Seeing Su Nan again, the three individuals seemed like completely different people compared to yesterday. Their attitude towards him was noticeably more respectful.
They had even changed their address from "Director Zhang" to "Lord Director."
Behind the three of them, more than twenty members of the Demon-Slaying Division had complex expressions.
It wasn't surprising at all. Who would have thought that someone at the Initial Spiritual Level had the strength to kill a Peak Spiritual Level Yao creature?
Early in the morning, they received a message.
Last night, their new Director had gone solo from Wutong Road to Shuangliu Street.
A Mid-Spiritual Level and a Peak Spiritual Level Yao creature had died at the hands of their Director.
And both were killed with a single blow!
At first, when they received this message, the three couldn't believe it.
Their initial thought was that there must be a mistake.
After all, in their eyes, their new Director was just at the Initial Spiritual Level, and surviving a night was questionable, let alone killing a Peak Spiritual Level Yao creature.
However, more information quickly came in, and they had no choice but to start believing.
"Yes, I killed them," Su Nan nodded.
Upon hearing this, even though the three were prepared, they couldn't help but inhale sharply.
With the strength of an Initial Spiritual Level, he had defeated a Peak Spiritual Level Yao creature?
Wasn't this being invincible among peers?
Where did this monster come from?
And behind the three, the other members of the Demon-Slaying Division had equally perplexed expressions.
"Lord Director, can we take a look at the corpses of those two Yao creatures?" Among the three, a female warrior named Chen Su asked.
She then added hastily, "Lord, please don't misunderstand. We just need to register them as per our usual procedure."
"We have to register every Yao creature we kill, and then we distribute Demon-Slaying Points based on the creature's level."
"Demon-Slaying Points? What are they for?" Su Nan asked.
"Lord, you don't know?" Chen Su looked puzzled.
Su Nan shook his head. He was only here temporarily, and the County Governor hadn't mentioned anything, so he hadn't asked. He joined the Demon-Slaying Division for the game's regional quest, and he might quit once the quest was over. He wouldn't care about these things.
The only young man among the three, Ma Qiang, explained, "Demon-Slaying Points are a kind of benefit for us in the Demon-Slaying Division. With these points, we can exchange for various treasures in the division's treasury."
"Lord, the Demon-Slaying Points you earn from killing Yao creatures can also be used to exchange for treasures in the County Governor's treasury."
"To attract martial artists to join us, this has been in place since the establishment of our Demon-Slaying Division."
"In addition to the fixed rewards we receive every month for Yao creature blood, we not only handle the corpses of the creatures we kill, but we also receive additional Demon-Slaying Points."
Su Nan suddenly realized and asked, "Since you all have these benefits, what about me as Director?"
The three exchanged glances, and Zhu Chen shook his head, saying, "We don't know about that."
Then, he remembered something and continued, "I heard the previous Director say that, in addition to our basic rewards, there seems to be an annual opportunity to go to the Imperial Dynasty and undergo a Bloodline Baptism."
"Bloodline Baptism?" Su Nan secretly noted.
Seeing their expressions, he didn't know what the Bloodline Baptism was, and he didn't want to ask further. He immediately took out the corpses of the two Yao creatures he had hunted yesterday.
"It's really Pigbi and Fishwife!"
"These two have been on the Demon-Slaying leaderboard for a long time but never managed to kill them."
Looking at the two Yao creature corpses with expressions of fear still on their faces, the three were filled with amazement.
At this moment, the Yao creature corpses were placed in front of them, and they were completely convinced.
They had no idea that Su Nan still had the corpse of a Profound-level Yao creature with him; otherwise, their jaws might have dropped in astonishment.
"Pigbi is at the Mid-Spiritual Level, which is 24 Demon-Slaying Points, and Fishwife is at the Peak Spiritual Level, which is 96 Demon-Slaying Points. Lord, you've earned a total of 120 Demon-Slaying Points."
Zhu Chen took out a palm-sized copper mirror and aimed it at the two Yao creature corpses.
Immediately, a number appeared on the mirror, along with Su Nan's character name, Zhang Yang.
"120 points?" Su Nan asked.
Then he thought of something else and said, "How many Demon-Slaying Points is a Profound-level Yao creature worth?"
Zhu Chen didn't think too much and explained, "For common-level creatures, it's 1 point for the Initial stage, 2 points for the Mid-stage, 4 points for the Late stage, and 8 points for the Peak stage."
"For Spiritual-level creatures, it's 16 points for the Initial stage, 24 points for the Mid-stage, 48 points for the Late stage, and 96 points for the Peak stage."
"For Profound-level creatures, it's 192 points for the Initial stage, 384 points for the Mid-stage, 768 points for the Late stage, and 1536 points for the Peak stage!"
