by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“Hmph, how arrogant. Are the matters of your Martial Heaven Alliance more important than other people’s?”
Qu Jianying’s flying boat had just entered the transportation formation when a voice came from the flying boat that was originally next in line and had been replaced by her.
“Oh, I actually encountered some old friends. Hey, tortoise race, how are you?” Long Chen immediately recognized the voice and looked to see the bald elder from the ancient races. It was the Netherpassage patriarch of the Seven Star Dragon Tortoise race that had hunted him before.
Long Chen smiled and waved like he was seeing a friend he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“You… Long Chen…”
That elder hadn’t been paying particular attention to that flying boat. He had just seen the mark of the Martial Heaven Alliance.
He hadn’t noticed the color of the Alliance character written at the front of it, which marked it as Qu Jianying’s flying boat.
Long Chen came walking out of it, greeting him warmly, and the elder almost coughed up blood again. If he had hair, it would definitely be standing on end.
“Die!” That Netherpassage expert immediately flew into a rage. Long Chen had destroyed the Eastern Xuan Region’s ancient races, and only a few of their elites had survived.
The worst thing was that Long Chen had not only destroyed the ancient races and plundered their treasuries, but he had even taken away the corpse of the Sword Spine Armor Dragon. They hadn’t gotten anything.
This was an absolute humiliation. This expert had almost entered a crazed, bedeviled state from his rage. Now he immediately attacked Long Chen.
He was completely infuriated. He immediately used his life and death energy to lock Long Chen down tightly. At this distance, he definitely wouldn’t give Long Chen a chance to run.
“Old brother tortoise, why are you so angry? Your eyes are red, and your mouth is wildly frothing.” Long Chen smiled at the Netherpassage expert, completely ignoring his attack.
“DIE!”
The sudden attack of a Netherpassage expert made everyone else jump in fright. His punch contained immense power.
Suddenly, a ray of sword-light shot out from behind Long Chen. It was resplendent and mighty, cutting through the restrictions of time and space. The Seven Star Dragon Tortoise race’s patriarch had his arm sent flying away from his body. Blood splashed.
“Ah, tortoise blood is such a good supplement! What a waste.” Long Chen caught the arm and shook his head regretfully.
Although he said it was regretful, he didn’t go collect the blood. Although that Netherpassage expert was powerful, his bloodline was not very pure. Compared to the blood of the Xuan Beasts, it wasn’t valuable. Even if he gathered it, he would probably only be able to use it for blood tofu or something.
The sword-light vanished. Qu Jianying appeared behind Long Chen, staring coldly at the patriarch of the Seven Star Dragon Tortoise race. “I still haven’t even gone to settle the bill with you for bullying my disciple, and you already dared to attack me today. Your guts are quite big.”
The appearance of Qu Jianying made the patriarch turn paper-white. Qu Jianying’s name contained immense power on the continent. Although they were both Netherpassage experts, he wasn’t qualified to challenge Qu Jianying.
“I… I… I didn’t bully your disciple! Long Chen was clearly the one who cruelly and viciously slaughtered my ancient races! Have you seen how he destroyed the Eastern Xuan Region’s ancient races?!” raged the patriarch.
“How laughable. You were the one who took the initiative to attack my disciple, so why can’t he attack back? You are a Netherpassage expert, yet you were so shameless as to attack a Soul Transformation disciple, and then you cry victim when you are actually beaten by him. Do you even care about your face?” sneered Qu Jianying.
“I never tried to kill him! I just wanted to ask him a few things!” quibbled the patriarch.
“So you’re saying it was all a misunderstanding?” Suddenly, Long Chen leaped into the conversation.
“Exactly, it was just a misunderstanding.”
“Hahaha, so it was just a misunderstanding. Why didn’t you say so sooner? I thought that you wanted to kill me!”
Long Chen suddenly laughed and walked over to the patriarch. He patted him on the shoulder and said reproachfully, “It’s not that I’m trying to scold you, but why didn’t you say so on that day? If you had, the misunderstanding wouldn’t have caused such a ruckus. Haha, now that you bring it up, I feel a bit embarrassed over it. However, now that we’re clear on things, I won’t continue bothering with you over this. Let us put away our weapons and replace them with gifts of jade and silk. Come, let’s hug it out to express our sincerity.”
