Chapter 1173: 1173

Long Chen quickly arrived at a border town with a transportation formation .

But this was just a minor transportation formation . He sat through three similar transportation formations as well as one major transportation formation before arriving at the Grand Xia Ancient Nation’s imperial capital, Grand Xia City .

The transportation formation brought him outside the city . The guards here had already reached the Foundation Forging realm, and their leader was a King .

After paying the transportation formation and showing his identification badge again, he finally managed to enter .

Once he was in Grand Xia City, he was filled with shock . It was truly worthy of being one of the Central Plains’ four grand ancient nations . With a diameter measuring in the tens of thousands of miles, it was filled with countless soaring buildings that were both grand and luxurious, while also being simple and refined .

The most shocking thing to Long Chen was that each one of these buildings had countless formation runes on them that released immense pressure . Just any random building had terrifying defensive power, and there was no need to say anything about the city walls .

As the capital of the Grand Xia, this was a no flying zone . Everyone had to walk .

Long Chen saw countless experts as he walked through the streets . He even saw Hall Master-level experts just aimlessly wandering .

Hall Master-level experts were not rare, Kings were everywhere, and Foundation Forging and below were as common as dogs . Long Chen’s eyes had truly been opened to the world .

Within Grand Xia City, these figures that could shake the outside world were common citizens strolling around .

He followed the central street forward, seeing all kinds of buildings . There were quite a few with signboards saying they were from such-and-such a sect or power .

These were buildings that various powers had established in the Grand Xia . Many sects had side businesses in Grand Xia City, but whether they were selling or buying things from within their borders, they had to pay a certain tax .

Regretfully, Long Chen was still unaware of this, but the Xuantian Dao Sect did not have any businesses in Grand Xia City .

They had had such a business many years ago, but recently, the Xuantian Dao Sect had been unable to make ends meet, and they hadn’t had any special things to sell . Setting up a shop in this place was too expensive, so they left .

Long Chen asked around, and after an hour of traveling, he appeared at a fork in the road . Going right, it wasn’t long before he saw a dome . He smiled .

“Huayun Auction House . ”

When those bright golden words appeared in his eyes, Long Chen knew he had found his target .

Walking inside, he directly took out a jade tablet that Zheng Wenlong had given him . The owner quickly came to see Long Chen in a private room .

This auction house just so happened to be a branch business that Zheng Wenlong was in charge of . He knew that these people were all Zheng Wenlong’s trusted aides, so he didn’t waste any time . He directly asked the owner where the original devil race’s headquarters was .

He quickly received a map and saw that it was just a few streets away . When he arrived there, he found out that it was a refinery .

This was a refinery business that only made Treasure items and below . Within Grand Xia City that had countless high-level forging places, such a small business would find it difficult even surviving . Its business would be dismal .

However, this refinery not only made Treasure items and below, but it also made various other items such as furniture . Their craftsmanship was exquisite, and there was the occasional wealthy person with status who wanted to buy some of their wares . Their business didn’t look too bad on the surface .

“Senior, may I help you?” Long Chen had only just entered when a maiden seeming to look around sixteen years old greeted him .

Looking at her, Long Chen sensed an indescribable aura within her eyes . He smiled . Yes, this was the original devil race’s specific aura . He was very familiar with it .

“Mi Xi Ha Wei Ya . ” Seeing there were no other guests within the refinery, he quietly whispered to her .

Shock filled the maiden’s eyes, but she quickly collected herself and said, “Come with me!”

Long Chen followed her deeper into the refinery . They passed all kinds of weapon storehouses before appearing in a large space with dozens of smiths dripping with sweat, right in the midst of forging something .

Entering a separate room, a dozen experts were currently chatting while holding weapons in their hands .

When Long Chen and the maiden entered, these experts looked at them indifferently, but Long Chen could clearly sense their nervousness .

“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen!”

Suddenly, one of them stood up and looked at Long Chen with delight .

“You are…?” Long Chen didn’t recognize this person .

“Did you forget? In the Immemorial Path, we met when you were with the sacred daughter!”

“Greetings, senior apprentice-brother Long Chen!” Hearing that he was Long Chen, those experts suddenly dropped their weapons, kneeling toward him with one knee on the ground and raising their right hands over their chests in an ancient etiquette .

“There’s no need for this…” said Long Chen awkwardly . He wasn’t used to this kind of etiquette . How could men so easily kneel to others? Long Chen wouldn’t kneel to others, so he wasn’t able to accept it when others knelt toward him .

“Senior apprentice-brother, the leader has said that you are our benefactor . Everything we have is because of you, so we are eternally grateful,” said one of the original devil race’s experts .

