Li Xuantong's participation brought Liu Bai's squad to three members. The next person he intended to invite was Shen Cangsheng.
"Is Liu brother planning to directly pull together the top five freshmen into one squad?" Li Xuantong teased with a laugh after learning Liu Bai's intention.
"Of course not." Liu Bai shook his head with a smile. "At the very least, I have no intention of inviting He Yao."
"Then who does Liu brother plan to recruit as the fifth member?"
Thinking of He Yao, Li Xuantong secretly shook his head.
That one's temperament was far too sinister. Outwardly he appeared courteous and respectful, but in his heart he harbored jealousy toward the three stronger than himself. He hid it well so outsiders rarely noticed, but the envy was there nonetheless.
"In my opinion, the three of us are already enough. But since the mission requires five members in a squad, we will simply add two more to make up the number. As long as they are strong enough to protect themselves, that is sufficient." Liu Bai said casually.
"Oh? Then this make-up number would not be me or brother Shen, would it…"
Liu Bai was left speechless as he looked at Li Xuantong's teasing smile. This fellow was far too mischievous.
Of course he knew who Liu Bai meant, but such words could not be spoken directly. If Su Xuan were to hear them, she might very well quit the squad on the spot.
"Ahem, well, besides the top five from the freshman tournament, there are still a few other capable people. For example, Xu Huang, I think he is quite good. By now he should already have reached the mid-phase Of Heaven Fusion Realm, right?" Liu Bai quickly diverted the topic.
Among the original top five of the Heavenly Ranking freshmen, once He Yao was excluded, the only other worth mentioning was Xu Huang. Back during the Northern Spirit Mountain event, Xu Huang had also performed impressively, even killing a Heaven Beast on his own. His strength was solid.
"Xu Huang, president of the Great Wilderness Society, not a bad choice…" Li Xuantong pondered before nodding in agreement.
Having made his decision, Liu Bai left the Xuan Gang and proceeded to the Judgement Hall.
This time, however, luck was not on his side. Shen Cangsheng was still in seclusion within the Spirit Gathering Array, said to be attempting a breakthrough to the late-phase of Heaven Fusion Realm.
Judging from this, Shen Cangsheng was slightly behind Li Xuantong, who had already completed his breakthrough five days earlier. But this did not mean there was any real difference in their actual combat strength.
At this stage, excluding the monstrous Liu Bai, there was little distinction in power between Li Xuantong, Shen Cangsheng, He Yao, and Su Xuan. Their true differences would not show until at least a year later.
Not meeting Shen Cangsheng forced Liu Bai to consider finding someone else. But if he were to recruit another freshman, none could truly take Shen Cangsheng's place, which might cause unnecessary danger during the mission.
After all, this was an extermination mission, not child's play. Liu Bai could not protect everyone if the situation turned dire.
Just as Liu Bai was considering pulling someone from the Heavenly Ranking, news arrived that Shen Cangsheng would emerge from seclusion the next day. Upon hearing from his subordinates that Liu Bai had sought him out, Shen Cangsheng came directly to him.
"A Heaven-level mission? I will join." Shen Cangsheng's words were few, but his agreement was straightforward.
From his eyes, Liu Bai could clearly see that he too was a battle maniac. Hearing that he could fight powerful opponents, his gaze had immediately brightened.
"Excellent. Then our temporary squad is formed. In two days we will gather at the Mission Hall, meet with the other squad, and then set out for the mission."
The two days of preparation passed quickly.
At dawn, Liu Bai was already fully prepared and waiting for his teammates.
Before long, Su Xuan, Shen Cangsheng, and Li Xuantong arrived. Xu Huang was a lean young man in gray clothing, his face not handsome, his eye sockets slightly sunken, yet his gaze was sharp like that of an eagle.
Liu Bai nodded to the group. "Since everyone is here, let us depart."
The five soon transformed into streams of light and arrived at the Mission Hall, where they saw the elder already waiting, along with five other figures at his side.
