by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
As for Long Chen, he found that what he had wasn’t even a core. As his immortal platforms shattered, he saw that inside each one was clearly a star flowing with primal chaos. This meant that 108,000 stars were in the midst of being born. Primal chaos space was circulating, strengthening his body.
BOOM!
The tribulation once more changed. The human lightning figures shifted, replaced by warriors wearing ancient robes. These warriors looked as if they possessed flesh and blood bodies.
They were just like other people. Some were old, some were young. Some were men, some were women. As soon as they appeared, Long Chen’s scalp turned numb. He recognized their aura.
Back when he had undergone his tribulation in the Xuantian Dao Sect’s Infernal Devil Abyss to annihilate the horde of devil beasts, this kind of terrifying existence had appeared at the very end.
Just a single one had almost killed him. It was thanks to Li Tianxuan’s advice that he managed to understand how to beat it and successfully pass his tribulation.
These lifeforms all charged at Long Chen, immediately launching killing blows. One of them was holding a sword and slashed it at Long Chen. It was a seemingly unstoppable blow that could cut apart heaven and earth.
“Divine ring!”
“Battle armor!”
Long Chen’s divine ring suddenly appeared, blowing apart an empty space within this sea of lightning.
A faint fifth color had appeared in the original four-colored divine ring. It was an extremely faint azure color. If it wasn’t in the center of the other four colors, it would have been impossible to sense.
At the same time, five stars appeared in Long Chen’s eyes. But one of those stars was not as bright as the other four.
Long Chen’s blade slashed through one of these lifeforms. His immense power instantly killed it.
At the same time, he was attacked from behind. All he was able to do was shift slightly to protect his vitals. But he felt a burst of pain as a sword stabbed through his back.
However, what surprised him was that the lifeform whose sword was stabbed into his body suddenly transformed into lightning runes and entered his body. Those lightning runes were absorbed by his 108,000 stars.
When he had first seen one hundred and eight of these terrifying lifeforms, Long Chen had thought it would be a dangerous battle to the death. He hadn’t expected such a thing.
Seeing this, Long Chen attacked another one of them, essentially giving up on defense. He simply did his best to avoid their attacks landing on his vitals, but otherwise, he allowed their attacks to land.
Very quickly, many injuries appeared on his body, but he still felt no fear. Each time he was injured, the lifeform attacking him would transform into powerful lightning runes and be absorbed by his 108,000 stars.
As he absorbed more and more, all his immortal platforms shed their outer layers, revealing stars. The power of these stars circulated throughout his body, strengthening him. Although the injuries covering him looked horrifying, he was still full of energy.
As the lifeforms’ numbers dropped, his stars began to shine brighter. When the final one was killed, all the lightning vanished. The tribulation had ended.
Long Chen sat on his butt and gasped for breath. He had lost a great deal of blood and was already getting dizzy. If it hadn’t ended soon, he wouldn’t have been able to hold on.
A wave of exhaustion suddenly struck him. He really wanted to fall asleep right here.
“Huo Long, bring me away.”
Long Chen called out Huo Long. Huo Long was the one with the best senses in the Heaven Dragon Flame Region.
He had caused such a disturbance here. Even though this was a secluded and empty land, it was very likely that he had drawn over other experts. He had to leave as soon as possible.
Huo Long brought Long Chen flying away. When he felt that it was far enough, he had Huo Long wrap around him and dive into the lava.
With Huo Long’s protection, he peacefully slept. When his vision darkened, Long Chen felt as if he had entered an unknown world.
“Long Chen, you’ve only condensed the fifth star now? It’s really too slow. If you continue like this, it will be too late. They already know the plan and are slaughtering divine sprouts in every direction. We won’t be able to last much longer. Hurry, Long Chen. While we still haven’t been annihilated, grow up as much as possible. Otherwise, the ten planar worlds’ millions of lifeforms will be completely exterminated.”
