CH 81

Chapter 81: Injured?

Edited by: Mochiusagi 

The last time Shen Changqing destroyed a stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance, he didn't obtain any merit points because he did not take the mission beforehand.

Now, Shen Changqing knew that he had to be prepared beforehand.

"---"

The old man speechlessly looked at the person in front of him. He felt that he needed to reiterate the kind of strength a Eternal Life Alliance stronghold possessed, reminding Shen Changqing of the danger.

"The Eternal Life Alliance is a major force. It has no shortage of monsters at the Innate Realm, even higher level ones might appear. Further, not to mention a Yellow Rank, even a Red Black Rank Slayer wouldn't have absolute certainty to destroy a stronghold—"

"I understand this, but I still want to ask: If I destroy the stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance, how many merit points can I get?"

Shen Changqing repeated the question.

When he saw how insistent Shen Changqing was, the old man had no choice but to answer.

"If it is confirmed that there is indeed an Eternal Life Alliance stronghold present, and if you are capable of destroying it, then this mission will be considered as over-achieved. You will get 8 extra merit points."

"8 extra points combined with the previous rewards... That's 15 merit points, right?"

"Yes."

The old man nodded.

Even though he did not think that Shen Changqing had the power to destroy a stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance, but since the other party dared to say such things, their strength must not be underestimated.

It was just that when the old man went through his memories, he could not recall seeing Shen Changqing at the Yellow Rank Hall before.

After all, any strong Yellow Rank was an old veteran.

They were bound to leave some impression.

'Maybe, I'm just getting old...'

Shen Changqing nodded: "Then I'll take this mission, Your Excellency."

"Understood!"

The old man nodded and wrote some more information on the paper, before giving a reminder.

"If you can, you better not reveal your identity to the Apprentice Slayers, so that they don't become lax or dependent."

"No problem."

•×•×•×•

When he left from the Yellow Rank Hall, Shen Changqing had an extra copy of the mission information in his hand.

This was the second mission he had received after his assessment mission.

From the mission book (records) that he had just seen, it was clear that Yellow Rank missions were actually not very difficult.

Compared to his first mission – guarding Lin'an City, the gap was obvious.

Back at the Yellow Court.

Shen Changqing first went to see Jiang Fu.

Every time he carried out a mission, he needed to report to the Steward of the Yellow Court, as to determine the annual mission quota.

If one does not report and just go and complete the mission, it would not be counted in the annual mission completion.

When Shen Changqing arrived, Jiang Fu opened the door.

"Come in."

After taking his seat, Shen Changqing looked at the person in front of him, showing a puzzled look.

"Is Steward Jiang injured?"

Shen Changqing detected that Jiang Fu's aura was wavering. Although his body and clothing was clean, there's also the lingering smell of blood.

This meant that the other side must have been injured to have this fresh blood smell.

Hearing this, Jiang Fu smiled bitterly: "Yes, I am injured. I don't know if it is because of the severity of the rampant demons recently, or if I am simply unlucky. On several missions, I have encountered monsters beyond the scope of the mission."

"This time was even worse. I came across a Fury Level monster."

"If it wasn't for the fact that there was an Earth Rank Slayer nearby, I might have fallen into the hands of that Fury Level monster."

After saying this, Jiang Fu felt his heart palpitate.

With the intelligence level of the Heavenly Inspection Guard, it was impossible to have such a big deviation in the mission description.

A Fury Level monster was a considerable hidden danger.

If not handled properly, it would be enough to exterminate all of the people in a city.

Speaking of which, Jiang Fu’s last few missions were not very smooth. He had either this accident or that. Fortunately, he still had good foundations. Otherwise, the Yellow Court might have to change their Steward again.

"Fury Level monster!"

Shen Changqing's face changed.

"Isn't it said that there are Guardians in every place. If there is a Fury Level monster, won't it attract the attention of the Guardian?"

"That's true, but it's not always guaranteed."

Jiang Fu looked at Shen Changqing and shook his head.

"Once a Fury Level appears, the Guardians indeed notice them because their Evil Aura are like flares in the dark sky."

"When the news is reported, the Guardian will naturally take action."

"However, it's not every time when a Fury Level monster appears that it will be suppressed immediately."

"If all of the Heavenly Inspection Guards in the area were killed, then the news would be delayed. If the monster has special means to hide its Evil Aura, they would also be difficult to detect."

