Chapter 60 The Annihilation of the Phoenix Mercenary Corps

Long Aotian, Li Yuan, and He Chengfeng arrived together at the headquarters of the Phoenix Mercenary Corps, instantly filling Yao Tianqi with a sense of unease. He immediately led the senior figures of the corps to confront them.

"Long Aotian, Li Yuan, He Chengfeng, you should be staying quietly in your own territories. Why have you come to the headquarters of my Phoenix Corps?"

Faced with Yao Tianqi’s interrogation, Long Aotian chuckled and said, "Yao Tianqi, do you know what good deeds your younger brother, Yao Tianba, has been up to recently?"

Hearing the other party mention his younger brother, Yao Tianqi's heart tightened. He thought to himself that surely his brother could not have offended these three major mercenary giants, but that seemed impossible. After all, although his brother was domineering, he was not entirely brainless; if he knew it involved these three titans, he would never have provoked them so easily. He then attempted to contact his brother, but received no response, which filled Yao Tianqi with a lingering sense of anxiety.

However, Yao Tianqi only had this one younger brother, and he could not simply ignore the situation. Therefore, he said, "Long Aotian, what on earth have you done to my brother? Even if he accidentally offended you, there is no need to take his life. State your conditions; what will it take for you to let him go?"

Seeing that Yao Tianqi still did not realize the gravity of the situation, Long Aotian sneered, "Yao Tianqi, if your brother had merely provoked us, he might still have a slim chance of survival. But your brother committed the ultimate taboo by provoking someone he should never have crossed. Therefore, not only must your brother die, but you will also be buried along with him!"

Yao Tianqi asked with some doubt, "Long Aotian, you say my brother provoked someone he shouldn't have. May I ask who possesses such immense power that even I must be buried alongside my brother?"

Long Aotian replied, "That person is none other than my lord, the Invincible Patriarch! He is also the Sect Master of the Morning Light Sect in the Qianyuan Continent. Very well, I have said all that needs to be said. Decide for yourself how you wish to die; after you die, I will see to it that your remains are collected."

Yao Tianqi burst into loud laughter and said, "What a fine Invincible Patriarch, what a fine Morning Light Sect Master! Let me see what kind of person he really is!"

Liao Chen stepped forward, standing in front of Long Aotian, and said, "I am the Invincible Patriarch!"

Yao Tianqi used his divine sense to probe Liao Chen's cultivation realm, only to find that he was merely at the first-heaven of the Great Sage realm. He then checked his bone age and discovered that the young man was less than a hundred years old. Once again, he burst into loud laughter: "Long Aotian, Li Yuan, He Chengfeng, have your brains rusted completely? This brat is only at the Great Sage realm and is less than a hundred years old, yet the three of you have actually chosen to submit to him? If the other members of the Mercenary Alliance Elder Council were to find out, wouldn't they mock you for having water in your brains?"

Long Aotian and the others were unfazed by Yao Tianqi's mockery. In their view, however arrogant Yao Tianqi was right now, he would look all the more pathetic shortly.

Liao Chen had originally intended to give Yao Tianqi a chance at survival, but since the man dared to look down upon him, he had no choice but to make an example of him to deter the rest. He thus addressed Yao Tianqi: "Dean Yao, I know you are very powerful. Since that is the case, I will give you a chance to live. If you can withstand a single move from my hand, I will spare your life. But if you cannot endure it, you and your entire Phoenix Mercenary Corps shall be buried together!"

Yao Tianqi did not believe that his opponent could be so formidable as to defeat him in a single move. Filled with confidence, he replied, "Good, very good! Then let me witness your brilliant moves!"

Following that, Liao Chen looked toward the other members of the Phoenix Mercenary Corps and said, "Fellow Daoists of the Phoenix Corps, the moment of life and death is about to unfold before your eyes. Before it begins, I advise you all to be sensible. Those who wish to leave the Phoenix Corps may do so now while there is still time, otherwise you will no longer have a choice."

However, these members of the Phoenix Corps were all loyal followers of Yao Tianqi and were unlikely to choose to leave simply because of a word from Liao Chen. Rather than angering him, this instead earned a measure of his admiration for their nerve and courage. In truth, whether these people left or not, their ultimate fate was already sealed; Liao Chen had merely spoken those words in passing.

