by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“Brother, it’s been hard on you. Junior brother must repay your kindness-”
“Shut up. It’d be better for you to pour me some water and prove your gratefulness with your actions instead of your glib words.” Gu Yang sat on the ground.
Guo Ran hastily prepared some tea. If it hadn’t been for Gu Yang, he wouldn’t have been able to reach this point even if he exhausted himself to death. He had to quickly repay this favor.
The other Dragonblood warriors arrived one by one. Each one of them was weary to the bone, but their eyes were full of pride. They were the first ones to reach the top of the Xuantian Staircase, leaving even rank five Celestials in their dust. That was an honor.
Furthermore, they had obtained a new status now that they had climbed the staircase: disciples of the Xuantian Dao Sect. This was their first step in establishing their footing in the Central Plains.
Six hours later, Zhao Ziyan also arrived. But she clearly wasn’t as tired as them. In fact, she seemed like it had been quite effortless.
“Congratulations. In the future, we’ll be part of the same sect, so I’ll have to ask you to look after me.” Long Chen greeted Zhao Ziyan once she arrived.
“Brother Long overpraises me. It should be you looking after me. Is the Dragonblood Legion accepting new people? Do I have the qualifications to join?” Zhao Ziyan smiled.
“I…” Long Chen was startled, never having expected her to ask such a question.
The Dragonblood Legion wasn’t something just anyone could join. This question made him feel awkward. If he flatly refused, it would be too awkward.
“Junior sister was just joking. Brother Long, don’t take it seriously. I’m tired, so I’ll go rest.” Zhao Ziyan laughed and said goodbye, finding an isolated place to sit.
Once Zhao Ziyan left, Tang Wan-er whispered, “This sister is angry.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t see any anger,” said Long Chen.
“I’m a woman, and this is my woman’s intuition,” said Tang Wan-er. Seeing Long Chen ignore her, she continued, “If a beautiful woman wants to join, why would you decline? Don’t you like beautiful women the most?”
“Exactly, exactly-” Guo Ran hastily shut his mouth when Long Chen glared at him.
“Our Dragonblood Legion is a complete whole, and we’ve all saved each other’s lives. Others can’t join just because their cultivation base is high, their talent is good, or they’re beautiful. The reason we’re so strong together is because we’re united and can trust each other. A stranger joining in would bring danger to the entire legion, so how could I let an outsider join so easily?” said Long Chen.
Seeing how solemn he was, Tang Wan-er stopped speaking. Guo Ran also kept a hand clamped over his mouth. They understood.
Although Tang Wan-er’s words had been partly a joke to tease Long Chen, she hadn’t expected Long Chen to be thinking so much. He couldn’t bring danger to the entire Dragonblood Legion because he wanted to pick up girls.
Two hours later, Han Yunshan and the others also finally reached the top. Their expressions were exceedingly ugly, and they were panting for breath, appearing extremely miserable.
Due to their envy and hatred for Long Chen, their path had been even more difficult. That had made them waste even more time and energy.
More and more disciples began to arrive. Some of them directly fainted upon reaching the top and relaxing.
Currently, only thirty thousand people passed. Over four hundred thousand people had washed out, and there were still many people persevering on the staircase.
Suddenly, a huge hourglass appeared at the top of the staircase. Mu Qingxuan announced, “There are still three days left. The people still on the staircase should work hard.”
Seeing that hourglass, quite a few people’s expressions changed. Their power was limited, and they were climbing at a snail’s pace right now. Now that there was a time limit, the pressure immediately increased.
As a result, quite a few disciples immediately gave up once the hourglass appeared. They knelt on the stairs, and were directly sent off the Xuantian Staircase.
This hourglass caused many people’s confidence to shatter. They felt like there was no hope, and continuing to fight had no meaning.
One after another, figures were sent off the Xuantian Staircase. Only ten thousand people were still persevering.
The majority of them were around the eight hundredth stair, with a small portion around the seven hundredth stair. As for the six hundredth stair, only a few dozen people were still bitterly enduring, unwilling to give up.
