“Xuan Jizi!”

Although he only got a glance, Long Chen still recognized this bastard. He hadn’t expected him to come to Pill Valley.

According to his understanding, Li Tianxuan had arranged for this bastard’s true face to be exposed. He was like a rat others were trying to catch.

However, he was very slippery, and as soon as things had turned sour for him, he had even abandoned the Grand Han Ancient Nation’s Heavenly Fate Pavilion that he had worked so hard to build up. No one knew where he was hiding. It was like he had vanished from this world.

Now seeing him, Long Chen had to admit that this bastard’s heaven-peering arts were profound. If he managed to calculate that he was at Pill Valley, he would be doomed.

In truth, Long Chen didn’t know that Xuan Jizi didn’t dare to directly calculate anything about him. In the past, all his calculations had always been toward the people around Long Chen, which allowed him to infer Long Chen’s general position and movements. That kind of inference couldn’t even count as heaven-peering arts. It was more like a judgment of human nature.

It was because of this that Xuan Jizi’s calculations had gone awry at Devil Spirit Mountain when Li Tianxuan had come. When it came to understanding the human heart, Xuan Jizi was a far cry from Li Tianxuan.

However, Long Chen didn’t know this, and so he became apprehensive, not knowing what this old bastard was planning.

He was lost in thought for a while and then suddenly laughed at himself. When had he become so stupid? If Xuan Jizi had come for him, the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art would have sensed his hostility just now. Since there was no reaction from the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, it meant he wasn’t targeting him.

Long Chen didn’t show any of this on his face and continued heading to the inner sect. But as he got close to Wan Qing’s residence, his expression gradually became gloomy.

Wan Qing was an inner disciple, and she didn’t have her own residence. She lived in a shared immortal cave with dozens of other people. They all had their own rooms for secluded cultivation and alchemy.

Right now, dozens of people were standing in front of the entrance, blocking Wan Qing outside. A pill furnace and various medicinal ingredients were scattered on the ground, clearly having been thrown out.

Wan Qing was trembling and unable to hold back her tears. But she clenched her lips and refused to make a sound, silently gathering her things.

“Girl, if you want to die by joining that devil Long San, go by yourself and don’t implicate us. Please find a different place to live!” said a disciple frostily.

The other disciples were also apathetic to her plight. They watched coldly as that small figure silently gathered the things on the ground. They didn’t have the slightest sympathy. Instead, they seemed almost delighted.

Tears streamed down Wan Qing’s little face, but she refused to make a sound.

Just as she was gathering her things, a pair of hands helped her pick them up. Seeing a pair of warm eyes looking at her, she immediately collapsed into Long Chen’s embrace and began to bawl. It was like all her stored up resentment could finally be released. “Big brother…”

“Good job. A person must be strong and not lower their head to anyone.” Long Chen rubbed her head comfortingly. His opinion of her grew after seeing how staunch she could be.

His icy gaze swept over these disciples in front of the immortal cave. They were only at the Xiantian and Sea Expansion realms, and their hair immediately stood on end when he looked at them. They felt like the temperature in the air had dropped all of a sudden.

It was like a butcher’s blade was pointed against their heads. With just a thought from him, they would die.

These disciples were alchemists, and some had never even fought against others. How could they possibly endure Long Chen’s killing intent?

The number of people he had killed in his life was something he couldn’t even remember anymore.

His killing intent was the result of him piling mountains of corpses from both the Righteous and Corrupt paths. Rivers of blood had flowed because of him, and this killing intent almost made those disciples faint.

Some of them involuntarily knelt on the ground, terrified. They begged.

“Master Long San, it’s not our fault! It was-”

“It was me. So what?”

Just at this moment, a group of people walked over. They were from the Divine Shield Alliance, and their leader was Jiang Zijun.

However, the current Jiang Zijun no longer appeared as handsome as before. His previous calm air had been replaced with envy and killing intent.

Seeing his current appearance, Wan Qing clutched Long Chen’s arm and hid behind him, quivering. She had never seen such a scene before.

Long Chen patted her gently, expressing that she didn’t need to be afraid. He faced Jiang Zijun.

“Jiang Zijun, I always thought you were human. I didn’t expect that I was so wrong. I overestimated you.” Long Chen felt contempt for this person, who was the commander of the Divine Shield Alliance. His integrity was so lacking that he was even willing to target an innocent child. This person was an idiot.

