The four of them left this dangerous region and found a secluded place to rest. The main thing was that Ye Lingshan was heavily injured.

While underground, Ye Lingshan had faced the attacks of those terrifying ox-head devils. She had been heavily injured, but at the time, she had used a secret art to temporarily suppress her injuries.

Naturally, her injuries could only be suppressed for a while. Fortunately, Chu Yao was present, and her wood spiritual energy was incomparably pure. After spending a whole day, Ye Lingshan was fully recovered. If Chu Yao hadn’t been present, it would have taken at least half a month for Ye Lingshan to recover. In this dangerous place, being in an injured state could be fatal.

Both Long Chen and Chu Yao knew that part of the reason why Ye Lingshan’s injuries were so severe was because she had received Huo Lieyun’s spear with her sword. In her heavily injured state, that attack had been too forced, worsening her condition.

“It’s nice having friends. Only upon joining the Martial Heaven Alliance did I ever feel what it’s like to have a family.” Ye Lingshan sighed deeply when she sensed that she had fully recovered. She had always been a solitary figure, and when injured, she could only find somewhere to hide, afraid her enemies would find her. Those bitter times had been hard. Upon joining the Martial Heaven Alliance, she had been viewed as the elders’ child. They all protected her and were kind to her. Now if she was injured, there was someone to heal her, someone to look after her, someone to protect her. That feeling was something that she hadn’t even dared to dream of before.

“It might be better to join the Dragonblood Legion…” probed Chu Yao with a faint smile.

Ye Lingshan suddenly blushed and shook her head. “Thank you, but I can’t. My master told me that Long Chen is skilled at seducing others, so I have to be on guard against him.”

Long Chen almost coughed up a mouthful of blood. Could the people closest to him not keep saying things like that? It was too hurtful.

“Your master’s eyes are wise. She immediately saw through the unfaithful heart of a certain person,” added Liu Ruyan profoundly.

“Don’t you think that’s too much? Certain people always forget favors, not even saying a word of thanks after gaining giant benefits. I’m just befuddled, do you think such people never grew a conscience?” Long Chen’s face was growing darker and darker.

If she didn’t want to thank him, then fine. But she actually threw stones at him while he was down.

Liu Ruyan also seemed to feel like she had gone a bit too far. She snorted, but she didn’t retort.

Chu Yao shook her head. Liu Ruyan seemed to view Long Chen as a fated enemy.

However, part of this couldn’t be helped. Liu Ruyan was innately an Undying Willow. She was a wood element lifeform, but she also possessed dark energy. Her character was prideful and cold.

There was also Long Chen’s flame energy and thunderforce. Both of those energies represented destruction, which possessed a natural repulsive effect toward wood cultivators with life energy.

Chu Yao had a deep spiritual connection with Long Chen so that repulsive effect wasn’t so great. However, Liu Ruyan was different. The two of them hadn’t been friends from the start, so adding this elemental rejection, it was difficult for the two of them to get along.

This time, however, Liu Ruyan had ended up owing Long Chen an immense debt. That primal chaos divine elixir would completely transform her. It was just that she needed some more time to refine it all. Considering the amount that the Yin Yang Immortal Grass had sealed within her body, she didn’t even know how much time it would take.

Seeming to realize that Long Chen and Liu Ruyan didn’t get along, Ye Lingshan quickly changed the subject. “Long Chen, you really are powerful. You even killed that divine emissary of the Bloodkill Hall. He was a very terrifying existence.”

Chu Yao and Liu Ruyan also nodded. Eliminating a slippery assassin was truly difficult.

“It was just luck.” Long Chen shook his head. “If he had used his full power, I would have had an eighty percent chance of defeating him, but less than a ten percent chance of killing him. He actually died due to Huo Lieyun.”

“What?” The three women didn’t understand. How was this connected to Huo Lieyun?

“That assassin was very crafty and skilled in scheming. He didn’t want to use too much power or expose his trump cards. He wanted to bait me into a direct clash with Huo Lieyun and then gather benefits from the side, using the least amount of power to kill me. Actually, something similar occurred to me before when True Immortal Jiaoqi and Xie Luo both attacked at the same time. They were both scheming against each other, not wanting to expose their trump cards. I tried to kill them with something similar, but I was too greedy and didn’t succeed. However, this time I managed to pull it off.” Long Chen smiled. Having conned one of the Bloodkill Hall’s divine emissaries to death could count as a harvest.

