Chapter 7153 Controlling the Heat

“I am unaware of any past karma between us. But there is one thing I am sure of. You are my life’s fated devil star!”

As she finished her sentence, her lips curled into a mischievous arc. She thought back to when she had first met Long Chen—in the mortal world, their relationship had been more bitter than sweet. She gazed at Long Chen and reached out a hand to rub his cheek. She sighed.

“You should do your best to face these things. You can’t avoid them.”

Zi Yan knew that Long Chen also had things that he was afraid of. She had heard of Lu Fanger. She knew about Ye Zhiqiu sacrificing her life for him. She had personally witnessed Yu Qingxuan’s death. Due to these incidents, Long Chen was afraid of loss, so he had adopted a mindset of “you can’t lose what you never had.” In a way, it made sense. Such a mindset was incredibly tiring, however, and Zi Yan believed Long Chen would end up regretting it. She did not want that for him.

Long Chen took a deep breath and asked, “How much do you know about Miao Yin?”

Zi Yan shook her head slightly. “I don’t know anything about her past. The Heavenly Devil Zither just told me you and Miao Yin are bound together through a thousand reincarnations. But she refused to tell me the details. You also know that the senior isn’t the talkative sort.”

How much the Heavenly Devil Zither knew was something Long Chen had no way of probing, but the fact that this matter had been brought up in the first place was evidence that something far deeper was going on. The reason Zi Yan was going so far in helping Miao Yin was that she knew there were major karmic ties binding her to Long Chen. Indeed, neither she nor Long Chen remembered their past, but were past memories really that important?

If Long Chen clearly had a chance to fight for her but instead chose to give up, then no matter what happened to Miao Yin, Zi Yan would definitely hold a grudge against him. To put it simply, this level of passivity was tantamount to betrayal. If that happened, then Zi Yan herself would never be able to forgive and forget. She was well aware that, after all that had happened on the Martial Heaven Continent, Long Chen had long since passed his youthful era. He couldn’t let his hot blood make decisions for him; he had too great a burden on his shoulders to be that rash. But whatever the case was and whatever he thought of it, this passive attitude was utterly unacceptable to her.

Long Chen took a deep breath and pulled himself up. He took Zi Yan’s hand and held it tightly. “Don’t worry. I will not avoid it!”

This promise made Zi Yan finally smile with relief. “You cannot do things like this just to please others, but you can’t run away either. You should just act normally. Let time tell everything!”

Act normal? That’s easy for you to say!

It sounded easy indeed, but Miao Yin had the kind of charm that even Long Chen was not immune to. Although he acted calm and indifferent in front of Miao Yin, that was really just an act.

“Alright, that’s enough for now. The palace master looks really eager to talk to you. You should see him!” urged Zi Yan.

Long Chen nodded. Although he was weary enough to pass out, he held on. He swallowed a medicinal pill and left the cleanup to Zhao Hongfei.

When Long Chen arrived, he saw that the palace master had just finished brewing tea. The palace master raised his head as Long Chen entered and offered him a cup.

Long Chen hadn’t expected to see the palace master with such a delicate tea set. His expression was a bit odd, and understandably so. Considering the kind of wild fighter the palace master was, he would have expected to see him gulping down wine and chomping down meat right off the bone. This kind of refined tea set in front of someone who was literally a berserk dragon... made for a pretty interesting contrast, to say the least.

As if seeing through his thoughts, the palace master said, “The sweeping elder gave this to me. He told me that if you want to achieve greatness in this world, you must start small first.”

Long Chen nodded. It seemed that the sweeping elder was training the palace master’s heart. Whatever the latter’s faults, he most certainly held a special place in the sweeping elder’s heart.

He sipped the tea, and the moment his lips touched it, his mind was instantly refreshed. This tea was definitely incredibly precious. Just that one sip was on par with consuming a medicinal pill!

