Long Chen knew that the youths from earlier had complained to her.
If anything, Dongfang Tianya was the one at fault. He was the one who had instigated, so no matter how badly Long Chen beat him up, the blame shouldn’t have been on him. All he had done was teach Dongfang Tianya a little lesson.
“Beat them up?” Long Chen was not afraid. “I’m afraid you’re overestimating me. He’s at the mid Earthly Core Realm at such a young age. How could I possibly beat him up?”
“Do you refuse to admit it?” Seeing Long Chen’s nonchalant attitude made Dongfang Xuanyu even angrier. She would’ve struck him as soon as she saw him if she didn’t have her reservations.
Long Chen looked her in the eye and slowly explained, “I don’t have much to say about what happened today. Dongfang Tianya and the others blocked my path and tried to beat me up, so I did my best to defend myself. I have no idea what they told you, nor do I care.”
“You still dare to lie?” The more she looked at him, the more she hated him. The younger members of the family had always treated her with respect, but Long Chen somehow always pushed back against her.
No matter what the results were, Dongfang Xuanyu would not let him go.
He just entered the inner family, yet he dares to talk back to me just because Dongfang Xuanxiao loves him? I cannot let him get away with this behavior!
Dongfang Xuanyu’s aura locked onto Long Chen as she stated clearly, “Long Chen, not only did you beat up your juniors, you even dared to talk back to me. You’ve gone overboard, so I will punish you by having you kneel in front of the ancestor mausoleum for ten days and ten nights, starting now!”
“Ten days and ten nights?” Long Chen squinted.
“Why? Do you want me to drag you there?” Dongfang Xuanyu’s voice was cold.
Long Chen was speechless. She was beyond reasoning, but that didn’t mean he was afraid of her. If he showed weakness now, she would become even more unreasonable. He could not stand to live beneath her!
“I will not take a single step out of here even if you kill me. I have done nothing wrong, so why should I be punished?” Long Chen was adamant.
“You! I will kill you!” Dongfang Xuanyu was about to attack when she heard a cold grunt from behind her.
“Enough.”
Dongfang Xuanyu knew who the owner of the voice was. She turned around and came face to face with Dongfang Xuanxiao.
“You want to stop me?” When she said this, she was actually very uncertain. Dongfang Xuanxiao was not her real brother, but he was much stronger than her. His temper was also very unpredictable.
“I won’t be seeing you out,” Dongfang Xuanxiao said coldly when he walked past her.
His words were too overbearing. Long Chen thought that he was the hardcore one, but he was just a tiny fish compared to Dongfang Xuanxiao!
“You!” Dongfang Xuanyu’s face was a mixture of bitterness, anger, and shock.
She didn’t know what to do. She was not his opponent and she had lost the battle of words, so she had no choice but to leave in a hurry.
“Xuanxiao, just you wait! I will have Big Brother punish you for defaming me today!”
Dongfang Xuanxiao couldn’t be bothered with her and asked Long Chen, “Why did that stupid bitch come looking for you?”
Even though she was his cousin, Dongfang Xuanxiao had referred to her as “bitch” with zero hesitation. It was clear he didn’t like her.
“I went out today and some kids tried to block me. I punched one of them and then she came running over …” Long Chen smiled bitterly.
Dongfang Xuanxiao didn’t really care about any of that. He merely looked at Long Chen and shook his head. “What’s going on with the Sky Soul Fruit? You wanted to get it in exchange for an entire year’s worth of resources? I’m not sure if I should call you an idiot or not.”
Long Chen knew that Dongfang Xuanyun would tell Dongfang Xuanxiao about the Sky Soul Fruit. Looking from Dongfang Xuanxiao’s viewpoint, Long Chen was a rash idiot. This was why he had come here to ask him about it.
“Stepfather, this is very important to me. Much more important than any rewards. Don’t worry, I’m confident in my decision.”
Dongfang Xuanxiao gave him a good, long look before deciding to trust him. “Alright, then it’s all up to the elders to see whether they approve it or not.”
He had not only helped Long Chen one more time, he had also chosen to trust Long Chen’s rash decision. Long Chen was very thankful for all he had done.
Long Chen was the kind of person who would repay others in kindness if they treated him right.
Just like how he was increasing his strength to save Mo Xiaolang.
“Can I go to the Star Devil Prison now?” Long Chen asked.
“I came here to take you there. There’s only a month left before the tournament, and you only need to stay at the Star Devil Prison for roughly half a month.”
