Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048

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

  Back on that day, Xia Baichi had gone crazy and admitted to some scandalous affairs in front of many people. However, no one dared comment 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 had come 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 particular place. 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 black; a great calamity 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?”

  She laughed cutely and replied, “Am I not a ‘big’ enough boss for you?”

  Along with her laugh, 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 plain, 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 throw a glare at 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 them 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 success 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 become ecstatic. He would never have to worry about money again.

  Although he didn’t know how the Huayun Pavilion had calculated 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,” laughed 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. She laughed, “I think young master Long Chen has misunderstood a bit. We didn’t support you; grandmaster Yun Qi did tell 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 display 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 just completed 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 class ones left. They only had Mortal class 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?” laughed Long Chen.

  “It’s not a problem. In the Huayun Pavilion, whatever I say goes,” 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 almost completely 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 placed the Heart-Rot Grass and Night Devil skull into his spatial ring before 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,” laughed Bai Ling.

  “Does that mean young lady 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, backward lands. 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 become 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 uncivilized lands?”

  “Haha, young master must not know, but this world is so large it is beyond 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 expansive land to grow. Only then will you not be stifled,” smiled Bai Ling.

  But when it came to explaining those more expansive lands, she didn’t say anything further at all.

  This was the first time Long Chen had heard of the outer world. Grandmaster Yun Qi had barely raised the subject with him.

  And even Bai Ling didn’t reveal too much. Although Long Chen was curious, he didn’t keep questioning her.

  He laughed, “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 can come 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 contemplating 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 become 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 accept 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 a common superstition that you sneeze when someone talks about you.

  Chapter 64 Visiting Chu Yao

  BOOM!

  His pill 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 and completely 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 succeeded.”

  Long Chen relaxed 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.

  The last 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 similar 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 Long Chen’s Pill Sovereign memories, there were only three formulas 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 your competition.

  This was a rare medicinal pill that had absolutely no side effects. This pill was extremely precious to Long Chen in particular. 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 flawless face.

  Meng Qi was a
Beast Tamer. That was a 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 collapse 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 go to the imperial palace.

  Everything was going according to plan. 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 palace.

  This was Long Chen’s first time in the imperial palace. The winding palace maze completely confused him; without his powerful Spiritual Strength, he would have lost track of his directions.

  “Brother Long, my big sis is under house arrest in her Jade Yao Palace. 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.