135: Chapter 135 Tianlu's Growth

The commendation ceremony was scheduled for three days later.

Qin Ce did not waste these three days.

Regardless of what the military's reward was, strength was the foundation of this world.

Therefore, the current priority was to let the little fellow, Tianlu, grow up.

Although this newborn little thing had heaven-defying talent, its level was simply too low.

It hadn't even entered a grade yet and couldn't even defeat the most basic fierce beasts.

This wouldn't do.

So, after leaving Mike's place, Qin Ce took Tianlu directly out of the base.

After flying to a distant wasteland...

The Blue Luan was retracted into his tattoo.

It wasn't that he didn't want to use the Blue Luan, but rather that he simply couldn't.

After the Blue Luan broke through to mid-grade bronze, its aura became increasingly sharp.

As soon as it appeared, low-level fierce beasts within a one-mile radius ran faster than rabbits; he couldn't find any prey at all.

Out of necessity, Qin Ce could only take Tianlu alone and enter the wilderness on foot.

"Mee-woo." Tianlu lay on his shoulder, its small head looking left and right, its golden eyes full of excitement.

Just as Qin Ce was about to use Nine-Star Insight to find a suitable fierce beast...

Tianlu suddenly jumped down from Qin Ce's body.

It tilted its head and nodded at Qin Ce, actually signaling that it would handle it.

This made Qin Ce very curious. He patted its small head and agreed, "Alright, you'll lead the way today. Let me see what kind of fierce beast you find."

Tianlu held its head high and closed its eyes confidently, after which a faint nine-colored light flashed across its antlers.

A moment later, it opened its eyes, raised its small paw, and pointed toward the southeast.

Qin Ce raised an eyebrow. "Over there?"

"Mee-woo!" Tianlu nodded firmly.

Qin Ce did not hesitate and strode in that direction.

...

As it turned out, Tianlu's ability to find fierce beasts was far stronger than Qin Ce had imagined.

It could always find the most suitable prey for itself—the level might be slightly higher than its own, but in other aspects, the prey was always completely countered by it.

The first prey was a Black Iron Low-Grade "Thorn Porcupine."

This kind of fierce beast was covered in sharp quills and had amazing defensive power, but its speed was atrociously slow.

Tianlu stood far away and fired a Streaming Light Arrow. A patch of the porcupine's quills was blown apart, making it howl in pain, yet it couldn't catch Tianlu at all. It could only flee while wailing, while Tianlu chased and attacked from behind, wearing it down to death.

The second prey was a Black Iron Low-Grade "Wind Weasel."

This kind of fierce beast was fast and had quick reflexes, but its defense was extremely poor.

Tianlu first used Lumeng to immobilize it, then followed up with three consecutive Streaming Light Arrows to take it down directly.

The third one.

The fourth one.

The fifth one.

...

Qin Ce gradually began to understand Tianlu's combat style.

It was like a natural long-range marksman.

Usually, it would...

First, use Heavenly Chant to detect and determine the target's position and weaknesses.

Then, use Lumeng to control it, causing the target to fall into a state of paralysis or confusion.

Finally, use Streaming Light Arrow as the main attack. The power of the dual light and fire attribute attack was quite astonishing; it could easily break the defense of Black Iron Low-Grade fierce beasts.

If it encountered a powerful fierce beast closing in, Tianlu would use Void Walk to blink a short distance and pull away.

Throughout the entire battle process, Tianlu suffered almost no damage.

Qin Ce stood to the side, watching Tianlu weave through the battlefield like lightning, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

This little thing's talent was indeed heaven-defying.

But what truly surprised Qin Ce was the terrifying nature of the Lumeng skill.

He spent an entire day carefully observing every detail of Lumeng and finally discovered...

This skill was far more complex and powerful than he had thought.

The control effect of Lumeng actually had three stages.

The first stage was the hard control it had shown against the Shadow Wolf that night!

According to Qin Ce's observations, Lumeng could hard-control fierce beasts of the same rank or lower for at least ten seconds.

Ten seconds was enough for Tianlu to fire three to four Streaming Light Arrows, which was sufficient to insta-kill any target of the same rank.

If it encountered a higher-grade fierce beast, the hard control time would be shortened.

One grade higher, it was halved.

One rank higher, it was only one-tenth.

But even so, one second of hard control was enough for Tianlu to change strategies or have a chance to escape.

...

The second stage was Defect Detonation.

During the hard control phase, the runic energy of Lumeng would pierce into the fierce beast's body.

After careful observation with Nine-Star Insight, Qin Ce discovered that the positions where the energy pierced were all places where the fierce beast had old injuries or congenital defects.

After the hard control ended, these old injuries or defects would be triggered by the energy, worsening the issues.

As a result, some fierce beasts would become lame afterward. Some would experience sudden physical pain, causing their attacks to lose form. Some would have the energy circulation within their bodies become disordered.

Qin Ce saw with his own eyes a Black Iron Mid-grade "Iron-back Wolf" that had been controlled by Lumeng. After the hard control ended, its hind legs suddenly went limp, and it ran lopsidedly, allowing Tianlu to easily kite it to death.

The duration of this stage was at least twice as long as the hard control phase.

...

The third stage was Misfortune Haunting.

If there were still fierce beasts that could survive the first two stages...

The third stage of Lumeng's influence would appear.

It was an extremely bizarre effect. Qin Ce called it "becoming unlucky."

The affected fierce beast's attacks would inexplicably miss, it would suddenly slip while running, it would be tripped by vines while chasing, and even a bird flying overhead could drop a turd that happened to smear right over its eyes.

All sorts of situations occurred.

But the result was always the same: bad luck.

Qin Ce watched a Black Iron High-grade "Berserk Boar" affected by Lumeng. In the process of chasing Tianlu, it stepped into thin air and tumbled into a pit covered by dead leaves, its head hitting a rock, knocking it out cold.

He fell silent.

This skill... was too wicked.

"Mee-woo!" Tianlu squatted by the pit, poking its head out to look at the unconscious boar, its little face full of pride.

Qin Ce had to pat its head and remind it that it couldn't treat luck as strength, and even less so be blindly arrogant.

But in reality, Qin Ce's heart was full of envy.

He wondered if, after Tianlu's strength grew, he would be able to use Tianlu's energy to achieve such an effect himself.

If one can rely on luck, why rely on strength?

...