Chapter 420 - Heaven Sword Array

“The Mo family?” Lin Batian had a faint memory of this event, but it had happened many years ago. Lin Batian was similar in age to Long Chen, and at the time, he was focused on learning cultivation in the palace. That was why it had not left a deep impression; he had only occasionally heard people talking about it.

Killing off an entire family was a common occurrence in the Imperial Capital, which was why Lin Batian did not care much. However, the Mo family case had indeed been a chaotic affair since it was one of the four great families of the capital. Not even one of them remained, and a prospering clan had been sent to hell in an instant.

However, no one had expected one unassuming child to have survived. That was Mo Xiaolang.

Lin Batian could only shake his head in exasperation. Based on Long Chen’s confidence just now, he knew that not only would Long Chen avenge the Mo family, he would also do it in front of the whole world.

“Don’t worry. I will definitely pass your words to my father,” said Lin Batian.

“That’s good.” Long Chen nodded. He was not a match for the Sword Emperor right now, so he needed some time to cultivate first. His goal for his first return to the Imperial Capital had been completed. Three masters of the imperial family who had not reached the Heavenly Passage Realm had been killed by him.

The only regret he had was the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit.

He also had one very important reason to kill the Sword Emperor. It was imperative for him to obtain the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit.

Everyone stared in terror as Long Chen dropped Lin Batian a final reminder, then he leaped off the building with his little wolf and disappeared towards the Snowpeak Mountains in the north. That was where Long Chen had chosen to cultivate.

He did not plan to return to the Heavenly Demon Palace.

When Long Chen first set out to get revenge on the imperial family, he did not know he would have to lay low at this point in his journey. At the time, he thought he could get the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit with his current strength. It turned out to be impossible. Since what he was after was in the Sword Emperor’s hands, he would have to work harder to retrieve it.

After Long Chen disappeared from sight, Lin Batian and the rest relaxed their tense bodies and slid weakly to the ground, looking at each other. Qian Jiang, who was at the Eighth River Stage, asked, “Do we need to tell His Majesty about his instructions?”

“Yes! Of course! And we must even announce it loudly!” Lin Batian answered coldly after some thought.

“Why?” Qian Jiang was surprised.

“Don’t you think Long Chen is a bit too scary? Now that Lin Zichen has died, the throne will be passed down to me. Long Chen belongs to the Heavenly Demon Palace, and he is far more powerful than me. What do you think he will do to me in the future? Have you forgotten that the Imperial Sword is with him? That is the symbol of the imperial family! How could it stay with him?”

“So, are you saying that we must make His Majesty cautious and take him seriously? And make everyone else nervous? And that’s the only way His Majesty will be decisive enough to kill Long Chen?”

“Naturally. However, when my father finds out that Lin Zichen is dead, no one will want to see Long Chen dead more than him ...” Lin Zichen was dead, and now Lin Batian had become the Emperor’s favorite son. He felt a little smug, to be honest.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Your Highness, if Long Chen really storms the Imperial Capital one day, will he be a match for His Majesty?” Qian Jiang was completely stunned by Long Chen.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Do you know who my father is? I hear that he is the number one master in the whole Cangyang Kingdom. Although Long Chen is strong, he is too young. How could he compare to my father, who has experienced hundreds of battles? Has water gone into your brain?” Lin Batian scolded him in exasperation.

“Yes! Yes!” Qian Jiang quickly said in an ingratiating manner. He had no choice because Lin Batian was about to become the most powerful person in the kingdom. Now he had to put some effort into making him happy.

Lin Batian looked towards the direction where Long Chen had gone, then he commanded, “Return to the capital!”

***

Long Chen soon arrived at the Snowpeak Mountains. This place was far in the north, so it was very cold. He could tell that this place was covered with snow during winter. However, summer was here, so most of the snow had melted into freshwater, which flowed in large rivers that wove through the mountain range to the east.

He quickly found a beautiful meadow with birds and flowers surrounded by tall, elegant trees. There was a clear stream flowing through it with fish and prawns swimming happily within. It was a beautiful sight.

“Xiao Xi, to be honest, I want to reach the Ninth River Stage by using Blood Transmutation. However, the Cangyang Kingdom doesn’t have any powerful beasts. And if there were Heaven-tier beasts, I don’t know if we could kill one even if Xiaolang and I worked together.”

Ling Xi fluttered around the flowers, then she suddenly leaped in front of Long Chen and asked, “Does that mean you’ve got to focus on cultivating on your own?”

“That’s the only way.”

“Do you have enough Heavenly River Pills?”

