Looking at the flame lotus in his hand, Long Chen was so emotional that he almost cried. He really had succeeded.

This World Annihilation Flame Lotus was probably even a bit stronger than Star Fall. It absolutely delighted him.

Right now, he had only created the embryonic form of the World Annihilation Flame Lotus. It would only continue to get stronger, and it would be easier to develop it.

What Long Chen wanted to do was merge Star Fall into the World Annihilation Flame Lotus. There were eight petals. He wanted to see if he could condense eight Star Falls on the petals. As for the stamens in the center, for now he didn’t dare to touch them.

Those stamens were the core of this magical art. If he merged Star Fall with it, it would definitely have immense power. However, the core was the bridge connecting the energy. If there was a problem there, it would cause the entire thing to explode.

Furthermore, there were one hundred and eight of those stamens, all connected. In other words, if he wanted to add Star Fall there, he would have to condense one hundred and eight Star Falls to maintain the equilibrium.

What kind of joke was that? If any of those one hundred and eight Star Falls exploded, Long Chen would be deader than dead.

With his previous experience, Long Chen no longer dared to keep experimenting inside. He left the room and reappeared above ground. He found that Crouching Dragon Mountain was silent, and everyone was in their own private cultivation rooms.

Regretfully, the blood essence stone and blood soul stone were useless on him, or he’d also use them to get stronger. He stealthily left Crouching Dragon Mountain. Saying goodbye to one of the guards, he left the Xuantian Dao Sect.

The current Xuantian Dao Sect was no longer the old Xuantian Dao Sect. If he wanted to leave, he had to use one of the four gates. The rest of it was covered in a barrier that didn’t allow people to come or go. If someone tried to force their way in, it would activate the killing formation. The formation was connected to the Xuantian Tower, so its power was enough to instantly kill a Life Star expert holding a quasi divine item.

The Xuantian Dao Sect was now like one solid iron piece. Outsiders couldn’t possibly sneak their way in. As for the spies inside, if Li Tianxuan didn’t give them a chance, they wouldn’t be able to bring out any useful information either.

Upon leaving the Xuantian Dao Sect, Long Chen found a desolate place far away. He began to test his World Annihilation Flame Lotus while consuming pills like his life depended on it.

…

As Long Chen was experimenting with the World Annihilation Flame Lotus, powerful undercurrents were surging within the continent. The atmosphere was growing tense and strange.

First of all, Long Chen had gone to the Jade Lake Sacred Land and annihilated the Southern Xuan Region’s elite disciples. That had included tens of thousands of experts and dozens of Empyreans.

The name of the Eastern Xuan Region’s demon king shook the continent once more. However, this time, countless voices rang out from the other regions. Those voices were of condemnation.

Their goal was to force the head of the Martial Heaven Alliance, Qu Jianying, to stop protecting Long Chen. It was because Qu Jianying was protecting Long Chen that he could so fearlessly and recklessly kill others.

Although the Martial Heaven Alliance testified that Long Chen was a victim, that this was all Shen Bijun’s trap, that Long Chen had been forced to act in self-defense, that didn’t quell their rage. In their view, Long Chen had massacred tens of thousands to save five women. What was so valuable about their lives that other people’s lives were nothing?

Just as those voices of condemnation were like an unceasing tide, news came from the Illusive Music Immortal Palace. They refused to admit that Shen Bijun had set a trap to frame Long Chen. Instead, the palace master herself said that this was a matter between a young man and woman, a result of falling out of love and into hatred.

Just look at Long Chen’s wild character and how many women he had beside him. If it hadn’t been Long Chen who had taken the initiative to provoke or tease Shen Bijun, there was no way Shen Bijun would have gone so crazy as to do something so wrong.

That was why the palace master said that while she admitted that Shen Bijun had been in the wrong, not all the wrong lay with the Illusive Music Immortal Palace. At the very least, Long Chen and Shen Bijun should share the responsibility equally.

The palace master even went further, saying that since Shen Bijun had made a mistake resulting in harming the Southern Xuan Region, the Illusive Music Immortal Palace would block the Devil Abyss’s eruption in the Southern Xuan Region, even if they had to fight to their last disciple.

The Illusive Music Immortal Palace’s actions were greatly supported by the rest of the continent. People loudly shouted, “Look, the Illusive Music Immortal Palace has accepted their responsibility. Shen Bijun is already dead. Then shouldn’t Long Chen be killed as well as an apology to all those fallen disciples?”

Qu Jianying had been furious when she went to the Illusive Music Immortal Palace, but she left even more infuriated. She hadn’t expected the Illusive Music Immortal Palace to be so shameless as to split their responsibility with Long Chen equally.

However, what infuriated her the most was the sudden announcement of the ancient family alliance. They said they were no longer allied with the Martial Heaven Alliance, and they would no longer interfere in the battle between the Righteous and Corrupt paths.

The reason they gave was that as long as the demon king Long Chen didn’t die, they would never be able to work together with the Martial Heaven Alliance since they couldn’t accept being allied with someone who would stab their ally in the back.

