Two men in yellow robes walked toward Everlight City. These men, Huang Mao and Huang Pi, were the personal guards of Lady Huang. Huang Mao checked his compass to confirm that the needle still pointed toward Everlight City.
âThey have to be here!â Huang Mao exclaimed.
âWill it do that thing again?â Huang Pi asked skeptically. âWhen we closed in on them last time, they just suddenly disappeared.â
A couple of days ago, they had followed the compass into Carefree Valley when the needle abruptly flipped to the opposite direction, forcing the pair to travel 10,000 kilometers to Everlight City.
âProbably... not?â Hesitation lilted Huang Maoâs tone.
âWhatever. Letâs just enter the city first. I havenât had meat in so long. Once we get inside the city, letâs find an inn and order ten roasted chickens!â Huang Pi salivated at that thought.
After paying the toll and having the guards check their identity plates, the two successfully entered Everlight City. Just then, a group of people on horses passed by them to leave the city. It was Han Wu and his team!
Han Wu had split the team into two groups. The first comprised the children of Everlight Cityâs noble households. Their Divine Weapons were already strong, so Han Wu could bring them on daily excursions to Nightglow Mountain to train in different hunting styles.
The second team was made up of the allied students from Divine Civilization. Rather than heading out, Han Wu instructed them to train within the Jin familyâs special hunting area. They were to slay the monsters and mutated beasts there to unlock as many Divine Weapons as possible.
Han Wu intentionally hid the existence of each group from the other, so neither was aware of the otherâs existence. The only exceptions to this were Han Wu, Qin Shuang, Sun Qingnian, and Jin Buhuan. Even Jin Tuantuan had no idea about this arrangement.
Han Wu and the noble children rode past Huang Mao and Huang Pi.
Huang Pi obliviously continued to sniff the air, searching for a good inn. Huang Mao, on the other hand, was keeping a constant eye on the compass and saw when the needle turned to follow Han Wu.
âLook! The needle moved!â Huang Mao called out to Huang Pi.
Huang Pi almost collapsed to the ground when he saw the needle pointing back outside. âIs there an end to this or not? Weâve already traveled 10,000 kilometers to make it here. How could it be pointing that way again? Is Lady Huangâs compass broken? I give up. Letâs just head back. She can find someone else to do this!â
"It's not what you think,â Huang Mao quickly assuaged. âThe needle was following that group who just exited the city on horseback.â
Relieved, Huang Pi hesitantly asked, âShould we chase them?â
As he uttered those words, he suddenly caught the fragrant scent of roasted chicken coming from an inn around the corner.
âLady Huangâs task takes precedence. Letâs chase them,â Huang Mao said, resolution in his voice.
âAlright,â Huang Pi said sulkily, casting forlorn looks over his shoulder in the direction of the inn.
***
Han Wu and his team gathered to train on Nightglow Mountain. As the days passed, the children of the noble households had seen noticeable improvements in strength. Their teamwork had also greatly improved, allowing them to bring down the stronger mutated beasts with ease.
At this point, they had nearly hunted the strong mutated beasts of Nightglow Mountain to near extinction. Still, despite honing their teamwork and each having at least one God-grade Divine Weapon, they still dared not rebel against Han Wu.
This was only partially due to Han Wuâs authority to execute them. The truth was, his training regime itself had instilled a sense of fear into them. Besides killing mutated beasts, they also engaged in group battles against Han Wu alone.
It had been ten days of trying to beat him to no avail. Han Wuâs Small Locust Blade was simply too unpredictable and difficult to defend against. Even a hundred of them working together were no match for the Small Locust Blades.
Moreover, the Small Locust Blade was only one of Han Wuâs Divine Weapons. He had many others in his repertoire. The young masters couldnât even begin to fathom Han Wuâs true strength. Some even assumed that he was as strong as Jin Buhuan.
In reality, Jin Buhuan was much strongerâas strong as the other three City Lords, hence why Everlight City was among the top four. Han Wu would be hard-pressed to reach that caliber of strength even after spending all his available resources on upgrading his Divine Weapons.
Han Wu was aware of this, and wanting to become stronger, he continued to work hard. While the young masters hunted the strong mutated beasts, Han Wu and his friends hunted the weaker ones that lived in packs because it was more efficient for farming essence.
Under their bombardment, another pack of mutated beasts was swiftly eliminated from Nightglow Mountain. Sun Qingnian despaired when he didnât get much essence and was considering hunting the strong mutated beasts with the other young masters.
Han Wuâs and Qin Shuangâs overwhelming firepower meant he obtained little essence when with them. It simply wasnât enough!
Thankfully, before Han Wu and Qin Shuangâs arrival, he had received abundant resources from Jin Buhuan, allowing him to unlock eight out of nine of his Divine Weapons. If not for that, he wouldâve had to go hunting alone.
After killing them, Han Wu summoned swarms of Glutton Locusts with his Gluttonswarm Ring to devour the corpses, leaving only the useful parts behind. He wanted to sell the materials to the army of Everlight City in exchange for rewards.
Han Wuâs Divine Weapons had become significantly stronger after several days of hard work. His Small Locust Blade was already a 2-Star God-grade Divine Weapon at rank 89. Upgrading it from one to two stars didnât grant it a new effect, but it did randomly upgrade the potency of an existing one.
Tough, the effect obtained by equipping the gem, had since been elevated to Divine grade, and Han Wu looked forward to seeing which effect would be improved next.
His other Divine Weapons had also been upgraded. The Explosive Locust Blade was at rank 89 in the Divine grade. It wouldnât be long until it became a God-grade Divine Weapon.
The Locust Soul Orb had also reached Divine grade after absorbing the souls of the fallen mutated beasts and had gained a new effect called Soul Amelioration. This allowed it to upgrade its souls using spiritual energy.
Ah Da and Ah Er had been strengthened, and even the Armament Spirit of the Locust Soul Orb had been upgraded to the Divine-grade Calamitous Ghost Tiger.
As for Locust-V, it was the one Divine Weapon Han Wu didnât need to concern himself with. The God-grade Armament Spirit within it was completely self-sufficient, and Han Wu let it roam around the mountains to hunt its own prey.
Locust-V had since become Han Wuâs second God-grade Divine Weapon purely through its own efforts. For its effect, he opted for absolute firepower and chose Adaptable Barrel, which allowed Locust-V to change the shape of its barrels and thus the power of its bullets as needed. Locust-V was now capable of releasing shots on par with Qin Shuangâs Railgun.
Finally, his Gluttonswarm Ring was a Divine-grade Divine Weapon at rank 64. As long as he provided it with a steady stream of food, it was only a matter of time before it reached the God grade.
In addition to all of this, he had also unlocked his sixth Divine Weapon.