Long Chen was startled when he heard the knocking. Liu Lan had done the same last time, appearing before him as a seductress, teasing him at his quarters.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, it’s just that old geezer,” huffed Ling Xi, getting back into the Ling Xi Sword.
When Long Chen heard her, he instantly knew who it was. He opened the door and indeed, it was Liu Yuan. Long Chen wanted to joke around with him, but he saw that Liu Yuan looked very worried.
“Long Chen, have you seen Lan’er? I realized that she’s not in her room.”
“I haven’t seen her. Maybe she’s taking a walk?” He couldn’t let Liu Yuan know about the matter between him and Liu Lan, so he merely gave him a nonchalant response.
Liu Lan isn’t in her room?
Long Chen thought to himself, Did she get too afraid of me and run away? That woman pretended to be some experienced lover, I see now that she’s just a shy virgin.
Seeing as Long Chen hadn’t seen Liu Lan either, Liu Yuan left. Nothing much could happen in the Nine Devils Mountain Village, though as a father, he was just worried about her.
“Where would she go?” Ling Xi was curious.
“I don’t know. Maybe she went back to the Lingwu family.” This was just a minor interruption to Long Chen. He took out the halberd he had gotten from Li Feng and practiced waving it around. He realized that it suited him well, and it was much better than any other sword, knife, or lance.
“I think it’ll be fun to get a halberd technique.” Long Chen couldn’t help but feel attracted to the Azure Dragon Halberd.
The Azure Dragon Halberd was a legendary Earth-tier Divine Weapon whose qualities exceeded its tier. It was probably the most formidable weapon in Yuanling County, and it came with a legendary Earth-tier martial technique.
If Long Chen could get a divine weapon like that, he would be a formidable presence. He could do whatever he wanted in Yuanling County and within the Lingwu family, rather than be a small pawn used by the Lingwu family.
Ling Xi is right. Mo Xiaolang has the extremely cool Heavenly Wolf Dagger; if I don’t get an extraordinary weapon, then I’ll look a little sad. But how will I ever get my hands on the Dongfang family’s Azure Dragon Halberd?
Long Chen was mulling over this question when Ling Xi exclaimed, “Someone is coming!”
“Who is it!”
The door was suddenly flung open and a black figure was seen running away. Long Chen was about to give chase when a paper note flew towards him. He reached out to catch it but was blasted a few steps back.
“That was strong. Who was that?”
When he caught the paper, the black-clothed figure was already gone. That person had an average stature, so it was difficult to identify them. However, Long Che knew that the only people who could move so freely in the Nine Devils Mountain Village were Lingwu family members.
“Ling Xi, do you know who that was?”
“I don’t know. They ran too fast, so I couldn’t tell.” Ling Xi was frustrated. She looked at the paper in his hand and said, “There are words on it. What does it say?”
Long Chen looked closer and realized that it read: If you want Liu Lan alive, come alone to the dilapidated template twelve and a half kilometers [1] west of the Nine Devils Mountain Village! If we find anyone with you, we will kill Liu Lan immediately!
“What is this?” Long Chen’s face changed.
“Did that woman get kidnapped? Who would kidnap her?” Although Ling Xi resented her, she was too kind-hearted not to worry when she thought about how a fellow sister was in danger.
“Although they caught Liu Lan, it’s obvious that their target is me.” Long Chen’s eyes were filled with killing intent.
He knew that Liu Lan had decided to leave because of himself, and she had unfortunately been targeted by someone else.
“Long Chen, what do we do?” Ling Xi was panicking a little. She was too used to being carefree, so she was at a loss when faced with a problem like this.
“What else can we do? We’ll go check it out.” Long Chen was already out the door.
“Looks like there’s another huge battle coming.” In truth, he had strong suspicions of the culprit. There were only a few people in the village, so who else could it be?
However, he still had to make sure, so he went to the quarters of the Turquoise and Gold families. He snuck around the area nearby when a sudden, cold voice called out, “Long Chen, what are you doing here?”
Long Chen turned around. It was Chu Tianxiong with Jin Luan by his side. Chu Fengqing and the others were behind him.
They were obviously in the middle of a late-night chat. However, Long Chen noticed that Jin Sheng’en and Chu Yunxi were missing.
Jin Luan and the others were high-level cultivators, so it was easy for them to notice Long Chen sneaking around suspiciously. That was why they had come out to question him. Long Chen’s objective was just to find out where they were.
It looks like Chu Tianxiong and Jin Luan aren’t brave enough to touch me now that I’m a member of the inner family. Only the younger ones would do something this rash …
Having obtained the information he needed, Long Chen left without a word. Chu Tianxiong and Jin Luan looked at each other after he left.
