Time truly passed quickly, and two months went by quickly. The day of the competition once more arrived. On this day, all the inner sect disciples who were supposed to participate gathered in the plaza.

The Divine Beast Mansion, Hegemon Hall, Heaven Female Alliance, Flame Gate, and Ten Thousand Insect Guild’s disciples all looked at the Dragonblood Legion’s members in shock.

The last time they had seen them, the majority of the Dragonblood Legion’s people had still been at the mid Sea Expansion realm.

But in just two months, they had all advanced to the late stage. Eighty percent of them had reached the ninth Heavenstage of Sea Expansion, and the remaining ones had all reached the eighth Heavenstage.

It had to be known that one of the key reasons they had been refused by the other five factions was because of their low cultivation bases. However, after joining the Dragonblood Legion, they had gone through a heaven-toppling change.

Their cultivation bases were not weaker than any of the other factions now. The difference, which had been like a heavenly chasm, had been completely made up for in just four months.

Standing at the front of the Dragonblood Legion was Long Chen. His aura was vast and powerful, seeming like the peak of Sea Expansion.

For others, it truly would be the peak of Sea Expansion. He had reached the tenth Heavenstage.

He had eaten Heavenly Star Sea Merging Pills like they were candy, practically never stopping his consumption. He had finally managed to raise his cultivation base to the same level as the other commanders.

But breaking through three times had caused his aura to grow a bit out of his control. That was especially true when he had advanced to the tenth Heavenstage, as his aura had instantly risen a great deal.

The Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was different from ordinary cultivation techniques. He had thirteen Heavenstages, and once he reached the tenth Heavenstage, his power would leap. Each advancement afterward would be incredibly difficult, but the increase in power would be amazing as well.

Furthermore, when he had reached the tenth Heavenstage, his qi seas had instantly exploded in size. It was like a cup that had shattered; the limits of his qi seas were broken, allowing them to expand to a new level.

Furthermore, he sensed the mysterious energy that seemed to have been limiting his qi seas had also vanished.

His qi seas had broken their old limits and were once more expanding. That resulted in him now having twice as much spiritual yuan as before.

That wasn’t the most amazing thing. Once his qi seas began to grow again, the divine runes of the third form of Split the Heavens being nourished in his acupuncture points were like dried up riverbeds that had received rainwater. Just yesterday, they had been fully satisfied and stopped growing any stronger. In other words, he could now use the true power of the third form of Split the Heavens.

Everyone in the Dragonblood Legion looked like they had transformed. All of them were like completely new people, filling quite a few others with envy.

The matter of Long Chen selling medicinal elixir in the outer sect for points was common knowledge to them. But being envious didn’t have any use.

They had seen the Dragonblood Legion’s warriors use their plentiful points to equip themselves and cultivate in high grade training rooms. They practically spent all day in high grade training rooms.

Their ‘newly rich’ conduct irritated them, but for the Dragonblood Legion’s warriors, it was extremely refreshing. To use some wise words that Guo Ran had once said: I like it the most when looking at me irritates you, but you also can’t do anything.

During this time, the Dragonmark warriors had experienced the true meaning of what it meant to advance by leaps and bounds. They were full of gratitude and reverence for Long Chen.

In their hearts, Long Chen was a god. In just four months, he had turned them, the trash that no one else had wanted, to the same level as those other geniuses.

Their power had not only leaped to an unprecedented level, but they had also used points to get treasures that they had needed. All of them had the best Treasure items possible, and some even had leftover points to buy some defensive equipment. That made them all very confident about the competition this time.

“A pack of country bumpkins.”

Seeing Long Chen’s side in high morale, Que Xinyan let out a sneer and spat on the ground. He was full of hatred and envy.

Pow!

Que Xinyan had only just finished when a thunderous sound rang out. A figure appeared in front of him and slapped him across the face.

“How many times have I told you not to dirty the plaza?” said Long Chen coldly.

“Intolerable bullying!” Fan Song’s expression turned hostile. He was standing not far away, and he charged over, smashing a fist toward Long Chen. Powerful rumbling erupted and caused everyone’s expressions to change.

Long Chen also sent out a punch, and when they collided, the entire plaza rocked. Everyone was shocked by this power.

