Long Chen had killed a Netherpassage expert with one stroke of his saber. That wasn’t what stunned people, it was that this expert had been a member of the divine families’ outer branches. Although it was just the outer branches, they still belonged to the divine families. For Long Chen to dare to kill someone from the divine families, he had probably provoked a huge calamity.

“Long Chen, you dare?!” The other elders roared, weapons appearing in their hands.

“Tch, only you can kill others but others can’t kill you? Do you really think that you’re gods? You found the crappiest excuse you could to cause trouble, and after someone killed your disciple, you got so embarrassed you wanted to kill the killer. If you want to kill others, you have to be prepared to be killed as well,” sneered Long Chen.

That elder he had killed had previously attacked Xia Youluo, and if he hadn’t interfered, tossing out one of the bells in Long Xiaoyu’s bag, Xia Youluo would have been killed. He hated people like that the most. They thought that they were so supreme that their lives were important, but other people’s lives were meaningless.

Originally, he wouldn’t have killed that person in this situation. After all, that person hadn’t succeeded in harming Xia Youluo. But Long Chen was unable to placate the flames of rage in his heart. His will refused to allow that person to live.

Furthermore, after his years of experience with such people, he knew that whether or not he killed that person, his enmity with the divine families had been established. They wouldn’t feel any gratitude if he let them off. He had ruined their plan, so this enmity had been formed. There was nothing he could do to prevent it. Instead, they would want to press him even further. This was the simplest and frankest principle of the cultivation world.

“Long Chen, how brazen! You actually disregard the divine families? That’s a provocation to the divine families! Your arrogance has thrown the entire Grand Xia into danger. You think you’re standing up for them, when in reality, you’ve implicated them. You-”

One of the elders was furiously shouting at him when a dagger silently passed through his throat. A small hand lifted his head from his neck.

Only once his head was separated from his body did people see a girl holding a dagger in one hand and the head in the other hand.

That was Dong Mingyu. As for Long Xiaoyu, she was unconscious and being held by Xia Youluo. Long Chen didn’t want her to see blood.

With just a simple cut from her dagger, Dong Mingyu had beheaded a third step Netherpassage expert. She held his head like it was a toy.

It was so fast that no one could react. The experts of the divine families’ outer branches were shocked.

Dong Mingyu was standing there indifferently as if she had just done something completely insignificant. No one could imagine that this seemingly sweet, innocent girl was a terrifying expert.

“What did you say just now? I didn’t hear it clearly. Something about brazen, arrogance, implicating? Sorry, you were talking too fast. I’ll trouble you to repeat it.” Long Chen looked at the elder’s head.

Although Long Chen was smiling, there wasn’t the slightest warmth in his eyes. There was only killing intent. This bastard was actually threatening him with the Grand Xia?

Long Chen’s killing intent was officially provoked. As long as that person dared to repeat it, he would slaughter all these people from the divine families.

At the same time, he had a premonition that the divine families were just like what the High Priest had described them as. They would probably have many disagreements with him.

The divine families had yet to truly descend, but just these outer branches were acting so arrogant and unbridled. Just how arrogant would the true divine families be?

To defend the Martial Heaven Continent with such people? That was like climbing a tree to catch a fish. Long Chen’s slight hope of being able to work together with the divine families vanished.

The elder with his head in Dong Mingyu’s hand was terrified. He could feel Long Chen’s killing intent, and he knew it wasn’t just directed at him. Long Chen wanted to kill all of them.

The protective talisman, which was their status as members of the divine families, was useless in front of Long Chen. The elder was shocked, infuriated, and terrified. He didn’t want to die.

“Long Chen, what do you want?” shouted the elder.

“It’s not what I want. It’s what your outer branches want. Just why did you barge into the Grand Xia so aggressively? I felt that your throat was too big, causing your voice to be unclear. Now, I’ve lightened your burden, so it might be easier for us to communicate,” said Long Chen.

Long Chen had lightened his burden by a lot. Without his body to inconvenience him, he was much lighter.

“It was the Grand Han’s people who found us and hoped that we would find justice for them! We just came to bear witness!” shouted the elder. He had finally encountered the first truly vicious character in his lifetime. He had no choice but to lower his head and no longer dared to threaten Long Chen. He wanted to live.

