《Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)》
Chapter 5789: Violet Blood Forbidden Art
A dragon''s cry resounded across heaven and earth as violet divine light flooded the battlefield. Instantly, the disciples of the violet blood race were bathed in this sacred radiance.
Long Chen¡¯s divine ring gleamed as if enveloped by a violet sun. Faintly within its glow, an enormous divine dragon''s shadow flickered in and out of existence. As the power of dragon blood erupted from him, thend trembled violently. The battlefield quaked beneath his presence.
Faced with this overwhelming dragon might, every cultivator present felt as insignificant as an ant. This was Long Chen at full power.
Most frightening of all, his aura was still rising as if it had no limit.
Bi Yingxue and the others were left astounded. Even though they had held Long Chen in high regard, the true extent of his strength still managed to shock them.
¡°Don¡¯t let him umte more power! Stop him!¡± shouted Bi Ta.
His heaven veins ignited as he unleashed a devastating strike, no longer daring to hold back. A massive ray of Sword Qi shed toward Long Chen.
This giant Sword Qi shattered midair, fragmenting into millions of deadly streaks that rained down upon Long Chen.
Yet, Long Chen just stood there, his expression icy and his gaze as sharp as a de. He made no attempt to defend himself.
The violet divine light surrounding Long Chen effortlessly withstood Bi Ta¡¯s attack. The moment the Sword Qi made contact, it crumbled into nothingness.
¡°What?!¡±
Bi Ta''s eyes widened in disbelief. Though that had been a probing strike, he had used eighty percent of his power. And yet, even with that, he couldn''t break Long Chen¡¯s natural protective divine light? Just how strong was Long Chen?
On the other hand, the Luo family disciples felt their blood zing with excitement at this sight. Long Chen¡¯s power had exceeded all their expectations.
¡°Stop holding back! We have to kill him now!¡± Bi Tianxing roared, forming hand seals.
The void suddenly exploded, revealing a three-headed wolf. Upon its arrival, its aura of death covered the battlefield.
¡°The Three-Headed Hell Dog?! Bi family, you dare to betray our ancestors and cultivate this forbidden art?!¡± Luo Yanfeng cursed, raging at the sight.
The violet blood race possessed a forbidden art that allowed them to raise evil spirits using their violet blood power. This ability stemmed from their unique bloodline, which could nourish all things¡ªbe it heroic or malevolent spirits.
In the primal chaos era, countless evil beings perished in body but lingered as spirits, refusing to dissipate. If one set up an altar, they could lure these evil spirits using their blood soul power.
Once the evil spirits came, they would take root on the altar and absorb all the avable energy there. If there was enough energy, they could form a body that could shift between the tangible and intangible.
Normally, raising evil spirits was not a good idea. If the summoner couldn¡¯t provide enough energy for the evil spirits, the spirits would turn on their summoner and devour them instead.
As a result, this practice was forbidden. But the Bi family had clearly ignored this ancient taboo.
Bi Tianxing had used his Spiritual Strength to form a contract, offering his violet blood as bait to summon an evil spirit from the abyss. If the spirit was too weak, he could destroy it; if too strong, he risked being devoured himself. Thus, for him to seed, a powerful protector had to be watching over him, which meant the higher-ups of the Bi family were not only aware of this forbidden technique but had likely encouraged its use.
¡°So what?¡± Bi Yingxue sneered. ¡°You¡¯ll all be dead soon anyway. No one will live to reveal our secret.¡±
She formed hand seals of her own. The next moment, the space beside her distorted, and a three-meter-tall evil spirit with a blood-stained saber emerged.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Bi Ta and Bi Yong followed suit, summoning their own evil spirits¡ªone an ape, the other a dragon.
¡°Kill Long Chen!¡± Bi Yingxuemanded, charging at Long Chen.
Her evil spirit moved even faster than her, its blood saber shing at Long Chen. This saber contained a terrifying evil energy that sliced apart the void and caused ear-piercing explosive sounds.
Just as the saber fell, Bi Yingxue vanished and reappeared behind Long Chen in a sh. Her sword lunged forward, aiming for his back.
One attack from the front, one from behind¡ªa wlessbination. Clearly, she had honed her synchronization with the evil spirit to perfection.
¡°Die!¡± shouted Bi Yingxue.
Seeing no reaction from Long Chen, Bi Yingxue grinned wickedly. At this point, it was impossible for him to dodge.
But her smile froze the next instant.
Her de sliced through an afterimage.
¡°Not good!¡±
A chill ran down her spine.
¡°Watch out!¡± Bi Tianxing¡¯s warning rang in her ears.
Bi Yingxue barely managed to glimpse Long Chen¡¯s figure¡ªthrough her evil spirit¡¯s eyes. The spirit had instinctively turned its saber toward him.
In that split second, her vision shifted. She saw¡ her own back.
Long Chen was behind her.
At this sight, panic surged through her. Without hesitation, she stabbed her sword backward while attempting to leap away.
But she had barely moved before her throat tightened, and a powerful hand lifted her off the ground.
The next moment, blood sprayed into the air. Pain exploded in her chest as a saber pierced straight through her body.
The battlefield fell into stunned silence.
Long Chen had not only evaded her perfect attack but had also manipted the evil spirit¡¯s instincts to turn against her, using her as a shield.
Bi Yingxue stared at the saber impaling her, her gaze filled with disbelief. Through the pain, she saw the face of the entity that had struck her.
A sinister, gleeful face. A killing intent colder than death itself.
¡°No¡ª!¡±
Her scream was cut short as the evil spirit''s saber quivered. Power surged through her body.
BOOM!
Bi Yingxue was obliterated.
The enved evil spirit saw a chance to escape its bindings and directly took it. No longer bound by its former master¡¯s will, it let out an earth-shaking roar.
Its aura erupted, growing dozens of times stronger as it shed its restraints.
¡°Damn human, how dare you enve this lord!? Today, this lord will send all of you to hell!¡±
The evil spirit¡¯s chilling voice reverberated across the battlefield, sending chills down the spines of all who heard it.
Chapter 1: Memories of a Pill God
¡°Who am I? I am¡ Long Chen!¡±
¡°I look down on the very heavens, the arrogant nine heavens¡¯ peerless Pill God - Long Chen? ... I am someone who is cheated and bullied by everyone, a spineless, good-for-nothing cripple incapable of cultivating - Long Chen?¡±
His mind was a whirl of confusion, and at the same time, severe pain came from all over his body. Long Chen was unable to stop his mind¡¯s chaotic thoughts and emitted a pained groan.
¡°Chen-er, you¡¯ve finally awakened? Thank god, your mom was worried sick for you! If you want to brag about how strong you are, then fine, but why did you have to go duel with those people!?¡±
A kind and gentle voice sounded beside Long Chen¡¯s ear. That voice was full of happiness andfort, but towards the end, it also became choked with emotion.
Long Chen slowly opened his eyes. His blurry vision gradually became clearer, and a woman¡¯s face appeared before him.
The woman appeared to be in her thirties and she was extremely beautiful. However, in the corner of her eyes were some deep wrinkles that did not match up with her young age.
Currently, this woman was tearfully looking at Long Chen with eyes that were full of love, making Long Chen¡¯s heart feel a burst of warmth.
¡°Child, you scared your mom to death.¡± As the woman spoke, her eyes became even redder and her tears streamed down.
¡°Mom???¡±
Long Chen looked at this familiar yet strange face. He doubtingly said this one word, his face filled with confusion.
¡°Child, don¡¯t scare your mom! Don¡¯t you recognize me?¡± The woman¡¯s face immediately became panicked.
At this moment, an elderly man appeared beside the woman. He examined Long Chen and he said, ¡°Mrs. Long, Long Chen suffered a blow to the back of his head so it¡¯s possible he will need to rest a bit to recover his memories. Don¡¯t be too worried; just now I gave the young master some medicine. The medicinal energy still hasn¡¯tpletely dissolved, so just let the young master rest for a bit longer.¡±
Mrs. Long worriedly looked at Long Chen. Reluctantly, she nodded her head and followed the elderly man out of the room.
Long Chen heard the elderly man advising the woman softly in the distance, ¡°Mrs. Long, the fact that young master Long managed to return with his life is already infinitely lucky. Don¡¯t force it too much.¡±
Mrs. Long tremblingly replied, ¡°Master alchemist¡¯s meaning is that my son will¡¡±
The elderly man, who had been called an alchemist, sighed, ¡°The young master¡¯s hindbrain received an acute shock. To tell the truth, being able to wake up is already extremely lucky; however, the repercussions will definitely still be very severe. Losing his memory is quite possible in this situation¡¡±
The two people gradually walked further and further away so Long Chen could no longer hear them clearly... But what was barely audible to him was the sound of Mrs. Long¡¯s sobbing.
Long Chen gazed nkly at the ceiling above as he felt the severe pains throughout his body, especially at the back of his head which was bursting with swollen, aching pain.
Just what happened? I¡¯m Long Chen, and so Mrs. Long is my flesh and blood mother. How could I have such an unfamiliar feeling?
And all these confusing memories, where did theye from? I have memories that I¡¯m an arrogant, exceedingly powerful person¡ but at the same time, I remember that I¡¯m an often bullied and extorted bitter trash?
Pill God Long Chen? Trash Long Chen? Which is the real me? Am I the Pill God¡¯s reincarnation? Or am I a fusion of the Pill God¡¯s soul with a trash weakling?
Long Chen¡¯s mind was full of endless questions. ¡°Whatever, it doesn¡¯t matter. I am Long Chen. Whether I¡¯m Pill God Long Chen or the old, crippled Long Chen doesn¡¯t mean anything right now. The most important thing is that I¡¯m still alive.
¡°I have two sets of memories that have mixed together; how would I even try to fix this kind of insane problem? Instead, what I need to do now is to let myself recover as quickly as possible.¡±
Sensing his body¡¯s current condition, he quickly located many fractures. He had three broken ribs, one arm broken in two ces, and most severe of all, his hindbrain was injured to the point where arge portion of his scalp had caved in. He had definitely been victim to an extremely vicious assault.
¡°Huh, although I have no way to condense energy, my Spiritual Strength appears to be extremely powerful. I can actually sense everything within thirty meters of my body.¡±
Long Chen was pleasantly surprised. ording to his garbled memories, Spiritual Strength was invaluable, especially to pill cultivators!
Profit, profit! Whether he was the reincarnation of the Pill God or his soul just contained a mix containing the Pill God¡¯s memories, the present him had definitely greatly profited.
The Pill God had lived an entire lifetime already, and now that allowed him to possess an exceptionally strong soul; just what kind of awesomeness was this?
However, when he carefully examined his body, his expression changed. ¡°My Spiritual Root has been taken away. My abdomen¡¯s Spirit Bone is also missing a piece that appears to have been dug out. And my heart has a hole? Just who would be this ruthless and take my Spirit Root, Spirit Bone and Spirit Blood? No wonder I can¡¯t cultivate!¡± Long Chen waspletely infuriated.
His current Spiritual Strength was much, much stronger than his old self. It was now strong enough for him to immediately figure out the mystery of why he was a cripple who couldn¡¯t cultivate.
The Spirit Root was located in the Dantian; it was the foundation for all cultivators. Without the Spirit Root, there was no way to sense heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual energy, let alone absorb it for cultivating.
Spirit Blood was something that people were born with; it was a trace of blood that gave you innate talent. While basically all people were born with it, the majority of cultivators didn¡¯t know anything about it.
The Spirit Bone was found in the pit of a person¡¯s abdomen and slightly bulged out. Ordinary people wouldn¡¯t have a Spirit Bone. Even amongst cultivators, maybe only one in ten thousand would have one, which marked them as a genius.
However, Long Chen''s Spirit Bone was obviously missing a piece and had clear marks of being dug out by someone.
His face became exceedingly unsightly. If his memories were not all mixed up, then how could he not remember who had done this to his body?
Although these three things were precious to him, they wouldn¡¯t have any use once they left his body. If they wanted to harm him, why did they have to use such a harsh method? Using this kind of method was practically causing him to live a life worse than death!
However, anger only brought on more anger, and since he was already missing them, being angry did not have any use.
You better not let me find out who did this.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but gnash his teeth in anger. This was an extremely great blow to him. With him possessing a Spirit Bone, even if he had been an idiot, he would still have been an absolute genius.
But now some despicable bastard had caused him to be a useless person who was incapable of cultivating, causing him to be humiliated and receive condescending looks from practically everyone.
Just when Long Chen was about to furiously erupt, the door of the room was gently pushed open, and a pretty thirteen-year-old maiden walked in. This was Long Chen¡¯s maid who was called Bao-er.
¡°Young master, it¡¯s time to take some medicine.¡±
¡°Medicine? What medicine is it?¡± Long Chen nose sniffed slightly as he asked.
¡°This is something Mrs. Long paid an enormous price for. It¡¯s a Tiger Bone Pill that can quickly heal young master¡¯s injuries.¡± Bao-er replied.
She opened the small, borate case in her hand, revealing the medicinal pill inside. ¡°It is said that this medicinal pill came from grandmaster Yun Qi. The medicinal strength is very strong.¡±
Looking at the thing, Long Chen¡¯s face became a bit strange. Even this kind of ything could be called a pill? Its shape was extremely uneven and seemed more like a meatball.
Even not talking about the shape, its color waspletely ck and there wasn¡¯t even a trace of luster. If it wasn¡¯t emitting a very faint medicinal aroma, then Long Chen might even suspect that it was a ball of sheep dung.
After staring at the thing in his hand for a long time, Long Chen finally sighed. Someone who had ending up losing over eighty percent of the medicinal pill¡¯s essence could still be called a grandmaster? Long Chen bewilderedly wondered how someone could have created something so soft and mushy.
Pills could be divided into five grades: low grade, middle grade, high grade, top grade, and peerless grade. As for the pill in his hand, it couldn¡¯t even count as one of the five grades. Long Chen suddenly realized that this was just a defective good. It was a trash pill. Normally, alchemists would definitely not sell these kinds of medicinal pills since they couldn¡¯t afford to lose their customers. Oftentimes, they would be turned into medicinal liquids or just directly thrown out.
¡°Young master, don¡¯t daydream. In order to obtain this precious pill, Mrs. Long already sold off her own precious jewelry. You should hurry and take it,¡± urged Bao-er.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel some pain in his heart. His impression of his mother was that she loved him very dearly to the point where it was like he were drowning in love. It had reached the point where his mother would basically never refuse any of his requests.
His mother had done everything and anything for him. She had given birth to him while she was still young. She had been gifted with great beauty growing up, but now she was barely thirty-something years old and already had wrinkles in the corner of her eyes. Seeing those deep wrinkles, Long Chen knew that she had already sacrificed far too much for him.
Looking at the medicinal pill in his hand, he observed that even though it was a defective good, at least the medicinal ingredients inside it were not bad. Impurities took up over eighty percent of it, but it wouldn¡¯t have any problems healing his injuries.
Taking the medicinal pill, Long Chen ordered Bao-er to not leak any news of him out, excluding to his mother of course.
Although Bao-er didn¡¯t really understand why, she still trusted Long Chen and obediently nodded.
After taking the medicine, although Long Chen had no way to use cultivation to absorb the medicinal strength, he managed to guide the medicinal energy to his wounds by using his formidable Spiritual Strength, allowing him to recover extremely quickly.
The second day, Long Chen slowly opened his eyes. He had a smile stered on his mouth as he exercised his muscles.
¡°Excellent! Although that medicine was pretty bad, the medicinal ingredients themselves were of high quality. Other than my hindbrain, the majority of my injuries have already healed, and the amount of energy left is more than enough to heal mepletely.¡±
He slowly walked towards the mirror. Looking at his reflection, he saw a nothing-out-of-the-ordinary, handsome youngster with eyebrows like swords and bright eyes. Long Chen took a deep breath, ¡°From today onwards, I, Long Chen, will no longer be the previous Long Chen. I will rise above others.¡±
Although his body was still slightly weak, walking was no longer a problem. Long Chen left the room and saw that the sun had already risen from the east.
After pondering deeply for an hour, he called over Bao-er and gave her a list of medicinal ingredients for her to find.
However, Bao-er¡¯s expression became a bit embarrassed. Long Chen wondered what it was before quickly remembered that the current Long family was extremely hard-pressed for money, and Bao-er had no method to get a loan.
Otherwise, his mother would not have had to sell off her own jewelry, a part of her exceptionally precious dowry. The present Long family had already fallen into extremely dire straits.
Feeling around in his pocket, he found slightly over eighty silver coins. Although this wasn¡¯t a lot, it was enough to buy those medicinal ingredients on his list.
Bao-er worked diligently, and not even two hourster, she had managed to buy the medicinal ingredients. Long Chen immediately set about to measuring and dividing them into different portions before boiling them in arge bowl.
Six hourster, a very thick medicinal liquid was releasing a medicinal aroma. As Long Chen looked into the bowl with the cheap medicinal liquid, a smile appeared on his face.
¡°I, Long Chen, will rise above others, starting from this one bowl of medicinal liquid.¡±
Chapter 2: Despicable Scum
The medicinal liquid entered his stomach, and Long Chen hastily used his mind to guide the medicinal energy throughout his body, allowing it to merge into his bones.
Normal martial artists would let the medicinal energy assimte inside the Dantian in order to absorb it, and onlyter would they spread it throughout their bodies. However, Long Chen didn¡¯t have a Spirit Root; thus, his Dantian waspletely empty and had no way to store energy.
The only thing he could do was to allow the medicinal energy to scatter into every cell. Although this medicinal liquid was formed only from ordinary medicinal herbs, it disyed a surprisingly remarkable medicinal effect after going through Long Chen¡¯s pairings and proportions.
As the medicinal energy rushed throughout his body, countless pores opened up. It was as if every single cell had been in a state of starvation as they all began to crazily absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
BOOM!
A muffled explosion came from within Long Chen¡¯s body. His originally sealed meridians were all forced open and Long Chen couldn¡¯t stop himself from letting out a muffled groan.
When others cultivated, they would use the Dantian¡¯s qi in order to gradually open up their meridians in a step-by-step manner which would not cause any pain.
However, Long Chen couldn¡¯t do so; he could only borrow an external energy source. This energy was like the ocean¡¯s water flowing into a river field; its violent and ferocious nature wasn¡¯t something that just anybody could withstand.
¡°This pain¡ I will definitely remember this pain.¡± Long Chen gnashed his teeth. If it weren¡¯t for some vicious person stealing his Spirit Root, how could he have been forced to choose such a crazy method?
BANG BANG BANG!
Continuous explosions echoed out from his body as his meridians opened up one by one. Every time a meridian channel was opened, intense pain would wrack his body.
When all his meridians were finally opened, Long Chen almost fell into aa. He had to rest for two full hours before he slowly revitalized himself.
With the pain now past him, Long Chen felt that the pores from his toes to his head were all open. With every single breath he took, he absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
¡°Excellent, I can finally practice cultivation now that my meridians have opened.¡±
Long Chen sensed his body¡¯s condition. With his meridians opened, he could finally absorb spiritual qi from the world through his pores in order to nourish his body to be stronger.
In fact, although his meridians had only just been opened, that single change filled his body with strength.
He punched out, and the whistling wind that came with it made Long Chen smile. He hadn¡¯t endured that pain for nothing.
For ordinary cultivators, they first had to enter a so-called qi sensing realm. Only once they were able to sense qi could they enter the Qi Condensation realm.
However, Long Chen had taken an alternative path. By using medicinal energy to forcibly link himself up to heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi, he had managed topletely open his meridians, which was equivalent to stepping into Qi Condensation with a single step.
However, it couldn¡¯t be said that he had truly stepped into Qi Condensation. Although his body had been strengthened to the point that it was on that level, the Qi Condensation realm involved condensing cyclones of qi within the Dantian. Without a Dantian, he was not truly in Qi Condensation.
¡°Although I¡¯ve forcibly opened my meridians, my useless Dantian is still unable to hold the true qi. When I fight with others, there¡¯s no way I can keep it up for more than a few moments. This still isn¡¯t good enough.¡±
Long Chen went through his new memories. Almost all of his new memories were only about alchemy. But eventually, he found the only memory he had that pertained to martial arts: the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.
What surprised Long Chen pleasantly was that the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was practically custom-made for him. It was a secret technique capable of excavating even more of a person¡¯s potential. It didn¡¯t cultivate the Dantian, but the nine stars.
Those nine stars were contained within the body. Once they were all formed, they would be equivalent to nine Dantians. When he saw that in his memories, he almost jumped in joy.
But then as he continuedprehending this technique, he immediately felt as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown over him. To cultivate the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art required countless medicinal pills.
In order to condense the first star, the FengFu Star, he would practically need an endless amount of energy. If he wanted to rely on just absorbing the energy from the air, not even a hundred years would be enough to condense it.
In order to condense the first star, he would need an enormous number of medicinal pills. Without them, he wouldn¡¯t be able to cultivate in it.
His Long family was broke, and there was no way for them to purchase such a huge number of medicinal pills.
¡°I should first think of a method to make some money,¡± Long Chen muttered to himself. After changing his clothes, he left his room. At this time, it was already past noon, but there were unexpectedly few people to be seen in his huge noble estate, making it seem like an extremely deste ce.
Long Chen¡¯s father was the Border Suppression Marquis. He was currently away at the barbarian border. Long Chen and his mother had had to suffer many condescending gazes from everyone in the imperial capital over the past few years. Although they had the position of a noble family,pared to before, they werepletely destitute. In their entire estate, there were only ten or so maids who did some part-time work for them since they couldn¡¯t afford to employ more people.
It could be said that in all the aristocracy, they were the family in the worst straits, and Long Chen himself was the most destitute of the poor.
Phoenix Cry Empire was currently in a golden age of martial arts. Basically, everyone practiced martial arts. But as it had turned out, Long Chen¡¯s trash physique meant that he was incapable of practicing martial arts, making him someone that everybody would sneer at.
Opposite to Long Chen was his father, Long Tianxiao. He was the strongest of his generation and with him guarding the barbarian border, even if the barbarian tribes were to savagely attack, they would not have the ability to step even half a foot into the Phoenix Cry Empire.
Long Tianxiao was the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s military god of this generation, whereas Long Chen had been trash that couldn¡¯t even sense qi. It was impossible to prevent people from feeling that this tiger father had had a dog of a son.
Countless people would jeer at him, but Long Chen wouldn¡¯t care. However, that day, the Savage Marquis¡¯s son, Zhou Yaoyang, had ridiculed Long Chen by saying that he wasn¡¯t his father¡¯s son.
Long Chen¡¯s anger had immediately soared to the heavens. Zhou Yaoyang had obviously been insulting his mother as unfaithful! Long Chen¡¯s anger had even caused him to be muddle-headed and he had recklessly challenged his opponent to a duel.
However, his opponent was a strong person at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation while he was just an ordinary person incapable of even sensing qi. He had basically been asking to be disgraced.
As a result, he waster beaten to the point of losing consciousness and almost dying. He was sent home and the news caused Long Chen to be an object of ridicule for quite some time in the imperial capital.
Leaving his noble estate, Long Chen went directly to the imperial capital¡¯s Hundred Herb Market. That was the ce where all kinds of precious medicinal ingredients were sold. Right now, what he needed to do was to get an understanding of the medicinal herbs¡¯ market situation.
Along the road, there were quite a few people and when they recognized Long Chen, they couldn¡¯t help but point at him behind his back; however, Long Chen was already used to this.
But at the same time, he smiled bitterly inside. His own father had suppressed the entire barbarian border, which was an amazing, meritorious deed that protected the entire empire.
However, what had he obtained for that? This mother and son duo had been left to suffer from bullying and humiliating stares in the imperial capital, and Long Chen had almost been beaten to death. How could this be considered repayment? A group of people that were protected by his father had all given his son condescending gazes. Was this his repayment?
Long Chen quickened his footsteps. Although he wasn¡¯t afraid of this kind of stares, he would always end up a bit gloomy. But at this moment, his path was suddenly blocked by a group of people.
¡°Aiya, are you actually Long Chen? I heard you were beaten to the point where you couldn¡¯t even recognize your own mom, so how are you so lively that you ran out today?¡±
In front of Long Chen was a sixteen-year-old teen wearing gaudy clothes and sneering at him with two guards.
This person was also born as a noble heir in an aristocrat family and was called Li Hao. However, his position within the aristocracy was not high and his status was iparable to Long Chen¡¯s. After all, in the Phoenix Cry Empire, nobility and status were only secondary as strength was still the most important thing.
Li Hao was standing right in the middle of the road and if Long Chen wanted to go through, he would need to pass through him.
If it was the previous Long Chen, he would have turned around and walked back, but today¡¯s Long Chen looked at Li Hao, shook his head, and sighed, ¡°People say even well-trained dogs know not to obstruct the road. Looks like you¡¯re not even as good as a dog.¡±
¡°Long Chen, it seems you don¡¯t remember the lesson that I gave youst time! If you want to be beaten within an inch of your life again, then let¡¯s fight in the martial arena.¡± Li Hao¡¯s expression changed before taunting him once again.
¡°That¡¯s why I said you were a dog. Just go eat crap with Zhou Yaoyang.¡± Long Chen shook his head. He didn¡¯t want to waste his time on this kind of person. He needed to handle his own affairs, so he started to walk around him.
¡°Long Chen, you are asking for it!¡±
Li Hao couldn¡¯t help but be angry. He was not expecting that the always cowardly Long Chen would actually act in such an unyielding manner that basically didn¡¯t even pay attention to him. He stuck out his arms to bar Long Chen¡¯s path.
Long Chen frowned slightly, but just as he was about to say more, a person walked over and cursed Li Hao, ¡°Li Hao, you¡¯re the one asking for it! Just who do you think you are to dare threaten my brother?¡±
The person who hade was an extremely tall eighteen-year-old guy. His height was especially extraordinary at seven feet, which was taller than either of them by over a head. He looked very intimidating.
¡°Shi Feng, this isn¡¯t your business! It¡¯d be best if you didn¡¯t meddle in it.¡±
When Li Hao saw Shi Feng, all he could do was act tough even though he was weaker. Shi Feng was also a noble heir whose status was about the same as his, but Shi Feng was a strong person who had reached the eighth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation while he was only at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.
In addition, Shi Feng had an innate strength, which meant that amongst people in the same rank as him, only a few were an equal match for him. Therefore, Li Hao didn¡¯t have the guts to challenge Shi Feng.
¡°Brother Long Chen, I heard that that bastard Zhou Yaoyang beat you up. How about I help you vent your anger? ¡° Shi Feng looked at Long Chen and his expression became indignant.
Long Chen looked at the huge person in front of him, and his heart felt a bit of warmth. Shi Feng was the only one in the imperial capital who would consider him as his brother.
¡°No thanks, my enmities are something that I will pay back myself. Just don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Long Chen faintlyughed, patting Shi Feng¡¯s shoulder.
When Shi Feng heard Long Chen say this, he thought that Long Chen might be worried about his image and so he didn¡¯t raise the issue again.
¡°Let¡¯s go,e with me for a stroll,¡± said Long Chen with a smile, and he brought Shi Feng for a walk.
When Li Hao saw that the two of them considered him as just thin air, he couldn¡¯t help but angrily curse, ¡°Long Chen, you little bastard, if you have the guts then you¡¯ll fight me in a duel!¡±
They had just walked a couple of steps when Li Hao said this and they paused. From deep within Long Chen¡¯s eyes, a strong murderous intent was radiated as he slowly turned his head.
¡°You want to have a duel with me?¡± Long Chen¡¯s voice was extremely cold. Each word he spoke was just like ice shards that caused people to tremble in their bones.
Li Hao couldn¡¯t help but shiver. For some reason, he felt that today¡¯s Long Chen was a bit different, but his big words had already been spoken so if he was to act like a coward, then he would be the entire imperial capital¡¯sughingstock.
Moreover, he was already used to bullying Long Chen over and over, so with those experiences, he ignored the trace of fear that arose in his heart.
¡°Not bad, you dare to ept the duel?¡± Li Hao mocked in a loud voice.
¡°Not a problem, however, I want to add some stakes,¡± said Long Chen after a moment¡¯s thought.
¡°Adding stakes? Haha, your Long family is almost unable to feed yourselves, what are you going to take out as stakes? You could use your family¡¯s estate, or how about you be my ve?¡± mocked Li Hao coldly.
However, what he didn¡¯t notice was that in the corner of Long Chen¡¯s mouth was a callous smile that seemed to have some hidden intentions.
¡°Brother Shi, can you lend me your martial sword?¡± Long Chen asked.
¡°Take it.¡±
Shi Feng did somewhat hate to part with it, but he still handed his sword over.
Long Chen nodded and he quietly recorded this favor into his heart. Towards Li Hao, he said, ¡°This martial sword isn¡¯t top quality, but it is still worth eight thousand gold coins. For today, I¡¯ll just count it as five thousand gold coins. If you win you can take the martial sword, but if you lose, you have to give me five thousand gold coins. How¡¯s that sound?¡±
Li Hao¡¯s heart shook; Shi Feng¡¯s sword was made from top quality steel and was forged by a master. It was definitely worth at least eight thousand gold coins.
Today, this idiot Long Chen actually decided to use such a thing as a bet; Li Hao had long since startedughing cheerfully inside.
He once again sneered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. If someone were to lose, will he renege out of the bet?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry. I, Shi Feng, will guarantee it.¡± Shi Feng coldly smiled.
¡°Good, then let¡¯s go to the martial arena to sign the contract. If today I don¡¯t beat the teeth out of you, then in the future I won¡¯t be Li Hao.¡± Li Hao couldn¡¯t help being extremely exuberant as he spoke high-spiritedly.
Long Chen¡¯s face was still calm; however, within his eyes appeared some darkness. Li Hao was just one of Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s dogs, so Long Chen never paid any attention to him. But nowadays, they were always plotting against him; just what kind of hidden conspiracy was there?
However, no matter what kind of conspiracy it was, the truth would alwayse to light one day. Long Chen walked directly to the martial arena outside the imperial capital.
Chapter 3: Revealing his Sharp Side
In the Phoenix Cry Empire, martial customs were very popr, and so some disputes were unavoidable. Thus, a life and death stage had been built outside the imperial capital where people could resolve their personal differences.
As long as both parties agreed and signed the martial arena contract, then once they entered into the martial arena, even if they killed their opponent, they wouldn¡¯t receive any punishment from the imperial capital.
During most days, this ce was filled with bustling crowds, and today was no different. However, after a couple matches had ended, two youngsters walked onto the stage and caused an uproar.
¡°Isn¡¯t that person Long Chen? Why would hee here?¡±
¡°Yeah, yesterday he was almost beaten to death. Isn¡¯t it weird for him to be here today?¡±
¡°Hmph, I bet he doesn¡¯t want to live anymore and wants to get someone to beat him to death here.¡±
His father Long Tianxiao might be called the Border Suppression Marquis and was this generation¡¯s military god, but the people who gave him the title ¡®military god¡¯ were the poor people who had to suffer through wars and conflicts.
In the imperial capital, which was filled with rich people, everyone was in peace and prosperity; therefore, people didn¡¯t ce Long Tianxiao, who was born in amoner family, on the same level as them. And thus, only a few people in the entire imperial capital held respect for Long Chen.
¡°Long Chen, you piece of trash, why did youe back? Aren¡¯t you just holding up the action for no reason? Who would want to see your martial arts? Hurry and beat it!¡±
¡°Yeah, if you want to kill yourself then find somewhere without people. No one wants to see such a piece of trash, so stop wasting our time!¡±
In just a moment, the audience of several hundred people were all cursing loudly; none of them hid their disgust for Long Chen.
However, in an unremarkable corner further away, two maidens wearing veils were raptly watching him.
¡°Sister, that one is your fianc¨¦? Why does he seem socking? There are not even the slightest fluctuations around his body,¡± observed one of the maidens disappointedly.
¡°Hmph, if dad hadn¡¯t been so selfish, he wouldn¡¯t have arranged my marriage back when I still wasn¡¯t even born. It¡¯s truly irritating¡¡± responded the other maiden.
On the martial arena, Long Chen didn¡¯t even notice the two maidens who were spying on him, and he also did not respond at all to the jeers of the crowd. He merely indifferently looked at Li Hao.
Li Hao pointed out the people¡¯s uproar and sneered. ¡°See? You¡¯re an unwee piece of trash, and if you were smart, you would just bash your head in and die.¡±
Long Chen continued to only indifferently stare at him, not saying a word.
Dong¡.
The sound of a bell rang out, signaling the start of the duel. When that bell tolled, life and death were separated by only a fine line.
Due to the tolling of the bell, the originally rowdy crowd became silent; after all, it was a life and death battle. Who would know just when someone¡¯s life would end?
¡°Sister, this fianc¨¦ of yours doesn¡¯t seem to have any cultivation base while his opponent is at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation. Aren¡¯t you worried?¡± The maiden asked.
¡°Hmph, what¡¯s the point of me being worried? Him dying is fine. It doesn¡¯t have anything to do with me.¡± The other maiden indifferently snorted. But although she said these words, she had already taken out an extremely strange and ancient silk.
¡°Heehee, don¡¯t say you don¡¯t care, you¡¯ve already taken out your martial weapon. Looks like you do still care. And you know, although his cultivation talent is trash, he¡¯s not that bad looking. How about this, if you don¡¯t want him, you can just give him to me.¡± the other maidenughingly joked.
¡°How can a person be just randomly given to you? If you like him, you can wait for me to withdraw from the marriage arrangement. After that, you can do whatever you want,¡± responded the other woman angrily.
¡°Heehee.¡±
On the martial arena, Long Chen from the beginning until the end had remained as calm as water. Whenpared to yesterday¡¯s him who had been gnashing his teeth inplete anger, it was as if he was apletely different person.
¡°Long Chen, with your death near, you decided to suddenly be calm? Don¡¯t worry, due to the stakes you proposed, I won¡¯t beat you to death today.¡± Li Hao was extremely arrogant and confident.
¡°You sure say a lot of crap. Hurry up ande at me, I still have things to doter,¡± responded Long Chen in a slightly impatient manner.
Because the entire audience was very quiet, every single word of Long Chen¡¯s managed to enter the crowd¡¯s ears, and in a split second everyone watching the martial arena burst into jeering derision.
¡°Li Hao, what are you still waiting for? Hurry up and beat this kid to death! He¡¯s really causing us to feel too embarrassed for him.¡±
Some of the people present recognized Li Hao, so they called out to him.
A cold sneer appeared on Li Hao¡¯s face, and he was no longer hesitating; the power of his third Heavenstage of Qi Condensationpletely exploded out. His foot pressed down slightly on the martial arena, and he immediately shot out towards Long Chen, punching out his fist.
When Li Hao started attacking, the crowd below burst into cheers; the current Li Hao¡¯s appearance appeared very dashing and handsome.
¡°Nice attack, it¡¯s the Wind Jade Tree Fist.¡±
Some of the people recognized the move and cheered. However, the distant two maidens¡¯ expressions were both filled with contempt and ridicule.
Long Chen simrly also sneered. This kind of idiot move¡ªfilled with mistakes¡ªcould still be used against enemies?
The fist was smashing towards him and a strong wind whistled as it approached, but Long Chen seemed to not notice it at all and didn¡¯t move even an inch.
¡°Haha, this trash doesn¡¯t even know how to dodge,¡± sneered some people under the stage.
However, just when that ridicule had just been shouted out, Li Hao¡¯s fist came to aplete stop just an inch away from Long Chen¡¯s face.
The originally ridiculing crowd suddenly came to aplete silence. They noticed that one of Long Chen¡¯s legs had struck out and violently kicked Li Hao in the area between his legs.
The originally beaming with happiness and elegant Li Hao now had an expression like a purple eggnt. Long Chen¡¯s kick clearly caused him an extremely severe pain, making his facial features warp and preventing him from moving.
However, he might not be able to move from the pain, but Long Chen could. In just this brief pause, Long Chen grabbed Li Hao¡¯s hair, forcefully pulling on it while also strongly kicking out with his knee.
SLAM SLAM SLAM!
Long Chenpleted his actions in an extremely refreshing manner and in a short time, his strong and fast rhythmic actions gave people a very intense show.
The unpleasant sound of bones breaking came out from Li Hao¡¯s body. His nose was already caved in, his whole face was covered in blood, and he himself had already lost consciousness.
For a moment, not even one voice could be heard from the crowd. Nobody had expected that a strong person at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation would be beaten by a trash, who had no cultivation base, in such a quick manner.
Moreover, he had done it in the cleanest and most efficient manner. This kind of result was a firm p in the face towards the crowd that had been ridiculing him.
Even the distant two observing maidens werepletely shocked. Although Li Hao was nothing to them and could be easily killed with a wave of their hands¡
But Long Chen was not the same as them. From the very start, not a trace of spiritual energy had been used by Long Chen and he hadpletely relied on an ordinary person¡¯s abilities to defeat Li Hao.
¡°Long Chen wins.¡±
A voice came from an elderly man below the stage who was often in charge of the martial arena and its registration.
Long Chen¡¯s stomach fluctuated rapidly a couple of times, and it was only with great willpower that he managed to stop and suppress the killing intent inside him. Right now was not the time for killing people.
He had been oppressed for such a long time, and now that he had exploded out, it was hard for him to withdraw it. But as the rest of the world saw it though, Long Chen¡¯s actions appeared to be fromck of strength like he was gasping for breath.
Long Chen walked off the stage to the elderly man and received the sword that he had used as his stakes as well as a crystal card with five thousand gold coins on it.
The rules here stated that they had to hand in the stakes to the referee before the match; in order to show that it was equitable and also lowering the chance of anyone backing out during the battle.
After receiving the martial sword, Long Chen directly returned it to Shi Feng. cing the crystal card into his robes, he couldn¡¯t help but be somewhat excited.
Although five thousand gold coins weren¡¯t very much, it could help settle a bit of the desperate situation his family was in. It had been very long since they had received a stipend from the empire, and nowadays the Long family was quickly reaching the point where they couldn¡¯t even afford decent food to eat.
Under the attentive gazes of countless people, the two of them unhurriedly left. The two maidens watched Long Chen leave and immediately afterward, they also disappeared.
The news that Long Chen had beat Li Hao seemed to gain legs as it rapidly spread. In just a short time, the entire imperial capital learned of it. The news puzzled countless people; how could a trash who couldn¡¯t practice martial arts possibly have be this difficult to deal with?
But even with so many people personally seeing it as well as the news that Li Hao had to be carried back to his estate, quite a few people were still incapable ofpletely epting it.
Long Chen had wanted to split his earnings with Shi Feng, but Shi Feng waspletely unwilling. In the end, he quickly made an excuse that he had things to do before hastily leaving, not even asking Long Chen how he had suddenly be so powerful.
Remembering this favor in his heart, Long Chen directly went to the Hundred Herb Market. Entering into the Hundred Herb Market, Long Chen requested a catalog of their medicinal ingredients.
On it were very clear recordings of the various medicinal ingredients¡¯ names and prices. Long Chen saw the majority of the medicinal ingredients required to refine the FengFu Pill[1]. It was quite lucky that the medicinal ingredients for the FengFu Pill were not especially umon.
However, looking at the price, Long Chen¡¯s heart practically dripped blood. The gold coins he had now were only enough to buy three portions of the medicinal ingredients.
But he couldn¡¯t spend it all on these medicinal ingredients since he still needed to buy a medicinal furnace for refining, as well as to buy some other spare medicinal ingredients. The few gold coins he had were like a cup of water trying to put out a burning cart.
However, not buying it was also uneptable, so Long Chen clenched his teeth and spent twelve hundred gold coins to buy a bronze furnace of the worst quality.
He also bought one set of the medicinal ingredients for the FengFu Pill as well as arge amount of medicinal ingredients for the Energy Recovery Powder. By the time Long Chen left the Hundred Herb Market, the amount on his crystal card was only five hundred gold coins.
After returning home, Long Chen went right to his own room. Firmly locking the door, he ordered Bao-er to tell everyone that he was not to be disturbed.
He knew that his mother would hear the news that he had once again gone topete in martial arts. Afraid that his mother would worry, he purposely told Bao-er to block her. In any case, nothing had happened to him, and his mother shouldn¡¯t be too concerned.
Right now, he had to seize every second of every minute to quickly increase his strength. He was sure that the current Long family¡¯s predicament was not as simple as it seemed, and he sensed theing of a crisis.
The spiritual energy in Long Chen¡¯s body started moving, and a cluster of me appeared within his hand. This was a pill cultivator¡¯s agglomerated Pill me. But when Long Chen saw this ball of me, he didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry; this me was far too weak. The Pill me was formed from a pill cultivator¡¯s spiritual energy, and through special operating methods it was condensed into a spiritual energy me. However, the current Long Chen¡¯s Pill me¡¯s temperature was extremely low, even whenpared to other ordinary Pill mes.
In addition, Long Chen found that without his Dantian to support him, he couldn¡¯t maintain the Pill me for more than a quarter of an hour, which was far from enough time to refine medicinal pills.
Long Chen bitterly smiled. However, luckily he had his backup n, which was first refining the Energy Recovery Powder. cing the medicinal ingredients into the furnace, he refined them one by one. This time, he didn¡¯t use his Pill me, but instead used a normal fire from the wood.
When all the medicinal ingredients had been refined, he ced them into a jug of water to form Energy Recovery Liquid and after resting for a short period of time, Long Chen took a deep breath and prepared himself to officially begin the refining of FengFu Pill.
[1] FengFu is an acupuncture point on the back of the neck. Feng=wind, while Fu refers to the location of a ce that controls something. The name means that that location is the point where the flow of breath within the body is controlled.
Chapter 4: Condensing the FengFu Star
Nine Yin Grass, refinementplete.
Earth Dragon Root, refinementplete.
me Seed, refinementplete.
¡.
Over thirty types of medicinal herbs were refined one by one, using up over two hours of Long Chen¡¯s time and causing him to be covered in sweat.
Refining pills was not the same as simply decocting medicine. Every single medicinal herb¡¯s essence had to be extracted while at the same time removing the impurities, forming a powder.
However, the me in Long Chen¡¯s hand was of far too low of a quality and the refined powder still retained too many impurities to be ideal. Still, this was the only method that he had.
First of all, Long Chen¡¯s cultivation base was nonexistent, and thus he didn¡¯t have the necessary strength to sustain the Pill me, making its strength weak.
Second of all, currently, Long Chen didn¡¯t have the opportunity or capability to subdue a different me, so he could only settle for what he had.
But wanting to train in alchemy methods required not only a strong Pill me but also forceful spiritual energy, and the most important requirement was an exceedingly powerful Spiritual Strength.
The other two requirements were not that difficult. As for the Pill me, as long as you made all the proper preparations, you could seize a fire-attribute Magical Beast and gradually tame it into a house pet. Drawing on the Magical Beast¡¯s me, you could subdue it and cultivate it to be your own me.
Over ny-nine percent of capable alchemists used beast mes. Only a handful of people, who possessed extremely ancient inheritances of powerful strength, could control those extremely mysterious and mystical Spirit mes found within heaven and earth.
Spirit mes were mes that possessed their own soul and ording to Long Chen¡¯s memories, he had previously controlled an extremely formidable Spirit me.
But no matter how formidable he was in the past, right now he could only use this trash me for his pill refining. After all, the things in his memories were not things he could take out.
After resting enough, Long Chen took a deep breath. He ced a candle into his hand and a yellow me appeared.
¡°Not bad, after going through the refinements, the me¡¯s strength has increased by a slight amount. Whatever, it¡¯s better than nothing I guess.¡±
After consecutively refining seven different medicines¡¯ essence, he threw them into the furnace. His Spiritual Strength erupted out and the me in Long Chen¡¯s hand suddenly fluctuated. Compared to before, it was now several times stronger.
¡°Using Spiritual Strength to support the me. If other alchemists saw this, wouldn¡¯t they get shocked to death?¡± Long Chen bitterly smiled.
Spiritual Strength was the foundation of any pill refinement. At the time of refining, arge amount of Spiritual Strength was needed in order to control the temperature. If even a slight deviation urred, it would waste all of your previous efforts and you would end up refining a pile of pill ashes. Moreover, if the medicinal pill had a veryrge medicinal strength, then you might even cause a furnace explosion.
Most alchemists wouldn¡¯t start using their Spiritual Strength right at the beginning of the refinement. They would only use it towards thetter stages, when the pill was about to take form in order to very carefully control the me¡¯s strength.
After all, that was the critical time in the formation of the pill. At that time, the me¡¯s temperature had to constantly change, sometimes high and sometimes low, and doing so required arge consumption of Spiritual Strength.
If at that time, the alchemist¡¯s Spiritual Strength was already exhausted, then the furnace of pills could basically be considered as scrapped. However, Long Chen actually started using his Spiritual Strength right at the beginning of the refinement.
In addition, he used this precious Spiritual Strength just in order to increase the me¡¯s power, treating it like firewood. Any alchemist would definitely rage and curse at him for doing so. Even if someone was a reckless and frivolous spender, no one would actually spend it like this.
But Long Chen wasn¡¯t worried. ording to his memories, his Spiritual Strength was already notckingpared to ordinary alchemists.
Pill cultivator ranks were Pill Apprentice, Pill Adept, Pill Master, Pill King, Pill Emperor, Pill Ancestor, Pill Venerate, Pill Saint, and Pill God.
The FengFu Pill was a first tier medicinal pill and generally, pill cultivators who had reached the Pill Apprentice rank could refine a first tier medicinal pill.
Long Chen¡¯s current memories also included those of a Pill God, so he waspletely clear on his current capabilities. When Long Chen had awoken, his Spiritual Strength had changed to be abnormally strongpared to his previous trash self; therefore, Long Chen was qualified to use his Spiritual Strength in such a manner.
The pill furnace in front of Long Chen faintly trembled, emitting a slight buzzing noise.
¡°Hehe, by increasing the power of the me, the speed has increased by quite a bit.¡±
He hastily threw in three more medicinal ingredients into the furnace; however, Long Chen¡¯s forehead was already perspiring at this moment.
Hurriedly taking out a straw, he ced one end into the medicine jar which was filled with Energy Recovery Liquid and quickly drank a mouthful.
When the Energy Recovery Liquid entered his stomach, the pores all over his body opened and began to crazily absorb the spiritual energy between and heaven and earth. His originally about to be exhausted spiritual energy rapidly recovered.
This was what Long Chen had prepared earlier. Without it, there was no way for him to refine the FengFu Pill. With his current level, it would be a joke if he could actually refine a pill on his own without some kind of assistance.
With the straw in his mouth, every now and then he would draw in another mouthful of Energy Recovery Liquid to replenish his body¡¯s spiritual energy.
With Long Chen¡¯s spiritual energy being replenished, his Spiritual Strength could show off how extremely powerful it was, and it was only two dayster that Long Chen started to feel a bit exhausted. That was a sign that his Spiritual Strength had beenrgely used up.
However, at this time, the medicinal ingredients had already been absorbed into the pill furnace, so all that was left was finishing up. The medicinal aroma was also starting to fill the air.
Although Long Chen¡¯s impression of a first tier medicinal pill was that it was so easy to refine it could be done with his eyes closed, the current him was no longer the same Pill God in his memories. His destiny had already beenpletely changed and saying that he wasn¡¯t nervous would be a lie.
Buzz.
Suddenly, the pill furnace¡¯s interior started to vibrate, emitting a series of buzzing noises. The energy within the pill furnace also started to be berserk.
Long Chen didn¡¯t be even the slightest bit panicked; on the contrary, he even started to smile. This was the indication of the pill¡¯s formation and also the most critical time of the refinement.
His Spiritual Strength waspletely activated with not even a trace of it held in reserve. The me in his hand suddenly exploded out, and an incorporeal strength tightly sealed the entire pill furnace. This technique was called ¡®Heaven Seal Earth Lock¡¯ and was something that he hade up with from his memories. It was something used in order to prevent pill explosions and also, furnace explosions.
Moreover, this technique was very practical and could in the shortest period seal the medicinal energy within the pill furnace, not letting too much leak out.
Normal alchemists would all do this at thest step because when the medicinal pill would go berserk, it was possible to stabilize it by taking a more gentle action.
Although doing so would decrease the danger by a lot, arge amount of the medicinal essence would be lost, and therefore, the medicinal pill¡¯s quality would just be ordinary.
Bang!
Following the full suppression of Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength, the pill furnace emitted a smothered noise. After that, everything turned silent.
The pill furnace had already turned tranquil. Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but to gasp for breath. His whole body was drenched in sweat, and he was so dizzy that he felt the sky was spinning.
When he felt a bit better, he excitedly opened up the furnace. His hand was even trembling as he picked out five extremely round pills. Holding them in his hand, a dense medicinal aromapletely filled the whole room.
¡°Two low-grade pills and three trash pills. Tch, saying it out loud really makes me lose enough face to die.¡± Long Chen¡¯s face was showing how excited he was, but he still sighed.
Staring nkly for a bit, he couldn¡¯t help butugh. He had a mixture of a lifetime¡¯s worth of memories from a Pill God along with the memories of his current self. Apparently, that Pill God was truly excessively arrogant.
He himself didn¡¯t care about losing any face though, and he hastily carefully examined the pills in his hand.
There were two low-grade medicinal pills with their bodiespletely round and their pill aroma filling the air. The aroma refreshed the mind and raised a person¡¯s spirit when smelled.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t hold back a burst of tion. After all, one sessful medicinal pill could be sold in the imperial capital for at least ten thousand gold coins.
In addition, even the three trash pills in his hand were much better than the medicinal pill his mother had bought for him, especially since at least thirty percent of the medicinal essence had been sealed into the pill.
A medicinal pill that had locked in fifty percent of the essence would be termed low grade, and over eighty percent of all medicinal pills were only low grade.
If the medicinal essence reached sixty percent it would be middle grade, seventy percent would make it high grade, eighty percent would make it top grade, ny percent would make it peerless grade, and as for one hundred percent¡ hehe. Right now Long Chen didn¡¯t think too much about it as it was simply too far for his current self.
Some people might wonder about the difference between fifty and sixty percent content of medicinal essence. Was it a significant difference?
Wouldn¡¯t consuming two low-grade medicinal pills be much more effective than one middle grade? If someone heard you ask this question, they¡¯d probably choke on their own spit.
Inside a medicinal pill was not only its medicinal essence but also impurities. These impurities were unable to be absorbed by the body, and most importantly, these impurities would cancel out a portion of the absorbed essence.
The saying that each medicine had its own side effects was not just a colloquial saying but a hard truth. During the formation of a pill, it was difficult to avoid umting pill toxins. These kinds of toxins, if not taken very often, would not have arge effect.
But for cultivators, medicinal pills were often life-saving measures, and who would know just how many pills you would consume in one lifetime. When the body¡¯s pill toxins reached a certain degree, it would be a life-threatening poison.
Pill toxins were one of the most difficult to eliminate poisons. They prated deep into the flesh and bones and even the spirit. But the higher grade a medicinal pill was, the fewer toxins it would have.
It was for this reason that the medicinal effect of a middle-grade medicinal pill was over ten times greater than a low-grade medicinal pill. As for the price difference, it was at least a hundred times greater.
After collecting the five medicinal pills and cleaning up the medicinal furnace, Long Chen could no longer endure it and copsed into slumber.
After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, he felt two hands caressing his cheek and could hear some low-pitched murmurings, but he was too exhausted and incapable of waking up.
When Long Chen once again regained consciousness, it was already three dayster. His stomach was growling with hunger, and he wolfed down his food before once again starting his seclusion.
Consuming one trash pill, he used his Spiritual Strength to guide the medicinal pill¡¯s energy to enter the YongQuan point[1] on the bottom of his foot. That was the location of the first Star of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art - the position of the FengFu Star.
BANG!
Long Chen¡¯s left foot shook. The intense energy came from the bottom of his foot, and the ground under it became covered in cracks.
¡°Excellent, I¡¯ve already found the meridian channel as well as the exact position. Now I can genuinely attack it.¡±
Long Chen faintly smiled, and he took out a low tier FengFu Pill and directly consumed it. The pure and perfect energy erupted and under Long Chen¡¯s pull, it went straight to the YongQuan point on the bottom of his foot.
The YongQuan point trembled. Following the rushing medicinal energy, it was just like a dry riverbed receiving water, and it crazily convulsed.
BOOM!
A booming noise reverberated, and the frightening energy filled Long Chen¡¯s whole body. The tyrannical energy exploded out of its own ord, shaking the room into smoke and dust, with waves of energy surging about.
As the smoke and dust slowly scattered, it exposed a tranquil and refined Long Chen; his eyes filled with excitement. He could sense a pea-sized body on the bottom of his foot from which endless energy would flow out into his body, giving Long Chen a desire to lift his head up to the heavens and roar.
The activity from Long Chen¡¯s room caused the entire noble estate to be disturbed, and everyone rushed over.
Seeing his mother alsoing over, Long Chen hastily said, ¡°Mom, today is the day that the noble heirs can enter the Imperial College to study, I have to hurry over.¡±
After saying this, he left behind a group of dumbstruck people and a pile of destroyed ruins, as he changed into clean clothes and left directly for the Imperial College.
[1] The YongQuan point ӿȪѨ, literally meaning gushing/bubbling springs acupuncture point, is found on the bottom of the foot 2/3 of the way up in the middle. In the five-element system, the kidney meridian is water element, and since the foot is always touching the ground, the YongQuan point is earth element. The kidney meridian connects to the YongQuan point, thus it is ¡®gushing springs point¡¯, the point where the water element flows into the earth element. In Qigong, it connects us to the ground, and through the point at the top of the head, it allows us to pull in the energy of heaven and earth through us. In acupuncture it is used to treat orders in the head and neck and is also used to calm the spirit.
Chapter 5: Imperial College
The Imperial College opened its doors one day every month for the imperial capital¡¯s noble heirs. In the morning, they would practice poetry and etiquette, and in the afternoon, the pce¡¯s martial arts depository would be avable to everyone free of charge.
The previous openings of the Imperial College held absolutely no meaning to Long Chen since even if he attended, he would just be the object of ridicule for everyone there.
But now that was no longer the case. After consuming the FengFu Pill, Long Chen had already condensed an embryonic form of the FengFu Star.
Although it was just an embryonic form and couldn¡¯t store that much spiritual energy, it was still able to store much more than what could be stored in just the body¡¯s meridians. After all, the meridians were like rivers while the Dantian was like the ocean that fed the rivers, even sometimes being called the ¡®energy sea¡¯.
Although a river might appearrge, its capacity was limited. Without the Dantian to support it, it would quickly be used up. But this problem waspletely resolved with the condensing of the FengFu Star. And the most important thing was that now that the embryonic form of the FengFu Star had been condensed, as long as there was enough energy, it would eventually be aplete FengFu Star.
At that time, Long Chen would have something unique to himself to use as a ¡®Dantian¡¯. This was the most unique point of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.
When all nine stars were condensed, it would be equivalent to having nine Dantians. Anyone could understand just how powerful that kind of forceful spiritual energy source was.
Long Chen was in possession of the entire Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Unfortunately, such a cultivation technique was something that defied the heavens, and his understanding of it was still very low, so he still needed to spend an endless amount of meditation on it.
Once he managed topletely condense his FengFu Star, he would be able to store an extremelyrge amount of spiritual energy. Then he could attempt to agglomerate his blood vessels and enter the Blood Condensation stage, thus bing a true martial artist.
The Qi Condensation stage was just the first step of training in martial arts. Only by stepping into the Blood Condensation stage, having your blood and qi surge, and having your martial powers sharply rise, only then could you be considered a genuine martial artist.
Long Chen didn¡¯t know what Heavenstage of Qi Condensation he would count as, but with the formation of his embryonic FengFu Star, his body¡¯s strength had been increased by a surprising amount.
The current him could let out a very simple punch, and it would cause the wind to whistle, so much so that the force it generated would have enough power to break apart a vase even two meters away. Essentially, it was like his whole body was brimming with strength.
His goal in going to the Imperial College this time was to enter the martial arts depository. With his FengFu Star¡¯s embryonic form, his body¡¯s spiritual energy had risen, and he could already begin to train in martial Battle Skills.
These so-called Battle Skills were all created by extremely powerful seniors. They were powerful fighting techniques that used a person¡¯s spiritual energy, qi, and meridians.
Battle Skills were extremely terrifying. They could allow a martial artist to release an extremely formidable power that was several times stronger than their ordinary strength. It was impossible to be courageous in front of them.
Therefore, each Battle Skill was extremely important to a martial artist. Now that Long Chen had spiritual energy capable of training in Battle Skills, he was itching to obtain one.
The Imperial College was located to the north side of the imperial capital. It spanned tens of kilometers, and other than the Imperial Pce, it was the grandest and most imposing building in the entire imperial capital.
After Long Chen showed off his identification te, he entered into the Imperial College and went straight to the literature hall. That was where the morning lecture took ce and where the noble heirs would listen to the studies of the Dao from lecturers talking about everything and anything, from etiquette to poetry, and even to ancient theories of literature.
Entering into the literature hall, he saw that due to how early he was, the extremelyrge literature hall only had several dozen people.
¡°Haha, brother Long, you came.¡±
Just as Long Chen entered, several youths came over and cordially greeted him.
These youths were simr to Long Chen; for various reasons, they also had no way of cultivating. Although they couldn¡¯t be considered best friends, they were still fellow sufferers who empathized with each other.
In the golden age of martial arts in the Phoenix Cry Empire, these youths might not have been bullied in such a miserable way like Long Chen, but they were also frequently sneered at and suffered from a cold and indifferent treatment.
Thus, these people who suffered from simr torments ended up bing closer to Long Chen. They were especially d to see him now since it had been a long time since they¡¯d seen each other.
¡°Haha, you guys came here pretty early,¡± Long Chenughingly greeted. With the sess of the condensation of his FengFu Star, his mood had improved greatly from the formerly depressed him.
¡°I heard a few days ago that brother Long put up a huge disy of his awesome power, defeating Li Hao. Ah, you really make us admire you. Don¡¯t tell me that brother Long can actually genuinely cultivate now?¡± one skinny teen extremely enviously asked.
Originally, they were all the same level as Long Chen. Hearing that Long Chen could actually defeat Li Hao who was at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, they were all extremely shocked while also feeling a slight jealousy.
¡°Hehe, it was just luck. But most recently, I did learn a new Divine Technique.¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t want to continue on this subject, so he brought up a new mysterious topic.
¡°Divine Technique? What¡¯s that?¡± Sure enough, everyone immediately became distracted by this new change in subject.
¡°Hehe, this little brother recently obtained a rare irvoyance book, and after painstakingly reading this book, I learned quite a few things,¡± Long Chen said somewhatcently.
¡°irvoyance technique? Isn¡¯t that just what the fortune tellers on the streets use to scam people?¡±
¡°Not quite. With what I learned from that irvoyance technique, I saw that Li Hao¡¯s face had a dark omen of misfortune on it, and it was only then that I decided to duel with him. And as for the result¡ hehe.¡± Long Chenughed and stopped there.
Everyone momentarily was dubious for a moment when someone suddenly brightened with understanding and eximed, ¡°It seems to be true! I heard that Li Hao seemed to have been bewitched that day, and his whole body didn¡¯t have even the slightest bit of energy before he was defeated by brother Long. ¡°
The details of Long Chen and Li Hao¡¯s battle were known to everyone, but there were many people who felt that Li Hao¡¯s defeat was quite a deep mystery. Nowadays, there was a great deal of discussion over Long Chen.
¡°Hehe, brother Long, since you are proficient in reading faces, can you help take a look at me and tell me why my fianc¨¦e always avoids me? Why won¡¯t she agree to see me?¡± one person somewhat vexingly asked.
¡°No problem. Come,e, let¡¯s first find a ce for us all to sit. Standing here is somewhat unsuitable.¡±
Their group found a table in the corner to sit at, and the table even had some refreshments for them.
Long Chen pointed towards the table¡¯s desserts andughingly told everyone, ¡°Let¡¯s all eat a piece.¡±
¡°Okay,¡± the other people didn¡¯t stand on courtesy and all took a piece. Everyone seemed a bit confused as they looked at Long Chen.
¡°How¡¯s the taste?¡±
¡°Very good.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s eat another piece?¡±
¡°Okay.¡±
That person once again picked up a piece and took a bite. But when he had only eaten one bite, his face suddenly brightened, and he respectfully turned towards Long Chen and said, ¡°Many thanks for brother Long¡¯s advice. This little brother understands now. I was being too greedy and brother Long was reminding me that people need to be content with their situation, right?¡±
Everyone looked at Long Chen in admiration. Who would have thought that Long Chen had the profound skills to use some small desserts as food for thought? However, Long Chen still sighed and shook his head. ¡°Wrong. What I wanted to remind you of is that you¡¯re already this fat, and yet you¡¯re still eating this much. Soon you won¡¯t even be able to fit through the door. The fact that your fianc¨¦e is still with you and hasn¡¯t left you is already an enormous amodation; you should be happy with just that. With a body shape like yours, any woman would be scared to sleep beside you. What if you roll over in your sleep? You¡¯d crush her so hard, she¡¯d turn t.¡±
That person¡¯s face reddened, and with Long Chen¡¯s reminder, he looked at his five foot tall height with his four and a half foot wide stomach. Apparently, he had previously felt that he had only fattened by a little bit.
¡°Fatty Yu, don¡¯t waste brother Long¡¯s precious time; hurry up and go lose some weight. Big bro Long, hehe, how about you take a shot at reading my face?¡± A different slender youth respectfully asked with a smile.
¡°Oh, you?¡± Long Chen made a big show of acting very seriously as he looked at him for quite a while before saying, ¡°Your face ordains that before you are thirty, you will be destitute and frustrated, but the good thing is that after you are thirty¡¡±
That person became jubnt, saying, ¡°Is it possible that after thirty I can suddenly rise in my cultivation?¡±
¡°No. After you are thirty you will slowly be ustomed to your situation and will no longer be frustrated,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°¡¡±
Everyone couldn¡¯t help but to burst intoughter, but just as they wereughing, they suddenly saw two bitter eyes staring at them, causing everyone¡¯sughter to break off.
Long Chen had long since noticed that person. Turning around, they all saw Li Hao ring daggers at them.
¡°Senior Li Hao, are your wounds better now? Congrattions! Your outer wounds are all healed, but what about your inner wounds?¡± Long Chen asked, seeming deeply concerned.
Li Hao¡¯s face twitched. That day, his face had been smashed t by Long Chen, and he had needed to be carried home. The Li family had hurriedly asked for the help of an alchemist from the alchemist guild and paid an extremelyrge sum of gold coins to let Li Hao recover.
Having money was truly good; in such a short time, Li Hao had already returned to a point where he looked the same as a normal person.
But after Long Chen brought the subject back up, Li Hao¡¯s groin started to hurt as if he was remembering that one kick from Long Chen.
At that time, Long Chen¡¯s kick had been very vicious, just a little bit off from turning him into a cripple. The thing that pissed him off the most though was that only after he got carried home and healed did he notice that he was missing a certain something. When his estate noticed this, they hurriedly rushed back to the martial arena, but by that time, they found that the arena had already been cleaned, and it was reported that that something had been taken away by a wild dog.
When Li Hao had woken up and heard this news, he almost died from his anger. But now there was no way to fix it, and no matter how amazing an alchemist was, there was no way for them to fix what he had lost.
What had been two was now only one. Although the loss of one family jewel wouldn¡¯t tilt him while walking, the loss of the originally symmetric pair was hard on him.
And now that Long Chen had brought it back up, his face became exceedingly ugly. He red daggers at Long Chen, his teeth grinding in fury. ¡°Long Chen, you son of a bitch. I challenge you to a life and death duel! Do you dare to ept?¡±
Long Chen¡¯s originally amused expression tensed immediately. Being called in such a way was exceedingly insulting, especially since it also insulted his mother.
It really was the case of not knowing to value one¡¯s life. Fine, if you want to be free from the mortal world¡¯s worries, then I¡¯ll help you.
¡°Same thing as before. I want to add stakes.¡±
Long Chen stared back at Li Hao. Since you want to die, you had best offer me up some benefits. Although they came from the same empire, he didn¡¯t care about Li Hao, and his death would be trifling to him.
¡°Fine! No matter how high you make the stakes, I, Li Hao, will ept.¡± Sneering in his mind, he thought to himself that no matter how high the stakes were, once Long Chen was dead, there was no way he could spend it. Li Hao was under the impression thatst time he had simply been careless, and Long Chen had grabbed onto that opening and thus he had lost. Now he would definitely not make the same mistake, so this fight would definitely not go the same way as thest fight.
In addition, this time was different in that he had dered a life-or-death duel; inst time¡¯s duel, although you would not be held responsible for killing your opponent with a blow, as long as the opponent conceded, it was not permitted to continue attacking them.
But in the life-or-death duel, once the two people went onto the stage, it was equivalent to putting their lives on the line. Even if someone admitted defeat, it would be useless. The victor could do as he pleased. The loser¡¯s life would be in their hands.
¡°Okay, tomorrow, three quarters after noon, we will meet on the life and death stage.¡± Li Hao coldlyughed, and when he looked at Long Chen, it was like he was staring at a dead person.
Long Chen coldly sneered inside. Now was the time for him to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys. Seeing Li Hao leave, he slylyughed, ¡°Careful to stay bnced while walking; don¡¯t trip.¡±
Hearing Long Chen¡¯s words, Li Hao, who had already turned to leave, stiffened, and his face became contorted as he inferred the hidden meaning behind Long Chen¡¯s words.
Taking a deep breath, he acted like he hadn¡¯t heard anything as he slowly walked to a different part of the literature hall.
But Long Chen¡¯s words seemed to be like a steel needle piercing through his sensitive parts, and every time he lifted his leg, it would trigger memories of that bone-chilling attack.
He continued to act as if nothing had happened, but the more he tried to do so, the more unnatural his gait became, which caused everyone to stare strangely over at him. In the end, Li Hao waddled away simrly to a duck.
One person turned to Long Chen and reminded him to be careful, ¡°Brother Long, why did you ept his challenge? This is a life and death battle you¡¯re going into; one of you will end up dying!¡±
¡°No problem. Today I read his face and saw a dark aura of death around him. With it twisting around him, it¡¯s basically like a ghost sealing his life; he¡¯s doomed to die within two days. That¡¯s right, I now have something that I need a few people¡¯s help for,¡± whispered Long Chen.
Everyone exchanged nces and in the end, the person who had been nicknamed fatty Yu clenched his teeth. ¡°Brother Long, since you¡¯ve asked, I¡¯ll give you my entire savings.¡±
Saying this, he handed over a crystal card to Long Chen. Long Chen hadn¡¯t expected that this fatty Yu would actually have such a strong spirit of brotherhood with him. His crystal card had over eighty thousand gold coins on it.
Although they were all noble heirs, mostly they were born in far off branches, so they weren¡¯t considered very important. These gold coins should be an extremelyrge sum to fatty Yu.
¡°Fine, I have sixty thousand here, take it.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have that much here, only thirty thousand. Brother Long, I only have this little capability.¡±
¡°I have¡¡±
Originally, Long Chen had thought that just borrowing ten or so thousand gold coins would already be quite a lot. He hadn¡¯t thought that they would actuallypletely empty their pockets to help him.
¡°Everyone, if by chance I were to die, then your money would basically be lost.¡± Long Chen looked at the crystal cards in his hand, and he couldn¡¯t help but to give everyone a reminder.
¡°Does brother Long look down on us? None of us are capable of cultivating, and every day we have to suffer through other people¡¯s torments. Brother Long, the fact that you dare go all-out in a battle against one of them means you have the courage that none of us possess. Even if we don¡¯t have your courage, helping you out this little bit is still something we can do.¡±
When these people saw Long Chen agreed to the life and death battle, they couldn¡¯t help but be excited since they were fighting amon enemy. Seeing Long Chen begging for help, they became even more heated and in the end, they didn¡¯t even care about the consequences.
Long Chen nodded. He recorded this feeling in his heart as he held the over two hundred thousand gold coins in his hand.
At this moment, a group of people walked into the literature hall, and the originally noisy literature hall immediately turnedpletely silent.
Chapter 6: Collecting Interest
Long Chen turned to look at the people entering and his eyes turned cold. This group of people was hovering around one certain fellow, simr to how the stars flocked around the moon, groveling.
He seemed to be carved out of jade and appeared extremely handsome. He was none other than the person who had beaten Long Chen on the martial arena to the point where he had almost died, the Savage Marquis¡¯s son, Zhou Yaoyang.
Zhou Yaoyang was the noble heir of the Savage Marquis, and his cultivation base was at the peak amongst his peers. Therefore, his poprity was very high amongst his fellow noble heirs.
Zhou Yaoyang immediately noticed Long Chen¡¯s group, and smiling slightly, he walked over. Looking at Long Chen, he said, ¡°Many apologies for what happenedst time. I didn¡¯t expect that my one blow would cause you to not even be able to recognize your own mother.¡±
Although he spoke words of regret, his face didn¡¯t have even the slightest trace of apology. His words were filled with disdain, just like he was a king far above looking down on Long Chen.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Very soon I¡¯ll beat you to the point where you don¡¯t even recognize your own grandmother.¡± Long Chen indifferently smiled, but inside he was secretly furious.
When he had awoken that day, only his mother and that old alchemist had been there. Therefore, this news must have been transmitted by that old stick.
Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s one sentence was equivalent to him telling Long Chen that the old alchemist had been one of his people. And furthermore, Long Chen¡¯s injury that day might have been extremely frightening, but in reality, it wasn¡¯t actually a life-threatening injury. Even the injury on the back of his head had only appeared bad due to the amount of blood, but it was not actually too severe.
Therefore, there had basically been no point in using an expensive medicinal pill in order to treat it. The old alchemist had clearly been trying to frighten his mother and make sure that he could suck up all of their savings.
Something like that basically had no benefit for himself, but instead weakened the Long family¡¯s resources. With their current living situation, it was like adding hail onto snow. To think that there was actually such a hidden plot behind his back¡
¡°Long Chen, are you looking to die? I think that you seem to have forgotten the pain now that your wounds have healed. Don¡¯t tell me you want to once again be beaten half dead by brother Yaoyang?¡±
¡°That¡¯s right, the trash who¡¯s incapable of cultivating actually dares to open his mouth viciously. He¡¯s obviously looking to die.¡±
¡°What an idiot. Letting such an idiot count as a noble heir is just an insult to us.¡±
Zhou Yaoyang didn¡¯t even need to speak before the people beside him began cursing Long Chen, their saliva spraying wildly.
¡°Long Chen, you might be a noble heir like me, but one of us is in the heavens while one of us is on the ground. You are just a small ant, and all you can do is stare up at me. Therefore, even if I am bullying you, all you can do is suffer in silence. Otherwise, the consequences will be just likest time, and you will end up being beaten into a dead dog,¡± said Zhou Yaoyang, lifting a finger to point at Long Chen¡¯s nose.
POW!
Long Chen indifferently smiled, and suddenly, he extended his hand; before anyone could react, he tightly clenched onto Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s extended finger. Using a slight amount of force, a snapping noise rang out.
Zhou Yaoyang emitted a miserable cry as the pain of his snapped finger shook his whole body. His Ten Finger One Heart technique was actually so easily broken and snapped by Long Chen!
Even though he was a strong person at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, as long as a person hadn¡¯t stepped into the Blood Condensation realm, they would still only be slightly stronger than ordinary people.
In addition, he had been taken by surprise, so he hadn¡¯t had time to defend himself, meaning he was basically no different than an ordinary person.
Long Chen condescendingly looked down on Zhou Yaoyang whose face was contorted in pain, and with a questioning tone, he asked, ¡°You think you¡¯re above others? Others are nothing to you? Are you sure you¡¯re not talking about yourself?¡±
The sudden unexpected turn of events shocked everyone, and Zhou Yaoyang was in such pain that he was unable to reply. Only then did the others react and throw themselves at Long Chen.
¡°Bastard, hurry up and release brother Yaoyang!¡± When the others following Zhou Yaoyang saw that Long Chen had dared to attack him, they all shouted and swarmed around him.
¡°Whoever darese over will be beaten by me.¡± Just as they were about to reach him, arge figure suddenly appeared beside Long Chen and furiously bellowed at the others with a thunderous roar, shaking their eardrums.
Long Chen smiled when he saw who it was. Who else could it be but Shi Feng?
The noble heirs, who were about to charge forward, stopped when they saw it was Shi Feng.
Shi Feng was someone who was proud and aloof, and he didn¡¯t like being pulled into any certain social group. However, his cultivation base was top tier amongst the noble heirs, and adding on hisrge and superior stature, he managed to intimidate everyone back.
For a moment, everyone descended into silence, and the only sound in the whole literature hall was the pained moans from Zhou Yaoyang.
¡°What are you guys doing?!¡± Suddenly, an angry rebuke came over from the side, and an old man walked over. Everyone¡¯s expression became much more timid and respectful when they saw this old man.
This old man was one of the lecturers of the literature hall. He was a Confucian schr, and it was known that he was an honest and strict person, a dignified man who spoke few words.
¡°Fighting within the literature hall is punishable by one month¡¯s custody. Do you guys want to try it out?¡± the old man coldly snorted.
Long Chen released Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s finger which was already crushed and bent. Hurriedly turning towards the old man, he smiled, ¡°Teacher, you¡¯ve misunderstood. We weren¡¯t fighting; we were just doing a test.¡±
¡°Oh? A test hmm? What kind of test?¡± The old man obviously wasn¡¯t so easily hoodwinked, and he coldly questioned Long Chen.
¡°We were testing how long the strength of one finger could hold out against the attack of five fingers. Through this test, we reached the conclusion that the power of cooperation is something that cannot be stopped. No matter how strong a finger is, it is still isted. Its power will weaken from time to time, and only by relying on a partner can power be released in a steady flow, making it stronger and more enduring. This time¡¯s test allowed both Zhou Yaoyang and I to obtain an understanding of how to properly use the power of cooperation, and it will have an extremelyrge benefit towards our future cultivation. Brother Zhou, what do you think about these benefits, hmm?¡± Long Chen summarized, as he stared with a hidden meaning at Zhou Yaoyang.
Zhou Yaoyang was angered to the point of nearly passing out, but this grievance could only be swallowed by him, or if he denied it, he would be sent into custody with Long Chen. Even a noble heir couldn¡¯t break the literature hall¡¯s rules.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Zhou Yaoyang did his best to keep his voice calm, but the pain was causing even his voice to sound rough.
The old man looked at Long Chen, and a trace of ridicule shed within his eyes. But in the end, he still nodded and said, ¡°Since it was like this, this old man won¡¯t me the two of you. But remember, in the future, you cannot make a ruckus in here.¡±
Everyone secretly sighed that Long Chen had good luck when they heard this. The old man clearly knew that Long Chen was just making up nonsense, but he still let them all go.
¡°Hey, wait.¡± Zhou Yaoyang clenched his teeth, and by using a voice that only the two of them could hear, he called out to Long Chen.
Long Chen¡¯s hand attack had been extremely vicious; not only had it broken his finger, but in addition, he had used some kind of unknown method in order to turn the meridians within his finger into mush. Otherwise, Zhou Yaoyang would not be in such intense pain and end up as such a sorry figure without the slightest strength to fight back.
¡°Brother Zhou, feel free toe find me again to do some tests.¡±
Today is just a small payment on the interest I owe to you bastard. The worst is yet toe... But on the outside, Long Chen just courteously smiled.
Over two hundred noble heirs calmly and quietly took their seats. The old man nodded his head in satisfaction and started the lecture. However, his material was vague and iprehensible to them, and basically, all of it fell on deaf ears. It caused everyone to be drowsy, but no one actually dared to sleep.
Although that old man didn¡¯t have the slightest cultivation base, within the entire Imperial College, he had the final say in everything. If anyone angered him, they would immediately be kicked out and could just forget about entering the martial arts depository in the afternoon.
¡°This can bepared to chickens eggs; one has gone bad and one is still good. But if you want to eat the good egg, you have to eat the bad egg first...¡±
The old man continued to talk about all sorts of things¡ history, ssical works, how to rule a flourishing nation, agricultural knowledge¡ even Long Chen almost dozed off.
However, people like fatty Yu actually listened very attentively. They couldn¡¯t cultivate, so they had to rely on education for the future, hopefully obtaining some work with the government.
Under this slow torment, the time slowly passed until it was noon. After eating lunch, everyone swarmed towards the Battle Skill Pavilion.
Even the people who had no way of cultivating also followed. Within the Battle Skill Pavilion were countless Battle Skills and cultivation techniques, and going through them might offer them a lucky encounter.
The Battle Skill Pavilion had three floors, but only the bottom level was opened to all the noble heirs.
Even though it was just one floor, there were still seventeen bookshelvespletely packed with all kinds of Battle Skills and cultivation techniques. It was a brilliant sight that dazzled people.
¡°Big brother Yaoyang, I already have a life-and-death battle agreement with Long Chen. This time I¡¯ll definitely kill him to help take revenge for you,¡± Li Hao respectfully said. Who knew when, but Li Hao had at some point stealthily ran over beside Zhou Yaoyang.
At this point, Zhou Yaoyang had already used his energy in order to suppress the pain in his finger, but the important thing was that the meridians had been fried, and so he had to find an alchemist to help him treat it.
¡°It¡¯s still not the right time to kill him; otherwise, I would have killed himst time.¡± Zhou Yaoyang shook his head. Suddenly he asked, ¡°That¡¯s right, how did you end up getting beaten up by himst time?¡±
¡°Ai, actually, it was just me being careless, and Long Chen happened to catch that opportunity. The result really infuriated me; to think that the trash could actually beat me one time.¡± Li Hao answered with endless regret.
That one loss had caused his reputation to plummet, and the people whispering and gossiping about him behind his back drove him crazy with anger. He believed thatst time was simply a small moment of carelessness, and so this time, he definitely had quite a bit of killing intent towards Long Chen.
¡°Long Chen cannot be permitted to die, at least not for now. Don¡¯t mess this up.¡± Zhou Yaoyang worried that Li Hao hadn¡¯t understood, so he purposely repeated himself.
¡°Then what should I do? Just let him off like this?¡± Li Hao somewhat unwillingly asked.
Zhou Yaoyang looked at his twisted broken finger and grinding his teeth in anger, he said, ¡°Although you can¡¯t kill him, if you wanted to take back a couple of things on his body, that would be fine.¡±
When Li Hao heard this, his eyes brightened with excitement, ¡°Excellent! This time, I¡¯ll take what he took from me, and oh, I think I¡¯ll also take one his eyes too. Tch, seeing the expression in his eyes really pisses me off.¡±
Zhou Yaoyang and Li Hao grinned, but they didn¡¯t notice that Long Chen, who was faking interest in the tomes, also smiled. However, his smile was much colderpared to theirs, like a leopard staring at two bleating sheep.
From Long Chen¡¯s current position, he was perfectly ced so that he could use his Spiritual Strength to spy on what the two of them were talking about. Although he couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying clearly, but looking at their expressions, he could still infer most of it.
Observing the two of them start acting like nothing had happened and begin browsing the ancient tomes on the bookshelf, Long Chen was also disinclined to go deal with them. Instead, he switched to looking for his actual objective.
By now he had realized that the Pill God memories he had were actually extremely iplete. Other than the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, the rest of it only pertained to alchemy. There were no Battle Skills, so he absolutely needed to obtain one today.
Long Chen had finally settled on a Battle Skill and was just about to reach out his hand to take it when suddenly, a dark-faced fellow grabbed onto it before him.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, this book has taken my fancy.¡±
That person didn¡¯t even look at Long Chen, and acting like no one was beside him, he started browsing the tome.
Long Chen frowned slightly. This was done very obviously on purpose, but Long Chen didn¡¯t take action, instead switching to a different bookcase.
Just as he saw a palm Battle Skill and reached out to take it, the dark-faced fellow who had long since been waiting to the side once again grabbed it.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, this-¡±
POW!
A ruthless pnded on that dark face, interrupting his words and sending him flying.
Chapter 7: Training in Battle Skills
POW!
An extremely loud and resounding p rang out, ruthlessly interrupting that dark-faced fellow¡¯s words. The powerful force sent him flying, and over ten teeth tumbled across the floor.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, this tome has taken the fancy of this young master.¡±
Long Chen looked down at the dark-faced fellow with a face seemingly full of regret, apologizing with great ir.
That p was very resounding, and it echoed throughout the entire Battle Skill Pavilion. Everyone who had been busily browsing the Battle Skills immediately put down the manuals in their hands and turned in shock.
¡°Who dares to be so presumptuous as to act violently within the Battle Skill Pavilion?!¡±
Suddenly, a cold shout rang out, and a ck-clothed man appeared from the inner part of the Battle Skill Pavilion. His face was cold and strict as he looked at Long Chen and the dark-faced fellow.
That man¡¯s blood and qi surged just like a towering mountain, pressuring the others and making it difficult for them to breathe. Long Chen¡¯s eyes shrunk¡
¡°A strong Blood Condensation cultivator...¡±
It was unexpected that this ce would actually have a hidden Blood Condensation realm cultivator. But thinking about it some more, this ce was an important part of the Battle Skill Pavilion, and having a strong person keep guard would save them some worries.
It was forbidden to practice martial arts within the Battle Skill Pavilion. This was a rule that everybody knew, and breaking this rule meant you would be taken into custody.
¡°Speak, what happened here?¡± The Blood Condensation cultivator angrily shouted.
¡°If you want to know, then ask him.¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t have the slightest amount of fear as he spread out his hands in innocence.
The dark-faced fellow became indignant. It was obviously him who had suffered the blow, so why would he still need to ask him? ¡°Senior-¡±
¡°Senior!¡±
At this moment, the distant Zhou Yaoyang hurriedly ran over. He reported to the Blood Condensation expert, ¡°Senior, it was like this: Wang Mang¡¯s face suddenly felt extremely itchy, so he gave himself a p. There really wasn¡¯t any force or battle; you can check for yourself.¡±
The dark-faced fellow who was called Wang Mang became bewildered. But just as he was about to say something, he saw the distant Li Hao doing his best to give him a meaningful nce, so he swallowed his words back down.
¡°You¡¯re the Savage Marquis¡¯s son?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Yaoyang hurriedly nodded.
That person nodded his head and looking at Wang Mang on the floor, he said, ¡°If your face is itchy then just scratch it; don¡¯t make such a fuss. Clean up after yourself. I don¡¯t want to see such a situation a second time.¡±
After speaking, he turned and left, leaving a crowd of astonished people wondering why Zhou Yaoyang would actually help Long Chen.
¡°Haha, didn¡¯t you hear what he said? Hurry up and clean up your crap.¡± Long Chenughed as if he had totally expected this entire turn of events. Turning around, he walked away to continue looking for a Battle Skill.
¡°Hateful bastard.¡±
Looking at Long Chen who downyed this event, Wang Mang was angered to the point where his eyes were practically spitting mes. That one p of his caused him to feel extremely vexed.
¡°Wang Mang, endure it. If you were to open your mouth and use Long Chen of hitting you, then he would be taken into custody for one month, but after one month, he would be released safe and sound. However, if you swallow this anger now, then tomorrow, Li Hao will help you take back this face. Therefore, you must absolutely endure it.¡± Zhou Yaoyang informed him.
Wang Mang nodded his head. He knew that Li Hao had arranged a battle with Long Chen. But having bullied Long Chen for so long, he was already so ustomed to it that it had reached the point where it was just ying around.
However, today, his ying around caused him to receive a huge p in the face, and he didn¡¯t even have a ce toin. The anger from the broken pieces of teeth could only be swallowed into his stomach.
A couple of people were busily picking up the scattered teeth and wiping off the bloodstains when Zhou Yaoyang suddenly asked, ¡°The swelling on your face is very minor, so it appears that Long Chen¡¯s strength is still not very high. But how is that he managed to knock out so many of your teeth?¡±
The others were also very suspicious. ording tomon sense, only an extremely powerful force could knock out such sturdy teeth.
¡°Who knows? It¡¯spletely ridiculous,¡± Wang Mang gloomily said. What he didn¡¯t know was that Long Chen had used his knowledge as an alchemist. Long Chen was already as familiar towards a human body¡¯s physiology as he was with the back of his hands.
His p had been struck in a skillful way so that Wang Mang¡¯s gums would loosen, and the teeth on that side of his face had taken that opportunity to tumble out.
Long Chen¡¯s attack had been very vicious. Teeth were not something that could be easily regrown; they were not like other injuries that could be healed with medicines. In the future, Wang Mang could probably only use the other side of his face to eat.
Having learned from Wang Mang¡¯s mistake, everyone became much more well behaved and no one dared to once again provoke Long Chen.
Long Chen was also happy to leisurely browse through these ancient tomes. The Battle Skills here could only be read in the pavilion and could not be taken outside.
Spirit of the Bull.
All Battle Skills could be divided into three categories: Heaven, Earth, and Mortal. And as for all these Battle Skills and techniques here, all of them were merely the lowest level of the Mortal category.
Although they were the lowest level, these Battle Skills were still extremely precious treasures. Even though they were only for the high status noble heirs, it still required a Blood Condensation cultivator to oversee it. From this, one could see just how important Battle Skills were to the Phoenix Cry Empire.
¡°Although it¡¯s a low grade Battle Skill, its usage of spiritual energy is clear and direct, making its effect pretty good.¡±
Afterpletely reading through the Battle Skill in his hand, Long Chen nodded. This particr Battle Skill was very suited to him especially since he was extremely familiar with the body¡¯s meridians, meaning he could master it very quickly.
He carefully read through it once again. His current Spiritual Strength was extremely formidablepared to a normal person, and it was a great assistance towards his memory. Essentially, he was almost at the point where he could remember anything he saw.
The Spirit of the Bull technique waspletely memorized by him. cing it back, he saw a different support Battle Skill, Windchasing Steps.
Windchasing Steps was a kind of footwork technique. Spiritual energy would flow through a set of specific meridians focusing around the feet, increasing one¡¯s speed and explosiveness. Whether it was traversingrge distances or short evasions, this technique was extremely effective.
¡°Excellent, another practical technique I can use.¡±
Long Chen faintly smiled, and once again busied himself to carefully remember all the routes of the spiritual energy and the details of how to do so.
¡°Time¡¯s up, all noble heirs must ce back the tomes. If anyone dares to secretly steal some, even death is not a harsh enough punishment!¡±
At this moment, the Blood Condensation cultivator once again appeared. His cold shout was transmitted to everyone¡¯s ears, and everyone hurriedly ced back the tomes in their hands.
Several people, who still wanted to continue, sighed and shook their heads. The Phoenix Cry Empire was truly exceedingly strict with Battle Skills. Every month they would only have half a day to study here.
Many people had to spend several months¡¯ time just to learn a single Battle Skill. But although they were discontented, no one would dare toin.
Long Chen looked up slightly surprised. He hadn¡¯t expected that the time would pass by this quick. But if other people were to learn that Long Chen had used just a short four hours topletely memorize two Battle Skills, they might be shocked to the point that their jaws would hit the ground.
Within the recordings of a Battle Skill, there were the extremely cryptic and difficult to understand portions, especially with regards to some of the terms about moving spiritual energy and qi around specific meridians. And what confounded people even more was attempting to practice moving their spiritual energy in such aplicated way while also reading.
Leaving the Imperial College, Long Chen said his farewells to fatty Yu and the others before going up to Shi Feng and whispering a couple things.
When Shi Feng heard what Long Chen was saying, his whole face burst into shock, and although he quickly suppressed it back to his normal expression, he was unable to conceal the shock in his eyes.
Returning home, Long Chen saw that the room where he had condensed the FengFu Star had been cleaned up. However, it still wasn¡¯t safe for people to live in yet due to how heavily he had damaged it. Luckily, his family estate had many rooms, and they had prepared a new one for him.
First, he went to his mother¡¯s room in order to assure her that he was alright. Many things had consecutivelye up during these days, causing Mrs. Long to be agitated and worried.
Ever since Long Chen woke up, it seemed like he had changed and be apletely different person, causing her to feel a bit of unfamiliarity.
However, the good thing was that Long Chen had already adjusted himself now, and after apanying and talking to his mother for a while, she calmed down by quite a bit. Nheless, he didn¡¯t tell her about the life and death battle that he had arranged with Li Hao.
Leaving his mother¡¯s side, Long Chen returned to his room. Locking his door, he directly swallowed the second FengFu Pill.
Following the absorption of the second FengFu Pill, the FengFu Star on the bottom of Long Chen¡¯s foot once again expanded ever so slightly.
Along with the expansion, the FengFu Star¡¯s ability to store spiritual energy once again increased, just like a Dantian.
However, the current FengFu Star was still in an embryonic form, and in order for it to reach a fully condensed form, a countless number of FengFu Pills were still required.
That was also why Long Chen had been so dismayed when he had first gone through his memories and seen the method to train in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.
Currently, he had consumed two FengFu Pills that were worth several hundred thousand gold coins, and yet, his FengFu Star was still in its embryonic form. He was still extremely far off if he wanted it to reach thepletely condensed stage. Furthermore, it seemed there was a level beyond even that, which was something he still didn¡¯t know anything about. Just the one FengFu Star was already a bottomless abyss that needed countless medicinal pills to fill.
However, Long Chen knew that the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was the only technique he could use. If not, he would be just mediocre his entire life. In fact, he wouldn¡¯t even match up to an ordinary person since he didn¡¯t have a Dantian. Without using the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, his only fate would be to sink down to be a weak person that would constantly be taken advantage of.
It took him four hours to fully absorb this FengFu Pill. His FengFu Star¡¯s embryonic form had increased slightly in size, allowing him to control a greater amount of spiritual energy.
By now, it was already the middle of the night. Long Chen stealthily left his room and entered the firewood room. Taking a deep breath, he began to slowly train in the Spirit of the Bull. Long Chen was alreadypletely familiar with his meridians due to those Pill God memories, so this low grade Battle Skill was something he could master immediately without even the slightest problem.
He walked over to a stone grinder that weighed over half a ton and was normally used to crush up rice crops.
Holding it with both hands, he lifted.
¡°RISE!¡±
The huge stone grinder rose into the air, and Long Chen¡¯s impression was that he still had some leftover strength. Nowadays, his strength should be enough to lift around 750 kilograms worth of weight.
However, his strength when Zhou Yaoyang had beaten him had only been 75 kilograms. Compared to before, it was a dramatic ten times increase.
¡°Excellent, not including other factors and just by relying on my current body strength, I can probably match up to people at the fifth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.¡±
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat excited, and at the same time, he looked even more forward to training in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Right now, he had only condensed an embryonic form, and his power had already raised by such an enormous amount; if he were to truly condense theplete FengFu Star, then just what kind of level would his power rise to?
Hesitating for a while, Long Chen couldn¡¯t resist the urge to continue testing. Setting himself up, the air near his foot started to slowly fluctuate, and a scorching power swept from his foot and through his meridians, slowly collecting into his fist.
Fist of the Bull!
BANG!
Long Chen¡¯s fist smashed onto the stone grinder, and with an explosive bang, the stone grinder was forced into the air and firmly mmed into the wall, causing the entire wall to break down.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but to foolishly stare at the powerful force. Originally, he had just wanted to experiment a bit with the power; he hadn¡¯t expected that it would cause such a huge disturbance.
From outside the room, other people were all awoken and rmed. Knowing that he had caused a huge disturbance, he quickly slipped back into his room andid down to sleep.
However, he was simply too excited to sleep, almost to the point of wanting to dance for joy.
Nine Star Hegemon Body Art¡ Just what level had this cultivation technique reached? If all nine stars were condensed, then just what kind of power would be produced?
Long Chen was simply too excited and ended up being unable to fall asleep the whole night. When the first glimmer of the sun¡¯s rising lit up his room, he slowly opened his eyes.
¡°Hehe, you want to take parts of my body? That¡¯s quite a big dream; too bad you¡¯re not able to reach it.¡±
After rising and washing his face, he heard that the servants were still discussing what had happenedst night in the firewood room. Weing the rising sun, Long Chen couldn¡¯t stop a certain thought from emerging from his heart:
¡°Today¡¯s a good day. I can aplish anything.¡±
Chapter 8: Life and Death Battle
Quite a few people had already assembled around the martial arena. Other than some idle people who regrly enjoyed watching, there were also a few of the imperial capital¡¯s noble heirs.
Today was the day of Long Chen and Li Hao¡¯s life and death battle. Although this ce would normally see a constant stream of duels and fights, life and death battles were still very few in number.
What was even odder about this situation was that despite that the two noble heirs who were fighting didn¡¯t have any remarkable cultivation bases, countless people had stille to watch.
In addition, the Yon Gambling Hall, the most famous gambler in the entire imperial capital, had alsoe to open up a public betting pool.
Li Hao¡¯s victory: 2 times the odds.
Long Chen¡¯s victory: 10 times the odds.
Since no kinds of counterfeit could ur during a life and death battle, and adding their high statuses as noble heirs, betting on the oue was extremely exciting to many people.
Even some people who weren¡¯t gamblers also started to ce bets, but for the most part, everyone bet on Li Hao¡¯s victory.
Although Long Chen did defeat Li Haost time, at that time, Li Hao waspletely off-guard, and Long Chen had taken advantage of that opening. Such a miracle would not ur a second time.
Only an extremely small portion of people, who liked to either mess around or were desperate, decided to take a long shot and bet on Long Chen.
The betting ce was located not far from the martial arena, and the section to bet on Li Hao¡¯s victory waspletely packed with people, whereas the section to bet on Long Chen waspletely deserted.
¡°300,000 gold coins on Long Chen.¡±
Suddenly, arge and lofty man appeared and tossed a crystal card over to the person in charge of the betting.
¡°What?!¡±
The handler waspletely shocked by this amount; throughout the entire morning, he had only collected ten thousand gold coins till now. Hearing this new bet, he almost didn¡¯t believe his own ears.
That huge figure was, of course, Shi Feng. He had been entrusted by Long Chen to put all of his gold coins onto his own victory.
Because of his status, Long Chen already knew that the Yon Gambling Hall would definitely open up a betting pool, and so he had already preemptively told Shi Feng to bet on him.
Even if the Yon Gambling Hall ended up in a deficit from opening up the betting pool, he definitely wouldn¡¯t back out.
Most of the money he normally earned was from his own personal bets, and as for these outer public bets, he didn¡¯t actually make much money off them. The main reason he had to hold public bets was to keep the people satisfied.
And even if he were to take a loss, with the Yon Gambling Hall¡¯s imposing wealth, it could easily be brushed off. It was for these reasons that Long Chen decided to join the betting.
Originally, he had nned on just betting with Li Hao, but now he could get ten times the profit by betting with the Yon Gambling Hall. Long Chen wasn¡¯t an idiot, so of course he knew which was better.
Yesterday, with the help of fatty Yu and his friends, he had collected over two hundred thousand gold coins. When he had handed it over to Shi Feng, Shi Feng had seen how assured Long Chen was acting. Clenching his teeth, he increased the amount to three hundred thousand.
Shi Feng¡¯s family was actually not very rich, mostly because they had a tendency to be rather hot-tempered and were not that good at handling business. The families of fatty Yu and the others tended to be better off.
In order to collect this much money, he had actually used all of his weapons and armor as additional coteral.
All of this was just for Long Chen¡¯s wild and crazy bet. Shi Feng couldn¡¯t hold back having his heart leap a couple of times in nervousness. Brother Chen, you have to stay calm and steady¡ all your brother¡¯s belongings have all been put on the line.
Li Hao arrived just before noon. With a light push on the ground, he jumped several meters into the air tond on top of the martial arena, arousing a burst of cheers.
However, this time the cheers weren¡¯t for his appearance, but rather because everyone was excited to see the start of a good show.
Today, Li Hao was wearing clean and neat robes that were quite attractive, and a proud thought arose in his mind: Long Chen, the humiliation you¡¯ve given me will be returned to you tenfold!
But even after quite a while passed after Li Hao went onto the stage, no one saw Long Chen appear. No one understood why he hadn¡¯t appeared, and some people began to wonder if perhaps he had chickened out.
Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, an old man in charge of the martial arena coldly told Li Hao, ¡°Your appointment for your battle is for 12:45, so you¡¯re early by almost an hour. You can either continue to wait on top of the stage or you cane off to wait.¡±
Everyone booed in disappointment when they heard this, and the originally full of vigor Li Hao also became a bit dumbstruck as he had forgotten to check the time.
¡°Whatever, I¡¯ll just wait for him on the stage. In any case, he¡¯s a person who¡¯s about to die, so his remaining time is more valuable than mine.¡±
Li Hao indifferently smiled, and just like that, he sat down cross-legged on top of the martial arena, putting on the air of an expert. However, his attempt to maintain an expert¡¯s manner onlysted for a short while before bing a bit strange¡
Because it was noon, the sun was extremely powerful, and to make it worse, the martial arena was topped with ck stone tiles, and by now, it was already boiling to the point where it could fry an egg.
Since Li Hao had already sat down, he couldn¡¯t stand back up or it would ruin his act. Therefore, all he could do was suffer.
Of course, some sharp-eyed people had noticed that Li Hao¡¯s bottom had already begun smoking slightly, and in just a moment, it became very obvious and the crowd¡¯s expression became very strange.
¡°This guy is such an idiot; is he trying to save face? The fight hasn¡¯t even begun, and his butt is already burning,¡± a maiden gentlyughed. In the distance, two veiled women were indifferently looking at the martial arena.
¡°Speaking frankly, he¡¯s just a phony,¡± responded the other maiden, shaking her head.
¡°Sister Meng Qi, we¡¯ve already been here for several days. When do you n on withdrawing from the marriage agreement?¡± asked the other one.
The maiden who had been called Meng Qi elegantly creased her brows and somewhat awkwardly said, ¡°Currently, he¡¯s in a very difficult predicament, and if I were to bring up withdrawing from the marriage to him at this time, then it would be too cruel. Even I don¡¯t know what I should do.¡±
¡°But dying this matter isn¡¯t a solution. Master has already urged us several times. If we don¡¯t return to the mountain soon, then we¡¯ll probably be punished. Furthermore, with big sister¡¯s talent, you¡¯ll definitely reach Xiantian and be able to touch the Heavenly Daos. The two of you will be inpletely different worlds; there¡¯s no way for you to work it out,¡± sighed the other maiden.
¡°But I still feel that doing it in such a manner is still extremely unfair to him¡ sigh, let¡¯s just watch a bit more.¡± Meng Qi lightly shook her head, distress appearing within her beautiful eyes.
As Meng Qi hesitated, they saw a disturbance within the distant crowd. Turning to stare, they saw a young man in ck robes with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes slowly walk up. His body seemed to have a unique aura, giving people a very profound feeling.
He appeared just like a well; on the surface, he appeared like nothing was out of the ordinary, but it was impossible to see through him. No one could manage to see through his depths, and his existence appeared like a mystery to them.
Even Meng Qi and the other maiden couldn¡¯t help but feel some fluttering in their hearts when they saw him. Compared to the Long Chen they had seen just a few days ago, it was like the difference between heaven and earth. The current him appeared to be full of self-confidence.
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s arrival, Li Hao jumped up, feeling a burst of scorching pain from his bottom.
ming Long Chen, his anger rose even more, and he angrily shouted, ¡°Long Chen,e up to die!¡±
Long Chen didn¡¯t even spare a nce for Li Hao, and instead, he scanned the crowd and met Shi Feng¡¯s gaze. Shi Feng gave Long Chen a slight nod.
Not only did he see Shi Feng, but he also saw fatty Yu and the others who had apparentlye to cheer him on.
Long Chen smiled over to them before turning to walk onto the martial arena. Li Hao had jumped up to show off his skill, but Long Chen decided to simply walk up¡
For the moment, the people who had bet on Long Chen¡¯s victory all felt that the money they had gambled was about to be lost forever.
¡°Long Chen!¡± Seeing Long Chen walk up, these two words were angrily forced out of Li Hao¡¯s clenched teeth.
¡°Idiot, your butt¡¯s scorched, isn¡¯t it?¡± Long Chen sneered at Li Hao.
Actually, he had long since arrived; he merely stayed in the shade further away, and no one had noticed him. However, he had seen very clearly what had been going on on the stage.
¡°12:45 has arrived; both parties must sign the life and death contract.¡±
At this moment, the old man took out a document, and Long Chen indifferently smiled and signed his name on top of it.
This time was different from thest duel; conceding to the victor would have no effect this time. The loser¡¯s life and death were held within the victor¡¯s hands.
Li Hao also signed, and with a sinister expression, he said, ¡°You little bastard, today I will return all the humiliation you gave me one-hundredfold!¡±
Now that the life and death contract had been signed, there was no more need for a referee. The current martial arena had now be the ground upon which they would decide who would die today.
¡°Looks like you don¡¯t understand. You¡¯vee to provoke me so many times, and I¡¯m not enduring any longer.¡±
Long Chen took a deep breath¡ an extremely dense killing intent appeared within his eyes. Ever since Zhou Yaoyang had first said that he wasn¡¯t Long Tianxiao¡¯s son, many people had started using the same kind of insult against him.
¡°Go to hell you son of a bitch!¡±
Li Hao sneered, and with a loud bellow, his whole body¡¯s spiritual qi started to circte, and the spiritual energy visible to the naked eyes could be seen fluctuating around his body.
All of the crowd, who was watching, nodded when they saw this. Last time, Li Hao had been extremely unlucky; he hadn¡¯t made any preparations to protect his body, and Long Chen had used one quick attack to beat him. But this time, he had properly prepared and set up his defenses.
Although this was only the spiritual energy of Qi Condensation and had no way of leaving the body, circting spiritual energy within the body for protection meant that an ordinary person would have a very hard time to inflict any injuries.
After Li Hao set up his defenses, a sinister smile appeared on his face. He charged towards Long Chen, both hands turning into ws aimed towards Long Chen¡¯s shoulders.
These two ws of his were filled with spiritual qi, making them no different from iron fangs. If ordinary people were to be hit by it, their shoulders would immediately break.
¡°Good! Li Hao,pletely cripple this son of a bitch!¡± From below the arena, a loud shout came from the person who Long Chen had sent flying within the Imperial College, Wang Mang.
Wang Mang had now already lost half of his teeth while still a youth. And as for any bone-growing medicinal pills, those were far too expensive for his family to buy. Nowadays, he was already full of hatred for Long Chen and seeing Long Chen about to be assaulted, he couldn¡¯t hold back from cheering.
But Shi Feng, fatty Yu, and the others all became extremely worried. From the very start, Long Chen had not shown even the slightest cultivation base, causing their hearts to momentarily get stuck in their throats.
Long Chen coldly smiled as he looked at Li Hao. Taking one step, his whole body turned into a shadow as he charged forward towards Li Hao.
BANG!
Chapter 9: Alchemist Guild
BANG!
An explosive noise rang out, causing everyone to bepletely dumbfounded. No one had noticed how, but at some point, Long Chen had appeared right in front of Li Hao just like a demon. This was due to his Windchasing Steps. This technique increased his speed to the max, especially in close range, and the explosiveness was something that was impossible to guard against.
Li Hao¡¯s two ws hit nothing while Long Chen¡¯s leg viciously kicked out and hit him between the legs with such a ferocious force that his whole body was lifted into mid-air.
After the explosive noise passed, a little ball flew out of Li Hao¡¯s trousers and was flung towards the crowd.
Wang Mang was still imagining Li Hao tormenting Long Chen and making Long Chen suffer a life worse than death. But the current situationpletely shattered this delusion of his, and his jaw dropped, dumbstricken.
He waspletely oblivious to a small, grape-sized thing that was now flying towards his mouth. By the time he noticed it, the thing had already entered into his open mouth.
Before he could even react, that slippery thing passed through his throat into his stomach, bringing with it a grotesque, foul smell.
¡°AHH!¡±
Only now did Wang Mang react and desperately began using a finger to dig at his throat, causing him to vomit. After a while, a small ball was vomited out.
When Zhou Yaoyang and the rest of the people beside him saw that ball, they also started retching, swiftly scattering away from it.
¡°AHH!!!¡±
On the martial arena, Li Hao was tenaciously holding onto his crotch, his face twitching and contorting. If he hadn¡¯t set up his spiritual qi to protect himself, he would have long since lost consciousness from the pain.
For a moment, the whole audience waspletely silent. Everyone¡¯s eyes roved from Li Hao on the stage to the distant round thing on the ground, and their expressions became extremely odd.
¡°This is good for you. Now you¡¯ll be able to walk without nting and tripping,¡± Long Chen said, nodding his head.
¡°You¡!¡±
Li Hao¡¯s furiously red at him, wanting to tear him apart. Hisst family jewel was stripped off him, and now that it had entered Wang Mang¡¯s stomach, it had already been corroded to the point that even if he collected it, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it.
One was taken away by a wild dog while one was no longer usable; Li Hao was now destined to be a sterile person incapable of reproducing.
¡°You fucker, go die! Stone Crushing Fist!¡±
Li Hao crazily roared, forcefully circting his spiritual qi to restrain the paining from his lower body. His fist shot towards Long Chen, the wind whistling as it passed.
The full power of his third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation cultivation base exploded out. By now, he had already descended into madness andpletely forgotten about Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s instructions. The only thing on his mind was topletely destroy Long Chen.
Seeing Li Hao becamepletely berserk, a cold killing intent appeared within Long Chen¡¯s eyes. He roared, the sound like violent thunder capable of shocking the sky, sted the surrounding people¡¯s ears.
An incorporeal aura engulfed Long Chen. Not taking any actions to avoid it, he also attacked with a fist.
¡°Spirit of the Bull!¡±
BOOM!!!
An explosion was followed by the sound of bones breaking. Li Hao let out a miserable scream, his blood flying everywhere. People were shocked and horrified to see that one of Li Hao¡¯s arms had beenpletely crushed.
Long Chen was still resting in his punching position. His eyes were icy cold andpletely apathetic. A terrifying killing intent spilled out from him, shaking people¡¯s souls.
The current Long Chen seemed like a cold-blooded death god. His whole body brimming with an icy cold killing intent that caused everyone to tremble in fear.
The whole crowd was deathly still. The amount of power that he had released just now was something that even Zhou Yaoyang at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation felt somewhat afraid of.
¡°How is this possible?! He can use Battle Skills?¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t it impossible for him to cultivate? What the hell is happening?¡±
¡°His expression is absolutely terrifying!¡±
People were unable to hold back their shock, and as for the ones who had previously ridiculed and sneered at Long Chen, they were allpletely filled with dread. Seeing Li Hao lying on the martial arena, it was like they were seeing images of themselves. They couldn¡¯t help but to tremble, their spirits shivering.
Even Long Chen himself was somewhat shocked. It appeared that even he had underestimated the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art; otherwise, if it was a normal person using a low grade Battle Skill, it would not be able to release such a terrifying strength.
Slowly walking over towards Li Hao, each of Long Chen¡¯s steps rang out loud and clear. The sound of it was like the overture of a murderer, each step pressing down on the people¡¯s hearts.
Step¡ step¡ step¡.
By now, Li Hao¡¯s previous expression of anger had vanished, reced withplete terror. Shaking and quivering, he stuttered, ¡°Don¡¯t¡ don¡¯te over!¡±
Li Hao wanted to run away, but thepletely terrified him only noticed now that his body couldn¡¯t exert even the slightest strength. To him, Long Chen who was slowly but gradually walking closer to him was like a nightmare which he couldn¡¯t run away from.
¡°Don¡¯t¡ don¡¯t kill me! It was because of Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s instructions!¡± Li Hao sobbingly begged.
Below the stage, Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s expression changed, and he angrily shouted, ¡°Li Hao, what nonsense are you saying?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not saying nonsense. You told us to handle Long Chen and that afterward, you¡¯d give us some benefits! All of this is because of you!¡± Li Hao pointed towards Zhou Yaoyang as he hysterically rambled. In the face of death, he had already forgotten everything.
¡°Li Hao, you¡¯re asking for death!¡± Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s face turned ashen, and his two eyes were filled with killing intent.
¡°Zhou Yaoyang, you bastard! You used me for your advantage! Long Chen, I¡¯ll tell you. Zhou Yaoyang is nothing more than a henchman dog, in reality-¡±
Long Chen suddenly felt a chill in the air ordaining an attack; sensing the air of death, he quickly retreated without even thinking about it.
However, even after Long Chen had retreated, it didn¡¯t appear like anything had happened. But when Long Chen once again looked at Li Hao, he saw that Li Hao¡¯s eyes had already lost focus, and he had already taken hisst breath.
Long Chen¡¯s expression changed slightly; turning to look at the crowd, all he managed to see was a figure wearing a conical bamboo hat who was quickly fleeing the scene. With just a few strides, he had already disappeared from the crowd.
The unexpected events caused an uproar amongst the crowd. Obviously, that mysterious figure had killed Li Hao!
¡°Long Chen wins!¡±
After a brief spell of confusion, the martial arena¡¯s overseer still ended up announcing this final oue.
Although Li Hao wasn¡¯t killed by Long Chen, Long Chen had already defeated him. If he had wanted to kill Li Hao, it would have been as easy as turning his hand, so in the end, they still announced that it was Long Chen¡¯s victory.
Following Long Chen¡¯s victory, countless people sighed in regret. With this oue, they had no way to take back their bets.
As for the tens of people who had bet on Long Chen, they all crazily shouted in joy. Fatty Yu and the others shouted out especially loudly.
Lying on the martial arena, Li Hao would never again be paid any attention to. The martial arena¡¯s organizers would send a message to his family, and they woulde to pick up his dead body.
The life and death battles were all protected by the imperial capital. No one was allowed to secretly take revenge. Li Hao was only a low-born noble whose status was not especially high. If he died, then he died; there would not be any waves following his death. This was one of the unbreakable rules of the imperial capital.
Long Chen walked off the stage, receiving a heroic wee from fatty Yu and the others. Shi Feng tightly hugged him.
¡°You brat, when did you be so strong? And you didn¡¯t even tell anyone about it! My heart almost leaped out watching you,¡± grumbled Shi Feng.
¡°Brother Long - no wait, elder brother Long, in the future, we¡¯ll all be muddling along with you; you have to cover for us,¡± said fatty Yu and the others with bright eyes.
Long Chenughed, ¡°Of course. Come on, let¡¯s go to the betting ce.¡±
In front of countless admiring stares and everyone¡¯s cheers, Long Chen received no less than three million gold coins.
At the moment when the crystal card with three million gold coinsnded in his hand, Long Chen was actually even more excited than when he had been beating Li Hao.
He had known that Li Hao was nothing more than a little dog. But the words that he had said right before he had died caused Long Chen to be even more cautious than before.
Originally, he had thought that all the bullying had been because of enmities with his parents¡¯ generation, but that didn¡¯t match with what Li Hao had said. It seemed that it was not such a simple affair as he had thought; most likely, he was just a single pawn.
He was just a trashy teen, and his family waspletely impoverished now. There was no need for someone to actively plot against him in such a deliberate and methodical manner. The clear reason would be due to someone shing with his father who was stuck guarding the barbarian border.
¡°It seems like it¡¯s veryplicated¡¡±
But staring at the three million gold coins in his hand, Long Chen was filled with endless confidence. Was that the confidence that came with being rich?
Leaving with the huge crowd, Long Chen found a teahouse and invited his friends to eat whatever they wanted and returned them their money.
However, the money that had been earned was kept with him. Long Chen gave his friends a promise that caused them to be endlessly excited:
Everyone¡¯s future cultivation would all be taken care of by him.
This caused fatty Yu and the others to go mad with joy. They were allpletely incapable of cultivating, and if someone else promised this to them, then they wouldn¡¯t believe it.
However, Long Chen was originally the same as them. Now that he had managed to dispatch Li Hao in such a quick way, how could they not believe him?
Hearing Long Chen promise this, everyone was overjoyed. However, Long Chen told them to keep this secret, and they all frantically nodded.
Their future cultivation was something that was basically just as important as their life, and adding on to how solemn Long Chen¡¯s words were, they would not dare to treat it unimportantly.
After fatty Yu and the others left, Long Chen stayed behind to chat a bit with Shi Feng. Shi Feng was a genius whose aptitude was the greatest amongst all the noble heirs. He was already at the eighth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation and could enter into the ninth Heavenstage at any time. Entering the Blood Condensation stage before twenty should not be that difficult for him.
Through how Shi Feng had acted during thesest two matters, Long Chen knew that he was definitely a person deserving his trust. After asking about Shi Feng¡¯s current stage of cultivation, Long Chen split up with him and went directly to the alchemist guild.
The alchemist guild was in the south part of the imperial capital. It was the most sacred part of the entire imperial capital. Not even members of the royal family would dare to be rude towards the members of the alchemist guild.
Alchemist guilds were said to be spread throughout the entire world, and as for the guild in the imperial capital, it was nothing more than one of their branches.
What Long Chen needed to get this time was an alchemist¡¯s official identification. Having that status would mean that in the future, it would be extremely easy and convenient for him to do what he wanted.
No matter where you went, alchemists were an extremely scarce upation. With this identification, Long Chen¡¯s status would no longer be the same. Even the Phoenix Cry Empire would have to think carefully before they would act against him.
The most important thing was that he could use an extremely favorable price and get a preferential treatment when buying the alchemist guild¡¯s rare ingredients, letting him save the maximum amount of money.
Although the alchemist guild only took up a few tens of acres of ground, it rose dozens of meters into the air, making it extremely imposing and causing people to revere it.
Entering the lobby, two maids received Long Chen. They were surprised when they heard that he wanted to take the examination for an alchemist identification.
After all, Long Chen appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, and he didn¡¯t have any fluctuations of a cultivation base. However, the two of them still brought him into the refining hall.
At this time, the refining hall only had a dozen or so men inside. They were currently urging on their Pill mes, appearing to be refining medicines.
¡°Huh? Why are you here?¡±
Just as Long Chen entered, an old man asked with an astonished expression.
When he saw that person, Long Chen¡¯s heart erupted with a concealed anger. That old man was precisely the one who had treated his wounds. This person had clearly known that his injury had been no big deal, but by saying that he could possibly lose his memory, he managed to con his mother into selling her jewelry.
¡°I came here to take the alchemist exam.¡± Long Chen calmed the anger in his heart. He¡¯d pay back the bill to this old manter.
¡°Alchemist exam?¡± The old man examined Long Chen from top to bottom. ¡°Looks like your wounds fromst time still aren¡¯t healed. You should go back and heal them.¡±
Long Chen frowned slightly and insisted, ¡°I really am here to take the alchemist exam.¡±
The old man¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to waste on a little kid! Hurry up and beat it! Otherwise, I¡¯ll get the guards to throw you out!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s anger once again exploded. ring at the old man he shouted, ¡°If your ears aren¡¯tpletely deaf yet, then I¡¯ll repeat myself one more time: I am here to take the alchemist exam!¡±
By the end, Long Chen¡¯s shout was already a roar that reverberated through the entire alchemist guild.
¡°What person is making such a loud ruckus?¡±
Suddenly, a thin old man walked over with a displeased expression. When Long Chen turned his eyes and saw him, a naughty grin appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Chapter 10: Disciplining the Brat
Long Chen recognized the old man, and it wasn¡¯t just Long Chen who would recognize him. In the imperial capital, there were only a few people who wouldn¡¯t recognize him the alchemist guild¡¯s chairman, grandmaster Yun Qi.
¡°Senior Yun Qi, this brat suddenly ran over to make trouble. I was just about to expel him,¡± the old man hurriedly exined when he saw grandmaster Yun Qi.
Long Chen rolled his eyes. Feigning an extremely grateful expression, he said, ¡°You are grandmaster Yun Qi? Wonderful, Long Chen thanks you for the favor of saving his life.¡±
Originally Yun Qi¡¯s expression was displeased, but hearing Long Chen say this, he couldn¡¯t help but be distracted, asking, ¡°Child, are you misrecognizing me as someone else?
¡°Misrecognizing? No, definitely not.¡± Long Chen shook his head. Pointing towards the old man, he said, ¡°Through this grandmaster, my mom paid several thousand gold coins to buy a Tiger Bone Pill from you. Only through this was I able to recover from my wounds. This little one truly cannot thank you enough.¡±
Hearing Long Chen recount this affair, the old man¡¯s expression immediately changed and Yun Qi¡¯s expression turned cold. Looking at the old man he said, ¡°Guan Cheng, what is this about?¡±
¡°Senior chairman, don¡¯t listen to his rubbish-¡± Guan Cheng hurriedly tried to exin.
¡°Huh, why aren¡¯t you acknowledging it? To think that the people of our alchemist guild are of such a noble character than they don¡¯t even put their names on the good deeds they do. Only, the matter of you selling my mother a defective grade Tiger Bone Pill is very well known.¡± Long Chen coldly smiled.
Although Guan Cheng was continuously shooting Long Chen meaningful nces, Long Chen continued to act as if he hadn¡¯t noticed. Did you really think my Long family¡¯s money was so easy to swindle?
Guan Cheng was currently a senior member of the alchemist guild. He was taught a bit by grandmaster Yun Qi, but he wasn¡¯t someone extremely talented.
However, after Guan Cheng had carefully and attentively followed Yun Qi for a few decades, Yun Qi had felt some pity for him and given him the position of an attendant with some low-grade random jobs to do in the alchemist guild.
asionally, when he refined a garbage pill, he would hand it over to Guan Cheng to handle. Normally, these garbage pills would have their useful portion extracted out for some medicinal liquids; they definitely would not be allowed to be sold on the market.
This was rted to the profession¡¯s personal integrity. If it was leaked that grandmaster Yun Qi had actually sold a garbage pill, then he would be a joke amongst his fellow alchemists.
Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed. Looking at Guan Cheng he said, ¡°You¡¯ve followed me for several decades, so you already understand my character. Leave and don¡¯t evere back.¡±
Guan Chen¡¯s old face became deathly pale. His eyes holding a trace of unwillingness, he begged, ¡°Senior, I¡¡±
¡°Go.¡± Yun Qi indifferently responded, waving his hand.
Guan Cheng nearly became paralyzed and fell to the floor. Yun Qi¡¯s deration was equivalent to expelling him from the alchemist guild.
An originally high and aloof attendant in a sh became someonepletelycking of anything. Guan Cheng appeared to age several decades.
¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to you; stop faking. You¡¯ve cheated and swindled people for so many years outside this guild. Right now, you¡¯ve already earned so much evil money that you won¡¯t even be able to spend it all before dying. Why are you acting like you¡¯re so deserving of pity?¡± Long Chen disdainfully said.
As an attendant of the alchemist guild, this old man had be extremely close to quite a few noble families. After muddling along for so many years, he had definitely obtained many benefits. Looking at his face caused Long Chen to feel sick and disgusted.
Guan Cheng¡¯s expression became furious; his eyes filled with bitter resentment. However, he didn¡¯t say anything and merely slowly walked out with his head down.
Watching Guan Cheng go away, grandmaster Yun Qi shook his head. Towards Long Chen, he said, ¡°Thank you young man. Otherwise, this old man would still bepletely in the dark.¡±
¡°Hehe, that old man was someone who cheated my family of one of our fortunes. I purposely came for revenge; there¡¯s no need to be so courteous.¡± Long Chenughed.
Contrary to one¡¯s expectations, grandmaster Yun Qi replied, ¡°Haha, not bad. A young fellow who is so straightforward is clearly not suited for a treacherous and deceitful life.¡±
¡°Haha, how could this youngster¡¯s intentions and manner be concealed for a whole lifetime? Since it¡¯s impossible to conceal, I might as well act like a good person.¡± Long Chen spread out his arms candidly as he replied.
Grandmaster Yun Qi couldn¡¯t help butugh. Over hisst few years, everyone would treat him with reverence. This was the first time someone would speak to him in such a joking manner, so now it was quite an enjoyable experience.
¡°Little fellow, surely you didn¡¯te to my alchemist guild just to report thisint.¡±
¡°Of course not. I came here to take the alchemist exam.¡± After saying this, Long Chen held out his right hand.
Puff¡
A tiny me leaped out of his fingertips. In order to leave a deep impression onto the grandmaster, Long Chen¡¯s hand trembled, and the me started to act like a wild monkey, yfully leaping around.
¡°Not bad.¡±
Originally, when he saw the me, Yun Qi had only faintly nodded his head. Being able to agglomerate a Pill me at that age could be considered not bad. But Long Chen¡¯s following actions caused him to actually be somewhat moved.
The ability to control the me relied mostly on the amount of Spiritual Strength one had. Long Chen¡¯s ability to control it in such a lively manner demonstrated that his Spiritual Strength had surpassed an ordinary person by quite a bit.
What he didn¡¯t know was that Long Chen was still holding back. If he were to bring out the secret arts from his memories, then he mightpletely terrify this grandmaster.
¡°Very good. Your Spiritual Strength is at least twice as strong as an ordinary person, making you a good sapling to learn pill refining.¡± Yun Qi nodded.
Hearing Yun Qi said this, Long Chen felt a weight fall off his shoulders. Being able to hold as much hidden strength as possible was still the best.
¡°Come, I¡¯ll bring you to do the test.¡± Saying this, grandmaster Yun Qi brought Long Chen away.
Looking at the two people leaving, everyone who had previously been in the hall refining medicines with their Pill mes couldn¡¯t help being stunned.
¡°What? He didn¡¯t need to be appraised before directly going to do the test?¡±
¡°How is this possible? Is he a rtive of grandmaster Yun Qi?¡±
¡°Nonsense, he¡¯s not a rtive. Isn¡¯t that kid the imperial capital¡¯s famous trash, Long Chen?¡±
The ten plus people in the hall were all there in order to take the alchemist exam, but ording to the usual convention, they had to meet the requirement of refining a certain herbal medicine first to show that they met a certain qualification before advancing to take the exam.
But Long Chen immediately skipped over this step, causing them to be incessantly furious. However, there was no alternative for them. This was the alchemist guild, a supreme existence. No one would dare do a thing; they could only swallow their anger into their stomach.
In an underground room of the alchemist guild, grandmaster Yun Qi pointed towards a water crystal in front of them. ¡°Use your me on it.¡±
Long Chen nodded. Extending a finger, he condensed a me and ced it on top of the water crystal. Several lines appeared on the water crystal when the me touched it.
Grandmaster Yun Qi faintly said, ¡°Your Pill me has reached the low Huang ss, just barely meeting the standard.¡±
Pill mes were split into Tian, Di, Xuan, and Huang ss, with each ss also having three ranks. Long Chen¡¯s Pill me was agglomerated from himself and was not a beast me or a heaven and earth Spirit me. Therefore, being at the low Huang ss was very normal.
Grandmaster Yun Qi then brought Long Chen to a shallow water pool. The water pool was only half a foot deep, and the bottom was covered with hundreds of sparkling pearls.
¡°Circte your Spiritual Strength and see if you can cause the pearls to float up.¡±
Obviously, this water pond wasn¡¯t a real water pond. Close examination revealed that the water was clearly spiritual mercury water. When Long Chen carefully touched it, he discovered that the water magnified his Spiritual Strength by greater than ten times.
This immediately relieved him as his current Spiritual Strength was not strong enough to move objects without touching them. Apparently, he had been worrying too much.
Circting his Spiritual Strength, he immediately found a dozen or so pearls being influenced by his Spiritual Strength as they slowly floated up.
Suddenly, Long Chen noticed that grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s expression waspletely bewildered and shocked as he looked at those pearls.
Damn, I¡¯m about to be exposed!
Long Chen hurriedly released his Spiritual Strength. He used spiritual energy to make his face extremely pale like he was about to copse, faking that his Spiritual Strength was overdrawn.
¡°Grandmaster¡ what rank do I count as?¡± Long Chen gasped for breaths as he asked.
¡°Xuan ss...¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi murmured. It was as if he hadn¡¯t even noticed Long Chen¡¯s current overdrawn state.
Only a whileter did Yun Qi notice that Long Chen was already weakly lying on the ground. If one had to give Long Chen¡¯s acting skills a rank, he would be ¡®God of Acting¡¯.
Not only was his face as white as paper, but his eyes seemed weak and listless, giving him the appearance of someone who had excessively overexerted himself.
¡°Excellent, your Spiritual Strength is exceptionally strong. Your talent is definitely mouldable; I¡¯ve definitely found a good sapling this time.¡± Yun Qi smiled.
Long Chen¡¯s eyes brightened when he heard this. ¡°Grandmaster Yun Qi, this little one very much wishes to study the Dao of the Pill. Is it possible for me to be your official disciple?¡±
Yun Qi shook his head, ¡°I can¡¯t. Go carefully train andter, I will present an opportunity for you that will let you jump to the peak of the pill path.¡±
Hearing Yun Qi¡¯s refusal, Long Chenughed with embarrassment, ¡°Actually, the main thing is I want a higher reputation so that no one will dare to bully me again when I go out.¡±
Yun Qi stared nkly before bursting intoughter. Someone like Long Chen, who spoke so directly, caused him to not know whether tough or cry. How many years had it been since he had met such an interesting youngster? However, Long Chen¡¯s abnormal Spiritual Strength did cause him to have an excellent opinion of him.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. Later, I¡¯ll give you a Pill Apprentice identification te; who would dare continue to bully you?¡± Yun Qiughed.
Long Chen became excited. Normally, if a person wanted to join the alchemist guild, they had to first pass the exam to be a medicinal expert, and after that, they had to wait another year before they could obtain the qualifications to take the test to be a Pill Apprentice.
Medicinal expert was just an entry-level rank, but it still caused countless people¡¯s eyes to turn red in envy. As for Pill Apprentice, it was the actual start of pill cultivation.
¡°With your current Pill me and Spiritual Strength, it¡¯s still quite difficult for you to refine a pill. However, within a year, you will definitely be able to refine pills, so this can¡¯t count as viting rules; I¡¯m simply giving it to you a bit early,¡± smiled Yun Qi.
Long Chen was extremely grateful. Although in terms of technique and skill, he had enough mastery to look down on anyone, Yun Qi was definitely a senior who was worthy of respect.
Grandmaster Yun Qi personally made a Pill Apprentice identification te for him, and then in addition, he also gave him a medicinal cauldron and a set of pill robes. The pill robe was extremely luxurious, and there was a single embroidered pill star on the abdomen, the sign of a Pill Apprentice.
The medicinal cauldron was made of fire copper and pure gold, and its design was very elegant. It was many levels higher than the old cauldron he had bought.
Other than these two things, what pleasantly surprised Long Chen was that grandmaster Yun Qi had even given him a spatial ring.
This was a miraculous kind of ring. As long as you sent your Spiritual Strength into the ring, you could open up an interior space connected to the ring and store any random things.
As for its value, it was an extravagantmodity worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins. Before, Long Chen hadn¡¯t even dared to dream about obtaining one. Inserting his Spiritual Strength into the ring, he found that the space inside was three meters wide, causing him to be extremely grateful.
Under grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s advisement, Long Chen used his identification te to buy medicinal ingredients for half the price. He could also study the senior generation¡¯s pill refining experiences free of charge.
Long Chen suddenly had a feeling like he had leaped from being a chicken to being a phoenix. Within the alchemist guild, he bought arge amount of the FengFu Pill¡¯s medicinal ingredients and some other herbs.
By the time Long Chen left the alchemist guild, he felt like apletely different person than when he entered; previously, he had been worthless, but now he was worth millions. Even his back was heldpletely straight. In the future, he could look down his nose at others.
When Long Chen finished collecting this vast harvest, he returned home. Just as he entered, he saw Bao-er at the entrance. As soon as she saw Long Chen, she straightaway brought him to Mrs. Long¡¯s room.
As soon as he entered, he became dumbstruck, his heart jumping wildly in chagrin.
Chapter 11: Flawless Beauty
An absolutely beautiful woman was standing before Long Chen. She had willowy eyebrows over limpid clear eyes, cherry red lips popped over her pale skin, and a cascading waterfall of hair descended all the way to her waist. When she saw Long Chen enter and their gazes met, Long Chen was struck dumb.
That young woman appeared like a fairy from out of this world. It was as if due to her very presence, the entire room had be a fairnd. For a moment, Long Chen was unable to do anything but stare foolishly at her.
Her cheeks reddened slightly, and she turned away from him. When Mrs. Long saw this, she scolded, "Chen-er, hurry up and greet Meng Qi. She''s your future bride."
Mrs. Long''s face lit up with happiness when she said bride, but Long Chen was extremely startled since he had never even heard of such a thing.
"Greetingsdy Meng Qi." Seeing his mother''s stare, Long Chen finally recovered and bowed to her.
A slight blush crept over Meng Qi''s face, and she also curtsied back slightly. Although her cherry lips moved slightly, she didn''t say anything back in response.
Seeing all this, Mrs. Long smiled and said, "Meng Qi, you and Long Chen are both youngsters. You two can go chat for a bit while I go prepare some food."
Giving Long Chen an encouraging nce, Mrs. Long withdrew, leaving only the two of them in the room.
Facing such a beautiful woman, for the first time, Long Chen had a feeling of having no idea what to do. After a long pause, he finally managed to choke out a single phrase. "Please, sit."
Meng Qi shook her head. Aplicated expression shed over her face when she nced at Long Chen. "I have something to say to you. Can we change locations?"
Long Chen frowned slightly, but he still nodded. The two of them left the Long estate and found a more secluded spot.
Once they arrived, Meng Qi reached into her robes and slowly pulled out a seal. Long Chen almost cried out in shock when he saw it, for he recognized it to be a summoning contract that only Beast Tamers could use.
A fluctuation rippled through space, interrupting Long Chen''s thoughts. A huge monster over ten meters long with the head of a lion and body of an eagle appeared in front of them, a majestic auraing off of it.
Although Long Chen was unable to cultivate before, he still had managed to study up on illustrations of Magical Beasts. This beast was called the Lion Eagle, a terrifying second rank Magical Beast.
The Lion Eagle in front of them had clearly not reached itsplete maturity, but in terms of battle strength, ordinary Blood Condensation cultivators were not its match.
This normally vicious beast was exceptionally docile in front of Meng Qi as it quietlyy on the ground.
Meng Qi lightly walked up onto the Lion Eagle''s back and then said to Long Chen, "Come up."
Long Chen nced at Meng Qi. Seeing a hint of haste in her expression, he muttered quietly under his breath and walked on.
This was the first time Long Chen had ever climbed onto the back of a Magical Beast, and he couldn''t help being a bit nervous that it might identally go crazy and start eating people.
The Lion Eagle suddenly spread its wings, and its huge body brought the two of them soaring into the sky. Long Chen was almost thrown off when it leaped into the air.
Fortunately, a pale hand supported Long Chen, letting him awkwardly recover. But when he saw a faint amusement on Meng Qi''s face that seemed to want tough, Long Chen couldn''t help but feel embarrassed.
"Ahaha, I''m just a bit clumsy..." Long Chen smiled slightly and found ame excuse.
Meng Qiughed at that, but she quickly felt embarrassed and turned around.
The Lion Eagle''s flying speed was very quick and in just a few minutes, they flew out of the imperial capital and descended onto Sunset Mountain.
The setting sun spilled out a blood-red color that covered the entire imperial capital, an extremely beautiful scene.
Both of them stood at the peak of the mountain, neither of them saying anything. As Long Chen stared at the imperial capital, a trace of helplessness shed in his eyes.
"Long Chen, I..." Meng Qi hesitated a long while before finally sighing and opening her red lips.
"Are you here to get out of the marriage?" Long Chen didn''t turn to look at her. His gaze stayed focused on the imperial capital.
Meng Qi''s heart shook and a trace of disbelief appeared on her beautiful face. "You... you already knew?"
"I guessed." Long Chen slowly turned to look at her beautiful, wless face and said, "Thank you."
"You''re thanking me?" Meng Qi asked in confusion.
"Thank you for not bringing this up in front of my mother. You didn''t hurt her old heart, and you also let me save my face, so I thank you." Long Chen smiled.
Meng Qi carefully looked at Long Chen. A couple of days ago, she had already learned about Long Chen''s situation in the past few years.
She had thought that he would be angry when he learned why she hade, and maybe even gopletely mad and wildly curse at her. But she had never thought that he would give this kind of response.
"I know you''re a proud and gifted woman, for you are already able to control a second rank Magical Beast at such a young age. As for me, I''m just a normal person. We''re from two different worlds, so you''re not wrong to want this. There''s no need for you to feel bad about it." Long Chenughed lightly, and his smile was very warm andforting.
But when Meng Qi looked at this smiling expression, her heart ached in an indescribable way. This young man, practically a boy, had already suffered so much misfortune, and now she was personally leaving another scar on him and pressing the salt onto the wound. Was this not too heartless?
"Give me a couple of days and I¡¯ll convince my mother to decline this marriage. I promise you that it won''t take too long."
After saying this, Long Chen slowly turned around and walked away. The setting sun illuminated his slim figure on the middle of the mountain path, making him appear somewhat miserable.
Looking at Long Chen¡¯s fading figure, tears streamed out of Meng Qi¡¯s eyes, and her hand covered his cherry lips.
Was I right to do this or was I wrong?
A young woman slowly walked over from behind Meng Qi and quietly consoled her, ¡°Big sis, now that everything¡¯s been said, it¡¯s already over. Although, this Long Chen really does appear pitiful.¡±
The two women stared at Long Chen¡¯s back until hepletely disappeared.
Once Long Chen descended the mountain, his mood became increasingly depressed. From the first moment he saw Meng Qi, he had felt a strong feeling of love and attraction.
Someone like Meng Qi was like a fairy from heaven. For a normal man like Long Chen, it would have been strange if he wasn¡¯t attracted to her.
But just as this love surfaced, it was doused in icy water before it could be expressed.
Long Chen¡¯s spiritual perception was exceptionally powerful, so he was exceptionally sensitive towards other people¡¯s emotions.
The moment Meng Qi had shown her personal power by calling the Lion Eagle, he had already known things were not good.
I¡¯ve lost love before I could even fall in love...
Long Chen was miserable inside, so much that he wanted to scream madly. He had suffered through so much repression and injustice, but he had never let a single cry out. However, this time, he truly did feel an urge to weep.
He could sense that Meng Qi was a kind woman; otherwise, there was no need for her to do it like this, and she could have directly declined the marriage.
It wasn¡¯t as if he wanted to have the marriage arrangement annulled, but what could he do? He could scream and cry at the heavens all he liked, but what was the point?
Yes, maybe if he had begged her, then the marriage might have gone through, but at that point, it wouldn¡¯t even mean anything.
It was better to just let it go. Although his heart ached, he could still bear it.
By the time he got home, night had already descended. His mother immediately began to rain questions down on him. What did the two say, did they make any progress, were there any feelings between them¡
Doing his best to answer and brush off the questions for a while, Long Chen finally managed to ask, ¡°Mom, how did Meng Qi and I end up in an arranged marriage, and why didn¡¯t you tell me about it?
Pain appeared in Mrs. Long¡¯s eyes when he asked this, but it was quickly concealed again.
She told Long Chen that their two families were initially on very good terms. Their fathers were life and death friends and they decided that their children, if they were both males, would be brothers; if they were both females, they¡¯d be sisters; and if they were one male and one female, they would be husband and wife.
Long Chen sighed. So your generation was all happy and carefree, but now when ites to us, all we have is bitterness.
¡°Mom, I feel that I and Meng Qi aren¡¯t suitable for each other.¡± Long Chen thought about it for a long while, but in the end, he could only face it headfirst.
¡°What?¡± Mrs. Long stared at Long Chen in disbelief.
¡°Ah, mom, don¡¯t get too emotional. What I¡¯m saying is that Meng Qi and I just aren¡¯t suitable. After all¡¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t continue.
¡°No, that¡¯s crazy talk! Meng Qi is such a beautiful woman; how is she unsuitable for you?¡± Mrs. Long was angered so greatly that she couldn¡¯t help but swear.
¡°Mom, listen to me. Love requires that both parties are willing. You didn¡¯t get our consent before setting this up for us. That¡¯s just too arbitrary.¡±
¡°You¡ are you trying to anger me?!¡± Mrs. Long couldn¡¯t even understand Long Chen¡¯s words anymore, and she was angered to the point that tears were falling.
Long Chen was extremely embarrassed, but it wasn¡¯t as if he could say the truth. All he could do was to stand there as Mrs. Long cursed and cursed. Suddenly, his mother asked, ¡°Chen-er, tell your mother the truth. Is it Meng Qi who wants to get out of this?¡±
¡°How could that be possible? Meng Qi is a gooddy. It¡¯s just me. I feel that this is too sudden and I can¡¯t ept it,¡± hastily replied Long Chen.
¡°No need to say anymore. Child, it¡¯s your mom and dad¡¯s fault.¡±
Mrs. Long wasn¡¯t stupid. She naturally knew what kind of character her son had. After thinking about it for just a moment, she knew that the situation wasn¡¯t as simple as he said. She hurriedly hugged Long Chen and cried bitterly.
¡°Mom, it¡¯s not as bad as you think. I just think we¡¯re not suitable now. That doesn¡¯t mean we might not get along better in the future¡¡±ughed Long Chen. ¡°It¡¯s all part of my n. First, annul this marriage arrangement, and then let your child use his own skills to pursue her back as a daughter-inw. Wouldn¡¯t this be the best case situation?¡±
¡°Hmph, what part of that is easy? Meng Qi is a beautiful goddess. Who knows how many people are pursuing her. Without this marriage contract, when will you ever get your chance?¡± She sighed and continued, ¡°But you¡¯re also right. This kind of thing can¡¯t be forced. Since it¡¯s your marriage and you¡¯re now old enough, you can decide for yourself.¡±
¡°Thank you mom.¡± Long Chen finally rxed.
Mrs. Long took out an old wooden case from under her bed, taking out a thin piece of paper from within it and handing it to Long Chen. ¡°This is your marriage contract. If you want to get out of it, just tear it apart.¡±
Receiving that thin piece of paper, Long Chen¡¯s heart ached. An absolutely heavenly beautiful woman was about to be lost in such a way. It really wasmentable.
Chapter 12: A New Goal
Atop Sunset Mountain, the sun was just beginning to rise when Meng Qi saw Long Chen walk back with the marriage contract. Despite this being what she wanted, she couldn¡¯t bear to do it. Her hand trembled, but she simply couldn¡¯t take that piece of paper.
Long Chen smiled slightly. Gripping her hand lightly, he handed the marriage contract to her.
When he touched her beautiful hand, his heart shook and it took a huge effort to keep himself calm.
¡°Take it. You¡¯re a kind girl, and although the situation is as it is, I don¡¯t hate you in the slightest.¡±
With one hand in the grasp of Long Chen, Meng Qi¡¯s body shook. At first she wanted to take her hand back, but it was as if she couldn¡¯t control her own body.
Long Chen¡¯s words caused her heart to ache, and the tears within her eyes spilled out. She choked out, ¡°Long Chen, I¡¯m sorry¡¡±
¡°You really are a nice person. I should make my move now while I have a chance¡¡±
His heart was plummeting, but his expression was still warm and calm. He acted in a brotherly manner, reaching out and gently wiping away her tears.
It was only with his greatest strength that he managed not to be engrossed with her beautiful face. Her charm was truly just too astonishing.
Without his powerful Spiritual Strength, he would have already be enchanted. But at this time, he had to continue resisting.
With a faint smile, he said, ¡°Meng Qi, this isn¡¯t your fault. If you want to me someone, you should me our fathers. Those two old conkers yed a practical joke on us.¡±
The originally sobbing Meng Qi couldn¡¯t help butugh when she heard his unfilial and ridiculous words.
The smile that blossomed on her tear-streaked face was like a dew-covered spring flower. Her beauty was something that could not be replicated. Gazing at that face, Long Chen blurted out, ¡°Meng Qi, you really are beautiful.¡±
But he regretted it as soon as he said it. Despite his attempts at self-control, his male wolf side still appeared. Long Chen was so angry he wanted to punch himself.
Luckily, Meng Qi didn¡¯t be angry after hearing Long Chen¡¯s praise. Her face turned red, and she rolled her eyes in a cute way which was another kind of beauty.
Crap, crap, Long Chen, if you miss out on such a beautiful woman, what would be the point of living?
Right, I just have to do everything I can. Don¡¯t worry about danger or saving face!
Long Chen sighed, and let go of Meng Qi¡¯s hand, leaving the marriage contract with her.
¡°Actually, with your current status, you didn¡¯t even need to notice my existence. We¡¯re two people in two different worlds. But you still came. I know that you came because you didn¡¯t want me to harbor any false hope and have me waiting forever till the end. For you to want this ispletely faultless. On the contrary, I am extremely grateful to you.¡±
¡°Long Chen, are you just saying this to try and make me feel less guilty?¡± With the marriage contract in her hand, her voice trembled slightly.
¡°No, I¡¯m saying the truth. But from today onwards, I have a distant goal now,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Meng Qi.
¡°From today onwards, I will put all my effort into cultivating. Once my strength is great enough, I¡¯lle and find you. The current marriage contract has be invalid, but I¡¯ll start to chase after you again starting now.¡±
Although he was smiling, his eyes were filled with determination. No one could doubt his resolution.
Meng Qi was speechless. This was the first time she had ever met someone who would so boldly confess to her, and even more shocking was the fact that this person was a man who she had personally delivered deep grief to.
Her thoughts were inplete disorder and she didn¡¯t know how to respond. Should she decline or ept?
¡°You don¡¯t need to feel any pressure as this is just my own wishful thinking. A kind woman like you is someone worthy for me, Long Chen, to guard with my life. But before I can pursue you, I have to properly cultivate and be a true expert. Only then will I have the qualifications to protect you. In order to get those qualifications, I¡¯ll cultivate with all my might. It doesn¡¯t matter whether you ept or decline me, I¡¯ll still continue like this,¡± said Long Chen with resolve.
Meng Qi¡¯s face waspletely red. Although she had previouslye from a humble origin, ever since she had entered into a cultivation sect, everything had changed.
This was the first time anyone had dared to confess so brazenly to her. Seeing Long Chen¡¯s determined expression, her thoughts were in a wild tumble and she was unable to say anything.
There¡¯s hope, thought Long Chen in satisfaction as he looked at the bewildered Meng Qi. Right now, the most important thing was for Meng Qi to not feel any dislike with him. That would already be considered a sess and a small step forward. The next steps would be to continue stirring her emotions until he moved her core.
Long Chen was about to continue when a terrifying aura exploded out.
Meng Qi¡¯s expression changed and she stepped forward, cing Long Chen behind her. She readied herself, prepared for anything. She waited for a moment as she assessed the situation before rxing slightly.
A huge wasp appeared in front of them. It was over fifteen meters long, and its body was covered in gaudy lines that would cause people¡¯s scalps to turn numb.
Long Chen was rmed, as that was not only a second rank Magical Beast but an exceptionally violent Bloodrage Wasp.
Even a third rank Magical Beast wouldn¡¯t easily go provoke it because even they would at least be gravely injured if pierced by its stinger.
But after a brief moment of fear, a certain thought arose as he looked at Meng Qi¡¯s beautiful back: You may be able to stand in front of me this time, but I will stand in front of you for a lifetime.
That huge Bloodrage Waspnded onto the ground, its terrifying cry still lingering in the air. Suddenly, a man jumped off from its back.
The man appeared to be in his twenties. He was tall and very proper, giving off a noble feeling. But arrogance was written all over his face, destroying his image.
As soon as the man saw Meng Qi, his eyes lit up with an unconcealed adoration.
¡°Junior apprentice-sister, master is very displeased that you haven¡¯t returned in so long, so he sent me to bring you back.¡± At first, he was smiling brightly, but as soon as he saw Long Chen, he frowned and asked, ¡°Who is this? Could it be¡?¡±
Coldness resurfaced in his eyes, but he once more concealed it.
¡°Don¡¯t be crazy. I¡¯m just asking this young master some questions.¡± Meng Qi evidently wasn¡¯t good at lying and panic shed in her eyes.
Turning to Long Chen, she said, ¡°Young master, thank you for your help.¡±
Her gaze towards Long Chen held many things, but before Long Chen could carefully see what those things were, Meng Qi had already gotten onto her steed and flown up.
That man nced at Long Chen and coldly snorted. With just a point of his finger, a transparent arrow appeared in front of him and shot towards Long Chen.
Long Chen was still thinking about the look Meng Qi had given him. He hadn¡¯t expected that man to suddenly attack him, so he waspletely unable to dodge in time.
That arrow had been condensed from Spiritual Strength and so waspletely incorporeal. If ordinary people were to be struck by it, their spirit would immediately break and they would be reduced to a simpleton.
Since he was no longer able to dodge due to his surprise, he could only hastily use his Spiritual Strength to block it. Although his Spiritual Strength was great, he had never cultivated any soul arts, so he had little chance of being able to block it.
Suddenly, another arrow shot out and blocked the man¡¯s attack. A powerful explosion blew Long Chen backs everal feet.
¡°Senior apprentice-brother Xi, master would be quite displeased to learn that you attacked an ordinary mortal like this.¡±
At some unknown time, another woman had appeared beside the two of them. This senior apprentice-brother Xi¡¯s expression changed slightly, but he stillughed, ¡°Junior apprentice-sister, you misunderstand me; I¡¯m just testing him out a bit. How could I possibly really hurt him?¡±
Long Chen¡¯s expression was extremely ugly. With his Spiritual Strength, he could clearly tell that this bastard had intended to cripple him.
But it wasn¡¯t just that he had attacked him. The look he had given Meng Qi had also caused Long Chen to feel a burst of anger. Adding the attack on to that and Long Chen was now fuming with anger.
¡°Young master, this is an inner disciple of our Wind Spirit Pavilion. His cultivation is very high, so you¡¯ll have to work hard.¡±
After she said that, she purposely winked at Long Chen.
¡°Senior apprentice-brother Xi, let¡¯s go.¡±
Although she said this, she was clearly waiting for him to go with her.
He nced at Long Chen and indifferentlyughed. Stepping onto the Bloodrage Wasp, the two of them departed.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°This damn crap-brother Xi, I won¡¯t forget this!¡±
After releasing his anger, Long Chen calmed down. No matter what, he had at least gained something from today. Although the marriage arrangement had been annulled, he had at the least given Meng Qi a good impression.
The most important thing was that when Meng Qi had left, she had ced the marriage contract carefully within her robes and hadn¡¯t immediately torn it apart. That had left him with a great deal of hope.
But at the same time, it gave him a great sense of urgency. How many could withstand the charm of an outstanding woman like Meng Qi? Plus, there was that crap-brother Xi beside her. His hopes could be dashed at any moment.
And even if he got rid of crap-brother Xi, more crap-brothers would alsoe... No matter what, he had to quickly raise his cultivation base.
Although he had gained the alchemist guild¡¯s emblem, the alchemist guild was a neutral power that didn¡¯t participate in any fights. He would have to rely on himself for everything.
His past few miserable years had raised his wariness. He suspected that someone was possibly using his mother and him to control his father.
At this point in time, his father had refused to answer the royal family¡¯s summons several times. Most likely, he already knew something was going on. The longer things stretched out, the less value the mother-son duo would have, and the greater danger they would be in.
After returning home, Long Chen locked himself in his room and ordered that no one was to disturb him. He then took out the medical ingredients that he had stored in his spatial ring.
Last time when he was at the alchemist guild, Yun Qi had given him a copper-gold cauldron which was a great aid to him. Cauldrons were an essential tool for alchemists, and there was a great deal of knowledge and technique involved with them.
Long Chen¡¯s old cauldron wasplete trash and not only did it waste a great deal of heat, but it also used up arge amount of Long Chen¡¯s Pill me.
And in terms of quality, the greatest difference was that the old one couldn¡¯t seal in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. Spiritual qi would rush out while impurities would rush in; such a cauldron could not possibly produce any good pills.
Cauldrons required a skilled artisan to forge, and as for Long Chen¡¯s old cauldron, it had been made by just an ordinary worker.
But there was no way around it. A decent cauldron cost several hundred thousand gold coins, maybe even millions. There was no way for Long Chen to afford it.
As for the cauldron Yun Qi had given Long Chen, it was a first tier medicinal cauldron. Only Pill Apprentices and other pill cultivators had the qualifications to use it.
With this new cauldron, Long Chen was finally properly equipped.
¡°I have to pick up the pace. Otherwise, even my future wife might leave me in the future.¡±
Chapter 13: FengFu Initial Condensation
With a muffled explosion, the pill furnace shook briefly before calming down. Nine plump medicinal pillsy quietly within.
A dense, refreshing pill fragrance came from them. Long Chen smiled in satisfaction.
He reached in and took out one of the medicinal pills. It waspletely smooth and round with a faint luster, and there was even ayer of faint lines.
¡°Although the pill lines are faint and its color isn¡¯t at its peak which means that the pill has lost some spirituality, it is just barely at the middle grade pill level.¡±
This was the first batch of middle grade medicinal pills that Long Chen had refined. The quality of a medicinal pill was dependant on the pill furnace, the Pill me, the Spiritual Strength, etc. Not a single one of them could becking.
Long Chen¡¯s current Spiritual Strength was definitely good enough, but the pill furnace was too weak. And as for the Pill me, well that was even worse.
To use an average first tier pill furnace as well as the worst kind of Pill me to refine a middle grade medicinal pill¡ Well, in the entire pill refining world, perhaps only Long Chen who had fused with a Pill God¡¯s soul could do such a thing.
In just a short time, he had refined twenty batches of pills, creating over a hundred low grade FengFu Pills that were now quietly lying within his spatial ring.
Long Chen had been quietly listening to what was happening outside his seclusion. Li Hao had been killed, so naturally, he wasn¡¯t a threat anymore.
The imperial capital had offered a reward for the capture of whoever had killed him, but the urgency surrounding this case had faded extremely quickly.
Long Chen sneered; even if they were just putting on an act, they should have at least followed through. Did they think that Long Chen was an idiot?
A noble heir had been killed just like that! To simply end the affair just like that, it was crazily bold and easy to see through.
Although he knew this, Long Chen didn¡¯t dare to take action now. Without a certain amount of strength, he had to wait to keep himself protected.
His father was currently guarding the barbarian border and didn¡¯t know anything about what was going on here. Furthermore, ording to the rules of the imperial capital, all generals that were stationed outside were not allowed to have their families leave the imperial capital. To be honest, this was just to force them to follow orders.
Long Chen knew nothing about what was going on with his father at this time. All he knew was what he had inferred so far. His father would not being back to his side.
Their noble estate used to be extremely rowdy and busy. But as he grew up and his father continued to fight on the border, less and less people woulde to visit. Eventually, their estate wouldn¡¯t even have friendse over to celebrate the new year.
Over the past few years, the Long household had continuously declined, its position within the imperial capital bing lower and lower. Furthermore, Long Chen had be the target of all his fellow noble heirs.
But not even the slightest news came from the Border Suppression Marquis. Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit resentful to his father, but he was always fiercely reprimanded by his mother whenever he brought that up.
After his awakening a few days ago, Long Chen had finally realized that something was wrong. He had been thinking far too simply about the situation before.
For his father to refuse multiple summonings, he naturally had to have his own reasons. It couldn¡¯t be just because of the battle against the barbarian tribes.
If he had refused just once or twice, that would have been one thing. But he had refused to answer his summons multiple times, causing many of the nobles in the imperial capital to feel dissatisfied with Long Tianxiao.
There were also people who secretly spread rumors that he was plotting a rebellion, but no matter how wildly these rumors spread, no response came from Long Tianxiao.
Three years ago, the royal family ceased to issue any further summons to him, but from then on, the days of the Long household became even worse.
First, the Long family¡¯s stipend was cut. No ie came in any longer, immediately forcing them into poverty. Then, even the noble heirs started to bully Long Chen.
Also, thest time Long Chen had been beaten, that old swindler had conned the Long family of so much money. With that, Long Chen had finally realized that something was up.
Someone was slowly forcing him and his mother into desperate straits. It was obviously to force Long Tianxiao to surrender, but as for what secrets were behind this, Long Chen had no idea.
But what he was sure of was that there was at least one person in the shadows who was conspiring against his father, and he was definitely extremely powerful.
¡°I can¡¯t deal with that now. A hungry wolf will eventually reveal his fangs; what I need to do now is to increase my strength.¡±
After giving Bao-er a few simple instructions, Long Chen immediately began his seclusion. The FengFu Star¡¯s embryonic form had already been condensed, so what was next was simple. All he needed to do was to continuously feed it with medicinal energy.
The FengFu Star on the bottom of Long Chen¡¯s foot was continuously absorbing the FengFu Pills¡¯ medicinal energy and was quickly growingrger.
Under Long Chen¡¯s crazy consumption of the pills, the originally small FengFu Star became several timesrger over seven days. It was as if an entirely new space was forming on the bottom of Long Chen¡¯s foot.
After growing to the size of a longan fruit, it no longer continued to grow. Under the continual absorption of medicinal energy, countless faint lines had started to appear over the FengFu Star. The faint lines began to slowly revolve.
BOOM!
When the final middle grade FengFu Pill was absorbed, that originallypletely silent FengFu Star finally trembled and started to wildly absorb the outside world¡¯s spiritual energy.
¡°Yes, I finally seeded!¡±
Long Chen roared as he felt his entire body be full of energy.
¡°But right now it¡¯s just the initial sess. ording to the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, each star requires ¡®nine transformations¡¯ to be perfect. My FengFu Star has only just reached an initialplete form, so if I were to describe it as how the outside world cultivates, it might not even be as far as reaching the first Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.¡±
Letting out three punches into the air, the wind¡¯s roar shook his eardrums as the wall wildly shook and nearly copsed.
He was able to release such a force without using any spiritual qi and relying solely on the strength of his physical body.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but go mad with joy. Although there were drawbacks, the main one being how slow training in it was, the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art¡¯s strength was absolutely amazing!
At only the first Heavenstage, the current him was already so much stronger than when he had crushed the stone grinder with just a single fist.
¡°Hehe, if I can continue like this, I¡¯ll definitely be able to take back my fianc¨¦e soon,¡±ughed Long Chen. Thinking about Meng Qi¡¯s face, a burning desire lit up within him.
Next time I see that damn crap-brother Xi, I¡¯ll beat him up so badly he won¡¯t know up from down.
Suddenly, Long Chen pped his head; after focusing on his seclusion so much, he had forgotten that today was the day to go to the Imperial College!
Seeing that the day was already starting to brighten, he hastily put on a new pair of clothes and rushed to the Imperial College. He had a bright smile along the entire journey.
He had happily found out that his FengFu Star was able to store an extremely great deal of spiritual qi. When he refined pills in the future, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about his spiritual qi being insufficient anymore.
Last time he had fought with Li Hao, Long Chen had used Spirit of the Bull and had found it to be extremely powerful. He had defeated Li Hao in just one blow.
But that one blow had consumed almost all of his spiritual qi. Now he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about that anymore.
Sensing how much spiritual qi was stored in his FengFu Star, he estimated that he had enough to use Spirit of the Bull dozens of times. This was the difference between the embryonic and initial FengFu Star!
The greatest impact, however, was that with the increase of his cultivation base, his physical strength had also risen rapidly. Although he hadn¡¯t tested it, it was definitely enough to intimidate his enemies.
In the midst of his self-celebration, he arrived at the Imperial College. He once more became well-behaved as he walked through its gates and hurried over to the literature hall.
As soon as he entered, the originally noisy literature hall becamepletely silent.
Li Hao¡¯s death was something many people had trouble epting. All the noble heirs had personally gone and witnessed Long Chen¡¯s single domineering fist. The noble heirs that had originally ridiculed Long Chen now couldn¡¯t help being afraid.
¡°Haha, brother Long!¡±
Fatty Yu and the others allughed and hastily came over to him.
¡°Brother Long, you¡¯re bing more and more handsome.¡±
¡°Brother Long, please sit.¡±
¡°Brother Long, have some tea.¡±
¡°Brother Long, I¡¯ll give you a back massage.¡±
Long Chenughed and scolded, ¡°No need for all this nonsense. But if you can get me some food, that would be good; I still haven¡¯t eaten any breakfast.¡±
Long Chen found a corner to sit at. Fattu Yu had already brought over the refreshments, and all the rest of them werepletely fixed on Long Chen.
He really was hungry at the moment, as for the past few days, he had basically only consumed pills to the point that he was sick of them now. He quickly devoured the refreshments.
After eating for a short while, Shi Feng also arrived and waved at him.
Once he walked over, Long Chen handed him a jade bottle. ¡°Take this. In just a short time, you¡¯ll be our generation¡¯s first Blood Condensation cultivator.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t very loud, but fatty Yu and the others clearly heard it. They were shocked speechless.
Shi Feng was also shocked and hastily opened the jade bottle. An extremely dense pill fragrance wafted out the instant he opened it. A single round medicinal pill could be seen inside.
¡°What is this?¡±
Long Chen smiled and indifferently said, ¡°Condensation Pill.¡±
Others might not know what a Condensation Pill was, but the eighth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation Shi Feng knew. To ninth Heavenstage Qi Condensation cultivators, the Condensation Pill was an absolute treasure that they all dreamed of obtaining...
It had a great deal of energy that could allow someone at the peak of Qi Condensation to quickly break through to the Blood Condensation realm.
Condensation Pills were extremely precious to Qi Condensation cultivators, but had no use whatsoever for theter stage cultivators.
It was extremely difficult to refine. The failure rate was extremely high, especially at the most crucial pill condensation point. It was a nightmare to refine for most alchemists.
An ordinary Condensation Pill would be worth more than a million gold coins, and there were basically none on the market.
A million gold was something Shi Feng would never be able to obtain.
¡°Long Chen, this¡¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Since I¡¯ve given it to you, take it. I didn¡¯t hesitate to take what¡¯s yours, so don¡¯t get all sentimental on me now.¡± Long Chen waved his hand.
Shi Feng nodded. At this point, there was nothing more to say. Pushing down his strong emotions, he said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll consume it as soon as I reach the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.¡±
¡°There¡¯s no need to wait. Can¡¯t you see the lines on top of it? You can take it as soon as you get home. You¡¯ll quickly rise to the Blood Condensation realm.¡±
Only now did Shi Feng notice that the medicinal pill had faint lines on it. He almost shouted in surprise; this was a middle grade medicinal pill! That meant the value had multiplied several times.
¡°Hurry up and take it. Amongst us brothers, there¡¯s no need to say useless things,¡± said Long Chen.
Shi Feng¡¯s eyes turned red as he took the medicinal pill. Compared to the medicinal pill, Long Chen¡¯s friendship moved him far greater.
¡°Brother Long!¡±
¡°Brother Long!¡±
Fatty Yu and the others might not know what the Condensation Pill was, but they naturally knew that medicinal pills were treasures. They were now staring at Long Chen like hungry wolves.
Their urgent shouts caused goosebumps all over Long Chen, and he quickly stopped them, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve already said that I¡¯ll handle your problems.¡±
The real reason why these people were unable to cultivate was due to how deficient their Spirit Roots were. It was due to this that they were unable to sense qi.
Others might have no solution, but who was Long Chen? He had the fusion of a Pill God¡¯s memories! If he couldn¡¯t handle something as simple as that, how could he possibly have been called a Pill God?
¡°Each person take a bottle. Take three drops a day. No strong foods, no alcohol, and no sex. You¡¯ll see the effect in seven days and should be able to sense qi within half a month. As for how long it¡¯ll take to enter Qi Condensation, that¡¯ll be up to how hard you work.¡±
Long Chen handed each of them a bottle of medicinal liquid that he had personally made.
The medicinal liquid wasn¡¯t very valuable, and it should just barely be able to have an effect on these people¡¯s Spirit Roots. Long Chen wasn¡¯t a god; there was a limit to how great the effect would be.
It wasn¡¯t a problem to let them enter Qi Condensation, and as long as they weren¡¯t unlucky, they should be able to enter the Blood Condensation realm. However, any future advancements past that were impossible.
But to fatty Yu and the others, just that was something of unimaginable value. They all stared hungrily at the bottles, wanting to take a drop right now.
¡°Brother Long, if this really can let us cultivate, wouldn¡¯t that bring trouble to you?¡± Fatty Yu might be fat, but his brain wasn¡¯t small. He was the first to realize the problem.
If Long Chen really could help them who were considered trash, it might have a negative impact on Long Chen. If some unscrupulous people were to notice, then it would be troublesome.
Fatty Yu¡¯s intention was to ask whether they should help Long Chen hide this matter. But Long Chenughed, ¡°No need to worry. These medicines were all made by grandmaster Yun Qi. If they want to, they can go find grandmaster Yun Qi.¡±
¡°Grandmaster Yun Qi?!¡±
All of them were shocked and were about to ask whether he was joking when steps sounded behind them. Turning their heads, several of them became panicked.
Chapter 14: Seventh Prince
Chapter 14
Chapter 14 Seventh Prince
The person who hade over was a youngster around fifteen years old . He was wearing yellow robes and a very impressive golden crown .
¡°Greetings seventh prince . ¡±
Everyone hastily kneeled down when they saw him arrive . Even Shi Feng extremely unwillingly kneeled .
The youngster¡¯s name was Chu Feng . He was the seventh son of the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s current emperor, the youngest of his sons .
The rumors were that by the time he was born, Chu Tiankuo had already entered seclusion . Even now he had yet to exit that seclusion, and Chu Feng had never actually met his father .
Long Chen had heard quite a bit about Chu Feng . He knew he was the son of the Western Pce¡¯s empress and was spoiled rotten . He was extremely domineering and unreasonable, and other than the crown prince, there was supposedly no one that he feared . No one could guess as to why he hade here today .
But when Long Chen saw Zhou Yaoyang by his side, he immediately knew that it was another attack on him .
ording to imperial etiquette, all noble sons had to kneel when seeing the royal princes . Fatty Yu, Shi Feng, and all the others were all kneeling . Unless they broke through to the Blood Condensation realm, there was no away to avoid this .
Long Chen frowned . Some random rtive wished to force him to kneel? Other than his mother and father, another person who could force Long Chen to kneel had yet to be born .
Chu Feng indifferently looked over everyone, but his expression immediately darkened when he saw Long Chen sitting there acting all grand .
¡°How bold Long Chen . The seventh prince is here yet you actually refuse to follow etiquette and kneel . Are you trying to rebel?¡±
Zhou Yaoyang and the others surrounding the seventh prince had never expected that Long Chen would be like this and actually so boldly refuse to kneel to the seventh prince .
Wang Mang who had previously already taken a blow from Long Chen celebrated inside when he saw this . He was the first to shout out against him in order to give Long Chen a bad name .
The others were all too startled to do so, especially Fatty Yu¡¯s group . They all started to sweat profusely .
Battles between noble heirs were small things . But if youmitted an offense against the seventh prince, you might very well be executed . Long Chen¡¯s actions were extremely rebellious!
Zhou Yaoyang became excited . He had a slight friendship with the seventh prince . Every now and then he used to apany the idiot prince to food or amusement .
He had had a sudden thought today to bring the seventh prince to see if he might suppress Long Chen . Even since Long Chen had defeated Li Hao, his fame had soared in the imperial capital .
As for Zhou Yaoyang and the others, they had received a p in the face as they had ced practically all their money on Li Hao¡¯s victory . Their group usually spent all their time indulging in drinking and pleasure; now that they had lost all their money, those days were lost .
He hadn¡¯t expected that the current situation would be even better than he had imagined . There was no need for he himself to instigate anything; Long Chen had already provoked the seventh prince¡¯s anger .
Hearing Wang Mang¡¯s angry roar that was supposed to incite the seventh prince¡¯s anger, Long Chen contemptuously smiled . In a fake concerned voice, he said, ¡°Wang Mang, how did Li Hao taste? Seeing how healthy and plump you are, I¡¯d think that that ¡®egg¡¯ you ate suited you pretty well . ¡±
Wang Mang¡¯s expression immediately changed . His stomach heaved violently . What had happened then had left behind a strong aftertaste .
Now whenever he ate he would always think of what happened that day and involuntarily vomit everything back up .
He was basically unable to eat anything from that memory . In fact, he had already quite obviously lost weight, so Long Chen¡¯s words were obviously sarcastic and just to insult him .
His face turned purple from rage, but he didn¡¯t dare say even a single more thing . He was doing his best to control his stomach, and he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he would start vomiting .
¡°Long Chen, a small noble heir like you without an official rank or any achievements dares to not kneel when seeing this prince?¡± The seventh prince angrily demanded .
The seventh prince was normally overbearing and spoiled, and even his fellow princes and princesses didn¡¯t wish to provoke him . He naturally was unable to hold back his anger when seeing a small noble heir be so rude to him .
Looking back at this youngster whose baby features had yet to recede, Long Chen indifferently said, ¡°You¡¯re just a child so I won¡¯t bother with you . Go back to wherever you came from . ¡±
¡°What?!¡±
Everyone¡¯s expressions changed . Was Long Chen asking for death? If he hadn¡¯t kneeled down then the normal punishment was at most being locked up for a few days . But now that he had said such a disgraceful thing, it was the death penalty! Had Long Chen gone mad?!
¡°You¡ you¡¯re asking for death! Arrest him for me!¡±
The seventh prince angrily ordered the people around him .
Those people were all Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s group, and they all celebrated when they heard the seventh prince¡¯s orders . Without even thinking, they all charged at Long Chen .
They might have some misgivings during normal times, but with the seventh prince¡¯s order they no longer had to worry . With such a strong supporter, even if they killed Long Chen there wouldn¡¯t be any punishment .
Just as they charged over, Long Chen kicked forward the table in front of him . That table was made from wood over a thousand years old and was as heavy as iron . Its weight was shocking, yet it was still sent flying by Long Chen towards the charging people .
Zhou Yaoyang bore the brunt of the table, roaring and using his entire strength to punch at the table .
With a boom, that sturdy table was pulverized by Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s strength . He was definitely worth of being a strong person at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation . His power would definitely shock ordinary people .
But Zhou Yaoyang was still slowed down by the table, and Wang Mang zipped past him and was the first to reach Long Chen .
Looking down on this idiot charging towards him angrily, a strange smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face before he punched out .
His speed was practically inconceivable . No one even saw him move before they heard Long Chen¡¯s punchnd on Wang Mang¡¯s face .
Wang Mang was sent flying in a graceful arc through the air . But what was most shocking was that as he flew out, a dozen teeth were scattered from his mouth .
His body smashed into a wall and he fainted . But his mouth was still wide open and everyone could clearly see that he was nowpletely toothless .
Zhou Yaoyang paused slightly when he saw Wang Mang sent flying . Although Wang Mang¡¯s cultivation base wasn¡¯t that great, for him to be handled so easily still caused him worry .
But this wasn¡¯t the time to retreat . Zhou Yaoyang roared and the power of a seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation cultivator exploded out .
¡°Six Yang Fist!¡±
A fist followed with Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s shout . His fist was covered with a faint green light from his Battle Skill .
The Six Yang Fist was one of Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s finishing moves that he had practiced for a long time . One fist had the force of half a ton .
Without any hesitation, Long Chen sent a palm to receive his fist . When the fist and palm met, energy exploded out everywhere .
But what caused people to be stupefied was that Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s unstoppable fist was indifferently swatted away by Long Chen .
¡°How is this possible?¡±
Zhou Yaoyang was the most startled . He felt as if his fist had met a huge mountain, and the pit of his stomach started to ache .
As for Long Chen, he didn¡¯t blink an eye . He coldly said, ¡°It¡¯s my turn now Zhou Yaoyang . ¡±
Zhou Yaoyang suddenly turned numb . He felt as if he was being stared at by a huge vicious beast . His heart jumped violently as he hastily retreated .
But he was unable to do so . Long Chen grabbed his fist tightly, and no matter how struggled, he was like a dragonfly trying to shake a tree and was unable to move him in the slightest .
Zhou Yaoyang waspletely astonished . Just what was this power? Long Chen was a monster in human form! Without the slightest use of a cultivation base, he hadpletely suppressed him with just the strength of his physical body .
But Zhou Yaoyang was also a strong person . He had followed his father¡¯s people to go kill a Magical Beast before . He was someone who had seen blood before and wouldn¡¯t panic in the fast of danger . Seeing that he was unable to escape from Long Chen¡¯s grasp, he raised his leg and kicked out at Long Chen¡¯s stomach .
This was an extremely vicious attack, but Long Chen didn¡¯t even look at that kick . Using a single hand, he blocked it .
With a loud roar that shook people¡¯s eardrums, Long Chen lifted Zhou Yaoyang high into the air .
In front of everyone¡¯s appalled gazes, Long Chen threw Zhou Yaoyang crashing onto the ground .
BANG!
The entire ground shook, and at the same time, the sounds of bones cracking caused everyone to turn cold .
Zhou Yaoyang spit out three mouthfuls of blood, in addition to countless bits and pieces of some of his internal organs .
Seeing him spit out blood and the smashed ground, everyone waspletely silent .
Long Chen finally felt a knot of anger within him be released . That anger had been stewing for a long time .
Over these years, the person he had hated the most was Zhou Yaoyang . He was like a never-ending nightmare that tormented him .
The entire hall was silent for a while, including the seventh prince . All the noble heirs that had been charging towards him gulped deeply, their bodies trembling involuntarily .
As for Long Chen, he had maintained a calm expression throughout the entire ordeal . But the calmer he seemed, the more frightening he was to the others . The impression he gave the others was that of a merciless death god .
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help smiling when he looked at Zhou Yaoyang . Turning his gaze to the seventh prince, he slowly started walking over .
The seventh prince had always been spoiled . He had bullied many people, but as for being bullied, that had never happened before . Seeing Long Chen walk over with an evil smile, his face immediately turned white .
¡°What are you thinking? Get back!¡±
His voice was trembling with fear . Long Chen¡¯s eyes were filled with icy killing intent . He felt as if a knife was being held to his throat . As long as Long Chen wished, his head would roll to the floor .
Long Chen didn¡¯t say anything . He was still smiling a frighteningly calm smile as he slowly walked over .
Now everyone was stunned . What did Long Chen n on doing? Was he nning on killing the seventh prince?
¡°No¡ no¡ don¡¯te over¡¡±
The seventh prince was continuously retreating, but now his backnded against a corner and there was nowhere else for him to run .
Seeing Long Chene closer and closer, the seventh prince¡¯s eyes became filled with fear . He could smell the scent of death .
¡°You shouldn¡¯t have forced me . Don¡¯t me me . ¡± Long Chen pitifully shook his head . His hand slowly reached into his robes before his fist suddenly approached the seventh prince¡¯s face .
¡°NO!!!¡± The seventh prince emitted a terrified screech that reverberated throughout the entire literature hall .
Chapter 15: Split the Heavens
¡°NO!!!¡±
The seventh prince¡¯s miserable howl echoed throughout the literature hall.
Everyone¡¯s hearts were jumping wildly. Was Long Chen really nning on rebelling? But what caused everyone to be dumbstruck was that Long Chen¡¯s hand had stopped before the seventh prince¡¯s face.
The seventh prince had already shut his eyes in fear, but after waiting a while without feeling any pain, he eventually opened them.
He saw that Long Chen was holding a jade tablet and was faintly smiling. Compared to the previous him who seemed like a death god, he was like apletely different person.
¡°Seventh prince, look closely. This is an alchemist¡¯s identification te. So tell me, would I still need to kneel to you?¡±
The seventh prince had already been frightened to death, so how could he possibly bother with checking to see if the tablet was counterfeit or not?
¡°No¡ there¡¯s no need at all for that¡¡± The seventh prince looked at Long Chen in fright.
When he had felt Long Chen¡¯s unrestrained killing intent, he had sensed the fear of death. For a spoiled prince like him, the fact that he hadn¡¯t wet himself was already a brave point for him.
¡°Many thanks for understanding, seventh prince.¡±
Long Chen smiled. All you had to do to handle some entitled brats was to scare them a bit. Even with an alchemist tablet, there was no way someone would dare to act like this to an imperial prince. After all, this was the Phoenix Cry imperial capital.
¡°Let me help you up.¡± Long Chen slowly reached out a hand. The seventh prince had been frightened to the point that he was now sitting on the ground.
Having been frightened like this, he momentarily didn¡¯t react before nervously grabbing the extended hand.
After all, he was a royal prince. If Long Chen really did cause the seventh prince to feel angry about him, then that would just be ying into Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s hands.
Although Long Chen didn¡¯t care about that really, being manipted by people certainly wasn¡¯t a good feeling. Him acting like this now was giving the seventh prince a way out.
The seventh prince was only fifteen, and although he was arrogant, he hadn¡¯t experienced much. Now under Long Chen¡¯s bad cop good cop actions, he waspletely at a loss. After he got up, he didn¡¯t know what to say.
¡°Seventh prince, do you want to sit down with us?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Ahh, no, that¡¯s¡ no, I have some stuff to do, so I¡¯ll go.¡± After saying this, the seventh prince hastily turned and left. But once he walked out of the literature hall, the seventh prince felt that his legs had turned soft.
Now there was a great fear of Long Chen in his heart. That calm death god smile of his had made him sense that his life or death was entirely in Long Chen¡¯s hands.
Seeing the seventh prince leave, Long Chen also turned to look back at the group of noble heirs that had previously participated in attacking him.
After seeing him beat Zhou Yaoyang to such a miserable state, they were all terrified and unmoving. Seeing Long Chen turn his gaze to them, their expressions all changed and they retreated.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t be bothered to deal with such a group of people. Although they had previously bullied Long Chen, the current him was no longer on the same level as them. And so the bitterness and anger that he felt were also no longer as strong.
He slowly walked up to Zhou Yaoyang whose breath was bing increasingly shallow. The light in his eyes was fading as if he might die at any moment.
¡°Long Chen, you shouldn¡¯t kill him. Let¡¯s send him to the alchemist guild. They should be able to heal him,¡± advised Shi Feng. After all, this ce wasn¡¯t the martial arena. This was a private fight, and if someone died, Long Chen would be unable to escape punishment.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. Look, his eyebrows are like messy grass, his forehead is practically caved in. A small person like him won¡¯t die so easily. Hisplexion is still rosy, see?¡± said Long Chen.
Fatty Yu and the others were speechless. Zhou Yaoyang was actually quite a handsome young man, so Long Chen¡¯s descriptions were clearly off. Those changes were caused by how heavily Long Chen had thrown him onto the ground.
As for his expression still being rosy? That was due to being choked with his own blood. Yes, it was rosy, but it was actually almost purple. It waspletely different from the rosyplexion of someone healthy.
Reaching into his robes, he took out a medicinal pill and ced it into Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s mouth.
p.
Long Chen pped Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s face twice, forcing the medicinal pill down his throat.
Although Long Chen hated Zhou Yaoyang to the extreme, he still remembered to act properly. It was true that he had heavily injured Zhou Yaoyang, but he definitely wouldn¡¯t let him die.
With his personally refined healing medicine, his internal organs would all be protected. As for his outer wounds, well those were the problem of the Zhou family. All Long Chen needed was for him to not die.
¡°You guys, if you don¡¯t want Zhou Yaoyang to die, hurry up and bring him away,¡± coldly said Long Chen to the noble heirs who were just standing there in shock.
Only then did they recover and carefully lift Zhou Yaoyang onto a table and bring him away.
They also conveniently brought along Wang Mang who was unconscious against the wall.
¡°You, you, and you. Come and clean up the blood on the floor.¡±
Long Chen pointed to several other noble heirs. These people had often mocked Long Chen before, and although Long Chen wasn¡¯t nning on attacking them, making them do some work for him also relieved some of his anger.
Those people who were pointed out by Long Chen all shivered uncontrobly. Not daring to make a single sound, they all quickly cleaned up everything diligently. In just a short time, the floor waspletely clean and even Wang Mang¡¯s teeth were all found.