Hearing this, Su Nan nodded, "So, the Demon-Slaying Points reward doubles with each increase in the creature's level."
"That's right," Zhu Chen nodded and handed the mirror to Su Nan, saying, "This is a Spirit Mirror specifically used to record Demon-Slaying Points. In the past, it was kept by the Director, but since the previous Director died, I've been temporarily in charge."
"Now that you're here, Lord Director, it's only natural that you'll take care of it."
Su Nan took it curiously and looked at it. He then handed it back to Zhu Chen and said, "You better keep it. I'll only need it when necessary."
The mirror was related to the reward system of the Demon-Slaying Division, and he couldn't be using it all the time. As a player, he couldn't stay in the Demon-Slaying Division all the time, and he might not even log into the game continuously.
"By the way, which Yao creature killed the previous Director?" Su Nan asked.
Ma Qiang replied, "It was under the White Water Yao King, a Mid-Profound Level Yao creature named Purple Armor."
"Two years ago, the previous Director had a fierce battle with another Yao creature, and although he won in the end, he was ambushed by Purple Armor on his way back and was killed."
"Mid-Profound Level?" Su Nan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If it was a Late-Profound Level Yao creature, he might not be able to hunt it for a long time. But a Mid-Profound Level was still possible.
Knowing Su Nan's strength, the three obviously didn't want him to die in vain and reminded him, "Lord Director, you must be careful. Although our County Governor has an agreement with two Yao Kings that high-level Yao creatures
should not attack low-level martial artists, Yao creatures are not a race known for keeping agreements."
Su Nan nodded. Such incidents had already occurred as he had foreseen.
Just as they were speaking, a member of the Demon-Slaying Division ran in to report, "Lord Director, there are three visitors from the Celestial Realm outside who want to see you."
"Let them in." Su Nan knew who the three were without having to think about it.
"Zhang Yang, we've almost completed the tasks you assigned to us. There are over two hundred players who want to join us, and they are waiting outside."
The Huang brothers, upon entering the Demon-Slaying Division, looked around curiously at first. Finally, when they saw Su Nan, they quickly reported their achievements as if seeking praise.
"Over two hundred? That's great!" Su Nan nodded.
Over two hundred might not seem like a lot, but these were players who had come to investigate after hearing about the Demon-Slaying Division for just over ten minutes during the second phase of the public beta. As time passed, more would surely come.
Outside the Demon-Slaying Division, a large group of people had gathered, and they became excited as soon as they saw Su Nan and the others.
"Is that Zhang Yang? The Zhang Yang, right?"
"Yes, that's him! I've seen him on the forums."
Seeing these visitors from the Celestial Realm, Zhu Chen and the others initially frowned. Suddenly, they realized something and asked, "Are they all from the Celestial Realm?"
"Yes," Su Nan replied. "Please register them, and they will be part of our team from now on."
Hearing this, Zhu Chen and the others were surprised once again. "What? Lord Director, you want them to join our Demon-Slaying Division?"
Su Nan said, "The Demon-Slaying Division is short-staffed, and they will help fill the ranks."
"Being able to join the Demon-Slaying Division for missions is great! We don't have to worry about newbie missions anymore!" The players were excited.
At that moment, Su Nan suddenly noticed a middle-aged man in armor approaching from the distance. It was Tian He, the leader of the guards who had brought him to the Demon-Slaying Division yesterday.
"Director Zhang, Captain Zhu, Captain Ma, Captain Chen, the County Governor has requested your presence for an important discussion," Tian He quickly informed them, his eyes showing a different color when he looked at Su Nan.
An important discussion?
Su Nan's heart stirred, and he immediately thought of the game's missions.
"Alright."
Without thinking too much, he followed Tian He to the County Governor's Mansion.
Ten minutes later, in the County Governor's Mansion, in the same grand hall.
"Director Zhang, you've really surprised me with your performance," the County Governor said as he sat at the high seat, looking at Su Nan with a smile.
Below the old man, Tian He did not leave and stood to the side, waiting for the old man's orders.
"County Governor, you're joking. I just killed a couple of small Yao creatures," Su Nan naturally knew what the old man was referring to.
"Are you sure it's just a couple of small Yao creatures? Wasn't Lu Er also killed by you?" The County Governor's words didn't faze Su Nan.
When he hunted Lu Er, he had already guessed that this matter couldn't be concealed.
Perhaps the Yao creatures might speculate on which martial artist had done it, but as the County Governor of Tianyun County, there was no need for guessing.
Hearing the County Governor's words, Zhu Chen and the others behind Su Nan suddenly became unsettled.
"What? Lord Director killed Lu Er too?"
