Chapter 209 - Naked Skinning (1/2)
Chapter 209: Naked Skinning
After chatting and laughing with Huo **, Little Fatty felt much more familial towards him, and any misgivings that they might have had gradually vanished too. At this juncture, Huo ** sensed that the atmosphere was about right and began to question, “Right, from which team do the both of you plan to start off from?”
When Little Fatty heard that, he asked in confusion, “What team? I don’t quite understand!”
“Haha, my bad, my bad. I did not have the time the explain it to you yet!” Huo ** laughed and explained, “This is how the structure of the demonic beast hunting teams in the Eastern Ocean works!”
Following which, Huo ** began to slowly explain the details to Little Fatty. Hearing the explanation, Little Fatty was immediately enlightened. In the Eastern Ocean, the demonic beast hunters do not work alone but in teams of 10. They will be split according to the strength to form XianTian teams, Foundational teams, and JinDan teams.
The XianTian team would naturally be made out of XianTian disciples. As for the foundational team, it would consist of a mix of XianTian and foundational cultivators. Of course, there were stronger teams which solely consisted of foundational cultivators. As for the JinDan teams, it would be simpler. Even if the team only consisted of a single JinDan cultivator, they would be called a JinDan team. After all, the number of JinDan cultivators were few in numbers and it would not be practical to form a team full of JinDan cultivators.
With the different strengths of the teams, they were also in charge of different areas. In the countless of islands in the Eastern Ocean, the strength of the demonic beasts would naturally be weaker as they were on islands nearer to the land. The weakest ones, the 1st or 2nd-grade demonic beasts would usually be taken care of by XianTian cultivators.
Slightly further would be the islands where the 3rd and 4th-grade demonic beasts would gather. A foundational team would definitely have to be sent to such a place. If XianTian cultivators were to be sent there, it would be nothing more than cannon fodder. Similarly, the islands where stronger demonic beasts gather could only be cleaned by JinDan cultivators.
The so-called ‘cleaning up’ would be for them to kill their way in and ma.s.sacre as many demonic beasts as they could. Killing a third would be considered a small destruction, killing two-thirds would be a large destruction and killing all of them would be considered extermination.
According to the rules of the Eastern Ocean, every team would have to clean up at least 2 islands which are similar to the team’s strength. Furthermore, they must achieve a standard of ‘large destruction’. If they do not reach this goal, all the members of the team would be punished. This punishment is no small matter since they had to ‘motivate’ the cultivators to work hard. As a result, the punishments which the Eastern Ocean Alliance sets is extremely harsh, with the lightest punishment being whipped while the harshest punishment would be to execute the team.
Every single demonic beast hunter would have a mark imprinted on them, and it would be impossible to escape. After the cleanup, the Eastern Ocean Alliance would send someone to investigate the results. If a false report is made, it would be a huge crime.
Of course, while the punishments were harsh, the rewards were similarly great. Apart from the fact that all the materials from the demonic beasts would go to the team, the Eastern Ocean Alliance would reward spiritual stones and elixirs to those who accomplish the mission. If they were to perform above expectations, they would receive a larger portion of rewards. Furthermore, every three years, a review would be made of the total results of all the teams and the top 10 teams greatly rewarded. Especially the top team, the rewards might even consist of high-grade magical artifacts.
With such a carrot and stick system, the demonic beast hunters did not have too big of a resentment despite constantly pitting their lives on the line.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, it would not be difficult to accomplish the mission. After all, the Eastern Ocean Alliance would first scout out the mission targets to determine the quant.i.ty, types, and strengths of the demonic beasts present. As long as the team did not consist of idiots, it would not be difficult to come up with a plan to target the weakness of the demonic beasts and kill them easily. After all, it has been many years since the Eastern Ocean Alliance first came into contact with the demonic beasts and they possessed a certain understanding of the demonic beasts. For example, if they knew that the demonic beast would be afraid of a certain poison, they would just spread some poison powder with the winds and easily accomplish an extermination.
