Chapter 53: Chapter 52: The Little Overlord in the Water

“Beast Taming, what is that beast?”

On the floating bridge, Zhou Hao pointed at a silver little fish that had surfaced in the distance.

Chen Xing glanced at it, withdrew his gaze, and continued walking forward, “Fish.”

“Fish? In Ze City, there are several types of fish beast tamings, I remember there doesn’t seem to be any silver ones. Could it be a special individual?” Zhou Hao suddenly speculated.

Wang Bing laughed out loud. “That’s a crucian carp, if you want to form a contract with one I can go to the market and buy you a couple.”

Wang Bing teased, “What were you up to last night? Today you’re looking so out of sorts that you can’t even tell a crucian carp from a monster.”

Zhou Hao immediately became anxious and glanced at Teacher Kuang at the head of the group, “Don’t talk nonsense, I just didn’t know that this Secret Realm had crucian carp, that’s all.”

“Alright, alright, I won’t talk.” Wang Bing couldn’t help but smile. “Didn’t you check the information before you came? This Secret Realm originally has normal animals and insects or else what would these monster fish eat?”

Zhou Hao turned to look again in the direction of the crucian carp.

This time he froze; several branches undulated, passing through the surface of the water… getting steadily closer to the crucian carp.

The crucian carp was as if under a paralysis spell, stiff and motionless in the water.

Suddenly, the monster lurking in the deep water surged forward at an accelerated pace, the branches that emerged from the water sliced through the surface, and you could faintly see a large creature below the water with a wide back.

The sound of water churning, waves splashing over, and the crucian carp disappeared from sight.

Zhou Hao shivered, he suddenly recalled the contents of a book.

Below those branches hid a big fish that seemed to be the Thorny Crown Fish, a monster with dual Wood and Water abilities.

The chaotic yet orderly “branches” on its head were its camouflage, and it liked to lurk in shallow water areas, disguised as a harmless shrub, to ambush its prey.

“Let’s go.” Chen Xing patted Zhou Hao on the shoulder; he too saw the scene unfold.

What’s written in a book and witnessing the real thing are ultimately different.

The book only described the behavior of the Thorny Crown Fish and its preference for ambushing prey, but it didn’t conjure a concrete image in the mind.

Having seen one in real life, the impression of the Thorny Crown Fish was immediately much more vivid.

…

“Ow.” Taotie lightly hooked Chen Xing’s trousers with its claws.

Chen Xing looked inquiringly at it, “What’s up?”

Taotie looked at the water on both sides of the floating bridge, eyes filled with unstoppable yearning, “Ow ow.” (Want to go into the water)

Chen Xing thought for a moment, then agreed to Taotie’s request, “Go ahead.”

This was only the outer perimeter of the Secret Realm, and also a path frequented by people; even if there were monster fish, their Energy Levels wouldn’t be too high. Besides, with Teacher Kuang and the bald uncle’s Burning Hunter Bees nearby, no high Energy Level monsters would dare to approach.

It had been last week that Taotie awakened its third skill, and over the span of a week, its Energy Level steadily increased by 0.5 daily. Now, at an Energy Level of 18.5, as long as they didn’t encounter some of the most dangerous monsters in the Secret Realm, it should be sufficient.

Chen Xing also discovered that every 5 Energy Levels was a threshold. Each time they cross a threshold, the daily Energy Level increase brought by Pet Meal would decrease. Of course, it wasn’t that the effect of the Pet Meal was becoming weaker, rather, after every five-level increase, the capacity became larger, hence more “experience” was needed.

The approved Taotie happily trotted on its four legs and jumped into the water.

Its black body, adorned with yellow patterns, submerged segment by segment into the water, melding into the murky yellow liquid.

The massive body entering the water caused ripples to spread, various small fish and shrimps nearby fled in all directions, but the disturbance also attracted the attention of a presence from a farther distance.

“Buzz~”

The Burning Hunter Bees lowered their altitude, whispering into Kuang Shiyi’s ear.

Kuang Shiyi gently shook his head, making a quiet and observative gesture to continue watching.

Understanding the cue, the Burning Hunter Bees quickly rose to a higher altitude, flying tens of meters into the sky.

Chen Xing surveyed the surroundings; the water nearby was not deep, which could be deduced from the reeds on the surface of the water.

The depth of the water was at most 1-2 meters, but it was very murky with low visibility.

