Thinking back, when Song Wei had his first Beast, it took two months to raise an Entry-level skill to Proficiency, and a year to go from Proficiency to Mastery.
Even then, his teacher praised him as a genius.
Moreover, Stone Monkeys had no innate attack skills. Skills learned later had to be practiced from scratch, and it was a realm higher than his own experience.
Aside, Song Qinghang directly exclaimed, "Holy crap."
"What? Mastery level!?"
Then he truly didn't lose unjustly.
Cultivating skill proficiency was extremely difficult, and every increase in tier was a transformation.
It was like two kids fighting. Song Qinghang was bigger and had stronger innate strength.
But on Yi Tian's side... he was holding a knife.
Song Wei had specially hired a teacher to help him improve skill proficiency. According to the teacher's plan, it would take at least another year for him to possess a Mastery-level skill.
Looking at Yi Tian, his gaze became even more horrified.
He conceded...
He no longer doubted the authenticity of Yi Tian breaking through the Stone Monkey to Bronze in one day because he discovered something even more absurd.
Yi Tian smiled modestly at Song Wei.
"I just have better luck."
Song Qinghang: ...
Heh, then why don't I have such good luck?
After completely accepting his failure, he walked up to Yi Tian and asked, "Yi Tian, I have another question. Can you tell me how your Stone Monkey dodged that first slash?"
One could say the turning point of the battle started from the monkey's dodge.
Yi Tian couldn't be bothered to hide it and said directly, "Because my Great Sage also mastered Proficiency-level Drunkenness."
Drunkenness?
Song Qinghang recalled the description of this move he had learned in books.
He understood in his heart. No wonder the monkey had to drink before starting the battle; it was to accelerate.
Proficiency-level skill. Heh, he was already numb.
Actually, that dodge was extremely perilous. After all, there was a gap in basic stats between the two sides.
If he hadn't dodged, the loser might have been Yi Tian.
"Potential is too important. Facing Song Qinghang now is fine, but in the future, facing enemies with the same skill proficiency but higher potential, I'd likely lose."
Yi Tian thought to himself.
His desire to find a new evolutionary path for Great Sage became even stronger.
Song Wei praised Yi Tian for a while longer and, as agreed, prepared to let him choose a weapon to take away.
"Your Stone Monkey likes to use staff-type weapons, right? Old Ma."
Song Wei waved his hand, and Ma Bang immediately walked over.
"Go take inventory of all the staff weapons in our shop and let Student Yi Tian choose properly."
"Okay."
Ma Bang was astonished.
Brother Wei attached way too much importance to this kid, didn't he!?
Listening to his tone, he meant not to hide the true situation of the staff weapons in the store at all.
The problem was, there were Gold-level staffs in the store, each worth over a million Dragon Coins!
If Yi Tian wanted one, would they just give it to him?
No matter what he thought, Song Wei's words had to be followed.
Soon, a booklet as thick as a palm was handed to Yi Tian.
It contained all the staff weapons in the store.
Yi Tian was in a happy mood and began to flip through it with anticipation.
[Head-blow Staff - Silver Tier] [Description: Forged mainly from Black Rock Iron, weight 8Kg]
...
[Heavenly Star Staff - Gold Tier] [Description: Forged using Extraterrestrial Meteoric Iron mixed with spiritual metals, weight 20Kg, possesses Metal attribute attack characteristics]
...
[Light Spirit Rod - Gold Tier] [Description: Forged using Wind Spirit Wood as the main trunk, weight 2Kg, possesses Wind and Wood attribute attack characteristics]
...
Yi Tian discovered that Gold-level staffs all possessed attack characteristics.
That meant they carried some damage energy naturally to assist in attacks, like the Heavenly Star Staff, which would naturally burst forth with Metal attribute energy when swung.
Cool and powerful!
Just looking at them made one drool.
All good stuff...
Song Qinghang watched from the side. Every time Yi Tian flipped a page, his heart ached a little.
These were his family's assets!
Song Wei was much more generous, saying with a smile, "Student Yi Tian, please don't be polite, and don't feel embarrassed. You deserve this."
"At least choose a Gold-level staff."
Hearing Song Wei say this, Yi Tian felt relieved. He was actually a bit worried they wouldn't honor the deal.
After choosing for a while.
He finally selected the Heavenly Star Staff.
The reason was simply that Great Sage really liked the Heavenly Star Staff's appearance.
"Good. Old Ma, go get the staff for Student Yi Tian."
Soon, a glittering gold staff was placed in front of Great Sage.
Great Sage: (Starry eyes!)
Yi Tian stroked the surface of the staff, feeling a sharp sensation blossoming at his fingertips.
"Is this a Gold-level weapon?"
Great Sage picked up the staff and started drilling directly.
Buzz buzz buzz...
The air vibrated.
Ripples constantly spread outward from Great Sage.
The Heavenly Star Staff was fully two meters long, more than four times Great Sage's height, yet in his hands, it became a nimble toy.
20Kg felt like nothing.
Song Qinghang couldn't help but sigh.
"This monkey... got stronger again..."
Equipped with a Gold-level weapon, if Great Sage used the Eight-Direction Staff again, the power would skyrocket by at least two times, and that was a conservative estimate.
His Moon Cat wasn't a match before; now the gap was even bigger.
Thinking about how this staff was given by his own dad made him feel even more stifled.
Besides the staff, Song Wei also gave Yi Tian a long box to store the staff.
He wanted to keep him for dinner, but was politely refused, so he could only wave goodbye.
Yi Tian left with a brisk gait, obviously in a very good mood.
Song Qinghang also added Yi Tian's contact info, and then, under his dad's supervision, honestly transferred 100,000 Dragon Coins.
Wait until Yi Tian's back completely disappeared.
Ma Bang couldn't help but speak to Song Wei.
"Brother Wei, aren't you being too good to this kid?"
Song Qinghang also chimed in.
"Yeah! Dad, you treat Yi Tian better than you treat me!"
"You never gave me a Gold-level weapon!"
Song Wei rolled his eyes.
"You kid really are an ingrate! Who gave you your cat!"
"Gold-level weapon? Even if I gave it to you now, you couldn't control it."
"Wait until the day you cultivate a skill to Mastery level like Yi Tian, then we'll talk."
Song Qinghang looked bitter.
"Huh?"
Mastery level, that was too far out of reach!
Song Wei looked at Ma Bang again.
"I'm not treating him too well; I even feel it's somewhat insufficient."
Ma Bang was confused.
"Brother Wei, our Song family is a big family in Mist Mountain City no matter what. No matter how powerful Yi Tian is, he's just one person."
Song Wei shook his head.
"So what if we are a big family in Mist Mountain City? In the eyes of true powerhouses, we are no different from small ants that can be crushed at any time."
"And in Yi Tian, I saw the hope of becoming that kind of person."
"We absolutely cannot offend this kind of genius. Investing while he hasn't fully grown up counts as a favor if he rises up in the future."