I Have a Golden Crow

Du Yu listened carefully for a while, then shone his flashlight on the river in front: ”Little Fen Yang, are there any Demon Beasts in the river?”

Little Fen Yang said uncertainly, ”No...right?”

”I trust you then, okay!” Du Yu stepped into the river. Having the Demon Breath Battle Robe was convenient; it could block rain, and naturally, it could also prevent the river from soaking his shoes and pants.

”Du Yu, Du Yu~”

”What?”

”There’s a pile of stones forming a path over there, you know.”

Du Yu looked at the water submerging his calves and spoke in a disenchanted voice, ”I’m already halfway across.”

”Hehe~”

Du Yu rolled his eyes begrudgingly, waded across the small river, and shone the flashlight on the trees.

Palm-sized red ladybugs covered the tree trunks and branches, making Du Yu feel itchy all over.

As Du Yu stepped onto the other side of the river, the red ladybugs suddenly stopped flapping their wings, and the loud, sharp noise abruptly ceased.

”My heavens.” Du Yu silently marveled, although the red ladybugs were weak in power, there were just too many of them.

Du Yu dared not provoke them. Xiaoyan was also hiding in his hood, her small head pressed against Du Yu’s cheek, looking at the readily available toys but not showing any intention to play with them.

A perfect illustration of bullying the weak and fearing the strong...

Indeed!

Such an excellent quality is just too fitting for my team!

Similarly timid, Du Yu cautiously explored the edge of the insect territory, traversing through the forest. Adjusting his angle, he finally saw the source of that dim light!

It was a withered, charred tree.

Unlike ordinary trees, this one appeared withered, with no leaves and large, cracked bark. From the cracks, a faint orange-red glow emanated, like flowing lava.

Du Yu suddenly jolted awake, realizing that the surrounding Demon Breath was no longer attributeless pure Demon Breath, but Fire Demon Breath!

Could it be...

These red ladybugs gathered because of this tree?

Du Yu hurriedly took out his phone, trying to scan that peculiar tree.

But the phone’s camera was not as effective as Du Yu’s eyes, unable to scan due to the distance.

”Woo woo~ woo woo woo...” In the silent forest, the faint sound of crying could be heard.

Du Yu was puzzled; how could there be the cries of other Demon Beasts within the insect race territory?

He quickly exited the Demon Spirit Atlas and opened the camera function.

And just as he started filming, with the cries of the Demon Beast cub, the red ladybugs began flapping their wings again, the sharp, piercing buzzing sound made Du Yu grit his teeth.

The loud insect noise, it was caused by the cries rising!

Being so close to the source of the sound, Du Yu couldn’t help but cover his ears and endured the sound for nearly half a minute until it finally ceased.

I really can’t stand this!

Was it the ladybugs that had gone off track, or the cicadas that strayed?

”I can’t do it, I don’t dare to go in.” Du Yu was troubled, knowing this was the red ladybug’s territory. If he entered rashly, would he provoke a group attack?

But the Demon Spirit Atlas clearly stated that the red ladybugs were relatively docile and not aggressive toward humans.

While furrowing his brow in thought, Little Fen Yang seemed to notice Du Yu’s hesitation and spoke up: ”Go ahead, the red beetles aren’t bad.”

Du Yu responded, ”This is their territory after all.”

Little Fen Yang: ”It’s okay, I and she have passed through many red beetle territories, and they were all very friendly.”

He/She?

Did Little Fen Yang accidentally mention the past?

With prior experience hitting a nerve, Du Yu this time pretended not to know and quickly asked, ”What if any of the red ladybugs are invaded by Cold Qi?”

”Around the Orange Juice Tree, it’s all Fire Demon Breath, filtered and transformed, so there won’t be any Cold Qi,” Little Fen Yang whispered.

”Orange Juice Tree?” Du Yu turned to look at the distant glow, was that the name of the demonic plant?

”That’s right~ Orange Juice Tree, although it’s a Fire Element, it’s still a tree, unforgivable! Let’s peel its bark!”

Du Yu: ”...”

”Pretty please.”

Du Yu first absorbed Xiaoyan into his body, gathered his courage, and cautiously stepped into the red ladybugs’ territory.

Heart in throat and on edge at every step.

No choice, the spectacle was truly terrifying, no wonder it was a Silver-level Task. Even if the Demon Spirit Atlas clearly tells you the red ladybugs are friendly to humans, it’s still difficult to muster the courage to enter here.

As he walked, Du Yu asked in his mind, ”If it’s all Fire Demon Breath around the Orange Juice Tree, then can we cultivate here, skipping the step of converting attributeless Demon Breath?”

”Yeah, but the Demon Breath here isn’t dense enough, we should go to a higher-level Demon Spirit Realm. If there’s Demon Fire to aid cultivation, that would be even better~”

”Demon Fire?”

”Mm-hmm, Celestial Materials and Earthly Treasures, so powerful! I used to have one, but sadly...”

Du Yu was intrigued: ”What happened? Did you lose your Demon Fire?”

Little Fen Yang: ”Used it to burn the tree!”

Du Yu: ”...”

Little Fen Yang: ”Demon Fire cannot be extinguished, when we become stronger, we must take it back!”

Du Yu pursed his lips, quietly asking, ”You said you used to have a type of Demon Fire, how many types of Demon Fire are there in total?”

”I don’t know, I’ve only seen three types.”

”Then do you know where the Demon Fire is?”

”I’m not sure, but if we’re close to the Demon Fire, I can sense it.”