What was outside Long Chen¡¯s expectations was that the old lecturer only came an hour after the cleaning was done.
That lecturer looked at Long Chen in confusion for a moment before starting his lecture.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but curse. That old bastard was definitely paid off by Zhou Yaoyang! Otherwise, there was no way he¡¯d be sote!
He had originally thought that all schrs were good people inside, but this thinking of his was shattered today. Feeling cheated, the good impression Long Chen had had of the old man waspletely lost.
After enduring the boring lecture and eating lunch, they all hurried to the Battle Skill Pavilion.
Fatty Yu and the others didn¡¯t go; they were heading home to take the medicine instead. Seeing Long Chen¡¯s actions today had shocked them, yet at the same time, it had given them hope for their own futures, so they couldn¡¯t wait any longer.
Long Chen perused several Battle Skills but felt they were all inadequate. Ordinary Battle Skills were no longer worthy of Long Chen¡¯s attention.
He read through the Battle Skills very quickly, and in just two hours, nine hundred Battle Skills were all browsed through by him without a single one satisfying him.
No wonder they were free to them; they were all trash Battle Skills. Some were fragmentary or overlyplicated while also not being very strong. But the second floor of the Battle Skill Pavilion could only be essed by Blood Condensation experts.
Additional Battle Skills of such low level weren¡¯t of much use to Long Chen. For movement, he had the Windchasing Steps, and for battle, he had the Spirit of the Bull. Even the best Battle Skills on this floor weren¡¯t much better than them, so learning them would be of minimal use.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but sigh. He was about to just give up on wasting time here when his gaze suddenly fell on the bottom corner of a bookshelf.
Other bookshelves were all properly aligned so each book had its own space, but here there was a random pile of tomes.
They were also Battle Skills, but some were already torn up and the others were all iplete. In short, they were trash, but throwing them out would be too much of a waste. Thus, they had just left them in this corner.
A certain page had drawn Long Chen¡¯s eye when he had looked at that corner.
That animal hide page was very worn, but with Long Chen¡¯s powerful Spiritual Strength, he sensed an extremely ancient auraing from the page.
He reached out and took the page from the pile of trash. But when he did, his heart trembled. Maybe others didn¡¯t know what was so different about this animal hide¡
But with his powerful Spiritual Strength, he could clearly sense a terrifying powering from it!
The marks on the page were already ruined and faded. It had clearly been eroded by countless years of time.
Long Chen guessed that the owner of this animal hide was an extremely terrifying existence. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be such a terrifying will left behind after all these years.
It waspletely ridiculous that such a terrifying thing had now been thrown with the trash. Long Chen hurriedly started to study it.
All that was on there was a diagram, with the words on the diagram being extremely ancient and blurry. There were three words:
¡°Split the Heavens.¡±
What an absolutely domineering title for a Battle Skill! That was simply too arrogant, wasn¡¯t it?
Long Chen frowned when he looked at the diagram. All he could see was that there were nine dots on it.
Between the nine dots were some indistinct threads, but it was too ancient and he couldn¡¯t tell whether it was originally like that or due to the cracks from age.
¡°Time¡¯s up. All nobles heirs must put back their manuals.¡±
A cold voice rang out just at this moment. Everyone couldn¡¯t help but sigh; the time had passed too quickly. They were only allowed toe here once a month!
Looking at the ruined page in his hands, Long Chen couldn¡¯t bear to part with it. His time was just too precious, and he couldn¡¯t wait another month.
Seeing everyone leave, Long Chen slowly started walking with them, but he kept the ruined animal hide in his hands. The Blood Condensation expert¡¯s expression turned colder, but Long Chen spoke up before him.
¡°Senior, I want to bring this destroyed animal hide page back home to study. Also, please ept this.¡±
Not letting him refuse immediately, Long Chen first took out a medicinal pill for him. The Blood Condensation expert was just about to scold him when he realized what the medicinal pill was.
Reaching out to take it, he was astonished to find that it was a Blood Condensing Pill. It was precisely the thing that a Blood Condensation cultivator like him required.
And most importantly, this was a middle grade Blood Condensing Pill! It was tens of times more valuable than ordinary Blood Condensing Pills.
Blood Condensation cultivators needed to borrow the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to improve their blood vessels, allowing their blood and qi to be more domineering and strengthening their physical body.
As for the Blood Condensing Pill, it could increase the efficiency of condensing one¡¯s blood several times. Such a pill could save at least half a year¡¯s worth of work.
The expert¡¯s expression changed in the face of it, and in the end, he was unable to resist the allure of this medicinal pill.
¡°Remember, I didn¡¯t see anything.¡±
How could Long Chen not understand what he was saying? If he was found out, he wouldn¡¯t admit to any fault and Long Chen would be used of stealing.
Long Chen simply epted this. Only after Long Chen left with the animal hide did the expert carefully examine the Blood Condensing Pill in his hand.
¡°I really never would have imagined that he had such a treasure. I have to find out more about him.¡± After saying this, the Blood Condensation expert disappeared deeper into the Battle Skill Pavilion.
Long Chen went straight home. Since he dared to take out the Blood Condensing Pill, he was naturally unafraid of any investigation.
The current him needed others to know that he was an alchemist, one close to grandmaster Yun Qi. That would hopefully prevent more troubles.
Using this method, he was telling his unknown enemy that he, Long Chen, was no longer the same person. If they wanted to bring out small fries to deal with him, they¡¯d have to think about the consequences.
As he walked back, Long Chen was continuously contemting just who was behind the curtains. At some point, he ended up walking into a small alley.
Suddenly, a huge descended from the sky. Before Long Chen could even react, he waspletely enveloped and whisked away.
Chapter 16: Enmity With a Princess
Chapter 16
Chapter 16 Enmity With a Princess
Just as Long Chen was wondering how could draw out the puppet master behind the curtains, a huge descended from above andpletely trapped him before he could react .
The¡¯s design was extremely intricate . It immediately tightened up as soon as it had enveloped Long Chen, firmly trapping him within .
Just as Long Chen was about to struggle, he was whisked high into the air . Only now did he realize that there was a huge Hawkeagle above his head .
The Hawkeagle was not a Magical Beast, but was a regr wild beast . But due to howrge and docile it was, it was a favorite for experts to ride on .
This Hawkeagle was clearly just a mount, but it was toote for any regrets from Long Chen . He had been careless and deserved to have been ensnared .
Soaring hundreds of meters into the air, Long Chen felt queasy just looking down and didn¡¯t dare to move an inch .
He hoped the was strong enough . If it broke and Long Chen ended up falling to the ground from this height, even ten lives wouldn¡¯t be enough .
Even if he was granted some kind of divine capabilities, falling from such a height would turn him into a t paste .
¡°Hmph, what a bold ve to dare bully my little brother . ¡±
A clear lovable voice rang out from atop the Hawkeagle . The voice was very beautiful, but the anger contained within caused Long Chen to realize something the situation wasn¡¯t good .
No matter how Long Chen tried to move about in the, he was unable to see who was atop the Hawkeagle . He was afraid to say anything because if this woman were to angrily let go, he would be screwed .
Long Chen closed his mouth and didn¡¯t say anything, letting the person assume he was afraid .
That woman also didn¡¯t say anything in response to Long Chen¡¯s silence . Seeing arge mountain, she urged her mount to fly over .
That mountain was exactly Sunset Mountain, but the situation waspletely different from when Meng Qi had brought him .
Last time he was atop a mount; this time he was carried by one in a trap . And furthermore, this time the descent was extremely unsteady, a far cry fromst time¡¯s slow and stable descent .
The treatment this time wasn¡¯t so good . Just when there were thirty meters left, Long Chen was dropped down .
Although he had made some preparations and protected his body, to be thrown from such a height still caused him extreme dizziness .
¡°Hmph, you brazen ve . If I don¡¯t give you a proper lesson today, you won¡¯t know how to respect your masters!¡±
Fury zed in Long Chen¡¯s eyes . Now that they were on the ground, if he didn¡¯t properly give her nose a twist then she wouldn¡¯t know who was her elder Long!
Although he knew she was a woman, when his eyes fell on her, he waspletely shocked .
She was a slender seventeen-year-old withrge curves in all the right ces . She was wearing white robes with a jade belt that caused her chest to be even more pronounced .
What stunned Long Chen most of all was her willowy eyebrows, her peach-like eyes, her jasper nose, and her small mouth that had a trace of anger that gave him a different sense of beauty .
¡°Hey ve, where do you think you¡¯re looking?¡± angrily said the woman when she saw Long Chen¡¯s eyes continuously roving around her .
His originally fading anger was once more aroused when she called him a ve again . Long Chen sneered, ¡°Little girl, have you taken the wrong drugs? Or did you eat so much you started talking crap? Why have you brought me here? Or is it that you¡¯ve be enticed by this master¡¯slooks that you can¡¯t help wanting to take the errant path?¡±
The angry and regretful expression he had along with his words angered the woman so much that her whole face turned red .
¡°You shameless scoundrel! You dared to bully my little brother! Today, I¡¯m going to relieve my brother¡¯s anger for him . And with a face like yours, even if thisdy was struck blind, I wouldn¡¯t even consider you,¡± angrily retorted the woman .
¡°Your little brother?¡± Long Chen was a bit confused .
¡°Hmph, my little brother is the seventh prince Chu Feng! I¡¯m taking revenge on you for harassing him today!¡±
That woman was precisely Chu Feng¡¯s blood sister Chu Yao . She was the empire¡¯s third princess . The Phoenix Cry Empire had seven princes and three princesses, and Chu Yao and Chu Feng were the youngest of them .
Chu Yao had seen Chu Fenge homepletely frightened and acting very strange . When asked what the problem was, Chu Feng had been so frightened that he wouldn¡¯t tell anyone anything .
Chu Yao had learned of what happened through over means . Manhuang Hou¡¯s noble heir had invited Chu Feng, so she quickly found out everything that had happened .
As his big sister, Chu Yao refused to let the matter of Long Chen frightening Chu Feng go . But as a princess she couldn¡¯t act too excessively in public, so she had captured Long Chen secretly on his way home .
Long Chen had been busy thinking of other things and hadn¡¯t expected to be acted upon within the imperial capital . Due to his guard being down, he had beenpletely ensnared in someone¡¯s trap .
¡°I seem to recall that I didn¡¯t actually do anything to your little brother,¡± frowned Long Chen .
¡°You ve, you scared my brother witless . The penalty for this is death . Do you not even understand who is royalty and who is not?¡± coldly asked Chu Yao .
Being repeatedly called a ve, Long Chen¡¯s anger soared and he cursed, ¡°You idiot woman, don¡¯t think that just because you¡¯re ady I won¡¯t dare to handle you . Don¡¯t press master Long, or master Long won¡¯t hesitate . ¡±
¡°You¡ you¡ you absolute scoundrel!¡±
In all of Chu Yao¡¯s life, there had been no one who would speak to her like this . Her entire body was trembling in rage from being cursed by Long Chen .
A jade palm came down to attack Long Chen . What surprised Long Chen was that Chu Yao was actually a strong person at the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation .
That palm carried with it a zing explosion, and what was most astonishing was that this was at least a middle grade Mortal Battle Skill .
Long Chen was able to sense a strangeness from that palm, and although he wasn¡¯t afraid, he preferred not to sh with her using brute force .
Just when that jade palm was about tond on Long Chen, Long Chen used a quick footwork and lightly pushed on her hand, causing her palm to go wide and hit nothing .
Long Chen had gently and easily dispatched Chu Yao¡¯s attack that had contained all her power . All of her force seemed to have hit cotton and was dissipated .
¡°Scoundrel, you dare run!¡± Chu Yao cutely raged and quickly turned on the ground . She was like a graceful butterfly as yet another palm shot towards him .
Long Chen was once more infuriated by her insults . How could such a pretty woman say such vulgar things!
He continued to dodge over and over, noticing that although Chu Yao¡¯s cultivation base was high, it was extremely superficial . Perhaps she couldn¡¯t even match someone at the fifth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation .
Although her attacks were powerful, they were too inflexible . She also continued to use only one move against him over and over .
Whether he dodged or blocked, she only continued with that one attack . As this continued, Long Chen eventually started to smile .
¡°Scoundrel, what are youughing about!¡± Having failed to strike Long Chen after so long and seeing Long Chen¡¯s stifled smiles, her anger could no longer be contained . ¡°You bastard, you don¡¯t even know any martial arts! Come fight me head on if you have any skills!¡±
Long Chen finally couldn¡¯t suppress hisughter anymore . His previous anger vanished into smoke . This was the first time he had ever encountered such an interesting woman .
Chu Yao¡¯s face turned green, viewing Long Chen¡¯s current actions as the greatest kind of insult .
¡°You bastard!¡±
Suddenly she gave up her martial arts attack and came at him like an ordinary person without any training .
This was greatly out of Long Chen¡¯s expectations; he had never seen such a method of fighting before . He hurriedly reached out his arms to try to push her away .
The current Chu Yao had gone crazy and she didn¡¯t even seem to see Long Chen¡¯s hands as she continued her charge .
Long Chen¡¯srge hands then ended up¡ tightly grabbing onto Chu Yao¡¯s chest¡ the soft unknown feeling caused Long Chen¡¯s eyes to open wide .
As for Chu Yao, when she felt a pair ofrge hands there, it was as if she was struck by lightning and she wentpletely rigid in disbelief .
¡°Sorry, sorry, it was a mistake!¡±
Long Chen hastily tried to exin as he quickly took back his hands .
¡°Bastard, I¡¯ll kill you!¡±
Chu Yao suddenly grabbed onto his arm and bit down tightly onto his shoulder . No matter what Long Chen tried, she wouldn¡¯t let go, and it was bing increasingly painful .
Angry and pressured, Long Chen didn¡¯t even think before using his hand to spank Chu Yao .
The soft feeling enraptured Long Chen, but the pain from his arm quickly brought him back to his senses .
¡°Let me go or I¡¯ll continue spanking you!¡± threatened Long Chen .
A sharp pain came from his elbow as Chu Yao lightly snorted . She continued to bite down tightly on his shoulder .
Furious from the increasing pain, Long Chen raised hisrge hand and spanked her three more times, each with great force .
She let out a pained groan and tears even starteding out . On one hand she felt pain, but on the other she felt wronged . But no matter what, she wouldn¡¯t let go .
But what surprised Chu Yao was that after he swatted her bottom three times, he stopped . No matter how she continued biting, he moved no longer .
Quite a while passed . Maybe it was due to how her mouth was starting to hurt or maybe it was due to being tired, but Chu Yao slowly loosened her cherry lips .
Long Chen¡¯s arm and clothes werepletely covered in blood now . Long Chen sighed, ¡°Have you relieved your anger?
Chu Yao looked at Long Chen and saw that there wasn¡¯t any anger on his face; instead, there was a faint sad mncholy . For some unknown reason to her, this caused her heart to tremble slightly .
¡°You¡ why¡¯d you stop?¡± For some reason, Chu Yao actually decided to ask this . She regretted it as soon as she said it and her face turnedpletely red .
¡°Ah, I¡¯m not that good at hitting woman . ¡± There was no anger in his voice .
He tore of his sleeve, revealing that a part of his flesh had practically been bitten off . He then tried to use that torn off sleeve to bandage himself .
That one sentence of his caused her face to turn even redder and her anger actually faded away .
Seeing that Long Chen waspletely unable to properly bandage his arm with one hand, she unexpectedly reached out her and took the bandage, gently saying:
¡°Let me help you bandage it . ¡±
Chapter 17: Cold Killing Intent
¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡±
Chu Yao took the cloth from Long Chen¡¯s hand and gently wrapped up his arm. She quietly mumbled, ¡°Sorry.¡±
Long Chen was somehow different from anyone else Chu Yao had ever met. Her impression was that he was the only ¡®lower person¡¯ that dared fight back against her.
She could tell from Long Chen¡¯s wild and coarse eyes that he was a man who did not fear heaven or earth. He would rather have himself in pain than to hurt Chu Yao; this had touched on Chu Yao¡¯s soft inner heart.
When she carefully thought about it, perhaps Long Chen really hadn¡¯t done anything wrong, or maybe she just didn¡¯t know the whole story. This was the first time in all her years that she started to feel a trace of guilt.
¡°I¡¡± Long Chen was just about to say something.
¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize. We¡ today we¡¯ll call it even. I bit you, and you¡¡± Her face turned red. Her chest still felt different from before as she hadn¡¯t forgotten that previous feeling.
¡°No, I want to say-¡± Long Chen shook his head.
¡°Everything that needs to be said has been said. This is over. What more do you want to say?¡± Chu Yao said a bit angrily.
¡°Oh pretty woman, what I want to say is that you bit my left arm. Why are you bandaging my right arm?¡±
Only now did Chu Yao notice that in her carelessness she had bound the wrong arm. Not only did her face turnpletely red, but seeing his helpless expression, she softly cursed, ¡°Scoundrel, why didn¡¯t you tell me before?¡±
She unbound and bound Long Chen¡¯s other arm. It was just a flesh wound, so other than hurting a bit, it couldn¡¯t be considered serious.
Long Chen wasughing inside. This beautiful woman at least had a bit of a conscience. His strategy of hurting himself to gain her trust had worked perfectly.
Actually, he had healing medicines within his spatial ring, both for outer and inner wounds. But he didn¡¯t take them out in order to put on a proper show.
Originally, Long Chen hadn¡¯t been expecting his n to work this well. If his soft approach hadn¡¯t worked, he had beenpletely prepared to deal out harsher reprisals. Fortunately, she had fallen hook, line, and sinker for his trap. This had greatly surpassed his original expectations.
It was also the first time that he gained a faint favorable impression of the royal family. He gently said, ¡°Your little brother was being used. Zhou Yaoyang wanted to use him to pressure me.¡±
He then recounted what had happened between him and Zhou Yaoyang briefly. This time he didn¡¯t need to arouse her emotions; all he did was indifferently exin a bit of what he had been through.
¡°I¡¯m sorry Long Chen. It was I who wronged you.¡± Chu Yao felt guilty now, feeling as if she had gone too far.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m already used to this,¡± indifferently said Long Chen.
Although his speech was very t,bined with his sullen expression, it gave people a powerful moving visual.
Long Chen¡¯s expression caused Chu Yao to feel even more guilt. It was as if she had rubbed salt into someone who was already covered in wounds.
¡°Haha, don¡¯t take it so seriously. I¡¯m just tricking you into sympathy,¡± smiled Long Chen.
She didn¡¯t know why, but seeing Long Chen¡¯s smile caused her to feel even worse for him. Even tears started to stream down her face.
¡°Crap, don¡¯t cry. I¡¯ll stop talking about it.¡±
Long Chen might not fear heaven or earth, but he was afraid of the tears of a woman. He immediately became flustered and didn¡¯t know what to do.
¡°Can you forgive me?¡± broken-heartedly asked Chu Yao. She felt as if she was the worst person in the world.
¡°It¡¯s okay, this wasn¡¯t your fault. It was all caused by a different bad person so don¡¯t me yourself,¡± consoled Long Chen.
¡°But¡¡±
¡°No buts. Leave the past in the past. Keep the happy days and forget the sad days. That¡¯s how I¡¯ve done it as long as I can remember,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°Thank you, Long Chen.¡± Chu Yao dabbed her tears, and a smile appeared on her beautiful face.
Long Chen¡¯s heart trembled a bit when he looked at Chu Yao. Although she might be just a smidge inferior to Meng Qi, her beauty was enough to topple cities. Especially when sheughed; no males could remain unmoved.
Seeing Long Chen suddenly foolishly stare at her, Chu Yao asked in confusion, ¡°Long Chen, why are you looking at me like that?¡±
¡°Haha, it¡¯s because you¡¯re too beautiful. Please don¡¯t take any offense.¡± Long Chen¡¯s face reddened as he replied truthfully.
¡°Am I really beautiful?¡± Chu Yao seriously asked as she pushed her fine hair behind her ear.
Long Chen was surprised, asking, ¡°Of course, you¡¯re beautiful; could it be that you didn¡¯t know? Has no one else ever told you?¡±
Chu Yao shook her head, saying, ¡°People tell me that every day, but I don¡¯t trust them. I don¡¯t like those people who are fake to me every day.¡±
She appeared helpless as she said this. It was a pitiful sight that caused Long Chen¡¯s heart to hurt for her. Compared to the girl who had attacked him, it was like two different people. Long Chen hadn¡¯t expected Chu Yao to have such a side to her.
¡°Let¡¯s find a ce to sit. Standing like this is awkward.¡±
Long Chen found a clean boulder to sit on, and Chu Yao nodded. But as soon as she sat down, she suddenly jumped back up with a cry.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
Chu Yao¡¯s face waspletely red. She angrily replied, ¡°It¡¯s all because of you!¡±
Long Chen quickly realized what it was and felt guilty. But behind his back, he rubbed his right hand a couple of times, reliving that wonderful feeling from before.
Chu Yao took out a long nket from her spatial ring and covered the boulder before gently sitting. But she still knit her brow slightly when she touched the surface as it was still slightly painful.
¡°About that¡ uh, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Long Chen apologized in embarrassment. Those actions of his didn¡¯t exactly fit with the image of a noble gentleman, but at that time, Long Chen hadn¡¯t been expecting to have to act like one.
Plus, he had been very pressed when being bitten. His unadulterated actions weren¡¯t really to take advantage of her.
¡°I¡¯ve never met someone as terrible as you. This is the first time anyone¡¯s ever hit me.¡± Chu Yao¡¯s eyes reddened with grievance.
¡°Hey, don¡¯t cry. How about I let you hit me on the bottom too?¡± hastily joked Long Chen when he saw that she was about to cry.
¡°Ha, who would want to hit you there? You¡¯re such a bad person!¡± Chu Yao immediatelyughed at that, aplete reversal in emotions.
He rxed slightly now that she wasn¡¯t about to cry. Hitting a princess really had been audacious, even for him.
¡°Long Chen, although you¡¯re a bad person, I feel like you¡¯re not a cheater who will lie to me just to curry favor. Can we be friends?¡± seriously asked Chu Yao.
¡°Of course. As long as you don¡¯t put me into a again next time. Truthfully, I was really afraid that you were going to let go and let me fall,¡±ughed Long Chen.
Chu Yao alsoughed, remembering how sorry a figure he had looked like when she had dropped him previously.
Afterughing together, the distance between the two of them had be much lesser. Chu Yao actually began to talk about things that she and her little brother had gone through.
Perhaps it was due to this being the first time she could say whatever she wanted, but she actually told Long Chen many things.
¡°Chu Yao, how long has it been since you¡¯ve seen His Majesty?¡±
She shook her head. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him since I was three years old. My little brother has never seen him even once.¡±
Long Chen nodded. He hesitated a bit, but in the end, still decided not to ask her certain questions. His friendship with Chu Yao had only just started, so he couldn¡¯t suddenly ask sensitive questions.
But he really did want to know what the situation was with the imperial pce. Who was actually targeting the Long family?
The emperor had been in seclusion for five years before summons came out for Long Tianxiao toe back. But it was at that time that Long Tianxiao had started to refuse the imperialmands.
Just what had happened during that period? Moreover, his father hadn¡¯t sent any messages back in over ten years. Why? Had he really abandoned his wife and son?
Although his memories of him were somewhat vague now, Long Tianxiao¡¯s steadfast image was deeply imprinted in Long Chen¡¯s heart. He definitely wasn¡¯t such a person.
But then what was going on? Long Chen was stuck in a huge puzzle, but he also couldn¡¯t rush solving it.
Because the closer he came to the truth, the more dangerous it would be. Before he had the proper strength, Long Chen needed to continue lying low.
Long Chen continued asking a few roundabout questions. What was going on with the other princes, etc. Chu Yao didn¡¯t seem to guess Long Chen¡¯s intentions and thought Long Chen was just interested in her, so she continued to answer.
He was a bit ashamed to trick such a woman, so he stopped asking in order to avoid piling on the guilt.
Since he was getting closer and closer to the truth, the most important thing was for him to quickly raise his strength. Now that his FengFu Star¡¯s initial condensation wasplete and his spiritual energy had increased, he could increase the rate at which he refined pills and continue nourishing the FengFu Star.
Once the FengFu Star reached its perfect state, he could attack Blood Condensation. Only after reaching the Blood Condensation realm would a person be a true martial artist. Right now, he was just too weak.
The other thing that pleasantly surprised him was that as the FengFu Star grewrger, his physical body also changed with it and became stronger.
The FengFu Star was just like a spring nourishing his whole body. His current transformation made him greatly different from his old self.
His greatest support was the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, but this technique was too mysterious. All that was in his memories was how to cultivate it; there was nothing else about it.
Chu Yao continued to chatter for four full hours before starting to feel embarrassed and starting to ask questions of Long Chen.
Long Chenughed and talked about a couple of interesting things. He didn¡¯t say anything about his bitter suffering. Apparently, Long Chen had an exceptionally talented eloquence and mouth. Brightughter asionally rang out from Chu Yao.
That rough and willful princess had now changed to be a yearningdy.
The two of them only realized how much time had passed when the sun started to set. Chu Yao asked, ¡°Long Chen, can Ie to find you in the future to hang out?¡±
Long Chen hesitated slightly since he was afraid of being too close to anyone from the imperial family, but seeing Chu Yao¡¯s eyes filled with hope, he couldn¡¯t help agreeing, ¡°Of course. But it¡¯ll have to be a secret between us.¡±
Her face reddened and her beautiful eyes looked away. She hurriedly whispered, ¡°Then I have to go.¡±
¡°You go back first. I¡¯ll walk home.¡± If the princess was being noticed to have a malepanion on her mount, it would definitely bring great trouble.
Chu Yao seemed to also understand and whispered a goodbye to Long Chen before flying away on her Hawkeagle.
Seeing her figure gradually fade away, an ufortable feeling arose in his heart. Only after a long timeter did he sigh and start walking back.
But just as he arrived at his family gate, he saw countless elite troops had alreadypletely encircled the Long estate. His face darkened and killing intent immediately surfaced.
Since you¡¯vee seeking death, I won¡¯t hold back.
The fury in his heart could no longer be suppressed, as he directly charged at the elite troops which were surrounding his home.
Chapter 18: The Savage Marquis
Hundreds of troops had surrounded the Long estate, forming a tight encirclement. An armored middle-aged man on top of a horse was arrogantly looking down on Mrs. Long.
Mrs. Long was pale as she spoke to that man, while Bao-er and the other members of the household were all terrified as they cowered from the troops.
When Long Chen appeared, that man¡¯s eyes brightened and he coldly shouted, ¡°Long Chen, you needlessly injured the noble heir Zhou Yaoyang extremely heavily. We¡¯ve received orders to capture you. Will you go willingly?¡±
These troops were all elites that had heavy bloody auras. How could Mrs. Long have ever seen such a disy of killing intent? She was as pale as a sheet of paper as she tottered, about to copse. She would have really copsed if Bao-er didn¡¯t go to support her.
Long Chenpletely ignored all the troops as he walked to his mother. His heart hurt to see how afraid she was.
¡°Mom, don¡¯t worry. This is just a dream. Once you are awake, all of this will be gone,¡± said Long Chen gently as he took her hand.
A gentle Spiritual Strength came out with his words. Mrs. Long¡¯s eyelids felt heavy, and she fell into a deep slumber.
¡°Bao-er, Zhang Ma, can you help me bring my mother in?¡±
Long Chen couldn¡¯t bear to see his mother so frightened, so he had used his Spiritual Strength to directly force her to sleep. Otherwise, as a normal mortal, it would be easy for her to fall ill from experiencing such a fright.
Bao-er and Zhang Ma carried Mrs. Long back inside, while Long Chen told everyone else to close the doors.
Looking at the person seated on the horse and sensing the faint Blood Qi from him, a ridiculing smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face. ¡°So it¡¯s just half-step Blood Condensation.¡±
Seeing Long Chen act high and mighty without the slightest intention of leaving quietly, the man rolled his eyes.
¡°Long Chen, you¡¯vemitted a grave crime, a crime so severe that no one can protect you. Are you waiting for me to personally capture you?¡± he coldly shouted.
¡°Huh? You¡¯re just a sergeant. A dog like you wants to personally capture me? Don¡¯t make meugh,¡± ridiculed Long Chen.
Sergeant was the lowestmanding rank within the Phoenix Cry Empire. Someone like that had no past aplishments or true power; it was just a small team-leader role.
But this particr fellow had be so excited about reaching that rank that he couldn¡¯t shut up about it. As soon as he had risen to sergeant, he had be ustomed to his role.
Long Chen¡¯s words now were like poisonous arrows that shot into his heart. His face immediately became unsightly.
He came from a low origin and had suffered for over ten years in the army camp before an opportunity finally came for him to break through to the Blood Condensation realm, and only after that was he promoted to sergeant.
His current greatest achievement was now being viciously insulted, causing his killing intent to soar.
¡°Long Chen, don¡¯t force me to kill you.¡± The man ground his teeth and his hand went to the sword on his belt.
¡°If you dare to draw your de, I will let your head fall to the ground.¡±
Long Chen sped his hands behind his back. His tone was extremely serious. It wasn¡¯t loud andcked the slightest anger, sounding just like a strong expert with endless confidence.
¡°You¡¯re asking for death!¡± The man roared and shot forward off the horse, sending his fist punching at Long Chen.
Blood Qi circted throughout his body, and a red glow appeared on his body, clearly showing that he had used a trace of the Blood Condensation realm¡¯s power.
Long Chen¡¯s gaze was electric, and his face cold. He took a step forward while also unleashing a fist.
BOOM!
Gale winds surged when the two fists met. Both parties were sent several steps back from the explosion.
¡°You¡¯re actually so insolent with just this little ability?¡± Long Chen coldly mocked.
The man¡¯s expression changed. To be ridiculed by someone called a cripple caused him enough fury to explode.
¡°Go die!¡±
He unsheathed his sword and sent it shing at Long Chen¡¯s neck. A whistling wind pierced people¡¯s ears, causing them to feel a chilliness inside.
As if waiting for this exact moment, Long Chen¡¯s foot tapped the ground and retreated several feet in a ghostly manner,pletely avoiding the attack.
This retreat had used the newly learned Windchasing Steps. Although he was still at the initial training level of it, with Long Chen¡¯s fused Pill God memories came an iparable understanding of the human body¡¯s meridians. With such an understanding, it was as if he had already been practicing it for tens of years.
With a single step, he arrived in front of a soldier and reached out. That soldier was extremely surprised and hastily raised his de to block.
But unexpectedly, his hand shook and the de disappeared. The next moment he could see Long Chen, he was viciously shing his sword at the sergeant.
The sergeant was still off-bnce from his swing and had still yet to ready himself. Long Chen¡¯s retreat, seizing of a de, and attack had all happened in just a breath. The whistle of the de shing towards him shocked him and he quickly used all of his strength to block it.
BOOM!
After the explosion, the sergeant felt some kind of energy he couldn¡¯t contend with, and he was knocked back several meters
As soon as he managed to stabilize his body, his stomach dropped. With his years of experience of life and death battles, he unconsciously raised his de.
With another huge explosion, sparks flew everywhere as a cold light flew dozens of meters away into a tree.
Previously, that sergeant had used his surprising intuition to block one of Long Chen¡¯s shes. But he had been unable to resist Long Chen¡¯s terrifying strength. The web between his thumb and forefinger split and his sword was sent flying.
Now the sergeant no longer had his previous arrogance. He waspletely stunned and despaired as a cold light shed in front of his eyes, appearing like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
¡°NO!¡±
That terrified scream hung in the air as the sergeant¡¯s head flew through the air, his face twisted in an expression of shock and unwillingness.
Just as his consciousness was fading, he suddenly remembered what Long Chen had said before. If you dare to draw your de, I will let your head fall to the ground...
He now finally believed that Long Chen hadn¡¯t been trying to intimidate him, but had just spoken the truth. Unfortunately, his realization came toote.
His headless corpse copsed to the ground. The head tumbled through the air a long time before finally falling to the ground and rolling further away.
As for all the soldiers, they were all dumbstruck. The weapons in their hands felt much heavier at this moment.
They were all people who had seen blood before, but never such a ruthless scene as today. Long Chen had had apletely expressionless face from start to finish,pleting the kill without even batting an eye. It was even more frightening than if he had been seething with anger.
¡°Long Chen, you dare to kill my trusted lieutenant. Do you believe me when I say I¡¯ll destroy the entire Long estate?¡±
An angry cry suddenly came from afar, as a dignified middle-aged man walked over with dozens of experts.
¡°Have you finallye out?¡± Long Chen coldlyughed inside. As soon as he had arrived, he had used his divine sense to scout the surroundings and noticed those people hiding and watching from a distance.
¡°Savage Marquis, you really are worthy of your name. An unreasonable assault like this is just what I¡¯d expect from someone of your reputation,¡± said Long Chenzily as he leaned against a stone lion in front of his house gate.
¡°Today at the literature hall youmitted a crime against the seventh prince, heavily injured my son, and now you¡¯ve killed my trusted lieutenant. Hmph, no matter how you try to spin it, I¡¯d like to see how you¡¯d get out of this one. Let¡¯s see who wille to save you now!¡± shouted the Savage Marquis angrily.
Looking at this person who was as famous as his father, a ridiculing smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Someone with such weak methods was also as famous as his father? What crap!
¡°Zhou Weiqing, did you get stupider the older you lived? Do you really think that I, Long Chen, am someone who needs rescuing? You really are an idiot.¡±
Taking out the jade tablet from his robes, he said to him, ¡°Open your dog eyes. Can you see what this is?¡±
When Zhou Weiqing who was also known as the Savage Marquis saw the pill furnace diagram carved into the jade tablet, his expression changed to one ofplete shock.
¡°How is that possible?! How can you have the tablet of a Pill Apprentice? Is it a fake?¡± demanded Zhou Weiqing angrily.
¡°Idiot, you really have gotten senile. Fine, for someone as stupid as you, I¡¯ll give you an extra close look.¡± Long Chen directly threw the jade tablet to Zhou Weiqing
When he carefully examined it, his expression grew even more shocked. As a powerful nobleman, how could he possibly not be able to tell the veracity of the alchemist guild¡¯s status tablets?
And it was precisely because he recognized it that his expression was so shocked. The person who had signed this tablet was actually Yun Qi! Everyone in the Phoenix Cry Empire with a brain knew of that grandmaster¡¯s name!
Even the sessive generations of the royal family had to be respectful to alchemists. The alchemist guild held an extremely high level of influence in the empire.
¡°Do you see now Zhou Weiqing? Can you hand my tablet back to me?¡±ughed Long Chen coldly as he looked at the dazed Zhou Weiqing.
The Savage Marquis¡¯s expression was extremely ugly. He wanted to crush the jade tablet in his hands and capture Long Chen, but he didn¡¯t dare do so.
He didn¡¯t know how Long Chen had obtained this tablet, but having it meant Long Chen was one of the alchemist guild¡¯s people. Those were people above the empire¡¯sws, and he didn¡¯t have the power to butt in.
Zhou Weiqing was at aplete loss. He returned the tablet to Long Chen, but at that moment, Long Chen¡¯s expression suddenly changed and he coldly shouted, ¡°Zhou Weiqing, today you surrounded a Pill Apprentice¡¯s home with des, a vicious crime. If you don¡¯t give me some rpense, I will go to the alchemist guild tomorrow and fill out an application for the Phoenix Cry Empire to punish you.¡±
Zhou Weiqing¡¯s expression immediately changed. The alchemist guild¡¯s punishments were definitely something to be afraid of. They would cut off the empire from medicinal pills, which was the same as choking the lifeline of the empire.
¡°It seems that I don¡¯t have a clear understanding of what went on today. I¡¯ll immediately go back and investigate to give you properpensation.¡± With Long Chen¡¯s current status, Zhou Weiqing could only swallow his anger.
This was the first time Long Chen had ever admired this Savage Marquis. His ability to swallow his own crap was quite amazing.
No wonder despite the passing of over ten years, he still remained in the Blood Condensation realm. He must have spent all of his time training how to swallow crap.
¡°No matter how or what you investigate, before I am awake tomorrow, my estate had better bepletely cleaned up. Otherwise¡ well, you know what will happen.¡±
Long Chen coldly snorted and no longer bothered with this treacherous fox. He directly went inside his estate and mmed the doors shut.
He was extremely irritated from today¡¯s affairs. In the morning at the literature hall, in the afternoon at Sunset Mountain, and in the evening at his estate gate¡ fighting three times in one day was definitely enough to irritate someone. But at least what had happened during the afternoon had been a bit more alluring.
After Long Chen left, the Savage Marquis¡¯s expression became ashen. He hadn¡¯t achieved the slightest bit of his goal ining here but instead incited great trouble for himself.
¡°Master, what should we do?¡±
¡°What should we do? Hurry and start cleaning up this crap. Even if you have to lick off the bloodstains on the ground to get them off, hurry up and do it.¡±
With a stomach full of anger and nowhere to release it, the Savage Marquis took it out on his soldiers, cursing and raging. In the end, he left alone.
¡°Crap, how did that little brat get into the alchemist guild? Now it¡¯ll be troublesome.¡±
The Savage Marquis muttered inside darkly. Seeing no one around him, he started walking towards the imperial pce.
Chapter 19: Facial Rejuvenation Elixir
In a small side room of the imperial pce, a handsome man in his twenties was quietly listening to the Savage Marquis¡¯s report.
¡°This happened too suddenly and waspletely out of my expectations, so your servant didn¡¯t dare to act on his own. I beg for fourth prince¡¯s forgiveness and guidance,¡± said the Savage Marquis.
That handsome man was the fourth prince Chu Xia. But what separated him from his other princes was that he was just the son of an imperial concubine.
Although he was also a prince, his status was much inferior to the others. But due to his low-profile nature, he didn¡¯t incite the others¡¯ jealousy, and so he had a very good rtionship with all the princes.
Practically all the aristocracy in the empire felt that the fourth prince had the best aptitude for inheriting the throne, but unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t born to the right mother.
The fourth prince Chu Xia nodded and said, ¡°You were right not to act. The fact that Long Chen managed to be an alchemist out of nowhere is definitely a bit surprising.¡±
¡°Yes, when I saw his tablet, I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes. For that trash to be an alchemist is just too outrageous.¡± The Savage Marquis was also shaking his head and even now he was somewhat in disbelief.
¡°It¡¯s interesting. After this Long Chen was heavily injured by your son, he seems to havepletely changed and is now so much stronger that he is able to kill a half-step Blood Condensation expert. There might be more than what meets the eye here,¡± the fourth prince paced around for a bit before saying, ¡°Go back and carefully observe the Long estate¡¯s movements. See if anyone suspicious goes in. Remember, don¡¯t get caught.¡±
¡°This servant will handle it. But as for Long Chen¡¡± The Savage Marquis hesitated slightly.
¡°Don¡¯t bother him for a while. He¡¯s just a chess piece. As long as he doesn¡¯t jump off the chessboard, even with a patron, he won¡¯t be able to escape his fate. His current status is something we must be sensitive about. Get your son to temporarily back off. That¡¯s right, how are your son¡¯s injuries?¡± asked the fourth prince.
¡°Thank you for your concern fourth prince. After his recuperation, he¡¯s already out of the woods,¡± hurriedly replied the Savage Marquis.
But speaking of which, when Zhou Yaoyang had been carried back, the Savage Marquis truly had been frightened greatly. Those injuries had been so severe that he hadn¡¯t even recognized his own son.
But what fortunate was although the injuries appeared frightening, the inner injuries weren¡¯t very great. That was because Long Chen had made him consume a medicinal pill to preserve his life.
In just a short time of recuperation and after spending a great deal of gold, Zhou Yaoyang was already able to get up and walk. Other than being temporarily unable to fight with others, he already didn¡¯t have any great deficits.
¡°Hm, that¡¯s good then. Go back and remember what I said. Watch them closely, and as soon as anything strange happens, immediately report it to me.¡±
¡°Yes, your servant is excused.¡±
After the Savage Marquis left, the fourth prince went to the window. Staring out into the pitch darkness, a smile appeared on his lips.
¡°The ck curtain of the night cannotst forever; the sunlight will quickly arrive. Long Tianxiao, just how long can you resist?¡±
¡
The next day¡¯s morning, when the people of the Long household opened the great gates, they found that the floor had beenpletely retiled, bbergasting the estate¡¯s people.
What they didn¡¯t know was that the Savage Marquis¡¯s people hadpletely dug out all the tiles that had been stained with blood.
Seeing the uneven ground after the tiles were excavated, that person who had been cursed by him considered it and ordered the people under him topletely re-tile the floor before he felt reassured.
Long Chen smiled mockingly when he saw this. Those childish men would bully the weak and only fear the strong. Now they would be more well-behaved!
The first thing Long Chen did after getting out of bed was to go see his mother. When she awoke, it was as if everything that had happened yesterday had been just a dream.
¡°Chen-er, what happened yesterday?¡± Although she saw that Long Chen waspletely safe, she was still a bit nervous.
¡°Mom, your son has already grown up and be a true man. Just the same as my father, I can also shield this family from wind and rain,¡± said Long Chen solemnly as he held his mother¡¯s hand.
He didn¡¯t want her to know too much; she was just an ordinary mortal after all. Before this, Long Chen had already examined her body. The meridians she had been given by the heavens were simply too short, and it wasn¡¯t just that she had a bad Spirit Root, but that she didn¡¯t even have one at all.
Furthermore, his mother was now almost forty and had no way to cultivate the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Besides, the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was a Yang cultivation method; women were unable to train in it.
No matter how Long Chen tried to defy the heavens, he had no way to change his mother¡¯s natural constitution. All he could do for her was to let her not worry.
Seeing her son seem to just grow up overnight, it was as if she were seeing the image of her strong husband. Mrs. Long couldn¡¯t help being moved and tears started to flow down.
¡°Good child, mom won¡¯t ask you anymore. Mom trusts you.¡±
Long Chen quickly wiped away his mom¡¯s tears,ughing, ¡°Mom, your son has grown up. You should be happy! I prepared a gift for you.¡±
He then touched his spatial ring, causing a jade bottle to appear in his hand. Before he could say anything, Mrs. Long asked in surprise, ¡°Where did you get a spatial ring?¡±
Long Chen didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. Why did his mother¡¯s expression seem so suspicious?
Of course, he knew that always hiding things from his mother wasn¡¯t a solution. In order to handle his mother¡¯s worries, he told her about his status as an alchemist.
In any case, people would learn about it sooner orter, so he had no need to hide it. Long Chen also took advantage of this to say that after he had been beaten, luck had shined on him and he had opened his meridians; meaning he could cultivate now.
And he had even managed to cultivate a Pill me and obtain the qualifications to be an alchemist. When he had gone to the alchemist guild, he had by chance met grandmaster Yun Qi. He had immediately leaped at that chance, using his pity to get closer to him.
Long Chen used his tears to move grandmaster Yun Qi, who finally ceded and made an exception to let him be an alchemist.
Hearing these shocking words, Mrs. Long waspletely mystified. But Long Chen solemnly swore it was the truth and also took out his tablet for his mother to examine. Only then did she believe it.
Although she wasn¡¯t a cultivator, she knew about alchemists. That was a supremely grand upation; for Long Chen to be one was worth several generations¡¯ of luck.
¡°Mom, don¡¯t move. I¡¯ll help you apply this.¡±
From the bottle, he took out a couple drops of medicinal liquid. He gently dabbed it onto his hand, causing a fresh scent to fill the room. Just one breath of it couldpletely rx a person.
Seeing how serious Long Chen was now acting, Mrs. Long didn¡¯t move at all. Long Chen gently applied the medicinal liquid on her face.
A cool and rxing feeling immediately spread across her face.
¡°Chen-er, just what is this? It feels very good,¡± whispered Mrs. Long. She closed her eyes and relished the feeling.
¡°Hehe, this is a special treasure your son got for you. Just stay still,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Naughty child.¡± Hearing himugh and refuse to answer, Mrs. Long smiled. Her heart grew warmer.
She had raised Long Chen since he was a baby, changing diaper after diaper. Now that he had grown up, he finally understood what filial duty was, so Mrs. Long¡¯s heart rejoiced.
¡°Okay, you can open your eyes.¡±
Mrs. Long slowly opened her eyes and found that her dressing mirror was being held in front of her eyes by Long Chen.
¡°What¡?¡±
Looking at her own reflection, she couldn¡¯t help but exim in shock. Turning her head left and right, she found that it definitely was her, but she now appeared much younger.
The wrinkles near her eyes had faded greatly; her original skin that had been starting to turn dry had be extremely sleek, and she now appeared at least a decade younger.
¡°Chen-er, am I dreaming?¡± Mrs. Long couldn¡¯t believe her eyes.
¡°I dunno whether you¡¯re dreaming or not, but if you keep looking at yourself like that, it¡¯ll be lunch in no time at all,¡±ughed Long Chen.
Mrs. Long turned red and lightly tapped Long Chen. ¡°Bad child, you dare to tease your mom? It¡¯s not thatte!¡±
Long Chen smiled. Not only did her face appear younger, her heart had also be much lighter. ¡°Mom, I refined this Facial Rejuvenation Elixir just for you. Although the medicinal ingredients are just average, it¡¯s not a problem for it to make you look like how you did when you were thirty.¡±
The Facial Rejuvenation Elixir normally required a Facial Rejuvenation Fruit as the main medicinal ingredient, but those were too rare and Long Chen was unable to obtain one in a short time.
He had used a kind of Facial Rejuvenation Herb as a substitute. The effect was much worse than the Fruit, and so it couldn¡¯t return people back to their youthful days, but to reverse a few years of aging was no problem.
¡°Really?¡± Mrs. Long was delighted; which woman didn¡¯t cherish her looks?
With her husband essentially in anothernd from her and with Long Chen having an innate handicapped physique, her heart had been extremely strained and that had caused her to age quickly.
Seeing his mother so worn, guilt washed over Long Chen. His mother had truly paid far too much for this family.
¡°Mom, I¡¯ll leave this bottle with you. I¡¯ll also give you some medicinal pills for you to use. I guarantee that in less than a year, no one who didn¡¯t know us would believe that you are old enough to be my mother. They¡¯d think you were my sister, haha,¡±ughed Long Chen as he sped his mother¡¯s hands.
¡°This flippant child. Don¡¯t forget what we agreed on. Meng Qi is a wife you cannot let get away. I don¡¯t care what method you have to use, you must bring her back.¡± Although she was happy now, this matter continued to always weigh on her mind.
Back when Long Chen had brought up about leaving Meng Qi, she had already roughly guessed what had happened. A woman as beautiful as Meng Qi was someone no man would give up.
She couldn¡¯t help having her heart hurt when she thought of what Long Chen had done with the marriage agreement. To be frank, it was precisely because of her own powerlessness that her son had to suffer through that.
In truth, Mrs. Long had been starting to feel more and more upset inside, but Long Chen had never brought it up again. When he now disyed his capabilities to her, she immediately thought of that matter.
Before, Long Chen was unable to match up to her; but now that he was an alchemist, his status had leaped up. She couldn¡¯t help but to bring it up. There should be a chance now.
¡°Mom, don¡¯t worry. Do you really not know my character? Who would dare to snatch something from me? Back when we were young, didn¡¯t I end up biting my cousin so hard when he stole my toys that he started to cry and shout?¡±ughed Long Chen.
Although Long Chenughed for a moment, hisughter faded quickly. He saw the distress within his mother¡¯s eyes.
Ever since his father had been stationed at the border, he seemed to recall that his mother had never once visited the family on her side. Her own family was already in a miserable situation, so his mother had never tried to go there to beg for help.
Long Chen held her hand and said, ¡°Mom, your son is now an alchemist. Our hard days are over, so don¡¯t think about such sad things.¡±
After apanying his mother for some more time and seeing her mood gradually rx, Long Chen went to the alchemist guild.
Chapter 20: Line of Credit
As soon as he arrived at the alchemist guild, Long Chen tried to go to Yun Qi¡¯s refining room. But he was stopped as soon as he entered the inner division.
The alchemist guild was divided into inner and outer divisions; the outer division was open to the empire. The examinations to be an alchemist were all held in the outer division.
However, the inner division was the true alchemist guild. Last time, Long Chen had only managed to enter the inner division for his test because grandmaster Yun Qi had been leading the way, so naturally, he hadn¡¯t been blocked back then.
¡°Unqualified people cannot enter the inner division.¡±
The guard in front of the door was a youngster not much older than Long Chen. He was wearing medicinal apprentice robes, and his expression was arrogant as he looked down on Long Chen.
Long Chen faintly smiled and shed his tablet to him. He then walked right in under his shocked expression.
Seeing his arrogant expression change so quickly to shock, Long Chen couldn¡¯t avoid being somewhat pleased.
It seemed that the old him had been suppressed for just too long. Now that he could finally raise his head, he had started to be undisciplined and selfish. But he knew inside that he didn¡¯t have time to waste on such petty things.
When he entered the inner division, Long Chen pped his forehead; he had forgotten to ask whether grandmaster Yun Qi was even present. If he wasn¡¯t even here, wouldn¡¯t this entire visit have just been a waste?
Just as he was regretting it, a youngdy walked past him. Without even thinking about it, he stopped her and asked, ¡°Excuse me, do you know where grandmaster Yun Qi is?¡±
That youngdy had been walking with her head down, and she appeared slightly irritated to be stopped out of nowhere. Raising her head, she saw a thin and weak youngster looking at her. She coldly said, ¡°Why are you looking for grandmaster Yun Qi?¡±
Long Chen became slightly distracted. This woman was extremely pretty; she might not beparable to Chu Yao and Meng Qi, but she was definitely a rare beauty that could only be found one every thousand miles.
But although she was pretty, her gaze caused people to feel a bit unwell. Her gaze contained an unconcealed arrogance that made it difficult for people to feel well about her.
¡°I just want to know where grandmaster Yun Qi is. Can this young miss tell me?¡± Long Chen might be a bit displeased inside, but he still continued asking very politely.
¡°Just who are you? Why are you looking to see grandmaster Yun Qi?¡± she guardedly asked.
Being questioned twice instead of being answered, Long Chen shook his head and no longer bothered with her. He went deeper in to look for someone else to ask.
¡°Hey, I¡¯m asking you a question. Why are you so rude?¡± She became angry when he didn¡¯t reply despite her asking twice.
Long Chen only just took a couple of steps before turning to look at her. ¡°You¡¯re here for medicine right?¡±
¡°What?¡± she asked distractedly.
¡°You must have a mental illness, so don¡¯t run around all over the ce.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s cold reply had just rung out, and he was just turning to leave, when unexpectedly, a strong gale appeared behind him. Her palm charged toward his heart along with an angry shout.
¡°Brat, you¡¯re asking for death!¡±
Long Chen was quite startled inside; thatdy had appeared weak and frail, but her attack caused wind so powerful that it made it difficult for him to breathe. She was shockingly at the peak of Qi Condensation.
As for the palm attack she sent towards him, it contained her absolute strength.
Because all of Long Chen¡¯s spiritual energy was hidden within his FengFu Star, he appeared like a very weak schr. Even ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators would be heavily injured by such a palm. If he really was a normal mortal, it would be very possible for him to die. This uncalled for attack was extremely vicious.
Since Long Chen was already irritated with her, he also didn¡¯t hold himself back and sent out a kick.
Bang!
Before her palm could even reach Long Chen, his kick smashed into her stomach and sent her flying back.
The woman was sent several meters back before colliding into a drying shelf for medicinal ingredients. The tall shelf copsed, and all the ingredients on it tumbled down and buried her beneath them.
With an angry roar, the medicinal ingredients exploded out as she rushed out, her hair aplete mess and covered in traces of medicinal powder.
¡°Die!¡± mes were practically shooting out of her eyes and the aura around her body exploded out. mming her hands together, a golden ripple appeared from her hands and she rushed towards Long Chen.
Long Chen cursed his bad luck at encountering such a brutish woman. How did he end up encountering such a lunatic today?
This attack was clearly a Battle Skill with extremely great power. Seeing that she wanted to take his life, Long Chen¡¯s face turned cold.
He had a Pill God¡¯s soul, and so he had some superficial battle experience from that. But describing it as superficial was only in regards to a Pill God.
She was really just an ant to him. His ¡®superficial¡¯ experience was more than enough. Having such an experience gave him great skills, and handling her was a piece of cake.
The only reason she wasn¡¯t injured from his kick was because he hadn¡¯t suffused any spiritual energy into it. But she wasn¡¯t grateful for this and instead wanted to kill him.
Killing intent gradually condensed within Long Chen. Seeing this woman charge at him, he might not kill her, but if she dared toe at him, Long Chen would teach her an unforgettable lesson.
¡°Stand down!¡±
A cold shout suddenly rang out. That crazy woman immediately seemed to have been struck by lightning and didn¡¯t dare move an inch.
¡°Master,¡± she hastily called out respectfully.
The person who had arrived was surprisingly grandmaster Yun Qi. Long Chen was shocked. This crazy woman was actually his apprentice?
Grandmaster Yun Qi shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve already said that I, Yun Qi, will never ept an apprentice in this lifetime. You wasting your time hanging around here is useless.¡±
¡°Master, I¡¯m a weak woman. I¡¯ve traveled thousands of miles in order to study pill arts from you and I¡¯ve already stayed at the alchemist guild for three months. Do you really think I¡¯m not sincere enough?¡± said the woman somewhat aggrievedly.
¡°You can go back from where you came,¡± said the unmoved grandmaster Yun Qi indifferently.
¡°No, I won¡¯t leave! You can refuse me every day, but I¡¯ll stay here until you finally ept me,¡± replied the woman stubbornly.
¡°Up to you. But remember, physical force is not allowed within my guild. If you break this rule again, I¡¯ll expel you,¡± said Yun Qi coldly.
He then turned to Long Chen and said, ¡°Come with me.¡±
Long Chen was dazed for a moment. So this crazy woman actually wanted to study pill refining with Yun Qi, but Yun Qi was not the slightest bit tempted.
Seeing her bitter gaze, Long Chen suddenly realized that she had mistakenly assumed him to be another person wanting to have Yun Qi as a master, and that was why she had questioned him.
Long Chen shook his head. Who would dare take such an apprentice? Following behind grandmaster Yun Qi, the two of them entered a training room.
Once they entered the training room, Long Chen quickly bowed and said, ¡°Sorry, this youngster was disrespectful.¡±
Yun Qi smiled slightly. ¡°No matter. That wasn¡¯t your fault. I saw everything that happened. But you really do cause me great shock. You were able to kick a peak Qi Condensation expert flying without the slightest spiritual energy. I also saw that you didn¡¯t use even half of your strength; otherwise, that girl would definitely have been heavily injured. You really hid yourself deeply.¡±
Long Chen was startled; apparently, he had underestimated grandmaster Yun Qi. As expected, this old fellow was extremely sharp. For a moment he didn¡¯t know how to reply.
¡°Child, everyone has their own secrets. This is nothing. However, a person like you cannot waste his time. Otherwise, such a great talent will bepletely wasted.¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi seemed to hint some kind of deeper meaning.
Long Chen quickly realized that grandmaster Yun Qi was trying to tell him that he hoped Long Chen would focus all his attention on the cultivating the pill path.
¡°Many thanks for the reminder, grandmaster. Long Chen understands.¡±
No matter how he put it, grandmaster Yun Qi definitely had good intentions for him. Whether he took his advice or not, this kindness was appreciated.
¡°I heard yesterday that you used just three strokes of a de to kill a half-step Blood Condensation expert. Is it true?¡± asked grandmaster Yun Qi.
¡°Yes, it¡¯s true.¡± Long Chen could only nod. But at the same time, some doubt arose within him. Back then, he had beenpletely surrounded by soldiers; ording tomon sense, no one else should know about it.
As if seeing through Long Chen¡¯s doubt, grandmaster Yun Qi smiled and said, ¡°People from the imperial family came to investigate here yesterday, asking if Long Chen really was one of our alchemists. I told them yes, and I also said you were my student. They then disappeared.¡±
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help being stunned that the grandmaster Yun Qi who personally said he would never take an apprentice would take this moment to recognize him. He was naturally extremely moved. ¡°Many thanks, teacher.¡±
¡°Hehe. It wasn¡¯t much. My symbol is something that only has value if used, so feel free. In addition, a student is not the same as an apprentice.¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi calmly smiled.
Although calling him his student took just a slight effort from grandmaster Yun Qi, but to Long Chen, it was incredibly helpful.
With grandmaster Yun Qi as his support, he now had a huge trump card avable. He would be able to stand with his back much straighter now.
¡°Child, I¡¯ve also learned a bit about your circumstances. The alchemist guild has its own rules, and we are unable to involve ourselves in secr battles, so I can only help you this much,¡± sighed grandmaster Yun Qi.
¡°Grandmaster, you¡¯ve done so much for this little one that I cannot thank you enough. As for the battles in the secr world, I will handle them myself,¡± smiled Long Chen.
With the reputation of grandmaster Yun Qi behind him, his affairs would be much more convenient. The safety of the Long estate would also rise by a great deal.
Although the alchemist guild wouldn¡¯t interfere in battles that didn¡¯t involve them, as long as Long Chen really became a part of it, he would still gain the alchemist guild¡¯s protection.
Once Long Chen gained enough strength of his own and didn¡¯t need the alchemist guild¡¯s protection, then he could personally resolve the heavy fog surrounding the mystery around him.
Although he had some clues now, he didn¡¯t dare to take action right now. Maintaining the current situation was the best choice for him.
¡°So why did youe here today?¡± asked Yun Qi.
Only now did Long Chen remember his true purpose ofing here. ¡°This youngster wishes to buy some medicinal ingredients on credit with the guild, and once I refine them into pills, I will pay it back.¡±
Withdrawing medicinal ingredients on credit was quitemon for alchemists within the guild. They would be able to pay it back easily with medicinal pills the next time. This was a good deal for both alchemists and the guild.
With the guild¡¯s tablet, he was able to buy medicinal ingredients at a discount, but at the same time, he had a duty to first sell his refined pills to the guild. This was the agreement struck when the guild handed him the tablet.
¡°You can refine pills?¡± Yun Qi was somewhat shocked.
¡°I would like to ask some pointers from teacher.¡± Long Chen smiled just slightly, but that smile was full of confidence.
Chapter 21: Assessment
Within a refining room, over a dozen alchemists were sitting in a circle and staring at a youth.
These alchemists were no longer young. Most of them were already over forty years old, and even the youngest was in his thirties.
For a fifteen-year-old youngster to now im that he wanted to refine pills, all of them were stunned and had trouble believing it. Some of them were even shaking their heads in ridicule inside.
But they were all smart people and had all long since heard that grandmaster Yun Qi had made an exception and given a youth a Pill Apprentice tablet. Although they didn¡¯t know if that rumor was true, none of them were foolish enough to disy their contempt.
¡°Long Chen, although I am the chairman of the guild, even I cannot break the customs. If you want to get medicinal ingredients on credit, you have to refine a pill in front of all these alchemists. We will then use the refined pill¡¯s quality to decide how much you can take on credit,¡± exined grandmaster Yun Qi solemnly.
¡°This little one understands.¡± Long Chen understood that this was the alchemist guild and wasn¡¯t owned by anyone. Moreover, with grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s manner of doing things, there was no way he would give him preferential treatment that went against the rules.
¡°There are 187 types of first tier medicinal pill forms here. You can randomly pick one.¡± One of the alchemists brought over a paper. Within his eyes was some hidden anticipation for Long Chen¡¯s failure.
All the pill forms on the page he had brought over were not just ordinary first tier pills. Their difficulties were all above average, and ordinary Pill Apprentices would not have a high sess rate with them.
Moreover, in a situation where all the alchemists were there watching you, in addition to grandmaster Yun Qi himself, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for someone to be nervous. In such an atmosphere, trying to refine a sessful medicinal pill was extremely difficult.
The person who handed Long Chen that page was also just a Pill Apprentice. He was already over forty years old now; back when he had been attempting to pass the alchemist test, he had failed seventeen times before passing.
Everyone else present was all on the same level as him. All of them had used over ten attempts before passing.
It could be seen that to be able to get medicinal ingredients in advance from the guild was not an easy task. But if you seeded, it would be much more convenient for you in the future.
Long Chen read through the entire page and pointed to thest pill form. ¡°That one.¡±
¡°What? You¡¯re sure?¡±
That person¡¯s expression became a bit strange. That pill form was for the Qi Eruption Pill; it was an exceptionally domineering pill form.
For a short time, it allowed someone to explode with almost three times the amount of battle power.
The Qi Eruption Pill was something which adventurers were very fond of. Although using it would cause someone to enter a weak state after its effect wore off, it didn¡¯t leave behind a permanent sequ.
To people who spent all their days fighting Magical Beasts, the Qi Eruption Pill was definitely a life-saving treasure.
But refining it was extremely difficult. There were several ingredients which possessed tyrannical medicinal energy. Even amongst experienced Pill Apprentices, there were extremely few who would refine it.
After all, refining pills were not without risk. Although medicinal pills could be sold for high prices, their ingredients were not nothing. Medicinal ingredients also cost money.
The ingredients for the Qi Eruption Pill were extremely expensive. If you were unable to sessfully refine it within three attempts, you would end up losing money.
Therefore, there were few people who refined this pill. Too high of a price was also something adventurers were unable to afford. After all, if they had so much money, who would risk their life adventuring into dangerous ces for treasures?
¡°Yes, I pick that one,¡± calmly said Long Chen. He didn¡¯t seem to bother at all with the anticipation in that person¡¯s eyes.
Grandmaster Yun Qi smiled slightly. He got a child messenger to go and get three sets of medicinal ingredients. This was the rule; you would only have three portions and as long as you seeded once, it would be considered passing.
Once all the ingredients were ced neatly in front of Long Chen, he didn¡¯t have any hesitation. Taking out his pill furnace, a weak yellow me arose from his hand.
In one breath¡¯s time, Long Chen gently brought his Pill me¡¯s energy over to the medicinal cauldron, slowly starting to heat it up. The next step was starting the cauldron; after heating it up, he had to use Spiritual Strength to urge the Pill me to enter into the cauldron.
The benefits from doing this were that it allowed for the entire cauldron to enter the correct state and reduced the chance of a cauldron explosion.
Long Chen actually had higher quality methods, but he had no choice but to use the alchemist guild¡¯s most basic techniques.
He didn¡¯t want himself to appear too shocking to others. That would not be of benefit to him in the future. If someone were to secretly turn against him, that person could cause a lot of trouble for him.
The people present originally considered Long Chen to be beneath them, but seeing his very practiced and skilled movements, the contempt on everyone¡¯s faces faded by quite a bit.
Once all the preparations wereplete, Long Chen didn¡¯t hesitate before throwing in an Iron Thread Grass to refine.
This action of his caused everyone, who had just started to be interested in him, to immediately think he was stupid.
The Iron Thread Grass required an extremely long time to refine. It was usually der when the medicinal cauldron hadpletely heated up.
Only grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s eyes shed with a strange light as he secretly nodded.
What astonished everyone was that as soon as the Iron Thread Grass entered the refinement, before it even turned to powder, it was ejected from Long Chen¡¯s cauldron and ced to the side as he started refining a different medicinal ingredient.
Once he finished with the sixth ingredient, Long Chen started refining the Iron Thread Grass once more, but he didn¡¯tplete its refinement before starting to refine a different herb.
This action was something none of them understood, but seeing grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s eyes filled with admiration, they all couldn¡¯t help being startled. Could this youth¡¯s techniques really have some kind of secret behind them?
Long Chen refined the Iron Thread Grass a total of thirteen times beforepletely refining it. At this stage, all of the twenty-something medicinal ingredients had been refined.
Under normal circumstances, a Pill Apprentice would normally take this chance to take a breath and calm their nerves.
But Long Chen didn¡¯t waste even that slightest bit of time. After refining all of them into powders, he directly started refining the pill. He started throwing in powder after powder into the pill furnace.
What none of them could understand was why Long Chen waited until the end to put the Iron Thread Grass¡¯ essence powder into the cauldron.
With the cirction of his Spiritual Strength, the Pill me quickly shot up, and ripples from the heat appeared as Long Chen truly began his pill refinement.
¡°What a powerful Spiritual Strength!¡±
Everyone couldn¡¯t help but feel shocked. But at the same time, they also shook their heads. If he started wasting his Spiritual Strength to increase the me¡¯s strength now, how could he condense the pillter? It appeared that young people really were too impatient.
Grandmaster Yun Qi waspletely engrossed with his actions. In this ce, only he understood what Long Chen¡¯s intention was. At the same time, he also started to like Long Chen more and more; with such a powerful soul and the ability to work hard, it was definitely possible for him to have great achievements in life.
What caused disbelief in everyone was that even after an hour, Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength didn¡¯t show any signs of weakening, but was actually bing stronger and stronger.
Bang!
The medicinal cauldron started to gently shake, and a powerful undtion came from it. Everyone¡¯s gaze focused; they all knew that this was the most critical moment.
With the medicinal cauldron continuously shaking, most alchemists would lower the Pill me¡¯s power to stabilize the cauldron.
But Long Chen didn¡¯t do that at all; on the contrary, he fed in even more Spiritual Strength and the Pill me became even hotter. The sounds and shaking from the cauldron became even more intense.
¡°What is he doing?¡±
All of their expressions changed. This wasn¡¯t refining pills; this was causing a cauldron explosion! He was clearly doing it on purpose!
BOOM!
The medicinal cauldron jumped and Long Chen suddenly used one hand to tightly press down on the cauldron¡¯s lid. A sudden burst of powerful Spiritual Strengthpletely exploded out.
BANG!
The near-exploding pill furnace immediately stopped and returned to calm.
What a messy method! It¡¯s such a waste of energy. Long Chen wiped away his sweat. Using this method to refine pills really was exhausting. But it was important that he didn¡¯t reveal his true strength. He could only disy this basic, bitter method.
Gently lifting the cauldron lid, a dense pill fragrance immediately filled the air. Everyone waspletely shocked.
¡°He actually seeded!¡±
Everyone present could be considered experts, so without even needing to look inside the cauldron and relying just on the pill fragrance, they knew that he had seeded. Most of their expressions were filled with astonishment.
¡°Excellent. At the very least it should be a middle grade medicinal pill.¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qi was looking at Long Chen in admiration. Long Chen had definitely far surpassed his expectations.
He had known that with Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength, it would not be difficult to sessfully refine a pill. But he had wanted to see how good Long Chen¡¯s foundation was.
But today he saw that Long Chen¡¯s foundational techniques were iparably sturdy and not at all inferior to Pill Apprentices who had trained for many years.
The most remarkable thing was Long Chen¡¯s deep understanding of medicinal essence. He knew that the Iron Thread Grass was extremely fierce in nature and required multiple refinements to curb that violent nature. Doing so would allow the pill¡¯s energy to increase and at the same time, increase the chance of a sessful refinement.
Such a refining method was something no one within the alchemist guild knew about. But within the guild was a secret warehouse of rare tomes. A couple seniors had made recordings there.
The writings were unfortunately very vague, but it did have this theory: by refining the Iron Thread Grass multiple times, it should be possible to reduce its violent nature.
But those recordings only mentioned extremely ordinary techniques or iplete ideas. When it came to alchemists, who would be so kind as to just give away their blood, sweat, and tears?
Let alone the others, even grandmaster Yun Qi, who knew about this recording, had never mentioned this method of refining the Iron Thread Grass.
One reason was that he had no obligation to go and teach others, and the other was that alchemists who weren¡¯t capable of innovation would not have any great achievements anyways.
When the others heard grandmaster Yun Qi say that it was a middle grade medicinal pill, they were all inplete disbelief.
Looking at the gazes all focused on him, Long Chen smiled slightly. With a wave of his hand, his spiritual energy pulled out five fully round medicinal pills.
Along two of the pills were some shocking eye-attracting veins¡ªpill lines. This was a characteristic of middle grade pills.
For a moment, the entire room was silent. Other than grandmaster Yun Qi, everyone¡¯s eyes were filled with shock, admiration, and of course, a trace of jealousy.
Seeing the five pills in his hands, Long Chen finally rxed. Grandmaster Yun Qi took this moment to announce, ¡°Long Chen has seeded in refining a pill. I reward him a second ss credit.¡±
Everyone¡¯s expressions changed at that. A second ss credit was a privilege that allowed you to buy second-tier medicinal pill ingredients. This caused everyone¡¯s eyes to turn red with envy.
In front of everyone¡¯splicated gazes, Long Chen followed grandmaster Yun Qi out of the room. However, once they were out, Yun Qi suddenly turned to Long Chen and gravely said the following:
¡°Long Chen, be wary of that woman.¡±
Chapter 22: Wilde
Long Chen was surprised and confused. Which woman did he mean?
¡°That girl that fought with you at the beginning,¡± Yun Qi said solemnly.
¡°What? Does she have a problem?¡± asked Long Chen in confusion.
Grandmaster Yun Qi hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Come with me.¡±
Long Chen followed grandmaster Yun Qi to the cultivation room they had gone to before. He couldn¡¯t help being curious; she was just at the peak of Qi Condensation, so there was no reason for grandmaster Yun Qi to specifically warn him about her.
They entered the room and closed the door before grandmaster Yun Qi touched his spatial ring and took out a drawing.
Opening the drawing, Long Chen was started to see that it depicted a beautiful, delicate woman refining pills in front of an ancient medicinal cauldron.
What shocked him was that that woman in the drawing was almost exactly like that crazy woman he had encountered.
The only difference was that the woman in the painting was serene and full of peace, giving people a gentle feeling. The feeling which that crazy woman gave off waspletely different.
¡°This is¡?¡± Long Chen probingly asked. That drawing was extremely old. Just why had Yun Qi taken it out?
¡°The person in this drawing is my wife.¡± A rarely seen warmth appeared on grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s solemn face when he looked at the person in the drawing.
Long Chen¡¯s mouth dropped. That was something he had never expected. For a moment he didn¡¯t know what to say.
After a moment, Yun Qi gently put away the drawing and sighed, ¡°My wife passed away a long time ago. When I first saw that woman, I thought I was hallucinating. It took me a long time before I calmed myself down. But as soon as that woman said she wanted to be my apprentice, I immediately felt my guard go up.¡±
¡°What? Does she have some kind of secret goal?¡± asked Long Chen.
Yun Qi smiled slightly and didn¡¯t reply to that. ¡°She is also a Pill Apprentice and has an excellent talent. She might even be better than you, so you have to be careful around her.¡±
Long Chen was somewhat mystified by this, but grandmaster Yun Qi no longer said anything about it. He took Long Chen¡¯s jade tablet and carved his own special engraving on it.
That engraving had a trace of his Spiritual Strength. With it, Long Chen would be able to get quite a few precious medicinal ingredients from the alchemist guild¡¯s medicinal room on credit.
He sent Long Chen out as soon as he finished that engraving. Countless questions bounced around in Long Chen¡¯s head.
Perhaps the arrival of that crazy woman wasn¡¯t a coincidence. If she had done it on purpose, then what was her goal?
Was she there to seduce grandmaster Yun Qi? But with his age, that didn¡¯t seem too likely.
And if that had been the goal, shouldn¡¯t she be a bit more docile? Who would fall in love with such a wild crazy woman?
Did grandmaster Yun Qi have some other secrets? Was it possible that she was some illegitimate daughter of his?
But that also didn¡¯t sound right. If he had had an illegitimate daughter, she wouldn¡¯t have anything to do with his wife, yet they looked so simr.
He got a headache from thinking about it, yet he still couldn¡¯t figure it out. But in any case, grandmaster Yun Qi wouldn¡¯t harm him, so he should just do as he said and be more careful of her.
He went directly to the medicinal ingredient room with his jade tablet. When he showed it off, the assistant¡¯s expression immediately became extremely respectful.
Long Chen asked about the credit procedure. He learned that the first ss credit users could borrow five million gold coins worth of medicinal ingredients that were limited to the first tier.
But Long Chen¡¯s second ss credit allowed him to borrow thirty million gold coins of first tier medicinal ingredients, as well as five sets of second tier medicinal ingredients.
This kind of result made this trip well worth it. With such a credit limit he would no longer need to be worried about not being able to afford medicinal ingredients.
Normally, if an alchemist could seed in refining one out of five times, then he would end up breaking even. If he could seed an extra time then he would make a great profit.
As for Long Chen with his Pill God memories, his chance of failure when refining a first tier medicinal pill was zero percent. If his Pill me wasn¡¯t so weak, his efficiency in the number of pills per furnace would increase even more.
But when he thought about refining second tier medicinal pills, Long Chen decided not to try it. With his current Pill me¡¯s strength, refining a second tier pill would tire him to death.
For the moment, he should continue focusing on condensing his FengFu Star. The current initial sess of his FengFu Star still had an extremely great room for improvement. He wanted to condense his FengFu Star to its perfect state.
Long Chen wanted to spend all of his money to buy the FengFu Pill¡¯s ingredients, but he was disappointed to find that the guild didn¡¯t have that kind of quantity in stock.
Without any other choice, he bought fifty sets of the ingredients as well as a couple of other first tier medicinal ingredients. Once he refined them into medicinal pills, he could sell them to the guild and make money that way.
Martial arts were prevalent within the Phoenix Cry Empire, and with so many people and adventurers, medicinal pills were always in high demand and were in a situation where the supply could never meet the demand.
Fortunately, the alchemist guild had a conscience and didn¡¯t evilly increase the price; otherwise, the guild would definitely start making money hand over fist.
Long Chen was nning on going straight to his room after leaving the guild. But before he got home, he suddenly heard a bunch of shouts and curses, so he hastily walked over to look.
He saw ten servants were currently beating someone. There was a very round, fat, middle-aged man pointing at that person while cursing.
¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± he asked of a man watching the chaos.
¡°Hehe, you¡¯llugh to death once you hear it. Do you see that chimney that¡¯s over two hundred meters tall? It was built by that kid. The boss came to do an inspection today, and when he saw it, he almost died of anger. That idiot read the blueprints upside down. He was actually supposed to be building a well, hahaha¡.¡±
Long Chen also choked on hisughter when he heard that. Did people like that really exist in this world? Seeing that person being beaten on the ground, his heart shook slightly.
That person didn¡¯t seem to be that old; he probably wasn¡¯t even older than Long Chen. But his body was exceptionally long and strong. He was just lying on the ground and letting those people hit him without retaliating.
What shocked Long Chen was that whenever those people¡¯s punches or kicksnded on his body, an indescribable energy came out of his body and deflected them away.
Without Long Chen¡¯s shocking Spiritual Strength, it would be impossible to notice that faint ripple. But as for that youth, there were no spiritual energy fluctuations from him and so he definitely wasn¡¯t a cultivator.
That youth simplyy there for a long time without reaction, and the result was that the people beating him eventually got tired, their hands and feet starting to ache.
¡°Damn, he really angers me to death. Just how much money is this idiot going to cost me? Beat him to death!¡±
That fat boss became angrier whenever he looked at the huge chimney in front of him. He repeatedly cursed and went over to kick him a couple of times.
¡°Stop.¡±
¡°Damnit, who do you think you are?¡± That boss was so angry he didn¡¯t even look at who was speaking before cursing. Only then did he look for the speaker.
As soon as he did, he immediately started to sweat and stuttered, ¡°Young¡ master¡.¡±
¡°Just stop. Here are a hundred gold coins, enough to tear down the chimney and build a new well.¡± Long Chen was toozy to argue or haggle with such a person, so he just directly threw a bag of gold coins to him. If he could resolve a problem with just a little money, then he was disinclined to take further action.
The others all saw this and quickly stopped. The fat boss quickly said, ¡°Young master, this¡¡±
¡°Take it and get out of here.¡± Long Chen frowned and his voice became cold.
When he looked at that man¡¯s face, Long Chen knew that he was an idiot who would try to form some kind of good rtion with him. So he directly ordered him away; this kind of person would make him lose face.
¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ll leave right away.¡±
He quickly brought everyone away dejectedly.
¡°Little brother, please get up,¡± said Long Chen to the youth who was still just lying on the ground.
The youth seemed as if he was sleeping. Only when Long Chen called out did he nkly raise his head and realize that the people beating him had gone.
¡°Are you the person who saved me?¡± he asked confusedly.
¡°Get up and then we¡¯ll talk,¡± smiled Long Chen. That youth seemed to be one hundred percent honest and kind, giving people a good impression.
When he stood up, the people who had been watching the fuss all let out shocked cries. While he had been lying on the ground, they had only realized that he was a bit big, but now that he stood up, hepletely shocked everyone.
He was approximately three meters tall. He was practically a giant, and he gave people an extremely pressuring feeling.
¡°How tall.¡± Long Chen was also surprised. In front of him, everyone else there had be children inparison.
¡°Why didn¡¯t you fight back when they were beating you?¡± Seeing how strong-bodied he was and the fact that the people attacking him weren¡¯t martial artists, Long Chen believed he could have easily knocked them all down.
¡°They said I did something bad, so I couldn¡¯t fight back when they hit me,¡± he simple-mindedly replied.
Long Chen shook his head. This huge fellow might be strong, but it seemed his intelligence was still at the level of a child. No wonder he was so honest and na?ve. But to mistake a well in the blueprints and end up building a huge chimney, that kind of intelligence was definitely worrying.
¡°Where¡¯s your house?¡±
¡°I have no house. Does your house need any hardbor? I¡¯m very big, and I don¡¯t need a sry as long I get some food. I¡¯m very hungry,¡± he implored.
Just as he was about to reply, someone reminded him, ¡°Young master, don¡¯t be fooled. This fellow can easily eat a whole bull in an instant. Taking him in isn¡¯t profitable.¡±
¡°No, as long as there¡¯s rice it¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t need meat,¡± he somewhat urgently said.
¡°Fine,e with me. What¡¯s your name?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°I¡¯m called Wild Bull. Thank you, big bro,¡± Wild Bull happily said.
¡°Hm, I¡¯ll call you Wilde in the future. You can just call me brother Long.¡± Long Chen nodded.[1]
¡°Okay brother Long.¡± Wilde straightforwardly nodded his head.
The people in the crowd left behind by Long Chen and Wilde all became jealous. They were jealous of that idiot who had be favored by a noble heir. Stupid people really did have stupid luck.
On the road, Long Chen asked Wilde about his past. Wilde said that he had been picked up by some nice people, but once he turned five, an epidemic took the lives of everyone in his vige except for him.
He had managed to roam around all the way to the imperial capital. He was able to get food from people by tradingbor, but because his appetite was too big, he was quickly turned away, so his everyday life was extremely bitter.
¡°Wilde, you can follow me in the future. I won¡¯t let you be hungry again.¡± Sympathy arose in Long Chen¡¯s heart.
As the saying went, arrogant people end up with arrogant people, while sufferers end up with other sufferers. Although the two of them had different statuses, they had both gone through much pain. They weren¡¯t that different except that Long Chen had managed to turn his luck around just recently.
As they walked, they ended up in a wide road when suddenly startled shouts rang out and a massive silhouette shot past them.
That was a luxurious carriage being pulled by a Scarlet Yak, a first rank Magical Beast. Its wild pulling took over half the entire road, not taking the surrounding people into any consideration.
A five-year-old girl was ying on the road when she suddenly saw the giant Scarlet Yak and was immediately scared stiff. She was petrified, unable to even dodge. At any second, it would run her over.
Long Chen coldly snorted, stepping forward explosively, causing several of the sturdy floor tiles beneath his feet to shatter. He was like a bolt of lightning, immediately reaching and grabbing the girl, hastily pulling her to the side.
The carriage shot past the two of them just as he stabilized himself. Long Chen thought that that would be it, but an angry cry rang out.
¡°What lowly ve dares block my path? You¡¯re asking for death!¡±
Along with this cold shout, a long whip whistled through the air, shooting towards Long Chen.
[1] Wild Bull is tranted from Man Niu ÂùÅ£. The Man can also mean Barbarian. Long Chen says he¡¯ll call him °¢Âù, A¡¯Man. The A¡¯ is used to signify kinship.
Chapter 23: How Bold
¡°What lowly ve dares block my path? You¡¯re asking for death!¡±
Along with this cold shout, a long whip whistled through the air as it shot towards Long Chen.
That whip moved extremely quickly and craftily. The person attacking him was surprisingly a whip master. Long Chen should have been able to dodge, but it was more difficult with him holding the little girl.
Fury arose within him; it was now already toote for him to dodge. Protecting the little girl, he used his spiritual energy to protect his body and prepared to forcibly take the blow on his arm.
Just at that moment, a huge figure arrived in front of Long Chen.
Bang!
Wilde grinned at Long Chen. It was he who took the blow on his back for Long Chen.
Long Chen¡¯s eyes darkened. He wanted to see exactly who it was that had attacked, but that carriage was already speeding away.
A surprised sound came from it, as that person clearly was startled by Wilde¡¯s arrival. However, the carriage still didn¡¯t stop.
¡°Are you okay Wilde?¡± asked Long Chen, suppressing his anger.
¡°Brother Long, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve been hit so many times since I was a child that I¡¯m already used to it,¡± grinned Wilde.
But the clothing on his back was torn, exposing his skin. A line of blood was slowly flowing out.
A woman suddenly came by and grabbed the girl. She wept inconsbly as she thanked Long Chen and Wilde.
Wilde smiled goofily, and Long Chen consoled her with a couple of words before leaving.
But Long Chen was stifling a stomach of anger. To barge down such a busy and crowded road and actually hit someone with a whip... Long Chen was nning on having a good look into the person who dared be so bold.
Although Wilde¡¯s wound that was dripping with blood appeared frightening, it was just a flesh wound.
This amazed Long Chen; just how powerful was Wilde¡¯s physical body? That person, who had attacked viciously, was extremely powerful, but his attack only broke Wilde¡¯s skin.
As the two of them walked, Wilde¡¯s stomach suddenly let out a growl that was as loud as thunder. Long Chen stopped distractedly, suddenly realizing that there was a bun store right beside them from which the smell of meat was wafting out of.
Wilde embarrassingly said, ¡°Brother Long, I¡¯m not hungry.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m hungry, so let¡¯s go have a snack.¡± Long Chen brought Wilde into the bun store and found a table for the two of them to sit at. Directly handing a gold coin to the owner, he said, ¡°Bring out all the buns in your store.¡±
¡°Brother Long, I¡¯m really not hungry. I only need some rice,¡± Wilde hastily said.
That was because he had had countless experiences of people seeing him eat and immediately breaking off rtions with him. Wilde was afraid of this cmity repeating itself again.
¡°Wilde, you blocked a whip for me. From now on, you¡¯re like a brother to me, and I, Long Chen, would also block a whip for you. Therefore, you shouldn¡¯t say anything to me that you wouldn¡¯t say to a brother, okay?¡± Long Chen seriously said.
Wilde was someone who had blocked a whip for him after only just meeting him. Such a person was worthy of being called brother by Long Chen.
¡°Brother Long¡ I¡.¡±
Wilde suddenly began to cry loudly. In all his years of homeless wandering, this was the first time he felt this warmth and the first time someone ever treated him this well.
¡°Good bro, don¡¯t cry. Between us brothers, we don¡¯t cry, we sweat. Tears are for cowards.¡± Long Chen patted Wilde¡¯s shoulder.
¡°Okay brother Long. I¡¯ll listen to you. Whatever you want me to do, I¡¯ll do.¡± Wilde wiped away his tears.
Long Chen considered telling him that he should have some more confidence, but when he thought about how he had mistakenly built a chimney instead of a well, he decided against it.
At this time, the owner of the bun shop brought over a basket. Long Chen smiled, ¡°Wilde, eat as much as you want. Brother Long has plenty of money, so don¡¯t hold back for me.¡±
Wilde nodded and no longer stood on courtesy. The fist-sized buns were swallowed each with one bite, one after another.
Although he had long since prepared himself, Long Chen was still shocked by Wilde¡¯s appetite. Even after all of the over three hundred meat buns had been eaten, Wilde still seemed to want more.
By now, the owner was extremely anxious. All his buns were gone now, and there was no way for him to make more in such a short time.
Three hundred buns were only about six silver coins. But when he went to give Long Chen the change, the two of them had already left.
When the two of them returned to Long Chen¡¯s home, he first brought Wilde to see his mother. Mrs. Long was quite frightened at first due to howrge Wilde was.
But after seeing Wilde was so easy-going and childlike, she quickly calmed down. When Long Chen told her what Wilde had been through, Mrs. Long immediately agreed to let him stay with them.
Once Wilde was settled down, Long Chen went to go refine pills. While refining in his own home, he didn¡¯t need to be worried so much as in the alchemist guild, so he unleashed his powerful Spiritual Strength fully, quickly increasing his pill refining speed to its peak.
Three full days passed before Long Chen once more came out of his room. He had unceasingly refined for three days and three nights. He now held almost a hundred FengFu Pills, and all of them were middle grade.
Other than the FengFu Pill, Long Chen had also refined the very popr Blood Condensing Pill, Qi Condensing Pill, the Poison Cure Pill, etc. These were all to be sold to the guild to pay back his credit loan.
Just as Long Chen exited his room, Bao-er walked over with an embarrassed expression. Long Chen couldn¡¯t help distractedly asking, ¡°Bao-er, what¡¯s going on?¡±
¡°Young master¡ uh¡¡± Bao-er was a bit flustered.
¡°Whatever it is, just tell me,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Well uh¡ in the house¡ there¡¯s¡ no more food,¡± she uneasily said.
Wilde¡¯s appetite really was just too great. Knowing how pitiful Wilde¡¯s life had been, Mrs. Long had specifically told the kitchen to make more food.
But the result was that just three dayster, over a month¡¯s supply of the Long family¡¯s food had been eaten. Mrs. Long had secretly taken out a piece of jewelry for Bao-er to go sell.
Bao-er had felt that this kind of thing should first be consulted with Long Chen, so she hade to find him.
Long Chenughed and patted her head. ¡°Little girl, you really have be smart. I¡¯ll handle this matter.¡±
Bao-er was Long Chen¡¯s personal maid, and despite how poor the Long family had been, Bao-er was unwilling to leave. Long Chen had long since begun to see her as a little sister.
¡°Young master, there¡¯s also not even enough food for dinner tonight,¡± she reminded. At this point, she was practically the manager of the entire household. The bookkeeper had felt that there was no opportunity for advancement at the Long household, so he had long since left.
¡°Okay, I¡¯ll handle it right now.¡± Long Chen still had a few gold coins on him, but that was just chump change. He called over Wilde and the two of them left to go to the alchemist guild.
There was no real reason why he had brought Wilde along. Long Chen just wanted to develop his thinking some more. Wisdom was rted with experience after all.
Arriving at the guild, Long Chen went directly to the medicinal ingredient room and handed over dozens of round medicinal pills to the youth in charge.
This youth was scared witless; he clearly remembered that Long Chen had onlye three days ago for these medicinal ingredients. How did he manage toe back with these medicinal pills in just three days? On average, it was around half a year before people came back with enough pills to pay off their credit.
Putting aside his shock, he dutifully took them and professionally examined each one.
Seventeen middle grade and thirty-six low grade medicinal pills. Even though he had the utmost confidence in his tools, he was still in disbelief.
When he confirmed that there was no mistake, he deducted the debt Long Chen had on credit. In the end, there were still some pills left over.
¡°Master Long Chen, for these remaining medicinal pills, do you n on using them to exchange for medicinal ingredients or should I exchange them for gold coins?¡± the youth respectfully asked.
¡°Convert them all to gold coins.¡±
¡°Alright, please wait a moment.¡± That youth hastily flipped through a book with the most recent market prices for the medicinal pills. He had to calcte the price in ordance to that criterion.
¡°Master Long, in total, it¡¯s 8,170,000 gold coins.¡±
Long Chen nodded. The alchemist guild wasn¡¯t for-profit, so this price was very fair. It was only a tenth less than the market price, and being able to enjoy so many special treatments in exchange was definitely extremely worth it.
¡°Give it to me on two crystal cards. Two million on one card, and the rest on the other,¡± said Long Chen.
When he returned home, Bao-er was already waiting at the gates. She handed Long Chen a red invitation card. ¡°Young master Shi Feng sent over an invitation to you.¡±
Long Chen opened it and smiled. Shi Feng had exited his seclusion after breaking into the Blood Condensation realm. He had prepared a feast in the Heroic Assembly House and invited everyone to celebrate with him. When he calcted how many days had passed, it seemed about right.
¡°Bao-er, here. Do good work as the housekeeper and this young master will purchase you a generous dowry in the future, letting you marry in style,¡±ughed Long Chen as he handed a crystal card to Bao-er.
Bao-er¡¯s face waspletely red, but when she saw the number on the card, her expression changed toplete disbelief.
¡°Little rich girl, the Long household¡¯s future work will be handled by you. Oh right, go and buy back all of my mom¡¯s jewelry. Even if it costs you ten times as much, it¡¯s not a problem,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°Yes, don¡¯t worry young master, Bao-er will handle it properly.¡± Bao-er patted her chest several times and stoodpletely straight with confidence.
Long Chen nodded and brought Wilde along to the Heroic Assembly House.
The Heroic Assembly House was a famous restaurant in the capital. The people who ate there were extremely rich. The main attraction was, of course, the imposing name, and adding on the good food, it became a favorite ce for the royalty and nobility to party.
At its top floor was arge round table. At this time, it was packed with all kinds of delicacies. However, at the moment, everyone was just idly chatting, and no one picked up their chopsticks.
When they saw a certain figure walk in, everyone hastily stood up.
¡°Brother Long-¡°
¡°Brother Long-¡°
¡°Lord Long-¡°
Shi Feng, Fatty Yu, and the others all called out to him, but when they saw Wilde behind them they all jumped.
Shi Feng was already considered veryrge, but he was still small in front of Wilde.
¡°Let me introduce you to my brother, Wilde.¡±
When they heard his introduction, everyone hastily greeted Wilde, but all Wilde did was nod and foolishlyugh.
Only when Long Chen arrived did they all sit down to eat. Shi Feng raised his ss. ¡°Brother Long, I won¡¯t say any unnecessary words. I, Shi Feng, toast to you!¡±
Shi Feng deeply engraved his gratefulness to Long Chen in his heart. He would have needed several years before reaching the Blood Condensation realm, but now that he reached it so early, it would definitely be a huge help to him in the future, allowing him to reach even higher heights.
¡°We all toast to you as well, brother Long!¡±
Fatty Yu took the lead and everyone stood up. With the medicinal liquid Long Chen had given them, they had quickly begun sensing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. Shou Hou from the Daybreak Marquis and fatty Yu had already reached the first Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.
All this had only been possible due to Long Chen¡¯s support. Everyone was filled with gratitude to him.
¡°Cheers!¡±
Long Chenughed. No matter what, these people had all helped each other in troubled times. They were his good friends.
After a couple of drinks, everyone started to chat. Only Wilde waspletely focused on eating.
Long Chen had intentionally asked Shi Feng to order some extra food. Luckily, Wilde had already eaten a lot beforeing; otherwise, he might have scared fatty Yu and the others to death.
Everyone was talking about their current situations. Not only were they full of vigor, but now that they could cultivate, their fortunes within their families had also risen in ord.
The most important thing was the news that Long Chen had be a Pill Apprentice had passed throughout practically the entire imperial capital. Long Chen¡¯s rtionship with fatty Yu and the others was something everyone knew about.
Therefore, each of their families had secretly told them to make some good rtions with him. This relieved them of the constant pressure they were under.
Just as everyone was conversing, footsteps suddenly came from below. Shi Feng frowned. ¡°I definitely told the owner to keep an eye out. I already reserved the entire restaurant, so how is there still someoneing up?¡±
¡°Whatever, having more people is also fun.¡± Fatty Yu had clearly be a bit tipsy and his tongue had be loose.
A voice rang out at this moment. ¡°Everyone in here get out. I don¡¯t want to have to eat with a bunch of lowly degenerates.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s expression immediately turned cold, and the veins in his hands jumped out angrily.
Chapter 24: Revenge in Just a Day
Long Chen had originally just been drinking alcohol calmly. But now his face turned cold and blue veins popped out on his hands.
That voice was very familiar to Long Chen. The familiarity caused Long Chen¡¯s killing intent to explode out, and this strangeness was noticed by everyone.
¡°Brother Long, what¡¯s going on?¡± asked fatty Yu. Seeing him in his murderous state, he immediately awoke from his tipsy state.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. When that persones up, just act really annoying. Keep focus on celebrating with Shi Feng and put on a show of it,¡± said Long Chen.
Everyone realized that Long Chen was wanting to make a disturbance. Currently, they all had the support of their families and were told to form good rtions with Long Chen as best as they could. How could they let such a good opportunity go?
¡°Brother Long, just watch.¡± Shou Hou patted his chest confidently.
The footsteps continued getting closer. A man in his twenties wearing a strange hat and long eyebrows entered the room.
Long Chen didn¡¯t reveal his face and he also told Wilde not to either. The two of them had their backs facing that person.
After that person came up, a bitter-faced man also came up behind him. He appeared to be the restaurant¡¯s shopkeeper.
¡°Get them all out. Otherwise, I¡¯ll me you.¡± That arrogant man didn¡¯t even ce Long Chen¡¯s group within his arrogant eyes.
Obviously, he felt that personally shooing them would reduce his status so he had the shopkeeper do it.
¡°Oh my, have you guys noticed there¡¯s a weiner growing out of his head?¡± Shou Hou said quietly to fatty Yu.
Although it was said quietly, it wasn¡¯t a whisper. Anyone there could hear itpletely clearly.
Long Chen smiled. The strange hat on that man¡¯s head did have a long protuberance at the front. At first, he hadn¡¯t noticed, but once Shou Hou said it, he realized that it really was simr.
¡°It¡¯s nothing to make a fuss about. I bet his dad was too corrupt and other people cursed it there.¡± Fatty Yu looked somewhat disdainfully at Shou Hou.
¡°What?¡± asked Shou Hou confused.
¡°Wow, have you not heard about the curse before? They curse you to have a son with a penis growing on his head?¡±
¡°Oh, brother really is wise,¡± Shou Hou said admiringly.
When the shopkeeper saw everyone jeer and taunt this person, he turned pale with fright and quickly cast a meaningful look at Shi Feng.
Unfortunately, Shi Feng, who had a slight rtionship with the shopkeeper, didn¡¯t pay him any attention and acted as if he had never met him.
That long-eyebrowed man¡¯s face became cold immediately, and he icily looked at fatty Yu. ¡°Damn fatass pig, are you guys looking to die?¡±
Fatty Yu shook his head. ¡°Brother, seeing your bitter face, I can easily tell that someone close to you must have died. Was it your father? Your mother? Either way, now¡¯s not the time to eat and drink here.¡±
¡°Right, that¡¯s too unfilial.¡±
¡°Such a son should be directly thrown into the streets.¡±
¡°Shh, stop. Don¡¯t you see him trembling? If we keep talking, he might go crazy and start foaming at the mouth. Then how will we be able to drink enjoy ourselves?¡±
The power of teamwork was definitely amazing. Everyone heard fatty Yu and Shou Hou¡¯s taunts, so they all inserted their own ridicule. They definitely had to at least contribute their own jokes at such an opportunity.
¡°Die.¡± With a short cry, a long whip appeared in that person¡¯s hand. The wind howled with biting cold killing intent. As it crashed down upon them, everyone realized that that whip had them all in range.
Shi Feng had long since been prepared for this. With just a touch on his belt, a de shed out.
The long de and the flexible whip collided, emitting an explosive sound. Shi Feng felt a huge power hit him and was sent flying into the roof, shaking the entire restaurant.
His face turned slightly red due to an internal injury, a sign that his blood and qi was about to overflow out of his control. He had shockingly been beaten in just one attack.
¡°Go die you urchins.¡±
After that first attack, his whip became like a poisonous dragon, immediately turning rigid and bing like a sword stabbing towards Shi Feng¡¯s heart.
This shocked everyone; they hadn¡¯t expected this person to be so ruthless. He was clearly intent on killing Shi Feng!
That whip was too fast, and Shi Feng was unable to dodge it. Just when he thought he was about to die¡
Arge hand tightly grabbed the whip. It was nowpletely unable to move.
¡°Brother Long!¡± Everyone cried out as Long Chen appeared beside Shi Feng. He appeared like a king amongst men as he coldly looked at that man.
¡°It¡¯s you?¡± That man couldn¡¯t help being startled when he saw that it was Long Chen.
¡°Good, you still remember me.¡± A cold smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face. He suddenly tugged on the whip and the man was startled to feel a huge force involuntarily pull him flying towards Long Chen.
He was slightly startled, never expecting Long Chen¡¯s strength to be so great. Even a first Heavenstage of Blood Condensation expert like him couldn¡¯t resist.
He sneered, and borrowing the force from being pulled over by Long Chen, he raised his leg and aimed it at Long Chen¡¯s stomach. His reactions were so quick that it dazzled and confused the others. This person was obviously a true expert.
Seeing him rushing over, Long Chen also sent a kick out. Its speed wasn¡¯t that great, but it was perfectly timed such that it viciouslynded on that person¡¯s crotch right before his attack reached Long Chen¡¯s stomach.
The sound of something exploding caused everyone else¡¯s groins to turn cold. Goosebumps arose all along their backs.
¡°AHH!¡±
A miserable scream resounded through the restaurant. Everyone who heard that cry had their hair stood on end.
But even such a blood-curdling cry was unable to relieve his pain. He rolled on the ground fiercely; his face contorted in pain, screaming.
Due to these intense movements, his hat suddenly fell off, and fatty Yu and the others¡¯ expressions all changed.
¡°Someone from the Grand Xia Empire?¡±
When the hat came off, it revealed an extremely ancient hair bun like a stretched out thumb. It was no wonder his hat was so strange.
That hair bun was a mark of the Grand Xia. Only nobles with high status would style their hair like that.
Everyone looked at each other in dismay, realizing that they had caused a huge disaster here. The Grand Xia and Phoenix Cry had a good rtionship, and this kind of disaster could even influence the rtions between the two empires. The consequences would be severe.
Looking at the rolling man, the suppressed anger inside Long Chen loosened slightly. He handed the whip to Wilde and said, ¡°He hit you. You can hit him back now.¡±
¡°Hit someone? I can¡¯t.¡± Wilde hesitated.
Long Chen¡¯s face darkened. ¡°You won¡¯t listen to me?¡±
¡°I¡ I¡¯ll do it.¡± Seeing Long Chen¡¯s face darken, Wilde quickly became frightened. He had only ever known how it felt to be beaten; this would be the first time he hit back. He held the whip in his hand for a long moment of hesitation, not daring to strike.
¡°Do it!¡± shouted Long Chen. He had to push Wilde to take this step; otherwise, he could only end up bullied for the rest of his life.
¡°Okay, okay!¡± Wilde took a deep breath and used the whip to attack him.
¡°Hey!¡±
But that scream wasn¡¯t from the man with the long eyebrows. It hade from the person closest to Wilde.
¡°Brother Wilde, you have to aim better.¡± That person had to suppress his tears as he rubbed his thigh that Wilde had hit painfully.
Wilde¡¯s face reddened. He had never used a whip. It was so light that he couldn¡¯t use any real force. Missing the person in front of him, he ended up hitting his neighbor.
Long Chen sighed. This child needed to temper himself.
¡°Continue.¡± When Long Chen shouted this, everyone immediately ran at least ten meters away. Only at that distance did they feel safer.
Crack!
This time Wilde had picked up a bit about how to use a whip, but he still ended up missing his target by almost three meters.
The man with the long eyebrows was still tightly holding his groin, his face twisted in pain. He didn¡¯t pay any attention to Wilde¡¯s weak attacks.
¡°Brother Long, this time I¡¯ll definitely get it right!¡± Seeing how unsightly Long Chen¡¯s face had be, Wilde hastily reassured him and prepared tosh the whip again.
Just at this time, a figure appeared behind everyone. This person was in his thirties and had an exceptionally long de scar on his face that made him appear extremely fierce.
¡°Stay your hand!¡± That man sternly shouted in fury when he saw the man lying on the floor with Wilde holding a whip in his raised hand.
¡°Just because you tell us to stop, we¡¯re supposed to stop? Hit him,¡± ordered Long Chen coldly.
Hearing Long Chen, Wilde no longer hesitated and sent anothersh towards the man.
¡°You¡¯re asking for it!¡± Seeing Wilde actually attack, he furiously stepped forward, his figure turning into a violent tempest that charged towards Wilde.
¡°Get lost!¡±
Long Chen also stepped forward, getting between them and punching out.
Seeing Long Chene forward to block him, he frowned and also sent out a punch.
BOOM!
The air exploded when the two fists met. But what shocked the scarred man was that his fist was actuallypletely unable to force back this frail and schrly looking young man.
At this time, Wilde¡¯ssh finallynded. Originally, he had been aiming for the man¡¯s buttocks, but due to his poor aim, it actuallynded on his face.
Furthermore, it ended upnding perfectly on the nose. Although Wilde didn¡¯t know how to use a whip, he still had quite a bit of physical strength. The man¡¯s nose immediately broke and blood spurted out.
Seeing this, the scarred man turned ashen with anger. With a draconian shout, he unleashed his full power to force Long Chen back.
Long Chen saw the situation and decided not to wait any longer. The FengFu Star on the bottom of his left foot shook and terrifying spiritual energy flooded out. He now used his full strength.
The two of their fists offset each other, but the powerful energy was something the tiles on the floor were unable to bear and spiderweb cracks spread out.
The scarred man¡¯s expression changed when he found out that Long Chen could still continue to block him when he used all his strength. Killing intent exploded out from him.
His aura erupted from his body and a faint blood-colored qi could even be seen filling the air. His frightening energy caused even the atmosphere to be heavy. The others all had some trouble breathing.
¡°Mid Blood Condensation realm?¡±
Everyone was astonished, as that level of Blood Qi was something that only mid Blood Condensation experts were capable of.
Each major level of martial cultivation had nine minor levels that were split from the first Heavenstage to the ninth Heavenstage.
First to third Heavenstages were early stage, fourth to sixth were mid stage, and seventh to ninth werete stage. As for the scarred man in front of them, now that all his strength had exploded out, everyone realized that he was a shocking mid Blood Condensation expert.
BOOM! Long Chen felt his blood and qi billow, and he was forced back over three meters; his stomach started to ache.
He had finally discovered his limit. This person in front of him was someone he was currently not a match for. Fear and shock filled him inside.
As for that scarred man, he sent a fist flying towards Long Chen without hesitation.
¡°You dare attack my brother Long!¡±
A thunderous roar shook everyone¡¯s ears suddenly, and a fist covered in blood-colored light smashed towards the scarred man with an immense power.
Chapter 25: Grand Xia's Prince
Chapter 25
Chapter 25 Grand Xia Prince
¡°You dare hit my brother Long!¡±
That man suddenly felt the inside of his bones turn cold as if a giant Deste Beast was staring at him .
Without even thinking about it, the punch that was aimed at Long Chen immediately changed direction towards a fist that was evenrger than his .
BANG!
The entire restaurant rocked and everyone¡¯s minds shook wildly . They saw that the huge figure that was protecting Long Chen was actually Aman .
Aman was like a spiritual battle divinity, his eyes practically spitting mes as a strange redyer appeared over his skin . He actually managed to firmly stop the scarred man¡¯s punch .
But although he blocked it, Aman was still forced back several steps, and he would have fallen to the ground if Long Chen hadn¡¯te support him .
The scarred man¡¯s expression changed again and again . Both Long Chen and Aman didn¡¯t have any obvious cultivation base, yet they were actually able to consecutively block a Blood Condensation expert . His shock quickly led to killing intent .
Long Chen saw he had provoked the man¡¯s killing intent . His FengFu Star had yet to reach the level ofplete mastery and so he was unable to handle him .
The most important point was that although the scarred man had released his body¡¯s full strength, he had still been thinking too shallowly . From the beginning he had yet to use any Battle Skills; he had clearly not unleashed his full attack potential on them .
He didn¡¯t know what was happening with Aman for him to suddenly be several times stronger, but even if the two of them joined hands, they would definitely not be able to block the scarred man¡¯s killer attacks .
Long Chen stealthily rubbed his spatial ring . A fiery red Yaowan appeared in his hand as he coldly looked at the scarred man .
¡°Everyone stop!¡±
Just as the scarred man was preparing to attack again, a cold shout rang out and a group of people appeared atop the restaurant .
There were at least a dozen people, most wearing protective clothing, but the two men at the front were wearing yellow imperial robes .
¡°Greetings to his highness the crown prince . ¡±
Everyone was shocked and hastily kneeled down when they saw that person .
That person was the crown prince Chu Yang . He appeared twenty-seven years old, and with his square nose he had a rather dignified and imposing air .
The man beside him was slightly younger . He was pale and very handsome . However he also gave people a very soft and gentle feeing .
¡°Brother Chu Yang, does your Phoenix Cry Empire treat its guest this way?¡± gloomily asked that man .
At this moment, Chu Yang¡¯s expression was slightly ugly . Looking at the man with long eyebrows lying on the ground, he angrily demanded, ¡°What is going on here? Have your eyes gone blind? Do you not realize these are guest from the Grand Xia?¡±
Chu Yang¡¯s gaze swept over all of them . Fatty Yu and the other¡¯s hearts were all pounding nervously, and sweat ran down their foreheads .
They could tell that for that person to talk to the crown prince in such a way, in addition to his hair bun, that he was most likely a prince of the Grand Xia .
The Grand Xia was once mortal enemies with the Phoenix Cry Empire, but in the past few decades their rtions had mellowed and they had be allies .
But the Grand Xia only had two princes, and they didn¡¯t know whether this person was the crown prince or the second prince .
¡°My eyes haven¡¯t gone blind . This guy has blind dog eyes, so I just took the ce of his master and taught him a little lesson . ¡±
Long Chen walked forward indifferently .
¡°Who are you?¡± The crown prince Chu Yang was angry that a youth would dare speak to him in such a manner, but he was still calm and didn¡¯t immediately order his subordinates to capture him .
¡°Long Chen . ¡±
If he hadn¡¯t know Long Chen¡¯s name before, he definitely knew it now . Within the nobility of the capital, there were few who didn¡¯t know it by now .
He was originally a trash cripple, but had now defeated a Qi Condensation expert on the martial arena twice in a row, and then somehow became a Pill Apprentice . This caused a veil of mystery to enshroud Long Chen .
¡°Why did you beat up crown prince Changfeng¡¯s bodyguard?¡± Now that this matter involved the alchemist guild, even he, the crown prince, felt it was extremely problematic .
¡°No reason . I just felt it was his fate today, so I helped the heavens send him on his way . ¡± Long Chen spread his hands .
¡°You¡!¡± Chu Yang eximed angrily . He had wanted Long Chen to give a reason, and then with a bit of his smoothing around and pointing out Long Chen¡¯s background with the alchemist guild, this matter would be resolved!
But Long Chen acted like he hadn¡¯t understood anything and actually said such a line! His face turned green from rage .
¡°You¡¯re called Long Chen? I think I¡¯ve heard of you . You seem to be pretty impressive these days?¡± suddenly said the Grand Xia¡¯s crown prince Xia Changfeng .
¡°Hehe, I might be a bit impressive, but I palepared to the people from your Grand Xia . ¡±
Long Chen pointed to the man lying on the ground . ¡°With a magical beast pulling a carriage, he went wild throughout the streets, barreling left and right without regard for other people . Now that¡¯s really impressive . For a dog to be so impressive, I really can¡¯t imagine how impressive its master must be!¡±
Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression immediately sunk . ¡°Is this true?¡±
Long Chen coldly snorted, ¡°Don¡¯t ask me . Ask your dog . ¡±
¡°Lu Luo, did such a thing truly happen?¡± Xia Changfeng¡¯s gaze turned ruthless, but he quickly pushed it down .
¡°Master, I was rushing for time . Who knows why the lowly people here don¡¯t know how to get out of the way? It isn¡¯t my fault . ¡± The man with the long eyebrows had now recovered slightly, and he suppressed his pain to answer .
¡°Idiot, this isn¡¯t the Grand Xia . No one here recognizes the imperial carriages! Take him away . ¡± Xia Changfeng¡¯s face turned dark and he cursed . Two men wearing the Grand Xia¡¯s clothes took the man way .
He then turned towards Chu Yang and apologized, ¡°Changfeng was not strict enough . Once I return, I will definitely properly disciple them to brother Chu Yang¡¯s satisfaction . ¡±
¡°Haha, brother Changfeng is too courteous . I just hope this small matter won¡¯t affect the rtions between our two nations,¡± hastily said Chu Yang .
¡°Brother Chu Yang worries too much . This matter will cease here . ¡± He then turned to Long Chen and said, ¡°Many thanks to little brother for warning me of this danger . ¡±
Everyone stared nkly; no one expected the crown prince of the Grand Xia to actually say such words and apologize to Long Chen . A feeling of admiration arose for him; this Grand Xia prince truly had an extraordinary bearing .
If it weren¡¯t for Long Chen¡¯s powerful Spiritual Strength and perception, he might also think that way . But that killing intent Xia Changfeng had released towards him was not unnoticed or forgotten .
¡°Prince is too polite . For dogs to misbehave ismon . You have to hold on to their leashes tightly, otherwise they¡¯ll bite and w others . ¡± Long Chenughed and warned him cordially .
Hearing this, the scarred man¡¯s expression darkened . Long Chen¡¯s usage of the word dog included not only him, but also all the other imperial bodyguards .
But Xia Changfeng only smiled slightly as if he hadn¡¯t understood his implicit meaning . ¡°We just arrived at the capital but all we¡¯ve heard about it what you¡¯ve done . I actually originally thought brother Long was just an alchemist, but it seems everyone was wrong . You dual cultivate martial arts and pill refining . Such battle strength is truly admiring . You are definitely at the peak amongst your generation . ¡±
Long Chen only looked back at Xia Changfeng, momentarily not understanding what he meant by this . He only smiled slightly without offering a response .
¡°I wonder if brother Long would do me the honor of having a few drinks with me and brother Chu?¡± asked Xia Changfeng .
Although his smile was pleasant, Long Chen sensed that it was a smile to hide a poisonous fang, and he felt extremely ufortable with it .
¡°I¡¯m sorry, but this little brother has drunk too much just now and can¡¯t bear anymore . Otherwise I also wouldn¡¯t have bothered with two dogs . This little one will take his leave . ¡±
Long Chen smiled and seemingly without noticing Xia Changfeng¡¯s darkened expression or the scarred man¡¯s dense killing intent, he brought Aman out .
Once Long Chen left, Shi Feng and the others hastily apologized and ran, having experienced a great fright today .
¡
¡°Master, why didn¡¯t you let me kill that kid? Lu Luo¡¯s lifeblood has beenpletely destroyed . That kid is too vicious . ¡±
At this time, the Grand Xia¡¯s prince had already returned to his residence and the scarred man was speaking to him .
¡°That little kid is someone from the alchemist guild . Although he¡¯s not from our country¡¯s guild, if you killed him like that, I would have to hand you over to the guild for punishment . ¡±
¡°But that kid ispletely wild . I just can¡¯t swallow this anger . ¡± To be repeated cursed as a dog, no one would be able to bear it .
¡°If you want to kill him, you first have toe up with a n . You have to make sure to have that person killed while being sure you¡¯ll survive . ¡± Xia Changfeng shook his head .
¡°Then does master¡ you have a n?¡± joyously asked the scarred man .
¡°Of course, otherwise would I act so kind to him? Every single person who ever gets to see me put on that face has died . ¡±
Xia Changfeng smiled a dark and profound smile . The scarred man couldn¡¯t help but to shiver .
¡°Don¡¯t forget our goal ining here . He¡¯s just a small matter . Let him live a few more days . The Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯srgest festival, the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, is about to arrive . At that time there will be a whole year of martial arts gathering . My praise today is not to be wasted . Hmph, once his poprity reaches its peak, challenge him at the Lantern Festival . At that time, would he be able to refuse?¡± Xia Changfeng leaned back into his chair, his eyes half closed and a cold smile on his mouth .
Only now did the scarred man realize what a vicious trick this was . At that time, countless people would be watching . Long Chen couldn¡¯t refuse no matter how much he wanted to .
If he dared to refuse, he would drown in ridicule, especially since he was young and full of energy .
¡°However, be a bit more careful . As my imperial bodyguard, you can¡¯t reveal too much strength . Don¡¯t make me warn you again . ¡±
¡°Yes, don¡¯t worry master . Over these years I have never revealed my true hidden strength,¡± hastily replied the scarred man .
Xia Changfeng nodded, looking out into the night sky . His pupils were the exact same as the curtain of night, unfathomable .
Chapter 26: The Terrifying Wilde
¡°Wilde, what happened just now? Why did your power suddenly explode by so much?¡±
As soon as they got home, Long Chen immediately asked Wilde about what had happened. At that time, Wilde had given even Long Chen an intimidating feeling.
¡°I don¡¯t know. When I saw that person was about to hit you, my head buzzed and my whole body became hot. It was like some inexhaustible energy wasing out of my body,¡± described Wilde unsurely.
Long Chen put his hand on Wilde¡¯s shoulder and used his exceptional Spiritual Strength to probe his body. But when it entered into his body, he found apletely shocking situation.
Wilde¡¯s body was different from every other person. Most people had many winding meridians in their body.
But Wilde only had four meridians. Those four meridians went from his Dantian to his four limbs. This was the first time Long Chen had ever encountered such a thing.
Furthermore, the most surprising thing wasn¡¯t these strange meridians, but his physical body. Arge majority of his cells had be closed off, appearing as if they were dead.
But it wasn¡¯t a true death. Long Chen could sense that once heat passed over them, these cells that were in suspended animation would immediately swallow any cells that passed by them before returning to their state of fake death.
Wilde truly was a strange being. Long Chen remained puzzled after considering hundreds of possibilities before he finally came to a certain theory.
¡°Wilde, have you ever truly been full before?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°I eat till I¡¯m very full here,¡± said Wilde.
¡°Tell me the truth.¡±
¡°Uh, well just being half full is already enough for me.¡± Wilde didn¡¯t dare hide the truth.
¡°Wilde, remember. I¡¯m your brother Long. You can¡¯t tell me any more lies in the future. Otherwise, I¡¯ll get mad,¡± Long Chen admonished seriously.
¡°Brother Long, I¡ I know.¡± Seeing his severe expression, Wilde nervously agreed.
¡°Let me ask, what do you need to eat to feel more powerful?¡±
¡°Meat.¡±
¡°What kind of meat?¡±
¡°Any meat. But beef is the best. I¡¯ve eaten a bit of it.¡±
Long Chen nodded. Wilde¡¯s special constitution had ny-nine percent of his cells in a suspended animation state.
That was because there wasn¡¯t enough energy to provide for them. To protect themselves, they had to enter such a state.
Even with his Pill God memories, Long Chen had never seen such a strange body. Despite already having such a powerful body, only less than one percent of his cells were working.
If all of his cells were activated, then just how terrifying would that be? Just thinking about that unnerved Long Chen. But Wilde was his own person, and the stronger he was, the better.
¡°How much meat can you eat in one go?¡±
¡°Five kilograms¡¡± Wilde hesitated and he raised one finger.
¡°The truth.¡±
¡°A whole cow¡¡±
¡°The TRUTH.¡±
¡°I can eat five cows...¡±
¡°TELL ME THE TRUTH!¡± Long Chen¡¯s voice was now a shout.
¡°I don¡¯t know! But I think if I had ten cows that would be enough.¡± Wilde had a somewhat bitter expression; he had never gotten to eat that much, so he himself didn¡¯t know how much he could eat.
Long Chen shook his head, dumbfounded. ¡°Okay, tomorrow I¡¯ll go buy a whole pasture for you. You can eat as much as you want.¡±
The next day, Long Chen told Bao-er to find pasture on the outskirts. The pasture wasn¡¯t veryrge, but there were over a thousand cows on it.
Long Chen let Wilde go over, and the result was that the next day, everyone else working on the pasture ran away.
Theyter came to Bao-er to report that Wilde was a savage. He would grab a cow and punch it to death, ripping off one of its legs and just start eating while it was still dripping with blood.
All of them were trembling at the memory of it, afraid that Wilde might be interested in them and eat them.
Long Chen had no other choice but to hire a dozen chefs that would regrly go over to cook for Wilde. Only then did Wilde get to eat cooked food.
But what shocked Long Chen was that while Wilde could only eat ten cows on the first day, with each passing day, his appetite grew voraciously.
Since each cow was only two or three gold coins, Long Chen wasn¡¯t worried about being eaten into poverty. In fact, he delighted in what was happening.
The fact that Wilde¡¯s appetite was growing was a sign that his cells had started to gradually awaken. Once all his cells had awoken, Wilde would bepletely transformed.
After resolving Wilde¡¯s affairs, Long Chen entered his own seclusion. That battle with the scarred man had given him an extremely great sense of crisis.
His feeling from that day was that the scarred man had still been holding back. Although he was not a threat for the moment, Long Chen still felt that this matter would not be resolved so simply.
After merging with the Pill God¡¯s soul, his ability to sense danger had be increasingly great. Last time, his opponent hadn¡¯t been properly prepared.
Once his opponent was prepared, Long Chen might really be doomed to die. But he still didn¡¯t regret it.
Even if he was given another chance, he still would have handled things the same way. Otherwise, thatsh Wilde had received would stay forever in his heart. The heart could not be allowed to have imperfections, or it would eventually be a heart-devil.
Long Chen entered his seclusion in great determination this time, and he began to wildly absorb the FengFu Pills. Seven dayster, the FengFu Star at the bottom of his foot finally emitted an exploding sound.
The FengFu Star had greatly changed under Long Chen¡¯s absorption of endless medicinal energy.
The smooth outer shell was shed, and what shocked Long Chen was that the inside appeared to be a star.
But this star was somewhat indistinct. It was filled with the rhythm of life though, a shocking state.
That was the first star of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, the FengFu Star. The current Long Chen was no longer able to sense just what level of power he was at, and he was filled with shock.
BOOM!
The FengFu Star that was shedding its outeryer suddenly shook, and a terrifying energy caused even the room to shudder.
¡°Crap, what a huge movement!¡±
Despite being worried, it was toote for Long Chen to do anything. The entire room blew apart like paper.
At the same time, the energy of heaven and earth underwent a huge shock and wildly surged towards Long Chen.
BANG!
Long Chen spat out a mouthful of blood. His body felt like it was on the verge of exploding, and he fainted.
When Long Chen came to his senses, he saw his mother worriedly examining him. Seeing he had awoken, she was both rmed and happy.
¡°Chen-er, you scared your mom! What were you doing?¡±
Long Chen quickly replied, ¡°Mom, it¡¯s nothing too big. A furnace explosion is normal when refining pills.¡±
He could only use a furnace explosion as an excuse. It was not easy to reassure his mother, but once he had, he used his divine sense to examine his insides, almost letting out a shocked exmation.
He had somehow gained a Dantian! The originally empty spot now held three cyclones that were slowly revolving.
¡°What is going on?¡±
Noticing that the FengFu Star on the bottom of his foot was still there, he rxed quite a bit. But seeing those three cyclones in his Dantian still gave him a pause.
When his personal Spirit Root had been extracted, his Dantian had turned into and of nothing but death. That was something that could not be recovered from. Unless¡
Did this mean that after condensing the FengFu Star, the Dantian would be reconstructed?
Thinking back to what had happened just before he had fainted, he knew that the terrifying energy from heaven and earth that had surged into him was something that no ordinary person could endure.
That energy had been crazily berserk; it was not something people could use. Could it mean that that energy had been used to destroy the original Dantian and then build a new one in its ce?
But in truth, Long Chen was wrong. The Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was an existence even more terrifying than he imagined. If he had actually had a Dantian at that time, then he would already be dead.
Although Long Chen couldn¡¯t figure it out, he continued to examine the changes and found out that he could actually interact with the three cyclones in his Dantian.
¡°Did I really reconstruct a Dantian?¡±
Long Chen tried to pull the energy within the cyclones to the rest of his body and found out that there was not the slightest obstruction. He was easily able to use that energy.
With a stamp of his foot, the FengFu Star¡¯s energy also flowed out without the slightest pause. Long Chen waspletely befuddled; what was the meaning of this? Was it just to gain another reserve of spiritual qi?
With a simple thought, Long Chen drew the FengFu Star¡¯s energy into his Dantian.
He immediately felt as if a volcano was exploding within him. The terrifying energy was like a tsunami bursting forth. A mouthful of blood was quickly spat out by him, and he almost fainted again.
Long Chenid on the ground wildly gasping for air, filled with shock and terror. Even his internal organs had been shaken and torn.
Quickly swallowing a healing pill, the medicinal energy enveloped his body. Long Chen¡¯s pale face gradually returned to normal.
¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Long Chen angrily snarled inside. Just now he had almost killed himself. That really would have been ridiculous.
But he had no answer. In terms of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, all that he had in his memories was how to cultivate in it; all other informations about it was gone.
There were no ranks, no origins, and no means of using it. In a sense, its defects were quite simr to his.
Long Chen smiled bitterly. He had no Spirit Root, no Spirit Bone, and no Spirit Blood. These three things had all been snatched away, so he supposed he was quite suited to the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.
But if he couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on after such a strange event, Long Chen would not be able to stomach it. Grinding his teeth, he continued his interact with his FengFu Star.
This time Long Chen knew not to use such arge amount of it. He slowly drew a tiny amount, bit by bit.
BOOM!
When that slightest bit of energy entered his Dantian, Long Chen clearly sensed the three cyclones be ten timesrger in an instant.
Most shocking of all was when that slightest bit of FengFu Star¡¯s energy entered, they went from slowly revolving to crazily spinning.
Following the wild revolving of the three cyclones, endless energy immediately flowed out to all of Long Chen¡¯s body, filling him with power.
Long Chen had finally figured out one of the secrets of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. It really was too shocking and too frightening. Even Long Chen himself was a bit terrified.
¡°Is this what the nine star transformations in my memories mean? The three cyclones in my Dantian, do they indicate three transformations?¡±
Only after a long time did Long Chen slowly calm his thoughts down. Since he had three cyclones now, then ording to the rest of the world¡¯s tiers, he would be a weak beginner at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.
But as for whether he truly was weak, that was something only Long Chen knew. This discovery filled him with both shock and excitement. With a touch of his spatial ring, an ancient beast hide appeared in his hand. That was what he had gained in exchange for bribing a Blood Condensation expert.
¡°Split the Heavens, Split the Heavens¡ hehe, let me see just what secrets are hidden within you.¡±
Chapter 27: Flamecloud Palm
Looking at the nine red dots on the beast hide page, Long Chen sunk into a deep contemtion. These nine dots didn¡¯t have the slightest pattern.
There were no exnations, but this time, Long Chen carefully examined them and found that there really was an extremely faint line connecting them.
¡°These should be nine acupuncture points.¡±
Long Chen had to look at them for a great deal of time beforeing to this conclusion. Within Long Chen¡¯s mind was a map of countless meridians, and only after going down each and every single one of them did hee to such a conclusion. Other people might think about it until they died before figuring it out.
¡°Enter LiYao, merge into HuiMing¡ rush into QuChi, join LaoGong?¡±[1]
Long Chen quietly whispered the names of the nine points as he followed along their meridian paths. He paused, ¡°This isn¡¯t a fist or palm technique, but a weapon Battle Skill.¡±
¡°What a brilliant technique.¡±
Long Chen studied it and found that when qi flowed through these nine spots, it was as if a dammed river had burst forth. After passing through nine turns, it would definitely be terrifying to the extreme when released.
He had definitely gained a treasure this time, and although Long Chen didn¡¯t know what ss it was, it was definitely not low.
Under his urging, his Dantian¡¯s qi flowed out towards the LiYao point, but when he tried to urge his spiritual energy to the second acupuncture point, he found out that he was unable to continue.
¡°Huh?¡±
After a brief pause, Long Chen understood that this technique must have very high requirements in terms of spiritual energy. Without enough spiritual energy, it was impossible to use it.
Giving up on his Dantian¡¯s spiritual energy, he started to use his FengFu Star. As he expected, his FengFu Star was filled with much more power than his Dantian.
But when he arrived at the fourth acupuncture point, he began to stall. No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to reach the sixth point.
¡°I don¡¯t believe I can¡¯t do this!¡±
Long Chen clenched his jaw and sent a strand of spiritual energy from his FengFu Star into his Dantian¡¯s cyclones. The cyclones immediately released a wild energy.
Controlling that energy, he quickly progressed.
The sixth¡
The seventh¡
The eighth¡
¡°Crap¡¡±
Long Chen suddenly stopped and hastily recalled his spiritual energy. Using his divine sense, he examined his meridians.
He was shocked to find that his meridians were already starting to break down from that terrifying energy, and tears had started to appear. If Long Chen had been a step toote in recalling his spiritual energy, his meridians would havepletely exploded.
If the meridians really did explode, then it would require an extremely long time to recover. Sweat dripped down his back from fear.
¡°Crap, I can¡¯t train in this for now.¡± Long Chen could only unwillingly give up on practicing Split the Heavens.
Swallowing a meridian nourishing pill, he quickly restored his slightly damaged meridians. Long Chen stood up and walked out.
Opening the door, he took a deep breath of fresh air, recovering from his fatigue from his continuous training.
At this time, the sun had just started to rise in the east. Long Chen made some inquiries for Bao-er. Their estate waspletely fine. Wilde was alsopletely fine and eating till he was full every day.
This let Long Chen rx. He changed his clothes and prepared to go to the alchemist guild to request help from grandmaster Yun Qi.
But Long Chen was somewhat nervous. Ordinary alchemists focused on cultivating the Pill me and didn¡¯t split their attention to Battle Skills. This was to concentrate all of one¡¯s energy and effort, so that one could travel further on the pill path.
Alchemists were normallypletely arrogant and didn¡¯t care to bother with martial cultivation. That was also what grandmaster Yun Qi had reminded Long Chen of that day.
But Long Chen had his own thoughts on the subject. He had been bullied for too long, and without powerful martial strength, he simply didn¡¯t feel safe.
No matter what status or position, it was all nothing to Long Chen. In the face of true power, such things were as weak as a piece of paper.
Long Chen didn¡¯t know just how grandmaster Yun Qi would react when he saw him.
¡°Long Chen!¡± Long Chen had already walked several blocks in his nervousness when suddenly warm shout rang out. Turning his head, he saw a carriage had stopped in the distance.
Opening the cover was a young woman who happily looked at Long Chen. It was the imperial princess Chu Yao.
¡°Chu Yao.¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help being a bit rmed to see Chu Yao, but for some reason, after a moment of looking at her, most of his anxiousness disappeared.
Chu Yao looked around. Seeing that no one was around due to how early it was, she beckoned. ¡°Quick, get in.¡±
Long Chen hadn¡¯t expected Chu Yao to actually invite him to share a carriage. Seeing her bright smile, Long Chen¡¯s heart jumped slightly and he leaped onto the carriage.
The inside of the carriage was exceptionally spacious. Other than a bed, it also had a tea table with nketsid out.
¡°How coincidental to see you here. How about youe with me to Sunset Mountain?¡±
Chu Yao¡¯s pretty gaze at Long Chen was filled with joy, aplete opposite to her original ruthless and crafty one when she had first captured him.
¡°With such a beautiful woman inviting me, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯d be struck by heavenly lightning if I refused,¡±ughed Long Chen.
Chu Yao¡¯s charming face reddened; within the pce, she had many rules and restrictions she had to follow. She truly enjoyed Long Chen¡¯s carefree and unfettered way of talking.
The carriage slowly left the city towards Sunset Mountain.
¡°Chu Yao, why are you going to Sunset Mountain?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°I¡ I just want to y around.¡± For some reason, Chu Yao¡¯s face became extremely red, confusing Long Chen.
¡°I¡¯m not taking you away from something important am I?¡± probed Chu Yao.
¡°Me? I just came out for a stroll. For me to coincide with your carriage ande out to have fun is perfect,¡± smiled Long Chen. ¡°Right, is your little brother fine? I really am sorry about what happenedst time.¡± Long Chen still felt a bit embarrassed about what had happened with the seventh prince.
¡°He¡¯s fine. Scaring him a bit is good too; it¡¯ll keep him better behaved,¡±ughed Chu Yao.
In just a short time, they arrived at the foot of Sunset Mountain. Chu Yao got off and ordered her bodyguard to drive the carriage back.
¡°Apany me. I really like the scenery around here.¡± Chu Yao pointed to the small path in front of them. ¡°When I was young, I frequently came here to climb this mountain. But ever since my father entered seclusion, I haven¡¯t had many such opportunities.¡±
A pitiful trace of loneliness appeared on her face when she said this. Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but sigh. No matter where you were born, there was always much to be desired.
¡°Long Chen, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Yao asked when she saw that Long Chen seemed moody.
His heart warmed due to Chu Yao¡¯s concern. He didn¡¯t know why, but although he had only met Chu Yao once, he still felt aplicated emotion upon seeing her. Perhaps, it stemmed from not knowing if she was an enemy.
But she gave him a very trustworthy feeling that he couldn¡¯t exin.
¡°I did run into a bit of trouble recently. I was hoping to cultivate a higher grade Battle Skill.¡±
¡°If you want to cultivate Battle Skills, then juste to find me. I won¡¯t even charge tuition fees,¡± joked Chu Yao, her eyes brightening. ¡°I¡¯m already proficient in thirty types of Battle Skills. They say that I¡¯m a peak talent.¡±
Proficient in thirty Battle Skills? And then using only one attack the same way over and over again? Long Chen couldn¡¯t help being a bit doubtful.
¡°Hey, what kind of look is that! You doubt me?¡± A hint of anger appeared on Chu Yao¡¯s face.
¡°No, I don¡¯t doubt you. I don¡¯t believe it at all!¡± joked Long Chen.
¡°You scoundrel, look!¡± With a cute cry, Chu Yao sent a palm towards Long Chen.
Chu Yao¡¯s palmnded on Long Chen¡¯s stomach. Although she hadn¡¯t used any spiritual energy, the force behind it wasn¡¯t small. When itnded on his body, it still emitted a loud bang.
¡°You¡ why didn¡¯t you dodge?¡± She hadn¡¯t expected him to just take the blow.
¡°If I dodged, you wouldn¡¯t have hit me. That¡¯d be boring,¡±ughed Long Chen. Although the hand was separated from him with ayer of clothing, he could still feel a peculiar feeling from it.
¡°Long Chen¡¡±
Seeing his straightforward smile, she felt a burst of warmth. She actually gentlyid her head on Long Chen¡¯s chest.
Long Chen¡¯s body immediately went rigid. What kind of situation was this? Long Chen didn¡¯t dare move an inch, turning into a stump of wood.
Chu Yao¡¯s face suddenly turned warm, and seeing his nervous expression, she covered a smile. ¡°You bad person, back then when you were fighting, you were like a tiger baring its fangs. Howe you¡¯ve be a little kitten now?¡±
Long Chen immediately felt awkward and changed the subject, ¡°Chu Yao, I don¡¯t want to treat you like a stranger. I really do feel that you need to learn a few higher grade Battle Skills.¡±
Chu Yao¡¯s face reddened, and she nkly stared at Long Chen. If he didn¡¯t want to treat her as a stranger, then what did he want to treat her as? She clearly had misunderstood Long Chen¡¯s meaning.
But in response to Long Chen¡¯s seriousness, Chu Yao was also resolute. ¡°I wasn¡¯t joking. I really am proficient in many Battle Skills. Look.¡±
She extended a hand and a scorching air rose out. A faint red light appeared over her hand.
She sent her palm into a tree over a foot thick and it trembled, its leaves flying. When she removed her palm, a faint handprint could be seen on it.
¡°Did you see? This is a high Mortal ss Battle Skill, mecloud Palm. How is it? Are you scared?¡±
Chu Yao was pleased with Long Chen¡¯s stupefied expression.
Long Chen truly was shocked. This kind of power could still be considered a Battle Skill? Even without a Battle Skill, Long Chen could easily topple such a tree in one blow.
¡°Uh-huh, it really was good to look at,¡± quickly replied Long Chen. Chu Yao¡¯s movements had been very fluid and smooth, which really was pleasing to look at.
Chu Yao didn¡¯t appear to catch his other meaning and thought that he meant she had shocked him. She very patiently exined to Long Chen the main points of her attack.
But when Long Chen heard her exnation on how to use the mecloud Palm, Long Chen was truly shocked. Based on what she said, then in theory, it was clearly an extremely powerful palm technique!
¡°Let me try it.¡±
¡°So quickly?¡± Chu Yao asked in disbelief.
Long Chen smiled slightly. Battle Skills were just a way to use spiritual energy. Through the superposition within the meridians, they could emit a powerful strength, that was all.
Long Chen was already as familiar as possible with his body¡¯s meridians, so hearing her exin it once was enough for him.
His Dantian¡¯s spiritual energy circted and a dense fiery energy erupted out. Long Chen shouted out and sent a palm crashing forward.
BOOM!
A huge tree, which would require several people to wrap around it, snapped, its crown whistling as it fell.
The huge tree smashed into the ground, sending dirt flying. Chu Yao was staring nkly; was this really the same mecloud Palm as hers?
The spot where the tree had broken waspletely scorched, a specific mark of the mecloud Palm. Long Chen nodded inside; it truly was worthy of being a high Mortal ss Battle Skill. Its power was extremely great.
But seeing Chu Yao beside him filled with shock, Long Chen¡¯s heart shook and he grabbed Chu Yao¡¯s hand.
¡°Chu Yao, let me examine your body.¡±
[1] I was unable to find much about these acupuncture points, especially the first two. The third one is located on the elbow and thest one is located in the center of the palm. Their names don¡¯t really trante so I just kept their pronunciation.
Chapter 28: The Secret Behind the Princess
Having her slender hand suddenly grabbed by Long Chen, Chu Yao¡¯s pretty body shook and two red spots appeared over her cheeks.
A bit of panic shed over her eyes, but she didn¡¯t take her hand away. She secretly nced at Long Chen and realized that he was actually a bit puzzled.
When Long Chen nced up at Chu Yao¡¯s face, he momentarily forgot what he was doing. She was like a blooming flower with eyes like sparkling jewels, and it was simply impossible not to be moved by her beauty.
¡°Cough.¡± Chu Yao became even redder when Long Chen just foolishly looked at her. But within her beautiful eyes was happiness as well. With a cough, she turned her head down and didn¡¯t dare to look at Long Chen again. Only the gentle warmth transmitted from his hand continued to warm her heart.
Taking a deep breath, Long Chen calmed himself back down. She had an air of being too high to reach, and yet, also a contradicting gentle softness of a woman.
The Chu Yao who had arrogantly captured him in a and the current gentle and shy Chu Yao werepletely different.
Suppressing his wildly jumping heart, Long Chen used his Spiritual Strength to follow along the meridians within Chu Yao¡¯s hand and slowly enter into her Dantian.
Actually, with Long Chen¡¯s strength, at such proximity, it was entirely possible for him to examine Chu Yao without touching her.
But doing so would mean that Chu Yao would be essentially naked in front of Long Chen. Maybe Long Chen wasn¡¯t so against that, but he was afraid that afterward, she might once again capture him inside a.
Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength gently entered into her Dantian. But when he saw what was going on, even with his self-control, he couldn¡¯t help having his expression turn ugly.
¡°What is it?¡± Chu Yao was rmed at his dark gaze.
Long Chen¡¯s anger was due to the fact that nine types of foreign spiritual energy were currently locked and fixed within her Dantian.
Those nine foreign spiritual energies were like nine saplings nted into a fertile farm; they were incessantly absorbing Chu Yao¡¯s spiritual energy away, leaving her with only a fraction for her own use.
No wonder her spiritual energy was so frail and disorderly! So she was just like Long Chen and had been schemed against by others.
Even more infuriating was that there was a Spirit Root that released a dense qi. Although he wasn¡¯t sure what level she was at, Long Chen knew she was definitely a rare genius seen only once in a thousand years.
Such a genius had been wasted away like this. But just this wouldn¡¯t have aroused Long Chen¡¯s killing intent.
Long Chen had found that those nine foreign spiritual energies were following along her Spirit Root, and in the future, when she married and lost her virginity, the spiritual energy that had been absorbed by them for years would be silently snatched away!
That was the most hateful thing. A princess of this generation, a beauty that could topple cities, had been used by someone as a chess piece. This was clearly the result of some sort of scheme.
And as for Chu Yao, she didn¡¯t seem to know anything about it! Long Chen couldn¡¯t help feeling empathy for this beautiful woman.
¡°Long Chen, what¡¯s going on?¡± His expression wasplicated, and Chu Yao was somewhat rmed by it.
¡°Chu Yao, do you trust me?¡± Long Chen hesitated for a moment before solemnly asking her this.
Seeing his extremely serious manner, Chu Yao also sensed something. But she didn¡¯t hesitate. Looking Long Chen in the eyes, she said, ¡°You are the person I trust the most.¡±
Long Chen heart warmed. ¡°Your Dantian has been altered by others.¡±
But what surprised Long Chen was that Chu Yao didn¡¯t have that great of a reaction. Helplessness appeared in her sad eyes.
Looking at the distant mountain peaks, her jade hands gently brushed back her hair that was blown wild by the wind. She quietly said, ¡°If you say this secret out loud, you might be implicated with the people from my family. Are you not afraid?¡±
¡°You already knew?¡±
¡°Can you answer me first?¡± asked Chu Yao.
Long Chen bitterly smiled. ¡°Since we¡¯ve chosen to trust each other, then even if I were to lose my life, it would be worth it.¡±
¡°Trust? Trust?¡±
Chu Yao mumbled that word over and over. She suddenly threw herself at Long Chen¡¯s chest and began to weep loudly. Her tears flowed out as if a dam had been broken, as if she wanted all her grievances to be swept away.
Despite having such a beautiful woman in his arms, Long Chen didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of being charming. Instead, his heart was also filled with a kind of mourning.
Long Chen had been even worse off than Chu Yao. His Spirit Root, Spirit Bone, and Spirit Blood had all been stolen. If he hadn¡¯t suddenly fused with a Pill God¡¯s soul, he would perhaps still bepletely in the dark.
At some point, his arms had wrapped around her slender waist and tightly hugged her. Smelling the scent of her hair, it felt as if they were thest two people on earth.
After crying for forever, Chu Yao finally stopped her sobbing. Long Chen¡¯s chest was alreadypletely wet from her tears.
Her face suddenly turnedpletely red, and she quickly escaped Long Chen¡¯s embrace. She turned away from him, but inside, she was filled with both happiness and hesitation.
Long Chen awkwardly coughed and asked, ¡°Chu Yao, when did you learn that your Dantian had been tampered with?¡±
Chu Yao slowly recovered herself and turned back to look at him. ¡°When I was young and before my father, the emperor, entered seclusion, he told me I was this generation¡¯s martial cultivation genius and might even be able to ascend beyond the empire. Before he entered seclusion, I was greatly encouraged to cultivate, and I truly did work hard at the beginning. But when I turned ten, my mother suddenly became sick. She turned gravely ill, and before we could even invite grandmaster Yun Qi, she had already left this world.¡±
Arriving at this point in her story, her tears once more began to slowly flow out. She seemed to have sunk back into her memories of that time.
¡°At that time, my little brother and I were still young. But as we grew older, we gradually learned about the pce¡¯s internal struggles. I realized my mother¡¯s death was definitely no ident. But all the evidence had long since disappeared. I was powerless. Then, five years ago, my cultivation base ceased to progress. No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to advance a single step, and my spiritual energy became weaker and weaker. At that time, I realized that the viin who had killed my mother had finally stretched his hand towards me and my brother. From that day onwards, my brother and I started to act bossy and arrogant. We started making headstrong, rash decisions, and from that time, it seems as if everything went back to normal.¡±
Long Chen feltpletely helpless as he listened to her story. The pce¡¯s internal affairs were even crueler than what he had imagined.
¡°You used such a method to protect you and your brother?¡± sighed Long Chen.
Chu Yao nodded. ¡°The only family I have left right now is my little brother. I just hope he can stay alive. Although having him to act this way is annoying, at least no one will menace him, so it should be a bit safer. Although I don¡¯t know what they did to my Dantian, I know they were afraid I would be a threat to them, and so they restricted my cultivation. Thus, as long as I don¡¯t have the heart to cultivate, no one will have any ns against a weak girl like me. My brother and I also will be able to live without worry.¡±
Long Chen sighed, ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯ve underestimated your enemy¡¯s viciousness. Whoever did this was an absolute bastard.¡±
Hesitating for a moment, Long Chen still decided to tell Chu Yao the situation within her Dantian. Hearing this, anger and indecisiveness red in her eyes. Her face turned pale and her body shook.
Long Chen supported Chu Yao, saying, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be too worried. Give me some time, and I can unlock the seal within your body.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Chu Yao couldn¡¯t believe this.
¡°Really,¡± promised Long Chen.
For some reason, when Chu Yao looked at Long Chen, she was filled with trust. It was a kind of indescribable feeling.
He gave her a sense ofplete safety. This kind of feeling was extremely precious and rare within the pce that was full of hidden schemes.
Seeing that she didn¡¯t have any hesitation or doubt in him, Long Chen sighed, feeling as if another burden had been ced on his shoulders.
¡°Oh beautiful Chu Yao, can you disy some of your magnificent skills for me again? Let this little one study a bit.¡± Long Chen found that the atmosphere had be a bit depressed, so he joked a bit.
¡°Scoundrel, you¡¯re clearly mocking me,¡± she rebuked.
¡°Oh heavens no, your foundation is extremely strong. It¡¯s just that your Dantian is unable to release enough force. But don¡¯t worry. In just a short time, I¡¯ll help you resolve it,¡± consoled Long Chen.
Only when she judged Long Chen¡¯s words to be sincere did she once more disy a high Mortal ss Battle Skill ¨C Breaking Wind Fist.
Long Chen carefully examined her this time, and couldn¡¯t help but to feel some shock. Her spiritual energy was constantly being sucked away by those nine spiritual energies, leaving her with perhaps a tenth of the energy.
But even with such a frail energy, Chu Yao¡¯s disy waspletely perfect without the slightest energy wasted.
He realized her control with spiritual energy had reached an extremely high level. It was much greater than even Blood Condensation experts.
He was not at all miserly with his praise of her, causing her to happily blush.
The nine foreign spiritual energies were actually seeds of spiritual energy. After having absorbed her spiritual energy for so many years, they had already be very powerful.
Long Chen felt that if he were to just break them, it would be too wasteful. That kind of huge energy was enough to allow Chu Yao to break through to the Blood Condensation realm, and her cultivation base would continue climbing after.
After learning the Breaking Wind Fist, he suddenly took out a bottle of medicinal liquid. ¡°This is Face Changing Liquid; once you apply it to your face, it will change your appearance for twenty-four hours. It¡¯s very convenient.¡±
He poured out a few drops and rubbed it over his face. In just an instant, he appeared to be apletely different person, his eyebrows bing thicker and his skin changing shade.
Chu Yao eximed, ¡°Then in the future, I can change my appearance ande out to find you!¡±
She then also applied it over her face. The medicinal liquid became a thinyer over the face that could be changed at will for a while. Once no more changes were made to it, it wouldpletely set in just a few breaths¡¯ time.
Looking into her mirror and seeing that her face had be extremely ordinary, she couldn¡¯t help jumping in joy.
Pulling Long Chen¡¯s arm, she happily said, ¡°Long Chen, let¡¯s go stroll the streets. I¡¯ve never been allowed to just walk along the streets.¡±
Amongst princesses, she was one of those unruly types, but she still wouldn¡¯t go too far. She normally couldn¡¯t act like the ordinary poor people and just go as she pleased. So, she naturally couldn¡¯t let go of this chance Long Chen had given her.
Chu Yao intimately held onto his arm. Seeing her excited manner, it would be a lie to say Long Chen wasn¡¯t moved. He straightaway agreed to go with her.
But after agreeing, Long Chen started to regret it. He had clearly underestimated Chu Yao¡¯s desire to stroll the streets.
She practically pulled him through every small alley within the capital. She wanted to see everything and anything, and she even shot question after question to him.
He was quite happy to just smell her scent and feel the joy of her hand wrapped around his arm, but suddenly he stopped, bringing Chu Yao to a small vendor to the side.
Long Chen struck up a fake conversation with the vendor about his wares, but his gaze narrowed towards several people in the distance.
¡°Xia Changfeng?¡±
Chapter 29: Long Chen's Shock
Chapter 29
Chapter 29 Long Chen¡¯s Shock
There were around seven or eight people in that group, and Long Chen could clearly see that the Grand Xia¡¯s prince Xia Changfeng was amongst them . But what shocked Long Chen the most was that familiar face beside him .
That woman was very slender and fair, but her face always had a faint arrogance on it . It was the crazy woman Long Chen had encountered at the alchemist guild .
Why was she there? And why did she seem so familiar with the Grand Xia¡¯s prince? Long Chen simply couldn¡¯t figure it out .
Their group entered an expensive teahouse just after he noticed then .
¡°One of those people is the fourth prince . ¡± Chu Yao warned Long Chen as she had also seen those people .
¡°The fourth prince?¡± He was supposed to be the most low-key and never participated in the internal fights of the princes . Why was he with the Grand Xia¡¯s prince then?
¡°He has also changed his appearance, but his finger has a ring mark on it that he forgot to hide . He normally wears a dragon ring with a very distinctive pattern, so I easily recognize it,¡± said Chu Yao .
As a princess, she might have to act arrogant every day, but she was also very perceptive to the everyday habits of each prince, thus it made sense for her to be able to see through the fourth prince¡¯s identity .
Long Chen felt a headacheing . Why would the fourth prince disguise himself? He wanted to sneak in and use his divine sense to secretly eavesdrop .
However the door was guarded by a dozen of the Grand Xia¡¯s elite troops . Doing so would simply be too difficult; it was the middle of the day, and trying to sneak in it would be basically impossible . He gave up on that idea .
¡°Chu Yao, I¡¯m going to go back and prepare some ingredients that will resolve the strange spiritual energies in your Dantain,¡± said Long Chen .
Despite being reluctant to part, she still obediently nodded her head .
Long Chen went directly home . As soon as he walked past the gate, a happy shout rang out .
¡°Brother Long!¡±
Aman was a small giant now and he excitedly looked at Long Chen .
The current Aman had be much livelier, and the thing that pleased Long Chen the most was that he was no longer as thin as he had been before .
His bare arms were clearly a full size bigger, and some indistinct veins could be seen beneath the skin .
¡°Haha, have you been eating properly Aman?¡± Long Chen patted his sturdy arm .
¡°Brother Long, I eat till I¡¯m full every day . I feel like I¡¯ve be very strong now, so I want to be with brother Long so I can protect you . ¡± Aman pped his chest confidently, emitting a sound like a thunderous drum .
Long Chen nodded and brought Aman into his own room . He then used his divine sense to examine Aman¡¯s body .
¡°What?!¡±
Despite nourishing them for this time and feeding them so much, still less than ten percent of Aman¡¯s cells were active .
And when he examined his four meridians, he noticed they had expanded a little . But most shocking was that within his Dantian was actually spiritual qi that was circting .
¡°You learned how to cultivate?¡± asked Long Chen .
¡°Brother Long, what is this ¡®cultivating¡¯?¡± asked Aman with wide eyes .
¡°Uh, nevermind . ¡±
Long Chen also didn¡¯t feel like exining such a thing . Continuing his examination, he noticed that Aman¡¯s Dantian was deathly still, but there was still a steady flow of heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi that was flowing into his Dantian .
¡°What an abnormal constitution; even without cultivating, it just automatically absorbs energy on its own . ¡±
Long Chen sucked in a breath of cold air; this was something he had never encountered before . Aman¡¯s Dantian held a huge amount of spiritual qi, which meant that once his body was strong enough, he would be able to automatically absorb spiritual qi from heaven and earth to use .
If other martial artists were to learn this, they would definitely go crazy . This meant that even when Aman was sleeping or eating, he would still be incessantly cultivating .
¡°Aman, I¡¯m going to teach you a couple simple cultivation methods and how to use your Dantian¡¯s qi . ¡±
Due to how unique Aman¡¯s Dantian was, Long Chen decided not to teach him any Battle Skills . Aman only had four meridians, which meant that he wouldn¡¯t be able to use any Battle Skills for now .
So Long Chen only taught him how to circte his spiritual qi to his arms and legs, passively increasing their strength .
But Long Chen had still overestimated Aman¡¯s ability to understand . Even something as simple as linking to his Dantian required six hours of Long Chen¡¯s time to exin . Despite having Long Chen¡¯s throat turn raw, Aman was still mystified .
Long Chen knew he couldn¡¯t get angry . Aman was listening to himpletely innocently, so his belly full of anger was never released .
¡°Ok, how about this . Until you learn this, I¡¯ll work you to death . ¡± Long Chen helplessly sighed .
¡°I¡¯m sorry brother Long, I¡¯m just too stupid . I could spend a lifetime without figuring this out . ¡± Aman dejectedly hung his head .
Aman truly was too ipetent; he was unable to immerse himself even slightly within his Dantian . He couldn¡¯t even find where his Dantian was .
Long Chen was unwilling to resign himself to this result . Aman¡¯s physique was so powerful it was shocking . If he had the assistance of his spiritual qi, the power he could explode out with would be terrifying .
Not only Aman, but even Long Chen felt it was a waste . He felt like a beggar who had a mountain of gold yet still relied on begging to pass each day .
Suddenly Long Chen¡¯s eyes brightened . cing his hand on Aman¡¯s back, he said, ¡°Let me help you find your Dantian . ¡±
His Spiritual Strength poured into Aman¡¯s Dantian . Since Aman trusted Long Chenpletely, there wasn¡¯t the slightest resistance . Long Chen easily merged his Spiritual Strength into Aman¡¯s Dantian .
Furthermore, even if Aman had wanted to resist he didn¡¯t know how . But at least now Aman had found the position of his Dantian .
¡°Now that you¡¯ve found your Dantian, the next step is to immerse into it . ¡±
¡°Immerse?¡±
¡°Use your intent to hook yourself into your Dantian . ¡±
¡°Intent?¡±
Long Chen sighed . But he still patiently controlled his temper . ¡°Focus your entire mind onto your Dantian . ¡±
¡°Oh, then what?¡±
¡°Try to make it revolve . ¡±
¡°Clockwise or counterclockwise?¡±
¡°¡¡±
Long Chen was practically speechless . ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter . As long as it circtes, it¡¯s fine . ¡±
Now that he had found its position, Aman slowly tried to control his Dantian . However it was as if it wasn¡¯t even his and he was unable to move it at all .
¡°You¡¯re not focused enough . Close your eyes and try again . ¡±
Finally under Long Chen¡¯s great expectations Aman¡¯s Dantian moved slightly . Although just that wasn¡¯t exactly using his Dantian, but at least he had found it and opened the path . Long Chen rxed slightly .
¡°Good, next I¡¯ll use my Spiritual Strength to guide your Dantian¡¯s qi for one cycle . Remember how I¡¯m doing this . ¡±
After saying this, Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength circted into Aman¡¯s Dantian . When Aman¡¯s Dantian felt Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength it became stimted and immediately exploded out .
The originallypletely calm Dantian immediately was like an erupting volcano, like angry waves trying to swallow the sky .
¡°Aman, can you control your Dantian?¡± Long Chen started to celebrate, but¡
¡°No, I don¡¯t know what happened . ¡± Aman waspletely shocked at the uprising of the spiritual qi within him .
¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, remember the path I¡¯m taking . ¡±
Long Chen didn¡¯t feel like telling him the position of each one of his acupuncture points . He wouldn¡¯t be able to remember them anyways, so he skipped that . Having him remember the feeling of where they were was good enough .
Long Chen used his Spiritual Strength to draw Aman¡¯s Dantian¡¯s qi into his arm . Long Chen wanted to go slowly and slowly circte it .
How could he have predicted that as soon as Aman¡¯s qi reached his arm, it became like a wild horse and refused to be controlled by Long Chen anymore? Wild energy surged out .
Aman felt a great power pass through his arm so he instinctively punched out .
BOOM!!!
The entire roof was shaken into pieces; smoke and dust exploded out, revealing the starry sky above .
¡°What a berserk energy!¡±
Long Chen was extremely rmed . All this had just been caused by the wind from Aman¡¯s fist but it was already so frightening! If someone was hit by the actual fist, wouldn¡¯t they be smashed into pulp?
Aman was also stupefied at his own power . He had never thought he would have such a strength .
Long Chen once more examined Aman¡¯s Dantian and found that the spiritual qi within had basically all been depleted .
¡°Aman, go back and rest . Remember what I¡¯ve taught you and train every day . Don¡¯t goof off,¡± solemnly ordered Long Chen .
Aman¡¯sprehension skills were already extremely low; if he waszy as well, then even a divine immortal would be unable to teach him .
¡°Don¡¯t worry brother Long, I¡¯ll train like my life depends on it!¡± Aman was filled with excitement now .
After Aman left, Long Chen speechlessly looked at the roofless room . Just what secret was within Aman¡¯s body?
That fist had even shocked Long Chen . If that man with the long eyebrows at the Blood Condensation realm was to take that fist, it was doubtless he would die .
But right now ny percent of Aman¡¯s cells were still dormant . If they were all awoken, even Long Chen would feel a great fear .
But thinking about Aman¡¯s simple and honest nature, Long Chen shook his head . Aman was his brother, and the stronger he was, the better . There was no need to worry .
Taking out a piece of paper, he wrote a list of forty-eight names of medicinal ingredients .
¡°Starfusing Pill; a second tier medicinal pill . Right now I have no way of refining a higher grade second tier medicinal pill . Looks like I can only go to grandmaster Yun Qi . But first I need to collect all the medicinal ingredients . ¡±
ording to Long Chen¡¯s recollections, the Starfusing Pill should be able to resolve the foreign spiritual energies within Chu Yao¡¯s body, but it had to be an upper grade pill .
The current Long Chen¡¯s Pill me was too weak; despite how much talent he had in that regard, it was impossible for him to refine a high grade second tier pill with such a Pill me .
The next day, Long Chen left his house . Arriving at the alchemist guild¡¯s storeroom, he handed his list over .
What was outside Long Chen¡¯s expectations was that all the ingredients could be found here except one of the main ingredients, the Starfusing Grass .
The Starfusing Grass was an extremely precious treasure . It was something that could be used to refine many second tier pills, and most second tier pills actually required it, making it in short supply .
Long Chen nodded; only missing one ingredient was already better than Long Chen had expected .
Collecting his ingredients and leaving the alchemist guild, Long Chen suddenly saw a certain figure . A trace of a cruel smile appeared on his mouth .
Chapter 30: Stubborn till Death
The one in front of him was the person who had been beaten almost to pulp by Long Chen, Zhou Yaoyang. Martial artists truly did have a tenacious life force.
Last time, he had been beaten so badly, but now he seemed totally fine. The Zhou family truly was willing to spend money on their son.
Almost every single bone had been broken in his body. It was only by spending a great amount of gold coins that he was pulled back from the gates of hell.
But even with the Zhou family¡¯s financial resources, his wounds had still been extremely severe. He hade to the guild today to ask for powerful recovery pills.
Currently, he was still extremely weak. Ever since he had been beaten, for some reason he would always start to hallucinate in the middle of the night. Countless demons would gue him, and now he didn¡¯t even dare sleep with the lights off.
And furthermore, every morning he would feel his soul ache as if needles were stabbing into him, paining him so badly that he could only roll on the ground.
But the alchemists of the guild couldn¡¯t find any reason for this suffering despite examining him multiple times. They could only conclude that it was due to a deficit in qi within him, so they had to first restore his body.
But even after half a month passed, he hadn¡¯t improved in that regard in the slightest. The symptoms actually worsened, and even if he didn¡¯t fall asleep, he would see countless demons demanding his life.
And as for the pain in his soul in the morning, it was no longer needles, but a zing me roasting him, making it so painful he wished he could die. The current Zhou Yaoyang was extremely emaciated, and hisplexion was turning yellow, arge difference from his old confident and easy self...
¡°Zhou Yaoyang, it¡¯s been a while. How have you been recently?¡± Long Chen smiled as if he were blessing him and cupped his hands in greeting.
As soon as Zhou Yaoyang saw Long Chen, it was as if he had seen a ghost and his face turned deathly pale.
¡°Long Chen¡ you¡ how are you?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t look so good. It really makes me uneasy. I¡¯m just worried about you. How are the demons at night and the soul roasting in the morning?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°You¡ you¡ how do you know about that? Could it be¡ it was you?¡± Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s eyes were filled with rm.
He suddenly remembered the medicinal pill Long Chen had fed him after beating him.
ording to the alchemist guild, it had been a pill to protect the organs and its effect was to make sure that he wouldn¡¯t die for a while despite his internal organ failure.
But Zhou Yaoyang always felt that something was wrong with that incident, and hearing Long Chen¡¯s words today, he immediately suspected that pill.
¡°Long Chen, those ghosts were definitely yours! You despicable bastard!¡± Zhou Yaoyang bitterly eximed his resentment.
Thinking about the pain he had been going through these days, he angrily shouted and charged at Long Chen.
A simple pnded on his face. The force behind it wasn¡¯t too great and it only sent him flying.
¡°Despicable? You dare call me that? No matter how despicable I am, it¡¯s not even a hundredth of how bad you are! Tell me, just how many despicable methods have you used against me over these years?¡±
Long Chen lightly waved his hand and indifferently said, ¡°You yourself don¡¯t even remember anymore. Being cruel will always have a reprisal. Now that I¡¯m stronger, am I supposed to not get a bit of revenge?¡±
The p on his facepletely sobered Zhou Yaoyang. Despite recuperating from his wounds these days, he hadn¡¯t stopped getting information about Long Chen.
The fact that Long Chen had beaten an imperial bodyguard of the Grand Xia¡¯s prince hadpletely shaken the capital; that was a true expert in the Blood Condensation realm!
In terms of martial might, Zhou Yaoyang was no longer a match for Long Chen. In terms of status, Long Chen was a grand Pill Apprentice, and he was even lessparable to him.
Zhou Yaoyang couldn¡¯t help being suspicious of what the alchemists at the guild had told him. The alchemist guild should be fully aware of all of Long Chen¡¯s methods, so they should have been able to cure him! Instead, they had let him suffer endless torment.
But he didn¡¯t know that he had misjudged the guild. Long Chen had applied a bit of Ghost Seeking Liquid atop the medicinal pill. Other than grandmaster Yun Qi, no one else in the guild would be able to figure that out.
Obviously, the Savage Marquis had no way of inviting someone as grand as Yun Qi. Let alone him, even a prince didn¡¯t have that capability.
¡°Long Chen, what do you want in order to let me free?¡± Zhou Yaoyang ground his teeth.
¡°Zhou Yaoyang, what happened to all the unyielding courage of yours? You tormented me for so many years but I never gave in to you. Now, things have only turned to my side for such a short time. If you want to stop now, it¡¯s already toote. Gotta follow the rules of the game,¡± indifferently said Long Chen. He then turned to leave.
¡°You really won¡¯t let me off?¡±
¡°If you want to escape the depths of misery, it¡¯s very simple. Take your sword and pull it against your neck. It only hurts for a second and then you¡¯ll be free. Don¡¯t beg me for help.¡±
Zhou Yaoyang was so furious his entire body shook. When he was haunted by ghosts and his soul scorched, he truly did want to use death to free himself of the pain.
But as soon as that moment passed, he returned to be a normal person and was full of longing towards life. That was the reason why he couldn¡¯t even kill himself.
If he chose life, it was misery. If he chose death, he was unable to go through with it. Zhou Yaoyang was about to copse. He didn¡¯t have the courage to kill himself, but if it continued like this, he¡¯d go crazy.
Zhou Yaoyang ground his teeth and actually knelt on the ground.
¡°Long Chen, I beg you, I admit defeat.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s hatred no longer burned as intensely as it had before. The current Long Chen was high and far above Zhou Yaoyang, and they were no longer on the same level. He didn¡¯t ce a small ant within his eyes.
Long Chen wasn¡¯t a priest who would repay enmity with kindness. But looking at Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s miserable state, most of his anger faded.
And it was also perfect since Long Chen was wishing to hear some secrets from him. Just as he reached his hand to rub his spatial ring, Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength suddenly noticed that Zhou Yaoyang was secretly clenching his fists and was filled with bitter resentment.
Long Chen quietly muttered to himself for a moment before he coldly smiled. A medicinal pill appeared out of his spatial ring, and he threw it directly to Zhou Yaoyang.
¡°This medicinal pill is for you. I hope you won¡¯t be enemies with me in the future; otherwise, you¡¯ll regret it for a lifetime.¡± Long Chen then left.
Zhou Yaoyang waited until Long Chen was far away before getting up. Looking at his distant figure, he narrowed his eyes.
¡°Long Chen, if I don¡¯t let you die a miserable death, then I wouldn¡¯t be Zhou Yaoyang!¡±
He wasn¡¯t afraid of Long Chen poisoning him because there were several people in the distance who had seen what had just happened. If he really did die from this medicinal pill, Long Chen wouldn¡¯t be able to escape punishment. Therefore, he swallowed the medicinal pill confidently.
The next day, Zhou Yaoyang was overjoyed to find that his night terrors were gone, and he no longer had to suffer the feeling of his soul burning every morning.
He coldly sneered inside. ¡°Long Chen, just wait. The next time I take action, I¡¯ll be taking your life in one fell swoop. At that time, the person who will be regretful is you!¡±
Back when Long Chen saw Zhou Yaoyang eat it, he also had sneered. You really are too evil to live. I actually wanted to spare your life, but unfortunately, you¡¯re courting disaster.
¡°Brother Long?¡±
Long Chen had been just walking along the road when someone suddenly called out to him.
He turned to see that it was fatty Yu. He was amazed to find that he had actually reached the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation. Due to his cultivation, his originally fat build now appeared to be sturdy and strong.
¡°Fatty, you¡¯re not bad. You¡¯ve already reached the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation,¡± smiled Long Chen.
¡°Hehe, this is all because of brother Long,¡± he somewhat bashfully said. ¡°Brother Long, I was just thinking about going over to pay a visit to you.¡±
¡°What do you need?¡±
¡°No, no, it¡¯s just that since I¡¯ve broken through to the third Heavenstage, I feel like I should celebrate. Look at what Shi Feng did; I can¡¯t be too shameful inparison right?¡± said fatty Yu.
¡°He advanced to the Blood Condensation realm while you are just at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation. Why does there need to be some grand celebration?¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Haha, those aren¡¯t the same. I couldn¡¯t even cultivate before, so the celebration this time is definitely on the same level as Shi Feng¡¯s!¡± earnestly said Fatty Yu.
¡°Well, when my bros invite me to drink, I can¡¯t possibly say no! Let¡¯s go.¡±
¡°Yes, perfect! I¡¯ve already ordered a feast and we¡¯re onlycking you.¡±
The restaurant fatty Yu brought him to was in the southern side of the city. Although it wasn¡¯t as famous as the one Shi Feng had brought them to, it wasn¡¯t that much worse.
When Long Chen entered, he saw that fatty Yu had told the truth; Shi Feng, Shou Hou, and the others were already there.
¡°Haha, Brother Long has finally arrived.¡±
Long Chen alsoughed. He greeted everyone, and as soon as he sat down, the food and drinks were brought out.
¡°Today is to celebrate my advancement to the third Heavenstage! I¡¯ve finally taken the first step of my cultivation path, and a bright future has been opened in front of me! This toast is for Long Chen!¡±
Everyone loudly praised him. They were all people whose fates had changed only because of Long Chen.
Long Chen also didn¡¯t stand on ceremony and drank arge cup of alcohol in one go.
Everyone was friends, so there was no need to restrain oneself and everyone drank copiously. Other than Shi Feng and fatty Yu, the rest of them had yet to advance past the first Heavenstage of Qi Condensation; heroic spirits they had, but a high tolerance of alcohol they did not.
After just a few cups, a lot of mouths became unguarded.
¡°Brother Long, it¡¯s like you¡¯re a martial god from the heavens, an unparalleled genius amongst men. We¡¯re all wondering just what kind of woman is suitable for you?¡± asked someone with the help of the alcohol.
Before Long Chen could even answer, Shou Hou followed up, ¡°Hehe, at the very least, it¡¯s gotta be a princess. As for looks, it¡¯s got to be a beauty capable of captivating the birds and beasts, eclipsing the moon and shaming flowers. And as for cultivation level? That¡¯s whatever. In any case, no one dares bully brother Long; even the Grand Xia¡¯s prince is not someone he is afraid of! So his future wife doesn¡¯t need to be so strong, haha.¡±
¡°Right! In our Phoenix Cry Empire, the only one who fits those criteria the best is the third princess!¡± said fatty Yu, his eyes lighting up.
¡°I¡¯ve seen the third princess before, and although she¡¯s beautiful, that kind of temperament is terrifying. Normal people wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it,¡± sighed someone else.
¡°Tch, that¡¯s because she still hasn¡¯t met brother Long! Even a tiger will be a kitten in front of brother Long!¡±
Long Chen was speechless. When they raised the topic of the third princess, the beautiful image of Chu Yao appeared in his mind.
He couldn¡¯t help but to feel some pity. Chu Yao was actually a gentle-hearted woman, but in order to protect herself, she had had to act arrogant and rude to the world.
Thinking about the time they¡¯d had together, a warm feeling filled him. At the same time, he felt awkward inside; wasn¡¯t talking about things like this unworthy of Chu Yao?
Long Chen was in the middle of thinking that over when a woman¡¯s coldugh rang out.
¡°You outrageous peasants really do think of the craziest things. Is the third princess someone you are capable of discussing?¡±
Chapter 31: Another Clash
Everyone¡¯s expressions changed when they heard those words. Fatty Yu cursed, ¡°What idiot woman is that? Get out for daddy!¡±
Just as he finished speaking, a table whistled over from the corridor, smashing towards them.
But it suddenly stopped in mid-air. Long Chen had grabbed it, and with a flick of his hand, he sent it flying back.
A woman had just walked out over there. She had a disdainful expression and that table had clearly been thrown by her.
To actually first throw a table to smash them and then walk out, what a lofty manner.
But she hadn¡¯t expected that the table she had thrown would actually be smashing back at her with over ten times the force. Just the gale force created by the table made it hard for her to breath.
It had happened too quickly, and it was already toote for her to dodge. If she was hit by it, she would definitely end up with some broken bones.
The table suddenly blew apart. A man with a de scar appeared in everyone¡¯s eyes as he protected the woman.
When everyone saw him, their expressions once more changed as they recognized him as the personal bodyguard of the Grand Xia¡¯s prince.
The scarred man was startled to see Long Chen and he narrowed his eyes, saying, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to run into you again so soon.¡±
Although he had managed to break that table apart, he had not managed topletely disperse the force. A heavy footprint was left on the floor, showing that he had misjudged Long Chen¡¯s strength.
¡°No way around it. I am a young person after all. Gotta act energetically and move forward bit by bit every day. I can¡¯tpare to someone as amazing as yourself who has already nted himself down and no longer moves forward. I, however, still have a long path to travel,¡± he indifferently said.
The scarred man¡¯s face darkened, and he was just about to reply when another voice rang out. ¡°Haha, it¡¯s been a couple of days, but brother Long is still as suave as ever.¡±
The Grand Xia¡¯s prince, Xia Changfeng slowly walked up with the same likable smiling face he had used before.
Xia Changfeng smiled, ¡°It¡¯s just a misunderstanding. Let me introduce you to my sister, Xia Baichi.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s jaw dropped. So this crazy woman was actually a princess!
So this was the reason grandmaster Yun Qi had told him to be careful around her.
¡°Hmph, now you know how great the difference between us is!¡± Xia Baichi sneered at Long Chen¡¯s shock.
He shook his head. ¡°Yes, we really are quite different. Even if I trained for ten thousand years, I wouldn¡¯t beparable to an idiot like you. Xia Baichi, what a great name.¡±[1]
¡°You!¡± Her eyes practically spit out mes.
Not only Xia Baichi, but even Xia Changfeng¡¯s eyes turned cold for a moment before he smiled, ¡°Okay, now that everyone knows each other, I wonder what you were talking about before for it to get this lively?¡±
Fatty Yu and the others were naturally a bit ufortable with the Grand Xia¡¯s prince here. After all, he was a prince, and the difference in status was too great.
They weren¡¯t as obstinate as Long Chen and didn¡¯t dare say anything out of ce to him. They were all silent for a moment.
Xia Baichi sneered, ¡°I heard these toads insulting the third princess and talking about who she would marry. But funnily none of them knew my brother has already given a betrothal gift to the Empress Dowager to win the third princess over. For these guys to put their sights on my brother¡¯s fianc¨¦e, they really are courting death.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s expression changed at that news. He coldly asked Xia Changfeng, ¡°Is this true?¡±
¡°Long Chen, control your attitude,¡± warned the scarred man.
¡°No matter.¡± Xia Changfeng waved his hands at the scarred man. He smiled at Long Chen, ¡°The reason I came to the Phoenix Cry Empire this time was because my father ordered me to propose to the third princess. Since the Empress Dowager has already agreed, we should be able to quickly set a date. If brother Long has time in the future, I invite you toe to my Grand Xia for the wedding feast.¡±
Who knew whether Xia Changfeng was doing it on purpose, but his expression towards Long Chen was one of a victor looking pitifully on the loser.
Did he know? Long Chen couldn¡¯t help being worried despite knowing that Xia Changfeng was purposely provoking him.
But his anger still rose up uncontrobly. Maybe if he was doing this without knowing the truth then it would be fine.
But Long Chen knew that there was a conspiracy around Chu Yao. Those foreign spiritual energies within her were seeds of energy waiting to be reaped. It appeared someone hade to finally harvest them now that they were ripe.
Although the person who had set them in ce wasn¡¯t Xia Changfeng, he was the one benefitting from it, so he was definitely a participant. He must know many secrets.
Thinking about his own experiences, he wondered whether his situation had anything to do with Xia Changfeng. The probability was definitely high.
His killing intent boiled when he thought of the conspiracies around him and Chu Yao. But now still wasn¡¯t the time to take action. He still had to get stronger.
Only the tip of the iceberg had been revealed to him now. He still wasn¡¯t in control, so he needed to endure. Keeping this in mind, his anger was quickly reced with calmness.
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s angry expression suddenly fade, Xia Changfeng¡¯s heart shook slightly. The caution he felt towards Long Chen increased; enemies who could control their emotions were the truly terrifying ones.
¡°Brother Xia, I don¡¯t think you should propose to the third princess.¡± Long Chen shook his head.
¡°Huh? Why?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve studied the secrets of fate. When I did some calctions for you, I realized brother Xia¡¯s name contains the word ¡®wind¡¯, while the third princess¡¯s name contains the word ¡®forest¡¯. Wind will destroy the forest, so it¡¯s not good for the third princess.¡± Long Chen was watching Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression.[2]
¡°Haha, brother Long really is funny. How could such a thing be given true credence?¡±ughed Xia Changfeng.
Long Chen¡¯s eyes became even gloomier. By using his divine sense to its limits, he had noticed that while Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression might not have changed while he had spoken, his heart had jumped a bit.
Hmph, so this bastard really does know quite a lot.
¡°Not so. My ability to read faces is definitely at the master level; brother Xia, you have much fire in your life, and that is why you were given the name Changfeng. Fire borrows the power of the wind. Such a me spreads for thousands of miles with nothing being able to block it anymore. It truly is a good name,¡± praised Long Chen.
Xia Changfeng smiled slightly, but he also paused for a moment, his heart going wild. Did Long Chen really have such skills?
His name really had been inspired by a mysterious person who had exined it just as Long Chen had exined it. His life was fire-fated, and only due to this did his parents name him Changfeng.
Although he kept his expression as calm as ever, his heart was jumping and his blood surging. The change in his breathing was unable to escape Long Chen¡¯s awareness.
Long Chenughed inside, not expecting his fake act to actually touch upon something. He continued, ¡°As for our third princess, her name contains the ¡®Yao¡¯ character. You are fire-fated, but her name has water. More importantly, her name also has the character for ¡®king¡¯, so it¡¯s not just ordinary water, but the king of water.[3]
¡°Wind and forest repel each other, while water will put out fire. You cannot marry someone with such a name. And furthermore, the capital is surrounded by water on four sides, so it¡¯s far too risky for brother Xia.
¡°If you dare marry the third princess, you most likely won¡¯t live long enough to leave the Phoenix Cry Empire. So, I advise you to give up on this notion.
¡°Women are like clothes; for just a piece of clothing, you will put your life in danger? It¡¯s just not worth it.¡±
Shi Feng, fatty Yu, and the others¡¯ expressions all changed. Was he threatening the prince?
As for Long Chen¡¯s ability to read faces, they half believed it and half doubted it. But now, Long Chen was exining it all very clearly and they couldn¡¯t help trusting it.
At this time, Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression was very unsightly. Long Chen¡¯s words made him very ufortable as he had no way to refute them.
¡°Don¡¯t try deluding us with your lies. You think you can confuse a prince just by using a few parlor tricks? I think you¡¯re getting tired of living,¡± shouted the scarred man angrily.
¡°A dog who won¡¯t listen actually dares talk before his master?¡± frowned Long Chen.
From the start, he could feel the scarred man¡¯s killing intent. And that killing intent chilled him to his bones.
That meant the scarred man was mulling over how to kill him. Long Chen definitely wouldn¡¯t give him any face.
¡°Bastard!¡± The scarred man angrily shouted and punched at Long Chen.
¡°STOP!¡±
Xia Changfeng prevented the scarred man from attacking. He had already returned to his normal state at this time, and he smiled at Long Chen. ¡°Who would have thought brother Long had such a humorous side? My horizons have truly been broadened. Unfortunately, I still have things to do at this time, so let¡¯s talk another day.¡±
Xia Changfeng brought both the scarred man and Xia Baichi away, but Xia Baichi still gave Long Chen an angry re; her disdainful gaze seeming to consider Long Chen to be just a piece of meat.
After getting down the stairs, the scarred man ruthlessly said, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you blocking me, Long Chen would already be a dead man now.¡±
¡°This Long Chen definitely has to die. I also almost lost control of myself. That bastard really is loathsome. But Long Chen still has other uses for now. If he died, then it would affect our ns. Let him live a few more days,¡± sighed Xia Changfeng.
Even someone as calm as him had almost taken action to attack him. He was truly infuriated.
¡°Master sent orders for me to defeat Long Chen in front of that old bastard Yun Qi. If you kill him before then, it will definitely anger that old ghost,¡± coldly said Xia Baichi. ¡°That old idiot. Whether I sincerely begged or tried to seduce him, he just wouldn¡¯t help me. What a waste of time.¡±
Xia Changfeng looked at her and shook his head. ¡°From the beginning, master¡¯s attempts at having you entice him were unlikely to work.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
Xia Changfeng shook his head and didn¡¯t reply. The scarred man beside him sighed, ¡°Because princess, you don¡¯t have the proper temperament of a woman.¡±
Xia Baichi sent a p at the scarred man¡¯s face, but he just smiled indifferently, seeming very ustomed to this.
Once they had left, Long Chen and the rest also lost interest in drinking. Long Chen felt as if time was running out for him.
The closer he got to the truth, the more dangerous it became. Once the whole truth was revealed, if he didn¡¯t have enough strength, then he would undoubtedly die.
But there was fundamentally not enough time. He had to take advantage of every moment to cultivate. Just the slightest increase in power would give him a greater chance at surviving.
But Chu Yao¡¯s situation was also pressing on him. He had to race against time and resolve her matter.
