Chapter 304 – "Let's Do a Major Cleanup!"

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

In the end, all three girls made the same decision.

“We’ll join!”

When Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao spoke these words simultaneously, Chi Qian’s emotions were particularly complex.

From her perspective, she had already resolved to spend her entire life making up for past mistakes and repaying these former companions. Yet now, because of their joining, she was receiving new opportunities and excellent treatment, which made Chi Qian feel undeserving.

If it weren’t for the fact that the three joining this team was truly a good choice, Chi Qian would have really tried to stop them.

But now, even if she wanted to prevent it, she couldn’t.

The terms Su Ming offered were genuinely attractive, representing an excellent opportunity for these girls. If she tried to stop them, it would be like blocking their path forward.

This left Chi Qian unable to voice any objections, her heart filled with conflicting emotions.

Everyone else, however, was quite satisfied with the outcome.

Originally, the three girls had been prepared to sacrifice their own freedom to secure Chi Qian’s. While they hadn’t achieved their initial goal, being able to change Chi Qian’s contract from unpaid to paid—and with such favorable conditions—wasn’t a bad outcome.

Moreover, they had also gained the same new opportunities and even joined the same team as Chi Qian, avoiding separation. At the very least, Feng Qing’er and Tong Xinyao were delighted with this result.

“I thought if Sister Qianqian joined someone else’s team, we wouldn’t be able to stay together anymore. But now it’s great—we’re all together again!” Feng Qing’er expressed with optimism and joy.

“Yes, together,” Tong Xinyao echoed, her small face beaming with immense happiness as if she had found her anchor, much of her inner unease dissipating.

Mu Yan didn’t express anything. While Feng Qing’er and Tong Xinyao were rejoicing, she had already verified the contents of the contract with Su Ming and signed her name.

Su Ming also generously produced three high-quality contracts for Mu Yan and the others to use. The contract given to Tong Xinyao, in particular, was in no way inferior to the one Chi Qian had signed—it was a top-tier high-quality contract, extremely close to premium grade.

This showed just how much importance Su Ming placed on this Spirit Bearer.

Although initially, Su Ming had only intended to recruit Upper-Rank Professionals to maintain an elite team, and according to that original plan, he shouldn’t have recruited Tong Xinyao who was only Three-Star, her potential made her worth the investment.

True to his word, Su Ming gave Tong Xinyao a twenty-year contract, meaning this top little Genius of Tianfeng City would have to remain in his team for at least twenty years, until she was thirty-four.

As for Mu Yan and Feng Qing’er, they both received ten-year contracts.

After signing these contracts, these girls would essentially belong to Su Ming for the next ten to twenty years.

Unless the team faced major difficulties and had to disband, the contracts would become void, effectively terminating the agreement.

After all, you can’t expect people to continue working for you after the team has dissolved.This was also the reason why Mu Yan and the other two could join Su Ming’s team.

Otherwise, the contracts they had signed when joining Chi Qian’s team would not have expired yet.

Su Ming had briefly looked into it and learned that when Mu Yan and Feng Qing’er joined Chi Qian’s team, they had signed five-year contracts, while Tong Xinyao had signed a ten-year contract.

Clearly, Upper-Rank Professionals generally don’t sign long-term contracts when joining teams. Only potential talents like Tong Xinyao, who haven’t yet advanced to Upper-Rank Professional status, would sign ten-year contracts.

Su Ming had also learned from the Terminal that for Upper-Rank Professionals like Mu Yan and Feng Qing’er—who are relatively young, still have potential, and possess considerable strength—contracts typically last around three years. A five-year contract was already considered quite long.

As for ten years, that was truly rare.

If not for the unprecedented benefits Su Ming offered, combined with the fact that Chi Qian had rescued them from the Venomous Insect Cave, Mu Yan and Feng Qing’er would definitely not have signed such long-term contracts with a team right away, regardless of Tong Xinyao’s situation.

One could only say this was also a stroke of good luck for Su Ming.

“This way, my team has three Upper-Rank Professionals and one Lower-Rank Professional.”

“Chi Qian, Five-Star Peak Hunter.”

“Mu Yan, Four-Star Peak Hunter.”

“Feng Qing’er, Four-Star Upper-Tier Hunter.”

“Tong Xinyao, Three-Star Upper-Tier Sorcerer.”

“Plus me, the team now has five members.”

A five-person team naturally couldn’t be considered large.

