Chapter 28 – Tier ４ Pet Beast: Snow Maiden

Back home.

Lin Ze immediately summoned the Ice Crystal Soul.

The petite Ice Sprite let out a cheerful cry the moment it appeared, happily floating over to Lin Ze’s side.

He took out the Intermediate Ice Element Essence and the Ice Snow Heart, holding them out to the Ice Crystal Soul.

“Here, eat all of these, and you’ll be able to evolve.”

Pet Beasts naturally possess an instinctive longing for evolution.

Hearing this, the Ice Crystal Soul’s eyes lit up, and it immediately grabbed the Ice Element Essence and stuffed it into its mouth.

Before long, its cheeks were puffed full, looking just like a little squirrel.

When the last of the Ice Snow Heart was swallowed, a dazzling light began to emanate from the Ice Crystal Soul’s body.

Within the glow, its figure gradually grew taller, its body curves slowly taking shape, carrying a hint of grace and elegance.

The entire evolution process lasted over ten seconds.

When the light faded, the Pet Beast that revealed itself had undergone a radical transformation in appearance.

No longer the petite little girl it once was.

In her place stood a beautiful young maiden clad in white garments.

Soft, light-blue hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

Her skin was as pale as snow, with a slight translucence.

She exuded an icy, unapproachable aura from head to toe.

Yet when her gaze fell upon Lin Ze, that cold aura melted away in an instant like snow meeting blazing flames, replaced by a radiant smile blooming like a flower.

The maiden stepped forward, laughing sweetly as she threw herself into Lin Ze’s arms.

Her delicate face nuzzled affectionately against his chest.

Just as adoring and close as ever.

[Name]: Snow Maiden

[Level]: Tier 4, Stage 2

[Skills]: Ice Spike, Frost Breath, Extreme Ice Chain, Ice Shield, Frost Nova

[Empress Path, next Evolution Form: Frost-Blue Maiden. Requirements: Growth Rate 100%, Superior Ice Element Essence x30, Ice Blue Tear x1]

Just like last time, this evolution also elevated her by an entire major realm.

“Tier 4…”

Lin Ze let out a long breath before suppressing the wild joy in his heart.

Pet Beasts belonging to senior high school examinees were generally only at Tier 1.

Those at Tier 2 could be counted on one hand.

Let alone anything higher.

How many people could boast a Tier 4 Pet Beast before even enrolling in a Beast-Taming Academy, like he did?

Even the favored prodigies of those great families probably didn’t enjoy such treatment.

Lin Ze’s heart swelled with delight.

With the Snow Maiden by his side, he was confident he could achieve outstanding results in the upcoming Ningjiang Academy Admission Assessment.

With that thought, he looked down at the Snow Maiden and gently stroked her head.

The maiden immediately broke into a joyful smile.

Humanoid Pet Beasts were extremely rare, and those like the Snow Maiden, whose appearance was nearly indistinguishable from a human’s, were even rarer still.

Such Pet Beasts were highly sought after.

Many Beast Tamers dreamed of obtaining one.

Of course, it went without saying that some harbored darker intentions in private.

In the centuries-long history of Pet Beasts, there had even been humanoid Pet Beasts that could speak human language and communicate fluently with people.

No one knew how they managed to master human speech.

It was said they seemed to be born with it.

It could only be described as a miracle of the Creator.

Unfortunately, the Snow Maiden had not inherited such an ability.

Lin Ze looked at the Snow Maiden, and a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

“I’ll give you a name. Let’s call you Xiao Xue.”

Xiao Xue’s eyes brightened, and she nodded firmly.

After settling Xiao Xue down, Lin Ze turned his attention back to the panel.

After evolving, Xiao Xue had gained several new skills.

[Ice Waterfall]: An advanced skill of ‘Ice Spike’, an area damage skill that condenses a large number of ice blades above a designated area, pouring down like a waterfall to cause large-scale attack damage. Unlock requires 20% Growth Rate and 100 Achievement Points.

