Aimei City

"And the sixty people taking part in the finals will have their matches decided by drawing lots, so luck will be very important too."

Feng Yangmu continued, "For example, if an assassin draws a mage, or a knight draws an assassin, they've hit the jackpot. So it's not impossible for you to secure a good placing in the finals. Besides, those Fifth Tier contestants might draw other Fifth Tier opponents and get eliminated early."

"The higher you rank in the finals, the richer the rewards. The top three contestants will also get to choose one teammate outside the top three before the Demon Hunt Roulette assigns the squads."

Seeing that he had more or less stirred everyone's spirits, Feng Yangmu finally delivered his last bombshell.

"Looks like everyone's motivated now. Then let me tell you about the rewards for the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament. I'm sure you'll find them tempting enough."

"The top three in the tournament finals will each receive a Spirit Furnace." Feng Yangmu did not keep them in suspense, emphasizing directly, "That's right-a Spirit Furnace like the Holy Guidance Spirit Furnace."

The moment Feng Yangmu said that, the enthusiasm he had just stirred up burst into flame.

What did a Spirit Furnace mean?

Why had Long Haochen and the others managed to kill that Fifth Tier Verdant Twin-Blade Demon? Hadn't it been entirely thanks to the Holy Guidance Spirit Furnace's ability to lock onto its target?

Without the Holy Guidance Spirit Furnace, that Verdant Twin-Blade Demon would have picked them off one by one long ago.

Yet even the mighty Holy Guidance Spirit Furnace ranked only thirty-fourth among the thirty-six types of Spirit Furnaces a knight could use.

Thus, regardless of their class, anyone who possessed a Spirit Furnace had effectively opened the door to becoming a powerhouse.

"So every contestant has a chance to obtain a Spirit Furnace." Feng Yangmu laughed heartily. "That's all for today. Go get some rest, everyone. Tomorrow, we'll set out to register with the Temple Alliance and take part in the preliminaries of the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament."

The next morning, after a night of cultivation, Yue Shen was surprised to discover that he had cultivated considerably faster than usual.

Once everyone had finished getting ready, Feng Yangmu appeared before them again.

"Let's go. Just as when you completed your trial mission, I'll be accompanying you."

After saying that, Feng Yangmu vanished from the spot in another flash of green light.

Yue Shen was already used to it, but the others took notice.

"Teacher Feng seems awfully fond of these mysterious theatrics," Li Xin said quietly. "He must be at least a Sixth Tier archmage, right?"

Lin Jialu nodded slightly. "Teacher Feng is indeed a Sixth Tier archmage, as well as a deacon of our Magic Temple."

After thanking the garrison commander who had hosted them, Yue Shen and the others mounted their horses and set off toward the Temple Alliance.

Boom!

Several fist-sized balls of light shot from the Light Crystal Gem on a mage's staff, blasting all the Twin-Blade Demons before him to death.

"Whew, that felt great!"

A young man wearing golden mage robes, with long blond hair, waved his staff. "Now we've all passed the tournament's Preliminaries assessment."

"Nice work, Dried Tofu."

The speaker was a blue-haired girl dressed in pure white priest robes. She, too, held a spirit-demon grade light-element staff.

"Xue Meng." The blond young man looked helpless. "If you don't mind, please call me Gandalf from now on."

"Sure, Dried Tofu." Xue Meng laughed. "Since we've finished the assessment mission, we need to head to the Temple Alliance to register now."

As she spoke, Xue Meng took a fist-sized Magic Crystal from her Storage Ring and tossed it to Gandalf.

"Here's the Fourth Tier light-element magical beast Magic Crystal we agreed on. Once we reach the Temple Alliance, just find a craftsman to fit it onto your staff."

Gandalf could only nod helplessly. His employer was simply paying him too much. Dried Tofu it is, then.

Besides, once this Fourth Tier light-element Magic Crystal was fitted onto his staff, it would become a spirit-demon grade staff.

Player: Gandalf, Fourth Tier light-element grand mage.

Player: Xue Meng, Fourth Tier high priest (priest).

Early one morning several days later, Yue Shen and the others arrived in Aimei City.

Aimei City was one of the most prosperous major cities in the Temple Alliance, second only to the Holy City, where the Temple Alliance was based.

With only a little over eight hundred li remaining between Aimei City and the Holy City, Yue Shen and the others expected to arrive in just two days at their current pace.

However, after ten days on the road, Yue Shen and the others were already exhausted in both body and mind, and there were still four days left before the registration deadline for the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament.

They therefore decided to rest in Aimei City for a day and continue their journey the following morning.

After arriving in Aimei City, Yue Shen's thoughts immediately began to stir.

If all went as expected, they would meet a very interesting fellow here.

That was also the main reason he had not asked Sol to fly him back to the Holy City.

After resting in his room for the day, Yue Shen was sitting cross-legged on the bed, cultivating, when he suddenly heard a soft knock at the door.

"Yue Shen, are you free right now?" Lin Jialu's voice came from outside.

Yue Shen paused in surprise. Why was it her?

Still, he stopped cultivating, got up, and walked to the door.

"What is it?" Yue Shen asked with some confusion after opening the door.

"Would you like to come out for a look around with us?" Lin Jialu had changed into a long blue dress and spoke somewhat awkwardly. "We're going to Aimei City's auction house. You could auction off your Verdant Twin-Blade Demon's corpse there while we're at it."

"The auction price should be a little higher than what the Alliance would pay for it. Would you like to consider..."

Before Lin Jialu was even halfway through her explanation, Yue Shen had already changed into casual clothes and was ready to lock his door.

"Let's go," Yue Shen said.

If Lin Jialu had not reminded him, he would almost have forgotten to sell the Verdant Twin-Blade Demon's corpse and its Magic Crystal.

After all, he was not a potion master. Keeping those things would do him no good.

Right, I should also sell all that Magic Equipment I picked up for free at the Haoyue Government Office that I can't use.

Moreover, this would be Yue Shen's first visit to an auction house.

Back when he was in the Holy City, Han Qian had worried that he would draw the other temples' attention too soon and had forbidden him from visiting places frequented by members of all the major temples.

When they reached the hotel entrance, Yue Shen found Long Haochen and Li Xin already waiting for them there.

"Brother Yue, come have a look at the auction house with us," Long Haochen called. "We might even find some good bargains."

"Sure." Yue Shen nodded.

"Since we're all here, let's get going," Li Xin suggested.

"Um, aren't we going to invite..." Before Long Haochen could finish, Yue Shen draped an arm around his shoulders.

"They aren't buying or selling anything. Just us is fine," Lin Jialu explained.