Chapter 417: Leaving for the East

Shrouding himself with the wind element, Jian Chen transformed into a bright ray of azure light headed in the direction of the commander of the Hidden Dragon Kingdom.

Upon seeing Jian Chen fly over, the generals of the army instantly paled as one of them shouted out, “c.r.a.p, he’s heading for the commander!”

“Protect the commander!”

“Run away, commander!”

As several generals cried out in warning, a man in armor, who looked around sixty years old, began to run away with several other men protecting him.

The surrounding army began to remember just where they were. Despite five Heaven Saint Masters being killed and their morale taking a hit, they were still invigorated enough to fight and protect the commander’s retreat.

Seeing the hurried reactions of the enemy army, Jian Chen could only snort in contempt. Those generals were only Earth Saint Masters in strength, there was just no way for them to be able to protect the commander of the army like that.

In an instant he drew far too close. With his finger, the Sword Qi began to jut out before instantly killing all of the Earth Saint Masters around. Without remorse, Jian Chen took advantage of the chaos to grab the shoulder of the commander and bring him back to the city that housed the Gesun Kingdom soldiers right in front of everyone’s surprised eyes.

Although there were plenty of Earth Saint Master generals, they were no match for a Heaven Saint Master. They could only watch as their commander was carried away with a vehement glare.

When Jian Chen dropped the commander onto the city walls, the soldiers of the Gesun Kingdom all let out a victorious war cry. Many of them had begun to cry with tears.

The difference between the two armies in terms of numbers and amount of experts had been far too wide. Thus, the Gesun Kingdom soldiers felt pressured by the Hidden Dragon Kingdom and could only rely on the terrain for support. At first, everyone had thought that the Gesun Kingdom would lose, causing many soldiers to fall into despair.

What no one could have imagined was the fact that in such a short amount of time, the tides would turn almost instantaneously. The five Heaven Saint Masters of the Hidden Dragon Kingdom had been killed and the commander of the army had been captured. This was a joy that every soldier from the Gesun Kingdom couldn’t contain.

As for the soldiers of the Hidden Dragon Kingdom, they had fallen into disarray and became unmotivated. The Heaven Saint Masters were unbelievably strong experts and were their moral support. With those moral supports gone, they were no longer ferocious and unafraid of death. Even their generals had been stupefied and shocked. The death of those five Heaven Saint Masters was an undeniably tremendous blow for their kingdom. Combined with the fact that their commander was gone, this situation had gone from a simple snowstorm to a snowstorm with a hailstorm on top of it.

On top of the damaged city walls, many of the high ranking military officers began to congratulate Jian Chen with loud and happy voices. Although Jian Chen looked around twenty years old, not a single one of them thought he was actually that young and believed that he was actually several hundred years old.

Despite being captured by Jian Chen, the commander of the Hidden Dragon Kingdom was in no way afraid. Staring angrily at Jian Chen, he spoke, “Imperial Protector? Just which kingdom are you an Imperial Protector for? Since you stuck your nose into the affairs of our four combined kingdoms, are you not afraid that we would crush your affiliated kingdom?” The death of their five Heaven Saint Masters was too heavy of a blow for the Hidden Dragon Kingdom, thus the commander felt an inextinguishable hatred for Jian Chen.

At this remark, everyone from the Gesun Kingdom could only jeer in laughter at the commander. Compared to the Qinhuang Kingdom which was one of the Eight Great Powers, the four allied kingdoms were nothing more than a piece of tofu that wouldn’t even last for a single hit.

“Careful there commander. Speak to the honored Imperial Protector with your most respectful voice, otherwise, you risk the wrath of the Qinhuang Kingdom upon your kingdom.” A general laughed.

Hearing this, the commander of the Hidden Dragon Kingdom instantly blanched in fear. “Qinhuang Kingdom? Don’t tell me you are speaking of one of the Eight Great Powers, that Qinhuang Kingdom?”

“Correct!” The general spoke mockingly and proudly. To be able to have the Qinhuang Kingdom’s support was something that the Gesun Kingdom could say was a good thing.

The commander sneered unconvinced. “Don’t think that you can scare me. I know all about your Gesun Kingdom. Just how would it be possible for your Gesun Kingdom to attract the friends.h.i.+p of such a powerful kingdom like the Qinhuang Kingdom? Hmph, to naively think that I would be frightened by such an obvious lie. Do you take I, Xi Yunfei, to be a three year old child?”

