Looking at those lost experts, Long Chen had no thoughts of mocking them. The heights they were standing at were different, so the things they saw were different as well.

If he were standing in the same position as them, perhaps he wouldn’t be much better than them. These people were fated to not be the main characters of this era, so they could only watch. Victory meant that they had borne witness to history. Defeat meant vanishing like a wisp of smoke.

After a few more transportation formations, Long Chen arrived in the Southern Xuan Region, but he was still quite far from his target. Hence, he got into a flying boat.

A spatial barrier appeared ahead soon, with experts of the divine families standing in front of it. They were wearing robes different from the armor of the Heavenly Dragon Legion. It lacked some grandeur but seemed more scholarly in exchange.

“Hold it. Who are you? Report your name or be executed!” ordered someone amongst the guards of the divine families.

“Long Chen.”

“You are Long Chen?” That person looked Long Chen up and down and asked, “Do you have any proof?”

Long Chen slapped him, sending his teeth flying. 

Weapons came flying out of their sheaths. Those experts instantly entered a battle-ready state.

“What are you all so nervous about? This senior wished for proof, so I gave it to him. This technique of mine is something no one else can imitate. Across the entire Martial Heaven Continent, only I possess this divine ability. This is definitely the best proof,” said Long Chen nonchalantly.

Long Chen refused to believe that these people didn’t recognize him. First, they demanded him to state who he was, then they asked for proof? That was clearly making things hard on him intentionally. 

The divine families had sent word that he would be coming, so how could they not tell the guards? Hence, Long Chen could tell that these people were trying to give a blow to him, but regretfully, that was the wrong choice.

“You…!”

The expert that had been struck pointed at Long Chen, his finger trembling. He wanted to attack with the sword in his hand, but he didn’t dare to. At the same time, he refused to just accept things as they were. He glared at Long Chen, not knowing what to do.

“Oh, do you need more proof? If you still feel that you can’t be sure that I’m Long Chen, then…”

Evilmoon suddenly appeared in Long Chen’s hand. In that instant, a murderous aura locked onto that expert. It felt like the gates of hell had been opened. The air became saturated with a feeling of death.

“If you don’t believe me, I can show you one of my saber techniques. It just so happens that those techniques are also unique to me.” Long Chen slowly raised Evilmoon, his aura condensing.

That expert, with a third step Netherpassage cultivation base, could not remain standing in the face of Long Chen’s saber. His knees struck the ground.

Only after his knees struck the ground did he recover slightly, and he hastily twisted to the side, resulting in him sitting instead of kneeling toward Long Chen.

“Are you prepared? I’ll give you your proof.”

“No! No need! I believe that you are Long Chen. You can enter!” cried that expert.

“You don’t want proof?” asked Long Chen, seemingly confused.

“No.”

“How about I give you some anyway? I wouldn’t want the divine families to look down on me for not following the rules. I don’t mind giving you a show of my saber techniques,” said Long Chen.

That expert turned green. If that saber fell toward him, would he have any chance of surviving?

The barrier suddenly opened, revealing a path through. Long Chen smiled and put Evilmoon away. “Many thanks.”

Long Chen patted his butt and walked through the opening.

…

Within a palace, Elder Long watched the scene playing out on the wall.

“This Long Chen has no taboos. Even if he wants to beat a dog, he has to see who the master is first. Does he not know this?”

Other than Elder Long, there was another old man who was a Heaven Elder.

“Long Chen’s smart. He realized long ago that we were using him against the Ye family. If he made a concession here, he would have to make more concessions in the future. If that happened, there would also be no value in using him. Now, he has the support of the Long family no matter what he does. If he causes trouble, the Long family will help him clean it up,” said Elder Long.

“Are you not afraid of being unable to control him?” The other Elder frowned.

“Control? Why would we have to control him? This is a mutually beneficial cooperation with no one controlling the other. Long Chen is quite extreme in this regard. He will not allow anyone to control him.”

“How outlandish. He came from some little secular empire and somehow reached this level without his character changing at all. That kind of character is rare. It makes me think of another person, but he was even more marvelous than Long Chen. Unfortunately, the heavens toy with people. If it weren’t for him, our Long family wouldn’t have been forced into such a state…”

“Pay attention to your words. Elder Xue, that is taboo,” barked Elder Long, his expression sinking.

