After Feng Xiao-zi left, the four of them all looked at each other. Long Chen suddenly began to laugh, and the three women couldn’t help but follow along.

“Long Chen, you really are bad!” rebuked Lu Fang-er. Previously, she hadn’t understood Long Chen’s intentions and had been confused for a long time. “But a bad person like him really should be handled in that manner.”

“That’s enough of that topic for now. Sister Chu Yao, we’ll protect you. Extract the tree-heart,” said Meng Qi.

Chu Yao nodded. She hadn’t been able to extract the tree-heart before because the process was very complicated and time-consuming. But now with all of them protecting her, she could finally relax. She walked up to the Seven Heartsea Cherry-Apple Tree and began to form hand seals. Countless wooden stakes grew out of the ground, tightly binding the tree.

Long Chen and the others didn’t dare be careless. Although the majority of people had left, there were still quite a few people hiding around who were still unwilling to leave.

But having been cowed by Long Chen, those hidden spectators didn’t dare do anything, and in the end, they could only leave.

Long Chen could sense that one that had even reached the Chosen-level. That person gave Long Chen quite a bit of pressure.

He couldn’t help but sigh inside. There really were countless geniuses that had entered the secret realm. Who knew how many dark horses were present.

BOOM!

The wooden stakes scattered, revealing Chu Yao. Currently, Chu Yao was smiling sweetly and she was filled with excitement.

“I’ve obtained the tree-heart!” A small block of wood was in her hand. It almost looked like jade, and it was the size of a person’s heart. It emitted an incredibly dense life aura.

“This is the tree-heart? It really does look like a heart. But it’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be.” Lu Fang-er curiously looked at it.

“In truth, the tree-heart should have been much bigger, probably the size of a millstone. But this tree-heart is a top grade tree heart.

“A tree-heart is something that all the life energy of an ancient tree is concentrated within. Once the tree dies, it just has to wait for an opportunity for nirvanic rebirth.

“Furthermore, the Seven Heartsea Cherry-Apple Tree is different from other spiritual trees. It gives birth to seven tree-hearts, and as time passes, all seven tree-hearts’ energy gathers into one tree-heart.

“The final tree-heart contains all the best essence of the tree. After it gathers enough energy over time, it will begin the rebirth process.

“As for this tree-heart, it has just reached its saturation point and has been on the verge of undergoing nirvanic rebirth. The energy within it has been suppressed to a pinnacle, which is why it’s so small.” Chu Yao was smiling extremely excitedly.

“Congratulations on obtaining a top treasure, sister! In the future, your cultivation will definitely rapidly progress,” smiled Meng Qi.

“Thank you, sister.” Chu Yao also smiled sweetly back.

“Hey, hey, hey! Wasn’t I the one who put in the most effort? Chu Yao, you can’t discriminate against me like this!” said Long Chen with some jealousy.

Seeing Long Chen’s wronged manner, the three women’s bell-like laughter tinkled out. Even though they knew Long Chen was just acting on purpose, they still found it funny.

“Let’s go. This place has too many people watching in the distance.” Meng Qi frowned slightly.

Long Chen was slightly surprised. He spread out his divine sense and found it was just as she said. There were still people watching them from several miles away.

He was profoundly shocked by Meng Qi’s Spiritual Strength. It was no wonder the Wind Spirit Pavilion would go all-out to raise her. Her Spiritual Strength was far, far too strong. If Meng Qi hadn’t said that, he wouldn’t have even noticed those spectators.

“Wuwu…!” Little Snow suddenly walked over and spoke to Meng Qi.

“You remember my scent?” Meng Qi looked at Little Snow with surprise.

Long Chen was also surprised. Meng Qi was actually able to understand Little Snow’s spiritual fluctuations? That was the first time he had ever encountered such a thing. Other than himself, he had never encountered a single person who could understand Little Snow.

He and Little Snow were spiritually and mentally connected. That was the only reason he could comprehend him.

But this was the first time Meng Qi was meeting Little Snow, and she was able to understand his spiritual fluctuations. That was absolutely amazing.

“Aiya, you don’t remember? It’s the Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf you gave Long Chen back then,” reminded Lu Fang-er.

“It’s you?!” Meng Qi looked at Little Snow with shock. She finally saw a patch of red fur on his forehead, recognizing his identity.

After advancing to the fourth rank, a mutation had occurred in Little snow’s body, and he no longer looked the same as other Scarlet Flame Snow Wolves. That was why Meng Qi hadn’t been able to recognize him at first.

“Little Snow will bring us away from here for now.” Long Chen was the first to jump onto Little Snow’s back. After him, the three women also jumped up.

Little Snow let out a low growl and turned into a white phantom that instantly disappeared from this mountain opening.

Once they left, those hidden spectators also dispersed. However, that wasn’t before they rapidly distributed photographic jades of this shocking and bizarre battle. When those photographic jades spread, Long Chen’s name once more shocked both the Righteous and Corrupt paths.

These photographic jades were far different from the one showing his fiendish and perverted ways. In his intense fight with Yin Wushuang, he had forced her into a disadvantage multiple times, and in the end, if it weren’t for her using a teleportation talisman, she would have very likely been killed by him.

Long Chen had displayed a shocking battle prowess, especially after he had summoned that divine ring. When he collided with someone as powerful as Yin Wushuang, the might of their battle had astonished everyone who saw it.