Next, Liao Chen and Yao Tianqi ascended into the void. Although Yao Tianqi did not believe Liao Chen could defeat him with a single strike, just to be safe, he employed every single defensive measure at his disposal.

First was the Divine Dragon White Emperor Armor. He had purchased this precious treasure at a great cost from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. Worn upon his body, its defensive power could directly elevate him by a small realm.

Second was the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation. This sword formation was a simplified version of a grand offensive and defensive array, and its power likewise reached the level of an Emperor Artifact.

Finally came Yao Tianqi's own spiritual power defense. He was already an expert at the first-heaven of the Emperor realm; when defending with all his might, there were very few people across the entire Scorching Fire Continent who could breach his defense.

With these three layers of defense in place, Yao Tianqi was confident that he could withstand Liao Chen's one-hit kill. After all, breaking through these layers of defense required at least the sixth-heaven of the Emperor realm, whereas his opponent possessed only the cultivation of the first-heaven of the Great Sage realm. Therefore, he could not possibly imagine that Liao Chen could defeat him in a single move.

At this moment, the onlookers were also curious as to how Liao Chen intended to defeat Yao Tianqi in a single move. Such strength could not be achieved simply through the cultivation of a sect; it required innate talent blessed with all manner of divine abilities. Otherwise, no one present believed that Liao Chen could defeat his opponent.

Seeing that the onlookers did not believe him, Liao Chen felt this was precisely the effect he desired. He began to gather his strength, channeling a full fifty percent of his power into the Void Mirror. The Void Mirror's greatest strength was not its offensive power, but rather its ability to bypass formation defenses, directly rupture barriers, and penetrate deep behind enemy lines. At this moment, Liao Chen intended to use this Supreme Emperor Weapon to launch an attack against Yao Tianqi. As for the opponent's Divine Dragon White Emperor Armor attempting to block his Supreme Emperor Weapon, that was utterly impossible.

Aside from the Void Mirror, Liao Chen also produced another Supreme Emperor Weapon: the Purple-Gold Thunder God Hammer. Bolstered by these two supreme treasures, Liao Chen was entirely confident he could instantly kill his opponent in a single move. Yet he chose not to go that far; after all, taking a life was easy, but the aftermath of such a killing was not what he wanted. The effect Liao Chen desired was to execute one chicken to frighten the monkeys, which was why the spiritual power he infused into the Supreme Emperor Weapon, the Purple-Gold Thunder God Hammer, was only filled to fifty percent capacity. Even so, it should be more than enough to shatter the opponent's spiritual defense.

Then, under the gaze of the onlookers, Liao Chen flashed and vanished from his spot. When he reappeared a moment later, Yao Tianqi was sent flying thousands of miles away. At that moment, Yao Tianqi's meridians were completely shattered, and his internal organs, including his very soul, had suffered severe damage.

Yao Tianqi stared at Liao Chen in sheer disbelief. "How is this possible? How could you possibly hurt me? I am an Emperor realm expert, while you are merely an ant at the first-heaven of the Great Sage realm! Just how did you do this?"

Liao Chen chuckled and said, "There is nothing impossible about it. I possess the Supreme Emperor Weapon, the Void Mirror, a treasure that can ignore your formations and armor defenses. At the same time, I also possess another Supreme Emperor Weapon, the Purple-Gold Thunder God Hammer, which specializes in breaking spiritual defenses. So now do you understand why I could defeat you in a single move?"

"A Supreme Emperor Weapon? And two of them at that! Just who are you? How could you possibly possess two Supreme Emperor Weapons at the same time?" Yao Tianqi felt deeply resentful, as he believed he had lost to the Supreme Emperor Weapons rather than to Liao Chen, a good-for-nothing whose cultivation was merely at the Great Sage realm.

Faced with Yao Tianqi's refusal to accept defeat, Liao Chen looked at him with disdain and said, "I am who I am—the Sect Master of the Morning Light Sect and an invincible existence. Hence, blessed with good fortune, the Invincible Patriarch! What, you refuse to accept it? So what if you don't? Weapons are also a manifestation of strength. In truth, even without these two supreme treasures, I could still instantly kill you; I simply didn't wish to go through the trouble. Very well, you, your brother, and the members of your mercenary corps can all be on your way together now."

With that, Liao Chen signaled Jiuling to release Yao Tianba. The moment the brothers reunited, the two of them wept bitterly like melting snow.

"Big brother, it is I who dragged you down! Had I known it would come to this today, I would never have accepted the Jiang family's mission!"

