Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 336 Divine Beast - Akainu
The puppy was bright red all over, covered with short, fine downy fur that lay tightly against its body.

Its expression looked somewhat 'wise,' a kind of 'wisdom' that permeated from its very soul, a wisdom that even a husky couldn't match.

"It's here—"

Awoo tapped its head with its paw with concern and whispered:

"No problem?"

Li Xia whistled, and the puppy's eyes immediately lit up. It darted to Li Xia's feet and wagged its tail vigorously.

It can leave white marks when you tap it on the ground.

"attack!"

He randomly pointed to a trash can.

"Roar!"

To the astonishment of Aowu and Heitan, the puppy suddenly stood up on its hind legs, becoming a head taller than Li Xia.

It emitted low whimpers while spewing out scorching white flames that relentlessly burned the trash can.

Not only that, it stared fiercely at the trash can, its gaze so focused that it seemed like the only thing in the world was that trash can.

In Black Charcoal's words, this puppy is like the neighbor's silly dog ​​who was hit on the head with a stone when it was born, but somehow grew up to be tall and strong.

He looks fierce and intimidating.

"A qualified front-row soldier has a certain level of intelligence, so it's not its fault. Summoning a divine beast is essentially using a monster from another dimension to project into reality."

Intelligence issues—that's beyond discussion.

As Li Xia spoke, she posted the skill description.

[Summon Divine Beast] Rank: 1
(Special skills cannot be infused)
[Skill Type: Summoning Active Ability]

[Skill Cost: 20% of Maximum Energy + Blank Talisman + Spirit Crystal Fragment]

[Skill Cooldown: None]

[Effect: Summons a red dog from another world with basic intelligence and the fixed skill: Purifying Flame. It can accumulate experience in battle to increase its star rating, up to a maximum of 7 stars.]

[Duration: Persists as long as the person is alive]

[Synopsis: It is said that a Taoist priest tried to teach a red dog to shake hands and retrieve things, but he never succeeded in teaching it, even after he died in a stone tomb cave.]

"As long as you don't die, you'll exist forever? That's pretty good."

Awoo withdrew his gaze and looked at the red dog, which had already burned the trash can to a pile of slag but was still spewing fire.

He clicked his tongue and asked, "Boss, how are the attributes?"

"good!"

Li Xia shared the Red Dog's panel again. Compared to the Apostle template, the Red Dog's panel is quite simple.

[Name: Unnamed]

[Rank: One-Star Divine Beast]

【HP: 5000】

【Mana value: 2000】

Physical Strength Assessment: 3 (Apostle's physical strength * 60%)

【Strength: 30】

Dexterity: 20

【Intelligence: 5】

【Spirit: 5】

【Physique: 30】

[Skill: Purifying Flame]

Skill effect: Spews out positive-attribute flames reaching up to 3000 degrees Celsius, scorching enemies in front of it.

Skill cost: 10 points/s
[Introduction: Woof woof woof!]

It is indeed very simple, so simple that even after looking at it for a long time, I still can't figure out anything.

"Strength, dexterity, and physique should be calculated based on my attributes according to a certain ratio."

I'm not entirely sure how it's calculated, but you can increase your star rating through battles.

Its health is also decent, making it a good front-line unit for crowd control.

Most importantly—

Li Xia flicked a shiny silver coin into the air with his finger:

"It consumes almost no resources!"

This is the main reason why Li Xia was willing to take this skill. To be honest, the Fiery Blade Technique and the Frost Roar are pretty good skills.

However, this would require a significant investment of resources, and the improvement it provides would not be very noticeable.

On the contrary, summoning divine beasts can immediately form combat power, at most consuming a little Hall Points.

The king of cost-effectiveness!
He is the current leader of the team. Although Aowu and Heitan are nominally his servants, they are actually his teammates and family.

Li Xia has never skimped on resources for the two little ones; even that 'Fragment of Secondary Gravity Law' alone, if he were willing to trade it to a top-tier guild.

That would be enough for them to provide resources from Tier 1 to Tier 3, entirely according to seed level.

The kitten's Kirin outfit, sniper rifle, and Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
These are things that even third-tier apostles would envy.

Therefore, Li Xia configured the two little ones as normal third-tier apostle teammates.

In other words, he was actually supporting the entire team all by himself, which meant that the Transcendent Hall saved him a lot of resources.

This gave him the initial capital to snowball his gains, making each of his profits truly staggering.

Otherwise, if other apostles were employed, the business would have already been running into financial difficulties.

Transcendence may seem to do nothing, but in reality, it is the MVP!

With just a slight move, Li Xia has achieved his current sweeping victory.

"It's actually not bad!"

The red dog, who had already sprayed molten iron into the trash can, turned around and was panting heavily, looking dumbfounded.

The howl landed squarely on its head:

"Boss, what do we do next? Upgrade skills? Add attribute points?"

