Chapter 9: Hunting Missions (Part 1)

Teams of professionals lined up, marching in unison toward the city gates. Each member wore black talisman armor and carried long spears; they were all experts in talisman-based combat. Each team consisted of ten people—eight experts and two masters. Guo Shier saw that there were at least dozens of such teams.

Xuan Ai said, “Don’t be surprised. These are hunting teams organized by the Inner Gate of Haimen. They’re all elite disciples from the Inner Gate. This is the lowest-level team. In a few days, there will be teams with masters as members and grand masters as leaders.”

Guo Shier was secretly astonished, as these were not casual groups of professionals but resembled armies from his past life, with strict organizational discipline. The power of such teams could not be underestimated. Since professionals were already highly skilled individuals, when organized and trained like soldiers, their strength far exceeded simple addition.

He asked, “Are there many such teams in Haimen?”

Xuan Ai replied, “Not many. There are only over two hundred teams in total. They’re specifically responsible for the sect’s security. Their annual training involves hunting mutated talisman beasts, so they have strong combat skills.”

Guo Shier asked, “Why didn’t you join?”

Xuan Ai shook his head. “I don’t want to become a killing maniac. Many of them are from the Law Enforcement Hall. I’m not interested in fighting all day long. You know… I prefer a more relaxed life.”

Guo Shier said, “Sometimes… one has no choice. It’s not that you want to fight, but others force you to… Hehe. But I also don’t like joining such teams.” He had been in the army in his past life and understood its hardships. In this life, he would never join such an organization again.

Upon reaching the city gates, Pang Guang helped with registration. Only after seeing the three leave the city gates did he turn and go.

After leaving the city, the group dispersed. Xuan Ai identified the direction and said, “Let’s go!” He flew low over the ground. Flying high was not an option here, as there were fierce mutated birds in the sky, and they didn’t want to provoke them. To travel quickly, flying low was the only choice.

Although the climate here was different from that of the outer continent, Guo Shier knew this secret realm had an environment similar to the continent—at least near the entrance and exit. Further inside the realm, it was uncertain whether the environment remained the same; perhaps there were special geographical conditions.

Soon, Guo Shier saw abandoned towns and villages, as well as large areas of farmland that were now completely overgrown with grass and shrubs, with broken walls everywhere.

Xuan Ai explained, “This is the abandoned settlement after the last attack by the mutated talisman beasts. Countless people died and were injured here back then.” White bones could still be seen on the ground—whether they belonged to the mutated talisman beasts or humans was unclear. The area was desolate, with no signs of any professionals in sight. Although thousands of professionals had left the city, once scattered, it was possible not to see a single person even after flying several kilometers.

Xuan Ai took out a talisman diagram and examined it for a while before saying, “This area is where lower-level mutated talisman beasts operate—mostly level two or three. There’s nothing worth fighting for. I need to pass through this region. Hmm, it was once a small city, but it’s now completely ruined.”

Before long, Guo Shier and the other two stood on the walls of the abandoned city. Remnants of runes could still be seen on the broken walls. Guo Shier said, “I wonder how many mutated talisman beasts attacked back then. These walls were reinforced with runes and should have been very strong. I didn’t expect them to be in such poor condition.”

“Mutated dragon eagles! Eight of them… coming toward us!”

In the distance, eight dark dots quickly grew larger. Xuan Ai said, “They’re level four mutated birds!”

Guo Shier became excited. “Is it already starting? Haha, great!” He first released the Giant Perch Dragon, followed by the Ancient Flame Sparrow, then the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion and the Blade Shadow Mantis.

Xuan Ai had long known that Guo Shier was skilled at controlling beasts and insects. She didn’t expect him to be able to control four spirit beasts and spirit insects at once. She couldn’t help but sigh, “That’s too convenient. With so many spirit beasts and insects to help, even if we encounter swarms of mutated talisman beasts, we can handle them.”

As soon as the Giant Perch Dragon appeared, it became extremely excited. It roared toward the sky, its sound echoing like thunder.

Xuan Ai was stunned. “Uh… those dragon eagles turned around…” Come on, hearing the roar of a spirit beast that was about to reach level nine, how could those level four dragon eagles still dare to come and die?

The mutated talisman beasts that had been hiding in the city fled in all directions. Within minutes, countless of them escaped the city and disappeared quickly from the three people’s sight.

Guo Shier was stunned for a moment before realizing what had happened. He couldn’t help but laugh. “It seems we can’t keep the Giant Perch Dragon outside. The lower-level mutated talisman beasts don’t even dare to come near. There’s no point in killing them.”

Xuan Ai smiled bitterly. “It’s a shame… It seems we can only release the Giant Perch Dragon during battles.”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “That’s not necessary. I have a spell I can use—a very useful little trick.” With that, he cast a spell, and the giant dragon quickly shrank down to become a tiny mini-giant dragon, no longer than two meters long, looking completely harmless. The mini-giant dragon trotted over to Guo Shier, rubbing its smaller head against his waist in an act of affection and pleading.

