At this moment, several men and women who looked to be around thirty years old were standing at the entrance of the Demon Hunt Squad Trading Center, chatting idly.

“Old Five, we’re only ten thousand merit points away from being promoted to a Marshal-level squad. The boss is in seclusion, so we can’t carry out any missions these days. How about we sell some equipment to make up the ten thousand points?” said a slender middle-aged man wearing a wind-element mage robe.

The man he called Old Five was a robust man, extremely burly, standing well over two meters tall, with broad shoulders and a wide back, dressed in a warrior’s outfit, with muscles tense all over his body. However, he surprisingly had a pair of slender, small eyes. A glint of light would occasionally flash in his eyes.

“It’s not that easy. That’s ten thousand merit points. The boss specifically instructed me before going into seclusion that if we come across any good equipment or medicine, we can consider buying it. Everyone is eager to be promoted to Marshal-level. But ten thousand points… how much equipment would we have to sell? It will definitely weaken our overall strength. Even if we are promoted to Marshal-level, how will we complete missions with our strength weakened? Third Brother, stop giving bad ideas.”

There were three of them in total. The third person was a woman, wearing a summoner’s characteristic robe. Hearing this, she smiled slightly and said, “It’s not entirely without a chance. The sooner we’re promoted to Marshal-level, the greater our strength will increase. Out of the ten newly promoted Demon Hunt Squads five years ago, only six of us are still around. The other five have already been promoted to Marshal-level. We’re the only ones left.”

The robust warrior who was called Third Brother said in a low voice, “Sixth Sister, do you have a plan?”

The woman was of average appearance, but her eyes were extremely quick-witted. She said in a low voice, “Of course I have a plan. Do you remember what happened half a year after we first became a newly promoted Demon Hunt Squad? If it wasn’t for that incident, how could we still not be promoted to Marshal-level? We’re no worse than others.”

Old Five said unhappily, “Don’t mention it. It was all that bastard who pretended to be weak and tricked us out of our points. It was all my fault back then, I acted impulsively. Not only were our points swindled, but it also caused problems with my mentality. I’m still hovering at the bottleneck of the sixth rank and haven’t been able to break through.”

The woman known as Sixth said, “The Demon Hunt Squad that cheated us back then said it was giving us a lesson to live life steadily. We went to the Alliance to complain, and the answer we got was the same. Since the Alliance doesn’t care, they can do one, so can’t we do two?”

Old Five’s eyes lit up, “You mean…”

The woman nodded and said, “A new batch of Demon Hunt Squads has officially started undertaking missions. I’ve heard recently that several squads have completed missions and returned. Maybe we’ll have a chance. As long as we gather enough merit points, and you work hard to break through the sixth rank, we’ll be promoted to Marshal-level as soon as the boss comes out of seclusion.”

Third Brother frowned and said, “That’s not a good thing to do. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. What’s the difference between us and those guys back then if we do that?”

The woman smiled slightly and said, “Third Brother, you’re wrong about that. It’s not a bad thing either. After that blow, we’ve been very cautious and careful when carrying out missions. Don’t forget that the several Demon Hunt Squads that suffered casualties and were eliminated were no worse than us, but we’re the ones who persevered. So, we’re doing a good deed too.”

Old Five laughed and said, “That’s right, Sixth Sister is right, we’re doing a good deed. Helping those newly promoted Demon Hunt Squads to train their mentality. But, Sixth Sister, where are we going to find newly promoted Demon Hunt Squads?”

The woman pointed her chin in one direction and chuckled in a low voice, “Look, aren’t they coming?”

Old Five looked up and, sure enough, saw more than a dozen people walking towards the Trading Center. There was no need for any other method to identify them; the age of these people said it all. The man and woman at the front looked like they weren’t even twenty years old, and the young man even had his arm around the girl.

“Fifth Brother, it’s time to make up for your mistakes. Do to these newcomers what those people did to us back then.”

Old Five’s eyes lit up and said, “Okay, I’m going. You guys wait for my good news.”

As he spoke, Old Five strode towards the dozen or so young men and women.

The targets they were eyeing were none other than the General-level Twenty-first Demon Hunt Squad and the Soldier-level Fourth Demon Hunt Squad.

Just as Long Haochen and his companions were about to reach the Trading Center, a robust man suddenly blocked their path.

“Little brothers, hello. You’re a newly promoted Demon Hunt Squad, right?” Old Five stopped Long Haochen and said with a smile.

Long Haochen nodded subconsciously. Although they were already General-level, it wasn’t wrong to say they were a newly promoted Demon Hunt Squad.

Old Five smiled and said, “That’s right. The thing is, the Mission Tower asked me to find you to issue an internal Demon Hunt Squad mission.”

“Senior, hello. We just came back from performing a mission. Why are you issuing another mission to us?” Long Haochen asked in confusion.

Old Five chuckled and said, “Don’t be nervous. It looks like you encountered a lot of trouble during your mission. Don’t worry, this mission is not dangerous at all. It’s an internal mission, and it’s also an assessment for you newly promoted Demon Hunt Squads.”

