After using cheats, I became the strongest Beast Tamer

At the top of the skull, there were four curved dragon horns, and the upper and lower jaws were extremely ferocious.

The massive mouth was filled with dense, numerous teeth.

The most impressive aspect was that this dragon-like creature's skull was black.

Jet-black as ink, with a metallic sheen.

Could this be some kind of secret treasure?

Chen Xing felt a special aura from the skull that resembled that of a secret treasure, but it was too large; he had never seen a secret treasure of such size before.

Chen Xing was unsure, but he still extracted the skull and then summoned Dong Jun to have a touch.

Dong Jun stretched out its paw and placed it on the surface of the skull.

The next second, a golden line radiated outwards from the center of Dong Jun's paw.

At the same time, the progress surged—31.2%.

This skull could actually serve as an evolution material! And it occupied such a significant portion of the progress.

If there were two more similar materials, he estimated that it would be enough to fill the progress completely.

However, Chen Xing thought it unlikely; the evolution materials he had encountered thus far required at least four materials in the least demanding of routes.

Once the progress exceeded 50%, he would be able to see how many materials were required for this evolutionary path.

It seems Chi Meng also had her own fortune, somehow obtaining this mysterious dragon-like creature's skull from somewhere.

She must have known it was valuable, which is why she kept it in the storage ring.

Although it was a valuable item, it was of no use to ordinary people. Discover hidden stories at empire

A good item it was, but if one could not utilize it, it simply became a wasted opportunity.

Dong Jun naturally couldn't see the progress bar; it was puzzled as to why the master asked it to touch the bone. Out of curiosity, it glanced at the bone in front of it, Dong Jun placed its hands behind its back and leaned in to sniff.

Immediately, it frowned and quickly retreated.

It smelled a very unpleasant scent from the bone.

The reason for the disgust was indescribable, like an innate dislike stemming from its bloodline.

...

Chen Xing put the skull away, not expecting this pleasant surprise from his outing.

Compared to other materials, Chen Xing felt that none of his other findings could compare to this skull.

This was the main material for a golden evolutionary route!

With a progress of thirty-one point two percent, such a key material could almost be compared to materials of the Domain Stele's caliber.

After coming out, Dong Jun didn't wish to return and wanted to stay by the master's side a bit longer, so Chen Xing didn't send it away. Instead, he played with it for a while before storing it in the Gourmet Space.

"Mr. Chen, we've mined something good," Gong Yinhong said as he jogged over, looking pleased.

"What good thing?" Chen Xing asked, curious. After all, Gong Yinhong was a Transcendent Beast Tamer; ordinary things surely couldn't excite him that much.

Gong Yinhong took out a transparent crystal the size of a skull.

Within the transparent crystal, one red and one blue stream of air swirled around.

At the same time, a rich magic power fluctuation faintly emanated from the surface of the crystal.

"What is this?"

"The Watercore Flame Core!" Gong Yinhong declared, then proceeded to explain its value to Chen Xing.

The Watercore Flame Mine vein they were standing on belonged to a large vein, and within a large vein, there was only a small chance of cultivating a core, and only one could be cultivated.

As for its specific function, Gong Yinhong was also not clear.

Because he didn't know...

All he knew was that it was very valuable.

If the value of the ore of the same kind was 1, the value of the core was above 100,000.

More than one hundred thousand times in value.

"To think a core was actually mined," Zhao Guangming, upon hearing the news, came over and was quite surprised to see the Watercore Flame Core in Gong Yinhong's hands.

Hearing Zhao Guangming's tone, it seemed he knew quite a bit about cores. "Brother Zhao, do you know the function of the core?" Chen Xing asked.

Zhao Guangming smiled and said, "Of course I know. The core has many uses, the most crude of which is to consume it as a common secret treasure. Its effects are much better than ordinary ores of the same type, and it can also help break through bottlenecks. Moreover, if the attribute fits, there's even the possibility of breaking through the species limit."

Upon hearing this, the image of Chi Xie flashed through Chen Xing's mind.

If they had arrived a few days later, would Chi Xie have acquired the core?

