by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“You’re quite sincere,” laughed one of the Grand Elders.
“I have a bit of wine that the High Priest gave me. Should we go drink it somewhere?” Long Chen took out a jug.
This was the top-quality wine made by the High Priest, and it would increase a person’s comprehension ability. Long Chen had once drunk it while testing how to merge Star Fall with that mysterious rune, which resulted in him creating the World Annihilation Flame Lotus.
However, he didn’t dare to waste the High Priest’s wine, so he never drank it outside of times he was focusing on gaining insights.
Long Chen had yet to open the lid when a dense wine fragrance filled the air. Just smelling it would refresh a person’s mind and open their pores, making them feel like they were being basked in divine light.
The four Grand Elders involuntarily gulped.
“Wait a moment. We should talk about proper matters first, or this would be viewed as a bribe.” Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master stopped Long Chen.
“Alright, then I’ll start drinking first while you talk.” Long Chen really did pour himself a bowl of wine and drank it.
As a result, the wine fragrance spread so far that they heard quite a few startled cries ringing out from the distance. The fragrance could be smelled throughout the Martial Heaven Alliance.
“Long Chen, don’t be rude!” Qu Jianying shouted. She herself wasn’t too fond of wine, but she saw that the four Grand Elders were staring at the wine jug closely.
“Yes.” Long Chen tossed the wine jug to the side. One of the Grand Elders caught it.
“This is…”
“Whether or not this matter succeeds, let me show my filial respect in place of the alliance head. To tell the truth, I was a bit unwilling, so I just drank a mouthful first to quench my thirst. Since the alliance head treats me like her son and is also so close to you, even if I was unwilling, I would still have to bring it out,” said Long Chen helplessly.
Upon hearing that, Qu Jianying’s expression softened. Although Long Chen had caused her endless trouble with his fearless nature, he cared deeply about relationships.
These four Grand Elders were clearly infatuated with that wine, and Qu Jianying had assumed that Long Chen would use it as a bargaining chip. But unexpectedly, he had directly given them this bargaining chip.
“If you do this, you’ll embarrass us.” One of the Grand Elders smiled.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Although I have no relationship with you, just based on the face of the alliance head, I would have to do it. As for our discussion, that is another matter. It would be best not to mix up the two,” said Long Chen.
“Not bad. Little fellow, you have some daring.”
One of the Grand Elders that hadn’t spoken yet finally said some words of praise. He directly took the wine jug without the slightest embarrassment.
“Alright, then since you’re so direct, we won’t beat around the bush. We’ve already heard a bit about your matter. Before we go any further, I have a few questions to ask you,” said Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master.
“Please go ahead.” Long Chen knew that the real problem had come. Clearly, Qu Jianying’s reward for him was so big that even she wasn’t able to just randomly give it to others.
With the four Grand Elders being woken, this reward couldn’t be ordinary. Whether or not he would obtain it would be based on his responses to the Grand Elders’ questions.
“What is the goal of your cultivation?”
“To live. To live with dignity, and to make sure the people beside me can live with dignity as well,” said Long Chen without hesitation.
The Grand Elder nodded and continued, “How do you differentiate between good and bad people?”
“I never differentiate between good or bad people. That has nothing to do with me. I only differentiate between friends and enemies. As long as they’re my enemy, whether they’re a good person or a bad person, if they want to kill me, I will mercilessly fight back. I definitely won’t resign myself to my fate just because my enemy is a good person,” said Long Chen.
“Don’t you feel like that’s a bit extreme? What if there was a misunderstanding somewhere? Wouldn’t you end up accidentally killing good people? Why not find some other way to resolve your problems?” asked the Grand Elder expressionlessly.
“I don’t have the time. I am in a race against time, and anything that slows me down could take my life. Again, I want to live with dignity, and make sure the people beside me can live with dignity. I don’t provoke others, but others shouldn’t provoke me because anyone who blocks my path will be killed without mercy,” said Long Chen decisively.
