A Divine Gale Peng was much faster than a Black Scaled Dragon Horse. Long Chen soon arrived at Yuanling City. This time, returned as one of the elites of the county.
He wasn’t even at the Divine Core Realm the first time he set foot here. He was nothing but a speck of sand.
In just an hour, he was back at the Eastern Azure Dragon family.
Officially, Long Chen had been exiled from the family.
I want to enter the ruins and yet you want to exile me? Ha, let’s see what you can do if I don’t budge.
Long Chen was very brave to do so. Although Li Xuanji was gone, he was still using her presence and name to threaten the Lingwu family. He wanted to be allowed to fight in the ancient ruins. Long Chen would be killed if the Lingwu family found out that Li Xuanji was gone, but he knew that wouldn’t happen, as Li Xuanji had made the Patriarch completely terrified of her.
Back in the family, several youths were surprised to see him. None of them dared to block Long Chen, they just ran inside while shouting. Soon, everyone within the Eastern Azure Dragon family knew that Long Chen had returned. When he reached the Xuanfeng Pavillion on his own, the others were just behind him. The gloomy Patriarch was at the front of the crowd.
When he saw that the scary woman beside Long Chen was not there, the Eastern Azure Dragon family Patriarch felt the pressure in his heart loosen up a bit.
The Patriarch went straight to the main point. “Long Chen, where is the senior that came with you that day?”
“You mean my master? She’s an insanely strong cultivator who appears and disappears as she wants. How would I know where she is now?” Long Chen said in a serious tone. None of them saw through his bluff.
“Master?” Everyone took a deep breath. They had suspected that it was a possibility, and now it was confirmed that she was indeed his master.
The Patriarch, who had once injured Long Chen, was not looking good. Him and the elders kept wondering why the Azure Dragon Halberd had disappeared without any reason, but it seemed that Long Chen’s Master might’ve used a secret technique to achieve that.
The Azure Dragon Halberd was just a toy for her.
“You’ve been exiled from the family, so why are you back?” Dongfang Xuanyu’s tone was harsh and cold.
She wasn’t young, but her brain was still dull. She was the one with the slowest uptake amongst the four of her generation.
“Who said I was exiled?” Long Chen laughed, and the Azure Dragon Halberd appeared in his hand. In front of everyone’s shocked gazes, Long Chen twirled it around. “To be fair, my master helped me make the Azure Dragon Halberd mine. It belongs to me now and it has recognized me as the owner. The Azure Dragon Halberd is the treasure of the Eastern Azure Dragon family, and now I have it. How am I an outsider?”
Long Chen’s words spread a huge shockwave amidst the family.
The Patriarch had a gloomy look on his face. The worst-case scenario had come true for him.
When the Azure Dragon Halberd did not return, the Patriarch had a feeling that it might be similar to Mo Xiaolang’s case, where the Divine Weapon recognized him as the owner. And now the truth was in front of his very eyes. Even though they did not want to recognize it, they had no choice but to believe it.
Some of the high ranked family members felt like their assumptions had been confirmed after Long Chen told them Li Xuanji had helped him control the Azure Dragon Halberd.
A cultivator would not take care of a stranger’s needs if they weren’t master and disciple.
Now the only way to take the Azure Dragon Halberd back was to kill Long Chen, but since he was under Li Xuanji’s protection, the entire Lingwu family might be wiped out if they did.
The Eastern Azure Dragon family had no choice but to look at the bigger picture.
Long Chen was laughing internally. If they knew the truth, they would’ve died from shock. The reason his trick had worked was because he was bold enough and smart enough to make the lie believable, to the point that all of the elders believed him.
They were glaring at Long Chen when they saw him put the Azure Dragon Halberd back in Universe Pouch, especially Dongfang Tianchen. The latter clenched his fists but dared not move, his eyes filled with killing intent.
The treasure of the Azure Dragon family was now in Long Chen’s hands.
“Long Chen, just get straight to the point. Why are you here?” the Patriarch suddenly asked. He already knew that Long Chen had an ulterior motive for coming here.
“I want to represent the family to go to the ruins.”
“Impossible!” Dongfang Xuanyu cried out, her face anxious.
There were only two spots given to the Azure Dragon family. One would belong to Dongfang Tianchen, while the other would either belong to Dongfang Tianxing or Dongfang Tianxuan. Even though Long Chen had the Azure Dragon Halberd, he was powerless against the geniuses from Yuandi City and the Dawn Trading Alliance. He would be wasting their chances!
