Silver Moon Merchant Guild

Fan Lang had created the world of Magic Martial Era with his own hands and knew much about every aspect of it, but his knowledge was still limited. He had yet to achieve omniscience and omnipotence.

Butcher Girl was one example. Fan Lang only knew her basic information, not her real name.

The campfire blazed and crackled, its light reddening Butcher Girl's face. Staring at the flames, she said faintly, "My original name is Li Yunyan."

"That's quite a nice name. I'll call you by your real name from now on," Fan Lang said.

"No one has called me that in many years."

"Li Yunyan, Li Yunyan, Li Yunyan, Li Yunyan..."

"Enough, enough. If you keep chanting it like that, are you cursing me?"

Fan Lang smiled and finally shut up, then continued eating dinner.

When they had nearly finished eating, Fan Lang suggested taking turns resting. He would keep watch first, then Li Yunyan would take over.

"I can keep watch first," Li Yunyan said.

"No. You have to sleep first," Fan Lang said firmly.

"Why?"

"Because you can warm my bed. After you sleep in it, the blankets will be warm."

"..."

Only then did Li Yunyan realize she had this use as well. She crawled into the tent, intending to get a good night's sleep, but she tossed and turned without falling asleep.

Fan Lang planted the Flame Blaze Sword in the ground. A glowing orb created by the beacon fire card hovered beside him. With those light sources, he could see as far as fifty meters away. He did not dare let his guard down, watching in every direction and listening carefully to every rustle around him.

A noisy commotion suddenly rose in the distance. It sounded like fighting, mixed with shrill screams.

The sounds were especially clear in the night, putting Fan Lang on alert.

Before Fan Lang could call out to her, the half-asleep Li Yunyan crawled out of the tent on her own, twin blades already in hand. As expected of someone who had once been a gladiator, her vigilance was excellent.

"Come on, let's go see what's happening," Fan Lang called, gripping his sword as he took the lead.

Li Yunyan nodded and followed close behind with her blades drawn.

The two followed the sounds, which grew louder and louder. They also saw the Streaks of Light produced by the battle. It seemed there were quite a few people involved.

When they neared the battlefield, Fan Lang leaped onto a tree and looked down from above.

He saw a team of more than ten people attacking a massive demon beast. Both sides had gone red-eyed with slaughter, and several corpses lay on the ground.

The demon beast resembled a tiger crossed with a leopard, but instead of fur, its hide was covered in many glowing green horns that shone in the night. Its name was the Jade Bone Beast, a five-star demon beast with extraordinary strength.

Every member of the human team wore matching uniforms, each bearing a silver crescent emblem on the chest.

"They're from the Silver Moon Merchant Guild!"

Fan Lang narrowed his eyes and recognized them at once.

The three major powers of Wind Cloud City—the City Lord's Mansion, the Murong Family, and the Silver Moon Merchant Guild—jointly controlled Wind Cloud City and maintained its superficial peace.

This state of divided rule was not unique to Wind Cloud City. It was the same elsewhere. There were simply too many powers of all sizes, and not even nations could dominate alone.

The Silver Moon Merchant Guild primarily dealt in business and was involved in all sorts of trades and industries. Besides reselling goods, it had formed multiple teams to hunt and gather resources, ensuring a steady supply of merchandise.

The group before them was probably one such hunting team.

Fan Lang recognized two NPCs among them. They were a pair of sisters, one named Qiu Shuihan and the other Qiu Shuiqing. They were fairly pretty, though still far from Luo Hongyan's calamity-level beauty.

The Qiu Sisters were both at the Mystic Spirit Realm and were key members of the Silver Moon Merchant Guild.

In this little corner of Wind Cloud City, Mystic Spirit Realm cultivators were already considered superior figures. Higher-ranked Mystic Origin Realm cultivators were few and far between.

"This group is in trouble," Fan Lang said, seeing the situation clearly as an observer.

Though the Silver Moon Merchant Guild had the advantage in numbers and two Mystic Spirit Realm cultivators leading them, they held no decisive advantage. They were completely bogged down in a bitter battle. Even if they won in the end, they would have to lose several more lives.

