Origins of the Far West Long Family

Upon hearing this, Long Biao's disdain deepened. "It's just a remote, impoverished place. What kind of genius could a poor relative's family possibly have?"

The Lineage's higher-ups are all senile; they don't even believe in their own Lineage's geniuses, instead placing their hopes on geniuses from other races. He simply can't understand it.

Besides, in a fair and just competition, you went outside to ask for help. Isn't that shameless? Isn't that cheating? He wouldn't stoop to that.

"You can do this? Are you sure you can bring in foreign players for this kind of competition? Isn't this Lineage? This is too blatant!"

Long Biao's eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief.

"Hehe!" Long Qian laughed smugly, "You youngsters don't know, the Far West Long Family split off from the Western Land Long Family."

"Two hundred years ago, the number of Gu cultivators in our clan had already reached its peak. But don't think that the more Gu cultivators a Lineage has, the better."

"It's true that there are many Gu cultivators and they have great war potential, but everything has its limits. A large number of people will also consume more resources, and sooner or later it will exceed the limit that a Lineage can bear."

"The Long Family was facing this situation at the time; the number of Gu cultivators in the Lineage was simply too large, and the clan's resources were completely insufficient to cover them all."

"At that time, there was a severe shortage of resources within the Lineage, resulting in soaring prices and increasingly serious conflicts among members."

"If the Lineage's resources are divided equally, no one can become the Gu King. But if they are concentrated in one place, those who are abandoned will not let it go and will inevitably cause trouble."

"With the internal conflicts escalating, if we don't wage war to divert attention from these conflicts, the only option left is to split up the family."

"The Lineage voted and ultimately decided to split up."

"But the fertile lands had long been occupied, and those who were separated from their families could only go to remote areas to reclaim wasteland, or directly use force to occupy a small place."

"No one likes to develop in barren places, and in the end, the Lineage used forceful means to drive away a large group of clansmen."

"And those clansmen who were forced to leave back then are now the Far West Long Family."

"Those tribesmen assigned to barren lands naturally harbor resentment, and the distance between the two places is simply too great, requiring either crossing the treacherous Hundred Thousand Mountains or taking a detour by sea, making transportation extremely inconvenient."

"As two hundred years passed, the two sides gradually lost contact and became like two separate forces. It wasn't until the hatred faded that they re-established diplomatic relations."

"So, strictly speaking, the Far West Long Family is part of my Western Land Long Family. We share the same blood, and even our clan's genealogy contains the names of those people. Aren't we the same force?"

"Has our clan broken any rules? If you don't believe me, check our clan genealogy, or do a blood test. Who said our clan sought outside help? What's wrong with our clan finding a few long-lost bloodlines and bringing them back to the Lineage? Heh!"

Long Qian revealed a cunning smile, looking quite like a rogue.

Long Ruoxue covered her face; she was too ashamed to look. It was utterly shameless. Was it really okay to bully Bai Clan like this? She couldn't help but silently mourn for the Bai Clan in her heart.

If the Bai Clan knew that the Long Family was planning to use outside help to cheat, one wonders what their expression would be like. Their expression would surely be quite interesting!

"Are you so confident in the geniuses of the Far West Long Family? Are you so sure that a genius from a poor place can be stronger than the geniuses of my clan? The higher-ups in the Lineage have far too little confidence in the geniuses of their own clan, don't they?" Long Biao said disdainfully again.

"The clan's geniuses are all arrogant and conceited like you, each one ignorant of their own limitations. How can the Lineage have any confidence?"

Long Qian glanced at him impatiently before continuing, "Don't underestimate these clansmen who split off. They've developed remarkably well over the past two hundred years, their clan strength is rising steadily, and they've produced many experts and geniuses."

"Based on the clan's observations, the Far West Long Family has at least four geniuses who can replace our clan's four weakest candidates, and at least four more are yet to be determined."

"In other words, in this Genius Arena Tournament between our clan and the Bai Clan, at least half of our clan will be composed of geniuses from the Far West Long Family. With the strongest geniuses of both clans combined, our clan's chances of winning this time are extremely high."

"I'm even considering bringing in a few more foreign players to replace you; I just can't trust you."

Long Qian looked at him with a suspicious gaze, his expression serious.

Long Biao scoffed, his face full of Qi Ingestion. He had made up his mind that when he arrived at the destination, he would definitely find the strongest genius of the Far West Long Family and have a good match with him, so as to tell his Lineage that their decision was wrong.

"You don't need to look so Qi Ingestion. From the information we have, the Far West Long Family has two geniuses who are invincible in their respective realms. Even all the geniuses in our clan are far inferior to them. The toughest nuts to crack for the Bai Clan should still be dealt with by these two. You should choose to fight the weakest ones!"

Long Qian could easily see what he was thinking, so he simply added fuel to the fire and provoked him.

In his view, Long Biao had grown up in a comfortable environment, which had been too easy for him, and that's why he developed such an arrogant and conceited personality. It would be good to let him suffer a defeat and let the genius of the small clan dampen his spirits. Maybe it could help him get rid of his arrogant and conceited bad habit.

