âLong Chen, are you ok?â Tang Wan-er worriedly asked Long Chen. She still felt guilty about this.
She had been too careless just now, allowing Lei Qianshang to launch a sneak attack from a gap. She had harmed Long Chen once more.
âGreat goddess, for you to care about me so much, could it be that you see me in a new light?â Long Chen laughed, winking mischievously.
That trace of guilt within her vanished without a trace.
That powerful and heroic Long Chen had definitely been possessed by a ghost or something. This infuriating hooligan was definitely the real him.
âRascal, are you asking for death?â Tang Wan-er glared at him.
âHehe, thatâs right; I like you better this way,â laughed Long Chen.
âYou really are a scoundrel. Iâm trying to properly talk to you⌠hey wait, who cares what you like? You dare take advantage of me?â Tang Wan-er realized late what Long Chen had said and grabbed his collar.
âHey, hey, hey, great goddess, arenât you damaging your image? Us brothers are all watching. Just now we fought with our lives, and now in the blink of an eye you want to get rid of us now that weâre useless? With such cruel treatment, arenât you afraid of frightening your brothers?â Long Chen innocently said.
Tang Wan-er blushed and only then realized everyone was watching her with shock. She hastily let go of Long Chen.
âCough, this time everyoneâs display will be remembered by me. Once I obtain a core disciple position, I definitely wonât forget to give everyone a reward.
âOk, you can all leave now. Although youâve all gathered the jade tiles, within this trial area are countless opportunities. Everyone should go test their luck. Time is precious, so donât tarry.â
After Tang Wan-er finished speaking, everyone cheered. They had used this battle to show Tang Wan-er their dedication. Now that their goals had been achieved, they all left one by one.
In the end, only Tang Wan-er, Long Chen, and Qing Yu remained. Qing Yu carefully picked that Nine-leaf Orchid and handed it to Tang Wan-er.
Tang Wan-er fondled the Nine-leaf Orchid lovingly. She smiled happily, her eyes turning into crescent moons.
âSister Qing Yu, you can go as well to test your luck.â Tang Wan-er put away the Nine-leaf Orchid.
If Qing Yu leaves, doesnât that mean Iâll be alone with Tang Wan-er? Long Chen hastily said, âSister Qing Yu, you canât leave!â
Qing Yu had been leaving when she paused, asking confused, âWhy not? Do you need something?â
âCough, my injuries are extremely severe. I hope sister can stay by my side to tend to me. After all, Iâm at least slightly closer with sister Qing Yu. What do you say?â
Long Chen looked brightly at Qing Yu, praying she would agree with him. He was truly afraid of being alone with Tang Wan-er.
Although Tang Wan-er was a gentle person, Long Chen always felt this girl was extremely dangerous.
Of course, Qing Yu didnât know what Long Chen was thinking. Feeling that his words made sense, she nodded and was about to agree when Tang Wan-er interrupted.
âSister Qing Yu, Long Chen suffered his wounds because of me. I should be the one to tend to him; otherwise, everyone would feel uneasy inside,â she lightly said with an extremely guilty expression.
Qing Yu nodded. âWan-er, youâve finally grown up and know how to take care of others. This is a good thing. Us cultivators must definitely remember kindness and enmity. If you receive water, you must repayâ
âAh, sister Qing Yu, Long Chenâs wounds require a peaceful location to heal. How about you leave first?â Tang Wan-er smiled.
âOk, take care of yourself.â
Qing Yu nodded without noticing Long Chenâs pleading gaze, leaving the valley. Now the only ones remaining in the valley were the two of them. A breeze blew by, chilling Long Chenâs heart.
Tang Wan-er looked at Long Chen. She smiled at him, her smile like a blooming flower. She didnât say anything.
âWhich beauty acts so scary? I feel like even my bones are shivering.â Long Chen was somewhat scared by her staring.
Normally, being stared at by a beautiful woman was a kind of happiness, especially when it was a beauty so beautiful that she could bring the downfall of a nation.
But when that beauty was harboring wicked thoughts, that was no blessing, but a curse.
âYour guts are so big, so how could you be shivering?â Tang Wan-er laughed at him. Taking two steps forward, the distance between them closed even more.
Long Chen involuntarily took a step back. âWhat are you thinking? Let me tell you straight away, even if you take my body, youâll never steal my heart!â
âScoundrel!â Tang Wan-er grabbed his collar again and raged, âWho do you think I, Tang Wan-er, am?! Do you think I care about a scoundrel like you? What body, what heart? How is your skin so thick?!â
Now that she had grabbed him, her face was extremely close to his. Although her face was full of fury, that beautiful face looked just like a honey peach, causing people to irresistibly desire to take a bite.
Furthermore, her scent floated into his nose. Such an atmosphere could all too easily cause someone to be capricious. Even with Long Chenâs determined willpower, he couldnât help but swallow his saliva.
âScoundrel, you dare look at me with such lecherous eyes! Do you believe me when I say Iâll dig out your eyes?!â Tang Wan-er raged when she saw how odd Long Chen was looking at her
Long Chen hastily closed his eyes. Chaotic thoughts were swirling in his head. He would rather fight with Lei Qianshang then face Tang Wan-er like this.
âScoundrel, are you provoking me by closing your eyes? You wonât even look at me?â Tang Wan-er still didnât let him off like this.
