<h4>Chapter 172 - Mortal Caves</h4>


    “Azure Dragon Halberd?”


    Long Chen had some hope that he would obtain it, but he was nowhere near qualified enough to do so yet. He needed more time.


    But the fake halberd he had was a good quality weapon too. Long Chen liked it a lot, but he had no use for it now, so he put it away.


    He then took a rest, and noon soon came.


    When it was almost time, Long Chen followed the others to the courtyard.


    The weather was still gloomy. The skies were dark even though it was noon, and the sound of thunder didn’t stop. The entire ce was eerie.


    “Let us depart to the Mortal Caves.”


    Following Dongfang Xuanxiao’s lead, they made their way towards the Mortal Caves.


    Long Chen was traveling with Gu Batian’s group. He would rather consider himself a member of the Violet family.


    Liu Yuan was the Turquoise family’s Sect Elder, but somehow he had been abandoned by Chu Tianxiong. He was unsure what to do, and his next step depended on Long Chen’s results. If Long Chen lost, Liu Yuan’s fate would be bad too.


    Liu Lan was aware of this as well. She was feeling guilty for being the reason her father had a falling out with the Chu family.


    She was still perplexed by Long Chen’s nonchnt attitude, as if he wasn’t worried at all.


    <i>How strong is he? </i>Liu Lan really didn’t know.


    With everyone walking towards the Mortal Caves, Long Chen could easily see who was with whom. Chu Yunxi and Jin Sheng’en were whispering to each other, while Yin Mengyao walked beside Long Chen.


    Only the Turquoise, Violet, Gold, and Silver families would be participating; the rest of the Grand Elders were just here to spectate.


    Long Chen felt some strong gazes directed at him. He knew it was Chu Yunxi and Jin Sheng’en without even needing to look at them.


    Both of them had been tricked by Long Chen on Heaven’s Path, but they were going to settle everything in the Mortal Caves.


    “Chu Yunxi, are you confident in winning?” Jin Sheng’en asked.


    “I fought him once when he was at the Human Core Realm. He was far beneath me at the time, but he is much stronger now that he’s at the Earthly Core Realm. But I still have an advanced ck-tier technique, so I’m sure I’ll win.”


    Jin Sheng’en nodded. “You will have to fight twice, and Gu Cheng is strong, but you should be able to defeat him easily since he has been poisoned!”


    Chu Yunxi nodded. “And you only have to deal with Yin Mengyao. It seems that you will be able to enter the inner family.”


    Jin Sheng’en nodded. “Yin Mengyao’s advanced ck-tier martial technique, Churning Sea Seal, might be strong, but I can beat her. She won’t win unless she has an advanced ck-tier Body Tempering technique. Chu Yunxi, go all out. We will both be able to learn under Lord Xuanxiao at this rate!”


    “Lord Xuanxiao is the strongest person below the Heavenly River Realm.” Chu Yunxi’s eyes were filled with admiration.


    Soon, they arrived in a valley at the peak of the mountain. The eerie feeling was even more intense here. There were almost no nts at the peak, and the earth was barren.


    “The valley is really big.” Gu Cheng raised his head and frowned.


    There was a stench of rot hanging in the air.


    “The Mortal Caves are found at the sides of the valleys. This is a natural battlefield that allows others to spectate,” Gu Batian exined.


    Long Chen soon saw the numerous holes on the face of the valley.


    “There are different kinds of Poison Beasts living in the caves, including Abyssal Scorpions and Yin Snake Demons. Lord Xuanxiao probably won’t choose a perilous cave for you to fight in.”


    Soon, Dongfang Xuanxian stopped and turned around. “Let’s do this here. I will assign the first battle: Jin Sheng’en and Liu Gui. The location will be the Mortal Cave of Swamps.


    Liu Gui was shocked to find he would be the first to fight against Jin Sheng’en.


    Gu Batian patted Liu Gui’s shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry. You can just surrender if you can’t win against him. I’m here, so he wouldn’t dare to go overboard.”


    “And the swamp is not a bad environment. You will be fine as long as you take care of the Poison Crocodiles underneath it.”


    Gu Batian gave Liu Gui some information before the fighters followed Xuanxiao into the first Mortal Caves.


    The cave was ten meters wide and ten meters tall. They had walked for no more than twenty meters when the cave opened up into a hemispherical clearing.


    Long Chen noticed that the bottom of the clearing was a mud pool. The mud pool’s stench was putrid, and bubbles constantly appeared on the surface.


