Long Chen was in an incredibly weak state. The sensation of his realm collapsing felt akin to having his insides torn apart. It felt like he was dying.

As the clan leader, the three Heavenly Saints, and the Heaven Overseer walked in, they were stunned by what they saw.

The divine pool, once filled with swirling mist and dense white divine liquid resembling milk, now lay still. The mist had dissipated, and the liquid had turned translucent. This indicated that the divine pool’s energy had been completely exhausted, rendering it unable to baptize more disciples. At the very least, it would take hundreds of years to recover.

This was why they were all shocked and enraged. They had been in discussions about what to do next and were prepared to speak with Long Chen. However, when he didn’t emerge, they finally decided to check on him. The sight that greeted them nearly caused the clan leader to pass out.

Long Yaoting was furious. The amount of divine energy Long Chen had consumed was equivalent to hundreds of years of the Long clan’s preparations. They had only recently opened the divine pool to disciples, and some hadn’t even undergone the baptism yet. Now, it seemed irreparably depleted.

Meanwhile, Long Qianxue gently helped pull Long Chen out of the divine pool, her expression filled with shock. He had clearly been at the third Heavenstage, but now had plummeted to the initial Divine Venerate realm.

In front of Long Yaoting’s furious roar, Long Chen indignantly shouted back, “You have the face to ask me what I did?! Everything was going smoothly, when the divine pool’s power suddenly crushed me! I almost died! If I didn’t ignite my realm, I would have lost my life! Speak, was this your scheme?! Did you want me dead here, so my father couldn’t avenge me?!”

With things having turned out this way, Long Chen decided to accuse them falsely. Long Yaoting’s face then darkened, and he retorted, “What nonsense!”

“Nonsense? Do these injuries look fake?! Is my realm falling fake?!” scolded Long Chen.

The Long clan’s experts were dumbfounded for a moment. They had never encountered such a situation.

The Long clan’s Heavenly Fate Divine Pool was designed to hold a single person in it at a time. This ensured that the pool’s energy could slowly replenish itself over time. If someone absorbed too much energy, it could diminish the divine pool’s ability to regenerate. Thus, they would always give the divine pool a few days to recover between uses. Even a monster like Long Tianrui had only caused the divine pool’s color to slightly lighten. However, Long Chen had rendered the divine pool nearly translucent, a feat previously unheard of.

However, what they didn’t realize was that it wasn’t just Long Chen absorbing the energy. Huo Linger, Lei Linger, his dragon blood, his seven-color Supreme Blood, and his violet blood had all absorbed a tremendous amount of energy. On top of that, Long Chen had used energy to heal himself and also expended energy by igniting his realm. Altogether, the amount of energy consumed was staggering.

Despite being at fault, Long Chen shamelessly portrayed himself as the victim, shifting the blame onto the Long clan.

The Long clan found this whole matter extremely suspicious. However, they also knew how devastating a blow it was to any genius to have their realm fall like this. Long Chen wouldn’t possibly pay such an immense price just to set them up. To do so would be utterly foolish on his part.

“Long Chen, we definitely didn’t scheme against you,” assured the Heaven Overseer.

“Then are you suggesting it’s my fault?” demanded Long Chen angrily. Trying hard not to expose his fault, he also didn’t show the Heaven Overseer any courtesy.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Consider this logically. If our intention was to harm you, would we go about it in such a complex manner? Furthermore, if you did die here, we would still bear the consequences. The Heavenly Fate Divine Pool is the Long clan’s lifeline, so we definitely wouldn’t mess with it,” said the Heaven Overseer.

Long Chen fell silent, acknowledging the Heaven Overseer’s logic. His expression softened slightly. Seizing the opportunity, the Heaven Overseer said, “This matter is queer, but don’t doubt the Long clan’s sincerity because of this, nor should you doubt our intelligence. We wouldn’t do something so foolish. We’ll investigate this matter. Meanwhile, focus on recovering. Once you’re well, we can discuss the matter of the Jiuli Tower.”

Long Chen hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. “I suppose that’s all I can do, but I still maintain my previous opinion.”

“And what does that mean? Are you suggesting I had a hand in this?!” demanded Long Yaoting.

“My father once told me that people with petty minds rarely have good intentions. I’m not saying it was definitely you, just sharing an opinion. What’s wrong with that?” retorted Long Chen defiantly.

“You…!” Long Yaoting choked, clearly infuriated by Long Chen’s implication.

“Enough! That’s it,” interjected the clan leader sharply. “Qianxue, take Long Chen away. Let him recuperate.”

The clan leader’s expression was grim. He had never encountered such a thorny problem before. Dealing with Long Chen was proving to be exceedingly difficult, and at this moment, all the clan leader wanted was to remove Long Chen from the situation. He couldn’t bear to look at Long Chen any longer.

Long Chen grumbled inside. Why wouldn’t the Heaven Overseer take me away instead?Did they notice something? They shouldn’t have, right? Long Chen’s unhappiness showed on his face. Thinking that Long Chen wanted to talk back to the clan leader, Long Qianxue hastily dragged him away.

Watching Long Chen depart, Long Yaoting gritted his teeth. “That brat, he’s even more infuriating than his damn father.”

Long Qihua entered the divine pool in silence, immersing himself fully to investigate. However, upon exiting, he shook his head at the clan leader, indicating he found nothing suspicious.

“That bastard, how is he so troublesome?! He really pisses me off!” The clan leader vented his anger and frustration, glaring at the divine pool.

“I feel like that brat definitely did something!” declared Long Yaoting.

“It doesn’t matter. We have no proof. Besides, his cultivation base has fallen. He wouldn’t be foolish enough to sabotage himself like that. Ugh, it’s not worth discussing. Do your best to repair the divine pool. Many disciples still need to undergo its baptism. Mobilize the treasury’s resources to repair the divine pool as quickly as possible,” said the clan leader with a sigh.

“Increasing the rate that it replenishes itself will exhaust a terrifying amount of resources,” said Long Yaoting.

“There’s no way around it. Time does not wait for us. The Long clan is on the rise, and we must seize this opportunity. Now isn’t the time to quibble over money,” said the clan leader resolutely.

Although the clan leader was unwilling, there was no avoiding it. Even if they had to spend even more money, they had to endure it.

“Actually, I don’t think these losses are too bad,” Long Qihua suddenly interjected. “If we can obtain Long Chen’s Heaven Earth Cauldron, all our losses will be recouped instantly.”

As Long Qihua spoke, everyone present nodded in agreement. A sinister gleam flickered in Long Yaoting's eyes.