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

Watching his temporary teammates bury the dead mercenary, Chen Xiao looked at the rock snake broken in two on the ground.

Rock Serpent, as the name suggests, is a serpentine magical beast that lives in rock walls, and it is of the first tier.

This magical beast, with its flat, wing-like body, can glide briefly through the air like a falcon. Moreover, because its attribute is a mutated stone attribute, its body is as hard as stone, and ordinary fighters have no way to deal with it.

"Rock snakes usually only live on cliff faces. Their presence here means there's another cliff nearby. I remember in the original timeline, Huo Huo and Little Fairy Doctor encountered these things while exploring a cave. Could it be the same place?"

Chen Xiao had some doubts, but he couldn't be sure.

After all, rock snakes are quite common and not exactly rare.

However, there was a cliff nearby, which gave Chen Xiao another target for his future search.

"You were able to cleave a rock serpent in two with a single strike, young man. You're quite skilled. Are you interested in joining a mercenary group? I can introduce you to one."

Just as Chen Xiao was lost in thought, a mercenary wearing a badge on his chest approached and asked with a smile.

The badge features a mountain-shaped design and the words "Green Mountain," indicating that the recipient belongs to the Green Mountain Mercenary Group.

Not only the man in front of him, Chen Xiao had also noticed that nearly half of the fifty mercenaries who had accepted the Wan Yao Zhai mission today were wearing this badge.

During his seven days in Qingshan Town, Chen Xiao also learned about the town's situation.

Within Qingshan Town, there are three major mercenary groups with the greatest reputation.

They are: Green Mountain Mercenary Group, Wolf Head Mercenary Group, and Mad Lion Mercenary Group.

Each of the three major mercenary groups has a Dou Shi-level expert.

The Green Mountain Mercenary Group is undoubtedly the strongest.

"Thank you, I'll think about it."

Chen Xiao had no intention of staying in Qingshan Town for long, so he politely declined.

The man could understand the implication in Chen Xiao's words, and a hint of regret flashed across his face. However, given the strength Chen Xiao had demonstrated, he was still unwilling to give up and wanted to try again.

"No decision should be made lightly, I understand. However, if you plan to join a mercenary group in the future, you can consider the Green Mountain Mercenary Group. My name is Mu Ying, and the vice leader, Mu Yang, is my cousin. You can just give us the name of any one of us when the time comes."

"I've got it, I definitely will!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Ying smiled and retreated helplessly.

He had seen far more than Chen Xiao had ever seen, so how could he not tell that Chen Xiao was simply going through the motions?

Fortunately, the Green Mountain Mercenary Group acts with integrity, unlike the Wolf Head Mercenary Group which has no bottom line. Therefore, they are not unhappy because of Chen Xiao's refusal.

Having survived the attack by the Crimson Ice Serpent and the Rock Serpent, the mercenaries became even more vigilant.

Fortunately, they encountered no further danger throughout the afternoon, and the journey back to Qingshan Town was equally smooth.

...

The next day.

Chen Xiao didn't rush to leave the inn early in the morning. It wasn't until noon that he put on his waist knife and headed alone towards the Monster Mountain Range.

He had thought that with the mercenaries clearing the way ahead, the journey into the Monster Mountain Range would be relatively smoother.

However, the sheer number of magical beasts in the Monster Mountain Range exceeded Chen Xiao's expectations.

These low-level magical beasts might avoid groups of mercenaries, but they have no intention of letting go of a lone person.

This means that Chen Xiao encountered more magical beasts today than on any day in the past few days!

Crimson Ice Serpent, Green Wood Wolf, Fan-Backed Porcupine, Snake-Tailed Leopard…

It seemed like all the magical beasts thought Chen Xiao was easy to bully, and they kept attacking as one of them was killed.

Within a short hour, Chen Xiao was attacked by seven magical beasts!

However, they were all first-tier magical beasts, posing little threat.

With the help of the high-level Xuan-rank Ice Emperor Scripture, Chen Xiao's internal fighting spirit was also abundant enough that even after fighting seven consecutive battles, he still showed no signs of weakness.

"After these days of adaptation, first-tier magical beasts pose no threat to me. However, being constantly targeted by magical beasts is not a good thing. At this rate, I can only explore three cliffs at most today."

