As Long Chen continued forward, he saw mountains and valleys, as well as quite a few signs of battle. He even saw some severed limbs.

He frowned. Perhaps the true trial only started now. Thinking of those fellows he hadn’t seen yet, he shook his head.

There was an old saying: if a person had to suffer, they should suffer as early as possible. This was entirely correct. Only once you suffered enough could you avoid even greater suffering. If you treated your disciples with too much pampering, refusing to allow them to suffer at all, then in the future, they would eventually suffer immensely.

Now that the true trial was starting, it was unknown how many disciples were dying here. This was the price of pampering.

A loud booming sound came from ahead and Long Chen rushed over to see a huge mountain pass. The two mountains extended far to the sides, making this the only way through.

The mountains were precipitous here, with the sides practically vertical. The cliffside was sleek and smooth. The runes on it clearly showed it was set up intentionally this way so no one could climb it.

This mountain pass was guarded by a huge Magical Beast. It was a Xuan Turtle. Its entire body was covered in scales, and its shell sparkled with ancient runes. It was like a mountain blocking the pass, and currently, a group of people were fighting against it.

Seeing that, Long Chen frowned. He ran back and returned to the place where he had just killed a Magical Beast. He saw that another Magical Beast had appeared there.

“So that’s what it is. Once a Magical Beast is killed and the people who kill it pass, they’ll send another Magical Beast to guard that place. It seems there’s a special formation restricting the Magical Beasts from roaming.”

It was no wonder Long Chen had felt like something was wrong. The people at the front should have already killed all the Magical Beasts, so wouldn’t the latter people be able to safely pass?

But there were people secretly controlling things behind the scenes, replacing the slain Magical Beasts to maintain the difficulty of the trial.

Only then did Long Chen return to the mountain pass where hundreds of disciples were fighting the Xuan Turtle.

The Xuan Turtle was extremely large, and he didn’t know what breed it was. As the runes on its shell revolved, a faint layer of light appeared over it, blocking all these people’s attacks.

When it opened its mouth, a terrifying water arrow would shoot out, sending hundreds of disciples flying. Quite a few of them vomited blood. If it weren’t for the Treasure items protecting their bodies, there would have been casualties.

Seeing over seven hundred disciples shouting loudly as they fought all-out against this eighth rank Magical Beast, Long Chen couldn’t help but find it laughable. He sat down at a mountaintop and just watched them besieging the Magical Beast.

Although two Magical Beasts could both be in the mid eighth rank, some had special bloodlines or abilities. For example, this Xuan Turtle’s defensive power was perfect without any opening. Although there were quite a few rank four Celestials amongst this group, they were still unable to break its defense.

This intense fight continued for a long while. Startled cries and furious roars intertwined along with cursing and grumbling.

Fortunately for them, the Xuan Turtle’s attacks weren’t very sharp. As long as these people focused, they would only be injured and not killed.

“Is brother Long just going to sit here and watch the show?” Suddenly, a voice rang out behind Long Chen, startling him. He actually hadn’t sensed this person approaching him.

“Oh, so it’s sister Ziyan. How coincidental!” Long Chen hadn’t expected to run into the rank five Celestial Zhao Ziyan here.

This was Zhao Ziyan’s first time seeing someone like this. Long Chen didn’t stand up, cup his fists, or even bow at all. He greeted her like she was an old friend, giving off a very intimate feeling. It was like in Long Chen’s eyes, everyone was the same, not worth looking up to and not worth looking down upon. This surprised her.

Zhao Ziyan was very beautiful, but in Long Chen’s eyes, she hadn’t reached the level of Meng Qi, Tang Wan-er, and his other women. He had experienced a great deal in the past few years, and now, he found himself indifferent to many more things than before. He was past the age of being unable to control himself around a beauty.

“Brother Long’s bearing is out of the ordinary, a hero amongst people,” Zhao Ziyan smiled slightly.

“What did you say?” asked Long Chen.

“I said brother Long’s bearing is out of the ordinary, a hero amongst people,” repeated Zhao Ziyan.

“Ah. Actually, I heard you the first time, but I always like to hear people complimenting me more,” laughed Long Chen.

Zhao Ziyan was stunned for a moment, clearly not used to this way of talking. Looking at his smile, she shook her head. “Brother Long’s way of talking really is interesting.”

