“Do you still remember the nine forms of Split the Heavens?” asked Evilmoon.

“Of course? What about them?”

“After hearing about Guo Ran’s armor, I had a stroke of inspiration. Perhaps we can do the same—” suggested Evilmoon.

“What do you mean? Do we need something to use as a bridge between us? Do you feel lonely? Do you want a scabbard companion?” Long Chen was baffled.

“Fuck your scabbard! I like to be bare, so what?” said Evilmoon irritably. “I’m saying that Split the Heavens is a Battle Skill of the Martial Heaven Continent, and we are both familiar with it. You have tweaked it a bit so that it can become a technique of the immortal world. In front of the gate to the ninth heaven, you merged the first five moves into one attack, but this technique of yours isn’t quite like what I imagined.”

Suddenly, Evilmoon unleashed a slash of its own accord, cleaving through the sky and distorting the void. Waves of Qi then surged forth, carving out an abyss in the heavens.

“The power of your technique is completely scattered. It looks amazing and frightening, but because your power isn’t concentrated, its actual destructive power is not that much,” commented Long Chen.

“Did you not see? With this move, I compressed the void, forcing the power of the Heavenly Daos away from my attack. In other words, none of my power leaked into the world. However, when you attack, despite your concentrated power, as it traverses through the void, regardless of how refined your control may be, a portion of your power dissipates,” retorted Evilmoon.

Long Chen nodded. It was indeed a valid point. Yet, this was something that every divine ability had to deal with. When cutting through space, dissipating energy was inevitable.

“I’ve mulled over this problem before, and I feel like my method is a bit better. While my attack lacks finesse and concentration, you also struggle with launching an attack through the void without energy dissipation. But I believe Guo Ran’s method can resolve both of our dilemmas,” said Evilmoon.

“What method?”

“Runes.”

“Runes! Why didn’t I think of that?” Long Chen slapped his leg as he realized a possibility. However, to create a new rune was incredibly difficult.

Nevertheless, it should be possible for Long Chen and Evilmoon. When Long Chen grabbed Evilmoon’s hilt, Evilmoon’s blade lit up, and a miniature image of Dragonbone Evilmoon appeared on it.

Evilmoon trembled as the miniature image materialized, as if an unseen force was etching its blade.

Suddenly, Long Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, a consequence of their wills not being perfectly aligned.

However, Long Chen was prepared for this result. The rune they envisioned was different, leading to this friction. They needed to persist until they achieved perfect alignment. Ultimately, the rune they inscribed would carry both their souls and wills.

Perhaps this was the only method that could perfectly merge their powers. The Split the Heavens unleashed through this union would then be the true Split the Heavens.

To Long Chen’s surprise, they only failed three times before a tiny rune the size of a grain of rice flickered on Evilmoon.

“Split the Heavens 1!”

When Evilmoon slashed out, heaven and earth quivered. The clouds were rent asunder, and a crack appeared in the void. Through this rift, countless stars beyond the nine heavens twinkled, revealing a glimpse of the celestial realm.

“Haha, success!” Evilmoon and Long Chen cried out excitedly. Unexpectedly, it was actually quite easy.

“We’re geniuses!” Evilmoon exclaimed. This was the first technique created by the two of them together, and it had an immense meaning for them.

“Strike while the iron is hot! The second form!”

Long Chen quickly carved the second rune while his soul was still blazing.

No one knew how terrifying runes could be better than Long Chen. This was a combined attack containing both of their wills. Even in its initial activation, the rune already produced formidable power. If they were to go all-out, this rune could destroy the very world.

The two of them quickly finished with the second form, then the third, and the fourth. Enthralled in their excitement, they entered a state of forgetting themselves. Time slipped by unnoticed, as did the energy they expended.

It wasn’t until they attempted to condense the rune for the seventh form that Long Chen suddenly felt the world spinning around him. His vision flickered, and he hastily held Evilmoon’s hilt for support, nearly collapsing.

“No, we have to stop. I feel like I’m going to puke!” said Evilmoon, its voice full of exhaustion.

“I have to stop too. I feel like my head is being stabbed by needles. My whole body feels empty,” said Long Chen wearily. “But I’m curious, when you say you’re going to puke, what are you going to puke out?”

“Is there a point to being picky with words? I’m just expressing how I feel based on your senses,” replied Evilmoon with an irritated tone, if it had eyes, they would have rolled.

Long Chen chuckled, but even that simple act drained him. He ingested a medicinal pill to recuperate.

“I also need to rest. Don’t activate the runes for now, or it’ll wake me up,” instructed Evilmoon. The saber’s aura then dissipated, and silence settled between them.

“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, someone wants to see you.”

Before Long Chen even got a chance to rest, Luo Ning came running over.

“Sigh, who is it?” asked Long Chen.

“It’s someone strange. We can’t see through their cultivation base and origins. This person is acting mysterious, saying that they have something urgent to discuss with you,” answered Luo Ning.

Far too many people had come here to see Long Chen, yet he couldn’t be bothered by them and delegated Bai Xiaole to receive them. However, when this person appeared, Bai Xiaole struggled to assess them accurately, prompting Luo Ning to summon Long Chen.

Long Chen found it perplexing that Bai Xiaole couldn't discern this person's origins or cultivation level. After all, Bai Xiaole cultivated the Six Dao Heavenly Eyes, granting him exceptional insight. Not that many people could conceal their origins from him.

Furthermore, Little Nine was with him. The Violet Pupil Nine Tail Fox’s senses were also shockingly sharp. If neither of them could see through this person, then they truly couldn’t be ordinary.

“Luo Ning, you should avoid going out for now. Your aura is starting to leak,” said Long Chen.

Luo Ning, Luo Bing, Mu Qingyun, and the others had ingested nine star Heavenly Doyen Pills. However, this matter was top secret, so Long Chen wanted them to cover up their auras.

However, as the medicinal energy slowly circulated through them, their Doyen power grew stronger and stronger, showing signs that it was starting to leak. For now, they should avoid coming out. When Xia Chen and Guo Ran finished creating rings that could conceal their auras, they could venture out again.

While the rings had already been forged, Xia Chen still needed to complete the inscriptions. After all, they still needed to test the effect and modify it based on the results. The Dragonblood warriors had also not come out during this time because Xia Chen wasn’t done with his work.

As Long Chen entered the guest hall, he was struck by a jolt of surprise upon seeing who awaited him.