Chapter 220: Milotic, Who’s Becoming More And More Off
Previously, the Asian Alliance’s impending split had been making a huge fuss, and it wasn’t even a big secret in ordinary people’s circles anymore.
In the end, the European Alliance quietly pulled off something massive.
Lu Li held the tablet computer and returned to the living room, where Yao Yifei was equally confused.
Yao Yifei had her arms crossed, her eyes full of doubt and confusion.
The collapse of an alliance isn’t a small matter; it’s a harbinger of great chaos.
Seeing Lu Li come out, Yao Yifei couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t Ekaterina mention this matter to you at all?”
Lu Li shook his head with a wry smile on his face.
He truly didn’t know about this matter; Ekaterina had never mentioned it to him.
“Extreme Ice Empire, tsk tsk tsk…”
Wei clicked her tongue in amazement beside them.
“Before this alliance was established, the Yekaterina Family was the royal family of the Extreme Ice Empire. This move is basically a restoration of the country,” Wei sighed.
Yao Yifei said thoughtfully, “What I’m more curious about is why the Yekaterina Family is restoring the country. Did they recover the Extreme Ice Empire’s guardian divine beast?”
Hearing this, Lu Li looked surprised: “The Extreme Ice Empire once had a divine beast contract?”
Yao Yifei nodded and said, “This isn’t any secret. The Extreme Ice Empire’s contract divine beast is the Blizzard Horse, the mount of the Eternal King.”
The Blizzard Horse can only be considered a Tier 3 God, but no one would underestimate the Blizzard Horse because it has a fusion form with Calyrex.
In a certain sense, the Blizzard Horse and Calyrex are one entity.
However, the Blizzard Horse disappeared along with Calyrex at the beginning of the alliance’s establishment.
Among all Tier 1 Gods, Calyrex’s strength is also top-tier, of course, that’s in its fused state.
Calyrex’s strength in its normal form leans more toward support, but once fused, its power can only be described as terrifying.
Lu Li didn’t expect the Yekaterina Family to actually be a divine beast family.
Blizzard Horse…
“By the way, didn’t Ekaterina mention this matter to you at all? They pulled off something massive without a word,” Yao Yifei asked curiously, looking at Lu Li.
Lu Li helplessly shook his head and explained, “Don’t ask me. When I’m with her, we rarely talk about her family; we usually chat about Pokémon-related matters.”
Yao Yifei didn’t pursue the question further.
“Speaking of which, this matter should have a huge impact, right?” Lu Li asked.
“Quite huge.” Yao Yifei nodded solemnly and said, “The establishment of the Extreme Ice Empire will likely directly trigger the disintegration of other alliances.”
Lu Li pondered.
Just as Lu Li was about to ask a few more questions, the news interface on the tablet computer suddenly switched to a live broadcast room.
“Yekaterina IX Ascension Ceremony.”
Lu Li: “???”
Wait.
Ninth generation.
Lu Li also reacted.
If he remembered correctly, the Ekaterina he knew seemed to be Yekaterina IX, right?
Waking up from sleep to find his friend has become the Empress?
Lu Li looked at the equally confused Yao Yifei in bewilderment.
“This… this is the Ekaterina we know? She’s only Gym Level; how could she possibly lead the Yekaterina Family?” Yao Yifei asked in surprise.
Lu Li shook his head and explained, “No, Ekaterina has already broken through to Heavenly King Level.”
Yao Yifei: “???”
“I remember Ekaterina is about the same age as me, right? A 26-year-old Heavenly King?” Yao Yifei was stunned.
“In fact, if you hadn’t squandered your own talent, you should be a Heavenly King by now too,” Lu Li complained inwardly.
Of course, Lu Li wouldn’t say such a heartbreaking thing out loud, so he could only complain silently in his heart.
Bao Bao also looked envious, staring at Ekaterina on the screen: “Sister Ekaterina has actually become the Empress!”
Flames burned in Wei’s eyes as she stroked Kubfu’s head encouragingly: “Kubfu, you need to step it up. Aim to break through to Gym Level within two years.”
Kubfu made a perfect OK hand gesture. Its malnutrition had been fully recovered, and next, its strength would enter an explosive growth period with the aid of pills.
Moreover, the endpoint of this explosive period was Champion Level. Kubfu was confident it could break through to Heavenly King Level within three years.
Of course, provided Lu Li didn’t cut off its supply of pills.
