by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
That made Long Chen furious. The heavens were not only rejecting him, but they were also rejecting Little Snow.
When the third bolt of terrifying lightning descended, he finally roared furiously, and thunderforce covered his right hand as he ruthlessly struck the lightning tribulation.
BOOM!
Long Chen’s qi and blood surged violently. However, he still managed to block the attack.
Originally, the thunderclouds had already begun to show signs of dissipating, but once Long Chen’s fist broke apart the lightning, heaven and earth began to rage, and an area of tens of thousands of miles once more became filled with thunderclouds. A terrifying pressure locked Long Chen down.
“Come then. I want to see just what you can do to me this time!”
Long Chen placed Little Snow into his spiritual space and fed him a healing pill to stabilize his current condition. Right now, he had no time to heal him.
Suddenly, the sky shook and a rain of lightning crashed down.
“It’s the same order as last time?” Long Chen was surprised. He allowed the lightning to fall on his body. This thunderforce was no longer able to cause any damage to him.
Instead, he began to absorb the lightning. The lightning serpent tattoo on his left arm, which was where all his thunderforce runes had gathered, was like a bloodthirsty beast that had seen food, and it began to crazily devour this thunderforce.
BOOM! As time passed, the lightning grew stronger, each blow containing a boundless destructive aura.
“I didn’t expect my body to have strengthened so much. Last time, I would have needed to defend with my full strength against this level of lightning, but now, I can endure it without even defending.”
Long Chen raised his arms, allowing the lightning to strike him as much as it wished. The lightning serpent on his arm was crazily devouring the thunderforce for itself.
Long Chen’s physical body had already reached an abnormally powerful level. This terrifying lightning couldn’t cause any real injuries to him.
Suddenly, the tribulation clouds rumbled, and two lightning pythons shot out from the clouds, causing the void to tremble.
Most terrifying of all, those two pythons suddenly merged while in midair, and a terrifying aura gave Long Chen a chill.
The two pythons rapidly twisted around each other, attacking Long Chen with a destructive aura.
“Hehe, you’ve finally appeared.” Battle intent soared from Long Chen. Last time, this pair of lightning pythons had nearly taken his life, causing him to feel extremely irritated.
Even if the pair of lightning pythons represented the will of the Heavenly Daos, he didn’t care. All he knew was that it was time for revenge.
The lightning serpent on his arm lit up, and a huge lightning blade appeared in his hand. Countless thunderforce runes flickered over it, causing the void to tremble.
“Split the Heavens!”
Long Chen roared, and a will that caused heaven and earth to tremble surged into the sky.
BOOM!
The void almost exploded. The lightning blade and the lightning pythons shattered at the same time. Long Chen flew back, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
However, this slight injury was nothing to him. Looking at the clouds that were finally scattering, Long Chen suddenly laughed.
That was a release of emotions, as well as a provocation. You want to exterminate me? Wait until I’m stronger. Then I’ll exterminate you.
The black clouds scattered. The tribulation was over. Long Chen called out Little Snow. Although Little Snow was covered in blood and many of his bones were broken, his life energy was growing stronger. Furthermore, Long Chen sensed a powerful pressure from him.
“No crystal core, no Neidan. How curious. All his energy is distributed within his flesh.” Long Chen examined Little Snow’s body, finding no Neidan or crystal core. His energy was distributed throughout each and every cell. The red tuft of hair on his head had now become a complex mark.
Little Snow was still unconscious, and Long Chen could sense his body slowly recovering, so he didn’t give him any medicinal pills. If he could heal on his own, it was best not to consume any medicine.
“What a powerful recovery ability. Looks like he really did reach the fifth rank. However, he’s still in the midst of transforming.”
Long Chen couldn’t be completely sure, but it didn’t seem like there were any problems.
Little Snow had mutated, and it was best to let everything come naturally. Carefully putting Little Snow back in his spiritual space, he returned to the monastery.
