by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“Long San, you randomly killed someone?! Come with me!”
Just at this moment, a group of Elders seized Long Chen. Long Chen didn’t resist and let them bring him away.
The Pill Fairy looked at his stubborn figure as it gradually faded. An indescribable pain appeared in her heart.
“Pill Fairy, this matter…” Jiang Zijun also rushed over.
“Don’t try to explain anything. I don’t care if you know about this or not. Your struggles in the future have nothing to do with me. Move. I’m bringing her away.” The Pill Fairy gently picked up Duan Tianqiao’s body. Without even looking at Jiang Zijun, she left.
Jiang Zijun awkwardly made way for the Pill Fairy. The Pill Fairy had always been a gentle person. For her to say such a thing meant she was truly infuriated.
…
“Long San, you’ve killed two people now. This is truly troublesome…” Kan Dongze was disappointedly speaking to Long Chen in prison.
He repeatedly brought up his shortcomings, how he was too impetuous, how he didn’t use his head, and how he was definitely going to be executed now.
“Although that disciple truly said something he shouldn’t have said after Duan Tianqiao’s death, killing him is still unforgivable. We’ve already reduced your punishment as much as possible. Right now, the only thing you can do is accept Luo Xiao’s challenge. Luo Xiao is a rank seven Celestial and a flame cultivator. Since you haven’t cultivated flame magical arts, you’ll definitely die. That’s why you have to work hard during this time to cultivate flame fighting skills to face Luo Xiao. We’ve already done our best and won ten days for you to train. Long San, I want to hear what you think,” said Kan Dongze.
“I’m not thinking about anything. So what if I have to switch to become a flame cultivator? Others are unable to do dual martial-pill cultivation, but I’ve always wanted to try it. I just want to know if after I kill Luo Xiao, will I be able to challenge the person that caused Duan Tianqiao to commit suicide as revenge for her?” asked Long Chen.
Kan Dongze laughed inside. Originally, he had been thinking of how to convince Long Chen to switch to become a flame cultivator. He hadn’t expected him to be so brazen as to instantly agree. Furthermore, he was even thinking about future challenges. This simply proved that he had been completely bedeviled.
“As long as you can kill Luo Xiao, everything else is no problem. As for the matter of avenging Duan Tianqiao, we’ll definitely set it up for you. Whether or not you’ll be able to kill that person will be up to your own abilities though,” said Kan Dongze.
“Good. Then I want to start training in flame magical arts right now. I’m already impatient,” said Long Chen confidently.
“Alright, then I’ll find a powerful flame cultivator to secretly train you during this time. Good luck. I look favorably upon you.” Kan Dongze patted Long Chen on the shoulder encouragingly. But when he turned to leave, a cold smile appeared on his face.
However, when Kan Dongze left, he didn’t see a cold smile also appear on Long Chen’s face.
…
Time passed by, and five days were gone in an instant. Within Zhuo Tianxiang’s private room, other than Zhuo Tianxiang, Dan Yanxue, and Kan Dongze, a red-haired elder was also present.
This elder had extremely intense flame energy fluctuations coming from his body, and they caused space to twist around him. He was a terrifying Life Star flame cultivator with immense power.
“Elder Zhu, how is Long San’s cultivation?” asked Zhuo Tianxiang.
“Reporting to Protector Zhuo, everything is going very smoothly. This Long San is definitely a genius with terrifying comprehension ability. Furthermore, his willpower is very strong. He chose to use the peak level of the Raging Flame Body Tempering process. Even as his body is incinerated, his expression doesn’t change. He’s a ruthless person. In order to increase the power of his physical body, he undergoes the body tempering process for sixteen hours a day, and with the best possible medicinal pills offered to him, the rate at which his body is strengthening is monstrous. If I didn’t personally witness it, I wouldn’t believe it. He’s truly suited to walk the path of a flame cultivator,” said the red-haired Elder Zhu emotionally.
Long Chen’s body was ‘strengthening’ so quickly that Elder Zhu found it hard to believe.
Long Chen was using this body tempering process to slowly reveal the real power of his physical body. That way, the increase of his battle strength wouldn’t be too sudden and expose him.
