Long Chen shook his head. “Now is not the time. The majority of everyone’s armor has been badly damaged and is no longer suitable for battle. As for Ye Ming, we have no idea where he is. Within the vast Star Field Divine World, it’s no different from searching for a needle in an ocean. It’s a waste of time. Ye Ming now only has himself to look after, so he’s not afraid of any consequences and can sneak attack us at any time. Right now, we want to prevent him from feeling cornered, rather than forcing him to do something that we’ll all regret.”
Meng Qi nodded. “Long Chen is right. Ye Ming is most dangerous now that he has nothing holding him back. With the Corrupt path’s viciousness, he’s definitely thinking of every possible way to kill us. His target isn’t just Long Chen but all our allies. We can’t give him that chance.”
After saying that, she saw Long Chen with a light smile. Hence, she blushed slightly and demanded, “Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?”
Long Chen’s smile widened. “As expected of my trusted wife, you even plan strategies for us.”
Meng Qi turned even redder. Long Chen was actually teasing her in front of everyone. She was so bashful that she couldn’t say anything.
“If you dare to tease big sister Chu Yao like this, I’ll definitely attack you,” said Liu Ruyan with extreme hostility.
Long Chen looked her up and down and shook his head. “You’re still looking for a reason to avenge the grudge from back then? I say, why are you so petty?”
“Women are petty. Did you not know that?” Liu Ruyan snorted indifferently. This grudge had always been kept in the back of her mind.
“I don’t know what power you’ve awakened, but no matter how strong you get, I can still suppress you,” said Long Chen a bit irritably. It seemed that after getting stronger, her arrogance had also gone a bit out of control. To challenge him in front of the entire Dragonblood Legion was definitely a provocation.
“Alright, if you were wrong, then you were wrong. Apologize to Ruyan,” interjected Chu Yao.
“I was wrong?” Long Chen pointed at his nose in disbelief. When did Chu Yao become this unreasonable as well? Was this the same Chu Yao that he knew?
“Yes, you were wrong.” Chu Yao giggled.
“Then tell me, how was I wrong?” demanded Long Chen.
Chu Yao’s eyes crinkled with a crafty light, and she began to raise her fingers. “First, as a man, you quibbled with a woman. Second, as a leader, you stooped to the level of your subordinates to argue. Third, as a mighty hero who has beaten countless enemies, you decided to fight against someone like Liu Ruyan, who has been alone her entire life. She is like a child. You, someone who stands at the peak of the world, are essentially arguing with a child. Are you not embarrassed to do such a thing? Tell me, don’t you think that this is wrong?”
“I…” Long Chen stared at her for a long time, unable to come up with a way to retort. His dumbfounded appearance elicited laughter from Meng Qi and the others.
Long Chen shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Fine, I was wrong.”
Now Long Chen understood why people said not to argue with women. The moment he tried, he lost. There was simply no way to talk reasonably with women. To try was very foolish.
What made him feel most helpless though was that Chu Yao’s words somehow seemed very reasonable. He wasn’t even able to point out exactly what was wrong with them.
Liu Ruyan’s icy expression finally broke into a smile. She then clapped hands with Chu Yao to celebrate their victory.
Everyone was startled by this smile. Having known Liu Ruyan for so long, they didn’t recall her ever smiling.
Although she wasn’t like Ye Zhiqiu who was an embodiment of ice, she also gave off a feeling of keeping others away.
That smile was like a flower blooming. Although it was beautiful, it was gone in the next moment because she noticed everyone staring at her in shock.
“You actually know how to smile?” asked Long Chen. This was inconceivable.
“Is it any of your business?” Liu Ruyan returned to her normal iciness.
Long Chen shrugged. Chu Yao was correct that he shouldn’t argue with a petty woman.
“Long Chen, when we get back, we can make our breakthrough to the realm above Netherpassage. At that time, we won’t need to be afraid of anyone,” interjected Meng Qi to break the awkward air.
The world above the mother tree had helped them a great deal. After having cultivated there, the Heavenly Dao energy had corroborated their cultivation paths. As a result, their mental realms had advanced and already touched upon the next level.
The mother tree’s guidance allowed them to reach this level most likely even faster than the divine families’ disciples. Once the Dragonblood warriors advanced above Netherpassage, they really wouldn’t need to fear anyone, not even the divine families.
