by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
In the depths of the Jiuli secret realm, there was a beautiful woman looking at a photographic jade with a pleased smile.
“They did very well. This way, Long Chen will never be able to wash away his accusations no matter what he does. Hopefully, he wasn’t killed by Yin Luo. It’d be best if he is personally killed by brother Tianyu.”
That woman was precisely the Chosen who had been by Han Tianyu’s side, Yin Wushuang. She was one of Han Tianyu’s faithful worshippers.
“If Long Chen were to die under brother Tianyu’s hands, then those two women probably won’t have the face to stick around brother Tianyu.” Yin Wushuang smiled.
In her eyes, Han Tianyu was the incarnation of perfection. There was not one woman who could resist his charm.
That was why she especially despised Hua Biluo who had ignored Han Tianyu. In her eyes, Hua Biluo was pretending to be aloof in order to attract Han Tianyu’s attention.
Women were all selfish like that. Although there was no lack of females fawning over Han Tianyu, Yin Yushuang considered herself to be the most beautiful of them all.
However, now she had a feeling of crisis. Not only did Hua Biluo appear, but Tang Wan-er and Ye Zhiqiu, who were even somewhat more beautiful than Hua Biluo, had also appeared. That had immediately put her on guard.
That was especially true of Tang Wan-er. Although she hadn’t become a Chosen disciple, she was clearly emitting a powerful will on the same level as a Chosen.
So, seeing Long Chen fall into a trap delighted her extremely. Putting away the photographic jade, she said to a Favored:
“Send down the order to our people to temporarily not do anything to Long Chen.
That Favored awkwardly said, “But the assistant sect leader told us that we had to kill Long Chen as soon as we got a chance…”
“Hmmm?” Yin Wushuang frowned, and she icily said, “Don’t try to use the assistant sect leader to control me. If he irritated me, then I wouldn’t even give the sect leader any face. Just do as I say. If there are any consequences, they will fall on me.”
That Favored still wanted to argue some more, but looking at Yin Wushuang’s gloomy expression, he swallowed his words.
He knew that Yin Wushuang’s background was extremely powerful. Even the sect leader had to treat her extremely courteously. Therefore, he didn’t dare to offend her.
“Get those people to secretly increase Long Chen’s fame. I want it so that he is an evil fiend beyond redemption in the eyes of the Righteous path. That way when brother Tianyu kills him, it’ll satisfy everyone. That’ll get the most value out of Long Chen. Don’t waste this opportunity, understood?” A fierce light shone in Yin Wushuang’s eyes.
“Yes!”
That person didn’t dare retort and obediently left. He conveyed Yin Wushuang’s orders to their people.
If Long Chen really died to a couple of powerful Chosen now, then Yin Wushuang would think that he was either disobedient or incapable, and that would be a disaster for him.
With her fierce temperament, he would definitely not have a good ending. He hastily spread the word.
After handling the matter of Long Chen, Yin Wushuang smiled and disappeared from this area, continuing to enter deeper into the Jiuli secret realm.
The news of Long Chen becoming a sex fiend had reached the ears of all the 108th monastery’s disciples. Those disciples didn’t even need to think about it to know this was someone’s attempt at smearing Long Chen.
Gu Yang had directly beaten up the disciple who had spread this news to him.
“Who the fuck do you think you are? With boss Long Chen’s character, why would he go force such a woman? Fuck, even if that woman threatened Long Chen, Long Chen wouldn’t reply to her!”
Compared to Gu Yang’s fury, Guo Ran had been completely unperturbed. He used a medicinal pill to exchange for one of those photographic jades and stealthily hid himself to slowly appreciate it.
“Flat chest, a small butt, seedy eyes, a fat stomach, chubby legs, and a bucket-sized waist? Ha, no wonder boss didn’t even glance at her. She’s not at all boss’s taste. What a bunch of idiots. They wanted to target boss, but they weren’t even willing to put out any good bait. Tch, unprofessional, extremely unprofessional!” Guo Ran indignantly raged. “If it was me, I definitely would have picked a beauty like Hua Biluo. Then I guarantee boss would definitely take the bait.”
