Ryu was cut a sorry figure. He had already blown through all ten robes he bought from Valor City, he hadn’t seen any sort of luxury in a month, and the only thing protecting his decency was an already close to worn out Ice Silk flexible armor.

In truth, Ryu was a bit depressed about this. He spent over thirty million gold coins on this flexible armor alone, so seeing it not even last him two months got to even him, the Scion who had never wanted for anything in his lifetime. You would think a Middle Black Grade treasure would be more durable than this.

Yet, despite this, Ryu’s white hair remained speckless, and his aura was far more piercing.

The Steward’s eyes glowed with an odd light. “Can I see your proof of completion, please?”

Ryu responded by bringing out two bushels of Spiritual Herbs, two severed heads, and two signed documents from satisfied clients. With each sweep of his spatial ring, it seemed the light in the Steward’s eyes only seemed to grow.

The bustling Mercenary Guild fell into a silence.

The Steward’s reception desk was accessible to all. The Mercenary Guild’s entrance led right to his semi-circular desk. To its back was a massive lobby area and a bar which scantily clad bartenders frequented – funny enough, the bartenders, despite this description, were of both genders. Handsome men and beautiful women alike. The mercenaries weren’t as dominated by men as convention might make it seem.

Still, this sort of open floor plan made nearly everything that could be found on the guild’s first floor easily seen by the eyes of anyone who paid attention. So, when Ryu suddenly brought out proof of his completed Fourth Order missions, it was no wonder a silence fell over the guild.

The Steward went through the proofs one by one. “Ten Lower Qi Stones. Fifteen Lower Qi Stones. Three Lower Qi Stones. Five Lower Qi Stones. Eight Lower Qi Stones. Twelve Lower Qi Stones. Your total is fifty-three Lower Qi Stones.”

Hearing such a total, one could imagine the greed in the eyes of those in the surroundings. Fifty-three Lower Qi Stones? The was fifty-three million gold coins! Even if they had to split that among their Mercenary Squads, it would be enough to live like Kings and Queens for decades!

Usually, it would take their squads weeks to complete a single Fourth Order mission. Then, whatever payment they received would have to be split amongst a team that sometimes had upwards of ten people. On top of that, they would have to allocate a set number of funds to handle the inevitable gruesome injuries they would receive and maintain the weapons that kept them employed. By the end of it all, they’d be lucky to walk away with fifty to a hundred thousand gold coins, and that was if they were Squad Leaders, team members received even less.

To a commoner, this number was grand number. But to them, in order to maintain their lavish lifestyles, support a few mistresses, and live a life of overall luxury, this number was too small. To see a single person take home hundreds of times their earnings in a single sitting, it filled them with an irrational, honestly comical, rage.

Could they had finished so many missions alone? No. If Ryu hadn’t touched these missions, were the guaranteed to succeed? No. Had Ryu done this all on his own? Yes. But in their minds, the Mercenary Guild missions were their own. There were only two Fourth Order Squads, when had they ever faced this sort of situation? Since they formed, they had had practically free reign over the missions.

It wasn’t that there weren’t those more powerful than them. If this was the best the Outer Ring had to offer, wouldn’t it be too pitiful? It was rather that those with power on the level of Ryu wouldn’t ever use the Mercenary Guild.

To many, the mercenary profession was looked down upon. They didn’t have loyalties, so they couldn’t accumulate Faith unless they themselves became an undefeatable expert. But, even then, individual Faith rarely, if ever, matched Clan and Sect Faith. As a result, the geniuses and true experts of the Outer Ring didn’t use this establishment.

As for how a guild seen in this way had a Steward with so much prestige?… Maybe that was a secret for another time.

“Kid, if you know what’s good for you – !”

A flash suddenly passed by the red-haired man’s shoulder. In the next instant, a cry of pain erupted from his lips.

Pools of blood flooded the guild’s floors. A man who was once tall and burly lay on the ground, clutching a shoulder stump that should have had an arm attached.

Ryu wasn’t a giving person. In the past, he tormented people with his words whenever they pissed him off, but in this lifetime, he had no need to do such things. He was willing to lay down his pride for the sake of his family, but when it came to no name individuals, especially mere a Lower Spiritual Severing Realm experts who deemed to speak to him in such a way, he had no patience for it.

No matter what, Ryu was a Scion of the Tatsuya Clan. His pride bore deep into his bones. Plus, he hadn’t exactly had the coziest of last months. He spent almost four weeks being beaten down by lightning he couldn’t retaliate against. It wasn’t in him to let the slightest slight go right now.

“Youths are truly energetic.” The Steward clicked his tongue, but didn’t seem to care about the red-haired man. “You know, someone needs to clean that.”

Ryu slid back one of the Lower Qi Stones the Steward had just given to him, taking the remaining fifty-two with him. He hadn’t done this for the money to begin with, Leopold’s wealth was thousands of times this and it was all Ryu’s now.

He only had two real reasons for coming here. The first was Faith for the Awoken Moon Sect. Thanks to his pupils, he could feel the subtle changes in the badge that hung from his hip. The second was convenience. Since he needed to train anyway, these tasks were the perfect method. But, he had been disappointed by how easy they were.

The Steward chuckled at Ryu’s actions, but still kept the Qi Stone.

“It’s rare to have youngsters of your talent willing to cooperate with our Mercenary Guild, and a mighty Throne at that, who would have thought? I can provide you some extra opportunities, what do you think?”

As the guild was frozen by Ryu’s actions and the Stewards words, maybe only the two men in question noticed the entrance of a group of cloaked figures.