A Little Mountain-Patrolling Demon
Su Mu scrolled through the screen, his brow gradually furrowing.
Most of these cards dropped from common monsters in lairs near Rongcheng: goblins, gray wolves, rock-armored rhinos, red-maned boars... every last one was straight out of Western fantasy.
Not that the cards were bad. Goblins bred quickly, rock-armored rhinos had tough defenses, and red-maned boars could root through soil and produce offspring. In their respective themes, they could all serve well.
But they didn't fit his Journey to the West theme at all.
Raise a pack of goblins on Flower-Fruit Mountain?
The mere thought of that picture struck him as absurd.
Su Mu patiently kept scrolling.
In the latter half of the E-rank section, the variety of cards grew more haphazard, with a few cards bearing strange attributes mixed in. One, called "Fog Lantern Ghost," was labeled an Eastern ghost, but it required an environment rich in yin qi;
Another, "Swamp Leech," needed wetland terrain. A third, "Yellow Turban Strawman," had a note that read, "Origin unknown, suspected to be from Eastern folklore."
Su Mu's gaze lingered on the "Yellow Turban Strawman" for two seconds before he shook his head.
The strawman had no intelligence and wasn't qualified to serve as an ecological foundation.
He kept scrolling.
Then he saw "Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai."
Su Mu's finger stopped.
Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai, E-rank, demon, HP 700, attack 60, defense 28, speed 55, combat index: 624. Skills: Demonic Qi Sensing, Mountain-Patrolling Steps. Note: demon, origin unknown, high rarity. All attributes increased in demon-attribute dungeons.
A demon.
A demon creature.
The note clearly stated "high rarity," and it had two skills: Demonic Qi Sensing and Mountain-Patrolling Steps.
Those two skills might seem ordinary to others. Demonic Qi Sensing was a scouting skill at best, and Mountain-Patrolling Steps was just a movement speed bonus.
But Su Mu knew that the "conceptual attributes" of skills like these were the key.
Mountain patrols—but whose mountain was being patrolled? A little demon—but whose subordinate was he?
The concept fit.
More importantly, this card hadn't dropped from a local lair in Rongcheng, which meant it had found its way into the school's storeroom from elsewhere.
That also meant that, at least for now, there was no way to get one by farming monsters.
Su Mu took another look at his other candidates.
Blue-Faced Ape, E-rank, primate, strong reproductive ability, potential for spiritual mutation.
Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai, E-rank, demon, rare, Demonic Qi Sensing, Mountain-Patrolling Steps.
Both would work.
But Su Mu could only take one.
He closed his eyes and quickly ran through the growth potential of both routes in his mind.
The Blue-Faced Ape took the ecological route.
Once introduced to Flower-Fruit Mountain, the apes could gradually multiply by drawing on the spiritual energy of the Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven, forming a troop.
With the mutation chance from Initial Awakening of Spiritual Wisdom, he could later guide them into becoming a population of spiritual apes, laying the groundwork for Sun Wukong's followers after his birth.
It was a long-term strategy, but it offered no combat power in the early stages.
The Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai took the conceptual route.
The most important entry on this card wasn't its HP or attack, but "mountain patrol."
The name Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai carried a concept in itself... service. He wasn't limited to serving one mountain; he could serve any mountain.
He could patrol anyone's mountain.
A new line of thought instantly opened up for Su Mu.
What was his dungeon's theme?
Journey to the West.
What did Journey to the West have no shortage of?
Demon kings.
And what did demon kings have no shortage of?
Mountains.
Which of those great demons wasn't a ruthless figure who claimed a mountain and ruled it as king, with hordes of followers beneath them?
Su Mu's current problem was that Sun Wukong had yet to be born.
The Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven was still just a stone, and it would be some time before he burst out of it.
Even once he emerged, the newly born Lingming Stone Monkey would be nothing more than a naive monkey. He would first have to go to Mount Lingtai Fangcun and become a disciple to learn his skills before he could acquire any real ability.
Then he'd have to wait for him to take the Golden Cudgel from the East Sea Dragon Palace, wreak havoc in Heaven, and develop his Fiery Golden Eyes... it was an extremely long growth path.
During that process, Flower-Fruit Mountain's combat power would be severely lacking in the early stages.
But the Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai was flexible.
He could first send this little demon to attach himself to another mountain.
In the world of Journey to the West, there were so many mountains belonging to powerful demon kings. As long as the conceptual anchoring succeeded, the "faction bonuses" from those mountains could feed back into the little demon.
