“Brat, are you bragging? Hahaha, no, you’re definitely not, hahaha!” The old man patted Long Chen’s shoulder forcibly, laughing extremely proudly.

Qu Jianying, Li Tianxuan, and the others were also shocked and delighted. Although they had not witnessed Feng Fei fight, her aura had been enough to terrify them.

These fellows that had lived for several centuries all had a sharp vision. They knew that Feng Fei was a terrifying existence, and also knew that the divine families had sent her to intimidate them and make them aware of the divine families’ power.

Feng Fei made all other heavenly geniuses lose their splendor. They were like fireflies trying to compare to the moon.

When Feng Fei had arrived, all the disciples had come out to take a look. But Feng Fei had found them too unworthy for even a second glance. Only the Dragonblood Legion had made her eyes brighten for a moment. She had said that they were worthy of being the continent’s number one legion.

After that, she received the numbers that Qu Jianying had supplied and then left. She had been there for no more than a few minutes but had still left behind an impression of an insurmountable mountain.

Her power made others despair and give up hope of ever reaching the top. Adding in her peerless beauty which made others submit, they wondered if this was the model of a Sovereign.

Compared to Feng Fei, other heavenly geniuses like Di Feng and Tian Xiezi were nothing.

Hearing that Long Chen had actually eked out a draw with her was something difficult to believe, but they knew that he disdained lying.

“Haha, Long Chen, you're back. We’ve already started climbing in the Netherpassage realm… Damn, what happened to you?”

Just at this moment, the disciples of the Martial Heaven Alliance heard that Long Chen had returned and began congregating. Ye Lingshan, Bao Buping, and Chang Hao came in. Bao Buping jumped in shock upon seeing Long Chen’s current state.

Seeing them, Long Chen also jumped. “You… Are my eyes more damaged than I thought? You’ve reached the third step of Netherpassage? How did you do that?”

It was Long Chen’s turn to be filled with disbelief. They clearly possessed the Death Qi of a third step Netherpassage expert. Not only that, but they were able to easily keep that aura inside, which meant that they had reached that realm a while ago. How did they advance so quickly? When he had left, they had clearly just started attempting to reach the second step.

“Long Chen!”

At this moment, Meng Qi, Chu Yao, Tang Wan-er, Ye Zhiqiu, Dong Mingyu, Liu Ruyan, Cloud, and the rest of the Dragonblood Legion came over.

Long Chen jumped once more. Every single one of them had reached the third step. Even the lazy Guo Ran had done it. But his aura was still fluctuating, showing that he had just reached that realm and was still unable to fully control it.

Upon hearing that Long Chen had fought to a draw with Feng Fei, the Dragonblood warriors cheered. Guo Ran even began to brag. “Do you see? My boss is unrivaled! If she dared to be arrogant, my boss would make her… cough.”

Guo Ran had his mouth covered by Long Chen. This fellow was unable to control his own mouth once he opened it, and it would end up conning him instead. Meng Qi and the others involuntarily laughed. They knew Guo Ran’s character and knew that he wasn’t saying it out of malice. He just liked bragging.

Feng Fei’s arrival had given them immense pressure. Yue Zifeng had even said that she was stronger than Long Chen.

Although it was a simple intimidation tactic, it was truly effective. Yue Zifeng had said that he didn’t even have the courage to draw his sword against Feng Fei.

When speaking about pure combat power, Yue Zifeng had always been the most terrifying one aside from Long Chen. Furthermore, he was a sword cultivator with his own undefeatable will. But he was unable to find any weakness within Feng Fei. Drawing his sword would be meaningless. Feng Fei was just that much stronger than he was.

“Boss, what were you doing? Your cultivation base didn’t increase at all.” Gu Yang frowned upon sensing that Long Chen’s cultivation base was still at the initial entry to Netherpassage.

“Don’t even mention it. I’ve been so busy that I didn’t have time to cultivate. But how did your cultivation bases grow so quickly?” asked Long Chen.

Meng Qi explained, “It’s because we occupied the largest qi flow stream during the qi flow eruption. The Heavenly Daos have started to change. We can clearly sense the Heavenly Daos supporting us and helping us cultivate many times faster than before. Furthermore, the blessing of the Heavenly Daos ensures that we won’t have to deal with heart-devils. We don’t need to suppress our cultivation bases for fear of our foundations growing unstable.”

Long Chen suddenly understood. So the effect of the qi flow eruption was manifesting itself now.

