But it was not over.
As Xiao Zi detonated the strange bomb, the Rock Python Snake also used its skill, Rock Constriction, to attack Xiao Zi.
Suddenly, large rocks appeared around Xiao Zi. These rocks fitted together like gears, continuously squeezing towards Xiao Zi, as if to crush it into a pulp!
But Xiao Zi was not flustered at all. It did not dodge but used its Amplify skill, making itself several times larger than the Rock Python Snake, appearing like a giant beast. Then, it used its Crushing Gold Claws, unleashing ten times its power with a full-force strike, easily shattering the surrounding rocks.
Then, it swiped at the Rock Python Snake with another claw.
The Rock Python Snake wanted to dodge, but it was too late. Xiao Zi’s claw struck its head, and it fainted.
If not for the Rock Python Snake’s strong defense, Xiao Zi’s claw would have been enough to tear its head apart.
Everyone was stunned by this turn of events.
No one expected the reversal to be so swift. The Treasure Hunting Rat had defeated the Earth Quake Bear and the Rock Python Snake in the blink of an eye, making it feel somewhat unreal.
Soon, the referee teacher reacted and announced Zheng Dong’s victory.
As for the subsequent matches, because Ke Jun’s pet was too severely injured to continue, Principal Liu decided to award Ke Jun and Luo Hou joint second place, with the third place going to the long-haired girl.
This had no impact on Zheng Dong; his reward remained the evolution resources for the Treasure Hunting Rat.
On the award stage, Principal Liu looked at Zheng Dong and the others and smiled:
“You are truly enviable. If I had your talent when I was young, it would have been wonderful.
However, do not get complacent. I heard that in the other districts, several powerful geniuses have also emerged, and their strength is not weak. Among them is a pair of twin sisters whose contracted pets are close to Lord level. Therefore, the competition for this year’s Rookie King Tournament will surely be more intense than ever before.
After the graduation exam ends in the next couple of days, I will send the relevant information to you students participating in the Rookie King Tournament. By then, you all must study your opponents carefully and strive to achieve a good ranking in the Rookie King Tournament.”
Zheng Dong did not pay much attention to it.
He just hoped that Principal Liu would finish his rambling speech quickly, end the award ceremony, and let him go home to let Xiao Zi evolve.
He was eager to see if Xiao Zi would gain new skills after evolving.
However, it was already past six in the evening when Zheng Dong returned home.
After dinner and preparing everything, Zheng Dong had Xiao Zi evolve in the Beast Taming Space.
To help Xiao Zi evolve better, Zheng Dong also activated the Domain skill of his Beast Taming Talent.
He just didn’t know if the skill domain would help Xiao Zi’s evolution.
He felt it might increase the success rate of Xiao Zi’s evolution.
As for the method for the Treasure Hunting Rat to evolve into a Gold Devouring Rat, it had long been publicized and was simple: Xiao Zi needed to consume all the evolution resources one by one and then attempt to evolve.
As Xiao Zi attempted to evolve, white evolution light enveloped its body, lasting for over half an hour before the evolution was successful.
After evolving into a Gold Devouring Rat, Xiao Zi grew another size, appearing larger than an adult sea lion. Its purple-gold fur became longer and felt even more comfortable to the touch.
Most importantly, Xiao Zi awakened two new skills.
Impregnable: A high-tier Gold attribute skill. The user is protected by Gold attribute power, and their defensive capabilities are comprehensively enhanced.
Gold Devouring Body: A super-tier Gold attribute skill. The user can devour various metals and corresponding Gold attribute power, comprehensively strengthening their attributes and power.
At the same time, Xiao Zi’s growth level reached the Commander level.
It could now condense 365 clones when using the Shadow Clone skill, burrowed further with the Earth Evasion skill, and had stronger suppression abilities with the Shadow Control skill.
Zheng Dong also received corresponding feedback power due to Xiao Zi’s growth. His body became further strengthened, and he could effortlessly lift two to three hundred jin with one hand.
Although he was still not as strong as a Commander-level pet, he was much stronger than an ordinary transcendent-level pet.
Of course, he could not compare with special pets like dragons.
Furthermore, the Beast Taming Space was also further strengthened, increasing the number of skills that could be imprinted. The number of super-tier skills reached six, high-tier skills reached eight, and intermediate-tier skills reached fourteen.
The evolution was smoother than Zheng Dong had imagined.
However, it would be very difficult for the Gold Devouring Rat to evolve again, as there was currently no known evolution route.
If it could not evolve, Xiao Zi’s growth level would remain at the Commander level.
Therefore, Zheng Dong had to go to the Qin Emperor’s Ruins no matter what.
