CHAPTER 180: 135 PEAK!

Late at night, Du Yu and Fu Jianzhou returned to the entrance of Bottomless Layer One.

As the heavy stone gate slowly opened, a wave of heat rushed out to greet them.

Nights in September aren’t really hot, but compared to the chilly Bottomless Pit, the outside world felt almost too warm.

"Hah." Du Yu’s body was a little stiff as he staggered out of the Bottomless Gate, greedily gulping down the fresh air.

The guards at the gate were already used to this scene. In fact, they’d always been puzzled about why Du Yu always looked so wobbly and unstable every time he came out.

Was it that he’d gone through especially brutal battles every time and was simply exhausted?

But... why did this young man look like he was enjoying himself so much?

Maybe he was actually into that sort of thing?

Actually, Du Yu wasn’t tired at all—he was just stuffed.

What could he do, Little Fen Yang’s Sister Ta had just given him way too much...

It wasn’t only Du Yu who couldn’t handle it— even Little Fen Yang kept running over to the pagoda to whine, begging Sister Ta to slow down refining the Demon Souls.

As the two walked out, the soldier’s gaze lingered for a long while on Fu Jianzhou’s shoulder.

Because perched on Fu Jianzhou’s shoulder was a pure white little fox, its body pieced together entirely from flower petals.

It was glancing around curiously, apparently finding the world around it fascinating and new.

Judging by its size, this little creature was obviously a just-born Celestial Treasure Race demon beast.

"Congratulations." The usually tight-lipped soldier even offered a rare word of congratulation.

Fu Jianzhou smiled and nodded, not saying much else. He headed toward the Demon Spirit Bookstore with Du Yu, only to stop at the door.

"Ying~" The little fox’s form quietly shattered, transforming into a stream of pear blossom petals, then coming together again on the lawn beside the bookstore.

Hua Mantang, with her petal-formed little paws, gently clung to the stone tiles, poking her little head toward a small white flower and twitching her nose.

Sniff~

"You go ahead, I’ll stay out here and play with her for a bit," Fu Jianzhou said softly, eyes gentle.

"Alright." Du Yu raised his stiff arm, pushing open the door to the bookstore. Inside, he was secretly snickering to himself.

Senior Brother Fu’s demon pets were all powerhouses, few of them had the childishness that Xiaohua showed.

Honestly... sometimes it wasn’t that great if your demon pet was too strong. Only when they were little did they really need your care and company.

"You’re back late today." Behind the bar, Wang Dabao stood up. "Any later and my shift would be over."

"Ah, good evening, Brother Bao." Du Yu was already good friends with the soldier bro. He reached into his coat pocket, took out a pile of ice-cold Demon Crystals and set them on the counter. "Usual deal, all for Senior Brother Fu."

"Got it." Wang Dabao counted up the Demon Crystals, doing the math for points.

As for hunting Celestial-level monster beasts, Du Yu was just the assistant. Only on the first and second floors, facing Mortal Level and Earth-level demon beasts, did Fu Jianzhou ever leave things to Du Yu to handle solo.

Over these days, Du Yu had racked up more than 30 points. Adding what was already on his card, he had 48 points in total.

Except for the very first time when Du Yu used the door to kill a Celestial-level monster beast, all the other Celestial-level Demon Crystals were credited to Fu Jianzhou’s tally.

Senior Brother Fu did want to give some away to his junior, but Du Yu refused.

The guy brought you here to train, protected you, even found Demon Souls for you. He did all the work and heavy lifting – how could you claim his demon beasts as your own kills?

Anyway, Du Yu just couldn’t bring himself to take them...

In the bookstore, he ordered a Love of Fire cupcake, said goodbye to Wang Dabao, and as soon as he stepped outside, he saw the Pear Blossom Fox hopping playfully around a little white flower.

It looked like this dopey little Pear Blossom Fox mistook the white flower for one of its own kind?

It started prancing and twirling there, like it wanted the little white flower to transform into a fox and play along?

"Ying~ Ying~" Hua Mantang circled the little white flower, making cooing noises over and over.

No matter how hard she tried, though, the little white flower only swayed gently in the night breeze, never giving any other reaction.

"That’s a flower, it’s a kind of plant, not your companion." Fu Jianzhou gently explained as he picked up Hua Mantang in one hand.

"Ying?" Hua Mantang tilted her little head, blinking her petal eyelids over and over.

She was just too young—she only understood the simplest emotions and had no real definition for the things of this world.

"Come here, Xiaohua." Du Yu shook the bag in his hand. "I got you some snacks."

"Mmm." Hua Mantang instead crouched a little lower, trying to hide inside Fu Jianzhou’s palm.

She poked out half her head, her gaze passing Fu Jianzhou’s wrist, watching Du Yu warily.

Du Yu scratched his head awkwardly. "Crap, this kid thinks I’m a villain!"

After Fu Jianzhou formed a Contract with the little one, he still brought Du Yu into the Bottomless Pit to hunt plenty of demon beasts.

The mighty and fierce Qing Yi was out there hunting enemies, looking pretty terrifying.

But compared to the scenes with Du Yu, Qing Yi was starting to look like the "gentle" one.

Du Yu kept absorbing demon beast souls one after another—the scenes were downright brutal. The piercing cries of the demon beasts had left a deep psychological shadow on little Hua Mantang’s innocent heart!

As for Du Yu, the Pear Blossom Fox was now super on guard against him!

"Hehe." Fu Jianzhou chuckled. "Come on, let’s get in the car first."

Du Yu hurried to catch up, muttering under his breath, "No way, I gotta clear up this misunderstanding quick. Otherwise, if Xiaohua becomes a God or a Saint one day, she might just smack me to death with a paw..."

Just thinking of Qing Yi’s terrifying power, Du Yu couldn’t help but shiver with cold.

