Chapter Eighty-six: The Task (Seeking Recommendations)

  The warriors downstairs, I don't know when, have dispersed nearly half of them. The rest who went out to perform tasks also mostly haven't returned. In the vast hall, it's empty and quiet, cold and deserted.

  Qin Hao went downstairs and stood in front of the transparent wall, originally wanting to see if there were any tasks that could be received. After focusing his eyes, he found that all the floating information in front of the transparent wall had disappeared, and suddenly felt a wave of surprise.

  How long has he been up there? Such a big change occurred?

  He felt a gaze on his side, Qin Hao turned around and saw Yang Qing with her arms crossed, smiling at him with a provocative meaning in her smile.

  "What's going on? There are no more tasks to receive?" Qin Hao furrowed his brow, but quickly relaxed again.

  "Hmm." Su Ya nodded, her voice trembling: "I don't know what's going on. Those simple and low-paying tasks that no one wanted to take before, many warriors suddenly accepted them just now and went out to execute them."

  The woman spoke, her eyes not daring to meet Qin Hao's gaze. Occasionally she would glance up, subtly scanning his face. Having stayed in the Hunting Alliance for a period of time, how could she not know about the infighting and jockeying for position among these warriors?

  "Is that so?" Qin Hao asked in a calm tone, seemingly not taking it to heart. He casually found a spot, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes and began to meditate quietly.

  The few martial artists sitting around him hastily got up and ran to sit far away, obviously extremely wary of him.

  Yang Qing's face was complacent, and he sneered coldly in his heart: You like to sit, then just sit here all the time, no need to do anything else. Let you always be a nominal warrior, with a title but nothing to show for it.

  After a few more hours, the warriors who went out to perform those simple tasks came back one after another. Seeing Qin Hao sitting on the ground, there were also faintly visible secret smiles on their faces. They just smiled and didn't dare sit beside Qin Hao, all keeping a distance from him. Beside Qin Hao was completely empty.

  Outside the door, a sturdy man suddenly walked in. The man was wearing a blue tight-fitting outfit, with black hair tied back, and a long sword hanging from his left waist. He wore leather boots, and on the outside of his right calf, there was a protruding shape that appeared to be a dagger.

  The man looked spirited and refreshing, with a strong sense of masculinity emanating from his entire body.

  Qin Hao's eyes opened wide, following the middle-aged man's footsteps, moving to the long table.

  "I'd like a warrior of around Kyūgen no Jū level to accompany me." The man said, spreading out forty pieces of Yōjū Genjin on the table: "This should be the right price, shouldn't it?"

  Su Ya put away the Xuan Crystal and placed it under a long table, revealing a smile: "That's enough, this is the list of idle hanging warriors at this moment. Choose one yourself."

  Su Ya pulled out a two-finger-thick book from under the table, with numerous names densely recorded on it. She flipped to a certain page and presented it to the man in front of her with a faint smile.

  The man's fingers moved over the book, muttering to himself: "Zhuo Zhi, tenth level of Condensed Mysteries; Liu Li, tenth level of Condensed Mysteries; Chen Yong, ninth level of Condensed Mysteries, martial skills strong and fierce, actual strength comparable to tenth level of Condensed Mysteries..."

  The young man seemed somewhat hesitant and Su Ya spoke up, "Why don't I introduce a warrior to you instead?"

  "Alright." The man handed over the list and smiled: "Since you introduced them, they should be trustworthy."

  Su Ya's slender fingers extended, and she lightly tapped on a name on the list.

  "Qin Hao?" The man muttered to himself: "Strength unknown, at least in the Lingxuan realm. Number of task executions... Hmm? Actually zero."

  The man said later on, his tone was full of doubt: "Not executed the task? Not even a simple basic task?"

  The people around him were full of ridicule in their eyes. A group of people raised their eyebrows as if they were provocative, staring at Qin Hao.

  Su Ya hastily spoke up: "Recently just registered warriors, not having executed a mission is nothing unusual. However, his strength isn't bad and shouldn't let you down."

  "Uh...alright." The man hesitated for a moment, nodded heavily: "May I ask who Qin Hao is?"

  Su Ya pointed her finger in a direction, and the man followed her gaze to see a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old. His face changed color, and his already large eyes widened even more. He turned to Su Ya and asked in a low voice, "Is it him?"

  Su Ya nodded, and the man's face seemed a bit embarrassed.

  "Cough, cough. Well, the pay I'm offering isn't particularly high, so it's probably better to choose a Xuanxuan Tenfold Warrior instead." The man's tone was very polite, and there wasn't a hint of disdain in his voice; however, the drastic change from before was something anyone could notice.

  Qin Hao shook his head and closed his eyes again, ignoring the outside world and continuing to circulate the mysterious energy within his body.

  Although Su Ya recommended in every way, she couldn't change the man's decision. In the end, the man chose a warrior named "Chen Yong" and walked out with satisfaction.

  Hunters' Guild is the largest force in Blackstone City, and it has many clients. As soon as the man left, someone else came in behind him. The sound of footsteps never stopped, and it's unknown how many people have come and gone.

  But the situation is also repeating the result from just now.

