by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“Thank you for your teachings,” said Long Chen.
“Alright, time’s about up. Say your goodbyes to Mo Nian. Perhaps it’ll be many years before you ever see each other again.
…
Seeing the huge city disappear into the sky, Long Chen felt a sense of loss, as well as a slight sense of helplessness.
This was cultivation, this was life. Everyone had their own troubles. Even an existence as powerful as the Mo family, even with that powerful killing tool, the Mo Mountain Seal, they still had to flee miserably. It really made a person sigh with emotion.
Back when he left Phoenix Cry, he had become a true cultivator. Long Chen had felt extremely satisfied with himself back then. As a Blood Condensation expert, he had swept through his enemies in Phoenix Cry. Just how impressive was that?
But now, he had already reached Meridian Opening. As his cultivation base grew, his enemies also grew stronger. He still felt like he was not the master of his own fate. In fact, he no longer felt the slightest sense of safety. Stronger. He had to get stronger.
“Senior, are you still there?”
Once Long Chen left the Yin family’s ancestral land and had traveled for a few hours, he felt it was safe enough to slow down. He yelled into his soul.
“I am.”
“This time, it’s all thanks to your help. You saved my family and also saved my life. No matter what you want, I definitely won’t hesitate,” said Long Chen.
“Even if I want you to exterminate heaven and earth, becoming enemies with gods, you’d still be willing?” This was just a spiritual fluctuation. There was no emotion in the voice.
“I’d be willing.”
That voice was silent for a moment before saying, “I’ve kept watch on you for a long time. Originally, your life and death had nothing to do with me. But today, you’ve made me feel slightly moved: you are an idiot.”
“...”
“An idiot like you really hasn’t appeared in a long time. You’re an idiot who cares about emotions and relationships. So I helped you out this time. However, it comes with a price.”
“As long as I, Long Chen, can accomplish it, I definitely won’t even frown.”
“The current you is still too weak, much, much, too weak. Close your eyes.”
“If I close my eyes, I’ll crash into a tree.” Long Chen hesitated.
“Can’t you stop for a moment? It won’t take too long.”
Long Chen stopped and closed his eyes.
“Alright, now open your eyes.”
When Long Chen opened his eyes, he found that he was within the boundless cosmos. Endless stars twinkled around him, and he couldn’t help being indescribably shocked.
“This is my viewpoint. Do you see that star field up ahead?”
“That lump of paste with countless sesame seeds?” asked Long Chen.
“That’s where you are. You are within one of those sesame seeds.”
“...”
Long Chen’s heart pounded fervently. The world he was in was actually so small. Just what kind of figure was the master of this voice?
“I’m showing you this so you know the difference between us. Your current strength is unable to help me. You have to quickly become stronger and break through the restrictions of your world. At that time, you might have the qualifications to help me.”
“That… will probably take a very long time.” Long Chen gulped.
“How long is a very long time?”
“Probably several decades, or perhaps even a few centuries?”
What kind of joke was this? His own world was just a sesame seed. The master of this voice was definitely a terrifying existence.
Thinking of how strong he’d have to become to help such an existence, Long Chen didn’t have the slightest confidence. He even wanted to say that it would take him a few centuries, but he hadn’t been able to say such a thing.
“Decades? Centuries? Those are time units of your world. Where I am, time is measured by star cycles, the time it takes for a star to be born and then destroyed.
“I’ve been here, watching the stars before me die, be reborn, and then die again, for I don’t even know how long. Your units mean nothing to me.
“Furthermore, I only helped you out randomly. I don’t have any high hopes. You can just treat it as me being bored. After all, we have a destiny together, or my reverse scale wouldn’t have landed in your hands.”
“What? This reverse scale is yours?”
“Correct. That is the result of my first molting when I was born. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to even sense you.”
“Your first molting… when you were born?! You are a true dragon?” Long Chen's voice shuddered slightly. This world truly did possess the existence known as the true dragon.
“When I was born, all my scales were green, so the outer world called me a green dragon. But we’re only called green dragons for our childhood.
“So the energy you could use was merely the power I had in my childhood. But your cultivation technique is very strange, and it was actually able to fix my green dragon strength in place. It only allows you to use a portion of that energy. Perhaps it is trying to protect you.
“But this will not allow you to draw out more of the green dragon’s power. Otherwise, just now, you would have been able to kill your opponent instantly. However, at the same time, your body wouldn’t be able to bear that much power and would explode.”
Hearing that, Long Chen’s heart pounded. The green dragon, which in human terms was just a baby, already possessed such power.
Just what kind of existence was the dragon race? Long Chen was confident in his powerful physical body, but compared to dragons, he had to admit defeat even to a newborn. That was a great blow to his self-confidence.
“For you to put it like this, I really feel like I’m a piece of trash,” sighed Long Chen.
“Your physical body really is trash. But your cultivation technique is very special. It’s actually able to keep a certain amount of control over my green dragon strength. Perhaps this is an opportunity for you to completely change your fate.
