Chapter 582: A Surge In Power
With the subjugation of the Carnage Mercenaries going exceedingly well, Jian Chen and the group had been very happy on their path back home.
On the second morning, the three leaders of the Carnage Mercenaries met up with Jian Chen at the inn they were staying as they had agreed upon the day before. And so they begun to discuss once more about business.
“The next step in my plans is the Bloodthorn Mercenaries, the Bloodrose Mercenaries, and the Feral mercenaries. They are the groups I wish to bring into our folds, and since you three have stayed within the Cloud Capital for so long, you must know plenty about them. Would you please tell us what would be prudent to know as we plan?” Jian Chen asked Zhan Tian and the other two.
Mu Chi had been the first to speak from the three, “The Feral Mercenaries have an extremely close bond with the lord of the Cloud Capital. If you wish to force them into submission, it would require a tremendous amount of power. The Bloodrose and the Bloodthorn Mercenaries on the other hand is much more simpler. From my perspective, you should have those two submit first.”
“I agree. Subjugating the Bloodrose and Bloodthorn Mercenaries will be a far easier task than the Feral Mercenaries. Since the captain of the Bloodthorn Mercenaries is infatuated with the captain of the Bloodrose Mercenaries, we should first target the Bloodrose Mercenaries. As long as we get them to submit, then the Bloodthorn Mercenaries will follow shortly afterwards.” Zhan Tian agreed.
Jian Chen nodded his head after listening to their reasoning, “If it is as you say, then we should first subjugate the Bloodrose Mercenaries. Why don’t you three follow me over there?”
“The three of us have quite the friendship with their captain, Jasmine. It’d be an easier task if we advise her.” Zhan Tian spoke.
After the discussion was over, Jian Chen and the others left the inn and rode on their mounts towards where the Bloodrose Mercenaries were.
It was about thirty or so kilometers between the Bloodrose Mercenaries and where Jian Chen had started off from. With the abundant amount of people crowding the streets, Jian Chen’s group had to cross through on their mounts at a slow and careful pace. By the time they arrived, a decent amount of time had already passed.
Like the Carnage Mercenaries, the Bloodrose Mercenaries lived within a giant courtyard. But the similarities had ended there. The courtyards of the Bloodrose Mercenaries had been spotless without any dust to be seen. Two sentries could even be seen standing by the gates.
Because the three leaders of the Carnage Mercenaries were seen with Jian Chen, the sentries by the gate had not dared to stop them. Immediately letting out a courteous salute to the group, the guards lead them into the courtyards while sending someone ahead to notify the captain.
And so Jian Chen and his group were seated by the inner halls while they waited for the captain of the Bloodrose Mercenaries to arrive.
They hadn’t had to wait for too long before a heroic looking woman came walking out from within the building.
“Haha, Zhan Tian, Mu Chi, Shan Xiong, what winds brought you here to my humble abode today? For you three to come to my Bloodrose Mercenaries, my home has been blessed by your presence.”
Looking up towards the source of the voice, Jian Chen saw a woman around the age of thirty or so come walking in. She was beautiful in appearance and quite graceful in her movements. This woman wore a dark-green skirt with an equally dark green blouse. Tying up her hair behind her head was a single bowtie that added to her allure.
“Haha, Captain Jasmine, your words are far too serious to be wasted on the likes of us. It has been two years since we last met, but since then, you have grown far more beautiful.” Zhan Tian laughed as he bowed with cupped hands towards her.
Smiling in return, Jasmine’s eyes swiveled to look at Jian Chen and the people behind him. “Might I inquire who you might be?”
Jian Chen cupped his hands in salute and smiled. “This one is Jian Chen, captain of the Flame Mercenaries.”
“Flame Mercenaries?” Jasmine spoke with a soft voice, “Brother Jian Chen, you are not a native to the Cloud Capital I take it.”
“Correct. I am not from the Cloud Capital.” Jian Chen admitted before continuing onwards, “Captain Jasmine, I am here today in hopes that a proposal can be made between your mercenary group and mine.”
Taking a seat at the table with the others, Jasmine stretched her arms lazily, “Then don’t stop your speech midway through and say it.”
Still smiling, Jian Chen spoke, “Then allow me to be frank. Captain Jasmine, I hope that your Bloodrose Mercenaries will join into my Flame Mercenaries.”
Jasmine had flown straight to her feet as soon as Jian Chen’s words registered in her mind. In an instant, her calm eyes had gained a fearsome glint to them as she stared Jian Chen down.
“What did you say?” Jasmine enunciated each word slowly and icily like the expression on her face.
“This one hopes that captain Jasmine will bring your Bloodrose Mercenaries into my Flame Mercenaries as a division of it.” Jian Chen repeated once more for her to hear.
The iciness in Jasmine’s eyes kicked up a notch as she glared at Jian Chen. Seeing that it did not seem like he was joking, she shook her head with a cold smile, “Little brother, you shouldn’t joke around with such a joke like that.”
Jian Chen laughed in response, “But I am not joking. The Carnage Mercenaries have already joined up with my Flame Mercenaries. If captain Jasmine is not convinced, then please ask Zhan Tian, Mu Chi or Shan Xiong.”
Startled by that response, Jasmine’s eyes flew over to Zhan Tian and the other two who had only gave her a nod in confirmation.
