Chapter 4: Asking for Trouble

  The merchant was just about to lift the curtain and get off the carriage when he heard the name "Big Beard Bandits" and his legs went soft, falling off the horse. Su Qingchen, who was on the side, quickly stepped forward and caught the merchant. The merchant looked at Su Qingchen with gratitude, stood up straight, then turned around with a worried face to look at the Whirlwind Mercenary Group.

  The leader of the Whirlwind Mercenary Group stepped forward, smiled at Big Beard and cupped his fists: "I'm Qi Bing, leader of the Whirlwind Mercenary Group. I hope you can give me some face, brother. We'll have many chances to meet again in the future."

  The big bearded man glared at the swift soldier and said, "What's with this nonsense? Didn't you understand what I just said? If you want to leave, then get out of here with your tail between your legs." The big bearded man didn't bother with the swift soldier anymore and walked a few steps forward to stand in front of the merchant. He patted the merchant's shoulder and said, "You'd better hand over your money and let your people go, or else I'll start killing."

  The merchant coughed and didn't say a word, only bitterly smiled. From the merchant's expression, Su Qingchen felt that this big-bearded man was definitely not simple, and should be a somewhat famous strong thief in the nearby area.

  After a brief silence around, the most explosive temper of the Whirlwind Mercenaries, Hei Zi, launched an attack on Da Hu Zi. Hei Zi's soul spirit was a black rod, and his nickname also came from this. Hei Zi suddenly jumped up and struck at Da Hu Zi with a straight blow, but when the rod spirit was about to hit Da Hu Zi's head, it was blocked by a stream of air and bounced back instantly. Hei Zi flew backward for several meters before being caught by his companions.

  The attack of the mid-grade Da Ling Shi was easily caught by Big Beard, Su Qingchen was shocked in his heart, could it be that Big Beard is a Ling Zong realm cultivator.

  The big beard's right hand rose, and a large pair of scissors appeared in his palm, surrounded by red gas. It was no wonder that the mercenary group had heard of his fearless reputation, as it turned out that the big beard's strength was so formidable.

  Suddenly a cyan light flashed by, the big bearded man retreated several steps and barely stabilized his body. The blue light attacked again, arrow-like, directly at the big bearded man's head. The big bearded man had no choice but to retreat several more steps. His Soul Scissors floated in mid-air, blocking the cyan light. He manipulated his own soul power, forming a wall of soul energy in front of him.

  At this time, Su Qingchen saw a man standing in front of the big beard, with a cold smile at the corner of his mouth. He felt a chill from his body, a kind of dangerous breath, cold and terrifying. His soul was a dagger, somewhat similar to Su Qingchen's small sword.

  He actually repelled the big bearded man at the Lingzong boundary twice in a row. Su Qingchen was even more curious about Leng Feng, the most mysterious mercenary group. At this time, only to see the dagger's light flash, Leng Feng shot towards the big bearded man like an arrow again. The soul power wall instantly collapsed. When Leng Feng moved, all the people in the Difeng Mercenary Group took action. The captain summoned his soul spirit first, a red battle knife appeared, and with a horizontal sweep of his army, he repelled the strong thieves who wanted to come forward.

  Hei Zi swung his right hand, and a soul flashed by, striking a strong thief beside him, instantly knocking him flying. The deputy captain patted Su Qingchen's shoulder "Take care of the merchant team, little brother." After finishing speaking, the deputy captain sprang up, and a golden grass vine appeared in his right hand, with golden light radiating out, instantly enveloping all the mercenary team members, and the combat effectiveness of the mercenary team rapidly increased.

  Su Qingchen was shocked again, the deputy captain's soul spirit turned out to be an auxiliary soul spirit, and the group auxiliary skill he cast was at least a high-level blue mirror soul decision. As the auxiliary soul technique was cast, the mercenary corps gradually began to gain the upper hand. Especially Leng Feng, that strange attack, completely suppressed the Great Beard of the Lingzong realm, while Leng Feng was only a 7th level Grandmaster.

