Long Chen had absorbed every last drop of the Yuan Spirit Divine Pool, allowing him to finally reach the peak of the twelfth Heavenstage of Foundation Forging.

He was just one step away from the Jade Core realm. At this time, his 108,000 immortal platforms were once more compressed by some energy, turning into spheres. These spheres were covered in his original runes.

This was something that occurred when normal cultivators attacked the Jade Core realm. Their immortal platforms would turn spherical as they prepared to condense the divine core.

Right now, the only thing remaining for him to do was to strip off his original runes. Then he could step into the Jade Core realm.

These runes were like a layer of protection for the energy inside. Once they were stripped off, through the baptism of lightning, his divine core would truly form.

Right now, Long Chen was at the great circle of Foundation Forging and could also count as being at the half-step Jade Core realm. But at the same time as he was delighted over this, he was also filled with horror.

That horror was directed at the amount of energy contained in his immortal platforms.

Right now, he was like a vase packed with 108,000 bombs. Once one detonated, his body would no longer exist.

Despite his previous experience, he had underestimated the final three Heavenstage of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Each advancement had increased the power of his immortal platforms by ten times.

Right now, even just extracting their energy and turning it into flame energy had to be done carefully. Accidentally drawing a bit too much would cause him to explode.

Long Chen had never felt such reverence for the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. This cultivation technique was definitely unrivaled in this world.

Long Chen left the Yuan Spirit Divine Pool. He went into seclusion for more than half a month before finally getting accustomed to his new body.

He could now extract the spiritual yuan in his immortal platforms and transform it into flame energy without worrying so much about exploding. The amount of flame energy he could produce now was essentially endless.

Right now, he could only be a complete flame cultivator and couldn’t use the power of his physical body. He couldn’t use his true power to fight.

The thing that made Long Chen curious was that contrary to what he had expected, Zhuo Tianxiang’s furious reprisal never came. He never came to demand if he had stolen the Yuan Spirit Divine Elixir.

Elder Zhu never brought it up as if it had never happened. At first, Long Chen found this very strange, but then he realized Zhuo Tianxiang was truly planning on using him as a one-time use killing tool.

After his seclusion, Elder Zhu directly tossed Long Chen into the Divine Pill Pavilion and selected several sinister and ruthless techniques for him to train in.

Long Chen acted obedient and learned them. With his powerful soul energy and control, learning these techniques was easy, and Elder Zhu was satisfied by his display.

However, neither Elder Zhu nor Zhuo Tianxiang decided to make Long Chen go through his tribulation. There wasn’t enough time. The Heaven Dragon Flame Region would be opened in just a few days.

With Zhuo Tianxiang’s efforts, Long Chen didn’t even have to go through a test to receive a spot to enter the Heaven Dragon Flame Region. Another disciple gave him their spot.

On this day, when Long Chen finally left seclusion, Dan Yanxue, Kan Dongze, and the rest of the core of the Divine Spear Alliance had already gathered.

“Let’s go. We were only waiting for you,” said Dan Yanxue indifferently.

Long Chen smiled. Neither Dan Yanxue nor Kan Dongze truly cared about him. In their eyes, he was just a chess piece.

“Long San, remember to look after yourself once you enter the Heaven Dragon Flame Region. Remember, safety first. Don’t harm others. Every person’s life is a gift from their father and mother. We don’t provoke people, but we aren’t afraid of others. If someone wants to kill you, you don’t need to stand on courtesy. Even if you kill them in retaliation, you have our Divine Spear Alliance behind you. Furthermore, you are a Grand Elder’s final apprentice. Don’t lose face for your fallen master.” Kan Dongze patted Long Chen on the shoulder solemnly.

“I don’t need your reminder. I’ll kill anyone who provokes me. Of course, that includes that idiot Jiang Zijun. I’m now so strong that I can kill anyone,” said Long Chen arrogantly.

Kan Dongze was startled. Long San was truly brazen to not even place Jiang Zijun in his eyes. That was pure suicide. Was a rank nine Celestial really someone he could handle?

However, he didn’t say this and nodded instead. “Excellent, that’s the right attitude. Protector Zhuo has given you a few missions. He wants you to eliminate a few people.”

Kan Dongze didn’t speak this time, but instead sent him a spiritual message along with a jade tile.

Long Chen’s divine sense swept through the jade tile. He disdainfully said, “Is he looking down on me? Are these insects worthy of me personally killing?”

There were dozens of names on the jade tile, and there were also recordings of their appearance so he would be able to know who they were.

These people were all Foundation Forging disciples, so their cultivation bases weren’t particularly high. But they were all alchemy geniuses and had high positions in the Divine Shield Alliance. Zhuo Tianxiang wanted him to assassinate these geniuses.

Once these geniuses were dead, the Divine Shield Alliance would be heavily injured. The Divine Spear Alliance would go from having a disadvantage in terms of alchemy geniuses to an absolute advantage.

