<h4>Chapter 29: Bribed Just Like That?</h4>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>As Studios <strong>Editor: </strong>As Studios


    Though the sun was shining brightly, the inside of the gymnasium was kept cool and breezy.


    On Zone J, Stage 1.


    Wang Che walked up to the arena with the green caterpir.


    “Hey, green caterpir kid, I know you. Your name is Wang Che!”


    The opponent immediately called out before the referee could even speak.


    “I’m honored,” Wang Che replied.


    The Triangr Rock had a pretty solid appearance.


    Like its name suggested, this soul pet’s body was made out of three brown boulders arranged in the shape of triangles.


    Its two eyes protruded from each of the rocks on the top of the triangle, whereas the mouth was affixed to the bottom rock.


    On top of that, the rocks thatprised its body were not angr, but round.


    When put together, this soul beast really did look like an oversized 3-D triangle. From the side however, it seemed more like a stone block that was dozens of centimeters thick.


    Nevertheless, with just a nce, one could tell that it was extremely resilient and to some extent, indestructible.


    With a soul power cultivation of about 45 years as well, the opponent’s Triangr Rock was nothing short of impressive.


    After all, despite only being a normal soul pet, the Triangr Rock’s defense was especially outstanding.


    “You’re going to lose this match.”


    The opponent proimed mockingly, “A soul pet like a green caterpir… Even with sixty to seventy years of soul power cultivation, it’s still weak. It won’t be able to break through my soul pet’s defense.”


    Wang Che simply nodded as he replied, “I agree with you.”


    “I’ve seen yourst match, so don’t even think about trying the same move on my Triangr Rock. Since the size difference doesn’t work in your favour this time, your green caterpir won’t be able to wrap itself around my Triangr Rock.”


    His opponent continued.


    Not waiting any longer, the referee took a quick nce at both sides before raising the g in his hand.


    “All contestants, please get into your positions!”


    Wang Che cleared his throat as he patted the green caterpir’s head.


    “Ssss!”


    The green caterpir nodded back, as if reading Wang Che’s mind.


    “Begin!”


    The referee shouted.


    The opponent immediately reacted once the word left the referee’s mouth.


    “Triangr Rock, suppress it onto the ground! It may be fast, but we can exhaust a mere green caterpir to its death…”


    Before he could even finish speaking, the threerge rocks merged seamlessly into a triangle andnded on the ground with a loud thud.


    From the sound alone, one could tell how astonishing the weight of this Triangr Rock was!


    “Charge!”


    Wang Che instructed somewhat indifferently.


    Right as it heard this order, the green caterpir immediately straightened its body andunched itself towards its opponent.


    Like a giant green python, it sped up faster by the second and turned into a blur as it charged forward.


    “A frontal assault? I’m afraid it won’t work.”


    His opponentughed at Wang Che.


    This was a Triangr Rock he was facing, one that had already steadied itself on the stage no less.


    After all, a triangle was an extremely stable structure. Coupled with the Triangr Rock’s substantial weight, there was no practically no other soul pet with the same soul power cultivation that could topple or even move it.


    This was even more true in the early stages, where soul pets didn’t have a single soul skill under their belts. As such, even without using any attribute attacks, the Triangr Rock could be considered one of the most troublesome soul pets to face in battle.


    If they were to collide head-on like this, wouldn’t the green caterpir be sent flying away by its own inertia?


    Many spectators shook their heads at the thought of this.


    Even the referee standing beside the contestants felt somewhat perplexed. To charge directly into it… wasn’t the caterpir just asking for…


    Yet.


    At the very next moment!


    The green caterpir’s head smashed into the centre of the three triangr rocks!


    Boom!


    It sounded as if a mountain was being moved.


    The Triangr Rock immediately let out a howl as it collided with the green caterpir. Meanwhile, cracks began to appear on the surface of the three rocks that were stuck closely together.


    After a dramatic pause, it was sent flying with the sound of a bang.


    The audience could only stare with their jaws wide open as the Triangr Rock flew backwards.


    Meanwhile, the green caterpir casually rubbed the red bump that had swelled on its head with its tail.


    Damn, it was so tough!


    “Thanks for letting me win,” Wang Che whistled while waving at his opponent. “Let’s go.”


    The green caterpir followed him down the stage while rubbing its head repeatedly.


    “Stage 1, No. 23… Victory!” The referee who had finally snapped awake announced hurriedly.


    “How could this be…” Wang Che’s opponent was still standing on the tform in a daze. “Did this green caterpir of his learn the Iron Head soul skill? It managed to release such tremendous power from an ordinary collision… Why? Was it because of the disparity in soul power? ”


    ...


