Chapter 211
Scion of Light, Saint Daughter of Samsara. Just now, Chen Zidian mentioned these terms. And the other five finally understood why Chen Zidian would choose their first soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, and had such high expectations for them.
Two kinds of talents so rare that they never appeared for 2,000 years, had now unexpectedly emerged at the same time, and were part of their team. Although these legendary heroes were formidable, speaking in terms of innate talent, they would probably be poles apart from these two.
The physique of the Scion of Light was something completely new and had never appeared ever before. And the Scion of Samsara from the legends took the Demon God Emperor down by himself! Even though at that time, the Demon God Emperor was already in a rather weak state, it was still a Demon God Emperor!
For these two to have joined the same Demon Hunt Squad, one could imagine its future development…
After no less than a few minutes, Han Yu finally reacted, taking a deep breath, “My grandfather is the Saint Knight Chief of the Temple Alliance, Han Qian. My innate internal spiritual energy was 63, but after I accomplished a retainer contract with Master, I enjoyed the innate talent sharing’s effects, boosting my innate internal spiritual energy up to 80, barely reaching the level of the physique blessed by the heavens.”
“Something like that can be done?” At the side, Sima Xian immediately leapt up, suddenly dashing to Long Haochen’s side and grabbing his hand,
“Boss, Captain, do you accept other retainers knights? Make me one please! My eeh… innate internal spiritual energy is 69… So unfair, it’s only a single level apart from 70.”
There was only a single digit of difference between an innate internal spiritual energy of 69 and 70, but to be sure of breaking through from the eighth step to the ninth step, given enough efforts, the prerequisite was an internal spiritual energy of 70. If this prerequisite wasn’t fulfilled, at least ten times the effort would be needed to succeed, and the odds would be quite lower. Of course, the factor of luck was also important.
People with innate internal spiritual energy above 70 were few, let alone those above 80 who were almost bound to reach the ninth step sooner or later. It wasn’t surprising that he immediately became so excited.
Long Haochen revealed a bitter smile, “Let’s wait for everyone to introduce themselves first. There should be no problem about it.”
“But, Master, you already have two retainers. With one more, I’m afraid that…” Han Yu hurried to his side. It wasn’t that he wanted to reject Sima Xian, but the most important thing was to consider Long Haochen’s condition.
Long Haochen shook his head, “No problem. I don’t plan on exercising control over you, and furthermore, my innate mental capacity is high, there should be no problem if I took one more retainer.”
Hearing him say so, Han Yu stayed silent. Long Haochen was after all the Scion of Light, so his circumstances couldn’t be compared with ordinary people’s.
Sima Xian’s excitement immediately went up. Becoming someone else’s retainer wasn’t anything glorious, but the master’s identity was an important factor. After all this time, everyone had an even better understanding of Long Haochen’s temperament. He was after all able to draw the Light Elemental Fairy to him with his merciful heart alone. She profited from it, let alone his own companions. Seeing Han Yu’s unperturbed appearance was proof for that.
“I will introduce myself. I don’t have any deep background: my father was a Berserker from the Warrior Temple, and my mother is an Archbishop of the sixth step from the Priest Temple. As I was very young, father died in a battle against the demons. He was a hero of the Warrior Temple. My holy attribute comes from my mother, but at the same time, I inherited my father’s ability of Madness. This makes me quite a misfit. Mother didn’t wish for me to die on the battlefield like father did, so she raised me into becoming a priest. But I wasn’t able to learn any healing type abilities like a normal priest, while I was on the contrary very fast at learning fighting type abilities. This led to my current situation. Because I have never been trained by any kind of great master since young, I forged my path by myself, and my strength may be a bit lacking compared to yours. Nonetheless, I will definitely do my best in the future to become a Discipline Priest.”
He made himself seem like nothing, but an innate internal spiritual energy of 69 was already a rare kind of outstanding genius within the whole Temple Alliance. To have reached the peak of the fourth step of cultivation at the age of barely 20 years-old and to have entered the fifth step shortly afterwards was not an easy thing to do.
Lin Xin felt gloomy as he said, “Why do I not possess the light attribute as well!? With the existence of such a great thing as the innate talent sharing, it would be great. My grandfather is the auxiliary chief of the Mage Alliance, Saint Mage Tutor and Mage Regiment Captain Lin Chen. But he doesn’t really like me that much. I am pretty much the opposite of Sima Xian: he cannot learn healing magic, while I cannot use offensive magic. But in the fields of alchemy and spiritual energy cultivation, my innate talent is pretty good. With an innate internal spiritual energy of 74, if not for the fact that I cannot use offensive magic, I’d say that big bro is also a genius. But well, let’s only say that big bro has drugs, it’s already just as badass.”
From the foolish way he spoke, everyone couldn’t help but break into laughter. But Long Haochen could faintly see that behind these foolish words, a surge of grief appeared in his eyes. Long Haochen thought to himself that the circumstances of Lin Xin being unable to learn offensive
magic could not possibly be as simple as Sima Xian’s. Nonetheless, when it pertains to someone else’s painful secrets, Long Haochen naturally wouldn’t go ask about it.
Wang Yuanyuan declared, “Should be my turn. I don’t have drugs, but I have my strength. I am the one who inherited the Gigantic Divine Soul Shield, and my bloodline is among the most powerful of the Warrior Temple. My great-grandfather used to be a Berserker Warrior of the ninth step, before dying at the hands of the demons. My grandfather was the previous head of the Warrior Temple, also at the ninth step, but he also died, at the hands of the fifth demon god. And my father died together with my great-grandfather on the battlefield. In our family, I am the only successor left.”
Hearing her words, everyone immediately had a serious expression. Her great-grandfather, grandfather, and father all died at the hands of the demons. It was no wonder that Wang Yuanyuan had such a behaviour when opposing demons, fighting as if her life depended of it. Her bloodline had been almost completely wiped out! And although her usual expression was apathetic, the slaughtering intent she gave off wasn’t concealed at all.
“I admire the seniors of the Demon God Slayers, and my goal for life is to be like them. This lady plans to slaughter her way to the demon’s side. Let me give you a warning, this lady doesn’t like men, and will not let herself have any entanglement on the emotional aspect. Except from killing all the demons, I have no other objective.”
Having said so much already, she shot a faint glance at Sima Xian who was still in a state of excitement.
Having heard her words, Sima Xian was startled, the excitement he had from learning about the Innate Talent Sharing weakening quite a bit. Wrinkling his brows, he rapidly came back to his normal state.
“Sis Yuanyuan, there’s no problem about the fact you don’t like men. You still have me, and I don’t like guys either.” Chen Ying’er laughed happily, “All of you have already met my grandmother, secondary head of the Spiritual Temple, summoner at the rank of Spiritual Emperor,
Sanshui. My grandfather is in the same fashion the chief of the Spiritual Temple. They insist on marrying me to Yang Wenzhao, so I chose to run away. But I didn’t expect my luck to be so good in the Demon Hunt Selection; I actually summoned a magical beast of the eighth step during the preliminaries. It was so intimidating that no one dared to confront me, and you know what happened afterwards. Let me tell you a secret: Yang Wenzhao is the grandson of Alliance Chief Yang Haohan. He is also someone you have already met in the past: he occupies the post of chief of our Temple Alliance, and is the possessor of the Divine Throne of Protection and Mercy, the Divine Knight of Defense and Strategy.”
Although everyone guessed earlier that Chen Ying’er’s background wasn’t ordinary, her words left them secretly astonished. The Spiritual Temple was the most mysterious of the six, but she was unexpectedly the granddaughter of its chief.
Lin Xin asked with some curiosity, “But how could that thing with your Creature Summoning Gate happen? That’s a summoning magic of the eighth step!”
Chen Ying’er replied, somewhat helpless, “My innate internal energy is rather odd, I am unable to use the numerous other kinds of summoning spells. My grandfather said that I was born with the innate talent of the Body of Chaos. My current situation is unusual because the Body of Chaos comes with important indeterminacy. Before I reach the seventh step, any summoning spell will be a great challenge for me to learn. But if I grow to the seventh step, cultivating the mysteries of chaos, I will instantly become able to use every summoning spell accessible to my step. Reportedly, demons are quite afraid of the people of my kind, so in case they learn of the appearance of a summoner possessing the Body of Chaos, they are bound to send numerous powerhouses to kill him off. Which is why my grandparents insist on connecting me with Yang Wenzhao by marriage. Hmpf, I’m not afraid though. I don’t need Yang Wenzhao to protect me, neither do I need to ask for my grandfather’s or my grandmother’s help.”
A physique causing great worry to the demons? Although they didn’t know what could worry the demons like that, this Body of Chaos was still
incomparable to the Scion of Light and the Saint Daughter of Samsara, quite lacking in comparison. But in their little team of seven, they already had three existences of highly special physique.
After Chen Ying’er finished introducing herself, Wang Yuanyuan revealed a bitter smile, “I believe that if we can survive until the day we get that title, we won’t be called a team of misfits anymore…”
On the next morning, the ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squads’ leaders issued an order for all the members of the newly formed Demon Hunt Squads to pack up for traveling, preparing their return to Holy City.
Their return, scheduled for the time after the three months of tests, was shifted to an earlier date because of the great demon armies’ retreat. As a whole, those tests were successful, and the ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squads came back completely intact. They contributed well to the Exorcist Mountain Pass, and obtained ample approval from the Exorcist Mountain Pass’ military as well as the Assassin Temple.
But their time as youths couldn’t be wasted. Without an actual gain they naturally wouldn’t stay there for so long. The end of this time’s tests also signified the start of those ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squad’s real journey. Their most ultimate goal were the Demon God Slayers, who appeared on the continent 300 years ago.
Sheng Lingxin and Lan Yanyu personally sent the ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squads off.
Looking at the girl standing next to Long Haochen, Lan Yanyu’s eyes were already moist. Due to the aftereffects of her husband’s use of the Spiritual Stove of Return to Childhood, their relationship with their daughter finally improved with great difficulty. But having to part with each other once again, as her mother, one could imagine her current pain.
Sheng Lingxin also stood there, looking at their daughter with warm feelings, slightly pursing his lips. He already recovered all his memories, and the ones of his daughter coming to visit him a few times had left a particularly deep impression on him.
The other members of the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad already followed Gao Yingjie to get on the carriage, so only Long Haochen and Cai’er remained.
“Uncle Sheng, aunt Lan, take care of yourselves.” Long Haochen respectfully bowed before Sheng Lingxin and Lan Yanyu, not with a knight salute but with the bow of someone of the younger generation.
Facing this youth who previously staked his life with him, Sheng Lingxin crossed the distance with large strides, opened up his arms, and gave him a big hug.
“Haochen, thank you.”
These few words were full of emotions. Sheng Lingxin was very clear about the reason for these changes that happened with their daughter. If not for his help, their daughter wouldn’t possibly have opened up like that.
Despite the fact that their time of contact was short, Long Haochen had already conquered Sheng Lingxin with his actions. Could they possibly be fussy when they had this kindhearted and forgiving youth and owner of the physique of the Scion of Light as their daughter’s partner? Yes, they were still young, but so what?
Sheng Lingxin firmly believed that no matter when, Long Haochen would strive to do his best and spare no efforts, to protect their daughter.
Lan Yanyu followed Sheng Lingxin. At the time she hugged Long Haochen, Lan Yanyu’s wistful gaze fell on Cai’er. With a shivering voice, choking with emotions, she asked tentatively, “Cai’er, mommy… Can mommy hug you?”
Cai’er’s face remained as blank as before, but with his sharp senses, Long Haochen saw clearly that her body shivered slightly. She was clearly not as undisturbed as she pretended to be.
“Yeah.” Cai’er gave her a detached reply.
Immediately, Lan Yanyu’s tears were flowing down. Taking a step forward, she suddenly threw herself at her daughter, crying loudly and bitterly.
It was also at that time that Cai’er felt as if something shattered in her heart, as she finally broke the chains that had been restricting her for so long. An indescribable energy burst forth from deep inside her, and on her forehead, a vague flash of black symbols appeared.
Gong–
Under Long Haochen’s and Sheng Lingxin’s attentive watch, the bamboo cane in Cai’er’s hand fell to the ground. Incorporeal grey streams of air suddenly burst out from her body and her two dull and emotionless eyes suddenly took on a deep black color, as if countless rays of dark light illuminated them.
Somewhat sluggish, Cai’er loosened her mother’s one sided embrace. Slowly raising her hands, she herself took the initiative to lightly hug her mother. Her originally pure black world was gradually dyed in various colors. Though this process was slow, each color became more and more distinct in her eyes.
