Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 277 Such people can only be friends, never enemies!
Although the burly man didn't know Xiao Chen's background, he saw his prey suddenly stand up.

He immediately realized something was wrong and became extremely vigilant.

In particular, he also understood that his bloodline was thin. Although it was enough to surpass ordinary cultivators, he might still be no match for top experts.

Therefore, he dared not be careless and immediately took out a spirit shield and threw it into the air to firmly protect his head.

Only then did he muster some courage, pointing a finger and demanding, "Boy, who exactly are you?"

However, Xiao Chen did not reply, but instead turned his gaze to the spirit shield.

Unlike the spirit shields used by ordinary cultivators, which are mostly made of gold and iron.

From a distance, that spiritual shield looked remarkably like a huge fish scale.

Xiao Chen had never seen a similar design before, and this was the first time he had encountered one today, which immediately aroused his curiosity.

Seeing that he was not getting a reply, the burly man's face immediately turned ferocious.

He shook the iron chain in his hand.

"Click!"

With a crisp snap, the iron chain was immediately released and put away.

"Don't even think about playing tricks, or His Highness will not let you off the hook."

The burly man gave a warning and pointed at Xiao Chen: "Go get him, kill this kid!"

It was clear that they intended to use the two female cultivators as testing grounds.

As the chains that had been suppressing them disappeared, a hint of hesitation flashed in the eyes of both female cultivators.

But considering what they had seen before...

Especially the prince surrounded by the crowd; just recalling his imposing presence made one unable to muster any thought of resistance.

So even after being temporarily freed, the two still chose to obey the burly man's orders.

Each of them took out a flying sword and actually launched a probing attack on Xiao Chen.

"Snow Surge Spirit Armor".

Upon seeing this, Xiao Chen immediately summoned his ice armor to protect himself, and then charged forward with a leap.

"Ding! Ding!"

Two crisp sounds landed on the ice armor, but had no effect.

"The dragon's claws!"

By taking the attacks head-on, Xiao Chen squeezed in front of them, and with his right hand, he pierced through their chests.

"Dragon Swings Its Tail in the Clouds!"

Immediately afterwards, he kicked out with his left leg, breaking the blocking flying sword and sending another female cultivator flying, her body embedded in the palace wall.

These two female cultivators were only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, and were no match for him at all.

He easily dealt with the two weakest enemies.

Xiao Chen then rushed forward and reached out to grab the last burly man.

"Huh, good time!"

Upon seeing this, the burly man shouted, but a slight smile appeared on his face.

If it were a contest of magic or swordsmanship, he might be a little afraid.

However, when it comes to close-quarters combat, he doesn't take the other Golden Core cultivators seriously at all.

He had been worried before, but it turned out this kid was actually a physical cultivator.

Now they're actively challenging his strongest point; they're practically asking for death.

Thinking of this, the burly man didn't retreat but advanced, tilting his body and crashing into him.

He clenched his fist, ready to teach Xiao Chen a lesson.

"Snap! Crack! Ah... Ugh!"

First came the sound of bones cracking, then the sound of ribs breaking, and finally the burly man's urgent scream.

Despite the collision, Xiao Chen was unharmed, but he suffered several broken bones.

Even before he could utter a scream, his neck was gripped tightly, forcing him to swallow the rest of his pained cry.

What you said before made some sense.

Xiao Chen grabbed the other person by the neck, lifting him up like a chick: "Everyone's cultivation is not easy, why throw your life away so easily?"

"Are you right?"

"As long as you abandon your evil ways and admit your mistakes, I can still give you a chance to live."

Of course, Xiao Chen did this simply to return the favor by using the words the other party had used to threaten those cultivators.

In fact, the burly man was so tightly gripped by the neck that he couldn't utter a single word.

He could only struggle desperately, his muscles bulging and his blood and qi highly concentrated, tightly gripping Xiao Chen's arm, trying to pry his hand open.

"Tsk tsk tsk, it seems you've made your choice."

Xiao Chen shook his head with feigned regret, then twisted his neck and snapped it, before casually taking his storage ring.

"Can't kill him!"

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, please don't act rashly!"

Two female voices rang out hurriedly, but then stopped abruptly.

Because they had already seen the burly man fall limply to the ground, lifeless.

Upon seeing this, both of their faces turned deathly pale.

One of them felt dizzy and stood there dumbfounded, looking back and forth at Xiao Chen and his companions, clearly at a loss.

Fortunately, the other one was still relatively clear-headed.

She immediately realized that the situation was beyond repair and she had to quickly explain the situation.

So he immediately spoke up to remind them: "Fellow Daoist Xiao, they are not one person, but a whole group!"

"There must be ways for them to communicate with each other."

"If there is no response for a long time, the other side will definitely send people to chase after us."

