Chapter 624: Challenging the Jiede n


    There was a ce in the backmost courtyards of the Jiede n that the majority of people were forbidden from entering. This forbidden ce was what many of the n members considered to be a type of holy ground. Practically everyone bowed reverently in the direction of these grounds when standing near them.


    The patriarch of the Jiede n would often shut himself off from the world in this forbidden ce to focus on his cultivation. He was the sole Saint Ruler of the Jiede n and was the sole reason for the Jiede n’s status as a hermit n.


    Within a flower garden in the forbidden zone, all sorts of flowers were blooming in a stunning fashion. A rich aroma wafted through the air, and arge rabble of butterflies could be seen pping their wings gently as they traveled through the air, giving this deathly-quiet area a vibrant feeling of life.


    At the very center of the flower garden was a wooden house. This wooden house clearly looked as if it had stood for a very long time. The wood was ancient, but despite that, it remained standing with signs of damage from the passage of time. It had clearly been worn down to the point where it looked as if it would copse. Like an elderly man that seemed destined to fall at any moment, this house looked as if it was about to copse on itself with a single totter.


    Within the house, the patriarch of the Jiede n sat at a wooden table in the center of the room. His eyebrows were furrowed together as if deep in thought, and his face was covered with a look of worry.


    Ever since his escape from Mercenary City, the man had been living in unease without a day of sce. When he had first realized what was happening in Mercenary City, he had been deeply influenced by it. Jian Chen was able to do as he pleased in Mercenary City without restraint, and for the life of him, the patriarch could not understand why.


    As a two thousand year old Saint Ruler, patriarch Jiede knew a lot about the world. Even the barrier of Mercenary City was known to him to several degrees, and he knew that its capabilities were something that a Heaven Saint Master could never hope to match.


    Jian Chen had vited thews of Mercenary City, but he had not been punished. In the eyes of an outsider, Jian Chen had clearly some sort of connection with the power holders of the city, but patriarch Jiede didn’t truly believe in that.


    He knew that the barrier of the city had gained sentient life which had given rise to the rumors of the spirit of the barrier. It had already been countless of years since its birth, and the status it wielded in Mercenary City was something practically no one could ever touch aside from the founder of the city himself, Mo Tianyun. Not a single person couldmand the spirit of the barrier, not even the grand elder.


    Patriarch Jiede waspletely convinced that the reason why Jian Chen had escaped punishment had nothing to do with having a rtionship with the power holders of Mercenary City. The elder was puzzled by the method Jian Chen used to escape punishment.


    He was more worried about Jian Chen’s talents and the fact that he could not locate the Duanyun sword than the method Jian Chen used to escape punishment.


    Patriarch Jiede was more than aware that Jian Chen was skilled enough to reach the realm of a Saint Ruler soon. With such a powerful entity as an enemy, the patriarch knew that it would lead to nothing good. However, the undeniable importance of the patriarch’s Ruler Armament meant he was extremely unwilling to forget about it.


    Not only was the Ruler Armament a treasure to the Jiede n as their symbol of power, it was also passed down from generation to generation from the previous patriarch. It held meaning beyond all else and would be a great boon to him when he attempted to crossover to be a Saint King.


    A Saint Ruler at the Ninth Heavenly Layer would be able to fuse with a Ruler Armament, and in the case that one was sessful in doing so, that Saint Ruler’s chances of making the breakthrough to bing a Saint King would skyrocket.


    “I absolutely cannot return to Mercenary City, but if Jian Chen spends the rest of his life in Mercenary City without leaving, what good will that be? With time, even he’ll be a Saint Ruler, and when the timees, he definitely won’t be easy to deal with. It seems I have no other choice. Even if I cannot take back the Ruler Armament, I cannot allow Jian Chen to live any longer. Otherwise, he’ll bring doom and destruction to the Jiede n.” The patriarch muttered to himself.


    Suddenly, a tremendous power from outside suddenly made itself known to him. Sensing this provoking aura, the patriarch sat upright. “What power! Who might that be?” He wondered aloud to himself before flying outside to greet the invader of his territory.