  A moment later, the Whirlwind Mercenaries had taken care of the other bandits and quickly surrounded Big Beard. At this point, the resentful expression on Big Beard's face turned into one of helplessness, his soul returned to his body, and once again a sly smile appeared on his face. He clasped his hands together in a fist: "Everyone, I was wrong. Spare my life for the sake of my elderly mother and young child." As he spoke, Big Beard knelt down on both legs.

  Hei Zi furrowed his brow, concentrated his soul power in his palm, and swung his right hand to strike Da Hu Zi with a fierce blow. Suddenly, Duan Bing shouted: "Hei Zi, don't!" As soon as the words fell, Da Hu Zi's soul appeared strangely in front of Hei Zi's chest. A blue light flashed, and a cold wind pushed Hei Zi back, allowing Da Hu Zi to escape. Hei Zi jumped up to chase after him, but Leng Feng quickly pulled him back.

  The soldier took a step forward, glared at Hei Zi, turned around and walked to the merchant's side with a slight smile. "Sorry about that, let's get going, we should be able to enter the city before nightfall."

  The merchant patted his chest, his expression slightly changed, and burst out laughing towards the swift soldiers "The Swift Mercenary Team is indeed one of the three major mercenary teams in the Imperial Capital, I didn't misjudge you". After finishing speaking, he got on the horse carriage with the support of the swift soldiers, and the merchant team set off again.

  Just now, Su Qingchen confirmed that this is a world where the strong are respected. Only with great strength can one gain respect from others, protect their loved ones and friends, and make their own life better. In this life, everything depends on oneself. One must constantly strive to cultivate themselves, stand taller, and walk further.

  On the way, Su Qingchen pulled down the sleeve of the deputy captain beside him and asked in a low voice, "Uncle, why is Leng Feng's attack speed so fast? I feel that Da Hu Zi had a kind of powerful but useless feeling just now, being beaten by Leng Feng very suffocatingly."

  The deputy captain patted Su Qingchen's head and said, "Little guy, you're quite observant. Leng Feng's soul spirit is a dagger, an assassin-type soul spirit. With his agility attribute, his attack speed is extremely fast. Two years ago, he obtained a strange attacking soul decision, and after cultivating it, although his attack power wasn't strong, his speed was incredibly fast, and his attack route was unpredictable, making it hard for people to defend against."

  "Uncle, what does 'Soul Reaper' mean? Does that mean souls have different types?" Su Qingchen asked in confusion.

  "In the spiritual realm, there are four types of spirits: Instrumental Spirit, Object Spirit, Natural Spirit, and Inherited Spirit. The Instrumental Spirit takes the form of a weapon and is an attacking spirit, known as a Warrior Spirit Master. The Object Spirit takes the form of a plant and is a supporting spirit, known as a Magical Spirit Master. The Natural Spirit is a mist-like gas and belongs to the Realm of Mind Spirit, known as a Spiritual Spirit Master."

  In the spiritual world, there are some special spirits, such as the dagger of cold wind, and another kind of powerful spirit is the inherited spirit, which is passed down through bloodlines." The deputy captain patiently explained to Su Qingchen.

  Su Qingchen bowed her head in contemplation for a moment, then nodded and spoke up, "If we let Leng Feng ambush us, wouldn't that be equivalent to being killed by a soul master of the same level?"

  "You're quite clever for your age, last year we had a mission to escort a merchant caravan to Hunting Soul Town, on the way we encountered a group of powerful bandits, they had two Spirit Sect experts, one of whom was even an auxiliary soul spirit, at that time we felt something was off and were all prepared to fight to the death, who knew Cold Wind that guy instantly killed that demonic Spirit Sect expert and retreated unscathed, the bandit's Great Spirit level and below directly ran away in fear."

  The deputy captain burst out laughing, and several team members behind him also followed suit, relieving the tense atmosphere.

  Su Qingchen turned around to look at Leng Feng, who was still riding his horse with an icy expression, not saying a word, as if this matter had nothing to do with him. He had been like this the whole way, and Su Qingchen had never seen him smile before.