That familiar voice once more rang out in Long Chen’s mind. He heard it clearly, but he didn’t say anything. He knew that the owner of this voice couldn’t hear him.
“The ten planar worlds? Millions of lifeforms? Master of the Nine Stars? Pill Sovereign memories? Looks like I’ve been drawn into a huge maelstrom.”
Long Chen suddenly sat up. Lava surrounded him, but inside Huo Long, the outside world was unable to harm him.
“No matter how great the maelstrom, I still have to resolve the matters in front of me first. Food has to be eaten bite by bite, and I can only take things step by step. What’s the point of panicking?”
Long Chen bitterly smiled. On this trip to the Heaven Dragon Flame Region, he had seen that mysterious woman. It had felt like he had understood something, but it also felt like he didn’t understand anything at all.
That woman’s contradictory words had been especially worrying. “You are you, you are not you. You are one, you are not one.”
He had countless questions, but no one was able to answer him. It made him feel like his head would explode.
“Huo Long, I need to rest. I’ll give you a direction, and you can stealthily swim through the lava.”
Long Chen took a deep breath. Since he couldn’t figure it out, for now, he wouldn’t waste any more energy on it. Having advanced to the Jade Core realm, it should be time to get to proper matters.
Chapter 1367 Target: Heaven Incinerating Flame
Huo Long’s body shrank to just a few dozen meters as it swam through the lava. This made it much more difficult for others to find them.
In truth, the entire Heaven Dragon Flame Region didn’t have a proper landmass. All it had were floating islands.
So by going through the lava, it was possible to reach any location. As they traveled, Huo Long constantly grew stronger, because its split bodies were all called back.
Back then, it had sent out eight split bodies. One had detonated to hold back Qu Dajiang, and of the remaining seven, only six returned. Most likely, the last one had been destroyed by some powerful Earth Flame Spirit Beast.
With six split bodies returning, Huo Long’s power grew explosively. After merging temporarily, Huo Long once more sent out eight split bodies. But this time, the split bodies were sent to the primal chaos space to each absorb a Divine Flame Crystal. Absorbing the Divine Flame Crystals would rapidly increase its power.
It had to be known that Huo Long possessed its own life and spirit now. The flames that were absorbed by it could impart their unique abilities to it. It was like a person learning different techniques.
The primal chaos space had grown by ten times with his advancement to the Jade Core realm. It was three million miles wide, practically becoming a minor world.
However, other than a medicinal field, the rest of it was barren.
Long Chen was too lazy to plant the Iron Spruce Oaks again. Even at the peak of the Foundation Forging realm, the life energy they had been able to offer him was almost negligible.
Now he had advanced to the Jade Core realm. During the tribulation, the Iron Spruce Oaks had only been able to heal a single injury. They weren’t even as strong as his own natural recovery ability.
As for the withered Iron Spruce Oaks, they had been incinerated by the Divine Flame Crystals. That was why the primal chaos space was mostly empty.
On the edges of the primal chaos space were the chains filled with thunderforce. Lei Long was currently latched onto them, absorbing their energy. These
were the chains that had fallen off the Divine Gate.
They had been piled into a huge mountain. Lei Long was continuously absorbing their energy.
The Blazing Dragon Cauldron was not far, its whole body shining. There was a Divine Flame Crystal being refined inside it, and its power was nourishing it.
There were eight flame dragons in the vicinity, each of them holding a Divine Flame Crystal. Their efficiency was eight times greater than before.
It was unknown whether it was because of Huo Long’s influence, but Lei Long suddenly flew out of its pile and coiled around one of the flame dragons. It was like they were communicating.
Just a moment later, Lei Long returned to its rations and actually summoned its own split bodies. Furthermore, Lei Long summoned over a hundred of them in one go, and it began to crazily absorb thunderforce. It seemed Lei Long had mimicked Huo Long’s skill.
Lei Long, Huo Long, and the Blazing Dragon Cauldron were all rapidly growing stronger. As for Long Chen, he was inside Huo Long’s body, looking within himself to see the changes within his body.
