That rune was left behind by the Heavenly Daos. Once merging with that rune, the world would acknowledge you as a true Netherpassage expert.

However, such a rune wouldn’t appear for just anyone. Most experts would only absorb the lightning to the standard of the Heavenly Daos and would obtain that acknowledgment. The rune would then appear in their body.

A rune that manifested itself outside of the body was much stronger. Kun Pengzi, Tian Xiezi, Di Feng, and the other peak heavenly geniuses had all had a rune manifest outside their bodies.

That was why their hearts dropped upon seeing this rune. It signified that Long Chen had passed the tribulation. Once he merged with it, he would fully step into the Netherpassage realm, and his combat power would soar.

Kun Pengzi turned into a bolt of lightning shooting at Long Chen. His halberd pierced toward Long Chen’s head. He wanted to kill Long Chen before he could merge with his rune.

Suddenly, an arrow flew through the air, releasing blinding light. Beitang Rushuang had taken action.

The tribulation had vanished, and they didn’t have to have misgivings any longer. Beitang Rushuang’s arrow infuriated Kun Pengzi. Even someone as powerful as him couldn’t ignore this arrow.

BOOM!

Kun Pengzi’s lightning halberd swung through the air, shattering the arrow. But his movement came to a stop.

Before he could attack again, Beitang Rushuang unleashed another arrow, forcing him to stop his advance.

“Beitang Rushuang, you are courting death!” roared Kun Pengzi. At this critical moment, Beitang Rushuang was stopping him and allowing Long Chen to merge with his lightning rune.

“Long Chen, hurry and merge with the rune of the Heavenly Daos. Leave the rest to us.” Nangong Zuiyue also stepped forward. A curtain of water descended from the heavens, falling into the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring.

The Martial Heaven Sea-Ring began to boil. One giant water dragon after another soared out, attacking Tian Xiezi and Di Feng.

Di Feng and Tian Xiezi roared furiously, blasting those water dragons apart. However, the water dragons came in an endless tide.

BOOM!

Just at that moment, a giant furnace slammed apart countless water dragons. A graceful figure stood on top of it. The Pill Fairy had come with Pill Valley’s divine item, the Daynight Furnace.

The Daynight Furnace had just appeared when a giant multicolored umbrella blocked it. Images of mountains and rivers moved atop of it. They seemed alive, as if there was a world inside the umbrella.

In front of that other world was Nangong Zuiyue. She blocked the Pill Fairy’s path.

“You aren’t a match for me. If you don’t want to be killed, get out of the way,” ordered the Pill Fairy. The Daynight Furnace rumbled toward Nangong Zuiyue.

BOOM!

The umbrella’s mountains collapsed. Nangong Zuiyue was forced back bit by bit.

“Your Nangong family’s Mountains and Rivers Umbrella might be an ancient divine item, but it has no god’s inheritance. If you still refuse to appreciate my kindness, don’t blame me for being merciless.” The Pill Fairy coldly pressed forward.

BOOM!

The mountains and rivers were torn apart. Cracks appeared all over the umbrella. In this clash of divine items, the Mountains and Rivers Umbrella was clearly no match for the Daynight Furnace which came from a god’s inheritance.

Blood dripped out of Nangong Zuiyue’s mouth, but she remained calm. She showed no sign of retreating. 

The Pill Fairy formed hand seals, causing the Daynight Furnace to rumble. As she prepared an even stronger attack, she asked, “Do you like him so much that you’re willing to sacrifice your life to protect him?”

Nangong Zuiyue smiled and shook her head. “It has nothing to do with liking him. I believe in the Sovereigns. Since the Sovereigns favor him, I will use my life to protect him. I believe that even if Long Chen cannot become a Sovereign, he is the hope for the future of the Martial Heaven Continent.”

“How stupid. There are clearly gods in this world, yet you place your faith in the ignorant.” The Pill Fairy snorted. A divine rune lit up on her forehead, and the Daynight Furnace’s runes blazed with fire. It came smashing forward with several times the power compared to before.

This time, the Pill Fairy was using her god energy to bring out the full power of the Daynight Furnace. If this attack landed, Nangong Zuiyue would definitely die.

However, even in the face of this fatal attack, Nangong Zuiyue didn’t retreat. The Mountains and Rivers Umbrella revolved. Even if she had to die, she would receive this attack.

A zither suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking the Daynight Furnace. 

BOOM!

A powerful explosion rang out accompanied by the music of a zither. The zither and furnace separated, leaving the void still distorted. When things settled, Zi Yan’s figure appeared.

Zi Yan’s gaze was icy with killing intent. “Yu Qingxuan, you’ve really disappointed me. I always thought that you still had some of your old emotions deep in your heart. But you’re cold to the core. Since that’s the case, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

In all her life, Zi Yan had rarely been angry. But this time, she was truly enraged. She had always had some hope for the Pill Fairy. She felt that the Pill Fairy loved Long Chen, and even if they had to be enemies, she wouldn’t really kill him.

