Becoming a Mercenary

Though worried, Master Lei Yi truly craved the Great Yellow Elixir.

So he could only ask politely, "Young Friend Yang, just say it. If I can manage it, I'll do my best to satisfy you."

Yang Lingtian glanced at Master Lei Yi and said directly, "Fine, I'll add one condition."

"If the Lei Family of Shenwu City causes trouble for the Chen Family during this time, I need your True Elixir Pavilion to protect the Chen Family for three months."

"Agree, and I'll keep giving you the Great Yellow Elixir, plus throw in a new Third-Grade Pill Formula."

"Refuse, and the deal's off. You won't get the Great Yellow Elixir either."

Such blunt words carried an unmistakable tone of no room for negotiation.

Yang Lingtian didn't dare ask the True Elixir Pavilion to protect the Chen Family forever—that was impossible.

Three months, neither too much nor too little, should still fall within what the True Elixir Pavilion could accept.

Hearing this, Master Lei Yi was taken aback, unsure what was going on.

But his urgent desire for the Great Yellow Elixir, plus the promise of another pill formula, meant he didn't ask why and agreed readily.

"Fine. It's just the Lei Family of Shenwu City. If they cause trouble for your Chen Family, I'll step in."

After a few more exchanges on the details, Yang Lingtian hurriedly left again.

Once Yang Lingtian had fled Tianchen City again, an hour passed, and the Swift Wind Talisman's effect wore off.

He had to descend from the air and continue running, not daring to stop.

Yang Lingtian's heart was now tangled with complexity. He knew this departure meant he couldn't return to the Chen Family for a long time.

Unless his strength could match the Lei Family, he didn't want to go back and bring them trouble.

After leaving this time, he would have to brave this perilous world alone, a place reeking of slaughter everywhere.

Meanwhile, Lei Gang had searched all over outside Tianchen City without finding Yang Lingtian.

Blinded by rage, he indeed returned to the Chen Family, intent on wiping them out to vent his fury.

Lei Gang stormed back to the air above Chen Manor and, without a word, launched an attack.

A powerful strike blasted straight toward Chen Manor.

By then, Chen Zhengqing had returned to the Chen Family and naturally wouldn't let Lei Gang run wild.

"Lei Gang, don't push your luck!" Chen Zhengqing soared out.

At the same time, he sent out a Sword Light that shattered Lei Gang's attack.

The two strikes collided violently, producing a thunderous roar.

Chen Zhengqing rose to midair, and the two faced off again.

"Today, I'll raze the Chen Family to the ground. Blame your good son-in-law!" Lei Gang declared arrogantly.

The commotion once again drew everyone's attention.

"This Lei Family is so domineering, saying they'll flatten the Chen Family."

"How outrageous, brawling so recklessly in our Tianchen City without a care."

"Sigh, what can you do? Lei Gang's a Mid Golden Core expert. Our Tianchen City has no Mid Golden Core cultivator to suppress him."

The crowd murmured, all feeling the Lei Family had gone too far.

"Then let's fight again!" Chen Zhengqing was seething with rage but had little to say.

Just as they were about to strike again, a booming voice rang out.

"Family Head Lei, please stop."

The speaker was Master Lei Yi. All eyes fell on him.

They were puzzled—why had the True Elixir Pavilion gotten involved?

Lei Gang knew something of Tianchen City and had heard of Master Lei Yi, the True Elixir Pavilion's Chief Alchemist.

His expression hardened as he asked, "Master Lei Yi, what are you doing?"

"The True Elixir Pavilion has never meddled in family disputes. Are you trying to interfere this time?"

Master Lei Yi replied with full confidence, "That's right. The True Elixir Pavilion will protect the Chen Family for three months."

"During these three months, the True Elixir Pavilion doesn't want the Chen Family harmed in any way."

"As for the reason, you don't need to know."

Hearing this, Lei Gang frowned deeply. He hadn't expected the Chen Family to have the True Elixir Pavilion backing them.

Not simple!

Lei Gang was quite wary of the True Elixir Pavilion.

After all, its influence spanned the entire Star-Moon Dynasty, with branches in most cities.

Lei Gang snorted coldly and left.

Thus, the Chen Family had temporarily weathered the crisis.

"Heavens, the True Elixir Pavilion actually stepped in to protect the Chen Family," the crowd exclaimed in shock.

"What kind of backing does the Chen Family have, to wield such influence that the True Elixir Pavilion would shield them?"

Even Chen Zhengqing was puzzled, unable to fathom why the True Elixir Pavilion would come to their aid.

He then approached Master Lei Yi, cupping his hands and said, "Thank you, Master Lei Yi, for stepping in."

"If it's not convenient to say, I understand, but may I ask why you helped our Chen Family?"

Master Lei Yi did not mince words: "Yang Lingtian requested it. He has a partnership with our True Elixir Pavilion."

"One of the conditions of that partnership is to protect your Chen Family for three months."

