by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
That righteous expression of his made Xia Youluo laugh once more. Her face was rosy, and a faint sheen covered her nose. Combined with her laughter, it was a picture of lively vitality. This appearance couldn’t be called peerless beauty, but it was extremely infectious, enough to make anyone feel like smiling.
“You should know that this wasn’t your fault. There’s no need to take all the blame for it. If you want to blame someone wrongly, you can blame me instead. But then it wouldn’t be wrong.” Long Chen smiled.
It could be said that Long Chen was partially at fault. The Pill Tower, ancient races, and Bloodkill Hall all wanted to kill him. This scheme had been to target him.
“My father already told me everything. Only then did I realize he loves me. And my brothers, my mother, they all love me, but my own willfulness blinded me, making it so I couldn’t see that. I was full of resentment and dissatisfaction with reality. So I felt like the scenery on the other shore would be much more beautiful, without any flaws, and so I willingly sank into other people’s lies. Long Chen, tell me, don’t you think I’m very foolish?” asked Xia Youluo.
“Can I not answer? I don’t want to be beaten,” said Long Chen worriedly.
“You… you’re asking for a beating!” Xia Youluo hit Long Chen.
“I just knew this would happen. In truth, I don’t feel like you’re that bad, or that foolish- Hey, don’t hit me. I’m telling the truth. In truth, it was because of your innate pure heart and your father… he pampered you.”
In truth, Xia Yuyang hadn’t particularly pampered her. But he had known that there would be a tribulation in her life that she couldn’t escape. It was fated.
So he hadn’t been willing to scold or beat her. Even when Xia Youluo went too far sometimes, thinking of her fate, he hadn’t been willing to punish her.
The Grand Xia’s fortune-telling arts with their dragon vein were extremely powerful. Those arts could be traced back to an extremely ancient era. Although they couldn’t be compared to Heavenly Fate Island’s fortune-telling arts, they practically never made a mistake when it came to the Xia family’s fortune.
But because of Long Chen’s arrival, those calculations had grown muddled. Even the Grand Xia’s fate had become covered in mist, and it was impossible to calculate anything even with the dragon vein.
“So what happened is also partially your father’s fault. What shape a tree grows into is definitely dependent on the gardener. There’s a good proverb: a person should suffer as soon as possible. The earlier a person suffers, the more it will temper their will. Grass that grows in the wild has to endure the tempering of wind and frost as soon as it’s born. The reaping of blades, the trampling of horses, it goes through cycles of growth and decline in order to survive. But a flower raised in the imperial greenhouses for eighteen years will wither upon a single night’s frost.
“As for you, you were sheltered from a young age, then you suddenly encountered such a huge setback. Let alone you, even I probably wouldn’t have been able to bear such a thing. So don’t think that you’re to blame. Who wouldn’t have made the same mistake? Experts have to learn through their mistakes and grow through their struggles.”
Xia Youluo knew Long Chen was saying that her suicide was the act of a weak person trying to skirt responsibility. Suicide only passed on the pain and sorrow to others. That was the least responsible way to act.
Before her suicide, she felt like she had let down her big brother, she felt herself to be foolish, and she felt like she had caused the deaths of so many warriors of the Grand Xia. She had thought that only her death could wash away this stain on the Grand Xia.
But once she woke up, she realized how foolish she had been. She began to blame herself even more, but now she was also full of warmth and emotion. She knew that everyone around her loved her.
After speaking with Long Chen, she felt much better. She grew cheerful once more. “Long Chen, how do you know so much? I feel like a child in comparison.”
Although Long Chen was only a few years older than her, he was much, much more mature. She wished she also had the same ability as him.
“Isn’t it because I had no choice?” sighed Long Chen.
Martial strength wasn’t the only requirement to live happily. A person needed to be skilled in all kinds of areas to be able to resolve various problems. Long Chen sometimes felt the heavens were forcing him to become skilled in every area.