¡°Are you Long Chen?¡±
Suddenly, a lean, middle-aged man walked up the restaurant and greeted Long Chen.
[1] Ïİ׳أ¬ÏÂ°×³Õ are pronounced the same. One is her name, the other means lower idiot. So when he calls her idiot, he also mocks her name which would normally mean white pond.
[2] The Feng in Xia Changfeng means wind. Chu Yao¡¯s name doesn¡¯t actually contain the word for forest, but the character is within her surname Chu ³þ(the upper portion meaning forest). The Chang can mean long, so long wind stokes the me (in theter section).
[3] The Yao Ñþ character means pearl. It can be split left to right, the left being taken for king.
Chapter 32: Huayun Pavilion Invitation
¡°Are you Long Chen?¡±
¡°I am.¡± Long Chen was startled, as he himself didn¡¯t even recognize this person.
¡°Perfect. Under the pavilion master¡¯s orders, I havee to give you this invitation card.¡± The lean middle-aged man rejoiced. ¡°Young noble, you might not recognize me, but my lowly self is an attendant of the Huayun Pavilion. I have especiallye to invite you to our annual auction.¡±
Only now did Long Chen understand. He was being pulled into some kind of business work. As for being an ¡®attendant¡¯, it would be more urate to just call him a foot runner.
Long Chen had a great understanding of this Huayun Pavilion. It was the most famous auction house in the Phoenix Cry Empire and was an extremely huge existence.
Although it might not beparable to the alchemist guild, it was definitely powerful. It was the closest partner of the adventurers guild.
The adventurers guild was an alliance formed by countless adventurers, and although it was a loose partnership, it had many members.
Adventurers traveled the wilderness for most of their days, and although it was an extremely dangerous upation, its rewards were also ordingly great.
All kinds of strange medicinal herbs and Magical Beast cores could be found, and if one¡¯s luck was really ridiculous, then it was even possible to find an ancient inheritance.
Adventurers were very fond of coborating with the Huayun Pavilion due to their extremely fair prices. Selling their gains there was the most secure method to sell their spoils.
Some of them didn¡¯t go into danger themselves. They would make deals with other people or even kill others for their spoils. Those were extremelymon affairs. Sometimes, the city was even more frightful than the wilderness.
So, the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s annual auction would always attract countless people. They would select the rarest treasures that they had gathered over the year for that auction.
Almost every auction would result in them delighting at the high bidding, so the extent of their auction also became greater over the time.
In the past two years, the auction¡¯s quality had be incredibly great, and they had even set down new rules. It was now impossible to enter without an invitation card.
And the people who could obtain an invitation card were only people with exceedingly high statuses. Long Chen was the first youth to receive such a thing.
¡°This is a great thing, brother Long. But if you don¡¯t have enough money, then it would just be a waste of time,¡± said Shou Hou.
The Huayun Pavilion¡¯s auction wares were all the best amongst the best. Every single item was extremely desirable.
Adding on the auction house¡¯s expert advertising and enticements, the price would soar wildly all the time. Without money, you could only look with envy.
¡°Do you have a list of things being auctioned?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°This lowly one only has a list of the first ten things. You can have a look,¡± the lean man apologetically said.
In order to maintain its mystery, the best things being auctioned off would never be allowed to be leaked.
Long Chen looked over it. His pupils shrank when he saw the Starfusing Grass on the list. It was actually Starfusing Grass that was over a thousand years old.
Normal Starfusing Grass was always within ten to a hundred years old. Over a hundred years old was rare, and over a thousand years old made it an exceptionally precious treasure.
Such a treasure was actually just the first item of the list.
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s shock, the lean man became pleased and said, ¡°As a Pill Apprentice, any precious medicinal pills you have can be handed over to us. If the quality and rareness of it reach the standards, we can consider adding it to the auction. But we charge 50%mission.¡±
Fifty percent?! Ha, how vicious. You actually dare ask for fifty percent? Do you dare ask for more?
As if seeing through Long Chen¡¯s thoughts, heughed, ¡°As long as what you have is good enough, then after our packaging and advertising, in addition to our chief auctioneer¡¯s embellishment, the price will definitely rise far beyond your imaginations.¡±
Hearing that, Long Chen became more at ease. At the same time, he felt a bit of admiration at how they ran their business.
What Long Chen didn¡¯t know was that this man¡¯s job really wasn¡¯t as easy as he thought it was. The people in the lean man¡¯s position would get three quotas for the annual auction, meaning they were only allowed to invite three people.
Whether those people were buying or selling things, the one who had invited him would get a set percentage.
The more they bought or sold, the more money that person would get. So each person invited had to be carefully selected.
But after this many years, more and more wealthy people were being invited earlier, leaving only a few behind. Now they were just picking over the dredges.
This lean man was very astute, so as soon as he had received his quota, he had rushed over to invite Long Chen, afraid that others would get there first.
There was no other way. Long Chen was the most famous person within his generation in the capital, and he was definitely a big fish with potential.
¡°Please look over this lowly one¡¯s calling card.¡± He handed over a small card to Long Chen.
¡°Fu Gui?¡±[1]
¡°Haha, Ie from a poor family. My parents wished for me to gain riches, so they came up with such a name.¡± The lean man exined with embarrassment.
His exnation also caused Long Chen to feel a bit of sympathy. Nodding, he said, ¡°I am definitely very interested in buying things. I also have some things that I want to auction off. How does it work?¡±
Fu Gui¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Any treasures can be brought directly to the Huayun Pavilion. We can also go to your door to get them.¡±
Long Chen nodded. There was just less than a month until the auction, so he still had time. After setting an appointment with Fu Gui, Long Chen and the others all left the restaurant.
¡°Long Chen, the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival is a week from now. You definitely have toe out,¡± said Shi Feng expectantly.
The Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival was thergest celebration of the empire. The entire capital¡¯s unmarried poption would participate. It was extremely lively, and it was the festival that all the young people looked forward to the most.
Especially those unmarried men; each of them would be like a bull, determinedly waiting for a chance of attracting a woman¡¯s attention.
As for the women, they also wanted to see if they could find an eptable man.
It was a bit controversial for men and women to be together like this, but during the one day of the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, all those taboos were lifted, and both genders could party wildly together as much as they wanted to.
Thus, many of them made preparations beforehand for this festival.
And the most fun part of it was the fight over the number one junior warrior in their generation. There would always be a martial stage during the festival. As long as you were a cultivator and were under twenty years old, anyone could go up.
The first ce battle was the highlight. As long as you got that title, it would no longer even be possible for you to be low-key. Countless women would send flowers after you, enough to bury you even. Just thinking about it set the men¡¯s hearts on fire.
Even the calm Shi Feng was burning with passion. And as expected, fatty Yu and the others were all bursting with enthusiasm.
¡°Brother Long, you definitely have toe. If you don¡¯t go, then we won¡¯t want to go either,¡± begged fatty Yu.
¡°Then how about none of us go and we¡¯ll find somewhere to get a drink instead,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Nooo, master Long. We¡¯ve been waiting for this for a year!!¡± Fatty Yu and the others immediately acted sullen. Some of them got on their knees and hugged Long Chen¡¯s legs, not letting go until he agreed.
¡°Long Chen, if you don¡¯t go, then it will be too boring. In the capital, you are the most famous of our generation! You¡¯re viewed as number one, and if you don¡¯t go, then it will disappoint countless people,¡± persuaded Shi Feng.
¡°Hm? When did I get such a big name?¡± Long Chen was startled.
¡°You didn¡¯t know? Even the little kids know about it. Dual martial and pill cultivation that shakes heaven and earth, the Heroic Assembly House¡¯s angry god, the one who spread his wings and flew out of the Phoenix Cry Empire, the one whoughs arrogantly at the nine heavens, Long Chen.¡± Shi Feng looked at Long Chen strangely.
¡°¡¡±
What kind of situation is this? How did I not know? There are poems about me? Long Chen was struck foolishly silent.
¡°Okay, brother Long, all your brothers are hoping to enjoy the festivities with you. But whatever you say is what we¡¯ll do.¡±
Shi Feng wasn¡¯t the same as the others. He had considered Long Chen as his brother from the start, so he didn¡¯t need to have as many misgivings as the others.
¡°Ugh, I¡¯ll go.¡± Long Chen smiled bitterly; he had originally been nning on training for an extra day.
Fatty Yu and the others all cheered at that. It was as if they were seeing a scene of countless beautiful women before them.
After splitting ways with the others, Long Chen quickly rushed home. He didn¡¯t even eat dinner; the time he was wasting was too great. He had to urgently increase his cultivation base.
Although the FengFu Star had already been perfectly condensed, but now that he had gained a Dantian, he wanted to quickly condense more cyclones.
There were currently only three cyclones in his Dantian. He wanted to continue forming them, but there was no clue on how to do so within the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art in his memories.
Back when the FengFu Star had condensed, three of the cyclones had appeared all at once. Even Long Chen didn¡¯t know how it had happened.
Now, Long Chen found that when he circted his Dantian, the three cyclones would also revolve with it. This method was only for continuously sending energy throughout him for battle, and wasn¡¯t for cultivating.
Drawing some of the FengFu Star¡¯s spiritual energy out to the cyclones, they immediately grew ten times the size and Long Chen¡¯s breathing became rushed in anticipation. But this was also for battle and not how to cultivate them.
Long Chen took a deep breath, and hesitating for a moment, he slowly circted his qi to absorb the outside world¡¯s spiritual qi.
However, this time, he didn¡¯t send it throughout his body but gathered it into his FengFu Star.
Following Long Chen¡¯s absorption of heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi, the FengFu Star started to quickly circte.
¡°This is the way!¡±
Long Chen was ted; although he didn¡¯t know exactly what was happening, this definitely seemed to be more for cultivating and less for battle.
Doing his best to continue absorbing, the FengFu star gradually became brighter under the continuous absorption. In the end, it appeared like a zing sun.
BOOM!
The FengFu Star shook, and it immediately became dimmer. At the same time, another cyclone appeared within Long Chen¡¯s Dantian.
¡°Haha, I¡¯ve finally found the way to continue cultivating.¡±
Along with the fourth cyclone¡¯s formation, Long Chen found out that the meridians within his body had also expanded slightly, and his whole body was surging with energy.
¡°Good, let¡¯s continue.¡±
Long Chen slowly closed his eyes and began to attack the fifth Heavenstage.
[1] Fu Gui meaning rich. Like imagine your parents literally named you Rich and that was your businesscard.
Chapter 33: Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival
Within the inner part of the pce was the fourth prince¡¯s study. The fourth prince was sitting with his eyelids half closed as he quietly listened to the Savage Marquis¡¯s report.
¡°Master, no news hase from the Border Suppression Marquis. The army continues to hold the same area and no reply hase from master¡¯s letters,¡± reported the Savage Marquis respectfully.
The fourth prince slowly opened his eyes. Within them was a glimmer of cold grimness. ¡°What a reckless, obstinate old man. I gave him that much time yet he still treats me like some pushover.¡±
¡°This Long Tianxiao truly doesn¡¯t know greatness. He still refuses to surrender to prince after this many years. Truly hateful to the point of deserving a thousand deaths,¡± said the Savage Marquis ruthlessly.
The fourth prince nced at him and said, ¡°I know about the past grievances between you and Long Tianxiao. If it hadn¡¯t been for that punch of his, then you would have had a high chance of advancing to the Tendon Transformation realm. But Long Tianxiao¡¯s strength doesn¡¯t just lie in his martial might; otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t view him so importantly. Unfortunately, he¡¯s too stubborn and can¡¯t be used by me. Since he can¡¯t be one of mine, let him be a dead man.¡±
The Savage Marquis rejoiced when he heard of this. ¡°Master, do you have a n?¡±
¡°Right now isn¡¯t the time to deal with him. However, he has indeed wasted so many years of my effort. So first, kill his only son. Count it as him paying some interest,¡± said the fourth prince indifferently.
¡°Long Chen? How should he be killed?¡± asked the Savage Marquis, somewhat puzzled.
The current Long Chen counted as one of the alchemist guild¡¯s people and the rumors reported that he was close to grandmaster Yun Qi. Even a prince couldn¡¯t avoid the alchemist guild¡¯s punishment.
¡°I¡¯ve already fixed that matter, so you don¡¯t need to worry about it. Just quietly gather your forces. We¡¯re about to make some big moves; don¡¯t forget to not attract any undue attention,¡± ordered the fourth prince coldly.
¡°Yes, master. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll definitely make sure there¡¯s not even the slightest leak,¡± promised the Savage Marquis hastily.
His current strength was just at the Blood Condensation realm, so his martial might wasn¡¯t very outstanding. And it was exactly because he wasn¡¯t overly eye-attracting that the fourth prince gave him such a high position.
He was extremely loyal and devoted, and he was also very meticulous with how he handled things. He hadn¡¯t made any slipups in all the years he had worked for him.
After the Savage Marquis left, the fourth prince looked at the books on his shelves. A long whileter, he sighed.
¡°Long Tianxiao. Is it worth the trouble? So much of my sincerity over the years was unable to move you. Don¡¯t me me for being vicious.¡±
¡
BOOM!
Another explosion rang out within his body, and Long Chen¡¯s eyes popped open. His eyes shined brightly like the stars, yet his gaze was as sharp as a sword.
Seven cyclones were slowly revolving within his Dantian. A pleased smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face.
He had spent seven full days focused only on cultivating, advancing four levels. Such a speed would definitely shock and frighten anyone else, yet Long Chen still wasn¡¯t satisfied with it.
Originally, he had thought that as he condensed more cyclones, his cultivation would be faster since he could absorb more energy. But he quickly found out that his assumption had been wrong.
Every new cyclone had been harder to condense than thest. The amount of spiritual qi needed exponentially shot up; the fourth cyclone had only required six hours to form, while the seventh cyclone had required three full days.
That was basically the sum of all the three cyclones before it. But Long Chen was still pleased when he noticed that his meridians had be even firmer as he reached the seventh Heavenstage.
However, he was still unable to use Split the Heavens. But this didn¡¯t disappoint him; in fact, it made him even more excited. This meant that Split the Heavens was an exceptionally powerful Battle Skill. For him to have used some random pill to exchange for such a high ss Battle Skill had definitely been worth it.
Originally, he had been nning on going back there and bribing that Blood Condensation expert with more medicinal pills for some more high grade Battle Skills.
But now that Chu Yao had given him the Breaking Wind Fist and the mecloud Palm, he had enough. The two of them were both high Mortal ss Battle Skills. Most likely, only the third floor of the Battle Skill Pavilion would hold Battle Skills of that level. Battle Skills on that level were things that even that Blood Condensation guard would not have the qualifications to learn.
It was not the case that the more Battle Skills you learned, the better. Unless martial artists were pushed to their limit, they normally wouldn¡¯t use them.
That was because Battle Skills used too much spiritual qi. Ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators could only use a low grade Mortal Battle Skill once.
After using it once, their remaining spiritual qi would be insufficient to use it a second time. So unless you could defeat your enemy in one move, no one would waste their spiritual qi like that.
Furthermore, the higher the ss of the Battle Skill, the more spiritual qi would be required to use it. High Mortal ss Battle Skills were normally reserved for Blood Condensation cultivators to use.
Only they had the required spiritual qi for such a frightening cost. But of course, Long Chen wasn¡¯t ordinary.
His spiritual qi was stored within his FengFu Star. By Long Chen¡¯s calctions, he could use a high Mortal ss Battle Skill seven times.
But if he were to send his FengFu Star¡¯s spiritual qi to his seven cyclones in order to produce his absolute max power, then he would only be able to use a high Mortal ss Battle Skill once. He wouldn¡¯t be able to use it a second time even if he forced himself to death.
Currently, Long Chen still could not condense a second star. The Nine Star Hegemon Body Art required that only after the first star became a ¡®true star¡¯ could the second star be condensed.
But Long Chen still didn¡¯t know how to make his star a ¡®true star¡¯. He also didn¡¯t know what the nine star transformations in his memories were. He really was bing more and more puzzled as he progressed on his cultivation path with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Therefore, he could only continue forming more cyclones for now.
¡°Young master, can I enter?¡± Bao-er¡¯s clear voice came from outside.
¡°Enter.¡±
Bao-er entered with a set of clothes in her hands. Sheughed, ¡°Young master, today is the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival. Mrs. Long has sent me to make you presentable.¡±
She had him sit down properly while she washed his face andbed his hair. Long Chenughed, ¡°Is this really so important?¡±
¡°Haha, the Madam has already said that young master is now sixteen and is the age for getting married. She told me to properly dress you. If any family¡¯s pretty daughter sees you, haha¡ you understand.¡± Bao-erughed.
¡°No way. My mom really thinks it¡¯s that urgent?¡± Long Chen was speechless. Fatty Yu and the others were all seventeen, but they hadn¡¯t gotten married.
¡°Of course it¡¯s urgent. I worry about my grandchildren.¡± Mrs. Long walked in and looked at Long Chen. ¡°The matter of Meng Qi can be handled slowly and considered a long term goal. But you also need to have short term goals. It¡¯s called insurance. I suggest you go find a suitable youngdy and get some kids while also pursuing Meng Qi.¡±
¡°What?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t believe his ears.
¡°What? For a man to have multiple wives and concubines ismon. Isn¡¯t it fine to just reserve Meng Qi as the first wife?¡± Mrs. Long spoke as if that was as it should be.
¡°Are you serious?¡±
¡°Of course. But you can¡¯t tell Meng Qi about it at the beginning. Once you two be closer, she¡¯ll naturally agree to it.¡±
Long Chen blinked. Even this was fine? ¡°Mom, dad hasn¡¯t bothered tomunicate with us in this many years. Does he also have wives and concubines outside?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t say so much nonsense. But it would be absolutely fine for your father to have some extra wives or concubines,¡± she chided. But a guilty, ashamed glimmer shed through her eyes.
¡°Haha, I¡¯m just joking mom. Don¡¯t worry, if there are any suitable women during the Lantern Festival, I¡¯ll bring a few back for you.¡± Seeing his mom wasn¡¯t very happy, he joked.
¡°Tch, who do you think you are to bring ¡®a few¡¯ home? Let me tell you, don¡¯t try any fake smiles with your mom. You have to properly remember this matter, understood?¡± she solemnly warned.
¡°Fine, fine, fine. I¡¯ll act however you tell me,¡± promised Long Chen. Inside, he didn¡¯t feel that it was quite right, but he didn¡¯t dare say that out loud to his mother.
After making himself presentable, Long Chen put on a blue robe. It was the perfect size and after putting it on, he looked like a whole new person.
Sword-like eyebrows and glowing with health; although he wasn¡¯t outstandingly handsome, Bao-er unceasingly praised him.
¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry Madam. How many women could resist our young master?¡±
¡°Ah, don¡¯t praise him too much.¡± Although Mrs. Long said this, she was pleased inside. She was filled with pride looking at her handsome son.
¡°Okay, it¡¯s time. Go.¡± Mrs. Long pushed Long Chen out the door.
¡°Mom, the sun is still so high. It¡¯s going to be a while before it darkens,¡± Long Chen helplessly pointed out as he looked at the western sun that had barely begun to descend.
¡°Bad child, you don¡¯t know what it means to prepare early. First get a good spot, and only then can you increase your chances. Quick, go.¡±
After saying this, she closed the gates on him.
Long Chen rolled his eyes. It wasn¡¯t like he was setting up a stall for business. Why did he need to first upy a good position? But since he was already driven out, he still left.
He saw countless people bustling in front of their homes, hangingnterns. Seeing Long Chen, a youth joked, ¡°Brother, you really are early.¡±
¡°What do you know? The early bird gets the worm,¡± retorted Long Chen.
¡°Ha, true. Many thanks for the reminder big brother. I¡¯ll go change now.¡± That person ran back into his house.
¡°What a kid. Only thirteen yet he wants to y with women.¡±
His mouth twitched. The children these days really were maturing too early. He had also trulye out too soon, and when others saw that he hade out so early, it only led to more jokes from people along the way.
He was early enough to be embarrassed, but he also didn¡¯t have enough time to go cultivate either. And just sitting around would also be boring.
Just as he was hesitating on what to do next, an almost solid murderous aura attacked him. A gust of wind shot straight towards Long Chen¡¯s back.
Hastily turning, Long Chen¡¯s fist just managed to block a sneak attacker¡¯s punch.
Gale winds exploded when they collided, and Long Chen was forced back several steps. Raising his head, he saw a masked man who was sending another punch at him. The man¡¯s strength was very great and the wind whistled with his every blow.
Long Chen coldly snorted. Ignoring the punch, he kicked between that person¡¯s legs.
That person¡¯s battle experience was very rich, and he directly stopped his punch and switched to defense, his leg blocking Long Chen¡¯s attack.
After blocking it, a fierce energy erupted from that person¡¯s body. A fist ripped through the space andpletely cut off Long Chen¡¯s retreat paths.
Coldness filled Long Chen¡¯s eyes. Just as he was about to use all his power, he suddenly thought of something.
¡°Spirit of the Bull!¡±
Long Chen shouted and their punches collided. He was sent flying dozens of steps, his blood surging tumultuously.
Just as that person was about to keep attacking after sending Long Chen flying, he suddenly turned to see the shadows of people approaching them.
¡°Hmph, kid, next time I¡¯ll take your life.¡± He coldly snorted when he saw the pale-faced Long Chen. He disappeared in front of Long Chen¡¯s eyes with shocking speed.
After he left, Long Chen¡¯s pale face once more returned to its normal rosiness.
¡°Idiot, you want to test my power?¡±
Long Chen patted the dust off his clothes. Looking in the direction where that person left from, a certain thought arose in his mind...
Looks like tonight won¡¯t be so boring after all!
Chapter 34: Start of the Lantern Festival
In the middle of that sneak attack just now, Long Chen had realized his opponent¡¯s true intentions. Although he had appeared to be trying to kill him, that was just an act.
What kind of assassin would reveal his killing intent before striking? No real killer would make such a basic error.
And that person hadn¡¯t had any true killing intent, only a murderous aura. Although each attack was powerful, he had obviously been holding back.
It was apletely different style from an assassin. So at thest moment, Long Chen deliberately lost and allowed himself to be sent flying. He concealed how much spiritual energy he had and pretended to be injured.
As he had expected, this ¡®killer¡¯ immediately left. Did they think he was an idiot? Those people who had beening over were just ordinary people who he could have easily killed first before leaving.
But the killer had acted startled and retreated hastily. Long Chen snorted disdainfully at such shoddy acting.
He knew that person definitely had to have a high status who was too prideful and believed himself to be infallible.
Although he didn¡¯t know why he had been tested, Long Chen knew there would definitely be a follow-up. Otherwise, all of this would have been meaningless.
¡°Brother Long, you really are early haha.¡±
As he was considering this, he ended up walking into the public za, and Shou Hou shouted out to him excitedly.
The za was several miles wide, and countlessnterns dozens of meters tall had been set out. But since it hadn¡¯t turned dark yet, they hadn¡¯t been lit.
Crowds of people were bustling in the za. All kinds of constructions were being finished.
Despite not being lit, the countless variednterns were still a spectacr sight.
Young men and women were all over the za and starting to y. The sound of conversation filled the air, and asional bell-likeughter would ring out.
But some of thoseughs were extremely unpleasant to listen to. Who knew whether those brayingughs were always like that or whether it was due to this being a special asion, but they caused one¡¯s hair to stand on end.
The women were holding hands and having fun, while at the same time, secretly stealing nces at the men. Although it was almost autumn, the za gave off a fresh feeling of spring.
Some of the men truly were doing as Long Chen¡¯s mother had said and had picked a high spot early on. Some of them were on high rocks, some on bridges, their hands waving a fan in front of them in a flirtatious manner.
What shocked and caused him to be speechless was that some of them were acting like roosters and being excessively lewd.
¡°Shou Hou, this is the legendary Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival with handsome men and beautiful women?¡± Long Chen almost couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.
¡°Uh¡ brother Long, we¡¯re early. The truly beautiful women haven¡¯te out yet. Only those people without confidencee this early,¡± he awkwardly exined. But as soon he said it he backtracked. ¡°But brother Long is definitely an exception.¡±
Long Chen truly hade too early. He med it all on his mom and had an urge to cry. But as the sky gradually darkened, more and more people started to show up.
These new additions were definitely a grade better than the ones who had gotten there so early. At the very least, theirughs were not so frightening. It was pretty good in terms of both numbers and quality.
¡°Haha, brother Long, you really came.¡± Shi Feng had just arrived, quickly noticing Long Chen and Shou Hou who were hiding in a corner.
¡°Haha, brother Long, you really are dashing today.¡± Fatty Yu and the others also came in session and came to greet Long Chen.
¡°Fatty Yu, you aren¡¯t bad either. You¡¯ve lost quite a bit of weight. In the past, we didn¡¯t even know how you managed to squeeze into ces,¡± joked Shou Hou. Everyone alsoughed.
As they were having fun, more and more people ended up showing up, and the za becamepletely full.
The young people were all in small groups within the crowd and quietly chatting. But all of their gazes were roving around, looking for targets.
¡°Long Chen, let¡¯s join them. It¡¯s almost time for thentern festival to begin,¡± said Shi Feng.
Fatty Yu and the others were already feeling a bit pressed. But since Long Chen never said anything, they had only waited beside him patiently.
Actually, Long Chen really didn¡¯t want to go into the crowd. But not wanting to be rude, he still resolved himself to enter the huge crowd of people.
As soon as Long Chen¡¯s group entered, they attracted many people¡¯s attention. One reason was because they were one of thest groups to join.
But this group of people was also very special. Tall, short, fat, skinny, there was someone for anyone¡¯s taste.
¡°Huh, who¡¯s that? How handsome! Howe I¡¯ve never seen him before?¡± One woman immediately let out a surprised shout.
Long Chen was definitely not bad in terms of looks, but it definitely hadn¡¯t reached the point of amazing and awing people. But as for whether a flower was pretty or not was decided in the eye of the beholder.
Beside fatty Yu, Shou Hou, and the others, even the dark-faced Shi Feng appeared much more handsome than normal.
¡°You don¡¯t know? That¡¯s Long Chen, the Border Suppression Marquis¡¯s son.¡±
¡°Heavens, he¡¯s Long Chen? The Long Chen praised as the capital¡¯s number one in the junior generation?¡±
¡°I heard he¡¯s even a Pill Apprentice and might even be grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s first disciple.¡±
Gossip about him filled the air, and many women sent furtive gazes his way. Some of the bold ones actually started to shout his name.
Sweat started to roll down his face. Long Chen had never seen such a battle, and no matter how thick his face was, he still couldn¡¯t block it all out.
¡°Brother Shi, you go to the front. Fatty Yu and Hou-zi[1], you guyse up a bit more too.¡±
Long Chen straightforwardly hid behind his friends, lowering his head while he walked. This relieved quite a bit of pressure on him.
After wading through the crowd for a bit, they arrived at a huge martial arena that was hundreds of meters wide.
¡°Long Chen, this martial arena is for finding the number one junior warrior in the Phoenix Cry Empire. Are you interested?¡± smiled Shi Feng.
¡°Definitely not. I don¡¯t like being a trick-performing monkey.¡± Long Chen shook his head.
¡°Hehe, then I¡¯m relieved,¡±ughed Shi Feng.
Long Chen was startled for a moment before realizing that Shi Feng was actually after that title.
¡°Good luck.¡± Long Chen extended a fist.
Shi Feng bumped fists with him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. As long as it¡¯s not you, then I should be okay.¡±
¡°Hey, you two are being rude. You keep ignoring our needs. Let¡¯s go bros, we¡¯ll take advantage of our time and go fool around,¡± shouted Shou Hou as he pulled the rest of the group away.
¡°Remember to meet back here in a while,¡± shouted back Shi Feng.
The two of them didn¡¯t even know whether they were heard. The others disappeared quickly into the crowd, each looking for a target.
¡°Shi Feng, how¡¯s your cultivation base?¡± Seeing no one was around, Long Chen quietly asked him.
¡°The peak of the first Heavenstage of Blood Condensation. In just a short while, I should be able to reach the second level,¡± Shi Feng replied gratefully.
The reason he had managed to reach his current level so quickly had been because of Long Chen¡¯s assistance. The earlier someone entered the Blood Condensation realm, the greater it would benefit their future cultivation.
If someone only managed to break through to Blood Condensation after thirty, then that person probably would never be able to progress past the first Heavenstage of Blood Condensation.
Currently, Shi Feng wasn¡¯t even eighteen but had broken through to Blood Condensation realm. In the future, he would have over a thirty percent chance of advancing to the Tendon Transformation realm.
The Tendon Transformation realm was the level which the strongest existences in the empire were at. There were only three of them in the entire Phoenix Cry Empire.
Long Chen nodded. Such a speed meant that Shi Feng was extremely hardworking. But when he examined Shi Feng¡¯s Dantian, he found that his Spirit Root was only of average quality. The Tendon Transformation realm would probably be the limit of his martial path. There wasn¡¯t much hope for advancing further.
¡°Later, I¡¯ll help you refine a Foundation Establishment Pill that will stabilize your foundation. With your work attitude, you should be able to break through to the Tendon Transformation realm before you¡¯re thirty,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°Was the pill you gave mest time really refined by yourself?¡± Shi Feng was delighted by that offer, but he couldn¡¯t help doubting it slightly.
¡°Interesting. If I didn¡¯t refine it, then did I steal it?¡± Long Chen was a bit irked.
¡°No, but we originally thought it was grandmaster Yun Qi who gave it to you,¡± said Shi Feng lightly.
After all, Long Chen hadpletely changed in just the blink of an eye. He had gone from a trash who couldn¡¯t cultivate to bing a Pill Apprentice. They were still surprised by this and so, they couldn¡¯t help but make up some theories.
However, what Long Chen was telling him now meant that he had refined it himself.
¡°Right now, your foundation isn¡¯t bad, but it¡¯s not solid enough. The main issue is that at the initial Qi Condensation levels, your cultivation was a bit too rushed. This left a few faults on your foundation, so it will be an obstruction when you attack Tendon Transformation in the future. The Foundation Establishment Pill, which I¡¯ll refine for you, won¡¯t be able to fix all of those faults, but it will make it much easier for you to break through to the Tendon Transformation realm,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°Brother Long, I won¡¯t say any words for courtesy. If brother has any need in the future, then just tell me and my life will be yours,¡± swore Shi Feng solemnly.
¡°Such words aren¡¯t required between brothers. Whoa, what¡¯s that?¡±
Long Chen suddenly saw a dozen guards with embroidered clothes walking over from the distance. They were holding some kind of huge objects in their hands, but he was unable to see its shape.
¡°Those are the princesses¡¯nterns. The princesses will each hand-make one during the festival to bless the empire with luck,¡± exined Shi Feng.
The princesses? Then, he definitely had to have a good look. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t know which one was Chu Yao¡¯s. As for those guards, they all marched behind a huge curtain which both faced the crowd as well as the martial stage.
The festivities had yet to truly begin, so they wouldn¡¯t let the people to see them too early. Even more guards started to appear,pletely surrounding the perimeter.
Interested in what those guards were doing, those young people who were messing around also started shifting over.
The area becamepletely crammed extremely quickly. Some of the women who hadn¡¯t made it in time to get a good spot actually batted her eyes at a man, who immediately gave up his spot for her.
As for those men, they could only watch from a great distance. Even fatty Yu and the others could only stare from afar. After all, who had told them to go and chase after girls? All the spots closer to the stage and huge curtain were already taken now, so they could only stand in the distance.
Once everyone was seated, a phoenix carriage appeared and a shout rang out, causing all the guards to kneel.
¡°The Empress Dowager¡¯s carriage has arrived!¡±
[1] Shou Hou is called Hou-zi by his friends. Hou-zi means monkey, which suits him since he¡¯s so skinny.
Chapter 35: Sparks Fly
Following the announcement, eightdies gracefully came out to support a woman down from the phoenix carriage.
Every single person kneeled down when that woman descended, respectfully calling, ¡°Greetings, Empress Dowager.¡±
But Long Chen was not amongst the people kneeling. That wasn¡¯t because of his arrogance or cultivation base.
ording to the empire¡¯s customs, cultivators above the Blood Condensation realm didn¡¯t have to kneel towards princes. However, cultivation base didn¡¯t matter when it came to the Empress Dowager. Any citizen of the empire had to kneel in front of her.
The exception that allowed him to ignore this custom was his status as a Pill Apprentice. As an alchemist, he had the option to not kneel. Furthermore, he was sitting amongst a huge crowd of people so he wouldn¡¯t be noticed.
¡°Acknowledged.¡±
The Empress Dowager merely nced at these people before indifferently raising her hand.
Only then did everyone slowly get up. Long Chen closely examined this woman who held all the power of the Phoenix Cry Empire.
She only appeared around thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, but it was said that she was actually over fifty. Despite being called the Empress Dowager, she was not the blood mother of the Emperor, but the actual mother of the crown prince.
Since the Emperor had stayed in seclusion for so long, the chancellors finally decided that continuing to call her the Empress was bing inappropriate. Since the crown prince hade of age now, he was set to ascend the throne the next year.
Therefore, her title had changed from Empress to Empress Dowager.[1]
With thedies¡¯ support, she slowly walked over to the central seat and sat down.
The seven princes also came out in session, sitting beside the Empress Dowager. This was the first time Long Chen had seen all the princes together.
He looked over them one by one. He had seen the crown prince before, and he also recognized the seventh prince. The current seventh prince had be much better behaved now and didn¡¯t dare to mess around as much as he used to.
Long Chen finally found the one he was most interested in: the fourth prince. It went without saying that the fourth prince was very handsome. His face always had a modest smile that was very friendly and powerful.
Looking over his surroundings, Long Chen noticed that many of the young women were already infatuated with this handsome prince.
Long Chen shook his head at the other princes. Although they were all very grand, the arrogance in their eyes could not be hidden.
Naturally, he thought of Chu Yao at this time. Amongst these princes, how many of them weren¡¯t wearing masks? Or more urately, were they all wearing masks? And just how many masks were they wearing?
A sneer appeared on his lips. The more power the royalty held, the more difficult they would be to deal with when they were corrupted. It would be better to have them lead some wars and have them feel a bit of pain along with their people.
Long Chen turned his nose up at those people who had killed others in secret without actually touching blood. If they had such intentions, then why didn¡¯t they just focus on increasing their own strength through cultivating?
¡°Grandmaster Yun Qi has arrived!¡±
What surprised Long Chen was that grandmaster Yun Qi actually appeared at the chairs. His appearance immediately caused amotion.
This was the first time a person like grandmaster Yun Qi had evere to the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival.
As soon as grandmaster Yun Qi walked up, the Empress Dowager quickly stood up and paid her respects to him.
¡°Greetings grandmaster.¡±
¡°This old man doesn¡¯t deserve such courtesy from Empress Dowager.¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi also gave her a half-bow of respect.
After the two of them had greeted each other, grandmaster Yun Qi seated himself. His seat was right next to the Empress Dowager and at the exact same height, showing just how high his status was.
His gaze roved around the crowd, and he nodded slightly when he saw Long Chen practically hiding in the corner.
This slight movement of his immediately drew everyone¡¯s attention. Following Yun Qi¡¯s gaze, they immediately found Long Chen.
¡°Looks like the rumors are true; Long Chen really has been recognized by grandmaster Yun Qi. He might have already be his apprentice.¡±
Some people couldn¡¯t help but sigh. It seemed like just moments ago that Long Chen had been a bullied trash, but now his life hadpletely changed with grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s recognition. He had actually be a highly revered Pill Apprentice.
Long Chen cursed when he saw grandmaster Yun Qi nod his head at him. As he expected, everyone immediately looked over at him.
He had no desire to be the focus of everyone¡¯s attention, but now it was toote to be low-key.
Long Chen rose up and bowed towards grandmaster Yun Qi. Seeing that, the Empress Dowager smiled, ¡°Looks like grandmaster¡¯s closed heart has finally been moved after all these years. Are you nning on passing down your legacy?¡±
The crowd immediately quieted. It was rumored that grandmaster Yun Qi was extremely prideful and would never take an apprentice within his life. They were all curious as to what he would reply.
¡°This child has a great future ahead of him. I truly do hope he bes my apprentice,¡± replied grandmaster Yun Qi lightly.
Although he didn¡¯t exactly say it explicitly, his words still shocked everyone. He was such a prideful man that almost no one had ever heard him praise someone.
For him to look so highly upon Long Chen, then just how important was Long Chen to him? Countless theories popped up in people¡¯s minds.
¡°I must assume Long Chen is an extremely talented alchemist, or an ordinary Pill Apprentice would not be able to enter your gaze like that,¡± said the fourth prince.
Yun Qi looked at the fourth prince andughed, ¡°Being a talented alchemist is just one part of it. The most important thing is perseverance. Fourth prince¡¯s perseverance is also very admirable.¡±
He smiled, ¡°You overpraise me, grandmaster.¡±
The fourth prince no longer continued to talk after this. Long Chen¡¯s keen senses noticed that his expression had changed ever so slightly.
¡°Was it because of what grandmaster Yun Qi implied?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help wondering.
¡°Grandmaster Wei Cang, prince Changfeng, and princess Baichi have arrived!¡±
Following this announcement, Xia Changfeng, Xia Baichi, and a forty-year-old, thin, bearded man wearing a Pill Master¡¯s robe walked out.
His robe had an exquisite pill cauldron sown in over the abdominal area. The cauldron had three lines on it, marking him as a Pill Master.
Long Chen also had such an alchemist robe, but the quality of his robe was much inferior, and there was only one line on his cauldron.
One line signified Pill Apprentice, two lines a Pill Adept, and three lines a Pill Master. Long Chen narrowed his eyes; just who was this person? Why would he appear here?
¡°Yun Qi, after not seeing you for so many years, it seems as if you¡¯ve aged quite a bit,¡± said Wei Cang.
The entire za becamepletely silent once he said this. Grandmaster Yun Qi was revered highly within the Phoenix Cry Empire and no one would dare say such a thing to him.
¡°Wei Cang, did you finally leave the Grand Xia because you¡¯re dying and want to see more of the world?¡± replied grandmaster Yun Qi.
¡°Even if I was dying, it¡¯d be better than my wife dying. And my wives have be more numerous over these years.¡± Wei Cangughed. Whether it was intentional or not was unknown, but Xia Baichi hugged Wei Cang¡¯s arm and pressed her body close against his.
Long Chen¡¯s gaze darkened when he noticed that Xia Baichi was wearing the exact same clothes as the woman in the picture Yun Qi had shown him.
If he hadn¡¯t guessed wrong, then this old ghost was most likely Yun Qi¡¯s enemy, and maybe even the death of his wife had been rted to him.
He was clearly attacking grandmaster Yun Qi and was using Xia Baichi as a sharp weapon. Fury rose within Long Chen.
Although he hadn¡¯t had much contact with grandmaster Yun Qi, he knew that he was a peaceful person who was open and honest with others. He was an elder worthy of respect, and for him to be schemed against by someone like this caused him to recklessly shout the following:
¡°You¡¯re just a dying old stick. Take care for the day that you keel over during sex.¡±
The za was originally deathly silent, so Long Chen¡¯s voice rang out clearly in every single person¡¯s ears. Everyone turned to look at Long Chen in shock.
¡°You bold peasant, how dare you be so rude to this grandmaster!¡± Xia Baichi red at Long Chen angrily.
¡°Do you think I care about being rude to an old pervert drowning in lust?¡± retorted Long Chen disdainfully.
Following what Long Chen implied, the crowd turned to look at Xia Baichi. Wei Cang¡¯s hand was already all over her chest.
She quickly shook off the hand and red at Long Chen. She pointed at Long Chen angrily but merely stuttered, unable to say anything.
¡°Are all your Phoenix Cry noble sons thiscking in upbringing?¡± snorted Wei Cang coldly.
Before the Empress Dowager could say anything, Yun Qi indifferently said, ¡°Long Chen is already a Pill Apprentice of my alchemist guild.¡±
¡°Did you hear that old bastard? This lord is a member of the guild. But what are you?¡± said Long Chen.
¡°Idiot, grandmaster Wei Cang is the chairman of our Grand Xia¡¯s alchemist guild,¡± retorted Xia Baichi angrily.
¡°Oh, so he wasn¡¯t from here; good, I was confused about that. Our Phoenix Crynd is so fertile, there¡¯s no way such a quacking old lecher coulde from it,¡± Long Chen sighed in relief.
This sentence of his made everyone want tough, but they couldn¡¯t. But they also couldn¡¯t keep it down, so the smart ones all lowered their heads.
Some people didn¡¯t react in time and actually let out a chokedugh before covering their mouth. But that was even more embarrassing for Wei Cang than if people had just outrightughed.
The atmosphere of the za became extremely awkward. The ones who had it the worst weren¡¯t the people down below, but the princes. They couldn¡¯tugh for fear of offending, and they also had nowhere to hide, so their attempts at stifling theirughter were the most difficult.
¡°Cough, today is a holiday, so grandmaster Wei Cang, pleasee up and sit. The festivities will soon start.¡± The Empress Dowager also had it hard. Neither side could offend the other, so they had toe to apromise.
¡°Fine.¡± Wei Cang graciously epted the offer. He coldly snorted at Yun Qi before slowly walking up to his spot. Once he sat down, he icily swept his gaze over Long Chen.
Was this old stick trying to intimidate him? Long Chen extended his fist towards him, his middle finger shooting up high. Everyone gasped at this act of his.
Wei Cang¡¯s face immediately turned green and killing intent overflowed from him. The Empress Dowager saw this and quickly shouted:
¡°Let the festivities begin!¡±
A melodious bell rang out. The waiting people started to illuminate thenterns, turning the za as bright as it was in the daytime.
A string of hugenterns appeared atop the stage.
[1] For those unaware, an Empress Dowager is the wife of a dead Emperor (or the mother of the Emperor). Technically she would still be the ¡®Empress¡¯ since the Emperor isn¡¯t dead, just in seclusion. But after so long, the chancellors decided that with the Emperor in a permanent seclusion, she couldn¡¯t continue being the Empress and gave her the title of the Empress Dowager.
Chapter 36: The Princess's Heart
The hugenterns represented eight petals. Eight maidens carefully supported them, and when the eight petals folded together, they created a massive lotus.
Suddenly, the lotus bloomed and the center of the flower shook slightly. Only now did people realize that there was a beautiful woman in the center.
The entire crowd cheered when she appeared. That was the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s first princess. Long Chen found that she really was pretty good and worthy of praise.
Raising her hand, two lines of poetry appeared. The top one: the Heavens protect Phoenix Cry; the bottom one: let the Nation prosper, it¡¯s People at peace. The entire crowd burst into cheers.
Long Chen smiled slightly. Being a nation¡¯s princess was also pretty sorrowful. It was like having to live your whole life as a cricket in a jar.
That was a life of hidden fighting all day and night. But thinking about himself, he had also ended up in a life like that.
If you didn¡¯t suppress others, then you would simply be trampled on. Being stepped on by those above you was whatever, but more importantly, they would crush you firmly to death.
Whether this had to do with enmity, right and wrong, etc., didn¡¯t matter; perhaps this struggle was just the most primitive of man¡¯s nature.
As Long Chen was sighing over this, the second princess appeared. Due to his absent-mindedness, he ended up not catching a glimpse of her, something he regretted.
But the next one was Chu Yao¡¯sntern. He kept his eyes wide open, afraid to miss a single detail.
First, a few fireworks lit up the sky, apanied by cheering.
Then immediately after, a huge dragon kite whistled through the air.
At the same time, beside the huge dragon was a colorful phoenix with gorgeous wings. Golden powder sprinkled from its wings, just as if a real phoenix had descended upon the earth.
¡°Wow, how beautiful!¡±
Along with the scattering powder, the dragon and phoenix shone, making it seem as if everyone had entered a world of legends.
They slowly fluttered down to the earth. From the dragon¡¯s mouth came arge sphere of white light that burst open, sending streamers flying.
From those ribbons, a beautiful woman dressed in ancient costume slowly appeared, shapely and leisurely, a beauty that made you never want to stop looking at her.
The entire crowd erupted in acim when the third princess appeared. Many of the young men had heard of the third princess¡¯s beauty before. Hers was a beauty that could cause the downfall of an empire. Today, they finally got to see her in person, and for a moment, all that could be heard were fanatic screams.
Long Chen was also struck foolish for a moment upon seeing her. This was the first time Long Chen had seen her dressed up so beautifully.
Her eyes wandered over the crowd. Suddenly, her eyes brightened when she saw Long Chen, and she tossed a small ball which slowly flew out towards him.
Long Chen reached out his hand to catch it and found that the ball had a small tag on it.
The entire crown immediately went silent, all of them staring at Long Chen. The Empress Dowager was also startled, but she didn¡¯t say anything.
But the person whose expression was most unsightly was definitely the Grand Xia¡¯s Xia Changfeng. Although he tried to appear natural and at ease, his uncontroble anger turned his face green.
The Empress Dowager had already decided to marry off Chu Yao to Xia Changfeng, but her disy today of the dragon and phoenix had obvious significance. Moreover, that ball was thrown directly towards Long Chen.[1]
Normally, a ball didn¡¯t have any special meaning, but that was not the same when added with the disy of thenterns. It was the same exact custom as in ancient times when maidens threw embroidered balls to pick their husband.
Despite doing his best to control himself, Xia Changfeng could not stop his body from trembling and his veins popping.
¡°Changfeng, endure it.¡± Wei Cang nced at Xia Changfeng.
¡°Don¡¯t worry grandmaster, Changfeng will restrain himself.¡± Xia Changfeng nodded, but his voice still trembled in a way that could not be concealed.
Xia Changfeng wished for Long Chen to die more than anything right now. Long Chen also felt everyone¡¯s peculiar gazes on him.
Amongst the people present, grandmaster Yun Qi was the only one to smile slightly here. Everyone else had eitherplicated or jealous gazes.
Long Chen looked at Chu Yao and her beautiful, leisurely smile. She gestured towards the ball in his hand.
Long Chen realized that it was actually a firework, so he pulled its tag and threw it high into the sky.
A gorgeous light lit up the entire za. When the light rays faded, two phrases appeared in the sky.
The Dragon swims across the four oceans; the Phoenix flies throughout the ninends.
Xia Changfeng was no longer able to control himself at all and ended up crushing the teacup in his hand.
¡°Long Chen, if I don¡¯t crush you into a thousand pieces, then I wouldn¡¯t be Xia Changfeng! As for you Chu Yao, I¡¯ll make you live a life worse than death, you slut!¡±
Chu Yao¡¯s actions humiliated him even more than if she had viciously pped him in the face.
The Empress Dowager¡¯s expression was also extremely ugly. She had never expected Chu Yao to actually be so bold and express affection for a man in such a public manner.
Long Chen was also speechless as he looked at the distant Chu Yao. Her pretty face waspletely red, but it was still filled with determination.
Tears slowly flowed out when she looked at Long Chen, causing him to feel pain for her. What was she despairing of now? Was this her way of expressing herself one final time before facing death?
Seeing Chu Yao¡¯s smiling face covered in tears, Long Chen¡¯s mind buzzed nkly. He suddenly stood and roared, ¡°Seas of blood may block us, but we will never give up our path; Dragon and Phoenix will both live to old age!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s angry roar rang out in every single person¡¯s ears. His roar held an incredibly resolute determination, a willpower that would rather die than submit.
Chu Yao shook, her hands covering her mouth, her tears slowly flowing. She had not had such aspirations; she had just wanted to express her true feelings once before her doom so that Long Chen understood her heart.
But wasn¡¯t Long Chen¡¯s response just now just sinking himself into her own demise? She was both moved and regretful that she had harmed him.
¡°The third princess is tired. Come and support her off the stage.¡± The Empress Dowager was resisting her fury as best as she could.
Five bodyguards came, and just as they were inviting Chu Yao to leave with them, grandmaster Yun Qi spoke out. ¡°Empress Dowager, this isn¡¯t right. It¡¯s a good thing for young people to have emotions. Come, Chu Yao, sit beside this old man.¡±
The Empress Dowager¡¯s expression changed; who would have imagined grandmaster Yun Qi who never participated in worldly affairs would actually get involved in imperial matters?
Chu Yao rejoiced when she heard grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s words. Perhaps he couldn¡¯t save her from her doom, but she did think that he was capable of protecting Long Chen.
Thinking of that, she bent down to kneel in front of him. But before she could, grandmaster Yun Qi reached out a hand, and a gentle force pulled her back up.
¡°Child, there¡¯s no need for this etiquette.¡± He pulled Chu Yao over to his side to sit.
But the strange thing in other people¡¯s eyes was that despite being at extreme odds with him, Wei Cang only looked on coldly without saying a single thing.
The Empress Dowager was extremely infuriated inside, but she didn¡¯t want to offend Yun Qi over such a small matter. Without the support of the alchemist guild, then no matter how strong the royal family was, they would quickly copse. Therefore, she could only restrain herself.
But as the Empress Dowager, her thinking and schemes were profound. Her expression didn¡¯t change and she merely smiled, ¡°Then, let the festivities continue.¡±
Shi Feng finally stood up beside Long Chen. Stretching, heughed, ¡°Looks like it¡¯s finally time for me to get on stage.¡±
In previous years, the battle between noble sons for the number one junior warrior would begin as soon as the princesses¡¯nterns were lit.
¡°Please wait a moment, Empress Dowager. This old man came all the way over from the Grand Xia just to attend yourntern festival, and I brought a special event just for you,¡± said Wei Cang hurriedly.
¡°Oh? Grandmaster¡¯s event will definitely be marvelous to see.¡± The Empress Dowager paused for a moment before smiling.
¡°This is my apprentice who is only seventeen this year. But she¡¯s already a true and tested Pill Apprentice.¡± Wei Cang particrly emphasized ¡®true and tested¡¯.
Everyone naturally looked at Long Chen. Anyone who wasn¡¯t an idiot would understand; he was making indirect usations that Long Chen was a fake.
Most people had no idea just how Long Chen¡¯s Pill Apprentice status had been obtained. There were many people who had doubts about his true strength. Long Chen had refined pills for others to see just once before, but that had happened internally within the guild, so the outside world still didn¡¯t know anything about it. The majority of people felt that Long Chen had just managed to sneak his way in and didn¡¯t necessarily have any true skills when it came to alchemy.
Due to his old status as a cripple having hanged around him for too long and how quickly he had risen recently, many people had suspicions that he might have some sort of powerful support behind him, and that support was very likely grandmaster Yun Qi.
But no matter how amazing grandmaster Yun Qi was, how could he turn a cripple into a Pill Apprentice in just a short two months?
A ridiculing smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face when he heard this.
Yun Qi also didn¡¯t say anything. Wei Cang continued, ¡°Today, let¡¯s let my apprentice give a disy of how an alchemist refines.¡±
The crowd cheered; alchemists were extremely revered, and most of the people present had never seen the process of refining pills personally.
They were filled with both great respect and curiosity towards this profession. Personally witnessing the process through which a pill was formed was definitely a great opportunity for them.
¡°But actually, this can be even more enjoyable. Baichi can represent my Grand Xia¡¯s alchemist guild. I wonder if there is anyone from the same generation within the Phoenix Cry alchemist guild who would like to join her?¡± Wei Cang nced at grandmaster Yun Qi.
¡°She¡¯s your apprentice, but Long Chen isn¡¯t my apprentice. So your little hidden challenge doesn¡¯t mean anything,¡± said Yun Qi indifferently.
Long Chen¡¯s heart shook; was the reason Yun Qi never took him in as an apprentice rted to Wei Cang?
¡°It¡¯s just ying around. It¡¯ll also liven things up here, so it¡¯s not useless.¡±
Wei Cang then produced a see-through bottle which actually held a thumb-sized me that was constantly burning.
¡°This beast mees from a second rank Magical Beast, the me Leopard. Whoever wins will be awarded it.¡±
Xia Baichi also looked longingly towards that beast me. She had actually wanted it for a long time, but Wei Cang had always refused to give it to her.
That beast me also posed an extremely great temptation to Long Chen.
¡°So, kid, do you want toe up and y?¡±
Many people were shaking their heads inside at how obvious the provocation was. Wei Cang¡¯s conduct didn¡¯t suit his status as a grandmaster.
As they suspected, Long Chen was smiling at Wei Cang in contempt. But shockingly, he still spat out a single word:
¡°Fine.¡±
Fatty Yu and the others couldn¡¯t help gasping. Brother Long, what are you doing?
In front of everyone¡¯s strange gazes, Long Chen walked up to the stage and said to Xia Baichi:
¡°You heard your master. So just how should I y with you?¡±
[1] The Long in Long Chen¡¯s name means Dragon. The Chen means dust, often in reference to the dust of the mortal world.
Chapter 37: Pill Battle
¡°You heard your master. So just how should I y with you?¡±
Everyone was bbergasted at his words. Fatty Yu, Shou Hou, and the others¡¯ jaws all dropped to the ground. ¡°Damn, brother Long really is brother Long. Just one sentence of his can choke the whole crowd.¡±
Xia Baichi¡¯s face was ashen from rage, and her eyes red daggers at him; if looks could kill, then Long Chen would already have been turned to pulp.
Grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s expression was odd, and he shook his head slightly. But he was rxed inside; Long Chen was actually helping him relieve his own anger. Was this what it meant for evil people to attract retribution?
¡°This rascal!¡± Chu Yao¡¯s face waspletely red. This Long Chen was too crude! Seeing Xia Baichi trembling from her anger, she wondered if she would even have the energy left to refer.
¡°Kid, must you be so boorish? The old man only asked you up here for a smallpetition,¡± said Wei Cang angrily. He truly wanted to give this youngster a p on the face.
¡°I¡¯ll stop. Do I get that if I win?¡± Long Chen pointed to the bottle in Wei Cang¡¯s hand, sounding a bit undetermined if he should participate.
¡°Hmph, naturally this old man¡¯s words are true. I definitely won¡¯t renege out of this,¡± snorted Wei Cang.
Xia Baichi finally calmed herself down enough. Gritting her teeth, she spat out, ¡°You must be dreaming if you think you can beat me. If you lose, I want you to kneel down and kowtow to me three times. Then, you¡¯ll crawl to me and lick my feet clean.¡±
Xia Baichi¡¯s voice shocked everyone. From her angry words, they suspected that there was a great deal of enmity between the two of them.
They suddenly realized that Wei Cang¡¯s arrival here was definitely not a coincidence. Apparently, it was to target Long Chen and grandmaster Yun Qi.
Xia Baichi¡¯s terms were far too malicious. No person would ept such a thing.
Wei Cang had personally said that Xia Baichi was his apprentice, so her pill arts must definitely be shocking.
But Long Chen¡¯s pill arts were something no one had ever seen before. Whether he could truly refine pills was still doubtful.
Even if he knew how to refine pills, just how long had he known grandmaster Yun Qi? How much could he have learned in two months? It was unlikely for him to have gained even a superficial understanding!
Chu Yao¡¯s face was pale now with worry. Although she hadn¡¯t known Long Chen for long, she could sense that Long Chen¡¯s pride had seeped into his bones. Even in death, he wouldn¡¯t ept such humiliation.
¡°Long Chen, since you aren¡¯t my apprentice, you don¡¯t need to jump into this trap,¡± Yun Qi warned him. He was very clear that Long Chen hadn¡¯t gained his inheritance.
¡°I know it¡¯s a trap¡ but¡ the bait is just too tempting.¡± Long Chen appeared unwilling to give up, his face knotted in contradiction.
Fatty Yu and the others almost vomited blood. Brother Long, if you know it¡¯s a trap, then why are you epting?
Everyone¡¯s expressions were strange; was Long Chen actually stupid, or was he just acting stupid?
He hesitated for a moment, before saying, ¡°I ept, but I have another condition.¡±
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s eptance, Xia Baichi sneered and ridicule shed in Wei Cang¡¯s eyes.
¡°Fine, what¡¯s your condition?¡±
¡°If I win, I don¡¯t want to get her as a bride. With her rtions with you, I¡¯d be afraid of getting a disease,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°Long Chen¡ I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Xia Baichi¡¯s rage was exploding. Her originally pretty features werepletely twisted into an extremely frightful visage.
¡°Long Chen¡¡± Wei Cang was clenching his fists tightly, the veins on his forehead bulging. Despite being calm all the way until now, he actually started to tremble in fury.
¡°Old fellow, you didn¡¯t get a blood clot in your head, did you?¡± asked Long Chen worriedly.
Wei Cang was a monster who had lived for who knew how many years. His restraint exceeded Long Chen¡¯s expectations, and he actually quickly suppressed his anger with a snort.
¡°This pill battle will be decided with the Blood Condensing Pill. The medicinal ingredients must be prepared on your own, and you can have at most three portions. We¡¯ll start in fifteen minutes.¡±
After stating the rules, he returned to his seat. He had actually be a bit afraid of Long Chen. That bastard¡¯s ability to anger people was definitely heaven-defying. He was actually afraid of losing his control and ughtering him in his fury.
Xia Baichi¡¯s medicinal ingredients had naturally already been prepared by Wei Cang. As for Long Chen, he could only rely on grandmaster Yun Qi. This time, Wei Cang was using Xia Baichi to disgrace Long Chen and also Yun Qi. Yun Qi would definitely not look on without lifting a finger.
¡°Grandmaster, can you please lend me the medicinal ingredients?¡± Long Chen spread his hands.
¡°Long Chen, you have to think about this carefully,¡± warned grandmaster Yun Qi solemnly.
¡°Grandmaster, I did this all for myself. Don¡¯t worry, I am sure of myself,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°Then, fine.¡± Although he had some concerns, seeing how determined Long Chen was, he merely nodded. He had a Pill Apprentice go back to the guild to get the medicinal ingredients.
The Blood Condensing Pill was a second tier medicinal pill. It was a precious pill for Blood Condensation experts that allowed them to break through the minor levels and was very expensive.
The ingredients to refine it weren¡¯t particrly rare. The most expensive main ingredient of it was the Blood Spirit Fruit.
The pill¡¯s quality was mostly dependant on the purifying of the Blood Spirit Fruit. It had a great deal of impurities within and purifying it was difficult. If the me¡¯s temperature increased just slightly, then it would immediately burn into ashes.
But if the me wasn¡¯t strong enough, then the impurities wouldn¡¯t be separated out, which had a huge effect on the pill¡¯s quality. It could be said that the Blood Condensing Pill was extremely difficult to refine, even amongst second tier pills.
Moreover, refining in front of a crowd was even more troublesome. Although three sets of medicinal ingredients sounded like three chances, it was still extremely risky for a pill with as high a failure rate as the Blood Condensing Pill.
Both parties finished preparing very quickly. Two small refining stages were set up atop the martial arena. The whole crowd would be able to see both of them very clearly as they refined.
¡°Let thepetition begin. You both get two hours. After two hours, whoever has refined the higher quality Blood Condensing Pill will be the winner.¡±
With the start of thepetition, Long Chen and Xia Baichi both walked to their respective stages and ced their medicinal ingredients on top of it.
Long Chen suddenly blinked. A very conspicuous plump fruit was sitting on her pill stage.
¡°A Blood Spirit Fruit that¡¯s over a hundred years old?¡±
Long Chen was startled. It appeared Xia Baichi had trulye prepared. Two of his Blood Spirit Fruits were only thirty years old, and the best one he had avable was only fifty years old.
¡°Hmph, it¡¯s already been said that the medicinal ingredients would be prepared by yourself. You can only me your guild for being too poor.¡± Xia Baichi coldlyughed at him when she saw him looking over.
Grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s expression sunk slightly. ¡°Even after all these years, you still use these underhand methods.¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s words weren¡¯t targeted to anyone in particr, almost as if he was speaking to himself. But Wei Cang still coldlyughed, ¡°The winner is the king while the loser is nothing; all I care about are the final results. It was you guys who were careless. Who else can you me?¡±
¡°Grandmaster, did they mess around with the ingredients?¡± Although Chu Yao couldn¡¯t tell the age of the Blood Spirit Fruits, she still caught onto a couple of clues from their exchange.
Yun Qi nodded. ¡°Their Blood Spirit Fruits are all over three hundred years old. The essence refined from them will be extremely pure which will definitely increase the refined pill¡¯s quality.¡±
¡°Then isn¡¯t that very disadvantageous for Long Chen?¡± asked Chu Yao worriedly.
Their opponents were already ahead before the refinement even began. Chu Yao couldn¡¯t help being worried. Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed, ¡°It¡¯s my fault, I underestimated how thick Wei Cang¡¯s skin was.¡±
For a moment, the entire crowd was restless. Grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s words weren¡¯t quiet, and the people nearby all heard it clearly.
But grandmaster Wei Cang also wasn¡¯t wrong. The ingredients were self-supplied, so it was their own fault.
¡°Do you guys think brother Long will be okay?¡± asked Shou Hou worriedly.
¡°What a joke. Who do you think brother Long is? Just watch and see.¡± Fatty Yu was actually filled with confidence.
Long Chen saw that Xia Baichi was already busy with her own refining. However, he was just standing there, not preparing his ingredients nor warming up the cauldron.
¡°Hmph, have you given up? Just wait to lick my toes.¡±
Seeing Long Chen waspletely motionless, she thought Long Chen had been too intimidated to continue. She raised her hand, and a pale yellow me puffed into existence.
Although Xia Baichi definitely didn¡¯t get a high ranking on the scale of personality, her Pill me¡¯s quality was actually quite high.
She was definitely at the peak of all Pill Apprentices. It was no wonder she was so confident and dared to throw out such a bait.
However, Long Chen had already been attracted by that bait. That me Leopard¡¯s beast me wasn¡¯t particrly high ranking in terms of beast mes, but it was at least ten times better than his current Pill me.
If he could refine that me Leopard¡¯s beast me, then it would be of definite assistance to him. He would be able to refine the top grade Starfusing Pill that Chu Yao was in dire need of.
That was because the foreign energies in her body had been there for too long. It was as if a seed had already sprouted into a huge tree. It required the top grade Starfusing Pill in order topletely refine those energies.
This was something Long Chen was very aware of. That was also why he had epted this pill battle despite knowing it was a trap. It was as he had said: the bait was just too enticing.
Xia Baichi¡¯s movements were very smooth and fluid as she finished warming up her cauldron. Each step waspleted without the slightest hesitation.
Wei Cang smiled and stroked his beard, his eyes filled with confidence.
¡°Baichi is worth cultivating. If she can refine a Blood Condensing Pill today that isn¡¯t too low in quality, then she can be promoted to Pill Adept.¡±
The Blood Condensing Pill was one of the requirements to be promoted to Pill Adept. If she could refine it in front of this many people, then it would express to everyone here that Xia Baichi could advance in ranks.
¡°This is all due to grandmaster¡¯s training. Grandmaster has just arrived and must be tired. Changfeng has already found a ce for you to rest,¡± said Xia Changfeng.
After saying that, he whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, ¡°Changfeng has also found two beautiful twin sisters for grandmaster that haven¡¯t been broken in yet.¡±
The solemn Wei Cang immediately lit up at that, but he quickly suppressed it. In a normal voice, he said, ¡°I just need to randomly rest a bit. There¡¯s no need for such a thing.¡±
¡°I know grandmaster doesn¡¯t want such a thing. But wouldn¡¯t it be nice of you to let the people who worship you to have such a chance?¡± smiled Xia Changfeng.
But inside he was cursing: you old lecher, your lust is something everyone under the heavens knows about, yet you still put on such a fake act.
¡°Haha, just let someone set that up. My heart¡¯s not up to such a thing,¡± said Wei Cang.
Your heart¡¯s not up to such a thing? Of course not, because you¡¯d rather force yourself on them. Xia Changfeng muttered inside for a while when his expression suddenly went rigid as he noticed Xia Baichi had begun to refine the Blood Spirit Fruit.
The sess of the Blood Condensing Pill wasrgely rted to the Blood Spirit Fruit. If you could extract the pure essence out, then it would increase the probability of sess greatly.
Xia Baichi carefully ced the Blood Spirit Fruit inside her cauldron and slowly increased the Pill me¡¯s temperature. In truth, this was the first time she had refined such an aged Blood Spirit Fruit, so she didn¡¯t dare to be careless.
¡°AHH! HEY!! AHH!!¡±
What shocked everyone was that at such a crucial moment when the entire za was silent, Long Chen suddenly started to yell and shout.
BANG!
Xia Baichi¡¯s hand shook and her Pill me sharply increased, causing that Blood Spirit Fruit to immediately turn to ashes.
The entire za turned deathly silent as they gazed in shock at Long Chen.
Chapter 38: Lose
BANG!
¡°LONG CHEN!!!¡±
A furious scream pierced through everyone¡¯s ears. It sounded like an evil ghoul was demanding for their lives, causing everyone¡¯s hair to stand on end.
That sound hade from Xia Baichi¡¯s mouth. She was exceptionally malevolent and sinister now; her face twisted as she red at Long Chen.
That had been the critical moment in the refinement of the Blood Spirit Fruit. She had been trying to find the perfect temperature to purify it.
But with Long Chen¡¯s shocking cries, her me had burst out of her control. By the time she managed to put it back under her control, it was too alreadyte, and an extremely precious three-hundred-year-old Blood Spirit Fruit had turned to ashes just like that. Her heart dripped blood.
¡°Haha, my bad. My habit is to warm up my throat before refining pills. I was afraid to scare you, so I shouted several times to tell you that I was about to start refining. Truly unfortunate.¡± Long Chen actedpletely apologetic.
It was intentional, so intentional. Even a blind person could tell. Xia Baichi was practically spitting mes from her eyes.
But she had no way to contradict Long Chen. There was no rule which said that the opponent couldn¡¯t make noise. This time, she had suffered a great loss.
¡°Focus!¡± Wei Cang coldly shouted, and only then did Xia Baichi slowly suppress her anger. If she didn¡¯t calm herself, she might really lose.
¡°I¡¯m very focused. No need to worry about it,¡± replied Long Chen coldly. ¡°Idiot sister, you should continue refining. Next time, I¡¯ll do my best to keep my voice down for you, alright?¡±[1]
Xia Baichi no longer bothered with Long Chen. With an ashen expression, she took out her second set of medicinal ingredients from her spatial ring. She then plugged her ears so that she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Long Chen scaring her again.
What caused him to be speechless was that she actually took out a second extremely aged Blood Spirit Fruit; her many preparations truly caused Long Chen to be depressed.
And since she was already on guard against him, it would be difficult to make her fail again. He could only resign himself to his bad luck.
Long Chen raised his hand and a yellow me soared into existence. What caused Wei Cang¡¯s pupils to shrink was that Long Chen¡¯s me was actually not that much weaker than Xia Baichi¡¯s.
Grandmaster Yun Qi was also slightly startled when he saw Long Chen¡¯s Pill me. That Pill me was several times stronger than from thest time he had seen him refining pills.
¡°Haha, just like I said, brother Long definitely won¡¯t have any troubles. See, he also has a me in his hand." Fatty Yu was very pleased with himself.
Even for them, it was their first time seeing Long Chen condensing a Pill me. They became much more at ease; this meant that Long Chen was a true Pill Apprentice.
His Pill me startled many people; although they had been told of his identity as a Pill Apprentice, they had still doubted it. Seeing his Pill me in person put out many of those doubts.
Could he really have be a Pill Apprentice in just two months without any previous foundation? They were filled with veneration as they looked at the settled and stable grandmaster Yun Qi.
Yun Qi bitterlyughed inside. Only he himself knew that Long Chen¡¯s pill refining arts weren¡¯t taught by him. It seemed that Long Chen had many secrets surrounding him.
Chu Yao watched as Long Chen condensed his Pill me. After stabilizing the me, he started to warm up the cauldron. His movements were very at ease and his expression was calm, letting her extremely nervous heart rx quite a bit.
Xia Baichi had once more steadied herself and was steadily purifying her Blood Spirit Fruit. Long Chen had an urge to shout out to her once more, but thinking about how low his chance of sess would be this time, plus the shaming ridicule from others, he decided to give that up and start refining his own Blood Spirit Fruit.
His Blood Spirit Fruit was only at the size of a longan and much inferiorpared to the fist-sized three-hundred-year-old Blood Spirit Fruits of Xia Baichi¡¯s.
Not only was the size different, but the purity of the essence within was much inferior. It could be said that Long Chen was behind before thepetition had even started. This was definitely unfair.
He could only do his best to discard the impurities within his Blood Spirit Fruit. In terms of final pill quality, he was already a step behind. He would have to make up for it in other areas.
Suddenly, his me exploded in strength. His Pill me filled the entire pill furnace and the terrifying me gave everyone a scorching feeling.
¡°What a powerful Spiritual Strength.¡±
Even Wei Cang was surprised. Long Chen was using his Spiritual Strength as the fuel for his Pill me and had even split a portion of it to protect the Blood Spirit Fruit¡¯s essence so that it wouldn¡¯t be lost. This kind of technique was extremely wild.
But after he recovered from his surprise, he sneered. It was true that his Spiritual Strength was very powerful, but his Blood Spirit Fruit was less than fifty years old, so how could hepare to the one that was over a hundred years old? Moreover, that was a three-hundred-year-old fruit.
Wasting this much Spiritual Strength at the early stage meant that he wouldn¡¯t have enough Spiritual Strength to seal the pill at the critical moment of pill condensation. This was a path of failure in Wei Cang¡¯s eyes. This was clearly not an expert¡¯s way of refining.
Only grandmaster Yun Qi wasn¡¯t surprised by Long Chen¡¯s action. He couldn¡¯t helpmenting at such a luxurious method though. Only Long Chen had the qualifications to use such a technique with his outrageously enormous Spiritual Strength.
Within Long Chen cauldron was a pile of red powder which he took out. The powder was very red and didn¡¯t have many spots within it, letting him rx a bit.
Those spots were impurities, but with his current me strength, it was impossible topletely purify them. This was already the best he could do.
Looking at Xia Baichi¡¯s side, he saw that after she had plugged her ears, she had managed topletely ignore the rest of the world and was very efficient. There was also a pile of red powder beside her.
That was the Blood Spirit Fruit¡¯s medicinal essence. What caused Long Chen¡¯s eyes to shrink was that the three-hundred-year-old Blood Spirit Fruit was truly different from his. That powder was much brighter than his and had even less impurities.
He couldn¡¯t help but frown. No matter how great the refining techniques he had, he didn¡¯t dare disy any of them. If that scoundrel Wei Cang noticed it, he would find it very fishy.
Right now, he had to take things one step at a time. If he really couldn¡¯t win normally, then he would throw caution to the wind and take some drastic measures. In any case, he definitely wouldn¡¯t lose.
Refining herb after herb, he realized that over half the time had passed. As for Xia Baichi, she had already sealed her furnace and begun refining the pill.
After sealing the furnace, it meant it was already finalized. Other than the final moment of condensing the pill, there were no other steps that were likely to fail.
¡°Long Chen, time¡¯s almost up. I really am looking forward to the time when you kneel in front of me.¡± Xia Baichi had already taken out her earplugs and was coldly sneering at Long Chen.
Her sealed furnace only had to maintain a stable Pill me. In order to repay her grievance against him, she started to attempt disturbing him.
¡°I¡¯m begging you, shut your mouth. The crap you spout will affect the quality of the air,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°You-!¡±
Xia Baichi¡¯s anger caused her Pill me to jump ever so slightly, scaring her and forcing her to calm herself down. She didn¡¯t dare speak again and even once more put on her earplugs.
She realized that in a battle of words, even ten thousand of her weren¡¯t an equal to Long Chen. Right now, she focused all her energy on the pill. She looked forward to the moment when Long Chen would be humiliated in front of her.
Long Chen also sealed his furnace a short timeter. The two of them were both urging their Pill mes to increase the speed of forming the medicinal pill.
BANG! A quarter hourter, Xia Baichi¡¯s pill furnace started to boom. The originally silent za immediately became excited.
Even though they hadn¡¯t seen pills being refined before, they had all heard that when the pill was formed, strange events would ur with the pill furnace. This was clearly an omen of the pill forming.
The sound became louder and louder, and the furnace started to shake violently. With a cold shout, Xia Baichi pped her hands onto her pill furnace, her Spiritual Strength pouring in.
BOOM!
A huge explosion rang out and then the pill furnace becamepletely silent. Xia Baichi was unable to suppress her own excitement.
With her rich pill refining experience, she was ny percent sure that she had sessfully refined it despite being a bit nervous inside.
Slowly reaching her hand into the furnace, a dense pill fragrance swept out and quickly spread throughout the za.
¡°What a dense fragrance!¡±
Many people were surprised, and Wei Cang was very pleased. Even without looking, he could tell that she had seeded just from this fragrance.
¡°HAHAHAHA!!!¡±
Xia Baichi took out a round medicinal pill; her face was filled with feverish excitement. But due to her being too excited, herugh sounded coarse and hard to listen to.
¡°Who stepped on your neck?¡± Long Chen nced at Xia Baichi and asked with great concern.
Although she knew he was ridiculing her, she didn¡¯t care. She coldly red at him. ¡°Kid, I¡¯m waiting for you to kowtow to me, haha¡¡±
Long Chen shook his head a couple of times and no longer said anything. But he really was rmed inside. This crazy woman¡¯s luck truly was too good. She had actually refined a middle grade Blood Condensing Pill. It was no wonder she hadughed so wildly.
There was an extremely faint pill line on her pill, and although it was extremely faint, there was no doubt that it was a pill line.
With Xia Baichi¡¯s ability, the probability of her refining such a middle grade medicinal pill was definitely not over one percent.
Did the heavens favor idiots? Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but curse inside. If it continued like this, then he really might lose. No, he had to think of a method.
At this time, Long Chen¡¯s pill furnace was also starting to shake, meaning that his pill was also on the verge of forming. He had reached the most critical moment.
¡°Crap, I must win!¡±
Long Chen took a deep breath. In front of everyone¡¯s shocked eyes, he pped his hand atop the pill furnace and opened the lid slightly.
¡°What?!¡±
Yun Qi waspletely shocked; at this critical moment when the pill was forming, you absolutely could not open the furnace¡¯s lid! Otherwise, the medicinal nature inside would be lost!
Even Wei Cang was shocked. Long Chen¡¯s actions werepletely out of the ordinary for refining pills, but he appearedpletely serious and it didn¡¯t seem as if he was giving up.
At the same time as he opened the lid, Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength started to wildly circte and tightly locked in the medicinal nature within the pill furnace.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
The pill furnace was continuously emitting explosive sounds and sweat poured down on Long Chen¡¯s face. The medicinal pill within the furnace was acting like a struggling wild bull.
Long Chen used his Spiritual Strength to seal it, but the amount of Spiritual Strength being used waspletely shocking.
Crap, I¡¯m almost out of Spiritual Strength!
Long Chen suddenly felt a burst of fatigue. He shouted out, madly sending his Spiritual Strength out.
BOOM!
The entire martial arena shook along with the pill furnace. Long Chen closed and tightly pressed down on the furnace¡¯s lid.
Only when the pill furnace became still did Long Chen finally rx. His whole body was drenched in sweat. The amount of energy he had used just now had been too great.
Slowly opening the lid, the pill fragrance floated out. Looking at the medicinal pill within the furnace, Long Chen¡¯s expression suddenly changed.
[1] As he did in a previous chapter, here he turns her name Baichi into ¡®idiot¡¯. The pronunciation of the ¡®chi¡¯ is first tone when he says idiot and second tone in her real name.
Chapter 39: Obtaining the Beast Flame
Chapter 39
Chapter 39 Obtaining the Beast me
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s expression change so suddenly, Chu Yao¡¯s heart sunk . Shi Feng, Fatty Yu and the others also were scared .
The cost of him losing was far too great . It was something hard to take even in death . But Xia Changfeng coldly smiled inside when he saw Long Chen¡¯s face .
¡°Haha, Long Chen, what are you waiting for? Why aren¡¯t youing over to kowtow yet?¡± Xia Baichi sneered at Long Chen, seeming extremely pleased with herself .
Being able to humiliate Long Chen was practically better than being promoted to Pill Adept for her! Her body couldn¡¯t help starting to shiver in anticipation .
Long Chen¡¯s face was extremely grave as he slowly took out a medicinal pill from the pill furnace . He regretfully said, ¡°I wanted to be low-key, but the heavens wouldn¡¯t let me . ¡±
Only now did everyone see that Long Chen actually did have a round medicinal pill in his hand . They cursed at him for acting so dejected .
¡°That scoundrel . ¡± Chu Yao was both surprised and delighted . She really had been scared witless for a moment back then .
¡°Heavens, I think I really might die . If I continue like this then my heart won¡¯t be able to take it . ¡± Fatty Yu copsed to the ground helplessly .
Only at this time did people realize Long Chen had put on an act . This was especially true for Xia Baichi who felt as if she had been given a p on the face .
¡°Long Chen, you dare y me?¡± raged Xia Baichi .
¡°It¡¯s whatever; it¡¯s just taking people for a little spin, so why are you so serious?¡± Long Chen said randomly .
¡°Hmph, Long Chen, even if you did for the Blood Condensing Pill, you¡¯ll still lose . That pill you refined is just low grade, while mine is middle grade . ¡±
Xia Baichi raised her hand, showing the pill line . All the nearby people could see it extremely clearly .
¡°Sister Baichi, you really are talented . You can already refine a middle grade second tier medicinal pill at such a young age . It really does make people admire you,¡± eximed the crown prince Chu Yang .
A Pill Adept this young truly was rarely seen, maybe seen only once every few decades . Such a talent could definitely go far on the pill path .
Seeing her ridiculing face, Long Chen indifferently said, ¡°Who won and who lost isn¡¯t something decided by you . ¡±
¡°Are you trying to quibble? My medicinal pill has a pill line, and yours doesn¡¯t . Are you unable to see such an obvious difference?¡± sneered Xia Baichi .
¡°You¡¯re absolutely right that yours is a middle grade medicinal pill . But the pill in my hand is also middle grade . ¡± Long Chen raised the pill in his hand .
For Long Chen to put it like this shocked everyone . But after carefully examining it, it seemed as if the pill in his hand was absolutely ordinary . Although it was plump and round, there were no pill lines .
¡°Middle grade medicinal pill? Hmph, howe I can¡¯t tell?¡± sneered Xia Baichi .
¡°I really do sympathize with you . So young but your eyes are so blind . Who said that middle grade medicinal pills had to have pill lines?¡± sighed Long Chen .
Wei Cang¡¯s expression changed slightly at that . Shock appeared in his eyes, and he stared fixedly at the medicinal pill in Long Chen¡¯s hand .
Just now he had felt that that pill was a bit strange . From what Long Chen said, he then thought of what Long Chen had done before forming the pill and immediately became a bit bewildered .
¡°Bring out the pill appraisal device!¡±
Following grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s instructions, a Pill Apprentice respectfully brought over arge apparatus .
It looked like a table, and had a notch at the center for cing the medicinal pill . It had the best uracy for appraising a medicinal pill¡¯s grade .
¡°Sixty percent essence; miss Baichi¡¯s medicinal pill meets the demands for a middle grade medicinal pill . ¡± The Pill Apprentice read out the device¡¯s reading .
If the essence constituted fifty percent of the pill then it would count as low grade . Sixty percent would make it middle grade . Xia Baichi¡¯s Blood Condensing Pill had just barely made the grade .
¡°Long Chen, I truly want to know just what¡¯s so special about your ¡®middle grade¡¯ medicinal pill . ¡± Xia Baichi took back her pill and sneered at Long Chen .
She didn¡¯t believe that Long Chen¡¯s medicinal pill had truly reached the middle grade . Since there weren¡¯t any pill lines, who was he even trying to trick? This was just a final struggle .
¡°Then have a good look . ¡±
Long Chenughed and handed his medicinal pill to the Pill Apprentice . Any medicinal pills that were just refined would have a thin pill membrane covering it for six hours that could not be faked .
¡°Sixty-three percent essence; mister Long Chen¡¯s medicinal pill meets the demands for a middle grade medicinal pill . ¡± The Pill Apprentice read out the new reading .
¡°What?!¡±
Xia Baichi was stupefied to the point that even the pill in her hand dropped to the ground, her headpletely nk; she had lost?
Not only her, but everyone else was shocked, especially Wei Cang . Reading the number on the device, his face turnedpletely ashen .
Everything that had happened during the refining had been observed by him so it was definitely no fake . Long Chen had actually refined a middle grade pill without any pill lines .
Usually the medicinal grade of the pill was determined during the refining process . That was why Wei Cang had given Xia Baichi those three hundred year old Blood Spirit Fruits . It could be said that she had been set into an invincible position .
Otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have acted so grandly and used the me Leopard¡¯s beast me as a prize . But now Xia Baichi had lost .
¡°No way, you despicable bastard Long Chen, you definitely gave us a fake . You bought off the appraisal! I¡¯ll kill you!¡±
Xia Baichi suddenly shouted usations and charged at him like a madwoman . Long Chen was loathe to deal with her; as long as she came over, he would send her flying in a single kick .
¡°Baichi, stop . Don¡¯t make a scene . ¡± Wei Cang grabbed her and sternly warned her . He understood that today had ended inplete unexpected failure .
If he reneged on his words in front of this many people, he really would have no more face . So he had no choice but to stop her .
Bai Xiachi struggled wildly in Wei Cang¡¯s grasp . She shouted, ¡°You old lecher, what did you say yesterday when you yed with me on the bed? Didn¡¯t you say the me Leopard¡¯s beast me would definitely be left to me? Give it to me!¡±
She mournfully shouted, her voice echoing throughout the za such that every single person heard it . Quite a few people shook their heads .
This Wei Cang truly was trash despite his grandmaster status . Before it was just a rumor about his lecherousness . But now with Xia Baichi¡¯s words, there were none who didn¡¯t look down on him .
Wei Cang turned purple with rage and pped Xia Baichi dizzy . ¡°Baichi has be too upset and has started to babble nonsense . Take her down . ¡±
After Xia Baichi was brought down, the entire za was silent . Long Chen nced at Wei Cang and reached out his hand . ¡°Hand it over . ¡±
Wei Cang¡¯s face was extremely unsightly, and his heart was bleeding . This me Leopard beast me was extremely precious, and he really had prepared it to leave for Xia Baichi .
But he hadn¡¯t expected that his attempt to get an advantage over Yun Qi would end up making him suffer a huge loss . Instead of making Yun Qi lose face, he ended up losing his own precious treasure . But in front of this many people, he truly didn¡¯t have the face to renege .
¡°Take it . ¡±
Long Chen took the bottle . Inside he saw a pulsing ball of me and couldn¡¯t restrain from eximing in joy .
¡°Haha, thanks . ¡± This was the first time Long Chen felt this old man was not bad .
¡°Can you tell me how you did this?¡± Wei Cang was unwilling inside; this time he had truly suffered a loss .
Long Chen hesitated for a moment, but seeing grandmaster Yun Qi also send him an encouraging gaze, he smiled, ¡°Due to my respect for your age, I¡¯ll tell you: this is a secret art for refining pills . I saw it in Ke Gu¡¯s recording¡¯s which had this technique . When the pill is about to form, make a small hole and use Spiritual Strength to lock in the medicinal nature and use another portion to expel the impurities . This allows you to purify it twice . Now you understand?¡±
¡°Ke Gu¡¯s recordings? Could you mean Pill King Ke Gu?¡± Wei Cang was startled .
¡°I don¡¯t know . In any case I saw it in a book . Find it for yourself . ¡± Long Chen shook his head . He wasn¡¯t telling the whole truth .
In order to not draw suspicion, he had gone through many of the techniques recorded within the guild . Within them truly was the technique he had described, but Long Chen¡¯s technique wasn¡¯t exactly the same .
That technique said to make just one hole, but Long Chen had made two holes . One hole was used to expel impurities, while the other was used to absorb heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual energy . Otherwise the spiritual qi within the cauldron would be insufficient for the pill to condense .
If only one hole was used, then qi would only go out and not in . No matter how powerful your Spiritual Strength was, you would never be able to form the pill in the end and would end up with a furnace of medicinal ashes .
Long Chen walked towards grandmaster Yun Qi and bowed . Yun Qi nodded; Long Chen¡¯s disy today waspletely out of his expectations .
At the same time, he admired Long Chen¡¯s courage that allowed him to actually dare to gamble despite such risks . Now that Long Chen had a beast me, his Pill me would be at least ten times stronger once he refined it .
With a powerful Pill me as a support and supplemented with his powerful Spiritual Strength, Long Chen¡¯s alchemy path would bepletely without obstacle .
Long Chen walked to Chu Yao . Looking at her charming face, he almost couldn¡¯t help sinking into her bosom .
Their disy today had broken through any previous barriers between them and their two hearts were now much closer .
¡°I will definitely aplish what I promised you . Believe me,¡± quietly said Long Chen .
Chu Yao cutely nodded . Seeing his determination, she was filled with warmth and felt as if she was no longer alone .
Long Chen bowed slightly to the Empress Dowager before walking down the martial arena and returned to his own spot . He attracted everyone¡¯s gaze as he walked .
The women especially had shining eyes . Long Chen¡¯s disy was coarse and wild . He actually cursed right in front of grandmaster Wei Cang . This was both fresh and stimting to them .
Then atop the refining stage he had disyed that easy and calm refining technique of his . He had beenpletely unconstrained and had managed to counterattack beautifully at thest moment .
Such a person was someone they had never met before . He waspletely novel . When Long Chen walked past them, many of the daring ones even tried to entice him .
Once he sat down, Fatty Yu and the others all burst with excitement .
¡°Brother Long, you really are too strong!¡±
¡°Haha, now that I¡¯ve obtained a beast me, I guarantee that I will let you guys ascend to the Blood Condensation realm . ¡± Seeing their concern for him, Long Chen¡¯s heart was moved .
Although he had been atop the stage, he had seen everything urring below the stage . So all their emotion for him was something he knew about .
Fatty Yu and the others didn¡¯t have high cultivation bases . The stronger Long Chen became, the more assistance he would be able to offer them .
When Long Chen had been down, these people had always stayed with him . This feeling was very precious to Long Chen .
Just as they were talking, a burst of cheers suddenly rang out and Long Chen and the others were roused . Shi Fengughed:
¡°The party has truly started!¡±
Chapter 40: Huang Chang's Challenge
Chapter 40
Chapter 40 Huang Chang¡¯s Challenge
Long Chen raised his head to look and saw a powerful man standing atop the center of the martial arena and cupping his fist in all directions .
He didn¡¯t recognize this young man . But as soon as he had got on the stage, the crowd had cheered . It appeared he was somewhat famous .
At this time, Long Chen noticed that even outside the za there were countless people . Back before thenterns were lit there had been an area reserved only for the nobility, but now it was open to everyone .
There were no restrictions on status for the battle over the number one junior warrior . Looking at where the Empress Dowager was watching the battles, he noticed there were many more people over there as well . Amongst them was Manhuang Hou .
Those people tended to be on the older side, but their bodies were still surging with strength . They were Blood Condensation cultivators and faint killing intent came from their bodies . They were clearly true experts .
Long Chen was sizing those people up when another burst of cheering rang out . A man jumped up tens of meters and lightlynded on the martial arena, his figure appearing extremely at ease and confident .
¡°So it¡¯s Feng Yang!¡± Shi Feng was somewhat amazed when he saw that person .
¡°What, do you know him?¡± asked Long Chen .
¡°Yup, he¡¯s the same age as me . He joined the army two years ago . At that time he was just at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, but now he¡¯s at the eighth Heavenstage . ¡±
To jump five minor realms in just a short two years truly was shocking to people .
¡°It¡¯s not surprising . After joining the army, he must have gone through several missions and survived many life and death situations . This kind of speed is normal under those circumstances . ¡± Long Chen nodded .
¡°This Feng Yang is really not bad . Although his cultivation base isn¡¯t high, that trace of killing intent on his body isn¡¯t something those people who grew up coddled can handle . ¡±
While Long Chen and Shi Feng were talking, Feng Yang had already took action and it truly was just as Long Chen said it would be .
Although the person who hade up ahead of him looked strong and had a simr cultivation base to Feng Yang, his truebat ability was a far cry from Feng Yang¡¯s, and he was defeated in less than ten exchanges .
¡°On the martial path, just having a higher cultivation base doesn¡¯t mean you have a higherbat ability . Sometimes just an unstoppable attitude will make the opponent afraid of you and lose confidence . This will lead to their battle strength going down . That¡¯s why the further you walk along the martial path, the more you require a strong martial heart . This will allow you to ovee your obstacles and be undaunted by setbacks . ¡± Long Chen patted Shi Feng¡¯s shoulder .
¡°I know . I can die, but I cannot surrender . ¡± Shi Feng nodded .
Long Chen smiled . Shi Feng¡¯s talent was limited and his cultivation path would be rough . But if he kept a steadfast heart, he really might be able to pull off a miracle one day .
Feng Yang consecutively beat three strong opponents before finally ending up exhausted . In the end he was sent flying by someone and had no choice but to concede .
¡°I¡¯m going up now . ¡±
¡°Oh, this early? Are you going to be able to handle it?¡± Long Chen was a bit bbergasted .
¡°I consider this contest a kind of training for myself . The results aren¡¯t important . Instead I need to firm my martial heart,¡± smiled Shi Feng .
¡°Nice brother Shi . We¡¯ll all be rooting for you from here!¡± Fatty Yu was especially excited and the rest of them all wanted to see Shi Feng win .
¡°You got this!¡± Long Chen patted his shoulders .
¡°Shi Feng hase to ask advice!¡±
Following Shi Feng¡¯s shout, it was like thunder had pped through the za and the entire crowd emitted a huge cheer . Obviously Shi Feng was pretty famous within the younger generation of the capital .
Fatty Yu and the others¡¯ yells were drowned out by a flood of cheering . It was so loud that they couldn¡¯t even hear their own voices . They looked at each other in dismay and awkwardness .
Shi Feng¡¯s face was dark and reserved . As he stood atop the stage, he gave people a sensation of being arge mountain that no man could shake .
He was fighting a ninth Heavenstage Qi Condensation expert, but when that person saw Shi Feng, he immediately turned into a statue .
¡°Come at me; I¡¯ll only use the power of the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation . ¡± Shi Feng smiled slightly .
That person naturally couldn¡¯t help bing angry at that provocation . Everyone was watching them, which put him on the spot .
¡°Hmph, who asked for your help!¡±
That person stamped on the ground and a punch came smashing towards Shi Feng . But Shi Feng didn¡¯t even deign to look at it .
¡°Isn¡¯t this Shi Feng too arrogant?¡±
Just as people thought Shi Feng had a huge ego, that person suddenly sent out a second punch towards his lower abdomen; the first one had actually been just a feint .
Arge palm met that punch . Shi Feng grabbed onto that person¡¯s fist and started to apply some force .
¡°Time for you to go . ¡±
That person let out a startled cry as his body flew a dozen meters through the air . Eventually he fell t on his face .
Afternding, he spit out some dirt and cursed a couple times . He turned to leave, deciding to not even look at the rest of the battles .
¡°Brother Shi is formidable!¡±
Fatty Yu and the others took advantage of this time and shouted out this slogan . Following their shout, the crowd loudly cheered .
These cheers contained countless young maidens¡¯ cries as well . Long Chen smiled; no wonder so many people wanted to go up to fight . This was the best way for men to attract women .
Suddenly Long Chen sensed a gazeing at him from the seats above . Looking up, he saw that Chu Yao was staring at him .
He smiled and winked at her, causing her to immediately turn red and quickly lower her head . But joy filled her eyes .
But neither Long Chen nor Chu Yao noticed that these small movements of theirs had been noticed by another person .
Xia Changfeng¡¯s face was ashen, and he suddenly whispered to a person beside him, ¡°How was your scouting? Did you find his bottom line?¡±
¡°Your servant tested him . His cultivation base is extremely strange and his true level could not be found . However in terms ofbat ability, he does not surpass early Blood Condensation,¡± whispered that person .
If Long Chen were there, he would have immediately recognized this person¡¯s voice as being the person who had fake attempted to assassinate him .
¡°Hmph, that¡¯s good . Huang Chang, you must kill him today . Do your best not to disclose too much hidden strength,¡± coldly ordered Xia Changfeng .
This Huang Chang was one of his bodyguards, the man with the scar on his face . Huang Chang cruelly smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry master; he definitely won¡¯t survive the night . ¡±
Bang!
It went without saying that Shi Feng who had reached the Blood Condensation realm was unstoppable . He defeated eighteen people in a row, filling the crowd with excitement .
Thest two people were also Blood Condensation experts, but in terms ofbat strength, they were quite a bit weaker than him .
After all, Shi Feng had received Long Chen¡¯s assistance when breaking through to Blood Condensation, so his foundation was much firmer than the others, giving him a great advantage .
After defeating thest Blood Condensation expert, Shi Feng shouted out three times, but no one further came up .
ording to the rules of the battle, the title of the Phoenix Cry¡¯s number one junior warrior had alreadynded within Shi Feng¡¯sp .
Under the enthusiastic cries of the entire crowd, Shi Feng walked over to the Empress Dowager and kneeled . The Empress Dowager bestowed upon him a jade medal and gave him a few encouraging words .
When he returned back down to the martial stage, the crowd became even more impassioned, and countless maidens surged over there, throwing flower loops over to Shi Feng¡¯s neck .
Each of those flower loops had been personally made by those maidens . It was a token for men they admired . If that man picked it up, then it meant the man epted the maiden¡¯s heart .
Each flower loop had the maiden¡¯s name sewn onto it, so the man could easily figure out whose it was . The stronger a man was within the Phoenix Cry Empire, the more wives and concubines he would have . So a great deal of maidens would prefer to marry a man who had many wives rather than be the first wife of a mediocre man .
When Shi Feng returned, his body was covered with flower loops and only his head could be seen . He could barely see where he was going .
¡°Haha, congrattions Shi Feng!¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t helpughing at thatical sight .
¡°This time you¡¯ve struck rich Shi Feng!¡± Shou Hou was filled with admiration .
¡°Hmph, what riches . Shi Feng isn¡¯t some peddler . But brother Shi, make sure to get your affairs in order when you go back . No matter what, you have to pick a couple good wives,¡±ughed Fatty Yu .
By giving those flower loops to him, those maidens had all expressed their willingness to marry him . As long as he assented and he gave them a betrothal gift, they could immediately proceed to the wedding . It was extremely convenient .
Shi Feng turned red and said, ¡°I was only able to do this because of Long Chen¡¯s assistance . How about we split these flower rings between us?¡±
Everyone choked when they heard that . Only Shi Feng would think of trying to divvy up such a thing .
Seeing everyoneugh, Shi Feng also realized what he had said . He yed dumb, causing people tough even harder .
Normally this would signify the end of thentern festival, but just as people were preparing to leave, Xia Changfeng suddenlyughed:
¡°That battle just now truly was marvelous . But I still feel as if we haven¡¯t had our fill yet . I have a proposal, but I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s appropriate . ¡±
The Empress Dowager frowned slightly . Too many things had urred today, and she didn¡¯t want new ones . But Xia Changfeng was a guest, so the Empress Dowager could not easily contradict him . ¡°You can say what you want prince Xia . ¡±
¡°In order to add more fun, I¡¯ll also send a youngster from my side to exchange blows with your Phoenix Cry¡¯s top talent . Let¡¯spare and see which is stronger,¡±ughed Xia Changfeng .
Before the Empress Dowager could say anything, Wei Cang interrupted, ¡°The Grand Xia and the Phoenix Cry Empire are like a family and it¡¯s just a friendlypetition . I doubt the Empress Dowager would refuse . ¡±
The Empress Dowager only sighed in anger . They were clearly using their words to trap her . If she didn¡¯t agree, that would offend Wei Cang .
¡°Then we¡¯ll listen to grandmaster so we can see the grace of the Grand Xia¡¯s men . But I still don¡¯t know who is going on to the stage?¡±
¡°Huang Chang, you go . Remember to go easy and not ruin our friendship . ¡± Xia Changfeng waved his hand .
¡°Yes . ¡±
Huang Chang stepped lightly on the ground and he shot through the air like a huge bird, gentlynding on the stage .
¡°Grand Xia¡¯s Huang Chang inviting any Phoenix Cry geniuses to exchange pointers . ¡± Huang Chang cupped his hands .
¡°Is this a mistake? You already look so old, yet you act like a youth? Isn¡¯t your skin a bit too thick?¡± Long Chen fed some words to Shou Hou who shouted them out .
Huang Chang smiled . ¡°I¡¯m only neen this year . I have official documents that confirm this, and everyone from the Grand Xia knows this . ¡±
The crowd rxed at his words . Some people simply did age a bit faster .
¡°Young master Long, I¡¯ve heard rumors of your strength since arriving at the capital . I truly admire you . Do I have the qualifications to swap pointers with young master?¡± Huang Chang cupped his hands towards Long Chen .
Everyone¡¯s gaze lit up at his words, and the crowd immediately began to cheer .
¡°Long Chen!¡±
¡°Long Chen!¡±
¡°Long Chen!¡±
Their shouts were surging waves thatpletely impassioned everyone¡¯s blood and countless fervent ncesnded on Long Chen .
Chapter 41: Long Chen's Fury
Chapter 41
Chapter 41 Long Chen¡¯s Fury
¡°Long Chen!¡±
¡°Long Chen!¡±
¡°Long Chen!¡±
Long Chen nced at Huang Chang and then at the distant Xia Changfeng . How could he not understand what was going on? With a coldugh, he beckoned with a hand .
Long Chen reached out a hand and everyone immediately became silent as they looked at him . But Long Chen only threw out a single sentence . ¡°I have no interest in battling with a declining dog who has aged prematurely . ¡±
The entire crowd waspletely stunned; Long Chen had actually declined .
¡°This is Phoenix Cry¡¯s number one junior generation? What a worthless person . It really is disappointed . ¡± Huang Chang shook his head .
Long Chen coldly smiled . He had already jumped into one trap, so did they expect he would jump into a second one? There wasn¡¯t even any bait this time . Did they think he was stupid?
¡°Let¡¯s leave now . Don¡¯t bother with that dog . ¡±
Following his shout to the crowd, Long Chen walked away . He urgently wished to refine the beast me and didn¡¯t have time to waste on them .
¡°You actually want to obtain the third princess with such conduct? I¡¯d advise you about the toad who wanted to try eating the swan¡¯s meat . Or should I call you trash?¡± Huang Chang coldlyughed when he saw Long Chen wanted to leave .
Long Chen suddenly turned stiff . This Huang Chang had truly infuriated him . He didn¡¯t know when it had happened, but at some point Chu Yao had already be an extremely important part of his life that he absolutely could not let other people trample on .
But despite his fury, Long Chen still didn¡¯t want to fight with this Huang Chang . He didn¡¯t have enough assurance, so he continued to walk away .
¡°I¡¯ll apany you . ¡± Suddenly Shi Feng shouted and jumped atop the martial arena .
Long Chen was greatly rmed and quickly went to grab Shi Feng . But Shi Feng had gone too fast and Long Chen wasn¡¯t able to stop him before he had already jumped atop the stage .
¡°Huang Chang, clean your mouth . Long Chen isn¡¯t someone you can disgrace . ¡± Shi Feng coldly pointed at Huang Chang .
Seeing Shi Fenge onto the stage, Huang Chang¡¯s eyes brightened . He cruelly smiled, ¡°Although you might be the number one junior warrior, you won¡¯tst ten exchanges with me . You should go down and try not to lose face . ¡±
¡°Too arrogant!¡±
¡°Disgusting!¡±
¡°Wreck him Shi Feng!¡±
Shi Feng had just obtained the title of number one junior warrior . His strength just now was admired by countless people . For this person from the Grand Xia to insult Shi Feng was insulting the entire younger generation of the Phoenix Cry Empire .
¡°Shi Feng, get down!¡± Long Chen had already rushed over beside the stage and sternly ordered him .
¡°See, he told you to get down . He¡¯s afraid you¡¯ll get hurt . You should go down . ¡± Huang Chang also indifferently persuaded him . But his words were even more infuriating than someone cursing him .
¡°Long Chen, I want to test him,¡± said Shi Feng .
¡°This is a trap! If you fight with him, you won¡¯t be my brother anymore!¡± Long Chen angrily roared .
¡°He can insult me, but he cannot insult you . No matter what, I have to fight him . I can¡¯t listen to you today . ¡± Shi Feng red at Huang Chang . ¡°Come . ¡±
Huang Chang nced at him and nodded . ¡°I hadn¡¯t noticed that you are more mature than him . Due to your courage, I will concede if you can receive ten of my blows . ¡±
¡°Arrogance!¡±
Shi Feng roared and all his body¡¯s Blood Qi erupted . Stamping on the stage, he rushed at Huang Chang with a punch .
This punch contained all of Shi Feng¡¯s power . Wind whistled and even space was tore open . Even people dozens of meters away could clearly feel it .
¡°Good!¡±
Seeing Shi Feng¡¯s imposing punch, everyone let out a burst of cheering . But Long Chen was extremely anxious .
BANG!
Shi Feng¡¯s fist which had seemedpletely unstoppable was stiffly blocked . Huang Chang used merely a single hand to stop it . In fact, Shi Feng¡¯s entire body¡¯s momentum had disappeared the moment he had collided with that hand .
¡°What?!¡±
Everyone was shocked; Shi Feng¡¯s punch was extremely powerful, but was unable to shake Huang Chang at all . Their hearts jumped wildly .
¡°Just this little power?¡± Huang Chang shook his head disdainfully .
Shi Feng¡¯s astonishment immediately became a raging fury . He sent a kick viciously towards Huang Chang¡¯s stomach, at the same time using his right hand to lock Huang Chang¡¯s throat .
This was a double attack; the kick was sent first so Huang Chang would try to avoid it while his other hand could lock his throat . It was a very clever move .
But what Shi Feng hadn¡¯t expected was that Huang Chang didn¡¯t even avoid it . He actually sent out another kick in response, and its speed was extremely strange; despite being the second to move, his kicknded first .
BANG!
Huang Chang¡¯s kicknded on Shi Feng¡¯s knee . Shi Feng felt a burst of pain there before suddenly also feeling a punchnd on his stomach .
He was sent back three steps and found his right knee was already broken . But before he could recover, Huang Chang had already pressed his advantage .
¡°He really is not bad . If Shi Feng can¡¯t continue, then he should concede . ¡±
Huang Chang¡¯s movement were not slow at all . A hand shot out directly for Shi Feng¡¯s throat .
Shi Feng quickly sent a punch to block that w .
Bang!
Shi Feng¡¯s punch was only just sent out before it wastched onto by Huang Chang¡¯s hand, and suddenly a powerful force came from it .
Crack!
One of Shi Feng¡¯s arms broke .
¡°Ah, my bad . It seems I used a bit too much strength . ¡±
Huang Chang smiled apologetically, but his hands didn¡¯t stop and another one came at him .
One of Shi Feng¡¯s knees was unable to move anymore, so there was no way for him to retreat . This time Huang Chang¡¯s palmnded on his shoulder .
A bizarre force came from it, and Shi Feng felt his stomach be suppressed as if it was being crushed by a huge boulder . It became difficult to breath .
Now he finally realized the power difference between them was too great . He wanted to open his mouth, but he found he was actually already unable to speak .
¡°Shi Feng, if you can¡¯t continue then you can concede at any time . ¡±
Huang Chang smiled slightly, but his eyes were extremely sinister . Another palm was sent towards Shi Feng¡¯s stomach .
BANG!
Shi Feng was sent flying and spit out a mouthful of blood . The force was so great that he was sent flying off the stage .
Long Chen lightly jumped and caught Shi Feng . Long Chen examined him and found Shi Feng¡¯s knee was broken, his arm was broken, and thest blow had split his meridians, almost turning him into a cripple .
The entire za was deathly silent . No one had thought the bold and powerful Shi Feng that was unequalled just a short moment ago would be defeated so quickly and miserably .
¡°Brother Shi Feng really is too stubborn . He actually decided to take that palm¡ my apologies . ¡± Huang Chang was helplessly looking at Long Chen and the others from atop the stage .
But deep within his gaze, Long Chen could see his ridicule and contempt .
¡°Fists have no eyes . If you have to me someone, you can only me him for trying to show off without any ability . Not killing him is already not bad . ¡± Wei Cang shook his head .
¡°Shut the hell up you old stick!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s sudden furious shout rang out and a powerful killing intent soared, causing everyone to tremble .
Even those noblemen who saw battle all year round felt their heart¡¯s jump and were shocked .
Long Chen fed Shi Feng a healing pill and slowly walked up the martial stage . Looking at Huang Chang, his words were like ice shards .
¡°You¡¯re trying to force me to fight you right? I guess you¡¯re satisfied now . ¡±
The current Long Chen was filled with surging killing intent . What he didn¡¯t know was that while he was consumed by his fury, the FengFu Star at the bottom of his foot was quickly circting .
Before it was just a primal ball of energy, but now it was gradually bing clear . However with the passing of time, it seemed as if it werecking some kind of energy and slowly dimmed back down to its original state .
Long Chen turned to Xia Changfeng and pointed at his nose . ¡°Xia Changfeng, you cuckold bastard, just wait for me!¡±
He then continued, ¡°Empress Dowager, I demand a life and death battle with Huang Chang . ¡±
That final sentence of his was said to the Empress Dowager . For a moment, the entire za became still .
¡°Long Chen¡¡±
Chu Yao was panicked looking at the infuriated Long Chen . She had never seen him so angry before and her heart couldn¡¯t help being pained for him .
¡°Empress Dowager, life and death battles are grand and heroic . It¡¯s the very essence of what it means to be a man . I feel that the only right choice is to support it . ¡±
Seeing Long Chen furiously demand a life and death battle with Huang Chang, Wei Cang became joyous . He would be able to take back his beast me if this continued .
That was because the loser would have his spoils taken away by the victor in a life and death battle .
The Empress Dowager was in a difficult position . She looked at grandmaster Yun Qi who was also gravely looking at Long Chen .
¡°Please help grandmaster . ¡± Long Chen nodded to him .
Yun Qi sighed, ¡°Empress Dowager can decide this . Since this is Long Chen¡¯s challenge, the guild has no right to interfere . ¡±
¡°Then I permit it . ¡±
Following her promation, no one cheered the slightest . This was already not a martialpetition but a bloody battle of death .
Xia Changfeng had just been cursed by Long Chen, but he wasn¡¯t the slightest bit angry . It was not worthwhile to get angry with a dead man .
Their trap was going great; originally they were nning on Huang Chang identally making a mistake and killing Long Chen, but now they could kill him openly and resolve all their hatred .
Chu Yao on the other hand was extremely worried . Huang Chang had defeated Shi Feng as if he were ying with a child and was obviously an extremely powerful and frightening opponent .
The people below the stage who had wanted Long Chen to ept at the beginning all despaired now . They were astonished that Long Chen would now propose a life and death battle .
Some of the women were covering their mouths, their eyes filled with admiration . Long Chen¡¯s coarse and wild side had aroused their heartstrings .
Huang Chang contemptuously looked at Long Chen . ¡°If you hade earlier, your friend would be fine . How low of you . ¡±
Long Chen didn¡¯t reply . Calmly standing there, frightening killing intent soared off his body .
¡°I feel like your gaze is extremely dislikable . I think I¡¯ll first dig out your eyes . ¡±
Huang Chang suddenly stamped on the ground and appeared beside Long Chen like a ghost . His speed was shocking and even faster than when he had fought with Shi Feng .
¡°Fuck off!¡±
His shout was like lightning, shaking the world . All people could was a figure flying back after this shout .
People looked at the stage . Long Chen was standing there motionlessly with his fist forward . Huang Chang was fifteen feet away, his face shocked .
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t see . ¡±
¡°It looks like Long Chen punched Huang Chang flying . ¡±
Amongst the people discussing what was happening, Fatty Yu and the others took the lead and started cheering, causing others to also join in .
Long Chen didn¡¯t pay the slightest attention to those cheers . He coldly looked at Huang Chang . ¡°If you manage to leave alive today, then I wouldn¡¯t be Long Chen . ¡±
BOOM!
Suddenly the aura around Long Chen¡¯s body exploded and caused space to tremble . His terrifying aura shot everywhere, causing everyone¡¯s expression to immediately change .
Chapter 42: Anger Shakes the Nine Heavens
Chapter 42
Chapter 42 Anger Shakes the Nine Firmaments
BOOM!
Long Chen¡¯s aura suddenly exploded out .
¡°What?¡±
Even the nobles weren¡¯t able to control themselves . After Long Chen¡¯s exploded, seven cyclones vaguely appeared behind his body .
¡°He¡¯s actually only at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation?¡±
Even after so many battles, Long Chen had never revealed his true cultivation base . Many people spected that he had already reached the Blood Condensation realm but was just hiding it .
But now that he had released his aura, it was clearly just of the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation .
¡°But why is his seventh Heavenstage Qi Condensation aura so powerful?¡±
Some people were the first to realize that something was wrong . That aura was too terrifying; it definitely didn¡¯t seem to be of the seventh Heavenstage .
Wei Cang, Xia Changfeng, and the others were also very startled . This was the first time they had seen or heard of such a thing .
BANG!
Long Chen stamped on the stage, causing it to tremble . He charged towards Huang Chang .
His fist was like a huge hammer smashing down, creating gales that filled the air .
Huang Chang coldly snorted; his body shook and the Blood Qi from his body surged out, causing the space around to twist . He also send out a punch to receive him .
An earthshaking explosion rang out when the two fists collided . Qi waves surged out, engulfing everything .
Long Chen¡¯s fist was like a mountain, consecutively smashing down three times like a tempest . Huang Chang¡¯s expression changed and he roared, using his full power to block it .
BANG! The huge martial arena that was over three hundred meters long was unable to bear the force of their power . It shattered into pieces that flew out everywhere, causing everyone to scream .
With another explosion, the two of them reappeared atop the crumbled martial arena, grimly ring at each other .
¡°I really never expected you had at least this much ability . ¡± Huang Chang wiped some bloodstains from his mouth .
The current Long Chen was practically a Magical Beast in human form . His great power shocked everyone . Huang Chang was caught off guard and actually received a slight injury .
¡°The things you never expected are many . You shouldn¡¯t have used Chu Yao or my brother to infuriate me . You¡¯ve made me angry; even I¡¯m afraid of me when I¡¯m angry,¡± coldly said Long Chen .
¡°Hahaha, how boastful . Do you really think I only have this little capability? Today I¡¯ll show a little frog like you what true strength is . ¡±
Huang Chang¡¯s aura steadily climbed . Originally he was only at the fourth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation . But that quickly rose .
¡°Fifth Heavenstage . ¡±
¡°Sixth Heavenstage . ¡±
¡°Seventh Heavenstage . ¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s expression changed; he had never thought this Huang Chang had actually hidden his cultivation base and was actually ate Blood Condensation expert .
The difference between the third and fourth Heavenstages was extremely great; the same was true for the sixth and seventh Heavenstages .
When those huge barriers were ovee, one¡¯s battle power would increase greatly . That was why the Blood Condensation realm was split into early, mid, andte stages to determine strength .
Now Huang Chang had exploded out with the seventh Heavenstage of Blood Condensation¡¯s strength . Blood Qi surged all over his body, stifling people¡¯s hearts .
¡°Now do you get it kid? Your death has arrived . ¡±
Malevolence covered his face and arge fist smashed down at Long Chen before he even finished speaking .
Long Chen¡¯s heart shivered . His intuition really had been correct in that Huang Chang was concealing his cultivation base . This was his true strength .
Originally Long Chen didn¡¯t want to fight with Huang Chang at such a time . But he had already gone mad with anger, and if he hadn¡¯t met him in battle then he would have been unable to ept the pain in his heart .
Seeing Huang Changing at him with a disdainful smile as if he were just an insect, Long Chen¡¯s fury burst out again and the seven cyclones in his Dantian were used to their max as he also sent a fist to meet him .
With another huge explosion, Long Chen felt a huge force pass through him . It felt as if a charging bull had ran into him, immediately sending him flying .
He smashed into one of the pieces of rubble of the martial arena . He actually shot straight through a piece of wood at least over a foot thick and kept going for several meters beforending on the ground .
¡°What power . Is the difference between mid andte stage so great?¡±
Long Chen stood back up, shocked . The first time he had met Huang Chang he had only revealed a cultivation base at the fourth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation .
Even at that time Long Chen had sensed he waspletely unable to block him . He had been amazed at the difference between the early and mid stages then .
When he had fought the man with the long eyebrows at the Heroic Assembly House, the long eyebrowed man had not been able to fight back against him at all . And he had been someone at the early stage of Blood Condensation .
Now Long Chen had condensed eight cyclones and hisbat ability was several times greater than back then, but he was stillpletely overwhelmed by thete stage Huang Chang .
¡°A trash actually dares to brazenly challenge me? Does he even dare to show his face? Does a toad like him really dare to eat a swan¡¯s meat? Don¡¯t make meugh . ¡± Huang Chang was slowly walking towards Long Chen, smiling with contempt . ¡°A person like you isn¡¯t suitable to live in the same world as me . Let me end you . ¡±
¡°NO!¡±
Chu Yao shrieked and was about to charge forward .
¡°Don¡¯t be impudent; no one can interfere in a life and death battle . ¡± The Empress Dowager¡¯s face sunk and she sternly warned her .
At the same time a dozen guards appeared beside Chu Yao . Those guards were all experts that Chu Yao was definitely unable to pass through .
¡°Child, sit . You can¡¯t stop it,¡± gently said grandmaster Yun Qi .
¡°Grandmaster, please . Save Long Chen!¡± Chu Yao tearfully begged .
¡°Don¡¯t worry, even if I have to lose all my face, I¡¯ll definitely go save Long Chen,¡± grandmaster Yun Qi quietly whispered to her with a smile .
Hearing him say that, Chu Yao was filled with relief . Grandmaster Yun Qi continued, ¡°Let¡¯s first observe for a while . Long Chen isn¡¯t a normal person and he definitely has his own trump cards . ¡±
Chu Yao nodded . Although they hadn¡¯t known each other for long, but her impression of him was that he was an extremely reliable person . She didn¡¯t know why, but for some reason he also caused her heart to be confused .
Thinking about what she had just done and how others had seen it, her face immediately turned red .
Knowing that Long Chen would die without a doubt, the already calmed down Xia Changfeng immediately became furious when he saw Chu Yao care about Long Chen like that .
He immediately shouted, ¡°Huang Chang, stop wasting time . Finish it!¡±
Huang Chang had already arrived in front of Long Chen when he heard those orders . He sighed, ¡°Kid, let me give you some advice right before you die . In the next life, be aware of your own strength . Some people can¡¯t be provoked by you . ¡±
He coldlyughed and sent a punch smashing towards Long Chen . But this punch waspletely silent . A yellow dirt color appeared over, clearly marking it as a high grade Battle Skill .
Everyone was stunned; he was ate Blood Condensation expert, and Long Chen had alreadypletely dominated without any Battle Skills . Now that he had used one, Long Chen¡¯s death was doubtless .
Some of the maidens had already closed their eyes tightly, not wanting to see the scene of Long Chen¡¯s blood flying .
But Long Chen wasn¡¯t the slightest bit panicked . He indifferently said, ¡°People really do give good advice right before dying . You¡¯re right, be aware of your own strength . Some people can¡¯t be provoked by you . ¡±
Long Chen met Huang Chang¡¯s fist with his own fist . Just before they collided, the FengFu Star at the bottom of his foot began to rapidly circte and a strand of energy was sent into his Dantian .
The originally slowly circting cyclones immediately grew ten times and began to wildly spin .
An endless ocean of energy filled his entire body .
BOOM!
Qi waves surged out, shaking every direction, causing the entire za to shake . Shocking energy swept out throughout .
Tempests of wind wildly surged, almost blowing people away . Everyone retreated filled with shock and terror .
Such a terrifying battle was something they had never seen or imagined before . Was this really power humans were capable of?
When the dust slowly settled, the original form of the stage could no longer even be seen . It was inplete ruins .
In the middle was an empty space that had originally held a very stable stone b . Now it was covered in spiderweb cracks .
There, two people were staring at each other, their fists still connected . Long Chen¡¯s eyes were like lightning as he unwaveringly red at Huang Chang .
Currently Huang Chang waspletely shocked . Just now he had used his full strength but was actually unable to move Long Chen in the slightest .
He sensed that behind Long Chen¡¯s fist was an unending stream of energy that flowed out like angry endless waves .
Huang Chang had already erupted with all his power, but was unable to kill Long Chen . It felt as if Long Chen had an endless pit of energy, causing him to feel the slightest trace of fear for the first time .
Xia Changfeng and Wei Cang quickly stood up, filled with amazement . Long Chen¡¯sbat ability hadpletely exceeded their expectations .
¡°How is this possible?¡±
Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression was ugly . How could a child at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation explode with such terrifying strength? He was actually an equal for ate Blood Condensation expert .
Everyone present was speechless like wooden statues . Even the always calm grandmaster Yun Qi was astonished .
Chu Yao was filled with both surprise and delight . A soft feeling arose in her beautiful eyes as she looked at that figure which appeared like a heavenly diety .
Fatty Yu and the others were trembling with excitement . They had been reluctant to say anything just now; after all that was ate Blood Condensation expert . They had really expected Long Chen might die today .
With the assistance of Long Chen¡¯s medicinal pill, the unconscious Shi Feng had already awoken . But many of his bones were broken and he was unable to move . He could only rely on Shou Hou¡¯s support .
Seeing Long Chen overflowing with killing intent and appearing like a bloodthirsty murderous divinity, his heart shook and he feltpletely ashamed .
Even if he was stupid he could see that this had been a trap for Long Chen . They had used him in order to force Long Chen into a meticulously arranged snare .
And Long Chen had clearly known this was a trap that could easily kill him, yet he still jumped in because of him . This caused Shi Feng who was an unshakeable stoic man to tear up .
BANG!
Long Chen shouted and an unstoppable force surged out of him pushing Huang Chang back .
¡°Huang Chang, if I can¡¯t make your blood dye this ground, then I, Long Chen, will not see tomorrow¡¯s sunrise . ¡±
Long Chen¡¯s voice sounded as if it hade from the depths of the underworld, his killing intent not the slightest bit concealed . It caused even the wind and clouds to tremble and people¡¯s hearts to shake
¡°Hmph, although you might be powerful, killing people doesn¡¯t just rely on strength . ¡± Huang Chang coldly smiled . ¡°However, you did say one thing right . You definitely won¡¯t be seeing the sunrise tomorrow, because tonight I¡¯ll definitely kill you!¡±
Huang Chang¡¯s words finally caused some people to realize that this battle of theirs wasn¡¯t some coincidence, but a clear trap for Long Chen .
Long Chen took a deep breath . He slowly raised his fist . No wind moved around his body, but his robes began to float up, his ck hair dancing in the wind . It was as if a divinity of war had possessed his body .
¡°Then let¡¯s see just which one of us won¡¯t see tomorrow¡¯s sunrise!¡±
Chapter 43: Beast Cultivation
Chapter 43
Chapter 43 Beast Cultivation
¡°Let¡¯s see just which one us won¡¯t see tomorrow¡¯s sunset!¡±
Following Long Chen¡¯s shout, green light appeared over his fist . As soon as that light appeared, a terrifying wind shot out and even the atmosphere groaned beneath that fist .
Seeing that, a gentle feeling arose within Chu Yao . That posture was one of the high grade Mortal Battles Skills she had taught Long Chen .
But when it was Long Chen using it, it hadpletely changed . That might was capable of swallowing mountains and rivers, and even from dozens of meters away, it caused people to feel an enormous pressure .
¡°Breaking Wind Fist!¡±
It was as if thunder had shaken the heavens . A tempest surged around his fist, as if it wished to destroy the very earth .
Startled cries rang out throughout the crowd . The power Long Chen had revealed had already surpassed people¡¯s imagination . Long Chen was aplete freak to them .
Especially to Huang Chang, Long Chen seemed more like a Magical Beast that wanted his life . His fist seemed to expand to fill all of heaven and earth,pletely locking him down .
Thispletely shocked him . He had originally thought Long Chen had had a lucky encounter that had caused his physical body to be much stronger .
He was someone who was secretly groomed by Xia Changfeng to be a martial weapon . From when he was young he was already someone who had fought life and death struggles, surviving all of them .
He had a terrifying amount of battle experience, so even if Long Chen had disyed this strength from the start, he still wouldn¡¯t be worried . By relying on his rich fighting experience, he could effortlessly suppress Long Chen .
But this fist of Long Chen¡¯s had actually locked him in ce so that he waspletely unable to dodge it . He could only receive it head on .
Locking someone like this was an extremely powerful mental skill . By using one¡¯s powerful mental force and adding it on to their attack, it would cause the opponent to be unable to dodge .
Such a power would only appear from extremely powerful cultivators, or perhaps people like Huang Chang who had crawled out of a pile of dead people could perhaps control a trace of that power .
But now Long Chen who was only at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation had actually done so . This situation made no sense with what Huang Chang knew .
Long Chen didn¡¯t give him much time to think it over . His fist brought with it a tempest that broke through the space to smash right towards him .
At this point he couldn¡¯t hold anything back . With a loud roar, a redyer appeared all over his body and terrifying Blood Qi exploded out . He also sent out a fist with all his strength .
BOOM!
Everyone felt the entire za shake . Then a figure was sent flying into a huge boulder .
That boulder was over ten meters tall and immediately crumbled . People looked from Long Chen remaining at his original position and then that copsed boulder . The entire za was deathly silent .
Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression changed greatly, never expecting Long Chen had hidden his terrifying strength so well . This waspletely out of any of his expectations .
It wasn¡¯t just Xia Changfeng . Wei Cang was also filled with shock and viciousness appeared in his eyes .
If Long Chen¡¯s battle capabilities were revealed to the outside world¡¯s sects, they would definitely ept him . After all, Long Chen was still extremely young .
With a sect¡¯s support, who knew just how powerful he would grow to be? It waspletely uneptable . They could not let him leave here alive!
Wei Cang already hated Long Chen and wished him dead . Long Chen had caused him to lose much of his face and the two were now like water and fire .
If he let Long Chen grow further, would he still be able to live?
Suddenly the boulder blew apart and a figure slowly walked out from there, immediately causing startled cries .
That was Huang Chang; but the current Huang Chang was an extremely sorry figure . Most of his robes had been torn apart, and his hair waspletely disheveled .
Through his messy hair, the crowd could see his face was covered with blood and blood continued to slowly drip to the ground .
¡°Excellent, you really do amaze me . ¡± Although Huang Chang was injured, his voice waspletely undisturbed .
¡°I¡¯m also amazed with you . ¡± A bad feeling arose in Long Chen, but he absolutely couldn¡¯t allow himself be oppressed by him in terms of imposingness .
Huang Chang smiled . But that smile was absolutely eerie and sinister on his blood covered face .
ncing at the distant Xia Changfeng and seeing him nod slightly towards him, Huang Chang suddenly began tough .
¡°Long Chen, your power has exceeded my expectations, but you will not be able to escape death today . Now I¡¯ll let you see just what true strength is!¡±
Huang Chang suddenly let out a howl like a wild beast, and following it, his clothes began to burst apart .
The distant people all let out startled screams . Huang Chang¡¯s arms had at least doubled in size and were now covered in yellow fur .
The most shocking was that his face had be even more twisted . Fur covered it and tusks appeared on his mouth . His hands had be deformed . His fingernails grew to be steel ws, and a cold air threatened people .
The current Huang Chang was no longer human; he was more like a freak in a humanoid shape . His whole body emitted a berserk aura .
The always calm grandmaster Yun Qi finally changed expressions when he saw this . With his experience he had managed to recognize just how terrifying this move was .
Beside him was Chu Yao who had noticed Yun Qi¡¯s change in expression . She hastily asked, ¡°Grandmaster, what¡¯s going on? Is Huang Chang a human or a beast?¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qiwas grave as he said, ¡°That Huang Chang¡¯s origin most likely isn¡¯t simple . He¡¯s a Beast Cultivator . Although he only has a superficial understanding of this technique, such a beast transformation will cause a person¡¯sbat ability to increase a frightening amount . ¡±
Originally this so-called Beast Cultivation was a kind of extremely powerful inheritance . Beast Cultivators would refine a Magical Beast¡¯s essence blood, allowing them to control a portion of that Magical Beast¡¯s might .
Such cultivation would only allow the cultivator to control an extremely small portion of the Magical Beast¡¯s powerful physical body . Although it was an extremely small portion, a Magical Beast¡¯s physical body was too powerful and even such a small fraction was extremely frightening .
Huang Chang was very confident now . Ever since he had refined the Magical Beast¡¯s essence blood, he had never met someone who could exchange more than ten blows within him in the same cultivation level .
In thest two years he had followed beside Xia Changfeng and handled his affairs in a low-key manner . He had never revealed his true strength .
Today he hadn¡¯t expected to have to erupt with it all and yet still had been unable to handle that youth . He had beenpletely furious .
When he saw Xia Changfeng nod, he no longer had any misgivings and revealed his unique trump card ¨C beast transformation .
¡°Seeing the color of his fur, he most likely refined the peak second rank Yellow-Faced Devil Wolf¡¯s essence blood . You don¡¯t need to worry; as soon as Long Chen is unable to handle it, I¡¯ll go . Hmph, I really want to see what he has up his sleeve . ¡±
Seeing Chu Yao so worried, grandmaster Yun Qi said a coupleforting words . Looking at the pleased Wei Cang, he coldly smiled .
Currently the entire crowd was filled with fright as they looked at Huang Chang . They couldn¡¯t help retreating from him . Only once they were far away from him could they feel a bit safer .
Long Chen was also filled with shock when he looked at Huang Chang . This was the first time he felt the air of death, and it was extremely strong .
After fusing with a Pill God¡¯s soul, his ability to sense danger had be much keener . For him to have such a feeling definitely meant the current Huang Chang posed a great danger to him .
Looking at his own hands, the five ws moved slightly . Huang Chang looked at Long Chen, his voice so ugly it sounded like iron scratching . ¡°Do you have anyst words?¡±
Long Chen suppressed his own fear . Such a thing had no use at all and would only cause him to sink into despair . He had to conquer it .
All of Huang Chang¡¯s muscles were bulging out . With his yellow fur standing on end and his three inch long tusks, he looked nothing more than a monster .
¡°I want to ask you a question,¡± said Long Chen .
¡°Fine, it¡¯ll count as yourst wish before death,¡± Huang Chang said, ying with his nails .
¡°I want to ask, were your mother and father human or beast? How¡¯d they end up giving birth to a weirdo like you? Or are you a human-beast hybrid?¡± Long Chen asked puzzled .
The response for Long Chen was five iron ws cutting through the air . By the time he sensed them, they had already reached his chest .
Long Chen was startled, and almost instinctively drew back his chest and quickly retreated .
Long Chen¡¯s reactions might have been quick, but the clothing around his chest had been shorn and five points of blood appeared over his skin as blood slowly flowed out .
He was absolutely astonished by this speed . That attack had been so sharp that if he had taken just one step toote he would have died .
The exchange had urred so lightning fast that the crowd hadn¡¯t even reacted before it ended .
¡°Your mouth really is loathsome . As punishment, I¡¯ll tear you into pieces . ¡± Huang Chang slowly put his w-like fingernails to his mouth and licked them . A bit of Long Chen¡¯s blood stained them .
Taking a deep breath, Long Chen focused all his attention . His divine sense was pushed to its max . Due to his carelessness just now, his stomach had almost been cut open .
Just one such mistake was enough; if it happened again, he would most definitely be a corpse . This was the first time Long Chen started to feel a bit of fear, and at the same time for some reason he also felt a bit of excitement . The blood in his body was heating up .
What he didn¡¯t know was that the moment he had felt the threat of death, the FengFu Star at the bottom of his foot started to slowly circte without any urging or control from Long Chen . It was currently transforming in some unknown way .
But Long Chen didn¡¯t sense that since he waspletely focused on battle . All his attention was on the outside world, on Huang Chang . That demonic beast form of his was something he could not be the slightest bit careless of .
¡°A dog like you wants to tear me to pieces? Can a man who isn¡¯t even a man do that? I don¡¯t believe it . ¡± Long Chen nced sideways at Huang Chang, his expression contemptuous . But when he spoke he also was circting his divine sense to its limit, using it as a substitute to watching over his moments .
¡°Die!¡±
As he expected, the beast transformed Huang Chang was even easier to infuriate . A crazed yellow gale charged at Long Chen .
Chapter 44: Deathbed Struggle
Huang Chang¡¯s attack was something Long Chen was already expecting. Although he didn¡¯t understand beast cultivation, he could assume that using a Magical Beast¡¯s strength to increase one¡¯s ownbat strength would definitely cause a person to be more berserk and have less control.
Although that berserk strength was frightening, such a person could only fight instinctively. Long Chen believed that a wild bull was definitely a bit easier to deal with than a cunning fox.
This time, Long Chen was prepared and he also moved just as soon as Huang Chang. A leg kicked out right towards Huang Chang¡¯s stomach.
Bang!
Long Chen¡¯s kicknded right on his stomach, forcing him back. The berserk Huang Chang was just like a wild beast and hadn¡¯t even been slightly prepared for Long Chen¡¯s attack.
But seeing the berserk Huang Chang¡¯s speed, Long Chen coldly sweated. When Long Chen¡¯s kick hadnded on Huang Chang¡¯s stomach, Huang Chang¡¯s w had almost reached Long Chen¡¯s throat.
Were it not for Long Chen being prepared and making his move first, he definitely would not have been able to react fast enough. This was the terror of beast cultivation. After the beast transformation, one¡¯s strength, speed, and defense would sharply rise as if bing a new person.
¡°ROAR!!¡±
Being forced back by Long Chen, Huang Chang emitted a bestial roar. His eyes becamepletely red, as his ws once more reached towards Long Chen.
¡°Breaking Wind Fist!¡±
Long Chen shouted loudly and punched out.
BOOM! Long Chen¡¯s fist smashed into both of his ws, and the two were shaken back several meters.
¡°What strength...¡± Long Chen grumbled inside, not expecting Huang Chang to have such a terrifying trump card. This bastard really had hidden himself deeply.
The Breaking Wind Fist Long Chen had used before this had sent Huang Chang flying without the slightest resistance. But Huang Chang who had undergone the beast transformation could no longer even be harmed by Long Chen¡¯s fist.
Huang Chang was just like a furious Magical Beast. As soon as he was forced back, he once more charged forward, wildly brandishing his ws towards Long Chen.
Long Chen grit his teeth and the FengFu Star on the bottom of his foot circted once more. The seven cyclones within his Dantian quickly whirled, his entire body¡¯s energy surging out. Two fists punched out, directly confronting Huang Chang.
Explosive ringing shook the heavens and gale winds blew everywhere. Terrifying energy waves jolted back all the people watching.
¡°Heavens, what kind of battle is this?¡±
¡°It¡¯s too terrifying!¡±
Those people had never seen such a berserk battle. Their faces were white and their legs were trembling from fear.
Even those experienced veterans were filled with shock. None of them had ever expected Huang Chang to be a beast cultivator and have such a terrifyingbat ability.
And what was even more shocking was Long Chen, who once had a reputation of being the capital¡¯s number one trash noble heir. Now, he was actually able to battle a monster like Huang Chang.
w afterimages filled the sky and the wind howled, shaking the heavens. The most shocked people were definitely Xia Changfeng and Wei Cang.
They could have never imagined that a small Qi Condensation newbie like Long Chen could explode with enough power to contend with Huang Chang who had undergone beast transformation.
After all, Huang Chang was a martial weapon who had been secretly groomed. Out of a thousand participants, he had been one out of a dozen who had survived a hellish training.
And Huang Chang was the most powerful amongst those remaining people. That was why Xia Changfeng viewed him so importantly and had spent great effort to groom him.
It could be said that Huang Chang was a ughter machine who had been trained with an immeasurable amount of resources. If it weren¡¯t for Long Chen infuriating Xia Changfeng and Wei Cang, they would definitely not have revealed such a secret martial weapon.
But while they were shocked by Long Chen¡¯s strength, they now saw that although Long Chen was capable of defending, he was already starting to fall into a disadvantageous position under Huang Chang¡¯s violent berserk attacks.
Currently, Long Chen¡¯s cultivation base was only at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, and he had only established a single star. The amount of spiritual qi that he could control was a far cry from Huang Chang.
He could only survive thanks to his powerful physical body. Any other person would have long since been destroyed.
Long Chen¡¯s arm was once more shed by Huang Chang¡¯s w. Although he did his best to dodge, his clothing was torn and blood dripped down from his wounds.
At this time, Long Chen¡¯s body was covered by many bloody scars, and the blood stained most of his clothing. Chu Yao¡¯s heart clenched tightly at the sight.
¡°Continuing like this won¡¯t do. The current Huang Chang is no different than a Magical Beast in a humanoid form. His strength is endless, and the sharpness and hardness of his ws would not lose out to the steel.¡± Long Chen was astonished. Without the soul of a Pill God and the superficial battle experience that hade with it, he would have already been unable to endure.
¡°Grandmaster Yun Qi, please save Long Chen.¡± Chu Yao couldn¡¯t help begging grandmaster Yun Qi.
¡°Wait a bit.¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi only continued to look at Long Chen. He had yet to make a move. That was because he was very conflicted inside. Long Chen¡¯s aplishments in alchemy were something he admired greatly.
He had once advised Long Chen to focus his energy on the pill path. With his talent, he would definitely walk far on that path.
But the battle strength Long Chen revealed today waspletely astonishing. As a Pill Master, he was unable to deny that if Long Chen focused all his attention on the martial path, he might go even further than on the pill path.
That was why he had yet to make a move. He wanted to see what Long Chen¡¯s limit was, and also to have this life and death trial temper him.
Through such tempering, it didn¡¯t matter whether Long Chen cultivated the martial path or the pill path; either would have inestimable benefits for him.
Blood sttered again as Long Chen¡¯s chest was shed by a w. A few more bloody scars appeared upon him.
¡°Long Chen, I won¡¯t let you die easily. I¡¯ve already said that I¡¯ll tear you apart piece by piece!¡± After this prolonged exchange, the originally berserk Huang Chang had calmed down by quite a bit and now coldlyughed.
Long Chen had no reply for him. He found that the current Huang Chang had openings all over, but his defensive ability was too shocking.
He hadnded a kick on one of his vital points in their exchanges just now, but shockingly, Huang Chang had merely stumbled slightly beforepletely recovering without the slightest hesitation.
After battling for the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Long Chen had alreadye to an understanding about Huang Chang¡¯s current state. His physical strength and endurance could no longer be judged by human standards. He would have no chance of victory if he continued on like this.
He had to try something!
Long Chen suddenly shouted and sent a fist right at Huang Chang¡¯s w. But it was he who was blown back ten meters from the exchange.
Huang Chang didn¡¯t immediately chase after him, and instead indifferently looked at Long Chen. He was just like a tiger examining his prey.
The crowd waspletely silent. The intense pressureing from that battle was hard to bear. But now they had a slight breather.
Those berserk exchanges had caused their hearts to leap into their throats. That was especially the case for those maidens who were tightly clutching their hands to their chests. They were afraid that if Long Chen revealed the slightest opening, his blood would stter throughout.
¡°Do you have to continue this deathbed struggle?¡± Huang Chang waved his hands, his long ws covered with Long Chen¡¯s blood.
Currently, Long Chen¡¯s clothes werepletely torn and dozens of bloody scars slowly continued to flow, making his appearance extremely frightening.
¡°Deathbed struggle? It hasn¡¯t reached such a point.¡± Long Chen shook his head. Although he was covered in wounds, they were all superficial. They appeared frightening, but they didn¡¯t affect him too much.
Long Chen had known that the battle today would be very difficult. It was the most difficult battle ever since he was born, but it would definitely not be thest.
As long as he defied fate, the battles he would face in the future would only be fiercer. He needed that feeling of being close to death to increase his will to live.
To be a true martial cultivator, you had to experience the threat of walking the line between life and death. Only by surviving the terror of death could you walk further along your path. This was something all experts had to experience.
The battle just now had been fought over the brink of life and death for him. It was true that he had fused with a Pill God¡¯s soul and had merged with some of his battle experience.
But just one mistake would have turned him into a corpse. He was only able to fight like this because of his firm resolve.
He also had his own difficulties. If he was unable to handle even such pressure, how would he face his future enemies? How could he save himself from his own plight? How could he repay the enmity of stealing his blood, plundering his bone, and destroying his root?
After experiencing the feeling of being on the edge of death just now, his intuition had be increasingly sharper and his heart clearer. Now that he had achieved this goal, it was time for the true death battle.
¡°But if you say it was a deathbed struggle, then sure. Take a look at what my ¡®deathbed struggle¡¯ is.¡±
Long Chen sped his hands, and a me soared out from them. Heat waves spread everywhere, and in the end, his entire body was covered in a pale yellow me.
¡°What?!¡±
Wei Cang was so shocked that he stood up, his face filled with disbelief. He pointed at Long Chen and said in disbelief, ¡°Pill me armor! How is that possible?!¡±
Other than Wei Cang, the other most shocked person would have to be grandmaster Yun Qi. So, Long Chen could actually spread his Pill me all over his body.
Using Pill me to protect the body was something only Pill Masters like Yun Qi and Wei Cang were capable of doing.
This not only required a powerful Pill me and a forceful spiritual qi, but it also required an extremely powerful Spiritual Strength as support.
Only the most powerful of Pill Masters could use Pill me to protect the body. It wasmonly known for them that Pill Masters had to reach the Tendon Transformation realm before having enough spiritual energy and Spiritual Strength to just barely use Pill me to protect the body.
Although ording to rank, Long Chen could already be counted as a Pill Adept, his cultivation base was only at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.
Under normal situations, pill cultivation and martial cultivation weren¡¯t necessarily equal, but they were definitely rted.
To be a Pill Apprentice required one to at least reach Qi Condensation. That was because only then could one agglomerate a Pill me.
But just agglomerating Pill me didn¡¯t make you a Pill Apprentice. Only by refining a medicinal pill that met the standards could you obtain the qualifications to be a Pill Apprentice.
And the majority of Pill Apprentices had already reached the Blood Condensation realm; otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have enough spiritual qi to refine medicinal pills.
Only extremely talented pill cultivators could be Pill Apprentices in the Qi Condensation realm. People like Long Chen and Xia Baichi, who could refine the second tier medicinal pills at the Qi Condensation realm and thus, have the qualification to be Pill Adepts, could already be considered geniuses.
But no matter how much of a genius you were, you definitely couldn¡¯t condense a Pill me to protect your body at just the Qi Condensation realm. This undermined everything the two of them knew.
Long Chen was nowpletely wrapped in a yellow me. His hair drifted in the air, and his eyes were like stars, just as if a domineering me god had descended upon the earth.
¡°I¡¯ming.¡±
Chapter 45: Defeating a Powerful Enemy
¡°I¡¯ming.¡±
With a cold shout and his body encased in mes, Long Chen suddenly rose up. The air several meters around him had already reached a terrifyingly high temperature.
Long Chen punched out, the high temperature around his fist causing space to warp, its power shocking as it smashed towards Huang Chang.
Huang Chang was extremely startled as he felt an indescribable fear from the me around Long Chen¡¯s fist. Seeing his attack, he quickly retreated back to avoid the punch.
But just as he dodged this punch, he suddenly saw Long Chen¡¯s cold smile. An enormous sense of danger immediately filled him.
¡°Crap!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s shocking punch had actually just been a feint! The actual attack was a silent kick; by the time he sensed it, Long Chen¡¯s foot had already viciouslynded itself upon his stomach.
Huang Chang screamed miserably. This kick didn¡¯t cause him any heavy injuries, but the me ignited the fur around his body.
¡°Animals really do hate fire.¡± Long Chen was gratified inside. Huang Chang¡¯s beast transformation might bring with it a Magical Beast¡¯s might, but it also brought with it a few of their weaknesses.
Furred Magical Beasts had an inherent fear of fire, so his Pill me had a powerful suppression over Huang Chang.
Long Chen¡¯s kick had been covered with me and ignited Huang Chang¡¯s body. A strong roasting smell filled the air.
Despite doing his best to pat away the mes, it still took a long time for them to extinguish. A great portion of his yellow fur had been burnt ck at this point. He appeared extremely miserable, like a rat that had dug its way out of a stove.
Seeing this, Yun Qi rxed inside. For Long Chen to find Huang Chang¡¯s weak spot so quickly was very exceptional.
And most importantly, even if others knew of that weakness, only Long Chen, who could condense the Pill me to this level, could take advantage of that fatal weak point.
Huang Chang¡¯s skin was now ck, and all his fur had been burnt away. Although he wasn¡¯t heavily injured, he couldn¡¯t suppress the innate fear he had towards fire.
At this time, it was obvious that Long Chen¡¯s Pill me hadpletely suppressed him.
Just as Huang Chang was howling in anger, Long Chen charged at him with his fists flying, appearing just like a human-shaped zing me.
Long Chen was extremely quick, consecutivelynding three blows. Huang Chang knew he would be unable to avoid them, so he could only grit his teeth and take them head on.
Although he wasn¡¯t afraid of Long Chen¡¯s physical strength, each time Long Chennded a blow, his ws seemed to shrink as if they had juste out from a furnace.
After these three blows, Huang Chang felt as if his hands weren¡¯t his own anymore. He could even smell a faint scent of roasted meating from them.
Just a moment ago, it was Long Chen who was forced to dodge and run. Now the situation hadpletely reversed itself. In front of Long Chen¡¯s Pill me, Huang Chang could only cower and didn¡¯t have the strength to retaliate.
Fatty Yu and the others all celebrated when they saw this. As long as Long Chen could persevere, victory would definitely be his.
¡°Kill him, Huang Chang!¡± Xia Changfeng stood up and shouted. Long Chen¡¯s strength had far exceeded his expectations.
It had already reached a point where even he was feeling some fear. A Pill Adept with endless potential who was also a genius martial cultivator was not someone he could take lightly.
That kind of person had to either be a loyal subordinate or bepletely eliminated. Currently, his rtionship with Long Chen was like that of water and fire, so the first possibility no longer existed. Therefore, it didn¡¯t matter what the price was; he must kill Long Chen or he would never be able to feel at peace.
Huang Chang hatefully red at the zing Long Chen. He had never thought that someone he had been toying with in battle would evolve to such a level.
¡°Die, Long Chen!¡±
Now that he had received the order from Xia Changfeng, Huang Chang let out a bestial roar and suddenly, his blood and qi soared into the sky. His entire body seemed as if it werepletely engulfed in blood and be entirely red.
¡°What?!¡±
¡°He can use the Great Blood Explosion Technique?!¡±
¡°That¡¯s insane!¡±
Those noblemen of the Phoenix Cry Empire all cried out in rm as they all recognized this technique.
The Great Blood Explosion Technique was an extremely terrifying secret art. It would be used if and only if a Blood Condensation expert met with foes that they absolutely could not defeat and were pushed to the breaking point. Only then would they make such a ruthless decision and use it.
The Great Blood Explosion Technique ignited the entire body¡¯s blood and qi as the price for temporarily increasing one¡¯s battle strength. It would let the user double in strength temporarily.
But the price was extremely terrible. Once used, the blood essence you had condensed would bepletely burnt away. Even if you lived, your cultivation base would freeze, and you would never be able to progress any further for the rest of your life.
This kind of situation was rarely seen. Unless it was an absolutest resort, no one would use it. But now Huang Chang had actually used it.
Grandmaster Yun Qi noticed those stunned noblemen and couldn¡¯t help but sigh. The Phoenix Cry Empire truly was hopeless. Despite such a genius appearing, none of them went to help Long Chen.
No matter what, he was the son of the Border Suppression Marquis who had great aplishments and had made huge contributions to the empire.
The Border Suppression Marquis had been fighting along the border for over ten years now, fighting back the savages of the barbarian tribes and letting the Phoenix Cry Empire enjoy an era of peace.
If his son were to just die like this in the capital, would the imperial family not be afraid of retaliation? But when Yun Qi looked at the fourth prince and the Empress Dowager, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh with sorrow. He leaned forward slightly and prepared to go save Long Chen.
Long Chen¡¯s disy today had already far exceeded his expectations. There was no way he would let anything happen to him.
After using the Great Blood Explosion Technique, Huang Chang had essentially be a bloodthirsty beast and his eyes had turnedpletely red.
Letting out a bellow, all his energy that was flowing out of his body suddenly stopped and flowed back, all of it gathering around his right hand.
His right hand immediately thickened to the size of his thigh and his muscles throbbed, releasing a terrifying pressure as he grabbed at Long Chen.
¡°Devil Wolf w!¡±
Just as Huang Chang used that killing blow, grandmaster Yun Qi also stood up and charged over.
¡°Yun Qi, don¡¯t meddle.¡±
Even as grandmaster Yun Qi moved, Wei Cang, who had already been prepared, also charged out and blocked him, punching out.
Yun Qi snorted and also punched out, wanting to send Wei Cang flying.
After they collided, Wei Cang flew back, but he had managed to block Yun Qi.
Grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s expression changed greatly when their fists collided. He suddenly felt his hand tremble and immediately turn ck.
¡°My Yin Fiend Palm feels pretty good, right Yun Qi? Don¡¯t even think about going over with me here. That kid will definitely die!¡± Wei Cang coldlyughed.
Yun Qi was shocked inside. He and Wei Cang had fought for dozens of years, but he hadn¡¯t expected that Wei Cang would have advanced so much in the past few years. He would definitely not be able to break through his blockade in a short time.
¡°You old lecher, it¡¯s you who will definitely die!¡± A ridiculing insult came from Long Chen¡¯s mouth.
Seeing Huang Chang¡¯s fisting, Long Chen took a deep breath and pushed his cultivation base to its max. He no longer held his Pill me back at all, and it erupted like a volcano.
¡°mecloud Palm!¡±
The ze around his body disappeared, all of it condensing into the middle of his palm. The originally faint yellow me had already given birth to a slight red color due to the high temperature.
In front of everyone¡¯s stunned gazes, Long Chen¡¯s palm collided directly with Huang Chang¡¯s sharp ws. An explosion shook the heavens as the mes danced. Surging qi waves soared into the air.
Even Yun Qi and Wei Cang stopped their fight to watch in shock. When the dust settled and their vision cleared, the first thing they saw was a three meter wide crater.
On opposite sides of the hole, dozens of meters away, were two figures lying on the ground. The entire za was inplete silence.
A light sound rang out as one of those figures slowly started to move. They saw that the one who slowly stood up was a bloodstained Long Chen.
Although he was aplete mess, his clothing torn and gasping for breath, the current Long Chen still appeared as valiant as ever.
Going around the crater, Long Chen slowly walked to Huang Chang. Huang Chang looked even more wretched, his body burnt ck and looking like nothing more than a dried up corpse. There were also quite a few pieces of bones sticking out of his body.
After using the Great Blood Explosion Technique, his defense had sharply declined. That was why in their final exchange he had suffered worse wounds than Long Chen.
¡°As I¡¯ve already said, I won¡¯t let you see tomorrow¡¯s sunrise,¡± said Long Chen coldly in front of Huang Chang¡¯s body.
Huang Chang wanted to speak, but his stomach had sunk and was squeezing his abdomen, making it so he was unable to speak.
¡°The feeling of not being able to speak doesn¡¯t feel so good, does it? Retribution really doese quickly. You made it so others couldn¡¯t speak out, and now, you can¡¯t say anything at all.¡± A mocking smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s mouth.
In order to infuriate Long Chen, he had used despicable techniques to intentionally injure Shi Feng heavily and seal his breathing so that he was unable to admit defeat. All of that had beenpletely captured in Long Chen¡¯s eyes.
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s icy cold eyes, terror appeared in Huang Chang¡¯s eyes. He wanted to say something, anything, but he was unable to.
If it had been a couple of years ago, he would never have felt any terror from dying as he had only undergone dark and sinister training. But after a few years of working under Xia Changfeng, he had grown attached to the world again and didn¡¯t wish to die.
¡°If you want to beg, then don¡¯t bother. Someone like you doesn¡¯t deserve pity.¡± Long Chen shook his head and slowly raised his foot.
Everyone present was just quietly watching, unable to say a single thing. This unrestrained battle between giants had been full of ups and downs,pletely astonishing them.
¡°Long Chen, let Huang Chang go. I willpensate you.¡± Xia Changfeng was, of course, unwilling to see his most powerful subordinate die like this, so he thickened his skin and spoke out.
¡°Oh? Do you have anything that I want?¡± Long Chen asked, interested.
Seeing there was a chance, Xia Changfeng couldn¡¯t help but rejoice. ¡°Just ask for whatever you want. If I have it, I definitely won¡¯t hold it back.¡±
Long Chen nodded and stuck out his thumb. ¡°You really are loyal. Then, I¡¯ll give you a chance: give me your life and I¡¯ll let him go.¡±
Xia Changfeng who had been rejoicing immediately felt as if someone had given him a p to the face. He red at Long Chen. ¡°You were ying me?¡±
¡°ying you wasn¡¯t my goal. The goal is to y you to death.¡± A sinister smile appeared on his face.
Saying this, Long Chen raised his foot, and the whole za was filled with rmed cries, as he viciously stamped it down on Huang Chang.
Just as Long Chen¡¯s foot was about to hit Huang Chang¡¯s stomach, Long Chen suddenly felt his scalp turn numb. At the same time, he heard Yun Qi¡¯s angry roar and without even thinking, he quickly threw himself to the side.
An arrownded right where Long Chen had just been.
Chapter 46: End of the Lantern Festival
The arrow shot right past Long Chen¡¯s waist. If he had been slightly slower, he would definitely have been skewered.
Long Chen rolled several times before looking up at the arrow. Having missed Long Chen, it had ended up piercing Huang Chang¡¯s thigh.
Huang Chang¡¯s mouth was wide open; his eyes had lost any spirit, looking just like a dead fish as he silently stared into the sky.
A strong fishy smell came from his thigh, and despite holding his breath at the very first moment, Long Chen still became light-headed and nauseous.
¡°What a powerful poison¡¡±
Long Chen was horrified. That arrow was obviously coated with an incredibly powerful toxin. Although he was unable to determine what it was exactly just from breathing it, but from its strong toxicity, it was definitely a poison extracted from a Magical Beast that was at least at the third rank. Anyone at or below the Blood Condensation realm would die immediately from it.
¡°How shameless!¡±
Yun Qi cried out angrily and extended his hand, sending out a three meter me spear towards Wei Cang.
Wei Cang couldn¡¯t help being surprised that Long Chen had dodged his attack. Seeing Yun Qi attacking him, he hastily put away the crossbow in his hand. That poisonous arrow hade from him just now.
Wei Cang also extended his hand and summoned a zing fire sword. Yun Qi¡¯s spear continuously collided with it, emitting explosive sounds as mes shot everywhere and heat waves surged.
Long Chen was the closest person around at only thirty something meters away. He waspletely exhausted and weak now, so he was sent flying from their waves of qi.
Just when Long Chen thought he would be smashed to pulp by the aftershocks of their battle, a gentle fragrance suddenly entered his nose, and a soft body caught onto him.
¡°Chu Yao¡¡± Long Chen turned his head to see Chu Yao deeply concerned with him. He rested himself into her embrace.
¡°Long Chen¡ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve hurt you.¡± As if a pearl ne had been cut open, her tears began to flow down one by one. She knew that the reason Long Chen had entered such a state was mostly all because of her.
If she hadn¡¯t performed her brazen disy today, perhaps Long Chen wouldn¡¯t have ended up like this. He had almost lost his life multiple times just now. Her heart was filled with pain when she thought of that.
¡°What are you saying? That scoundrel Xia Changfeng already hated me, so it has nothing to do with you,¡± consoled Long Chen.
He wanted to stand up, but he did not have even the slightest bit of energy within him. Leaning against Chu Yao¡¯s chest, Long Chen¡¯s heart started to wildly jump.
¡°Thank you, Long Chen.¡± Chu Yao knew Long Chen was trying tofort her. Her heart was moved once more and she felt ashamed.
Boom!
With another explosion, the warmth that was building within Long Chen¡¯s heart was interrupted and he quickly looked over.
At this time, grandmaster Yun Qi had a long spear in his hand that had been condensed from Pill me. His entire body was covered in red mes. Scorching qi waves came from him, his might overflowing the heavens.
That was an ability that could only be used after reaching Pill Master ¨C Pill me taking shape. Alchemists didn¡¯t like to battle, but it didn¡¯t mean that they were weak.
Alchemists focused all their cultivation on the Pill me. Not only could it be used to refine pills, but it could also be used for battle and easily overpower people in the same realm.
Wei Cang¡¯s expression was extremely grave. Long Chen could tell that although Wei Cang was also a Pill Master and his Pill me was strong, in terms of purity, it was definitely quite a bit weaker than grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s Pill me.
Long Chen wanted to say a couple of ridiculing insults to Wei Cang, but he was too weak after the battle. Thatst attack had used up basically all his energy, and he didn¡¯t even have the strength to shout.
Yun Qi and Wei Cang¡¯s zing weapons let out explosive bursts when they collided. Even the ground was shaking along with them, and the surging qi waves caused everyone to retreat.
Both of them were the chairmen of their respective alchemy guilds and had exalted statuses. Even the noblemen had never seen such a battle, let alone the youth. They were carefully focused on examining their every move.
¡°Wei Cang, you¡¯ve lived so long but have yet to make much progress. I think you should get lost now ¨C me Dragon Stab!¡±
Yun Qi shouted and the spear in his hand stabbed forward. It tore through space and destroyed thend. A dragon-shaped me burst forth.
Wei Cang also shouted and the me sword in his hand transformed into a huge shield, firmly blocking the attack.
BANG!
Dust and mes surged. The world shook and it was as if the very air were set on fire, making it so people were unable to even scream.
¡°Yun Qi, just wait for me!¡±
Suddenly, a figure flew out of the mes, appearing very miserable as he rushed out. That person was Wei Cang, and after saying that, he disappeared into the night.
As if he had long since anticipated this result, grandmaster Yun Qi simply coldly looked on as Wei Cang rushed away. He slowly turned and went back to his seat.
The entire za was silent. People looked from Long Chen who was being embraced by Chu Yao, and then to the ashen-faced Xia Changfeng. Nobody knew what to say.
The Empress Dowager¡¯s expression was also ugly. Today¡¯s affairs hadpletely exceeded what she had anticipated. She, who held all the power in the Phoenix Cry Empire, was actually reduced to a minor role.
¡°Long Chen wins! This year¡¯s Lantern Festival is now over!¡±
The Empress Dowager had no choice but to announce this result. As soon as her words rang out, the entire za became impassioned. The maidens were like a tide as they charged towards Long Chen.
Long Chen¡¯s heart jumped in fear. Before he even understood what was happening, a maiden ced a flower loop around Long Chen¡¯s head.
Just as he was about to say something, ten other maidens surged forward. No matter whether Long Chen wanted it or not, they all ced their personally-made flower loops over his head.
Chu Yaoughed to the side as she watched. She didn¡¯t say anything and filled with mirth instead of jealousy. Furthermore, there was also a kind of pride on her face.
Long Chen ended up covered in flower loops to the point there was no more space for any more. Just as he was prepared to tell this group of enthusiastic girls about this, the sky suddenly darkened as if it was filled with flower loops.
Some of the maidens had seen that there were too manypetitors in front of them, and they were unable to squeeze in. They had just anxiously directly thrown their flower loops in front of Long Chen.
With one person taking the lead, the others all understood the same thing, and in an instant, there were hundreds of flower loops flying over. By the time the girls scattered, Long Chen had already disappeared, buried beneath a pile of flower loops.
Martial arts were extremely popr in the Phoenix Cry Empire. And your skill in martial arts had a direct corrtion with women¡¯s attraction to you. Even though Long Chen had already disyed feelings for Chu Yao, that didn¡¯t have any effect on their feelings for him.
He was a handsome and powerful man, who for love and his brother dared to fight a bloody battle with a Blood Condensation expert. He even seemed to look down on death. Just what kind of courage was that? Long Chen¡¯s disy had moved the majority of the undecided women¡¯s hearts.
By the time Long Chen managed to dig his way out of the flower loops, the crowd around him had dispersed, and Chu Yao had also disappeared. Only fatty Yu and the others were left, and they helped pull him up.
¡°Brother Long, you really are my idol,¡± fatty Yu said excitedly.
The others were also pretty much the same. Long Chen¡¯s disy had awed everyone. He was practically a reincarnation of a battle god, causing his friends to be extremely proud of him.
Long Chen smiled and looked around. He noticed the Empress Dowager, the noblemen, the chancellors, the princes, and grandmaster Yun Qi had already left. Even Chu Yao was out of sight.
¡°Brother Long, while you were buried just now, the third princess was called over by the Empress Dowager. From the face she made, I¡¯d guess that the third princess won¡¯t be having such a good time in the future.¡± Shou Hou was somewhat nervous.
During normal times, they wouldn¡¯t dare rashly discuss the imperial family, but now with Long Chen¡¯s disy, it had greatly raised their aspirations, and they no longer worried so much.
The Grand Xia¡¯s prince, Xia Changfeng, hade to the Phoenix Cry Empire mostly for the purpose of proposing to the third princess. Although a public deration hadn¡¯t gone out, it was said that the Empress Dowager had already agreed to it.
For the third princess to publicly dere her affection for Long Chen during the Lantern Festival was equivalent to pping the faces of the Empress Dowager and Xia Changfeng. Naturally, the Empress Dowager was irritated.
This time, they had fortunately had grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s support. But as someone from the alchemist guild, he had to maintain a neutral position. He definitely couldn¡¯t interfere in the empire¡¯s affairs, especially not something like the imperial family¡¯s marriages.
That was why Shou Hou and them were nervous. Hearing this, most of the joy Long Chen felt from his victory faded.
But he still didn¡¯t regret it. Even if he died, he couldn¡¯t let someone like Chu Yao down.
Most of the people in the za had left by now, and only a few soldiers remained to clear out the decorations and trash. Huang Chang¡¯s body had long since been hauled away.
¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll talk about it moreter. Shi Feng, how are your injuries?¡± Long Chen managed to stand up with Shou Hou¡¯s support.
¡°I¡¯m fine. Long Chen, I¡¡± Shi Feng was ashamed of himself. If it weren¡¯t for him, Long Chen wouldn¡¯t have had to fight and almost lose his life today.
¡°Brothers don¡¯t need to say unnecessary words to each other. Since we¡¯re brothers, just heal your injuries and raise your cultivation base so you can take your revengeter.¡± Long Chen waved his hand.
¡°Revenge? Didn¡¯t Huang Chang die?¡± Fatty Yu was a bit puzzled.
Long Chen smiled and didn¡¯t say anything more. The others were all startled; what was he thinking of¡?
¡°Okay, just help me and Shi Feng back to our homes. We have to recuperate a bit. Honestly, I feel like even my bones are about to fall apart from exhaustion,¡±ughed Long Chen.
The others quickly went to support Long Chen. In truth, his injuries weren¡¯t very severe. The problem was that he was simply too exhausted and didn¡¯t have the slightest energy.
They slowly walked away from the za. In the shadows, a figure slowly appeared, watching Long Chen and them leave.
He muttered, ¡°I really didn¡¯t think Long Chen had grown to such an extent. Could it be that he had been hiding this since the start?¡±
That person was the fourth prince. Long Chen¡¯s disy today had also exceeded his expectations.
¡°If that¡¯s true, this kid truly does n deeply.¡± The fourth prince sighed.
¡°Master, should we eliminate him in the dark?¡±
Behind the fourth prince was a figure that stayed in the dark. If he hadn¡¯t spoken, others wouldn¡¯t even have noticed him.
¡°Let¡¯s not be hasty for now. Although he startled me today, his weak points were also disyed. No matter how powerful someone is, as long as they have weak points, there is nothing to be afraid of. There were a couple of unforeseen idents, but this isn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. If we can take advantage of this, we can definitely get an unimaginable profit.¡± A faint smile appeared on the fourth prince¡¯s lips.
Long Chen didn¡¯t return home that day. Instead, he told Shou Hou to send word to his estate that he was staying at the alchemist guild to study with grandmaster Yun Qi.
A lot had happened today, and he didn¡¯t want to confront his mother about it for now. Plus, his mother would be worried over his many wounds.
Long Chen went to Shi Feng¡¯s house. Shi Feng only had several broken bones; as for his internal injuries, they were no longer much of a problem after he had consumed Long Chen¡¯s medicinal pill.
He just had to rest a couple of days to fix those broken bones. Although Shi Feng had suffered a crushing defeat this time, it would definitely be helpful in letting him mature. Experts needed to be tempered.
Shi Feng¡¯s father set up a quiet room for Long Chen. By the time they arrived, Long Chen had recovered a bit of his energy.
The others all said their goodbyes. After that, Long Chen slowly took out a jade bottle from his storage ring that had a burning fluctuation inside.
¡°Hehe, I can¡¯t wait till tomorrow for this!¡±
Chapter 47: Refining the Beast Flame
Long Chen examined the jade bottle in his hand. Inside was a ball of liquid, yet it released a scorching heat.
He knew that this ball of warm liquid was the beast me. That was the essence of a Magical Beast¡¯s me.
Beast mes were exceptionally precious. A beast me was equivalent to a Magical Beast¡¯s life, and only second rank or higher Magical Beasts had the ability to nourish a beast me.
Long Chen used his divine sense to examine the beast me. The me element inside was extremely dense, and ording to Long Chen¡¯s memories, this beast me was probably from a peak second rank Magical Beast. It was no wonder Wei Cang¡¯s expression had been so extremely ugly when he had handed over the beast me.
His Pill me spread and enveloped his whole body. Opening the jade bottle, he swallowed the ball of beast me essence.
BOOM!
When Long Chen swallowed it, its original appearance of a ball of liquid changed. It went from being as gentle as a rabbit to a berserk beast.
A beast me was a Magical Beast¡¯s life essence. It contained the berserk nature of the Magical Beast, and for a normal pill cultivator to force it to surrender required a great deal of time to grind down the berserk willpower.
Only when that berserk willpower was ground down could you use your Pill me to join with the beast me and slowly make it give up its resistance, gradually refining it one step at a time.
But Long Chen wasn¡¯t the same. The battle today had made him disclose every single one of his hidden trump cards in order toe out on top. He needed some stronger ones to protect his life.
Xia Changfeng had lost his most trusted lieutenant, and Wei Cang had lost his beast me. They wouldn¡¯t take that lying down.
The only person who Long Chen could rely on in the imperial capital was grandmaster Yun Qi, but as the chairman of the alchemist guild, he couldn¡¯t interfere directly with the empire¡¯s struggles.
Unless Long Chenpletely gave himself to the guild and no longer participated in the empire¡¯s affairs, Yun Qi wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything. But after being repressed for so many years, how could Long Chen be willing to give up on finding out who was the viin hiding the shadows that had tormented him for so long?
And how could he possibly abandon Chu Yao? Chu Yao had also endured such bitter experiences, making him think of his own troubles. Was the person who had secretly schemed against Chu Yao also the one who had stolen his Spirit Root?
Before everything became clear, Long Chen couldn¡¯t give her or his own enmity up. He couldn¡¯t just swallow this hatred. So, his time was extremely limited, and he could only use the most violent and direct method to refine the beast me.
BOOM! Another explosion came from within Long Chen¡¯s body. After the beast me entered his stomach, it transformed into the shape of a vicious leopard¡¯s head that was fighting as hard as it could. A terrifyingly high temperature almost burnt Long Chen to a crisp.
When beast mes were extracted, they shouldn¡¯t be suppressed. Doing so would weaken them, causing their quality to decline.
Long Chen was now basically facing a peak second rank Magical Beast me¡¯s roasting. The berserk energy caused Long Chen to spit out blood.
As soon as that blood was spat out, it turned to vapor. Long Chen¡¯s body had already been turned into a burning stove.
¡°Hmph, a small second rank Magical Beast also dares to resist me?¡±
Long Chen snorted and his FengFu Star activated; the seven cyclones revolved wildly, and his entire me energy was like a giant that forcefully enveloped the ball of beast me.
That beast me now entered its most violent state, but Long Chen¡¯s Pill me ended up bing iparably firm and forceful with the support of the FengFu Star and therger seven cyclones.
In the beginning, that beast me was capable of dashing around, but in just a few breaths¡¯ time, it became just like a captured beast, and no matter how it struggled, it was useless.
After all, that ball of beast me didn¡¯t have any further energy as support. Under Long Chen¡¯s full effort, its violent aura was gradually eroded and it slowly calmed down.
Although Long Chen had already anticipated this result, he still sighed a breath of relief. His clothes were now drenched with sweat.
At this time, he felt as if his personality was split. Part of him was filled with contempt for this beast me; the other part of him greatly looked forward to it. One side was happy, while the other felt disdain.
Long Chen bitterlyughed. He knew that he had fused with a Pill God¡¯s soul, and naturally, that Pill God looked down on such a beast me.
But it was what he needed urgently. This beast me was the first step of his pill path.
Under Long Chen¡¯s continuous refining, the beast me gradually becamepletely calm, as calm as a ball of water. It was extremely docile now that it waspletely purified, its berserk nature all refined away.
An ordinary pill cultivator¡¯s first me was actually created by using the Dantian¡¯s spiritual qi to follow specific paths and be released outside as a high temperature.
Such a me was more urately a kind of hot gas. Only those who could form this gas had the potential to be pill cultivators.
Less than one in a thousand people could do this, so pill cultivators were extremely rare. But some people had a special Dantian that already possessed a trace of me energy. Through training, it could be condensed into Pill me. That was a true Pill me.
But such people weren¡¯t one in a thousand, but less than one in a million. So amongst pill cultivators, most of them were like Long Chen, and for them to advance, it required refining a beast me as a start.
Even so, beast mes were extremely precious and could not be measured in terms of just gold coins. Perhaps in all of Phoenix Cry, only Yun Qi possessed a beast me.
Slowly withdrawing his mes back into his body, Long Chen examined the ball of beast me that was now docile in his body and couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit embarrassed.
When most pill cultivators finished refining a beast me, they would let it merge into their Dantian and use the beast me as their only cultivation path.
But Long Chen couldn¡¯t do so. For one thing, the main source of his spiritual qi was not in his Dantian but his FengFu Star.
Furthermore, he cultivated in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, and this technique was extremely mysterious and powerful. It allowed him to fight people several levels above him. There was no way he could give it up to only follow pill cultivation.
¡°I got it!¡± Long Chen suddenly thought of an idea and ced the beast me into his Dantian, using the seven cyclones to slowly envelop it.
¡°Let¡¯s try it out.¡±
Taking a deep breath, he started a very audacious test. He used his cyclones to slowly absorb the beast me.
That beast me didn¡¯t have any resistance to the absorption. Following Long Chen¡¯s orders, it dissolved into the meridians all around his body.
This was merging the me:; dissolve the beast me, and send it throughout the entire body. This was the best way for him to be familiar with the beast me and gain greater control.
Since it had already beenpletely refined, this process urred extremely easily. Just like that, the beast me dispersed throughout his meridians.
This method of his had definitely never been used before. Even in his Pill God memories, there was no mention of such a thing.
After dissolving the beast me throughout his meridians, Long Chen was pleasantly surprised to find that his meridians had actually be a bit wider.
That additional widening could not be underestimated. Each meridian was like a canal. The wider the canal was, the greater the amount of spiritual qi it could support during battle, allowing you to explode with greater power.
The Dantian could be likened to ake while the meridians would be the channels. During a battle, you needed to draw theke¡¯s water throughout the channels before converging them back together. This was also how Battle Skills could be so explosive.
But the more powerful the Battle Skill, the greater the amount of energy required. If the channels¡¯ capacities were insufficient, they would burst. Without even harming your enemy, your meridians would break down.
That was also why he was still unable to use Split the Heavens despite having figured out how to. It was because his meridians weren¡¯t wide enough.
His test today almost made him jump with excitement. He now used his own meridians as carriers to nourish the beast me, the two of themplementing and assisting each other.
As he cultivated and became stronger, his meridians would be constantly erged by the beast me. Long Chen had truly profited this time.
Although other pill cultivators who brought the beast me to the Dantian would be able to cultivate quicker, that wasn¡¯t evenparable to the benefit of having wider meridians.
¡°Okay, I still have to see whether this is all good or bad.¡±
Taking a deep breath and praying inside, he slowly collected the beast me that had merged into his meridians back into his Dantian.
A me appeared in the middle of his palm. It had a light red color, and as soon as it appeared, it caused the air around it to twist.
He nodded pleased. It already had this much strength just after refining it. It truly was worthy of being a beast me; it was many times stronger than his original me.
Hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and slowly circted a small strand of spiritual qi from his FengFu Star to his cyclones.
The slowly revolving cyclones immediately grewrger and began to wildly spin.
¡°I wonder if this will work¡¡±
Long Chen was worriedly looking at the me in his hand. He was extremely nervous about this experiment.
But he still decided to carry it out. He sent those seven cyclones¡¯ energy to the ball of me that he had condensed.
Long Chen felt his body jolt as if it were about to explode. The ze in his hand that was originally one foot long immediately grew to ten feet.
¡°Crap!¡±
rmed, Long Chen hastily took back the me.
That eruption of his Pill me immediately scorched the roof.
pping his hand, he created a wind to put out the me. But although the me was extinguished, the entire roof was also sent flying.
Looking up at the three-sixty panoramic view he had of the starry sky, Long Chen felt the urge to cry. Almost as soon as he hade to a friend¡¯s house, he had ended up not burning the house down, but actually tearing it apart! That wasn¡¯t good¡
As expected, footsteps came running as the people from the Shi household were all rmed. Even someone deaf would have been awoken from the mor.
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s embarrassed face, Shi Feng¡¯s father covered up his shock and smiled. Without saying anything to him, he told someone to prepare a new room for him.
Long Chen wanted to say something, but Shi Feng¡¯s father just patted him on the shoulder andughed, ¡°You and Shi Feng are brothers, so just treat this ce like your own home.¡±
After a new room was arranged for him, Long Chen didn¡¯t dare further experiment with anything he didn¡¯t understand. Sitting on the bed, he started to use his cyclones to absorb the world¡¯s spiritual qi, sending it into his FengFu Star.
The next day before the sun had even arisen, Long Chen¡¯s body suddenly emitted an explosive sound.
Long Chen slowly opened his eyes happily. After his battle with Huang Chang, the next bottleneck had ckened, allowing him now to reach the eighth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.
He ate breakfast and examined Shi Feng. He saw that Shi Feng didn¡¯t have any serious seque and left two medicinal pills for him. After that, Long Chen left the Shi household and went directly to the alchemist guild.
Chapter 48: The Story of Yun Qi
BANG!
Xia Changfeng mmed his hand onto a table,pletely shattering it. His expression was extremely malevolent now as he ground his teeth.
¡°Long Chen, Long Chen, if I don¡¯t tear your body into a thousand pieces, then I wouldn¡¯t be Xia Changfeng!¡±
The Lantern Festival had been aplete and utter failure for him. He had lost a powerful subordinate in Huang Chang, making him incessantly furious.
It had turned outpletely different from what he had nned. Not only had he failed to kill Long Chen, but he had also lost Huang Chang, and Wei Cang had had to hand over his precious beast me.
Thispetition¡¯s greatest winner had actually been Long Chen. Xia Changfeng¡¯s lungs were about to burst from anger.
Within the same room as him was a young man in his twenties. Acting as if he didn¡¯t even notice Xia Changfeng¡¯s anger, he leisurely drank a cup of tea to the side.
Xia Changfeng¡¯s anger had been mostly vented after breaking the table, and he gradually calmed down. He respectfully said to that person, ¡°Brother Luo, Long Chen is too overbearing. I hope that brother Luo can help me relieve some of my anger.¡±
That white-robed man who had been called brother Luo lightly put down his cup and indifferently said, ¡°Changfeng, you really have disappointed me. Just a woman has caused you to lose your calm. That Long Chen is just an ant. You have to remember why we¡¯vee to Phoenix Cry this time. If such a small trivial matter ends up dying the major event, don¡¯t even think about escaping your punishment. Do you understand?¡±
After saying this, his expression sunk, showing how displeased he was with Xia Changfeng¡¯s performance.
Being reminded about their goal ining here, sweat rolled down Xia Changfeng¡¯s forehead.
¡°Many thanks for the reminder brother Luo. Changfeng understands his wrong.¡± Xia Changfeng hastily bowed.
Seeing Xia Changfeng¡¯s apology, the white-robed man smiled slightly. ¡°Before we aplish that matter, waiting patiently is the most important thing. Must you squabble over temporary losses? Moreover, we¡¯ve already spent many years preparing. In the end, that third princess will be yours. Think about it; seeing that kid Long Chen work bitterly for a long time just to still fail at the end, wouldn¡¯t that the most refreshing?¡±
Xia Changfeng¡¯s eyes brightened, and his anger was immediately relieved. ¡°It really is brother Luo whose vision is far-reaching. I am ashamed.¡±
¡°You mixed up your priorities. Although, to tell the truth, that Chu Yao really is as beautiful as a goddess and irresistible. Chu Yao¡¯s maidenhood will be yours. But once you obtain that beautiful woman, can you also let your big brother have a taste?¡± The white-robed man looked at Xia Changfeng and smiled.
Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression changed slightly, but he immediately covered it up and did his absolute best to be indifferent. He smiled, ¡°Changfeng doesn¡¯t really care about such a beauty. Once the matter is over, brother Luo will, of course, have his share.¡±
¡°Changfeng, you aren¡¯t feeling unwell inside, are you?¡± The white-robed man lifted his teacup and blew on it.
¡°How could that be possible? Brother Luo is from the sect, and this little brother is still hoping to have brother Luo¡¯s guidance in the future,¡± said Xia Changfeng hastily.
¡°Good, that is how a man should act. Take whates magnanimously. Otherwise, how will you ever aplish big things? Don¡¯t worry; as long as this matter is handled properly, you will definitely be able to be an outer disciple.¡±
¡°Then, many thanks brother Luo.¡± Xia Changfeng was ecstatic at that. That unhappiness he had felt just now vanished into smoke.
The white-robed man nodded. ¡°But you must handle this with utmost care. If even the slightest whiff of ites out, not only will the benefits fly away, but the punishment we¡¯ll get is not something either of us can survive.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry brother Luo, I¡¯ve been extremely focused on it and will definitely handle it properly.¡± Xia Changfeng patted his chest.
¡°Then, that¡¯s good. My identity can¡¯t be found out, so you can only call me out at the end. Proceed with the n faster and set up everything as early as possible. The less movements you make, the better. And it would be best for it to be handled without spilling any blood.¡±
¡°Most of the n has already been set in order. The entire Phoenix Cry Empire is basically within our control. There¡¯s just one big problem: the Border Suppression Marquis, Long Tianxiao. He still won¡¯t surrender and is unmoved by force or persuasion. It really is a headache. He controls almost a third of the forces within the empire, and if we can¡¯t resolve this problem, it might have an effect on our n,¡± said Xia Changfeng.
¡°Long Tianxiao? Long Chen? How are they rted?¡±
¡°They¡¯re father and son.¡±
¡°Idiot, he¡¯s the Border Suppression Marquis¡¯s son? Then just treat him as a kind of trump card, a trump card that controls the Border Suppression Marquis! And you actually wanted to kill him?¡± The white-robed man abruptly became furious.
Xia Changfeng was at a loss. He also knew that Long Chen could be a kind of trump card for them, but he was unable to bear Long Chen¡¯s flirtation with Chu Yao.
