While in Battle Through the Heavens, one can pre-appoint oneself as an emperor.

In the Monster Mountain Range, monsters roam freely, and danger lurks everywhere. Traveling alone in this area makes one an easy target for monsters.

Therefore, most mercenaries who enter the mountains, except for a few who are highly skilled and daring, usually go in groups.

Chen Xiao didn't rush to join a team. He stood quietly by the street for half an hour, watching as teams gathered their mercenaries and left, and then employers appeared one after another.

Unfortunately, there was no recruitment for the herb-gathering team at Wan Yao Zhai.

In Chen Xiao's plan, following the route of the herb-gathering team from Wan Yao Zhai into the Monster Mountain Range would make it easier to find the cave.

"One more fighter of six stars or higher!"

The mercenary, intent on hunting Fire Fox, waved his money pouch, his sharp eyes scanning the crowd.

In the small town of Qingshan, apart from the major mercenary groups, low-level fighters make up the majority of the population. The threshold for six-star fighters is indeed quite high, which is why this person has been recruiting for so long but still hasn't gathered enough people.

Seeing this, Chen Xiao no longer hesitated and stepped forward through the crowd.

"I!"

The mercenary standing on the high ground looked up upon hearing the sound, his dark brows furrowing slightly.

"Young man, you're probably not even an adult yet. I need a Dou Zhe of six stars or higher!"

The word "mercenary" is emphasized by the word "fighter".

Clearly, he didn't believe that Chen Xiao, at his age, could possess such strength.

Explanations are too weak; facts speak louder than words.

Chen Xiao glanced around and soon spotted a tree about the thickness of a bowl by the side of the street.

Without further ado, Chen Xiao strode forward, took a deep breath, and his icy blue battle aura, like a faint curtain of light, covered his palm.

After a brief silence, Chen Xiao let out a low shout, his palm slamming into the tree trunk with fierce energy.

"Click."

With a crisp snapping sound, the tree, as thick as a bowl, creaked and fell to the ground to the astonishment of the crowd, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"how?"

Chen Xiao looked at the mercenaries on the high place.

The mercenary grinned and jumped down, patting Chen Xiao on the shoulder twice.

"Goodness, you're the one. Here's your payment."

Pay first, then do the work. This is the rule for most mercenaries. After all, no one knows if they will come back alive. Getting paid in advance can help those with families.

As he spoke, the mercenary took two coins out of his coin bag and left them behind before handing them to Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao looked puzzled. He had been watching for a full half hour and hadn't seen the other party withhold anyone's payment.

He needs an explanation for being treated specially.

"Young man, don't misunderstand. I, Wang Meng, am quite satisfied with your strength. However, you smashed my tree, so two gold coins are just a token gesture. It's not too much to ask, is it?"

The burly man spread his hands, as if asking those around him to judge the matter.

The mercenaries nodded in agreement.

Chen Xiao chuckled to himself.

"Okay, it was indeed my fault."

"That's right. But there's still something else to prepare. In fifteen minutes, everyone will follow me into the mountains."

The burly man patted Chen Xiao on the shoulder again and then called over the other five people he had recruited.

Chen Xiao glanced at them and saw four six-star Dou Zhe and one seven-star Dou Zhe.

As for Wang Meng, his strength is the same as his, and he is considered a good mercenary in Qingshan Town.

The five mercenaries shook their heads. This wasn't the first time they'd done something like this; they had already made all the necessary preparations.

Chen Xiao had nothing on him and no need to make any further preparations, so he shook his head in response.

"Alright, let's hurry up and head straight into the mountains so we can get back as soon as possible, otherwise we won't even be able to get the first taste of the girls."

Wang Meng made a rather crude joke, which made several mercenaries nod and laugh knowingly.

Chen Xiaoqian chuckled but didn't interrupt.

In a world where entertainment options are extremely scarce, the daily pastimes of low-level mercenaries are probably limited to alcohol and women.

Respect and understand.

...

In the silent forest, a group of seven walked quietly, their wary eyes constantly scanning the shadowy spots among the surrounding trees. Their hands gripped the weapons at their waists tightly, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

Upon reaching an area with a relatively open view, Wang Meng pulled out a simple map from his waist and opened it.

"Our destination is this valley, where fire foxes often appear. Although these guys are second-tier, they never go in groups except when they are mating, which makes it easy for us to take them down."

"Hmm, young man, this must be your first time entering the Monster Mountain Range, so let me elaborate a bit more. The second-tier monster, the Fire Fox, possesses strength comparable to a low-level Star Master. However, the Fire Fox's attack methods are rather ordinary; it excels more in speed..."

