"Hall Master Nalan, that's hardly fair," Lin Jialu's father, Lin Yinjia, said with a laugh. "You won't even introduce us to an elite from your own temple."
Nalan Shu was somewhat stunned. He had never expected everyone in the hall to turn their attention to this young man from the Holy City in such a short time.
"Well..." Nalan Shu wiped his forehead. "He does belong to our Knight Temple, but he isn't from Haoyue City."
"Then why is he here?" Li Aoxiao, who had already greeted Yue Shen earlier, asked with equal confusion. "Is he going to compete on behalf of Haoyue City?"
At that moment, Yue Shen felt his scalp going numb. What was going on?
He had only accepted an invitation to the Haoyue City Government Office to get a free meal and slack off a little, then find some Fifth Tier Demon to kill before returning to the Holy City.
How had he suddenly become the center of everyone's attention?
"No." Nalan Shu shook his head repeatedly. "He isn't here to compete on behalf of our Haoyue Branch Hall, and his results won't count toward those of our competitors. However, he is also here to qualify for the Preliminaries of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament. His assignment is simply different from that of our local competitors."
"As for why he's taking the qualifying test for the Preliminaries of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament here in Haoyue City, that was arranged by the higher-ups in our Knight Temple. I don't know the reason myself."
After finishing his explanation, Nalan Shu finally let out a long breath. At last, he had cleared things up for everyone present.
"His assignment is different?" Lin Yinjia picked up on the key point in Nalan Shu's words. "Isn't hunting Demons the only way to qualify for the Preliminaries of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament? Why would his assignment differ from everyone else's?"
"His assignment is to hunt Demons as well, of course," Bai Yu of the Magic Temple explained. "Hunting Demons is the only way to qualify for the selection tournament. That rule was established jointly by the Six Great Temples."
"As for why his assignment differs from those of our competitors, there can only be one explanation." Bai Yu suddenly turned toward Yue Shen, his eyes filled with disbelief. "He's at the fifth tier. His qualifying test for the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament is to kill a fifth-tier Demon."
"What?!"
Aside from Nalan Shu and Long Haochen, who knew roughly where Yue Shen stood, everyone present looked astonished.
"How old are you, lad?" Chen Chunhua of the Warrior Temple could not help asking. "From the looks of you, you can't be over twenty, can you?"
Everyone present drew a sharp breath upon hearing Chen Chunhua's words.
Just how gifted did someone have to be to become a Fifth Tier Earth Knight before the age of twenty?
Seeing that the truth had been uncovered, Nalan Shu could only hastily say, "Don't forget that we're here today to see Haoyue City's competitors off."
"Besides, aren't there fifth-tier competitors in every Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament? Is there really any need for such a commotion?" Nalan Shu said helplessly. "And don't ask me anything about him. Like you, all I know is that he's at the fifth tier. I don't know anything else."
"My apologies, seniors." Yue Shen bowed. "But I'll be acting alone when the time comes. Hunting a Fifth Tier Demon is my personal assignment and has nothing to do with your city's competitors."
"But Haoyue City has only been assigned one inspector for this year's Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament," Lin Yinjia reminded him. "Will you be traveling with them, then?"
Yue Shen paused at that. He thought Lin Yinjia was worried that his last-minute addition would put the others in danger.
"Then I can wait until your temples' competitors have completed their assignments before hunting a Fifth Tier Demon," Yue Shen replied after a moment's thought. "Or I can leave the group and hunt a Fifth Tier Demon on my own.
Bringing the Demon's corpse back for the inspector to verify should count as a pass just the same." "No, no, no." Lin Yinjia waved his hands repeatedly. "I think you've misunderstood me. I wanted to ask you to travel with them. Although your Demon kills will be counted separately, they could still encounter a Fifth Tier Demon while exploring on their own."
Only then did Yue Shen understand.
Lin Yinjia wanted him to protect Haoyue City's competitors along the way.
In their eyes, Haoyue City's competitors were only at the fourth tier on average. Facing Demons at the fourth tier or below would naturally pose no problem.
But if they happened to encounter a Fifth Tier Demon, there was a strong chance they would suffer casualties or have to ask the inspector for help.
The competitors in the Preliminaries were all elites selected by Haoyue City's various branch halls, so naturally, none of them wanted to see any casualties.
Asking the inspector for help, meanwhile, would disqualify them from the tournament, which was another outcome they did not want.
Asking Yue Shen for help would be different. Their competitors would not be disqualified, and Yue Shen could complete his own assignment to hunt a Fifth Tier Demon at the same time.
"I think I understand what Brother Lin means," Li Aoxiao said as realization dawned on him. He then explained the reasoning to the other competitors and the branch hall masters.
Faced with the requests of Lin Yinjia and the others, Yue Shen agreed without much hesitation.
"All right." Yue Shen nodded. "If we encounter a Fifth Tier Demon, leave it to me. And if they run into a danger they can't handle themselves, I'll help them as well."
"That's all we need." After discussing it with the others, Lin Yinjia said to Yue Shen, "To help our competitors achieve good results in the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament, Haoyue City has prepared some equipment for them as gifts.
If you don't mind, go along with them and choose a few pieces for yourself. Although we've only prepared magic equipment, it's always good to have a few spare pieces on hand."
"Then thank you, seniors." Yue Shen did not decline and accepted at once.
Although his current equipment was quite good, he really did not have any spare gear to use.
More importantly, he had suddenly realized just how poor he was. He could not even scrape together ten gold coins.
Back when he had trained at the Demon-Resisting Sub-Temple, he had received a monthly allowance of a few gold coins. But after he arrived in the Holy City, no one had ever mentioned it again.
Nor had he had any opportunity to spend money in the Holy City. Someone had taken care of all his everyday expenses.
As a result, he had never asked about the allowance. The few gold coins he had on him now were still the ones he had saved at the Demon-Resisting Sub-Temple.
Being poor was the main reason Yue Shen had agreed to accept the magic equipment. Besides, even if he could not use it, he could always sell it.
Before you continue