The Bloodkill Hall’s experts were very difficult to kill. Eliminating one of them on this level was something that made even Long Chen feel some pride.

“Then do you mean the divine emissary was even stronger than we thought? If that’s the case, he’ll probably be crying on his path to the yellow springs,” said Chu Yao with a laugh. Such an expert had died so sullenly.

“He deserves it. Most people who die to assassins also have sullen deaths. The assassins aren’t actually strong but can kill people several times stronger than themselves. Assassinating targets across realms is easy for them. To put it bluntly, assassination arts are scams, but as long as someone is fooled, they’ll die. The one who lives is naturally the expert.” Long Chen shrugged.

Chu Yao and the others nodded. An expert on this level had died just like that due to making a mistake in his own scheme.

“Long Chen, what is that copper plate? How could it draw out such terrifying monsters?” asked Ye Lingshan.

Long Chen took out the copper plate again. Now there was a faint sheen to it that hadn’t existed before. It seemed like the slightest breath of life had been breathed into it.

“This copper plate’s origin is extremely shocking. You know of the Martial Heaven Continent’s five supreme divine items?”

“Are you saying…?”

“Yes. This copper plate is a fragment of the leader of the five great divine items, the Eastern Wasteland Bell,” said Long Chen.

“How can you know that?” demanded Ye Lingshan.

“Because… I met it and had a business transaction with it. Its body is fragmented, and this is one of the fragments. I just don’t know why it would be sealed here. Its divine essence has essentially been sucked dry. Most likely, it was absorbed by the altar. As for who did it or their goals, we can’t know. Back when I asked the Eastern Wasteland Bell why it had fallen to such a point, it wouldn’t tell me. Lingshan, this copper plate is on its last breaths and requires a huge amount of Spiritual Strength to nourish it. Please leave it with me. I might be able to use it,” said Long Chen. He rarely asked others for things, but this copper plate was too important.

“Just take it. It’s useless to me,” said Ye Lingshan magnanimously.

Long Chen nodded gratefully. Ye Lingshan’s words were naturally false. How could a fragment of a supreme divine item be useless? However, she gave it to him without hesitation.

“Thank you. Don’t tell anyone about this copper plate, including your master,” warned Long Chen solemnly.

“Why?”

“Because the implications are too big. When I met the Eastern Wasteland Bell, I could vaguely sense that something was off. Just think about it. The leader of the five supreme divine items was almost destroyed. The Eastern Wasteland Bell is an existence that maintains the karmic luck of the entire Martial Heaven Continent. As for the other four supreme divine items, there’s no news about them. It repeatedly told me not to ask what had happened, because the karmic burden was too heavy. That’s why you shouldn’t draw the alliance head into this matter.”

Ye Lingshan suddenly had a thought. Looking at Long Chen, she said, “But then you…”

“I’ve already met the Eastern Wasteland Bell, so I don’t mind adding on this bit of karma as well. When have I ever been afraid?” Long Chen smiled.

“Thank you.” At this point, Ye Lingshan realized that Long Chen was bearing the karma for her, while he made it seem like he was the one who owed her a favor.

Ye Lingshan knew that any supreme existence was related to the Heavenly Daos, and being involved with them could easily cause the Heavenly Daos to sense them. Some karma would be settled during heavenly tribulation. The Heavenly Daos would silently increase the difficulty of the heavenly tribulation, turning it into heavenly punishment. It was unknown how many people had been killed like this without even being aware of what had happened. That was karma.

As for the Eastern Wasteland Bell, it was the leader of the five supreme divine items. If she kept it without any preparations, her heavenly tribulation might transform due to the matter of the Eastern Wasteland Bell. She might die if she wasn’t aware.

“We’re a family, so no need for words of courtesy. What plans do you have now?” asked Long Chen.

“Plans? I’m planning on searching for more treasures,” said Ye Lingshan with a confused look.

Seeing Long Chen’s bitter smile, Ye Lingshan didn’t know what she had said wrong. Looking at her oddly, Long Chen asked, “As the future leader of the Martial Heaven Alliance, have you not noticed anything?”

“I… I didn’t see anything?”

Long Chen sighed. “Fine, I’ll tell you. The board of the Martial Heaven Continent is about to completely transform with the opening of the Yin Yang World. If you do not grasp this opportunity, the Martial Heaven Alliance will shatter.”