Elder Xue nodded. “I know. I only said it because there’s only the two of us here. If it weren’t for that matter, would our Long family have to be so passive? Now, it seems that the way the head handled it-”

Elder Long waved his hand, interrupting him. “That’s enough. Do not bring up this matter again. It is a taboo of our Long family, and if the head hears it, it will be disastrous for you. After so many years, there’s no point in placing blame. The important thing is whether or not we can return to the throne as the leaders of the four divine families. This will be our last chance. Aotian is our greatest hope, but the other three families are also watching like tigers. Right now, the best thing is to divert as much of their attention away, with Long Chen being the best target. That’s why we have to do our best to raise him. The stronger he is, the more beneficial it is to us.”

Elder Long continued looking at the scene portrayed before him and clenched his fists. He trusted his vision.

…

Space twisted around Long Chen, and he found himself in a world of abundant spiritual qi. Faint mist hung on the flowers along the path. The most shocking thing was that the laws of the Heavenly Daos were a bit different here than in the Martial Heaven Continent. However, he wasn’t able to tell what aspect was different about them.

“The laws of the Heavenly Daos are comparatively more complete in this place. If you refine pills here, it will be twice as fast with half the effort,” said the Moon and Star Refining Furnace.

“So that’s the case.” Long Chen suddenly realized that it was true. It seemed that the laws here were a bit stronger. “Wait, what do you mean more complete? Are you saying that the laws on the Martial Heaven Continent are incomplete?”

“The Martial Heaven Continent has been badly damaged, including the Heavenly Daos. Even here, the Heavenly Daos are still damaged. It’s just that they’re a bit better off than on the Martial Heaven Continent,” explained the Moon and Star Refining Furnace.

Long Chen suddenly asked Evilmoon, ”Did you know as well? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I am not so stupid,” snorted Evilmoon.

The Moon and Star Refining Furnace fell silent. Clearly, Evilmoon was saying that it was too talkative. Evilmoon had known about this matter and hadn’t told Long Chen to avoid adding any extraneous karma.

For Long Chen to know such matters was meaningless at this time. It would only bring more variables into his future.

The Moon and Star Refining Furnace had just awoken so it didn’t know there were so many taboos, resulting in it directly saying these things. After Evilmoon’s indirect scolding, it also fell silent.

“Moon Refiner, sorry. If there’s anything restricted like this in the future, you don’t have to tell me,” said Long Chen. Even item-spirits had feelings, and the Moon and Star Refining Furnace had only told him because of good intentions. It wasn’t good for Evilmoon to chide it so harshly.

However, Evilmoon’s character leaned very much to the vicious and sinister side, so it was natural for it to not care about other people’s feelings. Long Chen could only comfort the Moon and Star Refining Furnace himself.

“It’s fine. Senior Evilmoon’s teachings are correct. I don’t know much about karma,” said the Moon and Star Refining Furnace.

For it to call Evilmoon senior, it seemed that the latter was still a level above it in terms of quality. In fact, even the Demon Moon Furnace was a bit afraid of Evilmoon. Evilmoon’s origins were not so simple.

Evilmoon had never said where it came from, and Long Chen had never asked. Asking would be useless as Evilmoon wouldn’t tell him.

After just a few steps within this world, another barrier appeared, with another batch of experts guarding it.

“Long Chen, you’ve arrived?”

“Who are you?” asked Long Chen, not recognizing this person.

“Haha, I’m from the eighth Heavenly Dragon Legion. You don’t know me, but I know you,” said that person. He wasn’t wearing the armor of the Heavenly Dragon Legion at the moment.

“Cough, based on the rules, please display a token of your identity so that you can pass this checkpoint,” he said apologetically.

Long Chen took out the tablet that Elder Long had given him. That person confirmed it, and after a few words with the other guards, he said, “Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, this is your first time here, so let me guide you.”

“Many thanks.” Long Chen cupped his fists, and the two walked through the opening of this barrier. They then arrived at the peak of a large mountain. That opening was actually a transportation formation.

Looking around, Long Chen had yet to get a clear look at his surroundings when he noticed that everyone around him was on one knee.

“You don’t need to be so courteous?” Long Chen was startled.

“Idiot, senior Feng Fei is coming out. Kneel and get out of the way!”

Suddenly, an exasperated voice rang out. A whip crackled, aiming for his face.