“Long Chen, I’ve been waiting for you for two days. If you still didn’t come out, I’d have charged in.” Long Chen had only just left his seclusion room when he saw the impatient Xia Youluo outside.

“Aren’t I busy bitterly cultivating so that I can reach seventeenth princess’s height as soon as possible? What, do you need me for something? Don’t tell me that you used up all your wine. Don’t even think about getting any from me,” warned Long Chen suddenly.

“Hmph, am I that kind of person? Furthermore, my wine is still all with me. I only gave a bit to my father and mother to taste. The rest, others can only look at them without tasting,” said Xia Youluo.

“Good, good.” Long Chen sighed with relief, causing Xia Youluo to stamp her feet in anger.

“Hmph, from your miserly appearance, I’d say drinking your wine is like drinking your blood. Is it worth it to act so worried?” Xia Youluo looked at Long Chen disdainfully.

“Hmph, if I’m so miserly, do you think I’d have given you a portion of my wine?” demanded Long Chen.

“Fine, I won’t argue with you. I almost ended up forgetting my imperial father wants to see you,” said Xia Youluo.

“Why does big brother want to see me?” asked Long Chen.

Xia Youluo glared at him and strictly warned, “My imperial father is a very harsh person. If you dare to say such a thing in front of him, he might kill you right there and then. You won’t even have a place to cry.”

“Really, he’s that vicious? He’d kill someone for telling a joke?” Long Chen acted shocked.

“My imperial father is the most merciless person I know. He even killed two of his sons. Do you think he’d care about an outsider’s life?” A somewhat afraid and disgusted expression appeared in Xia Youluo’s eyes when she spoke about her father.

Long Chen jumped. An emperor would really be so vicious as to kill his sons? “I don’t believe you.”

“Hmph, what’s not to believe? He tossed a few teenagers out in the world for tempering, and they returned to the Yellow Springs. Although he didn’t personally kill them, what’s the difference?” snorted Xia Youluo.

Long Chen said, “There are many things you don’t understand. All people care about their children. While you lost two brothers, have you ever thought that your father also lost two sons? He feels even worse than you. It is this mercilessness of his that allows you to live a carefree life. If you want to hate someone, you should hate the enemies that threaten the Grand Xia at all times.”

“I don’t care about your grand reasonings. Hurry up and come along.” Xia Youluo set off, leading Long Chen. On the way, all the guards that saw them bowed.

It wasn’t long before they arrived in front of a palace hall. Xia Youluo looked at it and said, “Reporting to my imperial father, Long Chen has arrived.”

“Come in.” The voice was flat and deep, like a powerful drum. It inspired reverence.

Xia Youluo slowly retreated. Before leaving, she gave Long Chen a throat-cutting gesture and put on a dead face.

Long Chen’s heart warmed. She was warning him to be careful. Her father was temperamental, and if he wasn’t careful, his head would be cut off. Her heart wasn’t bad.

The palace hall was extremely impressive and also sacred. In front of it were two huge stone lions that looked alive. They were like two guardian beasts staring at Long Chen, emitting their own terrifying pressure.

Long Chen walked up the stone steps and entered the palace hall. But what he didn’t expect was that the grand dragon throne, red carpet, chancellors, and the other royal items that should have been present within the core of the palace were nowhere to be found. The palace hall was extremely bare.

There was simply a figure quietly sitting at the center of the room. The rest of the room was so spacious and empty that it made a person uneasy.

Long Chen had only just stepped in when he saw a pair of eyes. In that instant, he felt himself become extremely minute as if he was a speck of dust floating amongst the stars.

“Long Chen greets senior!” said Long Chen respectfully.

“Come and sit,” said that person.

“Yes.” Long Chen obediently sat in front of him. Even with his unrestrained character, Long Chen didn’t dare to do anything wanton in front of this person. He definitely didn’t dare to call him big brother.

“To be able to maintain a calm heart within my domain is impressive.” The man nodded.

At this close distance, Long Chen saw that he appeared to be around forty years old. His face was somewhat similar to Xia Yunchong’s.

But this person was different from Xia Yunchong in that his noble air had reached a pinnacle. A vague image of a dragon floated behind him, shocking Long Chen.

“So you’re even able to see the manifestation of the dragon vein. As expected, you’re not so simple.” The middle-aged man looked at Long Chen with some surprise. Then with even greater surprise, he exclaimed, “You have true dragon essence blood within you.”

“Senior’s vision is truly divine. All my possessions are easily seen through.” Long Chen bitterly smiled. This was the person with the greatest authority within the Grand Xia. He was truly terrifying.

