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

Seeing that its path was blocked, Fire Fox's pupils dilated slightly.

Immediately, it turned around at an extremely fast speed, easily dodging the entangled battle qi.

But this also forced it to face the encirclement of the remaining mercenaries.

The wind-attribute mercenary, wielding a curved sword, leaped behind the fire fox and slashed down with his blade.

Unfortunately, the Fiery Fox was too fast, and with a push of its four legs, it dodged to the side.

"Hey, take this!"

Seeing the Fire Fox forced to his side, Wang Meng was overjoyed. He channeled his metal-attribute fighting spirit, covering his longsword and making it look even sharper.

The other three metal-type mercenaries also reacted quickly, displaying amazing teamwork without any communication, and simultaneously slashing at each other from different angles.

Faced with this all-encompassing encirclement, even with its astonishing speed, Fire Fox could no longer escape unscathed.

"grumble!"

Firefox let out a shriek and leaped into the air, its hind legs landing on a long sword.

Although he was left with a bloody wound, he also temporarily escaped being killed.

"Entangle!"

"Wind Vortex Kill!"

A wave of unrest, a wave of up again.

Two voices rang out simultaneously, causing Fire Fox to retreat, only to fall into the encirclement of the four most lethal individuals once again.

Already injured, Fire Fox's speed was greatly limited. Although he still managed to escape the encirclement, a shocking and fatal wound was left on his back.

"Chirp chirp!"

Sensing the approach of death, the fire fox cried out a few times, and then suddenly burst forth with a speed even more astonishing than in its prime.

The mercenaries could only see a fiery red shadow darting towards the valley exit. They tried to stop it, but it was too late.

Chen Xiao, who had been watching the whole thing unfold, had been waiting for a long time. When he saw the crimson shadow flying over, he did not hesitate to take a stance and his fighting spirit suddenly circulated within his body.

"Swallow Counterattack!"

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, Chen Xiao felt a powerful force surge through his arm, causing him to stagger back several steps before finally stopping.

Looking at the fire fox again, it was completely lifeless, lying stiffly on the ground with a noticeable dent in its head.

The sound of hurried, hurried footsteps approached as six mercenaries arrived at the valley entrance one after another.

Looking at the dead Fire Fox on the ground, and then at the fatal wound on its head, they all looked at Chen Xiao in astonishment, as if to say, "Is this the one you said was best at defense?"

"Would you believe me if I said it crashed into something and died?"

Chen Xiao rubbed his arm, which was covered in red marks, looking utterly helpless.

My body is really quite fragile now.

While the Swallow Counterattack is effective, the physical injuries it inflicts cannot be ignored.

Well, yet another loophole has appeared where you have to spend money to make changes…

"I believe you! Of course I believe you! Brother Chen, my name is Wang Xiong. I've been around Qingshan Town for many years. If you ever have any questions in the future, feel free to ask me."

The mercenary with the wood attribute was the first to come to his senses, a hearty smile spreading across his rugged face, his enthusiasm growing even stronger.

The others reacted quickly as well, greeting everyone.

"Young Master Chen, my name is Jiang Yang."

"Zhang Huaqiang".

"Liu Rushan".

"..."

Soon, all the mercenaries introduced themselves, thus formally getting to know Chen Xiao.

Those who live at the bottom may not be very strong, but they have excellent eyesight.

Chen Xiao is already stronger than them at such a young age, so it's conceivable that he will become even more powerful in the future, and perhaps he also has a background that they can only look up to.

Under these circumstances, there's absolutely no harm in making friends with them; who knows, there might be unexpected rewards.

Therefore, seeing that the time was right, the group stepped forward to greet them.

Chen Xiao clasped his hands in response, but inwardly he smiled helplessly.

He is now even more destitute than these mercenaries, so how could he be qualified to lend a hand to others?

"Brother Wang Meng, you handle this Fire Fox."

The other party nodded slightly and, with a skillful touch, began to peel off the fur completely in less than three minutes.

"The finished product is good, with only two openings. You wouldn't believe it, but the nobles in those big cities love this kind of fur the most. If they can hunt it, they never have to worry about selling it."

Wang Meng happily packed the fur into his bundle, and didn't forget to explain its uses to everyone.

