Chapter 2720 - 2721: Difficult Choices

Feng Yuan knew he couldn’t make the decision for Xiao Ji, so he didn’t hesitate and said immediately

"How to go about it depends on Xiao Ji itself. The Ascension Challenge won’t be hard for it. As for the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound, there should be ways to get around the restrictions too. In the end it still depends on what they actually think."

Held in Feng Yuan’s arms, Xiao Ji was excited at first. Being able to raise its Order with no side effects was simply too good to be true for it. Only, it could sense that Feng Yuan’s mood was different from its own; it could feel Feng Yuan didn’t like this thing.

But there was one thing it had always hated: whenever Feng Yuan went through a battle, it couldn’t do anything. Though sometimes it could join in, it knew very clearly that was just Feng Yuan deliberately letting it participate.

If it weren’t there, Feng Yuan might even be able to finish things faster.

The Fluffy Fire Wolfhound, on the other hand, had nothing to hesitate about. Unlike Xiao Ji, it didn’t desperately pursue power. Now that it was being delivered to its door, it naturally couldn’t give it up, so it actually gave its answer before Xiao Ji.

"Xiao Ji seems to be torn."

Translating the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound’s words, Veronia looked at Xiao Ji in Feng Yuan’s arms and said. Up in the sky, the light-screen sphere exploded the instant it finished announcing the rewards and rules, and the scattered fragments swept across all the continents like a meteor shower.

Feng Yuan knew that those shooting across the heavens were the nodes used for the challenges. He didn’t stare fixedly at the meteor falling toward the Tea Wood Town Area; he knew others would definitely be watching where those things landed. If he wanted to find them, he just needed to ask the Special Duty Team.

As for how the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound would pass its trial? Feng Yuan couldn’t be sure how hard the trial would be, but he could be sure of one thing: he could use the Taming Beast Contract to transmit power to the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound.

Normally, it was the Tamed Beasts lending their power to the Beastmaster. But in Feng Yuan and the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound’s case, their strength was reversed—Feng Yuan’s power far surpassed that of the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound.

He only needed to use the Taming Beast Contract to lend his power in reverse to the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound, and the other party could rely on Feng Yuan’s strength to break through the trial. After all, the trial itself couldn’t possibly exceed the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound’s own limits—otherwise there would be no way to pass it at all.

As for bringing in other external powers? Feng Yuan believed that a trial tied to such a powerful reward wouldn’t leave that kind of loophole. The reason he dared to pull this stunt was because the essence of his power was higher than that of this world.

As long as Feng Yuan wished, that power could slip past the world’s own detection mechanisms without being noticed, a rather peculiar kind of cheating method.

"Phew～looks like it’s over. I’m going back to catch up on sleep first. Getting jolted awake by this first thing in the morning is really annoying."

Yawning, Feng Yuan said this as he set Xiao Ji down and walked toward his room. Being startled awake by this at dawn—if it hadn’t involved Xiao Ji, Feng Yuan might just have taken a glance and gone back to sleep.

Now that things were over and Xiao Ji still hadn’t made its decision, as for the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound? Those things hadn’t even landed yet, and even if they had, Feng Yuan wouldn’t rush to the site immediately, because he didn’t even know what the trial was.

Though he had the strength, there was still the possibility the trial would test other aspects. Feng Yuan planned to wait until the official people figured it out before going to try.

He wasn’t worried about Xiao Ji; with its strength, it could pass no matter what. The only troublesome one was the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound. Lending it his power wouldn’t be unlimited; at the very least, Feng Yuan couldn’t lend it too much power. If he did, the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound itself wouldn’t be able to control it—its claws might even rip open space when it walked.

Feng Yuan left, but Xiao Ji didn’t immediately follow him back to the room. It just stood on the corridor, staring up at the sky in a daze. Veronia gave a soft hum and drifted over beside it, saying

"Hesitating, are you?"

Xiao Ji glanced at Veronia and gave a call, then looked in the direction of Feng Yuan’s room. Veronia cleared her throat lightly and said

"I’m not going to give you any advice. A decision like this has to come from your own heart. After you evolve, even if you can still take on the Eggshell Chicken form, your current appearance won’t remain."

"What’s more, once your Order gets high enough, you yourself will avoid using the Eggshell Chicken form."

"Clinging to his side, continuing to be a well‑behaved baby, or growing into an eagle that soars through the blue sky—both are your own choices. Once you take that step, you can’t regret it."

