Unlocking a New Course

The Beast Tide had ultimately caused some disruption.

Although most of the Soul Beasts that had entered the kingdom had been nearly wiped out, a small number were still roaming about.

In response, Suotuo City had issued special missions to eliminate these wandering Soul Beasts.

When Flander saw them, he immediately took an interest and specifically looked through the missions. He found that most involved Soul Beasts under a thousand years old, and the rewards were quite substantial.

He felt these missions could serve as training. They could sharpen the students while earning them some rewards—a win-win.

So he discussed it with Zhao Wuji and the others, and they all thought it was a good idea. After all, opportunities to kill two birds with one stone were hard to come by.

Thus, for this month, every class would consist of completing missions issued by Suotuo City.

That day, Flander rang the class bell and gathered the students together.

"For this month, our classes will temporarily be changed to completing assigned missions. This is your target for today." Flander handed the mission sheet in his hand to Dai Mubai.

Dai Mubai accepted it and read aloud, "A snake-type Soul Beast has been spotted in Fude Town, south of Suotuo City. Please eliminate it as soon as possible. Reward: two hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"Teacher, do we get to keep all the money we earn?" Ma Hongjun's eyes nearly popped out when he saw the reward listed above.

"No. The academy must also ensure your safety, so you'll have to hand over half as a security fee." Flander waved his hand, indicating that Ma Hongjun was dreaming.

Wang Xiaofeng did not care much about that money. Ever since he and Dai Mubai had opened a Winery, although their wine sold only moderately well, he could still receive several hundred Gold Soul Coins each month. Combined with the stipend he received as a Soul Elder, he was no longer short of money.

What he cared about more was this mission. It gave him the feeling of playing games in his previous life.

The mission's description was extremely vague. Much of the information was unclear, there were no illustrations, and they did not even know what specific Soul Beast they were dealing with.

After all, there were too many snake-type Soul Beasts. They might end up running into a powerful one.

Only Flander would find this sort of thankless, exhausting work for his students.

Wang Xiaofeng took the mission sheet and looked it over. "Fatty's martial soul has a certain suppressive effect on snake-type Soul Beasts, so we'll have to rely on Fatty this time."

Ma Hongjun rubbed his nose and chuckled. "I never thought my moment in the spotlight would come so soon."

"Stop grinning like an idiot." Dai Mubai knocked Ma Hongjun on the head.

"There's no point analyzing things here. We have to see it ourselves before we know what Soul Beast it is." Wang Xiaofeng put the mission sheet into his Soul Tool and spoke to the other three.

"It's not far from Shrek anyway. Let's go take a look first." Dai Mubai made the final decision.

As soon as Wang Xiaofeng and the other three left the academy, they ran toward Fude Town, while Flander watched them from some unknown place.

As they traveled, Wang Xiaofeng and the others ate Oscar's Sausages. Soul Beasts could appear at any time outside, so conserving their strength was essential.

Shrek was roughly forty kilometers from Fude Town. After running for about an hour, they arrived outside the town.

Fude Town was surrounded by a Wooden Fence, though some sections bore signs of damage and had clearly only just been repaired.

At the town gate stood a five-meter-tall watchtower, haphazardly piled together from wooden planks. One look was enough to tell it had been rushed into construction. Wang Xiaofeng suspected he could knock it down with a single punch.

There was a guard on the watchtower. Seeing Wang Xiaofeng and the other three standing at the gate, he assumed they were children from another village and kindly warned them, "Hey, kids, why aren't you staying safely at home? Why did you sneak out? Don't you know it's dangerous right now?"

"Sir, we're Soul Masters here to complete a mission." Wang Xiaofeng took the mission sheet from his Soul Tool and showed it to the man on the watchtower.

When the man heard that they were Soul Masters, he found it a little strange. Their ages did not quite match what he had imagined, but he still came down from the watchtower and said respectfully, "Sorry, could I take a look at your mission sheet?"

Wang Xiaofeng handed the mission sheet to the man before him. The man accepted it solemnly, examined it carefully, and said, "That's right. This is a mission issued by our town."

"Come in first. My name is Ye Qi, and I'm one of the town guards."

The man ran to the gate and turned a wheel. The gates slowly began to open. Wang Xiaofeng casually asked whether he knew anything about the Soul Beast on the mission sheet.

To his surprise, Ye Qi became excited when he heard that. "You've come to the right person. I was the first one to discover that Soul Beast."

Ye Qi began recounting his legendary experience of outwitting and battling the unknown Soul Beast. Naturally, once the exaggerated parts were disregarded, Wang Xiaofeng did obtain a few clues about it.

"Generally speaking, that snake-type Soul Beast had yellow eyes, and its tail made a rustling sound."

"That's right." Ye Qi nodded. "I secretly saw it from inside my house. That snake shook its tail with a rustle, then swallowed all the pigs in my family's home in one bite."

"Didn't you just say you scared the Soul Beast away with a torch?" Ma Hongjun could not stand Ye Qi's nonsense and shot back.

"Don't worry about those little details." Ye Qi waved his hand.

"Alright, sir. With your help, we'll be able to catch that snake very soon." Wang Xiaofeng snapped shut the notebook in his hand, took out a Silver Soul Coin from his Soul Tool, and gave it to him.

"You're too polite. If there's anything else you don't know, feel free to come find me anytime." Ye Qi took the Silver Soul Coin, wiped it clean, and slipped it into his inner pocket. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ye Qi bade Wang Xiaofeng farewell and left.

"Xiaofeng, do you know what Soul Beast it is now?"

Wang Xiaofeng shook his head. "Several powerful snake-type Soul Beasts fit the description. All we've done is narrow down the possibilities. We still can't be sure."

"However, the snake stealing Big Brother Ye's pigs happened three days ago. Later, let's ask around and see whether any poultry has gone missing in the town over the past few days."

Oscar said thoughtfully, "If nothing has gone missing, that means the snake has been digesting its food these past few days. If it's still around the town, it should be about time for its next hunt. We can catch it like a turtle in a jar."

Wang Xiaofeng nodded. After discussing a meeting place with everyone, they split up to gather clues.

Half an hour later, Wang Xiaofeng felt a little thirsty, so he found a tea house and went inside.

Martial arts novels always said tea houses were the easiest places to gather information. He wondered whether that was true.

The moment Wang Xiaofeng entered, he spotted four familiar faces in a corner.

Wang Xiaofeng marched over indignantly and slapped the table. "Well, well. I'm out there working hard to gather information, while you lot are in here eating and drinking."

"Calm down. We only just came here for some tea. It's not what you think." Dai Mubai explained himself to Wang Xiaofeng.

"I'll believe you for now."

Wang Xiaofeng pulled over a stool and sat down, poured himself a bowl of cold tea, and took a large gulp. Seeing that everyone was present, he said, "Since we're all gathered here, let's each talk about what we found and see whether there's any useful information."