Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-552

Luo Zhongsheng’s face was pale with fright as Long Chen walked over to him. His entire body was quivering, but he didn’t even have the courage to run.

Back then, he had personally seen how ruthless Long Chen was. He had dominated the top geniuses of the Righteous and Corrupt paths; rivers of blood flowed wherever his saber pointed. His courage was already broken.

“I… I…”

Long Chen’s saber was like a bolt of red lightning cutting off Luo Zhongsheng’s head. He apologized towards it, “Sorry, but I don’t like nonsense, so I had no choice but to cut you off.”

Whether they were from the Ironblood Mercenary Unit or the Muxue Mercenary Unit, everyone’s expressions were horrified as they looked at Long Chen.

His expression had been calm from the start, but that was even more frightening than a sinister expression. A sinister expression always represented fury, and killing people in fury wasn’t frightening.

But Long Chen’s expression possessed no joy or sadness. Even while killing five Xiantian experts and the junior master of the Giant Eagle Stronghold, his face hadn’t twitched in the slightest.

Even these mercenaries who spent all day fighting bloody battles felt their scalps turn numb. Long Chen’s domineeringness caused all of them to turn cold.

The Muxue Mercenary Unit’s members looked at Long Chen with reverence, as well as a trace of unfamiliarity. Was this the same Long Chen that had drunk wine with them and spouted profanities when drunk?

His left hand was still holding Luo Zhongsheng’s head, while his saber was now pointed at Zhao Qingyun. Zhao Qingyun’s expression was ashen, and the entire Ironblood Mercenary Unit was filled with despair.

“Each place has its own rules. Originally, I shouldn’t have interfered with the mercenary world’s struggles, but your actions today have already broken those rules,” said Long Chen to Zhao Qingyun.

There were many different social circles in this world. The struggles of those circles were to be kept to themselves, and outside powers were not supposed to interfere.

For example, a literary struggle between scholars or a business struggle between merchants should be decided between themselves. But if people outside that social circle interfered, that was extremely contemptible, and anyone would look down on people who broke this rule.

If the Ironblood Mercenary Unit had only targeted the Muxue Mercenary Unit, then no matter what methods they used, it was still within the scope of their world’s struggle. But by becoming dogs for the Giant Eagle Stronghold, becoming their eyes to keep track of the Muxue Mercenary Unit, they had broken that rule.

Since they broke the rules first, then even though Long Chen was an outsider, he still stood on the side of reason if he attacked them.

Thinking of that, their hearts sank. They had no chance of defeating or even escaping from Long Chen.

“I, Zhao Qingyun, will take responsibility for my actions. This decision was made only by me, and it has nothing to do with my other brothers. If you want to kill someone, you should kill me. But please spare my brothers,” said Zhao Qingyun.

“Leader!”

The Ironblood Mercenary Unit’s members all let out startled cries. They had never imagined that their leader would be willing to sacrifice himself for them.

Even the Muxue Mercenary Unit’s members felt their hearts shake. They really hadn’t expected Zhao Qingyun to have such guts at this critical moment. They felt a bit of unwillingness.

“It’s fine, you don’t need to put on your act. Did you think I would be softhearted and spare you if I thought you were of noble character? Don’t play such childish games. You can’t trick me.

“I, Long Chen, am also not someone of noble character. In my eyes, there are only two kinds of people in this world: friends and enemies. Those who want to have me killed will all be killed by me without hesitation.

“Your fake act of sacrifice won’t make me feel any sympathy for you and spare your life. You’re just wasting your time because I originally never had any intention to kill you,” said Long Chen indifferently.

“Really?!” Zhang Qingyun’s expression became one of wild delight. That martyr-like image of his instantly disappeared.

“Wow, he really is disgusting. I almost ended up tricked.” One of the Muxue Mercenary Unit’s members couldn’t help but curse.

The others also shook their heads inside. They really had felt a trace of sympathy for him just now. They hadn’t expected this fellow to have just been faking it.

Zhao Qingyun also realized he had changed expressions too quickly, which had exposed his inner thoughts. However, he no longer cared as Long Chen had already said he wouldn’t kill him.

“Leave behind your spatial rings and then scram,” said Long Chen lazily.

“What? Our spatial rings contain all our wealth!” Zhao Qingyun’s expression changed.

“Again, I don’t like nonsense.” Long Chen gestured with the head in his hand. That was the same thing as what he had said to Luo Zhongsheng.

Zhao Qingyun shivered. Although he was a bit unwilling, he still took off his spatial ring.

“Don’t give it to me. Just hand it directly to leader Mu Xue. I’m also a member of the Muxue Mercenary Unit. If you give it to me and I can’t resist my greed, I’ll be beaten by leader.” Long Chen laughed.

Mu Xue blushed. She was incredibly moved inside. Long Chen had actually acknowledged himself to be a member of the Muxue Mercenary Unit. That was in consideration for them.

It was a verbal acknowledgment, but everyone knew that someone as strong as Long Chen wouldn’t join a mercenary unit. He was just supporting the Muxue Mercenary Unit, letting them become the strongest existence in the mercenary world.

