"Now go to your room," Aditya said calmly.
"Your next lesson will begin after you find a summoned beast. If you have any questions, remember where to find me."
With that, he turned and left.
Mu Feng bowed slightly, then headed back to his residence.
Inside his room, Mu Feng sat cross-legged on the bed. His expression was calm, but his heart beat with quiet anticipation.
This was it.
He raised his hand and began connecting the stars of his Summoning Element.
One star.
Two.
Three—
The process felt effortless now.
In less than two seconds, all seven stars linked together, forming a complete star track. The moon-white glow of summoning magic spread through his spiritual world.
At the same time, Mu Feng activated the ring Aditya had given him.
A spatial ripple surged outward.
For a brief instant—
His vision went completely blank.
No sound.
No sensation.
No sense of direction.
Then—
His eyes opened.
Mu Feng found himself floating in midair.
Below him stretched a vast, lush jungle—endless canopies of emerald green, towering ancient trees with trunks as thick as city walls, vines hanging like living serpents, and mist drifting lazily between branches.
The air was heavy.
Wild.
Alive.
He could feel it instantly.
This place was nothing like the artificial forests Mu Shen remember.
This jungle carried pressure—a primal aura that made his instincts tighten. Every leaf, every shadow, every rustle felt dangerous.
Mu Feng looked down at his hands.
They were slightly translucent.
"So this is the Summoning Plane…" he murmured.
As he descended slowly, his boots touched the ground without a sound. The moment his feet met the earth, a wave of foreign energy surged into his senses—violent, chaotic, and ancient.
Somewhere in the distance—
A deep roar echoed.
It wasn't loud, but it carried authority.
Mu Feng's pupils narrowed.
"That wasn't a Servant-level beast," he thought immediately.
He exhaled slowly and steadied himself.
This was not a battlefield to rush into.
He recalled Aditya's words.
Choose carefully.
Strength decides everything.
Mercy will get you killed.
Mu Feng crouched and placed his palm against the soil.
The ground was warm.
Alive.
"This region really does host high-level bloodline demons," he muttered.
He rose and began moving forward, his steps light and controlled, suppressing his aura as much as possible. He avoided open spaces, stayed within dense foliage, and paused frequently to listen.
Crack—
A branch snapped somewhere to his left.
Mu Feng froze instantly.
His breathing slowed.
Then—
A massive shadow moved across the canopy above him.
Not flying.
Leaping.
Whatever it was, it moved from tree to tree with terrifying speed.
Mu Feng did not chase it.
Nor did he retreat.
He watched.
Observed.
Learned.
"This isn't a hunt," he reminded himself quietly.
"This is a search."
He moved deeper into the jungle, marking landmarks in his memory. Each minute that passed, he encountered traces of powerful creatures—claw marks embedded in stone, crushed vegetation, bones stripped clean.
Some presences made his scalp prickle instinctively.
Those—
He avoided.
Hours passed.
Then, as he pushed aside a curtain of thick vines, Mu Feng suddenly stopped.
Ahead of him was a clearing.
And in the center of it—
A massive paw print.
It was easily twice the size of his torso, deeply embedded into the earth, with faint residual pressure lingering around it.
Mu Feng knelt beside it, eyes sharp.
"…Tiger."
Not just any tiger.
The aura lingering here was dense, sharp, and filled with dominance.
His heart beat faster—not from fear, but from instinctive recognition.
"This is the kind of place Aditya mentioned," he thought.
Mu Feng stood slowly.
His gaze hardened.
"I won't rush," he said softly to himself.
"But I won't retreat either."
Tightening his grip on the summoning ring, Mu Feng stepped forward into the clearing—
Fully aware that from this moment on,
every decision he made could determine the future of his summoning path.
Mu Feng continued his search for another two hours.
The jungle remained dense and oppressive, but the deeper he went, the clearer one thing became—
The powerful presence he had sensed earlier was gone.
Every demon beast he encountered afterward was… lacking.
Low-bloodline creatures.
Scaled lizards with weak auras.
Wolf-like beasts who barely reached peak Servant level.
Serpents that fled the moment they sensed his presence.
Even when he deliberately followed trails of mana residue, they always led to mediocre demon beasts, nothing worthy of becoming his first contracted summon.
Mu Feng stood atop a thick tree branch, silently observing a pair of demon panthers fighting below. Their movements were savage but crude, their aura shallow.
"…Too weak," he muttered.
He wasn't looking for something that was merely strong now.
He was looking for potential.
A beast that could grow with him.
A beast whose bloodline would not collapse at higher tiers.
A beast worthy of being nurtured into a ruler—or even beyond.
Mu Feng closed his eyes and expanded his perception.
The jungle responded.
Countless chaotic signals flooded his senses, but among them—nothing stood out anymore. The oppressive pressure he had felt earlier had completely vanished, as if the owner had deliberately withdrawn from this region.
"…So it moved," Mu Feng concluded calmly.
He wasn't disappointed.
On the contrary—his lips curved slightly.
"A high-bloodline demon wouldn't stay in one place for long," he thought.
"Especially not one capable of suppressing this entire area."
He checked the summoning ring on his finger.
The coordinates Aditya had locked were wide, not fixed to a single point. That meant the region itself was correct—but the target was mobile.
Mu Feng exhaled slowly.
"Then I'll change my approach."
Instead of searching randomly, he began looking for signs—not of the beast itself, but of how other creatures behaved.
