“Didn’t I say that we come from the same hometown? You also came from the Eastern Wasteland, correct?” said the bell.

Long Chen was startled, never having expected this bronze bell to know this. But he didn’t say anything. He could trust it just based on this.

This trial had been extremely strange and ruthless. Those one hundred and eight pillars had been able to peer through all his Battle Skills and magical arts, and perhaps they had even been able to rifle through his memories. Otherwise, Blooddrinker wouldn’t have appeared. So while Long Chen was surprised, he couldn’t reveal that, nor did he say anything.

This bell was particularly strange. It was already in such a broken state, and it was bound by countless divine chains, but Enchanted items would instantly explode upon coming into contact with it

“Hehe, brat, you’re very interesting. Sometimes you’re as impetuous as an idiot, sometimes you’re crafty like a fox. What a marvel,” laughed the bell.

“What’s your goal?” Long Chen didn’t like beating about the bush.

“Bring me out of this place.”

“Are you joking? An existence as strong as you requires me to bring you out?” snorted Long Chen.

“I’m not joking. In truth, we have quite the destiny between us. I’ve been locked in here for too long. Those bastards extracted my core energy to maintain their trials, and now I’ve already reached my breaking point. If you don’t bring me out, then it won’t be long before I completely disappear from this world. As an item-spirit, my core energy is my life energy. I hope you can help me. I can give you a satisfactory repayment,” said the bell solemnly.

“How do I know you won’t kill me once I save you? To tell you the truth, this is already the third time I’ve run into such a scenario. The last two were played to death by me, and I also gained quite a bit of profit. But I sense something dangerous about you, and my guess is that I won’t be able to obtain anything good from your body.” Long Chen shook his head frankly.

“Benefits? For now, I wouldn’t be able to give you anything. But once I return to the Martial Heaven Continent, I’ll definitely give you an immense reward.”

“And how am I supposed to believe you?” asked Long Chen. He couldn’t sense any fluctuations from the bell, but his intuition said that this bell’s origin was beyond imagination, or it wouldn’t be locked in here.

If it was an evil weapon, then wouldn’t he be doomed? So of course he was still hesitant.

“Is the name of the Eastern Wasteland Bell enough to win your trust?” The bell was silent for a long while before suddenly speaking.

Long Chen cried out in shock, “The Eastern Wasteland Bell?!”

Wasn’t that a divine item from the era of legends? The rumor was that the Eastern Wasteland Bell had been the protective divine item of the Eastern Wasteland, and it had controlled all the Eastern Wasteland’s karmic luck.

There were myths and legends that said the Martial Heaven Continent had once been five blocks, but it wasn’t like it was currently. Those five regions had actually been led by the Eastern Wasteland. Unlike now, it had been the Eastern Wasteland that had been the strongest.

The legend was that the other regions also had divine items controlling their karmic luck. But the Eastern Wasteland Bell had been the strongest, the leader of the five divine items, which had allowed the Eastern Wasteland to dominate the five regions.

But legends were legends. There were few people that believed in them. They were just imaginary things seniors liked to tell children.

So hearing the name of the Eastern Wasteland Bell today, that name was like a hammer striking Long Chen’s heart.

Looking at this foot-tall bell that was covered in cracks and looked like it might shatter at any moment, Long Chen truly found it difficult to associate it with that legendary divine item.

But for some unknown reason, Long Chen trusted it. That was the intuition that stemmed from the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. That intuition had never misled him.

“What should I do to help you?” asked Long Chen.

“You trust me?” The bell was a bit surprised.

“Yes.”

“Thank you. That’ll save me a great deal of trouble. If you asked me too much, it would be hard on me. There are many things that I can’t say,” said the Eastern Wasteland Bell.

“Since I’ve chosen to trust you, I won’t be so fussy about it. Helping senior is helping myself. I hope that when I one day fall into danger, senior can help.” Long Chen smiled.

“Hahaha, that’s a good temperament. Don’t worry, I don’t like owing people. Come, first I’ll teach you how to break these chains.”

Long Chen returned to the room. He slashed Flying Rainbow directly through the ground, creating a large crack.

Gently opening the crack, he saw an underground room in which countless formation lines were continuously moving like snakes.

This was the core of this trial region. It was also the crux of the entire grand formation that controlled the operation of the trial region.

It was constantly drawing out the Eastern Wasteland Bell’s energy to maintain the trials. According to reason, the Eastern Wasteland Bell should have long since run out of energy and shattered. But then it said that at a certain time, the number of trial takers had dropped precipitously, and so it had taken less of its energy. It slowly found a way to absorb the energy within this room’s treasures and other rewards so it could last longer.

