by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
As for when Long Chen heard this news, he immediately gathered the Dragonblood Legion.
“I will finally repay the debt I owe from back then.”
Chapter 1398 Heading for the Spirit World
Just as Long Chen gathered the Dragonblood Legion, Li Tianxuan came to find him. He gravely warned, “Think carefully about this. That place is like a pool of muddy water. It involves many things.”
Long Chen was startled. He couldn’t figure out what exactly Li Tianxuan was saying. An entrance to the Spirit World had been opened, and adventurers had already gone to test their luck. How was it a pool of muddy water?
If he said that it was dangerous, that would make sense. But a pool of muddy water? That was dumbfounding.
“Let him go.” The Xuantian Tower’s voice rang out.
“But senior…”
“There’s nothing to say. Long Chen is well aware that that place is dangerous. Since he wants to go, it means he has his reasons. Since you’ve decided to let go, you should let go completely!”
Li Tianxuan’s expression was helpless, while Long Chen’s expression was questioning. It seemed they knew something but refused to tell him.
Once Long Chen left, Li Tianxuan stood in the Xuantian Tower. The Xuantian Tower’s ancient voice rang out once more.
“From the Eastern Wasteland to the Central Plains, Long Chen has never walked the common path. Even if you told him everything, you wouldn’t change his decision. Instead, you would simply draw karma to yourself. In my eyes, that is very foolish.”
“But senior, the Spirit World involves so many different things. Once Long Chen enters…”
“No one can control Long Chen’s fate. No one is qualified to guide him down his path. Since you’ve chosen to leave the Xuantian Dao Sect’s fate to him, you should give him free rein. Sometimes speaking is an instinct, while not speaking is the truly wise choice.” The Xuantian Tower’s voice was completely calm as if this was an extremely minor affair.
“Disciple was foolish. Thank you for your guidance.” Li Tianxuan took a deep breath.
“Your concern caused your thoughts to become muddled. You’ve lost your initial transcendent attitude. When you decided to give the Xuantian Dao Sect to Long Chen, you were someone outside the game. But once you left it to him, you became someone inside the game. The viewpoints between the two are immense. People inside the game see a mountain as a mountain, water as water. But people outside the game know a mountain is not just a mountain, and water is not just water.”
A spark of comprehension appeared in Li Tianxuan’s eyes, and he knelt on the ground, respectfully saying, “Many thanks for your guidance, senior.”
The Xuantian Tower had been the divine item of the Xuantian Dao Sect’s patriarch. Even the Xuan Master had to call themself disciple in front of it.
“There’s no need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank Long Chen, or perhaps the High Priest of the Wine God Palace. It was his wine that allowed your mental realm to rise to an unprecedented height, while I just gave you some slight guidance. You’ve reached the peak of Life Star and can enter the Netherworld whenever you want. But the Xuantian Dao Sect still needs you for now. Your master is at a critical juncture, so you can’t attempt to break through.”
“I know.” Li Tianxuan nodded.
“As for Long Chen’s matter, don’t bother with him. Just keep the attitude of a spectator. The lines of fate are in chaos, and the world is about to change. You are not this era’s main character, so being a spectator isn’t necessarily something bad,” said the Xuantian Tower.
“Could it be that even if I entered the Netherpassage realm, I still wouldn’t be able to play a leading role in this era?” Li Tianxuan bitterly smiled.
“Child, with your talent as an acquired rank nine Celestial who is qualified to attack the Netherpassage realm in just eight hundred years, you can already count as a genius. However, this stage is not for you. So, just be content as a spectator!”
“Alright, I’ll listen to you. I’ll be a spectator,” said Li Tianxuan helplessly.
Li Tianxuan was over eight hundred years old, but for Life Star experts, a single round of seclusion might last over a hundred years or several hundred years. So, he was actually very young.
The other heavenly geniuses in the same generation as him had all slowly fallen or been thrown so far behind that they would never catch up. Recently, he had touched the door to the Netherpassage realm, and so a competitive drive had been ignited in him again.
