Chapter 158 — Shi Ying's Promotion Exam
The Beast-Taming Craftsman Page 2 of 3
Wasn't this talent a bit... useless?
Beside him, Hao Ling burst out laughing. "You're thinking this talent doesn't sound like much, aren't you?"
He went on, "Instructor Qu Li's talent is actually rather monstrous."
"This 'Power Seal' is one of the very few skills capable of fooling even the most advanced energy detectors."
Shrinking down couldn't fool an energy detector. Even the concealed state of the super-tier skill Hidden Edge couldn't fool the most advanced energy detectors, all because of the Font of Stamina. But this Power Seal talent could!
The implication was clear: this was a god-tier skill for infiltration, assassination, even playing the pig to eat the tiger. Sometimes Hao Ling felt that Qu Jie was wasting his talents as an examiner.
And the most incredible part of this talent was that, once deeply developed, it could seal the power of wild extraordinary creatures, making it easier to contract high-level beasts!
"I see..." After hearing it all, Shi Jin understood. The meaning was that next he would be facing a beast that had sealed its own power down to Commander level—but was suspected to be Monarch-level.
What a bully, this intermediate exam! The level might be lowered, but the skill proficiency and experience remained.
"Don't worry. The intermediate exam is actually mostly guidance battles that test a beast-tamer's various qualities."
Examiner Liu Jie smiled at this junior schoolmate. "Instructor Qu Li is a master of guidance battles. As long as your performance meets the standard, you pass."
At that moment, Hao Ling and the panda father and daughter were laughing inside.
Guidance battle? Don't worry—it'd be a fine outcome if Qu Jie didn't embarrass himself!
...
Inside the enormous dedicated examination ground, Instructor Qu Li had been waiting for some time.
When he saw Liu Jie arrive with a whole crowd, he was stunned too.
Hao Ling? And that person... wasn't that Master Lin Yu, the beast-tamer of the first Nine Li Battle Beast?
So Shi Jin hadn't come alone—there were actually this many people.
"Hao Ling? Master Lin? And Shi Jin... why have you all come too?"
Sister Xiong Qi was clearly being ignored.
"Isn't it because Shi Jue just broke through, and the Iron-Eater just evolved? We came to watch the fun." Hao Ling laughed. "After all, the evolution equipment was made by our Mechanical Academy."
"Uh." Instructor Qu Li's expression turned grave.
Inside, he cursed.
He looked at Shi Jin, who wore a shy smile.
Damn it, that little Iron-Eater with an energy value of over 3,000 was already absurd enough.
And now it had evolved again?
After evolving to Monarch race, wouldn't its energy value climb toward six or seven thousand—double?
No, it would definitely be higher, maybe even approaching ten thousand, with a growth level reaching quasi-Commander!!
On top of that, its physical strength and other qualities would definitely be even stronger, plus new skills...
Considering that Shi Ying's beasts also had absurdly high skill proficiency, if he only sealed his beast's energy value to the minimum Commander-level standard of 10,000, this guidance battle would be hard to guide.
Because this battle was theoretically Shi Jin's 3 versus 1—besides Eleven, Shi Jin could send out two more beasts.
Instructor Qu Li's scalp tingled. Now he understood why Hao Ling had said they needed a formidable examiner.
If the examiner was too trashy, he might even embarrass himself in front of this newcomer Shi Tan.
"No big problem."
Instructor Qu Li laughed heartily. "Then just watch closely. How about it, Student Shi Jin—shall we begin the examination now?"
Soon he regained his composure. So what? Even with its power sealed, his beast still had a pile of skills at perfect proficiency and a few at the masterful level.
In terms of skill proficiency, it was surely higher than this greenhorn Shi Tan's beasts.
Even against three quasi-Commanders at once, he was 100% certain to win. That was his confidence as a top-tier master.
"Then let's begin," said Shi Li.
After Instructor Qu Li and Shi Jin confirmed with each other, the two walked toward the arena.
Meanwhile, Hao Ling, the panda father and daughter, and trainee examiner Liu Jie sat in the spectator seats to enjoy the show.
"Let's send out our beasts together."
Once they reached the field, Qu Lishi casually faced Shi Li and began summoning a beast diagram at the same time.
Moments later, a purple summoning diagram emerged alongside surging deep crimson flames, forming a shadowy figure four meters tall!!
"ROAR!!!"
The shadow gradually took shape, condensing into a monster with brown muscles all over, holding a stone battle-axe and sporting a pair of massive horns.
[Name]: Bull Demon Beast King
[Attribute]: Fire
[Race Rank]: Low Monarch
[Racial Skills]: Blazing Charge, Explosive Flame Axe Strike, Horn of Fire, Thornfire Armor, Intimidation, Battle Spirit Bathed in Fire
The moment Qu Lishi summoned his beast, Shi Jin was dumbfounded, and so were the panda father and daughter.
After all, Qu Lishi had the Power Seal talent. With a talent like that—playing the pig to eat the tiger—he should, in theory, have contracted beasts with far greater deceptive qualities.
Contracting a ferocious Bull Demon Beast King that looked obviously powerful at a glance—how was he supposed to fool his enemies?
This was one of the monarch-rank evolutionary forms of the transcendent-race dire beast, the Bull Demon... The prerequisite was awakening the Intimidation skill, supplemented by other evolution materials.
"Energy value: 10086."
Through the codex, Shi Shuo saw the Bull Demon Beast King's energy value at a glance—its power had indeed been sealed down to the threshold of the Commander level.
Shi Jin's expression turned strange. There was really no need for this.
"Yii." Beside Shi Tan, a restrained little Eleven slowly walked out from the white summoning diagram and looked toward the Bull Demon Beast King across from it.
"Yii." Eleven wore an excited expression. This opponent looked pretty good.
It felt like the same weight class as that Mane Rock Colossus—both were very strong.
"A white diagram—a third-tier beast taming space."
At this moment, Qu Lishi saw the color of Shi Ying's summoning diagram and nodded. As for the promotion requirements for an intermediate beast tamer, Shi Tan had already met one of them.
And the other requirement was to fight a Commander-level beast for five minutes without losing!
That was the hardest part.
"Hm?" After Shi Jin summoned Eleven, Qu Lishi said, "Where are your other two beasts?"
Shi Li: "Uh..."
Shi Jin then summoned Buggy and Ginseng Baby as well.
The moment these two little ones came out, they immediately wore expressions of spectating bystanders.
They had no intention of joining the fight at all.
"Er." At the same time, upon seeing Buggy and Ginseng Baby, Qu Lishi was stunned again.
This bug hadn't evolved yet. Good, good—if this bug had evolved too, he'd be in even more trouble.
As for Ginseng Baby, Qu Lishi was bewildered. How could Shi Jin's third beast be a Ginseng Baby?
Logically speaking, a genius beast tamer like Shi Tan should have contracted rarer beasts...
"Wait!!"
Qu Lishi didn't dwell on Buggy and Ginseng Baby for long. He suddenly widened his eyes and looked at the restrained little Eleven, who was raring to go.
He sensed an unusual aura from Eleven—and not just him. The Bull Demon Beast King sensed it too, and was now squinting at the little Iron-Eater.
"It... has reached the Commander level?" Qu Lishi said in disbelief.
"Yes." Shi Heng nodded.
"This..." Qu Lishi was stunned. Shi Jin didn't have a beast taming space enhancement talent like Yin Huan—how could his beast possibly reach the Commander level ahead of time?