The ship sped through the air until it approached a mountain range rich in spiritual energy, at which point it finally slowed down. The Dragon Boat flew for a while longer before slowly descending vertically near a cluster of buildings.

The people inside seemed to have already received the news, so a large group of people came out to greet them with smiles.

Long Wanli spoke first with a beaming smile, "So it's Brother Qian who's visiting. It's been so many years! I didn't expect you to have become a high-ranking elder of the Five Clans and a renowned array master in the Western Land. Time really flies."

Long Qian smiled politely and said, "That still can't compare to you. You are now the head of a clan, your status is much higher than mine."

"The fact that the Lineage has prospered under your leadership is enough to demonstrate your leadership abilities; I am far inferior to you."

"Forget about the past. I've come today with an important request."

"Our clan is preparing to have a Genius Arena Tournament with the Bai Clan to decide the ownership of a mine. Each side will send twelve geniuses, three from each of the Early Marrow-Cleansing Stage, Mid Marrow-Cleansing Stage, Late Marrow-Cleansing Stage, and Marrow Cleansing Peak."

"Although my clan is not lacking in geniuses, we also seek stability, so I have come today to borrow a few of your noble talents."

"If your talent can win the tournament for our clan, our clan will surely bestow upon you a great treasure."

Upon hearing this, Long Wanli and the elders behind him finally understood the purpose of their visit. After exchanging glances, Long Wanli laughed and said, "You really are right on time."

"Today is the day of the clan competition, a day when all the geniuses of our clan gather at the arena. The competition has only just begun. If you go to observe, you can see the level of our clan's geniuses and make it easier to select one."

"Please come in quickly, let's talk inside. Don't keep those geniuses waiting."

Long Wanli made way for him and gestured for him to proceed.

"Hahaha!" Long Qian laughed loudly, "The time for our two clan competitions is the same, and I arrived precisely at the right time."

"This is a good opportunity to see the true extent of the nobility's genius during the clan competition. Although our clan has conducted some investigations, what is written on paper can never be as accurate as seeing it with one's own eyes."

Long Qian chuckled and stepped inside, followed immediately by Long Ruoxue and Long Biao. However, Long Biao held his head high, still looking extremely arrogant.

"That's right, seeing is believing, and it's only right to inspect it personally. Someone, quickly prepare seats on the platform!"

Surrounded by a crowd, Long Qian slowly walked towards the high platform of the clan competition venue, where Long Wanli arranged for him to sit next to him.

As for the two juniors he brought, they could only stand behind him. Even though they were guests, their status was far too different, and they could not sit on equal footing with them.

The elders sat on either side of the two men, their seating arrangement unchanged except that a chair had been added in the middle.

From the moment the two walked in until they sat down, their conversation never stopped; they were both smiling and exchanging pleasantries.

At this moment, Long Qian finally turned his attention to the geniuses on the arena below. This was the purpose of his trip. The clan competition was the best place to test the strength of geniuses. Those who could get a ranking in the clan competition were basically the most outstanding geniuses in the entire clan.

The two people appearing on the arena at this moment were none other than the sworn enemies Long Yan and Long Bao. One was fat and the other thin, and they were controlling the Earthworker wearing metal Insect Armor to engage in a fierce duel.

Both sides fought with Gu worms, and people fought against each other. On one side of the arena, Gu Insect were engaged in a chaotic battle, while on the other side, people were dueling.

However, on the battlefield of Gu Insect, Long Yan had the upper hand, while on the battlefield of humans, Long Bao had the upper hand.

Long Bao was so fat that even a slight bump from him was painful. Long Yan's face turned pale, and even with all his might, he couldn't budge this mountain. He could only dodge left and right under his control.

However, it cannot be said that he is at a disadvantage at this moment. The battle of a Gu cultivator comes not only from people, but also from Gu. On the battlefield of Gu Insect, he is currently in a dominant position.

His tactic was to stall until his own Gu Insect achieved victory, which would then help him suppress the fat man.

However, Long Bao was not stupid. He knew his weaknesses and that continuing to drag things out would be extremely disadvantageous to him. Therefore, he sped up his attack, trying to defeat his opponent as quickly as possible before the battle between the Gu Insect was decided. Otherwise, if the battle turned into a protracted war, he would be the one to lose in the end.

Long Yan tried every possible way to delay, even resorting to verbal interference, leaving no stone unturned.

Long Bao, on the other hand, was trying his best to end the battle as quickly as possible, and his attack speed was getting faster and faster. The two had completely opposite fighting styles, and their weaknesses complemented each other, so this battle was full of variables, and it was really hard to say who would win or lose.

The crowd around the ring watched with great interest, cheering and shouting encouragement. Clearly, the fight between the two was very exciting, and it was precisely this kind of close, unpredictable battle that made the ring match so captivating.

Upon seeing the two thin men beside him, Long Qian's eyes immediately lit up. Although their combat strength could not be considered top-notch, they could definitely replace the two candidates already chosen by the clan.

Long Qian was indeed quite insightful. Almost everyone who entered the ancient tomb died, and very few survived. These two were among the few survivors.

Those who can survive such a deadly situation clearly have some skills, but they were born at the wrong time and their brilliance was overshadowed by the prodigy Long Ziyan, so their fame remained unknown.