Chapter 340: The Holy Land

The spectating Qin Ji had a strange look of puzzlement on his face as he observed the two men, “Just what are they doing? It seems Zhar is being assaulted by attacks in an endless stream, but I don’t see where they’re coming from. Also the sword from Jian Chen’s hand is missing; Jian Chen is quite definitely a strange one, someone far more mysterious than I had initially thought.” Even Qin Ji was incapable of spotting the Light Wind Sword since the speed it was traveling at was beyond what he could detect with his naked eye, meaning that he could only see the sparks flying off Zhar’s armor without know just how Jian Chen was involved.

On the other side, Ming Dong looked on with some relief at the sight of Zhar being showered with sparks. With a small smile, he muttered, “It is no wonder that he is a brother of mine; he is quite special. It seems that in this case, it won’t be much longer until Zhar loses. To think I was worrying over this fight for nothing!”

“Oh! Little brother seems to have hidden such a mysterious thing, for him to force the Ruler Armament wielding Zhar to eat up such a loss, I bet that Zhar would have died a long time ago if it were not for his armor. However, how did little brother get so much strength? Since it is an attack that is invisible to everyone, it is not that easy to defend against. I can tell that being an opponent of his would not be a smart choice.” Tianmu Ling stared at the arena with eyes that flashed with wonder.

Even the yellow robed Huang Luan was staring at Jian Chen with a dazed look. Her expression was exceptionally complex. Her mind couldn’t help but think back to the first time she had met Jian Chen, that awkward meeting at the river. She then thought about when she saw him during the survival competition.

“Are you really the same man as before?” Huang Luan wondered absentmindedly as she looked at Jian Chen and muttered to herself. She could clearly remember a few years back Jian Chen was not worthy of being her opponent and wasn’t capable of dealing any damage to her. She had no idea that after some time, she would meet the much stronger Jian Chen who could outmatch her by a long distance.

......

In the arena, Zhar held his ground tenaciously as he clutched at his Ruler Armament with great force as he shouted, “Jian Chen! You cannot harm me while my Radiant Saint Armor is up so don’t waste your energy! While I don’t know just how you are doing this, I do know that you won’t be able to keep it up for long. Just wait until your energy runs out, then you will lose!”

As if he hadn’t heard Zhar’s roar, Jian Chen continued to hold his eyelids shut while twitching his finger. On that finger, a faint glow of azure and violet Sword Qi could be seen before it was shot straight toward Zhar.

At the moment Zhar movements were restricted, forcing him to brace himself with the Ruler Armament to withstand the attacks. Therefore, he wasn’t able to move whatsoever and could only watch as the azure and violet Sword Qi drew closer to him.

Seeing the azure and violet Sword Qi, Zhar felt himself starting to panic. Although he had confidence in his Radiant Saint Armor and his strength as a Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master with a Heaven Tier Battle Skill, he couldn’t help but think back to when this very Sword Qi had damaged Caraga’s Saint Weapon. For the very first time, Zhar felt doubt appear in his heart: could his Radiant Saint Armor’s defenses be destroyed by this azure and violet Sword Qi?

Even as he had that fleeting thought for a mere moment, the azure and violet Sword Qi continued on, flying straight at his chest.

Without a sound, a small hole suddenly opened up in his armor as the azure and violet Sword Qi carved a hole into his body.

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With a grunt, Zhar could feel his body starting to shake. The moment the azure and violet Sword Qi entered his body, it had begun to bounce around inside. Each and every moment, Zhar could feel that his organs were one step closer to being completely damaged to pieces.

“Ah!” Zhar let out a heaven piercing roar as the veins in his forehead suddenly bulged. All of the Saint Force within his body immediately surged to wrap the azure and violet Sword Qi in order to eradicate it from his body.

While the azure and violet Sword Qi was weak, its power was still enough to cause Zhar to be incredibly fearful. He used all of his Saint Force to intervene, but not only did it fail, the azure and violet Sword Qi continued to wreck his inner organs.

As the azure and violet Sword Qi bounced around Zhar’s insides, it continued to whittle away at his chance to live. Not only was a man’s interior body their weakest point, it was also the most fatal area. With the azure and violet Sword Qi destroying his insides, in less than a few breaths, Zhar had already suffered several serious injuries.

“Just...just what in the world is this force? Hu-hurry up and take it back, take back this force!” Zhar had a terrified look on his face as he cried out to Jian Chen. At this moment, the azure and violet Sword Qi was bouncing for his heart, and if it were to get too close, then his heart would be instantly shredded apart like tofu. Even a Radiant Warrior would not be able to survive an injury like that.

A faint streak of silver light appeared within Jian Chen’s hand as he slowly opened his eyes, revealing a tired expression. With a sudden sway of his body, he flashed in front of the beaten Zhar and placed his palm against Zhar’s chest.