That’s right, just at the split second Cai’er accepted her mother’s embrace the last chains that had been restricting her Spiritual Stove of Samsara finally broke, and she ultimately obtained the real power of the Spiritual Stove of Samsara. At this very moment, Cai’er had recovered her eyesight.
From this moment onwards, she was no longer just a blind girl, but the real Saint Daughter of Samsara who already overcame the loss of her five senses.
The nearby images were distinct, and as Cai’er was embracing her mother, she could see everything surrounding her. She looked at ‘him’ and at her father. And the expression in Cai’er’s eyes became foolish. After the last traces of her former coldness disappeared, her eyes finally became moist.
“Mo… Mother…” “Father…”
Chapter 212
Ten days later, Holy City. General assembly of the Alliance.
The 61 members of the ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squads stood in front of their respective seats.
Compared to the time they left Holy City, clear changes could be detected on them.
Including their time on the road, three months had already passed since the team selection. After those three months, their faces had already lost all childishness, and gained an unswerving determination acquired through many hardships.
Yesterday evening, they reached Holy City. And this morning, they were immediately called to this assembly.
The completion of their three months of tests implied that the Demon Hunt Selection Competition had finally come to a complete end. Today would be their last gathering. The next day, they were going to part ways, starting their own individual journeys with their respective Demon Hunt Squads.
The ten Demon Hunt Squad leaders entered in a line, from the main door of the assembly, and were followed by the symbolic leaders of the Six Great Temples.
They were the chief knight of the Knight Temple, Han Qian, the heroic grand chief of the Assassin Temple, Ying Suifeng, the grand berserker head
of the Warrior Temple, Ren Wokuang, the auxiliary hall master of the Priest Temple and head of the Sacrificial Hall, Ruoshui, the head of the mage regiment, Lin Chen, from the Mage Temple, as well as the grand spiritual master from the Spiritual Temple, Sanshui.
At this time, these six auxiliary heads of the Six Great Temples all had benevolent expressions while taking their seats in succession. Except for Gao Yingjie, the other nine leaders sat in a row, at their back.
Gao Yingjie stepped on the stage in the front, and after the six auxiliary hall masters took their seats, he stood straight, performing a knight salute. This was the sign for the official beginning of this conference.
Han Qian nodded to him.
Gao Yingjie declared in a deep voice, “Leader of the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, reporting. The ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squads performed satisfactorily during their test. They gained the approval of the Exorcist Mountain Pass’ military and received a rather good evaluation. All members of the newly formed Demon Hunt Squads performed outstandingly well, and completed this test brilliantly.”
Han Qian nodded to him, “Thanks for your trouble, the ten of you.
Please return.”
Gao Yingjie clenched his fist before his chest, returning to the second row after completing another knight salute. Han Quian rose and stepped on the stage.
Han Qian smiled faintly, looking at the 61 youths below, declaring, “We are very satisfied. You used your own abilities and actions to prove your capability to the Alliance. You are the pride of the Alliance, and the pride of your respective Temples. Compared to knowing about your performance, I am even happier to be able to see all of you return before me safe and sound.”
“Now, the end of the tests signifies that you completed the whole process of the Demon Hunt Selection. Your performances were
exceptional, and for all the hardships you have faced on the battlefield, the Alliance decided to bestow your final rewards according to the contribution points you earned. , I will read your ranks, from lowest to highest.”
“8th Demon Hunt Squad of soldier grade, total amount of contribution points of the team: 1,280. 9th Demon Hunt Squad, total amount of contribution points of the team: 1,346. 6th Demon Hunt Squad, total amount of contribution points of the team: 1,451(…) 5th Demon Hunt Squad, total amount of contribution points of the team: 2,041. 3rd Demon Hunt Squad, total amount of contribution points of the team: 2,062.”
After announcing the total amount of contribution points for seven of the Demon Hunt Squads, Han Qian paused for a little moment.
Up until today, all of the newly formed Demon Hunt Squads didn’t know how much contribution points the other teams earned. But hearing that the 3rd Demon Hunt Squad he led actually ended up 4th, not entering the top three, Duan Yi’s and his whole team had ugly expressions. The fact they didn’t get into the top three implied that they wouldn’t get any reward in the team contest.
At this moment, the only ones that hadn’t been called out yet were the 1st, the 2nd and the 4th Demon Hunt Squads.
After shortly glancing at the 42 discouraged Demon Hunt Squads members, Han Qian continued, “The results of the final top three were extremely close to your scores. And although the rewards for the team contest are not negligible, they are no more than a drop in the ocean compared to everything you will gain in the future. At the 3rd rank is the 2nd Demon Hunt Squad with a total amount of 2,115 contribution points. They receive a reward of 300 contribution points per person.”
Hearing Han Qian’s announcement, Yang Wenzhao’s pupils immediately shrank, unconsciously clenching his fists tightly. Lost… I lost once again. And this time, I only got the third position. His look fell unconsciously on Long Haochen at his side, thinking to himself secretly, How is that possible?! They missed roughly 50 days of missions!
At this very moment, the most nervous ones were the members of the 1st and the 4th Demon Hunt Squads. As their captains, Long Haochen and Luc Xi couldn’t help but straighten up.
“Second position, 4th Demon Hunt Squad with a total amount of 2,158 contribution points. They receive a reward of 500 contribution points per person.”
Hearing this announcement, Luc Xi leaned back in disappointment. His shock was even greater than Yang Wenzhao’s. That’s right, in terms of ability as captain, he couldn’t compare with Duan Yi and Yang Wenzhao, but the 4th Demon Hunt Squad had the best balance in terms of its vocations. They went all out, and obtained such outstanding results. But even though they defeated the 2nd and the 3rd squads, they still lost in the end.
Han Qian revealed a smile, “The final 1st position naturally belongs to the 1st Demon Hunt Squad. It’s too bad for the 4th Demon Hunt Squad, because you only lost with a difference of 2 contribution points and no more. The 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad gained a total of 2,160 contribution points. They win the final team award of 1,000 contribution points per person, excluding their retainer knight.”
“Senior Saint Knight Chief.” Luc Xi stood up, and although he was clearly agitated, he still gave Han Qian a reverential salute.
Han Qian smiled, “Luc Xi, do you have any questions?”
Luc Xi took a deep breath, barely controlling his own emotions, and looked at the nearby Long Haochen, saying, “Senior Saint Knight Chief, I have two questions. Our Demon Hunt Selection is supposed to be fair, and has impartiality as its doctrine. I am not calling the Alliance’s final decision into question, but as the captain of the 4th Demon Hunt Squad, I wish to understand why we lost.”
“Okay, give us your questions then.” Han Qian was clearly unperturbed, and answered with a smile.
Because of the excitement Luc Xi’s face was somewhat flushed, as he said aloud, “Senior Saint Knight Chief, for this test, my companions and I already did our utmost in the Exorcist Mountain Pass, sparing no efforts. And after more than two months of hard work, we finally obtained a total amount of 2,158 contribution points. My first question is, although the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad is remarkable, and obviously a lot more powerful than ours, under circumstances where they didn’t participate in any missions for 49 days, how is it possible that they earned a total of 2,160 contribution points? And I believe the other Demon Hunt Squads are also questioning this fact.”
As he said so, the majority of the Demon Hunt Squads could only nod in approval. Although Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi, who didn’t express dissatisfaction, also lost, they were in a different position. Compared to the 4th Demon Hunt Squad that almost ended up as champions, they naturally at least wished to see the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad led by Long Haochen, from the same Knight Temple as them, obtain this honor. After all, Long Haochen was also the one who won the final victory in the individual competition.
“My second question is about Long Haochen’s retainer knight. Senior Saint Knight Chief, according to the rules of the Alliance, retainer knights can not contribute to the team’s total amount of contribution points. But contribution points can be passed to each other through the contribution tiles. How can the Alliance guarantee that Long Haochen’s retainer knight didn’t pass all his contribution points over to Long Haochen? Even if he only handed Long Haochen two contribution points, it would have influenced the final results of the team contest.”
Reaching this last point, Luc Xi clearly felt quite agitated. The difference of awarded contribution points between the first and the second place was after all over 3,000! To say nothing of the even more important glory that the final victor received.
At this time, even Li Xin whose relationship with Long Haochen was the best, couldn’t pacify Luc Xi. It was because Luc Xi’s speech was done out of consideration for the whole team, and not only out of selfishness.
Hearing Luc Xi’s speech, Han Qian nodded and said in response, “Please sit, captain Luc Xi. The Demon Hunt Squad Selection is of course fair, and has impartiality as its principle. Since you are asking for it, the Alliance has to give everyone an explanation. Leader Gao Yingjie, please enlighten us and answer Luc Xi’s two questions.”
“Yes.” Gao Yingjie stood up, once more coming to the front.
Again offering a knight salute to the six seniors, he declared in a deep voice, “I pledge on my honor as a knight, that everything I am about to say is pure truth.”
The six auxiliary hall masters nodded altogether.
Gao Yingjie was an extremely influential figure in the Knight Temple. In his youth, he had also been the captain of a Demon Hunt Squad. It was the squad the father of that young lady, Shi Xiaoxue, belonged to. During an operation, they had been victims of a demon ambush. Gao Yingjie had gone all out to protect his comrades in this situation of siege, but the enemy was led by a demon god whose strength surpassed theirs vastly. Ultimately, Gao Yingjie had ignited his own life with the holy fire, making use of the ability Sacrifice. In the process, he also ignited Shi Xiaoxue’s father and mother, to secure their other three companions’ escape.
Gao Yingjie had originally been resigned to die at the hands of the enemy, but at the time the demons were about to strike the final blow, another formidable Demon Hunt Squad came to his rescue. They had gotten the news, and ultimately saved him as he was on the verge of dying. Afterwards, Gao Yingjie blamed himself a lot for the death of Shi Xiaoxue’s parents. After spending three long years of rehabilitation to recuperate, he never again joined any other Demon Hunt Squad. But because he did not spare anything and even had the resolve to sacrifice his own life in order to save his companions, gaining common acknowledgement. He was also considered as having great odds to become a Pure Gold Foundation Knight in the future.
Thus, even the six auxiliary hall masters held him in great esteem.
Gao Yingjie turned back, looking at Luc Xi, and declared in the same deep voice, “I will first address your first question. The fact the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad obtained over 2,000 contribution points is equally linked to strength as to luck. Long Haochen formerly received the order from the military chief of the Exorcist Mountain Pass, Sheng Lingxin, to participate in an important military operation outside of the city by himself. Relying on the Eyes of Truth released by his mount, he saved the Brilliant Angel Knight Regiment from the danger of annihilation!”
Chapter 213
“At the same occasion, he saved commander Sheng Lingxin, who had just made use of the Spiritual Stove of Return to Childhood. For these two matters, he should have been rewarded a great amount of contribution points, but because the other leaders and I hadn’t been informed of this mission, it could finally just be accounted as a great achievement. Without receiving extra rewards for his heroism, he only gained the contribution points associated with the enemies he killed on the battlefield.
, during the joint mission involving your ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squads, you should remember Long Haochen’s and Cai’er’s last attack. At that time, I’m afraid you didn’t see clearly what kind of enemy they were facing. As the commander of this mission, Long Haochen led everyone of the 1st Demon Hunt Squad to confront the following opponents: four Dark Green Dual Bladed Demons, as well as six eight-eyed Demonic Eye Soldiers. Relying on the strength of their team they wiped them out on their own. But in the carriage guarded by these middle-ranked demons, there was something unexpected. After destroying the carriage’s guards a Bloodthirsty Beta of the seventh step, belonging to the Maxilias Clan, appeared. It was the true guardian of the Light Elemental Fairy you saw afterwards. With the support of their companions, the captain Long Haochen and sub-captain Cai’er, who made use of their most extraordinary abilities, managed to finally slay this Bloodthirsty Beta of the seventh step. But they also ended up gravely wounded.
After this mission, their team received an additional reward of 700 contribution points, but only for having killed the Bloodthirsty Beta, they already earned 1,000 contribution points. These are the main sources of their amount of contribution points over 2,000. At the same time, this
development led to the fact they didn’t participate in the following missions. I believe that Long Haochen’s performance as commander of this mission could be rated as perfect. For having assumed the most dangerous role, and delivering the Light Elemental Fairy to the Exorcist Mountain Pass’ military, I believe as their leader that his companions and him should feel proud of themselves.”
Gao Yingjie’s voice was clear and steady. Hearing him, everyone from the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad unconsciously straightened their backs. That’s right, they had nothing to be ashamed of. These 2,000 plus contribution points were something they staked their own lives to bring back. They had a clear conscience towards the other squads.
