When he saw his precious mouse being tossed into the pot, Ma Jian almost fainted. Are you trying to make a stew? You just dumped everything in!
He rushed over and tried to grab Gao Peng's collar, only to have Gao Peng calmly look him in the eye and say, "How fragrant. Would you like a taste of mouse soup? It nourishes Yin energy and replenishes Yang energy."
"What?!"
"It was just a joke. To lighten the mood." After half a day, Gao Peng had lost the nervousness he had at the start and was beginning to get used to this new job.
Ma Jian stopped what he was trying to do, his hands trembling. He felt like crying but no tears came out. "You're really not trying cook my mouse and eat it?"
"Relax," said Gao Peng as he removed the pot lid. Using a pair of chopsticks, he stirred the pot and even flipped the Purple Electric Mouse around while he was at it.
The Purple Electric Mouse's white belly was flipped face up. Its belly was round and it was making gurgling sounds as bubbles came out of its mouth.
"Stir it evenly…" Gao Peng mumbled to himself. "Relax, I am making sure all the medicine is mixed evenly, so that it can be absorbed more effectively."
Ma Jian stared fixedly at Gao Peng and struggled to resist his violent impulses. I must stay calm, I must stay calm…
Gao Peng was not worried about Ma Jian secretly learning his Monster Breeding techniques. Having a Purple Electric Mouse absorb a Blood Jade Ganoderma and entering a state of conflicting variation was a rare occurrence, after all. Under most circumstances, the monster would have simply died from the conflicting energies in its body and would not have lasted long enough to be treated.
Furthermore, every Purple Electric Mouse has its individual differences, and would require different amounts of material. This Purple Electric Mouse required five Shadow Fruits, but another Purple Electric Mouse under the same conditions might have required six.
After half an hour, Ma Jian asked shakily, "Is it done yet?" He was staring hard at the Purple Electric Mouse in the pot. It was in the pot for so long, its bones might have just been boiled to mush…
Tears were beginning to well up in Ma Jian's eyes.
Gao Peng maintained a calm expression on his face, but in actual fact, fears were creeping into his mind. He would not end up actually making mouse soup, would he?
"It's alright, Heaven is about to confer a great office onto this mouse, it must be boiled a little further," Gao Peng calmly said as he patted Ma Jian's shoulder.
Chii chiii-
The Purple Electric Mouse that was lying in the pot all this time suddenly opened its eyes wide and began squeaking maniacally. It spewed out the black medicinal liquid from its mouth and began to convulse like crazy.
Boom!
With a display of strength that no one thought such a small-sized Purple Electric Mouse could possess, it lashed out its tail in a blur, sending the pot lid flying.
It darted and leapt around the room madly, like a purple lightning bolt.
"You will have to pay for the damages to my office," Gao Peng told Ma Jian in a serious tone.
Ma Jian's attention was currently fixed on mouse that was suddenly full of vim and vigour. "No problem," he said.
Looking at his Purple Electric Mouse, the worries in his heart were finally eased.
It took a few minutes before the Purple Electric Mouse got tired and finally came to a stop on the table. It's long thin, pale purple tail was swaying gently and its ruby-red eyes were bright and sparkling.
[Monster Name]: Purple Electric Blood Mouse
[Monster Level]: 20 (Elite tier)
[Monster Grade]: Perfect
[Monster Attribute]: Electric/Blood
"You've hit the jackpot. Perfect grade, dual attributes, and all you have to do is train it a bit more so it can directly advance into a Commander tier Familiar," said Gao Peng with a yawn. In an offhand manner, he also passed Ma Jian the booklet in his hand. "Listed here are the damages to my office and the consultation fees. You can go through it and see if you have any questions."
"No need, there's no problem." Ma Jian was no longer concerned about these things at the moment. He was absolutely transfixed by his familiar.
Normally the average intermediate Monster Breeder would charge a consultation fee of 40 Alliance Credits per visit for Elite tier monsters. That would be 400,000 when converted to Alliance Dollars.
The base consultation fees for intermediate Monster Breeders was 10 Alliance Credits. A promotion in grade would double the total fees, and an advancement in tier would mean doubling the fees again.
For Commander tier and Perfect grade Familiars, it was a whole different set of prices all together.
