Chapter 103: Long Family’s Desperate Flounders
The worst thing was, high above the mountain pass, the god of death Jiang Chen had yet to make his move.
That life reaping arrow, that presence from occupying an advantageous vantage point. When he had made his move, he had reaped the lives of true qi masters as if he was harvesting crops.
Under such heavy pressure, any true qi master with even a slightly lower level of training, or if anyone was hit by a Swordbird, would be immediately knocked to the ground, hauled away, and portioned out.
The flesh and blood of a true qi master was absolutely a rich meal for the Goldwing Swordbirds.
More than ten Goldwing Swordbirds would divvy up every true qi master that fell. Those who didn’t get a portion would become even more ferocious. The desire to feed made them even more violent and ruthless.
More and more true qi masters couldn’t hold up beneath the onslaught.
Long Zhaofeng’s level of training was also astonishing. The training of an eleven meridians true qi master allowed him to barely protect himself within the crowd.
Long Juxue followed closely by her father’s side, staying not even half a step away. A cold, sinister hatred suffused her phoenix eyes that slanted upwards. The gaze of hatred seemed like it could seal others in ice and shatter them.
Long Zhaofeng’s heart shuddered as he looked around and discovered that the number of true qi masters by his side had decreased by a full third.
“Can it be that the heavens truly wishes for my death today?” A desperate thought grew out of Long Zhaofeng’s heart.
He wasn’t willing to accept his fate, and didn’t wish to die like this. He still had great aspirations. He wanted to sit on the throne for another hundred years, then look upon his land for another hundred.
“Jiang Chen.” Long Zhaofeng suddenly cried out. “Must you and I really fight to the depths of not resting until one side is dead?”
Jiang Chen hadn’t expected that Long Zhaofeng would spout such naive words in this moment. He only smiled coldly but said nothing.
All words were in vain now. Following up victory with hot pursuit, pulling out the evil by its roots was the only way.
“Jiang Chen, listen to me. I know you have true ability and that you’re a genius. My daughter, Long Juxue is also a genius. To have two geniuses in such a small kingdom is the heavens’ concern and allowance of solitude for our patch of land. Why must you geniuses be at each other’s throats? Why can’t geniuses set aside their differences and form an alliance of the strong?”
Long Zhaofeng’s voice was rushed as he rallied all his powers of eloquence. “Jiang Chen, as long as you stop, I’m willing to swear an oath to the heavens and earth and betroth my daughter to you. You know that my daughter is of an azure phoenix constitution and that even the heavyweight of a hidden sect looks upon her favorably and wishes to take her in as a disciple. If you kill us today, then you would be offending the entire sect. In contrast, if you stay your hand today, you can return with a beauty in your arms. You might even be able to enter the sect with my daughter in the future, becoming a story that is on everyone’s lips in the kingdom. Then, I can leverage on your husband and wife’s strength to expand our domain,expand to new frontiers, and unite the surrounding sixteen countries to establish a dynasty. Wouldn’t this satisfy both sides? Your Jiang family would also share in the prosperity and good fortune. Isn’t that much better than being a small duke?”
One had to say, Long Zhaofeng’s words were quite bewitching, and those shining words seemed to make a great deal of sense.
He would be able to return with a beauty in his arms if he stopped the war. Long Juxue was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, endowed with superior potential, and had been favored by the hidden sects as well. To marry such a woman was the dream of every young man in the kingdom. If the strong cooperated with the strong, there truly was a high chance of expanding to new frontiers and building a dynasty.
Not halting the war and killing the entire Long family could potentially offend an entire sect and bring about pursuit and hunt.
One could say that Long Zhaofeng’s words had grasped a delicate situation and cut straight to the crux of the matter. Anyone with a brain would know how to choose.
Long Juxue also felt quite astonished at first, her cherry lips moved slightly as she wanted to say something, but she decided not to say anything in the end and calmly looked in Jiang Chen’s direction.
“Jiang Chen, you’ve also seen my daughter’s attitude. She has been proud her entire life but that doesn’t mean she is devoid of appeal. She admires men who can control and dominate her. In the entire kingdom, you, and only you are able to conquer her and win her heart. Look at my daughter, she has good looks, beautiful breasts, and a well-rounded bottom. If I make a general observation of the surrounding sixteen countries, you won’t be able to find another woman like her.”
A beautiful woman and power, these were the two strongest temptations for men. These were also what men most yearned for, and it had an allure that they couldn’t resist.