The nine elders smiled when they heard this. They knew that Long Chen had essentially lost his chance.
One of the Grand Elders frowned and said, “That’s too arbitrary. Randomly slaughtering innocent people, how are you any different from the Corrupt path?”
“I didn’t provoke anyone, but I’m being chased by a pack of idiots all day. Aren’t I the innocent one? Why can’t I fight back?” Long Chen smiled coldly. Thinking about how many idiots he had encountered on his path, whether it was in the Eastern Wasteland or the Central Plains, he sneered. There were so many of them that he couldn’t kill them all. As his cultivation base grew, more of them appeared. The more he thought about it, the angrier he grew. Innocent? He was the most innocent.
“Long Chen…” Qu Jianying hastily tried to interject.
“It’s fine. Young people need to be like this. If they were spiritless, wouldn’t they be like us old people?” Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master was not angry.
However, he then said, “I heard you have established your own Dragonblood Legion. Then tell me, if there comes a day that the Martial Heaven Alliance’s millions and millions of experts were in danger at the same time as your Dragonblood Legion was in danger, when their lives were in the balance and you could only choose one, what would you do?”
Chapter 1768 A Peerless Priceless Treasure
“I would choose the Dragonblood Legion.”
Long Chen replied without any hesitation.
“Then you don’t care that it was the Martial Heaven Alliance that raised you. Without the Martial Heaven Alliance, would you still be where you are today? From the start, we knew that you had a wolf’s heart and never viewed the Martial Heaven Alliance as your home!” sneered one of the elders.
This elder was the leader of the nine elders and the one with the greatest authority. He was also very against giving Long Chen his reward. Hence, disturbing the four Grand Elders was his idea.
Of course, he had been supported by the others, or he would not have the authority to disturb the Grand Elders. Now that Long Chen had immediately chosen to abandon the Martial Heaven Alliance, he immediately jumped into the conversation.
It was precisely because he had the greatest authority of the nine elders that he was the one speaking the most. After being slapped by Long Chen, he used this chance to take revenge.
“What a joke. When did you ever raise me? Shameless bastard, tell me how you raised me?” sneered Long Chen.
“You!” That elder immediately recalled that Long Chen was not a direct disciple of the Martial Heaven Alliance. The Martial Heaven Alliance had truly not raised him. However, he still argued, “Weren’t you raised by the Xuantian Dao Sect? If it weren’t for the Martial Heaven Alliance’s protection, your Xuantian Dao Sect would have long since been destroyed by the Corrupt path or devoured by other sects. Without the Xuantian Dao Sect, would you have reached your current level? So this is how you repay gratitude!”
Long Chen disdainfully said, “Do you have the slightest sense of shame? I am a disciple of the Xuantian Dao Sect, but everything I have was obtained through my own merit. The Xuantian Dao Sect raised me for the Xuantian Dao Sect’s profit. There is no master-subordinate relationship between us. Instead, it’s a mutually beneficial cooperation. The Xuantian Dao Sect treated me like family, s
o I can bleed my last drop of blood for the Xuantian Dao Sect, but that doesn’t represent that the Xuantian Dao Sect can control my actions. As for the Martial Heaven Alliance, it is nothing more than a cooperation between the Righteous path’s sects. Don’t act like the Xuantian Dao Sect’s rise has anything to do with your Martial Heaven Alliance. The rewards we won were obtained through risking our lives. Let me put it to you this way: I have no sense of belonging when it comes to the Martial Heaven Alliance.”
Qu Jianying’s expression changed slightly. These arrogant words were a bit hurtful, but Long Chen’s following words touched her.
“However, the alliance head treats me as family, so if the alliance head was in trouble, I can risk my life to save her. However, it is only due to my relationship with the alliance head and has nothing to do with the Martial Heaven Alliance. As for you old ghosts, you should burn incense as thanks to your ancestors that I don’t kill you right now. You actually want me to sacrifice my people to save you? Tell me, are you idiots?”
