Beast Taming: Invincible Breeder-Chapter 45 - 20: Poisoned

Chapter 45: Chapter 20: Poisoned
Xiang Bai looked at his arm being blocked, momentarily stunned, then grew excited.
"Good!"
Xiang Bai pulled in his waist and bent his elbow, assuming a basic boxing stance, his fist aimed directly at Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu’s gaze was calm, his feet together, and his stance steady as Mount Tai.
Xiang Bai charged forward, his fist turned into a flash of lightning, violently pounding towards Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu remained motionless, steadfastly guarding the middle route, combining his horse stance and palm to neutralize Xiang Bai’s punches.
After a moment of fighting, Xiang Bai became increasingly agitated and found it extremely unsatisfying and frustrating to fight against Li Cunxu. His moves were slippery, constantly deflecting his own strength as if he were hitting slippery soap.
This was defensive boxing, invented by a player based on Tai Chi Boxing. This boxing style is not about attack but focuses on defense and survival, with an accompanying footwork called escape steps.
Many bosses lack martial ethics; they can’t beat the player’s pets, so they attack the Beast Master directly. Therefore, veteran players usually learn a few self-defense techniques.
Li Cunxu also found it quite uncomfortable to fight, even though he had the strength of an evil dragon curse to support him, it had only been a day, whereas Xiang Bai possessed a monstrous strength talent, making his power formidable.
After two minutes, the roles reversed, and Xiang Bai felt that Li Cunxu’s strength was increasing.
Xiang Bai’s heart sank, could it be that Li Cunxu was holding back previously?
Li Cunxu wasn’t holding back, nor did his strength increase; instead, Xiang Bai’s strength had weakened.
If there was a mirror, seeing his purple face, Xiang Bai would immediately realize he had been poisoned.
Xiaoruan’s waste gas filled the area, and Xiang Bai only noticed it affecting his eyes, forgetting that inhaling the waste gas could also cause poisoning.
Until, with a bang.
The Strong Monkey wobbled and fell, and when Xiang Bai saw its purple face, he understood.
The Strong Monkey was downed by poison, and he was probably poisoned too.
Xiang Bai looked at Li Cunxu, hoarsely saying, "Why aren’t you poisoned?"
Li Cunxu smiled, showing his big white teeth and the detoxification pill clamped between them.
"I prepared a detoxification pill as my tool."
"No wonder! Judge, I concede."
Xiang Bai knew that continuing to fight would inevitably lead to defeat, so he decisively surrendered.
With the battle over, Li Cunxu breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally over! It was killing him from the pain.
His limbs were trembling.
His muscles would likely be swollen by tonight.
"Next time, I’ll never personally engage in battle again."
As he walked out of the player tunnel, Lin Jiusan, waiting for him, praised him.
"I didn’t expect you to have this skill; your technique is quite handsome."
It surely is, even if it’s a self-defense method, it’s meticulously selected by players.
"You flatter me," Li Cunxu said.
"I found the exotic pet with the Poison Tinter talent you wanted."
"That was fast!"
Li Cunxu was a bit surprised.
"It was just a coincidence; the Widow Red Spider Queen in the Poisonous Forest Secret Realm birthed a large clutch of baby red spiders, among which two mutated, both possessing the Poison Tinter talent. Both are white-colored; one is lazy and likes to hide everywhere, while the other is gluttonous with a strong adventurous spirit, preferring to run around. Which one do you choose?"
The Widow Red Spider Queen, a gigantic venomous pet beast, is extremely vicious and can lay thousands of baby red spiders at a time.
Given its prolific nature, could the baby red spiders become a scourge? That would not happen.
Among these thousands, only two or three baby red spiders survive to adulthood. Their bloodthirsty and brutal nature leads them to kill each other; at least half will die. Natural attrition will claim more, and the Widow Red Spider Queen will eat a batch after raising them, leaving only a few to survive.
Li Cunxu wasn’t in a hurry and asked in detail, "Are these two exotic baby red spiders ruthless?"
"I’ll ask."
Lin Jiusan made a call to inquire and said to Li Cunxu: "Compared to the baby red spiders’ usual behavior, they cannot be described as ruthless."
Upon hearing this, Li Cunxu understood that these exotic baby red spiders could be worthwhile.
Choosing a pet beast involves looking at more than just talent and potential; their temperament must be considered too.
A ruthless temperament implies difficulty in taming, and the risk of betrayal suggests avoiding contracts unless taming confidence is high.
Some ferocious pet beasts, when temperamental, will disregard the principle of shared harm in a Beast Taming Contract, treating the Beast Master as an enemy and attacking.
Players emphasize this aspect heavily because being killed by their own pet beast leads to severe experience penalties.
Death by a boss, NPC, or regular enemy results in losing some experience, at most losing one level. But getting killed by their own pet beast results in dropping five levels. Leveling up becomes exceedingly difficult in later stages, often taking months to gain one level, so losing five levels would be heartbreaking for anyone.
After dropping five levels, the trouble isn’t over.
The problem of the pet beast’s betrayal also needs resolving; if not addressed, the pet beast will keep killing them.
There are four solutions.
First, forgive it and try to make up with the pet beast.
Second, release it, which wastes a contract slot. A released pet beast’s death imposes a permanent 20% experience penalty, meaning the player needs 20% more experience to level up compared to others.
Third, keep it confined in the Beast Taming World, preventing it from coming out. However, this leads to the pet beast’s depression, causing it to damage the Beast Taming World. If confined too long, it may become suicidal out of depression, which the system interprets as intentional abuse by the Beast Master, resulting in a 50% permanent experience penalty. It may be better to release it directly.
Fourth, use an item to dissolve the Beast Taming Contract, avoiding slot wastage, but such items are exceptionally rare, ten times harder to acquire than expansion items.
Li Cunxu was a bit conflicted about which one to choose.
"Are you hesitating about which one to pick?"
"Yes."
"Only children make choices; adults take them all."
Lin Jiusan winked at Li Cunxu.
Li Cunxu understood Lin Jiusan’s hint; if he wanted, both would be given to him.
"My contract slots are limited; just one will do."
After some thought, Li Cunxu declined the tempting offer.
In a past life, as a player, there were dungeons to raid, and resources were plenty. But in this life, not being a player and without dungeons, resources are bound to be limited, especially the resources for venomous types, which would only suffice to raise one excellent venomous pet beast.
Besides, his contract slots are indeed limited.
"I’ll choose the lazier exotic baby red spider."
"That’s not a wise choice. When selecting a pet beast, it’s best not to choose one with a lazy temperament; better to choose diligent or disciplined ones," Lin Jiusan advised.
"No, I choose the lazy exotic baby red spider."
Being lazy isn’t significant; it can be corrected.
The other one’s love for adventure implies a bit of recklessness, which isn’t a desirable trait for venomous pet beasts.
The best temperament for a venomous pet beast should align with venomous attributes, being cunning and deceptive.
"I’ll deliver it to you the day after tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Huh? Where’s my daughter?"
Lin Jiusan looked back, not seeing his daughter around.
"I’m here!"
Lin Qingwei, hugging a medicine jar, came running over, handing the jar to Li Cunxu.
"This is tiger bone pain relief balm. Applying a little can reduce swelling and pain, promote blood circulation, and soothe muscles and channels."
Li Cunxu pondered for two seconds and accepted the tiger bone balm.
He indeed needed it; even now, his hands were trembling slightly.