Quest Maker of Soul Land

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The safest approach when it comes to facing Beasttakens is by slowly lowering their number. The moment a group is surrounded by dozens of Beasttakens, their lives may be lost due to one careless mistake and most spirit masters don't even have enough spirit energy to endure such a stirring combat. It was due to Beasttakens dangerously tough bodies and relentless nature that many spirit masters didn't even wish to confront these monsters if their own homes weren't threatened.

The four spirit masters Ja Sun caught were the bait. Surprisingly, aside from Xie Xan, others didn't have any disagreement on the matter. Of course, derisive comment from Ja Sun's side worked wonders in suppressing Xie Xan's inner moral conflict as his pride easily won out.

Meanwhile, Ja Sun calmly calculated his chances. The mission was going to be tough, no doubts about that. Not only that, within this group, there is a high possibility that a Wolftaken has acquired or condensed a spirit bone. After all, it was also a reward. Ja Sun only felt this way once he recalled the other 63000-year-old Nightmare's Fantasy Skull bone within his storage essence tool.

Right now, Ja Sun was bursting with wealth and treasures but he needed an appropriate opportunity to digest all he can. Still, he felt that with his Gentle Tactics, and just his fourth spirit ring, he can try and achieve his goals which wasn't eradicating the group. This wouldn't be his first massacre mission so he already knew the drill and could create appropriate missions just that this world was inherently better than his last one in some manner and his Objectives more often than not, came out at S-rank.

The group silently stared at the four men tied together. Around them was a lush carpet of grass and almost a hundred meters away, Ah Yin kept a close eye on their situation.

"Teacher, I want to ask you something," Ja Sun suddenly questioned and Bibi Dong sighed, "What is it?"

"The beasttakens have raided the village recently that means they aren't short on food... or entertainment. Would any beasttaken even place their attention on the four barely clothed men almost 200 meters away from their tribe while their own tribe is most likely filled with a thick stench?"

Bibi Dong understood what Ja Sun meant but she wasn't kicked in the head like he was to most casually opt danger, "No. None of us will take the fight to their own domain."

"Isn't that restricting our growth—" Ja Sun began when Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes and glared at him, "This isn't fear but caution. Ka-ul, do not pull the same stunt you did when I started teaching you all," with a scoff, she continued, "Besides, what we want is a tough situation to make our teamwork more smooth and not a fatal battle that makes us go all out. Facing beasttakens, without my domain, our senses will be suppressed because of the sight we viewed previously but all of it is necessary. We overcome this situation now and in the future, our paths will be much smoother."

Her words reduced Hu Lana's and Xie Xan's hesitation a lot more and Ja Sun pursed his lips. What he did want to offer was truly going alone, that way, he could bypass the first objective and claim its reward without making any efforts at all.

"What I wanted to say was that we need to add a stimulation to the bait. Attract them with something enticing. Aside from food and women, there's nothing enticing to the beasttakens so..."

Ja Sun slowly looked at Hu Lana, Ah Yin, Bibi Dong, and Liu Erlong. For a moment, he did smile and look at Xie Xan that instantly made his expression bleak but his stare also lasted longer on Liu Erlong and Bibi Dong.

"I'm not your bait," Liu Erlong sneered and crossed her arms.

Bibi Dong's slightly cold snort revealed her intentions, too.

"Please, I don't need someone else to make me realize to not place my teammates at an unnecessary risk," Ja Sun smiled and his words made others feel strange.

"I have plenty of enticing things myself," Ja Sun flipped his hands and instantly brought out two articles of clothing. One of them was frilled and sea-green in color while the other one was pure white and slightly translucent.

Ah Yin's and Bibi Dong's eyes widened and they instantly shot their hands forward simultaneously but already predicting such a reaction, Ja Sun had stepped back.

"Forget Beasttakens, I will kill you myself!" Bibi Dong's eyes flared while Ah Yin silently spread out her domain and thick tendrils of blue silver grass shot out as Ja Sun hurriedly twisted his body, "These aren't yours!" He shouted.

"Huh?"

Both of them stopped as Ja Sun stored the two pieces of clothes with a scowl.

"What gives? I won this in a bet against two females. Are these your clothes? Why the hell are you two being unreasonable about it if I'm using my property to bait beasttakens?"