“Oh really?”
“Tch, of course! My boss is someone who will become incapable of moving as soon as he sees a beauty…” Guo Ran got halfway before realizing something was wrong, and turning back, he stiffened.
“Boss!”
That person behind him was Long Chen. At this time, Long Chen was disdainfully shaking his head at him.
“Little fellow, when are you going to grow up a bit? You didn’t go out to test your luck, instead secretly hiding yourself here to admire that photographic jade?”
Once Long Chen had advanced to the Tendon Transformation realm, he knew he couldn’t waste any more time. Although the Jiuli secret realm remained open for a full year, time was still extremely pressing due to how large the secret realm was.
Since he started using the Netherworld Ghost Steps, Long Chen’s speed had reached a shocking level.
In three days, he had traveled fifty thousand miles. As he had been traveling, he had suddenly sensed a familiar aura.
Advancing to Tendon Transformation had made Long Chen completely transform. His spiritual perception had become much sharper.
In practically the first instant, he recognized that aura to be Guo Ran’s, and he had followed it to this concealed mountain cave.
This fellow had been secretly hiding within this cave, admiring that woman’s performance. He had even been gesturing enthusiastically as he talked to himself. Long Chen really had a desire to give him a beating.
This scoundrel hadn’t gone to find any opportunities in the secret realm, instead doing something so shameless here.
“Boss, you’ve advanced! Congratulations!” Being caught in the act, Guo Ran was completely red and hastily put away the photographic jade.
“Don’t give me any of your nonsense. Can you not do anything proper? It’s already been a month, but have you obtained anything?” Long Chen ignored Guo Ran’s attempt at changing the subject.
“It seems this photographic jade is my only harvest.”
As soon as he said this, Guo Ran saw Long Chen’s face turn dark and hastily added, “But boss, I found a huge secret! I don’t have the strength to take it for myself, so I was helpless! Now that boss has returned, I’m sure us two brothers can get to business.”
“You aren’t tricking me?”
Long Chen was somewhat suspicious. This little fellow wouldn’t intentionally trick him in order to hide his embarrassment, would he? Yes, Guo Ran definitely would do something like that.
“I swear, it’s definitely big business! Boss, let’s go right now. If we’re too late, the treasure will be taken by others.”
After saying that, Guo Ran pulled Long Chen in the direction of an eerie valley.
Chapter 323 Mysterious Tomb
“Little fellow, are you sure you aren’t duping me? This is the treasure?” Long Chen looked at the huge cave entrance in front of them suspiciously. This cave was emitting an extremely sinister air.
“Yes, I’m sure. I feel like there’s a very great opportunity here,” said Guo Ran confidently.
“Then why do I feel such a sinister air? It looks like a tomb.”
Looking at the huge mountain, he saw that it was completely bare and black, without a single strand of grass. It was filled with a sense of decay. It didn’t seem at all like a treasure.
“It doesn’t just look like a tomb; it really is an ancient tomb,” said Guo Ran.
“You want to be a graverobber?” Long Chen was slightly surprised.
“Aiya! Boss, graverobber is such an ugly word! We’re just going in to study the ancient culture and explore th
e historical remains. Let me tell you boss, I’m sure there’s treasures inside here. I entered here before, but I was forced out by others. If I hadn’t run out fast enough, I would have ended up losing my life!” Guo Ran was somewhat indignant.
“You’ve already entered before?”
“Yup. Look, this is a rock I picked up from inside there.” Guo Ran showed him a certain stone.
Receiving that stone, Long Chen couldn’t help being startled. This egg-sized stone was black and completely unremarkable. However, it had to weigh over a thousand pounds.
Then lightly squeezing, he found that it was extremely hard as well. Now that he had advanced to the Tendon Transformation realm, his physical strength was shocking. A light squeeze of his hand could easily crush steel.
