Lin Tian, Guo Youqian, and Dai Hao did not disturb Zhang Xiaoya. They were genuinely curious about the matter; otherwise, they wouldn't have asked.
Of course, Zhang Xiaoya's father had not died in that battle. His combat strength was far beyond what they could compare to right now, and that Abyssal Behemoth's strength hadn't even forced the fierce General to go all out.
"After that Abyssal Behemoth died, it left behind an Abyss Crystal. You should know about that, right?"
The three of them nodded.
The core of an Abyss Crystal is the power source of an Abyssal Behemoth, containing pure energy. It is exceptionally suitable either as fuel for thermal weapons or as a material to help Spirit Beasts level up.
Furthermore, Abyss Crystals have many other uses, though they have yet to be discovered.
Lin Tian was more familiar with Abyss Crystals. Once a Beast Tamer's Spirit Beast became powerful, wanting to level up quickly relied entirely on Abyss Crystals. However, as a frontline Beast Tamer, he wasn't entirely clear on how the rear lines researched Abyss Crystals.
The only thing that had ever caught his attention was a serum developed later on through Abyss Crystal research, which allowed Spirit Beasts to briefly enter the abyss.
"At the time, my father placed that Abyss Crystal at home. After a single night, the population of Begonia Jellyfish here started to multiply."
"Because my Beast-Taming Talent is [Affinity], all those newly born Begonia Jellyfish came straight into my family's courtyard."
"That's why I've spent the last two years specifically researching Begonia Jellyfish. As for the issue of their diverse attributes, I suspect it was caused by that Abyss Crystal."
"Of course, these are still just my guesses and cannot be confirmed entirely," Zhang Xiaoya said.
"Lin Tian, do Abyss Crystals really have that kind of effect?" Guo Youqian was completely stunned, his mind rejecting the possibility of such a thing.
Dai Hao, who usually did well in his studies, didn't dare say for sure whether this was real. He had never heard of anything like it.
Lin Tian shook his head and said, "Actually, I'm not entirely certain either, but Abyss Crystals indeed have many miraculous uses. However, these matters are beyond our reach for now; only professional researchers would know about them."
"Still, the appearance of something like this is a good thing for us. If Abyss Crystals can truly cause Spirit Beasts of the same species to manifest many different attributes, then perhaps future Spirit Beast evolutions can also be altered through Abyss Crystals."
"Right, I've thought about this aspect as well, but we still need to continue experimenting," Zhang Xiaoya said.
The four of them chatted idly here for a while longer, and when evening arrived, Lin Tian and the others finally stepped out of Zhang Xiaoya's home.
Their mission in coming here was to clear out the Ground Rats. The matter with the Begonia Jellyfish was merely a side note; to Lin Tian, the reward was what mattered most.
Begonia Town was planted with numerous begonia trees, and the sudden mass appearance of Ground Rats was disrupting the local ecological environment.
There were very few Beast Tamers in Begonia Town, with ordinary people making up the majority. Although Zhang Xiaoya could communicate with many Begonia Jellyfish, she couldn't control such a massive number of Spirit Beasts.
Therefore, she had no choice but to seek outside help to share some of the pressure.
"When night falls, those Ground Rats will come out, so we just need to wait here and they'll crawl out on their own." Zhang Xiaoya led Lin Tian and the other two into the begonia grove.
The ground here was riddled with numerous burrows, the entrances large enough for an adult rabbit to squeeze into, showing that these Ground Rats were by no means small.
"There's no need to go to that much trouble. Qingsha, I'll leave this to you." Lin Tian shook his head.
Qingsha nodded and slithered straight into the burrow.
"You just wait outside. Let Qingsha handle these Ground Rats; if the numbers get too overwhelming, you can step in," Lin Tian said to Zhang Xiaoya.
Neither Guo Youqian nor Dai Hao had any combat capability, and Lin Tian had no intention of letting the two of them fight.
Bringing Dai Hao along was mainly out of concern that if there were too many Ground Rats and Qingsha got injured, the Sun Flower could provide healing and extend Qingsha's combat endurance.
Qingsha entered the first burrow and quickly spotted a newly awakened Ground Rat.
The Ground Rat had brown fur and two large buckteeth. The moment it saw Qingsha, its fur stood on end. Lacking any will to fight, it immediately turned to flee.
Rats were natural prey for snakes; it would be the strangest thing in the world if a food source didn't run from its apex predator.
However, Qingsha wasn't about to give this Ground Rat any chance of escape. As a wind-attribute Spirit Beast, Qingsha was extremely fast. The moment it saw the Ground Rat bolt, it had already lunged forward.
Within mere seconds, it tightly coiled around the Ground Rat, and a swift Wind Blade ended the creature's life.
Instead of eating the Ground Rat, Qingsha dragged it straight out of the burrow and laid it at Lin Tian's feet.
"Good job. I'll reward you with a couple of extra cans of food later," Lin Tian smiled, signaling for Qingsha to continue.
For the rest of the time, Qingsha shuttled back and forth through the begonia grove, flushing out one Ground Rat after another from their burrows. Before the rats could even react, Qingsha had already killed them.
The four of them could only watch as the pile of Ground Rat carcasses grew larger and larger, until eventually, all four of them had to pitch in to pick up the bodies themselves.
Even Zhang Xiaoya used her talent to summon all the nearby Begonia Jellyfish to help haul the Ground Rat carcasses.
Working busily past three o'clock in the morning, Qingsha finally returned.
Lin Tian immediately took out canned food to help Qingsha replenish its expended stamina.
"With this many Ground Rat carcasses, we should be able to fetch a pretty penny," Lin Tian said, looking at the pile of over two hundred Ground Rat corpses in front of him.
"Of course you can! Just sell them directly to my family's business. I'll make a phone call and have someone come pick them up. But who should this money go to?" Guo Youqian asked.
Ground Rats were Spirit Beasts to begin with, and their carcasses were a kind of material that could be used to manufacture Spirit Beast feed, while their bones could be used to craft other items.
"You guys wiped out all these Ground Rats, so naturally they're yours to handle," Zhang Xiaoya said with a smile.
She had no interest in whether the Ground Rat carcasses could be sold for money.
"I didn't really contribute much anyway, so just give all the money to Lin Tian," Dai Hao shrugged.
Aside from accompanying Lin Tian here, he hadn't exerted any effort at all.
"Let's do it this way: I'll take eighty percent, and you two get ten percent each. Any objections?" Lin Tian looked at the two of them.
He was the one who had brought them along on this mission, and the Ground Rat carcasses indeed counted as extra income.
Lin Tian wasn't the type to hog everything. Guo Youqian wasn't short on money, but he still needed to be given a share, and Dai Hao's cut couldn't be skipped either—after all, Dai Hao needed to cultivate his own Sun Flower.
"Alright, no problem." Dai Hao nodded.
"I'm not hurting for cash, but the feeling of earning money with my own hands is still pretty great," Guo Youqian chuckled, having already contacted his family's factory.
Someone would come to haul away the Ground Rat carcasses tomorrow.
"I'll transfer the mission payment to you guys later. Why don't you all rest at my place today?" Zhang Xiaoya said.
Lin Tian didn't refuse. Given the hour, it was indeed time for them to get some rest.