Chosen Evolution: I can load the protagonist template

Chapter 714 Proving Myself to Akuma—Traveling to the Ends of the Earth with My Beloved One
After completing the hunt for Behemoth, the player hunter community returned to investigating other walking scourges, namely Elder Dragons. As long as the monsters do not affect the normal ecology, the guild will not idly issue hunt quests.

With Bear Grylls gone, continuing the endless hunt for ordinary monsters would be actively disrupting the ecosystem, something a guild that upholds ecological balance would never do.

The Demon Gathering Land, which Cheng Tian temporarily monopolizes, is a special island map that will not affect the natural ecology at all. The life and death of the monsters inside will not affect other areas outside.

Even under these circumstances, some people are still hunting monsters, and this behavior itself is affecting the ecological balance, causing a void in the top combat power of the corresponding area. This leads to the emergence of new veterans and overlords who come to fight for territory, or compete with each other in the existing monster system, and finally compete for the territory leader.

Such competition usually results in fierce mutual destruction, with significant impact.

Actually, the guild isn't stupid. With the Sunfire as their support, they've made a qualitative leap in information exchange. Plus, most of the combat personnel in the current fifth fleet, whether players or NPCs, have joined the Sunfire Legion or the Balance Cult, which makes personnel investigation and screening very easy.

With a little time and effort, the scope has been narrowed down to a very small number of cases; all that's missing now is decisive evidence.

For Cheng Tian, ​​however, there was no need to investigate this matter at all. There were only a handful of people who could kill a tempered dragon with their fists: the Grand Master, Bazett, and then Akuma.

But then again, so what if there's evidence? Do you expect me to use talk therapy on Akuma?
This old fruit vendor hates nothing more than empty talk!
And the only thing that will ever be effective against him is his fists.

As a partner faction of the Hunter's Guild, whether out of a sense of responsibility or the needs of the Extreme Breakthrough quest, Cheng Tian has an obligation to help solve this problem.

Akuma didn't deliberately hide his tracks, so with the help of the guide bug, Cheng Tian easily found the place where the dominant fire dragon couple sat quietly at the very top of the Ancient Forest.

As Cheng Tian landed lightly, Hao Gui opened his eyes almost without fail.

"A weak constitution and feeble energy indicate the presence of evil spirits and heretics."

Without even turning his head, Akuma uttered these words, clearly making a personal assessment of Cheng Tian's physical condition.

In Gouki's view, although Cheng Tian's strength and agility had both reached their maximum values, it was through the power of soul sacrifice, using the soul and body of monsters as sacrifices to obtain external power, rather than the Asura body forged through countless trials.

It must be said that Akuma has a sharp eye. In fact, the permanent bonuses obtained through sacrifice are "illusory" because these so-called permanent bonuses are subject to the final evaluation of the main quest. If the bonus is not 100%, the so-called attribute breakthrough will eventually fall back to its original state.

Cheng Tian naturally understood this, but he remained calm in the face of Gouki's evaluation.

"Only when mental strength is stable enough can it be considered a merit."

First, he criticized Cheng Tian for using unorthodox methods to maximize his strength and agility. Then, Hao Gui changed the subject and praised Cheng Tian's mental strength.

Unlike sacrifices, Cheng Tian's spiritual attributes are mostly real, free attribute points, as well as permanent bonuses from bloodline enhancement. These are the kind that cannot be taken away by the spatial system, giving him a very solid foundation.

Although Akuma himself detests using equipment, tools, machines, and other external things to enhance his strength, compared to these purely external things, mental power is a more acceptable source of power.

Although the old man was stubborn, he wasn't the type to force a mage to learn Whirlwind Slash.

He slowly rose, his eyes, as imposing as a statue guarding a mansion's gate, fixed intently on Cheng Tian. Hao Gui could tell that Cheng Tian's agility was extremely weak, entirely dependent on external force, while his strength attribute, which should have been similarly weak, was inexplicably much stronger, more abundant.

Then there's the undeniable charm attribute, and the unparalleled spirit attribute.

However, the highly experienced Akuma quickly saw through these illusions and recognized Cheng Tian's true nature—

It is a being that will stop at nothing to achieve its goals, regarding all those who oppose it, regardless of their strength, as demons and monsters, and slaughtering them all.

Although it was not the same as the Asura path he had followed, it still allowed Gouki to sense a hint of "kindred spirits".

"...Well, barely passable."

After half of the inspection was completed, the old man selling fruit relented.

"If you want to break through your own limits, then prove it to me, prove that you have the right!"

With a deep, muffled growl from Gouki, a new mission notification popped up in Cheng Tian's eyes.

[The player has preliminarily met the challenge requirements for "breaking through the extreme values ​​of both Strength and Agility attributes"]

[Kukima, the ultimate fist fighter, issues players an extreme value breakthrough challenge mission – "The Path of Asura, Long and Difficult"]

[Solo Mission, Extreme Breakthrough Mission. Using only physical strength and combat abilities, without any equipment, items, talents, inherent skills, additional skills, or NPC assistance, hunt down an ancient dragon slayer, "World Destroyer," who has survived countless battles, to prove to Akuma that you are qualified to inherit the will of Shura and achieve a physical breakthrough.]

Upon seeing that the mission description did not involve a life-or-death struggle with Akuma, Cheng Tian's expression relaxed slightly, but he quickly became serious again because of the words "annihilate the world-destroying dragon".

Nergigante is one of the most unique Elder Dragons.

While it doesn't affect the ecosystem with its own characteristics like Teostra, Kushala Daora, or Zorah Magdaros, its main purpose is to hunt other Elder Dragons. It travels all over the world to destroy everything, thus earning the special title of Elder Dragon Slayer and being described by hunters as an integral part of nature.

The Nergigante, which is prefixed with "World Destroyer," is an absolute powerhouse among Nergigantes. It is a battle-hardened individual that has survived countless life-or-death battles. In the original game, there was even a quest called "Walk to the ends of the earth with your beloved."

This mission involves facing the Annihilator Dragon, which belongs to the pinnacle of the world's current combat power.

Because of its white spiked appearance and the ambiguous quest name, the World Destroyer Nergigante has been affectionately nicknamed "Bride" by hunter players.

After issuing the challenge, Akuma observed Cheng Tian's reaction, but paused slightly.

Because he saw that Cheng... was actually smiling!
(End of this chapter)