Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048
Page 188
Chapter 273 True Character
Chu Yao asked, “Didn’t you want to know why I call Wan-er big sister, and she also calls me big sister?”
“Yes.”
“Hehe, in truth, we really are tied together by destiny. That’s because we were both born in the same year, same month, and same day. And most inconceivable of all, we were both born three quarter-hours after midnight.
“So neither one of us really knows which one of us is older, and we just decided to both call each other big sister. How about that? I bet you never imagined that!” Chu Yao held Tang Wan-er’s hand, winking at Long Chen.
Long Chen’s jaw dropped. Were there really such coincidental things in this world? If it was just the same year and day, that was one thing. But the exact same hour and quarter-hour? That really was ridiculous.
Chu Yao and Tang Wan-er laughed at Long Chen’s shocked expression. They had both known Long Chen for a long time, but he rarely had such a truly shocked expression. And so they were both immensely proud of being able to shock him so greatly.
“Fine, I admit I really am frightened.” Long Chen shook his head and sighed. This world really was crazy.
“Hehe, so when I’m not present, big sister Wan-er will look after you for me. You can’t bully big sister Wan-er!” said Chu Yao profoundly.
“She’s going to look after me? Then wouldn’t I not have a life to even enter the Jiuli secret realm?” Long Chen looked at Tang Wan-er worriedly.
“Long Chen, you’re so untrustworthy… You know, I also have a sensitive side…” Tang Wan-er looked like she might cry.
“Long Chen, you can’t bully big sister Wan-er! Quickly apologize!” rebuked Chu Yao.
“Fine, fine, I was wrong. Lady Wan-er is virtuous, warm, gentle, and kindhearted. I should not have doubted sister Wan-er’s character!” Long Chen’s face really was incredibly thick.
Only after he said that did Tang Wan-er’s ‘tears’ turn into a smile. Looking at those two amazingly beautiful figures, Long Chen’s heart pounded.
One warm and gentle person, and one person acting warm and gentle. And yet both were absolutely intoxicating. If he could marry both of these two beauties at the same time, then this life would really have been worth it.
However, Chu Yao’s words about Tang Wan-er looking after him hadn’t been too clear. He didn’t know just what kind of developments had occurred between the two of them. In the end, trying to understand a woman’s heart was harder than becoming a god.
And so Long Chen still acted as if he didn’t completely understand what their feelings were for each other. Otherwise, if he were to have misjudged them, that would be extremely awkward.
If it was just awkward, then whatever. But if he made a mistake and rushed things, that might hurt their feelings, and then he would really be screwed. So, good things had to be worked for slowly.
The two of them were even more beautiful than flowers. Looking at Chu Yao and Tang Wan-er, Long Chen unconsciously thought of another face. Her long hair danced, her skin was white as snow, and she looked just like a fairy who had descended upon a world of mere mortals. He wondered just how she was.
“Long Chen, are you thinking of big sister Meng Qi?” asked Chu Yao gently.
Long Chen stiffened. After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded. He wasn’t good at lying like that, even if he was a bit shameless. He had no choice but to admit that for some unknown reason, Meng Qi had somehow occupied the most important part of his heart.
According to common sense, he had known Meng Qi for the shortest period of time, and so that didn’t make sense. But despite how short the period they had interacted was, she had given him the deepest impression. Previously, he had thought that the reason she had had such a deep impact on him was because of her beauty, that it had been a kind of worship for a beauty of the opposite sex.
But as time passed, he realized that it wasn’t so simple. He felt as if he had known Meng Qi several lives ago…
That kind of thinking was somewhat absurd, but Long Chen still felt it. He felt a kind of familiarness from deep within his soul.
“Who is Meng Qi?” asked Tang Wan-er curiously.
Chu Yao smiled slightly. “Everyone’s already finished eating, so let’s get going. We’ll talk while we walk.”
