“I’m guessing that the Heavenly River Pills and that colorful ray came out of this crack. But the crack isn’t doing anything now.” As Long Chen spoke, he took out his Azure Dragon Halberd. It contained a lot of energy and was made of an extraordinarily sharp material.
Clang! Long Chen stabbed it into the crack. The ground was indeed as hard as steel, so despite his great strength, the halberd only penetrated about centimeters into the ground.
“A crack?” Mo Xiaolang leaned over.
“Based on the sound, there should be a hard layer of soil at least a hundred meters thick. I don’t think we will get anything if I just dig using the Azure Dragon Halberd. But I don’t know if that strange phenomenon will happen again. Let’s wait here for a while and see if we get anything else,” said Long Chen.
“Alright.” Mo Xiaolang nodded.
They had initially decided to hurry off after taking the pills, but there might be more Heavenly River Pills. Even though it was a little dangerous, the duo decided to stay.
After about an hour, Mo Xiaolang suddenly exclaimed in a low voice and Long Chen hurried over. “What happened?”
“That crack! It has completely disappeared!” said Mo Xiaolang.
Long Chen examined the ground closely and indeed, it had disappeared. This meant that the surface of the ground was moving with time.
“Should we leave?” asked Mo Xiaolang.
“We’ll wait a little longer,” Long Chen responded after some thought.
They stayed for a while longer. At that point, Long Chen was prepared to leave. The Heavenly River Pills were already a great surprise.
However, another colorful ray appeared in the sky and disappeared in a second.
That ray had appeared in another spot, though it was still in the Burning Heaven Mountain Range. They looked at each other and accelerated, rushing towards its source. This time, they arrived much quicker than before and found three glowing Heavenly River Pills.
They approached, took the pills, and then rushed to a crack. The crack was next to the pills, and when Long Chen first saw it, it was the width of a palm. When he looked down into it, it was pitch-black and he could not see anything.
However, the crack was narrowing at a rate detectable by the naked eye. It was decelerating though, and when it was a finger’s width wide, he could no longer visibly see the ground moving.
The three pills were all they got from it.
“Big Brother, do you think there are more Heavenly River Pills in the crack?” Mo Xiaolang asked.
“Probably a lot more, but we can’t do anything. The crack has disappeared. Let’s wait here and see if another ray appears,” said Long Chen.
The Heavenly River Pills must have come from the ground. Two pills had appeared earlier, and now three. This meant that there might be an infinite supply! As long as they had enough Heavenly River Pills, both of them would be able to cultivate at the Heavenly River Realm with no obstacles.
This was a huge opportunity, so Long Chen dared not slack off.
And just like that, they stayed in the Burning Heaven Mountain Range for ten days. They obtained a total of thirty-four Heavenly River Pills during that time. Splitting them in half, both of them ended up with seventeen. Heavenly River Pills were worth much more than divine jades, so even though Long Chen only had seventeen, very few people in Yuanling City were richer than him.
Even the Azure Dragon Patriarch would take one and a half years to refine seventeen pills, plus he would need to use them to cultivate. That was why he would not have seventeen pills on hand.
They knew that there were more treasures waiting in the strange cracks of the Burning Heaven Mountain Range. But no matter what Long Chen tried, he had no way to retrieve more pills from within the cracks. So he had no choice but to leave it be.
During the first few days, the rays appeared fairly frequently. However, the gap between appearance rose to two to three days later on. The number of pills decreased too. On the tenth day, Long Chen decided to leave this place for the moment.
The battle of the ancient ruins would begin soon, and they had spent a lot of time on the Heavenly River Pills. If they did not return now, it could affect their participation. To Long Chen, becoming an Immortal Guard and thus obtaining the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit was more important than everything else.
“We can only investigate the Burning Heaven Mountain Range’s secrets after the ancient ruins battle ends. I hope it hasn’t ended by then. Xiaolang, let’s go,” said Long Chen.
They traveled back to the Desolate Mountains, where the Savage Wind Peng they had borrowed was.
“Right, do you know where the ancient ruins are?” he asked when they walked out of the Desolate Beastlands.
“I don’t. The ancient ruins were discovered by the royal family, so it is being kept a secret. They’re worried people will go there to scout for information,” said Mo Xiaolang.
The Savage Wind Peng ascended into the air with Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang, and they headed in the direction of Yuanling City.
