<h4>Chapter 401 - Eldest Prince</h4>


    After a few days, Long Chen finally saw the Biyang Imperial Capital once more. The beautiful city had not changed. The jade on the walls, buildings, and roofs reflected the sunlight beautifully in the distance.


    Long Chen was standing a kilometer away from the capital as he looked at the thronging crowd entering the city. He was ready to risk his life, but before that, he had something to do first.


    “Come, Ling Xi, we need to enter the Counter Essence Realm to get the Nine Heaven Immortal Fruit. Once we have that, we can focus on defeating the imperial family.” Long Chen headed towards the Counter Essence Realm.


    “Brother Chen, must we get it first?” She was hesitating.


    “Huh? Are you hesitating now? We came all the way here and went through a lot of difficulties to obtain it. Do you not want the fruit?” He was puzzled.


    “No, I’m just afraid that you’ll get hurt.” Ling Xi hid her worries away and bluffed. He failed to notice her bluff.


    “Don’t worry. The only one capable of stopping me is the Sword Emperor. Even then, I’m certain that I can escape with my life. The Sword Emperor is at the center of the capital, while I will be heading towards the Counter Essence Realm. He will not be able to get there in time.”


    Ling Xi became quiet when she heard that. She was not worried about his safety, but whether using the fruit was a good idea.


    <i>It’s fine. Let him get it before I decide if I should use it or not. I will tell him the truth once he gets it, and I hope he won’t me me ...</i> Ling Xi made a bitter decision.


    Long Chen and Ling Xi walked towards the Counter Essence Realm. He had only been there once, but he was familiar with the path. Last time he was following the Heavenly Wolf Gang, but now he was going there alone.


    Halfway through the journey, he heard someone fighting on the road. Long Chen hid himself and slowly approached the fight between two groups of people. One of the groups appeared to be from the pce as they wore the uniforms of the guards. There were seven of them, and each of them was quite strong. They were all protecting someone who looked to be twenty-five years old. The man looked simr to the Ninth Prince, and Long Chen heard the guards refer to him as “Eldest Prince.”


    “Xiang, do you have a grudge against the Eldest Prince?” Long Chen whispered.


    Long Chen remembered that Xiang had said that the ones he had a grudge against were the Sword Emperor, the Sword Devil, and Lin Zichen.


    Xiang shook his head.


    “No one in the imperial family is good. I will kill him today, but it seems that he’s losing?” Long Chen continued observing and saw that the other group of people were covered in ck clothes. They appeared to be expert assassins and were being led by a strong middle-aged man who was about to break through the imperial guards. The man was at the Eighth River Stage, and he was going to kill the Eldest Prince!


    <i>Looks like he has the same objective as me. </i>Long Chen decided to ignore them.


    Just then, the Eldest Prince howled in anger. “Were you sent by Lin Zichen? That damned bastard. Father just said that he was going to choose a sessor, and he actually sent assassins to get me?! Does he think Father is an idiot?”


    “Eldest Prince, you are right. We belong to Lin Zichen’s faction, but the idiot is not the Emperor—it’s you. Our lord has always been decisive, and the Emperor loves that. As long as we kill you, no one will stop our lord from ascending to the throne!” The men in ck thought they would be able to kill the Eldest Prince here, so they admitted it with ease.


    “Lin Zichen is a martial maniac! He doesn’t know anything about ruling the country! I, Lin Batian, have led the military for so long to secure the borders and remove the country’s threats! I’m also educated and know how to introduce policies to the country. I am the most suitable heir. Lin Zhichen should just focus on his cultivation! If he ascends, the citizens will suffer!”


    “Sorry. Our orders were to kill you. You can continue talking to the ghosts in hell.” The Eighth River Stage assassin killed the two guards that were blocking Lin Batian and attacked.


    “Sky Dragon Sword Qi!” Lin Batian swung his blue sword, and the Qi transformed into a dragon that forced the assassin back!


    “Sword Warriors are indeed strong, but you will still die! Goodbye, Eldest Prince!”


    The man roared and his speed doubled. The other guards couldn’t even stop him when he appeared in front of Lin Batian. He punched the sword away before he attacked Lin Batian.


    If his fist collided with Lin Batian’s chest, thetter would die instantly!


    “Eldest Prince!” If Lin Batian died, they would all die too! The assassins would leave no witnesses.


    But they couldn’t reach him in time.


    Everyone shouted in despair, but the punch never reached Lin Batian. His fist stopped just ten centimeters away even though he was still holding onto the Prince.


    “What happened?” Everyone ran over and saw that a sword had pierced through the assassin’s heart and came out from the back. Blood was gushing out of the wound!


    The Eight River Stage assassin had been killed without warning!


    Everyone was shocked. Lin Batian thought he was dead. He was in despair when he realized the killing blow never came. He opened his eyes and saw that a de was under his armpit and was lodged inside the body of the assassin. The assassin looked down in shock too.


    But his life ended right then and there. He didn’t even manage to see who had killed him.


    The sword retracted and the assassin slumped to the ground slowly. Lin Batian felt a gust of wind blow past him before a flurry of shadows zipped past the remaining assassins. They all cried out in pain and copsed in just a few seconds. The man finally stopped moving.


    It was Long Chen.


    Long Chen put the Star Sword away and looked at the Eldest Prince.


    The reason why he had saved the Prince was because he had heard what they were talking about. Long Chen had a rough guess of what was going on in the capital. He had no idea that the imperial pce was looking for a sessor to the throne at the same time as the Heavenly Demon Pce was looking for the next Pce Master. On the one hand was the strong Lin Zichen, and on the other was the talented Lin Batian.


    Lin Batian could not catch up to Lin Zichen in strength, so he had decided to learn a lot of things that Lin Zichen could never excel in. Long Chen had a daring thought. All Lin Batian needed was someone strong to protect him. This could give him a chance to slip into the pce and kill some of the stronger individuals to create chaos.


    “Thank you for saving my life! May I know your name?” Lin Batian was secretly happy to be alive, but he needed to stay calm and suppress his excitement. He intended to recruit Long Chen.


    “No need to learn my name. I like helping others, and I can’t ept that Lin Zichen is killing others just because he has a little bit of power. Just don’t tell anyone else about me! Goodbye!” Long Chen then turned around.


    “Wait, since you don’t like Lin Zichen, could you help me? He only knows how to cultivate and is clueless when ites to ruling a kingdom. If he takes the throne, everyone will suffer. I hope that you consider my offer and help the kingdom!”


    “I cannot afford to help everyone Ie across. I’m sure you understand. Goodbye!” Long Chen was bluffing.


    “Please help me. Once it''s done, I will give you anything you want as long as it''s within my capacity!” Lin Batian kneeled on the ground and begged him. If the lives of others could not attract Long Chen, then he would use riches.


    Lin Batian knew Long Chen was an expert after seeing him kill the Eighth River Stage assassin in one attack. Lin Batian would regret it if he let someone like that leave his grasp.