The tribulation had covered him in injuries, but his physical body was so powerful that his self-recovery ability was also extremely strong. Furthermore, he had protected his vitals, so in just one day, his body had essentially recovered.
Although it couldn’t compare to the divine life elixir, this recovery speed was still shocking. Looking within himself, he saw 108,000 stars slowly circulating in his body. An endless stream of energy spread throughout his body. It was like a huge formation cycling power perfectly in an unending loop.
The stars formed their own self-sufficient system. If they became strong enough, Long Chen wouldn’t even have to absorb energy from the outside world. He could replenish his own energy from the stars. Of course, that wasn’t possible right now.
These stars all seemed unfinished. They had the form of a star, but they weren’t fully condensed. And yet, the amount of power they already possessed made Long Chen’s heart pound.
Previously, he hadn’t even been able to use his power because it had been so immense. But now that he could use this even more terrifying energy, Long Chen felt even greater reverence for the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.
Before undergoing the tribulation, the amount of energy he had been able to use had been very limited. But now that his 108,000 stars were free of the immortal platforms, he no longer felt anything stopping him from using their power.
As his body recovered, he felt like he might explode from how powerful he felt. It felt like his power simply wanted to erupt.
This was also the feeling many cultivators felt after advancing. Because they weren’t able to control their new power, their aura leaked out.
At that time, a cultivator’s power might have multiplied, but because they weren’t used to this new power and were unable to control themselves, their actual combat power would be very limited. That was why Long Chen needed to adapt to his new power first.
His body had gone through a complete transformation. It was like he had been reborn.
He slowly circulated his energy through his body. This was a fundamental step for getting accustomed to his power, and he couldn’t skip it.
As his mind focused in his mind-sea, he saw a huge gate, with a vortex spinning. At the center of the vortex was an extremely, extremely small spot. He knew that was the core of the Divine Gate Star. It was its embryonic form.
Divine light shot out of it. Long Chen sensed that it had gathered the energy of the FengFu, Alioth, Life Star, and Enlightenment Palace Stars, as if it was the leader of those four stars. The four stars were in the midst of undergoing some unknown transformation.
“The Divine Gate Pill is a ninth tier medicinal pill that requires one hundred and seventy-three medicinal ingredients. Good, I’m not missing that many. Yes, I’m only missing one hundred and seventy of them! Fuck!” Long Chen was speechless.
It seemed that he was being scammed over and over again. The Divine Gate Pill was a ninth tier medicinal pill, and he didn’t even have that many ninth tier medicinal ingredients. The numerous eighth tier and below medicinal ingredients that he did have were all useless.
Amongst ninth tier medicinal ingredients, he had tried to plan ahead and had gathered a few must-have ones. He had over a hundred of them. But now only three were actually useful here, and none of them were main ingredients.
“Looks like I’ll need to think of a way to get those medicinal ingredients. I wonder if I can get some from Pill Valley.” Long Chen was a bit apprehensive.
In the current situation, as soon as he left the Heaven Dragon Flame Region, he would be immediately killed due to the blame of killing so many genius disciples falling on his shoulders.
“Huo Long, slow down a bit.” Long Chen suddenly sensed two figures rushing from above together.
He had Huo Long follow them. Those two weren’t going too fast, and they had no idea that in the sea of lava below them, there was a flame dragon swimming around.
“Senior apprentice-brother Guo, we haven’t found suitable Earth Flames yet, but the alliance master wanted us to give up and find Long San. Don’t you think that’s a bit unreasonable?” grumbled one of those disciples.
The disciple called senior apprentice-brother Guo said, “What can we do? We can’t go against the orders from higher-up. Even if we don’t find anything this time, we’ll have another chance. But if we offend the alliance master, we’ll probably be kicked out of the Divine Pill Hall. It’s not worth it to be disobedient.”
