Chapter 286: Grand Elder
“Could it be we are going to ride a flying magical beast? I’ve never ridden one before.” Seeing the flying type magical beasts, Ming Dong had a look of excitement. Then a look of worry flashed across his face, “I’ve heard that flying magical beasts often times go out of control since their wild nature is stronger than any other magical beast. If by chance the magical beast throws us down from midair, then we would all be resigned to death.”
A blue robed youth from not too far away looked down on Ming Dong with a look of despite before sneering at him, “Hmph, how cowardly. If you do not wish to to ride the flying magical beast, then don’t, no one is forcing you.”
Hearing this, Ming Dong stared at the youth with an angry stare, but before he could say anything, the youth opened his mouth once more, “What? Did you wish to fight? Come then, try and hit me.” The youth was overly haughty and didn’t even see Ming Dong as his opponent at all, furthermore, he completely ignored Jian Chen who was right by Ming Dong’s side.
The surrounding people looked at the commotion with a cold stare, but not a single person wished to get involved.
Jian Chen’s face narrowed at the youth’s words however. The arrogant nature of this youth was something that Jian Chen disliked, but before he could raise his hand to teach him a minor lesson, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. It was the sturdy looking Qin Xiao who suddenly appeared right next to the youth before slapping him firmly in the face, “Tian Ling you brat!” He spat. “To dare curse at my good friend, you’re asking for a spanking!”
Qin Xiao’s palm had not been gentle. When the youth had been slapped, he immediately fell to the ground with the part of his face hit already starting to swell.
Qin Xiao didn’t plan on letting Tian Ling off that easily and immediately kicked him in the stomach, causing the youth to curl up in pain. Opening his mouth, Qin Xiao said, “Tian Ling, you are too arrogant. To dare even curse at the brothers of mine, let’s see if you dare repeat it again.”
Tian Ling looked at Qin Xiao in silent fear. Within the Tianqin clan, Qin Xiao had a high position of power and was beloved by many. He was even the son of the patriarch, making him a person very few would dare to provoke.
“Enough, Qin Xiao, no matter what you say, you and Tian Ling grew up with each other. Just why should he be friendly to outsiders, could it be that these outsiders are even more important than your sisters and brothers?” A middle aged man walked forward before staring icily at Qin Xiao. Then, his eyes wandered over to where Jian Chen and Ming Dong was before his expression grew dark.
“Uncle!” The moment the youth saw the middle aged man, he began to crawl toward him as if he was his savior. Both eyes then swung toward Jian Chen and Ming Dong with a hate filled glare.
Qin Xiao himself restrained himself when he saw this man, but his attitude itself did not. Feeling justified in his actions, he spoke, “Uncle Tian Zhou, just what are you saying? Jian Chen and Ming Dong are my sworn brothers, how could they be considered outsiders? Besides, I heard how this matter was started. Tian Ling was trying to start trouble for no reason and offended my brothers first. This is entirely his fault, just what right does he have to blame someone else?”
With a snort, the man ignored Qin Xiao’s words before looking coldly a Jian Chen and Ming Dong straight into their eyes. “You two, right now we are about to depart from the Zhuya Kingdom, please go back to wherever you came from.” The man was not at all gentle with his words as he commanded them to leave the area.
Hearing this, Jian Chen and Ming Dong both narrowed their eyes. This man was speaking as if he was the patriarch himself giving the orders.
Both Jian Chen and Ming Dong had already been guests at the Tianqin clan for two months, by now, there was only half a month until the Gathering of the Mercenaries started. If they were not able to use the Space Gate, then there would be no possible way for them to reach Mercenary City in such a short amount of time.
The man’s words had caused Qin Xiao to explode with fury as he stomped forward with a furious glare, “Uncle Tian Zhou, what is the meaning of this? Brothers Jian Chen and Ming Dong have received the Tianqin clan’s invitation to join us on our travels to Mercenary City. They are both the noble guests of our clan, just how could you treat them in such a poor manner?”
“Noble guests!” The man laughed in disdain, “Just how could these two be noble guests of the Tianqin clan? Nephew Qin Xiao, you should do well to not bring as many dubious people back to our clan. The Tianqin clan is the number one clan in Walaurent City, not just any random small clan. This is not a place where you can bring back any dregs of the city to.”
Looking back to Jian Chen and Ming Dong, the man said, “Be tactful and leave this place at once. This is not a place where you should loiter about.”
“Uncle Tian Zhou, you dare to call my friends some random dregs of the city? Then could those three men behind you be nobles then? According to your own words, we should not be bringing in the dregs of the city into our Tianqin clan.” Qin Xiao spoke rudely. If it were any other person that was talking to Qin Xiao like the middle aged man, then they would had been waking up with a headache. This middle aged man was not someone Qin Xiao could defy too much, so he could only hold back his anger.
The middle aged man’s face grew dark, “Hmph, the three brothers behind me are the pillars of my mercenary group and have traveled extensively with me for over twenty years. We’ve went through multiple life or death situations and even crawled up from the very depths of hell together to become friends until death! Just how could that be compared to the people you’ve randomly found outside the clan?” With that, the man turned to look at Jian Chen once more, “So you haven’t left yet still? Did you wish for me to remove you from this area personally then?”
The surrounding people were all looking closely at them now. Not a single one of them had said a thing although Jian Chen had been a guest, it was a relatively unknown matter. Aside from Qin Xiao and a few others, not many people knew Jian Chen.
Jian Chen’s face began to darken as he spoke, “If it is the patriarch’s will, then this one will immediately leave, but whoever you are, how could you represent the will of the patriarch? Just what qualifications do you have to tell me to leave?”
