Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Mu Tianxing of Peerless Guild
A’gui fished with complete concentration.
The few anglers beside him found it astonishing.
“Whose Summoned Beast is this little skeleton?”
Cui Xianglong set his fishing rod aside and stopped fishing altogether, watching A’gui with great interest.
“There are still people choosing Summoner these days. Admirable courage.”
“That said, this little fellow’s luck is truly quite good. It actually has a Third Rank bloodline.”
“If the second Summoned Beast is also raised to the Third Rank, then he might really be able to pass the First Advancement mission.”
As the President of the Class-Holder Association, Lin Yandong naturally knew exactly who the little skeleton’s master was.
The boy had only awakened yesterday, yet he had relied on a Third Rank Shield Guard to solo-clear Nightmare Difficulty Golden Fang Ruins.
Then, this very morning, he had instantly killed the Nightmare Difficulty assessment robot
and obtained the black pass.
And before noon had even arrived, he had gone on to solo-clear Nightmare Difficulty Skeleton Graveyard.
Not even the donkeys in the old production brigades worked that efficiently.
The Tianfeng City Class-Holder Forum had already descended into utter chaos because of that little fellow.
Pointing at A’gui, Lin Yandong said to Cui Xianglong,
“Were you not just now wondering who it was that solo-cleared Nightmare Difficulty Skeleton Graveyard?”
“It was him.”
“Or rather, his master.”
“What?” Cui Xianglong abruptly shot to his feet and carefully sized A’gui up.
“A Summoner solo-cleared Nightmare Difficulty Skeleton Graveyard?”
“Incredible.”
A class universally acknowledged to belong in the gutter
had actually solo-cleared a Level 15 Nightmare dungeon ranked among the top three most difficult in Tianfeng City.
Other than incredible, Cui Xianglong could think of no other word for it.
“President Mu, what do you think?”
Lin Yandong turned his gaze toward the old man in the security uniform.
The old man’s name was Mu Tianxing, the President of Peerless Guild.
He was a Level 60 Holy Knight, only one step away from advancing into a Third Advancement Judgement Knight.
Though Mu Tianxing looked like an old man at present, his true age was only thirty-six.
It was because he had been afflicted by an Aging Curse that he had become like this.
Three months ago,
in order to help Mu Tianxing complete his Third Advancement mission,
Xia Country had assembled twenty-five powerful class-holders and sent them into the Level 60 regional dungeon, Nightmare Difficulty Cursed Temple.
The difficulty of a regional dungeon on Nightmare Difficulty far exceeded imagination.
Its Final Boss had been a Sixth Rank Lord-class Lich.
A Lord-class Boss possessed an Aura skill,
making it exceptionally difficult to deal with.
The Aura ability of the Final Boss in Cursed Temple had been Aging.
As the battle dragged on, the bodies of the class-holders would undergo irreversible aging.
It was a terrifying effect.
The Lich had certainly been powerful, but the class-holders Xia Country sent were all elites chosen from among ten thousand.
In the end, they still managed to destroy the Lich.
However, Mu Tianxing had underestimated just how cunning a Lord-class Boss could be.
Before it died,
the Lich had used its phylactery as a medium
to cast an SS-Rank curse spell and fuse that phylactery into Mu Tianxing’s body.
The Lich was dead,
and yet in another sense, it was not dead at all.
As a result, Mu Tianxing’s Third Advancement mission had only been half completed.
If Mu Tianxing could wear away the power of the curse,
then not only would his strength return to its former peak,
he would also become the first class-holder on Blue Star to achieve Third Advancement.
But if Mu Tianxing died first,
then the Lich would use Mu Tianxing’s body to revive on the spot.
In short, Mu Tianxing’s life was of vital importance to Blue Star.
If the maniacs from Dark Knight Guild, those lunatics who knew only destruction, learned of Mu Tianxing’s whereabouts,
then all of Tianfeng City would likely be placed in danger.
“President Lin, you want him to enter Peerless Guild?” Mu Tianxing shifted into a more comfortable posture.
“Solo-clearing a Nightmare dungeon does meet the qualifications for entering Peerless Guild.”
“But I’ll need to see the boy in person. I don’t want anyone of bad character.”
Mu Tianxing’s words were met with unanimous agreement from the others.
If someone lacked equipment, they could slowly acquire it.
If they were low-level, they could slowly grind upward.
