Mysterious Mission

The martial souls on the Douluo Continent are strange and varied, coming in a vast array of types. However, they can generally be divided into two categories: beast martial souls and tool martial souls.

Among them, beast martial souls cause the spirit master themselves to undergo physical changes, while tool martial souls are used externally, causing minimal changes to the spirit master's appearance.

The situation with A Xiao can be explained by a congenital defect in her martial soul, which caused her to be unable to revert to her original form after awakening her beast martial soul. Thus, she ended up with this appearance of a beast-eared girl.

This type of change, which clearly distinguishes them from ordinary people, makes them suffer from discrimination, but there are also those who think differently and even adore this look, such as that Suo Jie.

Therefore, people like A Xiao can even be bid up to sky-high prices on the market, and they are perpetually in high demand but short supply.

Yes, in the current Douluo Continent, there is indeed a gray industry of slave trading. Why is it called gray? Because although such behavior is not legal on the surface, the more that is the case, the more the royalty, nobles, and wealthy gentry take pleasure in it.

As the saying goes, where there is demand, there is a market, and the current slave market remains prosperous. It is just that due to the changing times, such behavior has moved from the open market to the underground.

Lina handed over a black-gold card and, while holding A Xiao, said to Qian Yun and his companion, "The two of you successfully helped me rescue A Xiao. This is the reward of twenty thousand gold coins, and I will also honor the promise of the Zuotuo Family."

Hu Liena's eyes lit up. After taking the card, she unceremoniously planted a kiss on the still-warm card, "Mua! Working with Miss Lina is truly a pleasure."

After saying that, she even took a light sniff and laughed, "Besides, it seems to still have Miss Lina's scent on it; I must keep it safe."

A Xiao, in Lina's arms, glared at her fiercely upon hearing this.

"You two are really joking. You helped me with such a big favor; me paying this little price is nothing." Lina's pretty face flushed slightly as she watched Hu Liena's actions.

Hu Liena looked at A Xiao and said, "Then you must take good care of A Xiao from now on. I suspect that Suo Jie will definitely look for an opportunity to retaliate, and your family wouldn't dare to truly tear off the mask with him."

Lina nodded, looking at A Xiao in her arms with a firm gaze, "Mm! This time, no matter what, I will not be separated from A Xiao again."

"What kind of person is that Young Master Zhou?" Qian Yun suddenly asked.

Judging by Suo Jie's implication, that Young Master Zhou must be a big shot, and even in Martial Soul City, he must possess a certain amount of influence.

It was a pity that during his time in Martial Soul City, Qian Yun had basically stayed in the Pope Hall and rarely went out. He had never even heard of this Zhou Qingtian from Rosen Bank.

After pondering for a moment, Lina said, "I mentioned to you before that there were other forces behind Suo Jie. Now that I've heard him say it himself, I think it must be the Young Master Zhou he spoke of. As for this Young Master Zhou, Zhou Qingtian, I do know some intelligence, but not much."

"Tell me about it."

Lina said, "Zhou Qingtian is the young master of Rosen Bank. It is rumored that this person also has some royal background, and he loves to make friends and possesses quite impressive personal strength. He has a certain amount of influence in the noble circles throughout the entire empire."

"Mm." Qian Yun nodded; it seemed Lina didn't know much either.

Half a year later

Just as Qian Yun had estimated, Suo Jie did not make his identity public; he only constantly attempted to make contact with him, and Qian Yun had always ignored him.

Gradually, Suo Jie ceased his actions.

In these six months, Qian Yun and his companion had only gone on two missions. Due to their outstanding performance, they had gradually grown into the core strength of the team.

Likewise, Qian Yun's spirit power had also grown particularly rapidly, increasing from level twenty-one, when he had just obtained his second spirit ring, to level twenty-four over these six months.

And Qian Yun's third mission arrived soon.

Yake Entu sat in a leather chair. Unlike his usual carefree self, he was currently feeling quite troubled.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Hearing the knock, Yake Entu didn't even lift his head and called out calmly, "Come in."

Qian Yun pushed open the door, and Hu Liena followed behind him. As soon as they entered, she said, "Captain, you were looking for us?"

Yake Entu nodded and pointed to the two chairs in front of his desk, "Sit down, let's talk slowly."

Seeing his troubled expression, Qian Yun couldn't help but feel puzzled. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and waited for the latter to speak.

"You have both received the mission, right?" Yake Entu asked.

"We have. According to the mission report, this time we need to head to Morag Canyon to rescue the kidnapped hostages," Qian Yun said calmly.

Yake Entu nodded, then shook his head, "What you said is correct, but not entirely."

Hu Liena couldn't help but ask, "Captain, stop keeping us in suspense. What do you mean by correct but not entirely?"

