Chapter 9: Warning Again! So That Calamity Boss Went to the Red Demon Forest

Arriving at the edge of the Red Demon Forest, Lu Zheng first checked the power he currently possessed.

Taotie's level had already risen to 17, the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox had reached 14, and below them the Crescent Moon Falcon had reached 12. The other elite-quality beast pets were only at level 10, and as for the one-star beast pets, they were basically all still at level 1.

The monsters in the Red Demon Forest were generally level 20 to 30. If he only had the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox as a beast pet, Lu Zheng would not have dared to come here — after all, if he sent the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox out to fight, relying solely on the Crescent Moon Falcon and other low-quality beast pets would not be enough to guarantee his own safety.

But with Taotie in hand, Lu Zheng could run rampant in the Red Demon Forest! His own level had now reached 15, even higher than the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox's level, all because Taotie leveled up too quickly, feeding back a massive amount of experience to him. Even though it was only a fifth, combined with the feedback from his other beast pets, it was enough to let him level up rapidly.

And although he was only level 15, the base attribute feedback from his many beast pets leveling up meant his personal base attributes far exceeded those of ordinary professionals of the same level — even those with rare professions could not compare to him!

Sending out over a hundred one-star beast pets to scout the way, Lu Zheng once again plunged into a state of slaughter.

Today he did not let Taotie directly activate its 'Black Hole Devour' skill; he wanted Taotie to assist the other beast pets in leveling up.

In addition, he also wanted to refresh his summoning slots several hundred or even a thousand more times today, to see whether he could expand the number of fine-quality or higher beast pets.

As for serving as support, Taotie did not need to do anything — it only needed to stand in front of those monsters.

【Skill: Fierce God's Might (Passive)】

【Effect: Centered on you, releases a fierce god's oppressive aura within a certain range, inflicting fear on all targets whose level does not exceed yours by 30, reducing their mental defense by 50% and lowering their movement speed by 50%】

Under this passive effect, all targets lost their will to fight, enveloped by fear, their movement speed reduced by half — they were completely lambs to the slaughter! Add to that the little fox striking first to inflict heavy injuries on the vast majority of targets, which in turn allowed the other lower-combat-power beast pets to slay wild monsters and gain experience.

The one whose level rose the fastest was still the little fox itself.

By the time the average level of his existing 21 elite-rank beast pets had risen to 15, the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox's own level had already reached 18, surpassing Taotie.

This made the little fox extremely smug. It proactively came forward wanting a hug, and even let out a 'ying ying' cry toward Taotie as if in provocation.

But Taotie had no intention of paying it any attention at all. Taotie would ever only say one thing to Lu Zheng.

'I'm hungry.'

This glutton seemed as though it could never eat its fill! Seeing that it was getting late and it was time to return to the city, Lu Zheng left Taotie deep in the Red Demon Forest and went to the edge himself, then issued an order allowing it to start eating.

Lu Zheng had long since discovered that there was no distance limit between his beast pets and himself.

Within the range of his spiritual perception, he could deploy beast pets at any location, and retrieving them did not require sensing the other party — a single thought, and no matter where the beast pet was, it would instantly return to its summoning slot.

Taotie was extremely happy to receive the order to start eating. The next moment, deep in the Red Demon Forest, a black storm sweeping across dozens of miles appeared.

Compared to the black pine trees, the red-leaf maples of the Red Demon Forest were higher level and sturdier, so they were not uprooted entirely, but they were still nearly stripped of all their leaves and branches by the powerful gravitational force, leaving behind nothing but bare trunks.

The other plants and wild monsters went without saying — they were all swept into Taotie's belly in one gulp.

Watching the experience gain notifications constantly popping up on his panel, Lu Zheng gradually walked out of the Red Demon Forest and entered the Gray Rock Mountain Range, where only wild monsters below level 20 roamed.

He dashed rapidly through here, leaving behind trails of phantoms where he stood.

This was him using a newly acquired skill — 【Phantom Shift】, obtained from drawing a three-star rare beast pet half an hour ago.

【Summoned Beast: Unnamed】

【Race: Phantom Spirit Cat】

【Quality: Three-Star Rare Beast Pet】

【Level: LV. 1 (0.00%)】

【HP: 200/200】【Mana: 30/30】

【Strength: 8】

【Agility: 15】

【Spirit: 5】

【Constitution: 5】

【Skills: Phantom Thrust, Phantom Shift】

【Skill: Phantom Shift】

【Effect: Within the range of spiritual perception, creates three or a multiple of three phantoms. Your body can freely shift among the phantoms. The more phantoms created and the longer they exist, the more mana is consumed. Minimum cost: 3 mana.】

This skill, whether used to dodge damage or to quickly stealth away and escape, could be called a Divine Skill. Lu Zheng liked it very much.

And as he sprinted while using this skill, a figure traveling through the air toward the Red Demon Forest paused briefly and let out a surprised exclamation.

"It's this kid again. So he really is an Assassin — seeing how powerful this skill is, he's at least a rare-quality Assassin professional!"

Sun Jiugong only had time for a brief inward sigh of admiration, with no time to look closely. A violent energy disturbance had been detected in the Red Demon Forest, and he needed to confirm the situation as quickly as possible.

When he arrived above the Red Demon Forest and saw that familiar figure flash past within the black storm, he could not help but grow angry.

"Damned mutated Calamity monster! You escaped again! Next time I will definitely kill you!"

That said, he sensed that the monster was clearly somewhat stronger than it had been back in the Black Pine Forest. Realizing that this creature was constantly growing stronger, Sun Jiugong could not help but reveal a look of worry.

He quickly returned to the city, and before long, the city's level-two alert was activated once again! At the City Lord's Manor, Sun Jiugong said in a deep voice, "This one is very clever. Both times, the moment I arrived, it hid itself right after. Before, it was devouring in the Black Pine Forest; this time, it was devouring in the Red Demon Forest. The level of its devouring targets has gone up, which means its own level has also rapidly increased in a short period of time.

If a Calamity-level mutated monster is allowed to grow, let alone advancing to third-tier or above, even if it only reaches second-tier, I fear it would be enough to destroy our small city.

The next time it is discovered, it absolutely must be killed!"

Fan Qingli said with a face full of worry, "You said it yourself — it disappears the moment it sees you, and you can't sense it. Even if we swapped in an expert above third-tier, they might not necessarily be able to find it. How are we supposed to kill it?!"

Sun Jiugong sighed helplessly.

"Whatever the case, let's stay on alert for one night! We'll contact a third-tier powerhouse in advance, so that if the monster launches an attack, we can call for help in time."

"That's all we can do for now."

Returning home, Lu Zheng wore an awkward expression upon learning that the entire city was on alert once again.

It seemed he would need to be more careful next time. If he got caught, whether it was the damage to the dungeon or the losses caused by triggering a city-wide alert, it would be no small sum — he could never afford to pay it!

Anyway, there were still over two months until the college entrance exam, so there was no rush. Once he had tens of thousands of spirit pets leveling him up, he could just lie flat.

Decided! He'd let this glutton Taotie go hungry for a while first!

Early the next morning, the alert was lifted, and Lu Zheng came to the Red Demon Forest once again.

(End of this chapter)