“Today’s class ends here. There are no classes this afternoon. Everyone remember to study carefully how to activate your Ability. Once you activate your Ability, report to the teacher immediately.”
Ding-ling-ling~
With the melodious sound of the school bell, the university teacher on the podium, after giving a routine reminder to Class 18, walked out of the classroom.
Seeing the teacher leave and the day’s lessons over, Su Qi had originally planned to just grab a quick hot meal at the cafeteria before heading to meet his good brother Mo Yu.
As for why he wasn’t eating with Mo Yu, the reason was simple.
After all, Su Qi had only made one lunchbox. If they ate together, it might reduce the therapeutic effect for Mo Yu.
For Mo Yu’s health, Su Qi decided to just have a simple meal by himself at noon.
But just as Su Qi got up and walked out of the teaching building, he saw a stunning figure holding a parasol, standing under a poplar tree, waving her fair, graceful arm, tiptoeing, and calling out excitedly.
“Su Qi Junior Schoolmate, over here, over here.”
The beautiful figure was none other than Su Qi’s senior Lin Xue.
Since Lin Xue had barged into Su Qi’s house yesterday, leaving only a note, she hadn’t contacted Su Qi proactively.
The reason she hadn’t reached out was because Lin Xue had been considering things carefully.
During the time she spent communicating and interacting with Su Qi, she realized that this adorable junior was someone who responded better to gentleness than firmness and wasn’t very good at refusing others.
If they chatted on Tengxin, given Lin Xue’s relatively low favorability towards Su Qi, their conversation might just end up with her being rejected for various reasons.
Compared to the distance and space for refusal that online chat provided, approaching Su Qi in real life was definitely a better method.
Especially after the previous cafeteria incident, now that she was pursuing Su Qi, doing so publicly meant that with Su Qi’s cute and soft temperament, he probably wouldn’t refuse her.
Lin Xue’s strategy was truly an open and obvious one.
Feeling the envious and jealous gazes from many male classmates and some female classmates with sparkling, gossiping eyes, Su Qi, usually a background nobody at school, felt an immense pressure at this moment.
He wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t find a good reason. In the end, he could only let Lin Xue come over intimately beside him.
Seeing Su Qi’s fair, delicate face blush faintly under everyone’s attention, his small head slightly bowed down—it was very cute.
Under normal circumstances, Lin Xue’s flirtatious personality would have teased him a bit.
But now, because of the “Gu Wen Yin” factor—the childhood rival—Lin Xue didn’t want to tease Su Qi and lower her favorability score. Instead, she leaned closer to his ear and spoke solemnly in a voice meant for only the two of them.
“Su Qi Junior Schoolmate, although I’m pursuing you now, I’ve come to see you for serious business this time. It’s about the Cangyou Wildcat Team. Come, I’ll take you somewhere quiet to talk.”
Hearing Lin Xue mention the Cangyou Wildcat Team and serious business, Su Qi felt a bit reluctant inside.
But as a proper worker, he finally nodded.
Seeing Su Qi agree, Lin Xue, in the next moment, naturally took Su Qi’s smooth hand with her unoccupied hand holding the parasol.
“Junior Schoolmate, this way. I’ve reserved a restaurant; we can eat while we talk.”
Noel Restaurant was a unique mid-range Western restaurant beside Spiritual Martial University, famous for its slime jelly desserts.
Its sign featured a little girl holding a magic wand, so cute and lively it gave people the impulse to enter.
Su Qi had always been curious about its taste, but the 500-yuan average price per person had always deterred him.
Today, borrowing Lin Xue’s presence, Su Qi entered the restaurant for the first time.
Soft lighting, elegant music, and faint delicious aromas greeted him as soon as he stepped inside.
Led by Lin Xue, Su Qi arrived at a private room perfect for chatting.
“Xiao Qi, sit here. I’ll tell you about the recent situation with the Adventurer Guild. Yesterday, I already informed the other members of the Cangyou Wildcat Team; now, you’re the only one left.”
Just as Su Qi sat down, Lin Xue cut straight to the point.
Seeing Lin Xue so serious, Su Qi relaxed a bit.
After all, Su Qi had just gone through the Charm Demon incident yesterday and really didn’t want too much contact with girls now, nor did he want to be teased.
Lin Xue gently pulled a chair over opposite him, quietly placed the parasol aside, and seeing Su Qi wasn’t resisting much, breathed a slight sigh of relief.
She softly took out her phone and opened the first photo, which appeared to be from the Saint Ruins.
At the center of the screen was a majestic, enormous, strong Golden Dragon with golden scales.
The first glance gave an overwhelming sense of power, coupled with a faint feeling of age.
Seeing this dragon, Su Qi couldn’t help but be a little startled.
