by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
Everyone cried out in alarm and quickly withdrew further away. No one wanted to become the next unlucky fellow.
Other than their fight, within several miles, the only other battle was grandmaster Yun Qi’s fight against Wei Cang and Wang Luyang. Flames continuously soared and waves of heat rolled.
That was the first time people had ever seen how terrifying a pill cultivator was. Their Pill Flames were far too powerful. Having fought for this long, their flames’ strengths had yet to decline the slightest bit.
After all, when they refined medicinal pills, they had to continuously use their Pill Flames for long periods of time. That was especially true for high tier medicinal pills that required longer times to refine, sometimes even several days.
So a pill cultivator’s Pill Flame was their essential foundation, and their fights would often stretch out for the longest periods of time.
As for the other side, Long Chen and the white-robed man’s fight caused people to tremble in fright. Sword Qi collided continuously.
“Long Chen is so strong; it really is a defiance of the heavens!”
Some people couldn’t help but exclaim their wonder. A cripple had basically shot up meteorically in the past few months. Starting from his victory against Li Hao on the martial stage, Long Chen had grown by leaps and bounds.
Now the current him was able to consecutively kill Tendon Transformation experts who were the peak of the empire and was even able to fight against this terrifying monster which had exceeded their understanding.
Some of those youths, who viewed Long Chen as an idol, were now tightly clenching their fists, swearing to themselves that they would also become a powerful expert like him.
BOOM! After another intense collision, both of them withdrew thirty meters away. Everything within several miles of their fight was a complete mess. Huge scars and ditches covered the land.
“How is the strength of an ant?” mocked Long Chen.
The two of them had now already exchanged over a thousand blows. Long Chen could clearly sense that his strength was declining. His spiritual qi was starting to run out despite the support of his divine ring.
That didn’t mean his divine ring wasn’t powerful, but simply that the surrounding spiritual qi was too sparse, unable to keep up with the divine ring’s absorption. And so Long Chen’s speed of replenishing his spiritual qi was limited.
“Bastard.” The white-robed man’s calm expression had long since disappeared. Even in his wildest dreams, he would never have imagined a freak like Long Chen could have existed in the secular world. Even though he was merely in the Blood Condensation realm, he was able to fight against a late stage Tendon Transformation sect disciple like him.
That filled him with fury as well as intense jealousy. Seeing a youth younger than even himself with endless potential, killing intent soared from him.
The white-robed man harshly shouted and a ray of light shot from his forehead to shine on his longsword. That longsword seemed to come alive, emitting a continuous ringing and overflowing with light. A ray of sword light shot out and cruelly slashed down on Long Chen.
“Lightflow Sword!” A ray of light reached Long Chen almost as soon as the white-robed man had moved. Its speed was inconceivable.
By the time Long Chen had sensed it, it had already reached his body. He couldn’t help being filled with horror. That was the first time he had ever encountered an attack that was so fast.
BOOM! The sword light that was dozens of meters long slashed into his body, causing everyone to let out startled cries.
Everything had happened too quickly. By the time people had realized the white-robed man was attacking, it was already over. The ray of light completely enveloped Long Chen.
They had previously been evenly matched. But had he been killed with just one move now? Everyone was stupefied.
The white-robed man’s face turned pale after sending out that sword blow. As that was one of his killing blows, its might was beyond compare.
That sword blow’s most formidable feature was its speed. By the time the enemy noticed him moving, it would already be too late to block. That was just how terrifying its speed was. It was something that couldn’t be guarded against.
It was his most powerful move. By relying on that one single move, he was able to defeat quite a few of the inner sect disciples.
However, the amount of energy which that move used up was also terrifying. Even he was somewhat unable to bear it. But as long as he was able to kill Long Chen, it would be worth it.
A huge ditch had appeared where Long Chen was standing. The white-robed man had just been about to relax when his pupils suddenly shrank.
The earth split open, and a figure flew out from within the earth.
“Long Chen!”
Long Chen’s body was covered in dirt, and there was a huge bloodstain on his chest, making him appear extremely miserable. However, he was still alive.
“How is this possible?” The white-robed man looked at Long Chen in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that Long Chen could receive his most powerful attack.
Long Chen brushed the dirt off his body. He was secretly filled with horror inside. That attack had been too frightening. That kind of speed was simply unblockable.
If at that critical moment, he hadn’t instinctively brought his sword to block in front of his body and sent his spiritual qi to protect himself, he would already be a corpse.
His keen spiritual perception had saved his life once more. But even though he had forcibly blocked it, its force still had blown him into the ground and he had vomited out three mouthfuls of blood.
“It’s not my style to not reciprocate.” Long Chen took a deep breath. He slowly raised his broadsword so that it pointed towards the sky. Along with Long Chen’s movements, the world became completely silent. Having lost all sound, the only thing within heaven and earth seemed to be just Long Chen.
Strange lines appeared over his broadsword. Suddenly, heaven and earth rumbled and space incessantly trembled. Endless foreboding qi soared into the clouds.
