Mysterious sound

He had been awakened by the drum-like sounds of the Howling Monkeys. He examined his body and saw that the blood at many of his wounds had already coagulated.

It was fortunate that these wounds had clotted, otherwise he would have bled to death. He slowly stood up, but a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he nearly fell again.

He clung to a nearby large tree for a long while until he felt slightly better. He looked around and saw several Howling Monkeys on the canopy, dozens of zhang above the ground, screaming frantically and shaking the branches incessantly.

Long Chen knew that something must have intruded into this forest again. He wondered if it was a wild beast or a human.

Regardless of what it was, it was not good news for Long Chen. He reached out and stored his broadsword into his spatial ring.

Looking at the wounds on his body, he gritted his teeth, swallowed a Medicinal Pill, and then reached out to tear open the wounds that had just begun to heal.

Fresh blood immediately gushed out. There were still remnants of sword fragments inside the wounds. These fragments contained cold iron, which was extremely harmful to the body and could not be left inside for long.

Although this was not the best time to clean them out, if he let them remain in his body, they would significantly hinder Long Chen's movements.

Long Chen had consumed a hemostatic pill beforehand and used his Qi to constrict the surrounding blood vessels, trying to minimize the blood loss; otherwise, he would suffer from excessive blood loss and lack the strength to walk.

In a few moments, Long Chen extracted over a dozen sword fragments. These were left behind when Ying Hou's longsword shattered; both Long Chen and Ying Hou had borne a portion of them.

After removing all the sword fragments, Long Chen felt another wave of dizziness—a sign of excessive blood loss. Watching the Howling Monkeys at the top of the trees grow louder, Long Chen knew that the targets were getting closer.

He swallowed a few Medicinal Pills and, dragging his exhausted body, ran down the mountain. Now that Ying Hou had fled, he also needed to quickly find a place to heal.

During his final battle with Ying Hou, he had used the Heaven Opening battle skill, causing his meridians to crack throughout his body. He could not use Spiritual Qi, and he was now at his weakest.

After walking for over ten miles down the mountain, a large river over ten zhang wide appeared ahead. Long Chen glanced at it, saw a thick fallen log at the foot of the mountain, and threw it directly into the water.

Because it had been dead for a long time, the fallen log had great buoyancy in the river. Long Chen lay on the log, which kept his body above the water's surface, preventing his wounds from touching the water. Otherwise, the filthy river water would make his wounds even more painful.

Fortunately, the river was very calm. Long Chen lay obediently on the log, drifting along the river for a day. Just as he was drifting in and out of consciousness, he suddenly heard a violent roaring sound.

Long Chen hurriedly paddled towards the bank. When he stepped onto the riverbank and saw the waterfall ahead, he couldn't help but be startled.

The waterfall had a drop of several hundred zhang. If he had realized it a step later, he would have definitely been done for if he had fallen from this height.

After getting ashore, he encountered another dense forest. Long Chen only knew that he needed to find a place to heal quickly. During this one-day journey on the water, Long Chen had created several fake landing points; if anyone were searching for him, it would cost them a lot of time.

He now had enough time to heal, but before healing, he needed to find a safe place.

Passing through the dense forest, a canyon appeared ahead. The canyon was not large, and both sides were lined with rocks. In such a place, he should be able to find a natural cave, which would serve as a natural shelter.

Just as he was about to step forward, Long Chen suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart, and at the same time, he heard the sound of wind behind him. He hurriedly threw himself forward.

"Whoosh."

A behemoth flew past in front of Long Chen. If Long Chen had been a fraction of a second slower, he would have been struck head-on.

Long Chen rolled on the ground, dodging the attack. When he looked up, he discovered a giant leopard over a zhang long, staring at him intently.

"Rock Leopard."

Long Chen's heart sank. This was a First-Order Demonic Beast. Its fur was the same color as the rocks, and it was hidden among the rocks, making it very difficult to detect.

The Rock Leopard was not very large, but its speed was extremely fast, and its claws and teeth were incredibly sharp, no less than steel.

After he was injured, his spiritual perception had greatly diminished; he was unable to detect the danger around him. It seemed he had become too reliant on his spiritual perception.

"Whoosh."

The Rock Leopard missed its strike, its body sank slightly, and its hind legs pushed off the ground, rushing straight towards Long Chen. Its speed was shocking.

An ordinary leopard was not scary, but the Rock Leopard's size was like that of a bull. Combined with its sharp claws and teeth, it stood at the top of the First-Order Demonic Beast food chain.

Seeing the Rock Leopard pouncing, Long Chen snorted coldly. He swiped his hand across his ring, the broadsword appeared in his hand, and he slashed at the Rock Leopard.

"Bang."

The broadsword struck the Rock Leopard's head, but Long Chen's arm shook, and he could no longer hold onto the broadsword, sending his entire body flying backward.

"Damn it, my current strength is not even one-tenth of my usual power."

Long Chen was alarmed. He could not use Spiritual Qi now, and his Physical Body strength was less than one-tenth of its peak due to his injuries.

A single sword strike against the Rock Leopard's head had actually sent him flying, and at the same time, the wounds that had just begun to heal on his body immediately burst open, blood flowing profusely.

"Awoo."

The Rock Leopard had been struck on the head by Long Chen's sword. Although Long Chen was weak at this moment, that power was still extremely terrifying.

The Rock Leopard's skull was cracked, and it let out a painful howl. If it were an ordinary beast, having suffered such a heavy blow, it would surely have fled in pain.

But the reason Demonic Beasts were called Demonic Beasts was because they had an innate cruelty in their bones. Long Chen's blow had instead incited its ferocity. Ignoring the blood covering its head, it roared and pounced at Long Chen.

