To be more specific, they weren’t looking at Long Chen, but at Yue Zifeng, Li Qi, Song Mingyuan, and Guo Ran.

The four of them were all releasing powerful Heavenly Dao fluctuations. That was an inconcealable aura released when someone had just become a Celestial.

The most shocking thing to everyone was that it was the person most lacking in talent, the one who had cried like a dying pig in the storm zone, whose fluctuations were the strongest. Furthermore, there were two kinds of fluctuations coming from him. He was clearly a rank two Celestial.

“How is that possible?!”

Whether it was the Xuantian Dao Sect’s disciples, the monastery heads, or even the vice sect master, they were completely shocked.

Although the vice sect master had said that after undergoing the torment in the storm zone, there would be a chance of them becoming Celestials, that was just a chance. The probability definitely wouldn’t surpass ten percent. But now, the four that had entered the Nine Netherworld Path had all awakened as Celestials.

Furthermore, one was even a rank two Celestial. If it had been Yue Zifeng or one of the others, that would be acceptable. After all, they had displayed a shocking will in the storm zone. Even the experts admired them. They hadn’t made a sound when undergoing that hellish torment.

But it was Guo Ran, the one with the worst talent and the weakest will, who had awakened as a rank two Celestial. That simply didn’t make any sense.

However, after a moment of shock, the vice sect master became ecstatic. Although this was inexplicable, it was a great thing for the Xuantian Dao Sect, an incredibly great thing.

The person most excited about this would have to be Shui Wuhen. Now, she had four more Celestials, and one was even a rank two Celestial. It was a pity that Gu Yang hadn’t entered the Nine Netherworld Path, or it seemed there would have been a large chance of him becoming a Celestial as well.

Although she didn’t know what exactly was going on, she knew it definitely had to do with Long Chen. Even after all this time, she still didn’t know his limits.

“What are you looking at? What, you don’t want to accept that I’m a rank two Celestial now?! Then let’s fight!” Shui Guanzhi and the others’ expressions of disbelief irritated Guo Ran, especially that inconcealable envy in Shui Guanzhi’s eyes.

“Hmph, even if you’ve become a rank two Celestial, you’re still trash. With your combat strength, any other rank two Celestial would crush you,” sneered Shui Guanzhi.

He was entirely correct. Guo Ran would probably even be suppressed by a rank one Celestial. If he wanted to defeat a rank one Celestial, he would have to rely on his Cry of the Heavenly Daos.

Having been exposed, Guo Ran was infuriated. “How dare you look down on me? I’ll slap you just like my boss did!” Guo Ran took on a slapping posture. But just as he was about to strike, he ‘felt something was wrong’. He raged at Gu Yang and the others, “What are you doing?! Let go of me! I’m going to teach this brat a lesson!”

Only then did Gu Yang and the others realize Guo Ran was just finding a way out for himself. They quickly helped him with his act, pulling on him. After all, brothers had to help each other.

Guo Ran struggled a few times, but his brothers refused to let go of him. He raged at Shui Guanzhi, “Count yourself lucky! I’ll give my brothers face this time, but don’t let me run into you alone!”

Long Chen was speechless. He sighed. Even as a rank two Celestial, Guo Ran still only had such a low-grade acting ability. He hadn’t improved at all.

“Brother, that’s pretty much enough. You’re a different person from before, and you should change your acting style,” whispered Li Qi.

“Did anyone run into something strange inside?” The vice sect master interrupted their messing around.

They hastily became silent and shook their heads, expressing that they hadn’t run into anything in particular. Long Chen also naturally wouldn’t stupidly stand out, so he shook his head.

Meng Qi looked at Long Chen’s solemn expression and couldn’t help but feel it was funny. Suddenly, she felt that while she was by his side, he would definitely do unimaginable things constantly, things that could stimulate a person to death.

Furthermore, Long Chen’s head was clearly not normal. It seemed there was nothing in this world he didn’t dare to do.

Since everyone shook their heads, the vice sect master said, “Something unexpected occurred with the Nine Netherworld Path. I’m glad you’re all safe. The interruption of this trial is unavoidable, but don’t be disappointed that your profits were lessened. The Dao Sect definitely won’t let its disciples suffer. Due to this, the next trial’s rewards will be increased.

“Go back and rest. As for when the next trial will begin, we’ll have to wait for news from the head sect. This is actually a good thing. Previously, the three trials were all held continuously. But because there was no time to rest, there was also no time to adjust yourselves to your gains in time for the third trial. The third trial’s rewards are the greatest, so use this time properly.”

