by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“Don’t think you can scare me. Right now, I’m a member of us sisters, and we must work together.” Tang Wan-er waved her hand.
“Long Chen, hurry and tell us. None of us can cultivate right now, so just tell us your story.” Chu Yao gently pulled on Long Chen’s arm, sitting down with him.
They all sat in a circle, the women all staring at Long Chen. He almost felt as if he was floating lightly through the air from being stared at by such beauties.
“Uh… I can tell you… but you can’t laugh… or I won’t tell you!” Long Chen hesitated for a moment before giving a warning.
“Fine, we won’t laugh. Hurry and tell us!” Tang Wan-er wrapped her arm around Long Chen’s other arm, her face alight with anticipation.
With the two of them on his arms, Long Chen really couldn’t find a way to refuse them. He just thickened his face and told them about what had happened. With a soul specialist like Meng Qi around, Long Chen didn’t even have a chance to lie.
Hearing how Long Chen had repeatedly bamboozled Han Tianfeng, how Long Chen had repeatedly trampled him and led the Barbaric Wind Beast to attack him, they all couldn’t hold back their laughter.
As for Tang Wan-er, she was laughing especially hard, rocking back and forth. But a beauty was a beauty, and no matter how she laughed, it was still enchanting.
Seeing them holding their sides from laughter, Long Chen became embarrassed and raged, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t laugh?!”
“Long Chen… you can’t blame us… It’s just… too… funny…” Tang Wan-er was unable to even stay sitting straight up from her laughter.
As for the ice goddess Ye Zhiqiu, she had turned around. But from the trembling of her shoulders, she was obviously laughing as well.
Long Chen was speechless. Now he regretted telling them this. He had gravely damaged his glorious image.
“Long Chen… you really are… bad.” Even Chu Yao was laughing so hard that she didn’t even have time to breathe.
Although he had only given a simple recounting of what had happened, when they pictured a grand, peak genius being toyed with almost to death, all the while not knowing just who it was that was messing with him, they really were unable to hold back their laughter.
“Ah, Long Chen, really well done! Such a bastard should be killed just like that!” Tang Wan-er finally finished laughing and patted Long Chen on the shoulder.
“There’s nothing embarrassing about this, Long Chen. To handle an enemy, you naturally should use any and all methods, or the one to suffer will be you.” Lu Fang-er greatly approved of what he had done.
“Speaking of which, I remember that fellow Jiang Yifan. Did you end up running into him?” asked Tang Wan-er suddenly. She didn’t know whether or not Long Chen had finished taking revenge.
“Nope! I searched for him forever, but I didn’t even see his shadow.” Long Chen shook his head repeatedly. Even if he was beaten to death, he definitely couldn’t admit what had happened.
Even Long Chen shivered when he thought of Jiang Yifan and crap-brother Qi’s fates. That was really too nauseating.
Meng Qi glanced at him oddly, but seeing Long Chen doing his best to give her a meaningful glance, his eyes seeming to be begging her, she just smiled and didn’t say anything.
“Long Chen, why are you looking at sister Meng Qi like that?” asked Chu Yao.
“This is a kind of tender-hearted gaze. Could you not tell?” laughed Long Chen.
This phrasing of his was too ambiguous and flirtatious, causing all of them to blush. Meng Qi didn’t even dare look at the others now.
Seeing that one sentence was enough to stop their attacks on him, Long Chen sighed inside, cursing himself for being stupid. If he had known that it would be this simple, what would he have had to beg for?
“Wan-er, keep the wind spirit stones yourself. I know you can’t use them all, but just look after them. Right now, all you need to do is absorb the purest energy of the wind spirit stones to quickly increase your wind comprehension. That will bring huge benefits to your cultivation.” Since no one else was saying anything, Long Chen brought the conversation back to proper matters.
“But that would waste a huge amount of their energy,” said Tang Wan-er.
Wind spirit stones contained an enormous amount of energy, but that energy wasn’t all entirely pure. Only a portion could be absorbed.
