Chapter 34 - Adventurer's Guild

"Now you three behave yourselves," Ji Ting cried as she hugged her children. "Try not to kill another human, if you can help it. Even bandits are human."

"Are you crazy? You think I'll let live anyone who tried to kill me? I wouldn't have massacred all those people a few months ago if I had such foolish thoughts," Yang scorned in his mind.

"I'll try to keep it under control," Mei said.

"Yang?" Guo Feng asked.

"If they die, their defense wasn't adequate. Their deaths were their own fault," Yang shook his head. "Bandits are scum. They deserve to die, slowly and painfully."

"Don't be like him, Guo Lin," Ji Ting said. "You are still an innocent child. Stay that way."

"I'll try, Mom," Lin nodded.

"I'll need to slowly break the habit," Yang thought. "That way, his mind doesn't break later on in life."

"You will not make him like us," Mei whispered as they left the house before Lin.

"I had no intention. His upbringing is too fragile compared to ours. I know my own mind broke, and I was filled with rage and hate. A part of me still is. Bandits are the start for a stable foundation. He'll know and learn to kill if the situation demands it. He's not a child. He is a teen too," Yang said.

"The lovestruck idiot," Mei muttered in agreement. "What's the use of love if you lack the cultivation? Just get strong and take a wife, then."

"You already have such thoughts? Humans truly are weak to their own feelings," Yang said.

"You're human now too," Mei retorted.

"If only you knew just how wrong you are," Yang thought as they waited at the front gate of the school.

"Seems some of you had a rough goodbye," Guan Hai said as he saw Sun Yi, Lu Jing, and Guo Lin with red eyes.

"I was up late reading. I don't know if I packed enough books," Sun Yi said as he adjusted his glasses.

"I... I didn't cry," Lu Jing said, his sniffing betraying his words.

"When are we leaving?" Yang asked. "I packed my essentials already."

"We are making a quick stop. It's time you got exposed to the world outside your city. You all probably never left in your whole lives," Guan Hai said. "We're going to the Adventurer's Guild. You will be more exposed to the world. You'll also meet mages there."

"Mages..." Yang scowled. "I hate those bastards."

"You've met one?" Shen Dong asked. "They've only been coming to our continent since the Day of the Eye and the Snake. They usually live in other continents where magic is not frowned upon. In our empire, we recognize them, but it is an absolute truth that a practitioner is superior to a mage."

"What exactly is a mage?" Mei asked.

"Allow me," Sun Yi said. "Mages are humans born with no meridians suitable for cultivation. They are classified by nine ranks, with the top rank, or tenth rank, called the Saint level. Rank One to Rank 8 mages are all inferior to practitioners of the same overall strength. The true mage threats are the Rank 9 and Saint Mages."

"They're fragile, their bodies as weak as a non-cultivator's. Once you get in close range, they're nothing," Yang said. "You should all know a basic movement skill. Master those, and those scum are easy executions just lined up for your slaughter. Be it a practitioner or mage, they all look the same with their heads cut off. Just remember to not underestimate them. Their methods of fighting are not martial arts. One thing you should remember: being a mage is expensive. Thus, killing a mage is a profit."

"Cold words aside, he is correct," Shen Hua agreed. "Why are we going to the Adventurer's Guild?"

"We will get information on where the bandits are along the route to the capital. I did say you will hunt bandits for combat experience. You will also get connections to other continents, as well as information about them. The Adventurer's Guild is an independent organization from the nations of the world. If you wish to travel the world, it is the best asset to have," Guan Hai said. "The best training is one in which you journey and experience the horrors and dangers of the world."

"Doesn't the Adventurer's Guild have a test?" Sun Yi asked.

"The receptionists there will explain it all. Let's get moving," Guan Hai said and led them away from the academy. After twenty minutes, they arrived before a two-story building on the outskirts of the city near the west gate. They noticed many people going in and out of the building. Some wore robes, some wore lavish armor, and some just wore strange, foreign clothes. It was quite a bizarre sight.

"Hello. Are you here to turn in a quest?" a female receptionist asked, looking at Guan Hai.

"Oh no. I am an A-rank adventurer," Guan Hai said as he showed her a gold card.

"You were an adventurer?" Shen Hua asked.

"Let's just say I had a life before I entered the palace and was invited to the palace guards after a certain quest that saved the empire's important... luggage," Guan Hai said and turned to the receptionist. "I am here to register these eight kids. I'll pay the fee."

"Very well. You eight, please enter the door to your right. You will be tested there soon after," the receptionist smiled and gestured to the door by the counter. "You will be tested one by one."

"I'll go last," Yang said as he went to a desk and sat down.

"Hey kid. You ain't a member yet. Get off the desk," a man said as he and three others appeared.

Yang grinned and lunged at them. One fist broke the mouth of one man as he kicked the solar plexus of another, causing the man to throw up his breakfast. The last man's eyes widened in surprise as he saw a spear point between his eyes, Yang rolling his head.

"You people are only at the Spirit Forming Stage. You think you're my superior?" Yang said as he smashed the man's face with his spear, hitting the back of the ankle with the butt of the spear to make the man backflip onto his face. He bent down and grabbed the man's head by his hair. "I have more combat experience and have killed more people than you can ever achieve in your pathetic lifetime."

"Ugh," the man groaned as Yang slammed his head on the floor.

"Yeah, I'll go last," Yang grinned as he leaned back in the chair where he sat. No one did anything to him, as strength was the law of the land. They were shocked to discover someone so young already at the Elemental Adept stage. After an hour, it was finally Yang's turn. No one ever returned, so Yang assumed they were waiting for everyone inside so as not to reveal what the test was.

As he walked through the door, he entered a long hall. Past the door was a giant room with the others seated on the right. Three people stood on the left side of the room with a long rectangular desk before them. He walked to the center of the room and faced them.

"First name and clan name?" one asked.

"Yang of the Guo Clan," he answered.

"Fighting style?" another asked.

"I use a spear as my main weapon," he answered.

"If you saw a village under attack by bandits, what would you do?" they asked.

"Kill all but one of the bandits. Then, I would follow the bandit to their headquarters and wipe them out," Yang answered.

"Have you ever killed someone?" a man asked.

"Yes," Yang sighed. "What kind of test is this? Let's just fight and get it over with. I know only one of you is at the Elemental Adept Stage. If I beat him, I want his guild rank."

"Cheeky brat!" the middle man said and rushed toward Yang. Yang simply stood there, and then a red blur came from his right sleeve and landed on the man's neck. It was a bright red snake. The man's eyes widened as he reached for his neck, feeling the poison spread. Yang grinned and took out his spear, smashing the man in the face. He used his Moon Slicer Art to cut several wounds, deep enough to leave scars, on the man's chest.