But among these five, including Su Ming, there were four Upper-Rank Professionals, along with one Spirit Bearer who was certain to advance to Upper-Rank Professional in the future. That was somewhat astonishing.

Generally, a team would need to reach at least C-Rank to have one Upper-Rank Professional, and some B-Rank teams might only have one Upper-Rank Professional overseeing them.

Four Upper-Rank Professionals?

That could rival even those A-Rank teams, lacking only in having far fewer base-level personnel.

Even first-rate Families like the Mo Family in Longyao City only had a few Upper-Rank Professionals within their clan. As for top-tier Families like the Xu Family, they had fewer than ten Upper-Rank Professionals at home.

Four Upper-Rank Professionals—such a group was already enough to make first-rate and second-rate Families wary, and even top-tier Families would have to treat them with extra caution.

Of course, this referred to the situation in Longyao City.

In Tianfeng City, a top-tier Family would have more than just this number of Upper-Rank Professionals.

In Tianfeng City’s top-tier Families, there were often multiple Six-Star Professionals, let alone those below Six-Star.

Those top-tier Families standing at the pinnacle might only lack a Seven-Star Professional compared to the Super Families.

So, in Tianfeng City, a team’s strength couldn’t compare to that of a major Family.

But as far as teams go, Su Ming’s team already possessed considerable strength—enough to compete for B-Rank team status.

And this was only considering surface strength.

On the surface, Su Ming was an Upper-Rank Professional, but could he be just an ordinary Upper-Rank Professional?As a dual Professional of Four-Star Hunter and Five-Star Sorcerer, enhanced by the power of his right hand, the Demon Emperor Sword, and the Blue Demon Ceasefire Ring, Su Ming was now capable of competing even with Six-Star Professionals.

Not to mention, by his side was Little Hai’er, who was akin to a guardian spirit.

She was a dual Professional among Phantom Demons, a Nightmare Species, though not yet fully matured.

Once she reached full maturity, she would become a fearsome existence equivalent to a Seven-Star Professional.

By then, the strength of this team would almost be unrivaled among all teams in Tianfeng City.

And if the girls continued to grow stronger while he himself achieved further Breakthroughs…

Just thinking about that prospect made Su Ming feel quite cheerful.

Thus, to celebrate the team’s initial formation and to welcome the many girls who had joined, Su Ming decided—

“Let’s do a big cleanup!”

Su Ming happily pulled all the girls into the task of cleaning the villa.

……

“Miling!”

In the villa’s first-floor hall, Little Hai’er swam through the air, swaying her fishtail as she continuously summoned streams of water to wash the villa’s floors and walls, thoroughly enjoying herself.

“Alright, alright, alright! That’s enough water! Any more and we’ll have a flood!”

Feng Qing’er, sleeves rolled up and wearing shorts that reached the edge, stood barefoot on the water-splashed floor, holding a brush as she shouted at Little Hai’er in mid-air.

“Ah!”

Tong Xinyao, who was wiping a window with a cloth, got splashed with water and let out a small exclamation of surprise.

“Be careful!”

Chi Qian held a hose but found herself completely useless with Little Hai’er around, so she could only offer reminders from the side.

Nearby, Mu Yan passed by carrying a bucket.

The four girls and one mermaid took on the entire villa’s cleaning, bustling about busily inside.

However, their attention was occasionally drawn to a figure standing in the courtyard.

Su Ming stood in the courtyard, sleeves and pant legs rolled up.

Fluctuations of Spirit Power rippled around him.

“【Fourth Form: Scythe Cut】.”

A circular array hovered above one of his hands as he directed the fourth-ranked low-sequence Spirit Art toward a large patch of weeds in the courtyard.

Instantly, a gust of wind arose, transforming into numerous invisible wind blades that swept through every corner of the courtyard, swiftly cutting down the weeds.

Yes.

Su Ming was using Spirit Art to mow the grass.

The sight left Tong Xinyao, who witnessed it, feeling as if her entire worldview had shattered, with a sense of “Spirit Art can be used like this!?”

Su Ming’s “unstoppable grass-cutting” posture captured the attention of all the girls.

It couldn’t be helped.

“Is that really just a fourth-form Spirit Art?” Feng Qing’er exclaimed in astonishment. “Why does its power and scale feel so unusual?”

