When the Tiger Is Away, the Monkey Plays King
This token is neither Elder Token nor Angel Token; it is simply an ordinary token symbolizing the identity of a student of the Spirit Hall Academy.
To the three Deacon, anyone who could enter the Spirit Hall Academy was a genius, and their future achievements would inevitably surpass their own.
Lan Ya chuckled and said, "I see. May I ask how to address you, little brother?"
Wu Qi gave himself the alias Gu Changfeng and stayed with the three of them for the time being.
The middle-aged man in the lead Hick, Team Leader in the Spirit Hall, whose position was above that of the Deacon; the other man Arnold, and the three of them were here to Soul Hunting.
Lan Ya is now over thirty-five years old and has only just broken through to the Soul Elder, which shows her Talent.
"Brother Changfeng, your strength should be no less than that of Soul Elder, right? I've heard that only geniuses at the Soul Elder or above are sent out to carry out training missions at the Spirit Hall Academy."
Wu Qi smiled and nodded, "That's right, but I took on a solo mission this time, so I don't have any companions."
With Lan Ya's Soul Ring Configuration, it would be difficult for her to absorb the Third Soul Ring even after 1,200 years.
To deal with Soul Beast of this level of cultivation, Wu Qi wouldn't need to use his Martial Soul, nor would he reveal his identity.
"By the way, Brother Hick, which Spirit Hall Branch are you from?"
These three people came from the Wangbei City Spirit Hall Branch.
More than a year ago, Qiangu Changkong and Chen Ping led them to wipe out Clear Breeze Stronghold, the most powerful Stronghold in the vicinity.
They also joined forces with other Spirit Hall Branch to wipe out all the Mountain Bandits in the vicinity.
For a long time to come, Wangbei City will enjoy peace and tranquility.
Wu Qi hadn't expected that the first news he heard after leaving the Slaughter City would be about Qiangu Changkong He Chen.
However, these two did do a good deed.
With the Mountain Bandits gone, Wangbei City will attract many merchants and will only prosper in the future.
Lan Ya shook her head with a wry smile, "Brother Changfeng, you're thinking too simply."
"Mountain Bandits pose little threat to ordinary people, but they are the biggest threat to large trading families."
"Now that those Mountain Bandits are gone, the major families in Wangbei City have joined forces to inflate prices and make a fortune. Meanwhile, our Spirit Hall has cut salaries."
"We Deacon are almost starving."
Wu Qi frowned. "When the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king!"
Hick sighed, "Indeed. How many of us brothers have been wounded in our efforts to wipe out the Mountain Bandits!"
"The City Lord Mansion had previously suppressed bandits, conscripting several hundred militiamen, but most of them were killed or wounded. At that time, none of these major families sent anyone to suppress the bandits!"
"Now look what's happened! The Mountain Bandits have been wiped out, and this bunch of bastards are jumping out to reap the benefits!"
The three men harbored great resentment; if these families hadn't been powerful, they probably would have already decided to rob the rich to help the poor.
"What is the approximate strength of the strongest member of each of these families?" Wu Qi asked.
Arnold said, "They have three Soul King, but not the best Soul Ring Configuration. And I've heard they're sponsored by the Lower Four Sects; they're quite powerful."
Wu Qi fell into thought.
As expected, at this point in time, the Lower Four Sects had already been incorporated into Bibi Dong's forces.
This group of merchants thrived in order to amass wealth.
This, in turn, confirms Wu Qi's earlier conjecture— Bibi Dong is raising money everywhere to fund the Soul Hunting Operation!
According to the three people, this is the outer edge of the Central Region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
It's important to know that the Star Dou Great Forest spans Two Great Empires and covers a vast area.
There is also a Verdant Forest nearby.
Originally, the Verdant Forest was also part of the Star Dou Great Forest. However, due to human activities, the two forests were cut in half. To make them easier to distinguish, the separated forest was named the Verdant Forest.
Wu Qi hadn't expected that the exit of the Slaughter City would be so close to one of its entrances.
Hunting Soul Ring for Lan Ya was a very easy process.
Although they knew Wu Qi was a "Soul Elder," Hick and Arnold did not let him make a move.
After all, how much worldly experience can students graduating from an academy possibly have?
If they died in the forest, they would likely be investigated.
Lan Ya's Third Soul Ring was only Thousand-Year old at the time. For the two Soul Elder, dealing with Soul Beast of this level of cultivation was something they didn't need anyone else's help with.
A day later, the four returned to Wangbei City.
Lan Ya couldn't help but ask, "Brother Changfeng, have you completed your Trial Mission? If you have, why don't you come with us to the Spirit Hall and collect your Soul Master Subsidy while you're at it?"
Wu Qi is handsome and pleasing to the eye, and Lan Ya doesn't want to separate from him too soon.
Wu Qi wasn't in a hurry to return to Spirit City. Since the three of them had mentioned that several powerful families in the city were accumulating wealth everywhere, he had no reason not to get involved.
Ideally, we should thwart Bibi Dong's plan; even if that's not possible, we should at least slow down her progress.
It should be noted that during the Original Space-Time Soul Hunting Operation across time and space, the Spirit Hall lost several thousand elite Soul Master.
These people were the backbone of the Spirit Hall, and the deaths of so many of them have shaken the foundation of the Spirit Hall.
It was only because the Spirit Hall was defeated too quickly that things went wrong. Otherwise, if it had dragged on for another twenty years, a power gap would have inevitably formed within the Spirit Hall.
Wangbei City Spirit Hall.
Since Qiangu Changkong came, the Deacon here have stopped slacking off. They go to the countryside when they need to and do their jobs when they need to. They are a breath of fresh air.
After Lan Ya's return, many people congratulated her on her breakthrough.
"Lan Ya, who is this little brother?"
Lan Ya introduced with a smile, "This is Outstanding Student from the Spirit Hall Academy. We happened to run into him on the way."
As she spoke, she looked at Wu Qi and said, "Brother Changfeng, don't be shy. You are also a member of the Spirit Hall, and who knows, you might even become our Hall Master in the future. Just treat this place as your own home."
Any student from the Spirit Hall would have silently taken her words to heart.
Furthermore, given the opportunity, I will definitely apply to serve as the Wangbei City Spirit Hall.
It's important to understand that the Hall Master assigned by the academy won't serve in their hometowns. Their harmonious relationship with the Deacon here now will help them carry out their work more effectively in the future.
Hearing the commotion, the Vice Hall Master stormed over, fuming, "What are you all doing? You could have used that time to awaken a child's Martial Soul!"
Upon learning Wu Qi's identity, he immediately changed his tune, "So you're Outstanding Student from the academy. Perfect timing, the Hall Master isn't out today. You both come from the Spirit Hall Academy, you might even have something in common to talk about."
After reprimanding the Deacon, the Vice Hall Master led Wu Qi to his office on the top floor.
Watt was very distressed about the business environment in the city.
It's important to understand that in these peripheral cities, the imperial officials are mostly inactive.
After taking office, they all thought about loafing around for a while, getting their credentials polished, and then immediately applying for a transfer to another wealthy city.
The City Lord Mansion does nothing, Spirit Hall cannot overstep its bounds. As a result, the major families will only intensify their exploitation of Ordinary Person.