The Emperor gave Origin stones to Wu Lia, who started walking around the formation, placing the stones in specific orders and at specific points in the formation. 

Even the Emperor was surprised. How did Wu Lia know this formation so well? It was created by someone from this world. Wu Lia came here for the first time as far as he knew.

For him to know so much about this formation, this meant that Wu Lia's knowledge about formations was at the epitome since he was able to understand the formation he just saw. 

Was he a formation master?

While the Emperor was amazed at Wu Lia, he had already finished placing the stones. 

Wu Lia walked back to the center of the formation after finishing. 

The formation started shining once again. A light even brighter than before filled the room. 

It was so blinding that the Emperor had to cover his eyes with his hands. Barely closing his eyes had no effect. 

The light disappeared after what seemed like five minutes. 

The Emperor slowly revealed his hands and opened his eyes to see the room empty. Except for him, no one else was here at the moment. 

"He is gone. Finally, that mess is gone. I'm glad he didn't destroy my Empire. Even though it cost our Empire a lot in terms of the origin stones we had collected throughout the centuries," the Emperor muttered as he sighed. 

"Whatever, if that helps my Empire survive, that's a worthy exchange. I should prepare to leave now. The second stage of Trial will begin tonight," he let out as he turned back and left the room.  

...

Long Chen was sitting on the Snake Monarch, which flew without resting or feeling tired. 

Through the journey, Long Chen had his eyes closed as he cultivated and achieved another breakthrough that came faster than he had expected. 

He had thought that it would take at least one more month before he broke through to the second stage of Heaven Realm, but it already happened. 

Not only that, his Cultivation only increased faster. 

According to Long Chen, this might be because of his increased Law of Darkness which, according to Xun, was because of the Sword of Time. 

If that was the truth, didn't it mean that holding the sword was good for himself?

If he held the sword, it not only increased the Law of Darkness but it also helped his Cultivation? Also, he didn't feel any change in himself that Xun talked about. 

He couldn't help but wonder if Xun was actually being honest. 

Xun wasn't actually someone he could trust entirely. Xun, unknowingly, supported Tian Shen's scheme. Tian Shen wanted Long Chen to reach full bloodline awakening so he could steal his bloodline and absorb him. 

To counter that, Long Chen needed to have as high Cultivation as he possibly could to face Tian Shen when that time came. 

It was entirely possible that Xun didn't want his Cultivation to increase at a rate faster than his bloodline because that was going to make it tough for Tian Shen. It was possible that Xun was lying to him only for that?

Was she faking the harms? Or was it actually the truth? He knew that he had taken a few short-tempered decisions, but they weren't that odd, were they? He couldn't help but wonder.

Was he actually influenced by the sword? Or was Xun exaggerating? Whatever being the case, he needed strength. He needed to be strong enough to survive against Tian Shen, who was going to come for him when his Bloodline awoke entirely. 

And this was something that could help him. Even if it was a little risky, this was important too. 

He wondered if he should use the sword more while ignoring Xun's warning. 

It was something that made him think a lot. There were many things to consider, but in the end, he decided to do it. He chose to use the Sword of Time in most of his battles and when training. 

As he wasn't training on top of the Snake Monarch, he didn't pull out the Sword of Time. 

Instead, he focused all his head on Cultivation instead. 

Long Chen kept his eyes closed even when he wasn't Cultivating and only thinking. Zhiqing was getting bored sitting in the back, just watching Long Chen. But at least he seemed a bit better. She worried a bit less for him since he seemed fine.

The only concerning thing was that he was angry at Mingyu. 

That was something that could be solved. As long as he was fine, it only needed some time before he could calm down and go back to Mingyu. 

...

A portal opened in one of the Royal palaces in this world of Fengshu. 

It was in the same place where Long Chen, Qian Yu, and his team had appeared. 

Wu Lia appeared in an empty room where a similar formation was placed. 

He walked towards the door and knocked it. 

The guards that were placed outside opened the door.

"Welcome to Fengshu. You must be here for the Trials. Please come with us. We will show you around," the guards told Wu Lia, misunderstanding him to be a guest from another world who came here to take part in the Second Stage of the trials. 

"I'm not here for any trial. Get out of my way; I need to leave," Wu Lia said as he started walking away lazily. 

...

Long Chen opened his eyes after Cultivating entire journey. 

He was woken up by the Snake Monarch, who informed him that they were in the place already. 

"This is the place, right?" the Snake Monarch asked.

"As long as you followed the route I told you, this should be the right place. Just to make sure, go down. I should ask someone if this is the right place," Long Chen replied as he looked at the city up ahead. 

"Alright." the Snake Monarch agreed. "So should I stop outside the city? To not attract attention?*

"Who cares about attention? I already offended an Emperor in this world. It doesn't matter if I offend a King or two along the way," Long Chen lazily said. 

"Hahaha! That's like the partner of this great king!" the Snake Monarch said as he laughed out loud. "I don't know what changed you, but I like you getting bold. You used to be so careful like a kid. You've grown up! That's right. When you have strength, you don't need to hide it."

Snake Monarch seemed somewhat happy at Long Chen's change, who seemed a bit bold. The Snake Monarch already found it annoying to hide always. 

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