Chapter 40: Claim the Reward!

“Boom!!!”

The ground, already riddled with wounds from the Devil’s rampage, instantly collapsed under Ling Xiaoyou’s detonation of the Shadow Ball. Ghostfire erupted from beneath, swallowing the Devil whole.

“Uwaaahhhh!!!”

The Devil let out a horrific scream.

Even though the red light could extinguish the Ghostfire, more flames surged up from the underground the moment one was snuffed out.

Blue flames burned on the Devil’s body, crackling loudly.

The Devil howled in agony, even more miserable and piercing than before.

Uwah, does it really hurt that much?

Hearing the Devil’s screams in her ears, Ling Xiaoyou wondered to herself.

But she didn’t bother worrying about how miserable the Devil sounded. After all, it was what he deserved.

And no matter how pathetically he screamed now, once the Ghostfire disappeared, he would surely recover.

Still, Ling Xiaoyou never planned to defeat the Devil with just this. She intended to use the spell she had recently learned.

That is—’Meimeng’!

Everything she did before was to torment the Devil, driving him to the brink of unconsciousness so her spell could be cast smoothly without resistance.

A dim red light flickered in Ling Xiaoyou’s eyes, carrying a magic that seemed to pierce all barriers and reach straight to the soul.

Then, Ling Xiaoyou looked at the screaming Devil.

Seeing his mind already blurred by pain, she instantly activated ‘Meimeng’.

Immediately, the screams stopped.

The Devil collapsed stiffly to the ground.

Ghostfire still crackled on his body, but it was as if he felt no pain.

A terrifying yet blissful smile spread across his burned lips.

Mmhm, the effect is pretty good.

No matter how much physical pain is felt, as long as they’re affected by ‘Meimeng’, they fall into a beautiful illusion.

Truly worthy of the name Meimeng!

Ling Xiaoyou sighed, then let out a long breath of relief.

Although this Devil was foolish, his strength far exceeded her own.

She had to be cautious not to get hit.

Still, she finally dealt with the Devil.

Now then…

Ling Xiaoyou eagerly opened the System Panel.

Seeing the task progress marked [Completed], she couldn’t help but smile brightly, the corners of her mouth lifting in joy.

Now it’s time to claim the reward!

‘System-chan, claim reward!!!’

Ling Xiaoyou cheered in her heart, and the [Claimed] mark appeared in the reward section of her System Panel.

In an instant, Ling Xiaoyou felt all her attributes increase.

Her strength grew, her spirit body became more solid, and her previously tired mind felt refreshed.

Even her already impressive speed improved further!

A full attribute increase of 2 points—what an immediate effect!

Ling Xiaoyou felt that if she faced the Devil again now…

She still couldn’t win!

Ahem, the difference in level is just too much—a hard gap that can’t be overcome.

But that’s only if fighting head-on!

If she used her speed, Ling Xiaoyou thought she might not even need ‘Meimeng’ to defeat the Devil!

Hmm, hmm, hmm. I’ve gotten even stronger.

Now the day I can toy with Bai Shuanglian is even closer!

Ling Xiaoyou was so happy, her lips curled into a cute cat’s smile.

Then, she looked at the System Panel again, ready to claim the second reward—the option to upgrade any spell to the ‘Mastery’ level.

As for which spell to choose, Ling Xiaoyou had already decided.

‘Meimeng’!

If she hadn’t used ‘Meimeng’ in real combat, she might have hesitated.

But after experiencing it, she realized how useful the spell was!

Once cast, there’s a chance to instantly trap the opponent in an illusion.

Though it might fail, just like earlier, putting the enemy in a mentally unstable state greatly increased the success rate.

Strictly speaking, rage is also a kind of mental instability, but Ling Xiaoyou wanted to maximize her chances, so she waited until the Devil was delirious from Ghostfire torment before activating ‘Meimeng’.

It’s just like catching a Pokémon.

While you can try to catch it directly, the chances are higher if you weaken it first.

And Ling Xiaoyou wasn’t the type to gamble with probabilities—especially since she always hits the lowest rate when drawing cards!

