Boost morale

"Brothers and sisters, look over here." Long Chen clapped his hands, focusing everyone's attention on him.

Looking at Long Chen's casual, graceful movements and the calm smile that always hung on his face, Tang Waner couldn't help but sigh in her heart; it seemed that no matter what kind of problem it was, it would become incredibly simple in Long Chen's hands.

"Everyone has seen it, those monsters in the caves are extremely powerful. So, in order to boost morale for the battle, the goddess in our hearts, Young Miss Waner, has promised everyone that whoever passes will be rewarded with a kiss… Ouch!"

Just as Long Chen finished speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his lower leg; Tang Waner had kicked him. Tang Waner raged, "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? When did I ever say that?"

Long Chen looked confused. "Oh, I might have misremembered. Sorry, sorry."

He turned back to the crowd and continued, "I misspoke just now. The winner won't get one kiss from Young Miss Waner, but two… Ouch! Why are you kicking me again?"

"You bastard, when did I ever say that? What kind of rubbish are you spouting?" Tang Waner's face was flushed red with anger, and she wanted to beat Long Chen up. He dared to make any kind of joke.

"Alright, sorry brothers. Young Miss Waner is a bit stingy, so forget it. But there must be a reward, so let's change the reward method. Any beauty who passes the trial will receive a kiss from me, Long Chen!" Long Chen shouted loudly.

The people below erupted into laughter, and the originally tense atmosphere was greatly diluted by Long Chen.

Tang Waner finally realized Long Chen's intention and couldn't help but feel moved. She knew that although Long Chen had a strange personality, deep down, he was a very arrogant person.

Otherwise, he wouldn't refuse to bow his head even a little, clashing head-on with monsters like Qi Xin and Lei Qianshang. For him to lower himself like this just to make everyone laugh was a huge sacrifice for him.

"Haha, you're laughing, good. I'll take that as your consent. You must believe that I, Long Chen, will not go back on my word." Long Chen smiled at the few women in the crowd.

This immediately made those women feel shy; although they knew Long Chen was joking, their pretty faces were still flushed red.

"Alright, now it's time to talk about some serious business. Since everyone has gathered here, it is all for a common goal and dream."

"We want to become experts, we want to bring honor to our Family, and we want our achievements to surpass those of our ancestors, so that our descendants will remember our names forever!" Long Chen's voice was full of emotion, and as they listened, the blood in their bodies slowly began to heat up.

Tu Fang watched Long Chen, who was boosting everyone's morale, and a look of admiration appeared in his eyes. Long Chen understood the hearts of these second-generation descendants from big Family backgrounds perfectly.

He knew they had pride, but also a trace of inferiority; their current achievements were not their own, but those left to them by their ancestors.

And Long Chen's words: 'Surpass our ancestors, so our descendants will remember our names forever,' hit their hearts all at once, stirring up their strong desire to fight and completely forgetting their fear.

First, he used jokes to make everyone laugh and relax their tense emotions, then he used that to ignite their morale and raise their desire to fight. This was a very brilliant method.

However, just as everyone was fired up, Long Chen's voice suddenly turned deep. "Do you know? In your hearts, Young Miss Waner is the goddess you worship, your idol; she is beautiful and kind, like a Fairy descended from heaven, a peerless talent, and an unreachable Fairy."

"But do you know that in her heart, she is not a goddess at all? She is just an ordinary person."

"She also gets sad, she also feels upset, she also feels helpless. You don't know that beneath that strong exterior, it actually covers a fragile heart."

Hearing Long Chen say this, Tang Waner couldn't help but feel a sourness in her nose, and tears were uncontrollably falling, so she hurriedly turned away.

She was indeed a heaven-gifted prodigy, but she also had a weak side. She bore this halo, and she needed to hold on; in fact, she felt really tired, but she had no choice but to endure it.

This bastard was just too good at deceiving people. Tang Waner turned her face away and secretly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

But everyone saw this action, and their hearts ached. They had never thought that the goddess in their hearts also had a weak side, and that she also needed to be cared for!

"In her heart, she does not treat you as subordinates, but as Family. Every one of you is her brother or sister."

"So, if any one of you falls, she will be sad and she will shed tears. If you don't want to let the goddess in your hearts be sad and shed tears again, can you promise that after entering the trial, you will all come back alive?"

Long Chen emphasized the last sentence, his voice like thunder, not only pouring into their ears but also deep into their hearts, shaking their Soul.

"We promise to come back alive!"

Everyone shouted loudly. At this moment, they had even forgotten their own lives; they wanted to live for the goddess in their hearts and cherish their own lives even more.

Elder Tu Fang and the other Elders looked at each other and smiled. This Long Chen was truly admirable; even they, these old guys, felt moved. This kid's mouth could literally talk a dead person back to life.

