Chapter 156: Fearsome Reputation and Profit

“Why did this elder have this piece of fur on him, just who was he?” Jian Chen held the piece of fur in his hand as he contemplated this question.

“Perhaps he gained this piece of fur by coincidence. However, just what secret is this piece of fur hiding?” Jian Chen muttered under his breath. He had accidentally found this piece of fur from the elder and thus had been tempted by this strange and curious new find.

“Could this be a type of treasure map with some sort of amazing martial arts written on it?” Jian Chen pondered. Based on his previous experience from his past life, he quickly conjured up a few speculations. However, this piece of fur didn’t have a single trace of impurity to it. There were absolutely no connections to be drawn to it; it appeared to be unrelated to a treasure map or any sort of unique martial art.

Many times in the past did Jian Chen take out the piece of fur to study it. Under his eyes and hands, the fur was strong and flexible, and no matter how much strength he used, not a single strand of fur could be pulled from it. It wasn’t like a normal piece of fur, so if there was a secret hidden within the fur, Jian Chen was utterly clueless.

“Forget it, it’s best to forget about this for now. There’ll be another time in the future for me to find out the secrets of this mysterious piece of fur.” Pushing his curiousity away, Jian Chen placed the piece of fur back into the red pouch along with the piece from the elder back into his Space Ring. The Space Ring was then placed back into his Space Belt as well. Since Jian Chen wasn’t able to figure out the mystery behind the pieces of fur, he didn’t want to expend any additional mental energy to stay in such a place to find out more about it.

Soon after the elder’s Space Belt was rummaged through once more. Finally, with one last look, Jian Chen didn’t find any other valuable treasure, so he tossed it aside. Dusting his hands, Jian Chen left the area without another look back.

…….

After another few days, Jian Chen continued to find and capture any mercenary group that came across him. The amount of monster cores on him could be said to number up to a high amount, and whenever he saw a group of mercenaries he found interesting, he would let them go. For those who weren’t pleasing to talk to, he would kill them. In those few days, the amount of mercenaries killed by Jian Chen couldn’t be counted, and the amount of bodies that littered the Magical Beast Mountain Range was enormous. The scent of blood and death wafted throughout the mountain range, almost as if the scent of blood covered the entire area like an ocean.

It went without saying that many people were tempted by the ten thousand purple coin reward by the Tianxiong clan. This time, there were many Saint Master experts within the mountain range along with a few strong Great Saint Masters. Excluding the dagger wielding elder Jian Chen had first met, there were another 4 Great Saint Masters that he had come across. There were even 2 Great Saint Masters that had come across Jian Chen along with 30 Great Saints and Saint Master experts.

That particular battle was extremely fierce. In the end, Jian Chen had expended a herculean amount of strength in order to kill those 2 Great Saint Masters, and many of the other Great Saints and Saint Masters were killed off by Jian Chen. Jian Chen paid for the battle by having various wounds inflicted onto his body, and when a good amount of mercenaries had fled from him, Jian Chen was powerless to chase after them.

Since Jian Chen could use the light Saint Force in the same way a Radiant Saint Master could. He wasn’t afraid of any injury, and so the numerous injuries on his body were healed without a single trace in less than two hours.

Although the battle was extremely fierce, Jian Chen had gained an equally abundant reward. The two Great Saint Masters had a total of a hundred monster cores. There were very few Class 2 Monster Cores and a very large amount of Class 3 Monster Cores. There had even been two Class 4 Monster Cores stashed within.

Although the amount of monster cores he had collected from the two Great Saint Masters was a large quantity, the Great Saint and Saint Master mercenaries accompanying the two only had a total of 30 monster cores. They must have belonged to the same mercenary group and given the majority of their monster cores to the 2 Great Saint Masters.

Another Great Saint Masters he encountered didn’t have any Class 4 Monster Cores, but he did have a decent amount of Class 3 Monster Cores. In comparison to the first encounter, there was only twenty Class 3 Monster Cores and thirty Class 2 Monster Cores. The last Great Saint Master he met was extremely wretched. Jian Chen had only been able to collect five Class 3 Monster Cores and a single Class 2 Monster Core. Although he was a Great Saint Master, he might as well be considered an experienced Saint Master.

Now after Jian Chen’s breakthrough to the Saint Master level, his fighting ability had been enhanced. Against a Great Saint Master expert, he already had the capabilities to kill them; as long as he didn’t come across a Peak Great Saint Master or one with an attributed Saint Force, Jian Chen wouldn’t need to fear the consequences of fighting against one. After these few days of killing mercenaries, aside from the two Great Saint Masters who had inflicted many injuries on him, Jian Chen hadn’t been too heavily injured against anyone else.

After this indiscriminate massacre, Jian Chen’s fearful name had spread far and wide to even beyond the mountain range where many mercenaries had started to spread the news even farther away. By this point, Wake City wasn’t the only area that had knowledge of Jian Chen, even the surrounding cities knew of Jian Chen’s terrifying name.

Hearing the rumors flying about, many mercenaries still traveled from afar to the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Many mercenaries that wanted to capture Jian Chen gradually renounced their efforts. Every day many cowardly mercenaries could be seen retreating from the mountain range and abandoning the hunt.

Despite having many mercenaries retreat from the mountain range, there were still many stronger mercenary groups that stayed within the area. After the weaker mercenaries left, there weren’t many people left in comparison to when the hunt had begun, but all of the remaining members were of the Saint Master level at the very least.

After a large amount of mercenaries had left the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the area had become peaceful once more compared to the chaotic atmosphere when everyone had wanted to capture Jian Chen. Even the mercenaries that were originally there to hunt and kill magical beasts for their monster cores were driven out from the area to avoid any trouble.

Now that there were even less people than before, Jian Chen took the initiative instead of staying passive to find the remaining mercenaries. Regarding those mercenaries he found, he still used the same philosophy he always had. If they were to hand over their monster cores, then he would let them go without any harm without exception, but for those too stubborn to listen and still wanted to capture him, Jian Chen would kill them without exception.

Within the cloudless sky, the fierce sun loomed overhead with its brilliant rays of light stabbing into the earth below almost as if it were putting a golden colored carpet over it. Because of the recent summer weather, the sun had been unbearably hot.

In the lush forests of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, it was almost like an isolated piece of the world. There were trees in every direction of the forest that blotted out the sun and its light. Every so often, the tree leaves would sway in the wind along with the tall grass underneath.

While the outside area was hot, the forest within the Magical Beast Mountain Range was rather cool.

Somewhere within the mountain range, 10 mercenaries sat in a circle with a bonfire in the center. Spiked on top of the fire were a few pieces of magical beast meat that slowly caramelized and dripped their juices into the fire below with the occasional sizzling sound.

Although these 10 mercenaries were sitting down, their height and stature weren’t hidden at all. Each one of them wore a thin layer of animal leather that had a few scratches from the thorns and thistles of the forest.

“Captain, there’s been many mercenaries that have left the mountain range with not many people left. At the same time, Jian Chen’s strength has far surpassed our expectations; just a few days ago I heard that a few Great Saint Masters died by his hands as well. I think it would be for the best that we give up on this mission.” One of the mercenaries said.