Her small hand slid across the System Panel, directly clicking the ‘Meimeng’ spell option.

In an instant, countless streams of knowledge poured into Ling Xiaoyou’s mind, instantly elevating her understanding of the ‘Meimeng’ spell!

In game terms, the success rate of casting ‘Meimeng’ had skyrocketed!

Ohohoho, my ‘Meimeng’ has grown stronger again.

Bai Shuanglian, just wait for the day I toy with you to arrive!

It must be soon!

Ling Xiaoyou thought happily and excitedly, closed the System Panel, and prepared to walk toward Xiaoyu.

The battle with the Devil hadn’t taken much time.

Xiaoyu was probably still anxiously waiting for her to return.

She should hurry back, so Xiaoyu wouldn’t worry too long.

Next, she had to think about how to call for reinforcements.

There was no way only one Devil was responsible for all this—there had to be more accomplices.

Ling Xiaoyou had no confidence in defeating the other Devils alone, so she planned to send a message to Sister Ling and ask her to help.

With Sister Ling around, things would definitely be resolved quickly.

Ling Xiaoyou walked with a light step of ‘things are finally ending’ toward where she had left Xiaoyu.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed behind her, causing her to freeze.

Ling Xiaoyou spun around in shock and saw the Devil slowly rising from the pit, red light shining in his eyes as he stared at her.

No way, Gomen, why aren’t you dead yet?!

Are you telling me I have to fight a third phase?!

Ling Xiaoyou mentally screamed, but her hands were already moving, ready for battle.

She had just leveled up!

There’s no way she feared the Devil now!

But the Devil only glanced at her coldly, not attacking with the rage she expected.

“Mr. Naer, how could he mess up something so simple? Looks like I overestimated him.”

“I told him long ago to learn the matching spell for ‘Blood Navel’, but he never listens. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had to come here myself.”

The Devil spoke slowly, his hoarse voice uttering words Ling Xiaoyou couldn’t understand.

What did that mean?

Naer?

Why did it feel like this guy had become someone else, and was talking as if he and himself were different people?

Ling Xiaoyou shook her head, not wanting to think about it anymore.

Whatever.

She’d just beat him up first and ask questions later!

Ling Xiaoyou prepared to attack, but then saw the Devil raise his hand and point at her.

A crimson, ominous beam shot from his fingertip.

What kind of move is that?!

He never used it before!

There was no time to think.

Ling Xiaoyou hastily dodged the attack.

After she moved aside, the crimson beam shot forward like a straight sword of light, piercing tree after tree, flying hundreds of meters away.

Ling Xiaoyou was stunned, unable to imagine what would happen if she got hit by that.

“Such heavy injuries?”

The Devil frowned at his palm, surprised by the charred mark he saw.

Then he glanced at Ling Xiaoyou, who was still shocked by the power of the crimson beam, and seemed lost in thought.

“Forget it. I’d better leave quickly. Otherwise, even the Exorcist won’t be able to contain it.”

The Devil muttered softly, then raised his hand as red light blazed.

A dazzling red glow shone, as if a crimson sun had appeared in the dark forest.

Ling Xiaoyou reflexively shut her eyes and teleported to Xiaoyu, who looked at her with worry.

“Pen Fairy Sister, you’re back!”

Seeing Ling Xiaoyou return, Xiaoyu clearly brightened up.

Ling Xiaoyou didn’t intend to say much—she just nodded, telling her not to worry.

At the same time, she reached out to pick Xiaoyu up and escape.

She wasn’t sure what was happening, but one thing was clear: the Devil was definitely acting strange, and it might be some kind of wide-area destructive spell.

So she needed to take Xiaoyu and run—fast!

As Ling Xiaoyou’s hands reached for Xiaoyu, the ‘Blood Navel’ wrapped around Xiaoyu suddenly flared with red light.

The moment she saw the light, Ling Xiaoyou knew things were bad and sped up.

But no matter how fast she was, she couldn’t outrun light.

The red light flashed.

Xiaoyu vanished instantly, and even the Devil in the distance disappeared, leaving only Ling Xiaoyou standing dumbfounded in the empty forest.

Ling Xiaoyou: ???