by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“When we meet again, either you die or I die? What kind of bullshit is this?” Long Chen burst into curses. He found it inconceivable that such a melodramatic thing could happen to him. The sudden resentment and blessing had come and gone too quickly. He hadn’t even had a chance to clearly feel it before the heavens suddenly slapped him in the face.
The most infuriating thing to him was that he didn’t doubt Zi Yan’s determination to kill him at all. In the end, Zi Yan was a member of the Illusive Music Immortal Palace, and she was loyal to her own Heavenly Dao inheritance. Well, the main thing was, just how had she decided that he was definitely a fiendish devil?
“Fuck, how did I end up provoking a killing star?!” Long Chen felt like he was going crazy. It couldn’t be that the heavens had decided that since it couldn’t kill him through heavenly tribulation, it decided to arrange such a terrifying opponent for him?
Long Chen sensed extremely terrifying energy within Zi Yan’s body. If Zi Yan had decided to kill him right here and now, he probably wouldn’t have been able to beat her.
But even though Zi Yan wasn’t killing him now, she would quickly break through to the Jade Core realm to become a King. As for Long Chen, he was still stuck at the fourth Heavenstage of Foundation Forging. When he encountered her in the future, she would be even more terrifying.
Zi Yan directly led her people to leave, without even saying goodbye to the Grand Xia’s royalty. Theoretically, that was very rude, but Long Chen knew that Zi Yan’s mental realm was too chaotic right now to care about such things.
After she was gone, Long Chen forcibly calmed the ripples that had appeared in his mind. In any case, there were plenty of people who wanted to kill him. One more didn’t matter.
That very afternoon, he received a list from the Wine God Palace’s disciples. All their wine formulas were written down there.
In total, there were 128. Long Chen realized the Wine God Palace only had 128 true disciples.
Not only did they send the wine formulas, but also the raw materials to create them and equipment for the winemaking process. Each one of them had also sent a large batch of their wine.
Long Chen got to work. In order to show his sincerity, Long Chen searched through his memory to find at least three ways to combine it with medicine, over five ways to refine it, and over ten ways to merge the Pill Dao into it from the beginning for each wine.
This would make it easier for these disciples to comprehend the Heavenly Daos during the winemaking process. They would be able to comprehend the Heavenly Daos from the two angles of both the Wine Dao and the Pill Dao.
In truth, Long Chen was only able to use a couple dozen wines these disciples gave him. The others weren’t useful to him. But Long Chen couldn’t possibly only exploit those few people while ignoring the others. That wasn’t honest.
After all, he was getting a huge advantage. All he gave them was theories, and in the future, he would be able to get as much medicinal wine from the Wine God Palace as he wanted. He had to do this matter perfectly, or he would be too embarrassed to take their wine.
The next day, when Long Chen brought the new formulas he had made to the Wine God Palace, all the disciples were shaken. The Wine God Palace went into complete seclusion, saying that they were no longer accepting any visitors. They had begun researching the formulas Long Chen had given them.
They were quickly infatuated with this way of merging the Pill Dao with the Wine Dao. They found that this new winemaking process allowed their realms to rapidly advance.
Long Chen’s methods immediately won the High Priest’s trust. He told Long Chen that the medicinal wines he needed would be supplied limitlessly by the Wine God Palace.
As for Long Chen, he was truly brazen. He even gave the High Priest dozens of medicinal formulas for his own wine. Although the High Priest’s wine was basically flawless, which person who had reached the pinnacle didn’t want to continue taking another step forward? Long Chen wrote out top tier medicinal formulas he had in his Pill Sovereign memories in accordance with the particularities of the High Priest’s wine.
Although it was very likely that none of these medicinal formulas would work out in the end, testing their luck was good too. What if it really did work?
Furthermore, the High Priest was old and bored. He wouldn’t mind researching this.
Due to the Wine God Palace becoming busy with Long Chen’s matter, Han Wenjun was unable to wait any longer. He had been waiting for the news from the Wine God Palace this entire time, because the High Priest had told him that he would think about it.
