Yan Li could of course hide on a tree, but if he was discovered, then the situation would be completely different.
He said loudly, "Whether we are friends or not depends on Senior's attitude."
The two sides met face to face, each standing still.
The owner of the old voice was a sixty-something-year-old old man. His temples were white, his face weathered, and his eyes were filled with wrinkles. He was clearly an experienced master.
This person was a first grade martial artist.
Yan Li couldn't tell if it was a second or third grade, or a cultivator, but a first grade martial artist was the most accurate. But times were different now, and a first grade martial artist was no longer a strong person in his eyes.
Other than the old man, there were three other young people, two men and one woman.
The two men were about the same age, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. They wore clothes that were convenient for movement, similar to what Yan Li was wearing, but the material was different, clearly much more expensive. One had a square face, looking resolute; the other a horse face, looking somewhat gloomy.
The woman was around twenty-two or twenty-three, wearing a short blue dress that only reached her knees. She wore a pair of dark red boots. She had a beautiful oval face, her eyebrows slightly thick, but her nose bridge was high. Her lips were arched, and her lips were prominent. Overall, she gave off a sense of beauty.
"Although the hunting ground is a cultivator's hunting ground, it is dangerous and unpredictable. It is fate that we met." The old man cupped his hands, "This old man is Feng Kaishan. I have come to hunt the Ghost Head Bee's wings on someone's request."
This was a declaration of his position. Clearly, he didn't want any unnecessary conflict.
"This one is Yan Li," Yan Li returned the greeting with a smile.
"So it is Young Master Yan," The woman's beautiful eyes shone, "I am Liu Ying of Heavenly Eagle Pavilion. I have followed Senior Feng to broaden my horizons. Could it be that Young Master Yan came alone? "
Yan Li was about to speak when the horse-faced man immediately sneered, "I have been in River Flower City for so many years, but I have only seen one person enter a dangerous hunting ground alone. That is our pavilion master, Heavenly Eagle. Little Ying, look at him. He must have gone through a fierce battle. I am guessing that he got separated from his hunting chief. "
Liu Ying's eyes showed disappointment.
The square-faced man tried to smooth things over. "I'm Yang Kaitai, and he's Li San. The three of us are members of the Sky Eagle Pavilion. If Brother Yan doesn't mind, you can join our hunting group. As long as Brother Yan contributes, you will naturally have a share of the reward. "
Yan Li's heart skipped a beat. It was a good opportunity to ask them about him, so he said, "Actually, I just came out of Jishui Commandery, and I'm going to join a hunting group to earn some money."
The porters had hired men, and the hunters had headhunters. Mercenaries gathered various porters under their command, but headhunters were different. They received commissions from their employers and then temporarily gathered cultivators to form hunting groups to complete the commission. Both of them had one thing in common, and that was that only highly respected people were qualified to receive a certificate. According to the law of Dragon Emperor Dynasty, if a headhunter was not certified, he would be convicted.
A Hunting Group was a temporary organization. If it became a permanent organization, it would become a gang. The Sky Eagle Pavilion was a gang. Almost all gangs were formed from hunting groups.
"Then Brother Yan is really alone?" Yang Kaitai asked in surprise.
"The Ghost Forest is famous for its dangers," Liu Ying exclaimed, covering her mouth.
"Hmph!" Li San's expression was a bit ugly, "I was just lucky."
Yan Li glanced at him and smiled faintly, "It was indeed luck. I encountered Demon-Head Bees, but they were all killed. Two or three escaped, and I ended up in such a miserable state."
Feng Kaishan said keenly, "You mean, there are Demon-Head Bee corpses ahead?"
"That's right," Yan Li said.
Feng Kaishan clapped in surprise, "Brother Yan is really our lucky star. Everyone, follow this old man. "
Saying so, he took the lead and rushed out.
Everyone followed him to the previous battlefield. Seeing the ground full of Demon-Head Bee corpses, they all smiled in surprise.
"Wait!" Feng Kaishan suddenly shouted in a low voice.
"Senior, what's wrong?" Liu Ying became nervous.
Feng Kaishan carefully observed the ground full of corpses, saying, "Look at the way they died. Most of them were killed with a single blow. Demon-Head Bees have natural armor, and only a top-notch swordsman can accurately hit the weak point of a Demon-Head Bee. "
Yan Li's face was blank. Armor?
Yang Kaitai said in shock, "Among the headhunters of River Flower City, only our Pavilion Master can do this. Pavilion Master has been in seclusion recently. Could it be that there are new experts in River Flower City?"
Feng Kaishan shook his head, saying, "The Fireworks Festival is coming soon. It is not strange for experts to gather here. Let's quickly clean up before the next wave of Demon-Head Bees comes!"
An hour later, Feng Kaishan carried a large bundle of Demon-Head Bee wings on his back. He brought everyone to a dry place with the back of a mountain and set up camp.
"Elder Feng, why don't we go back directly? Hasn't the mission been completed?" Li San asked, puzzled.
Feng Kaishan smiled, saying, "This is a rare opportunity. One of the Demon-Head Bees' nests has been destroyed, and there are only a few newly arrived. We can rest here until dawn, and then go back to kill another wave. We can still easily earn some money."
Next, they set up camp, gathered firewood, and cooked a pot of meat soup. The meat was dried meat brought from the city, and without any seasoning, it was fragrant. Yan Li also got a share of the soup.
