by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
Seeing Long Chen’s angry expression suddenly fade, Xia Changfeng’s heart shook slightly. The caution he felt towards Long Chen increased; enemies who could control their emotions were the truly terrifying ones.
“Brother Xia, I don’t think you should propose to the third princess.” Long Chen shook his head.
“Huh? Why?”
“I’ve studied the secrets of fate. When I did some calculations for you, I realized brother Xia’s name contains the word ‘wind’, while the third princess’s name contains the word ‘forest’. Wind will destroy the forest, so it’s not good for the third princess.” Long Chen was watching Xia Changfeng’s expression.
“Haha, brother Long really is funny. How could such a thing be given true credence?” laughed Xia Changfeng.
Long Chen’s eyes became even gloomier. By using his divine sense to its limits, he had noticed that while Xia Changfeng’s expression might not have changed while he had spoken, his heart had jumped a bit.
Hmph, so this bastard really does know quite a lot.
“Not so. My ability to read faces is definitely at the master level; brother Xia, you have much fire in your life, and that is why you were given the name Changfeng. Fire borrows the power of the wind. Such a flame spreads for thousands of miles with nothing being able to block it anymore. It truly is a good name,” praised Long Chen.
Xia Changfeng smiled slightly, but he also paused for a moment, his heart going wild. Did Long Chen really have such skills?
His name really had been inspired by a mysterious person who had explained it just as Long Chen had explained it. His life was fire-fated, and only due to this did his parents name him Changfeng.
Although he kept his expression as calm as ever, his heart was jumping and his blood surging. The change in his breathing was unable to escape Long Chen’s awareness.
Long Chen laughed inside, not expecting his fake act to actually touch upon something. He continued, “As for our third princess, her name contains the ‘Yao’ character. You are fire-fated, but her name has water. More importantly, her name also has the character for ‘king’, so it’s not just ordinary water, but the king of water.
“Wind and forest repel each other, while water will put out fire. You cannot marry someone with such a name. And furthermore, the capital is surrounded by water on four sides, so it’s far too risky for brother Xia.
“If you dare marry the third princess, you most likely won’t live long enough to leave the Phoenix Cry Empire. So, I advise you to give up on this notion.
“Women are like clothes; for just a piece of clothing, you will put your life in danger? It’s just not worth it.”
Shi Feng, fatty Yu, and the others’ expressions all changed. Was he threatening the prince?
As for Long Chen’s ability to read faces, they half believed it and half doubted it. But now, Long Chen was explaining it all very clearly and they couldn’t help trusting it.
At this time, Xia Changfeng’s expression was very unsightly. Long Chen’s words made him very uncomfortable as he had no way to refute them.
“Don’t try deluding us with your lies. You think you can confuse a prince just by using a few parlor tricks? I think you’re getting tired of living,” shouted the scarred man angrily.
“A dog who won’t listen actually dares talk before his master?” frowned Long Chen.
From the start, he could feel the scarred man’s killing intent. And that killing intent chilled him to his bones.
That meant the scarred man was mulling over how to kill him. Long Chen definitely wouldn’t give him any face.
“Bastard!” The scarred man angrily shouted and punched at Long Chen.
“STOP!”
Xia Changfeng prevented the scarred man from attacking. He had already returned to his normal state at this time, and he smiled at Long Chen. “Who would have thought brother Long had such a humorous side? My horizons have truly been broadened. Unfortunately, I still have things to do at this time, so let’s talk another day.”
Xia Changfeng brought both the scarred man and Xia Baichi away, but Xia Baichi still gave Long Chen an angry glare; her disdainful gaze seeming to consider Long Chen to be just a piece of meat.
After getting down the stairs, the scarred man ruthlessly said, “If it weren’t for you blocking me, Long Chen would already be a dead man now.”
“This Long Chen definitely has to die. I also almost lost control of myself. That bastard really is loathsome. But Long Chen still has other uses for now. If he died, then it would affect our plans. Let him live a few more days,” sighed Xia Changfeng.
Even someone as calm as him had almost taken action to attack him. He was truly infuriated.
“Master sent orders for me to defeat Long Chen in front of that old bastard Yun Qi. If you kill him before then, it will definitely anger that old ghost,” coldly said Xia Baichi. “That old idiot. Whether I sincerely begged or tried to seduce him, he just wouldn’t help me. What a waste of time.”
Xia Changfeng looked at her and shook his head. “From the beginning, master’s attempts at having you entice him were unlikely to work.”
“Why?”
Xia Changfeng shook his head and didn’t reply. The scarred man beside him sighed, “Because princess, you don’t have the proper temperament of a woman.”
Xia Baichi sent a slap at the scarred man’s face, but he just smiled indifferently, seeming very accustomed to this.
Once they had left, Long Chen and the rest also lost interest in drinking. Long Chen felt as if time was running out for him.
The closer he got to the truth, the more dangerous it became. Once the whole truth was revealed, if he didn’t have enough strength, then he would undoubtedly die.
