Hearing that voice, everyone fell completely silent. They all slowly turned to look in the direction of that voice.

A figure was slowly walking over to everyone. The morning sun illuminated his back, its golden rays filling the entire sky.

The sun shone on his back, making it so they couldn’t see his face.

On his shoulder was a bone blade that was even longer than his body. Just like that, he walked over to everyone.

When that person appeared, an intense scent of blood blew over, causing everyone’s hearts to tremble. A profound terror came from their spirits.

“Long… Long Chen!”

When that person finally walked close enough, people managed to see his face at last. He had sword-like eyebrows and a hawk nose. He had a light stubble on his face that gave it a bit of a rugged look. If it wasn’t Long Chen, then who could it possibly be?

Long Chen had really returned? No one could believe their eyes. Long Chen had returned alive from the place known as the graveyard of the exiled?

Long Chen was wearing a set of golden leather armor that was dazzling under the sunlight. But as he got closer, people saw that it was actually an extremely crudely manufactured snakeskin robe.

When they saw those golden scales, they were absolutely shocked. That was the skin of the Golden Horned Python.

That was an extremely powerful existence amongst third rank Magical Beasts. Its snakeskin was famed for its defensive strength. But Long Chen was now using it as clothing.

Then looking at the huge blade on his shoulder, they saw that it wasn’t a real blade, but a sawed down tooth.

That tooth was three meters long, its entire body completely jade-white. There were actually some natural decorative patterns on the bone blade.

Not one person present was able to see through the origins of those decorative patterns, but there were two people in the distance who had.

Tu Fang sighed as he watched from a distance, “He really is a legendary existence. He actually managed to return from a path of sure death.

“Furthermore, he only needed a short two months. That really is shocking. But most shocking of all is that bloody aura on his body.

“That’s something formed from the resentment of powerful Magical Beasts. I really don’t know how many of them he killed to condense such a terrifying murderous aura.

“And that Golden Horned Python’s skin is frightening enough on its own, but he actually has a tooth from a fourth rank Dragon Blood Saber-toothed Tiger. I really can’t understand him.”

Originally, he had thought that Long Chen would require at least half a year to return. That was because there were countless third rank Magical Beasts on the way back, and even fourth rank Magical Beasts might appear. He would have to travel extremely carefully every day.

Ling Yunzi stared at that domineering figure and smiled, “This fellow really does have some tricks. He was actually able to kill a Golden Horned Snake. But I’m certain he didn’t do that with force. He must have used some sort of stratagem.

“And that bone blade isn’t all that rare. It’s just a tooth that has fallen out a long time ago. He probably just found it.

“It releases a pressure belonging to a fourth rank Magical Beast. Although it’s very faint, Magical Beasts are extremely sensitive to that kind of pressure.

“That’s probably why Long Chen was able to return to the monastery so quickly.”

Only then did Tu Fang realize that the bone blade possessed the pressure belonging to a fourth rank Magical Beast. When other Magical Beasts sensed that pressure, they would quickly flee. It was no wonder Long Chen could return so quickly.

“Long Chen’s aura is extremely strange. It seems like the peak of Blood Condensation, yet also not the peak. His blood has yet to reach complete saturation.” Tu Fang was surprised when he sensed Long Chen’s cultivation base.

“Yes, it really is strange. But I believe there will be a pretty good play to watch now. Come, have some tea.”

Ling Yunzi handed him a cup of tea and smiled. He was finding his own life had become more and more brilliant ever since Long Chen had appeared.

When Long Chen finally arrived in front of everyone, Tang Wan-er was unable to restrain herself any longer and began to cry.

“Long Chen…” Not caring about everyone’s gazes, she hugged Long Chen and cried. She didn’t know when, but at some time, Long Chen had occupied an irreplaceable part of her heart.

“Hey, so many people are watching.” Long Chen laughed, his heart extremely moved.

Normally, the two of them would quibble and bicker. But once he had left, she had realized how important he was to her.

“You scoundrel!” Tang Wan-er lightly hit Long Chen a couple of times, and then wiped away her tears with embarrassment, her face red.

At this time, Ye Zhiqiu also walked over. Although her expression was still icy, there was some warmth in her eyes.

“How about we have a group hug? I can’t favor just one person,” laughed Long Chen.

Ye Zhiqiu looked at his raised arms and merely said, “Congratulations on returning alive.”

Fine, I guess Ye Zhiqiu still hasn’t learned how to be humorous, thought Long Chen. He could only awkwardly put down his arms.

“Brother Long, we all knew you would return alive!” At this time Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang also all walked over. The three of them were delighted that Long Chen had returned.

“Hmph, so what if you’ve returned alive? Isn’t that just some dogshit luck? What can trash who is still just in the Blood Condensation realm possibly do?”

Qi Xin icily sneered at them disdainfully.

