[Ding! Your pet has been resurrected! You can summon it again!]
At this moment, the game notification sounded, and Lin Jichen found that Panda Xiong had finally come back to life.
Pet deaths are more troublesome than player deaths, requiring forty-eight hours before they can be resurrected.
Last time at the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, Panda Xiong fought desperately, acting as a sandbag for Ren Lan and taking countless hits for her.
Without Panda Xiong's assistance, Ren Lan would have died countless times; even a minor elder in the Crystal Formation stage could have easily defeated her.
Ren Lan managed to withstand the pressure mainly because of Panda Xiong.
Panda Xiong took the most damage and endured the most hits, but ultimately couldn't hold on and was blown to pieces by Li Chang'an's self-detonating Golden Elixir.
Seeing it revived, Lin Jichen quickly summoned it out.
[Spirit Beast: Iron-Eating Beast (Juvenile)]
[Strength: Mid Foundation Establishment stage]
[Cultivation: 5000/10000]
[Skills: Thunder Roar, Absolute Defense, Furious Thunder Strike]
The resurrected Panda Xiong didn't change much, except its cultivation experience dropped significantly, which had been full before.
Unfortunately, this death caused it to lose half of its accumulated cultivation experience.
The most critical issue was the drop in loyalty.
Lin Jichen covered his face, feeling heartbroken as he looked at the loyalty, which had dropped to 82.
He had put in so much effort and persuasion to raise Panda Xiong's loyalty by two points.
This death instantly caused it to drop by ten points.
Pets with loyalty below 70 would disobey their master's orders, and below 50, they were prone to rebellion.
Lin Jichen was now worried that Panda Xiong might betray him, just as he betrayed Chiyou...
"Don't worry, Panda Xiong. Once I break through to the Crystal Formation stage, I'll take you to the Purple Arrow Bamboo Forest to eat the best bamboo, the crunchy kind. I'll even find you a female panda, no, two! So you can have the best of both worlds."
Lin Jichen patted Panda Xiong's big head, comforting it while making grand promises.
Unfortunately, Panda Xiong was no longer naive and didn't easily believe Lin Jichen's words.
Seeing its disinterested look, Lin Jichen knew it wouldn't be easily coaxed.
It seemed that without seeing real bamboo and real female pandas, it wouldn't believe him.
"Alright, just wait until I find them for you. For now, accompany me to find and kill the Thunder Dragon," Lin Jichen promised.
Panda Xiong's eyes turned disdainful. Hmph, still making empty promises, just wanting me to work, huh?
Fortunately, Panda Xiong's loyalty hadn't dropped below 70 yet. Despite its dissatisfaction, it had to obey Lin Jichen's orders.
Man and bear started walking through the torrential rain in the Thunder Marsh.
The heavy rain drenched them both like drowned rats.
Panda Xiong's fur clumped together, losing all its Iron-Eating Beast spirit, looking more like a sloth...
A massive black shadow leaped out from the nearby swamp, roaring as it pounced on Panda Xiong, its bloodthirsty mouth wide open, aiming to bite down.
Panda Xiong, in pain, immediately activated Absolute Defense.
Lin Jichen looked over and saw that the attacker was an eight-meter-long giant crocodile!
The crocodile had a massive body, covered in crystal armor, with fierce and violent eyes and rows of sharp teeth.
There was already blood on its teeth, from Panda Xiong's wounds.
The sudden attack caught Panda Xiong off guard.
Lin Jichen recognized the monster as the notorious Thunder Crocodile of the Thunder Marsh.
Thunder Crocodiles lived in the swamps of the Thunder Marsh, masters of camouflage, ambushing prey from the swamp grass.
Whether animal or human, anything appearing before them was food.
Moreover, Thunder Crocodiles, having lived in the Thunder Marsh for years, had thick crystal armor from constant lightning strikes, like gemstones.
They were extremely tough and bloodthirsty, making them the most hated creatures in the Thunder Marsh.
Lin Jichen checked the Thunder Crocodile's attributes.
[Monster: Bloodthirsty Thunder Crocodile]
[Strength: Early Crystal Formation stage]
[Vitality: 13000/13000]
[Heart Protection: 30]
[Thunder Resistance: 40%]
This Thunder Crocodile was stronger than the minor elders of the Ten Thousand Poison Sect.
With 160 defense, 30 heart protection, and 40% thunder resistance.
Its defense was almost comparable to the later stages of the Crystal Formation.
Panda Xiong was already fighting the Thunder Crocodile.
Though the Thunder Crocodile was fierce, the Iron-Eating Beast was no pushover.
Panda Xiong roared, grabbing the Thunder Crocodile's jaws with its paws, trying to tear it apart.
But Panda Xiong, being only at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, couldn't break through the Thunder Crocodile's defense.
The Thunder Crocodile, relying on its high attributes, broke free from Panda Xiong's grip and swept its tail across.
Panda Xiong was sent flying.
But Panda Xiong, with its fiery temper, refused to give up despite knowing it couldn't win.
It ran back, leaping into the air, its bear shadow looking especially imposing in the thunderstorm.
"Furious Thunder Strike!"
As Panda Xiong leaped, its paws burst with incredible thunder power.
Panda Xiong, being a thunder-attribute spirit beast, had skills like Thunder Roar and Furious Thunder Strike.
Its bear body slammed onto the Thunder Crocodile's head, its paws striking down like boulders, smashing the Thunder Crocodile's head into the mud.
Panda Xiong kept pounding the Thunder Crocodile's head with its bear fists.
The Thunder Crocodile, dazed, sank deeper into the mud.
Unfortunately, that was all it could do.
The opponent's defense was too high; Panda Xiong could only rely on skills for some damage.
Though the Thunder Crocodile was only at the early Crystal Formation stage, its defense was comparable to the later stages.
It would be strange if Panda Xiong could hurt it.
Before Panda Xiong could continue, the Thunder Crocodile broke free, rolling and throwing Panda Xiong away again.
Panda Xiong, unwilling to give up, got up from the mud to fight again, but Lin Jichen stepped in first to avenge it.
Lin Jichen's Dark Night Sword moved swiftly through the rain, approaching the Thunder Crocodile in an instant, piercing through the rain, and stabbing into its eye!
The crocodile's weak points were its eyes and belly.
The once imposing Thunder Crocodile screamed in pain from the strike.
[Critical Hit! -3140!]
The Thunder Crocodile didn't expect the seemingly weak human beside Panda Xiong to cause such damage.
The Thunder Crocodile's target instantly shifted from the seemingly delicious Panda Xiong to Lin Jichen.
The Thunder Crocodile's steel-like tail swept across, creating a gust of wind.
Lin Jichen, however, smiled calmly, not even dodging.
After taking the Thunder Crocodile's tail sweep, Lin Jichen was unharmed.
The Thunder Crocodile seemed incredulous, opening its bloody mouth to bite, its teeth suddenly doubling in size, resembling dragon teeth with immense biting power!