Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048

by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k

  “Yun Qi, just wait for me!”

  Suddenly, a figure flew out of the flames, 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 plaza 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 had completely 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 plaza 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 placed 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 placed their personally-made flower loops over his head.

  Chu Yao laughed to the side as she watched. She didn’t say anything and was 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 that there was 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 many competitors 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 popular in the Phoenix Cry Empire. And your skill in martial arts had a direct correlation with women’s attraction to you. Even though Long Chen had already displayed 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 display 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 display 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 display, it had greatly raised their aspirations, and they no longer worried so much.

  The Grand Xia’s prince, Xia Changfeng, had come to the Phoenix Cry Empire mostly for the purpose of proposing to the third princess. Although a public declaration hadn’t gone out, it was said that the Empress Dowager had already agreed to it.

  For the third princess to publicly declare her affection for Long Chen during the Lantern Festival was equivalent to slapping 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 the rest 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 plaza had left by now, and only a few soldiers remained to clean up the decorations and trash. Huang Chang’s body had long since been hauled away.

  “Let’s go. We’ll talk about it more later. 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 revenge later.” 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,” laughed 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 plaza. 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 has been hiding this since the start?”

  That person was the fourth prince. Long Chen’s display today had also exceeded his expectations.

  “If that’s true, this kid truly does plan 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 displayed. 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 accidents, 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 talk to 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 until to
morrow 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 flame. That was the essence of a Magical Beast’s flame.

  Beast flames were exceptionally precious. A beast flame was equivalent to a Magical Beast’s life, and only second rank or higher Magical Beasts had the ability to nourish a beast flame.

  Long Chen used his divine sense to examine the beast flame. The flame element inside was extremely dense, and according to Long Chen’s memories, this beast flame 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 flame.

  His Pill Flame spread and enveloped his whole body. Opening the jade bottle, he swallowed the ball of beast flame 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 flame 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 Flame to join with the beast flame 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 to come 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 flame. 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 Chen completely 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 villain 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 flame.

  BOOM! Another explosion came from within Long Chen’s body. After the beast flame 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 burned Long Chen to a crisp.

  When beast flames 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 flame’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 flame energy was like a giant net that forcefully enveloped the ball of beast flame.

  That beast flame now entered its most violent state, but Long Chen’s Pill Flame ended up becoming incomparably firm and forceful with the support of the FengFu Star and the larger seven cyclones.

  In the beginning, that beast flame 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 flame 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 flame; the other part of him greatly looked forward to it. One side was happy, while the other felt disdain.

  Long Chen bitterly laughed. He knew that he had fused with a Pill Sovereign’s soul, and naturally, that Pill Sovereign looked down on such a beast flame.

  But it was what he needed urgently. This beast flame was the first step on his pill path.

  Under Long Chen’s continuous refining, the beast flame gradually became completely calm, as calm as a ball of water. It was extremely docile now that it was completely purified, its berserk nature all refined away.

  An ordinary pill cultivator’s first flame was actually created by using the Dantian’s spiritual qi to follow specific paths and be released outside as a high temperature.

  Such a flame was more accurately 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 flame energy. Through training, it could be condensed into a Pill Flame. That was a true Pill Flame.

  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 flame as a start.

  Even so, beast flames 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 flame.

  Slowly withdrawing his flames back into his body, Long Chen examined the ball of beast flame that was now docile in his body and couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.

  When most pill cultivators finished refining a beast flame, they would let it merge into their Dantian and use the beast flame 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’ve got it!” Long Chen suddenly thought of an idea and placed the beast flame 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 flame.

  That beast flame 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 flame; dissolve the beast flame, and send it throughout the entire body. This was the best way for him to become familiar with the beast flame and gain greater control.

  Since it had already been completely refined, this process occurred extremely easily. Just like that, the beast flame dispersed throughout his meridians.

  This method of his had definitely never been used before. Even in his Pill Sovereign memories, there was no mention of such a thing.

  After dissolving the beast flame throughout his meridians, Long Chen was pleasantly surprised to find that his meridians had actually become 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 a lake while the meridians would be the channels. During a battle, you needed to draw the lake’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 flame, the two of them complementing and assisting each other.

  As he cultivated and became stronger, his meridians would be constantly enlarged by the beast flame. Long Chen had truly profited this time.

  Although other pill cultivators who brought the beast flame to the Dantian would be able to cultivate quicker, that wasn’t even comparable 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 flame that had merged into his meridians back into his Dantian.

  A flame 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 flame; it was many times stronger than his original flame.

  Hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and slowly circulated a small strand of spiritual qi from his FengFu Star to his cyclones.

  The slowly revolving cyclones immediately grew larger and began to wildly spin.

  “I wonder if this will work…”

  Long Chen was worriedly looking at the flame 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 flame that he had condensed.