Chapter 9: Trouble Caused by Recruitment (Part 1)

Luo Zhan looked up and saw a glimmer of talismanic light. A figure emerged from not far away—not a female professional, but a professional using an eighth-tier altar. He quickly rushed out of the water, frantically set up his altar, and then began dressing.
The two sides sized each other up. Guo Shier and Eagle Demon had already set up their altars, and since the opponent was sitting on an eighth-tier altar, they naturally had to be cautious.
It was a thin man who appeared quite old. Sitting on his altar, he stared curiously at the three of them. After a while, he asked, “Which family do you belong to?”
Guo Shier replied, “A wandering professional, Guo Shier.” With his altar right beneath him, there was no need to mention which tier his altar was.
Eagle Demon said, “Eagle Demon.” He didn’t even bother to mention he was a wandering professional.
Luo Zhan was too busy dressing to pay attention to talking.
The man nodded and said, “Gu Mi Sect, eighth-tier altar professional, Yu Zhong.” His tone was somewhat arrogant. Fortunately, Guo Shier used a seventh-tier altar; if it had only been Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan, this guy probably wouldn’t have been so polite.
Guo Shier said, “Pleasure to meet you.”
Yu Zhong asked, “Are you also going to the Golden Flame Well?”
Guo Shier was slightly surprised and asked, “Isn’t this the Golden Flame Well?”
Yu Zhong replied, “This is just the outskirts. There’s still a distance to go to reach the Golden Flame Well.”
Guo Shier and the other two were speechless. They hadn’t expected this place to not be the Golden Flame Well. After a while, Guo Shier asked, “In which direction is the Golden Flame Well?”
Yu Zhong sized them up and said, “Your strength seems sufficient. You three come with me.”
Guo Shier was stunned and asked, “Come with you? What do you mean?”
Yu Zhong said, “Since you’re wandering professionals, let’s just get going.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan exchanged glances, while Guo Shier also showed a hint of confusion. No matter where they went, this was the first time he had encountered such an overbearing high-level professional—only one tier above him. He didn’t understand where this guy got the confidence to think he could dominate them.
Guo Shier replied indifferently, “I’m not interested!”
Yu Zhong was stunned. Since ascending to an eighth-tier altar, no one had ever dared to oppose his decisions, so he had grown arrogant. He had already been quite polite to Guo Shier, but to be rejected outright with such disdainful tone made him furious.
“You… are you refusing my invitation?”

Guo Shier thought, “Where did this idiot come from? I’m still a professional at the seventh-tier altar. Does he really think he can take me down?” He then said, “How can I refuse you? Who do you think you are?”
Encountering such a person unexpectedly, Guo Shier and the other two looked displeased.
Yu Zhong wasn’t expecting Guo Shier to be so rude. His expression darkened as he said, “Oh, who I am… Hmph, very good. Since you don’t know who I am, then let’s see…”
Guo Shier blurted out, “Some old man like you… I’m not interested in seeing that!” He even felt a bit evil saying it.
Yu Zhong flew into a rage. Professionals at the eighth-tier altar placed even more value on their dignity. He felt as if he had been slapped hard, his face burning with anger. He shouted, “You three, attack together!”
Guo Shier showed a strange smile and said, “Hey, Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo… He wants us three to attack together… Damn it, I already said I’m not interested…”
Eagle Demon felt a chill. He seemed to sense the evil in Guo Shier’s words as well and said with a bitter smile, “He means we three should go up and fight him!”
Guo Shier slapped his chest and said, “Fight him? I don’t need three people; I can do it alone!”
Yu Zhong didn’t understand where the other guy got his confidence. After all, with just one tier difference in the altar, the strength gap was enormous. He had no idea what kind of strength Guo Shier possessed. Just the Heavenly Altar was enough to suppress him, not to mention that Guo Shier was almost at the eighth-tier altar, his strength not inferior to his own.
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan already knew about Guo Shier’s abnormal strength. Without saying a word, the two quickly flew back.
Seeing that Guo Shier really intended to fight him alone, Yu Zhong felt both annoyed and secretly pleased. If the three of them attacked together, he would still have some concerns, after all, they were all altar-level professionals with high ranks. The two who retreated had the strength of the fifth-tier altar. Even if they couldn’t defeat him, holding him back would still cause him a lot of trouble.
Yu Zhong sneered and said, “Since you’re so reckless, let this old man teach you a lesson.”
Guo Shier wanted to test the power of the Moon Blade to see if it could withstand the attacks of an eighth-tier altar professional.
The Moon Blade was raised high and swung down fiercely. At their level, professionals didn’t need any fancy tactics—direct combat was the way. Everyone competed in the strength of their sacrificial treasures, as well as the strength of their altars and souls. There was no room for trickery, which was why Yu Zhong was so confident.

