Registering a Mercenary Group!

Star Dou City!

As Yang Que walked down the street, he could not help remembering how he had met the young leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan here several years ago!

He had obtained his first Soul Ring for him, the Purple Lightning Thunder Dragon's Soul Ring! At the same time, he had earned a favor from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!

Yang Que took a blue Jade Pendant from his backpack! A Thunder Dragon was carved on it! It was the very token Yu Tianheng had given him!

"This Jade Pendant is something else! It can actually nurture mental strength on its own and help me focus and calm my mind! Not bad at all!" Yang Que played with the Jade Pendant for a while!

After walking along the street for a while, he found himself in front of a guild! The sign above its doors read: Mercenary Guild!

And directly across from it stood the Alchemist Guild!

Huh! There's a Mercenary Guild and an Alchemist Guild here! It makes sense for the Alchemist Guild to be here, but the Mercenary Guild? Now that's interesting! Yang Que thought!

Like the Alchemist Guild, the Mercenary Guild was a loose organization! But it had its own order and rules! The Mercenary Guild wielded enormous power! Its ranks included some of the fiercest Soul Masters on the continent! They spent their lives licking blood from the edge of a blade, and many of them worked for money! But some powerful mercenaries had no interest in Gold Coins. The payment they demanded for their missions was usually Soul Bones! They would stop at nothing to complete a job! Even so, their existence struck fear into many sects! They were numerous, powerful, and fiercely united against outsiders! Apart from the Alchemist Guild, they were the last people on the continent anyone wanted to provoke! Doing so would be like poking a hornet's nest...

Though the Mercenary Guild's mercenaries stood together against outsiders, competition among them was fierce—and bloody! Every day, mercenary teams were destroyed and new ones formed! Those that fell either died on missions or at the hands of other mercenary teams!

Mercenaries had five ranks: Black Iron, Silver, Gold, Grandmaster, and Saint Level!

Saint Level mercenary teams were the most terrifying, made up almost entirely of Soul Douluo or Titled Douluo!! Of course, teams like that were the guild's trump cards, and the Mercenary Guild had only two of them! Gold Coins alone could never hire them! It would take top-grade Medicinal Herbs, high-level pills, or powerful Soul Bones...

A mercenary's rank rose according to the number of missions completed and how well they were done! Yang Que did not know exactly how it was calculated!

Now Yang Que wondered whether he should register as a mercenary and earn some extra money! True, he rarely bought things, and he could get what he needed from the System Shop, but there could always be special circumstances!

Like the last time he had bought pills! The ones in the System Shop were outrageously expensive, while those outside were much cheaper! Their effects might be different, though!

Still, Gold Coins were indispensable in the outside world!

Besides, he was about to spend years training in the Star Dou Great Forest. Some Soul Beast corpses and Cores he found there might be of no use to him, but he could turn them in for Mercenary Guild missions and make some extra money!

Once Yang Que had an idea, he was ready to act on it! He was a man of action!

Yang Que stepped into the Mercenary Guild! A woman in revealing clothes approached him and asked, "Young master, are you here to post a mission?"

After all, Yang Que looked like a young master from a great family, nothing like the mercenaries who spent their lives licking blood from the edge of a blade! That difference in bearing was impossible to describe!

Yang Que smiled at her. "I'd like to register a mercenary team! Where can I do that?"

"Ah?! You want to register as a mercenary, young master?" The woman looked surprised!

"That's right! My elders sent me out to see the world and gain some experience!" Yang Que said, making up an excuse!

"Oh! I see. That counter over there handles mercenary registration. It costs 500 Gold Coins. This way, young master!" the woman said courteously! A young master from a family like his was worth befriending if possible. If not, she certainly could not afford to offend him—or she might die one day without knowing why!

"All right! Thank you!" Yang Que nodded to her!

Damn! Registering as a mercenary costs 500 Gold Coins? What a rip-off! Good thing I haven't spent all the Gold Coins the grandmasters gave me! Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to register!

Yang Que walked up to the counter, took out 500 Gold Coins, and handed them to the clerk. "I'd like to register as a mercenary!"

"Oh?! What would you like to call your mercenary team? How many members do you have?" The clerk put away the money and looked Yang Que over!

Most people who came to register as mercenaries did so because they could barely scrape by outside and needed the work to put food on the table. A young master like this was a rare sight!

"The name? Let's call it the Yanhuang Mercenary Group! And it's just me!" Yang Que said. He chose the name simply to remember the world he had once called home! He did not know whether he would ever be able to return!

"Hm? One person? Are you sure?" the clerk asked, puzzled! Mercenary groups usually had at least three members when they registered. He had never seen anyone register one alone!