While he had been gone, the investigative team had begun to make its way through the first monastery.
However, the Dragonblood Legion ignored them according to Long Chen’s instructions and simply focused on cultivating. Furthermore, it wasn’t as if they really knew anything about that crap pool other than that it had their own contribution inside it.
As for the ordinary disciples and Elders, they never learned what had happened. Their investigation didn’t reveal anything.
However, after the investigative team had gone through the crap pool, they transported it far away. After all, such a thing was too offensive to leave in the monastery.
Everything went according to Long Chen’s predictions. The investigation was just a formality and wouldn’t lead to any conclusion. Although Zhou Qingyi was certain it was done by Long Chen, she was unable to find any proof.
Furthermore, she was also being closely followed by Shui Wuhen. She was helpless to do anything, and so Long Chen managed to escape the law.
The first thing Long Chen did upon returning to the monastery was to find Guo Ran. That little fellow truly was not bad, and he had managed to accomplish the task he had given him.
After leaving Guo Ran’s residence, he went to visit Meng Qi. Meng Qi was just blankly looking at the Violet Phoenix Sparrow in front of her. It was unknown what she was thinking.
“Long Chen!” When she saw Long Chen, her eyes brightened and she hastily came to greet him with delight.
“Why are you just lost in thought all by yourself? Could it be that you miss me?” laughed Long Chen.
What surprised Long Chen was that Meng Qi nodded, blushing. “I was worried about you.”
“Worried about me?” he asked with surprise.
“Long Chen, it’s not just me. Wan-er is the same. Each time we see you face off against powerful enemies, our hearts clench inside.”
Seeing the worry in Meng Qi’s beautiful eyes, Long Chen felt a burst of warmth and lightly pulled Meng Qi into his embrace, burying his head into Meng Qi’s hair.
“Sorry, I’ve made you worry.”
Meng Qi’s arms tightly wrapped around Long Chen’s waist, her heart filled with warmth.
“Long Chen, how about we leave the monastery? We won’t need to cultivate. We can just be some commoners living in seclusion. We’ll live an ordinary life, give birth to a group of kids, and pass each day happily.
“Although our lives will be shorter, we can pass each day peacefully. We won’t have to be constantly on edge,” said Meng Qi.
Meng Qi’s words caused Long Chen’s heart to tremble. The image of a maiden appeared in his mind. Although she wasn’t extremely beautiful, she had a pair of beautiful eyes as well as a kind smile.
Xiao Hao was still in that nameless little village. When she had parted with Long Chen, she had given him a necklace that Long Chen constantly wore now. Her final words rang out within his mind again.
“Long Chen, I know I can’t keep you. I made this just now. I hope you can forever wear it on your body. Haha, perhaps this gift is too poor and will be laughed at.”
“I just hope that when you look upon this necklace in the future, you’ll remember that there was once a girl… whose heart… yearned to go hunting with you… and make babies.”
That expression of melancholy and her soft voice appeared in his mind, causing him a burst of pain.
Long C
hen also wanted to give up the struggle of walking the cultivation path. He didn’t care about fame or profit, but how could he not want to learn who his parents were? How could he live like that?
But that didn’t change the fact that this was a dangerous path. It was possible to fall at any time. Meng Qi was a quiet and peaceful woman. The sole reason she had slaughtered so many people in the secret realm was because of Long Chen.
She felt a great aversion to killing inside. But each time she saw Long Chen facing powerful enemies, she would feel afraid, afraid that she would lose him.
“Meng Qi, I promise you, I’ll be fine. Trust me.” Long Chen looked into Meng Qi’s eyes, giving her a solemn promise.
“I’m sorry, Long Chen. I shouldn’t be like this. This will disturb your Dao-heart. I’m just being too emotional.
