The Guiding Scroll

In the elegant courtyard, a narrow black spatial rift hovered silently, moon-white radiance spilling from it in equal silence.

It brightened the courtyard at night, as well as the handsome youth standing beside it with his eyes closed.

Half a month had passed, and winter break had begun. Bai Mo had finished reading the thick Encyclopedia of Dimensional Plane Summoned Beasts and had also mastered Intermediate Space Magic.

He discovered that he cultivated his Space Element nebula just as quickly. It felt much like cultivating Stardust, and he could clearly sense his cultivation improving.

Today was his first time traveling through the Dimensional World.

His consciousness seemed to transform into a bird, soaring over the vast earth below.

Across the endless plains, Wind-Chasing Giant Deer raced in herds as dense as the sea, driving away weaker creatures and drawing the attention of powerful hunters.

Phantom Wolves, Blazing Fire Foxes, Stone Giants...

His gaze swept past one creature after another as his form flew over stretch after stretch of flatland.

Only when mountains appeared in the distance did Bai Mo suddenly realize how long he had been traveling through the dimensional plane.

It had probably been an hour.

That was not right. When ordinary Summoning Element mages first used Dimensional Summoning to travel through a plane, they could endure at most one minute.

Even if his Mental Power was not weak, it should not have lasted an hour.

With a thought from Bai Mo, he discovered that his soul had truly stopped in midair, just as he had imagined.

He focused and carefully sensed his condition, only then realizing that the soul he had sent into this dimensional plane had not suffered the slightest depletion.

Whenever a summoning mage traveled through another plane, it was like going abroad—their time was limited by the degree to which their soul could resist the rejection of that foreign plane.

The rejection of the foreign plane, combined with the pull of his physical body's soul, would gradually send back the portion of a Summoning Element mage's soul traveling through that foreign plane.

The duration of that process was the amount of time a summoning mage could travel through another plane.

But Bai Mo found that his soul was not being rejected at all, as though he had obtained a green card here.

This place did not consider him an outsider. He could stay here permanently.

Having roughly figured out why he had remained in the dimensional plane for so long, Bai Mo opened his eyes.

After searching for about an hour without finding anything, he did not intend to keep looking. There was no rush; he still had time. He would try to find one before his Summoning Element broke through to the Intermediate Level.

For now, he needed to go somewhere.

Outside an office in an experimental building at Pearl Institute, Bai Mo knocked on the door.

He had assumed that Professor Shi, being a Super Level Summoning Element mage, would be something like the director of the Summoning Element department in Pearl Institute's inner campus.

But that was not the case. The man was simply an ordinary professor whose cultivation happened to be a little high.

"Come in!"

At those words, Bai Mo pushed open the door and entered. The modest office was neat and clean, with several potted green plants decorating the windowsill. Only after they waved at him did Bai Mo realize they were probably plant Demon Beasts—or perhaps tamed beasts.

At a long, broad desk by the window sat a middle-aged man with an approachable bearing and a somewhat youthful face, looking him over. "Hello, Professor Shi! I'm Bai Mo. We spoke over the phone yesterday."

"No need to be so formal. Come and sit. Your father and I were classmates for many years, so you can call me Uncle Shi." Professor Shi smiled warmly.

"Ah!" Bai Mo exclaimed in surprise, but his body moved on its own as he walked over and sat down without ceremony.

"Haha, you're quite an interesting little fellow." Shi Yu laughed when he saw this. He poured himself a cup of tea from the kettle on the desk, then poured one for Bai Mo as well. "You didn't know, did you? That old stick-in-the-mud Bai Yuanzhi definitely never told you."

"No."

"Sixth on the Talent Ranking." Shi Yu looked at Bai Mo and sighed in admiration. "I roughly know your situation. You're troubled over dimensional summoned beasts?"

"Yeah. Elemental creatures with high bloodline grades are really hard to find on the Summoning Plane, and the encyclopedia doesn't record many of them either."

Shi Yu nodded slightly and somehow produced three books. "That book is meant to teach summoning mages the basics. I picked out three for you—take them back and read them."

At once, Bai Mo looked as if he had put on a mask of pain. "Uncle Shi, can't you just recommend a few for me? How troublesome would it be for me to look on my own?"

