First Contact with Xiao Yi Xian

Seeing its path blocked, the Fire Fox's pupils widened slightly.

Then, at astonishing speed, it actually whipped around and easily dodged the coil of Dou Qi winding toward it.

But because of that, it was forced to face the encirclement of the remaining mercenaries.

The Wind Attribute mercenary held a curved blade and leaped behind the Fire Fox, bringing his weapon down hard toward its head.

Unfortunately, the Fire Fox was simply too fast. With a push of all four legs, it sidestepped away.

"Hey! Take my blade!"

Seeing the Fire Fox forced toward his side, Wang Meng was overjoyed. Gold Attribute Dou Qi circulated and covered his long blade, making it look even sharper.

The other three Gold Attribute mercenaries were not slow to react either. Without any discussion, they showed astonishing coordination, swinging their blades from different angles at the same time.

Facing this no-blind-spot siege, even with the Fire Fox's astonishing speed, it could no longer escape completely unscathed.

"Screech!"

The Fire Fox let out a shrill cry, its body suddenly leaping up as its hind leg kicked off a long blade.

Though it left behind a bloody wound, it also used the force to temporarily escape a fatal disaster.

"Entangle!"

"Wind Vortex Kill!"

One wave had yet to settle before another rose.

Two voices rang out at the same time, and just as the Fire Fox retreated, it once again fell into the encirclement of the four most lethal fighters.

Already injured, the Fire Fox's speed was greatly restricted. Although it still broke out of the encirclement this time, a shocking, fatal wound was left across its back.

"Screech, screech!"

Sensing the aura of death, the Fire Fox cried out anxiously several times. Then, all of a sudden, it erupted with speed even more astonishing than at its peak.

The mercenaries only saw a fiery-red shadow dart toward the valley exit. By the time they tried to stop it again, it was already too late.

Chen Xiao, who had taken in the entire process, had been waiting for a long time. Seeing that crimson shadow flying toward him, he did not hesitate to take his stance, and the Dou Qi inside his body suddenly circulated.

"Yan Return Strike!"

"Bang!"

A muffled thud fell. Chen Xiao only felt a tremendous force travel up his arm, the impact driving him several steps back before he finally stopped.

Looking at the Fire Fox again, there was not the slightest trace of life left in it. It lay stiffly on the ground, with an obvious dent in its head.

A series of hurried, disorderly footsteps sounded as the six mercenaries arrived at the valley entrance one after another.

They looked at the Fire Fox on the ground, completely dead, then at the fatal wound on its head. All of them stared at Chen Xiao in surprise, as if saying, This is what you called being best at defense?

"If I said it ran into that by itself and died, would you believe me?"

Chen Xiao rubbed his reddened arm, his expression extremely helpless.

His current body really was a little too fragile.

Yan Return Strike was certainly useful, but the hard limits of his body could not be ignored either.

Great. Another gap that he had to spend money to fix had appeared...

"I believe you! Definitely believe you! Brother Chen, my name is Wang Xiong. I've been making my way around Green Mountain Town for quite a few years. If there's anything Brother Chen doesn't understand in the future, you can ask me anytime."

The Wood Attribute mercenary was the first to come back to his senses. A hearty smile appeared on his rugged face, and his enthusiasm multiplied.

The others were not slow to react either and began greeting him one after another.

"Little Brother Chen, my name is Jiang Yang."

"Zhang Huaqiang."

"Liu Rushan."

"..."

Very soon, all the mercenaries had given their names, which counted as formally getting acquainted with Chen Xiao.

As people who struggled along at the bottom, their strength might have been average, but their judgment was not poor.

For Chen Xiao to possess greater strength than them at such a young age, it was easy to imagine that he would become even more powerful in the future. Perhaps he even had a background far beyond their reach.

Under those circumstances, there was absolutely no harm in forming a connection with him. Who knew? There might be an unexpected return someday.

Therefore, seeing that the timing was right, the men all stepped forward to greet him.

Chen Xiao cupped his fists in response again and again, but in his heart, he smiled helplessly.

The current him was even more strapped for money than these mercenaries. How could he possibly be qualified to give anyone else a hand?

"Brother Wang Meng, you handle this Fire Fox."

The other party nodded slightly, then used the long blade in his hand to begin processing it with extremely practiced technique. In less than three minutes, he had peeled off the pelt completely intact.

"The finished product isn't bad. There are only two cuts. You all don't know this, but the nobles in those big cities love this kind of fur the most. As long as you can hunt one down, you never have to worry about selling it."

