This was the last time. Chen Lei couldn't avoid it anymore. He had no choice but to close his eyes and await his death.
He didn't know how to describe his feelings at this moment. When he realized that his opinion of Long Chen was a result of his own vile thoughts, he felt a sense of guilt whenever he faced Long Chen.
He wanted to do something for Long Chen and prove that he was a man. Thus, because of Long Chen's words, he risked his life to protect Lingxi. However, even though he was at the second level of the Heavenly River Tier, he discovered that he couldn't defend himself at all.
As long as he died, Lingxi would definitely be captured by this evil man. Chen Lei knew that Long Chen and Lingxi had a deep relationship. If Lingxi was captured by this beast, even he wouldn't be able to accept it, let alone Long Chen.
However …
Chen Lei sighed inwardly. He knew that as long as he died, this would really happen.
He could already feel the man's dagger nearing his neck. The shadow of death enveloped him, and Chen Lei felt his scalp go numb.
Whoosh.
Time seemed to stop here. Chen Lei was shocked. He discovered that he wasn't dead yet. When he opened his eyes, a headless corpse was standing in front of him. This headless corpse was holding a dagger, and it was pressed against his neck. If the dagger had been just a little bit more, it would have pierced through and killed Chen Lei.
Chen Lei found the head of the man from the Wu Tribe not far away. It was obvious that this man didn't know why he had died either.
In reality, this was the only result of enraged Long Chen, who was about to obtain Lingxi. Long Chen directly chopped off his head with his Blue Dragon Halberd from behind.
"Who killed him?"
Chen Lei was puzzled. He felt movement behind him and hurriedly turned around. He saw that Lingxi was already in the arms of a young man. This man was holding a long green halberd. At this moment, the tip of the halberd was pressed against the ground, and bright red blood instantly flowed from the tip of the halberd to the ground.
"Long Chen …" Chen Lei felt his mouth go dry.
"Brother Chen Lei, thank you. If it weren't for you, I would have been in big trouble. I have to say, you are a real man."
Long Chen put away his Blue Dragon Halberd and patted Lingxi's shoulder to comfort her.
"Man, of course." Chen Lei was a little embarrassed as he touched the back of his head.
At this moment, the body of the Wu Tribe man fell to the ground.
This bloody scene was not good for Lingxi. Now that all the problems had been solved, the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede's body was still on the island. Long Chen carried Lingxi by the waist and said to Chen Lei and Chen Feng, "You are both injured. Rest well. The rest of you, dispose of these bodies. Also, the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede was killed by me and Xiao Lang. We will go and collect the spoils now."
After speaking, Long Chen did not say anything else. He carried Lingxi and brought Xiao Lang back to the center of the island.
Chen Feng and Chen Lei looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes.
To them, Long Chen was like a miracle. If Long Chen hadn't appeared in the battle of Goldfish Island, Goldfish Island would have been finished. Even if the Japanese hadn't destroyed Goldfish Island, the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede would have.
In fact, it was Long Chen who destroyed the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede and the Wu Tribe.
The Eight-clawed Fire Centipede was an Earth-rank Third Rank Demonic Beast, but it still died in the hands of Long Chen and Xiao Lang. How heaven-defying did this young man have to be to be able to do this …
"Lei 'er, this time, I finally saw a real genius. Genius, talent, temperament, and luck are all indispensable. Long Chen is obviously this kind of genius."
Chen Feng sighed from the bottom of his heart.
… …
"Chen, to be honest, I was very scared just now …" Lingxi said as she nestled in Long Chen's arms naturally.
"You used the Mysterious Sky Jade Lotus. You have become a lot less courageous," Long Chen said subconsciously.
"Yeah, when I was still in soul form, I still had a bit of attacking power. Plus, when I hid in Lingxi's sword, no one could touch me. But now it's different. This feeling of not having any power makes me feel very insecure …" Lingxi said worriedly.
"It's okay. I will be more careful in the future. Before we find the Nine-Heavens Celestial Fruit, you will be very safe. I promise, even if I have to risk my life, I will make sure you are absolutely safe," Long Chen said firmly.
"Why are you so nice to me?" Lingxi's eyes were brimming with tears.
"Because you are my Lingxi," Long Chen said with a naughty smile.
Lingxi, who was being carried horizontally, stretched out her white arms and hugged Long Chen's neck tightly. She buried her head in Long Chen's arms. In a place where Long Chen could not see, her eyes were filled with worry, worry about the future.
"How long do I have before I can hug you like this, Chen …" Lingxi thought to herself as she bit her pink lips.
Finally, they returned to the center of the island. The Eight-clawed Fire Centipede's corpse was still there. Xiao Lang came back first, holding the Beast Core in his mouth. Long Chen only saw a fist-sized, fiery red Beast Core. The Beast Core had already been swallowed by Xiao Lang. Xiao Lang howled at Long Chen, then found a place to refine the Beast Core.
