Mercenary Assessment

Ten days later.

Qiu Long Star.

Since one must first register as a Universe Adventurer to become a Universe Mercenary, and that registration must be handled in person at the Universe Mercenary Alliance, Su Zhe made another trip to Qiu Long Star.

The Universe Mercenary Alliance is divided into Adventurers, Apprentice Mercenaries, One-Star Mercenaries, Two-Star Mercenaries, and Three-Star Mercenaries.

Adventurers do not require an assessment; one simply registers to obtain the status. However, Apprentice Mercenaries, One-Star Mercenaries, and so on, all require assessments. Every title must be earned through testing!

The Apprentice Mercenary assessment can be taken once one reaches the Stellar Level.

After finalizing his Adventurer status, Su Zhe immediately applied for the Universe Apprentice Mercenary assessment. Passing this test would grant him the rank of Universe Apprentice Mercenary.

After Su Zhe paid the ten thousand Black Dragon Coin fee, his application for the Apprentice Mercenary assessment was quickly approved.

The mission requirements were to enter the World Lord world on Canglan Star, obtain three Wind Horn Stones and one horn from a Single-Horned Iron Rhino, and then deliver them to the Universe Mercenary Alliance staff stationed at the exit of the World Lord world.

All Apprentice Mercenary assessments within the Black Dragon Mountain Empire territory are conducted in the World Lord world on Canglan Star.

Not long after Su Zhe signed up for the assessment, someone approached him to sell a detailed map of the Canglan Star World Lord world. Su Zhe spent a few Black Dragon Coins to buy a copy to get a general understanding.

Logically speaking, entering the Canglan Star World Lord world at this time was actually a bit of a loss.

Because Su Zhe knew that in a few years, a "world within a world" would appear in this World Lord world, providing an opportunity to obtain a massive amount of resources to serve as a starting fund for venturing into the universe.

But Su Zhe did not intend to wait that long.

With the time spent waiting, he could do other things to improve his strength much faster.

To enter the World Lord world, normal people would need to make preparations, such as purchasing weapons and equipment or bringing along Stellar Level 9 slaves, but for Su Zhe, this was completely unnecessary.

First, he had no money.

Tier 2 Force weapons and Force battle suits cost hundreds of millions or even billions of Black Dragon Coins for decent ones; Su Zhe's remaining funds could only afford Tier 1 Force weapons.

Tier 1 Force weapons were for Planetary Level users and were completely useless to Su Zhe.

Second, there was Su Zhe's own ability.

With his ability to continuously devour and evolve, he might have a chance to reach the Stellar Level 4 or 5 during this trip to the World Lord world. Coupled with the camouflage ability of the Blacklight Virus, he could even blend into other small teams; there was no need to bring someone along as a burden.

The camouflage ability was best used in places like this, where people were numerous and eyes were everywhere.

Many teams were formed temporarily on Canglan Star, and their members were unfamiliar with each other, making it the perfect time to blend in.

Canglan Star, one of the top 100 important planets within the territory of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire.

Su Zhe arrived here by spaceship.

"Master, we have arrived at Canglan Star."

Su Zhe's intelligent assistant, which resembled a virtual bird, had been named Xiao Yu by Su Zhe.

"Good."

Su Zhe nodded slightly. Although Babata did not follow him this time, Su Zhe had taken the detectors from the Black Ink Star Ship, so he wouldn't be flying blind in the World Lord world.

After the spaceship docked, Su Zhe set off immediately for the Thunder World.

Before him lay an endless night.

Su Zhe landed on the ground. This was a pitch-black world, with only faint glimmers of light visible in the high distance. Beneath his feet was an endless black desert.

The Death Desert.

Su Zhe narrowed his eyes. The gravity in this Thunder World was approximately 3,900 times that of Earth.

The entire World Lord world was forged by a World Lord using cosmic origin energy, making it far more unique than external matter.

The Death Desert was one of the most dangerous areas in the Thunder World; even fierce beasts dared not survive here.

Su Zhe picked a random direction and flew forward. After flying for a short while, a continuous mountain range appeared before him. It seemed he had landed right on the edge of the Death Desert.

Having found this mountain range, he was not far from finding the Single-Horned Iron Rhino required for his mission.

The horn of a Single-Horned Iron Rhino was one of the items needed to pass this assessment.

Su Zhe chose to continue deeper into the mountains, but he no longer flew so brazenly, choosing instead to proceed on foot.

Su Zhe had not forgotten that the most dangerous things in the World Lord world were the other examinees.

After killing a fierce beast along the way, Su Zhe used the Blacklight Virus's camouflage ability to mimic the appearance of that beast and headed toward his destination.

"Boss, you said we..."

Several voices drifted up from beneath Su Zhe. Su Zhe looked down to see a team of four. Their strength was quite average, and they had likely just entered the Thunder World, as they had not yet obtained their mission items.

One of them had reached Stellar Level 5, while the other three included two at Stellar Level 3 and one at Stellar Level 2.

It was a very ordinary team, and they looked quite poor as well.

Su Zhe didn't even have the thought of killing them, but the content of their conversation made him prick up his ears and listen carefully.

"...We've already gathered enough Wind Horn Stones. Now, we just need to hunt a Single-Horned Iron Rhino, and we can leave this place." The Stellar Level 5 martial artist spoke—the leader of the team.

"It hasn't been easy!"

Several team members sighed with emotion.

"We've been in here for nearly three months; we can finally complete the assessment!"

"Indeed... it's just a pity about Little San," someone said in a low voice.

For a moment, the entire squad fell into silence.

Su Zhe narrowed his eyes slightly. The Wind Horn Stone was the most troublesome part of this assessment task. If he took these people out, he could save a significant amount of time waiting for the Wind Horn Stone to appear, allowing him to focus on improving his strength.

Should he make a move?

Su Zhe was still hesitating when he saw some commotion break out below—

"Who goes there?!"

The squad leader roared, a long, broad blade appearing in his hand. The one attacking him was a thin, small figure clad in a black robe, who, seeing the strike had failed, attempted to retreat.

"Don't run!"

The members of the squad reacted, immediately giving chase to the assassin.

Su Zhe frowned slightly at the sight.

Wait, you assassin, why are you running in my direction?

Su Zhe had wanted to keep his position hidden, but as the assassin passed by him, the figure seemed to want to casually finish off the beast Su Zhe was disguised as.

Su Zhe could no longer tolerate this.

A mere fourth-tier Star-level martial artist.

Daring to provoke him?

With a thought from Su Zhe, his Domain of Fire erupted!