The evolution manual was divided into two parts: Introduction and Details.
After about three or four minutes, having finished the introduction part, a look of understanding appeared on Yi Tian's face.
"So that's how it is. I have to say, evolution really is a troublesome matter."
According to what was written, evolving a Stone Monkey into a Stone Monkey King involved two steps.
First, training the Stone Monkey to identify flowers and vegetation. It needed to recognize at least twenty types of plants related to brewing wine.
Then, applying a powder called "Freedom Yeast" to the Stone Monkey's palms continuously for 30 days.
Simultaneously, it had to consume Essence of Grass and Wood every day.
In other words, it would take at least 30 days for Da Sheng to complete the evolution.
"That's a bit long..."
The more specific steps, including data on required materials, were all in the detailed introduction.
Just as he was about to flip through it, a familiar notification sound rang out.
[Detected Stone Monkey King Evolution Path. Target: Da Sheng]
[Spend 10,000 Dragon Coins to simplify?]
Yi Tian was overjoyed!
The evolution process could be simplified too?
He wanted to select "Yes" immediately, but unfortunately, he had no money.
He jumped up from the chair and headed straight for the shopping district.
Finding the merchant guild that offered the highest price for Spirit Stones yesterday, he directly exchanged the 2000g of Spirit Stones for 180,000 Dragon Coins.
Selected "Yes"!
10,000 of the Dragon Coins he just got instantly disappeared.
[Simplification Complete!]
[Stone Monkey King Evolution Path → Drinking Alcohol]
[Requirements: 1. Da Sheng's realm reaches Bronze 100%; 2. Over 500ml of Silver-grade or higher Spirit Wine]
Bronze 100%? 500ml of Silver-quality wine?
Yi Tian repeated the requirements for the Stone Monkey King's evolution in his mind.
Neither of these requirements was too difficult.
Da Sheng's realm increase relied on drinking.
And the other requirement for Da Sheng's evolution was also related to drinking.
Yi Tian had researched Silver-grade wine; the cheapest was around 10,000 Dragon Coins a bottle.
He could afford it now, but Da Sheng was still a long way from Bronze 100%, so there was no rush to buy it for the time being.
Since the evolution route had been simplified, the evolution materials Zhou Tiangang gave were useless.
Yi Tian returned to the merchant guild where he sold the Spirit Stones. After some bargaining, he sold the evolution path along with the materials for a total price of 210,000.
Evolution manuals were expensive to buy but depreciated heavily when sold.
Fortunately, he hadn't flipped through the detailed part of the manual. Once flipped, the anti-theft mechanism would trigger, and the evolution path couldn't be sold.
And casually leaking evolution paths was illegal; if caught, one would have to go in for at least a few years.
Counting his previous money, Yi Tian now had a total of 380,000 Dragon Coins.
A figure that made his heart surge.
This was the first time he possessed so much wealth.
He couldn't help but feel cheerful.
"Is this what it feels like to be rich?"
"Time to spend!"
After dealing with the evolution materials and other things, Yi Tian didn't go home directly.
Instead, he entered a merchant guild specializing in beast skills.
He prepared to select an attack-type skill for Da Sheng.
Skills could be divided into Racial Skills and Learned Skills based on how they were obtained. For example, "Drunkenness," which Da Sheng awakened upon breaking through to Bronze, was a Racial Skill.
When a beast met certain conditions, it would be obtained automatically.
Learned Skills could be acquired post-natally through the beast's efforts.
A beast's strength was mainly composed of three parts: the beast's own realm, the beast's potential, and the skills the beast possessed.
To improve Da Sheng's strength to cope with the future Professional Beast Tamer Assessment, learning attack skills was mandatory.
"Hello sir, how may I help you?"
A female staff member in uniform saw Yi Tian enter and immediately greeted him.
"I want to pick an attack-type skill for my beast."
"Okay, sir, please come this way."
Skills were also divided into many types. There was a small room in the store dedicated to attack skills.
Entering the room, a large cabinet listed various skill manuals.
One could also input the skill number through a monitor next to the cabinet to view detailed information.
[Tiger Roar - Bronze Rank]
[Description: Emits a roar through a special method to intimidate enemies]
[Learning Requirement: Tiger-type Beast]
[Price: 50,000]
...
[Water Dragon Bullet - Silver Rank]
[Description: Summons water elements to form a water dragon to attack enemies]
[Learning Requirement: Possess water element affinity]
[Price: 300,000]
...
Skills naturally had grades too. Yi Tian wanted to buy high-level skills, but... his pocket was truly empty.
"Looks like I'm still a poor man, hehe."
The mindset that had swelled due to suddenly obtaining several hundred thousand Dragon Coins was instantly corrected.
As long as it was something related to beasts, it was expensive.
Actually, if he went bankrupt, Yi Tian could afford a Silver-grade skill.
But after searching over and over, he couldn't find a Silver skill suitable for Da Sheng. The higher the skill level, the higher the requirement for the beast itself.
However, there was a Bronze skill very suitable for Da Sheng.
[Eight-Direction Stick - Bronze]
[Description: When the beast uses a stick-type weapon, it can stack stick shadows to attack simultaneously]
[Learning Requirement: Beast needs to have upper limbs similar to human hands]
[Price: 30,000]
He remembered the first time he saw Da Sheng; he was playing with a small stick.
And the monkey species perfectly met the learning requirements for the Eight-Direction Stick, and the price wasn't expensive either.
This was the most suitable one Yi Tian found after looking through hundreds of skills.
Yi Tian decided immediately.
"I'll buy it!"
After buying the skill, he spent another 10,000 to buy 10 bottles of Bronze-grade wine.
Only then did he return home.
After getting home, Da Sheng hugged the newly bought wine and drank several mouthfuls heartily.
Sure enough, Yi Tian saw in the data panel that the realm began to rise again, though the speed of improvement wasn't as exaggerated as before.
Sending Da Sheng aside, Yi Tian opened the Eight-Direction Stick training manual and studied it.
It took about half an hour to finish reading.
"So that's how it is."
Learning a skill wasn't just throwing the skill book to the beast and expecting it to learn automatically.
Especially for low-level beasts, they simply didn't have such high intelligence.
The Beast Tamer needed to guide the beast step by step.
Just as Yi Tian was about to call Da Sheng over for teaching.
Two continuous mechanical voices sounded in his ear.
[Detected Eight-Direction Stick training manual. Target: Da Sheng]
[Spend 10,000 Dragon Coins to simplify?]
...
[Skill Simplification Module activated. Detected Drunkenness. Target: Da Sheng]
[Spend 10,000 Dragon Coins to simplify?]
Yi Tian was overjoyed.
"That's great!"
"I didn't expect the System to give me such a big surprise."
"Realm improvement can be simplified, evolution paths can be simplified, and even skill training can be simplified."
"Haha!"
Then what doubt was there? Of course, select "Yes."
A total of 20,000 Dragon Coins, small change!
As he made the choice, two pleasant voices followed.
[Simplification Complete!]
[Eight-Direction Stick Training → Holding a Stick]
[Hint: This simplification plan can only train the Eight-Direction Stick to 'Proficient' mastery]
...
[Simplification Complete!]
[Drunkenness Training → Drinking Alcohol]
Looking at the prompt for the Eight-Direction Stick, Yi Tian made a sound of surprise. This was the first time a hint appeared during simplification.
Skill mastery from low to high was divided into: Introductory, Skilled, Proficient, Perfect, Godlike.
Being able to simplify to the Proficient level was already considered good.
According to Yi Tian's estimation, going from Proficient to Perfect might require the coordination of other conditions.