The moment Xiaolu's excited voice rang out, Song Jie's eyes lit up.
Found it!
Xiaolu fluttered forward, her little hands pointing toward a delicate flower hidden among the weeds.
The plant stood barely ten centimeters tall, its dark green stem supporting a single yellow bud wrapped in soft petals.
At its center—shimmering faintly—was the plant stamen they were looking for.
"Good job, Xiaolu!" Song Jie grinned and scooped her up, planting a kiss on her leafy cheek.
"Ring!" Xiaolu wiped the saliva away, her little face full of disgust.
Song Jie laughed and carefully plucked the stamen. He pulled out a thin thread of it and handed it to Xiaolu.
"Here, try it."
After a moment of hesitation, Xiaolu nibbled the stamen—her eyes widened in delight, and she immediately begged for more.
"Eat as much as you want," Song Jie said warmly. "If you find more, they're all yours."
"Ring-ring!" Xiaolu cheered, clearly motivated by food.
Following her lead, Song Jie found several more stamens in succession.
His luck had never been this good—though, in truth, it wasn't luck at all. It was Xiaolu's unique gift for sensing plant life.
But soon, Xiaolu stopped again and chirped urgently. "Ring! Ring-ring!"
Song Jie's expression grew alert. He followed her into a clearing blanketed with vibrant grass and blooming flowers.
There—among the blossoms—were at least twenty clusters of plant stamens, all glowing faintly!
"Damn! Xiaolu, you're amazing!" Song Jie exclaimed, lifting her up again for another kiss.
Yet his instincts screamed danger.
So many stamens gathered in one place? Impossible.
In a place like this, any untouched treasure usually meant only one thing—a trap.
The clearing was surrounded by trees forming a perfect ring. It looked natural, but Song Jie wasn't fooled.
He whispered, "Xiaolu, don't get close. Use your vines to pick them from here."
Xiaolu nodded, her eyes gleaming as she stretched her hands forward.
Countless thin vines crept across the ground, slowly extending toward the stamens.
But before they could reach them—
Boom!
Thick, blackened roots suddenly erupted from the soil, blocking the vines' path.
Song Jie's expression darkened. "You again, old roots!"
Roots meant only one thing: a plant-type demon. And this one felt familiar—just like the creature that had ambushed them before.
"Glory—Multiple Lasers!"
Boom! Boom!
Golden beams burst from his hands, slicing through the trees like blades of light.
Wood splintered and smoke rose, but the controlling demon still didn't show itself.
"Trying to hide? Let's see how long you last!"
He fired again, clearing swaths of forest with each dazzling explosion.
Still, the ground trembled—the roots were multiplying, writhing like serpents across the dirt.
"Xiaolu, hold them off!" he shouted.
The little creature waved her hands frantically, tangling the roots with her vines.
But the pressure was immense—the unseen demon was pouring everything it had into the attack.
Then Song Jie's sharp eyes caught it—a massive tree at the edge of the clearing, untouched by his earlier spells.
There you are.
"Glory—Ultimate Explosion!"
A blinding orb of light shot from his palm, streaking through the air before detonating with a deafening roar.
BOOM!!!
The great tree shattered instantly, splinters raining down like burning meteors. The surrounding roots twitched once—then went still, lifeless.
Song Jie exhaled slowly. "Finally…"
But as the smoke cleared, a faint green light floated up from the remains of the tree. It pulsed softly, like a breathing flame.
"This is… spirit essence?"
His heartbeat quickened.
To kill a demon that could resist an intermediate-level spell, he had been forced to unleash a high-level blast.
That meant this creature had been no ordinary beast—it was at least a high-ranked War General–level demon.
Such a creature's spirit essence was priceless.
Normally, one would need a special artifact—the Vessel of the Undead—to even see a spirit, let alone capture it.
Those artifacts cost millions… even tens of millions of yuan.
Song Jie smiled faintly. "Good thing I already have one."
The bronze bracelet on his wrist glowed faintly, reacting to the floating spirit. Slowly, it drew the essence toward itself.
The spirit struggled briefly before being absorbed completely. The bracelet flashed once—and went still.
"It's done." Song Jie grinned, excitement flashing in his eyes.
Mo Fan once sold a lesser spirit essence for twenty million—this one had to be worth much more.
Still, part of him wondered if keeping it for Xiaolu might be wiser. A spirit essence could be a rare opportunity for her growth.
He shook his head. "Later."
After collecting all the remaining stamens and storing them in his system space, Song Jie looked at the darkening sky.
"Time to head back."
Meanwhile, at the camp.
Mu Lei and the others were resting when a disheveled hunter stumbled out of the forest, panting heavily.
"Thunder-patterned wolves!" he gasped. "A whole pack—coming this way!"
Everyone shot to their feet.
Mu Lei's eyes sharpened. "How many?"
"At least a hundred! And there's one bigger than the rest—its fur crackling with lightning!"
A heavy silence fell. The veterans knew what that meant.
"That's the Alpha," one of the high-level mages muttered grimly. "The Thunder Wolf King."