January 11th, Monday.

Yesterday, Shi Yu obtained a Ginseng Baby and tried the powerful nourishing abilities of the mutated Ginseng Baby for the first time!

He felt that he wouldn't need to buy supplements anymore.

With Sweet Aroma, Nutrients, Earth Chain, and Source of Life skills, the Ginseng Baby could completely replenish his skill point consumption infinitely.

Of course, Shi Yu also knew that this was thanks to the level eight spiritual fruit, the Fruit of Life.

That thing could sell for at least 1 billion. So, on second thought, if he exchanged the Fruit of Life for supplements, it would be at least ten thousand Godly Beans...

This amount of supplements, excluding the time factor, would be equivalent to at least nearly 30 max-level high-rank skills.

As expected, the Ginseng Baby's nourishing ability didn't come from nowhere.

Currently, to be able to communicate normally, Eleven and Buggy had already started pulling the Ginseng Baby to learn a "second language."

As for Shi Yu, he had already packed his luggage and was preparing to return to Ping City with Panda Senior.

The sky was clear, and not a single white cloud could be seen in the azure sky.

At the First Airport of Ancient Capital, an airplane slowly took off. Shi Yu leaned back in his seat like a salted fish, feeling a bit melancholic.

"What's wrong? Not in a good mood?"

Seeing Shi Yu in this state, Panda Senior, sitting next to Shi Yu, turned her head to ask.

Logically speaking… Shi Yu should be full of energy since the professional assessment just ended.

Right now, all the major media outlets online were praising Shi Yu. If it were any other young person, they would have been on cloud nine.

"I'm really terrible at naming things…" Shi Yu slumped helplessly.

He had thought about it all night, but still couldn't come up with a good new nickname for the Ginseng Baby.

He couldn't just use "Shen Shen" or "Bao Bao" like he did with Buggy, right?

"Na… naming??" Panda Senior was taken aback.

"If you had a Ginseng Baby, what nickname would be good?"

Shi Yu asked.

After pondering, Panda Senior said, "A Shen?"

Shi Yu almost forgot that Panda Senior was also terrible at naming things.

"It sounds a bit dull, not grand enough."

In the future, the Ginseng Baby was going to be a super supplement that swept through the monarch and overlord domains.

Panda Senior: ???

It's just a supplement pet. What kind of grand nickname are you looking for?

"Then what about the names you rejected? What were they?" Panda Senior asked.

"Emperor Shen…" Shi Yu looked out the window.

Panda Senior: ???

It's grand, but are you sure that's a suitable name for a Ginseng Baby?

Indeed, you can't expect Shi Yu, who is a chuunibyou, to come up with a good name.

"Why did you reject it?" However, Panda Senior still asked curiously.

Shi Yu turned his head faintly. What other reason could there be? It was because Buggy thought the name was too pretentious and cooler than its own, so it protested.

He should have given Buggy a good name back then. Now, they were even competing over how good their nicknames sounded. It was outrageous! Wasn't this making things difficult for him, the Beast Tamer?

"…"

…

Icefield City.

As a second-tier city in the vast Ancient Nation of Dong Huang, it was located on the edge of the country. The even more enormous Ice Dragon Snow Mountain separated it from the vast ocean.

In this Blue Planet, the ocean area was even larger than the land. Countless ferocious beasts existed in the deep sea, a forbidden zone that humans had yet to explore.

Even a monarch-level mechanical lifeform couldn't guarantee safely transporting humans from one side of the ocean to the other.

Shi Yu sat by the window, watching Icefield City getting closer and closer. The airplane's announcement rang in his ears.

"This flight is about to arrive at Icefield Airport…"

A moment later.

In the arrival hall, a crowd of people poured out.

Just as Shi Yu and Panda Senior came down, Director Lin's figure appeared.

He looked at them with a smile and then picked them up in his car.

One was his own daughter, and the other was a junior even closer than his own daughter. He had to pick them up personally.

"Uncle Lin, how's the situation at the breeding base?"

After getting in the car, Shi Yu asked. He was very eager to know the impact of the Iron-eating Beast's evolved form being announced and him getting first place in the Ancient Capital assessment on the Iron-eating Beast breeding base!

After all, he had shares in it now!

"Overnight, there were hundreds of reservation calls." Director Lin, who was driving, said with some emotion.

His daughter's dowry was growing again.

Shi Yu was stunned. Was it that crazy?

However, the more crazy the buying, the more difficult the after-sales service might be.

Shi Yu had already imagined a bunch of people excitedly buying back Iron-eating Beasts, and then the Iron-eating Beasts doing nothing but eating and sleeping.

"Uncle Lin, the publicity and introduction must be truthful."

"I understand." Lin Hongnian looked helpless.

