by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
Darkness enveloped the battlefield. A terrifying heat was refining heaven and earth.
Although it was only darkness in front of them, it somehow felt like countless black dragons were roaring within it. This darkness was pitch-black. It was a darkness so dark that it was impossible to see hope. It was a darkness that inspired only fear.
Even the Netherpassage experts had summoned their own defenses to block this heat. They could feel the wild energy in the air.
“Truly worthy of the Black Illusion Dragon Flame, famed for its unmatched destructive power,” said Yan Nantian as he sensed the black flames crashing against his defenses.
The other Netherpassage experts were also stunned. They were only at the edge of the battlefield. If they were at the center, this attack would have taken their lives.
The darkness slowly faded. The sky was still gloomy, and the sun seemed like it had lost its power. A terrifying destructive aura still filled the air.
“Where are they?”
The battlefield had been completely deformed, but the sky was empty. Neither Long Chen nor Xiang Yunfei were present.
Chapter 1791 Crushed to Death
“Cough, cough…”
Suddenly, a figure climbed out of the ground. Startled cries rang out. That person was Xiang Yunfei.
Xiang Yunfei’s entire body was charred black. His hair was gone and he looked like a desiccated corpse. He had just crawled up when he began hacking up blood.
The current Xiang Yunfei had completely lost his original grandeur and arrogance. His entire body quivered just by standing. He was looking around for Long Chen’s figure.
That last exchange had been too terrifying.
If it hadn’t been for the one hundred and eight Heavenly Bone Spears, he would have been turned to ash.
He was heavily injured, with his soul, qi, and essence badly damaged. He was already on the verge of crumbling.
However, he was still looking around. His years of fighting and killing had nurtured his powerful will. He knew that Long Chen wasn’t dead. This was his best opportunity to kill him.
Suddenly, the ground exploded and a figure flew out, charging at Xiang Yunfei. The black saber in his hand mercilessly slashed down.
“It’s Long Chen!” Startled cries rang out. Long Chen’s robes were still in perfect condition. Other than his aura being in disorder and a bit of paleness, he looked the same as before.
“So when that flame lotus exploded, he had already charged underground. Considering how strong his physical body is, he was probably able to avoid a heavy injury,” said a Life Star expert.
His guess was correct. Long Chen had immediately charged into the ground when the World Annihilation Flame Lotus was about to explode. However, he hadn’t gone too deep. If he did, the underground pressure would have been too great. The depth that he had gone was perfect, allowing him to avoid most of the explosion’s power. He was definitely better off than Xiang Yunfei.
BOOM!
Long Chen was just about to reach Xiang Yunfei when the ground around Xiang Yunfei caved in. One hundred and eight bone spears shot out of the ground at Long Chen.
“Heavens, they still have the energy to fight!”
BOOM!
The Heavenly Bone Spears were sent flying by Long Chen’s saber. Xiang Yunfei’s attack had been nothing more than for appearances, but Long Chen’s attack contained actual power.
Xiang Yunfei’s arm was smashed apart by one of the bone spears that was sent flying.
Long Chen didn’t give Xiang Yunfei a chance to get away. He sent another slash at his head.
It was unknown what technique Xiang Yunfei used, but he was like a phantom, flickering to the side. Long Chen’s saber missed, slashing into the ground.
“Long Chen is really out of energy, or he would have managed to change his trajectory. They’re both exhausted.”
Xiang Yunfei’s technique hadn’t been all that marvelous. If Long Chen was in his previous condition, he definitely would have been able to react and change the path of his saber to still strike Xiang Yunfei.
Long Chen suddenly put away Evilmoon and punched Xiang Yunfei. Xiang Yunfei’s jaw was broken by this punch and he let out a snort as he flew back.
Without Evilmoon’s weight, Long Chen’s speed increased. He suddenly pointed a finger. A flicker of lightning appeared.
Suddenly, sharp sword-light slashed the air, flying right by Long Chen’s head, causing him to hastily dodge.
