Lin Ye didn't want to be just a mercenary; he had a Heaven-Defying fortuitous encounter that others didn't even dare to dream of, and he wanted to see the world outside.
Being a Martial Artist was just his starting point, definitely not his end.
“Lin Ye, I have a Mercenary Group here that is willing to cooperate with you. Their leader wants to meet you first. Will you be free to come over this afternoon?”
Lin Ye received Chen An's voice message while cleaning his house and quickly replied.
“Uncle Chen, I'm free. I'll head over at noon.”
Although the appointed time was in the afternoon, the leader of the Mercenary Group was a Martial Artist, so how could he make a Martial Artist wait for him?
When Lin Ye arrived at Chen An's shop at noon, he saw Chen An accompanying a man with a scar on his face, drinking tea.
The man's eyes were sharp, exuding an Aura that made it impossible to look directly at him.
Lin Ye just stood in the shop, his muscles stiff, feeling a dangerous sensation of being targeted by a fierce beast.
“Boss Xu, stop teasing Lin Ye.”
“Lin Ye, come and sit down quickly. Let me introduce you. This is Xu Song, Boss Xu, the leader of the Gu Song Mercenary Group. Boss Xu is a Half-step Martial Master.”
After condensing Qi and Blood, if one's fist power reaches one thousand, they will become a Martial Artist.
The Federal Government announced that the limit of a Martial Artist's fist power is ten thousand.
For a Martial Artist to Breakthrough to a Martial Master, they need to reach the Martial Artist's limit and sense the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to Breakthrough to the Martial Master Realm.
A Half-step Martial Master refers to someone whose fist power has reached ten thousand but has not yet sensed the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Xu Song retracted his Aura, barely satisfied with Lin Ye's performance.
If Lin Ye couldn't even withstand his Aura, acting with them would only be a burden.
The ruins were full of dangers; sometimes, even a startled cry could cause casualties.
No matter how Heaven-Defying Lin Ye's talent for discerning Spirit Medicine was, if he couldn't control his inner fear, he would definitely not take Lin Ye into the ruins.
Chen An asked Xu Song to personally pick the Spirit Medicine.
Subsequently, Lin Ye picked out all the high-year Spirit Medicine from inside.
Xu Song clearly knew that Lin Ye's talent for discerning Spirit Medicine was only useful for Spirit Medicine from the ruins. The Spirit Medicine he took out from the storeroom were all brought out from the ruins.
Xu Song glanced at Lin Ye, “Your talent is very impressive. All the Spirit Medicine here were carefully selected by me, and even I can't tell their years.”
He had explored ruins for decades, and his discerning eye was famously sharp.
“Old Chen must have told you, your income is one percent of what's gained from entering the ruins, but it's after tax.”
Lin Ye was surprised to hear this, “Do Mercenary Groups also have to pay taxes when entering ruins?”
Chen An and Xu Song didn't find it strange; Lin Ye was just an ordinary person and couldn't even access the Martial Artist forum, so how could he know about ruin taxes?
Chen An motioned for Lin Ye to drink tea while explaining to him.
“Why do you think the Federal Government goes to such great lengths to set up ruin barriers? Of course, it's for collecting taxes.”
“Mercenary Groups need to pay forty percent individual income tax every time they enter a ruin. The consequences of tax evasion are very severe; minor offenses result in a hundredfold fine, while serious offenses lead to the abolishment of a Martial Artist's cultivation, turning them into a cripple.”
“Although you are an ordinary person, you have to pay taxes if you enter the ruins with a Mercenary Group. However, you don't need to handle the tax matters; Boss Xu will take care of everything.”
Chen An also talked about some other things related to the ruins.
“The Federal Government divides the ancient ruins that appear into nine Ranks, with the lowest ruin Rank being F and the highest being SSS.”
“The ruins that Boss Xu and his team explore are F-Rank, where the survival rate for ordinary Martial Artists is eighty percent.”
“If the Martial Artist survival rate is thirty percent, it's an E-Rank ruin.”
“For D-Rank ruins, the survival rate for ordinary Martial Artists is only one percent. Generally, only Martial Masters enter them, and even then, the survival rate for Martial Masters is only ten percent.”
