The Killer Mantis and Blazing Bat had long lost their will to fight.
In terms of raw strength, they weren't even a match for Pure Jade Lotus.
The guard uncle's other spirit, Whirlwind Rabbit, was no weaker than Zhu Mingda's Blade Leaf Samurai either.
It could hold its own against ordinary elite-level spirits for three to five exchanges.
And then there was the Blazing Bat, which had been thoroughly spooked by the Dreamy Butterfly.
The two spirit hunters didn't dare to fight at all. Mimicking Su Hao's earlier tactic, they used the explosion of scattered flames as cover and fled into the Storm Belt.
But...
They weren't familiar with the Storm Belt.
They could only dart around like headless flies. The Killer Mantis and Blazing Bat weren't spirits suited for protection either.
In no time at all, the guard uncle, who knew the terrain well, caught up to them.
Together with another guard who had rushed over from the depths of Sigh Valley after receiving an alert, they surrounded the two spirit hunters.
...
A moment later,
The two spirit hunters were tied up with ropes, and the Killer Mantis and Blazing Bat were severely injured. The guard uncle used a special net he'd found on the hunters to securely cover them.
It hadn't taken much effort.
The other guard, who had come from deep in the valley, was quite surprised.
His spirit was a Tide Frog King—nothing compared to King Zhou's, only about the size of a small car.
It was elite-level.
A veteran within that tier.
But when he heard his colleague shout that both of the hunters' spirits were elite-level, he had already braced himself for a tough fight.
And yet...
A few moves in, the hunters' spirits were down.
"Are they really spirit hunters?"
The two bound hunters glared fiercely.
If it weren't for that Dreamy Butterfly, how could they have fallen to mere guards!
They would have... escaped long ago!
The Tide Frog King's spirit master had also noticed. When he arrived, the Killer Mantis and Blazing Bat were already covered in wounds.
He chuckled, "Old Zhou, has your Pure Jade Lotus broken through again? It's that fierce now, taking on two and still chasing them off?"
The Tide Frog King's bell-like eyes fixed on the Pure Jade Lotus hovering low in the air, feeling like its title as the valley's top spirit was about to slip away.
The guard uncle surnamed Zhou smiled bitterly and shook his head. "It's not my doing. It's this young friend's spirit. By the time I got there, the Killer Mantis and Blazing Bat were already exhausted."
"Is it elite-level?"
He looked over. It didn't seem like it.
Uncle Zhou said, "It's entry-level."
He opened his mouth, exchanged a glance with his colleague, and looked up at the sky.
A moment later,
Zhu Mingda and the other staff from Sigh Valley finally arrived in a hurry.
His Blade Leaf Samurai had already been sent for treatment.
"Is your Dreamy Butterfly okay... huh?"
He saw the Dreamy Butterfly, which looked at most a little tired.
A stark contrast to the half-dead Killer Mantis and Blazing Bat.
At that moment,
Su Hao, who had been waiting and waiting, finally got...
"Are you the high schooler who discovered the Dreamy Butterfly's evolution path?!?!"
He watched the several spirit masters, whose expressions shifted from shock to realization, then to a look that screamed "no wonder it's so strong."
He nodded in acknowledgment, maintaining a humble smile.
Don't get excited, everyone sit down... or lie down, fine.
...
The two spirit hunters were captured. The entry-level Vine Snake on the cliff face was also taken care of by a flying spirit that arrived later.
Su Hao followed the Sigh Valley staff back to the entrance management office.
There, he saw the guard uncle upload the hunters' faces for comparison. Results came quickly.
"They're wanted criminals Chen Wu and Liu Qi. Three years ago, they were convicted of commanding spirits to kill. Never thought they'd been hiding in the New World all this time and become spirit hunters."
A Sigh Valley manager rubbed his temples.
Chen Wu and the other hunter weren't a big deal—just ordinary elite-level. But the fact that they'd survived in the New World for so long, with advanced gear, meant they definitely had some kind of channel and supplier.
There was more to it behind the scenes.
Like how they smuggled captured spirits out, where their supplies came from, and so on.
He didn't dare think too much about it.
He just wanted to keep his position stable.
"They were probably targeting your Dreamy Butterfly," the manager said. "But in the end, it's a lapse in our management..."
He looked at Su Hao and Zhu Mingda. "For this, Sigh Valley will compensate you both."
Even though the loss was minimal and they'd actually caught two hunters,
It was thanks to the Dreamy Butterfly's miraculous performance and Su Hao's quick thinking.
That didn't erase Sigh Valley's management oversight.
The manager could only be grateful no one was hurt or dead—otherwise, his position would be over.
Compensating Su Hao and Zhu Mingda with some resources wasn't a big deal.
After all... it would be under Sigh Valley's name.
The manager didn't have to pay out of his own pocket.
...
It was a day later when they returned to the spirit master hub in Modu.
Zhu Mingda had also set aside his guide work and come back to the Dragon Kingdom, but he looked even more excited than Su Hao.
"I actually went head-to-head with an elite-level spirit master!"
"And got beaten half to death?"
"Uh..."
Zhu Mingda was choked up for a second, but since Su Hao had carried him, he didn't mind at all. "Brother Su, where are you headed next? Let's grab a meal first—my treat. Are you planning to apply to our Modu Spirit University for the college entrance exam?"
"Let me tell you..."
Su Hao was thinking it over too.
He had originally picked out a few special training grounds.
But...
Now that he was being targeted by spirit hunters, he had to pass on any places that weren't safe enough.
The fact that the Dreamy Butterfly had a bounty on the dark web caught him off guard.
Wasn't it just a gifted spirit? What a fuss!
If we pull off something else later, you guys would be jumping for joy, wouldn't you?
"I wonder how much the bounty is?"
"Guno?"
The Dreamy Butterfly patted his head, feeling like Su Hao was thinking about something bad.
"Let's eat first."
Su Hao shamelessly let Zhu Mingda treat him to a meal. After lunch, on his recommendation, he headed to a battle club in Modu.
The White Elephant Battle Club.
"Hello, sir. We have an official battle zone and a regular battle zone. We offer..."
The receptionist first introduced the White Elephant Battle Club's glorious history, then pitched monthly and yearly memberships.
She asked if he needed to hire spirit master sparring partners, etc.
Su Hao declined all of them.
"Just the regular zone."
The only one he wanted to train was Little Fire Crow.
"Caw?"
Compared to the Dreamy Butterfly, Little Fire Crow lacked combat experience. During the joint exam, it had only fought weak spirits or cheered on the then-silkworm baby.
It hadn't been through many evenly matched battles.
Fortunately, in Modu, the level of non-entry-level spirits was higher.
Building up Little Fire Crow to complement the Dreamy Butterfly and reduce weaknesses would help him steamroll through the college entrance exam in four or five months.
He just didn't know what the exam rules were.
"Maybe I should consider contracting a third spirit."
His spare soul power had already met the minimum requirement of one point.
But whether at the Spirit Nurturing House or the Free-Range Spirit Center, they only sold common, ordinary spirits.
Even in Modu, without money, connections, or channels, the spirits you could buy were about the same as in Yunhua.
"How about considering a Wood Mantis? It has a rare undiscovered evolution: the Prayer Mantis."
The Prayer Mantis probably wasn't weak, and in the later stages, it might have dual attributes like the Dreamy Butterfly's path.
But...
"The role overlaps a bit. Right now, I need a tank-type spirit that can take hits, carry me, and help me escape."
As he pondered, he followed the staff into the regular battle zone.
Pushing open the door, the noise hit him.