Put a Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai in Yellow Wind Ridge, and he would become a mountain-patrolling demon under Great King Yellow Wind, with his attributes immediately doubled. Put him in White Tiger Ridge, and he would become a little demon under Lady White Bone; paired with a demonic qi connection, his combat power would rise another notch.
Conceptually speaking, this was no longer just a creature card.
It was a growth card that could be upgraded repeatedly and continue reaping the benefits of the theme.
Compared with stubbornly pursuing the Blue-Faced Ape's ecological route, the Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai delivered faster, could be fielded in battle, and could interact deeply with the core content of Journey to the West.
Besides, a rare card like this wasn't something he could find whenever he wanted.
Su Mu opened his eyes.
He would choose the Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai.
This was the one.
Having made his choice, Su Mu stood up and walked over to Teacher Chen.
Ye Qingxue put down her tablet at the same time, apparently having made her choice as well.
"Teacher Chen, I'll take this one." Su Mu handed the tablet over and pointed at the Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai on the screen.
Teacher Chen glanced down and raised his eyebrows, apparently a little surprised, but said nothing more. He was just about to speak...
"Teacher."
An abrupt voice came from the doorway.
Su Mu turned around.
Wang Hao strode in.
Su Mu recognized him. He was Class Seven's sports representative, with a martial soul theme and the S-rank core card Chaotic Hair Cloak Hammer. He had caused quite a stir at the awakening ceremony, and now he looked full of high spirits, practically stirring up a breeze as he walked.
Wang Hao first glanced at Ye Qingxue, undisguised eagerness in his eyes. Only then did he look at Su Mu, lifting his chin slightly.
"Su Mu, picking a card?" His tone was casual, as though he were simply asking in passing.
Su Mu said nothing.
Wang Hao didn't wait for an answer. He turned to Teacher Chen, glanced at the screen on the tablet, and suddenly said, "Teacher Chen, I've got my eye on this Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai too."
Teacher Chen was taken aback.
Su Mu frowned and glanced at him too.
Wang Hao seemed completely oblivious and continued with a smile, "I'm quite interested in demon cards. My Chaotic Hair Cloak Hammer might not have the demon attribute, but a martial soul core card combined with a demon creature can produce a powerful burst effect. Teacher Chen, how about letting me have this card?"
As he spoke, he glanced over at Ye Qingxue.
The office fell silent for two seconds.
Ye Qingxue kept her head down, looking at her own tablet without even glancing up.
Teacher Chen's expression grew rather unpleasant.
He had been a teacher in the academic affairs office for over a decade. What kind of student hadn't he seen?
He could see through Wang Hao's little scheme at a glance. The burst effect, the interest in demons—it was all an excuse.
Martial soul theme core cards were inherently poorly compatible with demon creature cards.
Even if he really could use it, Wang Hao's privileges as an S-rank awakener meant he could easily choose a C-rank card. Why would he need to fight someone for an E-rank one?
And one that wasn't even particularly noteworthy among E-rank cards?
The smile vanished completely from Teacher Chen's face.
He looked at Su Mu, then at Wang Hao.
"Wang Hao." Teacher Chen took the tablet back, his tone even. "Su Mu chose this card first. According to procedure, it's his."
The smile on Wang Hao's face froze for an instant.
But he quickly recovered and pressed on. "Teacher, it's not that I don't respect the rules. I'm an S-rank awakener, so I have higher card-selection privileges than he does. Give me this card and let him choose another E-rank one; the school won't lose out. Or if the school has another arrangement, I can cooperate with that too."
He spoke as though it were only natural.
S-rank.
Those three characters bore down, and Teacher Chen fell silent.
Wang Hao's card-selection privileges were indeed higher than Su Mu's.
According to school regulations, awakeners of S-rank and above could choose C-rank cards, and they could pick E-rank cards as they pleased. If Wang Hao insisted on this card, it was theoretically possible as long as it hadn't been registered yet.
Teacher Chen looked at Su Mu.
Su Mu stood to the side, frowning.
What the hell is wrong with this guy?
He looked at Wang Hao, followed his gaze as it drifted toward Ye Qingxue, whether intentionally or not, and thought back over everything the man had done since entering the office.
He understood.
This bastard is showing off in front of a beauty.
Su Mu almost lost his composure.
What a classic.
He had seen this plot eight hundred times in novels in his previous life.
The protagonist fell on hard times, and a villain jumped in his face, relying on a bit of clout to step on the protagonist and draw attention to himself in front of the female lead.
He had never imagined that one day he would experience it firsthand, and as the stepping stone, no less.