”I see.” Du Yu took out a sandwich cookie from his pocket, swallowing it like medicine, ”Little Fen Yang, I’m just a Demon Tamer·Minor Success. Don’t rush, give me some time.”

”Mm! We will get stronger and stronger, one step at a time, building a solid foundation for each level!” Little Fen Yang said full of anticipation, ”I can feel you’re about to advance again.”

Du Yu walked cautiously, keeping his distance from each tree as much as possible, fearing he might brush against a ladybug: ”Really?”

”Yeah! You’re so weak, and with my help laying the foundation, you’ll advance quickly.”

”Alright.” Du Yu smacked his lips uncomfortably and faintly heard the cry of a beast cub again.

He immediately lay on the ground, covering his ears with his hands.

Du Yu’s prediction was very accurate. As the crying sound grew, the red ladybugs flapped their wings again, and the enormous sound waves completely engulfed Du Yu.

This is so terrifying...

After a while, the buzzing of the insects finally faded. Du Yu shook his buzzing head and got up again.

A few minutes later, after enduring two insect sound baptisms, Du Yu, who was left with ringing ears, finally arrived in front of the Orange Juice Tree.

Wow... Beautiful!

No longer needing the light of a flashlight, this charred, withered tree, with its cracked bark, had flowing molten liquid that was brilliant and dazzling.

No, it shouldn’t be lava, but rather a special orange-red liquid. Otherwise, how could the temperature be so low?

Du Yu quickly took out his phone to scan.

”Orange Juice Tree, Fire Element, Wood Element dual-element Demonic Plant.

The Orange Juice Tree commonly exists in various Demon Spirit Realms, capable of absorbing demon breath between heaven and earth and converting it into fire attribute demon breath, beloved by fire-type demon pets.

Power level assessment in progress...

Mortal Level·Minor Achievement Stage ~ Mortal Level·Great Success Stage, specific power subject to actual circumstances, atlas detection for reference only.”

Little Fen Yang: ”There seems to be something inside the tree.”

”Oh?” Du Yu once again opened the video recording function, dodging and avoiding the splatter of sparks, circling the Orange Juice Tree while filming.

Within the Demon Spirit Realm, there are fire-element demonic plants and many fire-element demon beasts, yet people don’t need to fear the entire mountain forest will be burned down.

If we consider the Demon Spirit Realm as a whole, it has its defense system, even self-healing functions, and will not allow itself to be destroyed.

Simply put, the realm’s pure demon breath is its best tool to resolve all problems.

”Whimper~whimper...” A tiny sobbing sound came again, only in the preparation stage, not yet wailing.

Du Yu squatted halfway down, peering through a vertically cracked seam in the withered tree, looking inside. There wasn’t any orange juice in this seam.

Is this little fellow trapped inside, and how did it get in there?

Du Yu switched the Demon Spirit Atlas, carefully probing the phone camera inside.

”Earth Freeze Block, Earth Element Demon Beast, Celestial Treasure Race.

Named for its gelatinous texture and block-like shape.

Earth Freeze Blocks are naturally mischievous, with high growth potential and high nurturing value.

Power level assessment in progress...

Mortal Level·Initial Stage, specific power subject to actual circumstances, atlas detection for reference only.

Common demon skills of Earth Freeze Block: 1, Earth Freeze Appearance...”

Celestial Treasure Race!

The celestial treasures of the world!

This means it wasn’t born from a womb or an eggshell but was naturally formed between heaven and earth.

Like Li Mengnan’s Wind Witch, this type of demon pet can’t be artificially bred, only obtained in the Demon Spirit Realm.

I’ve struck it rich, what the heck!

”Um~ jelly!” Little Fen Yang, through the Eye of Burning Sun, shared the visual with Du Yu, ”Pull it out.”

”Just pull it directly?” Du Yu doubted in his heart, could he really pull it out of the not-too-big nor too-small tree seam?

Hmm... true, this little fellow probably crawled inside this way.

Du Yu tried reaching a hand in, actually feeling like he touched jelly?

”Wah~wah!!!” The Earth Freeze Block immediately started wailing loudly.

Earlier on the other side of the river, Du Yu thought this little guy was whimpering, only to realize when he got closer, it was actually wailing loudly!

”Buzz!”

”Buzz!!!” A chain reaction ensues, and endless red ladybugs flap their wings again, the insect buzzing extremely piercing.

”Come out, you!” Under such a massive sound wave, Du Yu mustered his strength and pulled the Earth Freeze Block out.

”Uh?” As the square jelly squeezed through the tree seam, it got squashed flat, and the crying abruptly stopped.

Du Yu looked at the ”cushion” in his hand, not yet reacting when the cushion suddenly puffed up.

duang~

A perfectly square jelly appeared before Du Yu.

Du Yu turned and turned the square block in his hand and finally found the front side...

It had two eyes and a small mouth, entirely gray-brown, dirty-looking.

It seemed to be squeezed quite a bit by the tree seam and was now in a dizzy state.

Du Yu was exceedingly overjoyed. The gigantic, piercing insect buzzing seemed like a victory symphony.

What collection task is there to do?

Go back to the Demon Pet Center first and have this little guy fostered!

Xiaoyan, your king has money, and I can finally afford you!

If not for selling it but exchanging it with others for demon pets... haha!

While still thrilled, Du Yu suddenly noticed something unusual around him. The red ladybugs, who had been clinging to the tree, started flying around chaotically.

They are friendly to humans but towards other creatures, especially those invading their territory...

Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, Du Yu hurriedly squeezed and shoved the jelly block into his cloak and dashed away!