Chapter 9: The Mercenaries Association (Part 2)

Guo Shier immediately understood the old man Shuai’s concerns. Entering the Gu Mi Continent meant stepping into the most dangerous place, where they would face attacks from countless altar masters. Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan were undoubtedly strong, but Guo Shier and the others were in greater peril—this was why the old man Shuai wanted to enhance Guo Shier’s strength.

The old man Shuai continued, “I can help control the other sacrificial treasures, but the Moon Blade still needs to be used by you. It’s already at the fifth rank, so it’s difficult to control well. Only by reaching the fourth-tier altar can you master the Moon Blade in battle and fully unleash its power, which will boost your strength by at least 30%.”

Guo Shier nodded. He knew his control over the Moon Blade wasn’t perfect; often, he relied on its immense power to slash forcefully, using little skill. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but he lacked the ability. He said, “Okay. Let’s boost our strength as quickly as possible.”

Eagle Demon entered the room and said, “Shier, I’ll guard outside. If anything happens, just call me…”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “Alright, Uncle Eagle Demon. Here, take these.” He handed over two refined Soul Beads, adding, “These are refined Soul Beads that can quickly enhance soul power. They’re different from the previous ones—they were purified by the old man Shuai. This time, I’ll also fuse some Soul Beads. When the time comes, come in and sit beside me.”

Eagle Demon nodded. Excited, he said, “I’m almost at the next level—just a little more. Hehe, with these two Soul Beads, I should be able to advance smoothly. I’ve already prepared all the materials. It’s a shame… there’s not enough time this time. I don’t have the old man Shuai to help me.”

Guo Shier replied, “Let’s boost our soul power first. I think this trip to the Gu Mi Continent will be very dangerous. The more strength we gain, the better our ability to protect ourselves.”

Eagle Demon said, “I’ll sit at the door. Call me if you need anything.” He turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Guo Shier took a deep breath and said, “Let’s start!”

The old man Shuai chuckled and said, “Eat one Soul Bead first.” A pale green Soul Bead flew in front of Guo Shier, about the size of a thumb, emitting extremely pure soul energy.

Guo Shier was slightly surprised and asked, “Is this also a refined Soul Bead? Why is it different from the ones I saw earlier?”

The handsome old man said, “Nonsense. This was refined using the souls of altar-level professionals. Only two were obtained in total. What do you think it is? If given to an Eagle Demon, its soul would explode. Giving it to you… you can barely digest it, and your own soul fluctuations are needed to regulate it.”

Guo Shier said, “Hmm, this soul bead contains an extremely powerful soul. No wonder… it was refined using altar-level souls.” He swallowed it in one gulp. Having been in this world for a long time, some of his concepts from his past life had gradually changed. He no longer cared about devouring others’ souls. If he had just been reincarnated, he surely wouldn’t have been able to accept it.

As soon as the soul bead entered his soul, it caused a tremendous upheaval. Guo Shier felt his entire soul boiling and couldn’t help but shout, “Damn, it’s really fucking powerful…” He immediately began reciting scriptures silently. He felt as if he were being roasted over a fire, almost cooked to death.

Outside, the altar meant the handsome old man was hardly affected, but he could still sense the changes in Guo Shier’s soul and secretly felt relieved. Without Guo Shier’s miraculous soul fluctuations, he guessed this soul bead would have been enough to explode Guo Shier’s soul.

By repeatedly reciting soul scriptures, waves of energy began to regulate his soul, each wave calming the intensity a bit. After a while, Guo Shier’s soul gradually settled down, and the power of the soul bead slowly melted away, merging with his own soul.

Even outside the door, the Eagle Demon could sense those soul fluctuations. Without hesitation, it entered the room, swallowed a soul bead, and sat down beside Guo Shier. This was its reward. Although its potential was decent, it knew full well that without Guo Shier’s soul fluctuations, it would never reach its current level of expertise.

It took two full days before the two of them regained their senses.

Guo Shier was surprised to find that his soul had improved significantly. If he couldn’t quickly establish a fourth-tier altar, this power would gradually dissipate, making it difficult to advance in the future. He hurriedly asked, “Handsome old man, how’s it going?”

The handsome old man replied, “Almost there, almost there… Don’t rush. Wait a little longer. Let’s work together. Go rest and eat. Once we start constructing it, you’ll need to fast for at least a few days.”

Guo Shier left the altar in the room. At this moment, the altar absolutely could not be moved. It was completely under the control of the handsome old man, who had already laid the foundation for the fourth-tier altar. The next step required Guo Shier’s cooperation. After all, it was Guo Shier’s own altar, and without his involvement, advancement would not be possible.

