Soul Emperor Martial God

Chapter 63: Chapter 62: Demon Hunting Hall

The night was vast and the breeze keen.

A shadowy figure was hidden within, rapidly fleeing.

It was Xiao Yi.

On his youthful face, there was no lack of handsomeness, but the laziness that was once there had now vanished, leaving only determination and maturity.

The moonlight over Purple Cloud City was bright, and the night sky, vast with an ink-like beauty.

But he had no interest in admiring it, not even a bit. Far in the distance, there was someone waiting for him.

He had to pursue, even though he knew not where the road lay.

....

The Flame Martial Kingdom spanned thirty-six counties, so vast it was hard for one to imagine.

A weak martial artist might not be able to traverse the whole kingdom in their lifetime.

Northern Mountain County, with its one hundred fifty cities and a population numbering in the billions, was just as expansive.

Xiao Yi’s first destination, the Sky-splitting Sword Sect, was extremely far from Purple Cloud City, almost necessitating the cross of several dozen cities.

Luckily, the recruitment day for disciples at the Sky-splitting Sword Sect was months away, giving Xiao Yi ample time to make the journey.

The Sky-splitting Sword Sect was a faction unlike families and other powers, which annually opened its doors, allowing any martial artist with the qualifications to enter and cultivate after passing certain tests.

.....

”Mystic Breakthrough City.” Xiao Yi had been traveling for many days, finally stopping at the foot of a large city.

Looking at the three large characters ”Mystic Breakthrough City” on the gate, Xiao Yi nodded slightly.

Mystic Breakthrough City was the most famous and strongest among a dozen cities nearby, extremely distant from Purple Cloud City, with five or six cities lying in between.

”Being so far from Purple Cloud City, even if the Northern Mountain Murong Family members wanted to assassinate me, it would be difficult for them to trace me here,” Xiao Yi chuckled as he entered Mystic Breakthrough City.

Being only at the Postnatal Realm, his weak aura would linger in the air for at most half a day before dissipating, there was truly no need for worry.

Stepping into Mystic Breakthrough City, the sights within greatly broadened Xiao Yi’s horizons.

The bustling crowd, the lively and prosperous scene, was something Purple Cloud City could not compare to.

Among the passersby, there were no lack of martial artists, from Mortal Realm Ninth Layer to the Postnatal Realm; Xiao Yi encountered quite a few.

He even saw a few from the Innate Realm Martial Artists.

To think that in Purple Cloud City, Mortal Realm Ninth Layer warriors were already important forces of the Three Great Families, and those in the Postnatal Realm were esteemed as deacons, while the Innate Realm ones were elders who were usually pampered and rarely ventured outside.

Where else would one see such powerful warriors wandering on the ordinary streets?

Whether it was the quantity of martial artists or their level, Mystic Breakthrough City far surpassed Purple Cloud City.

Compared to here, Purple Cloud City seemed like a peripheral small town.

After strolling for a while, Xiao Yi finally stopped in front of a large black building.

Above the entrance to the imposing black building hung a signboard, boldly inscribed with three characters: ”Demon Hunting Hall.”

A terrifying bloody scent emanated from the signboard, making people tense.

Xiao Yi’s purpose for stopping in Mystic Breakthrough City was because of the Demon Hunting Hall.

As the name suggested, the Demon Hunting Hall was an organization composed of demon hunters.

It was said to be a very ancient power.

In the distant ancient times, demon beasts roamed freely, and the Demon Clan ravaged across the continent.

In order to suppress the demons and bring peace to the world, human beings gave birth to the profession of demon hunter.

Thus, the Demon Hunting Hall appeared, established by the earliest group of demon hunters together.

Legend has it that the first demon hunters were all great powers of the Human Clan with immense cultivation.

Countless years later, today, demon beasts were driven to wildernesses and deep mountain valleys, not daring to appear at will, allowing humans to live safely within cities, thanks to the Demon Hunting Hall.

Being a demon hunter was a noble profession, symbolizing battle, blood, and glory.

There were countless branches of the Demon Hunting Hall, scattered over all corners of the Flame Dragon Continent, offering great help to demon hunters.

Within Northern Mountain County, there were ten such branches.

Roughly every dozen or so cities had one hall, providing assistance to nearby demon hunters.

In the county seat of Northern Mountain County, there was a large branch hall.

And in the Royal Capital of the Flame Martial Kingdom, there was a main hall.

The Demon Hunting Hall was considered a power, but rather loosely structured; any demon hunter could join without many special restrictions.

Whether you were a prince of a kingdom, a family member of a clan, a disciple of a sect, as long as you were a demon hunter, you could join.

But I digress.

Mystic Breakthrough City, being the strongest nearby, naturally had a sub-hall.

As Xiao Yi entered the Demon Hunting Hall, he was immediately assailed by waves of noise that made his ears ache.

