Chapter 3: Mission (Part 1)

Guo Shier said calmly, “Who did you call a brat?” It was inconceivable to him that an outer sect disciple would dare insult an inner sect disciple like this. Having lived here for nearly a year, he understood well what an inner sect disciple meant. Perhaps the other person thought he was just a child, which made them act so recklessly.

Luo Zhan hadn’t entered the room; he stayed outside. But as a Talisman Warrior, he was a highly skilled expert in this world. Being outside didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of what was happening inside. He was also surprised—had this outer sect disciple gone mad? He silently slipped into the room, leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and watched with a faint smile.

The outer sect disciple didn’t even lift his head and said, “I’m talking about you—you’re the brat!” Everyone around was stunned, with no one speaking up to stop them; they just stood there, dumbfounded.

Guo Shier wasn’t easily angered. He nodded and said, “Where did this idiot come from?”

When Guo Shier remained calm, the other person grew impatient. Calling him an idiot was extremely insulting, and what was most infuriating was Guo Shier’s tone. Though he looked like a little boy, he spoke in a highly contemptuous manner. Hearing this, the guy jumped up, swung the registration book he was holding, and struck.

Guo Shier suddenly showed a strange smile. He didn’t move at all, standing firm in place. He knew very well that a registration book, no matter how hard the other person struck, couldn’t kill anyone. And assaulting an inner sect disciple—especially a disciple of a great Talisman Master, a nine-year-old child—meant the attacker would lose half his life if he didn’t die outright.

Taking this opportunity, he could also avoid a task he had to undertake—winning twice with one move. So why not? Thus, Guo Shier decided to endure the strike.

But Guo Shier underestimated the rules of this world. A greenish light flashed, followed by a scream—as the man’s arm flew off and the registration book was thrown far away. Luo Zhan, wielding his talisman sword with murderous intent, shouted, “How dare you!”

A Talisman Warrior in a rage was terrifying. His intimidating aura forced everyone to retreat. Guo Shier sighed inwardly. Luo Zhan’s attack came a bit early, but even he knew that if he had been struck, Luo Zhan would also be responsible.

“Call your supervisor here! Explain this to me. If you can’t give a satisfactory explanation… you’ll bear all the consequences!” Luo Zhan demanded domineerly.

Guo Shier didn’t expect blood to be shed so quickly. Though he was never afraid of blood, he hadn’t anticipated that the guards would kill someone just for attacking an inner sect disciple. The man rolled on the ground, clutching his severed arm, and Guo Shier saw clearly that it was a Symbol Warrior who had done it, which filled him with cold dread. At first, he thought Guo Shier was just an ordinary inner sect apprentice, relying on his uncle, who was also an inner sect disciple and a Sorcerer. He believed this backing would protect him. So he thought it was fine to tease Guo Shier a bit—actually, it wasn’t really teasing; he just wanted to give him a hard time. After all, it was just a child, and as long as it wasn’t excessive, it shouldn’t matter. But when Guo Shier called him an idiot, he became enraged, grabbed the registration book, and tried to strike him in retaliation. Unbeknownst to him, this provoked the child’s guards, who turned out to be Symbol Warriors. Only then did he realize he had gotten into trouble. Several people rushed out of the inner room, one of them shouting, “Who is it? Who dares attack the headquarters of the Northern Symbol Sect?” Luo Zhan said nonchalantly, “It’s me! This man attacked my guard!” He added, “If it weren’t for the fact that this is the Northern Symbol Sect’s headquarters in Ye Guan City, I would have killed him with one strike!” Seeing that it was a Symbol Warrior speaking, the man dared not continue questioning. Another person ran over to the man with the severed arm and said, “Puo Ji, Puo Ji! You… Someone, hurry and call a Symbol Pill Master!” Chaos ensued in the hall. Guo Shier smiled helplessly, shook his head, and turned to leave. But someone stopped him—two Symbol Warriors stepped forward to block his path. Luo Zhan shouted, “Move aside!” The two Symbol Warriors said with grim faces, “I’m sorry, could you wait a moment?” Luo Zhan knew forcing his way out wasn’t an issue, but the problem still needed to be resolved. He said, “Shier, wait a bit and see what they do.” He stepped aside, brought a chair for Guo Shier, and said, “Shier, sit down.” Realizing he couldn’t leave, Guo Shier sighed and sat down, acting as if nothing had happened. He thought to himself that having the appearance of a child indeed gave an advantage—no matter right or wrong, he remained invincible. So he wasn’t panicked, and his expression remained calm.

Luo Zhan had been watching Guo Shier closely. Ever since he drew his sword and severed that man’s arm, he had paid attention to Guo Shier’s expression. So far, he was very satisfied—this kid was truly extraordinary. Even the bravest child would tremble with fear at seeing someone’s arm cut off and them wailing in front of them. But Guo Shier didn’t change his expression at all, remaining calm as if it didn’t bother him at all.

