Universe Trainee Mercenary

Thunder World, on the edge of the Death Desert.

The surrounding yellow sand was repelled by an invisible force, forming an absolute domain with a diameter of one hundred meters.

Within that domain, light vanished; deep black flames and howling hurricanes merged perfectly to create a true field of death. Inside this domain, the figure of Su Zhe was currently engaged in battle with a ferocious beast!

"Roar--!"

It was a Star Level 9 ferocious beast, a Purple-Scaled Poison Lizard, over thirty meters long and covered in dark purple scales, resembling a giant lizard.

The Purple-Scaled Poison Lizard spat out a massive amount of venom, enough to corrode alloy. However, before it could even touch Su Zhe's body, the venom was annihilated and devoured by the omnipresent black flames within the domain.

Swish!

The Purple-Scaled Poison Lizard's prideful scales were like paper before Su Zhe.

The blade, wrapped in black Nihility Devouring Flame, swept across--

"Flowing Fire Blade, Fourth Form!"

With a 36-fold force amplification—a relatively high level even among Star Level fighters—this strike precisely grazed the thick neck of the Purple-Scaled Poison Lizard, cleanly severing its head.

A massive spray of deep purple, foul-smelling blood erupted, only to be instantly devoured by the Nihility Devouring Flame!

As the head of the Purple-Scaled Poison Lizard hit the ground, its death was sealed.

Su Zhe's right arm transformed into countless fine, black-red tendrils that drilled directly into the severed neck of the lizard, beginning to devour its flesh and blood.

The massive carcass of the beast withered and vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving not even a scrap of residue behind.

[Devoured Star Level 9 ferocious beast, obtained 655,360 Devour Points]
[Devour Point conversion: 65 Devour Coins (decimals discarded)]
[Current Devour Coins: 3,198]
[Fighter level increased: Star Level 9]
[Psychic level increased: Star Level 7]

Cold notifications flashed before Su Zhe's eyes.

Blacklight Virus, Nihility Devouring Flame, Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art.

The three great devouring abilities activated simultaneously, consuming the beast until not even a trace remained. Every ounce of power was utilized perfectly, and even the beast's unique venom ability was inherited by Su Zhe!

Feeling the surging power within his body, Su Zhe retracted his domain. Within a radius of twenty thousand meters, there was no longer any living thing left.

After two months of almost non-stop slaughter, Su Zhe had finally reached Star Level 9!

During this process, he had encountered life-or-death crises a few times—such as running into groups from major factions who were participating in the Universe Trainee Mercenary assessment while accompanied by large entourages of Star Level 9s. Su Zhe couldn't tell if they were there for training or just for fun.

Had Su Zhe not fled the moment he sensed danger, he would have surely died facing the siege of dozens or hundreds of Star Level 9s.

Fortunately, by persisting for two months, he had reached Star Level 9.

Although, most of that time had been spent searching for enemies and fleeing, so the actual combat time didn't account for much.

Over the past two months, the number of ferocious beasts and adventurers who died at Su Zhe's hands was countless.

The weapons, battle armors, Space Rings, and materials harvested from the beasts added up to an absolute fortune.

While not as wealthy as the World within a World, it was acceptable to Su Zhe. At the very least, he would have plenty left over after buying a spaceship to return the Black Dragon Spaceship to Luo Feng.

Thinking this, Su Zhe opened his panel--

[Name]: Su Zhe
[Fighter Level]: Star Level 9
[Psychic Level]: Star Level 7
[Bloodline]: Blacklight Virus
[Technique]: Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art
[Abilities]: Devour, Nihility Devouring Flame
[Laws]: Domain of Fire (Level 2), Domain of Wind (Level 1), Conception of Water (Perfect), Conception of Thunder (Perfect), Conception of Earth (Perfect)...
[Items]: ...
[Devour Coins]: 3,198 (1,000,000)
...

On the panel, the long list of abilities had all been replaced by "Devour." This was normal; while those previous abilities were strong, they were all derivations of the Devour ability.

From here on out, likely only truly independent abilities would appear on the panel.

"It's time to leave," Su Zhe muttered to himself.

He took one last look at this World within a World. There was no need to stay any longer; it was too difficult to break through to Universe Level here. It was better to head out early and use the resources he had obtained to improve himself—that was the true path.

The exit of the Thunder World.

Su Zhe arrived there quickly. Passing through a gateway, he returned to the villa located on Canglan Star, where several Universe Mercenary Alliance staff members were standing guard at the entrance.

The few staff members sat there listlessly, occasionally looking up to see if any adventurers had emerged.

Although the difficulty of the Universe Trainee Mercenary assessment was not high, it still managed to eliminate a large number of Star Level individuals; especially those who overestimated their own abilities, who often received a painful lesson the moment they entered the Thunder World.

On the other side were some adventurers queuing to enter the Thunder World.

With the appearance of Su Zhe, one of the staff members immediately walked over.

"Hand over your mission items."

Ignoring the surrounding gazes, Su Zhe took the mission items—three Wind Horn Stones and one horn from a Single-Horned Iron Rhino—out of his Space Ring and handed them over calmly.

The staff member took the items and quickly scanned them with an instrument to confirm.

"Three Wind Horn Stones, confirmed. One Single-Horned Iron Rhino horn, confirmed."

The staff member's voice was devoid of any emotion; while it was rare for someone to complete the assessment mission alone, he had worked here long enough to have seen it quite often.

He operated the instrument quickly, and a badge embossed with the emblem of the Universe Mercenary Alliance was handed to Su Zhe.

"Congratulations, from this moment on, you are a Universe Trainee Mercenary."

The staff member spoke.

"You will receive an email in the Virtual Universe that introduces matters related to the Universe Mercenary Alliance, and you will also be able to freely accept missions from the Universe Mercenary Alliance within the Virtual Universe."

"Good."

Su Zhe nodded and casually put away the badge.

Universe Trainee Mercenary!

Becoming a Universe Trainee Mercenary was only the first step.

It was already November 2061, and the Genius Tournament would begin in 2066.

Although Su Zhe did not intend to participate in the Genius Tournament, he did not want to be outdone by Luo Feng.

"Xiao Yu, help me receive the email."

Su Zhe split a wisp of his consciousness to enter the Virtual Universe, having Xiao Yu help him check the email sent by the Universe Mercenary Alliance.

The content of the email was brief, roughly introducing the structure of the Universe Mercenary Alliance, how new mercenaries could accept missions to earn rewards, how failed missions were handled, and so on...

Flipping to the end of the email, however, Su Zhe was dumbfounded.

"Universe Mercenary Alliance... elite member assessment?"

"A Star Level who grasps a trace of an Origin Law can become an elite member of the Universe Mercenary Alliance?"

Su Zhe had not expected that the promotion requirements for the Universe Mercenary Alliance would be written directly in this email!

However, it seemed quite reasonable.

Over at the Virtual Universe Company, Hong and Thunder God, who had grasped domains at the Planetary Level, and even Luo Feng, who had not, were all invited to become elite members of the Virtual Universe Company; the Universe Mercenary Alliance was a mixed bag, so the conditions would only be simpler.