Racial Mutation, the Moonlight Fox
"Just after the Graklash passed by, another Soul Pet dares to come here? Could it be another fierce creature?" Kael speculated silently.
The Graklash, a creature surpassing the ninth stage, was not far ahead. Such beings exude an aura that makes weaker Soul Pets avoid them.
The grass rustled. Moments later, a small Soul Pet emerged from within.
The little creature cautiously glanced at the Graklash, its massive body swaying as it moved forward, then slowly approached the bait...
"A Blue Star Fox? Another little fox..." Kael looked at the small creature, feeling somewhat speechless.
The Blue Star Fox by the trap was even smaller than the young fox Kael had encountered before, including its tail, its body length no more than forty centimeters.
Judging from its sparse fur, it was still very young, equivalent to a human toddler who had just learned to walk.
"The Blue Star Fox is slightly higher in rank than the Red Cloud Fox, but it's still more suitable as a pet for girls..." Kael shook his head with a wry smile, watching helplessly as the little creature took his bait.
The little fox was quite clever, carefully observing its surroundings before snatching the bait.
"Either too strong or too weak, sigh..." Kael's heart sank. He absentmindedly broke off a piece of food and handed it to the little green caterpillar perched on his shoulder.
The caterpillar happily accepted it, munching away contentedly on Kael's shoulder.
Waiting was excruciating. Kael didn't shoo the caterpillar away, treating it as a companion. Although it wasn't even a Soul Pet, it was highly alert. Every time a powerful Soul Pet appeared, the little caterpillar would always warn Kael.
After another three days of fruitless waiting, Kael had no choice but to move to a new location.
"What's going on? Did I stumble into a fox den? Another young fox!"
On the fifteenth day of waiting, Kael once again saw a young fox sneaking in to steal his food!
Kael's bait consisted of Soul Core fragments, which were derived from the bodies of Soul Pets and were considered a delicacy by many.
These Soul Core fragments were limited in supply and couldn't withstand the continuous theft by these fox cubs.
Finally, Kael had had enough. When a young Moonlight Fox attempted to steal his Soul Core fragments, he decisively triggered the trap!
"Whimper~~" The young Moonlight Fox immediately sensed danger and reacted swiftly. As the trap began to sink, it grabbed onto a tree root buried beneath the soil, hanging just fifty centimeters below the trap.
"Whoosh!!!" The young fox was incredibly agile. Using the corners of the trap as leverage, it leaped back onto the ground!
Kael was stunned. This young Moonlight Fox, barely at the first stage, displayed such nimbleness. This was a trap designed for third-stage Soul Pets!
"Rustle rustle!!!"
Just as Kael thought the little creature was about to escape, the caterpillar on his shoulder suddenly made a sound, and a strand of white silk shot from its mouth!
The silk accurately entangled the Moonlight Fox mid-air. The fox panicked, its body just touching the edge of the trap before being bound by the silk.
"Spit!" The caterpillar continued to spew white silk, sticky and thick, wrapping the fox in multiple layers, leaving it no chance to escape.
The young fox struggled desperately, trying to free itself from the silk. Though fast, it was too weak to break free and gradually lost strength.
Kael stared in amazement at the little caterpillar with its round, bright eyes, then at the trapped fox. He couldn't help but laugh, patting his little companion. "Well done! I didn't know you could spin silk. You really bring me good luck."
The caterpillar wriggled proudly on Kael's shoulder.
Kael rewarded it with another piece of food, then walked over to the Moonlight Fox, picking it up and climbing back into the tree.
Powerful Soul Pets often roamed the ground, so Kael dared not linger there.
The young fox lay there, its eyes darting around, showing both defiance and a readiness to escape at any moment.
"Strange, why does this one also have a silver crescent mark on its forehead?" Kael quickly noticed the mark.
In the Beast category—Fox type Soul Pets, only the Silver Moon Fox bore a silver crescent mark on its forehead.
The Moonlight Fox earned its name due to its unique ability to absorb moonlight and convert it into power.
Kael recalled the first young fox he had encountered, a hybrid of the Red Cloud Fox and the Silver Moon Fox, with a low racial rank.
The second was a Blue Star Fox, also of low rank, slightly higher than the Red Cloud Fox. Kael vaguely remembered it also had a silver crescent mark but hadn't paid much attention at the time.
The third, this Moonlight Fox, was of medium rank. What puzzled Kael the most was that it also bore the silver crescent mark.
"The crescent mark should only belong to the Silver Moon Fox. Why do all three young foxes have it? Could they be the same one?" Kael muttered, staring at the fox.
"The same one... That's impossible. The three young foxes are of different breeds; they can't be the same..."
Kael was just speculating. In reality, the Red Cloud Fox, Blue Star Fox, and Moonlight Fox, though all part of the Fox family, belonged to different subcategories and couldn't be the same.
A Soul Pet's race is determined at birth and remains unchanged...
However, there is one extremely rare exception...
A Soul Pet's quality is determined by its racial rank, which is fixed by its race and cannot be altered.
But in the realm of Soul Pets, there exists an exceedingly rare phenomenon—racial mutation!
Theoretically, all Soul Pets can continuously improve their strength. For example, a high-ranking Fang Wolf can progress from the first stage to higher stages.
However, every Soul Pet eventually hits a bottleneck. Even if its stage continues to rise, due to racial limitations, the increase in strength becomes negligible.
At this point, some Soul Pets with mutation bloodlines have a minuscule chance of undergoing racial mutation, transforming from a low-rank race into a higher-rank one!
Kael had once heard of a highly potential Fang Wolf mutating into a more powerful Dire Wolf.
The Dire Wolf's racial rank was significantly higher than the Fang Wolf's. A sixth-stage Dire Wolf could defeat three sixth-stage Fang Wolves!
Mutation is a marvel in the realm of Soul Pets and undoubtedly the greatest surprise for Soul Pet Masters!