Emperor of Soul Pets

Chapter 24: Aftermath

Rao Wu took a long, well-deserved rest after returning to the island. He curled into a ball under the Dryad's favorite tree and slept like there was no tomorrow. The child's cute, peaceful face as he slept roused protective instincts within the young Dryad.

The Dryad sat by the little boy's side, occasionally brushing his hair from his nose. This was the first time she had seen Rao Wu this relaxed. Only now did she realize that Rao Wu had indeed been tense the past few weeks. He masked his anxiety and impatience with disarming smiles and jokes, but the truth had been revealed at this moment.

Under the Dryad's careful watch, Rao Wu slept for over fifteen hours, not waking up until the sun was high in the sky the following day.

"Whooa!" Rao Wu awoke with a loud yawn and an exaggerated stretch. "Haven't slept that well in forever. Hmm? Where—" For a moment, Rao Wu's memory blanked as he looked at the Sprites wandering about the open field. By his right, he saw the Dryad walking towards him with a leaf bowl filled with water. "Oh, yeah. I was taking the test. Ah, that's right! We won yesterday!"

"It is good to see you are as energetic as ever." The Dryad smiled when she saw the little boy jump to his feet in jubilation. "Here, drink this. You were asleep for a long time."

"Ah, thanks." Rao Wu accepted the bowl with a grateful smile. After drinking, he set the bowl aside, and then said, "I've rested enough. I'm ready to push for stage nine."

The Dryad hesitated. "Are you certain?" A part of her was excited, but the other, fearful that Rao Wu would fail, did not want to indulge her hope for fear of disappointment.

Grururururu!

"Ah, you're right." Rao Wu revealed an embarrassed smile as he patted his rumbling stomach. "Can't do this on an empty stomach." With those words, he summoned Xian Da and then took out a Bugbear carcass from his ring. Due to the ring's vacuum-like nature, the Bugbear meat remained fresh, even after a whole night.

Rao Wu and Xian Da ate the Bugbear meat with reluctant gazes. "Ah, I wish I knew how to make fire." Rao Wu reminisced the meat he ate from the roadside stall and the banquet. He hadn't seen how they made the meat for dinner, but the roadside stall used fire to roast the meat in real-time. Uncle Twilight often told him that Rao Taylor was a master when it came to cooking wilderness meat.

Rao Wu looked at Xian Da. "What do you think? We should make a fire soul monster our next priority, right?"

"Rraff!" Xian Da nodded as it angrily bit the tender meat. Yuck! After eating cooked food, this tasted like sand!

Nearby, the Dryad chuckled as she listened to their exchange. She wondered how fire-attribute monsters would feel if they ever found out a soul trainer wanted them for their food-roasting abilities.

Eventually, a few minutes later, both Xian Da and Rao Wu had full rotund bellies. Within its soul space, Ju Tu shook its head. From the 2nd phase upwards, monsters did not rely much on regular food. They could substitute on soul energy and only ate for the sake of advancement or alternatively, fun. As a result, rather than force itself to eat that garbage meat, Ju Tu was content to sit and snack on a few soul cores.

That's right. Unlike other materials, soul cores and soul crystals could be stored in opened soul spaces. Of course, soul trainers had to ensure they trained their soul monsters well, or else they might finish the entire stock. For this reason, Rao Wu, like many soul trainers, stored a small number of soul cores in the soul space and left the rest in his ring.

After eating, Rao Wu drew a deep breath and then retrieved the pure-beast soul crystal. He looked at the crystal with grave eyes and then turned to look at Xian Da. "Are you ready?"