Chapter 10: A Warning (Part 1)

Guo Shier and Eagle Demon found an open area. Too lazy to set up a tent, he simply summoned the Talisman House. The place was about a few hundred meters away from the camp, and neither of them wanted to crowd in there. After summoning the Talisman House, they entered the living room downstairs.
Eagle Demon said, “This damned place!”
Guo Shier replied, “Yeah, it really is a damned place. Let’s take a look at the talismans first.” They sat down and began to examine what was recorded in the talismans.
The records about the Bo Yan Region were quite simple. The talismans also listed the locations of other camps in that region—eighteen main camps and forty-six auxiliary camps in total. The camp where Guo Shier and Eagle Demon were located was an auxiliary camp, responsible for hunting down escaped mutated humans and mutated talisman beasts. Another important duty was to act as sentinels, sending out reconnaissance teams at regular intervals.
Guo Shier immediately realized that the mortality rate of these reconnaissance teams must be extremely high—it was an incredibly dangerous job.
Their camp was Camp No. 27, located in a remote area. The professionals in this camp were all considered expendable.
Soon, Guo Shier found information about the Gu Xi Long family’s point system. There were detailed explanations regarding this system: by accumulating enough points, one could be promoted to a main camp, where it was easier to earn more points. With sufficient points, one could exchange them for inheritance or other relatively safer jobs.
Everything needed for food and drink here had to be obtained by exchanging points, with points functioning like currency.
Eagle Demon cursed, “It’s terrifying! Damn it… There are hardly any loopholes; the rules are extremely detailed.”
Guo Shier shook his head and said, “There must be loopholes somewhere. We just haven’t found them yet. No system or rule can be perfect.” From his past life, he knew that no system could be flawless—the larger and more complex the rules, the more likely they were to have flaws.
The two continued to examine the records. There was a lot of information in the talismans, and it took them two full days to memorize it all.
On the fifth day, Guo Shier packed up the Talisman House and rushed with Eagle Demon to the hall at the center of the camp.
In Camp No. 27, there were seven Grand Saints in total, one of whom was a Senior Grand Saint and the camp’s leader. The other six Grand Saints included one Intermediate Grand Saint and five Junior Grand Saints, indicating that this camp was not given much importance.

That senior grand sage was named Bushi Long, and everyone here called him Lord Bu, which could easily be misheard as “does not hit people.” The intermediate grand sage, Yaoli Xilong, was the deputy commander of the camp and was referred to as Lord Yao, which sounded like “wants to hit people.” Thus, the camp’s commander and deputy commander were “does not hit people” and “wants to hit people” — confusing yet easy to remember.

The five junior grand sages were not from the Gu Xi Long family; like Guo Shier and the others, they were high-level professionals who were forcibly taken. They served as the leaders of the camp’s five regiments, holding certain status and authority.

Among this group of sages, there were not many senior sages—only six—and eight intermediate sages; the rest were junior sages. As a result, senior sages became highly sought after, with the five regiment leaders competing fiercely.

Lord Bu sat calmly aside, while Lord Yao watched with a smile.

It wasn’t until the five regiment leaders were on the verge of fighting that Lord Yao said, “Enough, stop arguing. I’ve already made the assignments.” The regiment leaders were upset—since the assignments had been made, it should have been announced earlier. Waiting until they almost clashed before revealing the decisions was clearly meant to drive them apart.

Guo Shier and Ying Mo were assigned to the first regiment. Since Guo Shier was a senior spellcraft sage, he served as the squadron leader, responsible for managing three squads, each with about a hundred to a hundred fifty members. Ying Mo became the leader of his first squad. In fact, neither Guo Shier nor Ying Mo wanted to be leaders, but as high-level professionals, they had to hold certain positions.

One regiment had ten squadrons, totaling around 3,500 professionals. Five regiments would thus number 17,500 people. However, the actual number of professionals was insufficient—only just over 15,000 in total, with many squads short-staffed. Of course, those who could join the squads must at least be at the master level. Professionals below the master level could only do menial work; they were the hardest-pressed group, as they had few opportunities to earn points.

Guo Shier was the leader of the tenth squadron in the first regiment, the weakest squad, which also wasn’t fully staffed—only about 200 people. He hadn’t met his squad members yet.

The entire camp had over 90,000 people, all of whom were professionals, with no ordinary folks among them. Lower-level professionals led very difficult lives, as they had few ways to earn points. Their main method of earning points was by serving higher-level professionals in exchange for a small amount of points. Everyone was striving to advance; once they reached the master level, they could join the combat forces and earn stable base points.

The professionals’ camp was divided into two parts. The front camp was chaotic, with all low-level professionals living there. The back camp was where the members of the five combat units resided, all in tents, about a kilometer away from the front camp.

