Ling Ling

Hearing him underestimate her, the little girl immediately bristled and showed off her abilities.

"I'm plenty capable! Listen up, rookie. There's a Blood-Patterned Demon Rat in the southeast corner of Zone C."

"Really? I'll go take a look, then."

Having coaxed the information out of her, Su Miu charged over with the Golden Dragon Spear in hand, activating Ghost Wind • Wind Track • Swift Travel!

A dark-blue gale carried him forward at tremendous speed. Having a spirit seed's enhancement really did make a difference.

He had given the spirit seed to Bai Xiuxiu because he could share his summoned beast's power, including her spirit seed and one-fifth of her attributes.

He couldn't share her mutated star seeds or her Calamity Victim talent, but sharing her spirit seed was already good enough. After all, he was only a Beginner Mage. Apart from those few Elemental System Calamity Victims, who else could have a top-grade spirit seed's enhancement at the beginner level?

"That's so fast! What's going on with you? Even a Demon Traction Tool couldn't be that fast!"

At the Azure Sky Hunter Agency, Ling Ling stared wide-eyed at the green dot shooting forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. "Are you flying a damn plane over there?!"

"Take a guess."

Hearing the little girl's shocked voice, he felt like teasing her, and his reply successfully irritated her.

"Fine, don't tell me! I didn't want to know anyway!"

Su Miu chuckled at her obvious insincerity. He soon reached Zone C and, following Ling Ling's directions, quickly found the Blood-Patterned Demon Rat gnawing on kitchen scraps.

Without slowing down, Su Miu charged forward with unstoppable momentum. Hearing the noise, the Blood-Patterned Demon Rat turned toward him, and its single eye flared at the sight of the approaching two-legged creature.

The incoming beam seemed as slow as a crawling turtle to Su Miu. He dodged it with a quick Z-shaped zigzag, then thrust the Golden Dragon Spear straight ahead.

A cold glint arrived first, followed by a dragonlike thrust! Golden light flashed forward, and the spear pierced the Blood-Patterned Demon Rat's enormous eyeball before driving deeper without losing momentum.

"Glass Flame • Fire Burst • Bone Incineration!"

Fire Burst activated instantly, pouring along the Golden Dragon Spear's shaft and into the Blood-Patterned Demon Rat's skull.

The Blood-Patterned Demon Rat immediately began convulsing and soon stopped breathing. It couldn't move while attacking, giving him the perfect opening to kill it during its recovery!

Splurch!

He pulled out the Golden Dragon Spear, and the Blood-Patterned Demon Rat collapsed with a crash. His body, strengthened by the summoning contract, really was powerful. The collection of a remnant soul marked the Blood-Patterned Demon Rat's death.

"All right, next."

Su Miu calmly asked the little girl on the other end for the next location. She clearly froze at his words, and after a brief silence, her bewildered voice came through again.

"That fast? Did you actually deal with it?"

"Yes. Killed it in one hit. What else is there to say? And let me correct you: it's called efficiency!"

Su Miu even remembered to correct her wording. She didn't care about that at all; she was far more interested in how he had dealt with the Blood-Patterned Demon Rat in just three seconds.

"How exactly did you do it? Was it your summoned beast? Do you have an advanced-stage servant-level summoned beast?"

"Never mind that. Hurry up and give me the next location. I'm trying to finish work here."

He urged her to give him the next location. After glumly rattling it off, Ling Ling stared fixedly at the screen in front of her.

The green dot on the screen raced toward Zone E and soon met the red dot.

The green dot approached in a straight line, then suddenly made a Z-shaped zigzag before colliding with the red dot. The instant they touched, both froze for a second. A second later, the red dot disappeared, and his calm voice came through her headset.

"Next."

"...There's a cave on the west side of Zone H..."

After giving him the location, Ling Ling replayed the movements at the previous location over and over. Even after watching several times, she couldn't make sense of them.

Meanwhile, Su Miu charged toward the last Blood-Patterned Demon Rat. Seeing him approach, it unleashed the same attack, firing a red beam from its enormous eye.

He dodged with another Z-shaped zigzag, then drove the Golden Dragon Spear straight into its head. At the same time, he instantly cast Fire Burst. Platinum-white flames erupted from the spear tip, burning through its head and killing it on the spot.

"Oh, an essence remnant! Nice haul!"

As he pulled out the Golden Dragon Spear, the giant rat collapsed. An essence remnant flew out and entered his body. He hadn't expected a bonus like that. What luck.

"All right, done and dusted. Kid, I'm heading back to the Hunter Association to turn in the job."

Su Miu raised a hand to his ear and spoke through his headset to the silent little girl, then headed to the Hunter Association to submit the job.

That evening, Su Miu went to an auction and sold the essence remnant dropped by the Blood-Patterned Demon Rat for nine million. He also attended the auction itself.

"Next is our twelfth lot, the Lightning Element spirit seed, Ink Thunder. It doubles the power of Lightning Element magic. Bidding starts at ten million! Let the bidding begin!"

Looking at the spirit seed onstage, Su Miu immediately lost interest. Was this a joke? Only double? He didn't want his little shark to be inferior to anyone else, so he didn't spare that paltry spirit seed another glance.

Still, Lightning Element spirit seeds were exceedingly rare, and someone eventually bought it for twenty-five million.

There was nothing special about the next few lots either, so he stopped paying attention. The following day, Su Miu returned to the Hunter Hall to take on jobs, mostly choosing nearby ones he could finish quickly.

These included clearing out demon eagles occupying an abandoned factory and eliminating demon beasts that had grown to servant level within the city.

A week passed quickly. Su Miu spent his days either doing jobs or cultivating. He also finished condensing another essence remnant, bringing the number of Bai Xiuxiu's enhanced Water Element star seeds to six.

Then, today, Su Miu received another job from the Azure Sky Hunter Agency. The task was roughly to clear Bewitching Spiders out of the sewers.

He arrived near sewer entrance No. 123 in Magic City's northern district and spotted the little girl sitting in a nearby drink shop.

"Kid, I'm here."

Su Miu spoke with a hand against his headset. Hearing him, the little girl in the drink shop immediately looked up and spotted the weirdo wearing a black robe, sunglasses, and a mask.

"What the hell are you wearing in broad daylight? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were with the Black Vatican."

The corner of Ling Ling's eye twitched as she delivered a scathing critique of his outfit. Clearly, anyone dressed like that in broad daylight didn't look like a decent person.

"Kid, please don't question my professionalism. The black robe helps me hide in the dark, and I can take it off if demon beast blood splashes on it."

"Besides, of course I need a mask to go into the sewers. Otherwise, it'll stink. As for the sunglasses, I'm letting my eyes adjust to the darkness in advance."

Su Miu explained with complete seriousness. Ling Ling no longer knew how to respond. Whatever. Let him be weird.

"All right, come over to the drink shop. I'll give you some equipment you'll need. Remember to retrieve it and return it to me when you're done."

P.S. First update for June 19, two thousand characters.