Hearing Gao Yingjie’s report, Luc Xi’s expression gradually calmed down.
Recalling the scene they witnessed that day, the other members of the nine squads that originally felt somewhat unconvinced didn’t utter a single word. During that day’s battle, they didn’t encounter any too powerful opponents, so they didn’t expect that the 1st Demon Hunt Squad would actually have faced such a powerful enemy.
Gao Yingjie’s look swept over the other Demon Hunt Squads’ members, “Pertaining to Luc Xi’s second question, I can only say this. The contribution points of the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad are equally distributed. Each of them has 360 contribution points, and this includes Han Yu, who focuses and healing and support. Thus, if Han Yu’s contribution points were counted as well, their team would have a total of 2,520 contribution points.”
Having said this, he bowed one more time to the six auxiliary hall masters before returning to his own seat without prior consultation.
After listening to his reply to Luc Xi’s second point of contestation, even the six secondary hall masters couldn’t help but feel moved. An equal division of the team’s contribution points. If this appeared in a veteran Demon Hunt Squad, no one would find it strange, but the 1st soldier grade Demon hunt Squad was newly formed and still participating in the team
competition. Including the retainer knight to their equal splitting, was this something anyone would do?
That’s right, the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad gained their final position as champion with a very close margin, but as a honest soldier, there was no point Luc Xi could call it into question any longer.
A great change appeared in Luc Xi’s expression. Slowly standing up, he bowed slightly, “Thank you for Leader Gao’s explanation. We feel convinced of our defeat. I give my congratulations to the 1st Demon Hunt Squad for ending up as the final champion, on behalf of my 4th Demon Hunt Squad.”
After having stayed calm during all this time of questioning, Long Haochen hurried to stand up. But now he could clearly not be described as calm anymore, “Thank you, Captain Luc Xi. We are fellow comrades who joined a Demon Hunt Squad, and fellow soldiers, companions. I wish that in the future, I will have the chance to work with you during other joint missions.”
Coming next, was an awarding ceremony, during which, except from Han Yu, everyone of the 1st soldier grade Demon hunt Squad gained a total of 1,000 contribution points. But afterwards, without need for Long Haochen to say anything, everyone took the initiative to give 142 of these contribution points to Han Yu, following the same rule of equal division as before. So far the contribution points reaped by the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad had already reached an amount of 8,520, which was extremely close to the threshold of the 10,000.
One must know that during their journey, Chen Ying’er relied on her outstanding innate talent as the owner of the Body of Chaos, and finally broke through to the fifth step. By now, the only things the 1st Demon Hunt Squad lacked to boost their grade were contribution points.
Holy City covered an enormous space wherein the Demon Hunt Squads’ mission tower occupied an important area.
The vicinity was surrounded by a lot of greenery. It was a special and secluded place. Even the leading characters of the Alliance wouldn’t find it easy to enter, if they weren’t affiliated with it.
This was the home of the Demon Hunt Squads.
Behind a cluster of trees and bushes, several little two-storied buildings could be found. White-colored and simple of design, each of these little houses had their own banner painted on their doors. Additionally there were some other signs portraying the individuality of their owners.
Every two-storied house was encircled by a large garden, which extended over at least 500 square meters. Plants were spread all around, and a little road was paved with bluestone. On this beautiful spring day one couldn’t help but feel exceptionally comfortable in this place.
Each of the bannered little houses was affiliated with a Demon Hunt Squad, and unless their Demon Hunt Squad was disbanded, this was going to remain their home forever. Therefore, in the heart of the city’s central district the house of the Demon God Slayers, that they had already been using for more than 300 years, could be found.
Having succeeded to pass their final test, the ten newly formed Demon Hunt Squads naturally also obtained their own respective houses.
At this moment, the seven members of the 1st soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad were gathered at the lounge on the first floor of their new home.
The little house had two floors. On the first one was a circular lounge of over six meters in diameter, a kitchen with an almost 30 meters wide radius, as well as three bedrooms. On the second floor were five bedrooms, each bedroom comprising an individual bathroom, and a 30 square meters large balcony.
Aside from these two floors, the little house also possessed a wide basement with a wine cellar exclusive to their team. As some servants were sweeping this place regularly, the magnificent wine could be admired.
Throwing herself onto a soft white sofa made of dermis, Chen Ying’er declared in satisfaction, “This place is really so comfortable!”
But Lin Xin reacted bitterly, “Yes it can be called comfortable, but it’s also expensive in terms of contribution points! The first year costs 1,000 contribution points, and after that, it will even cost a thousand more per year. Aren’t we just being robbed by the Alliance?”
Gao Yingjie replied with a smile, “These contribution points are not for a rent, but are the necessary expenses for your Demon Hunt Squad to be maintained. And it is at the same time a method to incite all the Demon Hunt Squads to complete missions. Otherwise, if the members of a Demon Hunt Squad decided collectively to live a comfortable life without work, why would the Alliance let them borrow their natural resources for free?”
At Gao Yingjie’s side was Shi Xiaoxiao, who sat together with Chen Ying’er, looking at everything in this lounge full of envy. Due to her special circumstances, she was also allowed to reside in this area. In the central district, a residence area was assigned to the orphans, whose parents belonged to Demon Hunt Squads but died in battle.
Sima Xian said with a sigh, “Originally, I thought that 8,000 contribution points were pretty good, but now, I see that it is still far from being enough.”
Gao Yingjie said, “This is the last meeting I will attend with you. My mission is now over, and from today onwards, I will not be your leader anymore. After I leave, I will not have any occasion to come to this area of the city. Tell me your thoughts, Haochen.”
Having been called out by Gao Yingjie, Long Haochen stood up, asking in response, “Captain, can’t you lead us for a little longer?” These days of contact led everyone to hold Gao Yingjie in great esteem, as he spared no efforts to guide them. Because of his presence, the 1st Demon Hunt Squad avoided quite a few detours.
Gao Yingjie smiled in reaction, “Feasts are not lacking under heavens. If I stay with you, I will instead restrict your growth. Tell me your
thoughts, I won’t stay here for so long.”
Long Haochen nodded to him, “Leader, there are now two possible routes open to us. At the present time, we all already reached the fifth step, and are only lacking about 1,000 contribution points to reach a total amount of 10,000. If we decide to tread this path, our first choice should be to do our utmost to gather the missing contribution points before raising our grade.”
Lin Xin’s face looked bitter, “But if we do so, we will become completely penniless. To rise the grade of a Demon Hunt Squad, 10,000 contribution points have to be spent. But accomplishing missions is not the only possible option. We can even sell a few pills or other sorts of things.”
Long Haochen continued, “As for the second path, it would be to accept a new mission, making use of the contribution points we already earned to increase our strength. With this option, we could try to make a profit by completing missions, without being too impatient to rise to the general grade.”
Gao Yingjie nodded his head, “Very good, your thinking is quite profound. Which of these paths would you be prone to choose?”
Long Haochen replied with a smile, “This will depend on the last directions you’d give us. What I would like to know is this: if we advance to general grade Demon Hunt Squad, what advantages would we gain?”
Hearing this question, Gao Yingjie immediately laughed, “I didn’t expect that the little youngster you are has such a crafty side. But still, your question is very appropriate. Telling you about it should not be a violation of the rules.
Compared to the soldier grade Demon Hunt Squads, the advantages of the general grade Demon Hunt Squads lie in a few aspects. First of all, the missions they can accept become harder, and as the degree of difficulty rises, the contribution points obtained will naturally be higher. The next point is about the bounds of the transaction center. Demon Hunt Squads of general grade can go to the second floor, and there, they will even have the
possibility to find equipment of the legendary tier. They will also be able to make exchanges with other Demon Hunt Squads of the same grade. The third point is that after you rise to the rank of general grade Demon Hunt Squad, if you work together with other Demon Hunt Squads of lower grade, your team will obtain a bigger proportion of the contribution points while splitting them up. Of course, the premise is that you agree to complete a mission jointly with Demon Hunt Squads of lower grade. And the last point is also the most important one. After rising to the general grade, the Alliance won’t take these 10,000 contribution points for free. They will also give you the privilege of choosing a secret skill per person, aside from the retainer knight, and it is a privilege that you can pass to others.
For example, if all of you choose to pass this privilege to Haochen, he will get to choose six secret skills. Of course, there’s a restriction on the secret skills you can choose. Some of the special and uncommon secret skills surpassing the usual ones for your current step won’t be included.”
Chapter 214
After Gao Yingjie’s explanation, everyone only nodded their heads. Now they had some idea about their possibilities. But listening to the last point Gao Yingjie talked about, the seven members of the 1st soldier graded Demon Hunt Squad were instantly lit like magical stones.
What was the thing the 1st soldier graded Demon Hunt Squad lacked the most? First of all, it was secret skills. Sima Xian had just broken through to the fifth step, and although usual skills could be learned at the Priest Temple of Holy City, the fifth step for a priest included a few important secret offensive skills. If he could learn them, his strength would increase tremendously.
At the same time, after the 1st graded Demon Hunt Squad obtained the Soul Linking Chains, a piece of equipment at the epic tier, their deficiency of healing abilities became even more evident, and they would need Han Yu to make up for it.
Although as a whole, their team was lacking equipment, their shortage of secret skills was even more important. If they could compensate on this area, they would be able to temporarily ignore the deficiency of their equipment. This was the first benefit their Soul Linking Chains brought them.
Long Haochen originally prefered the second path. Investing 8,000 contribution points to increase his companions’ strength, and then completing missions without sparing any effort sounded to be a good choice. But hearing Gao Yingjie’s talk, they obviously made up their mind.
After a simple discussion, the 1st soldier graded Demon Hunt Squad came to the consensus to first raise the grade of their Demon Hunt Squad!
As for the privilege of learning six secret skills, Long Haochen considered the situation as a whole. In the end he decided to give Sima Xian three of them, so as to boost his force, two to Han Yu, and one to Wang Yuanyuan. Long Haochen, Cai’er, Lin Xin and Chen Ying’er were not in real need for secret skills at the moment.
This was the good point of their team that put emphasis on individual needs. This time Long Haochen obtained the Light Elemental Fairy, as well as the secret skill Raise Flowers into Trees. Furthermore, he had already passed it on to Cai’er, so their strength had already increased sufficiently. As for Lin Xin, he didn’t need support in the field of defensive fire type magic, while Chen Ying’er couldn’t learn any secret skills. This repartition was thus the most reasonable one.
As for their shortage of 1,500 contribution points, after discussing it and refusing Lin Xin’s suggestion of selling drugs, they decided to borrow them.
It was true that selling their pills could get them contribution points in exchange, but everyone agreed that those pills could very possibly be a life assurance for the team in crucial situations.
Therefore, Long Haochen’s first choice was to go look for the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad. They couldn’t wait any longer out of fear that they already used their contribution points up. Under circumstances where the upgrade to the general grade was not an option yet, increasing their fighting strength was the most important.
Aside from themselves, who ended up as champions, the 4th soldier graded Demon Hunt Squad was the wealthiest other squad they were familiar with. Because of their ranking as second, they had just obtained a reward of 3,000 contribution points. Added up to their original amount, they already possessed over 5,000 contribution points.
In another white villa, Long Haochen saw Luc Xi and Li Xin. The fact Long Haochen went to them first was also greatly related to Li Xin’s presence.
Seeing Long Haochen come to see them, Luc Xi and Li Xin were surprised. After learning Long Haochen’s purpose for coming, Luc Xi got sank into deep contemplation, and Li Xin called the other members of their team.
1,500 contribution points were at the present time no small number for these Demon Hunt Squads of soldier grade. Therefore, this request was not something their vice-captain could take the initiative to decide about.
“Captain Long, please wait. We need to discuss it first.” Luc Xi said to Long Haochen.
Long Haochen nodded with a smile and did an inviting gesture. After coming here, he had been frank and direct as he expressed his purpose, without concealing anything. Of course, the 4th soldier graded Demon Hunt Squad wasn’t his only option, so if he wasn’t successful there, he could still go look for someone else.
Luc Xi led the other five members of his Demon Hunt Squad to a comparatively large room.
“Before everyone expresses their respective opinions on this request, I will give a fast analysis.” Luc Xi said openly, “First, about the 1st Demon Hunt Squad’s strength. Since they want to apply to become a general graded Demon Hunt Squad, it means that the entirety of their team already reached the fifth step at least. , do you remember what Gao Yingjie said? When they joined up, Long Haochen and Cai’er managed to slaughter a Bloodthirsty Beta of the seventh step. Although they also ended up seriously wounded, if we were in their stead, would we have been able to display this kind of strength? This time, no one should forget that Long Haochen who ultimately took the first position of the individual competition, also got a Light Elemental Spiritual Stove. If our teams were to compete with each other, although we are also powerful, we can almost not compare with them at all.