Next, he used his Beast Taming Talent to assist Xiao Zi in cultivating the two new skills, Impregnable and Gold Devouring Body, until they reached the beginner level before stopping.
The next day was the graduation exam.
The first day of the graduation exam was a knowledge-based test, covering theoretical knowledge related to beast taming.
The second day was the Beast Taming Talent test and pet ability test.
After a comprehensive evaluation, the school would issue a corresponding overall score.
This score was recognized throughout the entire Yanhuang Kingdom. With the score, one could participate in the entrance examination of a beast taming university, and passing the test would grant admission qualification.
However, if the score was too low, or if it did not meet the requirements of a certain university, one would not be eligible to participate in the entrance examination.
But if Zheng Dong won first place in the Rongcheng Rookie King Tournament, he would not need to participate in the entrance examination at all. Major prestigious beast taming universities would proactively invite Zheng Dong for admission without an examination and offer him high scholarships.
After the first day of the exam, Zheng Dong felt more exhausted than during outdoor training. He estimated that he would only get an above-average score, as theoretical knowledge was not his strong suit.
The second day was easier. He received the highest S+ rating for both the Beast Taming Talent test and the pet ability test.
His final overall score also reached S level, which allowed him to participate in the entrance examinations of any university.
However, the entrance examinations would only begin a month later. Everyone could participate in the examinations of multiple universities and choose the one they were most satisfied with in the end.
Next, he would wait for the Rongcheng Rookie King Tournament to begin.
Zheng Dong was not in a hurry. He stayed home to assist Xiao Zi in cultivating the two skills, Impregnable and Gold Devouring Body, and planned to go to Sky Monkey Mountain in a few days.
Sky Monkey Mountain was not far from Zheng Dong’s home. He could see it from the rooftop, but it would take over two hours to walk there.
At this moment, a group of strangers arrived at Sky Monkey Mountain.
Leading them was Professor Guo Lan, a professor from the Archaeology Department of Shendu University. The six or seven people behind her were her students.
Their purpose was to conduct archaeological research at Sky Monkey Mountain, searching for fossils of extraordinary creatures and excavating ruins left by extraordinary creatures from the Totem era.
In their archaeological work, they could not only use various advanced archaeological instruments but also utilize certain special abilities of pets and special beast-taming talents.
For example, Professor Guo Lan’s beast-taming talent was special telepathy, which allowed her to perceive traces of the passage of time and communicate with the past and present.
In simple terms, Professor Guo Lan could see real events that happened in the past through certain historical artifacts.
Therefore, they quickly found fossils of extraordinary creatures on Sky Monkey Mountain.
Unfortunately, the value of these fossils was not high.
A girl in yellow beside Professor Guo Lan could not help but frown.
“Grandma, our luck is not good this time. We only found fossils of ordinary extraordinary creatures, not even a Lord-level one, let alone a Totem-level one.”
The girl in yellow was named Xia Mengqiu. Not only was she Professor Guo Lan’s student, but she was also Professor Guo Lan’s granddaughter.
Professor Guo Lan was not in a hurry; she had encountered such situations many times.
“Don’t worry, keep looking slowly. There’s plenty of time!”
In the blink of an eye, more than a week passed.
Xia Mengqiu excitedly ran to Professor Guo Lan, holding a fossil.
“Grandma, look, what is this fossil? The energy fluctuation is very strong. It seems like Emperor-level, or perhaps Overlord-level, or even Totem-level.”
Upon seeing the black fossil, which was the size of a washbasin, Professor Guo Lan became interested. The other students around her also gathered.
Professor Guo Lan attempted to use her telepathy talent to sense the traces of time on the fossil.
Soon, there was a reaction.
Faint images gradually appeared before her eyes, as if watching a movie. She seemed to have returned to the Totem era and saw a powerful totem creature.
However, before she could get a clear look, the creature let out a deafening roar that echoed throughout the entire Anhe District.
Immediately after, a black vortex appeared above Sky Monkey Mountain and sucked in Professor Guo Lan and the others.
This was the entrance to a ruin space.
While deciphering the traces of time left by the fossil, Professor Guo Lan accidentally triggered a ruin from the Totem era, opening a ruin space.
They saw many extraordinary creatures from the Totem era before them.
Seeing these creatures, Xia Mengqiu and the others were not afraid but excited, feeling that their archaeological expedition had finally yielded results.
“Grandma, what kind of extraordinary creature’s ruin space is this?” Xia Mengqiu asked.
Many powerful extraordinary creatures would leave behind ruin spaces as a way to pass down their power to their descendants.
