The Fiery Liu Erlong, Woman to Woman

The moment Liu Erlong stepped into the Mercenary Guild with Ye Yingling, the chaotic noise of the hall was cut short as if someone had slit its throat.

Everyone stared blankly at the entrance, their gazes glued to the two women, unable to look away.

Over the past few days, under Jiang Ce's constant development, Liu Erlong's features had gained a touch of allure.

Her figure had become increasingly voluptuous and mature, with curves in all the right places.

What made the mercenaries' eyes nearly pop out of their sockets, however, was that Ye Yingling was following right behind her.

Ye Yingling possessed a temperament as gentle as water, dignified and elegant; one look was enough to tell she was a young lady raised in a prominent household.

Yet, at this moment, she was also wrapped in an identical black latex suit, which clung to her slender, graceful frame and left nothing to the imagination.

The contrast between that high-born dignity and the extreme sexiness of the latex suit was so jarring that the wine glasses in the hands of several veteran mercenaries hung suspended in mid-air.

Feeling her skin crawl under dozens of scorching gazes, Ye Yingling instinctively hid half a step behind Liu Erlong, her long hair sliding from her shoulder to cover half of her flushed cheek.

Sensing the movement behind her, Liu Erlong paused, swept a cold glance across the hall, and let out a heavy huff.

The mercenaries who had been staring the hardest all shivered in unison.

The memory of her smashing Ma San's face into an oak table with one hand just a few days ago was still fresh in their minds, and Ma Biao's group hadn't been seen since.

Neither hide nor hair of them had been found, and no one wanted to be next.

Liu Erlong withdrew her gaze and led Ye Yingling straight toward the front desk.

Only then did the low, hushed whispers behind them emerge like rats scurrying from a hole.

"How is she getting prettier? Her figure looks even better than it did a few days ago."

"Who is that beauty behind her? That temperament paired with that outfit... damn, she's hot."

"If you value your life, keep flapping your gums. Have you forgotten how Ma San disappeared?"

At the mention of Ma San, the veteran mercenaries who lived by the blade wisely shut their mouths.

Those who had been in this business long enough knew best: the people whose backgrounds you couldn't fathom were the ones you absolutely couldn't provoke.

Kicking a steel plate didn't just cost you a leg; it cost you your life.

After a moment of silence, someone squinted and began to size up Ye Yingling again.

"Is that the young lady from the Ye family following the she-dragon? The one with the Nine-Heart Begonia spirit?"

"It really is her. But didn't she commission the Black Wolf Mercenary Group to hunt a spirit ring yesterday? Why aren't any of the Black Wolf men here, and why is she back with Liu Erlong?"

This question circulated among the mercenaries, and everyone's brows furrowed.

Liu Erlong walked up to the counter, and when the manager looked up and saw her, his fingers stiffened on the ledger.

What surprised him even more was that Ye Yingling was standing right beside her.

The young lady of the Ye family, the current successor of the Nine-Heart Begonia, one of the few top-tier healing spirit masters on the entire continent.

She had clearly left the city with the Black Wolf Mercenary Group yesterday; how was she back today with Liu Erlong? Where were the Black Wolf men?

Seeing the confusion on the manager's face, Ye Yingling spoke softly to explain.

"We encountered a twenty-thousand-year Golden-Armored Blazing Dragon. Captain Wang and the others all died under the beast's claws. If Senior Sister hadn't saved me, I wouldn't have made it back either."

The manager's expression froze, and it took him a long moment to let out a heavy sigh.

A mercenary group consisting of a Spirit King and several Spirit Sects—who could survive an encounter with a twenty-thousand-year dragon-type spirit beast?

But then, a thought struck him: the fact that Liu Erlong had managed to bring Ye Yingling back alive from the jaws of such a beast made him look at her again, his wariness deepening.

It was fortunate that the Ye family's young lady was unharmed; if the successor of the Nine-Heart Begonia had perished on his watch, he wouldn't have been able to answer to the Ye family.

Who on this continent hadn't owed a favor to a healing spirit master, let alone a top-tier one?

If not for the limitations of the Nine-Heart Begonia spirit, the Ye family would have long since become the continent's number one support family.

"Turning in a mission." Liu Erlong slapped the bounty slip onto the counter.

The manager looked down at the slip, then back up at Liu Erlong, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"You... you really completed it? A complete five-thousand-year dragon-type spirit beast?"

"This place is too small. Let's go somewhere more spacious."

