Prototype of Thunder Rune

Tang Waner watched Long Chen with a worried expression as he frantically suppressed the lightning energy within his body. A few times, the lightning energy erupted violently, scaring her so much that her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

However, as time passed, the rebellious will of the lightning energy within Long Chen was gradually worn down by his Soul energy.

But Long Chen was in no better shape; suppressing so much lightning at once left him exhausted to the point of death.

In the end, it became a war of attrition, and both sides reached a stalemate. However, Long Chen's advantage was that his Soul energy would slowly recover.

Meanwhile, the lightning energy was like water without a source, lacking any reinforcements. Three days later, Long Chen finally taught Tang Waner a lesson: persistence is victory.

Three days later, Long Chen finally smoothed out the violent lightning will within his body, and it stopped resisting him. However, Long Chen was also exhausted and lacked the strength to refine it.

After resting for a day, Long Chen's physical strength and spirit had recovered to some extent, and he began to refine the lightning within his body.

Because there was no longer any resistance, it was as if a pack of wolves had turned into a flock of sheep. It was the lightning energy that Long Chen had tamed himself, and he began to devour it with all his might, gradually strengthening himself.

This was a classic case of trying to become fat in one bite; the lightning energy within Long Chen's body surged tenfold in an instant.

At the same time, to Long Chen's surprise, the golden dust in his blood had increased, and some tiny runes had appeared within his blood.

Those runes were extremely tiny and very faint, but they were indeed a type of rune.

Long Chen's heart stirred, and he communicated with the runes in his blood, his face immediately filling with wild joy.

"What's wrong? Long Chen!"

Tang Waner was startled to see Long Chen suddenly open his eyes, his gaze shining, looking as if he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Hahaha, I'm rich! I'm rich!"

Long Chen scooped up Tang Waner and spun around frantically, unable to contain his excitement.

"Ouch, you jerk! You're hurting me, put me down!"

Tang Waner was held by Long Chen, her heart pounding wildly. Her pretty face was so flushed it looked like it was about to bleed. Her heart felt a mixture of sweetness and shyness, with a hint of annoyance.

Long Chen then set Tang Waner down and said somewhat awkwardly, "Sorry, I got carried away."

Tang Waner's face was also bright red. She didn't dare look at Long Chen, but she couldn't say it was fine either, otherwise, wouldn't that just encourage him to do it again next time?

"What exactly is it that has you so excited?" Tang Waner tried to calm herself down, feigning indifference.

"Hehe, let me show you something good."

"Hum."

Long Chen stretched out his large hand, and a lightning spear appeared in his hand. It was a zhang long, covered in dense lightning and intricate runes, resembling a real spear.

The moment the spear appeared, the space crackled with popping sounds. A terrifying will of destruction surged forward, scaring Tang Waner into taking two steps back.

The shyness on her pretty face was completely replaced by shock, and her beautiful eyes were fixed on the lightning spear in Long Chen's hand.

"This… this lightning energy, is…"

Long Chen chuckled and said, "That's right, it's the heaven and earth lightning I captured. I've really struck it rich this time."

"I don't know why, but the runes of the lightning energy have condensed into my blood. From now on, I have my own Lightning Seed. Hahaha…"

"Long Chen, you're amazing!"

After the shock passed, Tang Waner's pretty face was filled with nothing but admiration. She even took the initiative to hug Long Chen, filled with excitement.

"Ouch, you're hurting me, put me down!" Long Chen shrieked in a high-pitched voice, perfectly mimicking Tang Waner's expression and tone from earlier.

"Jerk, you really don't know how to talk to girls!"

Tang Waner was instantly furious. She released Long Chen and raised her small foot to kick him.

Long Chen laughed, dodged her small foot, and said apologetically, "I'm just joking, don't be angry. This lightning energy will be one of my greatest killing moves."

Even now, the excitement in Long Chen's heart had not dissipated. Being able to control lightning energy meant he could use it to strengthen his body.

However, the runes in his blood were merely a prototype. If he wanted to progress faster, he needed to capture more lightning energy.

This way, he would have a greater guarantee when he faced the Heavenly Tribulation in the future. Furthermore, lightning energy could accelerate his cultivation and become a powerful offensive method; it was truly killing multiple birds with one stone.

The existence of lightning runes in his blood meant that Long Chen could convert his own Spiritual Qi into lightning energy.

Currently, Long Chen had the Fire Blade, Lightning Blade, Heaven Splitting, and the Fengfu Star Battle Body; these were all extremely powerful offensive methods.

Especially the latter two, whose attack power was terrifying. However, the consumption was equally terrifying, and his Fengfu Star was having trouble keeping up with the supply.

At this moment, Long Chen finally remembered the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art and why he needed to open the nine stars. Without such thick energy, it was impossible to support such terrifying consumption.

"Waner, let's go do missions and earn points," Long Chen said.

Now that there was nothing else to do, he should go accept missions to earn points, collect the Medicinal Pill needed for the Yuheng Pill, and strive to open the second star as soon as possible.

Otherwise, even though his combat power was formidable, he couldn't sustain it, and everything would be in vain. Right now, he desperately needed staying power.

"Hmph, if I waited for you to think of it, the day lilies would have already wilted. I've already made arrangements," Tang Waner huffed and wrinkled her small nose.

It turned out that while Long Chen was unconscious, Tang Waner had already started arranging for everyone to accept missions.

Although the Heaven and Earth Alliance was in first place, it was impossible to monopolize all the lucrative missions; they could only take about one-fifth.

