Chapter 344: Chapter 343 Acting (Thanks to Jingjing is me, Jingjing tipped 5000 Boxnovel coins, Thank you!)
“Everything will follow their identities. Tian Lang, you’re the senior sister, Tao Xuanzhu, your temperament fits the role best, so you’ll be the eldest sister!”
“I will be the second senior brother myself, Qisha!” Du Gang insisted on being the senior brother without any hesitation.
“Next, Xinyi Zhang will become Xuanjing, Kou Yingwu will be Beidou. Any objections?”
Kou Yingwu mumbled, “I think, I can be the senior brother too, I’m older than you…”
“You’re the junior brother!”
Du Gang said calmly and plainly.
Kou Yingwu was speechless. Ever since Du Gang became the team leader, he’s been ruling with an iron fist and never looked back.
“Remember your roles and don’t give us away. Now, following their previous route, journey to Misty Mountain City!”
Misty Mountain City, one of the five cities governed by the Five Elements Sect is also home to the members of the Demon Suppression Office, who are the external disciples of the Five Elements Sect.
It was clear the position these disciples from the Five Elements Sect would hold in Misty Mountain City.
Even though Du Gang and his team were still a significant distance from Misty Mountain City, the leaders of the local Demon Suppression Office, including the deputy city lord came to greet them at the city gate.
They had to do so, not just because of the dominant standing of the Five Elements Sect, but also because these disciples from the Five Elements Sect held such immense power, demanding their utmost respect.
Soon, four people, dressed in Five Elements Sect clothing, slowly approached them.
Seeing the figures from afar, a crowd of Misty Mountain City’s residents cheered in unison, “Misty Mountain City welcomes the esteemed disciples of the Five Elements Sect!”
Afterwards, all of them with their faces towards Du Gang and his crew, bent down, lowering their heads, waiting quietly.
“Haha, these people are quite respectful!”
Still quite far from the crowd, Du Gang and his teammates whispered to each other.
Kou Yingwu was a bit regretful. “I was hoping for a scenario where we would be forced to fight as bullies. It looks like there’s no opportunity to do that!”
Du Gang frowned slightly and warned, “Don’t let your expressions give us away. We can’t rule out that reincarnators could be among these people. If we can impersonate, others could do the same!”
Upon hearing this, the previously relaxed faces of the three others suddenly became somber.
“Stick to the plan. As disciples of the Five Elements Sect, it would be normal to be a bit nervous when going down the mountain for the first time. Since you guys aren’t good at talking, let me handle it!”
Finally, after all arrangements had been made, Du Gang and his team arrived in front of the people bowing and bending in respect.
He spoke with a tone of surprise, “You are here to greet us?”
Hearing this, the people in the crowd that had been bending over earlier, could not help but grumble inwardly. Still, they kept their heads down and shouted again, “Misty Mountain City welcomes the esteemed disciples of the Five Elements Sect!”
The deputy city lord found it the most unbearable. His big belly flapped as he bent over; his head nearly touched his belly and he nearly broke his waist.
“Oh, please rise!”
On hearing this, everyone finally stood back up, sizing up the four people before them.
The sight was astonishing.
As expected of the advanced students of the Five Elements Sect, the men are handsome and the women are beautiful. Only the last guy seemed a bit rough around the edges.
Du Gang stepped forward and gave a salute, “My name is Qisha, ranked second in this trip. This is my sister Tian Lang…”
“These two, are my junior sisters Xuan Jing and junior brother Beidou.”
Upon hearing this, the officials of the Demon Suppression Office secretly nodded their heads. Their received message had spoken of four people coming down the mountain, two men, and two women, and their names all matched.
“Nice to meet you, senior brothers and sisters!”
The head of the Demon Suppression Office stepped forward once more, “I am the head of the Demon Suppression Office of Misty Mountain City, Zhuang Nai, also an external disciple of the Five Elements Sect!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the group of people in the Demon Suppression Office uniform behind him shouted in unison:
“Nice to meet you, senior brothers and sisters!”
Zhuang Nai laughed, “These are all registered disciples of our Five Elements Sect!”
He explained the reason why the group below was also calling them with the same honorifics.
Du Gang nodded and affected the manner of a cultivated gentleman. After clearing his throat, he laughed, “Thank you, junior brothers, for the respect. We, as brother and sisters, have been training on the mountain for many years and this is actually the first time we come down. We still have much to learn about how the world works, could you help introduce us to the local customs?”
“Of course, it would be our pleasure!”
Zhuang Nai nodded continuously, leading everyone into the city.
Next to him, the deputy city lord had aimed to strike up a conversation, but after several unsuccessful attempts, he resigned himself to giving up.
