“Who are you?!”

The new Tower Master who hadn’t even been officially appointed already began to act with the grand prestige of a Tower Master. He harshly shouted at Long Chen.

“Reporting to Tower Master, this person is…”

The middle-aged man who had brought Long Chen in was covered in sweat. He was one of the higher-ups of this Pill Tower.

That was why he had the authority to bring Long Chen here. But he hadn’t expected them to be discussing secret matters in a meeting that was supposed to have been over a long time ago.

By the time he reacted, it was already too late. He couldn’t interrupt them, and he couldn’t leave. He could only quietly stand in the distance without moving.

Facing the interrogation of the new Tower Master, he hastily reported everything he knew about Long Chen, even offering up his identity badge.

Hearing that he was the champion of the Eastern Wasteland’s Pill Tower competition, they were all dumbfounded. Zhuo Tianxiang carefully examined and confirmed that the badge was from Pill Valley. No one could fake such a thing. His ugly expression faded slightly.

“According to Pill Valley’s agreement, you had to come to Pill Valley within three years after obtaining this badge. You’ve already missed that time frame. What kind of sacred place do you think Pill Valley is? How dare you come late?” The new Tower Master shook his head at Long Chen disappointedly.

What kind of place was Pill Valley? Even the most talented alchemy geniuses of the Central Plains wouldn’t necessarily have the qualifications to join.

The Eastern Wasteland was a desolate village in comparison. Pill Valley only gathered disciples from there once every hundred years. In truth, that was just to play their part. Pill Valley didn’t really care about them.

The Central Plains’ Pill Towers had similar competitions every ten years, while the Eastern Wasteland only had such a thing once every hundred years. Just from that, it could be seen how great the difference was between the levels of the Eastern Wasteland and the Central Plains. The Eastern Wasteland’s competition was nothing more than a formality for Pill Valley.

Those who could obtain such qualifications in the Eastern Wasteland were all simply lucky. Considering their circumstances in the Eastern Wasteland, the disciples brought over to the Central Plains would be far from outstanding. So for them to enter Pill Valley was a huge fortune, but Long Chen had actually come late, wasting his fortune.

Most unfortunate of all, this badge had his name and handprints on it. Others couldn’t even use the badge in his stead. That was why even the new Tower Master felt regret.

“But there was no way around it. I had something to do and couldn’t leave with the Tower Ancestor at that time. When I crossed the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring on my own, I was trapped by sea demons, and my flying boat was destroyed. I had to fly all the way here on my own. That’s why it took so long. But as soon as I arrived in the Central Plains, I rushed on over here.” Long Chen shrugged helplessly.

“You flew over?”

Everyone’s expressions changed. Seeing Long Chen’s wind-worn appearance and his clothes that looked like they were about to fall apart, they immediately understood.

“You flew for three years and weren’t eaten by sea demons? I suppose you could count yourself lucky. Bring out your Pill Flame for me to see,” said Zhuo Tianxiang.

A flame rose in Long Chen’s hand. Many different fluctuations came from it.

“A… a beast flame?!”

Those experts were all speechless. The new Tower Master roared, “Are you playing with us?! This trash merged beast flame is something even my Pill Tower’s disciples would look down on!”

“But, I used this merged flame to take first place at the competition! If you don’t believe me, you can check the Eastern Wasteland’s Pill Tower’s records,” said Long Chen, aggrieved.

He naturally couldn’t expose his Earth Flame. The Soul Devouring Violet Flame’s ranking was too high, and he had used it when fighting Gui Yan.

Furthermore, he had truly used this merged flame in the Eastern Wasteland. Even if they checked, he wouldn’t have to worry.

Zhuo Tianxiang and the others shook their heads. The Eastern Wasteland had actually declined to the extent that this trash flame had actually taken first place.

“I don’t have time to bother with this matter. You’re late, so you’ve already lost your qualifications to enter Pill Valley. If you had any outstanding areas, perhaps Protector Zhuo might be able to make an exception for you and bring you in, but you…” The new Tower Master shook his head.

“This little fellow should stay behind at your Pill Tower. Properly look after him!” After saying this, Zhuo Tianxiang turned to leave.

Hearing those last four words to properly look after him, Long Chen knew that this bastard was definitely telling the Tower Master to make him secretly disappear.

“Senior, I experienced countless dangers to come from the Eastern Wasteland through the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring! Please, just give me a chance!” shouted Long Chen.

But Zhuo Tianxiang ignored him. He began to walk away, not wanting to waste time on Long Chen.

Long Chen cursed and clenched his teeth. How was he so unlucky that everything always went awry?

He suddenly extended his hands, and ten threads of flame shot out of his fingers, forming a flame net in the air.

This flame net caused Zhuo Tianxiang to pause. The powerful soul energy and control Long Chen displayed had moved him.