Long Chen knew that the Eastern Wasteland Bell was talking about the destruction of the Immemorial Path. Only the Xiao tribe’s disciples had later occasionally gone to the lower level trials to test their luck, which was the only reason it had managed to endure.

Obviously, the Eastern Wasteland Bell still didn’t know what had happened to the Immemorial Path. When asked about how long it had been, it merely said that it had been chained here for too long to calculate.

“The node is where those nine marks converge. Destroy it and the entire formation will be ruined. Remember to use thunderforce, not a martial weapon. Otherwise, you’ll be directly destroyed.” The Eastern Wasteland Bell’s voice rang out from above.

Long Chen nodded. He saw there was a red dot where nine large runes converged. That was his target.

Taking a deep breath, he pointed his finger. A lightning arrow shot at the red dot. Suddenly, all the runes stopped moving. But in the next instant, they began to move many times faster than before.

“No, that wasn’t enough power! The formation lines have gone chaotic! Get out!” shouted the Eastern Wasteland Bell.

Even without its warning, Long Chen had already rushed off. At the same time, he brought out his divine ring and battle armor, summoning his greatest defense. That was because he was horrified to see all these formations lines go chaotic as if they were boiling.

The ground erupted. Long Chen was sent flying, vomiting blood. He smashed into a wall, and then the entire room suddenly collapsed. Long Chen’s vision darkened as he became unable to see a thing.

“Little fellow, are you alright?” Long Chen suddenly heard a voice in his head.

“How... how did you get in here?!” Long Chen was startled. The Eastern Wasteland Bell had actually entered his mind-sea, and he didn’t have the slightest ability to resist.

“There’s no need to be so surprised by such a small matter. Although I might be on the verge of death, such a minor thing is still simple.

“But I really didn’t expect that your mind-sea would be so vast. Even soul cultivators at your realm wouldn’t have such soul energy.

“Oh, no wonder you wanted the Heaven Earth Spirit Source and you were so mad once it was taken. So your Spirit Bone was excavated by someone. That really is vicious.

“What the?! Even your Spirit Blood was extracted! What’s going on? And your Spirit Root- aiya!”

Long Chen felt the Eastern Wasteland Bell scanning his body. But when it reached his Dantian, it let out a muffled groan. It seemed it had received a backlash.

“Senior, are you alright?” he asked hastily.

“I’m fine.” After that curt reply, the Eastern Wasteland Bell descended into silence as if it was thinking. After a long moment, it said, “Long Chen, don’t tell anyone about me.”

“Don’t worry, senior. I keep a tight lid over my mouth,” said Long Chen. He really wasn’t a gossip.

“Good. I need to rest in your mind-sea. I won’t be able to help you with anything temporarily. Take care.” After saying that, the Eastern Wasteland Bell no longer said anything. It should have entered some kind of special state.

Long Chen looked around. He saw that the formation had been broken. The earth, which had previously been harder than metal, had become soft after losing the support of the runes.

He scurried up a path like a mouse. Occasionally, he would encounter boulders which he had to break to continue upward.

It would have been better if Guo Ran had been present. His digging tool would have been extremely helpful. Long Chen didn’t know how long he had been digging. Eventually, the pressure began to weaken, and he knew he was quickly approaching the surface.

As expected, after less than a hundred meters, light flooded his eyes. He jumped out of the ground and saw that he had dug his way into a huge pit a hundred miles wide.

After a moment’s thought, he realized that the trial and its underground caverns must have collapsed. It seemed this trial was completely ruined now.

“I’ve finally come out.”

Long Chen suddenly raised his head and roared, releasing all the stifling air in his lungs.

This trial had been too terrifying. He had almost lost his life inside. Now that he saw the sunlight again, he felt like he had been reborn.

Carefully thinking about what had happened, when it came to benefits, he didn’t think his greatest gain was the rapid advancement of the Enlightenment Palace Star, nor did he think it was Flying Rainbow. Instead, it was the increase in his mental realm from defeating himself.

He was now a completely different person. If previously he had been like a sharp sword that released such a chilling light that no one dared to look directly at it, then now he was a sheathed divine weapon. All that sharpness had been reserved. His gaze was completely calm, but his eyes still contained a profound light that might be fully released at any moment.

In terms of mental realm, he felt like he had truly advanced an incredible amount. He was completely calm and content.

Looking at the huge pit behind him, Long Chen felt immense gratitude toward the Xiao tribe. They had truly helped him greatly.

Leaving the pit, he continued deeper into the Immemorial Path. He was completely confident in his new power.