Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Elite Assignment

Around three-thirty in the afternoon, Liu Zong completed the day’s assigned tasks and headed to the designated location. This time, the spot was no longer the previous one, but rather a point along the trajectory Liu Zong had observed.

He more or less understood now that the pig-headed Type IV Seven Knights primary control core would usually drift through the dust storms, never leaving the area under the Golden Pine Valley base’s control. Each time the storm abated, the pig-head would descend to the ground, and that was the sole opportunity each day to catch sight of the primary control core.

Over the years, the residents of Golden Pine Valley had recorded the various places where the core would land, and by now, they could generally predict where the pig-head would touch down next, based on its previous landing.

Today, Liu Zong encountered no one attempting to seize control rights. He simply waited at the spot until the pig-head descended, then hopped onto it with a light leap.

As he jumped, Liu Zong instinctively swept his spear, and to his surprise, a small swirl of yellow sand gathered at the tip. Startled, he recalled his movement and realized that the manner in which he had swung the spear was similar to the pig-head’s drifting path. All his spear techniques had been learned from soul fragments, and his constant practice had ingrained breathing and meditation into every move. It was this combination, together with the newly discovered trajectory, that produced such a result.

This strange phenomenon made Liu Zong realize that the pig-head’s movement was somehow compatible with his spear techniques, perhaps even capable of producing unexpected effects.

With little time to dwell on these differences, Liu Zong forced the pig-head’s movement pattern into his memory and turned his attention to the core itself.

He quickly noticed a difference from the day before: the storm had ceased and much of the dust had settled, which made sense. However, what puzzled him was the presence of negative energy and undead aura within the sand.

Though full of questions, Liu Zong couldn’t spare the time for investigation. His task was heavy today. He carved a summoning array at the pig-head’s brow once again and immediately set to work.

Perhaps thanks to Liu Chun’s earlier hints, Liu Zong paid special attention to the flow of yin energy as he cast the summoning spell.

Soon, he discovered that although the yin attribute couldn’t fully transform the pig-head into an undead, it was being guided along a special channel into some core area.

When Liu Zong tried to sense the direction of this energy, everything was suddenly blocked. No matter how many times he attempted, the outcome was the same. An hour passed; he was still unable to track where the yin energy went. At last, he simply let the pig-head be swept into the air by the renewed storm.

This time, Liu Zong didn’t hurry back. Instead, he used his sensitivity to the yin attribute to follow the pig-head through the storm, tracking it for nearly thirty minutes.

In those thirty minutes, Liu Zong circled most of the Golden Pine Valley perimeter. He noticed the sandstorms were not constant; sometimes fierce enough to whip sand from the ground into the air, other times gentle enough that sand would fall back down. The descending sand carried slivers of negative energy, which slowly accumulated on the ground.

Not long after he began following the pig-head, Liu Zong spotted Liu Chun approaching from a distance. The two caught sight of each other and stopped.

Liu Zong was first to speak. “Senior Liu, you felt it too?”

“Yes. Judging by the current situation, the negative energy around Golden Pine Valley will erupt in about four days. If that happens, we’ll be in trouble.”

Liu Zong was at a loss for words. Liu Chun then asked, “What brings you out here?”

Liu Zong explained his work over the last two days and pointed to the sky. “I sense that the primary control core is now in that position.”

“The primary core swept up into the storm?” Liu Chun mused. “In that case, I think I know which two Seven Knights Type IV they’re planning to activate.”

Liu Zong wasn’t surprised. Clearly, Liu Chun had done his homework before arriving, unlike himself, who knew nothing.

Still, Liu Zong asked, “Is there anything we need to do?”

Liu Chun shook his head. “For now, just keep up with your daily tasks. To summon those two Type IVs, they’ll need at least eight more days.”

The two quickly returned to the Golden Pine Valley base. Liu Zong didn’t linger to chat with Liu Chun; he resumed his daily training, while Liu Chun attended to his own matters.

Liu Chun’s path was already set—what he needed now wasn’t more training, but resources. Every moment was spent gathering what he required, not in routine exercises.

Liu Zong, on the other hand, had to start over, choosing a new profession. Much of what he’d learned previously was now useless, so he devoted every second to training. Fortunately, all the other players here had reached Liu Chun’s level, so no one disturbed Liu Zong’s practice.

Thus, Liu Zong trained steadily until around nine at night. Returning to his tent to meditate and rest, he found Liu Chun waiting outside with another player.

Liu Zong recognized the visitor—a junior of Zhu Yan from Third High School of Yangcheng, a fire attribute warrior-mage. Among the students, those with dual cultivation of fire magic and martial arts were more common than those with yin or metal attributes.

This time, the two fire attribute warrior-mages who accompanied Liu Chun were both close and trustworthy juniors of Zhu Yan. Without Zhu Yan’s approval, Liu Zong would never have believed they would be brought here.

Liu Zong nodded in greeting. “Senior Liu, Senior Chen, good evening.”

The fire attribute warrior-mage was named Chen Jialiang. He greeted Liu Zong politely and got straight to the point. “Brother Liu, we’re here to ask if you’re free after tomorrow’s daily tasks. Will you join us for a small mission?”

Liu Zong didn’t answer right away, instead glancing at Liu Chun.

Liu Chun explained, “While I was casting the summoning spell, I noticed something unusual at the summoning spot. After checking, I found an elite monster there. Once I confirmed its attributes, I contacted Chen Jialiang. He went to investigate today and received an elite mission.”

The two assessed their strength and realized they couldn’t handle the elite monster alone, so they turned to Liu Zong for help.

After hearing this, Liu Zong nodded. “An elite mission? No problem, but what about the rewards?”

Chen Jialiang immediately explained, “The mission’s system reward is fifty units of high-grade sulfur. I’ll give ten units each to Liu Chun and you. As for the monster’s corpse, I’ll only take the required quest item; the rest will be split between you and Liu Chun.”

Liu Zong considered, then asked, “And any other items we find along the way?”

“Finders keepers,” Chen Jialiang said without hesitation.

“It’s a deal.”