Chapter 134 - Gold Family
Long Chen once again found himself in the Human Core area of the Heavenly Martial Realm.
He was planning to hunt Category Four Black-tier beasts, but he had entered the Human Core area to reduce the risk.
If he entered the Earthly Core area directly and was surrounded by Category Four Black-tier beasts immediately, he would be dead. His plan was to make his way to the Earthly Core area from the Human Core area, as doing so would reduce the chance of encountering numerous strong beasts at once. The Heart Eater was actually encountered at the border between the Human Core area and the Earthly Core area.
The Heavenly Martial Realm remained the same. It looked equally beautiful.
If he killed several Category Three Black-tier beasts, he would be able to accumulate three hundred contribution points eventually, but Long Chen felt that it was not challenging enough for him. He wanted to hunt a Category Four Black-tier Beast instead.
The Lingwu family had total control over the Heavenly Martial Realm. Currently, any family member could enter it, including the inner family.
But because the realm was massive, Long Chen saw no one even after traveling for half a day.
He encountered numerous beasts, however.
It was clear that the beasts in the Heavenly Martial Realm far outnumbered the members of the Lingwu family.
Ling Xi came out of the ear stud and sat on Long Chen’s shoulder.
“The Heavenly Martial Realm is indeed being used to rear a bunch of demonic beasts. There’s a strong demonic aura hidden within nature's spiritual energy here. It’s very beneficial for demonic beasts. The Lingwu family is lucky to have such a place.”
“I think the Lingwu family relied on this place to come into power. Didn’t you say it was basically a small ruin or the tomb of someone strong?”
“Indeed, but so much time has passed that the treasures were probably already taken.”
“Sigh. If only they left some for me.”
“I will enter the ear stud now. There’s people ahead.”
Ling Xi suddenly disappeared into the Ling Xi sword, and Long Chen became more alert. He raised his head and walked through the forest until he saw a group of people sitting together. They were roasting some food.
Everyone turned around when Long Chen appeared. Long Chen realized that they were all teenagers around fourteen or fifteen years old, but two of them were already at the late Human Core Realm.
Sitting among them was a disheveled man drinking beer. He appeared to be around thirty years old, and even though he looked disheveled, he was not weak.
He’s at the initial Earthly Core Realm ...
Yan Cixue, Uncle Yan, and now the disheveled man. All of them were equally strong.
“Young man, care for a drink?”
When he saw Long Chen pop out of the forest, he immediately greeted him.
This was the first person Long Chen had met that was friendly to him. Even though the man’s smile was disgusting, it was genuine. Long Chen walked over and smiled politely. “Of course, but I hope it’s some good liquor.”
“Ha! How could I, Ma Tianyang, drink lousy beer? Come and sit with us for a meal and a drink. These brats only care about eating—none of them can drink. I’ve been so bored.”
Ma Tianyang didn’t have any reservations and pulled Long Chen down to sit. He then grabbed one of the skewers that was just done and gave it to Long Chen before passing him a gourd full of beer. “Young man, come and have one!”
“Of course! I am Long Chen. Since you look a few years older than me, I will just call you Senior Ma!”
Long Chen grabbed the gourd and drank it all. He even showed Ma Tianyang that the gourd was empty.
“Excellent! I’ve finally found someone who can drink that much with me!”
Ma Tianyang was more than happy to talk with Long Chen.
The youths he was escorting were all wearing grand clothes and had strict etiquette. They ate their meal slowly and meticulously, making Ma Tianyang almost go mad from how slow they were.
Some of them were staring at Long Chen with unfriendly gazes, especially the youth whose meat had been taken. He wanted to fight Long Chen, but he didn’t dare to do so.
“No need to pay them any mind. They are all little geniuses and are too snobbish. Long Chen, let's go to that corner. We should drink and talk to our fill!”
Ma Tianyang ignored them and pulled Long Chen into the forest. They found a rather thick branch and sat down before talking.
“Senior Ma, which family are you from, and why are you escorting them?”
Senior Ma smiled. “I’m just an errand boy of the Gold family. I was ordered by the Grand Elder to take the Human Core Realm geniuses to have their first look at a Category Four Black-tier beast. But I’ve been feeling nothing but boredom and frustration! They’re always quiet and are constantly plotting against each other, yet none of them can drink!”
