The Evil Cute Rabbit's strength and size were sufficient to serve as a mount, but when it ran on all fours, its bouncing and jolting made it extremely difficult to sit steadily, let alone wield weapons and engage in combat while riding it.
Normally, sitting on it was so uncomfortable that it was hardly suitable as a mount. At best, it could be used as a last resort for escaping.
Strangely, when the Evil Cute Rabbit walked upright, it was remarkably stable. Its two hind legs were strong and powerful, allowing it to run swiftly, fiercely, and steadily. However, it still preferred to jump, leaping several meters high with astonishing agility.
Chen Guan was in no hurry to bestow the Cheerleading Soul upon the Evil Cute Rabbit, as he discovered that the motivational effects of the Cheerleading Soul were not permanent. After a certain period, the effects would naturally dissipate, and it would need to be reapplied to be effective again.
He wanted to first test the Evil Cute Rabbit's true combat capabilities before applying the Cheerleading Soul. This way, he could have a better understanding of its potential and also gain more insight into the Cheerleading Soul itself.
The valley was home to only one Mystic Spirit—the Evil Cute Rabbit. Chen Guan had the Evil Cute Rabbit scout ahead as they slowly made their way out of the valley.
It was unclear why the valley contained so many bones, but as they approached the valley's entrance, the number of bones drastically decreased. Instead, on the stone walls at the valley's mouth, they saw several large, blood-red carved characters.
"The Valley of Yin and Yang at Midnight…" Chen Guan hadn't expected such a relatively small valley to have a name.
As he pondered this, he noticed several Evil Cute Rabbits outside the valley, gnawing on plants. Their size was comparable to that of an adult Husky, far smaller than his own "Rouge."
Rouge was the Bloody Evil Cute Rabbit, the name Chen Guan had given it.
The Evil Cute Rabbits outside the valley were what Chen Guan considered normal Evil Cute Rabbits, likely of ordinary quality.
Following Chen Guan's command, Rouge charged forward on its powerful legs. When it was about seven or eight meters away, it leaped into the air, swinging the Bloodsucking Blade in its claws as it descended. One Evil Cute Rabbit was instantly decapitated.
Rouge wreaked havoc, and within moments, it had slain six Evil Cute Rabbits, leaving none of their corpses intact.
"Fierce… truly fierce…" Chen Guan couldn't help but marvel. A unique specimen was indeed unique, far surpassing ordinary Mystic Spirits in combat power at the same level.
Rouge plunged the Bloodsucking Blade into the heart of one of the Evil Cute Rabbits. The corpse visibly withered as the blood was drawn into the blade, causing the black blade to take on a crimson hue. Rouge's snow-white body also faintly exuded a trace of bloodlust.
In a matter of moments, the Evil Cute Rabbit's corpse turned into a desiccated husk. Rouge leaped to another corpse and repeated the process, driving the Bloodsucking Blade into its heart.
A blood-red mist rose from both the Evil Cute Rabbit and the Bloodsucking Blade, a phenomenon caused by the blood being refined and evaporated, leaving behind Primal Energy to be absorbed. Only the Bloodsucking Technique possessed such a capability.
Even after absorbing the Primal Energy from six Evil Cute Rabbits, Rouge still hadn't reached Level 2.
With so much Primal Energy, if it were absorbed by an ordinary Mystic Spirit, it would have already advanced to level 2. This shows that high-quality Mystic Spirits inherently have a higher difficulty in leveling up compared to ordinary ones.
Fortunately, there were quite a few evil bunnies nearby. After absorbing the blood and Primal Energy from ten evil bunnies, Rouge smoothly advanced to level 2. Its fur became noticeably more lustrous, resembling icy jade threads with a translucent, oily sheen.
At level 2, Rouge's Primal Energy limit increased to 2.91, proving that the 1.91 growth rate was indeed reliable.
Its strength, speed, and other attributes also saw significant improvements, though these were hidden stats and couldn't be directly observed.
Bloody Evil Bunny (Unique): Level 2 Spirit Pet.