Xuan Ai said, “I’m really jealous. Even such a huge dragon can act so cute… It’s so unfair.”

Guo Shier replied, “Let’s go. After passing this small town, we should be there soon, right?”

Xuan Ai said, “Soon… we’ll be there in no time.” He followed Guo Shier into the air. The mini-giant dragon scrambled after them as fast as it could. Originally, it could cover a hundred meters with just one step, but now it could only run frantically, its roars growing weaker due to its reduced size, leaving no sense of threat at all.

The Ancient Flame Sparrow crowed proudly, seemingly mocking the giant dragon’s appearance. The Dark-Winged Scorpion and Blade Shadow Mantis were extremely fast, easily keeping up with Guo Shier and the others. The Eagle Demon flew right behind Guo Shier, staying vigilant at all times.

After passing the small town and re-entering the wasteland, many mutated rune beasts could be seen wandering on the ground. However, Guo Shier wasn’t very interested in them, nor were the Dark-Winged Scorpion and Blade Shadow Mantis inclined to attack. Those mutated rune beasts were too low in rank—most were only level four. He had no interest in hunting them; they only became valuable at level five or six.

As they ventured deeper into the wasteland, larger groups of level-four mutated rune beasts became visible, while level-five ones were still rare. Guo Shier was puzzled—there seemed to be an excessive number of these mutated rune beasts here. In normal secret realms, a single level-five mutated rune beast could dominate several square kilometers, but here, it seemed there was no concept of territory, with all kinds of mutated rune beasts roaming freely.

Guo Shier couldn’t help but ask, “What do these rune beasts eat?”

Xuan Ai replied, “They fight each other… Actually, our sect also has a mission to figure out how these mutated rune beasts grow… It’s a mystery. So far, no one knows the answer.”

The mutated rune beasts wandered in groups, like flocks of sheep and cattle on the grasslands. Most of those in sight were level four, with a few level-five ones mixed in. Guo Shier said, “It seems we can start hunting now!”

Xuan Ai’s heart pounded wildly. Guo Shier and Eagle Demon were incredibly bold, landing directly on the wasteland. The area was packed with mutated rune beasts; unless dozens of master-level experts showed up, it would be difficult to fight them due to their sheer numbers.

Eagle Demon wielded his life rune blade and swung it in one strike, knocking over a mutated rune beast. His speed was astonishing—he cleared a small area in just over ten seconds.

Guo Shier cast a spell, and the Giant Perch Dragon revealed its massive body. With a single swish of its tail, seven or eight mutated rune beasts were torn to pieces. It seemed to have learned its lesson—no longer roaring, it focused on fighting silently, killing over a dozen mutated rune beasts in no time. The Dark-Winged Scorpion and Blade Shadow Mantis also engaged in combat, while only the Ancient Flame Sparrow remained under Guo Shier’s control, perched on his shoulder to guard against unexpected threats.

The Blade Shadow Mantis moved at lightning speed, targeting level-four mutated rune beasts. With a red-and-white flash, a mutated rune beast fell to the ground—its speed was incredible, and its fighting style was ruthless. As for the Dark-Winged Scorpion, it used its thick tail stinger to strike and then retreat, causing the targeted mutated rune beasts to collapse soon after.

Guo Shier was busy using newly learned spells to extract the souls of the dead mutated rune beasts and condense them into soul beads.

Xuan Ai was stunned. This method of hunting was terrifying—he had no chance to intervene at all. Eagle Demon also didn’t join the fight. After clearing an area, he stood behind Guo Shier, ready to defend against any surprise attacks from the mutated rune beasts.

The mutated rune beasts couldn’t fight back and could only scatter in panic. The pressure exerted by the Giant Perch Dragon was too great, forcing them to flee rather than resist.

Guo Shier said, “Xuan Ai, help clean up.”

As a spellcaster himself, Xuan Ai could assist with some tasks. He agreed hesitantly, taking a moment before realizing what was needed and asking, “Shier, what do you want me to do?”

Guo Shier asked, “Can you condense soul beads?”

Xuan Ai replied bluntly, “No!”

Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “Then refine blood soul beads. You can do that, right?”

Xuan Ai said, “I can do that! But there are too many corpses here, and refining blood soul beads… will be chaotic!”

Guo Shier said, “Don’t worry about chaos. I need them to feed the soul beasts!”

Level-eight soul beasts were powerful enough to dominate the entire region, so Guo Shier didn’t care about the mutated rune beasts and focused on collecting soul beads. Xuan Ai quickly got into the role and helped gather the blood soul beads.

Two Talisman Worms plus a terrifying Giant Perch Dragon – due to the huge difference in strength, hunting turned into a massacre, and it was a one-sided slaughter. The Giant Perch Dragon was huge in size; not only did it have extraordinary biting abilities, but it also had a thick tail that could sweep through everything like tearing through dry grass. Surprisingly, the Giant Perch Dragon would occasionally unleash talisman attacks, which were even more deadly, capable of wiping out mutated Talisman Beasts at level four or five with just one strike.