Chapter 8: Searching for Li Ran (Part 2)

The Eagle Demon took out two gold talismans and placed them on the tray, smiling, “These are quite expensive…”
The waiter smiled as well. At a glance, he could tell that the Eagle Demon had given at least eighty gold talismans. He bowed slightly and turned to leave.
At that moment, Guo Shier heard the conversation at a nearby table. He gently pulled on Luo Jie’s sleeve, signaling him to pay attention. Luo Jie discreetly glanced at the people at the next table. There were four professionals, one of them a Void Altar specialist, and the other three were Great Sage Masters—clearly a small team.
The thin professional said, “Brother, are you really going to the Gumi Continent?”
The Void Altar specialist replied, “This is a large-scale mission. I’m still considering it. A few days ago, when the Recruitment Association announced it, it caused a huge stir. The reward is extremely generous. Heh, I’m tempted too. I’m a bit short of funds these days, so any extra money would be good.”
Not only Luo Jie but also Qi Nanshan turned to look. Everyone poured wine while listening intently.
The thin professional said, “It’s strange. Although the Gumi family isn’t particularly strong, they still have many high-level professionals. Why would they issue such a large-scale mission that requires so many altar-level experts?”
Another chubby professional said, “Monkey, stop being envious. They don’t need Great Sage Master-level professionals; they only want altar-level experts. Even if you wanted to take on this mission, you couldn’t.”
The thin professional narrowed his eyes and said, “Fatty, you still can’t go, right? It’s a shame about such a high recruitment fee… By the way, brother, do you know why they need so many high-level professionals? Could it be a suicide mission?”
The man replied indifferently, “Actually… even if I tried to take on this mission, it would be tough. They want solid-altar specialists. I have no idea what kind of mission it is. They only listed the rewards. Damn… it makes me hesitant. Monkey is right. I’m afraid it’s a suicide mission too.”
The fatty said, “Brother, let’s be careful. Don’t take on this mission. Where can’t we find money? If something happens to you, our team will be completely ruined.”

The man smiled bitterly and said, “I know. That’s why I didn’t take the task right away. I came back to discuss it with you… Money isn’t a problem; it’s mainly a few materials that really interest me. You know, I’m about to advance in rank, but I still lack many materials… I’ve been exhausted trying to gather them lately. I’m stuck at this stage—there’s a huge gap in my strength.”
Monkey said cheerfully, “Big brother is about to advance?”
The man replied, “Mm, I only started feeling it recently. Sigh, now I realize I don’t have enough materials at all.”
They then talked about advancing in rank. Guo Shier and the others exchanged glances. Luo Jie asked, “Is the task from the Gu Mi family… aimed at us?”
Guo Shier said, “It’s hard to say… But maybe we can take this opportunity to, hehe, sneak into the Gu Mi continent?” Everyone perked up—this was indeed a good idea.
Qi Nanshan laughed heartily, “If they hired us for this… it’ll be fun if we manage to get in.”
The four people next to them discussed for a while before getting up and leaving. Guo Shier said, “That man went to take the task.” Sure enough, the man went to the counter and was immediately taken to a room inside, while the other three waited outside.
Suddenly, a voice rang out, “Hey, Old Cheng! I just got some news. You know Middletown of the Gu Mi family, right? Well, the professionals there were all wiped out…” The voice was loud, and the noise in the hall vanished instantly. All the professionals sitting there turned to look.
A tall man stood up and asked, “Hua Jun, where did you get this news?” He was also a professional from the Virtual Altar.
Hua Jun replied, “It’s a message I just received from a friend. It says many high-level professionals from the Gu Mi family died. The exact number isn’t clear, but it’s definitely related to the task they’ve issued! Brother Qin Zhong, did you take the task from the Gu Mi family?”
Qin Zhong’s expression changed slightly as he said, “Many people have taken this task…”
Hua Jun said, “Brother Qin Zhong, I advise you to give up. I heard that experts from the Real Altar have fallen, and not just one. I wonder what kind of powerful figure the Gu Mi family has provoked this time.”
The three Grand Masters standing outside the counter all changed expressions. One of them immediately sent a message to warn his companions. From such a short distance, he still sent a message to stop them from taking the task.
Qin Zhong wore a bitter smile. Once he took the task, giving it up would cost him a huge sum of money. Even as a professional from the Virtual Altar, he couldn’t afford such a high penalty for breaking the contract.

