"Ah, you're late. As I always say: return your pearl to the ...," Long Chen said helplessly.
"Hang your head on your foot! If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll beat you to death. Do you believe me?" Knowing Long Chen was about to show off again, Beitang Rushuang flashed her little fist and said fiercely.
Long Chen chuckled and took the Tianyi Spirit Water. Looking at it, he couldn't help but feel a slight excitement in his heart.
This Tianyi Spirit Water was of little use to Long Chen, but it greatly restored the Molten Moon Star Refining Furnace.
"Let's go, I'll treat you to some fish." Long Chen said with a smile.
"Eating fish again?"
"Then you don't have to eat fish, but I'll treat you to some dirt."
"Get lost!"
"..."
The three didn't go eat fish but found a quiet place to drink tea. Thanks to Long Chen's guidance, Beitang Rushuang's hostility toward Nangong Zuiyue noticeably lessened, and at least the two could communicate normally.
"Long Chen, to be honest, I approached you with a purpose... Stop, stop right there. If you keep saying things about returning Jun Mingzhu, I'll be mad at you..." Seeing Long Chen about to get sentimental again, Beitang Rushuang's previously serious expression turned amused and exasperated.
In her entire life, Beitang Rushuang had never met someone as shameless as Long Chen; she was simply at a complete loss.
"I'll cut it short. I just want to find out everything about Emperor Yun Shang. Last time, because I was stubborn, I interrupted that conversation.
This time, if I don't put you in a difficult position, I hope it will help me learn more. Beitang Rushuang's eyes showed a hint of anticipation as she spoke.
"Indeed, everything about the Great Emperor is a mystery. No one isn't curious. Actually, I want to know too." Nangong Zuiyue chimed in.
"You want to know everything about Emperor Yun Shang? You should've said so earlier, there's nothing to hide. Long
Chen directly recounted exactly how he encountered Xie Yue on the Spirit Realm battlefield and encountered Emperor Yun Shang within the Great Emperor's seal.
"That Dragonbone Evil Moon was a gift left to you by Emperor Yun Shang?" Doesn't that mean you are the future Great Emperor? Beitang Rushuang said in shock.
"That's right, I think so too. I am the future Great Emperor, commanding wind and rain, dragons roaring across the heavens, roaring across the heavens, and having countless wives and concubine...s." Long Chen nodded and said.
"Forget it. If I say things like that to you, you won't become an emperor." Beitang Rushuang's gaze shifted from shock to contempt. She absolutely refused to believe Long Chen could become an emperor, no matter what.
This is a typical case of putting a dragon robe on a monkey, not like a crown prince. Long Chen has no imperial bearing at all, and besides, an emperor doesn't speak so foully, like a thug.
"Then I should speak properly now, is it still in time?" Long Chen said nervously.
"Pfft"
"Don't make me laugh, laughing too much will make wrinkles." Seeing Long Chen's nervous expression, Beitang Rushuang suddenly burst out laughing. This guy is really good at playing tricks.
Nangong Zuiyue shook his head and said, "Emperor Yunshang is the first generation emperor. He can see through time and space, gaze far into the past and future, and leave the Dragonbone Evil Moon to Long Chen. There must be a deeper meaning."
However, the two things originally left for Long Chen were only for him, while Leng Yueyan took the other. This seemed illogical. Long
Chen didn't say much about Leng Yueyan, and the evil sect didn't mention her at all, as if it were a taboo—no one dared to mention a word.
So there are many things about Leng Yueyan that the outside world doesn't know—not even theirs, that Leng Yueyan has already left the Tianwu Continent.
"Long Chen, you must be very familiar with Leng Yueyan, right?" Beitang Rushuang asked.
"That ... How should I put it? I guess I guess it's pretty 'familiar.' "Long Chen suddenly recalled the first time Leng Yueyan had taken his first time, and his expression turned a bit odd.
At the same time, for some reason, a sense of longing arose in her heart, wondering how she was doing now, and what was happening in her battle with the real self.
"Long Chen, thank you. Through your soul, we have seen the Great Emperor's appearance, and we can say we have no regrets in this life." Nangong Zuiyue said gratefully.
Just now, Long Chen had actually opened his soul to them, sharing part of the scene from when he met Emperor Yun Shang.
For them, this was an unimaginable opportunity. Seeing the true form of the Great Emperor, it was just as the legends said—the Great Emperor was supreme, awe-inspiring, and deeply respected.
The Emperor's charm was even stronger than legends claimed; every word and action carried an impulse to die for him. In this world, there is a kind of style, a kind of heroism, a kind of faith. All their names together are called—the Great Emperor.
After thanking Long Chen, Nangong Zuiyue left. In her words, observing the Emperor's words and actions, one could comprehend the Dao, and she was deeply moved by her. She decided to return and study now.
Beitang Rushuang was the same. Watching the two leave, Long Chen was completely baffled. Just a glance at the Great Emperor and he could comprehend the Dao? Why don't I feel anything at all? Even flipping the Emperor's chessboard shows no insight. Could it be that I, Long Chen, am really an idiot?
After the two left, Long Chen requested another alchemy room, but instead of refining pills, he refined some medicinal powder.
Then he took out a drop of Tianyi Spirit Water, formed hand seals, and slowly blended the powder into the drop.
