verbal dispute

Long Chen turned back to look and saw it was the old man who had been rushing as if to be reincarnated just a moment ago; he had returned so quickly.

The old man's face was covered in crisscrossing wrinkles and pockmarks, looking very frightening, especially when he arrived right in front of the three of them; he looked even more terrifying.

Seeing Long Chen didn't speak but just stared at him blankly, the old man grew impatient and barked coldly, "I am asking you, are you Long Chen?"

"That's right, I am Long Chen. Do you have some advice?" Long Chen felt a bit strange, but he answered anyway.

"You are Long Chen?"

The old man gritted his teeth, his eyes like a bloodthirsty beast, looking extremely terrifying, causing the three of them to instinctively take a few steps back.

Long Chen circulated his Spiritual Qi, ready to strike at any moment; he felt an extremely terrifying aura coming from the old man.

"Your Excellency, is there something you need?"

The old man looked at Long Chen, his eyes like knives, and barked coldly, "As a Junior, why do you not pay your respects when seeing a Senior?"

Long Chen was stunned. Suddenly, a terrifying killing intent locked onto them; it felt as if his body was being crushed by a ten-thousand-jin boulder, making it hard to breathe.

A-Man was fine and could barely withstand it, but Chu Yao could not; her face turned pale immediately, a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, and she swayed as if about to collapse.

Long Chen grabbed Chu Yao, pulling her against himself, while simultaneously circulating his Spiritual Qi to resist the terrifying Spiritual Pressure with all his might.

"Are you f*cking crazy?" Long Chen couldn't help but be furious and cursed loudly. This old man was simply insane.

"Ignorant Junior, today I will teach you how to respect a Senior." Seeing Long Chen struggling to resist, a look of surprise flashed in the old man's eyes, but as he spoke, he increased his Spiritual Power.

A-Man let out a roar, a reddish glow appeared all over his body, and he stubbornly withstood the terrifying Spiritual Pressure, which shocked the old man.

One must know that the Spiritual Pressure he released was something even a Tendon Tempering Realm expert could not withstand; this big fellow was actually resisting it solely with the strength of his Physical Body.

"Pfft."

Even with Long Chen by her side, and having neutralized most of the Spiritual Pressure, Chu Yao was still injured. She spat out a mouthful of blood, her pretty face as pale as paper.

"You old bastard, you're looking for death!"

Long Chen was furious. With a roar, he was about to summon his Divine Ring when suddenly a calm voice arrived.

"Stop."

The voice was not loud and was full of calm, without the slightest hint of anger, but the old man's expression changed abruptly. Although he was somewhat unwilling, he withdrew his Spiritual Pressure.

Long Chen immediately felt the pressure lift. Chu Yao felt relieved, though her pretty face remained pale, evoking pity in others.

Only then did Long Chen notice that, at some point, several people had appeared around them, watching them with a hint of deep surprise in their eyes.

There were seven people in total, all old men, except for one who appeared to be a beautiful young woman of about thirty, though her face was cold, with an unapproachable demeanor.

The voice from just now came from one of the old men. That old man had a rigid face, as if carved by a knife, and a serious expression. He was looking coldly at the old man who had attacked Long Chen.

"No wonder you haven't made any progress in so many years; it turns out all your cultivation has been practiced on your thick skin."

The others looked strange, with a hint of mockery, but there was clearly a sense of schadenfreude in their eyes.

The old man's face immediately turned the color of pig's liver, his eyes full of anger, but he dared not vent it.

However, he still managed to say, "This brat was rude to me, so I'm teaching him a lesson. Is that not allowed? Elder Tu Fang, aren't you overstepping your bounds a bit!"

"Zhao Changxing, stop trying to cover up your shame. Isn't it just because you failed to swallow the benefits alone this time and ended up with nothing, so you are venting your anger on this youth? You people from the Blood Luo Sect are truly shameless," another old man snorted.

Hearing this, Long Chen immediately understood why this old man named Zhao Changxing was targeting him; it turned out he was with that man in white.

If it weren't for his lack of strength, he would have jumped up and beaten this old bastard's face flat.

"A dignified Bone Forging Realm expert actually attacking a Blood Condensation Realm Junior; your skin is truly thick. If peeled off, I reckon it could be used as a shield—impenetrable to blades and arrows, and fire and water," another person chimed in mockingly.

Zhao Changxing was only wary of Tu Fang and didn't fear the others. Seeing them mocking him, he sneered, "If you aren't convinced, let's see who's better in a real fight, instead of acting like gossiping women."

The previous two were furious and were about to speak, but Tu Fang waved his hand gently, stopping the argument, and said, "You are all people of standing within your respective Sects. Don't make a laughingstock of yourselves in front of the Juniors. Let this matter end here."

Hearing the old man speak, everyone stopped arguing. Suddenly, one of the old men said to Long Chen in a friendly manner:

"Young man, you are quite good. I heard you defeated a Sect Disciple. At first, we didn't believe it, but the fact that you could easily withstand the Spiritual Pressure of a Bone Forging expert proves you indeed have the strength to kill an Outer Sect Disciple. How about it, are you interested in joining my Qinghai Sect? With your talent, you would at least be an Inner Sect Disciple. If you are valued by the Seniors in the Sect, even becoming a Core Disciple wouldn't be difficult."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed, and they spoke up one after another.

