After becoming a beast chef, blood sausage is one of the most common dishes cooked by Lu Ran, mainly because beast blood is too common.
Although he was already very skilled, it was still Lu Ran's first time to cook epic blood curd...
Therefore, he did not directly choose to cook with the blood of the spiritual beast suitable for Dark Crow, but first chose to cook with the blood of the fire beast.
Try the dish yourself first!
None of his contracted pets needed fire-type food. Only Lu Ran, the Flame Spirit Jinchūriki, needed fire-type resources to improve his Flame Spirit, so it would definitely be a good idea to cook the fire-type ingredients and try them out himself first.
“I’m just a level five beastmaster, but I’ve gotten to enjoy dishes cooked with the blood of mythical beasts… But is it really okay to enjoy it all to myself? I should record it on video and share it with Manager Ying and the others.” Lu Ran said with emotion.
Three days later.
Because he was immersed in the process of researching dishes and raising pets, time passed very quickly and Lu Ran felt nothing. Everything was gone in a flash.
The Yan Ling that was fused with the fire of life gave Lu Ran a great surprise. Not only could it make the blood of the mythical beast extremely fresh, it also greatly reduced the difficulty of cooking it. Lu Ran followed the recipe inherited by Emperor Yan Sizhen, supplemented with suitable ingredients, and only made a small mistake in cooking the fire-type blood. After that, he cooked a perfect spirit-type blood that could enhance the growth level.
During this period, the Dark Crow greedily sucked the blood soup and even drank up all the soup base. In addition, Lu Ran used "time acceleration" to speed up the Dark Crow's digestion and growth rate. It didn't take long for its growth level to reach level 60.
Of course, Lu Ran also ate a lot during this process, but he felt that it did not bring much improvement to himself. It might be because the level of Yan Ling was too high, and the Fire Epic Blood Porridge was simply unable to make it undergo another qualitative change. Lu Ran just enjoyed the delicious food without getting any substantial improvement.
However, developing the epic fire blood is just for training, and Lu Ran doesn't ask for too much. As long as the Dark Crow successfully reaches level 60, that will be enough.
The only thing he was worried about now was that if Shen Huang were still alive, would she burn him to death after knowing that he used her fire to make Maoxuewang?
It's not that he doesn't want to save the dying and the wounded, but it's more cost-effective to improve his strength now...
“Haha, what a wonderful feeling~~~”
At this moment, Dark Crow's skin was red and he was still eating ice cubes. This was a sequelae of his gluttony and he was burned by the spicy food.
"It seems that the absorption effect is good. Cooking epic dishes is not difficult. Then forging epic equipment should be easy as well."
Lu Ran glanced at the backpack.
[Legendary]: Heart of the Wind God, Water of the Primordial Sea, Honey of the Flower God
[Epic]: Imperial Seal, Broken Horn of the Divine Deer, Star Light Sword, Star Iron, Wrath of Nature, Feather of Kunpeng, Remains of the Dog God, Transformation Bracelet, Ruins Branch, Epic God Blood x5, Crocodile Skin
"Although the bet with the Condor Federation is not very meaningful now that I have obtained the mechanical inheritance of the Divine Spirit Research Institute, but since I promised to forge a top-grade weapon for Fang Lan, I still have to forge it."
"At first, I wanted to use star iron to forge hidden weapons, but No. 18 said that star iron is more suitable for forging mechanical equipment. So let's change the weapon and use crocodile skin to forge a poison whip for Fang Lan."
"The Whip Saint?" Lu Ran touched his chin. Could it be that the forging failed this time? "My Lord, my Lord, what whip?" Dark Crow seemed to have heard something and came over to ask, "Are you going to use whipping to temper the will of life and death for the King of Sudden Death?"
"..." Lu Ran said: "That's not necessary. Okay, let's go find the ghost mother."
"I don't know how far you can go in this second stage of evolution."
"Your Majesty, what do you think..."
"I can't say I can surpass Liudaohua, but even if I don't fight in the army, my combat power ranks second in the team, comparable to me after my transformation, so I don't think it will be a big problem."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Dark Crow looked expectant and excited.
…………
Soon after, Lu Ran came to the abyss space with the "Abyss Shell" in his hand and called out to the Ghost Mother.
"Is it you?"
