The missions of the Hunter Guild were divided into six ranks, increasing in difficulty:
Simple, Normal, Difficult, Purgatory, Nightmare, and Legendary—each corresponding to one of the six hunter ranks.
Only hunters of the appropriate rank were eligible to take on missions of the same level.
In the entire alliance, there were only five Legendary-ranked missions, and the "easiest" among them was this:
Retrieve the [Rebirth Flower] from the lair of a Realm 6 Star Beast – Crimson-Eyed Sun Python.
The other four required direct confrontation with Realm 6 Star Beasts, although clever tactics could sometimes avoid actual combat.
Still, no one had ever succeeded.
These five missions all involved Realm 6 Star Beasts, and had remained on the alliance board since its founding—untouched and unsuccessful to this day.
Currently, Gu Zhen was merely a Bronze-rank Hunter, the lowest rank, and could only take on Simple-level missions.
He skimmed through the available tasks for someone at his level. Most of them were small-fry hunts: take down Realm 1 Star Beasts, nothing challenging.
These were far beneath his goals.
Gu Zhen had registered as a hunter not for the rewards, but to gather intel—scouting for suitable targets. He would only accept a mission if it aligned with his purpose.
Soon, one particular Normal-level team mission caught his eye:
[Collect Iron Wolf Fangs]
Team missions required multiple hunters to cooperate. However, not everyone on the team had to meet the rank requirement—as long as some did, the mission could proceed.
Gu Zhen reviewed the details carefully.
The task involved heading outside the city to hunt down a pack of Iron-fang Wolves. The team needed to collect 100 Iron Wolf Fangs.
The mission had been picked up by three Silver-rank Hunters, clearly a long-standing team. They now needed ten additional support members, and Bronze Hunters would suffice.
As for the reward: the three leaders would take 60%, while the remaining 40% would be split among the support members.
Any loot gained during the hunt—aside from the Star Beast cores—would be divided equally among the group.
Gu Zhen saw that four spots remained and promptly accepted.
He didn't care for the mission rewards or the chain of command. He certainly didn't plan to follow their every order.
When it came to dividing the spoils…well, that wouldn't be up to them.
Just after he accepted, his phone rang.
"You are...Gu Yi, right?" came a rugged, commanding voice.
"Yeah," Gu Zhen replied plainly
"Be ready by tomorrow. Meet at the East Gate at eight sharp and don't be late"
"Got it"
The call ended without further pleasantries.
Gu Zhen didn't mind.
He quietly started packing supplies for a trip outside the city.
Unlike the safety of the city, the outside world was overrun by Star Beasts.
It was extremely dangerous.
Anyone below Realm 3 Starpower who ventured out unprepared was basically courting death.
That night, Gu Zhen returned to the dorm carrying a large hiking backpack.
Without a spatial storage artifact, this old-fashioned, bulky method was all he had.
Inside were essentials: water, food, a basic healing potion, and an alloy blade.
The healing potion was the most expensive—100,000 star coins—but could save a life in an emergency.
The alloy blade had cost him just 50,000 coins, yet it could cut through most Realm 1 Star Beast defenses with ease.
But it would be useless against Realm 2 beasts.
Food and water were cheap—barely 10,000 coins in total.
Having prepared everything, Gu Zhen rested early and submitted a one-week leave request to Xie Yanwen.
Getting leave wasn't hard.
The academy didn't micromanage.
Even if a student skipped the entire semester, as long as their cultivation progressed, no one would say a word.
The next morning, Gu Zhen rose early and headed to Sunmoon City East Gate.
Was he worried the Gu Family might come after him?
Not at all
He'd gone out on his own many times already. He'd even observed Gu Feng and the others reactions.
They didn't seem concerned.
Even if they did want to cause trouble, what could they do? Was he supposed to hide forever?
Not long after arriving, Gu Zhen saw a group of three Realm 2 star warriors—two men and one woman—carrying gear, waiting near the gate.
He dialed the number from the day before and confirmed their identities.
After that, he walked up and joined them.
"You're Gu Yi?" the burly man leading the group looked down at the young boy skeptically.
"Yeah"
Seeing the mistrust in the man eyes, Gu Zhen took out his Hunter license and handed it over.
The tall, skinny man beside him took it, gave it a quick check, and nodded to his companion.
"Ahem, The payout has already been explained," the big man said bluntly. "We three get 60%. You support hunters each get 40%."
"Oh, and all Ironfang Wolf cores belong to us."
"Understood."
Gu Zhen nodded without complaint. He then briefly introduced himself.
"My superpower is F-rank Resistance. I only use two physical-type star skills—one for short-range movement, the other for direct attack."
"I'm Huang Wuguang," the burly man replied. "My superpower is E-rank Earth Armor. This here is Liu Kong—E-rank Wind Step. And she is Zhang Yirong—E-rank Flame Shot"
"Nice to meet you," Zhang Yirong smiled and greeted politely.
Gu Zhen nodded back, flashing a fake smile.
In truth, he was already calculating how to kill all three and take every last Star Beast core.
He didn't care if the mission failed.
He never intended to claim any payout.
His goal was crystal clear from the start: the Star Beast cores.
If he struck from behind, his chances of success weren't low.
Recently, he had chosen another skill from the star skill library—a C-rank attack skill called:
[Force Condensation Finger]
The skill was simple: concentrate all one strength into a single point to pierce an enemy defense.
It sounded powerful—but the downside was brutal.
The user fingers were often injured during the strike.
Typically, even if the opponents defense was shattered, the attacker own fingers broke too.
Gu Zhen hadn't yet merged Iron Fist and Qi-Palm, but he had successfully fused Force Condensation Finger with Qi Palm.
The result?
He could first drive force into the enemy body using Qi Palm, and then condense that star power into a single lethal point using Force Condensation Finger—without injuring his own hand.
With this hidden trump card, Gu Zhen had a 50% chance of killing at least one of the trio in a frontal fight.
But he wouldn't fight fair.
Now that he was their trusted teammate, he would bide his time and strike from the shadows.
Before long, several more Bronze-rank Hunters arrived.
They were all clearly older than Gu Zhen.
Each of them had F-rank superpower, cultivated to the Realm 1 peak, and with nowhere else to go, had chosen the life of a freelance hunter, scraping by on low-level missions.