Once the hot soup entered their stomachs, they were in the mood to talk. Feng Kaishan smiled, saying, "Little brother Yan came from Jishui Commandery?"
Yan Li smiled, saying, "To tell you the truth, I have lived in the mountains since I was young. This is also my first time going to Jishui Commandery. I met a hired man, and he was the one who introduced me to River Flower City."
Feng Kaishan said, "I see. In my early years, I was also a hired man. Later, I discovered that I had a talent for cultivation … "
At this point, he laughed self-deprecatingly, "I thought I was a cut above the rest, and plunged headfirst into the world of cultivation. Only then did I discover that one cannot become an expert just by being hot-blooded. The most important things in cultivation are one's true name, one's appearance, and one's method. The former is related to one's teacher, while the latter determines one's achievements. My true name was sixth grade, and no sect was willing to accept me. I saved up for seven years before I could buy a beginner's cultivation technique. It took me forty years before I could cultivate to become a first grade martial artist. Now that I look back, I've lived my life in such a sullen manner. I might as well hire a hired man and live a carefree life, sigh … "
Liu Ying comforted him, saying, "Senior's current income is no lower than that of a hired man at the docks. There's no need to belittle yourself."
Feng Kaishan shook his head, saying, "A hired man's head hangs on his waist. What he earns is blood, sweat, and tears. It's incomparable."
Yan Li said, "I just came down from the mountains and don't know anything. Elder Feng, can you tell me more about the world of cultivation?"
Feng Kaishan said straightforwardly, "Since there's plenty of time, I'll tell you."
Following that, Yan Li roughly understood his situation from Feng Kaishan's words.
Among the eight great realms of the human world, apart from the Giant Deer Realm, there was a Magnate in each realm. Below the Magnate was the government that belonged to the Dragon Emperor Dynasty. In every prefecture, there was a "Shun Tian Prefecture", with a prefect and a number of guards. All cultivators had to register their names in the "Shun Tian Prefecture" to show their allegiance to the Dragon Emperor Dynasty. Below the government were the major sects.
River Flower City, where he was now, was one of the mid-tier prefectures of the Northern Tang Empire. The entire Northern Tang Empire was controlled by the Tang Sect, an aristocratic family. They controlled the lifeblood of all the cultivators in the realm, which was the management of the hunting grounds, treasure pavilions, etc.
River Flower City had two sects that belonged to the local tyrants. One was the Dragon River Gang, and the other was the Sky Eagle Pavilion. Other sects like the Cao Gang, the Wine Hut on the Mountain, and the Heavenly Plan Institute were all dragons that crossed the river.
But regardless of whether they were local tyrants or dragons, the true overlord of River Flower City was someone else — King Lu. King Lu, Ji Changzhi, was the thirteenth younger brother of the Sage Emperor. There were very few princes in the Dragon Emperor Dynasty who were conferred the title of King. King Lu was not only conferred the title of King, but also had his own fief. His power could not be underestimated. Even the Tang Sect had to give him some face.
Other than that, there were the two hunting grounds.
The Specter Forest was a low-level hunting ground. The periphery was filled with ghosts without intelligence, which was the will-o '-wisp that Yan Li had discovered when he first entered. The periphery was the territory of various monsters. The Ghost Head Bee was only a mid-level monster in Specter Forest. The real monsters were the Man-eating Grass and Frost Wolves.
The Dark Bat Forest was a high-level hunting ground, and the monsters inside were even more terrifying.
If the employer's target was in the Dark Bat Forest, they would need at least three hires and a hunting party of more than thirty people before they dared to venture in.
Yan Li now knew that there were different types of Meteorite Beasts. Those like the ghosts, which were made of pure energy, were innate. Those like the Ghost Head Bee, on the other hand, were acquired. So when they died, one would turn into smoke, while the other would leave behind a corpse.
After listening to Feng Kaitian's story, Yan Li also understood the reason for Old Man Wang's attitude towards cultivators. To put it bluntly, being a cultivator was just a job to support the family. It had nothing to do with being noble or superior. It was no different from being a headhunter, an employer, a waiter, a porter, a cart carrier, and so on. There was no essential difference.
The reason was clear to him at a glance. Just River Flower City alone had such a complicated power structure. There were layers upon layers, one suppressing the other. As an unaffiliated cultivator, as the lowest rung of the cultivation world, without extraordinary strength, other than killing Star Fallen Beasts, what use was there for them?
Cultivators were mostly proud and arrogant. After all, they had real names that ordinary people did not have. Most of them were educated, and so if they were asked to carry manure or pull carts, it would be worse than being beaten to death. So the value of the hunting ground was magnified infinitely, because too many people relied on it to make a living.
Outside the hunting ground, the Precious Treasures Pavilion, the Heavenly Plan House, the Medicine King Yard, and the government stripped them of everything. In the end, there was very little left for unaffiliated cultivators to use for cultivation.
In this aspect, the cultivators of the Divine Continent were much better than them. Once you became a cultivator, you could first rely on a rich family and become a guard or instructor. If others knew that you were a cultivator, they would be a cut below you. There was no need to fight, just reveal your identity. You could live like a prince and take money for free. There was no better way to live than this.
In the Jambu Realm, you could forget about such a life.
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