The gem cat cub, perhaps due to not receiving the three-colored divine light blessing from the Nine-Colored Elk, felt increasingly uncomfortable the longer it stayed here.
This also made Zheng Dong regret bringing it along.
To appease the gem cat cub, he took out the food he had prepared for it, along with some space-attribute resources, from his beast-taming space.
Although the relic bead could not be used within the relic space, opening the beast-taming space was fine. As long as the beast-taming space was strong enough, it could function as a normal storage space for non-living resources. However, contracted pets or other living beings could not enter.
Fortunately, things began to develop in a positive direction.
Perhaps due to the environment and the stimulation from the异化珠 (Yi Hua Zhu), or the consumption of space-attribute resources, the gem cat cub awakened. Its awakening level rapidly increased to level three.
It not only grew significantly but also mastered three skills: Telekinetic Exploration, Void Concealment, and Spatial Tremor.
With the gem cat cub's awakening, its adaptability to the surrounding environment greatly improved, and its affinity with temporal energy became even stronger.
Unfortunately, even by the fourth day, when Xiao Zi finished its cultivation, it had not undergone another mutation to acquire the temporal attribute.
Next, Zheng Dong assisted Xiao Zi in cultivating Super Perception.
This time, it was very smooth. Xiao Zi not only learned Super Perception but also raised its proficiency to the proficient level.
In the future, if it encountered death-attribute pets using the Stealth skill, Xiao Zi would be able to lock onto them quickly.
Furthermore, Zheng Dong also imprinted the ultimate skill, Super Perception.
However, Zheng Dong's spiritual power had not yet reached the intermediate level, so he couldn't use Super Perception.
If he forced himself to use it, Zheng Dong felt he might suffer mental damage and potentially become an idiot or develop schizophrenia.
Therefore, after leaving the relic space, he applied to enter it again for cultivation, raising his own spiritual power to the intermediate level.
With this, Zheng Dong felt the world had become different.
Objects that were previously blurry and sounds that were inaudible could now be perceived as long as he willed it.
As long as he was willing to consume spiritual power, he could even clearly hear the chewing sounds of insects hundreds of meters away.
Next was contracting a death-attribute pet.
Zheng Dong picked up the phone and contacted Xia Mengqiu.
Unfortunately, the call didn't go through; it showed the other party was out of service area, likely within the Heavenly Monkey Mountain relic space.
Fortunately, after half a day, Xia Mengqiu called back.
"Zheng Dong, you were looking for me!"
"Mengqiu sister, I want to contract a death-attribute pet, but I haven't found a suitable one."
This was not difficult for Xia Mengqiu. She could take Zheng Dong to search in some of the ancient relic spaces in the Divine Capital, or she could go to the Divine Capital Ancient Battlefield.
So, Xia Mengqiu said:
"This is easy. I'll be back in the Divine Capital soon. Why don't you come with me? It just so happens that the Death Spirit Tower you applied for has also been approved."
Xia Mengqiu was unaware that Zheng Dong was in the Magic City. She had been in the Heavenly Monkey Mountain relic space for most of this time, and hadn't even paid attention to the Rookie King Competition in Rong City.
Later, she not only learned that Zheng Dong was in the Magic City but also that he had entered the Magic City University early, which made her somewhat regretful.
If she had known earlier, she would have definitely pulled Zheng Dong into the Divine Capital University immediately. But now, they had to make their own way to the Divine Capital and meet at the Relic Bureau there.
The next day, Zheng Dong arrived at the Divine Capital Relic Bureau and met Xia Mengqiu.
Xia Mengqiu had arrived more than two hours earlier than Zheng Dong and had already gone to the Relic Bureau's resource library to retrieve Zheng Dong's Death Spirit Tower.
"Zheng Dong, this is the Death Spirit Tower. It can strengthen death-attribute pets, allowing them to unleash ten times their combat power in a short period. It can also seal and modify spirits, converting them into puppets to be commanded by the Death Spirit Tower.
You'll have to use it yourself to see the specific effects."
As Xia Mengqiu spoke, she reluctantly handed the Death Spirit Tower to Zheng Dong, feeling envious of this legendary-grade resource Zheng Dong had obtained.
Zheng Dong looked at the Death Spirit Tower handed to him by Xia Mengqiu. It was entirely black, without a trace of light, as if sunlight would be absorbed by it. He didn't know what material it was made of, but it felt very cold in his hand.
Moreover, the tower body was broken, leaving nine layers. Each layer had six corners, and the overall height was only a little over ten centimeters.
Zheng Dong examined it carefully and tried to activate it with his spiritual power. To his surprise, it actually worked.
Instantly, the Death Spirit Tower began to grow larger, and a cold, terrifying aura gradually spread outwards. Some papers in the office were inexplicably blown away.
Xia Mengqiu didn't want Zheng Dong to mess up the office, so she quickly stopped him:
"Don't rush. This is an office. Let's go to the combat arena to try it!"
Zheng Dong nodded.
He actually quite liked the Death Spirit Tower. If he couldn't contract a suitable death-attribute pet, he wouldn't mind capturing a bunch of spirits and converting them into puppets for the Death Spirit Tower to command in battle.
