His last tribulation had been truly dangerous. Without their help, he would have undoubtedly perished. The Heaven Earth Cauldron manifested by the tribulation had been incredibly destructive and powerful, and Long Chen had been unable to resolve it on its own.

“They have entered the ninth heaven,” said the Earth Cauldron.

Long Chen was startled. “They’re already on the other side?”

“In truth, while the ninth heaven is sealed, there are still many cracks throughout the nine heavens. Over millions and millions of years, the people inside have found exits, and the people outside have found entrances. However, even though they have found those channels, going through them requires a certain opportunity. For example, your grandfather.”

“My grandfather?”

A flash of comprehension struck Long Chen. So, his grandfather had done all of those things just to enter the Sovereign Emperor Heaven, or perhaps the entire violet blood race was working for that goal.

Long Chen recalled his grandfather saying that some people were trapped in a crack between worlds. Most likely, something unexpected happened while they were crossing a channel, resulting in them being trapped and unable to escape in either direction.

However, this was only a guess, and Luo Zichuan had not explained it in detail. Perhaps he only knew that much.

“So my grandfather is…” probed Long Chen.

“There’s no need to ask certain questions,” replied the Earth Cauldron.

This reply put Long Chen at ease. Having been with the Earth Cauldron for so long, he had gotten better at grasping the subtle clues behind its words.

The Earth Cauldron avoided talking about many topics to not incur karma, and its words had to be carefully phrased, so the Heavenly Daos would not grasp them as taboo.

Although its response seemed indirect, it was an answer nonetheless. If something had happened to Luo Zichuan, the Earth Cauldron would say that everything was up to fate. However, by saying that there was no need to ask certain questions, it implied that there was no need to worry.

In other words, everything was going smoothly on Luo Zichuan’s side. Thinking of his grandfather, Long Chen felt great admiration for him. Whether it was his grandfather or his father, they were both figures worthy of his reverence. They stood as unparalleled geniuses capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the Martial Heaven Continent’s Sovereigns themselves.

“Could they be in danger if they entered the Sovereign Emperor Heaven before us?” asked Long Chen.

“Don’t worry. They were only able to find those channels because someone else was calling out to them from the inside. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to find the spatial node and borrow the power of heavenly tribulation to open the passageway. They weren’t alone in the Sovereign Emperor Heaven. The factions supporting them had to have moved as well,” explained the Earth Cauldron.

Upon learning that they weren’t in danger, Long Chen relaxed. In truth, he still had many questions, but talking to the Earth Cauldron in this way was too taxing. It would always say ambiguous things that had multiple meanings, and sometimes, even Long Chen could only scratch his head. Rather than dealing with the headache and guessing what it meant, he decided to just let it go.

At this time, the entire world started to shake. At first, Long Chen and the others jumped in shock, but then they felt spatial energy wrap around them.

“Don’t panic! We’re being transported out!” called out Long Chen. They shouldn’t fight this. If they interrupted the spatial transportation, they would be stuck here.

BOOM!

Suddenly, the space around Long Chen exploded into a whirlpool. Darkness enveloped the surroundings, obscuring Long Chen’s vision. A powerful pulling force then warped the space, plunging Long Chen into what felt like an abyss.

In the next moment, the pulling force vanished, and a familiar aura permeated the air. It was the Darklight Heaven’s aura.

“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen!”

When Long Chen appeared, cheers rang out in the distance. After that, Long Chen looked over to see the disciples of the academy, the Battle God Palace, and the Starry River Sect gathering here. All of them had relieved expressions when they saw him.

These disciples had followed Long Chen’s instructions to hide in the Void Spirit World immediately after completing their tribulations. Survival was their primary objective, and as long as they achieved it, they would consider it a victory.

As for hunting for treasures, they couldn’t be too greedy. If they found one, they could take it, but they were cautioned against coveting beyond their abilities.

Remembering Long Chen’s words, they avoided clashing with others. When they did look for treasures, they did it extremely cautiously.

After all, being cautious was not something embarrassing. At the very least, eighty percent of them had returned alive, while other factions had lost the majority of their disciples or even completely wiped out.

They had been in the first wave to be transported out, and seeing countless factions with hideous casualties, they started to worry about Long Chen and the Dragonblood Legion.

Hence, when Luo Bing, Luo Ning, and the others saw Long Chen appear, they shed some tears of joy. It was only after entering this passageway to the ninth heaven did they understand just how terrifying the experts inside were.

Following Long Chen’s appearance, the rest of the Dragonblood Legion also started to appear rapidly.

When Luo Bing and Luo Ning saw the Dragonblood Legion, they were shocked. Other than Long Chen, the others had visible signs of injury. Blood drenched their bodies, and many of them had broken weapons on them. Some of their swords had so many nicks in them that they looked like saws.

The Dragonblood warriors had severely overdrafted themselves in this battle. If it weren’t for their powerful willpower, they’d have long since passed out.

As soon as they appeared, they already noticed something off. Countless experts were surrounding the people on the side of the academy, looking like they might attack at any moment.

Luo Bing and the others were on guard. These experts were definitely not their allies, and it seemed that they were waiting for something. After they saw the state of the Dragonblood warriors, an ominous glint flickered in their eyes, and they swiftly advanced toward them.

“You little brats, you dare to brandish your fangs in front of me?! An injured dragon isn’t to be provoked by a group of ants!” roared Guo Ran.

To them, these people were nothing more than a group of ants. The strongest among them was merely a five star Heavenly Doyen. Normally, such individuals weren't even fit to carry their shoes. So, to be seen as prey by them was infuriating beyond measure.

“Protect senior apprentice-brother Long Chen!” Luo Bing shouted, and everyone immediately formed a barrier around the Dragonblood Legion.

“You are mistaken,” said Long Chen as he shook his head.

“What?” asked a baffled Luo Bing.

“The ones in need of protection… are them.”

Long Chen smiled slightly. Following that, a pretty figure appeared beside him, and Lei Linger formed hand seals.

“Lightning Storm!”

BOOM!

Without any warning, lightning crashed down from the heavens toward the unfortunate bastards.