But this unremarkable stone wasn’t damaged at all. Even as Long Chen increased his strength, there was not the slightest reaction!
“How is it? It’s something good, right? If I could purify the essence out of this, it would definitely make a good weapon!” exclaimed Guo Ran.
He could now count as a dabbler in forging arts. As an occupational disease, he was obsessed with these kinds of rare materials.
“It really is something good.” Long Chen nodded. Although he didn’t know what the origin of this stone was, it was terrifyingly hard. If it was refined, it could make a terrifying weapon. However, this one piece was too small. Once it was refined, there wouldn’t be much left.
“Who were you forced out by? Have people already entered?” asked Long Chen.
“Fuck, just thinking about it pisses me off. I entered the earliest and found that it was an extremely complicated set of caves. It should be the tomb of a shocking person from long ago.
“Not long after I had entered, I ended up walking in a circle. I ended up returning to the entrance, but on the way, I also picked up this stone.
“At that time, quite a few monastery disciples appeared. As soon as those bastards saw me, they told me to hand over the treasure.
“I said I had only just entered, and they believed me as if I had really entered deeper, I wouldn’t have just dithered near the entrance.
“Since I didn’t have any treasure, they told me to scram and wouldn’t let me stay in the caves. What do you say boss? Isn’t it infuriating? They acted like they owned the place.
“When I said I wouldn’t leave, the four of them ganged up on me. From their vicious attitude, they definitely wanted my life!
“I couldn’t beat them, especially since one of them was a Favored, so I was forced out,” explained Guo Ran furiously.
“Ugh, give it up. You think I don’t know you? Stop acting like you suffered such a huge grievance. If you really were to bring out your true methods, I don’t believe you’d suffer any loss. Little fellow, get to the point. Is there a need for you to beat around the bush like this?”
Long Chen really did understand Guo Ran too well. Although his personal combat ability wasn’t high, that little fellow had studied all kinds of things, becoming crafty enough to take people’s lives; no, it should be said he had become wretched enough to take people’s lives.
Even Long Chen didn’t know how many life-preserving trump cards he had. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have fought to get him a spot for the Jiuli secret realm.
“Hehe, boss really is boss. Nothing can hide in front of you. Yes, I deliberately left. But that doesn’t change the fact that they assaulted me!” Guo Ran quibbled.
Long Chen’s expression was odd, and he looked at Guo Ran’s butt and doubtfully asked, “Assault? They wanted to screw you?”
“PFFT! Boss, you really are becoming more and more vulgar!” Guo Ran almost coughed up blood.
“Ok, let’s get down to business then. With me here, we won’t have to put up with any more of this crap, whether it’s from the Corrupt path or the Righteous path,” said Long Chen.
His voice was filled with confidence and cold killing intent. After having heard that distant, ancient voice, Long Chen felt as if he no longer had any time to waste.
Although he couldn’t figure out where the voice came from, he sensed a huge crisis drawing close. He had to get stronger.
He didn’t have the time to try to use smarts to resolve these troubles. The simplest, most direct, most effective way to resolve troubles was through martial might.
Those Righteous disciples were slowing down his cultivation speed, which was equivalent to getting Long Chen killed as well as killing the people beside him. He didn’t care whether they were part of the plot or whether they were misled. Anyone who wanted to kill his people only had one ending: death!
Hearing Long Chen’s words, Guo Ran’s heart shook. It seemed that after advancing to Tendon Transformation, Long Chen had gained some sort of indescribably domineering aspect that would make anyone feel reverence for him.
“What was your goal in backing out of here?” asked Long Chen.
“Hehe, I wanted them to explore and find the path. I feel like this tomb isn’t so simple. There’s not even a mark on this map.
“Furthermore, look at the dirt outside. It’s all very fresh. In other words, this tomb only appeared in the last twenty years. Some kind of change in the secret realm should have brought it aboveground.
