“Bang!”
A loud explosion echoed. What left everyone astounded was that, at some unknown point, Long Chen had appeared right in front of Li Hao like a ghost. This was the effect of the Wind-Chasing Steps; its speed was absolutely incredible. Especially since its explosive power was unleashed at such close range, it made it virtually impossible to defend against.
Li Hao’s twin claws halted mid-air. One of Long Chen’s kicks landed viciously right between Li Hao’s legs. That brutal force instantly launched his entire body into the air.
Following the explosive sound, a round object slid down from Li Hao’s pants and was directly launched toward the crowd.
Wang Mang had been fantasizing about how Li Hao would torture Long Chen to the point of wishing for death, but the sight unfolding before him suddenly left him dumbfounded.
He didn’t notice at all that a grape-sized object was flying straight into his wide-open mouth. By the time he realized it, the object was already inside his mouth.
Before he could react, the slippery object slid down his throat and into his stomach, carrying a strange, fishy stench.
“Ah!”
Wang Mang finally reacted. He hurriedly shoved his fingers down his throat and gagged himself forcefully. After vomiting for quite a while, he finally spat out a round object.
Zhou Yaoyang and the people around Wang Mang saw the round object and also felt nauseous. They hastily scattered.
“Ah… my egg!”
On the arena, Li Hao clutched his crotch tightly, his face contorted and deformed. If he hadn’t used his Spiritual Qi to protect his body beforehand, he would have definitely fainted from the agony.
For a moment, the entire venue fell dead silent. Everyone looked at Li Hao on the ring, then looked at the object lying in the distance; all of them wore peculiar expressions.
“Now it’s settled. In the future when you walk, your steps will no longer be lopsided,” Long Chen said, nodding.
“You…”
Li Hao’s eyes widened with so much fury they nearly tore open. His only remaining treasure had also been detached, even ending up in Wang Mang’s stomach. Now, after being subjected to stomach acid, even if he took it back, the object was completely useless.
The first egg was previously carried off by a stray dog, and this one was also ruined. Li Hao was destined to become a crippled man unable to reproduce.
“Die, you bastard—Rock Shattering Fist!”
Li Hao roared in absolute madness. He forcibly circulated his Spiritual Qi to suppress the pain in his lower body and threw a punch at Long Chen. His aura surged, and the wind howled fiercely.
The power of the third layer of the Qi Gathering realm erupted completely. He had now descended into madness. He forgot Zhou Yaoyang’s orders, only thinking of one thing: killing Long Chen.
Long Chen looked at the crazed Li Hao. A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. He shouted loudly, his voice echoing like roaring thunder, shaking the surroundings and making people’s eardrums ring.
An invisible aura swept out. Long Chen didn’t dodge in the slightest; he also threw a punch.
“Wild Bull Power!”
“Boom!”
A loud explosion resounded, accompanied by the sound of breaking bones. Li Hao screamed, and blood splattered into the air. Under everyone’s horrified gazes, one of Li Hao’s arms was shattered into pieces.
Long Chen still maintained his punching posture from a moment ago. His eyes were cold, and his face was indifferent. His terrifying murderous aura made people tremble.
At this moment, Long Chen was like a cold-blooded god of death. He was brimming with an ice-cold murderous intent that made anyone shudder.
The entire place was dead silent. The power Long Chen had just unleashed even made Zhou Yaoyang, who was at the seventh layer of Qi Gathering, feel terrified.
“How is this possible? He can actually use combat techniques?”
“Isn’t he unable to cultivate? What exactly is going on?”
“The look in his eyes is absolutely terrifying.”
The crowd couldn’t help but feel terrified. Those who had previously mocked Long Chen were now filled with fear. Seeing Li Hao lying on the arena, they felt as if they were looking at themselves, and inevitably shivered in the cold.
On the ring, one of Li Hao’s arms was completely destroyed, blood flowing heavily. Long Chen’s punch had not only shattered his arm but also injured his internal organs.
