Dividing Money, Going Home

As for those Beast Soldier-level Lion Mastiffs, they had already been easily dispatched by Tang Ping and his group long before Wang Zhizhong finished his fight, and by now, they had even finished harvesting the loot.

While his brothers teased him, Wang Zhizhong finished collecting the materials from the Two-Headed Lion Mastiff and stood up, feeling a bit sullen as he walked back with the others.

Liu Haifeng took the opportunity to lecture them: "Don't laugh. Monsters with higher intelligence like this one usually keep a trump card up their sleeves, suddenly unleashing a final, game-changing ability at the perfect moment. Rookies like you who have just entered the Wilderness Zone are the easiest to get blindsided. This time, it was just Xiao Wang's bad luck that he happened to be the first one it targeted; if it had been any of you, the result would likely have been the same."

"Tch, not me."

"Exactly, such a cheap trick wouldn't fool me."

"It wouldn't even fool a three-year-old."

Clearly, Tang Ping and the others wouldn't admit to something that hadn't happened. Liu Haifeng knew they had actually taken his words to heart and were just being stubborn, so he didn't call them out, simply smiling slightly before moving on to other topics.

Over the next few days, the five brothers followed Liu Haifeng through the central zone of the county, hunting Beast General-level monsters while continuously learning the various common-sense rules of hunting in the Wilderness Zone.

However, since it was just an ordinary small county, after a few days of sweeping through the area, they soon found it difficult to locate any more Beast General-level monsters to hunt.

"It's about time we headed back. I've taught you everything I can, and with your strength, as long as you're careful, going to a city-level Wilderness Zone shouldn't be a problem." Having failed to find a single Beast General-level monster for an entire day, and with the time being right, Liu Haifeng suggested they return.

"We should head back. We can't even find Beast General-level monsters in this county anymore. Next time, we'll go to the city; hunting in this small county isn't satisfying enough," Tang Ping agreed with a nod.

"By the way, Uncle Liu, will you be coming with us next time?" Tang Ping asked, turning to look at Liu Haifeng.

"What... can't bear to part with your Uncle Liu?" Liu Haifeng chuckled. "Even if you couldn't, there's nothing to be done. I have my own squad, and this trip was purely to take time out to show you the ropes and repay a favor to Lao Cheng. In a while, my own squad will have to head out to the Wilderness Zone to hunt as well."

"Sigh, that's a real shame. I was planning on taking you along to strike it rich, Uncle Liu. You really don't know how to cherish an opportunity; it's not every day you get to team up with five great geniuses like us." Tang Ping sighed theatrically, acting cocky to intentionally rile Liu Haifeng up.

"Get lost, you brat. You never have a serious bone in your body. Of course I know there'd be benefits to following you geniuses with such bright futures, but with my strength, I'd probably just end up being the one holding you back. I'm not thick-skinned enough for that." Liu Haifeng kicked at Tang Ping, laughing and scolding him.

"Haha... maybe one day you'll suddenly have a breakthrough, Uncle Liu—an old tree blooming anew, finding a second spring." Tang Ping continued to tease him with a cheeky grin.

In reality, however, he wasn't just talking nonsense; he was laying the groundwork for Liu Haifeng.

After spending these past few days with him, Tang Ping had come to highly respect this older-generation martial artist. Thus, a few days ago, he had quietly bound him as one of his "tools."

Although he hadn't set the distribution ratio very high so as not to turn a pleasant surprise into a shock, he was certain that once Liu Haifeng returned to the Base City to cultivate, he would definitely notice the changes in himself.

"You brat, you're just asking for a beating. What's this about an old tree blooming?" Unable to catch up to Tang Ping, Liu Haifeng could only stand there, laughing and scolding him.

Returning to the Martial Artist Supply Base at the military camp, Tang Ping and the others first went to their assigned small villa to freshen up, as there had been no conditions for such things out in the Wilderness Zone.

Once cleaned up, the group found a restaurant in the base to have a hearty meal before heading back to sleep. As for the monster materials, they could be sold whenever.

They slept until the next day. Once fully rested, the group had another big meal before carrying their large bags of monster materials to find the person in charge of the HR Alliance at the supply base, selling all the materials they had hunted directly to him.

In the villa's living room, Tang Ping's group gathered to split the money.

"The Beast Soldier-level materials harvested by Tang Ping..." Liu Haifeng was just about to explain the standard squad distribution method used by his own team.

Tang Ping interrupted him directly: "Uncle Liu, there's no need to explain that. It's just a bit of money, it's not worth it. Let's just split it equally. Our main goal wasn't the money anyway, but to gain practical combat experience in the Wilderness Zone."

"That's right, Uncle Liu, no need for that." Jiang Yang agreed from the side.

"I agree as well."

"Agreed."

"Fine, have it your way." Seeing that they weren't joking, and having gotten to know these young men over the past few days, Liu Haifeng knew that once they made a decision, there was no point in trying to persuade them, so he simply dropped it.

"Haha... then it's simple. We sold all those monster materials for 660 million, which is exactly 110 million each. Let's split it up!" Li Zhongyun said with a laugh.

"Uh... why are you including me? I told you I was just repaying a favor to Lao Cheng by teaching you some basics. Besides, I barely lifted a finger on this trip. You guys should just split it yourselves," Liu Haifeng said, looking taken aback.

"That definitely won't do. You were the most important person on this trip as our teacher. Without you, we would have made so many unnecessary mistakes. If I wasn't afraid you wouldn't accept it, I would have wanted to give all the money to you," Tang Ping said earnestly.

"Fine, fine, I'll accept it, alright? I've never seen people like you who actually complain about getting too much money," Liu Haifeng said helplessly.

"Haha... aren't you the same, Uncle Liu?" Li Zhongyun teased from the side.

"Get out of here. I just don't have a thick enough skin to take advantage of you youngsters, but I'm not going to complain about having more money. Over 100 million—in normal times, it would take me half a year to earn that much." Staying with these young people, Liu Haifeng felt as if he had become much younger himself.

"Alright, the money has been transferred to your accounts."

As he spoke, Tang Ping had already transferred the proceeds to everyone's accounts one by one.

That afternoon, the group boarded the train to return to the Base City.

"The train is about to arrive at the station. Passengers, please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark." The recorded voice of the conductor echoed through the carriage, followed by a loud hiss as the doors slid open.

"Let's go, home."

Tang Ping, Jiang Yang, Li Ze, Li Zhongyun, Wang Zhizhong, and Liu Haifeng stepped out one after another.