“Idiots, I gave up and I was already on the seven hundredth stair. For them to stupidly continue at the six hundredth stair, there’s no hope at all,” mocked someone.
But Long Chen couldn’t help but nod when he saw those few people still bitterly enduring despite there being no hope. As long as the results weren’t in, the opportunities were still in your hands. The only way to lose was to give up. Even if it was just the slightest, ephemeral bit, it was still an opportunity. Not giving up was in itself a remarkable drive.
“Time’s up,” announced Mu Qingxuan as the final grain of sand fell.
Chapter 1010 Quell Them Through Viciousness
The few people still persevering on the Xuantian Staircase all had a sad glimmer in their eyes when Mu Qingxuan’s voice rang out. As for the people who had long since given up, their derision increased.
“The mission is accomplished. We’re leaving.”
The two huge figures suddenly disappeared from their sight. The terrifying pressure instantly vanished with them.
It was like a huge boulder had been lifted from everyone’s hearts. They relaxed, feeling like the sky had become brighter.
Once both of the tenth rank Xuan Beasts had left, Mu Qingxuan smiled at the disciples sitting on the stairs. “Congratulations. According to the rules, any disciples who are on the five hundredth stair and above when the time is up pass.”
“What?”
Everyone was startled, not daring to believe their ears. That was especially true of those disciples who had reached past the seven hundredth stair before giving up.
The ten thousand disciples that were on the Xuantian Staircase began to weep tears of joy and excitement. Some even wailed and repeatedly kissed the staircase.
Now there were over ninety thousand disciples who had passed. Ten thousand of those were people who had refused to give up despite already despairing. They had also known there was no hope, but they hadn’t been able to give up.
“This is unfair! Why didn’t you say this beforehand? You were conning people!”
Some people began to furiously roar. The disciples who had failed the trial immediately erupted in fury, feeling like they had been cheated.
That was especially true of those talented rank four Celestials. Their shouting was the most ferocious. Some even spouted the wildest profanities, crying about how this was cheating and that they wanted to take the trial again.
“Everyone, calm down-” shouted Mu Qingxuan. But she was unable to control such a chaotic scene.
“It’s unfair! Why didn’t you state the rules at the beginning? The trial must be held again!”
“Exactly, restart the trial! There’s definitely something fishy, or how could those Eastern Wasteland dogs climb up so easily!?”
“That’s right, they were clearly cheating! The Eastern Wasteland dogs were cheating, so the trial must be held again!”
The screaming only grew more and more intense. Mu Qingxuan panicked as things went completely out of her control.
…
The Elders watched this chaotic scene with dark expressions. How were this year’s disciples so shameful?
“Hall Master, send a few people to suppress them. Mu Qingxuan is still too young and can’t handle it,” said an Elder.
“No need. Young people need trials to grow. This child Qingxuan is a steady person, but she’s not bold enough and needs to toughe
n up. Anyway, a group of children is unable to cause any ripples,” said the Hall Master.
Hearing the Hall Master’s orders, the Elders stayed quiet. The scene they were watching was completely chaotic.
“Charge! If those despicable Eastern Wasteland dogs can cheat their way into becoming the Xuantian Dao Sect’s disciples, then we can too!”
Suddenly, a person shouted and charged onto the staircase with a sinister smile. He was the one Long Chen had slapped before, Xie Wei. The formation had been deactivated, and the pressure of the Xuan Beasts had vanished as well, allowing them to charge up easily.
It was true that from the start, Long Chen had passed through the trials easily. It could look like cheating. Furthermore, even the Dragonblood warriors had so easily passed this trial, with even rank five Celestials thrown behind them. With the urging shouts of some people, some of them began to believe more and more that the Eastern Wasteland’s people had cheated.
“You… stop! Otherwise… I won’t be courteous!” Mu Qingxuan was startled and infuriated. But in front of this tide-like charge of furious disciples, she found herself at a loss for what to do.
