by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
That was because at the end, it had mostly been a competition of divine items. With the channel slowly closing, all the experts had exploded with power.
That was the best moment to climb. However, Long Chen was confident that Di Xin did not have a divine item, or if he did, he didn’t have one that suited him.
Even if he was Di Long’s son and Di Long could find him another divine item, Di Xin was a water attribute cultivator, and his new divine item might not suit his nature. Furthermore, even if he had obtained a suitable divine item, wanting to gain its approval in such a short time was very difficult. For him to be able to unleash its power wasn’t very likely.
The illustrious son of the leader of the ancient family alliance didn’t even manage to get in the top five hundred. It would have been better if he hadn’t attended at all. At least, it wouldn’t have been so embarrassing.
If Long Chen were Di Xin, he wouldn’t have attended. But Di Xin’s head really was special.
After searching a long time, Long Chen managed to see Xia Chen’s name in the eight hundreds. He couldn’t understand how someone who had been first place could fall to this position.
Continuing down, he saw Bao Buping, Chang Hao, and other names. Although they had only appeared for a short while, the ones that they had killed were the Life Star level Empyrean Winged Blood Devils. That allowed them to get into the top thousand. It went without saying that when Split the Heavens was merged, it was truly vicious.
Looking through the top thousand experts, Long Chen saw that sixty percent of them came from the Central Xuan Region. When he looked at the top five hundred alone, he saw that eighty percent were Central Xuan Region’s experts. Their foundation was truly something that the other four regions couldn’t compare to.
In any case, Long Chen had managed to complete his mission with flying colors. The Xuantian Dao Sect alone had blocked the entire Eastern Xuan Region’s Devil Abyss. Although the devil creatures had appeared aboveground at the end, they had all been slain. No innocent commoners were killed.
Long Chen and Guo Ran had gotten into the top ten, with Long Chen even taking the top spot. They had definitely won Qu Jianying some face this time.
The Xuantian Tower quickly flew, and they arrived at the Xuantian Dao Sect in a short while. When Long Chen saw the current state of the Xuantian Dao Sect, his expression immediately became ugly. The Dragonblood warriors were filled with killing intent.
“These bastards really deserve to die!”
Chapter 1713 Being Surrounded
What infuriated Long Chen and the others was that the Xuantian Dao Sect, whose construction had almost been completed, was now in ruins. The soaring pavilions and unending mountain range had been destroyed.
“There’s no need to be so angry. As a leader, you can’t always let your emotions affect you over some minor things. It will affect your judgment.”
Li Tianxuan’s voice rang out, and he walked out of the mountain gate. All the Xuantian Dao Sect’s disciples walked out along with him.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen!”
When they saw Long Chen and the others return safe and well, these disciples’ eyes brimmed with tears of excitement. They had thought that they would never see them again.
When they returned to make their report of what had happened, they found that the Xuantian Dao Sect had met a surprise attack from the Corrupt path.
At that time, when those Corrupt experts retreated, they had said to wait for Long Chen’s corpse. Those disciples had turned cold. They knew that the target of these experts was Long Chen.
Now seeing that he was alive, they all cheered emotionally. After fighting together for over two months, their bonds had been reforged with blood, as well as the sacrifices of many lives. These kinds of bonds could only be understood by them.
Long Chen was also extremely moved to see these disciples’ emotions. He cupped his fists toward them.
Li Tianxuan was still as calm as ever, as if he couldn’t see the damage to the Xuantian Dao Sect. He patted Long Chen on the shoulder. “Good job. You’ve won face for the Xuantian Dao Sect, the Eastern Xuan Region, and the Martial Heaven Continent.”
“What face? It seems more like we lost all our face this time! It’s my first being beaten so miserably by someone’s schemes. If it weren’t for… ugh, I won’t say it, it’s too infuriating.” Long Chen clenched his teeth.
This time had been truly dangerous. It made an alarm go off in Long Chen’s head. Being targeted by Heavenly Fate Island meant he would have to be especially careful in the future.
