“Today is my first lesson to you: if you want to become a true expert, you cannot be afraid of dying. In the mortal world, when my father trained his warriors, he said that once you set foot on the battlefield, your life is no longer your own, so you must control your fear of death. Cultivation is the same. The day that you set foot into the cultivation world, you either have to be willing to be trampled by others, or you must stake your life in everything that you do. My original goal in cultivation was to allow myself to live with dignity. But later, I made even higher goals, so I had to work even harder. If you don’t have a powerful background, if you don’t have powerful trump cards, and you still want to stand out amongst your peers, your only choice is to put everything on the line. Study with your life on the line, cultivate with your life on the line, and do everything you can for every chance to get stronger. If you want to change your fate, you must pay a price. To gain without paying? Impossible.

  “Don’t believe that you’ll encounter some miracle or find some heaven-defying treasure. Let me put it to you this way: even if you do encounter a miracle, you need the power to grab it. Otherwise, you’ll only be able to watch it slip away from you. Obtaining a treasure? Without the necessary power, you won’t be able to get anything valuable, let alone a heaven-defying treasure. Others will come to kill you and take it. You must be strong enough to grasp these opportunities that come to you.

  “Starting today, I’ll have you go through the toughest training. You… you… you… and you… come over here.”


  Long Chen chose over four hundred people from the group. Adding in the Elite Group, Mu Qingyun, and the others, there were a total of five hundred.

  The divine competition that was coming up was going to be fought in max groups of five hundred. At this moment, Mu Qingyun was excited. Long Chen was helping her create a powerful group for the competition.

  “The five hundred people that I’ve picked out are all those with higher than average talent. You will temporarily be considered the main combat force,” said Long Chen.

  The chosen disciples cheered upon hearing that, while those that hadn’t been chosen were dejected.

  “Those that were chosen shouldn’t be happy, and those that weren’t picked shouldn’t be discouraged. Talent doesn’t decide everything. There will be a ranking exam for the main force every ten days. The last fifty ranks will be washed out from the main force, and then the top fifty from the reserves will be chosen to join. As long as you can excel and work hard, you won’t be forgotten. I will give every person a chance. But whether or not you can grasp it is up to yourselves.

  “Furthermore, even those that are not part of the main force must still do their best in order to prepare for the next competition. Whether or not the Unfettered Alliance wins or not, Chu Kuang is already at the absolute peak of Mortal Transcendence. No matter how he suppresses it, he can’t stay in this realm much longer. He will definitely advance to the Divine Flame realm.

  “At that time, he will not be qualified to participate in the divine competition for the Mortal Transcendence realm. That means you won’t be facing him as an opponent in the next competition. Even without Qingyun’s lead, you should have a high chance of victory, so every person must work hard for the next competition, understand?” said Long Chen.

  “Understood!”


  The disciples that hadn’t been chosen shouted with determination. As for those that had been chosen, they became nervous. There would be a ranking every ten days, with the bottom fifty being removed. In other words, one in ten people would be squeezed out.

  “Elite Group, split into two groups. You’re my teaching assistants right now. Help me investigate every person’s foundation,” said Long Chen.

  Li Cai and the others were delighted. The thirty-six of them had actually been promoted to teaching assistants, so they could practically be considered half instructors. Their status was different than before.

  In the past, they didn’t have anyone’s recognition. With Long Chen though, their lives had changed. They then began training the Unfettered Alliance’s disciples the same way that Long Chen had started with them.

  Their egos were fully satisfied. After going through Long Chen’s hellish training, they now found that there was a huge difference between them and these disciples. Despite that, they didn’t look down on them in the slightest, because just a month before, they were far inferior to these disciples. If it weren’t for Long Chen, they would still be trash simply waiting for death.

  The Elite Group began training the disciples. Long Chen then called over Mu Qingyun for some personal training.

  “Brother San, I’m finally attending your class.” Mu Qingyun looked at him worshipfully. She was so excited that she was a bit red. All people liked to worship the strong, and Mu Qingyun was no exception. She thirsted to be stronger. Even though Long Chen was younger than her and had a weaker cultivation base, Long Chen seemed to possess limitless power. He was fearless.

  It was precisely due to their close age and comparable cultivation base that she felt that if Long Chen taught her, she would rapidly advance.

  “What weapon are you most skilled in?” asked Long Chen.

  “The sword.” Mu Qingyun held her sword confidently.

  As the number two expert on the divine rankings, she had made profound advancements with her sword. Although she was unable to beat the rank one Chu Kuang, other than him, no disciple in the outer academy was her match.

  “The sword? I’m not too skilled in the sword, but I have a brother who is an expert of the Sword Dao. I’ve learned some superficial knowledge of the Sword Dao from him. It should be enough,” said Long Chen after some thought.

  “Brother San, if you say it like that, isn’t it…” Mu Qingyun’s expression changed slightly. These words were truly piercing.

  He wasn’t skilled in the sword, but learning some superficial knowledge from one of his brothers would be enough to teach her? That was too hurtful.

  If someone else said that, she would immediately turn hostile. But these words were coming from Long Chen. Although she was angry, she didn’t want to say anything to retort because she didn’t want to insult him.

  Long Chen looked at her and shook his head. “Do you think that I’ve gone too far by saying this? That’s simply because you don’t know just how terrifying that brother of mine is. His talent is definitely greater than mine. His killing power is even more shocking.”


  Long Chen was referring to Yue Zifeng. He had always felt great admiration for him. His talent and dedication toward the Sword Dao were truly amazing.

  If Long Chen didn’t have the primal chaos bead, the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, and the Pill Sovereign memories, he would have no confidence in being able to beat Yue Zifeng.

  “His talent is even greater than yours?” exclaimed Mu Qingyun, unable to believe it.

  “More words are meaningless. If you can receive three blows from my sword, I will join the Unfettered Alliance, becoming one of your members and participating in the divine competition.” Long Chen smiled.

  “Alright, then everyone, bear witness! It’s a deal!” Mu Qingyun was delighted. Afraid of him reneging, she immediately backed up and took a defensive stance.

  Everyone else was also excited to hear this. If Long Chen joined the Unfettered Alliance, who would be able to stop them?

  Long Chen received a sword from one of the Elite Group’s disciples. He then looked at Mu Qingyun and shook his head.

  “I was wrong. Three moves is too many. As long as you can receive a single blow, it will be your victory.”


  The sound of his sword coming out of its sheath was like a dragon cry. In that instant, a sharp and unstoppable will erupted. Spacetime seemed to be sliced apart by this will, and every disciple’s soul quivered.

  As Long Chen’s sword fell, Mu Qingyun turned pale. Her sword then fell, broken. A line of blood flowed down Mu Qingyun’s forehead, leaving everyone stunned.