Yin Wushuang was someone who came from an ancient family. In other words, she possessed an ancient bloodline, and she was innately far more talented than ordinary people. Then adding on her bloodline suppression and her countless treasures, there was not a single person who was not shocked by her defeat.

After seeing those photographic jades, there were several sharp-eyed people who were able to tell from some clues that Yin Wushuang’s sword had possessed a bizarre reflective ability.

After learning that, people were even more shocked. Despite possessing that reflective ability and being so strong, Yin Wushuang had still been defeated. Furthermore, Long Chen had even broken her sword. What level of terrifying was that?

At the same time, there were people who learned from some back channels that Long Chen had been ranked number two on the Corrupt path’s must-kill list within Su Prefecture. That had completely astonished them.

By now, everyone had placed Long Chen on the same level as Han Tianyu, Yin Luo, and Mo Nian. As for those previous photographic jades of Long Chen carrying out his perverted, fiendish actions, there weren’t very many people who paid heed to them any longer.

The truth was obvious. Those previous photographic jades of Long Chen had been cut off at the beginning and end, so someone was definitely hiding the whole story. Now that the photographic jades of this intense fight between Long Chen and Yin Wushuang appeared, people were even more sure that there had been someone who had just been purposely smearing Long Chen’s name.

First of all, the woman Long Chen had killed might not be ugly, but at best, she could just count as above average. She was no top beauty.

In the cultivation world, there were far more beautiful people. Who would be so bored as to select her?

Secondly, with Long Chen’s powerful cultivation base, would he really need to go rape a woman? With that kind of power, who knew how many women would throw themselves into his arms.

The thing that mostly made people feel that those previous accusations were ridiculous was that disdainful will that had erupted from Long Chen when he had fought. Just what level of pride did Long Chen have? How could he possibly do something so idiotic and contemptible?

People were finally completely convinced that there was someone who had been pulling the strings the entire time, and this person had purposely sent people to throw mud at Long Chen’s name.

Furthermore, before the two had fought, Long Chen had exchanged words with Yin Wushuang. The smart people were all able to tell from some clues in their dialogue that Yin Wushuang was one of those people pulling the strings behind the curtains.

If the matter didn’t concern themselves, then they wouldn’t care at all; that seemed to be an iron law of the Righteous path. But there was one good thing about Righteous disciples. That was that none of them could keep secrets. Furthermore, they all liked to be spectators and watch the liveliness.

That fight had not only resulted in Long Chen defeating Yin Wushuang, but it had also resulted in him clearing his name. However, those people who were spreading these photographic jades weren’t doing it out of kindness. They just wanted to see who exactly was targeting Long Chen, and what the final result between them would be.

As for Long Chen, he didn’t care about any of that. After leaving the mountain opening, he brought his group to a quiet place for everyone to rest and talk about what they had experienced.

During that time, Chu Yao excused herself by saying she needed to research the tree-heart, while Lu Fang-er found another random excuse and left, leaving behind only Long Chen and Meng Qi.

When just the two of them were left, Meng Qi clearly became a bit more nervous. She blushed and neither of them spoke for a while. Long Chen just watched Meng Qi expressionlessly.

Meng Qi reddened even more, and she rebuked, “What are you looking at me for?”

“Because you’re beautiful. I often see your face in my dreams, but when I awake, everything’s gone. Now I feel like I’m dreaming again,” sighed Long Chen.

After saying that, Long Chen’s heart began to pound harder, and he looked up at the sky with worry. If he were to be struck by sudden lightning, he had to be prepared.

Cultivators almost never slept, so how could he have possibly dreamed anything? But in order to express how much he thought of Meng Qi, he had no choice but to make something up.

“Thank you.” Meng Qi blushed bashfully and lowered her head.

“I should be the one thanking you. When you appeared, you filled my life with sunshine, and I found what direction I had to strive for. Only under your light can I truly grow,” said Long Chen solemnly.

“Pfft, what lies! How is it at all that exaggerated? This must be how you tricked sister Chu Yao.” Meng Qi erupted into laughter.

Ah, it’s over, I’ve been exposed. I definitely didn’t control the intensity enough. Looking at Meng Qi’s body quivering with laughter, her beautiful face looking like a blooming flower, Long Chen actually turned into an imbecile and forgot what he was about to say.

As for Meng Qi, seeing Long Chen just foolishly staring at her, she was both shy and happy, warmth filling her heart.

Although Long Chen’s gaze was a bit sluggish at the moment, his eyes were as clear as water, a completely different look from other people. Being stared at by him didn’t make her angry. Instead, she even felt a bit happy.

“You’re really beautiful.”

Long Chen involuntarily said that. Meng Qi’s beauty was like an immortal who had descended to the world, and she possessed an air as if she were above the common mortals.

But when she smiled, it made people feel as if they had instantly entered a fairyland, and even their hearts and spirits would be baptized, and their souls would sublimate to a higher realm. That level of beauty was an absolute pinnacle.

“Meng Qi, you should smile more in the future. Your smile is really too good-looking.” Long Chen held her hand.

Having her hand held by Long Chen, Meng Qi’s body shook. Seeing that Long Chen’s expression was completely sincere now, she felt a burst of warmth.

Suddenly, footsteps rang out and Meng Qi jumped in fright, hastily pulling back her hand.

Long Chen had only just had a chance to hold Meng Qi’s hand. He hadn’t even had a chance to enjoy that ecstatic feeling when those hurried footsteps rang out, infuriating him.

He was just about to curse whoever it was that had come when his expression changed slightly.