by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
Back when people had first heard this news, there had been quite a few people who had mocked those people for being cowards. Ye Zhiqiu had harshly berated them. Although she knew those people were joking, this kind of joke wasn’t appropriate.
A person’s confidence level was often the deciding factor of whether or not they would survive a battle. Long Chen’s fight with Wu Qi was an extremely obvious example.
Despite Wu Qi being much stronger, in front of Long Chen’s imposingness and life-risking attacks, his powerful cultivation base had been useless and he had been unable to bring out any of his true strength.
He hadn’t even had the chance to release one of his more powerful moves before he was killed by Long Chen. Just how depressed must he have been when he had died? But that was also normal.
According to the normal standards, as someone at the peak of the mid Tendon Transformation realm, not even ten ordinary mid Tendon Transformation experts would have necessarily been able to kill him.
Wu Qi’s strength had truly been much, much greater than Long Chen’s. But he had been the one to be defeated, and he was also defeated in such a quick manner. That was extremely thought-provoking.
It was precisely because of being stimulated by Long Chen’s display and Cang Ming’s reminder that Ling Yunzi had finally come to this decision to invade the Corrupt path.
This was something that was in contrary to the monastery’s regulations. If the higher-ups were to learn of it, he would probably lose his sect leader position.
But it was precisely like Cang Ming had said. If Ling Yunzi continued following the rules for his lifetime, his life would have no meaning in the end. Now he hoped to bet on Long Chen.
Long Chen was somewhat aware of what Ling Yunzi was thinking. That gave him an extremely great pressure. This plan had been suggested by him; if it failed, he would have caused many people to die.
“The reason I gathered you all today is because I hope for you to placate your people. Don’t let them be too nervous. It’d be best for them to just focus on cultivating as hard as possible. As for confidence, that isn’t their job, but yours.” Long Chen looked at them.
“Us?” They didn’t understand what he meant.
“Yes, you. As core disciples, you are the spirit of this monastery. Your display at that time will concern everyone’s life and death. You must all become much stronger during this short time and become more confident. When the trial begins, you’ll all have to show-off and display a beautiful victory over your opponents. Use your own actions to tell everyone that the Corrupt path’s experts aren’t terrifying. As long as you cut off their heads, they will also die,” laughed Long Chen.
Everyone nodded. Long Chen’s words made sense. But they all felt the pressure on themselves increase.
Li Qi bitterly smiled, “Putting it like that, I really feel worried. If I end up making a mistake, wouldn’t I have ended up taking down ninety-nine of my brother’s lives with me?”
The others also forced a bitter smile. Only Tang Wan-er didn’t feel any pressure. That was because her Heaven Earth Faction had Long Chen; with him present, nothing could reduce the Heaven Earth Faction’s morale.
“You’re only worried because you aren’t confident enough. You haven’t gone through any true life and death experiences, so how could you have obtained unrivaled confidence? That’s why, right now, I’ll give you some life and death tempering,” said Long Chen solemnly.
“Life and death tempering? You’re joking.” Everyone was shocked.
“Looks like you guys still don’t understand me. When you think I’m serious, I’m actually just joking, but when I’m serious, you think I’m joking. Right now I’m completely serious.
“In a bit, Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang, you three will attack me together. Remember that this won’t be some martial competition, but a slaughterfest. I will push you to the edge of death to awaken your ancestral marks,” said Long Chen.
“Will that be of any use? It’s not like you’ll really kill us,” said Luo Cang with some confusion.
His family had long since tried that on him countless times, trying to get him to activate his ancestral mark from the brink of death. But they had failed time and time again.
Furthermore, they hadn’t even known that it had been fake back then. They had thought that those ‘assassins’ their family had set up were all real.
But now Long Chen just directly told them this. This wouldn’t have any meaning. Without fear, how could they activate their ancestral marks?
“You’re wrong. If you can’t block my attacks, I really will kill you.” Long Chen icily looked at the three of them. “I would rather you die by my hands than by the hands of those Corrupt path disciples. At the very least, if you die by my hands, you’ll be able to keep your corpses intact.”
The three of their hearts jumped. Long Chen was serious? Looking at his eyes, there was not even the slightest emotion in them. He looked just like he had when he had fought with Wu Qi, filled with a desire for slaughter.
Sweat dripped down their necks, and their hair stood on end. This current Long Chen was practically a demon king.
They could tell Long Chen was being serious. If they couldn’t stop him, they would die.
“Let’s go.”
Long Chen got up. The five of them didn’t say a word as they followed behind him. They left the monastery and arrived at a valley. Long Chen faced off against Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang.
“Think about this for a moment. The people beside you could be your family, your parents, or your lover. They could be the most precious existence to you. Treat me as a cruel killer of the Corrupt path. If someone goes to mercilessly cut down those closest to you, how would you feel? Ok, let’s begin!”
Long Chen directly sent his bone blade stabbing towards the still stupefied Song Mingyuan. He was like a bolt of lightning, going directly for Song Mingyuan’s throat. At the very start, he already aimed for the vitals.