The ghost mother's huge body appeared, and when she saw Lu Ran and the black crow on his shoulder, she said, "The cat just left not long ago. I didn't expect you to come."
"I heard from her that you guys went to the secret realm to break through, right?"
"Yes, Master Ghost Mother. You just said that Manager Ying had just left not long ago?"
"Well, she has been gone for several days, leaving only the guy named 'Shi Zhen' behind. Now that 'Shi Zhen' is my messenger, but she is too weak. Currently, I have locked her and her pet in the deep abyss to let them go through training and strengthening."
"You two are old acquaintances, right? When you see her again, she may not be weaker than you."
"That's great, of course." Lu Ran smiled slightly.
It seems that after Manager Ying brought the old president and Principal Shi to Xingyue, Principal Shi stayed with Guimu to practice, while the old president and Maomao returned to Blue Star.
Lu Ran said, "Master Ghost Mother, we have indeed just come out of the breakthrough secret realm. After this successful breakthrough, Dark Crow's growth level has reached level 60. I am about to prepare to fuse the time system into it and let it undergo the second stage of evolution."
"I came here this time to ask for your help. In this process, help it integrate several major attributes..."
The ghost mother was silent.
After a moment, she said, "I remember what I said at the time. After you train this crow to the critical point of evolution, come to me. I can give it some 'guidance' and teach it how to integrate its own power."
"When did I say that I helped it to unite its forces?"
"Ah? Is that so?" Lu Ran laughed and said, "Almost, almost. With the strength of Ghost Mother, under your guidance, how could it not succeed?"
“Gah!!! (Yes, that’s right.)”
"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Since I've already promised you something, let's get started."
The ghost mother didn't want to waste any more words. As for the integrated attributes, it actually depends mainly on the crow's own qualifications and talents.
"yes!!"
Lu Ran stopped talking nonsense and looked at the backpack.
[Rare]: Mutation Tears, Time Fruit, Disaster Pistol, Nine-Colored Meteorite Fragments, Time Leaf, Miracle Seed, Blood Drop Stone, Soul Binding Bottle, Soul Transformation Pot, Abyss Shell, Divination Turtle Shell
He took out the Leaf of Time from his collection.
[Leaf of Time]: A resource for awakening the time system. After eating it, there is a chance that the time system will be awakened, depending on the compatibility between the pet and the time system.
The resources of the 100% awakening time system are estimated to be epic.
Lu Ran’s epic enhancement card has been used. Next, he can only use the resources of the probability awakening time system to evolve and awaken the Dark Crow.
However, although it is a probability, in Lu Ran's opinion, it should be 100% correct.
After all, he had prepared a lot for this day.
Not only does it give the Dark Crow the ability to predict the future, it also lays the foundation for it to awaken the time system.
In addition, time is often accelerated on it, and Dark Crow often travels back and forth between Rikka's time hell. Its tolerance for time abilities is definitely far beyond that of other pets that have not been exposed to time abilities.
Furthermore...probability...Rikka has the lucky clover trait and can bring good luck to teammates.
Finally, there is the legend of the blessing of life. Lu Ran couldn't figure out how the Dark Crow could awaken and evolve and fail! "Here you go." At this moment, the Death Crow possessed the Curse Crow, and the Curse Crow shrank and stood on Lu Ran's shoulder. When Lu Ran reached out and handed over the Leaf of Time, the Dark Crow swallowed and ate it in one bite! ! ! The next moment, it spread its wings and flew up, flying in front of the Ghost Mother.
Plop.
Plop.
After eating the Leaf of Time, Dark Crow could clearly feel his heartbeat quickening and his eyes becoming dry.
In a flash, mysterious ripples of time emanated from it, turning into light and enveloping its entire body.
“Woo~~~~~”
Seeing this, the Ghost Mother murmured, and the surrounding starry sky also sparkled. It separated a large mass of purple slime-like substance and directly wrapped the evolving Dark Crow!!!
Pah!!! The purple slime was thrown onto Murkrow, and Murkrow was directly swallowed up. Its evolution seemed to be interrupted, and its whole body seemed to be sealed in a purple translucent jelly.
Lu Ran made a “hmm” sound, looked at the dark crow that looked like amber, and said, “Senior Ghost Mother… this is…”
"Don't worry, I'm 'teaching' it how to integrate power during evolution."
