Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Long Chen followed the mercenaries out the door, only to see a group of people immediately surround them. This grouphad their weapons out, looking as if they would attack immediately.

Long Chen observed them. There were over forty of them, but despite their numbers, their actual power seemed mediocre. In a real confrontation, they wouldn’t stand much of a chance against Fang Liude’s group.

Fang Liude seethed with rage, ready to lash out, when the leader of the opposing group smiled and said, “Aiya, isn’t this Brother Liu? I’m so sorry, we thought you were someone else. Guys, put away your weapons!”

This group immediately put away their weapons. With a single glance, Long Chen knew that these people were looking for trouble.

“Qi Hua, what do you think you are doing?!” demanded Fang Liude.

“I already said that it was a misunderstanding. Brother Liu, I’m sure you’re busy, so you can leave.” Qi Hua smiled and even gestured for them to walk by.

“If you have some skill, you can cause trouble. But if you don’t, you’ll die sooner or later like dogs in the street,” sneered an archer behind Fang Liude.

“Hehe, fortune might favor you now, but the tides could shift at any moment. Even if I’m willing to be someone’s dog to achieve my goals, what can you do to me?” Qi Hua simply chortled, not angry at all.

“I couldn’t tell that you had the potential to be a dog,” said a woman beside Long Chen. This squad had two women, her and Yu Ying.

“You couldn’t tell because you used human eyes to judge a dog,” quipped Long Chen automatically without giving it much thought.

The instant remark elicited laughter from everyone in the mercenary group.

“And who are you?” Qi Hua’s anger flared instantly upon seeing Long Chen, a foreign face.

“I was going to say that I’m your dad, but after seeing your looks, I don’t want you to take advantage of me like that,” Long Chen replied, shaking his head.

Long Chen maintained a neutral expression, and his words were devoid of anger, yet they were so irritating and comedic. Fang Liude and his companions found their anger melting away, replaced by laughter.

“You…!”

“Scram!” Fang Liude’s expression suddenly sank. “Don’t think that having a backer means that you’re anything important. If I really decide to slaughter you, they won’t necessarily step forward to avenge someone like you. If you want to die, just say the word.”

Qi Hua harbored some grudges against them. However, after gaining the backing of a stronger mercenary group, he started to constantly cause trouble, trying to incite a battle between their two groups. He wanted to use his backer’s power to get revenge for himself.

However, Qi Hua wasn’t worth much. Despite leading a group, he knew they were just a bunch of newbies and lacked any skills. A random rabble of people couldn’t contend against Fang Liude and the others. Thus, he didn’t dare to go overboard, except for venting occasionally.

Seeing that Fang Liude was actually angry, Qi Hua didn’t dare to keep provoking them and retreated to the side. Qi Hua could only gnash his teeth angrily as he watched them leave.

At this moment, the archer came over and praised Long Chen, “Little brother, your cultivation base isn’t high, but your mouth is extra sharp. You almost made him choke on his own bile. That was satisfying!”

Normally, they were the ones who left with anger, but today Qi Hua had turned purple with rage. That was particularly satisfying.

Their group consisted of eighteen members, but the majority of them weren’t particularly eloquent. Yu Ying was the most talkative among them, but even she couldn’t match Long Chen’s tongue.

The simple Brother Song didn’t know how to express his praise for a long time. Eventually, he simply gave Long Chen a thumbs-up.

“That was really good,” praised the others.

Long Chen hadn’t anticipated receiving so much praise just from uttering a few insults. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

What he didn’t realize was that these people would rather fight with blades than with their mouths. That was because if they fought with their mouths, there was no way for them to win. They didn’t possess that innate talent.

“You’re too courteous. With my low cultivation base, I have to rely on this mouth of mine to live,” replied Long Chen helplessly, spouting nonsense.

In this group, the weakest person was at the fifth Heavenstage, while the highest was Fang Liude at the seventh Heavenstage. Their power was relatively evenly matched.

Since Long Chen’s cultivation base was only at the third Heavenstage, he was indeed at the bottom in this regard. However, Fang Liude waved his hand dismissively. “That isn’t a problem. After joining us for a few missions, we can assess whether you’re suited to becoming a permanent member of our group.”

Initially, Fang Liude hadn’t been too fond of Long Chen because Long Chen seemed like a spoiled young master, unlike the rest of them who knew how to persevere through bitterness. He would only be a burden if brought along.

However, Fang Liude was also not willing to see someone innocent and naive be taken advantage of by others. Since their mission this time wasn’t particularly difficult, he decided to bring Long Chen along. Besides needing some extra time, their mission wasn’t too dangerous.

Moreover, Fang Liude had to give Yu Ying face. Yu Ying and her husband were kind-hearted individuals, and they might not be pleased if Fang Liude didn’t bring Long Chen along. As the captain, Fang Liude had to consider everyone’s feelings; it was a fundamental aspect of leadership.

By saying this now, Fang Liude seemed to have been won over by Long Chen’s tongue. Their group was indeed missing someone with a sharp tongue.

Long Chen instantly understood Fang Liude’s thoughts. They had taken his random joke seriously. Could it be that the Dean of the High Firmament Academy would need to rely on a sharp tongue to live?

The mercenary group moved out. After leaving the city, Fang Liude summoned a demonic bird, his mount. They all got on it and flew off. 𝓯𝘦𝘸𝘯𝘰𝓿.𝒸ℴ𝑚

An hour later, Long Chen gazed into the distance and saw an enormous city, a hundred times larger than Mercenary City. It was glorious and luxurious, a stark contrast to the bleakness of Mercenary City.

“That is one of the Heavenly Desolation Domain’s eighteen outer cities. Work hard. Once you see the inner city, you’ll witness true grandeur. Hehe, however, when you see the Long clan’s Ten Thousand Dragon City, the rest of these cities will seem like nothing,” said one of the mercenaries.

Long Chen noticed they were going around the city, so he couldn’t help but ask, “Why didn’t we go to the city?”

“There’s an entrance fee. Who has that much money to waste? Spendthrifts?” That mercenary rolled his eyes in response.

BOOM!

Just as they were speaking, a war chariot with dragon marks came hurtling toward them, making them cry out in shock. The chariot barreled forward with alarming speed, threatening to smash into their group.