That makes sense!
Everyone understood instantly, but there was no time to consider. The surrounding Earth-Shaking Bears roared and charged forward.
With a sweep of its sharp claws, the Winged Eagle unleashed a wind blade, heavily wounding another Earth-Shaking Bear.
However, this did not deter the remaining Earth-Shaking Bears. Instead, it made them even more ferocious, charging forward with roars.
The Winged Eagle's wind blade had a cooldown period and could not be cast continuously.
In an instant, the other Earth-Shaking Bears closed the distance.
Roar!
The Ironback Beast, resembling a giant lizard, roared and charged at an Earth-Shaking Bear. With its tough defense, blocking an Earth-Shaking Bear was not an issue.
At the same time, the Firebird let out a screech, its sharp claws flashing with red light as it tore towards an Earth-Shaking Bear. With its aerial advantage, it temporarily delayed an Earth-Shaking Bear.
The other contract spirits also displayed their might. Although they couldn't achieve victory, they could at least block the attacks of the Earth-Shaking Bears.
Now, all they needed was to wait for the Winged Eagle's skill cooldown to secure victory.
Chen Shu's Slime had been injured earlier and had not been summoned for the time being.
The Winged Eagle let out a sharp cry and swooped down at an Earth-Shaking Bear, its sharp claws flashing with a chilling light, instantly tearing open the back of an Earth-Shaking Bear.
Although it lacked wind blades, its overall attributes far surpassed ordinary fierce beasts.
Roar! The Earth-Shaking Bear, sensing danger, changed its attack strategy.
The seven Earth-Shaking Bears slammed their paws onto the ground, instantly activating their innate skill, Ground Wave.
The once calm ground began to vibrate strangely. Although the tremors were not strong, they made everyone's footing unstable.
Taking advantage of the Ironback Beast's swaying body, an Earth-Shaking Bear charged directly at the crowd, its target specifically Zhou Shi!
Clearly, fierce beasts knew that the trainer's physical body was extremely fragile.
"You beast looking for death!"
Zhou Shi's expression turned cold. He half-crouched, attempting to maintain his balance on the vibrating ground.
As the Earth-Shaking Bear's giant paw descended, the Black Claw Wolf instantly appeared. Despite being injured, it still possessed overwhelming power.
With its claws flashing with an eerie glow, it tore through the Earth-Shaking Bear's head, splattering blood everywhere.
"Xiao Yu, be careful!"
Zhou Shi was shocked and suddenly saw an Earth-Shaking Bear silently approaching.
Although the Firebird was only a Level 7 contract spirit, its potential rating was A. Coupled with the Earth-Shaking Bear's fear of fire, it naturally targeted Xu Xiaoyu.
However, before that Earth-Shaking Bear could launch its attack, it was knocked away by a pile of yellow excrement that suddenly appeared.
Gurgle!
The Golden Slime's large eyes opened, and its body suddenly leaped up, unleashing its devastating sit-down attack!
"Flatten this beast for me!"
The Earth-Shaking Bear was not fast, and it was steadily pinned down by the Slime.
But the next moment, the Earth-Shaking Bear's eyes turned ferocious. With its immense strength, it actually lifted the Slime.
"The coffin lid… Black Bear Demon can't hold it down anymore!"
Chen Shu's expression was resolute. He directly recalled the Slime to his Beast Taming Space, unwilling to let it get injured again.
Although it hadn't subdued the beast, it had bought them a significant amount of time.
The Claw Wolf sprinted over and decisively and swiftly killed the Earth-Shaking Bear.
Since Zhou Shi had summoned the Claw Wolf, he wouldn't recall it anytime soon, so he decided to end the battle quickly.
The combined efforts of the two Black Iron grade contract spirits, almost with overwhelming force, annihilated all the Earth-Shaking Bears.
Chen Shu's eyes were filled with envy. Black Iron grade beast tamers were truly too powerful.
The group quickly cleaned up the battlefield to avoid attracting more fierce beasts.
The attacking Earth-Shaking Bears were all ordinary grade and not very valuable. Only their paws could be sold to local restaurants, but they were inconvenient to carry and were devoured on the spot by the contract spirits.
"Let's rest."
Seeing that everything was handled, Zhou Shi instructed Old Deng and Chen Shu to return to their tents to rest.
He and Xu Xiaoyu would stand guard for the night.
The night passed peacefully.
The sudden battle last night had made Chen Shu realize the dangers of the异空间 (Other Dimension).
"We'll start our return journey today!" Zhou Shi announced.
Their harvest this time was considerable, primarily due to hunting a mutated Bloodfang Wild Boar.
Their location was deep within the Azure Origin Forest, and the return journey would take several days.
Naturally, the group would not return the way they came, otherwise, they would have gained nothing.
Fortunately, the group encountered no fierce beast attacks along the way, and even the Winged Eagle in the sky seemed bored.
