Chapter 479: Tianqin Clan
The second lady of the Tianqin clan gently glided forward to Jian Chen and stared at him with a strange light in her beautiful eyes. “Lord Jian Chen is quite the famous person now. The glorious title of the King of Mercenaries has been so gained by lord Jian Chen.”
When the two guards heard what the second lady was saying, their faces grew startled. Turning to look at Jian Chen in a whole new light, they began to feel the utmost regret in their hearts.
Especially the guard that had firmly refused Jian Chen from entering the clan; his face turned utterly pale. “Blast! I didn’t think that he would be the King of Mercenaries, Jian Chen. Just what words did I use to speak to him with?”
Jian Chen cupped his hands together with a smile, “The second lady’s words are too serious. This one only received such a title due to luck, that’s all.”
“Lord Jian Chen is truly modest.” The second lady’s beautiful eyes revealed a faint smiling expression. Looking at Jian Chen with even more admiration, she spoke, “Lord Jian Chen, since you are here at our Tianqin clan, please come in and sit for a while.”
“This one was here for such a purpose.” Jian Chen smiled pleasantly without an air of arrogance.
“Please come in then, my lord!” The second lady waved her hand before walking alongside him into the courtyards. As she passed the guards, she gave a reproachful eye to the both of them and commanded, “This is lord Jian Chen, an honored guest to our Tianqin clan. I pray that you won’t be so impolite in the future, now apologize to lord Jian Chen with haste.”
Terrified, the two guards immediately knelt on the ground and spoke with panic, “Your servant should die a thousands death! Please forgive this servant, lord Jian Chen!” The guards knew how far the influence of being the King of Mercenaries went. If the Tianqin clan were to find out that they had stopped the King of Mercenaries from paying a visit and tried to drive him out, the guards were terrified to think just what serious punishment would befall them.
“Let it be, this was a trivial matter. Best to forget about it!” Jian Chen was not one that finagled with every little thing, and what just happened was not something that was out of the ordinary to him. Many major clans had guards with at least some arrogance, even his Changyang clan was no different.
Jian Chen followed the second lady into the Tianqin clan while the news that the King of Mercenaries had arrived quickly spread like wildfire through the guards and to the clan leader. So not too long after Jian Chen entered the courtyards, Qin Xiao’s father and the other elders came out to personally greet him.
“Hahaha, we welcome brother Jian Chen’s presence in our Tianqin clan. Your presence brings light to my humble abode.” The leader of the Tianqin clan laughed with a respectful greeting. Right now Jian Chen’s identity was not the same as it was before. With the title of King of Mercenaries, even the leader of the Tianqin clan would have to treat him vastly different than he had before.
After exchanging several words of greeting with the leader, Jian Chen was provided with warm hospitality in the halls. Meanwhile, the news that he was here continued to spread within the Tianqin clan. Several of the other high-ranking members caught wind of his arrival and came running to meet him. Some wished to become friends with him while the others wished to see the grace of the King of Mercenaries.
Within one of the more luxurious rooms of the Tianqin clan, the sounds of the grunts of a man and the erotic sounds of a woman could be heard. Just then, a housekeeper suddenly came running in and knocked on the door, “Young master, this servant has just received word that the King of Mercenaries, Jian Chen, has arrived by our Tianqin clan.”
Within the room, Tian Jue was currently intertwined with a beautiful woman on the bed. Hearing the housekeeper speak, his entire body began to shake and another part of his body grow impotent. “What, Jian Chen is here in our clan compound?” Tian Jue couldn’t help but think back to what happened between he and Jian Chen a year ago, causing his face to turn pale.
“Jian Chen came to the Tianqin clan, he… he has to be looking for me. No, no! I can’t stay here.” Tian Jue immediately lost all his drive to continue having s*x with the woman under him. Ignoring the bitterness in her voice, he immediately got off the bed and began to dress.
“Housekeeper Tian, prepare a carriage. I will leave the city at once. Do not tell this to anyone.”
……
At this moment, Jian Chen was talking with the high-ranking members of the Tianqin clan. Now that he was the King of Mercenaries, the entire Tianqin clan had to treat him with the utmost respect. None of them dared act as if he was nothing like they did a year ago — especially the Tian family. For the sake of apologizing for Tian Jue’s misunderstanding with Jian Chen a year ago, they had to be extra sincere.
After several exchanges, Jian Chen got to the root of the problem. Facing the leader of the Tianqin clan, he spoke, “My lord, I wish to see Qin Xiao.”
“My deepest apologies, but ever since his return from the Gathering of the Mercenaries, my son has gone with the grand elder behind close door cultivation and has not yet returned.” The man spoke apologetically, but inwardly, he was pleased; if his son and Jian Chen were to remain close, when the day came for his son to become the leader of the clan, the Tianqin clan would earn an extremely strong friend.
There were rumors throughout the Tian Yuan Continent. Whenever there was a new Gathering of the Mercenaries, if they were able to fully mature, at the very least, they would become a Heaven Saint Master. The rest would usually be able to have a good chance of breaking through to become a Saint Ruler.
Hearing that Qin Xiao wasn’t here, Jian Chen had a disappointed look on his face. He had came to the Tianqin clan today just for the purpose of seeing him.