“If you have any guts, just try and kill us all. You think you can open the back door to the Eastern Wasteland dogs while not allowing us to retort? We want justice!” sneered Xie Wei as he led everyone charging forward.
“You… you…” Mu Qingxuan was so infuriated she turned deathly pale. She formed hand seals, but even after a long time, no attack was released.
“Let me.”
Long Chen shook his head and pointed his finger. A bolt of lightning shot out at the one at the very front, Xie Wei.
Xie Wei had never imagined that Long Chen would dare to attack him. He had no time to block with his weapon, and he hastily summoned a runic barrier around him. But it was instantly torn through by the bolt of lightning, and he was blown apart into bloody mist.
With one attack, a rank four Celestial at the very front had been killed, shocking everyone.
“Bastard, you dare to kill people?! I don’t believe you dare to kill us all-”
A person shouting in the crowd didn’t even manage to finish speaking before being killed by a lightning arrow. His soul was destroyed, and his corpse nonexistent.
Everyone stopped. Mu Qingxuan jumped in fright, as even she didn’t have the authority to kill people.
“Kill all those who cursed us,” said Long Chen coldly.
“Boss, those were the words I was waiting for!”
A crossbow appeared in Guo Ran’s hands, and golden arrows shot out like bolts of lightning. With each attack, a person in the crowd would explode.
“Stop!” shouted Mu Qingxuan.
But Guo Ran ignored her. His crossbow continued to launch arrow after arrow, eliciting miserable cries from the crowd.
Those overbearing, aggressive people immediately panicked. People amongst them continued to explode, splattering them with blood.
“Boss, there were fifty-seven people who cursed us. They’ve all been handled.” Guo Ran put away his golden crossbow.
Everyone was deathly silent, looking in horror at the emotionless Long Chen and the pleased Guo Ran. They were unable to say anything.
Seeing that Guo Ran’s killing had stunned the disciples who had been washed out, Long Chen icily said, “If anyone else wants to question the power of my Eastern Wasteland’s disciples, please go ahead.”
“Long Chen, you… How could you be so vicious to those from the same sect? You’ve gone too far!” shouted Yan Mochen.
“Idiot, who said they were from the same sect? They’ve already failed, so they aren’t disciples of the Xuantian Dao Sect,” sneered Long Chen.
“But… but they’re still disciples of the branch sects! How could you be so vicious and merciless to them?!” Han Yunshan also stood out.
“Exactly, whether or not they were disciples of the branch sects, they are still humans. How can you kill them without the slightest pity?” demanded Wei Changhai.
The three of them were clearly standing together to target Long Chen. The disciples who had failed once more began to curse at him when they saw the three of them support their cause.
“Exactly, Eastern Wasteland dogs-”
A person who had barely opened their mouth was killed by Guo Ran. Guo Ran’s crossbow was constantly being upgraded as his forging skills improved, and at this distance, there was no stopping it.
“Continue.” Guo Ran pointed his crossbow at those people below. With such a terrifying crossbow pointing at them, their scalps turned numb.
Although they had seen Guo Ran shoot several arrows, they were appalled to find that they were unable to even see the arrows, only able to faintly see a golden light before another person was killed. It was too fast for them to react, let alone dodge or block.
These disciples instantly turned pale, not daring to speak. They looked from the crossbow to the pools of blood on the ground.
“Long Chen, how dare you order your subordinate to kill people. You-” shouted Yan Mochen.
“A nation has a nation’s laws, a family has a family’s rules, and a sect has a sect’s rules. Right now, they’ve washed out but dare to charge onto the important land of the Xuantian Dao Sect. They’ve broken the rules of the trial and gravely harmed the prestige of the sect. Even if I killed them all, there would be nothing wrong with it. You say they are the sect’s disciples? For the sect’s disciples to break the sect’s rules, discriminate against a region’s disciples, incite inner strife in the sect, and try to destroy the sect from the inside, they deserve death all the more.