"Buzz"—
As the powder merged into the Tianyi Spirit Water, the water instantly changed from transparent to milky white, producing countless tiny particles that collided back and forth.
"Whoosh"
Long Chen poured the drop of Tianyi Spirit Water infused with medicinal powder into the Moon Melting Star Refining Furnace. As soon as the water entered the furnace, it instantly dissolved and was absorbed by the pill furnace.
"It really is a rare item, impossible to judge by common sense."
The Tianyi Spirit Water seemed to enter a dried-up riverbed, instantly absorbed. The entire pill furnace trembled slightly, and a stream of living energy swirled around it before falling silent again.
"Unfortunately, there is too little Tianyi Spirit Water. Otherwise, even a dozen or so drops might be enough to awaken the pill furnace from its slumber.
But this was not bad; at least it greatly shortened the time for the pill furnace to awaken, so the money wasn't wasted. Seeing the furnace regain a trace of vitality, Long Chen felt very gratified.
The third auction will be held three days later, and only after the auction ends will it truly be a gathering of heroes from ancient to modern times.
Long Chen arrived a bit early this time. At the time, he hadn't paid attention and mistook the sign-in time for the start of the Heroes Gathering.
Now, many powerful figures were slowly arriving. What puzzled Long Chen was that Ye Lingshan hadn't arrived yet. Logically, she should have been among the earliest to arrive.
But judging by the time, Ye Lingshan should have already awakened her vision, perhaps consolidating her cultivation. Before the Ancient and Modern Heroes Gathering began, she should try her best to improve herself; otherwise, she would appear too weak among the monsters.
Ye Lingshan didn't come, Fairy Dan was nowhere to be seen, and many powerful figures remained silent. It was unclear whether they wouldn't come or if they would wait until the last moment to show up.
"Forget about that. Let's refine two more eleventh-grade pills first."
Taking advantage of the remaining time, Long Chen went into seclusion to refine pills. Logically, what he needed most was the Underworld Gate Pill to quickly condense the prototype of the Dark Gate Star.
However, Long Chen lacked the main ingredient for the Underworld Gate Pill—the Tianming Vermilion Fruit. Long Chen had once asked Zheng Wenlong to help collect it, but when Zheng Wenlong heard the description of the Tianming Vermilion Fruit, his face was completely bewildered.
Because even he had never heard of this name, Long Chen's heart skipped a beat. Even Zheng Wenlong didn't know that the possibility of possessing the Tianming Vermilion Fruit on the Tianwu Continent was slim.
Now that the major ancient clans are emerging one after another, Long Chen can only pin his hopes on them. However, he still doesn't dare to make a big show of it and can only watch from the sidelines.
"Most of the rare medicines I currently have are auxiliary herbs. Aside from being able to refine the Thousand-Hand Soul-Condensing Pill, I can only refine the Hundred Flowers Ming Dao Pill." Among countless pill recipes, Long Chen found another pill he could refine.
Eleventh-tier pills require far too many rare herbs—hundreds, sometimes even thousands.
Long Chen only had plant-based rare medicines, which was far from enough; he also needed a large amount of spirit beast essence blood, crystal cores, mineral powder, rare items, and so on—a complex process.
Long Chen had never thought about collecting these things before, because at that time, he hadn't awakened more of his Dan Emperor memories and didn't know about them. Of course, even if he knew, it wouldn't help, since he didn't have the ability to collect them.
Long Chen had already handed part of the list to Zheng Wenlong, asking him to help collect as much as possible. He also tried to find a way to handle it, taking a dual approach to make things more efficient.
The Hundred Flowers Ming Dao Pill is one of the three eleventh-tier pills with the fewest ingredients, requiring only the stamens of a hundred rare herbs, which Long Chen happened to possess.
With the experience from refining the Thousand-Hand Soul Condensing Pill last time, this time the process went much more smoothly. Moreover, Long Chen noticed that the Moon Melting Star Refining Furnace had instinctively started assisting him, refining medicinal powder much faster than before, and the quality had noticeably improved.
"Very good, this Tianyi Spirit Water truly lives up to its reputation as a rare treasure. It already has a slight effect. This money is well spent."
Clearly, the spirit of the Melting Moon Star Refining Furnace had been nourished by Tianyi Spirit Water and recovered to some extent. Although it couldn't help Long Chen proactively yet, it had activated some instincts, which was already a pleasant surprise for him.
After finishing the powder, Long Chen began the real pill refining. However, this time, he didn't dare to go all out, instead holding back.
Soon, the first batch of pills was ready. Of the nine pills, three were high-grade and the rest were mid-grade. Long Chen nodded; this result had already exceeded his expectations.
To refine top-grade eleventh-grade pills, with Long Chen's current abilities, he could only produce one pill per batch. But if he didn't refine top-grade pills, he could make nine, which was less risky and the results quicker.
Long Chen swallowed one, tasted it briefly, and felt his blood flow quicken, finally roaring and exploding. Within his essence blood, clusters of red flowers sprouted wildly.
"Whoosh!"
Flowers appeared outside Long Chen's body, surrounded by a hundred flowers, with Dao patterns flowing on the petals. Suddenly, Long Chen let out a delighted shout:
"So that's how it is."