“To dare refuse to hear me, you are courting death!” The man bellowed before a ripple of Saint Force formed in his hand. A bright red colored blade appeared in the man’s hands, causing the temperature to skyrocket whenever it was swung.
“Stay your hand!”
Just as the man was about to slash into Jian Chen, a dignified sounding voice suddenly called out, causing everyone to turn to look at the purple robed patriarch of the Tianqin clan walking toward them.
Seeing the patriarch walk by, the man slowly reabsorbed his Saint Weapon. With a venomous glare, the man looked at Jian Chen, “Hmph, I’ll let you off today, leave the Tianqin clan now.”
Jian Chen’s own eyes had a cold tint to them as a small amount of killing intent slowly leaked out from him. There was even a sneer of disdain on Jian Chen’s face as well. He knew all too clearly that the man was an Earth Saint Master, and a fire Saint Master at that. A single strike of his would be would be extremely overwhelming, but even then, Jian Chen did not see it as a threat to him.
Ming Dong still had an angry look on face, the words of the middle aged man did not leave him with a happy sensation, even Qin Xiao looked quite troubled.
The patriarch only needed to take a single look at Qin Xiao to know what event had just transpired. With a dark look, he turned to look at the middle aged man, “Tian Zhou, brother Jian Chen is an honored guest of our Tianqin clan, just how could you be so rude to him?”
The one called Tian Zhou snorted before giving an askew glance at Jian Chen and Ming Dong, “Elder brother Qin, just when will you learn of nephew Qin Xiao’s attitude. Going around randomly and pretending that two younger generation men are our honored guests? If the Tianqin clan were to be different than what it is now with big brother Tian Ming as the patriarch, then we wouldn’t have any random person enter our clan. What’s even more ridiculous is that our Tianqin clan is for some reason bringing two outsiders through the Space Gate to enter Mercenary City, big brother Qin, do you not realize just how costly the price of using the Space Gate is?”
“Shut your mouth!” The patriarch’s face became gravely serious, “Tian Zhou, how can you speak to me in such a manner? Tian Zhou, it seems your time in the outside world has made you even more narrow-minded than before. Brother Jian Chen is an honored guest within our Tianqin clan. With this type of treatment toward our guest, just how could our reputation not be tarnished by this? Hurry up and apologize to brother Jian Chen immediately!” The patriarch bellowed angrily.
“Hmph, like father like son. Wanting me to apologize to the younger generation? That is just wishful thinking!”Tian Zhou spoke haughtily. As if he was a high and mighty clan leader, he simply gave no face at all to the patriarch. With that, he leaped into the air and landed on the back of one of the flying magical beasts. Then, the three men behind him followed suit and landed on top of the flying magical beast as well.
Seeing how Tian Zhou was so condescending to the others, the patriarch of the Tianqin clan narrowed his eyes. His chest began to heave heavily in anger, showing that he was not pleased at all.
Qin Xiao walked up to Jian Chen and whispered to him, “That man is uncle Tian Zhou, he’s a part of the Tian family and holds a high position within the Tianqin clan that is almost as powerful as my father. He has been traveling in the outside world for many a years and only returned to the clan two days ago. It seems that he has a major complaint with you here. In the future, you must take care, since he is an Earth Saint Master.”
Jian Chen nodded his head and said, “I will be careful.”
Just at that moment, a black robed elder dropped down from the skies before somehow floating ten meters above the ground before looking at everyone there.
“We see the Grand Elder!”
As soon as everyone saw this elder, everyone within the clan compound bowed deeply. Even the Tian Zhou who was sitting on the flying magical beast immediately got up to bow down respectfully.
“A Heaven Saint Master!” Seeing the floating elder, Jian Chen’s pupils dilated in shock. This Tianqin clan had unexpectedly had a Heaven Saint Master expert!
The elder looked at both the patriarch of the Tianqin clan and Tian Zhou before looking at the nearby Qin Xiao with a kind smile on his face. The moment his eyes landed upon Jian Chen, there was a look of extreme disbelief, but that was quickly hidden away from his eyes.
Exhaling, the elder’s gaze grew complicated once more. Regret could be seen along with rejoicement, but then even an eager expectation could be seen, causing people to be confused.
“Tian Zhou, Qin Yisheng.” The elder spoke.
“I am at the Grand Elder’s command.” The patriarch and Tian Zhou both spoke out.
“The very first teachings of the Tianqin clan passed down from our ancestors are something you two should understand. In the case that the two of you are trying to split the Tianqin clan, then a serious punishment awaits the both of you.” The elder spoke calmly, but when the two men heard those words, their hearts shook with fear.
“The Grand Elder needn’t worry, we adhere to the ancestor’s teachings and will defend the feelings of the Tianqin clan.” The patriarch said.
Tian Zhou bowed his head, “I, Tian Zhou, respect the ancestor’s teachings and will strive to protect the clan’s feelings.”
“Good!” The elder nodded his head, “Is everyone here.”
“Everyone is here, Grand Elder.” The patriarch spoke straight away.
“Then let us be off now.”
…….
After that, everyone climbed onto the back of the flying magical beast. Each one of them had dozens of people, totaling to forty people per beast. Ming Dong and Jian Chen both sat on the same magical beast along with another seven people sitting right next to them on its back.
With a fierce flap of its wings, the flying magical beast immediately took off into the air and began to accelerate. The Grand Elder of the Tianqin clan began to follow close behind, flying on his own as if to personally oversee their trip.