The man stood on the constructed platform, gazing at the green mountains and waters around him as he continued to make his way toward Jinlin City.
The young men and women were in the best years of their lives.
They chatted and laughed together...
"Jinlin City is a medium-sized city surrounded by demons. The alert level there is always red."
"I heard Bo City was recently put under a red alert, too."
"But Bo City got off lightly. There weren't many casualties, and they even managed to limit the number of deaths among civilians!"
The woman with black-rimmed glasses standing nearby said.
"Jiang Yu and I are going to kill demons. I'm going, too."
Mo Fan spoke in a low voice, his face full of sorrow.
That disaster in Bo City was too frightening. Even now, its three-eyed demon wolf still haunted him.
The power of humans was far too weak compared to the demons outside the city. They could even be treated as food...
"Sorry for the trouble."
Xue Yiyang hurriedly replied.
"It's fine. It's all in the past."
Jiang Yu held her hands together as she spoke.
The demons in Bo City had already done their best. Even if people did all they could, some things were still beyond their control.
In the end, plenty of people had died, but that had been unavoidable...
But if he had been stronger then—if he had possessed power that surpassed even the strongest—could he have stopped it all?
He needed power!
Jiang Yu gazed at the stars in his spiritual world. There was still a long way to go before his stardust could become a nebula.
Perhaps when Zhuo Jian returned from the national tournament, he could ask him to help see whether he could gather enough stardust in one breath to form a nebula...
Just then...
The instructor who had heard him speak interrupted him.
"Hah! Demons outside the city are nothing. I could kill one with a single bite!"
He flashed a bright smile at the empty sky, hoping to draw a goddess's attention.
But at that moment, Xue Yiyang stood quietly beside Jiang Yu.
What made it even more embarrassing was that his right-hand man resembled the pretty woman beside them!
"There's a demon tribe in Dongting Lake, with more than 25,000 adult giant bees!"
"And it's not as if we don't have any dangers of our own."
Xue Yiyang folded his arms and spoke with obvious disdain.
Hearing about the giant bees, Instructor He couldn't help but shrink back a little.
His older brother had taken him to Dongting Lake once. The terrifying sight of the giant bees still haunted him.
"Enough."
A man in white stepped forward and interrupted their conversation.
A huge mountain stood in their way, blocking their path.
Luckily, there was a tunnel through it. It wasn't overgrown with weeds, and the entrance was completely dark.
They could get through as long as they lowered their heads and crouched.
They couldn't tell what frightening monsters might be lurking inside.
"Should we scout ahead first?" someone asked.
The man didn't even spare him a glance.
He cast a beast-type spell. A brilliant light rose into the air, and a spatial rift appeared.
A giant wolf, nearly four meters tall, emerged. It was covered in tough, pale gray fur.
Then another one appeared, smaller but with a dark purple coat.
He looked at the two giant wolves with satisfaction.
"You're all afraid of the demon tribe? Then I'll go in first!"
With that, he ran into the tunnel.
Deng Bingxue also cast a beast-type spell.
A giant, three-storied green-skinned demon appeared, its body even more terrifying.
"Charge!"
Just then, Jiang Yu drove her mount forward.
She hadn't expected Deng Bingxue to have such a powerful demon beast, too!
The group from the academy hurried into the tunnel in the wake of their three powerful mounts, afraid of being left behind.
Jiang Yu simply stood there, doing nothing.
Mo Fan, standing beside her, was getting anxious.
"Brother Jiang, shouldn't we follow them? What if the demons are stronger than we are?"
"Don't worry. We'll go in once the demons show up."
Jiang Yu stretched lazily.
The two of them then sat on a huge rock.
The woman with the black-rimmed glasses walked over and tilted her head to look at him.
"I haven't seen your summoned beast yet."
With that, Jiang Yu glanced at the space of his summoning system.
Little Tan lay in the middle of the space, floating lazily with its belly facing up.
"Little Tan."
Jiang Yu called to it through their spiritual connection.
Little Tan opened its eyes. When it heard its master calling, it immediately woke up and darted over.