If it was known that a figure like Long Chen had once been a member of the Muxue Mercenary Unit, then it was unknown how many people would flock towards them to join.

At the same time, she understood why Long Chen didn’t kill Zhao Qingyun. He was leaving it to her to personally take her revenge. After all, they had been suppressed by the Ironblood Mercenary Unit for so long that their hatred was immense. Taking revenge personally was definitely much more delightful.

Perhaps she might not be a match for Zhao Qingyun right now, and Zhao Qingyun might possess a great influence in the mercenary world. But in a few months, she would be able to finish refining the crystal bone. That would be enough for her to dominate the mercenary world. Long Chen was leaving behind his name to buy the Muxue Mercenary Unit the time it needed.

With the support of Long Chen, there wouldn’t be anyone who dared do anything to them temporarily. Once Long Chen left, Mu Xue would have refined the crystal bone, and they wouldn’t need to fear anyone.

That was especially true now that they were taking Zhao Qingyun’s spatial ring. Perhaps over half of his wealth was contained within that spatial ring. He wouldn’t be able to cause any trouble for them until he raised more funds.

Long Chen had planned everything perfectly for them. That made her feel an indescribable emotion towards him.

Once the Ironblood Mercenary Unit’s leader handed over his spatial ring, the others also bitterly handed over their spatial rings. Their expressions were extremely marvelous.

“Hahaha, you deserve it. When you were suppressing us, you all liked to act like emperors looking down on beggars. Now it’s reversed!” One of the warriors from the Muxue Mercenary Unit couldn’t help but taunt them. Watching this was too addicting and satisfying.

Back when the Muxue Mercenary Unit was first formed, they had had over a hundred members. But they had been suppressed by the Ironblood Mercenary Unit, and people had left one by one. Only twenty-some members had remained.

But even then, the Ironblood Mercenary Unit hadn’t held back. They had wanted to completely eradicate them. If Mo Gate’s experts hadn’t felt that that was too much and sent out their orders, the Muxue Mercenary Unit would have already collapsed.

The reason why Mo Gate’s experts hadn’t been able to bear watching that was because the Ironblood Mercenary Unit hadn’t just been suppressing them through the mercenary world, but also from the other surrounding powers. Their goal had been to forcibly disband the Muxue Mercenary Unit.

It was due to Zhao Qingyun placing his sights on Mu Xue, but she had repeatedly refused him. For that selfish goal of his, he had been willing to sink to such low depths. That had been what had caused Mo Gate’s experts to send out orders to protect the Muxue Mercenary Unit.

However, even then, the Muxue Mercenary Unit’s days hadn’t been very good. Zhao Qingyun might not have been able to use any outer powers, but he was still able to use his influence in the mercenary world to make things hard on them. They had been unable to take any good missions, and most of the time, they had to rely on killing Magical Beasts to get the cultivation resources they needed.

However, these bitter experiences had tempered their wills. They were also proof of their confidence in each other. The Muxue Mercenary Unit’s members were all as close as a family and were very reliable.

Seeing over a hundred spatial rings land in her hands, Mu Xue was incredibly moved. The profit within them was definitely beyond her imagination.

The spirit stones in Zhao Qingyun’s spatial ring alone were piled into mountains, and he had possessed countless medicinal pills. There was also an unknown number of Battle Skills and cultivation techniques. This was all the wealth that he had accumulated over the years.

It was no wonder why Zhao Qingyun’s expression had been so odd despite him trying to act calm. His expression made it seem like his father had just died.

Even once the Ironblood Mercenary Unit left, the Muxue Mercenary Unit still stood there like wooden lumps. Long Chen laughed. “Why are you just staring like imbeciles? Hurry up and clean up the battlefield. Those Xiantian fellows definitely possessed some riches.”

They only reacted now, and they hastily ran over to those corpses. They quickly found four spatial rings and two good weapons.

Originally, there should have been six spatial rings. However, two of them had been broken during the fight.

As for the martial weapons, the only ones remaining were the two Xiantian weapons. One was a sword that shone with a cold light, while the other was an odd weapon: a hook. It looked like a very bent sword. Near the hilt, there were two more hooks to protect the arm. It looked extremely awkward to use.

But it was still a Xiantian weapon with considerable value. That former was also what Mu Xue needed right now.

As for the spatial rings, it went without saying they were filled with riches. Just Luo Zhongsheng, who had been a rich junior master, had possessed much more wealth than the entire Ironblood Mercenary Unit.

“Long Chen…” Seeing all these battle spoils, Mu Xue looked at Long Chen.

“I don’t need these things. Pick out the things you need for yourselves, and if you can’t use the rest, either store them for now or sell them. Just remember to treat me to go to some building, or was it some pavilion with some pretty female entertainers?” laughed Long Chen.

“You Giant Eagle Stronghold idiots, how dare you try and set yourselves against my Mo Gate? Are you looking to die?” Suddenly, a furious shout rang out, and several figures rushed over from the distance.