"There are still quite a few elemental creatures. If I explained them all here, it would take a long time, and you might not remember them anyway. What you find yourself leaves the deepest impression."

After speaking, Shi Yu paused, then added, "How about this? Tell me which elements you have in mind, and I'll give you some recommendations. I won't mention the ones already in the encyclopedia."

"Okay!" Bai Mo's eyes immediately lit up, and he promptly named the element he wanted. "Lightning."

Shi Yu pondered for a moment and took a sip of the lukewarm tea in his cup before speaking. "I have three recommendations for Lightning Element creatures. All have Monarch Level bloodlines, and one is even descended from an Emperor."

"Which three?"

"Lightning Elemental Spirit—an Elemental Holy Spirit that can possess mages of the same element and greatly increase their combat strength. An Advanced Level Monarch with Heavenly Extinction Tribulation Lightning."

After saying that, Shi Yu paused again. Bai Mo could only urge him, "What about the others, Uncle Shi? Stop keeping me in suspense."

Shi Yu smiled faintly and continued, "The Lightning Crystal Phoenix Butterfly. A social creature with a tail shaped like a phoenix tail. It feeds on Purple Lightning Flowers and is also born from them. It is a Lightning Element creature with a low-grade Monarch bloodline."

"The last one is the Phantom Lightning Qilin, with a Supreme Monarch bloodline. Legend says it is the descendant of an immensely powerful ancient qilin, but it underwent a mutation for unknown reasons. Not only did it lose the Earth Attribute and Space Attribute of that ancient Emperor, it also became a pure Lightning Attribute creature. Its rank fell to Monarch Level as well, and it was driven into the Dimensional World."

As Bai Mo listened, only three words remained in his eyes: I want them.

Seeing this, Shi Yu teased him.

"There are descendants of it there too. But if you happen to encounter the real one, perhaps it might be willing to come back with you?"

"Uncle Shi, don't joke around. That's a Supreme Monarch. One look from it and I wouldn't be able to move."

Although Bai Mo wanted it badly, he still had his reason. He knew it was almost impossible.

They had ruled supreme in the Dimensional Plane for a thousand years. Why would they return to the Magic Plane just to suffer?

Besides, it would only bring trouble upon himself. After all, it was a descendant of an emperor. Who knew whether that Ancient Qilin Emperor might have some sort of connection to the Phantom Lightning Qilin?

Pushing aside these distracting thoughts, Bai Mo asked what he had mainly come here to find out.

"Uncle Shi, is there any way to increase the chances of encountering elemental creatures while roaming the Dimensional Plane?"

"There is, but it costs quite a bit." Shi Yu glanced at Bai Mo. "Though that probably won't mean much to you."

"What is it?"

"The Summoning Guidance Scroll. It is specifically for Summoning mages, used during Dimensional Summoning to find a certain type of Summoned Beast you want."

Knowledge of Dimensional Magic, White Magic, and Dark Magic was only taught at university. More specialized knowledge required studying a particular branch of magic in depth.

So Shi Yu patiently continued explaining it to Bai Mo.

"For example, if someone wants fox-type Demon Beasts, after using this scroll, their soul will be guided while roaming. It will indicate which direction contains fox-type Summoned Beasts. However, the guidance isn't precise. Whether you can actually find one still depends on your luck."

"This thing is pretty useful. Why didn't my dad ever tell me about it?"

"It's somewhat rare. Your Bai Family can get it, but it'll take a bit of effort."

Bai Mo nodded in understanding. "How much is one?"

"Normally, the market price is one million, but this item doesn't circulate on the market. It is generally used as a favor or saved for younger generations. Only Advanced Level and above Summoning Element mages can make them. The production cost is three hundred thousand. I can provide them to you at cost."

"Really? Thank you, Uncle Shi Yu." Bai Mo's eyes immediately lit up. Seeing Shi Yu nod with a smile, he took out a card from his storage space.

"Uncle Shi, there's three million on here. Give me ten first." After a pause, he added, "Oh, right. Write me a receipt too. I need to get my dad to reimburse me."

Shi Yu was left stunned by his string of actions before laughing. "You really aren't being polite, kid."

Then, he checked the time. "It's already noon. Come on, let's have lunch. My treat."

"Alright. I also brought Uncle Shi Yu two bottles of good liquor."