The vice sect master waved his hand, and space twisted. They returned to the Xuantian Plaza.

However, not everyone had returned alive. There were quite a few people lying on the ground as if they were asleep. But their souls had disappeared.

There were over four hundred of them, and this loss made people’s hearts sink. They hadn’t expected this many talented disciples to die on the Nine Netherworld Path.

Seven members from the thirty-sixth supermonastery had died. That cast a shadow on people’s hearts. Their previous excitement diminished.

Reality was just this cruel. If you wanted to get stronger, you had to take risks. No one in this world could become a supreme expert without taking any risks.

If you wanted to become an expert, you had to risk your life. If you didn’t want to become an expert, you would have to accept that an expert might take your life at any moment. The cultivation world was just that cruel.

The monastery heads brought their disciples back to their camps. They began to celebrate. Although there had been casualties, that was unavoidable. Those who survived had to continue getting stronger.

Gu Yang and the others were missing from the celebration in the thirty-sixth supermonastery. Gu Yang had gone into seclusion, saying that he would also become a Celestial.

That drew flabbergasted gazes, but Long Chen and the others knew that once he refined the Heavenly Dao Fruit, he would immediately become a Celestial.

There was no way around this. Gu Yang’s Spiritual Strength was terrible. In front of the monastery heads, there was no way he could hide the fluctuations of refining a Heavenly Dao Fruit. Now he finally had a chance.

After the celebration, everyone began to cultivate. They had made huge gains in the Xuantian Sea and the Nine Netherworld Path. Thus, they took advantage of this period to absorb these gains so they could be at their peak state for the final trial.

As everyone else went into seclusion, so did Long Chen. His mind entered the primal chaos space, and he saw Huo Long refining pills.

“Five-ring Enlightenment Palace Pills!”

Huo Long was actually able to refine five-ring Enlightenment Palace Pills. It must have absorbed an incredible amount of flame energy from the core of the storm zone. Even its alchemy ability had increased by such a huge amount.

“Huo Long, thank you”! Long Chen saw over a thousand Enlightenment Palace Pills.

Huo Long transformed into a small flame serpent and coiled around Long Chen’s arm. It rubbed its head against Long Chen. Long Chen felt a child-like emotion coming from it.

“It’s been hard on you. If you’re tired, rest.” Long Chen rubbed its head. After comforting it for a while, he left the encampment. He directly rushed off, going outside the Xuantian Dao Sect.

But he had only just reached the gates when a disciple stopped him. “Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, the trial is imminent. If you leave now…”

Long Chen frowned. “Am I not allowed to leave?”

“No, you can. But the third trial might start at any moment. If you’re out and don’t make in time, that would be a huge loss for you,” warned the disciple.

“Haha, that’s fine. Thank you for the reminder. But I’ll just stroll around. When I hear the bell to gather, I’ll immediately return.” Long Chen patted that disciple on the shoulder, grateful for his reminder. He left.

He had no choice but to leave. This number of pills would be enough to truly condense the Enlightenment Palace Star.

Just condensing the cyclone had almost destroyed a training room. Once the cyclone condensed into a star, it would cause a huge disturbance.

Long Chen found a large mountain. From here, the Xuantian Dao Sect was just a dot in the distance. As long as he didn’t go too far, it wouldn’t disturb the sect, and he would still be able to tell when the trial started.

He began to consume the five-ring Enlightenment Palace Pills, shoving them handful by handful down his throat.

He had to work fast. Once he reached a certain point in condensing the star, he would have no choice but to finish. If he really missed the trial because of that, he would have an urge to kill himself.

Furthermore, he had seen some clues about his origins in the Nine Netherworld Path. Now he wanted to see his parents even more. He had to reach the peak of the cultivation world as fast as possible.

Even something as amazing as Future Lake had been unable to completely divine the past of the jade pendant. That meant some powerful force had disturbed the Reincarnation Mirror. That was enough to prove how shocking his origins had to be.

The thing that startled him the most was that Future Lake had been able to see a corner of his past, but not even the slightest bit about the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Just trying to take a peek had caused it to explode. That made him think of some terrifying possibilities.

But the mysteries he had to unravel were too huge, and he still wanted to be able to live after unraveling them.

Three days passed without the slightest sound from the Xuantian Dao Sect. On the other hand, a loud explosive sound suddenly came from Long Chen’s hand, and a terrifying energy erupted.