Long Chen calmly embraced the patriarch of the Seven Star Dragon Tortoise race. The experts present were all stunned.
Even the patriarch was dumbfounded. He had no idea what Long Chen was doing.
He had an urge to kill Long Chen right now, but he knew that Qu Jianying would cut him to pieces if he dared to try.
Just as he was wondering what to do, Long Chen had finished his hug and once more patted him on the shoulder.
“Alright, we still have some urgent affairs to handle, so we’ll leave first.”
Long Chen returned to his flying boat, followed by Qu Jianying. They vanished as the transportation formation activated.
The patriarch stood there blankly. Even now, he hadn’t managed to twist his head around what had just happened. Was Long Chen really trying to settle things with the ancient races? But how was that possible?
“Patriarch! You…” Suddenly, one of the disciples of the Seven Star Dragon Tortoise race pointed at the patriarch’s back with a terrified expression.
“What is it?” The patriarch was startled and hastily spread his divine sense. He saw that at some point, blood had started to drip down his back.
He suddenly let out a furious shout, and the robes on his back were blown back, revealing his skinny figure.
People were shocked to find that the patriarch’s back had been skinned. It was now a mess of blood.
“Patriarch, your ancestral mark…” The disciples of the Seven Star Dragon Tortoise race covered their mouths, looking in disbelief.
The ancestral mark of the Seven Star Dragon Tortoises was the divine mark engraved on their shells. This divine mark was their strongest rune. They specialized in using their shields as weapons, which made their defense so powerful. That was all thanks to that rune.
This rune not only had defensive power, but it also had the ability to absorb a portion of a person’s attack so that it could be used against them. Although their offensive power was lacking, their immense defensive power was enough to cause despair in their enemies.
Back when the patriarch had fought the Sword Spine Armor Dragon, in truth he hadn’t used that much power. The only reason he had coughed up blood and been injured was because of how Long Chen had angered him so badly. In the battle, he had blocked and absorbed the Sword Spine Armor Dragon’s attacks. That was why their defensive power was described as monstrous.
However, this power stemmed from their ancestral marks. And now, that ancestral mark had vanished on him. In other words, he would be a shell-less tortoise in the future.
“Long Chen!”
The patriarch let out a furious roar and charged toward the transportation formation, but Qu Jianying’s flying boat had already vanished.
…
“Evilmoon, is this thing actually useful? I’ve read plenty of books, so don’t try to fool me.”
Long Chen looked at the rune on a strip of skin in his spiritual space. That was what he had skinned off of the Seven Star Dragon Tortoise race’s patriarch.
Taking this thing wasn’t something Long Chen had been planning. It was Evilmoon who had told him to do it. He also didn’t know what method Evilmoon had used to be able to steal the ancestral mark in front of two Netherpassage experts without th
em knowing.
“Of course it’s useful. However, it’s not useful to me, but to the Heaven Flipping Seal,” said Evilmoon.
“You want me to give it to Little Heaven?” asked Long Chen.
“Yes. Based on his aura, that baldie should be descended from the Blood Addicted Devil Dragon. Due to the mix of dragon and tortoise blood, as well as the mix of human blood later, his bloodline is very impure, and there are several divine skills that he can no longer use. I’d guess that he didn’t even know that this rune had another use.”
“What kind of use?
“The Blood Addicted Devil Dragon has one area where it is strong, and that is its recovery ability. My dark evil dragon race’s recovery abilities stem from our own stores of energy, but the Blood Addiction Devil Dragon relies on the divine runes on its scales to absorb external energy to recover. Although this ancestral mark has already regressed from its peak state, it still has a trace of that power. I’m preparing to refine it into a passive rune for Little Heaven. If it works, Little Heaven will gain some of its power. Its defense will rise, and it will be able to absorb some of an enemy’s attack. Furthermore, if it truly manages to activate this divine ability, Little Heaven’s recovery ability will soar. Compared to the formation Xia Chen put on, this rune will be much stronger if it works. Although hugging an old tortoise is distasteful, it’s worth it for Little Heaven,” laughed Evilmoon.