¡°You almost ruined things! Don¡¯t touch Long Chen for now. Go find all the information about him and his family for me.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
Xia Changfeng left. Once he left, the white-robed man coldly spat out, ¡°What an idiot.¡±
¡
When Long Chen arrived at the alchemist guild, the alchemists who previously were unfamiliar with him all respectfully bowed.
Long Chen¡¯s disy of alchemy yesterday had already bemon knowledge within the capital. Despite his opponent essentially cheating, he still managed to win aplete victory, awing them.
He was but sixteen years old when he acquired the rank of a Pill Apprentice, and now he was essentially a Pill Adept. His future would be limitless. Even if they couldn¡¯t curry favor with him, they still couldn¡¯t leave him a bad impression.
Long Chen was still a bit unused to his sudden rise. Making some inquiries, he learned that Yun Qi was currently in his own room, and he went straight there.
¡°Enter.¡±
Just as he was about to knock, Yun Qi¡¯s old voice rang out.
Entering, he saw Yun Qi sitting lotus-style. In front of him was a bowl of water, but the water was as ck as ink and even emitted a fishy odor.
¡°Wei Cang¡¯s Yin Fiend Palm has be much more powerful. But it is a heretical technique and is unable to be a great technique.¡± Yun Qi disdainfully looked at the bowl of ck water.
¡°Grandmaster, is your hand okay?¡±
Yun Qi had received Wei Cang¡¯s palm that day, and that palm had contained a Yin Fiend¡¯s poison.
¡°After a night¡¯s work, it¡¯s basically fine now,¡± smiled Yun Qi.
¡°It took a whole night?¡± Long Chen was startled. Grandmaster Yun Qi had profound skill and power. Even with his powerful Pill me, he had needed a whole night to purify it?
¡°You don¡¯t need to be surprised. Wei Cang¡¯s Yin Fiend Palm is extremely sinister and has a resistance to Pill me. Although it took a night to purify the poison, Wei Cang will require a whole month to once more umte that level of toxicity again, and that is why I said it was a heretic technique that couldn¡¯t be a great technique,¡± exined grandmaster Yun Qi.
Only now did Long Chen realize that Wei Cang probably had a limited aplishment with his Pill mepared to other Pill Masters, so he had cultivated a sinister poison Battle Skill like the Yin Fiend Palm, using it to restrain other Pill Masters.
For a Pill Master like him to not focus on his own body¡¯s me and instead go cultivate a poisonous palm, it was no wonder grandmaster Yun Qi turned his nose up at him.
¡°Your wounds have healed?¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi was slightly surprised.
¡°Hehe, this kid¡¯s skin is tough and the meat is thick. Just one night¡¯s rest and I¡¯m fine,¡±ughed Long Chen.
Grandmaster Yun Qi looked him up and down and sighed, ¡°Originally, I had hoped that you could focus wholeheartedly on pills. With your spiritual talent, you will be able to walk ever further than me on the pill path. But after yesterday¡¯s battle, I¡¯ve changed my thinking. A martial genius who can battle those in higher realms than him is too rare. It really is a mess.¡±
¡°Hehe, don¡¯t worry, grandmaster. I won¡¯t give up either path.¡± Long Chen truly was speaking the truth.
That was because his Nine Star Hegemon Body Art wasplemented by his aplishments in alchemy. Without his alchemy, he wouldn¡¯t have even been able to condense his FengFu Star, let alone cultivate.
As for the second star, third star, and so on, they all required medicinal pills to condense. Even just the simplest FengFu Star had used up countless medicinal pills.
ording to his memories, each following star¡¯s condensation would require an even greater amount of resources than thest. It was a number that was simply impossible to calcte.
Although he didn¡¯t know the exact number, he knew that to condense his FengFu Star, he had consumed hundreds of medicinal pills.
But although the cost was high, the benefits were also correspondingly high. Otherwise, a trash like him who didn¡¯t even have a Spirit Root couldn¡¯t even dream of standing out, let alone battle across realms.
¡°Dual pill martial cultivation isn¡¯tpletely unheard of, but usually, the gains are not worth the losses. Splitting your attention into two paths requires twice the effort for half the gains. Historically, dual pill martial cultivators all wasted their time and in the end, aplished nothing, filling them with regret in their final days.¡± Yun Qi shook his head.
Grandmaster Yun Qi wasn¡¯t wrong. No matter how talented you were, without one hundred percent of your effort focused, you would just end up living a mediocre life.
As for dual pill martial cultivation, it split your time and energy. Countless people had left bitter lessons toter generations, saying that it was a failed path they couldn¡¯t return from.
But Long Chen had disyed great talent whether it was in terms of the pill path or the martial path. His talent was absolutely shocking, and even Pill Master Yun Qi didn¡¯t feel that Long Chen should give up on the martial path.
If you chose pill cultivation, all your spiritual qi would be transformed to me, and you would only be able to use one attribute of Battle Skills.
Although they had great power, if they met someone with the subduing water-attribute Battle Skills, they basically could only run.
But Pill Masters were extremely respected, so why would they go battle with others? Others would all want to get a favor from them, so how many would offend them?
Although Pill Masters didn¡¯t necessarily have a frightening battle power, you couldn¡¯t forget that each Pill Master had an extremelyrge support. All sects needed to form good rtions with pill cultivators so they could obtain the medicinal pills they needed.
If a pill cultivator went out, even if he was only a Pill Apprentice, there would be countless powers fighting over that person.
That was why grandmaster Yun Qi had said ¡®it was a mess¡¯. But Long Chen wasn¡¯t at a loss at all; he had already nned to advance forward on both.
¡°Ie over today to thank grandmaster for his assistance yesterday.¡± Long Chen was actually very grateful for his assistance and support.
¡°Haha, that¡¯s just a small matter. You also let me relieve quite a bit of anger yesterday, so I should be the one thanking you.¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qiughed and gave Long Chen a praying mat. Letting him sit on it, he said, ¡°Do you want to know why Wei Cang and I are like fire and water to each other?¡±
Chapter 49: Pill Valley
¡°Do you want to know why Wei Cang and I are like fire and water?¡±
Long Chen was startled; he actually had wanted to know this; however, such a thing was too embarrassing to ask about. But now that Yun Qi had brought it up, it naturally evoked his curiosity.
Yun Qi began to tell him a story. From it, Long Chen learned that Yun Qi and Wei Cang had actually been fellow apprentices. Their master had taken three apprentices in his lifetime.
Other than Yun Qi and Wei Cang, there was a third, female apprentice. That person had been Yun Qi¡¯s wife, the woman in the drawing he had shown Long Chen who looked just like Xia Baichi.
Their master was a reclused expert, and only in his final years did he take three apprentices and pass down his refining techniques.
Those three had been extremely talented in refining pills, especially Yun Qi. He had been the best amongst the three, and their master did everything to teach him.
But jealousy was a constant part of human nature, especially for Wei Cang who had been born in a humble background. He had felt extremely bitter and cynical about his master¡¯s preferential treatment of Yun Qi.
He had always suppressed those feelings and never disyed them until there finally came a day when their master had reached an extremely great age and his life was about to end. He had called Yun Qi to his side and given him a tablet.
¡°Haha, my enmity with Wei Cang all stemmed from this tablet.¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed, and a bronze tablet appeared in his hand. The entire room became warmer when that tablet appeared.
Carved on the tablet was a delicate pill cauldron with thousands of rays of lighting from it, appearing extremely lifelike.
The other side had a scenic picture on it. There were mountains and water, and between them was a valley. Immortal qi hazily curled around its surroundings, and just looking at it caused Long Chen¡¯s mind to be much brighter.
¡°This is what my master left me. Because of it, us fellow apprentices ended up quarreling, and my loving wife was implicated and died.¡±
Yun Qi rubbed the tablet with aplicated expression. There was both a trace of regret and a trace of mourning.
Long Chen didn¡¯t know what to say. Eventually, Yun Qi put aside those feeling and continued.
Originally, their master had given it to Yun Qi secretly, and only the two of them had known of it. But somehow Wei Cang had learned of its existence and began to demand it from Yun Qi.
Yun Qi refused no matter how Wei Cang wheedled him. Seeing that his attempts produced no result and since he wasn¡¯t a match for Yun Qi, Wei Cang finally turned a sinister hand towards their junior apprentice-sister.
Their junior apprentice-sister had already expressed her affection for Yun Qi in secret, and Wei Cang had hatched a plot around her, using her life to extort Yun Qi.
But no one had expected that their usually gentle junior apprentice-sister was actually extremely resolute and upright inside. She had killed herself rather than to bring Yun Qi down.
This panicked Wei Cang; Yun Qi¡¯s killing intent had exploded, shaking the heavens. He had wanted to tear Wei Cang into a thousand pieces as revenge for his junior apprentice-sister.
But although Wei Cang was much weaker than Yun Qi when it came to refining pills, in terms ofbat ability, he was only slightly weaker.
Knowing he couldn¡¯t beat Yun Qi, Wei Cang had fled. Yun Qi had chased him for thousands of miles but Wei Cang still escaped in the end. Over the next thirty years, Yun Qi had never stopped inquiring news about Wei Cang, always wanting to get revenge for his junior apprentice-sister.
But Wei Cang was extremely crafty and never revealed himself. He even asionally requested experts to go kill Yun Qi, and over that time, Yun Qi was attacked several times and almost died.
Finally, Yun Qi awoke from his hatred. If it continued on like this, then he would not only be unable to get his revenge, he would even lose his life.
By using his powerful pill refining arts, he had entered the alchemist guild and be a guild chairman, temporarilyying down his vengeance.
But just a couple of years ago, Wei Cang had appeared again, and he had also be an alchemist guild¡¯s chairman.
Although over thirty years had passed, that hatred hadn¡¯t lessened in the slightest and the two of them had fought many times.
Wei Cang had honed the Yin Fiend Poison Palm over those years. In their battles, Yun Qi always came out slightly ahead, but he was never able to end him, so Wei Cang always managed to flee.
Now, the number of their battles had lessened in the past two years. That was because both of them had found out all the other person¡¯s trump cards, and so there was no need to waste energy. Unless they could find a way to finish the other off in one blow, neither wished to go do battle again.
¡°Are you curious about what this tablet is, for us fellow disciples to fight over it like this?¡± After narrating until here, grandmaster Yun Qi suddenly asked a question.
Long Chen nodded; he truly was curious. Just what was the background of this tablet for Wei Cang to be so crazy?
A mocking sneer appeared on grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s face. ¡°Wei Cang actually doesn¡¯t even know what it is. He originally thought that master had be biased and gave me a secret art. But in reality, it is just a normal tablet.¡±
¡°A normal tablet?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help being shocked. For just a tablet, he ended up causing the death of a fellow apprentice?
¡°Yes, it¡¯s just a normal tablet. It has no use, but at the time, mastermanded me to take care of it, so I couldn¡¯t refuse. Originally, I was actually starting to be unable to ignore Wei Cang¡¯s wheedling and was preparing to give it to him to take care of, but then he actually stretched his sinister hand at junior apprentice-sister¡¡± Anger and killing intent soared from him.
At the same time, Long Chen saw remorse and self-me on his face. For a useless piece of trash, he had implicated his lover. If that happened to Long Chen, then he might go crazy.
¡°This tablet is actually a proof of study.¡± Yun Qi took a deep breath and calmed himself.
¡°Proof of study?¡± Long Chen was confused.
¡°Yes, this is proof of study from the holynd of pill cultivation, Pill Valley. As for Pill Valley¡ Well, it¡¯s still a bit early to talk about it. You just have to know that it is viewed as the highest, holy existence in the world of pill cultivators. In an uncivilized ce like this, no one knows of it. I¡¯ve carried this thing for dozens of years. Now, I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± He handed the tablet to Long Chen.
¡°Grandmaster, this ispletely uneptable! This was given to you by your master, and this little one definitely can¡¯t ept it.¡± Long Chen hastily waved his hand.
¡°This wasn¡¯t left for me. Master wanted me to find someone to give it to. I¡¯m giving it to you, but even so, it might not have any use for you.¡± Yun Qi smiled slightly.
¡°What?¡±
¡°This tablet can be considered a way to step to fortune, but without power, you won¡¯t be able to take that step, let alone gain a fortune.¡± Yun Qi bitterly smiled. ¡°I told you just now that the Pill Valley is a holynd in the eyes of pill cultivators. How could it be so easy to enter? Even with this tablet, you need a matching strength to use it, or it will continue to be useless.¡±
¡°What kind of strength?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°If you be a Pill King before twenty, then you can use this tablet to register there.¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed.
Long Chen¡¯s mouth dropped. Pill King? Before twenty? Was he kidding?
A person like grandmaster Yun Qi had trained for almost a hundred years and had only reached the peak of Pill Master. Wasn¡¯t a twenty-year-old Pill King just a crazy joke?
No wonder grandmaster Yun Qi had had such a strange expression. For such a thing, he had his wife¡¯s life implicated. Anyone would go crazy.
Long Chen suddenly realized that Yun Qi had kept this a secret for so long, all in order to get revenge on Wei Cang.
He had kept this ¡®treasure¡¯ to constantly draw Wei Cang¡¯s attention. Wei Cang longed for it deeply since he didn¡¯t know the truth.
Xia Baichi had also appeared most likely just to obtain it. When Long Chen had then popped upter, Yun Qi¡¯s treatment of him had caused them to panic.
That was why they wanted Long Chen to die. They wanted Yun Qi to have no more sessors. If he, Wei Cang, was unable to obtain it, then let it die in Yun Qi¡¯s hands.
Long Chen didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry; what had it all been for? The heavens truly did y jokes on man.
¡°Although you are extremely talented, you were unfortunately born in an uncivilized ce like this. There are no powerful schools¡¯ inheritances for you here, and so the chance of you being able to use this tablet is low. But even a slight chance is something. When my master gave me this, he told me to find someone to pass it on to. One of his ancestors had managed to enter Pill Valley, and this tablet was a sign of their honor. That is why I hoped there would one daye a genius who could take this tablet and once more join Pill Valley. I¡¯ve invested so much time for master¡¯s inheritance. Now, I will pass it on to you. It is also a load off my shoulders.¡± Yun Qi had an extremelyplicated expression.
This tablet had changed the course of his entire life. But that change had been aplete tragedy.
Who was he supposed to hate? His master? Wei Cang? Himself? Or perhaps the heavens themselves?
Fate seemed to have been bored and decided to y a huge joke on him. However, he was unable tough at such a joke.
Long Chen reached out to take the tablet. Bing a Pill King before twenty¡ others might not have any hope of that, but Long Chen was not like others.
¡°Many thanks, grandmaster,¡± Long Chen said respectfully.
¡°If one of us should be thanking the other, then it should be me. By handing this tablet to you, I havepleted my master¡¯s task and I can finally be free to do a couple of things.¡± Yun Qi smiled slightly.
Long Chen was rmed. ¡°Grandmaster¡ you¡.¡±
As if seeing through what Long Chen was thinking, Yun Qiughed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not thinking anything bad. I won¡¯t go sacrificing myself to bring down Wei Cang. Wouldn¡¯t that mean that I lost?¡±
That relieved Long Chen. If after receiving the tablet from him, Yun Qi decided to go fight Wei Cang in a battle of mutual destruction, he definitely would feel horrible about it.
If a great person like Yun Qi ended up dying along with that old pervert, it would be an absolute shame, like using a porcin vase to smash a rat.
¡°Child, I can¡¯t teach you much at all. But you are the person I have the greatest hope for. You must work hard.¡± Although Yun Qi didn¡¯t want to go on and on, he couldn¡¯t help nagging him a bit more.
If Long Chen could enter the Pill Valley, in terms of pill cultivation, it would be like ascending to be an immortal.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, grandmaster. This disciple will continue working his hardest.¡±
Although grandmaster Yun Qi hadn¡¯t taken Long Chen in as his apprentice, that was only because he didn¡¯t want to draw any attention to Long Chen. After all, Wei Cang was watching him like a tiger watches his prey.
However, Long Chen¡¯s current state of affairs with Wei Cang was something everyone knew about. He had beaten his apprentice and expressed his thoughts about the man.
Before letting him leave, grandmaster Yun Qi warned Long Chen once more to be cautious. If the enemy was pressed too hard, then they might make a desperate move. Long Chen nodded his assent.
He went directly home. Now, he had be much more powerful so he was confident in being able to walk through the city without being killed.
But when he turned around the corner and saw the gate to his home, his eyes opened widely.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±
Chapter 50: Busy as a Marketplace
Turning the corner, Long Chen stopped, stunned at what he was seeing.
The entrance to his noble estate, which used to be always deserted, now had a long queue in front of it; all of them were married women in their forties or fifties.
He looked around and had to confirm again that this was his house. Only then did he walk over.
At this time, Bao-er wasughing happily as she received them. ¡°Don¡¯t worry everyone, take it slow. Register the name, status, measurements, a picture, and any other particrs clearly for me.¡±
¡°Miss, can you tell us what the Madam likes in a daughter-inw?¡± one of the wives smiled charmingly.
¡°Hehe, as long as they conduct themselves properly and aren¡¯t ugly, then anything is fine. But the Madam did say she liked those with big hips the best. She said that the wider the hips, the easier she¡¯ll give birth. Let me tell you, my Madam has actually long since desired to hold a grandson¡ Haha, young master, you¡¯ve returned.¡± Bao-er was enthusiastically talking to them when she suddenly saw the gloomy Long Chen.
¡°Greetings young master.¡± Those wives all quickly greeted him.
Long Chen nodded to them and then pulled Bao-er into the courtyard. Pointing to the wives, he angrily whispered, ¡°What are you doing?¡±
¡°Young master, yesterday you boldly defeated an opponent from the Grand Xia and basically obtained the title of number one junior warrior in the Phoenix Cry capital. You¡¯ve be an idol for countless maidens, and they¡¯re all here to make familial ties.¡± Bao-er covered up her smile.
¡°I knew you would make trouble. Where¡¯s mom?¡±
¡°Madam is inside. Aiya, I actually forgot, she told me she wanted to see you as soon as you came home.¡± Bao-er pped her forehead.
¡°Good, I¡¯ll go right now. You, hurry up and find a way to get rid of them. What kind of ce is this? This isn¡¯t a marketce.¡± Long Chen wasn¡¯t in a good mood.
¡°Hehe, I can¡¯t do that. Madam sent me to receive all of them. I better go.¡±
Who would have thought that the always cute and obedient Bao-er would actually not listen to Long Chen and run back to those wives with delight?
Long Chen rolled his eyes and went to see his mother. His mind was constantly spinning along the way, trying to find a way to describe the events that had urred yesterday without making his mother worried.
But as soon as he entered her room, before he could even say anything, his mother angrily said, ¡°This annoying kid, hurry up and enter.¡±
Ah, perhaps there was no way for him to exin himself. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn¡¯te up with a good excuse.
But what he had not expected was for his mother to pull him over to a table covered in pictures of beautiful women.
¡°Chen-er, look, these neendies were carefully selected by me out of over a hundred. Whether it is in terms of beauty, etiquette, or status, they are all very suitable for you. Quickly look, do any attract your interest?¡±
Seeing that Long Chen was in a daze, Mrs. Long urged, ¡°What are you waiting for? Hurry up and check them out.¡±
¡°Uh¡ okay, I¡¯ll look.¡±
Only now did Long Chen realize that his mother had alreadypletely forgotten the danger he had been in yesterday.
But when he looked at those portraits, Long Chen¡¯s expression became a bit strange.
Mrs. Long saidcently, ¡°Look at how beautiful they are Chen-er. Especially their waists and hips; they definitely are suited for birthing. If you marry a couple of them, I¡¯m sure there¡¯ll definitely be some babies growing in just a few months.¡±
Mrs. Long was unable to contain her own joy. It seemed as if she could already see the scene of herself holding a bunch of her grandchildren.
A bead of sweat rolled down Long Chen¡¯s face, dripping onto the portraits. It ended upnding on a girls¡¯ buttocks, following along the ink and making that part seem evenrger¡
¡°Mom, I feel like this should-¡± Long Chen started to make an excuse.
¡°Stop dying. Before, your mom thought you wouldn¡¯t be able to find a suitable wife, and now that so many candidates havee today, don¡¯t you dare waste this chance. I won¡¯t make it hard for you. Pick out three for me today andter on, you can pick some more. In any case, if you don¡¯t choose at least ten of them, don¡¯t even think of going away.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s face turned green. Was this supposed to be like breeding livestock? But looking at how strict she was, it seemed she was extremely serious about this matter.
Just as he was at a loss on how to reply, a rough voice rang out. ¡°Brother Long.¡±
A huge figure rushed in and embraced Long Chen. ¡°Brother Long, I heard you fought with someone yesterday. Why didn¡¯t you bring me?¡±
Long Chen saw that it was Wilde who had rushed in. Inside, he cheered; this brother of his had trulye at the perfect time.
¡°Mom, I still have some stuff to do and have to talk to Wilde. You just slowly do some selections. Once you finish those, I¡¯lle to look again.¡±
¡°Kid, you-¡±
Just as she was beginning to speak, Long Chen had already quickly pulled Wilde far away.
¡°That rascal.¡±
She quietly scolded, but when she turned back to look at the portraits of those ample girls, she quickly became gratified.
¡°Brother Long, did you get injured yesterday?¡± Wilde asked Long Chen in concern.
¡°No, I¡¯m fine. Your brother Long will now have to fight more and more. Speaking of which, have you learned how to use that technique of using spiritual qi that I taught you?¡± asked Long Chen.
He had taught Wilde how to circte his spiritual qi throughout his meridians. But hisprehension skills were extremely low.
If it weren¡¯t for how powerful Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength was and that he could teach him by actually guiding him from within, it would have been impossible for anyone to teach him.
When Long Chen brought up cultivation, Wilde became extremely proud. ¡°Brother Long, I can already use that technique you taught me.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Long Chen was delighted.
Long Chen brought Wilde to an empty area behind the estate. Pointing towards a stone the rough size of a human, he said, ¡°Crush this just with the wind generated from your fist.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Wilde agreed and punched out a single fist.
Wind rushed over the stone, causing it to tremble slightly.
¡°I didn¡¯t do it right this time. Again.¡± Wilde was a bit embarrassed.
Another fist shot out, and the wind still only caused the stone to tremble slightly.
¡°Strange. Again!¡±
He tried three more times, but the stone remained the same as ever. Long Chen¡¯s face darkened.
¡°Wilde, this is what you¡¯ve learned?¡±
¡°Yes. Normally, I can seed in three out of ten punches. It¡¯s just not working today¡¡± Wilde was distressed.
Hearing that, Long Chen almost stumbled. When fighting with others, could you really rely on chance?
Long Chen felt a headache. Wilde was basically a treasure trove, but the difficulty in unlocking that treasure trove was incredibly great.
cing a hand on Wilde¡¯s back, Long Chen said, ¡°Try again.¡±
¡°Okay.¡±
Wilde once more punched out, but this time, there was not the least bit of energy behind it.
¡°Before you punch, you have to prepare! First, urge your Dantian into motion, and then punch out. Remember that it is the Dantian that drives the fist, and not the fist that urges the Dantian.¡±
While he was in contact with Wilde¡¯s body, he could sense that Wilde was first punching out and then using his meridians in an attempt to spur the Dantian.
That kind of technique could work, but when it came to Wilde, it would be a matter of luck. Experienced cultivators would have no problem doing it like that, but it would be too difficult for Wilde to do that.
¡°Try again. Don¡¯t rush your punch. Circte your Dantian. Okay, your Dantian is operating. Punch.¡±
BOOM!
A huge boom rang out and that man-sized stone was crushed intoplete rubble.
¡°Brother Long, I seeded!¡± happily shouted Wilde.
Long Chen nodded. He appeared calm on the outside, but inside, he was filled with endless shock. Wilde had once more be much stronger.
Thatst punch had had enough power to crush thete stage Blood Condensation Huang Chang.
Although he wouldn¡¯t be able topare to Huang Chang once he used his beast transformation, Wilde was probably even better than him in terms of power. However, his movements had far too many ws.
But at this point, he had only managed to use a strand of energy from his Dantian and wasn¡¯t able to use his full power. That meant Wilde¡¯s potential was truly frightening.
¡°Good, now do it again,¡± encouraged Long Chen.
Wilde once more punched out, but this fist was empty like his previous ones.
For a moment, it was just Long Chen looking at Wilde, and Wilde looking at Long Chen. Long Chen waspletely silent for over ten minutes.
Finally, Wilde patted his head. ¡°Brother Long, is it that I¡¯m too dumb?¡±
¡°I really want to tell you that you¡¯re not dumb, but since I hear liars will be struck by lightning, I don¡¯t dare say it.¡± Long Chen looked at the sky worriedly.
¡°Then, what should I do?¡± Wilde waspletely dejected.
¡°From tomorrow onwards, you won¡¯t stay at the estate. Go back to the pasture.¡±
¡°Brother Long¡ do you not want me anymore?¡± Wilde waspletely startled and filled with fright.
Long Chenughed involuntarily, patting Wilde¡¯s thick shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t joke around. We¡¯re life and death brothers.¡±
¡°Then, why do you want me to go to the pasture?¡±
¡°From tomorrow onwards, all your food will have to be handled by yourself. If you want beef, then you have to kill the cow yourself. However, the condition is that you must use your attack containing spiritual qi to kill the cow. Otherwise, you¡¯ll just have to live with an empty stomach. Go.¡±
Wilde promised him and walked away. Watching Wilde¡¯s back as he left, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit helpless.
Wilde¡¯sprehension skill was too worrying. Sometimes, he worried about whether he should keep Wilde by his side. With his intelligence, he really was a bit too dangerous.
He was an honest person, honest to the point where his head couldn¡¯t evenprehend tricks. That was also why he would never goof off on what Long Chen told him to do.
Long Chen¡¯s instructions were to make him ustomed to using spiritual qi. Otherwise, when he fought with others, each of his attacks would only have a chance of working. That was no different than sending him to death.
In any case, Wilde¡¯s appetite was growing every day, and each day, he ate over a hundred cows. That was enough for him to train.
If he unlocked his full power and became ustomed to using his spiritual qi, Wilde¡¯s strength would reach a level that would terrify even Long Chen himself.
After properly arranging Wilde¡¯s matters, Long Chen returned to his own room. On the way, he saw that line of wives and the happily busy Bao-er. Sweat once more began to roll off his forehead.
He sent instructions that he was entering seclusion and not to bother him unless something huge happened.
He was at the eighth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation. One more advancement would let him reach the ninth Heavenstage, and from there, he could directly step into Blood Condensation.
Only once he reached the Blood Condensation realm could he truly be able to guarantee his survival. He was extremely irritated that nothing was under his control.
¡°Just wait. Time for me to see the true faces of the people who have constantly been scheming against me.¡±
Chapter 51: Tenth Level of Qi Condensation
Ever since the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, knowledge of Long Chen and Huang Chang¡¯s peak battle had spread in every direction. Long Chen¡¯s fame had spread not only throughout the capital but even throughout the entire empire. There was practically not a single person that didn¡¯t know his name.
This was especially true of the younger generation. Long Chen was their idol. Whenever his name was brought up, they would be worshipful and envious.
Of course, in any world, there was nock of geniuses. And of course, geniuses didn¡¯t all have to be on the martial path.
You could also gain fame in other specialties. Now, just over ten days had passed since Long Chen¡¯s battle. However, in just these few short days, there had been a genius who had used Long Chen to make a crazy profit of millions of gold coins.
That person was originally just a master painter. Although such a person wouldn¡¯t be in a state of poverty within the capital, such a profession could not be considered high level. The ie was rather meager.
But after that person had seen Long Chen¡¯s battle, he had immediately returned home and spent three days and three nights without pause to draw over ten refined drawings.
The person in those drawings was precisely Long Chen. Originally, Long Chen was handsome enough and had an easy-going confidence. Following that master painter¡¯s backgrounds and lighting exaggerations, he had been transformed to practically look like a divinity.
The scenes of his pill battle and subsequent fight had been especially exaggerated by him to appear extremely vivid and exciting.
After he drew those, he went directly to thergest printing workshop. After that, an extremely impressive drawing of Long Chen became avable in the capital, and those young men and women went crazy for it.
Thousands of drawings were immediately sold out. Some people who hadn¡¯t managed to snatch one had already begun to stalk the printing workshop. The entire staff of hundreds of people worked incessantly, but that crowd of people waiting only grewrger.
The printer workshop actually had to hire more people as time went on, and only after a week had passed did they just manage to satisfy most of the demand.
But if that had been all, then that master painter would have only counted as an average businessman. He had a brilliant n, and after that first painting had been sold off, he added another.
This new drawing was even more refined than the first. What it pictured was even more impressive, and it was printed on an extremely expensive animal hide paper. That meant it could survive for hundreds of years without fading. It had been advertised poprly as being a limited edition collector¡¯s item.
Of course, this limited edition collector¡¯s drawing was sold at a considerable price. But countless youngsters came to buy it, and the sales were positively shocking.
But what no one expected was that after this limited collector¡¯s painting had sold enough, a graphic novel called the Phoenix Cry Divine Battle silently appeared on the marketce.
Thatic was a record of that day¡¯s scenes which contained the third princess¡¯s confession, Xia Baichi¡¯s pill battle, Huang Chang infuriating Long Chen, and Long Chen¡¯s bloody battle with Huang Chang. That entire story had been expressed through pictures perfectly.
From the pictures to the graphic novel, that painter and the workshop basically emptied the pockets of all the youngsters in the capital.
Over just a few weeks, they had profited at least millions of gold coins. That originally poor painter immediately became a celebrity within the capital. Other than Long Chen, he was probably the most famous person in the capital now.
Long Chen was not aware of this matter along with countless other things that had urred in the capital. After a couple of weeks, Long Chen had already broken through to the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation a few days ago.
It went without saying that this fast speed was absolutely rted to that life and death battle he had had with Huang Chang.
Only by experiencing life and death trials and only by facing the pressure that came with them could you make your Dao-heart steadier and firmer. And only then would your cultivation speed increase without causing your cultivation base to be unsteady.
Currently, Long Chen was pushing his nine cyclones to the max in order to absorb the world¡¯s spiritual qi into his FengFu Star. As long as his FengFu Star became maxed out on energy, he would be able to draw out Blood Qi and enter the Blood Condensation realm.
The so-called Blood Condensation realm was named so due to the intention of condensing the blood and qi. Blood was one of the most important parts of the body. Only by reaching the Blood Condensation realm could you count as a true martial artist.
You condensed blood by circting real qi to purify your blood. All the various foods that people often ate caused impurities to form within the body. Therefore, the blood needed to be refined and condensed in order to expel those impurities, letting your strength be greater.
But before entering the Blood Condensation realm, you had to reach the peak of the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation. Only bypressing the spiritual qi in your body to a certain level could your qi transform the blood. This gave birth to something knownmonly as Blood Qi.
Once blood and qibined, the energy that was released was inconceivable. At the same time, it was the most important foundational level for cultivators.
BOOM!
Currently, Long Chen¡¯s FengFu Star was starting to surge, a sign that he was about to enter the Blood Condensation realm. Long Chen couldn¡¯t help rejoicing, but he hastily stabilized his emotions and slowly circted his cyclones, steadily absorbing energy.
This was an extremely critical moment. There could be no mistakes. The slightest error would cause a bacsh that would injure him, and it was very likely that some of those nine cyclones he had managed to form would break apart, causing his realm to fall.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
His FengFu Star repeatedly boomed. His spiritual qi was continuously beingpressed. Having reached this critical moment, Long Chen didn¡¯t dare to be the slightest bit careless. All his attention waspletely focused.
But what Long Chen had not expected was that these explosive sounds continued for six whole hours, yet nothing changed within his body.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±
He waspletely astonished by this. This situation waspletely different from what was recorded in the literature.
It was definitely not supposed to be this difficult. Within the Battle Skill Pavilion, he had paged through several records regarding cultivation. When most people tried attacking the Blood Condensation realm, there was usually a single pair of ¡®shackles¡¯ that prevented them. But as long as they had enough spiritual qi, they would be able to break those shackles and advance to Blood Condensation.
There were also some people with two or even three shackles that they had to break out of before entering the Blood Condensation realm. It was said that the more shackles that had to be broken when advancing, the greater potential that person would have.
Long Chen had broken through nine shackles right at the beginning and went mad with joy, thinking he must be an absolutely peerless talent. But as he broke more and more shackles, Long Chen¡¯s delight turned into shock.
He didn¡¯t even know how many shackles he had broken through after these six hours. He didn¡¯t count precisely, but it was definitely a number in the hundreds.
Thispletely toppledmon sense. In those recordings he had read, the maximum number had only been three.
It had already been six hours. It would be a lie to say that he wasn¡¯t afraid now. Those shackles kepting endlessly.
¡°I don¡¯t believe I won¡¯t ovee you!¡±
Long Chen ground his teeth. Since it had already reached this point, giving up halfway would only hurt his confidence in himself. In addition, the next time he tried breaking through would at least be twice as difficult.
He could only force himself to continue. After a full day and night had passed, Long Chen had practically gone insane.
Who knew how many shackles he had broken through. He was already numb now. Even with his perseverance, he started to feel like giving up.
He had even started to form some doubts about the FengFu Star. Was it possible that the FengFu Star couldn¡¯t be treated like a true substitute for a Dantian?
BOOM!
While Long Chen¡¯s mind was going crazy, his FengFu Star suddenly blossomed with light. Could it be that he had finally seeded?
Following that explosion, his Dantian surged. Long Chen watched dumbstruck as another cyclone slowly appeared beside the other nine. He had actually formed a tenth cyclone!
¡°What kind of joke is this?¡±
Long Chen couldn¡¯t believe this. Couldn¡¯t there only be nine cyclones in total, representing the nine Heavenstages of Qi Condensation? What was going on now?
After this full day¡¯s torment without breaking through to Blood Condensation, he had actually ended up forming a tenth cyclone.
There were nine Heavenstages to Qi Condensation. This was something that had been true since forever. Even amongst the countless freaks of the cultivation world, there had never been anyone who had heard of condensing ten cyclones.
Anyone who had this happen to them would be bbergasted. Long Chen was no exception. He looked foolishly upon those ten cyclones in his body and was unable to say anything.
Long Chen suddenly noticed that after the tenth cyclone appeared, his other cyclones all started to gradually growrger. Although it was extremely slow, they were definitely expanding.
Whatever size the cyclone formed at the beginning was supposed to be its set size forever. That was also justmon knowledge.
¡°Could it be because of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art?¡±
Long Chen could only attribute these anomalies to the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Now that he had cultivated in that technique, his entire cultivation path had deviated from the norm.
He watched them as they slowly doubled in size over the course of less than an hour. They were now around a foot wide.
Although he didn¡¯t know what was causing this, Long Chen knew that therger the size of his cyclones was, the more beneficial it would be to him.
Therger they were, the faster he could absorb heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi. He wouldn¡¯t have to use up so much energy during a battle, and his recovery speed would be much greater.
But he was still scared by what had happened just now. Originally, something celebratory should have happened today, but instead, he was rmed. The Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was just too strange.
At just the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, he could jump a whole major realm plus its minor realms to fight Huang Chang who was at the seventh Heavenstage of Blood Condensation. That was already an extremely frightening battle strength.
It seemed as if the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was like an endless treasure house. What he had found out about it so far was just the tip of the iceberg. And yet, just that tip contained delights and horrors. Even Long Chen himself had both high expectations and fear for his future. It was a very contradictory sensation.
The fact that he had ten cyclones definitely could not be revealed for the fear of his life. Such a defiant technique was something everyone would be jealous of. When he fought in the future, he definitely couldn¡¯t use such explosive techniques likest time and reveal the ten cyclones.
But what Long Chen was most unsure of was just how many cyclones could be formed in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art¡¯s Qi Condensation realm.
On one hand, it was possible to say that the more cyclones he had, the better. But if he didn¡¯t advance to the next realm, then hisbat abilities wouldn¡¯t truly progress. Even if you had ten thousand cows, they wouldn¡¯t be able to beat a single tiger.
The most rming thing was how much danger he was in. He couldn¡¯t even tell who his enemies were at this time. It was unknown just when they would pop out and try to take his life. He had to quickly raise his cultivation base.
Looking at the cyclones within his body that were still slowly growing, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Perhaps, this was what it meant to have mixed feelings.
Long Chen no longer wanted to continue cultivating today. In any case, the current mood he was in was no longer suitable for cultivating. He had to adjust himself.
Suddenly, his stomach let out a loud rumble. Only now did he realize he hadn¡¯t eaten anything today.
Opening his door, he took in a breath of fresh air. Noticing it was noon, he shouted for Bao-er to prepare lunch for him.
He was a bit afraid to see his mom at this time, so he went about it sneakily. Bao-er appeared to have figured that out andughed, bringing him lunch.
He ate a te of white cut chicken, a te of fish, two vegetable dishes, and a bowl of soup. It was both simple and rich.
After finishing, he felt his mood improve by quite a bit. His irritation with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art also had decreased greatly.
¡°Young master, someone¡¯s looking for you.¡±
¡°Who is it?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°I don¡¯t know. You should go take a look. You looked like you were eating happily so I didn¡¯t disturb you,¡±ughed Bao-er.
Long Chen alsoughed. Now that the Long family was richer and happier, Bao-er had started to be a bit naughty. She even dared to give guests the cold shoulder.
Arriving at the guest room, Long Chen was absolutely shocked to see that this person hade to find him.
Chapter 52: Trapped Birds
¡°Seventh prince.¡±
Long Chen really never would have imagined that the seventh prince woulde to find him like this. They had never had any further interactions after that disagreeable moment in the Imperial College.
But since the seventh prince was Chu Yao¡¯s true flesh and blood younger brother, Long Chen also felt a bit apologetic about what had happenedst time. In the future, he would be his brother-inw.
¡°Brother Long, you should call me Chu Feng,¡± said the seventh prince hastily and respectfully. He actedpletely different from his old bossy and domineering self.
Long Chen had learned from Chu Yao that Chu Feng wasn¡¯t actually a bad person and only did his best to act like an arrogant fool in order to protect himself. It was all to keep himself alive.
¡°I¡¯m sorry aboutst time.¡± Long Chen nodded and patted Chu Feng on the shoulders.
¡°It wasn¡¯t brother Long¡¯s fault.¡± Chu Feng was very modest and unpretentious.
Pouring two cups of tea, Long Chen handed one cup to Chu Feng and asked, ¡°What are you here for?¡±
This time, Chu Feng wasn¡¯t wearing his imperial clothing, but just some embroidered robes simr to what a noble son would wear.
¡°Brother Long¡ this¡¡± Chu Feng opened his mouth a couple of times but couldn¡¯t say what he wanted.
¡°Just say it.¡±
Chu Feng hesitated and took a deep breath. ¡°The Empress Dowager announced today that she is marrying my big sister to Xia Changfeng. They set the date for the first of October.¡±
Although Long Chen was already prepared to hear this news, his blood surged and the teacup in his hand shattered, the tea sttering over him.
Not only was killing intent rumbling within his eyes, but the entire room immediately turned icy cold. Chu Feng couldn¡¯t help but to shiver.
The current Long Chen looked just like an infuriated savage beast. It was as if he might explode and kill someone at any moment. His killing intent was a hundred times stronger than it had been back then in the Imperial College.
¡°Are you sure?¡± Long Chen ground his teeth.
Chu Feng nodded. It was difficult for him to even speak under Long Chen¡¯s pressure.
Long Chen was iparably enraged. He had already promised Chu Yao in front of everyone that she was his woman.
He hadn¡¯t used his rtionship with grandmaster Yun Qi to force the proposal with Chu Yao, which could be counted as giving enough face to the Empress Dowager. He had given her an easy way out of a difficult situation since he hadn¡¯t wanted to make it too embarrassing for her.
But she actuallypletely disregarded his good intentions. She alsopletely ignored grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s face and married off Chu Yao to Xia Changfeng without hesitation.
¡°Brother Long, my big sister has lived a life of hardship and loneliness. She has always conducted herself properly, but I know about her secret situation. If she is married to Xia Changfeng, she will definitely die. So, brother Long, I¡¯m begging you to save my big sister.¡± Chu Feng actually started to tear up, and after he said this, he slowly knelt down in front of Long Chen.
¡°Hey, get up already.¡± Long Chen pulled Chu Feng up. ¡°Since I already made a promise, then even in death, I will keep it. Don¡¯t worry.¡±
Chu Feng was extremely moved to hear that. Having lived his whole life in the imperial pce, trust was the only thing he had never had.
¡°Chu Yao hasn¡¯t left the pce in a while. Is she under house arrest?¡± asked Long Chen.
Chu Feng nodded. ¡°Yes. Ever since she returnedst time, she¡¯s been confined within the pce. The Empress Dowager refuses to let her take a single step out.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s face was ashen. It seemed the Empress Dowager didn¡¯t give a crap about grandmaster Yun Qi. That old bitch better wait for him.
¡°Can you go see her?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°I can. The Empress Dowager only forbid her to leave, but she can still see others. As her brother, they don¡¯t dare block me,¡± answered Chu Feng.
¡°Then, that¡¯s good. There¡¯s still a month until October. There¡¯s enough time. The Huayun Pavilion¡¯s yearly auction will be three days from now. I¡¯ll do my best to get the Starfusing Grass to resolve the problem in her body. Tell her to wait for me. Don¡¯t let her do anything stupid.¡±
Chu Feng was overjoyed. He thanked and apologized to Long Chen a thousand times, something Long Chen waspletely unused to.
¡°Chu Feng, let me see your Dantian.¡±
Long Chen was a bit suspicious and reached out his hand towards Chu Feng¡¯s shoulder. He slowly sent his spiritual qi into his Dantian.
As expected, something strange was present!
Although Chu Feng¡¯s Dantian hadn¡¯t been locked down like Chu Yao¡¯s, there was a strange entity on the Spiritual Root of his Dantian.
It was something so small that it wasn¡¯t even visible by the naked eye. If Long Chen hadn¡¯t been suspicious, then he might have missed it.
¡°Try to hold on.¡±
Long Chen increased the spiritual qi he sent into Chu Feng¡¯s body. Chu Feng felt his stomach hurt for a moment and a small spurt of blood came from it. A small feathered needle appeared in Long Chen¡¯s hand.
¡°The Underworld Feather Pin. How vicious.¡±
This Underworld Feather Pin was actually used to treat a kind of Yang poison. Inside was a Yin poison that could relieve the Yang poison. Both poisons would neutralize each other to cure someone.
But when it was ced into a healthy person¡¯s Dantian, the Dantian¡¯s Spirit Root would be corroded by its Yin poison, making it impossible to cultivate.
Once more examining Chu Feng¡¯s Dantian, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but sigh. After being corroded for so long by the Yin poison, Chu Feng¡¯s Spirit Root had already declined. Otherwise, his talent would not be that much inferior to Chu Yao¡¯s.
¡°I¡¯ve removed this poisonous needle from your body now. That means, you¡¯ll be able to cultivate from now on, but you must keep it secret. Here are a few aura concealing pills. Take one every seven days and no one will notice anything.¡± Long Chen handed Chu Feng a jade bottle.
When Long Chen had free time, he would refine some other random medicinal pills. Such pills had a great assistance to the current him.
But Long Chen couldn¡¯t bear to tell Chu Feng that his Spirit Root had been severely corroded. The Blood Condensation realm would probably be his peak.
At the same time as he felt this regret, he also became even more disgusted with the imperial household who were just tigers in human clothing.
¡°I can cultivate now?¡± Chu Feng couldn¡¯t believe this. He had always thought that he was innately crippled. He was wildly overjoyed.
Long Chen could understand this kind of mood. He had also been someone given the name of a cripple who had managed to gain an opportunity.
¡°Yup. But remember to hide it from everyone,¡± warned Long Chen. Although he knew that he and Chu Yao were already extremely careful, he still wanted to make sure there were no blunders.
After sending off Chu Feng, Long Chen sunk into his own thoughts. Chu Yao and Chu Feng¡¯s situation had reminded him of his own predicament.
However, he was in an even more tragic situation. His Spirit Root, Spirit Bone, and Spirit Blood had all been stolen away. Although the method wasn¡¯t the same, hadn¡¯t he also been plotted against as well?
His own father was a peak expert of the Phoenix Cry Empire. Because of his father, he had ended up crippled.
Last time, when he had chatted with Chu Yao she had told him a name ¨C Marquis Ying.
The three great experts of the Phoenix Cry Empire were Marquis Ying, Marquis Wu, and Long Chen¡¯s father the Border Suppression Marquis. They were called Phoenix Cry¡¯s three great pirs.[1]
The Border Suppression Marquis guarded against the barbarian tribes of the wild border. Marquis Wu guarded the southern border. Only Marquis Ying always stayed within the capital.
ording to Chu Yao, all the princes and princesses were taught martial arts by Marquis Ying. Now, Long Chen felt that this Marquis Ying might actually be a very big problem.
That was because Chu Yao¡¯s situation was something that an outsider like him had noticed the very first time they had exchanged blows. As a peak expert of the Phoenix Cry Empire, how could Marquis Ying have failed to notice?
Since he must have known and hadn¡¯t said anything, it was likely that he had participated in it. In fact, perhaps he had been the one to do it.
If it had been him who had ced those foreign spiritual energy seeds inside Chu Yao, then was it possible that Marquis Ying had also been the one to steal his cultivation ability? Why would he do that? Was it just to ruin them? Or was there a bigger reason?
All these questions spun in Long Chen¡¯s head, giving him a splitting headache. But there was no way for him to figure it out.
¡°Whatever. No matter how cunning a fox is, they¡¯ll have to reveal their tail at some point. What I need is to be a true hunter so that when they do reveal themselves, it won¡¯t be me who is the prey.¡±
Aftering to this conclusion, Long Chen no longer focused on those questions. Returning to his room without even daring to go over to where his mother was, he directly entered seclusion.
But as soon as he began to circte his cyclones, he jumped up, almost knocking into the ceiling.
¡°This is too ridiculous.¡±
Long Chen looked into his Dantian. His ten cyclones had already stopped growing now, but each cyclone had already reached a terrifying circumference of a whole meter. It was truly shocking.
They were on apletely different sizepared to the previous cyclones. Under their slow cirction, heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi flooded into his FengFu Star. This speed was at least a hundred times greater than before.
He was both shocked and pleased. But after just cultivating for a breath¡¯s time, he realized that there was one problem.
Those ten cyclones were like ten huge drains that sucked up spiritual qi. The surrounding spiritual qi was unable to satisfy the demands of the ten cyclones¡¯ absorption, causing the spiritual qi in the air to be thinner.
He was only absorbing a tenth of what he should be able to.
¡°No, I have to find somewhere else to cultivate.¡±
On that very night, Long Chen covered up his aura and stealthily left the city. Using the Windchasing Steps, he was just like a wisp of smoke that went directly towards Sunset Mountain.
Sunset Mountain waspletely quiet at night. The scenery was as it was before, but Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat moved upon seeing it again.
The first time he hade here was with Meng Qi. Thinking of her absolutely perfect beauty and that gentle gaze of hers, his heart became aroused.
The second time he hade was while trapped in Chu Yao¡¯s. Her revengeful state turned into one of gentle charm.
Now, Meng Qi was in some unknown faraway ce. He had no idea how she was doing. Perhaps, she had already forgotten about him...
There was also that crap-brother Xi who had almost killed him. Thinking about that idiot caused him to be enraged. It was as if that arrogant figure had appeared before him again.
Meng Qi was far away, Chu Yao was under house arrest, and he was all alone. That was simply the cruel reality. Without power, life couldn¡¯t be called living; it was just barely managing to survive.
If you wanted to live with dignity, then you had to have a matching strength. That was the reality. Looking at the scenery around him, Long Chen took a deep breath.
Sitting down lotus-style on a huge stone, he gently circted his cyclones. In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the spiritual qi in this area also became too thin to keep up.
But the spiritual qi here was at least twice as dense as the one at his home, so he hadn¡¯t wasted his time bying here.
Two dayster when the first ray of light came from the east, Long Chen¡¯s body emitted an explosive sound. He slowly opened his eyes, a strange expression appearing on his face.
He had actually once more condensed a cyclone. Eleven cyclones!
This Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, just how many cyclones could it condense?
Seeing the cyclones in his body growing once more, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel worried. This was absolutely insane. If all he did was to continue condensing cyclones, he really might go insane.
As he returned home, Long Chen thought about it and decided to make a trip to the alchemist guild to get several medicinal ingredients first.
Arriving home, he arranged the medicinal ingredients in front of him. A kind of anticipation filled him. It was the time for him to test his new Pill me.
[1] Marquis Ying - Hero Marquis. Marquis Wu ¨C Martial Marquis. However, Ying and Wu are their surnames as well.
Chapter 53: Flesh Bone Restoration Pill
BANG! His pill furnace shook violently before slowly calming back down. A bright ray of light shot out when the furnace lid was opened.
Inside the pill furnace was a pearl-like medicinal pill. High grade medicinal pill! He had finally refined a high grade medicinal pill!
Low grade pills were judged by the pill fragrance, mid grade pills by their pill lines, and high grade pills by their halo of light. That light was a sign of the medicinal energy being firmly locked within the pill. Other than grandmaster Yun Qi, there was definitely not a single person within Phoenix Cry who could refine a high grade medicinal pill.
¡°The light is still a bit faint, most likely meaning that my control over the Pill me still isn¡¯t perfect. But theck of ws is already enough to make it high grade.¡±
Long Chen was filled with pride as he looked at this high grade medicinal pill. That pill was called the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill.
The form hade from his Pill God memories. Although it was just a second tier medicinal pill, the pill form had already disappeared from this world. What Long Chen had in his possession was one of a kind.
He carefully collected that high grade Flesh Bone Restoration Pill as well as the remaining lower grade ones. He had spent a whole night refining, exhausting himself slightly in the process.
There were still two hours until daybreak. Long Chen closed his eyes and slowly recovered his exhausted spiritual energy.
After refining the beast me, his Pill me had be over ten times stronger. But to control it was greatly exhausting to his soul.
This was also due to him not being very familiar with the beast me. Thus, the toll was even greater and he needed to rest.
As soon as the first ray of light sprinkled itself over the capital, he slowly opened his eyes.
After eating breakfast, Long Chen brought the medicinal pills he had refined straight to the Huayun Pavilion. Today was the starting date of their yearly auction.
But the auction would only begin at noon. This kind ofrge auction continued for three days, so there was no one rushing to get there. Long Chen was the first guest to arrive.
The Huayun Pavilion was located in the northern part of the city. But even from other parts of the city, you could see a majestic building hundreds of meters tall.
As soon as he entered the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s lounge, four pretty maidens came to greet him.
¡°Wee mister. May I ask¡ oh!¡±
Those maidens were all used to receiving guests, but when they saw it was Long Chen, they all let out a startled cry.
Long Chen was surprised at that. He checked his clothes, but he had just changed clothes right beforeing here so there shouldn¡¯t have been a problem.
¡°Hey, what¡¯s with all the noise this early in the morning? Did you forget all your training¡ ah, young master Long Chen?¡±
¡°It¡¯s been a while, Fu Gui,¡±ughed Long Chen.
That was the person who had sent Long Chen the invitation to the auction. The reason Long Chen still remembered his name after all this time was because of how peculiar it was.
That was a kind of name that rich families would give their pets. But in any case, this Fu Gui had managed to seed in making others remember his name as soon as they met. That was enough to say that he was a remarkable salesperson.[1]
Fu Gui was delighted that Long Chen hade. The most important thing for him was that he had already used up his three quotas.
One had been given to a roaming knight whose power wasn¡¯t bad. The other had been given to a rich merchant. But as the time drew closer to the auction, he found out that those two didn¡¯t have much interest in auctioning anything. In other words, it was likely all his work had gone to nothing.
But there was also nothing he could do. After all, all those high-ss clients had already been pulled over by the higher-ups.
So, now Fu Gui had ced all his hope on Long Chen. But ever since Long Chen had received his invitation, he had never contacted him again.
Fu Gui had already been filled with despair now that the auction was starting today. He had thought that he wouldn¡¯t have any hope of getting any profits this year.
But seeing Long Chen¡¯s arrival now, he quickly became excited.
¡°Young master Long Chen, I actually thought you forgot about this matter,¡±ughed Fu Gui excitedly.
¡°Haha, my bad. I¡¯ve just been too busy recently. By the way, I brought some stuff over. Call over your appraiser and let¡¯s talk about the auction. After all, we¡¯re cutting it a bit close,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Good,e with me young master Long Chen.¡± Fu Gui was overjoyed to hear that Long Chen had brought things to be auctioned. He quickly brought him inside.
The remaining four maidens had all been looking at Long Chen foolishly, all the way up to the point that he disappeared from their views.
¡°Heavens, I actually saw a person of legends.¡±
¡°That¡¯s the number one junior generation of the empire! He was close enough to touch¡ I could die of happiness.¡±
Long Chen was led by Fu Gui into a very luxurious private room under their stealthy gazes.
As soon as they entered that private room, a woman in elegant robes walked in and curtsied to Long Chen. She then warmed and steeped some tea with her tender jade hands. She was actually a master in the art of tea.
¡°Young master Long Chen, try some tea for now. I¡¯ll quickly go find an appraiser. What exactly do you need to appraise?¡± Fu Gui asked carefully. Each appraiser had their own specialties.
¡°Medicinal pills.¡± Long Chen smiled slightly.
Although Fu Gui had long since expected that, to actually hear it still caused his eyes to brighten. ¡°Please wait a moment. I¡¯ll go find an appraiser immediately.¡±
¡°Lord, please have some tea.¡±
That tea master handed him a teacup. Before the tea had even been poured, the smell of tea had already drifted over.
¡°Good tea.¡±
Long Chen took a sip. As soon as it entered his mouth, its gentle warmth spread throughout him and the taste even stirred his spirit.
¡°It¡¯s a good tea, and the one serving it is even better.¡± Long Chen looked at the tea master andughed.
The woman reddened slightly. She began to act in an extremely lovable manner, but as soon as she did, that initial interest Long Chen had had in her immediately disappeared.
That woman¡¯s tea skills were extremely exquisite. Her timing and control of the temperature and pouring caused Long Chen to feel a bit of admiration for her. After all, all craftsmen were deserving of respect.
But when she switched to that act of hers in order to make men fall for her, Long Chen¡¯s admiration turned to disgust. He no longer even drank the tea and simply closed his eyes.
That tea master immediately became embarrassed. She hadn¡¯t thought that her techniques she had honed thousands of times would fail.
She actually didn¡¯t recognize Long Chen as the empire¡¯s number one celebrity. She had already passed the age where she chased after dreams.
Luckily, that awkward atmosphere didn¡¯tst for long before Fu Gui returned along with a senior in his sixties.
That tea master hastily retreated as soon as the two of them arrived. When the senior came in, he immediately brushed his hand over his chest, an etiquette reserved for alchemists.
¡°Greetings young master Long Chen. I am Qian Fu[2], a Pill Apprentice. Please give me some pointers.¡±
Long Chen was speechless. A businessman was very suited to such a name. He also replied with an alchemist¡¯s etiquette and said, ¡°Senior is too modest. When ites to refining pills, senior is much more experienced.¡±
After the two of them exchanged their formal etiquettes, Long Chen got straight to the point. ¡°This time, I want to auction off several medicinal pills. Take a look.¡±
Long Chen handed over a jade bottle to Qian Fu, and he carefully received it. He put on gloves and also took out a jade te in which he poured out a pill.
¡°This is¡¡±
As soon as he saw the pill, he could tell it was a middle grade second tier medicinal pill. But he was then immediately dumbstruck as he actually didn¡¯t recognize it.
Although Qian Fu¡¯s talent was limited and he was only a Pill Apprentice, he had seen countless medicinal pills during his lifetime. Otherwise, there was no way he would have be the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s first-rate appraiser.
But now just a second tier pill had stumped him. He looked at it forever, even taking out a few small testing tools.
After a bit, Qian Fu¡¯s expression became a bit embarrassed. He didn¡¯t know what this pill was, which was a p in the face to his status as an appraiser.
Qian Fu¡¯s disy was within Long Chen¡¯s expectations. This Flesh Bone Restoration Pill was an extremely unknown kind of medicinal pill ording to his Pill God memories.
Long Chen had had to refine 217 medicinal ingredients in order to condense it.
Those ingredients might not have been all that precious, but that pill form was exceedingly amazing in the manner that it managed to add up the different medicinal ingredients¡¯ energy to form a unique effect.
Sometimes, there were only a couple of things that needed to be refined. Sometimes, there were just a dozen ingredients that needed to be refined into powder and then,bined together in specific ways in order to refine a pill. But the difficulty of this pill was something many people could onlyment at.
When he had refined the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill, it was the first time Long Chen sensed how broad and profound the Pill Dao was. Various medicinal ingredients could be refined together to have different effects. To be able to find the correctbinations and processes was a god-like craft.
¡°Cough, if I¡¯m not mistaken, then this should be a healing pill with shockingly great effect.¡±
Although he wasn¡¯t able to say the name of the pill, Qian Fu still managed to figure out its effect after examining it for so long. He was not an ipetent appraiser. However, he was unable to tell exactly how great the pill¡¯s effect was.
His face was rather red. If he wasn¡¯t able to say what its effect was, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to bring it out to auction. If even he wasn¡¯t clear on its effect, then wouldn¡¯t it be like cheating others to bring it out to auction? That would greatly hurt the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s reputation.
Qian Fu had spent over thirty years as the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s medicinal pill appraiser. He had read through countless tomes and archives. He knew third tier pills and below like the back of his hand. But today hadpletely toppled his confidence.
¡°I¡¯m extremely sorry young master, but I am unable to state the name of this medicinal pill, and I¡¯m not clear on its exact medicinal nature. Therefore, we cannot ept this pill.¡±
Long Chen didn¡¯t overly react to this. However, Fu Gui¡¯s face waspletely green. If Long Chen had nothing to auction, then his profit this time would fly away.
¡°This medicinal pill¡¯s name is the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill. It¡¯s a marvelous medicine for treating outer wounds,¡± smiled Long Chen.
¡°I truly am sorry, but even if you say its name, we still can¡¯t ept it.¡± Qian Fu once more apologized. He had no other choice since he couldn¡¯t risk the reputation of the entire Huayun Pavilion.
After all, it wasn¡¯t as if they could ept whatever he said. If there was even the slightest error, all of Qian Fu¡¯s future prospects would sink.
¡°No problem. The main thing is that you aren¡¯t able to estimate the medicinal pill¡¯s exact nature, right? I can show it to you,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Show it to us?¡± Qian Fu and Fu Gui were both puzzled.
¡°Sorry for this.¡±
Long Chen suddenly took out a long de and in front of their shocked expressions, chopped it at Fu Gui.
Blood sttered everywhere.
[1] Recall that Fu Gui essentially means rich. People tend to give their pets literal names; for example, someone might name a cat Maomao meaning furry, just like how in English someone might name a cat Fluffy.
[2] Qian=Money Fu=Fortune/Plenty, together meaning plenty of money.
Chapter 54: Auction
The midday sun shined down upon the Huayun Pavilion, making it appear even more majestic and grand than usual. Even though it was scorching hot, countless people still flocked over.
At the front of the Huayun Pavilion was a huge auction hall that was alreadypletely full. Those who were capable of being invited over were all extremely rich, had high statuses, or were true experts.
¡°Haha, this is my first time attending the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s auction. It really is exciting.¡± Shou Hou was in a private room looking out towards the outside eagerly.
Shi Feng, Fatty Yu, and the others weren¡¯t much better than Shou Hou at controlling their excitement. They could see out of their ss room, allowing them to clearly observe every single thing that was happening outside, but no one was able to see into their ss room.
They could see that all the famous and powerful people within the capital hade. Normally, those were people they could only look up at, but now those people were only able to sit amongst the crowd while they sat in a private room above them.
¡°We only got here because of Long Chen¡¯s fame. Otherwise, we probably would never get to have this kind of treatment in our entire lifetime.¡± Shi Feng sighed.
Shi Feng had already made aplete recovery. But despite that, Shi Feng had still never received such a hard blow.
After that lossst time, Shi Feng had worked hard to recover and managed to profit from the disaster. His determination had be even stronger, and he had broken through repeatedly, advancing to the third Heavenstage of Blood Condensation. He was only one step away from entering the mid Blood Condensation realm.
Even Shi Feng¡¯s father was merely at the mid Blood Condensation realm. Thus, he had great expectations on Shi Feng.
Actually, the reason Shi Feng was able to advance so quickly was both because of his own effort and also because of Long Chen¡¯s medicinal pills.
Shi Feng¡¯s defeat and suffering had been due to his rtionship with Long Chen. That had caused Long Chen to feel a bit ashamed, and he had secretly given Shi Feng a Foundation Establishment Pill.
That had allowed him topletely stabilize and steady his foundation. The powerful medicinal effect had allowed him to easily break through his shackles, allowing him to repeatedly advance.
¡°Right, why would the Huayun Pavilion treat you so importantly, brother Long? Why would they give you such a luxurious room?¡± Shi Feng was a bit puzzled.
The auction hall could fit tens of thousands of people, but there were only just over ten private rooms. Those were reserved for exceedingly important guests. It was reasonable to say that Long Chen had yet to reach the position where he was qualified for a private room.
¡°You think they gave us a private room for nothing? Once the auction starts, we¡¯ll have to start spending some crazy money,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°That¡¯s not possible! Everything at this yearly auction is incredibly valuable. Even if we sold ourselves, we still wouldn¡¯t be able to buy anything,¡± said Shi Feng.
¡°Hmph, we couldn¡¯t auction you off even if we wanted to. With your figure, it¡¯d be better to sell you in pieces,¡± joked fatty Yu. ¡°We¡¯re with brother Long! What are you worried about?¡±
Long Chenughed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. No one¡¯s going toe and kick us out. Oh? Even he hase.¡±
What surprised Long Chen was that he suddenly saw a familiar figure - Xia Changfeng.
Long Chen ground his teeth. That bastard still hadn¡¯t left! The current Xia Changfeng had already returned to his free and easy manner. He was currentlyughing and talking with crown prince Chu Yang.
Behind them was also a beautiful woman - the one Long Chen had defeated in a pill battle, Xia Baichi.
There were also several guards around them. Those guards were all young and under the thirties, but despite that, they were all Blood Condensation experts.
And when Long Chen¡¯s gaze fell on one of those men, he felt a familiar spiritual fluctuation.
That fluctuation caused him to think back to the beginning when he had defeated Li Hao. A man in a bamboo hat had used a secret weapon to kill Li Hao to prevent him from leaking any secrets.
He had been wearing a hat that had covered his face, and he had moved extremely quickly, but as an alchemist, Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength was extremely sensitive.
He didn¡¯t need to see that person¡¯s face. He could rely solely on that spiritual fluctuation to identify that person. That was because each person¡¯s spiritual fluctuation was different. This was a special ability of alchemists, simr to a scent dog¡¯s nose. He could not be mistaken.
¡°So, he¡¯s actually one of the crown prince¡¯s people.¡± Long Chen¡¯s eyes narrowed. Could Chu Yang be the mastermind behind all this? But even as he came up with this thought, the crown prince had already brought Xia Changfeng into another private room.
¡°Look, the fourth prince hase too!¡± said Shou Hou.
Looking through the ss walls, Long Chen saw that the fourth prince had alsoe with another group of princes. However, he didn¡¯t see Chu Feng. Most likely he was holed up cultivating.
The fourth prince and the other princes also entered a private room; however, it was a different private room than the one the crown prince and Xia Changfeng had entered.
¡°Hehe, today we get to feel how the princes feel every day,¡± joked Shou Hou. For them to be able to also sit in a private room just like people on the level of the princes was a very great honor.
They all knew that the reason the princes could enter a private room was because of their high statuses and how much money they possessed.
At this moment, a slender man walked into the auction hall. He had a fairplexion, and despite being already in his forties, he still appeared very handsome.
But that handsomeness seemed rather feminine. For this kind of femininity to appear on a man caused Long Chen to feel a bit cold.
As soon as that person entered, the noisy hall immediately became much more suppressed. Many peoplepletely shut their mouths.
¡°That person is one of the most powerful experts in the Phoenix Cry Empire. Marquis Ying Zhao,¡± said Shi Feng with some difficulty.
Marquis Ying Zhao, Martial Wu Yi, and Marquis Long Tianxiao were the three top experts in the Phoenix Cry Empire. Normally, they were called Marquis Ying, Marquis Wu, and the Border Suppression Marquis.
Long Chen¡¯s heart shook, and he turned to get a better look at that feminine man. That person was just as famous as his own father.
At the same time, he recalled what Chu Yao had told him about Marquis Ying being in charge of their training. He didn¡¯t know if it was that person who had given him his own affliction.
As Long Chen was examining Marquis Ying, Marquis Ying suddenly raised his head to look over at his direction. A ray of light shot out of his narrow eyes, and his gaze seemed to prate straight through the wall.
Long Chen¡¯s heart jumped. His perception truly was sharp, worthy of being one of the top experts in the Phoenix Cry Empire. Although he wasn¡¯t a pill cultivator, his sensitivity and perception were shocking.
After ncing over at their private room, Marquis Ying acted as if nothing had happened and walked into another private room.
A couple of shocking people also arrived one after another and were allowed to enter a private room. ording to Shi Feng, those people included a rich merchant as well as some authorities.
Long Chen nodded. The Huayun Pavilion¡¯s auction was only for rare, expensive items... Having such high-end customers waspletely normal for them.
¡°Wee everyone to our Huayun Pavilion¡¯s yearly meeting. I am the chief auctioneer of the Huayun Pavilion.¡±
A flowery voice rang out and drew the attention of the hall. The curtain on the stage was slowly pulled to the side, revealing a gorgeousdy.
Thatdy immediately drew out the crowds startled cries. Her beauty was absolutely shocking.
She appeared around twenty-five years old. Her elegant, narrow eyes and exquisite face were extremely seductive.
The most extreme thing about her was the skintight clothes she was wearing. They were rather low-cut, allowing people to see the pale tender skin beneath.
Perhaps, if that had been all, it would have been fine, but the most frightening thing of all was her deep cleavage that seemed to invite people to jump in.
But since she was standing on the stage, it was impossible to get a good view. Quite a few people stealthily stood up to their tiptoes before helplessly sitting back down depressed. They looked up at the private boxes that had a high vantage point and couldn¡¯t help being jealous.
The eyes of fatty Yu, Shou Hou, and the others almost jumped out. Even Shi Feng¡¯s gaze turned a bit lifeless. The few of them werepletely stered to the clear wall. Long Chen was even a bit worried that they might press too hard against the wall and tumble down.
But Long Chen also acknowledged that this woman was extremely beautiful. Although she couldn¡¯tpare to Meng Qi, she might even be a bit more attractive than Chu Yao.
Of course, while part of this was due to her innate charm, another part was due to her mastery of dressing herself up to entuate her advantages. With this skintight clothing that basically hid nothing, her beauty was practically destructive, elevating her from just sixty percent beauty to over a hundred percent.
Long Chen patted fatty Yu¡¯s shoulders and scolded, ¡°Can you guys grow up a bit?¡±
Shi Feng and the others all recovered themselves and quickly stepped back. Fatty Yu lightly said, ¡°Brother Long, don¡¯t worry. The wall¡¯s very sturdy.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not worried about the wall, I¡¯m worried that if you keep looking, then drool might cover the floors.¡± Long Chen pointed to a pool of saliva.
Their faces all turned red, and they hastily returned to their seats. They also couldn¡¯t help but admire Long Chen¡¯s self-control.
That woman was clearly already used to the crowd¡¯s reaction and didn¡¯t seem ufortable at all.
Instead, she actually announced grandly, ¡°I am Yao Niqian and you can call me Niqian. I hope all of you will look after me as I take charge of this time¡¯s auction.¡±
After saying this, Yao Niqian gracefully curtsied slightly, and thendscape that originally could only be seen from the private boxes was revealed to all.
A huge uproar immediately exploded from the crowd below. But unfortunately for them, Yao Niqian¡¯s movements were extremely quick. Before everyone couldpletely react, she had already returned to her dignified standing position.
Long Chen¡¯s admiration of the Huayun Pavilion only continued to grow. From Fu Gui, to Qian Fu, to the current head auctioneer, each of them werepletely focused on making more money. It would be more direct to just call their auction the ¡®Give Me Your Money Auction¡¯.
But Long Chen had to admit that this Yao Niqian truly was skillful. She was alreadypletely able to control the men¡¯s hearts.
Her enticing movements, her quick reveal before hiding it again... such a visual evoked all the men¡¯s desire.
The auction hadn¡¯t even begun, but many of the younger people were already starting to breathe heavily.
Now, Long Chen remembered what Fu Gui had told him at the beginning: through their auction¡¯s embellishments, all their wares would be sold at an incredibly high price. Long Chen now believed it.
Looking at the scene, everyone was already following Yao Niqian¡¯s pace. She smiled and waved her hand; the center of the stage slowly opened, and a stone tform rose up.
Chapter 55: Golden Striped Tiger
Following Yao Niqian¡¯s movements, the stage split open like a blooming flower, and a small stone tform rose out.
That kind of mechanism wasn¡¯t that exquisite, but the entire device was built out of ivory and was as pure as jade, causing it to truly shock quite a few people.
A shining golden battle armor floated atop the stone tform.
That battle armor was extremely thick, and from the golden luster, it had to weigh at least a hundred pounds. With such weight, neither Long Chen or even grandmaster Yun Qi would be able to keep it floating in midair with just Spiritual Strength.
But when Long Chen swept his spiritual perception over it, he shook his head and scolded inside.
That armor was actually being supported by some very thin props. Due to the length of the armor and its positioning, it perfectly blocked those supportive props from vision.
Yao Niqian¡¯s charming voice rang out, ¡°This golden armor was madepletely out of gold with a small amount of ¡®wind copper¡¯. Ites from a famous craftsman, and its defense is shocking.¡±
A sword appeared in Yao Niqian¡¯s hand. She shed the armor so quickly; it was like a thunderbolt in many people¡¯s eyes. A cold gale from the speed of the sh blew over everyone before they could even react, and a clear ringing came from the golden armor.
Her sh just nowpletely shocked everyone. The Huayun Pavilion truly was strong; just an auctioneer was a Blood Condensation expert.
And from her sh¡¯s speed, it was obvious there wasn¡¯t the slightest waste in her attack. She was a true expert of the Blood Condensation stage.
A couple of those people who had nned on bringing that bewitching woman back into their homes immediately gave up.
¡°Everyone can clearly see I used my full strength yet was unable to leave behind a single mark on the golden armor. Its hardness is shocking,¡± Yao Niqian said to the crowd.
But looking at her bewitching eyes and recalling the huge gust caused by her sh just now, many people had already started to feel that she was the thing whose hardness was most shocking.
¡°The golden armor is our first item this time. The minimum price is set at a hundred thousand gold coins. Each bid must be at least ten thousand gold greater than thest. The auction has officially begun!¡±
Yao Niqian smiled slightly. She raised a small wooden mallet and lightly banged it before her.
¡°150,000!¡±
¡°180,000!¡±
¡°250,000!¡±
Countless bidders immediately leaped into action.
But the auction had only just begun, so everyone was still very reserved. The prices only went up by tens of thousands.
However, due to how many people there were, the price continued to rise. Even Shi Feng wasn¡¯t able to resist the temptation and shouted out two bids, but he was quickly drowned out.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. Businessmen truly were all evil.
They truly were nning on plucking away everyone¡¯s money. This golden armor would definitely be sold for over a million.
That was why Yao Niqian had tossed out such a low starting price. It was in order to slowly entice everyone and gradually excite everyone¡¯s moods.
This was just like boiling a frog. If Yao Niqian¡¯s disy was too seductive, many people would be on alert inside. Although most men thought with their lower halves, it didn¡¯t mean all people were fools.
Now, Yao Niqian was acting extremely tranquil. She would only asionally say several words. But whenever someone shouted out a high price, her roving gaze would always brighten and pause over that person for a while.
¡°Give up Shi Feng. That thing is definitely not cheap. Don¡¯t be fooled by the beginning price,¡± advised Long Chen.
Although that golden armor looked good for an auction, and its defense was irrefutable, it wasn¡¯t actually that practical. It was only useful in small battles. In arge battle, who would wear such a gaudy armor? And if you were to wear such a cumbersome heavy armor at other times, you would be asking for death.
And even if it was a small battle, if you were to wear such a shiny armor without the strong enough martial might, it would also be no different than asking for death.
In a battle between armies, the main hope was to kill the opposing officers. Wearing something that gaudy would inevitably attract trouble.
Frankly speaking, this armor was just for looks. If it really was something good, the Huayun Pavilion wouldn¡¯t be foolish enough to bring it out as the first item.
Normally, the first item to be auctioned was always the hardest to pick for the auctioneers. It had to attract people¡¯s eyes, but it couldn¡¯t be too expensive. Otherwise, it might negatively impact the items following it.
And thus, this golden armor, which appeared awe-inspiring yet didn¡¯t have much use, had been chosen to start the auction. As expected, it ended up attracting quite a few people.
After Shi Feng heard Long Chen, he also gave up on it. Originally, he had thought that with a starting price of a hundred thousand, he should be able to get it for less than three hundred thousand. He hadn¡¯t thought of the other¡¯s shenanigans.
In just a couple of breaths¡¯ time, the golden armor¡¯s price had already exceeded eight hundred thousand. And furthermore, the bids had yet to stop. This caused Shi Feng topletely give up any thoughts on it.
¡°Damn, are these even people anymore? How can they spend that much money?¡± Shou Hou gulped.
¡°All the people qualified to be invited here have the cash to spare. Just the first item is like this. I can¡¯t even imagine what kind of intensity the bidding will reach for the rest of the items,¡± sighed fatty Yu.
Although they were all part of the nobility as noble heirs, they were still speechless at the amount of gold coins being spent.
Back when Long Chen had fought with Li Hao, the person with the most money in their group had been fatty Yu. He had saved all his money since his childhood and still only had eighty thousand gold coins.
Just as they were sighing, the bidding of the golden armor easily broke through a million gold coins.
¡°1,050,000!¡±
¡°1,080,000!¡±
¡°1,150,000!¡±
Even after going past a million, there were still a dozen people bidding. They had beenpletely enraptured with the golden armor, and even their eyes had turned somewhat red.
¡°1,500,000!¡±
Suddenly, Xia Changfeng¡¯s voice came from his private room, calming down the bids by quite a lot.
¡°He really is worthy of being the Grand Xia¡¯s crown prince. With just one look, he managed to see just how valuable the golden armor is. Are there any higher bids?¡± Yao Niqian eximed in admiration.
¡°1,510,000!¡± shouted a middle-aged man.
¡°1,800,000.¡±
Xia Changfeng¡¯s voice was still as calm as ever, giving off the impression that he was just ying around. His voice caused others to feel uneasy.
That middle-aged man¡¯s face became a bit unsightly. Shaking his head, he didn¡¯t continue bidding. It was obvious that one million eight hundred thousand gold coins had already surpassed his max.
¡°One million eight hundred going once!¡±
¡°One million eight hundred going twice!¡±
¡°Sold for one million eight hundred thousand. Congrattions Grand Xia¡¯s prince! By purchasing this golden armor, you¡¯ve be the first winner of the auction this time. Congrattions!¡±
Yao Niqian¡¯s words were perfectly tuned in order to let people feelfortable and at ease. Long Chen had no choice but to admit she was a truly skilled businesswoman.
¡°Haha, it¡¯s just a bit of money. I wonder whether this prince has the qualifications to invite young miss to an evening meal?¡± Xia Changfeng suddenly walked out of his private room and asked Yao Niqian to a dinner.
¡°Respected Grand Xia prince, this little one cannot bear such a glory. However, now is not the time to talk about that,¡±ughed Yao Niqian.
¡°This prince was too rude. Please continue,¡± Xia Changfeng indifferently smiled. He returned to his private room confidently and with ease.
A disdainful smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face when he looked at Xia Changfeng. With just his intelligence, he dared to have a battle of wits with a skilled woman like Yao Niqian?
The second item was brought out, and as Long Chen had expected, it was not a ¡®shy but useless¡¯ item like that golden armor.
This item truly was not shy; it was a deed to a plot ofnd. Long Chen didn¡¯t know much about it, but that deed caused quite amotion when it was brought out.
It seemed that deed truly was quite attractive to some of the people. That was also due to the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s brilliance.
Their auction wares were meant to be attractive to everyone. Anyone who came to the auction would find something that they were interested in.
The diverse items being auctioned were only collected by them after spending a year saving up. And for them to prepare such an auction, it naturally required a great deal of manpower.
After the biddingpetition, that deed was won by a rich merchant for eight million gold coins. When he obtained it, he went crazy with joy. It seemed that he had made a profit.
Another three items were brought out. Although everything was very novel, none of those items drew Long Chen¡¯s interest.
But what gave Long Chen a surprise was the sixth item; it was actually a living creature.
A young tiger was trapped in a cage. It was five feet long, but its fur clearly showed that it had only just been born. Its eyes opened wide, and it looked extremely adorable.
¡°Second rank Magical Beast ¨C Golden Striped Tiger. Special golden stripes grow over its fur and will appear extremely beautiful once it has fully grown up. I¡¯m sure everyone knows that amongst second rank Magical Beasts, the Golden Striped Tiger is the easiest to tame. In other words, even someone without a cultivation base would be able to raise it. The Golden Striped Tiger only mates five times in its lifetime, so this infant is very precious. Everyone should take advantage of this rare opportunity. Infant Golden Striped Tiger, starting bid of five hundred thousand gold coins.¡±
As soon as she stopped speaking, the crowd went crazy as they shouted out bids.
¡°600,000!¡±
¡°800,000!¡±
¡°1,100,000!¡±
Once an infant second rank Magical Beast grew up, that would be equivalent to a Blood Condensation expert! Moreover, itsbat ability would be even greater than most Blood Condensation cultivators. Who wouldn¡¯t be tempted?
¡°Damn, I really want it, but the price is definitely going to be sky-high.¡± Shi Feng rarely cursed, but this time he couldn¡¯t help it. The Golden Striped Tiger was simply too attractive.
It wasn¡¯t just Shi Feng; Long Chen was also tempted. Back then, he had especially admired Meng Qi¡¯s Magical Beast.
Although he wasn¡¯t a Beast Tamer, as long as he raised this Magical Beast to trust him, then he would also be able to use it for fights.
The current price had already broken through one million five hundred thousand when Long Chen suddenly shouted:
¡°3,000,000!¡±
Long Chen immediately doubled the price, causing quite a few people to give up. Three million was already a price to cause many people to shrink back, and the crowd became silent.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but celebrate inside. If it had continued by slow increments, three million would probably not have been able to stop everyone. Now that he had increased the price so sharply, it seemed he should be able to win.
¡°3,010,000!¡±
Just as Long Chen thought the infant Golden Striped Tiger wouldnd in his hands, a woman¡¯s voice that was filled with hatred rang out.
Chapter 56: Starfusing Grass
As soon as he heard that voice, Long Chen recognized that it was from Xia Baichi.
After she had lost the pill battle to him and angrily revealed the scandal between her and Wei Cang, it was as if she hadpletely disappeared.
Now, it seemed that this idiot woman would not let him obtain the infant Golden Striped Tiger so easily.
¡°3,500,000.¡±
¡°3,510,000.¡±
As soon as Long Chen countered, Xia Baichi immediately followed without hesitation. The rest of the crowd waspletely silent.
In reality, an average Golden Striped Tiger¡¯s price was somewhere between two million to two million five hundred thousand. But due to theck of supply, it wasn¡¯t something that could be bought so easily.
As soon as the infant was taken from its mother, it had to be immediately sold off. Otherwise, if even just a couple weeks passed, the infant would have grown too much, and the difficulty in taming it would shoot up, making it not worth the price.
That was why Long Chen¡¯s bid of three million was actually quite reasonable. Since such an opportunity was rather rare, it was worth it to spend a bit of extra money.
Now that the price had surpassed three million five hundred, Long Chen had already given up on it. However, since it was Xia Baichi, he couldn¡¯t just let it go so easily.
He needed to get the Starfusing Grass. It should being up extremely quickly, and if that idiot woman deliberately messed with him, the price of the Starfusing Grass might skyrocket past his reach.
¡°4,000,000.¡± Long Chen ground his teeth, and a trace of anger had entered his voice.
¡°4,010,000.¡± Xia Baichi seemed to have heard Long Chen¡¯s anger. Her mood improved greatly, and her voice even had some joy in it.
Long Chen was even more sure that this idiot woman was trying to mess with him. She probably wasn¡¯t even interested in this Golden Spotted Tiger; her target was him.
¡°5,000,000,¡± retorted Long Chen angrily.
¡°5,010,000.¡±
As expected, as soon as Long Chen put his bid, Xia Baichi¡¯s voice would immediately follow. The crowd was watching both of the private rooms; everyone understood that the two of them were at odds with each other.
¡°That woman is a Grand Xia princess. But as for the other private room, it sounds like he¡¯s very young. I don¡¯t think I recognize the voice.¡±
¡°Wow, do you even get any news? You don¡¯t recognize the voice of Phoenix Cry¡¯s number one warrior of the junior generation?¡±
With this reminder, that person immediately understood. No wonder the Grand Xia¡¯s princess would go against him; so it was Long Chen!
On the day of the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, everyone had seen Xia Baichi lose to Long Chen, and she had fallen into disrepute. The reason everyone despised her now was because of Long Chen, so it was obvious that she was now aiming for him.
Yao Niqian looked from Long Chen¡¯s private room to Xia Baichi¡¯s private room. No one knew what she was thinking, but a bright smile appeared on her charming lips.
¡°Baichi, don¡¯t waste too much. The auction has just started, and we still have to see whether there will be other good things in the auctionter. We can¡¯t spend too much just for revenge against him,¡± Xia Changfeng advised Xia Baichi.
This was just the start. The best items had yet to appear, and if they were to run out of money too early, then they would only be able to watch as the precious items were taken away by others.
¡°No, I definitely can¡¯t let him off after he humiliated me. I also lost the beast me to that scoundrel. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll use my personal money. I definitely won¡¯t dip into yours.¡± Xia Baichi was viciously ring at Long Chen¡¯s private room.
¡°Then fine. But there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, so calm down a bit. Just let it go if he raises the price again.¡±
Seeing how obstinate Xia Baichi was acting now, Xia Changfeng also had no way to calm her down. He really didn¡¯t have any way to handle this younger sister of his. After all, she was a Pill Apprentice who could even be counted as having reach Pill Adept, and that status was even slightly greater than his status of a prince.
Long Chen smiled slightly. If she wanted to y, then he¡¯d y. In any case, just waiting around was boring.
¡°Congrattions to princess Baichi on obtaining the infant Golden Spotted Tiger,¡± smiled Yao Niqian. A couple of aides brought the infant down.
Since the price for it had already reached a sky-high five million gold coins, there was no need for her to call out any ¡®going once, going twice¡¯. She directly skipped that, as it would only result in an awkward silence.
Xia Baichi was surprised. When she realized that Long Chen had schemed to make her waste her money, she couldn¡¯t help but angrily curse, ¡°Long Chen, you definitely won¡¯t have a good death!¡±
When encountering a random crazy person¡¯s shouting and cursing, you absolutely could not try to argue with them. One, you¡¯d never be able to win an argument against an idiot, and two, even if you won, it would still be a kind of disgrace.
So, Long Chen justughed and hid inside his private room. He could imagine what Xia Baichi¡¯s current expression was.
The auction continued, and all kinds of precious items and oddities were brought out, dazzling the crowd. But Long Chen was no longer low-key like he had been for the previous items. He practically shouted out at least one bid for every single item.
The result was that as long as Long Chen bid, Xia Baichi would immediately follow. She would always bid an extra ten thousand against him, and for a while, the auction became just a battlefield between the two of them.
¡°1,800,000!¡±
¡°1,810,000!¡±
¡°2,500,000!¡±
¡°2,510,000!¡±
¡
Yao Niqianughed to the side. She didn¡¯t say anything as both parties shouted with all their force.
¡°Baichi, stop making trouble. He¡¯s clearly just ying you. No matter how much money you have, it won¡¯t be enough,¡± said Xia Changfeng angrily.
Under Long Chen¡¯s enthusiastic help, Xia Baichi had already bought over a dozen items, most of them being absolutely useless to her. She had already spent over two hundred million gold coins.
Xia Changfeng couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit regretful. Originally, Xia Baichi hadn¡¯t even wanted toe. Due to the details of her affair with Wei Cang spreading out to the whole city, she had kept hiding in her room without daring to show herself.
But Xia Changfeng had wanted her toe out to this auction in order to get her out of the mood she was in, as well as for financial assistance to bid for the things he wanted. After all, as a Pill Apprentice, she had plenty of money.
However, Xia Baichi had thrown out two hundred million gold coins in just a short time. He couldn¡¯t help but feel distressed at how much money she was wasting.
At this time, Xia Baichi had also be clear-headed. No matter how much money she had, there was no way she could buy everything here. If she continued on like this, then she would just be ying into Long Chen¡¯s scheme.
¡°You don¡¯t need to be so worried, princess. If you want revenge, wait until Long Chen truly goes for something. Taking revenge then won¡¯t be toote,¡± smiled crown prince Chu Yang.
¡°Yes, brother Chu Yang is correct. Since he has a private room, the Huayun Pavilion must expect that he is nning on buying some important things,¡± advised Xia Changfeng.
Hearing the two of them, Xia Baichi¡¯s anger calmed a bit. But her hatred of Long Chen only continued to grow.
Ever since she had first met Long Chen, she had suffered defeat after defeat. Long Chen was her nemesis,pletely suppressing her.
Xia Baichi now stoppedpeting with Long Chen over the bids. Once the two of them calmed down, the auction once more returned to its normal state.
At this time, the sky had already darkened. The auction paused temporarily in order to serve dinner. They opened the curtains, and hundreds of women walked out with dining cars covered in delicious foods and alcohol.
This dinner was offered for free by the Huayun Pavilion. They were worried people might leave if they got hungry.
¡°Brother Long, we should go down too. To be honest, we were so nervous with what was happening with you and Xia Baichi that we¡¯re now incredibly hungry,¡± said fatty Yu.
¡°No need to go down.¡±
Long Chen shook his head. Two beautiful maids came in with a long table and set it down.
There were dozens of rich dishes on the table. The smelling off of them caused people to drool in anticipation.
But that fatty Yu only foolishly looked at the two maids,pletely forgetting his hunger.
¡°Everyone, please eat. We¡¯ll pour the alcohol.¡± Those two maids paid no attention to fatty Yu¡¯s gaze. Their gazes swept over Long Chen with some delight.
¡°Oh, so it¡¯s you guys.¡±
Long Chen was a bit surprised that these two were two of the four who had weed him when he hade to the Huayun Pavilion earlier.
¡°Ah, young master Long Chen, so you actually remember us.¡±
Those two women were excited to be in his presence. One of them cast a furtive look around and then actually took out a small book.
Her face waspletely red as she asked, ¡°Young master Long Chen, could you autograph this for me?¡±
Long Chen stared nkly. Taking the small book, his eyes widened. A tall, handsome man with sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and dancing ck hair had been drawn on the cover.
Looking closely at that man, it was actually eighty percent simr to him; however, it was more handsome and dashing than he was.
¡°Is this supposed to be me?¡± asked Long Chen doubtingly.
¡°You didn¡¯t know about it?¡± Not just the two maids, but even Shi Feng and the others were surprised.
¡°This is the hardcover limited edition of Phoenix Cry Divine Battle. It costs thirty-five gold coins! We used half our yearly sry in order to buy it. We¡¯re begging you! Please, can you sign it?¡±
Flipping open this Phoenix Cry Divine Battle book and seeing what was inside, even he eximed in admiration. Reading this book would involuntarily cause a person¡¯s heart to be excited. Even he had an urge to buy it.
Seeing the writing brush the maids handed to him, Long Chen bitterlyughed, ¡°Did you guys n this in advance?¡±
The two maids blushed. His guess was right on. The two of them had run over to send Long Chen dinner just to see him.
Brandishing the brush, Long Chen wrote his name boldly atop the cover. Back when he was unable to cultivate, his mother would always spend time teaching him reading and writing, so his calligraphy was extremely polished.
And now that he could cultivate, all strokes of his brush would contain a vigorous grandeur and were filled with a sword-like will.
The two maids were endlessly excited when Long Chen handed their book back to them. After thanking him vigorously, they hastily ran away. They didn¡¯t even bother with pouring the alcohol. Instead, they most likely rushed off to show it to their fellow maids.
¡°Brother Long, my family has collected several hundreds of that book. How about you help me sign each one?¡± Shou Hou rolled his eyes andughed at him.
¡°Give it up. With your carelessness, it¡¯s better to just keep them in storage. Aren¡¯t you nning on selling the ones brother Long signs for profit?¡± One of the other noble heirs in their group disdainfully said.
¡°Nonsense, am I that kind of person?¡± Shou Hou angrily retorted. But looking at everyone¡¯s disdainful expression, his confidence faltered and he spread his arms. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to figure out how much brother Long¡¯s signature is worth.¡±
¡°Shut your mouth. Let¡¯s eat.¡±
Long Chen cursed and everyoneughed, starting to devour the food that had been brought over. After they finished eating, those two maids ran back and took away the dining table as well as offering the tea and fruits.
In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the auction once more began. Yao Niqian¡¯s charming voice rang out:
¡°The next item in the auction is thousand-year-old Starfusing Grass.¡±
Chapter 57: Marquis Ying's Methods
Hearing that the thousand-year-old Starfusing Grass was about to be auctioned, Long Chen¡¯s heart jumped. This was the real reason he hade to the auction; he absolutely had to obtain it!
If he could get the thousand-year-old Starfusing Grass, he would be one hundred percent certain of being able to refine an upper quality Starfusing Pill. And such a Starfusing Pill would have a one hundred percent chance of resolving the foreign spiritual energies within Chu Yao¡¯s body.
Originally, Long Chen hadn¡¯t nned on using thousand-year-old Starfusing Grass; he had thought that just hundred-year-old Starfusing Grass was already good enough. After all, even just hundred-year-old Starfusing Grass was difficult to obtain. That was because Starfusing Grass was an essential ingredient in many different second tier medicinal pills.
It was also extremely hard to gather Starfusing Grass, so it was in extremely low supply. Using ordinary Starfusing Grass vs thousand-year-old Starfusing Grass to refine pills simply could not bepared.
For Chu Yao, he didn¡¯t care how much money he had to fork over. Originally, he hadn¡¯t thought that it would be a problem to obtain this Starfusing Grass, and thus, he hadn¡¯t attempted to try buying it through back channels.
But truthfully, that most likely would not have worked anyways. The Huayun Pavilion refused all backdoor channels, since if news of that were leaked, it would hurt their reputation.
Although the Starfusing Grass was rare, it wasn¡¯t as if there were many alchemists. Long Chen had been highly confident in purchasing it with his current financial ability.
But now, that idiot Xia Baichi had decided to start messing with him¡ If he let her realize what his goal was, then that idiot woman would force Long Chen to fork out all his money, bankrupting him of even the clothes he was wearing.
That was also the reason why Long Chen had shouted out a bid on every item before, no matter what it was. And as expected, she also shouted out a higher bid every time. He deliberately set himself against her, forcing her to lose money. That was him setting up for the Starfusing Grass.
¡°Ten stalks of thousand-year-old Starfusing Grass, an essential ingredient for second tier medicinal pills. I don¡¯t need to exin just how precious such a thing is. The starting price is five hundred thousand gold coins!¡± announced Yao Niqian.
¡°700,000!¡±
¡°800,000!¡±
¡.
At least ten people immediately started bidding. Most of them were all elderly faces.
Long Chen was familiar with a few of them. They were all the people he had seen in the alchemist guild. But they were all Pill Apprentices.
There were a few unfamiliar faces, but they were most likely alchemists as well. Other people wouldn¡¯t know exactly just how precious such an item was or how to use it.
¡°Two million!¡±
One of the seniors had shouted a bid of one million eight hundred thousand and suppressed all the other bidders. Yao Niqian had begun to start her count when Long Chen finally shouted his bid.
Originally, he had been praying that Xia Baichi would shout a bid before him. If he then bid against that, it would be seen as him trying to provoke her.
That kind of situation had the highest chance of him obtaining it at the lowest price.
But it appeared that the heavens were not in a listening mood. Despite being a Pill Apprentice, Xia Baichi had no interest in the Starfusing Grass, causing Long Chen to curse inside.
¡°Little idiot sister, do you want toe out to test the waters?¡± As soon as he shouted the bid, he also sent some indifferent words to Xia Baichi¡¯s private room.
The crowd was quiet. Was Long Chen trying to use this as a pretext to intimidate Xia Baichi?
¡°Don¡¯t take the bait Baichi. He¡¯s intentionally trying to infuriate you.¡± Xai Changfeng hastily tried to calm her down, afraid that she would get angry and once more foolishly waste money.
¡°Do you think I¡¯m an idiot? I won¡¯t fall for such an inferior trick,¡± replied Xia Baichi coldly. She was filled with contempt for Long Chen.
Hearing her reply, Long Chen celebrated inside. Of course, he didn¡¯t dare show that outside. In a peculiar voice, he said, ¡°Little idiot sister, could it be that you¡¯re embarrassed about running out of money?¡±
¡°You! ¡ Don¡¯t worry, thisdy has enough money to bury you alive!¡± Xia Baichi retorted angrily. She actually ran out of her private room and cursed right at Long Chen¡¯s private room.
A stately imperial princess actually revealed her vulgar, uncouth side publically. Everyone¡¯s expressions were strange as they exchanged nces.
Xia Changfeng¡¯s face darkened, hastily pulling Xia Baichi who was cursing madly back into the private room. This time, Xia Baichi had truly lost the Grand Xia¡¯s face.
Seeing that the atmosphere had be a bit strange and suppressed, Yao Niqian hastily said, ¡°Young master Long Chen bids two million. Are there any higher bids?¡±
¡°Two million going once.¡±
¡°Two million going twice¡.¡±
Long Chen finally rxed when he saw Yao Niqian begin counting down. It seemed he had managed to trick that idiot Baichi again.
¡°Two million going-¡°
¡°Three million.¡± A soft voice rang out calmly from another private room.
Long Chen¡¯s expression changed, and he turned to look at that private room. If he hadn¡¯t remembered wrong, then that was Marquis Ying¡¯s private room!
He wasn¡¯t a pill cultivator and also wasn¡¯t a merchant; he couldn¡¯t possibly know the true value of the Starfusing Grass!
And Long Chen¡¯s bid of two million already counted as a high price. Although the Starfusing Grass was rare, it was something that could be collected if given enough time.
If Long Chen wasn¡¯t in urgent need of it, he also wouldn¡¯t have offered such a price. But now Marquis Ying had raised the price by fifty percent!
Although nothing could be obtained cheaply at an auction, this price was far too high. And more importantly, Starfusing Grass had absolutely no use to Marquis Ying.
A cold light shed in Long Chen¡¯s eyes. This Marquis Ying was even more difficult to handle than what he had thought. He had underestimated him; as one of the three peak experts in the Phoenix Cry Empire, he was truly worthy of having his name stand alongside his father. He had easily seen through his ruse.
¡°Three million ten thousand.¡±
Long Chen indifferently shouted out this bid. The only bidders were him and Marquis Ying. If he didn¡¯t give up, then his only choice was to continue until the end.
¡°Haha, I really did have some use for this Starfusing Grass, but since you want it, I¡¯d feel bad quibbling with someone from the junior generation over it. You can have it.¡± Marquis Ying¡¯s soft, feminine voice rang out.
Long Chen was filled with anger. This Marquis Ying was definitely an unscrupulous old killer!
¡°Four million!¡±
As expected, as soon as Marquis Ying said that, Xia Baichi woke up and shouted out a new bid.
Long Chen¡¯s face darkened. Fatty Yu and the others also had unsightly expressions. They could all tell that Marquis Ying had yed a trick on him.
¡°This junior does not dare ept your generosity. My father is an upright man who guards the wild border, protecting the empire and its people. I have my father¡¯s upright blood in my veins, so I simply cannot ept senior Marquis Ying¡¯s kindness.¡±
Long Chen originally didn¡¯t n on saying these things. But being schemed against by Marquis Ying had immediately revealed his fatal weak point. Long Chen¡¯s anger exploded, and if he didn¡¯t say a bit, then he would feel too irritated.
Long Chen¡¯s words caused the noisy crowd to be deathly silent. Only Long Chen¡¯s words continued to echo.
Every member of the Phoenix Cry Empire felt that Long Chen was being far too brazen. How could he nakedly give a p to Marquis Ying¡¯s face?
Marquis Ying was one of the backbones of the empire. Even the Empress Dowager and the crown prince had paid deferential respect to him. In fact, even Long Tianxiao wouldn¡¯t be so impolite!
Although Long Chen¡¯s words didn¡¯t have a single real curse or insult, anyone who wasn¡¯t an idiot could tell that Long Chen was implicitly cursing Marquis Ying.
¡°Haha, young people really are hot-tempered. You need to train more. If you can¡¯t hold your anger in for such small things, then you won¡¯t be able to grow up properly.¡±
What no one had expected was that the high and mighty Marquis Ying didn¡¯t show any anger at all and just indifferentlyughed.
Quite a few people sighed inside. He really was worthy of being one of the empire¡¯s apex experts. That kind of bearing was something no one could aspire to.
¡°Four million. Long Chen, are you embarrassed at yourck of money? Hahaha.¡± Xia Baichi¡¯s ridiculingughter came from the side.
Xia Baichi wasn¡¯t actually stupid. With just a small prod from Marquis Ying, she realized that Long Chen actually greatly desired this Starfusing Grass.
Having suffered such a loss before, how could Xia Baichi give up this opportunity to make things difficult for him?
Long Chen took a deep breath. It really was the case of having your worriese true. Xia Baichi hated him deeply, so he would need to be prepared to bleed his money dry in order to obtain this Starfusing Grass.
¡°Five million,¡± said Long Chen indifferently.
An uproar shook the crowd. It seemed Long Chen viewed the Starfusing Grass as a must-have item; otherwise, there was no way he would make such a sky-high bid.
¡°Ten million!¡±
What caused everyone¡¯s hearts to jump was that Xia Baichi was even more vicious and immediately doubled the price.
Long Chen merely nodded. There was nothing else for him to think about. Who asked Marquis Ying to point out his weak point?
He had to obtain the Starfusing Grass. Time was too pressing and he couldn¡¯t allow this chance to pass him.
And even if Long Chen gave in now, with the temperament of that idiot woman, it would only be a disgrace for him.
¡°Fifteen million!¡± shouted Long Chen.
¡°Eighteen million!¡±
Xia Baichi immediately bid after him. She had already descended into madness. She no longer cared about money. All she knew right now was that if Long Chen wanted it, she would definitely not let him have it.
¡°Twenty million!¡±
Long Chen paused, but in the end, he still shouted out this bid. The entire crowd was shocked. That number couldn¡¯t just be randomly shouted! That was money! The price had already multiplied crazily, and even if it was just to relieve anger, wasn¡¯t that still too expensive?
¡°If you bid again, I¡¯ll guarantee that this Starfusing Grass will be yours.¡± After Long Chen shouted out his bid, his heart calmed.
Having handed his medicinal pills to the Huayun Pavilion, he had obtained a twenty million credit limit. In other words, he had obtained a twenty million gold coin loan from them.
Thus, after using up all that, he calmed back down. If Xia Baichi continued, he could only let the Starfusing Grass go to her.
But he had also made another decision. If Xia Baichi dared to bid again, he wouldn¡¯t mind killing her for it.
¡°Baichi, that¡¯s enough revenge. Now that you¡¯ve raised the price so high, it¡¯s enough to relieve your anger.¡± Xia Changfeng hastily pulled on Xia Baichi. He was afraid she would be too wound up and really spend twenty million gold coins on somethingpletely useless to her.
¡°Right, Baichi, let it go. This time, Long Chen has suffered a crushing defeat. Your anger has also been relieved.¡± Crown prince Chu Yang also advised her.
Xia Baichi nodded. She also felt that some of her anger had been relieved now that she had forced him to buy it for ten times the price. And in truth, Starfusing Grass wasn¡¯t useful to her. Twenty million wasn¡¯t a small number so she was also somewhat unwilling to part with so much money.
¡°Hmph, thisdy will have some pity on a peasant like you. This trash medicinal grass is yours.¡±
Long Chen had finally seeded in obtaining ten strands of Starfusing Grass for the sky-high price of twenty million gold coins. Although he was somewhat pained, he did rx slightly. Killing people for their treasure was definitely something he wouldn¡¯t do unless pushed to the breaking point.
Following this, the atmosphere in the auction gradually heated up and the prices slowly climbed.
After just two items had passed, a hidden door opened in Long Chen¡¯s private room and a man walked in.
Chapter 58: Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax
All the private rooms had a secret channel. After the guests in the private room sessfully won an item, someone woulde to send that item to them.
There was no need to be like the people in the crowd who had to personally go behind the stage or to handle the transaction after the auction ended.
The person who hade in was precisely the one who had pulled Long Chen into participating in the auction, Fu Gui. He was holding a foot-long case with ten stalks of Starfusing Grass that shined brightly like the stars.
¡°Young master Long Chen, here are your goods.¡± Fu Gui respectfully handed the case to Long Chen.
To tell the truth, today was the most exciting day of his life. ording to the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s rules, after subtracting a few business costs, he would obtain one percent of what Long Chen had spent.
Just the money which Long Chen had spent just now had given him enough to spend the rest of his life without having to worry about money ever again.
Long Chen carefully examined the case. Each stalk of Starfusing Grass had over ten starry spots.
Starfusing Grass would gain an extra starry spot for every hundred years it was preserved. Thus, its age was something that was obvious at a nce.
Although some mishaps had urred today and he had a stomach full of anger, he had at least managed to obtain his goal, so it had all been worth it.
Only after putting away the case inside his spatial ring did he rx. All the Starfusing Pill¡¯s ingredients had finally been collected. He could now start refining it.
¡°Young master Long Chen, please wait a moment.¡±
Seeing that once Long Chen had stood up after collecting the Starfusing Grass, the astute Fu Gui immediately knew that he was nning on returning to his home.
¡°What? You want me to stay? But I¡¯m penniless right now,¡±ughed Long Chen. He was itching to go refine pills. It was better to resolve Chu Yao¡¯s matter as soon as possible.
¡°You¡¯re our guest, and when I wasing over just now, my boss said your credit limit could be raised by another thirty million. So if you see anything you like, feel free to bid,¡± smiled Fu Gui. He handed a crystal card to Long Chen.
Now Long Chen had two special crystal cards. But the twenty million on the other card had already beenpletely used up.
The Huayun Pavilion had a special rule. Everyone participating in the auction would have to transfer their gold coins to the Huayun Pavilion in exchange for a credit limit.
But they could only do that once. Once the auction started, you could not exchange for a higher credit limit. That was why most people would exchange as much money as they possibly could at the beginning in order to increase their spending limit.
If you didn¡¯t buy anything or your credit had yet to reach the limit, the Huayun Pavilion would return your money to you without taking the slightest percentage.
So every single person here had their own crystal card with all their money on it. Once the auction was over, the Huayun Pavilion would immediately take those cards back and deduct what they had spent. It was a very efficient process.
For those like Long Chen who had used up all their money, the rule was that they could no longer add to their funds. But obviously, the higher-ups of the Huayun Pavilion had opened a special backdoor for him.
Long Chen hesitated for a moment as he looked at the crystal card in his hand. Originally, he had been nning on going back to refine since he had no more money. Watching others spend while you had no money was also a kind of torment.
But now that he had more funds, he truly was interested in the items that had yet to be auctioned.
¡°Fu Gui, we already have an agreement that you won¡¯t immediately demand money from me if the things I gave you don¡¯t sell. I can¡¯t immediately return the money that you loaned to me in that case.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, my boss has said that if those pills don¡¯t get auctioned off, the loan will just be written off as a gift to you,¡± smiled Fu Gui.
Long Chen was startled. ¡°Who is your boss?¡±
¡°Hehe, sorry, but this little one cannot reveal that. Please don¡¯t make it hard on me,¡± apologized Fu Gui.
Although he was a bit puzzled, Long Chen still decided to stay. He really was interested in theter items of the auction.
After Fu Gui left, the auction paused for a moment and began to serve tea. Whether it was to the auctioneers or the guests, this kind of tense atmosphere truly did use up a lot of energy.
Such a huge auction naturally had to give its guests some breaks. Only then would they have the energy for the even more intense biddingter.
Otherwise, if everyone was exhausted, the auction would have a weak finish. Obviously, the Huayun Pavilion had already made preparations to avoid that.
After a two hour break, the auction once more began. Calcting the time, the auction had already gone on for two whole days.
Due to thepetition being too intense, no one had really felt the time passing. Every item brought out was even more precious than the ones before it, and the bidding became increasingly hostile. The prices naturally shot up wildly as well.
This was especially the case with Yao Niqian¡¯s ¡®encouragements¡¯. It was as if everyone had taken some kind of drug that made them go wild.
Looking at the impassioned crowd, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel some admiration. After two days of auctioning, this Yao Niqian had figured out the majority of the people¡¯s temperaments, and now the atmosphere waspletely under her control.
Shi Feng, fatty Yu, and the others had all been exposed to the grandness of the world. Even after these two days of auctioning, none of them were the slightest bit tired.
Although none of them had the money to enter thepetition, just watching those impassioned sky-high bids was stimting on its own.
¡°The next item is the Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax.¡±
As she said this, a battle-ax was carried on top of the stage. But everyone was shocked when they saw it.
Naturally, they all knew what battle-axes looked like. But they had never seen such a battle-ax before. It was absolutely enormous!
That double-edged ax head was at least five feet long. It was as thick as an arm and possessed an imposingness that was absolutely terrifying.
¡°Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax. It was made from golden sand, and its hardness is unmatched. It weighs two tons and is a symbol of power and martial might. It is said that it was the weapon of divinity, and cing it within your estate will scare off any spirits or ghosts. The starting price is two million.¡±
Dozens of nobles immediately began to bid.
¡°2,010,000!¡±
¡°2,050,000!¡±
¡°2,080,000!¡±
In truth, the battle-ax might be considered more of an ornament than anything else. Weighing two tons, it would be a miracle if you could even hold it, let alone wield it in battle.
But Yao Niqian was not wrong; such a domineering battle-ax would definitely be a symbol of your status and power. The nobilities especially were interested in such an item.
¡°Shi Feng, help me shout my bid,¡± said Long Chen quietly.
Shi Feng was startled. ¡°That¡¯s just a household item. What are you buying it for?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I have my own use for it. Help me bid. If I do it myself, then that idiot woman wille to look for trouble,¡± said Long Chen.
At the very first moment he saw that Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax, he had thought of a certain huge figure - Wilde.
With Wilde¡¯s physical strength, he should be able to use the battle-ax properly. That ax¡¯s weight was something extremely hard to find in other weapons, and it was also iparably sturdy. It was practically perfect for Wilde to use.
¡°2,910,000!¡±
¡°3,000,000!¡±
¡°3,050,000!¡±
Thest bid was Shi Feng¡¯s. When others heard Shi Feng make such a high bid, they all shook their heads.
Although it might possess a domineering might, it was simply an ornamental piece. Three million was already too high of a price. Three million fifty thousand was already something others were unwilling to bid against.
Xia Baichi had been waiting to shout her own bid against Long Chen when she heard the voiceing from Long Chen¡¯s private room. But hearing that the voice wasn¡¯t Long Chen¡¯s, she hesitated and didn¡¯t bid against it.
It was already theter stages of the auction. The wares being auctioned were bing increasingly better, and if she ended up using all her credit limit, she would only be able to watch as those good things were taken away by others.
Although she was suspicious that it was actually Long Chen, she wasn¡¯tpletely certain, and after debating it for a moment, she still decided not to interfere.
Long Chen celebrated when he saw the Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax be obtained so smoothly. Unfortunately, this item was something they were unable to bring into their private room, so Long Chen had to personally go get it.
Long Chen followed the secret channel to below the stage. There were a dozen men guarding that ce.
His pupils contracted slightly when he saw them. Those people were actually all Blood Condensation experts.
Just an auction already had so many experts. Then what was the true strength of the Huayun Pavilion?
Long Chen arrived in front of the Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax. Looking at the huge battle-ax that was evenrger than he was, he was truly stunned.
Reaching out a hand, he slowly rubbed the handle. He noticed that he was almost unable to wrap his hand around that handle which was as thick as an arm.
¡°UP!¡± Long Chen used his full force in an effort to raise that battle-ax. It shook slightly and slowly rose into the air, but after just rising it for three inches, it fell back down to the ground with a crash.
The shelf that was originally holding it was immediately smashed into pieces. A huge explosion followed as it fell to the ground.
¡°Who would have thought that young master Long Chen possessed such divine strength. It really is admirable.¡±
Those guards had all been watching Long Chen. Originally, they had been looking at him with some disdain as he had spent so much on something that was only ornamental.
But seeing him actually able to raise the ax with just one hand caused all their disdain to disappear.
And even though he had dropped it in the end, it was stillpletely shocking. They were all clear on just how heavy it was. It required at least two people using their full strength to raise it like that.
But Long Chen had seeded in lifting it slightly with just a single hand. Plus, he had been holding it from the handle. The kind of force required to lift it from there was difficult to even imagine.
That was why they had all opened their mouths to exim their admiration.
Long Chen shook his head and bitterly smiled, ¡°This thing really is just an imposing ornament.¡±
¡°Who said it wasn¡¯t? It¡¯s so heavy; just who could manage to use it?¡± One of them nodded.
After confirming the huge ax¡¯s heaviness, Long Chen no longer showed off anything. He directly stored it within his spatial ring.
Returning to his private room, Long Chen¡¯s indifferent expression became one of delight. That ax was definitely something Wilde could use.
If he had used his full force, then even he would have been able to use it. But it would exhaust too much of his strength. Fortunately, Wilde wasn¡¯t the same. His physical body was the most abnormal one Long Chen had ever seen, and physical strength was his main forte.
With this battle-ax, even without using spiritual qi, his battle strength would be absolutely terrifying.
As time passed, theter items became even rarer and more precious. Natural treasures of heaven and earth, cultivation techniques, and medicinal pills, they were all avable. The prices became even more frightening. There was practically not a single item that was sold for less than five million gold coins anymore.
¡°Everyone should look carefully at our next item.¡±
An exceptionally confident smile appeared on Yao Niqian¡¯s face. She raised her hand, showing off what she was holding.
Chapter 59: Earth Class Battle Skill
In her hand was a thin book. When it appeared, the whole crowd went silent for a moment before exploding into startled cries.
Most of the people present all knew that every three years, the Huayun Pavilion would always have a Battle Skill as their final auction item. Counting the time, this was precisely the third year.
If it was just an ordinary Battle Skill, it wouldn¡¯t have attracted so many startled cries. However, it was no ordinary Battle Skill. It was an Earth ss Battle Skill!
Earth ss Battle Skills only existed in legends. They could only be found within the hands of sects that were isted from the secr world.[1]
It was rumored that the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s most precious treasure was just a portion of an Earth ss Battle Skill. And only the imperial disciples could learn it.
Thus, for most people, Earth ss Battle Skills were things they had only ever heard of in legends. Now that they could personally see it, although they knew such a thing would not be obtained by them, it still was something that caused their hearts to jump wildly.
¡°Earth ss Battle Skill ¨C Three Style Parting Wind. Starting bid of twenty million.¡±
An Earth ss Battle Skill did not require much introduction. Just the ¡®Earth ss¡¯ introduction was enough.
¡°Thirty million!¡±
Xia Changfeng¡¯s bid came from his private room. That was the first time Xia Changfeng had participated in thepetition since the golden armor.
Furthermore, he immediately increased the price by ten million. That kind of money spending style was quite shocking.
Although Long Chen was attracted to that Battle Skill, he knew that it was impossible for him to obtain it. Xia Changfeng¡¯s thirty million bid was nothing. It was just the beginning.
¡°Fifty million!¡±
An aged voice came from inside another private room. The guest in that room had never revealed himself to the crowd so no one knew who was inside.
Long Chen realized that the old man had probablye here expressly for that Battle Skill. Perhaps, now was the time for all the hidden tigers participating in the auction to reveal themselves andpete.
¡°Sixty million!¡±
This time, the voice was extremely sharp and ufortable to listen to, like the sound of metal scraping against metal. It came from a bearded, middle-aged man in the corner of the crowd.
¡°Eighty million!¡±
This time, it was the soft feminine voice of Marquis Ying.
Now the crowd was extremely quiet. Other than Xia Changfeng, the mysterious elder, the bearded man, and Marquis Ying, no one else had enough money topete against such a high price.
¡°One hundred million!¡±
Xia Changfeng took a deep breath and shouted out this price.
Long Chen sighed in admiration. The Huayun Pavilion truly had a shocking amount of wealth. Just a copied, handwritten Earth ss Battle Skill could be sold for over a hundred million.
What was even more shocking to think about was that they could copy it countless times and auction it over and over at different ces. As for the people who managed to obtain it in the end, they would all hide it away deeply so no one else could take it from them. Maybe they would even kill anyone who knew about it.
This caused Long Chen to be more and more interested in the identity of the secret support of the Huayun Pavilion. Whatever the origin of that support was, it even allowed them to take out such a precious item without being afraid of others attacking in greed.
Xia Changfeng¡¯s hundred million bid might be shocking, but it was immediately followed up.
¡°110,000,000!¡±
This time, it was the mysterious elder in the private room. Considering that he had refused to show himself up until this point, it seemed he would not easily give up on obtaining this Battle Skill.
¡°130,000,000!¡±
That bearded man was also unwilling to appear weak. Considering the current point in the auction, only bids by increments of ten million were worth anything.
The rest of the crowd waspletely silent. Only the astronomical bids continued to ring throughout the room.
¡°150,000,000!¡±
¡°160,000,000!¡±
¡°180,000,000!¡±
Such high numbers actually tested a person¡¯s mental fortitude. Although it wasn¡¯t their money, when fatty Yu and the others heard them, it made it hard for them to breath.
Sweat was dripping of Xia Changfeng¡¯s forehead. He had managed to learn from a secret backchannel that the auction this time would have an Earth ss Battle Skill.
Thus, he had brought all the money he had to increase his credit limit. But in total, he only had two hundred million. Since the price was already at one hundred eighty million, it seemed that his two hundred million wouldn¡¯t be enough.
¡°Baichi, how much more credit do you have?¡± He asked of Xia Baichi.
Looking at her crystal card, she replied, ¡°I still have three hundred sixty million.¡±
Xia Changfeng was overjoyed. ¡°Good sister, your brother¡¯s money won¡¯t be enough soon. Lend me some money and I¡¯ll return it when we get back to the Grand Xia.¡±
Xia Baichi hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°I can lend it to you, but you must hand over Long Chen¡¯s head to me within a short time.¡±
Xia Changfeng immediately felt awkward. Chu Yang was right there! To talk about murder in front of the crown prince was definitely excessive.
¡°Baichi, we¡¯ll talk about this when we get back.¡±
¡°No, if you don¡¯t promise me, then I won¡¯t lend you any money.¡± Xia Baichi coldly snorted. She didn¡¯t give her older brother any face.
Chu Yang smiled slightly. ¡°This Long Chen is dislikable, and in this case, you¡¯ll be my younger sister¡¯s husband soon, so I won¡¯t hear anything you¡¯re saying now.¡±
Hearing Chu Yang say such a thing, Xia Changfeng became much more at ease and he cupped his fists at Chu Yang. ¡°Many thanks, future brother-inw.¡±
¡°Okay, Baichi, I promise you. Give me your crystal card.¡±
Only then did she hand him her crystal card. Drawing a line over his crystal card, Xia Baichi¡¯s credit limit was transferred over to his card. Now he had a credit of over five hundred million.
¡°300,000,000!¡±
Seeing that the price was continuing to climb, Xia Changfeng directly raised the price greatly in order to disy that it was a must-have item for him and hopefully, intimidating hispetitors away.
The others became somewhat taciturn after that high price. Although an Earth ss Battle Skill was extremely rare, it still was something buyable with money.
Furthermore, the price for one was much lower than three hundred million. After all, most Earth ss Battle Skills that were sold were all secondhand copies.
This Earth ss Battle Skill auctioned by the Huayun Pavilion was one that didn¡¯t exist in this region. That was why its price was so high.
But the price of three hundred million truly was intimidating. After all, if you had enough gold, you could travel to somewhere far away and then, you would be able to buy Earth ss Battle Skills for a much lower price.
Now, the mysterious elder, the bearded man, and Marquis Ying were all hesitating.
¡°Prince Xia Changfeng bids three hundred million. Are there any higher bids? Three hundred million going once, three hundred million going twice-¡° Yao Niqian¡¯s voice was a bit excited as she started to count time.
The profit from this auction had already surpassed her expectations. That was especially the case for this Earth ss Battle Skill. The three hundred million bid was extremely exciting for her.
Three hundred million should be the ceiling price for this Battle Skill; thus, she decided to start counting down.
¡°400,000,000.¡±
What no one expected was for azy voice to suddenly ring out.
That voice was extremely young. It was Long Chen¡¯s voice! The entire crowd was stupefied, and even Yao Niqian was shocked.
She had yet to even react when a small earring on her ear shook slightly. She immediately recovered and smiled.
¡°That bastard.¡± Xia Changfeng flew into rage. Just as he had been about to obtain the Earth ss Battle Skill, Long Chen suddenly interfered.
¡°Long Chen, I don¡¯t believe a bastard like you has that much money. You¡¯re just looking for trouble!¡± shouted Xia Changfeng angrily.
¡°Idiot, if I didn¡¯t have enough money, would I bid? Don¡¯t forget, this master is a Pill Apprentice,¡± replied Long Chen.
In reality, Long Chen had constantly been using his divine sense to keep track of his surroundings. Their two private rooms were only a few dozen meters away from each other. Although there was no way to hear what they were saying, by examining their lips, he was able to figure out the approximate details of what they were discussing.
Seeing Xia Changfeng treat this Earth ss Battle Skill as a must-have item, he had decided to shout out a higher bid.
Although he appeared at ease on the outside, inside, he was still extremely nervous. If he scared Xia Changfeng off, then it would be him who had to pay the final bill.
Four hundred million was something that an ordinary Pill Apprentice wouldn¡¯t be able to pay back even if they spent their entire life refining. But recalling how Xia Baichi had interfered with him and made him pay twenty million to obtain the Starfusing Grass, it would be depressing for him to let that go without revenge.
¡°Five hundred million! If you have the guts, then try to bid again!¡± roared Xia Changfeng angrily. He was about to go mad with rage; he had no idea how Long Chen had obtained so much money.
But ording to the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s rules, if someone shouted out a bid higher than their crystal card¡¯s limit, they would be viewed as a troublemaker and be expelled from the auction.
Seeing that nothing happened after Long Chen had made his bid, his only conclusion was that Long Chen really did have that much money.
Xia Changfeng¡¯s angry roar echoed throughout the room like a beast¡¯s howl, shaking people¡¯s eardrums.
¡°Don¡¯t be so excited. I only had a little left on my card. If you had just added ten thousand then you would have won. I rarely admire someone, but I definitely admire prince Xia Changfeng. To use a hundred million as just ten thousand, you really are amazing.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s voice was filled with admiration. But in Xia Changfeng¡¯s ears, it turned into the most malicious taunt.
¡°You!¡±
Xia Changfeng suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood due to this intense anger. Startled cries came from his private room.
The crowd¡¯s expression was somewhat strange now. For a moment, no one knew whether Long Chen had been speaking the truth or whether he had been deliberately provoking Xia Changfeng.
¡°Since no one else is bidding, congrattions prince Xia Changfeng, the Earth ss Battle Skill is yours.¡± Yao Niqian skipped right past counting down because she was certain no one would be as foolish as Xia Changfeng.
Seeing that the Earth ss Battle Skill had already been auctioned off, everyone started to get up and prepare to leave. But just at this moment, Yao Niqian¡¯s charmingughter rang out.
¡°In the past, the auction would end with the Earth ss Battle Skill, but this year we have an even more unusual item for the end.¡±
Everyone was shocked. What could be more precious than an Earth ss Battle Skill? They all hastily sat back down and stared closely at the stage.
Long Chen smiled. Hehe, a good show was about to start.
[1] As stated before, Battle Skills are split between Mortal, Earth, and Heaven. And readers should consider the ¡®secr world¡¯ to be the opposite of the cultivation world. Technically, this ce is the ¡®secr world¡¯ since there are no cultivation sects.
Chapter 60: Shocking Methods
Chapter 60
Chapter 60 Shocking Methods
Bang!
Yao Niqian banged her gavel . The red curtain behind slowly opened, revealing a jade tform .
That jade shined brightly; it was actually made entirely made from an extremely rare Lantian jade .
Lantian jade was exceptionally rare in the Phoenix Cry Empire . Only people with extremely high status could wear Lantian jade as essories to disy their grandeur .
But now they saw an entire tform simr to a table that was made of it . Just that tform alone had to be worth millions .
Atop that perfect white jade was a golden embroidered case which immediately drew everyone¡¯s gaze .
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help feeling admiration at how grand their methods were . The Huayun Pavilion actually used a table worth millions to show off a single item . If he hadn¡¯t known about this before, he would also be extremely curious .
No wonder Fu Gui had been so confident back then when he had told Long Chen that the pavilion would go fifty-fifty with him on the final price . It appeared they really did have the confidence to demand such an amount .
They immediately grabbed hold of everyone¡¯s attention . Everyone waspletely focused on that golden case .
Yao Niqian smiled and slowly opened the case in front of their eyes, taking out something small from within .
But people almost coughed up blood when they saw that it was just another small case inside the first case . Was there a point to this anticipation?!
She carefully took out that small case . A maid hastily came forward and gave her a snow white glove .
Putting on the glove, Yao Niqian carefully opened the smaller case . Her cautiousness caused practically everyone to hold their breath, and it was so quiet that even the drop of a needle could be heard .
A soft sigh escaped from the small case as it was opened .
Following the opening of the case, projections appeared on the walls throughout the hall . All the walls became real-time projections of Yao Niqian¡¯s hand .
Through those projections, people could clearly see that what was inside that small case was a round medicinal pill . The medicinal pill had a slight ancient aura .
When Long Chen first saw that, he actually thought it was a mistake . But sweeping over his divine sense, he immediately understood what was going on and practically prostrated himself to the Huayun Pavilion in admiration .
¡°This medicinal pill is something that a small group of adventurers found within an ancient cave after fending off great danger . But that cave had many traps, and just for this medicinal pill, their ten man group was almost exterminated . Only two of them managed to survive . As for the two survivors, one of them died shortly . Such a tragic story is truly sorrowful . Every adventurer is worthy of respect . They risked their own lives to scout out that extremely unknown area . They are true warriors . ¡± Yao Niqian¡¯s voice was somewhat subdued . Her eyes were red and tears bubbled up .
Long Chen had been drinking tea when he saw that . He almost spit out that tea in shock . Wasn¡¯t this act of hers a little too much? That was the medicinal pill that he had given them!
Of course, Long Chen had repeatedly warned them that they were not allowed to leak that the medicinal pill had been his . If they did then he wouldn¡¯t sell it .
And now it seemed the Huayun Pavilion truly did keep their word . They had actually made up such a story and had done something to the otheryer of the medicinal pill . Now the medicinal pill appeared extremely ancient, and their technique was so perfect that even Long Chen was unable to tell it was fake . It appeared the Huauun Pavilion truly had many experts .
¡°What is this medicinal pill?¡± The people present were all powerful figures in their own rights . They naturally wouldn¡¯t care about the deaths of some adventurers . What they wanted to know about was this thing¡¯s price and effect .
Yao Niqian wiped her eyes . Who knew whether or not she had even been actually crying, but she quickly recovered to normal and said, ¡°This medicinal pill is a pill from ancient times . ¡±
¡°An ancient pill?¡±
Everyone present was extremely startled . Those ancient pills weren¡¯t necessarily medicinal pills refined in the ancient era, but more urately they were from pill forms that were passed around from the ancient times .
Most such ancient pills had already disappeared . However, they were extremely attractive to alchemists .
If an alchemist could use the medicinal pill to extrapte the pill form, that would be equivalent to a new start for a lost inheritance, and that alchemist¡¯s name would ring throughout thend .
¡°Although this is an ancient pill, its age definitely does not surpass a hundred years . Everyone should be aware that a medicinal pill¡¯s effect and strength will not fade as long as it is less than two hundred years old . Therefore this medicinal pill will still have one hundred percent effect,¡± continued Yao Niqian .
¡°Miss Yao, don¡¯t keep us in suspense . Tell us the name of the medicinal pill! And tell us the effect as well . ¡± Seeing that Yao Niqian still refused to tell them the important part, someone finally ran out of patience .
Seeing that everyone was sufficiently enticed, Yao Niqian smiled and said, ¡°This medicinal pill has gone through our appraising master . Its name is the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill . Now that you¡¯ve heard its name, I¡¯m sure everyone should know what its effect is . ¡±
Sighs of displeasure immediately followed .
¡°What, just that little effect?¡±
¡°A healing pill? Isn¡¯t that too ordinary?
Yao Niqian seemed to not notice their confusion, continuing, ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone knows my Huayun Pavilion¡¯s reputation . We naturally wouldn¡¯t make a joke of ourselves . If this Flesh Bone Restoration Pill really wasn¡¯t valuable, then we wouldn¡¯t have brought it out as the final and most precious item . ¡±
Hearing that, the crowd quieted down . She wasn¡¯t wrong; the Huayun Pavilion definitely wouldn¡¯t disrespect their own brand . Then did that mean the medicinal pill had some sort of special use?
¡°If I could be so bold, I¡¯d like to invite a Blood Condensation expert onto the stage to bear witness to the medicinal pill¡¯s effect . ¡± Yao Niqian smiled at the crowd .
¡°I¡¯ll go . ¡±
Yao Niqian¡¯s charm went without saying . A man in his thirties immediately volunteered .
Everyone felt this was rather strange . In all the previous auctions of the Huayun Pavilion, it seemed this was the first time anyone had been invited onto the auction stage .
That man walked up to the stage . Due to the proximity with Yao Niqian and with how revealing her chest was, he couldn¡¯t help staring fixedly .
Yao Niqian smiled slightly and didn¡¯t bother what that . She yfully asked, ¡°Is master afraid of pain?¡±
¡°Hey, don¡¯t joke . I, Zhao Yang, have roamed thends for so many . It¡¯s offensive to ask me that . ¡± That man was a bit depressed now .
Long Chen, in his private room,ughed at that . Zhao Yang? Zao Yang? His name really was appropriate, as a tragedy was about to befall him .
¡°In that case, Niqian will apologize in advance . ¡±
Suddenly a cold light shed . A sword had appeared in Yao Niqian¡¯s hand and she shed it down too quickly to react .
Blood sttered in front of everyone¡¯s shocked eyes . Zhao Yang¡¯s arm had been cut off at the elbow by Yao Niqian .
¡°You¡¡±
That man hadn¡¯t even had time to defend himself . With one of his arms cut off, he was about to angrily say something when a sword was pressed up against his throat, not letting him say anything .
Everyone waspletely shocked . Yao Niqian had always been acting so weak and delicate, and yet her attack just now had been exceptionally smooth . She was definitely an expert .
¡°Sir has already said that he isn¡¯t afraid of pain . Here, take this . ¡± Yao Niqian handed him the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill .
Zhao Yang was scared witless . He swallowed the pill without even thinking about it .
¡°What?¡±
Startled cries rang out as soon as he swallowed it . Almost everyone stood up to get a better look .
Only then did Zhao Yang realize something was happening . Looking at his arm, he was shocked to see it miraculously growing back .
In just the time for an incense stick to burn, his arm hadpletely grown back . Flexing his fingers, he was shocked to find that it waspletely fine without the slightest feeling of unfamiliarity .
He was absolutely shocked . It wasn¡¯t for the bloodstained stage and his severed arm on the ground, he would have thought he was hallucinating .
¡°Damn, how could you waste such a precious medicinal pill like that?¡± An old man had stood up, panting with rage . His eyes were practically spitting mes as he cursed at Yao Niqian .
Other people also agreed with him . That medicinal pill was practically a divine pill . For it to just disappear like that enraged everyone .
¡°Miss Yao, are you trying to y us? Give us a clear exnation!¡± Some people were unable to hold back their anger .
As for Zhao Yang, he listlessly returned back to his own seat . Even now he couldn¡¯t believe what had just happened . asionally he would rub his hand over and over .
Yao Niqian looked at the angered crowd and smiled . It seemed this result was even better than what she had expected .
¡°Everyone, please calm down . Let me say it again, my Huayun Pavilion will not make jokes with our reputation . ¡±
Banging the gavel, she caused everyone in the crowd to quickly quiet down . But it wasn¡¯t because of her banging the gavel, but because a maid hade up behind Yao Niqian will an embroidered case .
¡°Everyone, altogether we had two such Flesh Bone Restoration Pills . But everyone should know that such a shocking effect is something that no one would believe even if I told you . So I could only show you . Please forgive me . ¡±
The crowd calmed quite a bit after hearing that exnation . It was true; if they hadn¡¯t personally witnessed it, no one would believe that this world had a miraculous medicinal pill like that .
Even having personally witnessed its effect, there were still many who still didn¡¯t dare believe their own eyes . Several people even went up to Zhao Yang to examine his arm . But that arm was clearly a new arm that had regenerated . There was no way it was fake .
Plus, with the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s reputation, there was no way they would do something like selling fakes . But that pill was just too shocking . People had to be cautious about it .
Long Chen nodded . These crafty unscrupulous business dealers had truly perfected their art .
Yao Niqian opened the case, revealing a Flesh Bone Restoration Pill exactly the same as thest .
¡°Flesh Bone Restoration Pill, a second tier medicinal pill . I won¡¯t say anymore about its effect, but I want to remind everyone that this medicinal pill is only effective in the Blood Condensation realm and below . We originally had two pills, but now after showing off its effect to everyone, thisst one ispletely unique . Starting bid, one hundred million . ¡±
As soon as she finished speaking, a huge uproar exploded .
Chapter 61: Striking Back
¡°Two hundred million!¡±
A Blood Condensation expert was the first to shout out a bid. He hadn¡¯t gained anything today as a result of the bidding being so fierce.
Due to the prices steadily climbing, the final prices had already exceeded their market value. Thus, he hadn¡¯t spent anything, which was currently his greatest advantage now.
¡°Three hundred million!¡±
An aged voice came from a white-haired old man in the corner.
That old man had never made a bid the whole time. But as soon as he spoke, everyone immediately recognized him.
¡°Isn¡¯t that the Tuoji Empire¡¯s grandmaster alchemist, Wang Luyang?¡±
Although the Tuoji Empire wasn¡¯t asrge as the Phoenix Cry Empire and didn¡¯t have an alchemist guild, it had its own alchemy hall.
If a nation didn¡¯t have the support of medicinal pills or martial weapons, it would eventually be destroyed. And martial weapons came second; after all, iron was never in short supply. However, medicinal pills definitely could not becking.
That alchemist Wang Luyang was essentially the master of the Tuoji Empire. His status was even greater than their emperor.
There was no way around that. Without the support of an alchemist, the Tuoji Empire would sooner orter be swallowed by one of therge neighbors.
That was why as soon as Wang Luyang bid, it immediately scared off many people. That was because he was equivalent to an emperor. His financial resources were incredible.
The reason he had never bid before was because he hadn¡¯t seen anything that interested him. A person like him wouldn¡¯t easily take action; but once he did, it would be a sure win.
An ordinary second tier middle grade medicinal pill normally sold for three to four hundred thousand. But now the price had multiplied by a thousand, meaning that only a few could participate.
Such a treasure was one that could only be found by luck. If someone lost an arm during a battle, then theirbat ability would definitely sharply drop and they would eventually be killed.
But the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill was equivalent to a life-saving treasure. Xia Changfeng and Xia Baichi were incredibly regretful that they hadn¡¯t prepared more money and could only watch as this treasure was purchased by someone else.
¡°Four hundred million!¡±
Marquis Ying¡¯s distinctive voice rang out. No one had expected that he would also participate.
¡°Five hundred million!¡±
Wang Luyang didn¡¯t hesitate at all and immediately bid higher. That was his confidence. Although Marquis Ying was a noble, his financial resources were not as profound as Wang Luyang who controlled an empire.
The entire crowd was stunned to find that an insignificant middle grade second tier medicinal pill was actually being sold at the same price as an Earth ss Battle Skill.
Even Long Chen felt his heart jumping wildly. It appeared this world had lost many pill forms. Those ancient pill forms in his Pill God memories were equivalent to an endless treasure trove.
But he also felt a bit of worry. Just a Flesh Bone Restoration Pill could cause this much of an uproar.
If others were to learn that this medicinal pill hade from him, that would definitely be dangerous. Perhaps he had been too reckless this time.
But since it was already like this, regret was useless. Now he could only hope that the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s reputation would protect this secret.
The entire crowd had turned silent after Wang Luyang¡¯s bid of five hundred million. Even Marquis Ying had be silent. Five hundred million was a price even he couldn¡¯t bear to waste.
Now that the auction had reached this point, there was no need for Yao Niqian to fan the mes of people¡¯s passions. That would only cause people to feel disgusted.
Seeing that no one else was bidding, Yao Niqian started to count down. In the end, Wang Luyang¡¯s high bid won the middle grade second tier Flesh Bone Restoration Pill.
¡°Everyone, don¡¯t be in a hurry to leave. The show has yet to end.¡±
Seeing that everyone was already preparing to get up, Yao Niqian smiled and received a jade case from another maid.
Everyone¡¯s expressions became a bit strange. The auction this year truly was full of interesting surprises. What was this next treasure that was even more precious than that pill?
Opening the jade case, Yao Niqian revealed a medicinal pill that stunned everyone.
That was clearly the exact same pill as the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill from before! Didn¡¯t they say that it was one of a kind? Were they purposely ying with them?
When Wang Luyang saw that pill, he immediately stood up. Everyone was expecting him to fly into a rage.
But what no one expected was that he only foolishly looked at it for a moment beforeughing. ¡°Haha, good, this time I didn¡¯te for nothing.¡±
Yao Niqian smiled and admiringly said, ¡°Truly worthy of being an alchemist grandmaster. You can tell from that far away. Yes, this is also a Flesh Bone Restoration Pill. However, this one is not middle grade. Instead, it is high grade!¡±
¡°What?!¡±
¡°Yes, this is a high grade ancient pill. The middle grade pill was only useful in the Blood Condensation realm and below. But this precious high grade pill is effective even for Tendon Transformation experts,¡± Yao Niqian exined solemnly.
A storm erupted in the crowd. Tendon Transformation experts? That was the peak of the Phoenix Cry Empire!
¡°High grade Flesh Bone Restoration Pill. Starting bid: two hundred million.¡±
¡°Four hundred million!¡±
The first person to shout was actually Wang Luyang. Moreover, he immediately raised the bidding price, clearly not wishing to take it slowly and disying that his determination to obtain it.
Everyone sighed at how rich alchemists were.
¡°Five hundred million!¡±
Marquis Ying bid shortly after Wang Luyang. Everyone anticipated seeing thepetition between the two of them.
¡°Brother Chu Yang, do you think Marquis Ying can beat Wang Luyang?¡± asked Xia Changfeng.
¡°This time, the medicinal pill is a must-have for Marquis Ying. Even if he has to spend his entire fortune, he would still bid,¡± sighed the crown prince.
¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Xia Changfeng was a bit puzzled. It didn¡¯t seem that just a medicinal pill could be so coveted.
¡°Brother Xia must not know about this. A dozen years ago, Marquis Ying fought with an opponent, and in an effort to defeat him, he ended up losing a finger. Back then, he refused to seek treatment due to his pride. He wanted to use that event to motivate him to cultivate harder.
¡°So from that point onwards, he started to train crazily, eventually breaking through and entering the Tendon Transformation realm. But after entering the Tendon Transformation realm, he realized that training in the Tendon Transformation realm required you to temper your tendons to connect them to your marrow. Having lost a finger, he was missing a tendon. Thus, it had an enormous impact on his cultivation.
¡°But due to how long his finger had been severed, there was no way to fix it. He has spent several years roaming throughout empires without finding a way to heal it.
¡°The reason he let Wang Luyang winst time was because that was just been a middle grade Flesh Bone Restoration Pill. It was only useful to Blood Condensation cultivators. If he had used it, the chances of it helping him recover were extremely remote. Spending five hundred million on just a small chance really was a bit too much, thus he let it go.
¡°But now this high grade Flesh Bone Restoration Pill is practically godsend. So I can practically guarantee that he will obtain it. If that Wang Luyang refuses to give way, hehe¡.¡± Chu Yang coldlyughed and didn¡¯t continue.
But it was extremely obvious that if Wang Luyang refused to be tactful, it would be exceedingly difficult for him to be able to leave the Phoenix Cry Empire.
Even if he was the ruler of an empire, that empire wasn¡¯tparable to the Phoenix Cry Empire. Marquis Ying wouldn¡¯t mind killing someone for his treasures.
Xia Changfeng and Xia Baichi nodded. Alchemists were all exceedingly arrogant. Perhaps thepetition between the two of them would extend past this auction.
Wang Luyang¡¯s expression changed when he saw Marquis Ying bid against him so fiercely. He knew that Marquis Ying probably viewed this pill as a must-have. But getting him to give up instead was impossible.
With a high grade Flesh Bone Restoration Pill, his chances of figuring out the corresponding pill form would skyrocket. And once he figured out the pill form, his name would shake the heavens.
Furthermore, alchemists did notck money. Of course, that was excluding beginners who failed their refinements so much that they often bankrupted themselves.
Just as Wang Luyang was about to bid again, Marquis Ying¡¯s soft voice rang out, ¡°Grandmaster Wang, this medicinal pill is of exceedingly great importance to me. Please yield to me. I can even give grandmaster several days to study it after I obtain it. Harming the rtionship of our two empires for just a small medicinal pill really isn¡¯t wise.¡±
This truly dazed the crowd. Marquis Ying was using both the carrot and the stick to force Wang Luyang to give up. It seemed this medicinal pill truly was exceptionally important to him.
Yao Niqian¡¯s expression became a bit ugly though. This move was clearly disrupting the auction, but both Marquis Ying and Wang Luyang had high statuses and were their customers.
If she were to reprimand these two, not only would it not change anything, but the chances of them continuing topete were no longer great.
Furthermore, punishing the two of them would definitely have a negative effect on the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s reputation. Yao Niqian began to hate that feminine voice of Marquis Ying¡¯s.
¡°Marquis Ying must be joking. This old man wants topete, but unfortunately, I have no more money.¡± Wang Luyangughed lightly.
The conclusion was a boring disappointment. Just what kind of person was Wang Luyang? No more money? This was clearly his way of giving the face to Marquis Ying and getting out of an awkward situation.
Although Yao Niqian was extremely angered, her face still maintained that perfect smile of hers. Now that the auction was nearing its end, she didn¡¯t want to cause a huge fuss.
¡°Master Marquis Ying bids five hundred million. Are there any higher bids?¡±
¡°Five hundred million going once.¡±
¡°Five hundred million going twice.¡±
¡°Five hundred million going-¡°
Marquis Ying had already rxed inside his private room. Hearing the helplessness in Yao Niqian¡¯s voice, he coldly smiled. Indulging in this kind of feeling was his favorite.
But azy voice caused his expression to immediately change. Even the tea in his hand spilled out.
¡°Six hundred million.¡±
Chapter 62: End of the Auction
¡°Six hundred million.¡±
That voice was extremely young andzy. Everyone turned their heads to look at the private room it hade from.
When they saw it was Long Chen¡¯s private room, a strange expression appeared on several people.
Back when Long Chen had been about to obtain the Starfusing Grass, Marquis Ying had purposely said some things that had incited Xia Baichi to fight with him over it. Now from Long Chen¡¯s words, it appeared he was looking for some revenge.
Several people were praising Long Chen inside. There were few people in the entire Phoenix Cry Empire who would darepete with Marquis Ying.
Marquis Ying¡¯s face darkened. He hadn¡¯t expected that Long Chen who had been silent for so long would suddenly take this chance to look for trouble with him.
¡°Seven hundred million.¡±
But at this point, he couldn¡¯t cower. That medicinal pill was something he absolutely had to obtain no matter the price.
Otherwise, with his status, there was no way that he would have thickened his face to plead with Wang Luyang. This medicinal pill was just that important to him.
A pleased smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face. Now he could take revenge on Marquis Ying for what he had done to him just before. He couldn¡¯t help but feel fresh and brighter inside.
He had always been using divine sense to pay attention to Xia Changfeng¡¯s private room. Having learned from them that Marquis Ying treated this Flesh Bone Restoration Pill as a must-have, if he didn¡¯t go get some vengeance, then he wouldn¡¯t be Long Chen.
Although he knew offending Marquis Ying was unwise, he didn¡¯t worry too much about that. First, he¡¯d relieve some of his anger.
He didn¡¯t believe that Marquis Ying would actually go overboard against him for such a thing. With the alchemist guild behind him as a support, he had the confidence to provoke Marquis Ying.
¡°Eight hundred million.¡±
The Huayun Pavilion didn¡¯t send any warnings to him despite his high bids. Yao Niqian was actually excited inside; however, she hid her emotions extremely well.
¡°Master Long Chen bids eight hundred million. Are there any higher bids? If not, then this high grade Flesh Bone Restoration Pill will be handed to him,¡± announced Yao Niqian.
¡°Wait a moment, I doubt that Long Chen actually has that much money. He¡¯s just making empty bids.¡±
Marquis Ying¡¯s feminine voice now held a trace of anger. Although he had suppressed it, people could still hear the fury in his voice.
¡°Is Marquis Ying questioning our integrity?¡± Yao Niqian¡¯s smile immediately receded and she angrily said, ¡°Young master Long Chen is grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s student. Everyone in the Phoenix Cry Empire knows this. Before the auction, grandmaster Yun Qi transferred all his credit to young master Long Chen. Does Marquis Ying still think that young master Long Chen is making empty bids?¡±
Yao Niqian¡¯s words were rather blunt and impolite. Obviously, Marquis Ying had truly angered her by breaking the rules.
Now that she had the opportunity, she would naturally relieve some of her anger. She was a woman, and a woman knew how to hold grudges. Once you angered a woman, they would no longer be soft and gentle anymore.
Everyone gasped when they learned that grandmaster Yun Qi had transferred his credit to Long Chen.
That meant Long Chen had the true support of the entire alchemist guild. That kind of guarantee meant Long Chen could buy anything he wanted. Who dared to say he had no money?
But even Long Chen was dazed. Howe he hadn¡¯t known about this? But he quickly realized that Marquis Ying¡¯s actions had angered the Huayun Pavilion. They were supporting him in order to give Marquis Ying a p in the face.
Marquis Ying¡¯s expression was extremely ugly now. If what Yao Niqian had said was true, then he really wouldn¡¯t be able topete against Long Chen in terms of financial resources.
¡°One billion.¡±
Marquis Ying pushed down his anger and raised the bid by a whole two hundred million. A billion gold coins! Just to buy a second tier medicinal pill! That was definitely unprecedented.
With Marquis Ying¡¯s financial ability, a billion gold coins were already several years worth of savings.
¡°Brother Long, how about you don¡¯t bid again? It¡¯s already quite frightening.¡± Shou Hou was quietly shivering.
Back when Long Chen had bid, they had all beenpletely shocked. A simple opening of his mouth was equivalent to a hundred million gold¡ Even if it wasn¡¯t their money, it was still breathtaking.
But Long Chen only smiled slightly. He was highly suspicious that Marquis Ying was the one who had stolen his cultivation ability. Now it was just him getting back some interest.
¡°One billion five hundred million.¡±
Immediately after Shou Hou finished, Long Chen raised the bid, almost scaring Shou Hou to the point of fainting.
Marquis Ying had just raised the price by two hundred million all at once. But now Long Chen was even more vicious, directly raising the price by half a billion! He was clearly using Yun Qi¡¯s money to suppress Marquis Ying.
The crowd waspletely silent. Even Wang Luyang was bbergasted. That price had long since exceeded his expectations.
Although he only had a middle grade Flesh Bone Recovery Pill and it was inferior to the high grade pill, there was still arge chance of him being able to figure out the pill form from studying it. Therefore, he had also given up at this time.
Crack. The teacup in Marquis Ying¡¯s hand was crushed, and even the tea that sshed onto his body waspletely unnoticed by him.
Blue veins were pulsing on his forehead. If he didn¡¯t know that the Huayun Pavilion had a powerful backer, he would have already charged out to go kill Long Chen.
¡°Long Chen, you want to obtain this pill that badly?¡± Marquis Ying asked coldly.
Long Chenughed. He could tell that Marquis Ying had spat these words out through clenched teeth. In other words, he was exceptionally enraged, probably even more enraged than Long Chen had been when trying to obtain the Starfusing Grass.
¡°Well, actually this thing is pretty much useless to me,¡± said Long Chen indifferently.
¡°Then, you¡¯re purposely making an enemy of me?¡± Marquis Ying raged.
¡°You can¡¯t put it that way. I have several reasons for wanting to obtain this thing. Reason number one is that it¡¯s an ancient pill. Even if I have to pay a high price for it, it¡¯s still worth it. If I bring it back to my teacher, he also wouldn¡¯t scold me. In fact, he might even praise me.
¡°Reason number two is that you pissed me off just now. My temperament is a bit strange. I can take anything, but I can¡¯t take a loss like that.
¡°Reason number three is that just like you, my father is also one of the three great pirs of this Phoenix Cry Empire. He spends his days guarding the barbarian border, fighting against enemies constantly,pleting heroic contributions. But my family became penniless, unable to even keep a dozen servants.
¡°But you, Marquis Ying, who is on the same level as my father, whozes his days in the imperial pce, actually has this much money.
¡°So I was curious just how big the difference between us was. Just how rich is senior Marquis Ying; just how many times more money does he have than my Long family?¡± said Long Chen with a smile.
The majority of the people present were members of the Phoenix Cry Empire. Although Long Chen had beenughing as he said those things, everyone could hear his resentment.
¡°So you want to fight with me till the end?¡± Marquis Ying asked lightly as he looked down at his broken teacup, killing intent surfacing in his eyes.
¡°Not really. Maybe if you increase the price again you¡¯ll win; or maybe if some people are able to tactfully disy their own apologies, then my Long family will consider it and withdraw from thispetition,¡± said Long Chen.
¡°Hahaha, fine, a tiger father truly has a tiger son. The younger generation truly does surpass the old one. I admit defeat today. Allow me to shamelessly make onest bid ¨C one billion five hundred and one million,¡±ughed Marquis Ying.
Everyone was stupefied, never expecting that Long Chen would actually be able to force Marquis Ying to bow his head. Marquis Ying¡¯s admittance of defeat already said everything.
Long Chen smiled slightly. It appeared he had already reached Marquis Ying¡¯s bottom line. His adding of a paltry one million obviously meant that if Long Chen were to make another bid, he would give up.
But if he did give up, he would not hold back from taking extreme measures. Long Chen knew when to quit while he was ahead, and so he didn¡¯t increase the bid again.
Today already counted as his victory. An expert on the same level as his father was pushed into defeat by him. Moreover, he had also managed to release some of his anger in this grand setting.
But his actual strength still wasn¡¯t enough. He couldn¡¯t force Marquis Ying too far, otherwise, if Marquis Ying was truly angered, he would make him disappear without leaving behind a single trace. Even the alchemist guild wouldn¡¯t be able to investigate it.
And even if they did investigate at that time, he would already be dead, so there was no point. Revenge had to be taken one step at a time.
Yao Niqian had returned to her smiling self. Seeing that no one else waspeting, she began to count down.
Finally, Marquis Ying had his wish fulfilled and obtained the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill.
Confetti suddenly started to rain down and music began to y. A dozen colorful young maidens danced gracefully.
Yao Niqian gave a gracious thanks to everyone for participating. This time¡¯s Huayun Pavilion¡¯s auction had finally ended. The guests slowly started to leave.
Long Chen wasn¡¯t in a rush. He waited until most of the crowd had left before exiting his private room.
But as soon as he walked out, he ended up running into several people. Those people were precisely Xia Changfeng, Chu Yang, and Xia Baichi.
¡°Long Chen, don¡¯t think you can be arrogant just because of Yun Qi¡¯s support. The Empress Dowager has already decided to give the third princess to my brother. In the future, she will be brother¡¯s woman, so a lowly peasant like you should stop having any intentions about her,¡± sneered Xia Baichi.
¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you that woman who was sharing a bed with your master? Now that your master has left, don¡¯t you need to go attend to him?¡± Before Long Chen even had a chance to say anything, Shou Hou had already retorted.
Having muddled along with Long Chen for so long, he had be much more confident. He wouldn¡¯t be able to feel at peace without causing a bit of trouble.
Xia Baichi¡¯s expression changed; Shou Hou¡¯s words were a vicious p in the face for her.
Back on that day, Xia Baichi had gone crazy and admitted to some scandalous affairs in front of many people. However, no one daredment on it to her face. In the end, she had actually ended up fooling herself into thinking that they hadn¡¯t heard her due to how far the crowd had been.
¡°You¡¯re asking for it!¡± Xia Baichi had just been about to charge over when Xia Changfeng pulled her back. After all, this was the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s territory, and fighting was prohibited.
¡°Long Chen, it is already set in stone that Chu Yao will be my woman. Don¡¯t have any fanciful thoughts. I am the Grand Xia¡¯s prince, while you are just a noble heir. Our statuses are far too different,¡± said Xia Changfeng indifferently.
Long Chen seemed to not even hear what he said. He knew that the reason they hade over was to provoke him.
He had long since heard this news, so that provocation was unable to hurt him. Long Chen suddenly saw one of the guards behind the crown prince and said, ¡°I seem to have seen you before?¡±
That guard smiled slightly. ¡°I am the crown prince¡¯s guard, so it¡¯s normal for you to have seen me.¡±
¡°No, I think I¡¯ve seen you in a very particr ce. For example, near the martial arena.¡± Long Chen looked closely at him.
That guard didn¡¯t reply, merely looking back at Long Chen.
Long Chen smiled slightly and said to Xia Changfeng, ¡°Your face is turning ck; a great cmity is about to befall you. Try to be careful.¡±
After saying that, he brought his friends out of the Huayun Pavilion. But as soon as he left, Fu Gui ran up to him.
¡°The boss wants to see you.¡±
Chapter 63: Huayun Sect
Within a luxurious guest room inside the Huayun Pavilion, Long Chen was sitting with the charming Yao Niqian. He asked, ¡°You¡¯re the big boss?¡±
Sheughed cutely and replied, ¡°Am I not a ¡®big¡¯ enough boss for you?¡±
Along with herugh, her chest jiggled. Long Chen had no choice but to admit she was definitely ¡®big¡¯ enough.
But he wasn¡¯t a man who only wanted a chest. He preferred Meng Qi¡¯s tasteful aesthetic, or perhaps Chu Yao¡¯s grand well-bred poise.
¡°Why did you want me to stay behind?¡± Long Chen asked lightly.
Seeing that Long Chen wasn¡¯t affected by her charm, Yao Niqian became a bit irritated. That was truly a blow; she was exceptionally confident in her seductiveness.
But just as she was about to say something, another voice rang out.
¡°Niqian, don¡¯t make trouble.¡±
Another woman walked over. She was around twenty years old. She looked to be exceptionally in, yet she gave off a very posh feeling.
¡°Hmph, what an insensitive guy. Big sis, I¡¯m leaving. I¡¯ll leave him to you.¡± Yao Niqian didn¡¯t forget to give a re to Long Chen before leaving the room.
¡°First of all, I¡¯d like to apologize for so boldly inviting you here. This little one is Bai Ling. Greetings young master Long Chen.¡± That woman curtsied slightly.
¡°Miss is too polite.¡± Long Chen also chose to bow slightly.
¡°I know that young master Long Chen¡¯s time is precious, so I¡¯ll keep this short. The first reason we invited you over was to discuss the splitting of the profits. The two medicinal pills sold for a total of two billion one million gold coins. This is a sky-high number.¡± Bai Long couldn¡¯t help sighing emotionally.
Although they had already had a high estimation of those two medicinal pill¡¯s prices, they had never expected for it to draw such turmoil.
And Long Chen himself had also caused several of the auction prices to rise greatly. It could be said that he had been a huge contributor to their sess this time.
¡°This is your portion.¡± Bai Ling handed him a crystal card.
There were a billion gold coins on the card, causing Long Chen to be ecstatic. He would never have to worry about money again.
Although he didn¡¯t know how the Huayun Pavilion had calcted it, he didn¡¯t really care about what was now chump change to him.
¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°The one who should be thanking the other is us. With your addition to the auction, the auction this time had the absolute greatest profit in all of history,¡±ughed Bai Ling.
Long Chen smiled, understanding that the main reason was because of him forcing Marquis Ying to pay more.
¡°No, no, without the pavilion¡¯s support, I also wouldn¡¯t have been able to relieve that resentment.¡±
Bai Ling was a bit startled. Sheughed, ¡°I think young master Long Chen has misunderstood a bit. We didn¡¯t support you; grandmaster Yun Qi had told us to take care of you. Whatever you wanted to buy, no matter the price, he said he would pay for it.¡±
¡°Grandmaster Yun Qi?¡± Long Chen was extremely moved, never imagining that grandmaster Yun Qi had secretly helped him. He had obviously been closely paying attention to him.
¡°This time we both benefited from helping each other. With young master Long Chen¡¯s help, our Huayun Pavilion has truly reaped an immense harvest this time. That is why to disy our thanks, I will give you a gift.¡±
A book appeared in her hand. ¡°This is a list of all the treasures in our storehouse. You can take one item.¡±
Long Chen was surprised, but he naturally wouldn¡¯t refuse such a good thing. Having helped the Huayun Pavilion earn so much money, it was simply right for him to be able to get a reward.
Opening the book, he saw there really were quite a few good things. Although they had justpleted their yearly auction, there were still countless treasures.
Long Chen didn¡¯t even bother looking through the Battle Skills; there were no longer any Earth ss ones left. They only had Mortal ss ones, and he no longer needed any on that level.
Armor and weapons also didn¡¯t suit him. But suddenly, his eyes brightened.
¡°Oh, Heart-Rot Grass?¡±
That was a poisonous grass. If refined into a poison, it would possess extremely acute toxicity.
The poisonous extract that could be refined from the Heart-Rot Grass could be applied to arrowheads. Such an arrow would be able to kill even second rank Magical Beasts.
¡°I¡¯ll pick that.¡± Long Chen pointed to the Heart-Rot Grass.
When Bai Ling saw his selection, she couldn¡¯t help being a bit baffled. ¡°This Heart-Rot Grass does have high toxicity, but it isn¡¯t very valuable. Does young master want to think it over some more?¡±
A stalk of Heart-Rot Grass was only worth a few hundred thousand gold coins. Bai Ling had been wanting him to select an extremely precious treasure. After all, Long Chen had helped their Huayun Pavilion make a great deal of profit; this was their way of winning favor with him.
But he only picked a medicinal grass that was worth a few hundred thousand gold coins. Naturally, that was awkward for her.
¡°I¡¯m not that interested in the other things. This Heart-Rot Grass is perfect for me to study a bit,¡± smiled Long Chen.
¡°How about you also pick something else?¡± probed Bai Ling.
¡°That wouldn¡¯t be too appropriate, would it?¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°It¡¯s not a problem. In the Huayun Pavilion, whatever I say counts,¡± said Bai Ling confidently.
That was perfect for Long Chen, as he had actually been wondering what other bizarre things they possessed. When he had almostpletely flipped through the book¡¯s contents, his heart suddenly jumped.
¡°Night Devil skull.¡±
Although his expression didn¡¯t change, his heart was already starting to pound. This was a true treasure!
¡°Can I pick this Night Devil skull?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Of course.¡± Bai Ling smiled. Although the Night Devil skull was worth over a million gold coins, it was not worth making a fuss over.
In just a short time, people brought over the Heart-Rot Grass and the Night Devil skull.
The Heart-Rot Grass was packed into a sealed foot-long bottle. Although it had been tightly sealed, an extremely acrid smell still came from it. The acrid smell seemed to want to bore through their noses and set their lungs on fire.
A bright smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face when he saw that strand of Heart-Rot Grass. It had definitely matured properly and its toxicity was extremely high.
As for the Night Devil skull, it was as tall as a human. It looked like an extremely frightening bat¡¯s head.
He reached out his hand and ced the Heart-Rot Grass and Night Devil skull into his spatial ring before then thanking Bai Ling, ¡°Many thanks.¡±
Bai Ling smiled slightly. ¡°Young master Long Chen is too polite. As I said, the first reason we invited you here was to thank you. The other reason was to ask young master Long Chen if he wished to enter my Huayun Sect.¡±
¡°Huayun Sect?¡± Long Chen was startled.
¡°Correct. The Huayun Pavilion is just one of my Huayun Sect¡¯s branch industries,¡±ughed Bai Ling.
¡°Does that mean youngdy Bai is one of the sect¡¯s branch disciples?¡± asked Long Chen.
Bai Ling nodded. ¡°Bai Ling isn¡¯t talented and is just an outer disciple of the Huayun Sect in charge of the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s Huayun Pavilion.¡±
Long Chen was startled. So this Bai Ling was actually the branch pavilion master and an outer disciple of the Huayun Sect.
¡°Actually, with young master¡¯s talent and his attainments with medicinal pills, young master will quickly be able to walk out of these uncivilized, backwardnds. This is my third year in the Phoenix Cry Empire. Now with young master Long Chen¡¯s assistance, I¡¯ve finally reached my target. Now when I return to the sect, I will be promoted to be an inner disciple.¡± Anticipation appeared in her eyes. ¡°So to repay this favor, I will shamelessly give you this invitation. If you enter my Huayun Sect, you will definitely have the best conditions to grow.¡±
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help being moved and asking, ¡°What do you mean, these uncivilizednds?¡±
¡°Haha, young master must not know, but this world is sorge it is out of your imagination. The Phoenix Cry Empire is just a drop of water in the ocean. This region is called uncivilized because it is far from the cultivation world. That was why I said that with your talent, you should go to a more expansivend to grow. Only then will you not be stifled,¡± smiled Bai Ling.
But when it came to exining those more expansivends, she didn¡¯t further say anything at all.
This was the first time Long Chen had heard of the outer world. Grandmaster Yun Qi had barely raised that subject with him.
And even Bai Ling didn¡¯t reveal too much. Although Long Chen was curious, he didn¡¯t keep questioning her.
Heughed, ¡°Many thanks for your appreciation. If I ever do leave Phoenix Cry and want to see the outer world, then I will go looking for you.¡±
His words were extremely tactful; he didn¡¯t agree nor decline.
Bai Ling sighed, ¡°It looks like you don¡¯t want to leave Phoenix Cry for now. But I will be returning to the sect immediately. How about this: If you do leave Phoenix Cry and don¡¯t find a suitable sect, keep my Huayun Sect in mind. Here, this is my symbol. With it, you cane to the Huayun sect to find me.¡±
Receiving a jade tablet from Bai Ling, Long Chen said, ¡°Then, I¡¯ll thank young miss for her help. To tell the truth, I really am interested in that vast and expansive sky that you were talking about.¡±
Unfortunately, he had too many troubles that he had to resolve. And there was no way Bai Ling could wait for him, as this was a crucial moment for her to promote from an outer disciple to an inner disciple.
Although he didn¡¯t know exactly how different the two were, he could tell that it was extremely important to her since she couldn¡¯t conceal her excitement.
As soon as Long Chen left, a side door opened and Yao Niqian walked in. She was confused and said, ¡°This Long Chen actually refused sister¡¯s invitation.¡±
¡°A refusal is normal. This Long Chen is definitely not as simple as you. He is extremely shrewd; he¡¯s definitely contemting matters that he hasn¡¯t revealed,¡± sighed Bai Ling.
¡°What a shame. If you could have lured him, a pill cultivator with endless prospects, into our Huayun Sect, then you might even be promoted to be a core disciple. How about I go try to charm him again? No harm right?¡± said Yao Niqian.
¡°Just give it up. Long Chen isn¡¯t like those perverts you usually charm. You¡¯d just be disgracing yourself. We still have to finish some preparations. Once we¡¯re all set, we¡¯ll have to return to the sect. The Huayun Pavilion will be left to another disciple sent here to gain experience,¡± said Bai Ling.
Although it was hard for her to ept this, Yao Niqian always trusted what Bai Ling said. She only quietly cursed inside. Was this Long Chen even a man?
¡°Achoo!¡±
Long Chen had just entered his room when he sneezed.
¡°Hmph, I don¡¯t know whether it is Marquis Ying or Xia Changfeng who is cursing me. Or is it that idiot woman?¡±[1]
Although he didn¡¯t know who was talking about him, that person definitely wasn¡¯t saying anything good about him.
He called over Bao-er and repeatedly warned her not to let anyone interrupt him before tightly closing the door.
¡°It should be time to refine the Starfusing Pill.¡±
[1] It¡¯s amon superstition that you sneeze when someone talks about you.
Chapter 64: Visiting Chu Yao
BOOM!
His pull furnace violently shook and terrifying energy surged within. It was as if his pill furnace was trying to seal a struggling Magical Beast.
¡°SEAL!¡±
Long Chen shouted and tightly pushed down the furnace lid. But a medicinal pill¡¯s essence couldn¡¯t be sealed just relying on physical strength.
At the same time as his hand pushed down on the lid, his powerful Spiritual Strength surged out andpletely locked down the pill furnace.
This intense struggle continued for a full two hours before his pill furnace gradually returned to calm.
Slowly opening the lid, the originally dark room immediately lit up. A pearl-like medicinal pill was emitting a gentle light.
¡°Hehe, I finally seeded.¡±
Long Chen rxed and wiped away his sweat. He was incredibly exhausted and almost fainted.
This was the third furnace of pills he had refined. The first furnace of pills had been to refine the Starfusing Pill Chu Yao needed. Of his three refinements, the Starfusing Pill had been the easiest to refine.
Then, he had refined the Soul Devouring Heart Rotting Pill, a poison pill refined from the Heart-Rot Grass. It would be one of his protective measures in the future.
Thest thing he had refined just now was the hardest to refine, a soul nourishing pill. He had refined it by using the Night Devil skull he had obtained from the Huayun Pavilion.
The Night Devil had a simr shape to a bat. An adult was a dozen meters long and fiercely bloodthirsty. Its most terrifying aspect was its ability to use spiritual attacks.
To directly attack the spirit; that was a terrifying kind of method that was practically impossible to defend against.
Long Chen had used the second rank Magical Beast Night Devil skull¡¯s crystal core as the main ingredient to refine a single soul nourishing pill.
Soul nourishing pills were exceptionally special medicinal pills. They had practically vanished from this era. Even in his Long Chen¡¯s Pill God memories, there were only three forms that could nourish the soul.
Consuming it would benefit the spirit greatly, and at the initial stages of soul cultivation, consuming one soul nourishing pill was equivalent to having a huge head start over yourpetition.
This was a rare medicinal pill that had absolutely no side effects. This pill was extremely precious to Long Chen in particr. As an alchemist, he definitely required a powerful Spiritual Strength.
But the first thing that popped into his head when he looked at that pearl-like soul nourishing pill was a vision of Meng Qi¡¯s wless face.
Meng Qi was a Beast Tamer. That was true soul cultivator. It would be a waste for anyone else to take it.
But Meng Qi was now in the Wind Spirit Pavilion. He didn¡¯t know where that was at the moment, so it would be impossible for him to send it to her.
Sighing, he put away the soul nourishing pill. If he still didn¡¯t see Meng Qi again within half a year, then he would simply consume it himself.
That was because this soul nourishing pill was not like other medicinal pills. If it wasn¡¯t consumed within half a year, the spiritual energy inside the pill would begin to fade.
After putting away the medicinal pills, Long Chen could no longer support himself. Exhaustion caused him to copse onto his bed. The next time he opened his eyes, it was already noon the next day.
After washing up, he chatted with his mother, ate lunch, and left, ready to meet up with Chu Feng.
He had already set up a meeting with Chu Feng for today at a teahouse. By the time Long Chen arrived, Chu Feng had already been waiting for a long time.
Chu Feng had a middle-aged guard beside him. When he saw Long Chen approaching, that guard was just about to say something when his vision suddenly darkened and he fainted.
After knocking him unconscious, Long Chen took out some Face Changing Liquid and applied it to his face. In just a couple of minutes, he had changed into the guard¡¯s clothes and left with Chu Feng to the imperial pce.
Everything was going ording to n. Chu Feng had followed Long Chen¡¯s instructions to keep a guard beside him at almost all times. This was all in order to fool people for today¡
Now Long Chen would no longer appear as conspicuous in other people¡¯s eyes. The two of them managed to easily enter into the inner section of the imperial pce.
This was Long Chen¡¯s first time in the imperial pce. The winding pce mazepletely confused him; without his powerful Spiritual Strength, he would have lost his direction.
¡°Brother Long, my big sis is under house arrest in her Jade Yao Pce. There are guards outside. They¡¯ve never blocked me from entering, but whether or not I can bring you in is still unknown.¡± Chu Feng was hesitant.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, let¡¯s try our luck. Just follow the contingencies in our n. If it really isn¡¯t going to work, then I won¡¯t force it,¡± nodded Long Chen.
Long Chen hade to deliver Chu Yao the medicinal pill, but he also wanted to help her resolve those foreign spiritual seeds.
There was only one Starfusing Pill, and refining its medicinal pill¡¯s energy required skill. With Long Chen by her side, even if something unexpected happened, he might still be able to remedy the situation.
But another reason he hade was because he missed her. Ever since he had revealed his feelings for her at the Lantern Festival, her beautiful image had always been held within his heart.
He wanted her to have more faith in him. He wanted her to know that no matter how hard her days were, she would always have Long Chen with her. He wanted her to share a part of her pain with him. He wanted her to never have to suffer helplessly again.
That was why he hade.
Finally, they arrived at Chu Yao¡¯s Jade Yao Pce. There were eight guards wearing imperial robes guarding the gate.
There were also dozens of other soldiers surrounding the perimeter. That truly angered Long Chen.
This was the imperial pce, which was equivalent to Chu Yao¡¯s home. But it waspletely surrounded by guards; how was this any different to being imprisoned? Long Chen was bing increasingly disgusted with the royal family.
¡°The Empress Dowager has ordered that outsiders cannot enter the Jade Yao Pce.¡±
As expected, Chu Feng and Long Chen were blocked from entering.
¡°Outrageous! I¡¯m here to see my sister; why can¡¯t I enter?!¡± Chu Feng shouted angrily.
¡°Seventh prince, I¡¯m sorry. You can enter, but your guard cannot.¡± That guard was not overly servile or overbearing.
¡°He is my personal guard! He¡¯s my most trusted guard, and if you won¡¯t believe me, then I¡¯ll make your head tumble to the floor!¡± Chu Feng shouted sternly.
That guard shook his head. His voice was as indifferent as ever as he replied, ¡°I¡¯m sorry; these are the Empress Dowager¡¯s orders. No one can change them.¡±
While Chu Feng and that guard were arguing, Long Chen had already spread out his divine sense. Sensing a figure sitting and leaning against a window, he couldn¡¯t help but feel pity.
Chu Yao was as beautiful as ever; however, she had be much thinner and wan. It was obvious that this constant imprisonment over these days had made her suffer.
Long Chen truly wished to punch that guard who was blocking them, but he didn¡¯t dare to. This was the imperial pce, and he didn¡¯t dare to be reckless here.
¡°What matter is causing this much ruckus?¡±
Suddenly, a displeased voice came from behind.
¡°Greetings, fourth prince.¡±
That was the fourth prince Chu Xia. It seemed he had just happened to be passing by when he heard themotion.
Long Chen frowned slightly when he saw that it was the fourth prince. That was because he could see Chu Xia looking at him with a bit of surprise.
Although he didn¡¯t know where he had messed up, he was now certain that Chu Xia had recognized him.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± After ncing at Long Chen for a moment, Chu Xia turned to the guards.
¡°Reporting to fourth prince, seventh prince wanted to bring this guard into the Jade Yao Pce, but¡¡±
¡°Impudent! You audacious ve, are you doubting my little brother? You actually think he¡¯d harm his own sister?¡± The fourth prince interrupted angrily all of a sudden.
¡°This little one doesn¡¯t dare.¡± That guard jumped in fear. He hastily kneeled down. Obviously, the fourth prince instilled much more fear in him than the seventh prince.
¡°Let them in,¡± ordered the fourth prince coldly.
¡°But¡¡± That guard was still hesitant.
¡°If the Empress Dowager wants to assign me, naturally it will fall on me. Could it be that you don¡¯t even trust me?¡± The fourth prince asked coldly.
¡°This little one doesn¡¯t dare.¡± That guard fell back and no longer said anything.
¡°Enter then.¡± The fourth prince patted Chu Feng on the shoulder, but he was clearly looking at Long Chen.
Long Chen nodded. Although he didn¡¯t know why the fourth prince would help him, now wasn¡¯t the time to think about that.
After the seventh prince and Long Chen entered the Jade Yao Pce, the fourth prince smiled and also left.
Entering the Jade Yao Pce, the two of them went into the central courtyard. Chu Yao had been leaning against the window and looking down at the fish swimming in the pond when she turned slightly and suddenly saw them.
When she saw Long Chen, first she was dazed for a moment before wild joy filled her. Her jade hand lightly covered her cherry lips, and her tears began to wildly fall.
She had somehow managed to recognize Long Chen. Long Chen slowly walked up to her and apologized, ¡°Sorry for being sote.¡±
Chu Yao couldn¡¯t hold back any longer. With her head in Long Chen¡¯s chest, she began to truly weep, seeming to want to cry out all her grief.
During this time, she had been under constant house arrest. When she heard that the Empress Dowager had already decided to marry her off to Xia Changfeng, she had almost copsed.
If Chu Feng hadn¡¯t secretly brought Long Chen¡¯s promise to her, she might have already be hopeless and left this colorless world.
Every day she would watch the sun rise and bitterly wait for Long Chen. Each day had felt longer than a year to her. That kind of suffering was something only she knew about.
Long Chen enjoyed her fragrance as he gently stroked her long hair, letting her give vent to her grief.
At the same time, he also swore to himself that no matter the price, he would definitely protect Chu Yao. Even if that price was his life.
Sometimes, he would feel that Chu Yao was even more pitiful than himself. After all, Long Chen at least had a mother and father who loved him. But Chu Yao had lived her whole life in the loveless imperial pce. The imperial pce was a ce where there was no trust or love. For a weak woman like her, it really was too painful.
After feeling enough time had passed, Long Chen noticed that Chu Feng was just awkwardly standing in his original location, not knowing whether he should stay or leave.
¡°Cough.¡± Long Chen lightly coughed, and Chu Yao broke out of her daze and hastily escaped from Long Chen¡¯s embrace. Her entire face was red, and she couldn¡¯t even bring herself to look at either of them.
¡°Uh, how about I go for now?¡± Chu Feng asked probingly.
¡°No need. Just help to keep watch for me. I have some secret matters I have to do with your sister.¡± Long Chen waved his hand.
But as soon as he saw Chu Feng¡¯s shocked expression, he knew that the kid had misunderstood and hastily added, ¡°It¡¯s not what you think.¡±
He didn¡¯t exin further. Not exining was better, as the exnation was even more explicit. Chu Yao¡¯s pretty face waspletely red, and she was too embarrassed to even show her face.
Long Chen straightforwardly pulled Chu Yao upstairs, leaving behind a stupefied Chu Feng who just stood there alone and in a daze.
Chapter 65: Starfusing Pill鈥檚 Qi
The Jade Yao Pce was Chu Yao¡¯s personal princess pce. It wasrge with three floors, the third floor being her personal chambers.
Long Chen had never once gone into a woman¡¯s chambers before. What surprised Long Chen was that Chu Yao¡¯s room didn¡¯t have any majestic or grand decorations. Instead, everything was very simple and in.
¡°Isn¡¯t it strange?¡± Chu Yao pulled Long Chen in and quietly said, ¡°I¡¯ve always imagined that if only I had been born into a normal family, I would be free. I might not be able to have the luxury or a high status, but at least I would have my freedom.¡±
Long Chen smiled. ¡°That¡¯s just because of your viewpoint. To be born into poverty is to have to struggle every day. In this world, if you want to be free, then you have to have a matching power.¡±
Chu Yao nodded and led Long Chen into her room. Long Chen was startled to see that her bed was covered with drawings of himself.
Those drawings weren¡¯t made by a master painter. Instead, they were remarkably lifelike, without the embellishment of the drawings of him on the market.
¡°You drew these?¡± Long Chen asked in surprise.
Her face reddened a bit and she nodded. ¡°Ever since the Lantern Festival, drawing images of you is the only way I can pass the time. Otherwise, the days are even more unbearable.¡±
Long Chen felt a sudden burst of emotion for her. Looking at how much thinner and wan she was, he felt his heart ache. ¡°Chu Yao.¡±
Wrappings his arms around her tender waist, he pulled her into a tight kiss.
Chu Yao immediately felt the sky and earth spinning around her. Long Chen¡¯s masculine scent filled her nose, and it was like sparks were running throughout her body. Tightly hugging onto Long Chen¡¯s back, the two of them lost themselves in that intoxicating feeling.
¡°Long Chen, Yao-er wants to be your woman.¡± Her breathing was shallow and her beautiful eyes were blurry as she looked at Long Chen. The intense feelings she had for him were enough to melt the steel.
With a beauty in his arms, Long Chen felt as if his whole body was about to ignite. Even his breathing was bing hurried.
With her encouraging him, Long Chen¡¯s most primal desires ignited and his hands slowly started roving up from her waist.
¡°Long Chen, I want to be your woman. Even if I die, Yao-er will be content.¡± Her entire body turned soft as she quietly whispered.
Chu Yao¡¯s voice was soft, but to Long Chen, the words were like thunder. His originally aroused desire was immediately extinguished like icy water had been thrown over him.
When Chu Yao sensed Long Chen¡¯s body suddenly stiffen, she slowly opened her eyes and saw that his expression was a bit unnatural. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±
He took a deep breath and told himself to stay calm. After gently nting a kiss on her forehead, he said, ¡°Yao-er, do you not have faith in me?¡±
From her tone and what she said, Long Chen had understood her inner thoughts. She was nning on ending her life after giving herself to him.
And also for some unknown reason, Long Chen had a sudden premonition that if he did go through with that, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Although such a premonition was extremely abstruse, Long Chen had always had a keen intuition ever since merging with a Pill God¡¯s soul. His gut had never misled him.
¡°Long Chen¡¡±
Chu Yao looked at Long Chen and suddenly started sobbing into his chest. ¡°I love you, Long Chen. I would rather die than marry someone else.¡±
Long Chen gently stroked her back. As expected, his intuition had been correct. After patting her, he said, ¡°Yao-er, did you forget the promise we made to each other at thentern festival?¡±
¡°The Dragon swims across the four oceans; the Phoenix flies throughout the ninends,¡± she softly recited. But as soon as she finished, her tears truly began to fall.
