Chapter 14: Zhan Kong in Action

Jing Wuji arrived at the commission submission counter with the Moonlight Herb in hand.

"This is the Moonlight Herb," he said, presenting the plant he had found near Baicao Valley.

The staff member looked at Jing Wuji with surprise. He was the same person who had handled Jing Wuji's commission a week earlier. Back then, he'd assumed this guy was just reckless or had a death wish for accepting such a dangerous task. But to his shock, he had completed it.

"The commission reward is 20,000 yuan. We take a 15% cut, so 17,000 has been transferred to your Hunter License," the staff member said as he took both the herb and Jing Wuji's card, performed the necessary steps, and returned it to him.

Jing Wuji took the card and left Hunter Hall. On his way out, he heard an exclamation from someone nearby.

The bounty for the Moonlight Herb on the large LCD screen had just updated its status to "Completed."

"Whoa! Someone brought back a Moonlight Herb?"

"This newbie's tough—he made it out of the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's lair in one piece!"

"Looks like Bo City just got a new badass hunter!"

...

Xuefeng Mountain Station.

After patrolling the area around the station for half a day, Zhan Kong returned to his resting quarters.

The moment he stepped inside, he noticed something was off.

His usual relaxed demeanor instantly turned sharp and focused.

"Well, well… Someone snuck into my room."

Zhan Kong searched around the room. Nothing seemed to be missing. But there was one thing that hadn't been there before—a letter, quietly resting on the table.

"Tch… Someone came in here just to drop off a letter?" Zhan Kong muttered in annoyance, his combat instincts still high-strung.

He had expected either a theft or a trap, but after a thorough sweep, all he found was a single letter.

"Fine, let's see what you've got to say," he said to himself, opening the envelope.

Inside, the entire message had been crafted using cut-out words from old newspapers.

"Wow… This guy's paranoid," Zhan Kong remarked, lips twitching at the sight.

He skimmed through the short letter. Despite its brevity, by the time he finished reading, his previously casual expression had become grim—like facing a deadly threat.

"The Black Church…" he muttered. "No wonder this guy's so cautious—he's afraid of being discovered by them."

Without hesitation, a blue constellation lit up around Zhan Kong. Behind him, a pair of azure wings materialized.

"Wings of Wind!"

With a powerful flap of his wings, he shot through the open door and soared above Xuefeng Mountain Station.

"Military Mage Unit One, move out with me! Unit Two, maintain order at the station. Let's go!"

His voice, amplified by magic, echoed across the entire station.

Moments later, Unit One assembled and followed Zhan Kong toward Baicao Valley.

It had to be said: that the military mages lived up to their name. While it had taken Jing Wuji two full days to reach Baicao Valley even at full speed, this well-trained, disciplined unit made it to the outskirts of the valley in just one day.

"Stealth operation. Surround the cave," Zhan Kong ordered.

Swift and silent, the military mages spread out and surrounded the target cave, without making a sound the entire time.

Once the formation was set, Zhan Kong took the lead and entered the cave.

A wave of foul stench hit him instantly, only reinforcing the authenticity of the letter's contents.

But—Zhan Kong advanced to the very end of the cave and found… nothing. Not a single Black Spawn Demon.

His brows furrowed deeply. Something was wrong.

Judging by the traces on the ground, the cave had indeed housed just as many Black Spawn Demons as the letter claimed. But only one day had passed since he received the letter. Though gathering the troops had caused some commotion, he had never revealed the specific nature of the mission.

So how did the enemy know to evacuate?

Damn that Black Church.

Was there a leak?

Or... could it be there was a Black Church spy within the military mage corps?

"Looks like we'll need the Tribunal to investigate this."

"Withdraw." Zhan Kong walked out of the cave, his face dark and grim.

The military mages looked at each other in confusion, unsure what had upset their leader.

…

"Huff… huff… Good thing I moved the Black Spawn Demons in time. If we'd lost that many combat units all at once, I don't want to know what drinking ghost acid water feels like…"

The Black Church operative muttered to himself, his breath uneven.

"How did Zhan Kong find out about this? The summoned beasts I stationed as lookouts didn't report any intruders! Dammit! Once I find out who it was, I'll soak them in ghost acid water and turn them into a mindless Black Spawn slave!"

The more he spoke, the more unhinged he became. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes—but the next second, he was calm again.

He had to continue his cover. The mission wasn't over.

…

Several days later, Jing Wuji continued to monitor any news coming out of Xuefeng Mountain Station. But there was nothing—no official updates at all.

The only thing he learned was that Zhan Kong had mobilized the Military Mage First Unit a few days ago, but no one knew where they had gone.

That likely meant Zhan Kong had read the letter he left and taken action. But… why hadn't any other news followed?

Jing Wuji was puzzled.

After returning to school, he dove headfirst into training. For the first time, he truly felt a pressing sense of crisis.

Thankfully, thanks to the recent wilderness mission and bounty assignment, Jing Wuji had successfully advanced his Shadow Slip to the third level—Flying Shadow.

His agility and mobility had greatly improved.

But now he faced a new problem: lack of attack power.

If he were up against human opponents—even mid-level mages—Jing Wuji was confident he could kill in a single strike.

But when facing monsters, his attacks often failed to even penetrate their defenses.

This was the classic case of being strong in internal conflict, but weak in external combat.

"I need to find a way to boost my offensive power," Jing Wuji acknowledged the flaw in himself.

As an assassin, only by fully understanding oneself could one deliver a flawless, lethal strike.

Back at school, he also noticed that Mo Fan had gone off the radar, aside from his daily training.

After asking around, he learned that Mo Fan had joined the city's Demon Hunting Squad to earn money and gather resources for himself.

Jing Wuji could only smile wryly at that.

Being born with dual elements was indeed powerful—top three in terms of talent.

But without the resources, even a natural dual-element mage would be unable to reach their potential.

And moving from the Primary to Intermediate level with dual elements? The cost was astronomical for both of them.

There was no way Jing Wuji could help him financially.

Even for himself, the resources he needed were already a massive burden.

After all, the fastest way to fix his current lack of firepower was to buy a Demon-Slaying Tool.

However, even the lowest-grade demon-slaying weapon costs around one million yuan. At his current earning speed, it would take two to three years—and by then, that basic-level tool wouldn't even match his needs anymore.

So, his path to magical mastery was still a long and uphill one.