Early next morning, Lou Mu Yan went to the Imperial Capital's liveliest street. A branch of the Mercenary Union was located at the end of that street.
The Mercenary Union was branched all over the continent, and it was easy to join—one only needed ten silver coins to register and receive a low-rank mercenary badge.
If one wanted to build their own party, then it required one gold coin and the leader must be at least a Great Sword Master. Each party member would then be issued a party medal. But regardless of whether it was a single Mercenary or a party, as long as their task was completed, then their personal badges would be upgraded.
Along the way, there were numerous vendors and street stalls everywhere, with the employees of various shops vying for customers. The lively streets were full of yelling and peddling. They sold anything, but the most-sold items were still those used by Mercenaries.
Lou Mu Yan browsed the area with interest at first, but the things for sale were rather low-level and useless to her. Meanwhile, seeing that her clothing wasn't ordinary, owners of small vendors rushed over to sell their goods. She immediately dismissed the thought to continue perusing and walked into the Mercenary Union.
The door of the Mercenary Union was wide open, with people flooding in and out, and was also very lively. There was a large hall upon entering, and in the middle was a circular stone table, with a height that came up to just above Lou Mu Yan's abdomen. Sitting behind the desk were a few people in uniforms who were doing registration while Mercenaries stood around them.
She didn't rush to register, and instead walked towards the bulletin board that displayed the latest missions and started browsing.
The Mercenary Union's missions were divided into ten ranks, Rank 1 being the lowest, and Rank 10 being the highest. Each rank had its differences in difficulty and rewards. After looking through it, she found a mission to the Blazing Mountain Range in a corner.
"Rank 3 Mission: Travel to the Blazing Mountain Range to find a Tier 2 fire attribute Demonic Beast with no restrictions to the species. The reward is one-thousand gold coins."
As she read this task, Lou Mu Yan frowned. This task for individual Mercenaries wasn't suitable for her. She wasn't familiar with the Blazing Mountain Range—it was best if she could take a party task. So she turned to the round stone table in the middle of the lobby for a consultation.
"Does Young Miss need any help?" A young man who just happened to be free asked Lou Mu Yan with a smile.
Lou Mu Yan nodded, lightly smiled, and said: "I want to ask, aside from the missions posted on the bulletin board, are there any other missions issued for the Blazing Mountain Range?"
"I'll check for you, please wait a moment." The man quickly found a book and started flipping through it. After that, he raised his head and asked: "Do you have a requirement for when the mission was issued?"
"Recently issued, best if it's a party mission." Lou Mu Yan replied.
The Young Man nodded, searched a while longer, then pointed at the book and said to Lou Mu Yan: "There are two fitting your requirements. One is a Rank 3 mission where you need to enter deep into Blazing Mountain Range and capture a Tier 3 fire-type Demonic Beast. But even though this mission's rich in rewards, the cultivation base of the Mercenaries who participate must be at least Advanced-Phase Sword Apprentice."
The man paused, then continued: "There's another Rank 2 mission which requires the party to enter the Blazing Mountain Range, hunt thirty Tier 2 Fire Spirit Rats and retrieve their Crystal Cores. The only requirement is that they're at or above the Initial-Phase Sword Apprentice Stage."
Lou Mu Yan thought about it—she wanted to participate in the first mission as well. It was rumoured that the Flame Fruit was found only deep in the periphery of the Blazing Mountain Range, but her cultivation base wasn't high enough for the mission. She mused a bit, then asked: "Apart from the first task requiring a Great Sword Master, can anyone else participate?"
The young man looked at Lou Mu Yan with a little surprise, then said after a pause: "They were also recruiting experienced Physicians, and they must be at or above Advanced-Phase Sword Novice."
"Physician? How do they judge if one was eligible to participate or not?" A glimmer of joy flashed in Lou Mu Yan's eyes.
She was actually qualified for the position of a Physician. In her last life, when she reached a bottleneck at the Celestial Stage, she incarnated as a mortal and entered the secular world to comprehend the Path of the Heavens. There, she met a mortal genius doctor who taught her the Art of the Golden Needles, and naturally, she learnt all the medical skills. After tempering the void within herself, she didn't just discard her medical skills, but instead applied it to her own Golden Needles Method she created herself, and also improved a lot in Alchemy.
"This time, the organiser is Ye Qing Han, the young heir of the Ye Clan. If you want to participate in this mission, you need to go to the Mercenary Union's second floor to accept a special personal assessment set by their clan at the Mercenary Union."
