condemn

Long Chen was startled upon hearing this: "Why are you in such a rush? Didn't you say we would drink together?"

For invincible Prodigies like Long Chen and Mo Nian, they were destined to be lonely; the feeling of invincibility was not as good as imagined.

Among their peers, not having a single friend to befriend—that feeling was not pleasant.

Common chickens and young eagles might grow up together, but as time passed, the young eagle was destined to spread its wings and soar, striking the vast sky and gliding through the heavens.

Therefore, in the Phoenix Empire, Shi Feng, Fatty, Monkey, and the others, although extremely reluctant to part, were destined to be unable to stay together forever.

Cultivation was a road of no return; since they had stepped onto this path, they could only move forward and could not turn back.

However, on this path, if one had a few brothers who could share their hearts and guts, it would be even more perfect.

But such people were too rare; if Long Chen were surrounded by weaklings, he would be unable to protect them.

When danger descended, if Long Chen could not protect them and had to watch them die one by one with unwillingness, that feeling was too painful.

Therefore, Long Chen tried his best to appear cynical, not taking anything seriously. In reality, Long Chen was somewhat stingy with his emotions because he was afraid of seeing those around him die.

Mo Nian was the first person Long Chen had encountered who could stand at the same height as himself. Especially since the two had joined forces to deal with Yin Luo, and in the end, Mo Nian had even sacrificed a Family treasure to block that terrifying giant hand, allowing both of them to survive.

Long Chen truly wanted to befriend Mo Nian, so seeing him leave so quickly, he could not help but be a bit surprised.

Mo Nian laughed: "In the past, those old men were always scolding me for not being ambitious, not cultivating properly, and that sooner or later I would be left behind by others."

"Actually, I was particularly unconvinced. When I was ten, I snuck out alone and wiped out a bandit stronghold."

"I killed over three hundred fierce bandits by myself. At that time, I was only at the ninth stage of Qi Gathering. Killing those Blood Condensation Realm bandits was like slaughtering chickens or dogs."

"Later, every time they scolded me, I would get so angry that I would run out to uphold justice. Over the years, I have encountered danger."

"However, among those of the same rank, no one had ever been able to withstand three of my arrows. But today, the appearance of you and Yin Luo gave me a sense of crisis."

"Especially you, Long Chen. You are simply a monster. Although you received support from your companions in the end, your potential simply has no bottom line, which makes people feel terrified."

"This battle has been of great benefit to me. I need to go back and enter seclusion, otherwise, I will be left behind by you."

Everyone was stunned. They had not expected the incredibly powerful Mo Nian to actually feel pressure from Long Chen.

One had to know that as soon as Mo Nian appeared, he had shocked everyone. He had fought alone against an Evil Path Genius acclaimed as a once-in-a-millennium talent, with earth-shattering combat strength.

Long Chen nodded. He understood what Mo Nian meant. Mo Nian had just experienced a great battle and possessed very precious insights and realizations.

Entering seclusion at this time to digest these insights and realizations would be of great help to him. This golden period of time could absolutely not be missed.

"Long Chen, I, Mo Nian, have decided to be your friend. When you have time, come to Qingzhou to find me. Just ask about the Mo Sect; no one there wouldn't know it."

Having just finished speaking, Mo Nian felt something was not quite right: "However, I advise you not to run around aimlessly, because the Nine Li Secret Realm is about to open. There is an entrance here in Suzhou, so you will definitely participate."

"Although your combat strength is powerful, when the time comes, heroes from the seven provinces will gather, and experts from both the Righteous and Evil Paths will be as numerous as cow hairs. With your current cultivation, you will suffer a great loss. You had better hurry up and reach the Tendon Transformation Realm."

Long Chen was stunned. He seemed to have heard of the Nine Li Secret Realm; it seemed to be very mysterious. He had not expected Mo Nian to know about it too.

And listening to Mo Nian's implication, after this Nine Li Secret Realm opened, experts from all seven major provinces would participate.

Although he had not asked what the concept of a province was in Mo Nian's words, thinking about it with his brain, he knew that the land of a single province was likely terrifyingly large.

Long Chen gave a bitter smile and said: "I will try my best."

He also wanted to reach the Tendon Transformation Realm as soon as possible, but for some reason, Long Chen felt he had fallen into a Bottleneck.

This Bottleneck was firmly trapping Long Chen. What was most fatal to Long Chen was that he did not know what this Bottleneck actually was, and even less did he know how to break through it.

Regarding the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, Long Chen knew far too little. He still needed to explore it further.

"That Yin Luo is extremely terrifying. The most terrifying thing is not his talent, but the ruthlessness of the Evil Path."

"I suspect that his Sect, for his sake, forcibly sacrificed an Innate expert, injecting the Innate Essence Blood of an Innate expert into his body."

"Because of cultivation restrictions, he can only use a trace of the Innate Essence Blood's power. And looking at his appearance, it should have been injected not long ago, and his control over the Innate Essence Blood is extremely clumsy."

"However, as time passes, his cultivation will become stronger and stronger, and his control over the Innate Essence Blood will become more and more proficient. That is when he will be the most terrifying."

"Don't look at the fact that he has had a leg severed now and hasn't entered the Bone Forging Realm; his body can easily recover under the influence of Spirit Pills."

"If we don't hurry up and cultivate, the next time we meet in the Nine Li Secret Realm, the ones who die will definitely be us."

Mo Nian's voice was extremely low, and his face carried a trace of gravity. Everyone present, including Elder Tu Fang, could not help but have their hearts pounding wildly.