The lord of Misty Mountain City is typically a senior disciple from the Five Elements Sect. The deputy city lord is usually a normal person who assists the city lord in running the city’s affairs.
The current lord of Misty Mountain City, however, was quite old, and his time for replacement drew near. Thus, this deputy city lord came out early, hoping to seek a better future for himself.
As everyone walked and talked, they quickly arrived at the territory of the Demon Suppression Office.
A very large dining hall had been prepared, filled with various delicacies, ready to welcome the four advanced students of the Five Elements Sect.
“Senior brothers and sisters, please!”
Zhuang Nai’s demeanor was very modest, experienced in the ways of the world. Despite their pretense of innocence, Du Gang and his team still thought quite well of him.
Soon, the four sat down in turn, with Zhuang Nai accompanying them. Guests and hosts chatted happily. With fine wine and delicious food, everyone was enjoying themselves.
After chatting leisurely for a while, the team had gained some understanding of the city’s situation.
Du Gang raised a question, “Brother Zhuang, I heard that there’s a bounty task system in the city, with a ranking list. Out of curiosity, may I have a look at it?”
Zhuang Nai burst into laughter, promptly ordered his men to fetch it and said, “As expected of our senior brother, always showing concern for the common people…”
Du Gang was utterly speechless in his heart. He just wanted to see what kinds of tasks there were, and possibly find an opportunity to do some. That guy definitely knew how to flatter others.
Soon, a beautifully bound book was presented and placed on the table in front of Du Gang.
He quickly opened it and began to read.
Zhuang Nai leaned in a few steps, knelt on the ground, and introduced it with a smile.
“This bounty list is divided into two parts. One part is the Misty Mountain List, on which are bounty tasks submitted from villages, towns, and other places within the jurisdiction of Misty Mountain City.”
“The other part includes missions disseminated from other cities. Tasks like these are usually more challenging, involving monsters that other cities couldn’t handle, so they spread the word to other cities, hoping for the intervention of the higher-ups.”
Du Gang nodded, “What about the difficulty of these two parts of the list?”
Zhuang Nai coughed, “Brother, for us, these demons, they’re quite formidable, difficult to deal with, and often requires exceptional individuals in the martial world to handle them…”
“However, now that you guys are here, everything will be fine, these demons, no matter how formidable they may be, will certainly not be able to match the techniques of you senior brothers and sisters!”
“Ha ha ha!”
Upon seeing this, Du Gang laughed heartily, stayed in character, and casually threw the booklet to Kou Yingwu.
With a smile, he asked, “Do you know of any formidable individuals in the martial world?”
“Yes!”
Zhuang Nai nodded, “Currently, in the martial world, there are three individuals who stand out most.”
“One is known as Sir Kong Xu, whose swordsmanship is world-renowned. He carries a small sword box with him, containing nine flying swords…”
Du Gang paused, the name Kong Xu was absolutely familiar.
He knew of two people with such a name, one, was a member of the Kong family from the ancient city.
The other was a character from the movie Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.
Since this is the world of the task, it couldn’t possibly be the Kong Xu from the ancient city.
Du Gang’s eyes lit up slightly, could this be the world of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons?
Zhuang Nai did not notice Du Gang’s expression and continued, “The second one is called Heaven Broken Feet, born disabled, but during an accidental fall from a cliff, he discovered a very well-suited martial arts technique, and cultivated Heaven Broken Feet, the martial arts ability was extraordinary…”
As expected!
Du Gang showed a hint of joy, this was indeed the world he knew.
“The third one, compared to the previous two, got famous more recently, but the record is equally amazing, his name is Fist King, who masters several fists. The most terrifying is that his tiger fist can transform into a giant tiger, very horrifying…”
Du Gang asked, “Where are these three people currently?”
Zhuang Nai hesitated, shaking his head and smiled bitterly, “Brother, our Misty Mountain City only governs a small corner, how could we know the whereabouts of such individuals.”
He paused, then added, “However, I heard that they are privately vying for the title of “top of the world”, and spread the words that whoever can subdue the top demonic king in the world, will be the top one. So, to find them, just find the top demonic king…”
Du Gang probably knew who that top demonic king was, but still pretended to be curious and asked, “Who is that top demonic king?”
Zhuang Nai turned serious, “There are many well-known demonic kings in the world, but if we talk about the top one, it has to be the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong!”
