Monsters gather

When Long Chen and Guo Ran arrived, the place was already packed with people.

In a massive mountain basin, two figures were exchanging blows, dust and debris flying everywhere, their Aura surging to the heavens.

Within a hundred-foot radius, fierce winds howled, and the Aura was terrifying.

The perimeter of the basin was practically filled with people, all of them watching the two figures in the midst of battle with excitement, their eyes filled with awe.

"It's actually Qi Xin and Lei Qianshang!" Guo Ran exclaimed.

Long Chen was also startled. It was actually a battle between two monster-level Geniuses; no wonder the Aura was so terrifying.

"That blue-haired, extremely burly person is Lei Qianshang. The person opposite him wearing a blue kerchief and dressed like a scholar is Qi Xin," Guo Ran whispered to introduce them to Long Chen.

Long Chen looked at Lei Qianshang. He was indeed extremely burly, with bare arms almost as thick as a normal person's calves, muscles bulging high like a humanoid Demonic Beast.

His hair was an incredibly strange light blue, and as he swung his fists, there was a faint sound of thunder, which was terrifying.

Opposite Lei Qianshang, a man wearing a long robe and a Confucian hat looked just like a scholar. His expression was cold and stern, and his palms flew, remaining calm and composed despite Lei Qianshang's storm-like assault.

Moreover, Long Chen discovered that there was a strange fluctuation on Qi Xin's palms. With every strike, ripples appeared in the space, neutralizing the majority of Lei Qianshang's power.

The two fought fiercely, their Aura surging to the heavens, causing the earth to tremble. The violent wind swept past, stinging the faces of the people in the distance.

"Quick, look, that's the Ice Beauty, Ye Zhiqiu," Guo Ran suddenly pulled Long Chen and pointed in a direction.

Long Chen looked over and indeed saw a woman standing tall on a high ground. Her long hair fluttered, and her white clothes were whiter than snow, making her look like a Fairy descending to the mortal world, leaving people afraid to profane her.

Beside the Ice Beauty, four young girls stood guard. Clearly, they had already joined Ye Zhiqiu's faction.

There were quite a few men and women around her, but they all kept a certain distance. Many men looked at her back with eyes full of adoration.

In the eyes of most people, Ye Zhiqiu was an ice goddess—holy, noble, and untouchable.

Long Chen looked at Ye Zhiqiu and had to admit that this Ice Beauty was extremely beautiful, especially her cold and aloof temperament, which made her look like a goddess statue meant for worship. It was a static kind of beauty that could make people forget everything.

Long Chen was secretly feasting his eyes when Ye Zhiqiu, who had been watching the battle, suddenly turned her beautiful face and looked at Long Chen.

Their gazes met. Long Chen was stunned for a moment, then slightly nodded to indicate a greeting. However, what left Long Chen speechless was that Ye Zhiqiu coldly glanced at him and then turned her head away to continue watching the battle, completely ignoring his nod of goodwill.

"This kid has no manners. Fine, let's just say I was being wishful thinking." Long Chen gave a bitter smile in his heart; the feeling of being ignored was truly not great.

"Huh, Yue Zifeng is here too," Guo Ran suddenly called out.

Long Chen followed Guo Ran's gaze and saw a figure. That person was wearing a blue training outfit and had a long sword strapped to his back.

"He's actually a Sword Cultivator," Long Chen was taken aback.

"Yue Zifeng started practicing sword at three years old and has extremely high talent in the Dao of the sword. However, he is arrogant and dislikes fighting, so those who challenge him are basically all killed by him.

He once said that battle is sacred; only by using one's life to ignite the desire for battle is it a true battle. Otherwise, it is a desecration of battle," Guo Ran said with deep emotion.

Long Chen looked at Yue Zifeng in the distance and nodded, saying, "This is a very terrifying person."

He could sense that Yue Zifeng was like a sharp blade hidden in a scabbard. Once drawn, his Qi would slash the heavens. That was the unique temperament of a Sword Cultivator. What was rare was that, despite his young age, Yue Zifeng could already control his Aura perfectly, showing that he possessed extremely tenacious perseverance.

Such people were different from ordinary Disciples; they had their own faith. This faith might be their fists, their weapons, or their bodies.

Such people had already transcended the shackles of life and death, so in battle, they could unleash the most powerful strength.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, there was an explosive sound in the space. Everyone let out an exclamation and retreated one after another. A terrifying wave of air rushed over, and some people who couldn't retreat in time were directly knocked over in a sorry state.

After the air wave passed, the dust disappeared, and a huge crater appeared on the ground. The two people who had just been fighting were staring at each other across the pit.

"So terrifying, too formidable!"

"Both of them have boundless combat power, strong to the point of being unbelievable. They are truly monster-level Geniuses."

"The most important thing is, look, after such an intense battle, their Auras haven't changed at all."

The crowd couldn't help but discuss, many people filled with shock, and at the same time, filled with excitement. Being able to witness the battle of monster-level Geniuses was very beneficial to them.

"What do you think?" Guo Ran asked.

"Very strong, but both of them are just testing each other. They haven't brought out their true strength, so there's nothing much to look at," Long Chen said.

Although the two seemed to be fighting with all their might just now, Long Chen could tell that their power was restrained and unreleased; it was mostly just testing.

Besides, as monster-level Geniuses, who didn't have some hidden methods? As long as they weren't idiots, they wouldn't want to expose them in front of others.

"Actually, these two are both very interesting. They are both suitors of Tang Waner," Guo Ran said with a mysterious smile.

