Long Chen sped through the air and found that the further he went, the denser the spiritual qi of heaven and earth was.

This particular type of spiritual qi differed from the kind absorbed by cultivators. It was a natural essence emanating from spiritually enriched lands, which often harbored natural treasures. Long Chen now grasped the Earth Cauldron’s intent in bringing him here—to gather medicinal ingredients.

All of a sudden, Long Chen recalled that during this time, he had not refined anything, which halted the Earth Cauldron’s recovery progress. It was probably in an even bigger rush than Long Chen to refine pills.

Long Chen had obtained a priceless Blood Rune Vermilion Fruit upon his arrival. As he ventured deeper, the spiritual qi intensified, indicating the presence of even greater treasures ahead.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Long Chen asked, “Senior, how did you know that there were treasures here?”

“Isn’t this question a bit naive? From birth, I’ve always been in the company of medicinal ingredients. How could I not develop a sense for them? Unfortunately, my current state is but a fraction of my peak, otherwise... Well, there’s no use dwelling on it now.”

The Earth Cauldron’s voice carried a hint of pride. However, toward the end, it grew excited and suddenly shut its mouth as if recalling something in the past.

“Senior, when it comes to treasure hunting, do you have some secret art you could impart to me?” probed Long Chen.

“The treasures of the heavens always conceal themselves, making them hard to find. Despite that, you can still find them by chance no matter how well they conceal themselves. Once they are found, they’ll be absorbed. Thus, for these spiritual objects to grow to maturity is very difficult. Those that grow to that point will always search for powerful lifeforms to serve as their protectors, sharing some benefits with their protectors in order to gain their protection. Hence, precious natural treasures are typically safeguarded by formidable guardians. If you want to find natural treasures yourself, it’s very difficult. But if you want to make it easy, just search for the nests of powerful lifeforms. If they’re not living together and one of them guards the location alone, there is likely a treasure there,” explained the Earth Cauldron.

Long Chen was naturally aware of this, and it wasn’t quite what he wanted. He clarified, “I mean do you have some special means to find them, such as a way to sense where they are?”

The Earth Cauldron answered, “I lack the means to impart this skill to you. It’s an ability I acquired over trillions of years spent refining pills. However, if you were to begin refining pills incessantly from this moment onward, given your talent and intellect, I believe you could also develop this ability after thirty thousand years.”

“Thirty thousand years… Well, just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Long Chen was speechless. If it was three years, he would still feel like it was an attainable goal. But thirty thousand years? He directly gave up.

BOOM!

Just then, he heard another explosive sound. As a furious roar resounded, devil qi filled the sky.

“Enemies do really meet often. It’s actually the devil race’s experts.” Long Chen sped up when he saw this scene.

As Long Chen approached, he saw a landscape marred by scars, where trees and boulders lay shattered. Interweaving ditches scarred the earth, bearing witness to the ferocity of a battle.

Entering the battlefield, Long Chen saw tens of thousands of devil experts surrounding and attacking what seemed like a large lizard.

When Long Chen got close though, he found that it wasn’t a lizard but a mountain-sized armadillo.

The armadillo curled up into a ball, withstanding the relentless attacks of the devil experts.

Clearly outmatched, it could only defend, but it was protecting the mountain peak staunchly. Long Chen guessed that there was some treasure there, but the armadillo curled up too tightly for him to see what it was.

“Brothers, keep going! It’s going to die soon, and then the treasure will be ours!” shouted a devil expert with a broadsword on his back. He was likely their leader.

He exuded an extremely powerful aura, which marked him as a peak existence amongst seven-star Doyens.

“No, remember that treasures always belong to Boss Long San.”

Suddenly, a languid voice echoed through the air. Though not booming, it reached every ear present.

“Who’s there?!”

The devil experts jerked in surprise and turned around, only to see a young man clad in black robes standing nearby. With his arms crossed in front of his chest and a stalk of grass hanging out of his mouth, he strolled over.

“I want to say that I’m your daddy, but something tells me that I shouldn’t take advantage of you like that,” Long Chen remarked, shaking his head as he gazed at the leader.

“You’re courting death!” the expert brandishing the broadsword bellowed and launched a direct slash toward Long Chen.

BOOM!

Powerful qi waves exploded out of his broadsword. However, when the attack landed, an absurd scene stunned all the devil experts here.

Long Chen simply held the broadsword with one hand, not budging in the slightest as he blocked that immense power. This powerful attack didn’t even move a strand of his hair.

“An ant dares to challenge a dragon?” he questioned calmly, tightening his grip. Veins pulsed visibly on his hand as he exerted his strength, and the broadsword shattered.

“What?!”

The devil experts were horrified, to the point that they forgot to even look at the armadillo.

As for their leader, when his weapon was destroyed, blood sprayed out of his mouth. After all, it was his personal divine weapon, one he had nourished with his own soul.

Using the broken tip of the blade, Long Chen slashed this devil expert apart. In front of Long Chen, he didn’t have the slightest power to resist.

After Long Chen killed him, the rest of the devil experts were too terrified to even think about fighting, so they fled in every direction.

A single blow from Long Chen scared away the devil race that was famous for their viciousness and brutality. If this news spread, it would definitely shock the world.

This couldn’t be blamed on them. After all, Long Chen’s power was far too terrifying. Even a seven-star Doyen wasn’t worth shit in front of him. They also sensed something from Long Chen that made their souls quiver—a deadly intimidation born from the countless drops of devil blood that stained his path.

“You think you can escape?” Long Chen sneered. The devil race was his sworn enemy, so he wouldn’t allow them to flee so easily. Even if they were just a group of rabble, he wouldn’t let them off the hook.

Just as Long Chen was about to attack, that giant armadillo quivered and loosened up a bit.

When Long Chen laid eyes on what the armadillo had been guarding, a spark of excitement ignited in his eyes.