Chapter 2292 Walking the Path Untrodden
Translator: BornToBe
Long Chen knew from Leng Yueyan’s map that the previous fork had been split between five difficulties. The middle one was not easy but also not hard. However, this time, he picked the most difficult path.
Leng Yueyan was correct. Long Chen wouldn’t pick the simplest path. He chose the most difficult one. He had only taken the medium path the first time to get a general understanding of just how difficult it was. With that estimate, he directly challenged the most difficult path.
Very few lifeforms were present on the path he chose. Due to so many forks along the way, most of the lifeforms were scattered throughout the paths.
When the Dragonblood warriors entered this path, all their expressions changed. The smell of blood hung in the air.
That feeling was very familiar to them. It was the air of the dead. They could sense the unwillingness of the lives that had ended prematurely here.
Although that feeling was present on the previous paths, it was dozens of times stronger here. It gave them goosebumps.
“Boss, did you take us the wrong way?” asked Guo Ran worriedly. His cultivator’s intuition was telling him that the danger had just leaped to a point where his little life could be lost at any moment.
“Don’t worry, this is definitely the right one. It is the most difficult of the six paths,” confirmed Long Chen.
“Ah?”
Guo Ran and the others turned green. Their boss had actually intentionally brought them to such a place.
Long Chen smiled. “Don’t be afraid. Worst case, we all die together. Think about it. When have we ever walked a path that wasn’t full of danger and difficulties? Whether we fought our enemies or heavenly tribulation, wasn’t it always a walk with death? The Netherworld is also just another trial. It has its own laws. The strong live, while the weak die. We are strong because we don’t give up any chance to get stronger. It is precisely because we dare to risk our lives that we are able to live with dignity even within the dangerous swamp known as the Martial Heaven Continent. Don’t be afraid of the Netherworld. Just remember that this is a trial that we must charge through, because we are the Dragonblood Legion. We are an unrivaled existence in this world. I want to become the strongest!”
“I want to become the strongest!”
“I want to become the strongest!”
“I want to become the strongest!”
The Dragonblood warriors had their hot blood ignited by Long Chen. Their original talent hadn’t been high. It was thanks to Long Chen’s resources that they had grown. However, those resources were just the foundation for their growth. The reason they could grow to their current position was due to constantly pushing themselves to the brink of death to get stronger.
Now that Long Chen brought it up again, they thought of their countless bloody battles, the countless dangers they had barely survived, the countless brushes against the god of death.
Their success wasn’t a coincidence. It was inevitable. In the Martial Heaven Continent, who dared to be as crazy as them?
They knew that they were following a madman, a madman leading them to do the world’s craziest things. It was precisely due to this that they had their current position.
For others, no matter how crazy they were, they still had to be deferential to the merciless laws of the Netherworld. However, to Long Chen, even those laws couldn’t change who he was. His craziness hadn’t changed. Now the rest of the Dragonblood warriors followed his craziness.
“Who cares about some damn Netherworld? Even if the Netherworld’s god came, they would only be fit to carry boss’s shoes! Brothers, charge forward together with boss!” shouted Guo Ran.
“Cough, that’s bragging a bit too hard. I’ve always had a special spot for the Nethergod in my heart. Don’t say such a thing,” said Long Chen hastily.
Was Guo Ran born to con him? Long Chen grumbled inside. Ming Cangyue and Leng Yueyan were definitely watching what was going on here.
“Sharpen your minds. Brothers, let’s go. The Dragonblood Legion’s target is the strongest trial!”
Long Chen walked out ahead of everyone. Space twisted. Flame chains whirled out of the void like tentacles, enveloping Long Chen.
Long Chen was suddenly torn apart by the chains and exploded into blood.
“Long Chen!”
Meng Qi, Chu Yao, Tang Wan-er, and Cloud all let out heart-rending screams and charged over. Meng Qi rapidly formed hand seals, seeking to restore Long Chen’s torn soul.
Everyone else was too stunned to even move. Their boss had been torn apart?
