40: Chapter 40, Small Equipment, Level 18!
Teacher Zhou was covered in blood, panting heavily, with blood still dripping from the Dragon claw on his right arm.
He turned his head to look at Lin Fan and grinned.
"The other one is taken care of. This one... shall I leave it to you?"
Lin Fan lay on the ground, looking at that punchable face, and suddenly laughed.
"Teacher, if you had been even a second later, I would have been done for."
Teacher Zhou pulled him up.
"But you aren't done for, are you? Alright, get lost, I'll handle this one."
He turned around, looked at the Iron-Armored Rhino King that had just climbed up from the ground, and stretched his neck.
"Come on, I'll play with you for five minutes."
Lin Fan led the four of them to retreat again, but this time, they did not run away.
They stood in the distance, watching Teacher Zhou beat up that Rank 25 Iron-Armored Rhino King all by himself.
Three minutes later, the Rhino King crashed to the ground.
Teacher Zhou stood between the two massive corpses, covered in blood, panting heavily.
He looked at the five people slumped on the ground and suddenly laughed.
"Five minutes, just as I said."
Xu Ziyan lay on the ground like a dead dog.
"I... I never want to see a rhinoceros again..."
Liu Xiaoman gasped for air, but her eyes held a smile.
"We... we actually survived..."
Chen Menger and Sun Wei supported each other, unable to even stand steadily, but their faces were filled with the excitement of having survived a disaster.
Lin Fan sat on the ground, looking at Teacher Zhou.
"Teacher, these two... who do they belong to?"
Teacher Zhou was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"They're yours! I don't lack this little bit of money!"
The corners of Lin Fan's mouth curled up.
"Then we're rich."
After coming out of the Secret Realm, everyone gave the Materials in their Storage Rings to Xu Ziyan.
His family specialized in the Materials business, so the price would only be high, not low.
As for the wood spirit fruit, it happened to be the Spirit Medicine used by wood-type Armor Spirits, and after Lin Fan paid the price difference to get it.
In the end, he actually received 50,000 yuan.
Counting this 50,000 yuan, he now had nearly 200,000 in his hands again.
In the days that followed, Lin Fan became completely busy, like a spinning top.
From Monday to Friday, he attended classes during the day and went to watch the shop at Mo Fan Pavilion after school.
On Saturdays, he spent the whole day at President Ye Wenyuan's place learning knowledge about being a Breeder.
On Sundays, he continued to watch the shop, occasionally taking a few small orders to help people check minor issues with their Armor Spirits to earn some pocket money.
Xu Ziyan wasn't idle either; besides helping watch the shop, he was also responsible for running errands to deliver Materials for his dad, and incidentally bringing customers to Mo Fan Pavilion.
"Lin Fan, Lin Fan, I brought another one yesterday! Her Fire-Tailed Fox is about to evolve, and she said she'll come to see you next week!"
Lin Fan leaned behind the counter without even raising his head.
"Alright, let her come."
Xu Ziyan leaned over, looking curious.
"You're so busy every day, aren't you afraid of being tired?"
Lin Fan glanced at him.
"I'm afraid of being tired. But I'm even more afraid of being poor."
Xu Ziyan thought about it and nodded in deep agreement.
Returning home at night, Lin Fan finally had time to do his own things.
He sat cross-legged on the bed and took the three wood spirit fruits out of his Storage Ring.
The pale green fruits emitted a delicate fragrance, and just smelling them made the Qi in his body circulate a bit faster.
Xiao Zhuang poked its head out from his wrist, its vertical pupils staring at the three fruits, flicking its tongue.
After these few days of Cultivate, Xiao Zhuang was already Rank 16.
He hadn't let Xiao Zhuang consume the wood spirit fruits right away; what he was waiting for was today.
Rank 16, plus these three wood spirit fruits, should be enough for it to Breakthrough to Rank 18.
That was exactly the Rank required for its evolution.
Lin Fan picked up a wood spirit fruit and passed it to its mouth.
Xiao Zhuang opened its mouth and swallowed it in one gulp.
A green light lit up.
The second one.
The third one.
The moment it swallowed it, Xiao Zhuang's entire body lit up, and the green light shone through the gaps in its scales, illuminating the entire room.
Lin Fan closed his eyes, feeling the surge of Qi in his body.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but the light gradually dissipated.
He opened his eyes and looked down at the back of his hand.
【Contracted Armor Beast: Green-Scaled Snake】
【Rank】: Rank 18
【Status】: Healthy, full of Qi, can evolve.
【Current Evolution Route】
1. Can evolve into Green-Scaled Python (Mystic Spirit Medium-Grade), requires consuming Green Spirit Fruit × 3, Water Spirit Stone × 5, Rank requirement Rank 18.
2. Hidden Route: Consume Moon Essence Grass × 1, Shadow Snake Gallbladder × 1, can evolve into Shadow Wood Spirit Snake (Mystic Spirit High-Grade), Rank requirement Rank 18.
Lin Fan stared at the two lines of evolution routes on the back of his hand, his eyebrows raised slightly.
He hardly hesitated.
"I'm definitely choosing the stronger one."
He carefully looked at the required Materials — Moon Essence Grass × 1, Shadow Snake Gallbladder × 1.
He knew about Moon Essence Grass; it was a type of Elementary Spiritual Plant.
But its growth environment was harsh, and it required a place with abundant moonlight and no human presence to grow.
It wasn't particularly rare on the market, but the price wasn't cheap either.
Shadow Snake Gallbladder...
Lin Fan frowned.
The Shadow Snake was a Mystic Spirit High-Grade Armor Beast, and it was adept at hiding and sneak attacks, making it extremely difficult to capture.
Its gallbladder was a core material for many evolution routes, and the price had always remained high.
And the Shadow Snake Gallbladder that Xiao Zhuang required needed to come from a Shadow Snake of around Rank 20.
The price would only be higher.
He took out his phone, opened the Materials trading platform, and entered "Moon Essence Grass".
The search results popped up — the average price was 80,000, and those in good condition could reach 100,000.
He entered "Shadow Snake Gallbladder" again, and after filtering by Rank.
He found that only three shops were selling it, with an average price of 100,000, and the stock was tight.
Lin Fan fell silent.
During this period, although he had income, it was all small business.
Plus, with him using one primary meditation potion a day, he now had just over 190,000 in his hands, at most.
Moon Essence Grass 80,000, Shadow Snake Gallbladder 100,000, adding up to 180,000.
After buying these two items, he would only have 10,000 left.
Lin Fan leaned against the headboard, looked at the ceiling, and remained silent for a full ten seconds.
Xiao Zhuang climbed down from his wrist, coiled on the pillow, and stared at him with its vertical pupils, as if waiting for his decision.
Lin Fan looked down at it.
"Do you know how expensive these two things are?"
Xiao Zhuang flicked its tongue.
Lin Fan sighed.
"Fine, I'll buy them."
He rolled out of bed, opened his phone, and started contacting the sellers.
Moon Essence Grass wasn't hard to find; he contacted a shop with a good reputation and arranged to pick it up the next day.
The Shadow Snake Gallbladder was a bit more troublesome; the stock was tight, and he only managed to snag the last one after adding 5,000 to the price.
The moment he transferred the money, Lin Fan winced in pain.
"180,000... just like that, it's gone..."
He looked at the balance on his phone.
There was 13,000 left.
He used to think 200,000 was a lot, but now he realized that on the path of an Armor Beast Master, 200,000 didn't count as money at all.
One primary meditation potion 10,000, one Moon Essence Grass 80,000, one Shadow Snake Gallbladder 100,000...
Money wasn't money; it was flowing water.
Lin Fan threw his phone aside and lay back on the bed.
Xiao Zhuang climbed back onto his wrist, its scales pressing against his skin, slightly warm.
Lin Fan looked down at it.
"If you aren't strong after evolving, I'll sell you."
Xiao Zhuang moved and tightened its coil around his wrist.
Lin Fan laughed.
"Alright, I'm just teasing you."
He closed his eyes.
Tomorrow he would go pick up the Materials and then help Xiao Zhuang evolve.