Zi Yan trembled. In her whole life, she had never been this close to a man. She was nervous and lost.

Seeing her panic, Long Chen softly said, “Zi Yan, there are many things that I want to say to you, but I’ve never had a chance. You are meticulously maintaining some kind of distance toward me, so I don’t know how to face you. When we were enemies, you got in my way several times. To tell the truth… it really hurt me.”

“Sorry…” Zi Yan lowered her head. Due to their different philosophies being so contrary, they had not been friends. During the Dragon Slaughtering Convention, she had fought against him. At that time, he had also said some heartless words.

Those words had filled her with pain, but she also knew that she wasn’t the only one in pain.

Long Chen’s grip tightened on her hand. “I’m very curious why I didn’t know myself. When we were enemies, my heart was in constant pain. When you said that you would no longer be my enemy, a stone fell from my heart. I felt the world brighten and become colorful. At that time, I realized that I had fallen for you a long time ago. But I was always afraid that you would be my enemy, and even more frightening was the thought that I might one day have to kill you. Zi Yan, how about you stay with me? I will use my life to protect you. If you’re by my side, I can face the dangers of the world without fear.”

This declaration of love wasn’t particularly flowery, but every word was true from his heart. His feelings toward Zi Yan had silently appeared without him even being aware of it.

Now that they had no conflict, he could say these words that he had been holding back. He instantly felt lighter.

“Long Chen… I…” Zi Yan’s eyes grew misty. She slowly leaned her head against Long Chen’s chest. “Thank you. I’m so happy that you would say such a thing. But…”

“But what? You… you don’t like me?” Long Chen’s heart suddenly sank.

Zi Yan shook her head. “Sorry. I am unable to live up to your feelings. I already swore in front of my ancestor’s statue that my life would belong only to the Illusive Music Immortal Palace. I cannot marry.”

Zi Yan’s tears suddenly overflowed. The endless grief in her heart could never be put to words.

“Thank you, Long Chen.”

Zi Yan pulled away and instantly vanished from Long Chen’s sight. He was pale. He wanted to follow her, but just as he raised a foot, he put it back down. He stood there like a statue for a long time.

Zi Yan flew away a great distance. When she saw a large waterfall ahead, she threw herself inside it, finding a cave for her to weep within. She held on tightly to a stalagmite as she cried.

She cried as if unleashing all her grievance. Behind her, a beautiful woman in golden imperial robes appeared.

This woman looked to be in her late twenties. Her hair was tied up in a high bun, and she looked like an empress.

She sighed at Zi Yan, but her voice was warm. “Foolish child, even when crying, you don’t dare to cry loudly. Aren’t you using the waterfall to cover up the sound?”

“Senior Seven String, I…” Zi Yan seemed like a wronged child, and she threw herself into her embrace like she was family.

The woman gently brushed her hair. “Child, I told you not to agree with those people, but you refused to listen.”

“But I had no choice. As long as I didn’t have to be Long Chen’s enemy, I was willing to accept any condition.”

“Are you going to allow this promise to lock you up for a lifetime? Is that worth it?” The woman shook her head.

“Everything I have was given to me by the Illusive Music Immortal Palace. A person needs to know how to repay kindness. This was the only way for me to stop being enemies with Long Chen and not betray the Illusive Music Immortal Palace.” Zi Yan closed her eyes, bitterly saying, “I thought I was the only one. I thought it was just wishful thinking. But today… he confessed his love for me. How can I be happy and hurt at the same time?”

“Your nature is too kind. You won’t betray others, but what if others betray you?” The woman shook her head with a bitter smile.

“Long Chen? I haven’t given him anything, so how could he betray me?” Zi Yan shook her head at the implication.

“Long Chen is the same as you. He won’t betray anyone. I was talking about… well, nevermind. Long Chen is your devil star. They didn’t lie to you about that. But there is one aspect that they explained wrongly.” The woman’s smile turned cold.

“Senior, what are you talking about?”

“You don’t understand because the time hasn’t come yet. Child, don’t cry. Your future is not as dark as you imagine. There are still many changes to come,” comforted the woman.

“Really?”

