It was with great difficulty that Long Chen managed to escape from Meng Qi. He had to admit he really was a bit afraid of her. The main thing was that he really was guilty.

Although he repeatedly said that he wouldn’t do something like messing around with random women, in Long Chen’s heart, there was a figure that couldn’t be washed away: Yue Xiaoqian. In truth, he and Yue Xiaoqian were just two strangers that had met by chance. They had met in the secret realm, and they had parted in the secret realm. When the secret realm had closed, their relationship had ended.

But Long Chen found that this reasoning of his was just him trying to deceive himself. As time passed, he found that he had a great urge to once more see her enchanting charm.

It seemed he couldn’t forget such a peerlessly beautiful woman no matter how hard he tried. Long Chen had an urge to slap himself.

But he wasn’t able to trick himself. He also wished he could be unconstrained like others, treating beauties as if they didn’t mean anything to him. But that would just be acting, and acting that way would just make himself an idiot. In the end, the only one to suffer would be himself.

It was just like how he had first met Meng Qi. Back then, if Long Chen had gotten angry to maintain his dignity when Meng Qi had withdrawn from their marriage agreement, saying vicious words full of rancor to protect his own face, he would have regretted it for the rest of his life.

Only later had he learned that Meng Qi had withdrawn from their marriage agreement in order to protect him. Now, Long Chen felt incomparably proud of his thick face.

After Lu Fang-er had died, Long Chen had done his best to restrain his emotions. He knew that if he wanted more people by his side, he had to have enough power to protect them. Otherwise, there would definitely be a sad ending again.

That was also why Long Chen had intentionally maintained a certain distance from Mu Xue. Perhaps Mu Xue might like Long Chen, but Long Chen was unable to accept those feelings. Those feelings were a kind of burden.

Long Chen left the supermonastery and went north. There, he found a secluded mountain range where he was planning on training in the second form of Split the Heavens.

Right now, after this much time, the primal chaos space’s withered trees had recovered slightly and had grown new leaves.

That was a very good start. The beginning was the slowest part. But once they recovered this initial vitality, they would recover even faster.

“Hehe, the second form of Split the Heavens. Let me see just how powerful you are.”

Long Chen was filled with anticipation, because before the Heaven Splitting Divine Sect’s Guan Mian had left, he had told Long Chen not to push himself too hard with this move. He said that even he was unable to use this attack.

Back then, Long Chen had jumped in fright. Guan Mian was an exceptionally powerful half-step Sea Expansion expert, but even he did not have the qualifications to use the second form of Split the Heavens.

Guan Mian had said that the second form of Split the Heavens required a very firm and robust spiritual qi. He himself was unable to use it, and he acknowledged that it was because his comprehension of his cultivation technique was lacking.

Although Guan Mian hadn’t said it explicitly, Long Chen knew that this cultivation technique was the Battle God Sacred Canon, a priceless treasure on the same level as the Xuantian Catalog. It had already surpassed the scope of his understanding.

As for the nine forms of Split the Heavens, it required a person to cultivate the Battle God Sacred Canon to a certain level before being able to be used. The two of them complemented each other.

Guan Mian had his own reasons for transmitting the second form of Split the Heavens to Long Chen. One of those was precisely because when Long Chen used Split the Heavens, he sensed a completely different aura than that of the Battle God Sacred Canon. He wanted to know why Long Chen’s cultivation technique was also capable of using the first form. So he was curious whether he could use the second form as well.

Another reason was because he approved of Long Chen’s domineering side, and Long Chen had already learned the first form, so there was no reason not to teach him the second form. The Heaven Splitting Divine Sect’s members were all just that strange. The only ones they admired were true men, and sometimes their actions went against common sense.

Thus, he had transmitted the second form of Split the Heavens. But before leaving, he had left behind a warning: if Long Chen was unable to use it, he shouldn’t forcibly try it, or his meridians would explode.

Long Chen closed his eyes and began to circulate his spiritual qi. He slowly poured that spiritual qi through one acupuncture point after another. After a while, Long Chen’s aura completely erupted, causing the space around him to rumble.

“KaiYang, HeYin, MingChi, AnFu…” Long Chen’s spiritual qi first poured through the first nine acupuncture points of the first form before beginning to go through the new points.

This was one of the most abnormal aspects of Split the Heavens. The second form was superimposed on top of the first form. It was similar to the saber technique Long Chen had comprehended back then to superimpose the power of three slashes of his saber. Each slash was stronger than the previous.

As Long Chen had grown stronger, that kind of technique had already lost most of its effect. Thus, Long Chen no longer bothered using it anymore.

But the second form of Split the Heavens was superimposed on the first form. The first form required pouring spiritual qi through nine acupuncture points. As for the second form, it continued where the first form left off, once more going through nine acupuncture points. In other words, spiritual qi would go through eighteen acupuncture points before being released.

“13… 14… 15… 16… 1… 1… Fuck, can’t do it.”

BOOM!

The ground beneath Long Chen’s feet exploded. It was like a volcano was erupting from within Long Chen’s body, and his clothes blew off his body.