Wang Meng cheerfully tucked the fur into his bundle, not forgetting to explain its uses to everyone.

"Too bad our luck was average. No magic crystal."

A magic crystal was, in other words, a magic core.

However, on low-rank magical beasts, magic cores were not a stable drop; luck played a huge part.

With good luck, one might get a magic core from killing a single first-rank magical beast. With bad luck, even a third-rank magical beast might leave them empty-handed.

Only magical beasts that reached Dou Ling, which was the fourth-rank level, could produce magic cores consistently.

"If you really managed to dig out a magic core, we'd have to make you pay for a feast when we got back tonight." Hearing Wang Meng mutter, several mercenaries laughed and teased him.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that a magic core contained the essence of a magical beast, and its value was generally the highest part of the beast as well.

For a second-rank Fire Fox like this, if it produced a magic core, its value would exceed the combined worth of its flesh, blood, and fur several times over.

Moreover, magic cores were definitely far easier to sell than this beautiful pelt.

That came down to the wide range of uses for magic cores. They were not only essential materials for alchemists when refining pills, but could also be inlaid into weapons.

Weapons enhanced with magic cores not only possessed even greater destructive power, but also had the enticing special effect of amplifying Dou Qi, making them highly sought after by the Dou Zhe class on Dou Qi Continent.

"Haha, as long as we've got that kind of luck, anything's easy. Everyone rest a bit. I'll go scatter some scented bait in the valley, then guard the valley and wait for the foxes."

Wang Meng laughed loudly and headed into the valley.

Since he had set the goal of hunting four Fire Foxes, he naturally had preparations in place.

Perhaps his scented bait was remarkably effective, or perhaps everyone's luck today was quite good; in only half a day, the group successfully completed their set goal.

What was worth mentioning was that from the four Fire Foxes, they did not see a single magic core.

During the subsequent hunts of the other three Fire Foxes, Chen Xiao also made another move to intercept one.

Then another patch on his left arm turned red.

One on the left, one on the right. Perfectly symmetrical.

"Little Brother Chen had better go take a look at Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion later. Otherwise, those are definitely going to swell up. It's nothing serious, but it'll inevitably hurt for a couple days. This is also something that often happens when newcomers enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Once you get hurt enough, you'll end up thick-skinned like us."

On the road back to Green Mountain Town, Wang Meng, in a good mood, kindly reminded him.

Chen Xiao nodded slightly. Using pills to treat his wounds was far too extravagant for him right now, and he could not afford it either.

On that basis, the affordable and decent Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion was indeed a good choice.

The journey remained smooth.

When the seven returned to Green Mountain Town, it was only the Shen Hour.

After a brief word of farewell, the seven went their separate ways.

Chen Xiao simply filled his stomach in town, then headed straight for Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion.

Probably because the mercenaries out making a living had not yet returned in large numbers at this time, the spacious Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion seemed very empty, with only a few scattered people visible.

Chen Xiao swept his gaze around, finally fixing it on the White Dress Girl who stood on a wooden crate, as though yesterday had repeated itself.

Seeing Chen Xiao walk forward and getting a clear look at that delicate, youthful face, a hint of surprise flashed through Xiao Yi Xian's eyes. Immediately after, it quickly vanished without a trace, and her signature smile appeared.

"Where are you hurt?"

Her voice was very soft, like moonlight spilling across the surface of a calm lake—gentle, soothing, carrying a dreamlike tenderness. As it entered the ear, it instantly calmed the mind.

Chen Xiao returned a polite smile, then rolled up his sleeves, revealing the redness and swelling on both arms.

The girl glanced at them. Under Chen Xiao's gaze, she stretched out a fair, delicate finger and gently poked them.

"Does it hurt?"

"A little. They're also a bit hot."

"Mm, I can feel it. It's not a big problem. Take a packet of medicinal powder back and apply it. The swelling will go down overnight. But your body is still very fragile. Intense collisions can injure you easily, so avoid them if you can. Three gold coins. Medicinal herbs or Miscellaneous Items like medical books can also be used in exchange."

"I'll remember that. Thank you."

Taking the medicine packet the girl handed over, Chen Xiao took out three gold coins and paid.

So this was the difference between physicians and alchemists.

If it were an alchemist, even the most ordinary first-grade pill could not possibly be this cheap.

However, the girl's words did remind Chen Xiao that his fragile body still could not withstand high-intensity combat.

Perhaps it was time to get a weapon to help cushion the impact!