Divine Seal: Fire Kirin Fly Template, shattering the Demon God Pillar!

Chapter 69 Departure! The Cave of Fear and Howl

Seeing the resolute determination in Lin Xin's eyes, Li Hao nodded in satisfaction.

Children can be taught.

With another flick of his wrist, five crystal-clear pills, radiating a rich life force, appeared in his palm.

"Each person takes one Holy Spirit Pill. After digesting it, it can directly increase one thousand points of internal spiritual power."

"hiss--"

Sima Xian had only put on half of his heavy armor when he heard this and almost strained his back.

Directly increase internal spiritual power by 1,000 points?
It seems... it requires 10,000 merit points!
Everyone was once again stunned by Li Hao's extravagant gesture, feeling that they needed to be extra resilient to follow this commander.

"Hurry up and digest the pills, and familiarize yourself with the new equipment."

Li Hao distributed the pills to everyone and said, "I'm going to accept the mission. We'll set off in three days."

After saying that, Li Hao turned around and walked straight to the six mission counters in the center of the second floor.

Watching Li Hao's retreating figure, Sima Xian couldn't help but mutter, "Why do I feel like this isn't a demon-hunting team at all!"

"It's clearly... a group of super-rich players! The leader spends his merit points faster than I can drink water!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Li Hao was already standing in front of the mission counter.

He paid a meager amount of merit points as a "handling fee" and accepted more than a dozen missions specifically tasked with hunting down demons.

Immediately afterwards, they set their sights on an exploration mission with a merit point reward of up to 20,000.

"Exploration Quest: Cavern of Fearful Howls. Quest Location: Within Demon Realm, Coordinates..."

"This is it." Li Hao smiled and accepted the package without hesitation.

……

Three days later.

The Fire Cloud Demon Hunters, now equipped with upgraded weaponry, quietly left the Holy City under Li Hao's leadership and headed towards the Demon Realm.

The Cave of Fear and Sorrow is located two thousand three hundred miles deep into the heart of the demon realm.

Along the way, everyone traveled day and night.

In just six days, the group traversed the vast territory of the Temple Alliance and arrived at the southeastern border.

However, Li Hao did not lead his team to the heavily defended southeastern fortress.

Instead, they stopped at Xingxun City, which was 300 miles from the fortress, and asked everyone to rest.

"Commander, why don't we go straight to the fortress?" Sima Xian asked, puzzled, as he wiped his Hammer of Punishment.

"Wouldn't it be safer and more direct to leave through the fortress? The place we're going to is the heart of the demon realm; it's too dangerous to force our way through."

Li Hao found a tavern, ordered some beer and food, and explained with a smile.

"Force our way in? That's not our style."

"We are a demon hunter group, not a regular army. There is no need for us to confront the demon army head-on."

"In Starseeking City, there is a channel that allows us to enter the Demon Realm openly, even brazenly."

"What channel?" Chen Ying'er asked curiously.

“Smugglers.” Li Hao took a sip of ale, a glint of shrewdness in his eyes. “Or rather, itinerant merchants.”

"They are a special group that moves between the human and demon factions, trading goods between the two sides and making a profit from the price difference."

"Even the demons allow it?" Wang Yuanyuan's cold voice rang out, clearly surprised by this.

“Of course,” Li Hao said with a smile, “because what they are reselling is exactly what both sides are happy to see.”

"For example, they would sell our surplus grain, cloth, and salt to ordinary demons who lacked daily necessities, in exchange for various rare ores and magical materials that were abundant in their land."

"High-ranking demons need these materials to craft equipment and conduct magical research, and so does our alliance."

"Therefore, as long as they don't do anything too outrageous, the higher-ups on both sides will turn a blind eye and won't deliberately make things difficult for these businessmen."

Everyone was stunned, as if they had opened the door to a new world.

They never imagined that such a gray trade route could exist amidst the irreconcilable conflict between humans and demons.

"So what's our plan?" Zhongli asked, having already understood Li Hao's intentions.

“It’s very simple.” Li Hao tapped his fingertips lightly on the table. “We will disguise ourselves as hired guards and enter the demon territory with the merchant caravan.”

"In this way, not only can countless troubles be saved, but the secrecy of their whereabouts can also be guaranteed to the greatest extent."

