Long Chen was not too far away from Yin Mengyao, and after hearing a male sound of anguish, her expression changed and immediately turned into one of anxiety.
If Long Chen lost his jade bangle, that wasn’t a huge issue, but if Long Chen died or used his firework signal, then she would be losing this massive opportunity.
This inner faction selection was very important to her.
“You’re forcing me to go all out.”
With a cold glare, Yin Mengyao launched her most powerful attack.
Meanwhile, Long Chen had let go of Chen Xin’s weakened body, and the jade bangle around his wrist fell. When Long Chen reached out to grab it, the jade bangle suddenly wound around his own wrist.
Now, there were two jade bangles around his wrist.
“If I were to get injured, both would fall.”
Long Chen was in an exceptionally good mood, since he had easily obtained a jade bangle.
He had reached the Earth Dan Realm and also gained the level 2 Thunder Flame Physique. With a profound high-grade battle technique, Sword Finger of the Demonic Spirit, it was an easy task for him to deal with Chen Xin without transforming into his Dragon Soul Form.
With the jade bangle, Long Chen was one step closer to his goal.
“I wonder if that frosty beauty’s done with her opponent yet. I should go over and ease the worry in her delicate little heart.”
Long Chen chuckled, ambling over to Yin Mengyao in a relaxed manner.
“Who’s going to worry about you? How thick-skinned and shameless!”
Lingxi rolled her eyes and exclaimed, fuming.
“Honestly speaking, Little Xi, this Sword Finger of the Demonic Spirit is really quite useless. I didn’t even have to use my Dragon Soul Transformation and easily dealt with that guy.”
“That’s nothing much! It’s just a trick I used while playing around when I was young.”
At the mention of the past, Lingxi was arrogant beyond belief.
“Save it. You keep exaggerating your skills, but look at you now. Aren’t you just my personal servant here now?”
“What are you saying? Who’s your servant? You rascal!”
The two of them laughed and bantered while hurrying on. They weren’t that far either. In order to prevent Lingxi from torturing his ears, Long Chen quickly arrived at where Yin Mengyao was.
To avoid exposing herself, Lingxi shut her mouth but sounded indignant.
Right now, Long Chen saw that the poor youth of the Red Faction had been sent flying while spitting blood by Yin Mengyao’s attack, slamming into a tree with a huge rumble.
Till now, he still could not understand why Chen Xin had taken such a long time to deal with Long Chen.
He’d heard that miserable cry just now, which meant Chen Xin had already taken care of Long Chen. That had allowed him to heave a sigh of relief, but why was it that no matter how long he waited, Chen Xin did not return to assist him?
The longer he waited, the more he wanted to break down.
Not long after, Yin Mengyao, who was anxious, finally went all out and got rid of this youth.
Under her single attack, frost was everywhere, and he turned deathly pale. The jade bangle fell quickly, and Yin Mengyao took it.
Long Chen’s group now had four jade bangles already. Success was imminent.
Out of the 20 jade bangles, there were, they had already obtained 4. In other words, as long as they did not lose what they possessed, they would be able to enter the second stage.
This might seem easy, but it was extremely difficult. In the inner faction selection, each team’s strength was at about the same level. If any two teams were to fight at close quarters, this might be a life and death battle, and victory could not be so easily attained.
A powerful team like Long Chen and Yin Mengyao that could completely beat down their opponents were rare.
Having taken care of the teenagers of the Red Faction, Yin Mengyao did not waste time and began to head in Long Chen’s direction to support him. However, she suddenly saw a young man who was standing atop a branch, all smiles. Who else could it be but Long Chen?
Though there were some stains on Long Chen’s clothes, there were no signs of battle or him being injured. This was completely different from what she had imagined.
“How’s that possible? Could that yell just now have been made by his opponent?”
Yin Mengyao’s stiff expression finally softened.
Long Chen looked completely at ease, as if he had not realised that this was the Divergent Road of the rumoured treacherous Nine Devil Mountains. However, it was for this reason that Yin Mengyao suddenly found him mysterious.
She shook her head, finding this notion to be ridiculous.
“Chen Xin’s strength is practically at the bottom in the selection. Since Long Chen could defeat him, it means that the rumours of him defeating an Earth Dan while at the Human Dan are real. He’s a true genius.”
After evaluating him, Yin Mengyao regained her senses from the shock of Long Chen’s appearance.
“You dealt with Chen Xin?”
Noticing there were two jade bangles on Long Chen’s arm, she asked indifferently.