“We were just about to finish the construction of the sect, and those bastards destroyed it all! Fuck, let’s charge into the Corrupt path right now and kill them all!” raged Gu Yang.
Li Tianxuan smiled. “What you’re seeing is just some superficial damage. The foundation of the Dao Sect isn’t harmed. Actually, this was all done deliberately by me. Let’s go. We can talk inside.”
Li Tianxuan led them inside while the disciples cheered.
“Deliberately? You mean…?” asked Long Chen.
“If I didn’t do this, how do you think I could trick the Corrupt path’s three Devil Kings? How else do you think I could cripple one of them? The damage to the surface is rather bad, but the foundation is fine and the formation is undamaged. The formation diagram that Xia Chen sent us is even stronger than we expected. It supports the Xuantian Tower, giving it enough power to almost kill one of the Devil Kings. We destroyed his physical body, and while he got away in the end, his Yuan Spirit is essentially crippled. He was on death’s door when he fled. Crippling one of the three great Devil Kings of the Corrupt path will win us a giant reward from the Martial Heaven Alliance, which is more than enough to make up for this damage. Most importantly, we managed to show our power, and no one will be able to shake our position as overlord of the Eastern Xuan Region. Those rumors that the Xuantian Dao Sect is an empty shell have all collapsed. As for you, Long Chen, you managed to get first place on the Devil Slaughter Rankings. It can be said that the Xuantian Dao Sect’s glory has surpassed all previous generations.” Toward the end, Li Tianxuan and the patriarch’s eyes were filled with pride.
This was an indescribable glory. As the sect leaders of the Xuantian Dao Sect, they had had a mission to revive the sect’s glory. Now, that had been made reality during their time. They couldn’t suppress their pride.
“They all told me what happened. You did very well this time. Even if I was personally leading, I wouldn’t have been able to do any better.” Li Tianxuan patted Long Chen on the shoulder.
Li Tianxuan didn’t specialize in fighting, he specialized in control and planning. In the Devil Abyss, Long Chen had led his troops steadily, without any trace of the carelessness of youth.
During the battle between heavenly geniuses fighting for first, Long Chen hadn’t shown any competitiveness. He had given orders based on the big picture. That was the style of a general.
“Xuan Master, if I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were being ironic.” Long Chen bitterly smiled.
Just as they were speaking, they arrived at the core of the Xuantian Dao Sect. Only now did everyone see that while the damage looked terrible from the outside, it wasn’t actually that bad. The broken mountain ranges were deliberate. As long as the formation was activated, they would be restored.
The broken buildings only had their top floors damaged. Their foundation hadn’t been rattled at all.
Upon returning to the Dao Sect, the disciples that had fought returned to their residences to rest. Healing experts had already examined all of them to see if there were any hidden injuries.
Hidden injuries were the worst because they weren’t sensed at the time. And if they weren’t healed soon enough, they would flare up at the worst of times or gravely affect your cultivation speed without you being aware.
The Dragonblood warriors returned to Crouching Dragon Mountain. This battle had been hard on them. The explo
sion of divine items at the end had shaken all their Yuan Spirits. Some of them were injured, and healing injuries to the Yuan Spirit would take a long time.
Long Chen urged Bao Buping and Chang Hao to stay for a while, only for the two of them to say that they had to leave immediately.
The Netherworld’s mark on the old man’s head was starting to grow faint, meaning that he was currently at a critical juncture. Boss Bao and the others were defending him and didn’t dare to leave.
Hence, Bao Buping and the others had to return to their home. The sudden sneak attacks during this battle had made Bao Buping and Chang Hao mature a great deal. They were no longer as careless before.
Even Long Chen, with his intelligence, had almost been killed by the scheming of others. That gave them a great sense of danger. If someone attacked the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect at this time, it would be troublesome.
Bao Buping and Chang Hao left with their disciples through one of the Xuantian Dao Sect’s transportation formations. They agreed that once the old man woke up, they would properly celebrate.
After sending them all off, Long Chen, Li Tianxuan, and the patriarch returned to the Xuantian Tower. Long Chen narrated what had happened this time.
