Chapter 404: 404
Hers was a flawless face . Rosiness interspersed with bright jade, and it was especially those lips that gave off an endless charm .
Just seeing half her face was enough beauty to make it so Long Chen was unable to look directly at her . Now that her whole face was revealed, Long Chen felt as if the entire world had stilled . The only thing he could hear was his drum-like heartbeat .
Previously, the atmosphere had been too tense, and Long Chen hadn’t paid any attention to Yue Xiaoqian’s face . Furthermore, from his previous experience, he hadn’t dared look her in the face again . But now that he was looking at it directly, he was absolutely speechless .
Being foolishly stared at by Long Chen, Yue Xiaoqian blushed and hurriedly turned her face away .
“Cough, sorry, I couldn’t help it . ” Only now did Long Chen come back to his senses .
In terms of her face, only Meng Qi could possibly match Yue Xiaoqian’s beauty . However, the two of their beauties were completely different styles .
Meng Qi’s beauty was like that of an immortal fairy who did not consume the food of common mortals, while Yue Xiaoqian was one that would make a person’s heart and soul quiver .
Just looking at her face could cause a person to sink into endless depravity . That kind of beauty was incredibly dangerous, but when people saw it, they wouldn’t be able to sense the danger .
That kind of dangerous beauty gave people the feeling she was a beautiful demon . But her eyes were pure and holy, giving people a contradictory feeling .
It was precisely this kind of feeling that caused Yue Xiaoqian to possess an irresistible beauty .
She once more took out a veil and properly covered her face, only revealing her two eyes . “My mother said not to let others see my true face, so it was my fault for not covering it . You don’t have to apologize . ”
Was this what it meant by a beauty capable of causing a calamity? Long Chen couldn’t help smiling bitterly at himself . At the same time, he was deeply moved that the thousand major worlds were full of extraordinary things .
If Yue Xiaoqian suddenly took off her veil in the middle of a fight with people, just how many people would be able to hold back their shock? Just the slightest break in their rhythm would probably cause them to become a corpse .
“Your mother is a good person,” laughed Long Chen .
“How did you know? My mother is a very, very good person . ” Yue Xiaoqian hadn’t heard Long Chen’s other meaning, so she was actually happy to hear him praise her mother .
Long Chen just smiled slightly without saying anything . He really did feel like the two of their intelligences were not on the same frequency, and communicating seemed to be a bit taxing .
All the Abyss of Fiends’ Devilmen corpses had been handled now, and all the devil cores had landed in Yue Xiaoqian’s pocket . Other than some of the fiendish aura remaining here, the terrifying pressure had already disappeared .
Both Long Chen and Yue Xiaoqian were completely exhausted, and so the two of them found a corner to rest .
Those continuous battles had completely depleted all their energy, and then they had only narrowly escaped alive from mortal danger several times . Even people as strong as them were exhausted .
That was especially true of Long Chen . In his attempt to subdue the dragon scale, his Spiritual Strength had been mostly used up . After consuming a healing pill, he wasn’t able to endure it any longer and fell asleep against the rock wall .
Yue Xiaoqian wasn’t much better off than him . Feeling waves of exhaustion battering her, she fell asleep on Long Chen’s shoulder .
Long Chen slept soundly . Within his daze, he seemed to feel a pair of hands gently caressing his cheeks, as well as hear a soft murmuring that made him feel like he was floating in the clouds .
He didn’t know how long he slept for, but he suddenly awoke . The Abyss of Fiends was still present, but Yue Xiaoqian was not .
Long Chen hastily looked around and called out to her, but there was no reply .
Taking a couple steps forward, Long Chen suddenly saw eight odd bones with special lines carved into them .
Those bones were incredibly ancient and emitted a strange pressure . They were arranged in an orderly, square pattern three meters long .
He reached out to grab one, but he had only just touched it when the bone instantly turned to ash .
“Spatial strength . ”
Long Chen sensed a spatial fluctuation when that bone dissipated, one that was similar to when a transportation formation was activated .
However, this spatial strength was a bit different from the spatial strength of transportation formations . But as for how they were different, Long Chen was unable to tell .
“Looks like she’s already left the secret realm . ” Long Chen sighed . Yue Xiaoqian had previously revealed that she didn’t need to wait for when the Jiuli secret realm’s exit opened . Back then, Long Chen hadn’t taken that to heart, but now seeing these bones, he knew she had used some kind of secret technique to leave .
For some reason, Yue Xiaoqian’s departure gave him a feeling of disappointment and frustration, as if he had lost something . “No matter how you put it, we can count as friends . Leaving like this really is rude . ”
She had already left, but her fragrance still lingered on his body . Everything almost seemed like it was a dream . But when a scale floated out of his hand, emitting a green light and a powerful dragon might, he knew it wasn’t a dream .
Long Chen sighed, but then he suddenly sensed something odd . Looking at his arm, he saw a crescent moon had appeared there .
It was only an inch long, and although it was just a simple design, it still gave people a vivid and lifelike feeling as if it was a real moon .
“She left this on me?”
This mark seemed to have become a birthmark, fusing into his skin and flesh . There was no way to erase it at all .
