Rebirth of the Prime Dragon Master
Chapter 856 Life Saver

On the other side, Rocky and Juey returned to the rest area. Upon returning, all of the Cao Clan members, including Chief Lucilla and Lucas, welcomed them with great enthusiasm, as if they were victorious heroes that returned from a battle.

Thanks to Rocky's amazing strength, the Cao Clan was saved from a dead end. The clan was grateful for a hero like him. They regarded Rocky as their life saver. It was of great significance for the Cao Clan to enter the next round and be able to continue the contest. This gave them a glimmer of hope that they could prosper once more.

"Mr. Rookie, it was truly eye-opening!" Lucas exclaimed among the crowd. His eyes sparkled with excitement and emotions that couldn't be put into words. Although he already knew that Rocky was an extraordinary individual with a unique ability, he didn't expect him to be so powerful that he could display three kinds of Beast Evaluation Skills at the same time. Even more astonishing was the fact that he displayed the Heavenly Shadow Evaluation Skill that everyone thought had disappeared for 300 years. Lucas, the strongest beast evaluator in the Timber Deity Empire, couldn't help but admire Rocky's display of power.

For now, Lucas was certain that he was still superior over Rocky. However, Lucas knew that Rocky could potentially surpass him one day and become a grandmaster. If the latter kept this up, it wouldn't take long for him to become the only powerful beast evaluator in the Wild Spirit Land. In Lucas’ eyes, Rocky was like a piece of pure jade. Within a few years, he would be polished into one of the most outstanding talents and could potentially overshadow all the other beast evaluators in the Wild Spirit Land.

Lucas sighed with slight envy at Rocky for being able to achieve so much at his age. He now began to appreciate Rocky less like a senior to a junior and more like a master to his apprentice. He hoped that Rocky would surpass him as well as the strongest beast evaluator in the Wild Spirit Land. Pushing himself beyond his limits would help him make progress. He hoped to witness this with his own eyes.

Before Rocky, no other apprentice was able to make a grandmaster like Lucas set such high expectations. Lucas never recalled any similar experience, even when his apprentice was brilliant. Rocky had certainly impressed this master with his amazing power and skills.

Lucas wasn't the only one to admit Rocky's greatness. Many people, including the chief of the Cao Clan, acknowledged and felt the same way as well

"Mr. Rookie, we all owe you a lot. No words can properly express my gratitude for your kindness. Also, I need to apologize to you for questioning your abilities earlier. Even with eyes, I failed to recognize the greatness in you. Please forgive me!" Lucilla pleaded with sincerity. Her tone was modest as she put aside her identity as a chief and thanked Rocky as best as she could. She knew that if it weren't for him, the Cao Clan would've already lost to the Qi Clan. If they had lost this competition of beast evaluation, they would lose their chance of fighting against the Qi Clan forever. She was aware of how crucial his win was for the Cao Clan.

"You're welcome, Chief Lucilla. I'm flattered. It was nothing. Don't mention it. If you'll excuse me. See you later,” Rocky replied with a smile before nodding towards Juey. Together, they left in full view of the members of the Cao Clan.

"Wait! Hold on, please!" Lucilla shouted from behind. Rocky left so abruptly that she didn't have time to react. She wanted to stay with him a little longer and get to know him more like where he was from and who his master was. But Lucas waved his hand to stop her.

"Chief, please be patient. Mr. Rookie isn't an ordinary person so he has a good reason to conceal his abilities as much as possible. I know you want him to continue helping our clan, but we need to take it one step at a time,” he explained to her. As an old man who had seen a great deal in his life, Lucas turned out to be more experienced than his chief. He could tell that they and Rocky were on the same boat. If they pushed him too much, they would drive him away and he would quit helping the clan. They needed to carefully assess the situation first before making their next move.

"But the Qi Clan may also want to recruit him.” Lucilla murmured despondently. She understood that a genius like Rocky would want his privacy, but his recent performance was just too hard to avoid and would surely grab the attention of the Qi Clan, the Cao Clan's biggest opponent. This idea would keep the latter clan awake at night because they knew that the Qi Clan would do everything they could to win Rocky over. That was why Lucilla was so determined to find out which side Rocky would choose. She suspected that the Qi Clan would do everything within their power to buy Rocky off, a practice they had done more than once in the past couple of years. The clan was good at getting whatever they wanted through any means necessary, even if it was inferior. This led to a lot of the beast masters that once worked for the Cao Clan to be coaxed away. But Rocky was different from these beast masters. He was too important for them to lose. Lucilla decided that she would not let the Qi Clan take him away, at any cost.

"You're right. We need to pay attention to what the Qi Clan plan on doing next or else they will take Mr. Rookie away. The Qi Clan will try to be as inconspicuous as possible, but we can't push too hard on Mr. Rookie. If he was easy to manipulate by the Qi Clan, he wouldn't refuse to participate in the Beast Master Contest. He isn't the type of person to be easily swayed by the trap of power and interests,” Lucas said with wisdom.

"Then how do you think we should convince him to stay on our side?" Lucilla asked, looking into Lucas's eyes with hesitation.

"Chief, have you noticed how Mr. Rookie treats Miss Juey? Think about it more and I think you'll understand,” Lucas proposed. They needed to approach their goal like a roundabout, starting with Juey. They all noticed how Rocky treated Juey and decided to gain Rocky's favor by turning to the people he cared about instead.

Smart as Lucilla was, she got Lucas's words immediately and nodded in agreement.

Right then, Queenie returned to them in a great hurry. She was looking all over for Rocky. "Where is that guy? I want to see him now!" she shouted when she failed to find him. She appeared anxious. "Don't talk like that, Queenie. You're being rude. Mr. Rookie is our honored guest now. Watch your words!" Lucilla reminded her, an unpleasant expression all over her face.

"I don't care about what he means to our clan. I just risked my life to help him ward off the princess, but he ran away. I need to find him and ask him to...hmmm..." Queenie mumbled and turned away. It seemed that she wouldn't give up until she got exactly what she wanted.

"Do you notice that Queenie pays lots of attention to Mr. Rookie? It's weird. She doesn't hate Mr. Rookie, but..." Being a woman as well, Lucilla could sense the slight shift in her younger sister's tone of voice at the mention of Rocky's name. She found it improper.

"It isn't a bad thing, especially for the Cao Clan. Please don't worry," Lucas said meaningfully. He seemed to know something beforehand.

Lucilla was a little puzzled hearing Lucas's words. She had no idea what he was talking about. Her younger sister was changing suddenly. Queenie used to despise men like dirt, and she had lots of problems with Rocky before. But now she was thinking of him all the time and became impatient when he was not around. A girl's heart was always a mystery.