Chapter 203 - Azure Dragon Patriarch
After returning to the Eastern Azure Dragon compound, Long Chen didn’t leave again. The Azure Dragon Halberd tournament would take place tomorrow, and he had achieved breakthroughs in many aspects. This one day was a rare chance for him to rest, spending his time chatting with Ling Xi and Yin Mengyao.
“I can’t believe you made a breakthrough right before the tournament. Long Chen, you’re doing much better than I am. So far, I’ve only been able to cultivate the rudimentary form of the Flowing Water Body.” There was a hint of resignation in Yin Mengyao’s tone. She felt pressured spending time with him.
Long Chen smiled. Looking at her, he suddenly thought of Yang Lingqing and asked, “Sister Mengyao, did that Dongfang Tianxing guy pester you again?”
“That bastard ...” She furrowed her eyebrows thinking about him and complained angrily, “He has teased me many times, just because he is stronger than I am. If I hadn’t used Stepfather’s name like you did, it would have been ...”
“Is that so?” His eyes glinted coldly. Dongfang Tianyu, Dongfang Tianxing, and Beitang Mo were all his enemies. “Whatever, I’ll deal with them one by one. Tomorrow, it’ll be Dongfang Tianyu’s turn!”
At dawn the next day, Long Chen followed Dongfang Xuanxiao and Yin Mengyao to the Xuanfeng Pavilion. It was already filled with people.
Everyone present was powerful, many being above the Heavenly Core Realm. The most attention-grabbing individual was an old man with white hair but a youthful face and a thin figure. His gaze was hawk-like, and his aura felt like a sharp, unsheathed sword. His white hair shone like silver needles and evoked fear any the onlooker.
Looking at this man, Long Chen felt like a large mountain was standing in front of him, making him feel suffocated.
He knew that this was the Eastern Azure Dragon family’s Patriarch, the legendary Heavenly River Realm master who had surpassed the Divine Core Realm. He was the Azure Dragon Patriarch! There was a flying, coiled Azure Dragon embroidered on his clothes. “Patriarch!” Even Dongfang Xuanxiao bowed slightly to the old man upon arriving.
“Since everyone is here, let’s go to the ancestral mausoleum.” The Patriarch’s voice was much hoarser than Long Chen expected. His expression was cold, obviously a person who should not be angered.
The Azure Dragon tournament was going to be held in the ancestral mausoleum. Dongfang Xuanxiao had told Long Chen this yesterday, and the rules were simple: all of the youths of the younger generation would participate, other than Dongfang Tianchen, Dongfang Tianxuan, and Dongfang Tianxing, who had already received the right to the Azure Dragon Halberd. Of course, the strongest participant was Dongfang Tianyu!
The mausoleum was where the ultimate divine weapon, the Earth-tier Azure Dragon Halberd, was located. Along the way to it, there was a large, underground space where the clan had placed more than a thousand molten gold puppets. As long as the participants collected a hundred molten gold cores, they could rush towards the Azure Dragon Halberd. Of course, they could also fight each other during the process!
The molten gold puppets were the newest, strongest puppets within the Lingwu family, much stronger than the wooden and steel ones. When Long Chen heard the name, it reminded him of Jin Sheng’en’s Molten Gold Combat Body. Since they had the same name, he surmised that they wouldn’t be too far from the advanced Black-tier Body Tempering technique in terms of hardiness.
While the molten gold puppets had very tough bodies and powerful attacks, they had no Qi. If they had Qi and martial techniques, and were a little more agile, then they would be almost the same as true cultivators.
Long Chen was a little speechless when he heard the rules. In that case, Sister Mengyao and I will definitely be ostracized. And if Dongfang Tianyu encourages everyone else to group together, it’ll be much more difficult for us.
With that thought in mind, Long Chen followed the group until they arrived in front of the mausoleum. The youths who were about to participate in the tournament were anxious, especially those who had only just attained the Earthly Core Realm, grimacing tightly.
“No talking in the ancestral mausoleum!” warned the Azure Dragon Patriarch in a low voice, and the crowd quietened down.
He then opened the mausoleum and let them in.
The people who wanted to speak only dared to discuss in hushed voices. “Do you see him? Long Chen was injured so severely that Fourth Uncle had to carry him back. He’s probably not faring well now. Brother Tianyu’s plans might not even be of use.”
“That’s none of your business. All we need to do is listen to their instructions. Once everything is done, Brother Tianyu will reward us generously, hehe ...”
“I really don’t understand. Isn’t he only at the initial Earthly Core Realm? I’m already at the mid Earthly Core Realm! Is it necessary for such big plans? I think I can defeat him alone.”
The teenagers didn’t know that their hushed discussions were clearly heard by Dongfang Xuanxiao and Ling Xi. She was worried when she heard their conversations, but when Long Chen learned about them, he only gave a small smile. The person who would prevail in the end would undoubtedly be the most powerful participant. Petty tricks like this were useless.
Very soon, they all entered the ancestral mausoleum and stood before the ancestral tablets.
