Chapter 69: Chapter 68: The Inheritance Tower Trembles

“I’ve found that Xiao Xing seems to really enjoy making pet food lately.”

“Maybe everyone has their own hobbies.”

“Isn’t it too much?”

“It’s normal for a child to have some interests, and it’s better to enjoy cooking than to like something else.”

“You do have a point there.”

Chen Guohai and his wife were chatting while looking at the sun-drenched balcony filled with small dried fish.

There were also two large pots steaming in the kitchen, and the strong scent of squid and seafood pervading the room.

The couple had to admit their son had awakened a new interest.

…

Meanwhile, Chen Xing was still training Taotie in an orderly manner.

After breaking through the 20 energy level, the daily energy level growth brought by intermediate pet food for Taotie had decreased from 0.5 to 0.4 per day.

However, the daily growth of its body size remained rapid, maintaining an average daily growth rate of 22cm as it steadily increased in size.

In the blink of an eye, a few days had passed, and the Shu State Cup started.

It didn’t have much impact on ordinary students.

Although the state-level Shu State Cup had some influence, it still fell short of the universal recognition and heat of the College Cup.

It only had some local influence in Shu State, and that influence was gradually confined within the educational community and among students.

During the screening phase, the Shu State Cup did not broadcast the competition directly.

Instead, a panel of judges would supervise and record video footage of the inter-school team matches among Shu State’s 809 schools.

The screening tournament implemented an elimination system, allowing last year’s top four teams to bypass the knockout matches.

The non-top-four teams played in the elimination matches, with the losing teams being permanently disqualified for the year.

In the past, it wasn’t unheard of for two quarter-finalist teams to clash early in the elimination rounds, resulting in one team being tragically eliminated.

Fortunately, this year, Jinzhou’s Azure Dragon Middle School No. 8 was lucky; it didn’t encounter strong teams in the first two rounds of eliminations. On the contrary, it was Azure Dragon Middle School No. 8 that became the “strong team” that many other schools faced prematurely.

The knockout tournament lasted ten days, during which the total number of teams was whittled down from 809 to 32.

Then, each team would play a maximum of five rounds of matches to determine the overall champion.

The Shu State Cup, including the official matches, also adopted an elimination system.

…

Nightmare Swamp No. 03 Secret Realm.

The realm was composed of over 40% mountainous terrain and 60% swamp terrain.

The first month’s pioneer period had ended, and the realm was now under the management of the Great Xia officials.

The Jinzhou military area had moved in, developing and researching the entire secret realm in an orderly manner.

Currently, the most valuable area developed in the secret realm was the Inheritance Tower in the center of the Nightmare Swamp No. 03 Secret Realm.

Within a kilometer of the Inheritance Tower, numerous military engineers and beast tamers were busily erecting fortifications…

Suddenly, the Inheritance Tower deep in the secret realm trembled violently.

Intense ripples spread across its surface, and layers of strange purple radiance flowed from top to bottom of the tower unceasingly.

The anomaly drew the military area’s attention, and they quickly dispatched experts to investigate.

A few hours later, a message rapidly spread throughout all the large and small schools in Jincheng.

Inheritance Tower’s opening time has been moved up!

The originally scheduled opening time of the Inheritance Tower has been advanced from the end of November to mid-November.

The early opening of the Secret Realm Tower, according to expert speculation, may have to do with the Secret Realm Fragment’s time-space travel re-emerging, causing the Inheritance Tower’s own timeline to become disordered.

Similar low-probability events have occurred in the past.

Following the urgent news, various high schools have been contacting their team members throughout the night.

In the middle of the night, Chen Xing was woken by a phone call and came to the school after quickly washing up.

At three in the morning, the school team’s office was brightly lit.

Kuang Shiyi’s eyes were bloodshot as he took out freshly printed documents from the printer.

“Some of these are internal documents and must not be disclosed; memorize them after you’ve read them, and then burn them,” he said.

