Chapter 343: A Good Show Is About to Begin

A month’s time isn’t particularly long, but it isn’t short either.

At the very least, for Su Ming who had just arrived, this was his first month in a foreign land, and it felt like many things had happened.

But he himself found it quite fulfilling.

Because ever since coming to Tianfeng City, his strength had been in a period of rapid improvement without any stagnation.

Especially this past month, Su Ming had basically secluded himself, engaging in rigorous closed-door cultivation within the villa.

After using the Cleansing Potion to purify his body and mind and unlock his Bloodline potential, Su Ming’s strength had greatly advanced. He spent almost the entire month honing himself in the underground training ground, diligently practicing the Ancient Blade Art.

As for “Azure Mercury” matters, Su Ming fully entrusted them to Chi Qian, letting her lead Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao—the group of girls—in handling operations.

Surprisingly, under Chi Qian’s leadership, Su Ming’s “Azure Mercury” truly made a splash this month, becoming the focus of attention in Tianfeng City.

Without Su Ming leading, Chi Qian didn’t dare take on A-rank difficulty missions, but they completed plenty of B-rank missions. In just one short month, they finished a total of twelve B-rank missions, causing quite a stir among all the Professionals in Tianfeng City.

Whenever Su Ming took out his Terminal and logged onto the official website, he could basically see “Azure Mercury” trending.

It was under these circumstances that the Professional Center approved “Azure Mercury’s” review and officially upgraded the team’s Rank to C-rank at the beginning of this month.

With this promotion, Su Ming’s “Azure Mercury” jumped from an E-rank team directly to a C-rank team.

Yes.

They skipped D-rank entirely, going from E-rank straight to C-rank.

This allowed “Azure Mercury” to break the official record for fastest promotion.

In the official records, the previous fastest team to reach C-rank was Xu Xiayan’s team

“Summer Chasing Smoke”

And “Summer Chasing Smoke” took a total of three months to go from an E-rank team to a C-rank team.

“Azerue Mercury,” however, only used one month to rise from E-rank to C-rank, breaking the record set by “Summer Chasing Smoke.” Consequently, this month’s trending topics were almost entirely dominated by “Azure Mercury,” making it the undisputed rising star team in Tianfeng City.

Thanks to this, Chi Qian and the others’ latest strength levels were also successively exposed.

Chi Qian became a Six-Star Professional, and Mu Yan became a Five-Star Professional. The fact that both had achieved Breakthroughs and advanced was already spread around and confirmed by the Professional Center.

This undoubtedly poured another bucket of hot oil over the Professionals, making them all boil with excitement.

“The female legend has returned!”

This was the most frequent phrase appearing online this past month.

A woman who, relying solely on her own efforts, rose powerfully from nothing, advancing from an ordinary Mortal to a Six-Star Hunter—now just one star away from the highest-tier Seven-Star Professional—it’s easy to imagine how hot a topic this would generate.

Most astonishingly, Chi Qian was only thirty-three years old this year, two years younger than that Wang Family young master Wang Di, who advanced to Six-Star at thirty-five, and she had already successfully reached Six-Star.Such talent and ability led many to believe that if Chi Qian had the family background and superior conditions of Wang Di, she might even surpass Xu Xiayan, who had become a Six-Star Professional at the age of thirty.

Thus, people began placing these two brightest rising stars of Tianfeng City on the same level, considering them the representatives of the new generation of female Professionals and the most outstanding female Hunters in the city.

One was thirty-three years old this year, the other thirty-one—their ages were close, placing them in the same generation. Both were the most exceptional female Professionals, so it was only natural for them to be compared side by side.

Moreover, rumors claimed that Chi Qian had used a high-grade restorative potion to repair her ruined appearance and severed palm, restoring her flawless beauty and reclaiming her former looks. This undoubtedly stirred excitement among the people.

The most direct evidence was that over the past month, Chi Qian’s terminal had been flooded with calls, with countless attempts to poach her. When she led her team to the Professional Center to accept missions, she repeatedly encountered groups that had previously tried to recruit her, including but not limited to the “Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion,” “Iron Rose,” and “Scarlet Branch Knights.”

Especially Qiao Zhi from the “Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion,” upon hearing that Chi Qian had advanced in rank and restored her appearance, became even more persistent than before. He frequently intercepted her, desperately trying to recruit her into his team, and even refused to let go of Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao.

“Talented women like you are wasted in a small team like ‘Azure Mercury.’ Come join us.”

This had become the young master of the Qiao Family’s catchphrase lately.

To be honest, if Su Ming hadn’t been secluded in rigorous training recently and had personally encountered this young master while accompanying Chi Qian and the others, conflicts would have inevitably arisen.

