Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-3345

“Greetings, dean!”

It was Zhao Qinglong, Jiang Yuhe, the Iron Blood Mercenary Group, and the Blood Drinking Alliance. They immediately rushed over here when they received word.

They had been in seclusion, but they were stunned when they heard the news. Long Chen really had retrieved the seventh branch academy. That was impossible.

They discussed it and chose to come over to congratulate him. Naturally, one aspect of that was due to their own interests.

Long Chen got straight to the point. “My High Firmament Academy never bullies others. If you want to continue living, don’t provoke the High Firmament Academy. Then we can all get along peacefully. However, you’ll need to make sure that your subordinates don’t get any wild thoughts. If anyone dares to start thinking about targeting the academy’s disciples, don’t blame me for being merciless.”

“Of course, of course…!”

The four of them hastily nodded. Originally, they had thought that Long Chen would be intent on conquering the entire Vile Dragon Domain. They had come to probe his attitude, so they felt a bit better after hearing this.

Other than Zhao Qinglong, the other three had been planning on leaving the Vile Dragon Domain after advancing to the Spirit tier. After all, this place wasn’t suited to human cultivation. There was no way around it. Anyone with actual skill left this place, so they had been planning on setting up their own sects elsewhere.

However, now that the rainbow cranes had unleashed their auspicious qi, this domain was suitable for human cultivation. Furthermore, the density of the spiritual qi here far surpassed other domains. They were prepared to actually set roots here instead of leaving.

Furthermore, they had built up foundations here. Establishing a sect here would be easy for them. Their greatest worry was solely Long Chen. Hence, they were naturally happily surprised that Long Chen wouldn’t drive them out.

“Everyone else is so happy. Why aren’t you happy?” Long Chen turned to Zhao Qinglong and smiled slightly.

“How could that be? I’m very happy.” Zhao Qinglong’s expression twitched.

Jiang Yuhe and the others looked from Zhao Qinglong to Long Chen, feeling startled. They seemed to sense something off.

“The Bloodkill Hall had you overseeing this place, but I still managed to take back the academy. You should be thinking of how to explain yourself to the higher-ups in a way that will allow you to keep your life, no? How can you be happy?” said Long Chen, still smiling.

Jiang Yuhe and the other two were startled. They looked at Zhao Qinglong in disbelief. They had known him for so long, but they had never sensed such a thing.

It had to be known that Zhao Qinglong only ended up in such a terrible place because he had been hunted by the Bloodkill Hall. There was nowhere else for him to go.

“Did you come to take over Yan Yonghao’s position? You showed up after he mysteriously vanished…” exclaimed the Iron Blood Mercenary Group’s leader suddenly.

“Long Chen, we went through life and death together. It’s inappropriate for you to make such a joke!” said Zhao Qinglong, his expression unnatural. Despite doing his best to stay calm, his Blood Qi had clearly quickened. He was secretly gathering power.

Long Chen waved his hand. “No need to be nervous. I won’t kill you. Furthermore, if I wanted to kill you, no matter what you did, it would mean nothing.”

Hearing that, Zhao Qinglong’s aura settled. After a long moment, he sighed. “How did you know?”

“I can’t tell you that. It is because I knew that you were from the Bloodkill Hall that I managed to lull you into complacency. You thought that the seventh branch academy wasn’t the real target. That’s the only way to trick a wily old fox like Enpuda. Ah, I say that he is brainless, but he does know some tricks. But to call him smart is definitely wrong. To put it frankly, he is someone who likes to think himself smart. I couldn’t possibly do anything to the Devil Eye Water Lily, and yet I appeared to be set on taking back the seventh branch academy. He would naturally believe this to be false. After scheming against the academy for so long, he overthought it to the point that doing the opposite worked perfectly. Enpuda is probably in his palace, smashing some chairs right now. To tell the truth, I’m a bit worried for you. I don’t know how you can make Enpuda spare your life,” said Long Chen.

Zhao Qinglong bitterly smiled. He suddenly seemed to age a great deal. “What method could I possibly have? I only came to test my luck and see if I could dredge up some useful information. If so, then the higher-ups would at least take into account my years of work, even if I didn’t actually make any contributions. They might then spare my family.”

Jiang Yuhe and the others were shocked. So Zhao Qinglong really was from the Bloodkill Hall. He was originally the master of a first-rate sect! Just what had happened to him?

“The three of you, I hope that our past grudges and enmities can be waived off on account of me not having long to live anyway. Many thanks for not killing me, Long Chen. I will leave right now. Hopefully, I can see my family one last time before the Bloodkill Hall’s people arrive.”

Zhao Qinglong actually kowtowed toward Long Chen and bowed deeply toward the three of them before leaving. His figure then vanished beyond the horizon.

They all knew that he was definitely dead. Perhaps his family would be following him as well. For Zhao Qinglong to be reduced to this state after being such a glorious figure in the Vile Dragon Domain, it truly felt tragic.

“When you think about it, what enmity is really worth so much? It is meaningless in front of death. What is the point of making your way in the world?” Jiang Yuhe sighed with mixed emotions.

Of the three of them, she hated Zhao Qinglong the most. She wanted to tear him to pieces and eat his flesh. But now, even if Zhao Qinglong told her to kill him, she would be unable to do it. Human nature was sometimes truly contradictory.

“My High Firmament Academy will not bully the weak. If the three of you wish to live, then just don’t touch the bottom line of the academy. This world belongs to all ten thousand spirits. No one can occupy the whole thing. The Vile Dragon Domain is going to draw countless experts, and it is the best opportunity to develop. However, if you cannot grasp it, then even if you set up a sect, it will only be second-rate in this domain. My branch academy will not be recruiting disciples from outside, so go ahead and absorb as many people as you want. But don’t harm my academy’s profits,” said Long Chen.

“The academy isn’t recruiting?” The three of them were surprised. One of the reasons why they had come here was precisely to ask about this.

They didn’t want to start a conflict with the academy just over recruiting people. Thus, they had been prepared to discuss it with Long Chen. While Long Chen got to take the meat, could he give them some soup? But they hadn’t expected the academy to not even care about this meat.

“We aren’t recruiting from the outside to avoid any crooks from mixing in. My principle is that as long as people don’t wrong me, I won’t wrong them. Just take care of your subordinates. Don’t blame me for not making things clear if your subordinates do something unacceptable,” said Long Chen seriously.

“Don’t worry, such a thing definitely won’t occur!” swore the three of them. For Long Chen to not dominate the Vile Dragon Domain alone was a huge fortune to them. How could they dare to resist him?

The three of them left and immediately called back their subordinates, sternly warning them not to provoke the seventh branch academy’s disciples.

Three days later, a weary Zheng Wenlong arrived. He immediately gave Long Chen some good news.

“Other than the Devil Eye Water Lily, all the other medicinal ingredients that you wanted have been gathered.”