琅琊榜海宴小说

Chapter 103 - Heavenly Martial Palace

Long Chen paid no mind to what Liu Yuan was talking about. He initially had some respect and expectations for the Sect Elder, but he was uninterested after being treated like someone whose purpose was to fill in the numbers.

It seems that everyone in the Turquoise Sun Hall has a negative perception of me after I decided to not fight Feng Wutian at the Mortal Arena.

Looking at how the elders and administrators were looking down on him, Long Chen guessed that this was most likely the case.

Feng Wutian and Liu Ling ... To think that they would look down on me because of you two ...

While Liu Yuan was preaching to them, Long Chen carefully stared at Liu Ling, who was listening to her father quietly.

She suddenly felt like someone was watching her and turned around. She smiled coldly when she saw that it was Long Chen.

Just you wait. If I get the chance, I will make sure to spank you until you can’t sit down!

While Long Chen was thinking about how to fight them, Liu Yuan nodded at the youths. “It’s almost time, so you should depart to the Heavenly Martial Palace of the Turquoise family now. Feng Wutian will be the leader for this exercise, so everyone must listen to him. Remember, the reputation of the Turquoise Sun Hall is at stake.”

He then turned to his elder daughter. “Lan’er, go and lead them to the Heavenly Martial Palace.”

Liu Lan nodded and stood up. Her tall and sexy body was very eye-catching. She nodded and led Long Chen with the rest of the youths out of the hall. They bid their goodbyes to the Sect Elder before leaving for the Heavenly Martial Palace.

Liu Yuan sent them off before convening with the four elders. “Do you think we can win this time?”

One of the elders said, “The fight to obtain the Taiqing Sword hinges on the strength of the elite within the group. The rest are only there to fill up the slots. Even though our group as a whole isn’t that strong, Feng Wutian has both a prestigious bloodline and the appropriate talent. I don’t think it will be too difficult to win.”

Another elder shook his head. “If we are comparing the strength of the elite in the team, then the other halls are nowhere near as weak as we thought, especially the Turquoise Imperial Hall. Their leader is Sect Elder Chu Fengqing’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Chu Yunyao. Feng Wutian will be under a lot of pressure this time.”

Liu Yuan frowned and nodded. “Feng Wutian will indeed have a hard time against Chu Yunyao, but since she’s much younger than him, she won’t have as much experience in combat. Our chances of winning should still be high. If the Turquoise Sun Hall comes out on top of this exercise, our reputation will improve drastically. We will then receive much more resources from the Grand Elder. This is our chance to become stronger.”

Everyone was excited when they heard Liu Yuan. They discussed it further before leaving.

“One more thing ... Sect Elder, I recall that Long Chen and Liu Ling have unresolved grudges. Do you think he will cause trouble in the Heavenly Martial Realm?”

Liu Ling was the little princess of the Turquoise Sun Hall. Everyone adored her.

Liu Yuan chuckled. “He’s nothing but an outsider who has just joined the Lingwu family. He wouldn’t dare. If he did, Wutian would kill him for me. Also, Ling’er is already at the mid Human Core Realm, so he can’t do anything to her.”

***

Long Chen watched the other nine youths congregate together without him once they came out of the Turquoise Sun Hall. Feng Wutian was the leader, and there were three more youths at the late Human Core Realm.

Liu Lan said nothing as she led the way while the nine of them were chuckling and taking glances at Long Chen. It was clear they looked down on him.

“To think he didn’t have the balls to follow his promise to fight at the Mortal Arena. Long Chen is such a wimp.”

One of them shook his head and sighed.

“Didn’t Miss Ling’er tell us before? Those who come from a backwater place like him don’t have the balls to back it up. It’s also very likely he will drag us down today.”

“It’d be much better if he died instead. Our reputation would be tarnished if he ran away later on. The Sect Elder would punish us if he did that.”

“It’s fine. I don’t think Feng Wutian will let him come out alive. I heard that Long Chen’s tricks killed Huang Feiyang.”

“He couldn’t fight Huang Feiyang head-on and instead ambushed him? What a coward.”

The group whispered and gossipped while they were walking.

Liu Ling was very happy to hear what they were talking about. She hated Long Chen a lot.

She knew that Long Chen would be able to hear what they were talking about since they were traveling quite close. She turned around, expecting to see Long Chen’s angry face, but she was surprised to see him as relaxed as he could be.

Is he just putting up a front, or does he not have the bravery to stand up for himself?

