Chapter 271 - Mother & Son Flame Crystal

The Ninth Prince’s words were vague, but Long Chen knew what he meant. He didn’t want to recruit Long Chen into his fold; all he wanted was a loyal subordinate.

How could someone as prideful as Long Chen submit to someone else? Even though the Ninth Prince was powerful, Long Chen would never truly become his underling. Still, that didn’t mean that he didn’t know how to hide his talons.

Fine. I will just follow him for now. Once I become stronger, I will ignore him completely.

Long Chen waited till the Ninth Prince finished talking before pledging, “I, Long Chen, swear that I will be of service to you. I would personally run into a sea of fire to thank you for your generosity ...”

“Good, good.” Seeing that Long Chen was on the same page made the Ninth Prince happy. He took out a Universe Pouch and gave it to Long Chen. “Since you are working for me, I will have to give you a welcome gift. There are a hundred Heavenly River Pills inside the pouch. It will be enough for you to enter the Heavenly River Realm. Also, I will give you an advanced Earth-tier martial technique to cultivate! It’s called Divine Fire Clone.”

Long Chen had to act very surprised and grateful when he saw what the Ninth Prince had given him. It was clear that the Ninth Prince had his own way of rewarding his subordinates. If Long Chen wasn’t smart, he would’ve fallen for it. A hundred Heavenly River Pills was an extraordinary amount of wealth; not even a typical cultivator at the Second River Stage would have that much. The Divine Fire Clone technique was even rarer.

But thankfully, both of the rewards were nothing to Long Chen.

If you want me to be indebted to you, at least bring out half of your assets,

Long Chen silently thought, but he maintained his act. The Ninth Prince was convinced that Long Chen would actually run into a sea of fire for him.

“Divine Fire Clone is a marvelous martial technique, and there are two stages to it. Cultivate it well; I hope to see you use five clones at the same time one day. At that time, your strength will improve drastically!”

The Ninth Prince was satisfied with Long Chen.

“Thank you, my Lord!”

Long Chen knew that the version in the Ninth Prince’s hands had three stages, but he had only given him two ...

It seems that this bastard’s generosity is nothing but a facade. He would never give me the important stuff. I wonder how he would feel if he knew I had the real Divine Fire Clone with four stages.

Long Chen had been worried about coming up with a convincing explanation if he used Divine Fire Clone in the future, but that issue had solved itself. He could even explain where he got the Heavenly River Pills from. Now he could cultivate in peace for a while.

“No need to thank me. Since you’ve agreed to work for me, I have to give you a reward. As long as I am satisfied with your performance, you will get numerous other rewards, but that will depend on how well you do in the future. Long Chen, you will come to the imperial capital with me in three days. Make sure to bid farewell to your family before then.”

“Three days? That soon? Alright.” Long Chen nodded. “My Lord, do you have any other instructions? If not, I will leave now. I will return in three days.”

“I have nothing else. Go.” The Ninth Prince nodded with satisfaction.

Long Chen finally left.

Once he did, the silent butler in black said, “My Lord, I think Long Chen is weird.”

“Weird? How?” The Ninth Prince was confused.

“He did not announce that he obtained the Nine Spinning Fire Shields until he used it today. I think that if he truly wanted to become an Immortal Guard, he would’ve used it earlier.”

“Do you mean Long Chen might’ve obtained some other treasure in the ruins but is keeping it a secret?” The Ninth Prince chuckled.

“It’s just a guess.”

“No need to think about it too much. According to the map I obtained, that old man Chutian didn’t leave any other inheritance. Plus, Long Chen is now working under me. If he has other treasures, I will find them eventually.”

“As you say ...” The butler in black smiled.

***

Long Chen kept to the alleys when he came down from the wall. If not, he would’ve been easily recognized and would be surrounded by people.

I’m leaving in three days. Who should I say farewell to?

Long Chen was actually a bit sad to leave the place he had been living in for some time.

I need to go back to Baiyang Town, as well as the Turquoise family. I also need to find Sister Mengyao. I guess that’s about it?

Long Chen thought back and realized that the only people he had good relationships with were Yin Mengyao and Mo Xiaolang.

