Chapter 28: Molybdenum, Iron, Copper, Silver, and Gold.
Xue Ling looked at the Iron Bee token in his hand.
The Hive's assassin ranks are divided into five major levels: Wood Bee, Iron Bee, Bronze Bee, Silver Bee, and Gold Bee. Silver Bees and Gold Bees are considered the upper echelons of the Hive organization, with Bee Herders and even some powerful Stingers and Wings able to enter the Hive's management and participate in various decision-making processes.
However, this is still a distant prospect.
Generally speaking, the main bees are Iron Bees and Bronze Bees. As Wood Bees, as a training class, generally do not possess advanced skills, Iron Bees and Bronze Bees are the core of the Hive. Because the assassin profession has a relatively high elimination rate, only a few can successfully become Gold or Silver Bees.
For someone like He Ping, who has successfully served as an assassin for over a decade and finally retired safely, is almost unimaginable.
Xue Ling even suspected that He Ping might be the legendary Gold Bee Assassin.
However, there was no way to verify this with He Ping.
However, Fang Bie, the man He Ping had trained, was truly formidable.
At this moment, Fang Bie had already answered He Ping's previous question.
"I plan to temporarily save my assassin points."
Xue Ling finally realized and quickly said, "Save my assassin points too."
She didn't ask what the assassin points were used for, because this was also basic knowledge of Hive assassins.
Asking would be really stupid.
The most basic use of assassin points is for leveling up. Fifty assassin points can upgrade from a Wood Bee to an Iron Bee, while an Iron Bee requires 150 assassin points to upgrade to a Bronze Bee, and a Bronze Bee requires 500 assassin points to upgrade to a Silver Bee. Xue Ling didn't know how many assassin points were needed for a Silver Bee to become a Gold Bee, but she expected it to be no less than 1,000 assassin points.
Completing assassin missions was basically the only way to earn assassin points.
Yellow-level assassination missions ranged from five to ten points, typically targeting ordinary individuals with little or no martial arts skills. For example, a Wood Bee assassin, if only accepting Yellow-level missions, such as assassinating wealthy locals, would have to successfully kill five or ten of them before they could advance from Wood Bee to Iron Bee, becoming a capable Iron Bee assassin.
Xuan-level assassination missions, on the other hand, ranged from fifteen to thirty points, typically targeting powerful and powerful figures in the martial arts world, or outer disciples of reputable sects. For example, Ning Huaiyuan, a renegade Huashan Sect disciple, was awarded twenty points. Ultimately, based on Ning Huaiyuan's true strength and Fang Bie's exceptional performance, Fang Bie's mission, despite being rated "A" or "B", was awarded a higher reward. Ultimately, this reward matched the rewards given for Earth-level missions, allowing Fang Bie to instantly ascend to Iron Bee rank.
As for Ground-level missions, the points awarded range from 40 to 100 points. These missions are no longer limited to assassinations. Tracking, gathering designated intelligence, and escorting important missions can all qualify as Ground-level missions. After all, if they were strictly assassination-focused, Ground-level missions would typically target elite inner disciples and even elders from various sects. Meanwhile, missions like escorting, reconnaissance, and gathering intelligence would likely target top-tier masters ranked atop the Jianghu Rankings, equivalent to the leaders and supreme elders of various sects. If the Hive dared to indiscriminately kill these targets, it would truly become a target of public criticism.
Therefore, the proportion of true assassination missions decreases from Ground-level upwards.
Of course, Wood Bees accept up to Xuan-level missions, primarily focusing on Huang-level missions. Iron Bees primarily focus on Xuan-level missions, but can also accept some Ground-level missions.
As for Bronze Bees, they can freely choose between Ground-level and Xuan-level missions.
As previously mentioned, the Iron Bees and Bronze Bees are the core of the Hive.
Only the Gold Bees and Silver Bees are qualified to accept the so-called "Top-Tier" missions, which are what truly rank high in the Hive's jianghu.
The targets of these "Top-Tier" missions are, without exception, the top 100 experts on the Jianghu Rankings, the majority of whom are First-Rank experts, with a smaller number of exceptionally powerful Second-Rank experts.
Many of these are the leaders and grand elders of various sects, each of whom is a pillar of the Hive. Furthermore, the Hive's "Top-Tier" missions are not purely for show. Every year, the Hive issues and completes at least one to demonstrate the strength of this assassin organization.
And if Xue Ling is correct, Zhou Haitian, who died on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month last year, was the product of a "Top-Tier" mission from the Hive.
While Zhou Haitian wasn't a leader of a prestigious and upright sect, and even if he possessed martial arts skills, he certainly wasn't at the level of a First-Rank expert.
However, Zhou Haitian, as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was a third-rank official, symbolizing the vast power of the imperial court. Traditionally, the jianghu and the imperial court had kept their distance. Those in high positions in the imperial court worried about the people, while those in the jianghu worried about the emperor.
While the imperial court had organizations like the Six Gates to manage jianghu affairs, they often turned a blind eye, never intending to eradicate the entire jianghu. The Jinyiwei and the Dongchang mostly targeted their own officials for treason and corruption, never going so far as to harass the common people.
But now things were different.
When the Beehive chose to attack Zhou Haitian, it instantly distorted the dynamics of both the imperial court and the jianghu. The Jinyiwei tried their best to seal off and destroy the Beehive, but they only found a few minor branches. Even the undercover agents themselves were still mere bees, with no chance of reaching the core of the Beehive.
Perhaps working hard to complete the mission and become a Silver Bee can be an important goal for Xue Ling at present. If Xue Ling is alone, the girl may still have some doubts, but with Fang Bie, Xue Ling feels fully confident.
The premise is that Fang Bie has not found out that he is an undercover agent of the Jinyiwei.
Or, taking a step back - that is, even if Fang Bie finds out that he is a member of the Jinyiwei, he will eventually choose to conceal the Hive Organization for his own personal purposes.
It's just like the answer Fang Bie gave to Xue Ling when she asked him if he didn't even believe in the organization.
Fang Bie said: I didn't believe it anyway.
While Xue Ling was thinking, He Ping turned his gaze to Xue Ling: "Lin Xue, do you understand the use of assassin points?"
"Are you really considering saving them?"
Xue Ling looked at the woman in emerald green and nodded seriously.
(End of this chapter)