Chapter 157: Courageous Battle

“AHH!”

Tragic cries rang out from within the Lian Residence.

These cries continued relentlessly without stopping. Anyone who heard it would tremble from fear.

The cries only ceased after time it takes to burn a stick of incense passed.

The front door creaked open.

Su Chen walked out, his body covered in blood.

When he had first stepped into the Lian Residence, his clothes were white. When he walked out, his white robe was dyed red, and even the Mountain-Beheading Blade was not excluded.

A top-quality Origin Tool treasure was displaying signs of wear.

The ferociousness of the battle that had just taken place was obvious.

The blood on his body was both from his enemies and his own.

He had been wounded thirty-seven time, twelve of them being quite heavy. Even the Algae Thread Coral and the Mystic Heavy Armor couldn’t completely defend him.

However, he was still alive.

He was as vigorous as a tiger or a dragon and still had enough energy to leap and prance about.

Su Chen tossed back the last vial of high-tier recovery medicine he had, swished the vial of medicine as if it were a bowl of wine, and let out a satisfied burp.

He had eaten quite a bit today.

Then, he tossed the vial of medicine behind him. It arced through the air and plopped into a small river nearby.

Iron Cliff, who had been watching from outside, walked over. “It’s done?”

His job was to guard against any sudden changes to the situation. If any outsiders entered the arena, he would hold them off for a bit and have Gui Dashan and the others to notify Su Chen.

Su Chen hadn’t lied. He had come on his own, but he had also brought a few subordinates with him to make sure he could adapt as the situation changed.

Thankfully, nothing unexpected had occurred.

“It’s all done?” Iron Cliff asked at this moment. Even though he knew the answer to his question already, he asked anyways.

“Anyone who attacked is dead, and anyone who didn’t is still alive,” Su Chen said as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Lian Jiao is still alive, and some of her brothers also knelt in surrender. Later, you can pick one of them to inherit the Lian Clan.”

“Then, Lian Jiao?”

“As you please.”

“You got her pregnant before anyways.”

Su Chen stopped in his tracks and glanced at Iron Cliff. “It seems to me that you’re becoming less and less like a Cliff Race individual. Aren’t they supposed to be the strong, silent type?”

Iron Cliff replied, “Do you wish for me to be a Cliff Race individual like that? Master, if you want, I can do that as well.”

“No, this is fine with me,” Su Chen said as he patted Iron Cliff on the shoulder. “Keep up the good work.”

As he spoke, he got on the horse carriage that had been prepared for him. He first used a cleansing technique to wash himself, then changed into a new set of robes, allowing him to regain his princely, elegant demeanor from before.

“Take me to the Thousand Treasures Pavilion. There’s no need to rush,” Su Chen said, then lay down to rest.

The next thing he heard was Zhou Hong’s voice gently calling him out of his reverie. “Young Master, Young Master.”

Su Chen awoke again. The carriage was already at the Thousand Treasures Pavilion.

“So fast,” Su Chen said, squinting his eyes. He felt like he had just closed his them.

“It’s my fault for rushing here. Please pardon my mistake,” Zhou Hong hurriedly said.

He stepped out of the carriage and walked into the Thousand Treasures Pavilion, only to find Jiang Xishui standing there already gulping down food and drink.

Su Chen didn’t stand on courtesy and picked up a pair of chopsticks, using them to stuff food into his mouth.

“No need to eat so barbarically. It’s not like there’s not enough food for all of us,” Jiang Xishui laughed.

Su Chen replied, “I single-handedly wiped out most of the Lian Clan and have exhausted most of my Origin Energy and Blood Qi. I have many wounds, and even the medicines I prepared were all used up. If I don’t eat enough to replenish my body, I might wring myself dry.”

“I know how hard you worked this time, so all the meat we ordered is Vicious Beast meat. It’s very flavorful and nutritious, perfect for you,” Jiang Xishui said.

Origin Qi Scholars didn’t not normally have physical needs, but Su Chen had expended a great deal of energy and needed a large quantity of food, which was why he was devouring the food in front of him.

“Speaking of which, you were asking for trouble. Why not just bring me along? You had to go and do it yourself. So what if you earned the reputation of wiping out an entire clan single-handedly? Is it worth it?”

Su Chen lifted his head up from his food. “Do you think that I did that just for reputation?”

“Didn’t you?”

“Of course not,” Su Chen said as he swallowed down a beast leg and replied, “I challenged the Lian Clan alone firstly because I wanted to evaluate my own strength and see what point I’ve reached. It’s also harder to grow without difficult battles. I’ve managed to learn quite a few secret techniques in the past couple of years, but I don’t feel like I’ve had many opportunities to let loose my full strength.”

He paused for a moment and drank a large bowl of Beast Blood Wine before continuing, “I asked Instructor, and Instructor said that it was because I have experienced too few serious battles. If I fight a life-or-death battle, I can pull out my hidden strength and master these skills all at once. These past few years, I have only focused on obtaining strength and Origin Skills equal to Bloodline Skills, but I have been lacking a tempering by blood and fire...... Waiter, get me another Labyrinth Armored Beast.”

“So you went all-out against the Lian Clan to temper yourself by blood and fire? How did it feel?” Jiang Xishui asked.

“Not too good,” Su Chen shook his head.

He gulped down half of a Golden Goose, then pointed at the wounds on his chest and said, “Here, here, and here. I was slashed by a blade and stabbed by a spear, but I didn’t feel any hidden strength surge forth, and I didn’t master anything all at once. All I feel is that after this bloody battle, human lives have decreased in value in my eyes. Well, I have a better understanding now of the Origin Skills I possess, but I am far from reaching the level described by Instructor.”

“Perhaps that’s because you had Iron Cliff and the others outside.”

“What kind of reasoning is that?” Su Chen laughed. “Why would putting Iron Cliff and the others outside affect my becoming stronger?”

“It wouldn’t affect it, but having them there means that you were prepared for the battle,” Jiang Xishui replied. “Since you had your own preparations, you naturally expected to win, which was why you fought in the first place. From the beginning, you didn’t have any plans of fighting to the death. Even though the fight was difficult, it was just difficult, and even though you were wounded, they’re only wounds. Neither the difficulty nor the wounds were fatal, so you were never pushed to the point where you had nowhere to go. If you were never pushed to where you had nowhere to go, how could you fight with your back against the wall?”

Su Chen was stunned and couldn’t think of anything to say for some time.

Jiang Xishui said, “You’re used to scheming and only fighting when everything is under your control. However, real heroes have courage in their chests and guts in their hearts; they fight if they want to fight. In a head-on battle, those with more courage are often the winners. They won’t think about how much control they have over their situation or their chances of success. When you think too much, your vigor leaks out and your guts will decay. It would be strange if you succeeded in trying to scheme your way along the path of a hero. You thought that you were fighting to the death, but you were actually just showing off your strength!”

Su Chen was stunned by this when he heard it. “Isn’t charging ahead single-mindedly without any backup in place too dangerous?”

Jiang Xishui laughed, “That’s the point. The ‘path of a hero’ is really just a few hundred people charging up a single path, and the last person remaining is the hero. It’s not a path that really suits you. You’re better off staying on your path of research and becoming a scholar overlord, using your absolute strength to steamroll all the opponents in your path. As for fighting with your back to the walls, that’s not your style. If someday you really are put into that kind of situation, you can think about walking this path. At that time, it won’t be too late for you to explode with hidden potential and slaughter a few thousand people.”

Su Chen laughed. “Consider me educated! Get me another bowl of fried Phoenix-Tailed Chicken!"