Long Chen rolled on the ground, avoiding the Rock Leopard's giant mouth, and simultaneously kicked out, striking the Rock Leopard's lower abdomen heavily.

The Rock Leopard was immediately sent tumbling by Long Chen's kick, but the Rock Leopard had thick skin and flesh; Long Chen's kick had not injured it at all.

"Whoosh."

The Rock Leopard had just stood up and was pouncing at Long Chen again. Long Chen was secretly anxious in his heart; if he could give the Rock Leopard one more sword strike, he could definitely kill it.

But the broadsword had been knocked away earlier and had fallen ten zhang away. Usually, a distance of ten zhang was no distance at all for him.

But now, with the Rock Leopard's entanglement, plus excessive blood loss and physical exhaustion, that ten-zhang distance felt like a chasm that was impossible to cross.

"Shhh."

His body was weak, and his reactions were not as agile as usual. Although he avoided the Rock Leopard's teeth, he did not avoid its sharp claws. His chest was slashed open, and blood flowed profusely.

"Bang."

Long Chen kicked the Rock Leopard away again, but after this kick, Long Chen felt his vision go black, and he couldn't see anything.

He sighed in his heart; this was a sign of excessive blood loss and impending unconsciousness. He never thought that he, Long Chen, would die in the mouth of a beast.

Listening to the sound of the wind in his ears, Long Chen even felt that bloody giant mouth about to touch his throat.

"Puff."

A sound came, and Long Chen felt his throat heat up, as if some liquid was flowing down his throat.

Then he heard an extremely distant sound, like a human voice, slightly resembling a woman's voice, and then Long Chen fell into endless darkness.

In the darkness, Long Chen felt his body drifting, as if rising, and as if falling, as if sinking into endless darkness.

"You should awaken. You have too many, many missions waiting for you to complete."

"You should become stronger. You have too many, many enemies waiting for you to slaughter."

"Your destiny is to overturn this heaven and earth. All the Heavenly Gods and demons are only fit to crawl at your feet. Long Chen, wake up quickly."

In the endless darkness, inside Long Chen's mind, a voice rang out again and again. It was a call from the depths of his Soul.

Long Chen heard it. He wanted to speak, but he couldn't open his mouth. He wanted to open his eyes, but he was powerless to do so.

It was as if that voice was not in this world, or perhaps it belonged to the past or the future; he could not touch it.

After Long Chen remembered those three sentences, he completely lost consciousness. Vaguely, he felt a pair of hands gently stroking his face, as gentle as a mother's.

…

The Fourth Prince's expression was extremely ugly. Looking at Ying Hou, who was lying on the bed, his whole body black and emitting a foul stench, he simply could not believe his eyes.

An Yijin Realm expert, going to hunt down a Qi Gathering stage kid, actually ended up in such a state. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would believe it?

When his subordinates reported that Ying Hou had been seriously injured, his first thought was that Ying Hou had encountered a terrifying Demonic Beast.

But the half-dead appearance of Ying Hou before him finally made that young face appear in his mind.

He didn't know why, but thinking of that face made him feel a wave of panic in his heart. The most important link in his plan had actually failed.

Although he had never underestimated Long Chen, he still couldn't imagine that he could actually escape from Ying Hou's hands and even make Ying Hou so miserable.

"Sorry, I was careless."

Ying Hou said shamefully. A dignified Yijin Realm expert, hunting down a Qi Gathering stage kid, nearly lost his life; this was simply a humiliation.

The Fourth Prince shook his head and said, "I understand your character; you are not a careless person. This failure can only be said that we both underestimated Long Chen, and I also bear responsibility."

It must be said that the Fourth Prince was very good at winning people over; otherwise, he would not have been able to win over top experts like Ying Hou and Wu Hou.

With one sentence, he absolved Ying Hou of his guilt, while simultaneously making Ying Hou feel extremely comfortable. This was the cleverness of the Fourth Prince.

Since the matter had already happened, losing his temper would be of no use and would instead affect Ying Hou. It was better to accept this fact.

Furthermore, judging from Ying Hou's injuries, Ying Hou was definitely not careless. The carelessness he spoke of was just an excuse he was making for himself.

Thinking of this, the Fourth Prince felt a wave of panic in his heart. Thinking of Long Chen's resolute and swift character, his expression began to look bad.

However, thinking that the man in white was by his side, he felt relieved again. Although Long Chen had run away, it did not change his plan too much.

He touched the Image Jade in his hand. It recorded the entire process of Long Chen and A Man killing Xia Changfeng. With this, he could realize his entire plan.

Long Chen's escape made him somewhat restless, but he had a way to deal with Long Chen. He glanced at Ying Hou and said:

"Rest assured and heal your wounds. Tomorrow, Great Master Wei Cang will come personally to heal you, and you will be recovered very soon."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Ying Hou hurriedly thanked him. Although his poison had been temporarily suppressed, it had not been eradicated. Long Chen's poison pill was too terrifying.

They had sought help from the Alchemist Guild, and Great Master Yun Qi had also come. However, after seeing Ying Hou's injuries, Great Master Yun Qi only coldly said that he was powerless.

At that time, Ying Hou knew that Great Master Yun Qi had likely seen something, which was why he refused to save him.

Now that he heard Wei Cang would come, Ying Hou's heart finally settled down. He would definitely be able to save him.

After the Fourth Prince returned from Ying Hou's place, he paced back and forth in the room. After a long while, he picked up a brush, wrote a few words, and had a guard send it away.

Looking at the pitch-black sky outside, the Fourth Prince sighed: Although Long Chen had escaped, the plan still had to proceed.