Taotie, excited from diving in, swam around. The swimming pool in the school was like a slightly larger bathtub compared to this; nowhere near as comfortable as here.

From a distance beneath the murky water surface, a slender figure approached swiftly along the bottom, the silent preference of the creatures of Ze City. Taotie’s splash on entering the water wasn’t small and had drawn its attention.

The underwater monster sped toward Taotie, halting at a certain distance. Although it had a pair of slender antennae on its head, which could sense water movement from afar, beyond the antennae, it preferred to use its pair of dark, shiny compound eyes to observe its prey.

Its eyes were very large and could distinguish many colors, even managing to make out objects in the murky yellow waters of Ze City.

When it clearly saw, with these eyes, the giant crocodile swimming unabashedly in the water ahead,

it silently estimated the size difference between itself and the opponent using the little brain it possessed and suddenly felt some regret.

Seemed… a bit too big.

This was a new species it had never seen before, not listed in its diet. And being so large, looking both ugly and fierce, it clearly wasn’t something to provoke…

With this thought in mind, the giant bellied tiger prawn moved its abdominal feet and silently backed away two steps.

Just as it was about to turn around, its movements became rigid, and its two pincers instinctively guarded its chest.

For the crocodile, which had just been frolicking, had unknowingly turned its head and was now staring intently at it.

A deep and hoarse voice emanated from the water; Taotie had noticed the approaching giant bellied tiger prawn.

Even though it had never eaten one before, its bloodline’s instincts told it that this was something from its diet.

It couldn’t understand why a piece of food would dare to come so close to it, and it seemed to adopt an offensive stance towards it.

Aside from confusion, this also elicited a feeling of provoked rage.

Chen Xing narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction Taotie indicated, but he could only see murky water and nothing else.

“Teacher, if the monster initiates the provocation, just beating it up without killing it shouldn’t waste one of the three slots, right?” asked Chen Xing.

“Of course not, but be careful not to overdo it. There are high-definition cameras all over this Secret Realm, though there are some blind spots…” the bald man hurriedly interjected.

“Cough,” Kuang Shiyi coughed, warning not to teach his student bad behavior.

After all, there were cameras nearby, what if they were overheard?

The bald man looked in the direction of the giant bellied tiger prawn, “Your teacher brought you here to train your combat ability in Beast Taming, just don’t kill it, that’s all.”

Kuang Shiyi didn’t deny it but paused and stood still.

By doing so, he implicitly accepted the bald man’s words.

Chen Xing pondered; an adult Green King Conch’s size was massive, it would definitely not stay hidden in the shallow water area, so it couldn’t be it.

An adult Dance Scythe Phantom Crab also wasn’t small, but Taotie’s feedback suggested it wasn’t square-shaped but elongated instead.

So it had to be one of the remaining creatures, the threat seemed within a controllable range.

If Taotie wanted to fight, then they would fight.

“Go ahead,” he said.

With his master’s approval, Taotie surged forward like a runaway horse in an instant.

The rapid current brushed past its body on both sides and the disturbance on the water’s surface could be clearly seen from the floating bridge.

The giant bellied tiger prawn sensed danger and wrapped its abdomen to flee backwards.

But just as it shot not even three meters away, the surrounding currents instantly reversed direction as if a switch had been hit, and the raging water, like invisible giant hands, yanked it backwards.

From the water surface, a giant vortex with a diameter of over thirty meters spontaneously appeared, its center forming a tumultuous whirlpool.

Taotie opened its huge mouth, the crocodile snout twisted up savagely, its eyes full of brutality.

Skill — Great Vortex!

After a back and forth, by the time the giant bellied tiger prawn barely adjusted to the rhythm of the Great Vortex, a large dark shadow had already silently closed in.

With fierce barbarity, it bit down on the prawn’s tail and then shook it fiercely.

The giant bellied tiger prawn felt as if the eggs in its belly were about to be shaken out.

“So you were looking at me just now?”

Taotie twisted its body and slapped the giant bellied tiger prawn’s head with its tail fiercely.

The fast and fierce tail was like a heavy iron whip, landing heavily on its head, causing it to see stars.

In Taotie’s grip, the giant bellied tiger prawn was toyed with as easily as a small chick.

The giant bellied tiger prawn experienced firsthand what bullying truly was.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep