26: Both phantom cats were given away for nothing.
Facing this grand gift presented by the Phantom Cat Clan, Bai Ye's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.
And it was the Phantom Cat Clan, possessing both beauty and strength.
If he took this out, who knows how many Beast Tamers would be consumed by envy.
Bai Ye took a deep breath, not immediately reaching for the little white cat.
He looked down at Xiao Hei in his arms.
Xiao Hei was also looking up at him, its obsidian-like eyes showing a hint of anxiety.
It seemed afraid that Bai Ye would abandon it for a little white cat that looked prettier and had better talent.
Bai Ye smiled.
He reached out, not touching the little white cat, but gently rubbing Xiao Hei's head instead.
Then, pretending to observe carefully, he held the little white cat up in front of him.
illustrated compendium, activate!
[Name]: Phantom Cat
[Attribute]: Normal Type
[Gender]: Female
[Aptitude]: Commander Mid-Rank
[Rank]: Mortal Grade Low-Rank
[Skills]: Crying Sound (No Rank), Phantom Pupil (Initial Stage) (beginner), Shadow Clone (Mid-Rank) (beginner)
[Talents]: Telepathy (Blue), Nobility (Gray)
[Telepathy (Blue)]: Allows mental communication with intelligent beings, grants extremely high resistance and learning ability towards mental Skills, and has a chance to listen to the “Sound of Objects.”
[Nobility (Gray)]: Naturally arrogant, making it difficult to form deep bonds with non-kin species, enhances Innate Talent.
Bai Ye gasped as he looked at the little white cat's status panel.
Commander Mid-Rank, terrifying indeed!
This Aptitude was simply not something the Phantom Cat species should possess.
Furthermore, it had the blue Telepathy Talent. If it evolved into a Spirit Eye Cat, its future accomplishments would definitely be limitless.
It was far higher than his own rare Aptitude.
He looked at Xiao Hei, who was trembling nervously in his arms, and then at the little white cat with unlimited potential before him, and shook his head with a smile.
“Elder, I appreciate your kindness.”
Bai Ye looked up at the Spirit Eye Cat and said seriously.
“I already have a partner.”
He lifted Xiao Hei up so everyone could see it.
“Although it looks very weak now, its future accomplishments will definitely not be inferior to any beast pet.”
Xiao Hei was stunned.
It hadn't expected Bai Ye to reject such a great temptation for its sake.
“Meow...”
It pressed its head tightly against Bai Ye's face.
Everyone present was stunned.
Li Wei and the others looked at Bai Ye with great astonishment.
Rejecting a Phantom Cat with high potential to choose that black cat whose talent wasn't high to begin with?
How desperate must he be?
But upon second thought, Bai Ye was different from normal Beast Tamers.
He belonged to the type where great power belonged to himself; he could completely cultivate beast pets based on his own preferences.
The Spirit Eye Cat was also stunned, completely unexpected that Bai Ye would reject its granddaughter.
It gazed deeply at Bai Ye and the extremely excited little black cat in his arms, complex emotions flashing through its white pupils.
After a long time, it slowly spoke.
“It has been... a very long time since I've seen a human like you.”
It lowered its head toward Bai Ye again.
“However, you must accept this gift.”
“My granddaughter, only by following a human like you, can she walk toward a broader world.”
“Furthermore...”
The Spirit Eye Cat used its supernatural power to levitate itself.
It used its paw to rub Xiao Hei's head.
“No one ever said that a Beast Tamer can only take one Phantom Cat from the Phantom Cat Clan. My granddaughter can also become your backup partner; they can be very good companions.”
Since the words had reached this point, Bai Ye could no longer refuse.
Moreover, to be honest, he was genuinely tempted by that little white cat.
A beast pet with Commander Aptitude, capable of continuing to evolve upward.
Who wouldn't want that?
“Alright then.”
Bai Ye took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.
“I promise you, I will never mistreat either of them.”
“That is good.”
The Spirit Eye Cat's whiskers twitched, and it finally revealed a relieved smile.
Having two Phantom Cats win over a young man with immense potential was definitely a worthwhile deal.
When Bai Ye reaches Rank Two, his strength will definitely soar again.
At that time, Bai Ye would still be qualified to enter the Xuxia Forest.
Bai Ye gently took the little white cat.
The little fellow was a bit shy, curling up into a ball in his palm but showing no resistance.
He placed the little white cat on his right shoulder and put Xiao Hei back on his left shoulder.
The two kittens, one black and one white, curiously looked at each other and sniffed, creating an unusually harmonious scene.
The five university students were completely numb.
Fortunately, their heroic performance also earned the recognition of the Phantom Cat Clan.
When they took their Phantom Cat Cub, everyone was grinning ear to ear.
Assessment?
What Assessment?
Phantom Cats were not rigid Demonic Beasts.
Humans fought bloody battles for them, and then they would still make things difficult for them afterward.
The Phantom Cats felt that was too dark.
Bai Ye was satisfied and prepared to start the journey back.
“Student Bai Ye, wait a moment.”
Li Wei called out to him.
“I want to ask you to come with me to the Association base, if you can?”
With Bai Ye, this human killing machine, present, even if something went wrong at the base, they could retreat safely.
Bai Ye raised an eyebrow.
That's right.
He had been so focused on being happy that he forgot about this matter.
Logically, with such a huge commotion happening inside the Secret Realm, the internal base couldn't have failed to notice.
Yet there was no rescue.
“Brother Li, what do you mean?”
“You'll know if you follow me.”
Li Wei's expression was solemn, and he led Bai Ye toward another direction in the forest.
That was the special base established by the Beast Tamer Association inside the Xuxia Forest.
As for the others, they returned to the Phantom Meow village.
Their beast pets were too exhausted and unable to fight anymore.
Going together would likely be very dangerous.
Bai Ye followed Li Wei, passing through the dense forest.
The atmosphere was a bit heavy.
Bai Ye wasn't thinking too much and was teasing the two kittens on his shoulders with great interest.
He named the little white cat Phantom Snow.
Xiao Hei clearly felt the unfair treatment and kept pawing at his hair with its little claws.
Phantom Snow, however, was much quieter, only occasionally surveying the surroundings curiously with its golden eyes.
After walking for about an hour, an open area appeared before them.
The sight before them made both men stop in their tracks.
The metal base that should have been standing here had now become a ruin.
The sturdy alloy walls were covered with dense holes, as if they had been gnawed away by something.
Various sophisticated instruments and equipment had turned into a pile of scrap metal, scattered everywhere.
The air was filled with a pungent smell of blood.
“What exactly happened here?”
Li Wei's face turned ashen.
He quickly rushed into the ruins, shouting loudly:
“Old Zhang, Captain Wang, can you hear me?!”
No matter how he called out, the only response was silence.
“Be careful. Let's split up and search for survivors.”
Bai Ye followed him into the ruins, stepping on a twisted metal plate, his brows tightly furrowed.
These traces of destruction didn't look like they were caused by large Yao Beasts.
It looked more like countless tiny things had gnawed it away bit by bit.
“Cough, cough... Is that Li Wei?”
A weak voice came from beneath a pile of collapsed building materials.
Li Wei's spirits lifted, and he immediately rushed over.
Working together with the two Phantom Cats, they moved the heavy metal block.
A middle-aged man wearing the Association uniform, covered in blood, was leaning against the corner, gasping for breath.
His left leg was pinned under a steel plate, with broken bones protruding. Just looking at it caused a phantom pain.
“Old Zhang!”
When Li Wei saw him, his eyes turned red.
Bai Ye summoned Xiao Lan and immediately walked up to the man named Old Zhang.
“Fragrant Pollen.”
