Three months later.
"Calamity really does live up to its name!"
"To think my Water Element would come from behind and be the first to break through to the Advanced Level."
This Calamity talent was truly terrifying. He had only awakened his Water Element a year ago!
But when he thought of how Qin Yuer had reached the Advanced Level in three years without deliberately cultivating at all, Lu Ling felt it was reasonable.
He had used the Three-Step Tower to speed things up, after all. There was no way he would take longer than three years. One year was perfectly reasonable.
"So, you don't plan to cultivate your Summoning System anymore?" Long Zhanye's voice was icy, almost accusatory.
"Uh... I've already been cultivating it. There's nothing I can do if I can't break through." Lu Ling scratched his head awkwardly.
"Why are you in such a hurry to break through?" This question had troubled him for a long time. The Heavenly Star White Dragon was already growing at a considerable pace, yet she still wanted to grow faster.
"I..." As though he had struck a nerve, Long Zhanye immediately snapped:
"Can't I want to grow up faster?!"
"Sure..."
There was no further sound after that. She had probably gone back to sleep.
Long Zhanye was already at the Advanced Stage of the Warrior Level, and her only way to accelerate her growth was through Lu Ling's Summoning System magic energy. But his Summoning System was only at the Intermediate Level now, so the acceleration was negligible. The road to the Advanced Level was long and arduous. She would have to wait!
As soon as Lu Ling left the Three-Step Tower, his phone rang.
"Lu Ling, there's a troublesome commission. Hurry over."
"Okay!"
An hour later, in a residential complex.
"Easy as can be." Lu Ling spread his hands, indicating there had been no worthy opponent.
The slain Scale-Skin Demon lay beside him. The middle-aged couple were malnourished and would only wake up after resting for a while.
"To think both of them were parasitized." Ling Ling collected the shed skin and examined it carefully.
"Ling Ling, can you make some tracking devices using these remains?" Lu Ling asked.
"What for?"
"Is it possible that neither of these two is the original body?"
"...I'll make them right now." Ling Ling's expression shifted slightly.
Even while hastily making the tracking devices, she did not forget to scold Lu Ling a few times for not saying so sooner.
Half an hour later.
Ling Ling's little tablet immediately displayed precise locations based on the Scale-Skin Demons' pheromones.
Once everything had appeared, Ling Ling's pupils contracted.
"So many! And they're all at..."
Pearl Academy!
Without disguising himself, Lu Ling strode openly into the stadium.
Some event seemed to be taking place here tonight, so a large number of staff had already gathered since the afternoon, and students were streaming in without pause!
"Scale-Skin Demons target mages as hosts, and the Green Campus freshmen are all very weak mages. They're the most suitable targets," Ling Ling's voice came through the communicator.
"Your task is to find the mother and kill her. The police, the Hunter Union, and I will coordinate with you from outside."
"Got it."
"One more thing... if your cultivation is too high, I'm afraid the Scale-Skin Demon Mother will fight to the death like a fish tearing the net."
"Don't worry. She can't detect my strength."
After investigating, Ling Ling had discovered that these Scale-Skin Demons could kill themselves to nourish their mother, so they could not beat the grass and startle the snake during this operation.
Lu Ling walked unhurriedly into the emergency stairwell and slowly climbed the stairs.
"It's you?"
A girl's voice came from behind him.
"Is that you, Lu Ling?"
"Hm?" Lu Ling turned and saw a familiar face.
"My name is Mu Nujiao. You saved me during a field training outing." Having not seen him for three months, Mu Nujiao was a little excited and hurried to introduce herself while she had the chance.
"I remember you. You did very well during that outing." Lu Ling smiled.
At the same time, he spared a glance at the monitor in his hand. There were no unusual red dots, which meant Mu Nujiao had not been parasitized.
Hm?
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.
"Don't wander around. It's dangerous here."
"Dangerous?"
Two people who were clearly students approached them from the opposite direction with very unnatural movements, acting as though nothing was wrong. They looked like a pair of close girlfriends.
"Wait, I know them..."
Sensing magic emanating from Lu Ling, Mu Nujiao was puzzled and hurried to stop him.
But before she could finish, she saw the two students' hands begin to change. Some strange mutation seemed to be taking place in their bodies.
Their hands slowly lengthened, and their nails turned blue-green... Their grins kept widening, revealing two rows of pointed teeth.
Their skin peeled away bit by bit as their bodies grew larger. Their youthful school uniforms burst apart completely, exposing hideous blue-green scales. It was utterly disgusting.
"What are these?!" Mu Nujiao's lips parted slightly as she readied herself to cast magic at any moment.
"Time Lag."
"Fire Burst."
"Aah!!!"
Lu Ling's restraint and fire flowed together in a seamless combo. The Scale-Skin Demons died before they even had time to kill themselves.
The hosts were extremely weak after undergoing two rounds of skin shedding and had already lost consciousness. Lu Ling deftly slit the two girls' thumbs and extracted the parasites from their bodies.
"Since you know them, take care of them. Find a room and hide."
"At least half the people in the stadium have been parasitized. I hope you can protect yourself."
"If you manage to kill a few Scale-Skin Demons, slit their thumbs. The parasites are hiding inside."
After those few brief instructions, Lu Ling continued upward. He had to eliminate the mother, who was hiding at the very top.
"Okay..." Mu Nujiao's gaze grew serious as she realized this stadium was no safe place.
The two people who had just been rescued were both completely naked. Mu Nujiao hurriedly found a few pieces of cloth, wrapped them up, and took them into the nearest room to the side.
"Tingting? Tingting, how are you?"
"..."
"Ling Ling, I'm on the third floor. Where's the mother?"
"On the concert stage's lift platform. Don't beat the grass and startle the snake..." Ling Ling said.
"This distance feels just right!"
"What?"
A hundred meters from the lift platform, Lu Ling began tracing a Star Map, pink psychic light swirling around him.
"Mind Ripple: Silence."
An immensely powerful Mind Ripple spread outward from Lu Ling, reaching almost the entire stadium.
After several Mind Ripples swept past, everyone in the stadium, ordinary people and mages alike, grew dizzy. Then they swayed and collapsed one after another.
"Ling Ling, everyone in the stadium should be unconscious now."
With them unconscious, the Scale-Skin Demon Mother naturally could no longer control those parasites to transfer energy.
"...Why do you have so many abilities?! If you'd told me sooner, I wouldn't have had to worry so much!"
"Giant Shadow Nail: Restraint."
From over a hundred meters away, Lu Ling pinned another nail into the Scale-Skin Demon Mother.
The Giant Shadow Nail's restraining power was linked to his spiritual realm. With his Eighth Realm spiritual power, there was no way the Scale-Skin Demon Mother could break free!
In the end, she naturally could not escape death.