But after seven days of constantly inquiring about the state of things, even the welcoming disciple at the gates was irritated. He sent a message higher up, and he got a direct reply: the Wine God Palace had no intention of opening a branch within the next ten years. They could ask again after ten years.
They had pushed him off for ten years in one go. Han Wenjun’s expression became unsightly.
He had had two goals in coming here. One was to seduce Xia Youluo in hopes of forming a deep relationship with her. Originally, this matter was supposed to be a cinch, but Long Chen had ruined things.
Now, although Xia Youluo didn’t hate Han Wenjun, he could no longer sense that intense passion from back then.
Although Han Wenjun invited Xia Youluo to go out to play and Xia Youluo always agreed, she would bring along the other princesses as well, making it so he couldn’t use his melodramatic pick-up arts.
As for his second goal in coming here, that was to form a good relationship with the Wine God Palace, using his wine arts to win their favor and invite them to his Grand Han in order to spread the culture of wine. If the Wine God Palace joined the Grand Han, the entire nation would grow.
This was also a good thing to the Wine God Palace, but it had also been stopped by Long Chen. How could Han Wenjun possibly wait ten years?
In the end, the next day after the Wine God Palace gave him this reply, Han Wenjun and Li Wanji chose to return to the Grand Han. Long Chen was in charge of sending them to the gates, completely finishing his duty of receiving them.
“Pavilion master, both my goals were ruined. What about your side?” Within the carriage, Han Wenjun was facing Xuan Jizi, who had been missing this entire time.
“I’ve handled everything on my end,” said Xuan Jizi.
“Good. This humiliation the Grand Xia gave me, I’ll make them pay the price within the Four Nations Ancient Remnant.” Killing intent burned in Han Wenjun’s eyes.
…
After finishing off his duty of receiving the Grand Han’s delegation, Long Chen spent the majority of his time in the Wine God Palace. The disciples needed guidance during the winemaking process.
Although Long Chen knew nothing about winemaking, when it came to refining pills, he could be rated as unmatched beneath the heavens. Living in the Wine God Palace was convenient, and he would occasionally go drinking with Tu Qianshang. These days were very comfortable.
On this day, Xia Youluo and Xia Yunchong came to the Wine God Palace. They saw Long Chen and Tu Qianshang bare-chested, covered in sweat, both of their eyes red.
“Men in the country wander! Who doesn’t carry a blade? With one slash I’ll kill you, with three slashes I’ll kill you… Hahaha, you’ve lost, drink!” Long Chen laughed crazily.
Xia Yunchong was speechless. Long Chen really was a monster. Looking at the fatty’s expression refusing to admit defeat, Xia Yunchong truly doubted whether he really was a legendary figure.
He braced himself and announced, “Long Chen, that’s about enough. The Four Nations Ancient Remnant will open tomorrow, so prepare yourself. We’re moving out.”
Chapter 1203 Heaven-Encompassing Net
The next morning, Long Chen gathered with three thousand people in the Grand Xia’s imperial palace. These people were Foundation Forging experts and had yet to reach their thirties. They were the experts that the Grand Xia sent to enter the Four Nations Ancient Remna
nt.
It could be said that they were the Grand Xia’s elites. Previously, Long Chen had learned from Xia Yunchong that the Four Nations Ancient Remnant was jointly owned by the four ancient nations.
Other than the Grand Xia and the Grand Han, the other ancient nations were the Grand Zhou and the Grand Chu. All of them were around the same level of power, allowing them to maintain a subtle balance. Although these years the Grand Han had managed to raise their power by starting a culture of worshiping idols, in terms of true power, they weren’t that different.
On the contrary, the Grand Xia had the longest history and greatest foundation. Even the Wine God Palace lay within their borders. Whether it was in terms of name or position, they were ahead of the other three nations.
The Grand Zhou and Grand Chu were neither friendly nor hostile with the Grand Xia. Back then, the Grand Xia had had a good relationship with the Grand Han, but later the Grand Han had been too shameless, saying that everything was theirs, causing conflicts to arise between them. However, the four ancient nations had never truly started a war between them.