“Long Chen, can you tell me some of your stories?” asked Xia Youluo eagerly.
“What’s the point of such immoral stories? There’s no brilliance to my stories at all. Let’s go to the Wine God Palace instead.” Long Chen didn’t want to talk about himself. He felt like his cultivation path was nothing more than a rain of blood.
Since the knot in Xia Youluo’s heart had already been undone, he pulled her toward the Wine God Palace. He had learned that some of the Wine God Palace’s disciples had already finished making new medicinal wines with his formulas, while others were still in the testing phase.
Every few days, there would be a disciple who succeeded. Under the glorified pretense of appraising their wares, he would drink and take all they had. Then, he would point out a few flaws, causing those disciples to almost view him like a god. Other than the High Priest, he was the one they revered the most.
Once the two of them left the imperial palace, midway, they heard a group of over a million people shouting their slogan:
“Long Chen, scram from Grand Xia City!”
“Long Chen, scram from Grand Xia City!”
“Long Chen, scram from Grand Xia City!”
Xia Youluo’s expression changed. This phrase was irritating, and she icily stared at those people.
Those people also sensed something was wrong. They gradually quieted until they were silent, looking awkwardly at Long Chen.
“Don’t stop shouting. After taking their money, you have to do your work. Otherwise, if we were to take their money and not do what we were paid to do, it would harm the prestige of the Grand Xia’s people!” called out Long Chen.
Long Chen didn’t mind. If they wanted to shout, then fine. He would just chop off some more of their fat. As long as their cursing didn’t target his reverse scale, it was fine.
“Ah, that’s right, the money! It’s about time for us to go back and raise the price! Let’s go!” cried out one of them suddenly.
As a result, this group of over a million people surged out of the city like an angry dragon, instantly disappearing. Even Long Chen was struck dumb.
Xia Youluo was laughing, holding Long Chen’s waist to keep herself standing. The people paying for all this were probably going insane.
It seemed the wages of those shouters had already risen over ten times. The price for a million of them had to be frightening.
Long Chen was calm toward this. Everything was within Xia Yunchong’s control. After all, was this supposed to be a joke? This was his home, his domain. If the other side intentionally came to do business, who else would he con?
Long Chen and Xia Youluo arrived at the Wine God Palace. The days passed very contentedly. Those sects sucking up to the Pill Tower were feeling the pain of paying this price. Even dozens of them were unable to bear such high expenditure. In the end, the Pill Tower sent out orders that there was no need to continue shouting. They were gathering hundreds of experts from their sects to speak with the Grand Xia’s emperor.
But at this time, a piece of news spread, dumbfounding the Pill Tower completely.
Chapter 1236 A Loud and Resounding Slap
The Pill Tower’s experts found that commanding the crowds to pressure the Grand Xia was useless. The Grand Xia was too obstinate, refusing to hand over Long Chen. They finally lost their patience.
The reason the Pill Tower wanted to force Long Chen out was because they didn’t want this matter to blow up any bigger. The Pill Tower might be able to dominate these lands, but the four ancient nations were special territories within th
e continent. They were protected, and even the Pill Tower didn’t dare to directly start using martial force.
Other than that, there was also the Wine God Palace within the Grand Xia. That was an existence even Pill Valley was apprehensive of. A single Pill Tower wouldn’t dare to mess around with them.
But now, Long Chen refused to come out, and they were simply throwing money at the Grand Xia with no effect. It was like a bottomless pit.
So the Pill Tower had gathered various experts right outside Grand Xia City, all at the Life Star realm. They would enter Grand Xia City and force the emperor to hand over Long Chen. If he still refused, they would take him forcibly.
As long as they didn’t harm the commoners, then with the excuse that Long Chen had killed the Pill Tower’s disciple and snatched their Ancestral item, the Blazing Dragon Cauldron, it wouldn’t count as breaking the rules. Instead, it would be the Grand Xia who was wrong for harboring a criminal.
