Chapter 56: Targeted by the Blazing Fire Mercenaries

Meanwhile, inside the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Elder Xu suddenly received a report from his subordinate. "Sir, the group from the Morning Light Sect has been surrounded by the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps. Should we step in to help them out?"

Elder Xu waved his hand and said, "There is no need! There are experts above the Great Saint realm among that group from the Morning Light Sect. If they cannot even handle the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps, they do not deserve to become our honored patrons!"

"Understood, sir. This subordinate knows what to do." The servant turned and left.

Soon, the battle attracted the attention of various major factions and families. Among these factions, some were merely watching the spectacle, others were gloating over the misfortune, and some were simply curious to see whether the Morning Light Sect could hold out until the end.

Liao Chen paid no mind to the thoughts of these people. In his eyes, they were nothing more than clowns putting on a show, and those who wished to watch them make a fool of themselves were bound to be disappointed.

With the joining of Jiang Qian and the others, the members of the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps were rapidly slaughtered. This anxious development made Yao Tianba want to curse, so he shouted loudly toward the void, "Xiao Tiance, how much longer are you going to wait?"

At this moment, all the onlookers realized that another mercenary corps had been hiding secretly within the void. Their commander was Xiao Tiance, who, seeing himself exposed by Yao Tianba, had no choice but to manifest. A void warship lowered its concealment array and appeared in full view of the public.

A tall battle flag was hoisted at the bow of the void warship, with a massive character for "Xiao" embroidered upon it. Beside the surname Xiao were five small golden stars. What did this signify? It indicated that the other party had already completed five assassination missions targeting the Great Saint realm. The preceding Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps was merely rated at three stars, which clearly demonstrated that Xiao Tiance's corps far surpassed Yao Tianba's Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps in strength.

Xiao Tiance looked at Yao Tianba and said coldly, "Yao Tianba, you truly are a piece of trash. You can't even handle a few people and yet you dragged us into this. We will not interfere in this mission. Deal with it yourself!"

With that, Xiao Tiance ordered the warship to sail away, vanishing into the horizon. Originally, the onlookers assumed that these two major mercenary corps would join forces to encircle and annihilate the Morning Light Sect. Now, it seemed that was utterly impossible.

Seeing Xiao Tiance's warship depart, Yao Tianba felt an itching hatred burn deep within him, and he could not help but curse furiously, "Damned Xiao Tiance! Since you won't help me, don't expect a single ounce of help from me the next time your turn comes around!"

However, he had grossly overestimated his own strength while severely underestimating the prowess of the Morning Light Sect's members. At this moment, whether it was Jiuling and the other inner sect guardians, or Jiang Qian and the five direct disciples, all of them displayed combat prowess that far exceeded expectations. Aside from Jiuling, who single-handedly pinned down Yao Tianba, the other three guardians required at least two Saint realm mercenaries fighting in tandem just to hold their ground, while the remaining five Saint realm mercenaries were destined to be cut down by Jiang Qian's group sooner rather than later.

True to form, Qin Tian was the first to unleash his power. He no longer suppressed his peak Emperor Realm cultivation. As his aura flooded out, the winds and clouds of heaven and earth shifted dramatically. He intended to use this combat to break through into the Saint realm. Among the onlookers, many felt that this young man was acting far too recklessly. Under normal circumstances, breaking through during combat was acceptable, provided one was fully prepared, as the tribulation would not deal excessive damage. However, attempting to break through while locked in combat would greatly amplify the might of the heavenly tribulation, and if one were to be injured by an opponent on top of that, the probability of perishing beneath the tribulation lightning was extremely high.

Liao Chen harbored no worries regarding this, for with him watching over Qin Tian, he would naturally not let his disciple court danger recklessly. He then sent a voice transmission to Qin Tian, signaling him to proceed with the tribulation without holding back, assuring him that he need not worry too much about external matters.

Bolstered by his master's assurance, Qin Tian felt his confidence in withstanding the tribulation surge. While continuously unleashing his cultivation, he brandished his precious sword and hacked fiercely at the Blazing Fire mercenaries.

"Madman! You are utterly out of your mind!" a Blazing Fire mercenary could not help but scream in curses.

After all, since his opponent was undergoing a heavenly tribulation, he would also be dragged into suffering the lightning tribulation alongside him, as the tribulation automatically locked onto anyone interfering with the process. Although this mercenary was already a Saint realm cultivator, he had no desire to face the lightning tribulation a second time. Under normal circumstances, a lightning tribulation rarely claimed a person's life, but in cases where someone disrupted another's tribulation, the might of the tribulation increased exponentially, making the lightning unleashed upon the intruder infinitely more terrifying. Even as a Saint realm cultivator, escaping death was exceedingly difficult.

The Blazing Fire mercenary desperately wanted to flee, but Qin Tian was pressing him step-by-step from behind, leaving him zero room for evasion. Cursing aloud proved entirely useless, and he was left with no choice but to brace himself to endure the tribulation head-on.

Crack, crack, crack!

A bolt of white heavenly lightning plummeted from the skies and struck directly toward Qin Tian, yet Qin Tian managed to dodge it with ease. Immediately afterward, another bolt of heavenly lightning descended, hurtling straight toward the Blazing Fire mercenary. The mercenary had originally believed he could rely on his own cultivation to withstand the tribulation through sheer toughness, but after a single strike, he was severely injured.

As a mercenary, he possessed a clear understanding of his own strength and physical defense. Qin Tian could easily shrug off the heavenly tribulation, yet he himself could not—what this implied hardly needed to be spoken aloud.