    Just a hundred meters above the Jiede n, the white-robed Jian Chen hovered in ce, icily looking down below him. His eyes were intimidating, and his aura was not concealed at all. It was there for the entirety of the Jiede n to notice and tremble under.


    Suddenly, ten different figures came flying up to greet him. One by one, they surrounded Jian Chen in a tight ring with unfavorable expressions.


    Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!


    Four heaven-shaking roars could be heard as four different magical beasts came flying forward from different directions. Shortly afterward, the entire forest seemed to shake as the silent ss 6 Magical Beast protectors sensed the abnormality in the area and came to greet Jian Chen.


    These ss 6 Magical Beasts were not simr to the ones born in the wildnds of Cross Mountains. They were born and bred from the careful and painstaking energy of the Jiede n. As a result, the friendship between magical beast and humans had reached a skintight rtionship. Over these years, these ss 6 Magical Beasts had spent their entire lives protecting the n silently against any invader or mercenary that dared to draw too close.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Following three separate muffled explosions, fourrge magical beasts made their way into Jian Chen’s line of sight. Jumping from the mountain range, the magical beasts were like miniature mountains themselves. With each step they took, the earth beneath them shook.


    They were pitch ck in color and stood on two legs exactly like how a human stood. The only exception was that their heights were roughly thirty meters tall, a height far taller than a human.


    “Boom!” Another muffled explosion reverberated across the sky as the four ss 6 Magical Beasts positioned themselves two hundred meters away from Jian Chen. They stood in the cardinal directions, surrounding Jian Chen yet again.


    “Hemophilic Apes!” Jian Chen recognized the four ss 6 Magical Beasts, feeling slightly surprised. Hemophilic Apes were a type of magical beasts that had particrly bloodthirsty and violent tendencies. They were, as a result, extremely hard to tame, but the Jiede n had somehow managed to perfectly tame four of them as protectors. To Jian Chen, this feat was by no means a minor one.


    “Sire, who might you be!? State your name and reason foring!” An elder intimidatingly barked at Jian Chen. There had been no kind edge to his voice since Jian Chen had purposely intruded upon the Jiede n with such a powerful aura that was obviously intended to provoke the experts of the n.


    Folding his arms against his chest, Jian Chen stared at the several Heaven Saint Masters around him with a smile. “I’m the one you’ve been looking for, Jian Chen. I came today to visit your Jiede n.”


    “What? You’re Jian Chen?”


    “So you’re Jian Chen...”


    “You have the guts toe knocking on our door to seek your death...”


    As soon as they learned who he was, everyone felt surprised. Shortly after their surprised, they allughed as a tremendous spike of killing intent suddenly erupted from their bodies.


    “Roar!”


    Sensing the hostility in their owners, the four Hemophilic Apes immediately identified Jian Chen as an enemy. One by one, they let out a roar that shook the heavens as a bloodthirsty light entered their fist-sized pupils.


    The tiger cub on Jian Chen’s shoulder was none too pleased at the four ss 6 Magical Beasts aggressive behavior Standing up, the cub let loose a mighty roar toward the four apes. Although the cub was extremely proud, it was still a ss 4 Magical Beast in strength. It was not yet mature enough to deal with four ss 6 Magical Beasts. Thus, the action of the tiger cub had not been an attempt to fight the four beasts but topletely infuriate them.


    As expected, the four apes let out a furious howl before charging at Jian Chen with great cumbersome steps.


    Not only did the Jiede n do nothing to stop the four Hemophilic Apes, they took several steps away to give them space to fight.


    They knew of Jian Chen’s strength and how he had been able to best four Heaven Saint Master’s Heaven Tier Battle Skills before killing the four. His strength was not something that they could easily overlook, so they wanted the four apes to test his strength first.


    As if coordinating with one another, the four apes charged at Jian Chen before leaping into the air. Their mountainous bodies were like great big cranes as they took flight, making their way a hundred meters into the air where Jian Chen was.


    Staring at the four Hemophilic Apes in disdain as they charged at him, Jian Chen smiled cruelly. With a flip of his hand, a condensed blob of Chaotic Force epassed it before he moved to p them down.