by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“You’re too modest. I’ve seen many people in the Central Plains, but only a few of them can match your intelligence,” said Long Chen.
That was truly the case. Although there were many experts with powerful cultivation bases and great power, in Long Chen’s eyes, they were just a pack of strong fools. In terms of intelligence, the only ones he had ever admired were Sovereign Yun Shang, the High Priest, Li Tianxuan, and now his father.
Long Tianxiao shook his head. “This so-called intelligence is just based on different viewpoints. One single kind of intelligence that can fully explain everything, doesn’t exist. If it did, then that could only be called the Heavenly Daos. The lives of everything in the world, the myriad of Daos, the interchange between life and death, the cycle of karma, heaven and earth…”
“Alright, stop talking about philosophy. Chen-er’s back, and he didn’t come back to hear that. Hurry up and tidy the table. The food’s done.” Mrs. Long came walking out with two plates of piping hot food.
Long Chen hastily stood to put away the tea set. But he was stopped by his mother.
“Chen-er, let your father do it. He only stops talking about philosophy when he’s working. That’s the only way our ears have peace.”
Long Chen’s expression was odd. He looked at Long Tianxiao only to see him shrug and wink. “Sometimes, keeping your mouth shut is true wisdom.”
The table was quickly filled with delicacies. There were four hot and four cool dishes, and they were all Long Chen’s favorites. A large fish dish at the center was emitting an enticing scent.
Gulp.
Gulp.
Long Chen was startled. The first gulping sound was his, but the second wasn’t.
He looked down to see Xiaoyu had run over. Her eyes were shining as she stared at the food.
“The two of you really are the same when it comes to this,” laughed Mrs. Long.
“It’s because we haven’t had this much food in a long time!” protested Xiaoyu.
Long Chen was startled. He looked at Long Tianxiao. Was his family really too poor living here?
“Chen-er, you haven’t experienced this kind of thing. Let me ask you, what is happiness?” asked Long Tianxiao.
“Happiness? I’ve never really thought about it.” Long Chen scratched his head.
Long Tianxiao smiled. “In truth, happiness is just a state of mind, a state where your desires are satisfied. It’s very simple. For example, when a hungry person eats, when a thirsty person drinks, when a cold person is warmed, when a tired person has a place to rest, they will all feel happiness. But happiness doesn’t last forever. It only stays for a short time. Once you are used to that happiness, you won’t be able to feel it any longer. So the majority of the people who feel very unhappy, in truth, have food to eat, water to drink, warm clothes to wear, and a roof over their heads. They feel unhappy because they’ve forgotten what made them unhappy before. So if you want to be happier longer, you have to know what sadness is.”
“I don’t want to hear philosophy! I just know that right now I’m hungry and if I still don’t eat, I’ll starve to death!” cried Xiaoyu finally after being forced to wait for Long Tianxiao to finish speaking.
“Tianxiao, stop prattling. Hurry and eat. In particular, the Golden Mouth Catfish should be eaten while it’s hot,” said Mrs. Long.
“Alright, let’s eat,” said Long Tianxiao.
The Long family’s rules were very strict. They taught Xiaoyu that until the seniors touched their chopsticks, the juniors couldn’t either.
Only then did Xiaoyu move her chopsticks. But what Long Chen didn’t expect was for her to immediately dig out a big piece of fish meat and put it in his bowl.
“Big brother, thank you for the ball. I like it a lot. I don’t have anything good to give you, so you can eat this fish first!” Xiaoyu stared at Long Chen very solemnly.
“Ah, thank you!” Long Chen smiled. He liked his sister very much, and he also helped her pick out some food with his chopsticks.
“Long Chen, have some wine- ah, you should have some good wine yourself, right?” Long Tianxiao was just about to open a jar of wine when he stopped himself.
“With your realm, wouldn’t drinking anything be the same. Good wine is fine, bad wine is whatever. The important point is the drinker’s heart. Wasn’t that what you said?” laughed Long Chen. This was exactly what Long Tianxiao had said about drinking tea. It seemed Long Tianxiao still found it difficult to resist good wine.
