On the street of the Thirty-first City, there were many warriors riding tall savage beasts. They wore thick armor, with huge swords hanging at their waists and bags on their backs. Some of them had blood stain on their armors. It seemed that they had just returned from their missions.
This was the gathering place for the most powerful mercenaries in the Eastern Region. Every large-scale Mercenary Group had its stronghold in the city to receive and pass on tasks.
The Silver Sky Mercenary Group wasn’t the top-ranking mercenary group in the Eastern Region. Its history only spanned several decades, incomparable to the top groups that had been operating for thousands of years or even tens of thousands of years.
From the Commander to the ordinary mercenary, the vast majority of them were young. The eldest one was no more than 60.
Yet, the young group had quite the reputation in the Eastern Region. That was because they only accepted genius mercenaries, with the weakest one among them being a Three-realm Fighting Genius.
Moreover, the reputation value of the group was extremely high. In the Mercenary Union, it was enough to rank in the top five.
For a mercenary, reputation was the most important thing.
No matter how powerful a mercenary was, no one would hire one without reputation.
The Commander of the group, Silvermoon, was a beautiful and talented person blessed with extreme luck. Though she wasn’t a Saintly Being, she was on par with one. Her cultivation had reached the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm. She might very well end up being the youngest Half-Saint in the Eastern Region.
Two deputy commanders served under her.
One of them was Nie Honglou.
Despite his young looks that made him look 20, Nie Honglou was already 42. His eyebrows were like green peaks. His eyes were like cold stars and his nose was like a dangling gallbladder. He was very handsome.
He was clean without a speck of dust or a single stain on his clothing. His gestures and movements demonstrated a chic and elegant noble temperament.
Presently, he, Lu Yi, and Zhang Ruochen were seated in a luxurious and elegant room on the second floor of the Kong Yi Tower.
They were sitting in a different direction, calmly tasting the wine.
Lu Yi, who was the disciple of Sword Sanctum, was under Lu Youcai’s orders to welcome Zhang Ruochen. He was a master in the First Change in the Fish-dragon Realm.
He put down his glass and asked curiously, “Mr Zhang, I heard from the presbyter that you’re going to hire a top master. Is it just for dealing with the Blood Spirit?”
Zhang Ruochen nodded. “Dealing with the Blood Spirit is one reason. I want a master around me for protection at all times.”
Lu Yi looked like understanding finally dawned on him.
Now, everyone knew that Zhang Ruochen had swallowed the Dragon Pearl and he was Buddha Emperor’s descendant. There would certainly be many who wanted to kill him.
It was reasonable that he wanted to hire a top-level mercenary to protect him.
Nie Honglou grinned. “The Blood Spirit isn’t simple. It must have combined large amount of Half-Saint’s Light. It’s stronger than some masters in the Seventh Change in the Fish-dragon Realm and has the potential to be a Half-Saint. I can’t kill her on my own.”
Lu Yi frowned. “If even the Deputy Commander Nie can’t kill her, we can only ask for Half-Saint’s help. Only he can kill her for sure.”
Nie Honglou smiled. “That’s not for sure. If Mr Zhang can pay a price high enough, I can even invite the Commander of Silvermoon Group. If she’s willing to help, I have every confidence that we’ll kill the Blood Spirit.”
Lu Yi was shocked when he heard the name of Commander of Silvermoon Group. “It’s said that the Commander had learned the martial arts of 100 families and observed 18 volumes of the Half-Saint’s Sacred Glyphand. Her cultivation is infinitely close to the Half-Saint Realm. It’s not difficult for her to kill the Blood Spirit if she’s willing to help.”
“How much money should I pay for her help?” Zhang Ruochen.
The more powerful the mercenary was, the higher the price would be.
He would need a huge amount of Spiritual Crystals to hire a strong warrior like Silvermoon for just one day.
Nie Honglou smiled. “It’s hard to say. The Commander doesn’t do business according to the routine. Once, she helped a beggar to kill the descendant of the Half-Saint family for a silver coin. However, she also asked for 100 million Spiritual Crystals and scared off the deacon of Saint Xu Gentry.
“I can’t promise you now. I can only help you tell the Commander. I’m not sure if she’ll be willing to help.”
“All right! I’ll go with you to the Silver Sky Mercenary Group,” Zhang Ruochen said.