The manager nodded repeatedly and personally led the two women through the corridor to the backyard.

Liu Erlong flicked her wrist, pulling the item from her storage spirit tool, and the complete carcass of the five-thousand-year Red Fire Earth Dragon hit the ground with a thud, causing the bluestone floor to tremble.

The manager leaned in to inspect it; the scales were intact, and the only fatal wound was to the eye—clean and precise, clearly a one-hit kill.

He looked up, his voice trembling.

"Did you really kill this alone? In one strike?"

Liu Erlong didn't answer; instead, she slapped the stone pedestal beside her, causing it to crack instantly.

"Speaking of which, I'm absolutely furious! Are your intelligence gatherers eating dung for a living?"

The manager shuddered in fear.

"Last time I went to harvest Dragon Breath Grass, it was supposed to be the territory of a one- or two-thousand-year soul beast, but I ran into an eight-thousand-year Red Flame Earth Dragon and was nearly flattened at the bottom of the cliff!"

"This time is even more ridiculous! The target was supposed to be a five-thousand-year Red Fire Earth Dragon, but there was another one lying right next to it! A male and a female! You call this intelligence?"

"Once is a variable, but twice? I was nearly killed by your bunch of useless subordinates twice! You're going to settle this account with me right now!"

The manager's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably, his expression one of misery.

"Th-th-this, I'll apply for compensation for the dangerous intelligence error, according to the rules, full compensation—"

By the time he emerged from the storeroom, the commission receipt in his hand had increased from thirty thousand to fifty thousand, and his legs were still shaking as he handed it over with both hands.

Liu Erlong glanced at the number, snorted, and tucked the receipt into her robes.

The manager personally escorted the two women out of the Mercenary Guild's main entrance, his obsequious smile fixed in place until their figures disappeared around the corner of the street.

The mercenaries in the hall looked at each other in dismay as they watched the manager send the pair off like a subservient grandson.

Someone gathered the courage to approach the bulletin board and saw that the five-thousand-year Red Fire Earth Dragon mission slip was stamped with a red "Completed" mark.

"A five-thousand-year dragon-type soul beast, killed in one strike?"

The entire Mercenary Guild fell into a deathly silence for a long while.

Ye Yingling followed behind Liu Erlong, watching the entire scene, her eyes practically overflowing with admiration.

She had never imagined one could bargain with the Mercenary Guild like this, nor had she ever seen a peer soul master make a manager bow and scrape in such fear.

After leaving the Mercenary Guild, Liu Erlong led Ye Yingling straight to the Heaven Dou City Auction House.

The person in charge of the auction house hurried over to greet them.

Without waiting for him to speak, Liu Erlong began pulling items directly from her storage soul tool.

Over a dozen soul bones covered the tabletop, ranging from three thousand to eight thousand years old, each with distinct colors and luster.

The expression on the manager's face shifted from polite formality to looking as if he had been struck by lightning.

Before he could even process that, Liu Erlong began pulling out soul tool fragments, rare ores, medicinal herbs, scales, dragon hide, dragon horns, beast teeth, and sharp claws, piling them up on the long table with a loud clatter.

The manager completely forgot about formalities, pulled a gold-inlaid membership card from his sleeve, and handed it over with both hands.

"Distinguished guest, from now on, you will enjoy a discount on any items purchased at our house, and we will only charge the lowest possible commission rate for all soul bone auctions."

Liu Erlong took the membership card, glanced at it, tucked it into her robes, and incidentally requested the two pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue and several pieces of thousand-year whale glue currently in the auction house's inventory.

The manager personally accompanied them to the warehouse to retrieve the goods and escorted them to the door, his smile remaining fixed until the two women vanished from sight.

Liu Erlong led Ye Yingling straight to the Rose Hotel.

The maid behind the counter swept a quick, sharp gaze between the two of them.

Liu Erlong slapped the gold soul coins onto the counter.

"One luxury suite."

The maid took the money and handed over the key with a professional, polite smile, though her eyes couldn't help but dart toward Ye Yingling again.

That young lady was trailing behind, timidly hunching her shoulders, her cheeks so red they could fry an egg, and she didn't dare lift her head from start to finish.

Once the two women had gone up the stairs, the maid whispered to her colleague nearby.

"The pillows in this shop's luxury suite really are something; one pair leaves and another arrives."

Her colleague covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking for a long time.

After all, they had been here a long time.

It wasn't as if they hadn't seen women with women before.