Liu Ling thought about it while walking. She looked towards the front and saw Feng Wutian’s determined gaze. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw how handsome he was.

Senior Feng Wutian is the perfect man. Ten thousand Long Chens would not even hold a candle to him ...

She was drowned in happiness when she thought about how she would be married to him soon.

Feng Wutian looked at her gently, causing her heart to beat rapidly.

“Ling’er, you were the one who spread the rumors about how Long Chen agreed to fight but did not show up, right?”

Feng Wutian’s tone was calm, but there was a hint of unpleasantness within it. Liu Ling panicked and quickly explained herself. “That’s because he’s so incorrigible! How dare he insult you that day? I get so angry every time I look at his obscene face!”

Feng Wutian shook his head and patted her head. “Don’t do this next time. A weak man will pay for his actions in the end. There’s no reason to do anything to him, because he will die on his own. Why waste your time on such an insignificant character?”

“Oh ... ” Liu Ling nodded obediently and chuckled. “Thank you, Senior Wutian. I will remember your advice.”

Even Liu Lan heard what Feng Wutian had said. She turned around and nodded approvingly before continuing on their journey.

Feng Wutian has matured so much in just two years. Ling’er should be able to lead a peaceful life with him after they get married. Sigh ... Why did Father ask me to marry him instead? What should I do?”

Liu Lan turned around and saw Long Chen walking at the back all on his own. Everyone was walking quite close to each other, so Long Chen heard all of their whispering.

But he was very relaxed even though he was ostracized. Liu Lan was surprised.

He’s very mature and resilient. Too bad he doesn’t have a prestigious background.

After giving her verdict, she focused on their path ahead.

There were many other people on the path they were walking on. They soon arrived at the entrance of the Heavenly Martial Realm, the Heavenly Martial Palace.

The Heavenly Martial Palace was one of the most crowded places in the Turquoise family, losing out only to the Treasure Pavilion and Martial Deeds Hall.

The daily activities of Lingwu family members were either cultivating, training, or conducting missions. For their training, most of them would enter the Heavenly Martial Realm to fight against demonic beasts. Doing so also allowed them to obtain resources from the demonic beasts and sell them for contribution points.

Long Chen knew that the Heavenly Martial Realm was separated into three major areas, the Human Core area, the Earthly Core area, and the Heavenly Core area.

The strongest demonic beasts in the Human Core area were limited to the Category Four Black-tier. The strongest demonic beasts in the Earthly Core area were limited to the Category Seven Black-tier. Anything beyond that could only be found in the Heavenly Core area.

Most disciples trained at the Human Core area, so it was one of the most crowded areas daily.

However, due to the training exercise of the Turquoise family today, the other eight families had requested that their disciples leave the Heavenly Martial Realm for the duration so that the exercise could go smoothly.

“The exercise will last eight days. You must obtain the Taiqing Sword hidden within the stomach of the Heart Eater before time is up. If you fail to obtain it within eight days, the exercise will still end regardless because we must let the other disciples enter the Heavenly Martial Realm too!”

Liu Lan repeated the rules once more after arriving at the Heavenly Martial Palace.

“Eight days ...”

Long Chen did some calculations in his head. “It should take me roughly six to seven days to merge the tenth Blazing Thunder Crystal. Since the Taiqing Sword doesn’t suit my fighting style, I would rather find a hidden place to merge the tenth crystal instead. If I succeed, I can finally ...”

Ling Xi heard him mumbling and was worried. “Long Chen, you can’t be too optimistic about it. Disregarding how you might not be able to merge the tenth Blazing Thunder Crystal, your ‘team’ might not let you leave them in the first place. Look at how they are glaring at you ...”

Ling Xi was much more observant than him.

Long Chen raised his head and indeed saw killing intent within the gazes of the nine other youths.

Feng Wutian was still staring at him calmly even though he was the one who had a grudge.

Long Chen knew he had to be careful after Ling Xi warned him.

Just then, everyone followed Liu Lan and entered the Heavenly Martial Palace. Even though the palace was massive, it was almost devoid of people. There were a few groups of people around, and most of them had around ten people with them.

“They must be the youths selected by the other halls. I think there’s roughly a hundred of them ...”

Every single one of them looked very strong. None of them were weak at all. There were even quite a few of them roughly the same age as Long Chen, but they were already at the late Human Core Realm!

The training exercise in the Heavenly Martial Realm was starting!