Chapter 60: Goldy’s Evolution
Just moments after this whole incident started, Lin Jin came outside carrying a bowl of medicine.
The texture of this medicine was goopy and it gave off the pungent smell of herbs.
Masterchef Liao Gu’s yard was currently in shambles thanks to the two pet beasts but he no longer cared about this. Instead, he was focused on watching the two creatures tear each other apart.
It wasn’t only him who was engrossed with the beast-brawl, Even Zhao Ying, Lu Xiaoyun, and Han Dong watched with their jaws hanging wide open. Their pet beasts hid obediently behind their owners without daring to even take a peek at the two clas.h.i.+ng beasts.
From these pet beasts’ perspective, the two boss-cla.s.s figures in the yard were not to be provoked.
“This should be about enough,” Lin Jin commented as he observed Goldy’s condition. Then, he put the bowl of medicine down and called Xiao Huo back.
Xiao Huo immediately leaped back. Yet, Goldy was evidently still furious. It flapped its wings angrily, intending to give chase to Xiao Huo. As things were about to get messy, Lin Jin cast a spell to completely unleash Xiao Huo’s strength.
At that moment, Xiao Huo could finally unleash his Rank 3 potential. His size increased until he was larger than a bull and his fur meshed together with the flames surrounding him as if the blaze was his fur coat. Having unleashed the beast deterrence skill, Goldy finally stopped trying to charge at him.
Or perhaps he had noticed the medicine on the ground.
Since he was parched, Goldy lunged for the medicine in a frenzy. As long as it was some sort of liquid, Goldy couldn’t care less as to what it was.
Soon, half of the medicine was gone.
As this medicine was prepared from the prescription shown in the Museum of Deadly Beast, one could easily imagine how effective it was.
The results were instant.
Goldy kept crowing as its body grew a size larger. At the same time, it was shedding its feathers heavily.
The more he made that noise, the larger he grew until the ground beneath its claws was covered in feathers. At that moment, Goldy was like a naked chicken being stripped of his feathers.
His body continued to grow larger.
The expansion did not stop until Goldy was around the height of a human adult.
The aura he exuded now was almost on par with Xiao Huo. Goldy would have appeared even more intimidating had he kept his feathers on.
Suddenly, an ember of flame started spreading across Goldy’s body and a shocking scene played out right before their eyes.
Like a calligrapher’s brush, the ember began to trace the shape of feathers on Goldy’s body, piece by piece, feather by feather. In an instant, the naked Goldy was covered with flaming feathers. Even its crest was a burning flame.
There was a long whistle. Everyone present, including the pet beast, besides Xiao Huo and Lin Jin, all took a step back. The pangolin and red fox even curled into a bundle, trembling in fear.
“Rank… Rank 3!”
Zhao Ying, Lu Xiaoyun, and Han Dong’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Despite many years of hards.h.i.+p and education, as apprentice beast appraisers, they have never witnessed a pet beast evolve from Rank 2 to Rank 3.
Today, they finally witnessed it.
Wasn’t it just a regular rooster? At first, they thought nothing of this rooster. Han Dong even a.s.sumed that the chicken would find its way on the table when their feast began.
So why did it suddenly evolve? And to a Rank 3 at that.
Since they couldn’t understand how it happened, they could only watch with awe.
Lin Jin was quite startled himself. Goldy never had a blood contract and was without an owner. It was harder for pet beasts like him to evolve this way but somehow, he managed to pull it off successfully. By eating the emerald bloodworm, the Golden Crow blood in his veins managed to get activated. This, together with Lin Jin’s a.s.sistance, his evolution was a success.
At Rank 3, not only could the creature alter its size and gain better control over its elemental powers, but its intelligence would also improve.
Goldy was already smarter than most average pet beast. After his evolution, he was naturally aware of who his ‘benefactor’ was, so he crowed at Lin Jin while flapping his wings.