"No, I should go back to reality and rest first. I've been out for so long, I need to go back and relax." Although I felt very safe in the Hall of Light, there was also a sense of emptiness and etherealness.

Only when you return to reality do you feel a real sense of existence, like a wanderer who has left home finally returning to their hometown.

That sense of peace of mind is something that cannot be provided inside the Hall of Light.

Perhaps this is what is meant by the connection between apostles and real-world destiny, requiring them to return periodically to solidify this bond.

No matter how far the apostles go, they will always be children of Earth.

The salty sea breeze was warm and humid, and at this moment, the sun's scorching rays made the entire island appear somewhat white.

The lifelike robots purchased from the palace were completely unfazed by the scorching sun.

Many of the more intelligent ones even opened their energy storage boards to expose their motherboards and processors, letting them bask in the sun.

Li Xia lay on a deck chair by the sea, wearing only beach shorts.

Its body, cast from refined steel, gleamed with a faint light; just by looking at it, one could sense the explosive power hidden within.

In the azure sea, the roaring creature's body was like a streak of silver light, occasionally leaping out of the water and plunging back in.

In the end, Xiaolong simply conjured a giant water sphere and played volleyball with Heitan on the sea surface.

The loud sound Susanoo made when he struck the water sphere was so great that anyone who didn't know better would think it was an explosion.

As the sun set, they lit a campfire on the beach and roasted the seafood that Aww had brought out of the sea.

At their level, food on Earth can no longer provide enough energy; it's just for the taste.

The man, the dragon, and the cat still ate happily, and even the red dog seemed much more harmonious in this setting.

It lay quietly beside Li Xia, its eyes closed as if dozing.

"Boss, shouldn't it have a name? What should it be called?"

The naming god, Black Charcoal, immediately raised his claws:
"Meow!"

"A red-bellied puppy? No, no, that's too long."

Awoo shook its head, a glint of shrewdness flashing in its eyes:
"How about Akainu?"

"Sakazuki, right?"

Li Xia's lips twitched slightly; both the dragon and the cat had the potential to be entertaining.

"Then we might as well call him Wangcai!"

"Wangcai is too ordinary; it needs to be both loud and elegant!"

Aowu raised his beer glass and began to speak eloquently:

"If you ask me, the name 'Akainu' is both descriptive of his appearance and quite elegant, making it a perfect match!"

Well, it still hasn't given up on this name.

"Meow!"

Black Charcoal raised its paw again in protest; it still thought Red Temperate Dog was better.

Li Xia stroked his chin, feeling somewhat hesitant, as he was always bad at naming things.

I thought about simply calling him 'Howling Celestial Dog', but then I realized that I already have an eye on my forehead and a three-pointed double-edged sword in my hand.

Having also mastered the Eight or Nine Arcane Arts, if he were to keep a dog by his side, he would name it Xiaotian.

It feels like I'm just copying someone else. Compared to Erlang, I might not even be able to defeat the 1200 grass-root gods under his command.

Calling him Xiaotian is really a bit of a burden.

"Alright, Akainu it is. If it doesn't work out, we can change the name later."

In the end, Li Xia compromised. After all, apart from "Red Dog" being a better name, there were only "Red Warm Dog," "Wangcai," and "Laifu," which were neither elegant nor catchy.

The remaining days were leisurely, and I experienced complete relaxation, both physically and mentally.

Because guild quests are not considered part of the regular world, the Time Chamber did not refresh.

Li Xia even had a rare moment of leisure, and not only that, his heart, which had been slightly agitated by the long-term life-and-death struggle, also calmed down.

Every morning he would come to the top of the hill and practice standing meditation and boxing in front of the rising sun.

At night, accompanied by the moonlight, I breathe and exhale, practicing and seeking truth.

After a few days, Li Xia felt that the world in front of her seemed to have become a little brighter, as if there had always been a thin plastic film covering her eyes.

Only now was it slowly unveiled, allowing him to see a more real and magnificent world.

But he knew it was all an illusion.

He had this feeling simply because his heart was calmer.

[Executioner, the current time spent in the real world has reached the required standard.]

Looking at the prompt for the Hall of Light before him, Li Xia slowly stood up, showing neither the excitement nor the impatience he once had.

There was none of the earlier anxiety and unease.

On the contrary, he was like a bottomless spring, calm and still.

"gone!"

Li Xia waved to Aowu and Heitan, who were flying towards them from afar.

The two little ones hopped onto Li Xia's shoulders and waited quietly for something.

Akainu also got up from the ground, quickly ran over, and crouched down at his feet.

"return!"

[Coming back.]

The world before my eyes suddenly stretched and blurred, and in the endless light, the soft lamplight of the living room replaced the sunlight.

Outside the massive glass curtain wall, heavy snowflakes drifted silently.

The firewood inside the fireplace crackled and popped as it burned.

The orange flames gently licked the firewood, radiating light and heat.

Welcome back to the Hall of Light!

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Two updates, 6k words each; I need to get used to it.
(End of this chapter)