Ming Dong chuckled when he saw how shocked the great elder was. He said, "The great elder really does have good eyesight. You actually saw through my strength with a single glance. However, there's no need for you to lose your composure like that."
Before the Mercenary Competition, the great elder, who was a Heaven Saint Master, had pressured Ming Dong greatly, but now, Ming Dong was much more relaxed in front of the great elder. He did not feel pressured at all because he was only a step away from becoming a Heaven Saint Master. If it were not for the fact that he had to follow uncle Tian's request, Ming Dong could have become a Heaven Saint Master at any time.
The great elder stared at the black-clothed Ming Dong in a dumbfounded manner. His originally calm demeanor became turbulent in a single moment. Disbelief and disbelief filled his old eyes.
In just a short year, Ming Dong had gone from Great Saint Master to peak Earth Saint Master. This was several whole realms of cultivation, something that was impossible. The most important point was Ming Dong's age. From Ming Dong's appearance, he seemed to be around the same age as Qin Xiao, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. Even if there was a difference, he would not be older than thirty. Reaching the peak of the Sixth Cycle of Earth Saint Master at thirty, only a step away from becoming a Heaven Saint Master, could no longer be called a genius. Instead, it was a rare prodigy. His talent was enough to shock everyone.
"How is this possible? You were clearly only a Great Saint Master a year ago, so how did you become a Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master a year later? I- were you hiding your strength before?" The great elder struggled to maintain his composure. His voice trembled slightly as disbelief filled his face.
Ming Dong was overjoyed when he saw the great elder's shocked expression. In the past, he had only been an insignificant person at the bottom of the mercenaries. Experts like Heaven Saint Masters were supreme existences in his eyes, terrifying existences that he would never be able to climb up to. However, he had never thought that his fate would undergo such a drastic change after coming to Mercenary City with Jianchen. In just a short year, he had reached a level he did not even dare to imagine in the past, and he had even managed to scare a peak expert like a Heaven Saint Master into such a state. He was overjoyed.
"Hehe, great elder, there's no need to make such a fuss. It's just that I've come across some fortuitous encounters in the past year, which is why my strength has increased so quickly," Ming Dong chuckled.
The great elder of the Tianqin clan gradually calmed down. However, his gaze toward Ming Dong was still filled with shock. Even with his mental state, he found it rather difficult to accept this fact.
He had reached the Sixth Cycle of Earth Saint Master before the age of thirty. If news of this were to spread, the entire Tian Yuan Continent would probably be shaken.
This was just far too shocking. With such great talent, he would definitely be able to reach Heaven Saint Master within ten years or even five years. In the current era where Saint Rulers were hermits, Heaven Saint Masters were already peak experts on the Tian Yuan Continent.
"Sigh, I've gotten old, I've gotten old. Back then, I only reached the Sixth Cycle of Earth Saint Master when I was over seventy years old. I never thought that you would reach such a level at thirty. If you can continue to grow, you'll definitely be able to reach the peak of Saint Ruler one day," the great elder sighed emotionally.
Ming Dong became complacent after being praised by a Heaven Saint Master. He was basically a fish that had leapt over the dragon gate.
The great elder looked at Qin Xiao and said, "Xiao 'er, you're the most outstanding person of the Tianqin clan in the past century. I feel very gratified that you were able to successfully complete the mission your father gave you."
Qin Xiao was not as natural as Ming Dong when facing the great elder. He submissively said, "Great elder, I plan on breaking through to Earth Saint Master once we return. I'm confident that I can succeed."
The great elder smiled in gratification, "There's no rush. You're still young, so you should stabilize yourself first. It won't be too late for you to break through to Earth Saint Master when you have a hundred percent chance of success. After all, Earth Saint Master is the first hurdle of life and death. You can't make the slightest mistake, or your life will be over."
"Oh right, why haven't I seen Tianzhou? Why hasn't Tianzhou come out yet?" The great elder suddenly asked.
Jianchen and Qin Xiao were stunned when they heard that. They fell silent. Although Jianchen and Tianzhou had some disagreements, he did not kill Tianzhou. However, this could not guarantee that the injured Tianzhou would not be killed by someone else.