"How is that possible? Lu Er was a Profound-level Grand Yao, and there's a huge gap between Profound-level and Spiritual-level. How could Lord Director have killed him?"
"County Governor, are you sure you're not mistaken? Lu Er is incredibly fast, and the previous Director failed to capture him several times."
The three of them instinctively questioned.
The news of Lu Er's death had caused quite a stir among the Yao creatures, and they had naturally heard about it too.
As well-known Yao creatures on the Demon-Slaying leaderboard, Lu Er was a notorious troublemaker, and they had always wanted to hunt him down.
The previous Director had tried to capture him several times but had failed every time.
Now, hearing that Lu Er had been killed, they were naturally excited.
However, along with their excitement, they had also speculated on who had done it.
In the end, they had concluded that Lu Er's recent behavior had angered the County Governor, and the County Governor had dispatched someone to deal with him. But they had never thought that the new Director was the one responsible.
The three of them stared at Su Nan, expecting him to shake his head.
However, to their astonishment, Su Nan nodded and said, "Nothing can be hidden from the County Governor. I did kill Lu Er."
With that, he took out Lu Er's corpse.
Originally, he didn't plan to tell Zhu Chen and the others about this matter. After all, if people knew that he had the ability to hunt Profound-level Yao creatures, he would have to face not only Spiritual-level Yao creatures but also Profound-level ones in the future.
But since the County Governor had asked, he couldn't refuse to answer.
"This... it's really Lu Er!"
Seeing the corpse that Su Nan had taken out, the three of them felt as if they were dreaming. Even Tian He, who had heard some news while standing below the old man, became somewhat short of breath when he saw Lu Er's corpse.
Killing a Profound-level Yao creature with a Spiritual-level initial stage?
You should know that the gap between each realm is as vast as the heavens and the earth.
If Su Nan had hunted a Spiritual-level peak Yao creature, they could still accept it, but now that Su Nan had killed a Profound-level Yao creature, it completely exceeded their imagination.
They wanted to question it, but the fact was right in front of them, and they couldn't help but believe it.
"Hahaha, good! I didn't misjudge you," the old man laughed heartily.
Then he thought of something and looked at Zhu Chen and the others, instructing, "Don't mention this matter to anyone else."
The three of them nodded in a daze, still immersed in the shock of Su Nan killing Lu Er.
The old man continued, "I've called you here this time because there's something important to discuss."
Zhu Chen and the others quickly snapped out of their daze, focusing their attention on what the old man was about to say.
"You should know that our human race has been able to hold onto Dongchen Province despite our strength declining after the ancient era, thanks to the Heavenly Dome Divine Restriction left behind by the ancient powerhouses."
As expected, it's related to the Heavenly Dome Divine Restriction! Su Nan's heart was filled with anticipation, as this clearly signaled the start of a side quest.
"The Heavenly Dome Divine Restriction can suppress the Yao race, but over the years, the Yao race has never stopped trying to destroy it. Now, the Heavenly Dome Divine Restriction array in Dongchen Province is riddled with holes."
"Not long ago, His Majesty the Emperor invited the Three Sects and Six Sects to discuss the repair of the Heavenly Dome Divine Restriction. The progress of the matter has been smooth, and all the Three Sects and Six Sects have agreed to fully repair the array."
"But the Yao race won't let us repair it and will definitely try to sabotage our efforts."
The old man briefly explained the matter of the Heavenly Dome Divine Restriction, which was in line with the information provided by the game.
Su Nan knew that the important part was yet to come.
"I have nine counties in Dongchen Province, and each county is guarded by one of the factions of the Three Sects and Six Sects. Over the years, most of the key nodes in the nine counties have been destroyed, and each county only has two main nodes left that are still intact."
"According to the agreement between His Majesty and the Three Sects and Six Sects, each county's two main nodes are guarded by us and the Three Sects and Six Sects respectively."
"In my Tianyun County, the two nodes are both located near Tianyun County's city. One is in the east at the Golden Sun Pagoda, and the other is in the west at the Temple of Martial King."
Hearing this, Zhu Chen, Ma Qiang, and the others, who had been listening quietly to the old man's explanation, showed surprise on their faces.
"The Golden Sun Pagoda? The Temple of Martial King? They're actually there!"
Apparently, this was the first time they had heard this news.
"The node at the Golden Sun Pagoda is the responsibility of the Star Point Sect, and the node at the Temple of Martial King is the responsibility of our Demon-Slaying Division."
"This time, I've called you here to have you and the City Guard Army led by Captain Tian to jointly guard the Temple of Martial King."
[Congratulations, you have received the "Human Race Crisis" side quest. Please check the quest log for details.]
As the old man's voice fell, a quest notification popped up on Su Nan's interface.
(End of this chapter)