by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
This kind of crazy state was temporary and merely a result of the immense pain that he had been in. Long Chen knew that Guo Ran would be fine once he had a chance to release his energy.
However, it seemed the Dragonblood warriors holding him down would have to become victims. They were all shouting for help.
Dozens of them formed a human pyramid crushing Guo Ran beneath them. Even then, they were unable to suppress him, so more piled on him. Eventually, Guo Ran was unable to struggle and passed out.
“Brother, your butt has suffered. But this sacrifice was worth it for boss Guo Ran.” One of the squad leaders patted the poor Dragonblood warrior who had been bitten.
Long Chen laughed, “You should thank your luck that you weren’t lying on your back. Otherwise… hehe…”
That Dragonblood warrior instantly shivered when he thought of that possibility.
“Alright, so now you know the effect and how to use the blood essence stone. Now, Meng Qi will teach you how to use the blood soul stone. Pay attention. The Devil Abyss is about to erupt, so our time is limited. We have to do everything we can to get stronger,” said Long Chen gravely.
Chapter 1674 Arrogant Guo Ran
BOOM!
Gu Yang’s arms deformed and he coughed up a mouthful of blood as he smashed into the ground.
“No, I’m done! Guo Ran, this isn’t exchanging pointers. You just wanted to torment me!” Gu Yang put away his manifestation, and the runes around his body dimmed. Blood still dripped out of his mouth.
“Hehe, Gu Yang, now you can’t torment me! I, Guo Ran, am finally a real badass, hahaha!” Guo Ran was covered in golden armor. He was standing in the air, waving two sabers.
Long Chen, Guo Ran, and Gu Yang had found a private place for Guo Ran to test his new power. He had naturally chosen Gu Yang as an opponent.
After the baptism of the blood essence stone, Guo Ran was finally capable of unleashing the power an Empyrean should have. Then when he added on his armor, his power rose to a monstrous level. Gu Yang had used his full strength but hadn’t been able to receive even three of Guo Ran’s attacks.
“A typical case of a brat who forgets the pain after the scar fades. If it weren’t for boss, I could definitely still crush you!” said Gu Yang irritably.
Before, even if Guo Ran’s killing power had been above Gu Yang, in a one against one fight, since Gu Yang knew Guo Ran’s tricks, he would still be able to beat Guo Ran in his armor.
However, now Guo Ran’s power had grown explosively, and Gu Yang was instantly beaten. Seeing Guo Ran’s petty and pleased appearance, Gu Yang was naturally irritated.
“Haha, that’s because boss is wise and knew I lacked the daring of a brave fighter. My gratitude toward boss overflows like a torrential river, like the endless stars in the sky…” Guo Ran landed and removed his armor, smiling. His goosebump-raising flattery streamed out of his mouth.
“You don’t need to be too thankful to me. The blood essence stone was just one part. When you absorb the blood soul stone, I’ll make sure to help you out just like last time.” Long Chen patted Guo Ran on the shoulder. That expression seemed to say, “I look favorably upon you.”
“Boss… I’m just a forger. I don’t need that much soul energy. I feel like I already have enough…” Guo Ran began to back up, but Long Chen grabbed him.
“Just look at how cowardly you are. What are you afraid of? The blood soul stone will allow you to recondense your Yuan Spirit, and it will feel like you’re advancing to Spirit Transformation again. I was just scaring you a bit. Anyway, getting back to business, can you turn this thing into a weapon?” Long Chen took out a strange triangular blade.
“What… what is this?!” Guo Ran jumped in shock. The ice-cold feeling from this blade almost froze his soul.
This blade was something Long Chen had obtained in Purgatory. It was the weapon of the Skinners. However, for some reason, after he brought it back, he found that their power had sharply dropped. They didn’t have the same effect as in Purgatory. He could touch it as much as he pleased without feeling the pain from back then.
However, even if he could touch them, if it was stabbed into someone’s body, then even if they were an Empyrean, they would stiffen. The strange energy within it caused incomparable pain and would make people lose their ability to react temporarily.