"Unfortunately, we weren't very lucky; we didn't get any magic crystals."

Magic crystals are magic cores.

However, magic cores are not a stable source from low-level magical beasts; luck plays a huge role.

With good luck, you might get a magic core from hunting a first-tier magical beast; with bad luck, you might end up with nothing even from hunting a third-tier magical beast.

Only monsters that reach the Fighting Spirit level, which is the fourth tier, can reliably produce magic cores.

"If you manage to extract a magic core from me, we'll definitely give you a good beating when we get back tonight," the mercenaries teased, listening to Wang Meng's mutterings.

The magic core is arguably the essence of a magical beast, and its value is generally the highest among all magical beasts.

If a second-tier fire fox like this produces a magic core, its value is several times greater than the total value of its flesh, blood, and fur.

Moreover, the popularity of the magic core far surpasses that of this beautiful fur.

This is because magic cores have a wide range of uses; they are not only essential for alchemists to refine pills, but can also be used to enhance weapons.

Weapons enhanced with magic cores not only possess greater destructive power but also have the alluring effect of amplifying battle qi, making them highly sought after by the battle warrior class on the Battle Qi Continent.

"Haha, as long as we have the luck, everything is fine. Let's all take a short rest. I'll go into the valley and scatter some bait, then wait for the foxes."

Wang Meng laughed loudly and headed into the valley.

Since he had set his sights on hunting four fire foxes, he must have made preparations.

Perhaps it was the effectiveness of his bait, or perhaps everyone was just lucky today, but in just half a day, the group successfully completed their objective.

It's worth mentioning that none of the four fire foxes had a single magic core.

During the subsequent hunt by the three fire foxes, Chen Xiao intervened again to intercept them.

Then, another red patch appeared on my left arm.

One on the left and one on the right, perfectly symmetrical.

"Brother Chen, you'd better go to Wan Yao Zhai later, otherwise you'll definitely swell up. Although it's not a big deal, it will inevitably hurt for a couple of days. This is a common occurrence for newcomers entering the Monster Mountain Range. After getting injured a lot, they'll become as tough as us."

On the way back to Qingshan Town, Wang Meng, in a good mood, kindly reminded him.

Chen Xiao nodded slightly. Using pills to heal his injuries was too extravagant for him at the moment, and he couldn't afford it.

Based on this, Wan Yao Zhai, which offers good quality products at reasonable prices, is a good choice.

The journey continued smoothly.

When the seven returned to Qingshan Town, it was already late afternoon.

After a brief greeting, the seven people dispersed.

After having a quick bite to eat in town, Chen Xiao headed straight for Wan Yao Zhai.

Perhaps because the mercenaries who were busy making a living had not yet returned in large numbers, the spacious Wan Yao Zhai was quite empty, with only a few scattered people in sight.

Chen Xiao's gaze swept around, finally settling on the white-dressed girl standing on the wooden box, just like yesterday.

When Chen Xiao stepped forward and saw his delicate and youthful face, a hint of surprise flashed in Little Fairy Doctor's eyes, but it quickly disappeared, and she revealed her signature smile.

"Where are you injured?"

Her voice was soft, like moonlight spilling onto a calm lake, gentle and soothing, with a dreamlike tenderness that instantly calmed the mind.

Chen Xiao returned a polite smile before rolling up his sleeves, revealing the redness and swelling on his arms.

The girl glanced at it, and under Chen Xiao's gaze, she stretched out a fair and delicate finger and gently poked it.

"Does it hurt?"

"It's a little bit hot."

"Hmm, I can feel it. It's not a big problem. Take a packet of medicine powder back and apply it. The swelling should go down overnight. However, your body is still very fragile, and you are easily injured by violent collisions. Try to avoid them if possible. Here are three gold coins. You can also use medicinal herbs or medical books or other miscellaneous items instead."

"I understand, thank you."

Chen Xiao took the medicine packet from the girl and paid with three gold coins.

That's the difference between a physician and an alchemist.

If it were an alchemist, even the most ordinary first-grade pill would not be so cheap.

However, the girl's words reminded Chen Xiao that his fragile body could not withstand high-intensity combat.

Perhaps it's time to get a weapon to tide us over!