Once out of the ruins, they had to decide who would become the Immortal Guard. This was important to Long Chen, but there was a problem now.
Long Chen had indeed obtained the true inheritance, but to the others, Yan Danqing was the one who had obtained it. If Long Chen revealed the truth, he would definitely be able to obtain the post of Immortal Guard, but that was a bad choice. The Ninth Prince would be interested in the Divine Fire Clone technique, and there was no way Long Chen would part ways with it.
Long Chen was trying to figure out how to become an Immortal Guard through other means. His strongest value was being stronger than Yan Danqing. Since the Ninth Prince wanted to choose someone to be an Immortal Guard, he would naturally choose the strongest. Long Chen refused to believe he had no chance at all.
After deciding on a course of action, Long Chen made the decision not to reveal that he had obtained the complete inheritance. He could explain it some other time if he used those techniques in public later on. After all, he would be much stronger by then and would not be easy to bully.
Everyone also sensed that the gates were being opened. None of them wanted to stay here any longer, so they ran towards the exit. They were still separated into three groups, with Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang walking leisurely at the back.
Yan Danqing was leading the first group. He did not look back, because he knew Long Chen was just behind them. His eyes were filled with hatred and his right arm was safely secured in his Universe Pouch. He would only be able to restore it once he was back in Yuandi City. Before that, he was just a cripple.
Every time he thought about how Long Chen had cut off his arm, anger would bubble in his heart.
None of them spoke as they ran out of the ruins and returned to their original location. When they exited, two flashes of light flew out. The Patriarchs from the Lingwu family recognized what they were—the Black Tortoise Axe and the Heavenly Wolf Dagger. That meant that their owners had perished.
They knew that a few people would lose their lives in the ruins. Even though the Lingwu family felt a sense of loss with Beitang Mo’s death, they were more shocked that Mo Xiaolang was dead too. Still, Mo Xiaolang was essentially an outsider, while Beitang Mo’s grandfather was standing there with them.
When the youths were back in the Burning Heaven Mountain Range, they each sought their own factions.
Long Chen came out with Mo Xiaolang in his arms, and he saw that everyone was waiting for them outside. The Ninth Prince, Lin Cangtian, and the black butler were on one side, while the Dawn Trading Alliance, Emperor Yuan, and the two strongest fighters under him were waiting anxiously on the other. The four Patriarchs as well as some elders were also waiting at the Lingwu family’s corner. People like Dongfang Xuanfeng and Beitang Ming, who were busy handling the family, had not come here. Only Dongfang Xuanyu was standing beside the Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch.
When Long Chen and the others walked out, the Lingwu family checked on them to see who was injured and who had died. With the appearance of the Black Tortoise Axe, everyone knew that Beitang Mo was dead, and they quickly noticed that Dongfang Tianchen was missing.
Li Ziling from the Dawn Trading Alliance looked very fatigued too, and Yan Danqing was missing an arm!
The only one who didn’t have any injuries was Long Chen. Everyone looked at him and assumed that he had obtained the inheritance.
All of them quickly ushered the youths back to their factions, leaving Long Chen standing alone.
“What happened?” the Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch asked everyone.
“Brother Tianchen and Beitang Mo were killed by Long Chen!” Dongfang Tianxuan said while gritting her teeth.
“What?!” All of the Patriarchs were angry. They glared at Long Chen with hatred.
The Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch glared at Long Chen. “Long Chen, didn’t you promise me that you would fight alongside them?”
“I did, but some people are just too stubborn to understand. They tried to take the Azure Dragon Halberd from me and ended up losing their lives. I blame myself for not holding back.”
“You!” The Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch had a rough idea of what had happened, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t get angry about losing the family’s strongest fighters. Still, Lin Cangtian was around, so he could do nothing to Long Chen. Unfortunately, however, someone else was blinded by hatred.
When Dongfang Xuanyu saw Long Chen’s despicable smile and thought about Dongfang Tianchen, the hatred in her heart exploded. She ran at Long Chen to kill him!
“You want to die that badly?” Long Chen wanted to kill Dongfang Xuanyu for setting him up. She had almost taken his life before, and now she was underestimating him by charging wildly. Long Chen’s eyes turned cold, then he used the Sword Devil Finger numerous times on her. The energy shot out of his finger and stabbed into her.
He had launched five attacks. Not only had he neutralized her attack, but Long Chen’s final Devil Sword Finger exploded just in front of her, the razor-sharp energy tearing her clothes to pieces. Everyone saw her naked body for just a split second before numerous wounds appeared on her skin and covered her in blood.
Dongfang Xuanyu cried out. She was covered in wounds, feeling more pain than she had ever felt before. She wanted to faint, but the pain kept her awake. She knew that her clothes were torn off and her entire body was exposed to the world, causing her heart to crumble.
She only realized then that she was not special and that there were people she should not offend.
“Xuanyu!” the Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch shouted.
He quickly took out a robe to cover her body before pushing her to the Southern Vermillion Bird Patriarch for treatment. The Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch gave Long Chen a furious look before unleashing his Heavenly River Realm aura. He wanted to kill Long Chen right now!
“Stop,” said a soft voice. It was Lin Cangtian.
No matter how much the Patriarch hated Long Chen, he had no choice but to stop himself and endure.
Long Chen knew that the Ninth Prince would stop them, so he had held back from killing Dongfang Xuanyu. Allowing her to live was an act of mercy, though Long Chen had inflicted so much emotional damage that she would likely end up with the same fate as Yang Zan.
Even if the Patriarch had attacked him, Long Chen still had Mo Xiaolang by his side, so he was not afraid.
Everyone looked at the prince. “You dare attack in front of me? Have you forgotten I’m here?”
“I admit my mistake, Ninth Prince.” The Patriarch bowed down. He knew now was not the time to be rash.
“As long as you know you’ve made a mistake. All of you better behave.”
Lin Cangtian looked around and asked the youths the most pressing question. “Who obtained the inheritance?”
Damn. The Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch felt his heart tighten. It was very clear that Long Chen had obtained the inheritance since he was unharmed. If that was the case, he would become an Immortal Guard and the Lingwu family could no longer kill him. But at least the Lingwu family would continue to rule over the city, so it was not that bad.
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
All the youths immediately looked at Yan Danqing. He raised his courage and replied, “Ninth Prince, I was the one who obtained the inheritance!”
His voice was hoarse while he looked at Long Chen. It was sufficient to say that he was afraid of Long Chen.
A clamor arose when they heard that. Everyone assumed it was Long Chen, but Yan Danqing was the one who had won. That meant that the Beast Soul Palace would be able to rule Yuanling City for the next twenty years.
“I knew that he was not that strong. Big Brother, since he didn’t obtain the inheritance, killed Mo’er and Chen’er, and even injured Xuanyu …” The Northern Black Tortoise Patriarch looked at the Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch, his intentions clear. They needed to kill Long Chen!
The Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch nodded.
Everyone was still perplexed. Yan Danqing had lost an arm, yet he had come out with the inheritance.
Lin Cangtian was surprised too before he chuckled. “Then who severed your arm?”
It was embarrassing, but Yan Danqing dared not delay his answer. He lowered his head and muttered, “Long Chen.”
Long Chen.
His name was etched deeply into everyone’s hearts.
“You fought him head-on?” Lin Cangtian was interested.
Everyone would look down on him if he didn’t admit it, so Yan Danqing nodded.