30: Mo Yu's Little Thoughts

A little after 2 AM, inside the Mo Family Cultivation Shop.

Mo Yu woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, but saw the light in the study next door was still on, so she walked over curiously.

The door wasn't closed. She quietly pushed it ajar. The faint light from the desk lamp only illuminated the desk where Mo Han was bent over, flipping through books, seemingly searching for something.

"Sister, it's so late. Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Mo Yu yawned as she pushed the door open and walked in.

Mo Han, who was concentrating intently, was startled. She looked up, saw Mo Yu, rolled her eyes, and said crossly, "You scared me... I'm not sleepy yet. I'm looking for some information."

"Is it about the research on the Fuyang Method from tonight?"

Mo Han shook her head and replied, "It's not related to that. I wanted to look up more information on the heart fire stamen."

Afterwards, Mo Han recounted to her sister how Xie Ning had sought to purchase the heart fire stamen.

As soon as she heard about Xie Ning, Mo Yu immediately brightened up.

"Sister, I'll help you look." Saying this, Mo Yu picked up one of the books Mo Han had piled on the desk.

About half an hour later, Mo Han's voice, tired yet joyful, rang out: "Found it!"

"Where is it? Where is it?" Mo Yu tossed the book aside, leaned down, and squeezed her sister's face.

Mo Han tapped her on the head and said:

"This travelogue was printed four years ago. It says that previously, an ordinary man surnamed Li, while passing through the Red Mangrove Forest in the southern suburbs of Flower City, saw a flower like fire. He intended to pick it for his wife, but he was discovered by a Yao Beast while picking it and was completely killed.

His wife was also traumatized, and before long, she married an official.

Although the incident sounds absurd, based on the wife's description, people speculated that it was likely the heart fire stamen."

After hearing the story, Mo Yu's first reaction was to ask, "Sister, are you sure the story says she was traumatized and *then* married an official? I feel like this guy surnamed Li had a very green head?"

*Bonk!*

"Ouch, I was just kidding..." Mo Yu rubbed her head and continued reading. At the end of the story, there was a map recording the location where the suspected heart fire stamen was found that year.

"Xie Ning helped us. We should help him as much as we can. Moreover, his future achievements will definitely not be low. If we want to get rid of the Li Family, we need to build a good relationship with him."

Mo Han stretched, her graceful figure possessing a hazy beauty in the dim light, yet she was completely unaware of it. She muttered to herself, "Tomorrow, I'll hire a Hunter Group to go check the southern suburbs. Hopefully, we can retrieve the heart fire stamen."

Mo Yu wasn't listening carefully to Mo Han. She looked at the address in the book, her eyes flickering, clearly scheming something... In the morning, after Xie Ning finished preparing breakfast, he put away his two beasts and rushed to school.

After yesterday's battle, more people were paying attention to him, but it didn't affect him much. He continued living his life as usual.

What was surprising was that Li Zhi didn't show up during such a critical time for pre-exam cramming.

Many people speculated that perhaps the blow of losing to Xie Ning yesterday was too great, causing him to give up on himself.

However, because Li Zhi was usually arrogant and domineering, his disappearance did not cause any concern among his classmates. On the contrary, the atmosphere in class improved significantly because he wasn't there.

As Xie Ning looked at Li Zhi's seat, the figure of Lame Uncle Wang surfaced in his mind instead.

Could he have been the one who did it?

The morning classes quickly passed, and in the afternoon, it was time for Practical Class.

During Practical Class, students often engaged in duels in pairs or threes, practicing combat techniques between their Demon Tamers Beasts in preparation for the upcoming college entrance examination.

But a strange scene occurred: students paired up to spar in groups, but no one approached Xie Ning.

"Teacher, why is no one sparring with me?" Xie Ning walked up to the teacher, feeling depressed.

The instructor in charge of Practical Class was a burly man in his thirties with a buzz cut. He listened to Xie Ning, laughed heartily, and said, "Student, if you don't have an opponent, you don't have one. Just fight yourself. How about you tell your Demon Tamers Beast to fight its left hand against its right?"

Xie Ning: "..."

"Haha~ Student, don't get worked up, I was just joking." The Buzz-cut Teacher said, looking at Xie Ning with a strange expression, "I've heard about your situation too. Li Zhi isn't here, and most of the class now consists of Black Iron Rank Demon Tamers Beasts that were recently contracted. We truly can't find anyone who can spar with you. Just take a rest this class."

"Well..." Xie Ning thought for a moment and said, "I have another Demon Tamers Beast. Its Rank is lower, only Black Iron Rank 8. Teacher, please arrange an opponent for me."

"What!"

Hearing Xie Ning's words, the Buzz-cut Teacher looked stunned. It took him a while to react: "You became a Bronze Grade Demon Tamer?!"

This loud exclamation wasn't just heard by the two of them; the entire training ground fell silent, and everyone stared over dumbfounded.

"I, I... Damn! A Bronze Grade Demon Tamer!"

"That means Xie Ning can have two Demon Tamers Beasts! He's too much of a Prodigy! I can barely handle one Demon Tamers Beast!"

