Dong Mingyu was actually able to kill Netherpassage experts. Even Long Chen felt incomparably shocked.

Even now, although he was strong enough to slap Di Long in the face repeatedly, that was when Di Long was caught off guard and had no defense up.

If a Netherpassage expert were to use their full strength, then Long Chen would be sending himself to his death if he fought them. Even his chances of getting away alive would be very low. Hence, it was absolutely shocking to him that Dong Mingyu could kill a Netherpassage expert.

“You don’t need to be too shocked. Dong Mingyu can assassinate a Netherpassage expert, not kill one. There’s still a difference between them,” said Qu Jianying.

Assassination relied on opportunity, while killing relied on power. However, even in that case, managing to sneak attack a Netherpassage expert in control of life and death energy definitely couldn’t be done entirely by luck.

Let alone assassinating a Netherpassage expert, just holding the slightest hostility toward them as you approached would be instantly sensed by them. Assassinating one of them was essentially impossible. However, Dong Mingyu had done it.

“Rumor is that Dong Mingyu has awakened the Killing God’s blood mark, and her assassination arts are unmatched. She is the strongest killer in the history of the Bloodkill Hall. As you are already classified as a target that she must kill, you absolutely must be careful. An assassin is the most troublesome existence,” warned Qu Jianying.

Long Chen nodded but he wasn’t afraid. Having fought against the Bloodkill Hall so much, the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art had practically memorized their aura. He wasn’t afraid of their assassinations.

However, he definitely had to be careful of this Dong Mingyu. She was an assassin who did not specialize in group fighting, nor did she specialize in power, yet she still obtained third place. That meant that her one-on-one killing power had to be on an extreme level. Otherwise, there was no way she could assassinate a Netherpassage expert.

“Speaking of which, who did Dong Mingyu assassinate?” asked Long Chen curiously.

Qu Jianying’s expression became odd. “Her own master.”

“Her master?”

“Yes. The Bloodkill Hall has this kind of inheritance where apprentices will try to assassinate their masters, while the masters will also try to assassinate their apprentices once the latter manage to threaten their position. These kinds of ancient conventions aren’t something outsiders like us would understand. In any case, assassins assassinating assassins is very normal to them,” said Qu Jianying.

Li Tianxuan and the patriarch seemed to have expected that result. They understood more about the Bloodkill Hall than Long Chen.

“Then does that mean that the Bloodkill Hall’s Netherpassage experts are more terrifying than other Netherpassage experts? If even her own master couldn’t avoid being killed by her, couldn’t she kill other Netherpassage experts easily?” asked Long Chen with disbelief.

Qu Jianying shook her head. “You can’t extrapolate this matter that way. The Bloodkill Hall’s disciples and masters are constantly scheming against each other. It includes their habits, how they prefer to attack, their patterns, their flaws, all of it is a constant whirlpool of scheming. Their profession’s unique point is that other than the Killing God and themselves, they won’t trust anyone else. Everyone else is an enemy. When they see others, they are constantly calculating their flaws and how to kill them. So the Bloodkill Hall’s assassins prefer to be carrying out missions rather than staying in the Bloodkill Hall, because if they stayed for too long, others would have more chances to secretly observe them, and it would be even more dangerous. That’s why the fact that Dong Mingyu could assassinate her Netherpassage master is because she is very familiar with her master. Of course, we can’t know if she relied on power or scheming to kill her master, but in any case, she is very dangerous, even more dangerous than Leng Yueyan.”

“I understand.” Long Chen nodded.

“As for that True Immortal Jiaoqi, he’s quite an amazing figure. He possesses two different bloodlines, one from the Heavenly Blood River Drake and the other from the Storm Wind Qilin. The Storm Wind Qilin might not be the true divine beast known as the qilin, but it contains a trace of the qilin’s blood. Their speed is shocking. As for his father, he’s a supreme expert from the Heavenly Blood River Drake race, one with an extremely pure bloodline. This race specializes in power. In fact, their power approaches the power of dragons. So True Immortal Jiaoqi was born with practically divine power. He inherited the divine abilities of the Heavenly Blood River Drake and the speed of the Storm Wind Qilin. He possesses both great power and speed and is a very terrifying existence amongst the Xuan Beasts. If you face him alone in the future, it might be difficult to avoid a fierce battle. Be careful.” Qu Jianying was solemn when it came to True Immortal Jiaoqi. He also wasn’t ordinary.

After talking about True Immortal Jiaoqi, she continued, “As for Mo Nian, there’s nothing to say, correct? I heard you are good friends?”

“Yes. More accurately, we should be classified as life and death brothers.” Long Chen nodded.

“Alright then. You flipped the Eastern Xuan Region, while Mo Nian caused chaos in the Western Xuan Region. You two really are a pair of brothers. The two of you have been called the Eastern Madman and the Western Wretch. He… he really is wretched. He actually calls himself a scholar, a pioneer of archaeology and an explorer of geology. He says he is unearthing the civilization and the culture of the ancients. But in truth, he is just doing shameful things all day. Many years ago, the Mo family was majestic and grand. Now, this little fellow has fallen to the point of digging up tombs to vent. It makes one sigh.” Qu Jianying really did sigh, her expression one of sorrow.

