NINE STAR HEGEMON BODY ARTS

Everyone's expressions changed when they heard those words. Fatty Yu cursed, "What idiot woman is that? Get out for daddy!"

Just as he finished, a table whistled over from the corridor, smas.h.i.+ng towards them.

But it suddenly stopped in midair. Long Chen had grabbed it, and with a flick of his hand, he sent it flying towards the staircase.

A woman had just walked out over there. She had a disdainful expression and that table had clearly been thrown by her.

To actually first throw a table to smash them and then walk out, what a lofty manner.

But she hadn't expected that the table she had thrown would actually be smas.h.i.+ng back at her with over ten times the force. Just the gale force created by the table made it hard for her breath.

It had happened too quickly and it was already too late for her to dodge. If she was. .h.i.t by it, she would definitely end up with some broken bones.

The table suddenly blew apart. A man with a blade scar appeared in everyone's eyes as he protected the woman.

When everyone saw him, their expressions once more changed as they recognized him as the personal bodyguard of the Grand Xia's prince.

The scarred man was startled to see Long Chen and he narrowed his eyes, saying, I didn't expect to run into you again so soon."

Although he had managed to break apart that table, he had not managed to completely disperse the force. A heavy footprint was left on the floor, showing that he had misjudged Long Chen's strength.

"No way around it. I am a young person after all. Gotta act energetically and more forward bit by bit every day. I can't compare to someone as amazing as yourself who has already planted himself down. I, however, still have a long path to travel," he indifferently said.

The scarred man's face darkened and he was just about to reply when another voice rang out. "Haha, it's been a couple days but brother Long is still as suave as ever."

The Grand Xia's prince Xia Changfeng slowly walked up with the same likable smiling face he has used before.

"It's just a misunderstanding. Let me introduce you to my sister, Xia Baichi," smiled Xiao Changfeng.

Long Chen's jaw dropped. So this crazy woman was actually a princess!

So this was the reason grandmaster Yun Qi had told him to be careful around her.

"Hmph, now you know how great the difference between us is!" Xia Baichi sneered at Long Chen's shock.

He shook his head. "Yes, we really are quite different. Even if I trained for ten thousand years I wouldn't be comparable to an idiot like. Xia Baichi, what a great name."[1]

"You!" Her eyes practically spit out flames.

Fatty Yu were naturally a bit uncomfortable with the Grand Xia's prince here. After all, he was a prince, and the difference in status was too great.

They weren't as obstinate as Long Chen and didn't dare say anything out of place to him. No one said anything for a moment.

Xia Baichi sneered, "I heard these toads insulting the third princess and who she would marry. But funnily none of them knew my brother has already given a betrothal gift to the Empress Dowager to win the third princess over. For these guys to put their sights on my brother's fiancée, they really are courting death."

Long Chen's expression changed at that news. He coldly asked Xia Changfeng, "Is this true?"

"Long Chen, control your att.i.tude," warned the scarred man.

"No matter." Xia Changfeng waved his hands at the scarred man. He smiled at Long Chen, "The reason I came to the Phoenix Cry Empire this time was because my father ordered me to propose to the third princess. Since the Empress has already agreed, we should be able to quickly set a date. If brother Long has time in the future, I invite him to come to my Grand Xia for the wedding feast."

Who knew whether Xia Changfeng was doing it on purpose, but his expression towards Long Chen was one of a victor looking pitifully on the loser.

Did he know? Long Chen couldn't help being worried despite knowing that Xia Changfeng was purposely provoking him.

But his anger still rose up uncontrollably. Maybe if he was doing this without knowing the truth then it would be fine.

But Long Chen knew that there was a conspiracy around Chu Yao. Those strange spiritual energies within her had left behind a seed of power. It appeared someone had come to finally take it now that it was ripe.

Although the person who had set them in place wasn't Xia Changfeng, he was the one benefitting from it, so he was definitely a partic.i.p.ant. He must know many secrets.

Thinking about his own experiences, he wondered whether his situation had anything to do with Xia Changfeng. The probability was definitely high.

His killing intent boiled when he thought of the conspiracies around him and Chu Yao. But now still wasn't the time to take action. He still had to get stronger.

Only the tip of the iceberg had been revealed to him now. He still wasn't in control, so he needed to endure. Keeping this in mind, his anger was quickly replaced with calm.

Seeing Long Chen's angry expression suddenly fade, Xia Changfeng's heart shook slightly. The caution he felt towards Yao Chen increased; enemies who could control their emotions were the truly terrifying ones.

"Brother Xia, I don't think you should propose to the third princess." Long Chen shook his head.

"Huh? Why?"

"I've studied the secrets of fate. When I did some calculations for you, I realized brother Xia's name contains the word 'wind', while the third princess's name contains the word 'forest'. Wind will destroy the forest, so it's not good for the third princess." Long Chen was watching Xia Changfeng's expression.[2]

"Haha, brother Long really is funny. How could such a thing be given true credence?" laughed Xia Changfeng.