Unfortunately, this triangular blade was too strange and almost looked like a carpenter’s tool. The handle was a circular arc with two hooks. Let alone using this in battle, just holding it wrong would injure the user.
This strange weapon could only be used by the Skinners with their strange arms. That was why Long Chen wanted to see if Guo Ran could change it a bit.
“I can try.” Guo Ran’s eyes immediately began to blaze with a fiery light. He summoned his forging table and activated the smelting tool. However, curiously, the triangular blade didn’t change color no matter how he roasted it. Even after an hour, it was still ice-cold. The three of them were all dumbfounded. Just what kind of material was this?
After six hours, the triangular blade finally reddened from the heat. However, at the same time, strange black marks appeared on it.
Guo Ran carefully placed it on his forging table and tried to see if he could change its shape. His hammer smashed down and sparks flew. The blade instantly exploded into sharp fragments that shot out in every direction.
Those sharp fragments instantly pierced Long Chen, Guo Ran, and Gu Yang. Gu Yang let out a howl. The pain in his body was intense, but it was the pain in his soul that was unbearable. It was like countless needles were stabbing it. There was no way to express it with words. That pain was enough to kill someone.
Long Chen also felt the pain, and his veins bulged as he forcibly resisted it. He formed a few hand seals, and those fragments were forced out of his body. He then slapped Guo Ran in the back.
Guo Ran’s body shook as those fragments were forced out of his body. As the closest one, he had been struck by the most. He had lost consciousness from the pain.
Only once he forced the fragments out of Guo Ran did Long Chen go to help Gu Yang. It was a whole hour before Guo Ran woke up.
“Boss, I almost died there! What the hell is this thing?!” Guo Ran was still shivering. Once those fragments had stabbed his body, he had been frozen, unable to move. He had felt like millions of blades were cutting his body and soul. That profound feeling of helplessness was truly horrifying.
“How could I know? The things found in the Netherworld aren’t even written in books. Fuck, it really is painful,” said Long Chen hatefully. That feeling just now was truly terrible. No wonder the Skinners’ victims would scream like that.
“This thing’s too dangerous, and it also targets a person’s will. Without strong enough willpower, a person would immediately submit to the pain and be unable to resist.” Even now, Gu Yang was still pale. But it had to be said that his willpower was far stronger than Guo Ran’s. Even without Long Chen’s help, Gu Yang had been able to force out the fragments.
“Boss, my parents taught me not to play with dangerous things! I feel like we should just give up on it.” Guo Ran had almost died, so he immediately turned coward, not daring to touch it again.
“Do you not feel like you’re stupid right now? What are you so afraid of? Where’s your armor?” demanded Long Chen.
“Oh, right!”
Guo Ran clapped his leg. He summoned his armor. This way, he wouldn’t be injured at all by the blades.
Suddenly, Gu Yang picked up a two-inch fragment and stabbed his own palm.
“Gu Yang, you’re crazy! Even if you can’t beat me, you don’t have to kill yourself!” exclaimed Guo Ran.
Gu Yang slowly took out the fragment. “Just one piece isn’t that intense. I can endure it. We should distribute these fragments to the Dragonblood warriors. They can use the pain to temper their will and reaction speed. It’ll be useful in future battles.”
Long Chen nodded. That was a good idea. If a
person’s soul could resist this level of pain, then any attacks involving a spiritual aspect would be less effective on them. This was a good way to raise their resistance toward soul cultivators.
If they could become completely immune to this kind of spiritual pain, it would be very difficult for anyone to affect their souls. Back then, the reason Shen Bijun could control so many people at once was because those so-called heavenly geniuses didn’t have very great willpower.
Just as Gu Yang and Long Chen were discussing the details of this plan, Guo Ran’s hammer smashed onto those fragments, causing them to explode again.
“Fuck!”
Gu Yang and Long Chen both cursed. This little brat was safe and now didn’t care about them. They both dodged, but while Long Chen was fast enough, Gu Yang was a hair slower and stabbed in the leg.
“Boss Gu Yang, this is a kind of tempering. I know you can handle it.” Guo Ran was sorry, but he shamelessly made his tone one of encouragement.