Most cultivators would absorb all the energy of the wind spirit stone into their bodies, and then they would force out the impurities. Only then could they keep the waste to the minimum, as wind spirit stones were just too precious.
But Long Chen wanted her to just absorb the pure energy, and just directly waste the impure portion. That meant she would reject over ninety percent of its energy. That was truly extravagant and practically a waste of a natural treasure.
“If it’s a waste, then it’s a waste. Right now, time is more important. When the exit opens, it will definitely bring a bloody battle. Each little bit of strength is a greater chance of survival,” said Long Chen.
“Alright, I understand.” Tang Wan-er nodded. This was currently an extremely pressing period of time.
Seeing her nod, Long Chen knew he didn’t need to worry about that anymore. Tang Wan-er was a very sensible girl, and he didn’t need to worry about things she had promised him.
“Meng Qi, this is your gift.” Long Chen took out a golden page. Both Chu Yao and Ye Zhiqiu let out startled exclamations.
They had been present when Long Chen had rescued Ye Zhiqiu and the others. He had used just this golden page to kill all those attackers. It was incredibly sharp, and all weapons and armor had been as weak as paper in front of it. That scene of its golden light bringing with it a rain of blood was still fresh in their memories.
“Long Chen this is…?” Meng Qi was startled by Chu Yao and Ye Zhiqiu’s reactions.
“This is a soul item,” said Long Chen.
“Soul item?” Meng Qi let out a startled cry. As a soul cultivator, she naturally knew what that was. Even in the Wind Spirit Pavilion, they were extremely rare and precious.
“Long Chen-”
Meng Qi was just about to refuse when Long Chen solemnly said, “Now isn’t the time to be courteous. Of everyone present, you’re the one most suited to this soul item.
“Using a soul item requires you to use your Spiritual Strength, but Chu Yao, Ye Zhiqiu, Wan-er, and myself are all fighters. We can’t fight while splitting our attention to use it.
“Only you and Lu Fang-er can use it to its full potential, while you are the one who has the strongest soul energy here. With you controlling it, during a critical moment, you can instantly kill experts. This is our entire team’s life-saving talisman.
“But in truth, this is not a true soul item, so its use is limited. You’ll need to constantly use your soul to nourish it and form a connection to it. Even I don’t know how exactly this thing should be used, so it’ll be up to you to figure that out,” smiled Long Chen.
After distributing these two treasures, everyone once more began to talk and laugh. Although Ye Zhiqiu didn’t smile or talk, a trace of warmth had appeared in her eyes.
This relaxed time flew by. Three days later, just as everyone gathered together to enter seclusion again, an unfamiliar guest arrived.
Chapter 426 Hua Biluo
“What a rare guest. Who would have thought that sister Hua Biluo would come to see me here?”
There were two people in a tent. In front of Long Chen was a slender woman in a purple dress.
This woman was precisely the second monastery’s number one expert, Hua Biluo. Long Chen was surprised to see her now. Meng Qi and the others had intentionally vacated the tent, leaving just the two of them.
Hua Biluo smiled. “To rudely turn up unsolicited, please forgive me, brother Long.”
“Please, sit.” Long Chen waved his hand. There were two seats and a table in the tent that Guo Ran had prepared. “Sister Biluo, I’m quite the boorish m
an, so please don’t blame me for not knowing etiquette.”
Hua Biluo gently brushed forward her dress and sat down. Her movements were very graceful and relaxed.
There was a certain kind of air around Hua Biluo that made her seem very poised and graceful, one that would instinctively make a person feel relaxed. Long Chen disliked it.
That was a kind of noble mannerism. It could be considered an accomplishment in the secular world. But in the cultivation world, this kind of artificial mannerism could be described with a single word: posturing.
Long Chen knew that Hua Biluo wasn’t doing it deliberately. This was something innate to her, and if his guess wasn’t wrong, her origins were definitely not simple.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen is courteous. Men should be open and candid, living free and unfettered. To tell the truth, I greatly admire you.” Hua Biluo smiled gracefully, a smile that could deeply move a person.
