Chapter 5967 Success
Long Chen knew that Sovereign Lords like Liu Changtian, Yan Yang, and Lian Sanqiang had long since fallen from their peaks. Their powers had regressed severely.
However, Long Chen had believed that Long Can and Tong Feng, who were the strongest Sovereign Lords he had encountered, were already close to the level of true Sovereign Lords. But after clashing with the Nether Emperor, Long Chen realized just how vast the gap truly was. There was a qualitative difference between them.
Most terrifying of all, the Nether Emperor had only unleashed a casual blow. He hadn’t even summoned his Sovereign flame. And yet, that was already enough to swat Long Chen like a fly. That single strike had let him experience the terror of true Sovereign Lords.
The Nether Emperor’s transformation made Long Chen uneasy, but at least, the Nether Emperor’s figure couldn’t cause any waves within the Seven Treasure Space. It was just that there was no way to arbitrarily challenge him now.
Of course, even if it were possible, Long Chen wouldn’t let everyone do so. The gap was simply too large. No one would gain anything from such a battle. In fact, just that one attack from the Nether Emperor had consumed a massive amount of the primal chaos space’s life energy.
While the primal chaos space still had a number of corpses, its reserves were not limitless. If this rate of consumption continued, it would take less than ten more attacks before all the life energy was depleted.
Turning his attention to another matter, Long Chen frowned.
He asked, “Guo Ran, your Dragonblood Cross Slash still isn’t complete? Didn’t you say it had started to take shape?”
“Don’t remind me,” Guo Ran groaned. “They pulled it off once, but no one’s managed to replicate it again—not even the original team. It was a complete fluke.”
They had believed they'd found the right path after countless failures, but that one success turned out to be accidental. None of the squads could pull it off again.
Even though each member had recorded the event with photographic jades from their own perspectives—providing a clear, multi-angled view of the entire process—the successful strike refused to reappear, no matter how closely others imitated it.
When Long Chen heard this, he immediately had Guo Ran show him the recordings. He reviewed them several times, but nothing stood out as unusual.
Long Chen then had the original squad regroup and repeat the exact same method to unleash the Dragonblood Cross Slash. The resulting attack wasn’t bad—it was powerful and coordinated. However, it lacked the overwhelming brilliance of the successful strike. In the end, it was just another ordinary joint attack.
Seeing Long Chen frown, Guo Ran quickly added, “Boss, don’t worry. We’ll keep trying until we figure it out.”
After all, Guo Ran didn’t want Long Chen to waste his precious time on something that should’ve been his responsibility.
However, Long Chen shook his head.
Long Chen said, “We don’t have that much time. I want us to complete the new Dragonblood Cross Slash as soon as possible. If we can’t figure it out within one month, we’ll have to give up on it and prepare for our tribulations.”
Their upcoming Human Emperor tribulation was critical, so they had to be in peak form by then. The Earth Cauldron had told Long Chen that the optimal time for their tribulations would occur within two months.
“Qianluo, unleash the Dragonblood Cross Slash ten times,” Long Chen ordered.
Qianluo was the leader of the small squad that had succeeded that one time.
“Boss... I don’t have enough energy to do that many slashes,” said Qianluo awkwardly.
“Fool, just use a little bit of energy each time,” chuckled Guo Ran.
“But wouldn’t that mean—” Qianluo scratched his head in confusion.
“I don’t care about power. Just do it,” interrupted Long Chen.
“...Alright.”
Still unsure what Long Chen wanted, Qianluo unsheathed his sword. His squad followed suit.
Qianluo swung his sword twice, releasing a cross-shaped slash. The others followed, their dragon blood power erupting in sync, converging into the cross.
The first few attacks were ordinary. But the last three attacks unleashed a heaven-shaking explosion, leaving giant cross marks in the void that didn’t fade for a long time.
“Success!” Qianluo shouted excitedly.
Guo Ran and the others stared blankly. Why had the first attempts failed, but the last three, when their energy was already depleted, succeeded?
Long Chen smiled slightly. “I see. Qianluo, the softer your strike, the better. Don’t bother to accumulate power—just swing your sword!”
Qianluo obeyed and casually swung his sword again, drawing a cross.
BOOM!
The merged power of the small squad tore open the void once again.
“Boss, what’s going on?” asked Guo Ran, completely baffled.
Long Chen explained, “I told you before: a group of dragons has no head. It seems you still don’t understand what that really means. Qianluo, when you succeeded before, you weren’t trying to lead—you were simply setting a target, drawing the others' power toward it. But the moment you started thinking about coordinating or guiding them, you unintentionally tried to become their head. The second that intent was born, the dragon souls in your brothers rejected it, causing the technique to fail.
“In the Dragonblood Legion, every warrior is a unique individual. Each one is the protagonist of their own world. The initial cross you create should be nothing more than a guidepost. Do not attempt to control anything. Let your brothers decide the rest. Now, try it again!”
BOOM!
Another explosive sound rang out. It was another success.
Guo Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. As he rubbed his head, he said, “Boss, I still don’t understand!”
“You don’t have to,” Long Chen replied calmly. “Just know that we’re still brothers. But going forward, every Dragonblood warrior must prioritize individual combat ability. Cooperation in battle will remain important, but it can’t be the focus anymore.”
Long Chen had sensed the growing strength of the dragon soul wills within his brothers. If the Dragonblood Legion continued with its old methods, it would only hinder the dragon souls’ evolution.
Perhaps this was simply the nature of dragons. They could be guided, but never commanded. They couldn’t be forced to obey orders. Only when they were willing to fully support the Dragonblood warriors would they unleash their greatest power.
Clearly, Guo Ran still didn’t understand the temperament of the dragon race. But then again, his own hidden dragon was a special case. It was exceptionally lazy, unlike the others.
And just like that, the new Dragonblood Cross Slash was born.
Everyone threw themselves into training, and a dozen people could now pull it off with ease. But as soon as the squad grew bigger, the difficulty increased exponentially. With hundreds of people in one squad, it became even harder.
Their ultimate goal was to unleash a Dragonblood Cross Slash containing the combined power of all seven thousand Dragonblood warriors.
According to Long Chen, if they could reach that level, their Dragonblood Cross Slash could even slay someone of Tong Feng’s caliber.
Against the Nether Emperor, it was uncertain whether it would have any effect. But once they advanced to the Human Emperor realm, even true Sovereign Lords wouldn’t be able to block this attack.
After the success, Long Chen didn’t hold back. He directly revealed the principles of the Dragonblood Cross Slash to all disciples of the Dragon Domain.
The Dragon Domain was filled with monstrous geniuses—many of them on par with Mo Yang. If they cooperated with their loyal followers, perhaps they too could master this technique.
The Dragonblood warriors trained without rest, day and night. They were determined to perfect the Dragonblood Cross Slash, refining it to the point that it could be fully unleashed in real combat. No one dared to waste even a second.
Afterward, Long Chen retrieved the Seven Treasure Colored Glass Tree. At this point, the Dragon Domain’s disciples had already endured countless life-and-death battles. The Seven Treasure Space was no longer crucial for their growth. From here on, they would have to rely on themselves.
Following a short rest, Long Chen temporarily bid farewell to the domain lord and departed from the Dragon Domain.
His next destination: Sovereign Mountain.
Long Chen wanted to see his grandfather and ask about his father and mother.
The Human Emperor tribulation was drawing near, and this time, Long Chen sensed more danger than ever before. He needed a powerful protector.
To him, his father Long Zhantian was the strongest expert in the world—an existence without equal.