Chapter 82: Can You Let Me Finish

After leaving the Martial Tower, Ye Guan sat on the steps and sighed. He was disappointed. He had hoped to see the Sword Master, but things didn't go as he wished.

Little Pagoda shattered the lengthy silence and said, “It’s fine.”

“Master Pagoda, why were you silent?” asked Ye Guan.

Little Pagoda was silent for quite a while before he responded, “An extremely powerful cultivator was around, so I couldn’t speak.”

Ye Guan was stunned. “An extremely powerful cultivator?”

Little Pagoda replied, “Yes.”

Ye Guan wanted to ask something, but the fatty Xu Qin and Li Qian suddenly appeared at the bottom of the steps. They walked up the steps and arrived in front of Ye Guan.

Xu Qin chuckled and put his hands together. “Brother Yang, congratulations on becoming the first placer of the martial list.”

Ye Guan shook his head with a smile. “I got lucky because the defender didn’t appear.”

Xu Qin was confused. “The defender didn’t appear?”

“That’s right.” Ye Guan nodded. “I waited for two hours, but no one came. I just got lucky.”

Xu Qin and Li Qian exchanged confused looks.

Li Qian composed himself and smiled. “Brother Yang, we’re here to invite you to join our Boundless Mercenary.”

Ye Guan was puzzled. “Boundless Mercenary?”

Li Qian nodded and explained, “Yes. The Zhongtu Divine Continent has over ten thousand mercenaries alone, and our Boundless Mercenary is the second best among the many mercenary groups. In other words, we’re strong!”

Ye Guan thought about it before asking, “What are the benefits?”

Xu Qin and Li Qian froze before grinning. Li Qian laughed and said, “Brother Yang, you’re very straightforward. I like that. Anyway, there are definitely benefits. For example, we can go on money missions.”

Ye Guan’s curiosity was piqued. “Money missions?”

Li Qian nodded and explained, “The Mercenary Union has money missions available for mercenary groups, and each mission pays a lot of money.”

Ye Guan hurriedly asked, “How much?”

Li Qian stared deeply at Ye Guan and said, “The highest reward I’ve seen so far is thirty million gold spiritual crystals.”

“Thirty million!” Ye Guan was thrilled. He slapped his leg and said, “All right, let’s take that!”

Li Qian rolled his eyes at him and retorted, “What do you mean, let’s take that? You haven’t even heard of the mission details yet!”

Ye Guan chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry, I just got a bit excited.”

Li Qian smiled and explained, “This mission is to go to Sin Abyss to catch the greatest talent of the Zhongtu Divine Continent’s previous generation. Her name is Ji Xuan.”

Ji Xuan! Ye Guan froze. He would never forget that name. Ji Xuan was the fastest cultivator to have cleared the trial tower of the Lower Realm’s Guanxuan Academy.

“In addition to being the greatest talent of the Zhongtu Divine Continent’s previous generation, she was also the Student Representative of the Zhongtu Divine Continent’s Guanxuan Academy as well as one of the top beauties of the continent…

“However, she suddenly murdered her tutor as well as the powerhouses and elders of the Zhongtu Divine Continent’s Guanxuan Academy. No one is aware of her motives, and the Guanxuan Academy has placed a bounty on her head,” said Li Qian.

Ye Guan frowned.“She betrayed the academy?”

Li Qian nodded. “Yes.”

Ye Guan was confused.

“How come the academy didn’t manage to suppress her?” he asked.

Li Qian replied, “She killed over ten elders, including her tutor. In other words, she was extremely powerful.”

“Did the Main Academy not send any representative to deal with her?” Ye Guan asked.

Li Qian sounded solemn as he said, “The Main Academy made a move, but she was already in the Sin Abyss. The waters of Sin Abyss are murky. The Main Academy looked for her there, but they couldn’t find any traces of her. They eventually had to return empty-handed.

“However, the strangest part here was that the Main Academy decided to drop the matter for some unknown reason. The Zhongtu Divine Continent’s Guanxuan Academy couldn’t do anything other than put a bounty on her head for the mercenaries to claim.”

Ji Xuan! Ye Guan fell into deep contemplation. There’s something strange about this.

Li Qian smiled at him and said, “Anyway, you’re interested in joining our Boundless Mercenary, right? We actually have a mission. The mission is to kill an Imperial-rank demonic beast. The compensation is ten million gold spiritual crystals and twenty Sky-grade demonic beast internal pills.”

Ten million gold spiritual crystals and twenty Sky-grade demonic beast internal pills were enough to attract Ye Guan’s attention. He quickly made up his mind and said, “All right, I’ll join your group.”

Li Qian was delighted, and he hurriedly handed over a badge to Ye Guan. “Brother Yang, you’re now a member of our Boundless Mercenary. You’re the fourth member, so we’ll call you Fourth Brother!”