Jasmine had been alarmed to an even greater detail by this confirmation. The Carnage Mercenaries were amongst the strongest within the Cloud Capital and had three Earth Saint Masters in their ranks. But now they suddenly joined with an unheard of mercenary group, that had been simply unbelievable.
“Impossible! Zhan Tian, Mu Chi, Shan Xiong, has your Carnage Mercenaries truly joined with the Flame Mercenaries?” Jasmine cried out involuntarily.
“Correct. Our Carnage Mercenaries have joined with the Flame Mercenaries. It is without a doubt the truth. It is our belief that should we join with the Flame Mercenaries, we will establish ourselves within the Tian Yuan Continent. No longer will we be sequestered to this small city and forced to hide like a turtle in its shell.” Zhan Tian spoke calmly.
“Are the Flame Mercenaries that strong?” Jasmine asked again as she looked back to Jian Chen with confusion and disbelief.
“Captain Jasmine, may I ask what the highest level battle skill is within your possession?” Jian Chen asked.
Although she was suspicious of why Jian Chen had asked such a question, she decided to answer honestly. “Two Advanced Human Tier Battle Skills!”
“Captain Jasmine, allow me to tell you a benefit to joining my Flame Mercenaries. For every person that joins my Flame Mercenaries, then they will be given a Primary Earth Tier Battle Skill to learn free of charge as long as they are an Earth Saint Master.” Jian Chen smiled.
Jasmine’s eyes had immediately lit up at the sound of that. An Earth Tier Battle Skill was very sparse within the Blue Wind Kingdom. At the current moment, only the experts that reigned at the top had an Earth Tier Battle Skill.
She had not been the only one to be surprised. Zhan Tian and the other two suddenly felt their heart rates skyrocket upwards and their breathing had started to come in shorter bursts.
But it had been the next sentence of Jian Chen that caused the greatest amount of shock.
“In the future should your group contribute greatly to the Flame Mercenaries with the utmost devotion, then I will impart an Advanced Earth Tier Battle Skill or perhaps even a Heaven Tier Battle Skill.” Jian Chen spoke.
“What! A Heaven Tier Battle Skill? You have one of those!” Jasmine had completely lost her composure at that as she cried out in shock. Both of her red phoenix eyes had grown wide with disbelief.
“Correct. I am in possession of not just one Heaven Tier Battle Skill, but multiple of them. So, how about it captain Jasmine. Will you consider joining my Flame Mercenaries? In the case that you do with the utmost loyalty and a great enough contribution, then I will be more than happy to aware you with a Heaven Tier Battle Skill. This is something that people can only yearn for in their dreams.” Jian Chen smiled. In this moment, he only wished to quickly expand his Flame Mercenaries. For the sake of improving the backbone of the group, he couldn’t afford to be stingy and would thus treat everyone equally.
The enticement that Heaven Tier Battle Skill would naturally be tremendous. Unless someone already had multiple Heaven Tier Battle Skills, not a single person would be able to resist the allure and temptation it brought. This time, Jasmine had only taken a moment to think before agreeing to Jian Chen’s request to join the Bloodrose Mercenaries into the Flame Mercenaries.
After the subjugation of the Bloodrose Mercenaries were done, Jian Chen, Zhan Tian, and Jasmine began to discuss the next course of action. It was only until late in the afternoon that they left the courtyards with Jasmine leaving with them.
Traveling once more on the magical beast mounts through the streets, they had attracted a fair amount of attention now that the leaders of the Carnage Mercenaries and the captain of the Bloodrose Mercenaries were together; and with a group of youngsters no less. That much had been more than enough for the people to gossip and spread the news back to the insiders of the city.
But Jian Chen and the others hadn’t cared at all for this. Riding on their mounts, they finally arrived at the grounds of the Bloodthorn Mercenaries after some time.
The captain of the Bloodthorn Mercenaries had been a very straightforward person named Ha Ni with a true infatuation with the captain of the Bloodrose Mercenaries. Despite her indifferent treatment of him, his love for her did not decrease at all. The very moment when he heard that the Bloodrose Mercenaries had joined with the Flame Mercenaries, he didn’t hesitate to join the Bloodthorn Mercenaries as well in hopes that his relationship with Jasmine could be furthered another step.
In short, the subjugation of the Bloodthorn Mercenaries had gone by swiftly and smoothly. Not even a cup of tea later, Jian Chen had already entered them into his group without even adding a beneficial reason to butter them up with.
And now, Jian Chen had collected the Carnage Mercenaries, the Bloodrose mercenaries, and the Bloodthorn Mercenaries into a single entity under the Flame Mercenaries. In two short days, the Flame Mercenaries had skyrocketed in power causing no small joy to Jian Chen. As the captain of the Flame Mercenaries, this could only be described as a surge of power.
However. There was no such thing as a wall that could prevent wind entirely. News of the merge between the three mercenary groups had made its way to the six clans and even the mansion of the city lord. Such a piece of information had caused all of them to grow nervous. The combined might of the three mercenary groups meant at least five Earth Saint Masters joined together. For the six clans in comparison, that was a formidable power that even they found difficulty in matching.
It had been the six clans that had been the most nervous of them all in the city. A meeting had instantly been called for with the head of each of the six clans to discuss what to do next.