Chapter 615: Gray-Clothed Youth
“That’s strange. I’ve been running in a straight line but ended up back in the same place. If I continue, I might not be able to find the exit. I should change directions to go to other places.”
Since running in a straight line would lead him back to his original location, Long Chen chose to run and change his directions randomly numerous times. He thought that it would lead him somewhere else.
Half a day passed, and Long Chen never saw his footprints again. That meant he had left his original location.
The Nine Spirit Purgatory doesn’t have a fixed direction and is always changing. No wonder I need a compass to find the exit. I think the compass’ direction will change from time to time to show the exit. Even though I can leave the original location by running in random directions, I do not think I will be able to find the exit like this.
Long Chen continued his journey.
Suddenly, he saw someone on the horizon. Long Chen approached the person, but the other party saw him too. The person ran towards Long Chen while shouting something.
Long Chen realized that the person was looking at him like prey. Long Chen quickly stopped and saw that the person wasn’t Long Yue, but someone at the Second Earthly Martial Stage.
Long Chen was shocked by the person’s appearance.
His clothes were in tatters and his hair was long and messy. His entire body was caked in dirt, as if he had just dug himself out of the earth. More importantly, his eyes were unfocused until he saw Long Chen, which was when they changed into an animalistic stare.So this is how a person ends up if they are trapped here for a long time.
The man appeared in front of Long Chen as he panted and glared.
“Newbie, give me your Universe Pouch and King Crystals. I will let you live if you do so. Quickly!” the man shouted at Long Chen.
King Crystals.
In this barren place, King Crystals were the key to someone’s survival. Without them, a cultivator’s strength would slowly dissipate as they aged and died.
Long Chen pitied the man.
“How long have you been locked up here?”
“Years? I don’t know how long. Quick, give me the crystals,” the person continued. It was clear that he didn’t want to fight Long Chen, as it would expend too much energy.
Long Chen frowned and gave him two King Crystals. “Here, this is for you. Can you answer some questions for me?”
The man ignored him as he took the King Crystals with trembling hands. He stared at them with glee as if they were the world's greatest treasures.
“Answer me,” Long Chen repeated.
But the man ignored him as he smiled wildly. He put the King Crystals away and then looked at Long Chen with bloodshot eyes.
“Newbie, give me all of your King Crystals. I will live eternally. Give me all of them, or I will kill you.”
He turned crazier now that he had two King Crystals. He immediately pounced towards Long Chen.
“Greedy bastard.” Long Chen shook his head. The man was very weakened and yet he dared to attack Long Chen. It was clear that the King Crystals were the most sought-after items here.
Long Chen waved his hands and slapped the man away.
After rolling onto the ground several times, the man struggled to get up before he pounced towards Long Chen again. “Newbie! You have a lot of King Crystals and you will be killed soon! They are going to take all your King Crystals! You are going to die anyway, so might as well give them to me!”
“Is that so?” Long Chen suppressed the man easily. Even though the man was on the same cultivation level as he was, he could easily defeat him. Still, the man was struggling so much that Long Chen found it difficult to use Control to get information.
“You are strong, but so what? I was very strong, stronger than you when I first came here! But I became the same as the others. Go die like them!” The man continued to resist even though he was being suppressed.
Long Chen felt a forlorn sadness when he saw how crazed the man was. He also realized how scary the Nine Spirit Purgatory was, to be able to reduce a strong cultivator to nothing but a madman. This place was suitable as a graveyard.
Also, he wasn’t sure if Xiao Lin’s method would work.
“Let me ask you this. Did a female cultivator come here recently? She’s at the Third Earthly Martial Stage.”
“A female cultivator? Hahaha. If she was injured by the Martial Overlord, she would most probably be dismembered by now. I definitely do not have the luck nor strength to share the spoils, hahaha.”
Long Chen learned how cruel this place was.
It was clear that the man didn’t know about Long Yue.
The Nine Spirit Purgatory was a large place, and it wasn’t going to be easy to locate someone in here.
But Long Chen did not give up. He felt that time was short, so he warned the man, “I don’t want to kill you, so you have two choices. One, get out of my sight. Two, die and give me peace of mind.”
The man’s eyes were still bloodshot when he shouted, “I have a third option! Kill you and take all of your King Crystals!”
Crack.
Long Chen snapped the man’s neck.
“I gave you the option to live and yet you did not grab it.” Long Chen was speechless. He placed the corpse down and then stared at the wasteland around him. Not only will the physical body be under stress, even their mental health will deteriorate. They lose all reason if they get trapped here for too long. It’s better to just die.
He then continued his journey.
Long Chen found that his deductions were accurate. If he traveled in a straight path, he would return to his original location, but he would reach other places if he walked randomly.
Where is this place? Time slowly passed. At first, it was hours, and then days passed. Three days later, Long Chen had only met two other people. Both of them had lost their minds and were killed by him.
Another three days passed before Long Chen saw something major. Four cultivators were chasing after a youth in gray clothes. His clothes looked relatively new, so Long Chen assumed that he had only arrived recently.
There were five of them. Long Chen hoped that he could obtain some information from them.
“Don’t run!”
“Give us your King Crystals or we will kill you!”
The four cultivators were drained of any essence. Long Chen didn’t know how strong they were originally, but being trapped here without any King Crystals had caused their strength to deteriorate to the point of being regular human beings. Even a normal Heavenly Passage Realm cultivator could kill them now.
The gray-clothed youth was very disheveled. He then tripped and rolled on the ground. Underneath his messy hair were clear eyes filled with animosity. “If you force me any further, I will absorb my King Crystals’ power and kill all of you!”
The youth thought they would back off, but he was mistaken. One of the cultivators stepped forward. “Kill us, then. We don’t want to live anymore.”
The prisoners here were both afraid and unafraid of death. They wanted to use the King Crystals to extend their lives because they were worried about slowly wasting away. They didn’t have the courage to kill themselves. Some of them welcomed death at the hands of others.
The youth was backed into a corner. He had no choice but to fight as he looked pitifully at the four other cultivators. A single King Crystal appeared in his hand, and he absorbed it.
The King Crystal disappeared. The four cultivators prepared themselves for death as they pounced towards the youth.
The youth moved instantly, and dragons appeared. The dragons blew past the four cultivators and killed them without any mercy.
The youth staggered and almost lost his footing.
Soul Dispersing Dragon Claw! It was Long Chen’s turn to be shocked. To think that the youth had used it! He must be the other Long Chen!
The youth was none other than Long Yue’s brother, the genius at the Third Earthly Martial Stage. Long Chen never thought that he would become this weak after being imprisoned here.
“Wait!” Long Chen ran towards the youth and stopped him from running away. The youth’s expression had been cold, but he was shocked to see who was blocking him. “Someone new? And you are even a Martial King!”
Long Chen was still in disguise.
Long Chen chuckled. “I’m not from the Martial Alliance. Do you know Lan Xiang’er? She gave me the disguise. I know you are Long Chen and you are also Long Yue’s brother. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of me.”
Long Chen’s words caused a glimmer of light to appear in the youth’s eyes, especially after he mentioned a certain someone.