Chapter 143: Becoming a C-Rank Mercenary

After sweeping the core area clean, Lin Xiao was in a very good mood.

He was quite surprised that Zi Shu and the others did not recognize these spiritual herbs. After all, tasks involving the search for spiritual herbs were very common at the Mercenary Headquarters. Lin Xiao specifically asked them about it, and the answer he received left him both amused and exasperated. They explained that all spiritual herbs looked more or less the same; they had tried to learn how to identify them in the past, but after making a few jokes by mistaking common weeds for spiritual herbs, they gave up. Lin Xiao found this difficult to understand—the differences were so obvious to him, how could they not tell them apart? As he watched them help him search, he finally understood. Forget it, one cannot force these things. In the future, when working on missions with the War Wolf Mercenary Group, he could simply collect them himself during his downtime and gain plenty of extra points.

It took another full day to clear out the core area. Zi Shu and his team did not rush Lin Xiao, treating the time as a leisure trip. Besides, whenever it was mealtime, Lin Xiao would prepare delicious food using the spiritual beast meat they had obtained earlier. If they could, they would have happily stayed there forever.

Once the core area was stripped bare, the group finally began their return journey. They followed the path they had come by, encountering quite a few spiritual beasts along the way. Although the high-level beasts in the core area had been eliminated, there were still many others roaming the secret realm. However, it would likely take some time for this realm to recover to its former state.

It took another day and a half for the group to emerge from the secret realm. Returning to the real world, Lin Xiao felt a bit disoriented, as the difference in spiritual energy concentration between the two places was significant. The group easily located their military off-road vehicle; it was time to return to Kyoto to submit their missions. They encountered no danger on the way back and arrived in Kyoto by the afternoon.

Zi Shu took his team to submit their missions. He did not rush; instead, he first accepted several additional missions to slay spiritual beasts. There was no helping it—their harvest this time had been massive, and they had many carcasses on hand that corresponded to missions they hadn’t officially accepted yet. Since they could be completed instantly upon acceptance, why not take advantage of it? Once he was certain there were no more missions to be completed, Zi Shu took Lin Xiao to submit his own, as Lin Xiao had requested to familiarize himself with the process.

The Mercenary Headquarters had a dedicated department for verifying mission completion. By the end of the session, Zi Shu had helped Lin Xiao complete nine mercenary group missions. After splitting the rewards, Lin Xiao walked away with 90,000 points and 67 million in cash—far more than he had anticipated. This made him truly realize the benefits of joining a mercenary group. If he had been acting on his own, who knows how long it would have taken to earn that many points.

Zi Shu offered to give Lin Xiao a larger share, but Lin Xiao declined. There would be many opportunities for cooperation in the future, and he did not want to be treated as an exception. Zi Shu did not insist; these were merely the rewards for the missions. Once the spiritual cores and materials were sold, there would be another sum of income, which would be the bulk of their earnings. He could just give Lin Xiao a larger portion then. The materials and cores that needed to be sold had already been processed and stored by Zi Shu while Lin Xiao was busy gathering herbs in the secret realm. All that remained was to find a material merchant to sell them to.

Once everything was settled, Zi Shu looked at Lin Xiao. "Hai Zhu, let's take two days to rest. After that, we'll continue our missions. Want to join us again?"

"Absolutely!" Lin Xiao could not refuse; he was in urgent need of points and still aimed to become a B-rank mercenary as soon as possible.

Lin Xiao declined Zi Shu’s invitation to dine together, and after exchanging contact information, they parted ways. Once Zi Shu and the others left, Lin Xiao returned to the Mercenary Hall. He had completed the group missions, but he still had many individual ones to turn in. A quick glance showed that the total number of individual missions he had completed was actually higher than the group ones. By the time he finished, he had turned in over twenty individual missions. Since he had been in a Level 5 secret realm, the rewards were substantial; those twenty-plus missions added another 80,000 points to his total. Indeed, individual mission points could not compare to group ones.

He owed this windfall largely to that hundred-year-old Return-to-Origin Ginseng. A single mission involving it had netted him 50,000 points—more than all his other missions combined. With this, Lin Xiao’s total points reached over 170,000, promoting him directly from an F-rank to a C-rank mercenary. He had taken a giant step toward his goal of becoming a B-rank mercenary. If he were lucky, he might even reach it before his military training ended. Of course, Lin Xiao was just daydreaming; this time had been pure luck, and repeating such a harvest would likely not be so simple next time.

When he stepped out of the Mercenary Hall, the sky was already dimming. With two days of rest ahead, Lin Xiao decided to return to the Kyoto Spiritual Martial Arts Academy. He had nowhere else to go, and he found himself missing the guys in his dormitory.

***

Elsewhere, after settling their hunger, Zi Shu and his team found a nearby hotel to rest. Once everyone had dispersed, Zi Shu pulled out his phone and dialed a number. The call was answered after a long delay.

"Zi Shu? What is it?"

"Chief, I have something I need to report."

"Speak."

"I’ve found a promising talent, and I’d like to recruit him."

"Nonsense! Do you not understand the importance of your mission? Forget it—if you’ve taken a liking to him, he must have some merit. Tell me about his situation. If he’s qualified in all aspects, it’s not out of the question."

"Right. His name is Lin Xiao, a freshman at the Kyoto Spiritual Martial Arts Academy, a Level 2, SS-rank Power-type."

"Are you looking for a beating, kid?! You want to recruit just anyone! [Expletives]!"

Zi Shu had anticipated the outburst and knew the man’s temper. He held the phone away from his ear while the man ranted, only putting it back once the shouting ceased.

"Zi Shu, give me a reason. A reason why this guy should join."

"Yes, Chief..."

Zi Shu proceeded to briefly explain how Lin Xiao had joined them and his performance in the secret realm. The person on the other end fell silent, evidently processing the information.

"Nearly wiped out? Saved you several times? Plenty of medicinal pills? Excellent marksmanship? Spirit-imbued bullets? Are you sure they were spirit-imbued?"

"Yes! I am certain!"

"Then what are you waiting for? Bring the kid in immediately! If such a talent doesn't join the military, isn't that a waste?"

"Chief, that's not what you said a moment ago."

"You brat, are you looking for a beating?"

"Hehe, Chief, there is one problem, though."

"What problem?"

"I talked to the kid, and he's not interested!"

"Damn it! He's not interested? I don't care what method you use, you must recruit this kid!"