Chapter 369: Fire-Glowing Stone Mineral Vein, The Clan-Suppressing Treasure (Three-in-One Chapter)

"Baitian, activate Light Radiance trait!" From the very beginning, Li Zhangsheng had not let the Blazing Bird, Baitian, and Heiye activate their weather traits.

This place was the home turf of the Dark Fire Crow flock, and the power of Fire Element skills was already enhanced; naturally, the Blazing Bird could not activate Scorching Sun to "aid the enemy." As for Baitian's Light Radiance trait and Heiye's Night Veil trait, they were naturally to be used at a critical moment.

In an instant, Baitian activated the Light Radiance trait, its body seemingly transforming into the sun, radiating an abnormally blinding light in all directions.

For a moment, the Dark Dark Fire Crow and the Dark Fire Crows only felt a sharp pain in their eyes, and could only squint, struggling to capture the figures of their enemies.

Before activating the Light Radiance trait, Baitian's Light Vision Aura had already been activated in advance, and a milky-white halo appeared beneath the feet of the Demon Pets, including the Qixi Wind Speed Cat, which were not affected in the slightest by the blinding light.

Light Dispersion!

At this moment, the Light Bird condensed a milky-white radiance, which landed on the Qixi Wind Speed Cat; a mysterious light power surged into its body, beginning to disperse the fire poison within it.

Group Healing Wish!

Kailan flapped her wings, which were as thin as cicada wings, and a strong green light emerged. Under her meticulous control, a green halo appeared beneath the feet of the Qixi Wind Speed Cat and the Blazing Bird, continuously healing their injuries.

Darkness Sword!

The Winter Solstice Darkness Cat condensed a black light sword flickering with black flames, slashing through the air toward the Dark Dark Fire Crow that wanted to continue attacking the Qixi Wind Speed Cat.

As a Lord-level Spirit Beast, the Dark Dark Fire Crow's intelligence was almost no worse than a human's, which was the reason why it had ambushed the Qixi Wind Speed Cat instead of the other Demon Pets.

Unlike the other Demon Pets, the Qixi Wind Speed Cat posed a great threat to it.

Facing the rapidly incoming Darkness Sword, the Dark Dark Fire Crow revealed a look of contempt; it opened its sharp Bird Beak and spat out a column of scorching flame from its mouth.

The Flame Pillar engulfed the Darkness Sword, crushing it almost instantly, and continued to rush toward the unsteady Qixi Wind Speed Cat with undiminished momentum.

Suddenly, a fiery red figure appeared between the Qixi Wind Speed Cat and the flame pillar, blocking the Flame Pillar with its own body.

Chirp~

This figure was naturally the Blazing Bird; not only did it not feel pain in the flames, but it actually felt exceptionally comfortable. Relying on its Immune to Fire ability, the Blazing Bird completed the task of blocking the shot.

Only then did the Qixi Wind Speed Cat stop its downward trend, staring at the Dark Dark Fire Crow with eyes full of Anger.

Meow~

Wind Sweeping Clouds!

Accompanied by the angry cat's cry, the Qixi Wind Speed Cat instantly gathered a large amount of Wind Element energy, transforming it into a pale cyan wind pillar several meters in diameter, which swept toward the Dark Dark Fire Crow.

The wind pillar came very quickly, and coupled with its eyes being dazzled by the blinding light, by the time the Dark Dark Fire Crow discovered the wind pillar, it was already a few meters in front of it.

Unable to evade at all, the Dark Dark Fire Crow was successfully hit by the wind pillar. As it bobbed up and down in the wind pillar, blades of wind like knives crazily cut at its body surface, and a large number of bloodstains began to appear on its skin.

Bang~

In the blink of an eye, the Dark Dark Fire Crow slammed heavily into the rock wall of the volcanic crater and fell straight downward.

The Dark Dark Fire Crow did not flap its wings; as long as it escaped into the magma, it would be almost invincible.

As for the remaining Dark Fire Crows, their fire resistance had not reached the level of the Dark Dark Fire Crow, and they could not survive in the magma for long.

The Dark Dark Fire Crow indicated it was powerless to help; faced with the crisis, it chose to escape alone.

Unfortunately, just as the Dark Dark Fire Crow was about to fall into the magma, its body suddenly tightened; a cyan halo had wrapped around its body, making it unable to move, and at the same time, a gravitational force appeared, and the halo carried it flying straight upward.

This was the Wind Entanglement skill, which used wind to bind the enemy. Due to the light and agile nature of Wind Element energy, the user could control the halo to carry the enemy while flying.

