My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 355 The Little Nian Beast and the Awakened Lion (Two Chapters Combined, Seeking Monthly Tickets)
At the gray boundary between the sea and the sky, a huge sun rose slowly, casting a ray of sunlight onto the sea.

"To succeed the Nian Beast King and gain control over all the demons on Mount Haifan?"

At this very moment, on a high cliff by the sea, Ji Minghuan sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly examining the mission panel of the fourth unit—"Little Nian Beast".

Behind him was a tunnel covered in thorns and bouquets, dark and bottomless.

Looking at the content on the main storyline panel, Ji Minghuan couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

"Does this mean I'm going to be enthroned right after I get back?" he wondered. "It seems that the Nian Beast King is either sick, injured, or old. Otherwise, it's impossible for him to let a junior like me who disappeared for ten years take power right away."

He tilted his head. "My initial stats for this 'perfect machine' seem to be only at the level of a top-tier Calamity-level being. While it's not quite as exaggerated as Mythical-level, it should be enough to stand out among the demons. I wonder if it can keep the Twelve Zodiacs in check."

He then brought up the gear panel in the lower right corner of his view and scanned it from top to bottom.

The gear panel of the Little Year Beast has a very unique color scheme. Unlike the "red and black" of the Black Pupa, the "black and white" of the Chess Player, and the "dark blue" of the Shark, it presents an overall bewitching and bright "purple-red" color.

It resembles a blooming datura flower.

The UI color of the gear panel is basically the main color of each machine, making it highly recognizable.

This also prevents Ji Minghuan from confusing the systems of each machine.

"It's time to check the skills. The skill tree of a perfect-grade mech doesn't need to be developed, and we don't know how strong it is." With these thoughts in mind, Ji Minghuan raised his hand and clicked on the skill tree panel on the interface.

[Note: Unit 4, "Little Nian Beast," has two skill tree branches. As a "perfect-grade unit," both "Branch One" and "Branch Two" have been developed to their respective ends, and all skills have been unlocked simultaneously.]

[Introduction: As the son of the Nian beast, and also the most special Nian beast, you control the "power of space," an attribute not possessed by other Nian beasts.]

Branch 1 (Emperor):
(Note: This branch of skills can only be used in the "Nian Beast" state)

1. Nian Beast Form (Learned) (The Little Nian Beast has complete control over the Demon Flame in Nian Beast Form.)
2. Demonic Flame Assault (Learned) (The little beast charges forward with all its might, transforming itself into an unstoppable stream of flames that strikes the enemy.)
3. Demon Flame Jet (Learned) (The Little Nian Beast spews a beam of flame from its palms or feet, which can be used to burn enemies or propel it into flight.)
4. The Might of the Nian Beast (Learned) (The little Nian Beast lets out a terrifying and intimidating roar, disrupting the enemy's thoughts for a short time.) (Only effective against species with a lower "species level" than yours.)

5. Demonic Descent (Learned) (Branch End) (The Little Year Beast enters the "Demonic Descent" form, going berserk for a short period, its entire body covered in purplish-red demonic flames, its physical strength greatly increased, at the cost of temporarily losing its sanity.)

Branch Two (Person):
(Note: This branch of skills can only be used in "human" state)

1. Human Form (Learned) (Allows the Little Nian Beast to transform into a human form. In human form, the Little Nian Beast's control over the Demon Flame is much weaker, but its control over "Spatial Power" is greatly enhanced.)
2. Spatial perception (already acquired) (This grants you a sensory domain, significantly increases your thinking speed, and allows you to perceive people within ten meters of you from all angles; their speed will appear significantly slower to you.)
3. Spatial Claw (Learned) (A beastly claw extends from the fingertips, tearing open a spatial rift connecting to an "independent space," which can be used to store items, absorb attacks, or even temporarily imprison enemies within it.)
4. Spatial Strike (Learned) (Creates a tiny spatial rift, allowing your hand or foot to enter and instantly appear at a location within fifty meters to strike your opponent.)
5. Firecracker Immunity (Learned) (The "Little Nian Beast" in human form is no longer afraid of firecracker sounds.)
6. Spatial Demonic Flame (Branch End) (Combines spatial power with demonic flames to create a fireball powerful enough to devour space. Anyone hit by the fireball will be sent to another dimension, where they will be permanently or temporarily lost.)

"What the hell?"

Ji Minghuan stared in disbelief.

After scanning the circle of skills on the fourth unit again, he blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Immediately afterwards, an idea that was almost too clear appeared in his mind.

"If you can beat an opponent, just use the 'Nian Beast state' and rely on stats to fight them head-on. If you can't beat them head-on, activate the Burst Mode. If it's a monster that you can't even beat in Burst Mode, then try using the spatial power of the 'Human Form' to send it away."

