Chapter 153: Strength Changes
Since greed had arisen in their hearts, they naturally had to bear the corresponding consequences.
Zhou Ming felt not the slightest psychological burden over slaughtering Zhao Dezhu and the others.
Just as he was about to return and clean up the traces left behind by the class advancement ritual, he suddenly halted and looked toward the snowy ground.
“Eh, I didn’t expect there to still be such tenacious little fellows alive.”
“I just lost a few Ironthread Snakes—let you make up for the vacancies.”
Among the countless Ironthread Snake corpses on the ground, Zhou Ming sensed that three Ironthread Snakes still retained signs of life.
“As expected, all of them are second-stage mutated Ironthread Snakes.”
Three Ironthread Snakes frozen stiff like icicles appeared in Zhou Ming’s hands.
One was about a foot long. Its body was covered in dense gray snake scales, looking no different from an ordinary Ironthread Snake, but a very tiny bone spike had grown on its head.
The second Ironthread Snake was relatively larger, about two feet long. Its dense scales displayed interwoven red and green patterns, and Zhou Ming could clearly sense that this Ironthread Snake possessed fierce venom.
The third Ironthread Snake was the largest, already exceeding one meter in length. Although its scales were still gray, they were extraordinarily hard, and its muscles were exceptionally developed.
Among many snake species—or rather, among mutated creatures—Ironthread Snakes had the highest probability of undergoing a second mutation.
However, because their foundation was too weak, the probability of second-stage mutated Ironthread Snakes surviving was also the lowest.
This situation might have been an invisible restraint of natural laws, but once they fell into Zhou Ming’s hands, things became completely different.
The frozen-stiff Ironthread Snakes quickly regained their vitality with Zhou Ming’s help.
The three Ironthread Snakes had not yet been implanted with Spiritual Seeds, yet when facing Zhou Ming they were unusually excited, showing not the slightest intention of harming him.
Facing the Ironthread Snakes constantly twisting around his arm, Zhou Ming revealed a gentle smile.
“You three little fellows—hopefully you can accompany me to the very end.”
Compared to ordinary Ironthread Snakes, Zhou Ming was even more fond of second-stage mutated Ironthread Snakes.
With a thought, three Spiritual Seeds that had automatically condensed within his Spiritual Sea shot out from between his brows.
Faced with the Spiritual Seeds, the three second-stage mutated Ironthread Snakes not only showed no resistance, but actively accepted them, as if this were Zhou Ming’s gift to them.
“From now on, you three will be called Golden Horn, Colorful Scales, and Iron Block.”
When Zhou Ming named the three Ironthread Snakes, he also conveyed the meanings to them through Spiritual Threads.
Having gained names, the three Ironthread Snakes continuously flicked their tongues, waves of joyful emotions constantly transmitting back to Zhou Ming.
At this moment, Silver Scale, Vermilion Jade, and Inkband had already appeared beside Zhou Ming.
Especially Silver Scale—its massive body crouched low as it examined the companions before it that looked like tiny worms.
“You three, don’t scare your companions.”
Seeing Silver Scale and the others come over to join the fun, Zhou Ming flicked each of the three Ironthread Snakes on the forehead.
Afterward, Zhou Ming stored the Ironthread Snake group into his Beast Taming Space, leaving only Golden Horn and the others behind, because he intended to enhance the strength of the three Ironthread Snakes.
Returning to the rock cave, and confirming that the dried-up blood pool still retained residual energy, Zhou Ming immediately extended his right hand.
As a hissing sound appeared, a snake head phantom emerged on his hand.
The phantom opened its snake maw, and a devouring intent surged forth.
Threads of blood-colored mist gathered into the snake maw, ultimately forming a quail-egg-sized blood sphere.
The three Ironthread Snakes immediately transmitted eager emotions toward Zhou Ming, clearly wanting to swallow the blood essence that would benefit them.
“Don’t rush.”
