The 158th Palm: The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor
Translator: 549690339
Alpha did as instructed, carrying a sleeping Gamma in one arm and in the other, dragging back the flesh from the vicinity of the Sawtooth Earthworm King’s gold ring to Bai Qi’s side.
Unlike the body that had thoroughly dried out into jerky, the flesh near the gold ring still maintained its vitality.
Moreover, it was clear that the closer it was to the gold ring on the skin, the stronger the vitality. It was even slowly generating new flesh.
Earth Gold Ring, an Epic Material.
Seeing Bai Qi professionally extract the most valuable part from the Sawtooth Earthworm King, Wang Huai couldn’t help but chuckle, “And I thought you were some academic type of Beast Master, Bai Qi. Your skills… they’re more proficient than even Xusheng’s.”
Bai Qi gave a faint smile. Ever since he found out that the Evolution Egg could acquire skills from the core parts of ferocious beasts, Bai Qi could say that he spent the most time on the resource processing class. His theoretical and practical skills made him the flashiest youth in the entire training camp.
However, Bai Qi wasn’t greedy. He glanced at Alpha, who immediately cut the Earth Gold Ring into six equal portions. He kept only one portion for himself, while Bai Qi passed the rest directly to Wang Huai.
Though he had not truly ventured out into the wild, he still knew of some established norms.
Spoils from enemies defeated solo belonged to the individual, for cooperative battles, besides some particularly valuable items going to the person who contributed the most, the rest was equally divided.
At least during their training camp, that was how they handled loot involving group battles.
This big Earth Gold Ring was a good ten meters long. Even divided into six, it would be enough for Gamma.
After all, they were just Epic Materials. There was no need to be so petty. And from the looks of it, there might still be a great number of ferocious beasts ahead
Slow and steady wins the race, right?
Seeing this, Wang Huai didn’t refuse either, readily accepting the Earth Gold Ring and handing it to Li Xusheng and the others.
“Thanks.”
Li Xusheng, as usual, was not particularly talkative. He responded quietly and spoke no further, while Tang Miao seemed quite happy.
“Thanks! This big chunk of Earth Gold Ring can definitely be sold for a pretty penny, I’ll be able to afford that handbag I had my eye on!”
Tang Miao received the Earth Gold Ring, her eyes filled with excitement.
“You’re thinking…”
“…Too much.”
The Baili Brothers each spoke half a sentence, rapidly dampening Tang Miao’s excitement. They then turned their attention to Bai Qi.
“Thankyou for…”
“The Earth Gold Ring.”
“From now on, we are…”
“Good friends.”
Watching the brothers’ seamless dialogue, Bai Qi couldn’t restrain a smile, “You’re welcome, do you always talk like this?”
“Yes, is there any…”
“Issue with that?”
Under the curious gaze of the Baili Brothers, Bai Qi felt a bit uncomfortable and scratched his head, “Cough, no issue, it’s quite good.”
Seeing this, Wang Huai chuckled, “They’ve been like this since they were little. You’ll get used to it. But their teamwork is indeed quite good.”
Bai Qi nodded, twins indeed had a unique connection that most people didn’t have. Their natural affinity for teamwork was more innate than others. Seeing the way the Baili brothers were, he figured they were probably some of the best.
Each of them spoke half of the sentences, which meant their coordination couldn’t be far off.
Having addressed the distribution of the spoils, the group once again prepared to set off.
The twenty-plus kilometer journey wasn’t far for Beast Masters. But the path was full of ferocious beasts, so it still took them a considerable amount of time to reach the entrance to the training field.
Just as they had seen from a distance, the training field was entirely made of black metal etched with ancient runes. Bai Qi could vaguely make out some of them, but there were some slight differences with the runes he had encountered before, so he couldn’t be sure if he was correct.
“According to reports from other groups, there will be three waves of attacks after entering. The specific types that will be encountered are unknown, likely generated randomly. And the levels will be assigned according to the level of the challenger.”
Wang Huai paused for a moment, “Because of Bai Qi, our team has the advantage. Everyone rest and recuperate for half an hour, and then we’ll move out.”
“Yes!”
Li Xusheng and the others all acknowledged the order, then sat down at the entrance to the training field, taking out their rations to replenish their energy.
Although they had intentionally conserved energy, the number of ferocious beasts they encountered along the way was too high, causing their condition to deteriorate. Naturally, they needed to replenish their energy.
This was especially the case for Beast Masters with fusion talents like Li Xusheng. Even with the enhancement of their tamed beasts, they still had to fight personally, so the consumption was no small matter.
Looking at the whole team, Bai Qi seemed the most relaxed.
Alpha already had the capacity to fight independently. Bai Qi did not participate in the battles, only issuing directions occasionally.
In addition, he didn’t even have to walk as he had sat on the Barrier Tree Man the entire way. It was almost like he was out on a sightseeing trip.
That said, Bai Qi did not act differently. Like everyone else, he took out an Angel Fruit from the Secret Realm Ring and started eating.
The moment Bai Qi took out the Angel Fruit, Tang Miao’s nose twitched unconsciously, and she quickly turned to look at Bai Qi.
“Angel Fruit?!”
Tang Miao moved close to Bai Qi and carefully studied it before she couldn’t help complaining.
“Captain, didn’t you say that our assault team had the best treatment? Look at this!”
Wang Huai gave a bitter smile, “The perks of the assault team are indeed the best, I never lied about that. But your…”
Looking at their reactions, Bai Qi was taken aback. He took a few more from the Secret Realm Ring and handed them to Tang Miao, “Do you want to have some? I still have more.”