With this one deal completed today, Gao Peng received 400 Alliance Credits. As for the payment for the damages to the office, Gao Peng did not pocket a single cent, and had it all spent on repair works.
What was his he would take, but he would not take a single cent of anything that did not belong to him.
"Please come again," Gao Peng said with a smile. Such forthright customers were his favorite.
"Alright. I will be back again tomorrow, I have another Familiar that I would like to place under your care. After today, Ma Jian really had to hand it to Gao Peng! This guy, he really is the real deal!
"Umm…" Gao Peng only said those words to be polite. He had to go to school tomorrow, there would be no time to meet Ma Jian. "Let's set the appointment to this weekend, shall we? I still have to attend classed tomorrow and I will not be available."
Ma Jian was stunned. He wondered if his ears were alright. "What classes are you attending? A Monster Breeder training class?"
"Regular senior high, third year classes. If that's all, I'll have to leave work and go home to finish my homework." Gao Peng calmly waved Ma Jian goodbye.
"If there are any questions afterwards regarding your Purple Electric Mouse, you can call and look for me. You can note down my number from reception. If you wish to rest for a while you can do so in our studio. We have basic entertainment facilities here. Have a pleasant afternoon."
With that, under Ma Jian's stunned gaze, Gao Peng pushed open the door and left.
Are all high schoolers nowadays this terrifying?
Leaving the studio, Gao Peng headed to the mall to buy the materials needed for Da Zi's evolution, and also bought some materials that a Skull Ghoul Ape would need.
At first, after successfully evolving his Skull Ghoul Ape, Gao Peng had thought that he could directly evolve it again. Unfortunately, he found out that he could not immediately proceed with another evolution. It was as though he had increased the water capacity of a pond, but the amount of water remained unchanged. He had to make efforts to fill it up with water again.
The Familiars he had worked on before had already accumulated a lot of levels over time, hence they could be evolved straightaway.
Gao Peng spent less than fifteen Alliance Credits on the materials.
Because of the large amount of money that Gao Peng spent, the shop even provided a free delivery service. Gao Peng used this opportunity to hitch a free ride home.
After reaching home, Gao Peng could see that Da Zi's body size had slimmed down quite a bit. He opened up Da Zi's attribute tables and frowned.
[Monster Name]: Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede (Evolving)
[Monster Grade]: Normal
[Monster Level]: 8
(Consumed large amounts of Thunder Titan Centipede core crystal and large amounts of Thunder Titan Centipede meat. Materials belong to a centipede-type monster and meet the requirements for the path of evolution of a Purple-Backed Yellow-Clawed Centipede. Currently evolving…)
What's going on here?
There were no other evolution methods in the evolution column. What was recommended there was made according to his views and opinions. Furthermore, the names of the materials needed were all names that Gao Peng understood or recognized.
There was one method that was the fastest and most convenient way to allow a monster to evolve, and that was to feed it the meat and core crystal of a stronger monster of a similar type.
No matter how Gao Peng thought about this matter, he felt that it must have had something to do with Uncle Liu. Who knew what kinds of things he fed Da Zi in those few days.
…
One hour before all this…
Uncle Liu heaved a sigh of relief after he hurried back home. He did not think that Peng would actually be back home this soon. Wasn't the assessment supposed to last for a whole week? What a miscalculation. He still had not had the time to feed the little centipede the most important thing.
A giant chameleon with constantly changing skin color squeezed out of Uncle Liu's front door and made its way to the edge of the window of Gao Peng's home.
Da Zi, as though feeling something amiss, displayed irritable behavior and began scuttling around on the spot.
The chameleon blended in perfectly with its surroundings. No one in the entire neighborhood noticed such a giant monster climbing the wall.
Only a few sensitive monsters in the area felt something, either displaying their unease, or laying down silently while trembling.
The invisible chameleon squinted as it looked at Da Zi in the room. It opened its mouth wide and an invisible tongue shot into the room from a half-opened window.
The invisible chameleon then slowly crawled back to Uncle Liu's house.
Gao Peng's house became peacefully quiet again. In the living room, a purple monster core crystal shimmering with a ghostly light lay on the ground. Da Zi seemed to have sensed something. Its antennae waved about as it crawled out carefully from under the sofa…