Chapter 902 - Ah Dong

The two of them fought viciously, but Luo Wei managed to land a hit on the youth in the end. The youth somersaulted backwards as his blood sprayed in the air. He was already wounded even though the fight was brief.

The crowd gasped in surprise because of Luo Wei’s strength. His strength placed him somewhere around the Seventh Heavenly Martial Stage, which was identical to Lady Ji. They were both considered young experts and were qualified to join the Underworld Soldiers.

In just a single move, Luo Wei had defeated the Sixth Heavenly Martial Stage youth to prove himself.

Luo Wei turned and said to Lady Ji, “Does this mean that I can join now? I’m at the Seventh Heavenly Martial Stage, so I have all the right to be your escort.”

Lady Ji waved her hand. “My rule is first come, first serve. I don’t care who the strongest is. Leave now, and give my escort some medicine since you hurt him.”

No one had expected Lady Ji to decline Luo Wei. It was unintuitive.

But everyone was now certain that Lady Ji was part of an influential family in Underworld City. She must’ve seen a lot of people on par with Luo Wei before, so she wasn’t fazed by his actions.

“Is that so? You say that you already have ten people, but I only see nine here.”

Luo Wei lunged for the injured youth, and a brilliant, green spear appeared from his palm. To think that Luo Wei was an Armament Warrior!

The green spear was similar to Long Chen’s Three Thousand Star Clusters, and it appeared to be equally strong too. It was an advanced Emperor-tier Divine Weapon.

The spear left a trail of deadly, green light in the air as it pierced towards the youth.

Everyone shouted in surprise.

Luo Wei was ruthless. He had already injured the youth and now he wanted to kill him. But only by doing so could Luo Wei join the escort team.

The youth despaired in the face of death.

Suddenly, with a clink, another spear crashed into the tip of Luo Wei’s spear. Even though it wasn’t strong, through exquisite control, it caused Luo Wei’s spear to miss the youth. The youth survived by a hair’s breadth.

The youth realized that someone had saved him and wasted no time to roll out of danger.

“Who did that?”

Luo Wei was angry. He swung his spear around, but fortunately, the youth had already made his way out of the danger zone.

Everyone looked at the person who had stopped Luo Wei.

The person was none other than Long Chen, who was already putting his spear away.

Everyone was shocked again because they never thought that someone at the Fourth Heavenly Martial Stage would rescue the youth.

The two spears clashed again and sent sparks flying.

“Leave now.”

Long Chen was focused on Luo Wei’s eerie eyes as he waved at the youth to run away.

“You ...” The youth was grateful. He was one of the escorts who said they should give up on Long Chen if they encountered danger during the journey, but now Long Chen had saved him.

The youth was embarrassed. Long Chen, who was only at the Fourth Heavenly Martial Stage, had saved him even though he was outclassed by Luo Wei! Everyone else had stood around and did nothing.

“Leave if you don’t want to die.”

Luo Wei would never stop attacking as long as the youth didn’t leave.

“Thank you! I will repay you one day!”

The youth was surprisingly smart. He assumed that Long Chen had a way to deal with Luo Wei, or he wouldn’t have risked his life fighting Luo Wei for just a stranger.

The youth pushed past the crowd and left immediately.

After the youth left, Long Chen said nothing and returned to the eight other escorts. Everyone was staring at Long Chen with awe.

Based on Long Chen’s speed and courage, it was clear that his strength had surpassed the Fourth Heavenly Martial Stage.

Lady Ji smiled as she looked at Long Chen.

She silently gave Long Chen her rating. He has the aura of an expert. I had a feeling that his strength was beyond the Fourth Heavenly Martial Stage, and I was right! He’s also very courageous.

Luo Wei put his spear away and asked Lady Ji again, “So, can I join now?”

“One person left, and another person joined. Alright, we have ten escorts now. All of you, meet me at the west gate tomorrow morning. I will be waiting for you.”

Lady Ji gave no further explanation and left.

Luo Wei then approached Long Chen. “Are you an Armament Warrior?”

