“What pageant?” Long Chen was dumbfounded.

“You can see for yourself. This is the letter sister Chu Yao sent.” Guo Ran hastily handed a letter over.

Long Chen opened it and saw Chu Yao’s graceful handwriting. The general meaning was that the three of them were very happy in the Skywood Divine Palace, and they were accompanying Chu Yao’s master and getting her cultivation pointers.

Originally, they had planned on returning after a few days, but the Skywood Divine Palace’s Jade Lake Pageant was about to start. That pageant was a heaven-sent opportunity for soul cultivators.

The three of them were planning on participating, and they also wanted Long Chen to come too. Chu Yao vaguely hinted that there was something inside that could change Tang Wan-er’s life.

However, the Jade Lake Pageant was something that would gather all the elites of the Southern Xuan Region. Even soul cultivators from other regions would come. Chu Yao and Meng Qi alone didn’t feel any guarantee in getting what Tang Wan-er needed, so they hoped Long Chen could come too.

This letter was written a month ago, but he had been in seclusion in the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect. Although Guo Ran had personally taken a trip to the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect to tell the seven bosses to notify Long Chen about this as soon as he came out, the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect’s men really were coarse. Guo Ran’s words had gone in one ear and out the other.

“There are still three days, so there’s no rush,” said Guo Ran.

“No rush my ass! Going to the Southern Xuan Region means passing through the Ancient Battlefield! Ugh, I have to get going right now. When the Xuan Master asks where I went, you tell him.” Long Chen directly set off for the transportation formation.

Looking at Long Chen’s departing back, Yue Zifeng shook his head. “Boss is the busiest one in the Dragonblood Legion. He’s so busy that he doesn’t even have time to cultivate. We’ll have to work hard so that we don’t hold him back. At that time, he won’t have to be so tired.”

Guo Ran, Gu Yang, Li Qi, and Song Mingyuan nodded. Long Chen had done so much for the Dragonblood Legion. They had to work hard.

…

Long Chen’s flying boat sped through the air like lightning. He was at top speed.

In the beginning, he could go through transportation formations to the border of the Southern Xuan Region. However, there was no transportation formation through the barrier. He had to use a flying boat.

While he sat in the flying boat, Long Chen finally had the time to look through his gains this time.

There was a mass of chains. He counted over eight thousand, while he had over six thousand of the triangular blades. He hadn’t come up with any concrete plans on how to use them, but since they came from Purgatory, and based on the intense aura of death they emitted, they had to be useful.

He had three blood essence stones containing terrifying blood essence energy. Compared to the Alldevil monster’s essence blood he had obtained back then, the blood essence stones contained many, many times the amount of energy.

According to Xie Qianqian’s hypothesis, the blood essence stones were probably condensed of the purest, refined essence blood of the experts that failed to pass through the nine springs. A single blood essence stone might contain the merged essence blood of millions and millions of lifeforms.

He had six blood soul stones as well, while he didn’t have even one life spirit stone. Those had gone to Xie Qianqian, while the rest had gone to him.

The six blood soul stones should be formed in a similar way to the blood essence stones. However, one condensed essence blood, while the other condensed soul essence.

Xie Qianqian had said that blood essence stones were priceless treasures and could be used to upgrade the Yuan Spirit. That really did make them priceless treasures for Long Chen. He could use them to upgrade the Dragonblood warriors’ Yuan Spirits.

Other than those, he had a lake of death spirit water. That was definitely a treasure for scheming against others. Who could block such a terrifying thing?

However, the thing that excited him the most was a three-inch black nail.

If Long Chen didn’t recognize its aura, he wouldn’t believe that this little nail was the huge nail he had taken from the Gates of Hell.

He didn’t know if it was because he himself was small when he entered the Netherworld, which made everything look big, or if the nail had suddenly shrunk once he had taken it.

The three-inch nail had eight corners. The back of it wasn’t large, but its front was incomparably sharp, sharper than the tip of a sword. On the surface, it looked like a normal nail. No fluctuations or aura were coming from it.

“Did it change after I brought it back? Why don’t I sense the slightest energy from it?” Long Chen was dumbfounded. He lightly touched it.

His fingertip brushed over the tip of the nail ever so slightly, and Long Chen felt a burst of intense pain. The slightest, almost imperceptible, hole appeared in his finger. This seemingly unremarkable nail was so sharp that it easily pierced his body. It had to be known that his current physical body was so strong that even Ancestral items would have great difficulty harming him.

The thing that shocked him was that in that instant, his whole body stiffened. He was unable to move at all. Not only was his body frozen, but even his soul had the same condition.

Suddenly, a black light flashed, and a saber cut off Long Chen’s finger. That finger had started to turn black. Blood covered his hand.

