I Have a Golden Crow

With no other choice, Du Yu recounted his earlier information-gathering mission once again.

Yang Qingqing looked at the stunning photos of the Ancient Tower, taken from various angles on the photo wall, and spoke, ”Bring it back, and I’ll help you nurture it. I’ve got a new task for you—in one hour, wait at the entrance of the Demon Spirit Bookstore, there’ll be a car to pick you up.”

Du Yu’s heart skipped a beat: ”Teacher, is the new mission target something I can accomplish in the Newbie Demon Spirit Realm in the southern suburbs?”

Yang Qingqing silently looked at the photos, then said, ”No, we’ll talk specifics in person.”

”Oh, okay.” Putting down his phone, Du Yu couldn’t help but sigh. He’d definitely listen to his mentor’s words.

Not to mention, getting to meet a teacher from Demon Spirit Academy was every unaffiliated student’s dream. If he could get a few tips as well, even better.

Thinking of this, Du Yu picked up the deeply sleeping Xiaoyan from his arms and returned the little one back into his body.

After washing up, Du Yu checked out and headed straight for the Demon Spirit Bookstore. He still had a handful of collection tasks to finish—honestly, his least favorite chore.

Normally, Demon Tamers weren’t allowed to cancel missions. Unless there were acts of God or something, once you’d taken a mission but couldn’t complete it, you’d have to wait until it timed out and was auto-cancelled, with points deducted by the Demon Spirit Bookstore as a penalty.

But Du Yu didn’t expect—his Bronze Ring came to the rescue!

With the Library Ring, Du Yu could now cancel any mission at will, no questions asked. That nearly had him grinning ear-to-ear.

He’d busted his back for days, managed to scrape together 4 points, and they almost all got docked back...

Having sorted everything out, Du Yu sat idly on a bench by the road with all his worldly possessions, while savoring his ”brand new” body.

To call it ”brand new” was a stretch, but leveling up to Small Tier really gave Du Yu a strange rush. Just yesterday, he’d been out of it and lethargic; now, he was bouncing with energy, feeling unstoppable from head to toe.

Is this what character upgrades feel like—full stats unlocked?

After waiting a while, a pitch-black sedan pulled up slowly. The passenger window rolled down. ”Du Yu, right?”

Now that was a unique way to greet.

Du Yu tugged up his hood’s brim, glancing at the young man in a checked shirt behind the wheel, and nodded in response.

”Hop in. Master Qing sent me to pick you up.” The guy looked like he was in his twenties, warm smile, pale and handsome features.

A Demon Tamer’s Spirit, Essence, and Qi were just different from a regular person. This guy’s gentle as-Jade aura was almost visible—yep, he had to be the platinum-standard softie.

Du Yu hurried into the back seat, put down his backpack and Demon Soldier, and asked, ”Did you just call me junior?”

”That’s right.” The gentle giant glanced at the rearview mirror, ”I’m Fu Jianzhou, one of Master Qing’s pupils.”

”Fu Jianzhou,” Du Yu mused, what a heroic name—totally Knight vibes.

’A hall full of drunken guests, a frosty sword chills fourteen provinces?’

This senior’s name was next-level, oozing with style!

Du Yu continued, ”Hello, Senior Brother Fu. By Master Qing, you mean Teacher Yang Qingqing, right?”

Fu Jianzhou nodded gently, starting the car. ”That’s what everyone calls her.”

Du Yu was curious. ”Senior, you look about 25 or 26?”

”I’m actually 28. Maybe I just look a little younger.”

Du Yu’s face quirked with confusion as he asked, ”So, Teacher Yang Qingqing is only 26 or 27?”

”Heh,” Fu Jianzhou chuckled, a note of nostalgia in his voice. ”I was a bit wild back when I was younger.”

Du Yu nodded thoughtfully. Since his senior didn’t elaborate, he didn’t press further.

Maybe he said something wrong, because the rest of the ride, Senior Brother Fu fell silent and just focused on driving.

Not until the car entered Xishu Garden and parked in front of a teacher’s home did Fu Jianzhou finally pull out an entry card, handing it to Du Yu with a smile: ”Hope you become a regular member soon and join our loving, wholesome family.”

”Thanks, Senior.” Du Yu hopped out carrying two bows and his backpack, still thinking his senior’s smile was a bit off.