“When I entered, I felt like it was a maze. It’s shockingly large inside. In any case, my strength is limited, and it’s more fun to go at it in a group than by myself.
“After those Righteous disciples made me leave, I ran into some powerful Righteous disciples and, for a very cheap price, I told them about this tomb’s position so they could explore it for themselves!”
“So you were really just using them to find the right path.” Long Chen almost laughed.
“Yup. That tomb is shockingly large, and I don’t have the ability to consume it all on my own. With this many people helping out, I’ll be able to slip in and hopefully get an advantage. But if I had known that you would arrive, I wouldn’t have shouted for so many people to come. Us two brothers could have consumed it all for our own, tch!” Guo Ran sighed gloomily.
“What is it?”
Guo Ran was a bit embarrassed. “Maybe my conning skills are too powerful, but a couple of Chosen ended up going in.
“More importantly, even Corrupt disciples heard of it and quite a few powerful figures came over.
“Ah, maybe they’re fighting and killing each other inside at this very moment. Well, you know me, I don’t like being splashed by blood, so I just hid in the distance, waiting without saying anything.”
Long Chen was speechless. This little fellow really was evil. But the little fellow’s way of handling the situation was very much to Long Chen’s taste.
That kind of style could be summed up in the following: even if I can’t beat you, I can still play you to death.
“Let’s go in and take a look.” Long Chen walked through the sinister entrance with Guo Ran. The instant he did, that sinister air penetrated him straight through to his bones.
He had only just walked in dozens of meters before seeing two corpses lying on the ground, their blood already dry.
Ordinarily, Tendon Transformation cultivators’ blood would still look fresh for three days after dying. From the look of these two corpses, they should have died over a week ago.
From their robes, these two should be Righteous disciples. But they weren’t wearing robes from the monastery, so they were most likely from another Righteous sect.
“No way? They killed people as soon as they entered?” Guo Ran was a bit shocked.
“They weren’t killed by fellow Righteous disciples. It was done by Corrupt disciples. Look at their injuries. They were all killed with a single attack that came from a crafty angle. That’s completely different from the style of the Righteous path. Let’s keep going.”
Once they had advanced several hundred meters, it had grown much darker. It was lucky that cultivators had powerful eyesight, and they could still see everything in a range of thirty meters. Bu
t everything beyond that was murky now.
As they were walking, the cave suddenly enlarged, and nine separate paths appeared.
“This is where I got lost. I picked the middle path back then. Look, there’s the mark I left behind.” Guo Ran pointed to a mark beside one of the tunnels.
“Let’s go.” Long Chen started walking to one of the other tunnels.
“Boss, how do you know which one is the right one?”
“You spread a faint layer of dust over each one of the entrances. Eight of the nine tunnels have footprints going in and out, but only this cave has no footprints going on. Little fellow, you still have a couple of smarts.”
Guo Ran truly was smart. That faint layer of dust was something he had specially made. It was extremely difficult to see, especially in this dark cave. If Long Chen didn’t understand what kind of person Guo Ran was, he could easily have missed it.
“Boss really is boss!” Guo Ran said admiringly. He had been completely convinced by his observation of even this small detail.
The two of them continued another four hundred meters. The light was growing even darker, and they couldn’t even see over three meters ahead of them. Guo Ran’s hair was standing on end.
Guo Ran took out an extremely odd cylinder around half a foot long. One side of the cylinder was covered by dozens of tiny holes.
This was one of Guo Ran’s protective inventions. There was a small trigger that would make it instantly release dozens of steel needles.
Each needle had been coated by a powerful poison Long Chen had given him. It was perfectly suited for close-range fighting.
“Put that toy away. In this darkness, you’d probably end up hitting me. With me present, there’s no need for you to do anything,” advised Long Chen.
He knew that this invention shot out needles in a broad area. Although he wouldn’t die from that poison with his powerful physical body, he still didn’t want to be hit with a poison needle.
Guo Ran hastily put it away and laughed mischievously. “Hehe, boss is domineering!”