Predator-free zones.
Unnaturally silent areas.
Trails where even demon insects avoided crawling.
After another ten minutes, he noticed something subtle.
A stretch of jungle where no sound existed.
No insects.
No birds.
No rustling leaves.
Even the wind seemed hesitant to pass through.
Mu Feng stopped at the edge of that silent zone.
His instincts screamed a warning.
But his eyes shone with excitement instead of fear.
"…This is it."
He tightened his grip and stepped forward.
The moment he crossed into the silent zone, the pressure increased sharply. It wasn't overwhelming—but it was authoritative, like an invisible gaze resting on his back.
Mu Feng slowed his breathing and suppressed his aura completely.
"This isn't a low-bloodline demon," he thought calmly.
"And it's definitely not something that can be approached recklessly."
He crouched and examined the ground.
There—deep claw marks, cleaner and sharper than any he had seen before.
Tiger.
And not an ordinary one.
"These claws cut through enchanted stone," Mu Feng judged.
"At minimum… a high Servant with an exceptional bloodline."
His heart beat steadily.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Only clarity.
"If you're here," he whispered inwardly,
"then you're exactly what I'm looking for."
Mu Feng rose silently and began moving deeper into the silent zone—
Fully aware that the next demon beast he encountered might not just test his strength—
—but decide whether he was worthy of summoning at all.
Mu Feng did not rush.
He activated the ring and locked the coordinates of this region firmly. A faint ripple passed through the summoning plane, marking the location. Only after that did he withdraw his consciousness.
Back in his room, exhaustion hit him like a wave.
Two hours of continuous searching in the summoning plane had drained his mental strength heavily. Mu Feng sat down cross-legged and immediately entered meditation, calming his breathing and stabilizing his spiritual world.
Stars rotated slowly.
His mind cleared.
Only when his mental strength had fully recovered did he open his eyes again.
"Let's continue."
He reconnected his summoning stars—smooth, practiced, effortless—and activated the ring once more.
The world blurred.
When his vision stabilized, Mu Feng found himself floating above the same region he had locked earlier.
But this time, he noticed something strange.
Too quiet.
There were trees, dense vegetation, and ordinary beasts—deer-like creatures, small herbivores, even bird-type animals flitting between branches.
But—
No demon beasts.
Not even weak ones.
Mu Feng descended slowly, landing on the forest floor.
"This area has no demon presence at all," he murmured.
"That means only one thing…"
His eyes sharpened.
"The owner of this territory is strong enough that no other demon dares enter."
He moved forward cautiously, senses fully extended. The deeper he went, the heavier the atmosphere became—not oppressive, but restrained, as if the land itself was holding its breath.
Then—
He saw it.
A tiger stood atop a raised stone platform ahead.
Its body was massive, easily over five meters long. Its fur was pitch-black, absorbing light rather than reflecting it. Faint dark patterns ran across its body like scorched veins, giving it an ominous, savage appearance.
A Dark Demon Tiger.
But something was… off.
Mu Feng narrowed his eyes.
"The bloodline is incomplete," he realized.
"It's strong, but not pure."
The aura it gave off was aggressive but unstable—like a blade forged with cracks hidden inside.
The tiger turned its head slowly.
Red eyes locked onto Mu Feng.
Hostility surged instantly.
The Dark Demon Tiger growled low in its throat, claws digging into the stone beneath it. The ground vibrated slightly under its weight.
Mu Feng did not retreat.
Nor did he attack.
Instead, he observed.
Its movements were powerful—but lacked refinement.
Its aura was fierce—but lacked depth.
"A mutated bloodline… or a degraded one," Mu Feng concluded.
"Strong now, but with a ceiling."
The tiger suddenly leapt.
Fast.
Mu Feng activated his Space Walker Boots and flashed sideways, narrowly avoiding the claws that smashed into the ground where he had been standing. Cracks spread across the stone.
Mu Feng landed, ice mana already circulating.
"Ice Spread—Freeze!"
Frost surged forward.
The Dark Demon Tiger roared and tore through the ice with brute force, but its movement slowed for a brief instant.
Mu Feng immediately followed up—
"Ice Spread—Solidify!"
The ice thickened, locking its front paw momentarily.
Mu Feng drew the Ice Crystal Bow.
An arrow formed.
He released it.
The arrow streaked forward—but instead of aiming for the head, he aimed at the shoulder.
The Dark Demon Tiger twisted its body at the last second. The arrow grazed its fur, leaving behind a layer of frost but failing to penetrate deeply.
The tiger roared in rage and broke free, charging again.
Mu Feng retreated several steps, mind racing.
"It's powerful," he admitted.
"But it's reckless."
He stopped.
And made his decision.
This beast was strong.
But it was not what he was looking for.
"I'm not here to conquer," Mu Feng said calmly, lowering his bow.
"And I'm not here to settle."
The Dark Demon Tiger paused, confused by his lack of aggression.
Mu Feng met its gaze without fear.
"You're strong," he continued.
"But your path is already narrowing."
He turned away.
"I need a companion who can grow with me."
Without another glance, Mu Feng withdrew his consciousness.
The summoning plane faded.
Back in his room, Mu Feng opened his eyes, breathing steady.
"One candidate rejected," he murmured.
"But that's fine."
He clenched his fist lightly.
"This is only the beginning."
Somewhere in the vast summoning plane—
The beast destined to walk beside him was still waiting.