Into the Star Dou Great Forest! A Hidden Danger!

Yang Que and Huang Dabiao were browsing the Alchemist Guild in Star Dou City.

As soon as they entered, a receptionist came over. "Oh! Leader Huang! Are you here for healing pills again? You're a regular, so I can give you one percent off!"

From her words, Huang Dabiao clearly came here often, and he always bought healing pills. He had been beaten down so badly before that being able to afford those was already something!

Huang Dabiao smiled. "I've brought you a big customer today. Let me introduce him. This is my leader, Young Master Yang!"

"Young Master Yang? Your leader?" The receptionist seemed to have heard of him. She looked Yang Que up and down, then suddenly covered her mouth and pointed at him. "You're the genius who easily defeated the leader of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group?!"

"Wait, that's not right! Leader Huang, I thought you led the Ironblood Mercenary Group. How did Young Master Yang become your leader?" she asked curiously.

"Haha, isn't it obvious? I joined Young Master Yang's Mercenary Group!" Huang Dabiao said.

"Oh?" The receptionist took another look at Yang Que. What charm did this fellow have to make a Soul Emperor follow him?

Her scrutiny made Yang Que uncomfortable, and he waved a hand. "All right, stop staring. Brother Huang and I are here to buy pills!" What are you looking at? I feel like one of those performing monkeys people used to gawk at back on Earth!

"Oh, right! What pills do you need, Young Master Yang?" The receptionist finally came back to herself.

"Ten low-grade Black Tier Spirit-Gathering Pills and five mid-grade ones! Ten low-grade Black Tier antidote pills and ten Soul Power recovery pills!" After listing the pills he needed, Yang Que tossed his gold card to the receptionist.

He had checked the prices before coming. He knew the 500,000 Gold Coins on his card were more than enough! Low-grade Black Tier Spirit-Gathering Pills cost 8,000 Gold Coins each, mid-grade ones cost 20,000, and low-grade Black Tier antidote pills and Soul Power recovery pills each cost 5,000.

Antidote pills and Soul Power recovery pills did exactly what their names suggested: cured poison and restored Soul Power. They were essential medicines for mercenaries heading out on missions!

When the receptionist heard the names and quantities of the pills Yang Que wanted, her eyes lit up with gold stars! This really was a big sale!

"Of course. Please wait a moment!" She took the gold card and hurried off excitedly to fetch the pills.

"Leader..."

"Hey, don't call me Leader. It sounds too distant! Brother Yang is fine!" Yang Que interrupted him.

"All right, I won't stand on ceremony! With your current strength, low-grade Black Tier pills are more than enough, Brother Yang. Why buy mid-grade ones too?" Huang Dabiao asked.

Yang Que looked at him with a smile. "They're enough for me, but not for you! You didn't think I'd be the only one cultivating, did you? You need to cultivate too. When the time comes to rescue your family, how will that little bit of strength be enough?"

Huang Dabiao's eyes reddened slightly. After so many years of hardship, he had finally found someone to serve, and that person even treated him well instead of using him like a tool!

Ever since he had left officialdom, he had barely used any cultivation pills. Even for healing and detoxification, he had relied on the lowest-grade Yellow Tier pills! As for restoring his strength, he had never used pills for that at all. He had simply waited for it to recover!

Huang Dabiao said nothing. Words felt feeble now. He could only repay Yang Que through his actions from this point on!

He knew this was a way to win someone's loyalty, but he could not deny how much it warmed his heart!

Before long, the receptionist handed Yang Que the pills. "Young Master Yang, your total comes to 280,000 Gold Coins! I've used my authority to give you five percent off, so that's 266,000 in all. Please come again!"

The more she sold, the higher her commission and sales figures would be, and strong sales figures would bring generous rewards from headquarters. Giving Yang Que five percent off left her with very little commission on this sale. But to boost her figures and make sure Yang Que came to her whenever he bought anything, she gritted her teeth and did it!

Yang Que looked at her and smiled. He did not mind. She was willing to make a sacrifice, and she was clever about it!

"What's your name?" Yang Que asked.

The receptionist was delighted. "Young Master Yang, my name is Qing'er!"

"All right, I'll remember that!" Yang Que took the pills and his remaining Gold Coins, then left the Alchemist Guild with Huang Dabiao.

After they walked out, Huang Dabiao turned to Yang Que. "Brother Yang, what do we do next?"

