<h4>Chapter 118 - Inner Family Qualifiers!</h4>


    Now that the matter of the Violet Demonic Lizard was settled, Liu Yuan smiled when he saw the pleasant surprise on Long Chen’s face, feeling proud of what he perceived as Long Chen’s passion towards it.


    Long Chen was a huge surprise to him. It had been a long time since he had a surprise like that, so the old man was overjoyed.


    At the same time, he was also very satisfied with his daughter, because he knew that Long Chen reached this levelrgely due to Liu Lan’s pressure. <i>Lan’er has already exined the matter about the Blood Saints to him. I don’t need to remind him about it again. But I do need to talk to him about the other thing.</i>


    Liu Yuan said, “Long Chen, do you know about the next inner family qualifiers?”


    Inner family qualifiers?


    Long Chen had only heard from Gan Lin that the inner families recruited extremely outstanding disciples from the outer families to be nurtured. However, he had also said that Long Chen had to be at the Earthly Core Realm. <i>Am I also involved in the inner family qualifiers?</i>


    “The outer families have started to nominate members to be recruited. I also have the right to nominate, so I will submit your details to them in a few days’ time. As long as you pass the examination, you will have a chance to participate in the qualifiers!”


    Long Chen suddenly felt like he had behaved a little too well in front of Liu Yuan and hurriedly thanked the old man for his kindness. “I will repay your kindness a hundred-fold, Sect Elder!”


    “Hehe ...”


    Liu Yuan stroked his beard. He’d previously underestimated Long Chen and even mildly reprimanded him. Even he was a little embarrassed that his attitude hadpletely changed, now that he was treating Long Chen so well.


    “But, Long Chen, don’t celebrate too early. You’re still at the Human Core Realm, which doesn’t fulfill their requirements. You must work hard as soon as possible. You’ll only stand a chance if you get the Violet Demonic Lizard’s Beast Soul and elevate your cultivation level before the qualifiers.”


    “Are the inner family’s qualifiers that difficult?” Long Chen probed.


    Liu Yuan nodded helplessly. “They are indeed difficult. Usually, only about twenty people pass the examination, but only two of those will be recruited in the end. In fact, I only want you to participate so you can appear in front of the other families. If you truly want to enter the inner family, all I can say is that it is very, very, very difficult.”


    Although Long Chen knew that bing an inner family member meant ess to more resources, better training, and faster improvements, he was not in a hurry. Based on Liu Yuan’s words, it truly was very difficult.


    Liu Yuanmented, “The only youth in the Turquoise family with a potential value of five stars is the Turquoise Imperial family’s Chu Yunxi. He has turned eighteen this year and has already reached the mid Earthly Core Realm. He has been nominated and will enter the qualifiers.”


    Liu Yuan spoke with great emotion when he mentioned Chu Yunxi, though when he saw Liu Lan ring at him a little angrily, he froze and fell silent.


    <i>Chu Yunxi? Eighteen? Mid Earthly Core Realm?</i>


    Long Chen was stunned upon learning that all the people he met previously, like Huang Feiyang and Feng Wutian, were nothing. Chu Yunxi was the true prodigy. Once again, he realized how small his worldview was.


    He thought he could truly be called a prodigy when he defeated Feng Wutian, but now, it seemed he was still quite far away from that. <i>There is still a long way to go ...</i>


    Liu Yuan continued, “This is it for today. You must be exhausted after the training exercise. You may leave.”


    Long Chen nodded and bade them farewell, turning to leave. Everyone was deep in thought when they watched him leave with his back proudly straight. “Lan’er, follow me.”


    Liu Yuan called for Liu Lan, then exited the great hall. He only turned around when he reached the garden at the back, then he said to Liu Lan, “When you were at the Heavenly Martial Realm, the Sect Elder of the Turquoise Imperial Hall, Chu Fengqing, came looking for me again. He spoke of a marriage proposal.”


    Liu Lan gasped. “Father, did you agree?”


    “How could I agree without your approval? But, Lan’er, he said that he would personallye with Chu Yunxi to propose in twenty days. I didn’t decline, so ...”


    “So, to prevent the rtionship between both parties from souring, and to prevent us from beingughed at, I must agree to his proposal. Right?” Liu Lan was in grief when she spoke the truth aloud.


    Liu Yuan’s heart ached upon seeing his daughter like this. “Lan’er, don’t overthink it. Chu Yunxi is a true prodigy and will likely enter the inner family this time. His future is bright. I will also rest easy if you’re with him.”


    “Father ...” Liu Lan looked up in exasperation, “You don’t know him. He’s too aggressive and arrogant. No matter how talented he is, I can’t stand being around him ...”


    ***


    Upon leaving the hall, Long Chen walked alone to the Turquoise Willow Residence. Heads turned wherever he went, passersby looking at him with curiosity and awe.


    News of Long Chen’s performance at the Heavenly Martial Realm had spread. “You! Don’t move!”


    A feminine voice suddenly called out to him. A petite, pretty girl stood behind him. It was Liu Ling.


    Long Chen was amused that her eyes were slightly red. She must’ve been crying over Feng Wutian. But seeing as Feng Wutian himself wanted to treat Long Chen as an enemy, no one was to me when he was injured because of Long Chen.