Lou Mu Yan nodded, took out ten silver coins and handed them over, saying: "I want to register as a Mercenary, please register for me."
The man didn't ask too much, accepted the silver coins, and began registering for her. After finishing, he gave her a Rank 1 mercenary badge.
"Thank you." Lou Mu Yan said with a smile after putting the badge away.
The young man shook his head with a smile, then decided to remind her: "If Miss wants to go to the Blazing Mountain Range, I advise you, that place is listed as one of the Ten Treacherous Zones. There are Tier 1 to 6 Demonic Beasts in there, and maybe even stronger, and is extremely dangerous. If it's not necessary, it's best not to go."
"Thank you for the caution." Lou Mu Yan smiled and nodded, then left the registration area, heading for the second floor.
The area on the second floor was also very spacious, divided into many rooms, and each room had an evident purpose. Lou Mu Yan quickly found the place to enlist for the Rank 3 mission to the Blazing Mountain Range.
After entering the room, she saw that there were already two young Mercenaries inside being questioned. She entered and asked an idle examiner—an old man: "May I ask if you are still recruiting Physicians for this time's mission?"
"You want to enlist?" The old man was around sixty years old with a pair of cloudy eyes that revealed a hidden brightness. He asked Lou Mu Yan faintly.
Lou Mu Yan nodded: "Yes, I want to enlist."
"Have you done it before? Have you ever worked as a Physician at any medical clinic?"
"I've never worked as a doctor, but I still have a certain degree of certainty in my medical skills. You can test me." A sense of confidence exuded from Lou Mu Yan as she replied with a smile.
The old man scrutinised her, thought for a little bit, then said: "Can you tell if I'm sick or not?"
"Can I take your pulse?" Lou Mu Yan asked.
The old man nodded, stretched out a rather thin arm from beneath his sleeves and handed it over to her. Seeing this, Lou Mu Yan used her index and middle finger to touch the old man's artery.
After a short while, Lou Mu Yan retracted her hand, her eyes filled with solemnity, and said to the old man: "You suffered an extremely serious internal injury ten years ago and it injured your organs. Your meridians are also blocked because of the sword aura."
The old man's expression changed from the initial inattentiveness to the current surprise. But then he furrowed his brows and said: "Although it's not known by all that I was injured, you can still find out about it if you investigate thoroughly. This can't prove you have the qualifications to enlist."
Lou Mu Yan chuckled softly, then brought her lips beside the old man's ear, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Not only are your meridians blocked, but your cultivation also halted. There'll be a day every three months where your old ailments flare up and you'll feel pain to the bones, preferring to die than to live."
The old man's eyes widened and stared at the beautiful girl adorned with a large smile. The things she said were only known by the superiors of their clan and he believed it was impossible anyone in the clan would leak his secrets. Then this meant the girl did indeed have some talents. With a complicated look in his eyes, he asked: "Then can you heal it?"
"Yes." Lou Mu Yan said firmly.
Upon hearing that, delightful surprise surfaced on the old man's face, but then he asked with gravity: "Don't play around with this old man here, this sword wound was left by a powerful Sword Monarch Stage cultivator. In these ten years, I also visited numerous famous doctors, but not a single person could promise that they could heal it."
"What reason do I have to play with you? I really can heal your injury. From your pulse, I could deduce that tonight1 is precisely the night your wound will flare up. I can use my Art of the Golden Needles to treat you first so that you can avoid the pain you'll experience tonight. But it'll be quite troublesome to fully heal you." Lou Mu Yan said with a soft smile.
There was a firm look in the old man's eyes. He was obsessed with the Path of the Sword for his entire life, and he suffered extremely when he could no longer advance. Still, he never gave up. Even though he never broke through, he still maintained his current cultivation at the Advanced-Phase Sword Spirit Stage. He might as well take the leap and consider it as 'treating a dead horse as if it's alive'2. He didn't think this little girl who's only at the Sword Apprentice Stage had the courage to play any tricks.
"Sure. Putting aside avoiding the pain, as long as you can alleviate my pain even a little tonight, I'll trust you, and directly enlist you as the accompanying Physician for this mission." The old man replied.
Lou Mu Yan nodded with a faint smile, not revealing her thoughts. After the two Mercenaries left, the old man asked the members of the clan to close the door, allowing Lou Mu Yan to apply her skills of the needle for him.
[1author wrote 'tomorrow night' in the original but the next chapter actually suggests it was tonight.
2he might as well give it a shot.]