Time-Traveler Sharing Platform

Chapter 43: Lao Hei’s Strength

Chapter 043: Lao Hei’s Strength “What do you mean, ‘Why didn’t I tell you’? Since this little brat showed up, have you even bothered to look at Old Black?” Rainbow let out a few fierce cries at Bai Qi—words clearly meant specifically for Old Black to hear. The fact that Old Black’s injury had caused Bai Qi to suddenly understand her words stung Rainbow deeply. It would be one thing to be outdone by that little brat, but to be outdone by Lao Hei as well? I am, after all, the mighty Lingxi Divine Bird—I have my pride! I must sow discord. Bai Qi understood Rainbow’s words once again, feeling a bit dazed. She thought to herself, “Could it be that this bonus perk of mine can also level up?” Upgrade along with the account level? If that’s the case, does that mean that with the next level-up, I’ll even be able to understand plants and trees? That would be absolutely amazing! Seeing that Bai Qi was completely ignoring her and just standing there dumbfounded, Rainbow, in a fit of pique, landed right on his head. She ruffled his hair with her claws, and just as Bai Qi raised his hand to slap her, she flapped her wings and flew away, grinning triumphantly at him. After Rainbow’s little antics, Bai Qi didn’t feel like dwelling on what had actually happened. He just figured it was a bonus perk of the upgrade—a good thing, after all. As for Rainbow’s blatantly provocative remark, Bai Qi naturally ignored it. Instead, he patted Lao Hei on the head. Seeing that his injuries had visibly improved after drinking the Qingyang wine, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked, “Does it still hurt? Do you want to have a little more?” Lao Hei shook his head, hopped up and down a few times to show how strong he was, then patted the Iron-backed Fox—which he’d already tossed to the ground—with his paw and let out a cry, as if trying to take credit with Bai Qi. Bai Qi froze again, because he understood what Lao Hei was saying. Lao Hei’s words were quite blunt; translated, they meant—Look how awesome I am! At this point, Bai Qi was pretty much certain that he wasn’t just understanding Rainbow’s words—he was even sure he could understand the speech of other animals besides Rainbow and Lao Hei. Once he was certain of this, as long as he didn’t dwell on the reason behind it, Bai Qi was in high spirits. He couldn’t help but tease Lao Hei about his own words, laughing heartily as he patted Lao Hei on the head: “I won’t look, then… Besides, you don’t have any anyway.” Lao Hei looked completely baffled. “What are you talking about?” Rainbow shot Bai Qi a disdainful glance, adding the word “disgusting” to his name… “Disgusting and stupid human.” Dong Qingguo was just as clueless as Lao Hei. The difference was that while Lao Hei simply didn’t understand, Dong Qingguo was convinced there must be some deep meaning behind it. After pondering for a while and still not figuring it out, he found it even more baffling. The wooden puppet had buried itself in the ground to rest and showed not the slightest interest in their conversation. Bai Qi felt a bit embarrassed under the Rainbow’s gaze. He cleared his throat and pointed at the Iron-backed Fox on the ground, asking, “What is this?” Lao Hei shook his head. “I don’t know what it is, but I caught it.” Rainbow flew up to perch on the wooden golem’s head to preen her feathers. As she preened, she pulled out a snack from her feathers and began munching on it, clearly unwilling to pay Bai Qi any mind. Dong Qingguo, seeing Bai Qi looking over, immediately replied, “Sir, this is an Iron-backed Lynx, a beast that roams the wilderness. Its strength is equivalent to that of a mid-tier Martial Trainee. It has iron spikes on its back that lie flat in its normal state but stand erect during combat. It excels at burrowing underground and has a fierce, bold temperament. It most enjoys…” Casting a sidelong glance at Rainbow, who was munching on snacks atop the wooden golem’s head, Dong Qingguo lowered his voice slightly: “It most enjoys preying on birds, though it also lies in wait for other animals. The Iron-backed