Jiang Zijun liked the Pill Fairy. This was common knowledge in Pill Valley. If he wanted to target Long Chen, he should have used brilliant and aboveboard tactics to beat him. How could he do such a thing?

This would only make the Pill Fairy loathe him even more. Could it be that this Jiang Zijun had practiced alchemy to the point that the rest of his head had rotted?

He was basically insane. No one had been able to convince him otherwise, and he had sent people to spy on Long Chen’s actions. After hearing that he had formed a slight relationship with a girl, he had directly sent people to suppress her. Kicking her out of her home was his retaliation against Long Chen.

Jiang Zijun had been consumed by his envy. No matter how big or small the matter was, as long as it could harm Long Chen in some way, he would do it. That was the only way for him to comfort himself. As for the consequences, he was no longer able to understand what those were. That was because he felt that if he didn’t release his anger, he would go insane.

“Overestimated me? A country bumpkin like you isn’t even qualified to look at me! You’re only fit to crawl beneath my feet. Long San, there’s always a price for angering me. Was Duan Tianqiao’s death painful for you? Hehe, I feel like this girl’s also not bad. Thirteen, fourteen years old, that’s about enough…” Jiang Zijun looked at Wan Qing with a malicious light in his eyes that made her not dare to look back at him.

Long Chen took a deep breath to adjust his mood.

“Hahaha, breathing deeply is useless. Long San, having offended me, just wait to be played to death!” Jiang Zijun laughed maniacally.

Long Chen ignored him. Instead, there was a question in his mind…

Long Chen, are you still the old Long Chen?

Long Chen slowly raised his left hand. A cold light flashed as a dagger cut across his palm. Fresh blood dripped out, condensing into a rune.

“Big brother!” Wan Qing jumped and let out a startled cry. She didn’t know what he was doing.

A badge appeared in Long Chen’s left hand. This was his badge which showed his status as part of the Divine Pill Hall. He moved it toward his left hand.

This was the most sacred blood challenge amongst Pill Valley’s disciples. Using one’s essence blood as the oath, the rune represented that this fight was being witnessed by their gods. Once this battle started, no one in Pill Valley could stop it, not even the Valley Master.

However, this blood oath could only be initiated by someone whose cultivation base was lower than the one they were challenging. Furthermore, the precondition was that they had irreconcilable conflicts between them. Once those conditions were met, the life and death stage would be opened.

This life and death stage was extremely terrifying. There was a time limit of two hours. If both sides were still alive at that time, they would be killed by the formation.

This blood challenge hadn’t been initiated in Pill Valley in the past hundred years. As a result, all the people who knew what he was planning to do let out startled cries.

Just as his badge was about to touch his blood rune, a jade hand lightly pressed against Long Chen’s palm, shattering his blood rune.

“Pill Fairy!”

Unexpectedly, the Pill Fairy had come and destroyed Long Chen’s blood rune, preventing the challenge.

“Why bother? You’d clearly be beaten and killed, so why let your emotions get the better of you?” The Pill Fairy looked at Long Chen with a complicated expression.

Long Chen shook his head. “You don’t understand the world of men. Sometimes, despite knowing the result, you still have to do it. It’s not for any other reason other than that we’re men.”

With the Underworld Soul Ghost Curse, Long Chen was unable to bring out his true power. He couldn’t use his divine ring or battle armor. Just relying on his flame energy, his chance of killing a rank nine Celestial like Jiang Zijun was less than ten percent.

Long Chen had noticed that after being afflicted by the Underworld Soul Ghost Curse, he was becoming more and more unfamiliar with himself. He was growing less confident in himself and even starting to lack the courage to risk his life.

He had lost his old, sharp self. That Long Chen always charged forward without regard for anything. He needed to find himself again, so he had planned on forcing himself this time. Otherwise, even if he could cultivate the second volume of the Nirvana Scripture, he would have lost his undefeatable Dao-heart. In the end, he would still be crippled.

That was the most frightening thing. Thus, he hadn’t gotten angry or impetuous. He was forcing himself, forcing away his cowardly side. He couldn’t use the excuse of the Underworld Soul Ghost Curse to be a coward.

“Long San, you’re a real warrior.” The Pill Fairy smiled with admiration. This was a true expression of what she was thinking.

Then turning toward the girl, she took one of her hands. “Little sister, let’s go. Big sister will bring you to the Divine Pill Hall. I guarantee no one will bully you again.”