The white-robed man’s expression changed greatly. Looking at that scene, he was horrified to realize that he had been locked in place by a terrifying aura.
Long Chen was just at the Blood Condensation realm. It should be impossible for him to lock a Tendon Transformation expert in place! The only explanation was that he had been locked by the Battle Skill Long Chen was using.
“Impossible, absolutely impossible!” The white-robed man cried out frantically. To allow a Blood Condensation cultivator to lock a Tendon Transformation expert, that would require the Battle Skill to be at least at the mid grade Earth class or higher!
But the Earth class Battle Skills that circulated in the secular world were all things which couldn’t enter the eyes of the sects, the absolute lowest tier trash!
As for the sects, their Battle Skills were all the finest possible. Although they might also be at the Earth class, their power levels were far from equal. That was also why the white-robed man’s Battle Skill was so frightening in comparison to the other Earth class Battle Skills that had been used here.
But even a sect disciple like him didn’t have the qualifications to learn a mid grade Earth class Battle Skill. How could a weakling from the secular world use such a Battle Skill?!
Despite knowing that it was simply impossible, that terrifying aura firmly locked down his body, so he couldn’t possibly be wrong. He was practically about to go crazy. He violently circulated his spiritual qi in an attempt to receive this attack.
That was because since he was locked in place, there was no way that he could dodge it. Trying to do something so futile would only speed up his defeat. A large tortoiseshell now appeared in his hand.
The tortoiseshell was snow-white, looking just like jade. There were extremely strange lines carved into it that possessed a terrifying aura.
Long Tianxiao’s heart beat wildly when he sensed the terrifying power coming from L
ong Chen’s body.
“What a terrifying aura!” Everyone was watching Long Chen. Heaven and earth were completely silent. Within their eyes, there was only one person and one sword.
Long Chen’s sword suddenly began to buzz. A will that desired to slash the heavens and split the earth exploded out, radiating hundreds of miles.
In front of that will, people felt as if they were facing heavenly punishment. They were completely terrified. It felt as if the end of the world was coming.
“Split the Heavens!”
Long Chen’s sword slashed down thunderously.
Chapter 108 One Blow Shocks the World
His broadsword whistled like thunder as it slashed down on the white-robed man, bringing with it a will that wished to destroy the very heavens.
That sword blow no longer seemed like a Battle Skill. Instead, it seemed like it was a kind of Dao that wished to defy the heavens and overturn the earth.
Seeing Long Chen’s attack slashing down on him, the white-robed man’s tortoiseshell flew out.
What shocked everyone was that the originally palm-sized tortoiseshell quickly enlarged, reaching three meters in width as it protected him behind it.
BOOM!
Sword Qi heavily slashed down upon that tortoiseshell. The strange lines on top of it lit up, and a bizarre reaction occurred.
Long Chen’s Sword Qi seemed to be like light hitting a mirror, and the majority of it was reflected out.
The tortoiseshell managed to block that attack, but in the end, it finally cracked and exploded from the terrifying force. Its pieces scattered to the ground.
As for the white-robed man, he also wasn’t that well off and repeatedly vomited out blood. Obviously, that tortoiseshell had been unable to completely block all of Split the Heaven’s force, and as the tortoiseshell’s master, the white-robed man also received a heavy impact.
The strange lines on top of the tortoiseshell had dispersed most of the force. However, he was still heavily wounded.
Looking at the tortoiseshell pieces and the wildly vomiting blood white-robed man, people became a bit sluggish. They were filled with reverence towards Long Chen.
Crack! Suddenly, people noticed that Long Chen’s broadsword was covered in growing cracks.
The broadsword finally exploded, its fragments littering the ground.
Looking at those fragments, Long Chen couldn’t help but sigh. Even this broadsword’s quality was too inferior to endure Split the Heaven’s force.
Bursts of pain came from Long Chen’s meridians at this time. It felt as if they were on fire, some aftermath of using Split the Heavens.
Despite advancing to the Blood Condensation realm and having his meridians grow wider by a great deal, and even despite the expert from the Spirit World transforming them, Long Chen’s meridians were still unable to completely endure the impact.
But of course, this was many times better than the last time. His meridians were only slightly damaged and hadn’t cracked. They would recover quickly.
The most important thing was that this was his most powerful application of Split the Heavens, but his meridians had still been able to take it. That was definitely something to celebrate.
And another surprise for him was that despite using his full strength, he was still far from being able to bring out the full potential of Split the Heavens. It seemed like it was much more profound than he had thought and he had only just begun to scratch its surface.
He was a bit regretful that he hadn’t managed to kill the white-robed man. Who would have thought he would have such a strange life-saving measure?
That tortoiseshell definitely wasn’t an ordinary item. It was practically unheard of within the secular world. He couldn’t compare to sect disciples when it came to the treasures they possessed.
All of his spiritual qi was now exhausted. Even the divine ring behind him faded away. He was now deathly tired, entering an extremely weak state.
But Long Chen knew that the white-robed man wasn’t that much better off. Looking at him vomiting blood, his internal injury must be severe. Both of them were still relatively even.
