Chen Bugu lay under a tree, a branch in his mouth, feeling a bit helpless.
Three days had passed in a flash, but “A Meng” still hadn't woken up.
After that night, he quickly moved away from the stream and continued north, finding an open space to settle “A Meng”.
In these three days, he encountered many magical beasts, but the highest-level ones were just a group of Black Iron Five-Star Iron-Armed Baboons.
After Chen Bugu pierced their proud iron arms with an arrow, they abandoned their companions' corpses and scattered.
Chen Bugu was too lazy to chase them; magical beasts of this level could no longer provide him with any significant benefits.
After absorbing the Black Tortoise's energy, Chen Bugu's strength had almost exploded:
“Virus Type Ability: Cracking”
“Element-type ability: Space-Time”
“Strength: 90”
“Blood Qi: 97”
“Speed: 98”
“Spirit: 500 / 500”
“Skills: Fireball, Bullet Time, Recall, Time Echo, Clear Mind”
“Genetic Lock: Eye Decipher 100%”
“Unlocked: Inference, Weakness Detection, Mental Shock”
“Equipped Skills: Gale Thrust, Aura Shield”
After breaking through to Nine Star, Chen Bugu gradually became familiar with his body's power.
If he were to encounter Alek again now, he would not be afraid in the slightest.
Time Echo stored two pure energy arrows, and even if the energy utilization efficiency was low, given the Black Tortoise's immense energy, the power of those two arrows would certainly be extraordinary.
As for the last “Echo,” Chen Bugu stored a “Rainstorm Arrow,” with a quantity of roughly a hundred.
It was a pity he hadn't had time to absorb the Source of Freezing Water, so the current Rainstorm Arrow was still composed of ordinary Water Element arrows.
Chen Bugu didn't know what would happen if he absorbed the Source of Freezing Water; he had no one to guard him, and the forest was not a safe place.
Anyway, with his current strength, returning to Obsidian Town was no longer a problem.
The absorption of the Source of Freezing Water would be planned after he reunited with Bai Ting and the others.
Finally, there was the Lingguang Lock; the defensive test of this equipment had been delayed.
Aura Shield would only be passively triggered after being attacked.
Dongcheng Xiuwu once used Aura Shield to block two Water Wood Arrows, so the lower limit of its defensive strength could be determined.
However, it was unclear how many Lingguang Imprints Dongcheng Xiuwu consumed at the time, so the upper limit was not clear.
Five-star magical beasts simply couldn't shatter Aura Shield, and once Aura Shield was generated, whether it was shattered or not, it would disappear after five seconds.
Thus, there was no need to waste mental energy to continue testing.
In these three days, “A Meng's” turtle shell had grown a size, and the dark gray solid ice on its back had become even darker.
Chen Bugu could feel the surrounding Water Element becoming increasingly affectionate towards “A Meng”.
However, along with the Water Element's favor for “A Meng,” there seemed to be those black mists as well.
Black mist would occasionally rise from the edges of the turtle shell, then dissipate upon encountering the black ice, repeating this cycle without ever being completely cleared.
This was undoubtedly a hidden danger.
Oh well, where there's a will, there's a way; when the boat reaches the bridge, it will straighten itself. Anyway, there's no problem in the short term, so we'll just take it one step at a time.
Just as Chen Bugu was about to thaw the Luo Beast meat in his hand, he suddenly noticed that the Fire Element in the air had unknowingly thinned out considerably.
The Fireball that should have appeared out of thin air could now only spark a little.
Immediately after, the sparks extinguished, and the humidity in the air rapidly increased.
Water Element from all directions suddenly swarmed in, converging on “A Meng's” body.
Soon, “A Meng's” entire body was enveloped by dense Water Element, beginning to emit a faint blue light.
Within the blue light, the limbs were the first to extend from the turtle shell, followed by the turtle head.
It's awake!
Chen Bugu quickly stepped forward to check on A Meng's condition.
