Rules

"Now that everyone's here, I'll say a few words."

On the first floor of the Tower of Ten Thousand Beasts, Yang Feng addressed all the newcomers.

"Our Hunting Team has only one squad, with a limit of fifteen members."

"Once intelligence about a Mutant Beast appears, it is time for us to act."

"Of every Mutant Beast we hunt, seventy percent must be handed over to the estate. Of the remaining thirty percent, half will be divided equally, while the other half will be put up for sale within our team."

"The funds from those sales will be deposited into the Hunting Team's public account and used to reward members who perform exceptionally during Mutant Beast hunts."

At this point, Yang Feng paused before continuing.

"The place we are in now is called the Beast Pavilion."

"Cultivating inside the Beast Pavilion can strengthen your spiritual power, but it is not free. Each entry costs half a tael of silver."

"Don't think it's expensive. You won't find a place like this anywhere outside."

"This half tael merely covers the cost of maintaining the Beast Pavilion and producing that special medicinal powder."

"Beside the Beast Pavilion is the storehouse, which contains cold storage rooms for preserving Mutant Beast meat."

"There is also a martial arts repository, where you can exchange silver for all kinds of martial arts."

"And there is a pill repository as well. So long as you have money, you can buy all kinds of potent medicinal pills and advance quickly."

At this, everyone's eyes lit up, their gazes burning with excitement.

"Now that I've finished with the benefits, it's time to discuss the rules."

Yang Feng's tone turned stern, and the previously noisy scene immediately fell silent.

An invisible pressure blanketed the entire area, making them instinctively lower their voices.

This pressure...

Chen Xun was startled inwardly.

Then he seemed to realize something, and shock surfaced in his eyes.

Yang Feng has cultivated the Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art too. And his realm is already close to Major Accomplishment.

Naturally, Yang Feng did not notice the shock in Chen Xun's eyes from the corner. He continued speaking to himself, "Our Hunting Team has five ironclad rules."

"First, no killing one another."

"Second, no concealing prey."

"Third, no privately selling team supplies."

"Fourth, no privately teaching team martial arts."

"Fifth, during a hunt, no disobeying the captain's orders."

"Break any one of these five ironclad rules, and this will be your end."

Yang Feng made a blade with his hand and lightly drew it across his own throat.

Everyone naturally understood the meaning of that gesture, and their expressions turned grave.

"Of course, there are other rules you need to understand clearly."

"However, even if you break those rules, you will only receive a reprimand and a fine."

Hearing this, everyone quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, not every rule was so severe.

In the blink of an eye, an hour passed.

Everyone filed out of the Tower of Ten Thousand Beasts.

"Remember, gather here tomorrow morning at the middle of the hour of the dragon, at eight o'clock. The captain will come then. Make sure you aren't late—he hates people being late most of all."

"Understood."

Everyone answered in unison.

After that, they left the Dragon-Tiger Grounds.

Before leaving, Chen Xun cast a reluctant glance at the stone lock radiating purple light.

From beginning to end, Chen Xun had never gotten the chance to touch it even once.

Fortunately, there will be plenty of time in the future.

Having come to terms with it, Chen Xun turned and quickly left as well.

"Chen Xun, come on. I'll treat you to a meal."

A hand landed on Chen Xun's shoulder. He looked over and saw Luo Tao, whom he had just met.

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony."

"Haha, eat as much as you want. It's not like you can eat me into poverty."

Thus, at noon, Chen Xun and Luo Tao found an affordable restaurant, ordered a table full of dishes, and ate and drank heartily.

While they ate, Chen Xun learned from Luo Tao that he had graduated from the Li Family Martial Arts School. After becoming a Martial Artist, he had joined the Li Family.

He had to remain with the Li Family for three full years before he could leave.

This had been one of the conditions agreed upon when he entered the Li Family Martial Arts School.

Those unwilling to accept it could attend other martial arts schools that charged higher fees.

Luo Tao had already been with the Li Family for two and a half years, and he had been stuck at the First Transformation Limit for half a year.

The reason his cultivation had progressed so slowly was mainly because he had no money.

Of his three taels of silver per month, part had to cover his living expenses, and part had to repay debts—the debt from borrowing money to learn martial arts.

Even though the Li Family Martial Arts School was cheap, it was still beyond what most ordinary people could afford, and loans were necessary.

After deducting those two fixed expenses, Luo Tao could only take one bottle of [Blood-Strength Powder] every three months.

Naturally, his cultivation speed could not rise quickly.

And this was the true portrayal of quite a few low-level Martial Artists in the Li Family.