“Stop talking nonsense with me and bring out the wine!” said a vexed Long Tianxiao.
Long Chen laughed and took out two jugs of wine. They were from the Wine God Palace but weren’t very powerful. They were made by a woman and instead of fiery heat, they contained a rich mellowness.
If he brought out the wine made by the male disciples, Long Tianxiao might collapse after one taste.
This wine in particular was called the Hundred Flower Wine. It was not true wine in the strictest sense and was not intoxicating, making it suitable for Mrs. Long and Xiaoyu to drink with them.
The sky gradually turned dark, and birdsong surrounded them. This place was peaceful and warm.
The grass hut only had two beds. One was for Long Tianxiao, while the other was for Mrs. Long and Xiaoyu. Long Chen directly made his bed on the floor.
Long Tianxiao tried to switch with him, but Long Chen refused no matter what. With his current body, even if he were to lie in ice water, he wouldn’t get cold.
This night, Long Chen slept particularly soundly. He didn’t remember the last time he had felt such a sense of true peace. Furthermore, through Long Tianxiao’s instructions, he had a feeling like his heart was growing clearer.
He had to continue his path, but he had to maintain a hopeful heart. If he couldn’t find hope, then he still needed to find opportunities to relax. Even if he could only relax for a single breath, it was better than nothing.
He couldn't let his heart feel exhausted like that. Making sure a blade was sharpened to its best state was half the battle. Only by maintaining that relaxed state of mind could he focus his best and face the oncoming challenges. This would increase his odds of victory invisibly.
He slept late into the day. Long Tianxiao went out as soon as the sun rose, saying he wanted to catch some different kinds of wild game and fruit for Long Chen to try. Mrs. Long accompanied Xiaoyu, playing outside, not letting her disturb Long Chen.
No one knew a son better than his mother. Although she didn’t know what he had experienced during these years, she could see his weariness. She couldn’t give him anything except a good sleep.
Long Chen woke refreshed. He walked out of the grass hut and felt the warm sunlight strike him. He stretched, feeling full of energy.
“Big brother, play with me!” Seeing Long Chen come out, Xiaoyu immediately ran over to him. After a day, she was much friendlier with Long Chen.
“Let’s go play on a boat.” Long Chen didn’t have any good things on him for children to play with.
“What’s so fun about a boat? Are we catching fish?” asked Xiaoyu.
Long Chen waved his hand, summoning the flying boat. When the huge flying boat appeared in the sky, Mrs. Long jumped in shock.
Xiaoyu also jumped, but then she cried out in excitement, immediately crying out to go on top of the flying boat.
Long Chen had the flying boat descend onto the hillside. He opened the door and lowered the staircase, bringing his mother and sister up onto the flying boat.
The two of them had never seen a flying boat before, and only once they got on did they realize the interior was dozens of times greater than how it appeared on the outside.
Xiaoyu was incomparably excited and refused to get off. When it was noon, Long Tianxiao returned, and they ate lunch on the flying boat.
Long Chen spent each day playing with Xiaoyu. When she was tired, she would crawl into his lap and sleep. Long Chen held her as he chatted with his parents. But he didn’t bring up
anything about the cultivation world.
Time passed by quickly. A week went by before Long Chen brought up his true purpose in coming here. He wanted his parents to switch to a new environment.
What ashamed him was that his parents didn’t even ask for a reason before agreeing. They said switching environments was good for a change of pace, but he knew they were just comforting him.
His parents were both sentimental people. Back then, they had left the Phoenix Cry Empire for him, and now he was sending them to another foreign place. He was truly making things hard on them.
He wanted to send them to the Huayun Sect. With the Huayun Sect’s protection, no one would dare to touch them. Furthermore, Xiaoyu couldn’t be isolated from the rest of the world. That wasn’t good for her development.
If they didn’t like the secular world, then he could send them to the Spirit World later. But that would be bad for Xiaoyu.
