Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 261: The Ideal Job

The Spirit-Pet Combat Tournament was held the next day, but it was significantly less popular than the fighting tournament. After all, fights between demonic beasts were all about attacking with their teeth, biting and tearing at each other. They weren’t as interesting and exciting as the battles between human cultivators.

Only a dozen or so of the spirit pets on Mount Shu had been registered for the tournament, so there was no preliminary round. The tournament started as a knockout tournament and continued that way until the end.

The attendants led all the spirit beasts away to wait for their turn. Their owners were left together in one place, filling the air with fierce tension and the desire to win.

Amid those competitive owners, there was a little girl sitting in a corner, trembling in fear.

"Eh?" a fierce-looking tough guy uttered when he turned around and saw her. He asked, "Little girl, weren't you selling food yesterday?"

"Ah, yes, that's me," Liu Xiaoyu’er answered, quivering as she hurriedly straightened her posture.

She seemed very nervous.

Di Nufeng was attending a meeting as Silver Sword Peak’s peak master, and Chu Liang suddenly had something urgent to attend to. So, Liu Xiaoyu’er had become the temporary peak master of Silver Sword Peak and had to shoulder the important task of bringing the temporary deputy peak master, the Golden-Furred Hou, to the tournament.

The little girl was truly terrified.

This was totally different from the Mahjong Tournament. All she had needed to do was arrange her tiles in a row and push them down; it had been extremely simple.

However, the Spirit-Pet Combat Tournament involved fighting!

Liu Xiaoyu’er wouldn't actually be fighting, but she and Golden-Furred Hou had become great friends. She would be very sad if the adorable Big Head were to get hurt.

"Heheh, don't be afraid," the tough guy said. He’d noticed that Liu Xiaoyu’er was quite scared. "I'll look after you, so you can relax."

Liu Xiaoyu'er nodded repeatedly. "Thank you!"

"What kind of spirit pet do you have?" the tough guy asked. Then he made a guess based off Liu Xiaoyu'er's appearance. "A little butterfly? A little bee? A flower fairy?"

"It's a very cute little spirit beast. It's called—"

Just as the little girl was about to answer the tough guy’s question, an attendant called out loudly.

"Huang Jingzhu from Iron Sword Peak and Liu Xiaoyu'er from Silver Sword Peak, get ready to fight!"

"I'm coming!" Liu Xiaoyu’er replied.

She scrambled to her feet and hurried over to the stage with small steps.

The tough guy and the little girl stepped onto the stage and stood on opposite sides.

Huang Jingzhu, the tough guy, laughed heartily. "So, I got matched up with you? Hahaha, what a coincidence."

Liu Xiaoyu'er looked at him with a rather pitiful expression, feeling that this was an unfair situation.

This man looks so fierce. His spirit pet must be very ferocious. I wonder if Big Head will get bullied.

"Hey, don't cry later," Huang Jingzhu said quickly. "I'll make sure my spirit pet holds back a bit. I promise it won’t kill your spirit pet, so don’t worry."

Then a roar ripped through the air. "Raaaar!"

A large mountain-like black bear climbed onto the stage. Its bloodshot eyes gleamed with bloodthirst, matching the tough guy’s disposition perfectly.

It was a Boorish Black Bear at the pinnacle of the fourth realm!

Liu Xiaoyu'er looked at the large black bear and pouted in fear, tears welling up in her eyes. "So scary..."

"You..." Huang Jingzhu began.

He was thinking about what he should say to comfort the little girl and what he should do to go easy on her. However, before he figured out what to say, the attendant brought out the little girl’s spirit pet...

The words that the tough guy had been about to say changed right then. "You didn’t make a mistake, did you?"

Huang Jingzhu was now looking at a massive golden-furred spirit beast that had a languid expression. It was several heads taller than his Boorish Black Bear, and it was shrouded by divine light. Despite its languidness, the spirit beast seemed to be suppressing its ferocious nature, making it much like a dormant volcano. It didn’t seem particularly interested in fighting... yet it was chewing on the iron chain holding it down!

Huang Jingzhu thought, Silver Sword Peak... No wonder I thought it sounded familiar.

I heard that Silver Sword Peak got a Golden-Furred Hou recently. Could this be the one?

This adorable little girl is raising this monstrous beast...?

There must be some mistake!

Liu Xiaoyu'er stroked the Golden-Furred Hou's fur and said tearfully, "Xiao Jinjin[1], you mustn’t get hurt."

Shouldn’t you be saying that to my Xiao Heihei[2] instead?

Huang Jingzhu was completely thrown off.

Now, he wasn't hoping that his spirit beast wouldn’t get hurt but rather that it wouldn’t get killed.

...

Chu Liang and his two companions arrived at a corner of Southern Bastion Mountain and saw the same black tree from the last time they were there.

It was Liu Sen.

