In another camp, a more luxurious wooden house has a hall where four men were present. Three of them were the middle-aged Executive Officers who faced the children earlier.
These three Executive Officers were the heads of Green Nightmare Demon Island, with twenty Executors under their command, and they held sway over everything on the island.
However, at this moment, the three top leaders of Green Nightmare Demon Island were standing respectfully behind a man dressed in white. The brutality and maliciousness they had shown in front of the children was now nowhere to be seen, as if they feared their expressions would betray insincerity and a lack of humility.
"Lord Xia, your presence on our island is truly an honor for us," said the leading Executive Officer.
"Cao Yi, has the kid I threw here not died yet?" The man called Lord Xia asked.
This Lord Xia was around thirty years old, with pale skin, appearing somewhat weak and sickly. His entire being exuded a chill.
"Not yet," the island leader Cao Yi answered.
Lord Xia showed surprise and murmured to himself, "In Gangluo City, the employer's information clearly indicated that he was just a beginner in the Soul Disciple realm. Logically, with his weak Soul Power, he should have been devoured during the second stage of the White Nightmare Demon. How has he not died yet?"
The three men beside him didn't know what Lord Xia was talking about, so they looked at each other in confusion.
"Lord Xia, do you need us to kill him directly? It would be an insult for your noble White Nightmare Demon to consume such a weak soul," Cao Yi finally said.
"There's no need. Since he hasn't died yet, it means his Soul Power can still feed my White Nightmare Demon. It seems this kid has some ability, unlike the mediocrity those people thought he was. Good. There's no suitable host for now, so let him continue to provide for my White Nightmare Demon. Perhaps he'll be able to sustain a few more Stages..." Lord Xia said.
After finishing his sentence, Lord Xia stood up and said, "Continue to let him train here. After he dies, bring my White Nightmare Demon to my island."
"What if he doesn't die?" One of the Executors beside him asked quietly.
"Idiot! Who hasn't nurtured a White Nightmare Demon on the foundation of thousands of corpses? How could that kid possibly survive?" Cao Yi scolded his subordinate immediately.
"Yes, yes, I am foolish, I am foolish..." The Executor who asked too much nodded frantically like pounding garlic.
Lord Xia snickered mysteriously without saying anything and headed towards the door.
In fact, Lord Xia also didn't believe Chu Mu could survive, because nurturing a White Nightmare Demon was a process of slaughter. Normally, one needed thousands of hosts with decent aptitudes to provide for it...
Lord Xia's White Nightmare Demon was in its newly born state. A newborn White Nightmare Demon's consumption of Soul Power was bearable for some talented young Soul Pet trainers.
However, this was only because the White Nightmare Demon was at a low stage. Once the White Nightmare Demon advanced a rank, its appetite would increase significantly, requiring it to find new, stronger hosts, and not weak Soul Pet trainers like Chu Mu around fifteen years old.
Lord Xia estimated that by the time the White Nightmare Demon reached the third stage, Chu Mu's time would probably run out.
...
...
Inside the wooden house
"There should be a limited number of high-level, high-quality Soul Pets on the island. We should capture our Battle Soul Pets sooner rather than later. Even if we get a substandard Soul Pet and train it rigorously for three months, it will be difficult to make it into the top ten," Ting Yu discussed after surviving the previous night's ordeal.
Having not slept long, Ting Yu was already very spirited the next morning, ready to set off and capture her own Soul Pet.
"Yeah, good luck," Chu Mu nodded slightly, speaking to the fully prepared Ting Yu.
"What, aren't you coming with me?" Ting Yu asked.
"Let's act separately. You don't want to run into a good Soul Pet and end up having this room for just one person, do you?" Chu Mu said casually.
Ting Yu pursed her thin lips and said, "But without more cooperation, how can we defeat a Soul Pet and capture it?"
Generally speaking, Soul Pet Masters' first combat soul pets are provided by their family, teachers, or elders. After a period of training, they can truly become the Soul Pet Master's battle partners.
However, the training method on Nightmare Demon Island is special, as it requires Soul Pet Masters to find their first combat Soul Pet besides a Nightmare Demon, which probably cannot be done without personally fighting with Soul Pets.
"You should also know that this is a competitive circle. If you work with others, unless you have a physical advantage like Zhou Shengmo, no one would dare to compete for good Soul Pets with him during the teamwork. Without that, as long as there is a conflict of interest, there will inevitably be casualties among the team. So, if you really want to get a satisfactory Soul Pet, the best option is to act alone..." Chu Mu said seriously.
"But... I just don't trust other people..." Ting Yu said in a spoiled tone.
"I'm not worthy of your trust either," Chu Mu said. After saying that, Chu Mu grabbed a parcel and left the wooden house.
Watching Chu Mu's retreating figure, Ting Yu stomped her foot angrily and said, "Hmph, I didn't have to bother applying medicine for you yesterday. If we run into a good one, you can choose first. Such a petty person!"
Chu Mu didn't care about Ting Yu's complaints. Applying medicine was a simple task, but if Ting Yu ever got injured, Chu Mu would help her apply it back in return. This was a savage, murderous, and brutal desolate island, not a civilized city where one should learn to love and cherish a younger sister or give way to a young lady...
...
Having applied healing medicine throughout the night, Chu Mu was now able to move freely. The dull pain in his back wasn't too significant.
Chu Mu had already figured out the terrain of the island earlier. Entering the dense jungle, Chu Mu was like a nimble elf, quickly entering the heavily-guarded central area of the Green Nightmare Demon Island.
The Nightmare Demon Island had a circumference of twenty kilometers. Although Nightmare Demon Palace had occupied the island for a long time, most of their executors were concentrated outside the island, rarely venturing into the 10-kilometer range within the island.
Green Nightmare Demon Island was a small ecological system itself, with many types of Soul Pets living here. Whether one could capture a good Soul Pet depended not only on luck but also extraordinary judgment and strong strength.
Luck is required when encountering high-ranked Soul Pets.
Judgment is needed to identify the Soul Pet's stage and potential.
Strength determines if the Soul Pet Master can capture the Soul Pet.
In theory, any Soul Pet, no matter how weak or strong, can be captured.
...
Most children were already searching for Soul Pets outside the island, walking and stopping intermittently. As soon as they saw a living creature, they would observe it carefully to ensure they did not miss any good Soul Pets.
Chu Mu was different. He did not stop in any area outside the island, and he did not take a single glance at the Soul Pets he encountered along the way. Instead, he headed straight for the inner region of Green Nightmare Demon Island!
The inner island was a dangerous area, which even the executors did not dare to enter easily. Chu Mu's dare to go there was not because he was overconfident or overly trusting in himself.
It was because Chu Mu knew that if he stayed on the outskirts of the island, like the other children searching for lower-grade Soul Pets, relying on his ample knowledge and judgment, he might be able to place in the top ten in the competition.
However, after escaping this ordeal, he would not be far from death because the devil inside his body was the much more terrifying White Nightmare Demon than the Green Nightmare Demon. Without a powerful Soul Pet, Chu Mu's own strength would be greatly limited.
It wasn't that Chu Mu didn't want to take steady steps to become stronger. But he simply could not lower his requirements, nor could he place himself on the same level with these Green Nightmare Demon children.
He had already been forced to the end of the road, and the only way out was to survive through adversity!