Long Chen couldn’t help being infuriated. He had gone out himself, but he had ended up implicating the normal lives of his father and mother. He couldn’t even give them an ordinary life.
On the eighth day, while he was accompanying Xiaoyu, the sky suddenly rumbled and a terrifying pressure descended. Another flying boat appeared.
Chapter 1520 Heavenly Fate Island
The flying boat was extremely quick, and the air rumbled as it passed through rapidly. The villagers all hid themselves in terror.
“As expected, they came.” Ice-cold chilling intent appeared in Long Chen’s eyes.
A dozen figures walked off the flying boat. One of them was holding a fengshui compass and pointing it at something.
“It’s right here. Everyone split up…”
The middle-aged man holding the fengshui compass had a long beard and moustache. He possessed a slight immortal air. But as he was speaking, he realized something was off. He realized everyone was looking in one direction.
He looked up to see three adults and one child standing in front of a grass hut. But when he saw the face of the black-robed man, his expression completely changed.
“You should go back and rest. My guests have come,” said Long Chen.
Long Tianxiao nodded. He didn’t say anything as he pulled Mrs. Long and Xiaoyu back into the grass hut. He closed the door.
“Long… Long Chen…” One of them stuttered out Long Chen’s name. He was pale with terror.
There were three powerful Life Star experts amongst their group, but in front of a single Jade Core disciple, they didn’t even dare to move.
“You come from Heavenly Fate Island?” Long Chen ignored the others, focusing on the middle-aged man.
“Correct. This matter has nothing to do with me. My Heavenly Fate Island is only in charge of calculating things. We don’t care about anything else,” said the middle-aged man. Contrary to the others, he was very calm. It seemed he was very confident in the protective talisman that was the name of Heavenly Fate Island.
He then turned to the others. “My mission ends here. The rest is your affair. Goodbye.”
The middle-aged man then took out a teleportation talisman. He immediately crushed it, and spatial runes wrapped around him.
All of a sudden, a five-colored spear pierced through his body. Not only did it break the spatial runes, but it also left a bloody hole on his body.
The middle-aged man let out a miserable cry as he fell from the sky. Lightning runes sparked around his injury, causing his body to twitch.
He was only a peak Soul Transformation expert and couldn’t resist Long Chen’s five-colored lightning at all. He constantly wailed under the attack of the thunderforce.
The others glanced at each other and immediately fled. They even abandoned the flying boat and scattered in every direction.
Before they could get anywhere, space shook. A cyan ripple spread, blowing those experts to pieces and extinguishing their souls.
“Heaven Flipping Seal, you’ve learned how to control your power? Nice job!” Long Chen was delighted and looked up at the Heaven Flipping Seal that was slowly revolving in the air.
The Heaven Flipping Seal immediately began to spin rapidly upon hearing Long Chen’s praise. It was like a child.
“It’s been so many days, but you’ve only managed to grasp such a rudimentary technique. It’s not worth being proud of. Hurry up and return. I’ll teach you how to use your second kind of divine rune.” Evilmoon’s harsh voice rang out. The Heaven Flipping Seal immediately went still and returned to Long Chen’s spiritual space.
“Evilmoon, the Heaven Flipping Seal is still like a child. Make sure to balance work and rest. Don’t be too ruthless,” said Long Chen. He could sense the Heaven Flipping Seal’s fear of Evilmoon.
“Stop talking nonsense. Does this little bit of strictness count for anything? My evil dragon race is tossed into a sea of slaughter as soon as we’re born. We’re sent into a sea of powerful beasts, and we’re essentially prey for them. If we want to live, we have to rely on our own power. During that time, we are on the border of death constantly. Tch, is this little bit of work worth a damn?” snorted Evilmoon.
Long Chen was helpless toward this. Evilmoon’s strong desire for slaughter was connected to the environment it had grown up in. No one could change it.
