https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-520-The-Ultimate-Poison-King-The-Web-Spun-Gray-Spider-/12957572/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-522-The-Cyclical-Secret-Realm-The-Celestial-Inspection-Bureau-s-Shortcomings-/12957580/
Chapter 521: Venom King and Bug King! Rank Skill!
Chapter 521: Venom King and Bug King! Rank Skill!
Within the strange, grayish space of the ancient cauldron, a peculiar scene unfolded.
In the end, the only creature still alive within the cauldron was the Web Gray Spider.
Even Su Ping hadn't anticipated this outcome.
In fact, among the countless insect and venomous companion beasts that had arrived, the first wave of casualties were all these spider companions.
Spiders are web-weaving predators that wait for their prey.
In the chaotic battles within this confined space, spider-type companion beasts had no competitive edge.
However, to everyone's surprise, at this very moment, the Web Gray Spider, which had been overlooked, was feasting on its prey.
Even Zhu Hong's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he turned to Su Ping with a probing look: "Su Ping, did you notice something unusual about this Web Gray Spider earlier?"
Su Ping raised his eyebrows and then nodded confidently: "Of course. Do you think I would bet on it randomly? We agreed on one sovereign-level resource each, and no backing out!"
The others didn't pay much attention to this. Liu Fu Hai's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at the Web Gray Spider suspiciously, then nodded: "Indeed, this Web Gray Spider has some special qualities. In the wild, it's rare for a Web Gray Spider to break through its racial limit.
And for this one to have done so is quite remarkable. Moreover, this little creature's wounds are healing remarkably fast! I'm not sure if it's due to its natural talent or the enhancement from the Venom Cauldron."
Everyone present noticed this.
It was evident that everyone had just realized this, while Su Ping had known it all along.
Su Ping chose not to continue the conversation and instead fixed his gaze on the cauldron.
As expected, within the Venom Cauldron, the venomous creatures seemed to have an insatiable appetite.
The mysterious gas seemed to turn every venomous companion beast into a glutton.
And now, the Web Gray Spider, having become the Puppet King, was no exception.
It devoured every remnant on the ground, treating them as food.
Its crimson compound eyes shone with hunger.
And with each corpse of a venomous companion beast it consumed, the Web Gray Spider underwent a noticeable transformation.
Its size was increasing.
Initially, the Web Gray Spider was only the size of a millstone, but within a short time, its body grew significantly, surpassing the limitations of insect companion beasts.
Not only that, but the newly grown legs, which were once tender, were now covered in thick, gray, and coarse hairs.
With its enlarged body, it appeared even more menacing and terrifying.
Insect companion beasts were undoubtedly the ugliest among all companion beast races.
However, for the majority of those present, practicality was more important than appearance.
Whether it was ugly or not didn't matter; strength was the ultimate concern.
Undoubtedly, at this moment, an inconceivable event was unfolding in the history of companion beasts.
The Web Gray Spider, which had already reached its racial limit, broke through its boundaries once again, reaching the second rank of the Overlord level.
However, it seemed that was as far as it could go.
Was the number of creatures still insufficient? Or was the quality too low? But where could one easily find a gathering of high-level venomous insect companion beasts to nurture a Puppet King? If thousands of venomous insects of various levels fought and devoured each other, and the final result was merely a single realm increase for the Puppet King, the imagined effectiveness would be significantly lower.
The future cost of cultivating the Insect Heart would also be much higher.
As everyone, including Su Ping, watched with slightly disappointed eyes, the Web Gray Spider devoured the last corpse of a Black Sand Scorpion.
Just as everyone thought that even with this number of Puppet Kings, the most it could achieve was a single realm increase, a special light suddenly flashed from the Web Gray Spider's body.
It wasn't the light of evolution.
Instead, it was a fleeting glow.
Skill! This was the response to the comprehension of a skill.
Su Ping's eyebrows rose, and finally, after half a day, the Puppet King emerged from the Venom Cauldron and appeared before the 'audience'.
As soon as it appeared, the colorful toxic gas was instantly absorbed by Xiao Qing's Poison Wood Heart.
