Chapter 794 – Without The Lips, The Teeth Are Cold

After hearing Lei Yuan, the Thunder Elders had no choice but to obey him. The two people controlling the Thunder Prison put it away.

The Thunder Prison was a very important treasure of the Thunder clan, but what made it different from other treasures was that it was a single-use item. It could not be used repeatedly like the Three Thousand Star Clusters or the Ever Changing Spear.

The two patriarchs and the Demon clan’s Sect Elders were freed. Long Chen retracted his Three Thousand Star Clusters, then smiled at Lei Yuan and said, “Great Sect Elder, I apologize for my rudeness just now.”

Lei Yuan was impressed with Long Chen. Although Long Chen had hurt him, he had no hatred for the teenager.

“Young man, you weren’t bad at all. After what happened today, you indeed have the right to receive the Seven Star Lord’s inheritance. You’re fitter for it than us old men.”

“Thank you for the praise, Elder.” Long Chen knew that it was genuine praise, so he smiled in relief. Despite the unexpected turn of events, Long Chen had become more confident in himself after using the Three Thousand Star Clusters. Before the duel, he had not expected to have such an excellent performance.

It was all over now.

The seven Thunder Elders gathered together in front of the Thunder clan’s other experts, and the seven Sect Elders of the Demon clan also stood together with the Demon clansmen behind them. Long Chen and Bai Lan greeted each other, then he stood behind Bai Lan.

“You did well, kid. I am impressed.” Lei Ji gave him an approving smile.

“Yeah, Big Brother has always been the best!” Suyan remembered how Long Chen could not even defeat her when he arrived at Heavenly Wood City. After less than a month, he was this powerful.

In terms of combat abilities, even Suxue was no match for him now. Within a very short time, Long Chen had become the strongest cultivator of his generation in the Demon clan.

Everyone looked at Long Chen with approval.

Bai Lan’s calm but serious gaze turned to the other Demon clansmen and swept across the seven Sect Elders. “Let’s first resolve the issue within the Demon clan. I don’t need to explain much. Everyone is upset that Long Chen has received the Seven Star Lord’s inheritance and wants to snatch it for themselves. As I said earlier, Long Chen is my son-in-law. Situ Yu and Situ Yao conspired to snatch the inheritance for their selfish reasons, but in the end, they both died because they were not strong enough.”

“Patriarch, you don’t need to explain any further. As for Situ Yao’s incident, we all have thought it through. Birds die for food, and humans die for fortunes. There’s nothing else to say. Lei Yuan is right. Long Chen was able to kill Situ Yu and Situ Yao today, and even the seven Thunder Elders could not defeat him. We are all completely impressed by him. Survival of the fittest is the law of the world. From today onwards, the Seven Star Lord’s inheritance belongs to Long Chen, and we bear no resentment regarding this,” said Huang Zhong, one of the Sect Elders.

“What about the others?” The Sect Elders were true to their word, and now they were able to accept Long Chen’s presence. Bai Lan sighed in relief. Now he wanted to hear the opinions of the youths. They had protected Situ Yu very much in the beginning. Now that Long Chen had killed Situ Yu, resentment was unavoidable.

No one answered Bai Lan for the moment.

“Most of you are young men and women, so it is normal to be combative and competitive. However, if you do not have enough strength ... Let Situ Yu be an example. I’m not saying that I’m siding with Long Chen merely because he is my son-in-law. If anyone here is strong enough to defeat Long Chen, I will also take you seriously!”

Bai Lan had not asked the Demon clansmen to submit to Long Chen’s strength. His tone even implied that he wanted to encourage them to challenge Long Chen. This could be a type of encouragement, and Long Chen would not care if some minor character hated him.

Few Demon clansmen responded. Most of them did not think they could defeat Long Chen and had already given up. In the beginning, they thought that Long Chen had only made it this far thanks to luck, but after he showed his power, no one dared to say they could beat him in public.

Most of the people had accepted Long Chen’s presence.

Only the few who used to spend time with Situ Yu were privately disgruntled. They wanted to work hard and surpass Long Chen one day. Of course, the speed of their growth was too slow compared to Long Chen, so he was not afraid of them.

The affairs of the Demon clan were considered resolved. Long Chen would not be challenged again in the Demon clan.

With the Three Thousand Star Clusters, he was now ranked just under the patriarch and above the rest of the clan. Who would dare attack him?

No one.

The Thunder clan was next.

