Chapter 596: Return to Mercenary City (Two)
Jian Chen’s eyes lit up when he heard Huang Luan’s suggestion. He did not know how strong the Saint Ruler was, but he definitely belonged to the higher echelons of the chart if he was able to go toe-to-toe with two other Saint Rulers. In the case that a Saint Ruler did help Jian Chen, then very few people would dare work against him.
“Wait for a situation to arise before we call on your ancestor to help us.” Jian Chen smiled. Aside from the four Imperial Protectors from the Qinhuang Kingdom, he also had the help of the ancestor from the Huang family. Jian Chen felt no desire to use those five at the wrong moment.
Jian Chen was not delusional. He knew that he would not be able to ask Ming Dong’s uncle figure for assistance. The Saint Ruler was very unwilling to complicate himself with any external affairs, and even the priceless tungsten alloy would not be enough to shake his neutrality.
However, no leaks of information had been made about the tungsten alloy. Aside from Jian Chen’s group, only the seven leaders and their men knew about it. The excavators had all their storage items confiscated during their time in the mines in order to prevent news or evidence from being spread. Even their movements were limited to only ten meters beyond the mines.
The Flame Mercenaries were stationed within the castle of the Bloodmoon Mercenaries while all of this was going on. When the seven leaders heard that it was Jian Chen himself who led the group, they immediately expressed their desires to join the Flame Mercenaries. The Flame Mercenaries exploded once more in strength after those seven joined. All of the land that had belonged to the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom was fully engulfed by Jian Chen, and there were plenty of experts from this land. Aside from Jian Chen, there were nearly a dozen other Heaven Saint Masters among the mercenaries now, making the Flame Mercenaries a household name within the surrounding hundred thousand kilometers.
The following days were calm while the tungsten alloy was methodically extracted. Every day, an abundant amount of ore was collected, and the key figures in the operation, such as Jian Chen, were happy to see the stockpile grow.
“When all of the tungsten alloy is extracted, we’ll definitely have enough to use it for our city.” Ming Dong spoke with a quavering voice.
“If this tungsten alloy is to be used to construct the city, then its defensive strength would be among the strongest on the continent, comparable to the seven Capital Cities!” Even the normally quiet-spoken Dugu Feng’s eyes filled with an expectant look.
“We could even use the tungsten alloy to craft a lot of armor for the elite soldiers to wear!” Bi Lian piped up in excitement.
Everyone quickly suggested how they should use the tungsten alloy. They just needed to wait until they knew how much tungsten alloy they now possessed. Then they could go ahead with their plan.
In the blink of an eye, three months passed while Jian Chen stayed in the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during these three months, and the lockdown on the tungsten alloy remained as strict as ever. The tension from safeguarding this secret weighed heavily on Jian Chen’s heart.
Early one morning, Jian Chen opened his eyes from his seated position on his bed and looked out the window. Memories of the little fatty he met in Longevity Valley suddenly cropped up out of nowhere.
“I promised to meet him again a single year after I left the valley. It’s about time that I make good on that promise and visit the valley.” Jian Chen muttered as he stepped out of his room. Over the past few months, he had remembered that fatty several times, but he had to put off the trip until later because of the matters at hand. Now that there seemed to be no foreseeable changes in the extraction of the tungsten alloy, he decided that there was no need to delay the trip to Longevity Valley any longer.
As soon as he walked out of his room, Jian Chen convened with the others to announce that he would be leaving for a short period of time.
“Jian Chen, where are you going? Let me go with you.” Huang Luan asked, reluctant to part ways with Jian Chen again.
“I have an important matter to return to Mercenary City for. But I’ll be home soon enough, so remain here in the meanwhile.” Jian Chen shook his head declining her request.
A disappointed look appeared in her eyes after that.
“Jian Chen, go quick and return early!” You Yue was equally reluctant to part with Jian Chen. Despite her reluctance, however, she knew that this trip was unavoidable for him.
Nodding his head, Jian Chen said, “If nothing happens, I should be back home soon.”
Ming Dong walked forward to slap Jian Chen on the shoulder. He said in a serious tone, “Brother, if you need to go, we will not stop you, but you have to be careful. Should the Jiede clan and the Shi family see you, you must head to Mercenary City. They won’t dare touch you there.”
Laughing, Jian Chen replied, “Worry not. I know just how to handle myself should that situation occur. Aside from their Saint Rulers, I should have no problem with the rest of the family.”
Out of nowhere, Bi Lian appeared around his arm, “Cousin, your little relative has a wish that I hope you can fulfill.”
Seeing the coquettish actions of his younger cousin, Jian Chen could only laugh, “Say it then. Whatever it is that you want, your cousin will make sure to accomplish it for you.” Jian Chen doted a lot on his younger cousin.