  Su Ya repeatedly recommended Qin Hao to visitors. After all, a warrior who is on the wanted list of the Hunting Alliance, from the perspective of the Hunting Alliance, naturally wants this warrior to create value. Ordinary people who hear that Qin Hao's strength is in the Lingxuan realm will be somewhat excited, but when they see the number of times he has completed tasks and then see the so-called Lingxuan realm warrior, who appears to be a powerless young man, their attitude often completely reverses.

  Qin Hao finally understood the way tasks were assigned in this branch. Simple tasks were published on the transparent crystal wall, and people could take them voluntarily and go to the client's place. The rest were entrusted by the clients themselves, and they chose their own people.

  And the intention of that group of people to complete all simple tasks is also obvious. A martial artist who has executed zero tasks, not even completing the basic ones, looks like he has no experience at all, how can anyone believe him?

  Qin Hao didn't have any particular resentment in his heart. After all, this wasn't a game; even on the outskirts of Wan Shou Gu, being slightly careless could result in severe injury or death. In such situations, an experienced martial artist was far more useful than one with brute strength.

  Unless that powerful warrior boundary is really strong to the point of reversing heaven. Otherwise, anyone would choose the former.

  He also remembered that in his past life, when he first faced a second-order demon beast, he was so scared that his legs trembled and he barely escaped by biting his teeth. So at this moment, they had no confidence in him, and he didn't say much either.

  But in his heart, the impression of this hunting alliance was once again reduced. Can these arrogant and impatient warriors really turn the tide at critical moments and complete their tasks? Afraid of losing status, instead of relying on their own strength, they form cliques and exclude newcomers, is this what they call the brave and fierce way of warriors?

  Is this really the Hunter's Guild where he used to stay? One by one, doubts emerged.

  ……

  The warriors sitting around gradually dispersed. Even those who had just returned and hadn't sat down yet rushed out again without stopping their horses.

  Some were entrusted to go hunting, some were invited back to teach practical martial arts techniques, and others were entrusted to go pick rare flowers and fruits...

  Only Qin Hao remained seated in that position, motionless, as if he had turned into a stone statue.

  Yang Qing, on the other hand, sat at one side, watching the whole process with an occasional faint smile.

  "Is anyone there?"

  At this time, a plainly dressed man stepped in, with an eleven or twelve year old boy trailing behind him. The boy's face was tender and seemed to be a bit shy, holding onto the man's hem. However, when he saw the few people sparsely seated inside, he quickly let go of his hand, puffed out his small chest, and his face turned bright red, but still walked in with steady steps.

  "I'd like to invite a martial artist of the Seventh Layer of the Profound Realm to hunt beasts with me." He placed two First-Grade Profound Crystals on the table, his face looking embarrassed as he said, "These two crystals are my payment. As for the rest, whatever we hunt and kill will be split evenly between me and that martial artist."

  The strange thing is that it has completely calmed down now, which is quite different from the scene where many people volunteered to take action just now.

  The man looked around eagerly, but didn't see anyone planning to take over, and a strong sense of loss appeared on his face.

  Su Ya's gaze shifted, and in her heart, she also felt that it was a bit difficult. This kind of commission is almost one that no one would accept.

  The reason is simple, the difficulty is high, but the reward is low. If it were a man who paid out the crystal once and for all, that would be fine, but how about the demon beasts hunted? How many demon beasts can be hunted in a short time? Moreover, will the demon beasts hunted necessarily yield crystals?

  Not every demon beast can give birth to a Xuan Crystal. Although the fur, bones and flesh of a demon beast can be sold for a certain value, it is the Xuan Crystal that can be used to upgrade weapons and refine the Sealing Array that is most valuable to warriors.

  The extent of this attraction is imaginable.

  "We won't be going deep in, just hunting some first-class demonic beasts on the outskirts." The man hastily added.

  The scene remained unchanged with this opening remark.

  Qin Hao listened to the man's words and sighed inwardly. It wouldn't be a deep or dangerous mission, but the reward would also be limited. In most cases, hunting demonic beasts on the outskirts of the martial artists' gathering wouldn't yield much results. However, this was also good in its own way.

  "I'll take it from here." Qin Hao stood up straight, pulled his robe tight and walked towards the man.

  "Who are you?" the man asked in puzzlement.

  "Qin Hao, a martial artist of the Ling Xuan realm. If it were outside, I should be able to handle it." Qin Hao stretched out his hand and rubbed the young man's head, revealing a smile.

  The man turned to Su Ya, his heart still disbelieving.

  "Really." Su Ya nodded and smiled: "Today's newly appointed warrior, Ling Xuan boundary cultivation has not been exaggerated."

  Even if Su Ya said so, the man still had a strong sense of doubt in his heart. He looked around again, stood still for a moment, and found that no one was going to take over the task. After standing still for another moment, he clenched his fist suddenly and gritted his teeth: "Fine, I'll do it myself."

  Qin Hao shrugged his shoulders and patted the young man's head, provoking him to mutter a few dissatisfied words before walking out first.

  "Idiot." Yang Qing sneered: "Taking on this kind of task is just asking for trouble." The others also started snickering quietly.

  Qin Hao suddenly turned his head, his eyes were very calm, but it made people's hearts feel hairy. Yang Qing was looked at by him and only felt a chill rising up her back, she shrunk her body back a bit, her eyes wandering around. The rest of the people also turned their heads away one after another.

  Qin Hao smiled again and turned around, the man hastily pulled the child's hand and followed.