by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
There were quite a few disciples along their path, and they said hello to Long Chen. They were very respectful to Li Tianxuan, but to Long Chen, they were filled with wild worship. This was the charisma of an expert that won over both men and women.
After a stroll through most of the Xuantian Dao Sect, Meng Qi and the others were bedazzled, and they wanted to explore some smaller areas. As for Long Chen, he went with Li Tianxuan to the Xuantian Tower.
At the peak of the Xuantian Tower was the old patriarch. He was waiting for them with a smile. However, when he looked at Long Chen, that smile became a bit odd. It almost looked like a crying smile.
“Disciple greets the patriarch.” Long Chen bowed respectfully.
“Alright, there’s no need to be so courteous to family. It’s been hard on you this time.” The patriarch had no idea what to say, so he simply followed common courtesy.
“It wasn’t hard at all,” said Long Chen politely.
“How could it not have been hard? You killed so many people. You must be tired,” said Li Tianxuan grumpily. He reached out to grab the teapot on the table.
Long Chen immediately grabbed it first and poured tea for the three of them. He smiled. “You also know that sometimes there’s nothing that can be done. If I didn’t kill others, they would have killed me. I’m quite afraid of death, so I could only kill them.”
Long Chen knew that Li Tianxuan was irritated and sullen at having been scolded by Qu Jianying over his matter. Hence, Long Chen could only put on a smile.
“I understand you better than anyone. If you were to passively kill people, then it would have been fine. After all, it was for self protection, and it wouldn’t be all your fault. But… you shouldn’t have slapped Di Long. You really are too brazen. That is even graver than killing all the Southern Xuan Region’s disciples. If Di Long doesn’t avenge that slap, how is he supposed to face the rest of the Martial Heaven Continent?” Li Tianxuan shook his head.
When he had heard that Long Chen had slain all the elite disciples of the Southern Xuan Region, Li Tianxuan hadn’t been that surprised. After all, Long Chen was a Heaven-Defier and rejected by this world. Other heavenly geniuses wouldn’t like him and would want to find trouble with him. Long Chen definitely wouldn’t go easy on those people.
However, when he heard that Long Chen had slapped Di Long in the face, even Li Tianxuan had become dumbfounded. To slap the face of the leader of the ancient family alliance, that was… that was really heaven-defying.
“Well actually, the slap isn’t that big of a deal anymore…” sighed Long Chen.
“Little fellow, don’t tell me you did something worse?” Li Tianxuan immediately felt a chill.
“It’s not that bad. That Di Long is simply incurable. Despite being the leader of the ancient family alliance, he actually lowered himself to try and kill me on my way back here. I had no choice, so I used a nail that I brought back from the Netherworld to hold him back. Originally, I thought that it could heavily injure him and win me a chance to escape, but who would have thought, either the nail was too amazing or Di Long was too weak, but his clone was killed by the nail, so… that really can’t be blamed on me.” Long Chen shrugged helplessly.
Li Tianxuan and the patriarch gasped. “You… killed… Di Long’s clone?”
“I didn’t kill him, it was just his fate. It has nothing to do with me,” said Long Chen.
When Li Tianxuan asked about the nail, Long Chen hesitated but still ended up telling them that it was something he had taken from the Gates of Hell.
Long Chen felt that since Qu Jianying could retain her memories from before the Gates of Hell, the matters outside the Gates of Hell shouldn’t be too forbidden.
Li Tianxuan and the patriarch were speechless. Long Chen’s guts were too big. He actually dared to take a nail from the Gates of Hell? That wasn’t something a normal person would do.
However, when they heard of the nail’s origin, they could understand how someone as powerful as Di Long had still lost a clone to it. After all, it was something from the Netherworld.
“Don’t spread word about this matter. I trust Di Long also won’t say anything about it. After all, this is extremely embarrassing for him. Let’s just all keep this to ourselves. However, this will probably make things harder on senior Qu,” sighed Li Tianxuan. He understood the rules of the cultivation world far better than Long Chen. He knew that Qu Jianying was about to run into trouble.
