Supreme Dragon Lord-Chapter 57 -

"I-I’m alright. I just had a nightmare."

Tuoba Jiao suppressed the pain in her chest and forced a smile, changing the subject. "Sister Yao, who is this Long Chen you were just calling for? From his name, he must be a man, right? You actually let a man into your courtyard? What is he to you? Why is he so important?"

Hearing this, Long Chen, still hidden under the covers, felt utterly helpless. If Chen Yao hadn’t insisted, why would I have agreed to come here with her? And now look. I’ve gone and made an enemy of Tuoba Jiao, the daughter of the Human King.

"Long Chen is a disciple I recruited from Dragon City. His innate talent is extremely high, and he is crucial to the Human Institute!" At this point, Chen Yao’s brow furrowed. She paused for a moment before continuing gravely, "If anything happens to him, it will be a tremendous loss for our Human Institute. We would not only have to needlessly endure the Earth Institute’s oppression but would also face pressure from his sister and the Heaven Institute for failing to protect him!"

"In short, he could be the key to the Human Institute surpassing the Earth Institute, or even the Heaven Institute. But he could also be our downfall!"

As her voice fell, Chen Yao turned and left. "I need to find him. The Sect prohibits disciples from wandering around at night. He could easily get into trouble!"

Tuoba Jiao was stunned. She never imagined that Long Chen could be so important.

"Jiao Jiao, you shouldn’t come here for a while. I’ve let Long Chen stay in the West Room for now." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

As Chen Yao’s admonition drifted in from outside, Tuoba Jiao clenched her small fists, her pretty face turning grim.

The person under the covers is Long Chen, and he’s important to the Human Institute and to Sister Yao! Even though Tuoba Jiao desperately wanted to kill Long Chen, she couldn’t make a move now. But the memory of Long Chen seeing her body, and even being grabbed by him... Tuoba Jiao was overwhelmed with shame and fury, the urge to kill becoming almost unbearable!

"Can I come out now? You’re probably not going to kill me anymore, right?" Long Chen’s voice came from under the covers.

"Don’t you dare lift those covers!" Tuoba Jiao warned coldly, then got out of bed to get dressed.

A moment later, fully dressed, she spoke in a chilling tone, "You are not to mention a single word of what happened tonight to anyone! We have never met. If you dare to speak of this, I will spare no effort to kill you, even if you are important to Sister Yao and the Human Institute!"

With those words, Tuoba Jiao left, her face an icy, murderous mask.

Long Chen lifted the covers and sat up with a helpless expression. New grudges formed before the old ones are even settled! He sighed, realizing what was done could not be undone, and decided not to dwell on it.

"A Space Ring works the same way as a Storage Bag, right? A drop of blood to claim ownership should do it?" Long Chen took off the ring that Tang Le had generously gifted him.

"The young master is correct," Xia Duoduo said. "Just bind it with a drop of blood and you can use it. Its internal space is far greater than a Storage Bag’s, and it’s much more convenient to carry."

After claiming ownership with a drop of his blood, the Space Ring flashed with light, forming a clear connection with Long Chen’s soul.

HUM!

Long Chen tried to control the Space Ring with his mind. In an instant, he sent the martial technique manual his mother had left him, the Coiling Dragon Seal, into the Space Ring. With another thought, the Coiling Dragon Seal manual appeared in his hand.

Who exactly is this Tang Le? To have a Space Ring and just casually give it away? Long Chen smiled curiously, then opened the Coiling Dragon Seal manual and began to study it.

"HISS... This Coiling Dragon Seal can actually suppress one’s Martial Arts Realm?" Long Chen’s eyes widened in shock.

The Coiling Dragon Seal had nine stages. According to the description, mastering the First Stage could suppress a target’s cultivation by one minor layer, the Second Stage by two minor layers, and so on. The cost of lowering a being’s Martial Arts Realm was the consumption of Dragon Blood, the same price as using the Divine Demon Secret Technique Dragon Blood Boiling!

As long as one had enough Dragon Blood, even the most powerful expert could have their Martial Arts Realm suppressed by the Coiling Dragon Seal! Moreover, the Coiling Dragon Seal could suppress across Great Realms. Even mastering only the First Stage could reduce a martial artist at the War Maniac Realm First Layer Heaven to the War Master Realm Ninth Layer Heaven!

"Suppress the Martial Arts Realm? Surely the young master is joking?" Xia Duoduo’s voice was filled with shock. "Legend says that only formations can suppress the Martial Arts Realm, but such formations were lost long ago."

There’s no way it’s fake! If my mother created this Coiling Dragon Seal, then she must have been far too powerful, too terrifying! Long Chen marveled.

Xia Duoduo did not disagree. "The Hall Master’s abilities are rare in this world. Across the entire continent, you could count the number of people comparable to her on one hand."

Hearing this, Long Chen took a deep breath, his admiration for his mother reaching an unimaginable peak.

Half a shichen later, when a worried-looking Chen Yao returned, Long Chen immediately stopped practicing his martial technique.

"Where were you?" The moment Chen Yao saw Long Chen, her face turned cold as she questioned him. "Do you have any idea that I practically turned the Human Institute upside down looking for you?"

Long Chen rubbed his nose and lied helplessly, "I went to find the latrine. Sorry to have troubled you, Steward Chen."

"Looking for the latrine..." Chen Yao’s breath hitched. A wave of relief washed over her, followed by a mix of anger and amusement.

"From now on, you are forbidden from wandering around at night!" After saying her piece, Chen Yao turned to leave. "I need to go inform the managing elders of the Human Institute so they can go rest."

Hearing this, Long Chen was both speechless and helpless. He hadn’t expected to cause a stir among the stewards, let alone the managing elders.

"Heh, with the young master’s innate talent, they should value you this highly. This is a blessing for her, the Human Institute, and even the Martial Ancestor!" Xia Duoduo’s voice suddenly chimed in, her tone suggesting this was all perfectly natural.

Long Chen was indifferent to this. Only one’s own strength is true strength. Any other form of protection is bound to disappear.

「The next morning, as the sky began to lighten.」

Under Chen Yao’s guidance, Long Chen once again arrived at Bing Institute.

At this moment, nearly twenty thousand disciples stood in neat, solemn rows in the courtyard. They listened to the Head of the Court’s instructions while waiting for the distribution of the Human Martial Beads. Today was the distribution day, which should have been a joyous occasion, yet not a single person looked happy.

This was because, after receiving their Human Martial Beads, what awaited them was nothing but frantic scrambling and chaotic battles.

"That kid’s here." The disciples’ gazes all fell on Long Chen, who followed behind Chen Yao, their faces a mixture of emotions.