“Guo Ran, put down your hammer. Can you make this into a weapon or not?” asked Long Chen.
“I don’t think I can. This thing is completely immune to my forging arts. No matter how I try it, it explodes. However, when it comes to conning others with it, it should be useful. I’ll make them all explode and then add them to my bombs. Hehe, that power should definitely be good. I can even add some of those pieces to my armor.” Guo Ran laughed excitedly.
“Alright then. I’ll leave these to you.” Long Chen took out six thousand of the eight thousand triangular blades and chains that he had in the primal chaos space, giving them to Guo Ran.
“Boss, you have so many? Then I’ll have to properly plan on what to do with them.” Guo Ran was both excited and startled to see so many of them. He loved strange oddities.
“These things aren’t too important. Let me show you a diagram first. Remember, the space inside has to be extremely great, and the interior must be made of jade or ceramic.” Long Chen took out a diagram he had come up with.
Guo Ran looked at it for a long time. He curiously said, “Boss, why does this thing look so familiar? It looks like a spray bottle.”
“That’s right, it’s a spray bottle. I just changed its form a bit. You don’t need to care about it for now. Just build it according to my specifications. Remember, make sure there’s enough space inside and enough spraying power,” said Long Chen.
“Alright, that’s not difficult. I can make it very quickly. As for these treasures, are they really all mine to play with?” Guo Ran pointed to the blades and chains.
“Take them as your weapons. As long as you leave a few for Gu Yang’s plan to temper the Dragonblood warriors’ souls and willpower, the rest are yours.”
Long Chen waved his hand, letting Guo Ran get to work. He also had Gu Yang take charge of the blood soul stones and blood essence stones.
After arranging that, Long Chen went into an underground cultivation room. He wanted to see how Li Qi and Song Mingyuan were doing with absorbing the earth essence.
Chapter 1675 Are There Really Gods?
Crouching Dragon Mountain was a giant existence, but its interior was hollow and filled with special formations. The cultivation rooms built especially for the Dragonblood Legion were located inside. They were all built using the best possible standards.
It could be said that Li Tianxuan had spent a great deal of money and effort on the Dragonblood Legion. Just the resources that had gone into Crouching Dragon Mountain were practically equal to what he had spent on every other disciple in the sect.
Li Tianxuan did this to help Long Chen. Long Chen was doing his best to gather money to reconstruct the Xuantian Dao Sect, so Li Tianxuan had to arrange the best for the Dragonblood Legion so Long Chen didn’t have to worry about things back home.
This was also why Li Tianxuan had the Dragonblood Legion be an independent entity. He kept Crouching Dragon Mountain secluded and didn’t let disciples look around inside. Even if they knew how good things were inside, they would only feel envy or admiration, but Li Tianxuan’s main goal was to maintain a sense of mystery. This was more favorable to Long Chen.
A sect needed an idol-like figure to lead its people. That person not only needed to have immense combat power, but also great intelligence and a certain charisma that others couldn’t resist.
Long Chen checked off all those requirements, but he didn’t like that feeling of being above others and being worshipped. Idols required a sense of mystery around them and needed to distance themselves from their worshippers. However, Long Chen didn’t like to do that, so it was up to Li Tianxuan to think of ways to create that feeling.
Sometimes, it was just like this. Perhaps a person wouldn’t be particularly strong, but by standing at a higher spot, others could only look up to them and naturally feel a sense of worship. This was also why the position of emperor always surpassed the ministers. It was a mental suggestion. Li Tianxuan’s skill in controlling other people’s hearts had easily achieved the pinnacle.
That was why when Long Chen invited the other disciples to come to Crouching Dragon Mountain, they already felt that it was an immense honor. However, Li Tianxuan definitely wouldn’t allow those disciples to see the cultivation regions the Dragonblood Legion used. He gave those disciples more room to imagine the possibility. That was beneficial to the Dragonblood Legion’s mystique.
At the core of Crouching Dragon Mountain was a huge space. This was the most lavish cultivation room in the Xuantian Dao Sect. There were over a hundred spirit gathering formations, as well as others. Even Li Tianxuan’s own seclusion room wasn’t so extravagant.