At this time, the battle on the other side was nearing its end. Although the number of Dark Fire Crows was large, how could they compare to Li Zhangsheng's five Flying Demon Pets?

At this moment, the Blazing Bird instantly appeared in front of the last Dark Fire Crow.

Before this Dark Fire Crow could react, the Blazing Bird's sharp Bird Beak pierced through its throat.

Caw~

The Dark Fire Crow let out a sharp, ear-piercing scream, and then fell straight toward the magma below.

The Light Bird hurriedly caught the corpse of the Dark Fire Crow and brought it to the ground of the volcanic crater.

As soon as the Dark Fire Crow's corpse landed on the ground, Li Zhangsheng stored it into his Space Ring at the fastest speed. Although the number of Dark Fire Crows was large, his Space Ring was a full one hundred cubic meters, which was more than enough to hold these Dark Fire Crow corpses.

Li Zhangsheng did not let go of the blood scattered on the ground or splashed at the moment of the Dark Fire Crows' deaths. The blood of the Dark Fire Crows had resistance to high temperatures and would not have all its moisture instantly evaporated by the high heat like the blood of other Spirit Beasts.

Even a small amount of meat is still meat, not to mention that Li Zhangsheng had collected two large buckets full.

After breaking free from the Wind Entanglement, the Dark Dark Fire Crow felt increasingly ominous, but before it could continue to flee, the Qixi Wind Speed Cat had already rushed in front of it, slamming it hard against the hard volcanic rock wall.

The Dark Dark Fire Crow squinted its eyes and subconsciously launched a counterattack, its curled claws grabbing hard toward the Qixi Wind Speed Cat.

At the critical moment, a flash of cyan light appeared on the Qixi Wind Speed Cat's body, and it immediately turned into a Residual Shadow, easily avoiding the Dark Dark Fire Crow's offensive and appearing beneath it instead.

Meow~

Accompanied by a high-pitched cat's cry, a Rich cyan stream of light appeared on the Qixi Wind Speed Cat's body, turning into cyan ribbons that seemed to have a life of their own, instantly binding the Dark Dark Fire Crow.

In an instant, the Qixi Wind Speed Cat slammed into the abdomen of the Dark Dark Fire Crow, the cyan stream of light on its body shining brightly, and it managed to push it out of the volcanic crater.

Bang~

The Dark Dark Fire Crow landed heavily on the ground, struggling desperately, looking as if it was about to break free from the cyan ribbons on its body.

Suddenly, several shadows shrouded the Dark Dark Fire Crow; it was the Qixi Wind Speed Cat that had deliberately pushed the Dark Dark Fire Crow toward the position of Aixi and the other land Demon Pets, otherwise, relying on itself alone, it would never have been able to stop the Lord-level Dark Dark Fire Crow from escaping into the magma.

"Finish it off!"

As soon as the Dark Dark Fire Crow broke free from the restraints, it subconsciously wanted to fly up, but at this moment, Aixi leaped up, bit its wing, and used its astonishing weight to drag it down from mid-air.

Although the Dark Dark Fire Crow had reached the Lord realm, Aixi's quality was clearly higher, and it was also wearing two pieces of Advanced Treasure, which greatly narrowed the gap in realm with the Dark Dark Fire Crow.

The Dark Dark Fire Crow struggled subconsciously, unable to break free from Aixi's tiger jaws for a moment. It subconsciously turned its head, wanting to peck at Aixi's eyes with its Bird Beak, but its eyes were instantly filled with terror, and then everything went black before it; it had been bitten on the bird head by the Emperor Crocodile.

The Emperor Crocodile bit down hard. Although its bite force was strong, this was, after all, a Dark Dark Fire Crow, and its bones were incomparably hard. It could not bite through its neck for a moment, and instead, under the Dark Dark Fire Crow's desperate struggle, its sharp Bird Beak scratched the Emperor Crocodile's mouth.

Blood spilled from the corners of the Emperor Crocodile's mouth. While letting go of the Dark Dark Fire Crow, it endured the severe pain in its mouth and this time changed to biting the Dark Dark Fire Crow's slender neck.

The Dark Dark Fire Crow struggled in a panic, its remaining half-wing carrying astonishing wind pressure, slamming hard onto Aixi's back. After all, it was a Lord-level Spirit Beast; even if this strike was not at full strength, it still powerfully knocked Aixi to the ground, and even made Aixi spit out a mouthful of blood.

