Outside Heaven Dou City, at the Golden Saber Squad's camp.
Inside the tent, Qin Yuan leaned over the desk, his right hand propping up his cheek, his face full of worry.
He wasn't a native of Douluo Continent. He was a transmigrator from Blue Star.
He had transmigrated very early, back when Qian Xunji was still the pope of Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect had yet to withdraw from the world.
As a transmigrator, he'd assumed he would awaken with Innate Full Soul Power and win the heart of a beautiful woman.
Who could've guessed that fate would play such a cruel joke on him? He'd awakened with only five ranks of Innate Soul Power, and his Martial Soul was nowhere near top tier—it was just an ordinary saber.
Now past thirty, he had only just managed to break through to the Soul King realm.
According to the saying on the continent, a person's cultivation at thirty determined what they would achieve by eighty. On top of that, his Innate Soul Power was low. He'd be lucky if he managed to break through to Spirit Saint in this lifetime.
In his previous life, Qin Yuan had only learned about Douluo Continent from books.
It wasn't until he lived there himself that he realized how hard life could be.
Of course, with top-tier cultivation talent and the best cultivation resources, living like one of the privileged elite wouldn't be difficult.
But with talent like Qin Yuan's—better than some, worse than others—only a few small and medium-sized groups would take an interest in him. Spirit Hall and the Seven Great Sects wouldn't give him a second glance.
If he joined one of those smaller groups, he'd not only lack cultivation resources, but would also have to answer to others.
Making his own way wasn't a bad option, but going hungry half the time was the norm.
After more than a decade of hard work, Qin Yuan had established his own Soul Hunting Squad.
Business was slow lately, so he had no choice but to look for another way to make a living.
He had no idea how long he'd been lost in thought when a flurry of hurried footsteps came from outside the tent.
A thin young man rushed up to Qin Yuan and stammered, "B-Big Brother, the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is here. She wants us to help her hunt a Spirit Beast!"
"What?" Qin Yuan shot to his feet.
He knew of the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. She was none other than one of the future protagonists of this continent.
Still, Ning Rongrong was so doted on that if she needed a Spirit Ring, Sword Bone Douluo would have rushed to help her himself. She wouldn't have needed to seek out a Soul Hunting Squad like theirs.
Despite his misgivings, Qin Yuan didn't dare offend the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. He immediately went to greet her.
In the Golden Saber Squad's reception hall.
Ning Rongrong was helped onto a long bench. Her short legs dangled above the floor as she idly swung them.
She puffed out her cheeks and grumbled, "Daddy's a big meanie! Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone are meanies too! Rongrong's never speaking to them again!"
As the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, how could she possibly be without attendants?
The sect's powerful guard was terrified by what she heard. She wouldn't dare gossip about the sect master and the two elders in private.
Qin Yuan hurried over and greeted her with a smile. "Miss Rongrong, what an honor to have you visit. We failed to welcome you properly—please forgive us."
The powerful guard beside Ning Rongrong gave Qin Yuan a meaningful look, as if to say: Just go along with Ning Rongrong, and there'll be plenty in it for you.
Qin Yuan was worried that no clients would come knocking, so he naturally intended to take the opportunity to make a tidy sum.
"You're the captain of the Golden Saber Squad?" Ning Rongrong asked casually.
When he confirmed that he was, she held up two fingers and continued, "Rongrong needs her First Spirit Ring, around three hundred years old. If you can do it, Rongrong will pay you twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins."
As expected of a young lady. She was only a little over six years old, yet she was already so generous.
Qin Yuan marveled inwardly, then hurriedly said, "As long as it isn't anything immoral, the Golden Saber Squad will accept the commission. But Miss Rongrong, you're still young. I'll need your family's permission."
If he could help Ning Rongrong get her Spirit Ring while she was "running away from home," at least he'd have an explanation when she returned.
With Ning Rongrong glaring angrily, the powerful guard from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect who was protecting her agreed on behalf of her elders.