“The higher the ruin Rank, the higher the quality of the Spirit Medicine inside, and the more powerful the Yao Beasts.”
“The Yao Beasts in the ruins are treasures from head to toe, whether it's their blood or their demon cores.”
“Their meat can be used for consumption, and other Materials can be used for forging, but it's difficult to transport them out of the ruins, and the value of Spirit Medicine far exceeds that of Yao Beast meat.”
“Wild beasts that undergo Bloodline Awakening will become Yao Beasts. The strength of a Tier 1 Demon Beast is similar to that of a Half-step Martial Master, but their intelligence is limited.”
...
Lin Ye didn't understand the Martial Artist world.
Chen An gave him a lot of crash course knowledge.
He also signed a temporary agreement with Xu Song, becoming a temporary member of the Gu Song Mercenary Group, and was added to a chat group by Xu Song.
Si Xi: 【I heard that the leader recruited an ordinary person, and this person was introduced by Boss Chen. Who knows what background this person has? It won't be another one of those rich Young Masters who have nothing better to do and want to sightsee in the ruins, hiring us as bodyguards, right?!】
Qi An: 【The boss just added him to the group, so he shouldn't be a rich Young Master. Only true teammates can join the group.】
You Suowei: 【Oh my god, I just looked at the new teammate's information, he's only eighteen this year! And still in high school!】
...
Lin Ye saw himself mentioned in the group and, after thinking for a moment, sent a greeting message.
【Hello, Seniors, my name is Lin Ye.】
You Suowei: 【Hello, Lin Ye, can I know how you joined the group?】
Qi An: 【Yes, I want to know too!】
Xu Song: 【We're entering the ruins tomorrow, are you two not training anymore? Lin Ye possesses a special talent; he can discern the years of Spirit Medicine in the ruins.】
Xu Song's single sentence made the two other lurking members in the group pop out.
Zhou Wen: 【The boss actually discovered a talented individual with a special talent, his efficiency is really high.】
Cheng Ye: 【Welcome, Lin Ye! The backpack space is limited every time we enter the ruins, and we always bring out some low-year, low-value Spirit Medicine. We can't use technological products in the ruins, but with Lin Ye's special talent, we can specifically collect high-year Spirit Medicine.】
You Suowei: 【Right, right, right, the backpack is only so big. No matter how hard you try to stuff it, the backpack space is limited. Once, I pushed too hard and crushed the Spirit Medicine at the bottom of my backpack, it broke my heart.】
Si Xi: 【Thinking about the Spirit Medicine I randomly threw away when organizing my backpack, I always worried they were high-year ones, and I'd be troubled for a long time, unable to sleep soundly. This is great, our group finally has a special talent.】
...
Lin Ye's nervous heart slowly calmed down.
The Gu Song Mercenary Group had a total of six Martial Artists, and now with him, there were seven.
All six Martial Artists expressed their welcome to him in the group, and he could feel their friendly attitude, which made him feel relieved about meeting them tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Lin Ye told his parents that he would be away for a while.
Lin's father and mother guessed that Lin Ye was going to the ruins and rushed to buy him a large amount of breakfast.
After Lin Ye left home, Lin's mother's eyes turned red, and she worriedly said, “My son just transferred a sum of money to me, and my heart is pounding, feeling so heavy.”
Lin's father sighed deeply and patted Lin's mother's shoulder.
“Don't worry, Ye Zi has never made us worry since he was little. He knows what he's doing.”
“Our capabilities are limited; all we can do is prepare good food and wait for him to come back.”
“Don't tell Yunxi and Lin Rong about Ye Zi going out for now. I'm afraid they'll worry too much and harm their health.”
Lin's mother raised her hand to wipe away her tears, trying to calm her emotions as she started tidying the kitchen. She took a deep breath and looked at Lin's father, saying, “Ye Zi likes the pickled vegetables I make. The previous batch is almost finished, so I'll pickle some more.”
Lin's father looked at the jar of pickled vegetables, which was still more than half full, and without saying anything, he silently helped Lin's mother prepare the Materials for pickling the vegetables.