"Come to our Guiyuan Sect. I can guarantee that a position as a Core Disciple is yours for certain. How about it?"

"What is a Core Disciple worth? Young man, let me tell you, not only can I guarantee you the status of a Core Disciple, but I can also tell you that our Sect Leader's precious daughter is known as the Sect's number one beauty. If you go, I think you have a great chance. Kid, I have high hopes for you, don't let me down."

"F*ck, that's too despicable. Your Sect Leader's daughter is only eight years old. How can you trick people like that?"

"What about it? There are no years in cultivation. Won't the kid just have to wait ten or eight years? How is that tricking someone?"

"…"

For a moment, Long Chen and his group were dumbfounded. Judging by their tone, they were all people from Sects, and their status was not low. Their cultivation was even strong enough to rival Zhao Changxing, who had attacked him earlier.

Such a group of powerful people were actually competing to recruit Long Chen. This completely exceeded Long Chen's plans. He had originally thought he would have to beg and plead to get someone to take him in, so he was a bit stunned for a moment.

"Hmph, brat, you caused such a huge loss to our Blood Luo Sect this time. If you join our Blood Luo Sect, we can be magnanimous and let bygones be bygones, and cultivate you carefully." At this moment, Zhao Changxing's anger had subsided, and he said shamelessly.

It turned out that this Zhao Changxing was here to negotiate on behalf of the Blood Luo Sect. After all, this mineral vein was discovered by them first, so no matter what, they should have had a share.

As a result, when they arrived here, they were rebuffed. There are seven Sects surrounding the territory belonging to the Phoenix Empire.

According to past rules, if a mineral vein appears within this territory, everyone must mine it together and distribute it equally, so as not to cause conflict.

However, the behavior of the Blood Luo Sect was a serious violation of the rules, so they were kicked out of the group. They wouldn't get even a single piece of Ore from the Spirit Stone mine.

That was why Zhao Changxing was so angry. However, since the other six had reached a consensus and Tu Fang was there, he had to swallow his anger.

So when he stormed out of the gate, he almost knocked Long Chen and his group flying. However, after Zhao Changxing ran a distance, he felt something was wrong.

With his cultivation, he could see at a glance that Long Chen was just a rookie in the Blood Condensation Realm.

Yet, such a person remained calm and unhurried when facing his powerful pressure, without the slightest panic, which immediately aroused his suspicion.

Sure enough, when he turned back and asked, he knew that Long Chen was the culprit who caused them to lose an entire Spirit Stone mine, and he was furious.

However, hindered by the Sect covenant, he could not directly attack common people, so he found a lame excuse about disrespecting a Senior to pressure Long Chen. Although he didn't dare to kill Long Chen, he at least wanted to humiliate him to vent his anger.

Now that everyone was vying to recruit Long Chen, he suddenly realized that the Spirit Stone mine had nothing to do with them anymore.

If he could bring back a Disciple with exceptional talent, it could be considered a form of compensation, at least so the Sect wouldn't suffer too much of a loss, so he spoke up.

But as soon as Zhao Changxing spoke, he felt everyone suddenly fall silent, looking at him with strange expressions—some mocking, some disdainful, and some with a hint of admiration.

"This thick skin is probably unparalleled in history," everyone couldn't help but sigh, but they didn't speak. Anyway, they had already offered their conditions; it was up to Long Chen to choose.

"How about it? Are you willing to come back to the Blood Luo Sect with me? Kid, you better think carefully, don't regret it."

Zhao Changxing stared closely at Long Chen, the threat in his words barely concealed.

"Hahaha."

Long Chen suddenly laughed, laughing until tears were about to come out, laughing until Zhao Changxing's expression became increasingly ugly.

"Kid, what are you laughing at?" Zhao Changxing asked angrily.

"Nothing, I was just moved by your shameless spirit. I just want to say one thing to you," Long Chen laughed.

"What thing?" Zhao Changxing narrowed his eyes and looked coldly at Long Chen.

Long Chen put on a benevolent smile and said to Zhao Changxing, word for word: "No matter how far your thoughts go, just f*cking roll as far as you can!"

He spoke softly, without a hint of anger, with a smile still on his face, yet he said such a sentence, making people feel both shocked and amused.

"You…"

Zhao Changxing was furious, his hair standing on end, like an angry lion, wishing he could slap this kid to death, but he didn't dare.

"Fine, you just wait for me."

After Zhao Changxing dropped a harsh threat, he turned and left. It was unknown if he was afraid of being angered to the point of madness and needed to vent, but the road paved with giant stone slabs was cracked all the way by his footsteps.

Seeing Zhao Changxing chased away by Long Chen, everyone laughed and enthusiastically asked Long Chen if he had made up his mind.

Long Chen thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up and asked Tu Fang, who had been silent: "Senior, I wonder what kind of treatment I would receive if I joined your Sect?"

Tu Fang, who had originally been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Long Chen, and said with a look of regret:

"It is very difficult for you to enter my Sect."