Lightning Element Spirit Seed: Mystic Lightning

After choosing a mission, Su Miu and Ling Ling headed to Li Family Village, a place on the outskirts of Magic City. The client was particularly fond of pagoda trees.

He had planted a great many of them in the outskirts, never expecting them to turn into Tree Demons that abducted people and used them as fertilizer.

When they arrived, a middle-aged man came out to speak with them. After discussing the details, Su Miu quickly got to work.

"Su Miu, take these with you. They'll help me find anything unusual."

Ling Ling handed him a headset and three detectors, then set her laptop on the table and started working. Without hesitation, he rode a Wind Track toward Pagoda Tree Park.

With the Spirit Seed boosting his speed, Su Miu streaked away like a blur and soon reached Pagoda Tree Park.

"I'm here."

"Be careful. Tree-type demon beasts are good at hiding themselves, so keep watching your surroundings."

"Got it."

Ling Ling's warning came through his headset. Su Miu stretched, then strolled into Pagoda Tree Park with an almost swaggering air. His spiritual power, however, remained alert to every change around him.

Upon entering Pagoda Tree Park, he saw rows of neatly arranged pagoda trees and ground covered in fallen leaves. Clearly, no one had maintained the place in a long time, or there would not have been so many leaves everywhere.

Su Miu soon found a spot to set down a detector, then touched his headset and said:

"Ling Ling, the detector's in place."

"Give me a moment..."

After roughly three minutes of waiting, Ling Ling's voice came through the headset again.

"Everything nearby is normal. Move to the next area. Go five hundred meters straight ahead and run another scan."

"Okay."

Su Miu picked up the detector and headed deeper into the park. After traveling roughly five hundred meters, he keenly sensed danger and immediately stopped.

His gaze settled on a pagoda tree about fifty meters away. He slowly approached it, gathering his star seeds one by one.

This was something he had been practicing lately: gathering star seeds while moving, otherwise known as Multitasking!

"Su Miu, what are you doing?"

A call came through his headset. Ling Ling seemed to have noticed his little movements and asked about them.

"I spotted a strange pagoda tree. I'm going to test it."

He answered her, and another instruction came through the headset.

"Don't act on your own. Put the detector down first, just in case. If something really happens, I'm not rescuing you."

"All right."

He could only disperse the Thunder Seal in his hand, set down the detector, and wait. Less than a minute later, a response came through his headset.

"Su Miu, there's something not far ahead of you. It's probably that strange pagoda tree you mentioned. Be careful."

"Got it!"

With confirmation, red star seeds lit up in Su Miu's hand, and he charged toward the pagoda tree.

As he sprinted, the star seeds in his hand rapidly gathered. One, two, three... six!

Just as Su Miu came within five meters of the tree, its trunk suddenly split open, revealing something resembling a human face. Its branches then seemed to come alive, reaching out to coil around him.

Glass Flame: Fire Burst: Scorching!

Su Miu called out inwardly as he flicked his fingers, launching platinum-white flames. The fire instantly ignited the pagoda tree. Since he was in a park, he dared not unleash too much power.

Fortunately, the trees in the park were spaced roughly ten meters apart. He only needed to restrain the flames a little to avoid affecting the other pagoda trees.

"Hmm, if I form a star orbit while running, I need two and a half seconds to cast it."

Su Miu assessed his ability to handle two tasks at once and felt he was still a little slow. He would have to practice more.

While he was thinking, the pagoda tree burned to death. Spirit Seed flames were no joke. A remnant soul drifted over, and the large tree turned to ash.

"Done."

He immediately reported through his headset. The rest of the mission went much the same way, with a single first-level Fire Burst settling nearly every encounter.

Other mages would have needed a second-level Fire Burst to barely kill one of these Tree Demons, and might even have had to cast it two or three times. Su Miu needed only one. That was how overwhelming a Spirit Seed was.

The commission took almost a full day to complete. Ling Ling returned to the Azure Sky Hunter Agency with Su Miu, thoroughly satisfied. Overall, his performance had pleased her greatly.

The main reason was that Su Miu's individual combat strength far surpassed that of ordinary mages. Other mages needed a whole team to deal with a single servant-level demon beast of the same level.

He, on the other hand, could handle more than three servant-level demon beasts at once. Throughout this commission, Ling Ling had essentially acted as a radar, scanning the area before Su Miu walked over and ended the fight with a Fire Burst. All ten Tree Demons were wiped out.

For the following week, Ling Ling pretended to go to school, only to turn around and accompany Su Miu on commissions instead. The little girl had a wonderful time, while Su Miu kept feeling a chill down his back.

Over half a month, Su Miu earned roughly three million at the Azure Sky Hunter Agency. He also obtained two Essence Remnants and sold them for eleven million, then fused two Essence Remnants to upgrade Bai Xiuxiu's water element to the fourth level.

Su Miu's assets now totaled roughly eighty million, and Ling Ling had news for him as well.

"Su Miu, I've got news about your lightning element Spirit Seed."

"Let me see."

He immediately leaned over. The little girl turned her laptop toward him, bringing the information on its screen into view.

Top-grade lightning element Spirit Seed: Mystic Lightning. Triples lightning element damage and provides a doubled lightning element penetration effect.

"Good stuff! That's the one! How much?"

Su Miu's eyes instantly lit up. A penetration effect was excellent! It specifically countered defensive magic equipment and magic armor, so he would no longer have to worry about enemies suppressing him with equipment like that.

"The seller's asking thirty-eight million."

Ling Ling tapped her fingers against the table with a dull knocking sound as she quoted the price. Upon hearing it, he agreed without a moment's hesitation.

"Buy it for me at full price! I'm not short on cash!"

"What are you yelling for? I'll contact them for you right now."

Seeing that Su Miu truly had no shortage of money, Ling Ling contacted the client. In the original story, Mo Fan's Spirit Seed, Qian Jun, had apparently provided only a twofold boost, yet it had sold for over twenty-eight million.

Lightning element Spirit Seeds were rarer than those of other elements, so they naturally cost much more. This was also a private purchase, making a price somewhat above the market rate perfectly normal.

With Ling Ling handling the negotiations, they soon arranged a time and place for the transaction. Su Miu successfully obtained the lightning element Spirit Seed. Although it cost thirty-eight million, anything that increased his strength was worth it.

As for Bai Xiuxiu's water and ice elements... Su Miu thought he should be able to improve them with the Ice and Fire Mandarin Duck Pot, advancing them into Spirit Seeds and saving another batch of resources.

P.S. Fourth update for June 19, bringing the total to eight thousand characters.