“Hey, what are you all doing?” The void suddenly twisted, revealing Long Chen still standing in his original location. He was waving over to them.
“Long Chen, you’re not dead?”
Tang Wan-er held onto Long Chen tightly, her tears turning into relieved laughter. Meng Qi and the others were the same. They really had thought that he had died.
“Long Chen, what happened?” asked Meng Qi as she wiped away her tears.
“Nothing? I was just testing the power of the flame chains, then I heard you all shouting. What happened to you?” Long Chen also didn’t understand.
After a brief explanation, Long Chen realized what had happened. “So these are flames of the heart. You will see what you fear the most.”
It seemed that this trial was similar to the previous trial. However, the last trial was something that slowly encroached upon the soul. As long as you were on guard, it was easy to defend against. But this time, things had happened suddenly. It had been so real that they hadn’t been able to tell the illusion from reality, throwing their hearts into chaos.
“How dangerous. If you hadn’t appeared soon enough, big sister Meng Qi would have forcibly condensed your soul back. Then she might have lost her life too,” said Tang Wan-er worriedly.
At that time, Meng Qi hadn’t been thinking. There had only been the slightest hope, but she had still been about to throw her life away for it. Condensing Long Chen’s soul again would have cost her most of her Yuan Spirit.
Long Chen gave Meng Qi a tight hug to comfort her. He said, “Everyone, you’ve now experienced just how powerful this trial is. Any carelessness can result in death. You don’t just need to have confidence in yourself, but you also have to have confidence in others.”
Other experts only had confidence in themselves. As for the Dragonblood warriors, while they trusted each other, being thrown into such a mental state without any preparations could still cause them trouble.
“Boss, we understand,” said Gu Yang and the others. Their previous arrogance had received a sharp slap from the Netherpassage Path’s laws.
“Good. I’ll go on ahead once more. Be careful.” Long Chen stepped forward.
Flame chains shot out of the void, piercing toward him. Long Chen snorted. Flames appeared on his own fist, and he smashed apart the chains.
However, Meng Qi and the others saw Long Chen being attacked and killed again.
Everyone advanced into the region that he was in. Flames chains shot out at them, and they blocked them. As a result, they saw the people beside them being killed by the flame chains. Their flesh was torn apart.
These visions were incredibly lifelike. It felt like reality, but after the first wave, they found that the people beside them were still alive.
However, they were all pale. Perhaps they weren’t afraid of death, but they couldn’t accept seeing their brothers die in front of them. They had seen everyone other than themselves die. That was a vision that sparked despair.
Now they had personally experienced why some of the previous lifeforms had self-detonated. It was their own way to release themselves from that despair.
Without the warning from Long Chen, they didn’t know if they would be able to last. But after each wave of mental attacks, their confidence grew.
The flame chains filled the surroundings with fire. It was like a constant burning of their souls. It was unbearable, yet they had no choice but to bear it.
The curious thing though was that Guo Ran, the one with the weakest will, was able to endure it every time and seemed to be doing it very easily.
“Guo Ran, when did your will become so powerful?” asked Gu Yang. He was standing beside Guo Ran, originally with the intent of protecting him, only to find that there was no need to do so.
“Are you joking? After bathing in the radiance of my boss every day, hearing my boss’s teachings, how could my will not be strong? It’s just that as a person, I am very low-key. This little bit of improvement isn’t anything worth bragging about,” said Guo Ran bashfully without concealing the pleased expression in his eyes.
“Don’t listen to his bragging. This trial adjusts itself based on the will of each person. People without a strong will are under less pressure. After all, this trial isn’t designed to be a path of death,” said Long Chen.
“But even if the pressure is lighter, it can’t be this easy,” grumbled Gu Yang.
“Perhaps his will is so weak that not even the laws of this place can sense it?” Long Chen shrugged. Everyone looked over at Guo Ran, their expressions growing odd.
They finally reached the end of the path and arrived at a giant empty space. Countless lifeforms had gathered here. Ahead of them were nine paths.