23: Chapter 23 Stunt Flight

The next morning, Qin Ce ate a simple meal in his suite and set out to start a new day of training.

Although he had gained a huge amount of points on the first day, creating a massive gap between him and the average student, this was not his true intention. His real goal had always been to rapidly improve his strength.

Yesterday, Qingluan hunted more than thirty demonic beasts, but its experience points only increased by about 380, leaving it still some distance away from Black Iron Mid-grade. To promote, it would need to work hard for a while longer.

In the days that followed, Qin Ce's life was regular and efficient.

One day, he attended the intensive training courses, which were an excellent opportunity for him to review and verify his findings; the other day, he would take Qingluan deep into the wilderness for high-intensity hunting.

Consequently, Qin Ce's hunting efficiency was shockingly high.

Relying on Qingluan's Bronze Rank combat power and the tenfold amplification of "Nine-fold Azure Sky," the black iron rank demonic beasts had no power to fight back against him. He quickly figured out the distribution patterns of all the demonic beasts in this area and planned the most efficient hunting route.

On the afternoon of the fifteenth day, when Qin Ce finished clearing out the last Giant-Legged Rabbit nest in the northwest corner of the base, a system prompt sounded in his mind:

[Qingluan's experience points are full, level promoted: Black Iron Low-Grade → Black Iron Mid-grade]

Qingluan, on his shoulder, let out a happy chirp. Its body size visibly grew by a circle, its wingspan increased from about one meter to one and a half meters, the luster of its feathers became brighter, and the spirituality within its cyan-gold pupils grew even more intense.

Almost simultaneously, Qin Ce felt his Beast Tamer power surge, and a stronger warm current poured into his limbs and bones—his strength, speed, endurance, and even his perception and control of wind elements were significantly improved. The strengthening of his physical fitness was all-encompassing; he even felt that his five senses were more acute.

[Host's level synchronized and promoted: Black Iron Low-Grade → Black Iron Mid-grade]

This was a characteristic of the Beast Tamer system—before reaching the Star-Glow Rank, the Beast Tamer's level increases in synchronization with their strongest Pet Beast. Every time it levels up, all contracted Pet Beasts feed back energy, enhancing the Beast Tamer's physique.

As for the power that can be borrowed during battle, it can be switched at any time, but only one Pet Beast's attributes can be invoked at once. Therefore, before reaching the Star-Glow Rank and opening up a Beast Taming Space, a Beast Tamer's paper strength in actual combat—energy intensity and skill power—is basically equivalent to the currently activated Pet Beast, with the only difference being combat techniques and tactical application.

"So at this stage, my actual combat power is equal to Qingluan's combat power," Qin Ce analyzed. "But combat techniques and tactical command still require my own practice."

After all, the Beast Tamer themselves is an important part of the combat system and cannot rely entirely on the Pet Beast.

He looked at Qingluan, which had promoted to Black Iron Mid-grade. The little guy's combat power should be invincible among the black iron rank now; combined with the "Nine-fold Azure Sky" talent, it could even threaten bronze low-grade demonic beasts.

But what about Qin Ce himself?

If he left Qingluan, how much of his actual combat ability would remain?

This question made Qin Ce vigilant. A Beast Tamer and their Pet Beast are in a symbiotic relationship, but one cannot rely entirely on the Pet Beast. There were many precedents in history of powerful Beast Tamers being assassinated—the enemy only needed to take out the Beast Tamer first, and no matter how strong the Pet Beast was, it would be useless.

"From today on, we're adjusting the training focus," Qin Ce said to Qingluan. "You provide support, I'll take the lead in attacking."

Qingluan tilted its head, seemingly puzzled, but still chirped obediently to show its agreement.

Thus, the subsequent hunting became "inefficient."

Qin Ce no longer let Qingluan kill the demonic beasts instantly; instead, he went first, and Qingluan was responsible for containment, harassment, and finishing blows. He used this to practice basic combat techniques, familiarize himself with the use of wind-type energy in battle, and hone his combat instincts.

At first, it was quite messy. black iron rank demonic beasts were exceptionally fierce, and Qin Ce nearly got injured several times, relying entirely on Qingluan's timely rescue.

But the progress was also obvious.

