The Lord's Mansion Sends Someone

Linley sat alone beside the carcass of the Magic Beast, a large sign displayed next to him with the price clearly marked.

"Make way, make way."

Such cries erupted from behind the crowd. Linley, who had been smiling, narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing through his gaze as he muttered to himself.

"Looks like a major power has arrived. I wonder if it's the Thomas Family from the north, the Feiyuyan Family from the south, or someone from the Lord's Mansion. Only those three have the capital to purchase a Silver-tier Magic Beast."

The shouting grew closer. As the crowd parted, Linley saw a large group of soldiers clad in white armor—clearly not the sort of troops a small town could possess.

"Could it be a young master from some great house passing through Wheat Town?"

Linley speculated inwardly, his face shifting back into a cheerful expression. In business, a smiling face is the easiest path to success.

Without waiting long, a soldier who looked significantly more robust than the others stepped forward. His armor differed from the rest, featuring golden patterns woven into the white.

"Is this your bear?"

The lead soldier asked with a hint of skepticism. He poked the carcass with his sword, but the Earth Demon Bear remained unchanged; the soldier's blade couldn't even scratch the hide.

"Not bad. It is indeed a Silver-tier Magic Beast; even this fine steel sword cannot damage it in the slightest. Hunter, we'll take your bear. Follow me to the Lord's Mansion to collect your payment."

With that, the lead soldier walked a few paces toward the Lord's Mansion, only to turn back and find Linley standing perfectly still.

"Why aren't you moving?"

The lead soldier was forced to stop, looking at Linley with some confusion.

Only then did Linley speak his first words since meeting the soldiers.

"What about my bear? Are we just leaving it here unattended? I'd better bring it along."

The lead soldier looked at Linley, torn between laughter and frustration, before turning to his men.

"Sessi, Mori, take a few men and help this hunter guard his cargo. Don't let anyone touch it."

The lead soldier then turned back to Linley.

"Can we go now?"

Linley noted the lead soldier's actions and nodded in approval, following him toward the town government building.

The people on the street consciously cleared a path as they approached. Previously, they hadn't known these were guards from the Lord's Mansion, but having heard the lead soldier's words, they naturally understood these men were from the Flower Territory.

To most in Wheat Town, the Flower Territory was a grand city of legend; every citizen there was an elite, a figure they could only ever look up to.

Once the guards from the Lord's Mansion had surrounded the Earth Demon Bear, the onlookers scattered like birds startled by a bowstring. Those who remained curious hid in dark corners, observing in secret.

They would steal a glance and then duck away, as if some prehistoric beast were hunting them.

As for the guards on duty, most were busy chatting and joking beside the Earth Demon Bear. To these Bronze-ranked guards, a Silver-ranked Earth Demon Bear was a beast they could never hope to defeat in their entire lives.

The guards paid no mind to the villagers spying on them. Although they rarely visited Wheat Town, they had been to many such remote settlements and were long accustomed to this sort of wide-eyed gawking.

They had better things to do than chase off villagers—like discussing martial arts or gossiping about which women in the Flower Territory were the fairest of them all.

Linley, meanwhile, followed the guard captain in silence all the way to the gates of the town government building.

The guard captain and Linley were stopped by the sentries outside, but the captain stepped forward to exchange a few words, gesturing toward Linley to explain the situation.

Before long, the sentries let Linley and the guard captain inside. Linley hadn't said a word the entire time; the guard captain had handled everything.

As Linley passed the two sentries, they cast curious glances his way, yet they showed no disdain for his coarse hempen clothes.

Entering the gates felt like stepping into a new world. The first thing to catch the eye was a pristine white path paved with fine marble, so clean and dust-free that it reflected one's own image.

It was a stark contrast to the roads outside, which were littered with dung, mud, and gravel. Linley felt a bit embarrassed to step onto it with his tattered cloth shoes.

Beside the path lay a pond where several unknown flowers floated and swayed in the breeze. From afar, Linley could see beautiful fish swimming within, appearing and disappearing, rising and falling.

The interior of the government building was exquisite. Fortunately, Linley was no simple farmhand; having seen the grand sights of the modern world, he wasn't as overwhelmed as a country bumpkin entering a palace.

The two did not delay long, following the path to a magnificent hall.

Inside sat a man and a woman, surrounded by a large number of servants standing at the ready.

Linley recognized the man: he was Shengdelu, the mayor of Wheat Town. He possessed the strength of a Bronze-rank, Tier 5, and during an annual town bonfire festival, Linley had seen him personally apprehend a few thieves.