Fourth Brother… Ye Guan smiled.

Fatty Xu Qin was thrilled.

His fats jiggled as he boisterously laughed in joy at the outcome.

“All right, let’s go!”

Li Qian took out a scroll and activated it. A flash of light whisked them away from the Martial Tower’s steps. Not long after they disappeared, a middle-aged man wearing a clean robe appeared. The attendant of the Martial Tower stood next to him.

The middle-aged man muttered, “No wonder Representative Ye looks so highly upon him… he actually reached first place in just a single attempt. He’s incredible!”

The attendant of the Martial Tower—the old man holding an opium pipe—nodded and said, “His sword is extremely fast. He easily overwhelmed the defenders of the 10th and 9th floors. The most shocking part is that he has never used his full power.”

“The previous two academy chiefs of the Zhongtu Divine Continent were fools. They lost Ji Xuan, and they almost lost Ye Guan!” jeered the middle-aged man.

The old man made a sidelong glance at the middle-aged man and asked, “Academy Chief Gu, are you going to rope him in?”

Academy Chief Gu Chaoyuan was the newly appointed Academy Chief of the Zhongtu Divine Continent’s Guanxuan Academy.

Gu Chaoyuan shook his head and smiled. “Do you know why the Main Academy sent me here to replace Academy Chief Lu?”

The old man shook his head.

Gu Chaoyuan responded, “It’s all because I represent the grand clans of the Main Academy!”

The old man was stunned.

Gu Chaoyuan’s smile deepened as he asked. “Did Representative Ye visit Ye Guan before she left?”

The old man nodded. “Yes.”

Gu Chaoyuan shook his head. “She warned me about conspiring with the An Clan or with the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Clan. I’m sure she won’t forgive me if I dare to conspire with those two clans against Ye Guan.”

The old man sighed. It seemed that even the Main Academy was rife with internal strife.

“Representative Ye is currently under a lot of pressure, but I still can’t afford to offend her. In other words, I’m going to remain neutral and hope that nothing will happen. I’ll avoid offending either the great clans or Representative Ye. I’m just going to do my job.”

The old man sounded solemn as he said, “For the upcoming Destiny Contest, will our academy—”

“Tsk!” Gu Chaoyuan clicked his tongue and stretched out. “The previous academy chiefs had thoroughly offended the capable and qualified great talents. They left me an academy in a state of disrepair. How are we supposed to fight?”

The old man was silent.

Gu Chaoyuan sighed and remarked, “Ye Guan was an ideal candidate, but… honestly, I represent the grand clans, but I think the An Clan went overboard. It was a fair competition, so I think they should just admit defeat.

”I didn’t expect them to create such a mess and destroy their reputation.”

Gu Chaoyuan shook his head and added, “The True Dragon Clan was filled with nothing but a bunch of fools. They didn’t have to risk their lives just to lick the An Clan’s boots, but they got greedy and ended up with nothing.”

Gu Chaoyuan fell silent and left after a while.

…

Ye Guan soon found himself on the plains with Li Qian and Xu Qin.

A woman had been waiting for them on the plains. The woman was tall and was wearing a tight-fitting dress. Two short daggers hung by her waist, and there was a scar on her neck. Her eyes were sharp as knives and as cold as ice.

Xu Qin ran over to the woman with a grin.

“Fourth Brother, let me introduce you to our boss—Big Sister!”

Ye Guan cupped his fist and said, “Greetings, my lady.”

Xu Qin froze, and he hurriedly said, “Fourth Brother, call her Big Sister.”

The woman stared at Ye Guan without saying anything.

Ye Guan thought about it for a moment before saying, “She looks too young! It sounds weird for me to call her Big Sister.”

Xu Qin’s expression changed, but the woman smiled at Ye Guan, “Young?”

Ye Guan nodded. “Yes, you look really young!”

The woman smiled and pointed out. “You sure know how to sweet talk.”

Xu Qin was dumbfounded as he looked at Ye Guan. Damn it! Whose boots are you trying to lick?!

Meanwhile, the woman asked, “You’re a swordsman?”

Ye Guan nodded.

The woman nodded as well and said, “You’ve already become a member of the Boundless Mercenary, so we’re considered family.”

She then handed a storage ring over to Ye Guan. The storage ring contained two Sky-grade demonic beast internal pills.

Ye Guan was confused. “What is this?”

The woman smiled and replied, “Take it as a welcome gift.”

“Huh?!” Xu Qin jumped up and grumbled, “Big Sister, why did we not get any welcome gifts? This is unfair!”

Big Sister said blandly, “He’s handsome and a sweet talker. What about you?”

Xu Qin’s expression darkened, “You should not judge a book by its cover.”

Big Sister smiled and said, “You can be salvaged if you lose some weight.”

Xu Qin didn’t know what to say.