Everyone focused intently on the screen. Under the gaze of all, Ekaterina wore luxurious attire and a crown embedded with gems, her golden braids coiled into an exquisite updo at the back of her head.
She walked steadily and elegantly toward the Empress throne, with her maids holding her cloak and following carefully beside her.
On both sides of the red carpet were the ministers of the Extreme Ice Empire and the military band. Lu Li squinted at the scene.
This world was getting more and more interesting.
Ekaterina’s ascension ceremony would last a long time, and Lu Li certainly couldn’t stare at it the whole time.
After watching for just a moment, Lu Li handed the tablet computer back to Wei beside him.
“Tell me when Ekaterina’s ascension is over so I can call to congratulate her.” After saying that, Lu Li turned and entered the basement.
As a very busy person, it was already quite something for him to spare this time to watch the ascension ceremony.
Back in the basement, Lu Li first glanced at the Melmetal.
The Melmetal’s recovery states were all pretty good. Lu Li estimated they would wake up soon, probably in about a month.
This timeframe wasn’t long, but not short either.
Next, Lu Li added some more Steel Essence to the Melmetal.
The Beldum floating beside Lu Li drooled looking at the Steel Essence. The taste of Steel Essence wasn’t as good as pills, but it could still be used as snacks.
“Stop looking. You can’t sneak any of this,” Lu Li said, lightly tapping the little guy’s head.
Beldum let out a protesting chirp.
What’s that? What are you saying?
Am I, Beldum, the type to be greedy for food?
Besides…
Beldum secretly glanced at the nuts in the Steel Essence.
Don’t let its few days of life fool you; it was shrewd.
These were clearly big shots it couldn’t mess with. What if they woke up and came after it for stealing food while they slept?
Moreover, while Steel Essence was highly nourishing, its taste really wasn’t as good as pills.
“Alright, you can play here now. And! Stop using Psychic to float yourself around. You’ve been born for two days; you should be using your innate magnetism by now,” Lu Li scolded, exasperated at its lack of progress.
Beldum nodded.
Floating with Psychic versus floating with Magnetism—the latter was actually much more comfortable.
After arranging Beldum’s training plan, Lu Li went to the backyard again.
Milotic’s flashy progress was going well. Now it was time to practice some attribute skills, and it could already shape them.
Like firing heart-shaped Bubble beams.
It looked quite flashy but impractical, even weakening the power somewhat.
But as Yao Yifei had said, this was a hurdle all coordination Pokémon had to pass. Once skill proficiency increased, the skill’s power would naturally rise.
For Milotic, Lu Li was never stingy with his praise.
“Xiao Mei, you’re getting prettier and prettier, and your skills are looking better and better.”
Praised like this by Lu Li, she showed no shyness, instead proudly lifting her chin as if this was all basic stuff.
After observing a bit more, Lu Li stroked his chin and asked, “Want to learn a new secret technique?”
Milotic’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.
As the Pokémon that had been with Lu Li the longest, she knew full well the value of Lu Li’s secret techniques.
“Na~”
（Is that okay? I’ve been learning gorgeous skills lately.）
Lu Li comforted her: “It’s not like I’m asking you to learn it right away. Just comprehend it first.”
“Na~”
Milotic let out a light, joyful cry.
Even Lu Li, as a trainer and cultivator, felt his heart itch upon hearing that cry.
Damn!
This charm is toxic.
Lu Li mentally slapped himself hard.
This was Milotic, for crying out loud—how could it affect even him, a cultivator? If an ordinary person faced this…
Lu Li didn’t even dare imagine the scene.
Milotic had turned into a succubus. Lu Li worried that taking her to gorgeous contests would cause the audience to lose control.
“Xiao Mei, our aspirations shouldn’t be too high. Just be a good Pokémon succubus. Forget about lust demons or whatever—that kind of subspatial evil god stuff, we won’t touch it,” Lu Li earnestly advised.
He knew he was a cultivator with a fairly firm mind, yet for that brief moment, he had almost lost control.
This showed just how lethal Milotic’s coquettish cry was to normal trainers.
Milotic tilted her head, looking at her trainer.
What’s wrong with the trainer? Why is he saying things she doesn’t understand again?
“No worries if you don’t get it. I’ll teach you the new technique… no, the new secret technique first,” Lu Li said seriously, changing the subject.
He suddenly realized his Milotic’s development direction was veering off, but he really hadn’t thought about how to correct it.
