CHAPTER 372: CHAPTER 17: TRAINING AND BEING TRAINED

"10 betting points, spend a month as a bartender at Helen Tavern, and I’ll help you reforge the Mountain and River Fan," Yue Jinghua believed that by tempering with Dun Qinglian Fire, the quality of the fan could definitely be improved a notch.

"I don’t trust you," Qin Dongting uttered a sentence.

"Bang," before Qin Dongting’s eyes darkened, he saw a sword shadow imposing as a mountain, bearing down upon him.

Fast, incredibly fast, so fast that Qin Dongting had no time to dodge.

The sword, as if carrying the power of wind and thunder, split the air, emitting a whooshing sound as if a weight of a thousand jun was bearing down.

Just as the blunt Great Sword was half a centimeter from Qin Dongting’s head, the sword stopped abruptly, as if someone had slammed on the brakes.

A strand of hair split into two floated past Qin Dongting’s nose and gently landed on the table, instantly turning into dust.

Cold sweat broke out on Qin Dongting’s forehead.

Just now, he saw nearly ten sword shadows.

That seemingly unremarkable Great Sword, when exploded with astonishing momentum, forced out the long-hidden vigour from the depths of Qin Dongting’s heart.

Just how strong is he?

That night, during the battle with Yan Bao, Qin Dongting thought that Yue Jinghua only possessed ghostly agility, but now it seemed that his sword skills were also quite astonishing.

"Remember, no matter when, always trust your teammates," Yue Jinghua expertly resheathed the Great Sword with a backhanded motion, patted Qin Dongting’s shoulder, and from the dazed Qin Dongting’s waist, he pulled out the Mountain and River Fan.

Second Generation Soldier of the Legendary Mercenary Group - even at its peak, the core members were kept to no more than nine, and it is said that the tenth spot of the Second Generation Soldier is reserved in memory of someone.

That person once saved the Mercenary Leader Yue Jing at the most critical moment.

The Second Generation Soldier is also the only Mercenary Group on the continent that hasn’t followed the Mercenary Guild’s regulations to have the legally required number of members to form a group.

March arrived, ten more days had passed since Yue Jinghua undertook the task at Helen Tavern.

During these ten days, Yue Jinghua entered and exited the tavern several times.

"Loan shark debt collection task, complete. Sheep shearing task, complete. Love letter delivery task, complete..." In these past few days, Yue Jinghua and Shalman almost ran through the entire Five Saints Town, with results that were... hard to articulate.

For three consecutive days, Shalman returned with five or six sheep hoof prints on her pretty face, along with hair resembling a chicken’s nest.

Yue Jinghua, on the other hand, was spewing curses as she dragged a gambler who was so deep into gambling from an unknown underground casino for the third time, to reclaim the high-interest loan debts.

Even Little boy Yue Chen and Ye Zi were scouted by her to help complete some easier tasks like letter delivery and herbal gathering.

Speaking of which, Qin Dongting’s task was the easiest; maintaining his naturally deadpan expression, he just stood behind the bar at Helen Tavern for an evening, and this guy also silently indicated that working overnight counts as heavy physical labor, refusing to take on any other tasks.

Despite the hard work day and night, when Yue Jinghua counted the points she had collected, it was just over 20 points. To clear over 800 points of debt, the journey was long and arduous.

Helen eyed the task list, emitting sounds of amazement: "Unexpected, Captain Yue, you’re quite the talent. Most of the tasks have been completed beyond the quota; sheared three times the expected amount of wool, collected debts to the point where people can’t even wear their underwear."

"Hehe, does Boss Helen mean to award us extra points?" Yue Jinghua rubbed his hands together, revealing an expression full of longing.

Points, points, points, the lifeblood of Yue Jinghua.

,

Yue Jinghua’s task distribution could be considered as making the best use of everything.

Assigning Shalman, who excelled in animal husbandry, to the sheep farm significantly increased the growth rate of the wool, and the happy owner of the sheep farm awarded an additional 0.5 bonus points.