"There's such a thing?" Long Chen was taken aback.

"Hehe, who am I? I am the walking encyclopedia. Although my combat power isn't strong, don't underestimate my other abilities.

It seems Qi Xin knew of Tang Waner's existence a long time ago and declared early on that he would marry no one but Tang Waner.

And this Lei Qianshang announced half a year ago that anyone who dared to compete with him for Tang Waner would have their head twisted off.

Calculating the time, the Lei Family must have collected intelligence on Tang Waner before Lei Qianshang made this decision," Guo Ran laughed.

"A bit interesting. It seems the Xuantian Branch will be very lively in the future," Long Chen couldn't help but find it funny.

Just as Long Chen finished speaking, the whole scene suddenly erupted in an uproar. A figure walked into the basin. It was a young girl, with a graceful figure, beautiful features, and a smile that made people feel like they were bathing in a spring breeze, making their whole body feel soft.

What was most deadly was that she had a pair of soul-stealing eyes. Anyone swept by her gaze couldn't help but have their heart beat wildly.

"Tang Waner is here!" Guo Ran exclaimed.

So she is Tang Waner? Indeed beautiful, no wonder both of them were fighting over her. Long Chen nodded secretly.

Different from Ye Zhiqiu, Tang Waner's beauty felt more real and relatable, making it easier for people to feel favorable towards her.

However, for some reason, Long Chen always felt she was somewhat familiar, but he had never seen her before. Could it be that he missed Chu Yao and Meng Qi too much?

"Oh, you two finished so quickly! I haven't seen a good show yet. Why don't you two fight another round?"

Tang Waner's voice was as pleasant as silver bells, making people feel very comfortable listening to it. However, after this sentence was said, both Lei Qianshang and Qi Xin appeared somewhat unnatural.

Qi Xin smiled slightly and said, "Young Miss Waner, you misunderstood. Lei and I were just meeting for the first time and cherished each other's talent, so we had a spar out of a momentary itch. I've let Young Miss Waner see a joke."

Qi Xin's voice was gentle, unhurried, and without a trace of anger, making it comfortable to listen to, though it gave people the feeling that he was a bit too scholarly.

"Right, right, that's exactly it. We were just having a momentary itch," Lei Qianshang also hurriedly said. His voice was loud, like a big bell.

Long Chen couldn't help but be amused. It was interesting—one was feminine, one was boorish. The personalities of these two seemed to be two extremes.

Tang Waner smiled slightly without exposing them. She looked at the people around and said, "I'm still short of manpower here. Those who want to come over, hurry up. However, I don't want any useless trash. Those who consider themselves Geniuses, come over."

As soon as Tang Waner's words fell, countless people's eyes lit up and they rushed towards Tang Waner's side. The crowd was like a tidal wave.

"Miss Tang, choose me! My combat power is strong, and I can go through fire and water for you."

"Choose me, I can make your bed and fold your quilts. I don't even mind serving you in bed… Ah!"

As soon as one person finished speaking, he was kicked away and trampled by countless people. The scene was extremely chaotic.

However, not everyone was rushing towards Tang Waner. Many people went towards Ye Zhiqiu, Yue Zifeng, Lei Qianshang, Qi Xin, and others respectively.

Now that the five great Geniuses were all together, many people wanted to try their luck to see if they could be chosen by them and taken as subordinates. Otherwise, it would be hard to survive alone in the Branch.

However, the other four were basically saturated. After all, personnel for a faction were valued for quality, not quantity. Too many people would instead waste resources and affect overall strength.

But they were also very smart; until the last moment, they all left some spots open.

If they encountered Disciples with high combat power, they could be admitted into their faction to strengthen their team.

However, the Branch had a rule that a faction could only allow a maximum of one hundred people to join, so each of them needed to be cautious.

Because before entering the Branch, they already had many pre-determined spots. There was no helping it; their Family forces had arranged everything, and they dared not disobey orders.

As for the remaining small portion of spots, they had to keep their eyes peeled and select the best figures. Just as Tang Waner said, useless trash absolutely could not be taken.

Monster-level Geniuses were not called that for nothing. Their eyes were extremely vicious; basically, at a glance, they could see how a person's combat power was. With a slight test, they could basically determine if it was worth taking them in, and the selection was very fast.

"Why aren't you going?" Looking at Guo Ran standing there looking conflicted, Long Chen couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Brother Long, look, how about I become your follower?" Guo Ran suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Long Chen was stunned.

"It means I will be your little brother from now on and follow you," Guo Ran said decisively.

"Don't do that. I don't even know who I'm following. If you follow me, won't that be waiting for death?" Long Chen shook his head and said.

"Boss, listen to me. If I go over now, I basically have no chance at all. But if I acknowledge you as Boss, with your combat power, they will definitely try to win you over. When that time comes, you just need to take me along," Guo Ran pleaded.

"That works too?" Long Chen looked at Guo Ran with a shocked expression. Was this the legendary 'buy one get one free'?

"Boss, believe me. With your combat power, although you can't compare to those monsters, you are definitely a strong person. Joining any faction would make you a pillar-level figure, so Boss, you must take me with you," Guo Ran said.

Long Chen shook his head. He didn't plan to join any faction; it was most relaxed to be alone. Just as he was about to refuse, he suddenly felt that something in the surroundings was not right, because the noisy sounds had suddenly disappeared, and at the same time, a voice came over.

"Are you willing to join my team?"