Chapter 358 : Serpent Summoning
Chapter 358: Serpent Summoning
The Serpent Paradise was a dream world constructed by Zhou Ming using the power of Spider Queen Iliss.
Within this boundless dreamscape, countless varieties of mushrooms covered the mountains, rivers, and plains, occupying the entire world like trees and wild grass.
Among them stood numerous mushrooms that towered into the clouds, rising from the earth like majestic mountains.
Such a landscape was naturally the result of Little Pink Mushroom's two years of tireless cultivation, working as diligently as an old farmer tending the countryside.
Zhou Ming was naturally well aware that Little Pink Mushroom wanted to seize control of the Serpent Paradise, but he paid little attention to it.
After all, the foundation of the Serpent Paradise relied upon the Serpent Bloodline Dreamscape under his control. There was no possibility of her taking away its true authority.
On the contrary, all the illusion-attributed mushrooms Little Pink Mushroom diligently cultivated only served to strengthen the existence of the Serpent Paradise.
Since it only brought him benefits, Zhou Ming naturally chose to quietly profit from the situation, allowing Little Pink Mushroom to continue indulging in her pleasant fantasy.
Among the mushroom forests that resembled endless mountain ranges, Molting Snakes and Ironthread Snakes of various sizes wandered everywhere.
Compared to the real world, their bodies were obviously several times, or even dozens of times, larger.
As for Inkband, which had already advanced to become a Lord-level Ferocious Beast, the body it manifested within the Serpent Paradise had already exceeded a thousand meters in length, freely weaving through the vast mushroom forests.
Suddenly, the snake swarm manifested from the dream consciousness instinctively sensed a bloodline aura that compelled their submission.
For a moment, every snake stopped moving and lowered their enormous heads in reverence.
As the half-manager of the Serpent Paradise, Little Pink Mushroom naturally noticed the sudden change immediately. Letting out a series of cheerful “ying ying” cries, she appeared atop the cap of an enormous mushroom.
At that very moment, Zhou Ming's consciousness manifested within the dream, accompanied by Lei Yuan, who was still wearing her white laboratory coat.
However, unlike Zhou Ming's clear-minded state, Lei Yuan's eyes were somewhat vacant, as though she had truly fallen into a dream and had yet to regain her senses.
“Lei Yuan.”
His voice rang out like the tolling of a great bell, instantly awakening Lei Yuan from her dazed state.
“Brother Zhou.”
She instinctively called out to him before finally noticing the unfamiliar surroundings.
“Brother Zhou, where is this?”
Faced with the strange environment, Lei Yuan instinctively wrapped both arms around Zhou Ming's arm, seeking a sense of security.
At that moment, Little Pink Mushroom arrived before the two of them while continuously making her “ying ying” sounds.
Judging by the way she hopped around excitedly, she seemed to be asking Zhou Ming about Lei Yuan's identity, afraid that someone else had come to compete for control of the Serpent Paradise.
“Alright, this is my girlfriend, Lei Yuan. Though... you probably don't understand what 'girlfriend' means. You can simply think of her as the person closest to me.”
Facing Little Pink Mushroom, Zhou Ming briefly introduced Lei Yuan's identity.
Upon hearing that, Lei Yuan immediately felt sweetness welling up inside her heart.
“Lei Yuan, this is the Serpent Paradise that I created through dreams. You can think of it as a special space constructed from an illusory dream.”
“And this is Little Pink Mushroom. She's considered half the administrator of the Serpent Paradise.”
Afterward, Zhou Ming briefly introduced Little Pink Mushroom's origins and explained why he had brought Lei Yuan into the Serpent Paradise.
“Brother Zhou, doesn't that mean we'll be able to meet whenever we want from now on?”
Lei Yuan completely ignored Zhou Ming's explanation for bringing her into the Serpent Paradise and instead became overjoyed that she could see him whenever she wished.
Little Pink Mushroom, however, was anything but happy.
Unfortunately, she still wasn't the true master of the Serpent Paradise, and her adorable face immediately drooped in disappointment.
“Not quite whenever we want.”
