"Have you heard? Xiang Shaoyun alone stormed Feng Xiaosha's villa, wiping the floor with the Squall members. Even Feng Xiaosha lost a couple of teeth!"

"You are exaggerating. Feng Xiaosha is probably fine, but his subordinates were indeed beaten up. That Xiang Shaoyun's combat prowess is becoming more and more scary."

"A high-grade nine-star physique is no joke after all. If he cultivated only one power, he could probably fight people many stages, or even an entire realm, above him."

"The Squall thoroughly lost their reputation this time. In the future, they won't be able to stand tall before the Overlord Legion."

...

News of Xiang Shaoyun's feat spread throughout the entire academy. One could say that Xiang Shaoyun's popularity had climbed to a new peak. Alongside that, the status of the Overlord Legion also went up a notch. When the Overlord Legion members heard the news, they were all overjoyed.

Thus, they all agreed unhesitatingly when receiving the call to set out on the incoming group mission.

Not long after news of Xiang Shaoyun's feat spread, a different piece of news appeared as well. Ouyang Chuanqi had visited Zhan Wushuang's villa. It was unknown if he had met Zhan Wushuang, but he was able to leave safely. Apart from his slightly pale complexion, he looked completely fine. Not long after that, the Crushing Sky also announced that they would temporarily stop provoking the Overlord Legion.

This created an even bigger commotion. The Crushing Sky was one of the top factions in the academy. If even they were not provoking the Overlord Legion anymore, it was clear how strong the Overlord Legion was.

Or, to be precise, it was Ouyang Chuanqi who was strong enough to make the Crushing Sky halt their provocations. Why would Zhan Wushuang make such a decision that was akin to slapping his own face otherwise?

There were rumors claiming that Ouyang Chuanqi had defeated Zhan Wushuang, forcing him to withdraw. There were also rumors claiming that Ouyang Chuanqi and Zhan Wushuang were old friends. Thus, the Crushing Sky had decided to stop provoking the Overlord Legion.

In short, rumors abounded, all of them painting the Overlord Legion in a positive light. The Overlord Legion members were incomparably excited, rejoicing their choice to join the Overlord Legion.

At this moment, the Overlord Legion was gathered at a spacious training field. Usually, they would gather at 1 Dragon Villa for any sort of meeting. This was the first time they were publicly gathering at a training field.

In truth, this was Zhuge Zhantian's suggestion. He was aiming to further grow the legion's prestige through this exercise.

"Overlord, everyone is here. We can announce the mission," said Zhuge Zhantian.

Xiang Shaoyun nodded. "Brothers and sisters, you are all aware of the reason we are all gathered here today. Now, I will be announcing the mission we have accepted. We will be exterminating bandits at the Desert of Despair. Are you confident we can complete this mission?"

The Desert of Despair was one of the academy's nine major cultivation grounds. The academy had appointed nine places as cultivation grounds, and the grounds consisted of restricted spaces and non-restricted spaces.

The restricted spaces were places that the academy experts had sealed, allowing only those from the academy to enter, such as the Purple Lightning Pool and Castle of Darkness. The non-restricted spaces were actually locations that were open to the public and weren't monopolized by the academy.

The academy would supply the disciples with access to the places, but other forces or races were residing in the zones. For example, the Deep Tidalwave, the Vicious Steel Mist, and the City of Light all had other parties.

The Desert of Despair was also one of the non-restricted spaces. It was a large desert located in the Western Desert. In fact, the desert made up a third of the Western Desert. Regular Kings and Emperors would find it hard to even cross the desert. The moment one became lost, one could only sink into despair because the only result would be death.

In the Desert of Despair, apart from the dreadful desert beasts, there were also bandits mainly focused on robbing the cultivators intending to cultivate in the desert. The Overlord Legion had accepted a mission to kill 3,000 bandits to clean up the Desert of Despair.

One should never look down on these bandits, as they were all fearless, possessing impressive combat strength. Not many people were willing to fight these lunatics. Furthermore, the bandits were very familiar with the desert's topography, able to come and go as they wished, making it difficult for one to even catch their trails.

The Overlord Legion had accepted this mission after a series of discussions. The mission's difficulty wasn't low, and it was rather challenging for them. It fulfilled the requirement of a mission needing them to work as a group.

After hearing the mission details from Xiang Shaoyun, nobody voiced any objection. Instead, they appeared eager. Evidently, they had high expectations for the group mission.

"This is the first group mission we will undertake. I hope we will suffer zero casualties. Are you confident in achieving that?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.

"Yes!" answered the Overlord Legion members collectively.

Their voice was loud and sonorous, reverberating through the training field.

"Good. Without further ado, let's set off," said Xiang Shaoyun.

Just as they were about to leave, a lazy voice rang out, "I shall come along as well."

Everyone looked over and found that it was their deputy commander. Reverence covered the eyes of many people at the sight of Ouyang Chuanqi. Although he had never participated in the legion's affairs and he was also a recent joiner, it did not stop them from revering his strength.

"Brother Ouyang, it's great that you can join!" said Xiang Shaoyun with a smile. "Everyone, greet the deputy commander!"

He had not expected Ouyang Chuanqi to join this mission, but he was more than happy to see him join.

"Welcome, Deputy Commander Ouyang!" the Overlord Legion members shouted with excitement.

"Although the overlord's scheme had forced me to join the legion, since I'm now a member, I should naturally participate in group missions like this. Please do take care of me in the future, everyone," said Ouyang Chuanqi in an amicable manner.

His demeanor further improved the members' impression of him. Not even Tang Longfei could compare with him in terms of prestige.

However, Tang Longfei was not the least bit jealous. He knew very well this was a world ruled by the strong. If he wanted to preserve his position in the legion, he needed to continue growing as well.