The look in Yake Entu's eyes as he looked at them again carried a trace of worry, "On the surface, this mission is indeed to rescue hostages, but I secretly received a mission requiring us to completely annihilate the Evil Spirit Masters there!"

"Annihilate the Evil Spirit Masters!" Qian Yun sat up straight. Beyond his shock, he couldn't help but feel confused, "But why would a single mission be released in two separate parts? Could it be that even we, as the executors, have no right to know the full content of the mission?"

Yake Entu also smiled helplessly, "I don't know either. I only vaguely sensed that the requirement to annihilate the Evil Spirit Masters was added by those above. Moreover, the missions originally scheduled for us were pushed to other teams. This time, it's truly a case where we couldn't refuse even if we wanted to."

"This..." Qian Yun was also bewildered.

Hu Liena frowned and said, "Do you think it's possible that you offended someone, Captain? Otherwise, why would they make things so difficult for us?"

Yake Entu waved his hand and asserted, "Impossible. You cannot deny my character. Go ask the people at the Martial Soul Hall in Fanhai City; who among them doesn't give a thumbs up when Big Black is mentioned? Besides, if someone really wanted to mess with me, they would definitely reveal some information. It's not like this time, where there isn't a single clue."

"Tch."

"Captain, how many Evil Spirit Masters are we to annihilate this time?" Qian Yun looked at Yake Entu.

Hearing him say this, Yake Entu said with some surprise, "Oh, you want to take it?"

Qian Yun also smiled, "Captain, didn't you just say it? If others are determined to shove this hot potato into our hands, wouldn't it be letting them look down on us if our team didn't dare to take it?"

"Good!" Yake Entu slapped the table, "Good lad, worthy of being in our team. You've got guts!"

Yake Entu took a stack of papers from the drawer beside the desk and threw them to Qian Yun, "This is the full list of targets. According to the data, there are ten targets this time, and counting the other small fry, there are fifteen in total. This is already considered a force not to be underestimated."

Qian Yun flipped through the documents rapidly, committing the details of the target to memory. When he reached the final page, he finally furrowed his brows.

Spirit Power level 39, Blood Wolf spirit?!

Before he could even ask, the voice of Yake Entu rang out, "You all need to pay extra attention to the leader of this group of Evil Spirit Masters. His spirit power is at level 39, but given the cultivation speed of Evil Spirit Masters, he might already be at level 40 by the time you encounter him again."

He looked at the frowning Qian Yun and said, "However, you don't need to be afraid; he is my target. You only need to deal with the others. I believe that with your strength, it won't be difficult."

"Hmm, let's hope so." No sooner had the words left Qian Yun's mouth than he suddenly realized something. "Wait, what do you mean by 'you all'? Are the other members of the squad not taking action?"

Yake Entu shook his head. "That's not it, but don't forget they still have hostages to rescue. Besides, your team currently possesses the greatest strength. When facing Evil Spirit Masters, it is obviously best to resolve things quickly."

"That is true." Qian Yun organized the documents and handed them back to Yake Entu. "When do we depart?"

"The higher-ups have given us seven days to resolve this, excluding travel time and other miscellaneous tasks. I think it would be best to leave tomorrow," Yake Entu replied.

Qian Yun looked at Hu Liena. "The time is quite sufficient."

Yake Entu asked with some surprise, "What, no need to prepare properly? After all, this is going to be a tough battle."

Qian Yun replied with a sense of righteous indignation, "I am always prepared to serve Martial Soul Hall!"

Yake Entu immediately laughed and cursed, "Bullshit!"

After leaving the office, Hu Liena said to Qian Yun on the way, "Qian Yun, I always feel that things aren't that simple. This mission might be more complex than we anticipated. If the captain can't handle their leader, we'll be in trouble."

"You're right. We don't fight unprepared battles, so I plan to quickly eliminate those small fries and then assist the captain as soon as possible."

Qian Yun looked at Hu Liena and smiled. "Besides, if the captain can't handle it, don't we still have our trump cards?"

Hu Liena nodded. "That's true."

Time quickly arrived at the day after tomorrow, and the squad had assembled. Having learned the additional details of this mission, the atmosphere among the group on the road felt somewhat silent.

Yake Entu was also helpless, but their attitude was understandable.

For these young team members, facing a bunch of heinous Evil Spirit Masters was still a somewhat distant prospect. But if they wanted to grow in the world of spirit masters, the trials of blood and tears were always unavoidable.

In the carriage, Qian Yun closed his eyes to conserve his energy. Compared to the other team members, his and Hu Liena's expressions remained relaxed. Hu Liena was even dozing off with her head resting on his shoulder because the journey was too boring. Sitting opposite him was an old acquaintance, Lina.