He could only comfort the Heaven Flipping Seal. If Evilmoon was the bad cop, then he would have to be the good cop. That way the Heaven Flipping Seal wouldn’t feel so bad.
The middle-aged man was still wailing. Long Chen gave him a kick, sending him tumbling back. But after that kick, his wailing stopped.
It wasn’t that he had died, but that Long Chen had pulled back his thunderforce. Although it had just been a few breaths’ time, this Soul Transformation expert’s meridians had been destroyed by the thunderforce, and even his Dantian was destroyed. He was like a living corpse now.
This was the terror of five-colored lightning. Not just anyone could resist it. It was even more terrifying than the strongest poisons.
“Long Chen, you dare to attack me, a disciple of Heavenly Fate Island?! You are courting death!” raged the middle-aged man. He glared at Long Chen with rancor over having his Dantian destroyed.
“This is retribution. Your Heavenly Fate Island decided to cooperate with them to scheme against me. If you were just targeting me, although I would be angry, I could accept it. But you actually decided to target my parents. Now you’ve touched my reverse scale,” said Long Chen coldly.
“That’s a joke! My Heavenly Fate Island only helps others calculate the lines of fate! We don’t participate in any struggles. This is our iron law that hasn’t been broken for tens of thousands of years. If you have the ability, you should find retribution with them and not cast your anger on my Heavenly Fate Island. However, it doesn’t matter anymore. You’ve already committed a taboo against my Heavenly Fate Island. Now, no matter where you go in the Martial Heaven Continent, you won’t be able to get away!”
Long Chen suddenly stamped his foot down on that person’s leg. The middle-aged man immediately turned white as paper and quivered intensely. The intense pain made it so he couldn’t even speak.
With his understanding of the human body, Long Chen was proficient in targeting the most painful parts of his enemies’ bodies.
“The so-called iron law of your Heavenly Fate Island might be able to restrict others, but it can’t restrict me. My iron law is that whoever provokes me will endure my reprisal. Your way of speaking is just like how the Bloodkill Hall spoke back then. It was like the entire world had to play by their rules. Perhaps others are afraid of you, but I’m not. If Heavenly Fate Island doesn’t give me a satisfactory explanation for this, I will sooner or later destroy it,” said Long Chen coldly.
“Haha… cough… you are… courting death…” The middle-aged man endured the pain to sneer at Long Chen. But his voice was shuddering, and the veins on his forehead almost exploded.
Long Chen smiled faintly, and his killing intent vanished. He indifferently said,
“It’ll be clear who’s courting death in the future. However, you will not see that day.”
Long Chen had originally been controlled by fury, and he had wanted to crush this arrogant fellow in front of him into pieces.
But then he suddenly recalled what his father had said. He couldn’t play along at other people’s tempo. He had to give himself a chance to breathe.
The more his enemy wanted to infuriate him, the more he couldn’t let himself get angry. Even if he killed this person in front of him, it wouldn’t resolve his current predicament.
Anger was an instinct. Suppressing one’s anger was the true skill. Only by suppressing his anger could he make the correct decision.
Long Chen pulled the middle-aged man’s finger and took off his spatial ring. Long Chen’s divine sense entered it, and he saw some strange diagrams and bizarre tools. However, he didn’t know how to use any of them.
He pointed a finger at the middle-aged man’s forehead. His Spiritual Strength forced its way into his mind-sea.
“Oh? So there’s a defensive restriction? Be broken.”
Long Chen snorted, and his Spiritual Strength burst out, shattering those defenses.
At that moment, light exploded. A gate of light appeared in front of him, and an indistinct figure showed up from within it.
This indistinct figure grew clearer until it revealed a cold-faced, white-haired elder with a strange vertical crack on his forehead.
“You are Long Chen?”
The elder sat cross-legged within the light, staring coldly at Long Chen like a god.
“You are the boss of Heavenly Fate Island?” asked Long Chen equally coldly.
The elder’s eyes turned even colder. “Release the disciple of my Heavenly Fate Island. Don’t make a mistake.”