Chapter 75 – When Out and About, One Must Protect Oneself

In the end, Su Ming did not contact Xu Qianqian.

The mere thought that he had become the “damsel” in a “hero saving the beauty” scenario and might even have developed some inappropriate feelings for Xu Qianqian, the “hero,” left Su Ming in a daze, which puzzled An Zijin and the others.

As a result, when everyone returned to their rooms and An Zijin dragged away Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei—both looking on the verge of tears—to have a serious talk about the morning’s incident, Su Ming completely forgot his original intention to seek out Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei.

Lei Hao and Ye Bai were eager to join in, but they were shut out by the group of junior female students. Left with nothing to do, they ended up playing a board game in the living room, looking utterly bored.

That night, the six of Su Ming’s group did not take on any missions.

It wasn’t just Su Ming; many squads chose to rest that evening, even those who hadn’t met their contribution targets set their sights on the next day.

Tomorrow was the day the entrance to the Spirit Demon Abyss would open.

In preparation for the upcoming battles, not only the students but even the Professionals in Huaming District chose to conserve their energy that night. Some maintained their weapons, others organized supplies and portable tools, making thorough preparations.

Naturally, many scheming individuals were also making various preparations in secret.

Just as Su Ming was about to sleep, he received a call from the girl he had contacted the previous night.

“I’ve found the Alchemist you were looking for,” the girl’s seductive voice came from the other end of the phone, causing Su Ming, who was lying in bed, to sit up abruptly.

“So fast?” Su Ming was surprised.

He had thought that finding an Alchemist who met his requirements would take considerable effort, even for the girl on the other end of the line.

He hadn’t expected her to find one in just a day.

Of course, this was because Su Ming had miscalculated.

“An Alchemist capable of refining Nightmare Species blood into Phantom Demon Potions might not be found even if you searched all of Longyao City. So, I started by looking among the top-tier ones to see if any met the requirements,” the girl’s light laughter was clear and full of delight.

“I originally thought we might have to search in Yinze City to find an Alchemist with that level of skill, but our Longyao City also has hidden talents. There really is one person whose skills are up to par.”

Thus, the girl had easily completed her task.

However, finding someone was one thing; whether they could be entrusted with the task was another matter entirely.

“Can they be trusted?” Su Ming asked bluntly. “And what’s their success rate in refining?”

Su Ming didn’t dare to casually hand over the precious Nightmare Species blood.

The girl naturally understood Su Ming’s personality.

This guy clearly had great abilities but preferred to stay in the Academy as an ordinary, background student. Though she still didn’t see the necessity in this approach, she knew he wasn’t one to easily expose himself or his assets.The matter of the Nightmare Species’ blood was also of great importance. Just today, the higher-ups in the Base City were in an uproar over a youngling rumored to have the potential to evolve into a Nightmare Species. If they were to find out that Su Ming held clues related to it, the situation would escalate significantly.

The girl even suspected that Su Ming’s sudden inquiry about refining the Nightmare Species’ blood and his request for her to find him an Alchemist might be connected to that rumored youngling.

In other words, it was possible that the rumored youngling had fallen into Su Ming’s hands.

However, there were still some puzzling points.

For instance, according to the intelligence, the rumored youngling had not yet evolved into a Nightmare Species. Even if Su Ming had obtained it, he would likely need to expend tremendous effort to nurture it to that stage, with the added risk of evolution failure. So why was he already seeking an Alchemist now?

Moreover, extracting the Bloodline of a Phantom Demon required a highly complex preparation process. The news about the youngling had only spread yesterday—could Su Ming have already completed the extraction?

These were the points that slightly puzzled the girl.

If this were happening to anyone else, she might have delved deeper to uncover the truth.

But since it was Su Ming, after some thought, she decided to let it go.

This man had always been shrouded in mystery. Even she had been unable to uncover many of his secrets. Merely sensing his extraordinariness was no easy feat; trying to unearth his other secrets would likely be far from simple.

Fortunately, the girl had long prepared herself for a protracted battle.

“Sooner or later, I will make sure you have no more secrets left in front of me.”

This was the declaration she had once made to Su Ming’s face.

For now, however, she knew that the rapport between her and this infuriating man was not yet strong enough.

So, tactfully, she avoided the more serious topics and answered the questions Su Ming cared about.

“His credibility is quite solid,” she said. “His status in our Base City is extraordinary, almost at the pinnacle of the Alchemist profession. He has also handled many confidential commissions and has never had any issues with trustworthiness so far.”

However, she added, “His temperament is rather eccentric. He doesn’t just help anyone create customized alchemical items. To get him to take action, money alone isn’t enough.”