Li Qian smiled and chimed in, “I think we should go.”

Big Sister nodded and said, “Follow me.”

Ye Guan watched as she walked away. In the end, she put the storage ring away and followed closely behind her. Soon, the group stumbled upon a teleportation array.

Ye Guan was curious. “Where are we going?”

Big Sister smiled and replied, “Sin Abyss!”

Sin Abyss. Ye Guan was startled.

“I was just told that Sin Abyss is a dangerous place with murky waters…” he muttered.

Big Sister nodded and said, “It’s a very dangerous and chaotic place, but we’re not pushovers.”

Xu Qin smiled. “Yeap, we’re not pushovers.”

Ye Guan nodded, but he still had a burning question he had to ask, “Our mission is to kill an Imperial-rank demonic beast, but aren’t demons and humans living in harmony for the longest time now?”

Big Sister replied, “A few demon clans in the Demon Realm also placed a bounty on the demonic beast’s head aside from the Guanxuan Academy. The Imperial-rank demonic beast in question devoured an entire city with a population of a hundred thousand people to cultivate.

“The Guanxuan Academy was furious, and they demanded an explanation from the demon clans. The demon clans of the Demon Realm wanted to appease the Guanxuan Academy, so they also put a bounty on the Imperial-rank demonic beast’s head.”

“However…” Big Sister shook her head and added, “No one from either side really chased after the Imperial-rank demonic beast.”

Ye Guan was confused. “Why?”

Big Sister smiled and replied, “It’s all because it’s an arduous and thankless task! The academy has powerhouses, but an Imperial-rank demonic beast cannot be underestimated at all.

”The powerhouses of the academy are drunk in the current peace, so why would they go out of their way to hunt an Imperial-rank demonic beast with all the risks without the rewards?

”The massacre happened in the Demon Realm, but the Imperial-rank demonic beast killed a city of humans rather than a city of demons. There’s no bad blood between the two parties, so why would they chase after their own kind?”

“But the Guanxuan Academy is the peacekeeper of the universe…” muttered Ye Guan.

Big Sister chuckled and said, “I’m sure the powerhouses of the Guanxuan Academy couldn’t care less even if a million people were to die as long as their positions and profits were guaranteed…

“But believe me—the Imperial-rank demonic beast will die within an hour and without a shadow of a doubt if it touches the vested interests of the Guanxuan Academy’s elders and powerhouses.”

Ye Guan nodded. “I see...”

Big Sister turned around and walked into the teleportation array.

Ye Guan and the others walked into the teleportation array.

Moments later, the teleportation array whisked them away.

Fifteen minutes later, Ye Guan opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. He looked up and saw the silhouette of an ancient city in the distance.

“That’s Sin City,” said Big Sister. “It is the only safe zone in Sin City, but you have to pay a hundred thousand gold spiritual crystals just to stay there for a day.”

Ye Guan’s heart cramped up from the exorbitant amount.

The operators of Sin City truly had a horrifying way to earn money.

Big Sister looked around and muttered, “Where is he?”

Swoosh!

Moments later, a man appeared in front of them in the blink of an eye.

The man looked at Big Sister and said, “Follow me!”

He then turned around and started walking away, prompting the four to follow him.

Big Sister explained, “He’s our guide, and he knows where the Imperial-rank demonic beast is recuperating.”

Ye Guan nodded and wordlessly followed.

Soon, the man brought the four of them to a mountain. The group walked through a dense forest before the man stopped and pointed at a valley. “It’s in there, and it’s heavily injured.”

Big Sister said to the man, “I’ll pay you once I’ve confirmed that it’s there.”

The man frowned and demanded, “You have to pay me now.”

Big Sister remained calm as she retorted, “What if it’s not there? Doesn’t that mean that we paid for nothing?”

“I—” the man started.

However, Ye Guan abruptly pulled Big Sister behind him and pointed his sword at the man’s forehead, “How dare you lie to us!”

“How did you…” the man unconsciously retorted.

“Ah!” He stopped himself, but it was too late.

Big Sister, Li Qian, and Xu Qin instantly understood what was going on.

“I was just testing you,” said Ye Guan.

However, the man wasn’t angry upon realizing that he had been duped. He laughed and said, “You’re smart, but your fate was sealed the moment we met up. Do you even know who you’re talking to? I’m—”

Shwik!

Ye Guan thrust his sword into the man’s forehead.

Drip!

Blood dripped down Ye Guan’s sword.

“My apologies, but I’m not interested in knowing who you are.”

Ye Guan deftly snatched the man’s storage ring from the man’s waist before turning to look at the others.

“Let’s run!” he said.

They immediately turned around and started running away.

Ye Guan was astonished. Damn, did he actually think that I was interested to know him?

The man collapsed to the ground in disbelief. Can you let me finish?!