Only once his finger was severed did Long Chen manage to let out a startled cry and regain his mobility. His face was pale. This time, he really was frightened. This was the closest he had ever felt to death.

His finger fell to the ground. It was pitch-black like a lump of coal.

“That’s a nail from the Gates of Hell, something that separates the Yin and Yang planes. It’s unknown how many resentful souls and death curses are contained within it. Your guts really are big to stab yourself with it while you’re bored. Was it stimulating?” laughed Evilmoon.

Long Chen’s heart was thumping. That really had been terrifying. He had almost died.

“Fuck, it really was stimulating, stimulating enough to die.” Long Chen had to admit that nothing had ever been as stimulating as this.

His finger quickly regrew as he circulated his life energy. He reached out to grab the nail that had fallen, but then he suddenly stopped, afraid to touch it as if it might bite him.

“As long as you don’t touch the tip, you’ll be fine. There’s a mystical curse on it, but as long as it doesn’t have contact with blood, it won’t activate,” said Evilmoon.

Long Chen nodded and carefully made a wooden case, placing the nail inside it to avoid injuring himself accidentally. Experiencing something that stimulating once was enough.

Looking over his gains, Long Chen smiled. “The ancients really were wise. They were the ancestors of noble character and integrity. And I, Long Chen, am not at all inferior to them.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Evilmoon.

“The ancients said that they would voluntarily go to hell. As for me, not only have I gone there, if I had another chance, I would go again.” Long Chen patted his chest with a proud expression.

“Tch, they were talking about sacrificing themselves for others, while you’re clearly just after the treasures in Purgatory. Is there the slightest relationship between the two?” said Evilmoon disdainfully.

“The motivation and process aren’t important. The important thing is, I’d be willing to go back to hell,” said Long Chen. He looked over his treasures from Purgatory with a pleased smile. That expression was one of a pleased petty little person in Evilmoon’s eyes.

The flying boat was speeding along when it suddenly began to shake intensely. Long Chen jumped in shock and immediately put away the nail.

At some unknown time, he had entered a storm region. Everything around him was dusky, and the roar of thunder came with flashes of lightning.

“I’ve reached the Ancient Battlefield.”

Long Chen’s expression became solemn. He had reached the border between the Eastern Xuan Region and the Southern Xuan Region. This was home to one of the seven danger zones: the Ancient Battlefield.

However, the seven danger zones had now become the six danger zones. One of them, the Heaven Devouring Forest, had vanished because of Long Chen.

As for the Ancient Battlefield, it had many names. It was also called the Battlefield of Gods.

In truth, there were many names for many existences on the Martial Heaven Continent. For example, the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect’s original name was the Heaven Splitting Divine Sect.

That was because it was rumored that the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect had been founded by a god, so it had the word Divine in it. However, the era of gods and legends had already passed, and the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect declined. No one called it the Heaven Splitting Divine Sect any longer, so it became the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect.

This battlefield was the same. It had once been called the Battlefield of Gods, but later, people had felt that calling it the Ancient Battlefield was easier to understand, as gods were too ephemeral.

“Damn, this lightning and storm is no natural manifestation. It’s the result of laws clashing and breaking spacetime.”

Long Chen was stunned. He was now finally experiencing the Ancient Battlefield. He found that it was somewhat similar to the Ancient Battlefield in the Spirit World.

However, the clash of laws here was even more intense. Long Chen didn’t even need to try and trace back to the origin to sense these terrifying laws.

Long Chen continued through this region according to the path set on the map. He didn’t dare to deviate even in the slightest. Any deviation could cause him to lose his life here.

He saw countless illusions as he flew by. He saw meteorites pouring down in torrents, stars exploding, giants holding up the sky, a one-winged beast slicing through the starry sky. There were countless lifeforms fighting intensely. The images were all chaotic.

Long Chen focused on controlling the flying boat and did his best not to be affected by the illusions. However, this was very difficult as these illusions were constantly trying to draw his attention. There were several times he almost went off track because of how shocking the scenes were.

“These definitely aren’t illusions.”

Long Chen was sure that these scenes weren’t simple illusions. They were reality; however, those realities came from the past. He sensed anger, despair, fear, and countless emotions within them.

After a day, his flying boat finally passed through the Ancient Battlefield. Long Chen was covered in sweat. It felt like he had gone through a day of bitter fighting. He was exhausted.

For others, they could have someone flying the boat while someone else gave directions, allowing them to not be so distracted by what they saw. However, Long Chen couldn’t do that.

After flying out of the Ancient Battlefield, he entered the Southern Xuan Region. He soon saw an ancient transportation formation and flew there. After paying a considerable fee, he was sent directly to the Skywood Divine Palace.

Buzz.

The formation lit up, and the first thing Long Chen saw was a sea of people.