This was a common trait among masters of his caliber—they couldn’t be hired with mere wealth. Persuading them to act required considerable effort.

If Su Ming were to approach him personally, he might even be turned away.

After all, Su Ming was neither from a wealthy family nor in a position of power, so he lacked the capital to hire a master of this Rank.

But the girl was different.

“Although it’s a bit troublesome, with my connections, it’s not impossible to persuade him to take action,” she said with a light laugh. “I can also help you with the money. I believe that if he knows he’ll have the chance to work with the blood of a Nightmare Species, he shouldn’t be inclined to refuse.”

The opportunity to refine a Phantom Demon Potion using a Nightmare Species was not something easily come by.

Even with the skills and conditions, without the crucial blood of a Nightmare Species, there would be no chance of refinement at all.Now that such an opportunity was presented before them, most alchemists pursuing the advancement and limits of their own skills were unlikely to refuse.

The girl had quite a knack for understanding people’s hearts—otherwise, Su Ming wouldn’t have entrusted this matter to her. Since she said there was no problem, then there definitely wasn’t.

The only problem, in fact, was Su Ming himself.

Having incurred such a significant favor, Su Ming could already imagine how this Fox Spirit would seize the opportunity to tease and torment him mercilessly.

Just thinking about it gave Su Ming a headache.

But there was no other way. The task of brewing the Phantom Demon Potion had to be delegated sooner or later, and the only person Su Ming could trust with it seemed to be this woman. This situation was bound to happen eventually.

In that case, it was better to endure short-term pain than long-term suffering.

“You don’t need to worry about the success rate either,” the girl added. “If even he can’t successfully brew it, there are hardly any others in this world who can. I’ve heard that his skills are the best in all of Longyao City—even Yinze City can’t produce an alchemist who dares claim to be better than him. His commissions aren’t limited to Longyao City either; people from all Four Base Cities have sought him out.”

Hearing this, Su Ming stopped overthinking it.

“Alright,” Su Ming nodded decisively. “Once the Huaming District battle is over, help me arrange a meeting with this alchemist.”

“No problem~” the girl replied with a cheerful smile. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my great benefactor anyway. I can’t wait.”

Su Ming: “…”

Su Ming suddenly felt that he might still not be mentally prepared.

The thought of having to face this Fox Spirit directly gave him the feeling of being freshly cleaned and delivered straight into a wolf’s jaws.

Recalling all his past interactions with her, Su Ming decided he would need to protect himself carefully when the time came.

After all, a young man must always protect himself when out in the world.

…

At the same time, in a dark corner of Longyao City, a figure quietly appeared.

He gazed thoughtfully in the direction of Huaming District, then after a moment, took out his phone and made a call.

The call was answered almost immediately.

“It’s me.”

A rather ruthless voice came through— unmistakably that of the superior’s collaborator from last night.

“I’m all prepared on my end,” the figure said bluntly. “Do you need me to go to Huaming District?”

“No, that won’t be necessary,” the other party replied immediately. “The battle in Huaming District has nothing to do with us. We don’t need to get involved.”

“Is that so?” the figure responded indifferently. “Aren’t you afraid that if Huaming District falls and Longyao City is overrun, all our plans will collapse?”

“If they collapse, then so be it,” the other party said coldly. “When the time comes, we can perform the ritual on the ruins of Longyao City and still achieve our goal.”

“As you wish.” The figure showed no objection, speaking like a machine executing a task, his face expressionless. “So my only task now is to intercept that youngling, correct?”

“Correct,” the other party seemed to nod. “Just don’t let it escape back to the Spirit Demon Abyss. It still has many uses.”

“Understood,” the figure replied. “Leave it to me.””Can you find it?” The other party showed some concern, saying: “There isn’t much time left before the Spirit Demon Abyss entrance opens.”

“No problem.” Shadow replied indifferently: “I’ll keep watch near the entrance. As soon as it appears, I’ll make my move.”

If it doesn’t show up, that would be even better.

As long as it doesn’t return to the Spirit Demon Abyss, everything will be fine. If the young one doesn’t appear, it would save Shadow some trouble.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.” The other party said: “My preparations here are almost complete. Come over after you finish what you’re handling.”

“Of course.” Shadow finally showed a hint of a smile: “I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

“Same here.” The other party also suddenly laughed: “Longyao City is just the first step. Our target is the Four Base Cities, and even… this world.”

After saying this, the call ended.

Shadow also put away his phone, withdrew his gaze from overlooking Huaming District, turned around, and disappeared into the darkness behind him.

(End of Chapter)