Chapter - 11

"You don't need to worry about the competition. I will think of a way to resolve this." Chen Wan'er initiated the conversation with Long Chen.

She strongly felt that Long Chen liked her very much. If not, why would he do all these things if not to attract her attention? A few years ago, her mother had secretly told her about the engagement. Since then, she decided to keep an eye on Long Chen to understand this person better.

She didn't know what had occurred. But ever since Long Chen's grandmother disappeared, he lost interest in cultivation. Instead, he spent all his time on various novels that mortals read to pass their time.

She is going to be in this city for a few months anyway. So she didn't think much about the engagement. But...

She was shocked when Long Chen visited the Chen clan. After that, however, many things happened, and she still had no clear information on what happened. Later, she became dumbfounded when Long Chen returned the engagement letter.

She later thought about this and decided to talk to Long Chen.

"Ah! Oh. I am only going to try anyway." Long Chen kept thinking about the new technique and didn't focus much on this conversation. Right now, he wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

Chen Wan'er thought that Long Chen was still angry began to advise: "Long Chen, please know that this has nothing to do with our elder's agreement. I want to focus more on cultivation and not interested in matrimonial matters."

"Oh? I understand." Long Chen conveyed.

Chen Wan'er slightly wrinkled her eyebrows. Why is this guy still so stubborn? Doesn't he know how powerful the disciples of other clans are?

She still asked, "The competition is very severe. So many youths have lost their lives in the arena. You are yet to start cultivating, and you may get killed."

Long Chen thought maybe this girl was sincerely counselling him. So he politely responded, "Thank you, Miss Chen, for your concern. I have my own plans."

'Forget it; it's his life.' Chen Wan'er finally stopped.

"Can you give me an explanation? Why did you have to do such a thing yesterday?" Chen Wan'er questioned.

Long Chen felt perhaps marriage agreement between elders in this feudalistic society, so he replied, "Miss, I shouldn't have done that."

Although she knew about Wang XiaoXiao and how playful that girl was, still she didn't believe her friend would lie to her.

Long Chen wanted to say that he was not the original person anymore but didn't say anything. Sometimes, silence is really the best answer.

Chen Wan'er didn't have many close friends. She didn't initially believe it and felt that perhaps Long Chen was trying to shirk his responsibilities. No matter his background, a person of such character was not worthy of her attention.

She coldly asked, "Shouldn't you offer some explanation? Which girl could stand such a thing?"

"Miss, why bother with this? Didn't you say you want to focus on cultivation?"

Chen Wan'er closed her eyes. She was very disappointed with Long Chen. Initially, she was ready to talk to him. But... now she felt perhaps there is nothing more to discuss. She had her own bottom line.

"I don't want to say anything else. I just hope you won't be the same as before. As for you and me, I will concentrate on cultivating, and you can handle your own affairs." Chen Wan'er asked Long Chen, "do you understand what I mean?"

"Wonderful." Long Chen felt a colossal boulder taken away from his heart.

Seeing him speaking out so direct, Chen Wan'er frowned.

"I will be leaving this city in a few months. So there won't be anything between us henceforth."

"Good luck and happy travel then. Please also tell everyone about this, so as not to cause any unnecessary troubles in future. I think it would be better if everyone thinks you arranged this." Long Chen knew about how people viewed this. He was fine if people thought that the girl herself cancelled the engagement.

"Hmph, how can you ask a girl to say something shameful?" Chen Wan'er was really angry now. So this evil guy is now asking her to tell everyone that she sacrificed her own friend. What a bastard !!!!

"Don't you think it's better coming from you? After all...." Long Chen didn't continue. He also wanted to leave this place and hence was not very concerned about these matters. But for this girl, it could be a big deal.

"Let me remind you again. I will not agree if you bring disgraceful ladies to my house in future." Chen Wan'er declared.

"Miss, why do I feel that we are talking about completely different things?" Long Chen asked seriously.

What's going on? Why would she care if bring any ladies?

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Long Chen walked out of Chen Wan'er study; he was still laughing when he thought about the conversation. As soon as he opened the door, he saw several servants carrying a huge box.

He gave way and was about to leave when he heard one servant shout, "Young Master Long, Please wait!"

Several servants blocked his path and frowned slightly, but they were just low servants and not dared to be impolite to Long Chen.

"Yes?" Long Chen asked.

"Patriarch Chen asked us to give you this sword." the servant answered and bowed.

"A sword for me?" Long Chen didn't understand. He stretched out his hand and took out a long sword from the servant's hands. He then carelessly took about the sword from the scabbard and examined it. He clearly knew nothing about weapons, though he felt that the quality of this long sword was good.

