With such power, they could do whatever they wanted in a place like Thunder Fire Town.
However, Long Chen noticed a young man at the center of the group, protected by them. The young man was clad in luxurious, green, brocade clothing, and he had a fair, hairless face. He seemed to be about Mo Xiaolang’s age, but he radiated arrogance. He was clearly an aristocratic young man who was used to living a life above others.
Long Chen picked up on a familiar aura from him. After some thought, he recalled that it was the Level Two Blazing Thunder Combat Body. This teenager also had a Blazing Thunder Body. He was undeniably one of the Dawn Trading Alliance’s young prodigies. Long Chen guessed that he was at least at the mid Heavenly Core Realm.
“That guy is great in all aspects, but he is no match for you.” Mo Xiaolang had a keen eye. With just one glance, he could analyze this person in great detail.
“You know him?” asked Long Chen.
“I think he is Li Qingling, Li Ziling’s younger brother. The amount of attention he gets from the Dawn Trading Alliance is only second to Li Ziling. He is three years younger than her, and it is estimated that he will achieve the late Heavenly Core Realm by the time he is her age,” said Mo Xiaolang.
“It looks like the resources provided by the Dawn Trading Alliance are definitely not lesser than the Lingwu family, perhaps even more. If the Lingwu family didn’t have you, they wouldn’t be able to keep their mayor title,” mused Long Chen.
They continued chatting and drinking wine when the arrogant Li Qingling took a look around and announced in a shrill voice, “The Dawn Trading Alliance will be reserving the whole restaurant. Everyone must leave within fifteen minutes! Cashier, put it all on my tab! My older sister is coming from Yuanling City, give her the grandest welcome you can. She is one of the top three prodigies of Yuanling City! You will be rewarded generously for this. If you slack off, don’t think you can continue running this restaurant!”
Long Chen put down his chopsticks and smirked.
To be honest, with the power that the Dawn Trading Alliance held in Fire Thunder Town, Li Qingling was not being too unreasonable. At least he had offered to pay for everyone. The other cultivators from smaller factions, despite having eaten half their meals, had no right to say anything when the Dawn Trading Alliance’s name was used, so they left on their own.
The group of blue-armored guards were not just there for display. If they were obedient, the guards were friendly, but anyone who disobeyed them would suffer.
Li Qingling was pleased when he saw the place emptying. Most patrons had left, and Li Qingling gestured and said, “Boss! Quickly clean this whole place up. Don’t let me see a smidge of dirt here! If my sister isn’t satisfied, I’ll kill your whole family!”
The boss of the Fire Thunder Restaurant was terrified after Li Qingling’s threat and quickly called all his staff over to clean up the mess left behind by the other patrons. Li Qingling smiled, very satisfied.
“Young Master, there’s someone on the second floor who hasn’t left,” reported one of the guards in his ear.
“What?” Li Qingling jumped up. He had not expected anyone to refuse to leave. This was blatant disrespect! Furious, he led his group of guards to storm the second floor, arriving in front of Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang.
“Big Brother, should we leave?” asked Mo Xiaolang.
“There’s no need.” Long Chen poured more wine for Mo Xiaolang. “This brat has gotten used to his arrogant ways. I need to teach him a lesson.”
Mo Xiaolang nodded.
When he said that, Li Qingling had already rushed upstairs. When he saw the duo ignoring him, he wasted no time in instructing the guard next to him, “Chop these two up and feed them to the fishes in the river!”
“Yes, Young Master!” The group of blue-armored guards rushed towards Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang.
Long Chen was too lazy to talk to them. The best way to deal with people like that, specifically the arrogant type that treated other people’s lives like blades of straw, was with action.
With his current strength, he needed to use his Dragon Soul Transformation to deal with the brat. But that would be too dramatic, so he turned to Mo Xiaolang and said, “Give that brat two slaps. Turn him into a pighead!”
Then he rushed to the center of the guards and slapped everyone once. When everyone had turned red and green from the slaps, he threw them downstairs, one by one. When he had thrown half of them, Mo Xiaolang slapped Li Qingling until his head swelled like a pig’s head and also tossed him downstairs.
Cries of agony rang through the restaurant.
Long Chen sped up, and very soon, all the guards had been thrown down the stairs. He clapped his hands and smiled with satisfaction. “How dare you threaten me! That was stupid of you. This is just a small lesson for you all. Next time, I’ll throw them into the river to feed the fish. Xiaolang, let’s go!”
Li Qingling had been taught a lesson. Once Li Ziling arrived, she would likely be accompanied by many masters too. Inciting conflict would not be a wise choice then, so after Long Chen beat them up, he decided to leave.
The ground floor of the restaurant echoed with cries of agony. Under the shocked gazes of the waiters and the boss, they both sprinted out of the restaurant. Long Chen then picked a spot to hide, a place where he could see the restaurant but wouldn’t need to worry about being spotted.
