Chapter 350: Departing with Ease
As for the Jiede clan monitoring him, Jian Chen didn’t care at all. This sort of development was something he had predicted a long time ago.
On the second day, Jian Chen left his room to stroll around the streets of Mercenary City. He walked east, he wandered west, there was no definite location in sight. But right behind him, several groups of men followed him from a decent ways away. Since they no longer feared being detected by Jian Chen, they didn’t care for being stealthy.
Jian Chen led the group on a day long walk before finally returning back to his inn for the night. On the day after, Jian Chen left the inn once more. When he left, the attendants behind him followed Jian Chen thirty meters away.
Not even caring to look at the group of people behind him, Jian Chen wandered around Mercenary City once more. This time, staring toward the east while walking toward the west as if to enjoy the scenery around him.
Soon, Jian Chen came across a gambling house. With a smile that seemed ready to crack a joke, Jian Chen walked into the place with the people behind him following him in.
Within the gambling house countless men were enthusiastically making noise. Those who had won money were crying out in joy while those who had lost were all sighing with regret.
Jian Chen swiftly traveled through a group of people to an even larger crowd before blending in with the other gamblers. His figure instantly disappeared from the gambling house, leaving his stalkers to anxiously look around themselves.
Emerging from the gambling house, Jian Chen immediately switched streets and looked for a different inn to hide himself in.
But by that night, Jian Chen was found out once more as his stalkers surrounded the inn.
“What an annoying group of flies.” Jian Chen sighed to himself without any choice. With this group of people constantly chasing him, Jian Chen couldn’t leave Mercenary City. In the case the Jiede clan and Shi family leaders found out that he had left and his whereabouts, he would most likely be killed.
The next day, Jian Chen left his room and headed for the plaza where the palace was in Mercenary City. This area was where the inner city was connected to the outer road and the outside world.
Since Jian Chen was the King of Mercenaries, his special identity allowed him to enter this place without any obstructions. However, a middle-aged man came to meet him this time instead.
“Senior, this one would like to see the elders, would that be possible?” Jian Chen asked him politely.
The man shook his head, “Out of the question, seeing the elders is not something that can be so easily done. Your ceremony has long since passed, unless the elders wish to see you first, you cannot see them.”
Jian Chen had a dejected look on his face, but he asked, “Then would it be possible for me to leave Mercenary City via the Space Gate?”
“Our Mercenary City’s Space Gate is for entering the city which can only be used by the inner members. As for exiting the city via the Space Gate, you must have the permission of the elders, otherwise, even the inner members are forbidden from using it.” The man explained.
Depressed, Jian Chen left the area. If he had known about this earlier, he would have asked the Eighth Elder for permission to leave the city during his time in the holy land.
Wandering around the streets of Mercenary City once more, Jian Chen began to think of an escape plan. After he had used the gambling house to escape his stalkers, they were now cautious of a second escape plan. Even the distance had decreased from twenty meters to a measly five meters. Even more audaciously, the group were now following Jian Chen with an unbridled amount of arrogance, causing Jian Chen no small amount of annoyance. If it were not for the fact that Mercenary City forbade violence, then Jian Chen would have beaten them all up long ago for their arrogance.
Jian Chen knew that shaking them off at such a close distance would be too difficult. Even if he were to use the Illusionary Flash, if there were any wind attribute cultivators who were Earth Saint Masters, then at least two of them would be able to catch up with him.
That night, Jian Chen entered a random inn and ordered a meal and a room for the night to rest. The ones that were still following him had stumbled in as well and booked the adjacent rooms. The other group of men surrounded the inn in tight proximity to avoid Jian Chen from escaping from them.
The following morning, Jian Chen left his room once more after eating an early breakfast. Then, he walked back into his room and began to cultivate.