Girls really were girls, all liking to do these unreasonable things . But at least she hadn’t left this mark on his face .
Lightly rubbing that crescent moon on his arm, a strange feeling arose in Long Chen’s heart . It was as if he could once more see that soul-stealing face .
“I should also get going . ” The atmosphere here in the Abyss of Fiends was very oppressive . Climbing out, as soon as he arrived outside, he couldn’t help taking a deep breath .
He temporarily put aside Yue Xiaoqian’s matter . If she had left, then she had left .
“Right now, the most important thing for me is to connect to the dragon scale . Although it doesn’t reject me, in order to use it, I’ll need to nourish and communicate with it more . ”
Long Chen found a place to seclude himself nearby . This time, his seclusion wasn’t for cultivation, but to connect with the dragon scale . Although the dragon scale had merged with his body, he still didn’t know how to use it . He would have to figure this out on his own . However, he had no idea how to do this, as the dragon scale wasn’t a true living thing .
What he hadn’t expected was that it took him over two months before finally figuring out a portion of the abilities of this dragon scale .
Although he hadn’t completely figured it out, he felt he no longer had that much time to waste . It had already been over half a year since the secret realm had opened .
In other words, it had been over three months since he had fought with Yin Luo . By now, he would have advanced to Bone Forging .
Furthermore, there were countless opportunities within the Jiuli secret realm . He was not the only one who had obtained great opportunities . Perhaps there were other people who had obtained even more heaven-defying opportunities .
But rather than those opportunities, Long Chen was more worried about everyone’s safety . He wanted to go out and take a look at what was happening . It had been three months since he had revealed himself, so he didn’t know what was happening within the rest of the secret realm .
While connecting to the dragon scale, he had also advanced a level, reaching the fourth Heavenstage of Tendon Transformation .
However, this was the Jiuli secret realm . The spiritual qi here was extremely dense . Most likely, everyone had already broken through to the Bone Forging realm by now . Other than dead people, Long Chen was probably the only one still in the Tendon Transformation realm .
That was because many people had already been at the late Tendon Transformation realm when the secret realm had opened . There were some who had even focused completely on breaking through as fast as possible before going out in search of opportunities . That way they would have a higher chance of surviving .
By the time they managed to break through, quite a few of those opportunities would have already been taken away by others . However, they had their own plans . That was to plunder .
Relying on their superior cultivation base from their advancement, they would take advantage of those that hadn’t to kill and rob . That would give them an even higher chance of obtaining treasures .
Without even thinking about it, Long Chen could guess that in the last two months, a rain of blood had fallen in the Jiuli secret realm . Who knew how many people were buried in the ground now .
After this much time, the weak had already been killed . As for those that had managed to survive, they were all experts amongst experts . After that rain of blood, the secret realm should have now entered a period of quiet calm .
That was because those who had remained after that bloodbath were all very powerful, and the majority of the treasures and opportunities had already been snatched away by people . There was no need to waste time on futile effort, so it was better for people to take advantage of the spiritual qi here to properly temper their bodies .
Furthermore, after advancing to Bone Forging, the most important thing was to temper your bones . The more you could temper, the stronger you would be .
It could be said that of the five Houtian realms, the Bone Forging realm was the one with the greatest combat difference between the weak and the strong . That was something that didn’t have to do with cultivation base, but with how many bones you had tempered .
Just before the exit of the Jiuli secret realm opened, according to previous experience, the Righteous and Corrupt paths would undergo an immense battle .
Although there were many entrances to the Jiuli secret realm, there was only one exit . That exit was located in the most core place of the secret realm .
There was a huge mountain valley there . That place had been called Death-Deciding Valley . When the secret realm’s exit opened, a teleportation gate would open in front of Death-Deciding Valley . By activating the special tablets each person had on their body, they would be sent out of the secret realm .
Everyone from the Righteous and Corrupt paths would gather there at that time . That was because this teleportation gate would only stay open for two hours . If you didn’t enter it in time, you would forever be left in the secret realm .
Each time, the Righteous and Corrupt paths would have an immense final battle before that exit opened . That was both a competition between the two paths, as well as a bloody battle for treasure .
The people who benefited the most from this final battle were always the Chosen . In this kind of battle, very few Chosen died . The majority of those who died were the weaker geniuses .
Naturally, those slain geniuses would have all the treasures in their spatial rings be taken away by the top experts .
And it was because of this that those top experts wouldn’t target the weak at the beginning . Instead, they would wait for the final battle . Then, not only could they kill their enemies, they could also take their treasures, as well as raise their fame . It was three birds with one stone .
But currently, the secret realm was in a state of calm . Many people had already found a place to undergo secluded cultivation, trying to raise their strength . The majority of those people weren’t focused on gaining the power to kill their enemies, but on protecting their lives .
Only a few of the absolute top experts were confident enough to continue strolling around the secret realm, trying to test their luck .
It was on the third day after Long Chen had left his seclusion that he ran into two experts that blocked his path .
To avoid any possible confusion, the Houtian realms here refers to the five realms that are focused on tempering the body . Those would be Qi Condensation, Blood Condensation, Tendon Transformation, Bone Forging, and Meridian Opening .
