Chapter 594: Hurrying Off to the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom
Tynes left for the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom straight away. With how precious the tungsten alloy was, he couldn’t possibly dare try and be negligent over a plethora of wealth like that. There were no Heaven Saint Masters safeguarding it, so Jian Chen felt some discomfort at this matter. He was afraid that the news would be leaked.
Pacing around the middle of his room with his hands clasped behind his back, Jian Chen’s mind raced with ideas about how to deal with the tungsten alloy vein. Unknowingly, the small tiger cub had leaped onto his shoulder and stared at him. Its originally bright eyes had already grown dim as if it was growing listless.
“It appears I must bring the Flame Mercenaries over to the territory of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom.” Jian Chen concluded.
After thinking to himself for another hour, Jian Chen left his room to call his mother for a meal before leaving the Changyang clan.
All sorts of dishes were placed in a beautiful arrangement on top of the table as Jian Chen, Changyang Ba, Bi Yuntian, and the other three wives of his father sat together and talked. The fact that Jian Chen was the captain of the Flame Mercenaries had already been revealed to his aunts, but it was still a very puzzling thing to think about how he was also the Imperial Protector of both the Qinhuang and Gesun Kingdom.
After a brief interrogation by his aunts, Jian Chen explained everything without losing his temper. There were no secrets in regards to the Flame Mercenaries to his mother after all.
“Xiang’er, you’ve done the right thing. If Kendall saved you, then you must fulfill the promise you gave for it to be a fair trade.” Changyang Ba approved.
“Xiang’er, in your times of travel outside, have you come across any news of your sister?” Bi Yuntian suddenly blurted out.
Jian Chen could only shake his head with regret. He sighed. “Aunty, your child has searched without end, but nothing of importance has come up.”
Yu Fengyan’s face became more sorrowful at his words, “Wretched girl, who knows what far away place she has run off to. Why hasn’t she even sent a letter back home? Even now, I have naught one letter from her and naught even a clue on where my Mingyue has gone… what if she...” Halfway through her words, Yu Fengyan could no longer stop herself from descending into a fit of sobs. Her own daughter had left the clan one day without warning or trace, causing her to feel extremely anxious and scared for the well-being of her daughter.
The table grew quiet after that. Each person seated there had a grim look on their face; every person at this table, besides Jian Chen, were either aunts or a parent to Changyang Mingyue, and had seen her grow since birth. So her disappearance had been extremely worrisome to them all. Jian Chen had disappeared once, but he had been of a different situation and had came back.
“Second aunt, please be at peace. Second sister has always been a lucky person; she won’t come across any trouble. Look at me, I left the Gesun Kingdom for several years by myself without anything harmful coming my way.” Jian Chen consoled her, but to no avail. Yu Fengyan and the others simply did not think that Changyang Mingyue had the same capabilities as Jian Chen.
A single woman traveling the continent by herself was a feat that was several times more dangerous than for a male. All sorts of unsavory mercenaries and bandits roamed the continent, it would not be uncommon for them to act upon their lust for women.
“Ai, our daughter has grown up with a rebellious nature. We are to blame for that. If we did not try to force her into an arranged marriage, she would not have left home.” Changyang Ba sighed bitterly with regret.
“Father, second aunt, please rest assured. I will definitely have my men scour the continent to find second sister.” Jian Chen resolutely pledged. When he was young, Changyang Mingyue had been very caring to him, and he had left the Changyang Manor with a very favorable impression of her. The disappearance of Changyang Mingyue had left him feeling very melancholic
“Forget it. There’s no point in talking about this matter for now. We’ve gone over it more than enough with nothing to show for our efforts.” Changyang Ba sighed before turning to Jian Chen, “Xiang’er, your father still has something that I hope you’ll agree to.”
“You and your third aunt, Ling Long, have harbored some ill will with one another, that I know. Your third aunt has a small level of tolerance for matters like these due to experiences she has had in the past. Her making life difficult for you was a result of these experiences, but even now, she and your third brother have felt remorse for their actions. They have not been eating with the rest of the family because of their guilt. So, your father wishes that you will understand and forgive your third aunt.” Changyang Ba spoke. There was a slight pleading tone to his words. A sound that was exceedingly rare, especially to a child as the head of a family.
Jian Chen was more than willing to agree to his father’s request. He did not feel completely disgusted by the actions of his third aunt. They were by rights family, and Jian Chen was disinclined to ruin a perfectly warm and receiving household with an opinion he didn’t hold.