This cultivation room had been specially built for Long Chen. Li Tianxuan knew that Long Chen needed to both cultivate and refine pills, so this room was very large, large enough for Long Chen to mess around in.
It was currently occupied by Li Qi and Song Mingyuan. The earth essence was hanging up in the sky, divine light shining around it. Ripples were spreading out of it.
When Long Chen arrived, he jumped in shock at the scene he saw. Li Qi and Song Mingyuan were encased in a thick layer of dirt. They were like earthen statues, and they didn’t have the slightest air of life. It was like they had already died.
“They’ve entered a quasi-death state. But while their bodies seem dead, their souls are growing increasingly powerful. This earth essence really is worthy of being the head of the four major essences in the Jade Lake Sacred Land. Fortunately, Li Qi and Song Mingyuan are absorbing it together, or if it was just one of them, the amount of energy would probably make them explode,” explained Meng Qi.
Meng Qi was guarding this place to prevent any accidents from occurring during this process.
“Once those two come out, their combat power will probably even surpass mine.” Long Chen nodded. The earth essence had been so powerful that it had destroyed Di Long’s attack. If the two of them could fully absorb its energy, they would definitely be reborn. If they joined hands, they could probably defeat the entire Dragonblood Legion, with even Long Chen having to avoid them somewhat.
“You really do need to focus on upgrading yourself. Ever since the battle in the Grand Han, your cultivation base hasn’t grown at all. Don’t waste any more time. Don’t slow down your own cultivation because of us.” Meng Qi reached out and helped tidy Long Chen’s robes. Her voice contained a slightly scolding tone.
Long Chen’s current cultivation base was too low. His combat power had also not advanced very much. It was all because he was spending so much time on the Dragonblood Legion.
“Hehe, time spent honing a blade isn’t a waste. As long as you all get stronger, I won’t even need to personally do anything. I’ll just shout: Guo Ran, bite him! and everything will be handled,” laughed Long Chen.
Meng Qi immediately laughed, but she rebuked, “Don’t be so mean to Guo Ran. The whole biting someone’s butt last time has become a sore point for him. Even now, he’s embarrassed whenever it’s mentioned.”
“So that
little fellow also knows how to be embarrassed? That doesn’t sound like his style. It seems he needs to keep thickening his skin. In the future, we’ll just directly shout: Everyone retreat and close the gates. Release Guo Ran!”
“Hmph, I’m being serious. It’s not good to be so mean to Guo Ran.”
Long Chen pulled Meng Qi out of the cultivation room. Li Qi and Song Mingyuan had already entered a stable state and didn’t need anyone looking after them. As they walked, he said, “You don’t understand that little fellow. Once he gets arrogant, his ego will get completely inflated. That’s why occasionally giving him a blow is a must. Otherwise, no place in the Martial Heaven Continent would be able to accept him. But you know, after this, he will probably make a name for himself on the continent. I have to work hard too, or he might place his sights on me and want to beat me like he did Gu Yang.”
Long Chen couldn’t help feeling emotional. Guo Ran’s current physical body was only on the level of an ordinary Empyrean. It wasn’t particularly outstanding, but when he wore his armor, his power was horrifying.
Even Long Chen, if he didn’t rely on a divine item, would only barely be able to suppress him with his full power.
However, that was excluding that little fellow’s sinister moves. Having given him so many of those blades and chains, it was unknown what kind of evil moves he would come up with. Long Chen no longer had any assurance of being able to put Guo Ran in his place.
Although Guo Ran was his loyal follower and definitely wouldn’t betray him, having to watch him show off all day was definitely unbearable. So he had to suppress him a bit while he could.
“Ah, speaking of which, Zifeng said that he doesn’t want the blood essence stone or the blood soul stone. He refused no matter how I advised him. Do you want to talk to him?” asked Meng Qi.
Everyone was currently undergoing the baptism of the blood essence stone and then using the blood soul stone to condense their Yuan Spirit a second time. Yue Zifeng had refused both those opportunities.