“Yes. What about it?”

Even though Long Chen had saved the youth and somewhat humiliated Luo Wei, the latter did not attempt to harass Long Chen at all. Long Chen dismissed it as Luo Wei being cautious after showing how strong he was.

“You use a spear too. We will be traveling for two months, so I hope that we can have a few spars. That said, your spear is really nice.”

Having said that, Luo Wei turned and disappeared into the crowd.

“Hey, what’s your name? We will be together for the next two months, so let’s get to know each other over a meal. How does that sound?” one of the remaining eight escorts suggested.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

They had underestimated Long Chen prior to this, but after seeing him saving the youth, they had accepted Long Chen as an expert.

Rather than asking everyone else, the man had directed the question at Long Chen. In reality, the eight of them had long agreed to go out for a drink together.

Long Chen had nothing to do, and it was beneficial to get to know more people, so he smiled and agreed.

“I have nothing much to do, so I don’t mind following my seniors!”

“Don’t call me ‘senior.’ We are all brothers here. I am impressed by your courage. No one else but you stood up to save the youth. I live in this city, so I’m technically the host. Let me treat everyone to a meal today. You can just call me Ah Dong.”

Everyone introduced themselves, and Long Chen memorized their names. Most of them came from the small cities around Scarlet Sun City. All of them were at the Sixth Heavenly Martial Stage and were very young. They were just one stage away from being able to join the Underworld Soldiers.

If they were any older, they wouldn’t be going out and risking their life to travel.

After reaching a restaurant, Long Chen quickly befriended them. Fate had brought them together after traveling for such a long distance, so they were more than happy to call each other brothers. Long Chen also learned that most of them were aiming to become Underworld Soldiers.

“Life is like a game. Living peacefully is boring, and we are all going to die in the end. While everyone wishes to die a bit later, I would prefer to go out like a firework! That’s why I want to join the Underworld Soldiers, to squeeze out every bit of my potential. No one is born a genius. If I work hard, I might become one.”

“That’s natural. Why would we all want to go to Underworld City if we wanted to live peaceful lives?”

“We will go there and cultivate for a few years. Once we reach the Seventh Heavenly Martial Stage, we can join their crazy test. While they do it every month, only the best of the best can join them in the end!”

They then shifted the topic to Long Chen. “Brother Long Chen, do you mind telling us your goal in Underworld City? You don’t have to tell us, but we are just curious. It’s normal for everyone to have a secret.”

Long Chen smiled and downed another cup of wine. “My reason is roughly the same as everyone else’s—head there and join the Underworld Soldiers. But I have no idea how rigorous their test is. I’m fairly certain that I can’t pass it at my stage right now.”

Everyone looked around as they were curious too. Long Chen was mysterious, and none of them knew his true strength.

Ah Dong explained, “The test mainly measures your combat capabilities. If you haven’t reached the Seventh Heavenly Martial Stage but already have the strength to defeat one, you can still join them. There are many Scribes or Mech Priests in the Underworld Soldiers that haven’t reached the Seventh Heavenly Martial Stage but already have the firepower to defeat one.”

Ah Dong then pointed at himself. “I know a bit about inscribing runes. I usually tinker with some weaker ones. But the really strong Scribes can use exceedingly powerful runes that none of us could imagine using.”

“So I can join as long as I can defeat someone at the Seventh Heavenly Martial Stage?”

This was good news to Long Chen because he wouldn’t have to wait until he reached the Seventh Heavenly Martial Stage to become an Underworld Soldier. He could just enter now.

The nine of them ate and drank until the day passed. They rested for a bit before they headed out to the west gate the next morning. After spending a night together, all of them were chummy enough to call each other sworn brothers.

They reached the west gate and found Lady Ji. She had clearly been waiting for them, so they quickly approached her.

On the way, Long Chen looked around and saw an intricate carriage behind Lady Ji. It was clear that the carriage was made for a noble, with various gemstones adorning it.

Pulling the carriage were two snow-white horses. They were taller and bigger than regular horses, and they resembled demonic beasts.