Based on the Xuantian Tower’s words, even if he reached that realm, he would still just be a spectator. That was quite the blow.
However, the Xuantian Tower was the first generation patriarch’s divine item. Li Tianxuan felt great reverence for it.
“Then should the Reincarnation Mirror be sent to escort Long Chen?” asked Li Tianxuan.
This time, the Xuantian Tower didn’t bother answering. Li Tianxuan couldn’t help but blush, and he hastily said, “Disciple knows his mistake.”
…
“Boss, when did you get such an amazing flying boat?” Guo Ran excitedly cried out as he drove the flying boat. This was thousands of times better than any flying boat he had ever driven.
The entire Dragonblood Legion was on the flying boat. But this time, Long Chen only brought the Dragonblood Legion. He hadn’t brought Hua Shiyu, Zhao Ziyan, and the others.
He had noticed that they were slightly different from the Dragonblood warriors. That was because they had originally been peak heavenly geniuses, and they lacked a kind of determination to press forward even in the face of death.
As for the Dragonblood Legion, both the old Dragonblood warriors and the newer Dragonmark warriors had been lacking in talent.
The only reason they had been able to climb to their current height was because they had worked as if their lives depended on it. They possessed the resolve to put their lives on the line. As they hadn’t been blessed with anything, they weren’t afraid of losing it.
Geniuses all possessed a feeling of superiority. They were unable to truly maintain the same heart as the Dragonblood Legion.
Although they listened to Long Chen’s orders, and there was no need to question their loyalty, there was simply something that couldn’t be clearly explained lacking within them.
Because they were lacking that thing, in the end, they were unable to be one with the Dragonblood Legion.
Furthermore, this trip to the Spirit World was not a vacation. There would definitely be a bloody slaughter. Thus, Long Chen didn’t want to implicate anyone outside the Dragonblood Legion.
This trip to the Spirit World was to repay his debts. If the expert from the Spirit World hadn’t bestowed him with the divine life elixir, he’d have long since died. Wilde would also have died. And it was unknown just many of the people beside him right now would also be dead.
He owed that expert a huge debt. As for the Dragonblood Legion, they were his life and death brothers, so they naturally went with him. He didn’t want to draw anyone else into his problems.
“This flying boat was gifted to me.”
Long Chen lazily reclined in a chair in the control room. Meng Qi and Tang Wan-er were pouring tea for him, and he received a cup from Meng Qi.
“Gifted? Who was so nice?” asked Guo Ran.
“Who knows how many hearts of beauties he seduced this time. Being gifted a single flying boat isn’t much. Am I right, Master Long San?” Tang Wan-er raised her brows at Long Chen. Her bright eyes were locked onto his, seeming to piece into his heart.
Long Chen almost spat out his tea. Smiling a smile that wasn’t a smile, he said, “Girl, with your little bit of Spiritual Strength, you shouldn’t try using spiritual peeping arts on me.”
He didn’t know what she was thinking. She was using her Spiritual Strength to sense if he was lying, but her Spiritual Strength wasn’t able to do such a thing to him.
“Scoundrel, stop changing the subject! Speak,
did you seduce any beauties this time?!” Tang Wan-er was embarrassed, and her embarrassment quickly turned into rage. She grabbed Long Chen’s collar.
“Without even thinking about it, I know it definitely happened. If he didn’t do such a thing, he wouldn’t be the boss,” said Guo Ran. Perhaps he was thinking of the pain he had suffered when being tempered by lightning.
Long Chen raged, “You! Just fly the boat!”
“Don’t worry boss, with my technique, I can fly with my eyes closed. Sister Wan-er, I’m willing to bet that this time, boss seduced at least three beauties on his trip to Pill Valley. If you don’t believe me, just keep questioning him. Of course, with boss’s calm, just asking isn’t useful. Without a bit of torture, he won’t speak the truth. So how about this: if it’s less than three, I’ll eat this flying boat,” promised Guo Ran.
“Big sister Meng Qi, you come and try!” Tang Wan-er kept a tight grip on Long Chen as she called out to Meng Qi.
