Chapter 29: Bribed Just Like That?

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Though the sun was shining brightly, the inside of the gymnasium was kept cool and breezy.

On Zone J, Stage 1.

Wang Che walked up to the arena with the green caterpillar.

“Hey, green caterpillar kid, I know you. Your name is Wang Che!”

The opponent immediately called out before the referee could even speak.

“I’m honored,” Wang Che replied.

The Triangular Rock had a pretty solid appearance.

Like its name suggested, this soul pet’s body was made out of three brown boulders arranged in the shape of triangles.

Its two eyes protruded from each of the rocks on the top of the triangle, whereas the mouth was affixed to the bottom rock.

On top of that, the rocks that comprised its body were not angular, but round.

When put together, this soul beast really did look like an oversized 3-D triangle. From the side however, it seemed more like a stone block that was dozens of centimeters thick.

Nevertheless, with just a glance, one could tell that it was extremely resilient and to some extent, indestructible.

With a soul power cultivation of about 45 years as well, the opponent’s Triangular Rock was nothing short of impressive.

After all, despite only being a normal soul pet, the Triangular Rock’s defense was especially outstanding.

“You’re going to lose this match.”

The opponent proclaimed mockingly, “A soul pet like a green caterpillar… Even with sixty to seventy years of soul power cultivation, it’s still weak. It won’t be able to break through my soul pet’s defense.”

Wang Che simply nodded as he replied, “I agree with you.”

“I’ve seen your last match, so don’t even think about trying the same move on my Triangular Rock. Since the size difference doesn’t work in your favour this time, your green caterpillar won’t be able to wrap itself around my Triangular Rock.”

His opponent continued.

Not waiting any longer, the referee took a quick glance at both sides before raising the flag in his hand.

“All contestants, please get into your positions!”

Wang Che cleared his throat as he patted the green caterpillar’s head.

“Ssss!”

The green caterpillar nodded back, as if reading Wang Che’s mind.

“Begin!”

The referee shouted.

The opponent immediately reacted once the word left the referee’s mouth.

“Triangular Rock, suppress it onto the ground! It may be fast, but we can exhaust a mere green caterpillar to its death…”

Before he could even finish speaking, the three large rocks merged seamlessly into a triangle and landed on the ground with a loud thud.

From the sound alone, one could tell how astonishing the weight of this Triangular Rock was!

“Charge!”

Wang Che instructed somewhat indifferently.

Right as it heard this order, the green caterpillar immediately straightened its body and launched itself towards its opponent.

Like a giant green python, it sped up faster by the second and turned into a blur as it charged forward.

“A frontal assault? I’m afraid it won’t work.”

His opponent laughed at Wang Che.

This was a Triangular Rock he was facing, one that had already steadied itself on the stage no less.

After all, a triangle was an extremely stable structure. Coupled with the Triangular Rock’s substantial weight, there was no practically no other soul pet with the same soul power cultivation that could topple or even move it.

This was even more true in the early stages, where soul pets didn’t have a single soul skill under their belts. As such, even without using any attribute attacks, the Triangular Rock could be considered one of the most troublesome soul pets to face in battle.

If they were to collide head-on like this, wouldn’t the green caterpillar be sent flying away by its own inertia?

Many spectators shook their heads at the thought of this.

Even the referee standing beside the contestants felt somewhat perplexed. To charge directly into it… wasn’t the caterpillar just asking for…

Yet.

At the very next moment!

The green caterpillar’s head smashed into the centre of the three triangular rocks!

Boom!

It sounded as if a mountain was being moved.

The Triangular Rock immediately let out a howl as it collided with the green caterpillar. Meanwhile, cracks began to appear on the surface of the three rocks that were stuck closely together.

After a dramatic pause, it was sent flying with the sound of a bang.

The audience could only stare with their jaws wide open as the Triangular Rock flew backwards.

Meanwhile, the green caterpillar casually rubbed the red bump that had swelled on its head with its tail.

Damn, it was so tough!

“Thanks for letting me win,” Wang Che whistled while waving at his opponent. “Let’s go.”

The green caterpillar followed him down the stage while rubbing its head repeatedly.

“Stage 1, No. 23… Victory!” The referee who had finally snapped awake announced hurriedly.

“How could this be…” Wang Che’s opponent was still standing on the platform in a daze. “Did this green caterpillar of his learn the Iron Head soul skill? It managed to release such tremendous power from an ordinary collision… Why? Was it because of the disparity in soul power? ”

…

Wang Che walked back to the waiting area and took a quick look at the time. It was already noon.