"In addition, this substance can also strengthen its soul power. It can be regarded as my blessing to it."
"During the process of strengthening, its understanding and learning ability will be enhanced..."
"But whether it can learn it depends on itself."
"Wait, I can't pause its evolution for too long. It only has 30 minutes. Whether it can comprehend or not depends on it."
After the ghost mother finished speaking, Lu Ran said: "Master Ghost Mother, can I also use the beast control skills to assist it?"
"What kind of beast taming skills?" The ghost mother looked at Lu Ran.
“Soul Strengthening!!!” Lu Ran’s eyes were filled with gray light, and gray mist and spiritual power appeared on his body. Seeing this, the ghost mother said, “It’s better than nothing. It’s OK.”
With the permission of the Ghost Mother, Lu Ran took a deep breath and tried to pass the soul strengthening power to the Dark Crow through the slime group!!!
Buzz!!! At this moment, Dark Crow's soul power grew stronger, and its learning ability and comprehension were naturally strengthened. However, in this state, Lu Ran couldn't communicate with Dark Crow at all. Dark Crow seemed to have fallen asleep, and Lu Ran didn't know what was going on with it.
But before Lu Ran could get nervous, the ghost mother suddenly exclaimed "Huh".
“That’s fast.”
"It's starting to come together a lot faster than I thought it would."
"I see. So, you want to integrate the power of both bodies first? The other body was originally separated from the original body. Now it wants to merge again. It is indeed easier."
"The power of two bodies?" Lu Ran was startled and looked at Dark Crow. Although he could not sense it, based on the contractual connection, he quickly knew what Dark Crow was doing.
During a period of evolution, the Dark Crow acquired the "twin" talent through the characteristics of soul clones and became the Twin Crows, a total of two individuals.
It's split evolution.
But these two entities are essentially still the power of the Dark Crow.
Now, the first thing that the Dark Crow integrated was this twin body. He wanted to completely take back the power of the Crow of Death and merge it into the Crow of Curse, rather than using it as a possession.
Boom!!! As the speed of evolution was slowed down, the racial level of the Dark Crow seemed to jump up and down at this moment, instead of reaching the level in one step. After taking back the power of the dead, its racial level directly changed from [Low Overlord] to [Middle Overlord].
This is not the end yet. As it took back and integrated its power, its twin talents also underwent some changes.
Racial talents can actually change! [Racial Talent]: Twin Curse (A pet with this talent has two bodies, both of which share the same consciousness. Only when both bodies die will it truly die!)
Lu Ran could clearly see this twin curse talent in the contract card at this moment, and the effect of the ability was changing.
[Racial Talent]: Undead Curse (A pet with this talent can cast an Undead Curse on itself. Under the Undead Curse, no matter how many times it is killed, it can consume the curse power to revive and be reborn. It can only be truly killed when the Undead Curse is broken or the curse power is exhausted!)
“Damn it.” Lu Ran muttered inwardly.
So fierce? Wouldn't it be similar to the legendary wind dog in the secret realm, which is extremely difficult to kill! At this moment, the evolution has only taken a small step. As Lu Ran breathed, the ghost mother was surprised again.
"Its talent is indeed good, and it seems to have found its direction..."
Sizzle…
Originally, Ghost Mother said that the Dark Crows would have thirty minutes to integrate their strength, but in fact, before two minutes had passed, the Dark Crows started to work non-stop.
"certainly."
A smile flashed across Lu Ran’s lips. How should I put it? Although the Dark Crow’s basic race is low, it can also be considered a monster with talent!
Compared to the higher-level creatures of the Star-Moon Federation, the Dark Crows have no choice but to be of a low race, because their parents, dating back tens of thousands of generations, were all ordinary animals. Even if they awaken extraordinary powers, how could their racial level be high?
Unlike the geniuses in the Star-Moon Federation, the parents of their pets are also kings and overlords.
If the animals on the Blue Planet want to achieve a high racial level, they can only do so if they trace back to ancient times, have powerful ancestors, and then return to their ancestral bloodline. Only then will there be hope.
As a member of the army of ordinary animals, the Dark Crow had the language talent it had at the beginning, which was already considered a gifted genius.
If Lu Ran was not mistaken, the fact that Dark Crow was able to find the direction so quickly might be related to his language talent.
