Chapter 4: Recruitment (Part 2)

Nan You said, “Yes, it’s a task announcement area. Hmm, could there be some new discovery that requires gathering a large number of professionals?”
As expected, Nan You was right. There were many professionals in the small square, most of them being high-level Grand Sage experts, a few being Sage-level professionals, and even fewer being top-tier Altar-level experts.
Several large virtual screens were projected onto the stone walls beside the square. Sometimes, Guo Shier felt that the technologies here were even more advanced than those in his previous life. The virtual screens displaying tasks reminded him of computer screens from his past life, where all kinds of task information would be shown.
The square was filled with chatter and noise. Nan You said, “Wait a moment; I’ll go ask.” He had much more connections than Guo Shier, as there were also people from the Gu Nan family here. Unlike Guo Shier and the others, who had no one they knew here.
After a while, Nan You returned and said, “It’s indeed a large-scale comprehensive task.”
Guo Shier asked, “It seems you’re interested?”
Nan You nodded. “That’s right. I am somewhat interested. This task is divided into several parts, one of which is specifically for Altar-level experts. It’s not shown on the virtual screen; one must go there in person to accept the task.”
Eagle Demon asked curiously, “What kind of task is it?”
Nan You replied, “The main task is to build a new Deep Submergence Fortress… A suitable location for building such a fortress has been discovered, so a large number of professionals are being gathered there. It’s said that various ancient families and clans will send many people to Baqi Damitian.”
Guo Shier immediately lost interest. He said, “Building a Deep Submergence Fortress has little to do with us.”
Nan You smiled. “Of course. The task for Altar-level professionals isn’t that.”
Eagle Demon asked, “Is there much profit? Can one get rich?” Hearing this, both Guo Shier and Luo Zhan were speechless. When did this guy become so greedy?
Nan You said, “The task itself doesn’t offer much benefit, but the place it’s taken to does. It depends on an individual’s abilities.”
Hearing this, Guo Shier became interested and asked, “What benefits?”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan couldn’t help but laugh. Everyone knew Guo Shier was greedy. Sure enough, he had no interest without any benefits, but as soon as he heard there were benefits, he became extremely interested.

Nan You said, “Building a great submergence fortress requires countless human resources and materials. These materials can’t be brought in from outside; they must be sourced locally. Therefore, the space around the fortress and the secret realms must all be utilized. And those secret realms or spaces contain many unknown dangers, as well as the possibility of encountering other professionals…”
“…By other professionals, I mean those who don’t belong to our region. They have their own areas of activity. Once conflicts arise, large-scale battles might break out. Experts at the altar… are a force of deterrence.”
Nan You added, “If we accept a mission, we’ll have to enter those secret realms or spaces. There should be valuable things to discover there. Well, there’s no risk of getting lost—there are special talisman gates for entry and exit.”
Guo Shieru frowned in thought, while Nan You watched him nervously.
After a while, Guo Shieru said, “It doesn’t seem to offer much benefit…”
Nan You urged, “There are benefits! There really are!”
Guo Shieru laughed heartily. He had figured it out and said, “Alright, we’ll join. We’ll accept the mission in your name.”
Nan You rejoiced, “Great! Hehe, I’ll go accept the mission.” He turned and left.
Eagle Demon asked, “Shieru, why did you agree? I don’t see any benefits either.”
Guo Shieru smiled, “It offers no benefits to us, but it does to Nan You. I guess… accepting the mission in his name will bring great benefits to both his family and him personally. As for what exactly, I don’t know yet. But since Nan You has been with us for so long, it’s only right to help him out.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan suddenly understood. Eagle Demon laughed, “This guy always speaks in riddles. Just say it plainly—would we refuse to help?”
Guo Shieru asked, “Don’t you think Nan You is a bit shy sometimes?”
Eagle Demon waved his hand. “He? Shy? Haha, impossible… His face is thicker than an eagle’s!”
Soon, Nan You returned with a smile, saying, “I’ve accepted the mission. Hehe, it’s a very simple task.” He waved the talisman in his hand.
Guo Shieru took it and examined it briefly before saying, “Guarding an open-pit mine? What kind of mission is this?” He handed the talisman to Eagle Demon in exasperation.
Nan You smiled, “It’s the easiest task—no fighting involved. It’s a large open-pit mine, and our task is to guard it for half a year. By the way, this mine was developed jointly by the Gu Nan family and the Gu Huo family.”
Guo Shieru asked, “Is it your family’s mission?”

