Chapter 393 - Nether Soul Water

Chapter 393: Chapter 148: Nether Soul Water"Ladies and gentlemen, I have called you all here to discuss strategies for the prosperity of our mercenary world."

A few days ago, many mercenary elites had been summoned, but it was only an hour before Lu Hong entered Mercenary Cliff that the King of Mercenaries revealed his true form—he was clearly buying time.

"Captain Fang, you’ve had us hanging around for days just for this?" Yan Xinghe of the Zhihuo Mercenary Group curled his lip, "I would have been better off taking on a few more missions for a more tangible reward."

Where there’s war, there’s a chance for mercenaries to make a fortune. Any decent mercenary, who’s already put life and death on his belt, fears not death as much as being penniless.

The financial cut-off imposed by the King of Mercenaries on the Sacred Empire hit the entire mercenary world hard, as the empire’s offer had been outrageously high. According to Lan Sa, finishing this job would allow one to live lavishly for a year or two.

Apart from Yan Xinghe, nearly ten thousand Third Transition mercenary elites present didn’t look favorably upon the King of Mercenaries. To cut off someone’s wealth was akin to threatening their life.

"Indeed, to grow strong, our mercenary world just needs to make a lot of money, what can’t we buy with it?" Bai Baiwan, the leader of the Baiwan Mercenary Group, took over the conversation, "Tell me, Captain Fang, do you know how much my group has lost waiting these few days? It starts with at least six figures. Are you going to take any responsibility for these Gold Coins?"

The Baiwan Mercenary Group, as the name suggests, had a close association with money, and Bai Baiwan himself valued money over people. He was a Third Transition Middle Stage powerhouse and, though defeated by the King of Mercenaries, did not respect him much.

"Heh heh," the King of Mercenaries chuckled without saying a word. After all, he thought, there was no need to argue with the dead since soon enough, everything would be taken care of.

Without responding further, the King of Mercenaries had someone bring forward a huge pot made of special iron. Sёarch* The Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The crowd peered in to see a pot filled with murky black liquid that emitted a restless aura.

Lan Sa, sitting in front, took a closer look and asked with a frown, "Captain Fang, what is inside this pot?"

"This," the King of Mercenaries pointed to the pot of unidentified liquid, "is the path to the strength I’ve found for our mercenary world. Our world may seem strong now, but in reality, we are barely a match for the powers of Star Sea. Don’t be fooled by the empire’s current need for our help; once the seafolk retreat, we mercenaries will once again become expendable."

It had to be admitted, mercenaries earned their keep this way—taking on any client, owing allegiance to no power. That’s why Lan Sa had once helped the Beastman Empire search for divine items and why Yan Xinghe had taken a mercenary contract from Earl Sina to help Piao Miao escape.

If the Eagle Alliance were willing to spend big, they might even persuade mercenaries to attack the empire; of course, the mercenary groups would have to calculate the cost. Making money was pointless if they didn’t live to spend it. After all, there’s a difference between daring and courting death.

"They wouldn’t actually send troops to exterminate us, would they?" Luo Bolun, deputy leader of the Zhanku Mercenary Group, laughed, "We mercenaries are already outside the empire’s system. If the seafolk are repelled with our help, the empire will surely owe us a favor. Perhaps our movements within the empire will become easier afterward—your worries about being abandoned, Your Excellency the King of Mercenaries, may be overblown."

Luo Bolun was a deputy leader and thus a notch below a full leader, so he had no choice but to use respectful language when addressing the King of Mercenaries.

Speaking of Luo Bolun, this fellow rose rapidly in the Zhanku Mercenary Group with his political savvy after joining with Luo Yis. In less than a year, he became the most trusted subordinate of the group’s leader and was promoted to deputy leader. Five months ago, he officially entered the Third Transition and came to Mercenary Cliff with the leader of the Zhanku Mercenary Group.

The King of Mercenaries glanced at Luo Bolun and said, "What you’ve said is not wrong, but is that really good for the mercenary world going forward?"

Luo Bolun nodded, "I concede that if we continue on as usual, there will be no change in the mercenary world. So... I’m keen to hear more."

"In that case," the King of Mercenaries collected his thoughts and continued, "ever since I took up the mantle of King of Mercenaries, I’ve pondered one question daily: where is our future? The empire is a colossal beast, but still so weak when faced with foreign invasion that it almost got destroyed. The other day, I heard the Eagle Alliance also suffered a great loss. The root cause is that a power, a group, needs enough strong individuals to uphold their eternal legacy. While there are many Third Transition powerhouses in our mercenary world, exceptional ones are few and far between. Therefore, we must become stronger; we must possess the foundation and power to stand against the seven Tower Masters."

The leader of the Zhanku Mercenary Group strongly agreed with the words of the King of Mercenaries, "Captain Fang is making sense, but increasing our strength... seems difficult, doesn’t it? Does Captain Fang have a way?"

"Indeed," the King of Mercenaries pointed to the liquid in front of him, "this is the path I just mentioned for the future of our mercenary group."

"Dare I ask, Your Excellency the King of Mercenaries, what is that?" Luo Bolun squinted and asked.