Just as Aixi was knocked to the ground, suddenly, Round-and-Round jumped up and pressed heavily onto its body.

Chirp~

The Dark Dark Fire Crow's painful muffled groan sounded, and its pair of bloodshot eyes suddenly bulged out, making one wonder if they would shoot out of their sockets.

Only then did Adai finally arrive in front of the Dark Dark Fire Crow, and it stretched out its huge claws, grabbing toward the Dark Dark Fire Crow's exposed chest.

The Dark Netherfire Crow did not take Adai's attack to heart at all; although Adai was large in size, it was still at the Middle Rank, and in terms of threat, it was far inferior to the other Demon Pets.

However, the Dark Netherfire Crow did not see the mockery in Li Zhangsheng's eyes.

*Ssh—*

The Dark Netherfire Crow's proud physical defense was like tofu; it was pierced directly through the chest by a giant claw, which punched out from the other side, the claw still clutching a heart that was still beating.

The Dark Netherfire Crow stared with wide eyes, gazing in disbelief at Adai's exceptionally ferocious face, unable to believe that it had been killed by Adai, who was only at the Middle Rank.

*Caw—*

The Dark Netherfire Crow let out a harsh, miserable cry, its head falling limply to the ground, and it stopped moving.

"No matter how high your rank is or how strong your physical defense, you still cannot escape the fate of being easily armor-broken by Adai!"

Li Zhangsheng shook his head, lamenting the power of the Indestructible trait; the Behemoth has the title of Land King, and the Indestructible trait undoubtedly accounts for a significant portion of that.

This kind of defense-ignoring trait makes even the strongest body no different from tofu; unless the body is miraculous, the outcome of being pierced remains inevitable.

Of course, the Indestructible trait mainly targets physical defense; if it were energy defense, the effect would be greatly reduced.

"Adai, well done!" Li Zhangsheng praised, then stored the Dark Netherfire Crow's corpse into his Space Ring.

Soon, five Flying Demon Pets flew out carrying the Netherfire Crow cubs and Fairy Eggs, and Li Zhangsheng naturally rounded them all up.

The Bloodline concentration of a Spirit Beast is almost fixed; even if you draw a little blood today and a little more tomorrow, the Spirit Essence finally purified will not change. There are many smart people in this world, and they have naturally conducted many similar experiments.

"Blaze Bird, search the magma lake and find the Dark Netherfire Crow's collection!"

Among the many Demon Pets present, only the Blaze Bird does not fear magma.

*Chirp—*

The Blaze Bird let out an excited sound; it had long been impatient to experience a magma bath.

In the blink of an eye, the Blaze Bird dove into the boiling magma and disappeared.

Li Zhangsheng still had some expectations for the Dark Netherfire Crow's collection; after all, it was a Lord-level Spirit Beast.

However, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment; when the Blaze Bird flew out of the magma lake, its claws were clutching a few fire-red ores, which had starry patterns on them and were faintly emitting light.

"Fire-Radiance Stone!" Li Zhangsheng identified them and immediately recognized the name of these stones.

Fire-Radiance Stone can be used as the main material for low-to-mid-grade Fire Element Treasures, and can also be an auxiliary material for forging high-grade Fire Element Treasures. Its value is not high; a catty can be bought for a few Low-grade Soul Crystals.

"Are there any more?" Li Zhangsheng asked, unwilling to give up.

To his disappointment, the Blaze Bird shook its head.

"Forget it, anyway, the main reason for coming this time was for their Three-Legged Golden Crow Bloodline!" Li Zhangsheng did not feel much disappointment, casually putting away these few Fire-Radiance Stones, and prepared to recall the Demon Pets that were panting from the high heat.

"Eh, where did the Treasure-Hunting Mouse run off to?"

At this moment, Li Zhangsheng suddenly realized the Treasure-Hunting Mouse was missing.

Aixi, Round-Rolling, Adai, and the Emperor Crocodile looked at each other; since the siege of the Dark Netherfire Crow began, the Treasure-Hunting Mouse, which was originally with them, had disappeared, and they did not know where it had gone.

Li Zhangsheng frowned and had to use the Temporary Contract Mark to try hard to search for the Treasure-Hunting Mouse's position.

Soon, Li Zhangsheng discovered the general location of the Treasure-Hunting Mouse, which was near the mountainside. When he and the Demon Pets rushed over, they only saw a small hole in the ground and did not see the Treasure-Hunting Mouse.

