Many people scattered and fled in panic. Yet the scene around Lu Ling and Netherworld was completely different.
Mu Ningxue looked grave and glanced at Lu Ling. He remained utterly composed, as though what stood before him was not some Commander Level monster, but merely a slightly larger lizard.
Heh, he really did put people at ease. Mu Ningxue chose not to leave, staying beside Lu Ling instead.
A Commander Level?
She had seen one long ago. As it happened, the man beside her had killed that one too.
Mo Fan and Mu Nujiao did not panic either, placing complete trust in Lu Ling.
"What are you all standing around for?! Hurry up and run! This is a Commander Level! Even if he's an Advanced Level mage, he can't kill a Commander Level alone!" Liao Mingxuan shouted at them.
"Netherworld, why don't you try dealing with that lizard?"
"Oh."
Netherworld slowly floated into the air, scarlet energy swirling around her. Everyone realized that the world around them seemed to have grown colder!
Scarlet flowers grew from the ground, one after another. The scarlet Other Shore Flowers spread rapidly, their expanse of red soon reaching the Pseudo-Fear Demon as it struggled in terror.
Plant-type demon beasts were powerful, but they also had a fatal weakness: their mobility was extremely poor, or they could not move at all!
In the eyes of certain beings, they were no different from living targets.
The instant the sea of Other Shore Flowers touched the Pseudo-Fear Demon, it began to struggle violently, letting out a terrified shriek like an air-raid siren!
Countless vines lashed at the growing flowers, but none of it made any difference. Its vitality drained rapidly, and within mere seconds, the Other Shore Flowers bestowed death upon it!
Netherworld gently raised her hand and extended a somewhat sickly pale finger toward the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon. Scarlet energy gathered at her fingertip.
The next instant, a scarlet beam shot out, striking the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon squarely in the heart.
Whoosh!
Scarlet, spiderweb-like markings began spreading from the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon's heart, covering its enormous body completely within just a few breaths.
Its body was dissolving. Denied even the right to scream, its immense form turned into red wisps that filled the sky, like a withering flower performing its final dance in this ruined city.
Had red petals not remained on the ground, everyone might have thought the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon had never been there!
"What beautiful magic..." Jingjing could not help saying.
"She... she killed a Commander Level?"
Even the Pseudo-Fear Demon nearby had been killed by the residual effects of her attack.
For a moment, everyone looked at Netherworld with both love and hate, grateful that she had saved them, yet harboring a trace of wariness toward her terrifying strength!
"..."
Lu Ling was somewhat speechless.
He knew it! He knew this would happen!
Someone who came with extravagant special effects just from walking could hardly lack flair when attacking! Damn it! What a show-off! He should have done it himself. Damn it!
After that single strike, Netherworld seemed to have exhausted her strength and slowly floated down, lying on her back.
In the end, she did not land on the ground. Instead, she lay suspended in the air several meters in front of Lu Ling.
Realizing that Lu Ling had no intention of catching her, Netherworld looked displeased, then floated straight into his arms.
"I'm tired." Before she had even finished speaking, Netherworld curled up in Lu Ling's arms like a kitten.
"..."
Tired, my ass. Lu Ling was truly speechless.
Despite thinking this, Lu Ling obediently held Netherworld in a bridal carry. Since he had asked her to act, he had to indulge her willfulness this once.
Lu Ling looked at the others, and Mu Ningxue happened to cast a concerned glance his way. He shook his head to show that everything was fine.
"There aren't any demon beasts here that can threaten you anymore. Continue your data-gathering mission."
Everyone exchanged glances.
Because Lu Ling had killed the demon beasts that could threaten them, the rest of their time passed without incident, even though he no longer accompanied them.
However great the conflicts among the troublemakers in the group, after witnessing Netherworld's strength sweeping everything before her, none of them dared act out.
While the others conducted their survey and gathered data, Lu Ling swaggered deeper into Jinlin City.
The hundred-meter-high mountain was riddled with countless miniature openings. In fact, each opening was five or six meters wide; it was only because this mountain of piled construction debris was so enormous that the openings looked miniature.
Each opening here represented the lair of a Giant Lizard-Skull Demon.
"It's been quite a while since I last replenished my Soul Essences. Even a mosquito has meat, however small. Hopefully, this haul will satisfy me."
In Lu Ling's eyes, this mountain of demon beasts was no great terror at all, but a mountain of gold waiting to be mined!
Where did Lu Ling's money come from?
His usual commissions at the Azure Sky Hunter Agency were merely a hair off nine oxen. The real bulk came from Soul Essences; Soul Essences were his endless source of wealth.
Every so often, he went into the wilderness to hunt demon beasts. Now, all his elemental Intermediate Magic had even been strengthened to the fourth tier, and the Vermilion Bird Vessel deserved much of the credit.
"Water Curtain Sky." Without even any visible tracing of a Water Element constellation, Lu Ling instantly completed the vast, majestic Advanced Level Water Element spell.
As the first magic element in which he had broken through to the Advanced Level, and his only naturally Calamity-afflicted magic, his Water Element had the highest proficiency of all his magic.
"Zhu Nan, enhancement."
"Chaos Surface."
Lu Ling split his attention three ways, and Water Curtain Sky received a visible boost under the blessing's enhancement.
Beneath the azure heavens, a ring of water enveloped the entire mountain of lairs, sending curtains cascading down on all sides.
No, these were no curtains of the sky. This was the heavens themselves collapsing in a Skyfall!
Chaos Surface funneled all the scattered water into the lairs. The Servant Level Giant Lizard-Skull Demons could not withstand the crashing force of those terrifying waves at all, and every one of them died beneath their pounding.
"There are unexpectedly many."
Seeing ghostly green points of light filling the entire mountain, Lu Ling immediately felt satisfied.
"Let's stoke the flames."
"Ice Crystal Bow!"
Night fell, and the day had passed peacefully.
Using the psychic mark he had left on Mu Ningxue, Lu Ling quickly found them.
On his way back, he had also casually slain every demon beast he could sense, including the Bewitching Demon Spider that might have caused infighting throughout the group.
Saved trouble.
He had come to represent Dean Xiao's will in the first place, so he at least had to ensure the safety of Pearl Academy's students.
He understood the minds of boys, the minds of heaven's favored sons, better than anyone.
People like Luo Song and Shen Mingxiao were indeed arrogant, nasty, and extremely selfish toward Mo Fan.
But after witnessing Lu Ling's strength, they had all restrained themselves considerably and had not done anything like leaving someone to die. In fact, they could hardly wait to kneel and lick Lu Ling's boots.
As long as they did nothing that crossed the bottom line, Lu Ling could not be bothered to give people like them any "special attention."