The Stegosaurus screamed and begged me to stop continually as I sat on top of his head, refining him.

Eventually, he pa.s.sed out from the pain. While he pa.s.sed out, I placed a brand on his soul. It was similar to the u003cFire Binding Chainsu003e I had used on Blinker, but a bit more advanced.

Using u003cSoul Brandu003e, with but a thought I could send unimaginable pain coursing through this creature"s soul. Also, having full control of his life and death. No one who didn"t understand Soul Dao should be able to even notice my u003cSoul Brandu003e.

After a few hours sitting on top of the turtle refining him, I had gained a better grasp of the gravity of this world. Though I still didn"t feel that comfortable moving about. Thankfully, I no longer had to walk. With my new turtle mount, it would be easy to find precious herbs.

"Is it over," said the turtle when he woke up. His aura was much more dignified. He had broken through to the high-Baron realm from just a little bit of refining. Most of the medical efficiency of the herbs he consumed over the years had been wasted, but he still got many benefits after my refinement. He should be able to locate herbs much more efficiently now.

"Do you have a name?" I said to the turtle.

"My old one calls me little one," said the battered Stegosaurus.

"From now on you are Chubs the turtle," I said.

"I"m Chubs the turtle," said the confused Stegosaurus, he had no idea why he was now a turtle. Maybe the young lord had a strange fetish.

"Good, now you know your place. Take this young lord to find some herbs," I said, hoping back on top of his head.

"Young lord, this young one is injured," said Chubs.

"Yeah, I guess we can"t travel around with you still being in such terrible shape. People would look down on his young lord if he had such a pitiful mount," I said bringing out a bottle of pills.

"Open your mouth."

The turtle immediately opened his gluttonous mouth. This turtle was very obedient, nothing like Blinker was. I hadn"t had to punish him once after he went through my glorious initiation ritual. He knew the pecking order.

I wish I could bring out my bunny to scout, but the stupid Codex had gone mute ever since entering this trial. It didn"t respond to anything I said, refusing to even grant me my bunny. After I pa.s.s this trial, I would have to establish my dominance over it. What use was an armament that always went AWOL when I needed it?

I threw an entire bottle of Tier-2 healing pills into the turtle"s mouth as he greedily gobbled them up.

"What"s this young lord?" said the turtle as he immediately swallowed everything I placed in his gluttonous maw.

"Why are you even asking when you already ate it?" I said, shaking my head. Soon the turtle"s injuries began to visibly heal before my eyes. His skin shed as his battered plates became renewed.

"Thank you, young lord, that was delicious," said the turtle happily after he recovered.

"As long as you follow this young lord there will be plenty of snacks for you Chubs. Now onward, go forth and find me herbs. Anything that you can sense that is equal or better than that Fire Lotus," I said pointing forward as I sent forth my majestic steed.

Chubs slowly got up and sniffed in the air and headed off westward. Since he was healed and had been promoted, he moved much faster than when I had pursued him. I"m not sure if it had anything to do with my refinement, or if his natural disposition was to laze around.

None of that was my concern, now that I had subdued Chubs all the herbs in the area were mine for the taking. He could locate herbs much faster than me and was used to this gravity. I sat leisurely on his back as he stomped through the valley. He was the perfect pack mule, no pack turtle for this Savage Land.

It didn"t take long for him to find my first herb. It was a Tier-3 Green Ganja, very useful for this young lord when he needed to find time for relaxation to get closer to the Dao. I had hit the jackpot by letting this glutton live. It distressed him when he saw me place the herb into my storage bag. The greed was apparent in his eyes. Seeing his dejected expression, I tossed him a few random pills as a reward.

"Marvellous job, Chubs," I said to my turtle.

"Thank, you young lord. I will find many herbs for you!" he said after gobbling all the pills up.

Chubs gained a whole new enthusiasm for finding herbs after receiving his first reward. He was even swifter than before, charging through the river valley to sniff out anything he could find. Other savage beasts seemed to avoid him for some reason, so it was easy pickings.

This young lord had learned the value of using the carrot and the stick. I"d prefer to just beat my minions into submission, but using the carrot gave better results. This method was working well with the turtle. He was a simple beast, only wanting to fill his belly.

His gluttony had gotten me a litany of Tier-2 and Tier-3 herbs in a matter of hours. Our progress was unbelievably fast, if I wanted I could head back to Satyr Castle now and began practicing alchemy. I doubted s.h.i.+ Da was having such results.

I had planned to spend a week here. With this kind of momentum, this trip would become quite profitable. Getting my devilish hands on those Serpent Cedar fruits was a possibility now. I would wait until I met back with s.h.i.+ Da to attempt an a.s.sault on the Serpent Cedar tree. We had an agreement to meet back within 3 days after exploring, just to cover our bases.

I told Chubs to head somewhere safe to sleep for the night. He was sad that his gluttonous rampage could not continue into the night. Chubs led me to a small cave where he had taken up residence. It was a quaint spot for cover from the elements.

"Tell me more about the world you live in," I said while sitting within Chubs" cave.

"I really know little young lord, I"m too young to know much about the world," said Chubs.

"How old are you exactly?" I said.

"I"m 10 years old, young lord," said Chubs.

"10 years old and already a Baron, these savage beasts sure mature fast," I thought.

Little did I know, Chubs was just an exception. Most savage beasts didn"t mature that fast.

"Why aren"t you with your tribe? I thought most of you savage beasts stay in groups," I said.

"I got separated from my old one when we were attacked by an ancient one," said Chubs as sat on the ground looking sad.

"How strong is the old one you speak of?" I said.

"My old one is very strong, but the ancient ones are king."

"Describe these ancient ones you keep mentioning," I said as I pondered on the power structure of this Lower World.

"I know from my old one there are many ancient ones in the world, they are king. Even the strong old ones have to run or prostrate when in their presence," said Chubs with a hint of reverence for the ancient ones.

~~~

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