Was that...pity?

Did I imagine that?

Fu Jianzhou clearly had no intention of meeting the mentor; after dropping Du Yu off, he sped away in his car.

”What a strange guy,” Du Yu muttered under his breath as he stepped into the building, took the elevator straight up to the 17th floor, and as the doors opened, found himself entering a botanical garden again.

”Teacher Yang, I’m he—woah~” Du Yu threw his hands up in surrender, completely giving up resistance.

Seemingly out of nowhere, vines whipped around his waist and pulled him through the leafy corridor, straight into the living room.

Just as he entered, Du Yu caught sight of a tall, graceful, astonishingly beautiful figure in the living room.

The woman wore a light green, long, palace-style robe, its embroidered patterns incredibly exquisite.

She stood with her back to the door, facing a wall of leaves.

On that wall, thin green vines like silk threads wove around a collection of photographs.

”Shadow Gu Tower.” As the vines delivered Du Yu to her side, Yang Qingqing tilted her head slightly, motioning to the leafy wall.

Du Yu: ”Oh?”

Yang Qingqing: ”A special Demon Spirit Realm, discovered in our city’s jurisdiction.”

Du Yu looked at the ancient, battered, and full-of-history Ancient Tower in the photos, then asked curiously, ”I checked all the Demon Spirit Realms around our city—how come I’ve never heard of this one?”

Yang Qingqing: ”Three months ago, it suddenly sprung up in a forest out of nowhere, no warning at all. We’ve kept it under wraps—you’d have no way of knowing.”

Du Yu’s heart thumped. ”Teacher, this new task for me—is it about this tower?”

Yang Qingqing nodded gently. ”Even now, we know very little about it. The mainstream opinion in the demon-taming academic world is that it’s an ancient Demon Soldier.”

Du Yu: ”Demon Soldier?”

He quickly looked up at the Ancient Tower—in his mind, Demon Soldiers were weapons like swords, sabers, halberds, axes, but who’d ever seen a tower as one...

How do you even fight with a tower?

Drop it on people? Or poke them with the tip?

Finally, Yang Qingqing turned to look at Du Yu. ”This abruptly appeared Ancient Tower is special. Different level Demon Tamers enter it, and what appears inside is different.”

For a moment, Du Yu struggled to take in such a fantastical fact, and just nodded blankly.

Yang Qingqing: ”Interested?”

Du Yu scratched his head: ”Didn’t any Demon Tamer Prentices do this mission?”

”There were, but none managed to reach the top.” Yang Qingqing sighed lightly, ”So far, Demon Tamers of the Master, General, and Saint levels have succeeded. The other four levels are still working on it.”

Demon Tamer Prentice, Demon Tamer Journeyman, Demon Tamer, Demon Taming Master, Demon Taming General, Demon Taming Emperor, Demon Taming Saint.

So, those who made it were the third, fifth, and seventh levels?

Du Yu asked, ”Since some ranks made it up, can’t a Demon Tamer Prentice just tag along behind?”

Yang Qingqing shot Du Yu an amused glare. ”Oh, so you’re the smart one and the rest of us are fools?”

”Heheh.” Du Yu gave an embarrassed laugh.

Yang Qingqing turned back to the leafy wall, sighing softly, ”No cheating allowed. You’ll see when it’s your turn.”

Du Yu asked in a quiet voice, ”What did they find at the top?”

Yang Qingqing: ”That’s what I want you to tell me.”

Du Yu: ”Wait, I mean—the ones who already made it, what did they find?”

Yang Qingqing tapped her fingers together, then reached out and flicked Du Yu on the forehead.

Thonk~

”Ouch...” Du Yu immediately sucked in a breath, gripping his forehead—his brain was buzzing.

She was so gentle, so how did it hurt so much?

Yang Qingqing brushed Du Yu’s hand aside, her long, slender fingertips glowing faint green. She gently pressed the spot on his forehead and said softly, ”Until you reach the Demon Tamer Prentice·Peak Stage, you’ll be living here with me.”

Du Yu: ”Uh, what...”

Staying at Teacher Qingqing’s house?

Just the two of us, a man and a woman—how improper is that? Hehe~

But then again, she’s got a whole forest in her place, each tree scarier than the next...