Senior Sister June caught the blue gemstone with her hand and stared at it.

Is he not afraid I won't return this treasure? I've never met someone as generous as him. I still can't believe he rejected the chance to be our next sect master. I refuse to believe he doesn't have a shred of greed in him. Hmph, I'll stick around him and expose his hidden greed.

Leyvi, Leyvi. I have made it this far because I am persistent. I will not leave your side and will pester you until you agree to come to my sect.

Two days later, they met again and went to another low-level hunting ground, the Sunken Marshes. Here, they had to hover in the air most of the time because the marshland was full of deep mud pits and strange sinkholes that could swallow unwary cultivators. The thick, humid air clung to their skin, and the buzzing of marsh insects made it an unsettling place.

Sometimes, they encountered strange spiritual mist that could put cultivators into bizarre illusions. Leyvi wondered what it was like to be under a natural illusion, so he let himself be exposed to the spiritual mist.

Since Senior Sister June was around, Leyvi wasn't worried about their safety. Her presence made him feel unafraid to experience phenomena like this. However, this was only true for Leyvi. The rest of the group didn't dare to put themselves in such situations.

After a few hours of struggling with the illusion, Leyvi finally overcame it and escaped without external help.

"Fuuuh..." Leyvi let out a long, relieved breath.

"What kind of illusion did you experience?" Anda asked curiously. She, too, could put someone under an illusion with her ability, but her illusions were heavily influenced by her own mind. She was interested in knowing the difference between hers and a natural one.

Leyvi's expression turned serious. The ladies gulped at his demeanor, assuming he must have gone through something terrifying.

"In the illusion, I experienced countless night battles with a thousand seed-sucking ladies led by Anda. It took me hundreds of years to finally satisfy them all and break the illusion," Leyvi said, wiping his sweat.

"..." All the ladies except Anda and Nala were speechless.

That's the terrifying illusion?

"Leyvi, you probably weren't seeing an illusion but the future! Hehe! As expected of my husband to conquer a thousand ladies. Right now, we barely have ten, but we'll eventually reach that number!" Anda spoke happily.

"Darling is the best!" Nala hugged his arm excitedly. "Darling, did you see any of them in your illusion?" She pointed at June and her junior sisters. Nala didn't ask about Sawi because she was already in the bag; it was just a matter of time.

"Them?" Leyvi looked at the four ladies and tried to recall. His brows furrowed in concentration as he searched the depths of his memory.

When Leyvi glanced at them, they immediately blushed from embarrassment. Even a Soul Formation expert like Senior Sister June couldn't help but feel the same. How could these people casually talk about something like this? Night battles? Did they turn that intimate activity into a sport?

"Uhh... strange. I can't seem to remember the details anymore. Everything faded away quickly, like a dream. I only remember Anda," Leyvi explained after failing to recall the specifics.

"What? Not even me? Darling! How could you do this to me!" Nala shook Leyvi's hand, dissatisfied with the conclusion.

"That's it! I'm going to work harder so you'll remember me next time!" Nala quickly recovered and formed a new resolve.

A day later, another group of vile mercenaries showed up and surrounded them again, targeting the girls. At this point, Leyvi wondered if there was a group like this in every hunting ground. After they were dealt with, Anda put the sole survivor in an illusion, forcing him to spill the beans. It turned out they had a surveillance method to locate groups with women.

This revelation enraged Senior Sister June, prompting her to make a request to Leyvi.

Four days later, they finished their training at the Sunken Marshes and moved to the next hunting ground immediately without returning to Mercenary City.

Senior Sister June requested Leyvi's group act as bait. She wanted to confirm if mercenary groups targeting women existed in every hunting ground. If so, she planned to eradicate them all.

Leyvi sought the ladies' opinions before agreeing. Anda and the others were equally enraged by such behavior. Thinking about how many women had been harmed by these groups made them furious.

Sawi was horrified upon learning about the heinous activities occurring outside the city. The sheltered safety she had known within the city walls felt like a distant dream compared to the harsh reality outside. The difference in safety inside and outside the city was like night and day.