The very moment Jian Chen placed his palm against Zhar’s chest, the azure and violet Sword Qi that was causing havoc inside his chest instantly turned docile like a sheep. Just like how an obedient child would behave, it slowly moved out of Zhar’s chest and into Jian Chen’s palm where it blended in with the Sword Spirits within Jian Chen’s dantian.

Feeling the presence of the azure and violet Sword Qi dissipate from his body, Zhar let out a sigh of relief before staring at Jian Chen with a frightened voice, “Just what in the world was that force? It was so strong that it easily managed to shatter my Radiant Saint Armor!” He quavered.

“Zhar, I’ve won this battle!” Jian Chen spoke with a smile.

Knowing that Jian Chen would not talk anymore about the strange azure and violet Sword Qi, he decided not to talk anymore about the subject and nodded his head sadly, “You’ve won indeed.” With that, the Radiant Saint Armor on Zhar’s body began to disappear from sight.

It was only at this point that Zhar’s face could be seen, a deathly white color. The clothes that he wore underneath the armor had already been dyed a bloody red from the attack of the azure and violet Sword Qi.

At that moment, the barrier that had been surrounding the arena suddenly disappeared. The elder who had been announcing the competition suddenly spoke in a loud and grandiose voice so that everyone in Mercenary City could hear.

“I declare as of this moment, there is finally a victor to the Gathering of the Mercenaries. With Jian Chen as the winner, he will also be crowned the King of Mercenaries and will be awarded with the glorious medal of our Mercenary City. He will also be awarded with an Advanced Heaven Tier Battle Skill and Cultivation Method. Furthermore, he will also be able to enter the holy grounds to cultivate for half a year, and if his mercenary group is not already A ranked, then it will be automatically promoted to such a rank!”

Hearing the announcer’s judgement, Ming Dong finally let out a deep breath of joy as Qin Xiao and the others cheered while Senior An hugged everyone in excitement.

The Gathering of the Mercenaries rewarded the first place person quite handsomely and even granted the winner with a medal that represented the honor of being the King of Mercenaries.

Upon hearing the first place prize of the Gathering of the Mercenaries, countless of Heaven Saint Masters had looks of envy on their faces.

An Advanced Heaven Tier Battle Skill was infinitesimally close to a Saint Tier Battle Skill. Not a single one of the Heaven Saint Masters outside of the arena could boast of having an Advanced Heaven Tier Battle Skill; many of them didn’t even have any Primary Heaven Tier Battle Skills. This was because all of the strongest battle skills were in the possession of the few strongest clans, so any Heaven Saint Masters without a background would already find it challenging to find even a Primary Heaven Tier Battle Skill.

But right now, an Earth Saint Master kid had somehow managed to claim the number one spot of the Gathering of the Mercenaries and obtain a Heaven Tier Battle Skill. Thus, this made many of the older generation cultivators feel an extreme amount of envy for that battle skill.

“Ai, this Advanced Tier Battle Skill was far too easy to obtain. I left my home to travel the continent for a hundred years, and the only thing I have to show for it is an Advanced Earth Tier Battle Skill. Just when will I get a Heaven Tier Battle Skill?” A white haired elder muttered to himself as he stared at Jian Chen with envy; he too, was a Heaven Saint Master.

“The holy lands, that is the legendary place that is said to house even Saint Rulers. I bet there would be no shortage of the rumored Saint Tier Battle Skills there, but I don’t know if that is true or not. Unfortunately, I have never heard or seen any information regarding it in my entire life.” Another Heaven Saint Master sighed.

......

Jian Chen and Zhar both walked through the Space Gate with a brilliant glow as they left. Just as Jian Chen disappeared from the arena, he saw a crane hairstyled elder standing five meters away from him with a smile. It looked as if he had already been waiting for him for some time.

Dressed in fine silk clothing, the elder stared at Jian Chen with a faint smile, “Jian Chen, congratulations on becoming the King of Mercenaries. I will take you to reward you with a Heaven Tier Battle Skill and Cultivation Method, please follow me.”

“Then if senior would lead the way.” Jian Chen cupped his hands together and followed the elder toward the armory.

On the way, the elder spoke calmly, “Jian Chen, the biggest reward of being the King of Mercenaries is the holy land, not the Heaven Tier Battle Skill. The holy land is not only a sacred place to our Mercenary City, but to the entire Tian Yuan Continent. This is where Heaven Saint Masters yearn to be and where Saint Rulers roam about. You must cherish this opportunity since only Saint Rulers are allowed entrance. It is only every fifty years that anyone under the rank of a Saint Ruler can enter, but they must be the King of Mercenaries.”