"Now that we've killed their men, we must find a way to deal with their pursuit!"

As soon as she said this, the middle-aged cultivator immediately chimed in, "Fifth Junior Sister is right. Those evil cultivators will definitely try every means to capture us."

"However, there should be a time gap in between."

"We need to come up with a solution quickly."

The young male cultivator next to him looked at Xiao Chen with shining eyes: "Brother Xiao, I'll do whatever you say next!"

Ok?
Who's your older brother? I'm not as old as you.

Xiao Chen glanced at him. Golden Core cultivators live for five hundred years, so many of them look young but are actually several decades old.

Of all those present, he was the strongest, but in fact, he was the youngest.

However, these are all minor details and there's no need to delve into them.

He turned directly to the middle-aged cultivator and asked, "Tell me what exactly happened."

"Who are you? Who are they? Why are they attacking you? What about the deception you mentioned earlier?"

After a while.

Xiao Chen finally understood the whole story after everyone offered their explanations.

They were all fellow disciples from Yuntao Sword Pavilion, but not true disciples; they had been sent out to manage the sect's assets at a young age.

This trip to explore the hidden realm together is also to seek further possibilities.

But they knew almost nothing about those burly men.

After entering the secret realm, they finally managed to contact each other, but before they could even explore it, they encountered a female cultivator who came seeking help, claiming that she needed assistance.

As a result, they were tricked into a canyon and trapped in a defensive formation.

Many people were subsequently scammed there.

However, later, a true disciple led a forced breakout, creating a wave of chaos.

They managed to break through the encirclement and reach this place thanks to the life-saving talismans bestowed upon them by the sect.

As for the other situations, they were all completely baffled at the moment and couldn't figure out the specific reasons.

"That's the situation."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen finally understood why no one had come here to open the main hall before.

It turns out that most of the cultivators had been deceived.

"Are there any specific details?"

Xiao Chen pressed further, "Didn't you hear or see anything unusual?"

The fifth junior sister thought for a moment and replied, "When I broke through earlier, I think I saw some of them wearing strange bronze masks."

"It looks square, but it has many strange lines drawn on it."

Oh?
Xiao Chen's eyes lit up immediately: "Are you sure?"

Upon hearing his question, the fifth junior sister hesitated for a moment, but still nodded firmly: "I'm sure, I saw it very clearly at the time."

The bronze-masked monk from before wore a similar mask.

Xiao Chen felt that this was something worth going to see.

"I'm going to take a look. Fellow Daoists, please make yourselves at home. Farewell!"

He politely bowed and said goodbye, then turned to leave.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, you mustn't!"

The fifth junior sister immediately panicked: "There are so many of them, and each one of them is incredibly strong."

Another female cultivator chimed in, "Yes, yes, we'd better hide quickly."

Even the middle-aged cultivator spoke up to advise, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, please calm down. The situation is unclear right now, and it is not advisable to act rashly."

Although he was the first to suggest risking his life.

But as the saying goes, times change, and now that he saw a glimmer of hope, he lost his courage again.

Only the young cultivator gritted his teeth and gripped his flying sword tightly: "Fellow Daoist Xiao, I'll go with you!"

Xiao Chen glanced at him; he was at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

With such limited strength, they'd only be a burden to others.

Of course, the other party's intention was not bad.

So Xiao Chen didn't discourage him, but just shook his head: "What you want to do is your business."

After saying that, he left without saying another word.

Only the five people remained standing there in astonishment, never expecting him to actually leave so suddenly.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, please wait! Brother Xiao, don't leave yet!"

The fifth junior sister tried to persuade her to stay, but it was no use.

"How...how could they just leave like that?"

The middle-aged cultivator was also a little confused.

The group glared at each other, feeling a bit uneasy that the support they had just found had suddenly disappeared.

"Do you think Fellow Daoist Xiao can deal with those evil cultivators?"

After a long while, the middle-aged cultivator spoke again and asked.

Having experienced the previous breakthrough, they are still wary and, even after seeing Xiao Chen's previous performance, they are not very optimistic about him.

"Then let's go help Brother Xiao!"

The young monk suddenly suggested, "More people mean more strength."

However, no one responded to him.

"Should we run away first?"

The fifth junior sister spoke up, reminding us, "Someone might already be chasing us this way."

Another female cultivator immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes, let's take this opportunity to get away as quickly as possible."

"Fourth Junior Brother, don't be foolish! We finally escaped with great difficulty; we can't go back to our deaths!"

The other two also spoke up, persuading the young cultivator to give up the idea.

The four of them immediately stopped and fled in panic to other places. Only the young cultivator hesitated, saying, "But..."

He watched the other four figures leave, and finally chased after Xiao Chen in the direction he had gone.

There was no sunset at the ruins.

