Spirit Beasts

The paperwork for Number 98 was simple, especially with Elder Wang leading the way. In just a moment, Yang Chen had completed the process.

Still, seeing Elder Wang personally escorting Yang Chen through the paperwork left the Awakened Ones at Number 98's headquarters stunned.

"Who is that? Elder Wang is personally showing him around!"

"Could he be the son of some Grandmaster?"

A group of people stared blankly at Yang Chen and Elder Wang.

Elder Wang usually stayed behind the counter on the first floor and rarely left unless something important came up. But now, he had actually left just to help someone complete the paperwork!

Unbelievable!

Yang Chen didn't care much for the stares.

Following Elder Wang, he received a Number 98 token!

It was an old-fashioned wooden token, with a divine dragon coiled around it and a large A engraved on its surface!

The wooden token seemed extraordinarily hard. Even when Yang Chen gave it a gentle squeeze with his Grandmaster Realm body, he couldn't crush it!

"What is this made of?"

As soon as the thought crossed Yang Chen's mind, a line of text appeared in his head.

"Dragon Blood Wood, a spiritual wood said to have been bathed in dragon's blood. It is one of the main materials used to forge peak Mortal Grade weapons!"

"System?"

Yang Chen raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected the System, which had been silent for so long, to react now!

Still, two things caught his attention.

One was the explanation of Dragon Blood Wood; the other was peak Mortal Grade weapons!

Were weapons divided into grades, too?

Yang Chen wasn't sure. He had only entered the world of Awakened Ones a few days ago, after all. There was still a lot he didn't know.

"System, are weapons divided into grades?"

Yang Chen asked in his mind. After a while, a cold voice finally rang out.

"Weapons are divided into Mortal, Spirit, Earth, and Heaven grades. The host's world is only a low-martial world, and the strongest weapons are merely Spirit Grade, so no further explanation will be provided."

Yang Chen understood a little better, though what was a low-martial world supposed to mean?

Well, Earth did count as a low-martial world. Spiritual Energy Recovery hadn't been going on for very long, so it made sense that the System would classify it that way.

As for Dragon Blood Wood, Yang Chen no longer cared about it.

What interested him more now were the weapons.

After all, as an Awakened One, he needed a weapon that suited him. A good weapon could multiply a person's combat power several times over.

However, the Sign-in System was on cooldown. He would have to wait about ten more days before he could sign in, and even then, he might not get a weapon.

Perhaps he could look for one at Number 98 first?

While Yang Chen was mulling it over, Elder Wang spoke up. "All right, you're now halfway in with Number 98. Once you complete the Entry Token mission, you'll officially be one of us!"

Yang Chen nodded, then asked, "Elder Wang, does Number 98 have any weapons? I'd like to find one that suits me."

Elder Wang stroked his beard and smiled. "Once you complete this mission, you'll be able to choose a weapon, and it'll be good quality, too. For now, come with me. I'll explain the mission."

Rather than answering Yang Chen directly, he led him to the mission board.

It was a spacious hall filled with flickering screens. Each screen displayed a dense list of missions.

The screens were divided by rank, following the same tiers as the Awakened Ones.

Elder Wang led Yang Chen straight to the counter. Behind it sat a rather pretty woman.

When she saw Elder Wang, she smiled sweetly. "Elder Wang, you're here!"

"Yeah. Find me that S-Class mission and register this young man for it!"

Elder Wang got straight to the point.

The woman paused, then resumed her professional smile and said gently to Yang Chen, "Sir, could you show me your token, please?"

Yang Chen took out the token. When the woman accepted it, her body stiffened. She looked at Yang Chen again, her eyes filled with astonishment.

"Such a young A-Class!"

Her voice was rather loud, and several passing Awakened Ones heard her. They all turned to look at Yang Chen in surprise.

Such a young A-Class!

In an instant, countless Awakened Ones stopped and began examining Yang Chen.

The woman seemed to realize she had lost her composure. She gave Yang Chen an apologetic look. He merely waved it off, unconcerned.

She then tapped away at the computer for a while before handing over a document.

Yang Chen took it and started reading.

"A group of Spirit Beasts outside Jiangnan City!"

"Spirit Beasts?"

Yang Chen was utterly confused.

He was starting to realize just how much he didn't know. He hadn't even known that weapons had grades, and now he didn't know what a Spirit Beast was, either. He was so useless!

"System, what are Spirit Beasts?"

"Spirit Beasts are wild animals that absorb spiritual energy after Spiritual Energy Recovery. Compared with ordinary animals, they are more aggressive. Some exceptionally gifted Spirit Beasts can even cultivate on their own, just like humans, and advance in cultivation!"

"It can do that? Holy crap!"

Yang Chen was shocked, then carefully examined the document.

"Deep in the mountains a hundred kilometers outside Jiangnan City, there is an S-Class Tiger Beast King. It once trampled a town guarded by a D-Class Awakened One and slaughtered over ten thousand people. Several A-Class Awakened Ones once went to hunt it down, but failed, and one of them even fell in battle! Recommendation: only S-Class Awakened Ones may accept this mission!"

Yang Chen's pupils narrowed. Only S-Class Awakened Ones could accept it?

That sounded like a bit of a challenge.

Yang Chen licked his lips, then glanced at Elder Wang and smiled. "Elder Wang, I'm not S-Class. You're giving me this mission—aren't you afraid I'll die?"

Elder Wang rolled his eyes at Yang Chen. You're pretending to be weak now? You already have a Grandmaster Body, and you're still putting on an act? It's not very convincing.

"If you die in the Beast King's jaws, I'll buy you a coffin. How does that sound?"

Elder Wang said irritably.

"Heh, can't I just joke around?"

Yang Chen gave an awkward grin.

To be continued!