Lord Xue Ying

Xie Fan’s eyelids were drooped. He sat cross-legged within the underground palace in his cavern-dwelling waiting silently.

Ever since he applied to join the hunting team, he was waiting for Xue Ying ‘to leave the team’.

‘Yi? He actually remains unmoved?’

‘Since he has applied to join the team, he should be constantly alerted on any new joiners. He should know at the first moment that I have joined the team. But he has not left. Unless, he dares to go out still?’ Xie Fan revealed a queer look.

Xie Fan immediately transmitted a message to Xue Ying through his communication treasure: “Flying Snow Brat, this time, I am also joining the hunting team you are in. Despite this, you still dare to go with me?”

“Xie Fan, you have been keeping track about news on me right? And you immediately joined after I joined? I, Flying Snow, is really well-loved.” Xue Ying immediately replied too.

Xie Fan’s expression sunk.

He had indeed arranged for a subordinate to keep track on news regarding Xue Ying! With his strength, he naturally had several Grand Perfection God Emperor subordinates he could rely on. As ordinary Grand Perfection God Emperors did not have an easy time hunting down Chaotic Origin Lifeforms for food, they would have an easier time relying on ‘Xie Fan’. In the entire Scarlet Cloud City, those ranked in the top dozen would usually have a group of cultivators relying on them!

The strength of those ranked at the front were mostly at the level of ‘Grand Perfection God Emperor Dao Cultivators’. The gap between them was minute.

Within the 3,000 over cultivators in the city, there were quite many cultivators who were willing to rely on the experts. In reality, experts like ‘Daoist Hidden Horizon’, ‘Great Emperor Heaven Calamity’, ‘Xie Fan’, ‘Mo Shu’ and many others might have many cultivators willing to rely on them, yet they did not take in those cultivators easily. Because the moment they accepted a cultivator, they would have to protect and provide food for them.

Even though it might increase their overall strength, it was also a sort of burden. Hence, they would have to select those that were helpful for them.

Like those that specialized in domain? Or those that specialized in long-range scouting? Or those that were fast?

They had to select the specialists!

“Haha… you are quite daring. Now, you have increased my respect for you.” Xie Fan sneered back.

“In the future, you will have to admire me for my capabilities.” Xue Ying immediately cut off the communication.

At that moment, the expression of Xie Fan became colder.

He immediately transmitted to his subordinates: “All of you, join the newest hunting team now.”

Since those Grand Perfection God Emperors chose to rely on ‘Xie Fan’, most would usually listen to his orders. Xie Fan had a total of 25 subordinates, and this time, he chose to dispatch 15 of them!

“Yes.”

“Big Brother Xie Fan, it seems this hunting team consists of that cultivator called Flying Snow. Are you planning on dealing with him?”

“He is truly seeking death.”

“I have applied!”

All of them immediately applied for a position on the hunting team.

The original list of 36 members had risen to 51 in just a moment! It satisfied the minimum size required for this assignment.

******

‘That’s fast!’

Xue Ying was startled. The size of the hunting team had jumped in just a short moment to 51 cultivators, ‘It seems that the newest batch of members that just joined the team, according to the intelligence provided by Brother Lightning Xiao, is related to that Xie Fan.’

“Monarch Flying Snow, gather at the Scarlet Cloud Hall as soon as possible.” The Scarlet Cloud Hall Spirit transmitted over.

Once there was sufficient cultivators, they could set off immediately.

‘It seems this Xie Fan is quite useful. At least he has shortened my wait.’ Xue Ying smiled and stood up. He walked out of the pavilion. The ice crystals that were swept along by the gale flew all over the place. Yet they simply turned into smithereens once they reached three inches away from Xue Ying’s body.

The entire Scarlet Cloud City spanned just several hundred thousand kilometers.

With Xue Ying’s speed, even if he walked casually, he would still arrive at Scarlet Cloud Hall within moments.

Within the Scarlet Cloud Hall’s main palace.

Quite a few cultivators had currently gathered here. There were also many cultivators arriving.

Xue Ying entered the palace and saw a long black-haired male that were crowded by others, ‘Daoist Hidden Horizon’. Daoist Hidden Horizon had a gentle personality that was like water. Compared to Xie Fan, the reputation of Daoist Hidden Horizon was much better.

“Brother Flying Snow.” Daoist Hidden Horizon immediately greeted when he saw Xue Ying.

“Brother Hidden Horizon.” Xue Ying went over and greeted with a smile.

“Xie Fan and his group of experts have joined this hunting team. Are you certain you want to continue?” Daoist Hidden Horizon asked, “This Xie Fan has made it a point to take his revenge. He has fixed his gaze on you. From how I see it, he would join any hunting team you decided to join. Going out with him… is simply too dangerous for you. I think it’ll be better if you rely on ‘Nine-Headed Snake Ancestor’ or ‘His Highness Wu Xiao’. As for Weather Leaf? Xie Fan is the left and right arm of Weather Leaf so the two other Vice-City Masters are the only ones who can ensure your safety.”