That was because the four ancient nations stood outside the Central Plains’ cultivation world. The reason they were able to receive the cultivation world’s approval was mostly due to the respect toward their inheritances and long-lasting history.
If the four nations started a huge war, weakening their power and killing their people, the Central Plains’ other powers would take advantage. At that time, their territories would be snatched up, and the four ancient nations would cease to exist.
That was why the four ancient nations always acted peaceful, with none of them willing to raise their blades against the others. The possible consequences were too grave.
The Four Nations Ancient Remnant had four entrances, which were split between the four ancient nations. Within its historical remains, they could search for treasures, and they would belong to the finders. Others were not allowed to fight against the people who found things.
Although there had been quite a few hidden fights within its history, due to their close strength, there hadn’t been any large-scale fights.
“This time, the opening of the Four Nations Ancient Remnant might not be the same as before. You should all be more careful.” The Grand Xia’s emperor personally appeared before them. Even Xia Yunchong’s master was solemnly saying something to Xia Yunchong.
After that, they all stepped onto a transportation formation within Grand Xia City. They were brought to a valley near the Grand Xia’s border.
The valley had a huge formation protecting it, as well as countless experts hiding within. When Long Chen arrived, he saw that the space at the end of the valley was in constant fluctuation.
“This is one of the four entrances to the Four Nations Ancient Remnant. The spatial channel is still in the midst of forming. It seems it will take a little while longer for it to stabilize,” Xia Yunchong explained to Long Chen.
“Long Chen, can you travel with me once we enter the Four Nations Ancient Remnant? I feel like going with you will definitely bring me more luck and more treasures.” Xia Youluo held Long Chen’s hand charmingly.
Perhaps it was because she had gotten to know Long Chen that her life had undergone heaven-toppling changes from before. Swindling wine from the Wine God Palace, encountering the Illusive Music Immortal Palace’s Zi Yan, and even personally seeing the Wine God Palace’s High Priest, these were all things she had only managed to do thanks to Long Chen. Xia Youluo had actually started to feel a bit of dependence toward him.
Before Long Chen could reply, Xia Yunfeng frowned and said, “Youluo, don’t be rash. Our imperial father has already said that entering the Four Nations Ancient Remnant is also important for Long Chen. He has to search for his own opportunities. You’ll end up affecting him like this.”
Xia Yunfeng was a much steadier person than Xia Youluo. His temperament was similar to the Grand Xia’s emperor, Xia Yuyang.
“It’s just a joke. If he doesn’t want to bring me along, then fine. My own luck is good enough. Hmph, is he so amazing?” Xia Youluo stuck her tongue out at Xia Yunfeng, making a face.
While Xia Youluo could act like a spoiled child toward Xia Yunchong, she wouldn’t dare to act that way in front of Xia Yunfeng. Xia Yunfeng was the future emperor, and everything he decided had to be for the nation. He couldn’t care so much about familial ties, making him extremely serious and grave, almost to an unreasonable point.
Amongst the princes, only Xia Yunfeng could suppress Xia Youluo. The other princes also had to act well behaved toward Xia Yunfeng.
“Long Chen, although we’ve explored the Four Nations Ancient Remnant many times throughout the years, many places can only be entered through chance. My imperial father has already said that any opportunities you win in the Four Nations Ancient Remnant will belong solely to you. There’s no need to even mention what you gain to others,” said Xia Yunfeng.
“Many thanks. Hopefully my luck… will be a bit better this time.”
When he mentioned his luck, Long Chen felt disheartened. It seemed he had never had any affinity with that word.
But Xia Yuyang truly had some style to allow him, an outsider, to enter the Four Nations Ancient Remnant. Even the princes of the Grand Xia had to hand over whatever they obtained within to the Grand Xia, and only then would they be rewarded merits based on what they had gained.
“Youluo, you should be careful of Han Wenjun during this time. He doesn’t have any good intentions,” warned Long Chen. He was worried about Xia Youluo being foolishly tricked. This child was too pure-hearted and naive.
“I know. Furthermore, the Four Nations Ancient Remnant is huge. It’s unknown whether I’ll even run into him, and if I do, I’ll just ignore him,” said Xia Youluo.