The Web Gray Spider crawled out of the Venom Cauldron and returned to its original size.
The once-arrogant Web Gray Spider now felt the toxic influence on its mind dissipate, and upon returning to its world, it found itself under the watchful eyes of prehistoric giant creatures.
The newly crowned Puppet King trembled, its compound eyes scanning the surroundings until they fixed upon a familiar and comforting figure.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
Among the spiders, a Web Gray Spider, roughly the size of a wolfhound, stood out as the largest.
As the spider crawled towards him, Su Ping ignored the illuminated 'Web Gray Spider' entry in his soul and instead focused his Spirit Eye on the creature, searching for any differences from an ordinary spider.
【Web Gray Spider (Wild)】
【Age: 2 years, 4 months, 11 days】
【Attribute: None】
【Current Level: Overlord Tier 2】
【Race Realm: Overlord Tier 2】
【Race Skills: Puppet King (Beginner), Enhanced Web (Perfect), Corrosive Web (Proficient), Rapid Healing (Perfect), Active Web (Perfect), Swift Walk (Proficient)】
Su Ping paid little attention to these basic skills, especially when compared to the five extraordinary skills that followed. Despite the impressive skill levels, he focused solely on the first skill.
Puppet King?
He had indeed witnessed a similar skill before.
It belonged to Lao Sha's Wolf King, though he wasn't sure if there was any connection.
Suddenly, the skill's ability manifested:
【Puppet King (Beginner): An extraordinary rank skill that can only be obtained after an extremely cruel and unique Beast Taming Realm selection process. It provides a weak but comprehensive enhancement to all one's skills and exerts a subtle suppression over other competing puppets.
Additionally, it serves as a prerequisite for the special rank skills 'Bug King' or 'Venom King'. By winning more Puppet King contests and becoming a Puppet King more frequently, one can consume other puppets based on their own ability tendencies and become a 'Bug King' or 'Venom King'.】
Hmm? Su Ping narrowed his eyes.
Zhu Hong, who also possessed the True Eye, reacted more strongly than Su Ping. His exclamation of surprise drew the attention of everyone present.
"A rank skill!"
Zhu Hong's cry attracted many curious glances.
Su Ping, too, was curious, but he had a hunch based on his previous encounter with Lao Sha.
"Master Zhu, what exactly is a rank skill?" Qin Xiao Xue asked on behalf of everyone.
Zhu Hong explained, "Rank skills are a special type of skill within a specific domain. These skills are rarely documented in the Loong Kingdom and other human Beastmaster nations.
The reason is simple—these skills cannot be cultivated by human Beastmasters.
No amount of resources or methods can easily enable a companion beast to acquire such skills. The only ways are through an incredibly slim chance or by inheriting a portion of the skill from the offspring of higher-ranked companion beasts.
This is why some beast domains remain impenetrable."
Zhu Hong paused before continuing, "As for the effects of rank skills, they are, as the name suggests, highly suppressive within their respective domains.
This suppression isn't just about energy dominance, but a more unique effect—almost like a dual suppression on both the genetic and spiritual levels! Simultaneously, it provides significant self-beneficial effects.
Often, companion beasts with rank skills exhibit overwhelming dominance over their opponents.
Of course, acquiring such skills is exceedingly rare, and many Beastmasters have more than one restriction, so while they are powerful, they can also be quite limiting.
Generally, rank skills in the natural attribute direction are the most potent. However, it's incredibly challenging to acquire rank skills within attributes. According to rumors, even legendary companion beasts only possess a few."
Zhu Hong seemed to recall something and turned to Su Ping, "By the way, during the ancient tribal wars, the Flame Lord likely possessed a fire-attribute rank skill, and it was probably of a high rank! However, the historical records in the Loong Kingdom regarding this are quite limited.
After all, there aren't many powerful companion beasts or beasts in the world today that possess influential rank skills. The most famous one is probably the Old Wolf King in the northwestern grassland's Wolf Country.
I don't know much about him either, as I haven't ventured much to the northwest. If you're interested, you can go northwest and meet the Wolf Saint."
