The Shameless Xiuka

Kasha, who had won, happily flashed a hand sign to everyone. She looked like a very lively girl.

The audience responded with cheers, congratulating her on her victory.

The Announcer clapped twice to celebrate the winner, then said, "Thank you, Kasha, for that wonderful duel! Next, welcome Lan Peiling of the Rose Mercenary Group, who will face Jedons of the Giant Rock Mercenary Group!"

The Announcer checked the roster, then yielded the stage to the two contestants.

Jiang Yun glanced at the two people onstage and thought they looked like Beauty and the Beast. Their styles clashed terribly. If the Rose Mercenary Group was a band of valiant young women, then the Giant Rock Mercenary Group was made up entirely of towering, muscular men.

As Jiang Yun studied the two contestants, he suddenly felt a gaze fall on him. He turned and followed it to its source.

To his surprise, it was a woman—and it was easy to tell she was exceptionally beautiful. Although she wore a veil, her figure alone gave plenty away.

She fit the aesthetic standards of people on Earth perfectly, and her skin was remarkably fair.

Normally, someone this beautiful would have drawn plenty of attention. Yet the people around her kept their eyes on the match, paying no mind to the gorgeous woman beside them, as if she were just an ordinary person.

But that wasn't what caught Jiang Yun's attention most. The woman's battle power was astonishingly high, even though on the surface, it was only around...

Interesting!

A woman with such incredible battle power had to be the legendary leader of the Rose Mercenary Group, Black Rose. For such a beautiful woman to be called Black Rose...

She was clearly no ordinary person!

What interested Jiang Yun most was why Black Rose was hiding her battle power. With such immense strength, how could she be merely one of the leaders of the three major factions? Did the other factions have people just as strong?

That didn't match the results of the Blazing Squad's investigation. Still, Jiang Yun didn't dwell on it. In the universe, it was only natural to have a few tricks up your sleeve.

Besides, who knew if someone else's battle power had increased over time?

When Black Rose saw Jiang Yun turn her way, she couldn't help being startled. What powerful mental strength!

Black Rose was shocked as well. Few people ever noticed when she spied on them, yet this man had spotted her with ease. Even her disguise had no effect on him.

Jiang Yun also sensed a peculiar energy around her. Was it some kind of superpower, or an application of mental strength?

Jiang Yun made no move. Instead, he nodded to Black Rose, showing goodwill. She seemed a little taken aback, but then nodded back in acknowledgment.

Jiang Yun turned around and watched the match attentively, his thoughts undisturbed.

Black Rose, however, felt ripples stir within her. She had sensed a faint sense of closeness from Jiang Yun, which made her curious.

Her kind was naturally close to nature, and Jiang Yun seemed to radiate an aura that made her feel at ease.

That was why she had looked at him. She hadn't expected him to see through her.

Seeing Jiang Yun focused on the match, Black Rose decided not to give it any more thought and watched the contest just as he did.

Onstage, the fierce, evenly matched battle everyone had anticipated never materialized. Instead, the fight was completely one-sided. Lan Peiling quickly suppressed her opponent and, after holding out for a short while, won.

The audience erupted into applause. Pretty girls really were popular everywhere!

Lan Peiling showed no sign of happiness at her victory. Instead, she shot Xiuka a provocative glance.

That look made Xiuka burn with rage. The lovely young woman Jiang Yun found pretty probably looked entirely different through Xiuka's eyes.

Xiuka looked much like an Earthling, except his skin was red, like the red ox-headed demon Goku had encountered in Hell after falling off Snake Way.

Unlike the furious Xiuka, Lan Peiling was in a very good mood after getting him worked up. If there hadn't been people around, she would probably have burst out laughing.

It was no wonder she was so happy. There was a reason her group and the Lone Wolf Mercenary Group had become mortal enemies.

It all started when Xiuka once stole a valuable beast that was the Rose Mercenary Group's mission target. It had a single horn with immense medicinal value.

The beast was no pushover either. Its battle power was several thousand. During a hunt, the group had nearly captured the precious beast.

But Xiuka had barged in with his people and disrupted the Rose Mercenary Group's hunt. On Qiu Long Planet, it was forbidden to steal prey from someone carrying out a capture mission.

This was an unwritten rule in the mercenary world. Otherwise, just as you were about to complete a mission, someone could show up and try to take it from you. How would you feel? That was why everyone in the mercenary world accepted this rule.

Anyone who broke it would be driven out by the others.

As Xiuka approached, he scattered a powder that made the beast go berserk. The beast, which had nearly been defeated, flew into a frenzy, catching the members of the Rose Mercenary Group completely off guard.

The frenzied beast killed several of the women, then broke through the encirclement and was killed by Xiuka, who had been waiting outside.

Lan Peiling had been leading the group at the time. Afterward, they went to Black Rose and confronted the Lone Wolf Mercenary Group, demanding an explanation. But they denied any wrongdoing.

They claimed the beast had broken out of the encirclement on its own and that they had only killed it afterward.

That was considered acceptable.

But the shameless Lone Wolf Mercenary Group refused to admit what they had done. Instead, they turned the tables and accused the Rose Mercenary Group of deliberately causing trouble, making up baseless excuses.

The leader of the Lone Wolf Mercenary Group, Xiusi, naturally stood by his younger brother. The other mercenary groups feared Xiusi's reputation. Although they suspected there was more to the story, they sat back and watched, unwilling to take sides.

Because of certain special circumstances, Black Rose couldn't use her full strength. Her apparent strength was about equal to Xiusi's.

So the matter was eventually left unresolved, and the two mercenary groups became sworn enemies.

When Xiuka took the stage, he quickly and decisively defeated Kasha of the Whirlwind Mercenary Group. Then he turned his gaze to Lan Peiling and provoked her.

The others knew about their feud. To them, this sort of friction only made things more exciting.

Soon, the two faced off. As soon as they stepped onto the stage, they released their auras. Their battle power was nearly equal, around six thousand.

For a while, they seemed evenly matched. Invisible currents of air began to swirl around them. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought they were the ones fighting.