Whirling her head to look at the little tiger on Jian Chen’s shoulder, she said with a mischievous smile, “Could you leave behind Xiao Bai, I want to play with him.”
The tiger was a very intelligent creature and understood exactly what Bi Lian had asked. As quick as lightning, it jumped from Jian Chen’s left shoulder to his right shoulder to avoid Bi Lian. The cub then tightly hugged Jian Chen’s neck with its paws, and its eyes vigilantly watched Bi Lian.
As if annoyed by what the tiger cub had done, Bi Lian stared at him with her arms on her hips, “Xiao Bai, am I really that scary? I fed you some roasted meat the past few days, and this is how you repay me? You won’t even let me hug you.”
“Mrrrowrrrrrr…” Xiao Bai let loose a mournful sound that not everyone understood, but its paws gripped around Jian Chen’s neck even tighter, meaning that it was very reluctant to split with Jian Chen.
“Forget it, Bi Lian. Xiao Bai may as well be Jian Chen’s shadow. You’d have a better chance climbing the ladder to the heavens than separating Xiao Bai from Jian Chen.” You Yue giggled.
“Bi Lian, this is a request that I can’t help you with. I am not one to force Xiao Bai to do what he doesn’t want.” Jian Chen apologetically smiled.
“Hmph, forget it then!” Bi Lian glared balefully at Xiao Bai in disappointment.
With Xiao Bai on his shoulders still, Jian Chen bade farewell to the rest of the group and left. He had originally wanted to leave Xiao Bai here instead of carrying him around since he would have to pass Mercenary City to reach Longevity Valley. It was a trip that did not guarantee security, but the tiger cub had remained completely deaf to any words Jian Chen said. Unable to convince the tiger cub, he could only allow the cub to go with him.
Today’s weather was extraordinarily good. The sun was shining bright and not a single cloud could be seen, leaving the sky a boundless canvas of azure.
Flying a thousand meters into the sky, Jian Chen headed straight for the Dazhou Kingdom so that he could use their Space Gate to reach Mercenary City.
The tiger cubs sense of smell had improved by several degrees because of its recent growth. Every so often when Jian Chen flew over a forest, it would just barely be able to sniff out the heavenly resources hidden around the verdant plants. Some were over a thousand years old in age and shocked Jian Chen. It was as Rum Guinness had described, the tiger cub would gain the ability to search and find heavenly resources with its own strength.
It took several days for Jian Chen to arrive at the frontier of the Dazhou Kingdom, but as soon as he hit the boundary of the kingdom, Jian Chen came to a stop mid-flight. Thinking for a bit, he immediately flew off in a different direction than before.
Several hours after Jian Chen had changed directions and left the Dazhou Kingdom, he arrived at the bordering Zhuya Kingdom. Heading within its borders, Jian Chen flew straight for the First Class city, Walaurent City.
Jian Chen touched down in a relatively empty location. He used his memories to follow a path through the city before finally coming to a stop right outside a large mansion.
The mansion that Jian Chen stopped in front of possessed a giant signboard right above it that read, “Tianqin clan.” These two words radiated a seemingly magical feeling to them and brought forth a deluge of memories from several years ago. Unable to stop himself, Jian Chen began to replay the memories of when he and Ming Dong had first come to this city.
Qin Xiao had left the biggest impression on Jian Chen while he was in Waluarent City.
“Hey, you there! What are you doing spacing out in front of the gates of the Tianqin clan? Get lost, this isn’t a place you can block the road!” While Jian Chen’s was thinking, one of the guards shouted at him and disrupted his daydream.
Waking up to reality, Jian Chen looked at the burly figure next to him. He cupped his hands and gave a polite greeting, “Would you perhaps know if the young master, Qin Xiao, is inside?”
Stopping in his stride to size Jian Chen up, the guard noticed that the robes Jian Chen wore were quite expensive, and the air to him was unordinary. Immediately growing wary, the guard asked, “Who are you? The young master Qin Xiao is not someone that anyone can see on a whim.”
“This one is Jian Chen, a friend of the young master Qin Xiao.” Jian Chen cupped his hands. Despite this person being only a guard, Jian Chen was calm and polite to him.
“What? You’re Jian Chen?” The guard immediately felt surprised to hear his name. Straight away, the expression on the guard’s face changed to a smile, “Ah, so it is indeed lord Jian Chen. This lowly guard must be blind if he could not recognize lord Jian Chen. Please forgive me, lord Jian Chen. The young master Qin Xiao said before that should lord Jian Chen arrive, we are to bring him straight in.” The guard welcomed Jian Chen within the compound politely while notifying another guard to report to Qin Xiao.