Chapter 871: Dissuasion
"You're Ling Zhan!?"
The burly man exuding the aura of a giant dragon was the first to walk over to Ling Zhan.
The other four powerhouses followed behind him slowly.
When Jonathan, the Dragon War God, stood in front of Ling Zhan, his nearly three-meter-tall frame loomed coldly over this youth with an average aura but an extraordinary appearance and demeanor.
His gaze carried a heavy sense of scrutiny.
Before Ling Zhan could respond—
Whoosh!!
Yun Man, Meng Shuang, and Chang Yue appeared instantly in front of Ling Zhan, holding the little Holy Dragon and little Golden Crow.
At the same time, all the still-training members of the Demon-Slaying Legion rushed over.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Yun Man looked at the powerful strangers with a cold expression.
The Demon-Slaying Legion members also stared at them with hostility.
Of course they could sense the remarkable aura from these five—definitely top-tier powerhouses above level 190.
And clearly, they weren't just high-level pushovers!
True powerhouses always gave off a different presence.
Sometimes, even without knowing their level, you could tell from subtle details how strong someone was.
But it didn't matter.
So what if they were strong?
It wasn't like this would be a one-on-one.
Yet Mordess, Ye Qingling, Bazel, and the other top-tier geniuses stared them down without fear.
Lower-ranking members might not be able to take them solo, but the legion's top ten—who regularly fought above their tier—definitely could!
They weren't afraid of these five at all.
"What? You five here to pick a fight?"
"What business do you have with Instructor Ling? Coming in so aggressively—trying to scare someone?"
"Hey, big guy, don't tell me you think having some strength gives you the right to provoke our Instructor Ling?"
"..."
One line after another—
The air filled with mockery.
Even members of the local garrison glanced over—the commotion was hard to ignore.
Seeing this group of members all standing united—
Jonathan and the others were shocked.
They had thought these legion members knew this mission was a mistake.
That while they came along, they were internally resentful.
So they planned to visit the training ground, find Ling Zhan, and persuade the members to abandon the mission.
After all, they didn't want to see so many promising talents sent to die.
But what they didn't expect was—
What was going on with this scene!?
Not only were all the members defending this non-specialist, even Mordess and the others from the top ten were standing with him!?
Huh?
This...
Each generation's top ten in the Demon-Slaying Legion were notoriously unruly.
They had the Lower Realm's top talents and were considered future pillars of their Kingdoms.
They never acknowledged anyone weaker than themselves.
Every past chief instructor had stumbled because of the legion's top ten.
And yet—
Mordess, Ye Qingling, Bazel, and the others stood behind Ling Zhan.
Mordess even looked at Jonathan and asked, "Senior Jonathan, what business do you have with our instructor?"
He addressed him as 'Senior'—
Because Jonathan was a member of the previous generation of the Demon-Slaying Legion and had once mentored Mordess and the others when their levels weren't as high.
So no one in the legion found Jonathan or the four behind him unfamiliar.
Ling Zhan glanced at a nearby legion member.
That member quickly explained, "Instructor Ling, these five are members of the top special operations squad currently stationed at Mohr Fortress. They were also part of the previous generation of the Demon-Slaying Legion. They've already graduated."
Ling Zhan nodded slightly. So that's how it was.
Facing the flood of questions—
Jonathan and the others felt confused and surprised, but not afraid.
No matter what, they were veterans of many battles. Their combat abilities were beyond question—they weren't the timid type.
Besides, Mohr Fortress would never allow large-scale internal conflict.
Jonathan looked them over, gave a dismissive laugh, and said, "Relax, I only want to talk with your chief instructor."
"If he's made it to chief instructor, then he must be quite capable. Why would he be afraid of a small-time Dragon War God like me?"
The Demon-Slaying Legion members didn't respond but still didn't move aside.
Meng Shuang even rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair arms, clearly ready to throw down with the Dragon War God.
"Enough. Let them through."
At that moment, Ling Zhan spoke calmly.
Only then did the members step aside to make a path.
Ling Zhan looked at the towering, pressure-exuding Dragon War God and calmly asked, "So, what did you want to talk about?"
Jonathan's face turned serious. In a deep voice, he said, "I want you to abandon the SSS-rank mission and bring all the members back to Ether City!"
"You should know this mission is impossible!"
"If you insist on carrying it out, the whole legion will be wiped out!"
"You'll be sacrificing these future talents for nothing—and it'll only make the Ten Thousand Demons' Abyss and the Demon Arrival Organization laugh at us."
"So..."
"Take them back. If the geezers from the Sacred Council ask questions, our top special ops squad will take the blame. I can even persuade our commander to vouch for you!"
As Jonathan finished speaking—
An uproar stirred in the crowd again.
But rather than expressing gratitude, the members glared at him in anger.
Another one who underestimated them!
Did he think they didn't know the danger?
They knew—and that's why they went with the resolve to die!
Either rise to fame—
Or vanish into dust!
"If you came to persuade me to abandon the mission, then you can leave."
"Let me make it clear: I can't, and won't, abandon this mission."
Ling Zhan shook his head, voice calm as ever.
What a joke!
Give up the mission?
Then how would he ascend to the Upper Realm?
How would he earn the system's mission rewards?
The Final Demon-Slaying Mission was phase-based.
If any phase failed to complete, the system would mark it as a failure.
Though there were no penalties for failure, without completing it, Ling Zhan would lose the rich system rewards!
In a way, that was a punishment in itself!