Why Are You All Wet?

"Big mission?" Kloss scratched his head and asked in confusion, "What big mission?"

"Something that can let me advance straight to Gold Rank," Jiang Mian said. "Best if it can be completed in one go."

Kloss asked, "Don't tell me you want to enter the Hero Competition too?"

"Two people are always stronger than one." Jiang Mian waved his fist and smiled. "Brother, I want to help you out too."

"Thank you so much." Kloss clasped his fists and said heavily, "Jiang Mian, with those words from you, if you run into any trouble in the future, just say the word. I'll definitely help."

"Aren't you just hoping something happens to me?" Jiang Mian laughed and punched Kloss in the chest. "Let's not waste time. When is this Hero Competition of yours being held?"

"There's less than a month left." Kloss counted on his fingers. "We can take an Emerald Rank mission. That way, we can advance directly to Gold Rank."

"Why does it get downgraded?" Jiang Mian asked.

"There are two of us." Kloss smiled. "The rank earned from a mission naturally gets halved."

"I see." Jiang Mian suddenly understood. After Kloss exchanged the bounty notice for rank points, the Adventurer Guild awarded him a silver-white badge.

This badge represented that Kloss was now a Silver Rank Adventurer Warrior.

"You only just started accumulating adventurer ranks too?" Jiang Mian asked curiously. "With your strength, shouldn't you have become Silver Rank long ago?"

"That's right." Kloss nodded. "I only left that old man's side half a month ago."

No wonder. Jiang Mian could not help grumbling inwardly. So this guy was a clueless rookie with little experience in the world. Otherwise, how could he casually reveal his secrets to Jiang Mian? Jiang Mian had initially thought he was being frank, but it turned out he simply did not understand the dangers of the world.

"Do you know where we can find an Emerald Rank mission?" Jiang Mian asked. "Let's get moving."

"That depends on luck." Kloss explained, "We need a village to post an Emerald Rank bounty before we can accept it, but Emerald Rank bounties are basically never posted."

"Why?"

"First, the rewards are expensive. Ordinary villages can't afford them."

"Second, Emerald Rank missions usually involve vicious demon beasts. They don't appear in human territory, because the places where humans live are protected by gods. If those demon beasts show up, the gods will drive them away or hunt them down."

"I see." Jiang Mian had already pieced together the general situation from Kloss's words. In other words, Emerald Rank and higher missions would not appear on village bounty boards. Most of them were trials bestowed by gods to test heroes.

So if Jiang Mian wanted to raise his rank, he could only accumulate it step by step? That would take forever!

"Where's Jiang Mian?"

In the Extreme North, the Ice Empress and the Auspicious Beast sat facing each other. Neither of them could stand the other, and they did not speak a single word.

Only when Di Tian arrived with the King of Ten Thousand Demons did the atmosphere ease somewhat.

Di Tian had left Bi Ji and Zi JI behind in the Star Dou Great Forest to guard their home, preventing other soul beasts or soul masters from harboring ill intentions.

"He was sucked into the Spatial Turbulence." The Auspicious Beast smacked her lips, seemingly complaining that Di Tian had arrived too late. "But he shouldn't be in mortal danger yet."

"Where are Bear Lord and Scarlet King?" Di Tian's expression was stern, and he was clearly angry. "Are those two idiots? Why weren't they following Jiang Mian?"

"Jiang Mian didn't bring them when he came." The Auspicious Beast stood up and said, "Di Tian, the urgent matter is figuring out how to find Jiang Mian."

"I'll try." Di Tian suddenly released his Soul Power. It crashed like a raging river against the shore, and even the Ice Empress instantly felt an irresistible pressure.

The Auspicious Beast stood behind Di Tian, looking proudly at the Ice Empress. The King of Ten Thousand Demons stayed beside the Auspicious Beast, afraid that something might happen to her as well.

The pull of the Spatial Turbulence surged forward. Di Tian stood unmoving before it and ordered, "King of Ten Thousand Demons, watch these two. I'm going in to find him."

"Be careful." The King of Ten Thousand Demons reminded him. He protected the Ice Empress and the Auspicious Beast as Di Tian nodded and slowly walked into the Spatial Turbulence.

"Is this Di Tian's strength?" The Ice Empress found it hard to believe. Although the pull of the Spatial Turbulence was far weaker than the first time, Di Tian made it look far too easy, as though he were taking a leisurely stroll.

Was the gap between her and Di Tian really this enormous?

"Are several spaces gathered together here?" Di Tian walked through the Spatial Turbulence, staring at more than ten small spaces around him with a slight frown. "Why are so many spaces layered together?"

