Chapter 157: Challenging a Powerhouse of the Seventh Step (I)
At dinner time, while the members of Demon Hunt Squad #1, with Long Haochen as captain, were discussing each other’s flaws and eating their fill, Han Qian returned to the general headquarters of the Alliance and immediately called out for Han Yu.
“Grandpa, the group formation is over? Master didn’t come back, how did it go?” Han Yu was already used to referring to Long Haochen this way, and couldn’t help but keep doing so. Over the course of these few days, while Long Haochen went for his matches, he had stayed in the hotel and trained without going out. He had been waiting for the results of the Demon Hunt Selection’s individual competition.
These days, Han Qian saw clear changes in his grandson, who had become a lot calmer. Faintly smiling, he said, “Both good and bad. The Demon Hunt Squad members Long Haochen got are really a bunch of misfits. It is also because of this that I called you here.” Immediately, he described the results of Long Haochen’s drawing in detail to Han Yu.
During this time, Han Yu was listening attentively while displaying a contemplative expression.
Han Qian pointed to the chair to his side, hinting him to sit down, “Voice your opinion on this team.”
Han Yu said, “As a whole, this team is indeed full of misfits. However, it is still an outstanding Demon Hunt Squad. First of all, on the side of the knight and the assassin, there’s nothing to complain about. Master and Lady Cai’er’s display during the selection was more than enough to testify their capabilities. On the side of the warrior, Wang Yuanyuan, who possesses the Gigantic Divine Soul Shield is not lacking at all in terms of strength. In a sense, that Sima Xian can also be considered as a berserker. On the offensive side, having two warriors in it will definitely strengthen this team by a great extent. On the side of the mage, although this Lin Xin is inapt in attacking, I heard that his control over magic and his defensive spells were far above the norm. Apart from lady Cai’er, it appears that no one else could break his defense. Actually, within the team, his precious defense is important, to the extent that he’ll have a role close to that of a shield warrior.”
At this point, Han Qian slightly nodded, hinting him to continue speaking.
Han Yu continued, “As for the side of offensive magic, this three-headed magical beast companion’s magic can be considered quite powerful; it can almost be regarded as three mages acting in cohesion. Because it cannot make use of equipment, each of its attributes will not be on the same level as the mages’, but adding to the fact it can use three of them, it can be said to surpass the absolute majority of the mages of the fifth step. If it can keep on growing, there is no need to worry about the role of the mage within this team.”
Han Qian was clearly satisfied with his grandson’s analysis and asked with a smile, “What about that summoner?”
Han Yu lifted up his shoulders and replied, “I have never felt that a summoner under the sixth step could have any noticeable utility. Chen Ying’er, that misfit of a summoner, should clearly not be counted within our calculations.
However, even though we should not consider her fighting strength in our calculations, it is, on the contrary, possible for her to bring us some good surprises. After all, she formerly used the [Creature Summoning Gate] to summon a magical beast of the eighth step on several occasions.”
At this point, Han Yu stopped speaking for a bit and wrinkled his brows before continuing, “In the whole team, the sole weak point is the position of the priest. Although in his capacity as a Guardian Knight, Master has some healing capabilities, and his magical beast companion can also use the light attribute, they are not actually real priests in the end. Master is leading the whole team, and is the cornerstone of the whole team. He also possesses a Saint Spiritual Stove, so we can definitely not count on him to focus some of his interest on the aspect of healing. As for his magical beast companion, I’m afraid that most of its attention will be rather focused on Master.”
“Very good.” Han Qian’s smile became even more broad, “It looks like after this blow Haochen inflicted on you, you have matured quite a bit, both good and bad. Your analysis is right and very thorough. The biggest flaw of Haochen’s squad is exactly on the aspect of healing. However, you forgot someone in your analysis!”
“Who?” Han Yu gave his grandfather a curious look.
Han Qian faintly smiled and replied, “Yourself. Don’t forget that you are also a Guardian Knight, and furthermore, you don’t have to act as a defense-oriented Guardian Knight. And in Haochen’s troops, there’s something they should focus on, and you pointed it out in your earlier analysis.”
Han Yu started, “Are you saying that you want my future abilities to focus on healing?”
Han Qian slightly nodded before saying, “On healing and support. You have to increase the survivability of this team with your presence, so that in the rear, Long Haochen doesn’t have anything to worry about.”
Han Yu’s eyes glinted. He was originally an astute person, and having obtained his grandfather’s pointer, he seemed to immediately figure out a lot of things.
“Go back, you’ll return here three days later. Before you depart, grandpa has something to give you.”
“Yes, grandfather.”
After returning to the hotel, Long Haochen felt extremely uneasy. The Demon Hunt Squad was set up, and the images of each member appeared and sparkled unceasingly within his mind.
After all, he was only fourteen. No matter how earnest and mature he was, his age was still a big restraint to him. If possible, he wished for this Demon Hunt Squad to emerge while appearing like a warm place.
