breathtaking energy within.
[Mid-Tier — Mechanical Species — Crystal Quiver]
It was scanning the surrounding cave environment, completely unaware of the Giant Moonlight Rabbit approaching within fifty meters. Well, intelligence-type Mechanical Species were like that. Their detection range and judgment criteria were…peculiar. If their combat skills had flaws, they often couldn’t even see enemies right in front of them.
Observing the Crystal Quiver from the shadows, one of Lian Xing’s starry eyes widened, while the other narrowed slightly. Data from the Pet Beast Evolution Battle game flashed through her mind like lines of code. The opponent’s aura, appearance, light and shadow, rotation speed, even its body temperature and core pulsation frequency were perfectly replicated in her mind.
Three seconds later, she had assessed the situation.
“Hmm…around level 10. Not a threat.”
“Click!!!”
However, almost the moment Lian Xing spoke casually, the Crystal Quiver suddenly turned. Locking onto the golden-haired, bun-wearing, stocking-clad girl by her voice, the azure sphere began to pulsate with energy.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!!!”
In the next second, with explosive sounds, three ice-blue crystal shards shot out from the sphere. The three shards, like flashes of light, flew across the map at a speed beyond human perception, arriving before the Giant Moonlight Rabbit.
Facing the rapidly approaching shards, the Giant Moonlight Rabbit’s expression didn’t even change. Its right ear swung through the air, leaving a blurred white afterimage.
[Sand Toss]
[Flurry]
“Whoosh!!!!!”
A tremendous explosion drowned out the whistling sound of the projectiles. Blue light flashed across the fifty-meter distance, and the three crystal shards, swatted away by the rabbit’s ear, flew back even faster than they came, piercing the Crystal Quiver’s spherical body.
The Crystal Quiver wobbled unsteadily, the surface of its crystalline sphere dimming.
“Bang!!!”
In the next second, the Crystal Quiver exploded, leaving behind only a cloud of glittering dust.
[Obtained 1 Training Point]
[Training Value 16→17]
A few seconds later, seemingly alerted by the loud noise, four or five identical Crystal Quivers gathered around the area where their companion had fallen, curiously observing and analyzing the remains. Mechanical Species had the weakest emotions among pet beasts, barely developing sentience until they reached Royal-Tier.
So, their curious circling around the crystal dust resembled…earthlings crowding around a corpse to take pictures.
Meanwhile, after finishing the battle with a single blow, the Giant Moonlight Rabbit continued forward without pausing. Its soft ears effortlessly carved deep grooves into the crystal cave walls, like a deranged killer rubbing their murder weapon on the ground, scooping out two large clumps of crystal dust from the pristine walls.
Then—
[Sand Toss]
[Flurry]
“Whoosh!!!!!”
The classic combo.
Countless crystal dust particles shot out, raining down on the gathered Crystal Quivers. Soon, the entire front section of Youquan Cave was riddled with holes and craters, as if it had been bombed, not a single area left intact. The continuous explosions echoed clearly even outside the cave.
Seeing this, Lian Xing covered her ears and complained, “I told you to be quiet…”
“A throwing-type combat skill, and it’s as loud as a Mechanical Species missile…”
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