Chapter 59 Subjugating the Azure Dragon Mercenary Corps

Although Long Aotian was also at the first heaven of the Emperor Realm, his actual combat strength was not much weaker than that of a Human Realm third-heaven cultivator. At this moment, he refused to believe that Liao Chen, a human cultivator merely at the first heaven of the Great Saint Realm, could defeat him.

Right from the start, Long Aotian engaged Liao Chen in a test of pure physical strength. Long Aotian's physical prowess even surpassed that of the body-refining cultivator Li Yuan. Locking horns with Liao Chen, he began to unleash his full strength against him without any reservation. Liao Chen remained unconcerned, because by this time his physical body had already reached the Great Perfection of the Emperor Realm. So what if his opponent belonged to the Dragon Clan? He was about to shatter Long Aotian's proud physical body to the point of existential despair.

The onlookers found the spectacle thrilling; none of them had expected Liao Chen's physical strength to reach such a terrifying degree. Blow for blow, flesh against flesh, both sides fought without any defensive barriers, relying solely on their natural bodily defense without mobilizing even a shred of spiritual energy.

Of course, it was not that body-refining cultivators possessed no spiritual energy within their bodies, but rather that they were not adept at cultivating spiritual energy, which often led to misunderstandings about them. In truth, virtually all cultivators ultimately absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to transform their constitutions. Generally speaking, spiritual cultivators refine their bodies with spiritual energy, thereby making themselves more compatible with it.

As for body-refining cultivators, they focused primarily on self-tempering: first the skin, then the flesh, next the bones, followed by the viscera, ultimately achieving the state of a saintly physical body. Afterward, they continued to cultivate their divine souls to reach the Emperor Realm, and then used the power of the divine soul to further temper their physical bodies to consolidate the Emperor Realm. Although Li Yuan had previously tempered his divine soul, he had not used its power to temper his physical body, which was why he could only be considered a quasi-emperor.

Long Aotian was fundamentally different from Li Yuan. At this moment, Long Aotian had already used his divine soul power to temper his physical body, thus achieving a state where the divine soul and the physical body merged into one, and his strength far surpassed that of Li Yuan.

Back then, when Li Yuan challenged Long Aotian, he was beaten black and blue every single time. Through this constant back-and-forth, the two had developed a deep bond. This time, Li Yuan brought Liao Chen to find Long Aotian not merely to challenge him, but largely to watch him get beaten up. The harder Long Aotian got thrashed, the happier Li Yuan would feel.

True to Li Yuan's expectations, while Long Aotian's physical body was undeniably powerful, he held no advantage whatsoever in physical strength once he encountered Liao Chen. Initially, the two fought to a standstill, trading blows evenly. But soon, the onlookers noticed that Long Aotian was being blasted backward time and time again, leaving them dumbfounded. Strong! He was simply too strong!

At this moment, all the onlookers were cheering for Liao Chen—this was respect for the strong, as well as a subtle mockery of Long Aotian getting beaten. Realizing that he could not possibly defeat Liao Chen through physical strength alone, Long Aotian shouted loudly, "Good lad, I never expected your physical body to be so formidable. I cannot do anything to you, and neither can you seriously hurt me. Since that's the case, let's try a different way of competing!"

Seeing that his opponent was still putting up a stubborn front, Liao Chen chose not to expose him and smiled, "As you wish!"

Immediately afterward, Long Aotian shouted, "Watch closely! Soul Skill: Dragon's Roar!"

Roar!

Hearing this, Long Aotian reverted to his true dragon form and unleashed a deafening dragon roar at Liao Chen. This was a sonic divine soul attack, capable of bypassing physical defenses to assault an opponent's divine soul directly.

However, Liao Chen's divine soul cultivation had already reached Great Perfection, and with the protection of the almighty system, it was impossible for Long Aotian to breach his soul defense. Realizing that his sonic soul attack had failed, Long Aotian escalated his divine soul assault once more.

"Dragon's Roar: Annihilating the World!"

Roar!

Another dragon roar echoed, but this time the sonic soul attack was far more potent. Even with Liao Chen's exceptionally powerful divine soul, he began to feel the impact. Fortunately, Liao Chen steadied his mind and guarded his heart, causing the opponent's soul attack to miss its mark yet again.

"I refuse to believe this! If you can still withstand this move of mine, I will truly submit to you! Dragon's Roar: Reincarnation!"

Roar!

By this point, Long Aotian had unleashed all of his divine soul power, enveloping Liao Chen entirely. Not only was Liao Chen affected by the dragon roar, but even the spectators felt dizzy and their heads pounding. However, a sudden golden radiance erupted from Liao Chen's body, blocking the dragon roar attack firmly outside the golden barrier.

When the roaring subsided, Liao Chen remained completely unscathed, without a single trace of damage to his divine soul. Meanwhile, Long Aotian's divine soul power was utterly depleted, and exhaustion washed over his entire being. As for the rest of the battle, there was simply no need to continue.

"I have lost!" Before Liao Chen could speak, Long Aotian took the initiative to concede defeat.