The most shocking thing was that Long Chen and Fan Song had not released any of their auras. In other words, this was just a simple attack.

Long Chen’s heart shook. Fan Song was truly powerful. This exchange made his wrist slightly numb.

Although he had known that Fan Song was a rarely seen body cultivator, Long Chen hadn’t expected to still be slightly weaker in terms of physical bodies after advancing three realms.

Long Chen was shocked, but Fan Song was even more shocked. He was a rank five Celestial, someone with exceptional talent and power. Moreover, he was a one in a thousand year body cultivator genius.

In all his years, he had never encountered anyone who could compete with him in power. Whether it was in the same realm or the realm above, in terms of pure power, he had never met his match.

Although Long Chen had displayed great power in his battle against Que Xinyan, he still didn’t consider Long Chen to be a match for him. But in this exchange, they were equally matched.

That shocked and infuriated him. This was his specialty, and he should have destroyed him. For them to be equally matched was a loss for him.

Fan Song frowned and was just about to start using his real power when an icy voice rang out.

“I’m glad you’re so energetic.”

Long Chen and Fan Song hastily fell back. Su Mo once more appeared in the air.

He was still covered in blood. Moreover, there was a cut to his shoulder that was so deep that they could see bone. There was some kind of energy trying to corrode his flesh, making his healing speed very slow.

“We are at the front fighting a bloody battle, while you are all happy and bored enough to fight amongst yourselves. Amazing, truly amazing,” sneered Su Mo.

“Senior apprentice-brother Su Mo, I-”

“Shut up.” Que Xinyan had been about to complain when Su Mo interrupted him. “I’m not as bored as you, and I don’t care about your trifles. Do you realize that while you idle about with your nonsense, people are constantly falling each day to protect you? I didn’t know how I was supposed to tell you this before, but seeing how much energy you have, I won’t stand on courtesy.”

His gaze swept over everyone. He continued, “Originally, you should have participated in the competition three times to get you used to the fight against the devil beasts. Only then would you be sent to the true battlefield. But you’re very unlucky. The past few days, the Infernal Devil Abyss began to grow chaotic, and countless devil beasts have charged through the world barrier to enter the Martial Heaven Continent.

“The defensive line of the Xuantian Dao Sect is under pressure, so the competition this time is canceled and will be replaced with a true battle. In other words, you will be stepping onto the battlefield of one of the Xuantian Dao Sect’s strongholds.

“All your factions will cooperate to defend one stronghold. This is a true battle, and it will be bloody and cruel. But the one thing worth rejoicing about is that the devil beasts appearing in the Infernal Devil Abyss are still under control. There won’t be any devil beasts you can’t defeat, but you have to know, in a true battle, changes can occur in an instant. Anything is possible.

“I have nothing to teach you here. You’ll need to learn everything on the cruel battlefield. Time is pressing. Keep the bracelets on, because this battle has even greater rewards than last time. Killing seventh rank devil beasts will be worth one kill point. Eighth rank devil beasts are worth a hundred points, and as for ninth rank devil beasts… you shouldn’t run into them. You are one team focused on killing your opponents.

“When the battle is over, you can directly exchange the kill points you have with points in the sect. One kill point is worth one point.”

One kill point was worth one point? All the disciples were delighted. Each seventh rank devil beast they killed was one point.

“Remember, this is not the usual competition. This is a true battle. If anyone flees without orders, even if all the people around them were killed, they will be executed by the sect,” said Su Mo icily.

Everyone’s hearts shook. They were no longer disciples in a trial, but soldiers in a battle. Military orders had to be obeyed, with violators being executed.

Long Chen didn’t feel much surprise. The sect had spent so much on training its troops. Eating and drinking what was the Xuantian Dao Sect’s wasn’t free. After taking what was theirs, they had to do work for them.

“You will be transported to your own defensive zones. Remember, if any devil beasts charge past your zone, not only will all your kill points be cleared, but you will also receive a heavy punishment.”

After that, the bricks beneath their feet lit up, and each faction was enveloped by countless runes.

The runes formed a huge sphere in the air, making sure to envelop each one of them.

Buzz.

They felt the space twist, and then they saw endless darkness. They stayed within this endless darkness for several breaths before the darkness faded, and they appeared on a dusky battlefield.