Long Chen saw Tang Wan-er beckoning to him cordially from the crowd.

That made him pause for a moment. It didn’t seem as if Tang Wan-er had ever been that nice to him before…

But then he saw that Qing Yu was beside her, and he immediately understood. Even though he didn’t want to, he still braced himself for it as he walked over.

“Sister Qing Yu, hello.” Long Chen had no choice but to smile nicely to Qing Yu.

Tang Wan-er had already told him that the person she was most afraid of would have to be this sister Qing Yu of hers. Although Qing Yu was her maid, she didn’t treat her that way. Instead, she considered her as her own little sister.

But Qing Yu’s sole fault was that she always wanted to nag, to the point of driving people crazy. So Tang Wan-er both loved and feared her.

Qing Yu had been chatting with Tang Wan-er when Long Chen had arrived. Long Chen looked so adorable and handsome that she had to call him over.

“Long Chen, I heard you fought with someone else. Are you alright?” Qing Yu asked, somewhat annoyed.

She gently removed a piece of stray grass from his hair. His first reaction was that he wasn’t used to someone being that intimate with him, and he wanted to take a step back.

But seeing that there wasn’t even the slightest impurity within Qing Yu’s eyes, he suddenly felt much closer to her. Those eyes were just like a clear pool of water.

After taking out that stray strand, she then tidied up his collar. “Although Wan-er told me you are powerful, we came to the monastery to cultivate.

“If you don’t run into anything too excessive, it’d be better to just endure it. After all, it’s not good to be too vicious and…”

He didn’t know why, but Qing Yu’s gentle actions caused him to think of his mother. When he was little, she would also use these gentle movements to tidy him up.

He still remembered that at that time his mother was still very young and extremely beautiful, just like Qing Yu.

But as he grew up, his mother grew older. Thinking of the past, his heart soured slightly, and he felt he was about to tear up.

At the same time, he could also sense that Qing Yu’s heart was extremely kind and caring. It was no wonder someone with Tang Wan-er’s temperament would still put up with her. That kind of feeling was something impossible to give up.

Tang Wan-er finally let out a breath of relief. At least she was no longer the only target of Qing Yu’s scolding. But looking at Long Chen’s eyes which had reddened slightly, she was startled.

As for Guo Ran, when he saw Long Chen who had gone from a mighty expert who had sent someone flying with a single kick to being almost an obedient little child listening to a woman’s instructions, he laughed.

Although Long Chen’s heart was moved, being continuously scolded by someone really wasn’t fun. Seeing Guo Ran laughing into his sleeve, he had a sudden inspiration.

“Guo Ran, get over here.”

“What do you need, boss?” Guo Ran hastily put away his smile.

Long Chen said to Qing Yu, “Sister Qing Yu, I feel like what you said makes a lot of sense. Each of your words is pearls of wisdom that give me food for thought. But my memory isn’t very good.

“Let me introduce you: this is my brother Guo Ran. He is someone famous for his amazing memory. He’ll never forget anything he has heard.

“So please tell all your gems of wisdom to him. He’ll organize it all and record it in a book for me.

“That way, even if sister isn’t by my side, I can study the wisdom that sister has left for me.”

Guo Ran turned wooden as he listened. But as for Qing Yu, her eyes brightened.

“I really hadn’t imagined you were so clever Long Chen! This is an excellent idea! You’re Guo Ran, right? Ok, then good. You must remember what I’m about to say word for word. It might be a bit long, so if you can’t remember it all, just say something and I’ll repeat it for you. Ok, so let’s start from how it’s not good to be too vicious and…” Qing Yu pulled Guo Ran to the side and began to lecture him.

Long Chen acted as if he didn’t see Guo Ran’s resentful gaze. Who asked that fellow to laugh at his misery? Brothers should work through blessings and disasters together.

“Rascal, when did you get so smart?” Tang Wan-er walked up to Long Chen, showing delight and surprise in her beautiful eyes.

“In the future, I can use this method whenever sister Qing Yu wants to educate me. It really is excellent.” Seeing Tang Wan-er was still staring at him, he said, “Hey, don’t get any ideas about hitting me.”

“Tch, do you think you’re worth me thinking about?” said Tang Wan-er disdainfully.

That relieved Long Chen quite a bit. Getting serious, he asked, “Has everyone gathered?”

Tang Wan-er’s expression became slightly gloomy. “They’ve all mostly gathered. But some people died out of my expectations during the trial.”

“How?” asked Long Chen.

“Within my faction were two extremely talented registrants. But when they were crossing the river, there was an accident, and they ended up drowning…” Tang Wan-er clenched her teeth angrily.

Long Chen immediately understood that that was probably no accident, but on purpose. “Who did it?”

“Someone gave me a report that it was Qi Xin’s people. At that time, they were traveling in the same raft. The majority of the people on that raft had been his people.

“The raft broke apart out of nowhere, and in the panic, several people fell into the water, including the two from my faction,” said Tang Wan-er.