Long Chen didn’t hear Li Tianxuan’s meaning behind his final sentence. He said, “Xuan Master, have we run out of money again?”
“Yes. I have no choice but to accept that this formation diagram is truly terrifying. The cost is just as terrifying as its power. If you didn’t guarantee that there was no problem with that Xia Chen, I’d suspect he was intentionally trying to con us. We’ve already spent so much money on just building this preliminary form. There are still many formations that need to be built, and many other areas that need more money. Each time we restart building, our initial budget gets thrown out. Based on our current money, it seems we’ll only be able to finish half.” Li Tianxuan felt a headache as soon as this was brought up. The further the construction went, the greater the cost.
“This is no problem. I’ve already reached an agreement with the alliance head. For the Devil Abyss’s eruption, the Xuantian Dao Sect will handle the entire Eastern Xuan Region’s side. Then all the Eastern Xuan Region’s reward will go to us,” said Long Chen.
“Are you really confident in that? The great era has come. The Devil Abyss is going to erupt at an unprecedented scale,” warned Li Tianxuan.
“Don’t worry about it. This time, I’m more confident than any other time.”
Long Chen patted his chest confidently. He truly was full of confidence this time. This was the moment to collectively increase the Dragonblood Legion’s power.
Chapter 1671 Eliminating Spies
Once Long Chen returned to the Xuantian Dao Sect, the disciples blazed with passion. The news that Long Chen had crushed all the experts of the Southern Xuan Region had already spread throughout the sect.
Once Long Chen returned to Crouching Dragon Mountain, he saw Hua Shiyu, Zhao Ziyan, Wang Zhen, Mu Qingxuan, and Su Mo. The Xuantian Dao Sect’s karmic luck had grown explosively, and they had undergone a divine baptism, allowing them to become Empyreans. They and the newly joined Empyreans were at the bottom of Crouching Dragon Mountain to greet Long Chen.
As for rank nine Celestials and below, they felt too inferior to even come and greet him. They were in the midst of hesitating over whether or not they should thicken their faces and come anyway when Long Chen had Guo Ran gather all the core disciples at the Soul Transformation realm to celebrate.
Those disciples went wild with joy. When Long Chen saw over a hundred thousand Soul Transformation disciples gather at Crouching Dragon Mountain, he jumped in shock. During the time that he had been gone, the Xuantian Dao Sect had gained another large batch of disciples.
One reason was because many people worshipped him. He was the number one person of the Eastern Xuan Region’s junior generation. No one else could cover up his light. To be in the same sect as him was a kind of glory in itself.
Another reason was because of the massive scale of the Xuantian Dao Sect’s reconstruction. It was truly shocking, and to be able to join such a powerful sect would definitely give them limitless prospects. Even people from other regions were attracted by the Xuantian Dao Sect’s fame.
Many people had only seen images of Long Chen fighting. Now that they saw him in person, they were impassioned.
When Long Chen saw so many fiery gazes looking at him, his own emotions stirred. He saw the purest emotion in those eyes as well as the staunchest confidence. They worshipped him. People worshipped the strong, or perhaps what they worshipped was unrivaled power.
Only by following such an expert could they also grow stronger. Anyone exceptionally powerful would definitely have geniuses following the
m.
The Dragonblood Legion’s warriors were also impassioned. The reason they could follow Long Chen was mostly thanks to luck. The Dragonblood warriors who had joined him at the Xuantian Dao Sect were the weakest disciples who had been abandoned by the others. Long Chen had felt pity for them, and he had helped them at a critical moment, saving their lives and allowing them to reach their current height.
The Xuantian Dao Sect was filled with heavenly geniuses, but none of them could join the Dragonblood Legion. The original members were filled with pride and gratitude.
“Brothers and sisters, welcome to the Xuantian Dao Sect. This is our home. Those who sincerely join the Xuantian Dao Sect are my brothers and sisters, and I will fight for all of you.” Long Chen was also a bit emotional as he faced these passionate feelings.
