God of the Earth and King of the Sky

Seeing that Luo Yu had returned safely, the trio who had waited all day went back to catch up on their sleep. Luo Yu's spirits remained high. He summoned July from his Beast Taming Space. "July, this is Bee Empress, your future companion." Bee Empress was the name Luo Yu had given to the Honey-Water Bee. Chen Bo had called his Thunderbolt Shrimp "Great General," so Luo Yu naturally gave his new pet beast an even more domineering title. "Wuji!" July waved a flipper at the Honey-Water Bee, then immediately began looking around for its fishing rod. It showed zero interest in this new companion—especially since this new companion was a wretched Honey-Water Bee... Having been stung every single day, July felt an instant headache whenever it saw a Honey-Water Bee, though it did enjoy the honey quite a bit. Bee Empress gave an equally indifferent nod, then turned its gaze to the sky. At this first meeting between the future God of the Earth and the future King of the Sky, neither paid the other much attention. *** When Shui Wuyue woke from his sleep, he found Luo Yu still out on the deck accompanying the Ground Penguin and the Honey-Water Bee. He couldn't help remarking, "Young people really do have boundless energy." "I'm doing all right," Luo Yu chuckled. He had just contracted a new pet beast, after all—wasn't he just bonding with it? "Luo Yu, now that you've contracted a ghost, there's something I need to remind you of. Do you still remember what I told you about how ghost creatures grow?" Shui Wuyue asked gravely. Luo Yu nodded. Well before entering the Ghost Sea, Shui Wuyue had explained the growth methods of ghost creatures to him. But judging by the solemn expression on his face, there were probably a few details left to add. In truth, nurturing ghost pet beasts was exceptionally complex. They didn't consume normal food, and currently, there were only three known paths for their growth. First, soul-type resources. For instance, the soul fluid Shui Wuyue had gifted Luo Yu was one such soul resource. Generally speaking, the conditions required for such resources to form were harsh, and their numbers were scarce. They were ill-suited as daily sustenance and served better as occasional nutritional supplements. Second, emotional energy. Ghost creatures came into being precisely because they possessed a powerful obsession, and obsession was the manifestation of emotion. Therefore, the emotional energy of other living beings was a delicious delicacy to ghosts. Joy, fear, happiness, shock, regret... As long as the ghost creature itself, or the Beast Master bound to it, provoked intense emotions in another living being, the ghost could absorb that emotional energy to strengthen itself. "I told you back then that emotional energy is the primary food source of ghost creatures, right?" "Can you guess which type of emotional energy is the easiest to acquire?" Shui Wuyue asked. "Fear?" Luo Yu suggested. "Yes. Because 'fear energy' is the easiest to obtain, many Beast Masters who contract ghost pets resort to torturing and slaughtering mutated beasts possessing slight intelligence, using fear to foster the ghost's growth." "Hear this well: you must never do that frequently," Shui Wuyue warned. "Fear is a negative emotion. Absorbing too much of it is harmful to ghost creatures." "In mild cases, it will warp the personality of the ghost pet beast, and even that of the Beast Master, driving them toward extremes." "In severe cases... In any case, do not actively pursue slaughter. It's far better to let it absorb positive emotions like happiness and joy." "Of course, that doesn't mean it can't absorb any fear at all. After all, talking about toxicity without considering the dose is just reckless nonsense. Moderation is key." Luo Yu nodded. "Understood. Torturing and slaughtering intelligent creatures is something no normal person would ever do." Naturally, trying to avoid fear energy entirely was unrealistic. Once he opened a bee-sting tutoring class, what student wouldn't feel terrified? "Good. As long as you don't go astray. After thinking it over carefully, the Honey-Water Bee you chose really does possess great potential in its obsession." Shui Wuyue gave his approval; at the very least, soul growth wouldn't be an issue. This brought up the third method of growth for ghost creatures that Shui Wuyue had previously mentioned. Third, obsession. By the mechanics of ghost creatures, once their obsession was fulfilled, their soul power would surge dramatically, undergoing a complete metamorphosis. However, in the process of fulfilling that obsession, achieving small milestones would also grant a certain amount of soul growth. This was another crucial way for ghost pet beasts to raise their levels. Take a ghost sea beast whose obsession was to find a hundred wives: every time it found one, it moved a step closer to fulfilling its obsession. In truth, that process alone allowed it to reap strength. Finding all one hundred wives brought the ultimate joy, but finding one at a time didn't mean it wasn't happy. Therefore, the potential of an obsession was of paramount importance for a ghost pet beast. That was precisely why Luo Yu had placed such high value on obsession potential—an obsession needed depth to allow for superior growth. In Bee Empress's case, it wanted to become the King of the Sky. Such a distant goal certainly couldn't be achieved in one fell swoop. However, it could first defeat a Mid Common Species flying creature, then conquer an Upper Common Species flying creature. As