Chu Yao pulled Tang Wan-er to the side as they walked on their own. Wilde had also finished eating now. Although a first rank Magical Beast couldn’t completely fill his stomach, it would at least give him enough energy to walk without constantly eating.
The next day, they arrived at the end of Skywood Mountain. Skywood Mountain looked like it had been formed by a huge blade cutting apart the earth. The Xuantian Monastery and the Skywood Palace were on opposite sides.
In terms of direct distance, the two of them were less than two thousand miles from each other. But Skywood Mountain soared high into the clouds, and it was impossible to cross.
And so in truth, the difference between their two sects was more like tens of thousands of miles. That was something that made the two of them feel extremely helpless.
Chu Yao reached out and tidied up Long Chen’s clothes. Her eyes were a bit red. Although she knew this would just be a temporary parting, she still wasn’t able to stop tears from flowing from her eyes.
Long Chen gently wrapped his arms around her soft body and pulled her into his embrace, letting her sob into his chest. That was the only thing he could do.
After a long while, Chu Yao finally let go of Long Chen. She also gave a hug to Tang Wan-er. Even Tang Wan-er was crying when she tightly hugged Chu Yao.
Chu Yao was Tang Wan-er’s first close friend. The two of them had only known each other for a short time, but they had already reached the point where they didn’t keep anything from each other and had long since become sisters.
“Take care!” Chu Yao finally parted with them. Long Chen’s heart felt as if it was being stabbed by needles.
Looking at her fading figure, Long Chen vowed to himself that he would definitely get stronger. He refused to suffer this kind of helpless pain of farewell again.
“Big sister Chu Yao has left, but don’t worry, I’m here to take care of you,” comforted Tang Wan-er.
“You, take care of me? To tell the truth, I really am a bit scared,” sighed Long Chen.
“Bastard, you’re asking for it!”
Tang Wan-er’s hand had grabbed onto Long Chen’s collar before she even finished speaking. She was like a quick mother tiger that had charged at Long Chen.
“Long Chen, do you know how long I’ve been holding myself back? You little rascal, as soon as we leave the sect, you start acting even more annoying. Now your wings have gotten big enough that you don’t even place this faction leader in your eyes? If it weren’t for big sister Yao-er, I’d have long since beaten you up!”
To the side, Wilde and Little Snow were just watching curiously. The gentle and warm Tang Wan-er had suddenly become a fierce mother tiger. They were somewhat stunned, especially Wilde.
As expected, her gentleness was all just an act.
Long Chen had thought that maybe Chu Yao had rubbed off on Tang Wan-er, mellowing out her fierce temperament.
But now he remembered a certain phrase: you could change a world, but you couldn’t change a woman’s nature.
However, to tell the truth, Long Chen preferred this Tang Wan-er. This fiery Tang Wan-er was the real Tang Wan-er.
“What are you smiling about?!” raged Tang Wan-er.
But after she said that, she realized that the two of them were intimately close together now. In fact, she was practically pressing her body into him. She could feel Long Chen’s pulse, and she could smell that particular male scent from his body.
Tang Wan-er blushed, but she still tightly clenched his collar. “Speak. Do you admit your wrongs?”
“I was wrong.”
“How were you wrong?”
“I was wrong in everything.”
“Give me some speci
fics.”
“I have made many mistakes. But I know my greatest mistake was that I misunderstood the beautiful sister Wan-er. Sister Wan-er is a kind, warm, gentle, virtuous, smart, refined and elegant woman.” As he spoke, Long Chen also took out a short rod from his spatial ring and placed it on his head, pointing it straight up at the sky.
Tang Wan-er was almost laughing at what he was saying, but then seeing his odd movements, she curiously asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m just being a lightning rod.” Long Chen looked up at the sky gravely.
Tang Wan-er didn’t immediately understand what he meant, but then looking up at the cloudless sky, she frowned.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“According to my elders, if I lie, I’ll be struck by lightning,” said Long Chen solemnly.
Tang Wan-er quickly understood what he was talking about, and she raged, “Bastard, you were playing me!”
