The world centered on Lu Ling seemed to have hit pause. Neither the blood scythe brimming with murderous intent nor the vampire himself could move.
"Zhu Nan, enhancement." An emerald Star Path flashed past. With a casual point of Lu Ling's finger, the restraint over the entire space grew fifty percent stronger.
Lu Ling sauntered up to the middle-aged vampire, who was still frozen in his attacking stance, and looked down on him as though he were an ant.
"I wondered how strong the patriarch of vampires who spent years hiding in humanity's corners would be. To think you don't even have Commander Level strength."
Villains died from talking too much, but Lu Ling not only talked a lot-he had plenty of magic, too!
A chilling cold gradually spread until it froze the entire ground.
The frozen ground cracked, and dozens of icy chains burst out with a metallic clatter.
"Ice Lock, Sky Spider Formation!"
"Zhu Nan, enhancement."
The hatred in the middle-aged vampire's eyes gradually turned to terror. The white-haired man before him knew him well.
And... the Ice Element, Space Element, Summoning System, and Light Element!
A Super Level mage!?
What had he ever done to deserve the attention of a Super Level mage... when he had always been so careful and had never killed a single prey!
A profound sense of helplessness welled up within him. He had already given up resisting.
In the depths of his despair, dozens of icy chains pierced his body and those of the other vampires, leaving several bloody holes in them.
"Mind Control."
Controlling them from a distance, Lu Ling dragged the vampires together and removed the Blood Fangs they depended on to survive.
Without their Blood Fangs, even if they could still recover, they would not live much longer.
"Long Zhanye, give them a couple of stomps, would you?"
Bang!
Lu Ling felt even the nearby high-rises shake and hurriedly called a halt to Long Zhanye's actions.
After being stomped on by a dragon over twenty meters long... vampires probably weren't that hard to kill.
Looking at the vampire corpses flattened beyond recognition, Lu Ling swallowed, feeling a little sympathetic.
"Oh, right. Since you're a dragon, can you use dragon breath?! That fire-breathing skill."
"Of course!" At the mention of dragon breath, Long Zhanye seemed rather proud.
Then she excitedly opened her mouth and began gathering power!
"Stop, stop, stop! Don't use that move here!"
That was a dragon's most powerful skill! It represented destruction taken to its utmost extreme!
Lu Ling waved his hand frantically. The Gate of Summoning burst open above the city, then dropped straight down, slipping over the Heavenly Star White Dragon like a hoop in a ring-toss game.
You'd better go back and rest for now.
Lu Ling shook his head helplessly.
"Lu Ling." Not long after he sent the Heavenly Star White Dragon back, Ling Ling jogged over. "Taken care of?"
"Yeah, they're pretty much done for." Lu Ling nodded and casually tossed out a clump of crimson-gold flame, setting all the corpses, including Nie Dong's, alight.
"Why are you burning them?!"
"What use is keeping them? The truly valuable things are here." Lu Ling waved the Blood Fangs he had removed. "Besides... they aren't dead yet."
Why had he judged that? Naturally, because none of these vampires had dropped a Remnant Soul!
The Vermilion Bird Vessel could collect Soul Essences and Remnant Souls. With it, before coming to Pearl Academy, Lu Ling had constantly carried out missions in the wilderness, hunting Demon Beasts and accumulating no small fortune.
Only after the pile of corpses had burned for several minutes did a few Remnant Souls slowly rise from it.
Unfortunately, there were no Soul Essences.
"Here, take these to play with. They should fetch forty million at auction." Lu Ling set aside two Blood Fangs and handed them to Ling Ling.
"How... do you have the Fire Element?"
The expensive Blood Fangs failed to distract Ling Ling. Her eyes wide, she stared suspiciously at Lu Ling. She remembered his four magic elements perfectly clearly, and the Fire Element definitely wasn't among them!
"You'll find out later." Lu Ling gently rubbed her head. "Come on, I'll take you home!"
"Hey!"
Jinyuan Apartment.
It was the best apartment complex near Pearl Academy. As an Advanced Level hunter, Lu Ling could hardly have found paying the rent here any easier.
He was currently examining a Blood Fang. Apart from its rather hard texture, he could see nothing unusual about it. He had never learned about crafting magic equipment; he had no interest in that field.
He did, however, think of someone-a person who would die in a year or two.
Liu Xian.
A woman in the prime of her youth, independent and strong...
In this world overrun by Demon Beasts, anywhere beyond the Safe Zone was forbidden ground for ordinary people. Yet even within the Safe Zone, these parasites ran rampant, lurking in dark corners and constantly feeding on human blood.
They were like rats in a sewer, afraid of the blazing sun and able to move only in darkness. They were clearly nothing but parasites eking out an existence in this vast city, yet this inexplicable power made them think themselves superior. They committed all manner of evil and treated humans as their prey.
People died every day. Lu Ling could not look after so many people.
But when he already knew someone would meet with disaster in the future, and even knew the killer's identity perfectly well, he could not remain unmoved.
Now that he had completely wiped out the entire vampire hideout, the butterfly effect probably would not be too drastic.
If those two could live out their lives happily, Lu Ling's trip would not have been in vain.
After joining the Azure Sky Hunter Agency, Lu Ling spent the time before school began either cultivating or completing all kinds of strange commissions.
Most of the time, Ling Ling collected information and thought up countermeasures... sometimes, there was no need to think up countermeasures.
Lu Ling's sheer strength could overcome ten clever tricks!
Unfortunately, good times were always short-lived. Pearl Academy's welcome day was fast approaching.
"From now on, just stay on standby at school. Don't run around unless there's something to do."
"I don't want to go to school." Like any ordinary child, Ling Ling folded her arms across her chest and sulked.
"I won't be attending a single class at Pearl Academy. You can come to me if there's a commission, but spare me those cheap little jobs." Seeing Little Ling Ling looking so adorable, Lu Ling could not resist reaching out to pinch her little cheek.
"Keep your hands to yourself." Ling Ling glared at Lu Ling and pushed his hand away.
Still, hearing that she could go out hunting Demon Beasts again made her a little happy, though she did not show it on her face.
"Oh, right. Do you know about totems?"
Lu Ling found this Little Ling Ling with her fully automatic hand-swiping rather amusing, so he kept reaching out to pinch her cheeks, only for her to block every attempt with an expressionless face before he could make contact.
"Totems?"
"Sacred beasts that protected humanity in ancient times. From now on, my main objective will be finding Totem Beasts. If you're bored, help me find some information."
"No problem!" Ling Ling readily agreed.
Creak.
The wooden door was gently pushed open, giving a series of creaks.
An unfamiliar woman in a figure-hugging dress appeared. Cold beauty and seductive charm coexisted in her, and every frown and smile could steal a soul.
"White hair... you're Lu Ling?" the woman asked upon seeing him.
"And you are?" Lu Ling had already guessed the answer.
"My name is Leng Qing."
"My older sister," Ling Ling added.
He had been with the Azure Sky Hunter Agency for almost two months, but this was his first time meeting her in person.
Lu Ling nodded.
"Senior Sister Leng Qing."