Although it was subtle, Duan Ling Tian noticed the negative emotions swirling in Long Fei Yun's heart.
After a brief pause, Long Fei Yun continued to say, "Since he felt skeptical about their relationship, why did he bring my mother to the Soaring Dragon Celestial Kingdom and proceeded to marry her? Since he's suspicious of my birth, why didn't he just suffocate me in the cradle after my mother's death from dystocia? Why did he allow me to grow up?" His emotions grew more unstable as he spoke. His hands were tightly clenched into fists, his fingernails pierced the skin of his palms as blood dripped down. His body trembled from the violent fluctuations of his emotions.
Duan Ling Tian remained silent. He could imagine what the thirteenth prince had to go through and how he had to live all these years. "The Emperor of the Soaring Dragon Celestial Kingdom is at fault… Since he brought your mother back to the kingdom and allowed her to give birth, why would he direct the hate to his child? If that's the case, it would have been better if he had abandoned the mother and child to fend for themselves." In his opinion, the Emperor of the Soaring Dragon Celestial Kingdom failed to handle the issue properly.
"Can you imagine how scary it was for a prince who is disliked by the emperor and suspected to be the b*stard son of another man? Although the eunuchs and palace maids are respectful toward me on the surface, I can see the disdain in their eyes. That's the environment I was raised in. Since young, I knew I have no one to rely on but myself. My father even forbade me from cultivating the cultivation method that's inherited in the Imperial family. That's the only earth-rank cultivation method in the possession of the Imperial family of the Soaring Dragon Celestial Kingdom. Without it, I could only cultivate a profound-grade cultivation method. However, I'm not discouraged even if my brothers are allowed to cultivate the earth-rank cultivation method, and I'm not. As long as I diligently cultivated, it would only be a matter of time before I caught up to them and surpassed them." Long Fei Yun vented his feelings to Duan Ling Tian without holding back. It was as though he had forgotten that he had only met Duan Ling Tian. As he spoke, his body trembled and tears could be seen brimming in his eyes. Naturally, he did not allow the tears to fall. They evaporated as soon as they appeared.
"I worked so hard not because I intended to compete with my fourth and seventh brother for the throne. I had no interest in the throne. I only wanted my father to recognize my effort and acknowledged my achievements. However, even after I grew stronger, after I caught up to and even surpassed my fourth and seventh brother, I discovered that my father still dislikes me! It's due to his prejudice against me. Ever since then, I've changed my goal. I want to seize the throne. I want to suppress his beloved fourth and seventh son. I want to step on them on the path to claim the throne." Long Fei Yun's eyes flashed coldly when he reached the end of his sentence. It took him a while before he finally regained his composure. Then, he smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry I lost my composure and vented my feelings…"
"Life hasn't been easy on you… If I were you, I might have broken down or given up a long time ago," Duan Ling Tian said with a hint of admiration. He might not be able to deal with being raised in such a harrowing environment like the thirteenth prince if he did not have two lifetimes of experience. Who knew if he might even descend into depravity and lived as a good-for-nothing prince who only waited for his own demise?
"So, Brother Ling Tian, there's no need for you to worry about me trying to sound you out. It's unnecessary after all," Long Fei Yun continued to say, "Regardless of what background you have, there's no enmity between us, and I will not help my fourth brother to curry favor with the fourth miss of the Zhou clan. Anyway, I'm telling you all these things so you know that the earth-rank cultivation method I possess isn't the one inherited in the Imperial family of the Soaring Dragon Celestial Kingdom. In fact, the earth-rank cultivation method I possess is closely related to my mother," Long Fei Yun said with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Although Duan Ling Tian was quite certain that Long Fei Yun was being honest, he was still wary and cautious. For this reason, he refrained from showing too much interest in the earth-rank cultivation method.
"Earlier, I mentioned that my father dislikes me because he suspects I'm not his biological son. It's due to my mother's ambiguous relationship with a man before she came to the Soaring Dragon Celestial Kingdom to marry my father," Long Fei Yun said.
"Mm…" Duan Ling Tian nodded.
"That man whom my mother had a dubious relationship with appeared in my life a year ago… To be precise, someone who was indebted to him appeared and brought me the earth-rank cultivation method that he exchanged for with his life," Long Fei Yun explained.
Duan Ling Tian was stunned by this revelation.
"It was also at that time that I found out the person whom my father suspects to have an affair with my mother was my mother's childhood friend. They didn't have an affair. It's all my father's jealousy and suspicion. It's all in his mind. I have no reason to believe that man lied to me. After all, a person's dying words are usually true," Long Fei Yun continued to say, "According to him, he truly loved my mother. However, after she made up her mind to marry my father, he had given up on her and traveled the world. Then, he received news about my mother's death after giving birth to me and how I was ostracized due to my mother and his relationship. He wanted to take me away, but he wasn't powerful enough to break into the Imperial Palace of the Soaring Dragon Celestial Kingdom. Later on, he died while obtaining the earth-rank cultivation method. Before he died, he entrusted Qiu Ling to bring me the earth-rank cultivation method and to follow me for 1,000 years. He knew my father forbade me from cultivating the Imperial family's earth-rank cultivation method."
Then, Long Fei Yun pointed to the middle-aged man standing behind him and said, "He's Qiu Ling… He's a heaven-rank Overarching Heavenly Supreme Celestial. He has promised to follow me due to gratitude toward my mother's childhood friend."
A heaven-rank Overarching Heavenly Supreme Celestial!
Duan Ling Tian's eyes widened slightly as he turned to look at the middle-aged man standing behind Long Fei Yun. He was shocked when he discovered the middle-aged man's cultivation base and what the distinct aura that was hard to conceal meant.
'It seems like after reaching a certain stage, it's difficult to conceal that aura… Does this mean she's also a heaven-rank Overarching Heavenly Supreme Celestial?' Duan Ling Tian thought to himself as a beautiful figure appeared in his mind. It was none other than Murong Bing from the Compassionate Celestial Traveler Sect whom he had sex with. Although he knew she was strong, he did not expect her to be a heaven-rank Overarching Heavenly Supreme Celestial!
Long Fei Yun said, "The earth-rank cultivation method that I mentioned is the one that I'm currently cultivating. It's given to me by my mother's childhood friend and brought to me by Qiu Ling."
Duan Ling Tian who had regained his senses looked at Long Fei Yun and asked without beating around the bush, "What do you want me to do?"
There was no free lunch in this world. Since Long Fei Yun had asked him if he was interested in an earth-rank cultivation method, he was certain Long Fei Yun was going to offer it in exchange for something. Was there anyone who would give away an earth-rank cultivation method without asking for anything in return?
Long Fei Yun chuckled. "Duan Ling Tian, you seem interested in my earth-rank cultivation method. Am I right to assume that you're not from a powerful sect outside of the Wasteland?"
"Is that important?" Duan Ling Tian asked rhetorically. He had considered this. He knew as soon as he expressed even the slightest bit of interest in the earth-rank cultivation method, his lie to the fourth prince would be exposed. However, the temptation of an earth-rank cultivation method was too strong. In the end, he decided to bite the bait after he considered that it was unlikely for Long Fei Yun to be conspiring with the fourth prince. After all, an earth-rank cultivation method would be a big help to him now. With Huan'er around, he had no need to worry about cultivation environments. Apart from that, he could always find ways to obtain cultivation resources such as Celestial Pills. However, it was difficult for him to obtain a high-rank cultivation method.
"It's not important." Long Fei Yun shook his head as a brilliant smile slowly appeared on his face. "In fact, this is great news to me…"