by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“Little sister…” Long Chen put on a smile and did his best to speak warmly.
The woman jumped in shock and hastily retreated. “Your smile is so sinister. Can you not smile like that? I’m afraid.”
“Hahaha…”
Long Chen’s smile stiffened, while Evilmoon’s heartless laughter rang out in his mind, making him want to slap it.
Seeing Long Chen’s expression sink, the woman laughed. “I’m just teasing you. Who asked you to con me at the start? Now we’re even.”
So he had actually fallen for the teasing of a girl. Long Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
After that joke, she became even friendlier with Long Chen. She introduced herself as Xie Qianqian. She came from a region called the Alldevil star-field.
“The Alldevil star-field? Have you heard of the Alldevil race?” asked Long Chen, surprised.
“You know about the Alldevil race?” asked Xie Qianqian, just as surprised as Long Chen.
Long Chen immediately said that he had encountered one of them in a minor world. He described its appearance.
“That truly is one of the bastards of the Alldevil race. The majority of the Alldevil star-field has been taken over by them, which is of course where it gets its name. Those despicable bastards slaughtered countless people. We’re their enemies, and my parents, they… they were killed by them.” Tears dripped down her cheek without her knowing it.
Long Chen didn’t know how to console her. He could only silently listen. Xie Qianqian wiped away her tears and continued.
“That happened three years ago. My parents died in battle. While they were still alive, all the relatives did their best to curry favor with them, but after they died, they immediately showed me their true selves. They were doing their best to win favor with me in order to get my parent’s wealth. Hmph, I knew what kind of people they were from the start, so I sold off all my parents’ assets and left my household. I’m going to become strong and become a grand warrior capable of avenging my parents. That’s why I want to study at my star-field’s strongest academy. However, I can’t afford their tuition, so I bet everything on renting this special flying boat in hopes of getting a high return when I attacked the Life and Death realm. Oh, that would be your Netherpassage realm. Long Chen, I really need to thank you. This life spirit water should be enough for my tuition. Even if it’s not enough, I should be able to make up the difference through other means.”
Long Chen nodded. He really had misjudged her. He had thought that this woman had come out to play since she belonged to some powerful family with amazing treasures.
Just like he had his own difficulties, she had hers as well.
“Admirable.”
Long Chen gave her a thumbs-up along with some sincere praise.
A confused girl who had come out of nowhere was actually someone who relied only on herself to charge her way forward, betting her life in the Netherworld. Such a person was worthy of respect.
“Long Chen, I’ve told you my experiences. Can you tell me yours? Otherwise, I’ll have lost out,” said the woman. For her to still be able to joke with Long Chen showed that her heart was still full of sunshine.
“Me?” Long Chen was startled and shook his head. “I don’t have any good stories. I have a father, a mother, and a little sister, all living very well. When I was little, I had a carefree life. When I got older… I had to bear more responsibility, so I was busier. A few ‘friends’ like to mess around with me, so we scuffle all day. Some hills form, some little streams flow. But I have to say, it’s very lively.”
Long Chen put it very lightly. The mountains of corpses and rivers of blood that flowed from his battles had been turned into tiny scuffles. Xie Qianqian didn’t manage to hear that aspect of his words and thought that he really did live happily, making her a bit envious.
“Qianqian, what is the Butterfly Spirit race?” asked Long Chen.
“The Butterfly Spirit race is a kind race but also a very powerful one. They have immense power, and their illusion arts are especially terrifying. Within the same realm, practically no one can resist them. However, they have a fatal weakness, which is fire. That’s why they reside in water spirit worlds, as there’s no fire element that can threaten them there. However, this information is just things that I’ve heard. I’ve never encountered anyone from the Butterfly Spirit race. However, I know they’re pure-hearted. They practically never mark others, and those they do are all good people. That’s why I’m willing to work together with you. You might not even realize that when you circulate your energy, a butterfly mark flashes on your hand.”
With that advice, Long Chen looked down to see an almost imperceptible mark on his hand. It was a butterfly that was slowly flapping its wings.
Hopefully, it didn’t stay once he returned. There was no way for him to explain this.
“Where are those treasures you mentioned? Don’t worry, no matter how many there are, I’ll split them evenly with you,” promised Long Chen.
“I guarantee there are treasures. When I was collecting the life spirit water, I got curious and went deeper to see where the nine springs gather. There are countless precious stones there with frightening fluctuations. The suction there is also very powerful, so I didn’t dare to go. I’m just wondering if you have any method of handling it,” said Xie Qianqian.
“As long as the treasures are good enough, even if there’s no way to obtain them, I have to think of some way to do so. Let’s go have a look.” Long Chen’s eyes began to shine.
The whirlpool of the nine lakes flowed down in a waterfall and then flowed back up. That was where the nine springs gathered. The only possibilities were that there would be no treasures, or whatever treasures there were had to be stunningly precious.
Xie Qianqian controlled the flying boat, having it descend in the white lake. As it descended, countless runes lit up on the flying boat, blocking the white water.
