琅琊榜海宴小说

Chapter 535 - Thunder Bat Dragon

His features were very unique, so Long Chen easily remembered his name. Jian Chen. The name fit him.[1]

Next was another man, who was the most muscular of the bunch. His body shape was similar to Demon General Strongman’s, but compared to Demon General Strongman’s brick-like build, this man’s lines were much more elegant, which caused a huge visual clash. What made him different from the rest was his one-centimeter-long hair. His features were much harder than Jian Chen\'s, though he was currently grinning at Long Chen. His expression made him look like an honest and friendly person, but his body radiated an aura that resembled a fierce beast.

Long Chen instantly knew that he was a Beast Warrior.

As expected, the muscular man said, “Little Brother, my name is Lei Zhen. I’m from the Northern Battle clan! The Northern Battle clan is a faction as powerful as the Ancient Demon Domain! I am at the First Earthly Martial Stage, and my Earthly Martial Beast Soul Origin is a Category Three King-tier beast called the Heavenly Mantra Thunder Beast.

Category Three King-tier?

Long Chen was even more shocked. Indeed, every single person in this group was a formidable presence. Putting Long Yue and Jiang Wuya aside, even Jian Chen and Lei Zhen were an Armament Warrior and a Beast Warrior respectively. Both of them were also terrifying.

Long Chen had never heard of the Northern Battle clan before, as he had only heard of the Martial Alliance, the Ancient Demon Domain, and the Huangfu clan. Even with just the six of them, the Dragon clan was considered one of the top factions.

The next two were younger than the others. The one who first spoke was a thin man wearing all-black, tight-fitting clothes. He was clearly very agile, and he was as quiet as Jian Chen. There was a strong killing intent hidden in his eyes, and from his outfit and aura, Long Chen had a feeling that he specialized in melee combat and speed like Chen Feng.

“I am Chi Ying. First Earthly Martial Stage. I am the founder of the Divine Martial Empire’s largest organization of assassins—the Red Souls. I am also the only King-tier killer of the organization. I have a nickname: No-Fail Chi Ying. This is because I have never failed a single task I have taken. However, I’m no longer in the assassination business, and the Red Souls are serving Big Sister.”

The “Big Sister” he was referring to was Long Yue.

Long Chen was amazed. Chi Ying looked inconspicuous in this group, but he was actually the founder of the Divine Martial Empire’s largest assassin organization! And he looked only twenty-seven or twenty-eight at most.

“The Martial Alliance forbids assassin organizations, so a few years ago, they started a sweep of these groups. The Red Souls were caught within the tide, and if Big Sister had not rescued me, I would not be here today. Now the Red Souls have gone underground,” said Chi Ying, moved.

He was only talking about this because he was grateful.

Long Chen nodded.

The girl in blue was last, as they were speaking in the sequence of their ranking. The animated girl had always been the most talkative, so this time was no exception. When it was her turn to speak, she said immediately, “My name is Lan Ling’er; call me Sister Lan. I am also at the First Earthly Martial Stage, and I’m an extraordinary prodigy! But I can’t tell you too much about myself, because I can’t let you learn about my secrets.”

“Ling’er is good at disguises; she has mastered techniques like bone shaping! She’s amazing at transforming one’s features and using disguise-related medicine and tools, and people call her the Ever-Changing Demon Girl! Long Chen, you need to be careful of her or one day, you’ll find yourself an identical twin,” said Jiang Wuya with a grin.

By now, Long Chen had been introduced to every member. He had a feeling that they would become very important people in his life. His journey had been a lonely one, but everything was about to change due to the appearance of these few people.

At the very least, there was no question about how powerful they were.

The leader, Long Yue, was a master as powerful as the Demon Emperor. Did that mean that she was in the top five of the whole Divine Martial Empire? With a person like that protecting them, Long Chen would not need to worry anymore!

The mysterious Big Sister Long Yue; the Ancient Demon Domain-born Jiang Wuya; Sword Warrior Jian Chen; Lei Zhen with a Category Three King-tier Beast Soul; the leader of the largest assassin organization, Chi Ying; and the Ever-Changing Demon Girl, Lan Ling’er. The six of them formed the Martial Alliance’s most terrifying enemy—the Dragon clan!

Seeing as everyone had introduced themselves, Long Yue said, “We haven’t found the Black Emperor Seal yet, so we did not manage to fulfill our goal. We will return to the Phantom Ravine, and we will only leave when we receive news on the other Emperor Seals. Long Chen’s injuries require rest and treatment, so we should not wait any longer. Lei Zhen, we’ll leave now!”

