Chapter 6178 Seclusion
News of the great battle before the mixed beast race’s city rapidly spread across the world.
Many sneaky experts had recorded the battle using special photographic jades. These individuals made their living by buying and selling intelligence—and this time, they struck gold.
In truth, when Jiang Zihao and the others surrounded the city, those scouts had been lying in wait.
As the conflict escalated, more and more factions dispatched their agents to gather intel.
From beginning to end, everything had been documented. And the moment the battle concluded, the news spread like wildfire.
Long Chen had defeated the Jiang clan’s divine sprout—Jiang Zihao, killed the Heavenly Demon Golden Monkey race’s hundred-flame divine sprout—Jin Minghan, and even possessed a late-stage Sovereign Lord contractual beast—the Earth Vein Bull Python.
Once again, Long Chen reminded the world of what it meant to be truly fearless and domineering. Alone, he mercilessly annihilated the alliance formed by the Heavenly Demon Golden Monkey race.
Countless experts were shaken, especially the self-proclaimed heavenly geniuses of other races. Many of them had previously contemplated challenging Long Chen.
After all, the title of “number one genius of the human race” was far too dazzling. They coveted that light for themselves.
But most of them possessed only a handful of Sovereign flames—perhaps a few dozen at best. For them, that was likely their limit. As for the more monstrous geniuses and hundred-flame divine sprouts, they were all deep in seclusion, striving toward greater heights. Their factions were also keeping them hidden for the right moment.
In their absence, a group of incredibly average yet arrogant divine sprouts stepped forward, loudly declaring their intent to challenge Long Chen.
However, the moment those individuals saw the recorded battle footage, they fell completely silent. Not a single one dared to appear again.
From that point on, divine sprouts with less than a hundred flames no longer dared to posture arrogantly. They avoided even mentioning Long Chen’s name, fearing it might somehow bring disaster upon them.
Once more, Long Chen stood in the limelight. The brilliance of the human race’s number one genius blazed brighter than ever.
As for his legendary claim of being “unrivaled beneath Sovereign Lords, one-for-one against them,” that title now seemed like an indisputable fact.
In fact, some even proposed it be amended to just “unrivaled against Sovereign Lords”—because Long Chen had actually scared off a late-stage Sovereign Lord.𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Although Long Chen hadn’t truly exchanged blows with that patriarch of the Heavenly Demon Golden Monkey race, he possessed the Earth Vein Bull Python, and its power was his to wield.
...
Three days passed.
By now, Long Chen could easily control the full weight of three silver rods. His physical strength had reached a new level.
Everything on the mixed beast race’s side was peaceful. Long Chen used his domain to observe the situation.
Feng You was in the midst of refining the Sovereign Source. It was truly a priceless treasure. Thanks to it, Feng You had now condensed eighty-three Sovereign flames.
Moreover, the majority of the Sovereign Source’s energy remained. This signaled that once her refinement was complete, Feng You was highly likely to become a hundred-flame divine sprout.
Cui Hao stood vigilantly at her side. Long Chen also noticed many unfamiliar faces among the mixed beast race. They were likely reinforcements from the Four Cardinal Alliance.
Long Chen was gratified to see some of them carry astral energy within them. It was proof they were cultivating the Starry River of the Sky Art.
Among the ancient factions with long-standing lineages, the Starry River of the Sky Art held a certain allure. However, they were reluctant to abandon their inherited cultivation techniques for one that had recently been rediscovered.
Born from the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, the Starry River of the Sky Art also cultivated astral energy. However, it wasn’t as explosive and domineering as the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.
Still, compared to the countless cultivation techniques of the nine heavens and ten lands, the complete Starry River of the Sky Art would undoubtedly rank as first-class.
Its main drawback was its uncertain future. It had once been lost to time and had only recently been restored by Long Chen. Ultimately, no one could say how far it would take them.
The second drawback was familiarity. The ancient sects had countless years of refinement and study invested in their own techniques. They had well-documented solutions for bottlenecks, breakthrough strategies, and optimization pathways.
In contrast, the Starry River of the Sky Art was a blank slate. Practicing it meant fumbling about blindly. Thus, while many sects were envious of the Four Cardinal Alliance, they chose caution over curiosity.
The Starry River of the Sky Art was so popular within the Four Cardinal Alliance because many of its members lacked such supreme inheritances. For them, it was a golden opportunity.
After confirming there was no danger, Long Chen quietly slipped away from the mixed beast race’s city.
He sought out a desolate spot and summoned the Earth Vein Bull Python. The beast's massive tail whipped toward him.
BOOM!
Flower petals burst outward as Long Chen’s spiritual domain failed to resist the blow.
With this test, Long Chen could tell that mid-stage Sovereign Lords would be entirely incapable of shaking his spiritual domain, but against late-stage Sovereign Lords, defending fully would be difficult.
The Earth Cauldron said, “Your spiritual domain’s strength is dependent on the growth of the blood moon runes. Dragonbone Evilmoon is a weapon made for slaughter. As you kill, its scales will absorb more blood soul energy, and the blood moon runes will grow. The stronger they grow, the stronger your domain becomes. Haven’t you noticed it’s already stronger than when you were at the mixed beast race?”
“Now that you mention it... yeah, I do feel that.”
Long Chen nodded.
Then, he suddenly asked in a hushed voice, “Senior, can you tell me where Evilmoon comes from?”
The Earth Cauldron replied firmly, “Its origins are no longer important. What matters is that it allowed your will to override its own. You truly are a miraculous being. Even I don’t know why I foolishly chose to accept you as my master. But the fact that Evilmoon was willing to let you control it... makes me think that everything’s not so simple.”
“Hmph, maybe I’m just really charismatic,” Long Chen laughed.
Since the Earth Cauldron wouldn’t explain further, he didn’t press the issue.
In any case, whether it was the Earth Cauldron or Evilmoon, they were all existences Long Chen could fully trust. He had never doubted them.
“Huo Linger, Lei Linger—come out and protect me. I’m going to test out the power of the eight gates.”
Long Chen summoned both spirits at once. Through his repeated activation of the Life Gate, he had gained deeper insight into certain principles.
Now, he had to go into seclusion.