Holding hands

Most of the Magical Beast Mountain Range was covered in dense forest. Though it seemed quiet, any seasoned mercenary knew the dangers lurking within.

Many of the mercenaries here were working together for the first time, but their years of experience still allowed them to maintain a certain level of coordination.

An exchange of glances could convey all sorts of signals, and often, they even communicated through special hand gestures.

In a place like this, making a sound could often be fatal.

Over the decades, this special set of hand signals had gradually spread among the mercenaries, becoming a distinctive local form of communication.

As for Xiao Yan, he was a newcomer, so the veteran mercenaries took fairly good care of him, assigning him a position nearer the center.

If the mercenaries on the outer perimeter came under attack, he could move flexibly to support them.

After all, newcomers lacked experience and reacted more slowly. If they were injured here, it would not only weaken the fighting strength of the entire mercenary group.

The scent of human blood would also alert other magical beasts, bringing even more trouble.

The responsibility of guarding Xiao Yi Xian fell to thirty-odd regular members of a mercenary group.

Each wore a badge depicting a one-eyed wolf's head on their chest, identifying the force they belonged to.

Among these guards, a rather handsome young man occasionally struck up a conversation with Xiao Yi Xian.

Most of the time, Xiao Yi Xian simply smiled and shook her head, seemingly declining some proposal of his.

The young man did not get angry after Xiao Yi Xian rejected him. Instead, he turned his attention to the other mercenaries.

"Everyone, stay sharp! We're about to enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range. If any of you drops the ball here, I'll kick him straight out of the party. Understood?"

The young man was clearly venting his resentment on the others, showing that his gracious manner in front of Xiao Yi Xian had been nothing but a disguise.

"Yes, young commander!"

The mercenaries of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group answered loudly, and the young man nodded in satisfaction, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of everyone rallying around him.

"Pah! Who does he think he is? He's just riding on his father's position as commander of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group. Otherwise, with that attitude of his, how could he expect Xiao Yi Xian to give him a second glance?"

The mercenary beside Xiao Yan could not help muttering a few curses, a hint of sourness in his voice.

"Is that fellow's father really strong?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yan could not resist asking.

"Of course. His father is one of the few Dou Shi experts in Qingshan Town, and his fighting strength ranks among the town's top three. Otherwise, how could a Six-Star Dou Zhe like him get so many people to follow his orders?"

However dissatisfied he was with the young man, the mercenary speaking to Xiao Yan still showed deep apprehension in his eyes when he mentioned the young man's father.

"A Dou Shi... that's barely passable, I suppose?"

Xiao Yan offered the assessment without thinking. After all, he had already become a Dou Shi at thirteen.

The mercenary who heard him gave Xiao Yan a strange look.

If this fellow was not simply a reckless greenhorn, then he could only be a disciple from a great family out gaining experience.

Yet he could not make out the slightest trace of noble bearing in Xiao Yan, so he instinctively assumed that something might be wrong with the fellow's head, skewing his judgment.

Not long after officially entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the mercenaries encountered their first attack.

A First-Tier Magical Beast, a Fallen Leaf Snake, lay concealed beneath a thick carpet of fallen leaves.

Taking advantage of one mercenary's carelessness, it burst from its camouflage and sank its fangs into his thigh.

The mercenary's face turned visibly purple. He had clearly been poisoned.

It was only a First-Tier Magical Beast, and the mercenaries soon surrounded it and hacked it into pulp. Unfortunately, they found no magic core or anything similar inside it.

They could only extract its gallbladder and keep it as their spoils.

The poisoned mercenary was quickly carried to Xiao Yi Xian at the rear. After he took her specially prepared antidote, the snake venom in his body was swiftly neutralized.

As they continued onward, the Mercenary Group Xiao Yan had joined encountered three more waves of attacks.

These were mostly scattered, low-ranking magical beasts, and the mercenaries generally dealt with them through teamwork.

Only once did a rank-one Earth Demon Ape break through their formation and charge up to Xiao Yan, but he injured it with a single punch and drove it back.

With his strength, he could naturally have killed the Earth Demon Ape in one blow. There was simply no need.

"Young fellow, you're pretty strong! You met that Earth Demon Ape's fist head-on and actually knocked it back."

"Looks like you were still holding back when you broke that tree earlier, young fellow. Haha!"

"To have that kind of ability at your age, your future really knows no bounds."

Among First-Tier Magical Beasts, Earth Demon Apes were renowned for their strength. Even a four-star Dou Zhe would struggle to gain the upper hand in a direct contest of brute force.

This gave everyone a better understanding of Xiao Yan's strength, and they showered him with praise.

"I'm just a little stronger than most, that's all."

Faced with the mercenaries' compliments, Xiao Yan merely smiled and nodded, completely at ease.

The herb-gathering party continued onward. When they reached a certain spot, a gentle voice rang out among them.

"Everyone, the herb-gathering grounds are just ahead. You must all be tired after the journey, so let's rest here for a while."

The speaker was Xiao Yi Xian. After she spoke, the young commander of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group followed suit, ordering everyone to rest where they were.

A dozen or so mercenaries spread out nearby to stand guard.

"You lot, clear away the vegetation and vines nearby so no magical beasts can hide there and ambush us."

The young commander of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group issued orders directly to Xiao Yan and a dozen other temporary mercenaries, directing them to keep working.

Naturally, almost all the clearing work fell to the temporarily hired mercenaries, while the members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group rested where they were and recovered their Dou Qi.

Though dissatisfied with his arrangements, the other mercenaries could only comply. After all, his side had strength in numbers.

Xiao Yan also went through the motions of clearing vegetation along the way, wandering an unknown distance without realizing it.

Suddenly, the view ahead opened up, and sunlight poured in.

Only then did Xiao Yan realize that he had passed through the woods and reached the edge of a cliff.

The cliff was not particularly sheer, however, and there were plenty of oddly shaped rocks below that could serve as footholds.

At that moment, Xiao

Yan caught a medicinal fragrance and turned his gaze toward it. A bright red fruit was actually growing at the edge of the cliff.

Though he had no idea what it was or what it did, it had to be a rare medicinal ingredient. Xiao Yan took a few steps to the cliff's edge and reached for the fruit.

Just as he reached out, another arm, white as jade, reached for the same fruit. A moment too late, Xiao Yan caught that jade-white arm instead.