Even Long Chen himself was slightly surprised. It seemed he still underestimated the Nine Star Tyrant Body Art. Even when an ordinary person used a low-tier combat technique, under the circulation of this art, the technique truly unleashed a terrifyingly devastating power.
He walked slowly toward Li Hao. In the arena that was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Long Chen’s footsteps were clearly audible. The sound was like the prelude to a slaughter, stomping heavily on everyone’s hearts.
“Tap… tap… tap…”
Li Hao’s previous anger had long vanished; now his face was full of terror. Seeing Long Chen approach, he said tremblingly, “Don’t… come any closer.”
Li Hao wanted to retreat backward, but in his extreme terror, he realized he couldn’t muster any strength at all. The approaching Long Chen was like a nightmare he couldn’t escape.
“Don’t… don’t kill me. Everything was ordered by Zhou Yaoyang,” Li Hao cried.
Zhou Yaoyang’s expression below the stage instantly changed. He barked angrily, “Li Hao, what nonsense are you spouting?”
“I’m not spouting nonsense! You were the one who told us to deal with Long Chen and said you would give us benefits afterward. I ended up like this all because of you!” Li Hao pointed at Zhou Yaoyang hysterically. Under the threat of death, he had forgotten everything.
“Li Hao, you are courting death!” Zhou Yaoyang’s face turned deathly pale, his eyes full of murderous intent.
“Zhou Yaoyang, you bastard, you used me! Long Chen, let me tell you, the truth is Zhou Yaoyang is just a pet dog, actually…”
Suddenly, Long Chen felt a wave of coldness strike. He smelled the aura of death. Without thinking twice, his body instantly shot backward.
However, after Long Chen retreated, nothing happened. When he looked back at Li Hao, he found that Li Hao’s eyes had lost their focus. Li Hao was already dead.
Long Chen’s face changed slightly. He looked toward the crowd and spotted a figure wearing a bamboo hat sprinting outward. In just a few leaps, the person vanished from everyone’s sight.
This sudden turn of events caused an uproar among the people present. Clearly, that mysterious person had assassinated Li Hao.
“Long Chen wins!”
After the brief commotion, the arena guard still announced the final result.
Even though Li Hao was not killed by Long Chen, Long Chen had defeated him and could have killed him with extreme ease. So, declaring Long Chen the winner was only natural.
Along with Long Chen’s victory, countless people sighed heavily. This outcome caused them to lose all their wagered money.
However, there were dozens of people cheering joyously. They had bet on Long Chen’s victory. Fatty Yu and the others even howled like wolves.
No one cared about Li Hao lying on the arena. The arena management would naturally inform his family to collect his corpse.
Duels in the Life and Death Arena were protected by imperial law. No one was allowed to seek personal revenge. Li Hao was merely the son of a concubine; his status was not that high. If he died, so be it, it wouldn’t cause much of a stir. This was just how harsh the Fengming Empire was.
As Long Chen stepped down from the arena, he was welcomed like a hero by Fatty Yu and his friends. Shi Feng hugged Long Chen tightly.
“You brat, since when did you become this strong? You didn’t tell me beforehand. Watching from below the stage, my heart almost leaped out of my chest,” Shi Feng complained slightly.
“Brother Long, oh no, Boss Long, from now on we will follow you, you have to cover us!” said Fatty Yu and his friends with sparkling eyes.
Long Chen burst into loud laughter and said, “No problem. Come on, let’s collect our winnings!”
Everyone cheered enthusiastically. Under the envious gazes of many, Long Chen cashed out three million gold coins.
When the crystal card containing three million gold coins was placed in his hand, Long Chen was even more excited than when he was about to kill Li Hao.
He knew that Li Hao was merely a small fry. However, the things Li Hao revealed right before his death made him far more vigilant.
Initially, he thought he was bullied due to disputes between the older generation, but it seemed it wasn’t just a simple power struggle, and he was nothing more than a pawn.
He was just a trashy youth, and his family was impoverished. Such a meticulous scheme targeting him was clearly aimed at his father.
