Little Drill Wind

When Su Mu returned to the classroom, it was already more than half empty.

Only a handful of people remained in their seats.

The screen at the front of the classroom was still lit, updating each student's dungeon status in real time. Every so often, a green notification popped up: "Basic construction complete."

He had just reached his seat when the phone in his pocket vibrated.

He pulled it out and saw a message from Li Ming.

"Brother Mu, I'm done! A biochemical mothership plus three barracks zones, and my combat power index is already over nine thousand. I'm heading to the North Gate Trial Grounds to test the waters. Take your time. I'll scout the way for you and give you the firsthand intel later. Contact me when you arrive. I'll wait for you!"

The corners of Su Mu's mouth curved up slightly.

Li Ming might sound careless, but he never cut corners when it came to getting things done.

With an A-grade technological civilization theme and an A-grade biochemical mothership card, his early-game troop production was extremely efficient. Once he set up three barracks zones, his combat power index shot straight past nine thousand.

That already put him among the strongest fighters of the newly awakened students.

There was no need to worry about him.

Su Mu replied with a single word: "Okay."

He put his phone away and glanced around the classroom.

Among those who had stayed, there were a few Su Mu knew by name and a few he didn't recognize at all.

Only a little over an hour had passed since the awakening ceremony ended, yet most people had already completed their basic construction and hurried off to the North Gate.

On second thought, that was only natural. Awakened ones didn't have much soul power to begin with, so there was a limit to what they could add. They weren't like him, with a full 210 points to burn.

Most simply placed a core card and laid down some basic terrain. Those who could afford it added one or two creature or trap cards; those who couldn't had to work on terrain obstacles. Even that was enough to give their dungeons a basic shape.

They had long since finished what they could design. Staying behind wouldn't let them conjure flowers out of thin air.

Su Mu paid them no further attention. He settled into his seat, closed his eyes, and let his mind sink into the depths of his soul.

The dungeon space was as quiet as ever.

On the gray, misty earth, Flower-Fruit Mountain stood alone. The Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven at its summit emitted a faint halo that slowly rose and fell like breath.

There was no wind or sound anywhere in the space, only the desolation of a world at the dawn of creation.

He checked his soul power.

170 points.

"Enough." Su Mu ran the numbers in his head.

According to the textbook, the soul power required to place a card in a dungeon depended on its grade. An F-grade card cost only 10 points, while an E-grade card jumped straight to 30. Beyond that, the cost rose almost exponentially. The card he was about to place was E-grade: a Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai.

Thirty points of soul power was neither a great deal nor a small amount.

With a thought, Su Mu took the deep cyan card from his soul space.

On its face, the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked lesser demon looked lifelike. Its short body leaned slightly forward, a short saber was tucked at its waist, and straw sandals covered its feet. It didn't look fierce; it was even a little comical.

Without hesitation, Su Mu flicked his finger, and the card turned into a streak of cyan light that shot into the dungeon space.

The streak landed at the foot of Flower-Fruit Mountain, circled in place a few times, then abruptly solidified.

A living, breathing lesser demon appeared there.

It was less than a meter and a half tall, with a pointed mouth, sunken cheeks, and an unhealthy shade of bluish-gray skin. It wore a tattered, short hemp-cloth jacket, with the short saber hanging at its waist and the straps of its straw sandals tied loosely around its feet.

After landing, it stood bewildered for a moment, then sniffed and looked around for a while. Finally, its gaze fell on the Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven atop the mountain. Its eyes rolled twice, and it actually took two steps back, seemingly in awe.

Su Mu looked at the card's information.

Name: Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai

Grade: E

Level: none

HP: 700/700

Attack: 60

Defense: 28

Speed:: 55

Combat index: 624

Skills: Demonic Qi Sensing, Mountain-Patrolling Steps

Its attributes hadn't changed at all.

Su Mu nodded, showing no sign of disappointment.

The lack of change actually indicated something good... This card didn't conflict with the Journey to the West theme.

If its attributes had dropped, its skills had stopped working, or it had even shown signs of "rejection," that would have been real trouble.

Now it had simply been placed inside unchanged, showing that the concept of "demonkind" naturally fit within the Journey to the West theme.

He checked the dungeon's combat power index again. It had jumped from just over a thousand to just over seventeen hundred.

Su Mu was mildly surprised.

A single E-grade card had contributed over five hundred combat power.

In other people's dungeons, E-grade creature cards generally contributed between two and four hundred combat power. Those that exceeded five hundred were almost always cards that fit the theme exceptionally well.

His merely "didn't conflict," yet it had already produced that figure.

Meanwhile, his soul power had fallen from 170 to 140.

Su Mu looked away and turned his attention back to the lesser demon.

The Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai stood at the foot of Flower-Fruit Mountain. Its bluish-gray skin stood out against the barren mountains and rocks around it, but no matter how he looked at it, something felt out of place.

Flower-Fruit Mountain was a mountain of monkeys. The one that would one day leap out of the Stone Left Over from Mending Heaven was the Lingming Stone Monkey, and the creatures that belonged on the mountain were monkeys and apes, spirit foxes, mountain spirits and wild monsters.

Sure, it had a sharp mouth and monkey-like cheeks, but it wasn't a monkey after all. Standing there, it gave the whole scene the unmistakable air of someone staying in another's home.

Su Mu narrowed his eyes.

The demon didn't match the mountain, so it couldn't receive a "territorial bonus." And in theory, there were only two ways to make it match.

First, he could forcibly rename it, transforming the "Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai" into a monkey and changing its appearance, habits, and skills to resemble those of an ape or monkey. But that would be "transformative naming," and the soul power it consumed depended on the extent of the transformation. It wouldn't be cheap.

Second, the demon's own foundation wasn't suited to it. Forcing it into a monkey would cost at least another few dozen points of soul power, making it extremely poor value.

Thinking of this.

Give it a mountain.

A mountain it was meant to patrol in the first place.

Su Mu hardly hesitated.

He had already thought it through.

In Journey to the West, there were countless Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai, but only a handful had names people could actually recall.

And every one of those named lesser demons was deeply tied to its own mountain and its own demon king.

The name alone came with a concept of its own.

Of all the named Mountain-Patrolling Lesser Yaoguai, who was the most famous?

Little Drill Wind.