Ja Sun's growl stunned the duo and Xie Xan almost believed Ja Sun's sincere words and expression. Liu Erlong's expression only lit up at the sight of frantic Bibi Dong and Ah Yin. This was a rare sight, after all.

"Your property?" Bibi Dong finally reacted.

"Yes, teacher," Ja Sun nodded.

"Oh, so you still know that I'm your teacher—"

"You're also Sister Dong, Sister Bibi, Bibi Dong, and Dong'er. What's your point?" Ja Sun's words made Bibi Dong tremble when Ah Yin placed her hand on Bibi Dong's shoulder and stated coolly.

"Go ahead. Use your property to entice beasttakens."

"Thank you," Ja Sun finally gave a grateful smile.

"If they are so much as touched by those filthy beasts, you can forget talking with the woman you won it from ever."

Ja Sun's steps paused and he carefully considered the proposal. Turning back, he inquired curiously.

"Is it just talking? Because I'm quite satisfied to stay with her if she doesn't speak, too."

Ah Yin's eyelids twitched.

"Talking is metaphorical, of course."

"That's a shame," Ja Sun sighed and returned.

Bibi Dong and Ah Yin didn't speak and let him pass through them when Hu Lana patted Ja Sun's shoulder, "Don't be so sad. At least, we got to see two wonderful things thanks to you."

"Oh, you should try touching them. They are so soft," Ja Sun sighed as Hu Lana couldn't help herself from giggling while Xie Xan groaned beside her.

"Erlong, why can't Na'er be more like you. You're always so silent," Xie Xan sighed.

"That's because I have nothing to speak to you of," Liu Erlong responded sharply.

"Aaahhhhh! Help us!"

Finally, one of the men tied up woke up and instantly shouted as Ja Sun sighed in relief. Better late than never.

"Ah Yin, cover us. Everyone, stay alert," Bibi Dong reacted instantly and a formless pulse of energy instantly covered the group's breath. Everybody's body tensed and Liu Erlong finally couldn't help glancing at Ja Sun, "What do you think? Can we win against them?"

Looking at her, Ja Sun couldn't help but frown and remarked softly, "Don't lose focus now. If possible, I will assist everyone. Since we already have a plan, we will stick to it."

"Who said I'm losing focus?" Liu Erlong's pursed her lips and looked towards the screaming men that woke up one after another.

*Thud*

The shouts finally broke the calm of the forest and plenty of the resting beasttakens had their furry ears straightening in an alert manner. The small group was discovered and Ah Yin finally whispered, "The beartakens are moving." With that, she moved back slightly while bringing out the peerless Blue Silver Goddess that split into thin strands of sapphire that twisted into vine-like rope and tied it against her waist before connecting it around Hu Lana who was right next to her while Liu Erlong had her waist tied while she was a bit further away due to the potency of her attacks and Xie Xan was behind them.

Ja Sun positioned himself in front of Ah Yin. This way, Hu Lana and Ah Yin instantly remained within the center of the group.

"Remember, when things truly turn dangerous, signal Ah Yin and we all will move out of the range of your spirit skill," Bibi Dong reminded Hu Lana. Her area of effect skill could work partially as a domain since the crimson mist would suppress the senses of anyone else aside from herself. Hu Lana did certainly train to achieve improvement in control so that this skill doesn't affect her allies but it still hadn't shown any result on that matter.

Bibi Dong and Ja Sun weren't bound because the potency of their attacks could deal massive damage at once while Xie Xan was still connected to Ah Yin to continuously replenish his consumed spirit energy. Liu Erlong, too, for the same matter. Out of all of them, the responsibility to multi-task— Control and Support— lied with Ah Yin.

In a few short breaths, massive figures in tattered clothing and sporting dark-brown furred bodies, many Beartakens approached the screaming men with naturally vicious expressions. There were almost 30 of these Beartakens and for some reason, not a single Wolftaken appeared as if leaving the game entirely upto their larger counterparts.

Among them, there were two beartakens with a deeper shade of fur, almost maroon and crimson, and their bodies a notch larger than already overwhelmingly sized beartakens.

"A-ahhh! Somebody!" The man closest to the large beartaken screamed with a fearful expression as the bloody scent made his body shudder deeply.

*Kcchk*

His head was bitten off instantly and as if a signal, the other beartakens instantly bit off the heads of the remaining three spirit masters.