The Zither Master continued to eat as if she had not heard what the great elder had said. She did not even raise her head.
"Sigh, Tianzhou's talent is not bad. I hope he's still alive." The great elder clearly knew a little about the situation of the elimination round, so he did not ask Qin Xiao and the others.
After the meal, Jianchen and the others all returned to their rooms. Since Tianzhou and the three people he had brought with him had not returned, there were four empty rooms left. Yun Zheng and Senior An just happened to be staying in them.
After returning to his room, Jianchen called Jianchen over. The two of them began to study the Heaven's Fortune Art together. Although the elimination round was over, there were still one-on-one battles. Adding on the fact that he had killed Jiede Wukang and Shi Xiangran, the organizations behind them would definitely not let him go. Therefore, Jianchen needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible. Right now, the only thing that could increase his strength quickly was this Heaven Tier Battle Skill.
In a Heaven Tier room of an inn in Mercenary City, Jiede Wukang's corpse was placed on the ground. Beside him, two white-haired old men stood there with gloomy faces. Their eyes were filled with intense killing intent.
On the other side, the two middle-aged men who had carried away Jiede Wukang's corpse were kneeling there in fear. Their bodies were constantly trembling.
"Who killed Wukang?" One of the old men asked with a gloomy face. His expression was extremely ugly.
"El … Elder, Young … Young Master Wukang was … was killed by someone called Jianchen." One of the middle-aged men said with a trembling voice.
"Then where is the Broken Cloud Sword that Young Master carried with him?" The other old man immediately shouted. His gaze was extremely frightening.
The two middle-aged men's faces turned pale. They did not dare to speak.
"Speak!" The old man who had asked about the Broken Cloud Sword was furious. He stared at the two men with a sharp gaze.
"It … It should have been taken by Jianchen." One of the middle-aged men trembled as he spoke.
As soon as he finished speaking, one of the old men slammed his palm heavily on the table. The entire table was instantly reduced to dust. He said angrily, "Trash, you two trash. What's the use of keeping you!" As he spoke, the old man stretched out his hand, wanting to slap the two men's heads.
Seeing this, the other old man's expression changed slightly. He immediately stopped the old man and said, "Third Elder, calm down. Don't forget where you are. You can't fight here."
Hearing this, the old man who was called the Third Elder put down his hand with a gloomy face. He said in a deep voice, "You two, immediately go and find out where Jianchen is. You must find out where Jianchen is in the shortest amount of time possible. We must get back the King Weapon."
"Yes, yes, Third Elder. We will go and find out where Jianchen is." The two men acted as if they had been given a great order and left the place as if they were escaping.
At the same time, in another luxurious inn, three old men and a middle-aged man were anxiously waiting.
"So much time has passed. Why hasn't Young Master returned yet? Could something have happened?" The middle-aged man anxiously paced back and forth in the room. There was an indescribable anxiety on his face.
Although the three old men in grey clothes did not say anything, there was a sliver of worry on their faces. One of them said, "Let's wait and see. Old Four has already gone to get the young master. I believe he'll be back very soon."
"Elder Cai, do you think something has happened to Young Master Shi Xiangran? Otherwise, why hasn't he returned yet?" The middle-aged man could not help but ask.
Hearing that, the three old men became rather uneasy. One of them said, "There's no need to rush. Let's wait and see."
…
In the blink of an eye, three days passed. Three days later, a letter was delivered to Jianchen, Ming Dong, and Senior An at the same time. The three of them had successfully obtained the opportunity to advance. A large announcement had already been posted in the central square of Mercenary City. It was densely filled with the names of five hundred people. They were all the five hundred people who had successfully advanced, and the number of tokens they had collected was indicated behind them.
Senior An and Yun Zheng, who had been out all day, immediately bought a copy of the rankings from a store and gave it to Jianchen.
When Jianchen saw the rankings, he could not help but frown slightly. This was because he was only ranked fourteenth despite having obtained a total of one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three tokens. The person in first place was called Karaja. His name was extremely unfamiliar, but he had obtained a total of three thousand and seventy-two tokens, over a thousand more than Jianchen.
The person in second place was called Zar. He had collected over two thousand seven hundred tokens. He was also an unfamiliar name.