After chopping off and storing the Green Wood Wolf's claws, Chen Xiao found no magic core and couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

Admittedly, selling the items from these magical beasts in Qingshan Town would bring in a considerable income, even exceeding the total commissions earned in the past.

The problem is, hunting monsters wasn't his goal.

First-tier magical beasts are of extremely poor value even for training, so Chen Xiao had no intention of wasting time with them.

With a soft sigh, Chen Xiao grabbed the Green Wood Wolf's fur and rubbed it vigorously against his body, making his scent even more mixed.

This is an experience learned from mercenaries; doing so can greatly reduce the chances of being coveted by monsters.

"Let's keep going. Maybe we'll find a cave in one of the cliffs ahead if we're lucky."

With a word of comfort to himself, Chen Xiao began to delve deeper into the area, following the route taken yesterday.

After a while, we arrived at the first cliff.

With anticipation, Chen Xiao began to explore cautiously.

Then, instead of finding a cave, they spotted two starving gibbons...

"They don't even distinguish between men and women, it's bad luck!"

After kicking the ape corpse twice, Chen Xiao continued forward with his head down.

The second cliff was completely bare.

The third place yielded no results.

Looking at the setting sun, Chen Xiao silently shook his head, then immediately shouldered his bulging spoils and returned the way he came.

By the time we arrived in Qingshan Town, the sun had already completely set.

On this day, Chen Xiao earned 1,900 gold coins!

Having eaten and drunk his fill and exhausted from a day's work, it was the perfect time for Chen Xiao to cultivate. He resisted the urge to lie down and meditated throughout the night.

a new day.

Chen Xiao mustered all his energy and ventured into the Monster Mountain Range again.

This time, we finally reached the fourth cliff.

Unfortunately, no cave exists.

Although the day's fighting increased his earnings to 2,300 gold coins, a figure that would make ordinary mercenaries envious, the saber he had picked up was broken in two, forcing Chen Xiao to fight two first-tier magical beasts with his bare hands.

The consequence was that his right arm became red and swollen again.

After selling the spoils, Chen Xiao stepped into the Wan Yao Zhai for the second time.

They were still looking for the girl in the white dress.

Nothing special, just great value!

Little Fairy Doctor glanced at Chen Xiao and, seeing his handsome face that she remembered so well, immediately realized that he hadn't listened to her.

Little did Chen Xiao know, he had actually listened, but he was unaware that the mercenaries' waist knives were of such poor quality.

How old are you?

Thanks to the fact that there was no one in line behind Chen Xiao, Little Fairy Doctor casually asked while fiddling with the medicine powder.

"Not even fifteen years old."

This is the truth.

Upon hearing this, the girl looked up and rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm not even fifteen yet, which is older than you. I told you last time that your body is still very fragile, so try to avoid strenuous battles. This situation is easy to handle, but it's not worth it if you suffer any hidden injuries."

"I used a weapon today, but it broke halfway through."

Little Fairy Doctor nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.

He then added, "There's a weapons workshop in town. The mercenaries say the weapons there are of pretty good quality, but they're quite expensive."

"Thank you, I'll go check it out."

After taking the powder, Chen Xiao paid the bill and turned to leave.

Instead of going straight back to the inn, they went to the weapon-forging workshop the girl had mentioned and purchased a longsword inlaid with a magic core, which cost a full seven hundred gold coins.

This price is indeed not low.

Fortunately, Chen Xiao has earned quite a bit these days, which is still within an acceptable range.

Five days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Xiao, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, trembled slightly, slowly opened his tightly closed eyes, and couldn't hide his joy.

"Nine-Star Dou Zhe! A little faster than expected, it seems to be the effect of high-frequency battles."

These past few days, Chen Xiao has been traveling alone in the Monster Mountain Range. Although he hasn't encountered any real danger, he feels extremely tired every day. Even after returning to Qingshan Town, he hasn't neglected his cultivation.

Looking back now, it was all worth it!

"I'm sure I'll reach the cliffs near the herb-gathering area of ​​Wan Yao Zhai today!"

With the upgrade of weapons and the accumulation of experience, Chen Xiao's strength has reached a new level, which has greatly boosted his confidence.