"Student Mu Nianbing, thank you for showing up in time this time. Otherwise, the consequences would've been disastrous!"
The team leader, Xue Musheng, ran up to Mu Nianbing, his tone filled with relief and excitement.
"Thank you for the compliment, Teacher Xue. This is what I should do," Mu Nianbing replied modestly.
At this moment, he was still holding Ye Xinxia in his arms, yet it didn't affect his ability to cast magic at all.
Mo Fan glanced at Xinxia, who was resting safely in Mu Nianbing's embrace. For the first time, he didn't make a sarcastic remark.
"I owe you a favor this time," Mo Fan said seriously.
"I'm glad you know that," Mu Nianbing replied with a faint smile.
Then he turned to Xue Musheng. "Since everything's fine now, we should keep moving."
Xue Musheng nodded and quickly gathered the students, urging them forward.
The rest of the journey went smoothly. Not a single demon appeared along the way.
After crossing a long bridge, a shimmering light barrier resembling a massive city wall appeared in the distance.
When the group saw the barrier, their tense expressions finally relaxed. They had survived.
As soon as they stepped inside the barrier, a military mage approached.
"Deputy Chief of Health Lin Yuxin, I'm so glad you're safe!" The man's expression brightened the moment he spotted Lin Yuxin among the students.
"How many people have been successfully evacuated?" Lin Yuxin asked immediately.
The military mage's face turned grim. His voice dropped as he said, "So far… less than thirty percent."
Everyone's heart sank.
That meant over seventy percent of Bo City's people were still trapped outside—or worse, already dead.
Mu Nianbing's expression darkened. Even with all the precautions Bo City had taken, the casualties were still so high...
"Who is Mu Nianbing?" the military mage suddenly asked, scanning the group.
"I am," Mu Nianbing replied, stepping forward.
"The commander wants to see you—and someone named Mo Fan," the mage continued.
Mo Fan's mouth twitched. "Why do I sound like an afterthought…"
"To see me?" Mu Nianbing frowned slightly.
The Holy Spring of Earth was in Mo Fan's hands, so why would Zhan Kong want to meet him?
Still, it wouldn't hurt to find out.
He carefully handed Xinxia over to Mu Qing and followed Mo Fan toward the observation tower.
Atop the observation deck, Zhan Kong stood with his arms crossed, his sharp gaze fixed on the distant Silver Trade Building—right where Yi Canglang was lurking.
In all of Bo City, only Zhan Kong had the power to face Yi Canglang head-on.
When Mo Fan and Mu Nianbing arrived, Zhan Kong immediately asked about the Holy Spring of Earth.
As expected, Mo Fan admitted he had drunk it all.
Mu Nianbing, however, knew better—the Holy Spring had been absorbed by the Little Loach Pendant.
That could be considered returning the treasure to its rightful owner.
After all, the Little Loach was the vessel of the Azure Dragon. To resurrect it, the Azure Dragon needed to gather enough holy springs.
That was precisely why Mu Nianbing hadn't tried to seize it.
For him, just having the chance to cultivate was enough. One day, he would need the Azure Dragon's strength to face the Ocean God Clan.
Zhan Kong didn't dwell on the Holy Spring any further. His attention shifted to Mu Nianbing.
"Mu Nianbing, you've already reached the Intermediate Level, haven't you?"
"That's right," Mu Nianbing admitted without hesitation.
There was no point in pretending to be weak anymore.
"You'll join the upcoming decapitation operation," Zhan Kong said directly.
Mu Nianbing raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"I need your help to handle the subordinates of the Winged Cang Wolf," Zhan Kong explained bluntly.
"Even with ten Intermediate Mages, it won't be easy to deal with multiple Bone-Spurred Wolves. Your Ice Element is far stronger than others of the same level."
Zhan Kong had seen Mu Nianbing's Ice Seed—an advanced, powerful species that made his control exceptional.
With Mu Nianbing's help, the battle would be much smoother.
However, Mu Nianbing shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't join you."
Zhan Kong blinked in surprise, then nodded slightly. "I understand. You're still a high school student. It's normal not to want to risk your life outside the barrier."
He didn't press further. As a military mage, Zhan Kong wouldn't force a student to fight on the front lines.
After leaving the tower, Mu Nianbing activated the power of his Demonic Meteorite Boots, transforming into a black shadow that slipped quietly out of the barrier.
He currently had only one slave-level spirit in hand.
A single slave-level Spirit Essence was worth around five million yuan—a decent sum, but still far from enough to buy a Nebula Magic Tool.
Although Mu Nianbing's cultivation speed was much faster than others thanks to the Blessing of the Ice God, advancing beyond the Intermediate Level became exponentially harder.
Without a Nebula Magic Tool to assist him, it might take half a year to reach the next stage.
But if he had one that could triple his cultivation speed, he could reach the third Intermediate Level within a year.
He had no choice—he needed to hunt more monsters.
Outside the barrier, Mu Nianbing summoned his Cangming Jiao.
The azure serpent-like creature could fly, though not very high or fast. Still, it was good enough for now.
Once his strength improved, its power would grow too.
Riding on the back of Cangming Jiao (Dragon), Mu Nianbing soared low above the streets.
When they encountered One-Eyed Demon Wolves, Cangming Jiao finished them off easily with high-speed water cannons.
For Bone-Spurred Wolves, Mu Nianbing had to coordinate attacks:
Cangming Jiao would unleash a powerful water stream, Mu Nianbing froze it solid, and then Cangming Jiao crushed the frozen beast with a sweep of its tail.
"One general-level Spirit Essence and six slave-level ones should be enough," he muttered.
By now, he'd slain countless One-Eyed Demon Wolves and three Bone-Spurred Wolves. Luck was on his side—one of them dropped a Spirit Essence.
Before long, Mu Nianbing found himself near the Silver Trade Building.
When he looked up, the massive Winged Wolf loomed above.
"Should I make a move…?" he hesitated.
If he summoned Ray, he might be able to slay the Winged Wolf directly.
If a commander-level Spirit Essence dropped, he wouldn't have to worry about resources for a long time.
"Let's give it a try."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Thunder roared through the heavens.
A brilliant golden lightning bolt split the sky and crashed straight down onto the dome of the Silver Trade Building.
The impact was devastating—half of the entire structure collapsed instantly, while the rest began to crumble in one direction.
At that same moment, Zhan Kong was already flying toward the battlefield.
He had slowed down earlier to wait for his subordinates, but the sudden lightning made him look up in shock.
A golden streak of light had torn through the sky, and the once-towering Silver Trade Building was now… collapsing!
...
Author's Note
Hello, readers! Welcome to my second Webnovel account.
My first Webnovel account is Shadow_demon_007, where I uploaded 20 fanfics. Due to Webnovel's upload limits and rules, I created this second account so I can continue uploading more fanfics for you all.
Please also check out my first account, where many of those 20 fanfics are available. Some of them are already fully completed, and I have uploaded those completed fanfics on my Patreon
👉 patreon.comShadow_demon_007
On Patreon, you can find
Fully completed fanfics
One free fanfic available for readers
Another free fanfic coming in a few days
I sincerely hope you enjoy my works, and I truly appreciate all your support.
Thank you for reading and supporting me!
— Shadow_demon_007