Nine-leafed orchid

"Long Chen."

Long Chen paused, turned his head, and saw a young girl looking at him.

"Who are you…" Long Chen did not recognize this person, but she had called out his name.

"I am Qingyu. We both belong to Young Miss Tang Waner's faction," the young girl said hurriedly when she saw Long Chen's confusion.

"Oh, is something the matter?" Long Chen asked.

"I heard that Young Miss Tang Waner is in a fierce battle with Lei Qianshang, seemingly not far ahead," the young girl said with some worry.

"A fierce battle is just a fierce battle. It's not like we're busy! Why are you worrying about this?" Long Chen shook his head and prepared to leave.

Let them fight or not; I don't have the inclination to watch the spectacle. I'd rather see if I can run into something good; I don't have time for this nonsense.

Seeing that Long Chen didn't care about Tang Waner at all, the young girl couldn't help but grab him and angrily said, "How can you speak like that? Since you agreed to join Young Miss Tang Waner's faction, you should be loyal to her and never betray her. By ignoring the Young Miss's safety, you are no different from a traitor. How do you have the face to stand between heaven and earth? How can you face the heroes of the world? You…"

"Stop, stop, stop! I surrender to you. If you keep talking, I'll become an unforgivable villain. I agree to go with you, alright?" Long Chen hurriedly surrendered; this girl's tongue was too sharp.

"You're wrong to say it like that. What do you mean by 'surrender to you'? You still haven't recognized your own mistakes. Since the Young Miss invited you to join, you should…" Qingyu looked at Long Chen with a serious face and continued to talk incessantly.

"Alright, if you keep talking, they'll be done fighting. Are we going or not? You decide," Long Chen said impatiently. Why was this girl so long-winded?

"Oh, you're right. Let's go check on Young Miss Tang Waner first. After this is over, I'll talk to you about your problems. Your outlook on life needs to be corrected, and your purpose in cultivation needs to be clarified," Qingyu nodded and said.

"Miss Qingyu, may I ask you a question?" Long Chen asked with some confusion.

"Go ahead and ask," Qingyu said.

"Has any man ever pursued you?" Long Chen asked curiously.

Qingyu was stunned, then shook her head and said, "No, why?"

"Oh, I understand," Long Chen nodded.

"What?"

"It's nothing, that makes sense. By the way, what is your relationship with Tang Waner?" Long Chen suddenly asked.

"I am the personal maid assigned to the Young Miss by my master. I have followed her for ten years, responsible for her safety and daily chores," Qingyu said.

Good grief, she's actually a busybody. No wonder her mouth is like a chanting spell, nagging endlessly.

"Let's talk as we walk. You said earlier that the Young Miss and Lei Qianshang started fighting? Doesn't that gorilla surnamed Lei like Young Miss Tang Waner? Why would he start a fight?" Long Chen asked curiously as he walked.

"It's wrong to give people nicknames like that…"

"Then I'll take back that nickname. Please, Miss Qingyu, answer my other questions," Long Chen hurriedly interrupted her.

"It's true that Lei Qianshang likes Young Miss Tang Waner, but when men like a woman, they usually don't use pursuit to achieve their goal.

They prefer to use force to conquer, making the other party follow them wholeheartedly. This is the normal psychology and way of doing things for you men," Qingyu said.

Long Chen rolled his eyes. Why lump everyone together? He wanted to ask Qingyu to remove the word "you," but wouldn't that be admitting he wasn't a man? He decided to stay silent.

However, Qingyu's words gave Long Chen a deeper understanding of the relationships between cultivators.

A man's charm lies in his martial strength; just like animals, it is often the strong gorilla that has the right to enjoy more mates.

Although he scoffed at such methods, it seemed that after entering the torrent of cultivation, everything else became unimportant, and only martial strength was the sole belief.

The principles of the cultivation world were more direct and barbaric than the secular world, almost completely unrestrained by morality; power was everything.

At the same time, Long Chen felt some emotion, wondering if he would also become like this in this great melting pot in the future.

"Why did they start fighting?" Long Chen asked casually.

"It seems they both discovered a rare treasure at the same time, and neither was willing to yield, so they had to resolve it in the way of Martial Artists," Qingyu said.

"A rare treasure?"

Long Chen's eyes lit up. Anything that could catch the eye of Tang Waner and Lei Qianshang, enough to make them fight, must be an incredible item.

"Ahem, Young Miss Tang Waner is in a trap. As her subordinates, even if we have to go through fire and water, or face destruction, we must save the Young Miss.

To repay the Young Miss for her kindness in recognizing my talent, I must help the Young Miss seize this treasure no matter what," Long Chen said righteously, while simultaneously exerting force under his feet, dashing forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.

Qingyu was stunned, then a gratified smile appeared on her face, thinking that Long Chen had finally opened his mind and become an upright person.

How could she know that when Long Chen spoke, he had omitted the words "help the Young Miss" in his heart, which was why he was so anxious.

Seeing Long Chen sprinting, Qingyu also quickened her pace, but what shocked her was that Long Chen opened his legs, like two rolling wheels, speeding past with unparalleled speed.

