BOOM!

The sky exploded, and an endless stream of quicksand flowed out at them.

“This is… a variant of the earth element!”

“He’s the ancient family alliance’s Sha Guangyan! Run!”

Those experts that had been rushing forward so fervently now fled for their lives. When they collided with the quicksand, they were blown back, vomiting blood.

The quicksand possessed some kind of strange power. When it collided with them, divine light appeared, heavily injuring them.

“That saber belongs to me, Sha Guangyan! If anyone dares to touch it, I’ll kill them!” roared the long-haired man.

After he stated his name, everyone retreated. Long Chen surprisingly saw Gui Yan amongst them.

He couldn’t help being shocked. Just what kind of background did Sha Guangyan possess to intimidate this many people with just his name? It had to be known that there were seven rank nine Celestials among them.

The quicksand quickly formed a sea around the altar. It then wrapped up, forming a large ball of sand that blocked people’s sight of the altar.

Without forming any hand seals, he relied on just his Spiritual Strength to create such a defense. Long Chen was startled. This Sha Guangyan was definitely powerful.

With the altar enveloped by sand, the black saber was blocked from sight. Everyone’s attention focused on Chu Yao and Sha Guangyan.

Because of their wild greed, no one noticed a certain outsider amongst them. At this moment, Long Chen wasn’t wearing the Xuantian Dao Sect’s robes. He was wearing black robes, and he wasn’t particularly conspicuous within the crowd.

“Doesn’t that woman come from the Skywood Divine Palace? No one other than people from the Skywood Divine Palace could possess such strong wood spiritual qi.” With Sha Guangyan intimidating them, they didn’t dare to get closer. They began to mutter.

“You’re right, that’s the Skywood Divine Palace’s most outstanding disciple. What was her name? Right, it’s Fairy Chu Yao.” One of the ancient family experts clapped himself on the head in recognition.

“Fairy Chu Yao? The one claimed to be the Skywood Divine Palace’s strongest disciple? Despite possessing an innate wood spirit body, she missed her most optimal cultivation period. But with the full effort of the Skywood Divine Palace, she still soared into the heavens in one go,” said an ancient race expert.

Even the ancient races who didn’t particularly care about the Righteous path were aware of this matter. Chu Yao was like a miracle in the cultivation world.

For someone with an innate wood spirit body to miss her golden cultivation age had made countless people sigh in regret. But then, they heard that the Skywood Divine Palace’s master had spent all the Skywood Divine Elixir stored in the Skywood Divine Palace on Chu Yao. Using this, she made up for Chu Yao’s deficit.

Furthermore, the palace master had sacrificed three thousand years of her longevity for Chu Yao. A beauty that could topple a nation had transformed into an old crone overnight. That had shaken the Martial Heaven Continent.

That was why everyone thought that Chu Yao was blessed. They also admired the Skywood Divine Palace’s master for her boldness, as well as the way she raised her disciples. So Chu Yao’s name had also spread through the Central Plains.

“Hmph, so what? That Chu Yao will be killed by my Corrupt path or refined into a puppet sooner or later,” said a Corrupt expert coldly.

The Skywood Divine Palace was one of the representative sects of the Righteous path. They were the enemies that the Corrupt path hated the most. In the past Righteous and Corrupt battles, there was always the shadow of the Skywood Divine Palace. The Righteous path depended on their contributions.

So the Corrupt path hated the Skywood Divine Palace to the core. Seeing everyone bewitched by Chu Yao’s beauty and talent provoked that hatred.

“Idiot, don’t forget that the ancient family alliance is allied with the Martial Heaven Alliance. If there weren’t orders from higher-ups, do you think we’d work together with you? Clean your mouth before you speak again,” demanded an expert from the ancient family alliance.

There were experts from the ancient races, the Corrupt path, the ancient family alliance, and other powers. Some of these powers were neutral and didn’t participate in the struggle between the Righteous and Corrupt paths.

However, the ancient family alliance was different. They were allies with the Martial Heaven Alliance. During the Righteous and Corrupt battles, they would occasionally appear and help the Righteous path.

After all, they were also from the human race. Other than that connection, there were many areas in which they shared resources and aligned interests.

Their relationship had become strained once Long Chen had appeared. But this didn’t affect their hostility toward the Corrupt path.

The Corrupt path looked down on the Righteous path’s hypocrisy, while the Righteous path looked down on the Corrupt path’s barbarous, murderous tendencies. Both sides hated the other.

Now that all these powers were gathered in the Spirit World, they were more or less under the rules of the Dark Forest, and they did their best to avoid fighting.