Long Chen’s World Trees had already grown to their limit, so he didn’t need to gather more of it.
If he continued gathering it, then based on his experience, it would transform into the divine life elixir.
However, he didn’t dare to gather more. The final few times he had collected the life spirit water and death spirit water, he hadn’t been able to get much at all before the world had started shuddering. That meant that he had already reached a kind of limit. Taking any more would very likely cause trouble.
The two of them were descending deeper and deeper. Long Chen estimated that this place might be even deeper than the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring. However, despite the immense pressure, the flying boat was fine.
“It really is worth spending all your savings on renting. This flying boat is a priceless treasure,” sighed Long Chen.
Xie Qianqian shook her head. “In truth, this flying boat isn’t that amazing. It’s not a fighting flying boat. However, it is made of special Nether Iron and isn’t rejected in the Netherworld, which is what allows it to enter and what makes it so precious.”
Xie Qianqian was a bit vexed. The flying boat clearly hadn’t been as amazing as she had thought when she had rented it.
If she hadn’t encountered Long Chen, then who knew how long it would have taken her to fill up those bottles of hers? Furthermore, something had happened to her bottles and that had caused the space inside them to shrink. They had lost effect once she had come to the Netherworld. Once she returned, she would definitely have to settle the bill with the person who had rented them to her.
Long Chen sighed inside. As expected, the outer world was truly mysterious. Such an amazing flying boat was viewed as rubbish by Xie Qianqian. He truly felt like a frog at the bottom of a well.
The flying boat was still descending. A general image appeared in Long Chen’s head. The nine springs formed a circular sea, with the whirlpool at the center and the Gates of Hell at the bottom.
However, despite the Gates of Hell being located not far from the bottom of the n
ine springs, they weren’t actually the bottom of the nine springs. That was completely incomprehensible.
Everything was white as they descended. However, after a while, intense fluctuations came from below, and the flying boat began to shake.
“Look! That’s the core of the nine springs!” Xie Qianqian carefully controlled the flying boat as she pointed in a certain direction.
Chapter 1604 Blood Essence Stone, Blood Soul Stone
Long Chen looked at where Xie Qianqian was pointing and saw a nine-colored whirlpool that had a large black hole in its center.
When he saw the red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, violet, black, and white colors intertwining, he suddenly felt the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art form an indescribable resonance with it. It began to circulate on its own, and the Five Star Battle Armor almost activated.
“Will the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art follow these nine colors as well? The first five stars caused the divine ring to become red, orange, yellow, green, and azure. Nine stars… nine springs. Is there some kind of connection? But why do I feel like that’s not entirely right either?” wondered Long Chen.
He felt the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art react to the gathering of the nine springs, but there also seemed to be something different about them. One was a dragon, one was a snake. They looked similar but were completely different species. This feeling was indescribable. To sum up, this feeling was simply very strange.
“Long Chen, do you have any way to get those crystals on the ground?” Seeing that Long Chen was staring blankly, Xie Qianqian thought he was stunned by the sight, so she pulled his attention to the treasures.
Only then did Long Chen recover. Now, they were even closer to the whirlpool, and the flying boat was constantly shaking.
There was a huge twister where the nine streams gathered. It was roaring like a dragon.
If someone were to be sucked into that twister, they would probably be instantly torn to pieces.
However, not far from there, there was a plot of land that had been eroded for countless years. Many criss-crossing and deep ditches were present on it.
The deep ditches revealed large crystals at the bottom. Each of them was several meters long, and they came in different colors.
“The flying boat is unable to get any closer. Otherwise, we might get sucked into the core,” said Xie Qianqian. This was the limit.
However, even at this distance, the closest white-colored crystal was several miles away.
Her flying boat was not a combat flying boat. Its projectile range was limited. She could only look at those crystals but not obtain them.
Long Chen sank into thought. He waved his hand, and a flying hook appeared with a long chain at the end.
This was a corrupt weapon. He didn’t even remember its usage. Just now, he had randomly seen it while flipping through the primal chaos space.
He threw it out. Its chain was very long and flexible. It quickly reached the first crystal.
However, that was when a problem occurred. The suction force was too great, and it caused the hook to be drawn over. There was no way for it to land on the crystal.
Xie Qianqian was watching anxiously. If Long Chen could succeed, they would make a terrifying profit.
Long Chen snorted and swung his arm. The claw whipped away from the hurricane and wrapped around a portion of the exposed crystal like a python.
Long Chen pulled, and the crystal was slowly torn out of the ground. In the end, Long Chen managed to obtain it.
When the white crystal landed on the flying boat, Xie Qianqian let out a cheer. “This should be a life spirit crystal. There’s immense life energy inside. If placed in water, it would create a pool of life spirit water in just a few years.”
Long Chen nodded. This life energy could be useful to him, but not that useful. He couldn’t wait for years.
“Let’s put it away for now and get some more. We’ll split them in the end,” said Long Chen.