“Alliance head, are you saying Mo Nian’s family was very amazing back in the day?” asked Long Chen.

“Of course they were. Back then, the leader of the ancient family alliance was the Mo family. The Di family only took their place later on. As for what happened then, you don’t need to ask. Something as messy and chaotic as that gives me a headache as soon as it’s mentioned.” Qu Jianying waved her hand. She clearly was very discontented with the Di family, and her voice seemed to contain a kind of disdain. She didn’t wish to talk about it.

“Since you call him your brother, it is fated that you will go against Di Long. It’s no wonder Di Long would be so shameless in an effort to eliminate you. Hmph, after finding something to rely on, does the Di family think they can get away with anything? Does he not realize that once he loses that support that he relies on, he will have become so weak himself that he won’t be able to stand? Whatever, that’s not your affair. Just talking about these things is irritating. Long Chen, just be careful. Don’t get tricked by the Devil Slaughter Rankings,” said Qu Jianying.

“Tricked?”

“Yes, don’t think that the strongest geniuses are on the Devil Slaughter Rankings. First of all, the ancient races, Xuan Beasts, Corrupt path, ancient family alliance, and other powers only chose to send a single representative. Those representatives have amazing area attacks that give them an advantage when it comes to the Devil Slaughter Rankings, but that doesn’t mean that those people are necessarily the strongest,” said Qu Jianying.

Long Chen nodded. “I know, not everyone powerful is skilled in group fighting, and not everyone likes standing out. If I had a choice, I also wouldn’t want to take first place.”

From the start, he hadn’t been planning on taking first place. His goal had been for Guo Ran to have it. However, his plans had been forced to change.

Many people were definitely thinking like him, so the Devil Slaughter Rankings could not be used to say that those were the strongest geniuses of this world. At most, it could be used as a rough reference.

“Ah, I almost forgot, you should also take note of that Hu Feng and Xia Chen. I’ve investigated Xia Chen, and he should be the heir to the Spirit Immortal Formation Sect from ancient times. This sect had essentially vanished for tens of thousands of years, but now it has reappeared. Rumor is that the Spirit Immortal Formation Sect has no actual combat power, so they don’t like to reveal themselves. However, once they establish a formation, it is capable of overturning the land and sea. Even peak experts, no matter how high their cultivation base or combat power, will end up dying if they fall into their formation.

“As for Hu Feng, he’s also a marvel. He should be the one to inherit the legendary Gambling Heavenly Dao. The heirs of the Gambling Heavenly Dao all have a strange nickname, the ‘fifty-fifties’.”

“The fifty-fifties?” Long Chen didn’t understand what that meant.

Li Tianxuan was the one who explained, “It seems the great era has truly started to descend if even the Gambling Heavenly Dao’s heir has appeared. The Gambling Heavenly Dao’s heirs live off gambling. It’s a very strange sect. It is said that they do not cultivate magical arts or spiritual yuan. Instead, they cultivate luck. It’s an ancient sect, one that was mysterious even in the ancient era. There are very few recordings of them. In each generation, there will only be one heir, and there is no need for a master and apprentice to pass down the inheritance. Sometimes, a new heir will appear after a few hundred years, and sometimes there might be no news of them even after thousands of years. However, one thing is certain. That is that all the Gambling Heavenly Dao’s heirs have heaven-defying luck, and it is very difficult for them to be killed by someone. When they encounter an opponent, no matter how high that opponent’s cultivation base, no matter how strong they are, they will always have a fifty percent chance of winning.”

“But… why does that sound so completely unreliable?” Long Chen couldn’t believe it. “If this Hu Feng encountered a Netherpassage expert at the Sea Expansion realm, he would still have a fifty percent chance of winning?”

“Yes. This is the power of the Gambling Heavenly Dao. Even if Hu Feng was just at the Xiantian realm, he would still have a fifty percent chance of winning. However, due to their heaven-defying luck, it’s almost impossible for them to encounter enemies that are stronger than them. That’s the only reason this strange nickname of fifty-fifties appeared. Even in the entire cultivation world, only the Gambling Heavenly Dao’s heirs have such heaven-defying abilities. Long Chen, there are all kinds of marvels in this world. With the great era silently descending, sects that belonged only in legends have started to awaken. All kinds of monsters are being born. You cannot be overconfident.”

“That’s correct. Even the heirs of the Spirit Immortal Formation Sect and Gambling Heavenly Dao have appeared. More monsters like them will appear. This is an era of marvels, as well as an era of blood. No one knows who will be the one to walk to the peak of the martial path and dominate this era,” added Qu Jianying.

“I understand.”

For some reason, Long Chen didn’t feel any pressure. Instead, he felt a grand feeling. This era was growing more and more interesting.

Qu Jianying said a few more words before leaving. She had too many things to handle, and that made Long Chen sigh. If she was so busy, how did she have time to cultivate?

“Reporting to the Xuan Master, a man calling himself Xia Chen had come asking to see senior apprentice-brother Long Chen.”