“Isn’t that maliciously killing people? Did the monastery not care?” Long Chen frowned. That was obviously a plot.

“It’s useless. There were a total of seven people who fell into the water, and one of them was Qi Xin’s underling. Even if they know it’s on purpose, there’s no proof. Since one of Qi Xin’s people also died, they can just say it was an accident. Even the monastery can’t do anything,” sighed Tang Wan-er helplessly.

She continued, “Those two people were exceptionally powerful, even a bit stronger than that Zhao Wu you killed. I hadn’t expected them to be so vicious.” Tang Wan-er’s eyes reddened. She was clearly unable to accept such a thing.

Perhaps in Tang Wan-er’s eyes, this had all just been a game. But for two people to die in this game caused her to be extremely uncomfortable.

“You have to learn how to accept how cruel reality is. This competition within the monastery doesn’t count as anything. If you lived in the secular world, you would understand what true cruelty is.

“When your family dies right in front of you, that kind of helplessness, that kind of bitterness, that kind of torment, that is what is called cruel.

“To you disciples who lived comfortably and privileged in your powerful homes, that’s something you can’t even imagine. So you should learn to slowly accept this reality. That is because in the future, it will only become even crueler. The only exception is if you stop cultivating,” said Long Chen.

Having experienced the treachery and evil in other people’s hearts as well as many life and death battles, Long Chen had long since seen through the fundamental nature of cultivation. Reality was cruel. If you want to live with dignity, you need an accordingly high strength.

Otherwise, whether you were a peasant pawn or a ruler of a kingdom, your status meant nothing. Normally, as a son of a noble house, Long Chen should have been viewed as a high and mighty existence to commoners. At the very least he should have had enough to eat and get by.

But what had happened in reality? Wasn’t he being oppressed into completely desperate straits? If it weren’t for those sudden Pill Sovereign memories with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, the Long family would already have been exterminated to the last man as they were used as part of someone’s nefarious scheme.

Then there was Chu Yao. She had been born with the status of an empire’s princess. But she had been plotted against, foreordained to have a miserable fate. Without Long Chen, she probably would have already killed herself.

So in Long Chen’s opinion, in order to live properly, you needed a powerful strength. Otherwise, you could choose to live a miserable life surviving off scraps, or you could choose to release yourself in death. There was no other option.

“I feel like I harmed them. If I hadn’t pulled them into my faction…”

“Life and death are ordained by the heavens. You didn’t harm them; the only thing that can be said is that they were unlucky.

“Cultivation is a path of no retreat. Once you step onto this path, there’s no chance for you to look back. If your Dao-heart ends up wavering, you will also follow along behind them not long from now,” Long Chen solemnly warned Tang Wan-er.

If she ended up lost on her cultivation path because two of her capable subordinates had died, that would definitely be not worth it. So Long Chen gave her a warning.

Tang Wan-er shook. Long Chen’s words were like an alarm, awakening her with a start.

“Thank you, Long Chen. I was just chasing my own tail.” Tang Wan-er gratefully thanked him.

As a monster-class expert and the number one genius of her family, her family’s experts had long since repeatedly warned her that she must maintain a bright Dao-heart. Unconsciously, her Dao-heart had already begun to waver now.

If it weren’t for Long Chen’s reminder, that kind of hidden danger might really end up blowing up. Although it might not have necessarily formed a heart-devil, it would definitely have affected her future cultivation.

Long Chen smiled slightly. He winked, “What are you so courteous for? Just remember it all. You understand?” Long Chen had actually been about to repeat what he had said about her giving him her heart, but there were too many people around. Although they were extremely quiet, it wouldn’t be good for others to overhear that.

Tang Wan-er’s shame immediately flew away. “Scoundrel, do you want to die?!”

Long Chen laughed, “Only this side of you is a bit more normal.”

Tang Wan-er found that both irritating and funny. She was also a bit moved.

Long Chen had wanted to divert her thoughts, and he had succeeded. The moment she had become indignant, she had woken up from her stupor.

“Sometimes I really can’t understand just what is in that head of yours. Somehow you seem to understand many things,” said Tang Wan-er curiously.

“Not seem to; I really do understand many things. I understand the heavens, I understand the earth, and I understand everything in between.” Long Chen shook his head, deadly serious.

Seeing Long Chen like this, she didn’t know whether he was purposely acting eccentric or not. She laughed, but seeing how many people glancing over in surprise, she quickly stopped.

She rebuked, “Your skin really is thick. Right, Long Chen, do you have any dreams for your future?”

“Of course, I have a dream! After all, what if I manage to achieve it one day?” said Long Chen seriously.

“Then what is your dream?” asked Tang Wan-er curiously.

“My dream is… hehe, I feel like it’s a bit embarrassing to say,” he bashfully said.

“Tch, with your thick skin, is there anything that is embarrassing to you? Quickly tell me.” Tang Wan-er was filled with anticipation.

“Then I’ll tell you. Don’t get too shocked. My dream is to become one - big - scoundrel.”