Demon Pet Center Hotel Department, in front of a king-sized bedroom door.

Du Yu swiped his card and opened the door, and Li Mengnan lowered her head and walked in quickly.

She glanced all around with quick eyes, completely ignored the big bed, and went straight to the window, plopping herself onto the little round sofa: "Can I see my gift now? So mysterious, like we're up to no good. Hurry up, hurry up!"

Du Yu had Li Mengnan thoroughly in the palm of his hand, making it very clear that before giving out the present, he absolutely wouldn't summon Xiaoyan; which made Li Mengnan grind her teeth in frustration.

This was also a helpless move by Du Yu—he knew just how much Li Mengnan liked Xiaoyan, not to mention Xiaoyan's girl-flirting skills were totally maxed out…

With a golden breeze and miraculous dew kind of magical encounter, would Li Mengnan even bother absorbing the Dust Spirit Bead?

Her soul would probably just get snatched away.

The online encyclopedias say: when absorbing a Dust Spirit Bead, you have to stay calm and focused, seizing as much power from within it as possible, using it to help expand your body's meridians with Demon Breath.

Wasting even a little bit of such a treasure-for-cultivation Celestial Material or Earthly Treasure is a crime!

Seeing Du Yu calmly closing the door, Li Mengnan couldn't help but stamp her foot: "Du Yu!"

"Yeah!" Du Yu replied impatiently, taking off his tactical backpack and pulling out a small plastic jar.

Li Mengnan watched curiously, a little stir rising in her heart.

This is… isn't this…?

"Dust Spirit Bead?" Li Mengnan reached out to take the plastic jar, with Wind Witch floating curiously over as well, peering through the transparent container at the beads inside.

Du Yu sat back down on the big bed: "Yep. Calm yourself down and absorb it."

"Oh my god." Li Mengnan murmured, staring at the mysterious gaseous bead inside—then couldn't help asking, "Didn't you turn it over to the Bookstore?"

Du Yu smiled: "The Dust Spirit Deer gave me two beads. I turned in the low-quality one for the assignment, and this one's the good stuff."

"This is…" For a moment, Li Mengnan actually hesitated. She knew exactly how valuable Dust Spirit Beads are!

This isn't even about money—it's about pure scarcity!

As a Wind, Fire, and Thunder Three-Element Demon Tamer, over the last two months she'd gotten three kinds of different rare resources from her dad.

The Wind Element gem among them was precisely a Dust Spirit Bead!

Her dad was super serious at the time, specially bringing her out of the Demon Spirit Realm to explain three times just how precious this bead was, then made her absorb it in a quiet, empty car.

That bead, compared to the one currently in her hand, was a good two sizes smaller—and the energy much, much fainter!

But just look at the one before her—the core of the bead was pure milky white! How high must this quality be!?

"Du Yu, this bead is way too precious." Li Mengnan looked up at Du Yu, her expression a little complicated.

Du Yu smiled and nodded: "Go on, absorb it. As long as it helps you, that's enough—just like how you used to help me."

Li Mengnan got a little embarrassed: "I didn't help you with much, just bought you a few bags of Demon Pet Food."

Du Yu walked toward the bathroom: "You already forgot that year you shared a dorm with Teacher Li Hong? Forgot all those times you got yelled at for math homework? You've given plenty."

Li Mengnan: "..."

It only takes a single sentence to switch from gratitude to irritation.

"Go absorb it already. The stronger you are, the better our odds of winning the competition—which means more rewards." Du Yu turned on the tap, washing his face while mumbling, "Clear your mind—don't space out, don't waste even a drop of energy…"

"Yeah, yeah!" Li Mengnan pouted and muttered quietly, "Just like my dad."

Li Mengnan grabbed Wind Witch in one hand, first storing it in her Acupoint Home. With such a huge Wind Element supplement, Wind Witch couldn't just hang around outside.

She took a deep breath, carefully opened the jar, and stared at the floating Foggy Bead inside.

She tilted her head back slightly, pressed the jar to her forehead, and patiently waited for the gaseous bead to sink down, until it touched her Forehead Acupoint.

Li Mengnan closed her eyes in contentment as wisps of mist drifted into her Forehead Acupoint—such a familiar feeling was back again!

An energy surge broadened her Ren Meridian, coursing back and forth through the four-alignment acupoints within her body. Every pass through her Forehead Acupoint—home of Wind Witch—the little guy would get all excited, greedily enjoying its master's gift.

Du Yu finished washing up, and tiptoed out. Seeing Li Mengnan collapsed on the sofa, he carefully walked over to the bed and lay down contentedly.

The forums say, after absorbing a Dust Spirit Bead, you need to digest and absorb it immediately. As for whether it takes half an hour or two hours, that's different for everyone.

After a night's cultivation under the tree, Du Yu slowly fell into a dreamland too.

