Heaven Splitting

"No..."

The Seventh Prince let out a piercing scream that echoed throughout the entire Hall of Literature.

Everyone's hearts pounded wildly. Did Long Chen really intend to rebel? However, to everyone's astonishment, Long Chen's hand stopped in front of the Seventh Prince, not falling.

The Seventh Prince had already closed his eyes in fear, but after waiting for a long time without anything happening, he slowly opened them.

He saw Long Chen holding a Jade Token in his hand, a faint smile on his face. He looked like a completely different person from the murderous god he was moments before.

"Seventh Prince, take a good look. This is an Alchemist's identity Nameplate. Do you think I need to kneel before you?"

Having narrowly escaped death, the Seventh Prince was now utterly terrified of Long Chen and had no time to discern the authenticity of the Nameplate.

"No... I don't need to," the Seventh Prince said, his eyes filled with fear as he looked at Long Chen.

The killing intent Long Chen had unleashed earlier made him feel the terror of death. For someone accustomed to a life of privilege, not wetting himself was already a sign of great courage.

"Thank you for your understanding, Seventh Prince."

Long Chen smiled faintly. For this kind of spoiled brat, a scare was enough. Even if he had an Alchemist's Nameplate, he wouldn't dare to do anything to a prince, especially since this was still the Phoenix Cry Empire.

"Get up."

Long Chen slowly extended a hand to the Seventh Prince, who had collapsed to the ground in fear.

The Seventh Prince was somewhat flattered and taken aback. He looked at Long Chen, unable to react for a moment, and hesitantly reached out his hand.

After all, he was a prince, and he had merely been manipulated by Zhou Yaoyang. If Long Chen truly held a grudge against him, then Zhou Yaoyang's scheme would have succeeded.

Although Long Chen didn't care, being schemed against felt terrible. By doing this, he was giving the Seventh Prince a way out.

The Seventh Prince was only fifteen years old. Although he was tall, his experience was pitifully limited. Being handled with both a soft and hard approach by Long Chen left him flustered. After standing up, he didn't know what to say for a while.

"Seventh Prince, perhaps you'd like to sit a little longer?" Long Chen prompted.

"Oh, oh, no, I... well, I have some things to attend to. I'll be leaving now." With that, the Seventh Prince quickly turned and left the Hall of Literature. As he walked out, he felt his legs were a bit weak.

However, he was genuinely afraid of Long Chen. He had even seen the smile of death just now, feeling as though his life was entirely in Long Chen's hands.

Seeing the Seventh Prince leave, Long Chen turned and glanced at the group of young masters who had participated in the attack on him earlier.

But after Long Chen had severely injured Zhou Yaoyang with his ruthless methods, they had been too scared to move. Now, seeing Long Chen looking at them, their faces changed, and they all retreated.

Long Chen couldn't be bothered with them. Although they had made him grit his teeth in anger before, they were no longer on the same level as him, and the hatred had lessened.

He slowly walked to Zhou Yaoyang, who was barely breathing, his eyes unfocused, looking as if he could die at any moment.

"Long Chen, you can't kill him. Let's send him to the Alchemist Guild. He might still be saved," Shi Feng said, walking over to persuade him. After all, this was not a duel on a stage but a private fight. If someone died, Long Chen would be held responsible.

"Don't worry. The saying goes that good people don't live long, while villains live for a thousand years. Look at his messy eyebrows and sunken brow bone; it's the face of a petty man. People like him usually don't die so easily. Didn't you see how ruddy his complexion is?" Long Chen chuckled.

Fatty Yu and the others were speechless. Zhou Yaoyang was considered a handsome man. His messy eyebrows and sunken brow bone were not a facial feature but the result of Long Chen slamming him, flattening his face and deforming his body.

Besides, was his complexion ruddy? It was red because blood couldn't circulate, pooling in his face. It was indeed red, but it was so red it was almost purple, not ruddy at all.

Long Chen reached into his robe, took out a pill, and stuffed it into Zhou Yaoyang's mouth.

"Slap, slap."

Two loud slaps to Zhou Yaoyang's face ensured that the pill, which he couldn't swallow, went down smoothly.

Although Long Chen hated Zhou Yaoyang immensely, he still maintained a degree of restraint. Despite Zhou Yaoyang's horrific injuries, he would definitely not die.

After taking the healing medicine he had refined, his internal organs would be protected. As for the external injuries, well, that was a problem for the Zhou family to deal with. Long Chen just needed to ensure he didn't die.

"You few, if you don't want Zhou Yaoyang to die, hurry up and carry him away," Long Chen said coldly, pointing at the stunned young masters.

The few of them finally reacted and carefully carried Zhou Yaoyang to a table, taking the table along with him.

They also carried away Wang Mang, who had fainted in the corner.

"You, you, and you, come here and clean up the bloodstains on the floor."

Long Chen pointed at a few young masters. These guys had often mocked and ridiculed him before. Although Long Chen didn't intend to make them pay, assigning them some work was a way to vent his anger.

The ones Long Chen pointed at trembled but didn't dare to utter a word. They quickly and diligently began cleaning. In a short while, they finished, even finding Wang Mang's more than a dozen missing teeth.

To Long Chen's surprise, it had been more than half an hour after they finished cleaning when the elderly lecturer finally arrived.

However, the old man glanced at Long Chen with some confusion before resuming his usual lecture. Long Chen couldn't help but curse inwardly:

"You old bastard, you must have taken benefits from Zhou Yaoyang, otherwise you wouldn't be half an hour late."