Looking at these sincere faces and their eyes that seemed to reveal the depths of their hearts, Long Chen could clearly sense their feelings . He couldn’t help but feel emotional . In this world, there weren’t that many people who knew how to be grateful .

Ever since he had risen in the Phoenix Cry Empire, he had shown grace and favor to countless people . Although he never did that while expecting something in return, some people received other people’s kindness and simply treated it as if that was natural, as if other people owed them .

Compared to them, the original devil race’s experts gratified him .

“As long as you remember this in your hearts, it’s fine . There’s no need to say it with your mouths, or it won’t mean as much . ” Long Chen patted the one who spoke on the shoulder . These were true men worthy of respect .

“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, I should bring you to see the Elder . The rest of you, don’t delay senior apprentice-brother’s proper business . ” The maiden smiled .

“Ah, you must be busy, senior apprentice-brother Long Chen . You should go handle what you need to first . ” Those experts felt bad for taking up his precious time .

“Alright, then I’ll go greet senior first . When I have time, let’s drink together . ”

Long Chen smiled and followed the maiden down a twisting corridor . After passing through a secret door, he finally reached a secret room where a man was currently meditating . Only when the door was opened did he slowly open his eyes .

Just as he opened his eyes, Long Chen felt like two sharp blades had shot toward him . Although there was no danger, that sharp aura was impossible to conceal .

“What a powerful expert! And his cultivation base is still at the Hall Master-level . ”

Long Chen was shocked . This person’s aura showed he was at the Hall Master-level, and yet he was the strongest expert on that level that Long Chen had ever seen .

“The original devil race’s Yue Minghan greets our benefactor . ” This expert also knelt on the ground and took that strange posture just like the others had .

“Senior, I can’t accept this!” Long Chen immediately raised him up . He was completely unused to this kind of etiquette . He bitterly smiled . “Senior, can we skip this kind of custom? I don’t like restrictions, and having so much propriety makes me feel unnatural . ”

The expert stood and smiled faintly . “This etiquette must be carried out at least the first time . It’s so that we always remember who has helped us . If you don’t like it, this etiquette can be waived in the future . ”

“Then let’s hurry up and waive it . Such a thing takes up too much time and we have real problems to handle . Senior, you…”

“You can call me Seventh Elder . ”

“Alright, Seventh Elder, I just want to ask, is Xiaoqian here?” Long Chen missed her greatly after being apart for so long .

That was especially true when he thought of how he had parted with her in the Eastern Wasteland . Her eyes had been full of tears . He wanted to see her now .

“After you left the Eastern Wasteland, Xiaoqian returned to the Skyscraping World . Under the race leader’s arrangements, she entered seclusion and has yet to exit,” said the Seventh Elder .

“Why would she have to be in seclusion for so long?” Long Chen was startled . It had been over a year, and she had been in seclusion the entire time?

“She is in my original devil race’s ancestral inheritance land . Before she has condensed a Devil Core, your so-called Jade Core realm, she cannot come out . ”

“Isn’t that crazy? Why must she go all-out like this? There are two major realms to go from Sea Expansion to Jade Core!”

“Xiaoqian is doing it for you . Only once she condenses a Devil Core will she be able to conceal her identity from the eyes of Life Star experts . She wishes to reunite with you as soon as possible . This is also why Xiaoyu stopped Xiaoqian from going with you to the Central Plains . If she did, constantly being under the eyes of Life Star realm experts would be extremely dangerous . If they were to do a close examination of her, she would definitely be exposed . Then it would be dangerous for all of you . ”

“Alright, then I’ll just wait for her . Seventh Elder, here are some higher-level Heavenly Dao Fruits I gathered . Those brothers and sisters in the outside world will be a bit safer with them . ” Long Chen handed the Seventh Elder a spatial ring . When Long Chen had sent Cloud back to the Xuantian Dao Sect, he had given it a spatial ring containing the sixth and seventh rank Heavenly Dao Fruits he had gained this time .

There had been six rank seven Heavenly Dao Fruits gained this time . Two of them had come from the slain Hall Master-level experts . As for the rank six Heavenly Dao Fruits, they numbered in the hundreds .

Right now, he only had a pile of rank five and below Heavenly Dao Fruits, and he gave them all to the Seventh Elder .

He asked about the original devil race’s current situation . Right now, they had started spreading throughout the world . Although they didn’t dare to openly purchase certain resources, they were gathering several things that the Skyscraping World was lacking through various channels . Everything was going well .

Long Chen was relieved to hear all this . Saying goodbye, he set off for the Wine God Palace .

But halfway there, he suddenly came to a stop . He sensed a familiar aura .