“Good. Then when he fights Luo Xiao, he won’t lose. As long as he can force it into a draw, we can get past this. Looks like I was worried for nothing... However, Elder Zhu, don’t be careless. Long San is a very important chess piece for us. Since there’s not much time left before the Heavenly Dragon Flame Region opens, you have to raise his power as much as possible. No matter how many resources it costs, we’ll get it all back a hundred, no, a thousand times,” said Zhuo Tianxiang.
“Yes, your subordinate understands. I’ll go check on him right now. I won’t let him slack off at all,” promised Elder Zhu.
Once Elder Zhu left, Zhuo Tianxiang, Dan Yanxue, and Kan Dongze all smiled. Long San had given them quite a few pleasant surprises.
…
BOOM!
Flames filled the sky. Long Chen was surrounded by countless flame runes, looking like a god of fire. Flame runes had even appeared in his eyes.
“Hahaha, good, excellent! Long San, after exhausting so much Earth Flame essence, your physical body is already comparable to body cultivators,” laughed Elder Zhu.
Bang!
He was laughing when Long Chen’s fist landed squarely on his face. He flew back with a pained groan.
“Long San, are you mad?!” raged Elder Zhu.
“I’m not mad. I just wanted to test my power,” said Long Chen coldly. “There’s not much more time. I want to take Luo Xiao’s head in just three moves.”
Long Chen slowly raised his head. His eyes contained an icy killing intent that made Elder Zhu shiver.
Chapter 1344 Confrontation Between Flame Cultivators
On the outskirts of Pill Valley was a tall mountain with a grand palace built on top of it. In front of this palace was a huge martial arena.
The martial arena shone with golden light. Each brick was refined with Scarlet Flame Gold, and they were protected by powerful runes. They could withstand terrifying heat.
There was also a powerful formation around the martial arena. Right now, countless Pill Valley disciples were gathering around the martial stage.
Because it was located on the outskirts of Pill Valley, all disciples could come watch. There was a veritable sea of people around it now.
“I heard that two disciples of the Divine Pill Hall are fighting a life and death match to resolve some enmity?” asked someone.
“Yes. One of them is a rank seven Celestial who entered the Divine Pill Hall two years ago, Luo Xiao. In the last year, his alchemy arts have stagnated and he’s close to washing out. I heard that several months ago, he gave up on the Pill Dao and became a flame cultivator. His combat power is terrifying,” whispered an inner disciple who knew some more about the Divine Pill Hall.
The majority of the inner disciples were unable to go to the Divine Pill Hall, but they could hear a few rumors about the people in it.
Some people were just too bored and spent all day investigating the Divine Pill Hall. So for them to know a few things behind the scenes was normal.
“I heard Luo Xiao challenged a demon-class genius, Long San. This fellow spent three years crossing the eastern sea and missed his golden cultivation time. But I heard his Spiritual Strength has gone through some mutation, turning him into a monster amongst alchemists. In his first try, he managed to pass the trial to get into the Divine Pill Hall, stunning everyone,” said someone emotionally.
Long San’s name had spread everywhere in Pill Valley in just over two months. Practically, everyone knew of him.
O
ne reason was his terrifying alchemy talent, but this alone wasn’t enough to make everyone recognize him. The majority of people only knew of him due to his fighting skills.
From the first day he joined the Divine Pill Hall, he had already started fighting, practically never skipping a day without a brawl. Over half the Divine Shield Alliance’s people had been beaten by him.
At first, the Divine Shield Alliance’s people had been intentionally provoking him, but toward the end, Long San began to beat them up directly whenever he saw them, no matter if he was in a good mood or not. He was too lazy to even find an excuse to beat them.
Every few days, he would be sent to the delinquent prison, but then they heard that the atmosphere in the delinquent prison had become very good. Those disciples that were normally sent there had all corrected their behavior and were studying obediently. The full delinquent prison became empty.
Pill Valley had always had many disciples with violent tempers due to playing with fire. When they encountered bottlenecks, they would easily become angry and do things they normally wouldn’t do.
