Long Chen had overshadowed the rest of the participants to become the brightest presence there.
The other outer family members occasionally shot him a glance, especially Liu Yuan, Gu Batian, and the others next to him.
Long Chen’s performance had fully convinced them.
Gu Batian and the others were congratulatory towards him entering the second round. After all, the pressure he had faced previously was the largest, at least larger than Gu Cheng and Yin Mengyao. Now that he had beaten Chu Yunxi, he was a dark horse.
Liu Lan was walking in front of him, but he did not dare tease her again even as he looked at her beautiful figure.
Ling Xi, the little pixie in his ear, was right there. She was usually taking a nap, but she would appear and administer immediate punishment the moment he teased another girl.
Long Chen had considered pursuing Liu Lan before. While he initially felt like it was not right, he still flirted with her anyway. However, he never went any further than that.
Long Chen, Gu Cheng, and Yin Mengyao gathered together. The three of them were friendly, leaving Jin Sheng’en standing alone on the other side.
Gu Cheng smiled bitterly. “Long Chen, I’m unlucky to be fighting a madman like you. But I am satisfied to lose to you.”
“We haven’t even fought; why are you so worried?” Long Chen smiled, then he looked at Yin Mengyao and asked, “How are you feeling? Stressed?”
“Very,” sulked Yin Mengyao. She’d watched the fight between Long Chen and Chu Yunxi and could roughly guess that her fight against Jin Sheng’en would also be like that.
Long Chen thought for a moment, then he said, “I’ll help you figure something out.”
“Do you have any ideas?” Yin Mengyao was surprised. “Long Chen, I’ll be satisfied if just one of us enters the inner family.”
“Keep this to yourself for now,” Long Chen said mysteriously.
Dongfang Xuanxiao led them to a new Mortal Cave. Here, Long Chen smelled a familiar scent.
“Abyssal Scorpions?” The crowd gasped. They walked to the edge of a huge crater and looked down. There was a group of Abyssal Scorpions resting on the muddy ground below.
There were at least twenty of them, and their sizes varied. The smaller ones were adolescent, some only one meter long, while the larger ones were more than two meters long.
The twenty-plus scorpions could cover the whole cave if they scattered.
Gu Cheng and Yin Mengyao were startled when they saw the scorpions, turning as white as a sheet.
“This cave is terrifying.” Gu Cheng was previously injured by an Abyssal Scorpion, so the trauma was fresh in his mind.
Even Long Chen felt like this round would be difficult.
Not only would the participants have to deal with the Abyssal Scorpions, they would also have to fight their opponents. How could a regular person succeed?
This fight would not be easy.
Dongfang Xuanxiao wasted no time. He said straightforwardly, “Round two shall be held in the nest of the Abyssal Scorpions, and it shall start now! First up, Yin Mengyao, Jin Sheng’en. The winner between the two shall be awarded the right to join the inner family!”
The final fight was here. Most of them were excited, but also very curious. Who would be the two lucky ones this time?
Jin Sheng’en and Yin Mengyao jumped when they heard their names called. Their last battle was truly about to begin.
Yin Mengyao was standing next to Long Chen. When Jin Sheng’en looked over, he was more focused on Long Chen.
He didn’t see Yin Mengyao as his equal at all; Long Chen was his true nemesis.
This was related to his reputation as the number one prodigy of the outer families.
Long Chen posed enough of a threat to him. If he didn’t fight Long Chen today to prove himself, there would always be a boulder sitting on his chest. He also wanted to avenge Chu Yunxi, so he had multiple reasons to kill Long Chen.
But he couldn’t do anything, because they were in different groups. With Dongfang Xuanxiao watching, he had to hold himself back even though he wanted to attack Long Chen.
Once I get into the inner family, it doesn’t matter if you do too—I just have to fight you once. That is the only way to resolve the hatred in me! Jin Sheng’en calculated in his mind.
It was time for his match against Yin Mengyao.
Under the watchful gazes of the crowd, Yin Mengyao and Jin Sheng’en each took a deep breath, preparing to enter the Abyssal Scorpion’s nest.
“Wait.” Long Chen’s voice startled everyone.
He was very bold to interrupt such an important moment.
As all eyes fell on him, Long Chen looked at Dongfang Xuanxiao and said, without a hint of submission, “Lord Xuanxiao, I request to switch opponents. I want to fight Jin Sheng’en!”
The crowd was speechless.
Jin Sheng’en was much stronger than Gu Cheng. If he changed his opponent to Jin Sheng’en, wasn’t he looking for death?
If he could beat Chu Yunxi, he stood a chance against Gu Cheng. However, this request meant he was wasting his chance to enter the inner family for nothing.
Liu Lan and Liu Yuan knew that there were problems between Jin Sheng’en and Long Chen, but they still didn’t understand his request.