If it were an adult experienced in battle, such behavior would be normal, but since Guo Shier was only nine years old, it seemed quite strange.

After about ten minutes of chaos, the person in charge came over. He was a sorcerer, more precisely, a fire sorcerer. He said, “I’m the person in charge here. Why did you attack someone?”

Before Luo Zhan could speak, Guo Shier spoke up, “There’s a problem with what you’re saying. What do you mean by ‘why did we attack someone?’ You don’t ask for the reason, only the result… Is this how you handle problems?”

Luo Zhan said calmly, “I’m a follower of the great sorcerer Luo Jie. May I ask your name?”

The man’s face turned pale instantly. A follower of the great sorcerer? Then this child’s identity was quite sensitive—either a disciple or a descendant. Such people must not be offended under any circumstances.

“My name is Zheng Xianren. I’m the person in charge here. I’ll report what happened today to the inner sect promptly. As for who’s right or wrong, it should be determined by the inner sect’s judicial department. I’m just here to understand the situation.”

Luo Zhan sneered, “I find it strange that here, outer sect disciples can attack inner sect disciples. Moreover, as the person in charge, you’re covering up for your subordinates and trying to shift the blame onto us. What do you want? Just because that man dared to attack an inner sect disciple, I could have killed him… Cutting off one of his arms was already showing you mercy!”

Zheng Xianren cursed inwardly. He knew that if he didn’t handle this properly, he would also be implicated. In fact, he had already briefly understood what had happened and knew that his side was at fault, as it was his people who started the attack first. He was relieved that his subordinates hadn’t actually hit the child—otherwise, things would have gotten much worse.

Guo Shier also felt regretful. He was a bit annoyed that Luo Zhan had acted so quickly, otherwise, he could have taken the chance to act shamefully and avoid completing the task.

Zheng Xianren could only bow his head. He said, “I’ll handle the consequences for you.” He didn’t want to continue arguing, fearing he might lose control and start a fight. After saying that, he quickly turned and left.

“Send this bastard to the judicial department!”

When Luo Zhan heard Zheng Xianren’s words, he knew the other party had given in. He didn’t want things to become too tense either, so he said, “Guo Shier, go take on the mission first.”
Guo Shier had no choice but to go. Soon, he returned with a smile, as he found the mission extremely simple—nothing much for him at all.
Luo Zhan left his name and identity behind before following Guo Shier back.
Huo Bao and the others were already waiting in the courtyard. As soon as Guo Shier returned, his first task was to assign the mission. There was one fixed mission and two optional ones.
The fixed mission was to kill a wild beast in the mountains near Ye Guancheng, with Guo Shier required to personally butcher the beast and obtain the materials needed for talismans from it.
There were two optional missions: one was to buy materials in the Talisman Market to make disposable talismans, and the other was to sell those disposable talismans in the market. If Guo Shier were a naive nine-year-old child, these missions would be quite difficult, but he wasn’t at all like that—these tasks posed no challenge to him.
Luo Zhan shook his head in disbelief. Guo Shier had already purchased materials in the Talisman Market and exchanged the prepared disposable talismans for more materials. The only somewhat difficult part was hunting down the wild beast—it depended on how he handled it. Luo Zhan was Guo Shier’s mission supervisor, and his role was to assess Guo Shier’s ability to complete the mission.
Back in his previous life, when he was in the army, Guo Shier had taken on many missions. He hadn’t expected to start doing missions again, but fortunately, they were simple. He had always liked hunting in his past life, but after retiring, he no longer had the opportunity to hunt, so he wasn’t resistant to this fixed mission either.
Huo Bao said, “This mission is too easy. Shier, you just wait over there. The four of us are enough. Once we kill the beast, you can come and collect the materials.”
Guo Shier shook his head. “That won’t do. From now on, we need to learn to work together. Besides, I don’t want to just wait while everyone else takes risks.”
Chen Bing said, “Follow Shier’s instructions.”
Chen Hong was a young girl and didn’t dare express her opinion; she just listened to what others said. Hong Shi, however, frowned and asked, “Then how should we cooperate?”
Guo Shier replied, “How to cooperate? You need to figure it out yourselves. What I want to emphasize are the principles—protecting yourselves to the greatest extent possible and achieving the greatest victory. That’s the goal of cooperation. As for the methods… you can think about and practice them slowly. Remember! Saving your life is the top priority. Without a life… nothing else matters. So, you also need to consider how to escape if you can’t win.”

Luo Zhan’s eyes almost popped out in shock—was this really something a nine-year-old child would say? Huo Bao and the other four children were also stunned, as Guo Shier’s words were completely different from what they had been taught before. What they had been taught was to forge ahead bravely and fear no sacrifice. Huo Bao wondered, “Why prioritize saving one’s life?” Guo Shier raised his small hand and slapped him hard on the shoulder. He had wanted to slap Huo Bao on the forehead, but Huo Bao had grown so tall recently that he was much taller than him, so he could only slap his shoulder and scold, “Idiot… if you lose your life, what can you do then?”