That voice was from one of the Grand Elders, Yan Nantian. Long Chen’s expression changed. He hadn’t expected the Grand Elder to be eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Sorry, Grand Elder! I was the one who forgot!” Ye Lingshan suddenly clapped her own head.

Yan Nantian did not reply.

“Long Chen, let’s go!” Ye Lingshan pulled Long Chen away.

“What are we doing?” asked Long Chen.

“I ended up drawn in by your nonsense. I forgot that the Grand Elders wanted me to bring you to the palace. They said there was something important to discuss.”

“Hey, why didn’t you say so earlier?! Aren’t those old fellows going to beat me to death now?” Long Chen was about to run.

“They won’t, the alliance head won’t let them punish you,” said Ye Lingshan. Afraid that he would really run, she forcibly dragged him away.

“If you end up conning me to death, I swear my ghost won’t let you off!” shouted Long Chen.

The two of them walked into the palace. The only ones inside were the four Grand Elders and Qu Jianying. They had already been waiting for a while.

“Greetings alliance head, greetings Grand Elders.” Ye Lingshan immediately bowed. Long Chen followed suit.

“You little brat, you’re becoming more and more brazen. Do you know how to respect your seniors?” Qu Jianying immediately reached for Long Chen’s ear.

Long Chen had long since been prepared and pulled Ye Lingshan in front of him, shouting, “Your beloved apprentice is in my hands!”

Seeing Long Chen actually take a hostage to extort her, Qu Jianying almost laughed. This little fellow was always so slippery.

“Jianying, that’s enough. Calling us old is just the truth. Long Chen wasn’t wrong.” Yan Nantian smiled calmly, not minding Long Chen’s joke.

Only then did Qu Jianying let Long Chen off. Ye Lingshan glared at Long Chen for using her as a shield. Although she knew it was a joke, she wasn’t happy.

The four Grand Elders stood there, looking at Long Chen. That continued for an incense stick’s worth of time, and Long Chen was starting to get goosebumps.

“There’s no need to frighten me. I’ll kill and extort whoever you want, free of charge!” Long Chen finally spoke.

The four Grand Elders couldn’t help but smile. Yan Nantian finally said, “Your mind is powerful. Even in this position, you don’t show any flaws. It was definitely not a coincidence that you were able to slay Xiang Yunfei.”

“Are you praising me for having thick skin?” Long Chen smiled.

“Having thick skin is also a mental quality. Long Chen, I have one thing to ask you. If Jianying had decided to concede again, you said you would leave the Martial Heaven Alliance. What would you do after that?” asked Yan Nantian.

On that day, Long Chen had said that if Qu Jianying allowed the first and second commanders’ deaths to go unpunished and let go of Di Xin, he would kill Di Xin and then leave the Martial Heaven Alliance, severing his ties with them to place all the blame on himself.

When he had said that, everyone had been shocked. They had fully experienced Long Chen’s domineering side. If he left the Martial Heaven Alliance, he would definitely die. But this also showed his determination. Wasn’t the worst case just death? There was nothing to be afraid of.

“What else would I do? I would kill. In any case, I killed my way out of the Eastern Wasteland. I was on my own at first, a little fellow in just the Blood Condensation realm, but I dared to face the armies of two nations. Now I’m no longer alone. I have a group of beauties, as well as a group of hot-blooded brothers. I don’t even know how many times stronger I am compared to back then. Am I supposed to become timid and retreat? If the alliance head wished to protect the continent’s peace in consideration of the big picture by enduring this bullying, that would be my only option.”

“Have you considered the lives of those beauties and brothers of yours? When you are hunted down by all the various large powers, you’ll all die to their hands eventually,” said one of the Grand Elders.

“There’s no need to worry about it. The Dragonblood Legion’s hearts are united. Their lives are mine, my life is theirs. What we have, we risked our lives for, and we will continue to work hard so that we can protect our family, so that we can live with dignity. This is our conviction. When others threaten our family or try to trample on our dignity, we won’t hesitate to put everything on the line. Even if we die, we won’t die humiliated.”

“This gamble is quite big.”

One of the Grand Elders finally spoke. This Grand Elder had barely spoken at all before.

Once he spoke, the other Grand Elders fell silent. It seemed they were secretly communicating. The atmosphere grew a bit tense.

“Alright, let’s bet. Opportunity exists within danger. Who can say what will come in the future? The Barbarian Mammoth race was able to bet everything, so why can’t our Martial Heaven Alliance do the same? The great era has already come. If we still held back, what would we be waiting for? I approve of this gamble,” said one of the Grand Elders.

“I also approve,” said another Grand Elder.