On the fifth day, Qin Ce could already handle a Black Iron Low-Grade Giant-Legged Rabbit on his own; although he fought messily, he could eventually win.

On the seventh day, with Qingluan's limited assistance, he was able to kill a Black Iron Mid-grade Blood Wolf.

On the tenth day, an accident occurred during a hunt.

Qin Ce was grappling with a Black Iron Mid-grade Blood Wolf when another Black Iron High-grade Blood Wolf suddenly pounced from the bushes on the side!

An ambush!

The timing was extremely precise, just at the moment when Qin Ce's old strength was exhausted and his new strength had not yet arisen.

The Blood Wolf bared its fangs, biting straight at Qin Ce's throat!

"Qingluan!"

Qin Ce shouted urgently, but Qingluan was currently containing the previous Blood Wolf and could not come to the rescue in time.

At the critical moment, Qingluan let out a sharp cry and flapped its wings violently. It didn't attack the Blood Wolf, but instead—

It dove down, its sharp claws grabbing Qin Ce's shoulders!

"Pfft!"

The Blood Wolf's fangs grazed Qin Ce's calf, tearing open a bloody wound. But Qin Ce had already been lifted off the ground by Qingluan, rising to the air more than three meters high!

The Blood Wolf pounced into the air and raised its head to let out an unwilling roar.

Qin Ce hung in mid-air, his heart pounding wildly.

He looked down at Qingluan, which was grabbing his shoulders. The little guy was flapping its wings with all its might; it was clearly extremely strenuous to carry him, but it had actually succeeded!

"You can carry me while flying?" Qin Ce was both surprised and delighted.

Qingluan chirped, as if saying, "Of course I can."

This sudden method of "flying" gave Qin Ce a shock, followed by an upsurge of wild joy—Qingluan's strength was actually enough to briefly carry him!

After landing safely, Qin Ce and Qingluan worked together to quickly finish off those two cunning Blood Wolves.

As soon as the battle ended, Qin Ce immediately began practicing this "grabbing-style flight" with Qingluan.

At first, Qingluan couldn't control its strength and balance well, and Qin Ce's shoulders and back were grabbed until they hurt. But Qingluan was intelligent, and Qin Ce's learning ability was also strong. Coupled with the advantage of precise energy control brought by the "Nine-fold Azure Sky" talent, the human and bird quickly mastered the trick.

Qingluan's claws found the best position to hook onto Qin Ce's shoulders and back, and relying on its powerful wing strength, it was already able to carry Qin Ce for short-distance, low-altitude high-speed movement and flexible turning!

As their tacit understanding improved and Qingluan's control over its strength became more precise, the duration of carrying him in flight became longer and longer, and the altitude and speed also gradually increased. From the initial one meter off the ground, wobbling for a dozen meters, they could later steadily rise to a height of one hundred meters and cruise for several miles.

This was simply a divine skill for combat and traveling!

It not only greatly enhanced Qin Ce's mobility and survival ability, but also made their tactical cooperation increasingly diverse. Qin Ce could easily cross terrain obstacles, look down from the air to discover prey or dangers in advance; he could quickly reach more distant hunting areas; even if he encountered an unwinnable battle or a dangerous situation, he could quickly disengage using the flight ability. Although Qingluan's physical exertion increased, the number of battles and safety were greatly improved, and the acquisition speed of experience points was actually faster.

In the training base, other students often saw a blue shadow grabbing a young man, sweeping across the wilderness, sometimes diving, sometimes circling, as swift as the wind.

Envy was no longer enough to describe their feelings; it was simply looking up in awe!

Flight ability was undoubtedly a strategic advantage among low-rank Beast Tamers.

"I've decided! When I reach the Bronze Rank and can contract a second Pet Beast, I must get a flying pet!"

"Who doesn't want to? But do you know how rare flying Pet Beast eggs are?"

"Look at Qin Ce... comparing people just makes one angry!"

Qin Ce turned a deaf ear to this; he and Qingluan were immersed in the joy of their strength rapidly improving. The human and bird were steadily moving towards Black Iron High-grade, and the bond and tacit understanding forged in the day-after-day of soaring and fighting side-by-side were also becoming deeper and more solid.