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Clear River Palace. That was one of the six powers that had entered the Jialin Immortal Land. This sect was founded thirteen thousand years ago. Compared to an ancient power like the High Firmament Academy, it was nothing more than an up-and-coming youngster.
However, the Clear River Palace developed very quickly. In the last two thousand years in particular, they reached an unprecedented golden age. The number of disciples beneath their flag was not lower than the High Firmament Academy, and they were extremely powerful.
Amongst the six powers, their power was second only to the Golden Bell Gate. They were the two strongest forces amongst the six powers, while the Firmament Academy was dead last.
Thus came the saying of the Golden Bell tigers, Clear River wolves, and High Firmament sheep. Despite the High Firmament Academy’s long-lasting history and inheritance, its institution was rotten. Hence, its talented people slowly left, with each generation of disciples being worse than the last. It could already be said to be declining.
The High Firmament Academy didn’t restrict its disciples’ freedom, as they were nothing more than a place of learning. They accepted tuition fees to raise disciples. If the disciples wanted to stay, they could stay. If they wanted to leave, they could leave.
However, other sects were mostly lifelong commitments. Once you joined a sect, you had to be loyal to that sect for a lifetime. Leaving would be considered a falling out, and you would be chased down.
Contrary to the norm, many disciples cultivating in the High Firmament Academy ultimately ended up returning to their families. Some talented disciples were even picked up by other sects.
All of this combined with the higher-ups’ attitude of indifference resulted in the High Firmament Academy’s power slowly dropping.
However, no matter how rotten it was, its foundation was still there. It was still the Martial Heaven Prefecture’s strongest academy.
In the past, when the academy’s disciples entered the Jialin Immortal World, being bullied was natural, but the other five powers didn’t dare to go too far. As long as the disciples handed over their treasures, then at most they would humiliate the disciples a bit before letting them off.
However, this time was different. Long Chen had saved so many of the academy’s disciples, and he found that the five powers’ disciples were trying to wipe them out this time. That enraged Long Chen.
Although he didn’t feel that much sense of belonging toward the High Firmament Academy, the five powers were going too far with their bullying. They weren’t just taking treasures but also killing. Furthermore, Long Chen felt that things weren’t so simple.
Before leaving, Heaven Master Yun Yang had told him how to use the High Firmament Sacred Tablet. At the same time, he had told Long Chen that the Jialin Immortal Land was not the academy. He didn’t need to be restricted by the academy’s rules.
Originally, he had thought that the Heaven Master was referring to Chu Yang and Chu Huairen. However, now when he thought back to it, it seemed that there had been another layer to his words. Now, he thought that Heaven Master Yun Yang might be referring to this.
After arriving where Luo Bing was, Long Chen heard that her group had seen the Clear River Palace’s experts stealthily doing something here.
“Brother San, around two hundred miles from here, there is a mountain valley covered in mist. It’s impossible to see the situation inside, but when we noticed it, the Clear River Palace’s people had already arrived. That squad of experts stayed for a while, and then two more groups of experts arrived. One of them contained a terrifying expert covered in mist. It’s as if they were merged into heaven and earth. They clearly received a message to go there. I feel like there must be something important inside,” whispered Mu Qingyun.
As a sword cultivator, she had a sharp sense of how strong or weak others were. It was precisely due to sensing how powerful that person was that she didn’t dare to make any rash moves.
“That’s a good thing. Let’s go take a look.” Long Chen wasn’t that interested in searching for treasures because he could never find them. But snatching treasures was something he excelled at.
Long Chen led them into the valley. When they got close to it, Long Chen raised his hand, indicating for everyone to stop.
Long Chen then called over the archers. He pointed to over ten patrolling disciples of the Clear River Palace. After that, he pointed to his head and drew an arc with his hand.
Those archers instantly understood. They took out their bows and aimed. After that, Long Chen waved his hand.
Over ten light sounds rang out. Those patrolling disciples instantly had an arrow sprout out of their heads. Without making a sound, they fell limply to the ground.
“Not bad. Your curved arrows are starting to have the right flavor.” Long Chen nodded and had a slight smile. He then gave the archers a thumbs-up.
They had progressed very quickly, having even grasped the fundamentals of the curved arrow. Such an arrow could kill people easily. Due to not aiming right at them, it was more difficult to sense. By the time the enemies reacted, they would already be struck.
Those archers were delighted by Long Chen’s praise. Originally, they were not valued by others. In fact, others even looked down on them, thinking that they were cowards who didn’t dare to use blades.
However, Long Chen attached great importance to them, even transmitting powerful archery arts to them. As a result, they had made such rapid improvements during this time that even they themselves didn’t dare to believe it. It was as if they were in a dream.
After killing the scouts, they slipped deeper into the mist. Long Chen’s senses were sharp, and they ran into another wave of exposed scouts, as well as two waves of hidden scouts. Long Chen himself didn’t take action, instead letting the archers handle them all.
The archers displayed an amazing level of skill. Their silent arrows seemed to chase down their enemies’ souls. Within the mist, those Clear River Palace’s disciples didn’t even know how they died.
Back when Long Chen had said that archers and healers were the most important existences in a group, some people were unconvinced. But now they bore witness to the terror of archers and could no longer look down on them.
They advanced a dozen miles within the mist before it slowly started to dissipate. At this point, they felt the ground shaking occasionally.
“They’re underground.” Long Chen looked around and didn’t find any cave entrance.
Luo Bing was about to send some people to investigate the surroundings when Long Chen gestured to them to be quiet. He then pointed to a distant stone covered in moss.
Luo Bing saw that the moss was on the side leaning against the mountain. As the color was very different from the rest of the mountain, it had clearly been moved.
Li Cai then pushed aside the large stone, revealing a cave entrance.
Inside the cave, there was another group of over ten experts from the Clear River Palace. They clearly hadn’t expected anyone to arrive here, but before they could shout, another wave of arrows killed them.
This was a cave entrance dozens of meters wide. They heard rumbling sounds coming from within as if people were fighting.
“We should quicken the pace, or the treasure will be taken by others first,” said Luo Ning nervously, as well as excitedly. Killing people to take their treasures. This was the first time for her.
“No need. Even if they get the treasure, we can just take it. Our goal isn’t to snatch treasures but to kill people.” Long Chen smiled somewhat sinisterly and led them down the cave.
They didn’t encounter any more sentries. After one more turn, they saw a giant space. Then a terrifying bestial roar shook their ears.
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