After a session of deep meditation, Yun Sheng realized dawn had already arrived.
The Huangteng Hunter Soldier Team would head to the Hunter Soldier Branch early today for the first round of B-level hunter team assessments and competitions.
The advancement rules for hunters on the continent stipulate that whether in individual or team competitions, one must challenge five (team) hunter soldiers of the same rank.
The five-round challenge follows a best-of-five format; after succeeding in the challenge, one must then challenge another B-level hunter (team) to pass the assessment.
The Hunter Soldier Branch selects challenging teams according to the number of members in the teams that signed up for the advancement assessment.
For the challenge against C-level teams, the members of Huangteng paid no mind, as their strength was already amongst the top ten C-level hunter teams of Great Zhou.
However, the recent addition of foreign hunter teams had made the situation in the arena rather unstable.
A few other Great Zhou hunter teams were also present for the assessment. Since they were all acquainted with each other, they greeted one another upon entering the Hunter Soldier Branch, waiting for their respective first-round challengers.
Not long after Yun Sheng and the others entered the Hunter Soldier Branch, a rolling rumble was heard.
The sound was as though someone was about to burst forth from underground.
Several foreign hunter teams walked in, and as soon as these teams entered, the Hunter Soldier Branch suddenly felt cramped and crowded.
In Great Zhou, Yun Sheng always thought Feng Kuo’s stature was quite tall, but as soon as these Hou Qin hunters entered, Feng Kuo’s figure suddenly seemed of normal height.
Three teams of hunters entered, one with five members and the other two with four. The team with five was particularly eye-catching - each with fair skin and golden locks, and faces remarkably exquisite, as if carved from ice and snow.
The remaining two teams were Hou Qin hunter teams. The first team to enter had members whose average height was well over two meters. Standing there, Feng Kuo resembled a set of four moving towers.
The four of them were clad in battle armor forged from black iron, each piece weighing at least twenty kilograms. Full armor along with greaves weighed at least a hundred kilograms, and a ferocious beast head was etched into the chest plate of the armor.
If a mage were burdened with such weight, they would have been crushed into pulp, but when this group walked in, their steps were orderly and their breath steady, evidently well-trained martial artists.
Battling such a hunter team in close combat would undoubtedly lead to a dead end.
Within the Hunter Soldier Branch, aside from the few members of Huangteng who remained composed, the faces of the other hunter teams had visibly changed.
The hunter teams present today may very well encounter each other in the arena shortly, and the impressive presence of the opposition had already instilled fear in some teams dominated by mages.
The Heihu Hunters of Hou Qin, a newly advanced hunter team composed of four brothers of the same surname, Hei Da, Hei Er, Hei San, Hei Si, included three martial artists and a War Beast Summoner, with the strength of the remaining three hovering around Great Martial Master level.
Their prowess in close combat, especially in surrounding and attacking, was particularly outstanding.
Wenren Xu whispered to the three team members about the origins of this Hunter Soldier Team.
Wenren Xu was the gossip of the Huangteng team; before he returned to the inn yesterday, he had inquired about the recent activities of several Hunter Soldier Teams entering and leaving Daoye Mountain. The Heihu Hunting Soldier Team was the most notorious lately.
"So this is a Hunter Soldier Team from Great Zhou. Since when did the standards get so low? If it weren’t for the Hunter Soldier Badges on you, I’d really think you were ants incapable of putting up a fight," the group of Black-armored Hunters let out a harsh cackling laugh.
The implication was that the hunters from the Daoye Mountain Hunting Soldier Branch were too subpar.
But no one dared to retaliate at this moment. These several Black Evil God Hunter Soldiers had a savage reputation in the city. It was said that they had been on Daoye Mountain for a month, and just half a month ago, they had passed the assessment for the C-class Hunter Soldier Team. Yet, after catching prey for half a month, they were already challenging the B-class Hunter examination.
The entire five D-class Hunter Soldier Teams they battled, including one challenged C-class Hunter Soldier Team, either died or got injured, all with crippling wounds. Their infamy had already spread across Daoye Mountain.
However, since everyone had signed the life and death waivers during the Hunter examination, the Hunting Soldier Branch had no choice but to suffer the loss in silence.
Mu Nanyan, with the most fiery temper, was about to explode upon hearing this.
"Boss Feng, these are also Hunters from Hou Qin. If it weren’t for the Hunter Soldier Badges they’re wearing, I’d really mistake them for wild boars that ran out of the forest. Those four look exactly like the Golden Rhinoceros Pigs in our mountains, even the way they walk and pound the ground is the same, making the earth call out," a naive and immature voice inappropriately chimed in.
The expressions of the speaking members of the Heihu Hunters darkened to almost the same shade as a scorched pot bottom.
Reminded by Yun Sheng, everyone realized that the four from Heihu looked unlike the typical Hou Qin people: they had narrow foreheads, flattened noses, and protruding teeth, coupled with overly muscular limbs, indeed resembling the clumsy Golden Rhinoceros Pigs.
Looking back at the speaker, it turned out to be a young girl with delicate and exquisite features.
Among the five blond Hunters standing by, a bewitchingly beautiful female hunter began to giggle.
"Courting death, where did this brat come from, daring to provoke us!" Hei San leapt forward, swiping a claw at Yun Sheng.
But Feng Kuo was even quicker than Hei San. Anticipating that the members of the Heihu Hunting Soldier Team would not let it go, he lifted Yun Sheng onto his shoulder as soon as she spoke.
With a wave of his Magic Scepter, a mound of earth rose abruptly, blocking Hei San’s attack.
At the same time, Wenren Xu and Mu Nanyan also sprung into action. Both drew their Magic Scepters and chanted incantations, and suddenly, Magic Elements of all schools gathered and clashed in the Hunter Soldier Branch, aggravating the already tense atmosphere.
"Hei San, others may fear you, but the Huangteng Hunting Soldier Team does not. A Martial Venerate like yourself bullying a young Summoner—if this gets out, I’m afraid your Heihu Hunting Soldier Team won’t be able to maintain a foothold in the industry," Feng Kuo said, his gaze turning fierce.
"Huangteng Hunting Soldier Team, are you the ’Madman’? Is he Ice Prince Wenren Xu, and Fiery Lady Mu Nanyan?" The people of Heihu came prepared; they had heard about Huangteng, reputed to be the strongest team among C-class Hunter Soldier Teams.
But the intelligence they had received earlier claimed that Huangteng lacked a Summoner and thus couldn’t advance in rank. Unexpectedly, they had found a Summoner after all.
Yet, was this brash little girl really their Summoner?