"Mercenary mission?" The question startled not only the surrounding mercenaries but also Brent, who showed a flicker of surprise on his face.

To kill their leader and then assign them a mission—what in the world was going on?

If a mercenary died during a mission without it being intentional revenge or provocation, the mercenary guild would not retaliate. Otherwise, if one death led to retribution, no guild could ever accept another contract.

Since Gyno's conflict with Chen Feng arose from protecting the Loff family members, it fell under the purview of the mission parameters. Although Chen Feng had killed him, according to mercenary protocol, the Fete Mercenary Guild could not seek revenge. Furthermore, they were obligated to accept if Chen Feng offered a mission.

It was precisely due to these rigid rules that, despite their astonishment at Chen Feng offering them a job, the mercenaries couldn't help but ask, "Name the mission."

Chen Feng pointed to the deceased members of the Loff family lying on the ground. "Take them back to the Loff family!"

Transporting a pile of corpses? The mercenaries found this utterly bizarre. Didn't this red-haired youth harbor deep enmity towards the Loff family? Why would he send their bodies back home?

To die far from home was a painful fate in this world; having one's remains returned to one's ancestral land was considered a great kindness.

Brent couldn't fathom the mystery Chen Feng was orchestrating.

"Here is 100 gold coins, which is your payment!" Chen Feng casually tossed down the money pouch in his hand. It landed, spilling open to scatter shining, golden coins across the dusty floor.

100 gold coins? Such a generous offer!

"Do you take it or not?" The mercenaries looked at each other, clearly hesitant.

A master like the scarred man, Gyno, earned barely 50 gold coins a year in the guild. The rest, with lower cultivation levels, earned less than 10 gold coins annually. Even faced with a mound of gold, they wavered.

The scarred man, Gyno, had not been on good terms with the others. Their fear upon his appearance showed that he relied solely on his formidable strength to intimidate them; they hadn't truly submitted to him. Otherwise, now that Chen Feng had killed him, they would have rushed forward for vengeance long ago.

Since they weren't choosing revenge, accepting the mission was definitely a risk-free venture. Who would dare rob a group transporting corpses on the road?

"Fine! We accept!" One of the older mercenaries stepped forward. Clearly, with Gyno dead, he had become their de facto leader. "State your terms, please, all at once!"

Hearing this, all the mercenaries suddenly understood. Right, paying 100 gold coins just to move bodies—there must be some hidden condition. Otherwise, who would be crazy enough to pay such a price to send their enemy’s corpse back home?

"Load these bodies onto carriages and deliver them to the Loff family residence. Naturally, I will write a letter for you to deliver to Chief Harry," Chen Feng's voice rang out, cold and measured.

"Only a letter?" The older mercenary sounded unconvinced that the matter was so simple.

Chen Feng casually tore a piece from the white shirt under his outer garment, dipped his finger in the blood on the ground, and scribbled a message on the cloth. He folded it a few times and handed it to the older mercenary. "Your Fete Mercenary Guild, as the premier guild in the Finlay Empire, has always maintained a good reputation. I expect you to deliver this letter intact. If you fail, I won't mind killing a few more people." His voice grew somewhat grim as he finished.

The older mercenary replied, "Rest assured. If the task were too difficult, we might not dare accept it. But delivering a letter alone, we can certainly manage not to disappoint your trust!"

Seeing the man agree, Chen Feng knew mercenaries generally honored their word. He said no more, turning to walk toward the exit.

Brent, who had been hiding by the corner, and the young boy in the green robe quickly followed him out. The young boy, having witnessed such a bloody and brutal fight, was so nauseated that his bile had been expelled, leaving his body weak and limp. He stumbled slightly behind them; if he hadn't feared Chen Feng killing him, he would have collapsed entirely.

Once Chen Feng was far enough away, the older mercenary unfolded the white cloth. Written upon it were the words: "Broken arm and ruined teeth are gifts bestowed by the lord. I shall repay them face-to-face in the future. Consider these a token of gratitude for now; may you accept them with a smile!"

"A token of gratitude..." The older mercenary stared at the pile of corpses, swallowed hard, his eyes seemingly fixed and unseeing.

……………………

Brent found Chen Feng a room in the City Lord's manor before withdrawing.

Chen Feng sat cross-legged on the bed, absorbing the elemental fluctuations of heaven and earth to restore the vortex energy in his Dantian.

Although he had won the fight against the Battle Master and killed him, the situation had been perilous. He only succeeded because of the advantage granted by the Black Gold Iron. Without the claws formed from the Black Gold Iron, he would surely have been the one to die.