This hole was obviously the masterpiece of the Treasure-Hunting Mouse, but judging from the position of the Temporary Contract Mark, the Treasure-Hunting Mouse was still working not far below the hole, and he didn't know what it was doing.

Not long after, the Treasure-Hunting Mouse's head poked out; it was sweating profusely from the heat, as it was even hotter and stuffier underground than outside, but there was a smile on its face as it handed a fire-red stone to Li Zhangsheng.

"Fire-Radiance Stone again!" Li Zhangsheng muttered to himself subconsciously, but he soon realized he was wrong. This stone looked somewhat similar to Fire-Radiance Stone, but there were still obvious differences; this fire-red stone did not have a single impurity and even looked somewhat crystal clear.

"This is Fire Essence!" Li Zhangsheng identified it for a moment and immediately reached a conclusion. As if he had thought of something, an undisguised smile appeared on his face.

Fire Essence is not an overly precious item; it can only assist Demon Pets below the Upper Rank to break through bottlenecks. Although its value is far higher than Fire-Radiance Stone, one piece is only worth about one or two hundred Soul Crystals.

However, that is not the key point; the key is that Fire Essence is a companion mineral of Fire-Radiance Stone veins!

Thinking of the few Fire-Radiance Stones the Blaze Bird brought out from the magma and the Fire Essence the Treasure-Hunting Mouse dug out, a thought occurred to Li Zhangsheng: there is very likely a Fire-Radiance Stone vein here.

At the thought of this, Li Zhangsheng became instantly excited. A single piece of Fire Essence or Fire-Radiance Stone is naturally not worth much, but what if it is a whole vein? Even if it is just a micro-vein, that is still a considerable fortune.

Li Zhangsheng hurriedly took out a Fire-Radiance Stone and asked with anticipation: "Treasure-Hunting Mouse, did you find this kind of stone underground?"

The Treasure-Hunting Mouse took a look and nodded vigorously.

The smile on Li Zhangsheng's face became even richer, and he continued to ask: "Are there many of these stones?"

The Treasure-Hunting Mouse thought for a moment and nodded again.

"There really is a Fire-Radiance Stone vein down here!" Li Zhangsheng was completely certain. As for the scale of this Fire-Radiance Stone vein, he would have to ask a specialist to survey it.

This place is not far from Luo City, so Li Zhangsheng naturally had an idea.

A Fire-Radiance Stone vein, no matter its scale, could bring a large amount of resources to Li Zhangsheng.

However, the difficulty of developing this Fire-Radiance Stone vein is not ordinary; ordinary people simply cannot endure the high-heat environment here, and only Monster Tamers and Demon Pets can do it.

To develop this Fire-Radiance Stone vein, many Monster Tamers and Demon Pets good at digging are needed. Hiring Monster Tamers is different from hiring ordinary people; even for a First-rank Beast Master, the labor cost alone is many times higher.

However, with the digging speed of Demon Pets, the efficiency is far superior to that of ordinary people, so for many mines located in remote and dangerous places, some forces like to hire Monster Tamers to dig, not only for the efficiency of the digging but also to significantly reduce the attrition rate.

Judging from Li Zhangsheng's connections, trying to organize a large number of Monster Tamers to develop the mine is undoubtedly very unrealistic. Those Monster Tamers who graduated from the various Academies are almost out of the question; after graduation, they either work for their own families or are recruited by major forces.

Li Zhangsheng does not have that much spare time to recruit people, and besides, he would have to manage them after recruiting, which would consume a lot of energy and would be more trouble than it is worth for him.

This place is only a few dozen miles away from Luo City, barely within the sphere of influence of Luo City. With the idea that charity begins at home, Li Zhangsheng prepared to cooperate with the Li Family to jointly develop this Fire-Radiance Stone vein, with the family responsible for recruiting and management, while Li Zhangsheng just sits back and enjoys the benefits.

One should look at a person with new eyes after three days of separation; the current Li Zhangsheng, in terms of strength, reputation, or influence, has become the premier existence in the family. Even Clan Leader Li Wenbo or the old Clan Leader Li Xinming are likely not his match.

Fourth-rank students of the Four Great Academies are naturally not comparable to ordinary Fourth-rank Demon Tamers from the outside world, but even the likes of Shen Haofei, Dou Yuansheng, and Qin Xiaoxin are not Li Zhangsheng's match.

Of course, nothing is absolute, it's just that the probability is very small.

In the suburbs of Luo City, Li Family Manor!

It was already after dusk, and Li Zhangsheng rode the Light Bird, circling down to the entrance of the Li Family Manor.

