unexpected

Previously, during his fierce battle with that Evil Path Elder, he had deliberately feigned defeat, retreating while fighting, and quietly lured that Elder toward Long Chen's position.

Once he saw that his goal had been achieved, Elder Sun pretended to be knocked away by a blow, ending up just right to be entangled by another Evil Path Elder.

On such a chaotic battlefield, he believed his actions were completely flawless, but he hadn't expected to be suspected regardless.

However, Elder Sun was not stupid; such a thing could absolutely not be admitted. If Tu Fang was merely guessing and trying to scare him slightly, it would be idiotic for him to confess.

In any case, he did not believe others had evidence proving he had deliberately lured that Evil Path Elder over; he only needed to pretend he knew nothing.

"Elder Sun, do you not want to say something?" Tu Fang looked coldly at Elder Sun, a trace of killing intent appearing in his eyes.

Although Tu Fang was fighting the Ghost-Eyed Old Freak with all his might, both of them knew that it was basically impossible to kill the other; while fighting, he was also keeping an eye on the entire battlefield.

Although he hadn't seen exactly how Elder Sun had lured that Evil Path Elder over, during the time Long Chen was fighting that Evil Path Elder, Elder Sun had been closest to Long Chen. Even though he had rushed toward another Evil Path expert, Tu Fang had still noticed the anomaly.

Thinking back to how Elder Sun had consistently targeted Long Chen, how could he not know that this matter was Elder Sun's doing?

This made Tu Fang finally unable to tolerate it any longer; even if Long Chen was an anomaly, he could not deliberately interfere in Long Chen's affairs.

However, he could pretend he didn't know Long Chen was an anomaly and treat him as merely an outstanding Disciple, and he absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen.

By using this reason to deal with Elder Sun, he would not be tainted by any Karma, so Tu Fang was finally prepared to make an example out of this Elder Sun, who was as stupid as a pig and as slow as a donkey.

Elder Sun's expression changed, and he couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Law Enforcement Elder, why do you say that?"

Everyone present was greatly shocked, looking at Tu Fang and Elder Sun with confused expressions, not knowing what had happened.

Among those present, only Long Chen knew the ins and outs of the matter, but Long Chen pondered silently and said nothing.

"Do you not know what you have done yourself?" Tu Fang coldly snorted.

"This Disciple is confused; I ask the Law Enforcement Elder to clarify." Although Elder Sun felt his heart pounding, he still feigned a bewildered appearance on his face.

Although Elder Tu Fang was also an Elder, he was the Elder with the oldest seniority and strongest power within the Xuantian Branch; other Elders basically addressed him as Disciple out of respect.

"I ask you, that Evil Path Elder was originally your opponent; why did you retreat in defeat? You and he are both at the Eight-Sacrifice Bone Forging stage; don't tell me you are not his match." Tu Fang said coldly.

Elder Sun said shamefully: "When this Disciple was cultivating the day before yesterday, an issue occurred with my Qi, causing damage to my meridians, which led to a significant decline in combat power."

"If the Law Enforcement Elder does not believe me, you can examine me yourself. As a Disciple of the Branch who has received the grace of the Branch's cultivation, how could I possibly do anything to harm a Disciple of the Branch?"

Elder Sun insisted that he hadn't done it on purpose, and being old and cunning, he had long prepared for such an eventuality. During the previous fierce battle, he had deliberately damaged his own meridians specifically to guard against this.

One cannot tell the time of damage to meridians; in other words, there was absolutely no proof, which was why Elder Sun was so calm.

A cold sneer appeared on Tu Fang's face; he had long known Elder Sun would say this, but he possessed his own secret technique that could uncover that Elder Sun was lying.

Seeing the cold sneer on Tu Fang's face, Elder Sun's heart couldn't help but race; after all, a guilty conscience is always fearful. If it were discovered that he had deliberately framed Long Chen, given Elder Tu Fang's impartiality, he would undoubtedly die.

Cold sweat broke out on Elder Sun's face. Just as Tu Fang was about to speak with a cold snort, Long Chen suddenly spoke:

"This matter is not Elder Sun's fault; the battlefield changes in an instant, and no one can have absolute control."

"I can testify that Elder Sun tried to rush over to save me several times, but he was surrounded by Evil Path experts and was somewhat helpless."

"Therefore, please, Elder Tu Fang, do not blame Elder Sun for this trivial matter. Although Elder Sun did not succeed in the rescue, I, Long Chen, will remember this favor."

Long Chen's words left Tu Fang dumbfounded. He didn't know if Long Chen was stupid; how could he not see such an obvious frame-up? Yet he was actually pleading on behalf of Elder Sun.

Even Elder Sun couldn't help but be surprised; he absolutely could not have imagined that Long Chen would actually speak up for him.

However, he was not afraid. As long as he insisted that his body had developed a problem, there would be no issues. He believed he hadn't left any flaws.

Although he did not understand what Long Chen meant, seeing that Long Chen was no longer pursuing the matter, Tu Fang had no choice but to let it go.

"In this Righteous Path and Evil Path war, except for a few individual Schools, everyone performed very well," Tu Fang said to everyone.

However, when he mentioned "a few individual Schools," everyone's eyes intentionally or unintentionally looked toward that Vice Sect Leader of the Blood Luo Sect.

The Disciples of the Blood Luo Sect had fled until not a single one remained; although there were cowards among the Disciples of other Sects who had run away as well.

But after all, there were still survivors, it was just a matter of more or less. However, regardless of how many remained, even if they had all died in battle, that would have been a kind of glory.

