Beast Taming: Slaughter Atlas

The sun rose and the clouds scattered, as the sun set and the moon rose, in the blink of an eye half a month had passed.

Chu Chen got up early, packed his things, and after checking his backpack to make sure he hadn't left anything behind, he headed out the door.

Chu Chen rode the Swift Eagle towards the western part of the city. Having recently come into a large sum of money, he naturally wanted to travel in style. Besides, today was the day the Secret Realm would open, and he didn't want to regret being late due to travel delays.

In the past half month, both Chu Chen and Lei Yao had been diligently cultivating, barely reaching the small goals they had previously set.

Chu Chen had broken through to the Ninth Rank Soul Pupil level the day before. The number of Soul Skills did not increase, but their quality improved, with "Stone Skin" and "Light Body" both reaching the second level.

Improving Soul Skills is not complicated, but the difficulty is quite high.

Take "Stone Skin" for example; it consists of ten Soul Lines. To upgrade it, you simply need to condense an identical Soul Seal and then fuse the two Soul Seals again.

The difficulty of this process is not something that can be explained in a sentence or two. Considering the hardships of cultivating Soul Seals initially, the difficulty of fusing two identical Soul Seals increases exponentially.

Typically, Soul Seals can be upgraded by three levels because continuing to upgrade is more difficult than learning a new advanced Soul Seal.

Lei Yao's realm also reached the Ninth Rank Servant Level. Although its Skills did not improve, its understanding of the Thunder Ape Secret Technique increased significantly. Currently, it can barely harness some of the Secret Technique's power, but mastering it completely is still a long way off.

It is still in the Growth Stage, but its body size has undergone significant changes, with shoulder height growing from seventy centimeters to one meter, and body length from one meter to one and a half meters. When it stands upright, it reaches a height of two and a half meters, taking a step closer to becoming a giant beast.

Along with its growth in size, its power, defense, and endurance have all improved considerably, thanks to its Beast Type attributes.

From Lei Yao's growth, Chu Chen felt for the first time the joy of having no resource constraints.

If he were to fight the Wind Demon Tiger now, victory would be easier.

Speaking of the Wind Demon Tiger, Qian Jiadong has to be mentioned. Ever since being defeated by Chu Chen, he seems a different person; his past arrogant demeanor has completely disappeared.

He does only one thing every day, which is to keep an eye on Chu Chen.

When Chu Chen cultivates, he cultivates too. When Chu Chen rests, he continues cultivating.

This almost made Chu Chen, known as the King of Hard Workers, step down and let Qian Jiadong take the title.

Nevertheless, this guy has indeed made significant progress. Currently, he is at the peak of the Ninth Rank Soul Pupil Level, just one step away from the War General Level.

The Wind Demon Tiger has also improved significantly, and it trains even harder.

The hard work of this one person and one beast put a lot of pressure on Chu Chen, forcing him to work even harder, using almost all of his time for cultivation.

Soon, Chu Chen reached his destination, welcomed by Zhou Ying's expectant gaze.

Zhou Ying circled around Chu Chen, nodding approvingly as she said, "Not bad, you've reached the Ninth Rank Soul Pupil Level. Here, take this and use it to store the Thunder Fruit. If you damage it, you'll incur a great loss. There are also some Elixir Pills and food inside." Then she handed over a necklace of ancient design.

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen hurriedly took the necklace, examining it carefully in his hand.

The necklace was a common silver color, with a pendant of a blue crystal about the size of a fingernail.

"Could this be the Space Necklace?" Chu Chen asked, somewhat uncertain.

"Yes, make sure you don't lose it. Although its design is ugly, its price is extremely attractive," Zhou Ying said with a smile.

"Understood, I didn't expect you to be a little rich woman."

"Don't mention it, this was borrowed by my father from a friend, and it's worth over ten million. I can't afford it."

As the two were chatting, a young girl came up behind Chu Chen, raising her white hand to clap directly on his shoulder.

"Smartypants, what are you doing here?"

Chu Chen quickly turned his head to find that the speaker was Ji Mingyue.

"Oh, you're here too."

"Yes, I joined the Phoenix Daoist School and they gave me a slot."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen also briefly explained how he got a spot.

A moment later, everyone entering the Secret Realm had arrived, totaling twenty people.

There were ten Daoist Schools in total. Each of the Five Great Daoist Schools had three people, while the remaining five individuals came from smaller schools like the Thunder Daoist School, who had to pay a price to secure a slot.

Scanning the crowd, he discovered two familiar figures, Qian Jiadong and Zhao Peng.

He also noticed an odd person, wearing a black robe and a mask resembling a ghost, looking quite out of place.

"Everyone is here, so I'll remind everyone once again of the mission objective this time," said a middle-aged man in a black suit in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen looked at Zhou Ying with some confusion.

Seeing this, she awkwardly smiled and said, "I forgot to tell you, but it's okay, he'll say it again. Listen carefully."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen could only shake his head helplessly, sure that Zhou Ying had forgotten due to the Thunder Fruit.

"The mission this time is to find the Key, which is the key to controlling the Secret Realm. Whoever obtains the Key can gain one-tenth of all earnings from the Secret Realm," the man said in a deep voice.

Chu Chen immediately showed a look of confusion.

Before he could inquire further, the man continued, "Now, set out. Everyone, get aboard." With that, he summoned a flying Guardian Beast.

This Guardian Beast was similar to a bat, entirely black, with dense, soft fur on its body. It had a pair of large fleshy wings under its ribs, with a wingspan of about fifty meters and a body length of around thirty meters. Its eyes, as big as lanterns, were blood-red, and its sharp fangs were about a meter long.

The aura it emitted was extremely terrifying, several times stronger than the Shadow Wolf King at the Commander Level.

Chu Chen couldn't help but bring out the Slaughter Atlas to check it out.

This Guardian Beast was called the Bloodthirsty Demon Bat, and its realm had reached the Monarch Level.

Everyone gradually climbed onto the back of the Bloodthirsty Demon Bat.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man signaled for the Bloodthirsty Demon Bat to advance.

At this point, Chu Chen had a chance to ask Zhou Ying some questions.

"Who is this person?"

"This is Chen Jianghe, the curator of the White Tiger Branch, and his strength has reached the Soul Master level."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen nodded and continued to ask, "What's with the Key?"

"The Key is the key to the Secret Realm. Once obtained, you can control the entire Secret Realm, able to open or close it at any time, and even make the Secret Realm move," Zhou Ying said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Chu Chen immediately showed a moved expression.

"Quickly tell me, what's the trick with the profits from the Secret Realm?" Chu Chen asked, rubbing his hands.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ying also showed a look of longing. After a brief thought, she said in a low voice, "The Secret Realm is like a pasture rich in Star Power, where you can plant Star Treasures or even Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, and can also raise Star Beasts, just like raising pigs and sheep."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chen immediately showed an expression of extreme joy. One-tenth of the profits could directly achieve a cross-class leap, and he wouldn't have to worry about cultivating Guardian Beasts in the future.

Seeing this, Zhou Ying quickly poured a cold bucket of water on his enthusiasm.

"Don't be too happy too soon. First of all, the difficulty of obtaining the Key is very high. Even if you get the Key, Secret Realms have an expiration date. Generally, a First-Level Secret Realm can only last for about ten years, beyond which it will collapse," Zhou Ying said.