Du Yu listened carefully for a while, then shone his flashlight on the river ahead: "Little Fen Yang, are there any demon beasts in the river?"

Little Fen Yang said uncertainly, "No... probably not?"

"I'm trusting you on this one!" Du Yu stepped into the river with one foot. Having the Demon Breath Battle Robe was truly convenient—it could block the rain, so of course it could also keep his shoes and pants from getting soaked by the river.

"Du Yu, Du Yu~"

"What is it?"

"There's a little stone crossing over there."

Du Yu looked at the water up to his calves and said gloomily, "I'm already halfway across."

"Hee hee~"

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Du Yu waded across the river and shone his flashlight at the trees.

Swathes of Red Ladybugs, each palm-sized, covered the trunks and branches, making Du Yu's whole body itch just looking at them.

And as Du Yu stepped onto the opposite bank, the Red Ladybugs all suddenly stopped flapping their wings, and the loud, piercing sound came to an abrupt halt.

"Oh my god." Du Yu marvelled inwardly. Even though the Red Ladybugs weren't strong, there were way too many of them.

Du Yu, of course, didn't dare stir up trouble. Xiaoyan stayed hidden in his hood, her little head pressed against Du Yu's cheek. She looked at the toys everywhere but had no intention of going out to play.

A perfect demonstration of "bullies the weak, fears the strong"...

Nice!

A very excellent character trait, absolutely perfect for my royal team!

Similarly "bullying the weak and fearing the strong" himself, Du Yu circled warily around the edge of the bug territory, darted between trees and, after adjusting his angle, finally saw where the faint light was coming from!

It was actually a scorched, blackened, withered tree.

Unlike ordinary trees, it looked shriveled with no leaves, its bark cracked all over in large patches, orange-red light seeping faintly from the fissures, like flowing lava.

Du Yu was startled awake—the surrounding demon breath was no longer pure attributeless demon breath, but Fire Demon Breath!

This...

Is this swarm of Red Ladybugs gathered here because of the tree?

Du Yu hurriedly took out his phone, trying to scan that bizarre tree.

But his phone's camera was nowhere near as sharp as his own eyes—it couldn't scan it, it was still too far away.

"Wuu wuu~ wuuu..." In the silent woods, a faint crying sound could be heard.

Du Yu was a bit puzzled. There was a demon beast crying inside the insect swarm's territory?

He quickly exited the Atlas and turned on the camera mode.

And the moment he started filming, as the demon beast cub's crying began, swarms of Red Ladybugs started flapping their wings once again, that shrill, piercing buzzing making Du Yu bare his teeth in pain.

The massive bug cacophony—it's actually triggered by the crying!

Being too close to the source, Du Yu couldn't help but hold his ears and wait almost half a minute before the surrounding noise finally stopped.

I swear, this is torture!

Is it the ladybugs cheating, or the cicadas two-timing?

"No way, I can't go in." Du Yu was in a bind. This was the Red Ladybugs' territory—if he barged in, would they all attack him at once?

But the Demon Spirit Atlas clearly said that Red Ladybugs are relatively docile and not aggressive toward humans.

While Du Yu furrowed his brow in thought, Little Fen Yang evidently sensed his hesitation and spoke up: "Let's go, Red Beetles aren't bad guys."

Du Yu responded, "But this is their territory, after all."

Little Fen Yang: "It's fine~ I've gone through lots of Red Beetle territory with her; the Red Beetles are all really friendly."

Her/him?

Did Little Fen Yang accidentally bring up the past?

Having gotten zapped by this before, Du Yu feigned ignorance and quickly asked, "But there are so many Red Ladybugs here—what if one gets invaded by Cold Qi?"

"All around the Orange Juice Tree is Fire Demon Breath. It's already been filtered and transformed—there won't be any Cold Qi," Little Fen Yang whispered.

"Orange Juice Tree?" Du Yu turned to look at the distant glow. So that's the name of that demonic plant?

"Yep~ Orange Juice Tree! Even though it's Fire Element, it's still a tree—unforgivable! Let's go peel some of its bark!"

Du Yu: "..."

"Pretty please?"

Du Yu first had Xiaoyan retreat into his body, then mustered his courage and carefully entered the Red Ladybug territory.

He was basically walking on eggshells, nerves stretched thin every step.

No help for it—this scene was honestly terrifying. No wonder it was a Silver-level Task. Even with the Demon Spirit Atlas telling you the Red Ladybugs were really friendly to humans, you'd still have to work up the nerve to walk in here.

As he walked, Du Yu asked in his mind, "If there's Fire Demon Breath all around the Orange Juice Tree, can we cultivate here and skip the step of converting attributeless demon breath?"

"Yep! Though the demon breath here isn't rich enough—we should find a higher-level Demon Spirit Realm. If we get to use Demon Fire for cultivation, that'd be even better~"

"Demon Fire?"

"Yup, Celestial Materials and Earthly Treasures, super awesome! I used to have one, but alas..."

Du Yu's heart thumped. "What's wrong? Did you lose your Demon Fire?"

Little Fen Yang: "Used it to burn a tree!"

Du Yu: "..."

Little Fen Yang: "Demon Fire can't be put out. When we're stronger, we'll take it back for sure!"

Du Yu bit his lip and asked softly, "You said you once had a Demon Fire—how many kinds are there?"

"No idea, I've only seen three."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Not sure, but if we get close to one, I'll be able to sense it!"