Linley had been in the Azeroth Continent for three years at that time, and like any child of a common farmer, he had no martial prowess; the mayor's swift and decisive actions had made him the object of Linley's greatest envy.

Linley had never seen the woman in Wheat Town before. Seeing the mayor fawning over her, and noting that she looked even younger than Linley himself, she was clearly the high-ranking figure from the Flower Territory.

As soon as the guard captain entered the hall, he walked up to the woman sitting in the main seat and whispered.

"My Lady, the hunter who killed the Silver-tier Magic Beast has arrived."

With that, the guard captain stood motionless behind her.

The "Lady" the captain referred to heard that the eighteen-year-old youth before her was the hunter who had slain the Silver-tier Magic Beast, and a strange light flashed in her eyes.

"So you are the hunter who killed the Earth Demon Bear? What is your name?"

The Lady asked with curiosity.

"Linley Thunder Roar, honored lady."

"A fine name. I am curious how you managed to kill an Earth Demon Bear. If you are willing, would you care to spar with my guard captain, Aier? If you win, I will not only buy your Magic Beast carcass but also appoint you as a centurion under my father. If you lose, I shall still purchase the carcass as promised. How does that sound?"

The young lady said this while turning her head to smile and ask the mayor, Shengdelu, beside her.

"I'll borrow your training grounds for a moment; you don't mind, do you?"

"It is an absolute honor, Miss Alice."

Shengdelu agreed with a smile, allowing them to use his training grounds.

Linley did not spend much time thinking about it and directly agreed to Miss Alice's suggestion.

Led by Shengdelu, the group arrived at the training grounds located at the rear. The area was vast, measuring over twenty zhang in both length and width—nearly half the size of Linley's entire village.

Looking at the dark, gleaming color, the ground was paved with Obsidian of incredibly hard texture. Given the durability of the training grounds, even a Gold-rank warrior would find it difficult to cause any significant damage.

When Linley and the others arrived, there were dozens of people on the grounds wearing the same uniforms as the guards outside the town, sparring with one another. The sounds of flesh colliding with flesh, fists meeting legs, rang out incessantly. From time to time, someone would be sent flying, only to be dragged away by others for treatment.

Seeing Mayor Shengdelu arrive at the training grounds with a large group, a dark-faced man with a bare chest stepped down from the ring and approached Shengdelu.

"Mayor, do you have any orders?"

"Lude, tell them to stop for now. This young man will be having a spar with Captain Aier in a moment. Clear the training grounds for them first."

Shengdelu said to the sweat-drenched Lude.

This Lude was the guard commander of Wheat Town, managing the town and all the villages under its jurisdiction. Usually, whenever a Magic Beast or bandits appeared, he was the one to handle it.

Lude had taken office in recent years; for the years prior, it had been his father, Lu Yong. Linley had once seen his father come to the village to kill a Shadow Cat Demon that had accidentally invaded.

However, Linley's village had not faced any major trouble in recent years, so he hadn't seen him since.

Linley had heard that Lu Yong died protecting the mayor during a bandit suppression mission. That mission had failed, but Shengdelu did not mistreat his family, promoting his son from a common town soldier to commander. It had been two years since Lude was promoted.

After hearing the mayor's order, Lude glanced at Linley, stood up, jumped in front of a war drum, and struck the cowhide drum with force.

The people on the ring heard the drum and stopped what they were doing, looking at Lude with confusion. They had not yet noticed the presence of Linley's group.

Lude crossed his arms and shouted to them.

"Today's training ends here. Everyone get off the ring. Two important guests will be using our ring shortly, so don't waste any time."

Only then did the soldiers on the ring notice Linley's group, though they remained filled with doubt.

"Important guests? Fighting on the ring?"

The soldiers did not leave even after the training ended; instead, they stayed to watch the upcoming fight, as a high-level battle was beneficial to their own cultivation.

After everyone had cleared the ring, Linley said nothing more. He left Ah Huang where he stood and leaped onto the ring in a flash.

Without Ah Huang, Linley was certain this match would be difficult. Was Yang Jian still Yang Jian without the Howling Celestial Dog?

The answer was yes. Without the Howling Celestial Dog, Yang Jian was still inferior to no one. Linley feared no one.

Following Linley's movement, Aier also leaped onto the ring, unleashing his full aura.

"Silver Rank One..."

Linley exclaimed inwardly. He had originally thought Aier was an opponent of the same rank as himself, but he hadn't expected him to be a full major rank higher. His situation was looking grim from the very start.