Long Zhaofeng had thrown out both of these temptations in one breath.
Even Princess Gouyu, who stood atop the pass, was frozen. She became encumbered with troubles and worried about personal gains and losses. Her heart trembled as she stood beside Jiang Chen. She didn’t even have the courage to look at Jiang Chen.
She was worried, what man in this world would be able to withstand such temptation?
Even Eastern Zhiruo asked in a shaky voice, “Brother Jiang Chen, do you want that woman? I…”
Princess Gouyu likewise said in a quivering voice, “Jiang Chen, Long Juxue is as poisonous as a scorpion. Wedding her would be like storing a poisonous snake by your side.”
Even Jiang Feng spoke up, “Chen’er, it is impossible for our Jiang family and Long family to live together under the same sky. This girl Long Juxue is absolutely not a good match.”
Long Juxue stood beneath the pass and called out clearly, “Jiang Chen, I know you have something going on with those two Eastern women. That’s fine, if you like them, have them as maids who serve your needs in the bedchamber. That is fine as well. I, Long Juxue, only admire strong men.”
Jiang Chen had continued to keep a faint smile on his face the entire time. If it were any other son of a duke, he would likely be unable to hold up beneath Long Zhaofeng’s promises and temptations.
After all, both beautiful women and power were a deadly aphrodisiac to men.
Except, although land and women were tempting, did Jiang Chen need to obtain those from Long Zhaofeng’s hands?
It was obvious that Jiang Chen didn’t need to!
Would Jiang Chen, the exalted son of the Celestial Emperor in his past life, be short of temptations such as land and beautiful women?
Who knew how many beautiful women awaited Jiang Chen’s attention?
Who knew how many lands awaited his grasp and control?
In the end, these weren’t Jiang Chen’s greatest goals.
When Princess Gouyu heard Long Juxue’s ridiculous, shameless words, her straightforward personality happened to recall the one sided agreement she had struck up with Jiang Chen before, that if he could defeat the Long family, he could have both her and Ruo’er. When she thought of this, Gouyu’s face also reddened slightly.
It was rather the normally bashful Eastern Zhiruo who yelled out with her loudest volume with a flaming hot face, “My brother Jiang Chen doesn’t want you for his woman!”
“Jiang Chen, what are you hesitating for? What man doesn’t want land and beautiful women?” Long Zhaofeng called out loudly.
Jiang Chen chuckled. He hadn’t said anything because he wanted to see how much more of a ludicrous performance the Long father and daughter would put on.
“Lands and beautiful women?” Jiang Chen shook his head with flagging interest. “Long Zhaofeng, under the circumstances, is selling your daughter’s looks your last ploy?”
“Jiang Chen, I…”
“Shut up! Long Zhaofeng, I said a long time ago that the Second Crossing was the best place for your burial grounds. Your daughter? Genius? Beauty? Hahaha, so what? A venomous scorpion of a woman, a pink skeleton. Even if she took off all her clothes and presented herself at my door, I, Jiang Chen, would still have no interest in her. Long Juxue, save your affections and airs for tempting the ghosts and ghouls in the underworld.”
Jiang Chen’s face grew cold as soon as he’d finished speaking as he once again spoke words from the beast language, issuing the strongest call to attack.
All the Goldwing Swordbirds received their commands and called out in succession, sending forth their troops.
Waves of attacks like tidewaters once again flooded the skies above the Second Crossing.
“Jiang Chen… you’ll regret this!” Long Zhaofeng was at the end of his road and was making his final struggles.
“My daughter possesses an azure phoenix constitution and had been personally hand picked to be the disciple of Master Shuiyue of the Purple Sun Sect. If you move against my Long family, that is the equivalent of defying Master Shuiyue and the entire Purple Sun Sect.”
The Purple Sun Sect was one of the four great sects within the alliance of the sixteen surrounding kingdoms.
Master Shuiyue was one of the nine elders of the Purple Sun Sect with incredibly strong power and influence, enough to rank in the top ten of the Purple Sun Sect. No one dares to defy a sect heavyweight of this level within the entire sixteen surrounding kingdoms, not to mention a mere Eastern Kingdom.
Except, these threats were pale and weak in front of Jiang Chen.
There wasn’t a ripple of emotion on Jiang Chen’s face. On the contrary, an even stronger urge to kill surged in Jiang Chen’s eyes.
“Purple Sun Sect?” Jiang Chen smiled coldly in his heart. “Even ten Purple Sun Sects wouldn’t be enough to obstruct my desire to exterminate your Long family.”
