"This flirtatious guy is here?"
Long Chen and Jiang Lei arrived at the city gate, only to see two Supreme-level experts chained—one beating a gong and the other beating a drum. Their faces were grim, as if bereaved to a mother, shouting at the top of their lungs.
Countless people looked at them with strange eyes, as if they were two madmen. The two were like prisoners, afraid to look around, beating drums and gongs while shouting loudly:
"Before Mount Wuliang, Infinite Palace; outside Mount Wuliang, Boundless Pines. The prodigy chases their dreams but finds no path; once they encounter Mo Nian, all is empty."
Both were supreme-level prodigies, their voices loud and carried from afar. Long Chen noticed that every time they shouted, the strange runes on their chains diminished by a little.
Countless onlookers gathered around the two, pointing and whispering among themselves, all finding it strange—these two didn't seem like lunatics.
"Judging by the aura, he just passed a tribulation and is newly promoted as an Immortal King. Could it be that his brain was damaged by the heavenly tribulation?"
People looked at the chains on their bodies and found they hadn't passed through their bodies; they were loose and could be easily removed. But they didn't take them off; instead, they beat drums and gongs like fools, reciting strange verses.
"Before Boundless Mountain, Infinite Palace; outside Boundless Gate, Infinite Pines, the prodigy chasing dreams ultimately has no path; once encountered by Mo Nian, it becomes empty."
"Buzz!"
When the two finished reciting this sentence, all the runes on the chains vanished and detached from their bodies, making them instantly feel as if they had just been released from prison.
"We'll kowtow three times to the drums and gongs. That's the end of it. Let's begin!" One of them said.
"I'll kowtow him!"
Another powerful figure roared, as if venting all his fury, and punched the drum in his hand.
With a loud explosion, the drum shattered with a thunderous crash. Another powerful figure's expression changed, and just as he was about to speak, the chains that had detached from their bodies suddenly glowed and enveloped them once more.
"Buzz"—
runes instantly covered the chains, and at the same time, black runes appeared on both of their foreheads. A terrifying aura of death emanated from these runes, startling those nearby.
"You idiot, Mo Nian said that after reading the poem ten thousand times, you must kowtow to the drums and gongs to lift the curse. But now, the drum has been destroyed by you, and no one can break free from the curse again. Go die!"
The gong striker roared like a madman, punching the drummer's head.
"Pfft!"
The drummer seemed to be filled with endless regret and anger over his actions. He was a bit slow to react, and as a result, the gong beater punched his head off and killed him instantly.
The powerful onlookers present were all shocked—how could he kill someone so easily?
The gong beater was just momentarily angry. His rage wasn't about killing—he just wanted to vent his anger by beating the man. But unexpectedly, not only was the man defenseless, his whole state seemed off, and he was inexplicably killed by him.
"Ah... "No..."
The gong-beater's face suddenly changed drastically, recalling something terrifying. Suddenly, death energy enveloped his entire body, flesh began to decay, life force vanished, and his body rotted into dirt almost instantly. For a moment, terror appeared in everyone's eyes.
"Who exactly are these two, and who did they offend? How could such a vicious tactic be used against them? "
Previously, in their poems, they mentioned a name named Mo Nian. It was probably the owner of that name who forced them into this state."
As people were gossiping, Long Chen walked over. Looking at the ashes of the two men, he suddenly had a thought—he took over the gong that person had struck earlier.
This gong doesn't look particularly special, but its center has a strange round shape.
"Clang, dang, dang."
Long Chen tapped lightly with his finger a few times and found the sound strange—it seemed hollow.
Bang!
Long Chen smashed the gong with a punch, and suddenly a palm-sized object fell out—it was actually a compass the size of a palm.
"Wow, this flashy guy actually has another motive. Looks like in Purple Flame Heaven, that person struck the gong with this thing too. Too bad, I didn't think of it at the time." Long Chen looked at the compass in his hand and finally understood.
When Long Chen held the compass, a needle on it kept spinning until it stopped moving in one direction.
"That flashy brat, is he trying to make me join him?"
Long Chen looked at the compass and smiled. Looking at the compass, Long Chen seemed to see Mo Nian's sly grin.
"Put that compass down!"
Suddenly, a group of people appeared, surrounding Long Chen and Jiang Lei. Among them, three were Supreme-level Immortal King experts. Judging by their aura, they too had just completed their tribulation.
The experts present saw everything clearly. When Long Chen took something out of the gong, a look of joy appeared on their faces. They immediately thought Long Chen had obtained a treasure, and since it was outside the city and they had many people, they were ready to snatch it outright.
"Kill them all, don't spare them for me!" Long Chen said without even glancing at them.
"Clang!"
As soon as Long Chen finished speaking, Jiang Lei had already drawn his sword. Thunder roared, slicing through the sky, and with one strike, he covered all the dozen or so powerful opponents.
Jiang Lei struck with full force. His meridians were widened by the Nine-Star Heir, allowing him to instantly boost his power to the extreme.
With a loud explosion, lightning engulfed the earth. People saw a river of thunder rolling down, and the dozen or so experts, including three Supreme-level prodigies, vanished in an instant.
"Dang dang dang ..."
Several weapons fell to the ground. Their masters had been slain, the endless thunder vanished, leaving only a long chasm on the earth.
"Whoosh!"
Jiang Lei waved his hand, and he collected all the weapons on the ground. These were extremely powerful weapons. The weaker ones were all shattered by a single sword strike, both along with the weapons.
"Clang!"
Jiang Lei sheathed his sword, and the thunderlight vanished. At this moment, Jiang Lei's expression remained calm, as if nothing had happened.
In fact, Jiang Lei himself was so excited he was dancing with joy. His powerful meridians could withstand any impact, so he didn't need to build up or improve bit by bit like before, to avoid injuring his meridians.
Now things were different. His meridians were like massive flood drains; in life-or-death battles, he could pour out all his strength without holding back within a few moves.
Those three Supreme-level experts just now—if it were before, it would have taken him considerable effort to kill them, but because his meridians are so strong, he can instantly boost his strength to eighty percent.
And the other sideThe first strike could only burst at most half of the power, and it was a rushed block, greatly reducing his power. So even without using his combat skills, Jiang Lei could easily kill him in one strike.
Jiang Lei made his move, intimidating everyone. Many had been eager to try it when Long Chen obtained the compass, but now none of them dared to make a sound.
"Let's go, let's hurry to meet up with Mo Nian." Long Chen held the compass, chuckled, his face full of anticipation—finally, he was about to meet this flashy brat.