“There’s a saying in the secular world: if you marry a chicken, follow the chicken; if you marry a dog, follow the dog. Since you’re my fiancé, I’ll leave it up to you. Wherever you go, I’ll go. We’ll be together in life and death.” Meng Qi took out a small piece of paper, a smile appearing on her face.
That paper was the marriage contract he had given her back then. She had carefully protected it all this time. She handed it back to him.
“You should take care of the marriage contract. Now I’m your fiancée again.”
Long Chen looked at the marriage contract, all kinds of emotions surging within his heart. The scene atop the Sunset Mountain once more appeared in his mind. He felt as if countless years had already passed since then.
“You should keep the marriage contract. It’s just a souvenir now. I’ve already said the marriage contract doesn’t count. I’ll pursue you anew.” Long Chen held Meng Qi’s hand, laughing.
“Didn’t you… already manage to do that.” Meng Qi blushed, her face like a peach blossom in bloom, making Long Chen’s heart pound.
“When pursuing a woman, you naturally have to have gifts. Come, let me give you a custom-made gift.” Long Chen laughed mysteriously and took out a beautiful case.
Chapter 517 Challenged to a Fight
“What is this?” asked Meng Qi, looking at the beautiful case.
“Haha, beautiful miss, please have a look!”
Long Chen opened the case, revealing an exquisite hairpin inside. Meng Qi involuntarily exclaimed, “How beautiful!”
The hairpin was seven inches long and completely golden. Complicated lines had been carved into it. At the head of the hairpin was a beautiful flower. It had eighteen petals and thirty-six pistils, looking just like a real flower.
What made Meng Qi the most surprised was that even the extremely delicate pistils were covered in decorative designs that would have required immense skill to carve. It was so beautiful that she instantly fell in love with it.
“Is this really for me?” asked Meng Qi.
“Of course. It took me a long time to carve and polish this gift. It took a lot of effort,” said Long Chen.
“Thank you, Long Chen!” Meng Qi tightly embraced Long Chen. She was filled with delight when she looked at the hairpin. There was no woman who could resist such a beautiful ornament.
However, if Guo Ran heard Long Chen’s words, it was unknown whether or not he would take his hammer and smash his boss who he respected so much.
It was true Long Chen had spent a great deal of time creating and polishing the design of this hairpin. But to say it had taken him a lot of work to make it was a bit shameless, as that hairpin was something Guo Ran had worked day and night for half a month in order to create.
“Oh?” Meng Qi suddenly let out a startled cry when she carefully held the hairpin in her hand.
“What? It feels a bit similar, right?” Long Chen smiled.
“This…” Meng Qi was a bit bewildered.
“Hehe, yes, it was created from the golden page.” Long Chen laughed. He explained, “This hairpin is now a true soul item. The eighteen petals and thirty-six pistils, along with the main body of the hairpin, can all be separated and used as weapons.
“Each piece has soul imprint runes carved into it. As long as you nourish them with your soul, then your soul energy can send out even a single pistil to kill someone silently.”
Soul items were extremely precious, and apparently, even the Wind Spirit Pavilion’s master had only possessed one soul item, a ferrule that was extremely powerful.
But regretfully, Long Chen hadn’t gotten to see it. Under that lightning tribulation, all of them had been completely exterminated, their bodies turned to dust.
Perhaps it was possible for an absolutely supreme spatial ring to survive, but Long Chen had been heavily injured, so he hadn’t had any time to clean up the battlefield.
Only someone on the level of the pavilion master had had the qualifications to possess a soul item, so it could be seen how precious they were.
“Could it be that Guo Ran made this? Creating a soul item must have been very taxing.” Meng Qi finally recalled how Long Chen had asked her for the golden page that day and then immediately went to find Guo Ran.
Taxing? Of course, it was taxing. Otherwise, that little fellow wouldn’t have almost turned hostile against him. Creating it was nothing, but the taxing part was carving those runes.
If it had been an ordinary soul item, then it would have been fine, but to carve runes into those tiny, delicate pistils was incredibly difficult.