“Xuan Master, didn’t you say that Heavenly Fate Island would not be able to calculate anything about me? But this time, their trap was seamless, and I almost died.” Long Chen couldn’t understand. It was because Li Tianxuan had guaranteed that Heavenly Fate Island couldn’t read his fate that he hadn’t cared about them.
“They are definitely unable to calculate anything about you. However, they can try to read the fate of the Xuantian Dao Sect, the Xuantian Dao Sect’s disciples, the Eastern Xuan Region’s karmic luck, or even the disciples that you led inside. These are all their chess pieces. By reading the fate of multiple chess pieces from multiple angles, they can calculate your path. Their fates are all intertwined with yours. But in order to do this, I’m sure Heavenly Fate Island had to pay a heavy price. To calculate so much that affects so many geniuses and powers would take a huge amount of manpower and resources. As for the pagoda that they sacrificed, its name is the Space Splitting Pagoda. It is a special divine item used to travel across planes, and its value is on par with half-step divine items. I really didn’t expect Heavenly Fate Island to go so crazy as to waste so much effort to kill you. Unfortunately for them, the calculations of man are not as great as the calculations of the heavens. They have interfered with the Heavenly Daos and will sooner or later meet a miserable end.” With his final sentence, Li Tianxuan’s mouth twisted into a disdainful sneer.
Before this, he had thought that Heavenly Fate Island was a sacred land. They achieved enlightenment of mysteries known only to the heavens. They were transcendent.
Xuan Jizi was an outcast, someone who Heavenly Fate Island had kicked out. That hadn’t affected his view of Heavenly Fate Island.
However, this time, Li Tianxuan was forced to reconsider his view. Just why would Heavenly Fate Island waste so much effort to eliminate Long Chen?
The most incomprehensible part of it all was that they would do this despite Long Chen being a Heaven-Defier. Could it really be that they didn’t realize what he is?
Anyone who tried to calculate Long Chen’s past, present, or future would die. Even if they were able to use other means to find out his next move, that still meant that he had to have an extraordinary origin. Why did they want him dead so badly?
“Long Chen, it’s not a good idea for you to fight Heavenly Fate Island for now. After all, you have no proof that this incident was done by them. As for those hidden experts, they didn’t reveal themselves. The only ones to openly reveal themselves were the Corrupt path, and they can attack us without giving a reason. If you attacked, you wouldn’t have a justifiable cause,” warned Li Tianxuan.
Heavenly Fate Island’s scheming had been flawless, and they hadn’t left a trace. Long Chen could only take it. Leaving behind his challenge to Heavenly Fate Island on the Devil Slaughter Rankings was nothing more than venting, telling them that he knew it was them.
Actually attacking them was not possible. He would just fall into their trap and be besieged from all sides.
“I know this. This is my diplomacy. I’ve clearly expressed my attitude toward them. It’s my warning to the people in Heavenly Fate Island that if they don’t want to die, they should think of some way to leave. I won’t let them cry that they're innocent when I do go annihilate Heavenly Fate Island. I’m giving them a chance right now, and if they don’t want to grasp it, that’s their problem. I’m not so kindhearted as to not avenge my enmities. In any case, I’ll be making Heavenly Fate Island pay a price for their actions this time. I also suspect that they were asked to do this by others,” said Long Chen.
After all, Long Chen was surrounded by enemies. This was also a mark of a Heaven-Defier. The world did not want him, let alone other people.
If the Corrupt path, the ancient races, the Xuan Beasts, the ancient family alliance, Pill Valley, and the Blookill Hall all teamed up together to ask Heavenly Fate Island for help, what reason would they have to refuse?
Li Tianxuan did not know that a large figure from Heavenly Fate Island had had his Heavenly Eye destroyed when he had tried to kill Long Chen. The counterattack from the Divine Gate Star resulted in that person hating Long Chen.
Long Chen didn’t care what reason they had though. All he needed to know was that they wanted to kill him. If he didn’t want them to achieve their goal, he would need to fight back. The cultivation world had no justice. If he wanted to live, he had to fight.