"Why can't I sense anything at all?" Di Tian clasped his hands behind his back and slowly walked toward the nearest spatial gate. "I can only search them one by one."

"Kill!"

The moment Di Tian stepped into the space, a deafening battle cry rang in his ears. Looking toward its source, he saw numerous giants glowing with golden light defending a towering city wall in the distance.

Below them, lava giants with magma flowing through their bodies, ice giants covered in frost, and several wizards radiating green light were attacking the city.

"A war?" Di Tian looked at the giants, who resembled soul beasts yet did not seem to be. He had intended to release his Soul Power to sense Jiang Mian's location. Jiang Mian carried the Auspicious Beast's attributes, and since Di Tian was closely connected to the Auspicious Beast, he could use that as a medium to sense Jiang Mian.

Just as he released his Soul Power, a massive hailstone suddenly flew toward him from afar. Di Tian sidestepped it, and a burst of inexplicable anger rose in his heart.

He was already anxious about finding Jiang Mian, and it had been who knew how many years since any living creature had dared attack Di Tian. Yet this giant was blind enough to provoke him. Di Tian suddenly felt that he had time to deal with these insects before continuing his search for Jiang Mian!

A dragon's roar descended from the heavens, and countless lava giants and ice giants exploded into dust the instant they heard it.

The human giants who had been struggling to defend the city saw the scene, then looked at the small figure that had suddenly appeared on the battlefield. They exchanged glances before turning their gazes toward their commander.

"I don't know either." The commander shook his head, indicating that he did not recognize the newcomer.

"Thank the heavens for their blessing!" The soldiers immediately understood what was happening. They dropped to their knees with a thud, kowtowed three times to the sky, then knelt toward Di Tian without rising, as though Di Tian were the incarnation of heaven itself.

"What's going on?"

In mere moments, Di Tian had wiped out all the lava and ice giants. Seeing that the situation had turned bad, the commander behind the attack immediately ordered a retreat.

Di Tian glanced at the distant giants submitting to him. Without hesitation, he turned and left the space.

"Kloss, look at that." Jiang Mian and Kloss were walking along a deserted path, preparing to try their luck in a large city. Perhaps they might find a higher-ranked mission there. Jiang Mian's sharp eyes spotted a notice board standing in the distance, with something written on it.

"Fifty li ahead: Desolate Beast Wasteland. Crystal Emperor Lion sightings. Diamond Rank bounty. Reward: three hundred thousand gold soul coins, along with the title of Earl."

"Crystal Emperor Lion?" Jiang Mian took the sign down and held it in his hand. "Kloss, should we give it a try?"

"Are you sure?" Kloss's eyes widened in surprise. "This is a Diamond Rank bounty, comparable to a mission bestowed by a god."

"What's the problem?" Jiang Mian spread his hands. "When we take first place in the Hero Competition, won't we have to handle this kind of mission anyway?"

"I don't mind. I'm afraid you'll get hurt." Kloss spoke bluntly. From his words, it was obvious that he was extremely confident in his own strength.

"Come on, brother. I've got more than enough strength to deal with it." Jiang Mian said disdainfully.

Silver Rank corresponded to Soul Elders, Gold Rank to Soul Ancestors, and so on. Diamond Rank only corresponded to Soul Emperors. Before coming here, he had just killed a Soul Emperor.

"Then let's go." Kloss hoisted the sign onto his shoulder and led Jiang Mian toward the Desolate Beast Wasteland. Screw Diamond Rank. Diamond Rank was exactly what he was here to fight.

Jiang Mian and Kloss covered the fifty li journey in barely two hours, but the vast wasteland stretched for thousands of kilometers. Finding the Crystal Emperor Lion would truly be like searching for a needle in the ocean.

Kloss gathered a pile of firewood and lit it using the most primitive method of drilling wood for fire. Jiang Mian took out the dried rations he had bought, and the two shared the food.

Broken clouds filled the sky, while the wind seemed particularly noisy.

"Something's coming!" Kloss suddenly pressed himself to the ground, listening to the movements beneath it. Jiang Mian did not even need to do that. With his Soul Power spread outward, he had already sensed what was approaching.

The ground suddenly split open, and a huge brown earth rat burrowed out from beneath Kloss. Fortunately, Kloss was quick enough to leap aside in time, preventing the beast's ambush from succeeding.

"A Soul Rock Rat." Kloss recognized the soul beast at a glance. "This kind of demon beast is carnivorous and often eats people. It's Gold Rank."