For the next couple of days, Jian Chen hadn’t left his room at all other than to eat a meal. The rest of his time was spent studying the Illusionary Flash. While the men outside his room still kept up a vigilant watch, they all realized that Jian Chen was most likely planning to stay where he was for a long time, so they were now relatively relaxed. They needn’t be on guard as they were a few days ago, but they still maintained a strong watch over Jian Chen. No matter if it was day or night, there would still be someone watching, so it was as if there was a giant net being placed over the inn.
In a flash, ten days had passed by with Jian Chen spending most of his time researching the Illusionary Flash. If he could understand the fragments of the profound mysteries of the world within his mind, then his comprehension of the Illusionary Flash would multiply several times over. He had already mastered the basics, allowing his speed to be double that of when he was in the Gathering of the Mercenaries. By now, Jian Chen was almost comparable in speed to a Sixth Cycle wind attributed Earth Saint Master. At the very least, he could survive against a Heaven Saint Master.
Of course, this was only just a conservative guess. He had only mastered the basics, so he could only guess how fast he was. Just how fast he was exactly, he didn’t know since he hadn’t been able to test it out yet.
Early one morning, Jian Chen slowly opened his eyes from his meditative posture and looked at the blooming skies. Muttering to himself, he spoke, “It’s about time to leave.” With that, Jian Chen got off his bed and allowed a faint glow of azure and violet to be emitted from his finger. Floating overhead, it reached the wooden ceiling and immediately bore a hole into it, causing the wooden ceiling to shred apart like tofu. With a gentle push, Jian Chen removed the half a meter long circumference hole from the ceiling, revealing a single hole.
Seeing the large hole, Jian Chen cracked a smile before putting the wooden hole back in place for the meanwhile and then he left the room.
As per usual, Jian Chen walked down for an early breakfast. After finishing, he walked back to his room and closed the doors and windows. Immediately, he began to take out a variety of herbs from within his Space Ring to begin to paint his face.
Half an hour later, Jian Chen lifted his head to reveal a completely different face than before. By now, his face was that of an ordinary looking middle-aged man with several cut marks and even a beard, giving him a fierce look.
Looking at his own reflection, Jian Chen nodded his head. Suddenly, a cracking sound could be heard as Jian Chen’s stature suddenly grew thicker and even his height was increased. In no time at all, Jian Chen’s physique had grown burly, the complete opposite of what he was before.
Adorning a black robe from within his Space Belt, Jian Chen once more cut off the long hair that had trailed down his shoulders, leaving behind a greatly diminished amount.
Once this had been done, Jian Chen was a completely different person in appearance with absolutely nothing that could link the two together. Even Ming Dong and Qin Xiao who were both friends with Jian Chen would not have been able to tell that this burly looking man was him.
Inspecting his face once more, Jian Chen made sure nothing had been overlooked before taking out the wooden hole cover from the ceiling. With a tiny leap, he immediately landed in the room above before replacing the hole. Closing the door to the room, Jian Chen walked outside.
And just like that, Jian Chen had been able to avoid the eyes and ears of everyone else. As he strutted his way out, not a single person doubted him, let alone looked at him.
As a result of the past few days, Jian Chen had deliberately allowed everyone to become accustomed to his habits. After his morning meal, he would shut himself up in his room in order to cultivate. Not a single one of them had figured that Jian Chen would change his appearances and try to leave.
Walking onto the streets, Jian Chen walked himself into a bustling inn that had plenty of people already inside. After ordering a room, Jian Chen disguised himself once more as a thin looking middle-aged man before leaving the building.
With all of this done, Jian Chen walked to a store where he bought a map and several other items necessary for living in the rural areas. Then, he walked to an isolated alleyway and changed his appearances once more.
This time, Jian Chen disguised himself as a prominent son of a powerful clan. With a wig on his head and a Class 3 Magical Beast, Jian Chen rode the magical beast toward the merchant’s gate outside of the city where he took a leading position in front of a merchant group that was just getting ready to leave. This way, he was able to make the facade that he was the leader of the caravan group.