On either side of the street, various tall buildings rose up one after another, and pedestrians of all kinds could be seen everywhere. Ye Yinzhu not only saw warriors but even caught sight of mages several times. Let alone Acadia, even in Bo Pang, such a scene would be a rare find, which shows just how formidable Milan's national power is.
Within Milan City, only nobles could ride Magical Beasts, so Ye Yinzhu and Ge'en, lacking noble titles, had to walk.
"Look, there's the Mercenary Guild," Ge'en said with excitement filling his voice. For mercenaries, the Mercenary Guild was their Sacred Place.
Ye Yinzhu looked in the direction Ge'en pointed and saw a grand and majestic building at the end of the street ahead. The enormous structure was arched and it was difficult to see how big it actually was from the front, but even from there, it was at least a hundred meters wide and nearly thirty meters tall. A giant gold Shield emblem was surrounded by a huge wall outside the building. Behind the Shield, two crossed Longswords were glistening in the sunlight, their dazzling brilliance visible from a great distance.
Once they were within five hundred meters of the Mercenary Guild, the flow of people around them abruptly increased. Mercenaries of all shapes and sizes bustled through the crowd, and with some difficulty, Ge'en and Yin Zhu managed to squeeze into the Mercenary Guild. As soon as they entered the interior of the Guild, the pressure from the crowd dissipated. At least a hundred workers clad in black were maintaining order within the Guild.
This was an extremely spacious hall, at least twenty meters high on the inside. Bright sunlight shone in through massive crystal windows on both sides of the hall. Apart from the side one entered from, the remaining three sides all had stone counters, about two meters tall, giving the workers a sense of looking down from above. Most mercenaries had to step up the stone stairs in front of the counter to communicate with them.
In a low voice, Ge'en said, "Yinzhu, see that? Although these people maintaining order aren't very strong, no one dares to offend them here. Whoever dares to cause trouble in this place will be directly stripped of their mercenary qualifications. On the left is where tasks are issued – it's different from other local Mercenary branches; only tasks of D rank or above. If it's not an S-rank mercenary team, they're not even qualified to take on tasks here. The right is where tasks are turned in and rewards are collected. The innermost section is the counter for mercenary and Mercenary Guild registration and rank advancement."
The counters on both sides had the most people, and even the innermost counter had a considerable queue. Ye Yinzhu and Ge'en were heading inside to line up when suddenly, a chorus of exclamations erupted from the innermost counter.
"An S-rank mercenary team—The second S-rank mercenary team is born..."
The dense line of mercenaries parted like a tide, revealing the innermost counter. The sudden exclamations led the mercenaries who were there for task issuance and completion to gather around as well, their gazes filled with astonishment as they looked towards the end of the parted pathway.
There were three people coming out from the counter area, and clearly, they had just completed the advancement of their mercenary team. The one in the middle was a mage dressed in a gray Magic Robe, who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, with a lean figure and an old-fashioned face. His salt-and-pepper hair was neatly combed back behind his head. His movements were light, and those daunting eyes of his were not to be faced directly. Most terrifying was the enormous Magic Elements' fluctuation around his body, so dense that Yin Zhu, also a mage, even felt the Magic Elements around this man to be somewhat viscous. Anyone caught by his gaze immediately experienced a strong suffocating sensation. Proudly displayed on his left chest was a Zi Luolan Insignia with a carved whirlwind pattern, fully demonstrating his power.
"A Grand Sorcerer, and a Zi rank at that," Ge'en's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. As the pinnacle of power on the continent, the emergence of any Grand Sorcerer became the focus of everyone's attention.
Ye Yinzhu had a completely different thought from Ge'en's, musing to himself, "Is this the power that an elemental mage displays after reaching Zi rank? From his eyes, one can see how profound his spiritual power is. Grandpa Qin did not have such strong elemental fluctuations, but it seemed that his spiritual power was much stronger than this man's."
Standing beside the Grand Sorcerer were a young man and woman, both looking quite young. The young man on the left appeared to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. He wore a set of exquisite jinse armor that protected every area except the joints. With broad shoulders and handsome but somewhat cold features, his golden hair cascaded over his shoulders. His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword at his waist. What caught Yin Zhu's attention most was the Zi Luolan Insignia on his left chest, identical to the one Silver Star Dragon Rider Austin had. To the right of the Grand Sorcerer was a girl who looked to be sixteen or seventeen. Her ear-length hair gave her a heroic charm, and her pale pink magic robe could not conceal her fully developed figure. Her cute face wore a look of pride, and her large, water-blue eyes twinkled with a mischievous light as she smiled while holding onto the Grand Sorcerer's arm. Most strikingly, the magic emblem on her left chest was yellow. Reaching Yellow rank at such a young age was absolutely shocking. The Yellow rank symbolized an advanced-rank mage, even at the junior level, which was enough to astonish people.
"Uncle, can a mercenary group become an S-rank mercenary team if it has a Zi rank powerhouse?" Yin Zhu asked quietly.
Ge'en replied, "A Zi rank powerhouse is the symbol of an S-rank mercenary team, but it's not the only requirement. Just like the Iron Briar Thorn needs your help to raise its rank, an S-rank mercenary team also needs to have at least one Zi rank powerhouse and must be very strong in its own right."
"Oh so that's it, S-rank mercenary groups aren't really that special," Yin Zhu said nonchalantly. Both of his grandpas were Zi rank powerhouses, and in his perception, Zi rank powerhouses were not placed on an unattainable pedestal. After all, in his cultivation of Zither Magic, the Ziwei Qinxin equivalent to the Zi rank was not the ultimate goal.
No sooner had he spoken than Yin Zhu's expression changed slightly. He instinctively took a sidestep as a faint sound of wind just brushed past him. Looking up, he met the angry gaze of the girl who had been standing next to the Grand Sorcerer. Clearly, she had overheard Yin Zhu's words, and the trio happened to be passing by Yin Zhu and Ge'en at that moment.
"What are you doing?" Yin Zhu demanded angrily. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been hit by that incoming wind blade. Although it was only an instant-cast Red-rank magic, it was enough to damage his clothes.
The girl raised her head haughtily, "Didn't you say there's nothing much to S-rank mercenary groups? I wonder, what rank is your mercenary group? Merely a Red-rank mage, and you dare to spout such nonsense here."
Ye Yinzhu was taken aback, "What do you mean by spouting nonsense? I was merely stating a fact. What's wrong with being Red-rank? Didn't you all start from Red-rank and climb up? Everyone needs a process for their cultivation."
"You..." The girl let go of the Grand Sorcerer's arm and walked fiercely towards Yin Zhu. The Wind element was already gathering around her body, ready to explode at any moment.