Would his Beast Taming have been able to break through to the Transcendence Seventh Level?

The situation in battle might have... But it seemed like it wouldn't have changed much.

Chen Xing suddenly thought of Sìxiàng's abilities. Couldn't he just not fight and escape if necessary?

At worst he could throw the opponent into the Dark Realm, then make his own way out.

By the time the opponent found a new exit from the Dark Realm and returned here, who knows what time it would be.

The only possibility was that he might not be able to get the dragon bones from Chi Meng's storage ring.

This tactic was somewhat cheap, but unless he faced an opponent adept in spatial abilities, surviving shouldn't be a problem.

But then Chen Xing thought of another issue. What if in the future he encountered an enemy with abilities like Sìxiàng's—how should he deal with that?

Enter the Dark Realm first, then use it to return to the Main Plane?

But what if he couldn't enter the Dark Realm at all?

It seemed he needed to hurry up and help Xiaoxu achieve Transcendence, and find a suitable and powerful evolution path for him.

"Aside from direct consumption, this core has many other uses. For example, it can be used as an evolution material, replacing many secret treasures of both water and fire attributes, or made into a potion for a Beast Tamer to consume, which has a higher cost-effectiveness than direct consumption," Zhao Guangming continued.

As he said this, Zhao Guangming suddenly coughed, his expression slightly embarrassed.

"Brother Chen."

Chen Xing got goosebumps.

"No, Brother Zhao, you can just speak plainly, don't be like this," he replied.

Zhao Guangming continued to cough and then said, "Do you need this core for yourself?"

Chen Xing roughly guessed what Zhao Guangming meant and pondered.

The Watercore Flame Core was a dual-attribute secret treasure of water and fire, so naturally it should be used on a Beast Taming with both water and fire attributes to maximize its value.

Aside from Sìxiàng which marginally touched on the fire attribute, none of his other Beast Tamings had any connection with either fire or water attributes.

His sister's Beast Taming didn't have water or fire attributes either.

With this in mind, Chen Xing shook his head, "It's not very useful to me."

Zhao Guangming brightened up at this, "I have a younger sister, five years younger than me. One of her Beast Tamings is exactly dual-attribute, water and fire. Low-level secret treasures of water and fire attributes are easy to find, but high-level ones are rare. I am willing to purchase it at a price fifty percent above the market rate."

Chen Xing promptly agreed with a nod.

As the chief in charge, it was a simple matter of him giving his consent.

"That's fine, but there's no need to exceed the market price by fifty percent." Chen Xing paused and then continued, "Just sell it to you at the market rate. When the time comes, Brother Zhao, you can just use the public account. Count it toward the total income of this Mercenary Corps operation."

A glint of respect flashed in Zhao Guangming's eyes. The Watercore Flame Core was valuable indeed, and such income was considered a grey area. If Chen Xing wanted it, all it would take was a word from him.

There probably wouldn't be anyone shortsighted enough to object, and it was likely that not many would be aware of it, as implied by Zhao Guangming seeking Chen Xing right after receiving the core from Gong Yinhong.

Even Gong Yinhong was somewhat surprised.

Chen Xing chuckled, "Let's use the public account, what should be counted should be counted, no need to break the rules."

"If I broke the rules myself, how could I expect my subordinates to follow them? It goes into the public account."

Zhao Guangming couldn't help but praise, "Brother Chen is straightforward."

Even Gong Yinhong's view of Chen Xing underwent a subtle change.

In reality, it's not that Chen Xing's actions were so remarkably righteous, but in the Exotic Region, it was common for superiors to embezzle items.

It's just that people like Chen Xing were in the minority.

Gong Yinhong quickly went down and relayed Chen Xing's orders.

This allowed many Beast Tamers to learn of the matter and, for a moment, cheers erupted from the Beast Tamers below.

Chen Xing could feel a subtle shift in the atmosphere among the Beast Tamers in the camp above them.

It might not be a significant change, but at least it was developing in a positive direction.

After resting for two days, Chen Xing led the Beast Tamers back to Stone City, the mission perfectly completed.