Chapter 35: Click Click

Mu Huiyue stayed at the East Bay Cemetery until the early hours of the morning, and only left when the sky began to brighten.

It was closer to her rented apartment next to the school, and she had been living in the dojo dormitory lately, so it felt like a long-awaited return as she prepared to catch up on some sleep.

Ellen’s evolution had also brought considerable benefits to her as a beast master.

The World Tree in the beast space had become even more lush, and Mu Huiyue’s physical condition had improved significantly.

The contract with the undead beast had granted her some regenerative healing abilities. Although it didn’t reach the level of the “Reorganization” skill, it far exceeded the self-healing speed of an ordinary human.

Now, even if she found herself stranded in a secret realm, she wouldn’t be as easily injured as before.

Digesting these physical benefits in her sleep went smoothly, and Mu Huiyue slept straight through to dinnertime that evening. She was awakened by her body’s hunger and caught a whiff of an enticing aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Rubbing her eyes, Mu Huiyue slipped on her slippers and walked to the kitchen door.

The tall, elegant skeleton dressed in a lace apron was cooking a delicious broth, presenting Mu Huiyue with a reliable and caring back.

The little cloud dog sat eagerly by his feet, gazing expectantly at Ellen’s movements, its cloud-like tail wagging behind it, clearly attracted by the aroma of the broth.

Hearing Mu Huiyue’s footsteps, Ellen turned around with a gentle click.

“Click, click.” (Perfect timing, Huiyue! It’ll be ready to drink soon.)

Mu Huiyue sat down at the dining table, just as eager as the little dog to taste Ellen’s cooking after his evolution.

The broth made from creamy white milk was soon served, with fine parsley floating on the snow-white surface, exuding a rich aroma that made one’s fingers itch with anticipation.

Ellen had also prepared bread for the beast master to dip in the broth, carefully cut into convenient sizes and served on a separate plate.

The portion for the little dog wasn’t as elaborate; it was simply and practically served in a large bowl.

However, the little dog didn’t care about those fancy details; after licking the first spoonful, it lost all sense of decorum and began to gulp down the broth, nearly burying its face in the bowl.

Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but take a big sip herself, and she was immediately taken aback.

To put it bluntly, Ellen’s culinary skills could easily outclass hers by a wide margin.

If Mu Huiyue’s cooking could be described as just passable home-cooked meals, then the apron-wearing skeleton in front of her was undoubtedly a five-star hotel chef.

“Click?” (How does it taste?)

Ellen’s clicking sound carried a hint of nervous embarrassment.

His impressions of human food all came from Mu Huiyue, and he couldn’t whip up anything fancy. He simply made a soup using the ingredients available in the fridge, something the beastmaster often cooked before.

“Super—delicious!” Mu Huiyue took another big sip, her eyes narrowing in happiness.

“Woof!” The little white dog, with a ring of creamy broth on its nose, lifted its head, indicating strong agreement.

Ellen’s jawbone slightly opened, revealing a smile that belonged to a skeleton.

After they were full, Ellen also took on the task of washing the dishes. Mu Huiyue lay on the couch, watching the apron-wearing skeleton bustling about, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration.

Although Ellen had always liked helping her with chores… he was just too considerate after his evolution.

Where did he hone such exquisite culinary skills?

Typically, the intelligence of extraordinary beings evolves alongside their racial level and growth tiers.

When he was in his little skeleton phase, Ellen was still like a naive child. But after evolving into the reliable and composed figure of the Emperor race, he completely felt like a dependable and appropriate adult.

Some of his traits that differed from his kind became more pronounced, like his always graceful posture and his stunning culinary skills.

…It must be due to that special experience in the secret realm of Count Xinglong?

Mu Huiyue thought to herself. After all, the little skeleton had been far more intelligent and agile from the very beginning, willing to actively approach humans and even daring to venture into the secret realm to obtain its core.

Speaking of the secret realm, Mu Huiyue suddenly recalled that when she had just woken up, she seemed to have seen an unread message on the investigator’s bracelet.

She opened the communication interface of the bracelet, and the messages were from the only contact in her address book, Xiang Xun, who had sent several messages while she was asleep.

[Xiang Xun: I just saw that a low-level Emperor race skeleton appeared in the internal database?!]

[Xiang Xun: Could it be that your little skeleton evolved?]

[Xiang Xun: I bet it’s definitely you.]

[Xiang Xun: I’ve never seen a skeleton with more potential than Ellen.]

Mu Huiyue raised an eyebrow and glanced at her own information record on the bracelet. Indeed, she had received reward points from the Bureau of Affairs for documenting a new entry in the encyclopedia.

It turned out that not only discovering new species but also recording existing species at different racial levels would be considered a new discovery for the encyclopedia, granting reward points from the Bureau of Affairs.

This meant that in the Bureau’s database, Ellen was the first to evolve to the Emperor race skeleton.

Although she had anticipated this, confirming it still put Mu Huiyue in a good mood.

Her Ellen truly was the most outstanding skeleton soldier.

Along with the reward points, there was also a window for submitting supplementary follow-up documentation.

If Mu Huiyue could provide detailed and stable methods for evolution, the ratings for the entire little skeleton race would change as a result.