Both Demon Hunt Squads stopped and were somewhat suspicious of Old Five’s words. However, not just anyone could come to the Demon Hunt Squad Trading Center. The Trading Center, the Mission Tower, and the villas where the Demon Hunt Squads lived were all in the same area, and strong people guarded the outside. It was not easy to enter here without the identity of a Demon Hunter.

While speaking, Old Five pulled up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing the merit token inside, “This is my merit token. I’m a warrior of the General-level Eighth Demon Hunt Squad. Everyone calls me Old Five. You can call me that too.”

Seeing the merit token, the doubts of Long Haochen and the others immediately decreased significantly. Everyone was a Demon Hunter, so they were comrades. Their vigilance naturally decreased a lot.

“Senior, what kind of mission did the Mission Tower issue to us?” Long Haochen asked.

Old Five said, “The mission is very simple. Your mission target is me. In view of your excellent performance in the mission, the Mission Tower has given you an internal mission. This mission can also be said to be a reward mission. If you can complete it, you will receive a large number of merit points. You can use your own merit points as a bet, and then choose one of you to challenge me. As long as you win against me, you will be directly paid ten times the merit points.”

Hearing his words, Long Haochen’s companions felt a little eager to try. That was ten times the merit points! Moreover, they had great confidence in Long Haochen.

But Long Haochen did not rashly agree, but politely said, “Senior, we should be able to choose whether or not to accept this mission, right? You are a member of the General-level Eighth Demon Hunt Squad. How can we juniors be your opponents? We have no chance to get a reward from this mission!”

Looking at Long Haochen’s clear eyes, Old Five felt a little ashamed in his heart, but when he thought of being able to advance to a Marshal-level Demon Hunt Squad, he immediately threw away that guilt and said seriously, “You can rest assured about this. The Mission Tower will not give a completely impossible mission. Although I am a member of the General-level Eighth Demon Hunt Squad, I am the weakest member of the team, only with a fifth-rank cultivation base. I have not broken through to the sixth rank, so you yourselves have a chance. Moreover, during the competition, I will not use weapons. Of course, you can also choose not to accept this mission. There is only one chance. If you miss it, you won’t have it again.”

“Boss, compete with him. As long as he’s fifth-rank, we still have a chance,” Lin Xin whispered in Long Haochen’s ear.

Lu Xi said calmly, “Senior, how can you prove that you are a fifth-rank cultivator? Do you have your bet with you?”

Old Five smiled slightly and said, “Of course I have it. However, according to the mission rules, the merit points you take out as a bet must not be less than one thousand. If I win, that will be the reward for me to carry out the mission. I won’t show up if there are too few merit points. During the competition, my fifth-rank strength and the merit points used as bets by both sides can be notarized by the Saint Alliance Grand Trial Ground. Then we can start the competition. You young people are really cautious, are you afraid that I will deceive you?”

Lu Xi smiled slightly and said, “Senior, don’t think too much. It’s not easy for us to earn some merit points, so of course we have to be careful. Then let’s discuss it and decide whether to take on this mission, okay?”

Old Five nodded and said, “Of course. I’ll be over there. Come find me if you’ve made up your mind.” As he spoke, he had already turned around and left calmly, without lingering any longer.

As soon as Old Five left, Lin Xin immediately excitedly whispered to Long Haochen, “Boss, what a great opportunity! Ten times the merit points. If we put all our wealth on it, we can get a return of millions of merit points!”

Long Haochen said angrily, “Are you dreaming? How can there be such a thing as free lunch? I think Senior Old Five was a bit strange just now. If it was a mission issued by the Mission Tower, a Mission Tower staff member should have brought him here. But he came directly to us. Moreover, your imagination is unreliable. He is a member of the General-level Demon Hunt Squad. If he had millions of merit points, he would have been promoted to Marshal-level by relying on the merit points alone. Why would he come to carry out a mission?”

“Haochen, you’re really smart. This guy is here to cheat merit points,” Lu Xi said with a strange expression.

“Huh?” Long Haochen looked at Lu Xi in confusion.

Lu Xi said in a low voice, “A method used by veteran Demon Hunt Squads to bully newly promoted Demon Hunt Squads. The Alliance won’t even care. They say it can increase the vigilance of newly promoted Demon Hunt Squads. In fact, this scam is not very clever, but for newly promoted Demon Hunt Squads who have just experienced the difficulty of the mission and know the value of merit points, the temptation of ten times is too great. Therefore, not a few newly promoted Demon Hunt Squads are fooled. An elder of mine is also a member of the Demon Hunt Squad and has suffered from this trick.”

Lin Xin said dumbfounded, “Is he really a scammer? Are they not afraid that we will expose them?”

Lu Xi shrugged and said, “What’s the use of exposing them? It’s better to play along. The warrior’s fifth-rank is not fake.”

(To be continued)