Chapter 156: Long Haochen’s Demon Hunt Squad (III)
After the announcement, Han Qian felt like laughing. This Demon Hunt Squad was perhaps the most bizarre in history.
A captain that is neither a pure Retribution Knight nor a pure Guardian Knight, a blind Assassin – this pair could still be classified as reasonable. As for the other four, they were absolutely unreliable. There was a warrior that is not proficient with defense, a mage that cannot attack, a priest that cannot heal, and finally, a summoner whose summons are totally unpredictable. This team was a marvel among marvels.
And, against all expectations, each one of these marvels was ranked first in either the preliminaries or the subgroup competition. No one would know in advance what kind of sparkle this group would be able to ignite, but no matter what one could say, this Demon Hunt Squad was entirely completed.
Long Haochen went off stage and stood together with his own group members. He felt a bit uneasy, but he wasn’t blaming the heavens for this in the slightest. No matter what he could say, at least he was reunited with Cai’er. As for the flaws in this team, he would think of how to work them out later.
“Yang Wenzhao, the selection ceremony for your team members is about to start. From now on, the squad you belong to will be known as ‘Demon Hunt Squad #2’.”
“Eh?” All along, Yang Wenzhao was staring at Chen Ying’er. Seeing her taken away by Long Haochen, he couldn’t help but feel gloomy. But hearing Han Qian’s words, he finally came back to his senses.
During the ceremony of selection for his Demon Hunt Squad #2, his luck could be considered quite a lot better than Long Haochen’s. At least the members he had picked were reasonable, and furthermore, during the last pick, he picked the summoner who entered the top eight, the true number one among summoners as well as the only one having reached the fifth step, Liao Yu. This result improved Yang Wenzhao’s mood quite a bit. Huang Yi and Liao Yu could be considered as being powerful, both ranked amongst the best of their respective Temples.
As for Mu Ning’s Demon Hunt Squad #3, it seemed as though his luck had completely dried up: among the four other members he chose, only the summoner was in the top 16. It was the one called Fang Zhu, the summoner who formerly summoned the gigantic bear against Cai’er, but was only at the fourth step.
As the first three Demon Hunt Squad were completely formed, it was now the time for the remaining competitors to be assigned to their respective teams.
But the one that took aback all the spectators the most was Demon Hunt Squad #4.
Accordingly to the sequence, the first member chosen for the Demon Hunt Squad #4 was the knight, and the one designated for this role was precisely Li Xin, and her luck could only be described as something absolutely astonishing. The warrior that was picked was the one who entered the top eight, the warrior of the fifth step that was defeated by Mu Ning. In the entire Warrior Temple, his strength could be said to be second only to Wang Yuanyuan.
As for the assassin, it was the last one who entered the top 16. For the mage’s position, the one chosen was a rarely-seen mage of the spatial attribute, having a strength at the peak of the fifth step. The priest she chose was the sole and only bishop of the fifth step among all of the competitors. As for the last one, the summoner that was picked was the botanical summoner Bai Xiaomo, who had given Yang Wenzhao quite a bit of trouble, who, in the end, had defeated her, using the sunlight fire.
Although everyone in Li Xin’s team were not the strongest of their respective Temples, they were among the most decent choices. This was the case in particular for the priest and the summoner. This formidable priest could ensure that the team could preserve its fighting strength, and as for Bai Xiaomo, the botanical summoner expert in control, she was perfect to complement the lack of defensive abilities arising from Li Xin’s specialization as a Retribution Knight.
The role of captain for Demon Hunt Squad #4 fell onto the only powerhouse of the fifth step in it, the priest of the squad.
The roulette swirled unceasingly, setting up one Demon Hunt Squad after another. The squad formation ceremony lasted for the whole morning before finally completing. Finally, the Demon Hunt Squads from #1 to #10 were formed.
Looking at the Demon Hunt Squad members arranged in ten rows, Han Qian declared, “From today onwards, each of you have officially been assigned a position in a Demon Hunt Squad. As such, you will be the closest comrades; comrades that can entrust their back to each other. In the history of Demon Hunt Squads, countless squads arose, standing at the peak of the continent. We wish for you to become that kind of squad. You have to bear in mind that you should never complain about your teammates. Today, perhaps your final ranking was not very high, but in a short future, maybe you’ll be among the most powerful.”
“From today onwards, you will have three days of rest. Also, within these three days, squad captains are to take their members to the Mission Tower to register their Demon Hunt Squad, so as to get your Demon Hunt Squad’s serial number. Three days later, the competitors that entered the top 16 are to go to the Alliance’s Treasure Vault to choose their secret skills. Those ranked from ninth to sixteenth will get to choose one secret skill and those from first to eighth will get to choose two of them.”
“And the top three competitors, with the exception of Long Haochen, will get to choose a spiritual stove as a reward from the Temples.”
“Now, disband.”
As soon as the word ‘disband’ was said, all competitors felt as if they were relieved of a great burden.
