Cooperation

Cooperation

Robin looked rather grave. Blondi did not even raise his head, his eyes fixed on the ground. The way the trio looked at Li Junshan was far more complicated.

Li Junshan did not need to ask to know why they had come. He said to Robin, "Big brother, I haven't had breakfast yet. Let's find a restaurant and talk while we eat."

No one objected. They followed the cliff out onto the street and casually entered a restaurant. After ordering some food, Robin swept his gaze over their faces and said, "I'm sure everyone already knows. Perhaps we were still enemies before, but from now on, we have to work together."

"I have no objections." Li Junshan was the first to raise his hand, tearing into a piece of roast meat as his eyes flicked toward the trio.

Robin looked at Blondi again. The latter slowly nodded without saying anything.

"We don't have any objections either." The "young master" looked a little cold.

"Good. Then everyone should introduce themselves first, so we can understand one another." Robin picked up the red wine on the table and drained it in one gulp.

There was naturally no need to say much about Li Junshan, but the identity of that "young master" made him faintly startled.

It turned out this "young master"—Elvis—was actually the prince of a small duchy several thousand miles east of the Lans Empire. This prince was also a genius, having broken through to the Grand Battle Master rank at nineteen. In order to make further breakthroughs as quickly as possible, he begged his father to allow him to go to Blood Canyon to train. At first, his father refused, but later, unable to withstand his persuasion, he gave the other four notices to several skilled guards by his side. Under their protection, the prince had traveled all the way to Blood Canyon, dusty and weary from the road.

This was all a father could do to help. He was Elvis's father, but he could not ignore other factors. A small duchy did not have many experts to begin with, and he could not send all of them to his own son.

I accidentally offended a prince. Li Junshan calculated inwardly, his face remaining calm.

The young girl, Bertha, was a high-level priest. Elvis had brought her along, firstly because if any companions were injured in battle, she could treat them at any time; secondly, because Bertha was only seventeen and had already reached the rank of high-level priest. If she could train in Blood Canyon, she would likely become extraordinary in the future as well.

The mage Tommy was a water-element Magister. Compared to the impulsive Elvis and the blank sheet of paper that was Bertha, he seemed much smoother.

Blondi came from the Bywater Empire, but he refused to state his identity clearly. Li Junshan guessed that he must have walked some shady, underworld path, and perhaps the origin of that Blood Canyon notice was worth pondering.

Robin came from a small duchy in the Buhari Desert, yet none of them could tell that he was already fifty-one years old. More than twenty years ago, Robin had broken through to the Battle Saint rank, but afterward he seemed to have become trapped in a dead end, unable to break through to Battle God no matter what. That was why he had come to Blood Canyon.

"Elvis and I are warriors, Xiaoshan is a summoner, Blondi is an assassin, Tommy is a mage, and Bertha is a priest. In other words, Blood Canyon will also send six people of the corresponding professions to fight us to the death," Robin said thoughtfully, holding a crystal wine cup.

"I don't know who made this rule." Elvis frowned and said, "If someone wants us dead, they can just pick a high-ranking person from any profession. Forget the six of us—even six more would still be a dead end. Why do I feel like Blood Canyon is completely different from how it's described outside?"

"That shouldn't happen," the mage Tommy said. "I asked an old Archmage yesterday. He said when Blood Canyon sends people out, they will definitely be the weakest one in each rank. Like on our mage side, the person appearing will also be a wind-element Magister."

"The power levels in Blood Canyon vary greatly," Robin said. "I observed carefully yesterday. On the warrior side, I discovered more than a dozen Battle Saints, as well as several Battle Gods, but there were also plenty of Grand Battle Masters and the like."

"It's about the same on the assassin side." Blondi had remained silent all this time, but suddenly cut in. "I've also seen the weakest one. He's a Wind Shadow. If the environment suits an assassin's ambush, I'm completely confident I can kill him."

Just like warriors and mages, assassins also had their own unique rank divisions: Black Shadow, Dark Shadow, Wind Shadow, Phantom Shadow, God Shadow, Shadowless. Above Shadowless were Saint Domain experts.

At this moment, Bertha also said softly, "The weakest on the priest side is also a high-level priest, the same as me." Seeing everyone look at her, her face could not help turning slightly red, and she lowered her head.

"On my side, it's a Summoning Saint Master who has one level-seven summoned beast and eight level-six magical beasts." By now, Li Junshan had also eaten his fill. He took a sip of red wine and said unhurriedly, "One rank higher than me. The number of summoned beasts is about the same as mine, though I have one more than him."

"Are you confident?" Robin looked at him, his expression turning even graver.

"I'll be fine." Li Junshan shrugged.

"There's no use thinking too much. Everyone should go back and rest properly first. Use these three days to build up your energy. When the time comes, a fierce battle will be unavoidable." As Robin spoke, he stood up.

"Wait." Blondi suddenly spoke. "I asked around. The location for the elimination match can be chosen by us newcomers. I want to know what everyone thinks."

"You're sure?" Li Junshan's spirits lifted, and he quickly asked, "What places can we choose from?"

"Two places. The first is that arena. The second is the forest we passed through when we came." Blondi answered, bright light flashing in his eyes.

"The forest?" Li Junshan could not help feeling delighted. Xenomorphs were most suited to sneak attacks and assassinations. If they could choose to fight in the forest, his confidence would increase by several more points.