Long Chen laughed, twisted out of her grasp, and quickly fled.
“Stop right there!”
Tang Wan-er shot off in hot pursuit. Wilde and Little Snow looked at each other expressionlessly and simply silently followed behind them.
…
When Long Chen and Tang Wan-er returned to the monastery, a huge commotion erupted. Whether it was the new disciples or the old disciples, they all gathered to greet them.
In this battle between the Righteous and Corrupt paths, the Xuantian Monastery’s fame had soared. Long Chen had led the Righteous disciples to slaughter Corrupt disciples that had been several times their number, practically creating a legend.
By himself, he had managed to kill a Favored, an eight-tempered Bone Forging Elder, and cut off the leg of a once-in-a-thousand-year genius.
Long Chen had practically become a legendary person to them. And that legendary person had been amongst them, leading them to fight a real battle.
That battle had let all the disciples understand just what true strength was and just what a true battle was.
On the battlefield, Long Chen had led these disciples to be able to face death without fear and kill those Corrupt disciples. That scene of him leading them was forever imprinted in their hearts.
Ye Zhiqiu, Gu Yang, Song Mingyuan, and the other core disciples also came. Senior apprentice-brother Wan also brought the law enforcers to greet Long Chen.
Looking at senior apprentice-brother Wan, Long Chen couldn’t help but exclaim. “Bone Forging realm!”
Senior apprentice-brother Wan’s aura was surging out with a powerful pressure. That kind of pressure was something only achievable after reaching the Bone Forging realm.
“Hahaha, it’s all just luck.” Senior apprentice-brother Wan smiled.
He had originally been at the peak of Tendon Transformation. With his talent, he would have needed at least three to five years to break through to Bone Forging.
But in truth, it would have been normal for him to still be unable to break through even after ten years. That was because as your realm increased, the stronger the bottlenecks would become, making it increasingly difficult to break through.
However, after experiencing that huge battle, after forgetting about the fear of death to go all-out killing his enemies, by discarding all his fear and misgivings, his bottleneck had loosened a great deal.
Just the second day after he returned to the monastery, he had succeeded in advancing to the Bone Forging realm. Of the senior apprentice-brothers left behind in the monastery, he was the first to advance to Bone Forging.
“Hehe, congratulations senior apprentice-brother Wan. Wait, no, it should be congratulations Elder Wan!” Long Chen laughed.
According to the monastery’s rules, when a law enforcer advanced to Bone Forging, they would automatically be promoted to Elder and receive the corresponding benefits.
“Long Chen, don’t make fun of me. Aren’t you afraid of me making life hard for you?” joked senior apprentice-brother Wan.
As everyone greeted Long Chen excitedly, he saw that almost everyone’s auras had climbed a great deal. Quite a few people had advanced.
And those who hadn’t advanced yet all had unstable auras. That was a sign they might advance at any moment.
“Long Chen, when are you going to bring us out like that again? Fuck, last time really was satisfying,” said Gu Yang excitedly.
Long Chen laughed. He was about to reply when an Elder suddenly walked over and told Long Chen:
“The sect leader is looking for you.”
Chapter 274 Chosen Disciple
On the side of Skywood Mountain was an immortal cave. From that immortal cave, it was possible to overlook the entire monastery.
This immortal cave was the highest construction within the entire monastery. It was the Xuantian Monastery’s sect leader’s immortal cave.
Within the immortal cave, Long Chen was curiously examining the surroundings. He was surprised that the sect leader’s immortal cave was extremely simple. It was the complete opposite of what he had imagined.
There were no decorations on the walls. It looked like Ling Yunzi had simply left it the same as when it had first been carved open. In fact, it looked quite similar to the caves of beasts Long Chen had run into.
Of course, Long Chen didn’t dare speak those thoughts aloud. Ling Yunzi and Tu Fang were standing right in front of him.
In terms of furniture, there was only a large prayer mat and a single wooden table. There were some cups and a teapot on the table.