Afterward, Xia Mengqiu drove Zheng Dong to a nearby combat arena and rented a small, private combat venue.
No referees were hired, and no one was allowed to watch.
After all, legendary-grade resources like the Death Spirit Tower were covetable!
To test the effect of the Death Spirit Tower in strengthening death-attribute pets, Xia Mengqiu summoned her Hell Three-Headed Dog and let Zheng Dong try to strengthen it with the Death Spirit Tower.
As expected, the Death Spirit Tower emitted black, spectral light, enveloping the Hell Three-Headed Dog. After a short while, the Hell Three-Headed Dog's aura became even more powerful, and its body swelled like an inflated balloon.
Subsequently, Xia Mengqiu asked the Hell Three-Headed Dog to unleash a fire ball at the empty ground.
The scorching fire ball erupted from the Hell Three-Headed Dog's mouth, hitting the ground with a boom and creating a large crater.
Xia Mengqiu was immediately astonished. This was equivalent to the attack effect of a General-level pet, but her Hell Three-Headed Dog was still at the Lord-level in terms of growth.
Moreover, the Hell Three-Headed Dog maintained this burst of power for 30 seconds, which could be decisive in turning the tide of a battle and even reversing a defeat.
This made her even more envious of Zheng Dong.
Indeed, her judgment was correct; the Death Spirit Tower was a great legendary-grade resource.
Zheng Dong was also very satisfied.
If it were combined with the Talent Bead, Spirit Battlefield, the Hell Three-Headed Dog in his hands could unleash even greater combat power.
"I see you're quite satisfied. Let's go eat first, and then later we'll go to the ancient battlefield to find a death-attribute pet to contract," Xia Mengqiu said with a smile.
Although Zheng Dong was eager to contract a death-attribute pet, he wasn't in a hurry. Moreover, spirits were rarely active during the day.
Therefore, Zheng Dong and Xia Mengqiu visited several famous places nearby before heading to the ancient battlefield.
The ancient battlefield was located in the suburbs of the Divine Capital, in a desolate area.
Beast-taming legions were stationed around it, and barbed wire was erected to prevent accidental entry.
There were also mechanical life battlefield eyes constantly monitoring the spirits in the ancient battlefield to prevent them from rioting and attacking the Divine Capital.
Additionally, to enter the ancient battlefield, one had to register at the stationed beast-taming legion headquarters first.
The beast-taming legion headquarters resembled a massive steel fortress city, equipped with various advanced mechanical weapons.
Besides the personnel of the beast-taming legion, there were also many beast-tamers from various regions.
These beast-tamers needed to apply in advance to enter the ancient battlefield. The application required endorsement from their respective local Beast-Tamer Associations, and only after approval were they allowed to enter.
Zheng Dong and Xia Mengqiu entered the legion headquarters.
They saw many beast-tamers returning from the ancient battlefield. Some had successfully contracted suitable death-attribute pets and were preparing to leave; some were injured and returned for treatment; and some beast-tamers cultivating in the ancient battlefield returned to purchase supplies.
However, everyone had to abide by the regulations of the beast-taming legion, or they would be permanently prohibited from entering.
Fortunately, the Relic Bureau had privileges, allowing them to enter the ancient battlefield first and without prior application.
Xia Mengqiu had been here several times and was familiar with the process, so Zheng Dong only needed to sign his name.
Therefore, Zheng Dong had a smooth journey.
Just as Zheng Dong was about to follow Xia Mengqiu into the ancient battlefield, he unexpectedly saw two acquaintances, Shen Bing and Shen Xue.
They had come to the Divine Capital Ancient Battlefield for cultivation and to prepare for the Yanhuang Genius Selection Competition.
They had arrived earlier than Zheng Dong. After the Rong City Rookie King Competition ended, they had asked Xiao Lin, the president of the Rong City Beast-Tamer Association, to help them apply to enter the ancient battlefield for cultivation.
It was only three days ago that their application was approved.
This meant they had already been cultivating in the Divine Capital Ancient Battlefield for two days, spending these days sleeping in the morning and cultivating at night.
After all, their approved cultivation time was limited, unlike Zheng Dong, who could enter at any time.
After a brief chat with the two sisters, Zheng Dong parted ways with them.
After all, Zheng Dong was not very close to them.
Upon arriving at the ancient battlefield, a gust of cold wind blew, causing Zheng Dong to shiver involuntarily.
He immediately felt that the ancient battlefield was unusual.
He noticed that the soil on the ground was red, stained by blood. And this blood, after so many years, seemed not to have completely solidified.
"Don't you find it incredible? My grandmother said this might be divine blood, said to be the blood of gods or divine beasts from the mythical era, containing the power of some rules, which is why it hasn't solidified.
Before, some people wanted to study this blood on the ground, but unfortunately, once it was removed from the ground, it became no different from ordinary blood, losing its research value," Xia Mengqiu said with a smile.
As she spoke, Xia Mengqiu took out her phone and opened an electronic map of the ancient battlefield.
"Zheng Dong, the green areas marked on this map are relatively safe and suitable for us to go.