After all, the giant dragon incident from eight years ago, where the nearby town was engulfed in flames, was something Su Qi, though young then, was aware of.
Now that a giant dragon had appeared, it meant Lin City might be facing danger.
Su Qi frowned and felt confused.
A dragon appeared in the Saint Ruins near Lin City, which was serious.
But why tell an adventurer like himself?
Sensing Su Qi’s confusion, Lin Xue’s explanation came just in time.
“Xiao Qi, this dragon was found by the Hero Party during their exploration of the Saint Ruins yesterday. Actually, it was the dragon that attacked the Hero Party first.
Normally, dragons, although irritable and quick-tempered, tend not to attack humans because of their huge size.”
As she spoke, Lin Xue handed Su Qi a cup of QQ-soft jelly topped with some toppings—the signature slime pudding.
She continued, “The dragon’s attack on the Hero Party yesterday, and the recent rampages of most of the spirit beasts in the Saint Ruins moving toward the Fourth Holy Ruins all point to one thing: this old and feeble dragon might be hiding some secret. The Adventurer Guild’s task for us is to collect any clues related to the dragon’s anomaly during our routine explorations of the Saint Ruins.”
Taking the slime pudding, Su Qi’s eyes lit up.
Perhaps influenced by the Su Wife Ability, he found himself liking sweets more than before, especially those shiny, crystal-looking treats.
He scooped a spoonful of the slime pudding, the sweet, soft texture making him squint his eyes in pleasure.
Hearing that all adventurers were gathering clues was a relief—at least it wasn’t a full-scale war with the dragon.
Otherwise, given the charm value of his Su Wife Ability and the previous “Tyrant Bear” incident, Su Qi really feared he’d be captured!
While breathing a sigh of relief, Su Qi was still a bit puzzled.
“Lin Xue Senior, is this the ‘serious business’ you mentioned? This could have been said over the phone.”
Hearing Su Qi’s question, Lin Xue shook her index finger playfully.
“Nope. Now that the dragon has appeared, Su Qi Junior Schoolmate, do you know what this means?”
“Means what?”
“It means our B-level Cangyou Wildcat Team’s missions will become a lot busier. You should be prepared. Oh, and by the way, there will be a mission again tomorrow noon. The location is near the Purple Spirit Serpent area. You’ll be available, right?”
While speaking, Lin Xue took an assignment from her bag.
Looking at the mission, Su Qi was stunned.
Capture the Saint Ash Rabbit (A-level)
Wasn’t the Saint Ash Rabbit described in this A-level gathering mission the very culprit who had stolen his lunchbox and caused his Ability to upgrade?
Was he really going to capture it?
Hehe, this was great!
If he caught this spirit beast, he would give it a good beating—how could it steal everything?
“I have time tomorrow.”
Seeing Su Qi’s full of enthusiasm response, Lin Xue’s crimson lips curled into a gentle smile.
But in the next second, as if she remembered something, Lin Xue opened her phone, switched to a special group chat, opened a video, and handed it to Su Qi.
“Su Qi Junior Schoolmate, take a look at this video.”
As the video expanded, Su Qi immediately recognized the background as the Purple Snake Forest he had visited once.
Only this time, unlike the previous nocturnal excursion of the Cangyou Wildcat Team, the video showed a bright day with clear visibility.
With the video starting, a familiar person appeared—a classmate who had once mocked Su Qi: Li Jian.
It seemed Li Jian had failed his challenge that night and was trying again.
After clenching his fists and psyching himself up, Li Jian’s gaze swept over a Snake Spirit Fruit, and he began climbing the Purple Spirit Serpent tree.
Perhaps because of the prior failure, Li Jian was wearing iron underwear this time.
Noticing Li Jian’s approach, many Purple Spirit Serpents bared their fangs and hissed low threats.
But the fitness enthusiast Li Jian paid no mind and steadily climbed the tree trunk.
One after another, the purple spirit snakes slithered onto his body but couldn’t harm him.
Just as Li Jian climbed the trunk and was about to successfully pluck a Snake Spirit Fruit, a huge purple spirit serpent, about 3 meters long with a deep green body, suddenly appeared.
With a whip of its tail, Li Jian was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.
At that moment, the video recorded the question of the cameraman:
“Strange, when did the Purple Snake Forest get such a big spirit serpent? I definitely didn’t see it the day before yesterday.”
…
After watching the entire video, Su Qi, who was eating the slime pudding, felt his small heart skip a beat with a bad premonition.
Emmmmmmm, before his interview, there wasn’t such a big spirit serpent.
But now, after the interview, such a giant spirit serpent appeared.
Could it be because he fed the Purple Spirit Serpents that they mutated?
No way, it should… should be just his imagination!