Chapter 157 - Chu Tianxiong
“I’ve seen your daughter before. She was very cute back then, but it seems that she’s still as sweet as she was before. As for Long Chen ...”
Gu Batian looked at Long Chen before smiling. “Not bad. I’ve heard of you before—you defeated one of the inner family members at the Earthly Core Realm. I’m looking forward to your performance in the qualifiers ...”
Long Chen knew Gu Batian could tell he had reached the Earthly Core Realm.
Gu Batian's confidence in Long Chen made Liu Yuan and Liu Lan slightly puzzled.
But they soon shrugged it off, thinking it was just some words of courtesy.
“Since you are here, let’s go in.”
Gu Batian waved his hands, and Liu Yuan followed him. Even though he was old, Liu Yuan still had a twenty year age gap with Gu Batian, so he didn’t dare to be slow.
Gu Batian walked into the meeting hall of the Nine Devil Mountain Village.
“All of us had arrived and were waiting for the people from the inner family to appear, but I was curious as to why there was only a single person representing the Turquoise family. When I came out for a breath of fresh air, I heard you shouting outside. What was up with that?” Gu Batian said plainly.
Liu Yuan revealed a bitter expression. “It was my fault. I wanted to bring Long Chen to where the Grand Elder was, but we were late. The Grand Elder had left, so the three of us had no choice but travel here as fast as we could.”
Gu Batian smiled when he heard that.
“What bullshit. With Chu Tianxiong’s character, it’s probably because Long Chen has some grudge with his descendant. It’s more likely that he’s trying to get you in trouble. That old bastard was already here when I arrived in the evening. It’s highly plausible that he left in the early hours, before the sun even rose. What a nasty bastard to pull off such despicable tactics even though he’s so old!”
Long Chen was happy that someone like Gu Batian was admonishing Chu Tianxiong. Liu Yuan and Liu Lan looked at each other and chuckled too.
Gu Batian was not an idiot. He had noticed that the Turquoise family was missing a person and recalled that there was a genius at the Human Core Realm that had been making waves recently. He pieced it together and roughly guessed what had happened.
The meeting hall was the largest building in the Nine Devil Mountain Village, and it was also where they would hold their meetings for the qualifiers. The Grand Elders of the nine outer families had taken their seats and were waiting for the people of the inner family to show up.
Delicious meals were placed in front of them on the table.
They were happily talking until they saw Gu Batian returning. They were also puzzled as to why he had brought three more people back.
Most of them didn’t know who the three of them were.
Every person in the room was an elite, the most important people within the outer family. Even though they were staring at Long Chen, he was not afraid.
Long Chen looked around and noted down the strength of the younger generation.
All of them were younger than twenty and were at least at the mid Earthly Core Realm.
Some of them were as strong as Chu Yunxi. Jin Sheng’en was here too.
The seating arrangement was as follows: gold, silver, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet. Long Chen quickly found where the Turquoise family seats were. He saw four people staring at him with shock and hostility.
It was none other than Chu Fengqing and his children, Chu Yunxi and Chu Yunyao. There was one more elderly person in front of them. While he was short, his eyes were sharp and his entire aura resembled a sharp sword. Long Chen dared not stare directly at him.
Is he the Grand Elder of the Turquoise family, Chu Tianxiong? He’s indeed strong!
Long Chen was wary of him, but he didn’t say anything. Even though this was their first time meeting, Long Chen had been bullied by Chu Tianxiong once before.
Chu Yunxi had watched Long Chen and Liu Lan enter together. His eyes were filled with bitter hatred, and his sister had the same glare too.
When Long Chen and the other two entered, Gu Batian laughed. “Old Man Chu, I went out to take a piss and brought the other genius from your family. Go on, Long Chen, go to where the Turquoise family is. Let your Grand Elder properly take care of you!”
Gu Batian said that while ushering the three of them towards the Turquoise family seating area. There were enough chairs for them, so they could all sit down.
Chu Yunxi and Chu Yunyao, however, were disgusted when they saw Long Chen sitting beside Liu Lan. They moved away from them.
“Why did you move away? Do you think I’m stinky? Old Man Chu, your grandchildren are a bit rude. Come now, sit together and don’t move.”
Gu Batian pretended to be offended, causing Chu Yunxi and Chu Yunyao to sit still. They looked at their grandfather for help, but he merely stared calmly at Gu Batian. “Sit down and don’t move.”
