I Have a Golden Crow

”It’s okay, they’re not the enemy, it’s alright.” Du Yu gently soothed his beloved Demon Pets, and through the Contract, called out to Little You Ying outside the Leaf Cocoon.

”Ying~” Xiaoyan’s taut nerves eased a little. Somewhat tired, she slowly lay down on Du Yu’s chest.

Little You Ying’s flickering body also drifted through the layers of leaves, floating into the Leaf Cocoon.

The airtight Leaf Cocoon wasn’t exactly dark; the dense Wood Demon Breath emitted specks of green light, healing Du Yu’s body.

Although Du Yu didn’t have any external injuries, the sensation of his body being nourished by the green specks felt unusually pleasant, to the point where he even felt like his skin had improved a good deal?

Sigh... It really is a bit of a headache.

Because of these Eye of Burning Sun, my looks are shooting up like crazy. If I keep getting nourished like this, I’d really turn into some pretty boy.

Hmm... but that actually suits my current status as a king?

”You two worked hard.” Du Yu reached out to grip the torch handle, held it in front of his face. ”Thank you both.”

”Ying~” Xiaoyan whimpered coquettishly, her fluffy little head rubbing against Du Yu’s chin.

Little You Ying blinked her big eyes, the flame on her head burning a bit brighter — praised by her master, she was totally thrilled!

That silly dance appeared again, and Little You Ying spun in circles in front of Du Yu’s face.

Surprisingly, Xiaoyan didn’t act like her usual self. She didn’t mind this little thing that reeked of rotten eggs, just kept nuzzling Du Yu’s chin, softly purring, ”Ying~”

Oh? You Ying advanced to Earth Level·Minor Achievement too?

The message Xiaoyan sent through their Contract instantly delighted Du Yu!

Xiaoyan was already at Earth Level·Minor Achievement — she advanced with Du Yu in his Acupoint Home when he broke through. It had only been a day, and now Little You Ying had also leveled up during the battle.

Maybe feeling Du Yu’s delight, not only did Little You Ying keep spinning, but her torch flame even grew a bit brighter...

”No! Don’t explode!” Du Yu jumped in fright, hurriedly grabbed the torch handle, and smacked his head against the Ghost Firefly Torch...

Even after sending Little You Ying back inside, Du Yu still felt a lingering sense of fear.

The Leaf Cocoon wasn’t very spacious, and totally sealed. If Little You Ying exploded in here, all three of them would have been knocked out cold on the spot...

No one knows how much time passed. Right as Du Yu was getting drowsy, he felt himself being set down.

As the branches gradually withdrew, the Leaf Cocoon slowly opened, and Du Yu slid back into his seat, with a tall figure standing before him.

That dark, scarred face marked his identity.

”Instructor Gong?” Hugging Xiaoyan, Du Yu quickly looked around.

This should be a small hall inside a building on the base. The room was mostly empty. Other than a few departing soldiers, only Gong Cheng remained — Li Mengnan was nowhere to be seen.

Gong Cheng stood at Du Yu’s desk, and for once, spoke like a normal person: ”Pretty good showing, especially how you’ve raised your Demon Pets — well done.”

Everyone had noticed the performances of Hu Xiaoyan and Little You Ying, especially the Heterochromatic Demon Pet, Little Fire Fox. She was absolutely unstoppable!

She really had the demeanor of an ancient general charging the field, smashing through all obstacles, and not a single foe could last a round against her!

Honestly, these Demon Tamer Prentices and Demon Tamer Journeymen were just unlucky to have run into a Demon Pet with Glory Gold-level offensive power — it really was like being mugged by someone playing a different game...

Gong Cheng continued, ”But you’re also benefiting from Spiritual Qi. Only by letting your Demon Breath recharge endlessly inside the Bottomless could your Demon Pets keep performing at a stable level.”

Hearing this, Du Yu kept a poker face. Looks like Gong Cheng already knows I’ve got Spiritual Qi.

Gong Cheng: ”Everyone else’s Demon Breath is single-use — take Lin Shiwei for example. Before the mission changed, she’d gone pretty deep into the Bottomless too, racked up a ton of points, and her battle losses mounted. By the time she came back to block you at the entrance, only one of her Demon Pets could still fight.”

Du Yu curled his lip. ”If she had two Demon Pets, you think I couldn’t beat her?”

Gong Cheng actually chuckled: ”What, already forget how that girl pinned you to the wall and beat you just now?”

Du Yu snapped, ”What are you talking about, it was a fair fight! Besides, I won, didn’t I!”

Gong Cheng snorted, ”You were a Small Tier ahead of her, you were supposed to win. Yet she still pinned you to the wall...”

”Instructor Gong,” Du Yu grumbled, his face pained, mumbling, ”Can you stop going on about pinning me to the wall? That’s a young lady you’re talking about, sounds bad if word gets out.”

Gong Cheng gave Du Yu a strange look, sizing him up, ”My suggestion is you learn some close-range combat skills. You’re still young, and there’s plenty of room to grow.”

Du Yu finally understood what Gong Cheng was getting at, and quickly said, ”Actually, I can do melee. This time, for my customized Demon Soldier reward, I’m going to have them mount blades on the ends of the bow arms.”

Gong Cheng thought for a second and said, ”The bow will always have its limitations. If you like blades, you could also train with daggers or military bayonets.

Next time you get into close combat, don’t let yourself get pinned to the wall and beaten by a girl again like you did today.”

Du Yu: ”...”

Guess I’m never living this one down.

Gong Cheng looked at Du Yu, then at the Heterochromatic Demon Pet perched on his shoulder. ”I’ll talk this over with Master Qing. Train hard under her, and get a firm foothold at Demon Spirit Academy.

I’ll be keeping an eye on you. If things work out, I hope to take you to the battlefield myself in the future.”