Ever since the Jade Dragon started enjoying gardening, the Angel Fruit, which was once scarce, had become as common as apples to Bai Qi.
If there was a difference, it was… An Angel Fruit might be slightly tastier?
Tang Miao, who was staring blankly at the Angel Fruit in his hand, asked, “Captain, is it too late for me to quit the team now?”
“Give it up. Otherwise, I might run away before you do.”
Wang Huai shook his head with a bitter smile, handing the Angel Fruits to the others, and said, “Thanks a lot. With this, we can all go all out. The cost? Don’t worry. I’ll have it reimbursed from above as soon as we get out.”
Unlike the previous spoils of war, these Angel Fruits were Bai Qi’s personal belongings. He wouldn’t have the audacity to just accept them without dividing any expenses.
“Fine, I’ve got more if you need them.”
Seeing this, Bai Qi wasn’t wimping around. After all, Wang Huai had the expenses reimbursed. He didn’t mind helping out a bit.
“Alright, I’ll find you if we need more.”
Upon hearing Bai Qi’s words, Wang Huai sighed in despair. Angel Fruits, which cost hundreds of thousands each, were indeed beyond his consumption capacity.
With the help of the Angel Fruits, everyone regained their energy in less than half an hour, and their beasts also got enough rest.
“Let’s get to work.”
Wang Huai stood up and glanced at his team members behind him. He proceeded to push open the doors of the training grounds.
Upon their entrance into the training grounds, the walls lit up with Runes and two platforms raised up from the middle ground of the previously vast and empty place. On the opposite platform, rows of stone figurines holding bows and arrows stood in formation.
After assessing the situation, Wang Huai quickly made a judgment and looked at the Baili brothers and said, “It’s a long-ranged attack test. Desert, Sea of Starlight… it’s on you.”
“No problem, leave it to…”
“Us.”
The two of them responded in unison, summoning their respective beasts and stepping onto the platform.
Humming…
Right after the two of them stepped on the platform, streams of Runes started glowing on the initially ragged bodies of the archer effigies. And immediately, they nocked and loosed their arrows in one go.
Faced with the flurry of arrows, the Baili brothers didn’t panic in the least. With Black Flame Snake on the attack and White Ice Boa on the defense, they didn’t feel any pressure.
Were these Rune Puppets?
No, Rune Puppets were a bit more complex. But it seemed that the capability of these stone figurines was a bit stronger?
Upon seeing this, Bai Qi raised his eyebrows and immediately summoned Husky.
“Schuck, record these Runes. We’U research them thoroughly when we get back.”
“Understood.”
Schuck nodded, his electronic eyes fixed on those stone figurines, starting to record.
“Is this your second beast? Mechanical Engineering Department?”
Bai Qi nodded and said, “Well, I happened to spot some Runes I had never seen before. It will be more convenient for it to record them.”
Upon hearing this, Tang Miao nodded and stared at Beta, who looked like he hadn’t fully woken up yet, his heart fluttering.
Upon seeing this, Wang Huai with a resigned sigh coughed twice, and said, “Ahem, Tang Miao, mind the occasion.”
“Alright…”
Tang Miao pouted, shifting his gaze with some reluctance.
Bang!
Just then, a loud noise came from the platform. The Baili brothers, who were having an easy time till now, suddenly had their defense broken by a massive crossbow bolt and were exposed to the rain of arrows unguarded.
Whoosh!
Upon seeing this, Li Xusheng, who had already been prepared, materialized next to the two men in a flash, pulling them along while leaping clear of the arrow storm in the nick of time.
It appeared that the archer effigies weren’t considering any pursuit. After the three men stepped off the platform, they stopped attacking, but the Runes on their bodies turned red the next instant.
“The alarm was still triggered, huh.”
Wang Huai looked serious; the report did mention that if an outsider intervened during the trial, these stone figurines would go into a raging state, causing their attack and defense attributes to double.
Being the only two long-ranged attackers on the team, the Baili brothers couldn’t even defeat the stone figurines in their normal state. They stood no chance against them in a frenzied state.
“Xusheng, try to force a breakthrough later.”
After some pondering, Wang Huai looked at Li Xusheng. Given that Li Xusheng seemed to have been mentally prepared for this, he picked up his pair of hammers and got ready to hop onto the platform.
“Err, this has to be a long-ranged attack to pass, right?”
Upon seeing this, Bai Qi immediately asked, “Well, this guy is best at long- ranged attacks. Let him have a try.”
“Hmm.”
Wang Huai hesitated. Although Bai Qi had performed quite well in the past, and Mechanical Engineering Department was indeed proficient in long-ranged attacks, but judging by the beast’s appearance, it seemed it didn’t carry many mechanical weapons. He really had no idea how it was going to play out.
Li Xusheng was indeed a close-combat attacker, so storming in blindly might trigger some other penalty mechanism.
Thinking about it, Wang Huai hesitated between Bai Qi and Li Xusheng for a long time. He finally sighed helplessly and said, “Xusheng, wait a little longer.”
Hearing Wang Huai’s command, Li Xusheng slightly twitched at the corner of his mouth as if he wanted to say something but eventually stepped aside.
Seeing this, Bai Qi couldn’t help but pat Schuck and Beta on their heads and asked, “Have you finished recording?”
“Finished.”
“Good, then go ahead and destroy them!”