Long Chen had two thousand Heavenly River Pills in his possession, and the demonic core of the Peak Essence Beast could only be sold for so much. Still, he hated not being able to earn some extra money.
After killing the beast, Mo Xiaolang stepped aside to learn how to use Divine Fire Clone.
I wonder if Mo Xiaolang can cultivate it with his new body. Long Chen activated the Dragon Soul Transformation while thinking that.
He needed to use Blood Transmutation as soon as possible. The blood of an Earth-tier demonic beast was rare.
Still, there was a huge amount of energy contained within the beast, so he could not be hasty. There was also the issue of the beast having several tons of blood. Long Chen deliberately had to slow down while transmuting it.
He felt his Qi slowly increase in the slow process of using Blood Transmutation. As time went on, more and more blood was consumed as Long Chen transformed it into Qi before pouring it into his Dantian.
It took him half a day to complete the process. The beast’s corpse was dry and Long Chen felt like his Dantian was about to burst. He now needed to use the large amount of Qi to make a breakthrough.
The process was smooth as he had a lot of Qi. He successfully broke through the barrier and found that the Heavenly Core in the center of his dantian had become smaller, roughly the size of a green bean.
It was incredible to think that such a small object was the source of his power.
When I was at the Human Core Realm, my core was the size of a chicken egg. But now it’s only the size of a green bean, and yet it’s many times more powerful. So strange.
Still, I’ve completed the Divine Core Realm. All I need to do now is break into the Heavenly River Realm. Since I have two thousand Heavenly River Pills, I should be able to do so fairly quickly. Stepfather was the strongest cultivator under the Heavenly River Realm, but he could not break through because he lacked the pills.
Long Chen was well aware of the importance of Heavenly River Pills.
There were nine more days until the battle, and Mo Xiaolang was still learning how to use Divine Fire Clone. Even though Long Chen was confident that he could win at his current cultivation level, he didn’t dare to stop cultivating.
He spent this time not only consolidating his cultivation; he also cultivated the Nine Spinning Fire Shields and Divine Fire Clone. Thanks to his incredible comprehension, it was easy for him to learn the Nine Spinning Fire Shields, but Divine Fire Clone was much more difficult. It took him some discussions with Mo Xiaolang before they saw results.
“There are four stages to Divine Fire Clone. I wonder when I can learn the fourth stage?” Long Chen knew that the fourth stage of the technique would allow him to split himself into one hundred and twenty-five clones. It was a stupidly powerful technique, but it would require a large amount of Qi. At Long Chen’s current cultivation level, it was already an excellent result if he could use even one clone.
On the night before the fight, Long Chen rode on Mo Xiaolang’s back and returned to the city. It was a crucial fight for him because he not only had multiple grudges to settle, he also had to become an Immortal Guard. The Ninth Prince couldn’t find out that he had received the completed version of Divine Fire Clone, so he would have to utilize other techniques.
The reason he had challenged the Northern Black Tortoise Patriarch at the same time was to settle all of his grudges with the Lingwu family in one go.
He initially thought it would be difficult for Xiaolang to travel so much, but Long Chen’s worries had gone away after seeing how he had killed the Peak Essence Beast in just one move.
Long Chen thought about how he was only at the Eighth Draconic Stage when he entered the Lingwu family. Now, less than a year later, he was almost at the peak of the entire county.
***
Thanks to the Dawn Trading Alliance and the Beast Soul Palace spreading the news, everyone flocked to the city walls early in the morning to spectate the fight.
Everyone squeezed together at the top of the walls, yelling and bumping into each other.
In the eyes of the civilians, the Lingwu family was a massive organization that had controlled their city for numerous generations. Meanwhile, they’d only heard of Long Chen a few times before. How come someone so low in the rankings was going to fight against the Lingwu family?
“Who is Long Chen? To think he would be brave enough to oppose the massive Lingwu family. I heard that only the Beast Soul Palace has the power to stand up to them. Is Long Chen stronger? But Emperor Yuan should be the strongest in Yuanling City!”
“I was told that Long Chen challenged the Patriarch of the Eastern Azure Dragon family. The Patriarch is one of the strongest fighters in the city, while Long Chen is barely twenty. Is he some kind of monster in disguise?”
“He’s only twenty years old and he’s already challenging the Patriarch. Even if he loses, his name will be spread around forever.”
“No, I heard that Long Chen has a powerful demonic beast and that the Lingwu family is wary of it. That’s why they agreed to Long Chen’s terms. I think if it wasn’t for the beast, Long Chen would be nothing to the Lingwu family.”
“I don’t think that’s true. Rumors say that he severed Yan Danqing’s arm. If that’s true, Long Chen is the strongest youth in Lingwu County. We can only imagine what it’s like to be that strong.”
Yuanling City had never been buzzing with so much activity as the rumors flew everywhere. It was a miracle that the sky did not blow up from their voices.
On one of the towers overlooking the city walls, the Ninth Prince as well as the people from all the large factions, including the Lingwu family, were looking down at the city gates while discussing the day’s event.
“Guys, I don’t think you know about this,” a middle-aged man said.
“What is it?”
“Hurry and tell us!”
“Don’t be in such a hurry, I only just heard it myself. The Lingwu family wanted to seal the news away, but I managed to catch wind of it!”
“Are you trying to tell us about Dongfang Xuanyu committing suicide?”
“Wait, how did you know!?” The middle-aged man was shocked.
“Idiot. I found out about it a few days ago. Only a few people in Yuanling City are still oblivious to it. And you thought it was a secret?”
“I heard that Long Chen tore away Dongfang Xuanyu’s clothes near the entrance of the ruins. She felt humiliated and killed herself because of that.”
“Long Chen is despicable! I fear that their grudge is too deep. I think there are several people from the Lingwu family who died because of him.”
“Wasn’t he part of the family before? Why did he kill them?”
“All I know is that they are going to settle it once and for all with a single battle. We just need to watch. We will know if Long Chen is strong or weak after the battle.”
Everyone looked at the flat plain in front of the city. They knew Long Chen would appear there.
Or maybe he wouldn’t even show up?
In the tower, the Ninth Prince was sitting on a chair made of white jade. The chair was so high that even if he laid down, he could still see the plains.
The three largest factions of Yuanling City surrounded the Ninth Prince. Since the Beast Soul Palace and the Dawn Trading Alliance weren’t the main characters here, they were quiet. The Lingwu family, however, spoke amongst each other. Almost every high-ranking member of the family was present—the four Patriarchs, the several elders, and even the four people who ran the families.
All of them were solemn.
This was the most embarrassing moment for them, especially after the death of Dongfang Xuanyu. There was no way to resolve this amicably anymore.
Dongfang Xuanfeng looked at the plains and whispered to the Patriarch, “Father, do you think he will come?”
“He wants to become an Immortal Guard, so he will come.” The Eastern Azure Dragon Patriarch stared at the plains. His eyes were calm, but a strong killing intent hid behind them.
“It’s either his death or ours this time. If he survives, the reputation of the Lingwu family will plummet. Plus, we just lost the right to rule the county, so I wonder, when will we be able to rise again?” Dongfang Xuanfeng sighed.
His most cherished son was dead, so he was very resentful.
“He will come. And he will die. We are the Lingwu family, and we will never lose!” the Patriarch solemnly said.
“It’s all our fault for underestimating him and not building a friendly relationship with him. To think I would be this careless at my age. I suppose we can only erase him and restore our family’s honor at this point in time,” Dongfang Xuanfeng said.
“He’s here,” the Patriarch said with a sigh.
Everyone perked up when they saw a man and a wolf running in the distance.