Of course, I am not belittling ourselves at all. In terms of potential, we are not necessarily weaker than them. The second point we have to keep in mind is the status of these seven of the 1st Demon Hunt Squad. Among them, I am not clear about Long Haochen’s status, but since he has obtained the protection of the Alliance, one can imagine his importance to the Knight Temple. Cai’er’s great-grandfather is the leader of the Assassin Temple, and from what I know, the mage who cannot attack in their team is the grandson of the Mage Temple’s auxiliary hall master, Lin Chen. Building a good relationship with the 1st Demon Hunt Squad would be a very wise choice to us. Now, everyone may express his own point of view.”
As the sub-captain, Li Xin was naturally the first one to make her speech. After muttering to herself irresolutely, she declared, “Long Haochen is my younger brother, so to ensure impartiality, I will abstain from voicing my opinion.”
For having obtained the second position, the 4th Demon Hunt Squad was obviously quite strong as a team. Within the whole team, only Li Xin and Bai Xiaomo were still at the fourth step, but during these three months of tests, they showed abilities comparable to the fifth step. In particular, Li Xin, who possessed a Rose Unicorn, was of great importance to the team.
The mage of the fifth step of the team, Yi Jun was the next one to speak, “Helping the 1st Demon Hunt Squad will indeed improve our relationship with them greatly. But contribution points are equally important to us. Regardless of whether it is through secret skills or equipment, 1,500 contribution points can increase our strength, and make us more competitive for the following missions.”
Luc Xi revealed a smile, and said, “What if I told you that I have a method for us to gain corresponding benefits at the same time we hand over these 1,500 contribution points?”
Long Haochen had not waited for a long time, when Luc Xi, Li Xin, and the others came back.
“Captain Long, according to our team’s decision, we will lend you these contribution points.” Luc Xi said with a smile.
Long Haochen was pleased, and hurried to declare, “I want to thank everyone from the 4th Demon Hunt Squad on behalf of the 1st Demon Hunt Squad. Please rest at ease: as long as we can make it back alive from the missions, we will definitely return you twice this amount of contribution points together with our thanks.”
Luc Xi shook his head, and replied, “No, there’s no need to return the double of this amount to us. But I have a little suggestion, I wish that Captain Long will agree to it.”
“Mh?” Long Haochen was shaken, “Please speak, Captain Luc.”
Luc Xi smiled, “We wish to share the next mission of your Demon Hunt Squad with you, with the gains splitted in accordance with a 70-30% repartition. Out of these, you would take 70% of it, and we would have the leftover 30%.”
After being slightly startled, Long Haochen’s bright golden eyes took on a deep pondering expression, before he revealed a smile, “As expected, Captain Luc is quite intelligent. All right, I will stand for the 1st Demon Hunt Squad to give you my word.”
At the side of Luc Xi, Li Xin wrinkled her brows, “Haochen, don’t you have to discuss it with your teammates?”
Long Haochen shook his head with a smile, and replied, “Since it is beneficial for both parties, I believe I should be able to convince them.”
With this unwavering stance, this simple behaviour, Long Haochen already proved his authority and leading power within his team.
Luc Xi’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Since this is the case, I will now transmit the contribution points to you. I am waiting for Captain Long’s good news.”
Quickly, these two captains performed the exchange of contribution points and Long Haochen took his leave.
The words “beneficial for both parties” were absolutely not just hot air. Luc Xi was intelligent, but was he not? Since the 4th Demon Hunt Squad could win the second position of the team contest, overtaking Yang Wenzhao’s 2nd soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, and Duan Yi’s 3rd soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, their strength as a whole was already clear. And although Long Haochen’s group already had the qualifications to promote their Demon Hunt Squad to the general grade, without doubt, they were bound to be the weakest of the Demon Hunt Squads of general grade. Since the missions of general grade were definitely not easy, they would surely face quite a few challenges. If they shared their first mission of general grade with them, with everyone keeping watch and defending each other, it could definitely be regarded as beneficial for both parties. To say nothing of the fact that their 1st Demon Hunt Squad would still reap the gains of seven people.
In the same fashion, from the 4th Demon Hunt Squad’s point of view, Luc Xi’s choice was the most clever. Missions of general grade and missions of soldier grade were absolutely not of the same difficulty, and the final rewards would definitely be a lot richer. And he believed that Long Haochen would surely find a mission that would be well-rewarded enough for both of them to profit, or even a series of missions. Compared to the little missions of soldier grade they could take, this would be a much more effective shortcut to gain points. Maybe with a single mission, their distance to the general grade would be greatly reduced.
Gazing at Long Haochen’s leaving figure, Luc Xi turned around and sincerely bowed to the other members of his 4th Demon Hunt Squad, “Since Long Haochen’s group could do so, we should also be able to do it. How about we also divide our contribution points evenly, what does everyone think about it?”
Li Xin was immediately hit by a bright idea, “Or what about unifying our contribution points as a whole? The ones in need would be the ones to take them!”
The others’ eyes immediately lit up.
Luc Xi started, “This is a good idea. I have another suggestion. Li Xin, from today onwards, you will temporarily replace me as the captain.”
Li Xin blanked out, but quickly understood what he meant by that. And Luc Xi hurried to dissolve her doubts, “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t want to make use of the relationship between Long Haochen and yourself. I just feel that it will be easier for the two of you to communicate, as brother and sister, and also as fellow knights. This would make it easier to our both teams.”
Chapter 215
After muttering to herself irresolutely and under the attentive watch of her companions, Li Xin calmly nodded.
Three days later, on the second floor of the Demon Hunt Squads’ Mission Tower.
In terms of size, this floor was as wide as the first floor of the Demon Hunt Squads’ Mission Tower, and the design almost identical: it was a three hundred square meters wide hall, surrounded by six lofty square counters, which stood for each of the six different kinds of missions.
They were organized according to the following order: Extermination Missions, Searching Missions, Exploring Missions, Intelligence Missions, War Missions and Mixed Missions.
This was the Demon Hunt Squad’s Mission Tower, and thus, almost all the missions were directed against demons. Only a few special missions, forming a small minority, were unrelated to the demons.
Relying on their newly acquired general grade tile, composed of 5% mythril, Long Haochen and his teammates headed to the second floor of the mission tower.
This place looked completely the same as the first floor, with exactly the same layout. But just the day before, after they had raised their rank to the general grade, they had immediately hurried to the transaction center on the second floor, where they had only stayed for ten minutes before leaving in total shock.
There were so many good things that made their mouths water. But by now, they were most likely the poorest Demon Hunt Squad at the general grade… Even after adding up all their contribution points, the seven of them barely reached the two digits. After such a shock, Wang Yuanyuan, Han Yu, and Sima Xian had gone to claim the secret skills they had already picked in advance, and this morning, the seven of them hurried to choose a mission to pick. Gaining contribution points was equivalent to boosting their strength! On the second floor of the business center, they had even seen a type of ultra powerful pill, called Holy Spirit Pill. Anyone, regardless of his vocation, would only be able to take a single Holy Spirit Pill in his entire life, making him gain a total of 1,000 spiritual energy levels at once, under the premise that it wasn’t used to break through a bottleneck. That was a total of 1,000 levels…
As a matter of fact, to Long Haochen’s group, the amount of contribution points required to buy this pill was astronomical. A single one cost a total of 10,000 contribution points, and its price would be a lot higher if not for the fact its use couldn’t be repeated.
Seeing this pill, Lin Xin’s eyes immediately turned blue. This self-trained genius in the field of alchemy had seen the recipe of this Holy Spirit Pill in the past. He remembered vaguely that one of the materials required to make this pill came from a magical beast of the eighth step. But that recipe he had seen long ago was in a shattered state. If the seven of them wanted to take one Holy Spirit Pill per person, they would need an amount of 70,000 contribution points!
And this was after omitting the innumerable incomparable pieces of equipment they were faced with. At the core of this Demon Hunt Squad transaction center, money didn’t have any value, and even the vendor stalls set up by other Demon Hunt Squads, would only accept contribution points as currency.
“Let’s disperse and search for a mission that would be suited to us, everyone. We can also aim for a little higher level of difficulty, since we are going to do this mission jointly with the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad.”
Under Long Haochen’s lead, these seven formed six groups. Heading to different counters, they looked at the missions carefully. At the back of each counter was an enormous magical crystal board with a list of advertised missions. And these lists contained the name of the missions and their rewards. But for a single detailed inspection, they would need to pay up some contribution points. For Demon Hunt Squads at the soldier grade, the fee was of a single contribution point, but at the general grade, they had to pay ten contribution points to inspect the details of a single mission.
Long Haochen’s group only possessed a total of 20 contribution points, which meant that they could only examine two mission.
Long Haochen pulled Cai’er’s little hand, heading to the mission counter in front of them to examine the corresponding magical crystal board.
Cai’er didn’t hold her bamboo cane anymore. The fact the trials of the Spiritual Stove of Samsara had been completed also implied that she had obtained the real power of this spiritual stove. Although she still had to temporarily lose a sense, she could choose it herself. For instance, she currently chose to renounce her sense of smell.
As Long Haochen was looking assiduously at the mission list, Cai’er occasionally sneaked a glance at him. Ever since she recovered her eyesight, she couldn’t help but occasionally stare at him. It was just as if no matter how long she watched him, it still would still not be enough.
He had already changed a lot since the time they were children. From a child, he had become a youth, but he was not any less handsome than before. Induced by the increase of his cultivation, his handsome face was filled with holy aura and looked even more attractive. It had such allure that this pure aura seemed to have a purifying effect. That was the Scion of Light!
“Eh!” Long Haochen was suddenly surprised, awaking Cai’er from her revery. She immediately followed his look.
With a single glance, Cai’er immediately discovered what inspired Long Haochen’s surprise.
The missions Demon Hunt Squads of general grade could take were indeed different. Below the general grade, the overwhelming majority of soldier grade missions were rewarded with an amount between 1,000 and 3,000 contribution points. Their reward was limited to the extent that some were even only rewarded with a few hundreds of points.
But at the general grade, no missions were rewarded less than 3,000 contribution points.
Among the numerous assignments, Long Haochen seemed to have noticed a particularly richly rewarded one, with the name ‘Exploring the Desolate Whistling Cavern’. This mission was rewarded with 20,000 contribution points, and its degree of danger was: unknown
What a great reward! Long Haochen felt his heartbeat quickening. Although he could be considered calm among the people of the same age, he was still a youth of a little more than a dozen year-old, and was still in some regard like a newborn calf that did not fear tigers. Gao Yingjie had told him that generally speaking, missions with an unknown degree of danger would quickly get taken, because when completing them, the odds of encountering great danger were generally pretty low. But usually, the rewards for such missions would not not be so high.
Yet, this mission was the most richly rewarded one they could see! A whole 20,000 points! Even if they had to hand one third of it to the 4th Demon Hunt Squad, they would still earn a reward of 14,000 contribution points, which would be of extreme benefit to their team. Furthermore, all the items they would pick up would be received by their Demon Hunt Squads!
Calling his comrades to join him with hurry, he pointed this mission for them to see it.
Sima Xian declared without the slightest hesitation, “Boss, what are you still hesitating for? Check the location of this mission, we have after all 20 contribution points, so we can examine a total of two missions. Since such high rewards come along with an unknown degree of danger, I
reckon that the place should be located in the depths of the demon race’s territory.”
Hearing Sima Xian’s talk, everyone’s eyes lit up. If they had to enter deeply into the demon territory, it wouldn’t be strange for them to get such rewards.
Long Haochen nodded in response, replying, “Okay, then let’s look at this mission’s details.”
Arriving in front of the counter, they handed over the fee of ten contribution points to examine it.
Quickly this mission’s complete information appeared before the 1st Demon Hunt Squad of soldier grade.
The Desolate Whistling Cavern is located in the center of the demon territory. Its exploration requires to penetrate a total of 1,150 km deep into the demon territory, passing through four demon provinces. According to our intelligence, hissing sounds will occasionally be heard from the Desolate Whistling Cavern, but reportedly, a sudden geological change occurred there a few months ago, and has very likely exposed some rare gems. If you manage to explore the cavern entirely, you will get an extra reward of contribution points depending on the value of the gems you will bring back. The Desolate Whistling Cavern is currently a place of unknown danger. Nevertheless, it is still needed to enter deeply into the demon territory, which bears a high possibility of encountering demon scouts on the way. The team that accepts this mission has to be extremely prudent.
Then, the Desolate Whistling Cavern’s precise location was recorded on a map.
