Rebirth in Journey to the West: Sun Wukong

Chapter 313: Chapter 313 Rose Mercenary Group (1st Update)

(PS: I set my screen lock to type too many passwords, and only now have I emerged from seclusion. This is the chapter for the 3rd, and three more updates are coming soon. Please forgive me!)

The Demon Race had clashed with the beasts of the Demon Beast Continent several times, and each encounter ended in defeat. Despite their generally low intelligence, the beasts from the Demon Beast Continent possessed immense strength and were fearlessly aggressive. They appeared in clusters every time, and after several battles, not only had the Demon Race failed to gain any advantage, but they had also suffered significant losses. Ultimately, they had no choice but to erect a Barrier on the bridge connecting the two continents, establishing a defensive line to prevent the beasts from invading the Demonic Realm.

According to the simple information contained in the map given by Jiang He, the defense on the bridge that connected the original Demonic Realm with the Demon Beast Continent was extremely tight. It was no simple affair to pass through the Barrier on the bridge to enter the Demon Beast Continent!

Sun Wukong scrutinized it carefully for a long time. There was a dense spread of spatial fragments in the Vast Chasm, leaving no gaps to slip through aside from the bridge. Sighing, he rose on a cloud and flew toward the bridge. It seemed that he would have to pass through the bridge honestly.

The entire Vast Chasm stretched tens of thousands of miles, beyond which lay the boundless Void. On top of these tens of thousands of miles of Vast Chasm, there were only seven connections, forming seven bridges that allowed passage. Arriving in front of the closest bridge, Sun Wukong descended from his cloud, cast an Invisibility Technique on himself, and sneakily moved toward the bridge. With the ability of the Void-Breaking Divine Eye to break all Prohibition Barriers in the world, he was confident that once he reached the Barrier on the bridge, he could open a silent breach and pass through without alerting any of the Demon Race Guards.

“Beep! Beep! Beep!”

Unfortunately, things rarely went as one wished. Sun Wukong had barely set foot on the bridge and hadn’t even approached the guards when a piercing alarm sounded. The bridge was instantly enveloped by a circle of red light, revealing Sun Wukong’s figure beneath it.

“Damn it, I’ve been discovered!”

Sun Wukong cursed himself, feeling a strange energy sweeping across the bridge. It had passed over his body, and it was this strange energy that had nullified his invisibility. His plan to sneak across the bridge was evidently ruined.

“Cough, cough!”

With his figure exposed, Sun Wukong coughed lightly and, without panic, brazenly approached the Demon Race Guards stationed on the bridge.

“A Demon Marshal at the Taiyi Scattered Immortal Realm, which Mercenary Group do you belong to? Where is your Token?”

As expected, Sun Wukong was stopped by the guards. After sizing him up for a moment, a Demon Race guard leader, himself a Minor Demonic General and at the cultivation of Taiyi Scattered Immortals, furrowed his brows and asked. Sun Wukong still maintained the appearance of being at the cultivation level of a Demon Marshal, which in the eyes of the observer, was all he was—a member of the Demon Race.

“Mercenary Token?”

Sun Wukong was slightly taken aback. What was a Mercenary Token for? And what about a Mercenary Group? Could it be some kind of organization that took on tasks for money?

Within the memories of Lin Yi, the former owner of the Time-Space Life-Death Talisman, there were some descriptions of Mercenary Groups. However, such organizations did not exist in the Three Realms. Sun Wukong had only read about them in the inherited memories, and this was the first time he had heard someone else mention a Mercenary Group. It seemed that in the Demonic Realm, Mercenary Groups were quite a common organization.

“Yes, the Mercenary Token that proves your identity as a mercenary!”

The Demon Race guard leader raised his eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you don’t belong to a Mercenary Group? Those who are not part of a group are not allowed to enter the Demon Beast Continent to hunt Demonic Beasts and obtain Demon Cores. That’s the rule. Leave at once, or face military law!”

“Obtain Demon Cores; what are those?”

Sun Wukong scratched his head in confusion. Did one need to hunt Demonic Beasts to get these Demon Cores? It seemed they must be something valuable if these so-called Mercenary Groups entered the Demon Beast Continent specifically to hunt beasts and obtain cores.

“What are you still standing there for? Leave immediately!”

Seeing Sun Wukong’s lack of reaction, the guard leader grew impatient. His brow furrowed and he drew his Long Saber, pointing it at Sun Wukong as a threat, “Leave now, or don’t blame me for being rude!”

A glint of cold light flashed in Sun Wukong’s eyes. He wanted to lash out but forcefully restrained himself. Turning, he walked to the side. There were quite a few guards here, and although the strongest only reached the Da Luo Golden Immortal Realm, which posed no threat to him, stirring up trouble as soon as he arrived was not ideal. He decided to observe the situation first.

Leaping onto a tree next to the bridge, Sun Wukong lay on a branch and observed. Groups of three or five from the Demon Race occasionally approached the bridge. Those who showed their Tokens to the guards were allowed to pass, of course, after paying a toll with some black Crystal Stones. Using his Void-Breaking Divine Eye, Sun Wukong saw that these black crystal stones contained a large amount of Demon Spirit Qi, most likely the common currency of this Demonic Realm.

