Inside the Tongcheng Ability User Guild, at the financial department—
"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Cao, your payments have been transferred to your respective accounts. Please confirm the amounts."
The guild's staff member spoke respectfully.
Zhao Xuan glanced swiftly at his banking app, verified the incoming funds, and nodded.
"No problem, I've received it."
"Same here," Cao Hu added from beside him.
"Good. Then, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way," Zhao Xuan said, turning toward the exit.
"All done, Mr. Zhao—you're free to go anytime."
"Alright."
Just as Zhao Xuan was about to leave, he suddenly paused and turned back.
"Oh, by the way, where's the Task Hall located in this guild?"
Before the staff member could answer, Cao Hu chuckled and spoke first.
"Little brother Zhao, are you planning to pick up some bounty missions?"
"That's right," Zhao Xuan nodded.
"Hah! Perfect timing. I was just about to head to the Task Hall myself. I'll take you there."
"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Cao."
"Trouble? What trouble! You're being too polite—it's on the way!"
Following Cao Hu's lead, Zhao Xuan soon arrived at the Task Hall of the guild.
It was just as lively as the dueling arena earlier—
crowded with ability users coming to accept or submit missions.
Almost every counter had long queues stretching in front of it.
Zhao Xuan assumed he'd have to wait as well.
But to his surprise, Cao Hu led him straight past the lines and into a small office on the left.
"Mr. Cao!"
The staff member inside—the receptionist—quickly stood up and greeted him.
"Xiao Liu," Cao Hu said, smiling, "this young man here is Zhao Xuan. He just passed the Third-Tier Ability User exam. He's here to pick up his first bounty mission."
At those words—
Xiao Liu froze completely.
Because Zhao Xuan looked far too young.
"Xiao Liu? Xiao Liu!"
Seeing that the man still hadn't reacted, Cao Hu frowned and called out several times before Xiao Liu finally jolted back to awareness.
"S-sorry! I'm so sorry, Mr. Zhao—I didn't mean to stare just now!" he stammered, face pale.
"It's fine," Zhao Xuan said with a faint smile. "Can I take a look at the available bounty missions now?"
"Y-yes! Of course, yes!" Xiao Liu nodded frantically.
He quickly began operating the guild terminal, pulling up a list.
Within seconds, the screen displayed all the active Third-Tier bounty missions in Tongcheng's guild.
"Here you go, Mr. Zhao," Xiao Liu said, handing him a sleek tablet. "These are all the Third-Tier bounties currently available. Please take your time choosing."
Zhao Xuan accepted the tablet and began scrolling through the densely packed task list.
His brows furrowed slightly.
"There are… this many Third-Tier missions?"
Xiao Liu scratched his head awkwardly and explained,
"Yes, sir. You see, there aren't that many registered Third-Tier ability users in Tongcheng to begin with. And ever since the discovery of several new ancient ruins, most of them have gone off exploring.
Because of that, new missions keep coming in faster than they're completed—so they've piled up over time."
"I see."
Zhao Xuan nodded slightly, but inwardly he was thrilled.
"That's perfect!
I can take mission after mission and make a fortune.
I'll never have to worry about running out of work!"
His eyes gleamed as he scrolled faster.
Soon, he was grinning from ear to ear.
"Eight to fifteen thousand per mission, on average…" he muttered.
"That means two missions are enough to buy a full bag of low-grade energy solution!
This is practically highway robbery—in a good way!"
He paused for a moment, his curiosity piqued.
"And this is just the Third-Tier range.
I wonder how much the Fourth-Tier bounties pay?"
He looked up.
"Does the Tongcheng Guild have any Fourth-Tier bounty missions?"
"Huh?" Xiao Liu blinked in surprise, almost dropping the tablet.
"Little brother Zhao," Cao Hu interjected, chuckling awkwardly,
"you're strong, no doubt about it, but compared to Fourth-Tier powerhouses, there's still a long way to go…"
"Relax, Brother Cao," Zhao Xuan said quickly.
"I'm not planning to take one—I'm just curious about the reward."
"Oh! That's different," Cao Hu said, exhaling in relief.
"Now that you mention it, I'm curious too. Xiao Liu, do we have any Fourth-Tier bounties listed in the system? Show us one if you do."
"There is—just one, actually!" Xiao Liu said after typing rapidly on the console.
He turned the tablet around for them to see.
Fourth-Tier Bounty Mission:
Target: "Thunder Tiger," a land-king-class beast residing deep within the Wutong Mountain Range.
Reward:3,000,000 yuan.
"Th-three… what!?" Zhao Xuan's eyes went wide.
"Three million," Xiao Liu confirmed.
Zhao Xuan clenched his fists tightly.
Since the day he had crossed into this world, it had been barely half a month.
He had been training, fighting, improving every single day—
but never before had his desire to grow stronger burned this fiercely.
Three million for one mission.
That wasn't just a bounty—
It was a challenge from the heavens themselves.
--------------------------------------------------
Patreon Advance Chapters: [email protected] / KaiOynx