Chapter 390: Qinhuang Kingdom
The road was peaceful once more. Jian Chen never met another flying magical beast as he flew past the mountain ranges.
Once past the mountain ranges, Jian Chen was flying a thousand meters in the air where the cold winds constantly blew against his body. His white robes fluttered in the wind with a flapping sound.
His left hand held the white tiger cub, and his right hand held a map he had gotten from his Space Ring. This map contained details of the surrounding area to a good extent, but the Gesun Kingdom was still too far away so Jian Chen couldn’t use the map to travel there.
Jian Chen’s eyes scoured the map as he looked at all of the nearby kingdoms in the area around Mercenary City. For a brief moment, his eyes looked back to Mercenary City and gave a small sigh before looking elsewhere. He knew that he had more than enough strength to help the Gesun Kingdom in its time of need, but because he had no idea on the current circumstances of the kingdom, he needed to get back there as soon as possible. If he waited too long, then the Gesun Kingdom would be overrun and his family exterminated. To Jian Chen, the latter was something he was not willing to see nor experience. So, his only goal was to find a Space Gate and then use it to travel to the Gesun Kingdom in the fastest way possible.
Suddenly, the kingdom “Qinghuang” popped up in Jian Chen’s eyes. Taking a look, Jian Chen’s eyes began to sparkle as he quickly thought back to the friend he made, Qin Ji, during the Gathering of the Mercenaries.
His hands began to shake as he took out the piece of jade from his Space Ring. On the Jade piece, there was the single word for “Qin” engraved on it; this was the gift that Qin Ji had given to him before the two had parted.
Looking at the considerably expensive piece of jade in his hands, Jian Chen began to hum as he thought to himself, “Qin Ji has a Ruler Armament and a barrier protecting him. That would mean the Qinghuang Kingdom is quite strong, perhaps they would have a Space Gate!” Jian Chen suddenly came to a stop in midair as he hesitated. With a final conclusion, he started to fly toward the Qinhuang Kingdom; whether or not the kingdom had a Space Gate, he would give it a try.
The Qinhuang Kingdom was only 100,000 meters north of Mercenary City, making the distance from where he was to the kingdom approximately 120,000 kilometers. If he wanted to go there, it would take a considerable amount of time.
Using the wind elements in the world to help speed him up, Jian Chen began to travel at a pace that was relatively slower than the time when he had used the Heaven’s Stolen Fortune and the Illusionary Flash combined. However, it still took him two hours in order to travel 1500 kilometers. In this manner, twenty-four hours would be enough for him to travel nearly 20,000 kilometers.
In seven days, Jian Chen had finally arrived at the border of the Qinhuang Kingdom. These seven days had been taxing for Jian Chen. He had very few breaks and the tiger cub constantly ate the heavenly resources before falling asleep right after. However, the tiger cub was growing at a decent speed now, his body was already a meter long and already weighed close to fifty kilograms. This however made holding the cub to his chest very difficult. Moreover, the cub was already at the level of a Class 2 Magical Beast.
Because of the cub’s innate nature of being a Heavenly Tiger God, it could constantly devour the heavenly resources without a problem unlike humans who used monster cores. After a while, a human would come across troubles that would shake their foundation and bring about major damages if they did not regulate their usage of monster cores, but this tiger did not have such a limitation.
In front of him, there was a hundred meter tall ancient wall that stretched beyond the lands like a long dragon, giving anyone the impression that they were looking at a mountain range instead. On top of the ancient gates was a gigantic board that said three words–Qinghuang Kingdom!
This was the stronghold of the Qinghuang Kingdom. As he drew closer, the originally quiet stronghold began to buzz with activity. Floating a thousand meters high in the air, he could see the ant-like people down below flowing in and out of the stronghold, trading their wares.
Jian Chen didn’t bother with going through the gates and instead flew overhead without bothering to hide himself either.
Although his movements had not gone unnoticed by several soldiers, the soldiers did nothing to stop him. Instead, they continued to watch him fly by with envious looks. Heaven Saint Masters were individuals that commanded this priviledge of being able to go as they pleased without being stopped.
The Qinhuang Kingdom was extraordinarily large—four or five times larger than the Gesun Kingdom. After traveling for another 10,000 kilometers, he finally reached the capital city—Qinhuang City! This was a King City, a city that was second in rank compared to seven of the continent’s Capital Cities, but its grandeur was great nonetheless.
