by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
He didn’t know how much time had passed before he finally opened his eyes. Little Snow was still running. Only after asking him did he learn that it had already been three days.
Long Chen had Little Snow stop by a fresh stream. Drinking some water, he rested, adjusting his condition.
After this slumber, many things had appeared in his head. What made Long Chen delighted was that the formula for the fourth star, the Enlightenment Palace Star, had finally appeared in his head.
The only thing that made him a bit depressed was that the pill formula required 136 sixth tier supplementary medicinal ingredients, 28 of which he did not have.
There were also nine main sixth tier ingredients, of which he was lacking one. It had to be known that Long Chen had long since entrusted Zheng Wenlong with gathering all kinds of rare medicines for him. But even with Zheng Wenlong’s efficiency, he was still unable to obtain those medicines. That meant these ingredients were incredibly rare, rare to the point that even the Huayun Sect would require a long time to find them.
Refining the Enlightenment Palace Pill was one problem. But he had a bigger problem. That was that voice.
Now, Long Chen had confirmed this voice was not the voice of the dragon expert. He didn’t know where it was coming from. But each time it appeared, he would feel like his head was lost in a haze.
He felt more and more pressed for time, but as for why, he was unable to tell. That made him extremely vexed.
If he knew what the reason behind this was, perhaps he could come up with some way to handle it. But Long Chen had no idea what the danger this voice kept speaking of was. That was what irritated him the most.
“Pill Sovereign memories? Nine Star Hegemon Body Art? Ten planar worlds? What are they…?”
Long Chen rubbed his head bitterly. This was a complete muddle, and there was nothing for him to form a good theory on.
Furthermore, having cultivated to this point, he had felt that he was getting closer to having the qualifications to find out about the origins of his parents.
But after hearing about the structure of the Martial Heaven Continent, he realized he was far too minute. There was still a long journey before he could stand at the peak of the martial path.
A green scale appeared in his hand. Right now, the power of the scale was completely locked inside it. That was something the dragon expert had done to maintain the essence blood inside it.
“Having advanced to Xiantian and undergone the baptism of the lightning tribulation, my physical body has grown much stronger. But I still sense a great danger from the scale. I’m still unable to refine it.”
Long Chen didn’t know exactly what level his physical body had reached, but he knew that he had undergone a complete transformation this time.
The energy within him was like a volcano that wished to explode. Long Chen trusted that with his current strength, he no longer needed to fear early Sea Expansion experts.
However, one discovery angered him. It was true that he had gotten stronger, and his spiritual qi had transformed from a gaseous state to a liquid state, becoming spiritual yuan. But no matter how he tried, he was unable to use his spiritual qi to control the natural energy like others. He was unable to form a resonance with heaven and earth. He cursed in fury.
His cultivation path was completely different from others. He couldn’t try cultivating like others.
But fortunately the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was so powerful. Who cared if the heavens rejected him? He could refine his own pills and forge his own path. He didn’t need the damn energy of heaven and earth.
Long Chen sank into thought. He needed to be cool-headed right now. He pondered his future cultivation path.
Currently, the Corrupt path would definitely do whatever they could to kill him. They had sent five Sea Expansion experts, nine Celestials, and eighty thousand Xiantian elites, but they had all been exterminated because of Long Chen. If news of that got out, the entire Eastern Wasteland would be shaken.
That was too dangerous. He could become the target of the Corrupt path as well as the Righteous path. Furthermore, the Bloodkill Hall wouldn’t leave things as they were either.
The Bloodkill Hall’s assassins were too terrifying. Their concealing arts were monstrous, as even the Heavenly Daos had been unable to sense them. Even Long Chen hadn’t imagined that they would dare hide right beside him while he underwent tribulation. If the Sea Expansion expert hadn’t released his aura, perhaps Long Chen really might have suffered from their sudden attack.
Right now, Long Chen could be considered to be surrounded by enemies. This was no good. He had to think of something else.
The Dragonblood Legion had just advanced to Xiantian, and this perfect advancement had laid down a solid foundation for their future path. Their future prospects were unlimited.
Tang Wan-er and Meng Qi had now become Celestials. That would definitely shake the Xuantian Dao Sect, and they would be given special care. He had no need to worry about that side.
“Damnit, after all this thinking, aren’t I the only one who needs to be worried about?”
He realized that everyone else’s paths had already been set up perfectly. Only he had to choose something unorthodox.
If he returned to the Xuantian Supermonastery, he would also be given great care by the Xuantian Dao Sect. He would most likely be directly sent through the supermonastery to the branch sect. It went without saying that he would end up joining the Shui family.
Once he joined the Shui family, he would once again be at the heart of the struggle. The Zhou family and the Shui family were like water and fire. Long Chen disliked that kind of idiotic inner strife, so he decided returning was not an option.
“Oh, how could I forget about that?”
Long Chen suddenly thought of a certain thing. That was a tablet he had obtained in Phoenix Cry. Grandmaster Yun Qi had bestowed it to him.
This was a token of Pill Valley. Grandmaster Yun Qi had once said that only someone who had reached the Pill King rank before eighteen had the qualifications to use that tablet to join Pill Valley.