"
Su Ping understood at that moment, and he finally grasped the origin of the 'Bird Totem' and 'Fire Totem' that Xiao Hu had been rambling about.
So, it seems that the Flame Lord's ability is indeed of an advanced level.
I wonder what the legendary Wolf Lord's ability is like, but now, Su Ping finally understood the true nature of Lao Sha's 'Wolf King's Dignity' skill.
It's probably a type of Rank Skill, isn't it? I remember how Lao Sha's 'Wolf King's Dignity' had such a strong effect on Qin Xiao Xue's wooden puppet.
However, 'Wolf King's Dignity' seems a little different from the actual Rank Skill 'Wolf King'.
I wonder if Lao Sha's ability will evolve further as his strength increases in the future?
"So, this Venom Vase's Puppet King trial has given this spider a Rank Skill?"
Liu Fuhai, realizing this belatedly, looked at the Web Gray Spider with surprise and a hint of regret, feeling that such a powerful skill was a bit of a waste on an unremarkable spider.
Zhu Hong, however, didn't seem to mind. He turned to Su Ping:
"Su Ping, you can guide the spider's evolution towards the poison element. If it can become a 'Venom King', a Rank Skill title, it should be better than 'Beast King', right?"
Su Ping shrugged:
"No rush. I'll look into the evolution of these types of companion beasts in my free time and decide later. After all, poison isn't as common as other elemental attributes, but insect companion beasts might be more helpful to me."
Zhu Hong nodded in agreement:
"That's true. But speaking of the Venom Vase, if its effects were made public, many breeders around the world would be interested. I wonder how Tsu Feng managed to create it in the first place.
This Venom Saint was truly extraordinary to have had a chance to compete for the world."
"Then let's keep it quiet. It's best not to let others covet this unique treasure. Let's keep it under wraps and make a fortune quietly."
Su Ping quickly hugged the Venom Vase to his chest, a far cry from his initial reaction of almost melting it down after being poisoned. He now resembled a greedy miser.
Zhu Hong laughed at Su Ping's behavior:
"Don't be so stingy. It's fine for others, but I know some beastmasters in Loong Kingdom who specialize in venomous companion beasts. If the Puppet King's dispute stabilizes, you could even use this to make a profit. Rank Skills are unique and powerful, and they can also contribute to national strength."
Su Ping's eyes lit up at Zhu Hong's suggestion.
Indeed, Zhu Hong's words made sense.
Not to mention, the Venom Saint Liu Niang herself has venomous companion beasts. Although her beasts are probably too high-level to participate in the Puppet King's dispute, she likely knows many beastmasters like that.
Besides earning money and resources, it could also create opportunities for Su Ping to research venomous beasts, the Puppet King, and the Venom Vase's further uses. With this in mind, Su Ping nodded:
"That's feasible. I'll make arrangements when I get back. I'll also find places to experiment and ensure everything goes smoothly."
Su Ping patted the Web Gray Spider's furry body, which wasn't particularly hard, and although he still couldn't get used to its appearance, he found it somewhat endearing after seeing it for a while.
Su Ping opened his mouth to speak, thinking about Lao Sha, who hadn't yet shown signs of reaching the Emperor Rank but was already at the high-level Sovereign Rank.
Su Ping needed to plan for the future, and Lao Sha's evolution as a family member was as important as his own soul-bound companion beast.
This new understanding of Lao Sha's Rank Skill sparked Su Ping's curiosity.
Just as he was about to ask about the Great Plains and the Wolf Lord's 'Celestial Wolf' race, as well as Lao Sha's father, the 'Green Cliff Celestial Wolf King', a thunderous roar erupted nearby.
The ground and the valley shook from the impact.
Everyone looked up in confusion, searching for the source of the deafening sound.
It was coming from the mountain where they had just parked the Proud Dragon.
Before Su Ping and the others could react and understand what was happening, Su Ping's satellite phone rang, and Qin Xiao Xue's voice came through:
"Su Ping, we've had an accident here, and the Proud Dragon has been damaged! We're still assessing the extent of the damage!"
(End of Chapter)
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