On the third day after the ancient family alliance announced they were breaking ties with the Martial Heaven Continent, there were quite a few Righteous sects who faced a blood bath from the Corrupt path. Some sects were directly destroyed.

The Righteous path’s sects were thrown into chaos. They presented a joint petition, begging Qu Jianying to kill the black sheep Long Chen to quell everyone’s anger and save the continent’s peace and lives.

Instead of placing this debt on the Corrupt path, they placed it on Long Chen. As long as Long Chen wasn’t here, these things wouldn’t have happened. Some had already forgotten just how many of the Righteous path’s sects had been massacred even before Long Chen was born.

At the same time, Pill Valley, the ancient races, Xuan Beasts, and even the Bloodkill Hall came out in support of the ancient family alliance’s actions. They pointed everyone’s anger at Qu Jianying and Long Chen.

Some people even began to wildly fabricate false information, saying that Shen Bijun and Long Chen had long since known each other and that their relationship was complicated. It was Long Chen who had thrown Shen Bijun’s heart into chaos, causing her to act so crazy.

As people used their imagination to come up with the best stories to stoke people’s rage, Shen Bijun actually transformed into the victim, while Long Chen became an irredeemable devil.

Under this much pressure, anyone else would have caved, but Qu Jianying stubbornly resisted. She even announced that Long Chen hadn’t done anything wrong, and that if anyone dared to touch him, she would personally take their head.

As the head of the Martial Heaven Alliance, she was resolute and upright in character. She didn’t surrender to pressure. It was because of this character that she had been elected as the head of the Martial Heaven Alliance.

With Qu Jianying stubbornly protecting Long Chen but all the various large powers adding more pressure, the sects belonging to the Martial Heaven Alliance began to sway. Some of them began considering whether they should elect a new leader.

The Eastern Xuan Region and Southern Xuan Region’s experts were especially tempted to elect a new leader. Their hatred for Long Chen was especially deep.

However, even in those regions, those sects were but a fraction of the total. Even in the Southern Xuan Region, they didn’t number a quarter of all the sects.

Qu Jianying had led the Martial Heaven Alliance for so many years. She had always been fair and just and had countless supporters.

Before taking her post, she had been exceptionally amazing in the battles between the Righteous and Corrupt paths. After taking her post, she led the Righteous path to strike back, destroying countless strongholds of the Corrupt path and forcing them to hide in their minor worlds.

The young people had already forgotten about these things, but the older generation still remembered her heroism. Qu Jianying’s heroism had moved an entire generation of people.

She had her own worshippers, and those people were either the leaders of their own sects or top Elders with the greatest authority in their sects. So even as the pressure grew, these people didn’t sway.

In the Northern, Western, and Central Xuan Regions, the shouting was the most intense, but they were actually the most stable. It was only the people of the ancient family alliance who were shouting for her replacement. However, just that was unable to shake Qu Jianying’s position.

…

Bang! The ground split open, and a cloaked man popped out.

He had a five-colored bow on his back and an iron pick resting on his shoulder. He was covered in dust and emitting an air of death. He was like a zombie who had crawled out of a tomb.

As for the place he had just popped out of, it was actually a giant tomb that had already collapsed. As for the man, he was patting the dust off his body as if he had just finished a day of hard work. He had a relaxed smile.

“Mo Nian, you’re completely intolerable! Why are you constantly digging up tombs?! Are you not afraid of facing divine retribution?!” There were thousands of experts surrounding the tomb. The one shouting was a Life Star expert. This tomb clearly belonged to his family.

The man lifted back his hood, revealing a portion of his face. It was a handsome face that still had a bit of baby fat. On its own, it was a nice and friendly face, but when that mischievous glint in his eyes was added, he no longer seemed like such a good person.

This person was Mo Nian. Even after so many years, he didn’t look like he had changed much. It was just his eyes that looked a bit wiser. His aura was very strange though. It was constantly fluctuating, not letting people obtain an exact grasp of his current cultivation base.

“Divine retribution? Back when you betrayed my Mo family, you should have faced divine retribution, but aren’t you still living happily?” Mo Nian took out a washbasin and washed the dust off his face just like that. He switched into a new cloak, completely relaxed.

It was like he felt that tearing down their ancestral tomb was helping them tear down the old to make room for the new. It was like he was saying there was no need to thank him.

“Alright, I still have more to do, so I’ll get going.” Mo Nian put away the washbasin.

“Bastard, you think you can leave just like that?!” roared a young expert. He blocked Mo Nian’s path.

“Why wouldn’t I? Are you asking me to stay for dinner?” asked Mo Nian indifferently.

“Bastard!” That young expert raised his spear, and his manifestation appeared behind him. Powerful pressure crashed down. He was actually a powerful Empyrean.

“Forget it. Life is so beautiful, why throw it away so easily? Ah, I really am too kind compared to Long Chen.” Mo Nian shook his head. He ignored those people and walked away slowly. As for that young man, in the end, he didn’t dare to attack. He just glared silently as Mo Nian left.

“Long Chen, just what are you planning? However, I have to thank you for relieving quite a bit of pressure on me. After a bit more excavating, I’ll go find you.”

Mo Nian smiled. Pulling down his hood, he faded into the distance with his iron pick.