Chapter 365: Chapter 332: Spiritual Weapon

Ordinary Magic methods could never escape their detection.

"Proper merchant caravans stick to the main checkpoint roads. One look at these guys, and you can tell they aren’t legit," Una said, a hint of eagerness creeping into her tone.

A few squad members stepped up behind her. "A Slave Hunting Team?" one guessed.

"Doesn’t look like it," another member replied with a shake of his head. "What Slave Hunting Team would dare come near our territory these days? They’d just be asking for a death wish."

"I don’t think so either. Look at the direction they came from. They clearly emerged from the Green Highlands and are heading out of the hills. It looks more like they’re trying to leave the border."

"Smugglers?" someone muttered.

Una stood up from the rock and smashed her fists together, producing a dull THUD. She grinned. "Who cares if they’re a Slave Hunting Team or smugglers? Since they showed up on our turf, we can’t just let them be. We’ll capture them and squeeze the truth out of them."

Without waiting for a response, she turned and strode over to the Radiant Feathered Falcon, vaulting smoothly onto the bird’s back. Startled, the bird flapped its wings a couple of times before steadying itself. It let out a low screech and spread its wings, sending loose gravel rolling out from under its talons.

"I’ll head over first. You guys catch up!"

Before her words even faded, the Radiant Feathered Falcon launched into the air. The resulting gale sent dead leaves scattering wildly. Una’s silhouette quickly shrank against the morning light as she darted toward the thicket on the eastern side of the hills.

Morrek and the other squad members exchanged a glance. Wasting no more time, they grabbed their weapons and charged down the slope. They ran fast, but the Radiant Feathered Falcon was faster.

By the time the team reached the base of the rocky cliff, they saw over a dozen people already sprawled across the clearing in a messy heap, their weapons scattered everywhere. Una crouched beside one of the unconscious men, poking his leather shoulder armor with a finger. She looked thoroughly bored.

"Not a single one of them can put up a fight. There isn’t even a Black Iron Peak among them."

Morrek shook his head in wry amusement. Why would a Black Iron Peak ever stoop to smuggling? With that level of strength, they could easily stroll into any town and land a cushy job as a military officer. There was absolutely no need to get involved in such shady business.

Scanning the area, Morrek walked over to the man who seemed to be the leader, squatted down, and tore open a hidden pocket near the man’s collar. Several Magic Scrolls spilled out, which he casually tossed onto the ground. He then patted down the inside of the man’s belt and quickly fished out a palm-sized, gray Dimensional Bag.

He opened the bag, inspected the contents, and looked up at Una. "These guys really are smugglers. There are quite a few Spirit Fire Talismans in this Dimensional Bag."

"Spirit Fire Talismans?" Una raised an eyebrow.

The other squad members exchanged looks, their expressions growing solemn. Although the Silver Moon Race did sell Spirit Fire Talismans externally, they strictly limited their sales to established partners with long-term agreements, like their veteran allies at Gray Rock Castle. They never engaged in retail. Furthermore, the quotas those allied factions received were so small that they barely had enough for their own use, let alone to leak onto the black market.

There was no telling where this group had acquired such a large batch of Spirit Fire Talismans.

"Tie them up and escort them back for now," Una ordered after a brief moment of thought, waving a hand. "I’ll contact the Taichu Spirit Realm right away."

The squad members immediately sprang into action. They tightly bound the smugglers one by one and marched them up the slope toward the hilltop camp.

Just as they returned to camp, a Cloud-Surging Flying Ship descended from the horizon, landing steadily in the clearing outside their base. The ship carried a fresh squad assigned to relieve Una’s team of their garrison duties. After a brief handover between the two teams, Una and her subordinates shoved the smugglers onto the flying ship. The Cloud-Surging Flying Ship soon took to the skies again, carrying the group toward the Taichu Spirit Realm.

By the time they arrived back at Taichu City, evening was already setting in.

Una disembarked, handed the captives and the Dimensional Bag over to the waiting Elf Guards, and bid her teammates farewell. She then cut straight through the Outer City to her own courtyard situated on the edge of the Inner City.