Even without Su Ming present, Qiao Zhi’s words and actions infuriated Chi Qian and the others, leading to repeated verbal clashes with members of the “Brocade Dragon Jade Pavilion.” At one point, the situation escalated so much that the Professional Center had to step in to mediate.

In contrast, that young master of the Liu Family, who had previously insulted Chi Qian, was nowhere to be seen lately, as if he had vanished entirely.

Then again, the incident of Su Ming attacking Zhang Chen still hadn’t been resolved. As one of the parties involved at the time, it was only natural for Liu Zai to keep a low profile.

Otherwise, the past month might have seen even more trouble.

In any case, Su Ming’s “Azure Mercury” had become the talk of the town.

Ironically, he himself, as the team leader, had become largely overlooked.

Su Ming, however, was content with the peace and quiet. Over the past month, he focused entirely on improving his strength, continuing to study and practice the Ancient Blade Art while using resources obtained from packages, combined with Cleansing Potions, the Demon Emperor Sword, and the Blue Demon Ceasefire Ring to steadily enhance his abilities.

Under these circumstances, Su Ming’s strength as a Hunter had unknowingly surpassed that as a Sorcerer in all aspects.

“When I advanced to a Five-Star Sorcerer, my Hunter Rank was only Four-Star, not even at its Peak.”

“Now, I’m still a Five-Star Sorcerer, with almost no growth in my Sorcerer abilities, while my Hunter strength has caught up and surpassed it.””The environment in Tianfeng City is truly pleasant.”

Su Ming had expressed such sentiments more than once.

The main reason was that Su Ming had allocated all resources capable of enhancing a Sorcerer’s strength to Tong Xinyao, consequently slowing his own progress.

As a result, Tong Xinyao’s power had continuously grown over the past month, bringing her increasingly closer to the superhuman Upper-Rank Realm.

It was believed that soon, Tong Xinyao would advance to become a Four-Star Sorcerer, making her the world’s youngest Upper-Rank Professional.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t achieved it yet.

The gap between Upper and Lower Ranks represented a difference in Realms, not easily Broken Through.

Even though Tong Xinyao was a Spirit Bearer—a top-tier Genius guaranteed to become an Upper-Rank Professional—she still needed time. A month was simply insufficient.

The most direct evidence was that Feng Qing’er had successfully Broken Through and advanced to become a Five-Star Hunter within the same month, catching up to Mu Yan, while Tong Xinyao remained fluctuating at the Three-Star limit, unable to take that final step.

This left Tong Xinyao feeling frustrated and disheartened repeatedly.

“Don’t worry, you’re almost there.”

Su Ming offered Tong Xinyao some comfort, which helped lift her spirits somewhat.

Su Ming wasn’t lying.

If his intuition was correct, Tong Xinyao would definitely achieve her Breakthrough and advancement within one to three months.

By then, his “Azure Mercury” would truly consist entirely of Upper-Rank Professionals, fulfilling the “small goal” he had set when establishing the team.

Thus, a month passed slowly amid various bustling rumors and excitement.

The citizens of Tianfeng City continued their daily lives as usual, decade after decade, savoring the fame and topics surrounding different Professionals and teams.

Ordinary Professionals also persevered diligently in their struggles, day after day, year after year.

At first glance, everything seemed unchanged, just like before.

Only a few perceptive individuals could sense that recently, the atmosphere in Tianfeng City had shifted slightly.

This change originated from the city’s upper echelons—the high-Rank teams and Professionals.

They gradually reduced their activities and mission frequency, staying within the Base City for extended periods, either secluding themselves for rigorous cultivation or aggressively purchasing weapons, artifacts, and potions, as if preparing for something.

Major Families and influential forces began showing similar signs, puzzling many observers.

Yet, the Professional Center—Tianfeng City’s official authority—made no announcements or moves, seemingly ignoring these matters by tacit agreement, leaving many small and medium-sized teams attempting to gather information frustrated.

They wouldn’t know that a Hidden Realm was about to appear silently in Northern Tianfeng City.

Teams in Tianfeng City rated B-rank and above would receive information through various channels and quietly make preparations.

This led to a recent surge in sales of various Extraordinary Items in Tianfeng City, with some even being snapped up, causing members of small and medium-sized teams to repeatedly encounter sold-out situations when purchasing supplies.

If not for the oversight and control by the Professional Center, the prices of materials related to Extraordinary Items might have risen significantly during this period.

This phenomenon alerted those with sharp instincts.

“Something major is about to happen.”Thus, the undercurrents surging in the shadows of Tianfeng City grew increasingly dense and palpable.

It was on this very day that Su Ming finally received a message from Xu Xiayan.

“Come to my place.”

These were Xu Xiayan’s opening words.

“It’s time we met up and had a proper gathering.”

Upon receiving this message, Su Ming understood.

The real show was about to begin.

(End of Chapter)