He could actually stir up the passion of these loose second-generation descendants; what a Heaven-Defying ability that was!

"Hmph, promises are useless. Are promises more important than strength?" A voice was full of mockery.

Everyone turned to glare in that direction, only to see Lei Qianshang looking at the crowd with disdain. Clearly, that sentence had just been said by him.

"Hey, hey, hey, pay attention to me. A dog barks twice and you get distracted; how can you achieve great things in the future?" Long Chen said lightly, drawing everyone's attention back.

"Long Chen, you are courting death!" Lei Qianshang was furious and pointed at Long Chen, cursing.

Long Chen didn't even bother to respond to him, treating him like air. He didn't want the atmosphere he had worked so hard to create to be ruined by him.

He said to the crowd, "There is a saying: Walk your own path and let the dogs bark. Right now, there is a dog watching you."

"Now your pressure is even greater. If you die, not only will it make your goddess sad, but you will also be mocked by a dog. As for what you need to do, I don't need to say more. Go."

Everyone gritted their teeth and glared fiercely at Lei Qianshang, turning the anger in their chests into burning fighting spirit.

"Young Miss Waner, don't worry, we will definitely pass."

"Young Miss Waner, we will absolutely not let you be sad."

"Young Miss Waner, don't be sad, we will make that gorilla shut up."

"…"

Almost everyone who passed by Tang Waner said a word of comfort, then walked towards the cliff without hesitation. One could even feel their powerful, heartfelt will.

Tang Waner covered her cherry lips with her jade hand, moved beyond words. For the first time, she felt that these people cared about her so much. Her heart was filled with warmth, and tears streamed down.

So many people went over at once that a line formed. More than a dozen Elders were constantly busy, teleporting everyone to the cave entrance one by one. For a time, explosions continued incessantly, and the sound of Qi erupting was endless.

"Long Chen, am I really… as good as you said?" Tang Waner asked softly to Long Chen when there was no one around.

Long Chen laughed and said, "I'm a person who never tells the truth, don't take it so seriously."

"You… bastard, you really don't know how to talk." Tang Waner was extremely annoyed and kicked Long Chen, but this time Long Chen dodged it. She felt aggrieved and turned away, starting to sob softly.

"Hey, hey, that's enough. It was just acting. There's no audience now, no one can see you crying, right?" Long Chen said.

"Aren't you a person?" Tang Waner was both shy and angry, and shouted.

Long Chen looked at Tang Waner, said nothing, and sighed after a long while.

"What are you sighing about?" Tang Waner hadn't experienced many accidents, so she was easily fooled and asked.

"You are not suitable for cultivation," Long Chen said lightly.

"Why?" Tang Waner was shocked.

"Your emotions are too rich. Have you ever thought about what would happen if all these people died inside?" Long Chen asked.

"Pah, don't talk nonsense!" Tang Waner raged. Wasn't this cursing people?

Long Chen's expression remained serious. "Answer me."

Tang Waner was stunned. Her lips opened and closed, but she couldn't say a word.

"Let me tell you. You would be heartbroken. If you still challenge the core-level trial in this state, your probability of dying inside would exceed ninety percent," Long Chen said in a deep voice.

Tang Waner slowly lowered her head. That appearance was very pitiful, but this was reality, an incomparably cruel reality.

"Cultivation is a path of no return. You shouldn't think that you can lead a group of people to run forward. If you do that, you will slowly find that the people following you will disappear one by one, until you are left all alone, lost and confused on the road."

Tang Waner bit her cherry lips tightly and said softly, "Then what should I do?"

"Let everything take its course, don't care too much, otherwise it will only bring you more pain," Long Chen said.

"Then should I disband the faction?"

"Why would you disband it? Are you stupid? You established a faction, won more resources for everyone, won them greater development and living space for the future, and can also improve your own strength. This is a win-win cooperation."

"I just want to tell you a cruel fact, a fact that will happen in the future. If I mention it to you now, you won't be so painful later," Long Chen smiled.

"Long Chen, you know so much, is it because you have experienced such pain?" Tang Waner stared deeply into Long Chen's eyes.

A trace of sadness appeared in Long Chen's eyes, but it was quickly concealed, and he smiled, "Where would I have any pain? I am a happy bastard now, and in the future, I will advance to become a super 'Four-Have' big bastard, invincible in the world, with limitless prospects. I am too happy to be unhappy."

Tang Waner's heart trembled. For a split second just now, she seemed to have seen something deep inside Long Chen's heart. Although it was only for a moment, she could feel Long Chen's true emotions at that moment.

This man was laughing and joking all day long, what exactly was hidden in his heart? Where did his wisdom, which far exceeded his peers, come from?

Just as Tang Waner was about to continue questioning this mysterious man, a loud explosion came.