“It seems this is very complicated.”
However, looking at the three million gold coins in his hand, Long Chen felt extremely confident. Is this what they call confidence born from wealth?
After leaving with his friends, Long Chen found a teahouse. After celebrating grandly, Long Chen returned all their initial capital.
However, he kept the winnings. Long Chen then made a promise that made them incredibly happy:
Their future cultivation resources would be fully covered by Long Chen.
Fatty Yu and his friends were overjoyed. They were all people who couldn’t cultivate. If someone else had said it, they definitely wouldn’t have believed it.
But Long Chen had originally been just like them. Yet now, he could kill Li Hao in a single move. How real was that?
Hearing Long Chen’s promise, everyone was ecstatic. However, Long Chen told them to keep it a secret, and they all nodded in frantic agreement.
Long Chen said it very seriously, and it concerned everyone’s future, being as important as their own lives. Naturally, they didn’t dare to take it lightly.
After Fatty Yu and the others left, Long Chen chatted with Shi Feng some more. Shi Feng was a genius, possessing the best talent among the noble heirs. He was already at the eighth layer of Qi Gathering and could step into the ninth layer at any time. Entering the Blood Condensation realm before he reached twenty shouldn’t be a problem for him.
Through two observations, Shi Feng was clearly a trustworthy person. After asking about Shi Feng’s current cultivation status, Long Chen parted ways with him and headed straight to the Alchemist Association.
The Alchemist Association, located precisely in the southern part of the imperial capital, was the most sacred place in the entire capital. Even the royal family didn’t dare act disrespectfully toward members of the Alchemist Association.
It was said that the Alchemist Association was spread throughout the world, and this branch in the imperial capital was merely one of them.
Long Chen’s visit this time was to obtain an alchemist qualification certificate. After all, with that certificate, it would be extremely easy for him to purchase medicine or travel in the future.
No matter where it was, alchemist was an extremely rare profession. Armed with this certificate, Long Chen’s status would be completely different. Even if the Fengming Empire wanted to touch him, they would have to think twice.
Most importantly, with this qualification certificate, he could gain priority in buying rare medicinal herbs from the Alchemist Association at a highly discounted price. This could save a massive amount of money.
The Alchemist Association only covered an area of a dozen mu, but it reached tens of zhang in height. The building was incredibly grand and instilled a sense of awe.
The moment he entered the lobby, two female attendants greeted Long Chen. When they heard that Long Chen came to take the alchemist qualification exam, they were shocked.
This was because Long Chen looked to be only about fifteen or sixteen years old, and there were absolutely no cultivation fluctuations emanating from his body. However, the two of them still led Long Chen to the alchemy hall.
When Long Chen arrived, over a dozen men in the hall were controlling their Alchemy Fires. It looked like they were refining medicines.
“Eh, why are you here?”
Just as Long Chen arrived, an old man stared at him with slight surprise and asked.
Upon seeing that person, Long Chen secretly felt enraged. That old man was the black-hearted physician who treated him back then. He clearly didn’t have any serious injuries, but the old man insisted he might suffer from amnesia and scammed his mother out of her jewelry.
“I came to take the alchemist exam,” Long Chen said, suppressing the anger in his heart. He would settle the score with this old man later.
“Exam? Alchemist?” The old man looked Long Chen up and down. “It seems your previous injuries haven’t fully healed. You’d better go back and recover.”
Long Chen frowned slightly and said, “I really came to take the exam.”
The old man’s face darkened. “I don’t have time to waste on a brat like you. Leave immediately, or else I’ll have the guards throw you out!”
Long Chen naturally flew into a rage. Staring at the old man, he shouted loudly, “If your ears are stuffed with green fur, I’ll tell you one more time. I came to take the alchemist exam!”
Towards the end, Long Chen’s voice had turned into a roar that echoed throughout the entire Alchemist Association.
“Who is shouting around here?!”
Suddenly, a skinny old man walked over with a displeased expression. Long Chen’s eyes rolled, and a mischievous smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth.