Long Chen's eyes became even gloomier. By using his divine sense to its limits, he had noticed that Xia Changfeng's expression might not have changed while he had spoken, but his heart had jumped a bit.

Hmph, so this b.a.s.t.a.r.d really does know quite a lot.

"Not so. My abilities in reading faces is true; brother Xia, you have much fire in your life, and that is why you were given the name Changfeng. Fire borrows the power of the wind. Such a flame spreads for thousands of miles with nothing being able to block it anymore. It truly is a good name," praised Long Chen.

Xia Changfeng, but he paused for a moment, his heart going wild. Did this Long Chen really have such skills?

His name had been inspired by a strange person who had explained it just as Long Chen had explained it. His life was fire-fated, and only due to this did they name him Changfeng.

Although he kept his expression as calm as ever, his heart was jumping and his blood surging. The change in his breathing was unable to escape Long Chen's awareness.

Long Chen laughed inside, not expecting his fake act to actually touch upon something. He continued, "As for our third princess, her name contains the 'Yao' character. You are fire-fated, but her name also has water. More importantly, her name also has the character for 'king', so it's not just ordinary water, but the king of water.[3]

Wind and forest repel each other, while water will put out fire. You cannot marry someone with such a name, and furthermore the capital is surrounded by water on four sides, so it's far too risky for brother Xia.

If you dare marry the third princess, you most like won't live to leave the Phoenix Cry Empire. So I advise you to give up on this notion.

Women are like clothes; for just a piece of clothing, you put your life in danger. It's just not worth it."

s.h.i.+ Feng, Fatty Yu, and the others' expressions all changed. Was he threatening the prince?

As for Long Chen's ability to read faces, they half believed it and half doubted it. But now Long Chen was explaining it all very clearly and they couldn't help trusting it.

At this time, Xia Changfeng's expression was very unsightly. Long Chen's words made him very uncomfortable as he had no way to refute them.

"Don't try deluding us with your lies. You think you can confuse a prince just by using a few parlor tricks? I think you're getting tired of living," angrily shouted the scarred man.

"A dog who won't listen actually dares talk before his master?" frowned Long Chen.

From the start he could feel the scarred man's killing intent. And that killing intent chilled him to his bones.

That meant the scarred man was mulling over how to kill him. Long Chen definitely wouldn't give him any face.

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

The scarred man angrily shouted and punched at Long Chen.

"STOP!"

Xia Changfeng prevented the scarred man from attacking. He had already returned to his normal state at this time, and he smiled at Long Chen. "Who would have thought brother Long had such a humorous side? My horizons were truly broadened. However I still have things to do at this time, so let's talk another day."

Xia Changfeng brought both the scarred man and Xia Baichi away, but Xia Baichi still angrily glared at Long Chen before leaving, her glare seeming to consider Long Chen as just a piece of meat.

After getting down the stairs the scarred man ruthlessly said, "If it weren't for you blocking me, Long Chen would already be a dead man now."

"This Long Chen definitely has to die. I also almost lost control of myself. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d really is loathsome. But Long Chen still has other uses for now. If he died then it would affect our plans. Let him live a couple more days," sighed Xia Changfeng.

Even someone as calm as him had almost taken action to attack him. He was truly infuriated.

"Master sent orders for me to defeat Long Chen in front of that old b.a.s.t.a.r.d Yun Qi. If you then kill him after it will definitely anger that old ghost," coldly said Xia Baichi. "That old idiot. Whether I sincerely begged or tried to seduce him, he just wouldn't help me. What a waste of time."

Xia Changfeng looked at her and shook his head. "From the beginning, master's attempts at having you entice him were unlikely to work.

"Why?"

Xia Changfeng shook his head and didn't reply. The scarred man beside him sighed, "Because princess, you don't have the proper temperament of a woman."

Xia Baichi sent a slap at the scarred man's face, but he just smiled indifferently, seeming very accustomed to this.

Once they had left, Long Chen and the rest had also lost interest in drinking. Long Chen felt as if time was running out for him.

The closer he got to the truth, the more dangerous it became. Once the whole truth was revealed, if he didn't have enough strength, then he would undoubtedly die.

But there was fundamentally not enough time. He had to take advantage of every moment to cultivate. Just the slightest increase in power would given a greater chance at surviving.

But Chu Yao's situation was also pressing on him. He had to race against time and resolve her matter.

"Are you Long Chen?"

Suddenly a lean, middle-aged man walked up the restaurant and greeted Long Chen.

[1] 夏白池 Xia Baichi and 下白痴 Xia Baichi are p.r.o.nounced the same . One is her name, the other means idiot.

[2] The Feng in Xia Changfeng means wind. Chu Yao's name doesn't actually contain the character for forest, but the character is within her surname Chu 楚(the upper portion meaning forest). Xia Changfeng's Chang can mean long, so long wind stokes the flame (in the later section).