“Cough, how curious. Who could beat up someone from the everlasting families?” asked Long Chen.

“I actually don’t know. It wasn’t convenient for me to ask him such a thing,” said Zheng Wenlong.

That final slap of Long Chen’s had contained the true power of the eighth form of Split the Heavens. He had activated his divine ring, summoned his battle armor, and merged the power of his physical strength and astral energy.

The eighth form of Split the Heavens was something that unleashed a will to split heaven and earth, but Long Chen’s slap didn’t contain any killing intent nor imposing aura, which had made his opponent unable to sense the danger.

If it was a true killing blow, an expert would block or run based on their sense of danger. However, Long Chen’s divine face-slapping art was just that heaven-defying.

No, he wouldn’t kill you. He would just slap you. Compared to the pain of the body, the pain of the mind was far more unendurable.

Naturally, if Zheng Wenlong didn’t specifically ask, it meant that he didn’t know Long Chen had slapped that man, so Long Chen had no need to admit to it.

Through Zheng Wenlong’s explanation, Long Chen deduced that it was the one he had slapped. After realizing that he wasn’t a match for Long Chen, he had probably decided to leave, only for his anger to grow greater and greater as he thought about it, resulting in him fainting eventually. That was how Zheng Wenlong had encountered him.

As a businessman, Zheng Wenlong introduced him to the wide range of business that the Huayun Sect took part in after saving him, creating a foundation for future collaborations.

Once that person left, Zheng Wenlong had rushed over. He entered through the western gate, not the eastern gate, so he didn’t see the battlefield.

“Did you say that he was someone from the Dongfang everlasting family?” asked Long Chen.

“Yes. Brother Long, you really are my lucky star. I actually managed to bump into someone from the Dongfang family on my way to see you! His name was Dongfang Wenying. Although he didn’t say his exact status, based on his tone, he should have quite a high position in the Dongfang family. Hehe, I haven’t had much luck running around to the ancient sects that have been appearing, but I unexpectedly ran into such good fortune as soon as you came.” Zheng Wenlong smiled. Having formed a connection with the Dongfang family would make any future business with them much easier.

“Trust me, I’m no lucky star. But how is it possible that you haven’t had much luck with the others? Others should have no choice but to do business with the Huayun Sect. Are things not going well?” asked Long Chen.

As expected, Zheng Wenlong sighed. He said that there were various reasons for this. One of which was that those ancient powers were too proud. Although the Huayun Sect’s fame spoke for them, those powers actually ended up viewing them as beggars since they had taken the initiative to look for them.

These ancient powers had profound foundations. They each had their own worlds that satisfied their needs, so they didn’t care about any cooperation with the Huayun Sect.

To put it frankly, they were ancient powers that had sealed themselves off during the glorious time of the ancient era, allowing them to preserve many resources that no longer existed on the Martial Heaven Continent. For Zheng Wenlong to come find them now made them feel like the Huayun Sect was trying to trade trash for treasures.

“Do they have good stuff in their hands?” asked Long Chen, his eyes lighting up. He was always interested in treasures.

“Of course they do! Ancient plants and beasts that are extinct in our world are perfectly preserved in theirs. Amazing treasures, secret arts, magical arts of the ancient era, they have them all. That's why I went to see them. But the way they looked at me... like I was a beggar, ugh, it was quite a blow.” Zheng Wenlong sighed, leaning back with a cup of tea.

Even after exhausting himself to go see those ancient powers, he was merely met with disdain. It had been many years since such a thing had happened to him. Even as a businessman, he was starting to get angry. To face customers with an amicable smile was the teaching that the Wealth God had left behind for them, but Zheng Wenlong almost couldn’t hold it in.

Long Chen had felt a bit envious of Zheng Wenlong’s profession before this, but seeing his weary and exhausted appearance now, that envy faded.

“Ah, all I’m doing is complaining. We should get to our own business.” Zheng Wenlong clapped his forehead. This setback had made him forget his important business.

“Not at all. Having known you for so many years, I wanted to be like you, so I did some small businesses to scrape a living. But I didn’t expect these little businesses to do so well. I now have a bunch of things that I can’t get rid of. Hearing how tight things are on your side, I’m prepared to give a portion of those things to you.” Long Chen laughed and began to take out one item after another.

Zheng Wenlong didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How was this business? This was clearly plundering.

The matter of Long Chen demanding a protection fee at the channel of the Brahma secret realm was known throughout the continent. Perhaps only Long Chen would do something like that.