Xia Yunchong and Xia Yunfeng looked at each other and felt more at ease. Only Long Chen could have warned Xia Youluo about this. If either of them tried, Xia Youluo would immediately explode and intentionally go against what they said.
Xia Yunchong was focusing on the Martial Dao, while Xia Yunfeng was the future successor of the Grand Xia. The two of them were close, as they were the future pillars of the Grand Xia. One could govern the nation, while one could maintain peace in the nation. They were the two sons that Xia Yuyang was the proudest of.
Although Xia Yunfeng didn’t focus completely on the Martial Dao, he still possessed exceptional talent. As a rank eight Celestial, his combat power was immense. This time, he would be the leader of the Grand Xia’s party in the Four Nations Ancient Remnant. Everything had been arranged, and now they were just patiently waiting.
…
Just as Long Chen and the others were patiently waiting, on the side of the Grand Han, numerous experts had gathered. Han Wenjun, Li Wanji, and the others were all there.
There were two other men beside Han Wenjun who looked somewhat similar to him. Their ages were also similar.
These two were the other two members of the Grand Han’s Three Monarchs - Han Qijun and Han Bijun.[1]
Han Qijun and Han Bijun were both princes of the Grand Han, and although they were jointly known as the Three Monarchs with Han Wenjun, in terms of talent and looks, they were a level inferior to Han Wenjun. That was why Han Wenjun was the leader of the Three Monarchs, and he was also the future heir to the throne of the Grand Han.
The Three Monarchs were all terrifying rank eight Celestials. The Grand Han had done their best on a national scale to raise them into top geniuses.
Behind the Three Monarchs were seven other experts, all of whom were rank seven Celestials. They were the Grand Han’s Eight Princes. Not being a part of the imperial family’s main bloodline, they weren’t real princes, just the top experts of the branch families.[2]
However, one of them had already been slain by Long Chen. Now, the name of the Eight Princes had already been removed, because it had become a humiliation.
Other than the Three Monarchs and those seven experts, as well as th
e Grand Han’s other elite disciples, there were dozens of other mysterious figures who were wearing conical hats to conceal their faces. They were all surrounded by a layer of light and quite different from the Grand Han’s other experts.
“Let me first say this, Long Chen is ours. He must be killed by us, the ancient races.” One of the figures wrapped in the light was a large well-built man. He raised his hat slightly, revealing a pair of eagle-like eyes.
Those eyes contained countless runes. It was like his eyes concealed a volcano that might erupt with apocalyptic power at any moment.
“That might not be possible. Long Chen challenged two of my Bloodkill Hall’s strongholds and destroyed the Killing God’s statue, blaspheming our god. He has been put at the very top of my Bloodkill Hall’s must-kill list. We must use Long Chen’s blood to placate the Killing God’s anger.” A tall skinny man icily opened his mouth.
This man had his face completely concealed by his hat, and not the slightest bit of his aura leaked out. Without personally seeing him, it wasn’t even possible to sense his existence.
“There’s no need to fight. Whether it is the ancient races or the Bloodkill Hall, you both hate Long Chen to the bone. But there’s only one Long Chen, and it’s impossible to split him in half for you. So the person who kills him will be decided by who has the power. But don’t forget your agreement with my Grand Han, as well as your promises to each other,” warned Han Wenjun.
“Don’t worry, my Pill Valley is supporting this, while the Heavenly Fate Pavilion has done the calculations. There’s zero chance of failure. Moreover, I don’t care who kills Long Chen, but whatever he has on his body belongs to us. The Tower Master must take Long Chen’s items. You understand?” said a pretty-faced man lightly.
Although he hadn’t released his aura, the space around him was constantly twisting as if he was wrapped in invisible flames that could burn the heavens and incinerate the seas.
“As long as we can kill Long Chen and erase our disgrace, we won’t touch any of his items,” said the Bloodkill Hall’s expert calmly. He then looked at the ancient races’ expert. “As for who can wash away their disgrace, it’ll be up to who has that ability. However, it seems my Bloodkill Hall is the professional when it comes to that. The prey we set our sights on never manages to escape.”
