Consuming each Divine Crystal gave his pet one or two Divinity Value points. For the moment, Su Ping had given the hound a few of them.
Not every Void Bug had a Divine Crystal in its body. As Su Ping noticed, he had more luck finding them when encountering stronger targets. He had no idea what this Divinity Value did for the moment. He assumed that he might learn something once the number was boosted to a hundred.
That cave had been mainly occupied by weaker Void Bugs of the ninth rank or below. If he wanted to get his hands on more Divine Crystals, he had to look for ones that were at the peak of the ninth rank, which were almost as deadly as Beast Kings.
Again, by sending his pets into suicidal missions while keeping himself at a distance, he managed to clear out the bug cave within a day.
By then, he had learned that the divine beings in this world weren’t actual gods, but half-bloods who had inherited some divine blood from their parents or ancestors. Usually, an adult who never underwent any specific training was as strong as a fifth-rank pet warrior at best, while those who did receive training could go all the way to the ninth rank.
Above them, there were elite members who could reach the Beast King level, who were under more advanced entities such as Gods, Major Gods and Superior Gods that were several times more powerful than Kings of Beast Kings. This didn’t sound as complex as the “rank system” in the Chaotic Realm of the Undead, but it was still pretty scary; if those gods and whatnot discovered his home planet, humans would undoubtedly become slaves under their rule. As far as he knew, the strongest warriors back home would only count as average laborers if they traveled to this place.
After a brief respite, Su Ping stood up and ordered his pets to search the dead bugs. He would not bother doing the dirty work himself, for he didn’t want to get close to all the green goo that reeked quite badly.
As an “adept,” the Dark Dragon Hound did quick work when tearing up all the bug corpses one after another. Under half an hour, Su Ping found a big pile of over a hundred Divine Crystals placed in front of him.
While keeping Little Skeleton and the Celestial Pig at their job, Su Ping called the Dark Dragon Hound back and patted its muzzle gently.
The hound gave him a doubtful look, not sure what he was up to. Su Ping grinned and picked up a Divine Crystal, telling the hound to eat it.
The creature seemed relaxed when it took a sniff at the crystal. After giving its working partners a proud look, it began munching the crispy objects as if it were enjoying bone treats.
After depleting what it had been given, it licked Su Ping’s hand as if asking for more; Su Ping generously agreed without a problem. Meanwhile, he kept an eye on the Divine Value digit and saw it going up by one or two points each time a new crystal was taken.
They almost emptied the crystals they had saved up, by which time the Divine Value of the hound had reached 99. Excited, Su Ping tossed another one into the creature’s avid mouth and saw the number reaching the maximum, before it became zero again. At the same time, another entry popped up below that line.
(Divine Charge: 1]
What’s this…?
Su Ping thought his Dark Dragon Hound was going to get stronger or would sport a new look once this Divine Value thing was filled. It seemed there was more to it. Apart from the new entry, all of the hound’s existing skills had new options beside them.
(Shield of Earth (divine enhancement cost: 3 charges)]
[Tearing Claw (divine enhancement cost: 2 charges)]
(Shield of Wind)…
Apart from those, he saw another name below them: “Divine Lineage,” with the number “0” next to it.
“What’s going on?” He decided to ask the system for help.
To his surprise, he got an answer right away.
“Host, ‘Divine Charge’ represents the power of divinity a pet has gathered. You can either use such power to temporarily enhance their skills, or inject the power into its bloodline to help it transform into a Divine Beast, if enough divine energy is provided.”
“Divine Beast?? What’s the difference between a Divine Beast and an Astral Pet?” In his view, strength was always more important than fancy names.
“There are many advantages. A Divine Beast has a longer lifespan, and grows stronger in a different way compared to common pets. Usually faster. For details, you may purchase the skill ‘Divine Beast Identify’ to learn more.”
“… I think I see where this is going. How much for that skill?” “One hundred thousand.” “Figures.”
A hundred thousand energy points was not a price he could pay lightly. Still, he had already learned that he had to find more Divine Crystals if he could, since they were clearly helpful with the growth of his pets.
“Well, I guess coming to this cultivation plane was a good decision. Hey system, since there are ‘Divine Beasts,’ are there other something?”
“There are ‘Abyssal Beasts.’ You may find them inside the Chaotic Realm of the Undead, who are as potent in terms of strength as Divine Beasts. They went through a different path of evolution.”
“I see. Wait, if this is the case, can I find different types of crystals over there and turn my pets into Abyssal Beasts?” “The Chaotic Realm of the Undead is an intact realm protected by its own rules, which means Void Creatures can’t invade it. Without them, you will not find the crystals you can use.
“Unless you enter the deepest part of-error, please forget the last part.”
Man. The system sure knows a lot about these bugs. Su Ping wondered.
“Did you just say that these bugs can produce Abyssal Crystals if they get inside the Chaotic Realm of the Undead? Then, the crystals I just found must be…”
“Correct. They came from divine beings and fallen gods, and were devoured by the Void Bugs.”
Su Ping frowned and checked the remaining crystals, then he looked at the killed bugs all over the place. Each Divine Crystal had previously belonged to a living god?