“Seeing that you are my future Guard Captain, you would definitely benefit if I have something good. I was preparing to fight with a formidable demon, and I need a helper. Come, let’s think about some tactics to defeat the demon,” Luo Hua City Mistress spoke as if it was some stroll by the river.

Tactics to defeat a demon?

“Sorry, I’m not interested,” Tian Lang resisted the flowery scent and rejected immediately.

For all he knew, this human must’ve suspected something. And this tactic was not for the demon but Tian Lang, himself! Besides, it had such great fleshy mounds, did it really need him to fight a strong opponent?

Oh? Even bigger fleshy mounds than this one?

Luo Hua City Mistress seemed to have predicted that Tian Lang would reply that way. It didn’t mind at all as it smiled, “Don’t throw a child’s tantrum on me… I wouldn’t hurt you. Listening to my advice is the right thing to do. If you behave like a good boy, this big sister will give you some candies...”

“Candies?” Tian Lang remembered the ice cream that he snatched from a human child not long ago. Was that candy?

That temptation was good enough, but Tian Lang rejected it once again. Couldn’t he just snatch another? He would keep snatching until he was satisfied!

Luo Hua City Mistress’s snow-white fingers hooked on Tian Lang’s chin as it blew off a sweet scent, “Country Bumpkin, I know you keep looking at me. You want beauties, right? A strong and beautiful beauty?”

Hey, hey. What’s this beauty you humans and demons keep mentioning? Tian Lang was tempted to ask, but he was afraid it was common knowledge to all races, and he would blow off his cover as a Holy Beast. But beautiful and strong, he naturally placed them with fleshy mounds.

Something that attracted everyone was beautiful. And fleshy mounds represented power. It naturally reminded Tian Lang of that big fleshy mounded human that guided him multiple times.

“I do,” Tian Lang honestly replied.

Isn’t that obvious? Among humans, which one didn’t want fleshy mounds and beautiful things?

“I know of a place where there is a strong yet beautiful beauty, let’s go together and take her down,” Luo Hua City Mistress spared no effort to incite Tian Lang’s wolfy heart.

“Ah, together?” Tian Lang was already swayed. Yue Bing? Ivy Academy? What’s that? Is that something greater than hunting beautiful fleshy mounds?

“If I don’t help you out, with your standard as a country bumpkin, would you be able to take down a gold-ranked level 5 Bloody Queen?” When Luo Hua City Mistress said that, Tian Lang’s head immediately spun.

Gold-ranked level 5?

That strength was almost similar to that Bamboo Bear, and the monster’s name itself already gave Tian Lang a profound image, Bloody Queen... Looks like it was at least a Golden King Beast. If not, it should be on par with the Abyss King-level demons. He could defeat one himself, but as a moundless human, he shouldn’t have that strength.

“Not going. I’m afraid that you will sacrifice this country bumpkin’s life to obtain that Bloody Queen yourself.” Tian Lang regrettably had to give up his chase of beautiful fleshy mounds. He shook off the fragrant hand and walked away.

Luo Hua City Mistress chased after him and pursued, “Country Bumpkin, I don’t need you to work hard. I will be the main attacker, and you would only be responsible for clearing the small fries around. When we win, I will give the Bloody Queen to you. Think about it, If you could make a contract with her, with a golden-ranked level 5 Bloody Queen, it wouldn’t even be a normal battle when you summoned it out. It would sweep away everything on its path. I see that you lack a strong summon. Not to mention as a human, you can’t fight the beasts above ground. What would you do if you meet an avian-type beast? Don’t tell me you would be defeated by a mere Wind Breath Seabird. It would be a different case if you had the Bloody Queen because it is an existence second only to Giant Dragons!”

Tian Lang halted in his step, “Only second to Giant Dragons?”

That was a temptation, not even the sane Chaotic Being could reject. Not to mention when a flowery scent kept attacking his nostrils. He only saw beautiful fleshy mounds waiting for him to get them.

“Deal! Deal!” Tian Lang repeated as if he was afraid that Luo Hua City Mistress would go back on its words.

“I knew that you, this country bumpkin, wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation,” Luo Hua City Mistress almost seemed like it knew Tian Lang would agree, and laughed out loud, “You, a fellow with no future, how could you believe in other’s words so easily? I’m now worried about your future.”

Tian Lang couldn’t help but sweat bullets. There were indeed many loopholes in Luo Hua City Mistress’s words. If it gave him the Bloody Queen, why were they even going there? Luo Hua City Mistress continued to lecture about the good and the bad.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t lie to such a foolish country bumpkin like you. Because you are my future Guard Captain,” Luo Hua City Mistress giggled softly, “I was just reminding you not to believe in others so easily, no matter if they are male or female. If you have things to do now, I’ll give you half a day to finish them.”

Here this human goes, speaking about some complicated stuff I can’t understand. Tian Lang almost had a headache. He just gave a curt reply, “No need.”

The things he had to take care of was naturally to go to Ivy Academy. It wouldn’t be too late to go there after he got some fleshy mounds from the Bloody Queen, right?

“Don’t worry, we will get back soon enough. Don’t let it be stolen by the fellows in the Abyss now.”

“Abyss? Are we going to Abyss again?” Maybe he needn’t worry about Dark Grimoire after all?

