Chapter 158: Three Moves
Seeing Jian Chen and their leader brandishing their weapons, the other mercenaries began to move back to watch the two fight.
The scarred mercenary clenched onto his Saint Weapon as he stared firmly at Jian Chen. His face was unnaturally serious, whether or not he would be able to keep his monster cores, would be determined by this battle.
Although it was impossible for a Great Saint Master to defeat a Peak Saint Master in 5 moves, Jian Chen’s agreement to this duel had refreshed the mercenary’s courage. With no hesitation in his step, he was motivated to try and accomplish the task. For this middle aged man, the amount of pressure on him was tremendous.
Alas, there was still a small amount of worry within his heart. With Jian Chen’s simple agreement to this duel, would he try and eliminate him given an opportunity? Knowing this possibility, he still didn’t dare to voice out his thoughts. He would just have to try it. While it was true he wanted to save his monster cores, he also wanted to test out Jian Chen’s strength. Seeing how young he was, he didn’t know how he could be as strong as the rumors said, just how could someone who was barely over 20 years old kill a Great Saint Master expert?
The leader’s face hardened into a serious expression while Jian Chen smiled and extended his hand, “Come!”
Sparing any politeness, the Saint Force around the mercenary’s great sword exploded with intensity as he charged toward Jian Chen.
Jian Chen’s body disappeared into a blur as he rushed toward the man with his Light Wind Sword ready to stab at him in a brilliant gleam of silver light.
Seeing Jian Chen’s sword disappear, the mercenary’s pupils contracted in surprise as he suddenly whipped his great sword down to where he thought the Light Wind Sword would appear.
“Ding!”
The sound of steel striking against steel could be heard as the two Saint Weapons were entangled together in a fierce stalemate. A wave of Saint Force exploded out from the swords and swept over the area like a galestorm.
Just as the Saint Weapons collided with each other, the mercenary’s face began to change as his eyes widened in shock. The seemingly slender and thin sword contained such a disproportionate amount of Saint Force, causing his giant sword to tremble and his arms to go numb.
“To end up in a deadlock against me with such a slim one handed sword, it would appear the rumors were not as empty as I thought.” The mercenary muttered under his breath.
Just as the mercenary was thinking to himself, the second strike was already coming at a faster pace than the first one.
Becoming even more serious than before, the mercenary was barely given enough time to react to Jian Chen’s sword. Trying to resist the numb sensation within his arms, he raised his sword horizontally to block the Light Wind Sword.
The moment the Light Wind Sword stabbed into the greatsword, an incredible amount of power was transmitted through the sword into the mercenary behind it who was forced a few steps back. As for the sword in his hands, it had started to tremble and shake under the pressure.
“You’ve already lost!”
Just as the mercenary finally regained his stability, another voice came from behind. Whipping around, the man’s face grew pale and sweat began to gather on his forehead as he saw what was behind him.
Pointing right behind him was an amazingly thin sword that was only centimeters away from his body. The tip of that sword was already pointing straight at his throat.
The man’s face grew sluggish as he looked at the sword threatening to pierce his throat in disbelief. There was just simply no words he could say.
At this sudden reveal, the other 10 mercenaries behind the two fighters also looked on in disbelief. Their eyes revealed a sluggish look as they saw the sword calmly pointing at their leader’s neck. Not a single of them had anything to say.
“This is the third move, you’ve lost!”
Taking back the Light Wind Sword, Jian Chen looked at the mercenary with a calm face.
Three moves! Jian Chen had only used three moves to defeat a Peak Saint Master!
The leader quickly looked at Jian Chen with a fearful face. Swallowing, his voice began to stutter as he said, “Wh…what a fa..fast sword…”
Jian Chen gave a faint laugh, “You should know what to do right about now.”
The fear in the leader’s eyes quickly calmed down as he looked at Jian Chen. Although Jian Chen was completely covered by filth, the mercenary could see how young Jian Chen really was.
The man absorbed his sword back into his body and cupped his hands together, “I thank honored one for his mercy.” Then turning to walk back to the other mercenaries, he spoke out in a low voice, “Everyone take out all your monster cores.”
Hearing this, the mercenaries all hesitated for a moment before accepting this outcome. The ten pulled the monster cores within their Space Belt one by one.
After watching their leader fight with Jian Chen, they understood that he only wanted their monster cores. Not killing them was already a huge favor granted to them, and if they didn’t hand over the monster cores, with Jian Chen’s strength, their entire mercenary group would be slaughtered. If their own leader who was the strongest of them all couldn’t even withstand 5 moves from Jian Chen, then they had no chance.
The scarred mercenary took out a bag from within his Space Belt and began to place all of the monster cores he had in that bag. Then without any command from Jian Chen, he immediately began to take the other mercenaries monster cores and collected them into the bag. In the end, he presented the bag to Jian Chen with a lingering gaze and said, “In that bag are all the monster cores we have.”
This bag of monster cores had around 100 inside. Around half of them were Class 3 Monster Cores and the rest were Class 2 Monster Cores with barely any Class 1 Monster Cores.
Jian Chen took the bag into his own hands into his Space belt and said, “I, Jian Chen, abide by my promises. You are free to go.”
Without any further words, the scarred mercenary led the other mercenaries away from the area.
Seeing the group disappear into the horizon, Jian Chen let out a breath of air. Leaning carelessly against a tree next to him, he muttered, “These past few days have been so repetitive. However, despite it being so tiring, I’ve earned quite a lot. The amount of monster cores I’ve earned should be enough to last my cultivation needs for a very long time. Ai, I don’t even know if I should thank the Tianxiong Clan or hate them.”
After taking a small break, Jian Chen stood back up and said, “Right now there’s practically no one left in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. With such a huge area to search, I’m far too lazy to look in each zone. Forget it, I’ve already got enough monster cores. I’ll let the rest go and cultivate my strength in the meantime. Otherwise, if I were to come across multiple Great Saint Masters at once, I doubt I’ll be an opponent for them.”