Lynx has another peculiar trait: it loves to gnaw on trees, and does so with incredible speed, making it a major pest to farmers.” “That’s equivalent to a mid-tier martial trainee? So its strength is on par with Dong Qingfeng and Dong Qingyun?” As soon as Bai Qi heard this, he couldn’t care less about the Ironback Fox’s other characteristics—this single fact alone was enough to astonish him. Lao Hei had evolved and had also seen the air cannon, but Bai Qi honestly had no idea what Lao Hei’s true strength was. He hadn’t even dared to compare Lao Hei to those Wood Spirits. Now, from the sound of it, Lao Hei was already stronger than the vast majority of the Wood Spirits in the Qingyang Clan—Bai Qi had heard about the general combat strength within the Qingyang Clan: there was only one Spirit Master, and just four High-tier Martial Disciples and High-tier Spirit Disciples,plus about twenty mid-tier Spirit Disciples or Martial Disciples, with the rest all being low-tier. “Pfft.” Rainbow spat out a sunflower seed, shot a disdainful glance at Old Black, then another at Bai Qi, and said, “That dumb dog’s combat strength is barely at the entry-level mid-tier. If I hadn’t given him a hand, who knows who’d be carrying whom off right now.” Hearing this, Bai Qi wasn’t the least bit upset. He grinned, pulled a bag of “Three Squirrels” barbecue-flavored prawn crackers—which he’d bought just yesterday—out of his pocket, shook it, and asked, “Silly Bird, how can Old Black evolve further or get stronger?” Before Rainbow could answer, he tore open the package, took a piece for himself, and began munching on it, then grabbed a handful to give to Dong Qingguo. Rainbow couldn’t help but swallow hard. It had eaten this brand before—it was arguably the best snack it had ever tasted. Last time it seemed to be candied fruit, but this time it looked completely different, and both the sight and the smell were incredibly tempting. “Do you think this dumb dog’s current early-intermediate strength just came out of nowhere? When he first evolved, he was barely at the beginner level, okay? It’s all thanks to this master’s training, you know?” Rainbow put away the sunflower seeds, flew over to Bai Qi, and flapped its wings while panting. Bai Qi took out a piece and tossed it to her, then asked again, “How do I evolve? How do I get stronger?” Rainbow caught it and gobbled it down, her eyes shining brightly. “Give me a pack of these every day, and I’ll train that dumb dog to get stronger. As for evolution, that depends on whether you can get your hands on high-energy food—at least something as potent as Qingyang Wine.” Bai Qi handed the entire bag to Rainbow. It seemed obtaining high-energy food was inevitable—if he didn’t eat it, Lao Hei would have to. Rainbow took the bag and immediately hid it in her feathers. She then pulled out a piece and tossed it into her mouth, looking thoroughly satisfied. She kindly pointed to the Ironback Fox on the ground and said, “The dumb dog can eat this first; it’s much higher in energy than standard rations. From now on, I’ll take this dumb dog out hunting every day. With plenty of food and exercise, he’ll definitely be much stronger than he is now.” Hmm, might as well have a little fun myself. Otherwise, watching this stupid—no, this filthy and stupid human lugging some kind of machine around taking pictures all day would be a bit too boring. As soon as Bai Qi heard it was high-energy food, he was about to ask if he could have some too, but when he took another look at Hao Li’s expression, he decided against trying it. “Well, you two go ahead then.” She instructed Dong Qingguo and the wooden golem to keep working, then went back to cook. Dong Qingguo, standing nearby, understood most of what Bai Qi and Rainbow had said. She could catch a little of Rainbow’s language. Now that Bai Qi had left, she watched his retreating figure, then glanced at Lao Hei, who was carrying the Ironback Fox away to feast to his heart’s content. A look of growing awe filled her eyes. The adults aren’t just experimenting with cultivation and domestication—they’re actually trying to evolve wild beasts!