A Meng's appearance hadn't changed much: a dark red turtle shell, brown skin, the dark red diamond patterns on its limbs were slightly faded, and the gray-black solid ice on its shell had deepened in color. Other than that, he couldn't really see too many differences at a glance.
After A Meng woke up, it happily came forward and rubbed its head against Chen Bugu's leg repeatedly.
Chen Bugu felt something hard and, upon closer inspection, discovered that two small bumps had grown on A Meng's head.
“Horns?” Chen Bugu was puzzled.
These two small bumps actually resembled the initial growth of deer antlers.
“A Meng, how do you feel?”
Feeling the joyful emotions transmitted by A Meng, and guessing that the black mist should have been suppressed, Chen Bugu finally felt relieved.
What surprised him even more was that after absorbing the Black Tortoise's beast spirit, A Meng's intelligence had significantly improved.
Previously, Chen Bugu could only sense its emotions and then guess the general meaning.
But now, A Meng could already perform some simple expressions.
According to A Meng's meaning, it seemed to have broken through to eight-star.
And this fellow seemed to have mastered a new skill, constantly conveying its desire to spar with Chen Bugu, with a hint of showing off.
Chen Bugu also wanted to take the opportunity to understand “A Meng's” current strength, so he did not refuse this rebellious son's request.
A Meng moved its four limbs and quickly ran to a nearby spot, then looked back at Chen Bugu.
As soon as it opened its mouth, a small ice crystal snake, as thick as a rope, spat out.
The small snake landed on the ground, slithering and crawling, rapidly moving towards Chen Bugu's direction.
With the intention of testing, Chen Bugu did not counterattack, merely nimbly dodging to one side.
Unexpectedly, after the small snake missed, it quickly changed direction and continued to chase Chen Bugu.
“Hmm? It can be controlled?”
Chen Bugu's speed was clearly faster than the ice crystal snake, constantly changing positions, dodging the snake's attacks again and again.
Seeing this, “A Meng” opened its turtle mouth and spat out another ice crystal snake, which rapidly swam from behind Chen Bugu.
By the time Chen Bugu noticed, the second ice crystal snake was already within four or five meters of him.
Just as Chen Bugu was about to continue dodging, the second small snake suddenly exploded, transforming into a circle of cold mist that spread out.
Caught off guard, Chen Bugu's feet were touched by the cold mist, and frost actually formed, which disrupted Chen Bugu's rhythm.
The first ice crystal snake also seized the opportunity and quickly coiled around Chen Bugu's right leg.
The small snake exploded again, but this time it turned into clusters of black solid ice.
With his right foot trapped, he immediately felt his mental energy begin to drain.
Purple flames ignited in Chen Bugu's hand, and only then did the solid ice gradually melt away.
A Meng raised its head, its face full of pride and an expression waiting for praise, and walked towards Chen Bugu.
Before absorbing the Black Tortoise's beast spirit, A Meng's main attack method was to strike by generating ice spikes and ice cones, making its attack style relatively singular.
Now, the new skill is not only discreet in its release, making it difficult to detect and guard against, but also integrates control and area damage, coupled with the characteristics of “A Meng's” black ice, making it very flexible and practical.
However…
Why did this kid start playing with snakes…
And more than one at a time.
Chen Bugu stroked A Meng's head and threw the previously thawed jerky into its mouth.
“You little guy is so strong, next time you'll have to come out and 'work'.”
A Meng was too weak before, and could only hide in the pocket during battles, probably feeling stifled from not being able to help.
“Recall…Recall…”
A Meng nodded, its thoughts appearing in Chen Bugu's mind, and then it returned to its original size.
Chen Bugu understood A Meng's meaning and placed it in his clothes pocket.
Then, a teleportation crystal appeared in his hand.
With a slight squeeze of his right hand, the crystal shattered, and silver light flickered.
“Let's go, it's time to go back.”