How could he not understand?

In the past two days, there had been a bunch of master-level Beast Tamers contacting him. To make them understand that the Iron-eating Beast wasn't so perfect, he had almost become the number one hater of Iron-eating Beasts.

However, did it work?

He listed all the shortcomings of the Iron-eating Beast, even making things up out of thin air, but it couldn't stop the buyers' enthusiasm.

Who could he reason with?

Perhaps, it was because the Iron-eating Beast had been neglected for so long that it deserved to explode in popularity.

Panda Senior shook her head helplessly and said, "Speaking of which…"

She looked at Shi Yu and said, "When are you planning to evolve Eleven?"

"Didn't you say before that the bonus for discovering the evolved form of the Iron-eating Beast was almost enough for the evolution materials?"

Lin Hongnian, who was in the driver's seat, took a deep breath.

It was fine if Lin Xiuzhu didn't mention it, but as soon as she did, he felt an unspeakable sadness.

He had been nurturing Iron-eating Beasts for most of his life, and it was only now that an Iron-eating Beast had mastered Hardening to the level of Perfection. As for Shi Yu, it only took half a year?

Moreover, Shi Yu was only 18 years old, but he was already worth over a hundred million and was about to have a monarch-level Iron-eating Beast. It was simply a dream start.

As expected of a genius from the Eleventh Bureau!

Currently, Director Lin had long known Shi Yu and Lu Qingyi's true identities and relationship.

President Feng, Director Li, and others all knew. There was no reason for Shi Yu to hide it from Director Lin.

The Ping City Ruins, Lu Qingyi's appearance, Shi Yu's rise—everything could be linked together.

This was also what made Director Lin feel the most emotional. Comparing people was infuriating. Perhaps, as a member of the Eleventh Bureau, Shi Yu could really lead the Iron-eating Beast further, even out of the country, to let the Beast Tamers of the other six countries feel the strength of Dong Huang's special pet!

This was his biggest dream in this life.

"No rush."

"I'm not ready yet," Shi Yu said with a smile.

Besides Hardening not being maxed out.

His Beast Taming level also had to be raised.

Also, he hadn't decided on the style of the evolution equipment.

For example, should he simply arm its claws, or give it an arm armor?

Or, like Blastoise next door, should it have two cannons on its shoulders for launching long-range electromagnetic cannons in the future?

Even whether or not it needed wings or a shield had to be considered. Who knew how many strange shapes Shi Yu, Eleven, and Buggy had brainstormed together.

This also led to them not finalizing the shape of the evolution equipment yet.

Currently, what Shi Yu was closest to was probably maxing out Hardening.

He was looking forward to it infinitely, curious about what different properties maxed out Hardening would have.

"You have to call me when you evolve…" Panda Senior waved her fist.

She had a premonition that Eleven's evolution would definitely be very unusual.

"Me too."

Director Lin Hongnian said in a deep voice, also quite concerned.

Shi Yu had said before that the Iron-eating Beast might have a second stage of evolution. If this evolution were to happen on any Iron-eating Beast, any Beast Tamer, perhaps it would be none other than the combination of Eleven and Shi Yu.

He absolutely couldn't be missing during the evolution… He could even sponsor some evolution materials.

"Dad, drive properly," Panda Senior said, looking at Director Lin.

"Right, Dad."

"This time, Shi Yu plans to explore the Ice Dragon Ruins. Can you go with him then?"

Lin Hongnian had many experiences of expeditions to the Snow Mountain. With him there, Panda Senior was more at ease about Shi Yu.

"Hmm?"

"You're planning to explore the Ice Dragon Ruins??" Director Lin immediately looked at Shi Yu in the rearview mirror and said seriously.

"Yes, I've grasped some clues. Maybe… there will be some gains," Shi Yu said.

Director Lin was silent for a moment and said, "Let me think about it. For you, wearing a cold-proof suit should be no problem for entering the Snow Mountain."

"The road to the Ice Dragon Ruins is also relatively safe. Many archaeological teams have explored it. If necessary, I can go with you, but even so, it's best to find some more Beast Tamers to go with you."

If it was just him, Director Lin could guarantee his safety. He could stay in the Snow Mountain for a few months, but with Shi Yu, he didn't dare to entrust Shi Yu's safety entirely to himself.

There were too many unexpected factors in the wild. The more people, the better.

"Of course," Shi Yu said, "I will make sufficient preparations."

"Then that's no problem. Call me anytime if you need anything." Lin Hongnian smiled, and then his mood became unexpectedly subtle.

Rumor has it that the Snow Mountain Beast Tide is related to the Ice Dragon Ruins. Could it be true?

If it was true, and they cracked the ruins, solving the beast tide from the root, it would be a major event with far-reaching effects for Icefield City.