“There’s not much time left. The energy I sent down this time is about to fade. I will transmit a cultivation technique of my dragon race to you. If you really are heaven-defying enough, perhaps you can cultivate in it.
“But if you aren’t able to cultivate in it, then just act as if I never appeared, because that means you will never be able to help me.” After the voice finished speaking, a large flood of information poured into Long Chen’s head.
Long Chen felt like his head was about to split. He collapsed on the ground, clenching his head. The pain lasted for an incense stick’s worth of time before receding. He was completely pale and covered with sweat.
“The pain of the soul really is indescribable. It’s ten thousand times the pain of the physical body,” sighed Long Chen. He finally experienced just how painful spiritual pain was.
Only after resting for a while did Long Chen flip through his memories to find a large amount of information in the form of a cultivation technique.
“Dragon Blood Body Tempering Art.”
Long Chen carefully studied it. Using dragon blood to temper the physical body was extremely dangerous.
There were two requirements to train in this technique. One was that you had the essence blood of a dragon, and the other was that you had one thousand catties of strength.
The dragon race expert had told Long Chen that his reverse scale only had a single drop of essence blood for Long Chen to use. Furthermore, this essence blood contained his spiritual memory, and it wouldn’t fight back when Long Chen refined it.
As for the thousand catties of strength, that meant that the physical body could endure one thousand catties of force. This was something Long Chen had long since achieved. One catty was thirty pounds, so one thousand catties was just thirty thousand pounds. That was too easy for Long Chen.
But he kept feeling like some
thing was wrong. If he could so easily refine the green dragon essence blood, how was it that he had been unable to use even one ten thousandth of the green dragon’s strength?
“What the fuck, I almost got killed!”
Long Chen suddenly clapped his own leg. The cultivation technique the dragon race expert had given him had been transmitted with immortal characters. But being afraid that Long Chen wouldn’t understand it all, the dragon had also added in its own notations.
One of those notations said that the catty referred to in this cultivation technique was not the current catty, but the immortal era’s catty. And the immortal era’s catty was equivalent to… three hundred thousand pounds.
Thinking of that, Long Chen became covered in a cold sweat. Three hundred thousand pounds a catty… so then one thousand catties would be three hundred million pounds!
With his current strength, although he hadn’t tested it, he estimated it should be around twenty million pounds. Twenty million and three hundred million… the difference was truly immense.
If Long Chen had just foolishly absorbed the green dragon essence blood, then it would be strange if he didn’t immediately explode.
Such a death would really be too stupid. But today, Long Chen had seen a vaster sky for himself, and he was filled with expectations.
“I can only set this matter aside for now. Without stepping into the Xiantian realm, refining the green dragon essence blood is just impossible. I should first go see my parents.”
Long Chen switched directions, rushing in the direction the dragon race expert had shown him. That was where it had transported Little Snow.
Chapter 608 Returning From a Long Journey
After rushing for over a day, Long Chen finally found the tracks that Little Snow had left behind. This was where Little Snow had been teleported.
This was already extremely far from the Yin family’s ancestral land. Following the tracks Little Snow had left behind for over a day, he finally arrived at a small city.
Long Chen found his family in an inn. Within the entire inn, the only guests were the Long family.
That was because as soon as Little Snow had come, the other guests had all fled in terror. This place was just a small city, and the population didn’t exceed a hundred thousand. Even the Tendon Transformation realm was considered extremely powerful while Bone Forging experts were peerless. How could they have ever seen a fifth rank Magical Beast?
When Long Tianxiao had arrived on Little Snow’s back, even the manager of the inn had been prepared to run. Little Snow’s aura was just too terrifying.
He directly told Long Tianxiao that he could pick whatever room he wanted. If Long Tianxiao hadn’t comforted him, the manager would have long since fled.
Seeing Long Chen had arrived, Mrs. Long immediately hugged him, sobbing. Long Tianxiao’s eyes were also red. He had thought he would never be able to see Long Chen again.
“Mom, child was unfilial, implicating you.” Long Chen was also choked with sobs. He had gone out to cultivate on his own, and due to that, he had implicated his parents, causing them to suffer.
“Foolish child, what nonsense. Come, meet your little sister. I came up with her name, Long Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu, quickly come greet your big brother. This is the big brother your mom and dad have told you about.” Mrs. Long pulled the little girl over.
“Big brother…”
The little girl looked at Long Chen with her pure eyes. She was slightly afraid, as well as slightly curious. She hid behind Mrs. Long’s leg, caught between not daring to look at him and wanting to see him.
“Xiaoyu? As in the pretty daughter of a humble family? Mom, it seems you’re afraid my sister will run off too!” laughed Long Chen. From this name, it seemed his mother didn’t hope for Xiaoyu to have any accomplishments. All she wanted was for her to peacefully live by her side, being an obedient child.
But hearing this name, Long Chen remembered another figure who was only slightly bigger than Xiaoyu. It seemed she had also said her name, and it was very similar. But he had forgotten what it was exactly.
“Come, Xiaoyu, do you want a hug from your big brother?” Long Chen kneeled down and clapped his hands, smiling.