“You should rejoice. If it weren’t for a promise I made to one my beauties to control my temper, well, if it was me from a year ago, you’d have long since gone into the path of reincarnation,” said Long Chen.
“You… you’re just twisting words!” Yan Mochen was unable to find a way to retort Long Chen’s words. When it came to eloquence, even ten of him weren’t a match for Long Chen.
“Don’t play such childish games with me. I don’t have time for such senseless things. If you make me lose my patience, I’ll kill all of you.” Long Chen’s gaze swept over the three of them, his killing intent suddenly surging.
In that instant, the three of them felt like space had frozen around them. A fierce sensation of death made all their hair stand on end.
Let alone the three of them, even Mu Qingxuan was affected. She had never come into contact with such a terrifying killing intent. It was like just his killing intent could take a person’s life.
Long Chen was truly angry now. Although he had promised Meng Qi not to cause trouble and rein in his temper, that didn’t mean he would just grin and bear everything.
He wouldn’t take the initiative to cause trouble. But if someone wanted to try to bully him, well, there was no way he was going to endure it.
This was Long Chen’s final warning to them. If the three of them still tried to find trouble for him and slow down his growth, then he wouldn’t hesitate to pay any price to cut the three of them down.
Everyone was deathly silent, because they were within the range of that terrifying killing intent. They didn’t dare to move, feeling like a death god’s scythe was pressed against their necks.
“Long Chen, as a disciple of the Xuantian Dao Sect, you dare to indiscriminately kill the innocent. Just who gave you that authority?!” Suddenly, a cold shout rang out. Space twisted, and two new figures appeared in the sky.
Those two figures wore black robes and had long chains in their hands. The jade plate on their waists had the Law character written on them.
Long Chen’s eyes narrowed upon one of them. That was a familiar face.
“Lu Minghan, long time no see. I’m relieved to see your head has reattached so seamlessly.”
Chapter 1011 Contest of Strength
Only Mu Qingxuan was aware of Long Chen’s past interaction with Lu Minghan. In the Eastern Wasteland, he had once cut off Lu Minghan’s head
.
Of course, that was just because Lu Minghan had been careless. It didn’t truly represent Long Chen had the power to fight against Kings.
The other disciples present were unaware of this. Through his words, it seemed that he knew this Elder and had also once cut off his head. They doubted his words at first, but Lu Minghan’s furious expression verified his words. That scared them witless. What kind of monster was Long Chen?
“Long Chen, you’re courting death!” raged Lu Minghan, killing intent erupting out of him.
“I don’t know whether or not I’m courting death, but I do know that you definitely are. If I could cut off your head once, I can cut it off again. And this time, I guarantee I won’t give you any chance to reconnect it,” said Long Chen.
Originally, Long Chen had no intention of infuriating Lu Minghan, as that wasn’t a smart move. But thinking of how this bastard had been greedy for his treasures and tried to use soulsearch on him, his hatred got the better of him.
If he was stronger, he’d definitely go all-out to kill him right now and then flee from the Xuantian Dao Sect. But right now, he was too weak and could only endure. However, he wouldn’t give up any chance to humiliate his opponents.
His words caused everyone to suck in a cold breath of air. Their guess was right; he had truly once cut off the head of a King.
That made their hair stand on end, especially those disciples who had failed the trial and tried to charge up by saying Long Chen had cheated.
Their thought was that the law was unable to punish so many people and that no one would dare to do anything to them. And by saying that the Eastern Wasteland’s people had cheated, there was a high chance they would be able to muddle their way into the Xuantian Dao Sect.
Now they realized how wrong they were. Long Chen was someone who dared to cut off the head of a King, so of course he dared to kill them.
Thinking of that, they felt that life was a blessing. Just now, they had truly brushed past a death god.
Even Yan Mochen, Wei Changhai, and Han Yunshan’s expressions changed, their faces pale as paper. They hadn’t known Long Chen had such a terrifying history.