Before Jiang Yu could cast his beast-type spell, Little Tan had already broken through the spatial rift and appeared.
It floated in midair, looking around at its surroundings.
The group couldn't help staring at this unusual summoned beast.
Suddenly, Little Tan looked toward the tunnel.
"Ah! Why are there so many demons in there?"
"Help me, Jiang Yu! Help me!"
A group of people ran out in a panic, their faces full of fear.
Jiang Yu was tall and imposing, and even the Netherworld Dark Wolf had been beaten until it was badly wounded.
But as soon as they came out, they found themselves faced with a large horde of monsters—hundreds of them!
They carried enormous clubs made of some unknown material. They were tall and lanky, with oddly bent legs, and looked utterly terrifying.
"Cave fiend!"
"So many demons—and quite a few are fully grown!"
The woman with the black-rimmed glasses cried out in alarm.
The number of demons was terrifying, and they seemed to be working together!
She looked toward the students from the academy, who had just run out.
The woman beside them quickly cast an attack spell at the demons.
"Phantom Gale—Silver Wolf Howl!"
But at that moment, a second voice called out the same spell alongside hers.
"Thousand Blades—Silver Wolf Howl!"
Two vast, silvery torrents of wind surged forward, surrounding the group of cave demon slaves.
The enormous trees nearby were blown apart. Some were even uprooted!
As for the several hundred cave demon slaves...
They let out startled cries as they were swept into the sky, their bodies torn open.
The cave demon slaves serving Deng Bingxue, relying on their massive bodies, stubbornly resisted the gale and struggled to remain standing.
Jiang Yu couldn't help sighing.
Wind-type magic was indeed the strongest kind of group-control ability.
Especially when cast by Mu Nujiao and Xue Yiyang, who had Spirit Cores. Their power was even more terrifying.
Unfortunately, at that level, the wind spells couldn't kill every last one of them.
Too many of the wind blades had dispersed, weakening their power.
But Jiang Yu was there!
"Earth's Flame—Rock Serpent!"
He raised his hand and brought down the spell.
The ground dozens of meters ahead burst open, releasing a deep, fiery glow. Nine huge serpents roared as they appeared.
The nine flaming serpents formed a single creature. Nearly ten meters long, the enormous rock-serpent opened its jaws and lunged at the cave demon slaves who had been caught in the wind.
"Jiang Yu, you—"
Zhuo Jian stared in shock.
Jiang Yu had used magic to scatter the wind spells of Mu Nujiao and Xue Yiyang.
Jiang Yu didn't answer.
He pointed upward with a finger.
The nine serpents suddenly scattered, soaring into the sky.
They headed straight for the center of the windstorm—the place where the cave demon slaves had gathered.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."
A series of deafening explosions erupted.
The terrifying wave of energy spread out, turning the enormous rocks at its center to dust and scattering the surrounding trees.
Jiang Yu's summoned beast hadn't merely dispelled the magic of Xue Yiyang and Mu Nujiao. It had destroyed every single cave demon slave in the area!
Xue Yiyang and Mu Nujiao stared at him, dumbfounded.
Their eyes were filled with astonishment.
Jiang Yu's ability to control magic was far beyond anything an ordinary mage could achieve!
Jiang Yu had returned to the starting point, his gaze fixed on the small figure of emerald-green fur by his feet.
The points displayed above it had already reached 370.
It really was a tool for killing demons and collecting points.
Its principles were similar to Xue Yiyang's, as if it gathered some kind of soul essence.
Jiang Yu turned to look at Mo Fan.
He knew he could take advantage of the situation again. Hundreds of demons had just been killed, and their soul essences were his for the taking.
But at that moment, Little Tan flew over to the nearly lifeless body of the cave demon slave that Deng Bingxue had slain, and pushed at it with all its might.
Jiang Yu stared at Little Tan, puzzled.
There was nothing special about the body.
Wait...
Jiang Yu examined Little Tan's wings again. In the faint light that scattered from them, something seemed to be shining.
"Could it be demon essence?!"
Before you continue