Though her tone was calm, there was acknowledgement and praise within, and it obviously made Long Chen feel good.
“But of course! That was just a little kid. How could he be a match for me?”
Long Chen was in high spirits as he laughed, looking like a kind of villain.
Hearing that Chen Xin had really lost to Long Chen, the young man from the Red Faction lying on the ground could no longer hold on and fainted.
Before he lost consciousness, he forced himself to look at Long Chen, and noticing that he was completely fine, the young man finally believed Long Chen.
Since Long Chen had really defeated Chen Xin, Yin Mengyao could only accept this as the truth. They now had four jade bangles, and in other words, they could get to the next stage.
Because of Long Chen, this had happened earlier than expected.
“Shall we make a move?”
Noticing that Long Chen was probably not any weak cultivator, Yin Mengyao found herself feeling relieved. Now, she no longer hurried forward as she liked, but asked for Long Chen’s opinion.
“Wait.”
Long Chen turned and quickly dragged the unconscious Chen Xin, till he was together with the other young man from the Red Faction. He then took out a firework signal from their cosmos pouch.
After inputting real Qi within, the firework signal shook violently and abruptly rose into the skies.
*Rumble!*
The fireworks exploded, and in the dark night sky, the image of a deity dragon roared into existence, creating a resplendent scene!
The dragon seemingly formed out of starlight was imprinted deep in Long Chen’s mind, causing him to freeze. Watching the primordial life form that seemed to look down on all living beings, he thought of the glamorous era when dragons had taken over the world. Even that had been like the fireworks, emitting dazzling lights and then disappearing completely.
“Let’s go.”
At the thought of the extinction of dragons, Long Chen was stirred up. His gleeful expression had turned into one of sombreness.
While hurrying on, Yin Mengyao turned to observe this strange youth.
They could have just left, especially since the lives of the two youths of the Red Faction had nothing to do with them. This was the inner faction selection after all, and it was a long battle that decided life or death, and not some mild experience.
Long Chen might have defeated them, but still cared for their lives.
In the Devil Mountain of Life and Death, there were poisonous bugs and beasts everywhere, and if left here, they might turn into a bunch of bones.
It was evident that while he possessed the desire to fight, as was in the genes of all cultivators, he was still kind at the core. This was what set him apart from others.
On top of that, there was the cheeky expression that had turned into a grim look. What was he thinking about?
Yin Mengyao was rather curious about this, and had tried to muster her courage to ask, her long eyelashes trembling and beautiful lips opening slightly. However, she managed to hold it in.
Yin Mengyao had never been one to be interested in someone else’s thoughts.
The two of them were silent as they moved forward.
“Long Chen, did you know there’s a place called the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes in the Devil Mountain of Life and Death?”
The thought suddenly came to mind, and she abruptly asked.
Long Chen turned to look at her. In the dark night, her intelligent eyes were exceptionally bright like beautiful stars.
“No, I don’t. What about it?”
Yin Mengyao hesitated, but still spoke, “I did underestimate you in the past, so I’ll apologise to you for that. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Of course not,” Long Chen could not hold in a laugh.
“Mm,” Yin Mengyao nodded, and continued, “I guess it’s destiny that the both of us are in a team. However, there’s something that I must do along the Divergent Road. I’ll tell you what it is now, but it’s your choice whether you want to stay or leave.”
“Go on.” Long Chen halted his footsteps.
Yin Mengyao had never been one to beat around the bush and cut straight to the point, “There are three people from the Silver Faction participating in the inner faction selection. I have a deep enmity with the other two, and while in the Silver Faction, I never got the chance to sort it out with them. Hence, we’ve agreed to meet up in the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes on the Divergent Road and go through with a battle to the death.”
There was enmity between them?
They were all in the same faction, but were hostile to each other. That was rather surprising to Long Chen. He asked, “So you want my help in defeating them?”
Yin Mengyao hastily shook her head, “No, it’s a very deep grudge, and it’s better if I deal with it myself. If you wish to continue on this path with me, then you can be an observer. I can tell that you’re quite strong, and you should be able to go to the Caves of Life and Death yourself. If you’re unwilling to do this, we can part ways here. What do you think?”
Long Chen thought it over for a moment but did not speak.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do my utmost to preserve my life such that you’ll be able to pass the stage of the Divergent Road!”
Yin Mengyao spoke in a hurry, since this was of immense importance to her. If Long Chen were to lose his chance at being selected into the inner faction, that was slightly unfair to him.
“Let’s go,” Long Chen laughed and answered.
“What?”
“To the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes.”