The fact that he was willing to let bygones be bygones pleased Jian Chen’s father to no end.
Afterward, Jian Chen took out a small portion of the hundred grass wine given to him by the Ape King. Pouring the cups evenly, he distributed them all to the people around the table. As soon as each person took a sip, they could feel their inner strength explode with newfound power. Just three months ago, Changyang Ba had managed to become a Second Cycle Earth Saint Master. He now stepped into the Third Cycle with the assistance of the wine!
Baiyu Shuang and Ling Long both felt themselves jumping to the Advanced Saint Master level, and even Bi Yuntian, who had never materialized her Saint Weapon, felt the benefits come flowing in her. She had been a Third Class Radiant Saint Master before, but a single sip was more than enough to eclipse all of her hard work before to propel her into the Fourth Class.
Chang Wuji had been invited to take a sip as well. For a Heaven Saint Master like him, a sip of the hundred grass wine was only enough to increase his inner Saint Force by a small increment. The small increase had not been enough to reach a breakthrough like Khafir, the headmaster of Kargath Academy, had.
With the wine drunk and the food eaten, Jian Chen followed his parents back to visit his eldest brother, Changyang Hu. Changyang Hu was confined to the bed without even the most basic of motor abilities since he had lost his limbs. He couldn't eat or change his clothes without help. A life that was robbed of any freedom of movement was a life that words could hardly begin to describe the cruelty of.
The sight of his own older brother in such a wretched state caused Jian Chen’s heart to ache. He wanted nothing more than to find a way to become a Seventh Class Radiant Saint Master, so he could find some sort method to restore the decapitated limbs of Changyang Hu.
On the morning of the second day, Jian Chen visited Lore city to find Sans and Kendall’s wife. The mother and son had been able to open a rather big inn on one of the more flourishing streets because of the staunch support of the Changyang clan. Business was booming and the patrons flowed in and out like an endless stream of water. With the name of the Changyang clan waved over them, their inn had soon enough become one of the safest inns in the city. No incidents ever took place within their building, meaning that mercenaries and merchants alike could gather here in peace.
Farewells were given to the two before Jian Chen flew out of Lore City. He was back in the air headed toward the desolate lands where the Flame Mercenaries were. Once there, Jian Chen called for an impromptu meeting with the men.
“Jian Chen, what is the matter for you to rush us like this?” As soon as they were gathered within the tent, Ming Dong immediately found his voice to speak up.
Seated at his own chair up front, Jian Chen looked at the group with people with a grim expression. “Pass on my orders. We will pack up camp and head straight for the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom without rest.”
The entire group was stunned by this order, and it was You Yue who asked a question first, “Even through the night? Jian Chen, what is the matter?”
“Yes, even through the night.” Jian Chen nodded his head. “Go and spread the news to everyone. I will be leaving first.”
“Jian Chen, why has the situation become all frantic-like? Has some sort of accident come up or something?” Ming Dong cried out.
“Allow me to keep this a secret for now. I’ll tell you about it when we arrive at our destination. Disperse and make the preparations. I’ll be leaving first.” As soon as he finished speaking, Jian Chen exited the tent and flew off toward the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom with haste.
Two days later, Jian Chen arrived within the territory of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom. Hurrying to recall a mental map of the seven partitioned territories, Jian Chen then flew off to the Bloodmoon Mercenaries land.
As the dominating power in one of the seven areas, the location of the Bloodmoon Mercenaries was found relatively quickly once Jian Chen asked around. Jian Chen had made the rest of the trip in no time at all.
The headquarters of the Bloodmoon Mercenaries was situated within a revised castle. It did not hide the flying figure of Jian Chen from anyone’s sight. With the fact that Jian Chen had not bothered to make his traveling discreet, the captain of the Bloodmoon Mercenaries was quickly notified of his arrival. He swiftly moved to welcome him, “A thousand welcomes for the Imperial Protector!”
“What is the current situation? Has news of the tungsten alloy remained a secret?” Jian Chen whispered.
“Here is my report. Everything has been taken care of, and the secret has remained a secret. Aside from a few reliable brothers-in-arms, not a single outsider knows of it. Even the men of the other six factions remain unaware of this secret.” Tynes spoke.
Nodding his head in satisfaction, Jian Chen replied, “Good, you’ve done well. For your services today, I will reward you nicely in time.”
“For the honor of the Qinhuang Kingdom and the Imperial Protector, it is the honor of mine to serve.” Tynes solemnly replied.
Jian Chen laughed, “Well, where is the location of the mine? Take me there.”
“Yes!”