Originally, Xiao Chen had expected that after news of him returning spread, these people would be self-aware and leave.

Now, it looked like his thinking had been too simple. These factions occupying the satellite islands of Heavenly Star Island not only showed no intention of leaving but even allied with Black Flame Island.

As Xiao Chen watched the huge ship slowly sail further away, a shadow flickered in his heart. He said to himself, “It looks like we will have to rush the repair of the transportation formation. There will be a huge battle soon.”

When he returned to Heavenly Star Island, he first went to find Lan Shaobai and spoke of what he just saw.

Lan Shaobai thought for a while after he heard this. Then, he said, “There are eight big factions, the strongest of which is the Metal Blood Sect. The Metal Blood Sect’s Sect Master, Chen Ming, is a Great Perfection quasi-Emperor equal to Elder Qin.”

Xiao Chen was startled. He was quite clear on Elder Qin’s strength.

Elder Qin had long reached peak Great Perfection quasi-Emperor. Although he was limited by his age and potential, which made it difficult for him to break through to Consummation quasi-Emperor, he was at the peak among Great Perfection quasi-Emperors. If a Consummation quasi-Emperor did not make a move, it would be very hard to find a quasi-Emperor who could match him.

If Xiao Chen wanted to defeat Elder Qin, he would need more than a hundred moves to do so. If he got careless, he might even suffer severe injuries.

Elder Qin cultivated honestly without taking any shortcuts.

After being stuck at a bottleneck without being able to advance, Elder Qin could only continuously temper the Law Energy that he already possessed.

Now, his completed Heavenly Seal was very tough. When he wanted to drive the power of the world, it was as simple as raising his hand.

It was not good news that Chen Ming was as strong as Elder Qin. Furthermore, there was still Zhuang Zhenghe hiding behind him. Just thinking about it gave Xiao Chen a headache.

Lan Shaobai said, “There is no need to worry. Mo Chen already restored a portion of the defensive formations connecting Heavenly Star Island and seven of the satellite islands. As long as no Consummation quasi-Emperor appears, it will be fine. Heavenly Star Island is not going to be easy to take down.”

When Xiao Chen heard that, he rejoiced. He finally received some good news. Black Flame Island’s Amitabha Buddha Dharmic Body could not leave its island; hence, Heavenly Star Island was now significantly safer.

Wait, that’s not right! Xiao Chen reacted and asked, “Isn’t Mo Chen restoring the transportation formation?”

Lan Shaobai smiled bitterly and replied, “She’s been very busy during this time, running around, finding time to do both. She’s been at it nonstop. No matter what I say, she does not listen.

“Originally, I laughed at her for being a worrywart. Now that you are back, how could those factions dare to do anything? Unexpectedly, she hit it right on the nail. She believed that these factions would be driven to desperate actions, since their greed will not change, and they would end up gambling with their lives.”

“Where is she?” Xiao Chen asked.

“She is at the mountain, repairing the transportation formation.”

Right after Lan Shaobai spoke, a strong wind blew, and there was flash. Xiao Chen vanished from his sight, rushing to the mountain where the transportation formation was.

Lan Shaobai smiled and sighed softly after that, “I originally thought that after the Purple-Clad Marquis’ descendant died, the first person to come and seek trouble would be the Purple-Clad Marquis. Unexpectedly, these small factions took action first.

“I have to call them out of closed-door cultivation in advance.” He prepared to call Yue Chenxi and the others from seclusion. Otherwise, there would not be enough people.

---

At the platform where the transportation formation was, Xiao Chen saw Mo Chen hard at work restoring the transportation formation. Her eyes showed unconcealable fatigue. However, her actions still looked very organized and unhurried, belying her weariness.

“You’re here.”

Mo Chen raised her head and shot Xiao Chen a glance before returning to what she was doing.

She pressed her hands against the ground, nervously using her Law Energy to mend the various broken formation lines.

There were still a lot of cluttered formation lines. The job was not over with just the repair. She needed to adjust them according to the layout of the entire formation.

One small misstep would require her to start over again. This really tested a person’s patience.

After some thought, Xiao Chen did not tell her about what he told Lan Shaobai. He asked in a relaxed tone, “How’s the progress?”

“According to the current rate of progress, I will need about another half month.”

Xiao Chen was somewhat surprised. This rate of progress was unexpectedly fast. After all, he also had a rough understanding of formations. He was very clear on how much work needed to be done, after checking the transportation formation himself.

Suddenly, something occurred to him. He asked, “Have you slept at all in the past half month?”

This question stunned Mo Chen, and her actions turned unnatural. She forced out a smile and countered, “You know that a quasi-Emperor has no problem with not sleeping for half a month.”

“Yes, but that is under the condition that you are resting by meditating. Clearly, you have not even done that. Go and sleep; rest for one day.” Xiao Chen’s eyes were like lamps in the darkness, seeing everything very clearly.

“That won’t do!” Mo Chen rejected Xiao Chen with a somewhat loud voice. She continued in a determined tone, “This secret realm is very important to you. If you can enter it earlier, then it should be so. Of your five years, one year has already passed. Now, you have only four years left. Every day I can gain for you is one more day you have.”

Mo Chen spilled the emotions that she could no longer suppress. This was a topic that Xiao Chen’s many old friends avoided.

Both of them appeared rather surprised for a while as the place fell silent.