“Of course. Let’s go. When you get back, go into seclusion. This immemorial essence blood can make up for your lack of bloodlust. With it, you can fully awaken your manifestation. If you still don’t reach that level, you’ll be thrown behind by that girl called Ye Zhiqiu.”

“Senior, I’m curious, why do you want me to get closer to Ye Zhiqiu? I can sense something familiar about her,” said Zi Yan suddenly.

“The mysteries of the heavens cannot be leaked. You’ll know in the future, so you don’t need to ask. I cannot see your exact future, but I know that although it’s not very good, it’s also not terrible.” After saying that, the woman and Zi Yan vanished together.

…

Long Chen returned, still a bit dismayed. When Meng Qi and the others saw him, they rushed over.

“Long Chen, what happened?” asked Tang Wan-er.

“My pick-up skills failed,” sighed Long Chen.

“How could that be?”

Meng Qi and the others couldn’t believe it. They had all seen the tenderness in Zi Yan’s eyes when she looked at Long Chen. Although Zi Yan acted quiet and content, she was unable to hide her feelings from them.

Meng Qi had nudged Long Chen to send Zi Yan off to give them a chance to talk alone. Unexpectedly, Zi Yan had refused him.

“Does Zi Yan have her own secret troubles? Even a blind person can see her feelings toward you,” wondered Tang Wan-er.

Long Chen nodded. “That’s the most likely case. Zi Yan said that according to the Illusive Music Immortal Palace’s calculations, I am her devil star. That’s absolute nonsense. Her sect definitely used it to force Zi Yan into an oath binding her to them. To not be my enemy, she compromised with them. That damn Illusive Music Immortal Palace, are they forcing me to tear them down?”

“Hmph, the Illusive Music Immortal Palace is said to be a protector of the Martial Heaven Alliance, but they’re so despicable,” cursed Tang Wan-er.

At first, Long Chen and Zi Yan had always fought whenever they encountered each other. Their philosophies were complete opposites.

What had made Zi Yan’s attitude change was the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither. It had sealed her power and changed her appearance, allowing her to see another point of view within the Yin Yang World.

That had allowed Zi Yan to see the ugliness that she had never seen before. For the first time, she saw the world that Long Chen saw. Most ironic of all, when she had been in danger, the only one to help her was Long Chen.

After that, Zi Yan learned how to see things from many different viewpoints. She had become steadier, and her feelings toward Long Chen had grown.

When she thought of how she had fought against him and repeatedly tried to advise him, bringing him so much trouble, she was ashamed of herself. After that, she did her best to make up for it.

Of course, she had never mentioned those things to anyone. Long Chen had no idea that the ugly girl he had randomly saved back then was her.

However, he did know that those tears she had shed just now meant that he was in her heart. It was just that she was unable to accept his feelings. So his anger fell on the Illusive Music Immortal Palace.

“Why don’t we just charge over to the Illusive Music Immortal Palace and demand them to hand her over?” said Cloud, clenching her fists. “With our current power, we don’t need to be afraid of them.”

Meng Qi shook her head, calming her down. “Zi Yan was raised by the Illusive Music Immortal Palace. She cares deeply about that, so she won’t betray her sect. If we try to force it, it would be unjust to Zi Yan. She must have her own troubles, so let’s take this slowly. There will definitely be a chance in the future.”

Long Chen nodded along. “Let’s put this matter aside for now. Meng Qi is right. There’s no point in rushing this. There will definitely come a solution, but the right time hasn’t come yet. We should be focusing on increasing our power right now. We have the immemorial essence blood, so you can all fully activate your manifestations with your Spirit Blood. As our enemies gather their power, we have to raise our own strength so that we have a great chance of surviving the battles to come.”

Everyone went into seclusion. Meng Qi and the others had to absorb a great deal of the immemorial essence blood in order to fully activate their manifestations. The Dragonblood warriors were also doing the same. Only Guo Ran and Xia Chen remained outside, working on refining the essence blood of the immemorial essence blood.

As for Long Chen, he went to a desolate area of the Xuan Beasts’ territory. He took out the demonic furnace. It was time for him to increase his own power as well.