And she could tell at a glance that Long Chen was just running like that, without using any battle techniques at all. Qingyu ran with all her might, but could only follow behind Long Chen's backside.

Crossing a hilltop, there was a valley ahead. Inside the valley, dozens of people were fighting fiercely, trading punches and kicks, with strong winds howling, an exceptionally intense scene.

Outside the crowd, in front of the cliff, two figures were moving, one robust and one slender; it was Lei Qianshang and Tang Waner.

At this moment, Lei Qianshang's body was covered in fine lines of light, constantly flashing; it was actually countless bolts of lightning flowing.

Surrounded by fine lightning, Lei Qianshang's long hair stood on end, his eyes like electricity. He threw a punch that made the space crackle, as if it were exploding, which was very terrifying.

Opposite him, Tang Waner was surrounded by swirling winds. As her jade hands turned, wind blades crisscrossed, covering her body, her Aura not losing out to Lei Qianshang in the slightest.

As they fought, wind blades and lightning collided, constantly emitting explosive sounds, and the ground beneath their feet kept shattering.

"What a rare good show," Long Chen couldn't help but sigh. Both of their combat powers were so formidable; such battles were too rare.

"What are you still standing there stupidly watching for? Hurry up and go help!" At this moment, Qingyu also arrived, and seeing Long Chen standing there admiring with a smile, she couldn't help but say angrily.

"Ahem, I'm not watching stupidly, I'm observing the situation to formulate a battle plan, so I can truly help Young Miss Tang Waner," Long Chen argued sophistically.

In fact, Long Chen really didn't want to intervene; after all, living in the Jianghu, conserving one's strength is the way to survive.

Besides, he was pulled into her faction by Tang Waner using underhanded means. Who knows how this girl might mess with him in the future? He was already being polite by not kicking her while she was down.

"What you say makes sense. You keep observing, I'll go help," unexpectedly, Qingyu took him seriously, jumped down into the valley, and rushed straight into the crowd.

Only then did Long Chen notice that, besides Lei Qianshang and Tang Waner, the people fighting below seemed to be divided into two groups.

After observing carefully, he suddenly realized that these two groups were the respective forces of Lei Qianshang and Tang Waner.

Because Long Chen saw a few familiar faces, they must have been arranged by the Family, and were also confidants of Lei Qianshang and Tang Waner. No wonder they weren't seeking Opportunities but were here fighting in a group; it was to bolster their influence.

However, it seemed that Tang Waner's side was much weaker. He didn't know if they were truly weaker or if the strong ones hadn't arrived, but they were being pushed back step by step by the other side.

Even with the addition of Qingyu, a Peak Martial Artist in the Blood Condensation Realm, there was no major improvement, and they were at an absolute disadvantage.

Just glancing lightly at the battlefield, Long Chen began to look around, and finally found what he was looking for.

"Good heavens, it's actually a Nine-Leaf Orchid. No wonder they started fighting."

The Nine-Leaf Orchid is an extremely precious Spirit Medicine with a wide range of uses, but its greatest use is to nourish the Physical Body.

Its powerful medicinal properties can comprehensively enhance the energy of the Physical Body. Even eating it directly is fine, and if refined into a Medicinal Pill, the effect would be doubled.

In addition to significantly improving physical functions, the Nine-Leaf Orchid also has the effect of smoothing the texture, removing dead skin, and making one's skin more radiant.

Obviously, Lei Qianshang had his eye on the Nine-Leaf Orchid's almost abnormal enhancement effects, while Tang Waner, without even needing to think about it, must have been attracted to its magical beauty-enhancing properties.

The more beautiful a woman is, the more she pursues perfection, so neither of them was willing to yield, which is why they started fighting.

And as news of their fierce battle spread, the experts from their respective factions swarmed over to contribute to their leaders.

Looking at that Nine-Leaf Orchid, Long Chen was also quite tempted; the Nine-Leaf Orchid's nourishment for the Physical Body could be described as miraculous.

Especially for experts in the Blood Condensation Realm, while the Physical Body gets nourished, the meridians are also expanded.

However, Long Chen's body had been modified by a powerhouse from the Spirit Realm, so Long Chen estimated that even if he obtained the Nine-Leaf Orchid, it probably wouldn't have much of an effect.

But if it were refined into a Medicinal Pill, it should have some effect on him, he thought, watching the crowd fighting fiercely below.

That Nine-Leaf Orchid was on the cliff opposite. To get there, he had to cross the battlefield, but that would be too conspicuous, and the probability of success would be too low.

Furthermore, crossing the crowd would definitely get him recognized. He couldn't just ignore everything and go straight to snatch the Nine-Leaf Orchid, right?

After watching for a while, Long Chen discovered that the people on both sides were focusing their attention on each other and weren't paying much attention to the Nine-Leaf Orchid.

Moreover, although they were fighting, it wasn't a life-or-death battle; they were all holding back. The situation shouldn't change much in the short term, and there wouldn't be any deaths.

Long Chen's eyes rolled. Since it was a protracted war anyway, he might as well sneak around, let them fight until their heads are smashed, and steal the Spirit Medicine quietly.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Long Chen's face. Just as he was about to sneak away, a voice suddenly came.

"Damn Long Chen, aren't you coming over to help yet!"