However, the Corrupt path’s words had ended up provoking the ancient family alliance’s disciples. They naturally had to retort.

Furthermore, Chu Yao possessed a special air to her. No one would want to be enemies with this fairy-like woman.

“Allies? Hmph, so it was your ally who killed Luo Minghao? After they slaughtered one of your rank nine Celestials, you’re still fine being allies? How stupid,” sneered the Corrupt expert.

All the ancient family alliance’s experts were enraged, as there was no way for them to retort to this. It was a clear slap in their faces.

“Hmph, you want to drive a wedge between us? So even the mindless-killing Corrupt path uses schemes. What a joke. Long Chen is just one sect’s disciple and cannot represent the entire Righteous path. Furthermore, how many people from your Corrupt path has he killed? He has been tramping over the Corrupt path’s bones since the Eastern Wasteland. From the Jiuli secret realm, the Immemorial Path, the eastern seashore, to Devil Spirit Mountain, he’s been slaughtering your Corrupt path. If you lined up all the people he killed, it’d probably be enough to loop around the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring. You might be able to brag, but how many years has he been on the top of your Corrupt path’s must-kill list? Hurry up and get to work. Long Chen’s still alive and well, and who knows when he’ll get bored and kill some more Corrupt experts for fun? If you really have any skill, then go kill Long Chen and destroy the Xuantian Dao Sect. Does standing there spouting crap have any use?” One of the eloquent ancient family experts gave a whole speech. His sharp words caused the Corrupt experts’ expressions to darken.

“You’re provoking us!” roared the Corrupt experts.

“What are you going to do about it?” The ancient family alliance’s experts refused to appear weak.

“I don’t see either of you really fighting, so stop arguing! I can’t hear that beauty’s words over your shouting,” said an impatient voice.

A Corrupt expert raged, “Who do you think you are?! You want to die, is that it?!”

However, when the Corrupt experts and the ancient family alliance’s experts saw who had spoken, they all fell deathly silent. Like sheep that had noticed a lion amongst them, they fled in all directions.

“Long… Chen!”

Everyone gulped, staring at Long Chen who had just been beside them.

The Corrupt path and the ancient races hated Long Chen to the core. Even the ancient family alliance was his enemy.

Within the crowd, Gui Yan’s expression changed. Even with so many other experts present, he didn’t feel safe.

He had fought against Long Chen three times. On the third time, Long Chen had clearly viewed him as insignificant. If he hadn’t been targeting the ancient race expert and ancient family expert, Gui Yan would probably have died.

Long Chen ignored the crowd. Although there were several rank nine Celestials here, he didn’t feel any fear of them. Although killing them would be very difficult, he wouldn’t mind if they tried to kill him. If his luck was good, perhaps he’d be able to obtain a rank nine Heavenly Dao Fruit.

Chu Yao stood there, facing Sha Guangyan and not aware of what was happening outside the battlefield. She didn’t dare to be distracted while fighting, as she was the only one who knew just how powerful Sha Guangyan was.

“Fairy Chu Yao, I don’t want to be enemies with you. This ancient blade is very important to me. I must obtain it, so I hope you won’t make things hard on me,” said Sha Guangyan. He was also well aware of how powerful Chu Yao was and had to be restrained.

Chu Yao shook her head. “This ancient blade is also a must-have for me. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you have it.”

“Fairy Chu Yao, you’re going too far. This ancient blade is clearly a killing tool. It goes against your Life Dao. Since you are unable to use this saber, why must you fight me over it?” Sha Guangyan’s expression sank slightly.

He was pressed for time. But if a real fight started between him and Chu Yao, he had no confidence in being able to defeat her quickly.

If they fought at full power, it would cause a huge disturbance. Right now, the majority of the mist in this region had faded, but the mist in the outer regions was still in the process of fading away.

He could sense several powerful existences within that mist. So when he had been fighting Chu Yao just now, he hadn’t used his full power for fear of drawing those existences over.

However, Chu Yao refused to let him have his way, infuriating him. Killing intent began to rise in his eyes.

“I know that after Blooddrinker shattered on Devil Spirit Mountain, he hasn’t been able to find a good weapon. This saber’s domineering nature fits his well, so I want to give it to him as a gift,” said Chu Yao. She didn’t realize the person she was talking about was standing nearby, a warm smile on his face.

Long Chen felt a wave of emotion. She was always thinking of him, but he had never gone to find her. He felt grateful but ashamed at the same time.

“Hmph, are you talking about that idiot Long Chen?”

Sha Guangyan’s expression immediately became dark, and his fists were tightly clenched.