  Hei Zi patted Su Qing Chen's shoulder from behind: "Little bald head, what's your soul spirit? It's been so many days and we still haven't seen it, let's take a look. If it's the same as ours, we can teach you a few tricks. You'll have some capital to flirt with girls at Stanford Academy." After finishing speaking, Hei Zi laughed twice, his laughter extremely lewd.

  Xiao Guangtou is the nickname given to Su Qingchen by Hei Zi, just because of this, Su Qingchen was ridiculed by Hei Zi for half a day. Su Qingchen helplessly lowered his head, his face slightly red. This Uncle Hei Zi really made people laugh and cry at the same time. Su Qingchen knew that Hei Zi was a straightforward person, although his temper was a bit explosive, but he was absolutely sincere with others.

  Su Qingchen's soul power condensed in his palm, summoning out his soul spirit. In an instant, everyone's gaze was focused on Su Qingchen's soul spirit. Meanwhile, Leng Feng saw the short sword soul spirit and a smile flashed across his face, but it was fleeting.

  Hei Zi let out a wry smile: "I really did call it, just like with Leng Feng. The only question is whether or not Leng Feng will be willing to teach you. If he teaches you a couple of moves, your bald image will get an upgrade and I reckon all the beauties at your school will be chasing after you. By then, you little brat will be in high demand." Hei Zi finished speaking and burst into another fit of loud laughter. Su Qingchen was left feeling quite helpless.

  Everyone chatted and laughed along the way, after several hours, the merchant group arrived at Featherfall City. Inside the city, they bid farewell to the merchants. Su Qingchen was about to go take a look at Stan Academy, but Hei Zi grabbed him: "Little baldy, don't sneak off, come drink with us instead. The enrollment at Stan Academy is tomorrow, no rush for tonight."

  Su Qingchen was reluctantly dragged away by Heizi to the wine tower. The mercenary group had been tired for several months and finally could sit down to eat a meal and drink some wine, so the atmosphere was very lively. Heizi would occasionally tell some indecent stories, such as widow bathing, widow stealing husband, even what posture was clear, feeling that the man was him.

  The most awesome thing is that the lord's little wife's underwear color he knew clearly. The mercenary team members gave him a nickname called "Lewd Black Stick", Su Qingchen felt that this nickname was absolutely well-deserved for Hei Zi.

  Su Qingchen's face was red throughout the meal, it was unclear whether she was embarrassed by Hei Zi's story or not used to drinking. After finishing dinner, Hei Zi prepared to take Su Qingchen out for a broadened horizon. The others at the table were worried about Su Qingchen and were sweating for her. At this time, Leng Feng stood up and grabbed Su Qingchen, leaping away from the wine building. Su Qingchen felt like she was floating in mid-air, moving quickly forward, feeling very wonderful.

  A few seconds later, the cold wind put down Su Qingchen. Su Qingchen moved his hands and feet, who knew he was on the rooftop of a wine house at this time. This movement directly kicked open the roof tiles, and a ray of light came out from the house. Su Qingchen stabilized his body, bent over to cover the tiles, but unexpectedly saw a young girl taking a bath through the gap in the rooftop. At this time, the girl was standing with her hands on her hips, looking up at Su Qingchen with an angry face. She seemed to have forgotten that she wasn't wearing clothes.

  Su Qingchen was completely stunned at this time, seeing such a scene for the first time. The girl's age was only around thirteen, and although she wasn't considered absolutely beautiful, that young face still had a subtle charm, a contradictory mix of innocence and allure. Su Qingchen naturally moved the tile away, making the hole in the roof even bigger. At this moment, a voice came from inside the house: "Pervert, look at the arrow."

  Su Qingchen suddenly woke up, but didn't know what to do. He only heard a sigh and was lifted by the cold wind again. A few seconds later, the two of them were far away from the rooftop where they had just been. This time when Su Qingchen landed, he didn't dare move recklessly. After his body stabilized, he found himself at the edge of a small river.

  Leng Feng took a glance at Su Qingchen and furrowed his brow, saying "You've brought trouble upon yourself, good luck with that."