Chapter 18: A Legendary Summoner's Summoned Beast? Impossible, Absolutely Impossible!

Gone! It was really gone! It wasn't as though instances had never disappeared in this world before — some time-limited instances would vanish after their designated duration.

But for an instance like the Ridge Mountain instance, which had already merged into this world, disappearing was exceedingly rare! Even if the instance BOSS was killed, it would simply respawn and everything would start over — how could the entire instance just be wiped out!?

The Ridge Mountain instance was indeed somewhat special. It existed because of the Dark Demon Dragon Vix — this creature was unique. It was precisely its demonic Qi that caused so many dragon-blood monsters to appear at Ridge Mountain; with Vix dead, those monsters could no longer respawn.

The entire instance disappeared along with it!

While Luo Zhenyang and the others were still reeling from the instance's disappearance, a flash of light swept through the teleportation array in the city. The next moment, two people materialized from the array, and the instant they appeared, they flew directly onto the city wall.

Luo Zhenyang saw one of them and immediately stepped forward respectfully.

"Teacher!"

The man had a kindly face and a burly build; standing there, he was like a greatsword, radiating a sharp, piercing edge.

He was Luo Zhenyang's teacher, a teacher at the Holy War Academy, a Tier 5 Grand Swordmaster — Pei En!

Pei En nodded to him and asked gravely, "What is the situation now? Where are the Dark Demon Dragon and the Calamity-grade monster?!"

Luo Zhenyang pointed at a stretch of wasteland not far away and said:

"The Dark Demon Dragon was killed by that Calamity-grade monster, and then we received a notification that because the unique hidden BOSS had been slain, the Ridge Mountain instance would disappear after one hour. Just now, that instance vanished. Before that, the Calamity-grade monster was already nowhere to be seen."

Beside Pei En, the Tier 5 Grand Archmage Bao Renjie, holding a staff, frowned upon hearing this and said, "In other words, that Calamity-grade monster didn't disappear along with the instance, but used that so-called Void Concealment once again!?"

"This is trouble. It could reappear at any time."

Pei En sighed and said.

Luo Zhenyang, however, suddenly spoke up:

"Teacher, I've noticed that this so-called Calamity-grade monster hasn't harmed humans. Counting the Ridge Mountain instance, it has swept through three instances here in succession, yet there have been no casualties among the personnel inside. Teacher, I'm speaking hypothetically — is there a possibility that this monster is actually a summoner's summoned beast, under human control, and that's why it doesn't harm human levelers?"

Before Pei En could answer, the Grand Archmage Bao Renjie flatly rejected the idea.

"Absolutely impossible! A Calamity-grade monster is already in the realm of legendary divine pets. In the entire Daxia Alliance, there is only one divine-grade summoner, and that divine pet was only obtained after that summoner advanced to the legendary summoner class. If there were such a legendary-grade class-holder, there's no way we wouldn't know about it!"

Pei En also nodded upon hearing this and said:

"According to the intelligence you provided, this monster was only at level ten-something when it was first discovered. If it were a summoner's beast, that would mean they were a legendary-grade summoner at level ten-something. A legendary-grade class-holder — how could they go unknown? This is indeed highly unlikely to be a summoned beast.

Don't harbor any wishful thinking. We'll stay here for two days and see if anything else unusual occurs."

Hearing his teacher say the same, Luo Zhenyang erased that bold notion from his mind. He was probably just overthinking it — if a legendary-grade summoner had appeared, how could he not know?

The Ridge Mountain instance's disappearance and the great battle between the Dark Demon Dragon and the Calamity-grade monster — these two pieces of news quickly reached Liyang City.

Upon receiving this news, City Lord Fan Qingli was shocked, but also breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at Mu Nanshan and smiled, "From the looks of it, this monster is just continually heading to higher-level instances to devour monsters. It most likely won't come back to Liyang City. At the very least, our side is safe now!"

Mu Nanshan, however, had a trace of worry appear on his face.

"This monster, at only level forty-something, could already slay a level-two-hundred Dark Demon Dragon. With such strength and such a growth rate, once it grows past level two hundred, couldn't it directly destroy a main city?"

"Don't overthink it. This matter has been reported up, and naturally there will be experts paying attention. It's no longer something we can change. Even if it appeared right now, you and I wouldn't be a match for it anyway!"

Sun Jiugong spoke up to console them.

Fan Qingli also smiled and said, "Right, the most important thing now is still to urge the students to level up and prepare for the National Professionals' Exam in a little over a month. By the way, I heard from Old Sun that you've found a very promising Assassin-class seedling, already at level twenty-seven. That's a real treasure. Nanshan, you need to have your old man keep a closer eye on him and take care of him — don't let him venture alone into such dangerous places!"

Hearing Fan Qingli bring this up, Mu Nanshan frowned and said:

"I asked my father, and I also asked my daughter. Among this batch of students, there hasn't been a single rare-grade Assassin-class holder — not even an elite-grade one. He must have relied on his own fortune to obtain a hidden-class advancement skill book. To find him, short of a large-scale screening, I'm afraid we'll just have to wait until the exam to see."

"Oh? A hidden class, self-advanced. Then that makes him a dark horse for our Liyang City! Not bad, let's look forward to the day of the National Professionals' Exam! Haha!"

After Fan Qingli finished speaking, Sun Jiugong opened his mouth and said:

"This kid has a connection with me. I still haven't asked his name, but I've already run into him three times. Next time I see him, I'll get his information. I'll protect him as he grows. This kid has high talent and good luck — maybe he'll even take me leveling in the future."

Upon hearing this, Fan Qingli and Mu Nanshan both gave Sun Jiugong a thumbs up.

"It's got to be you!"

Lu Zheng had no idea that someone was already keeping him in mind. He woke up from a night's sleep, didn't do any card draws the next day, didn't even go out to level — instead, he began tallying up his haul.

First, let's look at what dropped from Vix.

【Item: Demon Dragon Horn】 ×4 【Effect: Contains dragon's might, dark power, and fire power; material for crafting equipment】

A dragon had one pair of horns, two in total, but what dropped was a type of material, not intact dragon horns.

【Item: Demon Dragon Scale】 ×30 【Effect: Contains dragon's might, dark power, and fire power; material for crafting equipment】

The scales were enormous, each one as large as a washbasin. They'd be best used for crafting armor — it wouldn't take more than a few to make a full suit.

【Item: Demon Dragon Bone】 ×10 【Effect: Contains dragon's might, dark power, and fire power; material for crafting equipment】

Each section of dragon bone was roughly half a meter long. Used to craft a magic staff, it should be an excellent material, and its value was certainly not low.

Lu Zheng had long been planning to forge a dagger. Combining the "Dark Power Gem" he obtained last time with the dragon horn should turn out quite well, but he reckoned there probably wasn't a single blacksmith in all of Liyang City capable of crafting equipment of that caliber.

Set that aside for now — let's see what treasures are in the dragon's chest.

Just seeing the first item, Lu Zheng nearly cried out in delight.

Equipment dropped!! Thanks for your support! (End of this chapter)