Though he trusted the mercenary to help him relay his request, he still wanted to visit the Silver Sky Mercenary Group personally. In particular, he wanted to meet the Commander and see what kind of talent she was.
A monk who could become the youngest Half-Saint of the Eastern Region couldn’t be a simple person.
If she could successfully reach the Half-Saint Realm in such a short amount of time, she would reign superior to even the Six Great Kings of the new generation.
Who wouldn’t want to meet such a figure?
Lu Yi had other things to deal with, so he took his leave first. Before he did so, he told Zhang Ruochen that he could be found in the branch gang of the Sword Sanctum in the Thirty-first City if he was in trouble.
Zhang Ruochen thanked him and went to the Silver Sky Mercenary Group with Nie Honglou.
Swoosh!
There was a bluestone lane in the Thirty-first City.
A streak of Spiritual Blood gushed out of the crevice between the two stone slabs on the ground.
The Spiritual Blood rose up and condensed into the body of the Blood Spirit Queen. With her exquisite bare feet, she stood on a cloud of blood fog one meter above the ground.
She had a graceful figure, ample bosom and hips, and a wonderful body curve. With her long blood-red hair, she emanated an icy cold aura.
“Zhang Ruochen actually wants to hire a mercenary to deal with me? I must find a way to deal with him in advance,” she said to herself.
A Blood Spirit’s strength lay in concealment. Even if Zhang Ruochen had a Level 41 Spiritual Power, he might not be able to find her.
Earlier, she had been in the hiding as she eavesdropped Zhang Ruochen’s conversation with Nie Honglou.
Tap, tap!
There were sounds of footsteps.
A blue-robed man carrying a two-meter-long wide knife appeared in the small alley. He lowered his voice and said, “Zhang Ruochen has gone to the Silver Sky Mercenary Group. You’re dead once he has Silvermoon’s help. Now you need allies to go with you to the Silver Sky Mercenary Group and kill Zhang Ruochen.”
Blood Spirit Queen’s eyes turned cold. “Who are you?”
Dark Blue Emissary stared at her and said slowly, “I’m your ally.”
“You think you’re qualified?”
Blood Spirit Queen sneered and disappeared from where she stood. She turned into a bloody wave and rushed to Dark Blue Emissary with a palm strike.
Dark Blue Emissary’s body bulged as if there was wind billowing his clothes. The Genuine Qi gushed out of his body and rapidly spun around his body, forming a circle.
Standing inside the circle of the Genuine Qi, he threw a punch at Blood Spirit Queen and hit the center of her palm.
Boom!
They took three steps backward at the same time before they regained their footing.
“Amazing. You’re not weaker than me. Who are you?” Blood Spirit Queen asked.
Dark Blue Emissary flexed his wrist and smiled. “I’m Dark Blue Emissary, one of the Seven Kills Emissary of the Black Market Excellence Hall. Blood Spirit Queen, our young master is in the Thirty-first City. He’s very interested in you and wants to help you kill Zhang Ruochen and destroy the Silver Sky Mercenary Group.”
“Di Yi?” Blood Spirit Queen said.
“Correct.”
Blood Spirit Queen sneered. “Help me? Di Yi had his heart dug out by Zhang Ruochen. He wants to kill Zhang Ruochen more than I do. If anyone’s helping, it’s me. Besides, it’s not hard to kill Zhang Ruochen. Why does he need to involve the Silver Sky Mercenary Group?”
Dark Blue Emissary smiled. “There’s no harm in telling you. Silvermoon is a renegade of the black market. The young master has come to the Thirty-first City to kill her. Zhang Ruochen’s appearance is just a coincidence. Perhaps this is just a small world! Since that’s the case, the young master decides to take this opportunity to kill him as well.”
Thoughts raced in Blood Spirit Queen’s mind. She had to admire the intelligence network of the black market. They knew when Zhang Ruochen had come to the Thirty-first City and how to find her.
When she was eavesdropping on Zhang Ruochen’s conversation, perhaps the master of the black market was also watching her secretly.
She felt chilled to core just thinking about having people control her every movement.
“I’ll first cooperate with Di Yi to get rid of Zhang Ruochen and regain the Half-Saint’s Light,” Blood Spirit Queen thought.