“You… you’re completely disgraceful and unfilial!” shouted the head elder furiously.
“Put your claws away, or I’ll kill you regardless of the four Grand Elders being present.”
Long Chen’s expression suddenly darkened, and killing intent appeared in his eyes. That icy and sinister killing intent locked onto the head elder.
That elder’s expression completely changed. In that instant, he felt like a sharp blade was pressed against his neck. Even with the four Grand Elders present, he didn’t feel the slightest bit safe. It was like no one could save him from being killed by Long Chen.
When Long Chen’s killing intent locked onto the elder, the four Grand Elders’ expressions changed. Long Chen’s killing intent was too dense, too terrifying. It was condensed of the resentment of the countless experts he had killed.
Even a half-step Netherpassage expert was terrified by this killing intent. His heart had fractured, and in this state, Long Chen would be able to kill him instantly.
The elder trembled and was covered in sweat. Although he tried to act calm, he was unable to conceal his terror. Long Chen’s gaze was like the gaze of a death god. Although he knew that Long Chen most likely wouldn’t kill him, he still couldn’t control himself.
“Long Chen’s words are not wrong. The Martial Heaven Alliance is just an alliance, and to put it frankly, everyone is just cooperating. Other sects are also like this; the disciples go to sects because of their resources, while the sects accept disciples due to their talent,” said Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master.
Only then did Long Chen retract his killing intent. The elder staggered back and almost collapsed on the ground.
Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master continued, “Long Chen, let me continue asking you a few things. If we gave you the reward, then if Qu Jianying was no longer in the position of alliance ahead, would you still fight for the Martial Heaven Alliance?”
Long Chen shook his head. “Most likely not. No matter how great the reward, it’s not as valuable as my life.”
“In other words, if this reward was given to you, you would view it only as a favor from Qu Jianying?”
“Correct.”
Long Chen didn’t view the various powers he knew as friends. Powers themselves did not have those emotions. Other than the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect, the Wine God Palace, the original devil race, and the Spirit race, he didn’t feel any sense of belonging to any power.
That included the Xuantian Dao Sect. The reason he was loyal to the Xuantian Dao Sect was because the current Xuantian Dao Sect had Li Tianxuan.
The Xuantian Dao Sect that had Li Tianxuan in it was his home, but without Li Tianxuan, it would not be his home.
The Martial Heaven Alliance was the same. He only acknowledged Qu Jianying, but without Qu Jianying, he wouldn’t care about the Martial Heaven Alliance.
As long as someone treated him sincerely, he would sincerely repay them. But powers cared about profit, not feelings. So other than a few powers, Long Chen didn’t have any friendship with the others. He only had friendships with a few people inside them, and they were the only ones he cared about.
Ignoring everything else, just taking these nine idiots in front of him, why would he have to fight for them? That was just nonsense.
“Young fellow, you’re quite passionate, but every power has to look at the long view. As for what Qu Jianying wants to give you, it is no minor matter. How about we all take a step back? We can give you the treasure, but you must promise us that when the Martial Heaven Alliance is in danger of being destroyed, you will not stand by as a spectator,” said Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master.
Hearing that, the nine elders’ expressions changed. This was essentially agreeing to give the treasure to Long Chen.
After all, the Martial Heaven Alliance was the largest alliance in this world. It had an incredibly profound foundation. Just what could threaten its life?
Qu Jianying was also delighted. Her granduncle-master was clearly conceding.
However, Long Chen shook his head. “Then nevermind. I don’t want this treasure.”
“Long Chen, you crazy madman, do you know what that treasure is?!” raged Qu Jianying.
“Long Chen, you are a warrior of the Righteous path. If the Martial Heaven Alliance was in a life and death crisis, it signifies that the entire Righteous path is in danger. Would you really just watch as a spectator?” demanded another Grand Elder.