Thinking of this, Ji Minghuan couldn't help but sigh and say, "These two skill trees are too overpowered, aren't they several times better than that shark?"

He was quite satisfied with this.

Judging solely from the textual description, the Little Year Beast's skill tree fully lives up to his expectations for a perfect-level mecha.

Most importantly, there's no need to upgrade from scratch step by step like the other three mechs.

Unit 4's skill tree is complete from the start, which perfectly suits Ji Minghuan's needs.

Time is running out for him, and he has no idea what kind of conspiracy the "prophet" and his mentor are secretly plotting.

In particular, his younger brother had already fallen into the hands of his mentor.

Ji Minghuan didn't want to see his mentor use his brother's genes to create a powerful android, just like the "Father of Puppets".

Therefore, it would be best to defeat the Salvation Society in one fell swoop before this happens, thus eliminating any future trouble.

He let out a long sigh of relief, closed the purple-red skill tree, and the two branches disappeared from his sight.

Then, Ji Minghuan brought up the character-specific training system for the fourth mech.

"Let me see what this character's development system is all about. It's not like it's about eating people to increase stats, is it? I can't afford to play that game." Ji Minghuan muttered, looking up at the dense text on the panel.

[Character-Specific Development System: "Ruler"]

[“Ruler” Development System Introduction: As a ruler, the higher your prestige among demons, the more powerful you become.]

The prestige levels are divided into three categories, from lowest to highest: "Newcomer," "Emerging Talent," and "Regal Presence."

Each time your prestige reaches a new level, you will receive 1 attribute point as a reward.

Ji Minghuan glanced at it briefly, then closed all the panels in his field of vision.

He looked up into the distance. The sky was already bright, and the summer morning light swept in, burning away the haze that had shrouded the sea and illuminating the gray world.

Ji Minghuan muttered to himself, "It's time to go back and see the Nian Beast Lord. I wonder if the members of this Zodiac Team are still the same as they were ten years ago."

He shrugged. "Of course, so much time has passed, it's probably been iterated several times already."

In the little Nian beast's memory, when it was a child, the Nian beast king had told it what the "zodiac team" was when they were watching the sea together on the cliff.

The "Zodiac Team," as the name suggests, is a team composed of twelve demons corresponding to the twelve Chinese zodiac animals: dragon, rat, pig, rabbit, ox, horse, rooster, sheep, snake, monkey, tiger, and dog. This is definitely the most powerful force under the command of the Year Beast King.

Each of the zodiac demons has its own duty, protecting the boundaries of Haifan Mountain from invasion generation after generation.

In the Little Year Beast's understanding, the Zodiac Team's operating mechanism is similar to that of the Lake Hunter.

Seemingly having learned from his opponent's experience, the Nian Beast King personally selects the most outstanding zodiac demon from each zodiac demon clan and grants him the right to become a member of the "Zodiac Team".

These twelve races are "Dragon Demon", "Rat Demon", "Mad Bull Demon", "Bright Rabbit Demon", "Rainbow Horse Demon", "White Sheep Demon", "Divine Rooster Demon", "Green Snake Demon", "Spirit Monkey Demon", "Porcupine Demon", "White Tiger Demon", and "Prison Dog Demon".

Besides that, the mountain is mostly infested with rotten fish and shrimp, like lantern demons, lotus leaf demons, zombie demons...

Even a dog would shake its head at the sight of it.

Living far from the human world and enjoying a life of luxury for many years, they are less aggressive than the demons that dare to hunt in the city. In a real war, they would probably be useless, at most serving as cannon fodder.

The only one worth mentioning is the "Sky Wolf" clan, which is the race of the White Greedy Wolf.

However, the Sky Wolf clan had already been on the verge of extinction a hundred years ago, and White Greedy Wolf is the last Sky Wolf.

More than a decade ago, the little Nian Beast witnessed the Nian Beast Lord ordering the White Greedy Wolf to leave Haifan Mountain and search for the descendants of the "Daytime Wolf" all over the world to prevent the complete extinction of this demon race.

In the end, Bai Tanlang failed to find any other members of his clan, but he found another shortcut to continue his lineage.

That is to fall in love with a human woman and have children.

The werewolf named "Felio," now imprisoned in the Salvation Society, is the child born from the union of White Wolf and an English woman.

At the same time, he is also the only demon in the entire world.

If the demons residing on Mount Haifan knew what Bai Tanlang had done, they would likely despise him. In their eyes, he would become an indelible stain on their history.

"Wow~"

The sound of the ocean waves came incessantly. Ji Minghuan slowly straightened up from the ground, turned around, and walked back into the dark tunnel behind her. Once again, her vision was covered by a cluster of bouquets and thorns.