"Little brother, do not blame yourself for this. If anyone is to blame, blame your older brother for his incompetence, for failing to protect you properly."

"Brother, I do not want to die! Should we surrender?"

"Brother, we have already lost the qualification to surrender. It is all my fault for being overly arrogant; now we have nowhere left to retreat!"

"Brother, if that is the case, then we shall fight them to the death!"

"Fight them to the death!"

After a brief discussion, the Yao brothers decided to strike first and summoned the members of the Phoenix Corps to make a desperate final stand. Seeing that the members of the Phoenix Corps still dared to resist, Long Aotian and the others did not hold back. They swarmed forward and encircled the members of the Phoenix Corps for a complete annihilation. The outcome held no suspense; every single member of the Phoenix Corps perished, their souls scattered into nothingness. The Yao brothers had their cultivation crippled and were stuffed into iron cages like dead dogs to be paraded through the streets for all to see—a punishment far more effective than simply killing them both. From that day onward, the Phoenix Mercenary Corps led by the Yao brothers existed in name only.

System: "Ding! Congratulations to the host for subduing the White Tiger Mercenary Corps. The host is rewarded with ten billion cultivation experience points. Upon accumulating five hundred billion experience points, the host's cultivation can be directly elevated to the first-heaven of the Celestial-Human realm. The host is rewarded with one Supreme Emperor Weapon, the Green Bronze Tripod; one supreme spiritual vein; ten supreme enlightenment tea trees; ten Bodhi trees; ten supreme emperor pills; one thousand divine spirit pills; one thousand divine beast pills; one hundred thousand supreme spirit beast aptitude pills; one hundred thousand transformation pills; one hundred thousand saint origin pills; ten million heavenly spirit pills; and ten tons of foundation-building pills. The rewards have been issued; please check and claim them, Host."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for subduing the Black Tortoise Mercenary Corps. The host is rewarded with ten billion cultivation experience points. Upon accumulating five hundred billion experience points, the host's cultivation can be directly elevated to the first-heaven of the Celestial-Human realm. The host is rewarded with one Supreme Emperor Weapon, the Undying Heavenly Saber; one supreme spiritual vein; ten supreme enlightenment tea trees; ten Bodhi trees; ten supreme emperor pills; one thousand divine spirit pills; one thousand divine beast pills; one hundred thousand supreme spirit beast aptitude pills; one hundred thousand transformation pills; one hundred thousand saint origin pills; ten million heavenly spirit pills; and ten tons of foundation-building pills. The rewards have been issued; please check and claim them, Host."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for subduing the Azure Dragon Mercenary Corps. The host is rewarded with ten billion cultivation experience points. Upon accumulating five hundred billion experience points, the host's cultivation can be directly elevated to the first-heaven of the Celestial-Human realm. The host is rewarded with one Supreme Emperor Weapon, the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Jar; one supreme spiritual vein; ten supreme enlightenment tea trees; ten Bodhi trees; ten supreme emperor pills; one thousand divine spirit pills; one thousand divine beast pills; one hundred thousand supreme spirit beast aptitude pills; one hundred thousand transformation pills; one hundred thousand saint origin pills; ten million heavenly spirit pills; and ten tons of foundation-building pills. The rewards have been issued; please check and claim them, Host."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for annihilating the Phoenix Mercenary Corps. The host is rewarded with fifty billion cultivation experience points. Upon accumulating five hundred billion experience points, the host's cultivation can be directly elevated to the first-heaven of the Celestial-Human realm. The host is rewarded with one Supreme Emperor Weapon, the Beginningless Bell; one Emperor-level spiritual vein; one 3-star Emperor realm summoning card; seven 10-star Great Sage summoning card; one hundred and fifty 10-star Sage realm summoning cards; four hundred and thirty-two 10-star Emperor-grade summoning cards; one hundred tons of foundation-building pills; one hundred tons of heavenly spirit pills; one hundred tons of saint origin pills; one hundred tons of transformation pills; one hundred tons of supreme spirit beast pills; ten tons of divine beast pills; ten tons of divine spirit pills; one ton of supreme emperor pills; one hundred tons of supreme enlightenment tea; five medicine fields; fifty mission towers; one hundred supreme enlightenment tea trees; one hundred supreme Bodhi trees; and one hundred disciple peaks. The rewards have been issued; please check and claim them, Host."