Long Chen couldnât help but roll his eyes now. This woman truly was a devil. Compared to her, Chu Yao and Meng Qi were too gentle. Thinking of them, his heart was filled with reminiscence.
âThat day you were clearly the one in the wrong, but you actually dared scold me, saying I had no shame. Thatâs the first time Iâve ever been scolded by someone like that! Tell me, do you accept that you are a scoundrel?!â Thinking back to what had happened that day, Tang Wan-erâs fury grew even more.
Long Chen had been staying silent this whole time when he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood which splashed onto Tang Wan-er. She was startled, realizing that Long Chenâs face was becoming unhealthily pale.
Only then did she remember that Long Chen had been sneak attacked by Lei Qianshang and had had a seed of thunderforce planted into his body, heavily injuring him.
âSorry, I forgot you were injured!â Tang Wan-er panicked. She gently laid him down to lean against a boulder.
Long Chen truly was injured by Lei Qianshangâs attack. His thunderforce had been extremely insidious, using Long Chenâs body as fuel to power itself. It was extremely difficult to eject.
And that was why it was called a thunderseed. Once placed into someoneâs body, it would constantly wreck that personâs insides, making them suffer endless pain.
And Lei Qianshang had clearly known that Long Chen was powerful. This thunderseed was formed from his bodyâs core energy. Although it wouldnât kill Long Chen, it would be enough to make him suffer for months without being able to cultivate if not dealt with.
However, he had still underestimated Long Chenâs body. Back then, as long as he had wished to, he could have summoned his FengFu Battle Armor and eliminated this thunderforce seed.
But Long Chen hadnât done that. That was because he had thought of a certain problem from looking at Lei Qianshangâs body. That problem was the heavenly punishment he had endured.
That previous heavenly punishment had only tested Long Chenâs willpower according to that Spirit World expert. But even such a heavenly punishment had almost killed Long Chen.
Moreover, Long Chen suspected that the heavenly punishment would come for him again, and at that time, it wouldnât just be testing his willpower. It would only be stronger.
Lei Qianshangâs thunderseed caused him to think of a way to counter the heavenly punishment. In order to survive that heavenly punishment in the future, he should get his body accustomed to thunder and lightning, giving himself an immunity.
That was a clumsy method. By constantly being struck by thunder and lightning, he could let his body become gradually accustomed to thunderbolts, forming a resistance.
That was why he had been so focused on Lei Qianshang. Since Lei Qianshang already didnât like him, it would be better to just leave him as an enemy. In the future, he wouldnât have to worry about not having fighting partners.
When Lei Qianshang had launched his sneak attack against him, he had immediately thought of the possibility of leaving the thunderseed in his body. And so he had not blocked his attack, allowing the thunderforce to invade his body.
Not only had he not driven off the thunderforce, but he had also closed off all his meridians to trap the thunderforce within his body.
However, Long Chen was not Lei Qianshang. This was the first time he had come into contact with thunderforce, and furthermore he was dealing with it within his body, which was extremely exhausting.
Wrangling with Tang Wan-er had caused his focus to split from the thunderseed. In that instant, the thunderforce had harmed his inner organs, causing him to cough up blood.
Hearing Tang Wan-erâs voice suddenly becomes gentle, Long Chenâs heart was moved and he thought of a certain plot. He decided to allow the thunderforce to wreak havoc over his body, his aura becoming increasingly unstable.
âSister Wan-er, Iâm⌠really sorry⌠I might be a scoundrel, but I hope you can forgive my crudeness.
âIn reality, in my heart you are a sacred goddess that cannot be blasphemed against. I can sense that Iâm dying. I hope you can forgive me and let me leave with my heart at ease.â Long Chenâs aura became chaotic, his eyes becoming unfocused.
Tang Wan-er was given a great fright. At first, she thought Long Chen was just acting, but when she used her Spiritual Strength to check, she was horrified to see that his internal organs had begun to fail. That was something that could not be faked. She was filled with panic.
âLong Chen, youâll be fine! I have excellent medicinal pills here. Here, take some!â Tang Wan-er hastily took out medicinal pills from her spatial ring.
Long Chen shook his head and weakly said, âItâs useless⌠You should be able to sense that the thunderforce had already filled every single corner of my meridiansâŚâ
âHow could it be like this?! That bastard Lei Qianshang was really too vicious!â Tang Wan-er ground her teeth. She could tell it was exactly like Long Chen said. Her heart sank.
Thunderforce invading the inner organs wasnât that bad. As long as he used his spiritual qi, he could slowly expel it. But once it had entered his meridians, that was like steel needles had stabbed through the meridians, destroying the structure of the meridians. Even if he managed to live, he would definitely be crippled.
If Tang Wan-erâs words were heard by Lei Qianshang, he would definitely cough up blood. Even if he was a thousand time more ruthless, he wouldnât have let his thunderforce invade other peopleâs meridians like that.
That was something that had only happened because Long Chen hadnât had any defense and had even drawn in the thunderforce. It was something that could only have been accomplished because the two of them had âworked togetherâ.
âCough, coughâŚâ Long Chen went through an intense burst of coughs, his face flushed as if he had reached his limit. Breathing was becoming difficult, and he was unable to speak.
Long Chen pointed to his mouth and looked at Tang Wan-er pleadingly. Tang Wan-erâs jaw dropped with disbelief.