Long Chen clenched his teeth when he saw Guo Ran’s pleased expression. It seemed that this little fellow’s confidence had inflated. Now he even dared to con his boss.
“Stop messing around. Long Chen went to Pill Valley for proper things. He wouldn’t act as unreasonably as you’re saying!” Meng Qi shook her head.
“Meng Qi, thank you for your trust. You really treat me the best.” Long Chen was extremely moved. Meng Qi truly was the best.
“However, I’m very curious, is that Pill Fairy very beautiful?” Meng Qi’s beautiful eyes contained a teasing light.
“...”
The change in subject came so suddenly that Long Chen was caught off guard. He was still filled with gratitude toward her when she pulled the subject right back.
Only Meng Qi, Tang Wan-er, Guo Ran, Gu Yang, Li Qi, and Song Mingyuan knew about his trip to Pill Valley. The other Dragonblood warriors had no idea.
“Boss, is that Pill Fairy really like a real-life fairy? Did you manage to seduce her- aiya!” Guo Ran turned back with a mischievous smile when he was suddenly slapped by Long Chen.
Long Chen’s sudden attack caused Meng Qi and Tang Wan-er to let out startled cries. Guo Ran’s words were cut off in the middle, and the control mechanism in his hand tilted. The flying boat was in the midst of passing through two large mountains, and as a result, it tilted and crashed into one.
Boom! A large jag appeared on the mountain, and the flying boat shuddered violently. Fortunately, its defenses automatically activated, and it wasn’t damaged.
“Sorry boss, sorry! I’ll properly fly the boat. You guys can chat.” Seeing Long Chen’s dark expression, Guo Ran hastily turned away, making sure not to say another word.
The sound of Gu Yang’s cursing rang out from above. The collision just now had been especially aggravating for him and the others.
This flying boat was something Long Chen had stolen from Pill Valley, but the outside had already been disguised. The original markings had been removed so that it no longer looked like Pill Valley’s flying boat.
Just as Tang Wan-er was interrogating Long Chen for details about the Pill Fairy, the flying boat slowly descended to where the Heaven Devouring Forest had once been.
Chapter 1399 Strange
Long Chen could no longer recognize this place. The Heaven Devouring Forest’s towering trees had all vanished.
The ground looked like it had been freshly overturned. It was like this entire land had been plowed and was simply left to nature. Wild growth grew everywhere.
The flying boat continued forward, but Long Chen was puzzled. The horde of adventurers he had expected to see rushing in this direction never appeared.
Although he did see a few, they were sparse and isolated, only in small groups of just several people.
“What’s going on? Why would only so few people come for such a good opportunity?” wondered Tang Wan-er.
“Is it that it’s too dangerous, so they don’t dare?” Guo Ran was also suspicious.
“The Heaven Devouring Forest’s name is on the same level as Devil Spirit Mountain, but Devil Spirit Mountain had so many people adventuring inside. It doesn’t make sense.” Meng Qi shook her head.
According to reason, something this huge would have shaken all the Central Plains’ geniuses, and they would have flocked over. But they didn’t see any large groups. Even groups over ten people were very rare.
Seeing how few adventurers there were, Long Chen thought of Li Tianxuan’s warning. Was this to say that he knew what was going on with the Spirit World?
The flying boat quickly reached the spatial portal at the center of this region. From a distance, it looked like the gaping maw of a giant beast that was patiently waiting for its prey to enter.
The spatial portal was dozens of miles wide, giving off violent spatial fluctuations. The space around it rippled like water.
This was a spatial portal that had existed for countless years, and the spatial channel inside was completely stable. It was like a door to the Spirit World.
However, this place had been the heart of the Heaven Devouring Forest and had always been a forbidden land to human cultivators. If the Heaven Devouring Forest’s tree demons hadn’t suddenly vanished, no one would have known that there was such a spatial portal here.
This spatial portal was opened by the tree demons and was made for them. Human Soul Transformation experts and above would feel a strong sense of expulsion if they tried to enter, and if they forced it, the spatial backlash would kill them.