The person in third place was called Gaddafi. He had collected over two thousand five hundred tokens.
The person in fourth place was also an unfamiliar name. There was only one word in his name, 'Jue'. He had collected over two thousand and three hundred tokens.
A familiar name finally appeared in fifth place. It was actually Qin Ji. He had collected over two thousand and one hundred tokens.
The person in sixth place was Dugu Feng. He had collected two thousand and thirty tokens.
The person in seventh place was Tianmu Ling. He had collected one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five tokens.
The person in eighth place was Huang Luan. He had collected one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four tokens.
The person in ninth place was also an unfamiliar name. He was called Bai Litong. He had collected one thousand nine hundred and fifty-two tokens.
The person in tenth place was called Zhuge Xiaoxuan. He had collected one thousand nine hundred and thirty-one tokens.
There were three more unfamiliar names in succession. It was only at fourteenth place that Jianchen's name appeared. Below Jianchen were Ming Dong and Senior An. Both of them had collected over one thousand five hundred tokens.
The number of tokens collected by the people in the back was constantly decreasing. The person in last place had only collected three hundred tokens.
When Jianchen saw the names of the people in the rankings, he was speechless for a long time. He had originally thought that only the Five Great Experts were the strongest in the elimination round. He had never imagined that there would be so many people hiding their strength so deeply that they had only surfaced now. The person in first place had collected over three thousand tokens. This number even shocked Jianchen.
"I wonder how strong they are." Jianchen muttered to himself. Although he was in fourteenth place, this ranking could not prove his strength.
"Jianchen, who is this person called Karaja? How come I have never heard of his name before? He must be very strong to be able to obtain first place." Senior An frowned as he asked.
Jianchen shook his head and said, "I don't know either. It seems that we have been viewing the sky from the bottom of a well. The Tian Yuan Continent is so big, there is no lack of people with extraordinary talent. The experts participating in the Mercenary Tournament are not limited to the few on the surface. However, just this alone is not enough to determine the strength of the participants."
"En, you're right. The finals will begin in three days. At that time, we'll be able to see how strong the top few people are. However, I dare say that the three people who are rumored to be very strong and have Holy Force of the light attribute will definitely be in the top ten." Doctor An said confidently.
The two of them casually chatted for a while before Senior An left, leaving Jianchen alone in the room to study the Heaven Tier Battle Skill 《Heaven's Fortune》. The Heaven Tier Battle Skill was broad and profound. Each one was very mysterious. Even with Jianchen's ability, he had only just begun to grasp the basics. He had only grasped a small portion of the most basic skill, barely able to increase his strength by three times. However, he could not control it very well. Therefore, he did not have time to go out. He had to quickly grasp the basics of 《Heaven's Fortune》 and use it proficiently.
The 《Heaven's Fortune》 was divided into a total of eight layers. The first layer was also the basics. After reaching the basics, one could increase one's strength by three times, the second layer could increase one's strength by four times, the third layer could increase one's strength by five times, and so on. Once one reached the eighth layer of the 《Heaven's Fortune》, one could increase one's strength by ten times.
Although the increase in battle strength from the Heaven's Fortune was rather terrifying, its consumption was also extremely great. No matter how many times one's strength was increased, the consumption of Saint Force would increase as well. Although it could greatly increase one's battle strength for a short period of time, the terrifying consumption made it impossible for one to fight for long periods of time.
Jianchen calmly studied the Heaven Tier Battle Skill by himself in his room. Ming Dong was the same. Only Qin Xiao and the others were playing around all day. As for the great elder of the Tianqin clan, he was always elusive.
Today, two white-robed old men arrived at the inn Jianchen was staying in with sunken faces under the lead of two middle-aged men. They directly went up to the third floor and arrived before Jianchen's room. Without any politeness, they kicked the door open.
Jianchen, who was studying the Heaven Tier Battle Skill on his bed, slowly opened his eyes. He calmly stared at the two old men. He had expected people to come looking for him.
The two old men glared at Jianchen. One of them called out, "You're Jianchen?"
Jianchen showed no fear at all, "That's right, I'm Jianchen. May I ask for your names?"
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