Having read those information completely, everyone of the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad knitted their brows in silence.
General grade 21st, this was their new identification. And it also implied that among all the Demon Hunt Squads, there were currently a total of twenty-one at the general grade.
Long Haochen asked, “We will have to penetrate 1,150 km deep in the demon territory. This surely won’t be easy, what do you think of this mission?”
Wang Yuanyuan remarked, “This mission is going to be very hard, but we can be sure that as long as we manage to complete it, the benefits should be quite significant to us. A moment ago, I saw another mission with a reward of 20,000 contribution points. It’s on the side of the extermination missions, how about comparing them?”
Actually, Long Haochen’s group didn’t notice it because of their excitement due to coming to this second floor of the Demon Hunt Squad’s Mission Center for the first time, but their thirst for contribution points was really excessive.
Quickly, their ten remaining contribution points were used to inspect this slaughter mission. The goal of this mission was to kill ten middle ranked demons of the seventh step. Without need to look at its name, they decided to renounce it.
At that time, it was because of their extreme luck that they managed to kill the Bloodthirsty Beta. And this had only been possible because Haoyue’s sneak attack succeeded, greatly reducing the Bloodthirsty Beta’s strength. But luck couldn’t stay on their side forever, to say nothing that this time it would be a count of ten demons.
With their current strength, choosing this mission would only be akin to throwing away their lives, and more importantly, they still had first to find these formidable demons.
At this point, they were already left without other choices, because they did not have any contribution points left to examine different missions.
A Demon Hunt Squad with 0 contribution points was born.
The seven members of the newly born 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad looked at each other in dismay, and in the end, everyone made a firm resolution.
To go for it!
If it really proved to be impossible, they would at worst abandon this mission. Anyway, giving up a mission wouldn’t deduct any contribution points from their side. If the need arose, they would simply borrow some more contribution points to pick another mission. And more importantly, this was a joint mission with the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad. With 13 people participating in it, they really had their chances.
In the end, Long Haochen returned once again to the front of that counter displaying the exploration missions, escorted by his companions.
Chapter 216
“Hello, we decided to accept the exploration mission ‘Exploring the Desolate Whistling Cavern’.” Long Haochen said to the man seated behind the counter.
The look this Demon Hunt Squad serviceman gave Long Haochen was full of doubts, while he secretly tried to hide his astonishment. To be able to come to this floor, they had to be a Demon Hunt Squad of general grade, but these children were just too young! They were surely less than 20 years- old, and members of Demon Hunt Squads aged 20 or less were extremely rare. Moreover, the one who looked like he was the captain was even younger than his companions.
Nonetheless, since they were able to come to this place, there was clearly no need to call their status into question.
“Okay. Please display your official captain tile.”
Long Haochen took his official plate out and delivered it, registering his name to the staff member.
As the staff member registered him, the following information appeared: “The 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad will accept the exploration mission ‘Exploring the Desolate Whistling Cavern’. Mission reward, 20,000 contribution points. No penalty for the failure of the mission. 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad, number of missions completed…”
Reading this number, this staff member’s voice suddenly faltered. Lifting up his head in shock, he looked at Long Haochen, “Number of missions
completed, 0? How… How is that possible?”
Long Haochen politely replied, “We are a newly formed Demon Hunt Squad of this year’s Demon Hunt Squad Competition. Because everyone in our team has already reached the fifth step, and we have also obtained enough contribution points during the team competition, we were able to promote our grade yesterday. This is the reason as for why we have never completed missions on our own before.”
So it was actually a newly formed Demon Hunt Squad? The staff member warned them with good intentions, “This mission will be quite challenging, you will have to enter over 1000 km deep into the demon territory. On the way, you will have to cross four demon provinces, and although the optimum itinerary is indicated on the map, you will have great odds to run into demon troops. The degree of danger is thus quite important. Furthermore, the Desolate Whistling Cavern is a place of unknown danger. Although the reward is quite generous, this mission won’t be easy to accomplish. Are you really sure you want to accept this mission?”
Long Haochen replied with a smile, “That’s right, we are certain. Thank you for the warning, we will be careful. Until the mission is completed, we will work together with another Demon Hunt Squad. With two teams acting as one, although the danger still exists, we should still have good chances to succeed.”
The staff member opened his eyes wide, “Since this is the case, it should be okay. But you have to bear in mind that to a Demon Hunt Squad, the most important point is self-preservation. Don’t take too many risks for the sake of the contribution points. Let me take care of the formalities for you.” Thinking that Long Haochen’s group was going to do this mission jointly with another general grade Demon Hunt Squad, he didn’t question their choice any more.
The staff members that had the qualifications to work in the Mission Tower were all extremely conscientious. If they believed that a team that wanted to accept a certain mission would be unable to complete it
successfully, they could even refuse to let them accept it. This was after all related to the safety of the Demon Hunt Squads.
Having accepted the exploration mission, they also received the mission related goods, a Recording Gem.
This was a small gem with a recording function: after being activated with spiritual energy, it would record the surrounding images in its memory. This Recording Gem was of significant worth: a single of them had a value of 1,000 contribution points. For this Exploration Mission, it would be lent to them for free, but if they lost it, they would have to compensate for it.
At the time the procedures were finished, Long Haochen’s group left the Demon Hunt Squad Mission Tower in excitement. This was their very first mission. As for their preparations before leaving, they did them as fast as possible.
Their prize were after all 20,000 contribution points! Five days later.
Second floor of the Demon Hunts Mission Tower.
A grizzled haired old man came hastily to the exploration mission counter. Standing there was the same staff member who interacted with Long Haochen.
“Attendant Li Jing, are you coming for another batch of new missions?” The middle-aged man standing behind the counter was clearly quite familiar with him.
He was one of the attendants working in the Demon Hunt Squads’ Mission Tower and was in charge of releasing the missions. And this time, Li Jing clearly looked quite anxious. “That’s not the case, I came to cancel a mission. Please cancel the mission ‘Exploring the Desolate Whistling Cavern’ that was distributed one week ago. According to the newest information, I’m afraid that magical beasts of the eighth or the ninth step would very likely reside in the Desolate Whistling Cavern. It is even
possible that some historical remains of ancient times exist there. This increases the mission’s level of difficulty enormously. The rewards for this Exploration Mission have been increase to 200,000 contribution points, and it will be labeled as a king grade mission.”
“What?” The middle-aged man was shocked, “A king grade mission?” According to the ranking of the Demon Hunt Squads, after the soldier grade came the general grade, followed by the commander grade, and then, the king grade. In fact, a king grade mission could already be considered to be a high-ranking mission. As the modification of a mission with an increase of two grades atop of a tenfold increase of rewards, this was an extremely rarely seen situation.
Li Jing smiled bitterly, “The Desolate Whistling Cavern has originally been discovered by a commander grade Demon Hunt Squad. Because they had just completed another mission at that time, two of their members were seriously injured, so they didn’t have the occasion to explore it. They just determined the situation in this cavern with some simple checks. But recently, another general grade Demon Hunt Squad has brought more accurate information back. Powerful fluctuations of spiritual energy were found inside of the cavern, very possibly linked to a formidable magical beast. Furthermore, the demon race has also already dispatched some troops to start exploring it. This is why the degree of difficulty has suddenly been increased to the king grade. If a king grade Demon Hunt Squad handles it, this exploration shouldn’t be too problematic to carry out.”
The middle-aged man seated behind the mission counter revealed a bitter smile too, “But this mission has already been accepted.”
“What? Accepted?” Li Jing was shocked, “A general grade Demon Hunt Squad accepted it? But it’s a mission that requires to enter more than 1,000 km deep into the demon territory, and you’re telling me it has been accepted a few days after the release, just like that?”
“I remember it! At that time, they said they would handle this mission jointly with another Demon Hunt Squad, which is why I let them accept it. What should we do now? I’m afraid they already set out.”
Li Jing’s expression immediately became uglier. To the Alliance, any of the Demon Hunt Squads were most important resources, “We won’t make it in time even if we chase after them now. As a general grade Demon Hunt Squad, they should at least know how to preserve themselves. After sensing something wrong, they should return. What’s more, it’s a cooperation of two teams. I hope they will realize the danger in time and escape with their tails between their legs. Since it was our mistake, we will grant them 10,000 contribution points as reward at the time they return.”
The middle-aged man seated behind the counter still felt hesitant. Long Haochen’s team was after all a newly formed Demon Hunt Squad he didn’t know about, but in his opinion, since they were accompanied by another general grade Demon Hunt Squad, they should sense the fluctuation of internal spiritual energy present in the Desolate Whistling Cavern and retreat after feeling the danger.
Long Haochen’s group had indeed already departed. After accepting this mission, he immediately shared its contents with the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, and after two days of preparations, they swiftly left Holy City, following the map they were given. Long Haochen felt some regret about the fact that his teacher Ye Hua was presently undergoing closed door cultivation, and couldn’t see them for this reason. According to Han Qian, Ye Hua’s training speed was extraordinarily quick and violent, just like a volcano that erupted suddenly after having been stifled for some time.
If Shengmo Dalu could be said to be square-shaped, the Alliance Temple would control the square formed at the northwest’s angle while the other ¾ could be said to be controlled by the demon race.
After entering the dark age, the demon territory had been divided into 24 provinces, with a demon god overseeing each of them.
The central part of the demon territory was known as the central province, as well as the biggest out of the 24, where the Demon God Emperor’s imperial palace was located.
The 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad travelled day and night accompanied by the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, and after only eight days of travel, they reached the southwest border of the Temple Alliance.
Long Haochen and Cai’er were seated on Haoyue’s back, Li Xin was carried by her Rose Unicorn, and the others rode fine horses.
From the eight days of uninterrupted journey, they were already somewhat worn-out.
The day the almighty hero Chen Zidian left, Haoyue awoke, and looked now even more robust. His height already exceeded 5 meters, his width was close to 2 meters, and his sharp look gave an especially strong and domineering impression. After three months’ time, he seemed to have already completed another evolution, rising from the middle-rank of the sixth step to the high-rank of the sixth step. This progress speed could be said to be unprecedented for any magical beast.
Long Haochen had Haoyue stop. Gazing at a city that looked quite important, he took his map out of the forget-me-not ring.
“Ahead should be Starseeker City. After crossing 150 km, we should reach the fort serving as headquarters of the Warrior Temple at the southeast. Now, how about we get to the Starseeker City and rest for a while, before heading to the fort?”
This place was already under the influence of the Warrior Temple, so at that time, it was natural that he looked at Wang Yuanyuan as he asked this question.
Wang Yuanyuan shook her head, “I have no objections.”
“Let’s just head to this Starseeker City to rest then.” At this point, a voice burst out from the side of the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad.
At the time Long Haochen turned around to the side, he remarked that the one who talked was precisely the warrior of the fifth step of the 4th
soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, Dian Yan, who didn’t manage to reach the top 4.
Li Xin wrinkled her brows, looking at Dian Yan, asking him, “Do you have any suggestion, brother Yan?” She addressed him directly by his name, clearly feeling some dissatisfaction. At this moment, their soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad was being temporarily led by Long Haochen. And although Li Xin became the momentary leader of their 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, she requested her comrades to act according to Long Haochen’s orders. A team could only have a single leader, otherwise, conflicts would be very likely to appear.
Dian Yan replied, “If we stop at Starseeker City, maybe we will be able to enter the demon territory in discretion.”
“Mh? Brother Dian, please tell us more about it.” Long Haochen requested, full of interest.
Dian Yan said, “In the cities located at the borders of our Alliance, there are some groups of merchants known as freelance merchants. These merchants are carrying out shady business between our human side and the demon side. But I can only say that they are the origin of many of our ressources. And it applies for both humans and demons.”
Chapter 217
“For instance, a great part of the goods sold in the auction houses of our Temple Alliance, comes from the freelance merchants. And many of the things they bring in stem from the demon side. A lot of our natural resources are sold at their side in the same fashion. Thus, these freelance merchants are bustling in the space between the human’s and the demon’s side, coming in and out, without anyone bothering about their existence. Of course, it is not that simple to become a Freelance Merchant. And this profession is not only limited to humans, it is even occupied by some demons of high rank.”
Hearing this explanation, Long Haochen immediately understood what he meant, “So brother Dian Yan, what you mean is that we should think of a way to get in touch with these freelance merchants, trying to sneak into their group to penetrate in the demon territory.”
Dian Yan nodded and replied, “The freelance merchants will never come to the forts close to the frontier, because it isn’t a safe place for them. I grew up in Starseeker City. Therefore, I can ascertain that there are freelance merchants there. Since we want to penetrate deeply in the central area of the demon territory, we will have to pass through their provinces. Slaughtering our way to pass through isn’t realistic. We can be sure that near the central region, the probing will be tighter. They won’t miss our group of a dozen so easily.”
