Chapter 25 – Offspring of an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon?

“I see.”

In the hotel room, sitting on the bed, Xu Qianqian’s expression turned grave after hearing Su Ming’s full explanation of the situation.

“I never expected this matter would involve a suspected high-rank Phantom Demon. This is truly troublesome.”

Xu Qianqian bit her finger, her expression fluctuating unpredictably, much like Su Ming’s when he first learned about this.

There was no helping it—matters related to high-rank Phantom Demons were always significant. Even a major Family like the Xu Family couldn’t ignore the threat posed by a high-rank Phantom Demon.

Those were monsters that required at least a Four-Star Hunter and a Four-Star Sorcerer to handle.

And even then, it was merely having a way to deal with them—whether they could successfully hunt and kill it was another matter entirely.

Such beings were not only distant for students like Su Ming and Xu Qianqian who hadn’t graduated yet, but even most professional Hunters and Sorcerers couldn’t hope to match them.

Therefore, whenever a high-rank Phantom Demon emerged from the Spirit Demon Abyss into the human world, even an entire Base City had to be on high alert and take it seriously.

Phantom Demons of that level posed too great a threat to humanity.

Of course…

“Whether a high-rank Phantom Demon has actually appeared, I haven’t confirmed yet,” Su Ming said to Xu Qianqian. “It’s just my speculation. There are still several questionable points in this speculation. The reason I called you over was to ask what you think about it.”

Su Ming didn’t arrogantly assume his deduction was necessarily correct.

Even though there was some evidence supporting this speculation, Su Ming didn’t want to jump to conclusions blindly.

He had called Xu Qianqian over with the intention of asking for her opinion.

This Young Miss of the Xu Family might be somewhat naive in worldly matters, but she had broad experience and extensive knowledge—she might have different insights.

Sure enough…

“Your speculation has some merit, but I think there might be some discrepancies,” Xu Qianqian said after thinking for a while, then presented her considerations.

“Putting aside everything else, if a high-rank Phantom Demon had truly appeared in Longyao City, this Base City wouldn’t be as quiet as it is now—there would have been a major incident long ago.”

This statement wasn’t without reason.

“That’s what I think too,” Su Ming nodded in agreement. “Phantom Demons all feed on blood, with their essence and power concentrated in it. Even ordinary low-rank Phantom Demons cause significant casualties when they come to our world to hunt for blood. If a high-rank Phantom Demon were to appear, it would inevitably cause a major disaster due to its need for blood.”

The power of high-rank Phantom Demons was disproportionate to that of low-rank ones—they couldn’t be mentioned in the same breath.

Correspondingly, the blood requirements of high-rank Phantom Demons were much greater than those of low-rank ones.

To put it in more understandable terms, high-rank Phantom Demons had much larger appetites than low-rank ones, requiring more nutrition. Plus, as evolved individuals, their craving for blood to continue advancing and evolving far surpassed what low-rank minions could imagine.”If a high-ranking Phantom Demon truly manifested, especially directly within a Base City, it would be impossible for it to remain indifferent to the tens of millions of ‘delicacies’ before it, let alone resist taking action,” Su Ming stated. “Given their need for blood, it’s absolutely inconceivable that such a manifestation wouldn’t result in thousands of casualties.”

This was the inconsistency that Su Ming and Xu Qianqian had identified.

“If that suspicious group is truly pursuing a high-ranking Phantom Demon, it’s impossible for the demon not to have caused massive carnage in Longyao City, even just to satiate its hunger,” Xu Qianqian added. “Moreover, I don’t believe a high-ranking Phantom Demon would be chased around by a group of suspicious Hunters and Sorcerers.”

Indeed.

Although the Hunters and Sorcerers in that suspicious group were all Professionals, based on Su Ming and Xu Qianqian’s observations, they agreed that the group’s members likely only reached Three-Star level at most.

For instance, the leader appeared to be a Three-Star Hunter, unlikely to have achieved Four-Star or higher.

Four-Star Hunters and above were all renowned figures whom even Base City Executives had to treat with caution.

Such individuals were unlikely to be casually ordered around by Base City Executives to chase some unknown mysterious Phantom Demon.

Considering this, the highest rank within that suspicious group was probably only Three-Star.

One, Two, and Three-Star Hunters and Sorcerers were collectively known as Lower-Rank Professionals in the industry. For Base City Executives, commanding, recruiting, or even cultivating Professionals at this level wasn’t particularly difficult.

Four, Five, and Six-Star Hunters and Sorcerers were termed Upper-Rank Professionals, far fewer in number than their lower-rank counterparts and significantly more powerful. For Base City Executives to casually command, recruit, or cultivate them would be extremely challenging.

As for Seven-Star Hunters and Sorcerers, they were equivalent to Hunter Kings or Sorcerer Great Masters.

Beings of this caliber were exceptionally rare in the human world, with most Base Cities not even possessing a single Seven-Star Hunter or Sorcerer.

Take Longyao City—the highest rank here was Six-Star.