“I didn’t see it, I sensed it. Within my Grand Xia, there is a condensed form of karmic luck protected by a dragon vein. That’s why I could sense the dragon blood within your body.” The middle-aged man frowned. “You should be careful. Your dragon blood isn’t very high-tier, but it’s extremely pure. If the Xuan Beasts learn of it, it’ll probably be very troublesome.”

“Many thanks for your warning, senior. This junior understands,” thanked Long Chen.

When he had encountered Cloud’s mother, she had also warned him to be careful of the Xuan Beasts. Now that even the emperor of the Grand Xia would warn him, it seemed his true dragon essence blood really would cause big trouble in the future.

“Calling me senior is a bit too much. However, big brother is also not too suitable. My name is Yuyang, so you can call me Uncle Yang,” said the Grand Xia’s emperor, Xia Yuyang.

Long Chen could only force a smile. It seemed his little joke was no secret to him. “Uncle Yang, please don’t blame me. That was just a joke with Youluo.”

“It’s fine. Young people should be less reserved, or they wouldn’t be called youngsters. I called you over to inform you that the Four Nations Ancient Remnant is about to open. You should prepare yourself. When the time comes, you can go together with Chong-er and the others.”

“The Four Nations Ancient Remnant?” asked Long Chen.

“Yes. Chong-er will tell you the details. Other than that, the delegation from the Grand Han will be arriving in two days, and you’ll be in charge of receiving them” said Xia Yuyang.

“Me? Receive them?” Long Chen felt like he had misheard.

“Correct, you. I heard that in the Xuantian Dao Sect, you received the Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect’s people very well. You were very enthusiastic and free with them, allowing them to return to their sect better off than when they left. That’s why I feel like you’re the best person for this task.” Xia Yuyang looked at Long Chen with a smile that was not quite a smile.

Long Chen instantly understood that Xia Yuyang had investigated him and knew about what had happened in the Xuantian Dao Sect. His information source was truly amazing.

“However, this little one isn’t…” Long Chen didn’t want to be the center of attention here. He would rather be a quiet, random passerby on the streets.

“You’ve already called me uncle, so you are a member of the Grand Xia. I’ve already prepared the identity plate.”

Xia Yuyang gave him a jade plate. After receiving it, Long Chen saw that it read: Grand Xia National Protector, Great General Long Chen!

“National protector? Isn’t that a bit too exaggerated? I don’t have that much ability.” Long Chen bitterly smiled.

“I trust you have that ability. If my guess isn’t wrong, at least half the reason for the Grand Han’s delegation is due to you. If you want to endure, you can choose not to take this title. But no matter how I look at you, I don’t think you’re that kind of person. Rather than waiting until the conflict erupts, why not be more direct? Skip the pretenses and get right to the fighting,” said Xia Yuyang.

Putting it like this, Long Chen did agree. Furthermore, wasn’t being continuously provoked until he wanted to explode before retaliating just self-torture? It was better to give them a direct slap in the face.

“Alright, I know what to do. Uncle Yang, don’t worry. I will definitely live up to your expectations.” Long Chen laughed wickedly. He was most fond of being the fox that exploited the tiger’s power.

“As for Youluo, please do your best,” sighed Xia Yuyang. Even if a ruler had to be emotionless, he wasn’t able to sever his feelings for his children.

“I will do my best.” Long Chen nodded.

But inside, Long Chen was grumbling. If Xia Yuyang wanted him to go and fight, he wouldn’t even frown. But when it came to emotions, he didn’t have any assurance in being able to change that stubborn girl’s mind. She was too stubborn and too brainwashed. He would only be able to take things step by step.

Returning to Xia Yunchong’s residence, when he learned of the Four Nations Ancient Remnant, he jumped in shock.

The so-called Four Nations Ancient Remnant referred to a remnant of the immortal era. Legend said that it was left behind when a supreme expert ascended to become an immortal.

This remnant was its own world. It was said it was very possible for it to contain the records of that supreme expert and their inheritance.

However, this remnant was damaged during the great battle in the immortal era. Part of it broke, and it was squeezed into a spatial wall.

When this spatial wall weakened, disciples at the Foundation Forging realm and below could enter from the Martial Heaven Continent. They could enter and search the remnant.

However, the amount of time they had was very short. According to past experience, they would only have seven days.

Because a portion of the remnant had fractured off, if they were unable to leave within seven days, the exit would close and they would never be able to leave.

Xia Yunchong said that the supreme expert had left it behind when he ascended, and so quite a few treasures were waiting for destined people to find them.

The Four Nations Ancient Remnant opened at random times without pattern. They could only constantly wait. But before the spatial wall weakened, it would release a few fluctuations in advance. That allowed them to calculate a rough estimate of when it would open.

After patiently spending three days working on his medicinal wines, someone came over to tell Long Chen that the Grand Han’s delegation was about to arrive.