The fourth-ranked Lei Zhen, the muscular Beast Warrior, gave a warm smile. “Alright, Big Sister!”

Long Chen only had one objective in coming to the Divine Martial Empire, which was to head to the Ancient Graveyard. These six people were some of the strongest people in the Divine Martial Empire, so he wanted to ask them about it, but seeing as they wanted to travel as soon as possible, he would do that later.

He thought about it and realized that he would have to follow them at least until his injuries were healed. After he became closer to them, it would be more natural to ask them about the Ancient Graveyard. There was no need to rush.

But why had Long Yue only spoken to Lei Zhen when they were about to leave? Long Chen quickly had his answer. A gigantic beast was released from a large, purple bracelet on Lei Zhen’s wrist!

Long Chen had always thought that the Primordial Realm was the only thing that could fit beasts, but he had not expected Lei Zhen to have the same thing.

Due to Jiang Wuya’s relationship with Liu Yiyi, he was more concerned about Long Chen than even Long Yue. He knew that Liu Yiyi liked Long Chen, so he had also taken a liking to this young man. Therefore, he explained, “The Northern Battle clan is a faction independent from the Martial Alliance. They are very powerful, and Lei Zhen is the first prince of the clan. He snuck out to train on his own, but due to his folly of youth, he got into trouble with the Martial Alliance. If it was not for Yue’er, he would have died.”

“Second Brother, let’s not talk about my embarrassing past, haha!” Lei Zhen laughed as he spoke to the gigantic beast in a strange language.

“Alright, I won’t. Long Chen, you must not know that the whole Northern Battle clan consists of Beast Warriors, and they possess powerful techniques to tame beasts. They can even tame King-tier beasts to sell their souls for them. They have also mastered many beast languages, so they can directly communicate with beasts. You see his bracelet? That’s a Beast Soul Crystal, an item exclusive to the Northern Battle clan. It serves as a shelter for their beasts. It’s much more impressive than Universe Pouches.”

“That’s so cool!” Long Chen was shaken.

That was when Little Cat said lazily, “It’s just an unimportant crystal. Although it’s considered rare, how could it compare to the Primordial Realm? Beasts can’t stay for long inside crystals like that. If you don’t let the beast out before the time limit, the beast will die. How could that compare?”

What Little Cat had said made the Primordial Realm even more impressive.

“Once you stay with us for longer, you will learn more about the Divine Martial Empire. We need to hurry. After we reach the Phantom Ravine, I want to ask you about Yiyi,” said Jiang Wuya.

Long Chen nodded. “Alright.”

Then he looked at the beast. It was a beast with huge wings that could fly, though it was not an avian-type beast. Instead, it was more similar to a bat, though its body was longer than a bat’s, making it look more sophisticated. Most importantly, its head looked similar to a dragon’s. Long Chen could even sense an extremely minute trace of Dragon Blood from it.

“This is a Category Nine Heaven-tier demonic beast called the Thunder Bat Dragon. It’s the fastest Heaven-tier beast, and it is lightning-fast. Of course, you must also be able to tell that this Thunder Bat Dragon is a descendant of the dragons. I can sense a tiny trace of Dragon Blood in it, but it’s much weaker than yours,” explained Long Yue when she saw that Long Chen looked puzzled.

Countless flashes of lightning appeared on the surface of its body as if it were covered in a web of electricity. The crackling and popping of lightning made Long Chen’s scalp go numb.

The Dragon clan was so impressive that even their mode of transport was terrifying.

Long Chen would probably die if the Thunder Bat Dragon touched him gently.

“I’ll help him. You guys go first,” said Jiang Wuya to the others, standing next to Long Chen. Everyone flew up in the air and sat on the lightning-covered Thunder Bat Dragon’s back. A layer of energy appeared on the surface of their bodies, wrapping them up so the lightning would not touch them.

Suddenly, Long Chen sensed a warm energy wrapping around his body. With a whoosh, he was suddenly sitting on the back of the beast. There were purple scales on the back of the Thunder Bat Dragon, similar to dragon scales.

Upon closer inspection, Long Chen realized that he was being wrapped in Jiang Wuya’s energy. It felt like a warm fluid that stuck closely to his body, guaranteeing his safety.

“Is this essence of the Martial Realm?” asked Long Chen.

He realized he was wrapped in the same space as Jiang Wuya.

“Yes. When a person reaches the Martial Realm, the eighteen starry rivers in his body turn into Martial Veins. The nine main meridian points turn into Martial Meridians, and the Qi within them turn into essence, which is close to a fluid state. Of course, you can also call it Martial Essence.

1. Note: 剑尘 (Jian Chen) translates to Sword Dust ☜