Jiang Yu reached out and pushed Little Tan toward a pile of rubble, where a spirit essence had fallen.
He had called out just in time.
"Gulp!"
Little Tan stuck out its tongue, its mouth watering as it stared at the spirit essence. It still planned to let its master have the first bite.
"If you want it, go ahead and eat it."
Jiang Yu sensed Little Tan's spiritual energy fluctuate, and understood what it meant.
Little Tan accepted his invitation, delighted, and took a fierce gulp.
The spirit essence instantly turned into a stream of energy and flowed into its stomach.
"Burp!"
Little Tan patted its belly, then let out a satisfied burp. Its whole body was filled with the smug contentment of a successful prank.
The black scales covering its body began to turn, as if digesting the spirit essence.
Jiang Yu was amazed by the sight.
He hadn't expected Little Tan to be able to eat spirit essences. That meant he could save a considerable amount on cultivation resources in the future.
With no magic equipment and only his four Elements, he still had a long way to go before reaching the Advanced level...
The nearby Mo Fan was left dumbfounded.
He had thought Jiang Yu didn't have any magic equipment and could barely hold his own. Instead, Jiang Yu had just swallowed a spirit essence whole!
That spirit essence was worth several hundred thousand yuan!
The others all stared at him in astonishment.
But the eyes of Ningxue's academy companions were filled with disdain.
They were hostile, and every one of them wore a look of contempt.
The most hostile was Zhao Manyan. His right arm had been struck so badly that it bent backward at a ninety-degree angle.
The pain had left him gritting his teeth.
Seeing this, the White Magic Court healer, who had come to treat the injured, hurried over and began healing him.
"Sorry about that."
Zhao Manyan had to swallow his anger and apologize.
He had never expected that the Clear Sky Hunter, whom he'd looked down on, would save him—and even go so far as to ignore the fact that he'd tried to get Ningxue to heal him.
Even Mingzhu Academy's students looked at Zhao Manyan differently.
After all, they were in the wild. A little friction between them didn't really matter.
Still, their opinion of Jiang Yu had worsened.
His recklessness was what had led to this unfortunate incident.
"What are you looking at? I only beat you up because you kept getting in my way. I don't even know how many attacks you blocked for me. You're covered in bruises."
"You were the one who got in my way."
Zhao Manyan refused to admit his own mistakes.
Ningxue and the others had also formed their own opinions. They no longer trusted Zhao Manyan as blindly as they had before.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Outside a city like Bo City, where the lights didn't obscure the sky, one could see the stars.
Jiang Yu looked up at the sky.
The weather wasn't very good tonight, and only a few stars were visible.
Still, he could clearly see the brilliant moon hanging in the sky, its light spilling down like a waterfall.
The young people sat together in a group, chatting away.
But there was one girl missing from their midst, because she was bathing in the river.
Just then, a voice full of ill intent spoke up:
"Hey, why don't you go steal a look? You're an assassin mage, aren't you?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu and Mo Fan exchanged knowing glances.
After all, the girl was beautiful enough to tempt anyone.
But Mo Fan glanced across the river at the woods. A shadowy figure was hiding among the trees, watching the girl bathe.
"Isn't that Jiang Ge over there?"
"Huh? He doesn't even have the Shadow Element. What are you afraid of?"
Xiao Feng, one of the students from Imperial College nearby, added with a lewd grin.
Jiang Yu, Mo Fan, and Zhao Manyan had been whispering to one another.
They were all young men in the prime of their lives, and the alluring scene naturally drew their attention.
Mo Fan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.
"Forget it. I'm not interested in you guys, and Jiang Yu probably isn't either."
"Hah, if you don't go take a look, you'll miss out on a chance to offend the Forbidden Curse Mage."
"Watch me!"
Under their teasing, Jiang Yu stood up and quietly slipped into the shadows.
He turned into a stream of black water and flowed into the darkness.
A pool of inconspicuous black spread toward the riverbank where the girl was bathing.
At the same time, Zhao Manyan used his Shadow Element from the opposite direction.
Jiang Yu narrowed his eyes and muttered:
"Did I just disappear?"
As he lifted his hand, a blazing fireball appeared in his palm. Its light illuminated the area around him.
A moment later—
"Boom! Boom!"
Two intense explosions rang through the night.
The blasts' fierce shock waves shattered the spell Zhao Manyan and Xiao Feng were casting. They were flung into the darkness by the impact.
The others were blasted into disarray as well.
As for the girl bathing in the river...
"Ah! I didn't expect you to be hiding so well, White Magic Court!"
"Also, Ai Tutu was right about you being short. Your figure really does look rather small."
"Little Shadow, hurry over here. Your sister will help you wash too."
With a splash, Little Shadow was scooped up by the girls and dragged into the river for a wash.
It found the river water quite refreshing, and bubbles occasionally rose from its mouth.
But then it felt a burning sensation in its ears.
The girl had mistaken it for a demon creature.
She quickly dressed and hurried outside.
But all she found was a group of dark, scorched figures, still smoking.
"All right, Mo Fan. I really didn't think you'd be bold enough to sneak a look while she was bathing."
"Good thing Jiang Ge exposed you."
Zhuo Jian grimaced in pain as he spoke.
Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan accepted the scolding with guilty looks.
Inside, they grumbled: This wasn't even our idea. You were the ones who suggested it!
But there was no point trying to explain. They might as well take the blame.
Jiang Yu was clearly the one who'd planned this. How could they possibly tell her that?
Just then, Mu Nujiao arrived as well.
She stared coldly at the group, an icy aura emanating from her.
Ai Tutu quickly understood what had happened.
Both Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu had been bathing by the river.
Jiang Yu couldn't help but gulp. Several young women stood in front of him, their beautiful faces illuminated by the night.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He and Little Tan shared a tacit understanding...
After the incident, Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan took a beating, which let Jiang Yu off the hook.
But the two of them were still reeling from Jiang Yu's attack. They could only grit their teeth and treat their wounds.
Mo Fan couldn't help feeling lucky.
He'd also wanted to sneak a look, but he'd been afraid Jiang Yu would catch him.
Thankfully, his caution had saved him.
Otherwise, if Jiang Yu had caught him red-handed, his reputation as a hero would have been ruined.
Night fell.
The group continued along the road, which was riddled with potholes and cracks.
It was another morning.
He slowly took in the traces of civilization before him.
A car, abandoned for who knew how long, sat in the middle of the road, its body covered in all kinds of demonic plant growth.
The group silently watched the car.
There were dark stains on the seats, along with white bones scattered around.
Judging by their height, the occupants had likely been eaten by demons long ago.
In other words, a family traveling in this car had been devoured alive by demons on their way out of the city.
The group could only imagine their fear and despair!
"Damn demons!"
Mo Fan couldn't help cursing.
The others fell silent.
Jiang Yu stood out in front, conjuring a blazing fireball to illuminate the dark ruins.
"Rest in peace."
Faced with the tragic scene before them, he had no choice but to offer that simple prayer.
They entered Jinlin City.
Compared with the outside, the sight before them was even more terrifying.
The city center was full of collapsed buildings and cracked roads. Shops were buried beneath rubble, while weeds and mud covered the ground. It was a vision of the end of the world.
Most horrifying of all were the dark red bloodstains and white human bones.
It was like a city of the dead!
Even the people who had made it through Bo City's disaster felt shaken by what they saw.
"Let's find somewhere relatively safe to set up camp first, then explore," Jiang Yu suggested.
"How about the city government building?" Zhang Xiaohou asked from nearby.
Jiang Yu thought for a moment. Since he didn't have a better idea, they headed for the city government building.
Before you continue