Flying into Qinghuang City, he drew close to the palace and descended onto the ground while holding the tiger cub. Together, the two continued inside.
“Halt, what are you doing!” Several guards at the Great Saint Master level instantly moved forward to obstruct Jian Chen’s path.
Jian Chen flashed the jade piece and spoke, “I am looking for Qin Ji!”
“Outrageous, just how dare you call the third prince so casually!” One of the rearguards instantly rebuked.
“Third prince?” At this, Jian Chen’s heart skipped a beat, he had no idea that Qin Ji held such an illustrious position within the kingdom.
When one of the vanguards heard Jian Chen callout Qin Ji’s name, his eyes narrowed dangerously. However, when he saw Jian Chen hold up the jade piece, he started with a cry, “That is the Qinhuang Jade given from His Majesty!”
At this, the guard that had cursed out from the back instantly clutched at his neck and retreated without a sound.
“My lord, if you would allow me to inspect the jade piece.” The vanguard head spoke out courteously—a 180 degree shift from just a moment ago.
Without any complaints, Jian Chen handed over the jade piece to the guard. That guard accepted it with a polite manner and began to carefully turn and rotate the piece in order to inspect it. After ensuring that it was authentic, he gave it back and spoke, “My lord, if you could give us your name, we will report it to the third prince at once.”
“Jian Chen!”
“Lord Jian Chen, please wait a moment!” The guard saluted as he called out for a person to come close. Whispering an order into his ear, he sent the man to go running into the palace straight away.
The time Jian Chen had spent waiting was not short. After an hour of waiting, a luxuriously dressed youth came walking out of the palace in a hurry. Right behind him were two beautiful looking women.
“We greet the third prince!” When the youth came out, the dozen Great Saint Master guards all immediately knelt down and cupped their hands in greeting.
This youth was Qin Ji.
“All raise then!” Qin Ji spoke calmly before looking toward Jian Chen. However, when he saw just how he looked, Qin Ji’s face was surprised for a moment before laughing, “Brother Jian Chen, I had no idea that it was really you! You’ve really changed this time, not only is your hair gone, but even your eyebrows and eyelashes too! Did you get roasted by a fire? I could barely recognize you!”
Hearing this, Jian Chen could only chuckle in embarrassment. “The recent weeks have been quite troublesome, so I look rather pitiful right now.”
After exchanging several words, Qin Ji ushered Jian Chen into the palace where a scrumptious feast was laid out in a palace hall made of gold and splendor for his welcome.
During the feast, Jian Chen and Qin Ji both talked joyously about many things as if they were good friends that had not met in years. Every so often, a great big laughter could be heard from one of the two.
After the meal was eaten and the wine was drunk, Jian Chen arrived at the heart of the matter. With a grim face, he asked, “Brother Qin Ji, I came to you today for your help on an important matter.”
Qin Ji had already known Jian Chen was not the type of person to visit a temple without a cause, so he laughed, “Brother Jian Chen, what is it that you need my help on? If I can do it, then I, Qin Ji, will not hesitate to do so.”
With an even more serious expression, he spoke, “Brother Qin Ji, I am in dire need of a Space Gate, would you know whether the Qinhuang Kingdom has one or knows the location of one?”
For a moment, Qin Ji stared blankly, but he quickly began to laugh in relief, “And here I thought it was something major. Brother Jian Chen, you were correct in coming to the Qinhuang Kingdom for a Space Gate, Aside from Mercenary City, Qinghuang City is the only one to have a Space Gate within a hundred thousand kilometers.”
Jian Chen was overjoyed to hear this, “Brother Qin Ji, then I must ask of you, would I be able to have you help me use the Space Gate?”
Continuing to laugh, Qin Ji replied, “Brother Jian Chen, you needn’t worry. Although the Space Gate within the Qinghuang Kingdom isn’t open for foreigners, there are always exceptions to everything. Just let me talk to my father, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Is that so? Then I’d like to thank brother Qin Ji.” Jian Chen looked relieved and exhilarated to hear that he would be able to use the Space Gate to return to the Gesun Kingdom.
Qin Ji placed another morsel of food from his chopsticks and began to chew with joy. Speaking with some food still in his mouth, Qin Ji spoke, “However, brother Jian Chen, I suggest you wait three days before using the Space Gate to leave.
“Why is that?” Jian Chen asked.
“In two days of time, it will be my father’s 50th birthday. That day will be extremely lively and many nobles from many clans will come to celebrate. As my friend, I hope that you would celebrate it with me.”