    <i>We have to fight on the swamp while controlling our Qi to not sink down. This is somewhat difficult. One wrong move and we will sink down into the bottom. There are even Poison Beasts residing underneath it.</i>


    Long Chen carefully analyzed the battlefield.


    Everyone stood in a line at the edge of the swamp with Dongfang Xuanxian at the front. “The first battle of the first team will now start. There are two ways to win, either by making the opponent surrender or rendering them unconscious.”


    Dongfang Xuanxiao’s voice had a mysterious tone that made everyone unable to defy him.


    “Jin Sheng’en, Liu Gui. Enter the arena.”


    Jin Sheng’enughed and leaped into the swamp. He gently stepped on the mud without sinking down, earning everyone’s attention and cheers.


    “Fucking showoff,” Long Chen muttered.


    Jin Sheng’en looked at Liu Gui. “Come on.”


    Even though he was inviting Liu Gui, he was actually taunting Long Chen.


    Liu Gui was not scared. The qualifier was very important, so he would never surrender without even trying. He immediately jumped down and red at Jin Sheng’en.


    “Start.”


    Even though he was against the strongest prodigy of the outer family, Liu Gui was not afraid. He himself was a genius at the Earthly Core Realm, simr to Jin Sheng’en.


    <i>Molten Gold Combat Body? </i>Long Chen saw the faint, glimmering waves of gold covering Jin Sheng’en.


    <i>I wonder if the zing Thunder Combat Body is stronger than his Molten Gold Combat Body? Both of them are advanced ck-tier Body Combat techniques.</i>


    The battle soon started.


    Liu Gui was an excellent fighter who deserved the title of genius, but Jin Sheng’en was stronger. He rarely used martial techniques, but he quickly beat Liu Gui into the mud.


    When Liu Gui crawled out from the swamp, Jin Sheng’en grasped his neck. One wrong move and he would snap it in half.


    “I surrender.”


    Liu Gui sighed after seeing he was no match for Jin Sheng’en.


    “Good boy.” Jin Sheng’enughed and looked at Long Chen with glee before returning to the Gold family’s group.


    “The Molten Gold Combat Body is too strong ...”


    Yin Mengyao was worried. Both she and Jin Sheng’en had an advanced ck-tier martial technique, but she didn’t have an advanced ck-tier Body Combat technique.


    Her chances of winning were slim.


    Long Chen now had an idea of how strong the Molten Gold Combat Body was, and he wasn''t sure if he could easily win against Jin Sheng’en or not.


    “Round one, Jin Sheng’en’s victory. Round two, Yin Mengyao, Liu Qiong.”


    Liu Qiong was the youth who was pped by Long Chen for underestimating him. His face still had a handprint on it, and it made everyoneugh.


    “What are youughing at?” The Grand Elder of the Gold family was furious.


    He had been enjoying the event so far, with three of the youths from his family entering the second stage. With Jin Sheng’en around, it was almost guaranteed they would be able to send someone from their family into the inner family.


    Yin Mengyao and Liu Qiong’s fight soon started. It was the same as the previous match, where there was no hope for one party to win. Soon, Yin Mengyao easily defeated her opponent with the Churning Sea Seal.


    “Looks like you and Jin Sheng’en will have to fight for a spot in the inner family.” Long Chen chuckled.


    “I’m not Jin Sheng’en’s match. Long Chen, I might have to rely on you for Mo Xiang’s rescue,” Yin Mengyao said suddenly.


    Long Chen said nothing.


    Now that the final match of the first team had been decided, they proceeded with the second team.


    Dongfang Xuanxiao hadplete control over the matchups. Even Long Chen didn’t know who he would be fighting against.


    But the results would not change. Long Chen was sure to fight Chu Yunxi in the end.


    “Second team first battle, Jiang Liu and Gu Cheng!”


    Long Chen was shocked. That meant he would face off against Chu Yunxi in the second round!


    Both of them looked at each other, with Chu Yunxi’s gaze bing more and more crazy.


    <i>Long Chen, you are dead, </i>Chu Yunxi mouthed silently.


    As long as he struck fast, Long Chen would not be able to surrender and he would be able to kill him! Dongfang Xuanxiao had never said they could not kill the opponent during battle.


    Long Chen ignored him and turned around. He noticed that Liu Lan was looking at him with worry in her eyes.


    He moved closer and whispered to her, “Hey, if I win, let me touch your breasts.”