"It’s Soul Water," the King of Mercenaries stated gravely, "a miraculous opportunity bestowed by the heavens for our mercenaries to rise. This Soul Water can swiftly enhance the Power of Soul. Just by drinking it, one’s own strength will greatly increase, and so will combat capability."

The room erupted into an uproar at this declaration.

"Is that true?"

"Impossible, right?"

"Where in the world is such a miraculous thing to be found?"

Luo Bolun raised his voice, quelling the discussion among the mercenaries, and asked, "Your Excellency the King of Mercenaries, surely this isn’t like the Source Blood that once appeared in the wasteland? Although it can temporarily increase strength, there’s no telling when one might suddenly drop dead."

At the mention of Source Blood, the faces of many changed, evidently recalling how the mercenary elite had frequently used it back when it was prevalent in the wasteland. The day the Holy Ancestor forcibly invoked the blood, likely many mercenaries perished, casting a shadow in their hearts.

"No, you needn’t worry about that," the King of Mercenaries reassured, "This water comes from a mysterious place; I stumbled upon it by chance. There’s not much, only enough for Third Transition powerhouses to consume, which is why I’ve gathered you all here, hoping to use this opportunity to enhance the strength of our mercenary world."

"Captain Fang, is this stuff really useful?" Bai Baiwan pointed at the Soul Water and asked, "How about you demonstrate for us?"

"No problem."

The Mercenary King gestured, and a vice-captain from the Howling Mercenaries stepped forward, scooped out a bit of the Soul Water, and drank it on the spot.

After a while, the vice-captain’s face turned pale as he let out pained howls, causing everyone to shudder.

"What’s happening to Captain Fang?" Lan Sa asked in a grave voice.

"Don’t worry, you’ll know soon. To gain power, this little pain is nothing."

About twenty minutes later, the vice-captain’s howling gradually stopped, and his pale complexion returned to normal. Then, a faint blue flame lit up from the depths of his eyes, and his power, initially at the Third Transition second level, began to skyrocket madly, leaping three levels up, reaching the Third Transition fifth level in one fell swoop.

Could it really be effective?!

Seeing this with their own eyes, they couldn’t help but believe.

Bai Baiwan was the first to step forward, "I’ll give it a try!"

The Mercenary King smiled broadly, "Come on, set an example for everyone. Don’t worry, there won’t be any side effects."

Bai Baiwan was resolute and decided without delay. His group was on the verge of entering the top three, but his own strength was slightly weaker than Lan Sa, which led to their failure to advance. He’d been holding back this frustration for a long time.

Bai Baiwan had tried many methods to become stronger, but the effects were minimal. To be honest, after reaching the Third Transition, individual aptitude had become the biggest constraint on advancing. It was very likely that Bai Baiwan would never progress any further in his lifetime; his path of cultivation had already come to an end.

But today, seeing hope from the Mercenary King, Bai Baiwan made a snap decision. He’d worry about the consequences later. After all, the Mercenary King’s strength was below his, and he must have drunk the Soul Water to make quick progress and snatch the throne of the Mercenary King.

Seeing Bai Baiwan volunteering to be the first guinea pig, everyone’s eyes were fixed on him.

Lifting a bowl of Soul Water, Bai Baiwan sniffed an odd smell—it wasn’t pleasant, but not repulsive either. Ah! Why overthink it?!

"Here goes!" Bai Baiwan gulped it down in one go, and in no time, he felt soul-rending pain spread throughout his body.

"Ah!" Bai Baiwan clutched his head and howled, but despite the pain, the growing Power of Soul made him smile even through his howls.

This scene spurred many strong mercenaries to contemplate their own power. After all, nothing could make Bai Baiwan smile under such circumstances except an increase in strength.

Sure enough, a powerful force burst from within Bai Baiwan, reaching the Third Transition Peak!

"I—I can’t believe it," Bai Baiwan exclaimed, clenching his fists. This peak power was indeed worlds apart from twenty minutes before!

"Heh, congratulations!" The Mercenary King chuckled, then looked at the crowd, "Who else wants to become stronger? Come and try."

"Me!"

"Me, me, me..."

"Don’t push, it’s my turn, my turn!"

One after another, they rushed forward and drank down the Soul Water greedily.

The Mercenary King was quite pleased, then turned to the several hundreds of people who had yet to move, "Don’t you want to become stronger?"

"Heh." The leader of the War Scar Mercenaries chuckled, "I’ll wait; there’s no rush."

Lan Sa nodded, "Me too. I don’t care much about strength; after all, my son is gone, and I plan to retire in a few years."

Just then, a rumbling came from not far away.

Lu Hong stood up and walked out from behind Mercenary Cliff to see what was happening outside. He didn’t expect to be greeted by Luo Bolun’s foot.

"What the fuck?!" Luo Bolun hadn’t had time to react before he was stepped on the face and flopped to the ground.

"Hey, isn’t this Bolun?" Lu Hong leaped over him, not forgetting to greet the man as he passed.

"Damn it! Tu Ku Lu, you just wait!" Luo Bolun swore, then a group of Howling Mercenary members chased after him, passing by his side.