The drunkard’s expression turned serious again. He frowned in deep thought for a long time before reaching a conclusion.
“Perhaps, as you said, this ‘parasite beast’ was not too deeply corrupted, hence it recovered on its own.” After another moment of contemplation, he murmured, “Besides that, there’s no other possibility. At least, to my knowledge, there hasn’t been a case where a berserk contract beast regained its sanity.”
The drunkard chuckled twice, handing Lu Fei a large bowl and immediately pouring it full of wine, gesturing for Lu Fei to drink it down.
Lu Fei didn't hesitate. His alcohol tolerance had improved significantly since he first arrived here. Moreover, during his training, the weather in the woods at night was cold, and he would often drink a little wine to warm himself up. However, Lu Fei had a particular fondness for "Floating Life Brew." After drinking it, other wines tasted bland and tasteless. He had already decided that he would bring several jars back with him on this trip.
Soon, Lu Fei’s bowl was empty.
The drunkard giggled, “Kid, I believe you’ve killed ten berserk contract beasts. You’ve certainly bulked up. Hey, what about that Sword Guard? Call it out for a spin.”
“Mhm, sure.” Lu Fei responded and immediately summoned Iron-Head. Under the drunkard’s guidance, his cultivation over this period had brought about a sea change in Iron-Head’s strength.
Besides the enhancement in his own level and combat power, the most crucial factor was the experience accumulated through countless life-and-death battles. This intangible ability was evident in his fight against Tu Tian. Even though Iron-Head’s level and combat power were clearly inferior to his opponent’s, with astonishing skill proficiency and combat experience, he completely overwhelmed his opponent in terms of strength.
“Guard!”
With a high-pitched cry, Iron-Head appeared before everyone. Its eyes blazed, and its spirit was high. Even without activating its lightning attribute, its entire body still presented a pale pink hue, but it now possessed a dark, metallic sheen, making it appear stronger and more robust.
“Remarkable, truly remarkable.”
The drunkard walked up to Iron-Head and stroked its arm. Iron-Head resisted slightly, but out of respect and fear for the other party, it obediently remained still.
“Its physique has certainly become much sturdier.”
He looked at Lu Fei and asked, “Kid, what level is your Sword Guard now? Has it reached level 25 yet?”
Lu Fei smiled mysteriously.
Then, he said with pride, “Iron-Head is already level 32.”
“Oh, oh… level 32, that’s still a bit…”
Before the word “far” could be spoken, the drunkard’s eyes widened.
“What? Level 32? I remember when you first arrived not long ago, it was only level 15! Don’t try to fool me!”
Lu Fei pouted and casually said, “If you don’t believe me, you can see for yourself.”
The drunkard frowned. “I don’t have a beast-taming illustrated book. What am I supposed to look at?”
Lu Fei took out his beast-taming illustrated book and pointed it at Iron-Head. A series of data appeared before the drunkard’s eyes. Most of Iron-Head’s exclusive skill slots were hidden, which were only visible to Lu Fei himself. This was a special ability granted by ‘Unstable Evolution.’
“Heavens, it’s really level 32.”
The drunkard looked at Iron-Head with disbelief, marveling at it.
His gaze shifted, and just as he was about to move the illustrated book away, he suddenly let out an exclamation.
“430?”
“Your Sword Guard’s combat power has reached 430?!”
The drunkard stared intently at Lu Fei, his heart surging with emotion. If reaching level 32 was possible through some fortuitous encounters, then a contract beast of level 32 having a combat power of 430 points was almost an impossibility!
Scientists from the World Government had researched that contract beasts had their own peak combat power based on their levels. For contract beasts from level 1 to 10, their maximum combat power was no more than 100 points, while for contract beasts from level 30 to 40, their peak combat power was 500 points.
In other words, even if a contract beast reached level 40, its combat power would be at most 500 points, and this still depended on the contract beast’s rarity and the beast master’s cultivation level.
But this kid in front of him?
When he first met him, he couldn’t even command his contract beasts to fight properly, let alone cultivate them.
Besides, this was a Sword Guard. He was very familiar with Sword Guards himself. Sword Guards were only A-grade rarity contract beasts. How could it reach level 32 and have a combat power of 430 points?
The more the drunkard thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed.
As his emotions surged, he remembered something else.
This Sword Guard also possessed the lightning attribute! This fact had surprised him for quite some time, causing his usually placid heart to be astonished.
After a long period of surprise, he fell silent.
His mind was a tempest, and he secretly thought, how many secrets did this kid hold… After an internal struggle, it was followed by self-mockery and joy, with an inexplicable flame burning within him.
“Handsome guy, am I exceptionally talented and amazingly powerful?” Lu Fei asked with a smile, boasting.
The drunkard raised his arm and forcefully tapped Lu Fei on the head.
“You rascal.” He chuckled, “That’s all thanks to my good teaching. Otherwise, based on you alone, you probably wouldn’t even know what to do during a battle.”
Lu Fei chuckled and moved behind the drunkard, giving him a shoulder massage and back rub.
“That’s true. Without your careful guidance, how could my strength have advanced so rapidly?”
“Handsome guy, please accept my bow!”
With that, Lu Fei was about to prostrate himself.
The drunkard made no pretense of politeness, sitting on a stool with his legs crossed, accepting it gladly.
Afterward, the two continued to drink and toast. The drunkard was clearly very happy with Lu Fei’s return. He never expected that not only had the kid’s strength grown, but his alcohol tolerance had also increased. And his Sword Guard was quite generous when it came to drinking.
This made him feel the long-lost camaraderie of drinking with a kindred spirit.
They drank until late into the night, and finally, Lu Fei could no longer hold on. He returned to his room, took a bath, and fell into a deep sleep.
Towards the end of their drinking, the drunkard told him to rest well for a few days, as he had something to discuss with him later.
The next day, Lu Fei woke up in his bed. For the past half month, he had spent his time in the woods, either sleeping on hard rocks or building a small wooden hut in the trees. His sleep quality had been extremely poor. Last night was a rare indulgence.
Lu Fei picked up his phone from the bedside. He had been in the woods, and his phone had long since run out of battery. Upon restarting it, he saw many missed calls, from Lin Yuansheng and Zhou Nanfeng, from his homeroom teacher, and from Tang Ao. But the person who called the most was Ke Xin.
Lu Fei picked up his phone and dialed Ke Xin’s number. A slight echo came from the other end. Lu Fei smiled and said, “Xin Xin.”
However, there was no reply, only a series of beeping sounds, followed by a customer service voice stating that the number he had dialed was out of service.
Lu Fei looked at the number on his phone screen, confirmed it was correct, and dialed again.