Chapter 35: Third-Order Rift, Wujin Yanmo

After finishing the battle, Su Lingwei walked back with an expressionless face, not the least bit worked up.

Even after just killing someone, she felt no discomfort whatsoever.

That made Jiang Qin look at her in a new light.

"Those people were too weak. What's the next mission?"

"A small city over two hundred kilometers from Modu has a Third-Order Otherworldly Rift. Some Fierce Beasts have run out, and the Zhenling Bureau is suppressing the Rift but is short-handed. They need people to deal with the Fierce Beasts that escaped."

"Let's head out!"

Watching her full-of-fighting-spirit appearance, Jiang Qin shook his head helplessly, then turned to look at the two security officers frozen in place.

"We'll leave the cleanup to you. We have other missions, so we'll be going first."

"R-right."

Several kilometers away from here, two figures stood on a hillside.

Having taken in the entirety of Su Lingwei's battle, Lin Lao contentedly stroked his white beard: "I thought she'd be a little soft-hearted her first time killing someone. Who'd have expected her to be this decisive. Worthy of being personally trained by this old man."

Shen Shuyun beside him was also very surprised.

Although this was a world where martial arts reigned supreme, filled everywhere with killing and strife, these martial arts prodigies who had been carefully sheltered since childhood were different—they had never been baptized by blood, at most having slain Fierce Beasts.

Because of that, in combat against people, they would often waver inside, and their moves would be riddled with openings.

Sensing her surprise, Lin Lao shook his head and sighed:

"Lingwei was born on the Frontier. When her mother gave birth to her, a beast tide just happened to be attacking the city. Her experiences... sigh, her past experiences caused her to never quite fit in with her peers. With Lin's boy by her side, the two of them can look after each other, and this old man can rest a little easier."

"Who would have thought that the Frost Ember Law Enforcer, once so ruthless in killing, would have such a soft side." Shen Shuyun's tone carried a hint of teasing.

If Investigators were the Zhenling Bureau's mid-to-low level combat power, then Law Enforcement Officers were the Zhenling Bureau's high-level combat power.

The realm requirement alone was at least Earth Martial Realm.

And among the many Law Enforcement Officers, only those who reached the Heaven Martial Realm were worthy of receiving a title.

Lin Lao snorted coldly: "Soft? I wonder whose child it is doing a B-level Task, with the mother secretly tailing along in the dark. So little faith in her own son?!"

"I... I was just passing by..."

The two turned their heads at the same time, snorted coldly, and each transformed into a streak of light that vanished into the horizon, whereabouts unknown.

After completing the mission to wipe out the Liao Jun Bandit Group, Jiang Qin and Su Lingwei spent a day rushing between Hongnan City and Hongxi City, which were relatively close to Modu, and smoothly completed the remaining two B-level Tasks.

But basically Su Lingwei handled them alone, while Jiang Qin was responsible for standing by to cover.

After all, B-level Tasks at most involved Spirit Sea Realm Martial Artists or Third-tier Fierce Beasts, and their combat power was generally weak—not even a warm-up for him.

Under this kind of steamrolling all the way, mission progress was also rising rapidly.

A single B-level Task took Zhenling Bureau's Third-tier Martial Artist teams an average of two or three days to complete, yet Jiang Qin and Su Lingwei smoothly finished 9 B-level Tasks in three days, with most of the time spent on the road.

The two-person team's name had thoroughly spread throughout Modu's Investigator circle.

Compared to Jiang Qin's duo.

Chen Xiaohu on the other side ran into quite a few setbacks.

After deciding to hunt Fierce Beasts by teaming up with others, relying on his SSS-level reputation, he very easily joined a five-person squad made up of new elites.

The very next day, he followed them into a Third-Order Rift.

The world inside this Rift was an endless desert, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The moment they stepped out of the Rift, an endless wave of scorching heat swept in from all directions. Sand filled the sky, and the blazing sun stung their eyes into instinctively squinting, making them feel nothing but discomfort.

"This is Wujin Yanmo?"

A girl with twin tails scanned the surroundings with curiosity and fear in her eyes.

"Brother Lin, haven't we bitten off more than we can chew? I heard there are at least peak Second-tier Fierce Beasts in here, and we're only at Yin Ling Realm..."

The boy called 'Brother Lin' waved his hand confidently: "Xiao Rou, just relax. Tian Qi, Xiao Xiao, and I are already Yin Ling Qi Chong Martial Artists, and together we're enough to handle mid Spirit Sea Fierce Beasts."

"And besides..."

The three of them looked at another figure walking out of the Rift, their faces full of confidence.

"Isn't there still a big carry right here!"

"Although Brother Hu lacks attack power, Second-tier and Third-tier Fierce Beasts can't break through his defense at all, and his injuries recover instantly. As long as we're not surrounded by a beast tide, we can basically walk sideways in this area!"

"Right, Brother Hu?"

Chen Xiaohu, who had just walked out of the Rift, heard this and felt the admiring gaze of the twin-tailed girl. He thumped his chest boldly.

"Leave it to me! There won't be any problems!"

Because the area near the Rift exit was periodically cleared of Fierce Beasts by the military, the danger level nearby was very low.

The five of them confirmed their direction, advanced quickly, and their figures vanished from the spot in an instant, leaving only a trail of footprints on the sand that stretched endlessly into the depths.

A gust of wind blew past, and their footprints were buried by the sand.

After advancing at full speed for about half an hour, the group finally slowed down, stopping in front of a massive boulder and gazing into the distance.

About five hundred meters from here, there was a small oasis.

In the endless desert, this small oasis was as conspicuous as the moon on a dark night. By the lake, Fierce Beasts were lowering their heads to drink.

Fang Lin recognized the Fierce Beasts and said in a low voice:

"Red-Tailed Fire Bulls, a pack-type Third-tier Fierce Beast. Their trait is strong attack and defense, their weakness is very low intelligence. As long as we set up traps in advance, there's nothing to fear."

"One Third-tier Red-Tailed Fire Bull is worth 100 Contribution Points. The most valuable part is its tail—absolutely cannot damage it."

After introducing the Fierce Beasts' situation, he began laying out the battle plan:

"Tian Qi, you go with Xiao Xiao to help set up the traps. Xiao Rou, get ready to heal. Any Red-Tailed Fire Bulls that escape the traps I'll handle. As for Brother Hu, sorry to trouble you with luring those beasts over."

"No problem!"

Although a little nervous inside, Chen Xiaohu still nodded seriously.

Being bait was undoubtedly the most dangerous role — one careless moment and he'd become the Fierce Beast's meal. But among those present, he was clearly the most suitable, and this was the only way he could be useful.

Once the plan was set, everyone began to move.

Xiao Xiao and Tian Qi retreated a hundred meters, then used combat techniques to blast out a trench dozens of meters long and five meters high into the wasteland.

Fragment Bombs were installed at the bottom of the trench.

Once the Red-Tailed Fire Bulls fell in, the bombs would detonate, immobilizing them for a short time, at which point they'd become living targets.

By the time the trench was finished, the two had already burned through most of their Spirit Power.

The healer Xiao Rou activated her talent and began rapidly replenishing their Spirit Power.

The trap was complete — the plan officially began!