Xiao Chen was surprised that Mo Chen still took him so meticulously into her considerations. She was surprised that in her anxiety, she spoke of the things hidden in her heart.

After a while, Mo Chen broke the silence. She whispered, “Big Brother Xiao, you should go first. I can deal with this alone; there is no need to worry about me.”

After thinking for a while, Xiao Chen said, “Indeed, this kind of work would just become messier when a layman tries to help. However, I cannot go. Just go on and do your own thing. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on you. I can even help with menial chores.”

Mo Chen smiled and said, “How can I dare make the Azure Dragon King do menial tasks for me? It’s fine if you want to watch. If I’m bored, at least I’ll have someone to chat with.”

What Mo Chen did not know was that for the sake of collecting ten Holy Spirit Veins in the shortest time possible, Xiao Chen likewise had not slept or even meditated for the past half month.

If she knew, she would definitely not let him remain here.

Just like this, the two remained on this platform without leaving, fighting for every second they could gain.

The sun rose and set. Although the work was dull, it was not particularly boring. After all, there were two people. When they were bored, they could chat with each other.

The time it took to restore the transportation formation was shorter than Mo Chen expected, taking only ten more days.

Now that the work was done, both of them released their bated breaths. Mo Chen smiled faintly as she looked somewhat grudgingly at Xiao Chen and said, “You did not even do anything in the past ten days; you might as well have gone to rest.”

Fatigue shadowed Xiao Chen’s eyes as he said, “Let’s not talk about this for now. Let’s begin. I hope that this Dragon’s Gate’s secret realm will not disappoint us.”

Mo Chen nodded and stepped into the transportation formation with him.

Xiao Chen did not hesitate to activate the transportation formation under their feet. Instantly, the scene of an extensive network appeared before his eyes, filled with many connected lights of different colors.

The green lights represented the transportation formations of the Martial God Palace. One could use them immediately to cross over.

The blue lights represented the transportation formations of external factions. One required approval from the other side first before they could cross over.

The red lights represented factions hostile to the Martial God Palace. One could not travel to those.

The white lights represented transportation formations abandoned by the Martial God Palace. There might be considerable danger if one went to those places.

There were many of these lights but only one azure light. It was special—unique. That was where the Dragon’s Gate’s secret realm was.

One could reach it only through the transportation formation under his feet. No other transportation formation could send one over.

Feeling some anticipation, Xiao Chen selected the azure light in his mind. Then, the two transportation formations started to connect with each other.

With a flash of light, the two vanished from the transportation formation in an instant.

Mo Chen finally finished restoring the complex ancient transportation formation after almost a month. Now, the two successfully entered the Dragon’s Gate’s secret realm.

However, let’s not look at the difficulties and war trophies that await the two in the Dragon’s Gate’s secret realm.

---

On the other side, the preparations of the eight factions neared their conclusion as well on Black Flame Island.

Under the lead of the Metal Blood Sect’s Sect Master, Chen Ming, the eight factions gathered and led out their troops, charging towards Heavenly Star Island. With over two hundred warships, the armada looked very grand.

However, even though there were many warships, only the Metal Blood Sect’s Metal Blood Warship was a King Grade warship; the others were just Sage Grade.

There was no other choice. The factions could use only this particular warship as the flagship.

The leaders of the eight factions, as well as the peak grandmaster-level and great grandmaster-level Martial Sages, gathered here. All of them showed grave expressions and appeared very careful.

The quasi-Emperors on the deck were very clear about what they were doing. They could only succeed in this operation. If they failed, only death awaited them. All their many years of hard work would crumble.

“Brother Chen, we don’t seem to see Zhuang Zhenghe around.”

The one who spoke was the leader of one of the eight factions, Fu Lianyun of the Lianyun Gang. He was already past three hundred years old and had reached Small Perfection quasi-Emperor long ago.

In the past three hundred years, he had led the Lianyun Gang everywhere in the chaotic Western Sea through many ups and downs. His faction could be said to have experienced all sorts of difficulties.

However, at this moment, Fu Lianyun felt extremely nervous with no confidence at all.

The reason was none other than the great fame of their opponent. After the Four Seas Hero Gathering, the name of the Azure Dragon King Xiao Chen spread everywhere in the vast Heavenly Starry Ocean. Everyone knew about him.

Xiao Chen managed to defeat all the outstanding talents with one move each, turning the entire Four Seas Hero Gathering, which was meant to showcase the skills of the various talents, into his personal stage.

Since ancient times, such a thing had never happened before. It had truly been an incredible sight, extremely flabbergasting.

When the leaders of the other factions heard what Fu Lianyun said, they could not help looking at the Metal Blood Sect’s Chen Ming. Like Fu Lianyun, none of them were confident.

Before the battle began, their morale was already low, which was not good.

Chen Ming smiled and said, “Everyone, don’t worry. You are all even clearer than I am on the situation of Heavenly Star Island. Zhuang Zhenghe will deal with the Azure Dragon King. As for the remaining people, I will deal with that Supreme Sky Sect elder.

“The rest is just a group of juniors. No matter how powerful they are, you all are surely a match for them. Furthermore, our eight factions are working together. We outnumber them by at least double or triple. We will definitely win.

“This is going to sound somewhat unsightly, but are you all still thinking of turning tail even now? Have you all lived so long for nothing?”

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