“That’s not the same. If I were to fight at that time, it would be because I wanted to, not because I was forced to due to taking someone else’s things. There is an essential difference between them. I, Long Chen, do not want to be bound by anything, and I never make promises lightly,” said Long Chen indifferently.
For a moment, everyone was deathly silent. The four Grand Elders stared at Long Chen. In the end, Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master said, “If that’s the case, we cannot give the treasure to you. This is a peerless, priceless treasure that does not just belong to the Martial Heaven Alliance, but the entire Righteous path. If you were to obtain but not fight for the Righteous path, it would be awkward.”
“That’s fine. I’m used to having to snatch my opportunities myself. I never had any hope for this anyway. The main reason I came here was because I wanted to see just how strong the Central Xuan Region’s experts were,” said Long Chen.
“As for this wine, you should….”
“Senior, are you looking down on me? Do you think I would take back the gifts that I’ve given? This is my filial respect for the alliance head and is also based on my relationship with her. As for whether you take it or not, it has nothing to do with me.”
“Granduncle-master, you should accept it. Are you planning on going back into seclusion?” asked Qu Jianying.
“We’ll discuss this later. Long Chen, the headquarters of the Martial Heaven Alliance is an ancient city with many wonders that you won’t see anywhere else. You should take a look around. Perhaps you can gain some insights,” said Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master.
Long Chen naturally understood what he was saying. “Then I’ll go out for a stroll. Perhaps I’ll gain something that I never expected.”
Long Chen retreated back down the path he had come from, vanishing from their sight.
Once he was gone, Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master’s eyes instantly transformed, becoming bright and clear. Divine light shone from them. He no longer appeared on the verge of dying as his hair went from white to black in an instant. He became an icy-faced middle-aged man.
The nine elders immediately felt like they had been stripped naked and tossed into the snow. The Grand Elder’s gaze was cold.
“First Elder, Third Elder, Seventh Elder, and Ninth Elder, you can kill yourselves!” said Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master.
Chapter 1769 The Grand Elders’ Dignity
“Grand Elder…”
The First Elder, Third Elder, Seventh Elder, and Ninth Elder instantly turned a
shen.
“Hmph, a pack of treacherous bastards, do you not know what you have done?” Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master snorted. Light shone out of his eyes, and it was like he could see through the cosmos.
The Grand Elder who had become young looked completely different from his previous decrepit-self. He was like a completely different person, and his gaze was incredibly sharp.
“Grand Elder, we-!” shouted the Elders.
The First, Third, Seventh, and Ninth Elders’ bodies exploded into blood mist.
The remaining five elders were pale with terror. They didn’t know what had just happened.
“I’m sorry. I was powerless.” Qu Jianying suddenly knelt on the ground with shame.
“Why would you apologize? You’ve already done very well. It’s impossible to avoid some traitors. Now that the great era has come, it must have been hard on you with the four of us still sleeping,” said Qu Jianying’s granduncle-master. “Furthermore, it’s my fault, not yours. I never passed the Spirit Void Eyes onto you, so how could you see their thoughts? However, I didn’t expect Pill Valley to go so far. Their claws have even landed on the nine core Elders of the Martial Heaven Alliance. Well, what’s done is done. Since we’ve come out, we don’t plan on going back into seclusion. We’ll support you, so do what you want.”
“Then Long Chen’s matter…”
“That person is very dangerous. When I tried to look at him with my Spirit Void Eyes, they were almost destroyed. Fortunately, I pulled back as soon as I sensed the danger, or my life would have been in danger.”
“What?! How is that possible?!” Qu Jianying jumped in shock. Others might not know, but she was aware of her granduncle-master’s Spirit Void Eyes. They were able to see through a person’s thoughts and kill them without needing to do anything else. Back when he had been the one in control of the Martial Heaven Alliance, he had struck fear into the hearts of countless experts.
However, he was now saying that his eyes had almost been destroyed with just a test. If he hadn’t personally said it, she wouldn’t have believed it no matter what. Even now, she found it hard to believe.