"I'm sure!" Yang Que smiled!

"Very well! I'll process it for you! Please wait ten minutes while we make your Group Emblem and Group Leader Token!" the clerk said!

"All right!" Yang Que nodded politely and stood beside the counter to wait!

"Well, look at this, everyone! A little pup's come to register a mercenary group!?" A man with a scar on his face walked over and called to the members behind him!

"Haha! Kid, you don't look short of money! What's this, come to see how the other half lives? Why didn't you bring your family along? They could change your pants for you!" the scarred man went on!

"Haha, Leader! Maybe this kid's here to hand out gifts and spread some warmth!" a man beside the scarred man said with a laugh!

"Heh, Tianyu, you've got a point! Hey, kid, our strategist says you're here to spread some warmth. How about showing it? Otherwise, things might get dangerous for you in a minute!" the scarred man told Yang Que!

Yang Que glanced at the group and could not help grumbling to himself. Isn't this the kind of thing that happens to protagonists? Trouble follows me wherever I go! What rotten luck!

The onlookers began to murmur. "It's the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group again. They can't get anything done, but they love robbing people and bullying newcomers! No wonder they're still only a Silver Mercenary Group after all these years!"

"Tell me about it! They're a bunch of rat droppings in the soup! People like them are what ruin the Mercenary Guild's reputation!"

From the surrounding chatter, Yang Que learned that they were the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group! Their leader went by Blood Wolf, and the team had seven members!

"Get lost! Get out of here before I decide to kill you all!" Yang Que barked, fixing them with a cold stare!

He knew how dangerous a mercenary's life was. They lived with their blades at their throats! Like a pack of wolves, they would pounce without hesitation the moment he showed the slightest weakness!

So Yang Que immediately unleashed his Blood Fiend Aura, hoping to scare them off. He had only just registered as a mercenary and did not want any trouble!

The members of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group were briefly startled when Yang Que released his aura! But after sensing it more carefully, they grew disdainful!

"Heh! A mere Soul Elder dares act tough in front of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group?" The scarred man scattered Yang Que's aura and sneered!

Yang Que snorted, turned away, and ignored the swarm of flies!

He had not used his full strength. He did not want to attract that much attention. If he could keep a low profile, he would!

But the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group took his reaction to mean he was afraid! They burst out laughing!

"Kid, dare to face me in the Mercenary Arena? The loser hands over his Mercenary Points!" the scarred man said!

Yang Que looked baffled. Mercenary Arena?? Mercenary Points?? What are those??

Just then, the clerk finished making the Group Emblem and Group Leader Token and handed them to Yang Que! "Young man, I'd advise you not to take that wager," he said!

"Oh? Could you tell me what the Mercenary Arena and Mercenary Points are?" Yang Que asked the clerk!

Seeing that Yang Que still had not given up on the idea, the clerk sighed. "The Mercenary Arena is where mercenaries settle their grudges! They use it for matches, duels, and fights to the death!"

"Mercenary Points are used to raise your group's rank! You can also exchange them for treasures at the Mercenary Guild! Every newly registered mercenary group starts with ten points! The Blood Wolf Mercenary Group is picking a fight because they want your ten points! I think you should swallow your pride and let this pass!" the clerk warned him kindly!

But how could the clerk know how strong Yang Que was? To Yang Que, teaching those people a lesson was pointless. If there was something to gain, though, that was another matter!

Yang Que rubbed his chin. "How many points do you get for completing a mission? And how many do you need to advance to a Silver Mercenary Group?"

The clerk answered patiently. "The points awarded for mercenary missions vary according to their difficulty and rewards! You need 100 points to advance to a Silver Mercenary Group, and each rank after that takes ten times as many! Your Group Leader Token must hold enough points for your current rank, or your group will be demoted!"

"Oh? They're a Silver Mercenary Group, right?! If I beat them and transfer their points to my token, can I advance?" Yang Que asked, growing excited!

The clerk froze. What? I just told you to back down. Why are you getting excited? Still, he answered, "In theory, yes!"

"How do you stop them from cheating during the wager?" Yang Que asked again! He did not want to put in the effort only to walk away empty-handed!

"Uh! Don't worry about that. The Mercenary Arena has dedicated officials to oversee your match!" the clerk said, grumbling inwardly. You're worried about that instead of the trouble you're in?? Are you really that carefree??

Yang Que's excitement surged. It looked like he was about to earn his first Mercenary Points! He turned toward the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group, a smile curling his lips...

The members of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group were taken aback. What? He can still smile? Why does that smile look so strange?