Primal Energy: 2.91.
Growth Rate: 1.91.
Innate Talent: Bloody Revival (Unique).
Mystic Technique: Level 2 Bloodsucking Art (Unique).
Mystic Skill: Level 2 Bloodsucking Blade Technique (Unique).
Mystic Treasure: Level 2 Bloodsucking Blade (Unique).
After a Mystic Spirit levels up, its Mystic Techniques, Mystic Skills, and Mystic Treasures also improve accordingly, which is different from humans.
Ding!
At level 2, Rouge slaughtered evil bunnies as easily as cutting melons and chopping vegetables. After killing another evil bunny, tiny white lights began to rise from its body.
Chen Guan initially thought it was the Mystic Spirit transforming into a pet, but the white lights gradually condensed into a white crystal core the size of a ping-pong ball, which then flew like a meteor toward Chen Guan and landed in his hand.
"Mystic Core..." Chen Guan's heart leaped with joy. Mystic Cores are the source of a cultivator's Mystic Techniques and Mystic Skills. Whether it would yield a Mystic Technique or a Mystic Skill depended on luck.
Chen Guan hoped for a Mystic Skill. The Mystic Techniques dropped by ordinary evil bunnies were likely to be common ones, which would be of little use to him. If it were a Mystic Skill, however, it could be immediately put to use, enhancing his combat power to some extent.
Picking up the Mystic Core and holding it in his hand, Chen Guan activated the Longevity Art to examine it. Instantly, a strange stream of information flooded his mind.
Mystic Technique: Vegetarian Health Art (Common).
Chen Guan felt a slight disappointment. This thing was practically useless and wouldn't fetch much money if sold.
Continuing forward with Rouge, Chen Guan not only needed to obtain a high-quality cultivation method but also had to find the teleportation station within the blessed land of Mount Pingdu. Only through the teleportation station could he leave the blessed land. The next time he entered, he would be teleported directly to that station's location instead of being randomly thrown in.
Walking and stopping, killing many evil bunnies along the way, it seemed that this area only had evil bunnies as Mystic Spirits, and they were all of ordinary quality with extremely low drop rates. Apart from the earlier Vegetarian Health Art, he hadn't obtained anything else.
The Bloodsucking Art required time to digest the large amount of Primal Energy absorbed into the body. Rouge had long stopped sucking blood. To continue leveling up, Chen Guan needed to wait until Rouge had digested most of the blood Primal Energy before it could continue absorbing blood to level up. Killing more evil bunnies was almost pointless now.
"This place isn't as dangerous as I initially thought," Chen Guan mused. Surrounded by continuous mountain ranges, he decided to leave this grassy basin with Rouge and venture into the forest to see if there were other Mystic Spirits.
There were no signs of human activity nearby. Shortly after entering the forest, Chen Guan suddenly heard shouts and the sounds of fighting coming from ahead.
Putting away the rouge, I quietly sneaked over and found that the sound was coming from the stream at the foot of the mountain. Hiding myself, I observed and discovered a human man engaged in battle with a Mystic Spirit.
The Mystic Spirit resembled a skeleton, but upon closer inspection, it was wrapped in a membrane as white as jade. Only its left hand was crimson like blood, and it was significantly larger than the right hand.
From a distance, I couldn't clearly see the man's face, but he seemed quite young. He held a wooden bow in his hand, and although he had a quiver and arrows on his back, the distance was too close for him to draw and shoot. He could only flee in a frantic and disheveled manner.
His speed was much faster than Chen Guan's, but compared to the bizarre, skin-and-bones Mystic Spirit, it was still lacking. He could only dash into the forest, weaving around towering ancient trees to evade the Mystic Spirit.
The blood-red hand of the Mystic Spirit was like an indestructible weapon. When it struck the tree trunks, the hard old trees were torn open as if they were made of tofu, utterly defenseless against the blood-red hand.
"Old Bird!" Chen Guan recognized the man's face and was slightly taken aback.