Heavenly Jewel Change

Just as Zhou Weiqing was getting nervous from being stared at and examined by Crow, he felt something twitch and shudder in his bosom. Almost at the same time, a low wuuu wuuu sound rang out, and the Little White Tiger, Fat Cat, sprang out from his arms.

Being carried around by Zhou Weiqing all day, naturally everyone had already seen Fat Cat. In their eyes, although it was rather unique looking, it looked extremely young, and seemed to be just any ordinary young Heavenly Beast, and no one paid it much heed.

As soon as Fat Cat jumped out, Zhou Weiqing immediately sensed that something was wrong. That was because as it leapt out, it landed straight on the broad neck of the horse, its fur standing out and its body shuddering intensely, as if suffering great pain. Its deep blue lines on the fur seeming to twist and turn strangely, almost as if they were alive as an eerie light glowed forth.

Seeing the glowing patterns, Zhou Weiqing was immediately reminded of the tiger tattoos around his body when he went into the Demonic Change State. However, the aura around Fat Cat’s body was vastly different from when he was in that State, without any sense of the Evil or Demonic Attribute. In contrast, there was a strangely refreshing light scent from its body. At the same time, Zhou Weiqing could also hear a cracking sound from its bones.

*Rooarr* A low cry rang out from Fat Cat’s little throat.

The eight horses carrying the team immediately fell to the ground upon hearing the cry, paralysed on the ground without even a sound, their mouths frothing and mixed with blood.

Luckily, all of them were skilled Heavenly Jewel Masters, and although they had been caught by surprise, they were still able to vault off the horses in time to their feet, staring at each other in confusion.

Zhou Weiqing quickly picked Fat Cat up into his arms once more, a look of concern and urgency on his face. Although he usually loved to tease Fat Cat, they had been together for more than two years, and could be said to be inseparable. Furthermore, it had saved him a few times, and Zhou Weiqing already treated it like family in his mind. With this sudden change, how could he not feel urgent?

As Zhou Weiqing hugged it, he quickly realised that Fat Cat’s eyes were closed tight as it shivered uncontrollably. Although it was not emitting any energy, he could still sense through their contact that an immense power was swirling beneath its skin.

“Fat Cat, Fat Cat, what happened? Are you ok? Don’t scare me!” Zhou Weiqing cried out urgently.

Lin TianAo’s solemn voice sounded out: “It looks like it is on the verge of levelling and evolving. Weiqing, it seems like you have quite a high ranked Heavenly Beast over there. Being able to scare these eight strong horses to death with just a cry, it will definitely be extremely powerful when it grows up.”

Zhou Weiqing looked at him pleadingly: “What do I do now then?”

Lin TianAo furrowed his brow, then said: “When a Heavenly Beast levels up, they will only be able to depend on themselves, and us humans will not be able to help in any way. However, during that time, they were give forth a strange aura, and is also the time they are the most vulnerable, luring other Heavenly Beasts to devour them. As such, what we can do is to protect it, especially now that it doesn’t have any of its own family here to protect it as usual. Luckily, although the road is surrounded with forests, I do not think there are any powerful Heavenly Beasts so close to the main roads. Come on, let’s head into the forest and find a place which is good defensively. This little fellow’s shouldn’t take that long for this level up – perhaps about three days.”

Zhou Weiqing gave a bitter smile and said: “So sorry, I am delaying everyone.”

Drunken Bao laughed heartily and said: “No problems, we have a lot of time. Furthermore, if your little white tiger is able to level up and have some power, it could prove useful in the tournament!”

Zhou Weiqing started, saying in surprise: “We can use Heavenly Beasts in the Heavenly Jewel Tournament?”

Drunken Bao said: “Haven’t you heard of a profession in the WanShou Empire, the Beastmaster? Their own personal power isn’t very strong, but they are able to tame Heavenly Beasts to fight with them. As such, in the Heavenly Jewel Tournament, Heavenly Beasts are allowed to join in the fight. However, when doing so, the person isn’t allowed to use Consolidated Equipment or Stored Skills, and there is also a limit of one Heavenly Beast. Even so, the WanShou Empire team is usually able to easily enter the top 4 doing so. This is also one of the reasons why the WanShou Empire is so strong.”

By now. Zhou Weiqing could not care anymore about the Beastmasters, as Fat Cat’s shivering was getting worse. Since the horses were all dead, there was nothing holding them back, and all of them headed into the forests to the side of the roads. Very quickly, under the leadership of Lin TianAo, they found a good spot at a little cliff in the forests.