After all, each stable evolutionary path to the Emperor race is a valuable source of productivity, especially for a low-level elite race like the little skeletons, which originally held no value.

However, Ellen’s situation was quite special. Mu Huiyue still didn’t know if there was a connection to the “Spirit Ranch Story” system behind his evolution into the Emperor race and the change in his core skills, so she decided not to submit the evolution data for now.

Only Xiang Xun, who had seen Ellen, could guess that it was her little skeleton who had evolved.

After thinking for a moment, Mu Huiyue sent a communication request to Xiang Xun.

The other party quickly connected, and the video box displayed Xiang Xun’s face, still wearing that exhausted expression as if he were about to collapse.

His long scarf was wrapped around his neck, covering most of his chin, making him look like he was about to sink into a pile of scarves.

“…So you’re contacting me now, and that Emperor race skeleton soldier is indeed Ellen, right?”

Xiang Xun spoke in a slightly hoarse voice. After receiving Mu Huiyue’s communication, he was even more certain of his previous guess.

Hearing his name, the apron-wearing skeleton appeared beside Mu Huiyue, showing a perfectly shaped skull and eye sockets burning with ethereal blue flames in the communication box.

“Clatter.”

“It’s definitely Ellen. To be honest, I’m surprised that Ellen evolved into the Emperor race at this stage…” Mu Huiyue replied.

“Investigators in secret realms often encounter rare opportunities,” Xiang Xun nodded but didn’t delve deeper. “My Huana also broke through her racial limits, evolving from a mid-level elite flower mantis into a mid-level Emperor race flower mantis.”

“In any case, you will participate in the national ranking competition for the vocational joint exam, right? With an Emperor race pet, you’ll have some competitiveness in the rankings…”

As Xiang Xun spoke, it seemed he recalled some unpleasant experiences, and his tired brows slightly furrowed.

“There’s less than a month left, so work hard, and don’t let those rotten kids from Hongzhou beat you.”

Hongzhou is located to the southeast of Xingzhou, not too far away, and is most famous for Hongzhou University.

If Mu Huiyue remembered correctly, Hongzhou University was the top university in the last round…

The champion of the national competition. Excellent high school students from this province who can participate in the national ranking competition have a high probability of entering Hongzhou University, making them strong competitors in the national competition against the capital university where Xiang Xun is.

“I’ll work hard,” Mu Huiyue nodded and said. “You must also be starting the preparation phase for the national competition, right?”

“The preliminary rounds have already begun.”

At the mention of this, there was a spark in Xiang Xun’s tired eyes. “All the matches will be livestreamed online, so wait to see my brave fighting stance.”

Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but chuckle. Xiang Xun’s exhausted working-student appearance was indeed more a reflection of his beast-taming talent’s traits; deep down, he was actually a young college student who loved battling and was full of curiosity about exploring secret realms.

After ending the communication, Mu Huiyue casually took out her tablet and opened the app of a well-known video website.

The homepage was displaying a huge promotional poster for the national competition schedule.

The national competition lasts about three months each year, with participants mostly representing their universities, battle clubs, and other organizations. There are few individual beast tamers who directly enter the competition.

The schedule begins with preliminary selection rounds within each province, where the top thirty-two competitors are chosen to advance to group matches, followed by an elimination round for the top eight.

Currently, the preliminary selection stage is still in its early phase, and spectator interest is average. Most people choose to watch highlight reels of the exciting battles during the preliminary rounds.

Mu Huiyue quickly found the section about Xiang Xun. He was a popular competitor for the Battle Club at the Capital University over the past two years. In addition to this year’s preliminary clips, there were also many highlights from previous years’ remarkable battles.

She clicked on this year’s preliminary match video. On the battlefield, a stunning mantis raised its sickle-like arms, moving so fast that the camera could barely keep up with it.

In a flash of black, the slicing force of the “One Slash” sent opponents tumbling to the ground, while the excited voice of the live commentator in the background grew hoarse with enthusiasm.

“One versus three!! Competitor Xiang Xun and his Flower Mantis achieve an astonishing record of one against three again!!”

“The power of ‘One Slash’ is unstoppable on this battlefield—!”

“Let’s congratulate Competitor Xiang Xun and the Capital University he represents for successfully advancing through the Jingzhou regional preliminaries!”

The entire audience cheered as Xiang Xun and his Flower Mantis simultaneously raised their right arms and sickles, waving at the audience.

Then, they approached each other, the human’s hand meeting the mantis’s sickle in a clap. Both showed bright smiles, the fighting spirit still evident in their expressions.

Seeing this scene, Mu Huiyue felt her heart warming slightly.

The victories achieved alongside her contracted partner filled her with yearning.

She also wanted to stand on that kind of battlefield.

“Click.”

“Woof!”

At some point, the little cloud dog and the skeletal soldier had gathered around the beast tamer, watching the battle in the video with her.

After witnessing Xiang Xun and the Flower Mantis celebrate their victory with a high-five, both of them couldn’t help but make sounds full of fighting spirit.

Mu Huiyue hugged them, one on each side, and smiled slightly. “Our current goal is the national ranking competition for the professional assessment. Let’s work hard together, Ellen and White Fang!”