If there was only one Teleportation Scroll, perhaps the Mercenary Troop Leader wouldn’t have made a decision, since he couldn’t possibly abandon his comrades who followed him through life and death.
But there were over a dozen Teleportation Scrolls in Yue Yang’s hands.
These scrolls were enough for him to bring along his most trusted and loyal brothers to safely leave this dangerous place where death was almost certain.
“I understand. One should only obtain things that match their abilities. If you are powerful, you will obtain even more… I decide to choose the second proposal, and I accept your offer. However, I have another proposition. Being the leader, I hope to bring all my comrades out. Perhaps you might not be satisfied with getting only one Hard-shelled Dragon Fruit. If you need me, I can stay back and be your guide… My request is for you to open a path for my brothers to leave this Ant Hole, so that they can at least safely leave in front of me. I hope that you will allow me to carry out my last duties as a Mercenary Troop Leader. Will you grant me my wish?” The Mercenary Troop Leader put forward a request that slightly astonished Yue Yang.
He was actually willing to stay back as a hostage and a guide in exchange for a chance for all his comrades to escape.
This point alone showed that he was a qualified leader.
A dark skinned oaf with a tall and sturdy figure immediately voiced his opposition. “Leader, whoever it is that is going to be left behind, it should not be you. I’ll stay here, you bring the others out.”
“Shut your mouth. Right now, what you need to do is to just listen to your Assistant Troop Leader. You must be especially careful when you go out so that you can prevent disasters that might lead to death.” The Mercenary Troop Leader nodded towards another middle-aged man with a lanky figure. The middle-aged man had two eyes shimmering with the radiance of wisdom and farsightedness. The Mercenary Troop Leader then exchanged his backpack with the middle-aged man, and shouted at Yue Yang. “As long as my brothers can safely reach the Ant Tunnel, I will bring you to a place two levels down. We found this Hard-shelled Dragon Fruit there. Perhaps with your capabilities, you can find even more hidden secrets and treasures there.”
“Aren’t you afraid of me cheating you?” Yue Yang asked, smiling slightly.
“Those who are truly powerful have lofty and unyielding characters. They will not be so mindful of us commoners, and of course they will not be as excessively greedy as bandits and robbers. If you wanted to cheat us, you could have killed us all off just now, why would you wait until now?” The Mercenary Troop Leader shook his head.
“Open your backpacks, first let me see the Hard-shelled Dragon Fruit.” The reason that Yue Yang did not kill them, was not because of a Ranker’s pride. He wanted to further explore and learn the location of the Hard-shelled Dragon Fruit, and hopefully to find more secrets. This type of Hard-shelled Dragon Fruit was different from normal Dragon Fruits, it only grew at the side of the hot springs around volcanic craters. According to legends, it was created out of the poisonous saliva of giant dragons. If it was used as an ingredient for making a [Martial Spirit Pill], it could be used to stimulate the martial arts potential in practitioners.
One [Spirit Beast Awakening Knowledge Pill] might cost a thousand gold, but the price of a [Martial Spirit Pill] was priceless.
After all, contracting a grimoire was a privilege that was limited to an extremely small number of people.
But to simulate one’s martial art potential in one’s body, this pill was necessary for any martial arts practitioner.
For some people, when they face a bottleneck that they could never overcome in their entire life, their potentials could be immediately stimulated if they simply consume one [Martial Spirit Pill]. They could the break through the bottleneck and level up with one leap. They could even break through more levels.
Three hundred years ago, there was a martial arts practitioner who had trained hard until he was forty plus years old, but his ability remained on par with that of an [Apprentice]. He was unable to rise into the ranks of a warrior, and he was mocked by people as being a ‘dumb old man’.
However, after taking one [Martial Spirit Pill], his body’s potential was immediately stimulated, and he broke through the level of an [Apprentice]… Ultimately, this ‘dumb old man’ who was continuously mocked and ridiculed by others, achieved a state that common people found difficult to even believe and admire, a Level Nine [Sage]. This martial arts practitioner who was previously ridiculed and named ‘dumb old man’ became one of the Two Heavenly Imperial Guardians of Da Xia Empire, the ‘Ascetic Practice Sage’. Although not everybody who takes a [Martial Spirit Pill] would be able to become a [Sage], this Ascetic Practice Sage’s potential was indeed stimulated by the [Martial Spirit Pi