Chapter 70 - 68: Water Mastery, Recruiting a Hound
Chen Chong stared at the incubator, his mind blank for a long moment.
’Rock Armor Eagle?’
’Didn’t I steal a Stone Claw Eagle’s egg?’
’What’s the deal with this Rock Armor Eagle then?’
’Did it actually mutate?’
’Or did it undergo some kind of ancestral regression?’
’Or maybe its father wasn’t a Stone Claw Eagle, and it takes after its dad...’
Chen Chong was a bit dazed, but he couldn’t be bothered to think about it anymore.
’As long as it’s an Extraordinary Creature, it’s fine. Whether it’s a Stone Claw Eagle or some Rock Armor Eagle, an eagle that can be tamed is a good eagle!’
’If I can’t tame it, then I’ll just have to kill it for meat and hopefully get a Card drop out of it.’
Either way, he’d find out in a few days when it hatched...
Chen Chong’s gaze shifted to the three Cards beside him.
points, a new high score.
It was the eighth day since he’d transmigrated, and he’d finally broken through to an A-Level Rating.
One Card radiated a purple light, and two radiated a blue light.
Without a doubt, the purple Card was the A-Class Card!
Chen Chong held it in his hand, and information immediately flooded his mind...
[Card Type: Ability Card - Water Mastery]
[Rating: A-Level]
[Description: Upon use, the user will be as comfortable as a fish in water. Their movements will become more agile, their speed will increase, their breath-holding capacity will be enhanced, and all-around aquatic abilities will be boosted several-fold.]
[Note: The effects of this Ability Card are permanent. If a higher-class Card of the same ability type is integrated, it will overwrite the lower-class Card’s effect and provide a slight enhancement.]
"An A-Level ability, huh..."
Chen Chong murmured. He had already obtained two Ability Cards.
In addition to his B-Level ability, Beastial Intuition, he now had the A-Level Water Mastery.
Compared to Beastial Intuition, the effects of Water Mastery were far more tangible, though it came with the limitation of only being usable in water.
But the fact that it could boost all of his aquatic abilities several-fold made it well-deserving of the A-Class Card title.
’If I have to operate in water in the future, Water Mastery will definitely be my greatest trump card!’
"Use."
With Chen Chong’s soft murmur, the purple-glowing Card slowly vanished.
He looked at his hands but didn’t feel anything special, just like when he had used Beastial Intuition.
’I probably have to get into the water to actually experience the effects of Water Mastery.’
’Maybe... I should jump in the fishpond and give it a try?’
Chen Chong dismissed the idea, deciding to try it out by the creek tomorrow when he went to check his traps...
Without giving it much more thought, Chen Chong turned to look at the other two Cards.
[Card Type: Resource Card - Fragmented Jungle Index]
[Rating: C-Class]
[Description: An index recording information on various life forms in the jungle. A portion is missing for unknown reasons, leaving only content related to the jungle’s outer region.]
After using the Card, a tattered, ancient book with a sheepskin cover appeared in Chen Chong’s hands.
He opened it with curiosity...
Information on one plant and animal after another appeared on the pages, each accompanied by a hand-drawn illustration.
Most of the entries were for common things Chen Chong was familiar with, such as raspberries, kiwis, wild mountain peaches, elk, wolf packs, foxes, and wild rabbits...
But there were also some creatures unique to this world that he had never seen before transmigrating.
Fear Wolves, toxic hornets, explosive mushrooms, Vermilion Fruits, Fog Fruits, and many more bizarre plants and animals...
There were over thirty pages in total, and Chen Chong clicked his tongue in amazement as he read.
Soon, he turned the last page. The majority of the book after that point was missing.
It was impossible to tell if it had been intentionally torn by someone, or if it was the result of fire or insect damage.
It was a pity there was no information recorded about Extraordinary Creatures, perhaps because its Rating was only C-Class.
But even so, Chen Chong felt he had gained a lot from the information about these unusual creatures.
’After all, this way, I’ll know what’s edible and what isn’t, and even have methods for dealing with some of the special creatures...’
’A fragmented index of the jungle’s outer region, huh?’
’Does that mean there’s a core region, too? Like how that previous piece of intel mentioned a beginner difficulty?’
’But does this so-called beginner difficulty refer to the entire Primitive Jungle, or just its outer region...’
Chen Chong’s head started to ache from thinking, so he decided to stop.
After all, there were too many mysteries since he had transmigrated. Trying to figure them all out just by thinking was impossible.
The only way was to hunt Extraordinary Creatures and obtain Secret Cards.
Only then could he learn more of the secrets behind his transmigration...
Chen Chong turned his attention to the last Card.
[Card Type: Recruitment Card - Royal Hound]
[Rating: B-Level]
[Description: A top-tier royal hound bred over decades by the Five Workshops of the Dayue Dynasty. They gathered the Tiger Striped Dogs with the purest bloodlines and most outstanding hunting abilities from across the dynasty to be bred for generations. In terms of hunting ability, physical condition, Loyalty, alertness, and obedience, no dog in the dynasty’s century of history could surpass it.]
[Evaluation: Extremely high Loyalty and impeccable hunting ability; the pinnacle of all canines. Once single-handedly killed three wild wolves, earning great favor with the emperor for its strength. It ultimately died during an autumn hunt while protecting a lone royal, fighting a fierce tiger and tearing off one of its eyes and an ear before perishing. Posthumously, it was exceptionally bestowed the title "King of Dogs."]
[Note: The recruit will not harm its master, but if its Loyalty drops below 20, it may run away.]
’King of Dogs?’
Chen Chong was dumbfounded. From the moment he saw the Royal Hound was a B-Level Recruitment Card, he knew it wouldn’t be simple.
After all, Wang Biao and Jia Wen were only C-Class. Even if they were considered top-tier among C-Class, they were still just C-Class.
If a mere hound could have a higher rating than them, how could it be ordinary?
Sure enough, after reading the full description, he was completely floored.
’I thought it was special, but I never imagined it would be *this* special!’
’It killed three wild wolves?’
’It fought a fierce tiger and tore out its eye and ear?’
’Is this thing even a hound?’
If the description hadn’t said otherwise, he would have suspected this hound was an Extraordinary Creature.
Let’s not even talk about tigers and dogs; there’s already a significant gap between a wild wolf and a dog.
It might be a different story if a large hound fought a wild wolf, but the Tiger Striped Dog is only a medium-sized hound.
Not to mention one of them fighting three wild wolves.
Although this type of dog was an imperial hound in ancient times with outstanding hunting abilities, its size was only average, so its combat power naturally wouldn’t be too formidable.
An adult Tiger Striped Dog typically weighs only about 33 to 55 pounds.
In the animal kingdom where weight is might, fighting one against three and killing all of them is just absurd.
And later fighting a fierce tiger nearly ten times its weight and seriously injuring it was even more ridiculous.
Never mind a person being dumbfounded by it; the injured tiger was probably even more baffled. To be messed up like that by a dog, it would probably go back and question its entire existence as a tiger.
With such a combat record and fighting prowess, it was truly worthy of the decades of effort invested by the ancient feudal dynasty’s hound-rearing institution. This had to be the ultimate form of a hound. There was nothing stronger.
No wonder it was so beloved by the emperor and posthumously named the King of Dogs.
No wonder it was classified as a B-Level Recruitment Card...
Etched on the Card was a hound covered in black and gold markings, with a round head and pricked ears. Its face held an indescribable air of heroic spirit.
Chen Chong used the Card...
Soon, a hound whose dense, brindle markings made it look as if it were draped in a tiger’s pelt appeared before his bed.
...