"Elder Long praises me too much; I was merely lucky," Lin Chen smiled slightly, acknowledging the greeting.
"Let's go, let's rest over there."
After the greetings, led by Long Wumu, the group headed to a nearby bench to prepare. Long Yuling quietly pulled Lin Chen aside.
"Lin Chen, this Long Gong is Zhou Xiang's sworn brother. He might hold some animosity towards you, so please be cautious." Long Yuling explained with a serious expression.
"Zhou Xiang's sworn brother?" Lin Chen was taken aback. "No wonder Long Gong harbored such deep hostility towards me the moment he arrived. So there's this connection!"
"But don't worry, with my uncle here, he wouldn't dare openly oppose you." Long Yuling continued. "However, if, and I mean if, there's an opportunity, kill him!" A hint of killing intent flashed in her eyes.
"Uh, Miss Long, did I hear that correctly?" Lin Chen asked incredulously. "Long Gong is an elder of your Long family, and you want me to kill him?" He reasoned that he had killed Zhou Xiang, and since Zhou Xiang was Long Gong's sworn brother, it was natural to have animosity. But Zhou Xiang had betrayed the Long family, so killing him was justifiable. He didn't expect Long Yuling, the future matriarch of the Long family, to ask him to kill one of their elders.
"Long Gong is from a collateral branch of our Long family. Ever since my mother fell ill, he has been coveting my father's position as family head. Later, he even secretly hired people to assassinate my parents." Long Yuling's gaze was resolute. "Although I don't have proof, I'm certain Long Gong was behind those assassins!" She knew that the collateral branches would never tolerate a woman becoming the family head and would do anything to harm her or her parents. She hadn't had the chance to deal with Long Gong before, but with Lin Chen here now, things were different. She trusted Lin Chen completely.
"Furthermore, Long Gong is the only expert supporting the collateral branch. If you help me kill him, I can smoothly take over as the Long family head!" Long Yuling sighed, a hint of helplessness in her voice. "Don't call me ruthless; I have no other choice. If I don't kill him, I will be the one to die." This, she mused, was the tragedy of being in a great family.
"Understood. Don't worry," Lin Chen agreed after hearing Long Yuling's explanation. If Long Gong indeed made a move against him during the competition, he wouldn't hold back.
"Huh? Are those people from the Peng family?" Suddenly, Long Yuling exclaimed, pointing. Following her gaze, Lin Chen saw a sinister-looking elder leading three men and one woman towards them. The elder was at the late stage of Core Formation, and the three men were also at the late stage of Core Formation. Only the woman, like Long Yuling, was at the Foundation Establishment stage.
"Well, well, isn't this Miss Long? Who's this little pretty boy you've found?" the woman at the Foundation Establishment stage sneered at Long Yuling.
"Hmph, what business is it of yours?" Long Yuling's expression soured.
"Tsk, come, come, Miss Long, let me introduce you," the woman continued. "These gentlemen, I presume you don't need an introduction. This is the foremost rogue cultivator in the Northern Sichuan cultivation world, Senior He Jun. I'm sure you've heard of his renown?" She pointed to a middle-aged man beside her with pride.
"What? 'Iron Hand' He Jun?" Hearing the name, a title flashed in Long Yuling's mind. The foremost rogue cultivator in the Southwest, a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, a true madman! He could fight two experts of the same level alone and even kill them.
"It seems you know of Senior He's fame. So I advise you to have your Long family get lost immediately. If you dare to participate in the Southwest Grand Competition, we'll be the first to cause trouble for the Long family!" Miss Peng declared arrogantly, looking down at Long Yuling with disdain.
"Miss Peng, I don't believe I've ever offended you," Long Yuling said, frowning. "Why do you always target me?" Seeing that Miss Peng had even invited the formidable 'Iron Hand' He Jun to deal with her, Long Yuling felt exasperated.
"Hmph, enough nonsense, you little tramp! You seduced my fiancé! If you dare to compete, I'll have people gang-rape you!" Miss Peng's face flushed with anger. "Just you wait and see!"
Before Miss Peng could finish speaking, Lin Chen slapped her across the face. Long Yuling was his boss, and he couldn't stand hearing her threatened with such vile acts. Especially after learning about the connection between Long Yuling's mother and his master, he felt even more protective of her. Strictly speaking, Long Yuling was his junior sister, and he wouldn't allow anyone to insult her.
"You scoundrel! You, you dare to hit me?" Miss Peng was stunned by the slap. She had only uttered a few threats, and she was slapped directly?
"Watch your mouth. Say something like that again, and I'll sew your lips shut!" Lin Chen said, looking at her dismissively. It was truly despicable for a woman to threaten another so brazenly in public.
"Bastard!" As Lin Chen finished speaking, the elder beside Miss Peng couldn't contain himself. He raised his hand to strike Lin Chen.
"Who's causing trouble?" However, before his hand could reach Lin Chen, a furious roar echoed from the sky. Several Core Formation cultivators ascended on their swords, looking towards the commotion. Seeing this, the elder reluctantly withdrew his hand.
"Boy, you dare to hit my granddaughter?" The elder narrowed his eyes, a murderous glint in them as he looked at Lin Chen. "Don't think that reaching the Core Formation stage at such a young age makes you arrogant. You slapped my granddaughter right in front of me. This little pretty boy is too audacious!"