Yu Zhong’s primary sacrificial weapon was also a knife, though actually it resembled an axe more—tapered at the top with a curved blade. Its sharp edge emitted a faint blue glow, clearly indicating it was an ice-type sacrificial weapon.
Guo Shier’s Moon Blade, nurtured by the forces of Gold Fiend and Fire Fiend, still took the form of three connected crescent moons, but its aura had changed, resembling the color of Gold Fiend Pillar with a golden glow. Intense heat currents warped the entire blade. Both fighters acted swiftly, colliding in mid-air in an instant.
Boom!
With surging air currents and a flash of blue light, all plants on the ground were covered in frost. Immediately afterward, a scorching air current hit, turning the ground into chaos—both ancient trees and rocks were reduced to dust.
Yu Zhong was shocked. He realized his opponent’s sacrificial weapon was no less powerful than his Blue Ice Axe, especially since it contained Gold Fiend and Fire Fiend, making it resistant to the icy damage from his axe.
Guo Shier shouted, “Good! Again!”
Yu Zhong snapped, “Fine! Let’s fight!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two clashed fiercely, exchanging blows repeatedly, leaving Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan in awe. All trees and rocks on the ground were shattered, leaving behind deep trenches hundreds of meters long. Air currents roared, and dust billowed everywhere.
The ground was covered with ice shards and tiny flames. Yu Zhong gasped for breath; such continuous battles were too much for him, his soul trembling violently. He knew that although his opponent’s altar was one level lower than his, their strength was comparable. The opponent’s sacrificial weapon was likely of rank seven, slightly weaker than his own rank eight weapon, but with the addition of Gold Fiend and Fire Fiend, it made it difficult for him to gain an advantage.
Yu Zhong regretted acting too hastily and drawing such a formidable opponent into the fight. But at this point, there was only one way to end it: defeat or kill the opponent.
Guo Shier was satisfied. Though his soul trembled and he was out of breath, he knew it was crucial that he could withstand Yu Zhong’s attacks. After all, challenging someone of a higher rank was extremely difficult, especially between professionals with advanced altars, whose differences were vast.
Yu Zhong shouted, “Again!” Unconvinced that he couldn’t defeat his opponent, he commanded his Blue Ice Axe to attack once more.

Guo Shier suddenly teleported away. With a hehe laugh, he said, “I’m too lazy to fight you, hehe!” He spat out the Soul Calming Cauldron and cast several spells with his hands. The cauldron rotated slightly above his head before expanding to seven or eight meters in height. Guo Shier gave a sharp command, “Go!”
The mouth of the cauldron opened wide, and a streak of colored light emerged, releasing three Spirit Beasts—all abnormally evolved Symbol Beasts at level 15, with strength roughly comparable to professionals at the first or second tier of the altar.
Yu Zhong was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. “Controlling beasts? Haha, no need to use that trick to embarrass myself! These Spirit Beasts… I can kill one with each swing of my sword!”
Guo Shier smiled. “Is that so?”
The colored light within the Soul Calming Cauldron intensified, and countless Spirit Beasts poured out. In the blink of an eye, the sky was filled with all kinds of Spirit Beasts—tens of thousands in total. Guo Shier could release even more, but he knew that tens of thousands of them were enough to kill professionals at the eighth tier of the altar. Even if they couldn’t kill them all at once, repeated attacks from the Spirit Beasts would exhaust them.
Yu Zhong was mid-laugh when it seemed as though someone had choked him. With a gurgle, he choked on his own saliva. In horror, he realized that everywhere—above, below, around—there were all sorts of Spirit Beasts, including two Soul Devouring Beasts, which scared him into coughing repeatedly.
Guo Shier said with a smile, “Keep laughing…”
Yu Zhong, though outwardly fierce, was actually terrified. “If I go all out, don’t think I can’t kill these Spirit Beasts!”
Guo Shier nodded. “That’s true. But you forgot we have three people on our side. If we attack together, whom will you kill?”
Yu Zhong cursed inwardly, calling the other guy despicable, but he also understood he had no chance of winning and might even lose. Before he could speak, the strange altar artifact emitted more colored light, bringing forth yet another ten thousand Spirit Beasts, leaving him utterly desperate. When the number reached a certain level, even ants could kill an elephant—let alone the highly powerful advanced Spirit Beasts.
“I surrender!”
Yu Zhong said decisively. He didn’t want to fight any longer. A professional who had reached the eighth tier of the altar couldn’t be a fool; he knew when to admit defeat.
Guo Shier had planned to wave his hand to order the Spirit Beasts and Soul Devouring Beasts to attack this guy together, but he didn’t expect him to surrender so easily. His mouth dropped open, and he choked on his breath, almost dying. After coughing twice, he said in disbelief, “What? You surrender?”