It could be said that Hua Biluo was exceptionally beautiful. There were few men who wouldn’t like her. That pride in her bones would especially cause a man to feel a strong longing.
It was just like a horse. The more prideful a horse was, the greater the desire you would feel to subdue it.
“Sister Biluo overpraises me. Since you like to be direct, then I also won’t bother with etiquette. Why have you come to find me?” asked Long Chen.
Hua Biluo was slightly surprised by how direct Long Chen was. He had skipped over all those polite manners, getting to the main point without even pouring a cup of tea for her.
However, she quickly reacted and smiled. “Ok, the reason I came here was to form an alliance with you.”
Hua Biluo was very intelligent, and after this short of an exchange, she could already tell Long Chen’s character. Knowing he didn’t like beating around the bush, she also got right to the point.
“What kind of alliance? You want to handle Han Tianyu together?”
“Yes. I’m sure you’re aware that the first monastery has been targeting you since you entered the secret realm. They set up layers of traps, constantly raising your infamy. That Yin Wushuang is especially repulsive, even placing her target on the ones beside you when she couldn’t handle you. That kind of person is the scum of the Righteous path. Unfortunately, this junior sister is not strong enough on her own to handle the first monastery and could only watch as brother Long had to suffer injustice.”
Seeing her apologetic expression, Long Chen smiled slightly. “Sister Biluo, neither of us are stupid. Since you want to collaborate, shouldn’t you bring out some sincerity?
“Yes, the first monastery is targeting me. I trust that your second monastery definitely knows the whole story.
“But the reason you just watched instead of doing anything was to see just how many trump cards I have, and whether or not I would be worth pulling to your side.
“Only once I revealed enough power to move you did you begin to take sides and protest against my injustice.”
“...” Having her thoughts seen through by Long Chen, Hua Biluo’s expression changed slightly. His words were really too direct, and she found herself put on the spot.
“Sister Biluo, I don’t have any other intentions by saying these things. I just want to tell you that if we want to form an alliance, we both need to be sincere. We can’t conceal things from each other, or when we face our enemies together, we’ll be suspicious of each other. If we’re just scheming against each other, there’s no point to it,” said Long Chen.
“I really do have to blush with shame about that matter.” Hua Biluo’s face did redden slightly. Long Chen had been entirely correct.
Even before the secret realm opened, it was impossible for the first monastery’s covert actions to slip past the attention of the second monastery. Which monastery didn’t have a few spies?
If the first monastery could bribe other sects’ Elders and disciples, then the second monastery could also do the same. So, they had learned everything that had happened. Furthermore, for something as big as Luo Bing bringing her thirty-sixth monastery’s disciples to grandly punish the 108th monastery, only to be defeated miserably, it was impossible to slip past the second monastery’s ears.
So, Hua Biluo was one hundred percent clear on the matter between Long Chen and the first monastery. That was why she had purposely smiled at Long Chen at the beginning when all the monasteries had gathered.
One reason was to leave behind an impression as a foundation for this alliance. But the other reason was to provoke Han Tianyu. She never paid any attention to Han Tianyu, acting as if she didn’t even see him. So when she expressed such a smile to Long Chen, she succeeded in arousing Han Tianyu’s discontent.
Furthermore, at that time, Long Chen had also been accompanied by two peerless beauties like Tang Wan-er and Ye Zhiqiu. Others might not have been able to tell, but Hua Biluo had immediately sensed Han Tianyu’s jealousy.
After entering the secret realm, Hua Biluo hadn’t directly gone to ally with Long Chen. Instead, she had chosen to be a bystander, wanting to see if Long Chen was really worth her pulling him in.
If Long Chen had been unable to reach that level, she would have spent her time pulling in others. And so, that line of hers, that she could only watch as he had to suffer injustice, was just a lie to deceive others and even herself.
