Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

“What’s going on? We’re waiting for you two! Hurry up!”

A group of over ten people came over, their leader being a large, muscular man with twin hatchets on his back. He looked rather impatient. However, when he saw Long Chen, he was startled. Looking at the couple, he asked, “This is…?”

“He should be a novice who came out for experience. I saw him crying here pitifully. Captain, why can’t we bring him with us? He might get into trouble if he stays here alone,” said the woman.

The primary danger lay in being deceived into joining a mercenary group and getting the most perilous role: the scapegoat. Numerous mercenary groups often recruited inexperienced novices for this very purpose.

“Crying pitifully?” repeated Long Chen. He instantly froze. If news of this spread, he would have no more face to live in this world.

“Hmm, he looks like some rich junior. I don’t think a young master will be useful to us,” replied the captain. He eyed Long Chen and shook his head.

“Captain…” urged the woman.

“Fine. Fine, bring him if you want. Little fellow, while you can follow us, don’t expect any reward. At most, you’ll get some experience. Other than that, we already have our practiced formation. We don’t need you to do anything, so just follow along obediently. If you randomly interfere with our cooperation, you might cause every single one of us to be killed. If you misbehave midway, for the group’s safety, I will immediately kill you,” said the captain sternly.

They were a mercenary group and carried out the toughest and most dangerous missions. They were constantly dancing on the edge of a knife, and the cooperation of the entire group was their greatest protection against death.

Bringing along someone extra wasn’t a big problem, but any interference with the group’s cohesion could potentially lead to their demise. That was the most perilous and forbidden scenario.

Thus, the captain gave Long Chen a warning. If he caused trouble maliciously, for the group’s safety, the captain would immediately eliminate him.

“Don’t worry, this little brother is so well-behaved. He won’t cause any trouble. I’ll take the responsibility for looking after him,” remarked the woman hastily, seemingly afraid that Long Chen would be scared off.

Seemingly satisfied with Long Chen’s respectful appearance, the captain nodded and led them to a rundown wine shop. It seemed that this wine shop was their property. As they sat down in a secluded corner, the captain introduced himself.

“I am called Fang Liude, the captain of this small mercenary group. You can call me big brother Liu. Since we’ve agreed to let you join us, we will treat you as a comrade. We will share our mission with you, but each mission is top secret. You are not to expose it to others, even once the mission is complete. Do you understand?”

Long Chen nodded to express that he understood. As this was just a misunderstanding, he had intended to leave, but it seemed this couple had interpreted his tears as a sign of loneliness and distress, compelling their group to invite him along. Unsure of how to refuse their kindness, Long Chen found himself at a loss.

However, when Long Chen heard their mission, he was intrigued. He had interacted with mercenary groups before, but he didn’t know how exactly they received and completed missions.

“Little brother, what’s your name?” asked the woman.

“Long Chen.”

Long Chen didn’t bother hiding anything and directly told them his name.

“Your surname is Long?”

“Are you from the Long clan?”

They were all surprised. After all, anyone surnamed Long in the Heavenly Desolation usually belonged to some branch of the Long clan.

“How can that be? If he was from the Long clan, how’d he end up in Mercenary City?” laughed the woman. “I am Yu Ying. It looks like you’re younger than me, so you can call me big sister Ying. This is my husband, Wu Song. You can call him big brother Son—”

“We can make introductions on the way,” Fang Liude interrupted Yu Ying just as she was about to introduce everyone.

“Let’s talk about our mission first!”

Fang Liude took out a piece of paper with a map on it, as well as an illustrated guide to a specific medicinal ingredient. Seeing it, Long Chen was surprised.

“The Snow Leopard Gold Silk Chrysanthemum?”

When Long Chen spoke its name, Fang Liude was taken aback. He asked, “You recognize it?”

Long Chen replied, “I know a bit about it.”

Of course, Long Chen recognized it. It was one of the ingredients for the Nirvanic Charge Pill. He had been bitterly searching for it for all this time without finding the slightest news of it.

Hence, he hadn’t expected to see it as soon as he arrived here. It seemed that the Earth Cauldron was telling the truth. Perhaps he really would be able to gather all the necessary ingredients here in the Heavenly Desolation Domain.

Although Fang Liude was a bit surprised by Long Chen, he didn’t care too much about it. After all, it wasn’t shocking for a disciple of some large family to recognize certain medicinal ingredients. He continued, “Our mission this time is this Snow Leopard Gold Silk Chrysanthemum. Its location has already been confirmed. However, it is guarded by a Heaven Saint greater demon. We will need to carry out the ninth plan. Any questions?”

“No.”

“No.”

“No.”

…

Seeing that everyone was nodding, Long Chen also wanted to nod, but Yu Ying laughed and stopped him. After all, Long Chen didn’t even know what the ninth plan was. Furthermore, he wasn’t really part of their group yet, so he wasn’t qualified to give his opinion.

“Since there are no objections, let’s move out.”

Fang Liude directly stood up. Starting with him, everyone brought out a bag and took out everything inside.

Long Chen noticed that each bag bore a large number nine, indicating they contained specific items for their plans.

Each of them wore a serious expression, fully aware that their decisions could determine life or death. They didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless.

Long Chen found that this group had long-range attackers, close-range fighters, two wood element experts, and one water element expert. They even had a formation master. This was an extremely well-rounded squad.

However, based on the items they took out, it didn’t seem that they were planning to fight. Long Chen saw medicinal spheres. Although he didn’t get to touch it, he could tell that it was a powerful laxative with an instantaneous effect.

Everyone swiftly prepared themselves and stepped out of the wine shop. However, as they emerged, sharp weapons were suddenly pointed in their direction.𝑓𝘳𝔀𝑜𝓋.𝘤𝘰