Jiang Fan returned to the exotic beast trading market.
At the front desk, he asked with an ingratiating smile.
"Miss, are there any missions here to form a team to go to Phoenix Mountain?"
At this point, the fastest way Jiang Fan could think of to make money was to leave the city and hunt exotic beasts.
With his own strength, as long as he did not act recklessly, finding and dealing with a weaker first-level exotic beast should still be easy.
And the nearest place where he could hunt a first-level exotic beast was Phoenix Mountain.
But he was unfamiliar with Phoenix Mountain, so forming a team was the best choice.
The girl at the front desk glanced up at Jiang Fan and felt that he looked familiar.
She immediately remembered that Jiang Fan had come by that morning to look through the list of missions for leaving the city to hunt exotic beasts.
She furrowed her brows.
"Why are you asking about that?"
She had a deep impression of Jiang Fan.
For one thing, people Jiang Fan's age rarely appeared here.
For another, she had just earned 100 Blue Star Coins, so she remembered him especially clearly.
A smile hung on Jiang Fan's face.
"I want to try my luck and make some money!"
The girl at the front desk frowned even more deeply when she heard this.
"Stop fooling around! How old are you?"
"It's extremely dangerous outside the city!"
"You're still a high school student, aren't you? Go home!"
If not for the 100 Blue Star Coins she had earned, she would never have meddled in this sort of business.
Jiang Fan continued ingratiating himself.
"I got into trouble outside and need some money..."
Before Jiang Fan could finish, the girl at the front desk cut him off.
"Do you want the money or your life?"
Perhaps because Jiang Fan had annoyed her, her voice suddenly rose, immediately attracting a crowd of onlookers.
Jiang Fan felt a headache coming on when he saw everyone gathering around.
Just as he was preparing to slip away and think of another way, a rough voice came from beside him.
"Little brother, are you looking to take on a mission too?"
Jiang Fan looked over and saw a man built like an iron tower grinning at him.
Jiang Fan pondered for a moment.
"Are there any missions to Phoenix Mountain?"
The man's grin immediately widened.
"There are... Of course there are! Come with me!"
While Jiang Fan hesitated, the girl at the front desk had already shouted at him.
"Old Third Yue! Have you no shame?"
"He's just a child. What are you tricking him into doing?"
Old Third Yue seemed somewhat afraid of the girl at the front desk. His head shrank back slightly, but he quickly put on an attitude of a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.
"Xiao Xin, that's a nasty thing to say!"
"How can you call this tricking him?"
"Ask the little brother yourself. Doesn't he want to go to Phoenix Mountain with me?"
The girl at the front desk, Xiao Xin, looked toward Jiang Fan and frantically hinted at him with her eyes.
When Jiang Fan remained unmoved, she gritted her teeth and said,
"This Old Third Yue makes a specialty of tricking newcomers into forming teams with him, then taking them out to hunt exotic beasts as cannon fodder!"
"Basically, nobody who teams up with him ends up well!"
Jiang Fan had long since seen that Old Third Yue was no simple man, but he urgently needed to leave the city, so he was not picky.
"I know. I want to give it a try!"
Xiao Xin froze, then immediately flew into a rage.
"Fine, fine, fine!"
"I was just meddling in someone else's business. You'd better die out there!"
Old Third Yue chuckled and put an arm around Jiang Fan's shoulders, walking away with him.
Several people left the hall of the exotic beast trading market.
Old Third Yue casually draped an arm over Jiang Fan's shoulder and brought him to a corner.
"Brother, don't listen to her nonsense!"
"Just follow me. I've been in this exotic beast trading market for a long time. I've gone out to hunt exotic beasts more than ten times, and I'm very experienced..."
Jiang Fan removed Old Third Yue's hand and said indifferently,
"Can I see the route to Phoenix Mountain?"
Old Third Yue paused, then casually took out a map.
"Here!"
"From here, go straight ahead, pass through the woods west of the city, then enter along the southeastern outskirts of Phoenix Mountain..."
