Chapter 61: Chapter 60 The Emperor Crocodile of the Vast Sea
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Cangwu City.
From high above, one can see nine dragons-like rivers converge and thread through the city.
This place, where the Nine Rivers meet, has been rich in waters since ancient times. Yunze Lake of Great Xia is just south of Cangwu City.
The natural terrain has led the local Beast Tamers to specialize mainly in the Water Element, giving birth to more than a dozen small and large Water Element Beast Taming Noble Families.
Among them, the standout doubtless is the Qiu family from the southern crocodile clans.
“The Salty Bay Crocodile is southern, and our family’s crocodiles are water crocodiles. The Ning family from the northern crocodiles is known for the Rockspine Mountain Crocodile.”
“So the Rockspine Mountain Crocodile belongs to the northern crocodile Ning family.”
Chen Xing realized.
He had heard of the Rockspine Mountain Crocodile, a domestically famous crocodilian Beast Taming creature; he was naturally aware of it, especially since the Rockspine Mountain Crocodile, unlike ordinary crocodiles, is a land crocodile. Although it can swim, it’s mediocre in water, and it’s said that its Attribute is Earth.
It’s worth mentioning that the Rockspine Mountain Crocodile is not one of the fifty-six species of Beast Taming allowed by the state for free because, according to information online, Chen Xing found that Rockspine Mountain Crocodiles are stubborn and wary, not easily tamed, and for this reason, they missed out on the free Beast Taming species list by a single vote.
The airplane landed at Cangwu Airport, and as soon as it stopped, a black carriage came to a halt at the base of the long stairway extended from the plane.
Chen Xing looked in surprise at the two fine horses pulling the carriage in front of him, both of which were high-mountain sun horses with an Energy Level of 39.
The two high-mountain sun horses stood quietly and steadily in place. The coachman, wearing a long coat and a hat, held the reins while seated in the driver’s seat.
“Get on.”
Qiu Qiuyu led Chen Xing onto the carriage, and amidst the sound of horse hooves, the black carriage gradually moved away.
Behind them, other passengers on the plane watched in astonishment as the carriage entered the airport.
“That seems to be a carriage from the Qiu family,” someone knowledgeable recognized the family crest on the side of the carriage.
…
“This is the Qiu family estate.”
After crossing the drawbridge, the carriage smoothly entered a small island in the lake.
The journey gave Chen Xing the impression that the Qiu family appeared very wealthy.
Qiu Qiuyu said that this entire island belonged to the Qiu family estate.
Not just one island, but a part of islands.
Scattered about were a variety of big and small isles throughout this area.
The surrounding waters were interconnected, rich in aquatic plants.
From time to time, one could see crocodiles, shaped like coffin boards, floating on the water’s surface.
This place, referred to as a family residence, resembled more a super-large crocodile breeding base.
Once on the island, one could see free-ranging crocodiles everywhere; some even boldly lay right in the middle of the road! They resembled thick, black wooden logs blocking the path.
The carriage took a detour around the lawn and finally stopped in front of a low bungalow.
The bungalow was built by the water’s edge, next to which a dock had also been constructed.
From a distance, Chen Xing saw an old man scattering something into the lake.
When he heard a sound behind him, he turned his head, glanced behind him, and gestured with a wave.
“That’s my father, have a chat with him,” Qiu Qiuyu said to Chen Xing.
Up close, Chen Xing covertly scrutinized the old man before him. Was this short and thin old man the very person who had written about the Salty Bay Crocodile in the textbooks?
The short and thin old man smiled amiably and, pointing to a red bucket beside him filled with minced red meat, said, “Come, help me feed these little crocodiles.”
Chen Xing grabbed a handful of meat and threw it into the lake.
On the lake’s surface floated about a dozen or twenty large crocodiles.
Chen Xing recognized at a glance that these were all Salty Bay Crocodiles; he estimated that the smallest must be about fourteen or fifteen meters long, and the largest nearly twenty meters.
For Salty Bay Crocodiles, these sizes were definitely “over the standard.”
The books recorded that ordinary Salty Bay Crocodiles, after reaching adulthood, are 8-10 meters in body length and weigh between 2.5-5 tons. Here, the longest crocodile might be close to twice that length.
“Qiuyu must have told you before coming here,” the short and thin old man said with a smile.
“Ah?”