“Mommy… I’m afraid…” The little girl continued to hide behind Mrs. Long shyly.
“Foolish girl, that’s your big brother! Did you forget how he has saved us?” Mrs. Long looked at Xiaoyu tenderly, rubbing her small head.
“But… he’s different from the paintings you showed me… He’s a bit… savage,” whispered Xiaoyu into Mrs. Long’s ears.
Hearing this, the three of them immediately laughed. But Long Chen’s laughter was a bit self-mocking. He knew what paintings Xiaoyu was talking about.
That was the comic that had been extremely popular back in Phoenix Cry. At that time, Long Chen had truly just been a youth. Now, over two years had passed, and he had already grown up.
Not only had his face become more steadfast, but due to the struggles on the cultivation path, he had also slaughtered countless people. That murderous aura in his bones was hard to conceal.
Although Long Chen had already withdrawn that aura, Xiaoyu was a child and was exceptionally sensitive to that kind of aura. She naturally felt he was scary.
Seeing that Xiaoyu refused to get closer, Long Chen simply smiled and told Mrs. Long to do her best to coax her. Long Chen went into another room and gave Long Tianxiao a medicinal pill to regrow his limbs. In just an incense stick’s worth of time, he was fully healed
“Chen-er, you’ve had it hard in the outside world.” Long Tianxiao patted Long Chen on the shoulder, sighing.
Although Long Chen was now the same height as Long Tianxiao, in Long Tianxiao’s eyes, Long Chen would forever be that small child. Seeing Long Chen’s steadfast face, Long Tianxiao felt a sour feeling. The only one who knew how much Long Chen had suffered was himself.
Long Chen forced back his tears, smiling. “Dad, your child doesn’t have it hard. The outside world is very brilliant. I have many great beauties and many hot-blooded brothers…”
Long Chen told his father about his experiences. However, he only mentioned the good parts. The sadness, the powerlessness he felt, those portions he omitted.
“Chen-er, your decision today makes me both happy and troubled. I’m happy that even after all those trials and hardships, you still managed to retain your original heart. But I’m also troubled, because even after experiencing that much slaughter, you still haven’t been able to make your heart vicious and ruthless. I’m afraid that the same thing will happen again in front of you, and at that time, perhaps you really will fall,” sighed Long Tianxiao.
Long Chen cared too deeply about the people close to him. That was something gratifying, but such a person would suffer far too much in the outside world.
“Dad, don’t worry. I definitely won’t fall into this kind of trap again,” promised Long Chen.
“Your mother and I are not going back to Phoenix Cry. We’ll find a small village for ourselves to live in peacefully. These years, all I’ve done is battle and fight. But that never managed to bring anything back for us. This time, it seems I’ve gained a flash of insight. I want to try being an ordinary person. Hunting, farming, resting when the sun’s down, working when the sun’s up, living carefree and unrestrained.” Long Tianxiao smiled.
“Dad…”
“Chen-er, don’t feel bad. You should feel excited for your dad. I really did gain a flash of insight. Living in itself is also a kind of cultivation.
“Some people care so much about the result, that they’ve forgotten that sometimes the journey of cultivation is even more important than the result.
“When I was young, I only wanted to get stronger. I cared too much about the result. Now I realize, the result is unknown, but the journey is within my control.
“I won’t care about the result for now. What I want to do is allow my journey to become even more brilliant. When you were young, I didn’t accompany yo
u while you grew up. That is my greatest regret.
“Now the heavens have given me another chance, sending Xiaoyu to my side. I’ll properly cherish this chance. I’ll stay by her side as she grows up.
“Chen-er, there’s a certain phrase that’s well said: the horse dislikes the narrow path, and the Great Peng hates the heavens for being too low. Your world will be even wider, even higher.
“Don’t let your Dao-heart be disturbed because of us. Each person has their own goals. You should be happy for us, because we’ve finally found our own goal,” said Long Tianxiao. He patted Long Chen on the shoulder.
Long Chen looked at his father. His father’s eyes were completely calm without the slightest reluctance.
“Yes, dad.”
“Alright, go play with your sister now. You’re her idol, and she always talks about you.
“But… she doesn’t like me…”
“Hahaha…”
Their family peacefully passed three days together. During these three days, Long Chen accompanied his sister with Little Snow.
Long Xiaoyu liked Little Snow especially and wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of him. In fact, she would even sleep on his back when she was tired.
Long Chen leaned against Little Snow, rubbing his head. He was filled with peace. In truth, happiness was very simple. Why did people have to fight to the point of you die or I die?
In this calm town, Long Chen felt a peace he had never felt before. It was like he had left the endless struggles of the world.
But he knew this peace was just temporary. He still had to return into a bloody current and continue his life.
That was because if he didn’t struggle, he wouldn’t be able to learn about his origins. He might be able to avoid this struggle, but that would be too cruel to his biological parents.
The violet jade pendant appeared in his hand again. Rubbing the words on it, he couldn’t help but feel pain inside. He didn’t know when he would finally be able to see his biological parents. Were they still alive?
“Big brother, are you going to leave us?”