Chapter 1469: Chapter 1469: Falling into the Fire Sea
"You wouldn’t happen to also be thinking of gathering those Flame Crystal Stones, would you?"
"I advise you to abandon that idea sooner rather than later; these Flame Crystal Stones aren’t easy to gather. They’re located in the center of the Fire Sea, and deep beneath the magma. We’ve previously lost several Zhang Family experts trying to collect them, only managing to gather a few dozen."
"So I advise you not to go collecting them, to avoid losing your life. I’m reminding you because you’re calling me sister." Zhang Caiyun looked at Lin Chen and said.
Although Lin Chen was not affected by the temperature of the Fire Sea here, his cultivation was too low. Under the Fire Sea, there weren’t only Flame Magical Beasts, but the temperature was also far higher than on land. Going down there would be a death sentence for Lin Chen.
"Sister Caiyun, don’t worry. You have already done me a great favor by telling me the origin of the Flame Crystal Stones. If anything happens, I definitely won’t blame Sister Caiyun." Lin Chen looked at Zhang Caiyun and said with a faint smile.
After all, she was technically his senior sister in the Yunlong Heavenly Palace, and she had disclosed such an opportunity to make a fortune, so Lin Chen didn’t mind calling her sister a couple of times.
As for what comes next, it’s naturally unrelated to her. The Zhang Family martial artists lost some experts before collecting them, but that’s their business. Lin Chen has his own methods.
However, just as Lin Chen was planning to find a way to gather the Flame Crystal Stones under the Fire Sea, a group of martial artists was approaching the Zhang Family’s disciples from behind them.
Many people were already gathered around the Fire Sea. Not only from the ten families of Yunlong City but many other forces, including those from outside Yunlong City, and even martial artists from the Dark Dynasty.
Everyone was randomly teleported to different parts of the ruins when entering them. But the Fire Sea on this island was too striking, and with so many martial artists entering these ancient ruins, it was easy for people to be drawn together, thus gathering at this place.
Seeing those two groups approaching the Zhang Family’s disciples, Zhang Caiyun and Lin Chen immediately became discreetly alert.
Of those two groups coming over, one was from the Liang Family, led by Liang Donghe’s cousin brother, Liang Xuanzhen.
The other group was from the Liu Family, led by none other than Liu Yong, whom both Lin Chen and Zhang Hongying had dealt with.
"Junior Sister Zhang, how about we cooperate to gather the Flame Crystal Stones? The Fire Beasts under the Fire Sea are really hard to handle, and the high temperatures below the magma are difficult for our family alone to withstand. If we’re not successful at collecting the Flame Crystal Stones, we might even lose our lives." Liang Xuanzhen said looking at Zhang Caiyun.
He had come to find the Zhang Family’s disciples, intending to cooperate with them to collect the Flame Crystal Stones beneath the Fire Sea. Previously, when their Liang Family collected Flame Crystal Stones, they also suffered casualties, paying a heavy price.
Gathering Flame Crystal Stones is indeed too dangerous, but giving up is impossible under such a lure of a fortune. So the only solution is to find people to cooperate with.
"No need, if Brother Liang has already decided to cooperate with the Liu Family, then let’s not mention this matter." Before Zhang Caiyun could respond, Zhang Hongying immediately replied coldly to Liang Xuanzhen while glancing at Liu Yong.
During the second round of assessment in the Yunlong Heavenly Palace’s entrance exam, she was ambushed by Liu Yong and almost died at his hands. Besides, she always suspected that Liu Yong had colluded with people from the Black Yan Hall, but she lacked evidence to say so.
After all, colluding with the Black Yan Hall is a major crime, one that even the Eight Great Noble Families can’t bear. So Zhang Hongying didn’t dare to speak recklessly without evidence.
If she randomly accused him based on her suspicions, the Liu Family surely wouldn’t let it go. They’d confront the Zhang Family, and to appease the Liu Family’s wrath, the Zhang Family would probably sacrifice her.
Therefore, without solid evidence, Zhang Hongying wouldn’t speak carelessly. But she would never allow her Zhang Family to cooperate with the Liu Family, especially since their Zhang Family has always been at odds with the Liu Family.
"Junior Sister Zhang seems to have a great deal of prejudice against Junior Brother Liu. Is there perhaps some misunderstanding between you two?" Liang Xuanzhen looked at Zhang Hongying’s cold demeanor towards Liu Yong and immediately stepped in to mediate, thinking it was a minor conflict between them.
However, he didn’t realize that the enmity between Zhang Hongying and Liu Yong was absolutely irreconcilable.
"Hehe, a slight misunderstanding? Between him and me, there is a life-and-death feud. Does Brother Liang take this as a mere misunderstanding?" Zhang Hongying coldly replied.
Upon hearing this, Liang Xuanzhen realized that their enmity was far greater than he’d imagined. It wasn’t a trivial misunderstanding as he thought. He originally assumed that he could mediate if it was a minor misunderstanding, with both parties giving him face, temporarily setting aside their grudges to cooperate. But now he saw that cooperation was absolutely impossible.
He was quite curious though, since both were among the Top Ten Heroes. What kind of feud was it that led them to a life-and-death situation?
But regardless of the reasons that led to it, now that it’s a life-and-death feud, it is beyond anything Liang Xuanzhen can mediate, and he doesn’t have the influence to settle it.
During the second round of assessment in the Yunlong Heavenly Palace, few people knew about Liu Yong’s attack on Zhang Hongying, so naturally, everyone wasn’t aware of how deep their enmity went.
After Zhang Hongying spoke those words, Liang Xuanzhen knew that it was impossible to seek cooperation with the Zhang Family people.
However, at that moment, a guard by Liu Yong’s side suddenly darted out. Without anyone anticipating, he attacked Lin Chen.
When Liang Xuanzhen and others approached, Lin Chen and Zhang Caiyun became alert, so when the guard attacked, Lin Chen immediately reacted, fearlessly met the guard with a direct punch.
Boom—
Their punches collided, powerful energy spread in all directions, and some martial artists with low cultivation were promptly shaken away.
The guard’s attack was evidently strong, astonishingly pushing Lin Chen back toward the Fire Sea. The force was about to thrust Lin Chen down.
Seeing this, the guard didn’t relent, continuing to assault Lin Chen, the powerful attack suddenly striking Lin Chen down.
But as Lin Chen’s body was about to fall into the Fire Sea, he performed the Dragon Capture Hand, instantaneously seizing the guard tightly and dragging him down to the Fire Sea together.