Those disciples’ passion only grew as he spoke. They all knew about his history. He had risen from a small nation in the secular world of the Eastern Wasteland. Although he had been surrounded by enemies, not one of them could say that he didn’t care about his people. Even his enemies had to admit he was a hot-blooded man. These disciples felt their own blood heating up just by hearing him speak.
“If you can raise your blades for me, I can also fight for you. I would sacrifice my life for my brothers and sisters. However, I won’t allow anyone to betray me. I know many of you have come with your own intentions. As for who you are, I won’t say anything directly.” Now, the impassioned crowd grew cold.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, who would dare? Just point them out, and we’ll tear them to pieces!” shouted a disciple.
“Yes, we won’t allow traitors amongst us! Those people are the worst!”
These disciples’ confidence in Long Chen had reached a fanatical level. It was practically at the level where they would believe anything that came out of his mouth. Perhaps that was the blindness of worship. It caused people to lose their own ability to think as they stubbornly believed what they believed.
Quite a few people’s expressions changed slightly. They saw Long Chen’s sharp eyes seeming to see everything in their heads.
Long Chen waved his hand, making the angry people calm down. He said, “Due to my special cultivation technique, I am very perceptive toward other people’s hearts. I can sense whether a person has good or bad intentions toward me. Because of that, I can fully trust the brothers of my Dragonblood Legion, and they can trust me. We don’t have the slightest suspicions toward each other. The people with ulterior motives, have you ever seen any other group of over ten thousand people that would entrust their lives to each other without the slightest hesitation? I believe that you haven’t. You haven’t seen such a thing, nor have you ever heard of such a thing. If a single person amongst those ten thousand people was disloyal, it would completely fracture the entire group. However, there is no such person in my Dragonblood Legion. I will brag a bit and say that in this entire world, only I have the ability to form such a group. For those who joined the Xuantian Dao Sect for your own purposes, I can ignore what you’ve done. In fact, I won’t even expose you today. I will give you an opportunity. I know you were probably incited to do so by a loved one, or perhaps you want to sell information for money, or perhaps you want to instigate trouble to prevent the Xuantian Dao Sect’s growth. The reason isn’t important. The important thing is that I’m giving you a chance. I don’t care what sect sent you here as a spy, or whatever goal you have. As long as you can sincerely devote yourself to my Xuantian Dao Sect today, then you will be one of my Xuantian Dao Sect’s disciples. No matter who is forcing you, my Xuantian Dao Sect and I, Long Chen, will stand up for you.”
Long Chen’s voice caused quite a few conflicted expressions to appear amongst the crowd.
One disciple walked forward and said, “Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, I’ve let you down. I am a spy sent from the Harmonic Phoenix Gate. The gate master had me stay here to provide him with information. I’m sorry, I-”
Suddenly, a black mark appeared on that disciple’s forehead. It rapidly spread, covering his body like a spiderweb.
“It’s a death contract!”
A woman cried out in shock as she recognized this curse. This kind of curse would make a person essentially a slave. If they went against orders, the curse would activate, taking their life.
It was an incredibly sinister technique. That disciple clearly hadn’t taken it willingly. Now that he went against it, he had signed his own death penalty. People were impressed by his bravery, as well as infuriated by what he had gone through.
Long Chen pointed a finger at that person. The black mark that had been rapidly spreading reversed. Black qi surged out of it toward Long Chen’s finger, and Long Chen’s arm began to turn black.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, you can’t!” That disciple immediately cried out, wanting to pull away. However, Long Chen’s finger had a powerful suction force that prevented him from doing so.
All the disciples’ hearts were pounding wildly. Long Chen was using himself to take the curse. That was because this kind of curse was extremely difficult to deal with. It could not be expelled because if it was forcibly expelled, it would kill that disciple along with it.
Long Chen smiled. “Since you could brave death and show your true feelings, how could I let you die? Don’t worry, this little curse can’t do anything to me.”