He was thinking about how to attract as little attention as possible when he remembered he had a hat with a veil to cover his face. Liu Lan had given it to him when she took him to the auction a long time ago. He took it out and put it on, then he carried Mo Xiaolang near his chest, under the veil. Only then did he dare to walk on the main street.

“Let’s go find Sister Mengyao first,” Long Chen said to Mo Xiaolang.

No one recognized him while he wore the veil. He was very happy with it.

Hehe, luckily, no one recognizes me now.

Just as he thought about it, a child suddenly ran up to him. “Are you brother Long Chen?”

Long Chen almost fainted and shook his head rapidly. “I’m not!”

But the child ignored him and placed a letter in his hand. “Brother, this is for you. Someone told me to give it to you.”

The child then ran away.

Long Chen frowned, his instincts telling him that there was trouble. He opened the letter and saw there was only a single sentence and a hastily drawn map.

Long Chen, come to this location if you want to save Yin Mengyao.

The map was crude, but the major landmarks were easy to distinguish. Long Chen assumed that it would lead him to an abandoned street in the Northern Ling District. He would be able to find the place as long as he followed the map.

But ...

He clenched his fist, his eyes filled with killing intent.

Long Chen hated weaklings that held his family and friends hostage. He had dealt with this exact issue numerous times. Many of his friends and family had been used as hostages before.

His hatred for this tactic was deep.

Never had he thought that someone would come and cause him trouble just as he was about to leave Yuanling City.

This time, Yin Mengyao was the hostage. She was a stepsister to both Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang, so not only did Long Chen care for her, even Mo Xiaolang treated her as if she was his real sister. In just a single move, the enemy had provoked both of them!

Mo Xiaolang’s dark eyes slowly became bloodshot when he read the letter, and his body gradually grew colder. It was most likely the effect of the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire.

“Xiaolang, let’s go kill them.”

There were only two factions who would dare to provoke Long Chen after what had happened earlier. He wanted to see whether it was the Lingwu family or the Beast Soul Palace!

Mo Xiaolang could run faster, especially over long distances. He transformed into a large wolf, and Long Chen sat on his back before he started running. Mo Xiaolang was a blur of shadow that zipped past the roofs and approached the Northern Ling District rapidly!

With his speed, the people below felt a gust of wind but saw nothing. Mo Xiaolang ran on the rooftops, so he didn’t crash into people; his speed was extraordinary!

Mo Xiaolang had already committed the location indicated on the map to memory.

As long as they are sane, neither the Lingwu family nor the Beast Soul Palace would try to provoke me now. This means that the perpetrator is someone who let their emotions get a hold of them. I don’t think there’s anyone who would do that in the Lingwu family, though the Beast Soul Palace ... I think Yan Danqing would actually be crazy enough to do that!

Long Chen had a feeling that Yan Danqing was behind this!

He knew how much Yan Danqing hated him from when he saw the look in his eyes before he left the tower.

Both Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang were fueled by the fire of hatred and revenge. No matter who it was, they had to kill them!

With Mo Xiaolang’s speed, they arrived at the Northern Ling District within minutes. They found the exact location in just ten minutes. When they arrived at the silent, abandoned street, Long Chen saw Yin Mengyao tied to a stone chair. Thankfully, she was not injured. Long Chen had just left the wall, so the perpetrator had probably just finished setting everything up.

Yin Mengyao, however, was not glad to see them. Instead, she panicked and tried to shout, but she was gagged. All she could do was look at Long Chen, her eyes tearing up.

Long Chen knew she wanted them to leave.

But it was impossible.

He then saw why Yin Mengyao was so anxious for them to leave. On Yin Mengyao’s lap was a green crystal the size of a fist. It was half-translucent, but Long Chen saw that there was a fire trapped within the crystal!

“You guys must be wondering what that is.” Yan Danqing smiled menacingly as he appeared twenty meters behind Yin Mengyao. His face was vicious and he laughed maniacally. “This is the Mother & Son Flame Crystal!”

He was holding another crystal roughly the size of a thumb. It was identical to the crystal on Yin Mengyao’s lap.

“If the smaller crystal breaks, the main crystal will break too. If it does, the explosion will kill anyone below the Heavenly River Realm! Long Chen, I wonder how much anguish you will be in if I break the smaller crystal right now?”