Song Mingyuan was horrified. By the time he realized what was going on, Long Chen’s bone blade had already reached his throat, and it was already too late to dodge.
Long Chen’s bone blade possessed a mountain-splitting, ocean-flipping strength. Song Mingyuan could practically already see the scene of his throat being pierced.
BOOM!
The instant that bone blade was about to pierce through Song Mingyuan’s throat, Luo Cang’s staff struck out, smashing aside Long Chen’s bone blade.
Although the bone blade missed, that earth-shattering power still exploded out, sending the two of them flying.
Tang Wan-er and Ye Zhiqiu almost both cried out. Long Chen didn’t have any misgivings. If it weren’t for Luo Cang, Song Mingyuan would already have become a dead man!
“Long Chen’s really planning on killing them?”
“For the first attack, I purposely kept it a bit slower. Next time I won’t. Maybe if I change faces you’ll realize this is no game.”
Long Chen put on a sinister mask. It looked like a malicious devil, and with that on his face, he once more charged forward with his bone blade, this time at Li Qi.
Li Qi roared and slashed his saber onto Long Chen’s bone blade. But Long Chen’s strength was too terrifying, and he directly vomited blood and was sent flying.
But as he shot through the air, Long Chen followed him. His bone blade slashed down at his throat.
“Li Qi!”
Luo Cang and Song Mingyuan roared. Li Qi was powerless to resist this next attack. If that bone blade reached him, he would definitely die.
The two of them ignored their own injuries. It was already too late for them to reach Li Qi at that point. The two of them stabbed their weapons straight towards Long Chen.
Long Chen coldly snorted and waved his bone blade, knocking away their two weapons. The two of them received a heavy impact and once more vomited blood.
Long Chen’s bone blade was like the Grim Reaper’s sickle, slashing down on both of t
heir necks. His speed was so fast that neither of them could dodge.
“Go to hell!” Li Qi roared and charged at Long Chen. He was actually still weaponless, and grabbing onto Long Chen’s arm, he bit down hard.
Long Chen didn’t continue attacking. Taking off his mask, he looked at the crazy Li Qi who was still biting his arm and smiled.
“Congratulations on awakening your ancestral marks.”
Chapter 230 Yuan Spirit Pill
“Congratulations on awakening your ancestral marks.”
Long Chen’s words were very light, but they all heard them. Tang Wan-er and Ye Zhiqiu were looking at them in complete disbelief.
“Awakened... ancestral marks…?”
They couldn’t believe their eyes. At some point, a faint rune had appeared over Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang’s foreheads.
Although they were a bit indistinct, that faint pressure coming from them proved that they were definitely ancestral marks.
Only then did Song Mingyuan and Luo Cang react. Glancing at each other, they saw the other person’s ancestral mark and went wild with joy.
“Hey, Li Qi, when are you going to stop biting my arm? Did you get addicted to it?”
Li Qi didn’t even hear Long Chen’s words. Holding Long Chen’s arm, his eyes were completely red and he had already turned into a madman, crazily biting down.
“Tch.” Long Chen swung his arm and sent Li Qi flying. But even as he was flung off, Li Qi bit down and tore off Long Chen’s sleeve.
Everyone was surprised and found that funny. Li Qi was still berserk, immediately charging back with his eyes completely red, he roared, “You want to kill my brothers? I’ll bite you to death!”
Song Mingyuan and Luo Cang immediately went over and grabbed him, shouting, “Hey, hey! Wake up! It’s already over.”
Being tightly restrained by the two of them, Li Qi gradually awoke, looking at them in confusion, ”What are you guys holding me back for? We’re on the same side.”
Long Chen shrugged his shoulders. On his bare arm were some bruises that Li Qi had caused.
“I didn’t think you were still hiding such a unique skill. Not bad.”
Looking at the bruised part of Long Chen’s arm, they couldn’t help but laugh. They were also moved by each other’s actions, as in the face of death, all of them had stood by each other.
“Long Chen, did we really awaken our ancestral marks?”
They could sense a new kind of energy flowing within their blood now. That was due to the ancestral mark. But they couldn’t believe it. Their families had spent a great deal of effort without being able to do this and had already given up. But now, in just the blink of an eye, they had awakened their ancestral marks.
Long Chen looked at the three of their disbelieving expressions and shook his head. “I’m also not too sure. Do you want to test it some more?”
Long Chen raised up his bone blade, immediately frightening the three of them into babbling, “No, no, stop! We’ll just believe this.”
They would rather face those crazy Corrupt path experts than face Long Chen again. They felt Long Chen was even crazier than them.
Most frightening of all was that despite how crazy he acted, his expression never changed.
Seeing the three of them frightened green, Tang Wan-er laughed. Even the always expressionless Ye Zhiqiu couldn’t help but smile.
It really was amazing that Long Chen could immediately switch from being a cold-blooded, merciless killer to a joking rascal.
“Haha, we three brothers have also revived our ancestral marks. Hehe, if my dad knew, he’d definitely be happy!”
The three of them laughed heartily, finally accepting this fact. This joy had come far too suddenly. Even the three of them were unable to remain calm.
