The next day’s spirit pet fighting competition was relatively less popular. The biting and fighting between the beasts were, after all, not as splendid as the battles between cultivators.
There weren’t many spirit pets signed up on Shu Mountain, just a few dozen, so there was no need for preliminary rounds. The competition started directly with elimination matches until the end.
All the spirit pets had been taken away by the serving disciples, leaving only their masters gathered together, with a thick scent of gunpowder in the air.
Only in a corner sat a small girl, shivering.
“Eh?” A burly man with a fierce appearance turned his head and asked, “Aren’t you the girl who was selling food yesterday?”
“Ah, yes, it’s me.” Liu Xiaoyu shuddered and quickly stood up straight, looking very nervous.
Today, Di Nvfeng was attending the council as the peak master, and Chu Liang had suddenly left on urgent business. She became the temporary peak master of Silver Sword Peak, bearing the significant task of bringing Little Jin, the temporary vice peak master, to compete.
The poor girl was scared to death.
This was different from the mahjong competition, where she only needed to arrange the small tiles in a row and push them down, which was extremely simple.
This was a fight!
Although she wasn’t the one to fight personally, she and Little Jin had already become good friends. If her cute big head got hurt, she would be very sad too.
“Hehe, don’t be afraid.” The burly man saw her fear and immediately said, “I’ve got you covered here, don’t be nervous.”
“Thank you!” Liu Xiaoyu nodded vigorously.
“What kind of spirit pet do you have?” The burly man asked, guessing, “A little butterfly? A little bee? A flower fairy?”
“It’s a very cute little spirit beast, its name is…” The girl was about to answer when she suddenly heard a call from a serving disciple.
“Iron Sword Peak’s Huang Jingzhu, Silver Sword Peak’s Liu Xiaoyu, prepare to enter the arena!” someone shouted loudly.
“Here I come!” Liu Xiaoyu was called and immediately sprang up, hurrying over with quick steps.
The two competitors ascended the platform, standing on opposite sides.
The burly man who followed laughed, “So it turns out I’m matched against you? Hahaha, that’s really unfortunate.”
Liu Xiaoyu looked at him, her expression immediately pitiful.
This man looked so fierce; his spirit pet must be ferocious too. She wondered if Little Jin would be bullied.
“Hey, don’t cry later, okay?” The burly man hurriedly said, “I’ll make sure my spirit pet holds back a bit, I promise not to kill your spirit pet, don’t worry.”
“Roar—”
In the midst of their conversation, a roar was heard.
A giant black bear, resembling a dark mountain, climbed onto the platform while roaring, its blood-red eyes flashing with a bloodthirsty light, indeed matching the burly man’s temperament.
A fourth-realm peak Black Mang Bear!
“Too scary…” Liu Xiaoyu looked at the big black bear, her lips pouting, tears already swirling in her eyes.
“You…” The burly man was thinking about how to comfort the girl and how to be merciful later when he saw the serving disciple release her spirit pet… then his words twisted in his mouth, “Are you sure there’s no mistake?”
In his pupils appeared a huge, lazy-looking golden-furred spirit beast, even taller than his Black Mang Bear. Its body was shrouded in spiritual light, and its suppressed ferocity was like a calm volcano. Although it didn’t seem very aggressive at the moment… was it chewing on iron chains?
Silver Sword Peak, no wonder it sounded familiar.
Hadn’t there been talk of a golden-furred beast arriving at Shu Mountain’s Silver Sword Peak recently?
Could it be this one?
Is this adorable little girl its master?
There must be some mistake, right?
Liu Xiaoyu stroked Little Jin’s fur, tearfully saying, “Little Jinjin, you mustn’t get hurt, okay.”
Shouldn’t you be saying that to my little Blackie?
The burly man was completely flustered.
Now he didn’t hope that his spirit pet would remain unharmed; he just hoped it wouldn’t get killed.
…
Arriving at the corner of the southern region’s mountain, Chu Liang and his companions once again saw that black tree from last time.
It was Liu Sen again.