As he walked through the quiet tunnel, listening to the dripping sound of water, the name "Lin Xingshi" came to mind again.

Before loading the memories of the little Nian beast, Ji Minghuan never imagined that the son of the Nian beast and the strongest exorcist of today would have met in such a way.

Eleven years ago, the little Nian beast was only nine years old. It slapped the lotus leaf demon under its buttocks with its claws, threatening to take it away from Lingxin Lake or it would burn it to ashes.

Seeing the purplish-red demonic flame on the little Nian beast's claws, how could the Lotus Leaf Demon dare to disobey? It was like a small boat, carrying the little Nian beast across the vast Spirit Heart Lake.

The little purplish-red lion stared at the tunnel with shining eyes. Stepping on the lotus leaves, it slowly straightened up and stepped onto the other side of the river, entering the deep tunnel.

And this departure lasted for ten years.

After passing through the tunnel, the little beast descended the mountain, transformed into a human child, and entered Haifan City at dusk that day.

He was very curious when he first saw the human world. The little Nian beast walked naked and blankly down the street.

He weaved through the bustling crowd. Everyone on the street was looking down at a glowing metal object, and couples in ripped jeans brushed past him.
Under the traffic lights, one after another, steel behemoths roared past.

Even the little Nian beast suspected they might be demons.

It first cautiously hid by the roadside and watched for a while, then mustered up its courage and rushed over, transforming back into a little lion, and loudly barking at the steel behemoths.

It thought it could use its Nian beast power to make these steel demons work for it, just like those fools on Haifan Mountain that it could order around at will.

But no matter how much the little monster roared and howled, the steel monsters that roared through the streets didn't stop. Instead, people on the street screamed and took out their phones to take pictures of it, the flashes going off incessantly.

The little Nian beast ran away in fear.

Later it learned that those steel monsters were not demons; their name was "cars," and they were human means of transportation.

Even the most powerful monster, Nian, cannot control a car. Cars only submit to humankind.

It was almost nightfall, and the setting sun was withdrawing its last rays from the city. The little Nian beast hung its head dejectedly, transformed back into a human child, and walked away step by step, the sunlight shining on its face.

Everyone on the street was laughing at him for having no clothes to wear. The little girl saw him, covered her eyes, and screamed. The little monster paused for a moment, then dashed into the alley.

"What are clothes?" he wondered. Then he looked at his naked body and finally realized how he differed from other humans. So he found a clothing store in Sea Sail City, hid outside the store, and reached his hand into the spatial rift.

His hand passed through the crack and suddenly appeared inside the clothing store, instantly grabbing the white T-shirt and pants on the display stand and bringing them back.

The little Nian beast breathed a sigh of relief and, imitating humans, put the clothes on.

After putting on his clothes, the little monster cautiously walked back to the street, observing how others looked at him.

By now, no one would laugh at him anymore. Some people would just look at the small wisp of purplish-red hair on his forehead and mutter, "He's dyed his hair at such a young age?"

That night, the little monster used its spatial abilities to steal some fruit to eat along the way.

In order to avoid being found by the Nian Beast King, the runaway Nian Beast quietly boarded a human-snake ship.

He squatted in the cabin, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the stowaways.

Everyone here looks fierce, but no one wants to get into trouble. They don't look at each other, they just sit silently with their heads down.

The little monster was terrified and lowered its head. But just then, in the darkness, it saw a pair of bright and spirited black eyes. It slowly looked up and saw a short-haired girl in tattered overalls. Her face was dirty, like a beggar's.

The girl winked at the little monster and stared at him curiously.

After a while, the girl suddenly sat down, hugged her knees and remained silent for a moment, then turned to look at him. The little beast also looked at him, and their two black eyes met in the darkness.

"Did you run away from home, or were you abducted by human traffickers?" the girl asked quietly. "There are many human traffickers on this ship."

The little Nian beast was stunned.

He then realized that he could not speak human language, so he made babbling sounds.

"You can't speak Chinese?" the girl raised an eyebrow.

The little Nian beast seemed to understand and nodded blankly.

"Then can you understand what I'm saying?" the girl frowned.

The little Nian beast nodded.

The Nian Beast's racial talent allows him to roughly understand the meaning of what the other person is saying, even if he doesn't understand their language.

"Some bad guys kidnapped you, didn't they?" The girl thought for a moment, then asked, "Are they on a boat?" As she spoke, the girl glanced around.

The little Nian beast shook its head.

"Were you chased by bad guys, so you escaped to the boat?" the girl asked again.

The little Nian beast nodded. If he didn't leave soon, the Nian beast lord would carry him back; the bad guys were indeed chasing him.

