Chapter 908: Bi Jian’s Calculations

At the same time, in a concealed basement that was several hundred meters under the Huanggu clan, hidden in an ancient forest. Several fist-sized luminous pearls were lodged in the roof of the basement, which added some light to the dark room as they shone hazily.

Currently, a girl in yellow robes sat on the ground as she cultivated. She was a beautiful, possessing a face of devastating beauty. She currently sat in the center of the room like a sculpture as powerful and pure strands of water-attributed energy radiated from her body. It caused the entire room to be permeated with a hazy mist and tiny water droplets had condensed on the surrounding walls.

She was Huang Luan. She had been taken here as the disciple-in-name of the ancestor of the Huanggu clan quite some time ago, devoting her efforts to cultivation in this room ever since she had arrived.

At this very moment, the door of the room slowly opened. A simply-dressed old man walked in. His appearance was ordinary but his eyes shone with vigor. His gaze toward Huang Luan hid a sliver of greed and coveting in its very depths.

Huang Luan slowly opened her eyes, looking with spirited eyes toward the old man that had walked in from outside. She slowly stood up, before clasping her hands at the old man. “Master!”

This old man was the ancestor of the Huanggu clan. He stared at her with a smile and said gently, “Disciple, how has your cultivation been proceeding?”

“I thank master for his concern. This Scripture of the Aqua Sunflower suits this disciple very much. In just such a short period of cultivation, my strength has increased greatly. However, since disciple’s Saint Force is water-attributed, disciple’s speed of cultivation should increase drastically if disciple cultivates in a place where water-attributed energy of the world is rich. I hope master can let disciple go out to find a perfect place for cultivation,” said Huang Luan. Her voice was filled with spirit, like the call of a lark. It was extremely pleasant.

The ancestor smiled and said, “Disciple, you need to remember that everything must proceed with at a gradual pace. Your speed of cultivation is already extremely fast, so you must not continue with undue haste. Otherwise, it might destroy your foundations. You should stay here to cultivate in this period of time, to prevent the outside world from disturbing you.”

“Master…” Huang Luan wanted to say something but she was cut off as soon as she opened her mouth.

“Alright, disciple, I won’t disturb you any further. Cultivate well. I hope you can reach Saint Ruler at an earlier time.” With that, the ancestor left.

The doors to the basement closed up once again, leaving Huang Luan to stand alone in the center of the dark room. Suddenly, a book appeared in her hand. She casually flipped through it and murmured, “Why doesn’t master give me the entirety of the Scripture of the Aqua Sunflower? He’s only given me a small part of the very start.” Huang Luan looked around at the surroundings and a light flickered in her eyes. She could acutely sense that the surroundings had been enveloped by a barrier. The barrier was completely submerged into the soil, so it could not be seen at all. If she wanted to break it, she would need to break through the layer of soil first.

“This barrier was cast down by master to protect this room from any external disturbances. But…” Huang Luan pondered in her heart. She seemed rather confused.

However, she dismissed these notions very quickly. She sat down in the room again and thought, “I’m currently a Fifth Cycle Earth Saint Master. I should reach the Sixth Cycle soon with this current speed, before reaching Heaven Saint Master. I need to cultivate hard in the upcoming period of time and reach Saint Ruler quickly. Only then can I help Jian Chen.”

With a thought, her face darkened. Jian Chen’s resolute, handsome face flashed through her head as she began to yearn for him deeply. “Jian Chen, the entire continent is searching for you right now. Where are you? It must be very tough these days.”

…

A hundred thousand kilometers away from the Gesun Kingdom, several tens of thousands of people busied themselves with building the city at the base of the Flame Mercenaries. After these years of construction, the city that was completely made of tungsten alloy for the mercenaries was already three quarters complete. The city walls were already over seventy meters in height. Although the city was incomplete, it already possessed a mighty presence.

The current mercenaries were extremely influential. They had become the most powerful organization in a radius of several hundred thousand kilometers. Even the hermit clans did not dare to provoke them over small matters as they had two Saint Rulers guarding them. With their connection to the Changyang clan, it even made ancient clans fear them.

Currently, the mercenaries had already grown to over three hundred thousand people in number. Although they could not be compared to the army of any small kingdom, they were undoubtedly the strongest. Every single member of the mercenaries possessed quite some strength and any one of them completely exceeded any soldier of those kingdoms. The number of Earth Saint Masters they now possessed reached the hundreds, with forty-odd Heaven Saint Rulers. They were the supreme rulers of the region.

You Yue and Bi Lian currently conversed in boredom in the palace that had already been repaired.