“Crow, make a cave, let Weiqing protect the little fellow in there. We will have an easier time just guarding the entrance of the cave.” Lin TianAo told Crow.

As the leader, not only was he the most powerful, he also had the trust of all the members of the team. Even someone so proud like Ye Paopao had been impressed by his stable, steady character after just a few days of being together. In fact, Ye Paopao had spoken to Zhou Weiqing in secret, that someone like Lin TianAo was the sort who would be good at anything he put his mind to. If he had chosen the path of a general, he would probably have been a great leader, and general. Alas, that was not the path he had chosen. At that time, when Ye Paopao praised Lin TianAo, Zhou Weiqing did not say anything, instead only giving a foolish grin.

Crow nodded, motioning to the rest to step back. With a wave of her hands, two black lights shone forth, and a large broadaxe appeared in each of her hands.

Looking at the pair of axes in Crow’s hands, Zhou Weiqing’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. He finally understood what it meant by ‘broad’ axe, they were almost as large as a door frame! 1

The pair of broad axes was totally black, giving forth a thick cold aura. Each was almost six chi long, with a huge axe head which was even larger than Zhou Weiqing’s huge legendary hammers. The tip of the axe was a spike, almost as thick as a man’s arm, and only Crow’s large hands were able to fit on them comfortably. The axe blades were inscribed with strange patterns, which glowed in a dark gold colour. When the axes appeared in her hands, it seemed as if a dark cloud blotted out the very skies. Coupled with her huge frame, it gave her an extremely valiant, menacing look.

“This… this is a Consolidated Equipment?” Ye Paopao almost stuttered as he asked.

Crow grinned and said: “Nope, this is a heirloom passed down from my ancestors, and it is called the Gold Crow God Axes. The one on the left weighs six hundred and twelve jin, and the one on the right weighs seven hundred and eighty one jin, totally a thousand three hundred and ninety three jin. These are the legendary weapons of our tribe, and only our Gold Crow Tribe members are able to use them.”

Ye Paopao, Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er exchanged looks. They finally understood why Crow was able to be the main member of the team with just a three-Jeweled cultivation level. Although the pair of axes weren’t Consolidated Equipment, they were probably just as good or even better! More than a thousand jin in weight combined, they were indeed terrifying!

With a loud shout, the three Icy Jade Strength Jewels around Crow’s right wrist glowed. The two massive battle axes in her hands seemed to be like little twigs, as she spun around like a whirlwind. Her entire body was enveloped in a dark gold glow, and in a huge clashing sound, she smashed right into the hill.

As Crow and her axes collided with the hill, the entire team could feel the ground shake violently. In the next instant, a huge explosion sounded out, and Crow started digging into the hill like a bulldozer.

Zhou Weiqing felt his gut clench. He had always thought that amongst any three-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, he would be invincible. Looking at Crow’s abilities, he suddenly felt that he had been way too overconfident. If he actually had to face Crow in combat, he did not feel certain of victory. Perhaps, he might only be able to win if he entered the Demonic Change State.

“Her ability just happens to counter mine.” Lin TianAo’s voice sounded softly in Zhou Weiqing’s ear.

Zhou Weiqing turned his head around in surprise, staring at him, as he looked back with a bitter smile. “No one can understand her true power without facing her in combat, the true terrifying power of those legendary axes of hers. The reason why she actually respects me is because I am the only one in the Academy who is able to block her attacks. That girl is extremely valiant, in the selection trials we held to choose the team members, no student was willing to fight with her besides myself. She was actually the first to be selected! In terms of her overall power, I am not even sure what her limits are. The Gold Crow tribe are indeed all born warriors, and Crow is known as their most outstanding talent in more than a thousand years. You can imagine the extent of it just from that.”

Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but swallow a gulp of saliva, muttering to himself: “If she were to enter the battlefield, she would truly be a meat-grinder.”

Right at that moment, the rumbling sounds finally diminished, and in a flash, Crow appeared once more. She had actually forcibly dug a 2.5 metre tall, 3 metre wide cave entrance leading into the hill. The scariest thing was that she did not even have any dirt on her, looking calm and unflurried with not even a drop of sweat or sign of exertion!

“Big sis, I am impressed, very impressed!” Zhou Weiqing gave Crow a big thumbs up, before hugging Fat Cat and dashing into the cave.

Crow’s strength was indeed amazing. In just that short span of time, she had actually dug a ten mere deep cave!