Ning Rongrong was very straightforward and immediately paid the twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins.
The moment Qin Yuan reached out to take the money, a panel suddenly appeared in his mind.
[Two-star commission detected: Accept Ning Rongrong's request and help her obtain a suitable First Spirit Ring. Upon completion, reward: Soul Power cultivation increased by three ranks.] [Name: Qin Yuan] [Martial Soul: Long-Handled War Blade] [Cultivation: Rank 51]
The sudden appearance of the system left Qin Yuan stunned, but his excitement didn't last long.
Adding together his ages in both lives, he was already in his sixties.
If he'd received the system right after transmigrating, he would've been thrilled for a long time.
But now...
He was just trying to earn a living, after all. Whether the system had appeared or not would make little difference to his life.
After pocketing the Gold Soul Coins, Qin Yuan immediately summoned all the members of the Golden Saber Squad.
He left a few men behind to guard the camp, then took the rest to serve their wealthy client, Ning Rongrong.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had plenty of informants.
That was especially true for Ning Rongrong, whose status was so lofty that countless people kept an eye on her in secret.
The news that Ning Rongrong had hired a Soul Hunting Squad to help her obtain her First Spirit Ring soon reached Ning Fengzhi.
"Is she out of her mind?!"
Ning Fengzhi slammed his hand against the desk. Ning Rongrong had become so defiant that she was completely out of control.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul had been passed down for nearly a thousand years. The kind of Spirit Beasts to hunt for the first few Spirit Rings had long been recorded in the ancestral precepts!
If she broke with tradition and wasted a Spirit Ring slot, Ning Rongrong's chances of competing within the sect would be greatly diminished!
Besides, Soul Hunting Squads weren't exactly trustworthy. What if that Golden Saber Squad decided to kill her and rob her?
Sword Dao Chenxin volunteered, "Fengzhi, I'll go check on the situation."
"After all, your words were what drove Rongrong to run away from home. I can't very well drag her back by force."
"If the squad does its job properly and finds Rongrong a suitable Spirit Ring, we can give them a little reward. Otherwise, I won't show them any mercy."
Sunset Forest.
Qin Yuan had established the squad's camp nearby largely to get in touch with Dugu Bo and, from there, make plans to obtain the Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Unfortunately, he'd been camped here for six years without even catching a glimpse of Dugu Bo.
If he tried to force his way in, he wouldn't have enough lives to spare, even with a hundred chances.
In the forest, the Golden Saber Squad kept Ning Rongrong at the center of their formation, surrounding her like an iron barrel as they advanced cautiously.
Along the way, Qin Yuan casually asked, "Miss Rongrong, if we help you get a suitable Spirit Ring, I'd like to borrow some books about Soul Masters from you. What do you think?"
Books were the ladder of human progress.
It was clear that the system's rewards depended on the difficulty of the commissions he accepted.
A commission like hunting a Spirit Beast was one thing. But if he ran into some bizarre task, he'd need a good deal of knowledge and experience. Otherwise, he could only watch a generous reward slip through his fingers.
In the shadows, Sword Dao Chenxin had assumed Qin Yuan was about to extort them and had been preparing to intervene. Hearing the rest, he finally relaxed.
He only wanted to borrow books. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had more than enough of those.
As long as Qin Yuan protected Ning Rongrong diligently and didn't entertain any improper thoughts, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would give him a little reward.
"Sure, but it won't be easy to make Rongrong happy," Ning Rongrong said with a grin from her seat on her guard's shoulder.
Qin Yuan quickly recalled what he knew about Ning Rongrong.
In the original timeline, Ning Rongrong's first Soul Skill had been Strength Amplification, so her Spirit Ring had to come from a strength-type Spirit Beast.
After thinking it over, Qin Yuan remembered a nest of three-hundred-year-old Thousand Jun Ants. One of them would make a suitable First Spirit Ring for Ning Rongrong.
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