Chapter 141 - Huge Surprise!
Long Chen had defeated Feng Wutian once again. The news spread like wildfire across the whole Turquoise family, then to the other outer families and even the inner families.
He was now even more famous than before. At least among the outer families, he was the celebrity newcomer.
His reputation in the Turquoise family had exceeded Chu Yunyao’s, almost reaching Chu Yunxi’s level.
Liu Lan wasn’t thirty years old yet, but she was already at the late Earthly Core Realm. She was the trump card of the Turquoise Sun Hall amongst her age group, while Long Chen was the trump card of his generation.
Due to all the spiritual herbs Liu Yuan had given him, Feng Wutian recovered in a day. Afterwards, he merely walked out of the Turquoise family silently. Liu Yuan and the rest heaved sighs of relief.
Long Chen could finally continue cultivating with peace of mind. He still hadn’t hit the limit of the Blazing Thunder Crystals. When he merged with his twenty-eighth crystal, Liu Yuan sent someone looking for him.
What does the old man want with me?
It was a rare opportunity to relax, and Long Chen was preparing to head to the Heavenly Martial Realm once more to replenish his contribution points. He didn’t expect Liu Yuan to ask for him.
When he arrived at the Turquoise Sun Hall’s Great Hall, Liu Yuan was there alone. He looked happy when he saw Long Chen and welcomed him.
“Sect Elder, you look happy. Did you just have a newborn child?”
Long Chen’s status was now vastly different from before, so he was allowed to tease his superior.
Liu Yuan wasn’t mad. He eyed him in exasperation, then grinned. “I have amazing news.”
“What is it?”
He hadn’t expected a surprise. Long Chen perked up to listen.
Liu Yuan asked mysteriously, “Do you know what happens on the first day of the eleventh month?”
“I don’t. Stop making me guess, just hurry up and tell me,” said Long Chen anxiously.
“The first day of the eleventh month is the first day of the inner family qualifiers.”
“What has that got to do with me?” blurted Long Chen, his eyes sparkling. “Old man, are you telling me that I have passed the assessment for entering the qualifiers? That I will be participating in the qualifiers?”
Long Chen usually called him ‘old man’ privately, but he had accidentally blurted it out due to his excitement.
To be honest, Long Chen really wanted to join one of the inner families because first, he would get a lot more resources; second, the recent incidents had proved that status was important. After the incidents with Dongfang Tianyu, Feng Wutian, Beitang Mo, and Mo Xiaolang, Long Chen knew that he had to join the inner families if he wanted to have a voice in the Lingwu family.
Most importantly, Yang Lingqing had entered the Northern Black Tortoise family. He was most worried about her being bullied, so he longed for the right to join the qualifiers. I absolutely have to find a way to enter one of the inner families ...
However, based on what other people said, he needed to reach the Earthly Core Realm in order to qualify. He was still at the late Human Core Realm, so he never had much hope. But based on Liu Yuan’s tone, maybe ...
“You’ve gotten lucky, brat. That’s right. I just received news that you have passed the assessment. This really is out of my expectations ...”
Liu Yuan was happy to see the young Long Chen receiving such a great opportunity.
With Liu Yuan’s confirmation, Long Chen was overjoyed. “I will take this opportunity very seriously, but ...” He looked at Liu Yuan. “Sect Elder, aren’t I only at the Human Core Realm? How did I pass the assessment? Have they made a mistake?”
Liu Yuan shook his head. “I think they heard about you defeating Feng Wutian. You may be at the late Human Core Realm, but you managed to defeat an Earthly Core Realm inner family member. Perhaps the assessor recognized your potential based on this point.”
Long Chen thought about it and decided this was the only possibility.
Looks like accidentally seeing Liu Ling bathe was a blessing in disguise. She asked Feng Wutian to beat me up because I saw her, leading to him losing and allowing me to participate in the qualifiers. I can barely handle the speed at which events are unfolding.
Long Chen grew smug.
“Long Chen, don’t celebrate too early.” Liu Yuan’s words were like a bucket of cold water dumped on his head.
“Why?”
He didn’t understand why the old man was suddenly so serious.
Looking at the brat who didn’t know what was ahead of him, Liu Yuan shook his head. “The full list of participants has been generated. A total of twenty people have received the right to participate in the qualifiers. The Gold and Silver families have three people each, while the rest of the seven families are each sending two people. You and Chu Yunxi will be the only participants from the Turquoise family.”
“What’s the problem with that? Chu Yunxi is at the mid Earthly Core Realm, I think. I’m no match for him.” Long Chen knew this clearly.
