Chapter 4: Morbid Sense of Humor

Within the Star Continent, warriors are divided into five major ranks.
First is the Novice Warrior. Warriors of this rank make up well over ninety-nine percent of all warriors across the continent.
Next is the Junior Warrior.
According to statistics compiled by relevant institutions, out of roughly one hundred Novice Warriors, at most one will emerge as a Junior Warrior.
Once someone reaches the rank of Junior Warrior, they are considered a somewhat renowned powerhouse.
Above the Junior Warrior is the Intermediate Warrior, a figure who commands absolute awe in any region and is exceedingly famous.
An Intermediate Warrior would likely be the undisputed strongest fighter within a small city.
As for Advanced Warriors, those who have established their reputations long ago are household names throughout the entire continent. Their strength goes without saying; save for the few surviving Saint-tier Warriors in the world, they are invincible presences.
Above the Advanced Warrior lies, naturally, the Saint-tier Warrior. Currently, there are three publicly known Saint-tier Warriors on the Star Continent.
The might of a Saint-tier Warrior undoubtedly stands at the absolute pinnacle of the continent. Even if they were to battle the most formidable legendary warriors of the Dragon race, they would not fall into a disadvantageous position.
Within the Stein Empire lies Nine Heavens Mountain!
This place is regarded as a rather sacred ground, where a Saint-tier powerhouse lives in reclusion.
Hall retrieved a letter from the claws of the griffin hovering high in the air. He felt a sense of bewilderment—what kind of matter could possibly require a Saint-tier Warrior like himself to take the field?
Furthermore, this letter had been personally sent to him by the reigning Emperor.
This Saint-tier Warrior, named Hall, was known as the Sword Saint of Wind. Having risen to fame through the path of the sword, he was the youngest among the three contemporary Saint-tier Warriors, having reached only thirty-seven years of age.
His life could truly be described as legendary.
He grasped a sword at age five, became a Junior Warrior at eight, an Intermediate Warrior at thirteen, and at nineteen, while still a youth, he was already an Advanced Warrior.
In his thirty-first year, as he sat meditating upon Nine Heavens Mountain, a bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the heavens in the dead of night. He achieved a sudden enlightenment, and after sitting in contemplation for three full days, he broke through directly to the Saint-tier.
From thirty-one to thirty-seven, he spent six years on Nine Heavens Mountain, and his current strength had grown to an unfathomable depth.
Rumor had it that Hall's power was already no less than that of the other two Saint-tier Warriors.
Yet one must remember that those two other Saint-tier Warriors were vastly older than Hall.
"A wanted criminal?" Hall examined the letter. "A youth of around seventeen years old repelled the Advanced Warrior Truman with a single blow, and his strength might possibly have reached the Saint-tier?"
Hall found it hard to believe. "Are they joking? The laws of the Star Continent have stood unbroken since ancient times. Still, since His Majesty has asked me to make this trip personally, I have no way to refuse. Very well, I shall descend the mountain."
The Sword Saint of Wind hoisted a cyan longsword, leaped into the air, and dropped directly from the precipice. His body was as light as a feather, seeming to float suspended in mid-air. Just as he was about to hit the ground, his body flashed with battle qi, and he landed steadily and solidly without the slightest shock.
Leaving the border of the Stein Empire, a merchant caravan was heading toward the central Free Alliance. This caravan numbered around twenty people, including five or six merchants, with the rest being hired mercenaries.
The leader of the caravan was named Carmen, a pot-bellied, corpulent man. At this moment, he was squinting his eyes with the comfortable look of someone who had just eaten and drunk his fill.
The hired mercenaries possessed quite decent strength, and the inclusion of a Junior Warrior meant Carmen did not need to worry overly much about attacks from bandits and highwaymen.
Midway through the journey, however, Carmen encountered two figures blocking the path of the wagon train.
How should one put it? These two individuals appeared exceedingly strange. Their ages seemed young, yet one invariably felt a subtle sense of discordance when looking at them.
"My two friends, do you require assistance?" Carmen called out cheerfully.
Xiayan walked over and inquired, "Are you heading to the cities of the Free Alliance?"
"Yes." Carmen nodded, though his expression remained suspicious. In the wilderness, trusting others lightly often led to grave consequences. Although he was not a warrior, he still had to exercise caution.
"We also wish to go to the Free Alliance, and it just so happens that our young lady doesn't want to walk. Might we hitch a ride along the way?" Xiayan asked with a smile.
Carmen glanced back. There stood a teenage girl, not particularly tall, with exceptionally fair skin and delicate facial features that gave a stunning impression. She must have been a young miss from some major power!
Even so, Carmen was hardly eager to agree. After all, the identities of these two were unknown, and this place was the middle of nowhere.
A bald mercenary seemed to sense his hesitation and immediately stepped forward. "Kid, we don't welcome outsiders joining us, and our wagons are loaded with cargo; there's no extra space for your young lady to rest."
"Indeed that is the case," Carmen said with an apologetic smile. "My apologies, little brother."
"Tch, we can pay some compensation," Emilia interjected.
"Compensation!" A gleam appeared in Carmen's eyes. As a merchant, any topic related to money naturally brought out his professional instincts.