Long Haochen slightly leaned forward, “Many thanks for your warning, brother Dian. Just like you said, we should have some rest at Starseeker City, to replenish our food and water supply, and to get in contact with the freelance merchants.”
Standing at Dian Yan’s side, Luc Xi revealed a smile and secretly did a thumbs up.
After a journey of eight days, these two Demon Hunt Squads could be considered familiar with each other, but despite the time they spent together, the two teams were still somewhat reserved towards each other, there were still differences of opinion. Dian Yan’s previous suggestion was undoubtedly meant to show them that they weren’t useless to the 21st Demon Hunt Squad. While giving the 4th Demon Hunt Squad some face, it was an important help for this operation.
Pulling Cai’er’s hand, Long Haochen jumped down from Haoyue’s back, “Since we are going to look for the freelance merchants’ help, we should carefully conceal our identities. Shift gears everyone, and change into some plain and simple clothes. Then we’ll enter the city.”
Li Xin inquired, “Then, what will you do about our mounts?” 11 fine horses were quite valuable, so as a knight, she naturally felt sorry for this loss.
Dian Yan replied with a smile, “Let me handle it. Enter the city first, I will be looking for you later. There’s a pretty good inn located in the south of the city. There we will meet. ”
The 13 youths changed clothes. After the mounts were left to Dian Yan, the others entered the city discretely.
Long Haochen’s carefulness was justified: since there were freelance merchants in the city, it was pretty obvious that some of them would belong to the demon side. The more careful they were, the safer their trip would become.
Dian Yan handled everything even better than Long Haochen imagined. After less than one hour passed since they entered the medium-sized hotel, Dian Yan was back, accompanied by someone else.
It was a tall and imposing elder.
As the others had already returned to their own rooms to get some rest, Dian Yan directly led this old man to Long Haochen’s and Cai’er’s room.
Although Long Haochen and Cai’er were still not too intimate with each other, the two of them didn’t fear arousing suspicion, and directly shared a room. Long Haochen would never forget the little home they built in their living quarters in the Exorcist Mountain Pass, but of course, even though they lived in the same room, they were cultivating on their own during the majority of the nighttime.
“Younger brother Long, this person is my brother-in-law Dian Xuan, manager of the Yue Ye Merchant Group’s guard. Hearing that we were interested in a well paid work, he came in person to meet us.”
As he spoke, Dian Yan gave Long Haochen a meaningful glance.
Long Haochen bowed very politely to this elderly man and said, “Hello.”
Seeing that Long Haochen and Cai’er were already so good-looking despite their young age, Dian Xian couldn’t help but feel startled, nodding to them and asking, “I heard that you were a group of a little more than a dozen people?”
“That’s right. Counting in Dian Yan, we are a total of thirteen people: eight men and five women. Please take care of us.” Long Haochen was handsome in appearance, and still quite young. At this moment he showed a respectful appearance, faint traces of simple and honest shyness could be found. Let alone Dian Xuan, even Dian Yan looked puzzled, almost thinking out loud, Is this guy really the captain of a Demon Hunt Squad?
Dian Xuan declared in a deep tone, “Our merchant group needs some manpower to take care of odd jobs. You will be in charge of looking after the trucks, getting two silver coins per day. If there is no mishap, every one of you will get another gold coin after returning. How about it?”
Long Haochen had an extremely happy expression, “That would be very good. Thank you mister manager.” Having said this, he bowed once again to Dian Xuan.
A faint radiance flashed through Dian Xuan’s eye, as he gave an indifferent reply, “Okay, let’s do it like this then. Our merchant group will set off three days from now. Dian Yan knows about the meeting place, and will lead you there when the time comes. Dian Yan, come with, you can take your companions’ new clothes to them.”
“Yes.” Dian Yan gave a simple reply and after giving Long Haochen a straight look, he turned around, following Dian Xuan out.
Leading Cai’er along, Long Haochen followed them to see them off at the exit, before returning to their room.
“Haochen, wasn’t that too sloppy?” Closing the door, Cai’er asked Long Haochen in a low voice. Her personality was a lot gentler than before, on the premise that she wasn’t on duty.
Seeing Cai’er’s twinkling eyes, Long Haochen held her in his embrace, her body’s soft fragrance giving him a feeling of loving her too much to let her go.
“This Manager Dian is probably aware of the fact that we are a group of special people. We were just putting on a play with each other just now.” Long Haochen replied with a smile.
Cai’er started, lifting up her head previously leant against his chest, “Does he know about our identity? And we just met him for the first time today, should we really trust him?”
Long Haochen revealed a faint smile, replying “It is exactly for this reason that he is worth trusting. You should know that each of the official Demon Hunt Squads’ members are tightly investigated. That’s to say that there’s no doubt on Dian Yan’s identity. I may feel skeptical towards this Manager Dian, but I cannot doubt Dian Yan. Although Dian Yan didn’t say it out clearly, he let us know that this is not the first time at all for Demon Hunt Squads to enter the demon territory through freelance merchants. In the same way, even the demon side will dispatch spies to the Temple Alliance, concealing their identity. What we don’t know is just how they are concealed. I believe that Dian Yan wouldn’t make our
identity clear to Manager Dian, and the latter shouldn’t have asked him about it. These are important unwritten rules. As for what we will do after getting to the demons’ side, this is unrelated to them.”
Cai’er felt a bit puzzled, “I still don’t really understand. Could it be that this Yue Ye Merchant Group doesn’t fear we may give them some inconveniences?”
Long Haochen shook his head, “What kind of inconvenience? Since they can employ a group of a dozen like us to do odd jobs, this merchant group’s scale is surely not small.
Since the freelance merchants were able to keep existing, they should naturally have their own means. Let’s just wait, I reckon that Dian Yan will explain us everything after coming back.”
Cai’er looked at his pure smile, thinking to herself, For him to actually be so smart although he’s still only a little more than fifteen years old… could this be coming from the influence of his physique as the Scion of Light?
From the time she met Long Haochen up until now, half a year had not passed yet, but Cai’er could clearly feel Long Haochen’s astonishing speed of change. It wasn’t only about his strength, but his attitude and personality traits were also changing. In particular, after this period of tests, he gained another special quality. It was a unique charm that didn’t only attract the surrounding people, but also made them feel his calm and wiseness. It was just as if he was born to be a leader. At least within the 21st Demon Hunt Squad, no one paid any attention to his age.
Just as Long Haochen said, a short time later, Dian Yan returned and sounded his room’s bell. Long Haochen immediately let him enter.
“Captain Long, everything that happened just now was a bit sudden. Let me give you a detailed introduction about the Yue Ye Merchant Group’s situation. The Yue Ye Merchant Group, one of the biggest groups of freelance merchants, is not only limited to humans: high level demons also participate in it. When hiring staff, their requirements aren’t high at all, and they will not carefully examine their workers’ identity. This is one
of the freelance merchants’ unwritten rules. But their precondition is that outside from their core members, their recruits mustn’t exceed the sixth step of cultivation. This is the main reason why they can go back and forth from the humans’ to the demons’ worlds. Every time they will cross the border, the two sides will check this carefully. If a powerhouse of the sixth step or above is discovered attempting to slip through among them, the whole group will immediately be arrested. But both of our teams don’t have any powerhouse of the sixth step, which is why I suggested to enter the demon territory through the freelance merchants.”
Long Haochen scratched his chin, asking, “Brother Dian, why didn’t you tell us about that in detail back then, outside of the city?”
Dian Yan was slightly startled, but quickly recovered his senses, “At that time I forgot about it. After all, the matter had yet to be carried on. But now that we have the help of a reliable merchant group, it is only natural that I told you about the situation, Captain Long.”
Long Haochen replied, “Thanks a lot, brother Dian. Let’s make our preparations then, before we leave together when the time comes.” Dian Yan didn’t stay any longer, turning around after giving Long Haochen a last deep glance. But he didn’t know that after he turned around, Long Haochen was gazing at him with a reserved look.
Having left Long Haochen’s room, Dian Yan didn’t return to his room to rest, but entered Luc Xi’s room.
Luc Xi was seated there, drinking some water, but as he saw him come in, he pointed him to sit on the sofa, “Have a seat and tell me about it. How did it go?” Dian Yan replied, “Everything is settled. My brother-in- law’s merchant group happened to head to the central province of the demon territory. Following them should spare us a lot of trouble. The merchant group will have to stay at the central province for a month, to sell and buy goods. When the time comes, we will also be able to follow the merchant group in returning, reducing the risks of this mission to the utmost.”
“What was Long Haochen’s reaction?” Luc Xi’s eyes glinted, and in response, Dian Yan’s eyes displayed some disdain, “He’s nothing more than an unwary little kid. How old is he? What if his individual strength is great? Carrying out missions does not only depend on one’s strength. But he can be considered to go along with our plan.”
With a meaningful glance Luc Xi declared to him, “It is not bad to gradually affect Long Haochen’s authority within the team, but we cannot go against each other. We are after all in a relationship of cooperation. Our final objective is to fight to make our team get the best benefit possible. Be more careful about that.”
Chapter 218
Dian Yan nodded, “Don’t worry. Even if I cannot deal with this little kid, I will not act recklessly. In a very short time, I will make him lose all credibility, forcing him to yield. And then, the distribution of profits will naturally change accordingly.”
Three days later…
Yue Ye, the Starseeker City’s biggest caravan, set off from the south gate of the city.
The Yue Ye Caravan was indeed worthy of being called one of the biggest group of freelance merchants. At this moment, they actually transported goods in 200 enormous carriages, dispatching troops close to 2,000 people. This was also the reason why Dian Xuan agreed so easily to recruit Long Haochen’s group.
Although they were only in charge of escorting the caravan, Long Haochen’s group was also clad in two layers of commoner’s clothing. All of them wore cotton-padded clothes under a thick coat. It was already early winter, and Starsea City was located near the center of the continent. Although it wasn’t as cold as it was in the south, the route to the demon territory was long and difficult, and they wouldn’t be able to keep travelling if their clothes were not warm enough.
The tasks assigned to these thirteen members of the two Demon Hunt Squads were simple: transporting goods and looking after the transportation. They weren’t needed to drive a carriage since there were already specialized drivers. Each of the carriages was pulled by four big and
tall horses, and even though the caravan was comprised of many people, their coordination was perfect.
After exiting of the Starseeker City to the south, they even managed to enter the fort of the southeast openly, resting and reorganizing there for a short time. This could make one wonder what means the Yue Ye Chamber of Commerce used. The next evening, they left the fort, heading directly in the direction of the demon territory. At this point Long Haochen’s group couldn’t help but be greatly astonished, feeling great curiosity about these freelance merchants.
It was a quiet night scene; the caravan’s torches were lit, looking like a long line extending in wilderness.
The 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad’s mage, Feng Yijun, just blurted out this question, “How do you think that the Yue Ye Merchants managed to pass from the fort of the southeast? It looks like passing with the help of the merchant group was the best path we could take. It will spare us from a lot of trouble.” Luc Xi revealed an indifferent smile, and replied, unruffled, “It is naturally about common interest. Even if the relationship between humans and demons was even worse, the Yue Ye Merchants’ business can only be of great benefit to humanity. For this reason, the Alliance will naturally ignore their movement. If my guess isn’t wrong, this merchant group will benefit from the same treatment on the demon side.” As he said so, he seemed to glance consciously at the people from the 21st Demon Hunt Squad, looking in particular for Long Haochen’s reaction.
Even clad in simple commoner attire, Long Haochen’s handsome appearance was still dazzling. Cai’er’s face was still hidden behind a black veil.
Hearing Luc Xi’s words, Long Haochen revealed a faint smile, “Captain Luc Xi is right.” Luc Xi chuckled gently, “I’m afraid that I am the oldest here, so I have naturally some more experience.” Despite the fact that his words were light, perspicacious people could still understand their profound meaning. But Luc Xi was disappointed about the fact that it appeared as though no one in the 21st Demon Hunt Squad seemed to pay
attention to his words. Only Long Haochen nodded to him, but afterwards, at his side, Cai’er suddenly turned her head and gave him a glance. As sharp as a blade, her look instantly caused Luc Xi to shiver unintentionally. A chill coming directly from the depths of his heart was transmitted to the rest of his body. What a powerful killing intent! In his shivering state, Luc Xi kept silent. In their 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, Dian Yan and Yijun had an excellent relationship with Luc Xi. Because this formidable assassin coldness drew close to his side, he could only shut his mouth. The reason was simple, it was Cai’er’s presence.
