It's All For the Kid

Forgemasters are typically Fire Element or Lightning Element Mages.

Mo Fan cultivated Dual Elements — Lightning and Fire — which made him exceptional raw material for becoming a Forgemaster. But forging is itself a deep and demanding discipline: it requires not only learning extensive knowledge of smithing, materials, and decomposition from an early age, but also particular care in selecting one's Spirit Seeds.

Mo Fan had no interest in life-skill pursuits or wading through all that complicated business. He liked hunting monsters and PvP. Sure, becoming a Forgemaster could save him a fortune in gear costs — or even earn him money by selling equipment — but it would devour enormous amounts of time, and he barely had enough for cultivation as it was. He had no mental bandwidth left for any of that.

The top priority, for now, was to push all four of his Elements to their peak at the intermediate tier. He could figure out how to assault the advanced tier after that.

Upon returning to school, Mo Fan earned a single day of training time at the Three-Step Tower.

One day was woefully short. Even forcing his way up to the third-floor space — the zone with the highest energy concentration — it only consolidated his Lightning Element cultivation rather than driving a breakthrough.

So, without further delay, Mo Fan began challenging the top 20 of the Fire Rankings.

Those top 20 each had three days per month at the Three-Step Tower. Mo Fan had spent the past stretch of time either chasing bounties or fighting in the wild; his practical combat strength was formidable, but his cultivation genuinely lagged behind those ranked higher on the Fire Rankings. They had been visiting the Three-Step Tower every month, after all — even a few days at a time added up to enormous gains over time.

Two full months passed. Mo Fan barely left his training space. Grinding through solo cultivation and forcing progress with the Three-Step Tower's accelerated environment, he finally pushed his Shadow Element Star Nebula to the second level.

His next target was the Lightning Element. It had been stuck at the second level for too long now — if he didn't push it to the third level soon, facing Dual Element cultivators who had already reached the third level on both sides would leave him at a structural disadvantage.

The two months also brought good news: the little Flame Queen had grown a bit. Before, Mo Fan could open one hand and the tiny creature would sprawl across his palm to sleep. Now he needed both hands just to support her delicate little form.

She still looked like a porcelain doll — impossibly soft and rosy-pink. If not for the fact that her entire body was composed of flame, she could easily have passed for a two- or three-year-old girl: lively and absolutely adorable.

"The little Flame Queen is growing at a pretty decent pace, but next month I'm supposed to challenge the top 20 fighters. At her current combat power, she's still way too weak." Mo Fan sat at the bar counter of the Azure Sky Hunting Firm, brow deeply furrowed.

The Fire Rankings' top 20 were monstrous Mages, every last one of them. Facing the top 50 had already put him under tremendous pressure; challenging the top 20 would be even more brutal, and he desperately wanted something more to rely on in the coming fight than just his Xuanshe Armor Enchanted Gear.

"Contract Beasts and Demon-Beasts follow roughly the same developmental timeline, divided into four growth stages: juvenile, growth, mature, and peak. Generally speaking, the lower the bloodline, the faster the transitions between stages. A creature like the One-Eyed Demon Wolf, for instance, reaches adulthood in under half a year from birth, with no rare natural treasures required at all — faster than some large dogs. The little Flame Queen's bloodline is extraordinarily high. She's been alive for over two months, and she hasn't even reached the juvenile stage yet — she's still in the infant state. And that's even after eating so many Spirit Seed Fragments…" Lingling said, flipping through a book and rattling off each point with complete confidence.

"She hasn't even hit the juvenile stage yet??" Mo Fan stared at her, speechless.

"For creatures that have signed a contract with a Summoning Element Mage, their growth rate is influenced by the Star Nebula Magical Energy you provide — so they grow considerably faster than those living in the wild…" Lingling continued.

"…Just tell me straight: how long until she reaches the juvenile stage?" Mo Fan slumped with his chin on the counter, wearing a thoroughly pained expression as he watched the little Flame Queen happily galloping back and forth across the bar top.

The little Flame Queen was still a roly-poly bundle — two months of exceptional meals had apparently been turning her into what was shaping up to be a flaming ball. Drop her on the floor and she barely seemed to notice; she'd just bounce right back up to half her drop height.

"I've worked it out. Under normal conditions, going from the infant state to the juvenile stage takes three to five years — roughly on par with a human child's development…" Lingling said, counting on her fingers.

"Right, so I really am raising a daughter at this point. By the time she's finally impressive, I'll already be old!"

"The Spirit Seed Fragments you've been feeding her recently should cut that time by a factor of three, bringing the remaining time to juvenile stage down to roughly twelve to seventeen months. Then, the daily nourishment she receives from your Summoning Element Magical Energy boosts her growth speed by another factor of three on top of that — reducing it further to around four to five-plus months. So, best case, she could reach the juvenile stage in as little as one month; worst case, it might take around three." Lingling was a true numbers wizard — she had the full breakdown laid out for Mo Fan in an instant.

Mo Fan exhaled slowly. Framed that way, it was actually manageable. If it took three to five years just to clear the infant state, *that* would have been absolutely brutal.

"Once she's in the juvenile stage, you can start feeding her actual Spirit Seeds," Lingling added.

"…" Mo Fan was at a loss for words.

Twenty million per can of baby formula!!!

Was this any way to live?!

"High-bloodline creatures naturally require enormous resources to develop — but the returns are equally enormous. Based on my rough calculations, given the developmental quality you're achieving with these Spirit Seed Fragments, the little Flame Queen's combat power at the juvenile stage will already surpass the Swift Star Wolf's."

"Juvenile stage — Battle-General-class??" Mo Fan froze.

"That's right. Battle-General-class strength at the juvenile stage." Lingling was absolutely certain.

Mo Fan stood there stunned for a long moment, completely unable to speak.

The Swift Star Wolf was already an adult, and right now its combat power sat at the early tier of Battle-General-class — a notch behind the stronger Battle-General-class creatures out there.

And yet even so, no Mage in the Fire Rankings' top 100 could necessarily beat it in a straight one-on-one fight.

According to Lingling's estimate, the little Flame Queen at her juvenile stage would sit at the mid-tier of Battle-General-class — which meant that even without Mo Fan lifting a finger, the entire Fire Rankings top 50 might not be able to stop her.

And that was just the *juvenile* stage!

Once the little Flame Queen reached her growth and mature stages — wouldn't even Commander-class creatures have to steer clear of her?!

"Good girl, eat up. Daddy's got plenty of money — Spirit Seed Fragments, as many as you want. Eat your fill." Mo Fan reached into his pocket and pulled out a whole handful of Spirit Seed Fragments in one motion.

These were the last fragments he'd scavenged from the Blazing Plains. Now he could barely wait for the little Flame Queen to devour every last one of them — each worth more than diamonds — just to push her to the juvenile stage sooner…

The little Flame Queen ate Spirit Seed Fragments like they were chocolates. With a happy little babble, she bit off half a piece in one chomp and chewed with puffed-out chubby cheeks, her tiny eyes squinting into flame-crescent slits of pure contentment.

Mo Fan reached out and gently patted the top of her head, a warm smile spreading across his face.

"There's a report of Undead activity in a wealthy merchant's villa. Commission fee: one million. Accept?"

"Yes!!"

"A group of medicine traders need a Mage escort outside the Safe Zone for an herb-gathering expedition. High commission, but they're requiring a Hunter Master. Accept?"

"Aren't I a Hunter Master? Yes!!"

Mo Fan was absolutely buzzing with energy — any commission that paid, no matter how difficult or demanding, he was taking every single one.

*It's all for the kid.*