The Flame Mercenaries had embarked on the right path with constant hard work over these years. In the recent period, the two of them had already delegated many matters to people below, only dealing with a few large, troublesome things when they appeared. As a result, their lives were now extremely relaxing, no longer as tiresome as before.

“I wonder where brother is right now and when I’ll be able to see him,” said Bi Lian with a sigh as she sat at the table. A sliver of reminiscence appeared on her face.

You Yue also revealed a vague sliver of distress and loneliness when she heard that, she also sighed. “I hope he can return safely. I will always wait here for him and help him manage the foundation of the mercenaries he had laid down. The Flame Mercenaries is his. He was once here.”

“Sister You Yue, when brother sees how grand the mercenaries has become now, he’ll definitely be ecstatic. For the captain of the mercenaries, you’ve done too much, too, too much,” Bi Lian said sweetly.

You Yue revealed a sweet smile and said nothing. However, as she stared at the hazy sky outside, there was a sliver of sorrow hidden in the very depths of her eyes.

“I was rejected by you not just once with similar reasons. Now, I finally can understand your pains. Before, you seemed to be so glorious, yet you endured such great pressures secretly. I wonder whether you’ll marry me after you return and deal with everything…”

“I know that this marriage was set down by father all those years ago. Maybe I’ve never even formed an impression in your heart. I might just seem more like an ordinary friend to you but you know, Jian Chen, your figure has already appeared in my heart. I can’t cast it away no matter what…”

Several kilometers away from Flame City, over ten middle-aged men on Class 5 Magical Beasts stood in a straight line. They gazed at the city from afar on a mountain.

“The Flame Mercenaries sure are extravagant to build a city completely out of tungsten alloy. Just the city itself is an invaluable treasure of the continent,” said a blue-robed, burly, middle-aged man with a sigh.

“If another organization obtained this much tungsten alloy, they’d probably struggle to hide it. Only the Flame Mercenaries dare to act so fearlessly, boldly using it to build a city.” A middle-aged man with flame-red hair also sighed. His eyes were filled with envy.

The middle-aged man who seemed to be in his twenties smiled weirdly and said, “Everyone, the reason why I have called you all here over such long distances is not going to be as simple as just viewing Flame City.”

The middle-aged men beside him all looked at each other when they heard that. Afterward, one of them clasped his hands at the young man and asked politely, “Perhaps prince Bi Jian has other intentions for calling us over?”

“Indeed, I do have other intentions. I wonder if everyone has ever thought about taking the city made completely out of tungsten alloy?” A cold smile formed on Bi Jian’s face.

The expressions of the men all changed abruptly when they heard that. Someone said immediately, “Prince Bi Jian, don’t you know about the Flame Mercenary’s backing? Our mercenary group may not be weak but even if we’re a hundred times bolder, we would never have ill intentions toward the Flame Mercenaries.”

“Yeah, prince Bi Jian. Even if we ignore the fact that the mercenaries are supported by the Changyang clan of the ten protector clans, I’ve also heard that they have quite the relationship with the esteemed grand elder of Mercenary City. Even if we have tremendous courage, we would never try to do anything against them. That’s just looking for death,” added someone immediately. His eyes were filled with fear.

A sneer formed on Bi Jian’s face. “What’re you worrying for? Since I’ve called you all over to discuss this, I’ll obviously deal with these possible fears for you.”

“Yep, the Changyang clan of the ten protector clans is indeed powerful but the reason for the protector clans’ existence is to protect the Tian Yuan Continent. They have an agreement to never interfere with anything regarding the continent unless it’s directly connected to the continent’s safety. I can guarantee you that if people from the Changyang clan interfere with you when you fight for the city, the nine other protector clans won’t just sit around and watch. Hmph, now with the matter of the Winged Tiger God, there should be quite the disagreement between the Changyang clan and the other protector clans.”

“As for Mercenary City, there’s no need for you to worry at all. The reason for Mercenary City’s existence is almost the same as the protector clans. Although the grand elder of Mercenary City possesses the greatest power and status, everything he does is equivalent to what Mercenary City does. If he dares to interfere with what goes down with Flame City, just the disagreement of the other elders is enough to restrict his actions even if we ignore whether the protector clans will agree or not.”

“Bi Jian, are you really sure that the other protector clans will stop them from interfering?” asked a middle-aged man worriedly.

Bi Jian laughed confidently. “Don’t worry. My father has a deep bond with a great elder of the Yiyuan sect of the ten protector clans. Through this relationship, I’ve already secretly formed an agreement with the other protector clans. The Changyang clan is too strong now. Not only do they have three geniuses, they’ve even formed a connection with the Pure Heart Pavilion and the Arctic Ice God Hall. It has technically already broken the balance between the ten protector clans. The other clans will definitely not just watch this through.”