As soon as Jiang Yuhe agreed, the other three also nodded. This offer didn't come at any loss to them. Furthermore, they had the right to leave at any time. As long as they were careful, there should be no problem.
Furthermore, they had all seen that Long Chen truly was someone with extraordinary means. He should cherish his life even more than others.
However, Zhao Qinglong also added that if they really did fail, he would not split a Spirit King Pill with Jiang Yuhe. Clearly he was worried about her doing something to it. He couldn't trust her.
As a result, their agreement was complete. If they didn't find the ruins of the seventh branch academy, Zhao Qinglong and the mercenary leader would share one Spirit King Pill.
With this matter settled, they came to a mutual understanding. As long as there was no risk to their lives, the four of them would lead the way for Long Chen and the others.
The four of them were delighted to have obtained these two Spirit King Pills. However, they couldn't consume them now. If they were lucky and found the ruins, then they would each obtain a complete Spirit King Pill.
A complete Spirit King Pill gave them a one hundred percent chance of advancing to the Spirit tier. Unless they reached the point where there was no hope, they wouldn't be splitting these two pills.
However, they were unaware that these two pills had been personally refined by Long Chen. He had intentionally made them appear old just to dupe them.
Originally, the main ingredient of the Spirit King Pill was the Hundred Spirit Tree Peony's stamen. This was a plant that bloomed only once every thousand years. Only the smallest part of its stamen could be used.
Adding on the high difficulty and failure rate of refining the Spirit King Pill, this pill was a priceless commodity that rarely appeared on the public market.
Long Chen didn't have the Hundred Spirit Tree Peony. But he had the Wood Foundation Divine Trees. They were also spiritual objects of heaven and earth. By extracting its essence and merging it with the Divine Whisker Daffodil, he added completely different secondary ingredients to refine the Spirit King Pill.
Although he had failed an unknown number of times, he had limitless ingredients, so he didn't mind the failures. For him to have really refined the Spirit King Pill with his own unique formula, everything had been worth it.
His original plan had simply been to sell them for money. After all, when the Dragonblood Legion was gathered once more, he would need to pay to raise them. It was unacceptable for him to not have any money.
Right now, amongst all the medicinal pills that he had, the Spirit King Pill was the most valuable. Since the supply didn't meet the demand, he had made it his goal.
However, he hadn't expected that as soon as he finished experimenting with the new formula, he would be able to use it. A few Spirit King Pills were enough to make several Immortal Kings help him. It was definitely worth it.
In order to be safe, they discussed it, and they chose the Iron Blood Mercenary Group's leader to be the main leader. That was because he had been in this domain the longest. He had more understanding of that region than the others.
At the same time, they also brought their most capable subordinates. Zhao Qinglong's right hand man had already been killed, so he could only bring a half-step Immortal King as his attendant.
They discussed the plan. They decided to rest for a single night. The next day, Bai Shishi had fully recovered, and they went on their way.
It went without saying that as the local tyrants, these experts were well aware of the terrain in the nearby land. However, even the likes of them traveled carefully. They avoided the territories of quite a few powerful devil beasts.
The devil beasts that they could beat in this domain had essentially all been killed. The remaining devil beasts in this region couldn't be beaten, so they went far around them.
There were some places that they could fly, but some places that they had to stealthily sneak through. Due to there being no transportation formations, they needed to be careful. It took three days to reach the area that they mentioned. Long Chen clearly sensed a strange aura in this place, and Jiang Yuhe and the others' expressions gradually grew more and more serious.
"We're entering the dangerous area. Other than terrifying devil beasts, there are also tree demons that can suddenly strike and take your life without any warning. Let me just say this, if we end up disturbing something terrifying and our lives are in danger, I'm going to run immediately. Don't tell others that I was lacking morals afterwards," said the mercenary leader.
"Morals?" Long Chen laughed.
This laugh made the mercenary leader's face blush. This was the Vile Dragon Domain. There was slaughter and blood everywhere. Where was there such a thing as morals?
"Don't worry, if there's danger, I won't need you. You just need to lead the way," said Long Chen indifferently.
Although these experts didn't know where the ruins were exactly, they knew the general direction. This region was too big for Long Chen to search for it without them.
The mercenary leader nodded, and they continued onwards with their weapons in hand. They kept on the highest level of alert as they moved forward.
The jungle grew denser the further than they went. The light in this region also faded. Previously, they had been able to hear birdsong and insects chirping. However, in this region, all sound faded. It was a frightening silence.
Zhao Qinglong and the others might be Immortal Kings that normally killed people without batting an eye, but at this time, they were all tense. Their palms were sweaty.
It had to be known that this was a well-known danger zone. One slip up could be fatal.
The mercenary leader continued to lead the way. He was holding a special compass and constantly checking their position. In such a tense environment, even their sense of direction was being muddled. There seemed to be some mysterious energy here that also suppressed people's divine sense.
"Wait a moment!" Long Chen suddenly called out. Everyone paused and looked at him.
Long Chen took out a bow. With a twang of the string, a ray of light shot out.
In the distance, blood splashed. A strange monster that looked to be a cross between a human and a monkey with a pair of wings on its back was killed by Long Chen's arrow.
Everyone approached it and took a look. This monster had scales that looked like tree bark. It was hiding behind a large tree. They had been unable to sense it at all. They didn't know how Long Chen had managed to notice it.
"Ghost Wailing Ape!"
The mercenary leader's expression changed. He recognized this lifeform. It was not a lifeform of the immortal world. There was no record of them. Instead, it was the Vile Dragon Domain's experts that had given a name for this strange lifeform that had appeared here.
They weren't actually that powerful. Instead, it was their ghost wail that was their most terrifying ability. It was able to befuddle a person's mind. Even Divine Lords would be severely affected.
It was said that the Ghost Wailing Apes liked to eat people's heads. Once they befuddled people's minds, their sharp teeth would split open their heads and directly suck out their brains. It was an extremely vicious style of killing. Furthermore, they specialized at concealing themselves.
The mercenary leader and the others had not noticed this one at all. Furthermore, with it behind the tree, it wasn't even in line of sight.
"There are still three more." Long Chen shot three more wooden arrows.
In the distance, three light sounds rang out. They looked over to see three more Ghost Wailing Apes with arrows through their heads.
"Alright, the threat's been handled. Let's continue." Long Chen put away his bow. The mercenary leader and the others stared at him in shock. His ephemeral archery arts shook their hearts. This calm youngster was truly terrifying.
They continued advancing in the jungle for several hours. Just as they went past a large tree, countless vines on top of the tree silently fell towards them.