"Fire Burst: Burning!!"
From control to spell release, Lu Wu took less than a single breath-two seconds!
That speed was already extremely fast, and as he continued cultivating, Lu Wu felt he would be able to release magic in an instant.
A ball of crimson flame flew from his hand, engulfing the wooden dummy within a breath. A few breaths later, the dummy collapsed.
"Fire Seed: Bone Burning!!!"
As the first wooden dummy collapsed, Lu Wu released his second spell.
Over nearly a month, his magical cultivation had improved, and he could now cast the second-tier Basic Level Fire Element spell.
It just took a little longer to cast.
But Bone Burning was more powerful!
At first, the flames only touched the dummy's middle, yet in the blink of an eye, they spread across its entire body, soon burning it to nothing.
"Looks like catching up to you will be difficult," Mu Nujiao said with a sigh at the sight.
"Advancing within the Basic Level is relatively easy. The hardest part is learning to control magic at the very beginning," Lu Wu said, looking at Mu Nujiao's slightly combative expression.
She was still that same competitive, battle-hungry girl.
Mu Nujiao did not argue with Lu Wu. After all, that was the truth-the first step was always the hardest.
"Let me try." Seeing that the two wooden dummies had burned away completely, Mu Nujiao began preparing her own magic.
Lu Wu stood beside Mu Nujiao, watching closely without saying anything more.
When someone first began learning control, quieter surroundings made casting easier.
Mu Nujiao's breathing was very steady as she looked at the wooden dummy ahead and prepared her magic.
After several breaths, an aura of magic surged from Mu Nujiao. Then she crouched, placed both hands on the ground, and gave a low shout.
"Vine: Growth!"
Vines burst through the floor beneath the wooden dummy, pierced straight into it, and kept growing upward.
Only after the vines had pierced the entire dummy from bottom to top did they stop.
Looking at the state of the wooden dummy, Mu Nujiao was quite excited. "Lu Wu, I did it!!"
"I'm happy for you. Now you've truly become a mage too." Lu Wu was genuinely happy for Mu Nujiao.
After she managed to cast magic, Mu Nujiao went straight back to cultivating without a moment's delay.
Seeing that it was already light outside, Lu Wu went for a stroll around Rongcheng.
The Hunter Union had paid him a hundred thousand in compensation. Although it had been out of respect for Grandpa Shen, the money in his hands was real.
"Why go anywhere else for those organs you want to buy? The warehouses managed by the Hunter Union have them," Jiang Chun reminded him, not having expected Lu Wu to want to buy so many organs.
"The Hunter Union buys Demon Beast organs too?"
"The Hunter Union is a union of all mages who work as hunters. There are oceans of missions to hunt Demon Beasts for their organs, scales, armor, and sharp claws. Those things are stored and registered when they're handed over."
Some of those missions were issued by the Hunter Union itself. They were one of the eight major international magical powers, after all.
"I'll go ask for you. I have higher clearance in the Hunter Union than you do-you only just registered." Jiang Chun volunteered to help. "Transfer the money to me."
"Thank you, Uncle Jiang." Lu Wu did not refuse.
Uncle Jiang seemed to be a Hunter Master of the Hunter Union. Having him help with the purchase would indeed make things easier.
"What do you need these organs for? Some of them are pretty big."
Only then did Lu Wu realize that he was buying them for sacrifices, and could not possibly bring them home in plain sight.
"I'll ask myself, Uncle Jiang. Just tell me the best way to go about asking." After some thought, Lu Wu decided to go himself.
Besides, now that he could cast magic, Lu Wu wanted to try working together with Little Fire.
"All right. It's your business. If you don't want to tell me, I won't pry." Jiang Chun agreed readily. "Here's what you do. Go to the first floor and find that..."
Lu Wu had never liked dawdling.
Especially now that he had money. A hundred thousand was not even a drop in the bucket to the Hunter Union, but to him, it was a fortune.
Keeping such a fortune in his hands did not feel right. Turning it into strength was the best choice.
After getting the information he needed, he went downstairs to buy Demon Beast organs.
He spent over eighty-nine thousand on three complete sets of Demon Beast organs-one Servant Level and two Warrior Level-rented a refrigerated truck, and headed straight for the outskirts.
Watching the refrigerated truck's driver leave, Lu Wu summoned Little Fire.
The Dark Fire Ape slowly emerged from his shadow, its enormous body taking Lu Wu's shadow away with it.
If anyone had been there, they would have discovered that Lu Wu did not even have a shadow!!
"Ooh!"
Little Fire was huge. Standing beside Lu Wu, he did not restrain his aura.
As soon as the Dark Fire Ape appeared, he approached the three enormous refrigerated containers, constantly sniffing at their scent.
"Don't tell me you want to eat them?" Lu Wu raised an eyebrow.
Why did it feel as though Little Fire could improve his strength on his own, just like other Summoned Beasts?
"You can eat this one." Lu Wu was not stingy. Although Servant Level organs could still be successfully sacrificed, the improvement they provided now was very slight.
Not every successful sacrifice provided the same degree of improvement.
Sometimes, a successful sacrifice yielded a significant Stars Enhancement; sometimes, it yielded very little. This was related to the energy concentration of the offering.
His Stars Enhancement had already reached a very high level. Sacrificing ordinary Servant Level organs still provided some improvement, but not enough for him to refuse Little Fire when it wanted to eat them.
With his enormous body, Little Fire easily broke open the refrigerated container, scattering the ice inside across the ground.
Grabbing the complete set of organs, the Dark Fire Ape began gulping them down in great mouthfuls.
Looks like I can find ways to let you devour things yourself. After all, the Sacrifice System can't improve your strength every time, Lu Wu thought as he watched Little Fire.
While Little Fire feasted, Lu Wu walked toward the other two refrigerated containers.
The containers had already been opened when the refrigerated truck's driver unloaded them, and the organs were covered in plenty of ice.
"These should be the organs of that Lesser Warrior Level Slant-Scaled Demon Snake-the most expensive one, the demon snake gallbladder." Looking at the organ, which resembled the Azure Wind Python's gallbladder from before, Lu Wu made his judgment.
He reached out, touched the demon snake gallbladder, and sacrificed it directly.
[Slant-Scaled Demon Snake gallbladder successfully sacrificed. Congratulations, host. You have received a Shadow Demon upgrade reward.]
As the words ended, Lu Wu could feel the same energy of heaven and earth that strengthened his stars pouring into Little Fire.
"Roar!!"
Little Fire sensed it too and roared at the sky.
His aura kept growing stronger, approaching that of the One-Eyed Demon Wolf in its berserk state, and continued to rise.
Besides his aura, Little Fire's physique was also changing. His black fur kept growing longer, and his height gradually increased from over two meters to around three.
His fiery-red eyes and the ape palms on his four limbs deepened in color, and his fangs protruded even more prominently.
The entire process lasted a minute. Tilting his head back to look up at Little Fire, Lu Wu could hardly wait to sacrifice the second set of organs.
[Phantom Sound Poison Toad organs successfully sacrificed. Congratulations, host. You have received a Stars Enhancement reward.]
When the Sacrifice System issued its reward, Lu Wu actually felt a little disappointed.
It seemed that although the rewards were random, he still needed to ensure the quality of his sacrifices for magic awakening and Shadow Demon upgrades.
Moreover, since his Stars Enhancement had already occurred several times, although there was still some improvement this time,
judging by the thickness of his stars, the degree of improvement was not particularly noticeable.