"Is it the curse system?" Lu Ran murmured. It was indeed the curse system. There was a skill in the curse system called "spell", which was to cast a curse through the power of language.
Dark Crow's language talent is so amazing, and after integrating the dark and spiritual systems that are in line with the evil god's lineage, it is not surprising that he awakened the curse system like the gods in the evil god's camp.
The only variables... may be the time system and the soul system...
Boom! In the slime jelly, the light on Dark Crow became brighter and brighter.
The ghost mother still stared at the slime group in silence, not knowing what she was thinking.
After a long time, the ghost mother's puzzled voice came out: "This is!!!"
"What's wrong!" Lu Ran asked immediately.
"I've never seen such a fluctuation in attributes... It's very similar to the power of a spell, but not exactly the same!"
"Hmm?" Lu Ran looked at the Dark Crow. At this moment, the Dark Crow had not yet completed its evolution, and the Contract Card had not changed. Lu Ran held his breath for a moment, and only heard the voice of the Dark Crow slowly coming out of the ball of light created by the Ghost Mother.
"crack!!!"
Dark gold and dark red intertwined light shone out from these cracks, and a powerful force was being conceived and born.
Crack!!! The word "crack" instantly caused physical changes and triggered energy tides. Under Lu Ran's incredible gaze, the violent energy fluctuations seemed to condense a strange character in the void.
"What's this."
After Lu Ran was startled, with a "bang", the slime group completely exploded. Under the endless light, the powerful fluctuations on Dark Crow finally erupted completely. The suffocating powerful fluctuations made Lu Ran's heart flutter, because this familiar breath, he was definitely not wrong...
Is it... a quasi-legend?! Under the light, Dark Crow's new form appeared, still in the form of a crow, but the countless pupils on its body had disappeared, leaving only the single pair of evil god eyes on its head.
The color of the eyes did not change. Instead, countless golden characters appeared on the dark body of the Dark Crow. The meaning of these characters was unknown. They were densely packed all over the feathers of the Dark Crow like spells, making it look even more weird and mysterious than the previous terrifying evil eye that struck the soul directly.
"Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty..."
The evolved Dark Crow seemed to be very excited, and its power seemed to be unprecedentedly strong. It only called out, and there were infinite echoes in the void. Under the echoes, an invisible crown condensed, as if to crown Lu Ran.
[Race]: Oracle Crow
[Attribute]: Word Spirit
(The words spoken contain souls and possess extraordinary power. They can kill enemies with words and change fate with spells.) [Racial Level]: Quasi-Legendary
[Growth Level]: Level 60
[Evolutionary Talent]: Prophecy Comes True (The words spoken will most likely come true in an incredible way in the future.) Oracle Crow, Quasi-Legend, Word Spirit System!!!
When all the information about Dark Crow appeared, Lu Ran was already hot all over and excited beyond words. For a beastmaster, this moment was probably the most exciting and delightful moment.
Lu Ran had never heard of the language spirit system.
He was very surprised.
Did Dark Crow take a completely different path from the evil god because of the power of the dead? Although he had never heard of the verbal spirit system, this powerful attribute of speaking and acting according to the law also made Lu Ran understand that this attribute must be extremely powerful.
"Very good." At this time, the Ghost Mother spoke again. Feeling the powerful strength of the Dark Crow, it was quite concerned. It evolved into a quasi-legend at level 60, which was quite impressive.
In its opinion, this crow definitely has the qualifications to impact the legendary realm in the future.
“Very strong.” Lu Ran finally couldn’t help but speak, laughing, and said: “Oracle Crow, Word Spirit System, very good, very good, I can’t wait, there is no opponent!!!”
"Lady Ghost Mother, can you teleport us out? We want to try the power of the Word Spirit!!"
"Yes." At this moment, the Ghost Mother also wanted to see the power of the Dark Crow after its evolution. She pondered for a moment and directly teleported Lu Ran to a place.
…………
abyss.
Ghosts are everywhere.
It is like a sea of death, with evil spirits transformed from sea beasts floating everywhere.
On the rubble of the abyss, a sexy queen in a black cheongsam was directing a tall, stone-like skin, and rock-like hair ape pet to fight against an evil spirit.
Beauty and the Beast! "It's amazing."
Although the woman's brows showed fatigue, she couldn't stop the excitement in her eyes.