He had given them a referral to join the Chamber of Loyalty, but he had not participated in the operation involving the Blue Dragon’s Hidden Realm and thus luckily avoided that calamity. Later, when General Hei Yu died suddenly, the Chamber of Loyalty was disbanded, and Liu Sen joined another chamber.

Now, Liu Sen had finally regained a stable standing in White-Bone Hall.

"You actually survived," Liu Sen said. He was quite surprised to see the trio alive. "That last trip to the hidden realm ended in total annihilation. Even General Hei Yu didn’t make it back."

"We were on the edge of the group at the time and noticed the situation quickly, so we managed to escape with our lives," Chu Liang recounted. His voice shook a little, a sign of his lingering fear. "Later, we heard something happened on White-Bone Mountain. However, we couldn’t find our way back, so we hid for a while."

"That’s right. Three immortal sects set up a blockade around White-Bone Mountain, resulting in major casualties for White-Bone Hall," Liu Sen explained angrily. "Daoist Yan killed over a hundred of our brothers with one sword strike. White-Bone Hall still hasn’t recovered from the battle. The hall master has ordered us to spread out and lie low and that we should prepare for an important event in a few days."

"What important event?" Chu Liang asked.

"I'll take you to meet my new chamber master first. He'll tell you then." Liu Sen got ready to leave. "I've now joined the Ghost-Face Chamber. The chamber master is rather temperamental. He’s not as good-tempered as General Hei Yu, so be careful."

"Understood," the trio replied.

The four of them sped off somewhere. This time, instead of going to White-Bone Mountain, they arrived at an inn in a small town.

In a room upstairs, they met a man with a shocking face. He was tall and burly and dressed in black clothes. His face was covered in horrific burn scars that made it look as though numerous black poisonous insects were crawling on his face.

No wonder his chamber was called Ghost-Face Chamber, Chu Liang thought.

Liu Sen introduced the trio to the man. "Chamber Master, these are the brothers I told you about. We were in the same chamber before. Now, they’d like to join us and become your subordinates."

"Very good. We’re in need of people right now. You’ve come at the right time," the scarred-faced man said with a smile. "Those in my chamber call me Ghost Face. From now on, you’ll be with me. Do well, and you may get a fixed position in my chamber in the future."

Ghost Face looked strange, but he seemed more normal than General Hei Yu. At least, Ghost Face didn’t make them to do any bizarre and unhygienic blood-oath rituals.

The trio bowed their heads and replied, "We will serve you faithfully like dogs!"

"We've been taking in anyone who wants to join us because there’s a major operation coming up," Ghost Face explained. "You've come just in time to join in. You’ll be paid very generously."

The trio raised their heads. "Oh?"

Ghost Face continued, "The hall master said that each participant in this operation will receive a thousand Vermilion-Bird coins. If you’ve contributed by killing, you'll get an additional five hundred for each person you kill. If your contributions are significant, you’ll even be rewarded with diabolical artifacts."

Even righteous sects had to offer spirit stones as a reward when they sent their disciples out on missions, so it’s obvious that diabolical sects, which placed greater value on receiving gains in exchange for their efforts, would offer even more. Without enough incentives, none of their members would be willing to participate in the sect's operations.

The Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten had their own currencies made from spirit stones, but it was very difficult for the diabolical sects to implement their own. They had to stay concealed in the shadows, so they wouldn't be able to convert their spirit stone currency to those of the righteous sects. Even if the Dark King Sect did make its own currency, its own members wouldn’t support its use, as it wouldn’t have any value outside their sect.

That’s why they used Taotie City’s currency.

Chu Liang thought, A thousand Vermilion-Bird coins for one mission... This is an incredibly high-paying job. My sect never has missions with such great rewards. Moreover, that amount is just what we’re getting. The chamber master will probably take a cut, so the original pay must be even higher.

People in the criminal world are really generous.[3]

Chu Liang inquired, "Chamber Master, may I ask what the operation entails?"

"I can't reveal the specifics yet. Just hang around somewhere in the southwest, but not too far away. And be ready at all times." Ghost Face threw out three jade talismans. "It's an unusual time right now, so it’s inconvenient for so many of us to gather in the same place. Take these tracking jade talismans. I’ll summon you here when you’re needed."

When Chu Liang took the jade talisman, he was grinning inwardly.

A thousand Vermilion-Bird coins for one operation... We don’t need to do anything for now... We just need to hang around in the southwest, which is basically at Mount Shu's doorstep, and be ready to rush over at any time.

It’s a high-paying job and requires little work. Just those two conditions make it a great job... but it’s close to home too.

It's the ideal job.

1. Another version of the Golden-Furred Hou’s nickname, Xiao Jin. This one is just a cuter version. ☜

2. Hei as in black. It’s the guy’s nickname for his black bear. ☜

3. Lol... Someone’s getting tempted. ☜