Yun Sheng embarked on this journey as a Yanyun Summoner, setting off together with the Huangteng Hunting Soldier Team.
Bringing Little Black was also something Yun Sheng had planned for a long time.
Not to mention anything else, Yun Sheng’s official Summoned Beast, Bobbie, was extremely unreliable.
The appearance of Bobbie was too shocking and unconventional, Yun Sheng did not intend to summon it casually.
Little Black was much better, its instant black "Swallowing Sky" Combat Skills could strike unawares, and in case of encountering an unbeatable foe, it could also make an immediate escape.
Yun Sheng released Little Black from the Linglong Tower.
Seeing Yun Sheng with Little Black, the trio from Huangteng who had previously seen the true nature of Yun Sheng’s Summoned Beast, obviously breathed a sigh of relief.
A man and a dog, together with the Huangteng Hunting Soldier Team, left Yujing City.
"Yun Sheng, if you want to join Huangteng, you must first become a Hunter Soldier. Hunter Soldier ranks include S, A, B, C, D, E six standard levels; anyone with the identity of a Martial Artist, Mage, or Summoner can use the corresponding identity proof to get a Hunter Soldier badge at the local branch. You may present a Magic Warrior Badge or a Summoning Ring," Feng Kuo, being the leader among the four, carefully explained to Yun Sheng about the Continent Mercenary Guild and Hunter Soldiers on the way.
Thus, Yun Sheng was introduced to a completely unprecedented new world, a whole new world about Hunter Soldiers.
Apart from the rank divisions of Hunter Soldiers, according to the number of people and the teams they belong to, Hunter Soldiers are divided into Hunter Soldier Teams, Hunting Corps, and Free Hunters.
The first two can directly accept various individual and team missions, while the latter can only accept individual missions.
Therefore, to conveniently access a variety of mission types, most Hunter Soldiers on the continent join a specific team or corps.
Hunting teams, like Hunter Soldiers, are also divided into the same six levels, S, A, B, C, D, E, and each level can only undertake missions corresponding to their rank and cannot overstep it.
The higher the tier of the Hunting team, the richer the Hunter Soldier missions they access, and the higher the rewards and prestige they receive.
Huangteng’s team had been together for seven to eight years, and under Feng Kuo’s leadership, the strength of the three had been quite good, progressing from E rank to C rank, also making a name for themselves in the Great Zhou Hunter Soldier World.
However, due to the rules of the Hunter Soldier Alliance, Feng Kuo and his team could only stop at the C rank Hunter Soldier Team.
This time, after finding Yun Sheng, the whole team was overjoyed.
Unlike individual promotion of Hunter Soldiers, which only requires taking assessments at the city-level Hunter Soldier branches, for a hunting team to upgrade, it is necessary to go to specific Hunter Soldier Guard Cities.
Across the continent, in the border regions of each country, such a Guard City is distributed.
The Daoye Mountain City that Yun Sheng and others were about to reach is one of such Hunter Soldier Guard Cities.
The existence of Hunter Soldier Guard Cities serves two purposes; one is to facilitate the assessment of Hunter Soldiers, and the other is to enhance the abilities of the Hunter Soldiers.
When Feng Kuo spoke up to this point, Wenren Xu and Mu Nanyan both made a gesture of getting ready for action, with Wenren Xu even indignantly saying, "Finally, we can hold our heads high. This time, I must beat down that bunch of C rank Hunter Soldier Team until even their own mothers don’t recognize them."
Yun Sheng was still puzzled. Weren’t they here to attend an upgrade assessment? Somehow, it sounded more like they were coming to fight.
Soon, Yun Sheng understood the meaning behind Wenren Xu’s words.
Great Zhou boasts a vast territory, nearly as large as Yun Sheng’s modern homeland, Country Z, and features a diverse landscape.
After crossing several steep mountain ranges, a large pale blue, oval stone building appeared before them.
When he saw the building, Yun Sheng realized the so-called Hunting Soldier Guard City was not an actual city; it was a massive structure resembling a sports stadium.
"Boss Feng, is this Daoye Mountain City? It looks more like an Arena," Yun Sheng was certain this was an Arena.
The Arena, similar to the relics of Ancient Roman animal fights, is gigantic, about half the size of Yujing City, larger than any modern sports stadium Yun Sheng had seen.
"You have a commendable experience, Sheng girl. This is indeed an Arena, the nationally approved Arena inside Great Zhou, Daoye Mountain, that’s the name of this place," Feng Kuo said while buying a map at the entrance of the Arena and handed it to Yun Sheng.
Like any organized nation on the continent, Great Zhou prohibits fighting to death, especially among special groups like Mages, Martial Artists, and Summoners, whose battles must never affect civilians.
However, on the other hand, fighting is inevitable. If the champions of a nation lose their fighting spirit, the country’s decline becomes inevitable.
To avoid such situations, the Five Great Countries came up with the idea of Hunting Soldier Guard Cities.
Hunting Soldier Guard Cities are often located in remote, mountainous areas or regions plagued by beast chaos. This allows the overly enthusiastic Hunter Soldiers to compete locally—curbing local beast threats and ensuring that the powerful Mages, Summoners, and Martial Artists do not harm innocent civilians.
"The process of Hunter Soldier Team assessment, in truth, is competition. For example, for a B-level Hunter Soldier Team to upgrade from C-level, they must issue challenges to their peer teams and achieve more than three victories to undergo the final assessment. The content of the final assessment is to defeat a B-level Hunter Soldier Team," explained Feng Kuo and the others, who hadn’t clarified this to Yun Sheng in advance.
They were also worried that Yun Sheng might get stage fright and refuse to come, which would have been troublesome.
"However, Sheng girl, don’t worry, our strength ranks us among the top five in the C-level Hunter Soldier Teams. When the time comes, you might not even need to make a move; just sitting on Boss’s shoulders will do," joked Wenren Xu.
Inside Daoye Mountain, it was bustling. With Yun Sheng’s small arms and legs, she could easily be overwhelmed by the towering Hunter Soldiers.
To prevent Yun Sheng from getting lost, Feng Kuo, who was over two meters tall, simple put Yun Sheng on his shoulder again.
Yun Sheng felt embarrassed, but she soon discovered the profound truth in the words of the Hall-level great person, Newton—sitting (standing) on the shoulders of a giant facilitates tasks.
Feng Kuo’s shoulders were broad and wide, literally a human cushion; Yun Sheng, sitting there, had a great view.
Yun Sheng flipped through the map in her hand while checking out the layout of Hunting Soldier Guard City.
"Oh, Boss Feng, there are also armories and medical centers inside the Guard City?" Discovering the shops on the map of Daoye Mountain, Yun Sheng felt like she had discovered a new continent.
"Not just weapons and elixirs, generally speaking, the marketplace in the Guard City might also have treasures unavailable elsewhere in the country, even in Yujing," Feng Kuo kindly explained.