But if their character was poor, then there was no remedy for that.
One could hardly pour money and effort into raising a person,
only to end up nurturing an ungrateful wolf.
Besides, entry into Peerless Guild meant stepping into the hidden inner core of Xia Country.
One would come into contact with many secrets.
If such a person turned traitor,
would that not be a catastrophic loss?
For that reason, Mu Tianxing had to see the little skeleton’s master with his own eyes.
Alas.
What did the old saying go again?
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.
Lin Yuan came rolling up his sleeves, heading straight toward A’gui.
“I told you to catch two fish, and you’re sitting here actually fishing.”
“How many have you caught?”
Lin Yuan crouched down and looked into the box beside A’gui.
It was completely empty.
“Skunked?”
For some reason, the moment he heard that word,
A’gui felt as though he had been stabbed clean through the heart.
Skunked.
Skunked!
At that moment, A’gui swore inwardly
that never again would anyone be allowed to say he had been skunked.
“It’s been an hour, and you haven’t caught a single fish. If I’d gone to the market to buy fish, I’d already be back by now.”
“Come on. Don’t get in the way of these old brothers... old grandfathers fishing.”
A’gui reluctantly followed Lin Yuan away.
Once they were a little farther off, Lin Yandong shot Mu Tianxing a look.
“You saw him. What do you think?”
Mu Tianxing looked rather speechless.
“We barely exchanged a few words. What exactly am I supposed to see?”
Setting down his fishing rod, Mu Tianxing stood up and picked up the water bucket at his feet.
“Didn’t he say he wanted fish? I’ll take him a few.”
Cui Xianglong gave a grin and also rose with two fish in hand.
Walking over to Lin Yandong, he glanced at the bucket by the man’s feet.
“Oh? President Lin, got skunked, did you?”
Veins popped on Lin Yandong’s forehead.
“Get lost, you bastard.”
As they passed the swan flock, Lin Yandong frowned slightly.
Why did his little darlings seem somewhat off today?
Could it be that they had entered mating season?
...
Back at the stove, Lin Yuan let out a sigh.
“A’gui is hopeless. He didn’t catch any fish. Let’s just eat the geese today.”
Sun Xu had already gotten the fire going for grilled fish.
When he heard there were no fish, he turned around to look at Lin Yuan—
or rather, more precisely, at A’gui standing behind him.
“An undead-type Summoned Beast.”
The moment A’gui saw Sun Xu, he waved at him.
“Heh-heh-heh-heh~”
Well then.
Sun Xu finally understood why Lin Yuan had named him A’gui.
That laugh—
it was truly ghostly.
The heat was just right, and Sun Xu lifted the lid off the iron pot.
The aroma burst out all at once,
so rich that it made the stomach’s hunger practically claw its way out.
The iron-pot stewed goose was brought to the table, fragrant beyond measure.
Lin Yuan picked up a goose leg and bit down hard.
The meat was firm yet tender, carrying exactly the right amount of chew.
It was delicious.
After crunching through the bone,
even the marrow hidden in the cracks of it was fragrant.
Lin Yuan’s eyes lit up.
“This is incredible!”
The two of them were eating happily when Cui Xianglong walked over, sniffing deeply.
“Fragrant. Far too fragrant.”
After setting the two fish down to the side, Cui Xianglong sat down in a bold, broad manner.
“Would you two young brothers mind letting a few of us join?”
Lin Yuan glanced at the three of them,
then gave them an open and generous smile.
“Listen to you. It’s only a matter of adding a few more pairs of chopsticks.”
“No need to stand on ceremony. Please, sit.”
Mu Tianxing set the fish down.
“I heard you say earlier that you wanted to grill fish. I caught quite a few, so I’m giving them to you.”
“That’s perfect.”
Sun Xu’s eyes lit up, and he immediately skewered the fish and set them over the fire.
With more people at the table, the goose disappeared very quickly.
Sun Xu then brought over the roast goose.
“Try my secret recipe.”
The skin of the roast goose was golden and crisp.
The moment one bit into it, it crackled sharply, and fragrance poured out.
“Ah, not bad at all. Better than what many great chefs could make.”
Everyone raised their thumbs in praise.
Lin Yandong ate with the greatest enthusiasm. After half a roast goose went down, he let out a full belch.
“Where did you buy these geese? The flavor is excellent.”