The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Huanglong Prefecture, the Demon Slayer Guard.

"Younger Brother Bai, what mission are you taking on today?"

Li Kang chuckled when he saw Bai Yuan appear at the Demon Slayer Guard headquarters.

Over the past few months, Bai Yuan had helped him deal with quite a few troublesome demons. His impression of the young man from the Divine Mansion Sect was excellent.

Bai Yuan smiled faintly. "Brother Li, I came to ask you about something."

"Whatever it is, just say the word."

Li Kang patted his chest, boasting that in Huanglong Prefecture, his—Old Li’s—word still carried some weight.

Of course, he also harbored the thought of befriending Bai Yuan.

This young man before him had become a disciple of the Divine Mansion Sect at such a young age, possessed an excellent temperament and martial skill, and handled matters with seasoned experience. He was well worth getting to know.

On several occasions, if Bai Yuan hadn’t stepped in, he would have been severely injured by demons.

Bai Yuan said, "Brother Li, I was wondering if the Demon Slayer Guard has any Tier Six Monster Flesh?"

"Tier Six Monster Flesh?!"

Li Kang’s eyes flew wide with astonishment upon hearing this.

To conveniently classify the danger level of demons, the Demon Slayer Guard had established a system that corresponded to the realms of human Martial Artists: Skin Tempering corresponded to Tier One Demons, Bone Forging to Tier Two Demons, and so on...

This Tier Six Monster Flesh corresponded to a Junior Grandmaster who had mastered their inner power, and its flesh and blood were incredibly precious.

It wasn’t something you could necessarily buy, even if you had the money.

That was right. The main ingredient he needed was precisely Tier Six Demon Beast Flesh.

The Divine Mansion Sect certainly had Tier Six Monster Flesh, but it was only available to True Disciples. Even Inner Sect Disciples were not qualified to purchase it.

Tier Six Monster Flesh was an extremely important strategic resource in any sect. How could it be sold so easily to ordinary disciples?

Even the Demon-slaying Bureau rarely had monster flesh of such a high tier.

Besides, even if they had any, it would all end up in the pockets of a Thousand Households commander. Where would that leave a lowly Ten Households captain like him?

Li Kang pondered for a moment. "Kid, if you were asking for something else, I might not have any connections. But for this Tier Six Demon, I might actually have a way."

Bai Yuan was overjoyed.

He had only come to try his luck and hadn’t expected Li Kang to actually have a connection.

"What is it?"

he asked hastily.

Li Kang said, "I know an old hunter. He has a lot of good stuff, so it’s not impossible that he might have some Tier Six Monster Flesh."

"An old hunter?!"

Bai Yuan was a little surprised.

He had figured that after knocking around the Demon Slayer Guard for over a decade, Li Kang might have some unorthodox connections, but he never thought they would be *this* unorthodox...

’What kind of hunter could kill a Tier Six Demon?’

’That’s just too absurd.’

Li Kang didn’t waste any more words. After giving Feng Ping a few instructions, he left the city.

At the rank of a Ten Households captain, one no longer needed to report for daily roll call. The duties of the Demon Slayer Guard were unique and often required them to be out and about, so the rules weren’t very strict.

Skipping out on work to take care of personal matters was an exceedingly common occurrence.

The number of people slacking off on the job in the Huanglong Prefecture Magistrate’s Office was countless.

However, the current Prefect couldn’t care less about managing his subordinates. He often went into seclusion for three to five months at a time, making him completely impossible to find, let alone able to discipline his people.

In Xuan Yang, whether you were a Civil Servant or a Military Officer, combat strength was what earned respect.

If you wanted a promotion, besides sucking up to your superiors, your own strength had to be solid. Otherwise, you would only be met with ridicule, and not even disciples of the Imperial Race were an exception.

Li Kang didn’t take Bai Yuan with him.

He said the old hunter didn’t like visitors.

Since he was the one asking for a favor, Bai Yuan thought it over and decided to wait obediently at the Demon Slayer Guard headquarters.