Liao Chen did not press the attack. With a flash, he appeared right before Long Aotian and said, "According to our prior agreement, since you lost, the Azure Dragon Mercenary Group belongs to me now. I wonder if the Dragon Commander's word still holds?"

Long Aotian reverted to his human form and smiled bitterly, "A loss is a loss; I admit defeat. From now on, the Azure Dragon Mercenary Group belongs to Your Excellency!"

Liao Chen nodded, produced an Emperor Pill, and said, "Commander Long, take this pill."

Taking the pill, Long Aotian suddenly realized that this was a supreme-grade Emperor Pill. He stared at Liao Chen in disbelief and asked, "Your Excellency, this is a supreme-grade Emperor Pill. Are you certain you want to give it to me?"

Before Liao Chen could respond, neither Li Yuan nor He Chengfeng had expected Liao Chen to casually hand over an Emperor Pill as a gift to Long Aotian; this was undeniably too generous. Seeing the eager expressions of the onlookers who also coveted such an Emperor Pill, Liao Chen reminded them, "Do not be envious, everyone. I have plenty of these Emperor Pills, but to obtain one, you must prove your worth to me. In my sect, Emperor Pills can be earned by completing missions to gain corresponding merit points, which can then be redeemed for pills. Of course, the sect's Mission Tower holds far more than just Emperor Pills—there are many other treasures waiting to be exchanged."

"Your Excellency, is everything you said true? But how can we accept sect missions?" Li Yuan asked excitedly. Right now, he desperately needed medicinal pills to elevate his physical cultivation. After all, he had tried all sorts of body-refining techniques and methods over the past several millennia, yet his physical cultivation remained stuck at the quasi-emperor realm. To say he wasn't anxious would be a lie.

The others also cast burning gazes at Liao Chen. If this were true, the time for them to soar to greatness had finally arrived.

Liao Chen nodded and said, "Next, I will establish a cross-continent teleportation array right here, which will make it convenient for you to receive sect missions."

Li Yuan and the others burst into hearty laughter. If that were the case, their cultivation levels and combat prowess would advance even further. Just thinking about it brought joy to their hearts. However, Liao Chen did not completely trust these mercenaries. After all, these people were desperadoes; trying to bind these ruthless bandits—who viewed human life as mere grass—solely by defeating them in battle would be nothing short of wishful thinking.

Naturally, Liao Chen had his own methods to keep them in check. He stated, "Everyone, I can grant you benefits, but as members of the Morning Light Sect, you must all surrender your soul imprints to me. Otherwise, based merely on words, I cannot truly believe you have defected to the Morning Light Sect."

After taking the medicinal pill, Long Aotian's strength had rapidly recovered, and his cultivation even showed faint signs of a breakthrough. Perceiving Liao Chen's concerns, he took the lead and expressed his stance, "Your Excellency, I, Long Aotian, am willing to surrender my soul imprint!"

With that, he was the first to offer his soul imprint, handing it directly into Liao Chen's grasp. Seeing that even a figure of Long Aotian's stature willingly handed over his soul imprint, the others naturally refused to fall behind and promptly surrendered their soul imprints as well. Having gathered everyone's soul imprints, Liao Chen was in high spirits.

"Good! Very good! From now on, we are all family. I happen to have some Eighth-Rank Marrow-Cleansing Pills here, and each of you may have one. Keep them safe. Next, we are heading to the Phoenix Mercenary Group."

"Thank you for the reward, Your Excellency!"

When all the onlookers received an Eighth-Rank Marrow-Cleansing Pill, it was not merely a matter of happiness; they became even more convinced that the Morning Light Sect truly possessed the strength to support them all. After all, this was an Eighth-Rank Marrow-Cleansing Pill, with a market price exceeding ten million supreme-grade spirit stones—a priceless treasure that was nearly impossible to acquire even if one had the wealth. Yet Liao Chen had just given them away freely to everyone present. Naturally, every spectator had reached at least the Saint Realm in cultivation, which was why they were worthy of such precious pills.

Shortly after, Liao Chen and his group arrived at the headquarters of the Phoenix Mercenary Group. By this time, through Nine Spirits' detailed account, Long Aotian and the others had already learned that Commander Yao Tianba of the Blazing Fire Group had offended their lord. Originally, given Liao Chen's strength, there was no need to go through the trouble of subduing the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise mercenary groups. Yet, he still chose to uphold fairness and justice when demanding an explanation from the Phoenix Mercenary Group. Such broad-mindedness commanded deep respect.

Long Aotian immediately stepped forward and declared, "Your Excellency, let me handle this Phoenix Group Commander, Yao Tianqi, for you. Would that be acceptable?"

Liao Chen nodded and replied, "No problem. When the time comes, let me first see what kind of person this Yao Tianqi is, to have a younger brother like Yao Tianba. Though I don't hold this person in high regard, if Yao Tianqi proves useful, sparing the lives of the two brothers is not entirely out of the question."

Long Aotian acknowledged respectfully, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, your subordinate knows what to do."