“Reporting to the Xuan Master, the Dao Sect had been surrounded!”
Suddenly, an Elder’s frantic cry rang out, startling the three of them.
Chapter 1714 The Xuantian Tower’s Power
Outside the Xuantian Dao Sect, many war chariots surrounded the gates. Each of those war chariots emitted powerful divine pressure. Each of them was a divine item, and the pressure was so suffocating that the Xuantian Dao Sect’s disciples were pale.
Although they had yet to enter a battle state, just seeing so many powerful war chariots was frightening.
Each chariot had its own specific mark. The lead chariot was marked with a giant pill furnace. That was Pill Valley’s mark.
The valley master, Yu Xiaoyun, was standing in the air, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked down at the Xuantian Dao Sect, his gaze as sharp as a blade.
Not far from the valley master was another war chariot. Inside was a large man with a violet-gold crown on his head. His clone had previously been destroyed by Long Chen. He was the ancient family alliance’s head, Di Long.
Di Long’s expression was icy today. The destruction of his clone had not been forgotten by him. He would never be able to escape the humiliation of having Long Chen destroy his clone, so there was no way to describe his hatred for Long Chen with words.
On the other side was a giant man with explosive Blood Qi. It was like the power of his flesh was about to erupt out of him. Just standing there, the space around him twisted as if the world could not contain him.
He was almost ten meters tall, with bulging muscles. His arms were bare, and it was possible to see divine runes flowing on his skin like countless wriggling serpents.
This person was from the Xuan Beasts. His pupils were vertical like a crocodile’s, cold and merciless.
Beside this expert from the Xuan Beasts was a white-haired elder, the leader of the ancient races. His aura was well-concealed, and even though he was standing there, people were unable to sense his existence. His cultivation technique was extremely strange.
Other than Pill Valley, the ancient family alliance, the Xuan Beasts, and the ancient races, there were also chariots of some sects from eastern, western, southern, and northern regions. Hundreds of them were blocking the sky.
A flash of light came from the Xuantian Tower. Long Chen, Li Tianxuan, and the patriarch appeared in the sky, facing those
experts.
Li Tianxuan and the patriarch stood behind Long Chen without saying anything.
Looking at the scene before him, Long Chen smiled coldly. “What, after a sinister scheme fails, you want to fight openly?”
“Scram! You aren’t qualified to speak here!”
Seeing that the one to speak was Long Chen, Di Long was the first to find it unendurable.
His voice was backed by the life and death energy of a Netherpassage expert. It rang out like thunder.
Runes appeared around the Xuantian Dao Sect as the protective formation was activated, blocking Di Long’s roar.
If that energy was allowed to invade the Xuantian Dao Sect, a lot of disciples wouldn’t be able to endure it. They would all be injured.
“How does someone who I’ve slapped and whose clone I’ve killed still have the face to cry about qualifications? If I were you, I’d have long since killed myself out of shame. For you to still be alive, did you spend all your years of cultivation on thickening your skin?” Long Chen wasn’t affected by Di Long’s roar at all. He glanced at him indifferently.
Everyone looked toward Di Long. The news that Long Chen had slapped Di Long and killed his clone had shaken the entire continent. They saw that Di Long’s body was trembling. He was on the verge of exploding.
“Are you having an epilepsy episode? What are you shaking about? For you to come here in such force, didn’t you want to quarrel? You don’t need to find a sanctimonious excuse. Come at me directly. Let’s see who dies,” sneered Long Chen.
“Brat, die!”
Di Long suddenly roared. A huge hand reached for Long Chen.
Li Tianxuan shook his head. This Di Long was really an idiot. Not even his acting skills were up to par. How could an alliance head be so easily provoked?
He was definitely acting. To use Long Chen’s words, he truly was shameless.
Di Long was as quick as lightning, but Long Chen, Li Tianxuan, and the patriarch simply stared at him calmly. At that instant, a bone claw appeared in his hand.