“Indeed,” Mu Yan remarked, glancing toward the courtyard as she carried her bucket. “For such a low-sequence Spirit Art, being able to release a few wind blades would already be considered exceptional performance. Yet the power and scale of the Commander’s technique are on a completely different level.”

Su Ming’s 【Scythe Cut】 seemed unusually large-scale, not only producing an unimaginable number of wind blades but also enveloping the entire vast courtyard.”I don’t recall 【Scythe Cut】 being a range-based Offensive Spirit Art.”

As she said this, Mu Yan glanced toward Tong Xinyao.

“The fourth-form 【Scythe Cut】 is a single-target Offensive Spirit Art—it doesn’t have area-of-effect capabilities.” Tong Xinyao stole a glance at Su Ming outside the door, her eyes shimmering with admiration as she explained, “But it seems the Commander infused an enormous amount of Spirit Power into the Spell Formula, boosting 【Scythe Cut】’s attack range, frequency, and number of strikes. That’s what created this scene resembling a range-based Spirit Art.”

What did this imply?

It demonstrated that Su Ming’s Spirit Power reserves were truly extraordinary!

“Is that something anyone can just do?”

Feng Qing’er asked straightforwardly, not understanding.

“Not at all.” Tong Xinyao quickly shook her head. “To achieve something like that, having abundant Spirit Power alone isn’t enough. One’s spiritual affinity must also be exceptionally strong. Otherwise, it’s impossible to control the structure of the Spell Formula or manage the flow of Spirit Power—you wouldn’t even be able to construct the circular array. There’s even a risk of the Spirit Power becoming chaotic and causing self-harm.”

This was precisely why the women were so captivated by Su Ming’s “grass-cutting” display.

Having operated in Tianfeng City and being both skilled and promising in potential, their insight was naturally sharp.

Thus, even though Su Ming was merely cutting grass and using a low-level Spirit Art ranked only fourth in sequence, the girls could still discern the remarkable complexity behind it.

“It seems you were right,” Mu Yan said to Chi Qian, who had been quietly standing not far away. “Our Commander appears even more unfathomable than we imagined.”

Hearing this, Chi Qian gave a faint, wry smile.

“I’ve told you—the Commander is anything but ordinary. You’ll understand in time. Don’t mistake him for some green rookie.”

She had repeated these words many times already.

In fact, she’d said them repeatedly during the three days before Mu Yan and the others had even met Su Ming.

Initially, upon seeing how young Su Ming was and how weak his Aura seemed, Mu Yan and the rest couldn’t help but feel a bit skeptical.

Now, much of that doubt had faded.

“Just the fact that he keeps a Phantom Demon—likely a Nightmare Species—and has it serve him is enough to prove the Commander is no ordinary person.”

Feng Qing’er held a brush in one hand and rested the other on her hip, watching Little Hai’er still joyfully swimming and sprinkling water in mid-air, her mind lingering in disbelief.

When she first saw Little Hai’er, Feng Qing’er had even doubted her own eyes.

And it wasn’t just her—Mu Yan and Tong Xinyao had reacted similarly. One’s icy demeanor instantly melted away, while the other shrieked and bolted in panic. Their shock was palpable.

If they hadn’t repeatedly confirmed that the mermaid girl was harmless—not only highly spirited but also exceptionally obedient and human-like—Mu Yan and the other two would have immediately formed a team to gang up on Little Hai’er.

After witnessing such an unbelievable being like Little Hai’er and catching a glimpse of Su Ming’s capabilities, Mu Yan and the others no longer doubted that Su Ming was a profoundly mysterious figure.

The only question remained: just what was the background of this enigmatic individual?

“Have you looked into the Commander’s origins?”

Mu Yan tentatively asked Chi Qian.”Probably, but I don’t know much about it.” Chi Qian nodded and said: “After he promised to save you all, I did some investigation.”

“As it turns out, unless something unexpected happened, our Commander should have come from that Longyao City.”

Chi Qian’s words made Mu Yan and the others feel puzzled.

“Longyao City?”

What Base City is that?

“Alright, it seems you need to catch up on the intelligence you’ve missed over this past year.” Chi Qian chuckled slightly and said: “This Longyao City is no ordinary place – it has recently become the focus of attention for the entire world.”

Chi Qian began recounting the stories about Longyao City.

Little Hai’er was still happily sprinkling water over there.

Su Ming… Su Ming was still cutting grass.

And so they continued like this, chatting about various things while cleaning the entire Villa, gradually restoring it to its former glory.

(End of Chapter)