Chapter 7264 So It Was You All Along!
Chapter 7264 So It Was You All Along!
Flames pulsed at a set rhythm. The Demon Moon Cauldron’s Heaven-Earth runes were flashing.
There was only one person standing by Long Chen’s side, and she was clenching her fists nervously.
Normally, no one would have been qualified to stay by Long Chen’s side at such a time, but A’Fu asked Long Chen if he needed a helper, and so Long Chen had the maiden that had brought him the “water” stay behind.
He was actually quite fond of her because she reminded him of a certain someone.
Back in the Phoenix Cry Empire, he was hunted down by Marquis Ying and ended up in a little village. The purehearted and simple Little Flower had given him a bracelet that he still held dear. She looked very similar to this young maiden, with her tanned skin and her hopeful gaze.
Memories he had long suppressed, deep within him, were being dredged up.
I wonder if she’s doing well....
The Martial Heaven Continent had long been destroyed, but the Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign had managed to move everyone on it to a new world. Long Chen wondered how they were doing. His father and mother, as well as his little sister, were all there.
Countless memories swirled in his mind.
He wanted to go see them. He wished he could bring them to the immortal world with him. But the Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign had warned him against such a thing. In order to protect the Martial Heaven Continent’s survivors, it had severed all karma between them and Long Chen. Otherwise, with Lord Brahma’s power, it was entirely possible to trace this karma and find Long Chen’s adoptive family.
With Long Chen’s power, he could not break the wall between the immortal world and the lower plane. If he were to attempt it, then countless lives in the lower plane would be annihilated simply by Long Chen’s power. According to the Primal Chaos Dragon Sovereign, before he was in complete command of Grand Dao power, descending into the lower plane would cause the world to crumble, and everyone there would be killed.
But that was not even the worst part. Actually, the most painful thing was that in order to keep the karma severed, Long Chen was not even supposed to think about them. Even his thoughts created karma that could be traced by Lord Brahma. Thus, Long Chen didn’t even dare to miss them. The moment he thought about them, he instantly forced himself to forget. It was a pain that only he himself understood.
“Are you nervous?” Long Chen suddenly said.
The maiden instantly turned pale, thinking that she was disturbing him. “Me? No... Nervous? No... If I’m disturbing you, I can leave!”
“It’s fine. What’s your name?”
“Ah, my name... A’Cui-er.”
“Then I’ll call you Little Cui-er!” said Long Chen.
Hearing Long Chen call her such a close name, Little Cui-er was both delighted but also nervous. She didn’t know how to respond to such a thing.[1]
Ever since Long Chen had taken them in, the Earth Barbarians had entrusted their lives to him without reservation. Long Chen had been able to undo their curse and was letting them fulfill their ancestors’ final wishes. To repay him, they were willing to do anything and everything, even dying if needed. He was a supreme god whose edicts could not be defied. It was only natural for Little Cui-er to feel nervous in the presence of such a grand being.
“Little Cui-er, call over ten elite disciples!” said Long Chen.
“Yes!” She immediately bolted away.
Seeing her run off, Long Chen smiled. Originally, A'Fu had wanted to personally be his assistant, but he could tell that Long Chen respected him too much for that, and thus he had sent Little Cui-er over. She was quite bright, and was definitely the best choice for him.
Five male and five female disciples were quickly brought over. They immediately bowed to Long Chen, not saying a word. They were also nervous. A'Fu had privately warned them that anyone who offended Long Chen would be kicked out of their community, no questions asked. Thus, while the disciples respected Long Chen, they also feared him. Their future depended on him, one way or another.
The Demon Moon Cauldron quivered. One drop of divine elixir after another flew out of it and floated in front of them. Long Chen didn’t waste time; he ordered them to drink it, and they didn’t hesitate even for a moment.
The moment they swallowed the elixir, it was like a volcano erupting within their bodies. Their Blood Qi raged, and they could see the hidden energy in their bloodline igniting. Their auras rapidly grew. All of them were shocked. A single drop had just made their power instantly soar manyfold! How was that possible?!
The foundation remains intact despite years of neglect. Good! Long Chen nodded and waved for them to leave. Then, he once more started refining.
An incense stick’s worth of time later, the Demon Moon Cauldron began to shake intensely. A violent aura caused Little Cui-er to hold her breath.
“Call over another ten people!”
The next batch arrived, and another ten drops flew out. This time, the ten disciples felt immense pain. The medicinal energy was almost unbearable. However, after enduring the pain, they felt like they had completely transformed. Their power had just soared!
Alright, that’s about enough. If I push it any further, they’ll just die. Long Chen immediately concluded that this was as far as he could go, but it was good enough for all practical purposes.
Flames wrapped around the Demon Moon Cauldron, and a projection of the ten-leaf golden lotus appeared behind Long Chen. The barrier he had set up here suddenly blew apart.
Heaven and earth changed color. Black clouds gathered in the sky, forming a giant vortex with bolts of lightning flashing inside. A terrifying destructive will locked down the entire area.
“This is the aura of heavenly punishment!”
A'Fu’s expression completely changed. Such a terrifying heavenly punishment was a first for him.
All the Earth Barbarians immediately stood up to defend Long Chen, even without being ordered to.
It was impossible to not fear heavenly punishment. But despite that fear, they still stood against it. Even if they died, they would die defending Long Chen. They could run and they could hide, but when time came to protect what was precious to them, their spines would never bend, not even if the sky collapsed upon them.
Long Chen was not used to hiding behind others, but seeing so many people fearlessly protecting him, he felt a sudden pang of emotion. Even though he had seen so much blood and death, or perhaps because he had seen so much, he felt his blood boil at the thought that he had gained so many comrades ready to sacrifice their lives for him.
Meanwhile, the tribulation clouds were still growing. The surrounding vegetation was unable to endure the terrifying destructive will and turned to dust; in fact, let alone trees and grass, even the mountains around them collapsed. It looked as if apocalypse was coming.
“Ah, so it was you all along!”
Long Chen eyed the tribulation clouds that were storing up energy. A faint sneer appeared on his face. It seemed that all these years, the thing that had been trying to kill him was none other than the outsider Grand Dao!
BOOM!
The tribulation clouds suddenly burst apart. A giant lightning dragon appeared in their place.
1. Both A’(阿, also rendered as “Ah”) and Xiao (小 literally “little”) are endearment prefixes usually used with someone’s first name. A’ is more of a Southern thing and it can be used with anyone close to the speaker, while Xiao is used nationwide and implies a top-to-bottom hierarchy, e.g. parents can use it for their children but never the other way around. In this case, the Earth Barbarians use A’ as a common prefix to all their names, as they have no surnames, so it holds no particular meaning to them, but it appears that Xiao does have a meaning. Speaking of which, in case this hasn’t been explained, Wilde’s original name is 阿蛮 (A’Man, read like “mahn” not like the English “man”), which basically means “the barbarian dude.” ☜