Chapter 6731 Cang Lu’s Breakthrough
As the Golden Virtue Lotus absorbed Li Canghao’s astral energy, stars flickered on top of it in a profound rhythm, as if the evolution of the very cosmos was unfolding around it.
“What...?”
Li Canghao was startled. The lotus had seized his astral energy without giving him the slightest chance to resist.
The stars continuously flashed on the lotus. Though the pattern appeared chaotic, Long Chen’s mind was instantly drawn in. He memorized every flicker, every subtle transformation.
All of a sudden, Long Chen spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, Li Canghao jumped. “Long Chen, your Spiritual Strength is almost exhausted. You can’t forcibly memorize the laws of the Grand Dao...”
Seeing Long Chen’s spiritual fluctuations weakening rapidly, Li Canghao couldn’t help but feel worried. After all, overdrafting Spiritual Strength could cause irreparable damage.
Long Chen waved him off, gritting his teeth. His gaze never left the lotus’s transformation.
Moments later, the starlight on the lotus flared once more before rapidly dimming. The golden lotus faded into the depths of the dark crack.
Only then did Li Canghao dare to transmit his Spiritual Strength into Long Chen’s mind-sea to help him recover.
Earlier, Long Chen had been immersed in enlightenment. Interfering at that time would likely have done more harm than good.
Thanks to Li Canghao’s support, the deathly pallor on Long Chen’s face eased slightly.
“You really are suicidal,” Li Canghao said, shaking his head. “You were only a step away from extinguishing the fire of your soul.”
Long Chen took a deep breath and smiled bitterly.
He said, “There’s no way around it. I cannot let any chance to get stronger slip by. If I do not risk my life, I will lose my life, and everything I have will be stripped from me mercilessly. Only by constantly getting stronger can I protect the people by my side. I couldn’t protect Big Sister Qing Yi because I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Still not strong enough?”
“Of course not,” Long Chen replied calmly. “If I were strong enough, the moment I arrived at the Starry River Palace, I would have grabbed you and beaten you up. Then, things wouldn’t have been so troublesome.”
“You—!”
Li Canghao almost threw Long Chen to the ground. There had to be something wrong with this young man’s head. He had never provoked Long Chen, yet Long Chen spoke as if beating him up were perfectly reasonable.
With great effort, Li Canghao controlled his anger and changed the subject. “That golden lotus must have an extraordinary origin. Could it have been left behind by someone from the nine star line?”
Even someone of Li Canghao’s caliber didn’t recognize the Golden Virtue Lotus.
“It’s not. Our people are too fierce and rigid. We lack the flexibility to resist the erosion of laws beyond the heavens for such a long time. The golden lotus carried a strange fluctuation that somehow drew me to it, but I don’t know its true origin,” Long Chen explained.
Long Chen deliberately avoided mentioning the Golden Virtue Lotus.
It wasn’t a matter of distrust, but there was simply no need for Li Canghao to know. The fewer people aware of such things, the better.
In truth, the existence of this Golden Virtue Lotus had shocked Long Chen. It had been ignited by astral energy and manifested its own Dao. Long Chen had witnessed the process of its growth firsthand.
That gave him a spark of inspiration, and he suddenly had a brazen idea. But that idea would take some time to carry out.
Before long, the battlefield was completely cleared. The buildings were reduced to rubble, and anything of value was taken.
Qu Liushang and the others had plundered the treasury. From the excited look in their eyes, their harvest was definitely extraordinary.
“Palace Master, I’ll trouble you to erase all traces of astral energy here. Don’t let anyone know that we did this. If Xiao Yin’s side were to turn their gaze on us, it would be troublesome,” said Long Chen.
“Alright.”
Purifying this place of astral energy required the Heavenly River Silk. Li Canghao activated it, summoning a flowing astral river above the battlefield. All remaining traces of astral energy were thoroughly erased.
Afterward, Li Canghao’s face showed signs of fatigue. He, too, had paid a heavy price in this battle.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Using the Starry River Silk, Li Canghao enveloped everyone in astral energy, and they all vanished.
It wasn’t long before news of the Devil Slaying Battlefield’s destruction spread throughout every corner of the Primal Chaos World.
This was a world-shaking affair, but no one could tell who had done it. The matter became a huge mystery.
When Long Chen and the others returned to the Starry River Palace, the experts guarding it finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In truth, Long Chen and the others had returned in just two and a half days—half a day ahead of schedule. Seeing their expressions, the guards were overjoyed.
The Heavenly River Silk transformed back into the starry river suspended above the Starry River Palace. It had also spent a great deal of energy and needed to slowly recover.
Now that they were back, Long Chen did a quick count.
More than seven hundred thousand members of the Starry River Legion had suffered severe injuries, yet not a single one had died. This result stunned Long Chen.
For a battle of such scale, it was nothing short of miraculous. And that miracle had been created by Long Chen himself.
From the very beginning, Long Chen had drawn all attention onto himself. The strongest enemy forces had converged on him, particularly the Golden Wing Heaven Devils’ elite combatants.
That was what preserved the Starry River Legion and created this miracle.
The one in the worst condition was Qu Yingying. She had overdrafted herself severely and was still unconscious.
Qu Liushang had examined her condition and confirmed that it was not something to worry about. The reason she had yet to awaken was due to the Primal Chaos Astral Body’s way of protecting itself. Once she had recovered to a certain extent, she would naturally awaken.
In any case, her recovery rate was extremely fast in the Starry River Palace. She would be as active as ever in a few days.
Upon returning, Long Chen brought all the Starry River warriors into the starry river to recuperate.
At this point, he effectively had unrestricted authority within the Starry River Palace. As long as he wasn’t tearing the palace apart, Li Canghao would agree to every one of his requests.
The starry river was the palace’s sacred ground. Since ancient times, it was nearly unheard of for even two people to enter it together.
But this rule was shattered by Long Chen.
Long Chen summoned the Seven Treasure Colored Glass Tree within the starry river, and even the heavily injured Starry River warriors followed him inside. They would digest their new insights from this battle while they recuperated.
This battle had transformed them once again, solidifying the foundation for their rise. From this point on, they would truly walk the path of the strong.
There was no need for Long Chen to say anything. The Starry River warriors entered the Seven Treasure Space and started fighting.
They branded the sensations of that bloody battle into their souls, using their sharpened instincts and spirit to push themselves further.
Perhaps such an opportunity would only happen once in a lifetime. They would make sure to get the most out of it no matter what.
In this battle, they had witnessed Long Chen’s unrivaled might. They realized that even all three million of them together could not match a single hand of his.
While it did make them worship Long Chen, they also felt profoundly ashamed of themselves.
At the same time, their desire to grow stronger ignited into a blazing inferno. One day, they would fight right behind him. They refused to become spectators who could only cheer him on from a distance.
Time passed bit by bit.
This time, Long Chen took a full week to recover. He had pushed himself far beyond his limits. His soul had been so badly wounded that its recovery was painfully slow.
Just as Long Chen recovered, an explosion of power came from the primal chaos space. Black flames shook the entire primal chaos space.
“Cang Lu has broken through!”
Long Chen was delighted and immediately looked inside the primal chaos space.