“I’ve brought enough Heavenly River Pills from the Heavenly Demon Palace. Right now, I just need to gather more Qi.” Long Chen paused, then he said, “Xiao Xi, don’t worry. I will get the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit as soon as possible!”

He had brought up the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit again.

Ling Xi forced a smile. There was a hint of worry in her smile.

Long Chen had no idea what the Sword Emperor was going to do with the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit. That was why he was under a lot of pressure. After chatting with her for a while, he immersed himself in cultivation. He had already condensed sixteen out of the eighteen heavenly rivers in his body. The two remaining star veins were still empty.

Long Chen had to cultivate constantly in order to condense the last two star rivers.

At this juncture, he truly felt the difficulty of cultivation. Previously, his quick rise was largely due to the awesome power of Blood Transmutation. Right now, when there was no target to use Blood Transmutation on, it was difficult to raise his cultivation level.

It looks like the Cangyang Kingdom is no longer suitable for me. After I find the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit, I’ll help Ling Xi regain her physical body and then bring her to an even larger kingdom that we’ll explore together!

This was the idealistic dream that Long Chen had, and he knew where he wanted to explore next.

There were ten thousand tiny nations like the Cangyang Kingdom in the Ten Thousand Nations Territory. A few of those kingdoms were hundreds or thousands of times stronger than the Cangyang Kingdom. The Heavenly Passage Realm was exceedingly rare in the Cangyang Kingdom, but it was as common as stray dogs in the ten great nations.

The term given to the ten nations was the Ten Great Empires. Every empire contained more than a thousand countries under their rule, each one with a different power level. The Cangyang Kingdom was considered the weakest kind. Just from this alone, one could see how immense the legendary Dragon Continent was.

The Cangyang Kingdom was ruled by the Divine Martial Empire, which was one of the Ten Great Empires. Long Chen had heard Zhao Qingyun mention that there was a special array that led to the Divine Martial Empire. Long Chen was not thinking of leaving the Cangyang Kingdom at the time, but now that he thought of it again, he wanted to ask Zhao Qingyun about it the next time they met.

Long Chen felt great pressure within him because he knew that Ling Xi and Li Xuanji’s hometowns were likely not within the Ten Thousand Nations Territory or the Ten Great Empires. Based on Ling Xi’s abilities, he could tell that the people there would be much more terrifying than the people in the Ten Great Empires. It would not be easy for Long Chen to marry Ling Xi in broad daylight.

Of course, that would be much later on. He did not think much for the moment and immersed himself in cultivation.

However, reaching the Ninth River Stage was much more difficult than he anticipated. Even after cultivating nonstop for half a month, he did not make much progress. Long Chen now knew why it had taken more than ten years for a prodigy like Lin Zichen to reach the Ninth River Stage. In contrast, Long Chen had only been cultivating for less than a year.

The path of cultivation consists of cycle after cycle; it’s a difficult path. It looks like I have been underestimating this path as my journey has just been too smooth. However, I’ve always been able to grow faster than other people. Xiaolang too.

Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye. Long Chen didn’t know what chaos had ensued in the Imperial Capital after his incident. All he cared about was whether the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit was still there.

This was the main reason he had left Yuanling City to go to the Biyang Imperial Capital.

Time passed, and his cultivation did not progress quickly. This frustrated Long Chen. He talked much less than before and spent almost every hour of every day working hard. Ling Xi felt even more timid when she saw how hard he was working, not daring to tell him about her biggest worry.

Almost a month has passed, and I’ve only completed about a quarter of what is needed. This means that I need three more months to reach the Ninth River Stage. To other people, I’m progressing very quickly, but to me, this is slow ...

When Ling Xi saw impatience appear in his eyes, she bit her lip and suddenly said, “Brother Chen, why don’t I teach you an advanced Heaven-tier technique? I wanted to wait until you were at the Heavenly Passage Realm, but with your extraordinary comprehension abilities, you might be able to learn it now.”

Long Chen was ecstatic at her offer. Advanced Heaven-tier? Even the Supreme Demon Sword of the Demon Emperor Sword Technique was only at the elementary Heaven-tier. How powerful would Ling Xi’s advanced Heaven-tier technique be?

“Xiao Xi, I love you so much! Quick, tell me what it is, and what makes it advanced Heaven-tier!” Long Chen asked excitedly, stopping his cultivation.

“You still remember the Heaven Bearing Sword Prison technique that I used at the Star Devil Prison, right? This advanced Heaven-tier technique is a sword technique from the same secret scripture as the Heaven Bearing Sword Prison, but even more useful for you. It is called the Heaven Sword Array.”