Long Chen turned to ask Mo Xiaolang, “Li Ziling is likely coming here to suppress the Blazing Thunder Crystal Soul. Xiaolang, do you think we stand a chance with the two of us fighting together?”
“The emissaries of the Dawn Trading Alliance are not their core members. Although they are at the late Heavenly Core Realm, they are around the same level as the nine outer Grand Elders. It will be hard for me to kill five of them, but it’s definitely alright if I only need to keep them occupied so they can’t leave to disturb you,” said Mo Xiaolang.
“So that means I will need to snatch the Blazing Thunder Crystal Soul from that muscular woman?” Long Chen was filled with battle spirit when he thought about this opponent who was almost as strong as Mo Xiaolang.
“Muscular? Li Ziling? I heard Li Ziling is as beautiful as a fairy. Looking at Li Qingling’s face, his sister must look quite good too,” said Mo Xiaolang, puzzled.
Long Chen didn’t know what she looked like. However, he instinctively thought that a girl who could complete the Level Three Blazing Thunder Body was one of those muscular, vicious types. But reality proved him wrong.
Although she didn’t possess soul-shaking beauty like Ling Xi did, she was on the level of an immortal fairy. She wore a long, purple dress and had a delicate figure—tall and thin with skin as white as snow. She was definitely in the top ranks of Yuanling City in terms of beauty.
However, like her younger brother, she radiated arrogance. Although it was hidden well, it was very clear in Long Chen’s eyes.
Being escorted by even more guards, Li Ziling entered the Fire Thunder Restaurant with the five older emissaries by her side.
“Say, what do you think she’ll do when she sees her brother screaming on the ground, his head looking like a pig?” Long Chen was curious.
The moment he asked the question, a portion of the restaurant collapsed along with a chorus of cries. A huge plume of dust rose to the sky. Long Chen could faintly see the iciness and rage on her face.
“This girl is spicy,” said Long Chen in shock.
She was so angry that she caused part of the restaurant to collapse, so she naturally had no intention of resting there. Her group left for the mountain range outside town, along with the pig-headed Li Qingling.
“They’re going to the Fire Thunder Mountain Range. There aren’t other mid Heavenly Core Realm cultivators amongst them, so the Blazing Thunder Crystal Soul must have been prepared for Li Qingling. Let’s follow them now.” Long Chen waved Mo Xiaolang over and followed them sneakily.
If Ling Xi were here, she would have noticed that Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang had picked up two pursuers.
Two black-clothed people were hidden in a dark corner, their eyes filled with bloodlust.
***
Very quickly, the people of the Dawn Trading Alliance exited Fire Thunder Town and entered the Fire Thunder Mountain Range. Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang followed from afar, strategizing.
“Big Brother, the crystal soul is extremely violent. Although Li Ziling and the crystal soul are elementally the same, she will still exhaust a lot of power to suppress it. Since she will be exhausted moments after the suppression is complete, you’ll have a high chance of succeeding if you attack then. I’ll help you keep the five emissaries occupied. What do you think?” said Mo Xiaolang.
“That’s perfect. Haha, when your big brother gets the Blazing Thunder Crystal Soul, you’ll be rewarded generously,” said Long Chen with a grin.
“Big Brother, rescuing me out of the Azure Dragon Star was already the greatest gift ever. A Blazing Thunder Crystal Soul is nothing.” Mo Xiaolang smiled innocently.
The more Long Chen talked to him, the more he felt like he was the evil one. Or rather, no matter how he hid it, the evilness in him would be revealed whenever he was faced with Mo Xiaolang’s innocence.
Whatever. I’ll let him help me get the crystal soul. Next time, I’ll help him hunt the Earth-tier beast and deal with the people who murdered his family. Perhaps this is what Grandfather called ‘brotherhood.’ We take care of each other, share each other’s joy and tears, risk our lives together, and bask in glory together! Long Chen thought to himself.
The deeper they trekked into the Fire Thunder Mountain Range, the higher the temperature. Long Chen could faintly sense the auras of Blazing Thunder Crystals. After an hour, they arrived at a mine that wasn’t large but was well kept. There were at least a thousand blue-armored cultivators present, and all of them were at least the late Human Core Realm. They were guarding the mine tightly.
There was a hole in the wall of the mountain, which was the entrance. Miners entered and exited the mine belonging to the Dawn Trading Alliance. Those who exited were usually transporting Blazing Thunder Crystals that had not been processed yet. Those crystals were still covered in rock, dust, and soil, so they looked like plain rocks.
“Attention, everyone! Stop all mining now! Let Miss Ziling enter to suppress the Blazing Thunder Crystal Soul!” bellowed one of the emissaries.