Furious, the general of the Gesun Kingdom immediately bowed to Jian Chen, “The enemy army’s strongest have all been killed, just what should we do next, sire?”

The other generals didn’t dare dilly dally behind and a.s.sumed respectful bows toward Jian Chen.

Handing over the commander of the Hidden Dragon Kingdom to the generals, Jian Chen turned to Dongyi Junbai and Cao Keqin. “You two hurry up and rest then head over to the southern stronghold.”

“Right away!” Dongyi Junbai and Cao Keqin instantly replied. Their opinions of Jian Chen had changed drastically to the point of reverence.

Whatever happened next was beneath Jian Chen’s concerns. He had done what needed to be done, the rest would have to be taken care of by the Gesun Kingdom’s generals.

Returning to his inn to rest up for now, he blocked up the door so that none of the officers or chiefs that were trying to get to know him could get in.

That same night, the city walls rang with noise as the generals continued to use words to intimidate the Hidden Dragon Kingdom’s army and called out for their retreat. The highest ranking officer of the Hidden Dragon Kingdom had already been captured by the Gesun Kingdom, irritating many soldiers of the enemy side.

The death of their five Heaven Saint Masters and the capture of their commander was something that caused the morale of the Hidden Dragon Kingdom soldiers to hit rock bottom. Their fighting strength waned off which forced the generals to discuss their plan of action. They delibersted for a moment before finally signalling a full retreat. They knew that since they had no more Heaven Saint Masters, in the case that the Gesun Kingdom were to use their Heaven Saint Masters to fight the army, there would be no one to stop them. In the end, all they would be doing is marching to their deaths.

Jian Chen’s arrival blunted the danger that the Gesun Kingdom was facing for the time being. This feat caused many of the generals to feel complete respect. They had wanted to toast him, but he had declined.

With the danger gone temporarily, the Gesun Kingdom soldiers began to nurse their wounds for the time being. Many artisans and blacksmiths continued to repair the damage around the walls so that they could protect themselves from the next invasion.

By the afternoon of the second day, Cao Keqin and Dongyi Junbai had been fully healed by the ten Heaven Saint Masters looking after them. With their wounds fully healed, they immediately followed Jian Chen’s command to fly to the southern stronghold.

It was remarkably calm afterward. Jian Chen stayed for another two days so that the wounds of Tian Xing would be fully healed before he left to the eastern stronghold. The Hidden Dragon Kingdom had nine Heaven Saint Masters. Four of them had been killed at the northern stronghold and another five over at this stronghold; this meant that the Hidden Dragon Kingdom had no more Heaven Saint Masters to spare. With Tian Xing as the sole remaining Heaven Saint Master, there was no threat to the Gesun Kingdom at this moment.

The distance between the eastern and western strongholds was extremely vast and was basically the entire length of the Gesun Kingdom itself. With so many kilometers in between, it would take Jian Chen six to eight hours before he would arrive at his destination.

The eastern stronghold had been attacked by the Blue Wind Kingdom. Chasing after the stragglers of the Gesun Kingdom, the Blue Wind Kingdom had encroached deeply within the Gesun Kingdom’s territory.

After flying for four hours, Jian Chen stopped about 3000 kilometers away from the eastern stronghold. That was because not too far away from him at a giant city, a dozen Heaven Saint Masters were currently fighting intensely with a sound that shook the heavens itself.

Jian Chen’s eyes continued to stare deeply at the fighters so that he could make the combatants. In the next moment, his eyes narrowed in coldness.

In total, there were fifteen men fighting. It was eleven people against four. Among the four, Jian Chen recognized two of them: Khafir of Kargath Academy and Xiao Han the Imperial Advisor. The other two he didn’t know, but they had to be from the Gesun Kingdom. The difference between the two sides was ma.s.sive. Three of the Gesun Kingdom fighters were heavily injured and b.l.o.o.d.y, leaving Xiao Han to fight with five people by himself. Thus, his injures were the most severe out of the four of them. A single hole could be seen in his chest with blood flowing freely from it.

At this sight, Jian Chen’s eyes frosted over as killing intent began to radiate from his body before he flew toward the fight. At the same time, several stones began to levitate from the dozen people fighting. Glowing brightly with azure and violet light, they flew at the eleven Heaven Saint Masters and gave the remaining four men less pressure to deal with.

“Imperial Protector!” Xiao Han cried out with relief.