¡°Seas of blood may block us, but we will never give up our path; Dragon and Phoenix will both live to old age!¡± Long Chen also heavily recited what he had said in return. That was his first promise to Chu Yao.
Chu Yao¡¯s jade hands tenderly stroked Long Chen¡¯s cheeks. She was choked with emotion as she sobbed, ¡°But¡ can we really live to old age?¡±
¡°We definitely will. Believe in me.¡±
¡°Okay, I¡¯ll trust in my future husband.¡± Chu Yao smiled, appearing like a dew-dropped flower with her tears on her beautiful face.
¡°Yao-er, you really are beautiful,¡± blurted out Long Chen.
¡°As long as you like how I look then I¡¯ll let you see me every day.¡± This time Chu Yao wasn¡¯t shy anymore.
¡°Haha, good, we¡¯ll have many more days for that. But today I came mostly to bring you this.¡±
Long Chen took out the Starfusing Pill, immediately causing the light in the room to turn gentle. Although it was the middle of the day, that was not able to conceal the lighting from the pill.
¡°Here, consume it. I¡¯ll protect you.¡±
Although she didn¡¯t know what it was, due to her trust in Long Chen, Chu Yao obediently swallowed that Starfusing Pill.
With Chu Yao sitting lotus style on the bed, Long Chen ced his hand on the middle of her back, using his Spiritual Strength to keep a close eye on the state of her body.
That Starfusing Pill was something Long Chen had used his full effort to refine. It was the best pill he had refined up to this point, and it could already count as a peak existence amongst second tier medicinal pills in Phoenix Cry.
In just several breaths¡¯ time, the medicinal pill dissolved and spread quickly throughout her body.
¡°Don¡¯t bother with it. Let the energy flow as it wishes.¡±
The Starfusing Pill spread throughout and filled every single path of Chu Yao¡¯s meridians. Some of her meridians, which hadn¡¯t been opened up yet, were slowly forced open by its energy.
But such a feeling was not a pleasant one. It felt as if millions of ants were crawling throughout her meridians, causing her to feel an irritating itch.
Chu Yao knew that this was something Long Chen had refined for her, so she did her absolute best to hold back any pained sounds, not wanting to worry him.
This kind of suffering was something Long Chen was extremely familiar with. Back when he had first absorbed heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual energy into his body to open his meridians, he had felt such an intense pain that he would never be able to forget it in this lifetime.
Although Chu Yao was much better off than he had been at that time, one was pain while the other was itchiness. The degree of difficulty in bearing with it was essentially equal.
It took a full two hours for the Starfusing Pill¡¯s medicinal energy topletely merge into Chu Yao¡¯s meridians.
¡°Now draw the medicinal energy into your Dantian. You have to pull that energy from the farthest parts first, just like how rivers flow into the ocean.¡±
Chu Yao nodded and slowly began to circte her spiritual qi. She began to collect the medicinal energy from her meridians into her Dantian.
What surprised Long Chen was Chu Yao¡¯s control of her spiritual qi which was extremely precise, to the point where she could control the slightest detail.
Chu Yao was definitely a martial genius. Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but sigh emotionally. Just by using her familiarity with her spiritual qi, she was already able to reach such a high level of control.
If those nine foreign spiritual qis weren¡¯t blocking her Dantian and causing her spiritual qi to be too chaotic and weak, the result from their fight on Sunset Mountain would probably have been reversed.
¡°Good, now increase the speed. The faster, the better. Channel your energy,¡± directed Long Chen quietly.
With the pulling of the medicinal energy in her body, Chu Yao gradually caused the small streams of energy to berge rivers, the energy bing greater and greater.
Following Long Chen¡¯s directions, she increased her speed and now her meridians were pushed to their max, sending the energy to her Dantian wildly like surging waves.
BOOM!
Chu Yao¡¯s Dantian shook and the nine foreign spiritual energy seeds locking it were immediately pushed to the breaking point by those huge waves.
¡°No, you¡¯re stillcking some energy!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s expression changed slightly. His Spiritual Strength rushed out, aiding Chu Yao in pulling the Starfusing Pill¡¯s energy to her Dantian. Those waves now became a flood.
If it had been just the medicinal energy, then it would count as a flood; but then adding in Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength, that flood became a huge torrent.
Those nine foreign spiritual qis that had been nourished by Chu Yao for so many years were immediately crushed into pieces and merged into her Dantian.
BOOM!
Following the breaking of those nine spiritual seeds, Chu Yao¡¯s Dantian immediately became filled with endless energy. It caused Chu Yao who was originally at the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation to immediately break through to the Blood Condensation realm.
¡°First Heavenstage of Blood Condensation!¡±
¡°Second Heavenstage!¡±
¡°Third Heavenstage!¡±
¡
Her cultivation base rapidly advanced at a shocking pace.
Those nine spiritual seeds had been nourished for so many years. Now that they were crushed, the amount of energy they released was absolutely astonishing.
It could also be seen just how terrifying Chu Yao¡¯s talent was. Despite not spending much time on cultivating, just the umted energy she had gained passively was enough to even scare Long Chen.
¡°Fifth Heavenstage!¡±
¡°Sixth Heavenstage!¡±
Now Long Chen was truly stupefied. Chu Yao¡¯s talent was so great that Huang Chang would have been nothing in front of her.
¡°Seventh Heavenstage!¡±
¡°Eighth Heavenstage!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s expression changed. He realized that under Chu Yao¡¯s rapid advances in her cultivation base, it seemed she was going to break out of the Blood Condensation realm to reach a higher level.
BOOM!
As he predicted, Chu Yao¡¯s cultivation base advanced to the ninth Heavenstage, and there was still an enormous amount of energy remaining.
¡°Crap!¡±
Long Chen shouted and immediately activated his FengFu Star. He poured extremely pure spiritual qi into Chu Yao¡¯s body and tightly sealed her Dantian.
He spat out a mouthful of blood. In order to avoid hurting Chu Yao, that spiritual qi he had poured into her body was not capable of defending itself from that wild, out of control spiritual qi in her body, causing him to suffer a loss.
¡°Long Chen!¡± Chu Yao let out an rmed cry. At this point, she had already lost control of her own cultivation base!
¡°Not a problem! Just calm yourself. I¡¯ll help you control your Dantian¡¯s energy. You absolutely can¡¯t break through again; otherwise, your foundation will be practically ruined.¡± Long Chen exined while suppressing her Dantian.
Chu Yao hastily stabilized her state of mind. Working with Long Chen, they tried to control the energy in her Dantian that seemed almost endless.
Luckily, Chu Yao¡¯s control of that energy was extremely great. Knowing that this was a crucial moment, she focusedpletely on controlling her Dantian.
Two hourster, her Dantian finally stabilized. Chu Yao copsed onto her bed. The amount of mental energy she had used up just now had been too great.
Long Chen wasn¡¯t much better off than her. Without his powerful Spiritual Strength, he would have already fainted. The feeling of having to take hits without hitting back truly was a bit irritating.
He covered Chu Yao with her nket and left a piece of paper behind that told her to properly rest and to let him handle everything else.
Chu Feng had been waiting for six hours. Only now did he see an exhausted Long Chen walk down, and for a moment, he didn¡¯t know what to say.
Long Chen didn¡¯t even have the strength to exin. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯m tired.¡±
But after the two of them exited Jade Yao Pce, they hadn¡¯t walked far before they were stopped by someone.
¡°The fourth prince wishes to see you.¡±
Chapter 66: Treacherous Intentions
Chapter 66
Chapter 66 Treacherous Intentions
The fourth prince poured a cup of tea for Long Chen . He smiled lightly, ¡°Brother Long truly is a dragon amongst men . No matter what, such boldness truly is worth admiring . ¡±
¡°Fourth prince tters me . But this little brother still doesn¡¯t know just how you recognized me,¡± replied Long Chen .
He really did want to know just what he had forgotten about . He was confident that his appearance changing technique did not have the slightest w .
¡°Even a wise man who thinks it over a thousand times will forget at least one thing . To be honest, I didn¡¯t actually recognize you at first, and it was only when I saw that ring on your hand that I managed to figure it out something was strange . Then adding on your gaze, I realized it was you . ¡± The fourth prince pointed to Long Chen¡¯s hand .
Only then did Long Chen suddenly realize that he was wearing his spatial ring on his finger . That ring had a design that was specific to the alchemist guild . He had actually forgotten such arge detail .
¡°The fourth prince truly is someone observant to the smallest detail . It really is worthy of admiration, but what I really want to know is, why did you help me?¡± asked Long Chen .
¡°Haha, you might not believe me even if I tell you . The truth is, I dislike Xia Changfeng intensely . No matter what else, Chu Yao is still my sister . Although familial affection is a luxury that can¡¯t be afforded in the imperial pce, I still have some in my heart .
¡°I do not have the heart to force Chu Yao to marry someone she doesn¡¯t like . But you also know that the imperial pce is simply like that . All that matters is if it will benefit the empire; no one cares about your emotions . That is simply a helpless truth of living in the imperial pce .
¡°I¡¯ve tried to persuade the Empress Dowager many times in hopes of changing her mind, but none of it had any effect . In the end I actually ended up infuriating her and being kicked out of her Empress Dowager Hall .
¡°From the fact that brother Longe to visit Chu Yao today, I can tell you have truly sincere feelings for Chu Yao . But my ability is limited, and I can only help you this much,¡± sighed the fourth prince .
¡°Fourth prince is too polite . Long Chen will remember this matter . ¡± It seemed he would have to owe a favor to the fourth prince for today .
¡°As for the matter of your Long family losing its stipend, I once tried investigating . But I was shut down before I could get to the bottom of it . So I¡¯m also powerless when ites to your Long family . ¡±
Long Chen frowned and asked, ¡°Can fourth prince tell me what he discovered?¡±
¡°Ah, well it was something that happened in the imperial pce, so it¡¯s extremely muddied . My brothers and I also fight and scheme against each other . I really am powerless when ites to it . ¡± The fourth prince shook his head .
Long Chen¡¯s eyes brightened ever so slightly . Although the fourth prince didn¡¯t give him a direct response, but the fact that he had purposely mentioned his brothers was definitely somewhat interesting .
There were a total of seven princes . Other than the fourth prince, there were six left . Of those remaining six, the seventh prince could also be excluded .
Then that left the crown, second, third, fifth, and sixth princes . Long Chen had observed each of them carefully at the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival . Other than the crown prince, none of the others seemed to be shrewd enough .
Then the most suspicious one would have to be the crown prince . Moreover Long Chen had recognized the assassin who had killed Li Hao as one of his henchmen . All the evidence pointed to him .
¡°Many thanks . ¡± Long Chen cupped his hands .
¡°Haha, I didn¡¯t say anything . I can¡¯t ept your thanks,¡±ughed the fourth prince . He then sighed, ¡°Sometimes I truly envy you noble heirs . You can be free and unconstrained, not like us who do not have freedom . I even have to suck up to people I inly dislike . Speaking of which, Xia Changfeng is returning to the Grand Xia in ten days to prepare for his wedding with Chu Yao . Although I truly wish to punch him in the face, I can only give him a smile . That¡¯s the sorrow of living in the imperial pce . ¡±
¡°He¡¯s leaving in just ten days?¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t bat an eye, but a cold light shed in his eyes .
The fourth prince seemed to not notice any change in Long Chen¡¯s expression . Sipping some tea, he replied, ¡°Yes, he¡¯s taking the southern pass, a shortcut to the Grand Xia . A prince¡¯s wedding naturally requires many preparations . ¡±
Long Chen nodded and kept that information in mind . At the same time, an outrageous idea popped into his head . If he could pull off that n, this matter with Chu Yao would be easily resolved¡ .
The fourth prince chatted for a bit longer with Long Chen before politely seeing him off . When he once more returned to his room, a woman had appeared .
That woman seemed to be in her thirties . She was tall and veiled in extravagance, giving off a cold sensation that she could not be offended .
¡°What you¡¯re doing right now is extremely dangerous,¡± she said .
The fourth prince smiled slightly and sipped some tea . ¡°Danger means risk, and risk means there¡¯s a chance of a high payout . I feel that it¡¯s worth it . If Long Chen loses then he will just be another corpse, meaningless to us . But if he seeds, then the n will advance a couple steps . Mom, don¡¯t worry about it . ¡±
That woman was precisely Phoenix Cry¡¯s Queen Mother of the Western Pce . She shook her head and said, ¡°I hope you know what you¡¯re doing . I have a mission in being married off to here . You and I have to remember that . ¡±
¡°Hmph, you were originally a princess from the Grand Xia, but you came here to Phoenix Cry for your own goals . As for me? Was I born to be just a chess piece? They n on seizing Phoenix Cry¡¯snds, making Xia Changfeng the ruler of this empire . Then he¡¯ll monopolize all the richnds . When the timees for credit, it¡¯ll all be theirs . As for us mother and son, are we destined to be their tools? Why?¡±
The fourth prince suddenly let out all his anger into loud bellow . The current him was just like a Magical Beast that had been provoked, capable of devouring anyone at any moment .
¡°Xia-er, I know you¡¯re mad inside . With your talent, you wouldn¡¯t lose out to anyone . But this is fate . ¡±
¡°Fate? Fate is dictated by man . I will control my own fate . I will not be a puppet! I will be the Emperor!¡±
¡°That¡¯s impossible . ¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it; I¡¯ve already made all my ns . Right, how is the Empress Dowager?¡± asked the fourth prince .
¡°She¡¯s under my Soul Assimtion Art . I can basicallypletely control her . But as a precaution, I always add a bit more ¡®control¡¯,¡± she indifferently replied .
¡°Ok, good . Now we just have to wait for good news from Long Chen . I hope he doesn¡¯t disappoint . ¡± The fourth prince smiled . Raising his cup, he drained it in a single gulp .
¡
When Long Chen returned home, he saw there were a couple carriages by the gate . As soon as he walked past the gates, the housekeeper immediately informed him that there were guests present .
Long Chen was startled, as it had been many years since someone had paid a visit to their Long family . Why were there guests now?
He went straight to his mother . He could already see that she was talking with a couple smiling guests . Seeing Long Chene over, she hastily said, ¡°Chen-er,e . Greet your two aunts . ¡±
Amongst the group, two of them were old wives who were simr in age to his mother . Long Chen had no alternative but to great them as aunts from his mother¡¯s side .
¡°Haha, what a good child . He¡¯s grown up in an instant . Quick, you guys quickly greet your cousin . ¡± One of them hastily called out to the few people behind her .
There were three men and two women, all around the same age as Long Chen . One of the men awkwardly said, ¡°Cousin, it¡¯s been many years . ¡±
Long Chen nodded . He still vaguely remembered this person . Back when they were little, this person had forcefully snatched his toys, causing him to cry .
Although he felt that it was a bit abrupt to suddenly meet his mother¡¯s family, seeing how happy she was, Long Chen also felt it would be bad to say anything about to, so he merely forced out a couple polite sentences .
As soon as it was polite, Long Chen stood up and said his goodbyes . Only then did Long Chen learn from his mother that they hade to apologize to her .
¡°Chen-er, I also have a bit of a grudge against them for noting to help us back when we first entered a crisis . However, now they came and told me the whole story . It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t want to help, but that they didn¡¯t dare,¡± sighed Mrs . Long .
¡°That crisis has already passed and you¡¯ve also be a high status alchemist . Our Long family has also risen from that . Mom had also thought about it and epted it . Let the past stay in the past . I hope you also won¡¯t hold it against them . After all, they are your mom¡¯s family . ¡±
Long Chen coldly sneered inside; they hadn¡¯t dared to help? What had they been doing when the Long family had almost gotten to the point that they hadn¡¯t been able to afford food?
Even if they didn¡¯t dare help obviously, secretly sending a bit of money to help was still something incredibly easy .
The current Long Chen was now a towering figure that no one in the capital didn¡¯t know of . He had a close rtionship with grandmaster Yun Qi and even dared topete with Ying Hou at the auction . That was enough to disy how domineering he was .
Long Chen had used that kind of method to tell everyone that his Long family was no longer the same Long family as before . He was not someone that just anyone could bully .
The fact they had onlye now to apologize was clearly just them trying to curry favor . Long Chen truly held them in contempt, but since his mother had already forgiven them, he could not argue too much about it .
If his mother wanted to, then she could do whatever she wants . Living in the secr world meant you had to endure living as how society expected you to .
Seeing that Long Chen didn¡¯t have that much of a bad reaction to her family, Mrs . Long also became more at ease . After all, no matter how much of a grudge she had, they were her family . And having been alone for so many years, she also thirsted for familial love .
Long Chen apanied his mother for a while . She asked him a couple simple questions about his current situation and he replied with a couple vague sentences . Even if he was just doing the same thing as he always did, telling her the good news but not the bad, it still let her feel a bit relieved .
After that, Long Chen went into seclusion . Having been busy all this time with dealing with Chu Yao¡¯s matter, he hadn¡¯t truly had time to focus on cultivation .
Right now he had an idea to make sure Xia Changfeng remained forever in the Phoenix Cry Empire, but Xia Changfeng always had many guards around him . He had to be absolutely sure topletely eliminate that bastard in just one attempt .
But ever since condensing the tenth cyclone, he had bepletely bewildered about how he was supposed to cultivate further . He had no idea just how to use the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art to break through to the Blood Condensation realm .
But there was no other way for him to get stronger . . He had no real Dantian without the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, so only by further training in it could he advance .
His ten cyclones wildly absorbed heaven and earth¡¯s energy, creating a steady flow of spiritual qi that entered his FengFu Star .
Long Chen found that the absorption rate was actually over ten times greater than when he had had only nine cyclones, causing him to rx quite a bit .
Three dayster, another explosion came from his Dantian . Long Chen saw that an eleventh cyclone had been condensed inside his Dantian, causing his expression to be dull .
He practically wanted to go crazy . Where was the end to this? If it continued like this and all he did was to continue condensing cyclones, he would definitely go crazy .
It was just at this moment when he was almost about to crazy that Bao-er¡¯s voice came from outside .
¡°Young master, someone¡¯s looking for you .
Chapter 67: Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf
Within the guest room was a woman in a long white skirt who was currentlyughing at the stupefied Long Chen. ¡°What, do you not recognize me after just this little time?¡±
Long Chen had never imagined that the guest looking for him was actually this woman. He felt as if he were dreaming.
That woman was precisely the maiden who had protected him from crap-brother Xi when he had attacked him on Sunset Mountain.
¡°No, no. I still haven¡¯t thanked elder sister for your help back then,¡± said Long Chen hastily.
¡°Don¡¯t call me elder sister; it sounds weird. I¡¯m sister Meng Qi¡¯s junior apprentice-sister. My name is Lu Fang-er, so you can call me sister Fang-er,¡± sheughed.
¡°Haha, then little brother Long Chen greets sister Fang-er,¡±ughed Long Chen. He had a kind of friendly feeling towards this Lu Fang-er.
Seeing her made him feel that the distance between and Meng Qi was no longer as distant as before. He also had a way to pass on the soul nourishing pill.
¡°Haha, your mouth really is skillful. No wonder you¡¯ve be the idol in the hearts of all the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s maidens.¡± Lu Fang-er held out a drawing of him andughed.
Looking at that drawing, Long Chen immediately felt embarrassed. That was the cover of theic depiction of his battle with Huang Chang, the Phoenix Cry Divine Battle.
¡°Cough, that was just a joke some merchants made.¡±
¡°You confessed your emotions to a princess and then used your strength to defeat a powerful opponent; that was a joke?¡± Lu Fang-er teased.
Long Chen immediately felt his heart drop. If that matter was heard by Meng Qi then¡
¡°Long Chen, this isn¡¯t eptable. My big sis is a fairy in human form. For her to have a favorable impression of you, do you not know how to treasure that?¡± Lu Fang-er was dissatisfied. ¡°Since we know each other a bit, I¡¯ll give you some advice. Immediately break things off with that princess and I won¡¯t have to tell my big sis about it.¡±
His expression immediately changed when he heard this. Thinking about the warmth and tenderness Chu Yao currently felt for him, he shook his head and sighed, ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t do that.¡±
As he said that he felt as if needles were stabbing into his heart. That decision was extremely difficult to make.
Meng Qi¡¯s beauty and kindness had been deeply imprinted into his heart. She had given him his first taste of love.
As for Chu Yao, she would sacrifice her everything for him. Asking him to leave Chu Yao at this time was absolutely impossible for him.
¡°How can you be so stubborn? You aren¡¯t even satisfied with just my big sis; you actually have to y around with the women here too. If you choose her, then don¡¯t ever think about seeing my sister again,¡± warned Lu Fang-er angrily.
Long Chen took a deep breath. In the face of hisplicated feelings, he waspletely helpless. He refused to give on either of them. But now he had to choose which one.
Seeing that Long Chen remained silent, Lu Fang-er continued, ¡°Are you really going to give on my sister for some princess?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not giving up. I cannot give up on either one.¡± Long Chen shook his head.
¡°Ha, your face really is thick. You actually want to monopolize two beauties for yourself.¡± The angry Lu Fang-er actuallyughed when she saw Long Chen act so confidently and shameless.
Long Chen was startled at that. He didn¡¯t quite understand just what Lu Fang-er was saying.
¡°Ah, whatever. This is how a true man should act. If you really did give up that pitiful princess just to appease me, then you really would have had to say goodbye forever to my sister,¡±ughed Lu Fang-er. ¡°How could a man who is fickle in love possibly enter my sister¡¯s eyes? That was just a small test just now. I suppose you¡¯ve just managed to pass.¡±
A bead of sweat silently rolled off Long Chen¡¯s forehead. A feeling of exhaustion rolled over him. He would rather have a huge battle with someone then endure such a test again.
¡°However, you¡¯re also celebrating too early. That test was just one I did from a personal point of view. As for my big sister, whether she will let you have another beauty along with her is something only she knows,¡± Lu Fang-erughingly warned him when she saw him rx.
His nerves which had only just rxed immediately tightened again. Lu Fang-er continued, ¡°But from what I understand about my sister, you should have the greatest chance out of all men. And with me helping you, your chances should increase even more.¡±
¡°Then, I¡¯ll thank sister Fang-er for the help,¡± said Long Chen hastily.
¡°Haha, I won¡¯t disturb you anymore. I had business to do ining here. After flying for seven days and nights, I¡¯m alreadypletely exhausted. Plus, you don¡¯t even pour me a cup of tea,¡± sighed Lu Fang-er discontentedly.
¡°Oh, I¡¯ll immediately pour some tea for sister Fang-er.¡± Long Chen quickly and carefully poured a cup of tea for her. There was no way around it. He definitely had to give her a good impression for the sake of Meng Qi.
Lu Fang-er took the teacup with a somewhat strange expression. ¡°Does your Long family normally like to use cold water for tea?¡±
Only then did Long Chen realize that the pot was alreadypletely cold. But he thickened his face and said, ¡°This is cold tea that¡¯s supposed to be drunk cold. Sister Fang-er can try it.¡±
¡°It¡¯d be strange if anyone believed you,¡± scolded Fang-er.
¡°If sister Fang-er doesn¡¯t want to drink cold tea, then I¡¯ll immediately steep some hot tea for you.¡±
¡°Ah, forget about it. As long as you have the right heart, then it¡¯s fine. Coming and going like this is actually quite annoying, but if I didn¡¯t, then I¡¯d feel too sorry for you.¡±
For a moment, Long Chen didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. This Fang-er truly was mischievous. But she still gave off a very innocent and lively feeling. She said whatever she wanted to. It really was easy for people to feel friendly to her.
The Wind Spirit Pavilion was many thousands of miles away from this ce. Even if she was riding a Magical Beast, traveling for seven full days and nights was still extremely exhausting. So he could understand her teasing of him.
¡°Next, I¡¯ll tell you some good news. My sister gave me a gift for you.¡± Lu Fang-er pointed to a small trunk to the side.
Only then did Long Chen realize there was a two feet tall rectangr trunk.
When the trunk was gently opened, Long Chen was astonished to see that there was a small furred creature inside.
It was a small wolf cub only the size of a palm. Its body waspletely snow white. Only a small section of fur at the middle of its forehead was a fiery red color. It was extremely adorable.
This small cub had yet to even open its eyes after being born. It was blindly searching around, appearing to look for food.
¡°Scarlet me Snow Wolf?¡±
Long Chen was extremely startled. This was the cub of a Magical Beast that he had read about before.
The Scarlet me Snow Wolf ¨C its body waspletely snow white with only a small lock of fur that was a zing red color. It was extremely easy to recognize.
But most Scarlet me Snow Wolves weren¡¯t of apletely pure bloodline. Their fur would be of a duller color and would even have some spots sometimes.
But this Snow Wolf cub didn¡¯t have a single spot. That meant it was an extremely pure-blooded Scarlet me Snow Wolf.
Such a Scarlet me Snow Wolf that waspletely pure would grow to be an overlord third rank Magical Beast when matured, and it could even contend against fourth rank Magical Beasts. That was an existence that surpassed the Tendon Transformation realm.
¡°Correct, this is a pure-blooded Scarlet me Snow Wolf that has just been born. It was given to my sister as a gift from her master, but she instead wanted me to fly through the night to give it to you.¡± Lu Fang-er looked at Long Chen with aplicated expression.
His heart shook. Not only had Meng Qi not forgotten about him, but she actually worried about him. Such pure feelings from a beauty caused Long Chen to feel an urge to tear up.
¡°Originally, sister wanted it to be a weak housepet for you, but she definitely never thought that you¡¯d have already be a Pill Adept. Your Spiritual Strength isn¡¯t low, so I can impart a couple of techniques to control beasts to you. Then, this Scarlet me Snow Wolf can be a battling housepet,¡± said Lu Fang-er.
Ordinary martial artists would always have Beast Tamers use their martial force or other techniques to gradually tame the Magical Beast, letting it be a housepet.
But such a housepet wasn¡¯t perfect. After all, Magical Beasts had a violent and brutal aura that could not be removed. A housepet devouring their master was amon urrence.
But even so, Magical Beast housepets were still extremely precious. Although it was a bit dangerous, once it was properly trained and if it was used properly, a Magical Beast was definitely an extremely terrifying addition to yourbat strength.
What was special about a battle housepet was that it could be controlled much better. However, to have such control over a Magical Beast required an extremely strong Spiritual Strength. Ordinary people were absolutely incapable of that.
Using Spiritual Strength to connect andmunicate with the Magical Beast, both beast and human could work together.
Not only was the power of a battle housepet much greater, but the chance of it betraying its master was also much lower. However, it also required having your Spiritual Strength connected to the Magical Beast for a long time, which was also exhausting.
Meng Qi didn¡¯t know about Long Chen¡¯s current strength. She had sent the cub in hopes that the Scarlet me Snow Wolf would follow Long Chen as it grew up and be an extra life-preserving measure in the future.
But the current Long Chen was already a Pill Adept. Lu Fang-er directly imparted a few techniques for controlling Magical Beasts to him.
What surprised Lu Fang-er was that Long Chen was able toprehend the techniques with just a quick exnation. He would then ask a couple of questions that went right to the core of how the technique functioned.
But there was a limit to how much Lu Fang-er could pass onto Long Chen. She could only teach him themon beast controlling techniques that circted in the public. As for the core techniques of her sect, she didn¡¯t dare pass them on without permission.
Long Chen¡¯s intelligence hadpletely won over Lu Fang-er. She realized Long Chen was definitely a monster. He remembered every word andprehended everything almost immediately. He even asked her questions about ideas that she hadn¡¯t ever thought of.
She stayed for half a day at the Long estate. After Lu Fang-er saw that Long Chen hadpletelyprehended all the techniques she passed on to him, she directly left.
But before she left, Long Chen gave her the precious soul nourishing pill to give to Meng Qi.
Once she left, Long Chen looked down at the little cub he was holding to his chest and couldn¡¯t help but feel a burst of warmth. The existence of this Scarlet me Snow Wolf was proof that he was present within Meng Qi¡¯s heart.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel extremely grand knowing that Meng Qi cared about him. He hoped to resolve everything in the capital as soon as possible so that he could step out of these uncivilizednds and enter that vaster sky.
That was because he knew there was an unmatched beauty waiting for him. Thinking of Meng Qi, Long Chen felt his blood burn hotter. He had to quickly rise.
¡°Waaahhh!!¡±
Suddenly, the small cub in his arms let out a loud cry and started waddling all over his body.
Looking at that little fellow, Long Chen smiled. But at that moment, he suddenly felt an extremely indistinct killing intent.
Chapter 68: News of His Father
There was someone spying on him; that was his first reaction. However, even after spreading out his divine sense throughout the entire Long estate, he was unable to find anyone suspicious.
But that feeling had definitely not been a mistake. With his perceptive spirit, he had definitely sensed that extremely indistinct killing intent.
Long Chen was fully confident in his intuition. If there was no one suspicious in the Long household, then that meant the enemy was watching from further away.
Seeing that the sky was already darkening, Long Chen muttered to himself and ced the puppy-like Scarlet me Snow Wolf back into its trunk.
That trunk was something Lu Fang-er had brought over. Inside was a nourishing fluid that was enough for the cub to consume so that it wouldn¡¯t die.
Setting up a proper ce for the little cub, he then changed and left his estate.
As expected, his intuition had been correct. As soon as he went past the gates, he sensed that he was being watched by people. A cold smile appeared on his face as he continued walking.
He knew those people were preparing to kill him. If he had guessed correctly, they should have been waiting for nightfall to sneak into the Long estate and assassinate him.
He preferred not to fight in his home, so he left. And as he had expected, after he walked a dozen miles away and entered a remote region with no one else present, a sharp whistling arrow was shot straight for his back.
By the time he reacted and went on guard, it was already toote. He was shot through, groaning as he tumbled to the ground.
Over ten figures surrounded Long Chen. Those people were all wearing veiled masks. Raising their swords, theypletely cut off any retreat paths.
¡°Hmph, what Phoenix Cry number one junior generation; he¡¯s just an idiot. He was handled so easily,¡± sneered one of the masked men coldly.
As soon as he finished his sentence, an arrow firmly shot him right through the stomach. His eyes widened and he didn¡¯t even dare look down at his stomach as he felt his life quickly fading.
He tumbled to the ground. Even as he died, he had no idea just who it was that had killed him.
¡°Careful!¡±
The others all immediately retreated, looking in shock at Long Chen. They noticed that the arrow on his back had disappeared.
More importantly, Long Chen seemed absolutely fine! He got up from the ground and indifferently patted the dust off his clothes.
Long Chen had long since been on guard, so how could it possibly have been so easy to ambush him? The very instant that arrow had been about to hit him, it had already been caught by him in midair.
But he had faked being hit and tumbled to the ground powerlessly. Everything had been an act he had put on extremely convincingly. The reason he did this was to find out what this group hade for.
The arrowhead didn¡¯t have any poison on it, and the twang of the bowstring had been too loud. Professional assassins definitely wouldn¡¯t randomly walk up to an enemy who wasn¡¯t confirmed to be dead.
¡°Together!¡±
Following one of their shouts, the masked men suddenly released their auras. Blood Qi soared to the sky; every single one of them was a Blood Condensation expert.
With a metallic ring, a sword appeared in Long Chen¡¯s hand. That was the weapon of the one he had killed. He used it now to block one of their attacks.
The person whose attack he blocked felt his hand turn numb. The power behind Long Chen¡¯s sword was shockingly great. The sword in his hand was blown away, and he was knocked onto his back.
A cold light shed over that person¡¯s body, and he was split into two. A rain of blood descended for a moment.
Now that Long Chen had condensed eleven cyclones that had reached a terrifying size, even a random blow from him was practically unstoppable.
After easily killing a Blood Condensation expert with a wave of his sword, the pungent smell of blood filled the air. The cyclones in his body almost seemed to have been provoked, and without any urging from Long Chen, they started to circte faster and faster.
In just the blink of an eye, two members of their group had died. Both shock and rage filled them. They bellowed angrily and charged all at the same time, each of them stabbing towards one of Long Chen¡¯s vital points.
Long Chen coldly snorted. Spiritual qi surged rapidly into his arms.
Using just that one sword, Long Chen fended off the attacks of over ten people. With a crisp bang, qi waves surged out with shockingly terrifying fluctuations.
With thebined force of over ten people, they forced Long Chen back several steps. He wasn¡¯t injured at all; however, his sword was unable to take such terrifying strength and shattered, leaving only the hilt.
They were all greatly shocked that Long Chen was able to fend off theirbined attack alone. Three of them were even at the mid Blood Condensation realm!
¡°Good, again!¡±
One of them ordered. Although his voice was suppressed to be quiet, there was something indescribably strange about that voice.
They didn¡¯t need this reminder since they all knew that this was the best moment. They all charged at the unarmed Long Chen.
Looking at those masked ck-robed attackers, a ridiculing smile appeared on his face. He lightly rubbed his ring.
Golden light suddenly lit the sky up. A huge battle-ax cut through the air. It was just like the full moon as it swung through a mournful arc.
Blood and broken limbs flew everywhere. The terrifying strength of the battle-ax dug a huge hole in the ground. Nine of them died under it; now there were only three remaining.
And that was because those three were somewhat slower. When they had seen a huge battle-ax suddenly appear in his hands, they instinctively had slowed down slightly, allowing them to escape death.
But while they had managed to survive, the others were not so lucky. In front of that huge battle-ax, the swords in their hands were no different from toys. All of them had been crushed into pieces.
That huge power had even managed to impress Long Chen. This was the domineering style of heavy weapons. Your power would multiply, allowing you topletely crush your enemies head-on.
But one of the drawbacks was that Long Chen needed two hands to hold the battle-ax. That was because the handle was too thick. At the same time, just one hand¡¯s strength was unable to draw out all of the potential power of the battle-ax.
Although that battle-ax was extremely powerful, due to having used too much force, his arms ended up feeling extremely sore.
¡°Now it¡¯s time to send you guys to hell.¡±
He slowly raised the huge battle-ax. Only then did the remaining three react. They immediately fled, disappearing in just a couple of blinks.
Looking in the direction where those three were fleeing, Long Chen helplessly sighed. He sat himself down on the huge ax, seeming to not have the slightest intention of chasing after them.
It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to chase, but that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to them even if he caught up. Due to underestimating the Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax¡¯s weight and power, he had misjudged how much strength to use and ended up dislocating his own shoulder. His raising of the battle-ax was just to scare them off. Otherwise, if they didn¡¯t flee, then he would be the one running.
Twisting his shoulder, he popped it back into its socket. Suddenly, he turned to some bushes to the side and said, ¡°Having hidden for so long, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time toe out and say a few things?¡±
Those bushes remained silent. Long Chen smiled slightly, and suddenly, a red medicinal pill appeared in his hand. With a flick of his finger, the red pill fell into the bushes.
That medicinal pill burst apart when itnded in the bushes. Countless strands of red smoke immediately filled the air. The smoke spread extremely quickly, reaching hundreds of meters away.
That was a poison pill. The pills refined from alchemists didn¡¯t just save lives; they also could take lives. Long Chen had kept that poison pill for a long time. Back in the Heroic Assembly House when he had fought against Huang Chang, he had just been about to use it when the crown prince had walked in.
That was a life-preserving measure. But now that he had even better medicinal pills, that pill had lost its use.
A figure quickly fled from the bushes, rushing towards the distance.
¡°I¡¯d advise you not to run. Otherwise, in just a few minutes, the poison will reach your heart and you¡¯ll die,¡± said Long Chen indifferently.
That figure stopped and paused for a moment. Perhaps he was considering whether Long Chen was telling the truth or not, but in the end, he decided to stay.
¡°Young master¡¯s techniques truly are worthy of praise.¡±
That person slowly walked over and bowed. He appeared to be about in his twenties. He was slightly thin and appeared weak. His face was exceptionally in, one that would be hard to pick out amongst a crowd.
¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°Reporting to young master, this little one is Chen Fei. I was sent by your father to secretly protect his wife and son,¡± said Chen Fei.
¡°My father? Do you have any proof of that?¡± Long Chen was pleasantly surprised, but he still needed proof.
That person took out something from his robes and handed it to Long Chen. ¡°This is a keepsake. I really am ashamed. I believe that young master should definitely recognize it.¡±
Long Chen immediately turned a bit sour when he saw that thing. It was a bamboo sword, the first gift his father had ever given to him as a child.
At that time, he had only been two years old. He had been so excited back then that he had wildly brandished it as if he were a great expert.
Back then, his father had apanied him like that every day. He would asionally give him encouragement as he wildly swung his bamboo sword, and his mother wouldugh secretly to the side.
Those were the soft and warm days of their three person family. Those days felt like they were just yesterday. He seemed to be able to see his father¡¯s strict but pampering expression.
But a child was a child. A toy was something that didn¡¯t remain novel for long. Heter became enraptured by real swords and des. That bamboo sword was lost somewhere he had never bothered with.
Looking at the bamboo sword now, he saw there was a bright shine to it. That was obviously something that could only be left behind by stroking it thousands of thousands of times.
¡°Master really did wish to see his son and wife over these years, but he was absolutely unable to reunite with his family. However, if he learned that his son had reached such a level, he would definitely feel extremely gratified,¡± said Chen Fei.
Long Chen carefully put away the bamboo sword. This news of his father caused him to be even more excited than if he broke through his current realm.
It had been so many years, but his father had never even once sent a letter back. Sometimes, he actually wondered if his father no longer wanted his wife and child. It would be a lie to say that he didn¡¯t have a bit of a grudge inside him.
Hearing Chen Fei¡¯s words today, that sore point in his heart was finally released. At the same time, he was also a bit ashamed. In terms of trusting his father, he was far from equal to his mother.
¡°Come back to the estate. I have some things I want to talk about with you,¡± said Long Chen. He had now understood many things. Although he didn¡¯t know the whole picture, he felt that he was now capable of changing his own fate.
¡°Young master, you believe me just like this?¡± Chen Fei was surprised.
¡°Of course, I believe you. That¡¯s because if you had lied just now, the current you would already be a corpse.¡±
Chapter 69: The Secret Troubles of Long Tianxiao
¡°Of course, I believe you. That¡¯s because if you have lied just now, the current you would already be a corpse.¡± Long Chen¡¯s light words were filled with self-confidence.
Chen Fei was greatly rmed. But examining his body, he didn¡¯t notice any changes.
¡°That pill that I threw out is called the Soul Burning Pill. Even if youpletely stopped your breath just now, it would be pointless. That poisonous gas directly erodes your pores and enters your bloodstream. If you use too much strength or fight intensely, your blood will begin to flow quicker and the poison will immediately invade your soul. At that time, your death would be doubtless,¡± exined Long Chen.
Chen Fei¡¯s expression changed. He had never imagined that Long Chen¡¯s poison pill would be so terrifying. But since Long Chen already trusted him, he definitely wouldn¡¯t deceive him now.
¡°The reason why I believe you is because I am confident in my pills. If you had lied when I questioned you just now, your blood would have begun circting faster. By then, blood would flow out of your seven apertures. Here, eat this.¡±
Long Chen handed Chen Fei a medicinal pill. Chen Fei directly swallowed it.
¡°After taking this pill, the poison in your body will be detoxified. However, the effect is a bit slow, so you cannot undergo any intense fights for the next three days. Okay, let¡¯s go.¡±
Long Chen directly started walking back home. Chen Fei hastily went to keep up with him. They left behind a miserable area of blood and severed limbs.
...
¡°Bastard, you actually dare try to kill Long Chen behind my back? Do you think that I won¡¯t dare to kill you?¡± Within a secret room, a white-robed man was angrily cursing at Xia Changfeng. A murderous aura came from him.
At the same time, a terrifying killing intent seemed to take a solid form and locked Xia Changfeng in ce. Xia Changfeng felt as if a cold de was pressed against his neck. As long as the white-robed man wished it, his life would be over in an instant.
¡°Brother Luo, listen to me. This wasn¡¯t done by me! My sister ordered my subordinates. I knew nothing about it!¡±
Xia Changfeng waspletely terrified as he tried to exin the situation. Sweat hadpletely drenched his robes, as that killing intent was just too terrifying. Even he, a Blood Condensation expert, was unable to block it. He felt as if he were a tiny ant that waspletely unable to resist.
¡°Do you think I¡¯m an idiot? Do you really think your guards would follow the orders of your sister without your go-ahead? You obviously wanted to remove that thorn Long Chen before you left. It¡¯s lucky that Long Chen didn¡¯t die, otherwise, this matter would have truly blown up. Even if you had ten lives, you wouldn¡¯t be able to block the anger from those higher-ups,¡± shouted the white-robed man coldly.
Xia Changfeng lowered his head and didn¡¯t dare say anything. It was true that the assassination attempt of Long Chen had been arranged by Xia Baichi, but the white-robed man was entirely correct. He had lent his personal guards to her.
He had hoped that once Long Chen was dead, he could push the me onto Xia Baichi. With her Pill Adept status, she should be fine.
Having already borrowed so much money from Xia Baichi at the auction, he had been forced by her to provide help.
However, he hadn¡¯t expected that a group of Blood Condensation experts would fail and only have three of their members return. But before he could even clearly ask about what had happened, that white-robed man had already arrived.
¡°Xia Changfeng, this is yourst warning. Your job is minor. If the bigger plots go wrong, even your entire Grand Xia is unable to handle the punishment, let alone you. Go back and tell your stupid sister that if she dares to take such a rash course once more, I will personally twist off her head. That old pervert Wei Cang never once truly ced her in his eyes,¡± snorted the white-robed man coldly.
¡°Yes, yes, Changfeng will definitely properly instruct his sister. I definitely won¡¯t cause any more trouble.¡± Xia Changfeng nodded his head over and over.
¡°Long Tianxiao has already stated that if anything unexpected happens to his wife or son, he will give up his border post and kill his way into the capital. That is the situation we want to avoid the most, do you understand?¡± The white-robed man coldly continued, ¡°We¡¯ve been constantly testing his bottom line, but Long Tianxiao refuses to give us any reaction. However, that doesn¡¯t mean that he doesn¡¯t care about his wife and son. He is someone who either doesn¡¯t take action or strikes like lightning. That is him warning you guys, but you idiots weren¡¯t even able to understand that.¡±
¡°Brother Luo, I still don¡¯t understand. With brother Luo¡¯s skill, why don¡¯t you go and directly kill Long Tianxiao?¡± asked Xia Changfeng.
¡°Idiot, if I really could just take action in the open, do you think I¡¯d still need you guys? Furthermore, Long Tianxiao is also a Tendon Transformation expert. How is he so easy to kill? If I don¡¯t seed in one blow and news of it spreads, who is going to take responsibility for that?¡± cursed the white-robed man.
Xia Changfeng immediately felt awkward, but he didn¡¯t dare retort. He just endured it obediently. But his hatred towards Long Chen only continued to grow.
Xia Baichi¡¯s actions were actually something he had also wanted. But since Long Chen hadn¡¯t died, the anger inside him could only continue to be stifled.
He really had never imagined that over ten Blood Condensation experts working together would still be unable to kill him. Moreover, his losses were actually so great.
When Xia Changfeng returned to his room, that white-robed man sighed. It had been troublesome for him to get such an easy mission, but perhaps it wouldn¡¯t be as easy as he had thought.
He had been so enraged just now that he had almost ughtered Xia Changfeng. But he couldn¡¯t actually do that. The n had been in motion for many years. In fact, he had originallye here to reap the final profits that someone else had worked for.
However, the result was that he felt as if everyone around him waspletely stupid, infuriating him. He had a stomach full of anger that he had nowhere to let out.
He didn¡¯t dare show himself publicly, so he needed to work together with the Grand Xia. A cold smile appeared on his face.
If you really ruin my ns, then all of you can just die here!
¡
It was alreadyte into the night by the time Long Chen returned home. Once he was in his room, he carefully looked over Chen Fei. He was surprised to find that his aura was extremely veiled. Even with Chen Fei right in front of him, it was still difficult to sense his existence.
¡°I train in a special cultivation technique that increases my ability to hide my aura. Young master doesn¡¯t need to think it¡¯s strange.¡±
Although he was modest, inside he was still a bit conceited. He had absolute confidence in his aura concealing techniques.
Long Chen nodded. Chen Fei was truly quite good at that, as he hadn¡¯t noticed the slightest trace of him until that time.
Today, when his sword had been shattered, and it seemed as if he might be in danger, Chen Fei had ended up giving off some of his aura. Otherwise, he still wouldn¡¯t have noticed him.
At that time, he had clearly been about to intervene. Also, Long Chen hadn¡¯t sensed any hostility at that time, so he knew Chen Fei was trying to save him.
That was why Long Chen had originally guessed that Chen Fei didn¡¯t have any evil intentions against him. But to be safe, he had still decided to use the poison pill.
The current Long family was in an extremely unstable position. At any moment, it might capsize. He didn¡¯t dare to be the slightest bit careless, and he refused to gamble the lives of his Long household¡¯s people.
¡°How are things where my father is?¡± Taking a deep breath, Long Chen go to the point. He was extremely curious about what was going on with his father.
So much time had passed that even his memories of his father had be indistinct. But his father¡¯s love from his childhood still remained deeply buried in his heart.
¡°Your father is safe and sound. However, in the most recent years, the battles with the barbarian tribes have be increasingly intense. Not to mention theck of reinforcements from the capital, his original army of fifty thousand troops has shrunk to only twenty thousand. Luckily, the surroundingmoners care about your father¡¯s benevolence, sending him women and sons to supplement his army as well as army provisions. If it weren¡¯t for them, we¡¯d have long since been unable to persevere.¡±
Anger could be heard within his voice.
The capital¡¯s attitude towards Long Tianxiao truly was a bitter disappointment. If it weren¡¯t for them seeing the manymoners¡¯ ardent gazes, they would have already left.
The barbarian tribes were actually many separate tribes. They were simply grouped together as barbarian tribes as a generic group term. Born in the savage wilderness, they had to use cruel methods just to survive in their harsh environment. They hunted and gathered their food, just barely managing to survive. But that harsh environment actually ended up tempering them, and most of their poption was much stronger than an ordinarymoner.
As they grew stronger, they naturally began to develop and spread out, iming more and morends. In the end, they had found the border of the Phoenix Cry Empire with its richnds and produces. Plundering this ce was much easier than hunting.
The reason they were called barbarian tribes was also because they lived their lives very differently from ordinary people. Whole families would sleep together on the same bed. They also copted without any regard to generation or sex. It definitely seemed chaotic to others.
Other than their own tribe, the other tribes were just prey. Tribes would attack other tribes indiscriminately. And if they ended up capturing Phoenix Cry¡¯smoners, the men would just be killed and stored as food, while the women would be used for sex and then killed for food.
Phoenix Cry¡¯smoners both hated and were afraid of them. The barbarian tribes ended up plundering more and more as time went on, and only once that had reached a shocking point had the empire finally reacted.
Unfortunately. the barbarian tribes actually had a surprisinglyrge poption. They traveled like the wind, disappearing one night and appearing at a whole new ce. They weren¡¯t like Phoenix Cry¡¯smoners who had set residences. It was basically impossible to find their nest, and so Phoenix Cry¡¯s troops could only stay on the defense.
But once Long Tianxiao was sent to the border, he repeatedlyunched sneak attacks against the barbarian tribes, causing the rivers to run red with their blood. This ended up intimidating the barbarian tribes, while themoners near the border could all take a breath of relief and live in peace. That was how Long Tianxiao ended up bing a military god in the eyes of themoners.
As Long Tianxiao¡¯s army fought with the barbarian tribes, the frequent raids ended up costing a great deal. Without reinforcements, the army¡¯s troops quickly dwindled.
Seeing this happen, the surroundingmoners all helped and supported him to the best of their abilities. If they had extra manpower, then they sent their sons to join the army. If they had extra money, then they sent food over. Everything they could afford was sent to Border Suppression Army.
However, that kind of supply was far from enough. When the army wasn¡¯t fighting, they would always go help themoners farm, which was also a way to increase their own supplies.
So, themoners and army men along the border were basically all one family now. Recalling their eyes that were filled with hope and expectation, Chen Fei¡¯s eyes reddened slightly. Even if they had to die, they definitely wouldn¡¯t allow thosemoners to suffer any harm.
Chen Fei told all this to Long Chen, allowing him to finally understand his father¡¯s secret troubles. On one side were his wife and son, while on the other were the lives of millions of innocentmoners.
If it was Long Chen instead, he would also be hard-pressed to choose. That grievance he had had against his father melted into nothing, and pride filled his heart. A brave expert who fights for an empire¡¯s people; that was a true hero!
¡°Chen Fei, return to where my father is.¡± Long Chen thought about it but still ended up wanting him to return.
Chen Fei¡¯s expression changed. ¡°I absolutely cannot.¡±
Chapter 70: Little Snow
¡°I absolutely cannot.¡± Chen Fei exined, ¡°Just before I left toe here, your father ordered me that I absolutely, no matter what, had to stay here to protect his wife and son. Even in death.¡±
Long Chen shook his head, ¡°Although you are ate Blood Condensation expert, you are no longer able to protect me. The fact that you didn¡¯t help me back when I was injured on the martial arena means that you are extremely apprehensive and will only act to help once I am facing death. But at that time, even if you did help, you wouldn¡¯t be able to fix anything. Am I right?¡±
Chen Fei was silent for a long while. That was because Long Chen¡¯s words were absolutely true and he couldn¡¯t refute them.
¡°Within the capital, the only person who could make you feel so apprehensive should be Marquis Ying, correct?¡± asked Long Chen.
Chen Fei sighed and nodded. ¡°Correct. Your father warned me over and over again not to let Marquis Ying notice me, otherwise, my life would be over. I¡¯m not afraid of death, but I am afraid of betraying your father¡¯s expectations. That¡¯s why despite you being bullied so much, I could only continue to stay my hand. I truly am sorry.¡±
¡°Does my father have enmity with Marquis Ying?¡±
¡°Marquis Ying¡¯s finger was severed by your father,¡±ughed Chen Fei.
No wonder Marquis Ying would target me. Father really is ferocious. But I won¡¯t fall behind; my father severed a finger, while I made him lose all his money.
¡°When did you firste to the capital?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Three years ago.¡±
¡°And how many experts on your level does my father have beside him?¡±
¡°There were originally seven, but one of them died after many years of fighting, so there are only six now.¡±
¡°What Heavenstage have you reached?¡±
¡°The ninth Heavenstage of Blood Condensation. But unfortunately, I¡¯ve never been able to break through the next barrier,¡± sighed Chen Fei. He was already thirty-seven years old. If he still wasn¡¯t able to break through by the age of forty, it would essentially be impossible for him to do so for the rest of his life.
Long Chen wasn¡¯t that surprised. Although Chen Fei was extremely good at hiding his aura, Blood Qi had emerged from the space between his eyebrows. That was a clear sign of blood being condensed to its densest state.
In other words, Chen Fei had to be at the peak of Blood Condensation. Unfortunately, he was unable to break through the next barrier.
To break through the Blood Condensation realm to reach the Tendon Transformation realm was extremely difficult. There were thousands of Blood Condensation experts in Phoenix Cry, but only three Tendon Transformation experts. The two were separated by a huge chasm that caused everyone who stood in front of it to despair.
¡°Chen Fei, I¡¯ll refine some pills tonight. Bring them to my father.¡± Long Chen was almost talking to himself.
¡°Young master, this¡¡±
Long Chen waved his hand, cutting him off. ¡°Although your aura concealing techniques are exquisite, allowing you to hide from even Marquis Ying¡¯s senses, the entire Phoenix Cry capital is undergoing intense undercurrents. That means that the entire empire will soon be flipped; whether you stay or not has no meaning. If my Long family truly did reach that end point where you would finally take action, do you really think you could manage to fight against that tide with just your strength?¡±
¡°I can bring you out alive,¡± said Chen Fei.
Long Chen¡¯s face darkened. ¡°And what about my mother?¡±
Chen Fei was immediately speechless. His aura concealing techniques were powerful, but he was actually even stronger when it came to his fleeing techniques. He was confident that even if Marquis Ying was the opponent, he would still have an eighty percent chance of saving Long Chen.
But he really was unable to reply when it came to Long Chen¡¯s mother. He could at most bring along one extra person. In other words, his mother would have to be a sacrifice.
¡°Sorry young master, but these are my master¡¯s orders. I must follow them,¡± Chen Fei shook his head.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help being both startled and furious. His father had actually decided to sacrifice his mother to save him in that situation. Perhaps that was because of his pampering of him, but he waspletely unable to ept that.
Taking a deep breath, Long Chen suppressed his fury and coldly said, ¡°Chen Fei, I¡¯m not arguing with you. I am ordering you. Don¡¯t end up hurting me and my mother just for some silly order. I¡¯m going to the alchemist guild right now to get some medicinal ingredients. I¡¯ll spend all night refining, and you will bring them to my father. Don¡¯t even speak about saving me and my mother. If I wanted your life right now, it would be as effortless as blowing off dust. Right now, I have the strength to temporarily protect the Long household. But events are rapidly turning, and I need my father¡¯s help quickly. So now I¡¯m giving you two options. Listen to me and return to my father¡¯s side. Or die here. Without more of the antidote, the poison will still inevitably kill you.¡±
Chen Fei¡¯s expression became a mix of green and white. He could easily hear the fury within Long Chen¡¯s words. He could almost see the image of Long Tianxiao within him. He was certain that if he dared to disobey, Long Chen really would take his life.
He wasn¡¯t afraid of death, but such a meaningless death truly would not be worth it. Anyways, this was a matter for the Long family. He could only bitterly smile and agree. Of course, inside he was extremely agonized. Just how was he supposed to face Long Tianxiao once he returned?
Long Chen went straight to the alchemist guild. Now that he had so much money from the auction, he no longer needed to worry about buying medicinal ingredients on credit. Coming to the guild now had definitely been a smart decision, as they had all the medicinal ingredients he required.
Using Chen Fei as a guard, Long Chen directly started using his me to warm the furnace. The pill he was refining this time was called the Breaking Barrier Pill.
It was an extremely ordinary second tier medicinal pill that could increase the chance of breaking through bottlenecks.
But the medicinal form Long Chen was using hade from the Pill God¡¯s memories. It used the same medicinal ingredients, but through merging them in different proportions, it created an entirely different effect.
In addition, Long Chen had added Dragon Bone Grass as well. That kind of intense medicinal ingredient would increase the pill¡¯s medicinal energy. This was no longer an ordinary Breaking Barrier Pill.
This Breaking Barrier Pill was used to attack the Tendon Transformation realm. The lower grade Breaking Barrier Pill could give people an extra ten percent chance of breaking through.
But the one Long Chen was nning on refining was a higher quality pill and could give cultivators an extra thirty percent chance of breaking through. If that was learned by others, it would definitely shake the current world.
Such a medicinal pill was even more shocking that the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill from the auction. In reality, that Flesh Bone Restoration Pill had arge w; however, Long Chen hadn¡¯t told them about it.
If an ordinary person would to have their limbs severed, then they really could grow a new limb without any problems.
But if a cultivator took it, they would use their Spirit Root¡¯s true spiritual core energy to heal it. That would end up shortening their peak potential.
Back then, Long Chen had cut off Fu Gui¡¯s arm, and he had healed it without causing any problems. Butter when Yao Niqian called up Zhao Yang... well, in any case, adventurers were in constant danger of being cut like that. And it wasn¡¯t as if Zhao Yang could have resisted Yao Niqian¡¯s charm anyway.
...
BOOM!
The medicinal furnace shook. Opening it, three round medicinal pills appeared. A faint glimmer shined off them, causing a weary Long Chen to smile.
This was his third furnace of pills. The first time he had seeded in refining three pills. But the second time he had just been slightly distracted for a moment, causing an explosion. The pill furnace only narrowly managed to avoid being destroyed. However, the ingredients had turned to ashes.
Refining pills was simply like that. Just the slightest inattentiveness could easily cause failure. Even with all the techniques of a Pill God, it would be impossible to avoid some failures.
His goal had been to refine two furnaces worth of pills. Now that he had failed once, he had no choice but to attempt a third one despite his exhaustion.
The Breaking Barrier Pill, which had the Dragon Bone Grass added to it, was extremely hard to refine. Even with Long Chen¡¯s powerful Spiritual Strength, he was stillpletely exhausted.
But looking at the six medicinal pills, he felt that all that exhaustion was worth it. He handed them to a shocked Chen Fei in addition to a letter.
Chen Fei left before the break of dawn. Long Chen took a quick nap to re-energize himself. Waking up, he realized he felt much freer and less worried.
The matter of his father had always been pressing on him like a huge boulder. Now that he had finally learned of his father¡¯s situation, he was filled with anticipation.
The only thing that kept worrying him was that Chen Fei hadn¡¯t known just who was targeting his father. Long Tianxiao had never told anyone about that.
But that wasn¡¯t too important anymore. Now that he had news of his father, he was filled with fighting spirit.
Getting out of bed, he ced Little Snow in front of him. Little Snow was what Long Chen had decided to name the Scarlet me Snow Wolf.
Little Snow¡¯s eyes were still permanently closed as he cried and fussed. Long Chen smiled slightly and bit down on his finger, drawing a drop of blood. He dripped the blood into Little Snow¡¯s mouth.
When Little Snow swallowed that drop of blood, his closed eyes finally opened slowly. He curiously looked up at Long Chen. Hisrge eyes plus the small tuft of red hair on his forehead were indescribably cute.
For most Magical Beasts, the vor of the first blood they tasted would be forever remembered. The owner of that blood would then be their family. Of course, cold-blooded Magical Beasts were excepted from this. There were different techniques for them.
As soon as Little Snow opened his eyes, he slowly started to crawl over to Long Chen. His walking was extremely unstable and he might trip and fall at any moment, but he still continued crawling towards him.[1]
Long Chen felt a burst of warmth when he looked at the little fellow. With his powerful Spiritual Strength, he could clearly sense the yearning within Little Snow¡¯s soul.
As soon as Little Snow approved of Long Chen, Long Chen was supposed to use his Spiritual Strength to use the secret techniques Lu Fang-er had taught him. That would ce a kind of ve imprint on Little Snow¡¯s soul so that he could never betray him.
But Long Chen continued to hesitate about using the ve imprint. He couldn¡¯t bear to make this little guy a ve.
Pondering over this, he suddenly felt his face be wet. That little guy had crawled onto hisp and was enthusiastically washing his face.
Long Chenughed and hugged the little guy. He brought Little Snow out of the Long estate to the outskirts of the city. Now that the little guy had opened his eyes, it was time for him to temper himself.
Magical Beasts had an extremely tenacious vitality. As soon as they opened their eyes, they were essentially capable of finding and eating their own food. They would no longer require that nutrient fluid they had needed as a cub.
Bringing him out of the city was precisely the fastest way for Little Snow to mature.
But before he left the city, he still had to find a certain someone. In just an hour, Long Chen arrived at arge pasture.
Suddenly, a huge roar rang out, and the entire earth trembled along with it. A smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face.
[1] The Chinese refers to Little Snow as ¡®it¡¯, but I think in English it sounds better to call Little Snow a ¡®he¡¯, simr to how you don¡¯t call your dog ¡®it¡¯. But you should note we technically don¡¯t know Little Snow¡¯s gender right now, and other people may refer to Little Snow as ¡®it¡¯ instead of ¡®he¡¯.
Chapter 71: Twelfth Level of Qi Condensation
The southern pass was almost a thousand miles to the southwest of the capital. It was a narrow pass between sharp mountains and cliffs that represented the border with the Grand Xia.
Within the mountain range were huge trees that reached for the sky and countless wild beasts. Magical Beasts even asionally roamed there. It was a wildnd with no signs of human habitation.
The southern pass had a mountain valley that was sided by tall, precipitous cliffs. The mountain valley had to be traversed in order to get to the Grand Xia.
BOOM!
Within the depths of the mountain range was a secluded pool. Long Chen was sitting cross-legged on a boulder. With another muffled bang from within his body, a twelfth cyclone was born.
The originally three-meter-wide cyclones immediately grew to be a terrifying thirty meters. It really did make him feel numb.
For most Qi Condensation cultivators, their cyclones were only the size of a fist. Some of them might have their cyclones be a foot wide. If a person¡¯s cyclone was two feet long, then that would qualify them as a legendary genius. But Long Chen¡¯s cyclones had already reached an iparable size.[1]
The size of the cyclones dictated how quickly you could absorb spiritual qi from heaven and earth. Even once you advanced to Blood Condensation, your cyclones would still remain. In other words, your cyclones were your ultimate way of absorbing spiritual qi.
Normally, you would be extremely happy to have your cyclones growrger. But once they grew sorge that it was inconceivable, that would naturally be startling and frightening.
Long Chen looked inside his Dantian. The twelve cyclones were like a group of huge mouths that were voraciously devouring heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi.
The spiritual qi in this ce was much denser than in the capital. Long Chen had managed to break through in just a couple of days.
He was bing more and more worried and uncertain about the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Just when was the end of this? The size of the cyclones was nowpletely shocking.
Just as Long Chen was thinking things over, a snow-white little fellow jumped onto the huge rock he was on and wiggled into his embrace.
Looking at that adorable fellow, Long Chen immediately put aside those worries and picked him up.
Lu Fang-er had taught Long Chen how to raise Magical Beasts. Over the past two days, Long Chen had caught several wild pheasants and used their blood to nourish Little Snow.
What had caused Long Chen to click his tongue in wonder was that Magical Beasts truly were Magical Beasts; as soon as Little Snow had drunk their blood, he had immediately started to grow stronger, no longer stumbling and staggering when he walked.
What was most inconceivable to him was that despite Little Snow not having any teeth, he actually had tightly bit down on the pheasant, tearing away a piece of flesh and swallowing it in one gulp.
But Little Snow¡¯s throat wasn¡¯t wide enough and the food got stuck. The little guy ended up rolling around in panic. Long Chen was given a fright and hastily picked the food out of his throat.
But the little guy actually seemed to act on instinct and immediately started to tear at more flesh.
Long Chen was helpless to that and could only tear the pheasant into small enough pieces for him. However, the result was that Long Chen¡¯s eyes almost popped out of his head.
Little Snow was originally only a bitrger than a hand, but he actually managed to finish half the pheasant which was almost twice his size!
Even after half that pheasant, Little Snow¡¯s belly only erged slightly. He then crawled beside Long Chen and took a long nap. After the nap, he actually began to eat again.
In just a couple of days, he had already grown to be a foot long. He had even grown four new teeth. Although they were still extremely immature, Little Snow still had enough power behind them to tear his food on his own now.
The little fellow actually appeared very fierce, but he was extremely affectionate with Long Chen. After he was tired, he would crawl into Long Chen¡¯s embrace and doze off. Sometimes, he would even lick Long Chen¡¯s face.
Unfortunately, now Long Chen really couldn¡¯t use him to wash his face. Now that Little Snow had started to eat flesh, the smell was a bit too strong.
Long Chen gently stroked Little Snow. Whenever he looked at the little fellow, he would think of Meng Qi¡¯s perfectly beautiful image. A fire would burn within his heart.
BOOM!
Long Chen saw that a couple of miles away in a forest, a huge tree toppled down. At the same time, an earth-shaking roar rang out.
Long Chen shook his head and rushed over there while holding Little Snow. Arriving at the jungle, he saw that the forest now had an area hundreds of meters wide that was aplete mess. The trees in this area had all been snapped and crushed.
Within the center of that disorderly zone was a huge figure holding a three-meter-long huge Savage Bull.
¡°Wilde, how many times have I told you to use a bit of skill when hunting? Use the smallest amount of energy to achieve your goal.¡± Long Chen looked helplessly at Wilde.
¡°Hehe, brother Long, I remembered what you said right up till the point I saw my prey.¡± Wilde scratched his head in embarrassment.
Looking at the huge bull whose neck had been snapped, he didn¡¯t know just what to say.
Wilde¡¯s strength seemed endless. He was just like a terrifying Magical Beast in human form. But it seemed that when it came to using skillful techniques, he didn¡¯t have any talent at all.
Along their path, in order to keep himself full, Wilde had already killed four Magical Beasts. Although this Savage Bull was just a first rank Magical Beast, its strength was still shocking. An ordinary Blood Condensation cultivator wasn¡¯t necessarily a match for it.
But it was nothing more than a chicken in front of Wilde. Its neck had been broken without it having the slightest ability to resist.
Wilde¡¯s favorite method of fighting was to directly use his full force topletely overwhelm his opponent. This caused quite a headache for Long Chen.
It was just like he was Magical Beast. He favored attacking instinctively. He could remember things while not fighting, but as soon as he was in battle, everything would be thrown out of his head.
¡°Okay, well let¡¯s handle this bull for now. I¡¯ll skin off the fur and bury the viscera.¡±
Long Chen took out a sharp knife and began to skin the bull. That kind of meticulous work was something he didn¡¯t even bother trying to get Wilde to do. Maybe if it was crushing the bull into a pulp he could ask Wilde to do it.
The scent of a Magical Beast¡¯s blood could spread extremely far. Even if it was a hundred miles away, other Magical Beasts could smell it. After gutting and skinning it, Wilde brought the meat back to the camp.
The camp location Long Chen had chosen was behind a waterfall. There was a natural cave there, a ready-made shelter.
In addition, the flowing waterfall could block their scent, making it more difficult for other Magical Beasts to notice them.
Although they weren¡¯t afraid of ordinary Magical Beasts, being sneak attacked was also extremely troublesome. If it was a venomous Magical Beast, then that would be a fatal danger.
The cave was very wide. Long Chen started a fire and cooked the bull on a frame over the me, roasting it. In less than two hours, a fragrant smell filled the cave.
When Little Snow smelled it and saw the huge bull, he struggled free of Long Chen¡¯s embrace and charged right at it.
Long Chen was startled and hastily grabbed him. If he was a bit slower, then Little Snow would have already jumped into the fire.
Although that wouldn¡¯t burn him to death, his snow-white fur would all be scorched.
¡°Don¡¯t make trouble.¡± Long Chen put on an angry expression for Little Snow.
The little fellow seemed to be able to sense Long Chen¡¯s anger and immediately became more obedient. Hisrge eyes stared into the ground, and he didn¡¯t dare look Long Chen in the eyes, seeming to acknowledge his error.
Although Long Chen hadn¡¯t ced a ve imprint on him, with a couple of the techniques Lu Fang-er had left him that were used tomunicate and connect with him, he was still able to clearly express his state of mind.
But if a ve imprint had been ced on him, he could make him die with just a thought. He would never be able to betray him or even having any thoughts of betraying him.
Long Chen didn¡¯t treat the little fellow as a ve, but more as a partner andpanion. After all, the current Scarlet me Snow Wolf was just like a child, so he still needed Long Chen¡¯s help to figure out what he shouldn¡¯t do.
Little Snow peeked up and saw that Long Chen¡¯s expression was still gloomy. He slowly raised his head and started rubbing back and forth against Long Chen¡¯s chin, almost as if he was petting him.
Long Chen wanted tough inside, but he still endured. If he let it end just like this, then Little Snow would be even bolder next time. He had to teach him a lesson.
The little fellow rubbed him for a long time. Seeing that Long Chen¡¯s face still remained dark, he actually lowered his head and started to cry.
Long Chen practically couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. Carefully examining him, he confirmed that they really were tears. His nose even sneezed a few times as if he were choked with sobs.
¡°Okay, well, next time don¡¯t act like that. It¡¯s dangerous and will hurt you. Understood?¡± Long Chen bitterly smiled and gently rubbed Little Snow¡¯s head.
The little fellow seemed to have understood Long Chen¡¯s meaning and once more started using his small head to rub Long Chen¡¯s chin.
Long Chen sighed. It seemed he also had to worry about this fellow as well. Looking to the side where Wilde was currently salivating, he felt a huge headache oing.
When it was essentially cooked, Long Chen cut off arge piece and gave it to Little Snow. The little fellow didn¡¯t like eating ground meat and preferred torn off pieces.
Long Chen merely cut off several kilograms of meat. The rest was all given to Wilde because Wilde¡¯s stomach seemed to be like a bottomless pit that would never be full.
Even though he already was well aware of Wilde¡¯s appetite, seeing him practically sucked up the wild bull that was several tons in an instant still caused him to feel some shock. Looking from the bones on the ground to Wilde who still seemed to want to keep eating, Long Chen didn¡¯t know just what to say.
ording to Wilde, Magical Beasts¡¯ meat tasted exceptionally good to him and after eating he would feel as if his full body was filled with power. It was much more efficient than eating beef.
Long Chen once more examined Wilde¡¯s body and found that those sleeping cells were all gradually recovering, a very good sign.
At the same time, he also realized that Magical Beast meat was extremely important to Wilde. It seemed that the stronger the meat, the more it would help Wilde grow.
After eating, Little Snow¡¯s belly was as round as ball. He crawled up next to Wilde and started snoring. Long Chen also started to cultivate. Since there was no way for him to advance to Blood Condensation, he might as well just condense another cyclone.
As for Wilde, he hesitated for a moment. With the Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax on his back, he continued to go hunting. It seemed he really would never be full.
The next day at noon, a burst of wind blew by, bringing with it a couple of voices. The cultivating Long Chen slowly opened his eyes. The person he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
[1] How do you end up with 30-meter-wide cyclones in your body? Well the answer is that the Dantian is both a physical space as well as a visual space inside you
Chapter 72: Wilde Shows his Might
A luxurious carriage pulled by a Savage Bull Magical Beast was slowly traveling through the southern pass¡¯s valley. There were a dozen guards around the carriage.
Suddenly, the carriage paused. Inside the carriage, Xia Changfeng frowned and irritably asked, ¡°Why have we stopped?¡±
The reason Xia Changfeng was returning back to the Grand Xia was due to two reasons. Not only did he want to prepare for his wedding with Phoenix Cry¡¯s third princess, but the white-robed man had also ordered him to prepare for more important matters.
That was why Xia Changfeng had ordered his subordinates to travel throughout the day and night as quickly as possible. They had only used one day and one night¡¯s time to arrive at the southern pass¡¯s valley.
With another half a day of travel, they would exit the valley and arrive in the Grand Xia.
Traveling on a flying Magical Beast would be much faster, but due to how many people he had, that was not an option. Furthermore, flying Magical Beasts wererge targets. If they ended up running into a stronger group of flying Magical Beasts, they would definitely die without the slightest chance of fleeing.
¡°Prince, there are people blocking the path,¡± reported one of the guards outside the carriage.
¡°Who?¡± Xia Changfeng was startled.
¡°People you¡¯re familiar with.¡±
Xia Changfeng frowned and exited his carriage. The valley was extremely narrow here. If they wanted to get through this pass, they had to go through that junction.
But at that narrow opening were two figures standing there calmly. When he saw who they were, Xia Changfengughed, and a dark light shed in his eyes.
¡°Long Chen, are you waiting here to say goodbye?¡± Xia Changfeng waved his hand and his guards all spread out, quickly forming a half-ring around Long Chen and Wilde.
Long Chen looked at Xia Changfeng and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. Seeing how arduous your travels are, I decided to get here a step earlier and help send you on your way.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t tell me you two are here because you think you can assassinate me?¡± Xia Changfeng sneered.
¡°Well, I don¡¯t think assassinate is the right word. We¡¯re ughtering today.¡±[1] His face turned icy cold as he pointed at Xia Changfeng. ¡°I won¡¯t y any more meaningless word games with you. You bastard, was the hidden energy within Chu Yao¡¯s body your doing?¡±
Being reminded of Chu Yao¡¯s experiences, Long Chen¡¯s killing intent soared. Currently, Chu Yao could essentially count as his woman, so he waspletely unable to ept such a thing.
At the same time, Chu Yao¡¯s experiences reminded him of his own. If what had happened to his body was rted to Xia Changfeng, then Xia Changfeng was his greatest chance of finding the true person behind this.
Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression changed slightly. Obviously, Long Chen¡¯s words startled him, but he coldly replied, ¡°It seems you actually know quite a bit. But that¡¯s not a problem. A dead man can know as much as he wants without any harm.¡±
This reply was extremely vague and wasn¡¯t what Long Chen had been hoping to hear. However, he could now confirm for sure that Xia Changfeng knew many things.
Long Chenughed. Perhaps he would be able to learn many of those secrets from Xia Changfeng today.
¡°Long Chen, I originally thought that you were a smart guy. But today I find that I was wrong. Nheless, I¡¯m actually pretty happy that I was wrong. You actually dared toe here to assassinate me with just the two of you? I don¡¯t know whether to praise you for your boldness or tough at your stupidity. Looks like after killing Huang Chang, your appetite has really grown without limit. Do you think you are unmatched under the heavens? Wang Mang, weren¡¯t you alwaysining I didn¡¯t give you a chance to disy your feelings? Here, the chance hase. Go cut off that arrogant kid¡¯s head,¡± said Xia Changfeng disdainfully.
Xia Changfeng¡¯sst sentence was towards one of his guards. That Wang Mang was extremely tall and strong, and his face was as ck as coal.
Hearing Xia Changfeng¡¯smand, he sneered, revealing a set of sinister white teeth, appearing just like a bloodthirsty animal.
Wang Mang was also one of his guards that was just like Huang Chang. He was one of Xia Changfeng¡¯s secret weapons.
However, Huang Chang was in the sun while he was in the dark. Anyone who knew Xia Changfeng had known about Huang Chang, but no one had known about this ck-faced guard.
¡°Don¡¯t worry master; I can crush him in less than ten exchanges.¡± Wang Mangughed and rushed forward.
A long broadsword was pulled out of its sheath in Wang Mang¡¯s hands, causing Long Chen¡¯s eyes to narrow slightly.
Most broadswords were only slightly wider than regr swords, a width of around four fingers. That was because as the width increased, the thickness also had to increase. In the end, a broadsword was many times heavier than a regr sword.
Most cultivators that could use broadswords were those specialized in power. And as for Wang Mang, his broadsword had reached a shocking width of seven inches.
Seven inches wide and three inches thick. Its weight was definitely shocking. Before the sword even reached, a terrifying whistling gale had already blown over. The air revolved around it as it chopped down at Long Chen.
¡°You¡¯re mine!¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t move. Behind him, Wilde shouted and the Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax in his hand cut through the air. It turned into a whistling golden light that shed with Wang Mang¡¯s broadsword.
Sparks shot everywhere and an ear-ringing explosion rang out. Some of the guards had their eardrums split from the explosive ringing. Blood slowly flowed out of their ears, and they were unable to hear anything after.
Both sides were blown back. Wilde thudded back three steps before stabilizing.
But Wang Mang was blown ten meters back despite doing his best to stabilize himself. His legs left behind two deep scars on the ground.
After just that one earth-shattering exchange, all of Xia Changfeng¡¯s men looked at the giant Wilde with horror.
When Xia Changfeng saw Wilde¡¯s Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax, his pupils shrunk as he recognized it from the auction. That was something that weighed over two tons!
Looking at Wilde¡¯s stature and huge hands, it was as if that battle-ax had been custom made for him! It wasn¡¯t heavy at all to him.
While Xia Changfeng was shocked, Wang Mang was even more shocked. Ever since he had been a child, he had always possessed an extremely great innate strength. That broadsword in his hand weighed over a ton, and by using it inbat, there were extremely few people in the same realm as him who could manage to endure even three exchanges.
Although Huang Chang was also one of Xia Changfeng¡¯s secret weapons, Wang Mang would still be able to defeat him in ten exchanges even if he used his beast transformation.
However, now he was forced back by a blockhead who didn¡¯t have the slightest fluctuations of a cultivation base. Not only was he shocked, but he was also infuriated.
Wang Mang roared and Blood Qi soared from his body. He had originally been nning on fighting Long Chen, so he hadn¡¯t wanted to disy his full strength. Reserving his strength was simply his habit from being raised with Huang Chang as one of Xia Changfeng¡¯s secret weapons.
But now there was someone who might actually surpass him in terms of brute strength. His anger soared; he definitely would not allow such a person to emerge!
The sword in his hand shivered and space began to rumble. This time the gale winds released from his broadsword sounded even more mournful, almost as if Yama King of Hell was demanding lives.
This kind of harsh and cold attack was extremely terrifying. But while Long Chen was shocked, he was also relieved.
Wang Mang was someone who focused on pure power and didn¡¯t like skillful techniques. Although his style was simple, his killing power was also great.
Luckily, this kind of attack was the easiest for the simple Wilde to handle. That was because Wilde also didn¡¯t understand any skilled techniques.
BOOM!
They once more collided fiercely, intensely shaking the earth and releasing terrifying qi waves that spread out, withering the vegetation and causing destruction everywhere.
If it had just been the withering of the grass and the earth being crushed, then it would have been fine. However, there were also many boulders and smaller stones that were split and sent flying out.
Due to the earlier collision being so intense that many of the guards could no longer hear, one of them was actually directly shot through the head with one of those flying rock fragments. The terrifying force behind it made the rock shoot straight through his head, causing his corpse to fall silently to the ground.
The others all hastily retreated when they saw that. Such a battle was too intimidating. To die like that without even knowing what happened was truly too meaningless.
Explosive collisions continued to ring out as one huge broadsword and one huge battle-ax continuously crashed. Sparks shot wildly every time they collided, and even the earth would shake as well.
Looking at Wilde who seemed to be possessed by a god of war, a bit of excitement rose in Long Chen¡¯s heart. Wilde had finally started to show off his might.
Although this currently still wasn¡¯t his full strength, in any case, at least his sweat and tears in training him weren¡¯tpletely wasted.
But that was also because they had been lucky enough to run into Wang Mang. If it had been Huang Chang, Wilde probably would not have been able to hold on.
Wilde had no fighting experience. Any experiences he had were only from going hunting with Long Chen these few days.
Furthermore, Wilde had no idea how to properly attack. Even up until this point, Wilde would only react defensively after seeing his opponent¡¯s attack.
If Wilde really did strike, that wouldpletely reveal his fatal weak point. But Wang Mang¡¯s wild series of attacks had actually masked Wilde¡¯s weak points.
If it had been Huang Chang, he would definitely have first probed out his opponent¡¯s weak spots before delivering a killing blow.
But Wang Mang didn¡¯t have any information on Wilde. Otherwise, no matter how much strength Wilde had, he would probably have been defeated in just a couple of exchanges.
Wang Mang was actually provoked to see that Wilde only defended without attacking. In fact, he even became angry, thinking Wilde was ying around with him. His attacks became more and more aggressive.
In just the blink of an eye, a dozen exchanges passed. But what surprised Long Chen was that Wilde¡¯s skill with the battle-ax was actually increasing. He no longer seemed like a beginner.
When it came to battle-ax techniques or skills, Long Chen had never taught a single one to Wilde. That was because even if he had, it would have been useless. And furthermore, it wasn¡¯t as if Long Chen knew any of them anyways.
Wilde seemed to have a kind of innate instinct for battle. As the battle progressed, he could actually automaticallyprehend things.
It was just like how his body didn¡¯t need to cultivate and would just automatically absorb spiritual qi from the world.
Seeing that Wilde was capable of holding his own under Wang Mang¡¯s torrential blows, Long Chen thanked his luck.
Wang Mang¡¯s luck truly was terrible. He was actually suppressed by Wilde who didn¡¯t have any fighting experience. His broadsword¡¯s focus was not on skillful techniques, but on using brute force to smash the opponent. Unfortunately, the result was that under Wilde¡¯s might, he was unable to disy that kind of power.
If it had been a different expert skilled in softer techniques, Wilde would have been quickly defeated. The world truly was marvelous. He had made the right choice to bring Wilde along.
Seeing Wilde was temporarily not in any danger, Long Chen didn¡¯t wait any longer. It was time for him to take advantage of the shock Wilde had caused everyone.
Looking at the stunned Xia Changfeng, Long Chen shot forward, smashing his fist down.
[1] There¡¯s a joke based on phics here. Xia Changfeng calls himself ¡®this king¡¯ ¡®Íõ¡¯ (wang). The particle for ending a question is ¡®°É¡¯ (ba). Long Chen then takes it for ¡®°Ë¡¯ (ba), whichbines to form ¡®this owner of a brothel¡¯ (Íõ°Ë, wang ba). So the exchange is as follows: Xia Changfeng says ¡®you¡¯re here to kill this king?¡¯ and Long Chen says ¡®this owner of a brothel? That¡¯s a good name for you.¡¯ It doesn¡¯t really trante. In the next line, he calls Xia Changfeng a bastard, which is also a follow up on ¡®wang ba¡¯, except its ¡®wang ba dan¡¯ (Íõ°Ëµ°). Isn¡¯t Chinese fun guys. That¡¯s the main reason he says they were ying word games.
Chapter 73: Beheading Xia Changfeng
Xia Changfeng had never imagined that the powerful weapon he had hidden by his side for so long would be held up by some random blockhead.
After all, Wang Mang¡¯sbat ability was such that even Huang Chang would be unable to endure ten exchanges from him. But that big blockhead had already blocked over thirty blows and even seemed as if he had the energy to spare. How could that possibly not shock him?
Back in the Heroic Assembly House, Wilde had used his full strength to just barely block a single blow from Huang Chang. That was actually something Xia Changfeng had questioned Huang Chang about after.
Huang Chang had replied that that blockhead¡¯s power was a bit strange, but it wasn¡¯t anything worth worrying about. He could easily kill him.
But that person who Huang Chang had said he could easily kill was actually able to hold back someone who could easily kill Huang Chang!
In the midst of his shock, his instincts suddenly gave off a powerful warning, and he punched out without even thinking about it.
BOOM!
Long Chen¡¯s silent fist was blocked. Xia Changfeng borrowed its power to float back. His guards also now reacted and came to his help, drawing their weapons and charging at Long Chen.
Long Chen coldly snorted and formed a hand seal. A sphere of light quickly condensed between his hands. A terrifying temperature came from it that caused space to twist and warp.
¡°Quick, retreat!¡±
Seeing that light, Xia Changfeng¡¯s expression changedpletely and he hastily shouted out.
But due to their broken eardrums from before, those guards were extremely slow to react. By the time they realized what Xia Changfeng was saying, Long Chen had alreadypleted his preparations.
The egg-sized ball of light in his hand shot out, leaving behind a streak of light. Even the air that it shot through became hot enough to cause space to twist.
BOOM!
That ball of light shot straight into the middle of the group of guards and exploded, enveloping them in a terrifying scarlet ze.
Mournful screams rang out as that terrifying ze spread to thirty meters, enveloping every single of the guards in its midst.
That ze was precisely Long Chen¡¯s Pill me. He had collected all the Pill me within his body and sent it out,pressing it to such an extent that it formed a small ball of me.
That me ball was called a Pill ze. Normally, only alchemists who had cultivated to Pill Master were capable of condensing such a Pill ze.
That was because condensing such a Pill ze not only required an extremely powerful Pill me, but it also required an extremely powerful Spiritual Strength. That was because condensing it to such a point was extremely dangerous. The slightest slip could cause the me to explode in your body.
Long Chen not only had a powerful beast me, but the power of his Spiritual Strength went without saying. Most importantly, with the Pill God¡¯s memories in his soul, such usage of his Pill me was practically child¡¯s y.
Although this was a basic technique for pill cultivators, its power was truly frightful. Once the temperature of the condensed Pill me was released, even Blood Condensation experts would be unable to block it.
A dozen guards were immediately burnt to a crisp. Pill me was not the same as ordinary fire. It was basically inextinguishable. And there were also no pools of water around anyways. Those guards were only able to hold on for at most a couple of breaths¡¯ time before dying. An unpleasant scorched smell filled the air.
A dozen of Xia Changfeng¡¯spetent subordinates were lost just like that. His face was ashen and his eyes seemed to spit mes.
Long Chen¡¯s face was a bit pale now. That was the full force of his Pill me, and the aftermath of such a great consumption was definitely not small, even to him.
Those guards were all Xia Changfeng¡¯s elite troops. The majority had all been at the mid Blood Condensation realm or above. Long Chen could only use such a method to quickly defeat them.
Although the sacrifice wasrge and he would no longer be able to use his Pill me for a while, it had all been worth it. Now there only remained Xia Changfeng for him to deal with. He didn¡¯t have to worry about other peopleunching sneak attacks on him.
¡°Long Chen¡¡± Xia Changfeng ground his teeth as he looked at Long Chen.
¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Long Chen brushed the ashes off his clothes indifferently.
¡°I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Xia Changfeng¡¯s voice was trembling slightly. The anger inside him had already reached a critical level.
¡°That¡¯s just what I was going to say,¡± said Long Chen. ¡°But before that, I want to know who ced those spiritual seeds in Chu Yao¡¯s body.¡±
¡°You want to know? Haha, you¡¯re dreaming!¡± Xia Changfeng sinisterly said, ¡°Did you really think you could kill me? I¡¯ll let you see just how ridiculous such a thought is!¡±
BOOM! Blood Qi exploded from Xia Changfeng¡¯s body. Powerful fluctuations surged from his body. Qi waves rumbled hundreds of meters away, with Xia Changfeng as the epicenter.
¡°Did you really think I was raised as a spoiled prince without learning any skills? Did you really think you are the only genius under the heavens? Today, I¡¯ll let an idiot like you learn just how stupid you are. The price of this lesson will be your life!¡±
At this time, Xia Changfeng¡¯s whole aura had exploded out. Shocking qi waves were rolling off his body and his Blood Qi had been condensed to the pinnacle. His pressure made it difficult to breathe.
¡°You¡¯re at the peak of Blood Condensation?¡±
Long Chen nodded. As he had expected, Xia Changfeng still had hidden cards. No wonder Long Chen had had a somewhat restless feeling throughout the day. He almost felt as if a great catastrophe was about to befall him.
A peak Blood Condensation expert was the strongest opponent Long Chen had met up until this date.
But no matter what, Long Chen was still willing to pay any price to kill Xia Changfeng. It wasn¡¯t just because Xia Changfeng was extremely likely to be a participant in the schemes against him.
The main thing was that he had touched upon the most important thing in Long Chen¡¯s heart. Thinking of Chu Yao who was imprisoned alone within the imperial pce, Long Chen¡¯s killing intent soared.
¡°Die!¡± Xia Changfeng angrily roared. Stamping on the ground, he charged towards Long Chen. The ground he had stamped upon actually ended up caving into a huge hole.
At the same time, a ruthless qipletely locked Long Chen in ce. That meant Xia Changfeng was an expert who had tempered himself through life and death battles.
Looking at the charging Xia Changfeng, Long Chen tightly clenched his fists. His ck hair slowly fluttered in the wind. His eyes were like two sharp des. The cyclones in his body quickly revolved and he sent a punch out.
BANG! A huge explosion rang out. Xia Changfeng stumbled back. He had never thought that the current Long Chen would be even more powerful than when he had killed Huang Chang.
His punch just now hadn¡¯t had the slightest effect at all. Long Chen¡¯s leg was already viciously kicking towards his stomach.
Xia Changfeng coldly snorted. Pushing down his shock, his right hand became like a de that ruthlessly shed down at Long Chen¡¯s leg. With another bang, both of them retreated two steps.
Xia Changfeng was greatly shocked. Long Chen was truly a freak. Back in the Heroic Assembly House, he would have been able to ughter him with just a single hand.
But with every time he saw him, Long Chen¡¯s cultivation base would spring up at a shocking pace. Now he could actually fight on par with a peak Blood Condensation expert!
This caused him intense fury, but it was also terrifying. If it continued like that, then sooner orter the freak would be someone he could no longer suppress.
With an angry howl, Xia Changfeng¡¯s Blood Qi actuallypletely disappeared as he punched forward. His fist immediately coated with a bloody color. That one punch had actually collected his entire body¡¯s Blood Qi. A bloody smell came from it.
¡°Blood Gathering Fist!¡±
When Long Chen saw Xia Changfeng¡¯s punch, he felt his scalp turn numb. That was a fear that came from his innermost being. That terrifying fist definitely possessed a fatal danger to him.
He hadn¡¯t expected Xia Changfeng to actually use such a terrifying move so soon. His FengFu Star quickly activated. A stream of spiritual qi flowed from his FengFu Star to his Dantian.
The twelve huge cyclones in his Dantian immediately grew sharply and began to revolve even faster. The spiritual qi within three hundred meters of him was immediately absorbed by him. This was the first time he had used his full strength since entering the twelfth level of Qi Condensation.
¡°mecloud Palm!¡±
With a low shout, he also sent a palm out. His me-covered palm was sent crashing against Xia Changfeng¡¯s fist.
BOOM!
The ground split apart and rocks shot everywhere. A dozens of meters wide huge crater formed where they collided. Long Chen felt his stomach flip over and over. Vomiting out blood, he was sent flying back.
A painful scorching feeling came from his fist. A bloody color had appeared on his hand and was spreading up to his arm.
His expression changed and he hastily swallowed an antitoxin pill. Xia Changfeng¡¯s fist had contained blood poison on it. From that one exchange, the poison had invaded Long Chen¡¯s hand.
Just now Long Chen had instinctively used the mecloud Palm, not the Breaking Wind Fist. Now he couldn¡¯t help but rejoice his gut. Luckily, his instincts truly were formidable.
Due to having used the Pill ze just now, his me energy was essentially all used up. The mecloud Palm just now had used up thest trace of that me energy he had managed to recover.
But it was precisely because of that trace of me energy that the majority of the blood poison had been blocked outside his body. If he had instead used the Breaking Wind Fist, his power would have increased a bit, but he would be unable to move at this point.
Despite having countered most of the blood poison and also having taken an antitoxin pill, his entire arm was still corroded by the blood poison. A numb and sour feeling came from it.
While Long Chen was endlessly shaken, Xia Changfeng waspletely angered. Long Chen¡¯s full strength blow had been extremely terrifying. It had actuallypletely broken his arm.
What caused the most fury in him just now would have be the me energy that had been on Long Chen¡¯s fist. It had actually dispersed most of the blood poison which he had used his entire Blood Qi to condense.
A cold light shed. A long de appeared in Long Chen¡¯s left hand. A whistling sound rang out as he shed at Xia Changfeng¡¯s head.
Xia Changfeng was surprised, not expecting Long Chen would be unaffected by the blood poison and attack so quickly. Even if he wanted to take a weapon out from his ring, it was already toote.
He hastily rolled to the side. The sharp edge of the de shed right past Xia Changfeng¡¯s cheek, so close that he could even feel the coldness from it.
He had only just managed to dodge one fatal attack when he saw Long Chen sh again at his throat. At this point, there was no retreat. No longer dodging, he sent a kick right towards Long Chen¡¯s Dantian.
The Dantian was the location of the cultivation base. If it was damaged, a person would be permanently crippled. This was a strategy of relieving an attack by attacking the core. The attacker would have to give up attacking and switch to defending. It was very simple and effective.
But what astounded him was that Long Chen actually seemed to not care about that kick and still kept shing down.
¡°NO!!!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s craziness had definitely surpassed his expectations! Long Chen would rather be a cripple and kill him than to let go of this opportunity?! It was already toote for him to switch tactics. Endless dread filled him.
Long Chen¡¯s eyes were icy cold without the slightest emotion. He was just like a cold-blooded god of ughter. He didn¡¯t have the slightest misgivings. His de ruthlessly shed down.
A slicing and banging sound rang out at the same time. Blood flew. A head rolled on the ground while a figure was sent flying away.
Chapter 74: Caught in a Crisis
Xia Changfeng¡¯s kick had contained his full power. Long Chen was sent flying dozens of meters away and then continued rolling on the ground for another dozen meters before stopping.
Looking from the fresh blood on his de to the distant headless corpse that was Xia Changfeng, Long Chen took a deep breath.
Xia Changfeng had truly had many hidden trump cards. Thatst Blood Gathering Fist of his had definitely not been his strongest move. But by taking advantage of his shock, Long Chen had managed to find an opening. He naturally wouldn¡¯t give it up.
Long Chen¡¯s cultivation base was not in his Dantian but in his concealed FengFu Star. So that kick hadn¡¯t caused any misgivings for Long Chen. Even if he had to risk his life in exchange, he would still have cut him down.
He had always been feeling extremely restless today as if something catastrophic was always about to happen. Now he had an extremely strange feeling in his heart. It was a very vague feeling of danger that seemed to be there and not there. That feeling had been there from the beginning, a kind of indescribable feeling.
Just like that, Xia Changfeng had ended up dying. But that kick of his when facing death had still contained his entire cultivation base¡¯s power. When it hadnded on Long Chen¡¯s stomach, the terrifying energy within it had caused Long Chen¡¯s blood to wildly surge. His internal organs were greatly shaken and almost burst apart.
He hastily swallowed an organ nourishing pill and suppressed his wounds. He thanked his luck for this win. Xia Changfeng had been extremely powerful.
If Xia Changfeng had truly used his full strength, it really would have been difficult to say just who would have died. And even if he was defeated, the price would definitely not have been small. It definitely wouldn¡¯t have been as simple as the present. His luck had truly yed an important factor.
Taking a deep breath, the blood poison on his hand was already being suppressed by medicinal energy and was slowly recovering.
All the medicinal pills Long Chen kept on his body were all life-saving pills. They were all higher grade, which allowed for extremely fast recovery. That was the capital a pill cultivator possessed.
He walked over to Xia Changfeng¡¯s corpse and took away his spatial ring. However, now still wasn¡¯t the time to examine his harvest.
Not even ncing at that ssy-eyed severed head, Long Chen immediately rushed to Wilde¡¯s battlefield.
The current Wilde was shouting to his heart¡¯s content. The battle-ax in his hand whistled through the air, and he was bing more and more valiant as he fought. The battle-ax weaved deftly throughout the air. Although there was no technique, its power was shockingly great.
Wang Mang was now using both hands to wield his broadsword as he fought all out against Wilde.
It appeared fate had destined Xia Changfeng to die. He had a powerful subordinate like Wang Mang, but because his head had be a bit heated, he was fighting with Wilde using only his brute strength.
If he actually used his full repertoire of techniques and skills, he would have easily defeated Wilde. But warriors who had relied purely on strength to fight might simply have iprehensible minds.
With another intense collision, Wang Mang was sent flying back. From the very start, he was unable to withstand the seemingly infinite power of Wilde.
Wang Mang was no longer as furious as he was at the beginning. Instead, he was absolutely shocked. He had used his powerful strength to defeat countless powerful enemies. But today his strength hadpletely failed him, and he was pushed back over and over.
As he was staring at Wilde with aplicated expression, he was unaware that another person had appeared behind him. Silently drawing his de, Long Chen cut it right across his neck.
Wang Mang suddenly felt as if he was flying through the air. His first reaction was that he didn¡¯t remember jumping, but when he looked down, he saw that his body was still on the ground just like before. That was hisst thought before his mind sunk into darkness.
When Wilde saw that Long Chen could behead Wang Mang in a single blow, fear appeared in his eyes.
The Mountain Splitting Battle-Ax in his hand fell to the ground.
Looking at Wilde¡¯s terrified expression as he looked at Wang Mang¡¯s corpse, Long Chen knew that this reaction was normal, as this was the first time Wilde had seen a person being killed.
¡°Wilde, this is cruelty of reality. If we want to continue living, they had to definitely die,¡± sighed Long Chen.
¡°Brother Long, I¡¯m fine.¡± Wilde shook his head. ¡°As long as brother Long believes they must die, they must die.¡±
Long Chen bitterly smiled. Talking sense to Wilde was essentially useless. But Wilde¡¯s trust in him truly did touch him greatly.
¡°We should leave quickly-¡± But just as Long Chen was about to bring Wilde away¡
He had always been feeling that something was wrong throughout the entire day. His body suddenly tightened. It was as if he was being stared at by a giant, ancient beast. A powerful aura of death immediately enveloped him, causing him to feel as if he were encased in ice.
Slowly turning his head, he saw a person indifferently looking back at him on top of a distant mountain cliff.
His pupils immediately shrunk. He finally understood the reason for his fear. It hadn¡¯t been because of Xia Changfeng, but because of that person.
That person lightly pped a couple of times and eximed in admiration, ¡°With just a cultivation base of Qi Condensation, you were able to continuously kill Blood Condensation experts, and one of them was actually at the peak of Blood Condensation. Haha, I have no choice but to admit that you, Long Chen, are truly a genius. You are worthy of being Long Tianxiao¡¯s son.¡±
That voice was soft and feminine, the voice of Marquis Ying! He was standing high on a cliff, looking down on Long Chen arrogantly. He was just like a leopard stalking his prey.
Long Chen¡¯s heart tightened. No wonder he had been continuously feeling as if the catastrophe was just one step away. He had actually caught the attention of Marquis Ying.
Obviously, Marquis Ying had long since arrived. He had merely been concealing himself until he had killed Xia Changfeng.
¡°A trap.¡± Long Chen immediately realized that Marquis Ying hade to kill him.
¡°Did the fourth prince send you here?¡± Long Chen kicked the broadsword on the ground into his hand. That was Wang Mang¡¯s weapon. Such a heavy weapon gave him a slight sense of security.
Marquis Ying was surprised, but immediately indifferentlyughed, ¡°What do you think?¡±
Long Chen shook his head and sighed, ¡°I really was stupid to think I was clever. I actually didn¡¯t realize just how well calcted the fourth prince¡¯s words were.¡±
¡°Why are you certain it was the fourth prince who sent me here and not just meing of my own volition?¡±
¡°You wouldn¡¯te here just because of that small matter fromst time to take your anger out on me. If you did, then you wouldn¡¯t be Marquis Ying. Waiting patiently is your strongest suit. Otherwise, you would have long since been ughtered by my father.¡± Long Chen¡¯s voice waspletely steady.
Many scenes began to run through his head. From Marquis Ying¡¯s words, he was now certain that the fourth prince wanted him dead.
If he assumed that it was the fourth prince who had been abusing the Long family from the start, then he had truly schemed deeply to get him to assassinate Xia Changfeng.
First, back at the auction, he had intentionally allowed him to recognize the man who had assassinated Li Hao.
That man might be one of the crown prince¡¯s guards on the surface, but he must definitely be one of the fourth prince¡¯s men. He had done this in order to draw Long Chen¡¯s hatred onto the crown prince.
And then when he went to visit Chu Yao, he ended up helping him. By telling him that he had investigated the Long family¡¯s matter and acting like he didn¡¯t dare say anything, he had stealthily and vaguely pointed to the hidden enemy being the crown prince.
Originally, Long Chen had only half believed him, but then when the fourth prince had brought up the departure of Xia Changfeng and what path he would be taking, he had immediately brought Long Chen¡¯s line of thinking to there.
Back then, Long Chen had considered the possibility that he had been nning on borrowing Xia Changfeng to kill him, but for Chu Yao, he was willing to jump in even if it was a trap.
If his n had been for Xia Changfeng to kill him, then the worst case scenario would be for him to flee to the alchemist guild and seek shelter under grandmaster Yun Qi. Then no one would dare attack him.
But obviously, the fourth prince wasn¡¯t so stupid, as that would have just made himself his enemy.
Now that Marquis Ying had appeared, Long Chen realized he had been thinking too simply back then. He had clearly underestimated the fourth prince¡¯s methods.
Long Chen had no choice but to admit that he had been duped. The fourth prince truly was skilled to be able to muddy his thoughts and be able to trick him like this.
¡°Long Chen, looking at the current you, it¡¯s just like I¡¯m looking at a younger Long Tianxiao. You have the same kind of spirit and smarts. Back when I lost to your father, I considered it the greatest disgrace of my life. And even after all these years, I¡¯ve never had a chance to get revenge. But now I¡¯m ready to openly challenge him again. However, before that, I should prepare a gift. What do you think his expression will be like when I give him his son¡¯s head? Haha, I trust that it will definitely be marvelous.¡± Marquis Yingughed, but his expression was so sinister it sent shivers down his body.
¡°I think the greatest disgrace of all is that you are considered on the same level of fame as my father. You aren¡¯t sure of beating him, so you actually want to use such an atrocious method. In my father¡¯s eyes, you will forever be a loser. The current you doesn¡¯t even have the qualifications to challenge him.¡± Long Chen shook his head with pity.
Marquis Ying¡¯s indifferent expression finally changed to be iparably malevolent and sinister. Long Chen¡¯s words had pierced the sole sore point in his heart.
Back when he was young, he had been an extremely talented genius with many aplishments. But unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time. Long Tianxiao was in the same generation as him.
He had challenged Long Tianxiao several times, all ending in defeat. In thest fight, he had actually lost a finger to Long Tianxiao.
Ever since then, Marquis Ying had begun to bitterly cultivate. He also became more and more dark and feminine. Although heter also advanced to the Tendon Transformation realm to be one of Phoenix Cry¡¯s top three experts, he could never forget the crushing defeats he had suffered to Long Tianxiao.
Once he had reached the peak of the mid Tendon Transformation realm, he had suddenly found out that his severed finger had badly damaged him, and he was unable of stepping into thete Tendon Transformation realm. His hatred of Long Tianxiao grew even greater.
Now he had coincidentally obtained the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill and had regenerated his finger. That had allowed him to finally break through to the seventh Heavenstage of Tendon Transformation, entering itste stage.
That was why the current Marquis Ying was filled with high spirits. He decided that this time he would definitely kill Long Tianxiao, wiping away his shame.
But although he had advanced to thete Tendon Transformation realm, Long Tianxiao was his heart-devil, and he was unsure of victory.
Luckily, he now had a chance to kill Long Chen. If he used Long Chen¡¯s head to infuriate Long Tianxiao, his chances of victory would definitely rise.
Now Long Chen had used just a single sentence to point out his goal, causing him to be enraged out of humiliation. He was just like a hypocrite whose camouge was torn off by others. Killing intent overflowed from his eyes.
¡°Did I touch on a sore spot? Are you too ashamed to show your face? Then, just crush your head into the cliff and everything will be resolved,¡± advised Long Chen.
Although his words were light, his grip on the broadsword tightened. At the same time, his cyclones slowly revolved and all his nerves were stretched tight.
¡°You fucking brat, go die!¡±
Marquis Ying angrily roared, and a cold lightning-like light appeared over half the sky. By the time Long Chen sensed anything, he was appalled to find that Marquis Ying had already arrived right in front of him with a sword pressed against his throat.
Chapter 75: Fighting Against Marquis Ying
Although Long Chen had long since been on guard against him, he had still never thought that Marquis Ying¡¯s speed was so terrifying. As soon as he just barely moved, he had already arrived in front of him.
But he had already prepared himself for this. If Marquis Ying wasn¡¯t strong, how could he possibly be listed alongside his father as one of the empire¡¯s top three experts?
Long Chen¡¯s heart waspletely calm as he watched the sword sh towards his neck. Any fear was put away. He entered a special kind of state.
Not paying the slightest attention to Marquis Ying¡¯s sword, his power exploded as he shed the broadsword in his hands at Marquis Ying¡¯s waist.
The broadsword was exceptionally heavy, but now that he had twelve cyclones, his physical strength had reached an inconceivable level. It was not any problem to Long Chen.
Wind whistled. The current Long Chen no longer dared to hold anything back. shing with that broadsword with his full strength, even space seemed to be cut apart.
Marquis Ying clearly had not expected that Long Chen would be so unafraid of death. This was clearly an attack that would cause both sides to suffer.
But despite it being such a basic method, it caused his attack topletely copse. The sword in his hand was only three feet long, a standard sword length.
But Long Chen¡¯s broadsword was seven feet long. If their attacks continued like this, then the result would be that while his sword would manage to sh through Long Chen¡¯s throat, Long Chen¡¯s broadsword would also cut his body apart.
No matter how conceited he was, he would never dare use his body to block Long Chen¡¯s broadsword. Even a Tendon Transformation expert like him was unable to do that. He had no choice but to give up his attack. Turning his body, he floated back, dodging the sword by just a fraction of an inch.
Although Long Chen seemed as if he was nning on bringing Marquis Ying down even at the cost of his own life, the truth was that he was sure that if he had dodged instead, Marquis Ying would have continued to press his advantage. If he let Marquis Ying attack him consecutively, he would just be quickening his defeat.
Seeing Marquis Ying retreat, Long Chen roared, his voice like thunder. His broadsword¡¯s sh suddenly stopped and became a stab straight towards Marquis Ying¡¯s stomach.
Marquis Ying had only just dodged when he saw Long Chen suddenly change attacks. His expression couldn¡¯t help but change slightly.
After all, that broadsword was heavy to an astonishing level. Marquis Ying had already noticed that, and that was why he didn¡¯t dare take it head-on.
But such a shockingly heavy broadsword was controlled so easily by Long Chen. He was even capable of switching attacks in the middle of his movements. That meant Long Chen¡¯s physical strength had already reached a terrifying level.
¡°Hmph, it¡¯s just brute force.¡± Marquis Ying coldly snorted. His sword streaked through the air and heavily stabbed against Long Chen¡¯s broadsword.
Sparks shot everywhere. Long Chen was shocked that his full strength attack was pushed to the side by Marquis Ying¡¯s sword, causing his sword to only hit air as it went past Marquis Ying¡¯s body.
More importantly, he had used so much force that with the addition of Marquis Ying¡¯s sword stab, Long Chen¡¯s body was also forced forward along with his broadsword.
Long Chen had only just realized what a terrible situation he was in when Marquis Ying¡¯s sword shot out as fast as lightning, aiming right for a vital point on his stomach.
Relying on his spirit¡¯s battle experience, he instinctively twisted.
Marquis Ying¡¯s speed was too quick for him to dodge. His sword stabbed a bloody hole in his stomach.
Luckily, Long Chen¡¯s twisting had caused him to miss a vital point. But before Long Chen could even take a breath, Marquis Ying¡¯s second sh was alreadying, this time for his throat.
Long Chen¡¯s heart was wildly thumping. This was what a Tendon Transformation expert was? There was no way to fight on par with him. In front of Marquis Ying, Long Chen was like a child without the slightest ability to retaliate!
The speed of Marquis Ying¡¯s sword was inconceivable. It was already toote for him to dodge. He could only watch with his eyes opened as it approached his throat.
Other than the icy-cold sword that was approaching, the only other thing in his eyes was Marquis Ying whose expression was filled with ridicule and resentment. This was the first time Long Chen felt death being so close.
¡°Fuck off!¡±
A golden light flew by. Due to the wind revolving around it, a sharp whistling sound rang out as it cut the air apart.
Just as Marquis Ying¡¯s sword had been about to pierce Long Chen¡¯s throat, a huge golden ax viciously chopped down at Marquis Ying.
Wilde¡¯s reactions had been a bit slow. Seeing the two of them talking and then suddenly start fighting, he hadn¡¯t even reacted until he saw that Long Chen¡¯s life was about to be lost. In a great hurry, he had charged forward, swinging down his ax with his full strength.
Marquis Ying had been just about to kill Long Chen. Suddenly feeling his back turn cold and an intense mortal danger, although he was a bit unwilling, he had no choice but to give up his killing attack on Long Chen and swing his sword up to meet Wilde¡¯s battle-ax.
Wilde was forced back dozens of meters and looked in shock at Marquis Ying.
Marquis Ying also didn¡¯t have an easy time as he was shaken back several meters. His sword blow just now had used a technique to shift the majority of the power away. However, he was still forced back. Even his arm was somewhat numb. He was actually greatly shaken by this. Wilde was practically a Magical Beast in human form.
Having his life saved, Long Chen quickly whispered a few things to Wilde, ending with, ¡°Wilde, he¡¯s very difficult to deal with. We¡¯ll have to stake our lives.¡±
¡°Stake your lives?¡± Marquis Ying rubbed his somewhat numb arm and sneered, ¡°With just your superficial tricks and that brute force? You two might be very powerfulpared to others, but in front of a Tendon Transformation expert like me, neither of you have the slightest chance.¡±
Long Chen pointed his sword at Marquis Ying. ¡°Whether or not we have a chance is something we¡¯ll only know after trying.¡±
Marquis Ying didn¡¯t seem to be in a rush to kill them. He stabbed his sword into the ground like a crutch. He began to indifferently speak:
¡°Although I can¡¯t see through your cultivation bases, there¡¯s not the slightest trace of Blood Qiing from your bodies. That means you are both in Qi Condensation.
¡°As a present I¡¯ll be sending to your father, I¡¯ll do you a favor and tell you just how great the difference is between us.
¡°At Qi Condensation, you absorb heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi into your own body, allowing you to use heaven and earth¡¯s power for your own. What you cultivate is qi.
¡°At Blood Condensation, you use heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi to purify your blood. It allows you to strengthen your body. What you cultivate is physical power.
¡°Qi and physical strength add together to release a great strength. However, it is only additive.
¡°Once you reach Tendon Transformation, your body¡¯s physical strength explodes and qi nourishes your soul. Your qi and physical body merge together perfectly.
¡°However, at Tendon Transformation, the might produced by qi and body is no longer additive, but multiplicative. If Blood Condensation¡¯sbat level is ten plus ten, then Tendon Transformation¡¯sbat level is ten times ten.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s core was shaken greatly. He knew Marquis Ying wasn¡¯t telling them this information to be nice.
He was telling them just how great the difference between them was in order to make them give up and despair.
Although he knew that, Long Chen¡¯s heart was still horrified. If what he said was really true, then they really wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.
And even ignoring his power, just Marquis Ying¡¯s strange movements and his speed which was fast as lightning were enough to shock him.
This was an absolutely hopeless situation. No wonder the fourth prince had dared to scheme against him. Long Chen was to kill Xia Changfeng, and then Marquis Ying would then kill him. It was a truly profound scheme.
Wilde obviously wasn¡¯t thinking as much as Long Chen. He only red straight at Marquis Ying. ¡°Brother Long, what is he saying? Additive and multiplicative? What¡¯s Qi Condensation and Blood Condensation?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t bother with what he says. Remember what I told you just now,¡± replied Long Chen quietly.
Marquis Ying indifferently looked at Long Chen. ¡°What? You really still want to struggle at this point? Do you doubt what I just said?¡±
Long Chen raised his sword at him and sneered, ¡°Did you think I wouldn¡¯t notice that you¡¯re wearing a photographic jade on your chest? You just want to take a picture of my despair before death for my father, right?¡±
He had been too nervous before. But now he noticed there was a strange jade on his chest.
That jade had many curving lines on it. Although Long Chen had never studied inscription arts, he had heard of photographic jades. The inscriptions on them allowed them to record pictures or even short videos.
¡°Haha, I really never expected to be seen through by you. How boring.¡± Marquis Ying lightly stroked the jade. ¡°I really did want to send the full image as the gift. First, I¡¯ll send your head to him. Then, I¡¯ll show him the image of your deathbed struggle. Only then can I relieve the hatred I¡¯ve repressed for so many years.¡±
Long Chenughed, ¡°What a shady move. You really are a contemptible little man. A half-man half-woman sissy. You only use these disdainful moves. My father could sever your finger; today I¡¯ll show you that I can sever your head.¡±
He suddenly stamped his foot. Even thend trembled with him as his shot forward like a wild gale, shing his sword at Marquis Ying.
¡°Hmph, ignorant kid, today I¡¯ll let you see just how terrifying it is when qi merges with your body.¡±
Marquis Ying coldly snorted and his robes began to float without any wind. Green veins began to bulge on his skin like many swimming snakes.
That was a specific attribute of the Tendon Transformation realm. When his entire body was covered in green veins, his aura suddenly exploded and terrifying energy shot out everywhere. The space around him was even twisted and warped.
Seeing this, Long Chen gritted his teeth. No matter how powerful Marquis Ying was, he had to do his utmost to fight. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn¡¯t have a good death.
He was afraid of death. If he really did die, what would happen to his mother? What would happen to Chu Yao? What about his arrangement with Meng Qi? He couldn¡¯t die.
Only by going all out and risking his life would there even be the slightest chance of him surviving. His entire energy gathered into the broadsword.
Long Chen ced aside his fear and bravely charged into the face of death. Without realizing it, his FengFu Star began to slowly circte.
But after it had only half circted, it seemed as if some sort of energy wascking and it returned to calm.
¡°Die!¡±
He courageously charged forward. His sword shook the heavens as he used his full force to bring it shing down.
Chapter 76: The Terrifying Marquis Ying
Marquis Ying coldly smiled both mockingly and disdainfully. His hand, which was now covered with bulging veins, brandished his sword, causing it to slice through space.
BOOM! Terrifying waves of qi surged out violently, causing the entire mountain valley to tremble.
Long Chen felt as if he had been smashed by a huge mountain. He was sent tumbling through the air, vomiting out blood.
He rolled dozens of meters and spat out another mouthful of blood. His insides felt as if they were on fire. Long Chen¡¯s face was covered with shock and terror.
Marquis Ying¡¯s words from before had not just been to frighten him. They had been the truth. When qi and physical power superimposed, the strength that could be unleashed was truly enough to cause a person to despair.
¡°Bastard!¡±
Wilde let out an angry roar. His ax smashed down right after Long Chen was sent flying. But Marquis Ying¡¯s sword was as quick as lightning, quickly striking against Wilde¡¯s battle-ax.
Wilde was sent flying back like a skipping stone, tumbling through the air several times before heavilynding on the ground.
But while Wilde was sent back flying further than Long Chen, he didn¡¯t spit out any blood. That surprised Marquis Ying.
¡°Now you two should be convinced. In front of true strength, all your struggles are futile. Give up.¡± Marquis Ying didn¡¯t chase after them to attack. He stood in his original position like an emperor, coldly looking down on them.
Supporting himself with the broadsword to struggle back up, Long Chen shook his head, blood staining his mouth. ¡°Giving up midway isn¡¯t my style. I still haven¡¯t chopped off your head yet either.¡±
Marquis Ying coldly looked back at Long Chen. His anger suddenly turned intoughter. ¡°Haha, you truly are Long Tianxiao¡¯s son. I admire that toughness. I hope once I crush every single bone in your body you can still stay as tough. Kid, go repent in the underworld.¡±
After speaking, his body suddenly moved. Long Chen was shocked to realize that he was looking at an afterimage. Marquis Ying¡¯s speed was inconceivable, and he arrived in front of Long Chen in an instant, shing with his sword.
Seeing Marquis Ying¡¯s attack, Long Chen once again didn¡¯t bother with defending, instead also sending a sh out at Marquis Ying.
This method of giving up defense to take one¡¯s enemy down as well wasn¡¯t really a method. It was a technique that could only be used when all else was useless.
In terms of speed, Long Chen was unable topare to Marquis Ying. And in terms of power, he was also not his match.
All he could rely on was the length of his broadsword. He could only use his courage and boldness to fight against him. Although such a technique was extremely dangerous, it would at least allow him to buy some time.
As expected, Marquis Ying was incapable of epting such an exchange where he would also be heavily injured just to kill him. He recalled his sword to defend, looking for another opportunity to attack.
At this time, Wilde also charged over, hacking down with his ax. It seemed that the previous blow hadn¡¯t harmed him at all. His physical body truly was so frighteningly sturdy.
Long Chen was gratified to see that Wilde seemed to suddenly be smart. He had learned from Long Chen to ignore Marquis Ying¡¯s sword and attack with his life on the line.
Consecutive blows echoed throughout the valley. The verynd trembled with each exchange.
With Long Chen and Wilde working together and gambling their lives, Marquis Ying was actually unable to disy his abilities and was forcibly blocked by the two of them.
He had a definite superiority over them in terms of both power and speed. But Long Chen and Wilde¡¯s attacks were absolutely insane, risking their lives over and over again. They didn¡¯t care about any of his blows striking them, only using their bodies to receive his attacks. However, they risked their lives to strike fatal blows on him.
Marquis Ying¡¯s face turned green from anger. There were several times when he felt an urge to continue his attack while disregarding their blows in order to kill them, but he still continued to patiently endure.
Firstly, Long Chen and Wilde¡¯s strength were too great. If he were to take a direct hit from them, that could be a fatal blow. A slight miscalction or ident and it wouldn¡¯t be just exchanging blows but exchanging lives.
Secondly, he possessed the absolute advantage. Handling Long Chen and Wilde was just a matter of time. There was no need for him to take any reckless risks.
And it was precisely because Long Chen had seen through Marquis Ying¡¯s thinking that he dared to do as he did. After all, this kind of exchange was an absolutest resort. If he didn¡¯t risk his life fighting back, he would just die immediately.
Weapons shed and flew. An hour passed in just the blink of an eye. Long Chen was rmed to realize that his physical strength was starting to fade. The broadsword in his hands began to feel heavier and heavier.
And Wilde wasn¡¯t much better off. His ax was no longer as quick and violent as before. He had obviously also reached his limit.
Seeing an icy smile appeared on Marquis Ying¡¯s face, Long Chen¡¯s heart grew cold. Marquis Ying was doing this to capture them alive. He would continue topletely exhaust them so that he could torture them as much as he likedter.
Long Chen narrowed his eyes. If you want my life, then we¡¯ll have to see if you have the qualifications or not!
Marquis Ying smiled inside when he saw that Long Chen and Wilde¡¯s power were weakening and their attacks bing slower.
Suddenly, Long Chen swung his broadsword too hard. Due to ack of energy, he stumbled forward a step along with the sword. That one step immediately revealed a huge opening.
Almost by reflex, Marquis Ying didn¡¯t even think. Dodging Wilde¡¯s ax, his sword directly shed towards Long Chen¡¯s waist. Obviously, Long Chen¡¯s guess was right; Marquis Ying was nning on keeping them barely alive. Otherwise, that sword would be going straight for his heart.
A cold glimmer shined in Long Chen¡¯s eyes. Suddenly, his FengFu Star was activated to its full power. All his power flowed straight into his Dantian.
The twelve cyclones that were already three hundred meters wide immediately grew to ten times the size. They quickly revolved, and the spiritual qi within fifty kilometers was immediately sucked dry.
¡°Whether I can seed or not, I have to try!¡±
Long Chen prayed inside. His twelve cyclones all revolved, causing all that spiritual qi to condense into a cord that flowed through the LiYao point, merged into the HuiMing Point, and at the end rushed through the QuChi point to enter the LaoGong point.
When his spiritual qi flowed into the first point, that acupuncture point acted like a flood gate that was forced open. After his spiritual qi went through that gate, it somehow began to flow faster, rushing into the next point with an even greater force.
Once the spiritual qi had finished through all theyers of superposition and entered the final LaoGong point in his hand, Long Chen suddenly felt intense paining from that acupuncture point.
¡°Crap, my meridians can¡¯t handle this.¡±
As soon as he felt that pain around his LaoGong point, he realized the surrounding meridians were also starting to shudder, unable to handle the rushing of the spiritual qi.
¡°HOLD FOR ME!¡± Long Chen angrily roared. He could no longer care too much about that. He controlled it so only a strand of that energy flowed out of the LaoGong point.
Without even thinking about it, he injected that strand of energy into his broadsword. The broadsword immediately began to shake and rumble.
Just as Marquis Ying¡¯s sword was about to pierce into Long Chen¡¯s waist, he suddenly felt his heart jump and all his hair stood on end. Relying on his many years of battle experience, he instinctively gave up on his attack and hastily retreated.
But even as he began to retreat, the broadsword in Long Chen¡¯s hand was already raised. The seven-foot-long broadsword emitted a strange light and seemed to possess an aura of endless death as it descended upon Marquis Ying.
¡°Split the Heavens!¡±
Marquis Ying waspletely terrified as he looked up at that sword. That sword had somehow managed to lock him in ce.
A small Qi Condensation beginner was actually able to use his qi to lock a Tendon Transformation expert two realms above him in ce. That was absolutely crazy!
Normally, such a lock could only ur when the stronger expert attacked the weaker one. If two opponents were on the same level, it was extremely difficult for one to lock the other in ce. For an insignificant Qi Condensation newbie to lock down a Tendon Transformation expert was a joke!
However, such a thing actually now happened to Marquis Ying. But Marquis Ying quickly recovered from his shock, sensing the scent of death drawing near him.
The sword in Long Chen¡¯s hand held a strange shine. It was just like a divinity¡¯s de, mercilessly shing down.
¡°Wave Breaking sh!¡± Seeing that sword sh down, Marquis Ying shouted. Now was not the time to be shocked by Long Chen¡¯s lock. All the green veins on his body sharply grew until it was like vines which were wriggling right under his skin. His aura once more grew to a new level as he also shed out.
Qi waves surged out dozens of meters. This Wave Breaking sh was one of Marquis Ying¡¯s ultimate techniques, and it was an Earth ss Battle Skill.
BOOM!
The moment Long Chen¡¯s broadsword met Marquis Ying¡¯s sword, heaven and earth both turned still for a moment. Only then did an enormous explosion ring out.
Three figures were sent flying at the same time. The terrifying energypletely destroyed their original battlefield. A huge crater almost thirty meters wide appeared where they had collided.
Long Chen felt as if his entire body were about to fall apart from exhaustion. His right hand was hurting in particr. ording tomon sense, with his current meridian widths, he was still unable to disy Split the Heavens.
But despite that, he had forcibly used it just now. This hadpletely broken down his meridians surrounding the LaoGong point. But he had also finally learned just how terrifying Split the Heavens was.
He had actually been lucky at that final moment, as he had only used a strand of Split the Heaven¡¯s energy. He hadn¡¯t dared to use the rest of that energy.
If he had used the full force of that Battle Skill, perhaps all his meridians would havepletely been blown apart and he would truly be a cripple. But despite using just a strand of that energy, his hand¡¯s meridians werepletely ravaged.
Other than a lingering fear, Long Chen also felt a burst of excitement. It was already so powerful despite that he had only used just a strand of its power. Just what ss of Battle Skill had Split the Heavens reached?
¡°You really are worthy of being Long Tianxiao¡¯s son. Good, very good, hahahaha!¡±
A burst ofughter rang out. The dust slowly scattered and Marquis Ying appeared from within.
But the current Marquis Ying appeared extremely miserable. His clean and tidy clothes had be unbearably tattered. There was arge wound in the middle of his stomach from which blood slowly flowed out.
Of the sword in his hand, only the hilt remained now. That exchange just now hadpletely destroyed the de.
Long Chen¡¯s pupils shrunk. Although Marquis Ying was extremely destitute now, his aura hadn¡¯t dropped much at all. That meant Marquis Yingbat ability hadn¡¯t dropped either.
Using one hand, he tore off his tattered clothes, revealing his wound and also a soft armor.
That armor was golden in color. It appeared extremely flexible and strong, however, arge hole had been split open on it due to Long Chen¡¯s broadsword.
¡°What a powerful Battle Skill. If I hadn¡¯t had this golden silk armor, I really would have died.¡± Looking down at his wound, Marquis Ying icily said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance. If you hand over that Battle Skill, I¡¯ll give you two a quick death.¡±
Long Chen switched the broadsword into his left hand. His right hand was already half-crippled and was unable to hold it anymore. He forced himself up and coldlyughed, ¡°And what if I say no?¡±
¡°Long Chen, you better think this through. Death isn¡¯t scary. Living a life worse than death is the most painful. And I just happen to have some skill in that area. I¡¯d advise you not to regret anything,¡± said Marquis Ying icily.
¡°I, Long Chen, have never done anything I¡¯ve regretted.¡± Long Chen nced at him and then stealthily cast a meaningful nce at Wilde.
Long Chen didn¡¯t dare be too obvious. After ncing at Wilde, Long Chen slowly raised his sword and sneered, ¡°Ying Zhao, that move just now was just a testing blow. Now that I¡¯ve tested it¡ I¡¯ll take your dogshit life!¡±
After saying that, he stabbed the sword into the ground. At the same time, waves of qi exploded out and raised up all the dust into the air.
¡°Hmph, just let me see how capable you are,¡± Marquis Ying grimlyughed. Rubbing his ring, another sword appeared in his hand, and he raised it in front of him.
But when the dust settled, the guarded Marquis Ying realized that Long Chen had already disappeared, only leaving behind the foolish Wilde standing there.
Marquis Ying¡¯s expression changed. He hastily looked up to see that Long Chen had already fled several hundred meters into the mountains.
Chapter 77: Pursuit Deep in the Forest
Marquis Ying¡¯s expression changed and he hastily looked up, only to see that Long Chen had already fled hundreds of meters deeper into the mountains.
¡°Fuck!¡±
For the reserved and elegant Marquis Ying, that was the first time he had shouted out such a vulgar word. His eyes were spitting mes; he had been fooled!
So the truth was that Long Chen had noticed that his full strength attack was actually not enough to incapacitate him and that he was simply not a match for a Tendon Transformation expert!
After saying a couple of ruthless words, he had stabbed his sword into the ground to fill the air with dust and then immediately fled. Perhaps fleeing was actually the most valuablebat skill to have.
However, when Long Chen noticed that Wilde hadn¡¯t fled with him and was instead just foolishly standing in his original spot, he almost coughed up blood in anger.
He had purposely given him a nce just now to tell him that there would be a chance to flee. He hadn¡¯t expected him to not react and just stand there.
But since he had already fled now, he absolutely could not return. Marquis Ying¡¯s target was him. As long as he fled, Wilde should be safe.
As he expected, he had only gone several hundred meters before Marquis Ying angrily roared and started charging after him.
¡°Stop!¡±
Suddenly, Wilde angrily roared and a red light started toe from his skin. Violent energy soared from his body. He was just like a wild ancient beast that had been awakened.
Just as Marquis Ying was about to chase after Long Chen, a huge battle-ax whistled over at him, causing his heart to tremble.
What surprised him was that Wilde¡¯s attack was suddenly much stronger than before. Even before the axnded, just the wind from it alone was enough to make it hard for him to breath. The power behind his attack had at least doubled.
BOOM!
Marquis Ying didn¡¯t take it head-on. The new sword in his hand wasn¡¯t an equal to his old sword, so he didn¡¯t dare meet that blow. The result was that Wilde¡¯s ax ruthlessly smashed into the ground.
His terrifying energy caused the whole valley to shake. Broken rocks shot out everywhere and a shockingly huge crater appeared.
¡°Brother Long, quickly run! I¡¯ll block him!¡±
Seeing his attack missed, he once more sent his ax smashing at Marquis Ying.
The fleeing Long Chen was both shocked, angered, and moved. He was shocked that Wilde would be able to explode with such terrifying strength.
He was furious because there was no point in blocking him! Long Chen wanted Marquis Ying to chase after him!
He was also moved that Wilde would actually use his own life to try to protect him. Although Wilde was a bit naive, maybe even t-out dumb, he hadplete and total trust in Long Chen. He was even willing to give up his own life for him.
Long Chen had an urge to both cry and curse. He was extremely worried, but he also didn¡¯t dare to stop running. That would simply be telling Marquis Ying that he wouldn¡¯t abandon Wilde, thus, revealing his weak spot. Then, both of them would die.
Originally, he had been nning on drawing away Marquis Ying and having Wilde flee in a different direction. But the result was that Wilde hadn¡¯t understood the slightest bit of Long Chen¡¯s intentions.
BOOM!
Marquis Ying dodged Wilde three more times. At this time, Wilde¡¯s strength was growing stupendously. Thatst attack had been so powerful that he hadn¡¯t been able to dodge. Blocking with his sword, he was forced back five steps.
¡°Die!¡±
Marquis Ying raged. Today, he had been repeatedly thwarted from killing Long Chen. A grand Tendon Transformation expert like him had actually been this helpless in front of two insignificant Qi Condensation rookies.
More importantly, Long Chen¡¯s final attack just now had given him a somewhat heavy internal injury. Although he made himself appear fine, the truth was that he was merely suppressing the injury.
That was why he didn¡¯t want to use any of his power to get past Wilde who was blocking him. That would end up making his internal injury worse. But he was bing increasingly anxious as he saw Long Chen flee further and further away.
If he couldn¡¯t throw off this giant fellow, then Long Chen really would escape. That was somethingpletely uneptable. His veins bulged again as he also sent a sh out at Wilde¡¯s attack.
Wilde suddenly felt an unstoppable force push him back. He only managed to stabilize himself after almost ten meters. Although Marquis Ying didn¡¯t specialize in power, the sharp increase in strength after entering the Tendon Transformation realm was simply too great.
He managed to force Wilde back, but Marquis Ying also wasn¡¯t well off. His stomach was aching dully. That was the result of provoking his internal injury.
Long Chen¡¯sst attack had not only shaken his internal organs, but even his Dantian had been somewhat jolted. That led to his spiritual qi being much more sluggish.
In the process of forcing Wilde back, he had almost been unable to continue suppressing his injury. Immediately after forcing Wilde back, he went to go chase after Long Chen. Long Chen was his main target.
¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere!¡±
Marquis Ying almost went mad with rage. Wilde actually hadn¡¯t even received an injury despite being blown back and was now charging at him again.
Wilde truly was a Magical Beast in human form. His physical body had reached an absolutely frightening level. Just by relying on his physical strength, he had actually managed to forcefully take a Tendon Transformation expert¡¯s attack.
Being unable to throw off Wilde, Marquis Ying¡¯s eyes turned icy cold and he once more used his sword to block Wilde¡¯s battle-ax. He then snaked his sword through an opening to stab at Wilde¡¯s stomach.
Marquis Ying had obviously been infuriated and was willing to kill to get away from this hindrance. But when his sword struck Wilde¡¯s skin, it was as if he had struck a hard surface. His sword slipped and his full strength blow immediately lost over half its power.
The sword still managed to pierce through Wilde¡¯s skin. However, it only managed to get two inches in before being unable to go any further. It was unable to pierce through Wilde¡¯s bones.
Marquis Ying was greatly shocked, as that was the first time such a thing had happened. Even a Magical Beast¡¯s body would be easily pierced through with his cultivation base. But he was apparently unable to do the same to Wilde.
¡°ROAR!¡±
Wilde didn¡¯t even seem to notice the wound, viciously smashing down his battle-ax on Marquis Ying.
He had attacked Wilde twice now without being able to give Wilde a true injury. And now that Wilde was attacking him, he was held back from chasing after Long Chen again.
At this time, he nced into the distance and couldn¡¯t help being worried. Long Chen had already fled over five miles. He was just about to enter a thick forest.
If he really did enter that forest, then by relying on the coverage, he would have an uneptably high chance of getting away.
But Wilde continued to firmly block his way. Grinding his teeth, he raised his sword with both hands and a scarlet me color appeared over it.
¡°Cliff Breaking sh!¡±
Wilde¡¯s battle-ax went flying away while he himself was sent tumbling back dozens of meters. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and at the same time, the strange red light from his body faded. His aura sharply fell.
Marquis Ying had actually been so pressed for time that he had used an Earth ss Battle Skill. He had managed to send Wilde flying, but Wilde only spat out a single mouthful of blood. On the other hand, that one attack caused his internal injury to almost re out of control.
He hastily took out a healing pill from his ring. That was a precious high grade healing pill that he had collected many years ago.
For his cultivation base, middle grade or lower medicinal pills were basically without any effect, while high grade medicinal pills were extremely rare. So swallowing that medicinal pill now truly caused him a heartache.
Marquis Ying nced at Wilde who was lying on the ground and hesitated for a moment. He really wanted to kill Wilde, as he was practically a monster. He would definitely be terrifying once he matured.
But then looking at Long Chen who was on the eve of hiding in the forest, Marquis Ying gritted his teeth. Weighing his options, he still decided to ignore Wilde and chased directly after Long Chen.
Wilde was extremely worried when he saw Marquis Ying go straight after Long Chen. He crawled back up to give chase as well.
But he only managed to take two steps before he felt the world spinning around him.
Wilde fell on his butt. His face waspletely pale, and he couldn¡¯t stop his hands from shivering. That was a sign that he had overdrafted his strength.
Hatefully punching the ground, he could only watch as Marquis Ying¡¯s figure faded deep into the valley.
...
Long Chen had kept a watch over their battle as he had fled. Seeing Wilde unwaveringly blocked Marquis Ying had caused him to panic.
If Wilde really did enrage Marquis Ying, then he might not take Long Chen into consideration and just kill Wilde. If that happened, Long Chen would regret it for a lifetime.
But ording to his understanding of Marquis Ying, he wasn¡¯t the type of person to lose his cool because of anger.
When he was just about to enter the forest, he saw Marquis Ying ignore Wilde to chase after him, causing him to finally feel some reliefs. He then focused his full strength on running.
Entering the forest, everything suddenly became quiet. Countless huge trees reached for the sky, making it so that it was extremely difficult for any sunlight to get through.
Long Chen quickly adapted to the lighting and charged forward, doing his best not to step on any vegetation.
Doing so would leave behind obvious tracks. Long Chen instead did his best tond on rocks or perhaps overturned trees. That way Marquis Ying would not find his trail and would require a great deal of time to search for him. Then his advantage would be much more obvious.
The most important part of this chase would be this beginning part. He was rushing forward as quickly as possible. Once Marquis Ying entered the forest though, he would have to bepletely silent and not move at all in the beginning. Otherwise, Marquis Ying would manage to find his position through sound.
Long Chen¡¯s only advantage over him was that he was a pill cultivator. His soul was exceptionally strong and able to sense his opponent from arge distance. He wouldn¡¯t be able to get a perfect view of him from this distance, but he would still be able to sense Marquis Ying¡¯s rtive position.
Once Long Chen had fled over five miles, he suddenly stopped and even suppressed his own breathing, not moving at all. That was because he had sensed that Marquis Ying had just entered the forest.
Long Chen also closed his eyes and let himself enter an empty spirit state, making it so that he seemed like just another rock in the forest,pletely isting his aura.
Having entered this state, he could ¡®see¡¯ Marquis Ying who had just entered the forest. As he had expected, he immediately paused and listened closely for Long Chen.
Marquis Ying waited for over the time it took for an incense stick to burn, but was unable to hear any breathing. Having just entered the forest, everything waspletely silent, silent to a frightening degree.
But after a quarter hour had passed, the birds and insects began to y their own music, causing the forest to be bustling with noise.
Those bird calls caused Marquis Ying¡¯s expression to be increasingly ugly. He hadn¡¯t expected Long Chen to be so crafty. He actually knew to use such a method to hide his trail.
Long Chen smiled. It seemed his chances of fleeing sessfully had increased again.
Although the two of them were only separated by around five miles, while hidden deep in this forest, such a distance was already extremely safe. And with the passing of time, he would only be even more at ease.
Two hours.
Four hours.
Six hourster, Marquis Ying finally gave up and began to search for his trail by eye.
Following Marquis Ying¡¯s search, the entire forest began to once more turn quiet. Long Chen also finally opened his closed eyes.
¡°Hehe, Marquis Ying, even if I can¡¯t beat you, I still have to properly y with you.¡±
Chapter 78: Long Chen's Gift
Seeing Marquis Ying begin to move, Long Chen didn¡¯t wait around stupidly. He began to slowly sneak deeper into the forest.
Long Chen didn¡¯t flee at a fast speed, as he needed to be extremely careful. He did his best not to leave any signs of his trail.
He also couldn¡¯t make any noise. Otherwise, Marquis Ying would definitely notice, and all his efforts would have been wasted.
So, Long Chen¡¯s fleeing speed was not that much different from Marquis Ying¡¯s searching speed. Furthermore, Long Chen couldn¡¯t flee in just one direction. If Marquis Ying decided to just rush straight forward upon seeing such a trail, he would be screwed.
After all, this wasn¡¯t an ordinary game of hide-and-seek. Losing meant death. This was the first time Long Chen had ever felt so nervous. It was as if the Grim Reaper¡¯s sickle was constantly pressed right against his throat. Just the slightest carelessness could lead to his head tumbling into the ground.
¡°I¡¯ve found you, Long Chen! Prepare to die!¡± Marquis Ying suddenly shouted out and rushed forward. Long Chen was extremely startled, but he then coldly smiled.
His current position was around two miles away from Marquis Ying. That wasn¡¯t because Marquis Ying was moving faster than Long Chen, but because Long Chen needed to travel in a zigzag. So in a sense, the distance between them was still over five miles.
Marquis Ying was obviously lying. Suddenly jumping like that, an ordinary youth might be scared and start fleeing as fast as he could. That was the real trap.
But Long Chen just quietly hid under a huge tree, appreciating the y that this peak Phoenix Cry expert was putting on for him.
Although, he didn¡¯t dare ¡®watch¡¯ with his eyes. Ever since the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s auction when Marquis Ying had sensed him looking at him even through a wall, Long Chen had learned just how frighteningly perceptive the senses of experts were.
Marquis Ying tried his bluff several more times without the slightest bit of sess. In the end, he had no choice but to return to his original location and continue searching for traces of Long Chen¡¯s trail.
After all, no matter how careful Long Chen was, he was unable to fly. The ground, the grass, the rocks, and the trees would all leave behind some sort of trail.
But due to how smart Long Chen had acted, his tracks were difficult to find and required him to search for a long time. That greatly reduced Marquis Ying¡¯s speed and was also mentally taxing.
Long Chen was actually conserving much more energy than Marquis Ying, causing Marquis Ying to be increasingly infuriated.
¡°Long Chen, just wait for when I catch you. I¡¯ll skin you and pull out each and every single strand of your muscles while you still live before turning your bones to ashes!¡± Marquis Ying ground his teeth.
He knew Long Chen was somewhere in the area and could hear him. He could even sense that Long Chen was hiding in a corner andughing secretly at him. That made him even more infuriated.
A grand Tendon Transformation expert like him, one of the three apex experts of Phoenix Cry, was actually unable to kill a small Qi Condensation brat. If that information got out, then he would immediately be the entire empire¡¯sughingstock.
He had a stomach full of anger without anywhere to release it. But he had to maintain his calm, otherwise, with the slightest negligence, Long Chen might really be able to flee from him. He could only continue to search and follow his trail, while also keeping an ear on the surrounding silence.
Long Chen sneered. ¡°You want to skin me? Such a dream isn¡¯t as easy to achieve as you think.¡±
Seeing Marquis Ying begin slowly searching, Long Chen continued going deeper into the forest. That was the best option.
It was true that it might be possible for him to detour around Marquis Ying and stealthily return to the valley and then the capital. And such an option was definitely tempting to him.
But Long Chen had decided to give up on that thought for now. From his understanding of Marquis Ying, he knew that he would have set up many traps beforeing here. If he rashly went out the forest, that might just be walking right into his trap.
Moreover, his internal injuries were extremely severe. His right hand¡¯s meridians had beenpletely destroyed. He had perhaps just a tenth of his regr fighting ability. Just a few random Blood Condensation subordinates possessed a fatal danger to him.
So he had no choice but to suppress his desire to return to the capital. He continued deeper into the forest, carefully traveling in a zigzag manner so that he could easily misguide Marquis Ying, forcing him to travel even slower.
After another four hours, the sky darkened. The entire forest became much gloomier and frightening. asionally, the howls of ferocious beasts rang out.
Long Chen¡¯s expression sunk; if his luck was bad and he ended up being noticed by one of those beasts, although he wouldn¡¯t be killed by the beast, he would likely end up attracting Marquis Ying over.
Now that night had already arrived, many beasts had begun toe out of theirirs. Those beasts didn¡¯t know how difficult Long Chen would be to deal with. If they happened to consider him as food to prey on, that would be troublesome.
Long Chen was hiding behind a stone rampart. Suddenly, he heard some light soundsing over, and sweeping his divine sense over, he felt a huge headache.
At this time, it was so dark that he couldn¡¯t even see his own fingers even if he held his hand right over his eyes. However, his Spiritual Strength could substitute for his eyes to ¡®see¡¯ everything within dozens of meters of him extremely clearly.
In front of him was a wolf around a meter tall. That one-meter wolf was essentially a cub.
Long Chen cursed his bad luck. Although this was just a wild beast and not a Magical Beast, if that cub ended up attacking him, even if he did manage to kill it in one blow, it would still cause a bit of noise.
In this silent forest, such a noise was something that Marquis Ying, with his Tendon Transformation cultivation base, could not possibly miss. Especially not while he was quietly searching for his trail.
Long Chen slowly took out a dagger from his ring. If that hungry wolf did end uping at him, he had to kill it in one shot. But he had absolutely no confidence in being able to kill it without making the slightest noise.
If it ended up letting out a miserable howl as it died, then it would be over for him. Man and wolf looked right at each other. Long Chen felt his sweat begin to drip.
This face to face examination continued for several breaths when the wolf¡¯s nose suddenly sniffed slightly. It actually withdrew and disappeared into the night.
Long Chen was extremely puzzled when he suddenly remembered Little Snow. Having been in contact with that little fellow for so long, had some of his Magical Beast smell rubbed off on him and scared away the wolf?
¡°Wait, crap, Little Snow is still in the valley!¡±
He pped himself in the forehead. He had actually forgotten about Little Snow in his panic. Before going to kill Xia Changfeng, he had hidden Little Snow inside a cave.
But the situation had changed greatly from what he had imagined. Marquis Ying¡¯s appearance had forced Long Chen and Wilde to fight against him with all they had, yet in the end, they were unable to defeat him. Long Chen had fled into the forest to draw Marquis Ying away.
Now that he suddenly thought of Little Snow, Long Chen prayed that Wilde would for once be smart and remember to bring Little Snow away.
The current Little Snow had eaten quite a bit of meat after being with Long Chen. He had already grown from being the size of a palm to being over a foot long. But that was still too small for him to survive on his own.
Thinking of that adorable fellow, Long Chen actually had an urge to go back to the valley. But that was not a viable option. He was almost certain that Marquis Ying had set up other killers waiting for him around there.
Long Chen¡¯s hatred of Marquis Ying grew even greater now; however, he was also helpless. Seeing that wolf retreat, Long Chen hastily moved a couple of rocks over topletely hide himself. He would conceal his body and aura, which would allow him to avoid most of the beasts.
Suddenly, he heard distant roars. Long Chen smiled. Hehe, it seemed Marquis Ying truly was popr.
Long Chen didn¡¯t dare kill that wolf because he was afraid of drawing over Marquis Ying. Moreover, the death of such a beast would release a strong scent of blood that would attract countless predators.
Those predators were the masters of this area. They were all able to easily smell blood within five miles.
Not long after the first roar, other beasts had alsoe. Long Chen could even hear the sound of a de shing through the air.
¡°Hehe, excellent. You just stay busy for now. I¡¯ll recover for a bit.¡±
Having hidden himself behind a stone rampart, he was extremely difficult to find. Now with Marquis Ying having to fend off all the vicious beasts that were gathering around him, he felt even safer.
He consumed two medicinal pills. One was to heal his inner wounds, while the other was to heal his meridians.
As a pill cultivator, Long Chen naturally had prepared countless medicinal pills for himself. Now they finally had some use. Moreover, the medicinal pills, which he had reserved for his own use, were extremely extravagant; they were all high grade medicinal pills.
Ever since obtaining the beast me at the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, his me¡¯s strength had increased so much that Long Chen hadpletely reced all of his middle grade medicinal pills.
Now that he had consumed those two medicinal pills, he no longer had to be as worried about his inner wounds. As long as he had enough time, they would slowly recover.
But the injury to his hand¡¯s meridians was somewhat troublesome. Meridians spread throughout the entire body, reaching every inch of his body.
It was precisely because of those canal-like meridians that spiritual qi could be sent anywhere in the body to release powerful strength.
If an ordinary person¡¯s meridians were destroyed, that person would essentially be a cripple. But Long Chen had his Pill God¡¯s memories, so although this matter was a bit troublesome, it wasn¡¯t a huge obstacle. It just required some time to fix.
Long Chen focused his medicinal pills¡¯ energy onto the endpoint of his wrist where the meridians had been damaged. Using Spiritual Strength and medicinal energy, he let the meridians regenerate.
Letting meridians regenerate was an incredibly difficult process. In principle it was simple. It was just allowing broken canals to once more grow along their old routes.
But the difficulty was actually incredibly great. In the entire Phoenix Cry Empire, even including grandmaster Yun Qi, there was no one other than Long Chen who could do so.
Grandmaster Yun Qi could perhaps recover the finger¡¯s meridians because those were main meridians that many people remembered.
But as for those extremely thin meridians that were no wider than a hair, those were something he was definitely incapable of healing. And even if he did manage to mold those meridians out with his experience, they would bepletely different from the old ones.
Long Chen¡¯s method was not the same. He was letting the meridians once more grow out extremely naturally, letting them follow their own paths that they remembered.
Such a process was exceptionally slow, but to Long Chen, each millimeter they grew was another increase in his chances of survival.
Long Chen focused his entire attention on recovering from his wounds. The entire night passed as he worked, and he only opened his eyes when it was daytime once more.
Quietly opening the stone shelter he had built, he looked over in the direction where all those beast roars hade from and his stomach suddenly grumbled.
Long Chen¡¯s eyes brightened and he suddenly smiled mischievously. Marquis Ying, this master is going to prepare a little gift for you.
Chapter 79: Sending a Lump
Deep within the dense forest, Marquis Ying was looking down at Long Chen¡¯s tracks. His expression was so dark that it was frightening. That was because he had realized Long Chen was extremely crafty. Sometimes he would purposely leave footprints to mislead him.
He would follow those footprints and find that any trace of Long Chenpletely disappeared after a while. With his trackspletely disappearing, it meant that Long Chen must have backtracked into a previous location and once more fled in a different direction.
These footprints were purposely a bit more clear to intentionally let Marquis Ying see them. Now he would have to go back and spend even more time searching for where Long Chen had split off into a different direction.
Marquis Ying waspletely infuriated. Long Chen was too cunning. Sometimes, the footprints he left behind intentionally would actually be the direction he went, so Marquis Ying couldn¡¯t even rule that out.
In order to tell his true direction, Marquis Ying had no choice but to patiently follow along slowly. He could sense Long Chen wasn¡¯t that far, but he was unable to find him. He was so angry that his lungs felt like they were about to explode.
A whole day had already passed since they had entered the forest. Marquis Ying was starting to get impatient. However, he also had no way around this. He could only continue searching for his tracks.
In this manner, the two of them continued ying hide-and-seek in the endless forest. Although Long Chen had a slight advantage at this time, he didn¡¯t dare to be the slightest bit overconfident.
If Long Chen wanted to, he would actually able to quickly break away from Marquis Ying¡¯s pursuit. However, he refused to do that. He only continued to keep Marquis Ying at a distance of five miles.
That was the perfect distance from which a Tendon Transformation expert could sense an enemy in the vicinity, but would be unable to pinpoint that enemy¡¯s location. This was done intentionally by Long Chen.
After sending Long Chen to kill Xia Changfeng, the fourth prince had sent Marquis Ying to kill him. This meant the fourth prince was no longer worried about his father.
In other words, the entire Long household was in danger. He had to continue this in order to stall Marquis Ying. One reason for this stalling was that as long as Wilde was doing what he had told him, he would quickly return to the capital.
Wilde would bring his household¡¯s people to the alchemist guild. With his rtionship to grandmaster Yun Qi, he would definitely not ignore them. At that time, even the fourth prince would have to reconsider whether he should make any moves against them.
The other reason was that if Marquis Ying continued not to return to the capital, the fourth prince who hadn¡¯t received a report of his death would definitely not attack the Long household.
That was why Long Chen continued to risk his life to hold Marquis Ying up. It was also why he had no other options. He had to do this.
He carefully continued advancing. Long Chen suddenly saw a huge tree with a fist-sized beetle on it.
Seeing that beetle, Long Chen¡¯s eyes brightened. He recognized that beetle as the ¡®horned bull beetle¡¯. That was because it had a horn on its nose that was just like a bull¡¯s horn.
This was a very mildly tempered beetle. Its movements were especially slow. But it shouldn¡¯t be underestimated for being small. Its strength was actually shocking.
Just such a small beetle was capable of moving ten to twenty pounds. He smiled, ¡°Hehe, little guy, help me out a bit.¡±
Ignoring its outrage, Long Chen picked up the little beetle and ced it into his robes. Once more advancing another mile, he found a good location and stopped.
He took out a thin thread from his spatial ring. That was ck silk, and despite its thinness, it was extremely sturdy. Just one thread of it could withstand half a ton of force. Most adventurers would also keep a bit of it on hand.
Whether it was to use as a rope or to make a snare, it was extremely convenient. The most popr thing about it was that it was made from ck silkworms that were raised by humans, so it could be bought cheaply.
Long Chen looked around and nodded in approval. The ck silk¡¯s color was not easy to notice against the background.
He found a short bush around the size of an egg and gently pushed on it, feeling a good sticity. He lightly twined the ck silk around the bush.
By tying it back with the ck silk, the bush was just like an arm ready to pitch. Once it lost the force of the ck silk, it would immediately shoot forward.
Long Chen did all of this extremely carefully. The slightest mistake might make arge enough noise to attract Marquis Ying.
But thinking about the result of this trap if it worked, this little danger was definitely worth it.
He finished setting up his ¡®slingshot¡¯. Looking around the vicinity, he saw both sides were covered by thorny thistles and there was only one straight path through this area.
While people were rushing, they would naturally choose the easiest path. So this was the ideal spot to ce the trigger.
Putting up several obstacles around his slingshot to protect it, he confirmed the distance. No matter how Marquis Ying arrived, he would definitely step upon a certain root.
He took out the horned beetle and bound one of its legs with the ck silk. cing it on top of arge tree, the beetle began to slowly crawl, but it wasn¡¯t randomly crawling around. It was crawling up to a spot ten meters up on the tree.
That was because Long Chen had ced a petal from a Butterfly Orchid there. That was a kind of medicinal ingredient. That petal contained a very rich sweetness.
It was also the favorite food of the horned bull beetle. Although that petal was half withered, with the beetle¡¯s amazing sense of smell, it immediately noticed it and began to crawl over to it with all its might.
Its speed was extremely slow though. It only managed to reach there after the time it took for an incense stick to burn.
But just as it was preparing to eat its favorite food, Long Chen picked up the pitiful fellow and pulled it away.
Long Chen made some calctions and tied a knot over the beetle, keeping it in ce. That knot had a small loop in it. If that loop was touched, then the knot would immediately loosen, releasing it.
After carefully setting up all these preparations, he ced a small stone on the other side of the ck silk. He confirmed everything was set.
Once the beetle crawled up to the Butterfly Orchid¡¯s petal, it would activate and release the knot, causing the stone to fall to the ground.
Long Chen once more looked over his trap from start to end. A strange smile appeared on his face. He found arge leaf and then sneakily hid behind arge tree.
He watched for a moment as the beetle continued ording to its original route, crawling towards the petal. But due to it now pulling along a stone, its speed had slowed down a bit.
Long Chen nodded and quietly retreated. Now there was only one tiny crucial item remaining. As for whether the trap would seed, that would depend on Marquis Ying. He stealthily disappeared deeper into the forest.
An hourter, Marquis Ying, who was searching for any of Long Chen¡¯s tracks, suddenly heard a strange sound, the sound of a stone rolling.
That sound was extremely quiet, but within the keen listening ears of Marquis Ying, it was practically a thunderp.
Marquis Ying didn¡¯t even think about it before rushing over. He was just like a wild gale, and three or four miles was instantly traversed.
That sound had definitely not been natural. He knew it was the sound of someone identally tripping on a stone.
Within this silent forest, other than him, the only one who would make such a noise was Long Chen.
Thinking of Long Chen, mes of fury rose inside him. Last night, he hadn¡¯t gotten the slightest bit of sleep and hadn¡¯t even had time to rest his wounds.
Those damn beasts had be enraged and continuously attacked him. Although they were unable to pose any danger to him, they had troubled his internal injury.
It was impossible for a medicinal pill alone topletely heal his injury. He had tobine it with spiritual qi in order to recover. But he hadn¡¯t had any time or opportunity to do so.
He was forced into being unable to maintain his peakbat ability, causing him to feel a great sense of unease. So he urgently needed to kill Long Chen and return to the capital to recover.
In just a couple of breaths¡¯ time, Marquis Ying arrived at where the sound hade from, but there was no sign of Long Chen anywhere. Under a tree was the rock that had made the noise, and it seemed the rock had writings on it.
Marquis Ying looked over the surroundings and his expression became ugly when he saw no sign of Long Chen. He knew that he had most likely been yed.
He slowly walked over to that rock, wanting to know what Long Chen had wanted to show him. He had just walked a couple of steps when he suddenly stepped on a string that activated the short bush not far from him. A ball of something wrapped in a green leaf shot towards him.
Marquis Ying coldlyughed and raised his sword, slicing that ball in half.
¡°Hmph, you little insec-¡±
He hadn¡¯t expected that the moment his sword touched that ball, the ball exploded, filling the air with juice.
Due to that happening so fast and being so close, Marquis Ying was unable to get away in time and waspletely drenched by that juice. An iparably disgusting smell filled the air.
Some of it had also gotten into his mouth, so now his mouth was also full of that disgusting stench. Marquis Ying hastily retreated, his first thought being that it was poison.
But although that thing had been iparably disgusting, it didn¡¯t have traces of poison in it. His spiritual qi was circtingpletely normally.
Now that he had time, he noticed that the rock on the ground had flipped over to reveal the following words:
¡°Just a small gift which is unworthy of you. Originally, I wanted to send you arge lump, but recently my stomach hasn¡¯t been feeling well. Please forgive my helplessness.¡±
Looking at the words, Marquis Ying¡¯s face suddenly turnedpletely white. Looking at the sticky residue left on his clothes, his stomach began to heave and he vomited.
¡°LONG CHEN!!!¡±
Marquis Ying¡¯s incredibly angry roar practically blew apart the clouds above him. It caused the entire forest to shake, and countless birds and beasts were frightened into flight.
Long Chen was on a distant tree watching those birds. He smiled heartily. He had finally released some of his anger at being chased like this.
Ever since that day, Marquis Ying¡¯s face became even darker and Long Chen became even more careful, not daring to set up such a trap again.
If he ended up making a slight mistake when setting it up, he would definitely be doomed. That small trap had been to relieve his anger and to increase his self-confidence.
Since he had managed to do that, it wouldn¡¯t be smart to set something like that up again. Only by being careful could he survive. He didn¡¯t want his hard-worked advantage to be reversed.
One fled while one chased. Eight days quickly passed by. Over that time, Long Chen fled during the day and recuperated during the night after using all kinds of different techniques to hide from the wild beasts.
Due to the assistance of his medicinal pills, Long Chen¡¯s recovery was extremely quick. His right hand¡¯s meridians had almostpletely recovered. His inner injuries had also nearly healed.
Ever since the first night where he had drawn over many beasts, Marquis Ying had be smarter and also rested during the night. He would jump up into a high tree, using the time to rest and heal his wounds. His efficiency was also very fast.
This continued up until the ninth day. Long Chen was crossing a small stream when he sensed a strange movement above his head.
Looking up, his expression greatly changed. Crap, I¡¯m screwed.
Chapter 80: Final Showdown
On the ninth day, Long Chen¡¯s expression suddenly changed.
There was simply a monkey at the top of arge tree. It wasn¡¯t veryrge, but its throat was extremely thick. It was looking at Long Chen guardedly.
Long Chen immediately didn¡¯t even dare to move a muscle. He couldn¡¯t help but feel endless regret. Having yed around with Marquis Ying with that ¡®gift¡¯ before, he had actually grown too careless.
That monkey was just an ordinary beast. It didn¡¯t have any attacking strength, but it was precisely this monkey which caused Long Chen to enter a huge crisis.
That monkey was a beast that liked to live inrge groups. This part of the forest was obviously their territory, and that monkey should be a sentry.
As soon as they sensed intruders or danger, they would immediately let out a loud howl to alert theirrades.
Long Chen hadn¡¯t been paying enough attention to his surroundings and ended up running into their territory. He immediately realized he had made an inexcusable mistake. He began to slowly retreat, showing that he was leaving immediately.
But it was already toote. That monkey let out a loud howl from atop that tree, its voice immediately spreading out dozens of miles.
Long Chen¡¯s expression sunk. If he had been in range, he definitely would have immediately crushed that monkey in anger.
The entire forest began to echo with more rmed calls.
Long Chen¡¯s pupils suddenly shrunk. From the distance, a figure was rushing over straight towards Long Chen.
He could now see Marquis Ying whose eyes were brimming with killing intent. Now that Marquis Ying had already found him, running would be useless.
Long Chen directly gave up any thoughts of escaping. Since he was already found, other methods were now useless. Now the only option was to risk his life.
¡°Long Chen, if I don¡¯t turn your bones to ashes then I won¡¯t be surnamed Ying!¡± Marquis Ying arrived in just the blink of an eye.
The current Marquis Ying¡¯s eyes were practically about to spit out mes. Each one of the past eight days had felt like a year. In particr, that gift, which Long Chen had sent him, had caused the extremely immacte Marquis Ying to almost want to kill himself.
Although he hadn¡¯t eaten a thing in thest eight days, he was still constantly vomiting. It seemed as if he wanted to even vomit out all of his stomach contents.
In fact, at this time, Marquis Ying¡¯s hatred of Long Chen had already surpassed his hatred for Long Tianxiao. Seeing Long Chen standing right in front of him now, his body was incessantly quivering. As for the reason for that, perhaps only Marquis Ying knew it.
¡°Whether or not you¡¯re surnamed Ying has nothing to do with me. I¡¯m not your dad.¡± Long Chen shook his head. The broadsword once more reappeared in his hands.
Words had no meaning anymore. Having been on edge constantly over the past few days, his heart had actually calmed down now that he was facing Marquis Ying.
He sensed that his current state had already reached his previous peak, so there was nothing to fear. It even seemed as if his cultivation realm had increased a level.
That was an extremely mysterious feeling. He couldn¡¯t clearly exin it. But under Marquis Ying¡¯s constant pursuit, the scent of death had never been far. He felt as if he had transformed after that experience.
¡°Hahahaha, are you provoking me now in hopes of me giving you a quick death? Stop dreaming. I¡¯ll make it so you live a life worse than death, a life that will make you regret ever being born in this world.¡± Marquis Ying¡¯s face was extremely sinister.
¡°I don¡¯t need to provoke you. How was the taste of the gift I sent youst time?¡± Long Chen asked lightly.
Hearing the word ¡®gift¡¯, Marquis Ying¡¯s face immediately whitened and his stomach once more began to heave.
¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Marquis Ying angrily shouted, and his sword sliced through the air towards Long Chen.
Long Chen had long since been prepared. He also sent his sword shing forward.
BANG! Long Chen was sent back a dozen of steps before being able to stabilize himself. His blood and qi were in an upheaval inside.
Looking at Marquis Ying, he saw that he had only taken three steps back. He sighed; Tendon Transformation experts truly were a huge level above.
His current strength had recovered to over ny percent, but he was still not an equal match for Marquis Ying. Even in terms of his brute strength, he waspletely outmatched by Marquis Ying.
That was a clear difference. That was also why amongst the countless cultivators in Phoenix Cry, Marquis Ying was at the absolute apex.
On the other side, Marquis Ying¡¯s eyes narrowed when he saw that Long Chen was actually able to block his blow. Alchemists truly did have ample preparations; when Long Chen had fled back then, he had already been halfway dead. But now he had mostly recovered.
It was obvious Long Chen had consumed quite a few medicinal pills. But as for Marquis Ying, he wasn¡¯t an alchemist and his cultivation base was too high for most medicinal pills to work on him, so effective medicinal pills were extremely rare treasures for him.
This caused intense envy inside of him. If he was also an alchemist or had such medicinal pills, how would it be possible for him to have still yet to recover to seventy percent even after all these days?
Thinking of that, Marquis Ying felt that the heavens truly were unfair. Within the same generation as him was Long Tianxiao who hadpletely suppressed him, making it difficult for him to stand out.
And then Long Tianxiao had an amazing son who had be a Pill Adept at a young age and was also a shockingly talented genius in terms of the martial path.
Compared to Long Tianxiao, he was an absolute failure. His eyes reddened and green veins exploded out on his body. Coldly shouting and raising his sword, Sword Qi filled the air and shook the heavens.
Long Chen took a deep breath. The current Marquis Ying was acting like a madman. Now that he was using his full strength to attack, Long Chen would be unable to block him.
Touching his ring, he took out two medicinal pills. He threw one of them into his mouth and swallowed it.
The other one was rubbed along his broadsword using his Spiritual Strength. Marquis Ying had been able to see him swallow a medicinal pill, and he assumed that Long Chen was using it to heal injuries.
But the second medicinal pill had been hidden and silently spread across the broadsword¡¯s back. It had been impossible for Marquis Ying to see.
Marquis Ying¡¯s sword was already crashing down upon him. Long Chen roared and also shed out.
In terms of sword techniques, Marquis Ying could y around with Long Chen as much as he wanted to. But the broadsword in Long Chen¡¯s hands was so long that it was a perfect counter to such a thing. So, Marquis Ying¡¯s exquisite techniques werepletely useless.
BOOM!
The two swords collided and there was a huge explosion. A faint red gas immediately spread out and enveloped an area of thirty meters. The two of them were both swallowed by it.
¡°AHHH!¡±
That red gas invaded Marquis Ying¡¯s body and he immediately let out a miserable scream. His exposed skin felt as if hot iron was branding it and the intense pain was simply unbearable.
Not only that, but the red gas seemed toe alive and was doing its best to force its way into his body through his skin. Even though he had reacted at the very first moment and stopped breathing it in, it was absolutely useless.
And that red gas also possessed an extremely terrifying corrosive nature. Blisters were quickly appearing on his skin. His flesh was rotting at a speed he could see with his naked eye.
¡°You used poison?¡± asked the shocked Marquis Ying angrily.
¡°What do you think?¡±
Long Chen coldlyugh, but he also wasn¡¯t that well off. The poison pill refined from the Heart-Rot Grass was extremely powerful. Even he himself was unable to block it.
Although he had taken an antitoxin pill, he was unable topletely defend against that poisonous gas. His body was also harmed and turned red as if he was being boiled.
But he was still better off than Marquis Ying. That antitoxin pill allowed him to not have to worry about the poisonous gas corroding his heart. That was the most terrifying aspect of the poison pill refined from Heart-Rot Grass.
That poison pill was his strongest life-saving measure. Marquis Ying truly was too powerful, so he had had no choice but to use it.
Marquis Ying angrily roared and tried to send a full force attack at Long Chen. But his expression greatly changed; just as he began to circte his spiritual qi, the poisonous gas that had just entered through his skin suddenly spread throughout his body quickly and then went straight for his heart.
Thispletely terrified Marquis Ying. If such a powerful poison invaded his heart, even he, a Tendon Transformation expert, would not be able to live for more than a few moments. He hastily took out a medicinal pill from his ring and swallowed it.
When Long Chen saw that pill, his expression changed. He hadn¡¯t expected Marquis Ying to possess such a medicinal pill.
Just from its luster and the fragrance being emitted from it, Long Chen could identify that pill to be a Snow Toad Yaowan[1].
The Snow Toad was an extremely rare Magical Beast. It didn¡¯t have a crystal core like other Magical Beasts. All its essence was focused on its Neidan[2].
The Snow Toad was also a kind of poisonous beast. A matured Snow Toad was a second rank Magical Beast. The poisonous mist it spat out could immediately cover an area of hundreds of meters.
That poisonous mist was able to poison other Magical Beasts to death and cause all vegetation to wither away. It was extremely frightening. But it was precisely because its poisonous gas was so powerful that even it was unable to endure it. Thus, its Neidan was used to help it survive even its own poison.
Snow Toads were an extremely rare kind of Magical Beast from which both poison and antitoxins could be extracted. The Snow Toad Yaowan that could be refined from the Snow Toad¡¯s Neidan could cure hundreds of poisons.
It was an extremely precious medicinal pill, which was why it was extremely surprising that Marquis Ying possessed it.
Although it was said to resolve hundreds of poisons, it was mostly just a partial cure. But just resolving part of the poison was enough to reverse a person¡¯s fate.
¡°Long Chen, you actually forced me to use a precious pill that I¡¯ve hidden away for half of my life. Give me your life as the price!¡±
Marquis Ying¡¯s face was extremely twisted now. That pill was something he had obtained as a youth and had continuously hidden. But now because of a Qi Condensation weakling like Long Chen, he was forced to use it. His heart was practically dripping blood.
Long Chen was greatly rmed to see that the Snow Toad Yaowan was actually able to temporarily suppress the poisonous gas¡¯s attack on his heart. Marquis Ying charged at him, and in response, all twelve of his cyclones began to wildly spin, releasing his full strength. His sword danced in the air, meeting Marquis Ying¡¯s blows head on.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Consecutive exchanges caused explosive qi waves that ttened the huge trees around them, the power of just the aftershocks being absolutely shocking.
Long Chen felt his arm turn numb under Marquis Ying¡¯s full force attacks. Blood stained the corner of his mouth and his internal organs were starting to be affected.
But at this time, Long Chen still ground his teeth and continued to endure. He knew that the Snow Toad Yaowan would not be able to suppress his poison pill forever.
BANG!
Long Chen was sent flying, vomiting blood. But Marquis Ying didn¡¯t have the slightest happiness on his face. Instead, he was filled with horror.
¡°Hehe, have you finally noticed? Did you really think the poison pill refined by me, Long Chen, was so easy to resolve?¡± Long Chen wiped off the blood on his mouth and coldlyughed. The moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
The Snow Toad Yaowan could resolve hundreds of poisons and its effectiveness was definitely shockingly high. But that was mostly for beast poisons. Long Chen¡¯s poison pill had been mostly refined from the Heart-Rot Grass. This caused the effectiveness of the Snow Toad Yaowan to sharply drop.
A murderous aura overflowed from Marquis Ying. Taking a deep breath, he raised his sword and a terrifying aura filled the sword. Killing intent engulfed the forest.
¡°Even so, I¡¯ll still kill you!¡±
His sword shot through the air. The terrifying power behind it cut through the space and released a sharp splitting sound. With endless killing intent, it shed towards Long Chen.
¡°Void Breaking sh!¡±
[1] Yaowan meaning medicinal ball/pill.
[2] A Neidan should be simr to a Dantian. Nei=Inner, Dan=Pill/Ball. A ¡®Neidan¡¯ is actually a ¡®real thing¡¯ in the same sense that a Dantian is a ¡®real thing¡¯. The Neidan is part of the school of thought that considers Heaven and Man as integral parts of a whole. Use the body as a cauldron and use your essence, spirit, and qi as medicinal ingredients. Use Heaven as the heat to refine the medicine inside the body into a pill (the Neidan).
Chapter 81: Both Sides Heavily Wounded
¡°Void Breaking sh!¡±
Waves of qipletely constricted Long Chen. That sword seemedpletely unstoppable.
That was Marquis Ying¡¯s most powerful sword technique. Long Chen knew that it was definitely also an Earth ss Battle Skill, and it was even more powerful than the one he had used before. Its powerful aurapletely locked him in ce.
Facing death, Long Chen¡¯s mind waspletely calm. He entered a strange state at this moment. He seemed to have grasped everything within heaven and earth. Ten thousandws and Daos, every single creature and object, everything was clearly captured within his mind right now.
He felt as if he had already escaped from his body and was looking on as an observer.
What Long Chen didn¡¯t know was that at this time, his FengFu Star had bepletely static as if it was waiting for some kind of enlightenment. It was a shame that Long Chen hadn¡¯t noticed.
Spiritual qi rushed towards his twelve cyclones. They explosively grew and cord-like energy surged through Long Chen¡¯s meridians to enter the broadsword in his hands.
¡°Split the Heavens!¡±
Strange lines appeared over the broadsword, and it seemed toe alive. It cut through a mysterious arc, imposing just like an overpowering dragon. This was Long Chen¡¯s strongest attack.
BOOM!! Waves of qi exploded outwards. Both of them were sent flying back, blood filling the sky.
Long Chen¡¯s broadsword was sent flying out of his hands for hundreds of meters, only stopping once it sunk deep into a boulder.
Vomiting out blood, Long Chen felt that his whole body was about to copse and his aura plummeted.
A dozen cuts appeared on his body which were bleeding heavily. But what was worse was that all the meridians in his body had be covered in cracks, just a bit away frompletely breaking apart.
And this was after Long Chen had gained the experience of using Split the Heavensst time. So when he had used it this time, he had used his entire body¡¯s meridians in order to brunt the explosive force that came from it.
But because he had used even greater force thatst time, he was really just the slightest bit away from bing apletely crippled person.
It was possible to regrow a small portion of destroyed meridians. That was because you could follow the ¡®memories¡¯ of the meridians before it. But if all the meridians in the body were destroyed, then even with a Pill God¡¯s memories, Long Chen would bepletely powerless to fix it.
The current him was now unable to use even the slightest trace of spiritual qi. His cracked meridians were unable to bear any force at the moment.
On the other side, Marquis Ying¡¯s condition was not that much better than Long Chen¡¯s. The sword in his hand had shattered explosively, its fragments cutting into both of them.
If it was just outer wounds, then Marquis Ying would still be able to use his powerful cultivation base to suppress them. But having used his most powerful attack just now, he had lost control of the extremely toxic poison inside him. A trace of that corrosive poison had entered his heart just now.
However, just that slight trace caused his heart to show signs of withering. Thatpletely terrified Marquis Ying, and he hastily used his spiritual qi to defend against the poison¡¯s invasion.
Long Chen took a deep breath and stood up. Going over to his broadsword, he pulled it out of the rock, and slowly began to walk over to Marquis Ying.
He could see a bit of ckness on Marquis Ying¡¯s forehead. That was one of the signs that the poison had reached his heart. It also meant that Marquis Ying was like him and couldn¡¯t use his spiritual qi.
Now he could use his powerful physical body to go kill Marquis Ying.
Long Chen wanted to rush over and split him in two, but his body was unbearably weak. Blood was flowing from the dozen wounds caused by Marquis Ying¡¯s shattered sword. If it weren¡¯t for his powerful physical body, he would have already run out of blood. But even so, bursts of dizziness caused him to feel as if he might faint at any time.
However, he couldn¡¯t fall just yet. Even though he was already out of energy, his eyes were still calm without the slightest trace of emotion as he slowly walked towards Marquis Ying.
¡°Ying Zhao, now the one who will die is you.¡±
Long Chen raised his sword and shed down at Marquis Ying.
Marquis Ying was worried to see that Long Chen still had the strength toe attack him. He hastily rolled to the side. When the broadsword shed right past his cheeks, it was so close that he could feel the icy coldnessing from it.
¡°Damn, he actually still has so much strength!¡±
Marquis Ying¡¯s expression finally changed. That was the first time he had felt fear from an insignificant Qi Condensation ant. He was especially afraid of Long Chen¡¯spletely calm eyes.
Long Chen was just like a deep well. He only revealed the slightest bit on the surface, but as for how deep he was, no one knew.
Marquis Ying could sense the steady killing intent overflowing from him. Now he was at an absolute disadvantage. Without his spiritual qi, he was not a match for Long Chen¡¯s physical body.
¡°Just treat it as you being lucky today!¡± Marquis Ying coldly sneered and actually turned to flee.
¡°You want to run? Leave behind your life first!¡± Long Chen shouted and charged forward in chase.
However, the broadsword in his hand was too heavy and he was actually unable to catch up. In just a few short moments, he lost Marquis Ying¡¯s tail.
Seeing Marquis Ying disappear, the anger on Long Chen¡¯s face faded to be reced by relief. He suddenly felt the world spinning around him, and his vision ckened as he lost consciousness.
¡
Marquis Ying was celebrating that Long Chen was unable to catch up to him. Long Chen¡¯s physical body might be powerful, but his attacking strength resided with that broadsword.
Now that broadsword had be a burden and caused him to be unable to catch up to him, letting Marquis Ying rx. He didn¡¯t know that Long Chen was actuallypletely spent; he had just used up all his final energy to put on an act to scare him off.
In the end, Marquis Ying really was duped. After fleeing madly for a while, Marquis Ying suddenly felt his heart begin to violently beat. He realized his own spiritual qi was starting to run out and was unable to suppress the poison.
He hastily took out a couple of medicinal pills and swallowed them. The Snow Toad Yaowan¡¯s medicinal energy was already starting to decline. But it had only countered an incredibly small portion of Long Chen¡¯s poison.
He would definitely still die if he didn¡¯t promptly neutralize it. Now Marquis Ying could no longer even bother to think about Long Chen. His own life was more important.
Over two hundred miles were traversed by him in just a day. He finally left the forest and arrived at a camp. Marquis Ying let out a breath of relief when he saw the camp.
When the patrolling guards saw Marquis Ying covered in blood and on hisst legs, they were all scared stupid. Was that really the Marquis Ying who was practically like a god to them?
Marquis Ying grabbed one of those guards who appeared to be a squad leader and hastily spat out, ¡°Split up your troops and sweep the entire forest. When you see him, you must kill him. Bring me¡ back to the capital¡¡±
After saying that, Marquis Ying was unable to continue and fainted. That squad only then reacted, quickly carrying away Marquis Ying and sending a report to the higher-ups.
¡
Returning back to the third day after Long Chen had killed Xia Changfeng. The fourth prince held a secret report and a light smile appeared on his face.
¡°Long Chen, you really didn¡¯t disappoint me.¡±
Lightly putting down the report, he raised a cup of tea from the table and calmly drank a sip. Suddenly, his door was opened and a white-robed man walked in.
Seeing that white-robed man, the fourth prince smiled slightly. ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared some tea for you. But you came a bitter than I expected so it might not be perfect. Please, have some first and don¡¯t take offense.¡±
That white-robed man¡¯s eyes had been icy cold and filled with killing intent, but because of the fourth prince¡¯s words, he became somewhat startled.
¡°You know who I am?¡± he icily asked.
¡°I know a bit.¡±
¡°Then do you know why I¡¯vee here?¡±
¡°To kill me,¡± replied the fourth prince lightly. Those words which would cause a person¡¯s heart to jump in fear were actually said with extreme calmness.
¡°If you know I came here to kill you, why are you so calm?¡± The white-robed man¡¯s eyes narrowed.
¡°Because I know you can¡¯t kill me.¡±
¡°Haha, if I wanted to kill you, even all the people in the capital added together would be unable to stop me,¡±ughed the white-robed man coldly.
¡°It¡¯s not a question of being able to block you. That¡¯s because I don¡¯t need to block you; I know you won¡¯t kill me.¡± The fourth prince waspletely certain.
¡°Oh? Well, I¡¯d like to hear a bit more about that.¡± Apparently, the white-robed man had be a bit interested in what the fourth prince had to say.
¡°For one thing, I bet that Xia Changfeng wasn¡¯t the most cooperative partner. He was an imbecile, and so he had to die.¡±
¡°... Continue.¡±
¡°Now you have a better partner, someone who can serve you much better, someone who canplete twice the work with half the effort.¡±
¡°You mean yourself?
¡°Correct.¡±
¡°And your proof of that?¡±
¡°The proof is that I have an overallprehension of your guys¡¯ ns. I know how you can win without the slightest blood.¡± The fourth prince waspletely sure of himself.
Seeing that the white-robed man didn¡¯t say anything, the fourth prince continued, ¡°You¡¯ve been setting your n in motion for over twenty years. Ever since the beginning when you sent my mother to marry the Phoenix Cry Emperor, you¡¯ve done everything extremely carefully. Your goal was to not attract too much movement.
¡°You used me and my mother to seed in controlling the entire Phoenix Cry Empire. The Emperor is already dead and the Empress Dowager is under my mother¡¯s control.
¡°The people who know this secret are all our people, with the exception of Long Tianxiao. So the only person that we need to worry about is Long Tianxiao.
¡°But Long Tianxiao has refused to surrender to us even after all these years. He seems to have also sensed some clues that raised his guard. He has always refused to return to the capital.
¡°So right now, Long Tianxiao is the greatest obstacle in your ns. Am I correct?¡±
The white-robed man frowned. ¡°Everything you said is useless. You might as well have not said anything.¡±
The fourth prince smiled slightly. ¡°What if I said that I could resolve the problem of Long Tianxiao? Would that still be useless?¡±
¡°You can do that?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve never done anything I wasn¡¯t sure of. I was born in Phoenix Cry, destined to be a chess piece. I¡¯ve already endured the lifestyle of underhanded schemes that cannot see the light of day. So, I want to cooperate with you. I¡¯ll help you handle Long Tianxiao, and you help me be the Emperor.¡± The fourth prince¡¯s breathing became a bit heavy at this point. Obviously, this was an extremely tense moment.