Neighboring Qilan City and Qinghai City were the same, with Six-Star being their maximum.

Only Yinze City, with its population exceeding 90 million and ranking first among the Four Coastal Base Cities, possessed a single Seven-Star Hunter.

Under these circumstances, for Executives in a Base City like Longyao City where the highest rank was only Six-Star to possess an Upper-Rank Professional as a private force wasn’t impossible, but the likelihood wasn’t high either.

If Hunters or Sorcerers of that level did appear, the Base City would have long regarded them as core combat forces for protecting the city.

Facing the threat posed by Phantom Demons, humanity had little room for complacency. Whenever a Family or faction produced an Upper-Rank Professional, others would unite to demand their formal registration as Professional Hunters or Sorcerers, compelling them to contribute to the Base City and all of humanity.

Therefore, even if Base City Executives did manage to cultivate an Upper-Rank Professional, wanting to use them as private soldiers would never be permitted by other Executives.Under the banner of united righteousness, even the most powerful Families must compromise.

Given this, it would be extremely difficult for an Upper-Rank Professional to become someone’s private soldier.

All these considerations told Su Ming and Xu Qianqian that it was highly unlikely for a Four-Star Professional to appear in that Suspicious Group.

The problem was…

“If that Suspicious Group doesn’t have a Four-Star Professional, then they wouldn’t be able to hunt down an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon even if they wanted to.”

Su Ming pointed out the crux of the matter.

“Exactly.” Xu Qianqian agreed deeply: “Without an Upper-Rank Professional taking action, for lower-rank Professionals to hunt an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon, they would need to mobilize at least a hundred-person group.”

This hundred-person group must have one-tenth being Three-Star Professionals, three-tenths being Two-Star Professionals, and the rest all being excellent and capable One-Star Professionals – only then would it be possible to hunt an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon.

This demonstrated the terrifying nature of Upper-Rank Phantom Demons.

Considering all these factors, it seemed unlikely that the mysterious existence being pursued by the Suspicious Group was an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon.

However…

“If what they’re hunting is the offspring of an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon, then everything makes sense.”

Xu Qianqian suddenly proposed this possibility.

“The offspring of an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon?”

Su Ming was stunned.

“Yes.” Xu Qianqian nodded: “Phantom Demons are different from us humans – they have many ways of reproduction.”

“Some reproduce asexually, some reproduce by splitting off unnecessary parts of their bodies, some can reproduce using special powers, and some can even reproduce through infection and similar methods.”

Xu Qianqian explained.

“Naturally, different reproduction methods yield different results.”

“For example, with split reproduction, since the life forms are composed of discarded, unnecessary body parts, these Phantom Demons are often much weaker than their parent.”

“The same goes for reproduction using special powers – the amount of energy the parent consumes during reproduction directly determines the potential and strength of the offspring.”

“As for infection methods, it goes without saying that they typically only produce lower-rank individuals relative to the parent that serves as the infection source. For instance, if an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon reproduces extensively through infection, all its offspring would likely be lower-rank Phantom Demons.”

Here, Xu Qianqian paused briefly before slowly describing another scenario.

“And in the Spirit Demon Abyss with its various reproduction methods, there are cases where Upper-Rank Phantom Demons give birth to Upper-Rank offspring.”

“For example, some particularly powerful individuals among Upper-Rank Phantom Demons have ways to bear offspring that are also Upper-Rank Phantom Demons.”

“Furthermore, some Upper-Rank Phantom Demons, when nearing death, might use all their blood and power to reproduce, allowing their offspring to inherit all their power. Such offspring are born as Upper-Rank Phantom Demons.”

Xu Qianqian’s words gradually darkened Su Ming’s expression.

He had already guessed what Xu Qianqian was going to say.

As it turned out, he wasn’t wrong.

“If an Upper-Rank Phantom Demon’s offspring came to our world and was discovered, anyone would be ecstatic.”

Xu Qianqian spoke in a grave tone.”Because it is a cub, even if it is a superior Phantom Demon, its power will be greatly diminished before it has fully developed.”

Such a Phantom Demon Cub, in the eyes of humans, is simply a tremendous treasure.

Its body materials can be used to forge powerful weapons, create potent artifacts, and refine formidable potions.

The Phantom Demon Potion brewed from its blood has the potential to directly grant a human the bloodline of a superior Phantom Demon. Not only would this bestow terrifying power upon them, but it would also ensure that their descendants possess an exceptional bloodline, enabling them to stand out.

Even the great Families cannot overlook such a treasure.

Because maintaining, refining, and strengthening the bloodline to make it more powerful and pure is something almost all Hunter Families strive to do.

How tempting would the bloodline of a superior Phantom Demon be to these Families?

It goes without saying!

In other words…

“I suspect that a certain high-ranking official in Longyao Base City wants to secretly monopolize such a superior Phantom Demon Cub, which is why they dispatched private troops to hunt it down.”

This was Xu Qianqian’s speculation.

(End of Chapter)