Chu Tianxiong sighed. “If we don’t kill this brat today, he’ll definitely be a major problem for us in the future.” Although he hadn’t personally seen him defeating Jin Sheng’en, he had gotten the information from the others.
At the time, the Chu family had left early after being humiliated by Long Chen, so they were not present during the announcement of the final results. It was still raining hard then, so they had stayed back at the Nine Devils Mountain Village and had not returned to the Lingwu family.
“But he’s an inner family member now, and Lord Xuanxiao knows of the conflict between him and us. If anything happens to him, he’ll definitely blame it on us. So what can we do?”
Jin Luan looked helpless.
“Thank goodness Young Master Tianyu gave Sheng’en a Cloud Fruit. His injuries have almost completely healed. It would’ve been bad if it turned into a chronic condition.”
“What? He also gave Xi’er a Cloud Fruit …”
***
Aren’t they injured? Where do they get the strength to do this nonsense? Long Chen relaxed a littleafter confirming that this wasn’t planned by Chu Tianxiong and Jin Luan.
“Let’s go to the dilapidated temple they mentioned.” Long Chen headed towards the west side of the Nine Devil Mountain Village.
“Long Chen, you seem to care a lot about her.” Ling Xi pursed her lips, a little unhappy.
“Silly girl, she’s only a friend. And when my friends are in trouble, I save them. But Ling Xi, you’re different. You’re basically my other half! If you die, I die,” said Long Chen romantically.
“Tsk, no one’s buying that, you idiot!” Although she looked like she didn’t care, her heart was filled with sweetness after hearing the sly fox’s words.
The storm was fearsomely intense; even the black-armored guards that were guarding the Nine Devil Mountain Village on his arrival were nowhere to be found.
Long Chen walked out and was greeted with pouring rain hitting his body. If it wasn’t for the invisible shield of Qi around him, he would have been soaked.
A black-clothed person was standing quietly in a dark corner. When Long Chen left the compound, this person sneered.
“He actually went to confirm if the Grand Elders were behind this. The brat’s quite smart, but Chu Yunxi and Jin Sheng’en are a little different from what you expect, different enough to be a threat to your life …”
Rumble, rumble!
The pouring rain drowned out his voice.
Long Chen’s eyes were fixed on the rain as he traveled westward.
Rumble!
Thunder boomed frequently across the skies, its piercing rumbling sounded again and again in his ears. Frightening lightning turned the dark night into day every time it flashed.
“Long Chen, I feel like something is wrong. They lost to you earlier today and know that they are no match for you, so why are they still doing this?” Ling Xi asked anxiously.
“Also, most importantly, that bitch is at the late Earthly Core Realm, so even though they’re both strong, they’re not strong enough to capture her without getting hurt themselves, right?”
Long Chen had thought about this too.
“This means that there are other people helping them. Who was that black-clothed person?” The events of tonight had gotten convoluted.
However, despite these worries, he couldn’t abandon Liu Lan. If he didn’t go, who knew what tragedies would befall her?
Long Chen knew that Chu Yunxi previously drooled over Liu Lan’s beauty. Long Chen himself hadn’t even touched her, so how could he let Chu Yunxi get her instead? How would his pride take this?
He sped up, sprinting through the Nine Devil Mountains, heading towards the dilapidated temple.
Twelve and a half kilometers wasn’t far to him, so he soon found a dilapidated temple in the dark of the night, shakily standing in the rain as if it would collapse anytime.
“This is it.” Long Chen held his breath when he arrived.
“Hey, if something serious happens, I’ll be using my power,” said Ling Xi.
“How much power do you have from the Soul Grass?”
“Uh … After the last time, there’s two-thirds left,” said Ling Xi, sticking her tongue out cutely.
“Usually, I wouldn’t need your help. But if there is an emergency, for example, if I’m about to die, you can help me. Though you must promise me to never let your soul power diminish to below one-third. Or I’ll never forgive you, even if I live!”
Long Chen’s expression was solemn when he spoke.
“Alright, alright. You look like an old man when you furrow your brows, hehe.”
Long Chen laughed with Ling Xi, but when he looked at the temple, his mood was somber.
I see that you plan to kill me. We’ll see who gets killed in the end! This time, it’s either me or you!
Long Chen sped up and rushed towards the temple.
There were holes in all four walls of the temple, but the ceiling was complete, so it blocked out most of the wind and rain.
As soon as he entered, he spotted Jin Sheng’en, who was chuckling while Chu Yunxi was tearing at Liu Lan’s clothes like a wild animal. A huge patch of fair skin was revealed while a very pale Liu Lan lay there in despair, her delicate body trembling as tears welled in her eyes …
1. 12.5 km was converted from the unit 25 li ☜