Chen Xing was full of confusion inside but didn’t say anything.
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On this entire journey, the two of them had not exchanged more than ten sentences.
“The evolutionary path of the Salty Bay Crocodile,” the old man reminded.
Chen Xing suddenly realized it was that, “Senior Qiu Qiuyu mentioned it before.”
“Yes, but over the years, the number of crocodiles in our family that can inherit this evolutionary path has been decreasing… None of these in front of us meet the standard,”
the old man said indifferently.
Chen Xing was shocked to his core. The longest of these Salty Bay Crocodiles was nearly twenty meters, and they still didn’t meet the standard?
How stringent were the standards for this evolutionary path, and moreover, this path even had requirements for body size, which was unheard of.
Seeing the surprise on Chen Xing’s face, the old man said, “There are common evolutions and rare evolutions for the evolutionary path.”
“Common evolution is the path that all Beast Tamers can choose, while rare evolutions place strict demands on the Beast Tamer’s own talent.”
“Typically, the most common requirement is a restriction on physical talent, for example, the evolution path of the Sea Emperor Crocodile requires the Salty Bay Crocodile stage to have a body length of at least over twenty meters.”
Chen Xing absorbed the new knowledge he gained.
Common evolution, rare evolution, Sea Emperor Crocodile, a body length of over twenty meters…
Honestly, Chen Xing wasn’t sure if Taotie’s body length could exceed twenty meters—before eating the Limit Supreme Volcano Grilled Cream Butter Steak.
He was also unsure whether Taotie’s current state was a result of premature development due to a nutrient-rich diet, or an increase in its growth potential.
But Chen Xing remembered that one of the effects of the Intermediate Carnivore Pet Meal seemed to include a phrase about long-term use having a certain optimizing effect on lineage.
Optimizing the lineage should also indirectly improve its aptitude, he thought.
“Qiu Qiuyu said your Beast Taming aptitude is exceptional, and I also used the education system’s internal privileges to check your Beast Taming ranking. Honestly, your Salty Bay Crocodile’s performance in the first month is only ranked nine hundred eighty-seven in the historical overall rankings, which, although not bad, is not that remarkable.
Your data for the second monthly exam was not recorded. I heard from Qiuyu that you went to the Secret Realm, which is why you missed the second monthly exam,”
“But I believe him. The youngest, he has no talent in developing Beast Tamers, but he has a good eye for business and people. He says… your Salty Bay Crocodile is better than any other in the family.”
“So I got curious… Now that you’ve finally come, can this old man take a look at your Beast Taming?”
Having already arrived at someone else’s family clan and also having requests of their own,
Chen Xing summoned Taotie on the spot.
Qiu Shangqing looked down at the nearly six-meter-long young crocodile in front of him.
He had seen countless Salty Bay Crocodiles of this size. But if you add an age before this size, it becomes a trump card.
Qiu Shangqing fixed his eyes on it for a while, his breathing suddenly became a bit rapid.
“How old is it now?”
“Two months and four days.”
Although he already knew the answer, having it confirmed once again left Qiu Shangqing somewhat dazed.
Two months, five meters nine.
Having raised crocodiles for so many years, Qiu Shangqing’s eyes were as accurate as a ruler with a margin of error less than three centimeters.
“Good, good, good,” Qiu Shangqing said three times in succession, his eyes gleaming like a gourmet who had come across exquisite delicacies, or a jade carver upon finding an exceptional piece of raw jade.
“Now that I’ve seen your Beast Taming, why not take a glance at this old man’s Beast Taming?”
Qiu Shangqing suddenly proposed.
“I would be delighted.”
No sooner had the words fallen than a thunderous tremor arose from the lake behind them, and a massive black figure broke through the surface of the water.
Thousands of tons of water were flipped up, and it happened to be noon with the sun overhead, the scorching sun shining brightly. Faced with the light, Chen Xing couldn’t help but squint his eyes.
Streams of water cascaded down from the sides like mini waterfalls, reminiscent of a large submarine emerging from the water.
The dark blue back was lined with sword-like spines that stretched from the head all the way to the tail.
The huge head surfaced, and it alone was bigger than the room Chen Xing lived in.
The giant crocodile emerged from the lake and step by step clambered onto the bank, treading on the adjacent lawn.
With each step it took, the ground beneath its feet trembled slightly.
“This is the Sea Emperor Crocodile.”