"What?" Chen Zhengqing was deeply astonished.

He had never expected that his adopted son would have forged ties with the True Elixir Pavilion.

It must be a significant partnership, or else the usually neutral True Elixir Pavilion would never have intervened.

But Master Lei Yi offered no further details and departed.

Chen Zhengqing breathed a sigh of relief; the Chen Family had narrowly avoided total annihilation.

Yet Lei Gang had not given up. The True Elixir Pavilion only promised to protect the Chen Family for three months.

So if he still couldn't catch Yang Lingtian, he planned to return and settle the score with the Chen Family after that.

With that, Lei Gang resumed his hunt for Yang Lingtian.

After several days of travel, Yang Lingtian arrived at a city called Qingyun City, where he intended to rest and settle in.

Having searched for Yang Lingtian for so many days without success, Lei Gang had to return to his family and mobilize more people to continue the hunt.

He also issued a hefty bounty: anyone who could provide information on Yang Lingtian would receive a generous reward.

It wasn't just the Lei Family searching; other forces in Tianchen City were also secretly on the lookout.

Chen Zhengqing, worried for Yang Lingtian's safety, secretly sent people to find him as well.

Even the True Elixir Pavilion mobilized their own networks and informants to search.

After all, Master Lei Yi had a covert agreement with Yang Lingtian.

For a time, Yang Lingtian became the target of everyone's attention.

However, Qingyun City, where Yang Lingtian currently was, lay several cities away from Tianchen City, making it relatively safe.

But he dared not let his guard down, staying vigilant of his surroundings at all times.

The most important thing now was to forge a new identity, and the easiest way was to become a mercenary.

So he headed straight to the Mercenary Guild in the center of Qingyun City.

On the Shenwu Continent, almost every country and every city had a Mercenary Guild.

But the Mercenary Guild was a rather loose organization, essentially acting as an intermediary.

The guild was enormous, with a constant stream of mercenaries coming and going.

Inside, a long line of mercenaries waiting to process their paperwork had already formed—this was the procedure to become a mercenary.

Yang Lingtian found the window for registering as a mercenary among the many counters and walked over.

To conceal his identity, he changed his name to Yang Xiangtian, afraid that using his real name might expose him.

The registration process was simple: after paying some Spirit Stones and having his cultivation verified, he officially became a mercenary.

He received his mercenary badge, but given his current strength, it could only be the lowest grade.

That was the Bronze Badge.

Mercenaries risked life and limb, doing dangerous work that walked the edge of a blade.

So if someone signed up to be a mercenary, as long as their cultivation was correct, there were no other barriers.

After all, who could stop someone from walking to their death?

Moreover, being a mercenary came with great freedom—there were no mandatory missions.

To earn more rewards, one had to take the initiative to accept tasks.

Of course, one could also form a Mercenary Group and take on missions as a team.

Typically, those at the Qi Refining Stage could only obtain a Bronze Badge, allowing them to accept only the lowest-level Yellow-grade missions.

As far as Yang Lingtian knew, mercenary missions were divided into four grades based on difficulty: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow.

Mercenary ranks were divided into Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and so on.

These were determined by the honor points accumulated from completed missions and one's actual strength.

Thus, a rare few at the Qi Refining Stage, due to their formidable strength and many completed missions with high honor points, could achieve Silver-grade mercenary status.

Yellow-grade missions were plentiful, many of them trivial and low in difficulty.

For example, helping someone find lost items, delivering goods for shops, or even guarding a gate for a few days.

Yang Lingtian had no interest in those. He wanted to find a mission that could temper him and make him stronger.

But for now, the most important thing was to get far away from Tianchen City, after all, Lei Gang's influence was vast.

His reputation was well-known across many nearby cities, so he had to flee even farther.

In the end, he found a merchant caravan about to embark on a long journey and joined them.

This was an escort mission for the caravan. After all, on the Shenwu Continent, bandits could appear at any time.

Moreover, powerful demonic beasts might show up, and even beast tides could occur, which was why escort missions for caravans existed.

The strongest escorting this caravan was a Silver-rank mercenary at the Foundation Establishment Realm named Wang Yun. Almost all the mercenaries on site had to listen to him.

After Yang Lingtian left the city with the caravan, they passed through an endless, vast plain.

There were very few people here, only a few caravans traveling through.

And this kind of place was the most prone to bandit attacks, so every caravan had groups of mercenaries guarding them.

The plain was extremely vast. The caravan traveled for an entire day and still hadn't crossed it.

When dusk fell, the caravan stopped and set up camp on a relatively flat stretch of land.

Yang Lingtian also sat with the mercenaries, eating and chatting, learning many interesting things.

At night, Yang Lingtian sat cross-legged inside his tent and began circulating the Chaos Dao Divine Art to cultivate.

It was very quiet outside, with only the occasional soft footsteps passing by—those were the mercenaries on patrol.