“Alright.” Long Chen nodded. He was excited to go to the famed Star Devil Prison and investigate Mo Xiaolang’s whereabouts.
“Let’s go.” Dongfang Xuanxiao was not the type to linger on matters for too long.
The Eastern Azure Dragon family could enter the Heavenly Martial Realm directly. Long Chen entered the legendary Heavenly Core Realm area for the first time.
There were Category Seven Black-tier beasts here. Some of them could even fight head-to-head with Dongfang Xuanxiao.
Dongfang Xuanxiao had been to the Star Devil Prison numerous times, so he knew the safest path. They soon arrived at their destination without encountering any beasts.
“Is this the Star Devil Prison?” Long Chen was stunned. There was a massive crater in front of him. There was nothing in it except for some bare rocks.
“Look at the middle.”
Long Chen looked at where Dongfang Xuanxiao was pointing and saw a black whirlpool in the middle of the crater. It was spinning and twisting the space around it. There were even hints of light being sucked inside.
“A realm within a realm?” Long Chen said nothing, but Ling Xi was surprised.
“I didn’t expect to see another realm within a Miniverse in this backwater place. Incredible.”
Long Chen dared not ask her about it with Dongfang Xuanxiao so close. He could only do so when they were alone.
“We will reach a Transit Hall once we go through the black whirlpool, then we can go to the Star Devil Prison from there,” Dongfang Xuanxiao explained while approaching the area.
After observing it for a while longer, Long Chen realized that there were four people guarding the whirlpool.
They were heaving heavy armor of different colors, namely azure, vermillion, white, and black. Long Chen deduced that they each belonged to the four families, Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise.
Seeing Dongfang Xuanxiao approaching, the four guards walked towards them. They seemed to be in their twenties and were all at the initial Heavenly Core Realm.
Even though they were still far away, Dongfang Xuanxiao explained calmly, “These are the guards trained personally by the inner family. They are as strong and talented as the geniuses of our family.”
The inner family is indeed strong! Long Chen was surprised but said nothing.
The four of the guards came up to them and got down on one knee when they saw Dongfang Xuanxiao. “We greet Lord Xuanxiao!”
“Stand up.” Dongfang Xuanxiao wasted no time and pointed at Long Chen. “This is Long Chen, the one who passed the qualifiers. He is now my stepson. We are here to go to the Star Devil Prison. Yan Honghai, I will leave him in your care. Take him to the asteroid area to cultivate and explain the Star Devil Prison to him.
The guard wearing the azure armor nodded. “Understood!”
“Alright, I will be on my way. Long Chen, if you want to leave earlier, you can just ask him.”
Long Chen nodded.
After giving instructions, Dongfang Xuanxiao headed out. At the same time, the four guards crowded around Long Chen with interest. “Young Master Long Chen, are you really entering the Star Devil Prison so soon after joining the inner family?”
“You must be working very hard,” the guard wearing vermillion armor said.
Long Chen addressed them politely. “One must be diligent if they want to improve. I felt a lot of pressure After I joined the inner family, so I dare not slack off. I hope everyone here will help me in the Star Devil Prison.”
Long Chen was already a part of the inner family, but he wasn’t snobbish like the others. This made Yan Honghai and the other guards more than happy to be friends with him. They stood guard over the Star Devil Prison every day and were always bored out of their minds. With Long Chen around, they would be able to talk and pass the time.
“Alright, let’s not waste Young Master Long Chen’s time. Come, let me take you into the Star Devil Prison!” Honghai smiled and showed the way.
The Heavenly Martial Realm was a Miniverse. Since the Star Devil Prison was contained within it, it was called a realm within the realm. But Long Chen knew that there were a lot of interesting things in the world, so he didn’t pay a lot of attention to it.
“We will be able to reach the Transit Hall after passing through the black whirlpool. You might feel uncomfortable when you first enter the Star Devil Prison, but don’t be afraid. Nothing will happen to you.” Following Dongfang Xuanxiao’s instructions, Yan Honghai explained everything clearly. He was also doing so because he liked Long Chen.
“No worries. I will be able to endure it.”
Long Chen smiled and followed Yan Honghai towards the black whirlpool. He felt a strong force sucking his body towards it even though he was fairly far away.
“Don’t worry, just let it go.” Yan Honghai turned around and then disappeared into the black whirlpool.
To be more precise, he sank into it.
Long Chen took a deep breath and followed him into the Star Devil Prison.