Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Awakening the Third Skill!

Chen Xing narrowed his eyes, and the ground beneath his feet shook as the earth mound in front burst open.

A black behemoth emerged from the ground, layers of soil cascading from the sides of its carapace.

A creature with a shell diameter of over 4 meters burrowed out from the earth.

“This… I didn’t expect the evolution to change its size so much,” Zhou Hao took a deep breath, somewhat in disbelief.

Standing to the left and behind, Chen Xing thought of something he had read before.

It is said that Beast Tamings’ sizes change upon evolution, with a minority experiencing exaggerated changes in size.

The tree-nurturing giant tortoise before him undoubtedly belonged to those with significant size changes.

With a diameter of four meters, it crouched on the spot like a small truck.

The dark turtle shell surface gleamed with a subtle light, and in the very center at the top, a small sapling about 2 meters tall swayed gently.

A tree actually growing on the back of a turtle… this magical scene materialized in reality.

Unlike the videos and images seen online, though those may be more magnificent and magical, the scene before them was real and tangible, offering a different visual impact.

Wang Bing remarked, “A turtle with a tree growing on its back—if one day a toad with flowers blooming on its back appeared, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

The success of their senior Wen had lifted the gloomy clouds that had loomed over the school team.

To their knowledge, no one on the Nittan High School team had successfully evolved their Beast Taming.

Keeping their victory in next month’s school team skirmish shouldn’t be a problem now.

With the seniors’ evolution matters coming to a close, Kuang Shiyi, perhaps as compensation for his recent neglect, shifted his focus to the three newcomers.

“You… How is your Beast Taming Skill learning coming along?”

“Teacher, I’ve already mastered the Grand Vortex Skill,” Chen Xing replied.

“Oh… What, mastered?” Kuang Shiyi was taken aback, doubting what he had heard.

This was an Intermediate Skill. The higher the level of the skill, the greater the difficulty in learning it.

For a simple analogy, a Primary Skill is like a one-handed sword weighing 5 pounds. An Intermediate Skill, however, is akin to a pair of mandarin duck axes made from meteoric iron, each weighing 88 pounds.

A newcomer with insufficient strength barely manages to grasp it and perform a routine, let alone practice the techniques.

It’s not that simply executing a skill equates to practicing it. Give a primary school student a pen, and they can scribble a solution on a college-level math problem. But whether the answer is correct or achieves any training effect is another matter entirely.

“Yes,” Chen Xing admitted confidently without being arrogant or humble.

He remembered a saying that went: Hide your clumsiness and bide your time, but when the day comes, display your edge in all its glory.

Playing the fool has to be timed right, lest you play the porker too long and truly become one.

From his observations over the past days, different people training different Beast Tamings saw varying efficiencies in improving their Skills’ Proficiency Levels.

This indicated that there were natural differences between individuals.

The school invested in him, so he could reveal a corresponding value.

Just as capital flocks to a stock showing good potential, investing more as it grows.

Moreover… if he wasn’t mistaken, his sister must have a talent for improving Skill Proficiency Levels, which is why she was valued.

Being siblings from the same mother, it would be quite normal for the brother to have a similar talent if the sister had one.

Besides, showing his abilities now would be better than making a sudden, leap-like progress later on.

“`

Of course, it’s not about revealing all one’s trump cards; there’s a balance that needs to be well controlled.

“Let your Beast Taming release a skill to take a look,” Kuang Shiyi said.

Subsequently, Taotie released the Grand Vortex Skill towards the swimming pool.

Kuang Shiyi, who observed the entire process, was quietly astounded after watching.

Whether it was the speed of skill release or the violent level of water flow exhibited by the Great Vortex, this standard was definitely not that of a beginner. It looked as though he had truly mastered the skill.

“I didn’t expect you to have talent in this area,” Kuang Shiyi remarked.

“If you can maintain this pace of improvement, it’s fine not to change skills.”

Chen Xing is just a first-year high school student, with two more years to go until senior year.

If he could maintain this rate of improvement… Kuang Shiyi’s eyes brightened, he saw hope in Chen Xing, the hope for their Azure Dragon Eighth Middle School to win the Shu State Cup!

“Your Beast Taming is about four meters long now, isn’t it?” Kuang Shiyi glanced at Taotie, then turned to Zhou Hao’s Salty Bay Crocodile.

“Yes,” Chen Xing recalled the data he saw in the morning, 4.49 meters.

Kuang Shiyi sighed, looking left and right. Why do these two Salty Bay Crocodiles sitting next to each other look like a grandparent and grandchild…

“Your Beast Taming is naturally a rare individual of large stature; it’s just unknown what the upper limit is. Some are 1.5 times the size of their kind, some can be two or three times bigger. Salty Bay Crocodiles are already not small, you might really end up raising a giant crocodile.”

A powerful body naturally requires correspondingly strong bones, muscles, and internal organs to support it—the time might come when it could fight with level thirty or forty Beast Tamings with its physical body alone.

After giving Chen Xing some guidance and encouragement, he then proceeded to instruct the other two.

Wang Bing’s feelings were complex—his Beast Taming had just awakened a skill yesterday. He was unlucky, having awakened only a rather insubstantial Primary Skill.

His family had spent a lot of money on overnight delivery from a merchant, using three Skill Orbs to switch to a suitable Primary Skill.

The skill hadn’t even warmed up, and here someone had already proficiently mastered an Intermediate Skill?

Suddenly, he thought about the upcoming spar in a week, and feared that Zheng Weixin would really suffer a big loss. Unexpectedly, he found himself looking forward to that scene.

…

After walking home, Chen Xing fed Taotie Intermediate carnivorous pet food. His attention was entirely on the 14.9 Energy Level displayed on the panel.

As seconds and minutes passed, finally, the 14.9 leaped suddenly, and the number changed to 15.

At the same time, a rich azure light emerged around Taotie.

Chen Xing quickly checked the newly awakened skill.

Primary Skill: Water Devouring.

Skill effect: Swallow water to recover from injuries.

The third skill awakened was actually a healing skill.

But it seemed quite suitable for Taotie.

It was naturally larger than peers of the same age and tough in flesh. Now, it had acquired a healing skill. Others might exhaust themselves fighting it for half a day, finally breaking through its skin, only for Taotie to swallow a gulp of water and recover back to its original state.

The challenge was not knowing whether this skill was difficult to train. Chen Xing checked the mini-game associated with the Water Devouring Skill.

Interactive Mini-Game: (Big Eater Challenge) The Beast Taming needs to participate in a Big Eater Challenge with other Beast Tamings. The challenged target must be older than the challenger, and the one who eats more food within the prescribed 10 minutes wins.

Proficiency Level: Beginner (0/3)

This mini-game seems quite simple at first glance, as he had not yet encountered any peers with a bigger appetite than it.

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