Long Chen remembered that the last time he came here, there was something hiding behind the door that lay behind the ancestral tablets, and that thing had triggered the mysterious dragon jade. Although it wasn’t triggered this time, Long Chen had a strange feeling, knowing that the thing that had attracted him was still there. “The Azure Dragon Halberd is inside,” whispered Dongfang Xuanxiao, pointing at the large, golden, metal door behind the ancestral tablets.
I think the Azure Dragon Halberd is the one triggering the mysterious dragon jade. It lives up to its Earth-tier divine weapon classification; I can’t believe it can excite the dragon jade. It’s clearly something special. I must do my best to get my hands on it. This will be my only chance to turn the tides, thought Long Chen.
Members of Dongfang Xuanxiao’s generation had started praying to the ancestors, led by the Azure Dragon Patriarch and a few other elders. Long Chen and Mengyao stood together with the other youths of the family.
The most attention-grabbing person in the lineup was not the ice beauty, Dongfang Tianxuan, nor was it Dongfang Tianxing, the mischievous and handsome boy, but rather a stern, masculine young man with chiseled features. This young man hadn’t spoken since entering, nor shown any changes in his expression, similar to Dongfang Xuanxiao. Long Chen sensed from his aura that he was definitely as strong as Beitang Mo.
“That’s the number one prodigy of the Eastern Azure Dragon family. He is at the mid Heavenly Core Realm and has studied the Azure Dragon Martial Technique. Rumors say that he’s very strong!” whispered Yin Mengyao, leaning close to Long Chen’s ear.
“Dongfang Tianchen?” Long Chen and him both had the character “Chen” in their names, yet they were separated by a whole realm in cultivation.
“It looks like the pinnacle of the Lingwu youths is the mid Heavenly Core Realm. Mo Xiaolang must have also been at this level at the time, though with the Heavenly Wolf Dagger, perhaps he was stronger!” Long Chen only now understood that Mo Xiaolang, whom he had first met in Baiyang Town, was much more non-humanly talented than himself. But today, Long Chen was very close to that level too.
“Hey, isn’t that Long Chen? The guy who was crippled? I can’t believe you’re here to participate in the tournament. I’m impressed,” said an amused voice. Long Chen turned around and saw Dongfang Tianyu leading his group of younger siblings and cousins, looking at him in contempt.
Dongfang Tianyu wasn’t the oldest among them, but he was the strongest. Quite a few of them were at the mid Earthly Core Realm, and more than ten at the initial Earthly Core Realm. These were all the people who would participate in the tournament.
“There’ll be many more things that will impress you,” said Long Chen mildly before proceeding to ignore him.
“Then I shall look forward to your performance! Don’t you dare pee yourself and start crying for mommy because of the puppets! At least wait until I get to you!” Dongfang Tianyu laughed, and the teenagers behind him laughed as well.
“Silence!” The prayer had just ended, and the second child, Dongfang Xuanyu, walked over and gently reprimanded them. Dongfang Tianyu and the rest quickly stopped laughing and greeted her obediently. “Aunt Xuanyu!”
Dongfang Xuanyu nodded, then she walked up to Dongfang Tianyu and looked at him lovingly. “Yu’er, you’ve grown so quickly! You’re a man now. Perform well for your Second Aunt today; make me proud after caring for you all these years.”
“Thank you, Second Aunt. I will never forget all that you’ve done for me. Today, I will perform well and get the Azure Dragon Halberd, then I will learn the Azure Dragon martial technique and beat someone out of the Eastern Azure Dragon family!”
“How could you say that?” Dongfang Xuanyu merely glared at him reproachfully after he said such rude things, but she did not reprimand him. Though her expression seemed to indicate that she agreed strongly with him. Then she looked at Long Chen, eyeing him up and down, and said mildly, “You’re healed already?”
“I can’t die as long as you’re still here.” Long Chen didn’t care to be polite to her.
“You!” Dongfang Xuanyu was furious that Long Chen was still being so rude, even at the brink of death. The more she looked at the brat, the more she hated him. “I really don’t know what’s so special about you. You’re still at the initial Earthly Core Realm at this age; there are already so many like you in the Lingwu family. Today, Xuanxiao will see how laughable his choice was. I can’t believe he went up to the Northern Black Tortoise family to cause trouble just for you, even arguing with my father when he came back. And it became physical too! If it wasn’t for him being a capable person himself, do you think he’d be standing here today?”
What? Xuanxiao got into a fight with him? Long Chen didn’t know about this at all. He was just wondering why Dongfang Xuanxiao seemed so fatigued recently. Now he knew that it was because he had fought the Azure Dragon Patriarch because of him.
Long Chen thought about it and felt like it wasn’t too unbelievable. It was already very difficult for the four inner families to maintain a united and peaceful front, and Dongfang Xuanxiao had broken the rules to threaten Beitang Ming in his compound. Wasn’t this overstepping the Azure Dragon Patriarch’s power?
I, Long Chen, must repay him for his kindness no matter what. Long Chen committed this to memory.
The Azure Dragon patriarch turned around and said coldly, “The tournament shall begin soon. Are you all ready?”
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