As a result, Pill Valley tossed them into the delinquent prison, so they could get it out of their system. Usually, once they finished fighting, they would be able to calm down and focus on alchemy.
Pill Valley had countless disciples, and the original delinquent prison had been expanded several times in the past. But this was the first time in history that it was completely empty.
Long San had been secretly called the master of delinquents. He had guided them all to the correct path, correcting their alchemy attitude and allowing them to find their own cultivation goals.
Long San’s name was also something spread by those reformed delinquents.
“Luo Xiao has arrived!”
Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out, and a group of people walked over. They wore the robes of the Divine Pill Hall with a shield embroidered on their collars. Their leader was a tall man. He was Luo Xiao.
Luo Xiao had over ten disciples following him. He walked in grandly, and the crowd immediately opened a path for him.
He walked to the entrance of the martial stage and flashed his badge at a stone pillar, which then emitted a ray of light that scanned his body. He vanished and reappeared on the martial stage.
This was a life and death stage, a place to resolve conflicts between disciples. If the enmity had reached this point, then there was no way to mediate things.
Every sect would have such a martial stage. Only through competition could there be progress. But where there was competition, there was also anger and hatred. When the seed of hatred was planted, it would rapidly grow to the point where one could not live with the other.
The weak were prey to the strong. Survival of the fittest. This was the foundation of every sect, and Pill Valley was no exception.
Pill Valley’s rules were even harsher than some sects. Once a disciple applied for a life and death match, if the higher-ups approved of it, then there was no stopping it. Once the two fighters entered the martial stage, there were no more rules. Only one would come out alive.
Unless an expert on the level of a Grand Elder intervened, no one could stop it. However, Grand Elders mostly didn’t bother with such minor things.
“Long San has also arrived! Heavens, what powerful killing intent!”
An uproar suddenly exploded as a person slowly walked over. Flame energy and killing intent surged out of him.
The instant Long Chen appeared, a terrifying heat ignited the air. The space around him was constantly twisting, yet no one could sense any heat. All their hair stood on end. Long Chen’s gaze was ice cold. Those were not the eyes of a human. They were like the eyes of a bloodthirsty Magical Beast.
“Long San really has become bedeviled, and severely so. We’ll have to think of a way to make him reserve himself a bit, or it won’t be good for the plan.”
Within a private room, Zhuo Tianxiang, Dan Yanxue, Kan Dongze, and Elder Zhu were watching a wall. They would see everything that was happening in the martial arena. It was Dan Yanxue speaking.
At this time, Long Chen’s eyes were scarlet. That was a clear sign of fire poison invading his body. If this continued, he would lose all reasoning and become a violent madman.
“Alliance master Yanxue, don’t worry. It’s simply because Long San’s power has increased too fast, resulting in the fire poison affecting his mind. He has absorbed a huge amount of Earth Flame essence, and that energy is enough to kill twenty rank seven Celestials. But because of his immense Spiritual Strength, he was able to absorb all of it. At the same time as his physical body absorbed it, his soul energy was exhausted, so a portion of it was absorbed by his soul. As long as Long San consumes a pill to dispel fire poison after the fight, with his powerful Spiritual Strength, the fire poison won’t have any effect on him. In truth, the thing I’m worried about the most is his heart-devil. His confidence has inflated to the point that he seems to think he’s unrivaled. He even dared to attack me.” Elder Zhu shook his head.
He was too embarrassed to say that Long Chen had punched him in the face. Thus, to preserve his dignity, he had to say that Long Chen had attacked him.
“Alright, then I’ll trouble Elder Zhu. Long Chen is an important chess piece, so you have to treat him well. Once this succeeds, there’s at least an eighty percent chance of you becoming the Eastern Xuan Region’s Tower Master,” said Zhuo Tianxiang.
“Many thanks, Protector Zhuo! Disciple will definitely do his best to make Long San into the most terrifying killing machine.” Elder Zhu was delighted.
“Yes. First, let’s see the results of the past ten days. Hopefully, he won’t disappoint me.” Zhuo Tianxiang nodded.
