Chapter 39: The Direction of Totem Evolution

In the vast Moonlight Forest, a lake lay at its heart, bubbles continuously surfacing at its center. Here, in the Moonlight Forest, beasts were most numerous. Countless creatures gathered to drink from its waters, and even more predators lurked in ambush, waiting for their chance.

On the open ground at the lake’s edge, a colossal black beast sprawled, like a dark hill, its overwhelming aura keeping all other animals at bay for a hundred meters around. What was even more astonishing—a handsome youth draped in a silver-grey robe reclined lazily against its massive body, idly flipping through a thick, black book.

“Panli Wild Bull, a superior totem beast, renowned for its strength. It can break through packs of grassland wolves head-on and defeat a black bear one-on-one. This is a formidable creature cultivated by my family, its power nearly reaching that of a Martial Lieutenant.”

On the page, a gigantic black bull reared back and roared at the sky, revealing sharp teeth—clearly no herbivore.

This was the hereditary main totem of the Niukelian family, refined over dozens of generations, and now the dream choice of countless aspiring totem-bonded warriors.

The main totem determined a Spirit Master’s future advancement. Every Spirit Master longed for a totem that could evolve and super-evolve along with them, but such beings were all controlled by great powers; without joining them, one had no chance of obtaining such totems.

“Panli Demon Bull, an evolved totem beast—the next form of the Panli Wild Bull, with a threefold increase in strength, able to smash the sturdiest buildings with a single charge.

It possesses the unique ability ‘War Stomp’, a power that shakes the earth and causes creatures in the vicinity to fall into a daze—hardly any evolved totem beast can withstand it.”

What a terrifying ability. For the first time, Charles saw his opponent’s totem information laid bare like this, and truly, this was one of the most violent totems.

Most totems, after evolving, would enhance their signature abilities. For example, bats would develop sonic attacks from their ultrasonic radar, and forest wolves would gain even sharper claws and teeth, increasing their offensive power. Some upper-level totems would even develop special powers—like this ‘War Stomp’, akin to a legendary spell attack, capable of inflicting widespread destruction. It was a devastating weapon against large groups of enemies.

His own Komodo Dragon’s ‘Savage Charge’ was merely a strengthening of muscle and force—nowhere near as versatile as the opponent’s ability.

“Blood Demon Bull, ultimate-form totem beast—the ultimate evolution of the Panli Wild Bull. Over five meters tall and weighing more than six tons, it possesses terrifying strength, able to smash city walls head-on.

Its skin has extraordinary durability; no ordinary weapon can harm it, not even alchemical explosives. Its immense strength allows it to charge unimpeded, shattering everything in its path.

The range of War Stomp multiplies several times, and it gains a unique ability: Blood Demon Roar, capable of bringing down enemies from the air.”

Such was the power of an ultimate-form totem beast!

Charles managed a wry smile. An ultimate-form totem beast was already on par with legendary creatures—comparable to the magical monsters of myth.

Didn’t you see that line? All ordinary weapons are useless against it. That meant a single Blood Demon Bull could wipe out an entire human city!

With such power, a Blood Demon Bull would be an invincible monster in the eyes of the common folk; in previous, more primitive eras, it would have been worshipped as a divine beast.

Charles could not help but wonder—were the ancient totems of his homeland, like dragons and phoenixes, also such ultimate or even super-evolved divine beasts?

Alas, there was no way back; all he could do was speculate.

In the story’s future, Niukelian’s main totem would achieve super-evolution, transforming into the Divine Beast Violent Bull Demon King, possessing power second only to Roddy’s main totem.

It would even confront Roddy head-on, only to be defeated by the protagonist’s aura, becoming another vanquished foe.

In the scenes to come, that Bull Demon King would stand over twenty meters tall; a single roar could bring down mountains and shatter the earth. It would become a true legendary creature, its destructive power rivaling missiles from his previous life—utterly unstoppable except by those at its own level.

Yet, even such a fearsome mythic beast would not rank among the top ten in the future, and would even be slain outright by an adversary!

This alone hinted at how brutal future battles would become—even divine beasts would struggle just to survive.

“In three months, I must gain strength surpassing an ordinary third-rank Spirit Master, or I will never withstand the barbarian invasion!”

Thinking of the barbarian horde set to invade in three months, Charles felt an urgent and terrible crisis looming—time was running out.

He pored over the notes from the beginning, barely managing to gather some understanding of the evolutionary routes for common creatures—mostly easily found animals.

Forest wolves, forest bears, grey rabbits, snakes—all had the potential for evolution, though the cost of nurturing them varied.

High-potential totems consumed few resources and grew immensely strong after evolving; low-potential ones, like grey rabbits, even after painstaking cultivation, could only serve as expendable support totems, with pitifully weak combat power.

Yet for him, none of this posed a problem. With the Modulator, Bailing, he had the confidence to evolve his totems faster and stronger than even the main characters.

He glanced at the translucent interface—evolution points: 7.6.

Killing Cassie’s main totem, the Violetwing Butterfly, had earned him 2.3 evolution points. Taking down Neil had doubled that—4.8 evolution points.

“Clearly, eliminating a Spirit Master’s main totem yields far more evolution points than killing support totems or source-energy mutated monsters. And the rewards for defeating Spirit Masters themselves are even greater!”

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and a murderous intent surfaced unbidden.

“This means I must hunt more Spirit Masters, snowballing my growth ever faster!”

After his first kill, Charles no longer rejected the idea of murder—instead, he began to kill selectively.

It was a strange feeling, as if all others were a different species in his eyes, as if he himself had transcended humanity, standing apart as something superior.

To kill legally was simple—just take on bounty missions.

In this world, there were no shortage of fanatical Spirit Masters; some would slaughter entire villages, men, women, and children alike, in pursuit of evolutionary research.

Naturally, such acts made them targets of the Bounty Guild, with huge rewards on their heads.

“But before that, I must cultivate more demi-totems. Otherwise, I cannot hunt efficiently!”

Charles rose to his feet, stroking his smooth chin, deep in thought.

“First, I’ll see if I can use evolution points to awaken the little white fox—maybe even trigger its evolution!”

“Bailing!”

He summoned the modulator interface, focusing on the avatar of his little white fox, Firefly. With a thought, his evolution points began to plunge rapidly.

A surge of intense heat welled up from his brow, rushing into the body of the little white fox...