“Long Chen, the road ahead is long … Do not be rash …” said Liu Yuan in a low voice.
But he held no influence over Long Chen, who looked at Dongfang Xuanxiao as he said, “Jin Sheng’en is known as the number one prodigy of the outer families. I want to challenge this legend today, and I think he will agree to this arrangement too. Gu Cheng and Yin Mengyao will also agree.”
Indeed, Jin Sheng’en did want to meet Long Chen in battle. If Long Chen voluntarily came looking for death, he would obviously oblige. Therefore, he said hurriedly, “Lord Xuanxiao, I also want to change my opponent to Long Chen!”
As for Yin Mengyao, she might stand a chance against Gu Cheng, while Gu Cheng also felt like he had a chance against Yin Mengyao. All four people agreed with this change.
Right now, the crowd saw Jin Sheng’en as the strongest. Since Long Chen had beaten Chu Yunxi, he was ranked below Jin Sheng’en, while Gu Cheng and Yin Mengyao were equal. However, Yin Mengyao wasn’t injured, so she stood a better chance.
From Xuanxiao’s perspective, he naturally should pick the two strongest people, who were Jin Sheng’en and Long Chen. That was why the Grand Elders thought that despite the youths’ insistence, the strange-tempered Dongfang Xuanxiao would not agree.
But for some reason, Dongfang Xuanxiao did not even hesitate to say, “Request accepted.”
This meant that he would abandon either Long Chen or Jin Sheng’en.
The Grand Elders looked at each other, unable to figure him out. If he really favored Long Chen, the best solution would have been to let him fight Gu Cheng, the weakest opponent.
They could not understand the number one master beneath the Heavenly River Realm.
So who would fight first?
Dongfang Xuanxiao’s gaze swept across the group and he said flatly, “Since you all have switched opponents, then the first pair to fight shall be Yin Mengyao and Gu Cheng. This battle shall produce one winner, who shall join the inner family.”
Yin Mengyao and Gu Cheng both heaved sighs of relief. Both of them saw their new opponent as easier than Long Chen and Jin Sheng’en.
They were also considered acquaintances due to knowing Long Chen, so they were on good terms.
Under everyone’s expectant gazes, Yin Mengyao and Gu Cheng landed gracefully in the Abyssal Scorpion nest.
When the scorpions saw them, their red-brown eyes widened and they hissed, waving their claws about, and slashed the venomous stingers on their tails at them!
“We’ll kill the scorpions first, then we can focus on the battle after. What do you think?” suggested Gu Cheng.
“I was thinking the same.” Yin Mengyao grinned.
That was the good thing about having two people on good terms in the Mortal Caves.
If this were Long Chen and Jin Sheng’en, even if they promised to kill the Abyssal Scorpions first, no one could guarantee the other wouldn’t ambush their opponent while they were killing the scorpions.
And killing off the scorpions first wasn’t a violation of the rules at all.
The Abyssal Scorpions were Category Four Black-tier demonic beasts. Gu Cheng was previously poisoned only because he was not careful. This time, both of them were cautious, sticking together and covering for each other to massacre the Abyssal Scorpions.
Due to differing maturity levels, not all the scorpions had the strength of a Category Four Black-tier beast. The two mid Earthly Core Realm cultivators moved carefully, and the number of scorpions slowly decreased.
After about an hour, the cave was cleaned of scorpions. The two of them were a little tired by now.
Both of them decided to sit directly on the ground, recovering their strength. After a while, they finally agreed to truly engage in battle.
That was the benefit of fighting an acquaintance.
Yin Mengyao and Gu Cheng were both open and straightforward people, which was why Long Chen had good relationships with them.
“Let’s fight with all we have; our futures are in our own hands,” said Gu Cheng mildly.
Yin Mengyao nodded. Although Gu Cheng had previously been poisoned, she had also been poisoned. Both sides stood equal chances in this battle. However, the most interesting battle was still going to be Long Chen vs Jin Sheng’en, also the most anticipated battle of the qualifiers!
Very soon, without any external threats, they embarked on an exciting battle. The battle lasted considerably long and both of them fought hard to defeat their opponent.
Both of them are as strong as Chu Yunxi, Long Chen thought to himself.
After a while, Yin Mengyao finally won by a slight margin. This meant that she would join the inner family.
Long Chen was genuinely happy for her. Now she would have the right to enter the Star Devil Prison and find out more about Mo Xiaolang.
The battle required great exertion from Yin Mengyao, so her face looked pale. However, one could imagine the excitement in her heart now that she had a chance to fulfill her dreams.
“Thank you, Long Chen.” If Long Chen hadn’t switched opponents, she wouldn’t have had this chance.
“We’re friends, haha! No need to thank me! Just cheer me on!”
Then Dongfang Xuanxiao announced the start of the next battle.