Chapter 349 – The Phantom Demon That Burst Forth

Setting aside Bai Xuefei’s rather complicated feelings, as well as Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan’s newfound respect for Su Ming, from Su Ming’s perspective, being able to see these three fellow townspeople again put him in a rather good mood.

This also reminded him of that somewhat annoying Young Miss of the Longyao Wang Family, who knew quite a few of his secrets.

Among the group that had come to Tianfeng City together back then, she was now the only one missing.

“Where is Young Miss Wang?”

Su Ming asked Xu Xiayan.

“She’s at the main family and hasn’t joined my team,” Xu Xiayan shook her head and said, “The Longyao Wang Family has been dutifully upholding their responsibilities over the years, wholeheartedly devoted to guarding the Seal. Now that she’s the only remaining descendant, the main family naturally wouldn’t want to disappoint them. Plus, with her pure bloodline and Bloodline Rank almost matching that of direct descendants, the main family has personally issued instructions to cultivate her as a direct descendant. Her resources and treatment aren’t much inferior to Wang Di’s.”

“With such circumstances, she naturally has no reason to be out in public. Moreover, she’s currently at the optimal age for cultivation and is receiving the highest level of protection and guidance within the clan territory. Even the Family Head pays close attention to her.”

Hearing this, Su Ming nodded while simultaneously feeling impressed by that Young Miss’s good fortune.

“To receive cultivation at this level right after arriving in Tianfeng City – this treatment is simply stronger than any recommendation or sponsorship.”

Of course, calling it good fortune wasn’t entirely accurate.

After all, Wang Yihan had sacrificed all her family members to gain such treatment, so calling it good fortune didn’t feel quite right.

But for her personally, such an opportunity was absolutely rare and hard to come by.

Su Ming believed that with Wang Yihan’s talent, combined with the Wang Family’s unreserved cultivation efforts, Wang Yihan’s future achievements, even if not matching Xu Xiayan’s, wouldn’t be far inferior to Wang Di’s.

“And this is…?”

At this point, Su Ming finally turned to the only unfamiliar older sister among the four beauties Xu Xiayan had brought, whom he had never met before.

From this spirited older sister, Su Ming sensed a powerful, restrained blood Qi and an impressive Aura.

This was something only Su Ming, with his extraordinary Spirit Sense, could detect.

Aside from Su Ming, among those present, only Chi Qian vaguely sensed something, looking at the short-haired beauty with a thoughtful gaze.

Unlike Su Ming, she didn’t possess extraordinary Spirit Sense, so she couldn’t clearly perceive the blood Qi and Aura emanating from the other party.

But precisely because she couldn’t sense it clearly made Chi Qian take it seriously.

Because the feeling the other party gave Chi Qian carried a certain degree of threat.

What did this indicate?

It indicated that the other party was at least at the same Rank as Chi Qian.

Sure enough…

“This is Wang Qian, a Genius from the Wang Family’s collateral branch, one of the first members to join my ‘Summer Chasing Smoke.’ She’s been with ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ for eight years, is one of the team’s veterans, and is the third strongest in the team, after Wang Di and me.”

Xu Xiayan introduced her.

“The third strongest?”

Su Ming understood.He had also looked up information on ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ and knew that this third strongest member, second only to Xu Xiayan and Wang Di, was one of only three Five-Star Professionals in ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’. Moreover, she was the only Peak Five-Star among them, with potential to advance to Six-Star, and was highly regarded by Xu Xiayan.

During the previous Wanbao Auction House event, Xu Xiayan spent a staggering 1,500,000 Contribution Points to acquire a set of Red Vein Stones—four in total—which could completely assist a Peak Hunter in achieving a Breakthrough.

It now appeared that the set of Red Vein Stones Xu Xiayan spent a fortune on had been given to this third strongest member of ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’, originally a Peak Five-Star, enabling her to take that crucial step forward.

This was why Chi Qian could sense a trace of threat from the other party.

Because this was indeed an existence of the same Rank as her—a Six-Star Professional who had just successfully achieved a Breakthrough like herself.

The other party nodded coolly to the group, only showing burning Battle Intent in her eyes when looking at Chi Qian.

This made everyone understand.

“Great, another person who sees Chi Qian as either a rival or an object of worship.”

Su Ming could guess with his knees that the other party had come here at this time probably just to see Chi Qian.

As for Chi Qian, she seemed accustomed to it, completely ignoring Wang Qian’s Battle Intent.

There was no helping it—too many people had their eyes on her. If Chi Qian paid attention to each one, it would be utterly exhausting.

Moreover, Chi Qian had never been one to compete with others, only with herself. She always strived to improve, to be stronger than she was yesterday.

Perhaps this was the secret to Chi Qian’s success.

Only Su Ming looked thoughtfully at Xu Xiayan.

“Your team now has ten Upper-Rank Professionals, and among those ten, there are three Six-Star Professionals, right?”

Su Ming voiced this question.

“With such strength, ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ probably isn’t far behind those S-Rank teams, is it?”