By continuously unleashing the Dark Hook Strike at 80% of his vortex energy, he had completely depleted his internal dark vortex power, leaving his body weaker than ever before. Killing the scarred man, Gyno, had been achieved only through sheer, desperate madness; otherwise, the moment his vortex energy was exhausted, he likely would have collapsed right there.

A Warrior exhausting all his Battle Qi is a dangerous prospect, especially surrounded by enemies.

However, despite the danger, the fight against the Battle Master brought obvious gains, giving him a clear understanding of a Level One Battle Master's strength.

Though a Level One Battle Master was powerful, if Chen Feng could close the distance, utilizing the claws formed from the Black Gold Iron, even the sturdiest defense could be shattered with a single, fatal blow. The key difficulty, however, was achieving that proximity.

During combat, a Level One Battle Master possessed a long defensive and attack range, making it hard for a Warrior to find an opening to close in. The only viable method was to first make the opponent underestimate him, use the Dark Hook Strike to shatter their defense, and then seek the moment to attack.

Today's kill was largely due to luck. Relying on his current cultivation to seek revenge against the Loff family now would surely lead to his death.

It would be better to first participate in that Imperial New Talent Selection Tournament to broaden his horizons before making further plans. Besides, there was still plenty of time left from the two years initially agreed upon. Moreover, having the mercenaries transport the corpses back was primarily to send a signal to the Loff family—a signal that he would return for vengeance, sowing seeds of panic in their hearts. The longer this panic lasted, the better.

To have one's enemy constantly on guard against an adversary who could strike at any moment was, in essence, beginning the retribution psychologically.

Furthermore, once news of this revenge spread, it would be impossible to contain, spreading like a plague. Those unwilling to wait for death at the hands of the Loff family would flee in advance, thereby easing some of his future pressure.

Having clarified his immediate course of action, Chen Feng looked inward, observing the state of his Dantian's vortex.

The vortex energy was slowly rotating along a specific path, gathering back into the Dantian core.

"I didn't expect that exhausting the Dantian's vortex energy and then reabsorbing it would result in a much faster recovery than normal cultivation," Chen Feng realized after observing for a while. His vortex energy was completely depleted just moments ago, but in less than two hours, he had already recovered nearly half his cultivation. Moreover, the density of the energy mist seemed to be increasing...

"At this rate, let's see if I can break through in one go to the cultivation level of an Eight-Star Warrior. Once I reach Eight-Star Warrior, my Battle Qi won't deplete so quickly when fighting a Level One Battle Master," Chen Feng mused.

Reaching the Eight-Star level meant firmly entering the ranks of High-Tier Warriors. The droplets condensing in his Dantian would also increase, and the storage capacity of his vortex energy would be more than double that of a Seven-Star Warrior.

Although the sheer volume of Battle Qi isn't the sole determinant of victory, it is undoubtedly one of the critical indispensable factors. More Battle Qi reserves allow for the continuous unleashing of powerful techniques, laying the foundation for victory.

It was like in a fighting game: if one had infinite energy and the opponent kept using super moves, while it might not guarantee victory, it would certainly make the opponent suffer immensely.

Chen Feng sat quietly on the bed, the swirling dark vortex rotating slowly, constantly coalescing into liquid droplets.

"Gurgle..." Suddenly, the dark vortex trembled violently, and a droplet the size of a lotus seed materialized out of thin air at the very center of his Dantian.

This droplet was several times larger than the ones condensed before. Chen Feng looked inward and gasped in surprise. This droplet was crystalline and utterly colorless, like a drop of clear water. His previous droplets were always pitch black, like ink. What was this new, phantom droplet, and what was it condensing from? Chen Feng racked his brain but could not figure it out.

The transparent droplet spun in the center of the vortex, ravenously consuming the surrounding vortex energy, like a greedy child devouring his favorite delicacy.

Chen Feng felt that the speed at which the energy gathered from his meridians towards his Dantian was far slower than the rate at which the transparent droplet consumed it. Even more astonished, he quickly withdrew his consciousness and focused entirely on absorbing the free elemental energy of heaven and earth.

As his focus sharpened, the speed of absorbing free elements instantly doubled compared to before.

An hour passed, yet the droplet in his Dantian showed no sign of stopping; instead, its rate of consumption seemed to accelerate. Stranger still, after devouring vortex energy for a full hour, the droplet hadn't grown even slightly larger, but it had become even more crystalline and radiant.