“It probably won’t be so easy. The realm above Netherpassage contains some kind of secret, or we would know its name at least. Furthermore, we’ll have to deal with the various large powers on the continent when we return, especially the Corrupt path, the ancient family alliance, the sea demon race, and the Zhao family of the divine families. They won’t let us advance easily. There might be a fierce battle coming up,” said Long Chen.
Long Chen had to give everyone a warning. Once they stepped out of the Star Field Divine World, if there was nothing unexpected, they would immediately be surrounded and attacked. Due to Zhao Ritian, the divine families would not just sit still.
“They were clearly the ones who wanted to kill us. Were we supposed to just let them?” demanded Tang Wan-er.
“In this world, talking about reason is useless. Whoever is stronger is the one making the rules. Moreover, those rules are always used to restrict the weaker party, while they themselves are unaffected. That’s why simply enduring and submitting is definitely unacceptable. They’ve always forced us to the point that we have no other choice, so there will definitely be a fierce battle once we return to the Martial Heaven Continent. The laughable thing is that the Martial Heaven Continent currently stands on the brink of crisis, yet we are still constantly fighting amongst ourselves.” Long Chen’s expression became contemptuous.
People were always talking about uniting everyone, about joining forces against shared enemies. Bullshit. The divine families came out to lead the battle, but in the end, they didn’t even follow that. Feng Fei was constantly forcing others to bend to her will, while Zhao Ritian had arrogantly killed countless innocent people.
Long Chen had realized that he could not work together with such people. Sooner or later, he would be played to death by their foolish rules.
Originally, Long Chen had been hoping that the divine families weren’t like this. They were so powerful and had to have complete inheritances and proper attitudes. Hence, they shouldn’t be as chaotic as the Martial Heaven Alliance from back then. But after getting close with the divine families, he found that they were fundamentally no different.
Therefore, Long Chen was no longer planning on working with the Long family. He could no longer see any hope in that and would rather face the invading races with his brothers. Even if they all died on the battlefield, he wouldn’t wish to leave his fate to others.
During the next few days, Long Chen had everyone who had reached the full circle of Netherpassage rest and relax.
They could play, dance, sing, eat, drink, and even sleep. As a bonus, the Luo Spirit race’s warriors were all friendly with them. These days of peace were hard to imagine for the Martial Heaven Continent’s cultivators.
No matter how carefree a cultivator was, they carried a mission from the day they were born. Their burden was to continue their family or sect’s inheritance and bring forth future generations.
There was nothing easy about living in the world. Easiness was faked for others to see, and the true bitterness was known only to the self.
However, here, under the mother tree, the Luo Spirit race’s warriors were all pure-hearted and simple. They had no schemes. Their warm emotions affected everyone from the Martial Heaven Continent.
Long Chen and the others fell in love with this place, with some people wishing that they could stay here forever.
However, that was just a dream; it was impossible. They were not from this world, so once the door to the Martial Heaven Continent closed, they would be automatically transported back.
Calculating the time, they still had three months, and this remaining time was precious to them.
They even began to compete in archery and shoot at flying leaves. After just a bit, the mother tree had become their paradise. That peace was exceptionally moving.
“Why aren’t you playing with everyone?”
Long Chen carried a gourd of wine and plopped his butt down beside Ye Lingshan, handing over a barbequed meat skewer.
Ye Lingshan smiled slightly and thanked him. She then took a bite. After that, Long Chen handed over a wine cup to her, but she reddened and shook her head. “I don’t drink wine.”
“Do you not drink wine, or do you not drink my leftover wine?” asked Long Chen.
Ye Lingshan was embarrassed. Although she wasn’t obsessed with cleanliness, she didn’t want to drink from the gourd that Long Chen was drinking out of.
As for Long Chen, he was sharp, and had both noticed and directly exposed it. After that, Ye Lingshan glared at him.
“Actually, I liked the skewer I just gave you. That’s just a habit, I like first sucking away the oil before eating it…”
“Long Chen, I’ll kill you!” Ye Lingshan shot up furiously. Although she didn’t know if he was just joking or not, her stomach heaved. She then tossed the meat aside and reached out to grab Long Chen’s neck.
