This was a celebratory day for the Northern Black Tortoise family, so many outsiders were walking around the outside of the Black Tortoise Pavilion. That was why no one was suspicious when a teenager quietly made his way to the entrance. Everyone jumped in shock when the symbol made of fire crystals above the entrance was pulverized to dust. All eyes turned to the source of the commotion.
Someone was here to cause trouble. Even the three inner families, aside from the Northern Black Tortoise family, frowned. Causing trouble at the wedding of the number one prodigy of the Northern Black Tortoise was the equivalent of slapping the whole Lingwu family across the face!
“Who are you?! You must be looking for death!” Whoosh! Beitang Ming shot out of his seat, and his hawk-like gaze swept towards the newcomer. When he saw the teenager’s face, shock filled his eyes for a moment.
His son, Beitang Mo, hadn’t heard the Azure Dragon Patriarch’s personal recount of Long Chen’s ending, so he wasn’t as shocked. However, Dongfang Xuanfeng and the rest, who knew that Long Chen could never survive, were filled with disbelief when they saw him.
Beitang Ming cried, “Long Chen, how are you still alive?”
The mention of his name woke everyone from their shock!
When Long Chen took the Azure Dragon Halberd into the Star Devil Prison, the Eastern Azure Dragon family was very worried. When the Qi seed within Long Chen’s body lost its effect or he died, the halberd should have returned to the ancestral mausoleum automatically.
But one month had passed, yet the halberd had not returned.
It was impossible for Long Chen to survive the fall from the Star Devil Prison, so the Azure Dragon Patriarch concluded that the outcome was due to the special property of the Star Devil Prison. Losing the Azure Dragon Halberd was a huge blow to the Eastern Azure Dragon family. The Azure Dragon Patriarch had been panicking over hunting down Dongfang Xuanxiao as well as worrying about the Azure Dragon Halberd’s location. As for Dongfang Xuanfeng and Dongfang Xuanyu, when they heard that the Azure Dragon Halberd was lost, they cried for several days.
To them, Long Chen’s sudden appearance was extremely shocking, but also the greatest news. Long Chen wasn’t dead, which meant that the Azure Dragon Halberd was still present. This was no doubt good news.
The joy from this news made them forget to wonder why Long Chen hadn’t died and why the Azure Dragon Halberd hadn’t returned to the ancient mausoleum even though the Qi seed in Long Chen had long disappeared.
When they heard his name, everyone who had heard of him was shocked by his actions. They started to point and gossip about him.
Two people present were in a daze.
They were Yang Yuntian and Yang Lingqing.
They had been told that Long Chen was dead. Yet Beitang Mo had yelled out his name, and Yang Yuntian had seen him with his own eyes. He was alive and well, and seemed to be even stronger than before. Why had everyone said that he was dead?
Yang Lingqing teared up instantly. She didn’t care if it could be a trick. When she lifted her red veil, she saw the person walking in with his chest out and shoulders back. Wasn’t that Long Chen?
When she saw that it was him, warmth filled her heart. Under his gaze, her heart, which was like a dried and barren land, instantly turned into a lush, green oasis. An invisible willpower surged within her.
Strength. This was something that Long Chen had taught her countless times, and also a quality that every girl had to possess. Only strength would allow a person to live a good life with dignity.
“… Is that really you? Big Brother …” She choked and hurriedly wiped her red eyes.
Long Chen saw her tears.
Just as he expected, the girl could not deal with all of her problems on her own. The Northern Black Tortoise family had been using the Yang family to threaten her, adding on to her stress.
Rage and killing intent grew slowly in his chest.
“Long Chen, you’re not dead?” Beitang Mo, who was standing next to Yang Lingqing, glared at him coldly. He didn’t know what had gone wrong with the Azure Dragon Patriarch’s declaration, but Long Chen wasn’t dead and that was the truth. Now he had to accept this truth. He would investigate later! “Here to cause trouble again?”
Long Chen was obviously here to cause trouble. Last time, Beitang Mo’s long-time fantasy had been interrupted due to his interference. Although he had gotten a chance to slap Long Chen once, it didn’t seem to have any effect. The brat was, to his surprise, still lively as ever. Now Dongfang Xuanxiao was the equivalent of a rat in the streets, so Long Chen had no one to back him. So, how dare he come wreak havoc here?!
When Beitang Mo saw that Yang Lingqing had broken tradition and lifted her red veil prematurely, embarrassing the Northern Black Tortoise family, killing intent burned in his chest. Without a word, he strode heavily towards Long Chen!
Long Chen’s eyes were fixed on him. “Beitang Mo! I’ve said this before. If you want to forcefully marry my cousin, you’ll do it over my dead body! The Northern Black Tortoise is a prominent clan. I can’t believe you would dare to do something so shameless! You are forcing this marriage by holding the Yang family hostage—what a shameless tactic!” Long Chen smirked as he slowly approached Beitang Mo.
