After clearing out the hut of the previous two criminals, Cheng Tian collected a few hundred gold coins, weapons, and some artifacts, nothing too significant.

However, for someone who did not have many possessions, this had been a good harvest for him, which could potentially help him at the start of his journey in Nuoding City.

With this, coupled with his increased power, Cheng Tian left that area with a smile on his face. He was soon on the back of his horse, heading back to the mercenary guild, where he could start doing regular missions in no time.

And, of course, he was already aware of some dangers in the vicinity, so he became much more cautious on his return to Nuoding City.

...

After three days of traveling on his horse, always stopping to rest and train at night, Cheng Tian arrived at his destination in the early evening.

But even though it was already dark, he immediately made his way to the Tempest Vanguardians building, where now he was walking under the gazes of the mercenaries who usually stood there.

"Oh? Isn't that brat from a week ago?" Someone asked that at one of the tables in that area.

"Yeah, looks like that's him..."

"Did he give up?" Someone laughed as he looked at Cheng Tian, this young man who still had some signs of his childhood that had not long passed.

"Tsk!"

"No wonder he returned so soon... But this is better. Giving up is better than dying." An elder said in a low voice.

Cheng Tian ignored the murmurs in the surroundings and went to the attendant who had talked to him previously.

"Oh? Have you returned yet? What's the problem? Did you give up the mission? But, don't worry, you don't need to come here just for that..." She was saying this when Cheng Tian took the poster from his pocket and placed it on the countertop separating the two.

He tapped one of his fingers in the middle of that poster and smiled as he placed a small box on the left side of the poster. "I brought Wang Bo's head."

"What?" Not only did this attendant feel surprised by Cheng Tian's speech, but several mercenaries in the surroundings also exclaimed along with her.

The moment he approached the reception of this mercenary guild, several of those people fell silent or lowered their tones to hear what he was about to say. Some were preparing to play a trick on Cheng Tian or make some pranks for their joy.

Because of this, many heard his nonsense when he said those words.

"Kid, don't lie to us. How could you have killed Wang Bo? That fellow is slippery and has several despicable methods." A mercenary was the first to question Cheng Tian, finding it absurd that a young man who didn't even have facial hair had accomplished such a feat.

Cheng Tian turned to that person and said calmly. "You don't need to believe me. I brought Wang Bo's head here."

"What? Are you serious? You truly..." That person swallowed his words, feeling skeptical about the whole thing.

The attendant then opened the box Cheng Tian had placed on that countertop.

"Ahhh!" She cried out in surprise at seeing that horrible thing.

"What? Did he lie?" The mercenary ran to Cheng Tian's side, determined to show everyone that such a young man was lying.

However, when he opened the half-opened box by that attendant, this man swallowed his saliva and took a step back.

"That..."

"That's truly Wang Bo's head!" He said for everyone there to hear him.

"What? He killed that bastard?"

Several people approached to see the dehydrated head that Cheng Tian had brought to this place.

"What happened to him, kid? Why does that head look like that?" One of the most curious asked.

Cheng Tian then said. "That is naturally a secret. Don't you know how improper it is to ask about other people's skills?"

Other curious people then lost interest in asking more questions when they saw that this was probably his ability. However, since in the world of spirit masters, such matters were not discussed publicly, most there saw no problem in abandoning their curiosity.

After gaining a little space, Cheng Tian turned his attention to the attendant. "Well? Now can I join the guild as a member?"

She was still slightly startled by Wang Bo's head, but after hearing Cheng Tian's question, she immediately tried to regain her composure. "Yes, that's enough. I just need to collect some data..."

After she explained what she needed, it did not take long for Cheng Tian to answer all her questions and receive his identification as a mercenary from Tempest Vanguardians.

"By the way, another criminal was with Wang Bo when I found him." He picked up the other box he had brought with him. "I want to know if there's a reward for him too..."

"Oh? You dealt with two people?" She said in shock.

Dealing with someone stronger was already extremely difficult. But the young man in front of her had managed to do it against two people!

That was impressive!

'Either he is very talented, or he is especially clever in his actions...' She thought about this as she searched for someone similar to the owner of the other head that Cheng Tian brought.

After a while, she picked up a poster and said. "It looks like you got lucky. That person recently won a reward."

"Here you are, 40 coins for killing Xue Ju."

Then, under the eyes of many mercenaries, Cheng Tian said goodbye to that woman, picked up a new poster, and headed towards the inn he had paid for earlier.

'Ah, I didn't expect to be gone so many days doing that mission...' He bittersweetly smiled, feeling that he had lost a few coins by paying for his room in advance. 'Anyway, that's not much compared to what I got.'

...

After his first experience doing a hunting mission against a criminal, Cheng Tian rested for two days in Nuoding City and then left for his next operation.

With this, he eventually followed a schedule of resting and hunting in this region for 30 days, having completed two more hunts in that period.

However, unlike the previous occasion, he had not found more than one criminal working together, and his targets had been much more complicated to find. Because of this, he could not do any more missions in this period and had absorbed the powers of only these two people.

Thus, Cheng Tian had reached the beginning of level 35 and had added another thousand years to each of his spirit rings and bone.

But these had not been his only gains in this period!

In addition to his rising fame among the local mercenaries, Cheng Tian had accumulated over 3,000 gold coins in this period due to his targets and the rewards for their heads.

Thus, he significantly improved his financial condition and even obtained a small spatial storage item.

Such a thing was not as good as Tang San's Twenty-Four Moonlight Bridges, but it was enough for Cheng Tian to carry his coins and a few items that could disturb him to carry in bags.

Anyway, he had returned from his last mission the night before and planned to stay in Nuoding City for the next three days to rest and cultivate at that inn.

So, upon waking up in the morning and eating his breakfast, he went through the city's central streets for his morning walk, which he always did when he had the opportunity.

But this morning, this young man with long black hair came across an unusual notice on his way.

'City auction...' Cheng Tian read the large letters of an announcement soon after discovering the details of the event that would take place tonight.

'An auction? There will be an auction tonight with items of importance for spirit masters!' His eyes sparkled in interest while he wondered if he could get anything out of it.

'I have over four thousand gold coins with me. So, I imagine that if there are no extremely ridiculous things at this event, which is unlikely, then I might be able to buy something!' He clasped his hands together and then headed towards the local auction house.

Cheng Tian had never been to that location before, so to ensure he would not make a mistake later, he followed the streets of that city, asking for a few tips on the way until he reached his destination.