“What I’m teaching you is called Nourishing Technique, or more precisely, special Life Dew. You’ve already comprehended Life Dew, so you should pick up Nourishing Technique quickly.”
“Nourishing Technique’s main effect is to rescue malnourished or dying plants—of course, it works on Pokémon too. Once learned, you can use it on yourself daily; it might even boost your beauty.”
Hearing it could make her more beautiful, Milotic’s eyes lit up as she listened even more intently.
For Milotic, strength was temporary, but beauty was for a lifetime.
As for gorgeous skills?
Those could wait—true beauty was inherent beauty!
Milotic listened with full concentration, afraid to miss a single word lest she fail to learn this divine skill.
Nourishing Technique was the result of his recent Pokémonfication efforts. Even in the Cultivation World, it was a second-tier spirit technique.
After teaching Milotic, Lu Li found Charmander again.
Ever since missing the College Entrance Examination Grand Finals last time due to insufficient strength, Charmander had been in a hyper state, desperately trying to boost its strength.
Afraid it would miss another chance to shine next time due to lack of strength.
If Milotic’s pursuit of ultimate beauty was an obsession, then Charmander’s pursuit was stealing the spotlight—and that outranked even arson.
For Charmander, Lu Li really had nothing much he could help with.
To advance Flame Manipulation Art, it needed cultivation or a special fire seed.
But Charmander met neither condition, so Lu Li could only encourage it a bit.
After leaving Charmander a few Fire-type Pokémon items, Lu Li left Charmander’s training area.
Charmander’s training spot was also in the backyard, not far from the pond where Milotic lived.
In Charmander’s words, living next to Sister Xiao Mei every day meant it could still catch glimpses of her—what reward was that?
Charmander was always holding onto the idea of proximity bringing advantage.
“Jie jie jie…”
“Dead turtle, your Grandpa Charmander is already several versions ahead of you!”
Lu Li gave a speechless glance at the routinely deranged Charmander and left the backyard.
Onix was over at the farm. After all, Onix also moonlighted as the farm’s ploughing machine, and given its massive size, only the farm could accommodate its daily training.
Arriving at the farm, Lu Li saw a group of kids leading some Machop about his height in carrying sacks of Wangwang Valley grain.
From the kids’ beaming smiles, it was clear this was another harvest.
Ai Ke had told him yesterday that with the help of the Special Ground Force, the farm’s crops matured almost every 10 days, sometimes even every 7 days.
Plus, the quality of these grains was good, so the farm was already profitable. Though the income wasn’t as high as the orchard, it still brought in five or six hundred thousand annually.
And that was after deducting workers’ costs and resources for nurturing the Machop.
Ai Ke’s siblings mostly followed the Fighting route, which seemed to be Wei’s specific request.
Lu Li was quite satisfied with this. Fighting Bear as a Fighting-type divine beast—once it entered the Divine Realm, all the Fighting Pokémon around it would gain massive benefits.
It was the so-called “one person attains the dao, even chickens and dogs ascend.”
Lu Li didn’t disturb Ai Ke and the others but went straight to find Onix.
Like Charmander, Onix had already broken through Veteran Level.
Notably, Onix had caught up to Charmander, possibly because Onix’s qualification was higher than Charmander’s.
However, in terms of combat power, Charmander could nearly crush Onix. After all, Onix hadn’t undergone skill strengthening training yet.
Besides boosting strength, Onix had been honing its Special Ground Force skills.
Lu Li was actually quite troubled about Onix’s nurturing direction.
Onix’s body was essentially Rock-type. In the Cultivation World, spirit beasts like Onix appeared in myths as the Spirit Stone Monkey legend.
Plus, Onix would evolve into Steelix in the future, turning its rocky body to steel, making prior Rock attribute strengthening awkward.
After chatting briefly with Onix, Lu Li headed to the orchard.
Tropius’s path was clear; it hardly needed deliberate training anymore—just steady growth.
Back at the villa, Lu Li specifically sought out Yao Yifei for information.
“Sister Yao, do you know about Metal Coat?” Lu Li asked.
Yao Yifei nodded. Though none of her Pokémon were Steel-type, she knew about Metal Coat.
“But I do know where the best Metal Coat in the world comes from,” Yao Yifei said with a sly smile at Lu Li.
Yao Yifei naturally knew what Lu Li wanted Metal Coat for. After all, Onix’s growth speed was quite fast, and it had mildly shocked her at the time.