Chen Xing took the warm pages with the title— “Nightmare Swamp 03 Secret Realm Strategy Progress Detailed Explanation – Monster Manual”.

So far, 39 monster species have been discovered in the Nightmare Swamp 03 Secret Realm.

The monsters’ Energy Levels range between N13—N62.

Monster Manual:

1. N13 Long-tailed Red Scorpion: Attribute Poison. Adult length is 30—40cm, Habitat: across the Secret Realm, can briefly survive in water. Attack characteristics: uses its tail stinger to attack prey larger than itself, pins down smaller prey, or uses it to anchor its body.

Danger Level: Moderate.

Assessment: Small in size, vicious in nature, it actively attacks targets, possesses toxins, and masters Poison Attribute Skills, prefers to hide under dry branches or leaves to ambush its prey.

2. N16 Mire Toad: Attribute Poison. Adult diameter 30—50cm, Habitat: primarily found in swamps. Will briefly come onto land during breeding season. Attack characteristics: activates skills, or uses pus-filled blisters that secrete a toxin-covered liquid to envelop its body and emits a pungent odor.

Danger Level: Low.

Assessment: Small in size, timid in nature, does not actively attack prey. Eats small insects and fish. When threatened, it will defend itself passively.

…

18. N40 Mountain Elephant Pig: Attribute Earth. Adult length 400-500cm, weight 4-5 tons. Temperament is mild, omnivorous, feeds on earth, plants, carrion, fresh meat, and has some breeding value. The meat is firm and a bit tough, suitable for frying, stir-frying, and drying into jerky; it has a relatively low gamey taste. Castration and domestication breeding are underway, with the potential for improved meat quality.

Danger Level: Moderately High.

Assessment: Although mild in temperament, the Mountain Elephant Pig will not hesitate to retaliate when attacked; its massive size naturally carries destructive power. It can be raised and bred, but requires small-scale training and cultivation.

…

37. N61 Dual-headed Aquatic Rock Python: Attributes Water, Earth, a once-evolved Beast Taming, evolved form of the Water Pattern Rock Python. Adult length is 5-6 meters, dual-headed, weight 150-200 kilograms. Lazy temperament, loses the desire to attack after feeding. Skilled in spell damage, weak in physical combat.

Danger Level: High

Assessment: Lacks the desire to attack after being fed, but when hungry, the Dual-headed Aquatic Rock Python has a strong appetite, and given its higher Energy Level and the deceptive patterns on its skin, which are good for hiding, it’s not recommended to enter its territory unless you are a professional.

38. N62 Shadow Demon Lizard: Attribute Poison. A once-evolved Beast Taming, evolved form of the Shadow Lizard. Its body is gray, with a crown-like flesh lump on the forehead. Adults are large, generally 7-8 meters in length, with mouths filled with virulent bacteria, strong territorial instinct, and a high desire to attack, adept at both spellcasting and hand-to-hand combat.

Danger Level: Very High

Assessment: With a strong sense of territory, it does not mind its prey rotting from overhunting and will kill any life that infringes on its territory. It is advised that non-professionals avoid its active area.

Note: The above assessments generally reflect the species’ temperament; some individual extremes may deviate from these assessments.

“Based on past experiences with the Inheritance Tower, there are several methods of inheritance inside, with the most common being challenge-based progression,” Kuang Shiyi said. “And if it’s challenge-based, the monsters you encounter will have a 50% chance of being from within the range of monsters in the Secret Realm, and a 50% chance of being monsters not from the Secret Realm.”

“To be honest, if it’s about overcoming those challenges, it tests your own raw strength,” he added.

Saying this, Kuang Shiyi looked towards the young man sitting in the corner, quietly flipping through the documents with his head down.

“You’ve always been curious about the Exotic Region, well, this time you’ll get to experience firsthand the level of difficulty that Beast Tamers of your age face when accepting challenges in the Exotic Region,” he commented.