The news sent a chill through the entire audience, and no one spoke. Fifty li was such a vast distance that it could still be affected. They could not possibly be a match for the combined might of the Underworld and the Abyss. Even if everyone present teamed up, they would only barely hold their own. This meant that going up now would be a pointless sacrifice.
After a long silence, someone finally broke the spell, their face grim. "I don't want to add another notch to his kill count. I'm sorry, everyone, we're leaving."
With the first person's withdrawal, others quickly followed, leaving in twos and threes. While fifty thousand was tempting, it was useless if they were dead. Everyone knew how to assess the situation. The harsh reality slapped them so hard they were left disoriented.
Li Xizhen hadn't expected this. He had been eagerly awaiting people to come and offer themselves up for his kill count, only to have his excellent performance earlier that day wash it all away. If he had known this would happen, he wondered if he would have performed even more poorly.
By the next morning, One and Two were still tirelessly interrogating their captives. They had sworn before Li Xizhen that not a single copper coin would be spared. They would extract information about anyone's third child, their wealth, the location and occupants of their ancestral graves. Someone was even meticulously recording every detail with pen and paper.
After breakfast, Li Xizhen waved his hand in disappointment. "Let's go, we're entering the city."
An unusual sight had appeared in Pabitti City, something not seen in decades. Three carriages, escorted by over twenty guards, were parading over fifty prisoners.
Even though they weren't bound, these prisoners dared not escape or even look around. Those with weak legs were practically crawling forward. Their fingertips were worn down to the bone, but they didn't dare cry out. A single sound would earn them a fierce kick from the bear goblins or a lash of cold water-soaked whip from One or Two.
There were those who resisted, but they had all ended up in coffins, absorbed into spatial rings. Since spatial rings could not store living beings, anyone who was put into one was dead.
The convoy didn't go anywhere else but directly to the Pabitti Adventurer's Guild. Nuohan stepped forward, stood at the entrance, and shouted, his voice like a thunderclap, "Send out a priest, we have a customer!"
Li Xizhen, who was dismounting, nearly fell to the ground upon hearing Nuohan's words. What was this talk of "customer"? Fortunately, his agility allowed him to appear beside Nuohan in an instant with a body-flicker technique.
"Brother Nuohan, don't talk nonsense. We're here to turn in a quest."
A priest had already been informed of the situation outside. He came out and looked at the golden adventurer's badge on Li Xizhen's chest, a slight frown on his face. A mere C-rank, shouting at the entrance. He must be some country bumpkin who had never seen the world, still thinking Pabitti was like the countryside, where a C-rank adventurer could swagger around. Pabitti was a major city, second only to the capital, with A-rank adventurers. Why would they send him out for a quest of any significance?
However, his professional demeanor kicked in, and he forced a fake smile. "Esteemed C-rank adventurer from another city, what quest do you wish to turn in?"
Li Xizhen could see the priest's perfunctory attitude, but as long as it didn't hinder his quest submission, he didn't care about any cold words. So, Li Xizhen pointed to the string of prisoners outside. "Among these are the Hunter Squad, the Drip Squad, the Sickle Squad, the Ten Men Gang, the Underworld, and the Abyss. These are all wanted criminals listed on the quest board. I am turning in my quest now."
In fact, the priest was already shocked when he saw the prisoners outside. Who were these people? How could they capture so many wanted criminals? Then, he heard the names of notorious villains Li Xizhen uttered, individuals who had caused upheaval for years, even decades, and had never been caught. The priest was stunned. These were all wicked individuals who could shake the world. He immediately craned his neck, his eyeballs nearly popping out, trying to see if these people, who looked worse than beggars, were indeed those villains. The priest's expression was like that of a stunned goose.
The surrounding onlookers also watched with similar expressions of bewilderment. No one could discern any trace of might or ferocity from these people who were crawling, lying down, limping, and looked worse than beggars.
To say nothing of others, the Underworld Squad had once achieved the feat of slaughtering three barons in a single night. They had been famous back then, and even after a decade of being hunted, there was no trace of them. Yet, no one could see any resemblance to these frail, lifeless individuals whose clothes were nearly gone.
Nuohan, seeing the priest standing motionless, became annoyed. This was his idol, who had gone through so much trouble to return, and now they wouldn't let him in at the gate.
So, Nuohan slapped the priest on the shoulder, nearly shattering it. His voice, normal to him, sounded like a roar to ordinary people. "Hurry up and get to work, we have to keep moving."
The priest winced in pain but dared not speak harshly. Instead, with a joyful expression, he waved to his colleagues inside. He had indeed recognized the identities from several dirt-covered faces with scabs. It was just as this C-rank adventurer had said, they were all major offenders. "Come out, everyone, for identification and quest verification. Don't keep this... "
The priest looked solicitously at Li Xizhen. He still didn't know who this person before him was.
Li Xizhen said softly, "C-rank adventurer Li Xizhen."
"Don't keep Mr. Li Xizhen waiting."