Once images of Long Chen’s defeating Yin Wushuang had reached her, she had finally taken action, saying Long Chen was the innocent one, and that the woman in the photographic jade had just been setting him up.
However, back then, although she had only just said that single line, she was also setting up a foundation.
Saying such a thing had been of no help to Long Chen at all. At the same time, she hadn’t directly drawn the hostility of the first monastery.
However, after he had managed to defeat Huo Wufang, she had finally been moved, feeling like it was time to take action. As a result, she had directly supported Long Chen, pointing out that he was being entrapped by someone. Although she didn’t directly say who the person entrapping him was, she implied it was the first monastery and that Yin Wushuang was the director.
Then, when Long Chen had killed Han Tianfeng and severed one of Yin Wushuang’s arms, Hua Biluo should have immediately come to find him.
However, she had only come now after Long Chen and Guo Ran had slaughtered a mass of their enemies, only once everything had calmed down. That was a bit unexpected for Long Chen.
“I’ve actually been waiting for you for a long time. You’ve come a bit late.” smiled Long Chen.
“Talking with you really saves effort. I was going to come earlier, but because of a few things, I ended up being delayed.” Hua Biluo smiled bitterly. Long Chen had already impressively seen through everything. She sighed, “Suddenly, I’m a bit afraid of cooperating with you.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Because I find you really are impressive. To have already managed to see clearly through everything, I really don’t feel that safe,” Hua Biluo sighed, brushing back a few strands of loose hair.
Long Chen laughed. “Then are you curious why I just foolishly jumped in despite knowing about this trap? Why I didn’t think of a way to counterattack? Or perhaps do you think I have some hidden scheme?”
Hua Biluo didn’t say anything, but she nodded slightly. She felt that with Long Chen’s intelligence, he should have long since smelled the scent of a trap. According to reason, he should have long since come up with preventative measures and not have acted so passively.
However, all things had their own thoughts and plans. If Long Chen really had a plan, then he had truly hidden it deeply, so deeply that it was frightening.
“In truth, you’re overthinking it. I knew there was a scheme against me, but I didn’t spend that much energy on thinking about how to use brains to resolve it.
“In my eyes, she is absolutely nothing. If I ended up slowing down my advancement because of her, then my ending would definitely be very m
iserable. So despite knowing, I didn’t have time to play those games with her. I have many things to do that are more important.
“In this world, there are many problems that can be solved with intelligence. But I trust that sister Biluo is aware that when there is a problem that intelligence cannot solve, only martial strength can solve it,” said Long Chen.
“When intelligence cannot solve a problem, only martial strength can…” Hua Biluo muttered Long Chen’s last phrase, a faint light shining in her eyes. “As expected, senior apprentice-brother Long Chen really is an intelligent person. This phrase of yours has let me see a new level of things.”
“Sister Biluo is too courteous. All things have their pros and cons. If you can use intelligence to solve a problem, it would definitely save effort and be safer, right?”
Hua Biluo laughed as Long Chen really was too interesting, and his words were always very sincere.
From his gaze, she could tell that he was a very prideful person. And yet, he didn’t display it. In comparison, those people who always acted very haughty were the people that felt self-inferior, and they had to use that haughtiness to hide it, all to find their own meaning for existence.
As for truly prideful people, they never purposefully acted arrogant. Long Chen was such a person, and such a person would usually disdain lying, whether it was to friends or to enemies.
“It really is enjoyable talking to you. I almost have an urge to have long discussions into the night with you.” laughed Hua Biluo.
“Let’s not. I’d rather talk about that matter of cooperation. After all, I still want to live for a few more years, and you should know that these days, even the walls have ears. With a slight carelessness, someone might end up being punished with the five-horse dismemberment punishment.[1]” Long Chen acted very afraid.
Within the other tent, Meng Qi, Chu Yao, Tang Wan-er, Lu Fang-er, and Ye Zhiqiu all had their eyes closed, cultivating. Although they seemed to have entered a meditative state, their ears were all perked up and listening.