Senior holy masters served as unit leaders, intermediate holy masters as squad leaders, and most junior holy masters as sub-group leaders, with each sub-group consisting of around twenty people. Due to a severe shortage of unit leaders, many intermediate holy masters also took on those roles. If not for Eagle Demon insisting on following Guo Shier, he too could have become a unit leader.

The leader of the First Unit was Junior Grand Holy Master Qian Rongyao, a skilled professional from a remote continent. He had been captured and brought here thirty years ago when he was still a junior holy master, and he gradually rose to become the leader of the First Unit. Given his points and experience, he could have left long ago, but he refused to go. He was one of the oldest professionals here.

Guo Shier, Eagle Demon, and three other holy masters who joined the First Unit followed Qian Rongyao out of the hall. Qian Rongyao was a middle-aged man, a Junior Grand Holy Master of magic and martial arts. Although there wasn’t much difference among those at the Grand Holy Master level in terms of magic, martial arts, or spells, those who advanced from such professions tended to retain violent habits.

Qian Rongyao’s thick beard reminded Guo Shier of Sun Min’er. Thinking of his firm refusal to go to the Jade Realm, Guo Shier wondered if this guy knew it was a trap. But he quickly dismissed the idea, as Sun Min’er’s rank was too low to possibly have any connection with the Gu Xi Long family.

After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived at the back of the camp, where the units were stationed. There were five camps scattered chaotically in the back camp. The First Unit’s camp was on the left, with over 1,500 tents packed tightly together. In Guo Shier’s opinion, this arrangement was not only messy but also extremely unsafe.

In front of the tent area was a leveled-off open space where many professionals were active—some practicing, others engaging in combat training.

When Qian Rongyao led Guo Shier and the other five people in, there was an immediate outcry, “Lord Qian has arrived!” Everyone rushed over immediately. Qian Rongyao scolded them, “You brats! Well, there are new people here this time, but… they’re all tough guys. Go call all the unit leaders!”

“Lord Qian?”

Guo Shier felt speechless. The main commander didn’t hit people, the deputy commander wanted to hit people, and his own unit leader seemed like someone who deserved to be beaten—this was simply absurd.

“Wow, new recruits? Lord Qian, weren’t a batch of newcomers delivered a few days ago? Why are there more now?”
“Idiot, this is a Holy Master!”
Qian Rongyao said, “Disperse! Disperse! We’ll gather again in a moment. Finish your tasks quickly and head to the playground! Heard that? You bunch of brats!” Though he was cursing, his face was full of smiles, showing that he held great authority among the group.
The professionals scattered quickly. Someone said, “I wonder what kind of people came this time? Hopefully they’re strong.”
Near the playground stood a large tent, which was Qian Rongyao’s residence. Many low-level professionals were busy there, serving him. Upon seeing Qian Rongyao approach, they immediately bowed respectfully.
The tent was large and spacious, with thick animal skins laid on the floor—though they looked dirty, with most of the fur already fallen off, leaving only some stiff remnants whose color was indistinct. The main seat was a large wooden stump. Qian Rongyao sat down, and a low-level professional entered carrying a wooden tray with six cups of plain water.
Qian Rongyao said, “Drink some water. Water here is very scarce and must be exchanged for points. One point can get you a bottle of a hundred-jin bottle of plain water. You’ll understand later—life here is extremely tough; everything, from food to drink, must be obtained through points.”
Guo Shier noticed the low-level professional carrying the water. His lips were chapped, and his eyes were fixed on the water in the cup as he handed them out one by one. Everyone took a cup of water. Guo Shier picked up a cup from the tray and handed it to the professional, saying, “I’m not thirsty. You drink it.”
The man showed surprise, hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Qian Rongyao.
Qian Rongyao said, “If I say drink it, then drink it. Why are you looking at me?”
After thanking him, the man left the tent with the cup but didn’t drink it right away.
Guo Shier felt shocked and asked, “What if there are no points…?”
Qian Rongyao replied, “Everyone has a basic amount of points, just varying in quantity. For example, a spellcaster gets six points per month. It won’t kill you of hunger, but it’s tough… A master-level professional, once they join the group, gets at least twenty points per month, up to sixty, depending on their rank—whether junior, intermediate, or advanced. The same goes forCrazy Masters and Holy Masters.”

“For example, your score is quite high—200 points for a junior Sacred Master, 400 for an intermediate one, and 600 for an advanced one. Being a team leader adds 50 points, a squad leader adds 100, while a platoon leader gets an additional 400 points. So… you now have 1,000 points per month, which is more than enough for your use.”
As he spoke, one professional after another came in.
Qian Rongyao asked, “Are everyone here?”
“Lord Qian, everyone is here!”
Qian Rongyao said, “Alright, let me introduce the newcomers. Well, you can introduce yourselves.”
Guo Shieru nodded and said, “Advanced Spell Sacred Master, Guo Shieru.”
Eagle Demon said, “Intermediate Spell-Warrior Sacred Master, Eagle Demon.”