Buzzz!!!
As everyone chatted, Lu Wu's expression suddenly changed.
"What's wrong?" Wu Xiaoxiao noticed the change in Lu Wu and asked.
Dongfang Qing looked puzzled as well. It seemed she had also noticed the change in his expression.
"There seem to be a lot of Demon Beasts approaching us!" Lu Wu said quietly, looking toward Yu Keyan and the other team leaders, but none of them reacted.
"Seriously?" Wu Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow.
"Don't say things like that carelessly." Dongfang Qing exchanged a glance with Wu Xiaoxiao and asked quietly, "Although we're near the Safe Zone, there generally aren't that many Demon Beasts around before nightfall."
Lu Wu glanced around and found that no one had noticed. He told Wu Xiaoxiao and the others, "Be careful."
With that, Lu Wu headed toward Yu Keyan and the others.
"This is Lu Wu, that first-year student. The interval between his Beginner Magic casts is no more than two seconds. I don't need to tell you how impressive that is, right? We weren't that capable back then." Seeing Lu Wu hurry over, Yu Keyan introduced him to the others. "His future is boundless."
"Really?" Liang Baiye looked at Lu Wu. "Besides constantly practicing magic, he probably has strong mental power."
Even among those in the First Realm of the Mental Realm, there were differences in strength.
The broad division into nine realms meant that each realm was certainly vastly different from the previous one, but differences existed within the same realm as well.
Liang Baiye herself was a mage of the Dimensional Magic System, and mages of that system needed sufficient mental will to exercise control.
Thus, constantly practicing and casting magic would continually temper the soul and strengthen mental willpower.
Naturally, Liang Baiye knew just how impressive it was for Lu Wu to cast magic in under two seconds.
Once Lu Wu broke through to the Intermediate Level and his soul strengthened again, he would probably be closer to the Second Realm than she was.
Right now, reaching the Second Realm was still a distant prospect for her.
"Now isn't the time to talk about that," Lu Wu said gravely. "A large number of Demon Beasts are heading toward us, and one of them is very strong."
Lu Wu did not think Liang Baiye's guess was wrong.
His soul power was indeed quite good. He tempered it every day.
But that was not what mattered now. Earlier, they had been searching for Demon Beasts and were fully prepared for battle, so he had not warned them.
Now, however, one of those Demon Beasts was very strong.
"What are you talking about?" Liang Baiye frowned before Yu Keyan could respond. "We praised your mental power, but there's no need to show off like this."
"Who do you think would show off with something so stupid and easily exposed?" Lu Wu asked back.
Why is this woman such a genius?
Why is it that among the people I meet, there are always some whose brains work one moment, then seem to stop thinking altogether the next?
Faced with Lu Wu's retort, Liang Baiye knitted her brows tightly. "Who knows whether you're using this to grab everyone's attention?"
Lu Wu laughed at that and stopped responding to her. Instead, he looked at Yu Keyan. "Captain, there's still time to withdraw."
Lu Wu was beginning to understand why Yu Keyan had led his team to kill so many Demon Beasts, while the other teams had not even reached twenty.
Although their cultivation was indeed strong, Yu Keyan was completely different from them.
Yu Keyan gave considerable thought to his teammates' opinions.
"To be safe, let's send out a few Wind Element scouts and have them spread out," Yu Keyan told the other two team leaders.
It was merely a little caution. After all, Lu Wu's fast casting did not mean everything he said was true.
Hearing this, Lu Wu went to find Wu Xiaoxiao and the others without another word.
"Hey, you brat..."
Watching Lu Wu leave just like that, Yu Keyan felt rather helpless. He smiled at the other two. "How about we go up above the canyon and take a look first? If there really are Demon Beasts, it'll be safer."
"What's there to fear? There are seventeen of us, and nearly half are at the Intermediate Level." Liang Baiye was not worried. "Even if Demon Beasts really show up, as long as they aren't Great Generals, what can't we kill?"
"That's true."
"In that case, let's send people to investigate. From what I know of Lu Wu, he wouldn't make things up carelessly," Yu Keyan suggested.
That said, Lu Wu really had rarely mentioned the presence of Demon Beasts along the way.
But Yu Keyan knew Liang Baiye's perceptive abilities.
It really was unlikely that Lu Wu was stronger than her.
"You've spoiled him. Without you here, he wouldn't dare speak to an Intermediate Mage like that."
Naturally, Liang Baiye could tell that Lu Wu dared speak that way because of Yu Keyan.
"If you don't respect your teammates, dealing with Demon Beasts won't go so smoothly," Yu Keyan said.
From setting traps at the beginning to coordinating time after time afterward, everyone had given their all.
That was because Yu Keyan himself put in a great deal of effort too, rather than simply making his teammates do the work and take the risks.
Still, he really could not quite figure out what was going on with Lu Wu.
"Respect?" Liang Baiye shook her head. "I do respect them, but they must show me sufficient obedience and reverence."
Seeing that they could not get through to each other, Yu Keyan changed the subject. "All right, all right. Let's just wait for Boss Hei Guan to arrive."
"You took first place this time. You're treating us to dinner when we get back..."
While the team leaders argued, Lu Wu had already reached Wu Xiaoxiao and Dongfang Qing.
"Got told off, didn't you?" Wu Xiaoxiao laughed. "They're Intermediate Mages. We should know our place."
"I don't believe you two revere them all that much. Intermediate Level? All we lack is time." Lu Wu looked at the two of them.
Not a single person here had poor talent.
The three of them, in particular, were among the most talented first-year students at Magic City Seventh Magic High School.
Who did not have a little pride?
"We don't have to revere them, but we can at least avoid provoking them."
"I only went to warn them. I didn't provoke anyone," Lu Wu retorted. "I just don't understand why she would think I'd use something like this to grab attention."
"It's hard to reason that sort of thing out. What seems perfectly natural to you might not seem that way to someone else," Dongfang Qing said. "Besides, even I think you're talking nonsense, let alone anyone else."
"Exactly. You might be stronger than us, but surely the gap can't be that big." Wu Xiaoxiao nodded. "Demon Beasts? Where are the Demon Beasts?"
"..."
Lu Wu did not know whether to laugh or cry. Indeed, with so many people here stronger than him, his words really were hard to find convincing.
After all, who could have imagined that he had a Thought Stone to temper his soul?
Watching several Wind Element mages leave the canyon under orders from Yu Keyan, Liang Baiye, and the others, Lu Wu surveyed the area around the canyon.
Since these people don't believe me, I'd better protect myself first.
Finding a higher spot above the canyon, a hundred meters from the team's location, Lu Wu headed straight over.
What Lu Wu had not expected was that Wu Xiaoxiao and Dongfang Qing both followed him.
"Didn't you two say you didn't believe me?"
"We don't, but we're the only three first-years. Those second- and third-years hardly pay us any attention," Wu Xiaoxiao said helplessly. "We might as well enjoy some peace and quiet here with you."
"Exactly, exactly..."
Naturally, Lu Wu would not drive them away. The three stood on higher ground while the others remained below. Both sides of the canyon sloped, but getting up easily was no simple matter.
"Strange. Captain Yu Keyan and the others should have sensed them by now. Why haven't they?"
Lu Wu was rather puzzled. Previously, Captain Yu Keyan had sensed them not long after he did.
Why had he still not sensed them this time?!