Fan Lang was sharp and forceful, but not coldhearted. He had a warm side too. After all, before crossing over, he had merely been an ordinary person.

"Come on, let's help them out!"

Fan Lang jumped down and charged toward the Jade Bone Beast. With his left hand, he drew an Absolute Poison Flying Dagger card from his Card Pack and pinched it between two fingers.

The Jade Bone Beast stood three meters tall and was a huge target.

When they were less than fifteen meters apart, Fan Lang flicked his hand and hurled the Absolute Poison Flying Dagger. The card transformed into a flying dagger, striking its target and embedding itself in the Jade Bone Beast's body.

With a puff, green smoke rose from the Jade Bone Beast's wound, poisoning it and causing its health to drain rapidly.

Fan Lang flicked his finger and used Spider Web Hand, shooting out a thread that stuck to the dagger's hilt. He pulled it from the wound and retrieved it into his hand.

The Absolute Poison Flying Dagger was sharp enough, but lacked toughness. That was a major flaw. It had to be retrieved promptly after every use; if it broke, it would be ruined.

The sudden appearance of someone attacking the Jade Bone Beast gave the Silver Moon Merchant Guild members quite a fright. Once they looked closely and saw that this stranger's attacks were entirely directed at the Jade Bone Beast, they relaxed, realizing he was an ally.

Li Yunyan soon rushed over as well. Wielding her twin blades, she joined the fight. She slid beneath the Jade Bone Beast's body and viciously slashed its belly with both blades, carving two wounds and sending blood spraying.

With Fan Lang and Li Yunyan helping them, the battle instantly underwent a dramatic change.

The Jade Bone Beast was surrounded and its injuries grew increasingly severe. It began its final desperate struggle, but still could not escape its fate of death.

Fan Lang delivered the fatal blow. He shot out a thread that stuck to one of the Jade Bone Beast's horns, using it as leverage to perform an aerial spin and leap high into the air. Sword in hand, he plunged down onto the Jade Bone Beast's back and thrust with all his strength. The sword tip drove Deep Dive into an existing wound, with more than half the blade sinking in.

-3660

Critical Hit Damage!

The Jade Bone Beast's eyes instantly went blank, and its massive body toppled sideways onto the ground, kicking up a ring of dust.

Fan Lang pulled out his sword and wiped it against the Jade Bone Beast's corpse.

The player had cooperatively killed 1 Jade Bone Beast. Because it was a cooperative kill, the Experience Points gained would be reduced. You could only obtain 800 Experience Points.

The system was still fair. Fan Lang had joined midway through and essentially snatched the kill, so naturally he received less Experience Points.

Fan Lang had acted this time to save people, so he did not care much about Experience Points. It was merely a bonus. He sheathed his sword and looked toward the Silver Moon Merchant Guild members.

"Are you all right? Let's get acquainted. My name is Fan Lang, and this is Li Yunyan," Fan Lang said casually.

The Qiu Sisters looked at Fan Lang and sized him up. The older sister, Qiu Shuihan, said, "We are from the Silver Moon Merchant Guild. Thank you both for lending us a hand just now."

"Just a small matter, not worth mentioning."

"This Jade Bone Beast was truly vicious. Even with so many of us attacking it, we couldn't win, and several of our brothers lost their lives. You two helped us greatly and must have spent quite some effort. Please sit down and rest first. If there's anything you need, just say the word. We came prepared, and our supplies are plentiful."

"Your people are injured. Don't worry about the two of us; tend to your own matters first."

"Mm."

Qiu Shuihan nodded and made several arrangements, assigning her subordinates their duties. Some went to treat the injured, while others began dismantling the Jade Bone Beast's corpse.

This group had risked their lives fighting the Jade Bone Beast, so naturally there was profit to be made.

The Jade Bone Beast's bones were as crystalline as jade and as sturdy as iron, making them an extremely valuable material.

There was a saying: "An ounce of jade bone is worth an ounce of gold." That showed just how valuable jade bone was!