However, for the dwindling number of cultivators trapped in the canyon, it seemed as if they could already see the setting sun and the end of the twilight.

The more powerful cultivators had all taken advantage of the chaos to escape earlier.

The rest were a group of independent cultivators who were complete strangers to each other, and they could not form an effective offensive.

As wave after wave of cultivators fell in the canyon like wheat, one after another, they perished.

The battle was almost over, with only a dozen or so cultivators hiding in a cave remaining, stubbornly resisting by taking advantage of the terrain.

"Why hasn't this problem been solved yet?"

A cultivator wearing a bronze mask urged, "Yu Shiba and the others haven't returned yet. Hurry up and finish dealing with things here so we can go after those escaped rats together."

Another burly cultivator replied, "These guys are more troublesome; they don't seem like rogue cultivators."

"Stop talking nonsense and come help me out."

The bronze-masked cultivator glanced inside and sneered, "You bunch of blockheads, all you know how to do is act recklessly and stupidly."

He lowered his voice: "What were Your Highness's instructions before? Lure those female cultivators out first."

"We can use it as a sacrifice for the Sea God at that time."

However, the burly man retorted, "I have already tried His Highness's instructions, but they had no effect."

They had all learned the rhetoric for persuading surrender, but not everyone was willing to live a life of ignominy.

"Hmph, you won't admit you're stupid!"

The bronze-masked cultivator scoffed, then channeled his spiritual power to shout into the cave: "Listen up, cultivators inside, you've reached a dead end."

"But now I'm giving you one more chance to live!"

"If you are willing to let those two female cultivators serve tea and water to our Highness, we will let the rest of you go."

"If you continue to be so stubborn, then we'll send you all on your way today."

The burly man immediately frowned. His previous orders were to kill all the male cultivators, leaving none alive.

Capture the remaining female cultivators if possible, and kill any who disobey.

However, just as he was about to question them, he heard the bronze-masked cultivator explain in a low voice, "We'll lure them out later and then defeat them one by one!"

Hearing the shouts outside, the people inside the cave had other thoughts.

All eyes were drawn to Sun Haoran, who was leading the group.

The reason they were able to hold out for so long was not only because of the favorable terrain, but also because they were all members of the Sun family or guest advisors invited by the Sun family.

They know each other well, so they can cooperate better when they are fighting.

However, by this point, they were basically at their wits' end.

"Brother Sun, let's make a decision!"

"Haoran, things have come to this point, you need to make a decision."

"Haoran, we've almost run out of talismans, and we're about to collapse."

Several guest elders glanced at Sun Haoqi and Sun Haowan, and then spoke up to hint at their intentions.

Feeling the pressure from these words, I carefully weighed the pros and cons.

Sun Haoran's fingernails dug into his palm as he looked at Sun Haoqi: "Third Sister, Seventh Sister, what are you thinking?"

He posed the question.

The choice and the pressure were both pushed onto Sun Haoqi.

"I disagree!"

Sun Haoze immediately spoke up: "Second brother, what's the point of asking? At worst, we'll fight them to the death."

However, his words clearly lacked influence.

There was silence for a moment.

Outside the cave, another urgent voice rang out, this time an ultimatum.

Sun Haowan bit her lip: "I'll listen to my third sister's idea."

All eyes immediately turned to Sun Haoqi.

"I……"

Sun Haoqi's gaze swept over the clansmen one by one, her voice trembling: "If it can save everyone, I am willing to go out."

Hearing that she had agreed, the guests were all delighted.

For them, at this time, any opportunity is invaluable.

Sun Haoqi took Sun Haowan's hand, just about to speak.

"Wait a moment!"

Sun Haoze took a deep breath, and the stories of those swordsmen he had read flashed before his eyes.

Perhaps he didn't have the strength, but he also had an unyielding heart: "If you want to take Third Sister away, do it after I die!"

As he spoke, he gripped the flying sword in his hand and actually rushed out of the cave on his own initiative.

"Fifth brother, don't be impulsive!"

Sun Haoran shouted, but it was too late to grab him.

Damn it, my fifth brother is always so impulsive and immature!
It was the same before and it is the same now!
"Then let's fight them! At worst, we'll die together, and we'll still be family in the next life!"

In his haste, Sun Haoran uttered a few words of encouragement and immediately strode after them: "Let's break out together!"

Upon hearing this, the other members of the Sun family felt a warmth in their hearts and followed closely behind him.

Those retainers were naturally not swayed by the slogans of a single family.

However, now the entire Sun family has rushed out.

If they don't act together under the pressure of the prevailing trend, the only outcome will be that they are defeated one by one.

Several guest retainers turned pale, but silently took their flying swords and followed.

Only one of the retainers who had spoken up earlier was furious, gritting his teeth and cursing, "What a fucking idiot!"