To control ten threads of flame and have them interweave in the air was a dazzling sight. The ten threads interwove but never clashed. They all maintained a set distance from each other.

“Your control’s not bad, but your Spiritual Strength is only above average.” Zhuo Tianxiang shook his head, once more preparing to leave.

Long Chen cursed Zhuo Tianxiang. He had an urge to slap him.

BOOM!

Heaven and earth shook as flame runes suddenly appeared behind Long Chen. Sacred chanting filled the air.

In that instant, everyone’s expressions changed. They looked at Long Chen, filled with disbelief.

“Is this trump card of mine enough to win me the qualification to enter Pill Valley?” Long Chen had summoned the Nirvana Scripture.

“You’re Long Chen! You bastard, you dare to play with me?!”

Zhuo Tianxiang’s expression suddenly twisted, and he grabbed Long Chen, looking like he wanted to bite him to death.

Long Chen’s expression was one of complete panic. “I’m not Long Chen! I’m Long San! You have the wrong person!”

“Hahaha, how brazen! You actually dare to act stupid in front of me?! Whether or not you’re Long Chen will be clear after a soulsearch!”

Zhuo Tianxiang smiled sinisterly. It was no wonder he had felt that this little fellow was familiar. And that feeling had filled him with loathing.

With his status, he was more than capable of bringing Long Chen into Pill Valley. It wasn’t some major thing. The main thing was that he disliked this brat.

Now that Long Chen had summoned the Nirvana Scripture, the first thing Zhuo Tianxiang thought of was him. Not caring about Long Chen’s struggles, he pointed a finger at his head.

Long Chen’s body suddenly shook. He didn’t have the slightest ability to resist as a vast Spiritual Strength poured into his mind-sea, investigating his memories.

At first, Zhuo Tianxiang’s expression was twisted, but then he became shocked. As he went through Long Chen’s memories, his sinister smile disappeared.

“He… he’s really not Long Chen.” Zhuo Tianxiang released Long Chen disappointedly.

He had finished rifling through his memories and seen his entire past. This person truly wasn’t Long Chen. He was Long San.

“Protector Zhuo, are you sure he’s not Long Chen?” asked the new Tower Master.

“He’s not. I went through all his memories and saw everything in the Eastern Wasteland,” sighed Zhuo Tianxiang. It was a disappointment that he hadn’t managed to get Long Chen’s memories.

As he had gone through Long Chen’s past, he had seen him take an alchemy guild master named Yun Qi as his master, how he had cultivated to the point that he managed to take first place in the Pill Tower’s competition, and how he had run into a struggle on the vast sea and flown to the Central Plains.

In truth, other than the memories from the Pill Tower, the rest were all fake. They were what Long Chen had made for his guise as Long San. He had had the Reincarnation Mirror help him set this up. When an external power tried to touch the restriction the Reincarnation Mirror had left in his mind-sea, his memories would vanish, leaving behind only these fake memories.

When the external power left, his memories would slowly return. Right now, Long Chen was standing there blankly as he recovered his memories, and that appearance was just like someone recovering from a soulsearch. Even a wily old fox like Zhuo Tianxiang was tricked.

“Damnit, why does nothing I do ever go smoothly? If I hadn’t prepared some trump cards in advance, I really might have been doomed.” Long Chen cursed inside. His journey to Pill Valley was already going badly. When would his damn bad luck end?

“Then, Long San, he…?” probed the Tower Master. His meaning was whether he was still supposed to ‘properly look after him’.

“Long San’s soul energy is very powerful and rarely seen. But because it’s been too long since he has refined pills, and his cultivation base advanced too much, he hasn’t managed to consolidate his soul energy, making it sluggish. But this isn’t a problem. He just needs some pills and some time to recover. He really is a decent sprout. As long as he listens to orders, he can be raised into a genius. I’ll bring him with me,” said Zhuo Tianxiang.

In truth, while Zhuo Tianxiang acted calm, he was extremely shocked. Long Chen’s Spiritual Strength was something he had never seen before from a Foundation Forging disciple. His Spiritual Strength was comparable to a peak Soul Transformation alchemist.

In order to enter Pill Valley, Long Chen had made countless preparations. Right now, his soul was similar to what it would look like after he had spent three years not training in it. Now he had erased all of Zhuo Tianxiang’s suspicions.

Making completely perfect lies wasn’t possible, but to create some lies that didn’t have any big holes and could last a short time was more than possible for Long Chen.

He knew that this wily old fox was already planning some things for him. Saying that he could be raised into a genius if he listened to orders was a subtle warning.

“Many thanks Protector Zhuo! I will never forget your great kindness and favor!” Long Chen acted like he was going wild with joy.

Seeing Long Chen acting this way, Zhuo Tianxiang nodded. He brought him away with his people, going straight for the Eastern Xuan Capital’s transportation formations.