What was inconceivable about it was that the people that Long Chen had robbed actually didn’t feel much resentment toward him. Instead, they felt grateful after being robbed.

Long Chen took out one treasure after another. Weapons, pills, armor, there were all sorts of items. Seeing the mountain of battle spoils, Zheng Wenlong shook his head. Long Chen was truly vicious. He had not only gained a mountain of spirit crystals, but he had even gained this mountain of treasures.

“Eh, what’s this?” As he took out one item, Long Chen suddenly found it to be curious. It was a silk band with two bulges. Runes that he had never seen before were present on it.

Zheng Wenlong looked at it and his expression became odd. “That’s an item used by female cultivators who are nursing babies. Wearing it can induce milk production and make it easier to give the body’s pure nutrients to the baby. Long Chen, you actually took away a female cultivator’s personal item.”

“What the fuck?!” Long Chen raged, “I let the female cultivators in for free! Which rat bastard conned me like this?!”

At the time, there had been too many people. It wasn’t possible for Long Chen to examine what everyone had given him closely. Furthermore, it wasn’t as if he was an expert at appraising treasures. If he judged it to be close enough, he let them in.

“Don’t get angry. It truly is a decent treasure. Not many people have such a thing, so it’s actually quite valuable,” comforted Zheng Wenlong.

“Fine, then I’ll give it as a gift to you. I’m sure you and Bai Ling will be able to use it.” Long Chen magnanimously tossed this special object to Zheng Wenlong.

Bai Ling was the female manager in charge of the Huayun Pavilion in the Phoenix Cry Empire, and she was one of the Huayun Sect’s disciples. The reason why Long Chen hadn’t seen her in so long was because she was busy handling many things for Zheng Wenlong. The only thing left was for them to get married.

Zheng Wenlong had managed to advance step by step to his current position, but he had always remained loyal to Bai Ling. This one point was worthy of Long Chen’s admiration.

“Haha, the great peak heavenly genius of the Martial Heaven Continent is only sending me a single object? Isn’t that a bit stingy?” Although that was what he said, Zheng Wenlong really took the object.

“You’re really taking it?”

“Why not? We’ve been preparing to get married for a few years now. I’ve just been too busy to properly accompany her. Once life settles down, I’ll make sure Bai Ling can rest and raise children at home. It must be tiring for her to keep up with me,” said Zheng Wenlong. “But what about you, brother Long? When are you preparing to get married?”

“Me?” Long Chen was startled. He bitterly smiled. “I can’t even give them a stable life. Why talk about marriage?”

If Zheng Wenlong owed Bai Ling, then Long Chen owed his women far too much. They were accompanying him across the narrow line between life and death, but they didn’t complain.

“Once I stand at the peak of the martial path and have suppressed my opponents, when no one dares to mess with me, I should be able to give them a stable life. At that time, I’ll make things up to them.” Long Chen clenched his fists.

If he wanted a stable life, he needed absolute power. Otherwise, people like the fellow he had slapped away today would continuously come to find trouble for them.

Long Chen wasn’t afraid of trouble, but he didn’t want to implicate the people beside him.

The reason Long Chen had intentionally humiliated that man was because he was so loathsome. He had actually stretched his hands out toward an innocent woman, so Long Chen didn’t bother giving him any face.

However, that was just one person. More would come if he didn’t possess the level of power to make them give up before they tried. So cultivation had no way back.

Even if he announced that he was leaving the cultivation world and going into seclusion, some people would still come to attack him. Hence, he couldn’t slacken. He had to get stronger so he could protect his people.

Zheng Wenlong called some people over to appraise the things that Long Chen had taken out. Those people made a list, but Long Chen didn’t take it.

According to Long Chen, he remembered his debts in his heart. If someone helped him, he would remember it.

After giving those things to Zheng Wenlong, Long Chen asked him about the current situation of the continent. The Huayun Sect was definitely number one in terms of information.

According to Zheng Wenlong, thousands of hidden powers had come out recently. They were all amazing existences whose target was the upcoming qi flow eruption. That had waited all these years just for that one moment.

Not only that, but the Corrupt path, ancient races, Xuan Beasts, ancient family alliance, and Bloodkill Hall were preparing some big moves. Zheng Wenlong warned Long Chen to be careful.

The two of them chatted for almost two hours before Long Chen had to leave. After hesitating for a moment, Long Chen went to the Xuantian Dao Sect. It seemed that it had been a long time since he had been back.