Jiang Yuan returned home. Once he was no longer in mortal danger, his taut nerves finally relaxed, followed by utter exhaustion.
His mind grew drowsy.
He locked his door, treated his wounds, and collapsed into bed.
He slept until the next day, when his school alarm woke him.
Jiang Yuan did not plan to go to school today. He picked up his phone, called Xue Musheng, and easily got a day off.
"Yesterday was way too dangerous. A Giant-eyed Stinky Rat actually showed up in the neighborhood. What the hell was that?" Thinking back on yesterday's encounter still sent a chill down Jiang Yuan's spine.
The Bocheng Disaster would occur three years from now, largely because those foul-smelling rats had tunneled through the underground.
He had originally planned to wait until he was strong enough before trying to destroy those underground passages and lessen the disaster's consequences.
He had not expected to encounter a Giant-eyed Stinky Rat in his first year of high school.
Facing a Servant level demon, Jiang Yuan had not only successfully cast magic, but had nearly killed it.
That already put him ahead of more than ninety percent of his peers.
Even Mo Fan would only have been able to flee in panic if he encountered a Servant level demon at this point.
"I'm actually pretty impressive."
As Jiang Yuan felt fortunate, he recalled the abnormally calm state he had entered yesterday, when he had completed a Star Track with ease.
That state was far too important for a mage. It allowed one to perfectly unleash all of one's power, making it possible for someone who had just entered the Beginner level to kill a Servant level demon.
"I need to improve my strength as soon as possible. If I run into another demon someday, I might not be as lucky as I was yesterday."
Jiang Yuan decided to raise his Water element to Beginner level three as quickly as possible. His Undead element also needed improvement.
Speaking of the Undead element, he remembered that some kind of energy had seemed to enter his Undead Space yesterday. He had not had time to inspect it.
Now, he did.
Jiang Yuan's consciousness sank into his Undead Space.
Amid the undead aura, a glowing Giant-eyed Stinky Rat soul drifted through the darkness.
"Is this the Giant-eyed Stinky Rat's soul?" Jiang Yuan examined it carefully, then immediately dismissed the thought. "No, this is the Soul Essence produced by the Giant-eyed Stinky Rat!"
The value of a Soul Essence went without saying.
A Servant level Soul Essence could sell for over a million.
It could also be used to craft magic equipment.
Or it could be used to strengthen magic.
A Servant level Soul Essence could strengthen a level-three spell to level four, while a Warrior level one could strengthen a level-four spell to level five, and so on.
Few people were willing to use precious Soul Essences to strengthen magic, since one Soul Essence could only strengthen one Star Particle.
Only Mo Fan, who possessed the Azure Dragon Pendant, could afford to extravagantly strengthen his magic to level six.
Mo Fan's Azure Dragon Pendant could not only collect Soul Essences, but also collect Remnant Souls and fuse them into Soul Essences.
That was also the function of a Soul Vessel, but Jiang Yuan could not understand why his Undead Space had absorbed the Soul Essence.
Although the Undead element was indeed the magic element that dealt with Soul Essences most often, and many vessels were crafted through the Undead element.
No magic theory book had ever said that an Undead Space could store Soul Essences.
Otherwise, what would be the point of creating Soul Vessels? Wouldn't awakening the Undead element directly be enough?
Jiang Yuan looked at the high-quality Soul Essence and pondered for a moment. A bold thought arose in his heart.
"Could it be that, like my Water element, my Undead element also has an Innate Talent that allows it to collect Soul Essences?"
The more Jiang Yuan thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
If his Water element could have an Innate Talent, why couldn't his Undead element have one too?
Reasonable. Too reasonable!
At the thought that his Undead Space could store Soul Essences, Jiang Yuan's heart surged with excitement. He wished he could immediately go hunt demons and collect Soul Essences.
He had already tested it just now. The Soul Essence inside the Undead Space could be taken out.
Soul Essences were money!
With money, he could buy Stardust magic equipment. He could even buy higher-grade magic equipment.
That way, even without the Azure Dragon Pendant, his rate of improvement would not be the slightest bit inferior to Mo Fan's.
With enough money, he could even buy Spirit Seeds, Soul Seeds, Heavenly Seeds, or purchase a Sub-Dragon from Europe that would be Lord level upon adulthood. That was not impossible either!
"Grrr~" Just as he was getting excited, Jiang Yuan's stomach growled loudly.
Only then did he remember that he had not eaten anything since last night. He had been so preoccupied with demons and magic that he had forgotten all about food and sleep.
Jiang Yuan left his room and went downstairs to buy breakfast.
The place where the demon had appeared last night had already been cleaned up.
"Did a demon really appear in the neighborhood yesterday?"
"Of course it did! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"But aren't we inside the city? How could there be demons here?"
"Shh! Don't ask. The higher-ups said this has to be kept secret."
The demon's appearance had set rumors flying throughout the neighborhood, leaving many residents uneasy.
In truth, it was not impossible for demons to appear within the city. The demons living in the sewers would occasionally emerge when hunger drove them mad, harming and killing people.
And that was precisely the work the City Demon Hunting Squad was responsible for.
Bocheng had several City Demon Hunting Squads. The one Mo Fan joined was merely one of them.
Jiang Yuan ate as he listened to the Bagua around him. After becoming a mage, his hearing had improved considerably.
He wondered whether he should join the City Demon Hunting Squad.
If he wanted Soul Essences, he would inevitably have to deal with demons. But outside the city was far too dangerous for a Beginner level mage like him.
The City Demon Hunting Squad, which was responsible for the city, seemed like a good place to go.
The risks and rewards were clear at a glance.
The City Demon Hunting Squad was more suitable.
Having made up his mind, Jiang Yuan finished breakfast and headed straight for the Hunter's League.
The Hunter's League was where Hunter Mages accepted bounties, and hunter teams usually recruited teammates there as well.
The moment he entered the hall, Jiang Yuan saw the massive magical display hanging in the center, filled with bounties ranging from hundreds of thousands to over a million.
"Any Wind element mages? Join our team! Generous pay!"
"Our team has taken a one-million bounty! We need an Intermediate level Earth element mage!"
"Ice element mages, Ice element mages, look over here!"
"..."
Listening to the shouts for teammates, Jiang Yuan inexplicably felt as if he had entered an online game.
He passed by those hunter teams and headed without hesitation toward the City Demon Hunting Squad recruitment station.
Jiang Yuan was lucky. A City Demon Hunting Squad happened to be recruiting new members.
There were many people who wanted to join the City Demon Hunting Squad, and a long line had already formed at the recruitment station.
At the recruitment station.
Xu Dahang frowned as he looked through résumé after résumé in his hands. Not a single one satisfied him.
He complained, "There are plenty of mages with defensive magic, but that doesn't mean just any loser can join our City Demon Hunting Squad. What kind of mages are these?"
"Captain!" A team member ran over. "A Water element mage says he wants you to interview him personally."
"?"
Xu Dahang shoved the résumés forward and said in a deep voice, "We don't recruit mages like that. He thinks having a little strength means he can join the City Demon Hunting Squad? Impossible."
The team member scratched his head. "All right, Captain. I'll tell him to leave right away."
"Wait."
Xu Dahang looked from afar at the Water element mage's figure and found it increasingly familiar.
"I'll go take a look with you."
Before you continue