Long Chen put away the spatial boat. The Dragonblood warriors stood in front of the spatial portal, all of them feeling their spirits rise. Long Chen had said that they were going to return a debt.
Long Chen’s debt was their debt. And they also wanted to take a look at the legendary Spirit World.
“Let’s go.”
Long Chen led the way. Meng Qi and Tang Wan-er followed right behind him, and then the rest of the Dragonblood warriors. Gu Yang and Guo Ran took the rear.
Buzz.
Space shook, and the scene in front of Long Chen changed. He saw he was standing on top of a mountain. An endless forest stretched beyond the horizon.
“This is the Spirit World? What strong life energy fluctuations!” exclaimed Tang Wan-er.
“But this air also contains something evil.” For Meng Qi, this was her second trip to the Spirit World. She could sense that this place was different from the last place they had entered from.
Long Chen hadn’t even had a chance to completely capture the scenery around him before a blood-red sword slashed toward him from an odd angle.
Over ten other figures appeared with the sword, attacking Long Chen.
Wind blades suddenly formed in the air, slicing through those people like flying knives.
Tang Wan-er was now a rank nine Celestial, and her control over wind energy had reached the point that she could control it at will. Even without forming hand seals, she could control the surrounding wind.
“They’re from the Corrupt path.” Meng Qi was surprised.
There were a total of seventeen of them, and sixteen of them were Soul Transformation experts.
These people were all very weak. They were only rank three Celestials. But the shocking thing was that they were Soul Transformation experts. Just how had they entered the Spirit World?
The rest of the Dragonblood Legion now entered. The first thing they saw were the corpses on the ground.
“Sorry, I couldn’t control my energy perfectly.” Tang Wan-er stuck out her tongue with embarrassment. As a rank nine Celestial, even just a random attack from her contained the might of the Heavenly Daos. These people were too weak. Even their Yuan Spirits were destroyed.
“How strange. They were from the Corrupt path, so they should have recognized Long Chen. Were they trying to get themselves killed by attacking him?” Meng Qi was trying to make sense of what was going on.
If you were to ask who the Corrupt path wanted to kill the most, it would definitely be Long
Chen. Whether it was in the Eastern Wasteland or the Central Plains, Long Chen had killed countless of their experts.
That incident on Devil Spirit Mountain had especially been vicious. Long Chen had killed so many of their geniuses. Therefore, now that the Corrupt path as a whole hated Long Chen, how could their people attack and fail to recognize him?
No one could figure that out. Even Long Chen himself couldn’t tell what was going on. He could only vaguely feel just how grave this matter was. Li Tianxuan had clearly known some things and wanted to tell him, but the Xuantian Tower had prevented him from doing so.
“Kill!”
Suddenly, a furious roar came from the distance. Experts from the Corrupt path charged over.
There were dozens of them, but what was shocking was that half of them were Life Star experts.
“You… you’re Long Chen? Hahaha, kill him!” Their leader suddenly recognized Long Chen and began to laugh with delight.
“A rank five Celestial dares to be so arrogant?” Gu Yang flew out, his spear striking like a poisonous snake.
That Life Star expert was startled as this bald fellow made his soul shudder. Feeling that this baldy posed a mortal threat to him, he took out his corrupt weapon, a curved blade with an evil aura coming out of it. He raised it against Gu Yang’s spear.
BOOM!
His corrupt weapon shattered, and he himself was blown apart by Gu Yang’s spear. His Yuan Spirit tried to escape, but it was destroyed by another thrust of Gu Yang’s spear.
A Life Star expert was instantly slain by Gu Yang. Both the Corrupt experts and the Dragonblood warriors were shocked.
However, Long Chen had expected this. These Life Star experts were the weakest existences in their realm.
For rank three Celestials, due to their limited talent, reaching the Jade Core realm would normally be their limit. The limit for rank four Celestials was Soul Transformation, and the limit for rank five Celestials was the Life Star realm.