But could he really make it emerge? This squad of his was full of unreliable people. Cai’er expressed to him that she wasn’t interested in the role of leader, so in the end, everyone was convinced that he was the only one apt for this role.
From today onwards, he was not going to be a single person, but seven people. He was now responsible for the life of each of his teammates. He would be responsible for each of their actions.
In the blink of an eye, four days passed.
Over the course of these four days, Long Haochen and his dog team had two main things to do. The first was to go to the Demon Missions Tower next to the Alliance’s Great Stadium to enroll as members of the Demon Hunt Squad.
Demon Hunt Squads in themselves were separated into different grades. The higher the grade of a Demon Hunt Squad, the greater the rewards for completed missions.
From low to high, the subdivisions for teams are soldier grade, general grade, commander grade, king grade, emperor grade and titled grade, a total of six grades.
Each promotion of grade had severe requirements. Only when conforming with all of them can a squad advance in rank. For instance, to advance from soldier to general, all team members were required to have broken through the fifth step and have more than 1,000 contribution points, with the totalled contribution points of the team outstripping 10,000. And this was the simplest one.
The highest rank: titled grade, gives the Demon Hunt Squad an exclusive status. To aim for this grade, the first requirement was to kill one to twelve demon gods in the top thirty six of the ranking. As one could imagine, this feat was extremely challenging.
Regardless of whether the Demon Hunt Squad members wanted to get equipment or secret techniques or so on, they had to rely on their accomplishments. After completing their enrollment, each of them carried a golden gemmed command tile blended with their blood on their left hand. This command tile would follow them during their entire journey in their Demon Hunt Squads.
When they killed demons, this command tile, which could be classified as a Spiritual Tier piece of equipment, would automatically record it and increase their contribution points accordingly. And when completing missions in the Mission Tower, their contribution points would also be increased by the corresponding amount.
This time, for obtaining the top position in the Demon Hunt Selection, Long Haochen directly earned a hundred contribution points. Cai’er, with her fourth position, earned fifty contribution points; as for the others, who didn’t get into the top 16, they still got ten contribution points.
Relying on his hundred contribution points, and under Cai’er’s reminder, Long Haochen directly bought three things at the transaction center for Demon Hunt Squads, spending a total of 150 contribution points and using up all of the contribution points the two of them had gotten for the competition. These three things were a contribution points testing gem, an internal spiritual energy testing gem, and an external spiritual energy testing gem.
The contribution points testing gem only required to be stuck close to the command tile on their left hand to make their total amount of points appear, so as to be able to conveniently check which rewards they can get from their battles against the demon race. This thing was of extreme importance for the morale of the team.
As for the internal spiritual energy testing gem, Long Haochen bought one that could measure up to the 10,000th level, whereas the external spiritual energy testing machine could only stand the pressure of an external spiritual energy below 1,000.
With these two gems, every team member would be able to check their current situation and cultivation gains. These three items were cheap, but extremely practical; they were known as great items that were essential to Demon Hunt Squads.
Outside of registration, the second matter was to once again enter the Alliance’s Treasure Vault. Although Long Haochen couldn’t get his awarded spiritual stove anymore, he and Cai’er could still choose two secret techniques to learn. Since he possessed Long Xingyu’s inheritance ring, he picked Guardian Knight skills without the slightest hesitation. He chose a skill that increases an individual’s defense and a group enhancement skill. In his capacity as the Demon Hunt Squad captain and the core of the team, he made his choice in consideration for the entire team.
The day before picking secret skills, Han Yu went to find him once, afraid that Long Haochen would be inclined to choose a healing type skill if he didn’t.
At the same time when he picked the secret skills the day before, Long Haochen received the information that he was to get ready to depart on the morning of the next day to move to another place to participate, this time, in the Demon Hunt Squad team competition.
“Teacher.” Knocking on the door of Ye Hua’s room before entering and carefully closing the door with a Pong sound, Long Haochen knelt down before Ye Hua.
Ye Hua was startled by the sudden act, “What happened Haochen? What are you doing?”
Long Haochen didn’t say anything, but banged his head on the ground three times, letting out Peng, peng, peng sounds, before lifting his head up, tears flowing down from his eyes, “Teacher, we are going to depart today. I… I hate the idea of parting with you.”
Staring blankly at Long Haochen’s pretty face, at his sparkling and twinkling pupils. Ye Hua, whose face previously looked stern, was gradually being stirred up. Supporting Long Haochen with both his hands, he pulled him toward his bosom. No matter how outstanding he could be, he was, in the end, a mere fourteen year-old kid.
Ye Hua lived as an unmarried man, so naturally, he didn’t have any descendants. Unconsciously, he came to look upon Long Haochen as his own son. That’s right! As they were going to part with each other, and seeing how Long Haochen hated this fact, how could he be willing to part with this child of whom he regarded as both a son and a disciple?