Chapter 345 – A Team of Eleven

For this SS-rank mission, Xu Xiayan had truly spared no expense.

She had hired numerous teams, each no lower than B-rank, with only Su Ming and Chi Qian’s “Azure Mercury” being a C-rank team. All other teams were at least B-rank, and among the more renowned ones at that.

As she herself put it, hiring teams that were too weak would only be sending them to their doom.

Therefore, Xu Xiayan only hired teams that had at least several Upper-Rank Professionals. Even if other teams had Upper-Rank Professionals, she wouldn’t consider them if their numbers were too small.

Using this standard, Xu Xiayan hired a total of eleven teams, including “Azure Mercury.”

Su Ming could well imagine how much it must have cost Xu Xiayan to hire these teams.

After all, those teams were at least B-rank, meaning they already had the qualification to enter the Hidden Realm without needing “Summer Chasing Smoke” to lead the way.

For them, accepting Xu Xiayan’s employment not only offered no benefits but actually required sacrifices.

What sacrifices?

Naturally, the time spent treasure hunting in the Hidden Realm.

As long as they followed Xu Xiayan on the SS-rank mission, they wouldn’t be able to search for treasures or gather those rare natural resources during the mission period.

This was undoubtedly a loss.

Only teams like “Azure Mercury,” which lacked the qualification to enter the Hidden Realm, wouldn’t suffer losses by accepting employment from “Summer Chasing Smoke.”

Of course, those teams that accepted employment from “Summer Chasing Smoke” weren’t without benefits.

After all, the Hidden Realm was a place with at least A-rank danger levels. Venturing alone in such a dangerous realm carried significant risks.

Even if there were treasures, what use were they if one couldn’t survive to claim them?

Conversely, operating together with “Summer Chasing Smoke,” the team closest to S-rank, undoubtedly offered much greater safety.

For these various reasons, coupled with the substantial benefits Xu Xiayan promised, eleven teams including “Azure Mercury” ultimately joined this SS-rank mission operation.

Among these many teams, Xu Xiayan specifically pointed out several that required Su Ming’s particular attention.

“Among the teams I’ve hired this time, there are two A-rank teams of the same level as ‘Summer Chasing Smoke.'”

“One is ‘Iron Rose,’ an A-rank team that, like the former ‘Crimson,’ only accepts female Professionals.”

“The other is ‘Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion,’ an A-rank team established by the two Qiao brothers that has existed for twenty years now.”

The two teams Xu Xiayan mentioned were both familiar to Su Ming.

Su Ming and Chi Qian had already noticed them when they entered.

Zhu Yun, the Vice Captain of “Iron Rose,” was with two female Hunters, chatting with several B-rank team Commanders while smiling at Su Ming and Chi Qian, raising her glass in greeting.

The representative from “Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion” was Chi Qian’s old rival, that Qiao Zhi, who was currently staring intently in their direction, making Chi Qian frown deeply.

When Su Ming saw these two upon entering, he couldn’t help but sigh.

“What a small world.”

But upon reflection, it wasn’t really surprising that these two teams would appear here.In Tianfeng City, there are countless Professional teams, but there are only so many A-rank teams—they can’t possibly be that numerous.

Xu Xiayan wanted to hire powerful teams to assist her, even going so far as to hire A-rank teams on the same level as “Summer Chasing Smoke.” So, it was quite normal for the people she brought in to be acquaintances of Su Ming and Chi Qian.

However, while Zhu Yun was fine and at least expressed some goodwill, Qiao Zhi was different.

This Vice Captain of “Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion” had clashed and conflicted with the members of “Azure Mercury” numerous times over the past month, all because of Chi Qian.

Although it never escalated to physical confrontation, there was still some unpleasantness between the two sides.

If only Chi Qian were there, Qiao Zhi, wanting to recruit her, wouldn’t offend her too severely.

But this time, Su Ming, the Commander who rarely made appearances, had personally shown up. It was only natural that Qiao Zhi would set his sights on him.

Xu Xiayan acted as if she hadn’t noticed any of this, calmly introducing the two A-rank teams to Su Ming.

“‘Iron Rose’ is a team founded seven years ago, with its founder being the current Commander, Zhu Qian.”

“Zhu Qian is a direct descendant of the Zhu Family, one of the Eight Great Families. She is thirty-four years old, a Six-Star Professional, and the second daughter of the Zhu Family Head. Her talent and abilities are unmatched among the younger generation of the family, and her status is equivalent to Wang Di’s in the Wang Family. She is the next-generation heir of the Zhu Family and the future pinnacle of the Zhu Family.”

“Her grandfather is a Seven-Star Professional, and her father, the Family Head, is also a Peak Six-Star existence. At birth, she was detected to have a high-quality Bloodline and was taken under her grandfather’s wing, learning from him ever since.”

“Although she is a year younger than Wang Di, in terms of strength alone, she is slightly stronger than him, especially in combat techniques. Having been trained by a Seven-Star Professional since childhood, her skills are exceptionally profound, and she is even regarded as the most skilled in combat techniques among her generation.”