When collecting debts from a high-interest loan, she adopted the traditional underworld approach, frightening the gambler into handing over even the deed to his ancestral home. Part of it was used to pay off the debts, and she gave the remaining part to the gambler’s wife and young son, advising them to take the money and make a fresh start afar. In doing so, she earned herself another 0.5 bonus points before departure.

After verifying with Helen, each was stamped, allowing Yue Jinghua to exchange for points at the Mercenary Branch with the stamps.

"With Captain Yue managing so capably, you won’t need a year to turn deficits into surplus," Helen said with a covered mouth and a laugh, tossing over another task, "Considering how efficiently you complete tasks, here’s a good one for you. Help look after the cattle at Mazaro Mountain Ranch for five days; their cowherd is taking leave to go back to his hometown. Just five days for 5 points. If the mercenaries from the Mercenary Branch knew how to handle cattle, this task wouldn’t even be passed down to the tavern."

Five points, in fact, are already equivalent to the points for a Yellow Stone Level task, and with only a five-day duration, it’s an excellent task compared to the many one-month-long mercenary tasks. For many One-star Mercenaries, it’s a very good opportunity.

In the Eastern Continent, the majority of the residents’ diets are similar to modern times, but since the appearance of the first Spiritual Food Master on the continent three hundred years ago, using spirit wood and Dark Beasts in cooking became important dietary supplements. Low-level Dark Beasts and some common spirit woods started appearing on the dining tables of not only nobles but even civilians.

Since then, Dark Beast Farms and breeding farms have sprung up.

Unlike regular farms and breeding farms, Dark Beast Farms and Spiritual Wood Farms are mostly located in rugged high mountains or next to vast lakes and seas.

The breeders and growers are mostly Low-level Dark Cultivators endowed with a certain Dark Skill.

The Mazaro Mountain Ranch mentioned by Helen is one of such Dark Beast Farms, situated between the Five Saints Mountain and Fengdan County. It’s a special breeding farm cultivating a unique breed known as the Monster Snowflake Bull.

This breed of cow, with a pair of horns, possesses immense strength and can easily pierce the Protective Armor of a Jade Dark Cultivator. Moreover, their living environment is special, only found in high mountains with altitudes over three thousand meters, which makes husbandry quite troublesome.

Although breeding is inconvenient, the meat of the Monster Snowflake Bull naturally has beautiful marbling like snowflake-patterned marble and is considered one of the top few Dark Beast meats on the Eastern Continent.

Therefore, the breeding farm even hired a Dark Practitioner at the Dark Jade Peak to shepherd the cattle. Currently, this Dark Practitioner had to take a few days off due to family affairs, and the owner of the high mountain farm couldn’t find a suitable replacement in time. He ended up drinking sullenly at Helen Tavern and told Helen about this, which is how the task came about.

Five points for one task.

Yue Jinghua thought discreetly that this task was quite worthwhile. Moreover, as a Summoner, control over Dark Beasts was not an issue for her; she could manage a herd of Snowflake Cattle on her own.

Holding these thoughts, Yue Jinghua patted her chest and readily accepted what seemed to be an incredibly simple task.

Watching Yue Jinghua leave the tavern full of confidence, a sly glint flashed in Helen’s eyes.

An old waiter next to her couldn’t bear it, "Boss, why didn’t you tell her the truth? And won’t their mercenary tasks be too trivial? If they keep accumulating points like this, I fear that by the time of the Mercenary Assessment in June, their little team will..."

"One must eat their food one bite at a time, no Mercenary King is born a king. Do you know? The person who now stands at the Peak of the Mercenary World started off as a shepherd," said Helen meaningfully, glancing over at Qin Dongting, who was arranging drinks behind the bar.

Hearing her words, Qin Dongting’s motion paused for a moment, but he quickly resumed his usual composure as if he hadn’t heard what Helen said.