“鬼母大人说的果然没错,经过此次历练,我的实力绝对不会逊色任何人!”
女子是石震。
数天前,她因为实力太弱,被鬼母扔进了深渊。
深渊凶灵遍地,鬼母施加了一道法则,只要石震的宠兽击杀凶灵,就可以无副作用的提升灵魂之力,通过灵魂之力,影响体质,从而提升成长等级、种族等级。
眼下仅是几天,石震的全部宠兽就已经达到了60级,并且全员霸主!
没有经过无限城的进化,全部的君王宠兽,就变成了低等霸主种族! 而这,还只是开始。
石震的王牌主力,由于厮杀的最为卖力,此刻的种族等级,甚至已经提升到了高等霸主之列。
这让石震非常激动。
60级高等霸主,他现在,也是第一梯队了。
做传说使徒……简直太爽了。
就在石震心中喜悦,甚至已经迫不及待回归蓝星,想争夺一番蓝星十大御兽王者位置,给世界一个震惊,也体验体验路然那种出风头的感觉时……
一道熟悉又陌生的身影,出现在了石震不远处。
“路然?暗鸦?”
“感觉不太像。”
石震看着出现的一人一鸟组合,喃喃自语。
路然因为融合生命之火的缘故,气质变了不少,而暗鸦因为进化了的缘故,外貌也是有所改变,连续战斗了几天,意识有点昏昏沉沉、迷迷糊糊的石震,一时间还真不敢相认。
“等下,数据之眼看不到对方信息!”
石震突然发现,自己用数据之眼,看不到暗鸦信息。
“我懂了。”
“这是鬼母大人凝聚的幻影。”
“它把我送进来时,说让我尽快变得比神鹿使者更强。”
“现在凝聚出路然他们的幻影,应该是为了检验我的特训成果吧。”
判断出了这一点,殊不知是路然时空屏蔽作祟的石震压不住嘴角疯狂的喜悦,道:“猴子,给我上!!狠狠的揍!!!”
“呜!!!”
听到主人命令,霸主石猿双足踏地,石板破碎间,它的身影一跃升空,一掌就向着路然他们拍来。
石猿体型并不大,但它拍出的一掌,仿佛覆盖面积无穷无尽,大的可怕,只是微微抬头,路然和暗鸦就能看见一片金褐色的天穹落下。
轰! 恐怖的压力骤然出现,路然和暗鸦一脸懵逼。
石震校长的……王牌? 鬼母这是把他们送到了石震校长这边??? 原来如此……石震校长的确变强了不少啊。
路然嘴角也抹过一丝笑意:“暗鸦,交给你了。”
“收到,大王!”
全身金色咒文覆盖的暗鸦抬起头,用血红的眼瞳看向了那急速落下的神掌。
“我们之间的距离……无限远!”
嗡! 暗鸦话落,路然它们脚底下的石板都已经开始动荡,因为神掌已经极限接近它们,但是就是最后那一段距离,似乎成为永恒一般。
石猿按着巨掌,于空中不断下落,神掌持续散发威能,然而转瞬,石猿就面色一变,只感觉神掌明明马上要攻击到敌人,但这最后一段距离,自己却像是始终无法触及一般。
它能明显感觉到自己还在持续下落,眼前就是对手,也能感觉力量在持续消耗,但是……攻击就是触碰不到对方! “吼!!!”
空中,石猿瞪大眼睛,不知道自己身上发生了什么,自己是在战斗,也不是在砍一刀啊! 远处。
石震也有一种时空错乱的感觉。
就在这时,暗鸦再次开口了。
“能量耗尽,砸晕到地上。”
说完,隔着无限距离始终攻击不到路然他们的石猿,能量在攻击过程中不断浪费,转瞬便精疲力尽,一下去失去全部力量,一股虚弱感弥漫石猿心头。
下一刻。
它像是一道坠落的流星,失控般从“高空”无限加速,重重砸到了路然他们身边,“轰”的一声,砸出了一个巨大的坑,而石猿,也直接在洞中昏迷了过去。
深渊之上,注视此地的鬼母,忍不住用触手扶额,看来几天历练,还不足以缩小自己使者和神鹿使者之间的距离……差距,还是太大了。
这个言灵乌鸦,力量有丶东西……
“喂,石震老哥,不对,老姐,干嘛一见面就突然攻击。”此刻,解决了石猿,路然和暗鸦也看向了石震校长。
此刻石震校长已经呆滞了,他看到莫名其妙被秒,以及笑呵呵看向自己的路然和暗鸦,大脑一片浆糊。
“是我们啊,路然,暗鸦。”路然道:“怎么,认不出了,我修炼了一个新力量,变帅了一点而已,暗鸦则是60级二段进化了。”
啊? 石震胸口直颤,许久后,她懵逼道:“我艹,真是你们,你们怎么在这里!!”