Obediently sitting through multiple transportation formations, Long Chen arrived within an ancient city.
Chapter 1758 Central Plains Ancient City
“This is the Central Xuan Region?”
Long Chen looked around at the ancient city surrounding him. Some of the bricks were already covered in cracks and looked like they might shatter at any moment. It was very worn down.
“This is truly the Central Xuan Region. This city is the Martial Heaven Alliance’s headquarters. It’s just a small part of the Central Xuan Region,” said Qu Jianying. “Don’t get tricked by its worn-down air. This is actually the air of time. It contains vestiges of all the time this city has existed. Just being here will make it easier for someone to comprehend the laws of time.”
The headquarters of the Martial Heaven Alliance was an extremely ancient city. Although it looked worn down, it had managed to survive the passing of countless years.
It was illegal to repair the broken-down areas, and it was also illegal to damage its current appearance. This could be said to be the most ancient human city on the entire Martial Heaven Continent.
“The history of this city stretches back to the dark era. I’ve always thought that this city possessed its own fate and life. It has recorded the passing of time and manages to exist within the endless flow of time. This is its destiny. However, only some people are able to sense it,” explained Qu Jianying.
“Greetings, alliance head!”
As Qu Jianying and Long Chen walked off the transportation formation, the surrounding experts immediately bowed toward Qu Jianying.
These were the young disciples of the Martial Heaven Alliance. Their cultivation bases were all at the Soul Transformation realm. Each of their gazes was sharp, and they possessed powerful auras. They were true experts.
After bowing toward Qu Jianying, they looked oddly at Long Chen. They clearly recognized him.
“Hello.” Long Chen gave a faint smile and greeting.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, I’ve long since heard of your name. Your reputation precedes you.” One of the disciples cupped his fists toward him. These disciples were all a bit excited.
Although Long Chen had plenty of enemies in the rest of the world, he was still a disciple of the Martial Heaven Alliance. His accomplishments were something they were proud of.
They were especially proud of the miracle he had made, growing from a small secular empire in the Eastern Wasteland to his current level. This legend made him an idol for countless cultivators.
Even in the Central Xuan Region, a place filled with heavenly geniuses and supreme monsters, Long Chen’s name was still very resounding.
Normally, they were only able to glimpse him in photographic jades. Now they got to see him in person.
“How are the disciples of my headquarters?” Qu Jianying smiled.
“They’re all elites amongst elites, experts amongst experts. They are true warriors.” Long Chen nodded. He heard Qu Jianying’s pride.
Clearly, these disciples were all people that Qu Jianying viewed with favor. They were truly powerful. Just by looking into his eyes, Long Chen could see that they were warriors unafraid of death. Such warriors were very rare.
“You youngsters can chat. I have some business to handle. Take care of Long Chen.” Qu Jianying actually tossed Long Chen here and left alone.
“We wouldn’t dare to take senior apprentice-brother Long Chen’s praise. Disciple Xin Li greets senior apprentice-brother Long Chen.” A man with a sword on his back cupped his fists toward Long Chen. This person was the leader of this group.
“A sword cultivator?” Long Chen sensed Xin Li’s sharp aura.
“I cultivated for three years in the Heavenly Sword Gate. Regretfully, I was unable to pass the Sword Stele’s trial, so I was expelled. I am at most half a sword cultivator,” said Xin Li regretfully.
Long Chen couldn’t help but stare. Xin Li’s Heavenly Dao energy was extremely powerful, and his aura was sharp. He was clearly an Empyrean, but even such a figure was expelled from the Heavenly Sword Gate? Was it really so terrifying that it didn’t even accept Empyreans?