However, seeing her unleash a killing blow without hesitation against Nangong Zuiyue extinguished those hopes. Zi Yan understood Long Chen’s character. If the Pill Fairy was targeting him, Long Chen would give her wiggle room based on their past relationship. However, if she killed Nangong Zuiyue, Long Chen would feel endless guilt and rage.

Long Chen always said to target him, as he was afraid of implicating the innocents. Hence, the Pill Fairy’s actions were equivalent to fully breaking off ties with Long Chen, so Zi Yan was enraged.

Icily, Zi Yan began to play her zither. It was completely different from the gentle music of the past. Now her zither music was filled with murderous intent, and every note resonated throughout heaven and earth. A sharp blade shot out of the zither’s strings.

The invisible blade sliced through the void. Shocked, the Pill Fairy vanished, reappearing miles away.

A strand of hair slowly fell. Following that, her cheek became slightly hot. A trace of blood flowed out.

The Pill Fairy was startled. She had clearly dodged the attack, so how was she still injured? Large waves soared in her heart as she looked at it. “That zither… is strange.”

Although the Seven String Sea Suppressing Zither was renowned, it was not a god’s inherited divine item. How could it threaten her with the Daynight Furnace and her god energy?

Zi Yan continued playing, unleashing a multitude of invisible blades. The Pill Fairy immediately moved the Daynight Furnace in front of her.

The invisible blades smashed into the Daynight Furnace. The sound was like that of a heavenly drum shaking the world.

Following Zi Yan and the others, the other experts of the various powers also took action. One portion of them wanted to kill Long Chen, and another portion wanted to protect him.

With the Heaven Splitting Blade, the old man attacked Yu Xiaoyun and the others. “Little bastards, let’s have a fight to the death today!”

The Martial Heaven Virtue Tablet came out thanks to Qu Jianying, unleashing radiant light. The Xuantian Tower and the Reincarnation Mirror appeared. All the divine items of the various powers appeared. War had erupted because of Long Chen.

Hundreds of the Martial Heaven Continent’s strongest divine items began to clash against each other. The sight of such a thing was no less terrifying than the heavenly tribulation.

Kun Pengzi, Tian Xiezi, the Pill Fairy, Di Feng, and other experts on their side were charging toward Long Chen. But Zi Yan, Nangong Zuiyue, Beitang Rushuang, Ye Lingshan, Bao Buping, Chang Hao, and the other experts of the Martial Heaven Alliance were stopping them.

Although the Martial Heaven Alliance’s army was clearly weaker than the combined forces of the various powers, every one of their experts was fighting all-out. Kun Pengzi and the others were unable to get past them.

Long Chen was standing right within the rune now. He began drawing it into his body.

Suddenly, a sword pierced out of the air. At some point, someone had managed to sneak over without anyone noticing.

“It’s Ye Benchang!”

Bao Buping let out a furious roar. That bastard from the divine families was actually abusing his position to kill Long Chen. He was a powerful third step Netherpassage expert who was able to match ordinary fourth step Netherassage experts. 

“Ye Benchang, you’re finally no longer hiding your power. Could it be that you’re confident in killing me this time?” Long Chen smiled disdainfully.

“You looked down on the divine families, broke the laws set down by the divine families, and instigated a war on the continent. You, Long Chen, deserve ten thousand deaths. Even with all of that, you still dare to slander people and add to your sins?” Ye Benchang sneered and stabbed his sword straight at Long Chen’s head.

BOOM!

The void exploded and a giant dragon claw smashed into Ye Benchang.

Long Chen snorted, “Who do you think you are, Ye Benchang? Did you think I wouldn’t have any defenses?”

As soon as the rune had appeared, Long Chen had known that such a thing would occur. Hence, Lei Long had been hidden in the void, preparing the lightning channel and telling the drake king to be ready at a moment’s notice.

Ye Benchang slashed his sword at the giant claw. However, he was swatted away. He almost coughed up blood from the impact, causing his expression to change.

“Idiot, do you think that you’re a Sovereign?” Long Chen was full of contempt. The Sovereign had managed to easily cut off the drake king’s claw with his sword, but did this fellow think that he could do the same?

Long Chen focused himself on drawing the rune inside him. However, he found that there was a powerful repulsion preventing him from absorbing it.

Long Chen angrily shouted, “I gave you face, but you reject it? Get in here!”

Long Chen opened his mouth. The rune shrank down until he swallowed it.

Explosive rumbling came from Long Chen’s body. He suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood as the rune resisted.

“Haha, you got yourself killed!” Ye Benchang laughed. His body suddenly split into eighteen clones that attacked him from every angle, making the drake king powerless to stop them all.

However, unexpectedly, the dragon claw didn’t come. Instead, it retreated into the lightning domain, leaving the giant channel in the air, through which a group of people came charging out.

“Ye Benchang, you son of a bitch, just try to touch a single hair on my boss’s head!”