As seven or eight priests walked out of the Adventurer's Guild, half of the prisoners, who had been lined up neatly, began to cry. The longest had been captured by Li Xizhen for six days, and the shortest for one day. Yet, in such a short time, Li Xizhen had completely shattered them, mentally and physically. The arrogance and might they once possessed had been replaced by humiliation.
They couldn't imagine how long they could survive under this demon's hand. Now, being taken away by the priests and thrown into prison was the happiest thing in the world for them.
Perhaps hoping to use this as an opportunity for publicity for the Adventurer's Guild, the priests didn't lead all the prisoners into the hall. Instead, they began to call out each person's identity outside, in groups of two or three. They could verify three prisoners simultaneously.
Thus, the residents of Pabitti City witnessed an uncommon spectacle for the second time today. The priests, who were usually high and mighty, were now raising their voices like town criers in a theater, loudly announcing,
"Identify yourself. Underworld Squad, Kapati, Rank Four Warrior, involved in fifteen crimes, violated twenty-three Imperial laws."
"Identify yourself. Abyss Squad, Makarena, Rank Five Assassin, involved in twenty crimes, violated forty-one Imperial laws."
...
Each loud announcement by the priests was like a gust of wind blowing across the sea, stirring up waves and eliciting synchronized gasps from the crowd.
Of course, with each cheer, questions would flicker in their minds. What kind of torture could have made these bloodthirsty bandits more timid than startled birds? The answer was actually quite simple. One only needed to look at the bear goblins occasionally scratching their groins.
There were old adventurers who frequented the Adventurer's Guild. Every time a priest announced a name, they would, like a seasoned storyteller, explain that person's past to those around them, recounting their notorious cases, which would elicit exclamations of surprise, always ending with "So impressive."
Of course, the words "So impressive" were directed at Li Xizhen, and the admiring eyes sparkling with stars were also for him.
These fifty-two prisoners, plus a long line of coffins, all faced life imprisonment and execution. Yet, before their deaths, not a single one dared to glance at Li Xizhen, not even a hateful look. Even One to Eight, who had been trained by Li Xizhen to obey his every command, stood rigidly, motionless. When the priests approached them, announced their names, ranks, crimes, and violations, they reacted like the dead, without a flicker of emotion.
"Mr. Li Xizhen, I've checked your badge. You are a C-rank adventurer, and you have two additional quests. This quest brings your completion count to seven. You only need one more quest to be promoted to B-rank adventurer. Congratulations!" The priest, who had looked down on Li Xizhen at the entrance, now treated him with more deference than he would his own father. So many high-level quests, all completed in one day, could match his performance for two years. Li Xizhen wasn't just his father; he was his grandfather, his great-grandfather.
Li Xizhen frowned upon hearing it was only seven quests. According to his estimates, it should have been at least nine. The Hunter Squad, the Underworld, and the Abyss should all be B-rank quests. The remaining three should be C-rank. Why was it only seven, meaning only one quest was B-rank, and the rest were C-rank?
The priest immediately noticed Li Xizhen's confusion and thoughtfully explained, "Mr. Li Xizhen, except for the Underworld, which is a B-rank quest, the others are C-rank quests. Their quest ranks are not solely based on strength but also on whether there is a bounty on them and if there were witnesses when the crime was committed."
Seeing that Li Xizhen's brow had not yet unfurrowed, the priest continued, "To speak disrespectfully, even if they had successfully assassinated the emperor, but no one knew about it, they would still be C-rank quests and could never be promoted to S-rank."
Li Xizhen had understood when the priest first explained. In essence, strength and quest bounty rank were not directly proportional. If an old man posted a bounty of one copper coin for an ancient dragon, then according to the Adventurer's Guild regulations, such a quest would only be F-rank, not S-rank, although no one would undertake it.
Seven quests it was, then. This meant he was only one quest away from being promoted to B-rank. Li Xizhen led his companions out of the Adventurer's Guild with several chests of gold coins.
They were met by Philin and his companions. During this time, they had somehow found several carriages filled with large chests. Each chest was opened, and the golden gleam made Li Xizhen squint.
The dazzling yellow light was clearly the color of gold, and the air was filled with the scent of coins.
"Brother Li Xizhen, aren't you looking for Captain Greybeard? I thought it would be very difficult to find him on the vast sea, so why don't we have him come to us? I plan to have these gold-laden carriages circle Pabitti for a day. The greedy Captain Greybeard definitely won't miss this opportunity."
Li Xizhen gave a thumbs up. Fishing? What a brilliant idea. With a wave of his hand, several large chests appeared on the ground. "Since this is for my matter, I can't hold back. These are the earnings from the past few days. If we're going to play, let's play big."
Philin covered his mouth and chuckled. Zuo Lin stroked his beard and laughed heartily. Nuohan even ran off, "I'll go find a few more carriages."
The residents of Pabitti City, who had already seen an uncommon sight twice today, unexpectedly witnessed a third one. The adventurer Li Xizhen, who had stolen the spotlight, openly paraded his rewards, with carriages loaded with them, towards the pier. The amount of commission required ten carriages to transport. How much money was that? The envious onlookers following behind had their eyes lit up. If the sun were to set now, the entire city of Pabitti wouldn't need candles.