"I see." Du Yu took a sandwich cookie from his pocket and gulped it down like medicine, "Little Fen Yang, I'm only a Demon Tamer Prentice·Minor Success. Don't rush me, give me a little more time."

"Yeah! We'll just get stronger and stronger, one step at a time—lay a solid foundation at every stage!" Little Fen Yang said, full of anticipation. "I can feel it—you're about to advance again."

Du Yu moved carefully, putting plenty of space between himself and every tree, afraid of brushing up against a ladybug. "Really?"

"Of course! Someone as weak as you, with me laying the foundation, you're sure to advance quickly."

"Alright, then." Du Yu smacked his lips in discomfort. Faintly, he heard the sound of a beast cub crying again.

He immediately dropped to the ground, pressing his hands over his ears.

Du Yu's predictions were spot on. As the crying began, the Red Ladybugs once again took flight, and the ear-splitting wave of noise completely drowned him out.

This is way too scary...

After a while, the buzzing finally faded. Du Yu shook his ringing head and climbed back up.

A few minutes later—his ears still ringing from two rounds of bug-chorus—Du Yu finally reached the Orange Juice Tree.

Wow... beautiful!

He no longer needed his flashlight; the charred, dead tree gleamed brilliantly, orange-red magma streaming from its cracked bark.

No, wait, it probably wasn't actually magma, but some special orange-red liquid. Otherwise, why would the temperature be so low?

Du Yu hurriedly pulled out his phone to scan.

"Orange Juice Tree, Fire and Wood dual-element Demonic Plant.

Orange Juice Trees are commonly found in all sorts of Demon Spirit Realms. They can absorb demon breath from Heaven and Earth and transform it into Fire Attribute Demon Breath, highly favored by Fire-type Demon Pets.

Assessing power level...

Mortal Level·Minor Achievement Stage ~ Mortal Level·Great Success Stage. Actual power varies; Atlas results are for reference only."

Little Fen Yang: "There's something inside the tree."

"Oh?" Du Yu turned on the camera again, carefully dodged the sparks flying from the tree, and circled it filming.

There were fire-element demonic plants and loads of fire demon beasts in the Demon Spirit Realm, but people didn't have to worry about the entire forest going up in flames.

If you view the Demon Spirit Realm as a whole, it actually has its own defense mechanisms—even self-healing functions—it wouldn't just let itself be destroyed.

Put simply, the place was saturated with pure demon breath—nature's perfect solution to every problem.

"Wuu~ wuuu..." The faint crying sounded again—this time, it was just warming up, no full-on wailing yet.

Du Yu crouched down and peered through a vertical crack in the dead wood. This gap, at least, didn't have any orange juice oozing out.

Was this little guy stuck in there? How did it even squeeze in?

Du Yu switched to the Demon Spirit Atlas and, carefully, poked his phone's camera through the gap.

"Earth Freeze Block, Earth Element Demon Beast from the Celestial Treasure Race.

Named for its jello-like texture and block-shaped body.

The Earth Freeze Block is naturally mischievous, with high growth potential and great training value.

Assessing power level...

Mortal Level·Initial Stage. Actual power varies; Atlas results are for reference only.

Common skills: 1, Earth Freeze Visage..."

Celestial Treasure Race!

Celestial treasures! (tianbao—Heavenly Treasures!)

This means it wasn't born from a mother or hatched from an egg, but is naturally formed by Heaven and Earth.

Just like Li Mengnan's Wind Witch—these sorts of demon pets can't be bred in captivity, only found in the Demon Spirit Realm.

Jackpot, holy crap!

"Ooh~ jelly!" Little Fen Yang shared Du Yu's vision through the Eye of Burning Sun, "Pull it out."

"Just pull it?" Du Yu wondered. This crack wasn't that big—could he really get it out?

Well... then again, this little guy probably got in that way.

Du Yu tried reaching in with one hand—and he really did feel something like jelly?

"Wuu wuuu~ waaaa!" Earth Freeze Block burst into loud, full-on crying.

Back across the river, Du Yu had thought it was just whimpering, but up close he realized—it was wailing at the top of its lungs!

"Buzz!"

"Buzzz!!!" Chain reaction—the endless Red Ladybugs took off, their chorus even more piercing.

"Out you go!" Deafened by the roar, Du Yu gritted his teeth and pulled the Earth Freeze Block out with all his strength.

"Huh?" The blocky jelly got squished flat squeezing through the crack, and its cries stopped instantly.

Du Yu looked down at the "cushion" in his hands, still wondering, when suddenly it puffed back up.

Duang~

A square block of jelly appeared before Du Yu's eyes.

Du Yu turned the cube in his hands until—finally—the front was facing him...

It had two eyes and a little mouth, the whole thing a dirty grayish-brown.

It looked like it'd been squished pretty badly in the tree and was still dazed and dizzy.

Du Yu was overjoyed—the shrieking bug chorus around him sounded like a victory symphony.

Why bother with a monster-collecting quest now?

Back to the Demon Pet Center—let's send this little guy to foster care, then make plans!

Xiaoyan, your king is rich at last—I can finally afford to keep you!

But what if I exchanged this little guy for another demon pet instead of just selling it?... Haha!

Still giddy with excitement, Du Yu suddenly noticed something wrong: the Red Ladybugs that had been attached to the trees were all taking to the air in droves.

They're friendly with humans, but when it comes to other creatures—especially intruders into their territory...

Realizing things were about to go sideways, Du Yu hurriedly mashed the jelly cube into his cloak and took off running!

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