But there was fundamentally not enough time. He had to take advantage of every moment to cultivate. Just the slightest increase in power would give him a greater chance at surviving.
But Chu Yao’s situation was also pressing on him. He had to race against time and resolve her matter.
“Are you Long Chen?”
Suddenly, a lean, middle-aged man walked up the restaurant and greeted Long Chen.
Chapter 32 Huayun Pavilion Invitation
“Are you Long Chen?”
“I am.” Long Chen was startled, as he himself didn’t even recognize this person.
“Perfect. Under the pavilion master’s orders, I have come to give you this invitation card.” The lean middle-aged man rejoiced. “Young noble, you might not recognize me, but my lowly self is an attendant of the Huayun Pavilion. I have especially come to invite you to our annual auction.”
Only now did Long Chen understand. He was being pulled into some kind of business work. As for being an ‘attendant’, it would be more accurate to just call him a runner.
Long Chen had a great understanding of this Huayun Pavilion. It was the most famous auction house in the Phoenix Cry Empire and was an extremely huge existence.
Although it might not be comparable to the alchemist guild, it was definitely powerful. It was the closest partner of the adventurers guild.
The adventurers guild was an alliance formed by countless adventurers, and although it was a loose partnership, it had many members.
Adventurers traveled the wilderness for most of their days, and although it was an extremely dangerous occupation, its rewards were also accordingly great.
All kinds of strange medicinal herbs and Magical Beast cores could be found, and if one’s luck was really ridiculous, then it was even possible to find an ancient inheritance.
Adventurers were very fond of collaborating with the Huayun Pavilion due to their extremely fair prices. Selling their gains there was the most secure method to sell their spoils.
Some of them didn’t go into danger themselves. They would make deals with other people or even kill others for their spoils. Those were extremely common affairs. Sometimes, the city was even more frightful than the wilderness.
So, the Huayun Pavilion
’s annual auction would always attract countless people. They would select the rarest treasures that they had gathered over the year for that auction.
Almost every auction would result in them delighting at the high bidding, so the extent of their auction also became greater over the time.
In the past two years, the auction’s quality had become incredibly great, and they had even set down new rules. It was now impossible to enter without an invitation card.
And the people who could obtain an invitation card were only people with exceedingly high statuses. Long Chen was the first youth to receive such a thing.
“This is a great thing, brother Long. But if you don’t have enough money, then it would just be a waste of time,” said Shou Hou.
The Huayun Pavilion’s auction wares were all the best amongst the best. Every single item was extremely desirable.
Adding on the auction house’s expert advertising and enticements, the price would soar wildly all the time. Without money, you could only look with envy.
“Do you have a list of things being auctioned?” asked Long Chen.
“This lowly one only has a list of the first ten things. You can have a look,” the lean man apologetically said.
In order to maintain its mystery, the best things being auctioned off would never be allowed to be leaked.
Long Chen looked over it. His pupils shrank when he saw the Starfusing Grass on the list. It was actually Starfusing Grass that was over a thousand years old.
Normal Starfusing Grass was always within ten to a hundred years old. Over a hundred years old was rare, and over a thousand years old made it an exceptionally precious treasure.
Such a treasure was actually just the first item on the list.
Seeing Long Chen’s shock, the lean man became pleased and said, “As a Pill Apprentice, any precious medicinal pills you have can be handed over to us. If the quality and rareness of it reach the standards, we can consider adding it to the auction. But we charge 50% commission.”
Fifty percent?! Ha, how vicious. You actually dare ask for fifty percent? Do you dare ask for more?
As if seeing through Long Chen’s thoughts, he laughed, “As long as what you have is good enough, then after our packaging and advertising, in addition to our chief auctioneer’s embellishment, the price will definitely rise far beyond your imagination.”
Hearing that, Long Chen became more at ease. At the same time, he felt a bit of admiration at how they ran their business.
What Long Chen didn’t know was that this man’s job really wasn’t as easy as he thought it was. The people in the lean man’s position would get a quota of three the annual auction, meaning they were only allowed to invite three people.
Whether those people were buying or selling things, the one who had invited him would get a set percentage.
The more they bought or sold, the more money that person would get. So each person invited had to be carefully selected.
But after this many years, more and more wealthy people were being invited earlier, leaving only a few behind. Now they were just picking over the dregs.
This lean man was very astute, so as soon as he had received his quota, he had rushed over to invite Long Chen, afraid that others would get there first.
There was no other way. Long Chen was the most famous person within his generation in the capital, and he was definitely a big fish with potential.
“Please look over this lowly one’s calling card.” He handed over a small card to Long Chen.
“Fu Gui?”[1]
“Haha, I come from a poor family. My parents wished for me to gain riches, so they came up with such a name.” The lean man explained with embarrassment.
His explanation also caused Long Chen to feel a bit of sympathy. Nodding, he said, “I am definitely very interested in buying things. I also have some things that I want to auction off. How does it work?”
Fu Gui’s eyes brightened. “Any treasures can be brought directly to the Huayun Pavilion. We can also go to your door to get them.”