“Vice-City Masters? It shouldn’t be easy for any of the two Vice-City Masters to accept me right?” Xue Ying chuckled.

“You have to have sufficiently formidable techniques.” Daoist Hidden Horizon answered.

The three City Masters were all powerful.

They would rarely leave the city. But the moment they did so, they would reap a frighteningly huge harvest.

Because their teams were powerful! Not only were they powerful, the team they created was powerful too. They would either invite the other experts ranked at the top few dozens, or they would ask some lone experts within Scarlet Cloud City. When the entire team worked together… it would naturally be terrifying. If Xue Ying were to join this team, Xie Fan would naturally be helpless against him.

“Many thanks Brother Hidden Horizon.” Xue Ying said.

“Admirable. In a while when we leave the city, I suggest for you to stay closer to my people.” Daoist Hidden Horizon immediately said when he saw that, “These cultivators are my comrades. So it’ll be best if you get along well with them now.”

Xue Ying thus went to introduce himself to those cultivators.

Since Daoist Hidden Horizon could rank in the top few dozens, he would naturally have a team of cultivators under him. Adding Daoist Hidden Horizon, he had a total of 22 cultivators with him.

Actually…

When recruiting a regular team, one had to consider the strengths of the experts and how well they could coordinate with one another, as well as on how to provide large amounts of food for so many experts. According to the history of Scarlet Cloud City, a regular team could be maintained at around 20 cultivators, and few would rarely exceed 30.

Soon, the other 35 members who applied to join this hunting team arrived.

The final 16 people led by Xie Fan were also the final group of people to join them.

“Hu.” The short and small old man Xie Fan had droopy eyelids. His eerie eyes swept across the palace. The moment he saw Xue Ying, Xie Fan began grinning even more terrifyingly.

“Flying Snow Brat.” Xie Fan looked at Xue Ying.

“Alright, everyone is here.” Daoist Hidden Horizon interrupted, “Also Xie Fan, this time, our final goal is to kill a Mount Primal Chaos Serpent. The journey is quite far so I hope for us to work together. If someone in the team were to fall, it’ll be a humiliation to the rest of us.”

Xie Fan chuckled: “Rest assured. I’ll definitely take the big picture into consideration.”

“Remember the old rules of our Scarlet Cloud City. It is forbidden for one to kill other team members.” Daoist Hidden Horizon reminded. The hunting team would be leaving the Scarlet Cloud City. Outside the city, danger existed everywhere. If there were inter-team conflicts… it would be even more dangerous.

“I understand. I’ll definitely not kill other members of the team.” Xie Fan acknowledged.

“Mn.” Daoist Hidden Horizon nodded slightly.

This was what he could do.

According to the history of cultivators hunting outside the Scarlet Cloud City, even though it was forbidden for cultivators to kill one another! It was still especially possible for team members to not help one another during ‘critical moments’ when they were surrounded by large groups of Chaotic Origin Lifeforms. It was entirely possible for members of the team to fall!

Even though Xie Fan and the others did not dare to attack Xue YIng directly, they had a total of 16 people. As long as they chose to ‘watch by the side’, they could very well create a vile situation for Xue Ying.

And by relying on the ‘Chaotic Origin Lifeforms’ to kill Xue Ying!

Xue Ying watched silently by the side: ‘Plotting against me?’

This team was split into three factions.

The first belonged to the 22 experts led by Daoist Hidden Horizon. Daoist Hidden Horizon treated Xue Ying amiably and was willing to help him too. The second faction included Xie Fan and his group of 15 experts. They would most likely deliberately force Xue Ying into a ‘predicament’ during critical moments. The final faction included others with Xue Ying inside––they were the factionless cultivators.

Some of the factionless cultivators were aloof and felt disdain of joining any experts. Many more were already exquisitely chosen by the strongest of experts.

“This team actually contains both Daoist Hidden Horizon and Xie Fan. We should have an easy time now.”

“That’s right, with the two of them around, the team has become very much stronger.”

“Xie Fan is here? Is it because of that Flying Snow?”

“Who cares about him! How would it matter if Flying Snow lives or dies?”

Those factionless cultivators began conversing between one another.

Two of the strongest few dozens experts in the Scarlet Cloud City actually joined this hunting team… that was quite rarely seen. Usually, one hunting team would only consist of a peak expert.

“Set off!” Being the creator of the team, Daoist Hidden Horizon had also become the leader.

…

“Sou sou sou…”

Inclusive of Xue Ying, the group of 51 figures immediately turned into shadows and left the city.