After the meal, the two went their separate ways.

The moment Chen Xun returned to the Martial Artist Courtyard, a crowd immediately swarmed around him.

"Chen Xun, I heard you joined the Hunting Team. Is it true?"

Chen Xun looked around and nodded. "That's right. It's true."

Some were astonished, some were jealous, and others were regretful.

"Damn it, if even Chen Xun could join the Hunting Team, I should have tried it too."

"I'm a Qi-Blood Second Transformation Martial Artist."

Chen Xun merely smiled without saying anything.

This person had not tried because he was afraid, frightened by the Hunting Team's terrifying casualty rate.

The estate had already officially disclosed the Hunting Team's casualty figures.

Out of a Hunting Team of fifteen, eight had died, three had been seriously injured, one had been crippled, and three had suffered minor injuries.

It could be said that they had been almost completely wiped out.

Such a casualty rate had frightened many Martial Artists in the estate, causing them not to sign up at the first opportunity. That was what gave people like Chen Xun, whose strength was somewhat lacking, a chance.

For Hunting Team members, insufficient strength could still be cultivated.

But if one's temperament was lacking—if one cherished life and feared death—then at a critical moment, it could cost lives.

Surrounded by the crowd, Chen Xun selectively answered some of their questions before squeezing through them and slipping into his room.

Once the door shut, it immediately blocked out most of the clamor.

"I've finally joined the Hunting Team. The cultivation of the Iron Garment Art and the refining of Blood-Strength Pills can both get on the right track now."

Thinking of this, Chen Xun looked around. After confirming that he was alone in the room, he opened his storage space and took out his remaining silver.

After carefully counting it, he had forty-five taels and one hundred thirty-two copper coins left in total.

"I wonder how much tiger bone and Mutant Beast meat this money can buy."

Chen Xun pondered.

Putting away the silver, Chen Xun took out a bottle of [Blood-Strength Powder] and continued cultivating.

After so many days of cultivation, the Blood Qi within Chen Xun's Blood Pool Acupoint had increased considerably.

It could now cover two-thirds of the Blood Pool Acupoint, and in a single day, it could produce two drops of Essence Blood.

It was estimated that once Blood Qi completely covered the Blood Pool Acupoint, it would be able to produce three drops of Essence Blood.

At this point, most Martial Artists would focus on cultivating martial techniques. Usually, they only needed to cultivate for a short while to replenish the Blood Qi consumed by the Blood Pool Acupoint when condensing Essence Blood.

But Chen Xun had another option: opening up a new Blood Pool Acupoint.

[Martial Arts: Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art (Proficient 680/800)]

In another three or four days, Chen Xun would be able to cultivate this secret art to the realm of Minor Accomplishment.

By then, Chen Xun would be confident of opening up a new Blood Pool Acupoint.

At that time, while others had only one Blood Pool Acupoint condensing Essence Blood to strengthen their bodies—

Chen Xun would have two, perhaps even three Blood Pool Acupoints condensing Essence Blood together.

His cultivation speed would be one, perhaps even two times faster than those Martial Artists.

Thinking of this, Chen Xun became even more motivated to cultivate.

Soon, a day passed. Chen Xun got up early and arrived at the Dragon-Tiger Grounds.

He was not the first to arrive. Two people had gotten there before him.

One of them was Luo Tao, who had eaten with him yesterday.

"Luo Tao, you came this early?"

"Don't mention it. I was so excited yesterday that I couldn't sleep, so I came early. I was afraid of being late."

Luo Tao could not help pointing at his own eyes.

Chen Xun looked closely and indeed saw faint dark circles beneath Luo Tao's eyes, with bloodshot veins filling them.

"Zhang Zhong, what about you?"

Chen Xun looked toward the other person.

"Me? I usually like getting up early to cultivate. After getting up today, I skipped cultivation and came straight here."

Zhang Zhong shrugged.

Chen Xun could not help giving him a thumbs-up. "Impressive, getting up so early to cultivate."

"I feel it's easier to get into the zone when cultivating in the morning."

Zhang Zhong casually explained.

However, what he did not know was that Chen Xun could enter that state at any time.

Soon, the others arrived one after another.

At last, a group of five people approached together.

Yang Feng and Xie Xiong were among them, but both followed behind a middle-aged man.

"Why haven't you greeted Fourth Master yet?"

One of them shouted.

"Greetings, Fourth Master."

Regardless of what Chen Xun and the other newcomers thought, they hurriedly called out.

This Fourth Master was evidently the Fourth Master of the Li Family, and also the captain of the Hunting Team.