"However, over the years, the Demon Suppression Division has been very strict in monitoring all the places, so there are very few cases where the Fury Level monsters could infiltrate without anyone noticing."

Jiang Fu also added silently in his heart: 'It just so happened that I encountered the rare accidents.'

Before Shen Changqing could say anything, Jiang Fu continued. 

"And in recent years, the Demon Suppression Division also suffered a lot of losses. It is difficult to guard all of the territory. There will inevitably be places where the monitoring is lax."

"But such places generally have bad geographical locations and are not very important. We call these places wastelands."

"There are no fixed places, but only in those places the demons will run rampant. Oftentimes, there's powerful monsters lurking. Earth and Heaven Rank Slayers usually perform missions in wastelands."

Wastelands!

Hearing this, Shen Changqing began to understand things.

After thinking for a while, he asked, "So, are there many people living in the wastelands?"

"That's natural."

"Then why not move the people and gather them together, so that they can be protected more easily?"

Shen Changqing asked his innermost doubts.

He had heard of the Demon Suppression Division lacking manpower quite a few times.

But as for the specifics and to what extent, he does not have an idea.

Jiang Fu gave a strange look to Shen Changqing.

"You have to understand that wastelands are still part of the Great Qin. If the people are moved, it would be the same as giving up those places. Although the wastelands don't have many resources, it doesn't mean that they would just be abandoned."

"Furthermore, if the people are gathered together, other places will become congested, and it would be difficult to supply all sides."

"If there's also no wastelands that act as a buffer, once the demons attack and an important place is breached, the loss will greatly increase."

Hearing this explanation, Shen Changqing agreed.

The existence of wastelands was necessary.

It not only stabilized the Great Qin, but also had enough space for the people to survive.

More importantly, once the territory of the country was reduced, then the food supply would also significantly decrease.

With this followed more problems.

Although the current power of the Demon Suppression Division was weakened, they needed to at least to ensure the stability of the territory of the Great Qin, even if it meant suffering losses. 

In addition to that, Shen Changqing realized another thing.

That was, the Great Qin was very vast. If they really moved the people, it would be difficult. Not to mention that accidents could happen during the travel and migration process; killing a lot of people.

Jiang Fu's words enlightened Shen Changqing more about the Great Qin's situation.

"This time, you're not here just to see me, right? Counting the time, you have another two months or so before it's time to perform your mission. When do you plan to start?"

Jiang Fu asked.

Shen Changqing nodded: "The main purpose of my visit this time is because of this. I have already gone to the Slayer Hall to receive my mission. This is some information about the mission. I request Steward Jiang to register it."

He then handed the mission information to the other party.

Jiang Fu took and flipped through it.

"Suspected of the stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance. This mission is relatively advanced for Yellow Rank, but it should not be a big problem for you. If you can really find out the exact information of the stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance, you have a high probability of eliminating it with your strength."

"The last time you destroyed a stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance in Lin'an City, you didn't receive any extra merit points because you didn't take the mission beforehand."

"The mission you got this time has a correlation. So now, if you can destroy the stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance, you will be able to overachieve the mission completion. The reward will definitely be bountiful."

Jiang Fu knew Shen Changqing’s strength very well.

The talent of the other party can be called shocking.

As early as half a year ago, Shen Changqing was already in the Innate Realm. Now a lot of time has passed since then. Maybe he had already broken through to the Innate Outer Astral Realm.

Shen Changqing said, "When I took the mission, I already made it clear."

"That's good."

Jiang Fu handed back the paper.

"The mission area is the Great Wilderness Province, which is at the border of the Great Qin. Although Jin City is not exactly at the border of the Great Wilderness Province, it is extremely close to the border area, so you should be careful of some barbarians."

"Barbarians?"

"Yes!"

Jiang Fu's face turned slightly cold, as if he had a great dislike for this race.

"The barbarians are a force outside the Great Qin border. They seek blood and destruction. Although they look like humans, in my eyes, they are no different than wild beasts."

"The barbarians would often invade the border of the Great Qin and plunder it, causing the Great Qin to lose a lot of money."

"If not for other constraints, the Great Qin would have already swept the North and wiped out all those bastards."

"So--"

"If you encounter any of them, there is no need to be merciful. Kill them all if you can."

"For so many years, many of the people of the Great Qin have died at their hands. They must pay for their crimes!"