"Don't be afraid, I'm very strong." The girl wiped her dirty face and whispered, "My name is Lin Xingshi, and I'm an exorcist. I could defeat an adult when I was four years old, and now I'm eight. Those human traffickers can't beat me."

The little beast stood there for a long time, then nodded.

At that moment, he seemed to suddenly understand how to speak human language.

After thinking for a long time, he suddenly opened his mouth and uttered the first human language he had ever spoken:

"Can you kidnap me?"

Lin Xingshi was taken aback, then turned his head and stared at him blankly.

After a moment, she suddenly smiled and said, "Okay."

The two sat down side by side, a little closer together. The cabin rocked and swayed, and they could hear the sound of the waves crashing in the night.

Only a small light bulb overhead cast a warm yellow glow.

The girl's face was still dirty, and her clothes were filthy. She glanced at the clean clothes on the little beast and moved her shoulders away, seemingly not wanting to get his clothes dirty.

"What is this exorcist you just mentioned?" Little Nian suddenly asked.

“Exorcists are just… a bunch of idiots.” Lin Xingshi frowned. “I hate my family. They all say I’m some kind of genius, and they all treat me like a boy.”

"Are you a girl?"

Lin Xingshi was stunned for a moment, and his eyes suddenly reddened.

She opened her mouth, but in the end didn't say anything. She just buried her face in her knees and said angrily, "I'm not talking to you anymore."

"You are a girl."

The little monster was at a loss, and finally spoke seriously.

Lin Xingshi remained silent for a long while.

"Am I ugly?" she asked.

The little Nian beast shook its head.

"I actually... really wanted to grow my hair long, but they wouldn't let me," Lin Xingshi said softly, touching the short hair on his forehead. "I hate them so much, I really hate them, so I ran away."

"Run away from home?" The word popped into the little beast's mind. He didn't know why he could suddenly speak human language.

Lin Xingshi nodded.

"Do you have parents?" she asked.

"It's dead," said the little Nian beast.

“How pitiful,” Lin Xingshi said.

"How pitiful," said the little Nian beast.

Why are you mimicking my speech?

Lin Xingshi glared at him.

"sorry."

"Well... since you don't have parents, no one will object if I kidnap you."

"Yes, yes, I won't have any objections." The little Nian beast nodded vigorously.

Lin Xingshi put his hands behind his back, lowered his eyes, and said, "Then you can come with me from now on."

The little beast was stunned for a moment, and after a long time, it nodded seriously and quietly.

"what's your name?"

"Little New Year."

"What a strange name."

When Ji Minghuan snapped out of his reverie about the little beast, he had already passed through the dark and gloomy tunnel.

He arrived at Lingxin Lake and called out loudly to the huge lotus leaf that was quietly sleeping in the center of the lake.

"Hey, you bastard, get over here right now, don't make me wait a second time."

The lotus leaf demon trembled, creating ripples on the lake's surface.

It moved at high speed, as if a thousand people were rowing a boat on a lotus leaf, and came to the edge of Lingxin Lake with a splash, stopping in front of the little Nian beast.

Ji Minghuan pursed her lips.

“Lord Nian Beast, if you want to go back to see the Nian Beast Lord, it would be best to return to your original form,” the Lotus Leaf Demon said softly. “As you know, the Lord does not like demons to appear in human form.”

“Oh, you’re right. With my dad’s personality, wouldn’t he explode if he saw me appear in human form in front of him?” Ji Minghuan said. “Let me think about how to transform.”

The lotus leaf demon was stunned. "How do I transform? Lord Nian Beast, have you forgotten how to revert to your original form?"

"how is this possible?"

After saying that, Ji Minghuan took off his rock T-shirt and ripped jeans, and then activated his human form skill "Space Claw". Sharp, beast-like claws suddenly sprouted from his five fingers.

With a tremor, a spatial rift leading to an independent space was created.

He stuffed his clothes and pants inside, and the tear disappeared.

Immediately afterwards, Ji Minghuan silently recited "Nian Beast Form" in his mind, and his naked body suddenly underwent a dramatic transformation.

His limbs slowly grew thicker, sharp claws protruded from his nails, his tail swept the air and stirred up a gale, while his body naturally tilted downwards, his skin turning into a bewitching purplish-red, and a wisp of purplish-red flame shot up from the top of his head, swaying in the wind.

When he came to his senses, he had transformed into a colossal lion thirty meters long, casting a shadow of its outline onto the lake.

The little Nian beast raised its head, looked at the lotus leaf demon who was standing there in a daze, and said in a hoarse voice:
"Let's go... take me to see the Great King."

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(End of this chapter)