But he had no choice but to follow behind the crowd, hoping to find an opportunity to break through.

However, when he arrived outside the cave, he did not see the horrific scene he had imagined.

The entire Sun family stood there, dumbfounded.

Sun Haoze was the first to rush out from the front.

Opposite him stood a young man draped in feathered robes, who was standing on a rock.

With his left and right hands, he grabbed the back of the neck of a burly man and a monk wearing a bronze mask, respectively, and lifted them into the air.

He looked relaxed, and from a distance, it looked as if he was carrying two house cats.

The other person was also looking at them curiously: "Oh, what a coincidence, you're here too?"

The person who arrived was none other than Xiao Chen.

Upon seeing the Sun family cultivators appear, he didn't forget to first eliminate the two evil cultivators he had on hand and take their storage rings.

However, he then asked, "These two storage rings are considered my spoils of war, is that alright?"

The Sun family members all nodded in agreement. Of course, there was no problem.

But with corpses lying haphazardly behind the stone, they dared not cause any trouble.

Many of the Sun family cultivators who had never seen Xiao Chen before were so frightened that they lowered their heads and dared not look him in the eye.

They had been trapped in a cave by those evil cultivators.

I have witnessed firsthand how many of my fellow practitioners and even companions have fallen at the hands of those evil cultivators.

However, the enemy who seemed almost invincible to them was easily defeated by Xiao Chen single-handedly in a short period of time.

They really couldn't understand where this killing god had come from.

Even the three members of the Sun family who had witnessed Xiao Chen's actions before were now dumbfounded.

They both knew in their hearts that the other possessed strength far beyond that of ordinary people.

However, compared to his last appearance at sea, this Fellow Daoist Xiao seems to have become several times more powerful.

One person took care of an enemy that more than a dozen of them combined couldn't defeat.

Sun Haoran was even more shocked.

Keep in mind that it's been less than a year since the last time.

How could such a huge gap exist?
This Fellow Daoist Xiao's growth rate is truly astonishing!

Sun Haoran secretly decided that after returning this time, he must explain to his family what happened in the ruins.

While keeping it confidential, inquire about and pay attention to this fellow Daoist Xiao.

Such people can only be friends, never enemies!
In fact, Sun Haoran did not know that Xiao Chen broke through to the late stage of the Golden Core realm only after returning home, with the help of the Blood Crystal.

Their strength is naturally incomparable.

On the other side, Sun Haoqi suddenly felt her heart beating faster.

She dared not look at Xiao Chen any longer and lowered her head, pursing her lips.

She was saved by this fellow Daoist Xiao once again.

The other party always seemed to appear out of nowhere when she was in trouble, solving the problem with overwhelming force.

Could this be considered a kind of fate?

Sun Haoqi felt an urge to thank Xiao Chen in person.

Oh dear, how should she bring it up?

Would it be inappropriate to just go and tell them directly, since I promised to keep it a secret last time?

It should be fine, since we can explain it as a way of thanking them for saving us.

For some reason, Sun Haoqi was filled with conflicting emotions.

After a complex struggle, she finally made up her mind.

However, when he looked up, he found that the stone in front of him was completely empty.

"Where is Fellow Daoist Xiao?"

Sun Haoqi looked around but couldn't find Xiao Chen anywhere.

"Brother Xiao just took off those storage rings and went to continue chasing the evil cultivators."

Sun Haoze, however, was full of excitement: "I really didn't expect to see Brother Xiao here, and in such a majestic way!"

"I will definitely strive to become someone like Brother Xiao in the future!"

Upon hearing that Xiao Chen had left, Sun Haoqi suddenly felt a strange sense of loss.

Why do you always leave in such a hurry?
That's true. Someone like Brother Xiao must have a lot to do.

If only she hadn't hesitated for so long, she should have been more decisive.

"correct!"

Suddenly, Sun Haoze exclaimed, "I remember those storybooks all say that those who survive a great calamity are sure to have good fortune in the future."

"Let's hurry up and go treasure hunting, we might find something good!"

Sun Haoran reached up and rubbed his forehead, feeling that his fifth brother was truly beyond saving.

Of course, that's not the biggest problem we need to address right now.

Instead, it was the clansmen and guest elders who had spoken in the cave just now.

I never expected that my uncle, who usually seemed so reliable, would turn out to be not on my side after all.

Even in that urgent situation, Sun Haoran still made time to remember the order in which everyone rushed out of the cave after him.

Those who followed closely behind can be given more focused training when they return.

After all, relying solely on the main network is insufficient in terms of manpower, so it's appropriate to delegate some responsibilities.

As for the rest, let's find a reason to replace them.

We can continue to use them for minor matters, but for other major family affairs, we should exclude these unreliable individuals.

(End of this chapter)