Because of the delay, some of the beast blood from the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede's corpse was lost. Long Chen's heart ached, and he didn't dare to be negligent anymore. This time, the blood of an Eight-clawed Fire Centipede was a good opportunity. Long Chen placed Ling Xi at the side and said, "Let me refine this demonic beast blood. Only by becoming stronger can I protect you."
Refining Blood into Qi was a very bloody and terrifying ability. Lingxi could not bear to watch, so she found a place to sit down.
After using Refining Blood into Qi, Long Chen quickly absorbed the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede's blood. To his surprise, the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede's blood was especially abundant. Moreover, most of the blood that had been lost was ordinary blood. The real essence was still within the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede's body.
This huge amount of blood was helping Long Chen to condense the galaxy in his second star meridian. The first level of the Heavenly River Tier was known as the Heavenly Pivot Realm because of the Dubhe Galaxy, and the galaxy that Long Chen was starting to condense was known as the Merak Galaxy. The second level of the Heavenly River Tier was also known as the Merak Realm. Dongfang Merak was named after the Merak Galaxy.
The huge amount of blood transformed into Long Chen's True Qi, which gathered in the Merak star meridian, which had yet to condense a galaxy. Long Chen began to use the Star Guiding Technique to communicate with the forming power of the Merak Galaxy in the sky.
The Merak Galaxy had a total of two, one during the day and one during the night. It was currently daytime, so the one that Long Chen was condensing was the Yang Galaxy.
In the sky, under the illumination of the sun, the obscure power of the stars was cast into Long Chen's body. The power of the Merak Galaxy was only a catalyst. The real thing that would provide enough power for Long Chen to break through to the second level of the Heavenly River Tier was the Sky River Pill.
In order to assist in refining blood into Qi and quickly absorb enough power of the stars to advance, Long Chen had no choice but to go all out. He had more than 2,000 Sky River Pills, and when he had condensed 18 star meridians, he had already used 200 of them.
In Long Chen's opinion, money was meant to be spent, so he didn't hesitate. He took out 10 Sky River Pills and stuffed them into his mouth.
Other people who cultivated to the Heavenly River Tier had to take it easy because of the limited number of Sky River Pills. However, Long Chen was rich, so eating Sky River Pills was no different from eating beans. Ordinary cultivation would be accompanied by the power of the stars of the Heavenly River. Although it was violent, it was fine to cultivate slowly and steadily. Long Chen, on the other hand, directly obtained energy from the Sky River Pills.
His body, because of the inherited blood essence, had miraculous uses that ordinary people couldn't imagine. Long Chen felt that his body was like a bottomless pit. He felt like he had a huge stomach that wouldn't be full no matter how much he ate.
For this stomach, the things that Long Chen ate were really too little.
Time passed slowly, and with a huge supply of blood and Sky River Pills, Long Chen's strength gradually increased. The True Qi that filled his body gradually converged with the formed power, turning into liquid Galaxy True Qi that slowly flowed into the Merak star meridian, forming a dazzling Merak star river.
An hour passed, and Long Chen condensed his third star meridian. His overall strength was already halfway to the second level of the Heavenly River Tier. As long as he condensed another Merak star meridian, Long Chen would truly be able to step into the second level of the Heavenly River Tier.
However, at this time, the blood and Qi of the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede had already been used up, and he had also used up almost 100 Sky River Pills. If he wanted to condense another Merak star river, he would probably still need some time.
However, even though he was halfway to the second level of the Heavenly River Tier, Long Chen's current strength had also skyrocketed.
After Long Chen succeeded, he saw that Xiao Lang was next to him, and Xiao Lang's body exuded an even thicker aura.
"I've finally returned to the third level of the Earth Tier," Long Chen said with some surprise.
The Wolf Cub nodded. The feeling of having more power made him feel especially happy.
Because of the Eight-clawed Fire Centipede, the strength of the two brothers had increased a little.
"Anyway, I've already been here for a while, so there's no harm in staying for a few more days. I'll leave after I truly step into the second level of the Heavenly River Tier. Moreover, I can also take some time to study the Divine Fire Clone during these few days."
This was Long Chen's decision.
Xiao Lang was very interested in the Divine Fire Clone, and now with Lingxi's existence, he could also communicate some of his ideas with Long Chen.
Just like that, the days passed harmoniously. The people of Goldfish Island resumed their peaceful lives, and Xiaoyu played with Long Chen and the others all day.
On the tenth night after Long Chen left the Heavenly River, he finally used the Sky River Pill and 10 days of hard cultivation to condense a Merak star river in his fourth star meridian, and truly stepped into the second level of the Heavenly River Tier.
The next day, Long Chen was already prepared to leave this place with Xiao Lang.
Bi Yang Imperial City and Ni Yang Immortal's Realm still had to be explored.