Professor Guo Lan had deciphered many similar ruin spaces before, but this time, she could not recognize the ruin space of which extraordinary creature it was.
She shook her head slightly and reminded Xia Mengqiu and the others to be careful.
Hundreds of extraordinary creatures that appeared around them had already surrounded them, including not only Lord-level ones but also many General and Monarch-level ones.
On the other side, Zheng Dong was also preparing to head to Sky Monkey Mountain for treasure hunting.
Like everyone else, he had heard the loud roar from Sky Monkey Mountain and didn’t know what had happened, but he intended to go and see.
He had already assisted Xiao Zi in cultivating Impregnable to the Master level and Gold Devouring Body to the Proficient level.
He had also imprinted these two skills.
Using Gold Devouring Body, he could also absorb Gold attribute power to strengthen himself and improve his physical resistance to damage.
The next day, around nine in the morning, Zheng Dong took a taxi to Sky Monkey Mountain.
Sky Monkey Mountain was not very high, with an altitude of over five hundred meters. From the sky, it looked like two monkeys fighting and playing together, embracing each other.
Zheng Dong summoned Xiao Zi and said with a smile:
“Don’t mess up this time. If we can’t find any resources, we’re not going back!”
Xiao Zi nodded excitedly and squeaked, indicating that it was no problem, as it was the future King of Treasure Hunting!
Xiao Zi’s treasure hunting talent had reached the Perfect level, making it more effective than the strongest resource-searching detection equipment.
Before long, Xiao Zi sensed a strong energy fluctuation and led Zheng Dong towards it.
They used the Earth Evasion skill all the way, and climbing the mountain was not much effort. They soon arrived at the place where Professor Guo Lan and the others had disappeared.
Xiao Zi immediately squeaked, signaling Zheng Dong to look at the ruin space entrance that had appeared above, like a black hole that had materialized out of thin air, hanging in mid-air.
The entrance was not very large. From a distance, it looked like a black dot, difficult to discern.
Within ten meters of the entrance, one would be sucked in and enter the ruin space.
Zheng Dong frowned.
He could not determine if there was any danger inside.
Moreover, someone had already entered, and he didn’t know if they were good people. It would be troublesome if he encountered people from the Ling Shen Cult.
After thinking for a moment, Zheng Dong decided to send a clone to check the situation.
Thus, he and Xiao Zi each condensed a clone and entered the ruin space.
Their clones were teleported to the vicinity of a swamp, with strange calls occasionally heard from around them.
Immediately after, a piece of information was also infused into Xiao Zi’s mind.
This was information related to the ruin’s trial.
The owner of this ruin was a top-tier totem from the Totem era, whose strength was close to that of a quasi-god.
Its inheritance target was extraordinary creatures of the rat species, such as Treasure Hunting Rats and Gold Devouring Rats.
As a Gold Devouring Rat, Xiao Zi’s clone entered the ruin space and was judged by the ruin space as an acceptable inheritor, thus obtaining the relevant information.
On the other hand, Professor Guo Lan and her group were judged as intruders. Not only did they not receive any information about the ruin space, but they were also attacked by the extraordinary creatures within the ruin space.
The treatment they received was completely different.
As for Zheng Dong’s clone, due to the contract relationship, it was judged as an appendage of Xiao Zi’s clone and was not attacked.
This was because, in the Totem era, humans had a much lower status than extraordinary creatures and existed by relying on them.
The trial content was also very simple: Xiao Zi needed to use its treasure hunting skills to find twelve ruin keys to gain recognition and receive the inheritance.
At the same time, Zheng Dong and Xiao Zi’s main bodies outside the ruin space also learned about the situation inside the ruin space through their clones.
Zheng Dong was somewhat surprised, feeling as if a pie had fallen from the sky and landed on his head.
However, this pie was not so easy to get. If the trial was not completed, they would not be able to leave and would be trapped inside forever.
Fortunately, Xiao Zi’s treasure hunting talent had reached the Perfect level, so it should be able to pass the trial.
Therefore, Zheng Dong then officially entered the ruin space with Xiao Zi.
They were also teleported to the vicinity of a swamp.
This swamp should be hiding the first ruin key.
To save time, Zheng Dong simply had Xiao Zi condense 365 clones to search together.
Before long, they found a black metal sphere in the swamp.
This was the first ruin key.
Next, they were teleported to an unremarkable mountain.
Below this mountain was a mineral vein, and the energy fluctuations were chaotic, easily interfering with Xiao Zi’s search for ruin keys.
However, it still did not stump Xiao Zi, it just took a little more time.
The subsequent trials gradually increased in difficulty, and finding the ruin keys became somewhat challenging even for Xiao Zi.