Long Chen looked at the gloomy youths eating their meal and sympathized with Ma Tianyang. Senior Ma was clearly the straightforward and honest type. He loathed people like those youths, and it was difficult for him to spend so much time with them. This was why he was overjoyed when he saw Long Chen.
“I am from the Turquoise family. I’m also looking for a Category Four Black-tier beast.”
Long Chen took another sip of the beer and silently appreciated how nice it tasted.
“This is a top-grade monkey beer. It took me a lot of effort to get it. Drink it slowly.” Ma Tianyang was a bit worried about how much beer he had left before he re-evaluated Long Chen. “I must say, I’m impressed. You are so young and you are already so strong. You must be even stronger than them if you’re coming into the Earthly Core area on your own. Everyone else would think you are reckless, but I think you are a brave man!”
Ma Tianyang was simple and straightforward, the kind of person Long Chen liked.
“The roasted meat is amazing too.”
“That’s because that young man is great at roasting meat. That’s why I took it from him, but looking at his gaze, he seems to want to teach you a lesson.”
Ma Tianyang looked at the youths and chuckled.
“This mission is such a headache. Long Chen, you should follow us if you want to see a Category Four Black-Tier beast.”
Long Chen was reluctant to accept the invitation, but it was hard to meet someone he could get along with. “I have no reason to reject your kind offer, and I still want to drink more of your beer.”
Ma Tianyang slapped Long Chen’s shoulder joyously. “That’s great! And I think I get along well with you too! If you ever run into any trouble, you can come find me in the Gold family. I assure you that you will be treated right!”
They talked until the youths finished their meal. Ma Tianyang brought Long Chen back, tidied up the area, and continued their journey.
The youths were staring at Long Chen. The one whose meat got taken away even objected to it. “Senior Ma, must we bring him along?”
“Yep. His name is Long Chen, and he is an incredible person. Make sure to become friends with him.” Ma Tianyang smiled.
“But Senior Ma! Wasn’t this training exercise supposed to belong to only us, the prodigies with a four star rating? Why is an outsider here?”
“Yeah! I don’t want someone from another family to drag us down. Brat, which family are you from?”
Ma Tianyang looked at Long Chen with a look of embarrassment on his face, but the latter was fine with it.
“I am from the Turquoise family. Do you have any objections to that?”
“The Turquoise family?”
The young man scoffed. “The turquoise family is the second weakest family! How could you compare to us from the Gold family, the strongest family?”
Ma Tianyang was completely embarrassed by their behavior. His joyous attitude was replaced with a gloomy face. He released his strong aura and silenced them.
“The Grand Elder said that I have full command over the training exercise. If you have any objections, send your complaints to him once we get back. If you continue to stall us, I will whack you!”
All of them remained silent after Ma Tianyang threatened them. But they still hated Long Chen.
“Long Chen, I hope you are not offended by those brats.”
“Naturally I’m not.”
Long Chen smiled and ignored them. He walked with Ma Tianyang at the forefront. “Senior Ma, is there really a ranking of the nine outer families?”
“Only an idiot would care about that. As long as you are from the outer family, you have to obey everything the inner family says. There’s no reason to compete with each other,” Ma Tianyang said. “But the Gold and Silver families are indeed stronger than the other families, the difference just isn’t as drastic as the brats make it seem.”
Long Chen had a slightly better understanding now.
“Say, your potential ranking should be four stars too, right? There’s a qualifier coming up to enter the inner family soon. Have you registered for it?”
Long Chen nodded. “My Grand Elder has submitted my name. They are processing it now.”
Ma Tianyang’s eyes lit up. “Not bad. If you have the Grand Elder’s recommendation, that must mean you are the elite of the Turquoise family.”
Long Chen smiled politely.
“I heard that Chu Yunyao from the Turquoise family managed to obtain a spot directly, and someone from the Gold family was given one too. As for the tens of others, all of them are being assessed.”
“There are more than ten people? That’s pretty scary. By the way, how strong is the one from the Gold family?”
“Him? He’s definitely strong. He has been famous ever since he was young. Some people call him the little prince of the Gold family. He’s at the mid Earthly Core Realm even though he’s only eighteen years old. He’s even stronger than me. Everyone calls him the second strongest prodigy of the outer family ...”
“The second? Who’s the first?” Long Chen was curious.
“The first?”
Ma Tianyang’s face became gloomy and then he said in a low voice, “The first ... Sigh. He’s nothing but a legend now. His name was Mo Xiaolang.”
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