"Tsk, tsk. What stage is your summoned beast at? Has it reached the Mature Stage?"
Zhan Kong asked curiously.
"No. To be precise, it should be at the Growth Stage."
Dongfang Chen replied.
In this world, demons had five growth stages.
They were the Infant Stage, Juvenile Stage, Growth Stage, Mature Stage, and Peak Stage.
Once the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King reached its peak, it would undoubtedly become a Sixth Order Magical Beast, on par with the Dou Emperor.
As it was now, Little Purple Crystal Winged Lion King was only a Third Tier Magical Beast, so it should be at the Growth Stage.
However, thanks to Dongfang Chen feeding it Companion Purple Crystal Source, Little Purple Crystal Winged Lion King was already close to reaching the Fourth Tier.
Third-tier Little Purple was roughly equivalent to a Commander Level Demon. Without using Purple Fire, it was a little weaker than an ordinary Commander Level Demon, making it barely a Sub-Commander.
Once Little Purple reached the Fourth Tier, its strength would be comparable to a Great Commander.
Compared to the Original Work, third-tier Little Purple was slightly weaker than the Winged Cang Wolf during the Bocheng Disaster, while fourth-tier Little Purple could easily beat the Winged Cang Wolf.
"Tsk, tsk. It already has Commander Level strength at the Growth Stage? What'll it be like once it reaches the Mature Stage?"
Zhan Kong said, his face full of envy.
That gorgeous coat, those rippling muscles, and the unique flames coiling around its horn—
Just imagine how impressive it'd be to ride such a majestic summoned beast around.
"Your summoned beast seems to have an excellent bloodline."
Zhan Kong asked curiously.
"Where did you find such a rare summoned beast?"
"In the Summoning Space. I ran into it as soon as I entered."
Dongfang Chen's answer left Zhan Kong speechless.
If beasts with such high-quality bloodlines were that easy to find in the Summoning Space, Bai Yang wouldn't have contracted an ordinary Ghost Wolf Beast.
Dongfang Chen just smiled and said nothing.
No matter what, he'd say he'd found it in the Summoning Space.
Didn't believe him? Then believe what you wanted.
"Alright, alright. I'm done arguing with you. There isn't a single honest word out of your mouth."
Zhan Kong waved his hand, then sent his subordinates to clean up the scene.
Just then, Mofan approached Zhan Kong with a sly expression.
"Chief Instructor Zhan Kong, does what you promised back then still stand?"
Mofan took out a Blue Bracelet.
It was the target of their Bounty Mission for this training exercise.
Zhan Kong had promised that whoever got the bracelet would receive a Defensive Magic Tool, paid for out of his own pocket.
Mofan had been keeping that promise in mind for ages.
"What did I promise... Holy crap!" Zhan Kong's eyes flew open.
Damn it! I'd forgotten about that!
After everything with the Black Church kidnapping, he hadn't expected anyone to still remember the Blue Bracelet!
Zhan Kong looked at Mofan, his face twitching.
"You... you're Mofan, right?"
Mofan grinned. "That's right. You wouldn't go back on your word, would you, Instructor Zhan Kong?"
Zhan Kong took a deep breath. "No, I wouldn't."
"Heh, that's great."
Mofan beamed.
Ever since he learned Dongfang Chen wasn't going to compete with him for it, he'd been looking forward to getting that Defensive Magic Tool.
Now, he'd finally gotten his wish.
After everything was over,
the Military Mage team escorted the students to safety at the Snow Mountain Posthouse.
Zhan Kong took the beaming Mofan to choose a magic tool.
Meanwhile, Dongfang Chen offered his classmates some compensation.
Nobody had died in the incident, but quite a few people had been injured.
Besides, the Black Church had targeted him for kidnapping, so his classmates had suffered because of him.
Dongfang Chen felt he ought to compensate them, both out of kindness and out of a sense of duty.
Before long, the students, who had been looking gloomy, brightened up.
The compensation Dongfang Chen offered was a drop in the bucket for him, but for many of the students, it was a generous sum.
With the money, they could all buy some decent cultivation resources.
After the kidnapping incident, the Black Church vanished completely from Bocheng.
No matter how hard Zhan Kong and Tang Yue investigated, they couldn't find a single trace of the Black Church's presence.
One thing worth mentioning was that Bai Yang had died.
He hadn't died during interrogation, but on the way back under guard.
According to Tang Yue, Bai Yang had taken poison and killed himself.
But Dongfang Chen didn't believe it for a second.
If Bai Yang had wanted to kill himself, he could have done it long ago. Why wait until he was being transported?
Zhan Kong and Tang Yue didn't believe it either, but neither of them could find the slightest evidence that he'd been poisoned.
In the end, the matter was left unresolved.
Dongfang Chen still knew of a few Black Church pawns planted in Bocheng, such as Mu Zhuoyun's younger brother, Mu He, and Mu Zhuoyun's adopted son, Moyang.
But if he revealed their identities outright, he wouldn't be able to explain where he'd gotten the information.
Besides, pawns like Moyang weren't important. The Black Church could abandon them at any time.
Even if he were caught, it wouldn't hurt the Black Church.
As for Mu He, he might have gotten wind of something beforehand. He'd been using business trips as an excuse and hadn't shown his face in Bocheng—or even at the Mu Family—for quite some time.
Even if Dongfang Chen revealed his true identity, the Military Department and the Judgment Department wouldn't be able to catch him.
Still, the Military Department had made some progress.
At least, thanks to Dongfang Chen's earlier hints, the Military Department and the City Demon Hunting Squad had found the tunnels beneath Bocheng and sealed them off ahead of time.
They'd even assigned people to keep them under close watch to prevent anything similar from happening again.
With these precautions in place,
it would be nearly impossible for the Black Church to send demons through the tunnels to attack Bocheng.
Time passed quickly.
Just like in the Original Work, Mofan joined the City Demon Hunting Squad.
He even dragged Dongfang Chen along with him.
At first, Dongfang Chen found it novel, but later he realized that the demons roaming the city were just too weak.
Those demons might have been good training for Mofan, but for Dongfang Chen, who had already been through countless battles, they were practically useless.
So after a few days with the City Demon Hunting Squad, Dongfang Chen started showing up only sporadically.
He might as well spend that time at home, cuddling and playing with the soft, fragrant Ye Xin Xia.
As time went by,
Dongfang Chen and Ye Xin Xia reached their third year of high school.
Ye Xin Xia was actually a year younger than Dongfang Chen.
The only reason they were in the same year was that Dongfang Chen had pulled some strings.
As for being too young to awaken magic, that wasn't a problem for Ye Xin Xia.
Most people awakened magic at fifteen, but that age wasn't set in stone.
A little older or younger was fine, as long as the difference wasn't too great.
For example, because Mu Ningxue had undergone Self-Awakening, she had awakened magic at an even younger age.
Once they started their third year of high school,
Mofan hadn't had a major falling-out with the Mu Clan, so he and Yu Ang never had their Magic Duel.
But Dongfang Chen had his Three Year Agreement with Mu Ningxue.
Though it was called a Three Year Agreement, that was only how the Crazy System saw it.
In reality, only two years had passed.
Dongfang Chen took this Magic Duel very seriously.
After all, his XP was on the line.
Whether he could get Xuexue to wear that nearly fabric-free outfit depended entirely on this duel!
Before you continue