Bai Lan and Lei Ji looked at each other, then walked up to the seven Thunder Elders. Lei Ji said to the Thunder clansmen, “I regret what happened today. First of all, I am not blaming the Thunder Elders. They were merely acting for the good of the clan. The intention was right, but it was the wrong method.”

Lei Ji looked at the Thunder Elders and said, “I don’t know if you all have forgotten this, but without the Demon clan, the Thunder clan would only be a nameless organization pursued by the Five Elements Alliance. Perhaps we would have been extinct a long time ago. We would not be as prosperous as we are now! Perhaps you all think that we are depending on someone else, and feel that we have lost our freedom. However, freedom is fought for with true strength. If we broke free from our Demon clan brothers, our freedom wouldn’t last for long! The Five Elements Alliance, the Wind clan, and the Divine clan would be happy to annihilate the Thunder clan without the Demon clan!”

After a pause, Lei Ji sighed and continued, “Maybe many people think that I, Lei Ji, am a coward who is afraid of death. You may think that I do not think about the good of the Thunder clan, and want to be the Demon clan’s slave. But I don’t think that way at all. The Demon clansmen and I are brothers who fight alongside each other at war. We live and die together! Many years of battle have proven this point.”

Lei Ji’s words made the Thunder clansmen fall into deep thought. They thought about the lack of freedom and the restrictions they felt. They had never thought about it on a deeper level.

“Let me add something,” said Long Chen. “Do you know the saying ‘without the lips, the teeth are cold?’ There are three main factions in the Ten Thousand Nations Territory, and they are just about equal in strength. If the Thunder and Demon clans broke their alliance, that’s minus one faction. Without the strength we have together, the Five Elements Alliance or the Divine Wind Faction would attack either the Thunder clan or the Demon clan. This is a very simple logic, so I think everyone can understand this. The two clans have been united for a long time, and it is because of this unity that you all can continue to live on. If you are no longer united, other people will take this opportunity to squash both clans!”

The lips and the teeth relied on each other. Without the lips, the teeth were cold.[1]

The crowd fell into deep thought.

Bai Lan nodded and looked at the Demon clansmen sternly. He said, “Of course, the Demon clan is also responsible. You all are getting smug because you think the Demon clan is stronger. I do not usually pay attention to the little things happening under my nose, and I did not expect it to become such a huge problem today.”

He sighed, then he continued, “The Thunder and Demon clans have combined forces for hundreds of years. Your ancestors were brothers who fought alongside each other. This is still the case today, but the true battle of the Ancient Graveyard has not begun. It is true that the Demon clan is wealthier than the Thunder clan, but that is no reason to look down on our brothers. Treating your allies with contempt will only cause the relationship to fall apart in the end. Everyone has seen what happened today. Thankfully, nothing serious happened, or no one here would have been able to pay for the losses suffered!”

Lei Ji nodded and said, “Everyone, go back and think hard about all of this. Act as if today’s events didn’t happen. In the future, the Thunder and Demon clans will continue being brothers. Remove the boundaries in your minds; don’t dwell too much on the issue of which clan tyou belong to.”

Bai Lan continued, “Today’s matters shall end here. If I hear that a Demon clansman is bullying a Thunder clansman or treating them with disrespect, I will act fairly and will punish you accordingly.”

Bai Lan’s words terrified the Demon clansmen.

Indeed, an arrogant mindset had long formed in the minds of the younger generation. Many of them did not take the Thunder clansmen seriously at all. Today, the seven Thunder Elders had deeply shocked them, and they had learned that the Thunder clan was not easy to bully. They were brothers, not slaves.

“We can only defeat our enemies if we are united. I hope you all will understand this. From today onwards, if the Thunder clansmen deliberately look for trouble with the Demon clan, I, Lei Ji, will also act fairly. You will be punished severely!”

Both Bai Lan and Lei Ji had made their statements, and their subordinates were frightened. Perhaps this wouldn’t be completely effective in the beginning, but as time passed, they would at least be more cautious.

Conflict was unavoidable, but it couldn’t be allowed to turn into hatred.

“Everyone, go back. Everyone is on house arrest for three days, and without my instruction, you are forbidden from doing anything other than cultivating and reflecting!” commanded Bai Lan.

Lei Ji also said, “Same goes for the Thunder clan, especially the main culprits. Everyone is to stay home for three days, and the seven Thunder Elders are to stay in for ten days. Reflect on what happened today.”

1. This is a Chinese idiom. It refers to two parties who are closely reliant on each other to survive. Without one side, the other side will die. ☜