The wind that his wings created was really pressuring.
Then, he made a few scratches, and the cement floor below his feet cracked open under his razor-sharp claws. And like a blazing sword, there was a trail of flames left in its wake.
Thereafter, Goldy’s body gradually shrunk until he was the size of a regular rooster again before continuing to sunbathe in the yard just like how he did prior to the evolution. It was as if whatever happened earlier had nothing to do with him.
After a long while, Lu Xiaoyun finally spoke, “This chicken has a pretty interesting personality, doesn’t he?”
Goldy’s personality wasn’t news to Lin Jin. To him, Goldy’s evolution was a good thing. Although Goldy wasn’t exactly his pet beast, the chicken was fond of him and kept following him around as if that was the case anyway.
As this happened all so suddenly, Liao Gu’s yard ended up being destroyed. However, the masterchef never uttered a word in protest. To explain it in his words, ‘being able to witness this moment was entirely worth it.’.
As for Zhao Ying, Lu Xiaoyun, and Han Dong, after the shock subsided, their respect for Lin Jin only grew.
Prior to this, Zhao Ying and Lu Xiaoyun suspected that Lin Jin’s pet beast, Xiao Huo might be at Rank 3, but they had no proof. Now, they could finally confirm it.
Xiao Huo was really a Rank 3 pet beast.
And now, not only Xiao Huo but even the rooster Lin Jin kept at home was also a Rank 3.
When they looked at their own pet beasts, they could only feel the ma.s.sive disparity in skill between them and Lin Jin.
Especially Han Dong.
Han Dong’s pet beast was an ‘armored pig’.
It was considered quite a rare creature as well, belonging to a variant of a wild boar. The thick and st.u.r.dy skin on its back and limbs made it looked like it was wearing armor and that was where it got its name.
Han Dong’s armored pig was only at Rank 1 and he had no idea how to help it evolve. Han Dong used to work for the logistics department so he had a relatively good relations.h.i.+p with Dong He. Once, he had tried to get Dong He to ask Elder Nan for help in this regard.
Rumor had it that Elder Nan’s beast evaluation capabilities were above Chief w.a.n.g’s.
For the sake of evolving his pet beast, Han Dong gave Dong He quite a few perks. But after waiting for an eternity, the final answer he got was a piece of advice to change his pet beast.
Up till today, Han Dong remembered how everything went down.
Pet beasts belonging to the wild boar family don’t have much potential to begin with. Although they possessed above-average combat strength as Rank 1 beasts, to the point of being able to take down a lion or tiger when enraged, what good was this ferociousness if it wasn’t able to evolve?
But Han Dong would never give up on his armored pig.
Ever.
One year ago, for the sake of saving him, his armored pig got bitten by a poisonous snake. Due to this accident, it was grievously injured. Although it managed to live through that ordeal, the venom in its body wasn’t cleared out so it ended up damaging its internal organs and destroyed all possibilities of evolution.
Han Dong came from an average family and had average potential. He was meticulous in everything he did and was obsequious toward people. It took a great many challenging experiences before he could finally become an apprentice beast appraiser.
He was willing to submit to reality and give up his dignity for a brighter future. But Han Dong swore that he would never give up his pet beast.
Even if it destined him to a mediocre life, to a life where no success awaited.
Because if it weren’t for his pig, Han Dong would have died long ago.
Dong He only approached Han Dong for this mission because he a.s.sumed that Han Dong was a pushover. However, his perception of Han Dong couldn’t be any further from the truth.
Zhao Ying and Lu Xiaoyun’s pet beasts were both Rank 2. When Han Dong learned of this, a ray of hope surfaced in his heart. Even an idiot would know that it was Lin Jin who helped their pet beasts evolve. And now that he had witnessed this incredible scene of the rooster evolving, Han Dong could no longer contain his emotions. Without wasting a single second, he prostrated before Lin Jin.
“Master Lin, Han Dong has a request!”