He released the pollen, scattering it around.
Old Zhang's wounds began to heal at a visible rate, and his pale complexion regained a hint of color.
But the Aromatic Pollen was powerless to help his broken left leg.
Bai Ye could only restore the surface skin and stop the bleeding for now.
“Such strong healing ability!”
Old Zhang felt the pain gradually disappearing and looked at the Ghost Orchid in Bai Ye's hand in shock.
Had this Ghost Orchid mutated?
“What exactly happened? Where are the others?”
Li Wei asked urgently.
“It was the Gold-Devouring White Ants.”
Old Zhang caught his breath, his voice filled with lingering fear.
“Just when the climate changed, tens of thousands of Gold-Devouring White Ants crawled out from underground and furiously attacked the base.”
“Gold-Devouring White Ants?”
Li Wei's pupils suddenly contracted.
“How is this possible! There are no such Demonic Beasts in the Xuxia Forest!”
The Gold-Devouring White Ant is a terrifying insect-type Demonic Beast that lives in the southern desert regions.
They feed on metal, have extremely strong reproductive capabilities, and once they form an ant tide, even Demonic Beasts at the Elite Limit must steer clear.
“We don't know how they appeared.”
Old Zhang shook his head bitterly.
“We fought desperately and finally managed to repel the ant tide, but Captain Wang sacrificed himself when the Ant Queen counterattacked in its final moments to cover us.”
By the end, the eyes of this tough man, who hadn't cried even with a broken leg, turned red.
Out of more than thirty garrison personnel in the entire base, fewer than ten survived.
It couldn't be such a coincidence.
Bai Ye picked up the remnant of a Gold-Devouring White Ant, broken into two pieces on the ground.
[Name]: Gold-Devouring White Ant Exoskeleton
[Quality]: Mortal Rank Incomplete
[Effect]: Can be integrated into metal to increase a certain degree of hardness.
[Suggestion]: Inferior Gold-Devouring White Ants raised artificially. Not recommended for use.
It was indeed man-made.
Thinking of the previous Great Horned Golden Scarab riot, and now the Gold-Devouring White Ants.
Someone was plotting behind the scenes.
“It's an Insect Master.”
Li Wei's voice was so cold it seemed to freeze.
“Only an Insect Master could silently release an Ant Queen into the Secret Realm and accurately control them to launch an attack when the master is not present in the Secret Realm.”
The Insect Master is a very special branch of the Beast Tamer profession.
They specialize in cultivating reproducible insect-type Demonic Beasts, and their methods are bizarre and impossible to guard against.
By cultivating just one Mother Insect, they can gain an army of bugs.
Because many Insect Masters act eccentrically and unscrupulously, their reputation among Beast Tamers is poor.
“Is the target perhaps the Phantom Cat Clan? No, it shouldn't be that simple. Could it be... the Secret Realm Core?!”
Li Wei roughly figured out the key.
Seizing the Secret Realm Core allows one to become the next Secret Realm Master.
The Beast Tamer who conquered the Xuxia Forest did not choose to become the Secret Realm Master, so the Secret Realm Core was entrusted to the Phantom Cat Clan for safekeeping.
First, they used the Great Horned Golden Scarab riot to deplete the strength of the Phantom Cat Clan and the Association.
Then, they released the Gold-Devouring White Ants to destroy the Association's base and cut off the Phantom Cat Clan's reinforcements.
Without these two forces, the Insect Master's Mother Insect could go seize the Secret Realm Core and become the new Secret Realm Master.
But there was a very important question: How did the Insect Master know that a major climate change would occur in the Secret Realm?
“Let's leave here first. This matter must be immediately reported to the higher-ups!”
Li Wei helped Old Zhang up and said to Student Bai Ye with a look of guilt.
“Student Bai Ye, I have to trouble you again this time.”
He was clearly the person in charge of the mission, yet he had to rely on a child to help him resolve it.