Long Chen had received two main things from this trip: first were the Heavenly River Pills, which would greatly help him enter the Heavenly River Realm. Second was the Level Three Blazing Thunder Combat Technique.
That bitch Dongfang Xuanyu better not let me catch her. Or I’ll make her wish she was never born. He had almost died because of her, so he kept this grudge in his heart.
“Right, Xiaolang, how strong is the Ninth Prince?” Long Chen suddenly asked.
“The princes of the royal family are usually at the Heavenly River Realm and above. Although the Ninth Prince is not very famous, no one in Yuanling City is a match for him. He’s here to recruit an Immortal Guard, but that’s not actually his task. His real purpose is to scare border factions like the Lingwu family by flexing the royal family’s power.”
Mo Xiaolang analyzed their motives clearly.
Long Chen looked at the white jade-like city on the horizon in a daze. It was such a beautiful place. What storm awaited him there?
***
Long Chen and Mo Xiaolang arrived at the Silver family’s compound on the Savage Wind Peng’s back. When they had just arrived, an elegant girl looked at them smilingly with concern in her eyes.
“Xiaolang, Long Chen, you’re finally back! The Patriarchs have come here so many times in the past few days. I think they’re so worried, their mustaches have curled upwards!” said Yin Mengyao with a small smile.
“Sister Mengyao, any recent updates on Yuanling City?” asked Long Chen after sitting in a pavilion.
“This morning, the old Patriarch and a few elders, along with some outstanding disciples, went to welcome the Ninth Prince. The rest of them will return after escorting the Ninth Prince to the Jade Royal Palace. I heard there will be a grand feast tonight, and the Azure Dragon Patriarch said to go meet him immediately after you arrive. You guys must join this feast.”
“Jade Royal Palace?” Neither of them knew where that was.
“It is a palace that the three main factions of Yuanling City contributed resources to build a month ago. It was specifically built for the Ninth Prince. I hear that there’s divine jade and precious treasures everywhere inside, much grander than the Lingwu family’s buildings. The three factions have spent a lot of resources just to please the Ninth Prince. But I hear that the Ninth Prince really likes the palace and even promised to stay there often.”
The Ninth Prince’s visit to Yuanling City would be one month long at most, yet the three main factions had built a palace just for him. This meant that despite Yuanling City being considerably far from the Biyang Imperial Capital, they were still afraid of the royal family.
It looks like the royal family is quite scary. It’ll be difficult to take revenge for Xiaolang, thought Long Chen.
“It’ll be evening soon. You two should go see the Azure Dragon Patriarch. Your disappearance made him very anxious, so his mood is very unstable,” said Yin Mengyao worriedly.
Long Chen smirked to himself. That old geezer definitely didn’t know that his daughter had sent people to assassinate Long Chen. If she had succeeded, Long Chen would never have returned and Mo Xiaolang would probably have slaughtered his way back here.
“Xiaolang, let’s go. Let’s see how powerful the Ninth Prince is. He must have three heads and six arms if he can make the three factions bend their knees like they saw their fathers,” Long Chen mused.
“Long Chen, be careful with your words in front of them.” Yin Mengyao furrowed her brows.
“Don’t worry, I know my limits.”
Then they both went to the Eastern Azure Dragon family. Long Chen didn’t go to the main administrative area, the Xuanfeng Pavilion, but rather went straight to the Xuanyu Pavilion. It was completely empty. The ancient ruins were about to be opened, so the other youths had stopped cultivating.
Here, Long Chen sensed Dongfang Xuanyu’s aura. When they stepped in, Dongfang Xuanyu rushed out. Her face changed when she saw Long Chen.
“Why are you scared? Unless … you did something that made you feel guilty?” Long Chen said darkly, taking a few steps forward.
“What do you mean by that?” Dongfang Xuanyu replied. She had secretly investigated and learned of Chu Tianxiong and Jin Luan’s deaths. She also knew that Long Chen had snatched away the Blazing Thunder Crystal Soul. In the past, she was no match for him, but now she was helpless.
However, this was the Lingwu family, so she had people protecting her. That was why she boldly refused to admit it.
“Don’t you dare act dumb in front of me, Dongfang Xuanyu! I showed you mercy once, yet you tried to kill me. This is your fault! I am not killing you now because I have more important things to do, but don’t you let me get a chance, because I’ll make you regret being born.”
Then Long Chen left.
Dongfang Xuanyu trembled greatly, feeling as if she had fallen into an icy pool.