As for Bai Xiaomo, because during the three months of test, she had been once saved by Li Xin, and because they were both girls, the two of them were relatively close.
Luc Xi’s plan was as follows: first they would complete a mission with relatively high profits accompanied by Long Haochen’s squad. , he would observe any negligent decisions made by Long Haochen, and try to make them affect the relations within Long Haochen’s group. And his hidden hope was to take the team’s leading position. Of course, the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad was only thinking of their own team’s benefit, under the premise that they would complete the mission successfully. In the middle of the caravan, a luxurious carriage was pulled by eight fine horses. This carriage looked special because it was not only wider, but quite more luxurious than the others. The carriage was adorned with eight enormous wheels, each pair being connected. The wheels came with supporting poles, using huge springs to lessen the shaking. And this was just the carriage’s alternate means of transport. From the bottom of the carriage, a dim green light was faintly released. It was impressively the Float Technique. And this was not pure magic, but an effect of solidification at the bottom of the carriage. That’s to say that this carriage was in itself an enormous piece of magical equipment.
Supporting such a big carriage with float was not something one or two mere mages using Float could accomplish. It came along with an uninterrupted consumption of magical crystals. Of course, its benefits were obvious: even on the uneven grounds found in wilderness, this carriage would advance just like on flat ground, without the slightest vibration. In the carriage were tables, chairs, and even a wide and comfortable couch. And on this couch lay two young ladies, occasionally eating longan fruits.
Compared to the cold outside, the carriage was as warm as spring, and the two ladies lying down on the couch were clad in simple long skirts.
The lady on the left was clad in a white long skirt, simple yet elegant, giving her a noble appearance. Her pure and tender face looked cute. Her nose was as beautiful as jasper, and her most striking trait was her pair of black eyes, posing a contrast to the rest of her features. The second lady lying on the couch was clad in a red long skirt, looking more fiery in comparison with the other lady’s white skirt. As her head was resting against a soft cushion, she appeared to have exaggerated C cup breasts. The most attractive thing was that this devilish figure was matched with an extremely pure, and young-looking face. A completely childish face… “Sis Yue, we should be able to take our devil eyes off now. These things are really uncomfortable.” The girl wearing the red skirt, said with a protesting tone. The girl in the white skirt spoke back with a smile, “Take it off then. We have already left the human territory anyway.” As she said so, she lifted her hand, and next, those black eyes suddenly changed color, turning into a touching purple color.
This purple seemed pure and noble, coming with the enticement of a witch. And the pure and holy aura in her body seemed to merge with another particular type of aura. The young lady in red skirt did the same motion, and in the next instant, her black pupils became pink, giving her angelic face a pretty and flirtatious feel.
“Sis Yue, these goods will definitely give us good profit.” The young lady clad in red said with a laugh.
The girl clad in white sighed lightly, “Stop dreaming, how could it be so easy? This time’s goods are mainly spices, oil, cotton clothes, metal, humans’ silk, rare types of woods and so on. And the most important is the large quantity of food. But the other vehicles are just a facade: the real stuff is in here.” As she said so, she showed the ruby-colored ring on her right hand. The lady in red asked, puzzled, “Isn’t it a very good thing to our demon’s side? Isn’t it food we are lacking the most” The lady in white replied, “It is precisely for that reason that it is inconvenient. This shortage does not only exist in one or two places. These things are going to be in demand to any of the tribes. Do you believe that they will
simply behave themselves and let us transport these things to the central province? His Majesty the Demon God Emperor won’t care about these lowly matters. I’m afraid that this trip will not be so peaceful. And the most troublesome is that we cannot employ guards at the sixth step or above.” The young lady in the red skirt looked alarmed, and asked, “Sis Yue, do you think some groups will try to plunder us? Would they dare!? Sis Yue, you are the princess of the Yue demon clan, this generation’s Yue Ye Sorceress, bearing the name of Yue Ye! Won’t they fear the retaliation of the Yue Clan? ” The young lady clad in the white skirt revealed a faint smile, “My foolish younger sister, do you think our kind would worry about the same things as humans? Without enough food, their clansmen will just starve to death! In comparison, the retaliation of our Yue Clan won’t be such an immediate threat. The offensive of this fall didn’t go so smoothly, and the shortage of food is critical. Under such circumstances, my caravan just looks like a gold mine. Let alone I, Yue Ye, even if you tell them your identity as Leng Xiao, they will still not pay much attention to it. ” The girl clad in red, Leng Xiao, pouted her lips and asked, “What should we do then? Don’t tell me we should really let them rob us?” Yue Ye’s eyes flashed, as she gave the reply, “No way we’d let them go off so easily. I already notified our clansmen to come to our rescue. In at most five days, my people will join us. Now, I just hope that the clans at the frontier won’t react too fast.” Leng Xiao asked, puzzled, “Then, why didn’t we wait a few more days before setting off?” Yue Ye replied with a smile, “The border zone is monitored as tightly on the humans’ side. If we let humans see our massive demon reinforcement closing in from the other side, what will they think about it? Our status as merchants has been carefully nurtured for a long time.” Leng Xiao smiled happily and replied, “Sis Yue, it looks like I was right to choose to accompany you to get some experience. I indeed learned quite a few things.” Yue Ye’s smile vanished suddenly, and she suddenly came back to a seating posture, “They are already coming!” Leng Xiao was still lying down, but her expression changed rapidly, “How could they be so fast? Is it possible that they made their preparations to ambush us long ago?” Yue Ye’s eyes flashed with coldness, “The only explanation would be that there’s a traitor in the chamber of commerce. Don’t leave the carriage, I will
handle it by myself.” As she said, so, her figure flashed, leaving the carriage.
At this moment, Long Hoachen, who was advancing in queue along with the others, suddenly lifted his head, looking towards the night sky in a particular direction. “Enemies! Make your preparations, everyone. Try as far as possible to refrain from using your specific abilities. Don’t use priest healing abilities unless it is absolutely essential. And no one is to let his spiritual energy flow out. We will defend ourselves by relying on the carriages.”
This series of orders were immediately transmitted to the members of the two Demon Hunt Squads.
Chapter 219
“From which side are there enemies coming?” Hearing Long Haochen’s orders, everyone from the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad couldn’t help but feel doubtful. As for the other six members of the 21st Demon Hunt Squad, they already made their preparations according to Long Haochen’s command.
Long Haochen, Wang Yuanyuan and Sima Xian were at the front, Lin Xin and Chen Ying’er at the center, Han Yu was at the back of the formation, and Cai’er just disappeared into the darkness.
“Simply follow Haochen’s orders!” Li Xin shouted before unsheathing the longsword she received from the merchants. Everyone had been provided with ordinary swords made of fine iron.
Just at that moment, a white glow flashed up in front of the caravan, instantly spreading through the air. It burnt the night forming a bright scene.
As the appearance of this white glow left the whole caravan alarmed, the drivers immediately reacted.
These drivers clearly went through specific training, operating rapidly. A short time later, over 200 carriages formed an enormous circular barricade of waggons.
Over 500 guards clad in armor surrounded the barricade, but the astonishing detail was that their armaments gave off magical fluctuations. They were at least at the magical tier.
Without a doubt, Long Haochen’s orders had already been followed, and his mates were all hiding inside of the carriage.
The earth started shaking. A faint tremor at first, continuously increasing until it soon erupted into the ear-splitting noise of explosions. The sky was still pitch black, but in the sparse light coming from the moon and the carriages’ torches, one could faintly see numerous shadows closing in very rapidly.
Yue Ye calmly stood on the roof of her carriage, showing a very cold expression. Above the vehicle, her white skirt glowed white against the dark sky.
With a wave of her hand, a white light rocketed to the sky, but this time, it reached a higher altitude before exploding, forming the shape of a bent white moon.
But far across, the nearing shadows didn’t react to this signal launched to the Yue Ye chamber of commerce, maintaining their charging speed without slowing down in the slightest.
“Demons, it’s demons.” Wang Yuanyuan cried out in a low voice.
Long Haochen gave her a glance, and ordered, “Don’t act blindly everyone. Unless it is absolutely necessary, don’t intervene rashly.”
The distant demon troops were already drawing closer, and the caravan’s guards immediately couldn’t suppress a change of their expressions. Just from a visual assessment, these demon troops were at least 10,000 strong. At their front were about 5,000 Dual Bladed Demons, led by a dozen Dark Green Dual Bladed Demons madly rushing forward. At their back were a large amount of Slinkers from the Luke Clan that posed without doubt the greatest threat to their caravan. In case these enemies managed to attack from underground, the damage they would cause obviously would be tremendous.
But an even more fearful thing was that aside from these two races, an enormous quantity of other demon types was following at their rear. They
were accompanied by an air force of hundreds, but it was too dark to see them clearly yet.
These demon troops clearly didn’t have any intention to negotiate, only barging in and immediately slaughtering their way through. The surroundings were filled with intense killing intent.
Long Haochen was continuously observing the lady clad in the white skirt. As she looked at these demonic forces closing in, two banners suddenly appeared in the hand of this girl. Without hesitation, she brandished the white and red colored banners with lightning speed.
The 500 guards that had rushed out to defend the caravan immediately returned to their posts, and Long Haochen heard a series of repeated machinery sounds. Each of the carriages’ drivers was working with the utmost hurry.
At a side of the carriages, a board was lifted open, exposing artillery firing salvos of slightly glowing missiles. Everyone in Long Haochen’s group had sharp senses, so their pupils immediately shrank in succession. This was because they discovered that these arrows were faintly imbued with magical power. They were unexpectedly magical arrows.
In fact, even the most average magical arrows would cost more than 2,000 gold coins each. Furthermore, they were one use items, and with so many carriages, just one volley of arrows would consume above 10,000 gold coins. This was a demonstration of extremely high money consumption.
Yue Ye was standing calmly on top of the carriage, her cute face portraying a mixture of pure holy and demonic aura. Currently filled with desolation, her purple eyes twinkled coldly. Together with the white banner, she held the red one high, calmly gazing at the approaching demon forces.
Being one of the biggest unions of freelance merchants, the Yue Ye Merchant Group naturally had their own ways of self-defense. Their biggest disadvantage lied in the fact they couldn’t hire powerhouses of the sixth
step or above, but they could still rely on other means like, for instance, their equipment.
Hush. At the moment the red flag in her hand was pointed forward, an astonishing scene immediately took place.
Along with a chain of machinery sounds and the buzz of the released arrows, thousands of brilliant rays shot up. These radiances were of various colors. Eleven of these arrows were released from each of the carriages: ten smaller ones and a bigger one. But instantly after they were launched, Long Haochen felt that not only the arrows were magical; even the crossbows shooting them were supplemented with magic. Furthermore, these magical arrows were actually not the kind of one-time-use objects, and the magical fluctuations they released were powerful, comparable to magical attacks of the second or the third step! Above all, the bigger ones exceeded one meter in diameter. As they were launched, they were surrounded by spiralling magic.
If one looked at this scene from above, he would sense that this Yue Ye Merchant Group’s barricade of waggons felt just like a bee’s nest: even if the demons’ troops were still more than 500 meters away, a large quantity of magic arrows was already launched at them.
The resulting scene was absolutely spectacular: the demon army’s vanguard had surprisingly been completely annihilated.
Regardless of whether they were ordinary or dark green Dual Bladed Demons, such an intensive bombardment of arrows just made them look like children. The magic pierced the demons’ limbs and blew them to pieces. This combination of metal and magic was absolutely deadly, and a symbol of the terrible power money could have. Even a powerhouse of the seventh step could only retire with a grudge, when facing so many magical arrays.
The entirety of the carriages shook from the extreme backlash, nevertheless, immediately launching another fusillade of magical arrows.
This sort of battlefield was just too spectacular. Although Long Haochen’s group could only follow the attack from the carriage they were seated in, everyone could feel a chill running down their spines.
After a single round of arrows, these demon troops of more than ten thousands were left without a single Dual Bladed Demon alive. And the following Luke Demons showed fast response, immediately sinking into the ground and narrowly escaping the second attack. But the distant flying demons, as well as the other species in the rear, received strong damage. But their carnage didn’t weaken at all, the dense bloody atmosphere spread around, causing everyone to feel sick.
Among the barricade, the only motionless carriage was the one Yue Ye was standing on. Just as before, her hand was brandishing the banners nonstop. As the distant demons were continuously being slaughtered, she didn’t seem to show any concern. At some point, she had already made use of her magical eyes, which now had recovered their usual black color. But in the middle of the deep night, who would pay attention to such little details?