“不对劲,她喵的!!!你们怎么可能秒了我的宠兽!!”
她快速来到了石坑处,看着石猿,难以接受。
怎么可能!! 她的王牌都60级高等霸主了,路然他们……怎么可能如此轻松的秒杀它! 好诡异! 就算石猿经历了很久战斗,不是最完美的状态,但也不至于……不至于这么惨吧。
“哈哈哈哈,你冷静,其实暗鸦的进化,是刚才在深渊之神的祝福下完成的,祝福很给力,暗鸦直接进化到了准传说种族……”
而且……还不是一般的准传说。
是统合了死灵,时间属性,具备唯一属性性质,绝对有冲击传说领域资质的超强准传说!
路然嘴角咧开,笑道:“你们打不过也是正常的。”
石震:??? 你特喵不是神鹿使者吗?! 深渊之神鬼母不是我的上司吗?!
啊? 还不等石震过多懵逼,他们周围时空斗转,重新出现在了鬼母所待的深渊空间。
鬼母淡淡道:“我让神鹿使者帮了个小忙,答应了他辅助那只乌鸦进化,它们能进化出如此实力,是自己积累的底蕴,与我关系倒不是很大,只是提前让它们获得了未来有可能获得的力量。”
鬼母生怕石震也让她帮忙强化宠兽到准传说,这次给石震开挂,它已经费了不小力气。
“……”石震沉默。
随后,水汪汪的大眼睛看向了路然。
“所以刚才是……”
“哦,暗鸦刚刚进化,我们想找个对手试试力量,鬼母大人就把我们传送到了你那边。”路然笑道:“石震校长厉害,宠兽竟然都已经高等霸主了。”
石震:@%@#¥¥ 你这变态还有脸说别人厉害! “那鬼母大人,我这是特训中止了吗。”石震看向了鬼母。
“对,终止吧,靠那个深渊历练,你把其他宠兽的实力提升到那只石猴的程度就是极限,接下来,你的实力应该也够闯荡‘突破秘境’了吧,去突破吧,等突破之后,再来找我。”
“记得我给你的几个任务。”
“无限城比我强大,利用好它强化自己。”
“好的!!!也是时候突破6级了。”石震心塞,路然是见习御兽师时,他是五级御兽师,现在路然是五级御兽师了,他还是5级。
也是时候回去突破到6级,和老会长、林念、顾青依他们一个等级了,再墨迹一下,到时候跟路然匹配上,可就没得玩了。
因为事务繁忙,外加钻研诅咒,石震还一直没有进入突破秘境。
“那我们一起回蓝星?”路然道:“我也想回蓝星一趟呢。”
【找神鹿交任务……】
“好!!那我从蓝星进。”石震看着路然,叹了口气,算了算了,输给路然这个变态也正常,自己才刚成为传说使者几天,来日方长!
The God of the Abyss sounds much stronger than the Nanny Deer, and I will definitely surpass Lu Ran in the future! After figuring it out, she smiled and stretched out her hand, hugged Lu Ran, and said, "Xiao Lu, when we go back this time, let's challenge the 'Road of Kings' together and grab two places in the World War."
"You fight the Condor, and I fight Ah San!"
"It's time to change the top ten kings."
"By the way, does Gu Qingyi also need to evolve through the Dragon Balls? Let's take her along too. By then... let's make sure that 5 of the top ten kings are from Xia country!"
“Um…” Lu Ran was caught off guard by Principal Shi Zhen and was startled. He felt an electric shock all over his body and said, “Hey, hey, hey, you are a woman now. Men and women should not touch each other.”
"It's okay. I'm a real man at heart. Are you afraid that your future girlfriend will be jealous?"
(End of this chapter)