“The Bloody Queen is the new Gold King Beast. It is easiest to defeat now. If we wait for a few more months, let it grow stronger even more, and rise to gold-ranked level 6, it would be a difficult problem. Every single beast, once they reach level 6, their abilities would increase by ten times from their previous state. However, once a Bronze, Silver, and Gold monster level up to level 6, they wouldn’t be able to go through a Variant Evolution. Even Platinum-ranked, only a few of them had the chance to go through a variant evolution. The fellows from Abyss are also trying to get the Bloody Queen before that happens. Even if they failed to get it, they would make sure that we humans don’t get it either. You must not let the Bloody Queen evolve to level 6 and make it go through variant evolution. Even though Gold-rank is good, it’s still not much if you want to aim for the higher floors.” Luo Hua City Mistress pulled Tian Lang along and sprinted as it explained. Tian Lang listened to it seriously. He could only hear these secrets on cultivating beasts from this human.

In the end, which rank was he? It was still a mystery. Was it really something above the Diamond Rank, the Holy Beast? He fought many beasts, but he didn’t know about rankings. The Shadow Leopard seemed to understand them better than him.

Anyway, those were things he won’t be able to figure out.

He knew he had great strength. If he got the Bloody Queen on the air, the Shadow Leopard to guard his back, wouldn’t he be truly undefeatable?

...get the Bloody Queen...? Tian Lang suddenly realized the crux of the problem and stopped. How would he contract the Bloody Queen? He couldn’t summon his Grimoire. No, he might not even have a Grimoire.

Seeing Tian Lang pause, Luo Hua City Mistress also halted, “What happened, did you change your mind now?”

“It isn’t like that. It’s just... I-I can’t summon my Grimoire. What would I do with the Blood Queen?” Tian Lang plotted carefully. This human had a Grimoire, and it needed his help too. If he played his cards well, wouldn’t he be able to learn Grimoire Summoning?

“Eh, that’s not right. Explain everything to me properly.” What Tian Lang said really surprised Luo Hua City Mistress. It felt something wasn’t right here. When a summoner contracted with a Grimoire, the required knowledge was transmitted to the contractor’s consciousness.

Tian Lang grumbled inwardly, why do you need everything?

Alas, he couldn’t reply that. He cooked a proper country bumpkin backstory and presented: “It’s like this. Although I come from a backwater place, my great-great-great-grandmother was a proud summoner. One day after hard country work, I touched our family heirloom, the grimoire, accidentally. Who knew, a bright light flashed, and I lost consciousness. After I came to, I realized the book disappeared. Actually, I ran away because my mother might kill me.”

If Tian Lang hadn’t witnessed the fake Yue Yang’s Grimoire contract ceremony and the Demon General’s death, which led to the appearance of its grimoire, Tian Lang could never come up with such a solid story. His only regret was that he didn’t know what kind of work country bumpkins did; hence he had to go with ‘hard country work.’

“Fainting after Grimoire contract is quite normal for individuals with low spirit power. Even if you lost consciousness, you should remember what the Grimoire transmitted to you.” Luo Hua City Mistress exasperatedly said. This country bumpkin was bizarre.

Oh? I was supposed to remember or receive something? Tian Lang thought and changed his words, “I only got some gibberish things. They look so weird. Eh, is it because I can’t read?”

“You, country bumpkin, don’t forget to keep me amused!” Luo Hua City Mistress laughed unrestrainedly and even patted Tian Lang’s back as if saying, ‘if I died out of laughter, you have to take responsibility.’

“Alas, what can I do?” Luo Hua City Mistress took a wondering tone, but its eyes said it already knew the answer, “I’ll teach you how to summon your Grimoire. But. You’ll have to owe me one, country bumpkin.”

Tian Lang inwardly made an unwilling face, but outside remained poker-faced. If possible, he didn’t even want to interact with humans now, let alone owe them. Now though, he had no choice. As for others, most warriors lacked a Grimoire themselves. How would they teach him grimoire summoning?

“Only if you can teach me,” Tian Lang grumpily said. If he didn’t have a Grimoire and still owed one, he would really be one miserable Chaotic Being.

Luo Hua City Mistress dragged him outside the road and guided him step by step, “Close your eyes. Now, remove all the distractions from your head. Relax your shoulders... Why are you fidgeting? Be calm!... You will feel empty... Everything is dark, and there’s only void in front of you.”

“I only see darkness, nothing here.” Tian Lang said, a bit helpless.

“Idiot, it IS void because there’s nothing in there,” Luo Hua City Mistress flicked at the back of Tian Lang’s head as it reprimanded. “Now, feel the presence hidden in that void. Although it might look like there’s nothing, myriads of things are hidden there. Try to feel them.”

As it guided, Luo Hua City Mistress traced its fingers to Tian Lang neck to his back. When it shoulder-hugged and patted him, it realized how spectacular Tian Lang’s body was. Let alone his incredible muscle density, every part of his body had a perfect balance. As if the creator put their 100% effort into creating his body.

Although Tian Lang focused deeply as Luo Hua City Mistress said, the moving finger was like a mice taunting a cat; he couldn’t move his concentration out of it.

This moving finger awakened Tian Lang’s urge to eat. But he resisted this temptation. He knew he couldn’t eat humans. At least, not now.

So, as he concentrated on what could possibly be hidden there. He felt a string. Tian Lang traced, and it felt like a shadow to him. Curious, he tugged it and immediately felt Leopard eyeing him curiously.

Heh, that’s magical. Tian Lang ignored that string and searched for others. Just then, more connections revealed themselves to him. Out of them, one stood out to him.

It was different from anything he had seen. It gave him an entirely different feeling.

It looked old yet new. Even after eons, it would look the same. Untouchable by any restrictions. Simply spoken, it was Immemorial.

Tian Lang let his conscious merge with that connection, and somehow, he knew what he had to do. It was like an instinct to him. He willed, and so it happened.