Later, Long Chen had asked around and found that his words had been off. It was true that you could join Pill Valley with this tablet. But first, you had to go through the Pill Tower’s selection.
Pill King only represented that someone could refine fourth tier medicinal pills. Long Chen had already advanced to the Xiantian realm, and his Spiritual Strength was as vast as an ocean. His refining arts were especially so exquisite that he could look down on anyone else.
If he went to the Pill Tower, there were many things he could do. One was to gather all the medicinal ingredients for the Enlightenment Palace Star. Of course, the more kinds of medicinal ingredients the better. He had more than enough space.
The other thing to do was to prepare a gift for the Huo family. Not doing so wouldn’t be in accordance with his style.
The most important thing was that if Long Chen didn’t condense the Enlightenment Palace Star, he wouldn’t be able to bring his body to its peak state and refine the green dragon essence blood. With the Green Dragon Body Tempering Art, his power would leap to a whole new level.
For all these reasons, after carefully thinking about everything, Long Chen decided to go be an obedient student at the Pill Tower.
Following that decision, he borrowed the stream water to dissolve a high tier appearance-changing pill. Applying that mixture on himself, his skin quickly changed color to become slightly dark, glowing with a healthy light.
He adjusted portions of his face, but he didn’t need to make too many adjustments. There were far too many people in this world, and there were many people who looked alike.
His brow ridge was now slightly raised, and the corner of his eye was slightly sunken. Two dimples appeared when he smiled which made him appear handsome. But no matter how a person looked at him, he wouldn’t seem like a good person.
“Hehe, this is the best. It won’t draw other people�
��s jealousy.”
Long Chen looked at himself in the mirror. With a pleased smile, he led Little Snow away from the stream.
Chapter 649 Ugly Face
The news that the chaos region had been destroyed within a single day rapidly spread. As soon as Shui Wuhen returned to the supermonastery, she alerted the Dao Sect that the Corrupt path had publicly broken the agreement, and their experts were currently bathing the chaos region in the blood of the Righteous path.
The Xuantian Dao Sect was completely infuriated. They immediately transmitted this news to the various large Righteous sects. They also immediately dispatched experts to join Shui Wuhen in killing their way into the chaos region.
But the chaos region was located in an extremely isolated and far off region of the Eastern Wasteland. It took several transportation formations as well as a great deal of travel to get there.
As a result, it was already the next day by the time they arrived. The Righteous path had been filled with killing intent and just been about to settle the bill with the Corrupt path when they saw everything within a range of ten thousand miles had been turned into an abyss.
They were all shocked. How was this the chaos region? Even Xiantian experts wouldn’t dare to enter this place due to the lingering destructive aura.
If a Meridian Opening expert tried to go in, they would immediately be annihilated by that destructive aura. This had become a hell on earth.
Let alone them, even Shui Wuhen was dumbfounded. She had been hoping that by leading all these people, she could save Long Chen. Although that hope had been remote, she was extremely confident in Long Chen. Perhaps Long Chen really could have created a miracle and lasted until she arrived.
But when she had left, this place had been a battlefield. Now that she returned, it had turned into this. If there weren’t still some markings in the surroundings, she would suspect that this wasn’t even the chaos region.
Where were the five Sea Expansion experts, where were the Celestials, where was the army of tens of thousands of Corrupt disciples? How could they all disappear? And looking around, she saw no signs of an army leaving. What had happened here?
Although she had no idea what had happened, there was one thing she was sure of. This definitely was because of Long Chen.
Later, the other experts guessed that heavenly punishment had occurred here.
This heavenly punishment wasn’t referring to heavenly tribulation. Heavenly punishment was the wrath of the Heavenly Daos. It was divine punishment, one that would exterminate everything.
They came to that conclusion due to the endless destructive aura remaining on the ground. Heavenly tribulation was used to temper a person’s body. Although it also contained some destructive aura, ninety percent of it was life energy.
But this destructive lightning aura didn’t contain the slightest bit of life. It was entirely destructive. This could only be called heavenly punishment, the punishment of the Heavenly Daos.
“Could it be that the Corrupt path slaughtered too many people, and so the heavens decided to make them pay a price?”
Although this theory was a bit absurd, it was the only explanation that they could think of.
On the same day that the Righteous experts arrived, the Corrupt path’s experts also appeared. The Corrupt path had suddenly stopped receiving any updates about their operation this time, and feeling that something was off, they had sent some experts to investigate.
As soon as they appeared, the Righteous path surrounded them. The Corrupt path had only sent some people to investigate, and they were much weaker than the army the Righteous path had brought. They were instantly caught.
An expert soul cultivator directly soulsearched them. And after that soulsearch, he laughed heartily.
“Five grand Sea Expansion experts, nine Celestials, and eighty thousand Xiantian elites! Hahaha, good! The Corrupt path was really screwed this time.”
From soulsearching, he learned about the general situation. When the others heard these many Corrupt experts had come here to steal the ores but had clearly died here, the Righteous path cheered and clapped.
