Everyone had arrived, and Haote asked Dongfang Jing to introduce himself to the team.
Before he could even speak, someone questioned, "Captain, can this kid handle it? How old is he?"
The person asking the question had his face covered by a black cloth, revealing only a pair of narrow eyes.
The other team members remained silent, but their eyes were full of distrust.
The black-faced man scratched his head and added, "I forgot to tell you, Captain, I have a friend who happens to be an agility-based attacker, so I brought him along."
He then stepped aside to let a young man who looked to be in his early twenties pass by.
The young man was lean and wiry, with sharp eyes that revealed a shrewdness. This young man glanced at Dongfang Jing, especially upon hearing his youth, and a subtle smirk appeared on his lips.
He cupped his hands in greeting to Haote and said, "Boss Haote, my name is Lin Bao, a level 27 agility-type Soul Master, my Martial Soul is the Wind-Chasing Weasel, speed is definitely not a problem! Leave this scouting to me!"
Haote frowned. Why wasn't he informed beforehand?
This made him slightly displeased, but he didn't show it, only turning to look at the silver-haired youth beside him.
Dongfang Jing shrugged: "Dongfang Jing, level 19, Martial Soul is the Shattered Mirror."
Concise and to the point.
Upon hearing that his Soul Power level was lower than his own, Lin Bao's sense of superiority became even more obvious.
Haote pondered for a moment, also considering what to do.
On one side was Dongfang Jing, with whom he had gradually become familiar, with whom he had already made an agreement and whose abilities he recognized; on the other side was the person recommended by his teammate.
After only a moment's hesitation, he made a decision, his face serious, and said solemnly, "No, I'm a man of my word. I've already promised Little Mirror, how can I go back on my word? Besides, I've seen his abilities with my own eyes, helping us scout the way is definitely no problem."
Since Captain Haote had spoken, the other teammates couldn't say anything.
However, the dark-faced man and the young man were clearly dissatisfied.
Haote was annoyed.
This guy always contradicted him during missions!
The dark-faced man's narrow eyes darted around, as if he had come up with a good idea, and he loudly suggested, "How about this, let them have a contest. Whoever wins will be in charge of the reconnaissance mission, and the loser will leave! What do you think?"
"I agree!" the young man immediately responded.
Several team members nodded in agreement, thinking it was indeed fairer.
Haote looked troubled.
Even though he was the captain, he couldn't directly reject his teammates' suggestion.
They weren't exactly life-or-death partners.
They were all just looking out for each other, and their teamwork was relatively good, so they often teamed up for missions.
Forcing them to cooperate based on his captaincy might cause the team to fall apart.
After all, it wasn't easy to form another team with such good teamwork.
"Okay, how do we compete?"
Dongfang Jing agreed without hesitation.
He also noticed Haote's predicament.
He had a good impression of Haote.
Two months ago, even on their first meeting, Haote hadn't shown the slightest disrespect because of his height and age.
Such an honest and upright person was truly rare in the world of Soul Masters.
Hearing that Dongfang Jing actually dared to overestimate himself and agree to the contest, the dark-faced man and the young man exchanged a glance and nodded almost imperceptibly.
The dark-faced man explained the rules: "The contest is very simple. To save time, you two will both be blindfolded. I will hide a badge within two hundred meters of the forest. Whoever finds it and brings it to me first will stay, how about that?"
"Okay." Dongfang Jing nodded slightly, his tone calm.
The dark-faced man's eyelids twitched. So confident?
A strange unease rose in his heart.
He had insisted that the young man he brought be in charge of the scouting, only to earn an extra 'recruitment fee'.
At the same time, this young man was also an old acquaintance of his.
Finally, he would get a portion of the money as a 'referral fee'.
Thinking this, the black-faced man glanced at the two blindfolded men again, then turned to hide the badge.
He hid it in the snow under a tree in the woods, thinking to himself,'A Soul Master can't possibly defeat a Great Soul Master, can he?'
Unbeknownst to him,behind a tree behind him, a mirror image of "Dongfang Jing" was quietly watching.
The black-faced man returned to the group and said to the two competitors, "It's hidden. You can take it off now."
Hearing this, both removed their black bandages.
The young man and the black-faced man exchanged a fleeting glance, then immediately activated their Martial Souls and rushed towards the hiding place of the badge.
Dongfang Jing, however, remained unhurried.
With a slight thought—hidden body and mirror image instantly switched!
When he reappeared, he held a badge in his hand.
He casually tossed the badge to the dark-faced man, his tone laced with sarcasm: "How about it? Is my ability acceptable?"
The dark-faced man instinctively caught the badge, his narrow eyes widening in surprise.
The other team members also looked astonished.
The match was decided in the blink of an eye?
As a Soul King, Hao Te's strength far surpassed Dongfang Jing's.
Furthermore, knowing some of Dongfang Jing's secrets, such as the astonishing fact that his first Soul Ring was a thousand years old, he had clearly witnessed what had just happened.
'The speed of his first Soul Skill truly lives up to his reputation as a genius with a thousand-year Soul Ring!But I don't think I saw his Soul Ring just now? Oh well, maybe I just didn't notice.'
Hao Te thought to himself.
Dongfang Jing, of course, would never reveal all his trump cards to outsiders.
Even if he called Hao Te "Big Brother," it was just a casual address.
"Alright, the match is over. Little Mirror will be in charge of the reconnaissance mission. Do you all have any objections now?" Hao Te's tone was light and cheerful, as if he were triumphant.
Everyone nodded in agreement; they had all seen it with their own eyes, so what could they possibly object to?
The dark-faced man remained silent, having nothing to say.
He glanced coldly in the direction of the young man still searching for the badge, and snorted.
Without waiting for his return,the group entered the Frozen Forest.
Stepping into the Frozen Forest, a chilling coldness immediately assaulted their senses.
Just as Dongfang Jing had predicted, the temperature inside the forest was several degrees lower than outside.
Looking around, the trees were all covered in ice and snow, their branches draped with icicles, crystal clear.
The 'frozen' forest truly lived up to its name.
The group was still in the outer area of the forest, not yet the time for Dongfang Jing to use his abilities to explore.
So he stayed by Haote's side, chatting with him.
Haote was also a talkative person, and upon hearing that Dongfang Jing was from out of town, he became even more enthusiastic, introducing himself to him.
"Little Mirror, this Frozen Forest, though not as formidable as the Star Dou Great Forest, is still exceptionally dangerous, teeming with thousand-year and ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts. Most of these soul beasts are water or ice-attribute, so only water or cold-attribute soul masters who need these types of soul rings come here to hunt.For example, my martial soul—the Snow Soul Demon Bear—all its soul rings were obtained from this Frozen Forest."
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(End of Chapter)