Chapter 7287 Rapid Turnabout

A giant battleship appeared. It had dozens of different banners on it, and every single one represented a different sect or clan. Gao Qian stared at those banners with outrage and contempt. To nobody’s surprise, it was yet another group that wanted to use this affair as an excuse to divvy up the resources of Wind Bell Valley.

An ally turned enemy is worse than a hungry wolf. And true to this piece of ancient wisdom, these people turned out to be even more evil than the outsider devils.

The battleship charged through without any misgivings, entering right into the heart of Wind Bell Valley. This kind of behavior could not even be categorized as rudeness anymore; they were outright trampling upon the dignity of Wind Bell Valley.

The battleship stopped atop the central plaza, and thousands of arrogant-looking people flew down from it. There were over thirty half-step Heavenly Sovereigns leading a mass of younger disciples. They all had sharp gazes and looked more like bandits than visitors.

Miao Yin sighed when she saw their faces. “I wonder if they are this fierce in front of the outsider devils...”

“The strong always challenge the stronger, the weak always bully the weaker. Such is the truth of this world.”

Long Chen shook his head in resignation. If the nine heavens and ten lands were depending on people like this to protect it, then there really was no hope for this world.

Even though Long Chen hadn’t spoken loudly, everyone here was an expert. They heard him loud and clear. One of them saw that it was just a Sovereign Lord speaking badly about them and was outraged.

“Brat, you are courting death!”

But just as these words had left his mouth, he saw Long Chen’s face, and his expression completely changed. Terror welled up from the bottom of his heart, filling his entire being. Without hesitation or caring about face, he directly knelt on the ground, and in front of everyone’s shocked gazes, he slapped himself in the face a dozen times! Each slap echoed like a thunderclap, and by the time he stopped hitting himself, his face was swollen and bloody.

“You might be lacking power, but your ability to adapt really isn’t bad. You’ve managed to keep your life!” said Long Chen casually.

In truth, Long Chen’s killing intent really had been provoked just now. But this person had knelt down too quickly, giving him no chance to act on it.

“I deserve death for offending you, Master Long Chen! Thank you a thousand times for having mercy! I am endlessly grateful!” The disciple respectfully kowtowed and thanked him several times before daring to get up.

Everyone who had come with him was horrified by this development. None of them had expected the illustrious Long Chen to be here as well. Who would have thought that he would be here with no entourage? He didn’t even have a carriage or flying boat. This was not the kind of ostentatious style that a peak expert should have. In fact, both the previous groups and this one had first checked for such overt displays before stomping into the Wind Bell Valley’s territory, and they only had the guts to come in once they concluded there was no one here worth fearing.

Naturally, when they learned that this black-robed man was the number one genius of the human race, even the half-step Heavenly Sovereigns were deeply shaken. In particular, one old man felt very uneasy.

Long Chen immediately sensed that. The moment his gaze turned to the old man, the latter tensed up even more. His blood flow quickened, and even his spiritual fluctuations intensified.

“Are you afraid of me?” asked Long Chen.

“No, it’s just that I deeply respect you! Master Long Chen, you are the hero of the human race, a peerless genius whose power is unmatched in the past or present! I simply revere the strong so much that I lost my decorum and embarrassed myself in front of you.” The elder hastily explained himself. Sweat dripped down his forehead, and he was barely able to remain standing.

All these arrogant experts were shaking in their boots now that they had stumbled upon Long Chen. They didn’t even dare to breathe loudly. As for the man who had slapped his face until it was swollen like a pig’s, he felt a touch of pride now. Even half-step Heavenly Sovereigns were terrified in front of Long Chen. If Long Chen wanted to kill him, none of them could have done anything about it. However, he had been wise enough to save his own life from this Yama King. That was kind of badass in its own right!

“Why did you come here?” asked Long Chen.

They all looked at each other, no one daring to speak up. Long Chen’s aura was simply too frightening. Only seeing him in person let them truly experience the feeling of not having their lives in their own hands. Even half-step Heavenly Sovereigns were no exception.

One elder glanced at the disciple who had slapped himself, and the latter immediately cursed the elder in his mind. How could he possibly be the one to step forward? He had just dragged himself out of the gates of Hell, and now, the sect master wanted him to crawl back in?

Sadly, the threat of his own sect master made it so that he had no choice but to step forward. “Master Long Chen, many of our disciples died out of nowhere. We had to investigate what happened; otherwise, how could we give them justice? We were so filled with grief that we failed to properly control our emotions, and we offended Wind Bell Valley as a result. In truth, the outsider devils are our real enemy. We should be united against them instead of taking out our rage on Wind Bell Valley. It was our mistake, and we apologize to Wind Bell Valley.”

This fellow really did manage to adapt well to the situation. He had a glib tongue too, and in all fairness, he was not saying anything wrong.

“Yes, that’s right, that’s what happened. Our disciples can’t die for nothing, so we had to investigate! But since this matter has even disturbed you, Master Long Chen, we will follow your lead in this master!” The elder who had given him the look quickly followed up on his disciple.

He even managed to not sound too fake as he told Gao Qian, “The truth is that we all took heavy losses. No one wanted to do this. The fault must be placed on the outsider devils. Let us use our grief and rage as fuel to burn the outsider devils!”

Even Long Chen found it impressive how this elder managed to twist things so smoothly, without skipping a beat. The spear that had been threatening to pierce Wind Bell Valley had somehow changed course and pointed toward the outsider devils, all in a few short sentences.

“In that case, you can stay here. I’ll take a look inside the passageway,” said Long Chen.

“As you say, Master Long Chen!”

“If you are personally taking care of it, there definitely won’t be any problems!”

“The outsider devils are all very crafty. Please be careful!”

The half-step Heavenly Sovereigns all managed to act very humble, as if they deeply cared about Long Chen. Just listening made Miao Yin want to vomit.

They arrived at the sealed passageway. Countless chains were keeping it closed. But Gao Qian had already gathered the people, and thousands of workers began to slowly undo the seal.

Long Chen brought Miao Yin and Shi Yu towards the passageway. Suddenly, he looked back at the disciple who had slapped himself. “Do you want to come along?”

That disciple jumped in fright. How could he want to go somewhere so terrifying? “I’m afraid I am just too weak, and I don’t wish to bring you trouble, Master Long Chen!”

Long Chen indifferently said, “I suggest you reconsider that statement.”

The disciple stared in horror. It was over for him! The life he had just barely kept was about to be thrown away! It was no wonder his eyelids had been twitching before coming here; that must’ve been the warning of fate!

In the end, he clenched his teeth and nodded. “I might be weak, but I still wish to contribute to the human race! Please allow me to join you!”

Long Chen nodded and brought him along into the spatial passageway. Once they were in, Long Chen’s icy voice echoed in the disciple’s ear.

“I want to know everything about that old fellow who was so nervous!”