The matter with Zheng Wenlong was settled. The pill recipes Long Chen gave him were all seventh and eighth tier, as well as a few peak sixth tier ones.

Each one of them was at least thirty percent more effective than similar pills sold by Pill Valley. They would definitely cause a blow to Pill Valley once they entered the marketplace.

In any case, the Huayun Sect was already Pill Valley’s rival, so they weren’t afraid of its reprisal. This was a mutually beneficial arrangement, as Long Chen needed the Huayun Sect to refine a huge amount of those pills.

On his own, the amount of pills he could refine was limited. He had already handed off a portion of the medicinal pills the Dragonblood Legion required to Zheng Wenlong to handle.

Stealthily returning to the cave, Long Chen didn’t directly walk in. From a distance, he heard tinkling bell-like laughter. Only then did he dare to enter. But when he heard what they were saying, he immediately wanted to turn and flee.

“You two don’t know, but back then, Long Chen was absolutely evil. Right in front of me, he peed on someone else. Oh, Long Chen, you’ve come just in time! Sister Xiaoqian might not believe me, so why don’t you personally explain what you did?” Tang Wan-er’s sharp eyes instantly saw Long Chen, who was in the midst of trying to sneakily slip away.

The three of them had been chatting this entire time. They had been talking about Long Chen, and it was unknown who started it, but they began to talk about his embarrassing moments. Tang Wan-er had immediately thought of when she had first encountered Long Chen.

With all three of them turning to look at him, Long Chen had an urge to bury himself. Even if his face was thicker than a city wall, he felt a burning sensation on it.

“What nonsense! That was clearly a tactic to drown my enemies![1]” raged Long Chen.

Back then, when he had just entered the territory of the Xuantian Monastery, a fellow had found him displeasing and wanted to kick him aside. As a result, Long Chen had thrown him into the river.

That person had refused to take it lying down, and he began to furiously curse him. Long Chen had then used his drowning tactic against the fellow, displaying it in a grand and open manner. Tang Wan-er had been flying over and had criticized him for being a rogue. That was the first time they had met. Now that it was mentioned again, Long Chen felt embarrassed.

Looking at Long Chen’s red face, the three women erupted in laughter. This expression of Long Chen’s was too rare.

“Tch, keep laughing. Sooner or later, you’ll all be grabbing the bed rails and biting the sheets,” Long Chen thought to himself. Just thinking about it made his heart beat faster.

Right now, Yue Xiaoqian wasn’t wearing her veil, and the three of them were gathered together like flowers in bloom. They were all different kinds of beauty that made his heart itch.

“Hey, what’s the point in just laughing. Let’s play a game,” Long Chen laughed sinisterly.

“What game?”

“Pearl in the Dark,” laughed Long Chen, his eyes shining.

“Pearl in the Dark? The name’s a bit interesting. How do you play?” Tang Wan-er didn’t notice that Meng Qi had closed her mouth.

“Hehe, I’ll place a pearl on your collar, and then blindfold myself. Then, you can’t move, and we see how long it takes me to find the pearl,” laughed Long Chen.

“What’s so fun about that? Aiya, you pervert!” raged Tang Wan-er. She saw Long Chen’s gaze roving around her body as if looking for a place to search.

“Alright, don’t mess around anymore. Long Chen, come and sit. It’s rare for us all to have time like this,” said Meng Qi.

Long Chen sighed with relief inside. Tang Wan-er didn’t show any irritation at Yue Xiaoqian. In fact, the two of them were chatting quite happily.

That made him cast a grateful glance at Meng Qi. Then she gave him a warm smile that caused his heart to shake. He suddenly thought of his bath with her in the Spirit World.

Every inch of her body looked like it had been crafted by a god. Thinking of that moving feeling and her bashful gaze, it unconsciously began to affect him.

Looking at Long Chen’s fiery gaze, Meng Qi blushed. She understood Long Chen far too well, and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Long Chen, tell us a story,” said Tang Wan-er suddenly.

“No,” said Long Chen.

“Scoundrel, are you looking for a beating?” Tang Wan-er raised her small fists menacingly.

Helplessly, Long Chen said, “Fine, you want a story? Once, there was a eunuch…”

Long Chen suddenly refused to keep going. Tang Wan-er didn’t know if she was being conned, so she asked, “And then?”

Long Chen sighed, an expression of grief on his face. With a quiet, sad voice, he said, “And then… there’s nothing.”[2]

Tang Wan-er raged. What kind of story was this? There was nothing to it.

Meng Qi scolded him, “Rogue.”

Yue Xiaoqian also came to a comprehension with Meng Qi’s scolding. “Pervert.”

Tang Wan-er was confused for a long while before she finally understood his words. Her fists rained down on him.

After a brief scuffle, they stopped being so constrained. Yue Xiaoqian asked about the matter with the medicinal pills, and he explained what had happened, allowing her to fully relax.

During the next few days, Long Chen also cultivated, condensing the Split the Heavens’ divine runes. He condensed twenty-seven of them easily.