"Mm." Jiang Mian nodded and looked at the Soul Rock Rat without concern. It was not even at the ten-thousand-year level, yet it was considered Gold Rank?

Then again, the people here were all pure body cultivators without special methods. That was why the demon beasts flying through the skies, swimming in the water, and burrowing underground were generally ranked so highly.

Jiang Mian yawned and casually waved his hand. Five incomparably pure claw blades shot toward the Soul Rock Rat. The pitiful soul beast did not even have time to react before Jiang Mian's Sky Rend Claw chopped it into chunks of meat.

Sky Rend Claw was Bear Lord's signature ultimate skill. Even Di Tian had been injured by this move back in the day, much less a little rat like this.

Jiang Mian's current strength was insufficient, so he could only bring out ten or twenty percent of Bear Lord's Sky Rend Claw. Even so, it was far stronger than these fools who only knew how to temper their bodies.

"Can you use wizard magic?" Kloss clenched his fist and threw a punch forward, trying to achieve the same effect as Jiang Mian, but it was completely futile.

"Can wizard magic compare to mine?" Jiang Mian had basically figured out how this world worked. Most people here were warriors who relied entirely on close combat. A small number of talented people became wizards and could cast magic.

Above them were the gods who lived on Divine Mountain. Their bodies and magic were both immensely powerful, much like soul masters in Douluo Continent. Gods were divided into ranks as well. The simplest way to become a god was to participate in the Hero Competition, where one could make a request of the gods and become a god oneself.

Every god had their own territory and needed to protect the people living there. According to Kloss, the gods who possessed territories were the highest-ranking gods. There were thirteen of them in total, and they usually lived on Divine Mountain, descending into the human world only on special days or for special events.

"Tch." Jiang Mian was especially disdainful of these lofty gods. What gods? They were clearly no good. He had come here for three things: fairness, fairness, and damn it, fairness!

"Soul Rock Rat meat is delicious. Want some?" Kloss casually snapped off a small tree as thick as his wrist, sharpened it with a dagger, then skewered the meat like kebabs and roasted it over the campfire.

"Damn, that's one huge kebab." Jiang Mian looked at the meat skewer longer than he was tall and could not help swallowing. This would be satisfying to eat. A few bites and he would be full.

The meat sizzled over the fire as Kloss turned the skewer back and forth, occasionally sprinkling some mysterious seasoning over it.

Jiang Mian felt the aroma assaulting his nose. It was the pure fragrance of meat, without any artificial additives.

"Give me a piece." Jiang Mian did not stand on ceremony. Using Sky Rend Claw, he tore off a huge chunk of cooked rat meat and hugged it as he began gnawing away, grease covering his mouth.

Whether it was naturally delicious or due to Kloss's mysterious seasoning, Jiang Mian only felt that this was a delicacy unlike anything he had ever eaten. The meat was firm, and with one bite, the juices exploded in his mouth. Its freshness was beyond description.

Jiang Mian devoured a chunk of meat as large as a washbasin, then patted his swollen stomach with a satisfied expression.

Kloss was even more unrestrained. He ate like a wild beast, without the slightest bit of elegance.

"Delicious." Kloss lay beside Jiang Mian and laughed loudly. "Master really didn't lie to me."

"Just who is that old man?"

After spending the past few days together, Jiang Mian felt that the old man Kloss spoke of was exceptionally unfathomable. He seemed to know everything, making Jiang Mian especially curious about his identity.

"You'll find out when the time comes." Kloss was usually carefree, but whenever Jiang Mian asked about this, he played dumb and refused to say more.

"This guy looks careless on the outside, but he's actually very meticulous inside." Jiang Mian stroked his chin as he studied Kloss, who had already drifted into dreams.

He looked up at the star-filled sky and could only sigh that it would be another sleepless night. It was not that Jiang Mian did not want to sleep. The Soul Power in this world was simply too dense. Meditating and cultivating here was several times faster than in Douluo World.

Jiang Mian now felt that he was about to advance from level fifty-two to level fifty-three. He had only been here for a few days. At this rate, perhaps his Soul Power would break through level sixty by the time he got out.

Past midnight, Jiang Mian got up to relieve himself. The Desolate Beast Wasteland had no lights at night, and dark clouds obscured the bright moon, leaving the world pitch-black.

"Kloss, don't touch me." Jiang Mian felt something poking him from behind. Thinking Kloss had also gotten up to use the bathroom, he casually reached behind himself. "Hey, why are you all wet?"

"Something's wrong!"