The third Grand Elder bitterly smiled. “Little Yan will definitely approve, so even if I opposed, it would be useless. It would just offend the one who gave us his wine. I wouldn’t do such a foolish thing. I also approve.”

The four Grand Elders suddenly laughed. Long Chen was lost, but Qu Jianying was pleasantly surprised.

“Alright, we’ve cast our votes. We’ve decided that the reward will be yours. Congratulations.” Yan Nantian walked over to Long Chen and patted his shoulder with a smile.

“Senior, I don’t really want that reward. I don’t like owing favors…”

“There’s no need for you to owe us a favor. This is the reward you ought to gain for getting first place on the Devil Slaughter Rankings and winning karmic luck for the entire Righteous path. We were selfish for not giving it to you, but now we’ve thought it through. It’s yours,” said Yan Nantian.

“Don’t try to trick me. I just heard you say that you were betting. You’re treating me as a gambling chip. I don’t want to be used-”

“What gambling chip? Stop being so sensitive and come.” Yan Nantian suddenly grabbed Long Chen’s shoulder and pushed him backward. A black and white channel appeared in the air there, sucking him in.

Long Chen had no ability to resist. He flew through the channel, which brought him deeper into the palace. He quickly arrived at the temple that the four Grand Elders had blocked him at before.

The gates opened like the mouth of a beast to devour Long Chen and then slammed shut. There was no longer any sound that could be heard from within.

However, just before the gates closed, Ye Lingshan vaguely heard Long Chen’s startled cry as if he had encountered something frightening.

“What…?” Ye Lingshan looked in stunned silence at the closed temple gates. She felt like Long Chen had encountered something bad. It didn’t seem like a reward.

“Lingshan, there’s no need to be jealous. You will also get your share of this reward.” Yan Nantian smiled at Ye Lingshan.

“Me? But I haven’t done anything for the Martial Heaven Alliance, and my ranking on the Devil Slaughter Rankings…”

“It has nothing to do with those. With your talent and potential, you are qualified to obtain this reward. Long Chen is naturally more qualified, but this little fellow is too dangerous. One mistake and we’ll lose our investment and cause a calamity for the Martial Heaven Alliance, so it’s a gamble. However, you are different. We can see that you sincerely wish to stay in the Martial Heaven Alliance, and you will one day take Jianying’s position. Do you not understand the goal behind Jianying giving you her sword?” asked Yan Nantian.

Ye Lingshan took a few shocked steps back. She covered her mouth, staring at Qu Jianying. “Master, you…”

Qu Jianying smiled and said, “Foolish child, there’s nothing to be shocked about. This world will be yours in the future. Old-timers like us are only green leaves, while youngsters like you will be the main characters of that world.”

“But I’m much weaker than Long Chen. I’m even weaker than the Xiang Yunfei that he killed…”

She was an independent cultivator who had never once thought that she would be the heir to the head of the Martial Heaven Alliance. She felt like she was in a dream, but also uneasy and panicked.

“That little fellow Long Chen shouldn’t even be mentioned. His heart is not with the Martial Heaven Alliance. No one can control him. Meanwhile, you are someone suited to be the heir of the Martial Heaven Alliance. Don’t worry, before you’ve grown up, you will have your master and these Grand Elders supporting you. Long Chen will also help, so don’t feel too much pressure.” Qu Jianying gently brushed Ye Lingshan’s hair back. Only once Ye Lingshan heard this did she feel slightly more at ease.

“There are two priceless treasures in this temple. Long Chen will obtain one, and you will obtain one. Do you know what it is?” asked Yan Nantian.

Ye Lingshan shook her head.

“It’s the move that Xiang Yunfei used against Long Chen.”

“A paragon art?!”

“Correct, a paragon art, and a very powerful one at that. In truth, a paragon art is something Xiang Yunfei was fundamentally unable to control. He was only using a rudimentary form of one and was unable to bring out the paragon art’s full power. He also isn’t a human, so despite his talent, when it comes to using magical arts and the like, he still had some major flaws. He relied entirely on his bloodline power and the power of his ancestors to use it. It was fundamentally… well, it doesn’t matter. Go. You will understand once you cultivate it,” said Yan Nantian.

“Yes.”

Ye Lingshan respectfully kowtowed toward Qu Jianying and the four Grand Elders. She knew that this reward was a show of their trust in her.

Qu Jianying and the four Grand Elders smiled. This child was very good and was capable of holding great responsibility. They hadn’t misjudged her. It was just regretful that they didn’t feel the same way about Long Chen.

Ye Lingshan walked into another temple at the back. When she was in front of it, she suddenly heard Yan Nantian’s voice.

“This backdoor is the life gate. This one over here… is the death gate.”