2: The evolution path of the mantis
Xie Ning's home was a small villa in a high-end residential area, one of the few inheritances his parents had left him.
In the beast tide five years ago, his parents died in battle and their team disbanded, leaving Xie Ning a complete orphan. Aside from the three-story villa, his parents hadn't left much money. Over the years, his schooling had consumed most of it, leaving less than fifty thousand. One could say he was likely the poorest resident in this high-end neighborhood.
Because of this, even though Xie Ning had obtained a Demon Tamers Beast long ago, he had no money to nurture it. Several years had passed, and it was still of Common quality.
Common quality beasts were only slightly touched by spiritual energy. Without breaking through to Elite quality, it was difficult for their level to rise.
Returning home, Xie Ning checked inside and out. After finding no issues, he returned to his room, placed the Bladed Mantis on the bed, focused his mind, and silently thought, "Receive."
His hands felt heavy as three test tubes filled with a pale green liquid appeared.
These were the energy agents given as a gift when the system was activated.
[Basic Energy Agent]
Description: Contains trace amounts of energy. Consumption can increase level and recover from injuries. (Restricted to Black Iron Rank demon beasts).
Xie Ning uncorked the nutrient solution, and a faint fragrance wafted out. Smelling the scent, the Bladed Mantis became restless, scurrying back and forth around Xie Ning. Although it couldn't speak, Xie Ning felt a strong sense of longing from its consciousness.
"Alright, alright, I'll let you drink it," Xie Ning smiled and poured the liquid from the test tube into a porcelain bowl. "I hope this really helps you."
The Bladed Mantis immediately lunged at the porcelain bowl and gulped down the nutrient solution. Once the liquid was gone, it lay on the bed, motionless as if it had overeaten. Wisps of spiritual energy occasionally drifted from its body. Before long, its body slowly grew larger at a pace visible to the naked eye, and its injuries healed just as quickly.
Watching the changes in the Bladed Mantis's body, Xie Ning was incredibly excited.
Becoming stronger was the ultimate ideal for all Demon Tamers on Earth Star because this world was not safe.
Six hundred years ago, the spiritual energy of Earth Star suddenly recovered. Various animals and plants were affected by the spiritual energy and became demon beasts, yet humans did not grow stronger along with them. That period was known as the Dark Ages.
It wasn't until a great man discovered the existence of the Beast Taming Technique that humans were able to contract demon beasts and become Demon Tamers, fighting alongside them against the rampaging demon beasts so that humanity would not vanish into the river of time.
After five hundred years of development, humanity has finally found its footing.
Even now, countless Demon Tamers still turn into cold tombstones to resist beast tides. Xie Ning's parents were among them.
Today, the world has a fairly systematic knowledge of demon beasts, including their level classification.
Demon beasts are categorized by quality into Elite, Excellent, Transcendent, Lord, Monarch, Overlord, and even higher ranks that only exist as concepts.
As for demon beast ranks, they are divided into Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, with each rank further divided into levels 1 to 10.
Generally, the higher the quality of a demon beast, the stronger its power at the same level; in fact, the levels of most demon beasts are limited by their quality. A Demon Tamer rank is determined by the rank of the demon beast... By the time Xie Ning snapped out of his thoughts, the Bladed Mantis had finished absorbing the nutrient solution. Its size had grown from half a meter to one meter, and its scythe-like arms were even more formidable than yesterday.
[Beast Name] Bladed Mantis
[Beast Grade] Common Middle-grade
[Beast Rank] Black Iron Level 8
[Beast Attribute] None
[Beast Weakness] Avian types
[Beast Status] Joyful
[Beast Description] A mantis that has undergone significant demonization after being nourished by spiritual energy. Its sharp arms can even break through an enemy's defense across levels. Likes nectar.
[Evolution Paths] 187 paths
Jumping from Black Iron Level 3 to Black Iron Level 8, its strength had skyrocketed. Seeing this, Xie Ning couldn't help but laugh.
Next, he clicked on the evolution paths column.
1. Physical Evolution Path - Giant Blade Mantis: Elite Rank Gold-attribute demon core * 1, Basic Nutrient Solution * 3... 2. Atavism Evolution Path - ??? (3 evolution value to unlock)
3. Elemental Evolution Path - ??? (1 evolution value to unlock)
4. Elemental Evolution Path - ??? (2 evolution value to unlock)
5. Fallen Evolution Path - ??? (5 evolution value to unlock)
...Looking at so many evolution paths, his heart beat uncontrollably.
Although there are quite a few evolution paths in the world today, each one is the result of the hard work and research of countless Breeders. Even so, there are still countless unknown evolution paths.
A Breeder had even said something shocking before he died: "Our thousands of evolution paths today are still too few, far too few... they are but a grain of sand to a desert, a pond compared to the vast ocean."