The moment she pushed open the courtyard gates, her footsteps faltered slightly. Beside the stone table in the yard, Romance was half-reclining in a woven rattan chair with her legs crossed. She held a piece of fruit, taking absentminded bites out of it. Seeing Una enter, Romance lifted her chin, a smile gracing her lips.

"You’re back."

"Master! You’ve finished your secluded cultivation?" Una hurried forward in pleasant surprise and sat down across the stone table.

Romance looked her up and down, then nodded in satisfaction. "Your aura is much steadier than the last time we met. It seems you haven’t been slacking off lately."

"Of course not," Una chuckled. "I don’t want to embarrass my Master."

As she spoke, she poured herself a cup of tea and gulped it down. In a few short sentences, she summarized her encounter with the smugglers at the border.

"Smuggling Spirit Fire Talismans..." Romance nodded thoughtfully. "You did the right thing. This definitely needs to be thoroughly investigated." Her tone shifted. "I’m going on a long trip soon. You make sure to focus on your cultivation while I’m away."

"Where are you going, Master?" Una asked.

"We received word from the Iron Hill Kingdom about the discovery of a powerful creature. I’m going over to check it out."

A look of realization dawned on Una’s face. The Clan had been searching for traces of formidable creatures for years. Word had it that this was a direct order from the Clan Leader. The Clan’s Legendary Powerhouses had been mobilized quite frequently for this exact purpose.

Romance stood up and stretched lazily. "I’m heading out tonight. You behave yourself in the city. Don’t go stirring up trouble while I’m not around."

"I know," Una agreed verbally, but she couldn’t help grumbling internally. She figured her Master was far better at stirring up trouble than she could ever be.

The next morning, shortly after the sky had fully brightened, Una finished her cultivation and stepped out of the Quiet Chamber. She planned to visit the Meeting Hall to see if there were any suitable missions involving the Dark Nether Realm.

But before she even reached the courtyard gates, the Sound Transmission Talisman at her waist buzzed. Una pulled it out and injected a sliver of Spiritual Qi into it. The talisman paper unfurled on its own, and Morrek’s voice immediately rang out, brimming with uncontainable excitement.

"Captain, did you hear? They found a Spiritual Weapon containing a Spirit Soul on those smugglers we caught yesterday!"

Una stopped dead in her tracks, surprise flashing through her eyes.

A Spirit Soul? She certainly knew what a Spirit Soul was. It was said to be the core material for forging powerful magical artifacts. Over the years, the Clan had dispatched countless people to scour the continent for them. Even Legendary Powerhouses occasionally took to the field personally, yet they had only ever managed to recover a handful. The material was simply far too rare.

To think they actually found one on a ragtag group of smugglers!

"Are you sure about this intel?" Una asked.

"Positive. The Document Hall has already verified it. They issued a mission first thing this morning to investigate the origin of that weapon, and the reward is incredibly high." Morrek’s voice dripped with eager anticipation. "Captain, are we gonna take it?"

"Of course we are," Una replied without a second of hesitation. "I’ll head to the Meeting Hall right now to accept the mission. We’ll rendezvous at the C4 Residence Area later. Notify the others."

"Got it."

After ending the communication, Una immediately hurried to the Meeting Hall. Upon arriving, she found the grand hall utterly packed with people, bustling with unprecedented chaotic energy.

Una couldn’t help but feel surprised at the sight. Although the Meeting Hall was usually busy, it was incredibly rare to see it this uproarious. It wasn’t until she approached the counter and read the detailed mission briefing that realization finally struck her.

The reason was simple—the mission rewards were absurdly generous. Merely investigating and uncovering the source of the Spiritual Weapon would net a massive sum of Contribution Points. If one could actually bring back more Spiritual Weapons, they would receive varying amounts of lavish Contribution Points depending on the quantity and size of the Spirit Souls.

The numbers were staggering enough to make even the most elite disciples of Taichu City turn green with envy. So everyone was lured in by the bounty, Una noted to herself.

It seemed the Clan truly placed immense importance on Spiritual Weapons. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have offered such an unprecedented and astronomical reward. Una promptly accepted the mission. After collecting the relevant mission documents, she immediately departed from Taichu City and headed straight for the rendezvous point.

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