“If you wish to enter the Serpent Paradise, you still have to be asleep first, and then I'll personally bring you into it.”
“However, we can agree on a specific time beforehand. As long as nothing unexpected happens on my end, we'll be able to meet here.”
Although they couldn't meet at any time they pleased, Lei Yuan was already more than satisfied.
At the very least, they no longer had to wait years between every meeting.
After settling the matter, Zhou Ming and Lei Yuan agreed upon a meeting schedule. Zhou Ming then asked about Lei Yuan's progress on the Bloodline Warlock profession.
If the two truly wished to remain together for the rest of their lives, Lei Yuan would have to keep pace with Zhou Ming's growth.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhou Ming taught Lei Yuan a spell he had personally developed—
Serpent Summoning.
Using the Molting Snake bloodline, the spell allowed the caster to summon Molting Snakes from the wilderness to fight on her behalf.
It could even summon Zhou Ming's own Beast Tamers.
It functioned much like Lei Yuan becoming a signal transmission tower.
Once Zhou Ming sensed the signal, he could use Lei Yuan's location as the point of descent and dispatch his Beast Tamers to protect her.
If Zhou Ming so desired, Lei Yuan would even have the opportunity to summon Inkband, whose strength had already reached the Lord-level Ferocious Beast Rank.
This spell had naturally been developed by improving the Giant Frog Summoning Spell that Zhou Ming had obtained from the Frogman Warlock during his journey to Tamu World.
It could also be considered one of the achievements from the two years he had spent in secluded cultivation within the stone tower.
...
Over the following several days, Zhou Ming and Lei Yuan spent their days discussing theories of energy and their nights discussing theories of biology.
A single week passed in the blink of an eye.
Eventually, the time came when they had no choice but to part once more.
After escorting Lei Yuan back to the Academy of Sciences, Zhou Ming did not immediately leave the Alliance Headquarters.
Instead, he planned to make a trip to the Hunter Guild Headquarters.
He had already thoroughly mastered nearly all the knowledge he had obtained from the Blue Star Academy.
However, most of it provided only limited help to him now.
If he wanted to obtain more valuable Transcendent knowledge and further pave his own path toward Legend, he still needed a far greater amount of Transcendent knowledge.
Under the current circumstances, the easiest source was undoubtedly the Transcendent knowledge preserved by the Hunter Guild.
Moreover, only the Hunter Guild possessed the most comprehensive intelligence regarding high-tier serpent-type Ferocious Beasts.
After watching Lei Yuan enter the Academy of Sciences and wave goodbye to him until her figure gradually disappeared from sight, Zhou Ming finally headed toward the Hunter Guild Headquarters.
A short while later, inside one of the reception rooms at the Hunter Guild Headquarters—
“Lord Zhou Ming, I didn't expect we'd meet again so soon.”
The one receiving Zhou Ming was none other than Mu Tianqing, the Vice President of the Hunter Guild.
The two had only recently become acquainted at the Duanmu Family.
Mu Tianqing had already received news that Zhou Ming had arrived at the Alliance Headquarters, but he had not expected Zhou Ming to visit the Hunter Guild.
As the Hunter Guild's Vice President, he had already learned of Zhou Ming's strength in advance from the Duanmu Family and Elder Ge Hui.
Although Zhou Ming had chosen an incomplete profession, judging from his current progress, reaching the High-level Transcendent Rank was only a matter of time.
Therefore, whether because he valued Zhou Ming's potential or because of the Duanmu Family's relationship, Mu Tianqing personally came to receive him upon learning of his arrival.
“My apologies for the disturbance, President Mu. I've come to your Guild mainly to obtain intelligence regarding high-tier serpent-type Ferocious Beasts and also to see whether there are any suitable missions.”
Without exchanging excessive pleasantries, Zhou Ming directly stated his purpose.
“Oh? Lord Zhou Ming is seeking the Transcendent knowledge you require?”
“If Lord Zhou Ming is willing, there is actually no need to go through so much trouble.”
Naturally, Zhou Ming understood exactly what Mu Tianqing meant.
The other party was attempting to recruit him into the Hunter Guild.
However, the Hunter Guild held little attraction for him.