Suddenly, Zhou Shi raised his right hand, signaling everyone to stop.
"Encountered a fierce beast?"
Chen Shu peered closely and saw a beast taming team approaching.
The Winged Eagle in the sky vigilantly stared at the opponent's contract spirit, radiating its Black Iron grade aura.
The leader of the opposing beast taming team was a refined young man, around thirty years old.
He glanced at the Winged Eagle casually and smiled, nodding at Zhou Shi.
The two beast taming teams did not communicate or approach, maintaining a safe distance as they passed each other.
The atmosphere was quite eerie!
Only after the other group had left did everyone seem to breathe a sigh of relief.
"If you encounter other beast taming teams in the Other Dimension, the best course of action is to pretend you didn't see them, don't make enemies, and don't get close," Zhou Shi told Chen Shu and Xu Xiaoyu, who were on the Firebird.
On the third day, Zhou Shi recalled the Winged Eagle to his Beast Taming Space and summoned the Claw Wolf.
The Claw Wolf was his first contract spirit, had followed him the longest, and had higher obedience towards him.
Although obedience might not seem important, it could indirectly affect the contract spirit's combat strength.
If a contract spirit had low obedience, when you ordered it to release a skill, it might take one or two seconds to do so.
Don't underestimate these one or two seconds; they could determine the outcome of a battle.
It was like in Beast Taming Glory, where others had excellent network connections and their operations were smooth and seamless, with no lag.
If it took you ten seconds to release a skill, wasn't that just ridiculous?
The Black Raven scouted from above, and the Claw Wolf handled the main combat. They encountered no major crises along the way.
"Is the Azure Origin Forest trip coming to an end?" Chen Shu couldn't help but wonder. Although it had only been a little over ten days, he had gained a lot of experience.
Unfortunately, his contract spirits were not strong enough, at most comparable to Level 7 fierce beasts, and could not serve as the main force, which made his sense of participation rather weak.
At night, the group rested as usual.
Based on the travel distance, they would reach the Spirit Guard base in at most three days.
"Chen Shu, Old Deng, you two stand guard tonight," Commander Zhou Shi said, returning to his tent with his other teammates.
Chen Shu lay lazily by the campfire, gazing up at the starry sky.
"Xiao Chen, honestly..."
"Stop, Old Deng, don't say it." Chen Shu rubbed his forehead, feeling like he was being pushed onto someone like a daughter.
"Even though I'm a genius and upright, you don't have to be so obsequious."
"Hey, Old Deng, has your beast taming team ever hunted a lord-class creature?" Chen Shu suddenly remembered the mission he had accepted: hunting the Ice Hare Lord.
"Are you kidding me?" Old Deng's mouth twitched, and he shook his head.
"The weakest lord-class creature is Black Iron grade. With the right team composition, at least three Black Iron beast tamers, meaning six Black Iron grade contract spirits, would be needed to have a chance of hunting one."
In the 666 Beast Taming Team, only Zhou Shi was Black Iron grade; the strongest of the remaining members were only Level 9 beast tamers.
"Are they that strong?" Chen Shu asked, puzzled.
"You saw the rat tide that day. Old Deng said, 'If we had dared to fight to the death that day, barring any accidents, we would have definitely met with accidents.'"
"Over a hundred Steel Fang Rats unleashing their innate skill, Fierce Teeth, would be enough to gnaw away the Claw Wolf. Don't underestimate how strong Black Iron grade contract spirits are, but they can't withstand a large number of enemies."
Chen Shu nodded thoughtfully, "So, a team with three Black Iron grade beast tamers can hunt a lord?"
"Of course not." Old Deng shook his head again. "With three Black Iron beast tamers, they would directly venture into dangerous Other Dimensions. Why would they stay here?"
"Why?"
"The value of a lord-class fierce beast is at least a million. Are Black Iron grade beast tamers that arrogant?"
"You're an idiot. The probability of encountering a lord-class creature is so low. With that much time, it's better to make a couple of trips to dangerous Other Dimensions, and you might earn a fortune."
Chen Shu was speechless. No wonder the mission to hunt lord-class fierce beasts had no entry requirements; it was so difficult to complete.
"Beast taming teams that can hunt Black Iron lords wouldn't come to the Azure Origin Forest. The beast taming teams that do come here lack the ability to hunt them. Isn't this a paradox?"
"I'm starting to feel like I need to pee. I'll be right back." Chen Shu yawned and walked towards the bushes in the distance.
Just as he was about to relieve himself, options inexplicably appeared before his eyes.
[Option 1: Urinate next to the bushes. Completion reward: Title Friend of Nature. Wearing effect: Increased urge to urinate near bushes.]
[Option 2: Urinate while standing on a big tree. Completion reward: Contract Spirit's Dominance skill +1.]