Song Mingyuan and the others were angered. Long Chen turned to Qi Xin and smiled slightly. “Your mouth really is as loathsome as ever. This time, I’ve gained much from my exile. In a bit, I’ll have to properly thank you for everything.”

Although Long Chen was smiling, his eyes were completely icy. With that bloody aura on his body, he really was like a death god, causing people’s hearts to turn cold.

“Hmph, you’re just at the peak of Blood Condensation. Don’t act like you’re some genius. I’ve already said that if you dare block my path again, I’ll ruthlessly crush you into pulp.” Gu Yang snorted disdainfully and pointed his fist at Long Chen.

Long Chen then lazily looked at Elder Sun who was above. “Elder Sun, you seem so shocked to see me return alive. How come your face is so green?”

Elder Sun truly was shocked. He couldn’t even believe his eyes.

“Feng Hai failed? That’s impossible, absolutely impossible! Feng Hai is at the top of the mid Tendon Transformation realm; there’s no way he couldn’t kill Long Chen! For Long Chen to return but him not to, there must have been some sort of accident. Most likely, he encountered a powerful fourth rank Magical Beast and was killed.”

Elder Sun had been extremely puzzled, but after he thought about it for a while, he calmed down. He was certain that if Feng Hai had encountered Long Chen, he would have definitely died.

And so since Feng Hai hadn’t encountered Long Chen, that meant the matter of him sending someone to kill Long Chen wouldn’t be exposed.

But seeing that ridiculing smile on Long Chen’s face, his heart began to pound. He once more began to wonder if he was wrong.

That was because Long Chen’s gaze was filled with endless ridicule and disdain. He was now uncertain whether or not Long Chen had seen Feng Hai.

If the monastery were to learn that he had sent someone to kill Long Chen, then he would definitely die a miserable death under the monastery’s strict rules.

“What? Elder Sun, how come your face is now turning blue? Are you trying to show us your remarkable skills in changing face color?” How could Long Chen not see through Elder Sun’s thinking?

But he also didn’t say anything about it at this time. That was because he had no proof that Feng Hai had been sent by Elder Sun.

So, he was unable to bring down Elder Sun yet. And if he said anything, that would just alarm him and put him on guard. Long Chen was someone who remembered his enmities. He would never forgive someone who had schemed to kill him.

“How presumptuous. How dare you disrespect your elders?” Elder Sun furiously shouted. No matter what the situation was, he was still an extremely prestigious Elder of the monastery. Being jeered at by a disciple naturally infuriated him.

“How did I disrespect my elders? I just said that Elder’s face is changing color. That’s not disrespect.” Long Chen lightly smiled.

He knew Elder Sun was trying to cover up his shock. Just keep putting on that play you old bastard. When you finally can’t keep acting, we’ll settle our debt.

Senior apprentice-brother Wan hastily opened his mouth when he saw Elder Sun’s expression turn dark. “Long Chen, since you’ve returned, hurry up and return to your faction. The Faction Competition is about to start.”

Long Chen nodded to senior apprentice-brother Wan. He actually respected this steady senior apprentice-brother of his much more.

He whispered to Tang Wan-er, “How’s the current situation?”

At this point, Tang Wan-er had recovered from her shock. She quickly gave him a rundown of what had happened and their current situation, emphasizing how powerful Gu Yang was.

“Hehe, boss, now that I’ve returned, you can finally carry me.” Only now did Guo Ran have a chance to say something to Long Chen.

“Don’t worry, this time won’t be the same as last time. You won’t need to run away. Just sit there. They’ll kneel down and hand their flags to you,” smiled Long Chen.

Before Guo Ran could reply, senior apprentice-brother Wan had already lit the incense stick. Long Chen gave Tang Wan-er an instruction to grab the flags just like they had the first time.

DONG!

The bell rang out, and all the core disciples rushed out, grabbing as many flags as they could. But Long Chen saw that everyone was much faster than before. In just a couple of breaths, all the flags had been taken.

It appeared that they had learned greatly from their experience. These people were already used to this kind of competition. Long Chen had only managed to get five flags before there were none left on the ground.

Once all the flags disappeared, there was immediately a group that rushed to the edge.

That was Guan Wennan’s neutral alliance. He would only watch. But this time, he fled further away than before, obviously afraid of being drawn into their fight.

Ye Zhiqiu, Song Mingyuan, Li Qi, and Luo Cang all drew closer to Tang Wan-er. They formed up into a battle formation extremely smoothly and quickly.

They had only just set up their formations when Gu Yang charged over with a heaven-shaking roar.

“Guo Ran,” called out Long Chen.

“Yes, boss!”

“Remember, when they come to give you flags in a bit, if they aren’t kneeling on the ground, we won’t accept them. Do you understand?”

Long Chen then charged out with his bone blade. Following Long Chen, Tang Wan-er, Ye Zhiqiu, and the others all rushed out as well.

A huge battle was about to commence!