“Because of this, even though ‘Iron Rose’ has only one Six-Star Professional, it still stands out among the A-rank teams, stronger than the average A-rank team.”

Xu Xiayan’s words made Wang Di open his mouth, a complex expression on his face as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

Clearly, this young master of the Wang Family was somewhat unwilling but had to admit that he was indeed inferior in skill, slightly weaker than Zhu Qian.

Xu Xiayan continued her explanation.

“Due to spending years training in combat techniques under her grandfather, Zhu Qian rarely manages the team’s internal affairs.”

“She has entrusted all the internal affairs of ‘Iron Rose’ to someone promoted from the Zhu Family’s collateral line.”

“That person is Zhu Yun, who is here today. She is a descendant from the Zhu Family’s collateral line, thirty-three years old, a Peak Five-Star expert, the same age as Chi Qian, and previously at the same Star Rank in strength.”

“It seems she has always regarded Chi Qian as a rival while also admiring her, so she has frequently extended invitations to Chi Qian, hoping she would join ‘Iron Rose’ and become her companion.”

Xu Xiayan’s words were directed at Chi Qian, causing her to pause slightly.

“There’s actually such a thing?”

Su Ming also looked at Chi Qian with some surprise.

“I didn’t know about it either.”

Chi Qian shook her head with a bitter smile.

“Could it be that ‘Iron Rose’ only recruits female Professionals because of you?”Su Ming grew somewhat skeptical.

It was not Chi Qian who answered this question, but Xu Xiayan.

“That’s not the case,” Xu Xiayan smiled and said, “After all, ‘Iron Rose’ has been established for seven years now—longer than ‘Crimson’ which only lasted two years. How could its female-only recruitment policy be related to ‘Crimson’?”

“True,” Su Ming nodded, then asked in confusion, “Then why does ‘Iron Rose’ only recruit female Professionals?”

“Because of the Zhu Family,” Xu Xiayan explained upon seeing Su Ming’s puzzlement. “The Zhu Family is somewhat similar to Longyao City’s Bai Family. Though they don’t prioritize women like the Bai Family, their Bloodline manifests special traits predominantly in certain female members.”

“Zhu Qian’s Bloodline exhibited such unique manifestations, leading many women in the Zhu Family to show signs of supporting her.”

“This resulted in nearly all founding members being female when Zhu Qian established her team.”

“Over time, with women forming the majority, recruiting male Professionals would create numerous complications and inconveniences. Thus, ‘Iron Rose’ decided to exclusively recruit female Professionals.”

Su Ming and Chi Qian exchanged glances, then simultaneously showed indescribable expressions.

This reason was strikingly similar to that of the former ‘Crimson’.

Though perhaps the other party was the originator—it would be more accurate to say ‘Crimson’ resembled ‘Iron Rose’.

Unaware of Su Ming and Chi Qian’s thoughts, Xu Xiayan continued speaking unabashedly.

“Currently, ‘Iron Rose’ has seven Upper-Rank Professionals. In this SS-rank mission, they will undoubtedly serve as our main force. You may interact with them, so remember this information well.”

These details shared by Xu Xiayan were secrets even Chi Qian hadn’t known.

Having led her team for too short a time, Chi Qian had limited understanding of major elite teams. Only after Xu Xiayan’s explanation did she realize ‘Iron Rose’—which had repeatedly invited her to join—had such background similarities to the former ‘Crimson’, while being even more powerful.

Had she known these details earlier, Chi Qian might have genuinely considered joining ‘Iron Rose’.

Of course, merely considered—without Dragon Demon Saliva as incentive, she would never have joined back then.

“Now let’s discuss ‘Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion’,” Xu Xiayan shifted topics and resumed her explanations.

“As I mentioned earlier, ‘Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion’ is an established team with twenty years of history, founded by the Qiao brothers—Qiao Zhi and his elder brother Qiao Liang.”

“The Qiao Family, like the Wang, Mo, Zhu, and Zhang Families, is one of the Super Families among the Eight Great Families.”

“The Qiao brothers are the most outstanding direct descendants of their generation, being twins with remarkable Aptitude and potential.”

“Comparatively, Qiao Zhi’s talent is inferior. Thus, approaching forty years old, he still hasn’t achieved a Breakthrough to become a Six-Star Professional.””In contrast, the eldest of the Qiao Family, Qiao Liang, who is the same age as his younger brother Qiao Zhi, had already achieved a Breakthrough to Six-Star early on. Among our generation, he is the most senior Six-Star Professional.”

At this point, Xu Xiayan pursed her lips before continuing.

“Due to his seniority, although the ‘Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion’ only has Qiao Liang as a Six-Star Professional, it boasts the largest number of Upper-Rank Professionals in all of Tianfeng City.”

“In terms of the number of Upper-Rank Professionals alone, even those S-rank teams cannot compare to this A-rank team, the ‘Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion’.”

“However, they lack high-end combat power at the Six-Star level, which has prevented them from advancing to S-rank.”

(End of Chapter)