Chapter 0027: The Hill Family

Night gradually faded away.
The morning sun cast a warm glow, gilding the slender body of the Yellow Dragon with a faint golden hue.
Sitting in lotus position atop a high peak thousands of miles away from the Kingdom of Lutong, the Yellow Dragon was enveloped in a faint aura of natural spiritual energy.
As practicing in his own courtyard was sometimes inconvenient, the Yellow Dragon had frequented this peak to meditate over the past year.
More than two months had passed since attempting to intercept Tai Ruo and his party. During that time, the primordial spirit in his Purple Mansion had grown to about a foot in size and become increasingly solid.
Inside the Purple Mansion, the Immortal-Slaying Sword and the Chaos Bell floated there, their soft amber and dark blue lights intermingling.
As waves of natural spiritual energy flowed into the Yellow Dragon’s dantian, refining his body, it also continuously purified the Group of Immortals Pavilion within his ancestral meridians.
Over these two months, through the constant purification by the Yellow Dragon’s absorption of natural spiritual energy, the quality of this magical artifact had improved significantly. Though its appearance remained unchanged, its internal structure had become far stronger.
By the time the Yellow Dragon stopped practicing and dawn broke, he used earth teleportation to return to his family’s courtyard. Shortly after arriving, his maid Huang Mei came, summoned by Zhao Rong, to take him to the main hall.
Upon entering the hall, the Yellow Dragon was surprised to see his father, Huang Xiong, who usually stayed in the military camp. After greeting him, his mother Zhao Rong said, “Long, you need to get ready in the next couple of days. We’ll be departing the day after tomorrow to register at the Divine Wind Academy in the Dragon Language Empire.” Only then did the Yellow Dragon remember that the registration deadline for the Divine Wind Academy was in half a month.
The Baru Academy and the Divine Wind Academy were the two most renowned academies on the Hengyuan Continent. The Baru Academy focused on combat energy training, while the Divine Wind Academy emphasized magic. Naturally, Zhao Rong wanted her son, who had been identified as a super genius in magic, to attend the Divine Wind Academy.
With departure to the Divine Wind Academy just the day after tomorrow, the Yellow Dragon felt a mix of anticipation.
The Divine Wind Academy allowed greater freedom in teaching—students could skip classes as long as they passed the academy’s exams each semester. This was exactly what the Yellow Dragon desired.
As he couldn’t leave the Kingdom of Lutong, he had been unable to pursue the stolen magic sword until now. But at the Divine Wind Academy, none of this would be a problem.
After returning from the main hall to his courtyard, the Yellow Dragon called for Bogge and prepared to take him to George’s Auction House. Of course, his purpose there wasn’t to auction off the magic sword but to see if there were any items he needed.

Just as he stepped out of the courtyard, he ran into Huang Liang and Huang Yi. Upon hearing that Huang Long was leaving, the two kids also shouted, “Second brother, we want to go too!” Realizing he couldn’t get rid of them, Huang Long had no choice but to take them along. Lately, the two kids had become obsessed with their second brother Huang Long’s candies. What annoyed them most was that their brother was too stingy, always giving them just one candy each. As they left the courtyard, today was no exception—on the way, the two kids reached out to Huang Long for candies, who could only force a smile and say he would give them some when they returned. Huang Yi, with her round eyes, said innocently, “Second brother, then give us two when we get back.” The little girl already knew how to haggle. Huang Liang also joined in, shouting, “Yeah, second brother, I want two too!” Huang Long was stunned and pinched their cheeks. “Okay, little ones,” he said. Huang Yi stretched out her plump little hand to pinch Huang Long’s cheek, acting like a little adult. “Second brother, it’s annoying! Don’t pinch my face like mom does anymore.” With the two kids chattering beside him, Huang Long felt relaxed. Bog, who was following behind, also smiled kindly at the cute words from Huang Yi and Huang Liang. However, just as Huang Long and the others turned a street and arrived in front of the George Auction House, they encountered Huang Liang, a cousin from their clan, along with a teenage boy around twelve or thirteen years old standing beside him. Huang Liang seemed surprised to see Huang Long and the others. “Huang Liang, who’s this brat?” the teenage boy asked arrogantly, noticing Huang Liang’s expression. Huang Liang stammered and explained Huang Long’s identity. “Oh, I wondered who it was. So you’re the so-called super genius of the Huang family that’s been making a big deal lately.” The boy glanced at Huang Long in surprise, then sneered, “Super genius? Could it be your father Huang Xiong bribed that Church deacon to spread such nonsense?” By “Huang Xiong,” he naturally meant Huang Xiong. Initially unwilling to pay attention to him, Huang Long stopped in his tracks and turned around, a cold glint in his eyes. After being assassinated on his way to celebrate his grandfather Zhao Yang’s birthday in the Blizzard Empire, Huang Long had secretly investigated and concluded that the mastermind was likely theHill family, one of the four major families of the Lu Tong Kingdom. TheHill family had always been at odds with the Huang family—indeed, they hated each other and were sworn enemies. But that was just Huang Long’s guess; he had no solid evidence. So for the past three months, he had been waiting for them to make another move.

This young boy was Du Jue Shi, the fourth son of the current head of the Shi family, Du Luosu.
“You scoundrel Du, don’t call my father that!” When Huang Long stopped in his tracks, Huang Liang, who was by his side, heard this and also clenched his tiny fist, shouting angrily.
Huang Yi even raised her little fist, glaring at him furiously.
Seeing this, Du Jue Shi laughed heartily. “Three little kids who’ve just stopped breastfeeding trying to fight me? With you guys? Don’t even say I’m bullying the weak—get lost! Don’t block my way. Do you know what place this is? This is an auction house, not a place for you three brats to play around.” With that, he tried to push Huang Long aside and head toward the auction house entrance.
But suddenly, he stopped, feeling strange—why was his back so hot?
“Fourth, fourth, fourth young master!” The Shi family guards following behind him cried out in alarm.
Du Jue Shi turned and looked down in the direction the guard was pointing.
“Ahh!” A scream echoed through the street.
Du Jue Shi realized his back was on fire!
The flames were fierce, and instantly, the air around him was filled with the smell of burning flesh.
No matter how hard Du Jue Shi and the guards tried to smother the fire, it grew stronger. Du Jue Shi screamed in agony.
“Fourth young master, fourth young master!” The guards could only call out in panic.
In the end, one of the guards stripped Du Jue Shi of all his clothes.
Huang Long smirked. Strip him of his clothes? If innate true fire could be extinguished so easily, it wouldn’t be called true fire at all. This was just a minor punishment.
Fifteen minutes later, the true fire went out on its own.
But as for what Du Jue Shi’s back had become by then, that was unknown.
Although Huang Liang and Huang Yi didn’t understand why that vile scoundrel’s back was on fire, they knew how to take pleasure in others’ misfortunes and cheered loudly.
Bogo, standing behind Huang Long, obviously knew this was the master’s doing. But as a sacred realm mage, he didn’t understand how Huang Long had done it. Watching that fire that couldn’t be extinguished no matter what, he shuddered inexplicably.
“Let’s go in,” said Huang Long, leading the two kids into the auction house. Before entering, he gave Huang Liang, who stood nearby, panicked and at a loss, a meaningful look.
Huang Liang was the son of Huang Cheng, his uncle.
Huang Long knew that Huang Cheng had harbored resentment ever since his father seized the position of head of the family.