It was finally over. Starting from the preliminaries to the finals, with the subgroup competition in the middle, an entire month had passed. The stronger the competitor, the more experience they had gotten from the competition. Now that the competition was over, these sixty competitors were finally a part of a Demon Hunt Squad. At last, they could take a breather. As for what would happen after this step, they had no clue, but for the time being, there was no need to think about it; better to put this matter aside to relax for the moment with a few days of rest.
“Captain, it is destiny that reunited us to form a squad, so today, I’ll act as a host and treat everyone to a good meal.” Lin Xin declared overjoyed.
Long Haochen chuckled, and replied, “Everyone, don’t call me captain, but directly use my name. Is everyone okay with that?”
Sima Xian shot Lin Xin a glance, “I have no objection, but I have to tell you, I eat a lot.”
Lin Xin laughed faintly, replying, “I will be sure to let you eat your fill.”
Wang Yuanyuan said with a large smile, “I have no objection either; since someone else is inviting, let’s enjoy eating for free.”
Chen Ying’er laughed happily and said, “Okaay.”
Cai’er naturally didn’t say anything more, only nodding lightly while under the gentle hold of Long Haochen’s hand. Still, from the fact that everyone saw her previous display of force on stage, no one dared to look down on her. Long Haochen was still young after all, so despite the fact that he emerged as the final champion, he still lacked some persuasiveness. However, with the addition of Cai’er, absolutely no one would dare refuse to accept him as captain within this generation of youth.
It was not limited to only this Demon Hunt Squad: all members of the other squads had to get more familiar with each other, and almost all chose to have a meal together for this purpose.
Lin Xin led everyone out of the Knight Temple, turning at the right not far from the exit, and after covering less than 100 meters on a little street, led everyone to enter a large restaurant with five floors.
This restaurant was a dazzling sight; eight coolly-clad tall young girls stood at the entrance, welcoming customers. Seeing them, Sima Xian’s eyes instantly stared at them.
Clearly, it wasn’t the first time Lin Xin went to this place. Led inside of the restaurant by one of the girls, they arrived in a large private room with several waiters waiting for their instructions.
Seated around a circular table, the six of them, with the exception of Cai’er, looked attentively at each other. Although they had met each other several times before, they weren’t familiar with each other at the moment.
Lin Xin stood up, smiling, “Let’s do like this, since we are going to be a team, everyone should introduce themselves with a few words, how about it? The main point is to introduce each one’s abilities, so as to be more effective in the future when acting together. I will go in first: I am Lin Xin, nineteen this year, my size is 1.81 meters, I weigh 69 kilograms, and… ”
“Tch, speak of some more practical facts, can’t you?” Chen Ying’er said with a cold look, “Are you looking for a partner to marry or what?”
Lin Xin did not get angry, simply replying, “Okay, then let’s speak of practical facts. I am a Magic Leader of the fifth step, second rank. I am an expert in control magic and defensive magic, in addition to being an alchemist that is able to make various kinds of pills. Without condition, I can make use of my personally concocted pills to help those of you who haven’t broken through the fifth step yet to do so within three months.”
Of the six, only two hadn’t broken through the fifth step yet: the violent priest Sima Xian and the unreliable loli summoner Chen Ying’er. Hearing him, these two immediately stared at him, opening their eyes wide. Wang Yuanyuan also revealed an alarmed look. They were clear on how costly pills were, particularly those that can be use for assisting cultivation. Naturally, they didn’t expect this guy, who appeared like a good-for-nothing mage that cannot even use offensive magic, to also actually be an alchemist despite having a high cultivation level.
From the looks of it, he could still be of some use to the team.
Long Haochen said, “I can testify for brother Lin’s words. He gave me some pills before, which I relied on to break through the fifth step in the middle of the competition. I gave them the name of ‘Spiritual Gathering Pills’.”
Lin Xin said in all honesty, “I cannot use offensive magic, but I will definitely be very useful to our Demon Hunt Squad. During battles, I can take care of the defense while supplying everyone with all kinds of pills.”
As a mage who cannot attack, he was extremely worried of not being accepted by his teammates. In that case, even if he became a Demon Hunt Squad member, he would still be unable to really integrate in.
Sima Xian laughed loudly and said, “No wonder you guys kept yelling that ‘Big Bro has drugs’ during our match; as it turns out, you were actually making them yourself! I just hope they are not fake drugs.”
Lin Xin unhappily spoke back to him, “You are still quite more unreliable than me. I cannot attack, but how is it that you, even as a priest, cannot heal? I am afraid that it will be a great problem for the future of our squad. I will have to prepare more pills to make up with that.”
Sima Xian smiled in return, “Alright, this elder brother won’t speak back to his second brother. Except for the captain and Lady Cai’er, who in this squad is reliable?”
Wang Yuanyuan frowned her brows, “You just said unreliable? But this lady is a formidable warrior.”
Sima Xian snorted and said, “I heard earlier that you were officially a shield warrior, but one who cannot defend at all. What in this is reliable? As for this great Ying’er, she’s even more famous. She’s the most unreliable summoner in history, ain’t she?”
Chen Ying’er, who was playing with her fingers, said without thinking much, “Unreliable now doesn’t necessarily imply unreliable forever. Anyway, slaughtering enemies is a job for males. I will just be cheering for you.”
