Chapter 24: Intermediate Skill! Stygian Dragon! (Seeking favorites and recommendation votes)

A new day dawned with a blazing sun. The weather was sultry; not a breath of wind stirred, and the thick, humid air felt as though it had solidified.

After completing his daily skill proficiency training in the morning, Chu Xu continuously dissipated heat through the post-nasal sinuses specialized for theropod dinosaurs, regulating his body temperature as hot air puffed from his nostrils.

"This damn weather..."

Chu Xu grumbled to himself, truly missing the days of air conditioning, refrigerators, and soda from his past life. As a dinosaur without sweat glands, he could not even perspire; he had to regulate his temperature himself, or risk heatstroke from the soaring heat.

At that moment, a series of new notifications appeared before his eyes.

【Scratch (1000/1000), proficiency maxed, automatically upgraded to Flame Claw.】
【Flame Claw (0/5000): Intermediate skill, attacks the opponent with fire-enveloped claws, dealing laceration and burn damage.】
【Bite (1000/1000), proficiency maxed, automatically upgraded to Fire Fang.】
【Fire Fang (0/5000): Intermediate skill, attacks the opponent with fire-enveloped teeth, dealing biting and burn damage.】
【Tackle (1000/1000), proficiency maxed, automatically upgraded to Flare Blitz.】
【Flare Blitz (0/5000): Intermediate skill, engulfs the body in flames and charges at the opponent, dealing impact and burn damage.】
【Accelerate (1000/1000), proficiency maxed, automatically upgraded to Agility.】
【Agility (0/5000): Intermediate skill, achieves high-speed movement by generating explosive reaction force through continuous, rapid stomping on the ground; can temporarily double movement speed.】

"Finally, all four basic skills have been upgraded to intermediate level."

Chu Xu nodded with satisfaction. After more than half a year of persistent training, he had finally reached the maximum requirements.

A distinct characteristic of these intermediate skills was the addition of scorching fire damage on top of the basic skills!

Flame Claw, Fire Fang, and Flare Blitz all involved imbuing himself with flames before striking the enemy; the damage was undoubtedly several times greater than the simple basic versions.

As for the final skill, Agility, it could temporarily double his speed—effectively tripling his base velocity.

"Display my attribute panel."

【Name】: Chu Xu
【Age】: 8 months
【Race】: Agumon (Male)
【Growth Stage】: Juvenile
【Four-Dimensional Attributes】: Strength 300, Agility 300, Constitution 320, Spirit 310
【Evolution Points】: 30
【Skills】: Flame Claw, Fire Fang, Flare Blitz, Agility
【Special Move】: Baby Flame
【Achievements】: Tyrant Potential (Basic), Psychic Perception (Basic), Fluid Armament (Basic)
【Next Evolutionary Form】: Greymon

In these two months, Chu Xu’s four-dimensional attributes had doubled again since his initial evolution, breaking past the 300 mark.

The changes in his physique were also remarkable: his body length approached three meters, his head height reached 1.5 meters, and his weight had already exceeded half a ton!

If things continued this way, within another six months—or at most a year—his rapidly growing, savage physique would reach the limit of the juvenile stage, ushering in his second evolution.

"Hungry. Time to go hunting."

Daily skill training was just a basic warm-up for Chu Xu; after warming up, it was time to get active.

Since the family’s food reserves were depleted, his dragon mother had already taken Longyue and Liuxing out to hunt. Ever since Chu Xu began hunting independently, his mother had adopted a completely hands-off approach, rarely requiring him to accompany her.

Chu Xu was happy with this freedom, as it allowed him to choose his own prey and hunt on his own terms.

Leaving home, Chu Xu followed the river, where the water level had dropped significantly, heading downstream in search of prey. There were hardly any fish left in the river, leaving him with little to catch, but the water source still attracted many herbivorous dinosaurs parched by the sweltering heat.

Before long, his psychic perception picked up a group of Stygimolochs drinking together at the riverbank.

The Stygimoloch had nothing to do with the Stygian raptors Chu Xu had encountered before. It was a medium-sized herbivorous dinosaur of the Pachycephalosauridae family, with a body length between 2.5 and 3 meters, a height of nearly 1 meter, and a weight of about 100 kilograms.

The name "Stygimoloch" translates to "demon from the River Styx," derived from the scene where its fossils were first discovered, looking as terrifying as the remains of a demon from hell.

The appearance of the Stygimoloch was strikingly bizarre: neither sheep nor deer, with a head the size of a basketball topped by a hard, protruding, dome-shaped parietal bone, as if wearing a helmet.

Unlike other pachycephalosaurs, the Stygimoloch’s dome was surrounded by long, high-protruding bony spikes. While not as massive as the horns of a Triceratops, they radiated a chilling, sharp intent.

"You'll do."

Chu Xu’s eyes lit up. This was his first time seeing such a strange-looking dinosaur, and he decided without hesitation to try something new.

As he crept closer to the group, he watched their every move.

"Thud! Thud!"

Suddenly, Chu Xu saw two sturdy male Stygimolochs, seemingly displeased with one another, lower their heads and slam into each other. Their hard, thick skulls collided with a violent crash that echoed through the air.

When the first clash failed to decide a winner, they went for a second and a third...

The two males repeatedly backed up and charged, using their iron-head technique to collide with increasing intensity. Any other dinosaur would have surely suffered a concussion, but for pachycephalosaurs, this level of head-butting was routine.

Their skulls were not only incredibly hard but consisted of three distinct structures that effectively transmitted the impact and vibration through their nerves to the rest of their bodies, minimizing damage to the head.

Watching this, however, Chu Xu felt a phantom ache in his own skull.

Next to the two males was a smaller female, calling out anxiously as if trying to persuade them to stop. Little did she know that the two males were jealous over her; with a beauty watching, they fought even harder, refusing to yield until one of them was thoroughly defeated.

Finally, after a series of desperate clashes, one male emerged victorious, slamming his opponent to the ground, leaving him unable to rise for some time. The winner strutted proudly toward the female, who, impressed by his vigor, began to nuzzle him affectionately.

"Swish!"

However, the very next second—

The triumphant male’s vision blurred. A half-grown Tyrannosaurus suddenly appeared behind the female. He was so fast that the male Stygimoloch didn't even have time to react before the female was violently tackled to the ground.