"Handle? Student, please share your story."

Class Monitor Liu Yuan also said, "Student Xie Ning is truly advancing by leaps and bounds. I estimate his second Demon Tamers Beast is the Elite quality Little Wolf Cub we saw in Hope Forest."

"Comparing people just makes you mad! My Demon Tamers Beast is only Black Iron Rank 6, but Xie Ning is already raising a second account (a 'sub-character')."

"..."

The Buzz-cut Teacher also calmed down at this point and said, "I really didn't expect your progress to be so fast. Raising your Mental Energy to Bronze Rank is much harder than raising a Demon Tamers Beast to Bronze. Since that's the case, summon your second Demon Tamers Beast. The students want to see it too."

Xie Ning nodded in agreement. He then raised his hand, and a Summoning Array appeared in front of him. The surrounding students quickly gathered around.

The next second, a snow-White Wolf, whose body was wreathed in ribbons of pale red flames, slowly stepped out, raised its head, and let out a long, resonant howl.

"Wow, it's quite handsome too~ It seems Xie Ning is also a beauty-lover."

"I'm eating lemon again; so sour, so sour. Why is my Demon Tamers Beast a Flying Pig..."

Compared to the students' admiration, the Buzz-cut Teacher had a more discerning eye. After looking at the White Wolf a few times, he said, "Quite good. An elemental type, and it can also serve as a mount. It complements your first Demon Tamers Beast perfectly. Student Xie Ning has good taste."

"Thank you, Teacher," Xie Ning replied.

Afterwards, the Buzz-cut Teacher arranged a sparring opponent for Xie Ning.

Compared to the Supersonic Mantis, which no one dared to challenge, the White Wolf was much more popular. Several students whose Demon Tamers Beasts were Black Iron Rank 7 to 10 raised their hands, and the teacher finally selected a student whose Demon Tamers Beast was also Black Iron Rank 8.

The selected student was so excited his face flushed bright red. He chuckled, "If I defeat Xie Ning's Demon Tamers Beast, then I can say I'm the man who defeated Xie Ning! Haha~"

"Xie Ning, let's start quickly."

Xie Ning smiled faintly, patted the White Wolf's head, and signaled for it to approach.

The other students wisely cleared a space for them and watched the two with full anticipation.

That student raised his hand and summoned his Demon Tamers Beast, an Elite Black Iron Rank 8 Water Burst Bear. The two Demon Tamers Beasts stood facing each other ten meters apart.

The Water Burst Bear had the advantage in both size and elemental attribute. Now, the battle situation was somewhat delicate, and the observing students were secretly placing bets.

"Ready... Start!"

As the teacher's voice fell, the Water Burst Bear roared and condensed a dozen water balls in its hands, throwing them at the White Wolf. However, the White Wolf easily dodged them and quickly closed the distance.

The ten-meter distance was crossed in an instant. Giving the Water Burst Bear no chance to react, flames erupted from the White Wolf's body, forming a pillar of fire that slammed diagonally into the Water Burst Bear, sending it flying several meters away. The White Wolf leaped up again, landed on the Water Burst Bear's stomach, and placed its jaws, wreathed in blazing flames, less than five centimeters from the Water Burst Bear's neck.

A battle without suspense ended as soon as it began. The crowd hadn't even registered what happened.

A few seconds later, everyone finally reacted, and the place instantly erupted into noisy discussion.

The student who had fought wasn't annoyed; he immediately announced his surrender and went to comfort his Water Burst Bear.

"You did great. Take a rest now." Xie Ning stroked the White Wolf's head, and the latter licked Xie Ning's arm.

Others only assumed this White Wolf was mutated, which made it powerful, but they didn't realize that what truly made it powerful was itself.

It often sparred with the Supersonic Mantis. After spending a long time dodging the Supersonic Mantis's ultra-high-speed attacks, dealing with these slower opponents was naturally a piece of cake.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye. During these days, Xie Ning basically spent the mornings spacing out, the afternoons fighting, and the evenings participating in a few Black Market Challenge Matches before returning home to Cultivate until the next morning.

During this period's Black Market Challenge Matches, the White Wolf's potential was activated one more time, rewarding two intermediate energy potions, which it and the Supersonic Mantis consumed separately.

The Supersonic Mantis's size remained unchanged, but its Rank increased by 1, reaching Bronze Rank 4. After consuming the potion, the White Wolf's size surged to 2.5 meters, and its Rank also Broke through to Black Iron Rank 10. Its physical potential was nearly at its limit, making it unable to cross the Black Iron threshold for a long time.

Because of this, finding the heart fire stamen became even more urgent.

Besides this, one other matter made Xie Ning feel very confused: Li Zhi.

Li Zhi hadn't shown up in class for several days, and many people suspected that he might have met with some misfortune. Even when the Class Teacher tried to contact his parent, the leader of the Madman Hunter Group, they couldn't get through.

That day, just after school let out, Xie Ning was preparing to go home when a disheveled person suddenly darted out from the side, startling him. Just as he was about to slap the person, he heard them say:

"I found the heart fire stamen!"