If the old hunter found out and got spooked, all hope for the Tier Six Monster Flesh would be lost. If he missed this chance, it wouldn’t be so easy to find someone else with Tier Six Demon Beast Flesh.

About an hour later, Li Kang came rushing excitedly through the gates of the Demon Slayer Guard headquarters.

"Younger Brother Bai, you owe your big brother a drink for this."

"Does the old hunter really have Tier Six Monster Flesh?"

Li Kang nodded smugly, but then his expression turned strange. "However, his condition is a bit... demanding..."

"What is it?"

"He wants to meet you."

"..."

Bai Yuan raised an eyebrow. His predecessor’s features were ordinary and unremarkable. While not ugly, they definitely weren’t handsome.

’Could it be that the old hunter has a... preference for men?’

’And he only likes them young?!’

HISS...

’This situation doesn’t look good.’

Li Kang scratched his head awkwardly. "That old hunter has a strange temperament. I don’t know why he’s like this, but I can guarantee he won’t hurt you."

Bai Yuan considered this for a moment.

"Alright."

He was determined to see just what kind of character this old pervert—no, this old hunter—really was.

...

Li Kang led Bai Yuan out of the city.

After walking along the Official Road for a short while, the two of them ducked onto a small forest path.

The path had likely been trodden by nearby mountain folk. Many thorns around it had yet to be cleared, and an ordinary person would surely have a difficult time walking here.

However, both Bai Yuan and Li Kang were experts at navigating mountain trails. They walked along the path for about a quarter of an hour.

A simple little wooden cabin appeared before their eyes.

He was all too familiar with cabins like this. It was precisely the kind of temporary shelter that hunters built for convenience, a common sight on the mountains near Baisha Town.

With a base like this, a hunter could stay and watch in the mountains for months at a time.

They just had to set enough traps and check them daily. If they stayed long enough, they were guaranteed to have a harvest, and usually a bountiful one at that.

Many old, experienced hunters in Baisha Town whose stamina had declined did this; it wasn’t a rare sight.

"We’re here."

Li Kang said, pointing to the small cabin ahead.

He was very familiar with the place and, without even thinking to knock, walked right up and pushed open the cabin’s rickety wooden door.

"Old Zhou, I brought the person for you."

Li Kang said with a grin.

Bai Yuan ducked his head and walked into the cabin.

Dimness.

The smell of rotting wood hung in the air. Sunlight streamed through a narrow window, forming a golden beam in which tiny dust motes danced.

An old man with disheveled, gray-white hair, dressed like a hunter in a sheepskin coat, was intently sharpening a hunting knife.

When Bai Yuan saw the old man, his eyes narrowed.

’Just as I thought!’

The old man before him was the hidden boss from the mini-game in his past life—the Demon Hunter, Zhou Siming!

He had already been suspicious of the Demon Hunter techniques that Li Kang employed.

In the mini-game from his past life, only one Demon Hunter had ever appeared in the Divine Mansion Sect’s dungeon instance: the old man before him, Zhou Siming.

A... degenerate among Demon Hunters.

Bai Yuan and this old man were old friends who had never met, for in the mini-game, he had farmed Zhou Siming a full hundred times.

He couldn’t help it. The loot the old man dropped was just too tempting.

"Senior."

Bai Yuan bowed respectfully.

Although he had taken this old man down countless times in his past life, his current self was absolutely no match for Old Zhou.

When facing someone you can’t beat, it’s natural to have a better attitude.

Zhou Siming’s knife-sharpening movements paused, and he slowly raised his head to look at Bai Yuan.

His eyes were a terrifying, milky white, with no visible pupils, giving them a soul-stealing quality.

That’s right, Zhou Siming was blind.

This was also why Li Kang had said Zhou Siming was harmless.

But only Bai Yuan knew that although the old fellow’s eyes were blind, his methods had only grown more ruthless.

Zhou Siming slowly began to speak.

"You are Dong Wanjun’s disciple?"