As the flag fell down, the carriages stopped shaking, and Long Haochen discovered through attentive observation that their supply of magical arrows was far from being unlimited: each device only had the ability to launch two rounds. But the several hundred of carriages were loaded with several hundreds of these formidable magic weapons, so even if there were only two rounds each, the penetrative power of these arrows was enough to turn the majority of the demon troops into corpses.
Just at that time, Yue Ye, still standing on the carriage, raised her right hand, enrolling a white scroll. The scroll extended, releasing a white glow that immediately rocketed through the sky and illuminated the entirety of the carriages. Soon, it enveloped the whole barricade, and in an instant, the ground beneath their feet turned white.
With a swift movement Yue Ye inserted the red banner into the ground in front of the carriage. Long Haochen immediately heard the cart driver at their side shout, “Thrust your weapons into the ground, to wound those Slinkers from the Luke Clan.”
Long Haochen had long since sensed that the Slinkers coming from below were getting closer. That girl clad in white, seemingly responsible for the leadership, reacted calmly, and although her white scroll emitted luminous white light, it was not of the light element. Nevertheless, its defensive power and scope of effect were extremely astonishing. The Slinkers from the Luke Clan could only try out to emerge from the ground, but they had no way to break through the obstruction of the white brilliance. On the other hand, the longswords Long Haochen’s group stabbed into the ground weren’t affected at all.
The two Demon Hunt Squads would naturally not let such a good opportunity slip away. Their perception was much better than that of ordinary people. They sensed the whereabouts of the Slinkers and uninterruptedly pierced them while using their internal energy to provide those fine iron swords with an excellent destroying power. Quickly, the attacking Luke clansmen were all obliterated.
After these attacks, the approaching demon troops were already reduced to less than a third of their former size, while only half of their aerial troops remained. Their assault paused temporarily, showing hesitation. Clearly, they didn’t expect the Yue Ye Merchant Group’s response to be so fierce.
Demons were also living creatures, and seeing their own kin being killed so miserably, they felt somewhat gutless. But the remaining demons didn’t escape, instead they calmly stopped in a distance of more than a kilometer, just outside of the magical arrays’ range.
Standing on the carriage, Yue Ye furrowed her brows. She was after all a merchant, not a soldier. The caravans’ power had already been openly displayed, and they already used up most of their magical arrows. If the remaining demons had insisted on attacking, the caravan would surely have suffered some losses. Not only a monetary loss, but also a loss of human lives.
A red silhouette quietly mounted on the roof, joining up with Yue Ye.
“Sis Ye, what’s going on? Why aren’t these bastards going away?”
Just like Yue Ye, Leng Xiao possessed eyes that were able to change colors.
Chapter 220
Yue Ye took a deep breath, “I have a bad feeling. I’m afraid we are in deep trouble right now. In the past, even when tribes dared to come out and confront us, they would still try some negotiating, sometimes giving us room for concessions. But today, they directly launched their attack, dispatching an army of ten thousand. In the whole Nareiks Province, only three great tribes are capable of giving such orders. But since they dispatched such an army to handle us, they clearly made a firm resolution. We were able to handle the first wave of attack, but I’m afraid that we won’t be able to handle the second one.”
Leng Xiao reacted with some anxiety, “What should we do then? Since these bastards have the impertinence to execute such attacks, when we are back, we will make sure to certainly not spare them.”
Yue Ye didn’t pay attention to Len Xiao’s indignation, saying in a serious tone, “Now, we can only take the initiative to attack before the three great tribes react. After disposing of the enemies in front of our eyes, and collecting the magical arrays, we will equip them once again. Then we shall immediately return to the Temple Alliance, and only set out again after handling the matter with those three great tribes.”
She had a firm nature; as she spoke, she already signaled with the flag in her hand. The caravans’ guards rapidly reacted, quickly changing formation and facing the pressure of the remaining demons in front of them.
Long Haochen felt quite curious regarding the Yue Ye Caravan’s initiative. What was this caravan planning to do? But in the next instant,
Cai’er’s and his faces immediately changed expressions. Looking at each other face to face, their eyes filled with horror.
“Everyone, change your gear! Get ready to break through this.” Long Haochen ordered in a low voice, immediately throwing the longsword in his hand away. Under the attentive watch of the carriage’s driver, he removed his cotton-padded clothes, and started to put his lightly glowing Holy Spirit Armor on.
Filled with great indignation, Dian Yan’s reaction was immediate, “Long Haochen, what are you doing? This will expose us.”
Long Haochen threw a cold look at him, “If you want to die here, feel free to act as you please.” As he said so, he waved his hand to his own squad.
Naturally, everyone of the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad had not the slightest opposition regarding Long Haochen’s order; all of them rapidly changed into their own equipment while keeping a solid battle formation.
Li Xin looked at Dian Yan, but still felt hesitant. She was after all not the real leader of this 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad. Therefore, she turned back, giving Luc Xi an inquiring look.
At this time, Luc Xi came to a final understanding, unexpectedly shouting out, “What are you still waiting for? Haven’t you heard Captain Long’s order to shift gear?”
At this time, the fleet had already advanced several hundred meters, entering the scope where the sniped corpses were scattered. Following the order transmitted through the flag signal, they rapidly collected the magical arrows lying on the ground. After simply being wiped clean, they were used to rearm the carriages. This was enough to cause their fighting strength to increase sharply.
But even Yue Ye was astonished to see that when the guards advanced towards them, the remaining demons seemed to fall back, maintaining the distance. But they didn’t show any intent to attack.
And just at this instant, some change finally appeared on Yue Ye’s face.
“It’s a trap.”
Suddenly, dozens of mournful howling sounds broke through the sky. Sharp yells rang out from the left, the right, as well as the rear, and ear- splitting noises sounded almost at the same time from these three directions, like explosions. The enemy was madly charging at them, and this time, it was at least an army of 30,000.
Leng Xiao stood by Yue Ye’s side, staring blankly at her sister Yue whose face was completely devoid of color, “They… They unexpectedly dispatched that many troops. They are planning to…”
“To kill everyone to prevent any leaking of information.” These words seemed to be sneaked out from the small gap between Yue Ye’s gritted teeth. She knew that since the three great tribes of the Nareiks Province dispatched that many troops, they were already prepared to silence them thoroughly. Not a single living soul would be spared. Aside from these three incoming battalions, another army of 10,000 appeared at their front. The enemy wasn’t advancing with any urge, only watching coldly as the Yue Ye’s caravan got surrounded.
A caravan formed of a little more than 2,000 people was confronting a demon army of over 40,000 soldiers. This disproportion was as obvious as one could imagine it.
It would even be fortunate if intact corpses were left after the battle.
But instead of panicking, Leng Xiao became extremely cold-headed, “Sis Yue, I will let them know about my identity. I don’t believe they will dare act against me.”
Yue Ye smiled bitterly, shaking her head, and replying, “It’s useless. I know these lower demon tribes a lot better than you. None of them will believe you, and they will not even give you the opportunity to speak. And what if they really believe it? In case this plot comes to light, they are bound to die anyway. And since they are going to die either way, they’d rather get rid of us, to erase any evidence. Since they premeditated their
attack that thoroughly, they should even know clearly what we are transporting.”
The flag in her hand didn’t stop at all, and was instead waved even more quickly as she spoke. Their fleet stopped its advance once again, the magical arrows were gathered at fast speed and used to refill the launchers. But it was obvious to them that with its fighting strength, their caravan was completely unable to compare anyway.
To cope with their caravan of a few thousands, these demons actually dispatched an army of 50,000. This was how high they valued the caravan’s goods. Although their casualties weren’t small, now that they managed to surround them successfully, even with wings, the Yue Ye Caravan wouldn’t manage to escape from this predicament.
Dian Yan stood silently by Luc Xi’s side, currently in a terrible mood. It wasn’t only because of Long Haochen’s previous anticipation, but more importantly because of the impasse they were in. It was his suggestion to accompany these freelance merchants. But the scene that happened before his eyes was undeniable proof that his suggestion was a mistake.
Luc Xi patted Dian Yan’s shoulder, “This cannot be blamed on you.” As he said so, he joined Long Haochen’s side, and asked earnestly, “Captain Long, what should we do now? We’ll obey each of your commands.”
Long Haochen slightly bowed to him, replying, “After the fight begins, we will break out to the front. Captain Luc, please focus on group healing. Our team will be in the front, have your team follow us.
Remember, don’t act too rashly, and don’t make our immediate goal too visible. This will very likely become a war of attrition, so everyone has to economize his spiritual energy to the utmost.”
“Yes.” Luc Xi gave a straightforward reply, entering formation with his own teammates.
At this moment, Long Haochen’s complexion was not that good. They had just entered the demon territory, but already ran into such a situation.
This was the complete opposite result of their original plans. Their route to the Desolate Whistling Cavern was still long, and let alone completing the mission, the main objective in such a situation was to survive.
Watching Luc Xi who was drawing back to join up with his comrades’ formation, Long Haochen gave Li Xin a glance before telling his teammates in a low voice, “Don’t use the Spiritual Bursting Pills unless it is absolutely necessary. Do your utmost to disperse the least possible. Ying’er, we will have to depend on you to get out of the calamity that will break out in a moment.”
As he said so, Long Haochen came close to Chen Ying’er’s side, whispering some words in her ear.
Chen Ying’er nodded repeatedly, “No problem.” At this moment, her finger pointed into the emptiness, and with a flash of light, her little pig McDull already appeared at her bosom.
“Get ready for battle.” Long Haochen did a low-pitched shout.
As before, Han Yu was still staying at his back. Clearly, Long Haochen didn’t believe he could entrust his back to the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad at all. In that team, the only one he had confidence in was Li Xin, and no one else.
On the roof of the luxurious carriage, after waving her hand a last few times, Yue Ye had already arranged the general battle formation. Her face had calmed down, and she put the pair of flags down.
“Leng Xiao, I know that you have a way to escape from here. This cannot be delayed, just go. Hand this ring over to His Majesty, and ask him to seek justice for us.” As she made this declaration, she took off the ruby ring, placing it on Leng Xiao’s finger.
Leng Xiao gave this ring a glance, suddenly lifting her right hand and wiping the upwelling tears from her eyes. Then she took off the ring from her own hand and pulled Yue Ye’s hand to return it to her.
“Sis Ye, I will do as if I didn’t hear your previous statement. But please don’t insult the dignity of the Devil Dragons’ lineage ever again.”
Yue Ye felt her body shaking, filled with complete excitement. But quickly, she calmed down. It was obviously not the time for words of appreciation.
Taking a deep breath, she put her ring on once again, declaring, “Okay, then it is time for our last desperate struggle.”
As she said so, with a flip of her hand, an exquisite box appeared on her palm.
This box was half a meter long, entirely black and made of wood. Along with black-gold-colored ornamentation, five gems of red, yellow, blue, white and gold were placed accordingly to this specific order, forming a particular formation. Just this box in itself was already a fine piece of work. It was imbued with magic, though it appeared for the moment to be of unknown use.
Yue Ye pressed hidden mechanisms at both sides of the case, and it opened with a ‘click’ sound, revealing a deep purple-colored scroll.
During the split second the box took to open, Leng Xiao’s red eyes immediately shrank.
Yue Ye spoke, indifferently, “Since they want to kill me, they shouldn’t mind it if I give them a great gift in return. Xiaoxiao, I need the time of half a stick of incense, during which I cannot be disturbed in any way. You heard me?”
Leng Xiao nodded emphatically, “Leave it to me.”
Yue Ye lowered her head, handing the command flags to Leng Xiao and sitting cross-legged on the roof of the carriage.
She didn’t directly take the scroll out, but instead placed the wooden box on her leg, while taking off her magical eyes. In the next instant, a deep
purple glow was released from her touching eyes, and immediately, another purple glow emanated from her chest.
It appeared like a deep purplish-black hole, producing a strange scene in the middle of the night. With a glint spreading around, a deep purple cauldron with one meter length floated out, amplifying this splendid luster.
This cauldron was circular, and in the instant it appeared, a purple moon was condensed from it. At Yue Ye’s back, the bent silvery white moon still shone brilliantly, and intense magical power ascended from her body.
A silver bracelet on Yue Ye’s right wrist sparkled and a fist-sized silvery white gem appeared in her hand. In the instant this gem appeared, the magical fluctuations surrounding the whole carriage unexpectedly strengthened, twisting around the two silhouettes.
With a movement of Yue Ye’s finger, the bizarre white gem floated in the air, accurately falling into the purple cauldron that came out of her body. Immediately, that cauldron’s purple glow enlarged, turning into a purple light pillar soaring up to the sky. Above Yue Ye’s head, a purple full moon immediately formed and glistened, illuminating the entire formation of carriages.