Mercenary City… It was a grim place, akin to a forgotten garbage heap within a city. It was shunned by most, and its inhabitants struggled daily just to survive.

They dwelt at the bottom rung of society, relegated to the lowest echelons. Regardless of their cultivation realm, their prospects in life were bleak, destined to achieve nothing until their lifespans ran out.

Unlike other cultivators with longer lifespans, those in Mercenary City faced shortened lives due to the constant intrusion of the devil sea's aura in the Heavenly Desolation Domain. The spiritual qi here was tainted with impurities.

Different from the Long clan’s disciples who enjoyed the benefit of cultivating under spirit-gathering formations, the residents of Mercenary City had to endure severe corrosion from the impure spiritual qi as they cultivated.

This corrosion, the hidden damage caused by low-quality medicinal pills, the constant battles against devil creatures, and the scarce resources they had to fight for—all resulted in their constitutions being extremely weak.

Moreover, for some unknown reason, they couldn’t leave the Heavenly Desolation Domain. If they left, the laws of the external world would suppress them, preventing them from absorbing spiritual qi and thus hindering their cultivation.

The path of cultivation resembled rowing a boat against the current. Once advancement ceased, regression began. As long as they maintained stable cultivation bases, they could suppress their inner wounds and survive longer. However, once they regressed, they would die in a few years.

There was a legend that claimed the mercenaries were cursed, destined to suffer from generation to generation. Because of this belief, aside from occasional bullying, the Long clan rarely interacted with them.

Naturally, there was no consideration of marriage or alliances between them. After all, cultivators cared most about their bloodlines, and no one wanted to dilute theirs with those they considered inferior.

In response, the mercenaries banded together, despite their bleak prospects, clinging tenaciously to life. However, Long Chen’s arrival shattered their bleak future. Long Chen imparted the Starry River of the Sky Art to all of them and distributed medicinal pills to activate the ancestral runes in their Dantians.

After their ancestral runes woke up, a remarkable transformation occurred. Their accumulated internal wounds started to heal gradually, and their power surged. They diligently cultivated the profound mysteries of the Starry River of the Sky Art.

They cherished this opportunity to transform their lives more than anything else. Fearful of missing out if they didn’t give their all, they trained with a determination akin to fighting for their lives.

With their amazing efforts, their power rose like a shooting star. Among them, Fang Liude showed the quickest improvement. He had condensed a hundred stars and was on the verge of drawing astral energy into his body.

They were pleasantly surprised to find that after awakening their ancestral runes, the spiritual qi’s impurities could no longer damage their bodies. They could freely cultivate without worrying about the corrosion.

However, possessing a powerful body was also a heavy burden. The energy requirement had soared, especially if they wanted to increase their power rapidly. In the end, they required even more resources.

These mercenaries were essentially dirt poor, lacking the resources to maintain this level of upkeep. Their meager earnings from normal missions barely kept them alive.

As a result, to meet these demands, they had to expand their domain. They started hunting devil beasts, sea demons, and searching for medicinal ingredients, trading them with the Long clan to support their cultivation.

As their strength grew, they ventured into territories they once feared to tread. This inevitably brought them into contact with Long clan disciples who were doing trials.

Whenever the mercenaries saw the Long clan’s disciples, they avoided the latter. But even so, this drew the dislike of the Long clan’s disciples.

The Long clan’s disciples would often curse them and even drive them away with weapons. However, the mercenaries could only swallow their anger and left.

Long Zhantian had advocated for larger hunting grounds for the mercenaries, and the Long clan had reluctantly agreed, issuing new regulations. However, these laws were often seen as mere formalities. They were established by the Long clan and enforced by the Long clan, so the ones restricted by them were always the mercenaries.

Thus, the pledge of the Long clan was nothing more than empty words. When Long Chen was in seclusion, the Long clan’s disciples bullied the mercenaries, only to find that the mercenaries had grown so strong that they actually couldn’t beat the mercenaries. Shocked and enraged by this turn of events, the Long clan’s disciples summoned stronger members from within their ranks. This escalated into a conflict with Fang Liude and the mercenaries, during which one of the inner disciples injured Yu Ying. This infuriated Fang Liude and his comrades, and they retaliated by beating up this inner disciple.

This incident incensed the Long clan’s disciples even more, causing them to report that the mercenaries had launched a surprise attack on the inner disciples and were showing signs of rebellion.

It was unclear how this matter ended up reaching Long Zaiye’s ears, but as soon as he heard this news, he charged over to Mercenary City.

Fang Liude and the others were gripped with fear as Long Zaiye vented his anger on them. He verbally abused and physically assaulted them, but they endured his tirade in silence.

However, when Long Zaiye cursed Long Chen, Fang Liude couldn’t help but retort a bit. This defiance enraged Long Zaiye to the point where he immediately killed Fang Liude.

“That son of a bitch! I should have killed him a long time ago!” After hearing the full story, Long Chen almost exploded with rage. He had never imagined this old bastard would be so shameless. How could a former member of the four Heavenly Saints bully a group of mercenaries?

“Boss, I’ve failed you. I couldn’t beat Long Yifang. I could only watch helplessly as he ran rampant. I...” Long Ziwei had been present at the time and wanted to protect everyone. However, Long Yifang, ranked seventh on the Heaven Rankings, deliberately blocked and even injured him.

Long Ziwei could only stand by as Fang Liude was killed, which caused him to be overwhelmed by guilt and a sense of powerlessness. He tried to report the incident, but everyone was in seclusion, including the Heaven Overseer. At that time, Long Zaiye held the greatest authority in the Long clan.

Left with no choice, Long Ziwei hurried to the Jiuli Tower and waited for Long Chen to come out. When Long Chen finally emerged, Long Ziwei couldn’t hide his disappointment at Long Chen’s cultivation base. He wasn’t certain if Long Chen could protect the mercenaries with his power.

With haste, Long Chen and Long Ziwei traveled through several transportation formations, arriving at the closest city to Mercenary City. After that, Long Chen summoned his lightning wings and raced toward Mercenary City at top speed.

Soon, Mercenary City came into view, and what Long Chen witnessed shook him to the core. The plaza was now littered with dozens of stakes, with Yu Ying and the others bound to them. Their bodies were covered in wounds, their blood staining the stakes. At the foremost stake was… Fang Liude’s severed head.

In front of them, a group of people continued to whip and curse Yu Ying and the others mercilessly.

“Stop!” Long Chen’s voice thundered like the roar of a god, causing the world itself to tremble.