Green Peak Tower stood in the central area of the Inner City, very close to the War God Temple. It was one of the restaurants War God Temple martial artists most loved to visit after completing missions.
The entire restaurant was decorated with grand luxury: stone slab floors polished bright enough to reflect faces, gilded and silver-plated folding screens, intricately patterned lines, and more.
Even Chen Lin, a young man of the new era who had been bombarded by technological civilization, was left somewhat dumbfounded.
Most impressive of all, Green Peak Tower was a tall building with a circular design. Numerous private rooms formed a ring around a huge stage in the middle, carpeted in red cloth.
Every woman dancing on the stage wore a smile, their figures curvaceous and graceful.
With every frown and smile, they hooked the soul and stole the heart, making people linger and forget to leave.
Chen Lin followed He Yanjun to the private room Zhu Wei had reserved, where people were already chatting in low voices.
"Ah, Brother He is here! Come, sit down, sit down! I haven't seen you for a while, brother, and I missed you to death!" The moment the two entered the room, a lean man with long arms immediately rose to greet them.
"I haven't heard your glib tongue for a few days, and I'm honestly not used to it." He Yanjun first teased the lean man, then, after introducing Chen Lin's identity, smiled and introduced him to Chen Lin. "This is our squad's archer, Wu Fan. Just call him Brother Wu."
"Greetings, Brother Wu!" Chen Lin clasped his hands in greeting.
"Greetings, Brother Chen!" Wu Fan put away his frivolous grin and replied with a solemn smile.
"That quiet fellow is called Jiang Tianyu. He's the best tracker in our squad. Out in the wilderness, whether we can hunt down our target depends on his skills. Just call him Brother Jiang!" After introducing Wu Fan, He Yanjun pointed at Jiang Tianyu, who had been smiling silently beside them.
"Greetings, Brother Jiang!" Chen Lin continued.
"Hello." Jiang Tianyu nodded with a smile.
The group had only just sat down and exchanged a few words when the private room door was pushed open again.
This time, Zhu Wei entered with two sturdy men, smiling as they walked in.
"Boss, Old Wang, Old Li, you finally made it! If you'd come any later, I'd have starved to death!" Seeing them, Wu Fan immediately got up and complained.
"You brat only knows how to eat!" Zhu Wei laughed and scolded Wu Fan. Then, spotting Chen Lin, he warmly called out, "Hahaha, our squad's new member is here too! Come, come, everyone sit down. We're all one of our own. Today, we're welcoming a new member, so make sure to eat and drink your fill!"
After the group sat down amid laughter and chatter, exquisite dishes were brought to the table one after another as though they cost nothing.
During the meal, Chen Lin also got to know the other two members Zhu Wei had brought along.
The two were named Wang Ming and Li Fei. They were Early Martial Ancestor and mid-stage Martial Ancestor martial artists respectively; one specialized in sabers, while the other specialized in staffs.
As for Wu Fan and Jiang Tianyu, they were late-stage Martial Masters. One specialized in the bow, and the other in the spear.
He Yanjun and Zhu Wei, meanwhile, were both late-stage Martial Ancestor powerhouses. One specialized in a long saber, while the other specialized in hammers.
Everyone used different weapons, but most of them were highly specialized.
The group ate, drank, laughed, and made a racket until late into the night before it finally ended.
At last, Chen Lin learned that they would set out on their next mission two days later.
Zhu Wei told Chen Lin to prepare some supplies for wilderness survival and gather at the entrance to the War God Temple when the time came.
With anticipation and excitement, Chen Lin prepared quite a few necessities for surviving in the wilderness, filling a large pack.
He only stopped once even the bamboo chest could hold no more.
Yet during those two days of preparing for the journey, Chen Lin did not idle away his time.
As he continuously cultivated the technique within the Nine Revolutions Divine Firmament Swordplay, although he still had not entered the beginner stage, his control over his physical body rose to another level.
Now, not only was his movement technique more agile, but his control over the power behind his swordplay had also become increasingly effortless.
Two days later, after Chen Lin, dressed in black brocade robes, met up with the others at the entrance of the War God Temple, he followed Zhu Wei to the training ground at the very rear of the temple.
Compared with the training ground at the front of the War God Temple, this one was broader and far larger, spanning the equivalent of more than a dozen football fields.
At that moment, more than a dozen enormous bird beasts stood in the vast training ground.
From time to time, giant birds carrying Monster Slaying Squads that had just climbed onto their backs soared into the sky.
"What huge birds!" Seeing such giant birds from so close for the first time, Chen Lin could not help exclaiming.
"Hahaha, huge? The War God Temple's spirit beasts, the Fire Feather Birds, are actually considered rather small! Once you see a Mountainous Giant Eagle, a demonic beast bigger than a small mountain, you'll probably be even more amazed," Wu Fan said with a laugh.
"All right, let's go too!" Zhu Wei said with a smile.
The seven of them leaped onto the Fire Feather Bird's back. At a low shout from the Spirit Master controlling it, the Fire Feather Bird flapped its wings twice and rose into the air.
As the buildings on the ground grew smaller and smaller, Chen Lin felt even his heartbeat quicken.
It was his first time riding a flying bird in his life, and with no safety measures whatsoever, it truly made his heart tremble with fear.
"Brother He, we're just sitting on this flying bird's back like this?" Chen Lin swallowed and asked.
"What is it? Are you afraid of falling?" He Yanjun asked, somewhat amused.
"I mean, what if we run into some powerful flying beast midway? We can't fly—wouldn't we be finished?" Chen Lin voiced the worry in his heart.
"Hahaha, A Lin, the Four Great Powers considered that concern long ago!" Wu Fan laughed before He Yanjun could explain.
"How so?" Chen Lin asked, utterly puzzled.
"What do we do?" Wu Fan countered.
"We slay monsters!" Chen Lin replied suspiciously.
"Exactly! We slay monsters. The situation you described was dealt with long ago by martial artists stronger than us. Otherwise, why do you think we dare ride Fire Feather Birds?" Wu Fan answered with a smile.
"A Lin, humanity's method of dealing with demonic beasts is to advance step by step, level by level. You know that, right?" Seeing that Chen Lin was still somewhat confused, He Yanjun explained from another angle.
"Mm, I know that. Martial Kings deal with Demon Kings, Martial Emperors deal with Demon Emperors, and Martial Emperors deal with Demon Emperors! The strong deal with the strong." Chen Lin nodded.
"Right. So, in territories a Martial Emperor has swept through, no Demon Emperor-level demonic beasts will appear. In territories a Martial Emperor has swept through, no Demon Emperor will appear. The territory we're heading to, Di Qiu, is an area assigned to Martial Grandmasters for clearing. Whether in the sky or on the ground, it has basically been swept clean several times by humanity's powerhouses. Flying demonic beasts in particular are prime targets for those great figures! Look around—other than demonic beasts far weaker than Fire Feather Birds, can you see any flying demonic beast stronger than one?" He Yanjun explained with a smile.
Chen Lin looked into the distance after hearing this. Sure enough, just as He Yanjun had said, aside from flying demonic beasts far smaller than Fire Feather Birds, there was not a single demonic beast in the sky capable of rivaling a Fire Feather Bird.
A Martial Grandmaster-level Fire Feather Bird was practically an invincible existence in this stretch of sky.
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