An Zhi saw Young Master Long standing next to the body of a fellow barbarian with a flying sword by his side.

"An You!" An Zhi howled and looked at Young Master Long with fire in his eyes.

Young Master Long saw An Zhi, he looked at the dead barbarian at his feet and looked at An Zhi once again. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words flowed out of it. What was there to say? Things had reached this point, even if he wasn't the real culprit, it made no difference.

On the other hand, An Zhi rushed towards Young Master Long with his machete raised.

"Hmph!" Young Master Long snorted. He dodged An Zhi's strike using his movement technique and escaped into the fire cave. He gestured with his hand and his flying sword stabbed at An Zhi.

An Zhi looked crazed, but his instinct for battle hadn't diminished. He waved his machete and hit the streak of silver that came towards him, dividing it into two.

Young Master Long frowned as his flying sword was scrapped. Unlike ordinary cultivators, his flying sword wasn't made of cheap materials. Yet An Zhi destroyed it in one stroke. Fortunately, he had already distanced himself from his opponent.

Young Master Long raised his hand and pointed it at An Zhi. A gold talisman glittered in his palm. The next moment, the talisman exploded and a spearlight shot towards An Zhi.

An Zhi narrowed his eyes on seeing the beam of light. He was still inside the tunnel. The beam of light was wide enough to cover the entire tunnel—he couldn't dodge it sideways. And with his current speed, he would be hit before he came into the fire cave.

But An Zhi didn't panic. He just snorted and a tattoo of a panther on his shoulder shone and covered him with a blood light. An Zhi's speed instantly increased by several times. He crossed the tunnel in a blink of an eye and then leaped sideways narrowly avoiding the spearlight.

Boom!

The spearlight hit a wall causing it to crumble, dust and rubble fell and the tunnel collapsed in half. Except, An Zhi was already inside the fire cave.

Seeing An Zhi escape unscathed, Young Master Long couldn't help but grimace. He took out another talisman and began pouring his spiritual qi into it. But An Zhi had already turned into a red blur.

"Shit! Careless," Young Master Long cursed as he jumped back but a machete had already reached his neck.

Bang!

A brilliant light of gold flashed and An Zhi was knocked a dozen feet away. He tumbled in the air and did a few somersaults before landing on his feet.

Young Master Long's face had turned pale. A golden glow covered his body. A thin cut stretched across his neck, from which blood trickled. Just now, he came very close to death. He was pouring spiritual qi into the talisman and couldn't use his movement technique. In desperation, he could only activate one of his life-saving treasures.

Young Master Long glared at An Zhi in anger. Under the protection of his treasure, he continued to pour spiritual qi into the talisman in his hand.

An Zhi looked at Young Master Long and licked the blood on the machete. Then he rushed towards him again and slashed with his machete.

Bang!

An Zhi was thrown back again. His feet had just touched the ground, when he dashed towards Young Master Long once more.

Bang! Bang!

The golden light not only protected Young Master Long but also repelled the attacks.

An Zhi's hand had cracked and was bleeding due to constant shocks, but every time he was repelled, he attacked with even more strength and speed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The shocks cracked An Zhi's body and he began to bleed all over. Surprisingly, the blood didn't fall on the ground but turned into a red mist that enveloped An Zhi.

With the appearance of the red mist, An Zhi's attacks became even more ferocious. His eyes turned blood red—he didn't seem to feel any pain and his attacks became unpredictable as he tried to break through Young Master Long's protective treasure.

Seeing An Zhi's berserk state, Young Master Long couldn't help but gulp. He had almost charged the talisman but still decided to put it away. Instead, he took out another one. In a few breaths, the talisman was charged.

Young Master Long pointed the talisman at An Zhi. The talisman exploded into several silver chains that accelerated towards An Zhi.

Seeing the chains coming towards him, An Zhi dodged sideways. However, the silver chains seemed to have a mind of their own as they chased after An Zhi like an octopus's tentacles. The silver chains surrounded An Zhi and blocked his escape. With no way to escape, An Zhi was caught and tied up.

An Zhi fell, unable to move.

"Phew!" Young Master Long gasped. His back was already drenched in sweat and his knees felt weak. He patted his robes and walked towards An Zhi. "Bastard! How dare you scare Father?"

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An Zhi struggled trying to break the chains, but they were tenacious. He could only glare at Young Master Long in hatred. The chains had bound his mouth, so he couldn't even speak and could only growl in a low voice.

Young Master Long saw An Zhi's defiant expression and exploded with anger. He ran over to An Zhi and kicked him. "You still have the guts to look at me like that?"

An Zhi didn't even flinch, It made Young Master Long even angrier and he kicked harder.

"Haha!" Young Master Long panted. He abused An Zhi like this, but in the end, he was the only one exhausted. "You barbarians have tough skin. But I don't believe it can stop a sword."

He took out a treasure sword and pointed it at An Zhi.

"Goodbye." Young Master Long raised the sword and stabbed An Zhi in the chest. An Zhi's face contorted in pain, but there was nothing he could do. Dark blood oozed from the wound. An Zhi's movement became slower and slower, his eyes turned normal, the mist surrounding him disappeared and then his movements came to a stop.

At this time, the fire spirit above them flickered and began to shake as if restless.

"Huh?" Young Master Long looked at the fire spirit and frowned. The effect of the sacrifice had begun to diminish.

Young Master Long pulled his sword from An Zhi's chest. After cleaning the blood, he put it away and instead took out another flying sword.

Young Master Long jumped on his flying sword and came next to the fire spirit. He closed his eyes and spread his hands and began to gesture in the air. Following his actions, the restless fire spirit became still.