Just a simple action like that would give them great rewards, letting all those who first come here go crazy. The bones, meat, skin and the inner core of the demonic beast together with the precious materials and herbs which might be present were all worth a lot, more than enough to be shared amongst 10 people.
Thus, the people in the Eastern Ocean are generally wealthier than those in the Vast Mountains. If one did not have any fortuitous encounters, the cultivators of the Vast Mountains would usually only be able to get a magical artifact at the JinDan stage. But in here, even foundational cultivators would be able to get a magical artifact. This was one of the most attractive parts of the Eastern Ocean.
But in reality, demonic beast hunting was not always such an easy thing. Firstly, demonic beasts were no idiots. Occasionally, there would be a few who would have intelligence and know how to conceal their true strength. Furthermore, not everything in the Eastern Ocean could be scouted out so easily. At times, the scouts would also make mistakes. After all, they were alone and would not dare to go too deep into the island.
For example, there are times where the demonic beasts on the outside are 2nd grade and so it will be reported as such. But after a XianTian team take on the mission and arrive. They may realise that there are 3rd or 4th-grade demonic beasts hiding inside. At that time, the only thing awaiting them would be their death. Every year, such a thing would almost certainly occur.
Besides that, the demonic beasts are also not trapped on a single island. Some demonic beasts have the habit of moving around like migratory birds. Thus, there are times where a team of cultivators attacking an island may encounter a large horde of demonic beasts from the ocean. As such, a tragedy would happen. There are even some teams which would be killed on the way back by some demonic beasts on the move.
Apart from the demonic beasts, the weird weather and geography of the Eastern Ocean is also a large enemy of the cultivators. For example, there may be a sudden squall where even JinDan cultivators would not be able to survive. In some weird areas, cultivators would only go in but never come back out. Even the YuanYing cultivators who went in to investigate did not come back out. As such, these places would be considered to be forbidden areas with the Eastern Ocean. In the Eastern Ocean, there were more than 10 of these forbidden areas.
Due to all of these unexpected accidents, it resulted in the frightening death rates in the Eastern Ocean.
After explaining the situation here to them, Huo ** asked with a smile, “So, do you guys want to form your own team and start out with a bunch of XianTian rookies? Or do you want to join a strong foundational team? Or, do you want to be in a JinDan team? I personally recommend you guys to join me in my team. I dare not promise you about anything, but I can definitely a.s.sure you that there will be no danger!”
As Little Fatty heard that, he shook his head and said with a bitter laughter, “I appreciate your good intent. But, I am overestimating myself if I join a JinDan team the moment I come here. The places where you will go will definitely be dangerous and I will only be a burden to you!”
Someone as sharp as Huo ** could naturally tell that Little Fatty was not willing to serve under him. With his ability to fight the Four Big Metal Brothers, Little Fatty was probably able to fight Huo ** already. What burden? This was obviously an excuse.
The bright side was that Huo ** wasn’t too willing for someone as hardheaded as Little Fatty to stay in his team. He only mentioned it out of courtesy. Seeing Little Fatty reject him, he was also happy and said with a smile, “This brat, you obviously just don’t want to be restrained by elders and want to go out and create mischief right?”
Little Fatty’s face turned red and was about to bicker back. But, Huo ** interrupted him, “Haha, don’t need to explain any further. I understand. After all, I was also young once. Alright, I can understand how you feel. So, tell me your choice. I do have some authority in here and can send you to other teams immediately!”
“I shall thank senior if that is the case!” Little Fatty bowed. Then, he considered for a moment before replying. “This disciple wants to go to a full foundational team. The stronger the team, the better!”
The reason why Little Fatty chose such a team was because he did not want to nurture his own team of XianTian beginners. Besides that, if he wants to be the head of the team, he would want good subordinates as well. As for the original leader, it is impossible for Little Fatty to be afraid of a foundational cultivator. With his strength, he would be able to trash a completed foundational cultivator. At that time, the position of team leader would naturally be his.