Afterward, the Tianqin clan tried to persuade Jian Chen to stay even longer in hopes that Jian Chen would agree while also sending men to call back Qin Xiao.
Finally, Jian Chen relented and promised that he would stay one more day. However, he declined the clan’s attempt to have them recall Qin Xiao back. He had not wished to disturb Qin Xiao’s cultivation.
Jian Chen was well received within the Tianqin clan, and that night, a feast was prepared for Jian Chen. After the feast, Jian Chen was given a luxurious room that was specially prepared for him.
At this moment, the cub that had been sleeping around Jian Chen’s chest finally awoke. Opening its bright eyes, it began to look around the room before jumping onto Jian Chen’s shoulder, using its furry head to rub Jian Chen’s cheek.
“Little thing, you’ve finally awoke after so long.” Jian Chen laughed as he pet the cub. Feeling the energy within the tiger cub, Jian Chen could sense that the tiger cub was now at the Class 3 level.
“Mrrrr…” The cub gave a mewling sound as it began to sniff at Jian Chen’s Space Ring with its nose.
Realizing what the tiger cub was doing, Jian Chen felt some shock. The tiger cub’s intelligence had grown by a large amount if it was able to use this way to find the heavenly resources.
“This cub truly deserves to be called a Heavenly Tiger God.” Jian Chen thought. Taking out some serpentine grass, core lotus flowers, and purple fruit, Jian Chen began to feed them one by one to the white tiger cub. After several heavenly resources were fed, the tiger cub immediately fell back into a meditative sleep.
Placing the sleeping tiger cub onto the bed, Jian Chen put the remaining heavenly resources back into his Space Ring with a worrying glance. “There’s not many heavenly resources left. I probably only have enough for it to reach the Class 4 level before I run out. I must go find some more sooner or later, or the cub’s strength will be stalled.” He muttered.
The night quickly passed, and on the second morning, Jian Chen took the tiger cub from his room with him to bid farewell to the Tianqin clan.
On the way through the flower garden, the sounds of a zither could be heard as the second lady of the Tianqin clan sat within the center of a pavilion with her instrument.
Hearing the emotional sounds of the zither, Jian Chen couldn’t help but think back to the Heavenly Enchantress he had met back in the holy lands of Mercenary City.
The Heavenly Enchantress had been magnificent and peerless under the heavens. Her beauty could capture the hearts of even the animals and shame the moon and flowers. The world would lose its splendor — even Jian Chen couldn’t help but sigh in admiration for this once-in-a-generation woman.
Jian Chen calmly walked to the pavilion where the second lady was. Upon looking at the zither on the stone desk, his eyes grew shocked.
When he saw the Heavenly Enchantress in the holy lands, he had been able to see the zither she had with her. This very zither the second lady of the Tianqin clan was using was the exact same one as the Heavenly Enchantress; this was far too unexpected.
Jian Chen hadn’t disturbed the second lady and instead stood very still. Soon enough, the ballad the second lady was playing on her zither finished, allowing her to turn around. “Lord Jian Chen, please sit.” There was a faint layer of muslin covering her face so that her appearance could not be seen.
Without further ado, Jian Chen walked to the seat right in front of the second lady and sat down.
The second lady’s slender fingers gently brushed the zither’s string with a slight melodic sound. Looking to Jian Chen, she spoke, “This woman knows that lord Jian Chen is not an enthusiast for the zither. So, what might the lord be doing standing behind this lady then?”
Smiling, Jian Chen spoke, “This one had noticed that the second lady’s zither and the zither of the Heavenly Enchantress are the same. I was merely curious and decided to take a closer look. If I disturbed you, then please forgive me.”
The second lady’s eyes revealrd a surprise light enter them, “Has lord Jian Chen met the Heavenly Enchantress?”
“I met her by chance in Mercenary City.” Jian Chen spoke.
Understanding straight away, the second lady of the Tianqin clan spoke, “The lord has overlooked a detail. This zither of mine is merely a counterfeit version of the Zither of the Demonic Cry. On the outside, the two look exactly the same, but there are many of these fakes.”
“So it’s like that, this one was too hasty in my observations.” Afterward, Jian Chen spoke several conversational words before finally saying goodbye. “Second lady, today this one will be leaving the Tianqin clan. I hope that we will see each other again in the future, goodbye!”
“Is the lord leaving that quickly?” Holding the zither in her hands, the second lady began to walk leisurely with Jian Chen in the manner that a well-brought up lady would act.
“This one has an important manner to take care of that cannot be delayed. Thus, I cannot stay for long.” Jian Chen replied.
After Jian Chen bade farewell to the second lady, Jian Chen left to find the leader of the Tianqin clan. Although the Tianqin clan leader wished for him to stay even longer, Jian Chen was determined to leave. Nothing would force him to stay any longer, so it was only with regret that the leader bade farewell to Jian Chen.
As soon as Jian Chen left the Tianqin clan, he went to buy a detailed map of the area at a nearby emporium. Finding the Dazhou Kingdom on it, he immediately set off for it. In all of this, he had inadvertently sent Tian Jue scrambling away from Walaurent City in vain.