He had previously introduced the three of them to the Loyalty Hall, but he hadn’t participated in the last secret realm operation and had luckily escaped disaster. After General Heiyu’s sudden death, the people of Loyalty Hall had all disbanded and joined other halls.
Now he had regained his footing.
“You all actually survived.” He was surprised to see the three alive: “The last secret realm expedition was a total annihilation; even General Heiyu didn’t return.”
“We were on the edge at the time and fled quickly, barely escaping with our lives,” Chu Liang said, his tone also carrying a trace of lingering fear, “Then we heard that Bone Mountain had an incident, and we couldn’t find our way back, so we temporarily went into hiding.”
“Yes, the last time the three immortal sects besieged us, it caused heavy damage to Bone Mountain,” Liu Sen said with some resentment, “Master Yan killed over a hundred of our brothers with a single sword, and Bone Mountain has not yet fully recovered. The hall master ordered us all to disperse and hide, preparing for a big event in a few days.”
“What big event?” Chu Liang asked.
“I’ll take you to meet my new hall master first, and he’ll tell you about it,” Liu Sen said as he moved, “I’ve now joined Ghost Face Hall. The hall master is capricious, and his temper is not as good as General Heiyu’s used to be, so be careful.”
“Understood.” The three of them responded.
They sped along the way, but this time they didn’t go to Bone Mountain; instead, they arrived at an inn in a small city.
In an upper room of the inn, they met a man with a terrifying face.
The man was dressed in black, tall and burly, with a face covered in burn scars, as if dense black venomous insects crawled all over his face.
No wonder it was called Ghost Face Hall.
“Hall master, these are the brothers I told you about. We were in the same hall before, and now they also wish to join your ranks,” Liu Sen introduced them.
“Good, we are in need of people right now, and your arrival is timely,” the scar-faced man smiled, “Everyone calls me Ghost Face, and from now on, you’ll be with me. Perform well this time, and perhaps you’ll have your own place in the future.”
Although his appearance was strange, he was a bit more reasonable than General Heiyu, at least there was no need for any clean and sanitary blood oath ceremony.The three immediately said, “We are willing to work like dogs and horses!”
“The reason we’ve opened up recruitment is because there’s a major operation approaching,” Ghostface said. “Your arrival is timely, and you can participate. The compensation is very generous.”
“Oh?” The three raised their heads.
He continued, “The palace master has decreed that each disciple participating in the operation will receive a thousand Rosefinch coins. If you achieve a kill, each head can be exchanged for an additional five hundred. If your contributions are significant enough, you will also be rewarded with a demonic artifact.”
When righteous immortal sects send disciples on missions, they always offer spirit stone coins as rewards, and the more profit-oriented demonic sects naturally do the same. Without benefits, over time, no one would be willing to participate in sect activities.
However, each of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths has its own spirit stone currency, which is difficult for demonic sects to implement, as they operate in the shadows and cannot exchange their currency with others. If the Underworld King Sect were to create their own Underworld coins, even their own people wouldn’t support it.
Therefore, they also use the Four Symbols coins from Glutton City.
But to give a thousand Rosefinch coins for a single mission… that was incredibly generous. Such high-value missions had never been seen on Shu Mountain. And this was just what was distributed directly to them; considering the palace master would surely take a cut, the original reward must have been even higher.
The people of the dark path are truly generous.
“May I ask, palace master, what is the operation?” Chu Liang inquired.
“I cannot tell you the specifics just yet. You only need to settle down in the southwestern region for now, not too far away, and be ready at a moment’s notice,” Ghostface said, tossing three jade tokens. “During this special period, it’s inconvenient to gather. Take these tokens, and I will notify you to come here for a meeting if needed.”
Chu Liang caught the jade token and chuckled to himself.
A thousand Rosefinch coins for one operation… without having to do anything first… just to settle in the southwestern region, which was practically at Shu Mountain’s doorstep, always ready to come over.
Lots of money for little work, and close to home.
Truly an ideal position.
Good morning.