The entire hall was in an uproar. Someone shouted, “Hey, Hua Jun, you’re well-informed. Do you know who did this?”
Hua Jun replied irritably, “How would I know who did it? Anyway, don’t provoke them. The Kumi family has encountered a formidable opponent this time. Everyone should be careful and not risk their lives for a little money…”
Someone said, “It can’t be that bad. Even if we don’t count the Kumi family’s elite professionals, just how many elite professionals does our Yaman City have? If one-third of them take on missions, the Kumi family’s strength will soar dramatically. Even if their enemy has a seventh-tier altar, they might not be able to win!” His guess was accurate—indeed, it was a master of the seventh-tier altar, but he didn’t know that this master was also a Soul Altar expert.
Guo Shier and the others exchanged glances, surprised by the Kumi family’s rapid response in hiring so many altar-level experts here.
Hua Jun shook his head. “The Kumi family has invested a huge amount of money and materials this time. You can imagine how fierce their opponent is. Enough, I’m too tired to deal with this. Anyone who wants to go, go ahead. I was just speaking up. Over here.” He waved for a servant and said, “Bring me a bottle of good wine!”
Qin Zhong said, “This bottle of wine is on me, brother Hua Jun. Thank you. This information is very important to me.” Although he couldn’t give up this mission, with this information, he could be more cautious and wouldn’t rush in to die. He would still do the easier tasks.
Then Guo Shier and the others saw countless message tokens being sent out. Guo Shier couldn’t help but shake his head. “Damn, the news spreads so fast here!”
Luo Jie said, “That’s good. This way, we can be prepared too. Hehe, indeed, the Kumi family is doing this for us. We must take on this mission!”
Qi Nanshan said, “Shier, you can contact Li Ran now.”
Guo Shier nodded and sent out a message token as well. Almost everyone here sent out tokens, so no one found it strange when he did too. After a moment, he frowned slightly and said, “Strange, no response at all… Could it be that Brother Li Ran isn’t here?”
Another hour passed. Guo Shier shook his head. “I only have one message token. Sigh, I guess he’s not here… This is troublesome. It’ll be hard to find him from now on.” He was very disappointed. The world was so vast, and communication relied on message tokens; otherwise, it would be difficult to locate someone once they disappeared.

Luo Jie smiled and said, “Twelve, don’t worry about losing contact. You have his coordinates after all. You can go there again later. Even if you can’t find him, you can leave him your message token. If he returns, he’ll surely find a way to get in touch with you—unless he’s not interested in you and doesn’t want to see you.”
Guo Twelve nodded. “Hmm, that’s also an option. Anyway, let’s go take on a mission.”
The group stood up and headed toward the counter. There, the fat man and the monkey were pacing around frantically, scratching their heads in anxiety. So far, none of their companions who went in had come out yet.
Eagle Demon stepped forward and tapped a few times on the counter. A waiter hurried over and asked, “May I help you with anything?”
Luo Jie asked, “What procedures are needed to take on a mission here?”
The waiter replied respectfully, “Dear guests, to accept missions at our Employment Association, you need to be members of the association. For important missions… you must be senior members.”
Guo Twelve asked, “How can one obtain these qualifications?”
The waiter asked, “Haven’t you joined our association yet?”
Eagle Demon replied impatiently, “Nonsense. Of course not. If we had joined, we would have gone straight to take on missions.”
The waiter wasn’t annoyed at all. With a smiling face, he said, “You need to fill out a rune certificate… By completing various missions, you rise from a low-level member to a high-level member, then gradually advance to a full member, before finally becoming a senior member… Only then can you take on advanced missions.”
Everyone was stunned. Guo Twelve, however, understood this process well. An organization had to have such rules to avoid many problems. For example, this procedure prevented them from trying to exploit the association.
After thinking for a moment, Guo Twelve said, “If they’re altar-level professionals, they all have invisible privileges—proof of their exceptional strength.”
Sure enough, the waiter said, “Yes, but the requirements are very high. Professionals with an intangible altar can become full members directly. Those with a tangible altar can become senior members. If they have an altar of three layers or more, they can become super members or even enter the association as altar-level elders right away.”
Guo Twelve said, “Hmm. In that case, arrange six senior member statuses for us.”
The waiter was stunned. He was just a low-level professional. Although he knew these people were extremely powerful, he could never have guessed that all six of them were experts with tangible altars.

The three people beside them were equally stunned. Just moments ago, they had mocked these people in their hearts as country bumpkins, never expecting them to be country bumpkins with six actual altars—this was simply terrifying.
The fat man whispered, “Wow, six actual altars… Who are these people?”
The monkey glanced secretly at the six of them and shook his head, saying, “Strangers… They must be experts from outside.”
The servant could no longer hide the shock on his face and said more respectfully, “Please, the six elders, come here to discuss…” He gestured for everyone to go to a nearby room and said, “Elders, please… I’ll go call the person in charge.”
Guo Shier nodded, and under the servant’s guidance, they entered a room. After bowing, the servant left.
A moment later, a woman entered, followed by two servants. She said, “Dear guests, I am the head of the local branch of the Employment Association, a first-tier altar professional named Wan Ruoyu.”
Guo Shier said, “Hello, we want to join the association.”
Wan Ruoyu smiled gracefully and said, “There’s no problem with that, but we need to confirm each of your professional levels first…”
Guo Shier nodded and immediately summoned his altar. A palm-sized altar flew above his head and began to rotate slowly.
Wan Ruoyu’s pupils narrowed as she was greatly surprised. It turned out to be an expert with a third-tier altar.