“Alright.” Xie Qianqian was incredibly excited. She hadn’t expected Long Chen to have this much ability. He was actually able to bring so many things from the outside world into the Netherworld.
This time, the crystal Long Chen pulled over was a blood-red one. It was a bit demonic and looked like there was blood flowing inside it. However, with the crystalline exterior, it was impossible to sense the fluctuations on the inside.
“Let me appraise it.” Xie Qianqian placed it on a strange device of her flying boat. Dozens of tentacles stuck onto the crystal, and various runes revolved around it. Characters that Long Chen couldn’t understand appeared on the control panel.
“This is a blood soul stone. A normal blood soul stone will be considered top grade if it reaches a soul energy level of eight thousand points; however, this one has reached three million soul energy points. Heavens, how shocking!” Xie Qianqian was completely stunned by its energy readings.
“Is it useful?” asked Long Chen.
“This blood soul stone is one of the products of my Alldevil star-field. The ancient battlefields between the human race and the Alldevil race result in two kinds of crystals. The Alldevil race’s blood essence and souls are very powerful, and once they’re killed, their corpses will gradually condense these kinds of crystals after tens of thousands of years. Those crystals are split into two kinds, blood essence stones and soul stones. Both crystals are priceless treasures that can upgrade the power of a person’s physical body or soul. My guess is this blood soul stone is the result of those monsters on the bridges from when you first enter the Netherworld. They’re gathering all that energy to condense these stones,” said Xie Qianqian.
“Yes, I saw them too. Now that you say that, why is it that we would all advance together here if we aren’t on the same planes?” asked Long Chen.
This was something he had been very curious about, and now he was reminded of it.
“I’m not sure. According to ancient records, this world is not a complete world, and the laws are chaotic. According to reason, each region should be operating according to its own functions. However, I saw all kinds of lifeforms I’ve never seen before upon coming here. I don’t know why either,” said Xie Qianqian.
She continued, “Alright then, don’t interrupt again or I’ll lose my train of thought. That monster you just mentioned, it kills those roaming souls and the experts who attack them, inserting their blood and souls into the orbs on the bridge. Through my own observation, I found that the energy they’re absorbing slowly fades away, and there’s no way to tell where it’s going. However, based on this blood soul stone, I’ve started to form a hypothesis. According to reason, even in the Life and Death realm- ah, that is the Netherpassage realm, people do not have such powerful souls. There must be some kind of law present that is further purifying their essence to condense these blood soul stones. If a cultivator were to absorb such a thing, they would be able to upgrade their Yuan Spirit a second time. It could be said that they are heaven-defying treasures. Unfortunately, the Alldevil star-field’s human race doesn’t specialize in physical strength or Spiritual Strength. Otherwise, we’d have long since defeated the despicable Alldevil race.”
“If you don’t have talent in regards to the physical body or the spiritual body, how do you fight back at all?” asked Long Chen.
“Naturally it’s with our wits. We’ve created many powerful weapons, flying boats, sets of armor, warships, and other treasures that can increase our power by hundreds or thousands of times. With defensive structures and the skills of our craftsmen, we can use various natural resources to create divine items. Regretfully…” Here, Xie Qianqian’s expression became angry and distressed.
“Regretfully, while it’s possible to defend against the frightening Alldevil race, it’s the enemies that lie beside us that we can’t defend against. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say it’s impossible to defend against their greed. In the past few centuries, we’ve been constantly losing to the Alldevil race, not because we aren’t strong
enough, but because our commanders are all a bunch of useless pieces of garbage. They are all ‘geniuses’, but they only go to the battlefield to dredge up profits for themselves. In truth, their abilities are inferior to even dogshit. If they were just dogshit, then that would be something, but despite being amateurs, they have to act like experts. Most hateful of all, they’re supported by powerful idiots who clearly know the battle plan is wrong, but instead of punishing them, they blame the fighters. My parents died because of them. That's why I chose to attend the best academy. I’m not only going to kill the Alldevil race’s monsters, but I’ll also be cleaning up our human race’s degenerates.”
“I wish you luck.”
In the end, all Long Chen could say was such a thing. He didn’t have high hopes for her.
Based on what she said, the Alldevil star-field’s human race was also a group of greedy degenerates. A force that was rotten to that extent couldn’t be saved.
It was no different from the Martial Heaven Continent. Long Chen had never even had a thought to try and draw everyone into the Righteous path, nor had he ever thought about erasing the greed and wickedness in the hearts of the Righteous path.
That was because he was well aware of his own capabilities, and such a task was impossible for him. Let alone him, it was impossible even for a god.
If gods really could do such a thing, then everyone’s faiths would be united. However, because there were so many differences of opinion, there were just as many different faiths. If such a thing was possible, these faiths wouldn’t be contradictory and ignite conflict after a battle. Or… perhaps this was just the Dao. The merciless and cruel Dao.
Long Chen continued grabbing the crystals. He obtained seven of the life spirit crystals and nine of the blood-colored crystals.