“Sit.” Ling Yunzi smiled slightly when he saw Long Chen enter.
“With two seniors present, how could disciple possibly sit?” Although that was what came out of Long Chen’s mouth, he had already sat down.
“Hahaha, ah, Long Chen. You really are strange. Do you not have a time when you are restrained?” Ling Yunzi couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Long Chen really was an easy-going person, someone who didn’t fear heaven or earth. Panic and terror were expressions that almost never appeared on him.
Even when Long Chen had been facing that terrifying hand from that expert of the Corrupt path, he hadn’t shown any despair. That was what Ling Yunzi especially admired about Long Chen.
He was always filled with self-confidence no matter what happened. Such a person was one of two things: a madman, or an idiot.
However, Long Chen didn’t act like a crazy person or an idiot. But then again, it wasn’t exactly correct to say that he acted like an ordinary person either.
Even when the Elders saw Ling Yunzi, they would all be trembling with trepidation and reverence, unable to handle the pressure. But Long Chen didn’t seem to feel any pressure at all.
“Hehe, my strongest point is my mental fortitude which lets me be myself at any time.”
Long Chen laughed and poured cups of tea for both of them, respectfully handing the cups over to the two of them.
“Please have a drink. Thank you both for your care.”
Ling Yunzi and Tu Fang laughed and received the teacups that Long Chen offered them.
Long Chen was easy-going, preferring to be free and open, not caring so much about trifles. But his attention to detail was actually extremely high.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to control the flow of the battle so perfectly last time. The Corrupt disciples had clearly outnumbered the Righteous disciples, and yet they were all led by the nose by Long Chen, and he had pulled off a perfect reversal.
Furthermore, the way Long Chen had offered them tea had also been extremely detailed and well-done. His right hand had held the cup, his forefinger curving ever so slightly without touching the side. That was a sign of respect for seniors.
In addition, Long Chen’s left hand looked like it had just been randomly holding the cup up at the bottom, but in reality, only his middle finger and ring finger had been holding it from the bottom. That was a special mark of respect for martial artists.
Those kinds of respectful gestures were all common within th
e secular world, but there were only a few cultivators who knew about them. However, both Ling Yunzi and Tu Fang knew about them.
“Child, if you put it like that, it’ll make me blush with shame. Both of us have only treated you in accordance to the monastery’s rules without giving you the slightest special treatment.” Tu Fang shook his head.
After handing them their tea, Long Chen added in more water and also poured himself a cup. Then he smiled.
“Although we haven’t interacted much, I can tell that you two truly cherish this little one, so that’s enough.”
Although the two of them were two high and grand existences in comparison to him, with Ling Yunzi even being a sect leader, Long Chen could see that neither of them were those arrogant types that were so unlikable.
Most importantly, although the two of them said that they had only treated him in accordance with the rules, Long Chen had been able to sense that the two of them really were looking out for him from a few small clues.
Ling Yunzi laughed. “What an interesting little fellow. It’s no wonder all those disciples would follow you so unswervingly. But for you to say it like that, I really am embarrassed.”
“What happened?” Long Chen was surprised to see Ling Yunzi sigh.
“Tu Fang, you explain it.”
Ling Yunzi gently drank a sip of tea. Although his expression was calm, Long Chen’s sharp senses noticed that a single vein on his hand had suddenly pulsed ever so slightly.
That kind of minor reaction could mean nothing. But Ling Yunzi was a Xiantian expert. He had a connection to heaven and earth’s energy. He had fine control over every cell of his body. So such a minor reaction was actually very alarming.
For such a reaction to occur, that meant Ling Yunzi, who was normally extremely calm, must really be feeling some sort of intense emotion. Furthermore, from this kind of reaction, it seemed that the emotion was fury.
When his sword had slashed down on that Corrupt path’s expert’s huge hand; when his sword had broken that spatial door, his expression had always been calm.
But such a top expert now seemed infuriated. Long Chen really was at a loss.