The nearby oak tree rustled gently. As a single leaf fell to the ground, the youth kicked off the ground and charged at Shu Lu. With daggers aimed, he aimed at the saber-wielding Shu Lu who stayed rooted at his spot.

Despite seeing many openings in his stance, the youth did not fully commit to the attack and stopped just five feet before Shu Lu and kicked the tile below him. It cracked sending shards flying in the air. With another swing of his leg, he sent the shards straight at his opponent. The shards zipped through the air like darts.

Shu Lu simply used his large saber to cover his body and that blocked all the shards. His eyes never left the youth, even as he saw him get in his range and thrust the red dagger towards his abdomen. This was a strategy that would only work because Shu Lu was larger than him. However, Shu Lu also had a higher Cultivation Realm than him. So, even if his Cultivation Base was lowered to match the youth’s, he couldn’t lower his senses.

As a result, the youth’s attack seemed slow to him; both the thrusting dagger aiming for his abdomen and the leg that seemed poised to attack his crotch should he deflect the dagger. Shu Lu simply took 5 steps back and dodged his attacks. The youth stopped his momentum to look at his opponent. Shu Lu made a “come here” gesture.

The youth’s eyes gleamed and he took stance again. This time he decided not to probe around and attack directly. Pushing off the ground, he lunged at Shu Lu once again with both of his daggers aimed at his vitals like the fangs of a snake.

Shu Lu smiled and raised his dagger, blocking the youth’s advance. “Nice attack, you decided to confront directly seeing that a cautious approach did not work. The power behind this strike of yours is enough for your Realm. It seems you were trained via duels. Am I wrong?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Before the youth could retreat, Shu Lu swung his saber at him. He barely blocked the swing with his daggers. The weight of Shu Lu’s swing made the tiles under his feet vibrate. He tightened his grip on his daggers and barely parried the saber before jumping away.

He raised his arms. They were shaking from the impact. “Fuck me…” the youth swallowed his saliva and looked at Shu Lu with some trepidation.

Shu Lu laughed and said, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m a power ty-” before he could finish the youth was already in his face slashing down with the blue dagger. Shu Lu blocked the dagger with the saber and swung the blunt side into the youth’s stomach, pushing him away. However, as the youth flew back from the swing, he used his other arm to throw the red dagger at Shu Lu.

The dagger whistled through the air and reached Shu Lu in an instant. Doing a big swing, Shu Lu was now in a position where he could not use his saber to block the dagger quickly enough. Shu Lu used the other unused arm to pinch the dagger just before his neck.

The youth fell to the ground with a thud, unable to break his fall. He skidded on the ground and stopped just before the edge of the training ground. Seeing that Shu Lu had caught his dagger, he exhaled sharply and his head slumped onto the hard ground.

“What’s with the disappointment, kid? You aiming to take my head?” Shu Lu walked over and held out a hand over him. The youth looked at him and then his outreached hand. He grabbed the hand and Shu Lu pulled him up.

The youth dusted himself off and said, “So…? Do I pass?”

“Yeah, you pass. But I’d still read the handbook you got just so you know what to do in each and every situation. You have good experiences in duels but not so much in actual fights, group fights, and fighting demon beasts. But those are all easily remedied. I advise you to start with small missions involving demon beasts and killing Cultivators.” Shu Lu took a deep breath and said with a solemn expression, “And the best advice I can give you is to never ever underestimate your enemy. Do you understand?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The youth caught his breath and nodded, “Yeah, I do.”

Shu Lu smiled at his response, “Yeah, you’re a diligent guy. So, I’d like to see you alive.”

“Me too, man. Me too.”

“Then off you go!” Shu Lu cupped his fists and bowed slightly. The youth returned the gesture and left from where came. As the door closed behind him, Shu Lu stared at the door for a long time. He smiled slightly, “Another guy who hid his strength. He really is too cautious…”

In the Guild room, the youth occupied an empty seat and skimmed through the handbook he was given. Just like Shu Lu said, there were detailed descriptions of what to do in any event. Well, most of them were just to run away.

“Glad that they don’t spout shit about fighting till the last breath…” he muttered underneath his breath. After an hour and a half of reading, he closed the handbook and tucked it inside his robes. Feeling that he was ready, he picked his feet up and walked over to the bulletin board where all the missions were put up.

The bulletin boards were also differentiated between the different rankings. He went over to the Yellow section and took a look at the missions. They were all very simple- finding a lost family member, stalking a lover accused of cheating, dealing with Qi Refinement Deviant Beasts as well as Cultivators.

A particular mission caught his eye.

The parchment read-

“Request Type: Extermination.

Requester: Earthly Aroma Herbal Store

Briefing: A crash of Mono-eyed Rhinoceros has been spotted near the city in the forest, making it impossible for gatherers to go in and get herbs. Need a Yellow-ranked mercenary to kill the Deviant Beasts. All the Beasts spotted have been reported to be in Qi Refinement Realm.

Reward: 50 Silver Taels”

“Doesn’t that mean there’s an alpha in the herd?” The youth scratched his head. “Who are they fooling?” He then noticed the fine print at the bottom of the parchment, “Only for teams.”

“Right, it’s not for me.” He put the parchment back on the bulletin board and tried to find one that he could do alone. After searching with his eyes for a while, he finally took a parchment with a somewhat interesting request.

The parchment read-

“Request Type: Investigation and Maiming

Requester: Jian Bing

Briefing: I’m a humble storekeeper. And I work dawn till dusk. I have a wife to who I have been married for two years now. Despite our love in the first year, I’ve begun to sense that her love for me has begun to wane. Our sex life is a mess. We’ve not had sex in a month and a half. I can’t even force her since I’m working in her father’s store.

I’ve recently noticed that she seems to be in a good mood during the day. As I work all day, I can’t keep an eye on her. But my friends have told me that they’ve seen her leave our house and go somewhere when I’m at work. So, I’ve decided to hire a mercenary to keep an eye on her during the day. Discreetly. Please tell me where she goes during the day and what she does. And if the worst comes to pass- that being you find her cheating on me- rip the dick off whoever she’s cheating with and remind her who her daddy is.

Reward: 25 Silver.”

The youth’s face darkened. “What the fuck is this?” he huffed.

“Man, you got the NTR quest right off the bat, huh?” Jian Gong laughed in his mind.

“NTR?”

“Ah, sorry. The cuck quest.”

“Do not call it that.”

“Take the cuck quest.”

“No, why the fuck would I?”

“The cuck quest.”

“Wha- no!”

“The pay’s good.”

The youth wavered, “But still…”

“It’s barely any work at all!”

The youth looked at the cuck ques- the strange request.

Jian Gong pushed one last time, “We even get to see a good show!”

The youth finally relented. He took down the parchment and cursed under his breath as Jian Gong cheered in his mind. He went to the receptionist and placed it on the counter.

“I’ll take the cuck que- this request!”

The elderly receptionist stared at him strangely.