Bibi Dong's eyes shimmered at the sight but the group still didn't move.

While they expected the corpses to be devoured instantly, the beartakens actually tore their bodies before picking up the chunks of bloodied meat and simply began to return.

"This is definitely strange. As Ka-ul said... there may be a strange situation waiting ahead. Since the corpses weren't devoured, the effects of poison would be low so we might as well move against this group."

Bibi Dong stated and shot forward with the remaining five following closely behind. The baits were, of course, poisoned. But seeing the state in which the corpse was collected, even Bibi Dong now felt a little ominous. Still, their quick arrival was barely registered by the beartakens due to the concealment of Ah Yin's domain. None of them were too flamboyant and had already discussed taking out each beartaken using sly tactics.

Silently, Ja Sun reached the last beartaken following the group slowly. Ja Sun's palms instantly revealed a soft white light that seemed to distort the air around the tiny globes of spirit energy quickly moved around the bear. By the time the beartaken found the strange breath and flash of light, Ja Sun had struck his temples. Not stopping for even a moment, Ja Sun's body twisted midair since he needed to jump to reach the large Beartaken's head and slapped his other hand.

This guaranteed the bear's death. Even without his spirit skills, Ja Sun had fused two techniques. Gentle Tactics covered the shock of Gentle Palm Technique and the point focus attribute of Tremble Tactics. Before the body of the beartaken even fell on its knees with most probably a resounding thud, Bibi Dong pressed her palm on the back of the bear and absorbed the corpse into her essence tool.

One down, a few dozens to go.

Ah Yin and others followed silently. It still wasn't their time to make a move.

Ja Sun's and Bibi Dong's cooperation, for the moment, was quite smooth but it was also because that the two didn't need to take account of many things. One was attacking discreetly while the other one was storing corpses instantly.

Of course, everyone did make a note of never letting Ja Sun touch their heads again. Not with that strange glow. Of course, Ja Sun only covered his palms with the shock force was due to delivering the most potent strike without holding back.

Each of these beartakens is comparable to a thousand-year-old bear spirit beast. Why wouldn't Ja Sun give it his all when multiple S-ranked objectives are on the line? At this moment, without making use of the Astral Combatant, Ja Sun continued to keep a sharp eye on his surroundings.

When it came to multiple missions, he needed to prioritize the rewards themselves. Out of all the missions, Ja Sun prioritized the one that gave him a shard of Life Gold crystal because Ja Sun knew of its value. After that, Ja Sun cared for the Extreme Phantom Shadow Technique, and only then did he care for the light-attributed immortal herb, the S-ranked mask, and lastly the spirit bone. It was all based on the value and his knowledge. But if possible, he would try his best to achieve all of it.

One by one, out of the previous thirty or something beartakens, six of them were silently assassinated. Ah Yin's support was truly great in this area.

But Ja Sun didn't continue after the eleventh victim. Not out of benevolence, but because the Beartakens seemed strangely unresponsive. This situation had finally stopped others from moving anymore.

"There's definitely someone behind all this," Hu Lana stated with certainty now. Even if the beartakens hadn't found out anything strange previously, how come they hadn't felt anything even after one-third of their numbers were lowered?

"Wait a minute," Ja Sun raised his hand slightly and focused on one part of the area. A slightly old tree without anything of note but the more he saw, the weirder he felt.

"From Ah Yin's inspection previously, I saw that there is a claw mark in this location... where is it now?"

Xie Xan blinked, "It's right there where you are pointing."

Everyone looked at Ja Sun and then looked at the spot with a deep claw mark.

Ja Sun glanced at Ah Yin and inquired, "You see the claw mark, too?"

Ah Yin nodded silently and Ja Sun looked back at the bark of the tree.

"Try to force your mental energy to shake your consciousness," Ja Sun finally spoke, "Because if you still keep seeing the claw mark then there is no need for you to move forward."

"What?" Liu Erlong frowned and stared at the bark but all she could see was the claw mark.

"What kind of Illusion is this?" Hu Lana finally gasped, her forehead soaked in sweat while Ja Sun glanced at her.

"What do you see?" He inquired calmly while Hu Lana shook her head, understanding his intentions.

"Nevermind testing me, who can actually create such projections that melt with the natural environment so easily? There wasn't a trace of spirit or mental energy and if it wasn't for your reminder..." She gritted her teeth.