Long Chen’s heart shook. He recognized the aura of the one who had just attacked. It was the Grand Elder, Yan Nantian. He didn’t know why Yan Nantian was stopping him.
However, just as he dodged Yan Nantian’s attack, a silent quill flew by the other side of his face. The sword-light struck the quill, and a powerful explosion sent Long Chen and Xiang Yunfei tumbling away.
“Old hedgehog, I’ve been waiting for you. Did you think you could hide from me with your little bit of ability?”
Qu Jianying’s sword appeared in Yan Nantian’s hand. Yan Nantian sent another slash at an empty space.
“Yan Nantian, do you really think I’m afraid of you?” A cold voice rang out. A cymbal appeared in the air, transforming into the size of a mountain that blocked Yan Nantian’s sword. At the same time, a ray of light poured out of the sky, enveloping Xiang Yunfei.
“Xiang Yunfei is getting away!”
When that light pillar enveloped Xiang Yunfei, Xiang Yunfei’s body began to grow faint. This was a powerful transportation energy that was bringing him away.
“Haha, Long Chen, no matter what you try, you can’t kill me! Just wait, next time I will definitely-”
“Who has time to wait for you?” Long Chen had taken out a cyan brick at some point. He smashed it at Xiang Yunfei.
The cyan brick erupted with divine light, transforming into a giant brick that smashed down with enough power to turn heaven and earth upside down.
BOOM!
The cyan brick shattered the light enveloping Xiang Yunfei and slammed into the ground. The entire world shuddered violently, and the ground caved in. There was a bottomless hole in the ground now.
At the same time, Yan Nantian’s attack struck the cymbal. A heaven-shaking explosion erupted.
Long Chen turned to run. He knew that there were two Netherpassage experts fighting with divine items. If he was struck by the shockwaves, he would definitely die.
However, he suddenly felt the world spinning around him. He cursed inside. He had overdrafted his energy and didn’t have the energy to run.
Qu Jianying suddenly appeared in front of him. She extended a hand, blocking the shockwaves for Long Chen.
“Long Chen…! How vicious! You actually dared to kill a genius of my ancient races?!”
Space twisted, revealing a strange person with long hair and quills growing out of his back. That strange person glared at Long Chen furiously.
Reminded by this person, everyone hastily sensed the battlefield. They found that Xiang Yunfei’s aura had completely vanished.
The ground rumbled. The one hundred and eight Heavenly Bone Spears suddenly transformed into bolts of light that pierced through the void and vanished.
The Heaven Flipping Seal slowly rose out of the ground. There was now a person pressed onto one side of it.
That person was Xiang Yunfei, smashed into flat pulp. He was essentially unrecognizable, but everyone with eyes knew that he was dead, dead to the point that he couldn’t be more dead. Even his Yuan Spirit was gone. A generation’s heavenly genius had really died here. It was difficult to comprehend that this was reality.
Just at this moment, Yan Nantian and the other Grand Elders appeared in front of Long Chen, staring coldly at that strange figure.
Yan Nantian sneered, “Old hedgehog, after so many years, you still haven’t grown a brain. Xiang Yunfei initiated a life and death battle with Long Chen. Now that Xiang Yunfei is dead, Long Chen is the vicious one? Would things only be reasonable if Xiang Yunfei
had killed Long Chen? Are you sure that your brain hasn’t rotted after living for so many years?”
“Exchanging pointers and learning from each other is normal. It should have ended there. Xiang Yunfei was already defeated, so why did you have to launch the killing blow? Are you trying to incite a war between the ancient races and the Martial Heaven Alliance?” roared that strange figure. The quills on his back were constantly trembling with rage.
Long Chen silently put away the Heaven Flipping Seal. Looking at Xiang Yunfei’s corpse, he shook his head.
He hadn’t expected things to develop to this point. Originally, he had been holding back the Heaven Flipping Seal in order to collect the Heavenly Bone Spears. Unfortunately, he had been forced to use it on Xiang Yunfei.
The Heavenly Bone Spears had fled, and he was powerless to stop them. In the end, he had won nothing. In the face of that ancient race expert’s criticism, he couldn’t even muster up the will to curse back.
