Super Behemoth

No matter what the outside world thought, whether with malice or goodwill, Yu Xian did not truly care. For the strong, strength had never been merely about raw power—it was equally about mindset. When Yu Xian was weak, he had acted with caution; once powerful, he acted as he pleased, never wasting mental energy worrying about fame or other people's opinions. Much less would he let himself be held hostage by public opinion. He would forever remain that boy from the night he first left Silver City, the youth who had grasped the true meaning of freedom. Aboard the back of the giant hippopotamus beast. Yu Xian sat cross-legged before a mountain of food, holding the newly acquired [Talent Trait Enhancement Stone], and could not help glancing at Little Nora. His talent trait had already been enhanced to +4. Once he used this Talent Trait Enhancement Stone, it would reach +5, beyond which success would no longer be guaranteed at one hundred percent. Since further enhancements carried risk, he might as well enhance the people he could trust first. And Little Nora, Nora, and Niman were those he could trust without reservation. "Should I throw a match or two and take second place next?" Yu Xian stroked the [Talent Trait Enhancement Stone], an idea sparking in his mind. Rewards were distributed once every hour, meaning 24 times a day. With the event lasting three days, there would be a total of 72 reward distributions. Aside from the first round, where he had claimed the eighth-place reward, and the second round, where he had taken second, he had secured first place every time since. If he held onto first place all the way through, it meant he could obtain 70 [Talent Trait Enhancement Stones]. That would be more than enough for him, plenty to let Little Nora and the others enhance theirs as well. They had no need for so many [Talent Trait Enhancement Stones]; he could easily lower his rank and grab second place a few times to earn [Talent Trait Awakening Stones] for everyone. However, when Yu Xian checked the class-holder message boards, he found people actively looking to buy [Talent Trait Enhancement Stones]—some were even willing to trade five [Talent Trait Awakening Stones] for a single [Talent Trait Enhancement Stone]. His clever mind pieced it together with minimal thought. A class-holder could use only one [Talent Trait Awakening Stone], whereas each could use up to ten [Talent Trait Enhancement Stones]. Not everyone had companions they needed to look after. For many top combatants, first place was out of reach, and the third-place reward held zero appeal, leaving them with no choice but to settle for second. Yet the second-place reward was equally useless to them; aside from trading it for resources, it served no purpose. As a result, among ordinary class-holders, [Talent Trait Awakening Stones] were extraordinarily precious—even more valuable than [Talent Trait Enhancement Stones]. Yet among the absolute elite, the reverse was true. [Talent Trait Enhancement Stones] were priceless, while [Talent Trait Awakening Stones] were practically worthless, since every single one of them had already awakened a talent trait and could not awaken another. Once Yu Xian confirmed that one [Talent Trait Enhancement Stone] could be exchanged for at least five [Talent Trait Awakening Stones], he grinned. This way, there was no need to hold back. Once he secured seventy [Talent Trait Enhancement Stones], he could simply trade a portion of them for [Talent Trait Awakening Stones]. Having made up his mind, Yu Xian decisively used the [Talent Trait Enhancement Stone] in his hand to enhance his talent trait to +5. This time, without even needing to open his status screen, he felt his very being undergo a metamorphosis beforehand. Closing his eyes, his consciousness projected instantly onto a point of light in his mind. Then, as if possessing a body, his awareness descended into one of his summoned beasts. This summoned beast was in the middle of besieging a Great Dao True Beast. With a single thought, Yu Xian took control of its body. He hopped in excitement, finding it utterly thrilling. Seeing the Great Dao True Beast counterattacking up ahead, he immediately launched a valiant charge. In the next second, the Great Dao True Beast whipped its tail. Yu Xian's vision went black, and his consciousness snapped back to his main body. "..." Yu Xian opened his eyes, feeling somewhat ashamed. That summoned beast wouldn't have had to die, yet his impulsive stunt had gotten it killed. Had it been a disobedient beast, death wouldn't have mattered, but that beast had been loyal to him, making it feel rather sinful. His bottom line had always been to be as warm as a spring breeze toward friends and family, and as merciless as the dead of winter toward enemies. A summoned beast's life was a life too! After a brief moment of repentance, Yu Xian opened his status panel. What was done was done; he might as well see what exact changes had come to his talent trait. [Talent Trait: God of Summoning] [Talent: Unlimited summon slots. Each summon will gain tenfold efficiency, and all summoned beasts are branded with loyalty upon being summoned, pledging absolute fealty to you.] [Trait: Consciousness can be projected into a target summoned beast to gather information through its senses or take control of its body to fight.] Yu Xian blinked. Even though he had been mentally prepared, he was still stunned. At +5 enhancement: tenfold efficiency. That meant a single cast of Chaos Descent would summon ten beasts at once. Ten casts would yield a hundred! What kind of insane efficiency was that? Yu Xian took a deep breath, and without another word, closed his status panel and raised his hand to cast Chaos Descent. Ten magic circles flared simultaneously beside the giant hippopotamus beast, and ten hideous summoned beasts slowly emerged from within. The first was covered in flab, had a head shaped like an onion, and bore dense clusters of miniature volcanoes across its back. The second had a jaw like an iron plow; due to the colossal jaw, it hunched forward and plowed into the earth, leaving deep trenches behind as it moved. All in all, Yu Xian couldn't even imagine how it was supposed to fight. As for the remaining beasts, being ugly was one thing, but they were ugly in utterly unmemorable ways. Yu Xian glanced at them, lost interest, and dispatched them with a thought to go assist the Death Emperor. The main reason was that casualties on the Death Emperor's side were relatively heavy; quite a few summoned beasts had already perished, necessitating a fresh wave of reinforcements. He proceeded to cast Chaos Descent repeatedly, dispatching every newly summoned beast to reinforce the front—until a super-colossal magic circle abruptly appeared. It wasn't that the magic circle had mutated. Rather, Yu Xian had inadvertently summoned a gargantuan beast. The summoned beast slowly emerged from the magic circle. Just a single pointed horn rising into view was already larger than the giant hippopotamus beast. When it fully stepped out, everyone present was struck dumb. Countless rocks and trees formed an enormous turtle shell, while the beast's body was composed entirely of magma, radiating terrifying heat. Most, most, most importantly—at long last, a summoned beast that wasn't ugly had arrived! Though the creature was immense, it was not ugly in the slightest; if anything, it looked rather majestic. Yu Xian hurriedly stood up, gazing up at the mountain-like summoned beast, and decisively checked its attributes.