Chapter 440: Enemies on a Narrow Road
Entering the Thirty-First City, martial artists riding tall, ferocious beasts could be seen everywhere on the streets. They wore thick armor, carried giant swords at their waists, and bore travel packs on their backs. The armor of some was still stained with fresh blood, as if they had just returned from completing a mission.
This district was the gathering place of the most formidable mercenaries in the Eastern Domain. All the large mercenary groups had established strongholds within the city, responsible for receiving and relaying missions.
The Silver Sky Mercenary Group was not a top-tier mercenary group in the Eastern Domain. With only a few decades of history, it could not compare to those top-tier groups that had been operating for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
From the group leader to the ordinary mercenaries, the vast majority were young people, with the oldest member not exceeding sixty years of age.
Yet, despite being such a young mercenary group, it had gained considerable fame in the Eastern Domain because they only recruited genius mercenaries. Even the least talented mercenary had to be a Triple-Absolute Genius.
Moreover, the Silver Sky Mercenary Group had an extremely high reputation rating, ranking within the top five of the Mercenary Guild.
For mercenaries, reputation was the most important thing.
A mercenary without a reputation, no matter how strong, would find no one to hire them.
The group leader of the Silver Sky Mercenary Group, Silver Moon Lingkong, was a peerlessly elegant, proud daughter of heaven. Although she was not a Sacred Body, she could contend with Sacred Bodies. Her cultivation had reached the Ninth Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm, and she was very likely to become the youngest Half-Saint in the Eastern Domain.
Beneath Silver Moon Lingkong were two deputy group leaders.
Nie Honglou was one of them.
Nie Honglou was already forty-two years old, but he appeared very young, looking only about twenty. His brows were like green peaks, his eyes like cold stars, and his nose like a suspended gall, giving him an exceptionally handsome appearance.
There was not a speck of dust or a trace of grime on him; he was unnaturally clean. Every move he made exuded a dashing and elegant aristocratic temperament.
At this moment, Nie Honglou, Zhang Ruochen, and Lu Yi were sitting in a luxurious private room on the second floor of the Kongyi Pavilion.
The three sat on separate sides, composed and unhurried, savoring wine.
Lu Yi was the disciple of the Divine Sword Sacred Land arranged by Lu Youcai to receive Zhang Ruochen. He had a cultivation of the First Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm and could be considered an expert.
Lu Yi set down his wine cup and asked curiously, "Young Master Zhang, I heard from the elder's message that you wish to hire a top-tier expert. Could it be to deal with that Blood Spirit?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Dealing with that Blood Spirit is one reason. At the same time, I also hope to have an expert by my side who can protect my safety at all times."
Lu Yi showed a look of understanding.
Now, everyone in the world knew that Zhang Ruochen had swallowed the Dragon Pearl and was the heir of the Buddha Emperor. Many people would surely be after him.
It was only reasonable that he wanted to hire a top-tier mercenary to protect himself.
Nie Honglou's lips curled slightly. "That Blood Spirit is no ordinary one. It should have absorbed a large amount of Half-Saint Light, making it stronger than some experts at the Seventh Change of the Fish-Dragon Realm, with the potential to assault the Half-Saint realm. By myself, I cannot kill her."
Lu Yi frowned. "If even Deputy Group Leader Nie cannot kill her, then I suppose only a Half-Saint could be hired to have a sure chance of eliminating her."
Nie Honglou smiled. "That's not necessarily true. If Young Master Zhang is willing to pay a high enough price, I can go and invite Group Leader Silver Moon. If she is willing to act, she would also have a sure chance of destroying that Blood Spirit, body and soul."
Upon hearing the name "Group Leader Silver Moon," Lu Yi's spirits lifted. "Legend has it that Group Leader Silver Moon has cultivated the martial arts of a hundred schools and studied eighteen volumes of Half-Saint Sacred Intent Diagrams. Her cultivation is infinitely close to the Half-Saint realm. If she were to act, killing that Blood Spirit would indeed not be difficult."
Zhang Ruochen asked, "What price would it take to invite Group Leader Silver Moon?"
The higher a mercenary's strength, the higher the price would naturally be.
For a powerhouse like Silver Moon Lingkong, hiring her for a single day would require a massive amount of Spirit Crystals.
Nie Honglou laughed. "It's hard to say. Group Leader Silver Moon has never done business by the book. Once, for a single silver coin, she helped a little beggar kill the heir of a Half-Saint clan. But when the Xu Holy Clan hired the Silver Sky Mercenary Group for a job, she quoted an astronomical price of one hundred million Spirit Crystals, scaring off that Xu Holy Clan steward."
"So, I can't promise you anything now. I can only help you report this to Group Leader Silver Moon. Whether she is willing to act or not, I cannot say."