Long Chen nodded. There was just less than a month until the auction, so he still had time. After setting an appointment with Fu Gui, Long Chen and the others all left the restaurant.
“Long Chen, the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival is a week from now. You definitely have to come out,” said Shi Feng expectantly.
The Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival was the largest celebration of the empire. The entire capital’s unmarried population would participate. It was extremely lively, and it was the festival that all the young people looked forward to the most.
Especially those unmarried men; each of them would be like a bull, determinedly waiting for a chance of attracting a woman’s attention.
As for the women, they also wanted to see if they could find an acceptable man.
It was a bit controversial for men and women to be together like this, but during the one day of the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, all those taboos were lifted, and both genders could party wildly together as much as they wanted to.
Thus, many of them made preparations beforehand for this festival.
And the most fun part of it was the fight over the number one junior warrior in their generation. There would always be a martial stage during the festival. As long as you were a cultivator and were under twenty years old, anyone could go up.
The first place battle was the highlight. As long as you got that title, it would no longer even be possible for you to be low-key. Countless women would send flowers after you, enough to bury you even. Just thinking about it set the men’s hearts on fire.
Even the calm Shi Feng was burning with passion. And as expected, fatty Yu and the others were all bursting with enthusiasm.
“Brother Long, you definitely have to come. If you don’t go, then we won’t want to go either,” begged fatty Yu.
“Then how about none of us go and we’ll find somewhere to get a drink instead,” laughed Long Chen.
“Nooo, master Long. We’ve been waiting for this for a year!!” Fatty Yu and the others immediately acted sullen. Some of them got on their knees and hugged Long Chen’s legs, not letting go until he agreed.
“Long Chen, if you don’t go, then it will be too boring. In the capital, you are the most famous of our generation! You’re viewed as number one, and if you don’t go, then it will disappoint countless people,” persuaded Shi Feng.
“Hm? When did I get such a big name?” Long Chen was startled.
“You didn’t know? Even the little kids know about it. Dual martial and pill cultivation that shakes heaven and earth, the Heroic Assembly House’s angry god, the one who spread his wings and flew out of the Phoenix Cry Empire, the one who laughs arrogantly at the nine heavens, Long Chen.” Shi Feng looked at Long Chen strangely.
“…”
What kind of situation is this? How did I not know? There are poems about me? Long Chen was struck foolishly silent.
“Okay, brother Long, all your brothers are hoping to enjoy the festivities with you. But whatever you say is what we’ll do.”
Shi Feng wasn’t the same as the others. He had considered Long Chen his brother from the start, so he didn’t need to have as many misgivings as the others.
“Ugh, I’ll go.” Long Chen smiled bitterly; he had originally been planning on training for an extra day.
Fatty Yu and the others all cheered at that. It was as if they were seeing a scene of countless beautiful women before them.
After parting ways with the others, Long Chen quickly rushed home. He didn’t even eat dinner; the time he was wasting was too great. He had to urgently increase his cultivation base.
Although the FengFu Star had already been perfectly condensed, now that he had gained a Dantian, he wanted to quickly condense more cyclones.
There were currently only three cyclones in his Dantian. He wanted to continue forming them, but there was no clue on how to do so within the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art in his memories.
Back when
the FengFu Star had condensed, three of the cyclones had appeared all at once. Even Long Chen didn’t know how it had happened.
Now, Long Chen found that when he circulated his Dantian, the three cyclones would also revolve with it. This method was only for continuously sending energy throughout his body for battle, and wasn’t for cultivating.
Drawing some of the FengFu Star’s spiritual energy out to the cyclones, they immediately grew ten times the size and Long Chen’s breathing became rushed in anticipation. But this was also for battle and not how to cultivate them.
Long Chen took a deep breath, and hesitating for a moment, he slowly circulated his qi to absorb the outside world’s spiritual qi.
However, this time, he didn’t send it throughout his body but gathered it into his FengFu Star.
Following Long Chen’s absorption of heaven and earth’s spiritual qi, the FengFu Star started to quickly circulate.
“This is the way!”
Long Chen was elated; although he didn’t know exactly what was happening, this definitely seemed to be more for cultivating and less for battle.
Doing his best to continue absorbing, the FengFu star gradually became brighter under the continuous absorption. In the end, it appeared like a blazing sun.
BOOM!
The FengFu Star shook, and it immediately became dimmer. At the same time, another cyclone appeared within Long Chen’s Dantian.
“Haha, I’ve finally found the way to continue cultivating.”
Along with the fourth cyclone’s formation, Long Chen found out that the meridians within his body had also expanded slightly, and his whole body was surging with energy.
“Good, let’s continue.”
Long Chen slowly closed his eyes and began to attack the fifth Heavenstage.
[1] Fu Gui meaning rich. Like imagine your parents literally named you Rich and that was your businesscard.
Chapter 33 Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival
Within the inner part of the palace was the fourth prince’s study. The fourth prince was sitting with his eyelids half closed as he quietly listened to the Savage Marquis’s report.