Sima Xian slapped his thigh, suddenly realizing, "Brilliant! Commander, how did you even get this brain?!"

After Li Hao's explanation, everyone felt reassured and settled down in Starseeking City. Upon entering the city, Li Hao arranged for them to stay at a clean hotel.

He then left alone to search for the largest wandering merchant group in the city—the Moonlit Merchant Group.

The Moonlit Merchant Guild was well-known in Starseeking City. Li Hao only needed to ask around a little on the street to find the guild's headquarters.

In a quaint tea room, Li Hao met Dian Xuan, the manager of the Moonlit Merchant Guild.

This is an elderly man who looks to be in his early sixties, with gray hair.

But he was energetic, with a pair of sharp eyes that revealed the shrewdness and competence of a businessman.

"Young man, you look completely unfamiliar!"

Dian Xuan personally poured Li Hao a cup of tea and asked with a smile, "May I ask what brings you to this old man?"

"Manager, get straight to the point." Li Hao picked up his teacup, gently blew on the steam, and remained calm and composed.

"I am the leader of a mercenary group. I have heard that your merchant group has a shipment of goods to be delivered to Moonlight City in the Demon Realm."

"I'd like to ask you to help me secure a few guard positions for my team members."

Upon hearing this, Dian Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly as he re-examined the young man before him.

Li Hao's aura was extremely restrained, making him look like an ordinary fifth-tier warrior.

But that calm and composed demeanor is something that ordinary young people can't possess.

"Oh? Young man, you're quite well-informed." Dian Xuan smiled calmly. "However, our guard team always uses acquaintances. After all, this deal is quite risky."

"The higher the risk, the greater the reward, isn't that right?" Li Hao put down his teacup and smiled. "Acquaintances are certainly reliable, but strength is the greatest guarantee for crossing the demon territory."

"My team may be able to provide your business group with some additional sense of security."

As he spoke, Li Hao placed a badge on the table.

That's an insignia awarded by the Warrior's Temple, representing a general-level demon hunter squad.

They're both old foxes, so Li Hao doesn't need to hide anything from Dian Xuan. Both sides just need to pretend to be confused.

Dian Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

General-level Demon Hunter Team!
Although he was a businessman, he understood what this meant.

Every demon hunter squad that can be promoted to the general level is an elite that has fought its way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and its strength is far beyond ordinary.

"So you are a member of the Demon Hunters. My apologies for not recognizing you."

Dian Xuan's attitude immediately became much more serious. "Since it is the leader of the Demon Hunter Group who has spoken, I, Dian Xuan, will naturally give him this face."

He pondered for a moment and said, "I can give you six spots. However, I have one condition."

"please say."

"To avoid attracting unnecessary attention from the demon patrol, the rank of all accompanying personnel must not exceed the sixth rank."

Dian Xuan stared sharply at Li Hao. "This point is crucial."

"If it is discovered that we have a seventh-level or higher expert accompanying us, our entire merchant group will be doomed."

Li Hao understood.

The seventh rank, also known as the War King or Assassin King level, is considered a powerful figure anywhere.

The presence of such a person in a caravan would indeed raise serious concerns.

Although he had already broken through to the seventh rank, he suppressed his cultivation to within the sixth rank by relying on the concealment effect of the supernatural lock.

He was confident that he would never be exposed unless he encountered a powerful expert of the ninth rank or above who deliberately probed him.

As for the others, the highest they reached was only level five, which fully met the requirements.

"No problem," Li Hao readily agreed, a confident smile on his face. "My team members all meet your requirements."

Dian Xuan gave Li Hao a deep look, but ultimately chose to believe him.

“Alright! As for the reward, how about 30,000 gold coins per person?” Dian Xuan offered his price.

“Okay.” Li Hao didn’t care about money; all he needed was a channel.

"Well then, Brother Li."

Dian Xuan stood up, extended his hand, and his smile became much more genuine.

"It's settled then. Five days from now, at six o'clock in the morning, meet at the south gate of Starseeking City. Latecomers will not be waited for!"

Li Hao also stood up and gave him a firm handshake: "It's a pleasure to cooperate with you!"

(End of this chapter)