"This is bad. If this transparent droplet continues to absorb at this rate, I fear all my vortex energy will be consumed. The function of this droplet is still unknown, and if all my vortex energy is swallowed, I truly face a dead end!" Chen Feng understood the gravity of the situation and could not help but worry.

The droplet absorbing vortex energy was completely different from the explosion of vortex energy when casting the 'Overcharge' state. In the explosion state, although the Dantian would be momentarily empty of vortex energy, the instant of the explosion created a virtual vortex that stabilized the Dantian's space, preventing it from shrinking. This droplet’s absorption was different; it forcefully pulled the Dantian’s vortex energy toward a single point in a frenzy, heedless of consequence and beyond Chen Feng’s control.

His Dantian was like an inflated balloon, with the vortex energy being the air inside. More vortex energy made the balloon expand. However, once the balloon reached a certain point of expansion, it would stop growing and begin to compress the gas inside to increase its capacity. This droplet continuously absorbed the vortex energy, causing the balloon to slowly shrink. The most direct result would be a regression in cultivation!

It was because Chen Feng understood this clearly that he became anxious.

Cold sweat trickled down Chen Feng’s spine, and his knuckles turned white from tension. But anxiety was useless; his absorption speed couldn't match the droplet's consumption rate. Even constantly drawing in elemental energy from the world was merely drinking poison to quench thirst—it was futile. Still, he could only buy time, hoping this droplet would stop absorbing after a while, allowing him to escape the fate of cultivation regression.

"I have to risk it! If I don't act now and let it continue to devour, I fear my cultivation will drop by several levels, wasting more than half a year of hard work!" Chen Feng grew increasingly desperate as a fierce resolve surged within him. Gritting his teeth, he controlled the vortex energy in his Dantian and used the Overcharge method, making it explode violently. All his vortex energy surged into the surrounding Battle Qi cells.

No vortex energy left in the Dantian—let’s see you absorb that!

"This..." Chen Feng entered the Overcharge state, thinking he had outsmarted it. As he prepared to observe the droplet's change, his internal scan revealed how foolish his action had been. The crystalline droplet spun once in the empty Dantian, and then, astonishingly, it drilled directly into his meridians, completely vanishing from his perception no matter how he tried to sense it...

"What... what is going on?" Chen Feng was nearly driven mad. This transparent vortex—where did it come from, and where did it go now? If this vortex suddenly decided to reappear and devour his vortex energy at some point, wouldn't he be doomed? Especially if he were fighting someone else at that time...

Forget fighting; that would be immediate death.

If he couldn't understand where this transparent droplet originated or what it was, it was like having a bomb planted inside him, ready to detonate at any moment. He could never have peace.

He searched meticulously through his meridians with his spiritual power one last time but found nothing. Chen Feng had to give up. His understanding of cultivation was too shallow. He concluded he would need to find someone with profound cultivation to inquire about this matter.

Recovering from the Overcharge state, Chen Feng cultivated for another three hours before fully restoring his vortex energy. However, thanks to the meddling of the transparent droplet, the vortex energy had become purer, and more dark droplets had condensed.

Chen Feng stood up, and instantly, a sphere of azure flame formed in his palm, burning fiercely—more than twice as powerful as the flame he wielded against the scarred man, Gyno!

"This is Eight-Star Warrior cultivation!" Chen Feng let out a breath. "Eight-Star Warrior! If I advance just one more level to Nine-Star, I can use the special properties of the Sky Dragon Yang Fruit to directly ascend to Battle Master! Once I reach the Battle Master realm, I'll have the confidence for revenge!"

Despite the successful advancement, Chen Feng felt no excitement. The transparent droplet lodged in his meridians was like a fishbone stuck in his throat, refusing to leave.

ps: During my days of serious illness, Old Ya didn't update much and felt too embarrassed to ask for monthly votes. Today, the chapter automatically uploaded this noon, plus the chapter for the ranking push, totals over 10,000 characters updated already... When setting the automatic upload this morning, Old Ya saw 124 monthly votes. If I return tonight and see the monthly votes have increased by 15, Old Ya will add another bonus chapter tonight... If Old Ya can break into the top six of the New Book Monthly Vote rankings, I guarantee a daily update of 9000+ characters from now until the end of this month, even if I work myself to death to fulfill the promise. What are you waiting for? If you have monthly votes, hurry and cast them! If we can reach 154 tonight, Old Ya will add two more chapters... (To be continued. For subsequent events, please log in to www**m for more chapters, support the author, and support legitimate reading!)