“Hehe, my people are all villagers who like to just talk directly. We’ll listen to nice words multiple times, but we’ll pretend not to hear bad words. That’s how we maintain a good mood as we face more challenges,” said Long Chen indifferently.

“This way of thinking is novel.” Zhao Ziyan smiled slightly. Raising her dress slightly, she sat on the rock beside him.

Long Chen politely scooted over a bit, asking, “With your power, you should be at the very front. Why are you here, lagging behind?”

Long Chen was curious. An expert like Zhao Ziyan should be at the very front. After all, top experts all liked to strive for first place.

Of course, a marvel like Han Yunshan didn’t count. He was still being a good ferry boat and helping him make money.

“Don’t you also have the power to charge to the front but are staying here instead?” Zhao Ziyan didn’t reply. Pushing back a stray hair, she returned the question to him.

“Me? I was held back by an idiot, or I’d have long since run to the front. But now that I’m already behind, I’m too lazy to chase you all. Just looking at the nice scenery here is good. Oh, it couldn’t be that sister Ziyan also fell behind because of an idiot? Could it be…” Long Chen suddenly looked at Zhao Ziyan.

“Brother Long, you’re… overthinking things.” An unnatural expression appeared on Zhao Ziyan’s face.

Long Chen shook his head. “What do you mean overthinking things? Just from your expression and Wei Changhai’s appearance, I can tell everything. His perverted gaze completely sells him out. His mouth is slanted, his nose is crooked, his forehead is wide, his jaw is narrow, his face is as long as a sea…”

“Nonsense, how could it be so exaggerated?” laughed Zhao Ziyan.

“Let me tell you, I’m very proficient in face-reading. Wei Changhai’s shovel-like, big-chin face is a special case. In the field of physiognomy, there’s a special name for it: reclusiverts. You might not have heard of such people, but surely you’ve heard of introverts. They’re not very social, right? Well, reclusiverts take it to a new level. They’re antisocial, and have taken it to the point that their characters have become twisted. Due to the shadow over their hearts, they can’t have any companions. There are records in ancient tomes of reclusiverts having their minds clouded by anger and jealousy. Consumed by desire, they tear themselves apart,” said Long Chen.

Although he was just spouting nonsense, he was extremely sensitive to other people’s negative emotions from the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. He might not be right on the mark, but he should be pretty close.

“You really have heaven-peering arts?” Zhao Ziyan was shocked. That was because having come from the Southern Sea with Wei Changhai, she was very familiar with his past. He was truly a troublesome and unreasonable person. Although Long Chen’s words were cryptic, many aspects of them were correct.

In truth, the reason his words were cryptic was because fortune-telling was just holding up a mirror for someone else. That person could see whatever they wanted to see. Giving too many details made it easy to see through, so being cryptic and spouting nonsense that sounded right was the best way to avoid being suspected. Long Chen was clearly experienced in this regard, and he had completely tricked Zhao Ziyan.

“I know a bit,” said Long Chen profoundly.

“Brother Long, since you know heaven-peering arts, can you tell me how to deal with that person?” asked Zhao Ziyan.

As expected, Zhao Ziyan had intentionally fallen back to avoid Wei Changhai. The two had definitely had some interactions before. After all, not just any power could raise a rank five Celestial. Perhaps their two powers had intended for the two of them to marry, and that way, the two powers would become one and dominate the Southern Sea.

But it seemed Zhao Ziyan intensely disliked Wei Changhai. Of course, that couldn’t be blamed on her. From his looks, it was clear he was not a good person. And if you looked closely, well, it would be better to have just glanced quickly.

His face had water fluctuations over it. It was a kind of beautifying effect, but Long Chen saw through that guise in an instant. In fact, even Tang Wan-er was able to see through it easily.

“In truth, if you think this problem is difficult, then it’s difficult. But if you think it’s easy, then it’s easy. The only thing you need to do is…” Long Chen extended a hand and then suddenly stopped.

Long Chen immediately felt embarrassed. He had gotten used to being a businessman and had just been about to offer a price, but he caught himself before he said anything.

“I understand. You mean I should grasp control of my fate with my own hands and break free of all restrictions to make the decisions I want to make, right?” Zhao Ziyan’s eyes brightened with understanding.

Long Chen shook his head. “No, what I meant was that if he keeps bothering you, just slap him in the face and kill the bastard.”

Zhao Ziyan looked oddly at Long Chen.