long as it made major strides step-by-step toward its ultimate obsession, it would receive feedback, bolstering its soul power and elevating its life level. Compared to the other ghost creatures Luo Yu had seen, this obsession's growth potential was immaculate. It offered a smooth transition from weak to strong, and given that the Honey-Water Bee's racial rank was low enough, it wasn't even out of the question that it might trigger a 'soul evolution' ahead of time along the way. Right now, Luo Yu had already set a small milestone: first, let it become the King of the Sky of Jingyue Island. The strongest flying creature on Jingyue Island seemed to be Director Yu Lei's Storm Eagle. That small milestone then translated into working hard to take down the director's Storm Eagle first! If a Lower Common Species could overcome a Lower Monarch Species, even without fulfilling its ultimate obsession, it would still represent a monumental metamorphosis compared to its past. Under such spiritual sublimation, he felt the odds of soul evolution wouldn't merely be a slim possibility, but an overwhelming probability. In fact, Luo Yu had wondered from the start whether Bee Empress even understood what 'King of the Sky' truly meant. He hoped it wouldn't suddenly fulfill its obsession just by defeating a Monarch Species. After all, the strongest creature it had ever laid eyes on in life was that Monarch Species Thunder Eagle... It was, for all intents and purposes, an unsophisticated country girl who had never seen the wider world. "By the way... remember to report this mission to the director in advance. Once we get back, I don't want to spend my time giving reports in his office..." Shui Wuyue added. *** That evening, Luo Yu took a moment to place a call to Director Yu Lei using the conch. "Calling the director. The trade has been completed." Yu Lei: "? Any unexpected incidents?" Luo Yu: "None. Everything went very smoothly." Yu Lei: "That's good." Luo Yu: "Director, once we're back, leave the raising of these rock sheep to me." Yu Lei: "Sure. Nobody on the island understands how to raise them anyway. You must have acquired the breeding methods for rock sheep on Qianyan Island. Still, inkfish, Honey-Water Bees... and now rock sheep. Do you really have the energy for all of that?" Luo Yu: "No problem at all. Oh, right, we also ran into a bit of a disturbance on our return journey." Yu Lei grew almost afraid to listen. "You didn't go and fish something up again, did you?!" Luo Yu: "Nothing like that. I just ran into the Ghost Sea." "What happened?!" Learning that Luo Yu had encountered the Ghost Sea, the director's first reaction wasn't joy, but worry. Had any other Beast Master on Jingyue Island encountered it, he would have been thrilled, but Luo Yu was different! "Don't tell me you contracted some incredibly powerful Monarch Species and made some impossible promise!" Perish the thought! In Yu Lei's eyes, Luo Yu's value was far higher than that of a single Monarch Species ghost pet beast! If the obsession of a Monarch ghost ended up squandering Luo Yu's research energy, it would be a catastrophic loss for Jingyue Island! "Rest assured, I only contracted a Honey-Water Bee ghost." "A... a Honey-Water Bee ghost?" "What were you thinking, contracting something like that?" One moment Yu Lei had been terrified Luo Yu had contracted something too strong, and the next he was complaining it was too weak. *** Over the next few days, they thankfully encountered no further disturbances. The Raging Blue returned smoothly to Jingyue Island. During the voyage, only one rock sheep had struggled to acclimate to the environment, falling mildly ill. Although they fed it some medicine, it showed no sign of improvement. However, seeing that it wouldn't die anytime soon, they let it tough it out until they reached the island. "Welcome back to the island." Jingyue Island, Beast Management Bureau, Director's Office. Director Yu Lei looked at the four of them and said, "Thank you for your hard work on this trip. Luo Yu already reported the situation on the way back, so the rest of you may go back and rest..." "Oh, Luo Yu, stay behind for a moment." Once the other three had left, the director stared fixedly at Luo Yu for a good while before speaking. "You said over the Communication Conch that the Honey-Water Bee you contracted has an obsession involving a colony of tens of millions?" "Do you think our Jingyue Island can afford to support so many bees? Where would we find that kind of space?!" Luo Yu replied, "Step by step. Besides, islands can be created. Back on Qianyan Island, my Ground Penguin developed a magma ability. Once its level is high enough, we can attempt an 'artificial island' project." Yu Lei: "???" "Magma?" Luo Yu nodded. "Combining the flame ability with the rock ability mutated into a magma ability." Director Yu Lei fell into deep contemplation. Could that really be done? That was far beyond his realm of knowledge. "Besides, breeding more Honey-Water Bees isn't a bad thing. In fact, I believe the value of 'Enhanced Honey-Water Bees' far exceeds that of the 'dinosaur-bloodline mutated beasts' from the Ancient Grotto. When the time comes, we can rely on the sting training method to establish a tutoring institution catering to multiple islands." "I've already thought of the names." "The artificial island will be called 'Beehive Island,' and the tutoring academy will be the 'Lanxiang Beast Taming School.' It corresponds to the blue sky and the wings of the Honey-Water Bee, symbolizing helping novice Beast Masters take flight."