Mu Chen, who was spying, couldn't help but sigh. His original plan was to let An Zhi and Young Master Long fight to the death with each other, then he would come out and reap the rewards. Unfortunately, Young Master Long took care of An Zhi without suffering too much of a loss. Now Mu Chen had no choice but to act himself. Once Young Master Long subdued the spirit, it would be too late.

Mu Chen sighed and walked into the fire cave.

Hearing footsteps echoing inside the tunnel, Young Master Long turned around.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to hold it any longer," he sneered and raised his hand at Mu Chen. A talisman in his hand flickered with soft light.

Young Master Long wasn't stupid. He knew someone else was eyeing the fire spirit. So he pretended to subdue the spirit, while he charged a talisman in secret.

"Is this how you welcome your friends?" Mu Chen saw the talisman in Young Master Long's hands, but he wasn't scared.

"Friends? Do you even know who I am?" Young Master Long snorted. "I'm Long Aotian from the Long Clan," he said with pride. How could he be acquainted with someone like Mu Chen, who wasn't even wearing a complete set of robes. But when he stared at Mu Chen's face, he felt it was vaguely familiar. "Wait, why do you look familiar? Have we met before?"

Long Aotian racked his brain but couldn't recall where he had seen Mu Chen.

"Well… It's good to see that you are wearing clothes," Mu Chen chuckled.

Mu Chen's words struck Long Aotian like thunder and he almost lost his balance. He pointed at Mu Chen with a trembling finger. "It was you!"

"It's a small world," Mu Chen shrugged. He took a look at An Zhi, then his eyes fell on the fire spirit.

Young Master Long noticed Mu Chen's gaze and understood his intentions. "If you know what's good for you, you should leave here immediately."

"You think you can drive me away with just words?" Mu Chen looked at Long Aotian with a playful grin.

Long Aotian saw Mu Chen wasn't fazed and felt helpless. The golden halo of protection had already expired. In his attempt to subdue the spirit and fight An Zhi, he had already consumed a lot of his strength. If it was some ordinary cultivator, he wouldn't have been so hesitant even if he wasn't at his full strength. He couldn't see Mu Chen's cultivation, but he knew Mu Chen was someone who even dared to sneak into the Ming Dynasty's Palace. What was even more shocking was that he escaped unscathed. If they fought, he wasn't sure of victory. Moreover, it was more important to secure the fire spirit first.

Long Aotian sighed and lowered the talisman. "What do you want to leave me alone?" he said. In the end, he chose compromise over pursuing uncertain and meaningless victory.

"Depends on what you have," Mu Chen said.

"A piece of spiritual jade," Young Master Long said and took out a piece of milky white jade. It gave off a rich spiritual aura.

"Do you think I'm here to beg?" Mu Chen snorted.

Spiritual jade was rare. It could be used for cultivation like spirit stones, but its biggest benefit was it could purify the surrounding spiritual qi and make it suitable for cultivation. So in the long run, it was better to wear it on your body rather than using it directly. Unfortunately, such a treasure was almost useless in the Southern Continent which lacked spiritual qi. But could still be used in this secret realm, which was quite convenient. However, it couldn't be compared to the fire spirit.

Long Aotian snorted. He took out the spiritual jade just to test Mu Chen. If Mu Chen was ignorant, he would be able to pacify him at a low price. But it was clear Mu Chen had done his homework.

Long Aotian then took out a wooden box and opened it. Inside was a clump of translucent blue-colored grass with fiery red tips. "Dragon soul grass."

Mu Chen was pleased. Dragon soul grass was something unique to the Long Clan and hard to get. It was very beneficial for cultivation. It looked like Young Master Long was willing to take out something valuable. But although he was pleased, Mu Chen's face was expressionless as he said, "Still not enough. You know how precious a spirit is. Add something more."

Long Aotian's face twitched and he didn't speak for some time. It looked like Mu Chen was determined to bleed him dry.

Mu Chen didn't bother him and waited patiently. Anyway, he wasn't the one in a hurry.

Long Aotian cast a glance at the fire spirit and gritted his teeth. Finally, he took out another wooden box and opened it. Inside the box was a deep red fruit that was shaped like a human heart. He was still hesitating when he said, "Longevity fruit."

Mu Chen's eyes lit up. "Deal," he said and agreed before Long Aotian had the opportunity to change his decision.

Long Aotian couldn't help but sigh. A piece of spiritual jade, dragon soul grass and longevity fruit was already a painful price, so when Mu Chen agreed, he didn't complain.

"You won't disturb me, and you won't call for others. You…" Long Aotian made several conditions and had Mu Chen sign a blood oath contract before he handed over the spiritual jade, dragon soul grass and the longevity fruit.

Mu Chen took the items and put them into his ring. "I won't disturb you anymore," he said and walked out of the fire cave. As he left, he sneaked a glance at the fallen An Zhi.

Long Aotian was still a bit skeptical at Mu Chen's departure and followed him. Only when he saw Mu Chen walk out of the mountain, did he breathe a sigh of relief.

After seeing Mu Chen out, Long Aotian didn't waste any more time. He slapped a few talismans near the entrance of the mountain and ran towards the fire cave. Time was running out. If he didn't subdue the fire spirit in time, the loss would be unbearable even for him.

Outside the cave, Mu Chen once more welcomed the cold air. He took out the piece of spiritual jade, the dragon soul grass and the longevity fruit. After confirming there was nothing wrong with them, he put them away in satisfaction.

"Not a bad harvest for doing nothing," Mu Chen chuckled as he stared at the entrance. But then his face turned solemn. "Round two is about to begin, I wonder who will win."