No telling how much time passed, but a sudden shattering-cup sound jolted him awake!

"Crash!"

Smashing a cup—was that a signal?

Is there some rebel out to assassinate His Majesty?

Du Yu's eyes snapped open. Looking toward the sound, he saw Li Mengnan sitting on the sofa, holding a broken cup, face full of excitement.

"What'd you break the hotel's cup for?"

Li Mengnan shook her hand, dropping a few porcelain shards, and glanced at Du Yu with sparkling joy: "Is this what it feels like to be a Demon Tamer Journeyman?"

Du Yu: "..."

All you had to do was level up, but why'd you have to single the cup out—wait, you leveled up?

This gal's talent is pretty top-notch, huh?

The Demon Breath Battle Robe in Li Mengnan's palm hadn't even torn, let alone bled. She stood up and, feeling her body's change after a huge breakthrough, couldn't help but clench her fist.

"So just now in your eyes, I was so weak," she muttered, "like you could squash me with a slap."

Du Yu made a weird face and explained: "Not that extreme. It's more like, when you level up suddenly and your state's maxed out, you just feel crazy powerful—the actual difference isn't quite as huge as you'd think."

All of a sudden Li Mengnan lifted her head and looked up at the ceiling.

She bent her knees slightly and then leapt lightly upwards.

The ceiling was three-point-seven meters high—her head nearly grazed it—so she quickly reached up, braced herself gently on the ceiling, then floated softly down again.

"That's a massive difference!" Li Mengnan pushed off with her feet, launching from the end of the bed to the head in one bound.

Another spring, from the head of the bed back to the end.

This back-and-forth display made Du Yu's scalp go numb…

"Hm?" Li Mengnan stopped and suddenly touched her forehead.

As swirling Wind Demon Breath coalesced, a Wind Witch Doll floated out. But it'd had a total makeover!

The Wind Witch Doll's old antenna was gone—now it had a hood instead.

It already looked like it was wearing a cloak, but now, with a full hood, it was even more like a little wizard.

Earth-level Demon Beast: Wind Wizard!

Wind Witch's knitted-emoticon face hadn't changed. Upon materializing again, it just adored its master all the more, flying over to give Li Mengnan a tiny kiss on the cheek.

"Hehe~" Li Mengnan was absolutely delighted, quickly grabbing Wind Witch and admiring it in her hands.

The little guy had not only gained a slight wardrobe upgrade with its Earth-level evolution, but also grew a bit in size—now around 30 cm long.

Li Mengnan tried to pull off Wind Witch's white hood, and now, without the antenna, it became a little bald head…

"Now it can learn Earth-level Demon Skills!" Li Mengnan pinched Wind Witch's little head and turned to look at Du Yu.

Du Yu nodded, "You'd better open up your meridians a bit, update the Demon Tamer Journeyman contract—Wind Witch'll be able to draw more energy from your body that way. By the way, is that your only demon pet?"

Li Mengnan replied immediately, "There's one more—but it's a Fire Element Little Orange Pig, super lazy, probably still asleep at home."

Du Yu looked puzzled, "You actually picked Little Orange Pig?"

Li Mengnan: "My dad picked it for me, insisted I make a contract with it—said Little Orange Pig will be amazing in the future and that it really fits my fighting style."

As she spoke, Li Mengnan watched Du Yu approach—then smacked him on the shoulder.

Instantly, both their Demon Breath Battle Robes gave a little tremble.

Du Yu grimaced: "Whoa—easy there."

Li Mengnan stared intently at Du Yu, totally serious: "Thank you, Du Yu. If it weren't for your help, I don't know when I'd ever break through my body's shackles."

Everyone knows that missing a single step can mess up all the steps after.

Not to mention, lots of older Demon Tamers get stuck at a bottleneck and can't progress at all their whole lives.

Yet Du Yu's opportunity ended up helping her instead—Li Mengnan seriously didn't know how to express her gratitude.

"We're both Paper Crane Disciples, both super talented, you'd have leveled up sooner or later." Du Yu said with a grin, "If you really feel guilty, I can be Big Bro, you can be Little Bro."

"Keep dreaming!" Li Mengnan glared prettily at him, "Big Bro is supposed to look after Little Bro. Tell me what you need, and Big Bro will buy it for you!"

Du Yu curled his lip, stepped out of the room: "When we check out, just pay for the cup you broke."

"Psh, that's just a small thing." Li Mengnan scampered after him, "Hey, did you really set your heart on a place in Xishu Garden?"

Du Yu: ???

The Demon Spirit Bookstore's buyback price for Dust Spirit Beads isn't nearly enough to buy a single square meter at Xishu Garden. Big Bro's got it bad?

"Say something."

Du Yu: "No need, I live in Xishu Garden right now."

"Huh?"

Du Yu glanced at Li Mengnan, gave his trademark pursed-lip smile.

You think you're the only rich girl in the world…

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