With money, everything was negotiable.
"Xiayan, give them a few hundred gold coins," Emilia said casually.
"A few hundred gold coins?" Instantly, Carmen and the mercenaries behind him were dumbfounded. They deeply doubted whether their ears were failing them.
Did she really say a few hundred gold coins, and not a few hundred silver coins?
Besides, they didn't even carry pouches large enough for that; just how heavy would a few hundred gold coins be?
Xiayan felt quite helpless, but he still checked his spatial ring, only to realize with a jolt that something was terribly wrong—there wasn't a single gold coin inside!
"Wait," Xiayan leaned close to Emilia. "The spatial ring you gave me doesn't have a single copper coin in it!"
"How is that possible?" Emilia panicked as well. "Could it be that we mixed up the spatial rings?"
She was equally distressed; without money, wouldn't they starve to death? They couldn't possibly sleep in the open and eat the wind every single meal!
Xiayan found it even harder to吐槽. Just how many spatial rings did her household have that she could actually mix them up?
After a long while, Xiayan could only offer a bitter smile to Carmen. "Apologies, our young lady made a mistake. The truth is, we don't have any money either."
Carmen's eyes instantly welled up with tears, and those reproachful little eyes locked onto Xiayan, making his scalp tingle!
"Although we don't have money, I have people!" Emilia declared haughtily. "This servant of mine is quite capable of fighting. How about letting him be your bodyguard? The hire fee is one gold coin a day."
"Stop kidding around. Just this brat wants to be a mercenary like us?"
"Whether he can even lift a boulder is open to question."
"Look at that puny frame, it's hilarious."
"Kid, I'll hire you for one copper coin a day. Take it or leave it!"
The mercenaries behind Carmen burst into unified laughter. With a scrawny build like Xiayan's, he wanted to earn a gold coin a day? Even getting ten copper coins might be questionable! It was doubtful whether this fellow was even a Novice Warrior!
"Heh heh heh, cackle cackle cackle..." Amidst the mockery, for reasons unknown, Emilia suddenly burst out laughing as well, completely devoid of any ladylike demeanor. She seemed to have joined forces with the mercenaries to ridicule Xiayan. "Look at you, useless thing! You waste food just by living, and you can't even lift a single stone!"
The crowd of mercenaries roared with laughter, their words dripping with sarcasm. This left Xiayan with a head full of black lines. It was one thing for them to mock him, but why was Emilia joining in too?
What kind of game was she playing here?
"Humph." Emilia's expression abruptly shifted again. She cast a cold glance at the pack of mercenaries. "You bunch seem to look down on my servant!"
"Little girl, next time you hire someone, find someone with a bit of strength. What can a brat like this do?"
"He probably can't even lift a bucket of water."
"This kid isn't even a Novice Warrior. Where is his Warriors' Guild badge?"
"Being a Novice Warrior has a pretty high threshold, you know."
"Hahahahaha..."
The various Novice Warriors took turns mocking Xiayan. This made Xiayan reflect that people in this different world had nothing better to do all day, yet their sharp tongues had certainly been honed to perfection.
"Humph," Emilia arrogantly proclaimed, "You blind fools, my servant is not weak at all. He is actually a Sai—mmph, mmph!"
Xiayan hurriedly clamped his hand over her mouth. If those words were allowed out, the pursuing forces of the Stein Empire would likely track them down within minutes.
"Ahem... Actually, I am an Intermediate Warrior." Xiayan estimated the situation; he couldn't exaggerate too much, so an Intermediate Warrior would suffice.
"Pfft, hahahahaha!"
"Waahahaha!"
"You're killing me, this is the funniest joke I've heard in my life."
"Ha, brothers, did I just hear that? A kid who can't even qualify as a Novice Warrior claims to be an Intermediate Warrior!"
"Humph, and I am the fourth Saint-tier Warrior of the continent! Bow down before me!"
These mercenaries, who knew nothing of wine and women, laughed uproariously. However, the Junior Warrior named Cindy in the group turned cautious. He did not feel that these two peculiar-looking individuals were lying.
Could this youth truly be an Intermediate Warrior?
Yet, just how old was he?
Even among the renowned Saint-tier Warriors of the continent, aside from the Sword Saint of Wind, the other two long-established Saint-tier Warriors had only been Intermediate Warriors when they were seventeen or eighteen years old.
"Little brother, are you really an Intermediate Warrior?" Carmen also cried out in astonishment. Being able to befriend an Intermediate Warrior was something he could boast about among fellow merchants; naturally, he did not want to miss this opportunity.
Even though the probability of this was microscopically small!
"Of course, genuine and authentic," Xiayan said earnestly.
"Hahahahaha! I, the great Advanced Warrior Ram, am here!"
"The Saint-tier Warrior is none other than me!"
"Wahahaha, this old man is a Saint-tier Warrior who became famous a hundred years ago! You useless wretches, why haven't you withdrawn yet?"
"All of you behave yourself! His Excellency has arrived, disperse at once!"
The group of eccentric mercenaries was acting up again, and Xiayan simply chose to ignore them entirely.
Emilia, however, looked quite pleased. Xiayan muttered inwardly—how on earth did she possess such a mischievous personality?