However, Long Chen’s side held a definite advantage since he had two Tendon Transformation experts who weren’t injured at all. Furthermore, he also had Little Snow and Chu Yao. The white-robed man would definitely die.
CRACK!!!
More cracking sounds rang out, startling the crowd. But when they looked carefully at Long Chen and the white-robed man, nothing strange seemed to be happening.
CRACK!!!
This time people managed to hear that this sound wasn’t coming from them.
“The city gates!”
People hastily turned to see that the huge, imposing city gates had become covered in cracks.
“Long Chen’s attack caused the city gates to crack!”
People suddenly noticed that a deep ditch had been dug in front of the city gates. That ditch led straight up to the white-robed man.
Only then did people realize that the tortoiseshell had deflected the majority of Long Chen’s attack into the city gates.
Although it didn’t completely break the gates, they were still badly damaged, giving people an endless shock.
Just what level of strength was that? Was that a strength that humans could really possess?
Furthermore, that had been caused by only a part of the force that had been reflected by the tortoiseshell. If it had been a direct hit, the entire city gates would have probably been completely destroyed, right? Everyone’s jaws dropped as they looked on in horror.
CRACK!
The city gates continued cracking, and in front of everyone’s appalled eyes, they began to completely collapse!
“NO!”
What was completely unbelievable for everyone was the scene of the white-robed man looking at the city gates in fright. He even let out a heart-rending cry.
BOOM! Countless pieces of rubble shot out as the city gates tumbled to the ground.
Suddenly, a three-meter-thick pillar of light shot from the ruins of the city gates into the sky. An extremely dense spiritual qi was blown out along with it.
Everyone only watched dumbfounded by these events that completely overturned their comprehension of the world.
Long Tianxiao suddenly realized something after seeing that pillar of light. Years of suspicions and doubt were completely resolved at this moment.
“It’s a spirit stone mine. There’s a spirit stone mine below the city gates!” Some people had managed to see through what it was.
Spirit stones were special spiritual items formed naturally from heaven and earth. They were condensed underground for millions and millions of years, absorbing endless spiritual qi to form a kind of ore.
That kind of ore was viewed as a lifeblood for cultivators. It was said this kind of ore vein was extremely rare, and most of them had already been occupied by the various large sects.
Only with the support of spirit stones could sect disciples cultivate so quickly. It was the greatest support of the sects.
Long Tianxiao had a complicated expression as he shook his head at the distant fourth prince. “Just for a vein of ore, you wanted to kill and silence me?”
The fourth prince’s expression was ashen. He knew that his judgment day had finally arrived. In front of Long Tianxiao’s words, there was not even the slightest thing he could say in return.
“Years ago when we were drinking, His Majesty once told me that there was a vein of ore near the capital. He said if it was excavated, it would allow the Phoenix Cry Empire to rise high above other empires.
“Back then I thought he was talking about some rare iron ores that could be forged into weapons, so I only laughed and didn’t pay it any mind.
“I really never thought that it was because of something like this that you thought I had learned your secret. You wanted to exterminate me for something like that? That really is a joke,” Long Tianxiao sighed and shook his head.
> “WHAT?!” The fourth prince was shocked. He had always thought that Long Tianxiao had known all about the spirit stone mine.
Over twenty years ago, the Grand Xia had married off their most beautiful princess to Phoenix Cry in order to prevent further conflicts and form an alliance between the two empires.
But the Grand Xia’s princess’s mission hadn’t been to make peace. She had a greater mission. That mission was to take control of Phoenix Cry so that it could be swallowed by the Grand Xia.
That had been shrewdly hidden by the princess extremely deeply. Once she had arrived at Phoenix Cry, she put in her full effort to wait upon the Emperor, and with her skillful techniques in bed, she began to receive heavy pampering from the Emperor.
Not long after, she gave birth to a prince, the fourth prince. The Grand Xia’s princess had always maintained a low profile, never entering the conflicts between concubines, patiently enduring and eventually becoming a good sister to the Empress.
Originally, the Grand Xia’s plan had been to overturn Phoenix Cry, but during that process, the fourth prince’s mother found a shocking secret.
That secret had been told to her by the Emperor after he had gotten drunk. He had told her that Phoenix Cry was about to become the most powerful empire in all of history. Being put on guard from that, the princess had used all her skills in bed to make the Emperor a slave to her skirts, and he finally told her the secret that he had found a spirit stone mine.
Originally, the Emperor had been planning on building a secret tunnel to be used to escape from assassinations or other dangers. If an enemy managed to enter the city, he could manage to slip away without anyone noticing.
But halfway through the excavation of the secret tunnel, they had found that the stones were becoming increasingly harder, and even cobalt started to appear.
Cobalt was a partner substance that was formed along with spirit stones. Where there was cobalt, there would be spirit stones. That discovery caused the Emperor to go wild with joy.
He directly exterminated everyone who had known about the secret tunnel to keep the whole matter secret. However, the Emperor had never been a tight-lipped person.