“Find justice? Bear witness? Are you trying to make up a ghost story? If you were finding justice, why would you disguise your disciples as members of the Grand Han?” sneered Long Chen. “I started roaming this turbulent world at sixteen, and I’ve seen every kind of person there is. Don’t try to play any useless games with me. I don’t care what your goal is. Just remember that I am the Grand Xia’s general. I don’t have a good temper, and I don’t like being threatened. Everyone who has threatened me before has been sent to another world. Do I need to send you there for free as well?”

“Long Chen, don’t go too far. The divine families will quickly descend onto the continent. When that time comes, the Martial Heaven Continent will be led by the divine families. Give us some face, and we can get along peacefully. It won’t be good if we become hostile, don’t you think?” That elder began to speak spiritually to him, essentially admitting defeat.

“If you had come with that attitude, don’t you think things would have gone much better? Well, fine, I can leave things here for now. I know you were only acting on orders, so I won’t make things hard on you. Go back and tell your people that the Grand Xia is another one of my homes. I don’t want anyone to disturb them,” Long Chen also replied spiritually.

Although the outer branches were not the main descendants, even when killing a dog, you had to look at who the owner was. Killing them wouldn’t be good for his relationship with the divine families.

Surrounding himself with enemies before he knew their power wasn’t wise. Of course, that was if he wasn't forced to that point. He didn’t want to kill them if he didn’t have to.

Since the other side had admitted defeat, Long Chen had no need to continue being ruthless. He nodded toward Dong Mingyu, and Dong Mingyu released his head.

Heavenly Dao energy surged around the head. It returned to the elder’s neck and the wound healed seamlessly. If there wasn’t a ring of blood around his neck, it would have been impossible to tell his head had been separated.

The elder still had a dark expression, but he sighed with relief inside. His life had been spared.

He had personally experienced Long Chen’s way of doing things. He was just as unconstrained and unintimidatable as the elder had heard.

The elder wanted to say something, but when he thought about it, there were no words he could use to win back his dignity. It would just make him appear worse.

The elder looked at Long Chen for a moment before leaving with his people. As for Han Zijun, he actually cupped his fists toward Long Chen, seemingly to thank him for the favor of not killing him.

Originally, Han Zijun had thought that kneeling to Long Chen would result in punishment later, but then even that elder had had his head cut off, so Han Zijun was at ease. No one would have a reason to punish him. He blessed his luck that he had been wise enough not to act even slightly tougher than he had. Otherwise, he would have gotten a free trip to another world.

The humiliation he had felt vanished after seeing that elder be punished. If even the divine families’ experts had lowered their heads, then it was only natural that he had to lower his head as well.

As for the final cupping of his fists, that was to express his attitude. In the future, the Grand Han would not be enemies with the Grand Xia. After all, he had been forced this time. It had nothing to do with him.

In other words, the divine families would not be supporting him in the future, and the Grand Xia would have no reason to target him. After all, he hadn’t done this willingly. He had tossed all the responsibility onto the divine families.

So while this cupping of his fists looked to be a sign of gratitude toward Long Chen, it had an even deeper meaning. He knew that the Grand Xia would not be letting off the Grand Han easily after they had raised their blades against them. To settle things with just this action showed that he wasn’t as stupid as he appeared.

The experts of the divine families’ outer branches left. However, the flying boat of the Grand Han’s refugees belonged to the Grand Han, and without Han Zijun’s orders, they didn’t dare to move.

Seeing Han Zijun leave, they didn’t know what to do. As for the refugees who had been clamoring on top of it, they were dumbfounded. Had they been abandoned? Were they supposed to use their lives to placate the Grand Xia’s rage?

They turned pale, and terror appeared in their eyes. The Grand Xia had given them food and water, and yet they had come to take a bite out of them. Looking below at the Grand Xia’s people that were filled with hatred for them, they shivered.

“Kill them all.”

“Kill these greedy wolves.”

In just a moment, the Grand Xia’s officials began clamoring for their deaths. The army surrounded the flying boat.

Xia Yuyang opened his mouth. “They were just used. They didn’t have the power to resist.”

“Yes, that’s right, we were forced! Please have mercy and spare us!” shouted the refugees, tears appearing in their eyes.

Xia Yuyang coldly shouted, “No need for theatrics. We won’t kill you today. But starting today, the Grand Xia no longer welcomes refugees from the Grand Han. Within seven days, all refugees of the Grand Han will be expelled. After seven days, if any of them dare to stay within the Grand Xia, they will be killed without mercy.”