"Good. Please convey my thanks to Patriarch Chen and tell him that this is far superior to the garbage items in the warehouse." Long Chen casually said, waving the long sword in his hand.

Long Chen noticed some patterns brightly shining on the blade as he waved the sword. He focussed his eyes and slowly read the characters,

'Restless wave engulfs the sword.'

Other than these symbols, various geometrical shapes were imprinted across these characters.

"System, is this what you meant by inscription?"

"Host, these are the inscriptions in this low-level world."

From his new memories imparted by the system, he understood that the inscriptions had different levels. The basics are runes, which are characters. Then some patterns amplify the power of these runes. Finally, they can be inscribed on weapons or other spirit encased materials such as papers, jade slabs or wooden tokens.

"System, why do I feel that there is something wrong with these patterns here? Look, should this shape be above this rune? Also, the symbol for waves should be singular. This inscription denotes that a person has to run the technique several times to force out the power. If it is changed, then casting once is enough. Hmm?"

'Host, you are correct. What this system gave you is the divine technique. This sword is slightly better than the garbage this system consumed before.'

"System, how do I fix this? Can you run a demo?"

Qi flowed out of Long Chen's fingertips which slowly modified some of the patterns and symbols on the sword. The whole exercise took less than a few seconds.

The servants saw Long Chen casually waving the sword and then imprinting it. They stared at him and could only pray that he wouldn't make them responsible if he damaged the weapon.

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"Young Master Long, the Zhao family recently produced better quality swords impacting our Chen clan's business. Therefore, Lord Chen ordered the sword caster to improve the quality. The one in your hand is newly forged." the servant said to Long Chen, "We have to report to Lord Chen, please allow us to take our leave."

"Oh?" Long Chen asked sceptically. He then changed the sword in his hand to a new one from the box.

"Young Master Long?" the servant bowed again, giving Long Chen a glance from the sides.

This irritated Long Chen. Why are you looking at me like that? Did you think I was gonna steal this crap?

"I'll take this." Long Chen didn't care about their thoughts.

The servants wanted to stop Long Chen, but when they saw him come out of the young miss's room, they didn't dare stop him. They could only watch Long Chen leave.

"I don't know what Lord Chen is thinking keeping this person around."

"We are servants. Let's leave the thinking to other people."

"Sigh. If I compare this sword to the one from Zhao shop, I am embarrassed to even hold this."

"Yes, if this business fails, our clan is not far from collapsing. What shall we do then?"

"What else? As long as you work hard, anything is possible."

"My great-great-grandfather said the same thing on his death bed. Yet, for generations, we are still servants. Let's leave."

.............................

The whole Chen clan was facing a catastrophe these days. The newly forged weapons by the Zhao clan severely impacted their industry, which led them to lose a lot of market share.

Once these weapons were taken out, they attracted a lot of cultivators from even outside the city. The Chen clan had no power to fight back.

Terrible rumours circulated across the city that the Zhao clan's weapons were less expensive and better in grade than the Chen clan's weapons.

This news spread everywhere; everyone started to think that the Zhao clan's weapons were indeed more promising. Not everyone is interested in comparing quality and checking the particulars. They even favoured this as the price could be lowered. Many cultivators rarely cared about the contest between these clans.

'How could the Zhao family invite these inscription masters? If it's materials, there is no difference in forging the weapon. Still, the inscriptions on our weapons look pale compared to theirs.'

Chen Guang was under tremendous pressure. He had a feeling that the Zhao family specifically targeted them. He even heard reports that several people from the Chen clan were talking to other clans.

"Lord Chen, the newly forged sword is here." the servant's voice interrupted Chen Guang's thoughts. He looked at the servant who came in with the box: "What did the inscriber say?"

"Sir, the forger said he added some new materials to further improve the quality. The elder said he recently made a breakthrough and worked on some new patterns. However, he didn't understand swordplay and hence requested the lord to take a look." the servant replied.

Chen Guang sighed. He knew about this elder.

That means there's no hope.

He could easily guess that the inscription elder wanted more benefits and made up some nonsense about attaining a breakthrough. Wouldn't the Chen clan's business already reach the heavens if he was that good?

"Let the forger know that the Lord appreciated their hard work..."

Chen Guang ordered his servant to relay the message. At the same time, he started reviewing all the weapons within the box.

But as soon as he touched one of the swords, his pupils contracted, and then he grabbed the sword in the box.

He waved the sword, and a continuous blast of air surged out of the blade, consistent with the sword technique he just cast.

"What the hell????????????!" Chen Guang exclaimed.