Chương 332: Exposing the Hong clan chief

The aura surrounding crimson Chen got increasingly stronger untill everyone present felt like a mountain was weighing down on their chests, making even breathing exceedingly hard. Long Feng's pupils returned to normal as he stared at the pillar of energy around crimson Chen.

"He was already at the point of breakthrough, but he was suppressing it. The combined attacks of all of them caused him to lose control and his breakthrough began. The pillar of energy combined with his powerful aura granted him a form of protection while his breakthrough lasted. Several minutes passed and everyone's hearts hanged in their throats as they waited. As time passed, crimson Chen's aura slowly reached a peak and the pillar of energy began to fade away.

When it completely vanished, crimson Chen was revealed. His appearance was extremely haggard and pitiful, but his aura was several times stronger than before. His eyes were closed for a minute before he slowly opened them and swept his gaze across the entire battlefield. Everyone instantly felt their hearts shaking ever so slightly. Crimson Chen's aura had overwhelmingly surpassed that of his previous opponents. Their combined aura couldn't match him at all.

He stared at them with two crimson pupils that seemed to hide a deep pool of blood, then he opened his mouth and grinned.

"Terrified? Jejejejeje! You will all become sacrifices to honor my breakthrough from mortality to deity!" His aura began to rise even further as he prepared to make a move. All of a sudden, his aura deflated like a popped balloon and be coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. The sudden change startled everyone for a few seconds.

"Right, even though his breakthrough came at the right time, that doesn't change the fact that he is severely injured. The final combined attacks must've left him in a bad state even with his breakthrough." Long Feng realized as he regained his calm. The others also realized this.

"He's injured!" Yun Fei exclaimed.

"That right, and he just became a deity. He can't fully utilize his new strength, nor does he possess any true essence. He needs time to convert some of his Imperial energy into true essence!" A peak Imperial of the Cao clan shouted.

"This is our chance. Cause his injuries to backlash against him!" Zhou Kui flourished his spear and the tip cackled with lightning. He seemed to turn into a lightning bolt that charged towards crimson Chen first, his rudimentary spear Intent and rudimentary thunder intent melding together to unleash the most desperate attack he had ever used in his life. Yun Fei and the others moved as well, pouring every ounce of energy in their bodies to make one last desperate attacks.

If even these failed to repel crimson Chen, then they would all lose their lives here today. The dazzling attacks interwined together and shot towards crimson Chen at the same time. Crimson Chen's eyes widened as he let out a roar and blocked with everything he had. He managed to dispel the attacks, but he was sent flying backwards. His injuries worsened and he coughed up another mouthful of blood before he stabilized himself unstably.

His eyes blazed with anger as me raised his arms to make a move, but he immediately coughed up a third mouthful of blood mixed with tiny parts of his inner organs. His injuries were evidently extremely severe. Fighting right now was impossible for him as well. The previous attacks had severely weakened his body, so even with his breakthrough, he would need to recover and spend some time getting used to his new strength before he could learn to wield it perfectly.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Most importantly, he would need to go into seclusion to form his own true essence. That was only when he would be considered as a real early stage deity. Glaring at the youths before him, crimson Chen gritted his teeth and turned into a streak of blood red light that flew away, vanishing in the blink of an eye. The moment his aura vanished, everyone let our sighs of exhaustion and relief.

At the same time, a heavy pressure filled their hearts. The iron blood gang was no more but… crimson Chen had escaped, and he was not longer an imperial. Instead, he had become a real deity. The Ren clan members and the Hong clan members couldn't help but feel terrified at the thoughts of a deity seeking them for vengeance. It would be an absolute bloodbath. The geniuses in the sky finally relaxed and they nearly fell from the sky.

The physical and mental exhaustion were too extreme, and combined with their nearly life threatening injuries, none of them were even in the mood to exchange words. They merely exchanged glances and nodded at each other before they flew away, looking for a hidden place to recover. None of them wanted to stay in this blasted swamp region for even a minute longer. They had completely enraged a new deity. Once crimson Chen fully consolidated his new cultivation, he would certainly come to seek revenge.

They would be crazy to wait for his return. As they flew away, the Hong clan chief watched them all leaving with a strange glint in his eyes. His fingers hidden under his sleeves were beginning to move extremely slowly while a glint flashed through his eyes. All of a sudden, a person appeared before him, causing him to halt his actions.

"Hong clan chief?" Long Feng smiled at the clan chief and noticed his deep frown. The from immediately gave way to a bright smile.

"So it's young friend Long Feng. We finally got rid of the iron blood gang. Although it's a pity that crimson Chen escaped, there was nothing anyone could do." He sighed softly, expressing worry on his face. Long Feng observed his expression with a thin smile suddenly hanging on his lips.

"Indeed. It's a pity. The Hong clan will have to find a way to prepare for his return." He replied. The Hong clan chief nodded.