Sacrificing an Innate expert for the sake of one Genius—such ruthless means were indeed something only the Evil Path could do.

Even Tu Fang, whose cultivation had reached the Peak of the Pulse Condensation Realm, could only barely sense a trace of Heaven and Earth energy, but could not capture it, let alone use it.

This was because the essence blood within their bodies had not transformed from Acquired to Innate, and thus they were rejected by Heaven and Earth.

To these people, an Innate expert was simply an existence like a god. To sacrifice such an existence for one Disciple made everyone feel a chill in their bones.

At the same time, they were even more terrified of Yin Luo. He was already so formidable without having refined the Innate Essence Blood; once he adapted to the Innate Essence Blood within his body, would anyone be able to subdue him?

Even Long Chen felt immense pressure. The fact that Long Chen had been able to stand at the same height as Mo Nian, Yin Luo, and the others this time was entirely due to Chu Yao.

If it weren't for Chu Yao sharing her Spiritual Qi with Long Chen, Long Chen would have long since died at the hands of the Evil Path Elder; how could there have been the subsequent intense battle?

"Alright, I'm leaving first. Let's meet up in the Nine Li Secret Realm and then drink."

After Mo Nian finished speaking, a jade pendant appeared in his hand. It was also a white jade pendant, and it emitted Soul fluctuations.

Mo Nian saw Long Chen staring fixedly at his jade pendant and could not help but be stunned. Thinking that Long Chen had never seen this magical item, he laughed:

"This jade pendant is called a Teleportation Jade. Inside, an Innate-Grade expert has used Soul energy to carve extremely powerful runes. Once activated, it can open a portal for teleportation within a short time, allowing for long-distance travel."

"Because this jade pendant has powerful Soul energy, in addition to teleportation, it also has the effect of suppressing the Soul, which can allow one to enter a state of meditation quickly. It is also known as the Soul-Suppressing Jade; large Sects all have them."

"It's just that this item is somewhat precious, and some stingy guys are not very willing to give them to people."

After Mo Nian finished speaking, he injected his Soul energy into the jade pendant. The jade pendant shone brightly, opening a transparent space portal in the air.

The gate was about ten zhang high, appeared semi-transparent, and was covered with dense runes, just like a real gateway.

"Goodbye."

Mo Nian ignored everyone else, bid farewell to Long Chen, stepped into the portal, and disappeared.

After Mo Nian disappeared, the entire space channel also vanished. Long Chen looked at the place where the space channel had vanished, and his heart could not help but tremble wildly.

In his hand, he was also secretly clutching a jade pendant. That was the jade pendant his parents had left him, and it was also the only token for him to unravel the mystery of his origins.

Long Chen tightly gripped that jade pendant. As long as he injected his Soul energy into the jade pendant, he could immediately unravel the mystery of his origins.

But Long Chen thought of the valley where Long Tianxiao had taken him to hide the jade; it had been slashed out by someone with a single sword strike.

According to Long Chen's current understanding, that was definitely the powerful strength that only an expert above the Innate Realm could possess.

However, even such a person, strong to the point of being almost abnormal, was forced to undergo Dao Transformation to hide their whereabouts, and even left a message saying that if he could not stand at the pinnacle of the Martial Dao, he should not inquire about his origins.

Long Chen held that jade pendant, having an urge to unravel the mystery. However, deep within his Soul, a voice told him that if he activated the jade pendant, he would certainly die.

It was only a breath or two of time, but for Long Chen, it felt as if years had passed. In the end, Long Chen chose to trust his intuition and secretly put the jade pendant away.

"Waner, do me a favor. Go and help me collect the blood left behind by that giant claw," Long Chen said to Tang Waner.

Although Tang Waner was somewhat confused, she still nodded obediently and ran toward the edge of the battlefield.

There, Ling Yunzi's sword strike had wounded that giant hand, leaving behind quite a bit of blood that had fallen to the ground.

Chu Yao watched Tang Waner's departing figure, smiled at Long Chen, blinked her eyes, and said: "This sister is very obedient to you!"

Long Chen could not help but feel his face heat up. He usually felt closest to Tang Waner, so without thinking, he had called out to her. Now, being teased by Chu Yao's meaningful smile, he suddenly felt a bit awkward.

"Alright, I didn't say anything. Why are you blushing? What are you collecting that blood for?" Chu Yao gently held Long Chen's hand and laughed softly.

"Making duck blood vermicelli soup," Long Chen joked, knowing that Chu Yao wasn't angry, and his heart felt much more at ease.

"As if I'd believe you," Chu Yao rolled her eyes at Long Chen. Knowing that Long Chen didn't want to say, she simply stopped asking.

The blood left behind by that person, although not Innate Essence Blood, contained Innate Spiritual Qi, which might be useless to others.

But Long Chen was a Pill Cultivator, carrying the memories of the Pill Emperor in his mind. That blood might be useless to others, but to Long Chen, it was a priceless treasure.

In a moment, Tang Waner ran back, carrying a large jar in her hand, which was actually filled with more than half a jar of blood.

What surprised everyone was that the blood, like pearls, had not soaked into the ground but was all floating on the surface, carrying a powerful pressure that made it difficult for people to breathe.

Long Chen excitedly put away the jar of Innate blood, when suddenly Tu Fang coldly said:

"Now that the great battle has been won, I want to ask one thing: who led that Evil Path Elder toward Long Chen?"