Damn it, Long Chen secretly despised him. He had thought scholars were inherently noble, but his perception was shattered today. He felt cheated. All the good impression he had of the old man from last time vanished.

The lecture continued at its usual soporific pace. After it ended and they had lunch, they all headed to the Battle Skill Pavilion.

Fatty Yu and the others did not go, returning home directly to take their medicine. Seeing Long Chen's display of power today had shocked them, and it seemed to have shown them their future. They couldn't wait any longer.

After entering the Battle Skill Pavilion, Long Chen browsed through several battle skills but found none satisfactory. Their power was mediocre and could no longer capture his attention.

He read very quickly. In less than an hour, he had flipped through hundreds of battle skill books, shaking his head.

No wonder they were freely accessible; they were all trash. The cultivation routes were complicated, and the power was weak. However, the second floor of the Battle Skill Pavilion was only accessible to those in the Blood Condensation Realm.

Moreover, other battle skills weren't of much use to Long Chen. He had Wind Chasing Steps for movement techniques and Ox Power for combat skills. The top battle skills here were not much different from them, so learning them wouldn't be of much use.

Long Chen couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Just as he was about to stop wasting time, his heart suddenly stirred, and he glanced at the corner of the bottom shelf.

On the other bookshelves, each square neatly held one combat technique. But in that spot, a large pile of things was haphazardly stacked.

The items there were also cultivation techniques and combat techniques, though some were tattered and worn. Most were incomplete secret techniques, essentially scrap. It would be a pity to just throw them away, so they were piled in a corner.

As Long Chen's eyes swept over that corner, a roll of worn beast skin caught his attention.

The beast skin was very old and tattered, but Long Chen, relying on his powerful Soul Force, sensed an extremely ancient aura emanating from it.

He reached out and took the roll of beast skin from the pile of junk. Long Chen couldn't help but tremble inwardly. Others might not see anything unusual about this piece of beast skin.

But with his powerful Soul Force, he could clearly feel waves of terrifying pressure emanating from it.

The beast skin was covered in mottled patterns, and many parts were damaged and broken, traces of erosion by endless years.

Long Chen estimated that the owner of this beast skin must have been an extremely terrifying existence, otherwise, after such a long time, such a terrifying will would still remain.

It was laughable that such a terrifying thing was treated like trash and thrown here. Long Chen quickly examined the beast skin.

He saw a diagram on it, with two characters labeled in ancient script:

"Heaven Splitting"

What ambition! Long Chen couldn't help but tremble inwardly. What kind of cultivation technique or combat skill would dare to bear such a name? It was too arrogant!

Looking at the diagram, Long Chen couldn't help but frown. It showed nine red dots and nothing else.

A faint, almost imperceptible line seemed to connect the nine dots, but it was too ancient to tell if it was originally there or a crack that appeared later.

"Time's up. All young lords, put down the secret manuals in your hands."

Just then, an icy voice echoed throughout the Combat Technique Pavilion. Everyone couldn't help but sigh. Time passed too quickly. Some people couldn't help but feel dejected; only being able to come once a month was truly a rip-off.

Long Chen looked at the incomplete scroll in his hand, feeling a sense of reluctance. His time was too precious, and waiting a whole month felt unbearable.

Seeing everyone leave in an orderly fashion, Long Chen slowly walked out, still holding the tattered roll of beast skin in his hand.

The Blood Condensation Realm expert at the entrance's expression turned cold. Just as he was about to speak, Long Chen spoke first.

"Sir, I would like to take this damaged beast skin scroll back to study. Also, please accept this as a token of my appreciation."

After speaking, Long Chen tossed a pill over before the other man could respond. The Blood Condensation Realm expert, who was about to reprimand him, suddenly saw the pill and his expression changed.

He reached out and grabbed the pill, only to discover it was a Blood Condensation Pill, exactly what he, at the Blood Condensation Realm, needed most.

Most importantly, this Blood Condensation Pill was actually a mid-grade Blood Condensation Pill, dozens of times more valuable than an ordinary one.

Experts at the Blood Condensation Realm needed to borrow the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth to condense their blood, making their qi and blood more dominant and powerful, strengthening their physical bodies.

A Blood Condensation Pill could multiply the efficacy of Blood Condensation several times. With this pill, he could save at least half a year's worth of effort.

The Blood Condensation Realm expert's expression shifted multiple times. In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation of the pill. He glanced at the tattered beast skin in Long Chen's hand.

"Remember, I saw nothing."

How could Long Chen not understand his meaning? It was clear that if he was discovered, the expert wouldn't take responsibility, and Long Chen would be branded a thief.

Long Chen didn't mind. He put away the tattered beast skin and left. The Blood Condensation Realm expert then carefully examined the Blood Condensation Pill in his hand again.

"I didn't expect him to have such a treasure. No, I need to inquire about his background," the Blood Condensation Realm expert said before disappearing from the Combat Technique Pavilion as well.

After leaving, Long Chen headed straight for his residence. Since he dared to offer that Blood Condensation Pill, he wasn't afraid of the man investigating him.

Now, he needed people to know that he was an Alchemist, an Alchemist highly valued by Master Yun Qi. That was enough; it was what they called "borrowing a tiger's skin to make a flag."

He used this method to tell the other party that Long Chen was no longer the useless boy they could push around before. If they wanted to move against him, they needed to consider the consequences.

As Long Chen walked, contemplating how to gradually uncover the mastermind behind the scenes, he unknowingly entered a small alley.

Suddenly, a giant net descended from the sky. Before Long Chen could react, he was instantly ensnared. Startled, Long Chen was lifted into the air.