That Vice Sect Leader of the Blood Luo Sect wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into; today was truly too embarrassing.

"Long Chen, you are the commander-in-chief of this Righteous Path and Evil Path war; you announce the reward and punishment conditions next," Tu Fang said.

"Me?" Long Chen was stunned.

"That's right, the Sect Leader appointed you as commander-in-chief, so you have this authority; even I cannot oppose it," Tu Fang said with a slight smile.

Long Chen couldn't help but be shocked. Originally, he had thought he was merely a small leader for the Disciples of the Xuantian Branch, but he hadn't expected his burden to be so heavy.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Long Chen did not decline and said very straightforwardly: "Let's talk about punishment first. I feel there is nothing to punish; no one is born a warrior who fears no death."

"The so-called 'if teaching is not strict, the teacher is lazy'; this has nothing to do with those Disciples. Fearing death is human nature; I do not blame them."

"Because they have not yet become brothers with us, such behavior does not count as betrayal. As for how to deal with them after they return to their Sects, that is your Sect's own business; our Branch will not interfere."

Everyone's hearts couldn't help but tremble. Fleeing in the face of battle, whether in the secular world or the cultivation world, was a capital crime, yet Long Chen had actually let them go just like that.

Those Sect Elders were filled with gratitude toward Long Chen in their hearts, but also filled with shame. Compared to Long Chen's broad-mindedness, they felt somewhat ashamed.

"As for rewards, it doesn't matter. Anyone who can stand by my, Long Chen's, side is my brother. We can even throw away our lives; why would we care about the amount of rewards?" Long Chen said with a slight smile.

As Long Chen's voice fell, the Righteous Path Disciples couldn't help but feel a surge of pride in their hearts. Being regarded as brothers by Long Chen, they felt they had suddenly grown much taller.

On the battlefield, Long Chen had been like a Heavenly God descending to earth, successively slaying several supreme experts and killing an Evil Path Elder under his blade.

Even Yin Luo, who was hailed as the number one Genius of the Evil Path in a thousand years, had had one of his thighs chopped off alive by him. In everyone's hearts, Long Chen was an invincible War God.

To be regarded as a brother by such a figure, no one was not moved in their hearts. They were willing to follow Long Chen through life and death, even if it meant sacrificing their lives, without hesitation.

Looking at the worshipful gazes of those young Disciples, Tu Fang couldn't help but sigh with emotion: This was the source of Long Chen's charm, which could make those around him willingly fight for him.

And the other Elder-level experts also admired him in their hearts; Long Chen was a born leader, and this spirit was unmatched by anyone.

Those Elders, on the contrary, did not value those rewards so much now, because they had seen the determination in those Disciples' eyes.

They believed that after today's battle, they would definitely have astonishing achievements in the future, just as Long Chen had said before the battle began:

As long as they could survive, they would all become remarkable experts in the future.

Especially those surviving core-level Disciples, every one of them had Awakened their Ancestral Runes; it would be difficult for them not to become experts.

In the end, Tu Fang still decided to distribute rewards according to the past rules, based on the proportion of the final survivors.

However, these rewards would not be distributed immediately, but would be issued uniformly after all the heads of the Evil Path Disciples had been sent to the Xuantian Branch.

Thus, the time that followed was spent cleaning the battlefield, collecting all the corpses of the Evil Path Disciples.

Because if only the heads were chopped off and the corpses were left here, after the corpses of these experts rotted, they would spread a large-scale plague, so they had to be brought back to find a place to be cremated.

After the battlefield was cleaned up, an Elder walked over carrying a corpse. Looking at that corpse, everyone was speechless for a long time.

That corpse was exactly that Evil Path Elder at the Eight-Sacrifice Bone Forging stage whom Long Chen had killed alone.

Experts of this level could only be cultivated by the Xuantian Branch, and there were only eight such Eight-Sacrifice Bone Forging experts on the Branch side.

An Eight-Sacrifice Bone Forging expert, powerful to the point of being abnormal, had died just like that at Long Chen's hands; no one was not shocked.

This corpse was collected by Tu Fang, because this was the strongest Evil Path expert killed on this battlefield.

Eight-Sacrifice Bone Forging experts had vigorous vitality; once the Eight-Bone Body Protection was activated, their combat power was boundless, and it was very difficult for them to perish.

Even if one was also an Eight-Sacrifice Bone Forging expert, if one couldn't beat the opponent, couldn't one just flee? In the many years of the Righteous and Evil war, it seemed like this was the first time such an expert had perished.

The most incredible thing was that such an expert had not been killed by an expert of the same level, but had died at the hands of a Disciple, and it was even at the hands of a Disciple who was only at the Blood Condensation stage.

Tu Fang was prepared to send this corpse to the Xuantian Branch. If the Xuantian Branch knew that there was such a monster-level expert in the Branch, they would definitely distribute countless resources and cultivate Long Chen with all their might.

After the battlefield was cleaned up, the Elders of the major Sects left one after another with their Disciples. However, before leaving, they all respectfully bowed to Long Chen.

It was not only out of respect, but even more so out of heartfelt gratitude. It was Long Chen who let them know what kind of person was worthy of being called a practitioner. Long Chen was a beacon on their path of cultivation, allowing them to see the road ahead clearly, and they would never be lost again.

Regarding the departure of these Disciples who had just experienced a bloody battle and were as close as brothers, Long Chen felt a bit sour in his heart and waved goodbye to them one after another.

When everyone had left, only the Elders and Disciples of the Branch remained. Long Chen suddenly said to Tu Fang:

"Elder Tu Fang, I am a bit homesick; I want to go back and take a look."