Although he was also a prince, he had really been born into this world with a mission to be a spy. He would forever be like a ghost, never allowed to see the true light.
He had been suppressed for too long. He needed to be set free. When he had seen Xia Changfeng abusing his power arrogantly like an idiot, he had decided that he would kill that bastard and make himself the white-robed man¡¯s partner.
The white-robed man looked at the fourth prince. ¡°What¡¯s your bargaining chip?¡±
The fourth prince celebrated inside when he saw that the white-robed man hadn¡¯t declined. Full of confidence, he handed something over to him.
Seeing that thing, the white-robed man was shocked.
Chapter 82: The Fourth Prince's Lofty Ambition
That was an animal hide page. There were countless symbols drawn into the page. They didn¡¯t seem exactly like words, but they weren¡¯t exactly not.
¡°You canmunicate with the barbarian tribes?¡± The white-robed man asked with astonishment.
The barbarian tribes were precisely called ¡®barbarian¡¯ because they lived just like wild beasts. But they had their own crude culture andnguage.
These ugly symbols were precisely the barbarian tribes¡¯ script. Many people had seen that script before, but they had no idea how to read them. It waspletely unexpected for the fourth prince to be able to.
¡°One¡¯s full effort must be invested into achieving one¡¯s goals for there to be a profit.
¡°Ever since I was young, I could see through my own destiny. At that time, I had already started gathering the bargaining chips that would change my destiny.
¡°I sent countless people to the barbarian tribes to try joining them, but they only treated those people as food. However, there are always exceptions in this world. One person was actually epted into the barbarian tribes. Then, I started to gradually gain a connection to the barbarian tribes¡¯ power.
¡°While fulfilling our missions, my mother and I also raised our own power. To tell the truth, three years ago, I already possessed the power to help you seize the Phoenix Cry Empire without the slightest drop of blood, but that wouldn¡¯t have brought me even the slightest benefits.¡±
The white-robed man nodded. ¡°Continue.¡±
¡°So, in order to handle Long Tianxiao, I purposely stopped supplying him reinforcements. I also secretly drew the poor people in the vicinity towards Long Tianxiao¡¯s army. I raised Long Tianxiao¡¯s prestige in secret, letting everyone think he was a god who would protect them. I know what kind of person Long Tianxiao is. He definitely wouldn¡¯t sacrifice the lives of thosemoners.¡± The fourth prince indifferently raised his teacup and took a sip.
¡°Chu Xia, you really are talented.¡± That was the first time the white-robed man praised the fourth prince.
The fourth prince¡¯s move had been exceptionally brilliant. He had used the lives of the ordinarymoners to effortlessly lock Long Tianxiao in ce.
Most importantly, that was a ploy without a solution. Even if Long Tianxiao understood it, he was helpless. He was unable to ignore the lives of millions ofmoners.
Such a simple scheme had kept Long Tianxiao permanently locked at the border. Even the white-robed man felt a bit of admiration.
¡°Unfortunately, those barbarian tribes truly did cause me extreme disappointment. I secretly sent them so much assistance in terms of food and supplies, but they are still only just able to fight on the same level as Long Tianxiao. So, they ended up in a permanent battle of attrition. Well, I suppose that is all that can be expected from those uncivilized barbarians.¡± The fourth prince shook his head.
The white-robed man pondered for a moment before asking, ¡°Tell me, where is Long Chen?¡±
¡°He should already be dead. If my calctions are correct, his head should be en route back to the capital. That Long Chen really is an oddity. But I¡¯m not someone who likes the unexpected, so I sent Marquis Ying over. I trust that you know Marquis Ying¡¯s power.¡±
The white-robed man¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°I know of him. His cultivation base can count as not bad. But using him to handle a small Qi Condensation ant is making a bit too big of a fuss for a minor nuisance.¡±
The fourth prince¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. But hearing what he said, it seemed that even the Tendon Transformation realm Marquis Ying wasn¡¯t anything to him.
From that, it could be seen that this young man whose age didn¡¯t seem that different from his own had to possess an extremely terrifying strength. The fourth prince¡¯s guard went up even higher.
¡°Haha, I¡¯ve already said I¡¯m a cautious person. I won¡¯t do anything I¡¯m not sure of. It¡¯s just like how I used Long Chen to kill that idiot Xia Changfeng this time.¡±
The white-robed man nodded. ¡°You really are much better than Xia Changfeng. I can overlook Xia Changfeng¡¯s death and also aplish your wish. However, if you end up being worse than Xia Changfeng, I can tell you very clearly that even your own death will be something you are unable to control.¡±
The white-robed man¡¯s gentle manner of speaking became dark, and an ominous aura filled the air.
The fourth prince ignored his threat. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I¡¯ve endured patiently for many years just for this chance. I treasure this opportunity even more than you.¡±
¡°Then good. With Long Chen dead now, I need to know what your n is forter.¡±
Although he didn¡¯t underestimate Long Chen, in front of a Tendon Transformation expert, Long Chen would definitely not have even the slightest chance of surviving.
¡°Ying Zhao will bring his head back to the capital as well as a recording of Long Chen killing Xia Changfeng. Then, I will need you tomunicate with the Grand Xia and get them to send out their elite army to surround the capital. At that time, I will call back Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu here. The Grand Xia will demand us to hand over the murderer, and in order for both empires to stay friends, I can offer up every person in the Long household in a justifiable manner. In fact, I can kill all of them at a suitable time,¡± exined the fourth prince.
¡°What do you mean by a suitable time? And furthermore, when you say ¡®them¡¯, it seems you aren¡¯t just talking about the Long household?¡± asked the white-robed man lightly.
The fourth princeughed, ¡°Speaking with a smart person really does save energy. You¡¯re correct. Before I execute the people from the Long household, I will have the barbarian tribes attack Long Tianxiao¡¯s station at the same time. At that time, I will send news of his family being executed. In the face of the barbarian tribes¡¯ invasion and with the lives of countlessmoners on the line, he definitely won¡¯t bring his whole army back to the capital. ording to my understanding of him, he will leave his entire army back there to guard ande back to the capital alone to rescue his family. Hehe, at that time, Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu will join hands to kill him without a problem. Furthermore, we¡¯ll even have an honorable reason for doing so, so it won¡¯t cause any huge ripples. As for ¡®them¡¯, I naturally mean those people who aren¡¯t suitable of being near me. Long Chen has received the crown prince¡¯s ¡®support¡¯ in killing Xia Changfeng. One of his close guards will testify to that. At that time, we just have to gather a bit of ¡®evidence¡¯. In order for the two great empires to remain allies, even the crown prince can be used as a sacrifice. And as for his henchmen, although they didn¡¯t directly participate, they are definitely extremely suspicious. In order to maintain the empires¡¯ friendship, it¡¯s best to just also sacrifice them as well.¡±
The white-robed man stared at the fourth prince for a great deal of time before sighing, ¡°What profound scheming. In that way, the entire Phoenix Cry Empire will easilynd in your hands. Chu Xia, you really are a genius.¡±
¡°Many thanks for the praise. But you don¡¯t have to worry; my Spirit Root ispletely ordinary and I¡¯m unable to walk the cultivation path. I don¡¯t possess the slightest threat to you,¡± said the fourth prince.
The white-robed man smiled slightly. He had already secretly examined the fourth prince¡¯s body and found that his talent truly was extremely ordinary.
Towards such an intelligent and deeply scheming person, he had to be a bit more careful. He definitely didn¡¯t want to unwittingly fall into someone else¡¯s trap.
If the fourth prince was an extremely talented person in terms of cultivation, then he would definitely possess an extremely great threat to him. Who knew whether or not the fourth prince would end up using even him to step into even higher realms.
Now all his misgivings were dispelled. The fourth prince was incapable of cultivating to a high level. All he cared about was the secr world¡¯s power. It was just like he had said; both of them needed each other.
Gently raising his teacup, the white-robed man smiled. ¡°Excellent, Xia Changfeng¡¯s death truly is a good thing. I hope we can happily cooperate.¡±
The fourth prince also raised his teacup. The two of them toasted and drained their cups in one gulp.
The white-robed suddenly thought of a matter. ¡°Doesn¡¯t Xia Changfeng have a little sister? Is she still in the imperial pce?¡±
A bit of disgust appeared on the fourth prince¡¯s face. ¡°Yes, that idiot woman was left behind by Xia Changfeng in order to control us.¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t want to kill her?¡±
¡°Well, she is a Pill Adept and has a particr status. I got her two handsome, strong men to wait on her. She¡¯s busy with them and won¡¯t bring any big trouble to us.¡±
The white-robed man nodded. That Xia Baichi truly was aplete idiot. He rxed knowing that the fourth prince had handled her.
As for the death of her brother, she definitely wouldn¡¯t care about that. They had never had any family love to speak of. As long as nothing bad happened to her, she wouldn¡¯t care.
Furthermore, Xia Changfeng was killed by Long Chen. Even if she did feel some hatred, that hatred wouldnd on Long Chen.
¡°Right, brother Luo, I have something I want to ask your help for.¡± After the two of them had reached amon understanding, the fourth prince directly switched to calling him brother.
¡°Speak.¡±
¡°You also know that in order for me to control Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu, they have been promised that once this matter is aplished, they will get half of the empire. Back then when I promised them, I was fine with it since I didn¡¯t have any hope of obtaining the empire. So being generous with them also didn¡¯t cause me any pain. But now all of Phoenix Cry is about tond into my hands. How can I allow others to control mynd? So¡¡±
¡°You want me to help you bring them under your control?¡±
¡°Pretty much. I hope brother Luo can teach me how to make them listen to me obediently and also not have them form any thoughts of rebellion,¡± said the fourth prince carefully.
The white-robed manughed. ¡°Chu Xia, ah, Chu Xia. You are ruthless. You really are willing to do anything to achieve your goals. Okay, I promise you that once this matter is finished, I¡¯ll teach you a technique that will let you make those two into your ves.¡±
Hearing that, the fourth prince was overjoyed. Now everything was going ording to his ns. With the final part of the n about to be finished, Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu had be his greatest problem.
Back then, he had promised to give them control of half the empire. That was equivalent to them being local emperors.
That was how Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu had been coaxed by the fourth prince¡¯s carrot and stick persuasions to secretly form an agreement. But only the three of them had known about it.
Now the fourth prince had obtained an opportunity to free himself from that. He naturally was unwilling to have others control his empire. The white-robed man¡¯s promise meant that he no longer needed to be worried about that.
Although the fourth prince didn¡¯t have aplete understanding of the white-robed man, he knew his origin was definitely shocking and beyond his imaginations.
So he needed to rely on him. As long as he had the white-robed man¡¯s support, whether it was the Phoenix Cry Empire or the Grand Xia Empire, he would be able to have whatever he wanted.
Now everything was prepared. They only needed onest thing. Once Marquis Ying came back, the final phase of the n couldmence. However, what they didn¡¯t know was that in this world, there was always one thing that never went away. Those were called mishaps.
Chapter 83: Mysterious Voice
When Long Chen once more opened his eyes, he had no idea how much time had passed. Perhaps it had just been an hour; perhaps it had been a whole day.
He had been roused by the sound of those howling monkeys. Looking over his body, most of the blood on his wounds had already dried.
That was definitely something to feel lucky about. Otherwise, he would definitely have died if he had kept bleeding out. Slowly standing up, he felt the world spinning around him and almost fell to the ground again.
Leaning against arge tree, he had to wait for a while before feeling a little better. Raising his head to look around, he saw that there were dozens of monkeys on the crowns of the trees. Several of them were howling as loud as they could.
Long Chen knew that most likely meant something had invaded this part of the forest. However, was that something beast or human?
But no matter what, either was a threat to Long Chen. With a wave of his hand, he ced the broadsword into his spatial ring.
Looking over his wounds, he ground his teeth and consumed a medicinal pill. Just that slight raise of his hand caused some of his wounds to tear open.
Blood immediately flowed out. Some of these wounds actually had fragments of Marquis Ying¡¯s sword still in them. Being made from cold iron, those fragments were definitely extremely dangerous to the body. They couldn¡¯t be left inside for too long.
Although this wasn¡¯t the best ce to handle them, if he let them stay in his body any longer, they would greatly hinder his movements.
Long Chen first consumed a few blood clotting pills and did his best to keep the flow of blood at a minimum. If he lost too much blood, then he wouldn¡¯t even have the energy to walk.
With his skillful effort, Long Chen dug out over a dozen sword fragments from his body. Both he and Marquis Ying had been hit by those pieces when his sword had shattered.
After taking out those sword fragments, Long Chen still felt extremely dizzy, a sign he had lost too much blood. Looking up at the monkeys in the trees and hearing that their howls were bing increasingly loud, Long Chen knew the targets in their eyes were quickly approaching.
After consuming several medicinal pills, he dragged his exhausted body down the mountain. Now that Marquis Ying had fled, he also needed to quickly find a ce to heal his wounds.
In that final exchange with Marquis Ying, he had used Split the Heavens. That had caused all his meridians to crack, and he was unable to use spiritual qi anymore. This was his weakest state.
He went over ten miles down a mountain when a river dozens of meters wide appeared before him. Long Chen looked around and saw a wide fallen tree. He pushed that tree into the water.
That tree had been dead for a long time and floated very well in the water. Long Chen crawled on top, allowing his body to be carried down the river without letting the water touch his wounds. Otherwise, the river water would cause his wounds to be even worse.
Luckily, the river flowed very steadily and Long Chen easily managed to stay atop the tree. He flowed along the river for a full day. In a drowsy state, he was suddenly awakened by a loud, continuous booming sound.
Long Chen hastily paddled to the shore. Looking ahead, he was given a big fright as he saw the waterfall before him.
That waterfall was hundreds of meters high. If he had kept sleeping and fallen down, he would definitely have been done for.
The river had yet to exit the forest. Long Chen knew he had to quickly find a ce to heal his wounds. Previously, Long Chen had fakeding ashore along several ces on the river, so anyone searching for him would definitely have to waste a great deal of time on those diversions.
That should be enough time for him to recuperate. But before that, he still had to find a safe ce.
Going through the forest, he saw a canyon before him. The canyon wasn¡¯trge, and it was bordered by stones on either side. Such a ce should have a couple of natural caves that were suitable for shelter.
Just as he was about to go forward, he suddenly felt a sense of danger as well as a burst of winding from behind. He hastily rolled forward.
A huge creature came flying from behind him, and he only narrowly dodged.
Long Chen rolled along the ground. When he raised his head to look, he saw that it was arge leopard over three meters tall that was staring at him.
¡°Cliff Leopard.¡± Long Chen felt a huge headache. That was a first rank Magical Beast. Its fur was the same color as the cliff rocks. When it was hiding itself amongst the rocks, it was extremely hard to notice.
It wasn¡¯t exceptionallyrge, but its speed was shocking. Its ws and teeth were not inferior to steel.
Having been injured so greatly, his spiritual perception had sharply fallen. He had actually not been able to sense the danger around him. It appeared he had be too dependant on his senses.
That Cliff Leopard appeared somewhat startled that it hadn¡¯t taken him down with one blow. It charged at Long Chen again with its incredible speed.
A normal leopard wasn¡¯t frightening, but the Cliff Leopard¡¯s body was just like a bull. Adding on its sharp ws and teeth, it was at the top of the first rank Magical Beast food chain.
Long Chen coldly snorted. Rubbing his ring, his broadsword appeared back in his hands and he shed it at the Cliff Leopard.
The broadswordnded right on the Cliff Leopard¡¯s head, but it was Long Chen who was forced back. His broadsword actually got knocked out of his hands and he was sent flying.
¡°Damn, I don¡¯t even have a tenth of my normal strength!¡±
Long Chen was unable to use spiritual qi at the moment. Furthermore, his physical body was gravely injured.
His sword had shed right onto the Cliff Leopard¡¯s head, yet the sword was knocked away and he was sent flying. Some of his wounds even opened and began to bleed again.
Although Long Chen was in an extremely weak state, his power was still quite great. That Cliff Leopard¡¯s head had been cut by his sword all the way down to the bone. If a regr wild beast received such a heavy injury, they would definitely flee in pain.
But Magical Beasts had an innate, tyrannical nature deep in their bones. Long Chen¡¯s attack had instead provoked its violent nature, and it didn¡¯t even care about the blood flowing down its head as it angrily charged at Long Chen again.
Long Chen rolled on the ground again, dodging its wild charge. At the same time, he also sent out a kick that heavilynded on its abdomen.
That Cliff Leopard was sent tumbling through the air, but its skin and flesh were tough. Long Chen¡¯s kick hadn¡¯t caused any wounds.
As soon as it stabilized itself, it once more charged at Long Chen. Long Chen was extremely anxious inside. If he had a sword, he would definitely be able to kill it.
However, that broadsword had been sent flying thirty meters away. Such a distance was essentially right beside him during ordinary times, but now he was in a tangle with the Cliff Leopard. Adding on the blood loss, his body was extremely weak. That thirty meters distance was simply untraversable for him.
His body was exceptionally weak, and his reactions were not as sharp as normal. He once more dodged the Cliff Leopard, but its sharp ws managed to cut across his stomach lightly, causing more blood to flow.
Long Chen once more kicked it, sending it flying. But after that kick, Long Chen¡¯s eyes darkened, and he was unable to see anything more.
He sighed inside. He had already lost too much blood. He was actually on the verge of losing consciousness. ¡°Who would have thought that I, Long Chen, would die here at the hands of a wild animal...¡±
In that darkness, he could sense its bloody mouth. He was about to be swallowed into its stomach.
Plop.
He heard something, and then he felt his throat warm up as if some liquid was being poured into his throat.
He then heard some extremely distant sounds. Those sounds seemed human, one sounding like a woman. Then, he sunk intoplete and endless darkness.
Within that darkness, Long Chen felt as if his body was floating. It felt like he was both rising and falling at the same time. He waspletely trapped within that darkness.
¡°You must awaken. You have far too many missions that are awaiting for you to finish.
¡°You must be stronger. You have far too many enemies waiting for you to ughter.
¡°Your destiny is to overturn heaven and earth. All gods and devils can only crawl under your foot. Long Chen, quickly awaken.¡±
Within that endless darkness, Long Chen could hear a voice repeatedly speaking. That was a call that came from the deepest depths of his soul.
Long Chen heard it and wanted to reply. However, he was unable to open his mouth. He wanted to open his eyes, but he waspletely powerless.
That voice didn¡¯t seem to be of this world. Could it be that it was part of the past or future? He was unable to touch it.
Once Long Chen memorized those three lines, hepletely lost any sense of himself. Sinking intoplete unconsciousness, he extremely faintly felt a pair of hands gently rubbing his face, a gentleness that felt like that of a mother.
¡
The fourth prince¡¯s expression was exceedingly ugly. Marquis Ying was lying on a bed, his bodypletely ck. He couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.
A Tendon Transformation expert had gone out to kill a Qi Condensation ant only to end up in such a state. Who would possibly believe such a thing?
When he had heard his subordinates¡¯ report that Marquis Ying had been heavily injured, he had first thought that Marquis Ying had met some sort of powerful Magical Beast.
But looking at Marquis Ying¡¯s current half-dead state, a youthful face appeared in his mind.
He didn¡¯t know why, but when he thought of that face, he immediately became panicked. The most important part of his n had failed.
Although he had never underestimated Long Chen, he had never expected that he would be able to escape from Marquis Ying and even force Marquis Ying into such a sorry state.
¡°I was overconfident.¡± Marquis Ying was ashamed. A grand Tendon Transformation expert had almost lost his life in trying to kill someone at Qi Condensation. That was definitely a disgrace.
The fourth prince shook his head. ¡°I know your character. You wouldn¡¯t carelessly be overconfident against someone and lose like this. It can only be said that we both underestimated Long Chen. I¡¯m also at fault.¡±
It went without saying that the fourth prince was exceptionally talented at manipting people. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to win over apex experts like Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu.
Just that one sentence from himpletely excused Marquis Ying¡¯s failure and let him feel extremelyfortable inside.
Since the matter had already urred, getting angry would bepletely useless. In fact, it would further anger Marquis Ying.
In any case, looking at Marquis Ying¡¯s wounds, he had definitely not been too careless. He had only called himself overconfident to find an excuse for himself.
Thinking of that, the fourth prince felt a burst of panic ovee him. Thinking of Long Chen¡¯s decisive and swift nature, his expression became increasingly ugly.
But then thinking of the white-robed man who was his support, he rxed a bit. Although Long Chen had run off, it didn¡¯t change his ns that much.
He rubbed the photographic jade in his hand. Inside it was aplete recording of Long Chen and Wilde killing Xia Changfeng. With this, he would still be able to go forward with his n.
Long Chen¡¯s escape was definitely worrisome, but he didn¡¯t have any way to handle him at this point. He turned to Marquis Ying. ¡°You can recover at ease. I¡¯ll get grandmaster Wei Cang to personallye to heal your wounds tomorrow. You¡¯ll be able topletely recover very quickly.¡±
¡°Many thanks, prince.¡± Marquis Ying hastily thanked him. That poison might be temporarily suppressed by him, but he was unable to dispel it. Long Chen¡¯s poison pill was just too terrifying.
They had asked for help from the alchemist guild and grandmaster Yun Qi had alsoe. But after looking at Marquis Ying¡¯s wounds, grandmaster Yun Qi had only coldly stated that he was powerless to heal him.
Marquis Ying had immediately understood that grandmaster Yun Qi had realized some clues from his body and so he had refused to save him.
Hearing that Wei Cang woulde relieved Marquis Ying greatly. Wei Cang would definitely be able to save him.
The fourth prince went back to his room and began to pace around. After a while, he raised his brush and wrote a short missive, handing it to a guard.
Looking at the darkness that was descending on the sky, the fourth prince sighed. Although Long Chen had escaped, they still had to continue with the n.
Chapter 84: You're My Man
Chapter 84
Chapter 84 You¡¯re My Man
Long Chen slowly opened his eyes . He didn¡¯t know how much time had passed, but seeing the light caused him to sigh in relief . He was still alive .
He realized he was lying on a simple bed . Although the bed was made from coarse wood, the bedsheets had been arranged very carefully for him and even had a faint fresh scent .
He was in a wooden room . The walls had a couple animal hides, bows, arrows, and spears on them . Not far from his bed was a small stove that was releasing warmth . The smell of freshly cooked rice floated out of it .
With a creaking sound, the door was opened . A maiden wearing a simple dress walked in .
That woman appeared around sixteen years old . She was slender and tall . Her arms and legs were both bare, and her skin gave off a healthy glow .
She wore her hair in a medium length ponytail . She wasn¡¯t overly beautiful, but her bright eyes gave off an extremely friendly feeling .
That woman first put down her backsack before hastily opening the iron cooking pot atop the stove .
That youngdy let out a relieved sigh when she looked at the food inside . ¡°Ah, close . I almost burnt it,¡± she muttered to herself .
But she suddenly sensed something was a bit off and slowly turned to see that Long Chen was looking at her in confusion .
¡°Ah, you¡¯ve awoken! Great!¡±
She quickly happily ran over to Long Chen and hugged him excitedly .
¡°Cough¡ miss, isn¡¯t this a bit unsuitable?¡±
Being hugged by a youngdy, he could feel her chest against his as well as smell a fresh and energetic scent from her .
But being hugged by a stranger truly did cause him to feel ufortable and awkward .
¡°What¡¯s unsuitable about it? I pulled you back here, so now you¡¯re my man . That¡¯s the rule of our vige, so who would dare criticize?¡± That maiden was still hugging onto Long Chenpletely untimid, acting as if everything was as it should be .
¡°You? . . . pulled me back?¡± Long Chen was startled . Hisst memory was of the Cliff Leopard . He hadn¡¯t seen this maiden before .
Seeing his confusion, the maiden released him and said, ¡°That day when you fought with the Magical Beast, at thest moment I shot it with my arrow . Frankly speaking, your life was saved by me . In the future you¡¯ll be my man and so your task in the future will be to go hunting and make babies with me . ¡±
Looking at her serious expression, Long Chen¡¯s expression became extremely odd . Hunting? And making babies?
When she saw that Long Chen was still as puzzled as ever, she began to exin what had happened that day .
That woman was a huntress of the vige . The vige people all relied on hunting to survive . Other than some essential metal tools that they had to get from a distant ce outside the mountains, they werepletely self-sufficient here .
There were over a hundred people in the vige . Most of them were all expert hunters . Even some of the children frequently went outside the vige to set up a couple traps for smaller wild animals .
There weren¡¯t any true experts in their vige . The majority of them were only at Qi Condensation . ording to the maiden, their ancestors had escaped to this ce in order to avoid the mes of war . They gradually became ustomed to living here, and now hundreds of years had passed .
The main food in the vige was meat . They survived by relying on hunting and gathering . But their best targets were wild beasts .
As for therger Magical Beasts, they had to treat them extremely carefully . If they wanted to handle a powerful Magical Beast, they required the entire vige to participate .
This time they had noticed that there was a Cliff Leopard in the vicinities a while back . After a bit of investigation and after getting the approval of the vige chief, they decided to kill this Cliff Leopard .
Although killing Magical Beasts was extremely dangerous, the benefits were also ordingly great . The core of a first rank Magical Beast was enough for the entire vige to live off of for half a year if exchanged for goods .
In order to handle this Cliff Leopard, they had prepared for over a month . They had refined enough poisons to apply on their weapons and also stealthily set up many traps . They were prepared to ambush it .
But just as they were about to take action against it today, they watched dumbstruck as a youngster walked over to its territory .
That woman had been hiding in secret along with many other hunters . She hadn¡¯t dared warn Long Chen . That would have rmed the Cliff Leopard and ruined all the ns their vige had spent over a month preparing .
The result of failure was extremely severe . Many of their lives would be the price . That was why they had only watched stupefied as Long Chen was ambushed .
Originally they had all been feeling guilty about that . They could only hope that the Cliff Leopard would soon enter one of their traps so that they could take their revenge for Long Chen .
But the scene that yed after that caused all of them to be astonished . Long Chen¡¯s sword almost killed the iparably vicious Cliff Leopard in one blow .
They then realized that Long Chen had actually been wounded severely beforehand . The sword left his hands but he was still able to fight without a weapon, exchanging several blows that sent the Cliff Leopard flying .
Atst they saw that Long Chen was unable to support himself anymore . She had been unable to bear it any further and shot out an arrow at the Cliff Leopard, killing it .
But when she said that she had killed it with one arrow and saved Long Chen, she was actually somewhat embarrassed .
Her archery skills weren¡¯t actually so great . In a moment of desperation, she had shot without even thinking that much . But in the end, her arrow which had been aiming for the Cliff Leopard¡¯s mouth actually went straight through its forehead .
That was coincidentally the same ce that Long Chen had hit it with his sword . His sh had already caused the Cliff Leopard¡¯s skull to crack, so her arrow had managed to coincidentally pierce through that crack, killing it .
When everyone had rushed forward to check out her attack, they couldn¡¯t help taking a cold breath . If it weren¡¯t for that luck, then the vigers which had angered a Magical Beast would definitely lose many lives .
An injured Magical Beast was the most frightening . They would be crazy because of their fear and do their best to attack .
¡°Many thanks . ¡± Only then did Long Chen finally learn what had happened . He respectfully cupped his hands at her .
¡°You¡¯ll be my man in the future, so there¡¯s no need for that . ¡± She giggled and supported Long Chen at the shoulders . ¡°Before, I would send prayers to the forest divinity everyday in hopes of him bestowing me a powerful man who would go hunting and make babies with me . Heehee, the forest divinity has finally heard my prayers and sent you to me . ¡±
She waspletely infatuated with him . Looking at his heroic and handsome appearance, she was extremely satisfied .
¡°Cough, miss¡¡±
¡°Call me Xiao Hua . ¡±
¡°Uh, miss Xiao Hua, as for the matter of a man, let¡¯s discuss thatter . Can you tell me just how my wounds were healed?¡± asked Long Chen . That was because he had noticed his miraculously recoveredpletely . But ording to Xiao Hua, this was only the third day after encountering the Cliff Leopard .
Without eating a single medicinal pill, not only had he miraculously healed in just a short three days, but even his body¡¯s cracked meridians hadpletely recovered . That greatly startled .
¡°The forest divinity helped heal you,¡± replied Xiao Hua .
¡°Forest divinity?¡± Did this world really hold divinities?
¡°That¡¯s too many questions for right now . Let¡¯s eat first . ¡±
Xiao Hua cut off Long Chen¡¯s questioning and brough therge pot from the stove outside .
Long Chen didn¡¯t want to fake being injured, so he hastily went to help . He found that therge pot was filled with merely thin porridge .
Only after carrying the pot outside the wooden house did Long Chen realize this was a vige built against the side of a mountain .
Thick fences made of thistles and thorns ten meters high surrounded the vige . Those thistles and thorns were a very poisonous nt . Most wild beasts would generally avoid them .
Within the vige were dozens of simple wooden houses . After Xiao Hua¡¯s call, all of them walked over to her house . There were a dozen children and five or six seniors .
But the majority were all youths or adults in their prime . Since they survived through hunting, it would be extremely dangerous if their physical strengthgged behind . A single person¡¯s carelessness could lead to a loss of life .
That was why the majority of the people in the vige were all in the prime of their lives . That was due to a natural elimination over time . Life was simply heartless .
A healthy old man walked up to Long Chen and nodded . ¡°Excellent . A person capable of fighting against a Magical Beast on his own . ¡±
Long Chen swept his senses out and found that this senior was a Blood Condensation expert . However, he was only at the early stage .
If Long Chen¡¯s guess wasn¡¯t wrong, that old man should have only managed to enter Blood Condensation veryte in his years . His Blood Qi had already started to decline . Despite stepping into Blood Condensation, hisbat ability probably hadn¡¯t increased by much at all .
¡°Senior tters me . ¡± Long Chen bowed slightly .
¡°I don¡¯t dare be called senior by you . Even in my prime, I was unable topare to . ¡± That old man was filled with admiration for Long Chen .
¡°Grandpa, hurry up and eat!¡±
Xiao Hua had already split up the porridge for everyone . She brought two bowls for Long Chen and the old man .
¡°Let me introduce you two . This is my grandpa, the vige chief . Oh right, I still don¡¯t know your name,¡± suddenly asked Xiao Hua .
¡°Thanks . My name is Long Chen . ¡± Long Chenughingly received his bowl of porridge .
Everyone from the vige, young and old, male or female, now came over to wee Long Chen . He had to hastily put down his bowl to greet them all .
They had saved his life . That favor had to be remembered . This people were all very simple and sincere people . Their etiquettes were a bit strange to him, but the friendly warmth in their eyes already said everything to him .
There were over a hundred people in the vige . There were only thirty females in the vige, and Xiao Hua was the only young maiden amongst them . The rest were all still babies .
¡°Big brother, I heard you¡¯re really strong! Did you really send a giant leopard flying with a single punch?¡±
A small child that didn¡¯t even reach his knee hugged Long Chen¡¯s leg . He looked at Long Chen with worship .
¡°Of course it¡¯s true . My dad told me big brother is a true warrior . Once he¡¯s with big sis Hua, their babies will be the strongest fighters in our vige!¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t even know how to respond before another child scrambled over .
That child then looked at Long Chen eagerly . ¡°Big brother, when are you going to let our vige¡¯s strongest fighters be born?¡±
Long Chen¡¯s expression stiffened and the surrounding people allughed heartily . Even Xiao Huaughed, making Long Chen feel more embarrassment .
He quickly changed the topic, ¡°Didn¡¯t you guys kill the Magical Beast? Why aren¡¯t you eating its meat?¡±
As soon as he said, the joyous atmosphere immediately became strange . They were all looking at their vige chief .
He was just about to say anything when Xiao Hua interjected, ¡°I should be the one to tell you about this . ¡±
Chapter 85: Forest God
¡°I should be the one to tell you about this.¡±
Xiao Hua looked at Long Chen and then nced at her grandpa.
¡°Xiao Hua¡¡± The old man frowned.
¡°Grandpa, Long Chen is my man. He will also be one of our viger¡¯s people in the future. He has the right to know about this.¡±
The old man argued no more. The others all quickly drank their thin porridge and returned to their homes, leaving only the three of them.
¡°That Magical Beast was offered as a sacrifice,¡± exined Xiao Hua to Long Chen.
¡°Offered as a sacrifice?¡± That was the first time Long Chen had heard of such a thing.
¡°Yes. Your wounds were too severe, and you were on the verge of death. We had no other method but to send you to the forest god. The forest god healed you, but the price was that we had to offer the Magical Beast as a sacrifice. That¡¯s also why you were able topletely recover in just a short three days.¡±
Did gods really exist in this world? Thatpletely toppled his understanding.
¡°Not only that, but because your injuries were so severe, our vige also had to offer all the meat we had stored away. And even so, we still owe the forest god more. We¡¯ll have to pay back our debt slowly through hunting.¡±
Only now did Long Chen understand why the entire vige only had some thin porridge to eat.
The young men definitely required meat in order to get stronger. But because of him, they could only go hungry. He couldn¡¯t help but feel bad about this.
¡°Long Chen, I¡¯m exining this to you not so that you will feel guilty. But you¡¯re also a member of the vige now, so I thought you had the right to know this.¡± Xiao Hua quietly exined this all.
However, that only made him feel even more ashamed. This kind of trust and goodwill made him feel iparably warm, especially since he was used to the cruel schemes inside the royal capital.
¡°Can you tell me about this forest god?¡±
Xiao Hua looked at her grandpa, and only after he nodded did she tell him a true story that was practically mythic.
Not long after this vige was first established, one of their ancestors found an extremely mystical tree. At that time, that ancestor had been wounded by a Magical Beast and almost died. After fleeing from it, he had arrived there.
The tree had dripped a drop of liquid onto him, and their ancestor¡¯s heavy wounds hadpletely healed in just half a day.
In order to thank therge tree, they had hunted down a wild beast and ced it as a sacrifice in front of therge tree. Then, they saw the huge tree actually swallowed away that dead beast in the blink of an eye.
Ever since then, whenever someone was injured, the vigers would all run over to the tree to be treated, and every time the tree wouldpletely restore them.
In order to disy their reverence and respect for the tree, they had begun to call it the forest god. Not long after they began to offer sacrifices to the tree, it actually began tomunicate with them and established an agreement with them.
It could heal the vigers¡¯ wounds, but they would need to offer sacrifice to it in reciprocation. As for the amount of the sacrifice, it would depend on how heavy the wounds were.
This was just like a doctor asking for payment. But in all these years, the forest god had never asked for that much as a reward.
However, Long Chen was an exception now. The forest god had demanded a shocking price to save Long Chen.
¡°What did it want?¡± asked Long Chen.
Xiao Hua looked at Long Chen and ground her teeth. ¡°Ten first rank Magical Beast and one second rank Magical Beast.¡±
Long Chen was shocked. A single first rank Magical Beast already required Xiao Hua¡¯s entire vige to prepare for a long time and it still posed an extremely great danger.
As for a second rank Magical Beast, that would require several Blood Condensation experts to join hands in order to kill one. To the vigers, that was somethingpletely impossible. That so-called forest god¡¯s price was far too great.
Looking at Long Chen¡¯s indignant expression, Xiao Hua hastily said, ¡°Long Chen, you definitely can¡¯t feel any resentment towards the forest god; the forest god has always been extremely fair over all these years. No matter how heavily injured we were, it never required such a high price. There¡¯s definitely a reason for it to demand so much this time. Plus, now you¡¯re healed. You can help us, and I trust that we¡¯ll be able to quickly repay our debt. Even if it was ten second rank Magical Beasts, we still would have epted. We couldn¡¯t just silently watch you die¡¡±
In the end, Xiao Hua began to sob. She fell into Long Chen¡¯s chest. Her grandpa sighed, ¡°Long Chen, the forest god is absolutely fair. There¡¯s definitely a reason for it to demand such a price. Don¡¯t get angry.¡±
¡°I want to go see the forest god.¡± Long Chen wanted to figure out just what this forest god was.
As for the price that it had demanded, Long Chen wasn¡¯t worried at all. Now that he had recovered, first rank Magical Beasts could be killed in an instant. As for a second rank Magical Beast, as long as he wasn¡¯t careless, that was also something he could bring down.
A second rank Magical Beast was equivalent to a human Blood Condensation expert. However, due to how tough a Magical Beast¡¯s physical body was, humans on equivalent levels were not an equal match for Magical Beasts.
But who was Long Chen? He had no fear for anyone below the Tendon Transformation realm. He didn¡¯t like to have to owe anything. If he confirmed that this forest god wasn¡¯t some fake swindler, he wanted to pay it back as fast as possible. He also wanted to know just what this god was.
Xiao Hua¡¯s grandpa acquiesced and so, Long Chen followed Xiao Hua out of the vige on a mountain path.
Xiao Hua was very familiar with this area. With a bow and quiver on her back, she would pause to listen to the surroundings every now and then.
She would also asionally go bring Long Chen to check some of the surroundings traps and snares that they had set up to see if they had captured some wild beasts.
But there was only disappointment. They checked a dozen snares, but none of them had caught anything.
¡°It¡¯s so sad that we have no meat. We need meat in order to strengthen our bodies. It¡¯ll get very difficult to hunt without any more¡¡± sighed Xiao Hua.
They were hunters, and meat was something that strengthened them. Having gone without any meat for several days, the vigers¡¯ morale had been greatly impacted.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll handle that debt. Since it was because of me, just let me resolve it myself,¡±ughed Long Chen.
Xiao Hua¡¯s expression changed and she angrily retorted, ¡°What are you talking about? Your matters are my matters, which are also the vige¡¯s matters. How could we let you go face danger alone?¡±
Long Chen smiled and shut his mouth. But he truly did like this vige¡¯s ambiance. There was no selfishness, only a peaceful coexistence. Just how luxurious and rare would such an ambiance be in the world of the royal capital where fights and schemes arose every day?
This was a beautiful ce, but Long Chen couldn¡¯t possibly stay, let alone muddle along to make kids.
But his life was saved by the vigers. He had to repay this debt before leaving.
¡°Wait a moment.¡±
Suddenly, Xiao Hua stopped. Looking at the footprints on the ground, her expression waspletely serious.
¡°A bear has just recently gone past here. Based on the depth and size of the footprint, it should be a matured Burst Bear. It¡¯s definitely longer than three meters and should have passed through just two hours ago based on the color of the soil.¡±
Xiao Hua was definitely worthy of being a highly experienced huntress. She was able to tell so much from just a footprint. The Burst Bear was a first rank Magical Beast that was exceptionally berserk, making it extremely hard to deal with.
Even if the whole vige joined hands, they still wouldn¡¯t dare to handle this Burst Bear. They had the ability to attack the Cliff Leopard because its specialty was in its speed, and its attacking and defensive prowess were not particrly great.
As long as they paid attention to its movements and they had enough people, they definitely stood a good chance of killing it.
But the Burst Bear was not the same. It specialized in defensive strength and power. No matter how many people they had, it would all be useless.
¡°It looks like we should make a detour,¡± determined Xiao Hua.
¡°Why?¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t understand.
¡°Fool, do you really have to ask? We aren¡¯t a match for the Burst Bear. Even if all the fighters in the vige assembled, we still wouldn¡¯t have a high chance of beating it.¡±
¡°Says who?¡±
¡°You¡ you really are trying to piss me off!¡± Looking at Long Chen¡¯s foolish wooden manner, Xiao Hua was both angered and anxious. But suddenly she thought of something and blinked. ¡°You aren¡¯t thinking of going to kill the Burst Bear, are you?¡±
¡°Of course.¡±
She was silent for a moment. She immediately thought of when Long Chen had fought with the Cliff Leopard. At that time, Long Chen had been an absolutely unstoppable god in her eyes.
And ording to her grandpa, Long Chen had already received extremely heavy injuries before meeting the Cliff Leopard, otherwise, he probably would have been able to kill it on his own.
Now looking at Long Chen¡¯s current expression, she finally realized that Long Chen might really possess the strength to kill a first rank Magical Beast.
¡°Have you killed a first rank Magical Beast before?¡± probed Xiao Hua.
¡°Nope.¡± Long Chen shook his head. This was the first time he had gone away from home, and although he had eaten Magical Beast meat several times, those had been defeated by Wilde.
But Long Chen muttered inside, Although I haven¡¯t killed a Magical Beast, I¡¯ve ughtered quite a few Blood Condensation experts.
Xiao Hua shook her head. ¡°Then let¡¯s just let it go. Killing a Magical Beast isn¡¯t done just by relying on a high cultivation base or who is stronger. You have to rely on waiting for a good opportunity. Skill and experience are extremely important. Since you haven¡¯t killed a Magical Beast before, we should try to avoid such a risky scenario. Hunters never take such risks; otherwise, it would be the hunter who is turned into the prey.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t take risks? Then what do you call what you did to save me?¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Tch, you¡¯re not allowed to ever bring that up!¡± Her face reddened and she threateningly raised her fist.
¡°Haha, okay. I won¡¯t joke with you anymore. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t risk our lives on a gamble,¡± said Long Chen firmly.
Long Chen no longer had any of his joking mischievous air. Now he waspletely serious and gave off a feeling of great confidence and security.
She didn¡¯t know why, but seeing him like that immediately caused her to calm down and rx. Even her terrifying impression of the Burst Bear became lighter.
With Xiao Hua guiding the both of them with her hunting experience, the two of them followed the tracks for two hours and found arge natural cave.
Within that cave, the originally sleeping Burst Bear suddenly opened its eyes, staring at the two people who had invaded his territory.
¡°ROAR!¡±
The Burst Bear suddenly jumped up. Its huge three-meter-tall figure violently charged towards the two of them.
Looking at the wildly charging Burst Bear, Xiao Hua turned pale with fright. That was the first time she had ever let herself be so exposed to a Magical Beast. That went against everything she knew as a huntress.
But Xiao Hua noticed that Long Chen remained as calm as ever. His gaze was indifferent as he punched out with his right hand.
Chapter 86: Killing With the Wave of a Hand
In front of Xiao Hua¡¯s horrified eyes, the enormous Burst Bear charged at Long Chen, swatting at him with a huge bear w.
The Burst Bear¡¯s strongest point was its powerful ws. It could easily crush rock, so a human body would immediately turn to pulp.
That was also why the vigers had never dared ce any intentions on the Burst Bear. Even theirbined forces were unable to severely injure the Burst Bear, while the Burst Bear would be able to kill several of them with a single charge.
BANG! Xiao Hua covered her mouth, unable to believe her own eyes.
That Burst Bear¡¯s terrifying attack was actually stiffly blocked by Long Chen. Waves of qi scattered and thend shook, but Long Chen didn¡¯t even take a single step back.
Although his figure wasn¡¯t imposing, he was able to easily block the huge Burst Bear which was several times his size. The current Long Chen¡¯s hair was dancing in the wind, and he appeared like a god of war.
After blocking that Burst Bear with a single fist, Long Chen coldly smiled. If it was below Tendon Transformation, then even the Burst Bear which specialized in violence was still insufficient to even enter his gaze.
Long Chen made a few calctions. The Burst Bear¡¯s attack had contained a force of over five tons. An ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator would be crushed to death in a single blow.
And even Blood Condensation cultivators would have to reach the mid stage first before just barely being able to block that attack. That was just how terrifying a Magical Beast which specialized in power was.
But in front of Long Chen, that attack posed no danger at all. At the same time, Long Chen thought of Wilde. If Wilde were here, he would probably also be able to block it and then wring its neck.
Long Chen didn¡¯t waste any more time. Taking advantage of the Burst Bear stumbling in shock, a broadsword appeared in his hands and he shed down.
Blood sttered as Long Chen broadsword shed right through the Burst Bear¡¯s head. It didn¡¯t even have time to make a single sound as it tumbled to the ground.
Xiao Hua nkly watched it all. She felt as if she was dreaming. It wasn¡¯t that she hadn¡¯t killed a Magical Beast before, but it was the first time she had seen such an overbearing method.
Normally, when the vigers killed Magical Beasts, they had to make ample preparations. They had to set snares and traps and coat all their weapons with poison. To handle a single Magical Beast would require around a month¡¯s preparations.
And despite all those preparations, despite gathering the entire vige¡¯s power, killing a Magical Beast still had to be done extremely carefully. A single mistake could cost many lives.
Yet in front of Long Chen, that iparably frightening Burst Bear had been taken down effortlessly.
¡°How do we handle this thing?¡±
Only when Long Chen asked her a question did Xiao Hua awake from her stupor. Looking at that huge Burst Bear¡¯s corpse, she said, ¡°How about we directly bring this Magical Beast up in front of the forest god?¡±
¡°Or how about you keep it to eat, and only once you get some more prey do you offer more sacrifices?¡± proposed Long Chen.
The vigers were surviving only barely on porridge. That was no way to live or even survive in this wilderness. In any case, killing this kind of Magical Beast didn¡¯t require any real effort from him.
¡°We can¡¯t! We can¡¯t disappoint the forest god¡¯s trust in us. That¡¯s sphemous.¡±
¡°Fine.¡± Long Chen was helpless. Waving his hand, he collected the Burst Bear¡¯s massive corpse into his spatial ring.
¡°You¡ how did you do that? Are you a god?¡± Xiao Hua looked at Long Chen in astonishment.
That giant corpse had disappeared into thin air, and at the same time, she thought of how Long Chen had suddenly summoned his broadsword into his hands at the beginning.
When they had brought Long Chen back to the vige back then, they had also brought along that broadsword. But it was so heavy that it had required two people to carry.
Later, they kept it permanently by Long Chen¡¯s bed. Once he had awoken, Long Chen naturally had collected it. Thinking of that, Xiao Hua waspletely bewildered.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°How am I a god? This is a spatial ring and can easily store objects.¡±
Long Chen rubbed his ring and the Burst Bear¡¯s corpse once more appeared. Xiao Hua enviously looked at Long Chen¡¯s ring, continuously praising it.
Obviously, Xiao Hua had never heard of things like spatial rings. Most likely due to how low quality their beast hides and crystal cores were, they were unable to make much money. They were unable toe into contact with expensive items like spatial rings.
¡°Xiao Hua, let me give you a present.¡±
Long Chen took out another ring. That ring had been his only harvest from killing Xia Changfeng.
Long Chen had looked over what was inside while being chased by Marquis Ying. Other than some money and weapons, the rest was all useless to him.
But there had been one good thing inside. There was the manual that Xia Changfeng had won from the auction, Three Style Parting Wind.
Within the surrounding empires, Earth ss Battle Skills were already the highest rank of Battle Skills avable. For Xia Changfeng to be able to obtain such a Battle Skill for just five hundred million gold coins was actually quite lucky.
But now that luck wasn¡¯t his, but Long Chen¡¯s. Other than taking out the Three Style Parting Wind, he left everything else inside the ring.
¡°No, Long Chen, I can¡¯t ept your things.¡± Seeing Long Chen suddenly hand her a ring, she hastily jumped and refused.
¡°Why not? Didn¡¯t you say I was your man? You don¡¯t want what your man gives you?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but joke.
Although he was kidding around a bit, he definitely did have a favorable opinion of how kind and lively Xiao Hua was. Although it wasn¡¯t that kind of romantic feeling, he definitely did want to be friends.
¡°This¡ this¡.¡± Xiao Hua was obviously a young woman longing for love. She nced at the ring in his hands with a contradicting expression.
She was extremely curious towards this practically divine ring, but she didn¡¯t feelfortable taking it.
¡°Just take it. Treat it as my gift.¡± Long Chen ced the ring into her hand. Xiao Hua¡¯s hand was extremely beautiful, however, it had ayer of calluses, another mark of her being a huntress and often drawing a bow.
She lowered herpletely red head and rubbed the ring in her hand over and over. That was the first time Long Chen had seen Xiao Hua actually show her shy side.
¡°Here, I¡¯ll teach you how to use it. Gather your focus to the spot between your eyebrows and from that spot, focus your mind on within the ring. At the same time, inject a bit of spiritual qi with your other hand¡¡±
Ordinary people weren¡¯t able to open spatial rings, but cultivators could do it as long as they had reached the Qi Condensation realm. As long as they could use their qi andbine it with Spiritual Strength, they would be able to open it.
But Xiao Hua didn¡¯t understand the slightest thing about Spiritual Strength. She needed Long Chen to guide her step by step. What surprised Long Chen was that Xiao Hua was extremely smart and quicklyprehended the method in just a few tries.
This made him shake his head inside. If Wilde had just half of Xiao Hua¡¯s smarts, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry so much about him.
Thinking of Wilde, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but be anxious. He didn¡¯t know if Wilde had brought Little Snow back to the capital.
But ording to Long Chen¡¯s calctions, having held up Marquis Ying, there was no one who would recognize Wilde. It was highly likely that he would be able to return to the capital.
As long as he did and then went to ask grandmaster Yun Qi for help, that would shield the Long household from dangers. But ns could never bepletely perfect. He also had to quickly return to the capital.
Of course, before that, he still had toplete two things. One of which was to repay the vige¡¯s debt, otherwise, with their guileless natures, if they really did go try killing a second rank Magical Beast, who knew how many of them would die.
And secondly, he had to increase his cultivation base. His fight with Marquis Ying had made him realize that he was stillcking. In front of a Tendon Transformation expert, he was powerless to resist. Such a feeling was not one he wanted to feel a second time.
¡°Ah, so much stuff!¡± Xiao Hua finally managed to open the spatial ring and saw what was inside.
Inside was a space over ten meters wide. There was a mountain of golden coins along with many weapons that shined coldly.
It was the first time she had seen such fine weapons. And as for the gold coins, she didn¡¯t have any shock towards them because she didn¡¯t even recognize what they were.
They would only ever send anyone out of the vige once every now and then. That journey required half a month to reach a distant town. They would exchange crystal cores and hides for the metal instruments, food and other provisions they needed. They never actually touched money.
As for the coldly shining weapons, only they were truly interesting to Xiao Hua who was a huntress. She almost fainted from joy when she saw those excellent weapons.
¡°Spiritual qi is required to open the ring. If you want to take things out or put things in, then you need to use your Spiritual Strength. Try it.¡± Long Chenughed at her excitement.
¡°Okay.¡± Xiao Hua tried using her Spiritual Strength several times without seeding. One reason was because her Spiritual Strength was too weak. Not all people had such vigorous Spiritual Strength like alchemists.
And for another, Xiao Hua was aplete amateur at using Spiritual Strength. Trying to use it was an exceptionallyborious task. That had long since been expected by Long Chen and he didn¡¯t rush her. He continuously encouraged her.
If she could use the spatial ring properly, then the weapons inside would allow the entire vige¡¯s strength to rise to another level. It would definitely reduce the casualties of the hunters.
Plus, they would find it much more convenient whenever they had to go out of the vige.
In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Xiao Hua finally managed to use her Spiritual Strength to take a weapon out of the spatial ring. But due to herck of control, she was unable to control where it appeared and it fell to the ground.
¡°Wow! Excellent, I can use this divine ring!¡±
Xiao Hua picked up the sword with one hand and hugged Long Chen with the other excitedly.
¡°Hey, be careful. You almost ran me through with your sword!¡± Long Chenughed bitterly.
She was unable to control her excitement, and she chopped the new sword in her hand at a tree around the thickness of an arm.
With a clean sound, the sword effortlessly chopped through the tree. Its sharpness caused Xiao Hua to exim in excitement. The weapons, which they exchanged for in the town where they went to, were unable topare to such a fine weapon.
Seeing that she had learned the initial ways to use it, Long Chen helped her to take out a spear. To hunters, spears were definitely more useful than swords.
The two of them continued traveling forward when they suddenly ran into a wild boar. It looked to be over a ton. Perhaps the two of them had walked into its territory since it was now attacking them.
Xiao Hua stabbed at it with her spear. The sharpness of the spear made it seem like the boar was made of tofu. Her spear punctured right through the boar¡¯s tough hide, pierced its heart, and came out through the other side of its body.
Xiao Hua was iparably excited. She had been able to bring down a matured wild boar in just a single blow. That was an incredibly great aplishment to her.
The two of them hurried along their journey. On the midday of the next day, the two of them finally arrived beside a certain pond with an enormous tree beside it.
Chapter 87: Spirit World
Chapter 87
Chapter 87 Spirit World
The enormous tree reached high into the sky . Its treetop spanned several miles . It practically covered the entire mountain top . In front of the tree huge tree whose trunk was hundreds of meters wide was a small pond whose water was incredibly clear .
There was also a stone tform that had been created by man . It was obviously a sacrificial altar constructed by the vige¡¯s ancestors .
When he looked at that immense tree, Long Chen sensed an incredibly strong vitality as well as a majestic and boundless natural energy . It seemed as if this huge tree contained the entire natural will of the world . It was extremely stunning .
¡°This is your forest divinity?¡± asked Long Chen .
¡°Yes, this is our forest divinity . You should pay your respects with me . It is the one who really saved your life . ¡± After saying that, Xiao Hua reverently kneeled down and kowtowed .
Long Chen looked at this huge tree . It was this tree which had saved him . Seeing that no one had given him any medicinal pills after he had fainted, he would have burnt up all his energy and eventually have died . To pay respects to the one who had saved him was eptable .
Just as Long Chen was about to get on his knees, a soft voice rang over, a voice that made them feel like they were being cleansed by spring wind .
¡°Please don¡¯t be like this . I¡¯m unable to ept such a thing . ¡±
Suddenly a figure appeared atop the sacrificial altar . It was a female figure in a white dress . Her ck hair fell to her waist, giving people a fluttering immortal feeling . However, her figure was extremely fuzzy and her features couldn¡¯t be seen clearly .
¡°Forest divinity . ¡± Xiao Hua who was kneeling on the ground looked up in shock . She had once heard the forest divinity¡¯s voice before, but she had never seen it take form .
Not only her, even in all the vige¡¯s history, there was not a single person who had ever seen the forest divinity take form .
But as soon as Long Chen had arrived and before he even knelt, it immediately appeared before him . And furthermore, it even implied it was not worthy of Long Chen¡¯s reverence . Xiao Hua became dizzy . Even a divinity was unworthy of Long Chen¡¯s worship?
Long Chen was filled with astonishment as he looked at that figure . He knew that this figure wasn¡¯t human, but a soul .
That was something that could only form when one¡¯s Spiritual Strength reached a kind of pinnacle . Long Chen was extremely proud of his powerful spirit, but in front of the forest divinity, he was just like a small stream in front of a huge ocean . This was the first time he had ever felt himself to be so minute .
¡°You are the forest divinity?¡± probingly asked Long Chen .
That woman smiled slightly and didn¡¯t reply . Looking at the kneeling Xiao Hua, she gently said, ¡°Sleep for a while . ¡±
Xiao Hua immediately rolled over to the ground, falling into a deep slumber .
Long Chen was startled . What a powerful technique . Even without using spiritual energy, just her will was able to make people fall asleep .
Only then did she turn to Long Chen . ¡°The words we speak between us aren¡¯t suitable for her to hear, so I could only let her sleep for a while . I am no divinity . That was simply what they called me . The truth is that I am not from this world . ¡±
¡°Not from this world?¡± Long Chen was greatly startled .
¡°Ie from the distant Spirit World . To the current you, that is still extremely far . But I know that with your talent, it won¡¯t be long before you reach it,¡± said that woman .
Her words caused Long Chen¡¯s heart to wildly pound . He knew this forest divinity was definitely a frightening existence, but she actually refused to exin just what this spirit world was .
Spirit World¡ that was a term that Long Chen waspletely unfamiliar with . But when he heard it, he had a kind of deja vu feeling . That was an extremely vague and profound feeling .
Seeing that she didn¡¯t continue exining, Long Chen didn¡¯t interrogate her . He cupped his fists . ¡°Long Chen will engrave the favor of saving my life into my memory . ¡±
¡°Actually you don¡¯t need to thank me . You should thank those vigers . ACcording to our agreement, no matter what they needed, I would need to meet their demands . At the same time, I also have to put out an equivalent price . This was our agreement, so you don¡¯t need to thank me . ¡± She shook her head .
¡°I wonder whether I can ask why you would make an agreement with ordinary people?¡± asked Long Chen .
This was a question Long Chen had wondered for a long time . This was like a huge elephant making an agreement with a group of ants . It didn¡¯t make sense .
She was silent for a while before replying, ¡°Because I need their help . ¡±
¡°Their help?¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t understand . A terrifyingly powerful existence like this actually required the help of ordinary vigers?
¡°I said that I am not of this world . Due to an intense battle, a crack appeared in time and space, sweeping me away . Originally I should have died . Although I just managed to survive by luck, my body suffered extremely heavy wounds . After a long time of recovery, my body gradually healed .
¡°But if I want to return to my world, I need to sacrifice a great deal of blood . I need to umte enough fleshly power in order to open a spacetime channel and return to my original world . You must be curious as to why I don¡¯t personally hunt myself and rely on their hands,¡± she said .
Long Chen nodded . That was the most obvious inconsistency . It seemed needless for her to rely on the vigers .
¡°That¡¯s because my Spirit n has its own restrictions . We can¡¯t go kill others for our own needs . We can¡¯t personally end lives . ¡±
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°This has to do with the secret cultivation technique of my Spirit n . If I personally kill anything, absorbing its flesh will cause me to also absorb its hatred at being killed . That is a kind of unresolvable poison to us,¡± she exined .
Although Long Chen felt a bit out of his depths when talking to this white-dressed woman, he understood a bit of why she would make such an agreement with Xiao Hua¡¯s ancestors .
¡°You are someone with limitless potential . This time your meridians were extremely injured . I not only healed them, I also expanded them a bit . I also used my core energy to increase your meridians¡¯ toughness . So your medical expenses were a bit higher . ¡±
Long Chen was surprised . After awakening he had sensed his body seemed to have changed a bit, but he hadn¡¯t figured out just what change was .
Now with her reminder, he quickly examined his meridians and went wild with joy . His meridians had actually be over twice as wide as they had been before .
And most importantly, his meridians which before were like ss tubes had changed to be like flexible skin . Such meridians could endure a much greater amount of spiritual energy without bursting .
That was a huge surprise . If the current him fought with Ying Hou again, his meridians would definitely not crack again . At that time, he would definitely be able to kill him .
¡°Many thanks . ¡± Long Chen waspletely sincere . Thinking back to how angry he had been when he had first heard of this sacrificial offer, he couldn¡¯t help feeling ashamed of himself .
She shook her head . ¡°As someone from the Spirit n, I was only following the agreement . So you don¡¯t need to thank me . ¡±
Long Chenughed . ¡°I want to ask, if I were to slip away after you cured me, what would you do?¡±
That white-robed female figure seemed tough and shook her head . ¡°You wouldn¡¯t . Members of my Spirit n are extremely sensitive when ites to other people¡¯s hearts . If you were a wicked person, I would be able to sense immediately and absolutely wouldn¡¯t save you . And even if you left, there would be others to pay back the debt . But in that case, I would forgive that debt and the previous agreement would be void . ¡±
¡°Then wouldn¡¯t you suffer a lose?¡± smiled Long Chen .
¡°It can be considered so . But it would be of no matter . This is the rule of my Spirit n . The agreement must be followed ording to that initial premise . ¡±
¡°Like with the vige¡¯s ancestors?¡± Long Chen suddenly thought of the story Xiao Hua had told him .
¡°Yes, that is our customs . ¡±
Such a custom was definitely a good one, but within the world of the imperial capital, such a thing would guarantee you would suffer great losses . Long Chen sighed inside .
This was an agreement based on good faith, an agreement based on the heart . It was definitely much more effective than any signed contract . The most assured agreement was one that was on the spiritual level .
Long Chen unconsciously began to feel a profound respect for this woman from the so-called Spirit World . She was a pure and innocent soul that had yet to be contaminated by the mortal world .
¡°Right, how much more Magical Beast flesh do you still require here?¡± Long Chen took out the Burst Bear¡¯s corpse and threw it onto the ground .
Suddenly countless roots tore out of the ground and dug their way into the Burst Bear¡¯s corpse . In less than a breath¡¯s time, the corpse was sucked dry . Even its bones were sucked away, leaving behind only a couple pieces of skin .
After that Burst Bear was sucked dry, Long Chen was startled to sense that the huge tree¡¯s vitality grew even stronger, and its leaves seemed to have be much more spiritual .
¡°In order to heal you, I injured my core . I need ten first rank Magical Beasts and one second rank Magical Beast before being able to heal,¡± the white-robed woman replied .
¡°Then wouldn¡¯t you have made no profit?¡± Long Chen was a bit bbergasted .
She lightly replied, ¡°It¡¯s still the same as what I said before . That was the agreement set up at the beginning . ¡±
¡°I understood . But I, Long Chen, am not someone who likes owing others . Having received such a great favor from you, I will definitely remember it,¡± nodded Long Chen .
He didn¡¯t want to owe others favors . But if someone did help him, he would repay that favor back ten times . Just like how Fatty Yu and the others had only helped him out at the beginning by lending him a bit of money, but Long Chen forever remembered that favor .
His meridians had been broadened now, and whether it was to his future cultivation or his use of Battle Skills, it was an enormous benefit . Such a favor was so enormous that it couldn¡¯t even be imagined .
After talking to the forest divinity, Long Chen gently woke up Xiao Hua . They left the area of the forest divinity and returned to the vige .
After arriving, Xiao Hua excitedly gathered everyone and showed them the wild boar she had killed, as well as telling them about how Long Chen had easily killed a Burst Bear and how the forest divinity had taken form in front of them . Everyone stared at her with wide eyes .
The most shocking thing was that the forest divinity had taken shape in front of them . After hearing that, all the vigers knelt down towards the distant direction of the forest divinity .
Because of the agreement with Long Chen and the forest divinity, the forest divinity had excused their debt for now . That very night, everyone celebrated with arge serving of wild boar meat .
Xiao Hua then showed everyone her new spatial ring . She took out the weapons within it one by one, causing everyone in the vige to be iparably excited .
After eating, Long Chen disappeared into the night alone . There was one thing that he absolutely had to do .
Chapter 88: Heavenly Punishment
Covered by the darkness of night, Long Chen climbed to the peak of a mountain. The bright moon hung high above, lighting up his surroundings so that he could see the scenery hundreds of miles around.
At this time, Long Chen no longer had to be as worried as he had been while being chased by Marquis Ying. This was an exceptionally good spot for him to cultivate.
Within this primal forest, the spiritual qi in the air was several times greater than in the capital. He needed to borrow that advantage to advance to another level.
Ever since he had run into Marquis Ying after killing Xia Changfeng, he had repeatedly fought on the brink of death. Long Chen¡¯s resolution had actually greatly advanced from that.
He could feel that a certain bottleneck was starting to weaken. This was his best opportunity to attack the next realm.
The peak of the mountain top could only be reached by climbing up extremely steep cliffs, so he had no need to fear any beasts disturbing him. Sitting cross-legged atop a boulder, his twelve cyclones began to revolve.
Space trembled and twelve huge vortexes appeared behind his body, growing to a terrifying size of three hundred meters.
This was the first time Long Chen had fully summoned his cyclones outside his body since arriving past the tenth Heavenstage.
That was because he had been afraid that this oddity would have rmed his opponents. It was unheard of for someone to possess ten or more cyclones in Qi Condensation. But in this ce, he finally had free rein to use his full power to absorb heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi.
Those twelve huge cyclones were like twelve gaping maws, like whales drinking in water, greedily absorbing spiritual qi and sending it to Long Chen¡¯s FengFu Star.
Space started to warp as all the spiritual qi within hundreds of miles began to gather towards Long Chen, practically so dense that it could be seen with the physical eye.
BOOM!
In just six hours, Long Chen¡¯s FengFu Star emitted an explosive sound. That was because his spiritual qi had reached a critical boundary, a sign that he was about to enter the next realm.
But Long Chen still wasn¡¯t the slightest bit excited because he knew that this was just the start. There was still a long process which he had to work his hardest to get through.
Back when he had condensed his tenth cyclone, he had experienced the trouble of being ¡®close¡¯ to advancing. He was already used to how unorthodox the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was.
For most martial artists, advancing would only require breaking past a single barrier, which was often thought of as breaking out from a single pair of ¡®shackles¡¯. Extremely talented people might have to break through multiple shackles. But no matter how talented someone was, to break through out of Qi Condensation would definitely never require breaking out of more than nine shackles.
However, when Long Chen had broken through to the tenth Heavenstage, although he hadn¡¯t been counting, he was sure that he had long since surpassed a thousand shackles.
The next two times he had broken through, Long Chen hadn¡¯t even bothered remembering how many barriers he had had to break through of. In any case, it was just a continuous charge by him until he finally broke through.
So when his FengFu Star emitted this first sound, Long Chen wasn¡¯t excited at all. He simply continued absorbing energy.
More and more energy began to pour into his FengFu Star. It began to quickly circte, at the same time, emitting continuous explosions.
Long Chen didn¡¯t bother with that. He simply did his best to absorb more and more energy. Clouds and winds gathered around him. All the energy in the vicinity charged towards him.
Hundreds of miles away from Long Chen was an enormous tree. At the top of the tree was the forest god¡¯s white-dressed figure which was now watching him.
¡°What a powerful foundational aura. It looks like the human race will gain another astounding figure.¡± After muttering that, her figure faded away.
Long Chen¡¯s FengFu Star was incessantly trembling. This wasn¡¯t out of Long Chen¡¯s expectations.
This continued for three full days. Long Chen¡¯s FengFu Star was beginning to circte slower, and in the end, itpletely paused. Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but celebrate. This was the true sign he was about to make a breakthrough.
BOOM!
Suddenly, heaven and earth trembled. The twelve cyclones behind Long Chen slowly separated, revealing a thirteenth cyclone amongst them.
When this thirteenth cyclone appeared, the originally sunny and cloudless sky immediately turned dark with pitch-ck clouds. Thunder rumbled and lightning shed. Everything within thousands of miles wentpletely dark.
¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡± Long Chen waspletely horrified. He realized that all those ck clouds were like a huge whirlpool, and the whirlpool¡¯s center was right above himself!
It looked nothing more than a huge demonic eye focusing expressionlessly on him. At the same time, a terrifying destructive will pushed down upon him.
Long Chen immediately realized that he was unable to move an inch. He was unable to even bat his eyes.
He wildly cursed inside as he saw more and more ck clouds gather in the sky. The lightning within the sky gradually converged at the center of the ck clouds.
¡°Is it going to strike me?!¡± Even if Long Chen was stupid, he would still be able to predict what was about to happen. He madly struggled.
But it was as if his whole body was being pressed by a huge mountain. Despite his best efforts, his body merely trembled continuously.
The huge boulder beneath his foot cracked. Such a sturdy boulder was actually unable to bear the pressure.
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but tremble in fear. He tried running, but he felt as if a whole mountain was crushing him from every direction. He was only able to make very limited movements and was simply unable to flee.
¡°This is heavenly punishment. You are unable to flee. Gather your full strength to resist.¡±
As Long Chen was wildly cursing inside and was incredibly anxious, a voice suddenly rang in Long Chen¡¯s ears.
¡°Forest god?¡± Long Chen immediately recognized that voice. But heavenly punishment? He was infuriated. How many evil people existed in the world, and yet the heavens decided to punish him?!
Hearing that voice, it seemed the forest god knew the origin of this terrifying heavenly punishment. Since she had given him a warning, she definitely wasn¡¯t trying to hurt him.
Putting away his anger, he rubbed his ring and his broadsword appeared in his hands. He pushed his power to its peak.
The thirteen cyclones revolved around Long Chen as a halo of light enveloped him. It was as if a god from the heavens had reincarnated within him and was disdainfully looking up at the sky.
The forest god saw the thirteen cyclones and the halo of light from the distance. She was deep in thought.
Long Chen pushed his thirteen cyclones to the max. Energy from heaven and earth was continuously streaming into his body. Now that his meridians had been transformed by the forest god, he was able to control an even greater amount of energy.
The ck clouds in the sky were bing increasingly thick, and the lightning was bing more and more concentrated.
Suddenly, the sky becamepletely silent. A bolt of lightning several feet wide shot straight down from the center of the ck clouds towards Long Chen, its power seeming to want to destroy the heavens and exterminate the earth.
Long Chen watched as that terrifying lightning bolt descended. He felt an endless destructive willing from it. Raising his broadsword with both hands, a strange light appeared over his sword.
¡°Split the Heavens!¡±
BOOM!
The mountain peak which was hundreds of meters tall was destroyed. Rocks crumbled as that one lightning boltpletely ttened the mountain.
Long Chen vomited three consecutive mouthfuls of blood. His body was charred all over, and he could even smell his own flesh roasting.
His full force blow was like an ant waving its antenna in front of an elephant. He was unable to shake that lightning bolt in the slightest. He had been essentially powerless.
This made him feelpletely dispirited. In front of that lightning, he felt that he waspletely insignificant. His joy from advancing to the thirteenth Heavenstage was immediately extinguished.
¡°You did very well.¡±
The sky once more returned to its sunny state as the ck clouds scattered. It was as if everything before had been just an illusion. The white-robed woman appeared in front of Long Chen.
Long Chen was about to say something when he once more vomited more blood. That thunderbolt had greatly shaken his internal organs.
The forest god waved her hand and a drop of green liquid came from her body and fell into Long Chen¡¯s mouth. Long Chen only managed to sense that it tasted sweet before it quickly slid down his throat and rapidly spread throughout his body. His wounds began to quickly heal.
The ck burnt parts of his skin slowly fell off. In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, his body had recovered eighty to ny percent. This was much more miraculous than any healing pills!
¡°No need to be surprised. The first heavenly punishment is mostly focused on destroying your will. If your will wasn¡¯t sturdy enough, your mind and soul would have been exterminated by the heavenly punishment,¡± exined the forest god.
¡°What is this heavenly punishment?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°It is the will of the Heavenly Daos. Anyone that can threaten the Heavenly Daos will attract its punishment when advancing.¡±
Threaten the Heavenly Daos? Could that be pointing to the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art?
¡°There are some things that I can¡¯t tell you too much about, or it wouldn¡¯t be beneficial to you. Rest a while and consolidate your cultivation base. I will be returning.¡±
Without waiting for Long Chen¡¯s response, her figure turned into a wisp of mist, slowly disappearing in front of Long Chen¡¯s eyes.
Seeing her disappear, then looking at the ttened mountain peak, and then looking towards thepletely cloudless sky, Long Chen felt as if he had been dreaming.
Thinking back to that bolt of lightning, Long Chen shivered. That lightning bolt was something he had beenpletely unable to resist. Why hadn¡¯t it killed him?
Then was it really as that woman had said, and the first heavenly punishment only tested his will? If his will had broken down, he would have been destroyed beneath that heavenly punishment?
That heavenly punishment had released an unstoppable aura. He had been trying to flee originally, and it was only with the forest god¡¯s warning that he had dared to face the heavenly punishment head-on.
Without her warning, perhaps he would have already been exterminated in both body and soul. Lingering fear filled him.
At the same time, he also understood just how important a powerful will was for martial cultivators. Cultivation was fundamentally a path of no retreat.
He took a deep breath. With the forest god¡¯s warning, it seemed as if he was seeing an even vaster world unfurling before him.
Space trembled as Long Chen returned his thirteen cyclones into his body. He wanted to clearly test whether his cyclones had changed.
Long Chen noticed that they hadn¡¯t grown anyrger. But what amazed him was that after the heavenly punishment, there was now a link between all thirteen cyclones. They werepletely tied together.
Now the thirteen cyclones had a ring of light connecting them. They were no longer independent but had formed a single entity. Spiritual qi flowed throughout it.
Under Long Chen¡¯s control, the ring of light, which was really his thirteen cyclones, lightly trembled and began to quickly revolve. The ring of light spun around, forming a huge whirlpool that madly absorbed heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi.
The absorption speed was at least ten times greater than before. Even if Long Chen fought a powerful enemy again, he would not have to worry about running out of spiritual qi like before.
Back when he had fought alongside Wilde against Marquis Ying, it was precisely because the consumption had been too great that he had run out of spiritual qi, making it so he was unable to continue fighting. Now that his thirteen cyclones had linked together, he would basically never have to worry about that problem again.
Furthermore, he also noticed that when the mysterious ring had connected his thirteen cyclones, another thing had appeared in his body which was filling him with strength.
Slowly closing his eyes and examining his body, Long Chen suddenly shook and went crazy with joy.
Chapter 89: Three Style Parting Wind
When he slowly closed his eyes and examined his body, he realized that spiritual qi had appeared within his blood. Although it was very faint, he was sure that it was present.
¡°I¡¯ve entered the Blood Condensation realm?
¡°So after reaching the thirteenth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation by using the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, you will automatically enter Blood Condensation.¡±
The Blood Condensation realm was the point where the spiritual qi in the body had been condensed to a pinnacle. Spiritual qi would be scattered throughout the blood, purifying the blood of its impurities, returning it to its true essence.
With such pure blood nourishing the body, the physical body would be much stronger and one¡¯s strength would multiply.
Having entered the Blood Condensation realm, Long Chen was so excited that he almost cried. Although, at this point, he still didn¡¯t feel his body immediately bing stronger.
But as long as the impurities in his blood were incessantly purified by his spiritual qi, his strength would quickly rise.
And in any case, what the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art cultivated was the physical body. Now that he had entered the Blood Condensation realm, he would even be able to pose a threat to Marquis Ying who was at the Tendon Transformation realm.
Blood condensation was something that couldn¡¯t be rushed. Since Long Chen had thirteen enormous cyclones, he didn¡¯t need to deliberately focus on it to purify his blood. That meant his cultivation speed would be a dozen times faster than ordinary people.
What Long Chen wanted to do now wasn¡¯t to condense his blood, but to increase his actual strength. A Battle Skill appeared in his hand. Long Chen smiled. It was time to see just how powerful an Earth ss Battle Skill was.
This was the first Earth ss Battle Skill Long Chen had ever obtained. Thinking back to the terrifying moves Marquis Ying had disyed, he was filled with a burning passion.
To Long Chen whocked Battle Skills, this particr Battle Skill hade at an extremely opportune time. Speaking of which, he should really thank Xia Changfeng.
He opened the Battle Skill and carefully read over it. His expression became a bit strange. He originally thought that the Three Style Parting Wind had three different moves.
But as he read, he realized that it was just one move which had three variations. They were split into the Parting Wind sh, Parting Wind Slice, and Parting Wind Stab.
The principles behind them were the exact same. It was just the final use of it that was different, making it ¡®three styles¡¯. It truly was deceptive.
Thinking back to how Yao Niqian had sold it back then and how she had acted as if it waspletely unique and amazing, he waspletely speechless and felt cheated.
ording to this model, this Three Style Parting Wind could easily be Nine Styles. Parting Wind Chop, Parting Wind Thrust, even Parting Wind Swat¡ there could be as many ¡®styles¡¯ as you wanted.
Although he was a bit disappointed, Long Chen wasn¡¯t a person who didn¡¯t know how to be content with what he had. After all, he had obtained it without spending a single cent. The person who should be depressed about it should have been Xia Changfeng.
Reading through the Three Style Parting Wind¡¯s usage of spiritual qi, Long Chen found out that it only used six acupuncture points. That was much inferior to the nine points required by Split the Heavens.
Each time the spiritual qi passed through an acupuncture point, it would require even greater control. It would be much more difficult with each point, but the power would also multiply drastically.
Originally, Long Chen had thought that Split the Heavens was a low grade Earth ss Battle Skill, but now that hepared it to the Three Style Parting Wind, its difficulty was clearly much greater.
Wouldn¡¯t that mean that Split the Heavens was at least in the mid grade Earth ss, and perhaps even high grade Earth ss?
No wonder Split the Heavens was so terrifying that he had been unable to control it!
He had used Split the Heavens against Marquis Ying before, but Long Chen knew that his usage was not theplete form.
He did not dare use its full strength because his meridians weren¡¯t able to endure it. He also felt that even if he activated his FengFu Star to its peak, he would still be unable to fulfill Split the Heaven¡¯s true requirements.
Split the Heavens was just like a bottomless pit. He was still far from being able to use its true power. Perhaps he had identally picked up a true treasure.
Long Chen¡¯s sword whistled through the air and a wave of qi shot out, shing apart a shrub ten meters away.
¡°It actually contains the wind¡¯s force. Is this Sword Qi?¡±
Long Chen finally understood why this Earth ss Battle Skill was called the Three Style Parting Wind. It actually was a wind-attribute Battle Skill.
Most Battle Skills used the superposition of multiple acupuncture points to increase the physical body¡¯s strength, simr to how Marquis Ying had used his Battle Skill. Although that was powerful, it didn¡¯t have any attribute.
The human body was just like a treasure trove of hidden treasures. Through continuous excavation, one could find endless hidden potential.
For example, Meng Qi used her powerful Spiritual Strength to control Magical Beasts. She could use her Spiritual Strength to open up space just like a spatial ring to store her housepets.
For example, pill cultivators used the physical body¡¯s strength to condense a Pill me. Their me¡¯s potential was endless, capable of destruction and also of merging heaven and earth¡¯s various treasures into medicinal pills.
For example, martial artists condensed qi and blood, tempered their muscles and bones, forging their originally frail bodies into bodies that were even more powerful than Magical Beasts.
All of these stemmed from the human body. The human body was filled with unknown mysteries. By following the methods that former generations left behind, people could strive to unlock their own hidden potential.
As for the Three Style Parting Wind, by running spiritual qi through six specific acupuncture points, it could actually release spiritual qi outside the body to form an astral wind.
The fact that Long Chen could summon an astral wind to blow apart a shrub ten meters away with just his initialprehension of the Battle Skill was definitely a pleasant surprise to him.
Long Chen¡¯s Pill God memories contained the exact routes of his meridians and locations of his acupuncture points, making it so that he was basically able to use a Battle Skill as soon as he learned it.
However, this didn¡¯t mean he would be a master at it immediately. Using various Battle Skills required constant adaptation to find the best tempo and rhythm. Only then could he disy its peak strength. That required constant testing and practice in order to do.
But even so, Long Chen¡¯s cultivation speed was absolutely shocking. Even a Tendon Transformation expert like Marquis Ying would require several months ofprehension and practice just to be able to use an Earth ss Battle Skill, and if he wanted to have aplete mastery of it, that would require years.
Although Long Chen couldn¡¯t master it immediately, he was still able to gain an initial mastery in the Three Style Parting Wind due to hisplete understanding of the meridians.
With his experience in cultivating Split the Heavens which required nine acupuncture points, the Three Style Parting Wind was much easier.
Furthermore, after obtaining the forest god¡¯s help, his meridians had doubled in width and were much tougher. He was absolutely able to control an Earth ss Battle Skill that normally only Tendon Transformation experts were capable of using.
The Three Style Parting Wind was actually just one move with three variations, split into a sh, slice, and stab.
The method of circting spiritual qi in the body was the same for all three variations. It was only when the spiritual qi left the body that the method from which it entered the weapon was different. That was why Long Chen felt he would be able to change it into the Nine Style Parting Wind and perhaps sell it for an even higher price.
After testing it several times and bing familiar with the meridians used, Long Chen paused his training of it and returned to the vige.
He had truly advanced a great deal this time. He had broken through to the Blood Condensation realm, and his thirteen cyclones had joined together to form a divine ring. In the future, he would be able to summon it out and fight with his full strength.
He had been unable to do that when he had ten to twelve cyclones for fear of others being shocked by his anomaly. But the new divine ring was something that no one would guess was made of thirteen cyclones. They would only be able to assume that it was some supplementary Battle Skill.
The world of cultivation was boundless and there were countless Daos. Cultivation techniques and Battle Skills were as numerous as grains of sand. All kinds of rare and strange Battle Skills existed. As long as you didn¡¯t ostentatiously show it off, rare Battle Skills wouldn¡¯t cause too much of a ripple.
With the assistance of that divine ring, he would not only be capable of rising to another level when fighting, but he would have tremendous vitality. With it continuously absorbing spiritual qi and adding on how much spiritual qi could be stored in his FengFu Star, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about running out of spiritual qi again.
Now Long Chen couldn¡¯t wait to fight against Marquis Ying again. Back then he had been forced into despair by Marquis Ying. if Xiao Hua hadn¡¯t saved him, he would already be food for a Magical Beast.
At the same time, Long Chen felt even more anxious. He didn¡¯t know just what was happening within the capital. He also didn¡¯t know whether his father had set any ns into motion after receiving his letter.
Although he was extremely worried, Long Chen still had something he had to do first. That was to repay his debt to the forest god.
After meeting the forest god who hade from the Spirit World, Long Chen felt as if he had managed to peek into a new, vaster world.
At the same time, that also ignited his passions. The world was so marvelous. The current him who was stuck in a small ce like the Phoenix Cry Empire was nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.
He was now even more impatient to resolve the matters of the capital. He wanted to bring Chu Yao out to see the world. He wanted to see Bai Ling¡¯s Huayun Sect, Meng Qi¡¯s Wind Spirit Pavilion, and grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s Pill Valley which was a divine, holynd in the hearts of pill cultivators.
The world was just too big. He had to go out to see it. But before that, he had to resolve his matters.
The enmity of stealing his Spirit Blood, Spirit Bone, and Spirit Root still had to be revenged. Otherwise, what was the point of cultivation? He had already ced most of his suspicions on Marquis Ying.
However, he still wasn¡¯tpletely sure it was him, and he also didn¡¯t know why he would do such a thing. Was it because someone had ordered him to? And if so, who?
The fourth prince was only in his twenties at this time, so he would still have been a child at the time when his ability to cultivate had been stolen. So it probably wasn¡¯t the fourth prince who had ordered Marquis Ying to do this.
He shook his head and ced those thoughts aside. Wondering about such things was useless. The fact that Marquis Ying hade to kill him this time meant that whatever plot they had been brewing for so long was finally ready and they no longer had any misgivings. A huge event was about to explode, and the truth would quickly be evident.
What Long Chen needed to do was to increase his strength as much as possible before that final, critical moment. Only then could he protect his family.
He had sent medicinal pills to help his father, but if the people beside him were only of ordinary talent, the chance of them breaking through was not high.
The main target of the hidden scheme against the Long family was Long Tianxiao. Long Chen was just a minor character.
Just to handle a minor character like him, they had sent a powerful figure like Marquis Ying. Then in order to handle his father, they would definitely use an even more overbearing method.
And so, he didn¡¯t hope for any help from his father¡¯s side. All he hoped for was that those pills he had sent could help his father survive the approaching danger.
As for the capital, he would have to rely on himself. So he was extremely pressed and couldn¡¯t waste even the slightest bit of time.
He rushed back quickly towards the vige. In order to not to rm the vigers, he had run out quite far.
He needed to talk to Xiao Hua about the vige¡¯s surroundings. It would be best if there were a couple of strong Magical Beasts around. He trusted that the people who had lived here for hundreds of years would have the best understanding of the area.
Despite rushing for over four hours, Long Chen didn¡¯t feel the slightest fatigue. Instead, he was feeling stronger and stronger, the gradual result of advancing into Blood Condensation. His speed only continued to increase, and he was like a wisp of smoke that shot to the vige, leaving behind a long trail of dust and leaves.
As Long Chen approached the vige, he gradually slowed down. As soon as he walked into the vige, he suddenly heard an angry roar.
Chapter 90: Little Snow's Return
All the vigers had gathered together, most of them carrying spears. They were all nervously on guard against a certain thing in front of them.
That was a meter long small wolf. It looked just like an ordinary ferocious dog, but its whole body was emitting a vicious aura that caused people to tremble in fear.
Its eyes were especially filled with a cold, bloodthirsty light that caused those hunters who even often killed Magical Beasts to feel extremely terrified.
Originally, everyone had just been resting when all the babies suddenly began to let out terrified cries that drew everyone¡¯s attention.
When they looked around and saw this small wolf, they were all given a fright. Their vige walls were covered in poisonous thorns. Magical Beasts had an innate fear of such things and they wouldn¡¯t force their way in.
But this Magical Beast had charged through, raising everyone¡¯s guard. They were all ready to attack it.
¡°Stop!¡±
Long Chen was like a gale of wind as he suddenly burst on the scene and actually hugged that iparably vicious Magical Beast.
He couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. It was Little Snow!
Little Snow was covered in blood and mud. Dozens of wounds covered all over his body and some of them were still bleeding while some areas had even been cut all the way down to the bone.
¡°Wu wu¡¡± When Little Snow saw Long Chen, the vicious aura around him immediately disappeared without a trace, instead bing tender and warm. He rubbed his head over Long Chen¡¯s face over and over.
But as for the vigers, when they saw him suddenly hug a dangerous Magical Beast, they all turned pale with fright.
That was a Magical Beast! To be wild and vicious was in their nature! Even a young Magical Beast was many times more powerful than an ordinary wild beast.
Now they were all dumbstruck as they watched this. How was that a Magical Beast? It seemed more like a puppy!
¡°Little Snow, you¡¯ve suffered.¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel emotional when he saw all the wounds on Little Snow.
Perhaps Wilde had forgotten Little Snow, or perhaps Little Snow had secretly run out on his own. In any case, he had relied on his wolf nose to find his trail.
But his trail was a thousand miles away in a remote area with countless wild beasts roving around. Little Snow had clearly run into dangerous situations many times.
Little Snow was now three timesrger than he was before. By relying on himself to hunt wild beasts, he had managed to grow stronger.
¡°Wu wu¡.¡± Little Snow continuously rubbed against Long Chen, actually trying tofort him. Long Chen knew this because of the slight connection between their souls.
That made him feel even more guilty. He picked up Little Snow and introduced him to everyone as his housepet, and only then did everyone calm down.
Long Chen carried Little Snow into his room and carefully examined Little Snow¡¯s wounds. Some were teeth injuries from where he had been bitten by wild beasts. One of his feet was swollen greatly and there was a scent of roting from it. Long Chen looked at it and saw that there were two small pricks.
He suspected that it was from some sort of poisonous bite. Luckily, Little Snow¡¯s physique was strong and able to block that poison. An ordinary wild beast would probably have long since let out its final death cry.
Long Chen brought Little Snow over to a basin of clean drinking water. He dissolved a medicinal pill within the water first before washing Little Snow¡¯s wounds.
There were simply too many open wounds and some ces had be inmed. Even more importantly, there was a part of his flesh at the bottom of his foot that had rotted and needed to be cut off.
Xiao Hua couldn¡¯t help but feel her skin crawl when she saw Long Chen cleaning Little Snow¡¯s wounds. That was especially the case when she saw him actually bring a knife to cut off some parts of his foot.
Little Snow¡¯s head was perfectly ced right against Long Chen¡¯s neck. As long as he opened his mouth, Long Chen¡¯s neck would immediately be bitten open.
But whether it was while his wounds were being cleaned or when his rotten flesh was cut off, Little Snow merely trembled without making a single noise.
An hourter, Long Chen had finished cing medicinal ointments all over Little Snow¡¯s body and wrapped up his wounds.
Looking at Xiao Hua who seemed as if she had finally been relieved of a heavy burden, Long Chen smiled and ced Little Snow on his bed. Gently rubbing Little Snow¡¯s head, he exined, ¡°He¡¯s mypanion. You don¡¯t need to be so worried.¡±
Looking at the peacefully sleeping Little Snow, Xiao Hua shook her head. ¡°That really almost frightened me to death. So humans can actually bepanions with Magical Beasts.¡±
Long Chen smiled, ¡°Sometimes, people are even more terrifying than Magical Beasts. Otherwise, your ancestors also wouldn¡¯t have brought you guys to such a ce. At least there are warning signs when Magical Beasts are about to attack you. But when humans are nning on attacking you, there aren¡¯t any signs, and you won¡¯t be on guard. By the time you sense the danger, you¡¯ll already be dead. So your ancestors were actually very intelligent people. They understood that the danger you can see isn¡¯t the true danger. The truly dangerous things are those that you cannot see.¡±
Xiao Hua was bewildered by what Long Chen was saying. She clearly didn¡¯t reallyprehend what he was saying, but hearing him praise her ancestors still made her happy.
¡°Hopefully, our kids will also be as smart and brave as you. Then, I¡¯ll be the person who has contributed the most to the vige!¡± Xiao Hua excitedlyughed.
Long Chen¡¯s expression stiffened. Looking at her open and innocent expression, he bitterly smiled. He supposed this girl didn¡¯t know just howplicated having children was.
Xiao Hua was a naive child. Although Long Chen was fond of her, he had no romantic feelings for her.
He thought this matter over. In the end, he came up with a n to leave the vige in secret. Although that would be very hurtful to Xiao Hua, that was something that could not be avoided.
But before he left, Long Chen still had toplete a couple of tasks. First, he had to repay his hunting debt to the forest divinity, and then he had to tell Xiao Hua what those gold coins were used for.
There were at least several millions of gold coins. He had to warn her to be careful with their usage and not to let any greedy eyes fall on her.
As long as she learned how to use those gold coins, then with the spatial ring, the amount they could procure from each trip would be enough tost the vige for a whole year.
Little Snow¡¯s arrival had caused all the vigers to be nervous. After all, in the past hundreds of years, that was the first time a Magical Beast had intruded on their vige.
The next day, when Little Snow awoke and became active, all the vigers once more became anxious. But Little Snow only obediently followed alongside Long Chen, not even looking at the others, appearing very cute.
That caused the vigers to let their guards down slightly. There were even some curious children that stealthily approached Little Snow despite others berating them.
At the beginning Little Snow just ignored them. When that group of small children was around three meters away from him, he suddenly nced at them.
Just that one nce terrified all those children. They all thought Little Snow was about to attack and fled for their lives, crying for someone to save their lives.
One of those kids even tripped and fell to the ground. He justid there crying, even wetting his pants.
The adults watched as this happened. They saw that Long Chen merely smiled the whole time without doing anything. Due to their trust in Long Chen, they hadn¡¯t said anything up until this point.
Seeing Little Snow actually send the group of children fleeing away with just a nce, they actually ended upughing.
This was the first time a Magical Beast had entered their vige, so even the adults were extremely curious.
¡°Long Chen, what Magical Beast is this?¡± None of the vigers were able to recognize Little Snow.
¡°A Scarlet me Snow Wolf. When matured, it is a third rank Magical Beast,¡± replied Long Chen.
¡°Third¡ third rank?!¡±
They had only ever heard of second rank Magical Beasts! And that was only from listening to their elders who told a story from over a hundred years ago. One of their ancestors had oncee to a halt at a mountain stream while hunting and ended up running into a second rank Magical Beast. The encounter would end up bing a disaster for the vige.
Back then, over thirty hunters had worked together in an attempt to hunt it, the result of which was that only a dozen of them had returned alive.
From that point onwards, they no longer dared to cross that mountain stream. Moreover, the vigers who ended upmitting grave crimes were forever forced over that mountain stream.
In reality, the first thing that had popped into the vigers¡¯ minds when the forest god had requested a second rank Magical Beast was that disaster.
At that time, everyone¡¯s expressions had been extremely unsightly. But Xiao Hua had been determined to save Long Chen. She said that after Long Chen was healed, they would definitely be able to work together and kill a second rank Magical Beast.
And so just a second rank Magical Beast was already a nightmare in their eyes. But as for this little wolf in front of them, it was an even more frightening third rank Magical Beast.
Everyone assembled for lunch and afterwards, Long Chen spoke to the vige chief. ¡°Chief, are there any second rank Magical Beasts around?¡±
His expression changed slightly. ¡°You¡¯re thinking of¡?¡±
¡°Yes, I¡¯m thinking of going to hunt second rank Magical Beasts to return the forest god¡¯s favor as early as possible. The feeling of owing others is truly ufortable.¡±
Everyone in the vige shivered in trepidation, but Long Chen noticed that some of them were actually eager to give it a try.
¡°Child, I do know of the location of a second rank Magical Beast. However, it is extremely hard to handle.¡± The elder was hesitant.
¡°Don¡¯t worry vige chief. I¡¯m already fully recovered, and an ordinary second rank Magical Beast is not a problem,¡±ughed Long Chen.
Long Chen was actually being modest. Even before he had broken through to Blood Condensation, ordinary second rank Magical Beasts had already not been his match.
And now that he had advanced, even though he was still only at that initial advancement and had yet to even reach the first Heavenstage, his blood was already being purified with each breath, and his blood and strength continued to grow stronger.
Long Chen wanted to find a second rank Magical Beast and test his strength. He also wanted to see just how many styles of Parting Wind he could use.
Since Long Chen was so determined, the elder sighed, ¡°Fine. All our vige¡¯s fighters will bring the best equipment to help you ughter that brute.¡±
All the hunters let out a cheer of agreement and they returned to their houses to get their weapons and everything else they needed.
Long Chen looked at those fervent people and immediately realized there had been a misunderstanding.
¡°Senior vige chief, you don¡¯t need to rouse everyone for this matter. Just tell me where it is. I alone am enough,¡± said Long Chen lightly.
¡°What?!¡±
Chapter 91: KingKong Fury Ape
Within the undting mountain range, huge trees with thick vines covering them reached for the sky, and the asional roar of wild beasts would shake thend.
A ten-meter-tall KingKong Fury Ape emitted an angry roar that shook the forest, causing streams of leaves to tumble to the ground.
Facing the KingKong Fury Ape was a human who wasn¡¯t evenparable to it in size.
That person was Long Chen who was currently emitting intense fluctuations that made him seem like a celestial emperor.
This particr location was originally a forest, however, now all the huge trees within hundreds of meters had copsed. The vegetation and rocks had been sent tumbling away, blowing open an emptynd.
Long Chen had received a map from the vige chief which marked the dangerous areas. This particr spot was the location of a second rank Magical Beast.
That would be KingKong Fury Ape in front of him. Back then, the ancestors of the vigers had identally charged into its territory, resulting in disastrous casualties.
The vigers both hated and feared this KingKong Fury Ape. When they heard Long Chen was nning on hunting a second rank Magical Beast, it was the first thing they had thought of.
However, Long Chen had refused to have any otherse with him. Even Xiao Hua wasn¡¯t an exception. He had followed the map by himself, easily finding this ce.
As expected, the KingKong Fury Ape¡¯s awareness of its territory was extremely great. As soon as Long Chen had stepped into this region of the forest, he was found and attacked.
¡°ROAR!!!¡± The KingKong Fury Ape heavily beat its own chest with its huge fists. The next instant, it charged at Long Chen.
The KingKong Fury Ape was a Magical Beast that specialized in power. Butpared to the Burst Bear, it was much more terrifying since it had reached the second rank.
Its enormous body was practically a small mountain. Its speed was also shocking, and it arrived in front of Long Chen in the blink of an eye.
Long Chen formed a fist, and the instant he did, he actually disappeared, leaving behind a wild gale.
He had already been fighting with the KingKong Fury Ape for a full hour. It truly was worthy of being a second rank Magical Beast; its power was extremely great.
ording to Long Chen¡¯s estimates, the Burst Bear he had killed before would probably not even be able to take a single blow from this KingKong Fury Ape.
Just a random blow from it had tens of tons of force behind it. If Long Chen hadn¡¯t advanced to Blood Condensation, then just relying on his physical body, he also wouldn¡¯t have been able to beat it.
Having fought on equal grounds for so long, now Long Chen was nning on not wasting any more time.
¡°Breaking Wind Fist!¡± Wild gales unfurled and a faintyer of light appeared on Long Chen¡¯s fist.
His fist heavily smashed onto the KingKong Fury Ape¡¯s arm. With a muffled bang, the mountain-like KingKong Fury Ape was actually sent flying dozens of meters away, mming into and breaking over ten huge trees behind it.
As expected, his physical body had greatly improved after advancing to Blood Condensation. Even his control of Battle Skills had improved.
The power of the Breaking Wind Fist was much greater than when he had been in the Qi Condensation realm. Adding on to his physical strength, it was able to force back a second rank Magical Beast.
Long Chen himself hadn¡¯t expected to grow so much stronger after entering the Blood Condensation realm.
The KingKong Fury Ape was on itsst legs. It emitted a loud roar and angrily red at him.
It had been the overlord of this region for hundreds of years. This was the first time it had been provoked by a small human, and it waspletely unable to ept this.
BOOM!
It smashed thend, and suddenly its ck fur stoodpletely on end. A frightening aura came from it.
Long Chen was startled, immediately sensing the change. He hadn¡¯t expected that this Magical Beast actually had power hidden in reserve.
It raised its fangs at Long Chen and stamped on the ground, immediately charging over like a meteorite.
Long Chen suddenly felt an intense pressure. He didn¡¯t dare be careless. His power exploded out and he once more used the Breaking Wind Fist.
But this time Long Chen felt his body shake and he was sent flying when his fist smashed into the KingKong Fury Ape. He only managed to stabilize himself after being blown sixty meters away.
¡°It was actually able to attack on the same level as a Tendon Transformation expert. As expected, the body of a Magical Beast truly is frightening.¡±
Long Chen shook his slightly numb arm. That attack had been extraordinary just now. If he hadn¡¯t advanced to Blood Condensation, there would have even been a chance his arm would have broken.
Although that attack hadn¡¯t been on the same level as Marquis Ying¡¯s attacks, it was only one level weaker. It really was true that humans on the same level as Magical Beasts were not able to fight against them.
Obviously, this KingKong Fury Ape had its own hidden trump cards. Only this was its strongest state.
It roared angrily once more and charged at Long Chen. But before Long Chen even made a move, a ray of light suddenly shot past and struck it head-on.
That ray of light had been extremely fast, and it had struck the KingKong Fury Ape before it could even react.
But that light didn¡¯t even manage to cut through its skin before being broken.
Long Chen was slightly surprised. At some unknown time, Little Snow who had been hiding in the distance hade up and his mouth was currently open.
¡°A wind de?¡± Long Chen had heard before that third rank and higher Magical Beasts had their own inherited Battle Skills. So it was actually true.
But the wind de Little Snow had spat out had been pitifully weak. Of course, just how old was Little Snow? Little Snow hadn¡¯t even truly reached the first rank yet, but was still able tounch long-distance attacks, which was shocking.
Seeing that his attack hadn¡¯t had any effect, Little Snow prepared to attack again. But suddenly he felt himself being sent flying.
¡°Don¡¯t make trouble.¡± Long Chen had thrown Little Snow further away. That little fellow must have thought he had been in danger and wanted to help.
But Little Snow¡¯s little bit of attack power couldn¡¯t even tickle the KingKong Fury Ape. He was afraid Little Snow would be hurt, so he directly threw him somewhere safer.
Looking at the KingKong Fury Ape charging at him, Long Chen coldly shouted, ¡°Divine ring!¡±
Suddenly a ring of light appeared behind Long Chen. It grew to a diameter of three hundred meters. The original cyclones could no longer be seen. The thirteen cyclones had merged into one, and looking from a distance, it appeared to be a rainbow.
After the divine ring appeared, heaven and earth trembled slightly. The spiritual qi within an area of hundreds of miles flowed towards Long Chen, causing him to immediately feel invigorated, his whole body full of strength.
Long Chen had realized that after his thirteen cyclones had merged together, the effect was just like when he used to inject some of his FengFu Star¡¯s spiritual qi into his cyclones. However, now it was constant. Their efficiency had reached a terrifying level.
At this point, the KingKong Fury Ape had already arrived in front of Long Chen. Without even thinking about it, Long Chen punched out.
BANG! An explosion shook the sky as terrifying waves of qi radiated out. Long Chen¡¯s long hair danced and his clothes fluttered. The divine ring behind him contrasted andplimented him, making him appear like a celestial emperor disdainfully looking down on the nine heavens.
The KingKong Fury Ape¡¯s terrifying attack was actually blocked by Long Chenpletely. At this time, Long Chen felt an unprecedented strength within him.
It appeared he had still underestimated this divine ring. The divine ring formed from the superimposition of thirteen cyclones caused his strength to explode by an enormous amount. It was so great that even he felt some disbelief.
He didn¡¯t have much understanding of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. It truly was a technique that was endlessly profound and would require continuous exploration. Thisbination of the thirteen cyclones was even more effective than when he had used his FengFu Star¡¯s spiritual qi to empower his cyclones.
Long Chen let out an earth-shaking roar. That enormous KingKong Fury Ape was shockingly, directly thrown into the air by him.
His broadsword then arced through the air, releasing a sword-light that cut straight through its body, causing blood to fill the air.
The two pieces of its corpse fell to the ground.
¡°It really is worthy of being an Earth ss Battle Skill. What a terrifying killing strength.¡±
Even such a powerful being like the KingKong Fury Ape was cleanly cut in two by the Parting Wind sh. It seemed he had been looking down on the technique.
In reality, Long Chen was still unaware that not all Earth ss Battle Skills couldunch ranged attack. On the contrary, most Battle Skills worked by being applied on top of weapons.
It was only by chance that the Three Style Parting Wind was a Battle Skill that used the body¡¯s wind attribute energy to release Sword Qi that could be used for ranged attacks.
Such Battle Skills were actually quite rare. It also required that the martial artist have wind attribute spiritual qi in order to train in it.
It wasn¡¯t like ordinary Earth ss Battle Skills that were attributeless that only required spiritual qi to be injected into the weapon.
Although such techniques were rare, it also had its own ws. The main one was that those without the wind attribute spiritual qi in their body were unable to use it.
As for Long Chen, he was just a beginner to the cultivation world and didn¡¯t know what this ¡®attribute¡¯ meant. Just a careless test had allowed him to sessfully train in it, but he had no idea about why he could use it.
If such a situation was known by Xia Changfeng, wouldn¡¯t he be angered enough to die a second time?
¡°Aowu!¡±
Long Chen was interrupted from his thoughts by Little Snow running up to the KingKong Fury Ape¡¯s corpse. He actually started to wildly tear at its flesh.
The KingKong Fury Ape¡¯s physical body was extremely powerful and tough. Yet, Little Snow was still able to tear off a piece of its flesh for himself. But chewing it was extremely strenuous.
Little Snow seemed to be simr to Wilde in that meat was the source of their strength and could allow them to get stronger. As soon as either of them saw meat, they had to eat it.
Long Chen took out a knife and cut off a few pieces for Little Snow. But Little Snow ignored that, focusingpletely on tearing the KingKong Fury ape¡¯s thigh muscles.
Long Chen helplessly cut a few strips of that part off.
This corpse was to be offered to the forest divinity, but Long Chen presumed that a gentle woman like her wouldn¡¯t be so stingy as to bicker about a bit of flesh.
Little Snow had traveled hundreds of miles for him. Who knew just how much he had suffered? If he didn¡¯t let that little fellow eat his full, Long Chen would feel even more guilty.
Once the little fellow had eaten his full and his stomach was bulging out, he finally stopped and Long Chen tidied up the corpse, preparing to drag it along.
That was because its corpse was too big and was unable to fit in the spatial ring. The other reason was that Long Chen wanted to keep the scent of its blood outside. He continued deeper into the depths of the forest.
Chapter 92: World Binding Blood Sacrifice
A six-meter-long Bright Colored Tiger fell to the ground with a seven-foot-long broadsword stabbed into its head.
The broadsword was yanked out of its head, bringing with it a spray of blood.
Long Chen wiped off some sweat. Looking at the several Magical Beast corpses behind him, he rxed a great deal.
Over the past two days, Long Chen had dragged along Magical Beast corpses behind him, and as he had expected, the scent of their blood had drawn over other beasts.
Those beasts had exceptionally keen senses when it came to the scent of that blood. That scent meant a Magical Beast was injured. Magical Beasts were extremely ferocious, and oftentimes there would be intense battles over territory.
Deep within this thick forest, being injured signified that death was near. Those beasts that wouldn¡¯t dare provoke Magical Beasts in normal times would all leap at this chance.
This tiger was already his eighth Magical Beast. Now there was a long string of Magical Beast corpses behind him.
There were tigers, leopards, and even huge lizards. They were all neatly strung together firmly by beast tendons.
Little Snow leisurely padded along those corpses and would take frantic bites until he waspletely full, then fall asleep. After a nap, he would immediately start eating again.
This long train of Magical Beasts had be a luxurious carriage with a free buffet for him.
Long Chen checked over his spoils. He currently had three second rank Magical Beasts and six peak first rank Magical Beasts. That should be enough to repay the forest god of her favor.
A single second rank Magical Beast¡¯s flesh definitely contained more energy than even ten first rank Magical Beasts. Long Chen¡¯s spoils had long since exceeded the forest god¡¯s demands.
Long Chen remembered her benevolence and didn¡¯t want to owe too much. Furthermore, when he had been resisting the heavenly punishment, it was the forest god who had helped him.
He had actually been hoping to get a bit more, but even after walking for a whole extra day, there were no more Magical Beasts that came. There didn¡¯t seem to be anymore second rank Magical Beasts in the vicinity.
As for weaker first rank Magical Beasts, they were attracted by the blood, but they didn¡¯t approach. Even a wounded second rank Magical Beast could easily kill them.
So despite roaming around for a whole day, he no longer made any more harvests. He switched directions to go directly to the mountain peak of the forest god.
When Long Chen arrived at that huge tree, the white-robed woman reappeared. But when she saw the long train of huge Magical Beast corpses behind him, she didn¡¯t have too great of a reaction.
¡°You¡¯vee.¡±
¡°Yes, I¡¯vee to settle my debt,¡± smiled Long Chen.
¡°The remuneration you brought has exceeded our initial pledge. That¡¯s not exactly fair to you.¡±
¡°In this world, there was never any real fairness. I¡¯m just doing this to make myself feel better. I don¡¯t like owing people,¡± said Long Chen.
She nodded. ¡°Then I¡¯ll thank you. The flesh you¡¯ve brought should be enough for me to fully activate the World Binding Blood Sacrifice and break out of this space back to the Spirit World.¡±
That huge tree trembled slightly, and those huge corpses all disappeared in just a moment.
¡°Ao!¡± Little Snow who was originally sleeping on those corpses was suddenly awoken. He couldn¡¯t help but go into a wild panic when he saw all those corpses had disappeared. He wanted to get onest bite in, but he only bit down on empty air. He actually started roaring at the woman angrily.
¡°Don¡¯t make a fuss Little Snow.¡± Long Chen shoutedughingly at that little fellow to calm him down.
¡°Haha, you think I stole your meat?¡± Sheughed, ¡°It¡¯s true you need meat to grow stronger. But I can give you something much better than meat.¡±
She waved her hand and a bright ray of light poured into Little Snow¡¯s forehead. Shockingly, Little Snow began to slowly growrger after being enveloped by that light.
He actually grew from being just one meter long to being close to three meters long. Little Snow now almost reached Long Chen¡¯s shoulders.
Furthermore, Long Chen could sense a powerful aura that was only bing strongering from Little Snow.
¡°Second rank?!¡± The current auraing from Little Snow was the aura of a second rank Magical Beast!
¡°I took your meat, so I¡¯ll give you the energy to mature so that we¡¯re even.¡± The womanughed and rubbed Little Snow¡¯s head.
That really startled Long Chen. Other than himself, Little Snow had never allowed anyone else to touch him. If Little Snow were to attack, that would definitely sour the situation.
But Little Snow was unusually calm. He seemed to actually enjoy her rubbing. Afterwards hey on the ground and took a nap.
¡°I¡¯vepletely awakened its spirit. It can count as mepensating it,¡± she said to Long Chen.
¡°Doesn¡¯t it seem like I owe you another favor now?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but shake his head, smiling bitterly.
He had thought he couldpletely repay his favors this time. But in the end, he owed another favor right now. However, that favor was definitely worth it.
Little Snow was a third rank Magical Beast, a Scarlet me Snow Wolf. His battle strength was extremely great. Now that he had already advanced to the second rank, even if he couldn¡¯t defeat a Tendon Transformation expert, he would still be able to fight against them for a while.
Such a powerfulpanion could definitely provide a measure of safety for someone like him who was surrounded by danger.
¡°You¡¯re too gracious. My spirit race also doesn¡¯t like owing favors. Originally, it probably would have taken me at least a couple of hundred years before being able to return to the Spirit World. But you¡¯ve allowed me to return home much earlier. The one who should be saying thanks is me,¡± she politely said. ¡°Now I¡¯ll be beginning the World Binding Blood Sacrifice. You should back up a bit.¡±
Hearing that, Long Chen hastily woke Little Snow up and rushed further away. With how solemn she was, he didn¡¯t dare to be careless. At the same time, he was also extremely curious as to what that so-called World Binding Blood Sacrifice was.
Rumble¡
Long Chen was several miles away when the rumbling began. He hastily turned to look back and jumped in shock.
The huge tree which stretched several miles into the sky had suddenly begun to explosively grow. Its enormous treetop spread, piercing through the clouds and covering half the sky.
The countless leavespletely hid the mountain peak with countless symbols shining on top of them. Divine light overflowed from them and covered the sky.
Long Chen watched with his mouth wide open. What kind of existence was this? Was it really a god? Did this world really have divinities?
If it wasn¡¯t a god, what else could cover up the entire sky, what else had an aura that was so ancient? In front of that intimidating aura, Long Chen felt as if he wasn¡¯t even an ant, as if he was just a speck of dust.
¡°It¡¯s the forest god!¡± The vige chief was also shocked, but the vigers recognized it to be the forest god.
Looking at the scene, all those vigers knelt on the ground and prostrated themselves towards that direction.
The forest god appeared in the sky above. She formed a strange hand seal.
¡°Respected ancestors, please hear your people¡¯s call. With blood as the guide, open a path home for your people - World Binding Blood Sacrifice!¡±
Following her devout shout, an image made of blood appeared in the sky. By carefully looking at it, you could tell that that was the image of a leaf.
Long Chen guessed that the blood was the essence blood of the Magical Beasts she had collected over the years. But he still didn¡¯t trulyprehend why someone as amazingly powerful as her would use human hunters to collect that blood.
With her terrifying cultivation base, no matter how strong the Magical Beast was, they would all be blown to bits just by a single breath. Was that will of resentment she had mentioned actually so terrifying?
BOOM! Heaven and earth trembled, causing Long Chen to almost fall to the ground. Raising his head, he saw that the blood image in the sky had begun to twist.
Following space¡¯s slow warping, a huge gate fifty miles high formed. As soon as it fully formed, it began to slowly open.
The instant that door opened, Long Chen saw the world within it. That was also a world of endless trees.
But each huge tree was so tall as to prop up the heavens. There were also countless powerful beasts roaming within, each of them sorge that they wereparable to mountains.
A spiritual qi that was so dense it had almost turned solid also came out of that huge door.
Just taking a slight breath, Long Chen felt his cultivation base quickly rising. It truly was too shocking.
¡°I¡¯m about to leave, so thank you for your help. Expert, my spirit race looks forward to your arrival. I know that that day will not be too far off.¡±
The woman waved her hand to Long Chen, and the huge heaven-reaching tree slowly shrunk and entered the gate.
¡°This is my gift to you. The previous agreement is over, so treat it as a new promise.¡±
She extended a hand and a small drop of dark green blood fell towards Long Chen. Long Chen hastily reached out to receive it.
That droplet emitted an extremely dense vitality. Long Chen could sense the terrifying life energy within it.
That woman¡¯s entire figure dimmed greatly after sending that drop out. Obviously, that drop was an extremely important thing to her.
¡°I can sense that you will be a peak expert in the future. My spirit race needs your help. Your body actually has- AHHH!¡±
Before she got halfway, she suddenly let out a terrified scream, and without even the time to say goodbye to Long Chen, she disappeared behind the huge door.
BOOM!
Seven-colored lightning abruptly appeared in the sky and smashed that huge door to pieces.
That had happened too fast, and before Long Chen could even react, the huge door had already faded away. The world on the opposite side could no longer be seen. It was as though everything had been a dream.
But that mountain the forest god had been on was now a crater.
Now the forest god had left, but this ce still had some remnant dense spiritual qi in the air. Long Chen quickly sat down and began to cultivate with Little Snow standing guard.
It went without saying that Long Chen¡¯s decision was extremely smart. In just a short six hours, an explosive sound came from his body.
That explosive sound came from Long Chen¡¯s blood. He had finally entered the first Heavenstage of Blood Condensation, bing a true Blood Condensation expert.
Since the leftover spiritual qi from that huge door had already dissipated at this point, Long Chen no longer wasted any more time. He directly returned to the vige. It was time to say farewell.
But there was still one big question that kept repeating in his mind at this time. What had the forest god meant at thatst point? What had she been meaning to say before leaving in a panic?
She said his body had something on it? What could possibly cause someone as strong as her to feel so afraid?
As those questions churned in his head, he ended up getting quite close to the vige when suddenly a faint scent of blood floated past his nose.
Long Chen¡¯s expression changed and he pressed down on the ground, shooting forward like an arrow towards the vige.
Chapter 93: Painful Farewell
The vige was nowpletely surrounded by hundreds of elite, armored guards. Sharp arrows were pointed at the vigers, Xiao Hua amongst them. Their faces were pale with fright.
There were already three people lying on the ground with arrows stuck in them, their blood dyeing the ground beneath them.
¡°Speak, have you seen this person?¡± One of the middle-aged soldiers in golden armor shouted coldly, showing off a piece of paper with a drawing of a handsome youth with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. Who else could it be but Long Chen?
¡°We¡¯ve already said, we¡¯ve never seen anyone called Long Chen and we don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. Why did you have to recklessly kill our vigers?¡± Xiao Hua¡¯s face was deathly pale as she retorted angrily.
They had no idea where this group of men hade from. But they had immediately surrounded the vige, and the three hunters which had just gone out were directly shot to death.
This both shocked and infuriated them. But in front of hundreds of pointed arrows, they didn¡¯t dare make any reckless moves. Some of them were grinding their teeth, wishing to charge forward.
¡°Hmph, looks like you won¡¯t cry until you see your coffins. Go ughter those children first. Let me see if they¡¯ll tell the truth.¡± That middle-aged man snorted and ordered some of his subordinates forward. They immediately pointed their arrows at the dozen children.
¡°Bastards, do you dare?¡± The vige chief roared angrily and threw those children behind him.
¡°Kill them.¡± That middle-aged man¡¯s expression was icy cold, and he didn¡¯t even bat his eye at the elder. In his eyes, these vigers were just a bunch of weeds.
¡°Fine, kill us! We¡¯re not afraid! Brother Long Chen will definitelye to kill you as revenge for us!¡± One of the children suddenly struggled free from one of the adults¡¯ guard and angrily pointed at that man.
¡°Little kid, what nonsense are you saying?!¡± The vige chief hastily shouted at the child to stop, but it was already toote.
That middle-aged man¡¯s eyes brightened and he coldly sneered, ¡°As expected, Long Chen really dide here. Kill them all. We¡¯ll keep searching; he can¡¯t have run far.¡±
Receiving that order, those troops all emotionlessly released their arrows, shooting out a rain of arrows at the vigers.
¡°Fuck off!¡±
A harsh shout suddenly shook their eardrums and a figure rushed over like a wild gale, arriving in front of Xiao Hua and the others. With a shake of his sword, a terrifying Sword Qi ferociously fell.
The majority of those arrows were all shaken away by Long Chen. But there were still around a dozen of them that managed to slip through and hit the vigers. Pained cries rang out intermingled with the weeping of the children.
Looking at Long Chen who had suddenly descended from the sky, those elite guards were all stupefied. Even the middle-agedmander was greatly shocked.
¡°Zhou Weiqing, you damn bastard, all of you can go to hell!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s killing intent overflowed. He recognized that middle-aged man as Zhou Weiqing, the Savage Marquis!
That bastard actually wanted to kill unarmed vigers, including the children. He was truly a bastard amongst bastards, especially in the eyes of Long Chen who had been saved by these vigers.
¡°Parting Wind Slice!¡± Long Chen¡¯s broadsword cut across the air in front of him, and a Sword Qi invisible to the naked eye shot out like a crescent moon, immediately cutting through those stupefied troops.
That ferocious Sword Qi surged over before those troops had even reacted, immediately cutting them into pieces. Blood filled the air.
Hundreds of elite troops were killed with a single sh of Long Chen¡¯s sword. The current Long Chen truly was just like a death god. Unending killing intent overflowed from his body.
Only the Savage Marquis managed to escape that cmity. As soon as he had seen an uninjured Long Chen appear, he knew the situation had turned sour.
The reports had stated that Long Chen was already on hisst breaths. Even if he had managed to survive, he should still be heavily injured to the point where he might die at any time.
But the fourth prince had stated that if he was dead, then he wanted to see his corpse, and if he was alive, then he wanted him captured. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to set his heart at ease. He had sent warriors ustomed to pursuing and tracking as well as hunting dogs. After half a month¡¯s chase, they had finally found this vige.
They were certain Long Chen had either passed through here or was currently hiding within the vige, recuperating from his wounds. So the Savage Marquis had wanted to directly kill these vigers who were hiding his existence.
And he had truly guessed right. Long Chen had shown himself. But unfortunately, the result was not what he had presumed. When a perfectly healthy Long Chen had appeared, the Savage Marquis had been scared witless.
Even back then during the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival, Long Chen had still managed to kill Huang Chang, his name shaking the empire. On the other hand, the Savage Marquis was only at the early stage of Blood Condensation. How could he possibly be a match for Long Chen?
He had thought he would be able to capture a tiger on its deathbed, but he had miscalcted. The instant he had seen Long Chen strike, he had quickly retreated without even thinking about it. At the same time, he also took out a shield to protect himself.
By the time Long Chen¡¯s Sword Qi had reached him, he had already fled to the edge of the attack. But even so, the shield in his hand was still broken and he spat out blood.
However, the Savage Marquis truly was an expert. He was someone who had already seen blood before. Resisting the intense pain from his stomach, he used his full strength to flee deep into the forest.
¡°You want to run?¡±
A sinister ruthlessness appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face. Kicking up an arrow from the ground, he flung it forward.
The arrow shot through the air like lightning. The Savage Marquis, who was fleeing for his life, didn¡¯t realize that an arrow which could take his life was right behind him.
The arrow pierced right through his armor. The great force behind it had been so great that the golden armor was unable to pose even the slightest bit of resistance.
The Savage Marquis¡¯s body was shaken by that force, and he was sent tumbling through the air into a huge tree dozens of meters away.
He violently spat out blood. That arrow had violently shaken his inner organs.
¡°Don¡¯t kill him, Little Snow!¡± Long Chen suddenly noticed a white light dash towards Zhou Weiqing and hastily shouted out. He was leaving Zhou Weiqing alive because he still had some use for him.
Little Snow stopped when he heard Long Chen¡¯s call. He had already arrived right at that huge tree and was motionlessly staring at the Savage Marquis.
Seeing that the Savage Marquis was under control, Long Chen quickly ran over to the vigers, bending over to examine their arrow wounds. There were three people who had been struck through the vitals and had already died. Amongst them was even a seven-year-old child.
This made Long Chen feel as though it was his own heart that was being pierced. This had been brought on by him. He was filled with hate; however, he didn¡¯t know whether that hatred was for Marquis Ying, the fourth prince, Zhou Weiqing, or himself.
He quickly gave the injured people some medicinal pills. As long as they hadn¡¯t died immediately, Long Chen¡¯s medicinal pills would ensure that they wouldpletely recover.
The other vigers also rushed to help the wounded. They also gathered up their dead, and the entire vige mourned.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, vige chief.¡± Seeing the old man¡¯s tears streaming down his face, Long Chen was filled with regret. This was his own mistake.
¡°Child, this isn¡¯t your fault. Don¡¯t feel guilty.¡± The old man shook his head.
But the more he was like this, the worse Long Chen felt. If it hadn¡¯t been for him, such a cmity would definitely not have befallen the vige.
¡°Long Chen, your heart is something we all understand. We¡¯re all a family, so don¡¯t be like this.¡± Xiao Hua¡¯sforting voice came from the side.
Long Chen took a deep breath and said to her, ¡°Xiao Hua, I¡¯m about to leave.¡±
Her body shook and she was overwhelmed with shock. ¡°You¡ you want to leave us?¡±
Looking at her deste expression and her uncontroble tears, Long Chen could only quietly reply, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I must leave. You¡¯ve also seen that I have enemies. If I don¡¯t leave, a huge disaster will befall the vige.¡± Brushing back her hair lightly, he gently continued, ¡°The vige has already paid too high a price for me. I don¡¯t dare to stay with you. I hope¡ I hope you can forgive me.¡±
Xiao Hua hit away Long Chen¡¯s hand and miserably cursed, ¡°You bastard, you liar, I hate you!¡±
After saying that, she ran off to her own room and mmed the door shut.
Long Chen sighed. Looking at that tightly closed door, he didn¡¯t say anymore. Thinking back to when he had just awoken, he recalled Xiao Hua¡¯s sweet and satisfied smile when she said he was her man.
¡°Child, don¡¯t feel too bad. If you want to leave, then leave. Remember, if you don¡¯t like the outside world, you can always return. This ce is also your home,¡± said the old man sincerely as he patted Long Chen¡¯s shoulders.
¡°Thank you, vige chief.¡± The vige chief¡¯s approval did make him feel a bit better.
¡°As for Xiao Hua, I¡¯ll console her. Don¡¯t worry, she is a sensible child. She¡¯ll slowlye to understand this.¡±
Long Chen nodded. He took out a few medicinal pills from his spatial ring. These medicinal pills were varied in quality, but even the worst ones would still be miraculous medicines in the eyes of these hunters.
Now that the forest god had left, the vige no longer had her support. They would only be able to rely on themselves in the future. Long Chen left behindrge quantities of healing medicines as well as a recipe for a medicinal liquid that they could make on their own.
The vige already had a couple of such recipes, but they were iparable to Long Chen¡¯s. Other than medicinal pills, Long Chen also wrote several experiences and insights that pertained to the Qi Condensation realm¡¯s cultivation. He also left behind the Breaking Wind Fist, Windchasing Steps, and other techniques of that level for them.
That was in the hopes that the vige would be able to nurture some experts. If the vige had a couple of Blood Condensation experts, they would definitely be much safer.
He also left behind a dozen Blood Breaking Pills. As long as someone advanced to the ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, they would immediately advance to Blood Condensation after taking one of them.
Using a medicinal pill to break through was likely to cause your foundation to be wed. But even so, to these people, that was not something toin about. Without Long Chen¡¯s assistance, most of them would be unable to step into Blood Condensation in their whole life.
Only by doing all of these could he feel at ease. Long Chen trusted that from today onwards, the vige would only continue growing stronger.
Now they had medicinal pills, Battle Skills, and weapons. In the future, even if they didn¡¯t have the forest god, they would still be able to survive very well.
When they arrived at the vige gate to send him off, the entire vige gathered over to reluctantly say goodbye to Long Chen. There were even some children who tightly hugged his leg, not letting him leave.
This scene truly did cause Long Chen to feel sad inside, but he had to leave. The only thing he regretted was that Xiao Hua continued to stay locked in her room. It seemed she really did hate him now.
After saying goodbye, Long Chen was just about to leave.
¡°Wait!¡±
Long Chen paused and slowly turned back. Xiao Hua opened her door and ran right up next to him.
Her originally bright eyes were now red and filled with pain.
¡°Long Chen, I know I can¡¯t keep you. I made this just now. I hope you can forever wear it on your body.¡±
After saying that, Xiao Hua took out a ne that was made from some multi-colored rocks.
¡°Haha, perhaps this gift is too poor and will beughed at.¡± Xiao Huaughed mockingly at herself. But although she smiled, tears kept falling from her eyes.
¡°I¡¯ll properly keep it in my care. But how about youe with me?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel his heart ache when he looked at Xiao Hua.
Her eyes brightened for a moment, but they quickly dulled again. She shook her head, ¡°We are people who live in different worlds. I can¡¯t leave my family. I just hope that when you look upon this ne in the future, you¡¯ll remember that there was once a girl¡ whose heart¡ yearned to go hunting with you¡ and make babies.¡±
Towards the end, Xiao Hua¡¯s voice ended up bing choked with emotion. After forcing out thosest words, she fell into Long Chen¡¯s embrace and began to weep and bawl.
Long Chen didn¡¯t know how he managed to leave in the end. He felt his own heart shattering. This was the first time he experienced being so helpless. This was a helplessness that a higher cultivation base could not resolve.
Dragging the half-dead Savage Marquis, Long Chen disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Xiao Hua¡¯s tears continued to flow as she watched that figure disappear from her view. A light breeze blew by, bringing with it the tumbling of dried leaves. The autumn wind was cold.
Chapter 94: Extreme Urgency
Once Long Chen had dragged the Savage Marquis dozens of miles away, he threw him to the ground. Zhou Weiqing was already so heavily wounded that just this little impact caused him to spit out more blood.
Having been hit by the arrow which Long Chen had thrown so powerfully, his organs had already been shaken into pieces. But as a Blood Condensation expert, the blood in his body contained a great deal of life energy, so he wouldn¡¯t die immediately.
¡°Zhou Weiqing, tell me, how should I kill you?¡±
Long Chen looked down at this man who was once a powerful expert in his eyes, his voice filled with bone-chilling coldness.
If it had just been a personal enmity between the two of them, Long Chen wouldn¡¯t have minded giving him a quick death. But thinking back to the corpses of those vigers and their sorrowful expressions, his hatred of this bastard exploded.
He didn¡¯t know just what manner he could kill Zhou Weiqing that would relieve his anger. He only coldly contemted this, thinking of a suitable method.
¡°Long¡ Long Chen, don¡¯t kill me! I¡¯ll tell you all my secrets! I was also forced, so I was also helpless!¡±
Zhou Weiqing was as pale as a sheet of paper. He could feel his life force quickly fading. Right now, the only one that could save him was Long Chen who was a pill cultivator.
In order to save his own life, this proud and arrogant noble no longer cared about anything and even begged Long Chen for mercy.
¡°Does saying that have any meaning at this time? I already know that everything was nned by the fourth prince. As long as I return to the capital, everything will be revealed. There is no need for you to talk,¡± snorted Long Chen coldly.
¡°No, no, Long Chen, the situation is definitely not as simple as you think! As long as you promise to let me go, I¡¯ll tell you something extremely urgent. It definitely won¡¯t disappoint you!¡± said Zhou Weiqing hastily.
Long Chen coldly said, ¡°Speak. If it really is helpful to me, I won¡¯t mind leaving you alive.¡±
Zhou Weiqing celebrated and hastily said, ¡°Your household has already been captured and ced into prison. They¡¯re currently waiting to be executed.¡±
¡°What?!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s expression changed and he harshly shouted, ¡°Bastard, you dare try to trick me?¡±
¡°No! I definitely don¡¯t dare trick you!¡±
¡°Once Wilde returned to the capital, he should have immediately gone to protect my family. How could they possibly be captured? Furthermore, even if Wilde didn¡¯t inform him, how could grandmaster Yun Qi just watch without lifting a finger?¡± Long Chen raged.
¡°Wilde truly did rush to your family as soon as possible, but he wasn¡¯t able to protect your household.¡±
¡°Why not?¡± Even with Long Chen¡¯s calm, he was still panicking now.
¡°Cough, cough¡ I¡¡± Zhou Weiqing wanted to speak but an intense bout of coughing overcame him.
Long Chen coldly snorted. Zhou Weiqing was getting smart and resorting to petty tricks. He threw down a medicinal pill. ¡°Take it, it¡¯ll heal your wounds.¡±
¡°Thank you, young master.¡±
Zhou Weiqing hastily swallowed. He had always kept an eye on Long Chen for years, and he knew that he was just like his father and would take his promises seriously.
But so far he had only agreed to let him go and hadn¡¯t promised to heal his wounds. If Long Chen left, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to support himself for more than a couple of hours before the spiritual qi in his blood was exhausted.
And within those few hours, he would bepletely unable to walk out of this forest to find help, so he would definitely die. For him to be able to force Long Chen into giving him a medicinal pill in his state, there was no choice but to admit that Zhou Weiqing truly did have a cunning side.
¡°If I tell you everything, you have to keep your promise and not make things hard for me.¡± After taking that medicinal pill, Zhou Weiqing was surprised to see that his damaged organs were slowly healing back, meaning Long Chen¡¯s medicinal pill truly was very effective.
But he once more repeated himself in order to be cautious. If Long Chen were to back out from his promise, it would be impossible for him to survive.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will use the Long family¡¯s reputation to guarantee it,¡± snorted Long Chen coldly.
Hearing that, Zhou Weiqing was relieved. With Long Chen¡¯s pride, the chance of him reneging on his promise was low.
¡°Once Wilde returned to your home, he immediately alerted your mother. But they were unable to leave the Long household.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°Because they had all been poisoned,¡± answered Zhou Weiqing.
Long Chen¡¯s expression became incredibly unsightly. ¡°Who did that?!¡±
¡°You mother¡¯s family did it. They¡¯re actually spies of the fourth prince. They had always been secretly controlling the Long household. When Wilde returned, he was too weak and also too hungry to fight back. As soon as he warned the Long household, they were all poisoned with an extremely undetectable poison. Normally it will conceal itself in the body. With your experience, you should also have heard of the Soul-Scattering Powder?¡± probed Zhou Weiqing carefully.
Long Chen¡¯s expression became even gloomier. The fact that Zhou Weiqing had said the Soul-Scattering Powder meant that he was telling the truth.
Soul-Scattering Powder was an extremely rarely seen medicinal ingredient. Its poisonous nature wasn¡¯t actually strong, but it could confuse a person¡¯s spirit, causing them to enter a suspended animation state of fake death. Other than some people with strong Spiritual Strength, there were few that could block it.
And this kind of medicinal ingredient was colorless and odorless. Ordinary people were unable to recognize it. As soon as they smelt the Soul-Scattering Powder, they would immediately sink into a deep sleep.
Long Chen had never thought that the fourth prince¡¯s schemes would be so profound. His hatred of his mother¡¯s family also grew as he recalled their hypocritical faces. At this time, they hadnded a fatal blow against his family.
Thinking of his mother, who had been captured, a burning urgency filled him. He needed to rush back to the capital immediately to save his mother.
¡°What happened with grandmaster Yun Qi?¡± Long Chen suddenly felt that something was strange. Was grandmaster Yun Qi being obstructed?
¡°At that time, grandmaster Yun Qi was in seclusion to refine pills. Furthermore, this matter was done extremely covertly. Grandmaster Yun Qi didn¡¯t know of it, and once he knew, your family had already been imprisoned. At that time, he personally went to the imperial pce to demand that they release them, but the Empress Dowager showed him the photographic jade evidence of you killing the Grand Xia¡¯s prince, and thus, grandmaster Yun Qi was also helpless,¡± exined Zhou Weiqing.
He had truly been too careless. Long Chen regretted his own stupidity. Obviously, that photographic jade had been brought back by Marquis Ying.
Him killing Xia Changfeng had entirely been part of the fourth prince¡¯s ns. Despite grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s illustrious status, his position was not one that could directly participate in the matters of the empire. And so he could only watch powerlessly.
¡°Chu Xia!¡± Long Chen ground his teeth angrily. It was as though he could see the fourth prince¡¯s mocking face, and killing intent overflowed from him.
¡°What else is there?¡± Long Chen took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.
¡°Well, furthermore, they n on executing them,¡± said Zhou Weiqing carefully. Seeing Long Chen¡¯s frighteningly sinister expression, he was afraid he might forget himself in his anger and kill him.
¡°Since they haven¡¯t captured me, they¡¯re using my household to make up for it?¡± Long Chen tightly clenched his fists. The mes of fury within his eyes almost took physical shape.
¡°That¡¯s most likely correct.¡±
¡°Hmph, then their goal is to draw out my father, correct?¡± Long Chen snorted. Although he was incredibly angry, Long Chen was still able to figure out the fourth prince¡¯s intentions.
To the fourth prince, Long Chen was just a single chess piece. All the circumstances he had forced him into were just to draw out Long Tianxiao.
He naturally also knew that the capital was filled with crouching dragons and hidden tigers waiting for Long Tianxiao to take the bait.
Being treated as a chess piece by others was definitely a dislikable feeling. But for Chu Yao, Long Chen had been willing to y his part as a chess piece.
He hadn¡¯t expected the fourth prince to be so ruthless. Not only had his ns involved Long Chen, but he had also implicated Long Chen¡¯s entire household. That was something which no one would be able to endure.
¡°Chu Xia, wait for me! If I don¡¯t chop off your head this time, then I wouldn¡¯t be Long Chen!¡±
Long Chen suddenly thought of something and he asked, ¡°What¡¯s the date of the execution?¡±
Zhou Weiqing was startled and replied, ¡°Counting the days, it should the day after tomorrow.¡±
Hearing that, Long Chen no longer bothered with Zhou Weiqing. He called over Little Snow and started to wildly rush over to the capital.
¡°Ao!¡± Little Snow suddenly howled as they rushed.
Long Chen was slightly startled. ¡°You want me to ride you?¡±
Little Snow let out a quiet roar. Not caring whether or not Long Chen wanted to, he flipped Long Chen up with his head, and Long Chen immediately felt his body be light as he was lifted up onto Little Snow¡¯s back.
Now that the forest god had awakened Little Snow¡¯s spirit, he was now evenrger than a horse. His body was over three meters long. He was no longer that adorable little fellow anymore.
¡°Roar!¡±
Long Chen smiled slightly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, once I¡¯m steadied, I won¡¯t fall¡ aiya!¡±
Little Snow had already charged forward before he had finished speaking. Being caught by surprise, Long Chen was almost thrown off. He hurriedly grabbed onto Little Snow¡¯s fur.
Only now did Long Chen experience just how terrifying the speed of a second rank Magical Beast was. The trees to either side blew by. The wild wind that whistled around made it difficult for him to even keep his eyes open.
¡°Good job Little Snow!¡± Long Chen praised Little Snow. Originally, he had been worried that he wouldn¡¯t be able to rush back to the capital in time. But with Little Snow¡¯s current speed, that didn¡¯t seem to be that much of a problem anymore.
His worries also dissipated slightly. Looking at the quickly retreating trees, Long Chen¡¯s eyes shed with a harsh intent. I¡¯ming.
¡
Zhou Weiqing watched as Long Chen left. He was relieved that he had managed to keep his life. At the same time though, he was also filled with hatred.
When he was young, he had been struck by Long Tianxiao¡¯s palm and his Dantian had been shaken, causing his cultivation base to forever stop at the early stage of Blood Condensation.
Over ten years had passed, and now he had been suppressed under his son. Furthermore, he had been suppressed even more miserably. If he hadn¡¯t begged for mercy, even his life would have been lost.
Zhou Weiqing couldn¡¯t help but grind his teeth. But then a sinister smile appeared on his mouth. Long Chen should just give up any thoughts of surviving now that he had gone to the capital.
But before he followed Long Chen back to the capital, he still had one thing he had to do. That was topletely ughter those vigers. Long Chen had definitely left behind some medicinal pills for them.
¡°AH!¡± Zhou Weiqing screamed suddenly. An intense pain came from his arm. He looked over and saw that without realizing it, a red-colored ant had crawled up his arm and was now biting down on him.
¡°Heart Devouring Ant?!¡±
Zhou Weiqing was terrified. As soon as he recognized that small ant, it was as though he had seen a demon. That was a terrifying poisonous ant.
It was said that this kind of ant wasn¡¯t that strong. It only had a slight poisonous nature that wasn¡¯t life-threatening. But when they bit you, it would be iparably painful, as if your heart and insides were being devoured.
Zhou Weiqing swatted that ant, killing it in a single blow. Just as he was about to move, his eyes were suddenly filled with terror. He didn¡¯t know at what time, but now all the surrounding trees were covered with Heart Devouring Ants.
He suddenly thought of the medicinal pill Long Chen had thrown to him. He remembered seeing a twinkle of ridicule in his eyes when he had given that to him.
¡°AHHHH!!!¡±
Just at this moment, thousands upon thousands of Heart Devouring Ants smelled a special smelling from Zhou Weiqing¡¯s body and charged over. They went all-out to devour as much of him as they could. In their eyes, his body was a huge delicacy.
His miserable screams continued endlessly. The Heart Devouring Ants¡¯ poison wasn¡¯t strong and wouldn¡¯t kill him. But the intense pain would wrack his body so much that he would be unable to move.
In this world, the most painful way to die was to clearly sense endless pain and want to faint, only to have losing consciousness be a luxury that wasn¡¯t given to you, and to have that pain continue until you were nothing more than a pile of bones.
Chapter 95: Execution Ground
The Phoenix Cry imperial capital stood there as majestic as ever, emitting an ancient air. That was something that could not be concealed despite the several wars it had experienced in the past thousand years.
But today, the imperial capital was no longer as bustling and filled with traffic as it normally was. It was filled with a foreboding air, and not a single shop opened its doors.
In just a single month¡¯s time, the capital hadpletely changed. First the news of Xia Changfeng being murdered shook the entire Phoenix Cry Empire.
But even more shocking was that the person who had killed the Grand Xia¡¯s prince was the most famous person in the capital, the junior generation¡¯s strongest member who had risen like a shooting star, Long Chen!
When the photographic jade¡¯s images had spread throughout the capital, everyone had beenpletely shocked. The image of Long Chen killing Xia Changfeng was forever stuck in their minds.
Long Chen, who was originally high-spirited and full of endless prospects, had now be the entire empire¡¯s number one wanted criminal.
The Long household¡¯s people had all been imprisoned in just one night. After another few days,rge quantities of soldiers began to flow towards the capital.
Before anyone could even understand what was happening, four hundred thousand elite troops from the Grand Xia had encircled the city.
Everyone had been iparably nervous, waiting for the spark of a huge war to ignite the capital in mes. That thought caused all these people, who were used to living in peace and security, to be filled with fright.
But the lucky thing was that the battle never urred. The fourth prince had appeared to mediate both parties. Saying that he had already captured the killer and had investigated the whole matter, he gave the Grand Xia an eptable ount.
Only then did the elite troops withdraw their siege of the capital. But they didn¡¯t go far. They pitched camps forty miles away from the capital. If the Phoenix Cry Empire didn¡¯t hand over eptable terms, they definitely wouldn¡¯t mind starting a huge war.
That foreboding air enveloped the entire capital. Although the capital had Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu leading the majority of the strongest troops in the empire, this situation had arisen so suddenly that they had been unable to collect the rest of their forces. If a battle really did start, whether they could win or not, the capital itself would definitely be the scene of disaster.
At the same time, there were also people who secretly wondered what was going on. Weren¡¯t the Phoenix Cry Empire and the Grand Xia Empire supposed to be allies? How did they suddenly end up on opposite sides of the battlefield now?
What kind of satirical situation was this? It was always the enemies you never thought about who did the most damage. Otherwise, there was no way they would have been able to encircle their capital so easily.
Following the Long household¡¯s capture, huge waves erupted in the empire. The first thing people thought of was the Border Suppression Marquis, who was defending the border against the barbarian tribes.
The Border Suppression Marquis had guarded the border for over ten years. He had control of fifty thousand elite troops that had fought with the barbarian tribes over and over. It could be said that his army was a true elite force.
As for the ¡®elite troops¡¯ currently residing in the capital who lived peaceful, satisfied lives the entire time and had onlypleted some drilling, the difference was immense,pletely iparable.
The Border Suppression Marquis¡¯s elite troops would definitely be able to fight enemies ten times their number. After the Empress Dowager had imperially arrested the Long household, everyone wondered just how Long Tianxiao would react.
Ten days ago, sudden news had leaked that Long Chen¡¯s murder of Xia Changfeng had been incited by the crown prince, and so even the crown prince had been arrested.
There had also been several ¡®henchmen¡¯ that had been taken in with him. Today was the day for all these ¡®murderers¡¯ to face their execution.
Outside the city walls, the martial stage, that had often been used for fights, had been torn down to be reced with a huge execution stage.
On one side of the execution stage was the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s elite troops, while to the other side was the Grand Xia¡¯s elite troops. They both watched each other from a distance with the atmosphere being incredibly tense.
Themoners of the Phoenix Cry Empire were also watching from far away. This was the most controversial and shocking matter that had urred in the Phoenix Cry Empire in thest dozens of years.
Not only was a noble family about to be eradicated, but the crown prince was also to be executed. There were also tens of members of the imperial court who had been implicated.
There were two lines of people on the execution grounds, one lined up in the back and one lined up in the front. There were dozens of people in the front row, all wearing imperial robes. They werepletely bound, lying there on the ground.
Although everyone had already been prepared to see that, they were still greatly shaken. Those were the most senior ministers of the empire. Normally, just getting a nce of them was almost impossible, but today they had be prisoners.
However, the most shocking thing for everyone was the sight of the person who was bound front at the execution tform. It was crown prince Chu Yang! The current Chu Yang had long since lost his majestic and graceful poise. His hair was a mess and his eyes darted around. He was mumbling something that couldn¡¯t be heard as he incessantly fiddled.
Behind this group of people was another group of over twenty people. This group included maids and servants. They were actually the Long household¡¯s people.
Mrs. Long was shackled by iron fetters. Her expression was haggard as she looked into the distance. Who knew what she was thinking.
Other than Mrs. Long, the rest of the Long household¡¯s members couldn¡¯t help but weep. They knew that today would be thest day of their lives. Looking at the executioners beside them, they were filled with despair.
¡°Ah, my Long family has truly let you down. If there is a next life, my Long family will definitely make it up to you.¡±
Looking at the weeping people surrounding her, Mrs. Long couldn¡¯t help but sigh. They were all innocent, but they had been implicated by being part of the Long household.
¡°Madam, don¡¯t say that. We are members of the Long household, and we will be part of the Long household even in death. We don¡¯t regret anything,¡± said Bao-er firmly.
¡°Hmph, you want a next life? Just keep on dreaming. Your Long household really is just a group of idiots,¡± said a man with a long de in his hand coldly.
Mrs. Long red hatefully at that man, her eyes filled with poison. She wished she could tear that man apart.
¡°Li Feng, you bastard, even as a ghost I won¡¯t forgive you.¡± Mrs. Long ground her teeth.
That person was one of the officers in charge of the execution and was her older sister¡¯s son. Looking at him caused Mrs. Long to feel needle-like pain in her heart.
Back when her family had been ignoring her, she had beenpletely dejected. But then recently, when they had warmed back up to her, her mood hadpletely reversed. She knew they were just currying favor, but they were her family after all. She still forgave them.
But who would have thought that it would be her closest family that would force her Long household into the depths of despair? That had truly caused her to feel endless resentment.
She remembered back when Wilde had returned to the Long household. Seeing her, the first thing he had said was, ¡°Quickly go ask for grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s help.¡± He had then fainted straight away.
When Marquis Ying had gone to chase after Long Chen into the forest, Wilde had already beenpletely exhausted. After just resting for a moment, he had suddenly remembered what Long Chen had told him and rushed back to the capital.
Who knew whether it was Wilde¡¯s luck that was great or whether Marquis Ying¡¯s subordinates were ipetent, but Wilde managed to return without any resistance.
However, he hadn¡¯t dared to stop to eat. He had relied only on his willpower to sustain himself until he had reached the Long household. After saying a single line, he had been ovee by his exhaustion and fainted.
Wilde hadn¡¯t noticed that at that time, Mrs. Long was in the midst of chatting with her older sister¡¯s family. Perhaps even if he had noticed, he wouldn¡¯t have done anything differently.
When Wilde had fainted, Mrs. Long had hastily shouted for people to help. Her older sister had immediatelyforted her and called over two people who weren¡¯t that far away.
Wilde had fainted due to hunger. In order to awaken, they had brought over several bowls of water, but Wilde still hadn¡¯t shown any signs of awakening.
Just when Mrs. Long had felt that something wasn¡¯t right, she suddenly smelled a certain thing and immediately lost consciousness. But right before her eyes hadpletely closed, she had seen her older sister¡¯s smile that was full of ridicule.
By the time she awakened once more, the entire Long household had been thrown into a dark prison. That caused Mrs. Long to be filled with regret and hatred as well as a deep sense of self-me.
Li Feng smiled coldly when he looked at her. ¡°Even as a ghost, you¡¯ll hate me? Hmph, even as ghosts you¡¯d just be a group of idiot ghosts not worth interacting with. Ten years ago you were all also this stupid. At that time, we had already decided to split worlds with you in order to avoid being implicated. And now it seems you¡¯ve be even dumber. After just saying a few random words, you actually ended uppletely trusting us. If such an idiot didn¡¯t die, then it really would be a defiance of the heavens.¡±
Mrs. Long trembled in anger. Tears flowed down her face, but she didn¡¯t say anything. This was her family?!
¡°You don¡¯t need to cry. As my rtive, I¡¯ll help to end your sorrow by speeding things up a bit. You won¡¯t feel any pain.¡± Li Feng gently shook his de and continued, ¡°But aunt, I really do need to thank you. Once I chop off your head, my career will quickly advance. Now that so many people are about to die in high positions, there are many openings for some lucrative posts. One of those spots will definitely be mine. Once I¡¯m rich I definitely won¡¯t forget aunt¡¯s favor. During the New Year, I will definitely burn some paper money for you, haha.¡±[1]
¡°Li Feng, you definitely won¡¯t die a good death!¡± Bao-er cursed him to the side when she saw his satisfied smile. She really couldn¡¯t stand seeing this despicable bastard. Thinking back to when he had acted so well-behaved in front of them, his current expression made her nauseous.
¡°Not a good death? Hehe, that¡¯ll be you guys! Soon your heads will fall to the ground!¡± Li Feng sinisterlyughed at Bao-er.
Bao-er was just about to retort when a heavy figure was thrown to the ground beside her.
¡°Wilde!¡± Mrs. Long let out a sorrowful cry.
Wilde currently looked like a hedgehog with long iron needles stabbing all over his body.
Those were torture tools called Bone Eroding Needles. There was a painful poison coated on them that could erode a person¡¯s bones, causing the person to feel intense pain deep in their marrow.
That kind of pain was something no one could resist. Most people were unable to even bear having one of the needles being pierced into them. Even cultivators would be unable to endure more than five of them. That kind of pain was enough to kill someone.
But Wilde¡¯s body waspletely covered with that kind of needle. Wilde¡¯s ability to resist pain was absolutely shocking. Originally, Wilde had been unconscious, but when he had been thrown on the ground, those needles had once more pricked his bones, causing him to awaken.
¡°Mom, you don¡¯t need to be worried. Wilde doesn¡¯t feel any pain.¡± Seeing Mrs. Long crying, Wilde tried tofort her, even forcing out a slight smile.
But the current Wilde had lost so much weight that he was now practically skin and bones. His smile was actually extremely ugly now.
Back when Long Chen had brought Wilde back home for the first time, Long Chen had told Mrs. Long about his circumstances. He had hoped that his mother would ept him as her adopted son.
Wilde had called Mrs. Long ¡®mom¡¯ the whole time, but Mrs. Long had always felt that the appetion was a bit strange and hadn¡¯t replied to it.
But now when Wilde called her that, she couldn''t help but feel sour inside. ¡°Wilde, mom has let you down.¡±
[1] It¡¯s a Chinese tradition to burn paper money for your dead rtives so they have money to spend in the afterlife.
Chapter 96: Crisis
¡°Wilde, mom has let you down.¡±
Mrs. Long was truly agonized. Wilde was a good child, and even at such a time, he still didn¡¯t have the slightest bit of resentment against her. He was actually consoling her instead. That made her feel even more forlorn.
If it weren¡¯t for her family¡¯s schemes, she wouldn¡¯t have implicated everyone. Looking at Wilde who was on hisst breaths but still acted as though he were fine, she felt as if a knife was stabbing into her heart.
¡°Mom, don¡¯t be afraid. Long Chen will definitelye and save us,¡±forted Wilde. He did his best to sit up. That way he could alleviate some of the pressure from the needles and he could feel a bit more fortable¡¯.
¡°Child, it¡¯s been hard on you.¡± Each Bone Eroding Needle was a horrifying torturing object, and seeing them cover his body so densely caused her to cry even harder. Just how much pain had this child suffered?
¡°Mom, I¡¯m fine. That bastard Marquis Ying interrogated me, but I didn¡¯t even know what he was talking about. In any case, I didn¡¯t say a word, infuriating the old bastard,¡±ughed Wilde.
Once Marquis Ying had recovered from his wounds, he had heard that Wilde had been captured. He had immediately gone to interrogate him alone.
He was extremely curious about Wilde¡¯s physical body. He was still in disbelief that a novice like him, who hadn¡¯t even reached Blood Condensation, had been able to block his sword.
He wanted to know how Wilde cultivated. However, he didn¡¯t have Long Chen¡¯s powerful soul. He was unable to see through the situation with Wilde¡¯s cells.
Although he did find that Wilde¡¯s body was extremely strange with only four meridians, he had assumed that it was the result of training in some sort of mysterious cultivation technique since childhood.
Marquis Ying naturally wouldn¡¯t give up a chance to obtain such a mysterious cultivation technique. Even if he couldn¡¯t cultivate it, it would definitely be a priceless treasure if he could obtain it.
But he hadn¡¯t expected for a kid like Wilde to be so tough. He didn¡¯t say a single word, and no matter how he hit him, he didn¡¯t make a single sound.
He had tried all sorts of torture, in the end even using the cruelest Bone Eroding Needles all over his body. But he still didn¡¯t say a single word.
Later, Marquis Ying gradually realized that Wilde¡¯s body¡¯s strangeness was most likely due to his constitution.
Perhaps Wilde¡¯s cultivation technique was something that others would be incapable of cultivating even if they had the technique! Forcefully cultivating in it would only result in death.
The real question was just what kind of existence could block the pain of the Bone Eroding Needle? Even if you could resist one needle, who could possibly take ten of them without dying? Even a Tendon Transformation expert would go crazy from the pain of ten Bone Eroding Needles.
Having understood that point, Marquis Ying no longer bothered with Wilde¡¯s cultivation technique. He was more interested in Wilde¡¯s physical body. He wanted to see just how many Bone Eroding Needles a person¡¯s body could take.
And that was how Wilde had turned into a human-shaped hedgehog. That was absolutely shocking to Marquis Ying. Even being covered by the Bone Eroding Needles, he still didn¡¯t die. His physical body was too terrifying.
It was at that time that he had been ordered to send Wilde to the execution ground, and only then did he stop his torture of Wilde.
¡°Hmph, I guess you are pretty difficult to deal with since you could survive that many Bone Eroding Needles. I wonder if your neck will be able to stop my de? I truly am curious,¡± Li Feng said to Wilde coldly.
¡°You bastard, just wait! Brother Long will definitelye to save us!¡± Wilde retorted angrily.
¡°Just keep dreaming. No matter whoes, no one will be able to save you, not even God himself. Just quietly be a ghost,¡± sneered Li Feng coldly. He no longer bothered with them.
A disturbance arose as a party from both the Phoenix Cry Empire and the Grand Xia Empire walked out. On the side of the Phoenix Cry Empire was the Empress Dowager along with the princes, princesses, as well as the powerful chancellors.
On the side of the Grand Xia Empire was arge, tower-like man wearing yellow robes. Behind him were three armed soldiers closely following him.
Those four all emitted a terrifying pressure. Their reserved auras seemed like volcanoes that might erupt at any moment.
The person at the front was the Grand Xia¡¯s Emperor, Xia Youyu. The three people behind him were the Grand Xia¡¯s peak experts. This time Xia Youyu had truly brought his entire empire¡¯s top forces here.
The two groups stopped when they were a few dozen steps from each other. The fourth prince was the first to walk out. Behind him were two people, one of which was Marquis Ying. The other one was a slightly short, bearded man with a warhammer on his back. That was the equally famous Wu Yi who was known as Marquis Wu.
Ever since the eldest prince had been removed from his position, the Empress Dowager had supported the fourth prince to be the inheritor of the empire, making him be the new crown prince. And once the fourth prince had be the crown prince, in a thunderous strike, he had immediately captured the eldest prince¡¯s henchmen.
He also quickly ordered Marquis Wu to recall his army back to the capital to defend. They had only just managed to return when the Grand Xia¡¯s army had arrived and encircled the capital.
The fourth prince had gone out in front of the capital and faced hundreds of thousands of the Grand Xia¡¯s elite troops as calm as ever in order to negotiate, causing the Grand Xia¡¯s army to pause outside the city gates, allowing themoners to escape having their des wreck havoc on the city.
When themoners inside the city saw the fourth prince¡¯s suave and elegant manner, there were none who didn¡¯t feel admiration. That was the kind of boldness a ruler of an empire should have.
¡°As for brother Changfeng¡¯s misfortune, Chu Xia is deeply apologetic. But luckily the heavens have blessed us and the criminals have already been arrested. I hope the blood of these people canfort brother Changfeng¡¯s soul.¡± The fourth prince ¡®regretfully¡¯ apologized to Xia Youyu.
Xia Youyu¡¯s expression was a bitplicated. This man should be his sister¡¯s son, and he was truly a bit unwilling inside.
He knew his son had died a wrongful death under the hands of this fourth prince Chu Xia. But he was unable to take revenge.
That was because there had been someone who had ordered him not to harm even a single hair on his body. The reason he had brought these troops was also because of that person¡¯s order. This was all just a y written by Chu Xia.
¡°Seeing Your Majesty Youyu¡¯s manner, which has yet to recover from the loss of your son, Chu Xia has truly sensed His Majesty¡¯s strong paternal love for brother Changfeng. The loss of brother Changfeng at such a young age truly does cause one to sigh.¡± The fourth prince shook his head.
Xia Youyu narrowed his eyes, wishing he could p this fake hypocrite. Even after killing his son, he now put on such an act. That was truly intolerable!
But he didn¡¯t dare make a move. He knew that if he killed Chu Xia, he would definitely not have a good ending. He could only endure.
¡°Crown prince Chu Xia is too courteous. As long as I can kill my son¡¯s murderer, I believe Changfeng will be able to truly rest contentedly.¡± Xia Youyu looked profoundly at Chu Xia. When he said ¡®murderer¡¯, a cold light shed in his eyes.
The fourth prince ignored that gaze, lightly saying, ¡°Rest at ease, Your Majesty. The killers have been captured and can¡¯t run. But in order to maintain our two empires¡¯ friendship, a couple of sacrifices are unavoidable. Only by giving up a few prejudices and misunderstandings can two empires¡¯ people enjoy peace. Thinking back to the Grand Xia and Phoenix Cry¡¯s friendship, I must say that Your Majesty¡¯s vision truly is great. What do you say?¡±
Xia Youyu finally understood that this chess piece he had set up all those years ago had already escaped his chessboard and was beginning to control him instead. The fourth prince¡¯s killing of Xia Changfeng was to tell him that this Chu Xia was no longer the old Chu Xia.
If he wanted to continue controlling him, that would be a grave mistake. Even just the slightest carelessness might even bring about his own fall.
The fourth prince¡¯s words immediately caused him to awaken from his grief. He nodded, ¡°Correct, peace is the dream of the people.¡±
¡°That¡¯s entirely true. But peace must be built on a foundation of trust and equality. Those who would attempt to break our empires¡¯ peace must die.¡±
He coldly smiled and look towards the eldest prince and his people. His smile suddenly disappeared and he harshly shouted, ¡°Chu Yang, do you admit your crimes?!¡±
Chu Yang, who was originally just lying there, was jolted suddenly and looked up into the sky, terrified. It seemed as if he was seeing some terrifying image, and he incessantly kowtowed.
¡°Guilty, I¡¯m guilty!¡±
He repeated he was guilty over and over as he kowtowed, seeming to be full of remorse. But not a single person noticed that within the hair on the back of his head were three extremely thin needles.
He wasn¡¯t the only one with needles in his head. The calm and slightly lifeless Empress Dowager also had such thin needles on the back of her head, but her hair blocked it so that no one could see.
The fourth prince looked over everyone and coldly shouted, ¡°Our Phoenix Cry¡¯s eldest prince tried in vain to destroy the peace between our two nations. He threatened to throw our people into an abyss of torture. Death without pardon - kill!¡±
Following his cold order, the head executioner¡¯s de fell.
Blood flew everywhere. Over ten heads fell to the ground and dyed the earth red. Of the members of the Long household in the row behind them, over half of them fainted directly.
Themoners watching from a distance closed their eyes in fright. It wasn¡¯t that they hadn¡¯t seen executions before, but they had never seen so many people executed for some heinous crimes.
Furthermore, those people were all the highest officials of the empire, causing many of them to not be able to bear the sight. At the same time, their respect of the fourth prince only grew.
Seeing all those people be executed, the fourth prince took a deep breath. He was too excited. He loved this feeling of control. Just a single thought on his part controlled the life and death of the people around him. That was the fascination of power.
He looked towards the pale faces of the princes, princesses, and nobilities. The fear in their eyes was exactly what he had wanted to see.
He would borrow this chance to clear out any other parties and make everyone acknowledge allegiance to him while making it so that they didn¡¯t dare rebel against him. He would be a king who ruled throughplete power. Follow me and prosper; oppose me and die.
¡°This is the result of disloyalty!¡±
The fourth prince coldly looked up from those corpses and looked at the terrified expression of Mrs. Long.
Her entire body was trembling now and she was filled with terror. She didn¡¯t faint, but just watched woodenly instead.
¡°Mrs. Long, I¡¯m sorry. Long Chenmitted such a huge offense that even I am unable to protect you. Don¡¯t me me.¡±
After saying that, he regretfully waved his hand, causing a dozen executioner¡¯s des to be pressed against their necks.
¡°Bastards, you better stop for this master!¡±
Suddenly, a wild shout rang out and a group of people began to charge over to the execution stage.
Chapter 97: Brothers
That was a group of seven people, and they were all holding weapons tightly. The person in the front was extremelyrge and wielding a sword in one of his hands.
Behind him was one fat person and one thin person. The fat one was so big that people couldn¡¯t even tell if he was walking or rolling.
As for the thin one, he was skin and bones, looking just like a chimp. They were both tightly holding the swords and following behind that person at the front.
Everyone waspletely shocked to see this group appear. Looking carefully, some people couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Isn¡¯t that Shi Feng who won thepetition during the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival?¡±
¡°It really is him! There¡¯s also the other two right behind him who I recall being very close to Long Chen!¡±
¡°Could they be thinking of stopping the execution?¡± said some people in disbelief. It was true that Shi Feng was a genius, most likely only second to Long Chen.
But even so, he was only someone who had just advanced to the fifth Heavenstage of Blood Condensation, and he was only leading a group of insignificant Qi Condensation brats. This was no different than sending themselves off to die.
¡°This is true brotherhood. I heard that Long Chen has given them many favors. They¡¯re probably doing this to repay him. Only such people are true men.¡± Some people couldn¡¯t help but sigh regretfully about their deaths, but at the same time, they were filled with respect and admiration for them.
This was basically a path of death they were walking. For them to do such a thing required more than just sheer courage.
Looking at this group of people that had suddenly appeared, Chu Xia frowned. He knew that Shi Feng and them were extremely close to Long Chen.
But he also knew that Shi Feng would be his generation¡¯s peak expert. He had hoped that he could pull him in and groom him as one of his subordinates. That was why they hadn¡¯t been implicated at all this time.
However, he hadn¡¯t expected Shi Feng to be so bold and actually dare try to stop the execution with the top experts of both Phoenix Cry and the Grand Xia present.
Before the fourth prince even said anything, there was already a group of soldiers which blocked their path.
¡°Those who try to block me will die!¡± Shi Feng shouted angrily and raised his sword. He charged forward valiantly.
¡°Charge! Save brother Long¡¯s household!¡± Fatty Yu also followed closely behind Shi Feng. With Shi Feng in the lead, their small group charged a squad of over a hundred elite soldiers.
¡°If you dare keeping forward, all of you will die!¡± shouted the leader of the squad coldly when he saw that Shi Feng still didn¡¯t stop.
In truth, he was actually being kind. He hoped Shi Feng would stop while he still could. In front of this many experts, there was not even the slightest chance of them seeding, and so he tried to give Shi Feng and the others a path to survival.
At the same time, he was also influenced by Shi Feng¡¯s loyalty that was unbending even in the face of death. His troops, which had seen blood before, admired such a brotherly camaraderie even more than themoners.
Unfortunately, he was disappointed to see that Shi Feng didn¡¯t stop at all, instead advancing even faster.
Shi Feng raised his sword and heavily shed it at that leader¡¯s spear. His power exploded and that squad leader, who was also at the mid stage of Blood Condensation, was forced back a dozen steps.
That was definitely surprising. No one had expected Shi Feng to be so strong at such a young age. The squad leader quickly stabilized himself and pierced his spear at Shi Feng.
Suddenly, Blood Qi exploded from Shi Feng¡¯s body. His mid Blood Condensation aura immediately erupted and his sword shed down once more.
That squad leader¡¯s arm turned numb and his hand split open. His spear was sent flying out dozens of meters away, and it continued to tremble incessantly even as it pierced the ground.
He waspletely astonished. Seeing Shi Feng continuing forward, he realized that he would be unable to resist in the slightest and he helplessly closed his eyes in the face face of death.
However, that expected sword blow never fell. Instead, he felt himself being kicked tumbling into the distant. Although he appeared like a miserable figure, he wasn¡¯t really harmed.
In just two moves, Shi Feng had defeated their strongest member. Those troops behind him couldn¡¯t help but be panicked. Seeing Shi Feng charging forward, they hastily raised their spears to block him.
But those soldiers were only ordinary troops. Some of the weaker ones had even yet to enter Qi Condensation. It was impossible for them to block Shi Feng, and they were all sent flying.
When Chu Xia saw that Shi Feng was so shockingly powerful, he frowned and waved his hand. ¡°Stop them! Remember to capture Shi Feng alive!¡±
The fourth prince¡¯s order caused three small squadrons topletely surround Shi Feng¡¯s group. Three mid Blood Condensation advanced forward to block him together.
Shi Feng seemed possessed by a god of war. His sword danced through the air, and even one against three, he still didn¡¯t fall into a disadvantage. However, he was unable to advance any further.
Fatty Yu and the others had been surrounded by the troops. They did not possess Shi Feng¡¯sbat abilities, and the strongest amongst them was only at the sixth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.
Most importantly, they had all been advancing by relying on their passion. In reality, theirbat experience was essentially zero. As soon as they made contact, one of them was immediately heavily injured by a spear.
Fatty Yu had only just blocked a spear when a second already reached his armpit, giving him a great fright.
But that spear was sliced in two by Shi Feng who had been keeping an eye on them. Pushing back his opponents, he had returned to save fatty Yu¡¯s life.
However, because he had been distracted, one of the squad leader¡¯s spear brushed across his shoulder, and blood slowly flowed out.
¡°Brothers, don¡¯t be afraid! Even if we die, twenty years from now, we¡¯ll still be remembered as heroes! Long Chen treats us as his brothers, and we can¡¯t let his household die in front of our eyes. Today, we choose death! If there is a next life, let us continue being brothers!¡±
Shi Feng knew that today was already hopeless. This result was something he had long since known would happen.
Originally, they were a group of nine people that followed Long Chen. They had already obtained favors from Long Chen, going from unwanted characters in the background to their families¡¯ most important members.
All of that had been given to them by Long Chen. It was Long Chen that had changed their destinies.
So, when the Long household ended up in a crisis, even though they knew their deaths would be doubtless, they had stille. They would use their passion as evidence of their camaraderie.
Two of their original group of nine had fled when seeing those troops. Their eyes were filled with shame and remorse.
They had once been a member of them, but they hadn¡¯t had the courage toe. When Shi Feng had brought up going to stop the execution, they had chosen to remain silent.
But Shi Feng hadn¡¯t be angry and he didn¡¯t resent them. Instead, he told them to remember their brothers, and when they had time, toe to their graves to burn some incense and pour some alcohol for them.
Xia Youyu saw that Shi Feng possessed a great potential and lightly said, ¡°Just now there was a person who said that those who would destroy the peace between our two empires could not be pardoned. It seems prince Chu Xia is still a bit soft-hearted. I¡¯ll help you out. Ha Qi, go kill those troublemakers.¡±
¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±
One of the people behind him immediately floated over to Shi Feng like a wisp of smoke.
Chu Xia¡¯s expression changed slightly. He knew Xia Youyu had seen through his intentions of recruiting Shi Feng. He was doing this as a revenge for his son. However, Chu Xia didn¡¯t move to stop this.
He now realized that Shi Feng was an extremely unbending person. The odds of Chu Xia being able to convert him into one of his subordinates was not great. And so he didn¡¯t say a single thing in objection.
Ha Qi¡¯s speed was extremely great, practically inconceivable. He traversed a distance of hundreds of meters in just a couple of blinks. Arriving beside Shi Feng, he sent a palm forward.
Shi Feng, who was originally fighting three squad leaders, suddenly felt a shiver run through his body. A terrifying aurapletely locked onto him.
The four of them were astonished and stopped fighting immediately. A terrifying palm wind descended, and they quickly blocked it.
BANG!
Shi Feng had been the first to realize something was wrong. He wasn¡¯t like those three who stupidly stood still to block it, but instead quickly retreated.
However, he was still scraped by that palm wind and he became like a kite whose string had been cut, tumbling back dozens of meters and spitting out blood.
Now looking back to that spot, those three squad leaders, who had been fighting with him, were now unrecognizable as their corpsesy on the ground. Their bones had all been shattered and their auras had disappeared.
¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry. I guess that was a bit too strong.¡± Ha Qi smiled slightly. However, that apology of his was not the least bit apologetic.
The battlepletely stopped. All of them were stupefied by this sudden change. Looking at those corpses that didn¡¯t even have human form anymore, everyone was silent for a long time.
Those were their squad leaders at the mid Blood Condensation realm! All three of them had been killed by a single palm; how could that not be appalling?
¡°A Tendon Transformation expert!¡±
Finally, someone let out an rmed cry. Only a Tendon Transformation expert could so easily kill the three of them.
¡°You¡¡± Chu Xia¡¯s expression sunk. How could he possibly not realize that Xia Youyu had done this on purpose to embarrass him?
¡°Ah, what an unexpected mishap. After all, a Tendon Transformation expert is also human, and fists do not have eyes. No one can guarantee anything in the midst of battle. I think that prince Chu Xia should be able to understand this. What do you think?¡± smiled Xia Youyu.
He had purposely told Ha Qi to do this. He wanted to tell this nephew of his that although he had that person¡¯s support, he wouldn¡¯t be able to support him for a lifetime. So he should be more reserved and not so excessive.
How could the fourth prince not understand Xia Youyu¡¯s meaning? He was full of fury, but he didn¡¯t make a move. Instead, he was recording this hatred in his heart.
After Shi Feng spat out a mouthful of blood, he slowly stood back up. Even in the face of a Tendon Transformation expert, he didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of retreat.
¡°Shi Feng, quickly run! Don¡¯t sacrifice your life in vain!¡± Mrs. Long couldn¡¯t bear to see him send himself to die for nothing.
Shi Feng didn¡¯t reply. In fact, none of the others replied either. Other than one person that was too heavily wounded, the others all stood behind Shi Feng, facing against Ha Qi together.
A cruel smile appeared on Ha Qi¡¯s face. ¡°Excellent, you guys really are smart. Dying one by one really is worse than dying altogether. I¡¯ll help finish all of you off quickly!¡±
Ha Qiughed coldly and stamped his foot. Veins appeared on his fist as though vines were under his skin. He smashed his fist into Shi Feng.
Many of the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s people, whether it was soldiers ormoners, couldn¡¯t watch as Shi Feng and the rest were smashed into pulp, and so they all closed their eyes.
Suddenly, the sound of a sword being unsheathed rang through the air. A cold light shed in the air as a sword shed down upon Ha Qi.
Chapter 98: Chu Yao Takes Action
Ha Qi¡¯s fist had just been about to smash them into pulp when he felt his heart tighten. With his experience, a grave sense of danger filled him
He forcibly changed the direction of his fist to punch to the left.
BANG! Ha Qi¡¯s fist blocked the sword, but the powerful force behind the sword still forced him back several steps, shocking him.
Hastily stabilizing himself, he saw a young woman in long robes. Her hair was in a high bun, her phoenix eyes contained true power, and the edge of her sword rippled like water. She possessed an unspeakable grandeur.
¡°Third princess?!¡± Shi Feng and the others let out a startled cry. That sword-bearing woman was Phoenix Cry¡¯s third princess, Chu Yao.
¡°You guys be careful and don¡¯t be reckless. We have to stall until Long Chen returns,¡± whispered Chu Yao to them quietly.
Shi Feng slowly nodded. Two of them bent down to help theirpanion who had been heavily wounded. The right side of his stomach had been impaled by a spear, and he was already on hisst breaths.
Shi Feng quickly took out a medicinal pill and gave it to him. Although this wouldn¡¯t let him recover, it would be able to keep him alive for a while longer so that he wouldn¡¯t immediately die.
Although everyone had already made their resolve regarding their deaths, naturally if they didn¡¯t have to die, they wouldn¡¯t want to. Seeing that Chu Yao was actually able to force back a Tendon Transformation expert, a slight hope ignited inside them.
Chu Yao¡¯s appearance shocked everyone, including Xia Youyu and Chu Xia. They were all looking at her in disbelief.
Xia Youyu immediately thought of something and said withplete shock, ¡°You¡¯ve broken the Nine Dragon Sealing Field?¡±
Chu Yao tightened her grip on her sword and pointed it at Xia Youyu. ¡°You contemptible bastards, today I¡¯ll make you pay for your sins!¡±
Although she didn¡¯t know what the Nine Dragon Sealing Field was, it was obvious that he was talking about the nine foreign spiritual qi seeds that had been in her Dantian.
If it hadn¡¯t been for Long Chen, her life would have be iparably tragic. She would have be a tool used by others without even her knowledge. Thinking of that, her fury zed.
¡°Hmph, looking at your aura, you¡¯ve only just broken through to Tendon Transformation. You probably can¡¯t even properly control your own strength, yet you dare make such wild ravings? Ha Qi, capture her,¡± ordered Xia Youyu with a sneer.
The fourth prince was also looking at Chu Yao in shock. Her appearance caused his confidence to be shaken slightly. He was starting to feel a bit uneasy.
Long Chen¡¯s face appeared in his mind. Even up until this day, he had yet to receive any further news of Long Chen. He was just like a permanent thorn in his side, and now that Chu Yao had appeared, that thorn became even bigger.
¡°Hmph, let me test Phoenix Cry¡¯s princess.¡± Ha Qiughed. Veins popped up all over his body, and his terrifying aura advanced another level as he punched out.
Before he had even arrived, just the wind from his fist caused her hair and clothes to blow back. Ha Qi had now clearly exploded with his true Tendon Transformation power.
Chu Yao didn¡¯t face Ha Qi¡¯s fist head-on. Instead, she was sliding her feet to dodge and stabbing her sword towards his throat.
Ha Qiughed coldly and didn¡¯t dodge. A light-yellow light appeared on his other hand and he swatted away Chu Yao¡¯s sword.
Chu Yao felt a huge force send her flying, and she also felt intense pain from her hand.
Xia Youyu waspletely correct. Chu Yao had only just advanced into the Tendon Transformation realm, and furthermore, her advancement had been done in secret since she hadn¡¯t dared to let anyone else find out.
And she was also helpless that after advancing, she hadn¡¯t had any chance to test her strength. So her control over her own power was limited.
Now that she was facing a Tendon Transformation expert who had already experienced hundreds of battles, she immediately fell into a disadvantage. That was especially true since she had almost zerobat experience.
¡°Hmph, an empty realm is all you have. Give me your life!¡± Ha Qi sneered. Without giving any damns about her gender, he sent a punch smashing at her.
Just as Chu Yao was preparing to forcefully block it, a red ball of light suddenly flew over and collided with his punch.
BOOM! Ha Qi felt as if his fist had been enveloped byva and was immediately forced back.
¡°Being so ruthless to a young woman, don¡¯t you feel ashamed?¡± An aged voice rang out as a figure appeared in front of everyone.
¡°Grandmaster Yun Qi?¡± Chu Yao couldn¡¯t help but celebrate that grandmaster Yun Qi had finallye out at this critical moment.
¡°Yun Qi, as an alchemist guild chairman, inpliance with the alchemist treaty, you cannot meddle in secr matters. Are you not afraid of the guild¡¯s punishment?¡± shouted Xia Youyu coldly.
¡°You are correct; a guild chairman cannot participate in worldly matters.¡± Grandmaster Yun Qiughed slightly and suddenly turned his head. ¡°Sun Nian!¡±
¡°Present.¡± In a distant crowd was a middle-aged man in Pill Apprentice robes who hastily walked out and respectfully bowed.
Grandmaster Yun Qi waved his hand, sending something flying over. When Sun Nian saw what that was, his expression immediately changed.
¡°Sun Nian, I hand the guild signboard to you. You are the new guild chairman,¡± said grandmaster Yun Qi.
¡°Guild chairman...¡± Sun Nian waspletely shocked.
Grandmaster Yun Qi cut him off. ¡°I am no longer the guild chairman. Our guild¡¯s rules cannot be ignored. If you still think of me as the guild chairman, then you cannot stop me from removing myself as guild chairman.¡±
Sun Nian looked at the guild signboard in his hand and didn¡¯t know what to do. But he realized that a major event was about to ur.
¡°Now I am no longer a member of the alchemist guild and have the qualifications to participate in secr matters,¡± said grandmaster Yun Qi lightly.
No one would have imagined that grandmaster Yun Qi would actually remove himself from the guild for the Long household. Without his status as a guild chairman, then even if someone killed him, no one would be able to investigate it.
¡°That is true. I¡¯ve waited a long time for this day. Yun Qi, as expected, you haven¡¯t let me down.¡±
Two people walked out from the crowd, and when people saw one of them in particr, many let out startled cries.
¡°Wei Cang!¡±
That was grandmaster Wei Cang who was equally famous as grandmaster Yun Qi. Everyone could tell that there was intense hatred between the two of them from the time they had exchanged blows at the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival.
But both of them had kept things in reserve back then. It was practically just a symbolic fight without any disy of their true strength.
Now hearing what grandmaster Wei Cang said, it seemed grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s appearance today was entirely in his expectations. Perhaps a truly great battle would be fought today.
¡°Who¡¯s the other old guy?¡±
¡°I know! That¡¯s Wang Luyang, another Pill Master.¡± That was a person who had attended the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s auction, and so he recognized him.
During the auction, Wang Luyang had been low-key all the way until the final Flesh Bone Restoration Pills appeared. Only then did he shock everyone, leaving behind a deep impression.
The fact that he was standing together with Wei Cang today was rather interesting.
Despite seeing Wei Cang appear, no change appeared on grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s face. He nced at Wang Luyang. ¡°Have you thought this through?¡±
Wang Luyang smiled slightly. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t want to be enemies with grandmaster Yun Qi, but I couldn¡¯t help but ept brother Wei¡¯s kindness. So, I can only offend you.¡±
¡°Stop with the crap Yun Qi. Hand over that thing, otherwise, I¡¯ll send you to hell right now,¡± said Wei Cang icily. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve separated from the alchemist guild, you no longer have a support to rely on. I don¡¯t need to have any misgivings about killing you.¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qi looked at the fourth prince with aplicated expression. ¡°Fourth prince truly is a dragon amongst men. Your scheming truly causes me to admire you.¡±
The fourth prince smiled slightly. ¡°Grandmaster¡¯s praise makes this youngster blush.¡±
¡°Since fourth prince is so proficient in scheming, I wonder if he has heard of a certain expression?¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi asked lightly.
¡°What expression? Please give me some pointers senior.¡±
¡°Man proposes but God disposes.¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi smiled slightly.
The fourth prince narrowed his eyes. He didn¡¯t know why, but hearing that caused his heart to jump a bit.