Those words were like a huge slap to the entire Northern Black Tortoise family’s face. Everyone’s faces turned green. Beitang Ming and Beitang Mo’s faces were so dark, they almost bled!
Few outsiders knew that Yang Lingqing had been forced into this marriage. However, they saw how Yang Lingqing had lifted her veil to reveal a teary face, plus her cousin had just stormed the wedding. Everyone knew what this clearly meant.
Indeed, the Northern Black Tortoise family looked bad in this scenario. The crowd was privately snickering at this, wanting to see how they would end this entertaining show.
Before he made a move, Beitang Ming gave Dongfang Xuanfeng a look. “Nonsense! You spout nonsense! Brother Xuanfeng, tell me! How should I deal with this rebellious child?”
“Long Cheng is the rebellious stepson of that traitor. He is no longer a member of the Eastern Azure Dragon family! He is spouting nonsense and telling lies; he should be executed! Brother Beitang, do what you need to and protect Lingwu’s dignity!” Dongfang Xuanfeng bellowed immediately.
Now that he had obtained Dongfang Xuanfeng’s permission, Beitang Mo smirked coldly. Long Chen was less than twenty meters away from him. This meant that he was close enough to kill.
The show was going to end soon, and the audience felt like it was too short.
Two of the nine Grand Elders shot malicious glares when they saw that Long Chen had survived. However, he was as good as dead now, so they sighed in relief. Despite not killing him personally, his death could be considered a form of closure after what had happened to Chu Yunxi and Jin Sheng’en.
The Grand Elders in question were Chu Tianxiong and Jin Luan.
“I didn’t expect this at all. This brat was only at the initial Earthly Core Realm at the time. It’s been less than two months, and he’s already grown to this level after joining the inner family.” Chu Tianxiong was a little surprised.
“It doesn’t matter how talented he is, he is going to die here and now. Beitang Mo is at the mid Heavenly Core Realm. With the Northern Black Tortoise family’s wealth, a fight between him and I would probably end in a draw, so he can kill Long Chen in one strike! I don’t know where that brat gets his courage from. How dare he cause trouble here,” said Jin Luan coldly.
In truth, Yang Lingqing was thinking the same. Her heart was filled with joy and love when he first arrived, but when she recalled his cultivation level and realized that he was not strong enough to fight the Northern Black Tortoise, her face paled instantly! She panicked and screamed with all her might, “Big Brother! Leave now!” Her tears were previously flowing from shock, but now they flowed from fear and worry!
“Leave?” He approached Beitang Mo menacingly while his aura strengthened. “How could I, Long Chen, ever leave? Haha!” The Qi of a Heavenly Core Realm cultivator surged within his body. Although he hadn’t undergone the Dragon Soul Transformation or taken out the Azure Dragon Halberd, he was scary enough.
“The Yin Poison Strike didn’t kill you last time only because I hadn’t used all my strength! You brat! You are no longer a member of the Lingwu family; how dare you embarrass the Northern Black Tortoise by interfering with my wedding! I will kill you today!” Beitang Mo’s voice was as cold as ever. His footsteps quickened, and the twenty-meter gap closed in one second.
A cold Yin Qi swirled quickly in his hand, generating gusts of wind that invoked fear in others. His palm was already moving towards Long Chen’s chest! “Yin Poison Strike!” he roared.
The crowd was startled by it, privately praising the Lingwu family’s power. At the same time, they were looking forward to seeing how Long Chen would die.
“Do you really think you can kill me with just that?” Long Chen chuckled coldly. Bits of starlight appeared on his finger, and the air trembled around it. When he accelerated and charged at Beitang Mo, the starlight instantly turned into a shining arc of Sword Qi, colliding with the Yin Poison Strike!
Several deafening booms and powerful shockwaves shook even the pillars of the great hall!
“What?” What shocked everyone was that Long Chen hadn’t been killed in one strike like they expected. After the impact, both of them were blasted backwards by their opponent’s attack, unable to stabilize themselves!
As they stumbled backwards, several deep craters were formed beneath their feet!
The depth of the craters allowed them to gauge how powerful the two young men were! It was not surprising that Beitang Mo could do this, but how was Long Chen’s attack equal to his?
That’s impossible! What just happened? Beitang Mo was shocked. He could sense that Long Chen was not at all weaker than himself.
Did he make another breakthrough … With that thought, his determination to kill Long Chen intensified.
On the other side, Yang Lingqing had clearly witnessed the collision. While she was familiar with Beitang Mo’s strength, she was shocked by Long Chen. How had Long Chen go from being a weakling to being equal to Beitang Mo within just half a year?
When she looked at the person who had created so many miracles, she called out, “Big Brother …”
Her tone was filled with admiration and respect. And, of course, great pride too.