But just as they gathered this huge army and were preparing to move out, a piece of news caused Dan Teng’s face to feel like it had been viciously slapped.
Pill Valley had sent him an order to return. And it was the highest order. In other words, he had to return to Pill Valley as soon as possible.
Along with that order was a photographic jade. When he activated it, Dan Teng turned pale.
It revealed a scene: Long Chen was pointing at Dan Chu and coldly snorted, “Hmph, is the Grand Han not afraid of the other three nations learning the truth and joining hands to destroy them?”
Dan Chu sneered, “Learning the truth? Once they’re killed, due to the lost connection with their dragon veins, not even their emperors will know who did it. The truth is, some mysterious lifeforms appeared in the Four Nations Ancient Remnant this time, and they slaughtered the four nations’ experts. Three of those nations’ elites were all killed, while the Grand Han also took heavy losses, with only a few imperial disciples managing to escape. What do you think about this truth?
“Of course, the truth needs to be defended by others. The Grand Han will have my Pill Tower’s support, as well as the ancient races’ protection. And if the three nations refuse to behave, the Bloodkill Hall will pay them a bit of special attention. Tell me, what kind of waves could the three nations possibly cause?”
When he saw Dan Chu expose all these secrets, even clearly exposing the collusion between the ancient races and the Bloodkill Hall, Dan Teng clenched his teeth so hard that they almost broke. He couldn’t comprehend how this brat had been so stupid as to say this. Could it be he hadn’t even been able to sense the clear fluctuations of a photographic jade being activated?
In truth, Long Chen activated the photographic jade from the primal chaos space, and it couldn’t be sensed from the outside. Dan Chu couldn’t have known that Long Chen had been recording his crimes.
Of course, quibbling over that was meaningless right now. Dan Teng knew this matter was about to get even worse for him.
“Tower Master, not good! There’s a photographic jade that’s very unfavorable to the Pill Tower rapidly spreading…”
Just at this time, one of the Pill Tower’s experts rushed over, panicked and holding a photographic jade. But when he saw the photographic jade in Dan Teng’s hand, he fell silent.
At this time, all the experts Dan Teng had gathered had their expressions change. They had already noticed this matter was about to get serious. Even Pill Valley had been disturbed by this.
“What happened outside?” Dan Teng did his best to calm his voice, but he couldn’t stop it from shuddering.
That Pill Tower’s expert gulped and said, “I’m not sure. But suddenly, countless photographic jades spread throughout the cultivation world. There are people selling them in bulk all along the streets. On my way here, I even saw the people guarding the transportation formations watching it…”
The contents of these photographic jades were what Long Chen had sent to the Huayun Sect for Zheng Wenlong to disseminate. In order to get a better slapping effect, Long Chen told the Huayun Sect not to immediately spread them.
The best time was for the Pill Tower to have gathered all their power and made huge movements to the point that all the various sects and powers were aware of their movements.
Only then had Long Chen allowed the Huayun Sect to spread the massive number of photographic jades they had already duplicated. It had to be known that the photographic jades were spread throughout the world. Spreading this in bulk was far too easy for the Huayun Sect.
Furthermore, there were others who, when they saw the shocking secrets recorded within, also crazily duplicated and sold them to others who still didn’t know.
As a result, it was like an epidemic had erupted. Let alone just the cultivation world’s people, even the ordinary people learned of it.
Previously, they had heard the rumors that Long Chen had killed one of the Pill Tower’s genius disciples to take his treasures. After the special details from the Pill Tower and the other large sects, Long Chen had been painted as an irredeemable devil.
But now, this photographic jade caused an instant reversal. That Pill Tower’s disciple had entered the Four Nations Ancient Remnant as a trap, a trap targeting Long Chen.
They had even ignored the four nations’ treaty, ignoring the rules of the Martial Heaven Alliance. Now all those sects supporting the Pill Tower were dumbfounded.