The only reason they hadn’t killed Long Chen was not because he was strong, but because he had Li Xuanji protecting him.
“Why not?” Long Chen chuckled.
Thinking that Li Xuanji could come back at any moment, Dongfang Xuanyu had no choice but to lower her voice and persuade Long Chen. “The one remaining spot will belong to either Tianxuan or Tianxing. The battle in the ancient ruins will determine who gets to rule for the next twenty years, and this concerns the entire Lingwu family. We cannot make such a change just because of your whims. Long Chen, this concerns the lives of the twenty-thousand Lingwu family members!”
“I don’t think you understand. Do you mean that as long as I’m strong enough, I will be allowed to go? I can just defeat both Dongfang Tianxuan and Dongfang Tianxing.”
“You?” Dongfang Tianyu didn’t know what to say and looked at her father. The Patriarch contemplated it. “If you are stronger than Tianxuan and Tianxing, then you will pass. But you have to give it your all to help the Lingwu family obtain the inheritance.”
To be fair, Dongfang Tianxing had been defeated by Long Chen before. Even though he had improved a lot in a month, he was still not Long Chen’s opponent. On the other hand, Dongfang Tianxuan, who had cultivated an Earth-tier martial technique, was likely stronger than Long Chen.
“If that’s the case, then let’s go to the Mortal Arena. Old man, you were the one who said that I could represent the family to enter the ancient ruins as long as I defeated them!” Long Chen smiled and looked at both Dongfang TIanxuan and Dongfang Tianxing. Both of them clenched their fists while glaring at Long Chen. They were just one step away from losing their rationality.
Long Chen remembered how Dongfang Xuanxiao, Xuan Ming, himself, and Mo Xiaolang had struggled bitterly against the Patriarch. But now Long Chen was capable of not only trespassing into Lingwu family territory, he could even blackmail them with just a few words. He felt liberated. One couldn’t treat another poorly, as that person might end up becoming stronger.
“Fine, the Mortal Arena it is! Grandfather, let me see how strong he is. To think that he would dare to talk shit about our family!” Dongfang Tianxuan thought Long Chen was targeting her and felt angry.
Dongfang Tianxing was indeed weaker than her, so she was the most likely candidate to be chosen to fight in the ancient ruins. And Long Chen was messing up her plan, so it was natural that she would get angry.
Since the conditions had been set, everyone made their way towards the Mortal Arena.
“Tianxuan, fight with all your strength, but don’t kill him. We cannot kill him now.” The Patriarch’s voice was hoarse and his face was filled with resignation.
Dongfang Tianxuan swore to herself that she would beat up Long Chen after seeing how her grandfather, whom she idolized a lot, was resigned to this.
Long Chen is a disgrace for using a woman’s strength to show off. He’s a useless man!
Everyone arrived at the Mortal Arena. Long Chen said nothing and went up on stage before taunting both Dongfang Tianxing and Dongfang Tianxuan. “Both of you can come up together so that we don’t waste time.”
“What did you say?” Dongfang Tianxuan’s face flushed red with anger. She took Long Chen lightly, but she had never thought he would do the same.
“Tianxuan, agree to it. Don’t let this chance slip by.” The Patriarch’s voice came from beside her. Dongfang Tianxuan knew that the Patriarch was asking both of them to fight Long Chen together as insurance. Long Chen was the one who had proposed it, not the family, so there was nothing he could do if he lost.
Dongfang Tianxing and Dongfang Tianxuan looked at each other before walking up the stage under the hopeful gazes of the family.
“Dongfang Tianxing, do you remember how you lost to me last time we were here?”
Dongfang Tianxing’s face was red with anger. It was indeed the largest regret of his life.
“Don’t get too happy. I will take revenge for that day!” Dongfang TIanxing snarled.
“Idiot,” Long Chen responded.
Dongfang Tianxing and Dongfang Tianxuan separated and got on either side of Long Chen.
“Brat, use your Beast Soul Transformation!” Dongfang Tianxing knew that Long Chen needed to transform to reach the peak of his strength.
“Transform? Don’t make me laugh. I don’t have to transform to beat you!”
He was at the initial Heavenly Core Realm, the same as them, so there was no need to transform.