Yang Que smiled. "Brother Huang, I have a task for you!"

"Oh?" Huang Dabiao's interest was instantly piqued.

"Go to the Mercenary Guild and take every Silver- and Gold-rank mission concerning the Star Dou Great Forest! Choose missions with deadlines of about half a month to one month," Yang Que said.

Huang Dabiao's eyes flew wide. "What? All of them?!"

"That's right! Take every one that meets those requirements! We're going to live in the Star Dou Great Forest. We'll only come out once a month to turn in missions and buy pills and food!" Yang Que said, lowering his head.

Huang Dabiao drew a deep breath. "Leader, are you serious? If we take those missions and don't finish them on time, we'll have to pay twice the commission in compensation!"

"Yes, I'm serious! My rule is simple: if I do something, I'll do it better than anyone else! I'll become the strongest and make everyone look up to me! And I believe I can do it!" Yang Que declared.

"Good! Hahaha! I knew I hadn't misjudged you! If that's what you say, Leader, I'll go mad with you!" Huang Dabiao laughed.

The two then went their separate ways. Yang Que returned to his inn, while Huang Dabiao went to take on the missions.

The next day!

Yang Que and Huang Dabiao looked over the missions in their room. There were sixty-nine in total! Thirty were Silver-rank missions, and the rest were Gold-rank! Only a Gold Mercenary Group could accept Gold-rank missions, given their greater difficulty and danger!

Most involved finding some kind of Spirit Medicine or hunting a Soul Beast!

One Gold-rank mission was the hardest of all: capture a Pangolin Beast at least ten thousand years old alive! The reward was 300,000 Gold Coins or 200 points. If it was twenty thousand years old, the reward rose to 800,000 Gold Coins or 500 points!

That mission had been posted for ages, but no Gold Mercenary Group had taken it! The risk was simply too high. Pangolin Beasts were Soul Beasts with both formidable offense and defense! Capturing a ten-thousand-year-old one alive would be difficult without two or three Soul Emperors!

Yet Huang Dabiao had taken the mission anyway!

After reading through them all, Yang Que stood up. "All right. Now we head for the Star Dou Great Forest! That vast forest will be the key to my rapid rise!"

Hearing Yang Que murmur those words, Huang Dabiao felt he had made the right choice. Perhaps he really can rescue my family...

The two traveled light, leaving Star Dou City and heading toward the Star Dou Great Forest!

Not long after they left, six figures shot out of Star Dou City! They stood at the gate, watching the pair disappear into the distance!

One of the six had an exceptionally powerful aura, much like Wang Dabiao's. He was clearly a formidable Soul Emperor as well! Of the other five, four were Soul Kings and one was a Soul Elder!

One middle-aged man said, "Wang Dahu! We're only dealing with some green kid. Why did you call all of us here?"

"Hah! Don't underestimate that kid! See the man beside him? That's Huang Dabiao, the level-sixty-eight Blood Axe Soul Emperor! He was once a renowned, incorruptible official of the Heaven Dou Empire!"

"I underestimated him once, and he ended up cutting off one of my arms!" Wang Dahu said, his face twisted with malice.

That was right! This was the same Wang Dahu whose arm Yang Que had severed back in Suotuo City!

"Hmph! I don't care who this Dabiao is! With my boss here, how could they possibly turn the tables?" the middle-aged man scoffed. Then he looked at the composed elder beside him and hurriedly added with a fawning smile, "My boss is nearly a Soul Saint!"

"Of course! With the Blood Hand Soul Emperor here, I'm not worried," Wang Dahu said, flattering him as well.

The elderly man opened his eyes. "Enough, Wang Dahu. The City Lord sent us to avenge you this once. After this, you are not to invoke the authority or reputation of the City Lord's Mansion again!"

"Yes, yes! I'll follow the City Lord's orders!" Wang Dahu said, bowing and nodding repeatedly.

"Hah. See that you do! For years, you've used your connection to the City Lord's Mansion to stir up trouble outside. The City Lord let it slide for the sake of your brother, Steward Wang. After this matter is settled, your ties to the City Lord's Mansion are severed!" the elder said.

Wang Dahu hastily nodded in agreement.

But his heart was full of venom!

He stared in the direction Yang Que and Huang Dabiao had gone and thought viciously, Brat, this is all your fault! If not for you, why would the City Lord's Mansion abandon me? Once I catch you, I'll tear you limb from limb...