"One Mid-Phase Heavenly Transformation Realm, two Early-phase Heavenly Transformation Realm, and two at quasi Heavenly Transformation Realm…"
Liu Bai's companions all trembled inwardly. It was clear their squad's overall strength was significantly weaker.
When Liu Bai's group landed, the other squad looked at them in astonishment, several of them showing disbelief.
"Elder, you must be joking. This is the second squad for this mission?" One early- phase Heavenly Transformation Realm youth shouted directly.
"A bunch at Heaven Fusion Realm, and they look like freshmen too. Sending them on this mission is just sending them to die."
Though the others did not speak, their expressions revealed they shared the same opinion.
As for Chu Lin, the leader ranked fifth on the Heavenly Ranking, he too frowned.
The Mission Hall elder had not expected that all of Liu Bai's teammates would be freshmen. Though he knew from Elder Chi Huo about Liu Bai's true strength, the others were clearly not at the level for such a mission.
But before the elder could speak, Liu Bai stepped forward with a calm smile.
"Please rest assured, seniors. Since we dared to accept this mission, we naturally have confidence. After all, no one would truly sign up for a mission only to throw their lives away, would they?"
His final words were directed at the outspoken youth. When the latter met Liu Bai's sharp gaze, he was momentarily speechless.
Chu Lin witnessed this scene, his eyes flashing as he looked at Liu Bai's still youthful face.
"Could this junior be the freshman ranked first this year, the one who trampled many seniors underfoot and broke into the top twenty of the Heavenly Ranking?"
"Liu Bai? He is Liu Bai?"
"The one who defeated Liu Xuan and seized the thirteenth spot on the Heavenly Ranking?"
Before Liu Bai could respond, several of the seniors had already cried out in astonishment at Chu Lin's words.
They had no choice. After all, among Chu Lin's squad, aside from himself, the others were ranked outside the top fifteen of the Heavenly Ranking. In other words, their positions were not even higher than Liu Bai's.
They knew very well that if this was truly the Liu Bai who had defeated Liu Xuan, then he indeed had both the qualifications and strength to join this mission.
"Senior Chu is overpraising me, but I am indeed Liu Bai." Fame had its benefits. At least it saved him the effort of further explanations.
"Since Liu Bai junior is part of this mission, of course I fully support it. But you should also know of the danger. Among our targets is a late-Phase Heavenly Transformation expert. Even I may not be his match, so I hope you will not act recklessly and cause unnecessary casualties."
Chu Lin's words were polite, but in truth they boiled down to four words.
Weakling, stay away.
Originally, Chu Lin had thought that the second squad might be led by one of the top three on the Heavenly Ranking, which would give them someone on the same level as himself.
Or perhaps it would be someone from the Discipline Hall, at the very least a squad made up of those ranked within the top twenty of the Heavenly Ranking.
But to his surprise, not only was it not one of those three, there was no member of the Discipline Hall either.
Yes, there was someone in the top twenty, but only one, and that one was a freshman. What was worse, this freshman had brought four other freshmen along. This was simply a joke.
Yet Liu Bai thought differently.
If it came purely to strength, both Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong, now that they had broken through to the late-Phase Of Heaven Fusion Realm, possessed battle power no weaker than the two quasi Heavenly Transformation Realm members of the opposing squad.
Su Xuan and Xu Huang were indeed weaker, but Liu Bai had never planned for them to directly clash on the battlefield.
To put it bluntly, these four were recruited as his support. Their main role was to buy him some time whenever he made his move.
Liu Bai clearly understood Chu Lin's meaning, but only smiled faintly without further words.
Regardless, this mission was his to take. Whoever came made no difference. If they were unwilling, they could withdraw themselves.
Naturally, Liu Bai dared to be this arrogant because he knew the Mission Hall elder beside them would not refuse his squad.
From the moment this elder had taken the initiative to suggest the mission, Liu Bai knew that he must have already heard of his feat of forcing back Fan Tong. With him participating, their chances of success would surely increase.
Besides, this mission was not being carried out by only these ten. There was also a Discipline Hall squad secretly following. If anything went wrong, they could easily resolve it.