¡°What do you mean by that?¡±
¡°Fourth prince is smart, so how could you not even understand such amon proverb? Or are you afraid to admit that you know what it means?¡± asked Yun Qi.
The fourth prince¡¯s expression changed slightly. His scheme had definitely beenpletely wless, but unforeseen incidents continued to pop up.
The first mishap was that Marquis Ying had failed to kill Long Chen. Although Marquis Ying had said that Long Chen was already heavily wounded and was most likely unable to survive, he still continued to feel that Long Chen wouldn¡¯t die so easily, and so he had sent the Savage Marquis to search for him.
The second mishap was that Chu Yao had managed to silently resolve the Nine Dragon Sealing Field in her body and broken through to the Tendon Transformation realm.
Although she had only just broken through and wasn¡¯t worth fearing yet, it was still something unexpected. That caused him to feel as if the situation wasn¡¯t as sure as he had thought.
And now grandmaster Yun Qi was still as calm as ever despite knowing he had stepped in a deathtrap. That caused him to feel even more uneasy, and he even felt a bit of fear.
He had been born to be just a chess piece. Then finally, he managed to escape that chess board. Now that it was his turn to control the board, he definitely didn¡¯t want his own chess pieces to be escaping from him.
¡°Your ns areughable. Just for some resources, you wasted so much time. So stupid.¡± Grandmaster Yun Qi shook his head.
That truly made the fourth prince¡¯s expression change greatly. He looked at grandmaster Yun Qi in disbelief. ¡°You actually knew?¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qi smiled slightly, but he didn¡¯t respond.
The fourth prince nced over at the distant crowds and immediately calmed himself down. He coldlyughed, ¡°In the face of death, it seems you¡¯ve taken to spouting nonsense. Grandmaster Wei Cang, what are you still waiting for?¡±
Wei Cang smiled. ¡°Well, he¡¯s an old friend I¡¯ve kept up with for dozens of years. Before I send this friend on his way, I have to give him some time to say his final words first. Well, it looks like he¡¯s finished anyway, so I¡¯ll get going.¡±
mespletely wrapped around Wei Cang¡¯s body. A zing spear appeared in his hands, and he was practically just a human-shaped ze as he charged at Yun Qi, bringing with him a terrifyingly high temperature.
Wang Luyang also summoned me armor and a sword. They pincered Yun Qi on both sides.
That terrifyingly high temperature caused space to distort. The heat made the air ripple around them, making them practically illusionary.
Suddenly, Yun Qi¡¯s eyes brightened and he actually smiled. The person who he had been waiting for had finally arrived. It was time to resolve his grudges.
BOOM! Yun Qi¡¯s arms shook and a terrifying red ze arose. Rolling waves of heat spread in every direction, roasting Wei Cang.
¡°Wei Cang, give me your life!¡±
Chapter 99: Phoenix Cry's Strongest Man
The always calm and indifferent grandmaster Yun Qi suddenly erupted. A zing me spear three meters long appeared in his hands. It contained an endless destructive will that wished to exterminate thend and sh apart the heavens.
The weapons in their hands weren¡¯t really weapons, but Pill me that had beenpressed to the peak and taken shape outside of their body. They were also called me weapons.
That was a Pill Cultivator¡¯s life me. It was the condensation of all their lifetime¡¯s effort. Its destructive power was unparalleled. It was said that if it was refined to the absolute highest realm, then it would be able to burn the heavens and vaporize the seas.
The first reaction of Wei Cang and Wang Luyang was aplete shock. Their zing weapons hastily went to block the attack.
When their three me weapons collided, everyone saw a bright light explode in front of them that made them blind. Only then did they hear an incredible explosion, and waves of heat caused them to feel as if they were in a furnace.
Shi Feng and the others¡¯ expressions greatly changed. They were the closest to this battle, just thirty or so meters away. Even just the aftershocks from that battle would be able topletely roast them.
But even though they wanted to retreat, it was already toote. It was at that time that a sword stabbed into the ground in front of them.
Shi Feng and the others immediately saw the sky darken and a wave of earthpletely covered them.
When Shi Feng finally managed to dig his way out of that boiling earth, he noticed that everything in a radius of three hundred meters had already turned into scorchednd that was emitting scalding steam as well as an unpleasant smell.
¡°You guys retreat. Don¡¯t get involved anymore.¡±
Chu Yao¡¯s voice rang in their ears. It was she who had saved them just now. She was unable to block that kind of heat, and so she had quick-wittedly raised the earth to protect Shi Feng and them.
With a heavyyer of earth covering them, they had managed to survive that first attack. Otherwise, even if they didn¡¯t die, they would still have been heavily injured.
Shi Feng¡¯s group quickly retreated. Just a few hundred meters behind them was the execution stage. But they didn¡¯t dare go over there right now. That was because there were executioners there, and they were afraid the fourth prince would suddenly order the executions of the entire Long household if they were hasty.
No matter how fast they were, they would be unable to save them from those executioners or even flee themselves. And so they couldn¡¯t blindly rush over there.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Explosive ringing continued as waves of zing heat spread. Ordinary people could only see a sky full of mes and were unable to see what was happening within that ze.
Only Blood Condensation experts with their powerful eyesight could see those three human-shaped mes that were continuously colliding.
¡°Sost time you were hiding your true strength!¡± After exchanging several blows, Wei Cang and Wang Luyang had been repeatedly forced back. Wei Cang¡¯s expression sunk as he finally realized the truth.
¡°No need for useless words. Today, the worthless lives of you two willpletely end,¡± shouted Yun Qi coldly. His entire spiritual qi was pushed to the max as his attacks became even more ruthless and sharper, forcing the two of them to repeatedly retreat.
Everyone waspletely stupefied. This was a fight between Pill Masters? It was practically a battle between me gods. Other experts were unable to even approach, let alone participate in the fight.
Before they would even be able to attack, they would already be roasted into coal. Pill cultivators truly were terrifying andpletely unstoppable.
Grandmaster Yun Qi was able to force them back repeatedly while fighting one on two. Although Wang Luyang and Wei Cang were both Pill Masters, in terms of their Pill me, they were obviously inferior to grandmaster Yun Qi and not just by a bit. Both of them couldn¡¯t help but be rmed.
At the same time as he was filled with shock, Wei Cang also couldn¡¯t help but thank his luck. He hadn¡¯t expected Yun Qi to have hidden himself so deeply. If it had been one on one, the results would have been disastrous for himself.
The power of their three Pill mes was extremely great. Despite exchanging over thirty consecutive blows, their auras didn¡¯t show the slightest signs of bing exhausted. Although Wei Cang and Wang Luyang were at a disadvantage, the fight was still at a stalemate for a while.
¡°Little girl, this time there will be no one to save you. Die!¡±
Ha Qi suddenlyughed sinisterly and charged at Chu Yao who was watching the fight from a distance. If Yun Qi had not interfered before, he would have already killed her.
Now seeing that there was no one else in his way, he immediately charged at her.
But he had only just moved when he sensed a strange stream of air. Relying on his life and death experiences, he immediately stopped.
A cold light shot past him with a ssh of blood. That was an arrow that had brushed against his nose. If Ha Qi had been even the slightest bit slower in reacting, his head would have been pierced.
¡°Can my Long family¡¯s daughter-inw be bullied by the likes of you?¡±
A deep and resounding voice spread throughout the entire battlefield. It shook everyone¡¯s hearts, as the voice contained an extreme contempt and killing intent.
Everyone waspletely shocked. They had beenpletely focused on Yun Qi¡¯s battle, but at some point, three more figures had appeared on the battlefield.
The person at the front was a tall man with a lion¡¯s nose, a wide mouth, and sword-like eyebrows. He appeared incredibly powerful. His cheeks were so sharp that they seemed to have been carved with a knife, and an icy killing intent soared from him.
¡°Long Tianxiao!¡±
That was one of three top experts of the empire, the Border Suppression Marquis Long Tianxiao who was praised as the strongest man in all of Phoenix Cry!
Whether it was the troops on the side of Phoenix Cry or the Grand Xia, everyone¡¯s hearts were jumping wildly. They werepletely pressured by just his imposing manner.
He had almost killed a Tendon Transformation expert with just a single arrow. Just what kind of strength was that? His title of military god was definitely not meaningless.
Only after people eximed did Chu Yao realize that this was Long Chen¡¯s father. But for Long Tianxiao to address her as ¡®daughter-inw¡¯ made her facepletely red. However, a warm feeling filled her heart as well.
He drew back his bow again, and another arrow shot out like lightning straight towards the execution stage. The arrow reached them practically as soon as it left the string.
What awed everyone was that after that one arrow was shot out, all the executioners standing behind Mrs. Long and the others all toppled to the ground. Only then did people realize that a small hole had appeared on each of their foreheads.
The entire field was deathly silent. Long Tianxiao¡¯s archery skill was too amazing for them to evenprehend. With just a single arrow, he killed over twenty people who were all standing in different ces.
¡°He truly is worthy of being called the strongest man of Phoenix Cry. That explosive arrow technique has practically reached the realm of perfection,¡± praised Xia Youyu.
Only Tendon Transformation experts were able to see through the profundities of Long Tianxiao¡¯s arrow just now. In reality, Long Tianxiao had used his spiritual qi to break down the arrow the moment it left the bowstring.
Once the arrow was shot forward, it scattered into pieces to be over twenty thinner arrows that killed those executioners.
But although they couldprehend this, there was no one else that was capable of such a thing other than Long Tianxiao. His arrows were enough to strike fear in the hearts of the barbarian tribes. Who knew just how many of their experts had fallen to him?
It was rumored that this archery skill had been created by Long Tianxiao. Today, everyone learned the terror behind that one arrow.
Since Long Tianxiao¡¯s arrow had killed all the executioners, Chu Yao, Shi Feng, and the others all rushed over to Mrs. Long and the rest of the Long household¡¯s side. They untied their bindings and brought them to stand behind Long Tianxiao.
Long Tianxiao slowly turned around and looked at his haggard wife. He quietly whispered, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve caused you to suffer.¡±
Mrs. Long shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s us who have burdened you. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know¡ Chen-er, he¡¡±
She couldn¡¯t continue. If even they had ended up like this, then Long Chen¡¯s situation was probably even worse.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Chen-er will be fine. How could my, Long Tianxiao¡¯s, son be defeated so easily?¡± Heforted his wife.
He then turned to look at Chu Yao and nodded in satisfaction. ¡°But that kid really does have good eyesight. He brought such a good daughter-inw back to my Long family.¡±
Chu Yao immediately blushed and her voice was minute as she said, ¡°Chu Yao greets uncle Long.¡±
Long Tianxiaoughed heartily. Then turning to Shi Feng, he patted him on the shoulders. ¡°Well done.¡±
Being praised by the strongest person in Phoenix Cry filled Shi Feng with excitement. Just what kind of honor was that? Fatty Yu and the others also looked up to Long Tianxiao with worship.
Even in front of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both empires, Long Tianxiao still acted normally, as if not even cing them in his eyes. He took action to kill without the slightest misgivings. Just what kind of boldness was that?
But when Long Tianxiao looked at the half-unconscious Wilde, his expression sunk.
¡°Husband, are Wilde¡¯s wounds urgent?¡± Mrs. Long trembled.
Long Tianxiao didn¡¯t reply. Instead, he told Chu Yao and the others to take care of everyone. He then turned to Yun Qi who was fighting fiercely and nodded.
Within Long Chen¡¯s letters was a detailed description of the current situation in the capital. It was even more detailed than his own reports.
¡°Long Tianxiao, your son Long Chenmitted a capital offense, and for both empires-¡±
Long Tianxiao waved his hand to cut off the fourth prince. ¡°You don¡¯t need to make your fake hypocritical speech. I, Long Tianxiao, don¡¯t like plotting, but that doesn¡¯t mean I am a fool. So what if you set up some traps? I¡¯ve stille. If you want to kill my Long household¡¯s people, then juste. Let me see just how many of your lives will remain afterwards.¡±
Long Tianxiao¡¯s words were said extremely emotionlessly, but they still somehow seemed to drip with blood. His meaning was clear; he wasn¡¯t suicidal ining here to their trap, but if he did die, he would bring them down with him.
As for exactly who would be brought down with him and how many people, that was something people could only wonder.
Every person there felt a cold chill run down their backs. Even the heating from that battle far away was unable to stop that chilliness.
Long Tianxiao stood alone againstyers of troops, giving off a feeling that he could not be shaken.
Mrs. Long was filled with warmth when she looked upon that familiar back. Twenty years ago, she was precisely attracted by his imposing manner that looked down upon the whole world.
Looking at him, she also thought of a slim figure. Although he wasn¡¯t so muscr, he had once also said that he would be like his father, a true hero.
Seeing that Long Tianxiao was able to rely just on his imposing manner topletely pressure everyone, Marquis Ying¡¯s eyes were filled with jealousy and hate.
Unsheathing his sword, Marquis Ying charged over, his sword pointed at Long Tianxiao. ¡°Long Tianxiao, today my sword will repay that grudge of my finger from all those years ago!¡±
Long Tianxiao cast a nce at Marquis Ying and indifferently said, ¡°Who are you again?¡±
Chapter 100: Everything Hanging By a Thread
¡°Who are you again?¡±
Marquis Ying almost burst from anger. Long Tianxiao actually acted as if he didn¡¯t recognize him?! That was the greatest possible insult and humiliation for him!
He had challenged Long Tianxiao several times back in the day, all of them which resulted in his loss. In thest one, Long Tianxiao had severed one of his fingers, which was the greatest disgrace of his entire life.
At this time, Marquis Ying had already obtained the Flesh Bone Restoration Pill and grown back that finger. That had returned his tendons to a perfect state, and he had advanced from the sixth Heavenstage to the seventh Heavenstage of Tendon Transformation, stepping into thete stage.
Although it was just one Heavenstage¡¯s difference, that was also therge step between the mid andte stage. Now that he had advanced to thete stage, hisbat ability had soared, and he was nowpletely confident and prepared to challenge Long Tianxiao again.
Before he had had the chance to challenge him, he had received the order to go kill Long Chen on that day. The result of which was that he had been continuously thwarted by Long Chen, almost losing his life in the end. That had greatly shaken his confidence.
And now from just one sentence from Long Tianxiao, his angerpletely burst and he was unable to endure it any longer. With an angry roar, he charged at Long Tianxiao.
The two of them had been separated by almost three hundred meters, but Marquis Ying closed the gap in just three steps.
On his first step, veins popped up all over his body and terrifying energy exploded from him. On the second step, he raised his sword up high, his qi pouring into the sword and the wind whistling around it.
On his third step, he suddenly sped up. His mind, spirit, and qi all merged together as his sword fell, perfectly raising his power to its absolute pinnacle.
It could be said that although Marquis Ying was infuriated, it went without saying that he was a true expert. That was something that even the Tendon Transformation experts of the Grand Xia had to admit.
Seeing Marquis Ying charge over, Long Tianxiao merely shook his head. ¡°Even after ten years, you still haven¡¯t grown the slightest bit. You want to defeat me with just yourself?¡±
A saber had appeared in Long Tianxiao¡¯s hand all of a sudden. When he unsheathed it, its cold light shined everywhere.
But just when everyone thought Long Tianxiao would send a sh out to block, he instead took a single step back. That one step ced him three meters away.
Marquis Ying almost spat out blood. His striking point was originally perfect. But now his full force blow had nowhere to release its power. It was as though he had used his full power in an attempt to cut apart a rock, only to have that rock be a soft piece of tofu. That kind of feeling of using the wrong amount of power was extremely ufortable.
Marquis Ying¡¯s swordnded on nothing but air. Knowing the situation had taken a turn for the worse, he was about to switch moves when Long Tianxiao stepped in, shing with his saber. Saber images appeared throughout the air.
BOOM! But Marquis Ying was still a Tendon Transformation expert. In that extremely unfavorable position, he was still able to forcibly use his qi to take on Long Tianxiao¡¯s de.
Marquis Ying was like a skipping stone as he tumbled dozens of meters away before stopping.
As soon as he stabilized, he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. That sudden blow and block had shaken his inner organs, causing him to be injured.
Everyone was astonished. Marquis Ying, who was also one of the three peak experts of Phoenix Cry, was unable topletely block even a single sh of Long Tianxiao¡¯s.
Xia Youyu and the others might also be surprised, but they weren¡¯t too shocked. Long Tianxiao¡¯s attack just now had been set up almost perfectly.
He had exquisitely found the perfect moment between the moment when Marquis Ying had used up his force on nothing but had yet to gather his energy again. Attacking at that moment had caused Marquis Ying to suffer a loss.
That didn¡¯t mean that Marquis Ying¡¯s cultivation base was inferior to Long Tianxiao¡¯s, but that Marquis Ying¡¯sbat ability was far toocking inparison.
Marquis Ying had stayed in seclusion training for thest couple of years. Whenever he met anyone, it would always be someone weaker and he would forcibly suppress them. He would first lock his enemies in ce before sending out a powerful blow.
But today he had been enraged and forgotten that Long Tianxiao was also ate Tendon Transformation expert. His realm was actually greater than his own, so how could it be possible for him to lock him in ce? And so that was why he had suffered so greatly.
¡°Ying Zhao, you¡¯re going to use only this level of strength to fight against me?¡± Long Tianxiao shook his head indifferently.
Marquis Ying¡¯s face turned ashen from rage. He had been careless and caught unprepared. Although the injury wasn¡¯t anything major, it definitely had impacted his confidence and spirit. For a moment, all he could do was grind his teeth in anger.
¡°The Border Suppression Marquis Long Tianxiao has rebelled. All troops are ordered to work together to capture this rebel!¡± the fourth prince ordered coldly.
Following the fourth prince¡¯s cry, there were immediately dozens of squads that charged over. Those people were obviously his trusted agents who listened to his orders without the slightest hesitation.
As for the other officers who were still shaken by the situation, when they saw that there were already people charging over, they also stopped hesitating. One by one, they all began to charge over at Long Tianxiao.
¡°Phoenix Cry brothers, we all grew up together on thisnd. I don¡¯t want to see my brothers¡¯ blood. Don¡¯t force me!¡± Long Tianxiao¡¯s shout rang out.
His shout was backed up with his spiritual qi and shook the entire sky. There were immediately several people who paused.
They were all army men, and Long Tianxiao was their idol. Just how many people wanted to be like him and be called a military god?
But now they were supposed to point their weapons at this idol. That caused many soldiers to be at a loss.
¡°Don¡¯t listen to his misleading lies! As long as you kill a single traitor, no matter their status, you will immediately receive one million gold coins and be promoted three nobility ranks!¡± cried the fourth prince.
Hearing that, some of those hesitating soldiers immediately gave up their internal struggle and charged forward, brandishing their weapons.
Ever since the day they had joined the army, they had been repeatedly taught that soldiers didn¡¯t need to think. All they needed to do was to follow orders.
And with such a huge enticement, those people all followed their instincts. But they didn¡¯t have any intentions of attacking Long Tianxiao. After all, that was an impossible-toplete mission.
Luckily, other than Long Tianxiao, there were also over twenty random members of his household. Killing one of them would be too simple. A million gold coins and a three rank promotion in nobility rank were temptations only few could resist.
Seeing the tide-like army rushing over, Long Tianxiao sighed. ¡°Have free rein to kill them.¡±
The other two people who hade with Long Tianxiao nodded. cing Mrs. Long and the others between the two, they raised their swords towards the charging army.
Sword-light shed. Limbs flew everywhere, and a rain of blood fell.
¡°What?!¡±
¡°They¡¯re Tendon Transformation experts!¡±
The fourth prince¡¯s expression changed. The two people that Long Tianxiao had brought were also Tendon Transformation experts! That waspletely out of his expectations.
He had long since investigated Long Tianxiao¡¯s bottom line strength perfectly. How could there suddenly be two new Tendon Transformation experts?!
But what he didn¡¯t know was that that was Long Chen¡¯s contribution. The Breaking Barrier Pills, which Long Chen had sent back with Chen Fei, had resulted in three people sessfully advancing to the Tendon Transformation realm.
The remaining people hadn¡¯t broken through, but they could already sense the barrier much clearer now. It shouldn¡¯t be long before they could also break through.
That had absolutely delighted Long Tianxiao. From Long Chen¡¯s letter, he learned that the undercurrents in the imperial capital were about to reach a critical moment at any time and that he should make his preparations.
After just considering it for a moment, Long Tianxiao collected his whole force stealthily and approached the barbarian tribes. But he had been surprised to see that the barbarians tribes had also been collecting in order to prepare for a huge battle.
However, since he had noticed this, he had immediately brought those three Tendon Transformation experts to the huge barbarian army that numbered in the hundreds of thousands. With four Tendon Transformation experts attacking, plus the fact they wereunching a sneak attack, the barbarian army suffered a huge loss. The majority of their army was killed, and the rest fled deep into the mountains. Although there was no way to chase, it was enough to intimidate them from evering back again.
That was the greatest victory ever gained over the barbarian army. Having massacred hundreds of thousands of barbarians, everyone was fired up.
As soon as he had won this victory, he had received news from the capital that the Long household was to be executed.
After thinking it over for a moment, Long Tianxiao still decided to leave behind one Tendon Transformation expert as a guard and brought the other two rushing back to the capital in order to save them.
If he ended up bringing away all the experts, then on the off-chance that the barbarian tribes once more gathered together, the border might really not be able to defend without a single Tendon Transformation expert guarding it.
That was why Long Tianxiao had only brought two of them. Although the two had only just broken through to the Tendon Transformation realm, they were people who had fought alongside Long Tianxiao for many years and their battle experience was extremely great. Theirbat strength was such that those so-called ¡®elite troops¡¯ of the capital were just a bunch of slow-moving ants that could be swatted away with their eyes closed.
Those two Tendon Transformation experts took the vanguard, ughtering the charging army. Chu Yao and Shi Feng guarded the rear. If any fish managed to slip through their, they would be able to easily kill them.
As for fatty Yu, Shou Hou, and the others, they were standing right alongside Mrs. Long and the others as guards. However, there was basically no chance for them to do anything as of yet.
As for Long Tianxiao, he was now surrounded by three Tendon Transformation experts. They were Marquis Ying, Marquis Wu, and a Tendon Transformation expert from the Grand Xia.
The first Tendon Transformation expert, who had been shot through the nose by Long Tianxiao¡¯s arrow, had returned to his own camp in order to recuperate.
That was because without his nose, his senses were greatly affected. It was not just his sense of smell; the distraction of the loss of his nose slowed down all his other senses as well. On the battlefield, that handicap could easily result in Long Tianxiao killing him in a single blow. Tendon Transformation experts were an extremely precious military strength that no one would easily sacrifice.
But no one had expected just how overwhelming Long Tianxiao was. Even one against three, he was still beating them. That Grand Xia expert was almost cut in half by his de. He had only been saved luckily by Marquis Wu.
Even one against three, he was still as valiant as ever, forcing back his opponents and making them fear for their lives. That caused everyone to recognize that the only one worthy of being Phoenix Cry¡¯s strongest man was Long Tianxiao.
As for grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s battle with Wei Cang and Wang Luyang, that was also nearing its climax. It was bing more and more intense and dangerous. But they were far away from this battlefield, and their ripples didn¡¯t reach that far.
The most dangerous spot still had to be Mrs. Long¡¯s side. The imperial capital¡¯s soldiers seemed to have be insane. They charged forward, unafraid of death, for that reward. They were hopeful that as long as they managed to kill a single person from the Long household, their careers would soar higher than ever.
Despite the two Tendon Transformation experts fighting as hard as they could, despite the mountains of corpses that littered the ground, the locust-like army was still unstoppable. Fatty Yu and the others also had to start fighting with their lives on the lines. Danger sprung up from all sides, and they were gradually bing unable to hang on.
As for Marquis Ying¡¯s group of three, no matter how hard they fought, they were still powerless to deal with Long Tianxiao. Marquis Ying couldn¡¯t help being shaken, and a spear suddenly appeared in his hand.
That spear was shot out just like a shooting star towards Mrs. Long¡¯s group, its powerpletely unblockable.
¡°Long Tianxiao, first I¡¯ll kill your wife and let you also taste the vor of resentment!¡± Hatred and resentment twisted Marquis Ying¡¯s face.
Long Tianxiao hadn¡¯t expected Marquis Ying to suddenly make such a dirty attack. Those two Tendon Transformation experts werepletely caught up with trying to block the huge army, and the others were all surrounded. No one else had noticed that spear yet.
And even if someone did notice it, it would be useless. In front of a Tendon Transformation expert¡¯s attack, there was basically no one who could block it in the Blood Condensation realm.
Chu Yao was the first member on that side to notice the spear. Her expression greatly changed. It was already toote to push Mrs. Long aside. She directly rushed in front of her, actually using her own body to take that spear.
¡°NO!¡± Long Tianxiao roared. That spear contained a Tendon Transformation expert¡¯s full force. It was something that the physical body could not possibly block. The both of them would be killed!
BANG!
A ray of ck light shed. That spear was turned into powder by a terrifying force. When the smoke and ashes scattered, a pitch-ck broadsword appeared in front of everyone¡¯s eyes.
That ck broadsword was in the hands of a youth. His robes fluttered and his long hair danced.
¡°I guess this counts as making it on time.¡±
Chapter 101: Looking Down Disdainfully
¡°Long Chen!¡±
Seeing that figure, everyone¡¯s heart madly pounded. Long Chen had actually managed to make it back at this critical moment.
Originally, Chu Yao had already closed her eyes, waiting for death. But opening her eyes and seeing that familiar figure she had been longing to see, her tears began to flow out of her control.
¡°Sorry I¡¯mte.¡± Long Chen hugged Chu Yao and gently patted her back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll handle everything.¡±
Suddenly, an angry roar rang out. The soldiers, who had been tightly encircling the Long household¡¯s people, let out frightened cries.
Without realizing it, a huge snow-white wolf had appeared in front of them. Opening its mouth, a wind de shot out.
That wind de was like a rapidly whirling crescent moon. As soon as it left Little Snow¡¯s mouth, it immediately multiplied in size and mercilessly cut down the soldiers in front.
That terrifying wind de cut them down like a sickle going through grass. Over a hundred soldiers that had been in its path were all cut to pieces, blood filling the sky.
¡°Good job, Little Snow. Do your best to kill them for me!¡± shouted Long Chen. He was filled with killing intent for these people which were surrounding his household. Whether it was voluntary or not, he would definitely never forgive people who hurt those he was close to.
If he had beente just a single step just now, Chu Yao and his mother would have definitely died. That was the thing that frightened him the most, so he wouldn¡¯t show any mercy.
¡°ROAR!!!¡± Little Snow shot out a wind de once more. The space in front of him immediately became empty of living enemies. Those soldiers were all terrified by the appearance of such a powerful Magical Beast and ran away.
Little Snow¡¯s two attacks immediately relieved the pressure on them. The two Tendon Transformation experts Long Tianxiao had brought along worked together with Shi Feng and the others to drive back the attackers.
¡°Mom, your son has been unfilial and made you suffer.¡± Long Chen couldn''t help but feel ashamed when he looked at his mother¡¯s haggard face.
¡°Foolish child, what suffering has your mom endured? You are the one who has had to endure pain.¡±
Although she didn¡¯t know exactly what had been happening with Long Chen during this time, she definitely knew his days had not been better off. Looking at the travel-weary Long Chen, her heart hurt for him.
Long Chen was about to say something when his expression suddenly changed. He had just noticed Wilde and quickly rushed over to him.
Wilde¡¯s face was now a sickly yellow color. His eyes were sunk in, and his aura was incredibly weak. His lifeforce was like a flickering candle that might be extinguished at any moment. After all, no matter how powerful a person was, they would never be able to forever endure that many Bone Eroding Needles.
Wilde, who was on his deathbed, slowly opened his eyes when he heard Long Chen¡¯s voice. He spoke as if he had been relieved of a great burden. ¡°Sorry brother Long, Wilde is too stupid and useless. I failed the mission you entrusted me and hurt mom so greatly¡¡±
¡°No, you did very well. But now I¡¯ll handle everything.¡± Long Chen cut him off. Wilde was covered in Bone Eroding Needles and was on hisst breath.
Killing intent soared within him. The pain of a Bone Eroding Needle was something that a pill cultivator like him waspletely aware of. Having tormented an originally sturdy man into such a state, Long Chen¡¯s anger was almost enough to make him explode.
¡°Brother Long, I might not be able to go on.¡± Wilde was a bit ashamed.
¡°Nonsense. With me here, you definitely won¡¯t die. You still have to fight alongside me in the future.¡±
Long Chen took out a pearl from his ring. That was something which that expert from the Spirit World had given him right as she was leaving.
That wasn¡¯t really a true pearl, but a sphere of liquid. But it was so dense that it seemed just like a pearl.
An extremely powerful life essence was contained within it. Long Chen pressed down on the pearl with his finger and a sparkling droplet of liquid floated out of it and went into Wilde¡¯s mouth.
As soon as that drop entered Wilde¡¯s body, he actually gradually began to awaken from his almost dead state.
¡°Bear with the pain. I¡¯ll remove those needles.¡± Seeing that it had been effective, Long Chen began to use his Spiritual Strength. Those dozens of Bone Eroding Needles were all carefully extracted by his Spiritual Strength. Wilde let out a pained groan and fainted.
Long Chen gave Wilde a quick examination. He realized Wilde¡¯s body had entered a state of suspended animation in order to protect itself. The strong life essence he had given him was currently slowly spreading throughout his body and he wouldn¡¯t be in any danger. But he would be unable to fight for a while.
After telling Bao-er and the others to look after Wilde, Long Chen looked around. With the addition of Little Snow, those soldiers that were still continuously pouring over from every direction were now unable to break through their defensive ring.
Long Chen¡¯s arrival had impacted Shi Feng and the others greatly. They felt themselves be filled with strength and they fought on even more valiantly.
Only at this moment did Long Chen have the time to carefully examine the battlefield. A couple of miles away were huge zes that were continuously colliding. That was the ce where grandmaster Yun Qi was fighting Wei Cang and Wang Luyang.
In another ce was a tall and muscr man. The saber in his hands danced as he valiantly fought against three Tendon Transformation experts.
Seeing that figure, Long Chen¡¯s heart warmed. That was his father that he had not seen in many years. But that impression of him from his childhood was still as clear as ever.
Long Chen smiled. Waving his hand over the ground, he collected those Bone Eroding Needles. Raising and cing his broadsword on his shoulder, he began to walk out.
When he arrived at where Shi Feng was fighting against the invading soldiers, he shed out his sword and over a dozen soldiers at the front were immediately blown back.
¡°You¡¯re a good brother.¡± Long Chen patted Shi Feng¡¯s shoulders. To stand by his Long household¡¯s side even at this time, he was definitely a true life and death brother.
¡°I¡¯ll let you guys handle this ce. I¡¯ll go over there and settle an old grudge with Marquis Ying.¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t wait for Shi Feng to say anything before walking out just like that.
Long Chen had managed to block an attack from Marquis Ying as soon as he had arrived, shocking everyone. Seeing him slowly walk out now, those soldiers couldn¡¯t help but tremble and slowly fell back a couple of steps.
¡°What are you afraid of?! It¡¯s just one person! Everyone attack together. As long as we kill Long Chen, our families will live in riches for generations toe!¡±
A loud shout immediately stirred up everyone¡¯s passions. No matter how strong Long Chen was, he wouldn¡¯t be able to block their huge army of hundreds of thousands of men. They would definitely be able to tire him to death.
The soldiers roared and raised their weapons, charging over at Long Chen like a powerful tide. But Long Chen seemed to have not even seen them, merely looking over to the distant Marquis Ying.
¡°Careful!¡± Shi Feng shouted in rm. Seeing that Long Chen ignored those soldiers, he nervously called out a warning
Long Chen still seemed to act like he hadn¡¯t heard him. Still walking in his original direction, he was immediately submerged by the huge army.
¡°Pill me Wave.¡±
Suddenly, a huge wave of fire roared and immediately spread hundreds of meters, the rolling waves of heat swallowing up the surrounding soldiers.
¡°AHHH!¡± Miserable screams rang out as the terrifying me turned them into fire people. The people closest to Long Chen didn¡¯t even have the chance to shout out before being directly turned to ashes.
As for the ones that were further away, only they had had the opportunity to scream to their heart¡¯s content. However, those screams were all cut short, and in just a breath¡¯s time, everything became eerily silent.
The soldiers were allpletely horrified and hastily fled. They now realized that Long Chen was also a pill cultivator with a terrifyingly powerful Pill me.
mes surged all over Long Chen¡¯s body. It was impossible to see him clearly, but they could tell his huge sword was still hung over his shoulder as he was slowly walking forward.
From the start, Long Chen hadn¡¯t paused his steps. Those people that had blocked him were treated as just dust on his path.
As he slowly walked, his Pill me scorched thend and filled the soldiers with fear.
It was as if a me god had descended down and was filled with disdain for everything and everyone. No one dared to go block Long Chen again. Instead, they all began to retreat, and an open path appeared in front of Long Chen.
Chu Yao was filled with emotion as she looked upon that god-like back. He was always so reliable, never disappointing anyone.
Shi Feng, fatty Yu, and the others had their passions ignited even further as they watched Long Chen¡¯s back. He walked right through an army of hundreds of thousands; his enemies were nothing to him and none dared to block him. Just how imposing was that?
Having been impacted by that scene, those soldiers that were originally full of spirit became sluggish, their morale plummeting.
That relieved a great deal of pressure on Shi Feng and them. After all, their goal wasn¡¯t to exterminate their enemies, but just to defend.
Otherwise, with Chu Yao and those two Tendon Transformation experts, killing a path out of the army would have been extremely easy.
However, they had to properly protect Mrs. Long and the others. If a soldier managed to charge through their blockade because they were busy attacking, that would be aplete disaster. And so they were unable to truly fight freely.
Luckily, Little Snow had now joined them. A second rank Magical Beast was even more intimidating than a Tendon Transformation expert in their eyes.
Although Little Snow¡¯s wind des could only be used after saving up energy for a while, his actual physical body was so tough that their spears werepletely unable to pierce his skin.
Just like that, Long Chen walked out of their encirclement. He rushed over to his father¡¯s side. As for those soldiers, he couldn¡¯t be bothered to kill them.
His mother had many guards, and those ordinary soldiers werepletely unable to approach her. Right now there was something more important for him to do. His true enemy was right in front of him.
As for the fourth prince, he had immediately felt uneasy when Long Chen had appeared. Seeing Long Chen¡¯s current disy of strength and confidence, it seemed the present was starting to deviate far from his original n.
If he didn¡¯t have misgivings about that person, he might even have had an urge to run. The fourth prince suddenly turned to Xia Youyu. ¡°My army has already gone out. It¡¯s time for your side to also start moving.¡±
Xia Youyu mockingly smiled, ¡°Are you ordering me? Or begging me?¡±
The fourth prince was speechless for a moment. He cursed every single member of his maternal family inside, knowing that this bastard truly was iparably sinister.
He had only sent out a single Tendon Transformation expert from his side to maintain appearances. But he was just purposely watching as the Phoenix Cry Empire fought irreconcbly against the Long household.
That was to lower Phoenix Cry¡¯s military might. After Chu Xia obtained the Phoenix Cry Empire, if its strength was already greatly lowered, they would have to rely on the Grand Xia in order to survive.
¡°We are working together. It¡¯d be best for you to understand that.¡± The fourth prince ground his teeth.
¡°I¡¯m not working with you. Since the person I¡¯m working with hasn¡¯t said anything, I don¡¯t need to make any move.¡± Xia Youyuughed mockingly.
The fourth prince¡¯s expression immediately became ugly. Turning his head back, he saw a white-robed man sitting in a chair amongst a crowd of people, silently drinking tea.
At the same time as anxiety filled the fourth prince¡¯s heart, Long Chen arrived at Long Tianxiao¡¯s battlefield. Looking at the familiar figure, Long Chen smiled slightly.
¡°Can you give one to me?¡±
Chapter 102: Shocking Everyone
BANG!
Long Tianxiao¡¯s de sharply sped up, and with a cold shout, he collided with the three others. He took a few steps back and looked at Long Chen, gratified.
¡°Excellent, as expected of my Long Tianxiao¡¯s son. This is how men should be!¡±
Everything Long Chen had done since arriving had been seen by him. That sniffling child that always followed behind him had already be a true man.
Back when he had left, Long Chen had just been a child who only knew how to cry. But in the blink of an eye, he had grown up.
He felt both gratified and as if he had lost something. His greatest regret was that he hadn¡¯t been able to apany Long Chen as he grew up. The bitterness Long Chen had had to suffer over these years was something he was extremely aware of.
It was also precisely because of that suffering that Long Chen, who should still be an immature teen, had matured earlier and be a man capable of supporting heaven and earth, someone who could be relied on to block the wind and rain of life.
Seeing that Long Chen had arrived, Marquis Ying and the others paused. Marquis Ying¡¯s face was especially ugly.
Last time he had only managed to return half dead. That was all because of Long Chen. Seeing him standing there as healthy as ever, he was filled with resentment.
¡°Long Chen,st time you were lucky. Do you still think you can flee again?¡±
¡°Flee? But it seems that the person who fled at the endst time wasn¡¯t me, was it?¡± Long Chen coldlyughed.
Marquis Ying¡¯s face immediately turned purple from rage. Long Chen¡¯s words were no different than giving him an open p on the face.
Back then, he had chased Long Chen only to be sent fleeing from Long Chen¡¯s sword. A Tendon Transformation expert had been sent fleeing from a Qi Condensation novice. Was there anything else in the world that could be so ridiculous?
The other three people, including Long Tianxiao, were all shocked. Marquis Wu, who had known that Marquis Ying had been severely injured, had once asked him about his injuries, but Marquis Ying had refused to say the slightest.
But now from what the two of them were saying and then adding on Marquis Ying¡¯s expression, they could all infer some clues. And it was precisely because they managed to guess what had happened that they were so shocked.
¡°Hahaha, this is how my Long Tianxiao¡¯s son should be! Excellent, today us father and son will join hands and let them see the grandness of our Long family¡¯s men!¡±
Long Tianxiao¡¯sughed heartily. He had already learned from Chen Fei that Long Chen¡¯s growth had been extremely rapid. Chen Fei himself, a peak Blood Condensation expert, had beenpletely under Long Chen¡¯s control.
But Long Tianxiao knew that that had just been luck. Long Chen had relied on alchemy to take advantage of him, and Chen Fei also wasn¡¯t truly trying to fight against him. So when he had heard Chen Fei¡¯s praise, he had merely smiled slightly.
However, seeing Long Chen appear on the battlefield like this, crushing Marquis Ying¡¯s spear, advancing through a huge army like it was nothing, disying his imposingness, he knew that that was no fake. That kind of level was something only someone who had been tempered by repeatedly narrowly escaping death was capable of reaching.
And now from their exchange of word¡¯s, Long Tianxiao saw the domineering side of Long Chen. The current Long Chen possessed the air of a true expert.
The situation was still as desperate as ever. But now that Long Chen had arrived, Long Tianxiao celebrated. He also wanted to see just how strong his son had grown.
¡°I¡¯ll go first. You focus on safety; don¡¯t try to show off.¡± Long Tianxiao quietly warned him and then dashed forward, many saber images appearing around him. The saber light was like a wave as it immediately engulfed the three of them.
Obviously, Long Tianxiao was someone who cared deeply about his child. Even now, he was still afraid to put Long Chen in danger. After all, Long Chen was still too young. This kind of life and death battle was too dangerous.
Looking at Long Tianxiao¡¯s back, Long Chen recalled how when he was young, his father would secretly bring him into the mountains for some adventures behind his mother¡¯s back.
One time, Long Chen had been wielding a sword against a small wild boar. His father had taken the front while he assisted to the side, and the two had ¡®worked together¡¯ to bring it down.
Now over ten years had passed. That back still hadn¡¯t changed and was still asrge and as imposing as ever. But the slight whitening of his hair caused Long Chen to feel wistful.
Father, I¡¯ve already grown up. Let me take the vanguard this time.
Taking a look over their three opponents, Long Chen charged forward explosively, shing at Marquis Ying.
Marquis Ying had long since been on guard. If the question was who had the greatest understanding of Long Chen here, it would definitely have to be him. He was the only one who knew how powerful Long Chen was. If anyone underestimated him due to his youth, they would definitely be just asking for death.
Seeing Long Chen charging over, Marquis Yingughed coldly. Taking a single step back, he retreated from Long Tianxiao¡¯s attack radius.
Seeing that strange smile on Marquis Ying¡¯s face, Long Tianxiao couldn¡¯t help but feel rmed. He had a profound understanding of this old opponent of his. Although hisbat ability was inferior to his own by a level, his sinister schemes were definitely terrifying.
Although he didn¡¯t know just what his n was, he instinctively sped up over in that direction, wanting to lock him in a battle with him.
But Marquis Wu and that expert from the Grand Xia had seen through Long Tianxiao¡¯s intentions. They exploded out with their full force, forcibly blocking him.
Veins popped out on Marquis Ying¡¯s forehead and an unprecedentedly powerful aura soared. His sword shook and immediately a powerful explosive sound that sent qi waves surging rang out.
¡°Careful, it¡¯s an Earth ss Battle Skill!¡±
Long Tianxiao was greatly startled. He hadn¡¯t expected Marquis Ying to use an Earth ss Battle Skill at this time. Even a Tendon Transformation expert would only be able to use such a thing twice in one battle.
Earth ss Battle Skills were frighteningly terrifying, but the exhaustion rate was also ordingly great. It would quickly use up all your spiritual qi, and unless you were forced to, you would rarely ever use one.
And so during their battle up until this point, the four of them had yet to use any Earth ss Battle Skills. That was because if they didn¡¯t manage to kill someone with it, then the situation would be extremely dangerous.
Long Tianxiao had yet to use one because he was never certain of being able to kill the three in front of him. There were also three other Tendon Transformation experts watching him from the side like tigers stalking their prey.
And so they had all kept their trump cards in reserve. But now Marquis Ying decided to use one of those trump cards on just Long Chen! That was definitely out of Long Tianxiao¡¯s expectations. That just wasn¡¯tmon sense.
Of course, if Long Tianxiao had known that Marquis Ying had almost died under Long Chen¡¯s hands, he definitely wouldn¡¯t be thinking like that.
Long Chen looked at Marquis Ying¡¯s smile and thought to himself, You¡¯re smiling? I hope you can still smile afterwards.
His FengFu Star activated, and his body¡¯s qi began to wildly circte. Waves of qi shot out from his body.
Even Long Tianxiao and the other two were startled by that. But by the time they sensed the change in his aura, Long Chen had already charged over in front of Marquis Ying.
¡°Parting Wind sh!¡±
¡°Breaking Void sh!¡±
BOOM! The explosive sound from their collision shook the entire battlefield, suppressing all the other sounds. The earth trembled, making it so everyone was stumbling, the aftershocks horrifying them.
People only managed to see the two of them collide before a cloud of dust filled the sky. Even Long Tianxiao and the other two were shaken back and retreated, looking on in shock.
One figure was blown out of the dust and tumbled across the ground several times. The powerful force that had blown him back had left behind a long scar on the hard ground.
That person vomited blood. There were also some broken pieces of his inner organs in there.
The white-robed man, who had been indifferently sipping tea in the back of the crowd, identally tightened his grip in shock, causing the tea to ssh over his body. Slowly taking out a handkerchief and wiping up the tea, he muttered to himself:
¡°He¡¯sparable to a top talent. How unfortunate.¡±
When the dust settled, a huge crater appeared in everyone¡¯s eyes. Long Chen was still standing in front of that crater, his ck hair dancing in the wind, and his broadsword still maintaining his downward sh posture.
On the other side of the crater, Marquis Ying was aplete mess. He looked at Long Chen inplete shock and horror.
¡°Blood¡ Condensation¡¡±
A faint Blood Qi wasing out from Long Chen¡¯s body, causing the surrounding space to twist. That clearly told everyone he had stepped into the Blood Condensation realm.
Long Chen¡¯s figure suddenly disappeared, and when he once more emerged, he was already at Marquis Ying¡¯s side. His speed was so fast that people couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes.
Long Chen didn¡¯t waste the slightest bit of time on useless words. After advancing into the Blood Condensation realm, his speed and power had both sharply risen. His usage of the Windchasing Steps had reached the pinnacle, and as soon as he arrived, his sword sliced sideways.
¡°Parting Wind Slice!¡±
Marquis Ying¡¯s expression changed, not expecting Long Chen to follow up so quickly with another move like this. Normally, Tendon Transformation experts would all need to store up energy in order to use Earth ss Battle Skills, but Long Chen seemed to be able to consecutively use them without pause.
Theirst exchange had heavily injured Marquis Ying. And the current move Long Chen was using didn¡¯t seem the slightest bit weaker in terms of aura. He was scared witless.
His sword had been shattered into pieces during theirst exchange. After all, longswords were never suited to shing through using force.
Now he was weaponless as Long Chen¡¯s sword sliced over. Marquis Ying hastily took out five thick shields and lined them up between him and Long Chen. At the same time, he forced down the pain and quickly jumped back.
He didn¡¯t have the slightest hope that those shields would be able to block Long Chen¡¯s attack. He only hoped to gain enough time to flee from Long Chen¡¯s attack range.
BOOM! Those huge shields that had been made from the finest steel essence were like paper in front of Long Chen¡¯s attack, immediately blown apart by his terrifying astral wind.
Although Marquis Ying had quickly retreated, he had no idea that Long Chen¡¯s Earth ss Battle Skill was actually capable of long-distance attacks.
Marquis Ying was struck midair and was like a kite whose string had been cut, falling from the sky.
¡°Parting Wind Stab!¡±
A cold shout that sounded as if it hade from the god of death from the depths of the underworld rang in Marquis Ying¡¯s ears.
Marquis Ying¡¯s body, which had been falling, suddenly stopped midair. A broadsword had pierced his stomach. The other end of the broadsword was in Long Chen¡¯s hand.
Everyone was deathly silent. Other than grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s battlefield which couldn¡¯t see what had happened, everyone paused. They all looked over at Long Chen in shock.
Marquis Ying looked in disbelief at his stomach. He couldn¡¯t even feel any pain. All he felt was his body growing colder and colder.
Slowly raising his head, he followed along the broadsword¡¯s length to look upon its master. A pair of emotionless eyes stared back at him.
¡°Ying Zhao, back when you tried to kill me, I already said that since my father was able to sever your finger, I will sever your head.¡±
He pulled his broadsword out of Marquis Ying¡¯s stomach and shed it across the air. A head flew up and tumbled to the ground.
¡°When the men of the Long family say we¡¯ll do something, we do it. Now you believe it, right?¡±
Chapter 103: Fierce Battle
Everything was deathly silent. Only Long Chen¡¯s voice echoed throughout the field. His domineering words were like a huge hammer that smashed into the core of people¡¯s hearts.
Leaning on his broadsword which was stabbed into the ground, it was as if he were the only person in the world. Even as he just motionlessly stood there, his imposing manner caused people to be awed.
Suddenly he swung his sword, flinging the blood upon it off. In front of everyone¡¯s gazes, he began to walk over to the fourth prince.
His broadsword dragged along the ground as he walked. Its terrifying weight left a deep scar on the ground. That soft sound as it cut across the ground sounded incredibly loud in people¡¯s ears.
The fourth prince¡¯s expression changed. His first reaction when Long Chen looked at him was terror. He felt as if a god of death had locked onto him.
¡°Go kill Long Chen.¡± At this moment, the white-robed man who hadn¡¯t spoken up until this point put down his teacup. Thinking for a moment, he then added, ¡°If you can¡¯t kill him, you guys also don¡¯t need to live anymore.¡±
Xia Youyu¡¯s expression changed, but he didn¡¯t dare retort. Coldly ncing at the fourth prince, he told the two people behind him, ¡°Go.¡±
Long Chen was in the midst of walking forward when three people charged over at him. They were Xia Youyu and the two other Tendon Transformation experts. One of them, the one who no longer had a nose, had almost been killed by Long Tianxiao at the beginning.
¡°Die!¡± Those three weren¡¯t the slightest bit careless after having seen Long Chen defeat Marquis Ying, a veteran Tendon Transformation expert, in just three moves. They exploded out with their full force as they attacked Long Chen.
Xia Youyu held a steel spear in his hands with a ck light shining over it. He was the first to attack, and an ear-piercing sonic boom rang out.
In the distance, Long Tianxiao waspletely shocked. Although Xia Youyu was the Grand Xia¡¯s Emperor, his cultivation base was extremely high. Back when the two empires had been waging war against each other, he had once fought against him.
But back then, the two of them had beenpletely evenly matched without either able to gain an advantage. Later, Xia Youyu ascended the throne and the two empires¡¯ rtionship improved. No other conflicts like that urred again.
Seeing his attack today, Long Tianxiao noticed that despite being Emperor, Xia Youyu¡¯s cultivation base hadn¡¯t fallen at all. In fact, his cultivation base was even more refined than before.
His dedication to cultivating was also why Xia Youyu only had two sons. The imperial pce had countless concubines, but he was not at all absorbed with their female charm. That kind of willpower shocked others.
Long Tianxiao cared deeply about his beloved son and was afraid he would be unable to survive. He decided to quickly kill his two opponents and go help him.
Although Long Chen had revealed apletely shocking battle strength, using three Earth ss Battle Skills consecutively, he was still too young. He was just in the Blood Condensation realm. Long Tianxiao didn¡¯t even know how he had managed to use Earth ss Battle Skills consecutively.
But no matter what, three Earth ss Battle Skills would greatly exhaust one¡¯s spiritual qi. Even Tendon Transformation experts would have run out of spiritual qi. That was what Long Tianxiao was most worried about.
BOOM! Marquis Wu and the other expert worked together to block one of Long Tianxiao¡¯s attacks, but their inner organs were greatly shaken
The two of them shivered. Only when three of them had worked together had they managed to just barely draw a tie against Long Tianxiao. Now that Marquis Ying had died, they were immediately unable to endure and became strained.
Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t retreat at this point. Both sides had be like water and fire without any possibility of reconciliation. Retreat only meant death. The only option was to continue resisting. They weren¡¯t hoping to kill Long Tianxiao. They were merely hoping the others could quickly kill Long Chen and thene to help them.
Seeing Xia Youyu¡¯s thrust, Long Chen didn¡¯t dare be overconfident. His broadsword hacked in front of him.
BOOM! When the sword and spear collided, both parties had to retreat several steps. They both looked at the other in shock.
Long Chen hadn¡¯t expected this luxuriously dressed man to be so strong. In terms of pure power, he was an even match for him.
Once Long Chen had advanced to Blood Condensation, his qi and blood had merged, and his strength had explosively grown. Despite Marquis Ying being a Tendon Transformation expert, he could alreadypletely ignore him.
But Xia Youyu had surprisingly blocked his sword. Although neither of them had used their full strength, Long Chen could tell that this person was much, much stronger than Marquis Ying.
¡°Excellent. In all these years, other than Long Tianxiao, you are the only one who could receive a blow from me.¡± Xia Youyu shook out his slightly numb hand.
Although Xia Youyu was the Emperor of the Grand Xia Empire, he was absolutely obsessed with battle. Furthermore, due to his extraordinary strength, hisbat ability was unmatched.
In his entire life, when fighting against the same realm, other than Long Tianxiao, no one had ever been a match for him. In fact, he had managed to be Emperor because of his powerful fists.
Having his hand turn slightly numb because of one of Long Chen¡¯s attack, he was absolutely shocked. But since he absolutely could not show weakness, he ended up boasting confidently.
¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re strong. All it means is that you¡¯re a frog in a well who hasn¡¯t seen the world.¡± Long Chen coldly snorted. He disliked these kinds of fakers the most, especially those who boasted so confidently without any true strength.
¡°Bastard. Let me see just what qualifications you have to be so insolent.¡± Xia Youyu was infuriated by Long Chen¡¯s words. As an Emperor, being insulted like this by a teenager was aplete humiliation. His spear shot out. A lotus blossomed on the speartip as it thrust towards Long Chen.
The previous attack had just been a probing attack. He had seen Long Chen kill Marquis Ying in just three moves. And while he was sure that he could also defeat Marquis Ying, he definitely could not kill him within three moves. A seventh Heavenstage of Tendon Transformation expert was not a simple opponent.
So he was actually filled with dread towards Long Chen. Inside he was far from as rxed as he appeared on the outside. In their previous exchange that had focused on brute strength, he hadn¡¯t been able to gain even the slightest advantage.
So this new attack was based on skill and technique. Within a thousand spear images that formed a lotus, his true attack was perfectly hidden. If an opponent guessed wrongly, he would have obtained a chance to kill them in a single blow. That was one of his best moves.
The instant Xia Youyu sent this spear attack, the other two experts also attacked. One held a scimitar while the other held a sickle,pletely sealing off any of his possible escape paths.
Seeing those three Tendon Transformation experts attack him at the same time, Long Chen¡¯s eyes brightened with excitement. Tightly gripping his broadsword in both hands, he coldly shouted:
¡°Whirlwind sh!¡±
Following his shout, his broadsword shed in a circle. Waves of qi rolled off from Long Chen into the sky just like a hurricane.
People were unable to see just what was happening inside that pir-like hurricane. Suddenly, explosive ringing came from within. It sounded like just one sound, but at the same time, it sounded like multiple collisions.
Three sorry figures flew out after that ringing. People were shocked to see that it was Xia Youyu¡¯s group of three. Xia Youyu stabbed his spear into the ground but was still blown back over thirty meters despite doing his best to stop. An unhealthy red color rose onto his face. He had clearly suffered an injury.
As for the other two, they were not as powerful as Xia Youyu. They were sent tumbling back over a hundred meters before stopping. One of them slowly stood up and directly vomited blood.
As for the other, that was the man whose nose had been removed by Long Tianxiao. He vomited out mouthful after mouthful of blood, in the end fainting directly.
The hurricane finally came to a pause, slowly revealing Long Chen. Some people almost forgot to breath when they saw him.
First, he managed to defeat a Tendon Transformation expert in just three blows. And now he had used one attack topletely force back three experts. This Long Chen was basically a freak.
The white-robed man in the distance finally revealed a shocked expression. Long Chen¡¯sbat strength caused him to think of those monsters from his sect.
He was just an outer disciple in the sect. This time he had managed to obtain an enormous fortune. As long as hepleted the sect¡¯s mission, he could be promoted to be an inner disciple.
Then he would also obtain the sect Elders¡¯ personal nurturing. And above the inner disciples were the even higher-ranked core disciple monsters.
Those people were all known to be unrivaled within their realm. Their terrifying talent and strength could cause anyone to go mad from envy.
As for Long Chen¡¯s current disy of strength, while it wasn¡¯t enough for the white-robed man to be afraid, he knew that Long Chen was still just at the Blood Condensation realm. With his talent, he could easily stand side by side with those monster-ss geniuses.
At the same time as he was shocked, he also felt another ufortable feeling. That was perhaps jealousy, an intense, uncontroble jealousy.
Bing an inner disciple was his life¡¯s goal. As for a core disciple, that was something he didn¡¯t even dare to think about.
But if the sect were to learn of Long Chen, they would definitely do everything they could no matter the price to have him join the sect, and they would make him a core disciple immediately.
A cold light shed in the white-robed man¡¯s eyes. Long Chen had to die. It wasn¡¯t only just because he was his chess piece, but also because he didn¡¯t want another monster-ss genius to emerge.
Long Chen let out a turbid breath. The Whirlwind sh was as powerful as he had expected, but the exhaustion was also too terrifying.
This move was something Long Chen had personallye up with. It was based on the Three Style Parting Wind¡¯s various styles. So rather than saying he hade up with it himself, it would be more urate to say that he had improved upon the Three Style Parting Wind.
After familiarizing himself with the Three Style Parting Wind, he had noticed that its principles were quite excellent and not as rigid as other moves. There was a great deal of room for freedom.
He had improved upon the principle of the Parting Wind Slice, increasing the speed and power, and then adding on the spinning of a martial weapon to form a tornado astral wind attack that created an area attack that blocked everything around him.
Previously, Long Chen had only tested it a bit and found the effect to be quite good. Being attacked by three experts, Long Chen had been a bit afraid that its power wouldn¡¯t be enough, and so he had used his full force to attack without holding anything back.
The result was that its power was absolutely shocking. But the price was also very great as well. After just that one attack, he felt that he had used up over half of his spiritual qi.
Long Chen stamped on the ground and charged over. The Whirlwind sh¡¯s power was a pleasant surprise, but the battle hadn¡¯t ended yet. His broadsword came shing down at Xia Youyu.
Xia Youyu still hadn¡¯t recovered from that previous attack, and seeing him attack again, he couldn¡¯t help being horrified. Long Chen was practically a never-tiring monster!
He took a deep breath. He knew that if he still didn¡¯t use his full force, he really would be done for. His entire body¡¯s spiritual qi surged out and madly flowed into his spear.
Crack. The ground beneath his feet began to crack, and the shock in his eyes was reced with confidence. He thrust his spear forward to meet Long Chen, its power causing the air around it to tremble.
¡°Cliff Destruction Thrust!¡±
An earth-shattering thrust! This was Xia Youyu¡¯s most powerful attack. It swiftly reached Long Chen.
Long Chen was immediately locked in ce by that terrifying aura. Although he had never underestimated Xia Youyu, he had never expected him to possess such a powerful attack. This was definitely something that could threaten his life!
His FengFu Star circted and spiritual qi immediately passed through his acupuncture points. A strange light appeared over his broadsword.
¡°Then let¡¯s decide victory in one final move!¡±
Chapter 104: White-Robed Man
A faint red light appeared over Long Chen¡¯s broadsword. As soon as that red light appeared, it explosively grew, enveloping the broadsword in zing mes.
A twisting fire dragon appeared over his broadsword. It was hardly different at all to the me weapons condensed by grandmaster Yun Qi and the two other Pill Masters. It likewise emitted an absolutely terrifyingly high temperature.
After advancing to the Blood Condensation realm and having his meridians widen, the beast me that had been nourished inside also grew along with them, bing increasingly stronger.
Although there was no way for him to condense true me weapons like grandmaster Yun Qi, he was still able to have his Pill me adhere to his weapon.
This was a trick that came from Long Chen¡¯s memories. ording to what he remembered, this move should be able to greatly increase his attack strength, but it was the first time he was using it in this life.
BOOM! The twisting me dragon on his sword mmed into Xia Youyu¡¯s spear, and a terrifying ze engulfed the two of them.
¡°AHH!¡±
A miserable scream rang out and a figure hastily flew out of the ring of fire. That figure had already bepletely covered in fire and was doing his best to pat out the mes.
Long Chen had been struck by Xia Youyu¡¯s retaliatory force and was forced back step after step, his qi and blood quivering. Xia Youyu truly was strong.
But Long Chen¡¯s own attack had even frightened himself. Originally, he had thought that adding the Pill me to the weapon was just a way of amplifying his strength.
He had never thought it was practically a joke move. The Pill me he had condensed on his broadsword had immediately flowed into Xia Youyu¡¯s weapon automatically and released itself.
It was theplete opposite of what Long Chen had thought it was. It didn¡¯t adhere to the weapon to increase its strength. Instead, it used the spiritual qi inside the weapon to increase its own me strength and explode out.
During their collision just now, the Pill me on his broadsword had leaped out, immediately engulfing Xia Youyu.
This was practically a scoundrel technique. As long as your opponent went to block you, your Pill me would explode out and envelop them. This was a technique that would y your opponents to death.
Xia Youyu was doing his best to pat out the mes all over his body. But that was Pill me, not normal fire. Even if he used his spiritual qi to resist it, he would still be burnt all over.
What no one had expected was that Xia Youyu suddenly jumped into the air and dived straight into the ground feet first. Only his head stayed above the ground.
Long Chen was slightly surprised. Thinking about it, that was probably the only method for him to extinguish those mes at this time.
Although Pill me was a terrifying existence, Xia Youyu was a Tendon Transformation expert. The mes would only give him slight wounds and wouldn¡¯t pose any threat to his life.
But while he could resist it, his clothes were unable to do the same. Despite his clothes being made from the highest quality materials and also possessing their own defensive strength, in front of Pill me, they were unable to endure for long.
Once they were burnt away, he would only be able to face everyone in his most primitive skin. A generation¡¯s Emperor, a grand Tendon Transformation expert¡ to have to stand there buck naked in front of everyone¡¯s eyes, that was probably a worse feeling than being killed.
Seeing Xia Youyu bore into the ground, Long Chen paused, distracted for a moment. Then without even thinking about, he mmed his broadsword down.
His terrifying strength created a long ditch that extended across thend with countless cracks spreading from it.
The earth shook and Xia Youyu was sent flying out miserably. He immediately vomited out blood as soon as he was forced out.
This time, Xia Youyu had made a fatal mistake. Having gone into the ground, there was no way for him to dodge Long Chen¡¯s next attack. Then adding on the restriction of the earth, he ended up receiving a heavy injury.
Xia Youyu had only juste out of the earth when an arrow shot through his chest like lightning, bringing with it a mist of blood as it passed out his body.
Long Chen was startled and turned his head. In the distance, Long Tianxiao was holding a bow, its string still quivering.
Not far from him were Marquis Wu and the other Tendon Transformation expert. They were already copsed on the ground, their surroundings aplete mess.
¡°All fights are life and death battles. You can¡¯t give up even the slightest opportunity. Killing your enemy with the least effort is the right path.¡±
Long Tianxiao was slightly out of breath and his face was somewhat pale. He had ended his battle as fast as possible since he had been worried about Long Chen.
After using his full strength to defeat the two of them, even he was out of spiritual qi and felt overdrawn.
But when he saw Long Chen¡¯s sword smash into the ground, he had immediately predicted what would happen and had taken out his bow, waiting for his opportunity.
When it came tobat experience, the difference between Long Chen and Long Tianxiao, who had experienced hundreds of battles, was not just a bit.
Xia Youyu difficultly looked down at his own chest. Long Tianxiao¡¯s arrow had destroyed his heart. The berserk energy had severed his life force.
¡°How¡ could¡ this happen¡¡±
Xia Youyu copsed to the ground, dead. His unfocused eyes were bewildered and unwilling. An Emperor died just like that.
After Xia Youyu died, the Grand Xia¡¯s army could no longer be controlled. Hundreds of thousands of troops immediately fled for their lives.
Today, they had beenpletely filled with terror. This kind of battle was something that they were simply unable to participate in. They had already seen the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s grand army greedily attack the Long household.
That tide-like army had been unable to break through their defenses from the very beginning. Instead, it was their corpses that were piled up like mountains, and their blood that dyed the earth red.
It wasn¡¯t that they hadn¡¯t seen blood before, but this kind of ughter was something that provoked their most primal feelings of fear.
Now that the Grand Xia¡¯s Tendon Transformation experts were toppling one after another and their empire¡¯s ruler had been killed, how could they possibly wish to continue sending themselves to their deaths? Disregarding all the officers¡¯ warnings, they all fled.
The Grand Xia¡¯s ¡®elite troops¡¯ all fled like stray dogs. The Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s troops only watched them foolishly.
The current situation of the battlefield had beenpletely reversed. The Long family¡¯s father and son werepletely shocking. They had killed Tendon Transformation experts consecutively, none able to stop them.
Those troops, who had still been vainly trying to kill the Long household¡¯s people, turnedpletely stupid at this time.
They also wanted to run, but they were unable to. Even if they ran, their families couldn¡¯t. They were filled with regret and all withdrew to watch from a distance. In any case, the only thing they could do at this time was watch.
But before the battle reached its conclusion, they wouldn¡¯t dare easily make any moves again. This wasn¡¯t just something that involved their lives, but it could also implicate their families
Long Chen smiled slightly towards Long Tianxiao. He felt that no matter how much stronger he became, he would still be that snotty-nosed child in front of Long Tianxiao.
Looking at the current battle situation, other than grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s side, the entire battlefield had already be still. Chu Yao and the others who were protecting the Long household were nowpletely safe.
Swinging his sword back up, he slowly began walking towards the appalled fourth prince.
¡°Chu Xia, in all your great scheming, did you ever think that this would be the conclusion?¡± Long Chen asked icily.
The fourth prince looked back at Long Chen withplicated expression. His voice was somewhat rough as he said, ¡°I really did never calcte that this would happen. Or perhaps this is what it means by Man proposes, but God disposes.¡±
At this point, he remembered what grandmaster Yun Qi had told him. What a true saying. His n had been absolutely wless, but it had turned up like this. Who could have possibly predicted this?
His ns were originally focused on Long Tianxiao, but what should have been a simple chess piece, Long Chen, ended up growing so much stronger that hepletely overturned the chessboard. Now he had lost greatly.
¡°Now that it¡¯se to this, I also won¡¯t make it hard on you. Tell me, who was it who stole my Spirit Root, dug out my Spirit Bone, and took my Spirit Blood? Tell me and I can give you a painless death.¡± Long Chen closely red at the fourth prince.
Even with his self-control, Long Chen still found himself breathing harder than usual. The truth about this matter was finally about toe to light. Even he couldn¡¯t keep his calm.
He had to know who had been so malicious to turn him from a talented genius to a crippled piece of trash. Just why had someone done this?
The distant Long Tianxiao¡¯s expression changed. He looked at Long Chen distractedly, and aplicated expression appeared on his face as he sighed.
The fourth prince, however, was startled. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±
Long Chen¡¯s heart was greatly shaken. He had been closely monitoring the fourth prince with his Spiritual Strength.
With his powerful soul, the fourth prince would definitely not be able to lie in front of him. But then... that meant the fourth prince really knew nothing about it.
Just what was going on? So he wasn¡¯t the same as Chu Yao and Chu Feng? The scheme against his body wasn¡¯t done by Marquis Ying?
Long Chen paused distractedly. If it wasn¡¯t Marquis Ying, then who could it possibly be?
He took a deep breath. Although he was greatly disappointed, he knew that the fourth prince did not have the ability to trick him now.
¡°Since it¡¯s like that, there¡¯s nothing else from me. Is there still something you want to say at this point?¡± Long Chen looked at the fourth prince.
Obviously, Long Chen was alreadypletely prepared to kill the fourth prince. He hadn¡¯t figured out the whole story yet, but the person who had targeted his Long family like this, no matter who it was or why they were doing it, definitely couldn¡¯t be forgiven.
The fourth prince sighed. He looked at Long Chenplicatedly. ¡°I really never thought that after carefully nning for so many years, the final result is such a loss. Although I¡¯m a bit confused about this loss, I truly am unable to feel even the slightest doubt. Long Chen, you are the first person I have ever admired.¡±
¡°To die under the hands of someone you admire, I guess you should be able to die contented?¡± Long Chen nodded.
¡°Hahaha, kill me? Hahaha.¡± The fourth princeughed heartily, his eyes filled with disdain. ¡°Do you think you¡¯ve already won? You¡¯re wrong. Even if I die, you will also die in front of me.¡±
Long Chen no longer wasted any time on words. Carrying his broadsword, he charged at the fourth prince. A dozen Blood Condensation experts rushed in front of him.
Those people were all death warriors who the fourth prince had groomed. Despite facing off against someone they couldn¡¯t possibly win against, they didn¡¯t show any fear as they attacked him with their weapons.
With a single sh of his sword, Sword Qipletely swept them away. In front of Long Chen, those people didn¡¯t possess the slightest ability to resist.
Having removed all the barriers with a single sh, he stamped on the ground, rushing straight at the fourth prince while shing down his sword.
Suddenly, another person appeared in front of the fourth prince. He lightly grabbed the broadsword¡¯s tip with a single hand. That sword that weighed several tons was actually easily stopped.
Chapter 105: Terrifying White-Robed Man
Long Chen¡¯s eyes narrowed as he looked upon this white-robed man. However, he didn¡¯t show any great astonishment.
As soon as he had arrived, he had immediately sensed a pair of eyes focused on him. Originally, there wasn¡¯t much hostility in them, but as he killed the Tendon Transformation experts one after another, that hostility became increasingly dense.
In the end, Long Chen could clearly sense that this person was behind the fourth prince. But for that person to be able to so easily receive one of his blows was definitely surprising.
The white-robed man¡¯s appearance shocked everyone. Long Tianxiao hastily rushed to Long Chen¡¯s side, gravely keeping an eye on the white-robed man.
¡°You¡¯re the mastermind behind the scenes?¡± Long Chen asked icily.
¡°I suppose.¡±
¡°Were you the one who messed with my body?¡±
He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know just what exactly you¡¯re talking about, but in any case, don¡¯t think so highly of yourself. I don¡¯t need to scheme against a little ant.¡±
As soon as he finished speaking, a white light suddenly appeared over his hand. Bending a single finger and flicking it on his sword, Long Chen felt the entire broadsword shake and he was sent flying back dozens of meters before stabilizing.
Now Long Chen was greatly rmed. That white-robed man hadn¡¯t revealed the slightest bit of his cultivation base. By just using a single finger¡¯s strength, his ¡®attack¡¯ was on the same level as a full force blow from a Tendon Transformation expert.
¡°You¡¯re from a sect?¡± Long Tianxiao waspletely bewildered.
¡°Someone about to die doesn¡¯t need to know that much,¡± replied the white-robed man indifferently.
Long Tianxiao gravely looked at him. He quietly whispered to Long Chen, ¡°Chen-er, I¡¯ll go block him. You run as far as you can.¡±
Seeing that Long Chen didn¡¯t understand, he quietly continued, ¡°The strength of people from the sects is far from what you can imagine. Us ordinary people arepletely unable topete against them. Theirbat ability is iparably terrifying.¡±
Long Chen shook his head. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t do that.¡±
Seeing Long Tianxiao¡¯s face sink, Long Chen didn¡¯t wait for him to say anything before continuing, ¡°I¡¯ve already grown up. I have the right to make my own decisions. I don¡¯t want to be a coward living a life worse than death.¡±
Long Tianxiao had been about to argue, but hearing Long Chen put it that way and looking at his unwavering determination, his words got stuck midway and he swallowed them back down.
Looking at his son, he was filled with admiration. Smiling slightly, he patted Long Chen on the shoulders. ¡°Okay, then us father and son will fight side by side.¡±
The white-robed man merely watched icily without the slightest bit of impatience as the two whispered to each other. He turned to the fourth prince, ¡°Take your people and get lost. Your life still has some value, so don¡¯t get caught up in this and die.¡±
Although his words were a bit hurtful, in the fourth prince¡¯s eyes, they rang out like heavenly salvation. He hastily retreated.
This huge matter had beenpletely messed up by him. He had thought that he would already be unable to live any longer, not expecting the white-robed man to let him off.
But the white-robed man also knew that this matter wasn¡¯t the fourth prince¡¯s fault. The fourth prince had done everything extremely meticulously. Even he deeply admired the fourth prince¡¯s schemes.
The fourth prince¡¯s failure this time was entirely due to luck. Their luck had been toocking for them to run into Long Chen. But in any case, no one else could have done a better job than the fourth prince.
Although he was a bit unwilling, the white-robed man still maintained his calm. Because of Long Chen, the ns would have to change a bit.
However, as long as he killed this father-son duo, the n could still continue. He would just need to dy for a bit longer. It wasn¡¯t a big deal.
¡°Your goodbye time is up. You lowly insects can go die now!¡±
The white-robed man¡¯s body teleported almost immediately to the two of them. He sent a palm crashing down upon them. There was a faint light on top of the hollow of his palm that caused space to tremble.
Long Chen¡¯s heart shook. That was clearly an Earth ss Battle Skill! But there had been no sign at all that he he had been about to use it!
Experts like Xia Youyu all needed to collect some energy before using an Earth ss Battle Skill, otherwise, there was no way to use that much energy.
But this person was the same as Long Chen and didn¡¯t need to umte any energy at all. That waspletely shocking! Long Chen quickly shed out with his broadsword.
Long Tianxiao had long since been storing up energy for this, and he shed out with his saber at the same time, causing his Saber Qi to soar.
BOOM! Qi waves erupted explosively. Long Chen felt an enormous force striking him and sent him flying back.
Long Tianxiao was the same, but although he was also forced back, he was much better off and didn¡¯t get thrown back so far.
¡°Circte one hundred percent of your force, but only use eighty percent. That way you have room to maneuver,¡± reminded Long Tianxiao.
The reason he wasn¡¯t forced back as far wasn¡¯t because Long Chen¡¯s strength was inferior to his. Instead, it was actually because Long Tianxiao had reserved some of his strength during that exchange, giving him greater freedom to advance or retreat, attack or defend.
By reserving some of your strength, you would have an extra margin of relief.
If you were fighting against an enemy of the same level or perhaps an even stronger level than yourself, that little reserve might be enough to save your life.
Long Chen nodded in agreement. Having merged with a Pill God¡¯s memories, he understand that reasoning. However, he didn¡¯t like that kind ofbat.
Battle should be a process with no return. If you always kept thinking about keeping yourself alive, how would you arouse your hidden potential?
The human body was just like a treasure trove with endless possibilities. As for how much each person could open up, that would depend on how determined and ruthless they were. That kind of ruthlessness included a ruthlessness to yourself in the face of death.
So it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t understand that principle, but that he had even greater ambitions. After seeing the forest god open that spatial door, Long Chen had seen a vision of a vaster world. His heart was already floating into that distance.
He had to continue getting stronger. Only by bing strong enough could he ensure his own dignity and life, and only then could he chase after the things he desired.
¡°None of your preparations will be of any use.¡±
The white-robed man snorted coldly as he looked icily at the two of them. He was just like an emperor disdainfully looking down on ants.
¡°Killing you should be useful enough.¡± Long Chen stood and pointed his broadsword at him. Torrential battle intent soared from him. He knew that this white-robed man was extremely terrifying. He was the most powerful opponent he had met up until now.
But the stronger his opponent was, the calmer Long Chen became. He really had to be thankful for his previous life and death battles.
Otherwise, in this battle, as soon as he became afraid, hisbat ability would sharply drop. Someone who was afraid couldn¡¯t even release eighty percent of theirbat potential. They would only be the prey and mercilessly ughtered.
In front of this incredibly powerful enemy, Long Chen was still filled with battle intent. It seemed that his self-confidence hadn¡¯t been shaken in the slightest because of the enemy¡¯s strength.
Long Tianxiao was filled with pride and gratification. At the same time, he was also filled with guilt and regret. The greatest regret in his life was that he hadn¡¯t been able to apany his child as he grew up.
¡°Even an ant dares to boast? You little brat who hasn¡¯t seen the real world. Today, I¡¯ll let you see what it means to be separated by a true difference in level.¡±
BOOM! A terrifying aura exploded from the white-robed man¡¯s body. The violent energy swept out in every direction, directly engulfing Long Chen and Long Tianxiao. They immediately felt as if a huge mountain was crushing them, and even breathing became difficult.
¡°What a powerful spiritual pressure!¡± Long Chen¡¯s heart shook. This was the pressure formed by releasing one¡¯s spiritual qi into the surrounding space.
In other words, it meant the white-robed man¡¯s spiritual qi had already beenpressed to a certain peak. Compared to other people¡¯s spiritual qi, their spiritual qi was sloppy mud while his was heavy rock.
But the most shocking thing to Long Chen was that the white-robed man¡¯s aura was still at thete Tendon Transformation realm!
But even those who were at the same Tendon Transformation realm as him, whether it was Marquis Ying or Xia Youyu, were all nothing in front of that boundless aura.
¡°Did you think that just by killing a few degenerate weaklings, you could truly battle across realms? Today I¡¯ll let you see that the barrier between realms is not something a couple of ants like you can even imagine.¡±
He coldlyughed and a sword appeared in his hand. As soon as that sword appeared, Sword Qi fell from the heavens. A powerful torrent came shing down on Long Chen and Long Tianxiao.
Long Chen knew that this was the true battle. No longer holding anything in reserve, he raised his broadsword and me leaped on top of it.
When Long Chen¡¯s broadsword collided with the white-robed man¡¯s sword, an intense ringing exploded out. Long Chen felt his insides quivering as he was sent flying back.
But just before that, Long Chen saw that the Pill me, which had been on his broadsword, had rushed directly towards that white-robed man.
Just as everyone thought that he would be just like Xia Youyu and be engulfed in a raging inferno¡
He coldly smiled and raised his left hand. A transparent white curtain appeared in front of his body like a shield andpletely stopped that Pill me which could melt even iron.
¡°What?!¡± Long Chen¡¯s expression changed. That white-robed man¡¯s strength had far exceeded his expectations. Plus, his control over spiritual qi was absolutely terrifying.
He knew that this should be a special technique he had cultivated. Was that how profound sect disciples were? That was an absolutely amazing technique.
Inparison to the white-robed man, Long Chen¡¯s techniques and Battle Skills were far too crude.
Long Chen had just attacked when three saber images appeared in the sky. Those saber images were several meters long andbined into one, releasing an iparable killing intent. ¡°Tri-Saber Soul Reap!¡±
¡°That¡¯s rumored to be Long Tianxiao¡¯s strongest attack! I haven¡¯t heard of a single person being able to block it.¡±
¡°I wonder if he can win¡¡±
Themoners of the capital were all watching from a distance. Due to the distance being too great, they weren¡¯t able to see everything. But that white-robed man¡¯s incredible srength was extremely eye-catching.
Such huge matters that shook the Phoenix Cry Empire couldn¡¯t possibly be kept private from their eyes. The fourth prince not only didn¡¯t bother trying to block them, he purposely left some open spaces for themoners to watch from. He wanted to borrow this opportunity to intimidate everyone.
And so thesemoners had seen everything. Martial arts were in their golden age in the Phoenix Cry Empire, and the strong were worshipped.
Now that they were watching Long Chen and Long Tianxiao¡¯s fight so valiantly against the odds, they couldn¡¯t help but feel admiration for them. That was especially true for Long Chen who had consecutively killed Tendon Transformation experts, one of them the ruler of an empire. Just what kind of awe-inspiring might was that?
Many people hoped for the father-son duo to obtain victory in the end. Having such a hero run the empire would allow the empire to quickly grow stronger.
But seeing Long Tianxiao¡¯s attack, the white-robed man sneered in ridicule.
¡°I dislike having ants bare their ws at me.¡±
The longsword in his hand slowly rose.
A booming ringing came from the longsword. Dazzling rays of light shot into the sky like bolts of lightning, blinding people¡¯s eyes. Terrifying light shed down at Long Tianxiao.
Chapter 106: Divine Ring Shocks
When the sword and saber images collided, space raged torrentially. Ripples that could be seen with the naked eye exploded out, shaking thend.
BOOM! Only after a moment did an ear-ringing boom sound out. It was followed with the sound of a weapon shattering into pieces. A figure was sent flying back, blood sshing everywhere.
¡°Father!¡± Long Chen cried out in fright. The saber in Long Tianxiao¡¯s hand waspletely shattered, and countless shards of it were piercing his body, causing his blood to flow out rapidly.
¡°Oh? You didn¡¯t die? Not bad.¡±
The white-robed man was a bit astonished to see that Long Tianxiao was still alive. He should have been easily crushed by his previous attack.
¡°Oh, I see.¡± The white-robed man came to a sudden realization. ¡°Even despite using your full strength to attack, you still kept some energy in reserve. You retreated by borrowing the explosive force and used that energy to defend.¡±
That was precisely the advice Long Tianxiao had told Long Chen before. Circte one hundred percent of your energy, but only use eighty percent in your attack. That would allow you to retreat more freely and give you a path to survival when on the backfoot.
Otherwise, Long Tianxiao would already be a corpse. However, despite that, Long Tianxiao¡¯s current situation was definitely extremely terrible. Having been fighting for so long, that previous attack of his had used up all his remaining spiritual qi.
Furthermore, he was bleeding intensely, and there were even quite a few weapon shards that had pierced his organs. At this time, he had already lost over half of hisbat strength.
¡°But all of this is futile. Ants are only just ants. Don¡¯t try to resist the ns fate has for you. That will only make your deaths all the more painful.¡±
The white-robed man apathetically shook his head. His sword once more cut across the space, shing down at Long Tianxiao.
His movement techniques were extremely strange. It was as if he had no weight at all. Wherever his sword was pointed, he would immediately appear there. He had already reached Long Tianxiao as soon as he raised his sword.
Long Tianxiao took a deep breath. As soon as he had realized this person was a sect disciple, he had already foreseen this conclusion.
He nced at Long Chen and then also at his wife. He smiled slightly. Dying together with his family was also a kind of happiness. Together in the afterlife, they would no longer ever have to part again.
His right hand was incessantly collecting qi. He squeezed out all the remaining spiritual qi in his Dantian. He would fight until the end, but the chances of him bringing his opponent down together with him was extremely remote.
¡°Fuck off!¡±
BOOM! Long Chen angrily roared and appeared in front of his father, sending his sword to block the white-robed man¡¯s attack.
¡°You guys retreat!¡± Long Chen urged Chu Yao and the others. They half-carried Long Tianxiao further away. Long Chen also gave Chu Yao a healing pill for his father.
Long Tianxiao looked at Long Chen¡¯s back. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
The white-robed man let them support Long Tianxiao away, only watching them indifferently, his eyes filled with contempt.
¡°Everything you do is useless. I really can¡¯t understand you weaklings. How are you so stupid? Even now you still don¡¯t realize your destinies.¡±
Long Chen red at him. ¡°Don¡¯t act like you¡¯re some amazing god. You¡¯re just a pile of dog crap. In your world, you can only pad the bottom levels, so now you¡¯vee to this ce to abuse your pathetic power. You¡¯re just a useless piece of trash.¡±
The white-robed man¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°A suicidal brat like you is about to have your insignificant life ended. In the face of absolute power, try to learn how you should act. Resistance will only increase your sins.¡±
¡°Fuck off. ording to your reasoning, you should just kill yourself right here, trash.¡±
¡°Good. Then I¡¯ll let you see what is absolute power. Hopefully you can recognize your error in a bit.¡±
The white-robed man crushed a seal in his left hand, causing a sudden wave of qi to explode out. Long Chen was actually forced back just from those explosive qi waves.
A rhombus appeared on the white-robed man¡¯s forehead. As soon as that rhombus appeared, his aura explosively grew. His aura was now so powerful that the pressure alone made it hard to breathe.
¡°This is how terrifying sect disciples are,¡± Long Tianxiao muttered to himself.
¡°Tianxiao, can Chen-er win?¡± Mrs. Long was extremely worried. She tightly clenched Long Tianxiao¡¯s hand. All she hoped for with all her heart was for him to reply that he could.
Looking at his wife, Long Tianxiao seemed to recall a scene from their youth and softly said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Our family will never part again.¡±
Hearing him say that, she was greatly relieved. In her nervousness, she clearly hadn¡¯t understood his true meaning.
In front of the white-robed man whose aura had explosively risen, even Long Chen felt it was hard to breathe.
This was what a sect disciple was? Their cultivation techniques werepletely different. This method of explosively increasing one¡¯s aura was alsopletely foreign to him. Hisbat strength was far, far too strong.
In front of the white-robed man, Marquis Ying, Marquis Wu, and Xia Youyu had all been far too weak. They were practically just children inparison.
The fourth prince watched in shock as his aura erupted. Even the space around the white-robed man was being distorted.
He remembered back when he had asked about how Marquis Ying was and the white-robed man had indifferently replied that he was ¡®not bad¡¯.
Now looking at this, that evaluation had definitely been an overpraise of Marquis Ying. The difference between them was far too great.
The white-robed man¡¯s aura finally began to stabilize, a sign that he had reached his highest realm. The current him could now disy his true power.
¡°Are you ready? Prepare to receive this.¡±
The white-robed man smiled indifferently and let out a random sh.
That light sh seemed to cut through space, emitting a sound like the sky was splitting apart. A ray of light shot towards Long Chen.
¡°Parting Wind sh!¡± Long Chen didn¡¯t dare underestimate it. His FengFu Star was circting at its fastest speed as he shed out.
BOOM! Long Chen felt both his hands being intensely shaken as he was sent flying back. The webbing of his hand had been slightly torn and blood slowly flowed out.
¡°Not bad. See if you can take this one.¡±
The white-robed man once more waved his sword gracefully and shockingly fast. A ray of Sword Qi extended dozens of meters into the air, shing down fiercely. This attack was several times more powerful than the previous one. Even space revolved around it.
BOOM! Long Chen shed out to meet the attack again and was sent flying once more. He spat out a mouthful of blood. Thatst attack had shaken his inner organs; it was clearly a kind of Battle Skill.
At the same time, Long Chen also noticed that his broadsword now had a thumb-sized nick in it because it was unable to endure such terrifying force.
As for the white-robed man¡¯s sword, it wasn¡¯t the slightest bit damaged. That sword clearly had to have been made from special materials for its hardness to be so out of the ordinary.
Looking at the shocked Long Chen, the white-robed man smiled. ¡°Now do you finally understand how insignificant you are in the face of absolute power? That¡¯s why I said, ants shouldn¡¯t resist the ns fate has for you. Don¡¯t struggle. You can die now.¡±
His sword pointed towards the heavens. Heaven and earth shook as a cold ray of Sword Qi shot up. Even the distant people could sense a terrifying pressureing from it. That sword was iparably horrifying.
In front of countless people¡¯s appalled gazes, the sword turned in the sky. Its light enveloped the entire sky as it mercilessly shot down at Long Chen.
¡°NO!¡± Chu Yao cried sorrowfully. She wanted to charge over, but she was too far. She couldn¡¯t even die together with Long Chen. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see that painful sight.
BOOM! Waves of qi surged over thend, while smoke and dust covered the sky. The terrifying Sword Qi had cut a huge ditch dozens of meters long.
The distant people watched dumbstruck, their expressions lifeless. That kind of scene was already something that had far exceeded anything in their imaginations. It was too horrifying.
But when the dust finally scattered, they were practically unable to believe their own eyes. That was because they saw a certain figure.
That figure was somewhat miserable but was standing there as steadily as ever. It seemed as if no one could possibly knock him down. An iparably determined will came from him. It was a will that could shake even the blue dome of the heavens.
¡°Oh?¡± The white-robed man had thought that his previous attack would have ended everything. He had even been about to put his sword back into its sheath.
Within that dust was a man carrying a broadsword who slowly walked forward. Behind him was a ring of light. With each step that he took, the ring became increasingly distinct andrger.
In the beginning, it only had a diameter of three meters. But by the time he walked out of the dust, the ring of light had already reached a size of three hundred meters, appearing like a giant rainbow arc in the sky.
At the same time, an endless violent aura surged out from Long Chen¡¯s body. His robes fluttered and his ck hair danced. His starry eyes were filled with icy intent.
¡°Receive this ant¡¯s attack!¡± Long Chen suddenly shouted. His shout was like a dragon¡¯s roar, capable of breaking mountains and incredibly domineering.
The white-robed man was actually given a frightful shock. He realized that Long Chen¡¯s aura hadpletely changed. It was like an angry sea that was incessantly sending waves to attack heaven and earth. Its power was incredibly frightening.
Long Chen took a single step. When that foot touched thend, the surrounding people could all feel the earth shaking as if a huge monstrous Magical Beast was bounding across it.
The groundpletely cracked from that single step. But Long Chen had already shot forward and was shing at the white-robed man.
The white-robed man coldly snorted and shed out with his sword.
¡°Just an ant also dares.... what?!¡±
BOOM! Long Chen¡¯s attack hadn¡¯t looked to be anything special. But when his sword touched Long Chen¡¯s broadsword, the force from the broadsword exploded like a volcano. The white-robed man felt an irresistible force send him flying. The power within that caused his qi and blood to violently turn.
This was the first time the white-robed man was astonished. He could clearly sense that that terrifying energy hadn¡¯t been from a Battle Skill, but simply from Long Chen¡¯s body.
As soon as the white-robed man had stabilized himself, an explosive shout rang out.
¡°Parting Wind sh!¡±
By the time he reacted, Long Chen¡¯s attack had essentially already reached him.
He was horrified. Long Chen¡¯s attack speed was far too quick! He was like a wild tempest that didn¡¯t give people the slightest chance to catch their breath.
BANG! Being forced into such a dangerous situation, the white-robed man shouted and shed his sword out to meet Long Chen¡¯s sword.
He was blown back once more. But when he finally stabilized himself, everyone who was watching let out a burst of startled cries.
Chapter 107: Split the Heavens Reappears
Although the white-robed man had managed to avoid Long Chen¡¯s strike, the terrifying astral wind had cut apart his headband. His ck hair scattered, touched with a trace of blood that slowly flowed down his forehead. He had actually been injured.
¡°Looking at how boastful and amazing you were talking just now, acting like you were some god, I really am regretfully sorry to see that you are unable to bear even the power of an ant,¡± taunted Long Chen icily, pointing his sword at the white-robed man.
After summoning out his divine ring, his strength had exploded. At the same time, he also madly absorbed heaven and earth¡¯s spiritual qi, immediately filling up his originally almost exhausted energy back to eighty percent.
Unfortunately, the surrounding spiritual qi was limited, otherwise, he could have immediately absorbed enough to reach one hundred percent. But even so, Long Chen was still extremely satisfied.
Now that his divine ring had formed, he felt inexhaustible energy overflowing within him, and his battle intent soared.
He didn¡¯t understand much about his divine ring, but he knew that after summoning it out, hisbat ability would multiply by several times.
Having summoned his divine ring, he entered his strongest state. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t summon it out due to how shocking its appearance was, but with how desperate the situation had turned out, holding back any further would only result in death.
His father¡¯s heavy injury caused him to immediately put away any of his misgivings towards its shocking appearance.
Therge ring of light behind him went high into the sky, and his current god-like figure awed everyone.
The white-robed man¡¯sbat abilities had already been seen by everyone. Even someone as strong as Long Tianxiao was unable to receive even a single attack from him.
But now Long Chen had sent the white-robed man flying back with his sword, even injuring his head. Such a situation was too shocking.
¡°Brother Long is too strong!¡± Fatty Yu gulped in awe. The injuries all over his body werepletely forgotten by him.
Long Tianxiao also looked at Long Chen in shock. Long Chen¡¯s current strength didn¡¯t seem to be inferior to that sect disciple.
Chu Yao gently bit her lip and her eyes blurred. Long Chen was an undefeatable battle god in her heart.
¡°What¡¯s going on? What kind of technique is that?¡± The white-robed manpletely forgot about his head injury in his shock.
He sensed an unprecedented pressureing from Long Chen¡¯s body. That was absolutely impossible! How could there be such a genius outside the cultivation world, living in this ordinary, secr world?
Someone, who was only at the insignificant Blood Condensation realm and had yet topletely refine and temper his physical body, could not possibly possess such a strength!
¡°What, are you interested in an ant¡¯s technique?¡± Long Chenughed icily.
The white-robed man coldly snorted. ¡°You bottom-dwelling frog, even if you have a secret technique, so what? How long can you use it for? You are unable to escape your miserable fate!¡±
His sword shook and countless sword images appeared everywhere, crashing down on Long Chen.
Long Chen raised his broadsword and crazily exchanged blows with the white-robed man. Explosions shook the heavens and caused the earth to continuously tremble.
Small stone fragments shot out from their collisions, some flying hundreds of meters away.
One unlucky fellow was struck despite being over half a mile away. Even so, that flying stone pierced right through his thigh.
Everyone cried out in rm and quickly withdrew further away. No one wanted to be the next unlucky fellow.
Other than their fight, within several miles, the only other battle was grandmaster Yun Qi fight against Wei Cang and Wang Luyang. mes continuously soared and waves of heat rolled.
That was the first time people had ever seen how terrifying a pill cultivator was. Their Pill mes were far too powerful. Having fought for this long, their mes¡¯ strengths had yet to decline the slightest bit.
After all, when they refined medicinal pills, they had to continuously use their Pill me for long periods of time. That was especially true for high tier medicinal pills that required longer times to refine, sometimes even several days.
So a pill cultivator¡¯s Pill me was their essential foundation, and their fights would often stretch out for the longest periods of time.
As for the other side, Long Chen and the white-robed man¡¯s fight caused people to tremble in fright. Sword Qi collided continuously.
¡°Long Chen is so strong; it really is a defiance of the heavens!¡±
Some people couldn¡¯t help but exim their wonder. A cripple had basically shot up meteorically in the past few months. Starting from his victory against Li Hao on the martial stage, Long Chen had grown by leaps and bounds.
Now the current him was able to consecutively kill Tendon Transformation experts who were the peak of the empire and was even able to fight against this terrifying monster which had exceeded their understanding.
Some of those youths, who viewed Long Chen as an idol, were now tightly clenching their fists, swearing to themselves that they would also be a powerful expert like him.
BOOM! After another intense collision, both of them withdrew thirty meters away. Everything within several miles of their fight was aplete mess. Huge scars and ditches covered thend.
¡°How is the strength of an ant?¡± mocked Long Chen.
The two of them had now already exchanged over a thousand blows. Long Chen could clearly sense that his strength was declining. His spiritual qi was starting to run out despite the support of his divine ring.
That didn¡¯t mean his divine ring wasn¡¯t powerful, but simply that the surrounding spiritual qi was too sparse, unable to keep up with the divine ring¡¯s absorption. And so Long Chen¡¯s speed of replenishing his spiritual qi was limited.
¡°Bastard.¡± The white-robed man¡¯s calm expression had long since disappeared. Even in his wildest dreams, he would never have imagined a freak like Long Chen could have existed in the secr world. Even though he was merely in the Blood Condensation realm, he was able to fight against ate stage Tendon Transformation sect disciple like him.
That filled him with fury as well as intense jealousy. Seeing a youth younger than even himself with endless potential, killing intent soared from him.
The white-robed man harshly shouted and a ray of light shot from his forehead to shine on his longsword. That longsword seemed toe alive, emitting continuous ringing and overflowing with light. A ray of sword light shot out and cruelly shed down on Long Chen.
¡°Lightflow Sword!¡± A ray of light reached Long Chen almost as soon as the white-robed man had moved. Its speed was inconceivable.
By the time Long Chen had sensed it, it had already reached his body. He couldn¡¯t help being filled with horror. That was the first time he had ever encountered an attack that was so fast.
BOOM! The sword light that was dozens of meters long shed onto his body, causing everyone to let out startled cries.
Everything had happened too quickly. By the time people had realized the white-robed man was attacking, it was already over. The ray of lightpletely enveloped Long Chen.
They had previously been evenly matched. But had he been killed with just one move now? Everyone was stupefied.
The white-robed man¡¯s face turned pale after sending out that sword blow. As that was one of his killing blows, its might was beyondpare.
That sword blow¡¯s most formidable feature was its speed. By the time the enemy noticed him moving, it would already be toote to block. That was just how terrifying its speed was. It was something that couldn¡¯t be guarded against.
It was his most powerful move. By relying on that one single move, he was able to defeat quite a few of the inner sect disciples.
However, the amount of energy which that move used up was also terrifying. Even he was somewhat unable to bear it. But as long as he was able to kill Long Chen, it would be worth it.
A huge ditch had appeared where Long Chen was standing. The white-robed man had just been about to rx when his pupils suddenly shrunk.
The earth split open, and a figure flew out from within the earth.
¡°Long Chen!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s body was covered in dirt, and there was a huge bloodstain on his chest, making him appear extremely miserable. However, he was still alive.
¡°How is this possible?¡± The white-robed man looked at Long Chen in disbelief. He couldn¡¯t believe that Long Chen could receive his most powerful attack.
Long Chen patted the dirt off his body. He was secretly filled with horror inside. That attack had been too frightening. That kind of speed was simply unblockable.
If at that critical moment, he hadn¡¯t instinctively brought his sword to block in front of his body and sent his spiritual qi to protect himself, he would already be a corpse.
His keen spiritual perception had saved his life once more. But even though he had forcibly blocked it, its force still had blown him into the ground and he vomited out three mouthfuls of blood.
¡°It¡¯s not my style to not reciprocate.¡± Long Chen took a deep breath. He slowly raised his broadsword so that it pointed towards the sky. Along with Long Chen¡¯s movements, the world becamepletely silent. Having lost all sound, the only thing within heaven and earth seemed to be just Long Chen.
Strange lines appeared over his broadsword. Suddenly, heaven and earth rumbled and space incessantly trembled. Endless foreboding qi soared into the clouds.
The white-robed man¡¯s expression greatly changed. Looking at that scene, he was horrified to realize that he had been locked in ce by a terrifying aura.
Long Chen was just at the Blood Condensation realm. It should be impossible for him to lock a Tendon Transformation expert in ce! The only exnation was that he had been locked by the Battle Skill Long Chen was using.
¡°Impossible, absolutely impossible!¡± The white-robed man cried out frantically. To allow a Blood Condensation cultivator to lock a Tendon Transformation expert, that would require the Battle Skill to be at least at the mid grade Earth ss or higher!
But the Earth ss Battle Skills that circted in the secr world were all things which couldn¡¯t enter the eyes of those sects, the absolute lowest tier trash!
As for the sects, their Battle Skills were all the finest possible. Although they might also be at the Earth ss, their power levels were far from equal. That was also why the white-robed man¡¯s Battle Skill was so frightening inparison to the other Earth ss Battle Skills that had been used here.
But even a sect disciple like him didn¡¯t have the qualifications to learn a mid grade Earth ss Battle Skill. How could a weakling from the secr world use such a Battle Skill?!
Despite knowing that it was simply impossible, that terrifying aura firmly locked down his body, so he couldn¡¯t possibly be wrong. He was practically about to go crazy. He violently circted his spiritual qi in an attempt to receive this attack.
That was because since he was locked in ce, there was no way that he could dodge it. Trying to do something so futile would only speed up his defeat. Arge tortoiseshell now appeared in his hand.
The tortoiseshell was snow-white, looking just like jade. There were extremely strange lines carved into it that possessed a terrifying aura.
Long Tianxiao¡¯s heart beat wildly when he sensed the terrifying powering from Long Chen¡¯s body.
¡°What a terrifying aura!¡± Everyone was watching Long Chen. Heaven and earth waspletely silent. Within their eyes, there was only one person and one sword.
Long Chen¡¯s sword suddenly began to buzz. A will that desired to sh the heavens and split the earth exploded out, radiating hundreds of miles.
In front of that will, people felt as if they were facing heavenly punishment. They werepletely terrified. It felt as if the end of the world wasing.
¡°Split the Heavens!¡±
Long Chen¡¯s sword shed down thunderously.
Chapter 108: One Blow Shocks the World
His broadsword whistled like thunder as it shed down on the white-robed man, bringing with it a will that wished to destroy the very heavens.
That sword blow no longer seemed like a Battle Skill. Instead, it seemed like it was a kind of Dao that wished to defy the heavens and overturn the earth.
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s attack shing down on him, the white-robed man¡¯s tortoiseshell flew out.
What shocked everyone was that the originally palm-sized tortoiseshell quickly erged, reaching three meters in width as it protected him behind it.
BOOM!
Sword Qi heavily shed down upon that tortoiseshell. The strange lines on top of it lit up, and a bizarre reaction urred.
Long Chen¡¯s Sword Qi seemed to be like light hitting a mirror, and the majority of it was reflected out.
The tortoiseshell managed to block that attack, but in the end, it finally cracked and exploded from the terrifying force. Its pieces scattered to the ground.
As for the white-robed man, he also wasn¡¯t that well off and repeatedly vomited out blood. Obviously, that tortoiseshell had been unable topletely block all of Split the Heaven¡¯s force, and as the tortoiseshell¡¯s master, the white-robed man also received a heavy impact.
The strange lines on top of the tortoiseshell had dispersed most of the force. However, he was still heavily wounded.
Looking at the tortoiseshell pieces and the wildly vomiting blood white-robed man, people became a bit sluggish. They were filled with reverence towards Long Chen.
Crack! Suddenly, people noticed that Long Chen¡¯s broadsword was covered in growing cracks.
The broadsword finally exploded, its fragments littering the ground.
Looking at those fragments, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Even this broadsword¡¯s quality was too inferior to endure Split the Heaven¡¯s force.
Bursts of pain came from Long Chen¡¯s meridians at this time. It felt as if they were on fire, an aftermath of using Split the Heavens.
Despite advancing to the Blood Condensation realm and having his meridians grow wider by a great deal, and even despite the expert from the Spirit World transforming them, Long Chen¡¯s meridians were still unable topletely endure the impact.
But of course, this was many times better than thest time. His meridians were only slightly damaged and hadn¡¯t cracked. They would recover quickly.
The most important thing was that this was his most powerful application of Split the Heavens, but his meridians had still been able to take it. That was definitely something to celebrate.
And another surprise for him was that despite using his full strength, he was still far from being able to bring out the full potential of Split the Heavens. It seemed just like it was much more profound than he had thought and he had only just begun to scratch its surface.
He was a bit regretful that he hadn¡¯t managed to kill the white-robed man. Who would have thought he would have such a strange life-saving measure?
That tortoiseshell definitely wasn¡¯t an ordinary item. It was practically unheard of within the secr world. He couldn¡¯tpare to sect disciples when it came to the treasures they possessed.
All of his spiritual qi was now exhausted. Even the divine ring behind him faded away. He was now deathly tired, entering an extremely weak state.
But Long Chen knew that the white-robed man wasn¡¯t that much better off. Looking at him vomiting blood, his internal injury must be severe. Both of them were still rtively even.
However, Long Chen¡¯s side held a definite advantage since he had two Tendon Transformation experts who weren¡¯t injured at all. Furthermore, he also had Little Snow and Chu Yao. The white-robed man would definitely die.
CRACK!!!
More cracking sounds rang out, startling the crowd. But when they looked carefully at Long Chen and the white-robed man, nothing strange seemed to be happening.
CRACK!!!
This time people managed to hear that this sound wasn¡¯ting from them.
¡°The city gates!¡±
People hastily turned to see that the huge, imposing city gates had be covered in cracks.
¡°Long Chen¡¯s attack caused the city gates to crack!¡±
People suddenly noticed that a deep ditch had been dug in front of the city gates. That ditch led straight up to the white-robed man.
Only then did people realize that the tortoiseshell had deflected the majority of Long Chen¡¯s attack onto the city gates.
Although it didn¡¯tpletely break the gates, they were still badly damaged, causing people an endless shock.
Just what level of strength was that? Was that a strength that humans could really possess?
Furthermore, that had been caused by only a part of the force that had been reflected by the tortoiseshell. If it had been a direct hit, the entire city gates would have probably beenpletely destroyed, right? Everyone¡¯s jaws dropped as they looked on in horror.
CRACK!
The city gates continued cracking, and in front of everyone¡¯s appalled eyes, they began topletely copse!
¡°NO!¡±
What waspletely unbelievable for everyone was the scene of the white-robed man looking at the city gates in fright. He even let out a heart-rending cry.
BOOM! Countless pieces of rubble shot out as the city gates tumbled to the ground.
Suddenly, a three-meter-thick pir of light shot from the ruins of the city gates into the sky. An extremely dense spiritual qi was blown out along with it.
Everyone only watched dumbfounded by these events thatpletely overturned theirprehension of the world.
Long Tianxiao suddenly realized something after seeing that pir of light. Years of suspicions and doubt werepletely resolved at this moment.
¡°It¡¯s a spirit stone mine. There¡¯s a spirit stone mine below the city gates!¡± Some people had managed to see through what it was.
Spirit stones were special spiritual items formed naturally from heaven and earth. They were condensed underground for millions and millions of years, absorbing endless spiritual qi to form a kind of ore.
That kind of ore was viewed as a lifeblood for cultivators. It was said this kind of vein of ore was extremely rare, and most of them had already been upied by the variousrge sects.
Only with the support of spirit stones could sect disciples cultivate so quickly. It was the greatest support of the sects.
Long Tianxiao had aplicated expression as he shook his head at the distant fourth prince. ¡°Just for a vein of ore, you wanted to kill and silence me?¡±
The fourth prince¡¯s expression was ashen. He knew that his judgment day had finally arrived. In front of Long Tianxiao¡¯s words, there was not even the slightest he could say in return.
¡°Years ago when we were drinking, His Majesty once told me that there was a vein of ore near the capital. He said if it was excavated, it would allow the Phoenix Cry Empire to rise high above other empires.
¡°Back then I thought he was talking about some rare iron ores that could be forged into weapons, so I onlyughed and didn¡¯t pay it any mind.
¡°I really never thought that it was because of something like this that you thought I had learned your secret. You wanted to exterminate me for something like that? It really is a joke,¡± Long Tianxiao sighed and shook his head.
¡°WHAT?!¡± The fourth prince was shocked. He had always thought that Long Tianxiao had known all about the spirit stone mine.
Over twenty years ago, the Grand Xia had married off their most beautiful princess to Phoenix Cry in order to prevent further conflicts and form an alliance between the two empires.
But the Grand Xia¡¯s princess¡¯s mission hadn¡¯t been to make peace. She had a greater mission. That mission was to take control of Phoenix Cry so that it could be swallowed by the Grand Xia.
That had been shrewdly hidden by the princess extremely deeply. Once she had arrived at Phoenix Cry, she put in her full effort to wait upon the Emperor, and with her skillful techniques in bed, she began to receive a heavy pampering from the Emperor.
Not long after, she gave birth to a prince, the fourth prince. The Grand Xia¡¯s princess had always maintained a low profile, never entering the conflicts between concubines, patiently enduring and eventually be a good sister to the Empress.
Originally, the Grand Xia¡¯s n had been to overturn Phoenix Cry, but during that process, the fourth prince¡¯s mother found a shocking secret.
That secret had been told to her by the Emperor after he had gotten drunk. He had told her that Phoenix Cry was about to be the most powerful empire in all of history. Being put on guard from that, the princess had used all her skills in bed to make the Emperor a ve to her skirts, and he finally told her the secret that he had found a spirit stone mine.
Originally, the Emperor had been nning on building a secret tunnel to be used to escape from assassinations or other dangers. If an enemy managed to enter the city, he could manage to slip away without anyone noticing.
But halfway through the excavation of the secret tunnel, they had found that the stones were bing increasingly harder, and even cobalt started to appear.
Cobalt was a partner substance that was formed along with spirit stones. Where there was cobalt, there would be spirit stones. That discovery caused the Emperor to go wild with joy.
He directly exterminated everyone who had known about the secret tunnel to keep the whole matter secret. However, the Emperor had never been a tight-lipped person.
A short while after telling her this, he died of ¡®natural causes¡¯.
The Emperor had been within the Empress¡¯s pce when he had died. Moreover, he had died on their bed while being intimate with each other.
The Empress had been frightened out of her mind, but luckily, the fourth prince¡¯s mother had ¡®just happened¡¯ to be walking by.
And in her panic, she had taken her good sister¡¯s advice, faking that the Emperor had entered seclusion.
The n was that they would eventually say he had died in seclusion, limiting the amount of panic that would ur. They just had to find a suitable moment.
In the end, under her scheming, the Empress smoothly gained all the authority over the empire. Lured by the power, she decided to just leave the Emperor in ¡®seclusion¡¯ forever.
As for the spirit stone mine, she never learned anything about it.
Whenever she would have any tough problems she would always go to her good sister for help. Her sister became her most trusted aide.
The fourth prince¡¯s mother leaked the information of the spirit stone mine to her father. The matter had be too huge, so she didn¡¯t dare do too much without his advice.
This urred right at the moment while an expert from the Xia family was at a sect. But that expert wasn¡¯t even good enough to be a disciple. He was only a worker. But by using this information, it was possible for him to enter the sect as a disciple.
Everything went extremely smoothly. The sect secretly sent people to investigate the terrain, confirming the existence of a spirit stone mine.
But rushing in to mine it would release spiritual qi, rming the surrounding powers. They sent orders down to take control of Phoenix Cry as fast as possible and also built a Hidden Spirit Formation topletely conceal the aura from the spirit stone mine.
That Hidden Spirit Formation had precisely been the city gate tower. Normally, the aura from the spirit stone mine waspletely isted from the rest of the world. That way they could secretly mine it in the future.
However, members from the sects couldn¡¯t reveal themselves in the secr world without other powers noticing. And so they could only rely on the power of cultivators from the secr world. In order to not cause too many waves, they could only rely on the Grand Xia slowly infiltrating Phoenix Cry.
But their only worry was Long Tianxiao who also knew about this. He had be their biggest problem, and that was what had led to all of this.
But now Long Tianxiao said he hadn¡¯t known about the spirit stone mine. Just what kind of joke was this? They had been more than capable of silently mining the spirit stone mine the entire time.
¡°AHHH!!! I¡¯LL KILL YOU ALL!!!¡±
A bitter voice screamed out. The white-robed man was like a beast as he looked at Long Chen and the others, his eyes filled with wild killing intent.
Chapter 109: Core Flame
The white-robed man went crazy as he looked at that pir of light.
¡°I¡¯LL KILL YOU ALL!!!¡± he roared.
Long Chen icily said, ¡°I find that you guys really are just a bunch of idiots. Despite it being obviously your own mistake, you now want to me others.¡±
Although Long Chen didn¡¯t know the whole history, hearing his father¡¯s words, it wasn¡¯t hard for him to imagine what had happened.
Frankly speaking, the Long family was the true victim in this case. It didn¡¯t make any sense for the white-robed man to me them.
¡°You damned ants, why do you have to struggle?! If you didn¡¯t resist, how could it end up like this? All of you will die in rpense!¡± snarled the white-robed man.
¡°You idiot. Are you mentally retarded?¡± Long Chen ridiculed. This white-robed man was no longer acting like a person anymore. He was acting more like an insane dog.
¡°Sorry to trouble you two, but could you go kill this crazy dog?¡± Long Chen turned to the two Tendon Transformation experts.
At this time, those two possessed the highest battle strength present. Having them kill the white-robed man in his current state wasn¡¯t difficult.
¡°We¡¯ll handle it.¡± The two of them nodded. They had yet to have an opportunity to reveal their true strength, causing them to also feel a bit vexed. Now was the best time for them to show off a bit.
¡°Hahahaha!!!¡± The white-robed man crazilyughed, bitterness filling his eyes. ¡°You miserable ants, you ruined everything! All my effort was wasted! You can all go to hell!¡±
After saying that, he took out a ck medicinal pill.
He immediately swallowed that medicinal pill. The two experts Long Tianxiao had brought along reached him at almost the same time.
¡°Hmph, eating medicine now is toote!¡± The two of them raised their weapons and shed them down upon him.
But when Long Chen saw that ck medicinal pill, he couldn¡¯t help being surprised. Suddenly, his expression changed as he realized just what that medicinal pill was.
¡°Careful!¡±
But he was toote. The white-robed man sinisterly smiled and punched out with both of his hands.
Two explosions of bloody mist dyed the sky red. Everyone looked on stupefied.
¡°How is this possible?¡±
Long Tianxiao and the others were absolutely appalled. Two powerful Tendon Transformation experts had been killed just like that, not even their bones remaining.
¡°Life Devouring Blood Explosion Pill. It¡¯s actually a Life Devouring Blood Explosion Pill?¡±
Long Chen was greatly shaken. He had recognized that to be a self-destructive medicinal pill. Who would have thought that the white-robed man would possess one and that he would even consume it now?
The Life Devouring Blood Explosion Pill was a medicinal pill that converted life into power. By igniting your remaining vitality, you could release over double your normal strength.
That was an extremely terrifying medicinal pill. But its repercussions were also extremely cruel. There was only one result after consuming it: death.
From the moment he had consumed the Life Devouring Blood Explosion Pill, the white-robed man¡¯s remaining moments were on a countdown. In just the time it took for an incense stick to burn, all his life force would run dry and he would die.
The white-robed man¡¯s entire body turned bloody. His face was malevolent and evil. He clenched his teeth as he looked at Long Chen and the others as if he were a beast deciding which one to eat first.
Originally, this mission hadn¡¯t been his. It had been the mission of a worker within the sect who would be promoted to be an outer disciple afterpleting it.
But the white-robed man had used his own means to force that worker into an ¡®ident¡¯, and then with other people¡¯s help, he managed to gain what should have been an extremely easy mission.
As long as he finished it, he would be promoted to be an inner sect disciple. There was even an extremely remote hope that the sect might promote him to a core disciple.
He originally hadn¡¯t been worried after the fourth prince¡¯s n had failed. As long as he personally killed them, the n could continue as usual.
He would just have to quickly cover it up and not let anyone from the sect find out. As long as he waited patiently and used the fourth prince properly, he could secretly build a tunnel and set up severalrger spirit concealing grand formations, allowing him to begin mining the spirit stones.
Although that would take a great deal of time, it was the safest and most dependable method.
This n had already been in works for over ten years. As for the white-robed man, he had only taken over two years ago. Everything had already been set up, and he was just waiting to collect the profits.
But now the Hidden Spirit Formation had been broken and the spirit qi of the spirit stone mine had been released. Such a huge movement would definitely attract members from the variousrge sects.
His mission hadpletely failed. Not only would he not get a reward, but he would have to face the sect¡¯s most ruthless punishments.
Thinking of that, he had be filled with hatred and resentment. He wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain anything. He had thus descended into madness and swallowed the Life Devouring Blood Explosion Pill.
He was only in his twenties, but as soon as he had consumed that medicinal pill, he immediately transformed to look like a middle-aged man.
That was how terrifying the Life Devouring Blood Explosion Pill was. It would crazily absorb his life force, turning it into strength. With each breath he was taking now, another year came off his vitality.
¡°All you ants can die now!¡± The white-robed man roared and punched out. The terrifying wind from that punch shot out over hundreds of meters, turning into a whistling beast head that charged towards them.
The terrifying pressure from it caused people to be unable to even breath. They felt as if even their organs were being squeezed to death. If they were hit by that wild gale, they would undoubtedly die.
Long Tianxiao took a deep breath. Although he knew he would definitely die, he still got up, just about to charge out to block.
But Long Chen was even faster than him. As that wild gale was on route, he punched out.
¡°Breaking Wind Fist!¡±
¡°Roar!¡±
Long Chen had just punched when a huge wind de shot out from behind him. That was Little Snow¡¯s attack.
Little Snow had realized that it was a desperate situation, and his attack was shot out at the perfect time.
BOOM!
Qi waves exploded out. Long Tianxiao and the others felt as if a wild bull had rammed into them, and they were sent flying.
Everyone ached. Fatty Yu and the others, whose cultivation bases weren¡¯t high enough, fainted directly.
Long Tianxiao hastily looked back. Dust filled the air and a huge crater had appeared in the ground. Little Snow was currently digging into the ground.
Suddenly, he stopped and used his teeth to drag out Long Chen from the ground and then charged forward to face the white-robed man.
Long Chen was gasping for breath. That attack had used up all his remaining strength. He was nowpletely exhausted.
Intense pains wracked his body. He felt that perhaps every single one of his bones had broken.
¡°Ants, you dare struggle? Die!¡±
Seeing that Long Chen was actually able to receive one of his strikes, the white-robed man became even more infuriated. He was just about to punch again when he suddenly saw that tuft of red hair on Little Snow¡¯s head.
¡°The third rank Scarlet me Snow Wolf?¡±
He was somewhat surprised. He hadn¡¯t really been paying any attention to Little Snow before. The Scarlet me Snow Wolf was an excellentpanion amongst third rank Magical Beasts. Once they were matured, their battle strength would grow even further.
His heart shook, and his first thought was that he should take this Snow Wolf as his own housepet. But he then immediately remembered that he had already consumed the Life Devouring Blood Explosion Pill, so looking at Little Snow made him even more furious.
¡°Even you dare mock me? DIE!¡± He punched out once more.
¡°Run, Little Snow!¡±
Long Chen hoarsely cried out with hisst bit of energy, not wanting Little Snow to sacrifice himself for nothing.
But Little Snow didn¡¯t listen to Long Chen¡¯s cry at all. He once more spat out a wind de that struck the wind from the white-robed man¡¯s fist, but the wind force was too great, and so it easily broke past his wind de and struck him.
With Little Snow¡¯s speed, he should have been able to dodge.
But Little Snow didn¡¯t move. He forcefully took the attack head-on, resisting it with just his body.
¡°NO!¡±
BANG! Little Snow¡¯s body was blown away by that wild wind gale. At the same time, the sound of his bones breaking and shattering rang out.
He was sent tumbling away, only stopping coincidentally right beside Long Chen.
Looking at the blood covering Little Snow¡¯s body, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel anguish.
¡°Wu!¡± Little Snow managed to turn his head with great difficulty to look at Long Chen, his eyes filled with dense love.
¡°You bastards, you can both die!¡±
The white-robed man sinisterly charged over at the two of them.
Three figures shot over to block him. They were Long Tianxiao, Chu Yao, and Shi Feng. They all knew that they werepletely unable to block this white-robed man, however, they refused to just watch as Long Chen died in front of them.
¡°Fuck off!¡± The white-robed man angrily swatted at them, and the three of them were immediately sent flying, vomiting blood. In front of the white-robed man, they were unable to resist in the slightest.
After sending the three of them flying, he raised his leg to stamp down on Long Chen. ¡°You repulsive ants can die now.¡±
If that leg truly did strike Long Chen with its terrifying power, in his weak state, Long Chen would definitely die.
But he did not even have the slightest bit of spiritual qi or energy remaining in him, and it was impossible for him to dodge.
BANG! Waves of qi shot out. Long Tianxiao and the others suddenly saw that a ming figure had appeared there.
¡°It¡¯s grandmaster Yun Qi!¡±
Shi Feng immediately recognized him. But the current grandmaster Yun Qi no longer looked the same as usual. His entire body was covered in mes that had be as red as blood.
Looking into the distance, everyone saw Wei Cang and Wang Luyang had already been burnt to a crisp, no longer possessing the slightest aura.
¡°You old stick who won¡¯t die, even you havee to block me?!¡±
The white-robed man had been hit by a powerful force just now, causing him to miss. He angrily raged at grandmaster Yun Qi.
¡°Grandmaster Yun Qi, you¡¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help being distraught when he saw Yun Qi¡¯s current state.
Others weren¡¯t able to tell, but Long Chen could see that grandmaster Yun Qi had already begun to ignite his core me. That was the life me of an alchemist. Igniting one¡¯s life me was equivalent to burning away one¡¯s soul.
¡°Child, I¡¯ve already lived for many years. I¡¯ve already seen many things. And now I¡¯ve also avenged my one great enmity. I have nothing to regret. You are the most talented genius I¡¯ve ever seen when ites to pill refining. How can I just let you die in front of me? Haha, even my weary old bones can have some use in the end.¡±
Grandmaster Yun Qiughed. He was not filled with anger, but instead a calm easiness. He slowly formed a seal with both hands. His thumb and middle finger touched while the rest of his fingers folded over each other. mes exploded out.
Chapter 110: Long Chen, Transform
After grandmaster Yun Qi finished speaking, the mes surrounding his body suddenly burned intensely. Countless me chains shot out from his hands andpletely wrapped around the white-robed man.
¡°me Prison.¡±
It¡¯s speed was iparable, and the white-robed man had yet to even react before he waspletely caught. Countless chains wrapped him tight perfectly.
The white-robed man waspletely bound by those me chains. Those mes were grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s core me. Even Pill Masters like Wei Cang and Wang Luyang had been unable to endure it and had immediately been defeated.
Although grandmaster Yun Qi had been busy fighting, he had always been keeping an eye over Long Chen¡¯s battlefield. Seeing that he had sunk into a crisis, he had finally exploded out.
Pill Masters could fight for a long time with their Pill mes. Although grandmaster Yun Qi had kept the upper hand, it was impossible for him to achieve victory in a short time using ordinary methods.
But seeing that Long Chen had been about to perish, he had no longer kept anything in reserve and summoned out his core me. That was an ability which he had only managed toprehend in thest few years.
By refining a me into one¡¯s core me and using his life energy to nourish the me, once it grew strong enough, he would have been able to step into the next level, bing a Pill King.
Now that his core me had been summoned out of his body, his battle strength was without equal. But the cost was that it also used up his life energy.
The white-robed man wildly struggled from within those me chains. But no matter how he struggled, he was unable to escape and emitted a mournful cry.
However, what shocked people the most was that although even Wei Cang and Wang Luyang were unable to resist the core me, it was unable to immediately kill the white-robed man.
Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed and shook his head. ¡°Ah, I really am old. Long Chen, I¡¯m sorry¡¡±
People were shocked to realize that grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s body was slowly disappearing from the feet up. Hisst words hung in the air.
His body scattered with the wind.
¡°Grandmaster Yun Qi¡¡±
Long Chen couldn¡¯t hold back his tears. Ever since he had met grandmaster Yun Qi, he had always protected and encouraged him. He was a true senior worthy of respect. And now for him, he had died and even his body had disappeared. Long Chen was filled with hatred and resentment.
¡°AHH!!¡± Following grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s disappearance, the me chains binding the white-robed man also faded away.
However, the current white-robed man was no longer able to be called ¡®white-robed¡¯. His whole body was burnt ck, making him look like a human-shaped piece of charcoal. But the auraing from his body was still absolutely terrifying.
¡°Bastards, the suffering you gave me will be returned ten times to you!¡±
The white-robed man actually stopped attacking Long Chen and waved his hand. The distant Long Tianxiao suddenly shook and he was pulled over by a terrifying force.
The white-robed man¡¯s charred hand tightly clenched Long Tianxiao¡¯s neck and he sinisterly looked at Long Chen. ¡°Kid, you¡¯ve truly infuriated me. I won¡¯t let you die first. As payback, I¡¯ll let you see everyone around you die one by one, hahaha!!!¡±
¡°Bastard, release my father!¡± Long Chen wanted to rush over, but his body refused to listen to his orders. He was unable to move.
¡°Haha, is it painful? Excellent, that¡¯s good. This is still just the start. Let¡¯s take it slow.¡± The white-robed man crazilyughed, filled with insane joy.
¡°Chen-er, men have no need to worry about life and death if they have lived their life without regret or guilt. You don¡¯t need to feel bad.¡± Long Tianxiao might have his neck in his hand and have no way to resist, but he didn¡¯t feel the slightest bit of fear.
Long Chen¡¯s anger soared and endless killing intent spread from him. But he was still helpless.
What he didn¡¯t know was that the moment that the killing intent in his heart became the densest, his FengFu Star on the bottom of his foot began to crazily revolve.
The angrier he got, the more violently his FengFu Star revolved. When his anger reached its peak, his FengFu Star suddenly paused.
¡°You¡¯re not afraid of death? Good, then we¡¯ll start with you. You can die now.¡± The white-robed man coldlyughed and began to apply some force on Long Tianxiao¡¯s neck.
¡°Fucking go to hell!¡±
An angry roar rang out like a thunderp, sounding as if it hade from above the very heavens. Everyone present heard that booming roar shake their ears.
The white-robed man was the closest and received it head-on. His head buzzed and he felt as if his brain had turned to mush.
Suddenly, he felt intense pain as he was sent flying. Only when hended on the ground did he awaken from his stupor and look forward in shock.
At this very instant, the originally sunny sky became covered by ck clouds and countless thunderbolts shed within them. The clouds spread thousands of miles. The scene appeared as if the end of the world hade.
At the same time, he saw that lonely figure. A faint halo of light appeared over his body and a terrifying aura continuously dashed against heaven and earth.
¡°What is this?!¡± The white-robed man waspletely astonished. He could clearly see that that figure was Long Chen, but the current Long Chen seemed like an awakened demon king or a descended divine god. A terrifying pressure was constantly emitted from his body, causing people to tremble.
The FengFu Star on the bottom of Long Chen¡¯s foot began to crack. The outeryerpletely shed off like a mud-covered pearl. The light from within was finally being released.
After the outeryer fell, a bright, true star appeared from within. Inside that star were some indistinct mountains, ins, rivers, and even expansive oceans.[1]
After that star appeared, Long Chen¡¯s dried up spiritual qi waspletely replenished. With that, he had sent the white-robed man flying with a single punch, saving Long Tianxiao.
He sent his father into a further location from their battlefield. That was something he did instinctively because he could sense that a terrifying thing was most likely about to ur.
Long Chen slowly closed his eyes. As if talking in his sleep, he said a single sentence:
¡°First of the Nine Stars, FengFu Battle Armor - Appear!¡±
When he opened his eyes once more, a star had appeared in his eyes.
When that star appeared, all of heaven and earth raged. An earthquake shook thend, causing those spectators who were several miles away to fall to the ground and flee in fear. It was as if the heavens were copsing and the earth was breaking apart.
An endlessly violent aura was constantly charging out of Long Chen¡¯s body. The heavens shook as countless pieces of crushed rocks began to float around him.
Those broken stone pieces which had begun to hover around him all turned to dust under some incredible pressure. Long Tianxiao and the others all looked at Long Chen in shock. Was this the same Long Chen that they knew?
The current him appeared just like a demon king yet also like a divine god. All things would be forced to acknowledge their allegiance to him.
Long Chen suddenly disappeared from his original location, appearing in front of the white-robed man in a single blink, punching out.
Although the white-robed man was watching Long Chen inplete shock, seeing him disappear so suddenly, he also punched forward instinctively.
The sounds of bones breaking rang out. After colliding with Long Chen¡¯s punch, the white-robed man¡¯s entire arm was crushed.
With just a single punch, Long Chen could shatter the white-robed man¡¯s arm. Without a single pause, he spun and viciously kicked with his right leg.
Long Chen¡¯s leg ruthlessly mmed into his nose, causing many of his facial bones to break. He was sent flying back.
But as soon as that white-robed man was sent flying, Long Chen had already appeared in midair like some phantom. Raising his right hand, he viciously smashed it down.
The white-robed man¡¯s body was like a shooting star as he smashed into the ground. The hard surface of the ground became like water, and a huge wave spread out.
A three-hundred-meter crater had been smashed into the ground. Within that crater was a charred figure who no longer resembled a human.
All his bones had been broken and crushed. He was practically in a ¡®U¡¯ shape now. But most horrifying of all was that he still hadn¡¯t died and was still frantically gasping for breath.
¡°Ants shouldn¡¯t struggle? Then why are you still struggling? Ants should suffer and die? Okay, I¡¯ll help you with that.¡±
Long Chen walked to the front of the huge hole. Looking at the white-robed man lying at the bottom, a pile of needles appeared in his hands.
¡°Feel what suffering is.¡± Long Chen threw over a dozen needles straight at him.
The needles went straight through his skin. The white-robed man¡¯s eyes almost shot out of his head.
¡°AHHH!!!¡± His miserable scream was so loud that even those miles away could hear it. It was a cry filled with pain, causing people to shudder with fear.
¡°You¡¯re the real ant. My brother received these Bone Eroding Needles without letting out a single cry. You¡¯re just a piece of trash.¡± Long Chen looked at the white-robed man icily.
His miserable cries never ended. Long Chen¡¯s eyes were filled with iciness, but at the same time, he felt the thrill of revenge filling him.
He hated being powerless, he hated others standing high above him, and he hated being used. He swore to himself that he would be stronger so that he wouldn¡¯t let anyone else ever humiliate him like this again.
Suddenly, that star in Long Chen¡¯s eye began to fade slowly, and Long Chen immediately felt his exhaustion return to him. He fell down.
Long Chen didn¡¯t fall onto the cold ground, but into a soft embrace. A faint, delicate fragrance caused him to feel iparably warm.
¡°Long Chen.¡± Chu Yao hugged the extremely weak Long Chen. Joyful tears filled her eyes. After all the twists and turns, the rain had finally cleared, leaving them with a new beginning.
¡°Lying in your embrace is reallyfortable. Maybe I¡¯ll take a nap.¡± Long Chen closed his eyes wearily.
Chu Yao¡¯s pretty face turned red, and Long Chen felt that something was a bit strange. Opening his eyes to nce around, he saw that his father, mother, Shi Feng, and all the others were looking at him strangely. Chu Yao¡¯s face turned even redder.
Long Chen awkwardlyughed and did his best to stand up. If he wanted to take advantage of Chu Yao in front of this many people, he probably would have to thicken his face some more.
The white-robed man at the bottom of the hole was no longer screaming. Even a Tendon Transformation expert was unable to endure the pain of the Bone Eroding Needles, and he had now died.
Looking at his needle-covered, charred corpse, everyone rxed. This monstrously powerful person had finally died.
It was just at this moment that a disturbance urred at where Long Tianxiao was. An officer had run over to Long Tianxiao and bowed. ¡°Reporting to Marquis, we had captured the Grand Xia¡¯s spies, but they seized the seventh prince. We beg Marquis to make a decision.¡±
That officer was extremely bright, knowing when to be flexible and take advantage of the situation. Now that Long Chen¡¯s battlefield had finally reached a conclusion, he immediately ran over.
Chu Yao¡¯s expression changed. Her little brother! Long Chen said, ¡°Let¡¯s go over.¡±
Theyers of soldiers parted ways to let them through. Long Chen saw two familiar people and couldn¡¯t help but have a cold smile appear on his lips.
Those two were precisely Zhou Yaoyang and Xia Baichi. Zhou Yaoyang held a longsword in his hand and closely held it against Chu Feng¡¯s neck. Seeing Long Chen¡¯s arrival, Xia Baichi nervously said, ¡°Long Chen, if you don¡¯t want there to be any problems, then hurry up and let us leave, otherwise¡¡±
¡°Go ahead and kill.¡± Long Chen smiled slightly.
[1] The character for ¡®star¡¯ can also mean any heavenly body, as it was just used for anything they saw in the sky. For example, Mars is called the red star.
Chapter 111: Dreamland
Long Chen¡¯s words gave everyone a shock. Chu Yao¡¯s face was the palest. However, only Chu Feng¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change from the start as he calmly looked at Long Chen.
Xia Baichi couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. ¡°You want me to kill hi-¡±
A longsword stabbed through a body and blood slowly trickled out. Xia Baichi hadn¡¯t even finished speaking.
Looking down in disbelief, she saw a longsword had appeared through her stomach. She was at aplete loss.
¡°What... why?¡±
Xia Baichi copsed onto the ground, dead. Even in herst moments, she still didn¡¯tprehend why he would kill her.
Zhou Yaoyang was staring ahead nkly. The longsword in his hand was still stuck in Xia Baichi¡¯s corpse.
Long Chen smiled slightly. His vision truly had been far-reaching in this case. Back then, Long Chen had yed a trick on Zhou Yaoyang and made it so that he couldn¡¯t sleep soundly at night and he was tormented into a life worse than death while he was awake.
In the end, Zhou Yaoyang had apologized and knelt to Long Chen to beg for his forgiveness. Long Chen truly had been thinking of letting him off, but the resentment that was hidden deep in Zhao Yaoyang¡¯s eyes hadn¡¯t escaped his senses. And so he had given him a special medicinal pill.
The medicinal pill which he had given Zhou Yaoyang¡¯s father also had something special which Long Chen had applied on it, and that was why countless Heart Devouring Ants had appeared and eaten him alive.
As for the medicinal pill which he had given Zhou Yaoyang, Long Chen had added Soul Bewitching Grass into it. The effect would normally hide inside the body, but just by drawing out a strand of his Spiritual Strength, he was able to turn him into a puppet that could only follow his orders.
¡°Finish yourself off too,¡± ordered Long Chen indifferently.
Zhou Yaoyang didn¡¯t even pause. The longsword in his hand directly cut across his neck. Blood sttered everywhere as he immediately died.
Every single person present felt a chill run through them. That was too bizarre, too frightening. With just a single sentence, he could force someone to suicide without hesitation. That was practically demonic sorcery.
Long Chen didn¡¯t pay the slightest attention to those soldiers¡¯ fear. Ordering some of the officials, two stretchers were quickly built to carry Little Snow and Wilde back to their estate.
Little Snow¡¯s injuries were extremely heavy. Many of his internal organs had ruptured. But as long as he was alive, it wouldn¡¯t cause any troubles for Long Chen. Furthermore, Little Snow was a Magical Beast, so his recovery rate was already shocking on its own. After giving Little Snow some medicinal pills, he then examined Wilde again.
He noticed that Wilde¡¯s cells were still in their suspended animation state. It appeared that the Bone Eroding Needles had truly harmed Wilde¡¯s body. Despite the great amount of life energy that was nourishing his body, his cells still needed to be awoken slowly. It would require a bit more time before he could heal.
As for the many wounds covering Shi Feng and the others, the lucky thing was that none of them were too severe. Even the one who had been the most injured still managed to stay alive.
After putting everything in order, Long Chen was finally unable to continue enduring and entered a deep slumber.
The battle this time had been the most intense battle in his life. If his willpower wasn¡¯t so strong, he would have long since fainted.
Now that everything had ended, he finally rxed. He was so deeply asleep that it was practically like he was in aa.
Long Chen began to dream that his body was floating upwards. He didn¡¯t know how long or how far he had floated, but when he finally opened his eyes, he saw that he was in an endless void filled with millions upon millions of twinkling stars.
BOOM! The void suddenly exploded open. A fist caused the entire void to copse.
That world around him shattered like a mirror. Long Chen was astonished. Looking along the fist, he followed it up to see its owner.
Seeing that figure, Long Chen almost cried out in shock. That was because that figure had a divine ring behind his back just like him.
But that divine ring was far greater than his own. Long Chen¡¯s divine ring could only grow up to three hundred meters, but the divine ring here was basically endless, filling the entire universe.
Suddenly, an angry roar caused all the stars in the distance to flicker. A huge, ferocious beast that was evenrger than a mountain appeared.
It had three heads and nine tails. It was a mythical beast that was coveredpletely in ck fur. The pressure being emitted from it caused the heavens to tremble and made even Long Chen feel as if he were about to be crushed.
A ck light shot out of that ferocious beast. Any of the stars in its path exploded and faded away. It was shooting straight towards that person with the divine ring.
The person¡¯s divine ring trembled, and a palm shot out to meet with the ck light. Long Chen only managed to see a wave of ripples fill the void.
When the ripples faded, the void shook and countless stars exploded into nothingness, appearing like fireworks. That scene appeared like nothing more than the apocalypse.
Long Chen could only watch on stupefied as that man with the divine ring fought with that huge, ferocious beast. The void copsed wherever they collided. That kind of power was enough to destroy the entire world.
Long Chen was scared stupid by this fight. With just a wave of a hand, they were able to destroy countless stars, copse the heavens, and shatter thend. Just what kind of monsters could fight on this level?!
From a small gap in the space, Long Chen suddenly saw that there was someone else behind the man, but he was unable to see clearly.
Long Chen was unable to change his vantage point, so he couldn¡¯t tell just who that figure was. He couldn¡¯t tell if it was even a man or woman, but he could sense that that figure was familiar and amiable with him. Long Chen tried his utmost to gaze into the distance to see who it was.
But suddenly, the man who was fighting turned his head. Long Chen¡¯s gaze blurred, and he couldn¡¯t tell any of that man¡¯s features except his eyes.
That pair of eyes were exceedingly deep. Within the pupils were nine flickering stars that possessed great vicissitudes.
Long Chen¡¯s heart jumped wildly. The divine ring and those stars¡ weren¡¯t those things that could only be formed with the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art?
¡°Time is running out.¡±
A divine voice rang out in Long Chen¡¯s mind. The void world around himpletely disappeared.
Long Chen suddenly sat up, his whole body covered in sweat, gasping for breath.
He could clearly remember everything from that dream, down to the smallest detail. For it to be so clearly imprinted in his mind, it was definitely no ordinary dream.
¡°Time¡¯s running out? What does that mean? Is it his time that¡¯s running out, or my time?
¡°Just who was that? The void was destroyed with a single blow, tearing apart countless stars¡ just what kind of realm has he reached?
¡°And that mysterious beast, what was it? The aura was so strange, and seems to be filled with death. But it was clearly alive¡
¡°And just who was that figure behind the man? Why do I feel like it was a friend I know?
¡°What is going on?¡±
Questions ran amok in his head. Back when Xiao Hua had saved him and he had been unconscious, he had clearly heard a voice.
¡°You must awaken. You have far too many missions that are awaiting for you to finish.
¡°You must be stronger. You have far too many enemies waiting for you to ughter.
¡°Your destiny is to overturn heaven and earth. All gods and devils can only crawl under your foot. Long Chen, quickly awaken.¡±
Those three lines continued to run through Long Chen¡¯s mind. Those sentences seemed to be closely rted to the scene he had just seen in his dream.
But this was clearly an iplete jigsaw puzzle. It was impossible to get any of the pieces to fit up, let alone figure out what the full picture was.
Long Chen rubbed his head, feeling as if his head was about to explode. There was no way for him toprehend it, so he just directly gave up on trying to figure it out.
But there was one thing he was sure of. Those memories, which had suddenly appeared in his head back then, were definitely no coincidence.
His Spirit Root had been stolen, turning his Dantian into an empty wastnd. But the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art specifically did not require a Dantian.
Back when Long Chen had condensed the tenth cyclone in his Dantian, he had begun to suspect that the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art had been specifically tailor-made for him.
When that tenth cyclone had been condensed, he had noticed that spiritual qi had raged and dashed around his Dantian.
If his Dantian had already possessed spiritual qi, it would have been like lighting a fuse, and those ten cyclones would have all exploded. Perhaps even he himself would have exploded, leaving him dead without a corpse.
Long Chen wasn¡¯t a big believer in coincidences or luck. After all, he had never been lucky while growing up. Only by putting in much more effort than others could he achieve his goals.
Furthermore, the voice that had rung in his head twice now made it even more unlikely that it was a coincidence. It seemed that it was more like a meticulous n.
¡°Awaken toplete my mission? Be stronger to ughter enemies? Destined to topple heaven and earth?¡± It waspletely inconceivable.
Long Chen thought about it and suddenlyughed bitterly. That kind of goal didn¡¯t seem to concern a small Blood Condensation amateur like him.
But when he thought of that man, his heart beat wildly. ¡°The divine ring and stars make it likely that he was using the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art as well. So does it mean I will be like that one day?¡±
Long Chen finally reached the crux of the matter. He could feel his own heart beating in disappointment over his current level.
¡°Well, I still have to walk this path no matter what. Perhaps there really will be a day where I can reach such heights.¡±
Long Chen consoled himself. Although he felt that it would be a lie to say that he felt that he could reach such a level, it was best to at least have a goal. After all, what if he did manage to achieve it?
Only at this moment did he have time to examine his foot¡¯s FengFu Star. The current FengFu Star hadpletely changed from before. It was like a real star, seeming to possess its own vitality, releasing endless energy.
Long Chen recalled how he had summoned out an extremely terrifying FengFu Battle Armor back during the fight.
¡°So the meaning of the nine star transformations is referring to nine evolutions of each star, having them eventually bing a real star and reach the perfect state.¡±
Long Chen finally understood why he had onlypleted the ninth transformation during the fight. Before that, his FengFu Star had only undergone eight transformations, and he had been unable to reach the ninth transformation.
But that day, Long Chen¡¯s fury had soared and his killing intent had exploded, triggering thest transformation, letting his FengFu Star reach perfection.
At the same time, he also understood that while the FengFu Star could be used as an energy source during normal times, it could, more importantly, summon the FengFu Battle Armor.
The current him was unable to summon out the FengFu Battle Armor for a long time. At most he could only keep it up for a couple of breaths¡¯ time.
But Long Chen was still extremely pleased to have understood another secret of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. That would be of great assistance to him in the future.
The FengFu Battle Armor¡¯s power was practically unstoppable. So what if its time limit was so short? As long as he could defeat his enemy within that time, it would be fine.
Suddenly, Long Chen thought of another matter. Back when that mysterious scene had faded away, a piece of information had also appeared in his mind.
Long Chen closed his eyes and recalled that information. When he finally recalled the contents of that information, he opened his eyes, filled with disbelief.
Chapter 112: Alioth Star
What Long Chen had never expected was that that final bit of information was the pill form for the Alioth Pill[1]. That naturally made him wild with joy.
The Alioth Star was the second star of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. It was located in the center of the right palm, the opposite location of the FengFu Star in the left foot.
In other words, Long Chen could now cultivate the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art¡¯s second level. His FengFu Star had reached perfection now, giving Long Chen great confidence in himself.
If he could open up a second star, that would be equivalent to having two Dantians, allowing him to increase his cultivation speed even further.
Just the single FengFu Star had already allowed Long Chen¡¯sbat ability to soar. If he could also seed in condensing the Alioth Star, then with the superposition of both stars, just how terrifying would his power be?
Thinking back to his dream and that powerful man who possessed the huge divine ring and the nine stars in his eyes, Long Chen¡¯s heart beat wildly. Perhaps there would reallye a day when he would also be that strong.
¡°Wait, what?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but jump in shock when he looked over the pill form.
¡°me Lizard Horn, Ice-Cold Python essence blood, Qilin Fruit, Nine vor Kuding[2], Immortal Chrysanthemum¡¡± Long Chen was shocked to find that the Alioth Pill¡¯s form required over thirty rare and precious medicinal ingredients.
Amongst them, the Qilin Fruit medicinal ingredient was the most difficult to find. It had practically be extinct in this world.
Even if he had somehow managed to luckily obtain a few Qilin Fruits, that would still be nothing inparison to the total amount which he needed if he assumed an ordingly high consumption as he had required with the FengFu Star.
The me of his excitement was immediately doused by icy water. This was something that was impossible to aplish.
He then thought of something that absolutely chilled him.
The Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was a technique that had circted down from ancient times. That meant that its pill forms were based on medicinal ingredients from that time.
But in the current era, many of those ingredients had already be extinct. Just how was he supposed to find them?
Not only did he have to find them, but he also needed to collect an absolutely massive quantity of them. That was practically as difficult as ascending the heavens. It was too discouraging, enough to cause him to despair.
After just running into the second star, he had already run into this huge problem. Then what about the third or fourth star?
But then thinking about it, Long Chenughed, telling himself that he had been too pessimistic. So what if Phoenix Cry didn¡¯t have them? That didn¡¯t mean that there weren¡¯t other ces where they did exist.
Although he didn¡¯t want to admit it, both the Huayun Pavilion¡¯s Bai Ling and that white-robed man had considered this to be an uncivilizednd, thetter even considering him to be a frog at the bottom of a well.
Then why shouldn¡¯t he go out to take a look into that vaster space? Furthermore, he also had to go see his future wife. After all, if too much time passed, perhaps she would forget about him. That would be tragic.
He also remembered the Pill Valley tablet which grandmaster Yun Qi had given him. He truly wanted to know what that ce, which was considered a holynd in the hearts of pill cultivators, was like.
If he could enter that holynd, then wouldn¡¯t it be possible for him to easily obtain even more precious treasures that would make cultivating in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art more doable? Then wouldn¡¯t all his problems be easily resolved?
Thinking of all this, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel as if the clouds were finally parting and he could now see the clear, blue sky. His mood immediately became much more rxed.
At this moment, the door to his room was slowly opened, and a young woman quietly brought in a basin of fresh water for him. There was also a towel soaking in the water.
¡°Are you being this quiet to not wake me?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help butugh.
That graceful, pretty woman¡¯s long hair flowed past her shoulders. She had clear, limpid eyes, and eyebrows like crescent moons. She was Phoenix Cry¡¯s third princess, Chu Yao.
She shook and looked at Long Chen¡¯s bed. Seeing theughing and teasing Long Chen, her pretty face turnedpletely red.
¡°You¡¯re up! I¡¯ll wash your face.¡± Setting down the basin, she picked up the towel and twisted it a couple of times before lightly walking over to Long Chen. Blushing, she gently and carefully wiped Long Chen¡¯s face.
Smelling her faint fragrance and feeling her heartbeat, Long Chen felt a burst of warmth. He reached out his hands and tightly embraced her slender waist.
Chu Yao was immediately pulled in Long Chen¡¯s embrace. Resting her head against his chestfortably, her heart beat affectionately.
Feeling her lying in his embrace, Long Chen felt an unprecedented level of peace. Neither of them said anything, simply silently sensing the other¡¯s heartbeat. All words were simply superfluous.
After an unknown time, Chu Yao reached out her hand and stroked Long Chen¡¯s cheek. Roving her gaze over his face, she faintly said, ¡°Long Chen, how about we stay like this for the rest of our lives? We¡¯ll never have to part again.¡±
His heart jumped. Those words immediately caused him to think of a certain maiden. Although she wasn¡¯t too beautiful, her bright eyes were filled with love.
¡°I just hope that when you look upon this ne in the future, you¡¯ll remember that there was once a girl¡ whose heart¡ yearned to go hunting with you¡ and make babies.¡±
Rubbing the ne on his neck, Long Chen couldn¡¯t stop himself from sighing. His thoughtsnded on that small vige. Just how was she now?
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chu Yao sensed Long Chen was thinking about something else.
Long Chen told her everything from beginning to end. The chase from Marquis Ying, almost dying near some isted cliffs, being saved by Xiao Hua.
¡°Long Chen, that Xiao Hua is just a kind and honest girl. Why would you reject her?¡± A feeling of intense pity filled Chu Yao¡¯s heart when she heard the story of Xiao Hua.
She might be a princess, but she also knew that in this world where the strong were revered, men dominated most of the world. Having multiple wives and concubines was moremon than not.
She had never thought to monopolize Long Chen¡¯s love for herself. She couldn¡¯t help but feel pity when hearing of his bitter encounter with Xiao Hua. But at the same time, she also began to feel some fear that the miserable situation with Xiao Hua would repeat itself with her.
Seeing Chu Yao¡¯s expression change to be that of a frightened rabbit, he lightly kissed her on the forehead.
¡°Have you forgotten our promise to each other?¡±
Chu Yao¡¯s eyes blurred as she remembered the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival once more. She softly said:
¡°The Dragon swims across the four oceans; the Phoenix flies throughout the ninends. Seas of blood may block us, but we will never give up our path; Dragon and Phoenix will both live to old age!¡±
¡°Long Chen, can we really grow old together?¡± Chu Yao didn¡¯t know why, but she was filled with grief and distress after repeating their promise to each other.
¡°Of course. We will forever be together.¡± Long Chen gently rubbed Chu Yao¡¯s cheek.
¡°But, but, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll end up the same as Xiao Hua.¡± A tear streaked across her face, making Long Chen feel heartbroken.
¡°It won¡¯t be the same. Xiao Hua had many things she wanted to protect. She couldn¡¯t let go of her feelings towards the vige. I am also the same; I also have something I must protect. That thing is you,¡± smiled Long Chen.
¡°Hey, who is a thing?¡± Chu Yao¡¯s face reddened and she hit him lightly. Despite knowing Long Chen was joking, her face still reddened.
Long Chenughed mischievously. Chu Yao¡¯s feigned anger was extremely cute, letting him forget his mncholy.
The current Chu Yao was like a fairy freed from a curse. She no longer had to pretend to be someone other than who she was.
Her tendernesspletely entranced Long Chen. Hugging her waist, Long Chen wished time would freeze forever at this moment.
But he knew that although the Long family¡¯s crisis had finally been resolved, that didn¡¯t mean everything was over. There were still many more things to do.
¡°Long Chen, who is Meng Qi?¡± Chu Yao asked suddenly.
Long Chen stumbled, not knowing how to reply for a moment.
¡°I¡ I don¡¯t have any other meaning, I just want to know a little bit about big sister Meng Qi. I hope that in the future¡ we can get along well,¡± Chu Yao hastily exined when she saw that Long Chen was speechless.
Long Chen thought about it for a moment and immediately realized his mother had carelessly leaked this gossip, otherwise, Chu Yao wouldn¡¯t know about Meng Qi.
¡°Thank you.¡± Long Chen suddenly thanked her.
¡°Why are you thanking me?¡± Chu Yao was puzzled.
¡°As an empire¡¯s princess, I really have made it hard on you.¡± Long Chen knew that for Chu Yao to call Meng Qi ¡®big sister¡¯ meant she was willing to not be the first, main wife. For a woman, that was definitely an extremely great sacrifice.
Chu Yao shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t feel wronged. Actually, I feel quite blessed. I¡¯ve always felt like I was under a curse to forever be a trapped little bird. It was you who changed everything for me. I don¡¯t know why, but the very first time I saw you, I immediately felt a strange feeling. Now when I think back to it, I feel like it was perhaps simply fate.¡±
¡°Yes, it was fate. That was also the first time I was trussed up like a fish in a and almost turned to paste.¡± Long Chenughed.
¡°You¡ didn¡¯t you also hit me back then! Scoundrel!¡± Chu Yao gently gave him a pinch, her face as red as a ripened apple.
Thinking back to the first time they had met, they looked at each other and suddenlyughed, tightly snuggling against each other.
Long Chen told Chu Yao everything that had happened with Meng Qi. He also told her about the matter of Meng Qi sending him a Scarlet me Snow Wolf
¡°Long Chen, you¡¯re a good person.¡± After hearing him speak, Chu Yao gently caressed Long Chen¡¯s cheek.
Since meeting Long Chen, Chu Yao had learned all about his past. She knew Long Chen had suffered much pain, much more than she ever had.
But even so, Long Chen still didn¡¯t harbor the slightest grudge against Meng Qi for breaking off their engagement. He even went out of his way to consider what she wanted. In Chu Yao¡¯s eyes, Long Chen was truly too kindhearted.
But no matter how thick Long Chen felt his face was, he couldn¡¯t help but turn flushed from that. That kindness hadn¡¯t exactly been pure.
Back then, he had only done it like that in hopes that Meng Qi would think better of him. Frankly speaking, that was just a high level technique to pick up girls. It was a perfect technique he had only used because he had realized Meng Qi was a truly kindhearted woman.
A beauty was now in his arms praising him because of his technique to pick up girls. Long Chen was too embarrassed to show his face.
But while everything was perfect with Chu Yao, he didn¡¯t know just what he should do about Meng Qi. He had no idea whether it would be easy or difficult for her to fall for his charms.
Although Meng Qi was kindhearted, that didn¡¯t mean she would ept having to share his love with another woman. There were some women who were highly opposed to that. Furthermore, even Long Chen himself wasn¡¯t sure whether their rtionship truly had any love or romance to it. That was because even up to this point, it had always been a one-sided love on his part.
Thinking of that, Long Chen once more felt a headacheing on. Having just resolved the Long family¡¯s crisis, even more matters came up like a flood.
Suddenly, footsteps rang outside, scaring Chu Yao from Long Chen¡¯s embrace.
[1] Óñºâ Yu Heng: The name of a star in the Big Dipper constetion, Epsilon Ursae Majoris, also known as Alioth. It is the brightest star in the Ursa Major constetion. The first character Óñ means jade and the second character ºâ means to weigh or bnce.
[2] Kuding is a bitter type of tea.
Chapter 113: Secret
The door to Long Chen¡¯s room was pushed open. Long Chen¡¯s mother and father walked in. Seeing that Long Chen was already able to sit up, they were extremely overjoyed.
¡°How¡¯s your recovery?¡± Long Tianxiao walked up to Long Chen and examined hisplexion.
¡°I¡¯m pretty much healed.¡± Long Chen shrugged. After his FengFu Star had advanced to be a true star, his recovery rate had grown to a shocking level. His body had already healed itself by the time he had woken up.
¡°Right, dad, how are your wounds?¡± Long Chen asked, concerned. Although Long Chen had experienced the most intense battle, his injuries weren¡¯t that severe. On the other hand, it was Long Tianxiao whose injuries were the most worrisome.
Long Tianxiao smiled slightly. ¡°They¡¯re already nothing to worry about. The alchemist guild sent me quite a few medicinal pills. The new guild chairman even treated my wounds personally. I should be fully recovered in just a few days.¡±
Saying that, Long Tianxiao was filled with pride. For an existence like the alchemist guild to treat the Long family so well was all because of Long Chen.
¡°Chen-er, mom was worried to death these past few days. Let mom see if you¡¯ve be thinner.¡± Mrs. Long only had an opportunity to butt in now, and she came up to rub Long Chen¡¯s cheeks.
Long Chen didn¡¯t quite know how to react to that. His father also had a strange expression. Long Chenughed, ¡°Mom, if you want to know if I¡¯ve lost weight, you¡¯ll probably have to lift me to tell.¡±
Long Tianxiao and Chu Yao bothughed heartily. Mrs. Long indignantly said, ¡°This child, when did you get so cheeky? You dare y jokes on your mom? You¡¯re no longer a baby. How is mom supposed to pick you up?¡±
Their small groupughed and conversed harmoniously. Long Tianxiao saw that Long Chen¡¯splexion was excellent, not at all like someone who had just experienced a great battle and was injured.
While he was gratified by that, he was also shocked inside. That recovery ability was too astonishing, practicallyparable to Magical Beasts.
¡°Right, how are Little Snow and Wilde?¡± asked Long Chen suddenly.
¡°Wilde, that child, is practically a freak. Even after having endured that many Bone Eroding Needles, he only slept for a single night before waking up. And as soon as he woke up, he was ravenously hungry and ate everything that could be eaten in our home. We already had to send him out to the pasture outside to get more food,¡± said Mrs. Long.
After this great crisis, Mrs. Long now already considered Wilde as her own child.
Long Chen smiled slightly. He knew it was because of the effect of the liquid given to him by the Spirit World expert. That liquid possessed extremely dense life energy and was exceedingly precious.
If Long Chen¡¯s guess wasn¡¯t wrong, that was most likely a trace of that expert¡¯s life essence. That kind of gift was definitely not a light one.
With Wilde¡¯s unique constitution, recovering that fast was only within reason since his body had been given such powerful nourishment.
But although his body was recovering, he definitely needed to replenish a great deal of energy after being tortured for so long. He was probably crazily devouring meat right now.
¡°As for Little Snow, we don¡¯t know how he¡¯s recovering. We set him up in a room and he won¡¯t let anyone near him,¡± exined Mrs. Long.
¡°Haha, let¡¯s go take a look.¡± Long Chen tidied up his clothes and arrived at an outer room of the Long estate. One of the room¡¯s walls was torn down.
That was because Little Snow¡¯s body was too big and he couldn¡¯t fit through the door. They could see Little Snow lying there even from a distance.
¡°Wu!¡±
Long Chen had yet to even get too close when the dozing Little Snow blinked his eyes and charged over.
Mrs. Long was given a fright and almost screamed. Facing such a huge beast, everyone would instinctively feel fear. Even Long Tianxiao felt a powerful pressure.
Long Chenughed and hugged Little Snow¡¯s head. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve also recovered.¡±
His powerful Spiritual Strength swept out and entered Little Snow¡¯s body. Little Snow¡¯s broken bones had already mended back together. But there were still ces where it hadn¡¯t fully grown back and so there were many cracks.
But Long Chen¡¯s medicinal pills were all high quality, and so they were very effective. Adding on Little Snow¡¯s powerful recovery ability, there was already not much to worry about.
¡°Your major wounds have only just healed. You have to take it easy and not make any intense movements, understood?¡± Long Chen affectionately rubbed Little Snow¡¯s head.
¡°Wu wu!¡± Little Snow rubbed his head against Long Chen¡¯s chest.
Mrs. Long looked at that obedient and cute Little Snow that was practically acting like a puppy and couldn¡¯t help but curiously ask, ¡°Chen-er, can he understand what you¡¯re saying?¡±
¡°Yup, pretty much. He grew up with me from the size of a hand, so he understands my intentions,¡± exined Long Chen.
In reality, Little Snow was unable to understand Long Chen¡¯s speech. But due to their spiritual connection, he could sense and understand Long Chen¡¯s thoughts.
At the same time, Long Chen could also sense Little Snow¡¯s emotions. But thismunication wasn¡¯t through words and so it wasn¡¯t that precise.
¡°Where did you get him? Howe I didn¡¯t know about it?¡± Mrs. Long was startled.
¡°Haha, he was sent to support me by Meng Qi.¡± Long Chen replied without thinking, but as soon as he said that, he saw his mother doing her best to signal him with his eyes.
Obviously, she was warning him not to mention Meng Qi in front of Chu Yao. Mrs. Long already regretted her big mouth.
¡°Mom, big sister Meng Qi sent such a precious Magical Beast to Long Chen. That is enough to prove that big sister Meng Qi has deep emotions for Long Chen. This is a good thing,¡± said Chu Yao.
¡°Mom? You¡¯ve changed the honorific so fast?¡± Long Chen felt it was inconceivable.
But as soon as he said that, Chu Yao¡¯s face turnedpletely red and Mrs. Long pulled her over to her side and fiercely told Long Chen, ¡°Child, let me tell you, Chu Yao is the first daughter-inw. If you make her feel wronged, I will not forgive you.¡±
Mrs. Long¡¯s words were extremely clever. That ¡®first daughter-inw¡¯ was used remarkably well, causing Chu Yao to feel much morefortable. Long Chen definitely admired his mother¡¯s skill in this area.
Long Chen looked from his mother to Chu Yao and didn¡¯t say anything, onlyughing foolishly. Heughed so much that Chu Yao wished she could find somewhere to hide herself.
¡°Okay, now that the crisis has passed and everything¡¯s fine, let¡¯s properly eat a meal. After all, we¡¯re finally all together,¡± proposed Long Tianxiao.
To Long Tianxiao who spent his days fighting, being able to eat a meal with his family was an extremely rare and precious opportunity.
Their servants quickly prepared a sumptuous feast for them. But Long Chen noticed that the majority of them were all new faces, so he couldn¡¯t help but feel astonished.
¡°Your father switched them all out,¡± exined Mrs. Long.
¡°What?¡±
¡°Child, normally you¡¯re so smart, so how did you be so dumb now? They followed our Long family for so many years, always loyal and devoted. Having been implicated into such a terror, they almost lost their lives. Our Long family owes them far too much. Your father already gave each of them a huge fortune, enough to provide for them for a lifetime. That can count aspensation for them. But there was still a portion of them who didn¡¯t want to leave and so they¡¯re still working for us. In any case, we must remember this favor in our hearts,¡± sighed Mrs. Long.
Those people had been unrted to their Long family, but when the Long family had been down and out, they hadn¡¯t abandoned them.
Inparison, his mother¡¯s family, which were clearly her blood sisters, had decided to hurt her as they had.
Looking at his mother¡¯s sullen expression, Long Chen and Long Tianxiao exchanged a nce and quickly changed the topic to something happier, quickly bringing her out of her sadness.
¡°Dad, your son toasts you!¡± Long Chen raised arge cup of alcohol to Long Tianxiao. ¡°To our family¡¯s reunion!¡±
Long Tianxiaoughed heartily and also raised his cup, clinking their sses. Chu Yao and Mrs. Long also raised their wine sses. The four of them were all smiling happily.
Long Chen and Long Tianxiao directly emptied their cups in one go. As for Chu Yao and Mrs. Long, they obviously didn¡¯t have such a high tolerance for alcohol. Chu Yao only drank one gulp before her face flushed, making her appear even cuter.
¡°That child Wilde still hasn¡¯t returned in two days.¡± Mrs. Long felt a bit uneasy that they were missing Wilde in their group.
¡°Haha, Wilde¡¯s probably still busy eating. Don¡¯t worry,¡±ughed Long Chen. Pouring another cup for his father, he asked, ¡°Dad how¡¯s the situation in the capital?¡±
¡°It¡¯s somewhat tranquil. Phoenix Cry¡¯s biggestpetitor was the Grand Xia, but now the Grand Xia has be aplete mess. The other prince was assassinated and now all the officials are busy greedily fighting for the position of Emperor. Even if one of them eventually bes the new Emperor, their empire¡¯s power will have dropped greatly. It¡¯ll be impossible for them to threaten Phoenix Cry. As for Phoenix Cry, the other princes have already withdrawn from the power struggle. The seventh prince was rmended as the crown prince and is now in charge of the imperial court.¡± Long Tianxiao drank a mouthful of alcohol.
The other princes might be greedy, they weren¡¯t stupid. They knew that none of them were able topete with the seventh prince. That was because behind him stood a Tendon Transformation expert, his sister.
Furthermore, who didn¡¯t know of Chu Yao¡¯s rtionship with Long Chen? With the backing of the Long family, no one would darepete against him.
And since they couldn¡¯tpete, the next best thing was to curry favor. The other princes all loudly acimed their praise for Chu Feng¡¯s ascension, acting as if it was only to be expected.
Long Chen nced at Chu Yao and suddenlyughed naughtily. ¡°Haha, the sister of the Emperor. Come, a toast for you! Being the husband of the Emperor¡¯s sister really is exciting!¡±
¡°You bad man!¡± Chu Yao red at Long Chen prettily, causing the three of them tough.
¡°Child, you¡¯re not allowed to bully Chu Yao!¡± Mrs. Long resistedughing and lightly scolded him.
In order to not miff Chu Yao, Mrs. Long revealed some embarrassing stories of Long Chen from when he was young. This time it was Long Chen¡¯s turn to be helpless as Chu Yaoughed endlessly. Their family ate together in peaceful happiness.
After eating, Long Chen hesitated for a while before summoning up the courage to say, ¡°Dad, mom, I want to go take a look at the outside world.¡±
Mrs. Long¡¯s smile immediately disappeared. Chu Yao was also startled. Only Long Tianxiao had seemed to have long since expected that, his expressionpletely calm.
After a moment of silence, Mrs. Long¡¯s trembling voice asked, ¡°Chen-er, you really want to leave home?¡±
Long Chen lowered his head, not able to look his mother in the eyes. Their family had only just reunited. It was cruel to separate them again.
But Long Chen truly did want to see the outside world. His lover was still in that outer world. The Spirit World, Pill Valley, and that figure from his dreams with the power to destroy the very world, those things all told him that he had to leave Phoenix Cry.
¡°I¡¯m preparing to leave with Chu Yao and Wilde.¡± Long Chen¡¯s voice was so quiet that even he could barely hear it. His heart was filled with pain.
Chu Yao clearly rxed a breath when she heard that. But looking at Mrs. Long¡¯s heartbroken gaze, she immediately felt sad again.
¡°Our child has grown up. We should let him decide his own future. We have to learn to let go,¡± said Long Tianxiao suddenly. He continued, ¡°Chen-er, since you¡¯ve decided, it¡¯s time for me to tell you a certain secret.¡±
¡°Long Tianxiao, you¡!¡± Mrs. Long suddenly stood up and angrily red at Long Tianxiao, giving Long Chen a fright.
As far as he could ever remember, his mother and father had always gotten along extremely well, never showing anger to each other like this. For his mother¡¯s reaction to be so huge caused him to be at a loss.
¡°He has the right to know the truth.¡± Long Tianxiao firmly looked back at his wife.
¡°You¡ Long Tianxiao, I hate you!¡± Mrs. Long suddenly began to cry and ran out.
Chu Yao saw this situation and also left hastily, leaving behind only the two of them, father and son.
Chapter 114: The Truth
There was a certain river that flowedpletely straight with no end in sight. It was bordered by high cliffs whose sides were as smooth as if they had been cleaved by a sword.
The river was hundreds of meters deep, and the racing water was like galloping horses, roaring into the distance, forming countless eddies.
Two people, one old and one young, were standing right on the edge of a cliff, looking down on the swirling river.
¡°Dad, why have you brought me here?¡± Long Chen was still confused.
The two of them had flown on a flying Magical Beast for a full day to arrive here. The view was definitely amazing, but Long Tianxiao wouldn¡¯t waste that much effort just to bring him here for the scenery.
Long Chen also sensed that this river was a bit odd. But as for what part of it was strange, he was unable to tell.
¡°We came here so I can tell you the truth about your past.¡± Long Tianxiao looked down on the surging water, his expressionplicated.
¡°The truth about my past?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t believe his own ears.
Long Tianxiao sighed and patted Long Chen¡¯s shoulders. ¡°You are not actually my birth child. You were adopted.¡±
¡°What? How is that possible!?¡± Long Chen looked at Long Tianxiao in shock, his heart aplete mess.
¡°That is also why your mom went so out of control that day. She didn¡¯t want you to know this secret.¡±
Even in the face of life and death battles, Long Chen had never felt so lost. He couldn¡¯t ept this! His own father and mother weren¡¯t his birth parents?
Long Chen¡¯s mind became empty and deste as if he had lost his soul.
¡°Chen-er, although you aren¡¯t my biological son, in the eyes of your mom and I, you are our true son.¡± Long Tianxiao¡¯s eyes blurred as he looked at Long Chen.
¡°If I¡¯m not your biological son, why was I a part of your marriage agreement that you made before either Meng Qi or I were born?¡± asked Long Chen.
Hearing that, a pained expression appeared on Long Tianxiao¡¯s face. Looking down on the surging water, he said, ¡°Your mother and I were expecting a child. But in the seventh month of her pregnancy, an ident caused your mother to miscarry. We felt the painful loss of a child. At that time, your mother was in so much pain that she wished she were dead. Furthermore, at that time, I wasn¡¯t even home as I had gone hunting. Your mother almostmitted suicide. Only after I returned did your mother tell me about this matter.¡±
¡°Was it done by Marquis Ying?¡± Long Chen ground his teeth.
Long Tianxiao shook his head. ¡°No. At that time, I had yet to sever his finger and still didn¡¯t have that much of enmity with Marquis Ying. It really was just a careless mishap by your mother. That was also why she was filled with so much remorse and pain. I had just happened to find you as a baby and bring you back on my trip while I was still unaware of what had happened. You coincidentally filled the regret in your mother¡¯s heart. Speaking of which, we both have to thank you, otherwise, with your mother¡¯s constitution, that depression probably would have already taken her life.¡±
Long Chen continued to remain silent. Long Tianxiao patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Real men don¡¯t need to be a mess just because of some blood rtions or not. Even if you aren¡¯t my birth son, I will forever spend my time trying to protect you from wind or rain. Even if I¡¯m not your birth father, if I really do run into troubles, wouldn¡¯t you still risk your life for me? There¡¯s no need to worry about such senseless things like blood.¡±
Long Chen nodded. He also felt there was no need to split hairs over an insoluble issue. But still, for the parents he loved to not be his birth parents was still something that was difficult to ept.
¡°Your mother and I truly treat you as precious as our own lives. That is especially true for your mom. Having already lost a child, you are everything in her life,¡± said Long Tianxiao.
Long Chen shook. He finally understood why Long Tianxiao had told Chen Fei to protect Long Chen above everything else, even his mother, in the case of the worst case scenario.
Back then, he had thought that his father had given up on his mother. That he would protect him over his mother had caused him to feel some anger and disappointment. But now he finally understood his father¡¯s pain.
His mother had already lost a child. She absolutely wouldn¡¯t be able to endure losing a second child. If his father did end up saving his mother while letting Long Chen die, she would hate him for the rest of her life.
Thinking of how deep his mother and father¡¯s love for him was, Long Chen couldn¡¯t control his tears anymore and began to cry.
A father¡¯s love was like a mountain; a mother¡¯s love was like an ocean. He would never be able to repay their love in his lifetime. And now he was about to leave them. He was really too heartless.
¡°Dad, I-¡± Long Chen was about to say that he wouldn¡¯t go when his father interrupted him.
¡°Chen-er, men must aspire to travel afar and make their mark on the world. Don¡¯t give up your dream just for some familial love. If you do, your mother and I would feel guilty for the rest of our lives. I know your mom. Although she can¡¯t really let you go like this, she truly wishes for you to be happy.¡±
Long Tianxiao had to stop for a moment before then continuing, ¡°You¡¯ve also be aware that someone has done something to your body.
¡°I also don¡¯t know who did this. When I found you, you were barely over a month old. I have no idea who would do such a vicious thing to a baby, but when I found you, I realized your Dantian and abdomen had three strange holes in them that had yet to heal. If I haven¡¯t guessed wrong, your Dantian¡¯s Spirit Root must have been removed with some specific instrument. As for what the other two holes were for, I¡¯m still not sure. But I assume it was furthering what had happened to your Spirit Root.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s heart was racing. So what had happened to his body hadn¡¯t been done by Marquis Ying. There was some other reason.
Long Tianxiao only knew that one hole had been facing his Dantian and realized that his Dantian waspletely empty, his Spirit Root stolen.
But after Long Chen had merged with a Pill God¡¯s memories, he was able to tell that it wasn¡¯t just his Spirit Root. His Spirit Bone and his heart¡¯s Spirit Blood had also been taken away.
Just how vicious would a person have to be in order to do such a thing to a baby only a month old?
¡°I knew then that you would perhaps never be able to cultivate. But I had thought that by relying on my capabilities, I could at least provide you with a basic, happy life. But unfortunately, I was drawn into a maelstrom and even implicated you and your mother, causing both of you to suffer much pain,¡± sighed Long Tianxiao helplessly.
¡°Originally, your mother and I thought that with our assistance, you would be able to live a carefree life. But now your fate haspletely reversed. Even now, your mother and I are still unable to protect you. So even before you brought up leaving, I was long since mentally prepared. Today I brought you here to tell you these things. After all, you have your own birth parents. Your mother and I know the pain of losing one¡¯s child, so I feel like you should know the truth.¡±
¡°Who are my birth parents?¡± Long Chen took a deep breath.
Long Tianxiao shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Back when I found you, it was right at this ce. Two people were fighting intensely. The river you see here was formed by a sh of one of their swords.¡±
Long Chen was startled. He looked down at the river in disbelief, unable to say anything.
¡°If I hadn¡¯t personally seen it, I also wouldn¡¯t believe it. But it really is the truth. The two of them were fighting fiercely in the sky. Light shined from their bodies as they fought high up in the air. Sword Qi from them pierced through mountains¡¡±
Long Tianxiao¡¯s eyes became unfocused as he sunk back into his memories. Although over ten years had passed since then, it was still as shocking as ever when he thought of it.
¡°Back then, I had gone out alone in order to hunt red-horned elks as something nutritious for your mother¡¯s pregnancy. That was how I ended up seeing such a shocking battle.
¡°I immediately hid myself in the distance. In the end, one of them used a secret art and their Sword Qi exploded out. Bizarre lines flew out and filled the sky, and he used a single final blow to kill the other.
¡°That sword blow resulted in this huge river. I was absolutely terrified back then, as I had never before seen someone cultivate to such a level.
¡°Only after that sword blow did I notice that that person was holding a baby. That person merely nced at me, and I was immediately unable to move.
¡°And then the wind around me changed and I actually involuntarily floated over to that person. I thought that I was done for.
¡°But then that person actually just handed over the baby to me and told me to raise him into a fine adult.
¡°I was absolutely stupefied, not understanding why such a powerful person would hand me a baby.
¡°After that person said that, his expression suddenly changed. He sent me back with a wave of his hand. As for him, countless lines appeared over his body and he slowly dissipated.¡± Reaching this point in his story, Long Tianxiao couldn¡¯t help but sigh. It was as if that had happened yesterday. That memory was still as vivid as ever.
¡°Chen-er, although I don¡¯t know who your birth parents are, I dare say that they are shockingly great figures. That is because the person who brought you called you young master. Such a powerful person called himself your servant.¡±
Long Chen¡¯s heart jumped. A true expert the likes of which he had never seen, one who was capable of cutting apart a mountain with a single blow, was just a servant? Then just how powerful would his parents be?
Long Tianxiao continued, ¡°Later I was reading some ancient records that mentioned those strange lines. Those lines are called runes and are unimaginably powerful.
¡°As for that final technique, it¡¯s called Dao Transformation. I didn¡¯t understand it much back then, butter I guessed it was a kind of secret technique to make any tracks disappear. He destroyed his own body in order to protect you.
¡°Once I brought you to the capital, I gradually forgot about these things. I always treated you as my true son. I thought that perhaps you would never leave us. But after the huge battle a couple of days ago, I can sense that this is perhaps fate.¡±
¡°What fate?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Just before his death, that expert told me that if you were unable to cultivate in your lifetime, you could just be an ordinary person, living a happy life.
¡°But if you could cultivate, he told me to tell you all about this and let you make your own decision.
¡°Originally, I thought that you would forever not know the truth. But when I saw your intense fight with that white-robed man, I knew that you would leave.
¡°Your mom doesn¡¯t want you to leave mostly because she¡¯s afraid that once you learned all this, you¡¯ll go to find revenge.¡±
That person had been flying with Long Chen, meeting with enemies one after another, in the end even forced to use the Dao Transformation to dissipate into the world, erasing his tracks. It went without saying that his enemies must be absolutely terrifying.
If Long Chen did learn the truth, he would definitely choose to go take revenge. That was what his mother thought. He would have to face countless terrifying experts whose power none of them could imagine.
¡°Enmities definitely must be revenged. But dad, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t recklessly send myself to death,¡± said Long Chen.
The enmity of stealing his Spirit Blood, taking his Spirit Bone, and destroying his Spirit Root definitely had to be repaid in full.
But now still wasn¡¯t the time for revenge. He had to quickly increase his strength; otherwise, he would just be throwing away his life.
¡°I knew that you would make such a decision. Come over here. Take a look at what your father and mother left you.¡± Long Tianxiao swung his hand, crushing a boulder and revealing an object beneath it.
Chapter 115: On the Eve of Departure
Shattered pieces of the boulder flew apart, revealing a small, wrapped package. Long Chen picked it up and saw a yellowed piece of paper on top of it.
That piece of paper was extremely marvelous. It looked like paper yet felt like soft silk and was as tough as beast hide.
Extremely astonishing lines were drawn on that paper. Those lines emitted a faint light.
¡°That person told me these runes could iste the aura of the thing inside. It could not be opened within ten years or else it would attract more killers. Now over ten years have passed. You should open it,¡± said Long Tianxiao.
Long Chen nodded and looked away from the runes. Opening the package, he revealed a jade pendant from inside.
That jade pendant was only the size of a baby¡¯s hand and was a violet color. It had been carved into a mighty and ancient coiled dragon.
On the surface, it didn¡¯t look like all that much, but when Long Chen picked it up in his hand, he immediately felt his heart calm. All the questions, shock, and anger he had been feeling immediately faded away.
Long Chen was shocked to find that if he was holding this jade pendant, he could immediately enter a meditative state.
The meditative state was a state that ignored all distracting thoughts. It was when the heavens and man could connect, when the heart and mind merged into one, an especially particr state.
This kind of state would allow one¡¯s cultivation speed to multiply and form an iparably solid foundation. Cultivators longed to enter such a state.
Due to all kinds of worries, disturbances, and even joy, the absolute majority of people found it extremely difficult to enter a meditative state.
On average, a cultivator might only be able to enter such a meditative state once a month for perhaps only the time it took an incense stick to burn.
Long Chen was normally able to enter his meditative state every single time, but it would require him to calm his heart for at least over two hours to eliminate all distracting thoughts before he could just barely manage to do so.
Long Chen¡¯s Spiritual Strength was iparably powerful, yet even he felt it was difficult to enter his meditative state, let alone others.
But holding this jade pendant, he could now enter his meditative state at any time he wanted to. It was really too shocking.
Other than this jade pendant, there was nothing else in the clothed package. Long Chen carefully examined this jade pendant and felt some grooves on the back of it.
He quickly realized they were words. Hastily flipping it over, he saw there were four lines of small words:
¡°The Dragon roars at the Heavens,
Looking down arrogantly on the mortal world of dust.[1]
Live peacefully and happily,
Never to be parted.¡±
These lines were written by two different people. The first two lines were written by one hand. The calligraphy was bold and vigorous. They were arrogant words that looked down upon the heavens. That was the writing style of a man.
As for the next two lines, they were written gracefully and looked written by a woman. Those words were filled with warmth and tenderness.
Looking at those four lines, Long Chen seemed to be able to see a scene of one man and one woman ying with a baby.
The man wished for the baby to grow up to be someone who could arrogantly look down on everything in the world, bing a hero capable of supporting both heaven and earth.
The woman wished for the child to grow up healthy, safe, and sound. Their family of three would forever be together.
Long Chen¡¯s eyes unconsciously became wet. Those two people in that scene were his birth father and mother. He could feel their feelings flowing within these words.
They both loved him, but he didn¡¯t even know who or how they were. He didn¡¯t even know if they were even still alive.
Long Chen suddenly looked up into the sky and let out a long roar. The sound of his roar soared into the clouds, shaking the mountain valley.