“We’ve heard word from the other powers, and although they’ve also been blessed by the Heavenly Daos, the effect is not as great as ours.” Tang Wan-er giggled.

Long Chen nodded and looked up at the dark sky. It looked like a curtain of darkness was about to descend. The aura of the Heavenly Daos had changed. “It seems that this phenomenon is closely linked to the dark era. The Martial Heaven Continent wishes to protect itself, so it is blessing the heavenly geniuses in hopes of them growing stronger and driving off those enemies. This is not just a battle for the Martial Heaven Continent’s lifeforms but a battle for the very survival of the Martial Heaven Continent.”

“Correct. The current state of the heavenly geniuses of the continent is incomparable to any other era. This dark era will definitely be on an unprecedented level. However, there is still no sign of a Sovereign being born,” said Qu Jianying. “Feng Fei might possess the qualification to become a Sovereign, but the Heavenly Daos have not manifested the crown around her, so she has not received the continent’s approval yet. With a Sovereign still not being apparent, dark undercurrents are flowing. No one has confidence in being able to survive the upcoming battle.”

Only a Sovereign who had received the approval of heaven and earth would be able to earn everyone’s faith. It didn’t matter what side they were on, they would follow a Sovereign. A Sovereign was the only one capable of uniting the various powers against the invaders.

However, a Sovereign had yet to appear. That worried people even more. Without a Sovereign, the continent would not be united. How would they face their enemies?

Guo Ran said, “What is there to fear? As long as my boss is present, there’s no problem. Once my boss’s realm reaches that level, Di Feng and Feng Fei will be nothing. Plus, the brothers of the Dragonblood Legion aren’t just window dressing. No matter how strong Feng Fei is, if the entire Dragonblood Legion is present, we won’t fear her.”

Guo Ran seemed to have even more confidence in Long Chen than Long Chen himself. He had absolute confidence in him, as well as in the Dragonblood Legion. They had also gone through a transformation during this time.

“Don’t brag. Take advantage of this time to increase your realm as much as possible,” said Long Chen. He then bade farewell to the old man and the others. After that, Meng Qi brought Long Chen to a secluded area. This was an isolated mountain that was the best place for entering seclusion within the Martial Heaven Alliance. The entire mountain was covered in spirit formations that linked together.

Holding Meng Qi’s hand and looking at her beautiful face, Long Chen suddenly felt full of confidence. He had to protect them. He couldn’t let them worry. Perhaps this was his greatest motivation to continue forward.

“Meng Qi, I brought you back some things. See if you can use them.” Long Chen summoned a giant skeleton.

Meng Qi exclaimed, “A Netherbeast?”

“You recognize it?” asked Long Chen.

“No, all I know is that the Netherworld has its own demonic beasts. The marks on the bones are specific to those beasts. I saw an introduction about them in a badly damaged bone shard, but it didn’t explain the various types. Where did you get this?”

As a Beast Tamer, Meng Qi was constantly looking for more information relating to her profession. With the Huayun Sect’s help, she had looked through many ancient tomes that others had never had a chance to peruse. That was what allowed her to recognize the origin of this skeleton.

“Hehe, this is something that Mo Nian and I dug out of a grave. Do you think it’s useful? I remember you saying that there was a technique to control beast corpses,” said Long Chen.

“That technique is for the Martial Heaven Continent’s Magical Beasts. But it also requires the crystal core to be fully intact and still contain a trace of soul essence. These Netherbeasts…” Meng Qi didn’t feel much confidence in this. If she failed to control it, the crystal core would shatter. Such a priceless treasure would be gone in an instant.

“It’s fine. It wasn’t bought with money, so losing it wouldn’t be painful,” said Long Chen. Seeing how nervous she was, he waved his hand, bringing out more skeletons. “There’s plenty even if it’s a failure. Even if they all break, they can be used as food for Wilde.”

Long Chen took out thirty-six skeletons at once to lighten the pressure on Meng Qi. After all, if crystal cores on this level were embedded into certain armor or weapons, it would bring them immense power.

Meng Qi was shocked but also comforted. With so many of them, she wasn’t too worried about losing one or two.

She formed a hand seal, and a flower mark appeared on her forehead. As she reached out, a gentle light landed on one of the skulls.

The beast’s body shuddered, and following that, a berserk aura rose. Long Chen’s expression changed, and he immediately appeared in front of Meng Qi.

“It’s going to explode.”