Under Dongfang Xuanxiao’s watch, Long Chen stepped on the metal chain that led to the Azure Dragon Star. The deeper he ventured, the stronger the gravity he experienced. He could see that there was still a way to go before reaching his destination, but he was already experiencing fifty times gravity. “Time to take out the Azure Dragon Halberd.” Long Chen took it out of his Universe Pouch and held it in his hand. A green light flowed on the surface of the halberd, as if there was fluid moving on it.
A ring of light emerged from it soon after, which turned into a transparent dome that encased Long Chen. The light dome was impossible to see, and Long Chen only knew about it because the weight of the gravity disappeared instantly. The Azure Dragon Halberd and the Azure Dragon Star must be related somehow, though I don’t know how.
With the Azure Dragon Halberd in hand, he traveled towards the Azure Dragon Star, which was fast approaching. The planet grew bigger and bigger until he finally entered it after fifteen minutes. Due to its size, the ground did not appear to be curved to him.
How is this possible? Long Chen was stunned as he stood on the Azure Dragon Star’s ground. The bareness of this place had surpassed his imagination. The asteroids in the asteroid area had yellow soil, but here, it was all gray rock and nothing else. Long Chen had no idea how the people imprisoned here could survive.
There’s no time to waste. I need to find Xiaolang and Xuan Ming as soon as possible. He knew that they were short of time and couldn’t afford any delays, so he quickly hurried along with the halberd in hand. If it wasn’t for the Azure Dragon Halberd, he would be a meat patty flattened on the ground by now.
There were likely extremely evil but powerful masters trapped on the Azure Dragon Star, so he kept a low profile and crept around carefully. Thankfully, he had Ling Xi’s help, so everything was much simpler. Ling Xi was best at sensing other souls, and this ability was strengthened after she refined the Sky Soul Fruit. With her, Long Chen could avoid danger and search for his targets.
“Xiao Xi, any updates?” asked Long Chen as he walked.
“There’s no one around here. Due to the immense gravity, the people trapped here are mostly dead. Let’s walk further ahead and see,” said Ling Xi.
Long Chen nodded, though there was worry in his eyes. Mo Xiaolang was at the mid Heavenly Core Realm, so he could barely move on the planet. The chances of his survival seemed to be slim.
“Brother Chen, have you forgotten that he has the Heavenly Wolf Dagger? I don’t think he’ll die,” said Ling Xi.
“Mhm, I know.” After Ling Xi’s remark, he was much more relaxed. They walked ahead for a while, and along the way, he encountered two late Heavenly Core Realm cultivators. Their clothes were tattered and they no longer looked human. They were clearly vicious, and if they found out that Long Chen had the Azure Dragon Halberd, he would be in deep trouble.
That was why he had no choice but to carefully avoid them. “Brother Chen, I feel like they’re very pitiful. They’ve been trapped in this place for so long … This torture is scarier than death. If it were me, I’d rather kill myself,” said Ling Xi bitterly. She was thinking about how she was still trapped in the Ling Xi sword, and if it wasn’t for Long Chen giving her the will to live, she would’ve been dead by now.
“Silly girl, don’t talk like that. I won’t let you be in that state forever. Very soon, you’ll be able to live a good life like other girls.” His heart ached when he saw her so sad.
“Your promise is enough. I know you care about me the most, hehe …” The worry on her face disappeared, and she chuckled.
Long Chen chuckled too, though there was a huge weight on his chest.
“Brother Chen!” Ling Xi suddenly exclaimed in surprise. “About two kilometers to your left, there is a woman sitting cross-legged. She is wearing black clothes, and should be in her thirties. She’s very pretty, and is at the late Heavenly Core Realm. She is similar to your stepfather’s description—she must be Xuan Ming!”
“Really?” Long Chen was filled with surprise. Usually, late Heavenly Core Realm cultivators survived on the Azure Dragon Star, and there seemed to be only one female cultivator of her age here.
Finally, I can do something for him. With Xuanxiao’s personality, he would’ve stormed this place long ago if he hadn’t already used up his time with the Azure Dragon Halberd. He lacked the Qi seed, so he couldn’t use the halberd. If he had all that, he wouldn’t have waited twenty years. Long Chen was feeling emotional. Xuan Ming was alive, and that was the greatest news to Dongfang Xuanxiao.