Having survived the first bolt of heavenly lightning, Qin Tian felt a surge of great joy within his heart. Back in the Trial Pagoda, he had endured no shortage of lightning strikes, and by now, the sturdiness of his physical body had undergone a massive upgrade. He had never expected to weather the first bolt of heavenly lightning with such ease. After being struck by the first bolt of lightning, the Blazing Fire mercenary's combat effectiveness plummeted drastically. Seizing the moment, Qin Tian lunged forward once more with his sword, leaving the mercenary with no choice but to meet the attack head-on.

Boom!

A deafening roar echoed as blade and sword clashed violently. Qin Tian was sent flying backward by the shockwave, while the Blazing Fire mercenary on the other side was blasted straight down into the earth, creating a gigantic, deep crater upon impact.

Even after all that, the Blazing Fire mercenary was still not dead. Nevertheless, his meridians and internal organs were severely damaged. At that moment, the mercenary felt a profound wave of regret for having followed Yao Tianba on this mission. He thought to himself that if he managed to survive today, he would never set foot in the Qianyuan Continent ever again. He had originally assumed that the Qianyuan Continent possessed no truly formidable experts, but looking at things now, their miscalculation had been absurdly vast.

Seeing that the mercenary was still breathing, Qin Tian immediately closed in to deliver the finishing blow. Realizing his fate, the mercenary hurriedly surrendered, crying out, "Fellow Daoist, spare my life! I will leave this instant, if you'll just let me go!"

Qin Tian burst into laughter and said, "Do you have any idea what the consequences are for offending the Morning Light Sect? To tell you the truth, our motto is simple: those who offend our sect shall be put to death without exception! Very well, you may go die now."

With that, Qin Tian accelerated, refusing to give the mercenary a chance to escape, and drove his sword straight through the man's vital point, ending his life. In truth, Qin Tian had not wanted to kill him so swiftly, but the lightning tribulation in the skies had yet to dissipate. If he failed to dispatch his enemy promptly, he risked being severely wounded by the ongoing tribulation. To avert such an outcome, he had no choice but to finish the fight with utmost speed.

Following the mercenary's death, Qin Tian pressed forward to meet the heavenly lightning head-on. The quasi-emperor weapon in his hand helped him fend off the vast majority of the damage, allowing him to easily absorb the remaining might of the lightning entirely by himself.

Meanwhile, seeing Senior Brother Qin Tian display such fierce valor, Ye Wushuang had no intention of letting the other senior brothers look down on him. After all, when it came to pure combat strength, he did not lag behind Senior Brother Qin Tian in the slightest. His Supreme Physique, combined with the might of his double pupils, gave him explosive combat power, and the Blazing Fire mercenary fighting him quickly realized just how formidable he truly was. Just as the mercenary attempted to retreat, Ye Wushuang finally unleashed his double pupils. A beam of crimson divine light shot out from his third eye, striking the back of the Blazing Fire mercenary's head dead-on. Before the mercenary could even react, the back of his head had been instantly melted away. At that precise moment, the mercenary's nascent soul detected the mortal danger and frantically attempted to flee, but it was already far too late.

Ye Wushuang's double pupils fired yet another ray of crimson light. The moment the red beam made contact with the enemy's nascent soul, the nascent soul failed to hold out even for a single second, dissolving directly into wisps of pale smoke and vanishing into nothingness.

Only then did the onlookers realize that Ye Wushuang had clearly not exerted his full strength during the examination battlefield earlier. Had he unleashed the power of his double pupils back then, probably none of the other contestants would have stood a chance against him.

News that Ye Wushuang possessed the eyes of double pupils quickly reached Elder Xu of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. Unable to sit still any longer, Elder Xu immediately issued an order for the Saint realm guards within the pavilion to head out and reinforce the Morning Light Sect. Although this was merely icing on the cake, it was still far better than taking no action at all.

With the intervention of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, the defeat of the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps accelerated dramatically. Aside from the rank-and-file members being swiftly slaughtered, Yao Tianba himself was captured alive.

Elder Xu brought Yao Tianba before Liao Chen to claim credit, asking, "Fellow Daoist Liao, how should this mercenary commander be disposed of?"

Liao Chen chuckled and replied casually, "Kill him!"

Before Elder Xu could utter a word, Yao Tianba scrambled to plead for his life, shouting, "You cannot kill me! I am not merely the commander of the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps; I am also the biological younger brother of Yao Tianqi, the commander of the Phoenix Mercenary Corps! If you kill me, my brother will never let you off!"

Liao Chen cared not a whit about what kind of older brother the captive had. He stated coldly, "Very well. Since you cannot be killed just yet, we shall simply head to the Blazing Fire Continent and wipe out the Phoenix Mercenary Corps along with you!"

The onlookers never imagined that Liao Chen would be so overwhelmingly domineering, declaring his intent to annihilate not only the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps, but the Phoenix Mercenary Corps as well. It was said that the Phoenix Mercenary Corps was a nine-star mercenary corps possessing formidable strength—an existence fully capable of slaughtering experts of the Emperor realm.

The onlookers broke into heated discussions. Many believed that Liao Chen was merely spouting empty boasts, offering a graceful way out so he wouldn't have to kill Yao Tianba on the spot. Perhaps the Morning Light Sect would soon release the prisoner and quietly pay compensation to smooth things over.

Liao Chen paid no heed to the opinions of the spectators. He signaled Jiuling to secure the captive, instructed Bai Hua to lead Jiang Qian and the others back to the sect first, and set off alongside Jiuling, the Ape Demon, and the Golden Condor toward the Blazing Fire Continent.