    Wang Che walked back to the waiting area and took a quick look at the time. It was already noon.


    There was another match scheduled for him in the afternoon.


    “Let’s eat first,” Wang Che said.


    “Wait, boss! How is your green caterpir so strong?” A contestant in the waiting area suddenly walked up to him and asked.


    “The Triangr Rock…” Wang Che nced at the eager contestant and casually replied, “It’s a soul pet formed bybining threerge rocks. It’s very unique indeed. Though its defense is quite strong in its early stages, the Triangr Rock, like all other soul pets, is not without weaknesses. As long as you aim for its center of gravity and create a gap between the three rocks, it will easily lose its bnce. Then, you’ll be able to send it flying.


    “However, when the Triangr Rock reaches sixty years of cultivation and evolves into the Triangr Hard Rock, this weakness will disappear.”


    The contestant muttered, “Is that so? It’s not written in the books…”


    After a second, his face immediately lit up as he said excitedly,” Thank you big brother, I happen to have an opponent with a Triangr Rock soul pet in my next match as well…”


    He walked away in great spirits.


    “Ssss!”


    The green caterpir hissed at Wang Che.


    ‘You lied to him!’


    “I didn’t lie to him,” Wang Che said as he cleared his throat. “As long as he has enough strength, he’ll be able to achieve the same effect. Let’s go eat first.”


    The green caterpir rolled his eyes at Wang Che.


    It could only look on with pity as the contestant headed to hispetition enthusiastically.


    Technically speaking, Wang Che had been telling the truth.


    However, he had conveniently left out the part about the strength requirement.


    Even without using its tail, the green caterpir’s headbutt had still packed quite a punch, since the Triangr Rock that stood unmoving on the stage was practically a live target.


    In fact, Wang Che was more afraid that the green caterpir would be able to smash the Triangr Rock into pieces with just a flick of its tail. That would definitely be troublesome if it were to happen in apetition.


    As such, he had instructed it to charge ahead instead.


    There was a dining hall set up in the gymnasium, where food would be provided for contestants free of charge. This seemed to make Wang Che feel quite happy.


    “Wow, this green caterpir is huge! Touch it~”


    “Why aren’t you evolving?”


    “Its evolution is the Green Nether Butterfly. Personally, I don’t like how it looks. I think it would be better not to evolve.”


    “Such a big green caterpir, it should be able to spit out a lot of silk, right? It’ll be able to earn so much money for you now!”


    ...


    After walking around, Wang Che found a ce to eat in the cafeteria while the green caterpir relished on more leaves in the soul pet supply area.


    There were also many other green caterpirs eating beside it.


    Upon counting, Wang Che realised that there were about seven or eight of them.


    “They’re all very lucky,” he eximed.


    Anyone who owned a green caterpir definitely did not purchase it willingly. They were more likely to be hatched from the free soul pet eggs distributed.


    Even among the thousand participants present today, there were only seven to eight green caterpirs in sight…


    After chewing on the leaves, Wang Che’s green caterpir crawled out sheepishly from the group of green caterpirs.


    “Useless,” Wang Che chided. “Since they’re of the same species as you, you should try to get along with them.”


    The green caterpir felt that there was something wrong with Wang Che.


    It spat a leaf at his face in response, as if saying, “I don’t want to. Go ahead and allow yourself to be touched by them if you want.”


    Just as Wang Che was about to speak, a voice suddenly sounded from behind them.


    “Do you mind if I take a seat here?”


    The voice was subtle, but it obviously belonged to a female.


    When Wang Che turned around to take a look, he was greeted by a beautiful girl with fair skin and a graceful figure.


    “No,” Wang Che replied firmly.


    His many years of experience clearly indicated to him that this person did not have good intentions.


    Nevertheless, the girl immediately sat down after she finished speaking.


    “Thank you very much. I won’t stand on ceremony then,” said the girl.


    Upon seeing this, the green caterpir hissed, as if to say, ‘Get out of my way! That’s my seat!’


    Without showing much of a reaction, the girl simply took out two fragrant leaves from her chest pocket and fed them to the green caterpir, saying, “Little sweetheart, go over there and eat, okay?”


    Though it seemed apprehensive at first, the green caterpir’s eyes immediately lit up as it caught a whiff of the leaves’ scent. It bit on the leaves and ran to one side obediently.


    Wang Che was at an utter loss of words.


    She had managed to bribe it just like that?


    As he stared at the green caterpir’s back, Wang Che began to think.. It seems that he had to ramp up its training in the future.