Long Chen was startled. So the two of them were actually searching for him. He stealthily sent his divine sense up and saw that they were disciples of the Divine Spear Alliance, and they were Jade Core experts.
“Just what happened to Long San? Did he go crazy? He actually killed over a hundred disciples of the Divine Shield Alliance. Not even Dan Yanxue and Kan Dongze dare to protect him any longer, and they sent out the order to kill him on sight. If he’s going to die, why couldn’t he just die without causing a fuss? We don’t even have time to search for Earth Flames because of him.”
Over a hundred disciples killed? Long Chen sneered inside. It seemed Dan Yanxue and Kan Dongze were even more vicious than he had realized. They had killed so many of the Divine Shield Alliance’s disciples.
This would truly be a fearsome injury to the core of the Divine Shield Alliance. Without enough alchemists, the Divine Spear Alliance would become the main force of Pill Valley in the future.
Whether it was in the present or the future, this vicious move of the Divine Spear Alliance had completely turned things around. It definitely got the most use out of the chess piece known as Long San.
All those people were killed by Long San, and now that the Divine Spear Alliance discovered this scourge, they would immediately abandon their prejudices and join hands with the Divine Shield Alliance to kill him. They would appear righteous while also managing to kill him to cover the truth.
If his guess wasn’t wrong, those people who had disguised themselves as Long San and killed other disciples would all be quietly eliminated by Dan Yanxue and Kan Dongze. That way, once Long San was dead, there would be no one to testify against their version of stories.
When an investigation was carried out, Dan Yanxue would point their investigation toward that idiot Jiang Zijun. Before entering the Heaven Dragon Flame Region, Jiang Zijun had clearly expressed how he wanted to kill Long San.
What had happened was that Long San had been chased down by Jiang Zijun. And driven by revenge, he had decided that since he couldn’t beat Jiang Zijun, he had launched an indiscriminate slaughter to vent. When the time came, all those people who had died would be said to be killed by him, while the responsibility would be pushed onto Jiang Zijun. It wasn’t a bad plan.
Continuing to hear them talking, he realized that they were just complaining, and he lost interest. He had Huo Long speed up, as he wanted to go see that golden phoenix again.
He had long
since been attracted to the Heaven Incinerating Flame. That was the existence ranked third on the Earth Flame Ranking, and it only existed in legend.
The golden phoenix was still young, and this was the best time to subdue it. Once it matured, then let alone a Jade Core disciple, even a Life Star expert would have to scram upon seeing it.
A landmass quickly appeared ahead. It floated atop the lava. As he wove around some small islands, he quickly found the spiritual imprints he had left behind.
However, when he approached this region, he sensed powerful auras clashing from ahead. Powerful undercurrents were raging in the lava.
“Oh? People are fighting the golden phoenix?” Long Chen was startled. He had Huo Long find a concealed spot, while he stealthily stuck his head out of the lava. Seeing the situation, he was delighted. The heavens were finally making things up to him.
Chapter 1368 Divine Crystal Formation
The golden phoenix was immersed in flames as it fought in the sky. It was fighting four people.
Those four people were Qu Dajiang, Jiang Zijun, Dan Yanxue, and Kan Dongze. They had all summoned their Heavenly Dao manifestations, and their nine Grand Dao flowers revolved. Flame blades flew about as they fought.
The four of them didn’t dare to face the golden phoenix head-on. Each time they exchanged blows, their flame blades would ignite, and they would have no choice but to throw them away and condense a new one.
They were most afraid of fighting the golden phoenix in close range. Once they were struck by it, the runes around them would be incinerated.
The flame runes they had summoned around them were their core runes. If they were ignited, they would have to abandon them, and that would harm their foundations. But if they didn’t abandon them, they would be incinerated as well.
However, as rank nine Celestials, their Spiritual Strength was extremely powerful. Flame arrows shot out at the golden phoenix.
The four of them had long since planned out their strategy and were working together well. When the golden phoenix attacked one of them, the other three would launch all-out attacks. They would try to bind it with flame chains.