Long Chen and the others became covered by a strange aura, and runes condensed around them. This was the call of the Martial Heaven Continent.
Once the runes formed, the transportation would occur in six hours. After that, all those from the Martial Heaven Continent would be teleported out. However, that was only for the living.
The Dragonblood Legion, the Martial Heaven Alliance, the Xuan Beasts, the Mo family, the Nangong family, and the Beitang family’s disciples were all gathered.
“We’re finally leaving? It’s too bad, I feel like I’ve fallen in love with this place,” sighed Beitang Rushuang.
Being with the Luo Spirit race had allowed them to experience a different kind of life. They learned what it meant to live beneath the shade of a giant tree. Every day was happy and free.
Here, they were actually living, but in the Martial Heaven Continent, they were simply surviving. In a world filled with crisis, no one knew what terrible thing would happen the next day.
Everyone was unwilling to leave like this, as this place was something they dreamed of having. They felt like they had barely managed to experience this blessing before they had to leave.
On the other hand, the Dragonblood warriors were like sharpened blades overflowing with battle intent. They were filled with anticipation toward the new golden armor and their new swords.
As for the Dragonblood warriors that had fallen in the last battle, everyone still felt hatred for their loss. Once they returned, they would get vengeance for those fallen brothers. Even this peaceful and calm life had not erased the hatred in their hearts. A debt of blood had to be repaid with blood.
Their desire for vengeance had not weakened. Now that they had advanced to the full circle of Netherpassage and were equipped with new armor and weapons, their desire for vengeance was ignited. They even felt that waiting another six hours was too long.
Long Chen stood at the front, loudly shouting, “Warriors from the Martial Heaven Continent, it is time for our return. Our peaceful lives have ended. What we are going to face will be an even worse battle. Since you are able to stand beside me during this time of crisis, I won’t say any emotional words. I will simply remember them in my heart. During the last battle, over three hundred thousand of our brothers and sisters ended up having their bones buried in this foreign world. Their souls rest here. But I believe that before dying, their thoughts lay with their family.”
Long Chen’s voice resounded through the air. His words were like hammers striking people’s hearts. Upon thinking of those disciples that had fought to the death, everyone’s eyes reddened.
“In the eyes of those heavenly geniuses, perhaps we are viewed as ants. But in the eyes of our fathers, our mothers, our families, we are their world. We are the greatest glory in their hearts.
“We dislike battle and killing because it only brings us pain. But some people with wild ambitions and secret schemes keep viewing us as chess pieces, as pigs for the slaughter, as tools to profit from.
“Even now, when the Martial Heaven Continent is on the brink of crisis, when we should all be uniting to fight against our common enemies, the reality is that while we wish to cooperate with them, they see us as fools. How can we cooperate with them?
“When the battle of the dark era comes, who knows whether or not we will be sheep sent to the tiger’s mouth?
“The divine families are powerful, but so what? We can see their attitudes from Feng Fei and Zhao Ritian. We cannot entrust our lives to them. They are not worthy of our trust. Hence, we can only trust ourselves and rely on ourselves.
“By standing together with me, you are entrusting your lives to me. I, Long Chen, will not let any of you down. Starting today, we are a family. We will not beg others or make extravagant demands. We will not trust in fate or put our hopes in luck.
“We will use our own power to protect our family, to protect the Martial Heaven Continent, to face the battles of the dark era. We will walk our own path.”
Long Chen’s voice crashed through the air in waves, filled with anger and sullenness. Having been disappointed by the divine families over and over again, he knew he could not count on them anymore.
Yun Tian was a Sovereign’s son. If Yun Tian was willing to raise that banner, Long Chen would be willing to fully assist him.
However, Yun Tian seemed to have many secrets, and perhaps he had his own mission. He didn’t seem to join forces with the Martial Heaven Continent’s experts.
Long Chen didn’t know what Yun Tian was thinking. However, he knew that these warriors in front of him had entrusted their lives to him. Some had even fought to the death for him. Therefore, he had to shoulder this burden.
Despite being well aware of just how heavy this burden was, he knew that he wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t bear it.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, as long as it’s with you, we will not frown even if we’re climbing a mountain of blades or descending into a sea of fire!”
“Although you aren’t a Sovereign’s son or a Sovereign sprout, you’re a hot-blooded man we can follow sincerely. We will walk through fire and offer our lives for you.”
“You are the Sovereign in our hearts. We fully trust you.”