“Incite a war? Well, if you want to start a war, a single genius is probably not enough. We should add an old hedgehog’s life into the mix as well.”
Suddenly, Yan Nantian stepped forward. The instant he moved, spacetime shattered. It was as if he had stepped into another spacetime. He slashed the sword in his hand at the ancient race expert.
However, it was like they were in a completely different world. They were in an isolated spacetime. The two of them were clearly there, but it was like they weren’t.
Yan Nantian actually launched a killing blow right off the bat. The ancient race expert seemed to have not expected this. The quills on his back grew explosively until they covered the sky. Ear-piercing whistling sounds shook people’s ears.
“Ow!” The experts present all covered their ears. Their faces were twisted in pain. That piercing sound was like the cry of a devil stabbing their souls.
Long Chen also felt a burst of pain, but it only made him feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t able to cause substantial damage to him like the others.
“Are you alright?” asked Qu Jianying worriedly.
“Everything else is fine, but my heart hurts a bit,” said Long Chen, clutching his chest.
“What? Did you suffer an internal injury?” asked Qu Jianying, about to check.
Long Chen shook his head. “I don’t know about any hidden injuries, but after putting in so much effort, those one hundred and eight Heavenly Bone Spears still managed to get away. I didn’t even manage to get one. I feel like my heart’s about to stop.”
“You little brat, what are you saying at such a time?!” raged Qu Jianying. She had actually been worried, while Long Chen was just joking.
“AHH!”
Suddenly, a miserable scream echoed through the air. Long Chen hastily looked up.
Chapter 1792 Ye Lingshan Accepts a Master
A rain of blood fell from the sky, as a streak of sword-light pierced through the world. Half of that quilled expert’s body exploded. The scream came from him.
“Yan Nantian, you just wait! The ancient races aren’t so casually provoked!”
The quilled expert roared, tore through the void, and vanished.
Yan Nantian shook his head and returned to Long Chen’s side. Handing the sword to Qu Jianying, he sighed, “That old hedgehog’s cultivation base has fallen a lot during this time. He really made me have an urge to kill him.”
Qu Jianying received the sword. One of the other Grand Elders said, “He’s from the same generation as you. Back then, although he wasn’t a match for you, he still had some ability to fight you. There are probably some shenanigans here. Maybe it wasn’t the right choice for us old fellows to stretch our lives out as much as possible.”
Yan Nantian looked at Long Chen. “Little fellow, let’s go drink a few cups.”
Long Chen nodded. His current condition was terrible. He had overdrawn his energy, and any ordinary Empyrean would be able to threaten his life at this time.
In the distance, a few ancient race experts wanted to take Xiang Yunfei’s corpse, but they didn’t dare to when they looked at Long Chen.
“Take it. My battle with Xiang Yunfei was not based on personal enmity but simply the competition between our powers. Now that he’s dead, our enmity is at an end.” Long Chen waved his hand.
Long Chen didn’t particularly hate Xiang Yunfei. His fight with him was the result of the larger environment. It was part of the laws of the world where the strong devoured the weak.
Considering his enmity with the ancient races had long since been set in stone and that Xiang Yunfei was the ancient races’ top genius, it was their fate to collide. No one could have changed this.
Of course, Long Chen wouldn’t foolishly give his opponent a path to live or try to reform them. That was stupid kindness. This kind of enmity between whole races was very difficult to change. Kindness would only bring pain.
Only once Long Chen said this did those ancient race experts take Xiang Yunfei’s corpse. They immediately left to bring Xiang Yunfei’s corpse back to the Barbarian Mammoth race. The ancient races were probably about to be shaken.
“How rude. The ancient races always say that they’ll tear senior apprentice-brother Long Chen’s corpse into a million pieces, but now that he left Xiang Yunfei’s corpse whole and even let them take it away, they don’t even say any thanks.”
“The ancient races are just like that. No matter how well we humans treat them, they won’t feel grateful. All they know how to do is suck up to the Xuan Beasts. To them, the farts of the Xuan Beasts are perfume.”