“This demonic king caused havoc in the heavenly palace five hundred years ago, destroying the most powerful force in the world, the Celestial Palace, in one stroke…”
“It is said that during that battle, the elders of all major sects in the world gathered together to fight with the Celestial Palace, resulting in countless deaths and injuries…”
“Seeing that it was impossible to kill this Great Sage Sun Wukong, in the end, after many senior luminaries consulted, with the great magical powers of Buddhism, combined with many other means, they sealed him…”
“Sadly, all those who sealed the demonic king back then have passed away…”
Du Gang frowned, “You mean, these three guys want to find Sun Wukong, break his seal, and then kill him?”
“Exactly!”
Zhuang Nai nodded.
“Aren’t they afraid that they won’t be able to match the power of the demonic king and end up being killed instead?”
“Sigh!”
Zhuang Nai sighed, “These three, each of them has extraordinary reach, each one of them considers themselves superior, who would feel weaker than a demonic king, the number of demonic kings who died at their hands is beyond the number of hands, as you can imagine…”
Du Gang frowned again, “Then the sects in the world, isn’t anyone going to stop them?”
Zhuang Nai shook his head, “On this, I’m not sure, but it is said that a senior monk from Buddhism once tried to stop it, but was defeated by the Fist King, who is the least known among the three, and in the end, it was left unresolved.”
“But fortunately, the predecessors of Buddhism who sealed Sun Wukong back then, fearing that the descendants who thought highly of themselves would unseal it, concealed the specific address of the seal after sealing the demonic king, and till now, no one knew the location of Sun Wukong’s seal.”
Du Gang did not respond. He knew the location of the seal, but he wasn’t sure if he could defeat Sun Wukong, so it would be better not to reveal it recklessly.
After a while, he then asked again, “Besides this first demon king, what other famous demon kings are there in this era?”
“Yes!”
Zhuang Nai nodded. “Although we in Misty Mountain City don’t go out much, we do have a tradition of exchanging information with other cities…”
“There are many demon kings today. The most prominent currently are the Bull Demon King of Bull Demon Mountain and White Bone Essence of White Bone Mountain…”
“In addition, it is said that in the west, there is a special city declaring itself a kingdom, forbidding any demons from entering, it’s very strange…”
Du Gang paused, asked, “Is there a national guru named the Nine Palace real man in that kingdom?”
This time, it was Zhuang Nai who was surprised, he curiously asked, “Brother, how do you know this name…”
Du Gang smiled, “Nothing much, a senior brother who has very good connections once traveled there, and he told me when he came back to the sect!”
Zhuang Nai realized it, laughed, and continued, “In addition to this, major mountains, rivers and lakes, there are certainly big demons…”
“We, the human cultivators, mostly practice terrestrial techniques, and our combat power underwater drastically decreases, which leads to the demon creatures in these mountains, rivers and lakes becoming exceptionally rampant, almost no one can handle them, but fortunately, they can only move in the water, they won’t land often to harm people…”
Du Gang curiously asked, “These big demons, are they just a little weaker than the demon kings?”
“Yes!”
Zhuang Nai nodded, “Demons, currently, are mostly divided into demon kings, big demons, and small demons, the specifics are determined according to the situation of the local Demon Suppression Office…”
“What the local Demon Suppression Office is able to take care of, are considered small demons, and those beyond the office’s capabilities, are ranked above!”
“All the major sects in the world have disciples who travel the world, these disciples, like you, are typically powerful and have ventured out to hone their skills…”
“Generally, the demons that the Demon Suppression Office can’t clean up, but these disciples can, belong to the ranks of big demons, of course, this excludes the ones underwater…”
“Underwater, even a small demon is very difficult to deal with. When encountering a big demon, unless being world-famous and capable of killing demon kings, one would not dare to tangle with them!”
Du Gang figured, after going into the water, the demon rank increases by one, the human cultivator’s rank decreases by one.
And the cultivation of the four disciples they borrowed was at the God Spirit Level, but they were only equivalent to big demons.
This means that demon kings are stronger, only it is not known whether they have reached the True God Level.
As for Sir Kong Xu and the other two, having killed more than ten demon kings implies that they are stronger than regular demon kings, belonging to a stronger class.
Zhuang Nai continued, “Our Misty Mountain City, in addition to the Demon Suppression Office, also has some extraordinary people. These are the main forces that accept bounty tasks from the demon hunting list!”
“Every time they take on a task, they will register with the Demon Suppression Office, and when they complete the task, there will be a report, so we have an understanding of the strength of these extraordinary people staying in Misty Mountain City…”
“At the same time, based on which demon they fell in front of, we can judge the strength level of the demons within the territory of Misty Mountain City…”
This information was exactly what Du Gang and the others needed, and he hurriedly asked further, expressing his deep interest.
Seeing this, Zhuang Nai quickly introduced, “At present, within the reach of our Misty Mountain City, there is one demon king, eight big demons, and dozens of demons waiting to be dealt with…”