Veronia knew very well what Xiao Ji was struggling with. She wouldn’t give any directional advice, because her views were much the same as Feng Yuan’s: evolution can’t be taken back. Unless the decision is made by oneself, taking someone else’s suggestion will only make you turn against them later when you regret it.

She didn’t want to provoke Xiao Ji. Even if its strength wasn’t great right now, it was bound to become a Top-level Divine Beast in the future. When that time came, if Xiao Ji kept causing her trouble, she’d be annoyed too.

"Power represents growth, and growth inevitably comes with change. Everything you once knew changes or even disappears. How to choose...is up to you. After all, this step...you’ll have to take it sooner or later."

With that, Veronia drifted off without lingering. She didn’t want to stay here—if Xiao Ji insisted on making her decide, wouldn’t that be asking for trouble? Thinking of something, Veronia casually took the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound along. As for Tamur?

She trusted that charlatan. Even if Tamur got dragged into this, someone who could glimpse the future would be better than Veronia herself at answering this question.

The Fluffy Fire Wolfhound didn’t understand why Veronia was calling it away and simply trailed after her step by step. It glanced around curiously from time to time, and after a while Veronia spoke to it without looking back

"That’s enough. Wander around the village on your own, and don’t give Xiao Ji any decisive advice."

Staring at Veronia in confusion, the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound didn’t understand what she was saying. Helpless, Veronia had to switch to a way the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound could understand to warn it not to interfere in Xiao Ji’s decision.

The sudden reward disturbed more than just the peace of Li Mountain Village; the entire Main World grew restless because of this reward. Those who hadn’t joined the United Army, those who hadn’t gone to the front lines, all inevitably regretted it now.

As for those challenges that fell from the sky, they were grasped by the local authorities everywhere almost immediately. But considering various factors, they didn’t seal them off, only sent people in to investigate.

There was no helping it. Gaining fifty years of growth with no side effects was something that could easily drive Beastmasters mad. They simply couldn’t stop those Beastmasters who were losing their minds over it.

All they could do now was try their best to maintain order—at the very least, keep those Beastmasters on the verge of going crazy from fighting each other in front of the challenge sites.

While Feng Yuan was catching up on sleep, quite a few malignant incidents had already broken out at those challenge locations. There was no helping it; when too many Beastmasters crowded together, this kind of thing was bound to happen.

Especially this time, the first ones to gather were that group of powerful Beastmasters. As for the weaker ones? Aside from the official personnel, most of them knew better. They understood that squeezing in at a time like this wouldn’t lead to any good outcome.

Instead, it was the strong Beastmasters who wanted to get their hands on the Ascension Stones as soon as possible. Only after the stones were in their own hands, even used, could they be at ease. Until then, they would constantly worry about accidents.

The chaos in the rear didn’t affect the front lines. The United Army was still steadily advancing, because they didn’t know anything about the reward.

Qi Chen’s group were of course aware of this thing, but they had no intention of joining the crowd. For one, their current unit was still in the middle of a mission—this was a mission to protect the city they lived in, and they couldn’t abandon it and run off.

For another, they knew full well this thing was anything but simple. Whether you went early or late, the difficulty probably wouldn’t differ much. Going later meant you could get intel gathered by those who went in first.

But judging from their previous experiences, they believed that intel wouldn’t mean much. This kind of trial likely required solid, real strength.

If your strength was lacking, no fancy tricks would help, especially with something like the Ascension Stone. Even Qi Chen’s group couldn’t help but be tempted. There was no helping it—fifty years of strength growth with no side effects was no joke.

Even ordinary people—if their Tamed Beasts got the Ascension Stone, they could reconnect the Beastmaster path that had already been cut off, let alone someone like Qi Chen’s group.

Of course, that was just an example. Qi Chen and Dou Yanlan knew very clearly that, as for the trial’s difficulty, forget ordinary people—even powerful Beastmasters would likely have a hard time.

Such a formidable effect was bound to be matched by extremely high difficulty. Even Qi Chen’s group didn’t dare guarantee they could pass the trial.

But to say this was a reward based on talent? That wasn’t quite it either. Don’t forget, the United Army Warriors at the front lines were getting Ascension Stones unconditionally.

Only, Qi Chen and Dou Yanlan were both thinking about one issue: the hidden danger within that, and how the United Army was going to handle it.