[Enhancement Type, Stone Skin]

"You're an assassin? You're here for a Revenge Hunt?" Rock immediately sobered up from his drunken haze.

He might have been arrogant, but he was no fool. He was certainly not the kind of idiot who died without knowing why, then remained confused even after death.

He had drunk quite a bit, but his mind was still clear; he was not drunk senseless. As a mercenary—especially one who had betrayed his companions—he had no intention of dying before he had spent all his gold. Even less did he want to be slaughtered while drunk, unable to put up any resistance.

Just because no assassins had come looking for him these past few days did not mean he had let down his guard completely.

Vigilance was the most basic necessity for every mercenary who wanted to stay alive.

The newcomer was, of course, Yue Yang. He smiled faintly. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take your head and exchange it for a little bounty. If you have any last words, you can say them now. I can give you one minute..."

"You think you can kill me?" Rock burst into laughter as though he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Are those your last words? Hmm, very concise. In that case, I'll send you on your way!" Yue Yang casually shrugged and walked closer step by step.

"Stone Skin!" Rock roared, pulling a black crystal from his robes as he began chanting.

At once, a mass of black light surged from the summoning crystal.

Like mist and smoke, the black light rapidly formed into a huge, dark stone man. It spread its arms and "embraced" Rock.

In an instant, it fused with Rock's body and vanished without a trace.

Rock's entire body had now turned as dark as the stone man. His human skin was gone, making him look exceedingly bizarre.

Yue Yang did not launch a sneak attack. Instead, he waited quietly and observed carefully.

He discovered that his first opponent was an elemental-type mercenary, and the summoned battle beast should have been an elemental-type Stone Skin.

Among the four main categories—elemental, enhancement, battle beast, and special—special-type battle beasts were mainly used for everyday skills or intelligence gathering, so ordinary mercenaries would not choose them. Elemental-type battle beasts had extremely demanding requirements and were not favored summons among mercenaries either.

Mercenaries preferred the enhancement and battle beast categories. Enhancement types could directly increase the host's combat strength, which was crucial for survival. Battle beast types could use the battle beasts' own formidable strength to strike enemies. Having a powerful battle beast as a combat partner provided tremendous support, which was also vital in battle. A good battle beast could often determine the victory of an entire battle.

More than eighty percent of mercenaries would choose enhancement-type battle beasts first. After all, they lived with their lives on the line, and staying alive came first.

If they could summon two battle beasts, their second choice would definitely be a battle beast type, especially the clearly superior beast and bird types.

Rock's elemental-type battle beast came as a slight surprise to Yue Yang.

This unusual choice also revealed one thing: this "Rock" was quite capable, far stronger than an ordinary mercenary.

The Revenge Hunt information showed that he was a high-level Rank Two Warrior.

Judging by surface strength alone, he was five full ranks above Yue Yang, a beginner Rank One Apprentice...

If it had been anyone else instead of Yue Yang, the absurdly powerful transmigrator, such a difference in rank would have been impossible to overcome. In battle, unless the battle beasts countered each other by attribute, a fight with too great a gap in level and rank had no suspense. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the higher-ranked side would win.

"Come on, brat, come take my head!" Rock snarled, drawing a gleaming steel axe from his waist.

With his body now impervious to blades and spears, his confidence swelled immensely.

As long as the sharp axe in his hand struck his opponent, they would surely suffer grievous injuries, perhaps even die on the spot.

It was precisely because his defense was incredibly strong, his power brutal, and his attacks fierce that almost no mercenaries dared provoke him. This masked little thief before him must have eaten a bear's heart and lost his mind to come here and throw his life away so recklessly. Did he not know that strength-based axe fighters naturally countered nimble thieves?

Yue Yang laughed when he saw this. Instead of rushing forward to fight, he turned and ran.

Rock was stunned by this.

What?

Was this brat trying to flee after realizing things had gone wrong?

The dark skin at the corners of Rock's mouth wrinkled strangely, like a stone man sneering, revealing a bizarre mocking smile.

He immediately took off after Yue Yang. Though his steps were not as swift as Yue Yang's, Stone Skin ensured that he would never feel tired, just like those stone golems that never fatigued.

For the moment, he might not be able to catch this quick-legged little thief, but once enough time passed and the other man's stamina was greatly depleted, catching the hateful little thief would be effortless. Rock had chased down and killed enemies like this more than twenty times, and never once had an enemy escaped before his eyes. He believed this time would be no exception.

When they reached an abandoned farmyard, Rock saw his opponent slowing drastically, seemingly unable to keep going. He was immediately overjoyed.

Rock raised his steel axe and hurled it heavily at Yue Yang's back.

Yue Yang shifted slightly to dodge the flying axe, then stopped.

He looked around at the surroundings and nodded. "This place is nice. Quiet and dark—a good place to kill someone!"

"Not to kill, but to be killed!" Seeing that Yue Yang could no longer escape yet still dared talk tough, Rock thought the brat truly did not know the meaning of death.

"If you're very rich—say, if you have a hundred gold—I can consider sparing you and letting you buy back your own life." Yue Yang felt that the bounty of five gold coins was far too little. If this guy was a wealthy man, there was no need to rush to kill him. He could squeeze some money out of him first.

"This is the most ridiculous joke I've ever heard!" Rock spat disdainfully onto the ground. "Why don't you tell me to kneel down and beg for mercy?"

"I usually don't give people the chance to beg for mercy..." Yue Yang used the tip of his foot to flip up the steel axe buried deep in the earth, then caught it lightly in his hand.

He strode toward Rock. Before Rock could attack with his raised fist, Yue Yang chopped his axe into the other man's chest.

Clang!

The steel axe and Rock's chest produced a strange metallic crash, while a long spray of sparks flew out.

Other than a faint grayish-white mark, Rock's chest showed no sign of injury.

Despite the heavy blow of the axe, not a bit of skin was broken and not a drop of blood was shed.

The defensive power of the enhancement-type Stone Skin truly was absurd!

Yue Yang looked at the steel axe in his hand. Several small chips had even appeared on its sharp edge...

Rock lightly brushed the mark on his chest with one hand and sneered arrogantly. "I told you, brat. Now you know how formidable I am, don't you? I'm impervious to blades and spears from head to toe. Even the savage bites of tigers and lions can do nothing to me. And you, a little bastard not even fully grown, think you can kill me?"