He rushed over, though he remembered to be cautious. Soon, he arrived near her and lay on his stomach on a gray boulder. He regarded her carefully. She was different from the other later Heavenly Core Realm cultivators because despite being imprisoned for twenty years, she was still very clean. It was clear that she had sufficient resources.
The black-clothed woman had lost all the childishness in her looks. Although her true age was almost forty, she looked like she was just older than Liu Lan at about thirty years old, radiating a mature elegance and sophistication.
Looking at her beauty, he confirmed that she was Xuan Ming.
There was no one around, so he stood up and walked over to her with the Azure Dragon Halberd in hand.
Sensing Long Chen approaching, her eyes sprung open, and a black ray of light shot out, so blinding that Long Chen struggled to keep his eyes open.
“Who are you?” A clear, cold voice rang. She stood up and looked at him coldly. When she gauged his cultivation level and saw the Azure Dragon Halberd in his hand, she was completely stunned. “I am Xuanxiao’s stepson, and I’m here to break you out.”
To prevent any misunderstandings, Long Chen’s first sentence clearly stated his identity and purpose. Indeed, the black-clothed woman shuddered after hearing him. Her bright eyes instantly welled up. “He says he’s sorry that he’s late.” This was what Dongfang Xuanxiao had reminded him to say as soon as he met her. Long Chen felt all sorts of emotions looking at this woman, who was so emotional that she couldn’t speak.
Twenty years. What was twenty years like? A woman shone the most between her teens and her thirties. And due to the rashness of youth, she had wasted her best years on this barren land with nothing but gray rock as company.
Long Chen knew that Dongfang Xuanxiao was extremely sorry for this, but he also knew that he had his own struggles. He was born to a family that had no freedom, and a powerful Heavenly River cultivator sat atop his head. Although he was lackadaisical in mannerism, he had never been able to escape the palms of the four patriarchs.
“Xuan … Xuanxiao …” Biting her lip, Xuan Ming wiped her tears away. She looked at Long Chen in a daze. The teenager that had suddenly appeared in front of her felt like something she had been dreaming of for twenty years. She didn’t know if this was a dream or reality.
Life slowly returned to her dead eyes. Ling Xi, whose heart ached for her, was watching it all unfold. Long Chen could sense that she was secretly crying in the sword. Girls were easily moved, and Ling Xi was no exception. Teenage girls were at the age of budding love, and such a tragic love story was like a tsunami of emotion washing over her.
“Let’s go.” Long Chen realized he didn’t know what else to say.
“Alright,” Xuan Ming said woodenly. She knew that if this was a dream, she might as well go along with it. Perhaps she could see the person she thought about night and day at the end.
“Right, I still need to rescue a good friend. His name is Mo Xiaolang, do you know where he is?” asked Long Chen.
When he mentioned Mo Xiaolang, Xuan Ming knew that this was not a dream, but reality. To her, Mo Xiaolang was an irrelevant figure, and a person like that would not appear in her dream. His presence had gone against the law of her dreams.
“This is not a dream, get yourself together. Do you know Mo Xiaolang? He’s a teenager, fourteen years old, and he has very feminine features.” Long Chen knew what she was thinking.
“… I’ll take you to him,” she said gently. She hadn’t spoken in a very long time, and she realized that she wasn’t used to talking.
Along the way, they didn’t speak because Long Chen didn’t know what to say. In the end, he blurted, “Do you hate him? Twenty years … He really is late.”
Xuan Ming fell silent. After a long pause, she said, “I don’t know. I hated him for a long time; I even wanted to kill him. But now I want to leave with him, leave this place, and go somewhere far, far away so he can spend the rest of his life making it up to me. The price I paid was far too hefty. He is a jerk.”
Long Chen was a little shaken. She wanted to kill him, but she also wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Was this love? He had always been toeing the edge and didn’t know what love was. But ever since he met Ling Xi, that strange feeling was getting stronger.
The silence continued, and they traveled ahead. Not long after, Ling Xi whispered, “Brother Chen, I sense Xiaolang’s aura. But he seems to be fighting.”