With this photographic jade, the truth was made known to the masses. Who was right and who was wrong was indisputable.
Those people targeting Long Chen, targeting the Grand Xia, targeting the Xuantian Dao Sect, all felt their faces be slapped. Those people making a hubbub immediately shut their mouths.
Everyone knew the Pill Tower had caused a disaster for themselves. They had interfered in the internal matters of the four ancient nations, ignoring the Martial Heaven Alliance’s rules for their own selfish desires, and then even intentionally slandered others. That gravely damaged Pill Valley’s image.
It had to be known that at least on the surface, Pill Valley had to maintain an always neutral appearance. They never directly interfered with the disputes of the large sects. They resolved disputes as ‘neutral mediators’, only ‘helping’ others resolve their problems.
But this time, the Pill Tower had gone too far, and they had been caught. The Martial Heaven Alliance was probably about to show its furious side.
“It’s definitely slander from the Huayun Sect. I’ve long since heard they have a relationship with that criminal Long Chen. No one else could spread fake news this quickly,” said the Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect’s vice sect master, Ma Xingkong.
Ma Xingkong truly knew how to speak. Calling it fake news first instantly drew the Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect closer to the Pill Tower.
But it wasn’t able to quell Dan Teng’s worry. He felt like his head was about to explode. He didn’t even know what to do, and fear started to creep into his heart.
“Everyone, Pill Valley has ordered me to return, so I must leave.” Dan Teng sighed and thickened his face.
“Then what about us?” Everyone was dumbfounded. They had only gathered for him as a show of power.
“You… you can do as you please.” After saying that, Dan Teng vanished.
“What…?”
Everyone looked at each other blankly. The host had fled, so staying here was meaningless now.
Even if Long Chen swaggered out of the Grand Xia brazenly, would they dare to touch him? What reason did they have?
This photographic jade was a supreme slap in their faces. Long Chen was the victim, while the Pill Tower was the bully whose scheme had failed. Even though they hadn’t known the truth, they were probably about to get cursed for being blind.
Now they had all become idiots who made groundless accusations. They had blindly sucked up to the Pill Tower and slandered a good person. Well, although Long Chen couldn’t exactly be called a good person, it was a fact that they had all become laughingstocks.
<
br /> “Everyone can busy themselves. My sect has some things I need to handle, so I won’t be accompanying you.”
“I remember, my sect’s disciple trials are about to start. I have to go as well.”
After a moment of dumbfounded silence, they began to scatter. Some hurriedly rushed to Grand Xia City to inform their disciples to pack up. There was no need to waste any more time or money there.
Most of them left. But there was one group that didn’t. That was the ancient races’ people.
They didn’t care about the Righteous path. They simply wanted to settle their debts with Long Chen. No matter what reason Long Chen had, anyone who killed their disciples had to pay in blood.
They weren’t afraid of the Martial Heaven Alliance. Their ancient race alliance was also powerful, and Long Chen had killed three of their races’ strongest geniuses. The ancient races would not swallow this anger.
On the other hand, the fact that the Pill Tower’s people had left delighted them. Now there was no one to fight over Long Chen with them. Otherwise, if Long Chen landed in the Pill Tower’s hands, they couldn’t have personally killed him. Although they had already discussed it and decided Long Chen’s head would be sent to the ancient races, not personally killing him was still a blow to their prestige.
“Idiots from the ancient races, are you still not fucking off? Your mother wants you to return home to eat!”
Just at this moment, a young man shouted over in their direction from atop the city gates. With that evil smile and lazy manner that looked like he needed a beating, who else could it be but Long Chen?
Long Chen was extremely refreshed. As expected, leaving this matter to Zheng Wenlong had been the right decision. He guessed that Dan Teng had even formed an urge to kill himself!
Long Chen hadn’t said anything to those people slandering him all to give them more time to cause a ruckus. The bigger a ruckus they caused, the better!