"Alright. I'll go with you to the Silver Sky Mercenary Group," Zhang Ruochen said.
Although Zhang Ruochen trusted the mercenaries that the Divine Sword Sacred Land had arranged for him, he still wanted to see the Silver Sky Mercenary Group for himself, especially to meet that Group Leader Silver Moon. What kind of heavenly proud existence was she?
A cultivator who could challenge for the title of the youngest Half-Saint in the Eastern Domain was definitely no simple figure.
If she could successfully reach the Half-Saint realm in a short time, her talent might even surpass that of the Six Kings of the New Generation.
Who wouldn't want to meet such a person?
Lu Yi had other matters to attend to, so he left first. Before leaving, he told Zhang Ruochen that if he encountered any trouble, he could go to the Divine Sword Sacred Land's branch in the Thirty-First City to find him.
Zhang Ruochen thanked him and then headed to the Silver Sky Mercenary Group with Nie Honglou.
...
"Swoosh!"
In a small blue-stone alley in the Thirty-First City, a wisp of blood qi flew out from the crack between two stone slabs on the ground.
That wisp of blood qi rose up and condensed into the body of the Blood Spirit King. She stood barefoot on a cloud of blood mist, hovering a meter above the ground.
Her figure was graceful, her chest and hips full and curvaceous, her curves exquisite. She had a head of blood-red long hair, and her entire body exuded a chilling coldness.
"Zhang Ruochen actually wants to hire mercenaries to deal with me. I must find a way to counter this in advance," the Blood Spirit King muttered to herself.
As a Blood Spirit, concealing her form was her forte. Even with Zhang Ruochen's forty-first-level Spiritual Power, he might not be able to detect her.
Just now, she had been hiding not far away, overhearing the conversation between Zhang Ruochen and Nie Honglou.
"Tap, tap!"
Footsteps sounded.
A man in a blue robe, with a two-meter-long broadsword slanted across his back, appeared at the entrance of the alley. He lowered his voice and said, "Zhang Ruochen has gone to the Silver Sky Mercenary Group. Once he manages to hire Silver Moon Lingkong, that will be your death sentence. You need an ally now, to go with you to the Silver Sky Mercenary Group and kill Zhang Ruochen."
The Blood Spirit King's eyes turned cold. "Who are you?"
The Deep Blue Star Envoy stared at her and said, word by word, "I am your ally."
"Do you deserve it?"
The Blood Spirit King sneered, vanished from her spot, and transformed into a wave of blood that surged toward the Deep Blue Star Envoy, striking out with a palm.
The Deep Blue Star Envoy's body swelled up, as if filled with wind. True Qi surged from within him, spinning rapidly around his body, forming a circle.
Standing within the circle of True Qi, he quickly threw a punch, meeting the Blood Spirit King's palm.
"Boom!"
Both of them retreated three steps before steadying themselves.
"Impressive. Your strength is not inferior to mine. Who exactly are you?" the Blood Spirit King demanded.
The Deep Blue Star Envoy flexed his wrist and smiled. "Black Market First Class Hall, one of the Seven Evil Star Envoys, the Deep Blue Star Envoy. Blood Spirit King, our young master is in the Thirty-First City. He is very interested in you and wants to lend you a hand to kill Zhang Ruochen and destroy the Silver Sky Mercenary Group."
"Di Yi?" the Blood Spirit King said.
"Correct," the Deep Blue Star Envoy replied.
The Blood Spirit King sneered. "You call that lending me a hand? Di Yi's Demon Heart was dug out by Zhang Ruochen. He probably wants to kill Zhang Ruochen even more than I do. If anything, he would be helping me. Besides, killing Zhang Ruochen isn't difficult. Why drag the Silver Sky Mercenary Group into this?"
The Deep Blue Star Envoy chuckled. "I might as well tell you. Silver Moon Lingkong is a traitor to the Black Market. The young master came to the Thirty-First City this time precisely to deal with her. Zhang Ruochen's appearance is just a coincidence. Perhaps this is what they call 'enemies on a narrow road.' So, the young master has decided to take this opportunity to eliminate Zhang Ruochen as well."
The Blood Spirit King thought quickly. In the end, she had to admire the Black Market's intelligence network. They had been able to learn of Zhang Ruochen's arrival in the Thirty-First City at the first moment and find her just as quickly.
It seemed that while she was eavesdropping on Zhang Ruochen and the others, the Black Market's experts were also watching her from the shadows.
The feeling of having every move controlled by others was chilling just to think about.
"First, cooperate with Di Yi to eliminate Zhang Ruochen and reclaim the Half-Saint Light," the Blood Spirit King thought.