Chen Xiao never said that this was his first time entering the Monster Mountain Range, but for these seasoned veterans who had been there for years, they could easily tell from many details.

That forced vigilance was fundamentally different from their instinctive vigilance; there was no faking it.

"That's the general situation of Firefox. To make it easier to surround and kill them, everyone please tell me your strengths and your respective battle aura attributes, and I will devise an encirclement and kill plan."

Plan before you act, and know when to stop to gain something!

Everyone understands this principle.

"I'm skilled with a knife, and it's made of metal, so its lethality should be higher," the seven-star warrior mercenary said coolly, fiddling with the curved sword at his waist.

"I am also of the metal element."

"I'm wind-type, so I'm quite fast."

"I have a wood-attribute technique called Entangling, which should be very useful against fire foxes."

"Metallic properties..."

Chen Xiao, lagging behind, noticed the others looking over and immediately said, "Ice attribute, best at...defense!"

Hearing this, the group was taken aback.

They had seen him test his skills in town before, and his attack power was no less than any of theirs. They had thought Chen Xiao would excel in attack, but they were wrong.

Wang Meng nodded slightly. "I'm also a Metal elementalist. And I must say, our team is quite well-balanced. Here's the arrangement: once we reach our destination, Lao Jiang, you're fast, so you'll be in charge of driving them away. The three of us Metal elementalists will engage in direct combat, while Lao Wang, being a Wood elementalist, will provide support from the sidelines and restrict the Fire Fox's movements. Brother Chen, guard the valley exit; we absolutely cannot let the Fire Fox escape!"

After a brief period of planning, the experienced mercenaries finalized an ambush plan.

They all nodded in agreement; the plan was to play to the strengths and avoid the weaknesses, and there were no problems with it.

Without further delay, the group put away the map and, led by Wang Meng, sped towards their target valley.

On the outermost edge of the Monster Mountain Range, almost all the active creatures are first-tier magical beasts. Although the group of seven cannot be said to be invincible, it is enough to make those magical beasts automatically retreat.

The journey was smooth, and after about half an hour, the seven people finally arrived at their destination, the valley.

"Shh!"

Wang Meng, who was at the front, gave a soft hiss, and the six people behind him immediately stopped and fell silent.

Chen Xiao looked up slightly into the valley and saw a beautiful, crimson-red magical beast drinking water by the stream, completely unaware that danger was imminent.

"Luckily, we found one so soon after arriving. Let's proceed according to plan!"

Wang Meng lowered his voice and chuckled, then waved his hand slightly. All the mercenaries except Chen Xiao moved quietly, slowly making their way into the valley from both sides.

A second-tier magical beast that is not good at attacking, seven people made a plan, and they still had to be so careful.

This isn't excessive caution; it's simply that monsters generally have an advantage over humans of the same level.

Take this Fire Fox for example. It is equivalent to a one-star Dou Shi in humans. If it weren't for its lack of offensive skills, if seven Dou Zhe dared to make a move against it, at least half of them would be taken away, or even the entire army would be wiped out.

Chen Xiao's task of guarding the valley entrance was relatively simple. If the others could succeed, they might not even have a chance to make a move.

This allowed him to carefully observe the mercenaries' actions and learn from their experience.

Under Chen Xiao's watchful eye, the six of them acted like thieves, stopping every few steps to observe the Fire Fox. Only when they were not discovered did they continue to probe forward.

It was only about two hundred steps, but it took the six of them more than ten minutes to get within thirty meters of Fire Fox.

Just then, the fire fox, which was strolling in the valley, seemed to sense something and suddenly raised its head, warily surveying both sides of the valley.

The six veteran mercenaries reacted quickly and dodged in time, so Fire Fox didn't see them.

However, the wary fox still pushed off with its feet and leaped to the right of the valley without hesitation, attempting to cross the valley and temporarily leave this place that made it feel threatened.

"We've been discovered, take action!"

Wang Meng drew his sword with a clang and shouted, and the wood-attribute mercenary jumped out quickly.

"Arena Skill: Entanglement!"

With a low shout from the mercenary, his emerald green battle aura shot out, displaying the characteristics of wood-attribute battle aura. Like a green vine, it swept across the fire fox, turned at an angle, and wrapped around the fire fox, making it impossible for the fox to defend against.

It is only because this mercenary is a mere fighter that he has the strength to fight. If he were to reach the level of a Fighting Spirit, where his fighting spirit can condense into matter, this entanglement technique would definitely be even more troublesome.