Long Chen agreed to be the judge, and immediately someone brought him a golden scepter—the chief judge's token.
"Damn, so loyal? Just give me a Heavenly Saint Divine Weapon? Long Chen was a bit surprised.
The elder who came to deliver the golden scepter was speechless: "That's the Judge's token. You only have it temporarily. After it's over, you must return it." Long
Chen naturally knew this wasn't a gift for him, just a casual joke. Long Chen was used to using knives, and such a shiny golden item was something he wouldn't want even if given to him.
The scepter was engraved with the Biyi bird and a dragon pattern. The dragon symbol symbolized authority, and the Biyi bird symbolized peace. With this scepter, Long Chen was the most powerful referee among all judges.
Besides the golden scepter, there were also unique clothing and headpieces. Long Chen had them take them away, saying he had no intention of wearing them—he looked like an idiot.
The elderly men had no choice but to take the items away, then left Long Chen with an exclusive chief referee nameplate. This way, he could freely enter and exit any arena, monitor the entire arena for cheating, unfair verdicts, or corruption and bribery.
"Boss, you want to see me?" At that moment, Qin Feng arrived. These past few days, he, Long Ziwei, and Gui Jiu had been extremely busy.
"Boss, ..." Qin Feng was taken aback when he saw the golden scepter in Long Chen's hand and the unusually conspicuous nameplate at his waist.
"The Elite Tournament for the Four Great Long Families is about to begin. Don't rush back yet—let's watch together." Long Chen said.
"But I'm afraid the academy will ...," Qin Feng said.
"It's fine, the timing hasn't come yet, and there's still time. We can't afford to delay it." Long Chen said.
The Qiankun Cauldron said there was still some time before the best time to cross the tribulation, and the major powers still showed no sign of activity.
Besides, if the time to cross the tribulation had come soon, the four great divine clans wouldn't have held this elite tournament. They would have already calculated the timing in advance.
Once the competition is over, you can still leave, which will give you plenty of time and you won't have to rush.
Battles of this level are highly rewarding to watch, especially for mercenaries who have rarely seen the world.
Long Chen planned to settle them at Lingxiao Academy in the future. With their potential, they would soon shine brightly there. Now, they already had the foundation to become strong, and after a round of observation, their instincts would be quickly stimulated.
Qin Feng was thrilled to hear Long Chen say this. In fact, he had already heard from Long Ziwei that this grand event was unprecedented in scale and would surely be spectacular. He was very tempted, but he was afraid of delaying the important event.
Long Chen told them to slow things down and invited all the mercenaries to watch the battle together. Although they couldn't enter the inner arena, being able to watch outside was already an unimaginable privilege for them.
In fact, Long Chen also wanted to secure an infield for them, but the inward space was limited. If they all came in, the Long family's inner and outer disciples would have nowhere to stand, so they could only watch the battle outside.
As for the opening ceremony, Long Chen did not attend. It was simply the four clan leaders showing their faces to offer some encouraging words, then introducing the top prodigies of each clan to introduce these people who were only known by name but never seen.
Logically, as the chief judge, Long Chen should have attended, but he was too lazy to socialize, and Lord Tiansi also thought it was better not to attend.
If anyone doubted Long Chen's strength at the opening ceremony and said something outrageous, he would definitely beat that person half to death on the spot.
So Long Chen said he wouldn't go, and Lord Tiansi didn't insist. However, as the chief judge, Long Chen couldn't stay in a temporary residence and had a dedicated cave dwelling.
The Long family has a high mountain dedicated to refereeing. It must be said, the four great divine clans place great importance on this elite tournament.
Because all referees, except for the chief judge, could only stay in the arena and the cave dwelling. During the match, they were not allowed to communicate with anyone. Any violation would result in immediate disqualification.
Although Long Chen was not part of this requirement, he was happy to have a leisurely life. His residence was very spacious because the dedicated cultivation room was designed entirely for those with Heavenly Vein Dragon Qi, and the standards were extremely high.
Most importantly, there were many guards around here, three layers inside and three outside, not allowing anyone to approach.
Moreover, the guards were all members of the Four Great Families, who didn't know each other and supervised each other to ensure the competition system was fair. This was truly commendable.
Inside the cave residence, Long Chen activated three layers of restrictions, so even if someone came looking for him, he wouldn't be disturbed. As for matters outside, Long Chen had already entrusted Qin Feng with full responsibility.
"Buzz!"
A sea of stars appeared behind Long Chen, stars swirling, and purple energy swirled. This was a unique phenomenon of Long Chen: the sea of stars was generating purple energy. Even without activating the Seven-Star Battle Body, his star power remained formidable in this state.
When the phenomenon was stretched open, Long Chen began to channel the power of purple blood, slowly pouring it into the star sea. It must be said, the purple blood power was the gentlest among the three treasured bloods Long Chen possessed.
She was like a selfless mother—whatever Long Chen wanted, she gave him. Suddenly, the softest part of Long Chen's heart was touched, because he thought of his own mother.
Long Chen took a deep breath, trying his best not to be affected by his emotions. After all, his father had already gone to find his mother. With his strength and wisdom, he would definitely find her.
"Buzz"
When the purple blood was poured into the star-sea phenomenon, the purple energy within the sea trembled slightly, then simply let the power of the purple blood pour into the star sea.
Long Chen was overjoyed; he hadn't expected it to be done so easily—so easy it was almost unbelievable.
"Purple energy?" Purple blood? Is there some connection between them? "Long Chen's heart skipped a beat.
The Qiankun Cauldron had him communicate with the starsea phenomenon using purple blood without much warning, clearly indicating that it had known all this long ago.
"Buzz!"
Purple blood surged into the star sea without any obstruction. The star sea trembled, and the purple blood and purple energy merged into one. Soon, blood talismans poured into the stars.
"Rumble rumble rumble...
But as these blood talismans merged into the stars, they were shattered by the sound of each star. Still, the blood talismans continued to pour toward the stars one after another.
After the blood talisman shattered, it transformed into countless tiny blood-colored symbols, resembling tiny ants. They merged with each other, working together to form a passage that delivered the talisman over.
The blood talisman continued to burst open and then merged into the passage. The more the talisman shattered, the longer the passage became, and the closer it got to the star.
"Buzz!"
Finally, a star was invaded by a blood talisman. The entire star sea trembled, and in an instant, a blood-red rune appeared on every star.
"It worked."