Long Chen vomited a mouthful of blood, filled with shock. Trying to use the second form of Split the Heavens had actually caused him to be injured.

“Damn, no wonder even a half-step Sea Expansion expert is unable to use the second form. It really is terrifying. My spiritual qi wasn’t even able to reach the seventeenth point. When I tried to force it, it actually caused my spiritual qi to explode within my meridians.

“I get it...there is no skill to speak of when using the second form. It relies entirely on one explosive release.

“If you don’t use enough power, you won’t be able to use it. If you try accumulating energy before using it, then the first few acupuncture points will be put under too much pressure and there is danger of the meridians being damaged. Since it’s like that… hehe… Divine ring!”

A three-hundred-meter three-color ring appeared behind Long Chen. A terrifying pressure soared into the sky.

“Again! 14… 15… 16... 1… 1… 17… The first seventeen acupuncture points have been opened. This eighteenth acupuncture point better open for me!”

But Long Chen was horrified to find that even with the divine ring, even with his spiritual qi circulating furiously, he was unable to open the eighteenth acupuncture point.

That acupuncture point was like a heavenly chasm taunting Long Chen. No matter how Long Chen tried, he was unable to step across.

“Three Star Battle Armor!”

Long Chen roared furiously, and three stars appeared in his eyes. Endless pressure caused the void to tremble.

RUMBLE!

The eighteenth acupuncture point finally broke open under the torrent of power from the Three Star Battle Armor.

“Split the Heavens 2!”

Long Chen’s saber rumbled as it released a saber-image several miles long. It soared high into the air first, smashing apart all the clouds.

It seemed like a huge divine blade. But then the blood-red saber-image slashed down on the ground, splitting it in two.

BOOM!

The saber-image pierced through the mountains, crashing through the ground. A deep canyon appeared in front of Long Chen.

Suddenly, the ground trembled and a wave of qi soared out. Endless lava spurted out at Long Chen.

“Fuck, I’m out of spiritual qi!”

Long Chen’s expression changed completely. He had managed to use the second form of Split the Heavens, succeeding in splitting apart the land, but he had exhausted all of his spiritual qi.

This lava was spurting out extremely quickly. It quickly filled the canyon and then spread.

That terrifying heat devoured trees, rocks, boulders, and mountains. Distant bird cries appeared in the distance along with the sound of all the animals in the vicinity fleeing.

“Fuck!”

Long Chen turned and fled. But without spiritual qi, his Three Star Battle Armor faded and his divine ring disappeared. It caused him to be unable to use the Netherworld Ghost Steps. Just relying on his two feet, he was unable to outrun the lava.

“This time, I’m really going to be turned into a cooked pig. I probably won’t have a single hair remaining,” cried Long Chen.

With his current physical body, he would be able to survive being submerged in lava for a while without spiritual qi. But his hair would instantly be sacrificed.

Just as the lava was about to envelop him, the serpent tattoo on his right arm lit up, and a blue flame serpent flew out.

That blue flame serpent grew until it was three hundred meters long. It opened its mouth and suddenly devoured Long Chen.

Long Chen couldn’t help being startled. He hadn’t incited the flame serpent to do this as he didn’t have the spiritual qi to do so. It had acted on its own.

After Long Chen was enveloped by the Earth Flame, that terrifying lava swept over the two of them. But with the Earth Flame’s protection, Long Chen was completely safe. Looking through the Earth Flame’s translucent body, he saw the lava surging around him, and he couldn’t help but cry that he was unlucky. How was he supposed to have known that there would be magma down below?

An incense stick’s time later, that lava finally stopped spurting out. But everything within thousands of miles had been covered by the lava now.

The Earth Flame brought Long Chen outside that range, then turned into a ray of light that returned to Long Chen’s arm.

Long Chen gently rubbed the flame serpent tattoo warmly. It had actually formed its own intelligence and had sensed he had been in danger, coming out to protect him on its own. This discovery was extremely gratifying to Long Chen.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything as a reward right now. Without spiritual qi, he couldn’t even give it any Pill Flame.

Looking at this immense lava pool, Long Chen was filled with a grand feeling. Although he was only able to use the second form of Split the Heavens once before running out of energy, this attack’s power filled him with confidence.

The dragon expert had told Long Chen that it was unable to send him more energy for now. He would have to rely on himself.

Although he wouldn’t have the dragon expert’s help, the second form of Split the Heavens gave him a great deal of confidence. This would be his greatest reliance when fighting Sea Expansion experts.

Now, Long Chen was even more grateful toward the Heaven Splitting Divine Sect’s Guan Mian. At the same time, he was feeling even more apologetic for the slap in his face. But then when he thought about it, perhaps if he hadn’t given him that slap, he wouldn’t have transmitted the second form of Split the Heavens to him. Thinking of that, Long Chen couldn’t help feeling it was funny.

Cleaning himself up a bit, Long Chen returned to the supermonastery. When he returned to his residence, as soon as he entered his courtyard, he felt a powerful force lock onto him.