There was another match scheduled for him in the afternoon.

“Let’s eat first,” Wang Che said.

“Wait, boss! How is your green caterpillar so strong?” A contestant in the waiting area suddenly walked up to him and asked.

“The Triangular Rock…” Wang Che glanced at the eager contestant and casually replied, “It’s a soul pet formed by combining three large rocks. It’s very unique indeed. Though its defense is quite strong in its early stages, the Triangular Rock, like all other soul pets, is not without weaknesses. As long as you aim for its center of gravity and create a gap between the three rocks, it will easily lose its balance. Then, you’ll be able to send it flying.

“However, when the Triangular Rock reaches sixty years of cultivation and evolves into the Triangular Hard Rock, this weakness will disappear.”

The contestant muttered, “Is that so? It’s not written in the books…”

After a second, his face immediately lit up as he said excitedly,” Thank you big brother, I happen to have an opponent with a Triangular Rock soul pet in my next match as well…”

He walked away in great spirits.

“Ssss!”

The green caterpillar hissed at Wang Che.

‘You lied to him!’

“I didn’t lie to him,” Wang Che said as he cleared his throat. “As long as he has enough strength, he’ll be able to achieve the same effect. Let’s go eat first.”

The green caterpillar rolled his eyes at Wang Che.

It could only look on with pity as the contestant headed to his competition enthusiastically.

Technically speaking, Wang Che had been telling the truth.

However, he had conveniently left out the part about the strength requirement.

Even without using its tail, the green caterpillar’s headbutt had still packed quite a punch, since the Triangular Rock that stood unmoving on the stage was practically a live target.

In fact, Wang Che was more afraid that the green caterpillar would be able to smash the Triangular Rock into pieces with just a flick of its tail. That would definitely be troublesome if it were to happen in a competition.

As such, he had instructed it to charge ahead instead.

There was a dining hall set up in the gymnasium, where food would be provided for contestants free of charge. This seemed to make Wang Che feel quite happy.

“Wow, this green caterpillar is huge! Touch it~”

“Why aren’t you evolving?”

“Its evolution is the Green Nether Butterfly. Personally, I don’t like how it looks. I think it would be better not to evolve.”

“Such a big green caterpillar, it should be able to spit out a lot of silk, right? It’ll be able to earn so much money for you now!”

…

After walking around, Wang Che found a place to eat in the cafeteria while the green caterpillar relished on more leaves in the soul pet supply area.

There were also many other green caterpillars eating beside it.

Upon counting, Wang Che realised that there were about seven or eight of them.

“They’re all very lucky,” he exclaimed.

Anyone who owned a green caterpillar definitely did not purchase it willingly. They were more likely to be hatched from the free soul pet eggs distributed.

Even among the thousand participants present today, there were only seven to eight green caterpillars in sight…

After chewing on the leaves, Wang Che’s green caterpillar crawled out sheepishly from the group of green caterpillars.

“Useless,” Wang Che chided. “Since they’re of the same species as you, you should try to get along with them.”

The green caterpillar felt that there was something wrong with Wang Che.

It spat a leaf at his face in response, as if saying, “I don’t want to. Go ahead and allow yourself to be touched by them if you want.”

Just as Wang Che was about to speak, a voice suddenly sounded from behind them.

“Do you mind if I take a seat here?”

The voice was subtle, but it obviously belonged to a female.

When Wang Che turned around to take a look, he was greeted by a beautiful girl with fair skin and a graceful figure.

“No,” Wang Che replied firmly.

His many years of experience clearly indicated to him that this person did not have good intentions.

Nevertheless, the girl immediately sat down after she finished speaking.

“Thank you very much. I won’t stand on ceremony then,” said the girl.

Upon seeing this, the green caterpillar hissed, as if to say, ‘Get out of my way! That’s my seat!’

Without showing much of a reaction, the girl simply took out two fragrant leaves from her chest pocket and fed them to the green caterpillar, saying, “Little sweetheart, go over there and eat, okay?”

Though it seemed apprehensive at first, the green caterpillar’s eyes immediately lit up as it caught a whiff of the leaves’ scent. It bit on the leaves and ran to one side obediently.

Wang Che was at an utter loss of words.

She had managed to bribe it just like that?

As he stared at the green caterpillar’s back, Wang Che began to think.. It seems that he had to ramp up its training in the future.