Long Chen came on his own, unlike Luo Xiang. This was something Kan Dongze had arranged on purpose. It was to let Long Chen know that he had no one to rely on and could only rely on himself. His only chance to live was to win.
Long Chen was also transported to the stage. He was staring at Luo Xiao icily, not knowing what he was feeling inside.
Originally, he had only come to Pill Valley for the second volume of the Nirvana Scripture. He hadn’t wanted to join any power or participate in any competition.
Unfortunately, plans changed quickly. He had thought that coming to Pill Valley and obtaining the Nirvana Scripture would be nothing more than a farce. Once he got it, he’d pat his butt and leave.
Then Duan Tianqiao had died. That had surprisingly pained him. Although he wasn’t close to her, they were still acquaintances.
Her death had made him think of how Ye Zhiqiu had died in the Jiuli secret realm. It reminded him of the poignant beauty Ye Zhiqiu had possessed as she had died.
Duan Tianqiao’s suicide was just a way for her to escape from reality. She had lost to fate. Or perhaps she had felt that life was too tiresome, too bitter, and without anything to rely on, she was unable to see the sunlight. So she felt like she couldn’t endure any longer and wanted to rest.
In truth, Duan Tianqiao’s life was similar to the lives of many cultivators. The cultivation world was like a vat of dye that blocked everything, making it so no one could see the sunlight.
But Long Chen trusted that as long as he dared to struggle, no matter how terrible the situation was, there would be some hope. If you gave up, perhaps you would have tossed away that hope.
So ever since he stepped onto the cultivation path, Long Chen had never thought about giving up. He had no reason to give up.
Duan Tianqiao had given up. That made Long Chen feel regretful, as well as giving him a warning that he had to work hard at getting stronger. He had to be able to carry all the burdens, because he didn’t want his beauties to endure burdens they couldn’t carry. A man should work hard to give his beauties a sanctuary where they didn’t need to worry about anything.
“You dare to get distracted? Die!”
All of a sudden, Luo Xiao roared furiously, flame energy exploding out of him. The manifestation of a rank seven C
elestial appeared, and a flame spear pierced toward Long Chen.
Luo Xiao had originally wanted to say something upon Long Chen’s arrival. But then he saw Long Chen just staring at the sky as if he was lost in thought, infuriating him.
The thirty-meter flame spear was like a shooting star. It twisted the space wildly.
“If you can last three moves, I’ll spare your life.” Long Chen snorted and jumped into the air. Blood-colored flames wrapped around his fist as he punched the spear.
BOOM!
The flame spear blew apart, filling the air with flames. For a moment, every disciple was silent, staring in shock.
Chapter 1345 Unable to Receive a Single Blow
“In front of Master Long San, you’re just an ant. Starting now, I, Master Long San, am going to dominate heaven and earth. You are only fit to crawl beneath my feet.” Long Chen floated in the air like a god of fire looking down on the rest of the world. The violent way his hair and robes blew about him made him look deranged. His Spiritual Strength was also chaotic.
“He’s practically insane. He dares to say such a thing?” Kan Dongze shook his head.
Then looking at Long San’s scarlet eyes, it was clearly the effect of fire poison that had made him lose his reasoning. That was why he would say such brazen words.
Every one of the disciples surrounding the martial arena was unable to accept it. He had basically called all of them ants.
“Too arrogant! A newcomer also dares to be this arrogant? Who do you think you are?!”
“Luo Xiao, kill him! I’ve seen arrogant people, but never anyone so arrogant!”
Quite a few disciples couldn’t help but curse Long Chen. Perhaps this was simply envy for a disciple of the Divine Pill Hall. They finally had an excuse to openly curse one of them.
“Long San, you really are an idiot. I, Luo Xiao, began the switch to a flame cultivator half a year ago. My foundation is much more profound than yours. Furthermore, my cultivation base is in the Jade Core realm. As for you, you’re just in the Foundation Forging realm. Where did this arrogance of yours come from? Do you think I only have this little bit of ability? Let me tell you, that was just a test. The real fight starts now. Realize that next year, today will be the anniversary of your death! This is the real power of a flame cultivator!