This open and hidden arrangement was simply a method of fishing for their true target.
Seeing the dissatisfaction on Chu Lin's face, the Mission Hall elder decided to reveal some explosive information to ease their worries.
"You all should know the cause of this mission. The Fan Family of Mu City struck and destroyed the Xie Family. The one who investigated the culprits was Liu Bai."
"And not only that, during that mission Liu Bai killed a Fan Family elder at the Early-phase Heavenly Transformation Realm as well as their Young City Lord. Afterwards he even fought with Mu City's City Lord, Fan Tong, and forced him to retreat."
The moment his words fell, everyone present was stunned as though they had just heard a myth.
"Wasn't he only at the Mid-Phase Of Heaven Fusion Realm, Defeating Liu Xuan of the Heavenly Transformation Realm was already inconceivable, yet he killed one at the Heavenly Transformation Realm and even forced back a late-Phase Heavenly Transformation expert… it feels like I am dreaming." The outspoken youth muttered blankly.
Even Li Xuantong and the others felt the same. Looking at the youth before them with that faint smile, everything felt surreal.
Of course, Liu Bai did not step forward to boast himself. Such things were better said by others. Otherwise, it would lose its flair.
"When I interrogated the Young City Lord of Mu City, Fan Jiu, I also learned of the Fan Family's strength. Aside from Fan Tong at the late-Phase Heavenly Transformation Realm, the family still has two at the Mid-Phase Heavenly Transformation Realm and five at the Early-phase Heavenly Transformation Realm, and more than ten at the Heaven Fusion Realm."
This information made Chu Lin and the others' expressions immediately change.
That strength far surpassed their two squads.
"However, when they attacked the Xie Family, they were not without losses. In fact, their losses were not small. One of the Mid-Phase Heavenly Transformation Realm expert was heavily injured and cannot even exert Early-phase Heavenly Transformation Realm strength, with no hope of recovery soon. Two Early-phase Heavenly Transformation Realm experts perished, and I killed another. They also lost four at the Heaven Fusion Realm. Altogether their high-end combat force has been reduced by a third."
At this, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"If that is the case, then as long as Liu Bai junior can hold off Fan Tong, I can take down the remaining Mid-Phase Heavenly Transformation Realm experts. The rest can be handled by the other eight." Chu Lin said in a deep voice.
Liu Bai smiled faintly and gave them another reassurance.
"There is no need to trouble yourselves so much. Perhaps you do not know, but I have some attainments in formations. I recently exchanged for a fifth-rank spirit array, which I can now barely use. If we can find the right opportunity and prepare in advance, it may not be impossible to bring down the Fan Family."
"Array? Fifth-grade? Are you certain?"
This time even Chu Lin could not believe it and fired three questions in succession.
"Madness, this is madness. Either I have gone mad or this world has gone mad. He says he can set up a fifth-rank spirit array. How is that possible…" The youth groaned again, clutching his head and knocking it against the ground.
"You little fellow are truly… astonishing." Even the Mission Hall elder was left in disbelief.
A fifth-rank spirit array was comparable in power to the Three Disaster Realm. Did this not mean that Liu Bai already possessed Three Disaster Realm-level battle strength?
Then among the millions of students at the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, none could compare to a freshman?
But Liu Bai did not exaggerate. He shook his head lightly. "Do not overestimate me. I have only barely grasped this array and it must be set up in advance. Otherwise there will be no time. If it is to be effective, we must think of a flawless way to lure them into it."
Everyone fell silent. That was indeed a problem.
At present, because his path in formation could not yet advance further, Liu Bai was stuck at the High-Tier Heart Array State. If he could touch upon the Heart Eye state, setting up a fifth-rank spirit array would be much easier and faster, making it more practical.
"The details can be discussed once we enter Mu City. We will need to gather more intelligence before we can craft a more thorough plan." Chu Lin finally said after a long silence, his expression solemn.
This was the extermination of an entire clan. It was not something that could be decided with a few words. Unexpected accidents might occur at any time, so everything had to be fully prepared before they made their move.
.....
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