It was fortunate Guo Ran had a shocking talent when it came to forging. He had also comprehended some tricks from the Ethereal Crafting Secret Record. Although it was an extremely shallow understanding, runes were something a forging master had to have mastered, and so it was something he was capable of doing, but it was incredibly difficult.
Just creating this small hairpin had been more difficult for him to create than his entire armor.
“For the next few days, you should pause your cultivation and focus on refining the hairpin with your soul energy. Once you brand your spiritual imprint on it, you’ll have another trump card,” said Long Chen.
If she was fighting an enemy, Meng Qi could use Magical Beasts to protect herself and then stealthily send out a flower pistil to one-shot her enemy.
This hairpin was made of soul gold, and that was something only Xiantian weapons or material on that level could block. But Xiantian weapons were incredibly precious, and less than one in two Xiantian experts possessed one.
As for Xiantian armor, that was practically unheard of. But without Xiantian armor, how would you defend against this soul item?
It could be said that once Meng Qi could use this hairpin, she would become capable of killing Xiantian experts, and her killing power might become the highest of them all.
After talking with Meng Qi for a while, Long Chen didn’t hold her up from refining the hairpin any longer. He returned to his own residence to enter seclusion.
Taking advantage of this time when no one was disturbing them, he began to crazily devour medicinal pills. When Meng Qi had tried to persuade him to retire from the cultivation world, he had felt immense pain from the bottom of his heart.
He couldn’t watch as the people around him were killed. He also couldn’t give up on finding his biological parents. So, his only choice right now was to get stronger!
Whether it was for the people by his side, his parents, or even that mysterious voice that rang in his head occasionally, he had to get stronger.
He had no retreat path. He had to charge forward all-out, because as soon as he slowed down, he would lose the companions he cherished.
…
During this time, the supermonastery was extremely calm. However, this calm was a bit frightening, because the investigation team only worked for a week before disbanding.
Zhou Qingyi wasn’t a fool, and she had already realized Long Chen hadn’t left any openings for her to catch him. Continuing like this was a waste of time and would even make people laugh at her.
So, she directly gave up on the investigation, and
she sent her son back to the Xuantian Dao Sect, hoping to use her connections to invite an expert soul cultivator to seal a portion of his memories.
Sealing a portion of a person’s memories was equivalent to sealing a portion of their Spiritual Strength. In other words, that person’s soul would no longer be complete, and it would make it impossible for them to advance.
But in any case, Zhou Qifeng had always been famed for being useless. He had only reached the mid Xiantian realm thanks to a mountain of resources and special treatment. The late Xiantian realm would have been his absolute limit. For him to advance out of the Xiantian realm was an impossibility.
Since that was the case, it was best to just seal a portion of his memories. That way, he could at least live normally for a few more years.
After handling that, Zhou Qingyi didn’t make any further moves nor did she target the first monastery. Everything was exceedingly quiet.
But this quiet was unable to give people a feeling of peace. This was like the calm before the storm, and it was unknown when that storm would erupt.
This quiet lasted for a whole month. After this month had passed, a group of people appeared in the first monastery’s transportation formation.
“Long Chen, get the hell out here! I, Han Tianyu, have come to challenge you to a fight!”
A furious shout rang throughout the entire monastery, and all the disciples rushed over to the transportation formation.
“Han Tianyu!”
When they saw who it was, their expressions changed. That person was acclaimed the supermonastery’s junior generation’s number one expert, a once-in-a-thousand-year genius, Han Tianyu.
Currently, his expression was extremely dark, and killing intent filled his eyes. He seemed like a furious Magical Beast, and just looking at him gave people chills.
Behind Han Tianyu was a woman. Many people recognized her, as she had once come to the first monastery. She was the Yin family’s half-step Sea Expansion expert, Yin Qing.
Beside that woman was an icy man with a pair of eagle eyes. That man’s gaze icily swept over everything.
