Chapter 9: From Today On, Your Name is Sparkle!
Sealed Stone Monkey
This was the race name of the familiar contracted by Shaya’s second soul pact. Unlike other familiars that bred the next generation through traditional methods like laying eggs or giving birth, the Sealed Stone Monkey race had no so-called bloodline inheritance. The birth of the Sealed Stone Monkey tribe originated from natural laws, or as Shaya’s previous life’s cultivation novels would put it, they were formed by gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon.
Because of this, their numbers were relatively scarce. Shaya only encountered this round, large stone by chance. The characteristics of the Sealed Stone Monkey race were actually very simple. Young stone monkeys were encased within a companion giant stone. Besides relying on the decent defense of this companion stone, they were utterly useless in other aspects. They had no means of attack, and could barely move by rolling the giant stone around. Any Awakened-tier Steel-toothed Dog could stomp on the stone and beat it up.
However, the Sealed Stone Monkey within its companion stone possessed an extremely rare racial skill, even among King Tier and Hegemon Tier familiars – “Gestation.” As the name suggests, in its sealed stone state, the Sealed Stone Monkey could continuously absorb external elements and resources, converting them into its own accumulation. This accumulation would allow it to complete a new evolution when the Sealed Stone Monkey broke open the seal of its companion stone.
According to Shaya’s research, if the young stone monkey absorbed fire-element Extraordinary Materials like “Molten Mountain Tortoise Shells,” “Fire Salamander Powder,” and “Crimson Flame Wyrm Scales,” it would likely follow the evolutionary path of “Molten Fire Spirit Monkey” or “Demonic Flame Ape.” If it absorbed earth-element Extraordinary Materials, the end of its evolutionary path might be a king of the earth like the “Titan Ape.”
Of course, since it had fallen into Shaya’s hands, it naturally wouldn’t follow those completely developed evolutionary paths peacefully. Without any hesitation, Shaya directly took out the evolution materials he had prepared long ago – a crystal ore that flowed with a silver-white luster. This was the item he had spent a massive amount of merit points at the Directorate to obtain the purchase permission for – a Rank 4 space-element evolution material, “Void Crystal Stone.” According to the Directorate’s description, it even contained faint time laws.
“Get ready,” Shaya reminded in a low voice without hesitation. Then, he directly placed the Void Crystal Stone on the slightly shaking large stone. The Void Crystal Stone emitted a brilliant silver-white light. Then, as if it melted, it transformed from solid to liquid and gradually merged into the giant stone. Shaya stroked Yin’s furry large tail, which had come over at some point, and silently watched the flickering silver-white light before his eyes.
To obtain this Rank 4 evolution material, Shaya not only used up all the Directorate merit points he had accumulated over half a year by scouring almost half of Lesa City, but he also emptied his last bit of assets. When he chose to redeem this “Void Crystal Stone,” the Directorate attendant who had previously thought highly of Shaya had earnestly advised him for a long time. After all, the space element, and even the more mysterious time element – although these attributes sounded grand, their depth was something ordinary people couldn’t fully grasp.
Although fully developed space-element familiars were extremely powerful, their cultivation period and cost far exceeded those of other familiars of the same level. Furthermore, before they were fully developed, space-element familiars mostly only had support abilities and lacked means for frontal combat. With the same time and resources invested in a familiar following a traditional route, it might have already translated into substantial combat power improvement. However, invested in a space-element familiar, it might not even make a ripple.
In the eyes of that Directorate attendant, Shaya, who clearly lacked a powerful background to supply resources, chose to develop a space-element familiar for his crucial second soul pact. This was clearly a case of being blinded by the powerful reputation of the space element, abandoning practical steps, and being an example of overreaching oneself. However, Shaya’s decisions would not be swayed by the thoughts of outsiders.
Time passed in silent anticipation. In the blink of an eye, the Void Crystal Stone, which was originally like a mineral, transformed into pure silver-white liquid. Then, it slowly seeped into the giant sealed stone, staining the originally gray-white giant stone with silver-white patterns. At this moment.
Crack—
A crisp cracking sound broke the deathly silence in the secret chamber. The silver-white patterns on the giant stone shone brilliantly, and a tiny crack slowly appeared on the upper part of the giant stone. Then, under the tense gaze of Shaya and Yin.
The originally imperceptible crack rapidly spread, covering the entire giant stone in an instant. And then.
Boom—
The giant stone shattered, turning into fragments of various sizes. And in the center of the fragments, within the gradually fading silver-white light spots, a small figure appeared. Its slender fur was woven like golden threads, emitting a warm luster under the dim light of the secret chamber, very much like the golden monkeys Shaya remembered from his previous life. Compared to its rough-looking, detestable relatives from Mount Emei, the furry golden monkey was like a snow mountain elf from another world.
The little golden monkey curiously observed its surroundings with its pitch-black eyes. Although it could vaguely sense the outside world through its soul pact link while in the sealed stone, it was not as clear and intuitive as seeing the world with its own eyes.
“Ying ying ying! (Welcome to the team, newbie!)” The little mink greeted the golden monkey with a cheerful cry, expressing its welcome as Shaya’s first familiar to the official joining of a newcomer. It had longed for a companion for a long time, as even practicing its skill proficiency normally required an opponent. Unfortunately, the previous Sealed Stone Monkey had always remained in the state of a giant stone, and even under illusion magic, it had no reaction, leaving Yin to find unlucky wild familiars in the wild to practice its “Tsukuyomi” on. Now that it finally had a sparring partner, Yin’s welcome was genuine. Of course, as the link of the soul pact, Shaya also sensed another layer of meaning hidden in Yin’s cry – presumably, it wanted the newcomer to pay their respects.
“Jiji! (Hello, Big Sister!)” The little golden monkey was quite sensible. Its dark eyes darted around, and then it leaped directly onto Shaya’s right shoulder. When it was inside the stone, it had already envied Yin’s exclusive throne on Shaya’s shoulder for a long time. At that time, its weight was too great, so even if it wanted to get close to its master, it couldn’t. Now that it had finally broken out of the stone, the little golden monkey quickly made up for its previous regrets, occupying the right shoulder territory it had long coveted. As for where new familiars would stay once both shoulders were occupied, it didn’t care.
Shaya reached out and stroked the little golden monkey’s furry head, causing it to squint its eyes contentedly. Why were other people’s familiars so cool, imposing, and powerful-looking, clearly indicating their formidable combat power? While his familiars’ appearances were all about being cute? If an uninformed person saw them, they might mistake Yin and the little golden monkey for harmless ornamental familiars with no combat ability.
“However, since the evolution is complete, you should also have a name like Yin.” Shaya looked at the little golden monkey’s fur, which reflected a brilliant golden luster under the sunlight, and slowly spoke. “Since that’s the case—” “Then I’ll call you Sparkle.”