The use of Fiery Golden Pupils was revealed now.

Back then, Ja Sun had only viewed the information obtained from Ah Yin's search but even she couldn't differentiate between illusion or reality. But the beasttaken tribes should be as real as they can get.

The others still couldn't differentiate anything, even Ah Yin. It was only when Ja Sun observed a purple glimmer passing through Bibi Dong's dark pink pupils that her expression turned grave.

"Let me scout ahead. Ah Yin, what's the range of your domain?" Ja Sun inquired.

"As long as we're within a forest, everything," she frowned, answering without looking at him but focusing on the tree.

"Keep me hidden, then. I will go take a look."

"We will move together," Bibi Dong's words made Ja Sun think for a moment and he nodded. It didn't matter to him really if they tagged along or not.

The group moved up the slope, their pace considerably slow.

"If it's just like what we have speculated... teacher, what do you think of the strength of the opponent behind all this?" Liu Erlong inquired. Until now, the situation hadn't reached the point of no return so even Bibi Dong was considering the situation when Ah Yin suddenly stopped and her frown only deepening.

"It's not possible, that settlement ahead is suddenly empty. Wait," she whispered and focused further, her domain spreading out in all directions and her eyes widened.

"We're surrounded!" She stated with a gasp.

Everyone froze momentarily and Ja Sun's deep golden pupils glittered momentarily. This time, he didn't offer to scout ahead despite his immunity and compressed his words, "Since I can look through this illusion, I'll assist in the coming battle. But if things turn for the worse, I will use the spirit bone ability to share information with all of you. Don't reject at that point and accept it instantly."

Everyone nodded. Even Hu Lana needed a lot of time to see through the illusion and naturally, she had her guard up.

The group continued to move towards the settlement that they saw previously but near the top of the slope, all everyone saw was a scene of carnage with only blood visible. There were no corpses, no caged women, no resting Beasttakens. It was the same for Ja Sun and by now, all of them were sure that something strange was definitely afoot.

"The situation hasn't changed. All the beasttakens are still surrounding us," Ah Yin compressed her voice. There was still a chance that the opponent didn't know that they were already aware of the situation due to Ja Sun and Ah Yin's domain.

"What about your consumption?" Ja Sun inquired as Ah Yin shook her head, "Not a problem."

Unlike Liu Erlong and Xie Xan, Ja Sun didn't feel uncomfortable due to the passive situation. All this meant was that he had yet to understand the truth or die trying.

It was at this point, everyone felt a tremor under their feet and even without any other thought, Ah Yin stomped her foot with rings of light appearing around her and the rapidly growing carpet of Blue Silver King instantly solidified as her first and fourth spirit ring brightened simultaneously.

*Thck*

The sharp claw that should have easily slipped out of the bloodied ground instantly struck against the solid roots of the blue silver kings and Ja Sun himself stomped slightly but an amazing amount of Spirit Energy undulated and passed through the ground. He instantly felt his spirit energy seeping into a few thick bodies but due to passing through the ground, the shock was alleviated by quite a bit and his attack only shook a few organs for a moment.

Even now, others didn't lose their calm instead Ah Yin waved her hand and thick blue silver vines coiled below their foot and turned into a large platform that instantly shot up before Ah Yin's fourth ring brightened again the whole construct turned solid.

"I still cannot sense them," Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes as she finally saw multiple thick furry arms tearing out from the ground around them while Ja Sun whispered, "It's possible that we are already under the effect of another domain."

*Grrrrrr*

*Raaaghhhh*

Beartakens.

Quite a few at that. This was either a bait to attract their attention or a probing attack, Ja Sun realized and as the beasts struck the pillar of vines, the platform merely trembled a little, revealing Ah Yin's strength as she continued to look down coldly. None moved yet again. The situation was too strange.

"I don't think we will be able to find the opponent if I go all out. But baiting it also means that one of us may end up getting hurt," Bibi Dong transmitted her voice to the group. Right now, she was clearly presenting them a choice.

"Is it possible that the opponent has the ability to turn invisible? If yes, then we shouldn't try this at all. Maybe the real reason why this Beasttaken tribe isn't removed is not due to the internal political conflict within Dragon Rising City but due to most of the spirit masters sent out not returning at all," Hu Lana pursed her lips.

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