Seeing his expression, Xin Li explained, “Sword cultivators care only about their comprehension of the Sword Dao. Everything else is unrelated. Back in the Heavenly Sword Gate, I had the fortune of seeing senior Ling Yunzi. Originally, I wasn’t even qualified to cultivate in the Heavenly Sword Gate. It was only thanks to his pointers that I was allowed to cultivate there for three years. Senior Ling Yunzi said that I was unfortunate because my Heavenly Dao energy was too strong, affecting my comprehension of the Sword Dao. However, he specially taught me a technique that could combine the power of the Heavenly Daos with the Sword Dao, benefitting me greatly. Although we never officially took the name of master and apprentice, there truly is such a relationship between us.”
So this Xin Li was actually Ling Yunzi’s disciple. Long Chen immediately became friendlier. Ling Yunzi was one of the few people in this world that he admired.
Or perhaps he should say that Ling Yunzi was also a miracle. He had essentially reached his peak cultivation base and stopped advancing, but by gaining a sudden comprehension of the Sword Dao, he broke through all his shackles, becoming a famous figure who created a cultivation miracle.
“Since you’re the sect leader’s disciple, then we truly are apprentice-brothers,” laughed Long Chen. He hadn’t expected to encounter one of Ling Yunzi’s disciples from the Heavenly Sword Gate here. He patted Xin Li on the shoulder, warmly asking, “How is the sect leader now?”
Xin Li felt extremely moved inside at how close Long Chen was acting toward him. He immediately answered, “He’s doing well. However, I’ve been gone for a while. Back then, he was attempting to break through the Life Star realm.”
Long Chen nodded. Ling Yunzi had already experienced the vicissitudes of life. He had long since lost the temper of youth. Now he cultivated for stability without leaving the slightest flaw. Furthermore, a sword cultivator did not pursue cultivation base, but a higher realm of comprehension. So it was normal for Ling Yunzi’s cultivation base to not be advancing very quickly.
“Is senior apprentice-brother Yue Zifeng doing well? I’ve always been one of his worshippers,” said Xin Li excitedly.
Ling Yunzi had brought Yue Zifeng to the Heavenly Sword Gate. At that time, Yue Zifeng was physically dead. His soul had been trapped in his sword.
It was Heavenly Sword Gate that had used a secret technique to draw back Yue Zifeng’s soul from his sword. As for Yue Zifeng, his soul had been immersed in t
he sword for so long, and he had truly comprehended the meaning of being one with the sword.
Yue Zifeng was claimed to be the disciple with the most potential in the history of the Heavenly Sword Gate. In fact, even the current gate master had earnestly wished for him to stay in the Heavenly Sword Gate to cultivate.
However, Yue Zifeng had refused. He had to return to Long Chen’s side. He said that in this life, he had two things he believed in: one was the sword in his hand, while the other was his boss.
Xin Li wanted to join the Heavenly Sword Gate but was rejected, while Yue Zifeng was someone the Heavenly Sword Gate had urged to stay but had left decisively. The difference between the two of them was immense.
For Long Chen, Yue Zifeng had sacrificed his best cultivation opportunity. To be able to make a prideful and detached sword cultivator become someone that would follow him to death, Xin Li had long since felt great admiration for Long Chen.
“He’s doing very well. His realm is growing higher and higher, and he’s the one with the sharpest attack in my Dragonblood Legion.” Long Chen was also proud of Yue Zifeng. He was truly powerful.
He was a true genius of the Sword Dao. He had a fervent belief in the sword. It was practically fanatical.
Ling Yunzi could count as half his master as Yue Zifeng’s true master was actually the sword in his hand. His comprehension of the Sword Dao could only be described as terrifying.
Xin Li led the way as they walked, and four disciples followed behind them. They walked down an ancient alley to a plaza.
Wherever Xin Li went, quite a few young disciples would greet him respectfully. Clearly, Xin Li was quite influential and respected here.
However, when they saw Long Chen, those disciples’ expressions froze as they stared in disbelief.
When they arrived at the plaza, Long Chen was surprised to see four balls of light within it.
Those balls of light each had a martial arena within them. There were disciples fighting within the martial arenas.
The surprising thing was that the opponents of these disciples were not human, but a strange kind of lifeform.