Fate was like a huge hand toying with him mercilessly. Long Chen wanted to strike back, but he didn¡¯t have enough strength. This kind of vexing feeling truly was infuriating.
His roar hung in the air for the time it took for an incense stick to burn. Only then was his suppressed anger slightly relieved. At the same time, it firmed up his determination to be stronger. He would go find his birth parents.
¡°The Dragon roars at the Heavens, looking down arrogantly at the mortal world of dust. Live peacefully and happily, never to be parted.¡± Long Tianxiao softy read the words and couldn¡¯t stop himself from sighing.
¡°Us father and son truly did have destiny between us. Back when your mother was pregnant, I fantasized that my child would one day be a hero that was even more powerful than me. As for your mother, she hoped her child could grow up carefree and without worries. She didn¡¯t want her child to be some hero doing troublesome things.¡±
¡°Dad, did that person say anything else?¡± Long Chen examined the jade pendant.
¡°I asked him back then how you were supposed to find your parents once you grew up. He said that as long as you became strong enough and stepped into the peak of cultivation, you would naturally know who your parents are. But if you were unable to reach the peak of cultivation, everything would be meaningless and it would be better for you to live a carefree life as a mortal,¡± said Long Tianxiao.
¡°The peak of cultivation? Just what level is the peak of cultivation?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but ask.
Long Tianxiao bitterlyughed, ¡°I also don¡¯t know. But you at least have to be stronger than that person.¡± He pointed to the canyon. His meaning was obvious; even someone powerful enough to cut such a huge valley was just a servant. The rest would be up to Long Chen¡¯s imagination.
Long Chen gently rubbed the jade pendant and nodded. ¡°Yes. That day won¡¯t be too far.¡±
¡°I believe you are capable of this. Let¡¯s go back to the capital now. The current situation in the capital is still a bit messy.¡±
¡
The capital truly was somewhat of a mess at this moment. Once the spirit stone mine had been revealed, countless experts had rushed over to Phoenix Cry like vultures that had found the scent of a corpse.
¡°Heavens, have you guys seen that leopard pulling that carriage? It¡¯s even bigger than a house!¡±
There was a Magical Beast pulling a luxurious carriage that caused everyone who saw it to let out startled cries.
¡°Look, there¡¯s another one. This time it¡¯s a flying Magical Beast!¡±
The sky darkened as a huge eagle flew over. Its terrifying pressure caused people to shiver.
¡°More and more experts are appearing in Phoenix Cry. Heavens, I¡¯ve never seen these many terrifying experts in my life!¡±
Over the past few days, more and more experts hade. Even just their mounts were incredibly terrifying.
But once those people arrived, they only examined the surroundings first and didn¡¯t immediately start mining. They were all waiting for something.
Themoners of Phoenix Cry were all observing those experts curiously. On the seventh day, those foreign experts all congregated at the alchemist guild.
It was rumored that the strongest powers were negotiating about gaining the rights over the spirit stone mine. As for the specific conclusion, outsiders weren¡¯t allowed to learn the details.
Once Long Chen returned home, he saw his mother whose eyes had already turned red from crying. Hefortingly said, ¡°Mom, it doesn¡¯t matter if you aren¡¯t my birth mother. You are my mother. Don¡¯t feel so sad.¡±
¡°Chen-er, you still think of me as your mom?¡± Mrs. Long asked happily.
Long Tianxiao shook his head slightly. Women truly had crazy, bizarre thinkings sometimes.
Long Chen also didn¡¯t exactly know what to think about that. ¡°No matter what, you are my mom. My real mom.¡±
Only then did her tears turn intoughter. ¡°Mom was only worried that once you learned the truth, you wouldn¡¯t ept me as your mom anymore.¡±
¡°How could that be possible? You raised me from the time I was still in my diapers. Even if I don¡¯t ept my dad, I will never not ept my mom,¡± joked Long Chen.
¡°Kid, are you looking for a spanking?¡± Long Tianxiao purposely put on a severe expression.
Mrs. Longughed and gently tapped Long Tianxiao. ¡°Chen-er is just joking. Why do you need to put on such a serious face to scare our child?¡±
Seeing his motherughing, a weight finally lifted from Long Chen¡¯s heart. His mother had truly paid far too much for him.
Both Long Tianxiao and Long Chen looked at each other andughed. Long Tianxiao stealthily raised his thumb towards Long Chen, immediately shifting their attention.
To the side, Chu Yao wasughing. Long Tianxiao praised his son inside. He had brought back a princess into the family so quickly.
¡°Mom, brother Long, dad, princess, I¡¯ve returned!¡±
Suddenly, a loud shout came from the gate. They immediately knew who it was. Wilde¡¯s huge figure ran into the courtyard.
¡°Good brother, you¡¯ve finally recovered.¡±
Long Chenughed and warmly embraced Wilde. But Wilde¡¯s stature was toorge, so it was somewhatedic when they two hugged.
¡°Brother Long, that spirit immortal water you gave me to drink was too effective! I feel better than I ever have, and energy is just flowing out of my body. If I run into that bastard Marquis Ying again, I¡¯ll definitely be able to wring his neck.¡± Wilde brandished his arms.
Long Chen examined Wilde¡¯s body. Wilde had grown much stronger. Over thirty percent of his cells had now awakened.
As for the other cells, they were no longer deathly silent and were beginning to stir. Long Chen sighed inside. This time that Spirit World expert had truly helped them.
Wilde¡¯s body was just too strange. For this many of his cells to awaken all at once was enough to prove how powerful that thing was.
¡°Okay, it¡¯s already noon. Let¡¯s get Bao-er to prepare some food. Chen-er and I didn¡¯t have anything to eat at all during our journey,¡± said Long Tianxiao.
Bao-er was already the Long family¡¯s highest-ranking housekeeper. Furthermore, she was extremelypetent, handling everything extremely neat and tidily.
Long Chenughingly said that he wasn¡¯t willing to see Bao-er married off to another family. If she was willing, she should find a husband to marry into her family instead. That had caused the shy Bao-er to immediately blush and run off, causing everyone tough.
Chu Yao had already started to treat the Long family as her own family. Other than asionally going out to see her brother, the majority of her time was spent in their home.
After eating, Chu Yao told Long Chen about the current situation in the capital. Hearing that so many terrifying experts hade to the capital, Long Chen¡¯s heart shook.
Those people were most likely sect members who hade to negotiate about the distribution of the spirit stone mine. If he wanted to join a sect, this was definitely an excellent opportunity.
Thinking of sect members, Long Chen naturally thought of that white-robed man. Just an ordinary outer disciple was already so powerful. Then inner disciples and core disciples must be absolutely frightening.
If he could infiltrate such a sect, his growth would definitely speed up.
Hearing that all those powerful figures were now at the alchemist guild, Long Chen decided to bring Chu Yao and Wilde straight over to the guild.
They could see the entrance to the alchemist guild in the distance when the gate was mmed open and an old man angrily stamped out.
With just a single step, he almost reached Long Chen. His speed was shockingly fast as he rushed right past Long Chen.
Long Chen hastily dodged to the side. A wild gust shot past him. That person had already sped along past him. Chu Yao was actually blown back by that wild wind and couldn¡¯t even stay standing, requiring Long Chen to keep her up.
¡°Who is that person? What terrifying speed!¡± Chu Yao looked at that old man¡¯s back as he disappeared into the distance.
¡°With his age, he¡¯s probably worried about reincarnation. Otherwise, who would walk that fast? Don¡¯t bother with him. Let¡¯s go.¡±
Long Chen had just taken a step when a cold shout suddenly rang out.
¡°Wait a moment, are you Long Chen?¡±
[1] The Long in Long Chen¡¯s name means Dragon while the Chen means dust (of the mortal world).
Chapter 116: Battle of Tongues
Long Chen turned back to see that that old man, who had shot by just now, had quickly returned.
That old man¡¯s face was very wrinkled, appearing quite frightening. When he arrived right in front of the three of them, he was especially terrifying.
When Long Chen didn¡¯t reply, the old man impatiently shouted, ¡°This old man asked whether or not you¡¯re Long Chen!¡±
¡°Yes, I¡¯m Long Chen. Do you have advice for me?¡± Long Chen was a bit baffled, but he still replied.
¡°You¡¯re Long Chen?!¡± That old man ground his teeth. His eyes became bloodthirsty like those of a beast, appearing exceptionally terrifying. The three of them couldn¡¯t help but retreat a couple of steps.
Long Chen¡¯s spiritual qi began to circte. He was ready to fight at any moment. He could sense a horrifying aura from that old man¡¯s body.
¡°Does senior need something?¡±
That old man looked at Long Chen, his eyes like des as he coldly said, ¡°You¡¯re the junior generation. Do you not know to greet the senior generation when you meet?¡±
Long Chen was startled, but suddenly a terrifying aura locked him in ce. He felt as if several tons of force were crashing down on him, making it so he couldn¡¯t breathe easily.
Wilde was still alright and was just barely able to withstand it. But Chu Yao¡¯s face immediately turned pale without the slightest trace of blood. She was shaking and about to fall.
Long Chen immediately pulled Chu Yao closer to himself. He used his spiritual qi to resist that terrifying spiritual pressure.
¡°Have you fucking eaten the wrong medicine?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel infuriated and start cursing. Did this old man have some mental disorder?
¡°Ignorant junior, this old man will teach you a lesson today about how to respect your seniors!¡± Seeing Long Chen was trying to resist, he was a bit surprised and increased the spiritual pressure.
Wilde roared angrily and his body turned slightly red. He tenaciously resisted the spiritual pressure, giving the old man a shock
The spiritual pressure he was releasing was enough to make it so even Tendon Transformation experts were unable to endure. But this giant kid was able to resist it with just the power of his physical body.
Despite being by Long Chen¡¯s side and having him counteracting the majority of the spiritual pressure, Chu Yao still suffered harm and spat out a mouthful of blood, her face as pale as paper.
¡°You old bastard, go to hell!¡± Long Chen angrily roared. He was just about to summon out his divine ring when a calm voice rang out.
¡°Stop.¡±
That voice wasn¡¯t loud and was filled with calm without the slightest bit of anger. But that old man¡¯s face immediately turned pale. Although he was a bit unwilling, he withdrew his spiritual pressure.
Long Chen immediately felt the pressure lighten. Chu Yao was finally relieved of that great pressure, but her face was stillpletely pale.
Only then did Long Chen realize that at some point, several people had appeared around them. They were currently observing them with a bit of surprise.
There were a total of seven people. They were mostly old men with only one beautiful woman who appeared to be in her thirties. But her expression waspletely icy cold.
That voice hade from one of the old men. That old man¡¯s face was like an old nk, looking as if he had been carved by a knife. His expression was serious as he coldly looked at that old man which had attacked Long Chen. ¡°No wonder after all these years you have yet to make any progress. All your cultivation has gone to thickening your skin.¡±
The others all had odd expressions with a bit of ridicule in them. But within their gaze was clearly a delight in seeing his misfortune.
That old man¡¯s face immediately turned red. He was furious; however, he didn¡¯t dare release that anger.
However, he still forced out, ¡°This kid was rude to a senior. So what if I teach him a lesson? For Elder Tu Fang to care about this is a bit too far!¡±
¡°Zhao Changxing, don¡¯t bother trying to cover up anything. Isn¡¯t it only because you didn¡¯t manage to swallow up all the profit this time and end up wasting all your effort that you released your anger on a youth? Your Bloo Sect¡¯s people must really not care about your face anymore,¡± snorted another old man coldly.
From that, Long Chen immediately understood why that the old man called Zhao Changxing would target him like this. So he was from the same sect as that white-robed man.
If it weren¡¯t for him being too weak right now, he would have jumped up and immediately attacked this old man.
¡°A grand Bone Forging expert actually attacked a Blood Condensation junior. Your skin really is thick. If I peeled it off, it could even be used as a shield impervious to sword or spear, water or fire.¡± Another person also coldly ridiculed him.
That Zhao Changxing only held some fear for Tu Fang. He waspletely unafraid of the others. Hearing them ridicule him, he sneered, ¡°If you don¡¯t ept this, then let¡¯s settle things with our fists! There¡¯s no need to learn from your wives and fight with your tongues!¡±
Those two people, who had spoken out, were infuriated and were about to say something when Tu Fang waved his hand, stopping everyone¡¯s quarrel. ¡°You¡¯re all from your various sects with your own prestige. Don¡¯t let the junior generationugh at you. Let this matter stop here.¡±
No one continued to argue after that old man said that. But suddenly one of the Elders looked approvingly at Long Chen and said:
¡°Little fellow, you¡¯re really not bad. When I heard that you beat a sect disciple, I didn¡¯t even believe it. But seeing you easily resist a Bone Forging expert¡¯s spiritual pressure, you really do possess the ability to kill an outer sect disciple. How about it, do you have the interest in joining my Clear Sea Gate? With your talent, you¡¯ll at least be an inner disciple. If you are favored by the seniors in the sect, even being promoted to core disciple wouldn¡¯t be difficult.¡±
Everyone¡¯s expression quickly changed, and they all one by one opened their mouths as well.
¡°I¡¯m from the Yuan Returning School. I can guarantee that you¡¯ll definitely have the position of a core disciple. How about it?¡±
¡°A core disciple is nothing. Little fellow, let me tell you, not only will I guarantee you a core disciple status, but you will also have a high chance of obtaining our sect daughter who has been called the number one beauty of our sect. Little fellow, don¡¯t disappoint my good opinion of you.¡±
¡°Hey, you conman! Your sect daughter is only eight years old! Must you trick others like this?¡±
¡°Hmph, as long as he cultivates for another ten years, why would that matter? How is it conning?¡±
¡°...¡±
Long Chen¡¯s group of three could only nkly stare at these sect people with high statuses and high cultivation bases that could stand shoulder to shoulder with that Zhao Changxing.
Such strong people were actually fighting over Long Chen to pull him into their sects. That waspletely out of Long Chen¡¯s expectations. Originally, he had thought he would have to beg and suck up in order to get epted.
¡°Hmph, kid, you¡¯ve caused a great deal of damage for our Bloo Sect this time. But if you join my Bloo Sect, I¡¯ll generously agree to forget about this and put all my effort to grooming you.¡± Even Zhao Changxing¡¯s anger now disappeared as he thickened his face.
Zhao Changxing hade here to represent the Bloo Sect in the negotiations. After all, the vein of ore was noticed by them the earliest, so no matter what, they should at least get a portion.
But aftering here, he was dejected to find that the Phoenix Cry Empire¡¯s territory had a total of seven sects around it.
ording to the past agreement, if a vein appeared in this area, everyone would extract it together and split it equally. That way the best way to avoid any disputes.
But the Bloo Sect¡¯s actions were a grave vition of that agreement, the result being that they were kicked out from the consideration. They wouldn¡¯t even be able to obtain even a single piece of the spirit stone mine.
That was why Zhao Changxing was so angry. He was helpless in the face of the other six sects¡¯ agreement. And especially since Tu Fang was present, he could only swallow his anger at that time. That was why his fury had exploded when he saw Long Chen.
He could immediately tell that Long Chen was just at the Blood Condensation realm. But such a person was actually able to resist his powerful pressure without the slightest panic. As soon as he thought about it for a moment, he realized Long Chen must have been the main reason as to why their n to obtain the entire spirit stone mine had failed, causing him to feel even more fury.
But as part of their sects¡¯ agreement, they were unable to directly attack people from the secr world. He had had no choice but to offer ame excuse as to why he had attacked him. Although he didn¡¯t dare kill Long Chen, he had to at least suppress him a bit to relieve some of his anger.
And now seeing all those people try to rope in Long Chen, he immediately had to backtrack.
He had already failed to obtain a single thing from the spirit stone mine. If he could pull in an extraordinary talented disciple back, that would make up for some of the failure. The sect wouldn¡¯t lose out too much. That was why he had opened his mouth.
But when he opened his mouth, the others all became silent and looked at him strangely. There was ridicule, despise, and even some admiration in their looks.
¡°His thick skin is probably the thickest in all of history,¡± people couldn¡¯t help but sigh inside. However, none of them said anything. Since he had offered such a choice, it was up to Long Chen to choose.
¡°What do you think? Do you want to return with me to the Bloo Sect? Think about it properly kid. Don¡¯t regret your decision.¡±
Zhao Changxing¡¯s gaze was tightly fixed on Long Chen. The threat within his words was obvious.
¡°Hahaha!¡± Suddenly, Long Chenughed so hard that even tears started toe out, causing Zhao Changxing¡¯s face to be increasingly ugly.
¡°Kid, what are youughing about?¡± Zhao Changxing raged.
¡°Oh, nothing. I¡¯ve just been moved by how you have no need for any face. I also want to say a single thing to you,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°What thing?¡± Zhao Changxing narrowed his eyes and icily asked Long Chen.
Long Chen revealed a blessed smile and slowly enunciated each word. ¡°Fuck off however far you can think of!¡± He spoke lightly and was smiling, but his words were extremely shocking and funny.
¡°You¡!¡± Zhao Changxing raged, his hair standing on end from his anger. He looked just like a furious lion. He wanted to p this kid to death with a single blow, but he didn¡¯t dare.
¡°Okay, just you wait!¡± Zhao Changxing viciously threatened before turning and leaving. Who knew whether he was afraid that he would explode from his anger and he needed to vent a bit, but every single step he took formed more cracks on the stone road.
Seeing that Zhao Changxing had stormed off in his anger, everyoneughed. They all wondered whether Long Chen had properly thought his actions through.
Long Chen turned to look at Tu Fang who had remained silent in thepetition over him. ¡°Senior, I wonder what kind of treatment I could get if I joined your sect?¡±
Tu Fang slowly opened his eyes and looked at Long Chen, regretfully saying:
¡°It would be extremely difficult for you to join my sect.¡±
Chapter 117: Sect Selection
¡°What?¡±
Tu Fang¡¯s words startled everyone, including Long Chen.
His intuition told him that this serious old man was definitely a powerful expert.
Furthermore, he could also sense that this man was extremely upright and trustworthy. All of the others were trying to pull him into their sects, but only he had yet to say anything.
That had piqued Long Chen¡¯s curiosity. He wanted to know just what level that old man¡¯s sect had reached for him to say such a thing.
¡°Elder Tu, we know that your sect is special, but with Long Chen¡¯s talent, this¡¡± Someone opened his mouth to voice his confusion.
Tu Fang looked straight at Long Chen. ¡°With Long Chen¡¯s battle strength, it definitely would be no problem to enter my Xuantian Monastery[1], but without a Spirit Root and with a deathly silent Dantian, he won¡¯t receive any grooming there. So entering my sect would be worse than joining one of your sects.¡±
¡°What?!¡± Those Elders were all shocked; without a Spirit Root, how was he cultivating?
¡°Little fellow, excuse me!¡± One of the Elders ced a hand on Long Chen¡¯s shoulder. Long Chen immediately realized how he had to act and didn¡¯t resist. He let the Elder¡¯s spiritual qi circte once throughout his body.
After that, that old man still was unwilling and examined it a second time before slowly letting go of Long Chen and shaking his head helplessly to the others.
¡°He has no Spirit Root, not even the lowest quality one. It¡¯d be impossible to change!¡± The old man sighed.
In an instant, all the excitement of the other Elders was extinguished. The news that Long Chen had no Spirit Root hit them like a basin of icy water.
All their previous promises were immediately voided. Let alone the sect¡¯s daughter, he wouldn¡¯t even be allowed to join their sects.
Long Chen bitterly smiled. Now it had be troublesome. First, they raised me high in the clouds, and now they¡¯re immediately letting me go. Are they trying to make me fall to my death?
¡°Senior, if I go to the Xuantian Monastery, what kind of treatment will I get?¡± asked Long Chen. Now he no longer had any hopes of bing a core disciple. As long as they epted him then it was fine.
From what he heard from the others, this Xuantian Monastery was definitely different than the rest of their sects. His intuition told him that entering the Xuantian Monastery was his best option.
¡°Right, this junior is also a Pill Adept!¡± added Long Chen hastily as a bargaining chip.
Hearing that he was a Pill Adept, some interests sparked in their eyes again.
¡°If you join my sect, I can give you an inner disciple spot,¡± proposed one of them hesitatingly.
Although that person opened his mouth, no one else did. Within a sect, inner disciples had an extremely special status.
The sect would spend a great deal of resources on them each year. But if they wasted that much on a disciple without a Spirit Root, it still wouldn¡¯t be that worth it even if he was a Pill Adept.
Although a Pill Adept had a special status, they could still be hired with enough money or you could buy medicinal pills directly. That was much more cost-effective than giving a Pill Adept the position of an inner disciple. Although he was a Pill Adept, it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be worth it.
None of them were from small starter sects. Otherwise, they also wouldn¡¯t have the authority over thisnd.
¡°Thank you senior for your kindness, but this little one greatly wishes to join the Xuantian Monastery.¡± Long Chen respectfully declined.
That person nodded. Although Long Chen had declined, his words were extremely polite, letting him at least know that he wasn¡¯t someone who didn¡¯t appreciate other people¡¯s kindness.
Since Long Chen was so resolute, Tu Fang finally sighed, ¡°The Xuantian Monastery epts new disciples once every three years. If you really want to, I can give you a registration card for this.¡±
Long Chen rejoiced. As long as he could join in, it would all be fine. He trusted that with his abilities, he definitely would be able to take the first ce.
Therger a sect was, the greater their foundation and hidden trumps were. That was the most important thing for Long Chen. What hecked the most at this moment was such an opportunity.
¡°Senior, can I have three invitations? After all, we are three,¡± said Long Chen with some embarrassment.
¡°This friend of yours doesn¡¯t need an invitation. He can directly join the sect, even bing a core disciple,¡± said Tu Fang.
Long Chen¡¯s eyes widened with disbelief. Wilde just nkly looked at Long Chen, not understanding anything that was going on.
Not only him, but the other Elders were also shocked. The Xuantian Monastery¡¯s selection of disciples was extremely strict.
¡°His body is special. It¡¯s somewhat simr to a senior in my sect, and I think that the senior will definitely be delighted when he sees him,¡± said Tu Fang.
¡°As for your other friend¡¡±
¡°This junior sister can be a part of my Skywood Pce.¡± The beautiful maiden who had never said anything up to this point finally opened her mouth.
That beautiful maiden walked up to Chu Yao and smiled. ¡°Junior sister,e back with me to the Skywood Pce. Your talent can only be best groomed in my Skywood Pce.¡±
Chu Yao was startled and shyly looked at Long Chen. She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to part with Long Chen, so¡¡±
That beautiful maiden nced over Long Chen and shook her head. ¡°Cultivators must treat cultivation as the most important thing. How can you waste your talent just for love? Little fellow, she is a rare wood cultivator. You wouldn¡¯t have the heart to waste her cultivation talent, right?¡±
That beautiful maiden treated Chu Yao extremely warmly, but that warmth didn¡¯t transfer to Long Chen.
Wood cultivator? What was that? Long Chen was puzzled, but when she said that confusing thing, the others had all gasped.
¡°Junior sister, here is a piece of Earth Spirit Wood. Inject your source spiritual qi into it.¡± That beautiful woman handed over a withered piece of wood that looked just like a short rolling pin.
Chu Yao received that withered wood with a bit of confusion. Seeing that everyone was closely watching, she became a bit nervous.
¡°Don¡¯t be afraid; I¡¯m here. Try it,¡± Long Chen gentlyforted her.
Long Chen¡¯s voice caused Chu Yao to calm down. Closing her eyes, she made herself rx as much as possible. She slowly urged her Dantian¡¯s spiritual qi into the withered wood.
The ¡®source¡¯ spiritual qi was spiritual qi that came straight from the Dantian without passing through any acupuncture points. It was the purest kind of spiritual qi.
Chu Yao had only just begun when Long Chen and the others were all shocked by the change in the withered wood. A new shoot had mystically grown out of it.
That soft shoot slowly began to grow as she injected her source spiritual qi. When it grew to the size of three inches, a small flower blossomed from it.
A pleased smile appeared on that beautiful woman¡¯s face when she saw that small flower. This was all within her expectations.
The moment she had first seen Chu Yao, she had immediately sensed something since she was also a wood cultivator. She just didn¡¯t know how great her wood attribute energy was.
Seeing that a flower had blossomed, Chu Yao already had the qualifications to cultivate in wood attribute cultivation techniques. She had truly benefited this time, as wood cultivators were extremely rare, less than one in a million.
Just as she was thinking about returning to the sect now, another soft shoot grew out of the withered wood, and a second flower bloomed.
Seeing that second flower, that beautiful woman¡¯s eyes immediately lit up, revealing her shock and excitement.
But that still wasn¡¯t the end. That soft shoot continued to grow, and a third flower bud quickly appeared.
¡°Cough, okay, your talent is not bad. Don¡¯t drain yourself. You should rest.¡± That beautiful woman carefully pulled away Chu Yao¡¯s hand.
¡°Sister, I¡¯m not tired, I can continue¡.¡±
¡°I know you can continue enduring for a while, but since it¡¯s your first time, it¡¯s not advisable to use that much of this kind of energy,¡± said that woman solemnly.
¡°Yes, sister,¡± assented Chu Yao.
¡°Junior sister, you really are pretty. My name is Hua Yu, and in the future you can call me sister Hua. With such a pretty junior sistering, everyone will definitely be excited.¡± Hua Yu was so pleased that she looked as if she had be younger.
¡°Congrattions Elder Hua. Your sect has grown once more,¡± congratted Tu Fang.
Tu Fang was extremely amicable with Hua Yu and had a great understanding of the Skywood Pce. It was extremely challenging for them to ept new disciples, and the birth of even a single new disciple was to be treasured greatly like one¡¯s own child.
¡°Hehe, thank you, thank you!¡± Hua Yu might normally do her best to remain calm and indifferent, but she was not able to conceal how excited she was now.
¡°Sister, I don¡¯t want to part with Long Chen.¡± Chu Yao looked at Long Chen.
¡°Aiya, foolish sister, the Skywood Pce and the Xuantian Monastery are neighbors separated by just a single mountain, a stone throw¡¯s distance away. You can see each other whenever you want,¡± smiled Hua Yu.
¡°Really?¡± asked Chu Yao.
¡°Of course. Would sister trick you? If you don¡¯t believe me, ask them. Am I telling the truth?¡± Hua Yu asked the other Elders.
¡°I¡¯ll testify that it really is separated by just a single mountain,¡± swore one of the Elders solemnly.
¡°It truly is just a stone¡¯s throw¡¯s distance away,¡± added another elder helpfully.
But for some reason, Long Chen sensed something odd between them. He was just about to say something when that beautiful woman walked up to Long Chen. She smiled and pulled against his arm, amicably saying, ¡°Long Chen, if you really want the best for your junior sister, let here to my Skywood Pce. You won¡¯t throw her away just from being separated a bit, right?¡±
¡°Senior¡¡± Long Chen was startled by her intimate actions.
¡°What senior? Call me big sister. Calling me senior makes me feel old.¡±
After saying that, her voice dropped to a whisper that could only be heard by the two of them. ¡°Kid, if you don¡¯t ept, I¡¯ll have to humiliate you.¡±
Long Chen strangely looked at that expert who was able to keep up on such a warm and tender face while threatening others so directly. He was silent for a moment.
¡°Long Chen, if Chu Yao doesn¡¯t go to the Skywood Pce to cultivate, it really would be a waste of such a talent.¡± Tu Fang finally also couldn¡¯t help but give him some advice.
¡°Well, since you¡¯ve already told us that it¡¯s just a single mountain apart, we can just see each other whenever we want,¡± smiled Long Chen.
Only then did Hua Yu let go of Long Chen¡¯s arm andughed, ¡°Little brother truly is great! This is how a true man is!¡±
After praising him, she then gave Long Chen a nce. Kid, at least you aren¡¯t stupid.
Long Chen was speechless for a moment. Did all cultivators with high cultivation bases have something wrong with their brains? Or was it that the thoughts of experts were simply iprehensible to novices?
In the end, Long Chen and Wilde decided to go to the Xuantian Monastery, while Chu Yao went to the Skywood Pce. They would leave in just a few days once all the details of the spirit stone mine were ironed out.
When Long Chen brought Chu Yao away, Hua Yu once more smiled like before and warned him quietly, ¡°Kid, before Chu Yao reaches Xiantian[2], she must remainpletely pure and untainted. If you dare mess around, I will cut you into dog food.¡±
¡°...¡±
[1] Xuan Tian as in the same Xuan Tian from Tian Di Xuan Huang. It¡¯s often tranted as ¡®profound sky¡¯ so you may have seen that before.
[2] This is the Xiantian of Houtian/Xiantian. Houtian is the lower level where you¡¯re ¡®still a mortal¡¯. Generally in Houtian a martial artist is still training in the physical body. Once you reach Xiantian you be ¡®reborn¡¯ with apletely transformed body. Your cultivation would probably shift to focus on something other than the physical body.
Chapter 118: A Solo Journey of Ten Thousand Miles
Once Long Chen returned home, he stayed by his parents¡¯ side for the rest of his time. Now that he was about to leave, Long Chen treasured this remaining time all the more.
There was one time when Long Chen and Chu Yao went to visit the imperial pce to see Chu Feng who was just nkly lost in thought when they arrived.
¡°What, now that you¡¯re about to be Emperor, have you been crushed by the pressure?¡± teased Long Chen.
Chu Feng was delighted to see the two of theme to visit him. ¡°Brother Long, sister, how did you have time toe?¡±
¡°We came to see if this future Emperor was goofing off, and as expected, we weren¡¯t disappointed,¡±ughed Chu Yao.
Chu Feng reddened slightly and somewhat unnaturally said, ¡°The entire empire is in chaos now. That mess is now all my problem, and now I can¡¯t even sleep well anymore.¡±
Long Chen saw that Chu Feng¡¯s eyes were a bit redder than usual and knew that the pressure was getting to him. ¡°The best skill of a leader is to know how to use your people. Otherwise, if you do everything personally, you¡¯ll be drained to death. Since the beginning of the time, all smart rulers had a couple of skilled aides, while incapable rulers had disloyal officials. It¡¯s up to you to see through the good and bad in others. You must be perceptive and have a heart that is not easily deceived. In order to control everything, there are times when you must be ruthless and merciless.¡±
Long Chen¡¯sst words were said with such grim and serious intensity that Chu Yao and Chu Feng were both shaken.
¡°To be a ruler requires you to be ruthless. Not only must you be ruthless to others, but you must also be ruthless to yourself. Otherwise, it will be extremely difficult to maintain your position,¡± warned Long Chen solemnly.
¡°Long Chen, Phoenix Cry is already calm and at peace now. The Grand Xia that was watching Phoenix Cry like a tiger watches its prey has already be aplete mess of internal discord. Phoenix Cry won¡¯t have any more enemies in the future, so why do you have to scare Chu Feng?¡± Chu Yao grumbled.
¡°Sister, brother Long is correct. To be a generation¡¯s true ruler is to be ruthless to oneself. This generation of enemies has been swept clean by brother Long and uncle. But once this empire is passed onto my descendants, they will also have to face powerful enemies of their own. If I am not ruthless enough and simply rulezily, I won¡¯t set a good example to the next generation, and Phoenix Cry will begin to decline starting from me. By the time it reaches my grandchildren, the entire empire will probably copse. Brother Long, I understand!¡± said Chu Feng.
¡°I feel like calling me brother Long isn¡¯t the best appetion. If you address me as your sister¡¯s husband, I will be much happier,¡± smiled Long Chen.
¡°Long Chen, you¡ scoundrel!¡± Chu Yao was innately someone sensitive and shy. She swatted Long Chen and ran off with a red face.
Once Chu Yao left, Long Chen turned to Chu Feng and said, ¡°Your sister and I are about to leave Phoenix Cry. I came here in order to say farewell to you.¡±
Pain flickered in Chu Feng¡¯s eyes. ¡°I already know. My sister and I have relied on each other for our entire lives. We were forced to y the fool just in order to survive. But now that we are finally free, we have to part. I know my sister loves you very much. I also know you will treasure her as much as you treasure your own life. So I¡¯m reassured.¡±
¡°Yup, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t let down Chu Yao,¡± swore Long Chen solemnly.
When Chu Yao and Long Chen were just leaving the pce, they ran into fatty Yu. He was wearing court robes that made him seem extremely stylish.
¡°Brother Long, I found you! We¡¯ve prepared a feast to send you off!¡±
¡°How do you guys know about that?¡±Long Chen was stunned.
¡°Do you even need to ask? There¡¯s not a single person in the capital who doesn¡¯t know about it! Quick, let¡¯s go! You can¡¯t go back home until you¡¯repletely drunk!¡±
Long Chen and Chu Yao arrived at the Heroic Assembly House. Shi Feng, Shou Hou, and all the others were already there. Once Long Chen arrived, they all stood up to greet him.
¡°Long Chen, are you really leaving?¡± Shi Feng was reluctant to part with him.
Long Chen nodded. ¡°I want to go see that wider and vaster sky. Shi Feng, how about youe and take a look too?¡±
Shi Feng¡¯s eyes brightened but that light faded quickly and he shook his head. ¡°Ah, forget about it. With just my little capabilities, it¡¯s not even close to enough.¡±
¡°How are you so modest today?¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Haha, brother Long, Shi Feng isn¡¯t being modest. He¡¯s just unwilling to leave the capital. He¡¯s unwilling to part with a beauty,¡± exined Shou Hou.
¡°A beauty?¡±
¡°Long Chen, don¡¯t listen to their nonsense.¡± Shi Feng actually turned red.
¡°Brother Long, Shi Feng is your brother in the sense of friendship, but now you¡¯ll have another rtion too!¡±ughed another person mysteriously.
¡°What rtion?¡± Long Chen became increasingly curious.
¡°Hehe, in the future, you two will be brother-inws!¡± Fatty Yuughed mischievously.
Long Chen and Chu Yao were both startled. They hadn¡¯t heard anything about this before.
¡°Hehe, the crown prince has already yed the matchmaker for the second princess and Shi Feng. In just a short while, Shi Feng will be able to bring a beauty back home.¡±
Long Chen and Chu Yao exchanged a nce. He could see the trace of astonishment and helplessness in the other¡¯s eyes.
The first and second princesses weren¡¯t on good terms with Chu Feng. But in order to pull in the talented Shi Feng, Chu Feng had used the second princess as a bargaining chip.
This was something that a ruler had to be able to do and waspletely normal, but Chu Yao still felt a bit ufortable inside.
Long Chen tightly held her hand beneath the table. ¡°Chu Feng understands how to protect himself. Isn¡¯t this a good thing? We can leave reassured.¡±
Chu Yao nodded. Long Chen was right. If Chu Feng didn¡¯t understand such tactics, she would be even more worried.
Chu Yao suddenly smiled and looked at Long Chen. ¡°Long Chen, once I¡¯m in the Skywood Pce, you have to promise to visit me often. You can¡¯t let anyone else run off with me.¡±
Long Chen indignantly said, ¡°Who dares run off with my woman? I¡¯ll knock some sense into their heads. Let me see just who isn¡¯t afraid!¡±
Although she knew he was purposely putting on an act for her, Chu Yao stillughed, her eyes filled with warmth.
Knowing that Long Chen was leaving soon, everyone drank as much alcohol as they could hold. Long Chen¡¯s tolerance for alcohol was high, and in order to stay on the same level as everyone else, he drank directly from the jugs while they drank from the cups.
Everyoneughed heartily, also crying asionally. Other than Shi Feng, everyone here had had a dreary past.
Now that Chu Feng was about to ascend the throne, these people who were friends with Long Chen were all favored and given illustrious statuses.
That was all bestowed upon them due to their rtionship with Long Chen. They all knew that once Long Chen left this time, they might never see him again in their whole lives. Once they were drunk, they were even less capable of controlling their emotions. Tears andughters intermingled.
Long Chen was also like that. Thinking back to his many years of bitterness and the still unknown future before him, all he could do was drink as much as possible.
He knew that in the future, he would step onto a path that he couldn¡¯t return from. That path would be filled with blood. Perhaps he would never again have a chance to drink and forget his worries like this.
Only once everyone had copsed,pletely drunk, did Long Chen carefully bring Chu Yao back home, doddering and stumbling the entire way.
Over the next few days, Long Chen never left his home, just staying the whole time by his father and mother¡¯s side. But on the seventh day, news came from Tu Fang¡¯s side that they were prepared to leave.
They had finally figured out how to distribute the spirit stone mine¡¯s resources as well as set up a couple of people to oversee the whole matter.
In order to avoid affecting Phoenix Cry¡¯s ordinary operations, they would extract the ore as fast as possible. It was estimated that they would be able to finish mining within half a year. But as for how exactly the ore would be distributed, no outsiders knew.
But they were sure of one thing: the Bloo Sect that tried to secretly monopolize the spirit stone mine, thus viting their agreement and causing the others sects to be infuriated with them, would be unable to obtain anything from the spirit stone mine.
On the outskirts of the capital were enormous Magical Beasts lined up side by side. Their auras were terrifying, and each of their roars shook the sky.
Long Chen, Chu Yao, Wilde, and Little Snow were standing at the city gates, while Long Tianxiao and Mrs. Long were standing atop the city walls. Mrs. Long was tearfully waving goodbye to Long Chen.
Chu Feng was wearing imperial robes. A golden crown rested upon his head. That crown should have only been worn after the official coronation, but Chu Feng had said that he wanted his sister to see what he would look like as Emperor.
¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Hua Yu pulled away Chu Yao, bringing her atop a huge, bright sparrow. That bright sparrow spread its huge wings and flew high into the sky.
Chu Yao¡¯s tears streamed down. She continued waving her hand to Chu Feng until her figurepletely disappeared into the horizon.
The others all stepped atop their own mounts, leaving one by one. In the end, only Tu Fang¡¯s Iron-Winged Arrogant Eagle remained.
Tu Fang looked at Little Snow behind Long Chen and nodded. ¡°It really is unexpected that you have a Scarlet me Snow Wolf as apanion. Then I don¡¯t have to be worried about you.¡±
Hearing him say that, Long Chen immediately sensed that something was off and said, ¡°Little Snow still hasn¡¯t matured and isn¡¯t that heavy. Your mount can definitely carry all of us.¡±
Tu Fang shook his head. ¡°First of all, although my mount is a third rank Magical Beast and can hold all of us, a Magical Beast will not let other Magical Beasts climb on top their backs. That vites their natural instinct.
¡°I am not a Beast Tamer and cannotpletely enve a Magical Beast. Thus, I cannot let your Magical Beaste up.
¡°Secondly, ording to my Xuantian Monastery¡¯s customs, any disciples who wish to take the test to join the monastery must cross the wilderness on their own and reach the Xuantian Monastery within a set amount of time. This is also a part of the test.¡±
Tu Fang saw that Long Chen¡¯s expression was rather unsightly now and he hastily said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be worried. There¡¯s still more than a month¡¯s time until the formal assessment. That¡¯s more than enough time for you. Here is a map detailing how to get to the Xuantian Monastery.¡±
¡°So then the three of us will have to travel to the Xuantian Monastery on our own?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel indignant. Then why had they had to wait for them to leave?
¡°Not three, but two. Wilde will go to the Xuantian Monastery with me. As for why, you already know.¡±
Long Chen cursed inside. This was a bit too unfair, wasn¡¯t it?! But he could only endure it.
Only when the Magical Beast had taken off and was high in the air did Wilde suddenly ask, ¡°Wait, why isn¡¯t brother Long with us too?!¡±
Tu Fang, who was standing at the front of the Magical Beast¡¯s back, stumbled and almost fell. He looked back at Wilde with a disbelieving expression, not able to say anything for a long time.
Seeing that Tu Fang had already flown away on the Magical Beast, Long Chen rubbed Little Snow¡¯s head and bitterlyughed, ¡°Looks like the two of us are just going to have to work for it.¡±
¡°Ao!!!¡±
¡°Huh? You don¡¯t want to lose to them? Then let¡¯spete!¡± Long Chenughed and jumped atop Little Snow¡¯s back. Little Snow roared and turned into a ray of snow-white light that charged towards the distance.
Long Chen turned to look back at those figures on the city gate who were bing increasingly small. When they finally faded away, he promised with a voice choked with emotion, ¡°Dad, mom, take care of yourselves. I will definitely return to see you again.¡±
At the same time, his heart was filled with a yearning for the future. Outer world, I¡¯m finallying. From now on, this world will now shake because of me, Long Chen!
¡.
Seeing Long Chen¡¯s figure fade away, Mrs. Long fell into Long Tianxiao¡¯s embrace and burst into tears.
¡°It¡¯s okay, our child has grown up. It¡¯s time for him to spread his wings and soar into the sky.¡± Long Tianxiaoforted his wife.
He knew that Long Chen¡¯s path would be filled with thorns and cmities. But as long as he didn¡¯t fall, he would definitely stand at the peak of the world one day.
Chapter 119: Fourth Level of Blood Condensation
Thick forests, high mountains, interweaving canyons, and the asional roars of Magical Beasts... deep within the forest, Long Chen¡¯s expression as he rode on Little Snow¡¯s back was extremely unsightly.
¡°That old bastard, scoundrel, crook!¡±
Long Chen continuously cursed Tu Fang. He had definitely been conned this time! When he had looked at the map, he had almost passed out.
Within that one foot long map, Long Chen immediately saw the location of the Xuantian Monastery. But he had to look it over three times before he finally managed to see a mosquito-sized dot in the corner that represented Phoenix Cry.
Long Chen had beenpletely dumbstruck. He had searched for a neighboring empire and silently measured their rtive distance on the map, thenparing it to the distance to the Xuantian Monastery.
He was appalled to realize that the Xuantian Monastery was more than ten thousand miles away, and it wasn¡¯t even a direct path!
There were several mountain ranges shown on the map, and all kinds of high rank Magical Beasts appeared there. In other words, if Long Chen didn¡¯t want to feed himself to them as dinner, he would have to detour around them!
Long Chen was absolutely livid. Tu Fang, that old bastard, had truly conned him. He wanted a Blood Condensation youth to travel this great of a distance? Wasn¡¯t that just sending him to his death?
What Long Chen didn¡¯t know was that the Xuantian Monastery had extremely strict rules, and their selection of disciples was also extremely stringent.
Long Chen had no Spirit Root, and so he fundamentally did not have the qualifications to be even tested. For Tu Fang to let hime like this was already an exception.
In order to exin himself to the monastery, he made Long Chen travel this ten thousand mile journey through the wastnds on his own. If he did that just to obtain the chance to take the test, others wouldn¡¯t be able to say anything in objection.
Long Chen calcted how long it would take. He would need to travel at least four hundred miles a day in order to make it to the Xuantian Monastery within a month.
If that was just on a t, empty road, it would be nothing with Little Snow¡¯s speed. But within the wilderness with all kinds of crazy terrain, their journey would be much more difficult. Furthermore, they also had to be on guard against the attacks from Magical Beasts.
After only traveling for a week, Long Chen had already experienced severalrge battles. There were quite a few Magical Beasts blocking their way, and they had all been killed by Long Chen.
In this one week, he had traveled over fifteen hundred miles. That speed was far from meeting his requirements. Thatpletely infuriated Long Chen, but he waspletely helpless.
...
A zing fire crackled. That fire rose over three meters into the air as it brightened the surroundings.
Beside the fire was arge snake over a dozen meters long. Its scales and skin had been peeled off and it was currently on a stick, roasting.
Long Chen and Little Snow barely waited until it was cooked before they devoured it. Long Chen didn¡¯t eat that much normally, but by gorging himself, he felt as if he was relieving at least a bit of that suppressed anger inside of him.
Little Snow was wildly devouring his food far faster than Long Chen. Long Chen had only eaten a dozen pounds before the remaining meat all entered Little Snow¡¯s stomach.
Generally, starting a fire and cooking food in the wilderness was an extremely dangerous action. All kinds of vicious Magical Beasts would be attracted over.
But now Long Chen no longer cared that much. His time was pressing. He needed to use the least amount of time to hurry on his way. He would rush all day and cultivate during the night.
As a Magical Beast, Little Snow¡¯s powerful physical body meant he could travel for several days and nights without pause so he didn¡¯t need to worry about this pace being too tiring. Furthermore, Little Snow didn¡¯t need to cultivate as long as he had enough meat.
In any case, Magical Beasts were everywhere along their journey. They would just randomly choose one to eat. After eating, Long Chen would begin cultivating while Little Snow would curl up around Long Chen and doze.
Little Snow ate to his full every day. With each day, his body grew.
The current Little Snow had grown to be around five meters long and was now the same height as Long Chen, making him appear even more formidable than ever.
Furthermore, each day his speed and power would evolve to a new level. That definitely surprised and excited Long Chen.
As a Magical Beast that would be at the third rank once he matured, Little Snow was still growing. He grew stronger with each passing day. But with his current speed, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to make it.
However, as he matured, his speed increased greatly. To reach the Xuantian Monastery in a month shouldn¡¯t pose much of a problem.
Long Chen was filled with gratefulness towards Meng Qi. Sending Little Snow to him had been an enormous help.
With Little Snow guarding him and his keen spiritual perception, no Magical Beasts could sneak on them without them knowing. That was why Long Chen could cultivate in peace.
Long Chen slowly closed his eyes, and in just a few breaths, his spirit and heart entered a state of emptiness. Even in this kind of environment he was able to enter a perfect state of meditation.
The three hundred meters divine ring appeared behind him. A huge whirlpool of spiritual qi appeared as he greedily absorbed it into his body.
The spiritual qi entered his FengFu Star, which would then slowly circte andpress the spiritual qi that was absorbed from heaven and earth, making it even purer. It would then slowly merge into Long Chen¡¯s body, entering his blood.
And once that spiritual qi entered his blood, that slowly flowing blood would begin circting quicker. Loud explosive rumbling like a sh flood would ring out.
Following the permeation of the spiritual qi, his blood¡¯s impurities were incessantly being forced out of his body. Those impurities would flow out like sweat, bringing with them an unpleasant stench.
This was blood condensation. Condense the blood into its purest form, forcing out all the impurities. With such pure blood nourishing the physical body, it was as if the body would be reborn and be even stronger.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the veins in his body widened and Long Chenughed. After exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, he opened his eyes.
The white color of dawn was already starting to rise from the east at this time. Rubbing the jade pendant in his robes, a trace of warmth arose in his heart.
This was the only possession his parents had left him. This piece of jade was absolutely magical and mystical, allowing him to eliminate his impurities at a shocking pace and letting him enter his meditative state almost immediately. That caused his cultivation efficiency to multiply several times.
He didn¡¯t even sense the passing of time. He felt as if he had just closed his eyes when the sky had brightened. However, he could sense the change in his body.
He punched out, causing space to shake. The wind from his fist directly knocked down a huge tree.
¡°My physical body has once more strengthened. Even without using Battle Skills, I already have such power. The Blood Condensation realm truly is unfathomable.¡± Long Chen tightly clenched his fists, a passionate fire burning in his heart.
He had now purified the blood in his body four times, causing his physical strength to explode to a point where even he was frightened.
But the Blood Condensation realm wasn¡¯t the same as the Qi Condensation realm. After purifying the blood once, it would require a period of time to let the body form more blood. The purified blood would be stored properly while new blood refilled the veins to their old capacity. Only then could you refine the blood again.
Ordinarily, that would require half a month¡¯s time. But for Long Chen, he didn¡¯t know whether it was because of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art or not, after his first blood condensement, he had only required several hours before his blood had replenished.
The second time it had required a full day, and the third time two days. This was currently the fourth time, and Long Chen estimated it would take four days before he could do the next blood condensement.
But in any case, the current Long Chen was now already an expert at the fourth Heavenstage of Blood Condensation.
¡°Ao!¡±
Suddenly, Little Snow let out a howl and Long Chen hastily put away his smile. ¡°Fine, fine, let¡¯s go.¡±
Little Snow had seen that Long Chen was just foolishlyughing and smiling, and so he had to urge him into motion. Little Snow shot forward like a ray of white light, rushing on their way.
¡°Haha, Little Snow, your speed is even faster than yesterday,¡± praised Long Chen excitedly. Little Snow¡¯s speed had once more advanced, and in the future, they wouldn¡¯t have to rush as fast as they were.
¡°Ao!¡±
¡°What? If you continue eating enough meat, you¡¯ll be able to keep increasing your speed? Okay, then let¡¯s see if we can kill a third rank Magical Beast today to get a good meal for you,¡±ughed Long Chen.
Continuing forward, the dense forest thicket faded away, revealing a barrennd that stretched for thousands of miles. There was nothing that broke the unending field of yellow dirt, and the air was filled with a deste feeling.
Long Chen hastily checked his map and nodded. They were still on the right way. This barrennd was something they had to pass through.
Carefully looking at the map and then using a piece of grass as a scale, he measured the distance of this desert and sucked in a cold breath of air.
¡°Little Snow, this barrennd continues for fifteen hundred miles, and there¡¯s one section of it that is a true desert without a drop of water. We won¡¯t be able to run fast on the sand, so we¡¯ll probably need four or five days to walk straight through it. Can you handle it?¡± Long Chen was a bit worried.
The desert sand was too soft and so Little Snow¡¯s speed would sharply decline. Furthermore, it would cause even more exhaustion which was extremely disadvantageous for them.
¡°Ao wu!¡±
¡°No, no, just saying there shouldn¡¯t be a problem is no good. We have to be absolutely sure that it¡¯ll be fine. We can¡¯t do anything we aren¡¯t sure of.¡±
Little Snow said he probably could do it, but Long Chen didn¡¯t dare risk it. Not eating for five days wasn¡¯t much of a problem, but to rush through a desert for five days with the sun beating down upon you without a single drop of water for relief was too dangerous. Even a Magical Beast¡¯s body would be unable to endure it.
Long Chen thought about it, and they returned to the forest. Long Chen was nning on chopping down a couple ofrge trees and cutting out buckets from them.
But Long Chen¡¯s luck was pretty good and he saw a field of bamboo trees. He didn¡¯t know what breed they were, but they were very long and as thick as a person¡¯s waist. Each stalk was over a meter tall, and they were practically the perfect water buckets.
Long Chen cut off forty of them in a single breath. Near there, he found a clear pool of water and filled the bamboo rods to their top, then ced them in his spatial ring.
A spatial ring¡¯s inner space waspletely still and he didn¡¯t need to worry about jolting the water out along the way.
After preparing this, Long Chen felt much more at ease. With water, even if they didn¡¯t have food, they would still be able to support themselves for a long time.
As they traveled across that barrennd, the vegetation became even sparser until there was not even a single de of grass and everything was just yellow sand.
Waves of heat battered them, not much inferior to being within a zing fire. In front of such heat waves, perhaps only pill cultivators, who were used to fire, could ignore them.
¡°Little Snow, are you alright?¡± asked Long Chen.
Little Snow didn¡¯t reply to him. He roared and sped along.
As expected, Little Snow¡¯s speed was greatly limited by the sand. His current pace was at most seventy or eighty percent of what it had been in the forest.
Furthermore, the soft sand exhausted even more of his stamina. When night fell, he had only traveled two hundred fifty miles. And that was because part of the way had still been dirt. Tomorrow it would all be sand, so they definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to go as far as today.
The night within the desert was an icy cold that pierced the bones, aplete opposite of the day. The most helpless thing was that within the desert, Long Chen could absorb only next to no spiritual qi. He directly gave up cultivating and justy on Little Snow¡¯s body and slept.
¡°Ao!¡±
Late into the night, Little Snow suddenly roared, rousing Long Chen awake.
Chapter 120: Giant Desert Scorpion
Long Chen¡¯s eyes popped open. Although the night was pitch-ck, he could still see a huge silhouette from the feeble starlight.
Sending out his Spiritual Strength, he used his divine sense in ce of his eyes. When Long Chen saw what that huge figure was, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from gasping.
That huge figure was over ten meters long. Tworge pincers angrily snapped like the Grim Reaper¡¯s sickle, and behind it was a long tail with a stinger which was raised and pointed at Long Chen.
Its two eyes were locked onto Long Chen. Obviously, it already considered Long Chen and Little Snow as its food.
¡°Giant Desert Scorpion!¡± Long Chen¡¯s heart beat wildly as he recognized this desert overlord.
The Giant Desert Scorpion was also called the Violent Desert Scorpion. It was a second rank Magical Beast, but even third rank Magical Beasts would quickly retreat when they met it in the desert. One mistake and their lives would be lost.
That was because the Giant Desert Scorpion was a killer that concealed itself extremely well. Its speed was iparably quick within the desert.
It had absolute supremacy in this kind of terrain. The soft sand might be a hindrance to Long Chen, but to the Giant Desert Scorpion, the sand was like water to a fish.
Even though its body was huge, the soft sand concealed any noise it made. Furthermore, its six legs made it so that it could travel even more noiselessly, approaching its preys without them sensing it. By the time they did sense it, the prey would already be dead.
Its silent methods, powerful body, explosive tendencies, and invulnerable defense meant that within the desert, it was an absolute overlord.
But the most frightening thing about it wasn¡¯t any of those. The most terrifying thing about it was its huge stinger. If you were stung by it, its poison would immediately infect your body. Even a third rank Magical Beast wouldn¡¯t be able to survive it and would immediately die.
The Giant Desert Scorpion was also an extremely rare kind of Magical Beast that could fight across ranks. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that it only existed in the desert, its fame would not be inferior to the Scarlet me Snow Wolf.
Even though Little Snow¡¯s extremely sensitive nose had managed to sense it, it was only sixty meters away now. That was how stealthy it was.
All the fur on Little Snow¡¯s body stood on end as it angrily snarled. Little Snow immediately entered his battle state.
¡°Ji!¡± The Giant Desert Scorpion let out a strange cry as it charged forward at Little Snow. Despite its huge body, it was extremely nimble. Furthermore, its speed was even more inconceivable. A pair ofrge pincers cut towards Little Snow. Obviously in its eyes, Long Chen wasn¡¯t even worth looking at.
Little Snow angrily roared and suddenly spat out a crescent wind de. With its rapid revolving speed, it was just like a sickle that whistled towards the enemy.
The current Little Snow was much stronger than he had been back in the capital. His wind des now had a length of over three meters.
Ding.
However, what was shocking was that Little Snow¡¯s powerful wind de, which could easily kill Blood Condensation experts and was even a threat to Tendon Transformation experts, was easily caught in the Giant Desert Scorpion¡¯s pincers, simply emitting a light metallic ringing.
The Giant Desert Scorpion was only slowed down slightly before it once more sped up, not injured at all.
¡°What sturdy defense!¡± Long Chen was amazed. It really was worthy of being the overlord of the desert. This kind of defense was something even Tendon Transformation experts would find difficult breaking.
¡°Breaking Wind Fist!¡± Long Chen charged forward as Little Snow¡¯s second wind de shot out.
Although Little Snow was also a second rank Magical Beast, Long Chen knew that this kind of armored Magical Beast had a definite advantage over furred Magical Beasts. In front of the Giant Desert Scorpion with its weapons and armor, Little Snow was unable to cause any real injuries.
BOOM! Long Chen¡¯s fist was originally aiming for the Giant Desert Scorpion¡¯s head, but it was extremely crafty and used its pincer at this critical moment to block.
Sand flew out as Long Chen¡¯s fist struck its huge pincer. Long Chen¡¯s physical body had reached an inconceivable level, so that Giant Desert Scorpion was smashed deep into the sand. The ground seemed to be water with ripples flowing out.
¡°Not good!¡± Seeing that Giant Desert Scorpion disappear below ground, Long Chen immediately let out a startled cry and jumped up. His feet had only just left the ground when a huge stinger shot out of the sand. A single stepter and he would have been pierced.
The sand shook and began to ripple.
¡°Little Snow, be careful! It¡¯s hiding underground!¡± Long Chen¡¯s expression was extremely grave. This second rank Magical Beast was as fast as the wind with incredible defense. Furthermore, they were fighting on its battlefield. If it continued on like this, Long Chen would find it extremely difficult to fight it.
Little Snow was a beast suited to earthennd. He was unable to use his full force here. As time progressed, they would end up at a disadvantage. If they were hit by that stinger, it would definitely be over for them.
They had to force it out!
Long Chen¡¯s divine sense spread out, hoping he would be able to pinpoint its location.
But Long Chen was disappointed. That Giant Desert Scorpion was like a fish in the water, silently moving under the sand without a trace. Long Chen¡¯s divine sense might have a range of three hundred meters in the air, but within the sand, he could only send it in about a meter, which was essentially useless.
Long Chen now understood just why it was called the desert¡¯s overlord. In its specialized battlefield, even a third rank Magical Beast would suffer a loss.
¡°Dodge, Little Snow!¡± Long Chen suddenly shouted. Little Snow and Long Chen¡¯s spirits were connected, so as soon as he shouted, Little Snow immediately jumped to the side.
A stinger shot out from underground and then once more returned. The sand then returned to calm again.
Long Chen became vexed. If it continued like this, it would really be too disadvantageous. Now he and Little Snow had just be live targets. That kind of feeling was truly irritating.
Suddenly, Long Chen stepped back. As he had anticipated, that stinger shot out once more, almost touching Long Chen¡¯s body.
¡°Let¡¯s see just where you can run now!¡± Long Chen icily shouted. All of a sudden, Long Chen stuck his hand beneath the sand and he shouted, ¡°Pill me!¡±
BOOM! All the sand within three hundred meters reached a terrifyingly high temperature. A miserable scream rang out as the Giant Desert Scorpion jumped out of the sand.
Little Snow, who was at the side, immediately shot out a wind de.
Green blood sshed as its defenses were actually broken through.
Long Chen had just raised his head to see that scene. He suddenly noticed the Giant Desert Scorpion¡¯s fatal weak point.
Since it had only just jumped out, Little Snow¡¯s wind de had managed to strike its abdomen. That was apparently its softest spot!
The Giant Desert Scorpion normally stuck near the ground, while any part that was exposed to the air had an armored shell around it which possessed a shocking defensive ability.
But its weakest point was at its abdomen which was normally on the ground and would not be attacked. It was concealed extremely well, and furthermore, it could even hide within the sand. Thus, this weak spot was extremely difficult to notice. However, now Long Chen had found it.
With this discovery, Long Chen no longer hesitated. Having been struck by the wind de, the Giant Desert Scorpion was flipped into the air, its weak spot still open. A longsword appeared in his hands.
¡°Parting Wind sh!¡± His sword arced across its abdomen, shing apart its organs. Green blood and a stinky odor filled the air.
Almost its entire abdomen had been emptied, but it didn¡¯t immediately die. Its stinger madly shot out in every direction as it descended into madness.
Long Chen and Little Snow hastily withdrew. Long Chen knew the Giant Desert Scorpion¡¯s life force was extremely tenacious. However, with such a severe injury, its death was doubtless.
But Magical Beasts like it were not like other Magical Beasts. When they sensed death wasing for them, they would go crazy and attack wildly all the way until they died.
That was why it was said that scorpion Magical Beasts were one of the most frightening types of Magical Beasts. Even if you smashed in their head, they were still able to stay alive for a moment. Within thosest moments, they would have no consciousness and would just attack crazily.
Its stinger and pincers continued to wildly rage, filling the sky with sand. It took a couple of breaths for it to finally stop moving.
Long Chen ordered Little Snow not to approach and walked over to its huge corpse. Once he was several meters away, he paused to sense that its life force had truly faded away. Only then did he get closer.
He shed off its stinger. He was currently wielding the sword from the white-robed man so it was extremely sharp. It managed to cut through the armor ting, and with another sh, the stinger waspletely cut off.
The huge stinger was the size of a table. A yellow liquid trickled from it. That was the Giant Desert Scorpion¡¯s poison. That kind of poison, as long as it reached a certain quantity, could even kill third rank Magical Beasts. If used properly, it could be an extremely precious item.
Taking off its stinger, its corpse lost any threat. Even if it was somehow faking its death, it would no longer pose a fatal danger to Long Chen.
Looking over its huge corpse, his eyes lighted upon those extremely powerful pincers. From its very rounded outer shell, he knew the meat inside would definitely be high quality. The pincer shell was the hardest out of its body. Long Chen didn¡¯t need to break it apart as long as he just tore it at the links that connected the separate segments.
If it was alive, that was something that was essentially impossible to do. But now that it was dead, it was naturally an easy affair.
After collecting the pincers that were evenrger than he was, Long Chen suddenly heard Little Snow¡¯s warning cry.
He hastily looked around, his expression suddenly sinking.
There were over ten huge figures quickly rushing over. Their speed was so great that they would probably arrive in just a couple of breaths¡¯ time.
Long Chen swore. ¡°Damnit, Giant Desert Scorpions are Magical Beasts that live in groups! How could I forget?!¡± He hastily jumped onto Little Snow¡¯s back.
¡°Quick, run!¡± Little Snow hadn¡¯t even waited for Long Chen¡¯s order before he quickly started fleeing.
But Long Chen had still underestimated the Giant Desert Scorpion¡¯s speed. A dozen of these second rank Magical Beasts were now crazily chasing them and were actually getting closer!
Long Chen turned numb just thinking about being surrounded by a dozen Giant Desert Scorpions. But suddenly he saw a light ahead, and without even thinking about it, he urged Little Snow to rush towards that light.
Chapter 121: Flame Salamander
Within the darkness of night, that light was a brightntern. At the beginning, Long Chen had thought that it was just starlight and hadn¡¯t cared too much about it.
It was only now that he realized it was light from a fire. For a zing fire to appear within the middle of an endless desert was definitely out of the ordinary. But Long Chen¡¯s gut told him that that spot should offer some protection.
If he was facing off against the dozen second rank Giant Desert Scorpions alone, he wouldn¡¯t be that afraid. As long as he used his Pill me to protect his body, even if he couldn¡¯t win, he definitely would be able to escape alive.
But that wasn¡¯t the same for Little Snow. Although Little Snow was a Scarlet me Snow Wolf, an extremely rare third rank Magical Beast with an innate ability for both wind and fire, he was currently still only a second rank Magical Beast since he hadn¡¯t yet fully matured. Although he had an inherited Battle Skill that was his wind des, his control over those wind des was still too rough and so they weren¡¯t powerful enough yet.
Only once a Scarlet me Snow Wolf reached the third rank would it be able to explode with its most powerful battle strength. That was when they would awaken their me strength, and once me and wind werebined, that would allow a third rank Scarlet me Snow Wolf to stand at the peak of all third rank Magical Beasts.
Before Little Snow reached the third rank, he would only be able to barely resist higher temperatures. But he would definitely not be able to resist something like Long Chen¡¯s Pill me. And so Little Snow had be Long Chen¡¯s fatal weakness at this moment.
¡°Little Snow, run towards that light.¡± Long Chen turned to look back and saw that the Giant Desert Scorpions were already within three hundred meters of them.
On the soft sand, Little Snow¡¯s speed was much lower, while this was the home territory of the Giant Desert Scorpions. This was simply an unfair ying field.
Long Chen extended his hand. The Pill me in his body circted, and a ball of fire slowly appeared in his hand.
This wasn¡¯t a Battle Skill, but a simple way of using fire. If other Pill Cultivators were to learn that he could condense his me to the point where it was simr to a Battle skill, that would definitely awe them.
Ordinary pill cultivators would be asking for death if they tried doing this. Even if they were using their core me, they still wouldn¡¯t use it like this.
Pill me was merciless. That was a warning every pill cultivator told their disciples.
An ordinary third rank pill cultivator, in other words, a Pill Master, would normally need to refine some kind of me into their life me before advancing ranks.
That kind of me was also called a core me. The me would need to be refined into the physical body and even into the soul. Once it was perfectly merged, it would be time to advance to the Pill King rank.
Grandmaster Yun Qi, Wei Cang, and Wang Luyang had all been Pill Masters. But only grandmaster Yun Qi had had a core me.
It wasn¡¯t necessarily because grandmaster Yun Qi¡¯s talent was that much greater than theirs, but because grandmaster Yun Qi had managed to ept his future. He had known he wouldn¡¯t be able to encounter any better Pill mes and had just straightforwardly refined his ordinary beast me which wasn¡¯t that strong into his core me.
As for Wei Cang, Wang Luyang, and many other Pill Masters, they were unwilling to do so. That was because a core me was extremely important to their future. Without finding a suitable Pill me, it was something they would never form.
That was because once they refined a core me, it would never be able to change. In other words, their futures would be set.
The majority of pill cultivators chose to refine beast mes as their Pill mes. The stronger a fire attribute Magical Beast was, the stronger their beast me would be.
Some peak tier beast mes were able to grow stronger along with their master. Such peak grade beast mes formed a list called the beast me rankings. But whether it was Yun Qi or Wei Cang, any beast mes they could obtain were far from being able to enter the beast me rankings.
Wei Cang and Wang Luyang had been unwilling to use a beast me that wasn¡¯t on the rankings to refine into their core me. If they did find such a powerful beast me, their futures would be unlimited.
Unfortunately, their grand dreams had been extinguished by grandmaster Yun Qi. Perhaps when the two had died they had been extremely sullen. If they had also refined a core me, the one who would have died should have been Yun Qi.
But even grandmaster Yun Qi, who had refined a core me, would definitely not darepress his PIll me to such a level without the usage of a Battle Skill. That required the utmost peak control of the Pill me.
mes were naturally berserk. Such apression was no different thanpressing explosives. The slightest error would cause it to explode the user into nothingness.
But Long Chen had his Pill God memories, and his Spiritual Strength was beyond others. Adding on the fact that the Spirit World expert had expanded his meridians, this extremely dangerous action, which was like dancing on the tip of a de for others, was simple and nothing to him.
Long Chen flung out a fist-sized ball of mes back in the midst of the Giant Desert Scorpions. With a huge explosion like a firework, the mes swallowed the Giant Desert Scorpions.
Grotesque cries rang out from the Giant Desert Scorpions as they were burnt and fled from the mes¡¯ range.
¡°This Pill me¡¯s strength is really too weak.¡± Long Chen sighed. The beast me he possessed was still somewhat eptable for refining pills, but when it came to offense, it was obviously far from strong enough, especially against such armored Magical Beasts.
If he wanted to give those Giant Desert Scorpions a true injury, he would need to collect all his Pill me¡¯s power.
But his Pill me was limited. At most, he would be able to release his strongest attack one time. Furthermore, it was not a certainty that it would be enough to inflict serious damage to them.
But his goal wasn¡¯t to defeat them at this moment. Due to his attack just now, the Giant Desert Scorpions were in aplete panic and so their speed had sharply dropped.
When they began to once more encroach too close to him, Long Chen once more threw out a ball of mes, temporarily forcing them back again. By repeatedly doing this, Long Chen and Little Snow managed to stay out of their reach.
But Long Chen was surprised that the light which he had seen was much further than what he had thought. Even after traveling for an hour, it had only be a bitrger.
As for the Giant Desert Scorpions, they werepletely infuriated with Long Chen and were set on chasing after him. But just those shy ball of mes didn¡¯t exhaust much of his Pill me, and he could continue this kind of pace for a long time.
That was a strange scene. Under the darkness of the night, Long Chen and Little Snow fled towards a distant light. Chasing them was a group of Giant Desert Scorpions. asionally, brilliant fireworks would light up the pitch-ck desert.
After running for a whole night, the sky was starting to brighten. Long Chen finally reached his target. That was a hill.
The hill wasn¡¯trge, only three hundred meters tall. It waspletely bare, looking like a huge burial mound. There was a cave at the top from which the light was shining out of.
Rushing forward, terrifying heat surged out. It felt as if even the air was about to ignite. Long Chen arrived at the cave entrance and saw a me inside.
Despite having rushed this far, those Giant Desert Scorpions suddenly seemed to be extremely intimidated by this region. Seeing Long Chen approach the hill, they suddenly stopped advancing and began to pace around.
Since they were no longer chasing him, Long Chen also paused. That was because he saw that Little Snow was also starting to be affected by the high heat from this region.
But Little Snow was a Scarlet me Snow Wolf. Although he had yet to give birth to his me strength, he was definitely superior to other Magical Beasts when it came to resisting high temperatures.
Those Giant Desert Scorpions, which had paused for a moment, suddenly scattered and fled back to their original territory. That had actually given up.
Long Chen finally rxed slightly. At least they had managed to escape from that group of vicious poison scorpions. But he was also a bit depressed at having to flee for his life like this.
But when he thought about it, cultivation was simply like this. Enemies wouldn¡¯t always be fighting against him on terrain he was suitable to. If he really wanted to be strong, he would have to reduce any of his weak points.
Suddenly, Long Chen realized something was wrong. Those Giant Desert Scorpions had fled just now at a speed even greater than when they had been chasing them.
That didn¡¯t seem like they were unwilling to leave, but more like¡ Long Chen suddenly felt his heart sink and he turned his head.
He didn¡¯t know when, but at some point, the light from the cave had disappeared. That was because an enormous figure hadpletely blocked up the three-meter-thick cave opening. On that figure¡¯s huge head were twontern-like eyes that were fixed onto Long Chen and Little Snow.
¡°me Smander!¡± Long Chen cried out in shock.
The me Smander was an extremely rare fire attribute Magical Beast. Its body looked like a lizard, and it absorbed fire energy in order to live. Once matured, it was a terrifyingly powerful third rank Magical Beast.
Long Chen finally understood why those Giant Desert Scorpions would flee for their lives like that. This me Smander was a perfect counter to them.
BOOM! That me Smander had clearly been enraged by the intruders on its territory. Its huge foot mmed on the ground and it charged at Long Chen.
Only once it left its cave did Long Chen manage to see its entire body. It was thirty meters long, making him feel like he was as small as an ant.
¡°Ao!¡± Little Snow roared and was just about to attack when Long Chen pulled him aside.
¡°This guy¡¯s mine. Little Snow, you get back a bit.¡±
Having recognized this me Smander, not only was he shocked, but he was also excited. That was because such a rare fire attribute Magical Beast like this must possess its own beast me core.
Seeing the me Smander, all of Long Chen¡¯s irritation at having to flee for his life disappeared.
After entering the alchemist guild, Long Chen had gone through their countless records and once seen something called the beast me rankings.
If Long Chen recalled correctly, the me Smander¡¯s beast me was ranked number ny-seven. That was definitely a true treasure.
Others like grandmaster Yun Qi, Wei Cang, and Wang Luyang had spent their whole lives without even being able to see such a thing. Pill cultivators all longed for more powerful mes. This was something that would definitely make every single pill cultivator go crazy, and Long Chen was no exception.
He had to send away Little Snow from this battle because the me Smander was iparably terrifying. If Little Snow was present, he wouldn¡¯t be able to explode out with his full strength.
Little Snow obediently listened to Long Chen¡¯s order and ran over a mile away. At that point, the me Smander had already charged right at Long Chen, its mouth wide open and biting down on him.
¡°Your breath stinks.¡± That terrible smell was noxious. Long Chen stamped on the ground, jumping into midair the moment its jaw was about to snap down on him.
The me Smander¡¯s attack fell short, and it only got a mouthful of sand. Long Chen made a fist with his right hand. Just as he was about to attack, he felt a wind blow across his back and instinctively punched out behind him.
BOOM! Long Chen felt as if a meteorite had struck him. He was immediately sent flying into that bare hill.
Long Chen was surprised to realize that the bare hill was actually entirely made of rock. His head buzzed from the collision. Only now did he realize that he had been struck by the me Smander¡¯s tail.
Shaking out his body, he felt an ache all over. That strike had truly been fierce enough. Anyone else would probably have had their body turned to pulp.
The me Smander once more roared and charged over. Long Chen coldly snorted and stamped on the ground, a coldly shining sword appearing in his hand. He jumped out, shing down on the me Smander.
¡°Parting Wind sh!¡±
Chapter 122: Neidan
Long Chen¡¯s sword shed down, bringing his terrifying Sword Qi onto the me Smander¡¯s head.
But he was startled to see that his attack only caused the me Smander¡¯s head to sink slightly and was unable to split open its thick skin.
¡°What terrifying defense!¡± Long Chen¡¯s sword was only able to leave behind a light mark on the me Smander¡¯s head.
Although the longsword was extremely sharp, Long Chen always felt that it wasn¡¯t suitable for him. He was someone specializing in strength. This light and lithe longsword was something he was unable to use to its full potential.
As soon as his sword had shed down, the me Smander¡¯s huge tail whipped across at Long Chen, the same move asst time.
Long Chen snorted and jumped onto the me Smander¡¯s huge head.
BOOM! Long Chen had only just jumped when that tail swept towards him. He then jumped again to avoid it, and that attack firmly mmed into its own head.
Using its own tail to whip its own head. Long Chen found that both surprising and funny.
The me Smander roared angrily. Suddenly, its stomach erged like an inting ball. Opening its mouth, mes spurted out at Long Chen, immediately engulfing him.
¡°Pill me protecting the body!¡± Long Chen directly used his Pill me to protect his body, resisting the me Smander¡¯s mes. That was also the main reason why Long Chen had sent Little Snow away; Little Snow was still not yet able to resist such terrifying mes.
Despite using his Pill me to protect his body, Long Chen still found the scorching difficult to resist. It felt as if he were in a furnace, and his own Pill me began to show signs of dissolving.
Long Chen jumped out of the mes. There was no need for him to forcibly take on the me Smander¡¯s mes. When it came to their masses, the two were not just one level apart. It would be too disadvantageous for him to face it head-on.
The ground that had been scorched started to crystallize. The sand had turned into ss under the high heat.
Although he was shocked, Long Chen was also excited. It truly was worthy of being an existence on the beast me rankings.
If he could obtain the me Smander¡¯s beast me and refine it through his unique methods, hisbat ability would definitely soar.
This was also a terrifying aspect of pill cultivators. They could draw out the power of a beast me for their own use, and furthermore, they were able to draw out even more power from the beast me than its original Magical Beast owner.
¡°I¡¯m not gonna y around any longer.¡± The divine ring appeared behind Long Chen¡¯s back, but as soon as it appeared, Long Chen put it away once more.
That was because the divine ring had its own limitations. It could draw out the surrounding energy of heaven and earth, multiplying Long Chen¡¯s abilities.
But within this barren desert, there was not even a single de of grass. There was basically no spiritual qi to draw out. Without any energy from the outer world to absorb, the divine ring would only be able to call forth the energy from Long Chen¡¯s FengFu Star.
And if it was just for drawing out energy from his FengFu Star, bringing the divine ring out didn¡¯t have any meaning. He had a method which would use his FengFu Star¡¯s energy much better.
¡°FengFu Battle Armor!¡±
A star appeared in Long Chen¡¯s pupils. His aura sharply increased and terrifying qi waves soared into the sky.
Seeing that the me Smander was once more striking out with its tail, Long Chen roared, his voice ringing like spring thunder. He simply used his arm to grab onto the end of its tail.
¡°Rise!¡± Long Chen¡¯s arms bulged, and that me Smander¡¯s huge body was actually lifted into the air before being viciously mmed down.
BOOM! Sand exploded out, turning the surroundings into aplete mess. The distant Little Snow quickly rushed further away, but he was still buried under a huge wave of sand.
Holding onto the me Smander¡¯s tail, Long Chen felt his body brimming with strength. That feeling of being overfilled with energy made him want to vent out his power before he exploded himself.
But the ground was too soft. Long Chen¡¯s gaze fell on that small hill and then once more swung the me Smander. Despite its struggles, Long Chen still managed to swing it around.
Long Chen began to spin, turning into a revolving top, spinning faster and faster. Suddenly letting go, the me Smander was like a shooting star as it mmed into the hill.
BOOM! That extremely sturdy rock hill shook. A huge hole appeared on the side of it.
He didn¡¯t know what rock that hill was made of, but it was strangely hard. Even the me Smander¡¯s body was still unable to smash it apart. Instead, it was its bones that shattered and its scales that fell, blood flowing out.
¡°ROAR!¡±
But Long Chen was shocked to see that despite suffering such severe wounds, that me Smander had yet to die. Dragging its broken body, it charged at Long Chen, fury zing within its eyes.
¡°Hmph, then let¡¯s try it again. I don¡¯t believe I won¡¯t be able to smash you to death- huh?¡±
Long Chen was just about to charge out when he suddenly felt a wave of weakness.
¡°Crap, time¡¯s up.¡± Long Chen¡¯s heart shook. He had forgotten that the FengFu Battle Armor had its own time limit. Without the divine ring¡¯s support, that time limit was shortened even further. The star in his eyes faded away to nothing, and Long Chen¡¯s energy once more returned to its normal level.
Seeing it charge over, Long Chen punched out.
But without the FengFu Battle Armor¡¯s support, Long Chen¡¯s power was not a match for the third rank me Smander. He was sent flying back, sharp pain burning his abdomen. He almost vomited blood.
¡°Magical Beasts¡¯ bodies are truly terrifying!¡± That was what he thought to himself, but if others knew what he was thinking, they would definitely curse him.
That was a third rank Magical beast. In order to match it, it would require several Tendon Transformation experts.
Furthermore, the me Smander was an exceptional existence even amongst third rank Magical Beasts. Long Chen was only at the Blood Condensation realm, but he was still able to use his physical body to forcibly resist the me Smander. Wasn¡¯t his body even more crazy than a Magical Beast¡¯s?
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Long Chen did his best to avoid shing directly with the me Smander; however, it seemed to have gone crazy, and its wild attacks caused thend to continuously shake.
¡°Despite being this wounded, its power still hasn¡¯t dropped by much!¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but curse. His longsword was unable to pose a fatal threat to the me Smander. Furthermore, now that he had used the FengFu Battle Armor, his physical strength was starting to sharply decline. If it continued like this, he could only flee.
He could see a true treasure right in front of him, yet he was unable to obtain it. That was one of the most painful things in the world. He was starting to long for that broadsword that had been broken back then. If he had it now, he would definitely be able to cut through this me Smander.
More and more sections of its scales were falling off its body, revealing its naked flesh. There was one part which had fallen off its neck. Long Chen had tried using his longsword to pierce that spot several times.
But despite theck of scales protecting it, the flesh was still too tough and he was unable to break open arge part of it. All his thrusts did was cause it a bit of pain.
Now Long Chen¡¯s physical strength was sharply declining, while the me Smander seemed to be exploding out wildly with inexhaustible energy. There was no sign it was weakening.
¡°Oh, right!¡± Long Chen¡¯s eyes brightened as he suddenly remembered something.
Thinking of that thing, Long Chen celebrated and focused once more. Seeing the me Smander charging over again, he dodged to the right and jumped up. Touching his spatial ring in midair, arge object appeared.
That was arge tail with a stinger at its end. Long Chen concentrated his full strength into his arms and stabbed it into that opening in the me Smander¡¯s neck.
That was the Giant Desert Scorpion¡¯s stinger. It was now firmly stabbed into the me Smander¡¯s body.
Once that stinger was thrust into the me Smander, it actually began to quiver automatically, instinctively injecting its poison. Even despite leaving the body, it still possessed this instinct.
Being stabbed, the me Smander crazily roared and thrashed, wanting to escape the stinger. But that position was somewhere it was unable to reach, and no matter what, it was unable to fling it off.
Long Chen could see that the me Smander¡¯s skin was beginning to cken quickly. He hastily jumped away. His goal had already been reached. Now he just had to wait until the end. There was no need to continue foolishly fighting it.
The Giant Desert Scorpion¡¯s poison was even more terrifying than what Long Chen had expected. Even something as powerful as the me Smander was unable to bear it. In just a couple of minutes, it had already been poisoned to death.
In any ordinary fight, even a group of Giant Desert Scorpions were not a match for the me Smander because they were unable to pierce through its thick scales.
However, the me Smander¡¯s tail could easily smash through their carapace. Furthermore, the me Smander¡¯s terrifying mes could immediately roast them to death.
That was why the me Smander was said to be the bane of Giant Desert Scorpions. However, that didn¡¯t represent that the me Smander was undefeatable. Once it lost its defenses, the poison could steal its life.
After struggling for a while, the me Smander no longer moved. However, Long Chen didn¡¯t immediately go over. Instead, he and Little Snow waited for a full two hours before slowly approaching.
One reason was because they wanted to be careful. But the main reason was to let Long Chen recover a bit. By the time they went back at the me Smander¡¯s corpse, it had already been dead for a while.
Long Chen excavated the me Smander¡¯s abdomen. Inside, he found a one-foot-wide ball of me. It was entirely snow-white and emitting terrifying energy fluctuations.
¡°Hehe, I¡¯ve obtained the Neidan.¡± Long Chen celebrated, as that was the most precious portion of the me Smander.
The majority of Magical Beasts would condense all their energy in a crystal core in their heads. But there was a portion of Magical Beasts which were not the same. The most precious part of their essence was located within their Neidan. As for the me Smander¡¯s me strength, that was all sealed within the Neidan.
Normally, when Magical Beasts went crazy, they would end up using up all their energy. By the time they died, the Neidan would no longer contain much energy.
The most exciting thing for Long Chen though was that this Neidan was still practically full of energy. That was because the me Smander had only used its core me once from the start of the battle before dying.
The more energy that was contained within the Neidan, the purer the beast me refined from it would be. Long Chen looked upon this Neidan adoringly.
But now wasn¡¯t the time for him to use it. In order to draw out the beast me from within, there were still many more things he needed the assistance of. Otherwise, he would lose too much of the beast me¡¯s core energy, wasting this enormous treasure.
¡°Wu, wu¡¡± Little Snow was incessantly crying out as he looked at the me Smander¡¯s corpse.
¡°Sorry! I had no choice!¡± Long Chen was apologetic. A perfect third rank Magical Beast¡¯s corpse was right there, but he couldn¡¯t eat it.
There was no other way. The poison was too vicious, and Little Snow would also be poisoned if he ate it. Such a powerful third rank Magical Beast¡¯s flesh was wasted just like that.
¡°Let¡¯s go see its cave to see if there¡¯s anything good in there.¡±
Long Chen brought Little Snow carefully into the cave. zing waves of qi continued to emerge from within, causing the air to burn.
Entering the cave, they saw the inside was quite spacious. But Long Chen and Little Snow¡¯s eyes both brightened when they saw severalrge eggs lying right in front of them.
Chapter 123: Earth Flame
There were a total of four eggs. They reached around Long Chen¡¯s shoulders, and there were even a few bloodstains on them. These were definitely the strongest eggs Long Chen had ever seen.
Observing those bloodstains, Long Chen reached out his hand and touched them. A faint fishy smell came from them. The blood had yet to dry.
Long Chen¡¯s heart jumped wildly. Obviously, the me Smander had only just given birth and had been in its weakest state. Its fighting strength had probably not even been half of what it was during its peak state. Thinking of that, cold sweat ran down his back.
He had truly underestimated the terror of third rank Magical Beasts. When Magical Beasts reached the third rank, they wouldpletely transform. They would be able to use their own inherited skills, giving them even greaterbat abilities.
Just thinking about it gave him some lingering fear. If the me Smander hadn¡¯t been in its weakest state, he might not have even been able to run from this ce.
¡°Wu, wu!¡±
Just as Long Chen was pondering over this, Little Snow had already begun biting into the eggs. But the eggs were too big, and with Little Snow¡¯s teeth, he was unable to use any real force.
¡°Hehe, since you didn¡¯t get to eat any of the flesh, eating some eggs can make it up a bit.¡± Long Chen smiled slightly and used his fist to smash the egg. That huge egg shook and cracks appeared on its shell.
Although the eggs were as hard as iron, they were extremely brittle. As soon as Long Chen opened a nick on it, liquid started to flow out.
Little Snow hastily stuck his mouth on the egg and sucked wildly. In just a moment, hepletely sucked away all the liquid within the egg.
Long Chen was startled to notice that Little Snow¡¯s aura was growing increasingly stronger as he drank that liquid. There were even signs that Little Snow was about to advance.
He quickly opened a second egg for Little Snow without the slightest heartache.
These eggs were of a third rank Magical Beast. Those were treasures that Pill Masters would go crazy for.
But since Long Chen had already obtained the Neidan, he didn¡¯t bother with that too much. What he hoped was for Little Snow to quickly increase his speed. He would be willing to give up anything for Little Snow.
Seeing Little Snow quickly suck away the liquid, Long Chen directly split open the remaining two eggs. The result was that Little Snow truly didn¡¯t disappoint Long Chen.
Hepletely sucked all the four eggs empty. He then immediatelyy down and closed his eyes. His energy was beginning to surge crazily, bing increasingly unstable.
¡°Is he about to advance?¡±
Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but celebrate. Little Snow was a third rank Magical Beast, and his bloodline was especially pure. Furthermore, the mysterious Spirit World expert had awakened his spirit, causing his cultivation speed to skyrocket.
Those four eggs contained an extremely great amount of energy. Now that Little Snow had absorbed all the energy within these four me Smander eggs, the energy in his body began to surge crazily.
Little Snow instinctively entered a cultivation state and frantically absorbed that enormous energy. His aura was bing increasingly powerful, and space was warping slightly around him.
Long Chen nodded. If Little Snow could advance to the third rank, hisbat ability would definitely surpass the me Smander even in its peak state.
At that time, Long Chen would have a third rank Magical Beast as his steed. Furthermore, the Scarlet me Snow Wolf was at the peak of all third rank Magical Beasts. Just thinking about that made him excited.
Long Chen knew that Magical Beasts required some time in order to advance ranks. All he could do was to help protect Little Snow. Fortunately, this ce was the me Smander¡¯s territory, and so other Magical Beasts wouldn¡¯t barge in randomly.
Only now did Long Chen carefully examine the rest of the cave. From the inside, he saw the spacious cave had arge, domed roof.
Thinking back to how it looked from the outside, the roof should correspond to the hill outside. It looked simr to an iron pot.
As Long Chen examined this spacious space, he saw arge pool ofva. Walking up to theva, he saw that theva was rolling over and over.
¡°Oh, there¡¯s actually something good inside theva!¡± Who would have thought that this unremarkable desert would be hiding such a terrifyingva pool.
But this kind of information naturally wouldn¡¯t leak with those Huge Desert Scorpions around and the me Smander guarding it.
Furthermore, this desert was always treated by cultivators as a barrennd. No one would want to pass through such a deste area, and so this ce had remained unknown until now.
Otherwise, even just the information that the me Smander existed here would have definitely caused waves and brought others here before Long Chen had arrived. Then Long Chen wouldn¡¯t have been able to obtain anything now.
Theva pool had a diameter of thirty meters and was rolling like boiling water. Burning waves of heat came from it.
Long Chen used his Pill me to protect his body, yet still felt that it was somewhat difficult to breathe. He realized that the me Smander must have been absorbing the fire energy here in order to cultivate.
It was a good thing the me Smander wasn¡¯t one of those creatures that lived in groups. Furthermore, it was a hermaphrodite creature, so Long Chen didn¡¯t need to worry about its mateing to attack him.
Buzz¡ Space trembled and theva began to undte wildly, reaching higher and higher heights. Long Chen quickly retreated.
When that pool ofva surged out a meter high, a translucent, blue me slowly appeared. When that ball of me that was merely a foot long appeared, heaven and earth boomed and incredible heat exploded out. Long Chen immediately felt as if he were about to ignite.
His FengFu Star circted to the max and he also retreated quickly. But even so, Long Chen was horrified to see that his clothes had already been burnt away.
In the instant that me appeared, it suddenly turned to ashes. His own me strength was alsopletely exhausted just from that instant.
That process of the me appearing and disappearing had taken less than half a breath¡¯s time, but Long Chen¡¯s eyes had almost popped out of his head.
Earth me. It had to be an Earth me.
That was a me formed from deep within the ground. Its power was enough to overturn the heavens, vaporize the seas, and melt away mountains. Long Chen only recognized this me with his Pill God memories.
Clenching his fists, his heart was about to leap out. In front of an Earth me, the beast me he had obtained was absolutely nothing.
More importantly, this me had clearly only just been born. It had yet to be tyrannical. This was the absolute best moment to subdue it.
But Long Chen could only watch. ording to his Pill God memories, even the most trash Earth mes were not existences someone like him could subdue.
Even an expert like Tu Fang would immediately be burnt to ashes as soon as he provoked this Earth me, let alone him.
¡°What kind of cruel joke is this?¡± Long Chen had an urge to cry. This absolutely ridiculously precious treasure was right in front of him, but he was unable to take it. That was an incredibly cruel punishment.
Looking at thatva pool that had once more be still, Long Chen took a deep breath. For him to want to obtain an Earth me was like a lunatic¡¯s ravings. It was no different than asking for death.
He turned back and returned to Little Snow¡¯s side. He was still just stunned nkly. This ce had given birth to an Earth me. That was news that would shock the world.
He absolutely could not let this news spread. Finders keepers.
Long Chen carefully examined the ground and the cave. Long Chen began to draw a diagram of the cave entrance¡¯s exact form.
Checking to make sure that all of his measurements were exact, Long Chen went out and found a huge boulder. There were quite a few rocks around the barren hill, and those rocks had identical colors and vein lines as the hill.
Finding a suitable boulder, he began to carve it down to the exact size and shape he needed it to be.
Although his longsword couldn¡¯t easily slice through the rock, as long as he was meticulous, he was still able to break off pieces with it. He slowly carved it into a stone door.
It had to be a stone door that would seamlessly fit with the cave¡¯s entrance. Once he left, he would leave it here to seal the insides. That would offer a bit of security. Hopefully, others wouldn¡¯t be able to notice it.
The stones were extremely hard, and Long Chen didn¡¯t dare use his full strength in case he ended up breaking the longsword. That was why the process was extremely slow.
It took three days for Long Chen to form a perfect outline for the stone. Summoning out the FengFu Battle Armor, he carried the boulder which was several tons over to the cave entrance. Carefully examining it, he once more began to do some finer grinding.
On the fifth day, Long Chen wiped off his sweat. He finally had a boulder that would seamlessly block the entrance to the cave.
BOOM! Inside the cave, an explosive boom rang out as the hill shook. An iparably powerful aura soared out.
¡°Little Snow advanced!¡± Long Chen celebrated and entered the cave to take a look. But when he did, he was given a fright. Little Snow was now almost three meters tall. His whole body¡¯s fur was white as snow except for a tuft of red hair at his forehead. The colors had be even brighter and magnificent.
¡°Ao!¡± Little Snow suddenly raised his head and roared. The entire cave trembled as the sound echoed throughout. Even Long Chen, who had been prepared, felt his ears ringing and his head felt as if it had turned into a paste.
¡°Hey, just because you¡¯re big now, do you not acknowledge me?¡± Long Chen rubbed his shaken ears and indignantly shouted.
¡°Wu wu!¡± Little Snow acted just as cutely as he had back when he was a cub, trying to rub Long Chen¡¯s head. But now that his body was so huge, his head was almost the size of Long Chen¡¯s entire body, and his attempts knocked Long Chen back repeatedly.
¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯m just joking. It¡¯s time for us to go.¡± Long Chen rubbed Little Snow¡¯s head andughed.
He and Little Snow left the cave. Long Chen sealed the entrance of the cave and then also carefully used some smaller pebbles to seal up the cracks. Using his Pill me, he smelted them on and then poured on anotheryer of rock fragments. Looking at it, it was impossible for anyone to notice that it was a stone door.
Finishing this, Long Chen was finally satisfied. Taking out the map, he figured out their position and made a mark on the map in order to avoid he himself being unable to find this ce again.
After all, this was a huge desert. This small hill wasn¡¯t that eye-catching. If Long Chen hadn¡¯t been drawn over by the light it had been emitting, he wouldn¡¯t have noticed it.
Finishing all this, Long Chen jumped onto Little Snow¡¯s back. Little Snow roared and leaped forward. He was like a wild gust of wind as he charged across thend.
Half a monthter, by following the map, they finally had reached the territory of the Xuantian Monastery and rxed a bit.
That was because ording to how much time had passed, they were more than early enough for the disciple test. Now they no longer rushed so quickly for thest few thousand miles.
Sitting on Little Snow¡¯s back, they leisurely advanced. They had just entered a dense forest when suddenly there were people that blocked Long Chen¡¯s path.
Chapter 124: Robbers Blocking the Way
In front of Long Chen were three people, two old and one young. The old ones werepletely white-haired; however, they were very much alive and lively, not at all like ancient seniors who were about to be buried.
As for that youth, he looked to be around seventeen years old. His appearance was neat and not bad, but his nose pointed upwards, a distasteful look. Thatpletely broke his otherwise eptable appearance.
¡°Halt!¡± That youth coldly shouted, not at all bothering that Long Chen was riding upon Little Snow¡¯s back.
¡°Is this how you greet neers?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel this was a bit strange.
¡°Greeting neers? Hehe, right, we¡¯re greeting neers. Kid, I don¡¯t want to waste my time with your nonsense. Hand over your spatial ring and I won¡¯t give you a world of pain,¡± ordered the youth arrogantly.
Long Chen was stunned. Having traveled this far and now being this close to the Xuantian Monastery, he now met robbers?
¡°Kid, are you stupid? This master¡¯s words are clear. Hurry up and don¡¯t hold up my work.¡± That youth was extremely impatient when he saw Long Chen was just staring nkly.
Long Chen saw that this youth¡¯s aura was at thete Blood Condensation realm. As for the two seniors behind them, they were actually Tendon Transformation experts.
¡°To rob the Xuantian Monastery¡¯s disciples within their territory, you really do have some nerves,¡± Long Chen said admiringly.
¡°Hmph, first of all, this still isn¡¯t the Xuantian Monastery¡¯s territory. You¡¯re still at least fifty miles away.
¡°Second, you still haven¡¯t passed the Xuantian Monastery¡¯s trials, so you are not one of their disciples.
¡°Third, don¡¯t even mention that trash monastery. They really had to be a pain and bring up something about registering. Even a genius like this master wasn¡¯t epted.
¡°As for a brat like you who is only at the mid Blood Condensation realm, for you to have the qualification to enter the Xuantian Monastery is aplete defiance of the heavens. Stop wasting my time and hand over your spatial ring.¡±
Towards the end, that youth¡¯s voice became a roar filled with anger.
Long Chen finally realized that this youth must definitely have some kind of background with at least some power. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be two Tendon Transformation experts guarding him.
But it seemed only aftering here had he realized that the Xuantian Monastery required any hopeful disciples to register before being allowed to take their test to be a disciple. From this youth¡¯s indignant anger, he probably had been turned away.
For his anger to now spill onto others who had properly registered, that really was something that caused Long Chen to not know whether tough or cry.
¡°I¡¯m sorry for your misfortune, but it¡¯s good for young people to meet a couple of obstacles. You¡¯re still young, so seeing the world is at least a bit better than just being a country bumpkin,¡± consoled Long Chen.
¡°Kid, you¡¯re asking for it!¡± The youth raged. A sword appeared in his hand and he pointed it at Long Chen.
Long Chen turned icy. ¡°Don¡¯t point that scrap metal at me.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t think that you can arrogant just because your steed is a second rank Magical Beast. You¡¯re just a country bumpkin who has yet to see the world.¡± That youth cursed, and he suddenly appeared in front of Long Chen. Sword-light shot out coldly. Although his cultivation base was only in the Blood Condensation realm, his power had already reached the level of the Tendon Transformation realm.
Long Chen didn¡¯t ce this youth within his eyes at all.
But he was able to notice a certain problem from this. This youth was someone who was able topare to Tendon Transformation experts at the Blood Condensation realm. His aura was extremely condensed with a firm foundation. He was definitely a genius.
But even such a genius didn¡¯t have the qualifications to enter the Xuantian Monastery and was directly rejected. It could be seen just how strict the requirements for Xuantian Monastery disciples were.
If it was like that, then perhaps the Xuantian Monastery truly was a ce filled with hidden geniuses. That was the first time Long Chen felt some pressure, but he was also excited, looking forward to the life in the Xuantian Monastery.
¡°You dare just stand there? Die!¡± That youth saw that Long Chen still didn¡¯t have the slightest intentions of moving and was seemed to be deep in thought; in other words, he was ignoring him!
That caused his fury to explode. Originally, he had only just been nning on scaring Long Chen a bit, but suddenly his sword shifted to cut straight at Long Chen¡¯s stomach. Now he would give him a heavy injury to teach him a lesson!
¡°Why bother with this?¡± Long Chen sighed with pity.
A huge w swatted onto the youth¡¯s body, and he was immediately sent flying back.
He vomited out blood as he flew through the air. Those two old seniors, who were just calmly observing him rob others, were shocked and quickly went out to receive him.
¡°You¡!¡± That youth wanted to say something as he saw Long Chen just smiling on top of Little Snow, but he vomited out more blood once more.
¡°You actually have a third rank Magical Beast as a steed?¡± Those two seniors were horrified.
Long Chen smiled. He had felt that entering the Xuantian Monastery on a third rank Magical Beast would be showing off too much, and so he had had Little Snow hide his aura. Then using some medicinal ingredients, he had dyed the red tuft of hair on Little Snow¡¯s forehead into a white color. With all the obvious markings hidden, there were few people who could recognize Little Snow¡¯s true identity.
To others, Little Snow would only look like arge second rank Magical Beast. But now that Little Snow had attacked, he immediately revealed his true cultivation base.
A third rank Magical Beast¡¯s violent aura exploded, causing this two seniors to shiver as theyined inside.
This time, they had truly kicked an iron te. Originally, they hade to help sign up their young master for the Xuantian Monastery¡¯s disciple selection and had been full of high spirits. But they had then had to leave dejected. Let alone the youth, even the two of them had been extremely furious.
So when that youth had decided to bring up robbing theing hopeful disciples, they had also agreed. One reason was to help alleviate some of the young master¡¯s anger, while the other reason was they wanted to see just how powerful the Xuantian Monastery¡¯s registered hopefuls were. They wanted to see just why their young master had been rejected.
They had then met a seemingly weak youth and were happy to have the young master oppress that person a bit. But now the situation had developed to this point.
¡°You guys should know how to act, right?¡± Long Chen indifferently indicated a hidden meaning.
¡°We¡¯re sorry; we¡¯ll immediately leave,¡± said one of the seniors hastily. He then nced at his fellow, his meaning obviously being that they should hurry up and leave.
But that other senior hesitated and icily red at Long Chen. Suddenly he said, ¡°Kid, do you think you can trick me this easy? Although you have a third rank Magical Beast, as long as the two of us control your dog, you¡¯re just a piece of trash. How dare you try threatening us?!¡±
Long Chen frowned. Looking at that senior who thought he had analyzed everything perfectly, he replied, ¡°Then what do you want?¡±
¡°Kid, my family¡¯s young master doesn¡¯t care about the trash you poor people in this area possess. He was just messing around for fun.
¡°Since your Magical Beast injured the young master, you should normally die. However, since we¡¯re near the Xuantian Monastery, we don¡¯t want to kill anyone.
¡°But even if you can escape death, you can¡¯t escape your punishment. Obediently hand over your spatial ring and kowtow to the young master as an apology. Then it¡¯ll be fine.¡±
Then he suddenly pointed at Little Snow and added, ¡°This brute injured the young master, so it must also die.¡±
Long Chen looked at that senior as if he were looking at a fool and shook his head. ¡°You really are an idiot. Is the only thing in your head crap?¡±
¡°You rude kid!¡± That senior raged and his aura exploded, locking Long Chen in ce.
Long Chen acted as if he didn¡¯t even sense it and just indifferently looked at him. After just cultivating for a short time, he had already advanced from the fourth Heavenstage to the sixth Heavenstage of Blood Condensation.
Perhaps it was due to the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, but every time he advanced, Long Chen could sense his body changingpletely.
Following the increase in strength of his physical body, his self-confidence also soared. That wasn¡¯t conceit, but a kind of unrivaled Dao-heart. In the face of life and death, even if the heavens were to copse, he would not bat an eye.
As soon as he had seen these three, Long Chen had already formed a preliminary estimation of their cultivation bases andbat abilities.
Those two should be around the same level as Xia Youyu. Even back then, Long Chen hadn¡¯t ced that kind of level in his eyes, let alone now.
As for that senion, when his aura exploded out and locked onto Long Chen, he immediately felt something was strange. Long Chen was clearly right there, locked in ce by his aura.
But he somehow sensed that Long Chen had be illusionary. It felt like he was locked, but it also felt as if he weren¡¯t.
That senior suddenly moved, leaving behind an afterimage as he appeared right above Long Chen¡¯s head, punching down.
¡°You arrogant kid, today I¡¯ll teach you a lesson on how to respect your elders!¡±
Long Chen sneered in ridicule, also extending out a hand. When the two hands collided, an explosive bang rang out as qi waves surged.
But what shocked them was that facing a Tendon Transformation expert¡¯s attack, Long Chen¡¯s body didn¡¯t move in the slightest.
¡°I really don¡¯t see what part of an idiot like you that I, Long Chen, need to show respect for.¡±
His hand tightened, and that senior¡¯s expression greatly changed as he realized that his fist waspletely caught by Long Chen¡¯s hand. Intense pain wracked his hand, and it almost broke.
Long Chen used a bit of force and threw him away like he was just a sandbag.
He thudded on the ground and spat out blood. Long Chen¡¯s toss was so powerful that he repeatedly crashed through multiple trees, in the end only stopping due to mming into a huge boulder.
Everyone was deathly silent. That heavily injured youth had forgotten his own wounds, staring at Long Chen in shock.
¡°Now you should know how to act, right?¡± A bashful smile appeared on Long Chen¡¯s face, but a crafty light shined within his eyes.
Chapter 125: Little Snows Might
The three of them quickly recovered their wits when they heard Long Chen. They realized they had underestimated the Xuantian Monastery. Just someone who had signed up for their disciple test already possessed such a terrifying strength. They truly had been just frogs in a well.
That youth was especially convinced of this. His cultivation base was higher than Long Chen¡¯s, but his actualbat strength was far, far toocking inparison to him.
Although he hadn¡¯t directly exchanged blows with Long Chen, seeing that Long Chen was able to indifferently ignore an attack from a Tendon Transformation expert without using up any energy, even heavily injuring him, he could easily tell how powerful he was.
¡°We¡¯re really sorry. Please forgive us. We¡¯ll leave immediately.¡± The Tendon Transformation expert who wasn¡¯t injured hastily apologized. He then picked up the two injured men and was about to leave.
¡°Oh? Hey, why are you leaving just like this?¡± frowned Long Chen.
¡°Does sir have anything else?¡± He quickly asked.
Long Chen curled his lips and unhappily said, ¡°Were all your years wasted? Do you really need me to say it clearly?¡±
The three of them were startled and the youth angrily said, ¡°Kid, we¡¯re already like this, so what else do you want? If you want us to kowtow in apology, that¡¯s impossible.¡±
¡°Tch, who would want you to kowtow? Now that you¡¯ve failed to rob me, don¡¯t you think you should express some apology in rpense?¡± Long Chen disdainfully said.
¡°What do you mean?¡± raged the youth.
¡°Idiot, is the only thing in your head crap? Then I¡¯ll say it directly. Hand over your spatial rings right now. That¡¯s right, hand them all over!¡± Long Chen exined word by word.
¡°What?!¡± The three of them were enraged and humiliated. That was definitely taking unfair advantage out of them! Having failed to rob, they would instead be robbed themselves.
¡°Don¡¯t give me that disbelieving expression, as that¡¯ll make me feel embarrassed. This is just called reciprocity. Don¡¯t act like you can¡¯t ept it,¡± advised Long Chen kindly.
¡°Bastard, you are provoking the Lucheng family! Do you believe me when I say I can have your whole family exterminated?!¡± That youth raged and cursed at Long Chen.
Long Chen¡¯s expression sunk and a dense killing intent floated up within his eyes. He lightly tapped Little Snow¡¯s back.
¡°ROAR!¡± Little Snow¡¯s sudden roar shook thend, ringing their ears. Leaves tumbled down from therge trees around them.
Little Snow opened his mouth, and a crescent wind de slowly appeared. The space around that wind de was constantly twisting.
¡°Not good!¡± The three of them were horrified to realize that they were now unable to move. They werepletely locked down by a terrifying pressure.
¡°Please, don¡¯t be too hard-¡± The senior who hadn¡¯t been injured yet cried out, but before he could finish, he choked as his inner organs were about to explode from the pressure.
That was the pressure of a third rank Magical Beast. With the powerful strength in their bodies, it was possible to form something akin to a force field that locked enemies in ce. That was the terror of third rank Magical Beasts.
The three of them finally understood just how stupid they had been. How could they have possibly provoked someone with such a terrifying steed?
The three of them were incredibly afraid, but none of them dared say anymore. That was because the wind de in Little Snow¡¯s mouth was growing evenrger and was beginning to quickly revolve. An ear-piercing sound caused their eardrums to ache.
At the same time, the pressure on their bodies was also growing stronger. That youth and the injured senior were all crushed onto the ground by that pressure and unable to move.
Only that senior that hadn¡¯t made a move yet was still able to forcibly resist. But at this time, blood was also flowing out of the corner of his mouth and he was doddering. The three of them were ashen, knowing they were already helpless.
Deep within the forest were two distant figures watching this. Their clothes were a simr color to the forest, and adding on their special methods of concealing their aura, it would be difficult to notice them even if you walked right past them.
¡°Do we have to stop this?¡± asked one of them.
¡°No need. This isn¡¯t the territory of our Xuantian Monastery. As long as it doesn¡¯t threaten our disciples¡¯ lives, we don¡¯t need to do anything,¡± replied the other.
¡°Those three are definitely blind. They didn¡¯t even recognize the Scarlet me Snow Wolf. They deserve their fates. But it does appear like that youth must have a powerful background,¡± sighed one of them, envious of Long Chen¡¯s Scarlet me Snow Wolf.
While they spoke, space suddenly shivered as a ray of light shot out of Little Snow¡¯s mouth towards those three.
BOOM! The wide de rapidly revolved, crushing all the boulders and trees in its way for several miles.
When the dust settled, a huge ditch dozens of meters wide had appeared on thend. Beside it, the three of them were white as a ghost, foolishly looking at the change in scenery.
Only after a long time did they finally recover. But they didn¡¯t dare look at Long Chen or Little Snow, not saying anything for a long time.
¡°Thank you senior for not killing us. We were wrong.¡± That senior¡¯s voice was trembling.
He knew that Long Chen had purposely had this attack miss at thest moment. Otherwise, that kind of attack just now would leave them without a corpse.
Although Long Chen appeared as calm as ever outside, huge waves shook his heart. That was also his first time seeing how terrifying Little Snow¡¯s attack was after advancing to the third rank.
He truly was worthy of being a ruler amongst third rank Magical Beasts. Such an attack was too horrifying. Even that me Smander in the desert would be unable to receive such a terrifying attack.
Along with his shock was a crazy joy. Little Snow¡¯s power was his power. With such a powerfulpanion, what would he ever have to be afraid of?
Now that the senior had said that, Long Chen indifferently said, ¡°Do you still want to exterminate my family?¡±
That youth was uncontrobly shaking from fear. Having been saved from entering the gates of hell just now, he had already forgotten his previous anger. He wanted to speak, but due to his fear and nervousness, his mouth just cked a few times and he wasn¡¯t able to make any words.
That senior saw that and hastily took off his own spatial ring as well as the spatial rings from the other two. Kneeling, he raised them in his hands. ¡°Please kindly ept our offering.¡±
His hands suddenly lightened as those rings disappeared. He waspletely shocked.
Raising his head, he saw that those spatial rings were already within Long Chen¡¯s hands. He was filled with horror; he hadn¡¯t even seen Long Chen move! That kind of speed was too shocking.
But in reality, Long Chen hadn¡¯t moved at all. He had merely used his Spiritual Strength to bring over those rings. Because he had been kneeling to disy his respect, that senior hadn¡¯t seen his movements.
Long Chen¡¯s divine sense entered the rings. He saw that they were all spatial rings withrge spaces, especially that youth¡¯s spatial ring. Inside was a space of over three hundred meters. In the future, he would never have to worry about not having enough space in his spatial ring.
Inside he was celebrating, but outside he had to act high and mighty. He forced his voice to remain calm. ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, I¡¯ll forgive you guys. You can leave.¡±
The three of them respectfully bowed, feeling as if they had been pardoned from death, and dejectedly walked away. After they left, Long Chen couldn¡¯t help butugh loudly.
He was rich!
Long Chen took off his current spatial ring and put on thergest spatial ring. The things inside were piled up like mountains.
But when Long Chen looked them over, he couldn¡¯t help but curse inside. The majority of what was in the spatial ring were some medicinal pills, weapons, and the things that caused Long Chen to be most speechless of all, arge bed as well as many luxurious articles for everyday life.
That youth was truly a spoiled brat. He actually had brought out all kinds of luxurious items for traveling outside.
He directly tossed out the bed, embroidered nkets, tents, and other appliances. Although those were definitely high-quality items, some of which Long Chen had never even seen before, those were items that Long Chen would definitely be ufortable using since someone else had already used them.
What he didn¡¯t know was that the youth truly was from a rich family. Although he was a bit inexperienced, his family was rich.
But most of his riches were in his medicinal pills. Those were all high grade medicinal pills.
After all, medicinal pills were the most importantmodity to possess, on the same level as spirit stones. They would never lose value.
But as a pill cultivator, Long Chen didn¡¯t care at all about these medicinal pills. And that was why he thought that youth was just being a fake spoiled brat.
If Long Chen¡¯s thinking was known by that youth, he would definitely be angered to death. Not only was he robbed by someone, that someone even looked down disdainfully on what he possessed!
But there was definitely one thing that satisfied Long Chen greatly. That was something he had seen within one of the seniors¡¯ rings.
It was a steel spear whose whole body was pitch-ck. It didn¡¯t look very eye-catching, as steel wasn¡¯t that rare of a material, but its weight was still not bad.
More importantly, that spear was four feet long, but its weight had reached over three tons. That was a kind of weapon Long Chen had beencking greatly.
Although it was still somewhat light for him, it was definitely much better than that light-as-a-feather longsword.
Properly putting away his spoils of battle into a single storage ring, Long Chen leisurely continued on his travels.
Once Long Chen left, those two figures appeared in his original spot. Looking in the direction Long Chen had left, one of them said, ¡°Perhaps there will be another monster-ss figure appearing.¡±
¡°Yup. For the disciple selection this time, there are severaling from extremely great backgrounds. I wonder how this youth willpare to them,¡± nodded the other
¡°Us seniors disciples will probably be surpassed by those junior disciples not long from now.¡±
¡°That¡¯s just what cultivation is. Cheer up, being a spectator isn¡¯t all that bad either.¡±
The other one nodded. Then looking at the trash left behind by Long Chen, he hesitated. ¡°This¡¡±
¡°Hehe, that kid really doesn¡¯t understand the world. Of course us senior disciples can¡¯t see him waste this much. We¡¯ll have to help him ept them.¡±
The two of them looked at each other andughed. They collected everything that Long Chen had thrown away. Those things were all high quality, a hundred times better than what they were using. They didn¡¯t care whether another person had already used them or not.
Long Chen traveled for another fifty miles before arge river appeared behind. It was hundreds of meters long, and arge bridge joined the two shores.
Seeing that bridge, Long Chen¡¯s heart began to beat faster. ording to his map, after this river, he would have officially entered the territory of the Xuantian Monastery.
Long Chen urged Little Snow to cross the bridge. Just as they were about to step onto the bridge, he felt a gust of wind blow over behind his head, and a ruthless attack whistled over at him.
Chapter 126: Gathering of Geniuses
Long Chen had just been about to step onto the bridge when a strong gale attacked him in the back of his head. At the same time, a contemptuous voice rang out:
¡°Fuck off.¡±
Long Chen dived to the side. A long whip shot by Long Chen¡¯s face, the terrifying force causing the air to billow.
A huge eagle hurtled past above the bridge. It was so fast that it disappeared in just the blink of an eye. Long Chen had only vaguely caught a glimpse of a youth standing atop the eagle.
Obviously, that whip attack had been from that youth. But that youth didn¡¯t even nce at Long Chen, just flying right over him.
Looking at that back, Long Chen was infuriated. He was sitting on a flying beast that had nothing to do with the bridge! Brat, you better not let me catch you, raged Long Chen
Most likely, that youth had also registered for the disciple selection and hadn¡¯t truly joined the Xuantian Monastery yet, and that was why he had made such a disy of power. This disciple selection would definitely not be boring.
Long Chen simply sighed and continued crossing the bridge. Suddenly, the sky darkened and another huge figure flew over.
But this time, the person atop the flying beast didn¡¯t attack Long Chen. Long Chen raised his head to see a brightly colored bird. Its multicolored feathers were absolutely magnificent.
Just as he raised his head, he saw that the person had also nced down to look at him. Long Chen couldn¡¯t help but cry out in shock inside, as that was a true beauty.
She looked to be around sixteen. Her white robes fluttered over her slender body, and her ck hair waterfalled down naturally. Crescent eyebrows set off her starry eyes, making her appear like a fairy who didn¡¯t consume the food ofmon mortals.
But although she was beautiful, she was a bit too cold. Her face seemed to have been carved out of ice that wouldn¡¯t melt even after ten thousand years, making it difficult for others to get close to her.
That maiden was a bit surprised when she saw Little Snow. Once more ncing indifferently at Long Chen, she flew off.
Long Chen¡¯s heart shook slightly. She was most likely also someone registered. Being able to see through Little Snow¡¯s disguise in just a nce, her eyesight was extremely sharp.
Furthermore, he also noticed faint mist appearing over her body. That was no ordinary mist, but something that would ur when special spiritual qi was released outside the body.
And even more shocking, Long Chen had been unable to see through her cultivation base. With Long Chen¡¯s powerful Spiritual Strength, there were few people who could hide their cultivation base in front of him.
¡°Hey brat, get out of the way. If you don¡¯t want to die, move for this master.¡±
Long Chen had been pondering when shaking came from behind him. A youth riding a huge bull shot over like a wild gale. He actually disregarded Long Chen as he charged directly over.
Long Chen was nowpletely infuriated. This was too overbearing! He hade here to study and train, not to be bullied!
Just as that bull was about to arrive, Long Chen pulled Little Snow to the side, opening a path.
That youth snorted coldly when he saw Long Chen let him by. ¡°I guess you¡¯re notpletely stupid - hey!¡±
He had just been about to say something intimidating as his bull passed by Long Chen when Long Chen kicked the bull right in the abdomen.
That bull was huge, even bigger than Little Snow. But even so, it was unable to bear Long Chen¡¯s force and was sent flying, causing that person to let out a sharp scream.
Both the man and beast dropped into the huge river, appearing extremely miserable.
¡°Brat, you better wait for this master! I¡¯ve remembered you!¡±
That person cursed angrily at Long Chen, irritating Long Chen even more. Seeing that there was no one around, he pulled down his pants and a stream of yellow liquid poured down.
¡°What the fuck, you!!!¡± That person was shocked, never expecting Long Chen to be so vicious, peeing at him! Seeing that stream of yellow was about to sprinkle over him, he hastily dived into the water.
¡°With your IQ, probably the best thing for you to drink is urine.¡± Long Chen felt a kind of unclear excitement fill his heart.
Ever since he was a child, he had always been living in an oppressive environment. Almost all of his childhood was a dark gray of sadness to him. In order to avoid making his mother angry or worried, Long Chen had never acted mischievously or stirred up any trouble.
Now he finally had a chance to feel the delight that came with doing mischievous things. For a moment, his heart was unprecedentedly free of worries.
Having stayed in the water for a while, the youth heard that he had stopped and so he carefully brought his head out of the water. But as soon as he did, a torrent of yellow spurted towards him.
¡°Bastard, I¡¯ll kill you!¡±
Long Chen had just been waiting for him toe up. This time, the youth was trulypletely infuriated, mes shooting from his eyes.
Long Chen looked at that indignant expression and wanted to continue, but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have enough charge inside of him.
¡°You vulgar scoundrel, how can you relieve yourself here?!¡±
Long Chen had been in the midst of rearranging his clothes when a woman¡¯s voice rang out from the sky. There was another Magical Beast flying by, this time with a young maiden covering her face.
¡°Tch, don¡¯t you know it¡¯s rude to look? Since you obviously know I was relieving myself, why¡¯d you still have to sneak a peek? That would have been fine if that was all, but you actually are so brazen as to criticize others? Don¡¯t you know how to feel shame?¡± Long Chen boasted shamelessly.
He didn¡¯t know why, but having done something so shameless, he felt a profound sense of freedom.
Within Phoenix Cry, he had been oppressed far too much. Here, no one knew who he was. Everything was a new starting point. He would be his true self. He could be a hooligan, a rascal, anything he wanted. He no longer needed to restrain himself.
¡°You, you wretch! Just wait!¡± That maiden angrily shouted, but her hands were covering her face as she didn¡¯t dare look at Long Chen. She quickly flew off.
Long Chenughed, not caring about this kind of threat. Looking towards the angry youth in the river, he said, ¡°How does it feel to be the one humiliated? Kid, this brother gave you a good lesson, and I didn¡¯t even take a lesson fee! That¡¯s already not bad. You just have a nice swim here. Remember, don¡¯t swallow the water.¡±
Long Chen urged Little Snow over the river. That youth angrily shouted, but he couldn¡¯t catch up. The river was too wide, and there was no way for him to quickly get to the shore. By the time he was onnd again, Long Chen had long since disappeared.
Beyond the bridge was a forest. Thend was very level, and ording to the map, this should be the territory of the Xuantian Monastery.
Their territory was extremelyrge, spreading out over five thousand miles. Even from this ce, to reach the true monastery would require another thousand miles of travel.
But he still had plenty of time. There was no need for him to rush. Even if he did get there first, he wouldn¡¯t be able to take the test ahead of time. And so it would be better to just leisurely advance at his own pace and take a good look of the surroundings.
Long Chen encountered quite a few people along his way. Some were men, some were women, but every single one of them were youths, simr to Long Chen¡¯s age.
But what shocked Long Chen was that despite those people just being in the Blood Condensation realm, their auras surged and were iparably sturdy. Some of them even gave Long Chen a great sense of pressure.
Other than that beautiful, icy-faced woman, Long Chen also noted a couple of others who gave him a feeling of danger. There was one person with a long scale between her eyebrows. He sensed an extremely great threat from that scale.
There was one person with totems all over his arms. Within them was a kind of volcanic force. There was also someone whose hands were like eagle ws. His fingernails shined like iron, emitting terrifying fluctuations.
On this journey, Long Chen encountered all kinds of different geniuses.
These people were all in the Blood Condensation realm, but the majority of them were in thete stage or even at the peak, which was a bit puzzling to Long Chen.
Some people could, once they reached the peak of Blood Condensation, use various secret arts or spirit pills to seal their cultivation bases, causing them to remain within the Blood Condensation realm.
But those people had an absolutely terrifyingbat ability. It was no wonder that the white-robed man had been filled with contempt towards Long Chen who was born and raised in such a weak empire.
Even these kinds of geniuses here had to work hard just to join this sect. It could be seen just how terrifying the power of sects was.
His selection back then had definitely been correct. Even then, he could clearly sense those various sect Elders had a deep respect for Tu Fang.
That was why Long Chen had guessed that Tu Fang¡¯s sect was definitely the most terrifying out of all of them. Otherwise, there was no way he could expel the Bloo Sect¡¯s Zhao Changxing with just a single sentence.
Furthermore, Zhao Changxing hadn¡¯t even dared to say anything in resistance. Thus, all of Long Chen¡¯s attention had been focused on Tu Fang.
Seeing this many terrifying geniuses gathering here now, Long Chen was even more sure he had made the right choice.
As he continued forward, Long Chen was shocked to see that there were increasingly more people. They were all gathering towards the monastery.
Some people were in small groups, but the majority were traveling alone. The roars of countless vicious beasts continuously echoed throughout.
Suddenly, a loud boom came from the front.
¡°There are more people fighting again. I gotta go check it out before it¡¯s over,¡± someone shouted and rushed forward.
Long Chen was startled and quickly urged Little Snow to rush forward as fast as possible. And as expected, after passing through a stretch of forest, he reached an empty ground where two people were violently fighting.
What surprised Long Chen was that one of them was that eagle-wed man he had seen before.
w images filled the sky as whistling winds were like surging sea waves, repeatedly forcing back his opponent.
¡°What terrifying attacks!¡±
¡°That¡¯s Eagle Mountain¡¯s Ying family¡¯s consummate technique. That person should be the Ying family¡¯s number one genius, Ying Mingyang.¡±[1]
Some people were quietly whispering. They had obviously recognized this eagle-wed man. His opponent was also fighting empty-handed. Red scales appeared over his fists, appearing just like snakeskin.
As people were quietly discussing their fight, Ying Mingyang¡¯s w images, which had been filling the sky,pletely disappeared. People couldn¡¯t even tell what had happened, but his w was now already gripping his opponent¡¯s shoulder. That move of his had been extremely strange.
His opponent immediately didn¡¯t dare to move in the slightest. Blood flowed from his shoulder freely, his face deathly ashen.
¡°Kid, scram back to where you came from,¡± said Ying Mingyang icily.
That person nodded dejectedly, and in front of everyone, he started walking back, causing everyone to feel pity for him.
Long Chen was confused; did losing mean he had to give up his registration? What was going on?
Just as Long Chen was filled with shock, someone approached him.
[1] Ying=Eagle here.
Chapter 127: Know-itall
That was a youth of average build and average appearance, but his eyes made him seem like a vulgar, perverted man, no matter how he tried to act otherwise.
¡°Hello, this little brother is known as the know-it-all of the Xuantian Monastery, and if elder brother has any questions, you can always ask me. There is nothing I don¡¯t know about this ce,¡± vowed that person solemnly, patting his chest in confidence.
Long Chen was startled and looked at this seemingly perverted youth with confusion, not understanding what was going on.
¡°Anything, no matter how small or big, about the Xuantian Monastery?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Of course! Ten years ago I already began to gather information about the Xuantian Monastery. I¡¯ve managed to thoroughly investigate everything within the monastery, especially the information about the disciple selection! But if my information satisfies you, then I¡¯ll have to ask for a small consultation fee!¡±
That person acted extremely bashfully when he brought up the consultation fee, but his acting couldn¡¯t fool anyone. That was because the expression in his eyespletely sold him out.
¡°You started gathering information ten years ago? Are you this sure of being able to enter the Xuantian Monastery?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Of course! This is what is called preparing ahead! By taking the long view at the beginning, one doesn¡¯t need to worry about the future. Look at those fresh rookies who are so confused. They don¡¯t know anything about the trial procedure, and so they¡¯ll definitely suffer greatly. So, elder brother, are you interested?¡± asked that youth fervently.
Long Chen noticed he identally nced at Little Snow behind him and realized this youth had probably recognized what Little Snow was. He probably thought that he was some wealthy, rich kid.
A Scarlet me Snow Wolf was a peak third rank Magical Beast. As for all the geniuses here who were applying, they also had Magical Beast steeds, but the absolute majority were only at the second rank. Third rank Magical Beasts were few and far in between.
He really hadn¡¯t expected this perverted youth to have a keen enough eyesight to see through Little Snow¡¯s disguise.
Then sensing his cultivation base, he saw this youth was at thete Blood Condensation realm with an extremely sturdy foundation. Although his eyes revealed an obvious hint of pervertedness, his power was extremely reserved. He was definitely an expert.
¡°What¡¯s the fee?¡± Since he had nothing to do at the moment anyway, he decided to ask. In any case, there were countless gold coins in his spatial ring. If he could use them to buy some useful information, he wouldn¡¯t care about the loss.
¡°I, Guo Ran, am extremely upright and will never cheat anyone. For a normal question, I will only take a middle grade second tier medicinal pill.
¡°If it¡¯s a question regarding the more important details of the selection, the price will go up a bit to a high grade second tier medicinal pill.
¡°Of course, I also have exclusive secrets pertaining to the details of what will happen after joining the monastery. This little brother solemnly promises that if you knew these secrets, you would definitely be able to live in the Xuantian Monastery like a fish in water and quickly stand out.
¡°I see that elder brother is an extremely honest person, so I will also offer you a special all-inclusive deal. For just ten third tier medicinal pills, I will tell you everything I know.
¡°This is a huge discount just for you! You definitely won¡¯t suffer a loss for those ten medicinal pills. Those ten medicinal pills can let you skyrocket here.
¡°These ten pills aren¡¯t expensive or much! Only by investing can you truly make profit¡¡± That Guo Ran continued on and on smoothly as he tried to entice Long Chen.
¡°Okay, okay, stop. You¡¯re such a salesperson, were you born in a street stall?¡± Long Chen looked strangely at Guo Ran.
Guo Ranughed with some embarrassment. ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t this just because I think brother is extremely honest and I am afraid you¡¯ll miss out on this great opportunity? That would be equivalent to giving up a great future. This is all for elder brother¡¯s benefit!¡±
Long Chen truly felt as if his eyes had been opened up to the world. Not only did the Xuantian Monastery contain talents and geniuses, but it also contained oddities like this.
¡°Do you really know everything about the Xuantian Monastery?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Of course! I will tell no lies or cheat anyone! If it¡¯s a question about the Xuantian Monastery and I can¡¯t answer, I¡¯ll tell you everything I know free of charge!¡± Guo Ran patted his chest confidently.
¡°Then let me ask you, when the Xuantian Monastery¡¯s leader does number two, does he wipe his butt with his left or right hand?¡± asked Long Chen.
Guo Ran¡¯s eyes widened with disbelief. It took a while before he resentfully said, ¡°Brother, you look so talented, but why do you have to do things so wrongly? Who could possibly know something like that?¡±
¡°Just because you don¡¯t know, doesn¡¯t mean others don¡¯t know. Looks like you¡¯ll have to keep studying to really be a know-it-all.¡± Long Chen shook his head.
¡°This is an insult to me! Tell me, who could possibly know this secret?¡± raged Guo Ran.
¡°Me.¡± Long Chen pointed to himself.
¡°You?! Are you just using me for amusement?¡± Guo Ran felt as if he was being messed with.
¡°Hey, don¡¯t get angry. I really do know,¡±ughed Long Chen.
¡°Ok, if you can tell me, then I, Guo Ran, will tell you all my secrets free of charge. But if you can¡¯t, then you and I will really have a duel.¡± Guo Ran obviously had been infuriated by Long Chen.
A duel? Long Chen smiled slightly. Instead of directly answering, he asked in a roundabout fashion, ¡°As a know-it-all, I¡¯m sure you know who the Xuantian Monastery¡¯s sect leader is, right?¡±
¡°Of course, sect leader Ling Yun-zi is a peak expert whose sword swept across thends. Three hundred years ago, his name already shook the heavens. Who doesn¡¯t know this? Get to the point.¡± Guo Ran¡¯s anger had yet to fade.
His words were absolutely correct. The Xuantian Monastery¡¯s sect leader Ling Yun-zi had been at the peak back then. But in the past three hundred years, no one had seen him ever take action again.
But as for the legends about him, there were many. There were also quite a few portraits of him that had been passed on. A few families even had such portraits in their shrines. Those portraits were all of Ling Yun-zi in his youth, gracefully wielding his sword like an immortal.
Although Long Chen hadn¡¯t been paying that much attention on the way, he had heard others speaking about him and remembered a few fragments of it.
At the very least he knew that the current Xuantian Monastery sect leader was a powerful sword cultivator. Just knowing that much was enough.
¡°Since you know the sect leader is a sword cultivator, then you should also know that other than during fights, sword cultivators must always keep their right hand empty?¡± asked Long Chen lightly.
Guo Ran immediately had nothing to say. Sword cultivators were not the same as other cultivators. Other cultivators would keep their weapons within their spatial rings.
But the personal sword of sword cultivators always had to be kept on their backs or held on their waist. That was a habit of sword cultivators. In fact, it was practically a rule, as there were no exceptions.
They didn¡¯t view their swords as weapons but as a part of themselves and their lives. And so their swords were always kept within reach.
Furthermore, they would not use their sword hand to touch anything other than their sword, as that would be a kind of sphemy against the sword.
Long Chen had already seen some applicants stealthily take out a portrait of the sect leader in admiration, and he had seen that the person in those portraits was holding his sword in his right hand. That was why he could conclude that he would have to use his left hand for everything else.
Hearing this, Guo Ran¡¯s anger disappeared. He had no choice but to admit to himself that he had lost.
¡°Elder brother, you truly were a step ahead of me. I¡¯ve lost, and since I bet, I must pay. I¡¯ll tell you everything I know, but you must swear never to tell others. I still need to do business.¡±
¡°It¡¯s okay, you can just continue doing your business. I¡¯m not that interested in those secrets you know. Some things are only interesting if you find them out yourself.¡± Long Chen shook his head.
Guo Ran was shocked; Long Chen had declined his good intentions? While it was true that he was somewhat of an unscrupulous businessman, he had truly gathered a lot of important information over the past few years.
Otherwise, if others had spent their wealth to buy useless secrets from him, he probably would have already been beaten to death. The kind of information he had was something many people urgently needed.
Seeing that Long Chen was about to leave, Guo Ran grabbed his arm and said, ¡°No, business must be conducted fairly. Are you acting like this to make me be a promise-breaker?¡±
Long Chen was surprised, not expecting this youth with his perverted eyes to possess such integrity.
¡°Okay then, tell me some stuff. Why did that person who lost have to give up his spot?¡±
¡°Ah, that kid, hehe. He¡¯s someone who married into the Wonder River Valley family, an opponent of the Ying family. Unfortunately for him, Ying Mingyang cornered him, and the two of them made an agreement that whoever lost would have to get out of the Xuantian Monastery. Look, this is only the start, but many disciples from different families with various rtionships have entered the monastery now. In the future, it will definitely be very lively,¡± said Guo Ran.
So it was like that, Long Chen thought to himself. The Xuantian Monastery truly was notcking in crouching tigers and hidden dragons. The situation here was even moreplicated than he had thought.
¡°Right, I still haven¡¯t asked elder brother for his name and his origin,¡± Guo Ran said with some awkwardness.
¡°I¡¯m Long Chen. As for where I came from, hehe, it¡¯s not suitable for me to say it.¡± Long Chenughed mischievously.
He definitely couldn¡¯t say that he came from some rustic, far-off region like the Phoenix Cry Empire. These disciples mostly came from various powerful families or groups.
Phoenix Cry was too remote and deste. There were no true great powers within it, while inparison, he had noticed that everyone whom he had encountered on his journey here all came from families which possessed their own extremely powerful backgrounds and inheritances.
Inparison to them, Long Chen¡¯s background was nothing. Although he might not feel inferior, being asked this still made him feel embarrassed.
Guo Ran didn¡¯t be suspicious when Long Chen refused to tell him his background. Someone who possessed a third rank Scarlet me Snow Wolf couldn¡¯t possiblye from a low background, right?
For Long Chen to refuse to answer, that must be because he didn¡¯t want to borrow the power of his background in order to intimidate others. Just how superior was that inparison to those arrogant fellows who bragged about which mountain and which family they came from? This is what it meant to possess hidden strength. Guo Ran truly was starting to admire Long Chen more and more.
Although he had failed to sell anything, he wasn¡¯t the slightest bit discouraged. He possessed a businessman¡¯s amicability that could make him easily rich.
But at the same time, he was also extremely curious about Long Chen. He was extremely low-key, and his cultivation base was hidden. But his eyes were as calm as water, making it so others were unable toprehend his full level.
The two of them randomly chatted for a while. Long Chen learned that Guo Ran had alsoe from an influential family, but his family was quite a bit weaker than the majority of the other applicants.
That was why Guo Ran had immediately started his business as soon as he entered the Xuantian Monastery. That was to pull in more bargaining chips, making preparations for him to soar rapidly once he became a disciple. That made Long Chen see him in a new light.
¡°Right, brother Long, which faction are you nning on relying on?¡± Looking around to see that no one was present, Guo Ran stealthily asked Long Chen this question.
Chapter 128: Three Heroes Two Beauties
¡°Faction? Rely on? What do you mean?¡±
Guo Ran looked as Long Chen strangely. ¡°When brother Long left, didn¡¯t your family give you some information about the monastery?¡±
Long Chen shook his head. Having his family mentioned, his heart became somber. He wondered how his mother was.
While he had been home, he had been his mother¡¯s main support. Now that he had left, his mother was probably greatly affected.
¡°Oh, then we should find a ce to have a proper conversation.¡± Guo Ran waved his hand, and a round thing ran over.
When it arrived, Long Chen realized that it was a huge, pitch-ck mouse three meters long.
¡°Brother Guo¡¯s steed is pretty unique,¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help butugh.
Guo Ran didn¡¯t take offense. ¡°This is mypanion that has been with me since I was a child. We grew up together. Don¡¯t look down on him; he runs extremely fast.¡±
The two of them found an isted ce and sat down. Guo Ran took out some refreshments and began to eat and converse with Long Chen.
¡°Brother Long should know about the three heroes and two beauties, right?¡± asked Guo Ran.
¡°Nope.¡± Long Chen shook his head.
¡°Pffft!¡± Guo Ran spat out his food. ¡°What, you don¡¯t even know about this? Then your information really is nothing!¡± Guo Ran took out a beast hide from his ring. The words on that page were extremely small and densely packed. There had to be tens of thousands of words on it.
Guo Ran nced at the beast hide and was slightly startled. He read it over again, then looked at Long Chen with shock. ¡°Why isn¡¯t your name on the registration list?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Long Chen could only shake his head.
Guo Ran took a deep breath and asked suspiciously, ¡°Do you not have a registration card?¡±
¡°I do.¡± Long Chen directly handed over his registration card to Guo Ran. Although he hadn¡¯t known him for long, Long Chen sensed that he wasn¡¯t a bad person.
Guo Ran nced over the registration card and eximed, ¡°The Law Enforcement Elder?! You know the Enforcement Elder?¡± Guo Ran looked at Long Chen with disbelief.
¡°Are you talking about Elder Tu Fang?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Yes, Elder Tu Fang is an extremely powerful Elder in our monastery. He¡¯s very upright and strict. He is very trusted.¡± Guo Ran looked at Long Chen with admiration, obviously thinking Long Chen was a rtive of Elder Tu Fang or had a close rtion to him.
Long Chen shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve only met with Elder Tu Fang once. After giving me this registration card and a map, there was nothing else between us.¡±
Long Chen told Guo Ran about his interactions with Tu Fang. Most of what he had to exin was finished with just a sentence, as he truly didn¡¯t have much of a rtion with Tu Fang.
¡°It seems brother Long must truly be a talented genius. Otherwise, the Enforcement Elder wouldn¡¯t give such a registration card to you. The monastery¡¯s standards are extremely strict, and even the experts on the Elder level only have one registration card to give out. Furthermore, I haven¡¯t heard of the Enforcement Elder handing out a registration card in many years. Brother Long must definitely be an extraordinary person for the Enforcement Elder to recognize your talent,¡± eximed Guo Ran with admiration.
¡°We got a bit off track. How about we return to that three heroes and two beauties you mentioned?¡± Long Chen was curious about this.
And so Guo Ran began to tell Long Chen about the monastery. The Xuantian Monastery would select disciples every three years, but all the people who registered were already set one year in advance.
Those people that didn¡¯t have a registration card like that youth Long Chen had encountered previously were all expelled before they could even take the test.
Once the registration list had been set, Guo Ran had begun to gather information on the registrants. Of course, he didn¡¯t need to gather information on all of them, but just the more powerful ones with the highest potential.
It went without saying that Guo Ran was an extremely deliberate person. Long before he had set out, he had already recorded the names, backgrounds, temperaments, and special skills of all the more famous registrants.
Even when it came to the less famous registrants, as long as there was information, he wrote it down. But as for the three heroes and two beauties, that wasn¡¯t something he hade up with, but something that was publicly recognized.
That was because it wasn¡¯t only Guo Ran who was so meticulous. Others had also done their own investigations. That was what it meant to know yourself, know your enemy.
The three heroes were three young men. They were Lei Qianshang, Qi Xin, and Yue Zifeng. It was said that they were all peak talents.
As for the two beauties, that naturally pointed to two young women. One was called the ice beauty Ye Zhiqiu, while the other was also an equally unmatched beauty called Tang Wan-er.
He didn¡¯t know why, but when Long Chen heard Ye Zhiqui¡¯s name, he immediately thought of that woman who had been standing atop that multi-colored bird.
If that really had been her, then those three heroes and two beauties were definitely at the top level.
Although they hadn¡¯t exchanged blows, Long Chen had experienced many life and death battles that had caused his perception of experts to be incredibly keen. That icy woman was definitely a terrifying opponent.
Guo Ran continued, saying that in the future, the entire Xuantian Monastery would be theirs to control. And that was why Guo Ran rmended finding a faction to rely on.
That was because the Xuantian Monastery wasn¡¯t the same as other sects. Thepetition was extremely intense inside. Other than core disciples, any other disciples had toplete missions in order to obtain resources.
But there were never enough missions to go around, and so the disciples were like wolves fighting over a piece of meat.
And that was how such an intensepetition had arisen. ording to the past experiences, the monastery encouraged disciples to form their own factions, saying that this was also a kind of tempering for their disciples.
Only the powerful factions would have more opportunities and thus, more cultivation resources. That was why joining a powerful faction was extremely important.
Furthermore, your vision definitely had to be sure. That was because once you were in a faction, it was very difficult to switch into a different one.
Each core disciples would have the right to possess their own mountain. With the support of a formation, the spiritual qi on those mountains would be much denser, allowing one to cultivate twice as fast with half the effort.
Core disciples would all choose a couple of aides to cultivate with them. That was a reward to the capable members of their faction. After all, a faction could not just rely on a single person.
And so Guo Ran¡¯s goal was on those five people. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just Guo Ran. Almost everyone hoped to join one of their factions. That was also an intensepetition.
Furthermore, it was said that many people that were waiting in line to join their faction had already begun to take action, secretly sending gifts and even marriage contracts. Listening to all of this caused Long Chen to be dumbstruck. This was much moreplicated than what he had thought.
¡°Guo Ran, who do you think is the strongest amongst those five?¡± asked Long Chen. He wanted to hear Guo Ran¡¯s thinking since he had gathered a great deal of information.
Guo Ran shook his head regretfully. ¡°Those five are all monsters with unlimited battle strength. They can easily fight across realms.¡±
¡°They can all fight across realms?¡± Long Chen was shocked.
Guo Ran nodded. ¡°The craziest of them all would have to be Lei Qianshang. It¡¯s said thatst year he killed three Tendon Transformation disciples from a sect, causing a huge ruckus.¡±
¡°Three sect disciples?¡± Now Long Chen was truly shocked.
¡°Yes. That sect was infuriated at that time, but the Lei family also has its own foundation and wasn¡¯t afraid of them. A war almost broke out between them. But in the end, the matter was left unsettled. From that moment on, Lei Qianshang¡¯s great name became famous. No one else in the same generation dares to fight against him,¡± sighed Guo Ran.
Long Chen was definitely shocked. A year ago he was already able to fight one against three, killing three Tendon Transformation sect disciples. That kind ofbat ability was too frightening.
¡°Lei Qianshang has his Lei family¡¯s lightning[1] inheritance. Not only is hisbat ability shocking, but his physical body is also powerful withoutpare. He has never lost to someone within the same realm.
¡°Although Lei Qianshang is admittedly powerful, the others aren¡¯t far off. Qi Xin and Yue Zifeng have also killed Tendon Transformation experts.
¡°But they¡¯reparatively more low-key and didn¡¯t immediately be famous. Thus, no one knows whose strength really is the greatest.¡±
¡°As for the ice beauty of the two beauties, shees from the Misty Ice Peak. She possesses an innate ice-cold spiritual qi. When her spiritual qi circtes, those on the same level as her cannot even approach her before turning into ice statues. Just how would you fight against her?
¡°The most mysterious one would have to Tang Wan-er. I¡¯ve never been able to gather any information about her, but someone leaked that she possesses an extremely rare wind spirit body.
¡°Ah, the wind spirit body is favored by the heavens. By using the wind¡¯s energy, she is able to kill the enemies with practically invisible wind des. Just how terrifying is that?
¡°So those five are all monsters, existences that have no match within the same realm. As long as they don¡¯t fight each other, no one knows just who is stronger or weaker,¡± sighed Guo Ran emotionally.
Within Guo Ran¡¯s family, he was also a peak existence to some degree and was called a genius. But after arriving, he waspletely suppressed by these freaks.
¡°Then which faction are you nning on relying on?¡± asked Long Chen.
¡°Of those five powers, basically all the spots are full. Trying to squeeze your way in would be extremely difficult, as everyone has already long since taken action. For me, it¡¯s already toote.
¡°Amongst the five, Lei Qianshang is the most violent, while Ye Zhiqiu is the iciest, so neither are easy to approach.
¡°I¡¯ve heard the most amicable one would be Tang Wan-er, but it¡¯s precisely because of that friendliness of hers that countless people are already lined up for her. And so I basically have no hope of getting close to her either.
¡°Right now I was just trying to take advantage of the remaining time to earn some more medicinal pills. With those resources, I was hoping to see whether I could muddy my way into either Qi Xin or Yue Zifeng¡¯s factions,¡± said Guo Ran. ¡°What are you thinking?¡±
¡°Me? I don¡¯t have any ns. I¡¯ll just take everything step by step.¡± Long Chen smiled slightly.
¡°Then you aren¡¯t nning on joining any faction?¡± Guo Ran was puzzled.
¡°Yeah, I prefer to do things on my own.¡± Long Chen nodded. Now he had left home. Although he felt a bit of a loss, he also had a feeling of freedom, like a horse that had thrown off its reins. He wanted to be as free as possible and no longer suffer any more restrictions.
Although those monster-ss figures were extremely terrifying, Long Chen wasn¡¯t afraid of them. As long as he didn¡¯t find any trouble with them, everything would be fine. And if they really did fight, then he was actually interested in seeing just how powerful such monsters were.
Guo Ran shook his head. ¡°Although you might also be an extremely powerful genius, I¡¯d still advise you that those five aren¡¯t human, but monsters. You¡¯ll definitely lose out greatly which will impact your cultivation.¡±
Long Chen was about to reply when an angry roar suddenly rang out, shaking the mountain forest.
¡°BRAT, THIS MASTER HAS FINALLY FOUND YOU!¡±
[1] Lei=Thunder
Chapter 129: Inviting Self-Humiliation
Following that angry roar, a group of people charged over, quickly surrounding Long Chen and Guo Ran. The person at the front was incessantly cursing at Long Chen.
Guo Ran jumped up, his mouse behind him also entering itsbat state.
Long Chen smiled slightly at that furious youth. ¡°Oh, so you didn¡¯t end up drowning? How fortunate for you.¡±
That person was the youth who Long Chen had kicked into the river and then given a yellow shower.
Now it seemed this youth truly did have some ability since this many helpers hade to him. Probably he had been constantly searching and asking about him.
Previously, Long Chen had watched other people fighting in public. Moreover, Little Snow¡¯s white fur was very eye-catching, and so it wasn¡¯t odd for this youth to have finally found him here.
¡°Brother Chang Li, could it be that you just have a misunderstanding with brother Long?¡± Guo Ran recognized this person.
Chang Li looked at Guo Ran with some surprise. He didn¡¯t recognize this person, so he asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°Haha, this little brother is Guo Ran. I¡¯ve long looked forward to meeting the famous brother Chang Li-¡±
¡°So you aren¡¯t acquainted with me. Be smart and get lost. I have a debt I have to pay to this brat. If you don¡¯t want to be beaten, fuck off.¡± Chang Li cut off Guo Ran impatiently.
Long Chen patted Guo Ran on the shoulders. He knew Guo Ran was a careful person who wanted to be a mediator, but that would definitely be impossible for this.
¡°You should withdraw to avoid being implicated.¡±
Guo Ran was startled, but he still nodded, quietly warning, ¡°Be careful. This person is very powerful. More importantly, he¡¯s part of Qi Xin¡¯s group.¡±
After whispering that warning, Guo Ran brought his Magical Beast outside of their encirclement. He was extremely curious about how Long Chen, who seemed to be so amiable, had caused such trouble.
Furthermore, he sensed an extremely mysterious aura from Long Chen¡¯s body. That was because Long Chen was too calm, calm to a frightening degree. It was as if no matter how major something happened, he wouldn¡¯t be shaken at all.
So he was extremely curious just what kind of existence Long Chen was. Why would the Enforcement Elder Tu Fang give him his precious registration card? And just how powerful was Long Chen¡¯s true strength?
¡°Brat, when you humiliated me, did you think of this oue?!¡± raged Chang Li.
Over ten people behind him were looking at Long Chen icily, delighting in his misfortunate. They were obviously prepared to see a good show.
¡°Humiliation? No, no, no, it definitely wasn¡¯t a humiliation. My urine isn¡¯t something that just anyone can have rained over them. You should be happy,¡± said Long Chen lightly.
Hearing that, everyone¡¯s expression became odd. Even those people following alongside Chang Li were shocked.
They had heard that he had suffered, but as to what that suffering was, he wouldn¡¯t tell them. But when they had seen him furiously grinding his teeth, they had realized it was definitely not something small.
But even in their wildest dreams, they would never have imagined that he had been bullied by someone to such an extent.
Even Guo Ran was inplete disbelief. He had definitely never imagined that this steady and open youth would do such a thing.
¡°Go to hell!¡± Chang Li roared. Veins pulsed on his forehead, and his eyes spit mes, as he punched at Long Chen. Wild qi waves and surging gales shot out from his enormous force.
Bang! The bystanders didn¡¯t see the fist touching Long Chen¡¯s head before a leg had alreadynded on Chang Li¡¯s stomach.
Chang Li immediately groaned and was sent flying dozens of meters before miserably crawling up.
That group of people following Chang Li were stupefied. That clearly wasn¡¯t the result they had been expecting.
Long Chen¡¯s kick had beenpletely unnoticeable. And it hadn¡¯t been reliant on a Battle Skill or other technique. It waspletely impossible for them to guard against it.
¡°Brat, you¡¯ve really pissed me off now! I¡¯ll definitely beat you half dead!¡± Chang Li roared and his aura exploded. Blood Qi soared, causing the space around him to buzz. He charged at Long Chen like a wild gale.
¡°Ao!¡± Little Snow suddenly stood up and bellowed.
¡°Don¡¯t move. I want to see how strong the people here are.¡± Long Chen quietlyforted Little Snow. He didn¡¯t dare let Little Snow take action. Little Snow didn¡¯t know what it meant to control his attack power. If something went wrong, someone could easily die.
Little Snow was no longer the cute little puppy he had been. Hisbat ability far surpassed Long Chen now. An ordinary Tendon Transformation would be killed with a single swat of his ws. If Little Snow did identally kill someone, he didn¡¯t know just what would happen to his qualifications to participate in the disciple trials. He couldn¡¯t risk it.
Long Chen extended his hand. He was neither quick nor slow, perfectly blocking Chang Li¡¯s fist.
The air exploded, and the withered leaves on the ground were all swept up high into the sky.
But the shocking thing was that after Long Chen received that blow, his body didn¡¯t budge in the slightest.
¡°How powerful!¡± Guo Ran¡¯s heart wildly jumped when he saw that. Although his ownbat ability was just average, his vision was extremely astute. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have even been able to notice that Little Snow was a third rank Magical Beast.
He saw that Long Chen received Chang Li¡¯s attack with only his physical strength. There wasn¡¯t the slightest movement from his cultivation base. That meant that Long Chen didn¡¯t even ce Chang Li in his eyes.
After receiving that blow, Long Chen nodded inside. Chang Li¡¯s attack was equivalent to an attack from ate Tendon Transformation expert from the secr world. He was even somewhat stronger than Xia Youyu.
This was just how powerful the disciples from these influential families were. Any random disciple of theirs could fight across realms. Having lived in the Phoenix Cry Empire his whole life, Long Chen truly was a frog at the bottom of a well.
However, such strength didn¡¯t mean anything in front of Long Chen. With a single hand, he was tightly clenching onto Chang Li¡¯s fist.
He indifferently said, ¡°With just this kind of strength, you still want to take revenge?¡±
Chang Li¡¯s expression became extremely unsightly, as that kind of insult was even harder to take than being pped in the face.
¡°How arrogant!¡±
A boom suddenly came from his body and using some kind of unknown secret art, Chang Li¡¯s strength doubled. Catching Long Chen off guard, he shook his fist free.
¡°Jade Breaking Fist!¡± A faint light appeared over Chang Li¡¯s fist, causing his entire fist to be sparkling bright like jade. However, his fist also emitted an extremely frightening pressure as it smashed at Long Chen.
Long Chen also punched out, colliding fists with Chang Li. With a loud explosion, both of them were shaken back.
But Long Chen only took three steps back while Chang Li was forced back ten meters. The entire crowd was deathly silent.
No one had expected that this seemingly weak youth would possess such terrifying strength. Furthermore, from the very start to now, Long Chen had clearly not revealed his cultivation base.
Having exchanged fists, Long Chen actually praised Chang Li inside. He was worthy of being a powerful family¡¯s disciple. That fist had contained extremely condensed strength. Not one bit of his force had been wasted. When they collided, all that force had exploded out, causing even Long Chen to suffer a bit and forcing him back a couple of steps.
It had to be known that Long Chen had now stepped into the sixth Heavenstage of Blood Condensation. Through the tempering of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, his physical body had reached the point where it was evenparable to a third rank Magical beast. For Chang Li to be able to force him back meant that he truly was talented.
¡°How is this possible?¡± Chang Li looked at Long Chen with horror. He couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. His full force blow had not caused any injuries to his opponent.
¡°Everyone attack together!¡± Chang Li finally realized that he had run into someone who was difficult to handle. He no longer tried to show off and called over all of hispanions to attack with him.
Those people didn¡¯t hesitate after Chang Li¡¯s summoning. All their auras exploded, theirbat states reaching their peaks as they charged at Long Chen.
¡°A group of idiots without the slightest judgment.¡± Long Chen scolded and stepped forward. One person, who had been punching at Long Chen, suddenly had his arm grabbed by Long Chen and was swung out.
That person was used by Long Chen as a weapon that was sent swinging into the closest three others. Those three clearly had never encountered such a method. Their movements were a mess, not knowing whether they should dodge or take it. Due to their hesitation, they were smashed and sent flying.
That person who had been swung felt pain throughout his entire body, as if his bones had all been broken. But before he could even figure out exactly what his wounds were, Long Chen once more swung him out.
Another three people were smashed and sent flying. This time it seemed that Long Chen had found the knack of using a human weapon, and his strength was even greater thanst time.
Those three immediately spat out blood. As for the person who was now swung twice, he vomited blood and directly fainted.
He was tossed to the ground by Long Chen. Stepping forward, he arrived in front of those people who had already been smashed by his human weapon technique and were now stupefied. His fists danced.
Those people were all repeatedly struck, beaten and battered. The only one who could still stand at this time was Chang Li. But Chang Li was badly battered as well, blood flowing miserably from his mouth and nose.
¡°How savage!¡± Guo Ran watched as Long Chen beat these people up easily, as if they were children in front of him. His scalp became numb. Those people were all true talents, famous people within their own regions.
But in front of Long Chen, they didn¡¯t even have the strength to resist. Guo Ran¡¯s heart was jumping. Just how powerful was Long Chen?
Long Chen looked at Chang Li in front of him and sneered inside. This group of people all had sturdy cultivation bases and powerfulbat abilities, but theirbat experience was pathetic.
They werepletelycking in that indifferent manner that was unconcerned with life or death. They were just greenhouse flowers. Although they looked good, they werepletely useless.
Even though their strength was high, if it was truly a life or death battle, they were definitely not a match for ordinary Tendon Transformation experts. The ones to die in the end would definitely be them.
But that also made sense. These people were all geniuses groomed by their families and ns. Who would be willing to let them experience true life and death battles? If something happened, none of them would be able to ept it.
However, true experts were definitely not raised like this. If they were ced on the battlefield, they probably would be unable to disy even half their strength.
That was the difference when they werepared to Long Chen who had repeatedly brushed against death. They were far too immature.
¡°Get lost. I just went to the toilet, so I¡¯m very regretful that there¡¯s no chance this time,¡± said Long Chen indifferently.
¡°You have guts, but this matter won¡¯t be blown over so easily! Just you wait!¡± Chang Li hatefully red at Long Chen.
¡°Fuck off. You should be rejoicing in your luck that this is the monastery, otherwise, you would have already be a corpse.¡± Long Chen icily nced at him.
Long Chen¡¯s nce made Chang Li feel as if a cold de was pressed against his neck. An incredibly dense sensation of death welled out of him. It was like Long Chen was the Grim Reaper. A single thought from him could end his life. Cold sweat ran down his back.
He wanted to say something powerful, but his mouth just trembled without being able to say a single word. His followers now picked up that unconscious ¡®human weapon¡¯ and pulled at Chang Li.
Guo Ran watched as that group ran with their tails between their legs. For a moment, he had no idea of what to say. Looking at Long Chen, he was filled with respect.
Long Chen patted his hands and was about to say something when the ground shook slightly. Long Chen¡¯s expression changed, and he hastily looked into the distance, seeing a sword-like qi that soared into the sky before fading.
¡°What a powerful fight! Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±
Chapter 130: Gathering of Monsters
Chapter 130
Chapter 130 Gathering of Monsters
By the time Long Chen and Guo Ran arrived, there was already a sea of people watching . Two figures were fiercely fighting within arge mountain pass . Wild gales and dust filled the air around them for hundreds of meters .
This entire region was packed with people that were excitedly watching those two people fight, their eyes filled with respect .
¡°So its Qi Xin and Lei Qianshang!¡± eximed Guo Ran .
Long Chen was startled . So it was actually a battle between monster-ss experts . No wonder there would be such terrifying waves .
¡°That blue-haired fellow who is extremely tall and muscr is Lei Qianshang . As for his opponent that is wearing the light blue headband who looks like a schr, he¡¯s Qi Xin,¡± quietly exined Guo Ran .
Long Chen examined Lei Qianshang . He truly was tall and sturdy . His bare arms were as thick as a normal person¡¯s calves and his muscles bulged . He looked just like a human-shaped Magical Beast .
His hair was a surprisingly strange light blue color . Whenever his fists struck, a faint thunder sound would boom out .
Against him was a man wearing long robes and a Confucian hat on his head, the spitting image of a schr . His face was grave and stern . In front of Lei Qianshang¡¯s tempest-like torrent of fists, he was as calm as ever, receiving every single one with his bare palms .
Furthermore, Long Chen noticed that Qi Xin¡¯s palms were emitting strange fluctuations . Each blow could cause slight ripples to appear in space that blocked the majority of Lei Qianshang¡¯s force .
Their fierce battle caused thend to shake and wind to howl . Just the gales that spread out from their battle were painful for people to endure .
¡°Look, that¡¯s the ice beauty Ye Zhiqiu . ¡± Guo Ran suddenly drew Long Chen¡¯s attention .
Long Chen turned to look and saw a tall woman wearing snow-white robes . Her long hair danced, and she looked like a fairy who had descended onto the world, an existence people wouldn¡¯t dare spheme against .
At her side were quite a few young men and women, but they all maintained a certain distance from her . Many men were looking at her adoringly .
In many people¡¯s eyes, Ye Zhiqiu was an Ice Goddess, pure, holy, and grand .
Looking at Ye Zhiqiu, Long Chen had no choice but to admit that this ice beauty was truly beautiful, especially withthat arrogant temperament that made her seem like some goddess sculpture others worshipped . That was a calm kind of beauty that would cause others to forget everything else .
Long Chen had been stealthily staring at her when she suddenly to nce back at him .
When the two of their eyes met, Long Chen was startled . He nodded slightly in greeting, but what caused him to be speechless was that Ye Zhiqiu simply icily nced a him before turning back to watch the fight without giving him any recognition .
This child really doesn¡¯t have any manners . But that¡¯s ok, this big brother will help her out, Long Chen bitterlyughed inside . Being despised by others truly was an ufortable feeling .
¡°Oh, Yue Zifeng is also here!¡± suddenly eximed Guo Ran .
Long Chen followed Guo Ran¡¯s gaze to see a man in blue battle robes, a longsword on his back .
¡°So he¡¯s a sword cultivator!¡±
¡°Yue Zifeng started training in the sword starting at the age of three . His skill in the Sword Dao is extremely high, but as a person he is prideful and doesn¡¯t like to battle others . And so all those people who challenged him were all killed by him . He once said that fighting is sacred, and only battles that risk one¡¯s life are true battles . All other battles are just a spheme against fighting in his opinion,¡± exined Guo Ran .
Long Chen looked at the distant Yue Zifen and nodded . ¡°This is definitely an extremely frightening person . ¡±
He could sense that Yue Zifeng was just like a sheathed sword . Once drawn out of the scabbard, his Qi could sh apart the heavens . That was the specific imposingness of a sword cultivator . It was no wonder that at such a young age, Yue Zifeng had alreadypletely controlled his aura so that not even the slightest bit of it leaked out . He obviously possessed an extremely firm willpower .
Such a person was not like ordinary disciples . People like him had their own beliefs and convictions . That belief could be in their fists, their weapons, or even their physical bodies .
Such people had already escaped the bindings of life and death . And so when they fought, the strength they could release was extremely terrifying .
BOOM! Space suddenly shook and everyone let out startled cries and retreated . A terrifying wave of Qi crashed into them, and some of them who hadn¡¯t retreated fast enough were miserably sent flying .
When the Qi wave passed and the dust settled, a huge crater appeared before them . The two figures which had been fiercely fighting were now on opposite sides looking back on each other .
¡°How powerful, how terrifying!¡±
¡°Both theirbat strengths are limitless! It¡¯s inconceivable! They truly are monster-ss geniuses . ¡±
¡°Most importantly, look . Despite that fierce battle, their auras haven¡¯t changed in the slightest!¡±
Everyone was discussing, most of them filled with awe and also excitement . To be able to see a monster-ss battle was definitely greatly beneficial to them .
¡°What do you think?¡± asked Guo Ran .
¡°Definitely very powerful . But the two of them have only been testing each other the entire time and have yet to use their true power . And so there really wasn¡¯t much to see,¡± said Long Chen .
Although the two of them seemed to be using their full strength to fight, Long Chen could tell that most of their power had been reserved . The majority had just been probing blows .
Which monster-ss genius didn¡¯t have their own special moves? As long as they weren¡¯t an idiot, they naturally wouldn¡¯t reveal that for everyone to see .
¡°There¡¯s actually something pretty interesting about both of them . They¡¯re both pursuing Tang Wan-er,¡± Guo Ran mysteriouslyughed .
¡°There was actually such a thing?¡±
¡°Hehe, who do you think I am? I¡¯m the know-it-all . Although my actual strength isn¡¯t that high, don¡¯t look down on my other abilities .
¡°Qi Xin seemed to have learned of Tang Wan-er¡¯s existence extremely early and released word long ago that Tang Wan-er was not to marry anyone else .
¡°As for this Lei Qianshang, half a year ago he publicly dered that whoever dared to fight over Tang Wan-er with him would have their head crushed by him .
¡°Counting the time, the Lei family should have gathered information of Tang Wan-er before Lei Qianshang made that deration,¡±ughed Guo Ran .
¡°That is a bit interesting . Looks like that Xuantian Monastery will be pretty lively in the future,¡± Long Chen also couldn¡¯t helpughing .
After Long Chen finished speaking, an uproar exploded . That was because a beautiful maiden had walked into the mountain pass . Her figure was lithe and graceful . She had light dimples whenever she smiled, letting other people feel like they were being cleansed by a spring breeze and as if even their bones would turn limp in her presence .
Most charming of all were her pair of soul-stealing eyes . Anyone who her gaze swept over would feel their heart jump wildly .
¡°Tang Wan-er has arrived,¡± eximed Guo Ran .
She was Tang Wan-er? She really was beautiful, and it was no wonder the two of them were fighting over her affections . Long Chen nodded inside .
She was different from Ye Zhiqiu in that her beauty was one that made people like her more rather than push them away .
But for some unknown reason, Long Chen felt that she was somewhat familiar . But he had never seen her before . Was it simply that he was missing Chu Yao and Meng Qi too much?
¡°Ah, the two of you have finished so fast! I still didn¡¯t get to see anything good . How about you two start up again?¡± Tang Wan-er¡¯s voice was melodic like silver bells, causing anyone who heard her voice to feel extremelyfortable . But after she said that, Lei Qianshang and Qi Xin both began acting a bit unnatural .
Qi Xin smiled slightly . ¡°Junior sister Wan-er has misunderstood . This is the first time brother Lei and I have met and due to how talented we both are, our hands got itchy . But it seems that has caused sister Wan-er to form some ridicule of us . ¡± Qi Xin¡¯s voice was soft, not fast or slow without the slightest anger, causing others who heard it to feelfortable . That schrly impression of his grew even greater .
¡°Right, it was like that . Our hands were just a bit itchy for action,¡± hastily confirmed Lei Qianshang . His voice was loud and resonant like arge bell .
Long Chenughed at this interesting y . The two of her suitors truly were two opposites .
Tang Wan-er smiled slightly and didn¡¯t argue against their lie . ncing at the surrounding people, she said, ¡°I¡¯m stillcking some people by my side . Anyone who wants to join me should take advantage of this moment . But I don¡¯t want anyone repulsive . Anyone who thinks they are a genius cane . ¡±
As soon as Tang Wan-er¡¯s words fell, countless people¡¯s eyes brightened and rushed over to Tang Wan-er .
¡°Miss Tang, pick me! Mybat ability is extremely great and I¡¯ll even risk death for you!¡±
¡°Pick me, I¡¯ll be your loyal servant-!¡±
Before that person even finished speaking, he was trampled on by countless others . This scene was incredibly chaotic .
Not everyone rushed to Tang Wan-er . Quite a few people split up to go over to Ye Zhiqiu, Yue Zifeng, Lei Qianshang, and Qi Xin .
Now that all five of the top geniuses had gathered, many people wanted to test their luck and see if they could attract any of them to ept them . Otherwise going at it alone would definitely make it difficult to grow within the monastery .
However, the other four had all already had their factions be filled . After all, one couldn¡¯t have an unlimited number of members in a faction . If there were too many people, that would waste too many resources and affect the whole faction¡¯s power .
But they were all extremely smart people . Until the final moment, they would still leave a couple spots up for grabs .
If they ended up encountering a disciple with exceptional skills, they could add that person to their faction and strengthen their troops .
But ording to the monastery¡¯s rules, a faction could at most contain one hundred members . So each person they added had to be chosen carefully .
That was because even before entering the monastery, many of their positions had already been taken up . There was no way around it, as their own families or ns had already set those up . They didn¡¯t dare not listen to those orders .
The remaining small portion of spots required them to keep their eyes open to select the best members . It was just like Tang Wan-er said: those who were repulsive couldn¡¯t be chosen .
Monster-ss experts were not called that for nothing . Their vision was extremely sharp . Just a nce could allow them to understand a person¡¯s strength . After just testing them a bit, they could easily determine their value and pick the best members at a fast speed .
¡°Howe you aren¡¯t going?¡± Long Chen couldn¡¯t help curiously asking Guo Ran when he saw he was just standing there .
¡°Brother Long, what do you think of me being your follower?¡± suddenly asked Guo Ran .
¡°What do you mean?¡± Long Chen was stunned .
¡°As in I¡¯ll be your junior brother from now on and muddy along with you . ¡±
¡°Ah, no . I don¡¯t even know who I¡¯ll be joining, so if you follow me, wouldn¡¯t you suffer greatly?¡± Long Chen shook his head .
¡°Boss, listen to me . If I go over now, I won¡¯t have the slightest chance . But if I make you my boss, with your strength, they¡¯ll immediately rope you in and you can also bring me along,¡± implored Guo Ran .
¡°Even that is a thing?¡± Long Chen looked at Guo Ran with shock . Was this what ¡®buy one get one free¡¯ meant?
¡°Boss, trust me, with your strength, although you might not be a match for those monsters, you are definitely a strong expert . Any faction will have their peak experts as their main pirs . So boss, you definitely have to bring me with you . ¡±
Long Chen shook his head . He wasn¡¯t even nning on joining any faction . It would be most freeing to be on his own . He was just about to decline when he sensed something was going on around him . That was because all those noisy disciples around him had gone silent . A voice rang out .
¡°Do you want to join my faction?¡±
Chapter 131: Invited by Both Beauties
That clear voice was extremely pleasant to listen to, but there was not the slightest bit of emotion within it. Those words were just like ice shards.
Both Long Chen and Guo Ran turned to look at her with shock. Unbeknownst to them, Ye Zhiqiu had already arrived beside the two of them.
Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s actions attracted everyone¡¯s attention. They all stopped conversing to watch.
Everyone was filled with disbelief that Ye Zhiqiu would go out of her way to go invite Long Chen.
She was called the ice beauty for a reason! She was extremely indifferent to others, and her words were few and far between. She rarely ever spoke with others.
But now this ice beauty had invited Long Chen to join her. That waspletely shocking. And of course, along with that shock was also intense jealousy.
Looking at Long Chen¡¯s sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, he wasn¡¯t that eye-catching. They couldn¡¯t help but feel upset. Their first thought was that the ice beauty had chosen an ordinary person.
That had happened extremely suddenly. Guo Ran was the first to recover and hastily said, ¡°I¡¯m with boss, so can I¡¡±
¡°You cane as well.¡± Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t fluctuate in the slightest.
Guo Ran almost jumped in excitement. Pulling on the still nkly staring Long Chen, he said, ¡°Boss, quickly thank sister Zhiqiu!¡±
Only then did Long Chen recover from his shock. Shaking his head, he said, ¡°I appreciate your kindness sister Ye, but I¡¯m ustomed to being alone and I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be convenient for you if I join you. I really am sorry.¡±
For a moment, everyone thought they had misheard. They looked at Long Chen like he was an idiot. Wasn¡¯t he too foolish?
Guo Ran was on the verge of crying. He wanted to shout that he was willing,pletely willing, but aplimentary subordinate like him didn¡¯t have the qualifications to agree to anything. He almost fainted.
Hearing Long Chen¡¯s response, Ye Zhiqiu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest. Nodding, she didn¡¯t say anything else. It was as if Long Chen¡¯s refusal wasn¡¯t the slightest bit out of her expectations.
¡°Perhaps sir should think about whether he wants to join this sister¡¯s faction?¡±
Just at this moment, a soft voice rang out. The beautiful fairy-like Tang Wan-er also hade over.
A huge uproar exploded now. Just what kind of dogshit luck did this kid have for these two beauties to both personally try to pull him in?
Lei Qianshang¡¯s eyes narrowed as he icily red at Long Chen. Although he didn¡¯t say anything, there was definitely fury within his eyes.
Qi Xin was indifferently watching from the distance, his expressionpletely calm. But no one noticed that his hands were now tightly clenched into fists.
Only Yue Zifeng was the most indifferent, frowning as he was lost in thought.
¡°What? Do you not want to?¡± Tang Wan-er tilted her head slightly, dimples appearing as sheughed. Her bright gaze rippled over him, causing other people¡¯s hearts to jump.
¡°I want to, I want to!¡± Long Chen hadn¡¯t even had a chance to reply before Guo Ran crazily shouted.
They had already lost a chance just before. Now that fortune hade for them again, Guo Ran really might want to kill himself if he didn¡¯t grab this opportunity.
Tang Wan-er indifferently nced at Guo Ran and shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re just an extra, so your word means nothing.¡±
Guo Ran¡¯s excitement was immediately extinguished. But he was still staring fixedly on Long Chen with a begging expression.
Looking at this beauty, Long Chen also couldn¡¯t keep his heart from pounding. Tang Wan-er had a kind of special aura that was incredibly alluring. Even Long Chen wasn¡¯t an exception.
But for some reason, he kept feeling this woman was familiar. Furthermore, he always had a kind of agitated feeling whenever he looked at her.
In the end, Long Chen shook his head. To the side, Guo Ran almost fainted. He even had an urge to beat Long Chen.
Shaking his head, Long Chen sighed, ¡°I want to.¡±
As soon as he said those three words, Long Chen¡¯s expression immediately changed as he looked at Tang Wan-er with shock. A strange red light was currently fading from within her beautiful eyes.
Heart Bewitching Art!
Long Chen waspletely shocked. As soon as he had opened his mouth to decline,pletely different words had naturally popped out.
By the time he had realized, it was already toote. He really had never imagined Tang Wan-er to be a master in soul arts. Without being on guard against it, he had immediately been tricked.
¡°Wow, wonderful! Congrattions on joining our faction!¡± Tang Wan-er¡¯s beautiful eyes narrowed into two crescent moons in an exceptionally enchanting manner as she excitedly congratted him.
¡°This isn¡¯t proper,¡± Ye Zhiqiu lightly said to Tang Wan-er. She had managed to see through some clues.
¡°What¡¯s wrong about it? Everyone saw that he agreed with his own mouth to join my faction. Sister, do you want to fight with me?¡±ughed Tang Wan-er.
Ye Zhiqiu stared at her for a while. Then ncing at Long Chen, she didn¡¯t say anything, simply bringing her faction away.
Long Chen stared at this crafty Tang Wan-er and whispered, ¡°You¡¯re too excessive. How can you use such a despicable method?¡±
Tang Wan-er looked like a fox who had just stolen eggs as she was filled with pride of herself. Bringing her mouth closer to Long Chen, she used a voice only the two of them could hear:
¡°Brat, where did that shameless heart you had back when you arrogantly scolded me go? Now that you¡¯vended in my hands, hehe¡¡± Tang Wan-er¡¯s voice was filled with delight in getting revenge.
¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Long Chen almost jumped up as he realized why he kept feeling this woman was familiar.
That day when Long Chen had relieved himself in the river, she was the woman who had flown over and criticized him.
Back then, Tang Wan-er had been using her hand to cover her face, and she had flown over too fast for Long Chen to notice her figure.
Furthermore, not only was her face covered, but her voice had also been muffled slightly and filled with anger. So Long Chen had only felt that her voice was somewhat familiar.
But now that she said this, Long Chen immediately realized who she was. He had an extremely bad feeling now. Perhaps he had really jumped into a trap now.
Long Chen was just about to say something when Tang Wan-er interrupted him, predicting what he was about to say. ¡°You¡¯ve already agreed to join my faction. Unless I somehow fail to obtain a core disciple spot, it¡¯s impossible for you to back out now. If you forcibly try, you¡¯ll have vited the rules and be expelled from the monastery!¡±
Long Chen was shocked. There was such a stupid rule?! Guo Ran hastily said, ¡°Boss, please stop wasting time! It¡¯s such a rare thing for sister Wan-er toe to us first!¡±
¡°Ah, now we¡¯re all on the same side. You¡¯re already one of us. We definitely won¡¯t treat you wrongly. You understand, right?¡± Tang Wan-erst point about being ¡®treated wrongly¡¯ had been said with a special meaning.
To other people¡¯s eyes, Tang Wan-er was flirting with Long Chen, causing countless people¡¯s eyes to turn red.
¡°Ok, now all my spots are filled. When I split up all the resources, there will definitely be a portion for you. I¡¯m very optimistic for your future.¡± Tang Wan-erughed lightly as she walked away, leaving behind only a refreshing fragrance.
Long Chen looked up to the sky at a loss. Just what kind of disaster have I created? How did I end up jumping into this girl¡¯s hands?
Even just peeing brings me grudges. Isn¡¯t that too much? Long Chen felt he really was too unlucky.
Butpared to Long Chen who was filled remorse over his actions, Guo Ran was smiling radiantly.
¡°Boss, don¡¯t be like this! Do you know how many people want to beat you up for having such an expression?¡± Guo Ran¡¯s gaze swept over those jealous people who were about to go crazy.
Long Chen didn¡¯t care about those gazes though. ¡°Were her words true? Once I choose a faction, I can¡¯t back out?¡±
¡°It¡¯s true. The Xuantian Monastery has many rules, some of which really are odd. So you need to study up more in the future,¡± said Guo Ran solemnly.
Touching his spatial ring, he took out a scroll and handed it to Long Chen. ¡°These are the Xuantian Monastery¡¯s 1087 rules. You should read through them carefully.¡±
Long Chen skimmed over it and saw that the Xuantian Monastery truly had many rules. For example, after joining a faction, you could not leave. That was to test their disciples¡¯ judgements and loyalty.
Men and women could form romantic rtionships, but they had to maintain their chastity.
For battles on the same level, it was forbidden to take the opponent¡¯s life or to cripple them in any way. However, challenges could be sent out whenever without any punishments.
There were all kinds of different rules, some of which were so odd that Long Chen was dumbstruck. But after reading through it all, Long Chen understood that this was all in order to increase thepetition between disciples.
That was a kind of selection by elimination. If your cultivation base wascking, then you could only suffer other people bullying you here. Under that kind of endless humiliation, you either had to abruptly soar orpletely copse and be crushed.
Long Chen could tell that these rules greatly favored the powerful. So if he wanted to livefortably, he would have to work hard to make himself stronger so he could stand atop other people¡¯s heads.
He might not like standing on top of others, but he also didn¡¯t like being trampled under by others. It was true that you couldn¡¯t always do as you like.
The main goal Long Chen had ining to the Xuantian Monastery was to gather medicinal ingredients. By relying on the sect, he wanted to gather everything he needed for the Alioth Pill.
After all, therger a sect, the greater their inheritance was, and the chances of him obtaining rare medicinal ingredients would increase. Otherwise, the condensement of the second star was still an incredibly distant dream.
The Xuantian Monastery was a stepping stone for Long Chen to train in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Although he didn¡¯t know what level of technique the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art had reached, he believed it definitely surpassed his wildest imaginations.
¡°Boss, let¡¯s go somewhere else. Being stared at by this many people always makes me feel a bit ufortable.¡± Although Ye Zhiqiu and Tang Wan-er had left, the majority of people were still just standing there.
Those people were all ring over here, most likely staring at Long Chen. Their gazes were filled with jealousy and provocation, filling Guo Ran with trepidation.
He definitely didn¡¯t have Long Chen¡¯s ability to stay unperturbed in front of this much hostility.
Long Chen also didn¡¯t like being red at by this many people. Brushing his butt, he brought Little Snow into the distance. But they had only gone a mile when they were blocked by others.
¡°Brat, I¡¯ll give you one chance. Kneel down and apologize to my brother.¡± A man icily blocked Long Chen¡¯s path.
That man was tall and muscr with a powerful aura. Not far from him was a battered person. That was Chang Li who Long Chen had beaten up.
¡°Be careful, boss. This is one of Qi Xin¡¯s people. His cultivation base is extremely powerful,¡± whispered Guo Ran.
Long Chen nced at this person as well as the distant Qi Xin who was being revered by his group. He coldly smiled.
¡°If you don¡¯t want to die, then fuck off. I¡¯m already really pissed.¡± Long Chen shook his head. He really was pissed. Anyone who had fallen into a trap like he had would also be irritated.
¡°I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re pissed. How about I beat you until you feel better?¡±
A cruel smile appeared on that person¡¯s lips. He punched at him without any warning. With that single fist, hepletely sealed off any of Long Chen¡¯s escape paths.
Chapter 132: Little Snow vs Qi Xin
That person¡¯s punch was incredibly powerful. It boomed like lightning, restraining others. This person was clearly an expert.
Long Chen coldly snorted and was just about to move when a roar came from below him and a huge w reached out to block it.
¡°Little Snow!¡± Long Chen was surprised. He was connected to Little Snow¡¯s soul, and so Little Snow could sense Long Chen¡¯s fury.
BOOM! Little Snow¡¯s w collided with that person¡¯s fist, causing terrifying energy to explode out. With a muffled shout, that person was sent flying.
Little Snow was a third rank Magical Beast, and even amongst third rank Magical Beasts he was exceptional. Although not specializing in power, he wasn¡¯t something that ordinary experts could withstand.