“Give me two flowers!”
Liu Zhenghong’s eyes sparkled. She was currently troubled by the Death King Tree’s evolution, which might give her a whole new perspective.
“Since Lan You is so beneficial, we should think of a way to shield it. That way, too many mutated creatures won’t be drawn to it.”
Little Tigerr stood nearby, watching his mount absorb energy with closed eyes, while suggesting Ye Zhongming.
Back when Lan You was still a sapling, it had already attracted the attention of two level nine creatures—the Human-Bear King and the Snow Wolf King. Now that it had evolved to its first stage, blossomed, and borne fruit, its allure to mutated creatures would undoubtedly be even stronger.
The location of Cloud Peak wasn’t the frigid northern wastelands but deep within the heart of the country’s territory, where the number of mutated creatures far surpassed that of the north. If they all came here to cause trouble, no matter how strong the villa’s defenses were, they wouldn’t be able to hold out.
The others agreed, having witnessed firsthand its attraction to battle beasts—it was indeed something that could drive mutated creatures mad.
But unexpectedly, Ye Zhongming shook his head.
He pointed to the sky and said, “Look.”
“Mutated gray geese. Their levels are decent—the highest is seventh, while the rest are fifth or sixth.”
Everyone had sharp eyes and quickly discerned the levels of these flying creatures. They spoke casually about it, as fewer than thirty of them posed no real threat to Cloud Peak.
“Lan You constantly emits energy. Yangos, Yellow Ball, and others actively came here to evolve, clearly benefiting from it. Yet, these gray geese didn’t lose their minds and recklessly swoop down. Why do you think that is?”
Faced with Ye Zhongming’s question, everyone exchanged glances, knowing it likely came down to whether the attraction was strong enough. But Lan You was indeed a divine entity capable of directly evolving level five and six creatures, creating a contradiction.
“Boss, are you saying that if you stop casting skills on Lan You, this tree won’t emit large amounts of energy anymore?”
Gan Lan, who was at the villa today, thought for a moment before speaking up.
Ye Zhongming nodded. “You could say that, at least at its current stage of evolution. Under normal circumstances, Lan You’s energy is relatively mild and won’t drive creatures mad. Just like these gray geese—even though they rushed here eagerly, sensing an intense desire, they didn’t recklessly charge Cloud Peak’s defenses. They’ve even flown farther away now that Lan You has returned to normal. Their wariness of the villa and us outweighs their longing for the energy.”
“Then we just leave it like this? What if a level nine creature comes one day?”
Little Tiger was still a bit uneasy. He was acting like a miser, terrified of anyone coveting Lan You—after all, he fantasized about riding a level nine war beast across the battlefield.
Ye Zhongming smiled without answering, while the others also stayed silent, giving Little Tiger odd looks.
Then everyone went about their business—some chose to stay with their battle beasts, some returned to work, some gathered to plan the next hunt, and some, with nothing else to do, simply waited to see what level the battle beasts would reach upon waking.
Little Tiger was dragged away by Candy, still looking confused. He lowered his head and asked his girlfriend where he’d gone wrong.
Candy rolled her eyes at her stubborn, inflexible boyfriend and said, “Did you forget we were just discussing when to go kill a level nine?”
Hearing this, Little Tiger gasped and smacked his own head. “I’m so stupid! Right, if a level nine creature really comes, wouldn’t that be perfect? The villa’s defense system alone would give it hell, and with our people and beasts, we could totally kill it!”
Candy said, “Took you long enough! Lan You is in the training ground, near the back mountain. If a level nine creature wants to get there, land-based ones would have to break through the front gate—the most fortified part of the villa—and they’d be half-dead before reaching Lan You. And if a flying level nine comes? Even better! Cloud Peak’s anti-air defenses and air force would shine, plus there’s Yangos, Icebird, Red Hair, Sister Xia Bai—they’d ensure it never leaves alive.”
“And underground!” Little Tiger’s eyes gleamed as he added, “Lan You even killed the Rat King. If any blind fools try to tunnel in, they’ll regret it!”
……………………………………
Ye Zhongming waited at Cloud Peak for a day until Yellow Ball, Yangos, and the others finished absorbing the energy from Lan You’s petals and awoke. Through communication, he learned that Yangos and Yellow Ball were now infinitely close to level nine. But to cross that threshold, they needed to comprehend something on their own.
This was the evolution lock placed on mutated creatures—just like the people of the Blue Realm, they didn’t need potions to evolve but had to break through their limits step by step, achieving progress beyond human understanding.
Once they awoke, Ye Zhongming immediately returned to Black Dragon City. After meeting with Elder An and the others, he set out with the female guards.
Over five hundred teenagers were accompanied by Xiao Xuan—a youth army Ye Zhongming called the Youth Army.
Ever since learning this man was the Cloud Peak King, over ten thousand children aged ten to sixteen had signed up. Some factions even proactively sent eligible youths from their own forces to join Cloud Peak, hoping that once these kids became official members, they’d reap some benefits, just like the factions in Ying City had once done.
The northern wastelands lived up to their name. Beyond Black Dragon City, the temperature dropped rapidly, with thermometers showing it had already fallen below -30°C.
And this was before even crossing the border—the latitude wasn’t particularly high, nor was it the coldest time of year. This temperature was terrifying.
Even though evolved had high adaptability to temperature, in this environment, they still had to bundle up in thick fur coats.
Yangos in the sky had been complaining nonstop about the cold. Icebird, however, thrived in such conditions—even diving into a cold storm earlier and emerging unscathed, leaving the Black Dragon City kids dumbstruck. Their fear of Icebird now surpassed even that of the devil dragon, much to Yangos’s displeasure.
Ye Zhongming bringing these hopefuls out didn’t mean they could rest easy, assured of a future in Cloud Peak. They had to pass a trial—only those who survived would earn the right to join the nation’s top faction.