Originally, ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ had nine Upper-Rank Professionals: two Six-Stars, three Five-Stars, and four Four-Stars.

Now, with Bai Xuefei—the Genius from Longyao City—joining ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’, the team now had a total of ten Upper-Rank Professionals.

Additionally, with Wang Qian, originally a Peak Five-Star, advancing to Six-Star, the team now boasted three Six-Star Professionals. This luxurious lineup was something even some S-Rank teams didn’t possess.

Su Ming had checked information on S-Rank teams and knew that the weakest S-Rank team currently had ten Upper-Rank Professionals, only two of whom were Six-Stars.

The current strength of ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ already surpassed that team.

“Otherwise, how could my ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ be rated as the team closest to S-Rank?”

Xu Xiayan replied with considerable pride, explaining to Su Ming:

“Our previous strength was already not far behind S-Rank teams; what we lacked was only team scale and official achievements.”

‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ had a total of 133 Professionals.

Whereas the weakest S-Rank team mentioned earlier had 188 Professionals.

In terms of team scale, Xu Xiayan’s ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ still fell somewhat short compared to them.Moreover, for a team to advance in Rank, aside from meeting the required strength, they must also complete a corresponding number of missions.

“Currently, the S-Rank teams in Tianfeng City have almost all risen through two paths.”

“One is by completing enough high-difficulty missions, gradually accumulating achievements and results, and finally passing the official review to be promoted to S-Rank.”

“The other is by performing meritorious services for Tianfeng City, achieving some critical accomplishment or gaining remarkable honor, which leads to an official promotion to S-Rank.”

Xu Xiayan explained this to Su Ming.

“My ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ has the strength to advance to S-Rank, but our achievements and results are somewhat lacking.”

“Originally, I planned to accumulate slowly and build up our foundation step by step.”

“But now that an SS-Rank difficulty mission has been entrusted to me, wouldn’t it be a waste not to seize this opportunity and give it my all?”

Su Ming understood Xu Xiayan’s point.

If ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ could complete this SS-Rank mission, then the achievements and results required for promotion to S-Rank would be satisfied.

A mission significant enough to shake Tianfeng City and influence its future, accomplished by ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’—wouldn’t that be achievement, result, and honor enough?

As for the shortfall in team size, once the SS-Rank mission is completed and officially publicized, the renowned ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ would undoubtedly attract enough members in a short time, rapidly expanding.

By then, if Xu Xiayan’s ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ still couldn’t become an S-Rank team, it would defy all reason.

That was why Xu Xiayan had invested so much effort and paid such a high price for this mission.

Her goal was to enable ‘Summer Chasing Smoke’ to achieve a Breakthrough and become an S-Rank team in one fell swoop.

“By the way, Captain Xu.”

Just as Su Ming was deep in thought, Feng Qing’er, who had been waiting nearby, could no longer hold back and asked the initial question.

“You mentioned earlier that the army came here to stop teams and Professionals with insufficient strength, but that was only one reason, right?”

Feng Qing’er’s question reminded the others of this matter.

“Then… what other reasons are there for the army to be here?”

Tong Xinyao couldn’t help but ask nervously.

The others also turned their gazes to Xu Xiayan.

In this situation, Xu Xiayan smiled gracefully.

“The army came here and surrounded this area not only to keep out unwanted individuals but also to prevent dangerous things from escaping.”

Xu Xiayan gave this answer.

“Pre… prevent dangerous things from escaping?”

Everyone was slightly taken aback.

“You mean…?”

Su Ming and Chi Qian exchanged a glance before looking back at Xu Xiayan.

“Exactly.” Xu Xiayan nodded and said, “I’m referring to the Phantom Demons in the Hidden Realm.”

“The Hidden Realm not only contains a vast amount of untouched rare treasures but also powerful Phantom Demons that have been growing and strengthening over the years.”

“Even high-level Phantom Demons are not uncommon inside.”

“Now that the Hidden Realm has appeared, if we can enter, the Phantom Demons inside can naturally come out as well.”

Given this, it was necessary to station heavy troops here to guard the area.”This place is only a few hundred kilometers from Tianfeng City. To the north lies the Chaos Demon Cave. Unless the Phantom Demons wish to return to the Spirit Demon Abyss, they won’t head in that direction.”

“To the east and west are wilderness danger zones, which hold little appeal for the Phantom Demons.”

“Only by continuing south to Tianfeng City will they find an abundance of human prey, attracting those long-unseen, audacious Phantom Demons who don’t know their limits.”

Thus, once those Phantom Demons burst out of the Hidden Realm, there is no doubt they will head straight south, toward Tianfeng City.

For this reason, Tianfeng City dispatched troops to surround the area, preparing to intercept and eliminate the Phantom Demons emerging from the Hidden Realm.

“Besides the military, many other powerful teams have accepted the officially issued mission and are stationed around the perimeter,” Xu Xiayan added.

“For instance, those S-Rank teams.”

(End of Chapter)