Light Firefly

"Zhou Qing, are you an adventurer from the Nuoding Guild like Xiao Wu? Could you take me along to experience the guild's adventure quests?"

Qingzhu Zhu looked expectant.

"This···"

"I can give you an extra Gold Soul Coin." Mother Zhu found Zhou Qing's weakness and offered her bargaining chip.

"How could I possibly accept that?"

Zhou Qing laughed heartily and immediately said, "Deal!"

"You're so greedy!" Xiao Wu said disdainfully.

"I didn't steal or rob anyone. I earned the money through my own abilities. How can that be considered greed?" Zhou Qing retorted. "You're just jealous."

"Jealous? Sister Xiao Wu would be jealous of you?" Xiao Wu sneered. "Don't forget, we're a team. You can take on missions, and so can I, and the rewards for the missions will be split equally."

"Hehe!"

Zhou Qing chuckled twice, then beckoned Qingzhu Zhu and Mother Zhu to head towards the Nuoding Guild. He waved to Xiao Wu with his back Xiao Wu, "Goodbye."

However, Xiao Wu still caught up with her.

Why are you still following along?

"I accepted the mission to lead Mother Zhu and Qingzhu Zhu on a tour of Nuoding City, so of course I'm going to the guild to collect my reward." Xiao Wu took out a mission sheet from her small bag and waved it in front of Zhou Qing.

Upon arriving at the Nuoding Guild, Xiao Wu immediately collected her reward and then walked over to Zhou Qing, Qingzhu Zhu, and Mother Zhu, wanting to see what kind of mission they would choose.

How about this one?

Zhou Qing pointed to a mission sheet for hunting and capturing Soul Beast.

The person who issued the task was a minor nobleman in Nuoding City who wanted to find a suitable Soul Ring for his thirteen-year-old daughter.

The reason it was described as "capture" rather than "hunt" was because this minor nobleman did not want his daughter to go on an adventure in the Soul Hunting Forest with the Soul Master.

Therefore, the Soul Master accepts this mission must bring the Soul Beast back alive.

The Soul Beast required by this noblewoman is a firefly called the Light Firefly, which must be over fifty years old. As for the reward, since the Soul Master needs to bring back a live Soul Beast, the conditions are quite harsh, so it costs one Gold Soul Coin.

However, because the requirement of "being alive" is quite difficult, this task has been posted here for half a month and still no one has paid any attention to it.

After all, capturing Soul Beast in the Soul Hunting Forest involves not only the Soul Beast needed by the employer, but also other Soul Beast, poisonous insects, and other unknown situations, such as encountering and clashing with other Soul Rift teams.

"Okay, this is it."

Qingzhu Zhu's eyes were full of anticipation.

So Zhou Qing tore off the quest paper, walked to the counter, reported to Alice, and then left the guild with Qingzhu Zhu, Mother Zhu, and Xiao Wu.

By the way, Xiao Wu insisted on coming along, saying she wanted to see what the Light Firefly, a Soul Beast, looked like—she had never seen such Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Since they were traveling in Qingzhu Zhu's carriage, which was spacious and had excellent shock absorption, and the horses pulling the carriage were among the very few Soul Beast that could be tamed by humans: Unicorn Horse, which could travel a thousand miles a day without a problem, Zhou Qing estimated that, if they were lucky, they could return to Nuoding City before dawn, not counting the time spent hunting Soul Beast, but just considering the travel time.

Zhou Qing then introduced the situation of the Light Firefly: "The Light Firefly is different from other firefly-type Soul Beast that you may know. It only appears in areas with distinct seasons. Therefore, this kind of Soul Beast does not exist in large wild forests such as Star Dou Great Forest and Sunset Forest, where it is spring all year round. It can only be found near Nuoding City, and it can only be found in summer."

"Fortunately, there's still some time before autumn. If it's another half month, we probably won't be able to see this kind of Soul Beast anymore."

Outside the carriage, Mother Zhu, who was driving, turned around and looked surprised. "You seem to know a lot about Soul Beast?"

"I just enjoy reading. As an ordinary person, I can only learn about various information about Soul Master cultivation and Soul Beast races through every opportunity in order to deduce which type of Soul Beast Soul Ring is suitable for different Martial Soul."

Zhou Qing gave an example. "Like the nobleman who issued this mission, his daughter's Martial Soul is a candle, which is a Support System Martial Soul. It can provide light and release a warm glow to slowly heal injuries."

"We chose the Light Firefly because this Soul Beast emits light, but the light is not dazzling and can have a slight healing effect, much like the flame of a candle, so it is a perfect match."

Qingzhu Zhu nodded slightly and asked, "Regarding fireflies, before I awakened my Martial Soul, I heard someone mention a kind of 'Light Feathered Insect,' which emits a soft light, possesses very powerful healing abilities, and is abundant in number. Why not choose this one?"

Could he say he'd never even heard of the name "Light Feathered Insect"?

There was no information about this kind of Soul Beast in the Library of the Nuoding Academy, and he hadn't had time to browse through the Library Pavilion in the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch yet.

However, Zhou Qing naturally couldn't show it, and instead asked, "Where do these Light Feathered Insect mainly gather?"

"Star Dou Great Forest!"

Xiao Wu answered quickly.

Wow!

She could see these firefly-like Soul Beast every night when she was still a carefree rabbit!

"Just like Xiao Wu said, these Soul Beast live in the Star Dou Great Forest. Do the minor nobles of Nuoding City have the wealth, resources, and connections to hire stronger Soul Master to hunt Soul Beast in such a great forest?"

Zhou Qing concealed his "ignorance" without showing any emotion and answered Qingzhu Zhu's question from another angle, "For most Commoner Soul Master, or even nobles in small towns with low status, there are actually not that many choices."

Although Qingzhu Zhu was young, she vaguely sensed the gap between the children of large families and royal families and the children of poor families and commoners.

Now, Zhou Qing has summarized the key points and presented them to her.

Wealth, connections, resources...

No wonder Zhou Qing told me to live happily every day. It turns out that compared to others, being born into the Nether Spirit Cat Clan truly gives me everything that others may never obtain in their entire lives!

Once she learned to compare, Qingzhu Zhu realized that she should actually be quite happy... But why did she feel so depressed when she was in her family?

"Back to the Light Firefly, this kind of Soul Beast sheds its wings after summer, transforming into something resembling an ant. It burrows underground and feeds on various decaying leaves, branches, and fruits until the following summer, when its wings will grow back." Seeing Qingzhu Zhu's slightly somber expression, Zhou Qing continued to talk about the Light Firefly Soul Beast.

"Why? Wouldn't it be better to always have wings? You could fly freely." Qingzhu Zhu's attention was indeed drawn, and she couldn't help but ask, "Wouldn't that be wonderful?"