Countless disciples began to sneer at the ancient races. If it was Long Chen who had lost today, it was unknown just how Xiang Yunfei would humiliate and display his corpse. The difference in character between them was immense. It also reflected the difference between the human race and the ancient races.
“Everyone can scatter. The divine pressure that still remains on the battlefield means that those at the Soul Transformation realm and below should try to avoid the core or their souls will be injured,” warned Qu Jianying.
This battle was worthy of being described as heaven-shaking. After the battle, it was unknown how many disciples ran over to comprehend the wills left behind by the two of them. They could use this to temper their souls.
However, many disciples weren’t strong enough to endure Long Chen and Xiang Yunfei’s powerful leftover wills. If those disciples accidentally got too close, they would receive an injury to their souls, perhaps without even noticing.
Qu Jianying didn’t want this battlefield to cause any deaths amongst talented disciples, so she warned them gravely.
After that, she pulled Long Chen and began to leave. However, Ye Lingshan suddenly walked out and bowed toward Qu Jianying. “Alliance head… I wonder if… you would accept me as your apprentice?”
“Oh? How curious, I invited you several times, but you continued to hesitate. Why do you suddenly want me as a master? Hmm, this little brat couldn’t have seduced you, right?” asked Qu Jianying.
“Cough, alliance head, please be careful with your words. It’s not good to ruin my image like that,” coughed Long Chen.
“Scram! Considering how everyone hates you, what image is there to ruin?” cursed Qu Jianying laughingly.
Today’s battle had shown Long Chen’s power. There were several times that Qu Jianying had thought that Long Chen would be defeated, but he had managed to turn it around. However, then he had killed Xiang Yunfei.
Although Long Chen was not her personal disciple, he was still one of the disciples beneath the Martial Heaven Alliance, as well as the old man’s heir. Hence, Long Chen was no different from her own disciple, and his glory was also partially hers. He had also managed to win some honor for the Martial Heaven Alliance and helped them vent.
Now, even Ye Lingshan had taken the initiative to ask to be her apprentice. Qu Jianying was incredibly happy and immediately began to treat her as her apprentice.
“I’ve been alone since childhood, so I�
��ve constantly had to deal with other people’s contempt and bullying. The majority of those people came from sects or powerful families, so I dislike them. But once I grew stronger and began to rise, those sects showed me a smile, irritating me even more. That’s why I never wanted to join one. I always felt that there was no love within sects and that people were just tools being used. However, your sincerity today has moved me. I don’t think that there are that many people in this world that can cherish their disciples like you do,” said Ye Lingshan.
Ye Lingshan had seen Qu Jianying’s rage and sorrow at the first commander and second commander’s deaths. She also thought of Long Chen’s advice to take Qu Jianying as her master. Therefore, he put aside her pride and took the initiative.
A bit of sorrow appeared in Qu Jianying’s eyes. She shook her head. “I’m a powerless alliance head. I was unable to protect my own disciples…”
Xin Li couldn’t help saying, “All your actions are for the entire Martial Heaven Alliance and all the lives in the Righteous path. You are selfless and have put in so much for the alliance. We’re all grateful and we respect you…”
Countless disciples cheered along with his sentiment. They had all seen Qu Jianying’s grief and anger. However, she suppressed those feelings for the big picture. That was because she cared about all the lives within the Martial Heaven Alliance, and all those that could be lost based on her decisions.
She had sacrificed the majority of her life for the Martial Heaven Alliance, and she had even put aside her own love for it. She had grief that she had to suppress, but she never asked for any repayment. She viewed this as her mission and her responsibility.
Now there were many people who approved of her. She suddenly felt blessed to have so many people look at her like this.
“Junior apprentice-sister Lingshan, what are you thinking of? Shouldn’t you hurry and curry favor with this new master of yours? I should tell you, if you do it well, you’ll get plenty of good food and drink in the future…” Long Chen winked.
“Bastard!” Qu Jianying cursed and kicked Long Chen, but he actually dodged.