“Uncle Eagle Demon, let’s go to the courtyard to eat something.”
Eagle Demon agreed with a smile. His gains were no less than Guo Shier’s; this Soul Pearl had already achieved his goal, and the next step was to build an altar. He had already gathered all the materials needed for the second-tier altar, but he didn’t have time to focus on advancing for now. If he could return from his revenge mission on the Gumi Continent successfully, advancing to the second-tier altar wouldn’t be a problem.
The two left the room and went to the courtyard, where they saw Luo Jie and the others sitting under a tree. A table was filled with various foods they had bought in Yejian City.
Guo Shier cheered and said, “It’s better to arrive at just the right time—haha, that saves me from having to cook.” He rushed to the table, grabbed a piece of cooked meat, and started eating it eagerly. Luo Zhan smiled and poured him a bowl of hot soup, saying, “Nan You bought this. He had a fight outside.”
Eagle Demon also grabbed a piece of cooked meat and asked while eating, “Who was he fighting?”
Luo Zhan replied, “Some idiot from the Gumi family, probably a Grand Sage. Nan You gave him a thorough beating.”
Luo Jie raised his head and asked, “Why didn’t you kill him?”
Nan You said with a wry smile, “This is Yejian City; we can’t just kill people randomly…”
Qi Nanshan said, “It would be better to kill them. Not killing them will cause trouble.”
Nan You knew these guys hated the Gumi family deeply, but he didn’t hold much hatred himself, so it was hard for him to bring himself to kill them. He said, “I dealt him a Soul Shock. If nothing goes wrong, he won’t be able to advance to altar level anymore. That’s worse than killing him, right?”
Luo Jie said, “Forget it. Let’s not talk about this. During my trip, I found out that the Gumi family is recruiting altar-level professionals in many places. It seems they’re indeed preparing to defend against us. Hehe, as long as we can get into the Gumi Continent, I believe… that family will be completely ruined.”
Luo Zhan looked worried and said, “I don’t know how many altar-level experts there are. If there are too many, it will be hard for us to win.”
Guo Shier took a sip of the hot soup and said, “Uncle Luo, don’t worry. Once a few altar-level professionals are killed, those hired experts will immediately retreat. They won’t fight to the death for the Gumi family—it’s not worth it.”
Qi Nanshan said, “We need to disguise ourselves a bit so we won’t be recognized by the Gumi family.” He took out several black cloaks with hoods and said, “Put these on then. I believe… no one will be able to recognize us.”
Luo Jie stared at Guo Shier for a while before asking, “Shier, are you about to advance?”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “It’s just these few days, so before leaving, I won’t leave this courtyard.”
Nan You couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Guo Shier’s progress was incredibly fast; it seemed he could easily construct an altar. Based on his past experience, it took at least half a year to a year to build a single-layer altar, but Guo Shier had completely broken this pattern. He never imagined it was because Guo Shier had a super diligent assistant who had already taken care of most of the tasks for him.
Luo Jie nodded and said, “Hmm, there are still about ten days left. Can you complete your progression within this time?”
Guo Shier replied, “It shouldn’t be a problem. The foundation has already been laid.”
Luo Jie said, “That’s good. I hope it won’t delay our departure. This opportunity is quite rare; otherwise, it will be hard for us to infiltrate the Gu Mi Continent.”
…
Ten days later, Guo Shier completed his progression as scheduled. Although it was still a bit unstable, with the old man quietly making adjustments, Guo Shier didn’t need to worry.
A flying vehicle landed above the courtyard. Luo Jie led everyone to put on black cloaks and cover their heads with black hoods. The six of them flew into the air and entered the vehicle. Inside was Wan Ruoyu, who, along with two professionals, had come specifically to take them to the gathering point.
Wan Ruoyu found it strange that everyone had their heads covered, but she wisely didn’t ask. She simply gave a signal, and her subordinates started the vehicle, flying toward the gathering point.
Luo Jie asked, “How many people were hired this time?”
Wan Ruoyu replied, “I’m not sure about other branches, but our branch has eleven people.”
Guo Shier asked, “Including us?”
Wan Ruoyu said, “Of course. The altar-level experts hired by our branch are the strongest this time.” She was very happy because introducing Luo Jie and the others to the hiring association had earned her a large reward, which could be used to acquire some urgently needed materials. Six altar-level experts were not easy to hire.
A moment later, the flying vehicle landed. Wan Ruoyu smiled and said, “We’re here. Please!”
When they stepped out of the vehicle, everyone was secretly astonished. There was a huge teleportation array here, several times larger than the one in Mitan City, somewhat similar to the large teleportation array of the Gu Xi Long family. Countless flying vehicles took off and landed, with groups of people coming out of them.
Guo Shier pointed at the crowd in the distance and asked, “Are they all the professionals going this time?” At a glance, there were at least a hundred altar-level professionals, along with a large number of ordinary professionals following them, many of whom were Grand Sage-level experts.

Luo Jie frowned and said, “Their strength isn’t high, but there are quite a few of them.” He turned and asked, “Are all these people going to the Gu Mi Continent?”
Wan Ruoyu smiled and said, “This is just one group; another group has already left.”