The yellow and orange areas are quite dangerous, requiring at least a Master-level or Grandmaster-level beast-tamer team to venture into. As for the black areas, they require a Legendary-level beast-tamer to lead the way."
Zheng Dong also looked at the map in Xia Mengqiu's hand.
He then realized that the area where the ancient battlefield was located was even twice the size of their Anhe District in Rong City.
With such a vast area, the beast-taming legions could only guard a few key entrances, and some beast-tamers entered the ancient battlefield through unofficial channels.
Of course, if they were discovered by the battlefield eyes doing aerial surveillance, they would be punished.
"My Hell Three-Headed Dog was found here, in the area called the Hell Rift. There are many spirits and fire-attribute dual-element pets here.
How about we go take a look first?" Xia Mengqiu continued.
Zheng Dong nodded. He didn't mind going anywhere, but he was still contemplating what kind of death-attribute pet he wanted to contract.
Subsequently, Xia Mengqiu summoned the Hell Three-Headed Dog, and the two of them rode it all the way to the area known as the Hell Rift.
Xia Mengqiu's Hell Three-Headed Dog was a bit larger than an ordinary horse, and it was perfectly capable of carrying two people.
Not long after, they encountered a Skeleton Soldier.
The Skeleton Soldier was a humanoid spirit, and its growth level had also reached the Lord-level. It was not afraid of the Hell Three-Headed Dog. It held a bone spear and thrust it towards Zheng Dong from a distance.
Zheng Dong was not flustered. He used Spatial Shift to dismount from the Hell Three-Headed Dog, appearing above the Skeleton Soldier, and unleashed Shadow Arrows at it.
He also called out Xiao Zi and asked it to deal with the Skeleton Soldier.
At the same time, Zheng Dong also wanted to try using the Talent Bead, Spirit Battlefield.
Spirit Battlefield was a beast-taming talent that the Spirit God Cult had stripped from a beast-tamer using a talent bead. It could revive one's own deceased death-attribute pets or convert nearby deceased extraordinary creatures into spirits to be commanded by the beast-tamer.
However, this conversion was only temporary and not considered an awakening. Once the extraordinary creature's own energy was depleted, the converted spirit would fall.
This was fundamentally different from Shen Bing's beast-taming talent, Spirit Awakening.
What Zheng Dong wanted to know now was whether he could convert already awakened spirits, like the Skeleton Soldier in front of him, into spirits after killing them.
Of course, if the conversion was successful, the converted Skeleton Soldier should be a mindless tool.
As soon as Xiao Zi was summoned, it directly used the Magnification skill to enlarge its body, then used Mountain Pressing.
It directly suppressed the Lord-level Skeleton Soldier and then used skills like Crushing Gold Claws to finish it off completely.
The series of actions astonished Xia Mengqiu.
She felt that the Gold-Devouring Mouse was even more powerful than in the Heavenly Monkey Mountain relic space.
She even doubted if her own Lord-level Hell Three-Headed Dog could defeat Zheng Dong's Commander-level Gold-Devouring Mouse.
Zheng Dong paid no attention to Xia Mengqiu. Seeing the Skeleton Soldier fall, he attempted to activate the talent bead and use the beast-taming talent, Spirit Battlefield.
As expected, the domain formed by Spirit Battlefield quickly covered the Skeleton Soldier, and soon the Skeleton Soldier was converted into a mindless spirit.
It stood up again like a puppet, with only seventy percent of its original combat power. If it didn't fight, it could exist for seven days. If it fought, depending on its energy consumption, it would die once its energy was depleted.
Zheng Dong hadn't really expected it to succeed.
But thinking about it, there seemed to be no problem, as the Skeleton Soldier itself was a special extraordinary creature.
He just didn't know how many such spirits he could command using Spirit Battlefield.
This scene stunned Xia Mengqiu. She couldn't understand what was happening.
After learning the cause and effect, she envied Zheng Dong even more.
Subsequently, Zheng Dong began hunting spirits along the way.
Before long, the number of spirits converted and commanded by Spirit Battlefield exceeded several hundred, with the number of Skeleton Soldiers alone reaching over two hundred.
And they were all at Lord-level combat strength.
If these spirits were further strengthened by the Death Spirit Tower, they would become even stronger.
Zheng Dong felt that he no longer needed to fear General-level spirits.
If this continued, snowballing like this, could he even deal with Monarch-level spirits?
If there was no limit to the number of spirits controlled by Spirit Battlefield, could he dominate the entire ancient battlefield?
Zheng Dong planned to try.
Unfortunately, he hadn't encountered any General-level spirits yet.
Just as he and Xia Mengqiu were getting closer to the area called the Hell Rift, a Skeleton General, evolved from a Skeleton Soldier, led over a thousand Skeleton Soldiers to surround them.
This Skeleton General had reached the General-level growth, and the Skeleton Soldiers it led were all at the Commander-level.
This startled Xia Mengqiu.
She had been to the ancient battlefield so many times, but she had never encountered such a situation.
"What should we do? Did you stir up a hornet's nest and provoke all these skeletal spirits?"