Most Breeders in the world didn't believe these words, thinking that the breeding methods humans mastered were already close to the limit.
Now it seemed... he was right. A single Bladed Mantis had over a hundred evolution paths!
"Evolution points?"
As Xie Ning thought of the term, another interface appeared before his eyes the next second.
[Name] Xie Ning
[Rank] Black Iron Demon Tamer
[evolution value] 18 (Can be obtained through evolving demon beasts or combat)
[Status] Sub-healthy
[Contracted Demon Tamers Beast] Bladed Mantis
I see. It seems I'll have to nurture more demon beasts and fight more in the future.
"Since I have 18 evolution points, this time, I'm going to evolve an unprecedented mantis Demon Tamers Beast!"
Xie Ning no longer felt worried about next week's duel with Li Zhi.
With this evolution system, what was there to fear from Li Zhi?
But soon, Xie Ning fell into an awkward situation.
He spent 3 evolution points to unlock two evolution paths, but neither was satisfactory.
One unlocked the Gale Mantis, which was an evolved form of the Bladed Mantis and currently mainstream in the mantis evolution market. The difficulty of evolution was low, but its strength was also on the weaker side for its rank.
The other unlocked an atavism evolution, the Giant Mantis. Although its strength was high, it was too clumsy, making it less practical than even a common quality Power Ape.
Only 15 evolution points remained, yet there were still over a hundred evolution paths. If he unlocked those with low requirements one by one, the resulting evolution paths would likely be mediocre.
Finally, Xie Ning locked onto the path that required the highest number of evolution points.
Mutation Evolution Path - ??? (12 evolution value to unlock)
This was the path with the highest evolution value requirement among all the Bladed Mantis's evolution options.
Unlocking an evolution path was like opening a blind box; you never knew what kind of surprise was waiting for you until it was opened.
Xie Ning took a deep breath, calmed his excited heart, and unlocked the Mutation Evolution Path. His 15 evolution points instantly dropped to just 3.
[Mutation Evolution] - Supersonic Mantis.
Evolution requirements: Sonic Fruit * 10, Bronze Rank Insect-type demon core * 3, Bronze Rank Gold-type demon core * 1, Black Iron Level 10 Insect-type demon beast flesh * 5, Bloodline Condensation Array.
A more detailed evolution method appeared in Xie Ning's mind.
"Let's go, Little Mantis! We'll head to the neighborhood's monitoring room first, and then buy the evolution materials!"
...Meanwhile, on a road in the residential area shrouded by a black barrier, a damaged white sedan had crashed into a tree, with white smoke billowing from the hood.
Three Silver Rank Demon Tamers dressed in black stood in front of a middle-aged man and a young girl.
That girl was none other than the Campus Belle, Lu Bingyun.
The middle-aged man shielded Lu Bingyun and questioned in a low voice, "Who are you people?"
"It doesn't matter who we are. We've only come to ask Miss Lu Bingyun to come with us," the middle Demon Tamer in black replied.
Lu Bingyun's current state was very poor. The car crash just now had left her quite injured, and she could barely stand. Hearing the words of the Demon Tamer in black, Lu Bingyun steadied her breathing and asked, "I'm just an ordinary student. Why are you looking for me?"
"Miss Lu is far too modest. How could the daughter of the Flower City Garrison Commander be an ordinary person?" The Demon Tamer in black smiled as if he had heard a joke. "Believe me, we have the power to kill this nuisance of a driver and take you away. I just don't want to cause too much of a scene."
Lu Bingyun's brow furrowed, and she remained silent.
The middle-aged man then summoned his Demon Tamers Beast and instructed, "Miss, I'll hold them back in a moment. You find a way to escape..."
"It's no use," Lu Bingyun shook her head. "My father told me about this Dark Barrier. It cuts off wireless signals and prevents anyone from entering or leaving. Unless your strength is far higher than the person who set it up, you can only leave once the barrier vanishes. And there's only one kind of person who would set up such a barrier—Fallen Demon Tamers."
The Demon Tamer in black raised his hands and clapped, saying with a look of admiration, "As expected of the Garrison Commander's daughter. So, what is your choice? Shall I kill this innocent driver and then take you, or will you come with me obediently so we don't have to ruin the mood?"
"My life was saved by the Garrison Commander. If I let you take the young lady in front of me, how could I ever face him!" The middle-aged driver grinned.
Lu Bingyun knew very well that their goal in capturing her was to use her as leverage against her father. If she were taken, it would be a devastating blow to her father and Flower City.
Thinking of this, Lu Bingyun actually began to smile. She summoned her Demon Tamers Beast and said, "Uncle Zhang, then let's fight together. The Lu family has no weak daughters!"