[Sigh of the Snow Maiden]: An advanced skill of ‘Frost Breath’, creating a mist of ice containing extreme cold, causing massive Ice Element damage to a fan-shaped area in front. Unlock requires 30% Growth Rate and 200 Achievement Points.

[Ice Crystal Mirror]: An advanced skill of ‘Ice Shield’, a defense-type skill that manipulates Ice Element to form a mirror of ice crystals, blocking attacks while reflecting part of the damage. Unlock requires 50% Growth Rate and 300 Achievement Points.

[Blizzard]: An area damage skill that creates a blizzard in a designated area, causing massive Ice Element damage to enemies and applying a Slow effect. Unlock requires 80% Growth Rate and 500 Achievement Points.

Four new skills in total.

Three of them are advanced skills.

“That’s a lot of Achievement Points needed.”

Lin Ze clicked his tongue in surprise.

To unlock all four skills, he would need as many as 1,100 Achievement Points.

And he only had 813 Achievement Points on hand right now.

“Achievement Points still aren’t enough.”

Lin Ze let out a light sigh and tried increasing the Snow Maiden’s Growth Rate by 1%.

As expected, after the second evolution, the cost of increasing Growth Rate had gone up further.

It was now 10 Achievement Points per 1%.

Lin Ze thought for a few seconds, then spent 200 Achievement Points to raise the Snow Maiden’s Growth Rate to 20%.

Immediately after, he spent another 100 Achievement Points to unlock [Ice Waterfall].

The data on the Pet Beast panel changed once again.

[Name]: Snow Maiden

[Level]: Tier 4, Stage 4

[Skills]: Ice Waterfall, Frost Breath, Extreme Ice Chain, Ice Shield, Frost Nova

After doing all this, Lin Ze didn’t continue improving further. Instead, he had the Snow Maiden wait off to the side, then took out the Sealing Bead he had just purchased.

Taking a deep breath, he began contracting a new Pet Beast.

The process was very simple—all he had to do was manipulate his Soul Power to fuse the Sealing Bead into his body.

Before long.

Lin Ze completed the Contract.

Deep in his mind, an inexplicable connection that was hard to put into words had formed.

Steadying himself, he summoned the Stubborn Stone Monster.

The Stubborn Stone Monster’s entire body was composed of bluish-gray rock.

It stood less than a meter tall, with an overall humanoid shape.

Its face had only a pair of amber eyes and a pitch-black mouth.

The moment it appeared, it bounced around energetically, curiously examining the living room that was entirely novel to it.

Lin Ze didn’t mind, letting the Stubborn Stone Monster roam about freely.

With a slight shift of his mind, he called up the Stubborn Stone Monster’s Pet Beast panel.

The Stubborn Stone Monster’s current Growth Rate was 21%.

Each 1% increase cost 5 Achievement Points.

Lin Ze raised it all the way to 100% in one go, spending a total of 395 Achievement Points.

At this point.

The Stubborn Stone Monster’s Level had reached Tier 3, Stage 4.

“There are still skills.”

Lin Ze’s gaze shifted to the bottom of the panel.

There was only one unmastered skill there.

[Clay Bomb]: Throws a carefully crafted clay bomb that causes explosive damage upon hitting a target or landing. Unlock requires 50% Growth Rate and 100 Achievement Points.

“This skill is pretty interesting.”

Lin Ze muttered to himself, then decisively unlocked it.

“Next is evolution.”

With the materials already prepared, Lin Ze waved his hand to call the Stubborn Stone Monster over.

As if sensing something, the Stubborn Stone Monster became extremely excited and scurried over to Lin Ze.

Then came the feeding.

20 intermediate Earth Element Essences, 500 grams of cultivation soil.

After consuming all the materials, the Stubborn Stone Monster finally glowed with the light of evolution.

Like being inflated, its body rapidly expanded, and in the blink of an eye, it grew to the height of an adult human male.

A moment later.

The light dissipated.

A Rock Warrior with a towering, robust physique and a fierce demonic face appeared before Lin Ze.