As soon as they saw the Light Bird, several guards guarding the gate subconsciously became alert, but when they saw Li Zhangsheng jump off the back of the Light Bird, they hurriedly bowed respectfully.

"Young Master Zhangsheng, you're back!!" This time, they all used honorifics, full of respect, as if Li Zhangsheng had become their idol.

The details of this Academy Exchange Tournament had spread to Luo City as early as yesterday, and the Li Family Manor had received the news early on; after all, this time the Li Family had four clansmen who became participants for Yuanling Academy.

Among these reports, they naturally included a series of Li Zhangsheng's "great achievements": during the Finals, Li Zhangsheng single-handedly swept through four grades of Tiandu Academy, and in the Grand Finals, he defeated the first and second grades of the Royal Academy in succession, even winning the Best Newcomer title with an absolute advantage and breaking the record for the youngest student to be selected for the Best Lineup.

This series of information shocked the nerves of everyone in the Li Family; the key was that Li Zhangsheng was only 16 years old. They cheered and jumped for joy, looking forward to the future growth of the family, and some busybodies even crowned Li Zhangsheng with the title of "Number One Person in the Family," yet no one openly opposed it.

It was also because of this that these guards all admired Li Zhangsheng from the bottom of their hearts.

"Everyone has worked hard. By the way, I have an important matter and wish to see the Clan Leader!"

As Li Zhangsheng's words fell, several guards all wanted to show off in front of Li Zhangsheng, turning around and heading to report to the Clan Leader at the fastest speed.

In this way, there was no one left to guard the main gate.

Looking at the unguarded gate, Li Zhangsheng could not help but rub his nose, considering it a preliminary experience of the change in his status within the family.

His prestige in the family was likely even higher than that of the various Clan Elders, and he even felt that as long as he had the thought of running for Clan Leader, most of the Clan Elders would likely stand on his side, and Li Wenbo might even take the initiative to "abdicate and yield the position to the worthy."

If it were a County Gentry or Famous Clan, there would still be people who could firmly suppress Li Zhangsheng in terms of prestige and ability, but the Li Family was merely a Local Power family, and the Stronger among them was only Fourth Rank, so this was different; Li Zhangsheng could easily become the head of the clan just by relying on the fame he gained at the Exchange Tournament.

Of course, Li Zhangsheng had absolutely no intention of being the Clan Leader; that would be a complete waste of time and energy. Given the scale of the Li Family, the resources obtained by a Clan Leader in ten years were likely not even as much as the profit from a single auction at the Starry Sky Auction House.

The profit mentioned here, the commission could only be counted as a small part; the Datou was still the High Quality Fairy that Li Zhangsheng captured or hatched from a Fairy Egg.

Soon, Li Zhangsheng was invited to Clan Leader Li Wenbo's reception room.

After sitting down as host and guest, the two exchanged pleasantries for a while. Li Wenbo no longer looked at Li Zhangsheng as casually as before, but treated him as a peer, and between the lines, he praised Li Zhangsheng a lot, especially for his feat at the Exchange Tournament.

"By the way, Clan Leader, I am prepared to contribute this Advanced Demon Taming Art to the family!" After the pleasantries, Li Zhangsheng did not immediately bring up the matter of the Fire-Radiance Stone mine, but took out the Inheritance Jade Slip containing the "Wanli Changhe Yuyao Jue," preparing to use it to earn some points for himself first.

An Advanced Demon Taming Art!

As soon as he heard "Advanced Demon Taming Art," how could Li Wenbo maintain his outward calm? The best Demon Taming Art of the Li Family was only an Intermediate one, and only the Clan Leader, Clan Elders, and clansmen who had made great contributions were qualified to practice it.

Li Wenbo usually hid this Intermediate Demon Taming Art like a treasure, caring for it more than he did his own wife and children.

Now, it was quite something; Li Zhangsheng opened his mouth and wanted to contribute an Advanced Demon Taming Art to the family, which made Li Wenbo feel ashamed; the two were clearly not people from the same world.

"Cough, cough, if this Advanced Demon Taming Art is authentic, I can represent the family in full to give you corresponding compensation!"

Li Wenbo pretended to cough twice to cover up the embarrassment of having never seen the world, but he began to worry in his heart; it seemed that apart from the family's heirloom treasure, other treasures in the family could not match the value of an Advanced Demon Taming Art at all.

Today's goal: four, pig, proof! Five thousand steps.

(End of this chapter)