Douluo Continent: The World Shines with Stars

Chapter 64 Navigators and Mercenaries

"No. 38 Haitu Road, Binhai City, that's right."

Xu Mingxi held the information about the Great Soul Master and compared it to the nameplate hanging outside—or rather, not even a nameplate, just a number written on the wall.

The brick and stone house, with its severely faded and even dilapidated wooden door, made it hard for Xu Mingxi to believe that this was the home of a Great Soul Master.

Although a Great Soul Master is just the lowest level among many Soul Masters, as long as one successfully awakens a Martial Soul and possesses innate Soul Power to become a Soul Master, even if one only obtains a ten-year Soul Ring, one has already surpassed a large number of ordinary people. They shouldn't be living like this.

Since we're already here, let's meet this great soul master named Miao Nong first. Xu Mingxi hesitated for a moment, but still gently knocked on the dilapidated door. If she used any more force, it might just collapse.

With a series of hurried footsteps, the door creaked open from the inside, revealing an elderly man with dark skin, a hunched back, a full head of white hair, and a face covered with tiny scars.

"Old man, I'm looking for Miao farmer, he's here."

"That's me. And you are?"

Xu Mingxi was stunned. The intelligence report clearly stated that Miao Nong was only in his forties, so how could he look so old? That's right, if something hadn't happened, he wouldn't have risked his life for money.

"I saw in your intelligence report that you are an old navigator and willing to go to the open sea, is that right?"

Upon hearing this, Miao Nong straightened up considerably, a glimmer of light flashing in his cloudy and dull eyes. He quickly invited Xu Mingxi into the house.

As soon as he stepped inside, Xu Mingxi instinctively tried to cover his nose with his hand, as a strong smell of herbs filled his nostrils.

Looking around, it would be no exaggeration to describe the Miao farmer's home as bare. Apart from a bed, the only other thing in the house was a pot of herbs being boiled in the center.

Xu Mingxi saw a boy who looked to be about ten years old lying on the bed, and an old woman taking care of him. He roughly knew what this family had gone through. No wonder Miao Nong was prematurely aged, and no wonder he would risk his life to exchange for gold soul coins.

When the woman saw Xu Mingxi come in, she even stood somewhat awkwardly in the corner at the foot of the bed. Miao Nong wanted to find a chair for Xu Mingxi to sit down, but embarrassingly found that there wasn't even a chair left in the house.

"You're welcome. I'm here to confirm whether you can actually go out to sea and what level your navigation skills have reached."

Miao Nong suddenly seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, finally arriving in his familiar territory. He vividly described his experiences over the past few decades, hoping that the seemingly noble man in front of him would agree to his request, which was his last hope.

Xu Mingxi listened to Miao Nong's experiences in general and was surprised to find that he had actually worked on a pirate ship. Although he was not strong enough, his navigation skills should be decent.

The main problem is that they simply can't find anyone willing to go to the open sea. Anyway, all he wants is a thousand gold soul coins, so they might as well lose them.

"Okay, I agree to your conditions, and I can give you the money first. However, even I don't know if I will come back alive from this trip, so you should be mentally prepared."

The farmer was overjoyed as he saw Xu Mingxi off. "It's good that I have money. It's good that I have money. My son's illness can finally be cured. As long as my son is alright, I don't care if I die."

Xu Mingxi gave a bag of gold soul coins to Miao Nong, told him to wait for further notice, and then returned to the hotel to wait for news from the elders.

A simple reminder was enough; Xu Mingxi didn't care about the Miao family's situation, his son's illness, or how the gold soul coins were being used. Just as she returned to the hotel, the three elders arrived in quick succession. Judging from their smiling faces, it seemed they had made quite a haul today.

"Mingxi, we haven't found the crew members, but we have found a mercenary group. They are willing to go to the open sea, and they are all sea spirit masters whose strength is barely passable."

Xu Mingxi's eyes lit up. Hiring a mercenary group was great! Before he left today, he had already asked Miao Nong to use his network to find some people who knew about navigation.

What they lack now is a powerful Soul Master to defend against the Sea Soul Beasts, and this mercenary group has arrived at just the right time.

"Elder, what is their strength, and what do we need to contribute?"

"Their leader is a Soul Emperor, and the deputy leader is a Soul King. They are a married couple, and they are the ones who made the promise to us. As for how many members they can bring, it is still unclear."

In addition to the gold soul coins, we gave away the soul bones we obtained from the Min clan as payment.

"Okay, then all we're missing is a good ship."

Xu Mingxi wished he could get to the auction right now. The Min clan's soul bone was only eight thousand years old. If he could give it up, so be it. As long as he could sail smoothly to his destination, he would give up even a ten-thousand-year soul bone.

The next day, Miao Nong brought him good news: several navigators and sailors at the second or third ring level were willing to go to the open sea, and Xu Mingxi offered them 800 gold soul coins.

To his surprise, one of them was a talented person who could draw nautical charts. This time, he no longer had to worry about knowing how to get there but not being able to find his way back.

Xu Mingxi watched as the gold soul coins in his storage soul tool dwindled, wiping away imaginary sweat from his forehead. Luckily, they had brought a lot of gold soul coins from the sect this time, otherwise they might have ended up playing the role of some unknown bandits, robbing the rich to help the poor.

On the other side of Hanhai City, a fierce argument was breaking out in a house that could barely be considered luxurious.

The Seal Mercenary Group, led by Song Jiang, is a level 69 Assault-type Battle Soul Emperor with the Martial Soul Sharp-Toothed Seal. The entire mercenary group is considered to be of average strength in Hanhai City.

Their argument stemmed from the fact that the entire mercenary group was on the verge of collapse. In order to break through to the Soul Saint realm, the leader had been tempted to join a deep-sea sailing team—and that was the open ocean!

"Brothers and sisters, I won't say much more. I'll give a sum of gold soul coins to those who want to leave. Let's part ways amicably."

How could the people who make a living in Hanhai City not know the dangers of the ocean? The near sea is like a ferocious beast that devours people, not to mention the open sea. They become mercenaries to make money, not to seek death.

Song Jiang watched coldly as the group members left one by one, without stopping them at all. Survival was the most genuine wish in everyone's heart. Even he, if it weren't for that soul bone, would never have gone to the distant sea.

In the end, apart from the regimental commander and his wife and their adopted son, only two people remained in the entire house, and they were brothers.

"Xu Jiang, Xu He, have you two thought this through? I can't guarantee your safety this time."

The two brothers exchanged a glance and nodded. Their lives had been saved by the regimental commander and his wife, so what difference would it make if they returned the favor?

(End of this chapter)