Dugu Qianye glanced at Mo Ziqing and said, "I am Dugu Qianye, and everyone in Qifeng City calls me the useless Ah Jiu. Knowing this, do you still want to be my friend?"
"Ah, you're that useless Ah Jiu we heard about in Qifeng City?" Dan Jingtian's eyes went wide in shock.
Hearing that the diminutive figure before them was the widely known useless Ah Jiu of Qifeng City, Ye Canglan and the others were greatly surprised. Especially Mo Ziqing, whose smile stiffened slightly, and his gaze flickered.
"Yes, I am the useless Ah Jiu. Surprised?" Dugu Qianye said disdainfully, seeing their reactions.
"Uh, a bit surprised. But even if you can't cultivate Phantom Power or Sword Qi, you're still my friend, Dan Jingtian!" Dan Jingtian slung an arm around Dugu Qianye's shoulder, patting his chest as he said, "Besides, the meat you roasted is so delicious. From now on, whoever dares call you useless will have a bone to pick with me."
Watching Dan Jingtian beating his chest and making grand statements, Dugu Qianye broke out in a cold sweat—this kid seemed to only remember the roasted meat.
"You really can't cultivate Phantom Power or Sword Qi? Then it must be very dangerous for you in the Cangmang Mountain," said Ye Canglan, looking at Dugu Qianye with some disapproval in his eyes.
Ordinary Phantom Masters and Sword Masters wouldn't dare to come to Cangmang Mountain alone, let alone someone who couldn't cultivate.
"Heh, I am here in the Cangmang Mountain for training, where else would your roasted meat come from? So what if I can't cultivate? If one road is blocked, there's always another that's open. The true strong ones, even with a useless constitution, can't be stopped from moving forward; should gods stand in my way, I shall slay the gods, and should Buddha obstruct me, I will cut down Buddha!" Coldness surged in Dugu Qianye's eyes as she thought of her missing parents.
"Haha, that's my brother! So domineering!" Dan Jingtian laughed heartily.
"Ah, Qianye, you're really something," Ye Canglan also said.
"You have the heart of a strong person, not bad," He Yan couldn't help but praise, though his face remained expressionless as ever.
Mo Ziqing and Long Xiang stopped smiling, their faces set in serious contemplation.
Suddenly, Dugu Qianye stood up, vigilantly scanning the surroundings. Soon after, He Yan and Mo Ziqing got to their feet as well.
A Wind Wolf emerged from the woods, followed by a second and a third... before they knew it, the group was surrounded by over twenty level two and three Spiritual Beasts, the Wind Wolves.
"So many Spiritual Beasts!" Dan Jingtian stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Dugu Qianye, and said, "Brother, you have to stay close to me later. Otherwise, with so many Spiritual Beasts, even I will have trouble ensuring your safety."
The others also positioned themselves near Dugu Qianye, seemingly forming a protective circle around her.
Looking at Dan Jingtian and the others in front of her, the corners of Dugu Qianye's mouth curled slightly as she said, "This still won't stump me. Right now, I don't need friends—I need comrades I can trust to cover my back and fight shoulder to shoulder with me." With those words, she picked up her dagger and set upon the pack of wolves using the Ethereal Step Technique. The movements of her kicks, stabs, and slices were clean and efficient, and in no time, she had taken down several Wind Wolves.
Seeing Dugu Qianye break out of the protective circle, the others were momentarily stunned. Then they each conjured Phantom Power and attacked the Wind Wolves from different directions. Ye Canglan and Long Xiang displayed yellow Phantom Power, both having two moons and seven stars; Dan Jingtian and Mo Ziqing both had two moons and eight stars. He Yan, meanwhile, wielded two knives and seven small swords. All being in their twenties and reaching such a level, there was no doubt they were individuals of genius caliber.
After about ten minutes, the twenty-odd Wind Wolves lay defeated on the ground. Seeing the corpses of Wind Wolves at Dugu Qianye's feet, everyone's jaws dropped in amazement. It took a while before Dan Jingtian managed to blurt out, "Damn, are you really that useless Ah Jiu others talk about?"
Skilfully extracting the Demon Crystals and stuffing the carcasses into the Spatial Ring, Dugu Qianye turned to see everyone's astonished faces. She shrugged, with no intention of offering any explanation.
After collecting their spoils of battle, the group quickly packed up and left the clearing, setting up camp again at a more distant location to spend the night.
The smell of blood can sometimes attract a lot of trouble.
Early the next morning, at a fork in the road.
"Brother Qianye, we are students of the Empire College, and we came out to complete a mission for the academy. Now there isn't much time left to submit our task, so we must return. Will you come with us?" Dan Jingtian looked at Dugu Qianye, his eyes blinking non-stop.
After glancing in the direction of the inner Cangmang Mountain, Dugu Qianye shook his head and said, "You go back first, I want to stay a bit longer."
These past few days, she kept feeling as if something was calling out to her. That feeling was getting stronger and stronger, so she decided to go and check it out. However, she didn't plan to tell the people in front of her, otherwise her plan might fall through.
"Well then! You must come visit us in the Imperial Capital later. I will miss your grilled meat. Hmm, and you too." After speaking, Dan Jingtian also nodded solemnly.
The crowd collectively facepalmed...
"The Empire College is enrolling new students at the beginning of September next year. If you have the chance, you can give it a try," Long Xiang said with a smile.
"The Empire College is recruiting? I'll consider it," Dugu Qianye nodded, indicating she understood.
"Oh, right. Since you're my brother, I should give you a token of our brotherhood." Having said that, Dan Jingtian began to search through his stuff in his ring. After a while, he took out a token carved with intricate patterns on the front and the words "Young Master's Command" on the back.
"Young Master's Command?" Dugu Qianye looked at the token, confused.
"Yes, I'm the Young Master of the Guild Headquarters of the Mercenary Guild. My token carries a command authority. If anyone ever bullies you, you can take this token to any Mercenary Guild and mobilize half of their forces. How's that, the token is pretty good, right!" He stared eagerly into your eyes, waiting for the compliment.
Suddenly, she remembered hearing that the Mercenary Guild had a protective guildmaster and a mischievous Young Master. Now she realized that this mischievous Young Master was also a bona fide foodie, who had 'sold' himself for a meal of grilled meat.
Dugu Qianye tossed the token into her Spatial Ring. She would keep it for now and decide whether to use it later.
Before leaving, Dugu Qianye had a private chat with Mo Ziqing.
"I know you are from the Mo Family of the Imperial Capital. Thank you for keeping my secret and not revealing that I'm a girl," Dugu Qianye was the first to speak.
"Some things should not be seen with the eyes alone." Looking at Dugu Qianye's frail body that seemed more like that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old despite being fifteen, one could guess how her years had been.
Even though Mo Ziqing's words seemed a bit cryptic, Dugu Qianye still nodded.
Afterward, the group said their goodbyes. Dan Jingtian had walked a few dozen meters before suddenly turning around and shouting, "You must come next year, I'll be waiting to pick you up!"
The crowd facepalmed again! Dugu Qianye was speechless. She really wanted to say, we're not doing anything bad, it seems we don't need the word 'pick up', right?!
After parting with the group, Dugu Qianye began walking towards the inner area. The call coming from there was becoming stronger, and even knowing the dangers inside, she couldn't help but walk towards it to find out what it was.