Nan You said somewhat embarrassedly, “Yes, it’s a task assigned by our family, and it was announced here. Only professionals from the Gu Nan or Gu Huo families can take on this task.”
Guo Shier nodded. Since he had already accepted the task, he didn’t say much more. After all, it was only half a year, enough time to refine the Moon Blade again. Additionally, he needed to prepare various materials for Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan so they could build their own virtual altar.
Nan You said, “This is the least risky task, and the reward is quite good.”
Eagle Demon asked, “What kind of reward?”
Nan You replied, “Ten purple talisman flames. Hehe, these are quite rare and needed by everyone.”
Guo Shier nodded. He still had one purple talisman flame left, which he had used very carefully. Ever since he obtained the Flame Sacrificial Treasure, he hadn’t found any more natural talisman flames, except for those collected in the Yan Fire Secret Realm of the North Talisman Gate.
Purple talisman flames were among the best types of talisman flames, essential for every professional. Without them—or similar flames—it was impossible to build a virtual altar. Many professionals remained stuck at the level of High Sage precisely because they lacked good talisman flames.
Ten purple talisman flames—this reward was quite satisfactory. Guo Shier asked, “Are there ten in total?”
Nan You nodded. “Yes. I only need two.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Hmm, I also need two. Uncle Eagle Demon and Uncle Luo can each take three. That should be enough to build their virtual altars.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan had never struggled with gathering materials, as Guo Shier had taken care of it. Both of them already had all the materials they needed; once their souls met the requirements, they could build their own virtual altars.
……
The Cloud Stone Mine, with its grayish-blue color and hard texture, had the ability to conduct and absorb talismans, making it an excellent material for building defensive talisman houses.
Located in the Barren Stone Secret Realm, this was an open-pit mine covering about 600 square kilometers. It served as the main source of building materials for Great Diving Fortress. The area was extremely desolate, with no plants or creatures, belonging to a secret realm on the verge of collapse.
Two experts in virtual altars guarded the Cloud Stone Mine area—one was Nan You, and the other was Huo Yu from the Gu Huo family. She appeared young but was actually nearly 200 years old. Guo Shier, an expert in two-tier altars, wasn’t counted, as he had come with Nan You and wasn’t part of the task. In other words, he was there just to rest.

The environment of the Barren Rock Secret Realm is extremely harsh, with violent sandstorms hitting from time to time. To ensure the production of cloud stone, a massive sealing talisman array was set up throughout the mining area to block the external sandstorms.

All the miners are slaves, while the supervisors are disciples from two ancient families, mostly at the master level or above, with only a few being Grand Sage Masters. The entire mining area is divided into over a hundred small zones, each managed by two to four Grand Sage Masters. As for the two altar-level experts, they are akin to emperors here, holding supreme status beyond anyone else’s control.

Guo Shieru activated his talisman house. He preferred to live there, which was located in the courtyard where Nanyou resided. The entire courtyard was built of cloud stone, featuring three castle-like buildings surrounded by cloud stone walls. There were numerous servants in the courtyard, most of them disciples of the Gu Nan family, along with a few slave attendants.

All disciples and slave attendants of the Gu Nan family were strictly instructed not to disturb those in the talisman house. This talisman house stood abruptly in the back garden of the castle courtyard, being the most mysterious place in the entire complex.

Guo Shieru lived on the second floor of the talisman house. He sat on an altar, with the handsome old man sitting in front of him. Together, they controlled the Flame Sacrificial Treasure to refine the Moon Blade. It had been almost a month since they arrived at the cloud stone mine, and the Moon Blade was nearly ready. A large amount of material was fed into the Flame Sacrificial Treasure, and under the refinement of thousands of flames, it gradually merged into the Moon Blade.

This time, the handsome old man was determined. He used many precious materials extracted from the fragments of the Sacrificial Treasure and incorporated them into the Moon Blade. For the first time, he also endowed the Moon Blade with attributes. The Moon Blade originally had some fire attribute and was mostly sharp like metal, with unclear attributes, resulting in limited power. Although it seemed powerful against professionals of the same level, in the handsome old man’s view, a weapon that couldn’t be used to challenge those of a higher level wasn’t a good weapon.

This time, the Moon Blade was given dual attributes. One was fire—two strands of purple talisman fire were directly incorporated into it. The other was lightning, as Guo Shieru had a considerable amount of ten-thousand-year-old lightning storage wood, an extremely precious material for storing lightning. It would be a shame not to use it.

Especially this time, they obtained mammoth ivory, which was not only incredibly tough but also had special natural talismans. The handsome old man stripped off several naturally formed talismans. Of course, these natural talismans were different from the Yan character talismans collected by Guo Shieru—one was naturally formed from an animal’s body, while the other came from nature; they were not the same concept.

The handsome old man sighed deeply, “Sigh… Boy, what a pity…”

Guo Shier asked, “What’s a pity?”