Offending the Purple Sun Sect was a matter of the future. Who knew the matters of the future with certainty?
In this moment, the Long family had to be annihilated, otherwise there would be no end of trouble in the future. Destroying the Long family, removing Long Juxue – how much would a dead genius be worth?
A heavyweight of the Purple Sun Sect might not be willing to go to such extreme lengths for a dead so-called genius.
Jiang Chen had already stepped onto the back of a Goldwing Swordbird in between his whistles, drawn back the bow, notched an arrow, and sent it shooting towards Long Zhaofeng.
This man had wanted to put his Jiang family down to their deaths on numerous occasions.
Today, Jiang Chen wanted to take down this person first. Once this person was dead, the greater picture would be set!
The arrow breaking through the air brought with it a piercingly cold true qi, attacking with a strong momentum.
“Protect His Majesty!” One had to say, Long Er was an absolutely loyal underling. Just like Long Yi and Long San who had gone before him, they were Long Zhaofeng’s most trusted deathsworn.
They were the personal guards that Long Zhaofeng had selected when he had gone through the Hidden Dragon Trials.
They had experienced life and death with Long Zhaofeng for decades, and Long Er had long since given his life to Long Zhaofeng.
Except, once Jiang Chen started his bow and arrow attack, how could Long Er be able to withstand it?
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
Continuous sounds rending through the air rang out continuously. Incomparable true qi was infused onto the arrows, ripping through the air. When true qi and air collided into each other, streaks of fiery sparks burned through the air like blossoming fire dragons, shooting towards Long Zhaofeng in cunning angles.
Dong dong dong.
Continual numbers of deathsworn flung themselves at Long Zhaofeng, using their bodies to block these domineering arrows.
Pfft, pfft.
Three or four true qi masters were pierced by these arrows.
Long Zhaofeng was even more bedraggled now. Not only did he have to face the threat of the arrows, but there were several Goldwing Swordbirds circling over his head and sending strong blasts of true qi at him. Their intimidating aura was completely on par with Jiang Chen.
Long Er was covered with blood, as if he was a being made of blood.
“Long Er, protect Xue’er, leave! Don’t mind me. As long as Xue’er remains, there will surely be a day for revenge for the Long family.” Long Zhaofeng also knew that this situation was one of certain death. He couldn’t escape, and Jiang Chen wouldn’t let him escape.
His only hope was to cover Long Juxue’s retreat!
As long as Long Juxue left and returned to the Soaring Dragon manor, taking one or two of the Long’s bloodline with her the bloodlines would remain unbroken. There would then come a day that they would rise again.
“You want to leave?”
Jiang Chen smiled coldly and raised his hand to shoot another arrow, piercing through Long Er.
The arrow drilled through chest, before passing cleanly through his back exiting out the back. A bloody mist arose from Long Er’s chest as his mouth also spewed out blood. He widened his eyes as he looked at Long Zhaofeng.
“Your Lordship, your subject… is going on ahead of you.”
Long Er fell down with a thud after he finished speaking.
Long Zhaofeng had no time to look at Long Er as he madly waved the weapons in his hand. “Xue’er, I, your father, will cover your retreat. Go!”
In this moment, Long Zhaofeng was both bitter and sorrowful. How familiar was this scene? Hadn’t Eastern Lu sacrificed himself like this a few days ago in order to enable Princess Gouyu’s escape?
Was this karma?
Long Zhaofeng was an eleven meridians true qi master. His level of training was much stronger than Jiang Feng and Princess Gouyu. After all, he had entered the realm of an eleven meridians true qi master a long time ago.
Whereas Jiang Feng’s and Princess Gouyu’s realm had only just stabilized.
Therefore, once Long Zhaofeng paid no heed to his life, his battle strength was quite astonishing. One had to say, humans could often erupt with amazing strength when they were forced into desperate circumstances.
There were actually two Goldwing Swordbirds in a row that cried out in ghastly agony and fell lifelessly from the sky when they were hit by Long Zhaofeng’s great blade.
Jiang Chen yelled out loudly once and fired three arrows in quick succession. Whoosh whoosh whoosh. The three successive arrows brought with them an intense momentum as they shot towards Long Zhaofeng.
As strong as he was, Long Zhaofeng was already at the limits of his endurance when surrounded by so many Goldwing Swordbirds.
The three arrows broke through the air like shooting stars.