Long Chen thought about it and understood that the sweeping elder had given this tea to the palace master for good reason. For this kind of tea, the process of brewing was very complex and technically demanding; in fact, it could very well be compared to refining pills. Even the slightest mistake in any detail would greatly reduce its effect. Thus, a true-blue beast like the palace master had to be completely focused in order to brew it properly. Otherwise, he would end up ruining this immensely precious tea, and that would be heartbreaking.

After drinking the tea, Long Chen felt like a warm current was spreading through his limbs. Shockingly, this tea was capable of improving the body! With just one sip, Long Chen felt the power of his body increase! Obviously, it was just a minor boost, but Long Chen’s physique had already reached a shocking level even by the standards of his cultivation level. The fact that a simple drink could increase it to any measurable extent was absolutely impressive. Furthermore, he had barely taken a sip, so he was really eager to find out how much better it’d be by the time he reached the bottom of his cup.

This was Long Chen’s first time drinking such miraculous tea. He now knew for certain that this had been specially prepared by the sweeping elder—the palace master was also mainly a physique cultivator, after all. This tea could not be more suited to him. And with that in mind, Long Chen realized that although the sweeping elder and the palace master had not undertaken the formal vows to become master and disciple, they were very much in that kind of relationship. It was no wonder the palace master’s power was growing every time Long Chen saw him. Despite clearly not being a man of the new generation, the palace master was nevertheless able to walk at the forefront of the new era.

“Did the sweeping elder give you any instructions for me?” asked Long Chen after drinking the tea.

The palace master gave him a refill, then shrugged. “None whatsoever. He only sent me here because he wanted me to control the heat.”

“The heat?” Long Chen was a bit confused.

The palace master put down the teapot and looked at Long Chen. “You really don’t know anywhere near enough about the Heaven's Peer Dao Sect. It’s a true behemoth, one whose network stretches throughout the nine heavens and ten lands. With the world on the verge of chaos, the major factions are all ready to undergo a major upheaval. You should be aware that the High Firmament Academy is also in the midst of rapid development. That is why it’s not the right time for us to fight the Heaven's Peer Dao Sect in a frontal clash.”

He slowly sipped on his own tea, then continued, “If you’d killed Xuan Jizi, it would have been a slap in the face of the Heaven's Peer Dao Sect. They’re trying to reclaim their former reputation right now, and for that reason, they truly care a great deal about face. If Xuan Jizi was killed, they would have to declare war on the High Firmament Academy. That is not something that we want at the moment.”

Long Chen nodded. He hadn’t been privy to this information, but it made sense. The High Firmament Academy simply did not wish to go to war just yet, and based on Xuan Jizi’s attitude, the same was true of the Heaven's Peer Dao Sect.

“We both know the Heaven's Peer Dao Sect was the one that arranged this assault. Since they made the first move against us, it’s only proper for us to reply. But you’re telling me that I have to tone down this reply?” asked Long Chen.

“As long as you do not attack the headquarters of the Heaven's Peer Dao Sect, you can do whatever you want. I mean, controlling the heat doesn’t mean turning the other cheek. It’s about damn time for the High Firmament Academy to show its fangs. We’ve endured for way too long, and the world needs to see what qualifies us to be the oldest academy in the nine heavens and ten lands.”

With that, the palace master put down his cup, and undisguised killing intent flashed through his eyes. Indeed, they could no longer keep the blade sheathed. Other people were viewing the High Firmament Academy as a fat piece of meat; if they didn’t make an example out of a couple of these forces, the academy would be drowned in idiotic challenges.

Long Chen nodded. “Well, that’s a relief. I won’t have to change any of my plans.”

...

After resting for a full day, the elite disciples of the first academy were in somewhat better shape and had gathered in the main plaza of the first academy. They didn’t know it themselves, but an independent observer looking at them before and after that bloody battle would have found that they were already starting to show the demeanor of true experts

Long Chen flew into the sky above the plaza, and behind him stood Zi Yan and Miao Yin. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

“We will be carrying out some special training over the next three days. Then, you will be evaluated. If you cannot defeat ten of yourself, you will be directly expelled from the academy!” announced Long Chen.

“What?!”

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