Feng Xiu opened his mouth, but Xyl beat him to it with a shake of his head. “You’ll be awarded an A-rank license. There is no doubt about that, but there is another thing I would like to talk to you about.”

Lin Fang exhaled softly. Truthfully, that was a relief. But one thing still gnawed at him.

He glanced back at Xyl and bowed slightly. “I’m sorry, but I already inherited my master’s legacy. And I’m not becoming anyone else’s disciple.”

Xyl’s laugh boomed again, rich and amused at Lin Fang’s reaction.

“You? My disciple? Relax, kid. I’m not Li Chengfeng. I don’t take students who’ve already found their path. I like molding clay, not sculpting statues. You’re too old to learn my ways…”

Lin Fang was slightly embarrassed, but then asked. “Then what do you want from me?”

The SS-rank leaned forward with a conspiratorial spark in his eyes.

“I’m inviting you to the Red Cloud Mercenary Group.”

Lin Fang’s brows rose. “Red Cloud? Never heard of it.”

Xyl clutched his chest dramatically. “Ouch. That hurts my soul.”

Feng Xiu sighed. “They operate off-grid. They don’t advertise. They don’t recruit publicly. They’re… complicated. But I guess you must have heard of them in another term. The Special Ops.”

“The special Ops?” Lin Fang repeated. He still has no idea.

Feng Xiu sighed and then explained. “Basically, the Special Ops are an independent mercenary group that works alongside Interpol (International Police Organization that is all over the world) and Zhonggou’s Council (A unified governmental organization of all five nations in the Zhonggou continent). We take care of grade-1 and above instant dungeons, do hostage saving jobs, take up assassination jobs sometimes, but mostly to take out the leader of a terrorist group, we regularly investigate dark guilds, and most importantly, we have an official license to kill. Of course, we have to give the report and explanation later on, but yes, we can eliminate threats if we deem them to be so, and no one would dare to arrest or suppress us.”

Jin Di cleared his throat as if trying to gain attention and to brag about themselves. “If you’re curious, you can search them online. Practically every member is atleast a Platinum-class hunter, and we even have an adamantine class hunters in our group. You’d learn more with us in a month than most hunters do in a decade. High-grade dungeons, specialized techniques, unrestricted resources. Think of what you could do with that.”

Lin Fang became silent.

The silence stretched for a while as Lin Fang thought for a long time.

But in the end, he dipped his head politely. “I appreciate the offer, and it is quite tempting,” he said, “but I don’t want to join. I want to focus on my own Business.”

“Your… business?”Jin Di echoed, raising a brow and crossing his arms.

Before Lin Fang could answer, Feng Xiu supplied, “He has a pet store.”

Xyl blinked once. Slowly.

“A pet store…”

Lin Fang nodded without shame. “Yes.”

Feng Xiu rubbed his temples. “Even if you’re not physically present, your store will survive. Missing this opportunity is foolish. Backing like Red Cloud would protect you. People would hesitate before trying to harm you.”

Lin Fang, however, bowed again, voice steady. “I’m sorry. I cannot accept it. Also, I’m already part of Zero Guild.”

The room fell quiet.

Feng Xiu frowned. “Zero Guild? Yes, they’re top-tier, but not at Red Cloud’s level. And the Huaxi City branch? Even when it was operational, it was a half-dead guild. Your master only stayed there to support his niece. Now it’s rubble.”

Lin Fang didn’t waver. “Still, I was formally appointed as the manager. It is my responsibility.”

Before Feng Xiu could argue again, Xyl’s expression shifted—no arrogance now, but respect. A deeper, older respect as if he were treating Lin Fang as some veteran who had served the nation.

“Then it’s fine,” Xyl said. “I won’t press you further.”

Feng Xiu blinked. “Master Jin?”

Xyl glanced at him, tone turning matter-of-fact.

“If a man abandons his chosen ground the moment a better offer arrives, he’ll do the same when offered something better than your offer later.” His gaze landed back on Lin Fang. “Commitment that holds even when tempted is worth more than power. Let him walk his path.”

Lin Fang bowed again with gratitude burning quietly beneath his ribs. “Thank you.”