He got to the car, tossed the Demon Soldier Bow into the trunk, and as he opened the front passenger door, Demon Breath started surging at his forehead.

"Ying?" Xiaoyan was a little confused—she’d been feasting in her Acupoint Home, but then suddenly got summoned out by her master.

"Come, have a cupcake first. You can cultivate in a bit." Du Yu plopped into the passenger seat, set the cupcake on his lap, and opened the bag.

"Ying?" Xiaohua stuck out her head from the driver’s seat, curious.

That little white flower from before wasn’t a companion, so surely this little fox was?

Xiaoyan heard something odd and turned her head to look.

For a moment, the two adorable creatures locked eyes.

Xiaoyan blinked her amber-gold fox eyes. It was her first time seeing another fox so strangely constructed—from flower petals?

She leapt lightly onto Du Yu’s lap, then stretched out a big, fiery red tail, the tip reaching toward Hua Mantang.

Xiaohua sniffed curiously, only to get her nose tickled by the tip of that tail. She couldn’t help but sneeze: "Achoo~"

Creator gods really are amazing!

Her whole body was made of flowers, but her nose could still itch and sneeze?

"Don’t bully her." Du Yu grabbed another of Xiaoyan’s big tails, used the tip to scoop up some cream from the cupcake, and said, "Here, go feed her."

Xiaoyan obediently stretched out another tail and brought it to Hua Mantang’s little mouth.

"Ying!" Hua Mantang stuck out her tender little tongue, tasted the treat, and immediately start shaking her petal-y tail with joy.

Fu Jianzhou slowly started the car, savoring the happiness he felt through the Contract. He smiled, "You named my demon pet ’Hua Mantang,’ but your fox’s name is just Xiaoyan?"

Du Yu picked up the red berry from the cupcake and held it to Xiaoyan’s mouth. "Just like your Xiaohua—our Xiaoyan has a proper name too."

Fu Jianzhou: "Oh?"

Du Yu grinned. "Wait till you get promoted to Demon Taming General, then I’ll tell you, alright?"

"Heh." Fu Jianzhou snorted and gave Du Yu an exasperated glare.

"Hehehe~"

In the night, the car slowly left the camp and headed straight for Xishu Garden.

With Xiaoyan’s help, the little Pear Blossom Fox finally warmed up to Du Yu—or more likely, to the cupcake.

The little thing was barely 20cm long, just enough to sprawl across Xiaoyan’s big tail, nibbling cake in tiny bites, and occasionally turning to Xiaoyan with a smiling, bobbing head.

Since the Pear Blossom Fox was Fu Jianzhou’s demon pet, Xiaoyan didn’t feel threatened at all, so she was pretty nice to the little one.

And finally, Du Yu found the chance to reach out his wicked hand to Hua Mantang!

Just when the little Pear Blossom Fox’s mouth was covered in cream, Du Yu gently pinched its ears.

Sure enough, soft and petal-like!

Du Yu was once again hit by the cultural shock of the Demon Taming World—pinching the Pear Blossom Fox’s ear one second, its tail the next, busy as could be.

Eventually, Xiaoyan even got unhappy. She arched her head back and started whining at Du Yu, forcing Prince Du to back off in embarrassment...

An hour later, the car pulled into Xishu Garden and slowly stopped in front of their building.

Fu Jianzhou rested a hand on the steering wheel, looked at Du Yu getting out, and reminded him, "If you don’t have anyone with you, it’s best not to go into battle alone. The Demon Souls in your tower are enough for you to refine for a while."

"Okay, thank you, Senior Brother." Du Yu nodded quickly.

"Ying!" Hua Mantang’s little petal paws scratched at the car window, watching Xiaoyan on Du Yu’s shoulder, wondering where Big Sis was going.

Xiaoyan rubbed her face against Du Yu’s cheek, both asserting her claim and waving her tail in farewell.

"Ying~" As the car drove off, Hua Mantang turned and jumped down, standing on the front passenger seat and mewling at Fu Jianzhou.

"Don’t be sad, you’ll see her again." Fu Jianzhou picked up the tiny Pear Blossom Fox and stored her in his Forehead Acupoint.

On that side, Fu Jianzhou used the comfy Acupoint Home to comfort Hua Mantang.

On this side, as soon as Du Yu got into the elevator, Xiaoyan’s two tails curled around his neck and dangled her in front of his chest, whining insistently: "Ying~"

"Okay okay, I won’t touch her anymore, I was just curious, alright..."

Du Yu chuckled, rubbing her fluffy little head. "Besides, weren’t you just as curious earlier?"

When the elevator doors opened, a pitch-black corridor came into view.

"Ying!"

"Uh~" Du Yu’s smile stiffened, his eyes narrowed, and he grabbed at the elevator door as he staggered out.

Waves of powerful Demon Breath rippled out from inside him.

"Quick, back into your acupoint, don’t waste the demon breath." Du Yu half-knelt on the ground, stammering as the waves of Fire Demon Breath around him grew more intense.

Even the distant Firethorn Branches seemed to sense that Du Yu was about to break through.

Totally out of character, it didn’t care about Du Yu’s mess, but instead wrapped him up in its branches, forming a cocoon and slowly sending him Fire Demon Breath.

Whoosh~

In just a few dozen seconds, a burst of thick Fire Demon Breath exploded out...

Demon Tamer·Peak Stage!

Du Yu’s eyes went wide, his fists clenched in excitement as he felt the surge of power from breaking through. He couldn’t have been happier!

Finally! I finally leveled up!

Now I’m just one step away from Demon Tamer! I’m finally joining the ranks of the experts...

"Brother Tree, I’m done!"

"Brother Tree?"

"Brother Tree... let me out, c’mon, let me out..."