Marching through the major city of Shanxi, a group of four clad in dark robes stopped in front of the large building replacing the center of the city.
Mrmrmrrm…
Faint mumblings entered the four's ears as they made their way into the large bar-like business. It wasn't full to the brim, but it was fairly crowded with numerous Martial Artists holding all kinds of weapons, discussing their past and future ventures.
"Here, proof for the south Ogre Horde's extermination."
Leo let go of his bag on the counter, taking off his hood as he turned to look at Yeon and the other two as they similarly put down their loot.
At this point, almost three years had passed since the unfortunate Mount Hua Sword Conference. While the Heavenly Strength Society steadily progressed, the Murim Alliance that almost drowned in mayhem was now back to its feet, even growing stronger. Every major power's treasury heavily bled to achieve this recovery, but it appeared to be worth it.
"Ah… Right! Let me check."
The clerk awkwardly staggered as he glimpsed at the metal card that Leo put down. He quickly pulled out the long bundle of greenish-brown ears before starting to give them a count…
Although they weren't the highest force that the Heavenly Strength Society had deployed on the field, the first Demon Hunting Squad still held a high degree of renown due to their presence during the origin point. Furthermore, they were considered the earliest to actively start their monster hunting career.
"One- one hundred twenty-two. This much should be… 610 Monster Points. Would you like to withdraw them in coins or…?"
'Does this count as nostalgia?'
Hearing the clerk's shaky words, Leo's thoughts couldn't help drifting to a memory that was so far yet so close. The 'adventurer guild' vibe was something that he could only feel back at the Gigant Sword Association, but a blast from the past came in the form of the new association.
'Not exactly, I guess.'
Since they had lingered for long enough in front of the counter, quite a few eyes had turned to look at them. Unlike his experience in the Sword Continent when he only received some attention due to popularity, a lot of scorn and disregard had been itched into his back in a matter of seconds…
Once the Monster Hunter Association had been established, everyone believed that the Heavenly Strength Society would refrain from joining in as a whole other faction. However, starting with Leo's first Demon Hunting Squad, quite a few teams from there had just walked in and registered just like that.
The major sentiment was that it was simply unfair for their faction's resources to be shared with outsiders, but the Alliance Head who supervised the Association denied the pleas to blacklist them. Those past enemies of the world were the first ones that stood up to protect it! Let alone shamelessly pushing them away from the big pie, Zhuge Gun's announcement didn't distinguish by faction… His words were clearly directed at all Martial Artists!
'There is no way we aren't going to make use of this.'
Other than pridefully refusing the registration bonus, Leo had no problems taking the Association's resources in proportion to the effort they were spending. Even when Yeon took the lead instead of Baekho, she still made the same choice. The otherworldly invasion was a world crisis, but it was also the perfect opportunity to grow at the quickest pace!
"Then, I will be taking a Flood Dragon Pill, as for… Make it four pills."
Leo only contemplated for a moment before making a decision after seeing the rest of his team nod in affirmation. The Flood Dragon Pill was the Noble Sword House's variation of the Scarlet Cloud Pill, albeit containing a bit more energy overall.
"Let me go get it from storage."
'It's almost a one-sided deal.'
Looking at the clerk who left in a hurry to bring back what they exchanged, Leo's eyes swept through the grand building. In contrast to other generic plots of monster invasions, this Monster Hunter Association was the most charitable one so far.
Monsters, dimensional creatures, otherworldly beasts… No matter what name was used to call the fantasy invaders crash landing into reality, there was always a certain element of win that came in the form of Mana Stones or Beast Cores. However, the situation was completely different in Murim's invasion!
Let alone the fact that they lacked the technology to process something like this with the current world's level of science, the monsters left no such 'drops' to begin with! Other than some exceptions like wyverns or harpies whose bodies yielded some material useful in making protective clothing and weapons, the remainder of monsters like orcs and goblins yielded nothing of value…
Pungent tough leather that was almost impossible to process and meat with a very high level of toxicity! Even the very basic resources that could be obtained from hunting 'game' in the woods weren't viable. Compared to the True Beasts whose meat and Internal Cores were no worse than Elixirs, the invading monsters were truly nothing but pests!
Rather than paying to receive new energy resources, the Murim's Monster Hunter Association was exhausting its large reserve just to deplete the number of their enemies. For such an organization to come to being was only logical, but it being this selfless was only possible thanks to the current Alliance Head's conscience.
"Here you go, 500 Monster Points will be deducted from the total balance of the 'First Demon Hunters'."
"Sure."
'Let's get out of here.'
Receiving the blue pill bottle from the clerk's hand, Leo nodded, ready to leave the gathering full of malice. Regardless of how patient someone was, it was hard to ignore being glared at every single time.
"Huh? What do you mean there is only one Flood Dragon Pill left?"
However, as if to go against Leo's will, a loud voice suddenly entered his ear as if it was intentionally directed at him. Peace was hard to obtain, but… conflict was the easiest to start.
'The Murim League.'
Leo could already feel an unpleasant taste on the tip of his tongue…
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