Xyl waved a hand, dismissive yet strangely genial. “Go on. You’ve earned your rest.”

But when Lin Fang turned to leave, Xyl’s voice followed him.

“One more thing.”

He tossed something with a casual flick, though the air itself seemed to tense around the object as it sailed toward Lin Fang’s palm. It landed with a weight that didn’t match its size—fist-sized, oval, pitch black with threads of eerie light pulsing deep within it like a sleeping heartbeat.

A shiver crawled up Lin Fang’s arm.

The system chimed at once.

*Ding!

[You have found a Legendary-grade Spirit Core: Black Dragon Verithar.]

Lin Fang’s breath hitched. A dragon’s core?

Xyl smiled faintly, seeing his reaction. “A high-ranking spirit core from a dark-element dragon. Fitting for someone like you with dark element.”

Another notification then unfurled across his vision.

*Ding!

[Consume to gain one of its skills. Or use Spirit Collection to extract its soul and gain its egg token. (Note: Egg token will be downgraded one grade.)]

Tiamat purred from the depths of his mind, a sound like five throats rumbling at once.

“Child… if you digest that beast’s core, you might grow amusingly fast… Dragons are the ultimate creatures, after all.”

Alpha reacted at the same time from the other mindscape. “Store it and think about it later.”

*

Back in the Rest Zone, the world had settled into the exhausted hush that follows a storm. Lin Fang walked through the makeshift streets of canvas tents and portable lanterns, contemplating the weight of the choice he made, the possible consequences he would face now that Myra knew his identity… when a bright voice cut through the quiet.

“Fang-Ge!”

He stopped in his tracks.

It was impossible not to recognize Nianxi’s voice—gentle, nervous, warm in a way that clung like morning sunlight on stone.

She burst out of a nearby tent and rushed toward him, relief blooming across her face. Her steps were light again; the terror from earlier seemed washed away somewhat, replaced by a spark he couldn’t quite categorize.

“You still haven’t left?” Lin Fang asked.

She shook her head vigorously, ponytail bouncing. “Nope! I was waiting for you.”

Before he could ask anything else, she seized his hand and tugged. “Come—come quickly. I have to introduce you to someone.”

Lin Fang allowed himself to be dragged, bemused, until they reached the tent flap. A figure stepped out just as they arrived.

A young woman, probably in her late twenties, with a sharp gaze and steady bearing. Lin Fang could also sense that her mana reserves were almost five times his…

She stood with her arms folded, watching Nianxi with the faint exasperation of an older person trying not to smile. But Lin Fang didn’t need the obvious resemblance to guess—same eyes, same contours of the face, same quiet steel beneath their expressions.

These are related somehow. Siblings, Perhaps?

Nianxi released his hand and gestured proudly. “Fang-Ge… this is my young aunt, Xie Mei. And Aunt… this is Lin Fang, the one I told you about.”

The woman stepped forward just enough to cast a shadow across the tent’s lantern glow.

Up close, Xie Mei’s presence tightened the air like a drawn bowstring—calm, coiled, and precise. Her gaze met Lin Fang’s with the quiet confidence of someone who had learned long ago that half of the world’s dangers could be cut down simply by not blinking first.

Lin Fang offered a polite nod. “Hello.”

Her reply was frosted glass. “Hello.”

A pause. A heartbeat. Then:

“I heard you are an unlicensed hunter who defeated a King Tier.”

Lin Fang lifted a shoulder, neither confirming nor denying, letting the words fall away like dust from a blade. “Not quite. It was already injured when we arrived. And Nianxi… she did a fair bit herself.”

Beside him, the teenage girl stiffened, cheeks warming like dawn creeping over snow. “I don’t remember anything after transforming…”

Xie Mei’s eyes flickered with something unreadable—concern, calculation, pride buried under duty. Then her stare sharpened again.

“That form of hers must remain confidential. I trust you understand.”

“I couldn’t care less,” Lin Fang answered honestly, making a dramatic gesture of waving his arms and letting out a sigh. “I’ve seen far more stranger things…”

Nianxi brightened at his nonchalance, relief softening her shoulders. “Fang-Ge, by the way, did you get your hunter’s license?”

Lin Fang nodded.

“What rank?” she asked eagerly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep