Wetland Swamp

"Are you ordering off a menu here? A Psychic Element mage, seriously... why not ask for an Advanced Mage while you're at it?"

Su Miu immediately felt exasperated. This little girl made it sound so easy, without sparing a thought for how difficult it would actually be.

"That's all up to you. After all, I'm just an ordinary person."

Ling Ling smiled brightly. It was rare to see Su Miu at a loss, so of course she had to tease him. After a brief internal struggle, he finally nodded.

"All right, I'll give it a try."

"Great! I'll be waiting for your good news!"

Ling Ling waved Su Miu goodbye. Three days later, they met at the Pearl River. When she saw the two stunning girls behind him, she froze. What the hell was going on?

"This is Di Qiu'er, an Intermediate Fire Element Mage, though she hasn't mastered intermediate magic yet. Her second element is the Psychic Element. And this is Bai Xiuxiu, an Intermediate Water Element Mage. She hasn't mastered intermediate magic either, and her second element is the Wind Element."

"And this is Ling Ling, the Azure Sky Hunter Agency's master demon beast hunter."

Su Miu spouted nonsense with a perfectly straight face, actually covering up the two girls' innate talents.

"Pretty impressive. You really did find a Psychic Element mage."

Ling Ling nodded. She had only said it offhandedly, never expecting him to actually bring a Psychic Element mage along.

"Hello."

Bai Xiuxiu greeted her politely, while Di Qiu'er appeared rather aloof.

After introducing themselves and getting acquainted, the four headed into the Wetland Swamp Forest along the Pearl River.

"We're outside the Safe Zone now. We'll need to be careful from here on."

Ling Ling gave them a warning, then the four entered the forest where demon beasts roamed.

"Glass Flame, Fire Burst: Explosion!"

Di Qiu'er casually waved her hand. Her level-three Fire Burst transformed into a Sea of Fire that swept out, instantly killing three Swamp Giant Lizards that had tried to crawl up and attack them.

"Spirit seed flames..."

Ling Ling studied the platinum-white flames. They were clearly enhanced by a spirit seed. It seemed Su Miu's friends were no ordinary people.

Seeing that her protectors were strong enough, she relaxed and began investigating.

"Based on the magnetic field of the water elements here, the water-element spirit seed should be in that direction, about ten to thirty thousand meters away. We're bound to encounter plenty of demon beasts on the way, so be careful."

Ling Ling pointed out their destination. Su Miu and Bai Xiuxiu exchanged a glance and nodded. Then Su Miu took the little girl onto his back, while Bai Xiuxiu carried Di Qiu'er.

Both sped ahead on Wind Tracks. With their spirit seeds enhancing the Wind Tracks, they moved incredibly fast. Ling Ling glanced at the tracks beneath their feet and narrowed her eyes slightly. Su Miu was keeping secrets from her!

As the four traveled, more than a dozen Swamp Giant Lizards burst out and charged at them.

"Leave this to me! Glass Flame! Fire Burst: Double Explosion!"

Seeing the dozen or so demon beasts blocking their path, Su Miu immediately moved aside. Bai Xiuxiu brought Di Qiu'er forward, and Di Qiu'er had already prepared her spell.

A thunderous blast rang out, followed by violent explosions. Platinum-white flames swept through the Swamp Giant Lizards ahead, killing them instantly. More than a dozen remnant souls flew toward Su Miu, and among them was even an Essence Remnant.

He immediately smiled. An unexpected bonus-wonderful! Ling Ling, however, lost her composure. Her eyes widened at the spell's power, and she exclaimed:

"Level-four Fire Burst! That... a servant-level spirit essence costs around five million... so that means thirty-five million spent on strengthening star seeds? That's ridiculously extravagant..."

Ling Ling struggled for words. She had never met someone this outrageously wealthy before. Su Miu explained:

"It's Qiu'er's innate talent-mutated fire element star seeds."

"Mutated fire element star seeds... fourth on the innate talent rankings? So that's it. Your friend is just as gifted as you are."

His explanation cleared things up for her. Still, people with innate talents were rarely seen, yet here they were turning up together...

"All right, let's go. Time waits for no one."

Su Miu signaled for everyone to continue. The four kept traveling on Wind Tracks, stopping somewhere to rest once they had used half their magic energy.

Su Miu sat cross-legged to replenish his magic energy. Di Qiu'er did the same, while Bai Xiuxiu stood guard and Ling Ling fiddled with her laptop.

Su Miu had strengthened his Summoning System star seeds to level four, and strengthening those star seeds reduced the corresponding spell's consumption by twenty percent.

Combined with his level-three beginner Summoning System cultivation, he could sustain the two girls' activities for three days without any trouble, provided they did not fight.

He could also replenish his magic energy, so overall, it was not much of a problem. Di Qiu'er had handled most of the enemies along the way, however, and she had expended quite a bit.

As a soul beast, though, she had greater energy reserves than a human's magic energy alone. Even if she ran out of magic energy, she could substitute soul power-in other words, she had two mana bars.

About an hour later, both had fully recovered. By then, evening had arrived, and Ling Ling spoke up:

"We're halfway between two Swamp Giant Lizard Nests. Demon beasts are highly territorial, so staying here will keep disturbances to a minimum. Let's rest here tonight and get our energy back."

Ling Ling suggested resting, but the mention of demon beast nests made Su Miu's eyes light up as an idea formed in his mind. A nest held roughly fifty demon beasts, while five hundred made up a colony.

Over a thousand could form a clan, over ten thousand could form a demon beast tribe, followed by a demon beast group, and finally a Demon Beast Empire.

A nest would usually have one or two Advanced Stage servant-level demon beasts, with five at most. Even if there were Warrior Level demon beasts, they could still escape using their spirit-seed-enhanced Wind Element magic.

"What are you planning? You're not thinking of getting yourself killed, are you? Just the four of us, picking a fight with a demon beast nest?"

Noticing the look in Su Miu's eyes, Ling Ling's expression turned strange. He replied confidently:

"Don't worry about that. We're strong enough. Of course, I'll have Xiu Xiu protect you when the time comes."

Unable to talk him out of it, Ling Ling could only follow along. If Su Miu was this confident, he ought to have some ability to back it up, right?

"Fine, fine. But if anything goes wrong, you'll never hear the end of it from me... the demon beast nest is this way."

Left with no choice, she gave them directions. Once they knew where to go, the group sped off and soon arrived near a patch of swampland riddled with caves.

"Come forth, Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear!"

Su Miu summoned his summoned beast directly. Its massive, five-meter body appeared like a small hill. A sky-shaking roar rang out, startling awake the Swamp Giant Lizards resting inside.

Three Advanced Stage servant-level Swamp Giant Lizards rushed out, leading fifty servant-level Swamp Giant Lizards.

Ling Ling nodded as she looked at the imposing Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Its presence alone made it clear that this was no ordinary creature.

The battle erupted in an instant. The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear roared and charged forward, while the Advanced Stage Swamp Giant Lizards rushed to meet him. A dark-gold claw flash shone, and one Advanced Stage servant-level Swamp Giant Lizard's skull was instantly crushed. An instant kill!

P.S. Seventh update for June 19, bringing the total to fourteen thousand characters.