Unlike the ancient, dignified, and solemn appearance from the outside, the inside was as noisy as a marketplace, which somewhat surprised Xiao Yi.

The Demon Hunting Hall was vast, with dedicated Demon Hunting Hall personnel and different places for handling affairs.

Among them, two places were particularly conspicuous—one was the ’Bounty Place,’ and the other was the ’Task Department.’

The Bounty Place, as the name implies, was for issuing bounty tasks.

As long as one could afford the reward, anyone could issue bounty tasks at any of the Demon Hunting Hall’s sub-halls.

The tasks issued were reviewed by the staff, who collected a deposit from the issuer, rated the task, and finally released it.

The Task Department, naturally, was for Demon Hunters to accept tasks.

Each task was rated, and Demon Hunters could choose a suitable task to complete based on their strengths.

After completing the task, ten percent of the bounty went to the Demon Hunting Hall, and the remaining ninety percent belonged to the Demon Hunter.

Most of the noisy voices in the hall came from Demon Hunters gathered around the Task Department.

Xiao Yi glanced at a quiet corner of the hall, then walked over.

”This Martial Artist, is there anything I can assist you with?” A polite voice rang out from a service desk in the corner.

This place was for applying to become a Demon Hunter and also for answering questions for novice Demon Hunters. Hardly anyone came here.

The speaker was a young woman in her early twenties, pretty and polite.

”Ah, a youth?” The woman expressed surprise and curiosity when she saw that the newcomer was a young man.

”I’d like to become a Demon Hunter. Are there any requirements?” Xiao Yi asked indifferently.

The woman regained her composure and smiled, ”Young man, have your elders not told you that being a Demon Hunter is a very dangerous profession? Oh, you must be out on your first experience...”

Xiao Yi furrowed his brow and interrupted, ”What, does becoming a Demon Hunter require a thorough background check?”

The woman quickly responded, ”That’s not what I meant.”

Most of those who came to the Demon Hunting Hall were rough, burly men. It was rare to see a handsome young gentleman with extraordinary demeanor, so the woman merely made a light-hearted comment with no malice intended.

Seeing Xiao Yi’s cold expression, realizing he was not one for jokes, she said earnestly, ”There are no particular requirements. You just need to report your name.”

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Yi replied, ”Yi Xiao.”

Xiao Yi did not intend to use his real name. After all, he was currently being hunted down by people from the Northern Mountain Murong Family, so it was better to keep a low profile.

”Easy ’Yi,’ lofty ’Xiao?’” the woman politely inquired.

”Uh-huh.” Xiao Yi nodded.

”Hehe,” the woman smiled and said, ”Soaring easily to lofty heights, your elders must have high hopes for you...”

”Um.” Remembering that Xiao Yi did not enjoy jokes, the woman held back her words.

”Just a moment, I’ll go prepare your token for you,” the woman said politely, nodding her head before walking away at a leisurely pace.

After a while, when the woman returned, she handed Xiao Yi a dark token.

She explained, ”You just need to infuse your True Qi into the token, and it will automatically record your aura. From now on, this token represents your identity and information at the Demon Hunting Hall, and you’ll use it for both accepting and turning in tasks.”

The woman continued, ”The token has other functions, too. There are books on various matters and information about the Demon Hunting Hall next to you, which you can look through at your leisure. If you have any questions, you can come to ask me anytime.”

Xiao Yi took the token, nodded, and walked towards a row of bookshelves some ten meters away.

Behind him, the young woman whispered with a smile, ”What a cool young man, but also very handsome.”

...

In front of the bookshelf, Xiao Yi flipped through the basic books, which were nothing more than records of the Demon Hunting Hall’s historical events and introductions.

Xiao Yi treated them as storybooks, casually browsing through before putting them down.

There were also books that detailed the levels of Demon Hunters and various other matters.

Demon Hunters were divided into nine levels, from low to high, including Level 1 Demon Hunter, Second-level Demon Hunter... up to Level 9 Demon Hunter.

After browsing a few more books, Xiao Yi stopped at one called ’Exchange Album.’

Demon Hunters could obtain Demon Hunting Hall’s Task Points by completing bounty tasks.

Task Points could be used to exchange for various items within the Demon Hunting Hall. Cultivation Techniques, Elixirs, materials, and even precious Spiritual Artifacts, Earth Rank Martial Techniques, etc.

The Demon Hunting Hall, as a vast and ancient force, had an extremely terrifying foundation.

Almost anything a Martial Artist could desire could be exchanged for in the Demon Hunting Hall.

The prerequisite was having enough Task Points.

Xiao Yi flipped through a few pages and then his face revealed joy, ”As expected, the Source Cultivating Red Fruit can be found here.”

That was indeed the reason Xiao Yi had come to the Demon Hunting Hall.