Emotional roars rang out. Those who had come here were all on the level of geniuses. Even as they spat out these words, not one person felt that they were sappy. Not one person felt that they were sucking up.
Amongst these experts, there was a spiritual and bloody connection. They were fighting together for the same goal. They wouldn’t regret it even if they had to die a hundred times.
Long Chen’s origin and experiences formed a resonance with them. They knew he had never submitted to anyone.
Even those who hated him were unable to stain his character. Although he had plenty of enemies, no one could question that character.
This was Long Chen’s specific charisma, something that had drawn over countless people and made them willing to sacrifice their lives for him. There was no deceit, only sincerity.
After that, Long Chen cupped his fists toward everyone, causing silence to fall once more. “When we go out, I believe that various forces will have gathered, waiting for us. They still don’t know what happened inside, but once we’re out, the world will very likely flip on its head. Prepare yourselves! Once we’re out, what awaits us is an unprecedented battle. Experts above Netherpassage might appear to suppress us.”
“I’m not afraid. What’s the worst thing that can happen, death? I’d rather shatter as jade than survive as a brick.”
“We’ll fight together. Even if we can’t beat the big ones, we can crush the small ones.”
“Since they don’t care about the Martial Heaven Continent’s safety or the big picture, why should we have to concede to them? Kill one and you go even, kill two and you’ve profited.”
“We can just all fight to the death. In the end, the Martial Heaven Continent will be destroyed. We’ll have just gone one step in advance.”
Anger soared amongst them. They knew that in this time of crisis, fighting amongst themselves was the most foolish thing. They didn’t want to fight, but then their only option was to be killed. In the end, there were always some foolish people. They could only act stupid with them as there was no other option.
Either act stupid or lose their lives. It was a simple choice. No one would choose the latter, but that was what infuriated them. They were fish caught in a trap with a bunch of fools, which refused to work together to get out of the trap, forcing them to fight to the death with them.
“Things aren’t as pessimistic as you imagine. As long as we are united, we still have hope. Sit, stand, stretch, do whatever it takes to enter your best condition. Prepare for battle,” said Long Chen.
“Yes!”
Everyone immediately began to circulate their auras. They had to be ready to face battle at any moment.
“You’re leaving so soon. It’s regrettable.”
Ling Xi walked over. At the same time, the Luo Spirit race’s warriors came off of the mother tree, watching as Long Chen and the others left.
Every single person here was a benefactor to the Luo Spirit race. Without them, the Luo Spirit race would have lost their mother tree. If the mother tree died, then they wouldn’t wish to live either.
They were very regretful about this. But Long Chen and the others were people from a different world, so they had to leave eventually.
“There is no banquet that never ends. The Luo Spirit race is a kind race, so you should be blessed by the heavens to continue forever. As for us, our memories of you will never be forgotten. We experienced the most peaceful time of our lives here, and the mother tree’s assistance has also increased our power. We are all truly grateful,” said Long Chen. His words were sincere.
The ability to comprehend everything within the Heavenly Daos at the peak of the mother tree had truly benefited everyone immensely.
Although Ling Xi didn’t say anything, Long Chen knew that the mother tree had sacrificed a great deal of its source energy for them. Perhaps that source energy was what Ye Ming and the others had been planning on secretly dividing up amongst themselves.
The Luo Spirit race had never owed Long Chen anything. If Li Qi hadn’t risked herself to save him, perhaps he would already be dead. Hence, he was the one benefiting from the Luo Spirit race.
However, due to paying back this debt of gratitude, he had ended up dragging in the Martial Heaven Alliance, the Beitang family, the Nangong family, and the others, implicating so many deaths. Long Chen was filled with shame over this.
It was due to this that Long Chen no longer wished to fight alone. He was willing to pick up this heavy burden and tie everyone’s lives together.
Ling Xi smiled. “We’ve consecrated you as our god. We will do as you wish.”
After saying that, Ling Xi pressed her forehead against Long Chen’s, startling him. A sharp pain suddenly rang through his head, and a leaf-shaped rune was branded on his forehead.
After that, the rune quickly faded as if it had never been there at all. Ling Xi then pressed her right hand over her chest and bowed deeply toward Long Chen. “The mother tree’s life mark is now connected to you. Perhaps one day, our Luo Spirit race will have another chance to fight alongside you.”
Just at that moment, the runes around everyone’s body rapidly grew. Long Chen didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye when the void twisted, swallowing all of them. Everyone from the Martial Heaven Continent vanished.
