Reward - 446

Zhu Yi blankly looked at the man's corpse. He knew what he had to do, but he did not know if he had the will to do it.

"You've come this far. What remains is simply finishing the job." Zhou Fan said.

Zhu Yi nodded and walked up to the corpse. He pulled his sword out of the dead man's throat and slashed at his neck in a quick motion.

A head fell and Zhu Yi wrapped a brown bag around it. He put the head in the larger backpack he wore and returned to the city.

"If you ignore the moral issues, then this short trip is the most profitable mission yet." Zhou Fan said as they walked back.

Zhu Yi nodded but did not speak, he was in deep thought.

It did not take long to return to the assassination guild. Upon knocking on the door, he was let in and led to the same person as before.

Standing across from the man, Zhu Yi opened his bag and took out the smaller bag. He placed it on the table. The man looked at it and nodded. 

"So, how did it feel?"

Zhu Yi looked to the side. "I did it. What was up with this man?"

The man behind the desk sighed. "He was a demonic cultivator hidden among ordinary people. His goal was to find talents and either recruit or kill them. Although we are a part of the dark side, we are not evil or against humanity. In fact, what we do is for humanity."

Zhu Yi nodded.

"Since you've completed your first mission, and it is worth three, you're finally getting your reward. I calculated, and 3 low level missions like this is worth 1 captured Foundation establishment realm beast, not weakened or enslaved."

The man stood up and held out his hand. "I, the guild master of the white palace city assassination guild branch, welcome you. I hope we work together more in the future. Bernard outside will take you to the beast."

Zhu Yi stood up and shook the guild master's hand before being led to a lower level by the man called Bernard.

He walked in a small hallway with many metal doors, before Bernard stopped at one of them.

Bernard put in a key and the door was opened. After flicking up a light switch, they entered.

Inside was a concrete room, no doubt made of special materials, and in the center of the room was a tiger-like beast inside of a cage.

"How does the assassination guild get these beasts in here?" Zhu Yi asked.

"Secret tunnel systems. Don't ask too much." Bernard said before turning around. "I'll wait outside. Do as you please."

When the door shut, Zhu Yi turned his attention to the beast. 

"How much more will this help compared to a thousand Qi gathering realm beasts?" Zhu Yi asked curiously.

"It should be around the same level of usefulness as 5,000 Qi gathering realm beasts. For beasts in the Qi gathering realm, their cores have so little Qi that it is usually not usable. Only special beasts or supreme beasts will have a reasonable amount of Qi. Luckily, I was able to cleanse the Beast cores before the Qi dissipated. Otherwise, we would have been in trouble."

Zhu Yi was astonished. "So you're saying that there is 5,000 times more Qi in foundation establishment realm beasts than Qi gathering realm beasts?"

"Of course not. That's a foolish thought. There is a qualitative difference in the Qi as well. Don't ask me to explain it, you wouldn't understand." Zhou Fan said. 

Zhu Yi nodded.

He walked up to the beast and looked at it. It had remained silent all this time, only staring at Zhu Yi with a faint killing intent.

The beast seemed like a tiger without its stripes, and although there was likely a technical name for it, neither Zhu Yi nor Zhou Fan knew it.

Zhu Yi lacked knowledge, while Zhou Fan couldn't care less. Zhu Yi took out his sword and got ready.

"Is there anything I should know about foundation establishment realm beasts?" Zhu Yi asked.

"Not really. Just hope it can't use Qi to attack." 

"Huh?"

"If it can use Qi to attack, then it will likely kill you even if it can't break out of the cage." Zhou Fan explained.

Zhu Yi was stunned and stood still. "Isn't that a piece of information you should have mentioned earlier?"

"I was considering making you learn from your mistakes. You are the one who said it didn't have to be weakened."

Zhu Yi stood still while thinking.

"Don't worry too much. If it could attack with Qi, you would already be dead after standing still for so long. Plus, those types of beasts are far more valuable than 3 low-level missions. I just wanted to scare you so that you learned your lesson." Zhou Fan said.

"Oh. Alright." Zhu Yi moved towards the beasts once again.

He held his arms straight out and extended his sword. He ran forward, using it as a spear. The beast jumped back, but the cage was barely large enough to hold the beast. Zhu Yi's sword stabbed into it, but stopped after an inch.

"Your sword may be too weak. In addition, you are too weak." Zhou Fan said.

"Too late to go back now." Zhu Yi backed up and rammed forward again.

A pitiful scene ensued of Zhu Yi ramming towards the beast, drawing blood, and repeating.

After an hour, the beast was so injured and bloody it was basically dead. 

Knock Knock.

A knock was heard on the door and a voice outside it. "Are you good in there?"

"Yes. Sorry, it is taking longer than expected. I'm nearly done."

Zhu Yi picked up the pace and continued. After 5 more minutes, Zhou Fan spoke.

"It's dead. Hurry."

Zhu Yi, prepared for this, ran up to the cage and quickly unlocked it. He stabbed his sword near the center of the beast.

In preparation for this moment, Zhu Yi had tried to stab the beast in the center of its body the entire time. Otherwise, it would be too strong for him to easily cut it open.

His work paid off and his sword slid in smoothly.