The black mark on the disciple quickly vanished. Long Chen raised his hand, and his Spiritual Strength surged. Black qi was leaping chaotically around his hand.
“Meng Qi, help me out.”
Meng Qi nodded and formed a few hand seals. A spiritual rune appeared between her hands and fell on Long Chen’s black palm.
Buzz.
That rune landed on the black qi, and a scene actually appeared within it. It revealed a skinny elder forming hand seals with a shocked expression.
“Gate master?!” That disciple immediately recognized the elder.
“Someone despicable enough to curse his own disciple can be called a gate master? Looks like you need to be smelted down and reforged anew. Get going.”
Long Chen looked at the bitterly struggling elder within the black qi. Long Chen’s Yuan Spirit appeared and pointed a finger. A ray of divine light shot into the black qi.
“No!”
That elder let out a single cry before his head exploded. His Yuan Spirit died.
This kind of contract was double-sided. Although one person was the victim and the other was in control, there was still a spiritual connection between them.
Although Long Chen’s Spiritual Strength was great, he wasn’t skilled in soul arts. Meng Qi was the one capable of using the connection formed by the curse to form a bridge back to the elder. That elder wasn’t even able to break the connection once she used it. Long Chen didn’t give him any chance and killed him while he could only watch.
Once that elder was killed, the black qi scattered. Lightning runes appeared on Long Chen’s arm, and his originally black arm instantly returned to its normal color.
Long Chen patted the disciple’s shoulder. “Congratulations. Starting now, you are a disciple of my Xuantian Dao Sect. As long as you are loyal to the Xuantian Dao Sect, we will not let you down.”
“Many thanks, senior apprentice-brother Long Chen… I…” That disciple knelt as thanks. In the future, he would no longer be a chess piece.
However, Long Chen held him up, gravely saying, “Men shouldn’t kneel so easily. Amongst brothers, this kind of etiquette is an insult.”
That disciple couldn’t speak through his tears. There was no way for him to express his gratitude.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, I was also forced!”
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, I also have that on my body!”
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, please save me!”
Seeing that person being saved, over a thousand disciples immediately began to cry out for Long Chen’s help, causing the others to ju
mp in shock.
“There are actually this many?!”
Chapter 1672 Strange Shadow
The entire crowd became chaotic with quite a few disciples shouting. Those disciples were forced to come to the Xuantian Dao Sect, and they had spent every day worried about being found, as well as the condemnation of their own conscience.
That wasn’t a good feeling, especially when they came across the warriors of the Dragonblood Legion. They could sense the Dragonblood warriors’ absolute trust in each other and that made them feel even worse inside.
They wished they could join the Xuantian Dao Sect sincerely, but they couldn’t. They also couldn’t expose their identities, because while only some had spiritual contracts, another portion without the contracts might be heirs to other large sects. Because they were worthy of trust, they had been tossed into the Xuantian Dao Sect without a spiritual contract.
However, people had a selfish side, and who didn’t want to be free? Who didn’t want to always get stronger? No one was willing to carry the title of a treacherous spy. That was a stain to any expert.
Long Chen had given them a chance to wipe away this stain, and they naturally wouldn’t let such a chance pass. After today, they would be true disciples of the Xuantian Dao Sect. It was like being reborn.
Divine light from the Xuantian Tower enveloped Crouching Dragon Mountain. Li Tianxuan’s voice rang out. “Don’t panic. With the Xuantian Tower’s protection, no one can harm you here. Those who have spiritual marks or contracts can come to the Xuantian Tower to be cleansed. As long as you have a sincere heart and are determined to fight for the Righteous path to protect the Martial Heaven Continent’s peace and prosperity, then no matter which sect sent you here or what ulterior goals you had before, the Xuantian Dao Sect is willing to forgive and forget.”
With even Li Tianxuan and the Xuantian Tower expressing their attitudes, those worried disciples began to weep tears of emotion. This chance to wipe away their sins was something probably only the Xuantian Dao Sect could give them.