"We will handle that, young friend. I am really sorry that you were unable to complete your mission after all. Ah, look at me being so long-winded. Do not mind me. Please, feel free to tell me whatever is on your mind." He chuckled and smiled courteously.

"Oh, I just happened to be curious about something."

"What is? Ask whatever you want to know young friend. I'll answer you to the best of my abilities. The Hong clan chief patted his chest and replied seriously.

"Hm." Long Feng nodded, his gaze never moving from the old man's face.

"Don't you find it weird that one of the two rank eight Imperial realm brothers of crimson Chen was missing?" He asked suddenly. The Hong clan chief revealed a look of surprise on his face.

"Ah, now that you mention it, that's true. But if young friend can recall, there was a rank nine Imperial leading the iron blood gang as well as another rank eight Imperial realm master. If you ask me, I think those two are his brothers. One of them just happened to make a lucky breakthrough to rank nine Imperial realm."

"That makes sense. But I also recall that crimson Chen said they killed his brother, not his brothers. That can only mean one person. Also, there are some loopholes that don't add up at all." Long Feng paused briefly to study the old man's unchanging expression before he continued, "Like why you are having a face changing formation just like crimson Chen had?" The Hong clan chief's facade instantly fell. His eyes abruptly overflowed with killing intent while his expression turned savage.

A blood light covered his arm as he clawed at Long Feng's throat in a split second.

"Die!" He roared, aiming to rip Long Feng's throat open. He had already noticed that Long Feng wasn't hiding his cultivation. Instead, he really was a weak rank nine spirit realm warrior, which would explain why he didn't dare to join the fight earlier. The Hong clan chief believed that his claw would easily tear Long Feng's entire neck apart and claim his life. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong person to underestimate.

The Imperial armament sword was already in Long Feng's grasp before the clan chief could even notice it. A terrifying sword intent flared for a brief moment before vanishing and Long Feng sheathed back his sword calmly, staring at the clan chief's dilated pupils indifferently.

"H-how…" the old man murmured as a thin line appeared on his neck. As he stared at Long Feng's cold gaze, his consciousness began to fade away. His final thoughts was exactly how did Long Feng's sword appear so fast and kill him without him being able to resist?

"Your plan failed. You killed the Hong clan chief and took his identity to hide in the Hong clan, Crimson Chen killed Ren Hua as well and became the Ren clan chief, leaving the third person who recently broke through to rank nine Imperial realm to lead the gang and avoid suspicion while you and crimson Chen plan to slaughter the supreme heaven sect and Cao clan's disciples… great plan. You very nearly succeeded. But you see, you made an error. Concealment and face changing formations don't work on me at all."

Long Feng's voice filled the old man's mind right before his head fell off. A shocked silence filled the surroundings as the Ren and Hong clansmen watched the Hong clan chief die to a single sword slash. The power behind that sword was definitely shocking to actually kill a rank eight Imperial instantly. Long Feng turned out and stared at the great elder of the Hong clan. The old man shivered and immediately fell to his knees in terror.

"Please spare my life young master! I was helpless to resist! I had to do as they wanted! Please be merciful!" He began to plead, banging his forehead on the ground repeatedly till his head was bruised badly. Long Feng stared at him coldly for a few seconds before he moved his gaze to the confused members of the Hong clan around.

"The true Hong clan chief is dead, probably killed a while ago. This is one of the two brothers of crimson Chen." He calmly explained and picked up the head. The formation on it slowly unraveled, revealing a gruesome middle aged face that wasn't at all similar to the Hong clan chief's friendly old face. Long Feng placed the head into his void ring.

"That's one. Two more to go." He murmured as spread his soul power outwards. A few seconds later, his eyes brightened.

"Found it!" He vanished and appeared at another part of the battlefield. Before him was the head of the first rank nine Imperial who led the iron blood gang. This was the second of the two brothers. Long Feng's guess was that he reached the peak Imperial realm recently, which would explain his weakness. Crimson Chen secretly killed the chief of the Ren clan and took his place while the third of them killed the Hong clan chief and similarly took his place.

That way, they both seamlessly inserted themselves into the core of the two different clans. They were aware of the arrival of the disciples sent to destroy them, and their plan was precisely to kill these disciples, take their treasures and go into hiding for a few years. The loss of the iron blood gang wouldn't matter as long as even a single one of the three brothers lived. They could recreate the gang anywhere.

Their plan was actually going smoothly, but Long Feng had already noticed the face changing formation the moment he met the Hong clan chief. He was suspicious but he didn't think much of it until he saw an extremely weak 'crimson chen' as well as the weak rank eight Imperial. That rank eight Imperial just happened to be a member of the iron blood gang who made a lucky breakthrough recently.

Long Feng's silver Radiance Immortal's Sight had easily seen through the face changing formation of the Ren clan chief when he arrived and he immediately began to piece things together. Even then, his guess had deviated slightly from the facts. He was also surprised by how everything turned out. He had easily acquired two of the three required heads without stressing himself much. All that was left was one more head, and it was the most important of them all; crimson Chen himself.