From the Demon Beast Continent on the other side of the bridge, people were also returning steadily. Most of them bore scars, ranging from light to severe. Some had uncontainable joy on their faces, suggesting a fruitful expedition, while others were etched with despair, and a few even returned wounded and in a sorry state.

“Those must be the so-called mercenary groups. Hmm, it looks like my guess wasn’t wrong; these mercenary groups indeed specialize in hunting demon beasts on the Demon Beast Continent to obtain demon cores.”@@novelbin@@

A playful smile flashed across Sun Wukong’s eyes. Mercenary groups were an organization that had never appeared in the Three Realms before. To Sun Wukong, this was a refreshing identity, and maybe he could give it a try?

“Big sis, we don’t have enough people. Isn’t it a bit too forced for just three of us to venture into the Myriad Beast Mountains? Why not recruit two more members to join us?”

Suddenly, a conversation reached Sun Wukong’s ears. He jolted upright and looked in the direction of the sound, spotting three Demon Race mercenaries approaching from the east side of the bridge.

The leader was a woman in a tight leather outfit that accentuated her curvaceous figure. She wore a mask, and Sun Wukong could not make out the material; try as he might, he could not discern her features.

“Oh, this is interesting!”

Sun Wukong’s eyes lit up. It was the first time he had encountered such a thing. Having reached the threshold of a Quasi-Saint, he had been attempting to keep his Void-Breaking Divine Eye constantly active. Although it would consume a considerable amount of Chaos Primordial Force, as long as he maintained it at the First Phase, the consumption could balance out with his recovery power. The advantage was that it significantly enhanced his vision and recognition abilities, ensuring that he wouldn’t be caught off guard by a sneak attack.

Typically, the First Phase of the Void-Breaking Divine Eye was more than sufficient to see through most disguises in the world, and to penetrate a mere mask was nothing noteworthy. However, Sun Wukong found that he could not see through the woman’s mask even with the First Phase of his Divine Eye.

“Void-Breaking Starry Eyes!”

With a low shout, Sun Wukong elevated the power of his Divine Eye. The Second Phase, and then the Third, and finally, upon reaching the Fourth Phase, the Void-Breaking Starry Eyes state, he managed to see through the seemingly thin mask and discovered the woman’s true face. It turned out that the mask contained tiny spatial layers, which explained why the first three phases of the Divine Eye could not penetrate it—only the Fourth Phase, capable of seeing through space, was effective.

“Not bad-looking at all!”

Sun Wukong nodded to himself. In fact, the woman in leather was extremely beautiful, and contrary to her provocative figure, she had an innocent and pure appearance, creating a striking contrast. Unfortunately, in Sun Wukong’s eyes, aside from Zi Lan Fairy, no matter how beautiful other women were, they were like painted skeletons, no different from ordinary people.

A plump and a skinny man flanked the woman in leather. The plump one had a perennial smile on his face, and despite his burly build, he exuded an impression of being steady and honest. The skinny one had a slightly sharp and monkey-like face, not very tall, about the same height as the leather-clad woman, with eyes that were constantly shifty, clearly a cunning character. It was he who suggested recruiting two more team members.

“Our demon crystals are running low, and we simply cannot afford to hire high-level mercenaries, not to mention two. And ordinary mercenaries would be more of a burden than help in a place like the Myriad Beast Mountains; you both know that.”

The woman in leather frowned slightly, expressing a faint worry in her brows.

“Just recruit one! Big sis, your Demon Primordial Force is of a supportive nature, Lao Chai controls, I’m ranged attack—we still need someone who can engage in close combat to restrain the demon beasts, or else we can’t coordinate well!”

The skinny man persisted with his opinion. The woman in leather likely knew he was right and, after considering, she nodded and agreed, “Alright, let’s give it a try. But I can’t guarantee we’ll find someone, and recruits on such short notice are unpredictable; it’s hard to say if they can really help us.”

“As long as you are willing, big sis! With your charm, just a wave of your finger and men will flock to us. Isn’t there already a swarm of people eager to join our Rose Mercenary Group? Are you afraid we won’t find the right one?”

The skinny man chuckled slyly, winking at the plump man who responded with a simple smile and scratched the back of his head.

“Monkey, you dare to tease me? Believe it or not, I’ll wallop you silly?”

The woman in leather glared fiercely, to which the one called Monkey quickly apologized with a smile, “Big sis, don’t be mad, it was just a joke. We’re approaching the Boundary Bridge; let’s hurry and see if there are any solitary mercenaries.”

“These three, pretty interesting! From their conversation, they’re headed to the Myriad Beast Mountains, which happens to be on old Sun’s way.”

A glint of determination flickered in Sun Wukong’s eyes. He had noted the trio’s cultivation level—all were at the Taiyi Scattered Immortal Realm, equivalent to Demon Marshals. Their strength was not overwhelming but not weak either. More importantly, their destination aligned with his own, and they were short on members. Joining them seemed like a decent choice.

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