Zhou Ming gently patted the three restless little fellows with his left hand, then used his left index finger to cut open the palm of his right hand.
The energy essence from the blood pool and his own blood merged together, ultimately condensing into three soybean-sized drops of blood essence.
“Eat. Let me see just how high your potential truly is.”
The three little fellows impatiently swallowed the blood essence. In fewer than several breaths, the aura around them began to change.
Seeing this, Zhou Ming immediately sat cross-legged, closing his eyes as he used his Spiritual Power to assist Golden Horn and the others in their transformation.
Compared to the first time he helped Inkband transform, Zhou Ming was clearly much more at ease this time.
When facing problems related to bloodline genes, he was no longer completely clueless, relying on guesswork to complete the Ironthread Snakes’ transformation.
Half an hour later, three brand-new Ironthread Snakes appeared within the rock cave.
Golden Horn became two meters long, with black scales and a ten-centimeter-long golden horn atop its head.
Its attack method involved compressing its body like a spring, then slamming into its target like a crossbow bolt.
Zhou Ming conducted a simple test—Golden Horn launched an attack at the rock wall, with half its body embedding directly into the stone.
Colorful Scales’ body size also increased to three meters. Its red and green coloration was exceptionally vivid, its scales appearing as though carved from red and green jade.
Its attack method was to spray highly corrosive venom, which had additional damage against flesh and blood, while being relatively ineffective against ordinary objects.
As for Iron Block, it had now become an existence second only to Silver Scale, with a body length of around five meters and a thickness like a thigh.
Its attack method was simple—swinging its tail. The force could shatter steel, and its defensive power was second only to Silver Scale.
The three Ironthread Snakes had now all become low-tier Ferocious Beasts. Catching up to Inkband and the others was only a matter of time.
After Golden Horn and the others completed their transformation, a wave of hunger was transmitted to Zhou Ming.
“Go outside and feed.”
Zhou Ming had no intention of wasting the Ironthread Snake corpses outside the cave. Perhaps helping Golden Horn and the others improve their strength—this was the greatest meaning those Ironthread Snakes could have.
After Golden Horn and the others left, Zhou Ming finally began to sort through the specific changes after his promotion to Professional Beast Tamer.
The first was human–snake fusion. This fusion was not a simple fusion of flesh and blood, but a deeper, source-level fusion.
Thus, even though a twenty-meter-long giant python entered Zhou Ming’s body, it did not cause his physique to swell enormously, but instead provided him with greater strength.
The second was the theft of bloodlines. Relying on the class advancement ritual, as well as the Snake Swarm Will and the Secret Technique · Blood Descendant, Zhou Ming gradually obtained the Ironthread Snake bloodline.
However, this bloodline was not that of an ordinary Ironthread Snake. It was more like an evolved imperial bloodline, simultaneously granting a series of abilities, such as molting to heal injuries and spewing poisonous mist.
The third was the change in the Dark-gold Serpent Pupils. A total of three innate abilities were nurtured, which Zhou Ming named Serpent Devour, Descend Spirit, and Throne.
Serpent Devour was influenced by the White Bone Contemplation Meditation Method. It transformed Spiritual Power into countless black snakes that attacked the target’s mental consciousness, while also plunging them into the illusion of ten thousand snakes devouring them.
Descend Spirit was influenced by the bloodline. It allowed Zhou Ming to project his consciousness onto his beast companions. At present, it possessed the ability of shared vision, and in the future it could evolve into the existence of avatars.
Throne was influenced by the Snake Swarm Will. It could impose mental intimidation and pressure on targets, inducing fear. Against snake-type creatures and targets whose life level was lower than Zhou Ming’s, it had additional bonuses. It could be considered an area-of-effect control ability.
The above were the concrete changes after Zhou Ming advanced to Professional Beast Tamer. As for other abilities, he would need to learn them later.
After sorting through his changes, Zhou Ming immediately destroyed the rock cave where the class advancement ritual had been set up, then donned his clothes and appeared within the valley.