Liu Yuan nodded. “Five out of these twenty people were automatically approved, including Chu Yunxi. They are all elites amongst the cultivators at the mid Earthly Core Realm, each one being almost as strong as Lan’er. They are more powerful than Feng Wutian. That is why I won’t beat around the bush—you are the weakest participant in every aspect ...”
After Liu Yuan gave him an analysis of the others, Long Chen finally knew why he had said not to celebrate too early. “Sect Elder, how many people will pass the qualifiers?” Long Chen wanted to enter the inner family, so he had to ask this question.
“Two.”
Liu Yuan lamented, “That is why I don’t want you to celebrate too early. Even though you’ve received a spot in the qualifiers, the difficulty of entering the inner family is unimaginable. Even our famous prodigy of the Turquoise family, Chu Yunxi, isn’t very confident. Much less you.”
“In that case, what’s the point of the qualifiers? Am I just there to make up the numbers?” Long Chen was speechless.
Liu Yuan smiled bitterly. “That is correct, unfortunately. This experience is for you to gain some exposure and get to know how powerful the other prodigies are. This is extremely important to you. However, people sometimes die in the inner family qualifiers, so you must be mentally prepared. I do not want the Turquoise family to lose a prodigy.”
“There are deaths?”
Long Chen felt pressured. He had used every trick up his sleeve to defeat Feng Wutian. Coming out on top in a competition with nineteen other prodigies more powerful than Feng Wutian for one of two spots would be unimaginably difficult.
“Every opportunity comes with risk. It’s the same with the inner family qualifiers. If you’re afraid, you are not fated to advance. Only the courageous succeed on the path of cultivation ...” remarked Liu Yuan, stroking his beard.
Long Chen wasn’t afraid, just stressed out.
“Whatever. There’s still some time until the first day of the eleventh month. I’ll work hard until then, and maybe I can advance more. Even if I don’t qualify in the end, I need to make it out alive.”
This time, Long Chen was going to compete against the top prodigies of the nine outer families.
His opponents had strengthened—from Huang Xiang to Huang Feiyang and then to the Turquoise family’s number one, Chu Yunxi. This showed the immense speed of his growth.
However, when he thought about how Lingqing, whose cultivation level was currently very low, was currently in the inner family, he knew that he had to fight with everything he had!
Seeing the determination in his eyes, Liu Yuan nodded with approval. Then he frowned when he thought of another matter. “Long Chen, there’s one more thing. It’s about something inappropriate you did.”
Long Chen had done many inappropriate things, so he jumped when Liu Yuan suddenly said such a thing. Does the old man know about me peeping on Liu Ling? I’m done for if he forces me to marry her!
His mind raced for an excuse, but Liu Yuan started to talk about something else. “I wanted you to earn five hundred contribution points in exchange for the Violet Demonic Lizard’s Beast Soul, yet you used three hundred contribution points for some useless Soul Grass. Why?”
So, this was what he was referring to. Long Chen heaved a sigh of relief and said hurriedly, “Sect Elder, the Soul Grass is extremely important to me. But it’s not that I don’t want the Violet Demonic Lizard’s Beast Soul. I’ll go to the Heavenly Martial Realm right now to earn more contribution points.
Liu Yuan was indeed uncomfortable with this behavior. He was offering Long Chen something he felt would be extremely important to him, yet Long Chen didn’t seem very interested. What was going on?
“It’s fine.” Liu Yuan waved. “There’s not a lot of time till the inner family qualifiers. Use the remaining time to cultivate. Just take the Violet Demonic Lizard’s Beast Soul as a gift.”
“Really?” Long Chen was overjoyed. This was a gift worth a hundred thousand divine jades.
The old man had treated him very well. Long Chen never liked him very much, but now he was genuinely grateful.
Although Liu Yuan was treating him like the Turquoise Sun Hall’s trump card, and his reputation improved whenever Long Chen grew more famous, a Category Six Black-tier Beast Soul was not something that could be given away so easily.
The old man took out a Soul Collecting Bead from his Universe Pouch. The bead was purple due to the Violet Demonic Lizard’s Beast Soul inside. Long Chen could faintly see the Violet Demonic Lizard roaring in the bead.
“Work hard to cultivate the Violet Demonic Lizard as your Primary Beast Soul. Your strength will improve greatly!”
Long Chen’s expression turned bitter because he didn’t even need this Beast Soul in the first place.
But at this point, he had no choice but to take it.
“You should go back and cultivate. Also, there’s another thing ...” Liu Yuan suddenly recalled another matter. “Chu Yunxi is coming with a marriage proposal for Lan’er in five days. I’ll arrange for you two to meet up on that day too, since you will be on the same team.”
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