Jiang Fan did not listen to his explanation. Instead, he carefully examined the map.
The reason he had sought out people to form a team to Phoenix Mountain was that he had never been there and was unfamiliar with the terrain. He needed someone to lead the way!
Old Third Yue was certainly sly, and he must have had another motive for seeking Jiang Fan out as a teammate.
But judging from his appearance, he should not have reached the Martial Artist level yet. Jiang Fan was not afraid of him.
Once they reached Phoenix Mountain and he became familiar with the place, he would ditch him to avoid further complications!
Jiang Fan thought to himself.
Because Jiang Fan was exceptionally cooperative, Old Third Yue's team had no trouble at all getting him to set off with them.
In the wilderness.
A battered jeep raced forward.
Old Third Yue and Jiang Fan sat in the back row of the vehicle.
Besides the two of them, one person sat in each of the driver's and front passenger's seats.
This was a three-man team.
With Jiang Fan added, there were four people in total!
The two people in front were called A Wei and Little Blade. Both looked fierce!
"Brother, I told you long ago that our team is highly experienced!"
"Besides being experienced, there's one more thing I didn't tell you: our strength is also extremely formidable!"
In the back row, Old Third Yue had his arm around Jiang Fan's shoulders.
There was no lack of smugness in his words.
"Leaving everything else aside, just look at this jeep of ours. How many commoner hunting teams have equipment like this?"
"..."
Jiang Fan smiled without answering.
Although Old Third Yue was somewhat given to bragging, it was undeniable that having this vehicle really made them fast!
The journey to Phoenix Mountain would have taken half a day on foot, but by car they arrived at their destination in about an hour.
Phoenix Mountain had gotten its name from the phoenix.
Legend had it that, in ancient times, a phoenix once lived here. Strange and miraculous phenomena had occurred there in later generations, and the name had been passed down ever since.
The mountain stretched for dozens of miles and towered majestically!
Although its slopes were not as treacherous as those of other mountain ranges, its undulating peaks were covered with ancient trees reaching into the sky. Dense fog often rose, and exotic beasts frequently appeared among the mountains, making it extremely dangerous.
In short, this was a mysterious and dangerous place, far less beautiful than its name suggested.
After arriving, the group got out of the vehicle, drained its gasoline into containers they carried with them, then secured the vehicle with an alloy chain. Only then did they carefully study the mountain path.
"Heh heh, we can't drive any farther in!"
"We'll leave the vehicle here and come back for it when we return!"
Jiang Fan glanced at the alloy chain on the ground.
"I can understand locking the vehicle!"
"But why drain out the gasoline?"
Before Old Third Yue could answer, Little Blade said coldly from the side,
"We drain the oil completely so that even if someone breaks this alloy chain, they still won't be able to drive the vehicle away!"
Jiang Fan was instantly speechless!
In Phoenix Mountain, Old Third Yue walked along while handing Jiang Fan a rusty iron sword.
"Take it!"
"You know how to use it, right?"
Jiang Fan placed it in his hand and casually flicked it, drawing a sword flower. Old Third Yue immediately froze.
"Well, well! Not bad!"
"Stay close to us later. Even though this is the outskirts, some small mutated beasts might still show up!"
"Some of them can't hurt people, but they're very fast. If one claws your face, it'll be quite troublesome out here in the middle of nowhere!"
As they walked, the group warily watched their surroundings.
"According to the location marked on the map, we should be reaching the area where exotic beasts appear up ahead. Stay sharp!"
"A Wei, Little Blade, get everything ready!"
When they arrived at a relatively level clearing, Old Third Yue touched a sticky lump on the ground, held it beneath his nose, and sniffed it. Then he nimbly climbed the nearby tree to keep watch.
After a while, Old Third Yue returned to the ground and made a hand signal.
A Wei and Little Blade quickly began digging into the ground.
The group was sturdy to begin with, and before long they had dug a three-meter-deep pit.
Next, they began installing sharp weapons at the bottom of the pit.
After installing several layers of sharp weapons, they skillfully set up concealment over the top.
Next came the bait...
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