Chapter 288
Chapter 288: Arriving at Mercenary City
The Space Gate was open for use, but it was not free of charge. Every single person had to hand over a few Class 5 Monster Coress. While the numbers varied, the average person only handed over a single Class 5 Monster Core in the end.
This type of entry price would have made the Xia clan and the Tianhua Sect in the Blue Wind Kingdom find it hard to pay, but this was where multiple experts of various kingdoms gathered, accompanied by Heaven Saint Masters. A few Class 5 Monster Cores wasn’t something they would see as expensive.
The Tianqin clan had forty men in attendance, but over half of them were only bodyguards for the trip. So in truth, there were only ten or so men actually going to Mercenary City.
The Grand Elder led the group to the Space Gate and swept a glance at the men behind him, before passing several Class 5 Monster Cores to the Heaven Saint Master standing watch, “There are nine men total here, and we have nine monster cores as well.”
The Heaven Saint Master from the Dazhou Kingdom took the monster cores with a smile, “You may enter, I hope that you will have a satisfactory competition.”
The Grand Elder spoke a few more polite words with the Heaven Saint Master before walking through the Space Gate. With a single step, he was able to cross thousands of miles to the other side of the Tian Yuan Continent.
Afterwards, Jian Chen and Ming Dong followed behind Qin Xiao in succession through the Space Gate.
Aside from the Grand Elder, Tian Zhou and his three mercenary friends, Ming Dong, Jian Chen and Qin Xiao, there was one other cold looking middle-aged man. He wore a black robe, and had a face that seemed as if it had never once smiled before. Both of his eyes were exceptionally cold as they flashed with a dangerous gleam.
“Jian Chen, that man is called Qin Jue. However, he is not a direct descendant of the Tianqin clan, he was an abandoned infant from the outside world picked up by my father. On the outside, he is cold and detached, but because he was raised by the Tianqin clan, his heart is loyal to us. Furthermore, because of his talent at cultivation and strength, as well as his hard work, he became an Earth Saint Master three years ago.” Qin Xiao spoke to Jian Chen in a low voice, a look of extreme admiration on his face
With that, the Tianqin clan crossed through the Space Gate. The moment Jian Chen stepped across, he could feel nothing but an invisible, protective layer of energy cover him before reaching the other side.
He appeared in a dense forest, where hundreds of people had already gathered up. They had passed through the Space Gate to first.
“I didn’t think that this world would have something as mysterious as the Space Gate. Just what kind of amazing methods did the exceptional expert who created this Space Gate use?” Jian Chen sighed in admiration. He greatly desired to reach such a goal, and looked forward to the day he’d reach such a level as well.
“Let’s go, Mercenary City is right in front of us.” After waiting for everyone to arrive, the Grand Elder led the group out of the forest. Since magical beasts weren’t allowed to enter the Space Gate, everyone could only walk. Despite that fact, the traveling pace was quite fast.
The forest wasn’t very large. When they walked out of it, they entered a plain, where there were quite a few men like Jian Chen’s group that were walking towards Mercenary City. From time to time, a few other groups riding magical beasts would pass by, sending dust flying into the air. There were some others flitting across the sky on some flying-type magical beasts as well.
Everything was the same as when Jian Chen’s group had first left the Tianqin clan. The only difference in their journey now was that they were walking rather than flying.
On the road, Tian Zhou continued to stare coldly at Jian Chen’s back. If it were not for his worry about the Grand Elder, then Tian Zhou would have most likely struck out at him.
Seeing how Jian Chen had been ignoring him as if he hadn’t noticed Tian Zhou’s existence, Tian Zhou was angry enough to visibly gnash his teeth. His heart truly wished for Jian Chen to say something contradictory, that way, Tian Zhou would be able to teach him a lesson.
Four hours later, the Grand Elder finally led the entire group to Mercenary City. Mercenary City was an enormous city that was spread over an extremely vast piece of ground. The only difference between Mercenary City and the other cities was that there was no walls here at all; one could enter the city from any direction. Instead, there was a giant golden barrier that glowed faintly around the city, protecting Mercenary City within.
“I want everyone to remember that no matter what, do not start a fight within Mercenary City or you’ll risk a severe punishment. There are many powers in the city that we cannot afford to offend; so you would do well to remember this one rule.” The Grand Elder spoke sternly to the group he was leading.
“Yes, Grand Elder!” The men all cried out respectfully.
With that, everyone began to walk into Mercenary City. Although there were no walls, the interior of the city wasn’t all that much different from any other city, with various shops and taverns crammed together all over the city.
The Gathering of the Mercenaries would start after another half month, so the Tianqin clan had set up a temporary place of residency in a tavern. The next day, Qin Xiao, Jian Chen, and Ming Dong all left to take a stroll around the city.
The Grand Elder had disappeared by the second day, just like he had when they were back in the imperial palace of the Dazhou Kingdom. No one knew where he went, but he hadn’t restricted anyone from going anywhere.
The next few days were rather calm, but more and more people began to flow into Mercenary City. Every single inn was completely filled with men, and there were even many tents set up outside the city.
In a flash, half a month had gone by. Early that morning, the Grand Elder finally appeared in front of the Tianqin clan once more, and led the group to the center of Mercenary City.
“Ming Dong, take the next few days to rest and be careful.” Jian Chen called out to Ming Dong as he left.
Ming Dong nodded his head before clapping him on the shoulders, “I understand, make sure you come back safely. I’ll be waiting for you.”
The Grand Elder turned to look at Ming Dong, “Mercenary City is an extremely safe city. You will never find a city safer than this one. Just remember, do not start a fight within Mercenary City no matter what, or else no one will be able to save you.”
“I thank the elder for the warning.” Ming Dong cupped his hands together respectfully.
The group quickly arrived at the center of Mercenary City. It was an extremely large plaza, but it had already been filled to many people to count. Jian Chen could only guess there to be at least a hundred thousand. In the middle, there was a fifty meter tall tower with a single, vivid and life-like sculpture of a middle-aged man. There was a mysterious charm to it that made it seem as if a real person had been petrified. Its finger pointed toward the distant horizon, as if trying to penetrate the heavens.
The entire area around the sculpture quite a few elders, as well as some middle-aged men with extraordinary presence, looking at the sculpture with both great respect and a hint of fear.
“Could it be that this sculpture is of Mercenary City’s founder? I’ve heard that the founder was a person of unbelievable strength and has even be said to be a paragon under the heavens. It was said that nobody was able to rival him. Unfortunately he has gone missing for many years…”
“According to the ancient records, when the age of chaos descended upon the Tian Yuan Continent, humanity was on the brink of extinction after being faced off against hundreds of races. But when humanity was at the end of their road, a genius with enough power to shock the world appeared to fight against the experts of each of those races. In the end, the enemies of humanity were chased away and thus the humans of the continent were saved. This savior then established Mercenary City and spurred the development of mercenaries within the continent…”
“The ancient records also said that the founder of Mercenary City was called Mo Yuntian. He was said to be the strongest person to ever exist. There are no later records of him; he probably left this world for another.”
“By now, it’s been a hundred thousand years since Mo Yuntian’s era, but no one is capable of living that long. It is a shame that this once-in-a-millennium talent was unable to break away from the predestined end…”
One could see the elders discussing this from anywhere in the plaza. Every one of the elders looked toward the sculpture with reverence, and even the Grand Elder was no exception.