Who knew how many generations of geniuses in their family had still yet to have anyone revive their ancestral mark?
“Long Chen, when can you revive your ancestral mark?”
“If you awakened your ancestral mark, just how powerful would you become?”
The three of them excitedly turned to Long Chen. Long Chen’s cultivation base was still only at the peak of Blood Condensation. If he awakened his ancestral mark, wouldn’t he be unrivaled in the future?
Long Chen smiled slightly, but his smile was somewhat pained. His Spirit Blood had been stolen, so there was not even a drop of ancestral blood within him. How could he possibly awaken his ancestral mark?
His Spirit Blood, Spirit Root, and Spirit Bone had all been taken. He didn’t even know who his own father and mother were. He didn’t even know if they were alive…
The only clue was the jade pendant. But Long Chen knew he was far from being strong enough to learn his own background. He had to keep accumulating strength.
Everyone saw the change in Long Chen’s expression and immediately shut their mouths. But Long Chen quickly laughed.
“My ancestral mark isn’t the same as yours. It’ll depend on chance.” Long Chen didn’t want to continue talking about that topic.
“Long Chen, did you long since know how to awaken a person’s ancestral mark?” Song Mingyuan was a bit curious.
Long Chen had said at the start that he would let them all awaken their ancestral marks. And his voice had been completely calm, full of confidence.
Long Chen shook his head. “I did think of a way, but I wasn’t too sure that it would work for any of you. I never thought all three of you would end up awakening it.”
“Long Chen, how did you do this? We still don’t get it.” Li Qi was still puzzled.
They had activated their ancestral marks far too suddenly. It was so fast they hadn’t even realized it; their ancestral marks had just appeared. That was too curious.
“First of all, I’d like to apologize for misjudging you. In the beginning, I said to treat the ones beside you as your own family because I was afraid you didn’t care about them enough.
“But then I realized I was wrong. You’ve long since begun treating each other as your fellow brothers. You care more about your brothers’ lives than your own. You would rather die than let them die in front of you. That is also why you were able to revive your ancestral marks so quickly.
“The method your families tried to stimulate you was wrong. They thought that when a person felt their life was threatened, that would cause them to explode with their full strength, activating their bloodline’s energy.
“But in reality, they didn’t know there was another kind of power that could let someone erupt with even greater power, far surpassing that full strength from when only their own lives were threatened. That thing is what I said when I fought with Gui Sha: a will to protect.
“That is a kind of sacred power. In order to protect the ones in your heart, you’re able to give up even your own life. That is your absolute strongest state.
“Because the ones in your heart are even more important than your own life, you need an even greater power to protect them.
“When you have that kind of thirst for power, your body will automatically bring out all your potential. At that point, your bloodline strength will begin to revive, and your ancestral mark will be awakened.”
Hearing this, everyone’s hearts beat wildly. Back when he had mentioned a will to protect to Gui Sha, they hadn’t really understood what he had meant.
But now that he explained it again, they realized his theory was absolutely correct. The freshly awakened ancestral marks were absolute proof.
“Long Chen, if you sell this secret to those families, you’ll definitely make a huge profit,” said Li Qi.
Long Chen shook his head and laughed, “It’s not so simple. Did you think that just by learning this technique, you could easily awaken a person’s ancestral mark?”
“What? Why not?”
“People are all selfish, especially those pampered disciples. They are pampered to death as soon as they are born.
“The absolute majority of people love themselve
s the most. How could they give up their life for someone else? If someone didn’t truly care about those close to them, how would you trigger that thirst for greater strength?
“So although the principle is simple, it’s extremely difficult to put into action. And so all of us brothers will become true brothers from now on.”
Long Chen extended his hand. Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang also extended a hand, putting them on top of each other.
“Brothers together are undefeatable!”
The four of them shouted together. Then they looked at each other, deep affection emanating from their eyes.
“Ugh, can you four old men stop being so disgusting. Never make that kind of expression again,” said Tang Wan-er to the side.
The four of them immediately laughed. Three of them had revived their ancestral marks today. That was an incredibly joyous occasion, and they all returned to the monastery to celebrate.
When the news of them reviving their ancestral marks spread, the entire monastery was shaken.
Even Tu Fang personally came to take a look. Long Chen didn’t hide any of it, explaining the whole story to him.
Looking at Long Chen, Tu Fang didn’t even know what to say. Then, looking at Song Mingyuan and the others, he was filled with praise.
To be willing to sacrifice themselves for their companions required more than just bravery. Even Tu Fang was moved by the camaraderie between them.
But he also knew that even if people knew this method, it wouldn’t be that useful. Not every person was so big-hearted and brave.
To most people, Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang’s actions were completely foolish. It was just like how they had still decided to ally with the Heaven Earth Faction despite Long Chen being exiled. Back then, the chance of him returning alive had been slim to none. But even after being suppressed by their powerful opponents, they hadn’t abandoned the Heaven Earth Alliance.
Those kinds of ‘fools’ really were few and far between. But Long Chen’s method would only work for such fools. Those ‘smart’ people would never be able to use this method.