But just after they began to cheer, they realized the people from the Xuantian Dao Sect were all extremely gloomy. They immediately realized the truth.
Stealing the ores had just been an excuse for the Corrupt path. Their true goal had been to kill Long Chen. In order to do so, they had even been willing to set up an incredibly giant formation.
Thinking of that, they thought of who Long Chen was. He wasn’t even a Celestial, but he had managed to defeat Yin Wushang. That was enough to show that his future accomplishments would be limitless.
But how did such a genius get sent to a place like this? People began to quietly ask this question to the members of the Xuantian Dao Sect, causing their expressions to become even uglier.
“I told you this was a trap, a trap to kill Long Chen, but you wouldn’t believe me. It’s all your fault that Long Chen has died.” Shui Wuhen’s eyes were red, and she raged at a group of elders. No one could survive this kind of heavenly punishment; Long Chen was definitely dead. Thinking of that, Shui Wuhen’s tears streamed down.
“Cough, you can’t put it like that. It was just an accident,” said an elder.
“Nonsense! It was your Zhou family that constantly targeted Long Chen. Did you think no one noticed the fact that you accepted bribes from the Pill Tower to intentionally punish Long Chen?!” raged Shui Wuhen.
There were thousands of Righteous experts here. They were all people who had had mines here, which also meant they were powerful people with their own status. Shui Wuhen’s furious roars immediately drew all their attention.
“You… don’t randomly make up lies to slander my Zhou family!” The elder was also enraged, but he did his best to cover it up, panic flashing in the depths of his eyes.
“Slander? Haha, HAHAHA! Just how many people in the Xuantian Dao Sect don’t know about your Zhou family’s despicable actions? Do I even need to slander you!”
“Hmph, your Shui family isn’t any better!” snorted the Zhou family elder.
“Wuhen, don’t say anymore. If you want to talk about it, wait until we return to the sect. Now isn’t the time,” ordered a lean elder. He was someone beyond the Sea Expansion realm, someone known as an Ancestor-level expert. His voice and aura were both filled with majesty.
By arguing here, the two of them would only cause others to laugh at the Xuantian Dao Sect, so he hastily stopped them.
“We’ll talk once we return to the sect? What will we talk about?! Who is going to listen?! I already said that this was a trap targeting Long Chen, but what did you say? All you said was that you would discuss it later! And wasn’t the result that later became tomorrow, and tomorrow became the day after?! Now, Long Chen is dead. Are you happy?!” raged Shui Wuhen.
“Silence! Shui Wuhen, using my status as vice sect master, I order you to return to your supermonastery immediately!” ordered the elder.
“Fine, I’m going. I want to see just how you would deal with everyone’s ridicule.”
Shui Wuhen wiped off her tears. Wings appeared on her back, and she disappeared from everyone’s gazes.
The Righteous path’s experts all had odd expressions. Everyone here was an old fox. From just their short exchanges, they could tell most of what had happened.
After all, in the Righteous path, these kinds of secret backstabs were far too common. However, only a few people had any sympathies. In fact, there were many more that were delighted in their misfortune; of course, they couldn’t display that. They had to act as if it was a great pity. Fortunately for them, that was the act they were most proficient in.
“Long Chen, a generation’s genius, a hero that died in his prime. How regretful. Let me express my sorrow for your sect.”
“Long Chen was truly a hero. His sacrifice was worth it. I feel like your sect should compensate his family.”
“Long Chen sacrificed himself, but five Se
a Expansion experts, nine Celestials, and eighty thousand Xiantian disciples were also killed with him. I feel like you should immediately establish a statue to commemorate his heroic sacrifice.”
…
After a few consolatory words, they said their goodbyes. There was nothing else for them to do, as there had originally been less and less ore coming out of these mines recently. They had only come in order to demand an explanation from the Corrupt path.
But considering how heavy the losses of the Corrupt path were, their own losses were nothing. The Corrupt path was definitely filled with fury now, and it was not suitable to get into contact with them.
So leaving was the best option. The Corrupt path was filled with madmen. Considering how angry they were, there was no telling what kind of crazy things they would do.
They had to return and make their preparations against any possible sneak attacks from them. If they were caught unprepared, it would be troublesome.
Long Chen’s death had nothing to do with them. Actually, the death of a peerless genius wouldn’t bring them any grief. In fact, now they had one less competitor to worry about.
“They want us to build a statue in commemoration for Long Chen? Their heads must have rotted,” muttered the Zhou family elder.
“Shut up! I think your head is the one that has rotted! Don’t think I don’t know what vile acts your Zhou family have committed. But this time, you’ve really gone too far! Don’t let me find any proof, or don’t blame me for the consequences!” roared the vice sect master. With a gloomy expression, he led the Xuantian Dao Sect’s people away.
…
Seven days later, Long Chen appeared in a Huayun auction house within the secular world. In a private room, he was facing Zheng Wenlong.
“Brother Long, thank goodness you’re still alive.”
Zheng Wenlong gave Long Chen a tight embrace and then hit him. “When I heard you were dead, I even thought about killing myself to end it. I would never be able to repay my debt.”