“That’s the spirit. Alright, I won’t bother you anymore.”
After placing Long Chen and the other two down in their seats, Gu Batian chuckled at Chu Tianxiong before returning to where the Violet family was sitting.
It seemed that Gu Batian and Chu Tianxiong were eternal rivals.
It was very probable that the two would fight fiercely during the qualifiers too.
Back in the Violet family seating area, there were two younger men. Long Chen had a feeling that one of them was as strong as Chu Yunxi. It was clear that both of them were the genius cultivators of the Violet family competing in the qualifiers. At the same time, the two men looked at Long Chen with interest.
When Gu Batian walked back and sat down, the meeting hall fell silent. Everyone was staring at Long Chen and started discussing amongst themselves. All of them were talking about the relationship between Long Chen, Liu Lan, and Chu Yunxi, as well as Long Chen’s past battles.
Long Chen’s arrival sparked a lot of discussions.
The teenager in question sat down quietly and evaluated everyone, especially the Grand Elders of the other families as well as the contestants.
There were too many people for him to memorize, but there were certain parties that he paid close attention to. One of them was the man sitting in the middle of the Gold family.
Is he the Grand Elder of the Gold family? But he’s much younger than the others. He should be roughly the same age as Chu Fengqing ... No, wait, his face is similar to Jin Sheng’en’s, but he’s much more composed than that haughty bastard. He must be the Grand Elder!
The man’s eyes were as sharp as a sword and gave off a more frightening aura than Chu Tianxiong. Long Chen understood that this man was indeed a powerful foe.
Long Chen also realized that even though the man was drinking tea with his head down, the latter’s gaze was somehow concentrated on himself.
Everyone was still discussing Long Chen’s arrival. He was one of the contestants that would represent the Turquoise family, but why had he just arrived? There was something amiss, and soon someone asked, “Senior Chu, why did Long Chen just arrive? Did he fall down from the Divine Gale Peng?”
The man who asked was also a Grand Elder.
The Divine Gale Peng was an incredible monster with good endurance and a massive frame. It was commonly used as a means of transportation within Yuanling County. Many larger sects would rear one like the one in the Turquoise Sun Hall.
The man tried to crack a joke to liven up the atmosphere, but Chu Tianxiong became gloomy when he heard that. He turned around and glared at Liu Yuan. “I told you exactly when to arrive, but you were late by an hour. Don’t you think that’s disrespectful to the Grand Elder?”
Chu Tianxiong wanted to shift the blame to Liu Yuan, and there was nothing the latter could do. “I dare not offend the Grand Elder! This was my mistake, and I will accept the punishment once I return to the Turquoise family!”
“There is no need for any punishment, but if you make a foolish mistake like that again, you will be stripped of your position. You haven’t done anything considerable for the family, and this is the last warning you will get,” Chu Tianxiong said plainly.
Even though his voice was not loud, everyone heard it, and there were mixed reactions.
Gu Batian, who knew the truth, chuckled at Chu Tianxiong. “Chu Tianxiong, you’ve become a senile old man. To think you would even bully a junior of your family.”
But only Chu Tianxiong knew what Gu Batian meant.
Chu Tianxiong clenched his fists but said nothing.
“Grand Elder, I won’t do it again. Thank you for your mercy!”
Liu Yuan sighed. He had avoided the worst-case scenario.
Chu Tianxiong sipped his tea and said plainly, “It’s fine that you know your mistake and are willing to improve upon yourself. Alright, now you can remain silent. There’s no reason for you to speak here, or the other families will laugh at you.”
Long Chen saw everything.
He smiled gently, thinking about how to take revenge when Ling Xi suddenly whispered to him. He turned his gaze to the depths of the meeting hall, where he saw shadows moving. Someone was coming. Long Chen saw his chance and suddenly stood up.
Long Chen’s sudden movement made everyone puzzled. Liu Yuan and Liu Lan were surprised and tried to pull him down, but for some reason, Long Chen stood there unwaveringly like a statue. His eyes were sharp and cold when he glared at Chu Tianxiong. “I, Long Chen, heard that the Grand Elder of the Turquoise family is fair and just, but I was wrong. He’s just a coward who favors his own grandchild and would bully others, even juniors of his own family!”
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