"Aren't they afraid we'll run away if we can't win?" Elvis suddenly asked a rather idiotic question. As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it somewhat and lowered his head.

"It's useless." The mage Tommy sighed and said, "The entire Blood Canyon, including the forest we passed through when we came in, has already been sealed off by a barrier domain. Unless someone is a Saint Domain expert, no one can enter or leave."

"I choose the forest. What about all of you?" Blondi looked at the others.

Li Junshan nodded in agreement. The trio's gazes all turned to Li Junshan at the same time, and Elvis said, "Agreed."

Robin nodded and said, "Then it's decided. For the first two days, everyone had better rest more and recover your energy. On the third day, we'll meet again and discuss how to cooperate when the time comes."

No one had any further objections, so they left the restaurant and parted ways.

"Two plates of roast meat and three bottles of red wine cost four hundred gold coins. That's ridiculously expensive. Would a Saint Domain mage really care so much about money?" Li Junshan thought as he walked, feeling more and more confused.

Before long, he returned to the row of caves where the summoners lived, only to find it quiet and empty, without a single person in sight. With nothing else to do, he wandered over next door and knocked on Gu Li's stone door. After a long while, no one answered. Clearly, he was not inside.

Bored stiff, Li Junshan did not want to rest either, so he returned to the street to wander around. At this time, it also seemed to be the liveliest hour, with quite a few people on the several-hundred-meter-long street.

Seeing someone by the roadside with a stall selling magical beast hides and furs, Li Junshan felt a burst of surprise and could not help walking over to casually flip through them.

"Haven't seen you before. New here, are you?" The stall owner was a middle-aged man wrapped in tiger hide. With a face full of smiles, he greeted Li Junshan warmly. "I also have hides and furs from level-seven magical beasts here. If you need them, I can give you a cheaper price."

Li Junshan casually picked up the hide of a level-seven magical beast, a Brute Giant Ape, and asked, "How much for this one?"

"Fifty thousand gold coins." The middle-aged man held up his hand.

"You're not trying to swindle me, are you?" Li Junshan said with a grin. "A level-seven magical beast hide is indeed somewhat precious, but it shouldn't cost that many gold coins."

"Little brother, I saw you come out of the restaurant just now. You must have eaten, right? How much did that meal cost?" the middle-aged man asked with a beaming smile.

Li Junshan was instantly choked off. If it was compared to that four-hundred-gold-coin breakfast, this magical beast hide really was not expensive.

"Where did you get these magical beast hides?" Li Junshan held it in his hand and stroked it. It felt very smooth.

"Hunted them myself." As the middle-aged man spoke, he pointed toward the rear mountain of the canyon and said, "There's a large forest over there within the barrier domain. You can hunt magical beasts and gather some medicinal herbs to sell, in exchange for supplies and living expenses."

With Blood Canyon's sky-high costs, if one stayed here for a long time, no matter how much money one brought, there would probably come a day when it ran out.

Li Junshan was just thinking about taking out his Magic Crystal Card so the stall owner could transfer the money when a sudden clamor came from a hotel beside the street. A maid ran out and hurried toward the stone room at the head of the street where the black-clad guards stayed.

"Someone's in for it again." The stall owner sighed, his eyes turning to the dozen or so black-clad guards walking over with the maid, and he shrank his neck in.

Li Junshan wanted to go over and watch, but when he saw the passersby all scrambling to avoid the place, leaving the hotel entrance completely empty, it did not seem right to approach. By then, the dozen or so black-clad guards had already gone inside. A few shouts rang out from within, and before long, two black-clad guards dragged out a dispirited old man and headed straight toward the depths of the narrow valley.

"What's going on?" Li Junshan asked the stall owner.

The stall owner looked around, then said in a low voice, "That man is Pibich. He's been here for more than forty years and has always lingered at the rank of Grand Battle Master without advancing. The money he brought when he came was spent long ago, but unfortunately, he's also a drunkard. He even sold his weapon to a weapons shop ages ago. I'd guess the craving got to him today, so he went in to drink and got arrested because he couldn't pay."

"What punishment will he receive?" Li Junshan watched the dozen or so black-clad guards disappear at the end of the narrow valley, then turned back to ask the stall owner.

The stall owner shook his head, his expression somewhat terrified, and refused to say any more.

"Are you buying or not?" the stall owner said impatiently.

"This is a Magic Crystal Card with a balance of a hundred thousand gold coins." Li Junshan took out a Magic Crystal Card and held it in his hand, saying quietly, "As long as you tell me what punishment he'll receive, it's yours."

The stall owner froze. Then his expression flickered uncertainly. He turned his head and looked around for a good while, and only after seeing that no one was paying attention to them did he crouch beside Li Junshan and lower his voice. "His soul will be refined by Mr. Donald."

"His soul refined!" Li Junshan was startled and said urgently, "Mr. Donald is a black mage?"

"Keep your voice down." The stall owner yanked hard on the magical beast pelt in Li Junshan's hand and glared at him.

"Deal." Seeing the stall owner's embarrassed fury and the fear in his eyes, Li Junshan knew that even if he kept asking, the man would not say anything more. He immediately handed the Magic Crystal Card to the stall owner, took the magical beast pelt, and walked back.