With the power Long Chen had displayed, killing these people would be very easy. That was why Long Chen intentionally expressed his disdain.

“It’d be best if you took this seriously. If you fail, don’t even think about continuing to live happily in Pill Valley. But if you do a good job, your prospects in Pill Valley will be limitless. Don’t joke about this,” warned Kan Dongze. He had no choice but to give Long San a warning, because he really was worried about Long San treating his words as nothing more than a fart and ruining this matter.

“Stop worrying. I’m not trash like these people. Speaking of which, it’d be no problem for me to kill a few more people than just the ones on the list, right? There are many people in the opposing faction that I find very displeasing,” said Long Chen.

Hearing this, Kan Dongze’s eyes brightened for a moment before he concealed it. Originally, he had been worried that Long San wouldn’t dare to kill people, but now it seemed that he didn’t need to give him any more encouragement.

“Kill them as you please. The more you kill, the greater your reward,” said Kan Dongze spiritually.

He then opened his mouth to say, “Remember, you are a member of the Divine Spear Alliance. No one can provoke us.”

Long Chen nodded, a smile on his face. He was clear on this matter. Zhuo Tianxiang had raised him just for this one usage. Once the Heaven Dragon Flame Region closed, even if he came out alive, he’d probably be executed.

At that time, he’d say that Long San had gone crazy and indiscriminately killed people in the Heaven Dragon Flame Region. Then he’d find an excuse to kill him so that no one could testify.

However, Long Chen truly felt that this plan was laughable. Even if he was executed, could the deaths of so many disciples really be made up for with just his death?

Furthermore, the one who had drawn him into Pill Valley and raised him, Zhuo Tianxiang, would have a ninety percent chance of being offered as a sacrifice because of those deaths. Long Chen really couldn’t tell just what Zhuo Tianxiang was thinking. With how crafty he was, he wouldn’t so something so foolish. Did he have some way to escape his punishment?

He couldn’t quite figure it out, but he couldn’t be bothered to waste the energy to think about it. That problem wasn’t important. He hadn’t expected Zhuo Tianxiang to sacrifice him so soon, so he had to think of a way to get out of it.

Just as he was pondering this, they arrived at a transportation formation within Pill Valley. The Divine Shield Alliance’s disciples were already waiting.

The Divine Shield Alliance’s disciples stared coldly at them. Their hostility was clear.

“Senior apprentice-brother Zijun, it’s been a while. You look as suave as ever. Oh, how come the Pill Fairy hasn’t come?” Kan Dongze pretended to exclaim in shock.

Due to Wan Qing and Long San, the Pill Fairy had become hostile with Jiang Zijun, and it had reached the point that the Pill Fairy had stopped caring about the Divine Shield Alliance. This was something everyone in Pill Valley knew, so it was clear Kan Dongze was mocking him.

Jiang Zijun’s face was ashen. He coldly said, “You don’t have to worry about it. If you have the energy, you should instead focus on increasing the alchemy ability of your Divine Spear Alliance. Each time there’s a trial, aren’t you always miserably defeated?”

Kan Dongze merely smiled and didn’t argue against this. The main thing was that there was no way to argue. The Divine Shield Alliance truly suppressed them in terms of alchemy.

“Long San, let me introduce you. This is the grand Jiang Zijun, the Divine Shield Alliance’s master. He’s a hero amongst men. You two should get to know each other,” chortled Kan Dongze as he pushed Long Chen forward.

Kan Dongze was truly sinister. Despite clearly knowing Jiang Zijun hated Long Chen to the bone, he intentionally brought him out as bait while acting like he didn’t know of their relationship.

“Tch, someone like him isn’t qualified to exchange words with me. It’d be better for me to keep a low profile.” Long Chen shook his head and didn’t even look at Jiang Zijun.

“Low profile?”

Whether they were from the Divine Shield Alliance or the Divine Spear Alliance, the disciples were all united in their speechlessness. If Long San had kept a low profile, then there was no one in the world who had kept a high profile.

Although he knew that Kan Dongze was intentionally trying to infuriate him, Jiang Zijun wasn’t able to help himself. His fury soared.

“Long San, you better watch out! I’ll teach you a lesson in the Heaven Dragon Flame Region!”

Long Chen sighed inside. This Jiang Zijun was definitely an idiot. What Kan Dongze wanted was precisely for him to say this. But he still didn’t realize.

He couldn’t help but feel regretful. Without the Pill Fairy, the Divine Shield Alliance led by Jiang Zijun wouldn’t be able to last for long before being wiped out.

Just as Jiang Zijun was threatening Long Chen, Kan Dongze and Dan Yanxue exchanged a glance. Both of them saw the other’s hidden smile.

Long Chen suddenly felt a sense of alarm. No wonder he had felt that his calculations had gone awry. Could the true people that wanted to set him up be these two and not Zhuo Tianxiang?

Just at this moment, everyone turned silent, and a group of people slowly walked over. The one at the front was the peerless beauty, the Pill Fairy in her pure white dress.