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"Dear Ancestor Vulcan, forgive this descendant for breaking our promise. The world is dangerous, and I'm scared to go out. I want to hide in the city forever." Sawi whispered while holding onto Lilian.

When they arrived at the next hunting ground, they proceeded to explore and hunt demonic beasts as usual. Sometime later, as predicted, a group of obviously evil mercenaries surrounded them, spouting typical villainous dialogue. Their overconfidence was palpable.

As usual, Senior Sister June killed them all without hesitation. She used the same coral sword technique she used last time.

Thus, Leyvi's group changed their agenda from hunting demonic beasts to hunting mercenary scum.

Two weeks later, they returned to Mercenary City to rest. During these two weeks, they visited five more hunting grounds and eliminated numerous vile mercenaries.

It was unbelievable to Leyvi and his group that these mercenaries had been able to commit such heinous activities for so long.

Upon their return, Nala finally received a reply from Paulina. She had successfully contacted all her former group members and was ready to meet Leyvi anytime.

They scheduled the meeting for two days later at the same hotpot restaurant they had visited before, The Lusty Meaty Pot. This time, they reserved the largest room, capable of accommodating fifty people.

Surprisingly, Senior Sister June and her three junior sisters also wanted to join them, citing the excuse of trying the famous hotpot. Leyvi didn't mind. After all, hotpots were meant to be enjoyed by large groups.

Two days later, Leyvi and his group met Paulina in the largest room at The Lusty Meaty Pot. With her were thirty-five strong-looking ladies of varying sizes. Some were petite, and others were large-built. Each was sexy and attractive in her own way. Most importantly, they were all cultivators in the Core Formation realm.

Leyvi let out a wry smile when he noticed a few of them glaring at him with disgust. Nala had been right—some of them hated men. He could sense others also resented his presence but concealed their emotions better. He couldn't blame them, considering what women experienced outside the city.

For this reason, he wasn't going to negotiate with them. That task fell to Anda. The women would be more comfortable and likely to accept the recruitment offer if it came from a fellow woman. As a man aspiring to live off his women, playing the role of a useless husband was his specialty.

"Forgive me for taking so long to reach out again. It wasn't easy to contact and convince everyone to come. Since our mercenary group disbanded, we've been living in the city, working various jobs to survive," Paulina said politely.

"No worries. I understand everyone's difficulties. That's why we're here to recruit you ladies. My sister Nala recommended you all for this job, and we trust her judgment," Anda replied, her tone warm and reassuring.

"Are we going to work directly under you?" A tall, brown-skinned woman with a mole in the middle of her glabella asked while selecting ingredients for the hotpot. Her question carried a bluntness that matched her demeanor, her movements deliberate as she added food to the bubbling pot.

Having come all this way, she wasn't going to miss the opportunity to eat her fill. She wasn't alone; the others had also begun picking ingredients, manners be damned. After all, they were former mercenaries—a rough bunch.

If not for men collectively targeting, suppressing, and assaulting women in every hunting ground, they might still have been mercenaries. Nowadays, the profession is dominated by men, with only a few women willing to endure being treated as their playthings.

When they reported these atrocities to the City Lord of Warhaven City, he dismissed them, claiming that incidents outside the city were not his responsibility. His duty, he argued, was to ensure the safety of those within the city walls. Vexed but powerless, the women had no choice but to quit mercenary life.

Being a mercenary, hunting demonic beasts and gathering rare plants, was far more lucrative than the jobs they now held. So the reduced income naturally affected their cultivation as well, making them held more resentment.

"Ah, this is our former vice leader, Chloe Petra," Paulina introduced.

Anda nodded and said, "Miss Chloe, we are not recruiting for me, but for the current City Lord of Bara City, Layla Leyan."

"A female city lord?" Their interest was piqued.

"Yes. A Protector recently awarded my husband here a Deed of Sovereignty, but he isn't interested in governing. So, he entrusted Layla with full authority to govern the city," Anda explained.

"What? You received a Deed of Sovereignty? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Senior Sister June suddenly stood up and questioned Leyvi.