In other words, he had condensed all the runes for the third form of Split the Heavens. But when he tried to condense the fourth form’s runes, he felt a burst of pain at his acupuncture points and gave up.

If he forced it, there was the danger of his acupuncture points rupturing. He hadn’t dared to keep going. It was no wonder Feng Xinglie had said not to try using the fourth form without reaching Foundation Forging first.

But even so, he had the first twenty-seven runes condensed. Now he just needed to nourish them.

As an alchemist, Long Chen had special means to do so. He could use medicinal pills to allow those runes to absorb energy faster.

However, it was still an extremely slow process. Fortunately, he wasn’t in a hurry right now and devoted a great deal of time to cultivating.

During this time, with the assistance of the Immemorial Altar Lamp, the Dragonblood Legion had expanded their seas to a peak. Each one of them now had a qi sea of three thousand miles.

Furthermore, their cultivation bases also rapidly advanced dozens of times faster than going all-out cultivating with medicinal pills.

With the Immemorial Altar Lamp, they didn’t need to bitterly cultivate. Each day, it felt like they were sleeping as they entered a profound state.

In that state, their cultivation bases progressed at astounding speeds without causing their foundations to become unsteady. Furthermore, it also advanced their mental realms. In that dream-like state, they comprehended many things they hadn’t even thought about before.

While the Dragonblood Legion cultivated blissfully, the Xuantian Dao Sect was undergoing daily change. Millions of experts were working day and night, and huge constructions rose into the sky one by one. They were built so fast that people found it unreal.

Day by day, time flowed on. After five whole months, Long Chen and the others all came out of seclusion.

They had no choice but to come out as the Xuantian Dao Sect’s construction had been completed. Now, the Xuantian Dao Sect was ten times grander than before. Its palace soared into the clouds, appearing luxurious, grand, and imposing.

The plaza was made of all-new material, and there was a formation supporting it. The patriarch’s statue had also been reconstructed, shining brightly like a mirror.

The entire Xuantian Dao Sect had changed, giving the air a feeling of energy. With the construction finally over, today was a celebration.

The Xuantian Dao Sect was filled with tables. The fine wine and delicacies had long since been prepared. When Long Chen and the others appeared, it caused an uproar.

Everyone saw that after five months, the Dragonblood warriors had gone from early Sea Expansion to mid Sea Expansion. Gu Yang, Guo Ran, and the other captain-level experts had even reached the seventh Heavenstage. They were at late Sea Expansion.

It had only been five months! This cultivation speed was absolutely shocking. Looking at them, even Foundation Forging experts had to sigh emotionally. This world would be theirs in the future.

Long Chen finally understood why the Immemorial Altar Lamp was an exceedingly precious existence even in the ancient era. Its ability to assist cultivation was truly heaven-defying.

Everyone’s cultivation bases had soared during this time. In the first month, they had all reached the third Heavenstage. Then their cultivation speeds had begun to slow down.

But that was only in comparison to their previous speed. Compared to the outside world’s cultivation speed, it was still shocking.

Long Chen had also found some rules about the Immemorial Altar Lamp. It also allowed people to establish their foundation quickly, letting their foundation become flawless.

But as their cultivation bases grew, the effect lessened. In truth, this was intentionally done by the Immemorial Altar Lamp.

At the beginning, Long Chen hadn’t understood. But then he had realized that the Immemorial Altar Lamp was different from ordinary treasures. It had its own rules. The higher the realm, the more it would withdraw its blessings. It had those using it go out and comprehend some things on their own. Otherwise, they would form a dependence on it.

If people formed a dependence on it, then that wouldn’t be helping, but ruining their futures. Forming a dependence would be a destructive blow to a cultivator, which was why it pulled back its blessings. This was also one of the reasons it was such an amazing treasure in the ancient era.

It was most useful in the early stage of a realm. In the middle stage, its blessings would lessen, and by the late stage, it essentially had no effect.

During the celebration, Long Chen saw Feng Geyin and the others that had fought with him. They laughed and drank until they were dizzy.

The celebration lasted for seven days and seven nights. At this point, the Xuantian Dao Sect was the overlord of the Eastern Wasteland. No one could resist them.

Once the celebration was over, the various sects left. Through this interaction, they were put at ease by the Xuantian Dao Sect’s attitude. They all received considerable payments for their work.

Once all the guests had left, the Xuantian Dao Sect’s people continued celebrating for three days. The Xuantian Dao Sect had now reached an unprecedented state of unity. They were all aligned, mentally and physically.

Several days later, at dusk, a large flying boat slowly descended upon them.

[1] Here, Long Chen says that what he did was 水淹七軍 “Drowning of the Seven Armies”. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a general flooded the Han River, drowning his enemies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fancheng

[2] When Tang Wan-er asks “and then”, the literal meaning is “down below”.

Tang Wan-er: “And down below?”

Long Chen: “Down below… there’s nothing.”