    “Hey, are you crying over your lover? How touching. I’m tearing up myself.”


    Liu Ling had spotted this bastard just now and couldn’t help but stop him due to the hatred in her heart. She hadn’t expected to be teased at all. If she hadn’t just recalled that the bastard had saved her life, she would’ve killed him. “Long Chen, you’re a bastard! A bastard!” cussed Liu Ling, pointing at him without caring for her image.


    Long Chen remainedpletely nonchnt. “What is it? Why did you stop me?”


    Liu Ling had the urge to rush forward and tear his face off. “You brat. I stopped you to tell you not to celebrate too early. Defeating Brother Wutian while he was possessed was nothing. He has already woken up!”


    “Oh? He’s awake!”


    “That’s right! Are you scared? Also, he actually benefited from the experience! He’s going to reach the Earthly Core Realm. So you just wait till he teaches you a lesson!”


    “Earthly Core Realm too?”


    He thought about how brutally he had injured Feng Wutian. Now that he had woken up to find his reputation falling, he would definitelye looking for trouble. Long Chen was already anxious over the matter with the Blood Saints, and hearing that Feng Wutian was awake made him furrow his brows tightly.


    “So, you <i>are </i>afraid! You’re a coward! You only attack when Brother Wutian is unconscious!” Liu Ling smirked and then left.


    Long Chen shook his head and returned to his quarters. “Xiao Xi, my cultivation level has risen very fast recently, and it seems to be almost at its limits. Can I improve any further?”


    “Of course ...”


    Ling Xi could finally stretch her limbs out of the sword and started flying happily around the house. After frolicking happily for a while, she finally fluttered in front of Long Chen and wrinkled her nose adorably. “Your cultivation is currently at the bottom of the Dragon Continent. You are a Dragon Warrior; although you had a slow start, you start off stronger than other people.”


    “How much stronger?”


    “Don’t worry about that. Basically, a small, quick improvement like this won’t cause any problems.”


    Ling Xi came from a powerful faction and was more knowledgeable than Long Chen and the people around him, so hepletely believed her. “Alright, I’ll continue to work hard, then. I need to first pull out the thorn that is the Blood Saints, then I can n my future appropriately.”


    “Mhm!”


    Ling Xi nodded hard, then she held out a palm and looked at him mischievously. “I want more!”


    “What?” Long Chen froze.


    “Food!” eximed Ling Xi, seeing as Long Chen didn’t understand her.


    Long Chen said in exasperation, “Oh! I need to extract the Beast Souls I collected, then head to the Treasure Pavilion to get you some herbs.”


    “Good boy.” Ling Xi smiled contentedly. She looked beautiful when she smiled, squinting so her eyes became crescent moons.


    Long Chen smiled bitterly. “You used up a lot of your power when you got me the zing Thunder Crystals, so I’d already decided to buy you more stuff after leaving the Heavenly Martial Realm. This is a good time.”


    “zing Thunder Crystals?” Ling Xi jumped up, “Right, you’re now at the mid-Human Core Realm, so your Qi has increased by at least tenfold. You can now suppress more zing Thunder Crystals.”


    “You mean I can absorb more crystals?” he asked, surprised.


    “Of course. You can try it if you don’t believe me.”


    He believed her, of course. But he was in no hurry.


    He went to the underground room, unpacking his bounty. “I have six Category Two ck-tier demonic cores and Beast Souls. But these aren’t worth much. The most valuable items are the ming Golden Lion’s and the Heart Eater’s Beast Souls and demonic cores.”


    “How much money is that?” Ling Xi’s eyes were filled with stars.


    “The two items from the ming Golden Lion should be worth about twenty contribution points, while the Heart Eater’s soul and core should be worth more than two hundred contribution points.”


    “And how much money is that?” she asked, toozy to calcte it herself.


    “That’s the equivalent of more than two thousand divine jades.”


    Long Chen recalled the five hundred points Liu Yuan had mentioned. That Category Six ck-tier Beast Soul was a hundred times more valuable than Category Four, but he had asked Long Chen to buy it for only five hundred contribution points. It was basically a gift at that point.


    “That means that to get that Beast Soul worth a hundred thousand divine jades, I will need to kill quite a few Category Four ck-tier beasts, each equivalent to an Earthly Core Realm cultivator!”


    After some calction, Long Chen gasped. He thought umting five hundred points would be easy, but after some calction, he realized it would be difficult. “That Heart Eater appeared in the Human Core area, so it must be the weakest type among all the Category Four ck-tier beasts. That was the only reason we could kill it.”


    When he mentioned a hundred thousand divine jades, Ling Xi reminded him, “Hey, don’t go daydreaming. Where are you going to get a hundred thousand divine jades for that Beast Soul? If you go to the Treasure Pavilion, that old man is going to hit the roof.”


    Long Chen suddenly realized that selling it would be an issue of its own. If Liu Yuan gave Long Chen the Beast Soul but never saw him cultivate it, doubts would arise. And when that happened, Long Chen wouldn’t know how to exin himself.


    “Whatever, I don’t want to think about it anymore. I need to first extract and condense the Heart Eater’s Beast Soul, then we’ll head to the Treasure Pavilion.”