After hearing of the existence of Sovereign sprouts, the first thing that Long Chen thought of was Feng Fei. Could it be that the divine families were trying to raise a Sovereign?

“By a Sovereign sprout, you mean…,” probed Long Chen.

The High Priest smiled faintly. “It’s just as you imagine. The divine families have always wanted to raise a Sovereign, so they have been grooming Sovereign sprouts. But although they were able to raise supreme geniuses, they never could raise a Sovereign. However, they have yet to give up. With all the karmic luck of the world gathering within the geniuses of this era, they must have prepared themselves. I would estimate that the four families are not unified, so they all have their own thoughts. As they fight amongst themselves, their true goal… well, to get back on topic, I was just wondering if you’ve seen any Sovereign sprouts.”

Long Chen couldn’t be sure, so he gave a simple explanation of Feng Fei. The High Priest nodded. “To be able to kill a matured Blood Wing Demon King and keep its corpse intact is truly the power of a Sovereign sprout. A matured Blood Wing Demon King has power on the same level as the divine families’ Heaven Elders. Based on that, your current chances of beating this Feng Fei in battle are very low.”

Long Chen’s heart pounded. For the High Priest to say this, it meant that a Sovereign sprout had even more power than Long Chen had thought.

“Although you are already very powerful, compared to a Sovereign sprout, you are lacking their foundation. Do you know what the three requirements are for becoming a Sovereign?” asked the high Priest.

“You’ve mentioned it to me. It’s the Spirit Blood, the Spirit Root, and the Spirit Bone,” said Long Chen.

“You know of the Spirit Blood and the Spirit Root, but the Spirit Bone is something you have yet to come into contact with. There are some things I shouldn’t be telling you for fear of damaging your heart, but in the current state of the world, we must discuss this problem.”

“High Priest, you were able to tell that my Spirit Root, Spirit Blood, and Spirit Bone were taken. Can others see that?” The High Priest’s words had made Long Chen think of something. Last time, the High Priest had said that without Spirit Blood, a Spirit Root, or a Spirit Bone, he was unable to become a Sovereign. What if the Long family had noticed this as well? That was not good for him.

As if seeing through his worries, the High Priest comforted him. “I was able to tell because I sensed it the first time I saw you. As your cultivation base grew, I was no longer able to tell. You don’t need to worry about this. Others are unable to sense this secret any longer. Furthermore, you’ve fully merged with the azure dragon essence blood. Your original essence blood had been completely masked by it. No one will be able to pursue the original source of your Spirit Blood.”

This explanation put Long Chen at ease. If he truly was someone from the divine families, then the person who had taken his Spirit Blood, Spirit Root, and Spirit Bone was also definitely someone from the divine families or someone related to them.

It would be far too easy for them to get suspicious of him if they knew that he was lacking his Spirit Blood, Spirit Root, and Spirit Bone.

Although his Spirit Root and such had been previously tested in the Xuantian Dao Sect, that had just been an ordinary examination. Any information about it had vanished thanks to Li Tianxuan who had hidden it for him.

When Long Chen had found that out, he knew that Li Tianxuan knew something. But this also wasn’t entirely out of the ordinary for a sect. Some large sects would cover up the history of their talented disciples to keep things confidential. Some disciples themselves were unable to learn their own origins. Li Tianxuan had truly arranged everything for Long Chen in that regard, so he had nothing to worry about there.

“Long Chen, the era of top geniuses fighting for the position of Sovereign is coming. If you continue to stay this conservative, what comes next will be very miserable for you. Sovereign Mo Li saved you once, but the multiplication of that karma will still come eventually. A young person should have a youngster’s vitality. Release yourself. The Wine God Palace will be your strongest shield,” said the High Priest profoundly.

“High Priest, are you saying…” Long Chen was startled. The Wine God Palace had always remained aloof from the rest of the world. How could he say such a thing?