…

From Ancient Capital to Ping City, after a few hours, Shi Yu finally arrived home.

After dropping Shi Yu off outside the villa district, Director Lin left with Lin Xiuzhu.

Shi Yu watched the two of them leave, then turned his head to look at the villa district and took a deep breath.

Finally back!!!

Shi Yu quickened his pace and returned to the training villa.

Just as he arrived in the courtyard, he shook Eleven, Buggy, and Ginseng Baby out of the ruins space.

"Ying?" "Ji?" "Yi?"

The three pets looked around. Eleven and Buggy were pleasantly surprised, while Ginseng Baby was at a loss.

They were home.

Shi Yu walked forward and patted Eleven's shoulder, saying, "I'll leave the cleaning to you."

After saying that, he turned around and went to the fridge to get ice cream.

Eleven was silent for a moment, then squatted down and patted Buggy.

"Ying Ying, Ao!"

After saying that, it turned around and left, also following to eat ice cream.

The next moment, Buggy looked at Ginseng Baby and fell into thought.

Damn it, they couldn't communicate!

It took Buggy less than half an hour to clean the entire villa spotless, leaving no trace of dust.

It directly went to sleep, conjuring dozens of Cotton Caterpillars to clean with silk, which was that efficient.

At the same time, this was also a lesson. Buggy pulled Ginseng Baby to learn by its side throughout the entire process. After all, this arduous task would be Ginseng Baby's in the future.

"Yi…" As for Ginseng Baby itself, it was full of bitterness.

This Cotton Caterpillar was indeed a monster. It had actually turned into dozens in the blink of an eye…

If it had this ability… um, it seemed to still be useless. It would only attract more predators and make them even more excited.

After the house was cleaned, Shi Yu also took a shower and changed his clothes. Then, he began to summon Eleven, Buggy, and Ginseng Baby over.

Time to add skill points!

Shi Yu first looked at Ginseng Baby.

[Skills]: Sweet Aroma (Perfect), Slow Healing (Peak), Earth Chain (Proficient), Nutrients (Skilled), Source of Life (Entry), Multiplication (Entry)

Yesterday, Shi Yu had roughly determined the skill proficiency of Ginseng Baby.

Except for Source of Life and Multiplication, which were still at the entry level, the proficiency of Ginseng Baby's other skills was not low.

For example, the Slow Healing skill, thanks to the Source of Life physique, its effect was directly comparable to the Peak level, easily regenerating broken branches, which was even more powerful than the Skilled level High-Speed Healing.

As for skills like Sweet Aroma and Nutrients, the proficiency level mostly only affected the nourishing effect and preservation time. These skills were also at a high level because of Ginseng Baby's mutation, but they hadn't reached the point of a qualitative change in proficiency.

For example, the Sweet Aroma skill would only undergo a qualitative change at the Peak level. At that time, it could condense the aroma into preservable liquid perfume and solid spices, and control their aroma diffusion speed and intensity. It was a process from uncontrollable to controllable.

As for the Nutrients skill, it also had no characteristics below the Perfect level. The proficiency level only affected the quality and shelf life. Only when it reached the Peak level would it have characteristics.

That was a nearly infinite preservation time, and as the preservation time increased, it would absorb external energy and become more and more nutritious. This was how thousand-year ginseng and ten-thousand-year ginseng came about.

"Currently, the nourishing effect of Sweet Aroma and Nutrients is more than enough to recover the skill point consumption of my high-rank and below skills. I don't need to worry about these two skills for the time being."

"Slow Healing can be upgraded to High-Speed Healing later, but there's no rush. After all, after learning Nutrients, it won't get injured unless it goes to battle."

"Source of Life is unaffordable, so it seems that Earth Chain is the only one worth adding skill points to at the moment."

Earth Chain allowed Ginseng Baby to freeload energy from the earth vein, providing unlimited supplements. At this time, its recovery speed became very important. It was best to teach it Absolute Sleep to accelerate the recovery speed.

Source of Life + Earth Chain + Absolute Sleep = Success.

Therefore, the current priority should be to ensure Ginseng Baby's endurance first.

After that, it was Eleven and Buggy's skills!

Eleven's Hardening had to be maxed out, and Buggy had to ensure that Spatial Shackles and Illusory Image could easily break through maxed-out silk 100% of the time… In this way, after school started, he could start preparing for Eleven and Buggy's evolution.

"Let's do it!" Shi Yu looked at the three pets with a solemn expression, as if he had made a huge decision.

Eleven and Buggy also had solemn expressions, as if they had made a great determination to accept the test of having their minds corroded by skill points.

Only Ginseng Baby was still confused. Why were they all so serious… Suddenly, it had a bad feeling.