However, compared to the seventeen guilds, them monopolizing one-fifth by themselves was already a very large proportion.

Moreover, there were only a dozen or so lucrative Tier 2 missions, and the rest were Tier 3 missions. As for Tier 4 missions, forget about it; there was basically no profit to be made there.

The branch courtyard would not allow a single powerful force to swallow all the points at once. They had to ensure everyone could remain competitive, at the very least, leaving a bowl of soup for the forces that finished at the bottom.

Tang Waner said that if the first-ranked force completed all their quotas, they could obtain 270,000 points.

Even Long Chen was greatly surprised. These points were practically given away for free; the difficulty of the missions wasn't very high, and they could basically all be completed.

Because the missions didn't require that many people to complete, Tang Waner had already arranged everything.

"Waner, I think Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang are trustworthy people. I plan to form an Alliance with them," Long Chen said.

During the days Long Chen was away, they had remained steadfast, willing to become the bottom-ranked, and had stayed together. They had fully earned Long Chen's trust.

"I don't quite understand what you mean," Tang Waner said with some confusion. Weren't they already allies?

"I mean, let's pool everyone's income together, without distinction, and improve together," Long Chen said.

Tang Waner was shocked: "That's a bit too rash, isn't it? Sister Zhiqiu's side won't be a problem, but if five forces merge completely, I'm afraid some bad phenomena might appear."

It's hard to manage a household with too many people. If one side harbors dissatisfaction, accusing others of favoritism or unfairness, it will have a huge impact.

If it's not handled well and conflicts erupt from within, their Alliance might collapse. Doing this is too risky; in Tang Waner's opinion, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

"I understand what you're thinking, but I believe in Song Mingyuan's ability. He can definitely keep the people below in check."

"Conflicts often arise because of disagreements and a lack of hope. But if you let them see that their strength is growing crazily every single day, what disagreements could there be?" Long Chen laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"I have the ability to make everyone's cultivation skyrocket. As long as they trust me and give me the points to use, I will make our force unprecedentedly strong," Long Chen said, his voice filled with confidence.

Tang Waner was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood. Long Chen intended to rely on his powerful Alchemy skills to improve everyone's strength.

The Medicinal Pill in the branch courtyard were very expensive, but medicinal herbs were relatively much cheaper. And Long Chen's near-perverted Alchemy success rate could save a huge amount of points.

"Moreover, I can refine all the Medicinal Pill that the branch courtyard has, and I can even refine the ones they don't have," Long Chen said, looking at Tang Waner's pretty face and smiling slightly.

He had the memories of the Pill Emperor in his mind, which contained countless Pill Formula. As long as there were enough medicinal herbs, what kind of Medicinal Pill couldn't be refined?

As long as there were enough points and abundant medicinal herbs, wouldn't increasing cultivation be an easy task?

Song Mingyuan and the others had been able to remain steadfast during the Heaven and Earth Alliance's time of trouble, which was enough to show that the three of them were upright and honorable people.

Long Chen didn't like owing favors. Since others treated him as a brother, he would absolutely not betray their trust.

Since everyone had chosen to entrust their backs to each other, they should trust each other completely, sharing both blessings and hardships.

"Fine, you decide on this. Sister Zhiqiu's side won't be a problem. You go communicate with Song Mingyuan and the others," Tang Waner nodded. Since Long Chen had made the decision, she wouldn't oppose it.

Instead, she felt deep admiration for Long Chen's approach. A man should be like this: upright, honorable, and grateful.

Compared to Long Chen, people like Gu Yang, Lei Qianshang, and Qi Xin were just trash; such guys didn't deserve to be called men.

"How about you? Do you need to rest a bit more?" Tang Waner asked with concern, seeing the exhaustion on Long Chen's face.

"It's fine, let's go. Xiao Xue should be back. I have already opened up a Soul space, so from now on, I can rightfully keep it by my side."

"Next time there's a competition, we'll have another powerful assistant. I'd like to see what that baldy Gu Yang has to be arrogant with," Long Chen said, full of high spirits.

Tang Waner couldn't help but giggle: "Is he full of high spirits? I think it's you who are full of high spirits. Lei Qianshang and Qi Xin were beaten by you like dogs, and Gu Yang was thoroughly defeated by you. Are you still not satisfied?"

"Tch, I'm not as kind-hearted as you. They caused you to be sad and shed tears, and they caused Guo Ran to lose an arm and bleed. How could I just let it go like that?"

"I, Long Chen, have never been a good person. Whoever dares to hurt those around me will pay a painful price. Let those with eyes watch and learn, so they won't dare to have any crooked ideas again," Long Chen said.

Hearing Long Chen's words, Tang Waner felt a warmth in her heart. Long Chen's exile this time had something to do with her. The feeling of being protected by a man was truly wonderful.

"Let's go, let's return," Long Chen said as he walked towards the branch courtyard. His body was no longer suitable for collecting lightning, and he needed to rest.

Tang Waner hurriedly caught up with Long Chen, a trace of curiosity flashing in her beautiful eyes: "Long Chen, tell me about what happened in the Land of Exile."

"There's nothing to tell."

"No, you must tell me."

"Aiya, it was nothing more than hunting, eating meat, and drinking blood every day. It was too bloody, and there was no technical skill involved. Let's go, don't let Xiao Xue wait too long."

Long Chen didn't want to talk about those things at all, and he felt there was nothing to say. He just took Tang Waner and disappeared from the mountaintop.