The High Priest smiled. “The workings of fate cannot be divulged. All you need to do now is that when you are at an impasse, the Wine God Palace will be behind you. Although the divine families are strong, the Wine God Palace has its own power. We don’t like fighting, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have the power to fight. This is all the Wine God’s will. Furthermore, if you continue acting so cautiously, there won’t be a way out in the future. Give yourself free rein. When the heavens collapse, the Wine God Palace will hold them up for you. I have found that you no longer dare to take risks. Have you forgotten that while you accumulate power, others are also accumulating power rapidly? You are fighting alone, while others have millions of people supporting them. The more cautious you are and the fewer risks you dare to take, the faster your enemies will grow past you.”

Long Chen was startled and delighted to hear that the Wine God Palace would support him fully. Furthermore, it was even the Wine God’s will. “Many thanks. Your support truly means a great deal to me.”

“It’s not just me supporting you. You don’t like to rely on others, so you are unaware of just how many people are standing behind you. The Wine God Palace is simply being the first to state it outright so that you stop wasting your precious time,” said the High Priest.

Long Chen had never been able to sense the full depth of the High Priest. He was like an ocean. There was no way to tell how deep it went below the calm surface.

Although Long Chen could not sense his cultivation base, Long Chen’s intuition told him that the High Priest was definitely another expert above the Netherpassage realm.

The High Priest was low key, so for him to say such big words meant that he definitely had the confidence to do so. That made Long Chen feel confident.

“Well, if I have your support, then there’s nothing to fear. I don’t need to hide things.” Long Chen clenched his fists.

His alchemy, Xia Chen’s formations, Guo Ran’s forging, Long Chen was forced to gather the materials for these things secretly. In truth, it was possible to directly buy the materials, or even finished and half-finished products. Guo Ran in particular was forced to waste a great deal of time and manpower refining materials that could be bought in an already refined state. That was wasting time.

As for his own alchemy, it was something he had never been able to reveal. After exposing it in the divine families, he even felt some regret. Thinking of how countless gazes would be on him to spy on his alchemy was extremely irritating. But with the Wine God Palace’s support, Long Chen felt strengthened.

He bade farewell to the High Priest and had another meal with his family before leaving. Upon leaving the Grand Xia, he suddenly felt a sense of alarm.

“Someone’s watching me?”

This was a feeling that came from the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. He was almost unable to sense anything at all due to how well-hidden it was. Furthermore, whoever it was, they were intentionally not targeting him to avoid drawing his attention.

“It’s not the aura of the Bloodkill Hall.” Long Chen instantly removed the Bloodkill Hall from the possibilities. The feeling was completely different.

Someone else would definitely not be able to sense whoever it was, so it had to be a supreme expert. Long Chen could only sense some vague hostility thanks to the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.

It was rare for him to be unable to even pinpoint where the hostility was coming from. Long Chen smiled coldly. Since leaving the divine families, only Wan Qing had known where he was going. Furthermore, Long Chen had been disguised before going to the Wine God Palace. That wasn’t to trick anyone, but simply to avoid the imperial family and causing a fuss.

Based on that, the only ones capable of following him here were the divine families. Amongst the divine families, the ones who wanted him dead the most was the Ye family.

Acting like he didn’t sense anything, Long Chen sped off, silently crushing a ball of medicine. Colorless, odorless powder floated through the air.

When he reached a large, barren mountain range, Long Chen suddenly came to a stop. Evilmoon appeared in his hand, and he slashed it down behind him.

BOOM!

The void exploded. From within countless fragments of spacetime, a man in a silver mask appeared. It was an old man with white hair who was skinny and tall.

Beneath the silver mask lay a pair of shocked eyes. He didn’t know how Long Chen had sensed him.

Long Chen rested Evilmoon on his shoulder and coldly said, “The Ye family actually sent an old dog to chase me? What, you want to bite me?”

Long Chen’s spiritual yuan began to circulate within him at full power. His 108,000 astral spaces activated, filling him with energy. This old fellow was very powerful.

“Obediently let yourself be captured and I won’t kill you. Otherwise, I’ll have to get forceful. You can’t blame me if you die then.” The masked elder’s voice was hoarse and painful to listen to, but contained an unquestionable tone.