Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048
Page 610
Having succeeded in condensing the divine runes, Long Chen’s confidence rose. It had been extremely easy, and he was just about to start condensing the next nine when a disciple suddenly came over to report that someone was looking for him.
Chapter 965 Aunt Yu
“Xiaoqian!”
Although she wore a white veil, that pair of beautiful eyes could steal a person’s soul. With that lithe figure that seemed to have come out of a painting, who else could it be but Yue Xiaoqian? Long Chen was delighted and surprised.
“Long Chen, this is aunt Yu.” Yue Xiaoqian was also delighted to see Long Chen. But she first politely introduced a woman beside her.
This woman appeared to be in her late twenties. Tall and with a high bun, she wore majestic robes that gave her an indescribable grace.
“Junior Long Chen greets aunt Yu.” Long Chen hastily bowed. It seemed this was Yue Xiaoqian’s family elder, so he had to be careful.
“You are Long Chen? As expected, you have some skills. No wonder my family’s sacred daughter would be seduced…” Aunt Yu laughed without the slightest arrogance, seeming extremely satisfied with Long Chen.
“Aunt Yu, you…” Yue Xiaoqian turned red, clearly not having expected her to be so direct.
“Hehe, aunt Yu overpraises me. Junior… I dare not accept such praise.” In Long Chen’s excitement, he almost called himself junior brother. That would be too embarrassing.
Aunt Yu said, “There’s no need to be embarrassed. I’m not going to butt into the affairs of youngsters. Long Chen, Yue Xiaoqian praised you into the heavens within the clan. I’m just here to help her seal the deal.”
“Aunt Yu, if you don’t stop, I’ll…!” Yue Xiaoqian’s face was too thin compared to Long Chen. She couldn’t bear it.
“Alright, fine. Then let’s get to the point.” Aunt Yu stopped teasing Yue Xiaoqian. She waved her hand, and Long Chen felt heaven and earth twist. An unknown energy separated them from the rest of the world.
Long Chen was shocked. Just what level of expert was this aunt Yu? How could she be so terrifying? Just what energy was this?
It wasn’t teleportation. They seemed to be within the chaotic flow of space, and he was unable to see anything outside. It was just the three of them within this strange space.
“Long Chen, I represent the original devil race in expressing our sincere thanks.” Aunt Yu bowed deeply toward him.
Long Chen hastily bowed back, saying, “Aunt Yu, I can’t accept such a thing.”
“You can. Our original devil race owes you far too much. To tell you the truth, the original devil race has currently been forced to the brink of death. If there still wasn’t a change, we really might have ended up exterminated,” sighed aunt Yu.
Long Chen shook his head. “The only reason I did what I did was for myself. Our cooperation is mutually beneficial, so there’s no debt to owe.”
Aunt Yu smiled slightly. “Xiaoqian has told me about your matters. I came over this time to see if you needed any help with anything. If you have any troubles you can’t resolve, I can help you.”
Long Chen’s heart shook. He knew she meant that if he had any opponents he couldn’t handle, she could help him.
“I don’t have any right now, but I definitely will in the future. I’m very confident in my ability to cause trouble.” Long Chen patted his chest confidently. “Did you bring the list?”
“We did, but… there’s a lot on it,” said Yue Xiaoqian awkwardly.
The Skyscraping World’s resources were limited, and they were lacking a great deal. Although this list only contained the things they urgently needed, there were hundreds of them on it. That made Yue Xiaoqian feel uneasy.
Long Chen looked over the list and saw the majority of them were medicinal pills. He couldn’t help but ask, “The original devil race doesn’t have any medicinal pills?”
“Yes. That’s why medicinal pills are the things we need urgently. Many people have been stuck at bottlenecks for too long without being able to break through. There are also some who ended up with problems while advancing and left flaws on their foundations. If those flaws aren’t repaired, it will gravely affect their future advancements,” said Yue Xiaoqian worriedly. This matter was incredibly important to the original devil race.
Medicinal pills in general were extremely important to cultivators. Otherwise, Pill Valley wouldn’t possess such a high position. The entire cultivation world depended on them.
“Long Chen, although it’s a bit much…” Yue Xiaoqian sobbed. Only once she had gone back to get this list did she learn a few secrets.
The original devil race had too many people, and because they didn’t have medicinal pills to assist them, problems would occasionally occur in people’s cultivation. Those people would be tormented by pain all day, and some even became bedeviled and needed to be sealed.
She hadn’t known about that last time, but when she brought back quite a few medicinal pills, the entire original devil race had celebrated. Only then had she known how much pain the original devil race had been in.
“Leave it to me. Medicinal pills aren’t a problem for me,” said Long Chen.
“Thank you.” Yue Xiaoqian couldn't help being surprised by how confident he was. Hearing his promise, she was relieved. Right now, she understood what kind of person Long Chen was. He never promised anything he wasn’t assured of.
“However, the quantity is too great. I’ll need some time,” said Long Chen.
“No problem, no problem. We’ll just wait,” said Yue Xiaoqian hastily.
Long Chen pondered it for a moment. “How about this? Let’s first handle the urgent cases. Right now, the Xuantian Dao Sect has had a falling out with Pill Valley, so buying medicinal pills from them would be difficult. But I have some back channels.”
Yue Xiaoqian and aunt Yu’s expressions changed slightly upon hearing that the Xuantian Dao Sect had had a falling out with Pill Valley. They both knew medicinal pills were provided by Pill Valley.
“What back channels?” asked Yue Xiaoqian.
“I’ll go get some healing medicinal pills from the Huayun Sect and buy a few more from other sects. Those pills will be for those with the worst problems. Then I’ll cooperate with the Huayun Sect. I’ll give them pill formulas and have them refine a huge amount of healing pills. Once all your people are better, they can then refine other pills for you, such as those for cultivation. The Eastern Wasteland is basically dominated by the Xuantian Dao Sect now. The Corrupt path is heavily injured, and the ancient races don’t dare to make a move.
“During this time, you can establish a secret base. On the surface, you’ll be engaging in some minor business, but in reality, I’ll have the Xuantian Dao Sect and Huayun Sect open back channels for you. With the two of them supporting you, no one will dare to provoke you. It would be best if your business involves rare things that few others are involved in. The fewer your customers, the better. It would also be best if your business is the kind that only reveals itself every few years. You understand what I’m saying, right?” said Long Chen.
“I understand.” Aunt Yu nodded. Before coming, she and Yue Xiaoqian had been a bit nervous, as this matter involved the future of the entire original devil race. But this quick analysis of Long Chen’s easily resolved the problems that had been crushing down upon her like a mountain.
They were both delighted. Furthermore, Long Chen talked like they were one family, making them feel even closer.
“We shouldn’t delay things. Let’s split up. I’ll go notify the Huayun Sect, and on the way, I’ll use the sect master’s name to gather medicinal pills. Aunt Yu, you go and find a suitable city. Buy a plot of land and establish a stronghold. Also have a few of your race’s clever people come to manage it. If you don’t have anything to do, you should also temporarily oversee it just to be safe,” said Long Chen.
Aunt Yu was surprised by how completely Long Chen handled things. She couldn’t help but feel a kind of admiration. With
him present, she no longer had to worry about anything.
“I’ll accompany Long Chen here. Aunt Yu, you can go first,” said Yue Xiaoqian. But looking at aunt Yu’s teasing smile, she blushed. “I’m just trying to support Long Chen.”
Even once aunt Yu left, Yue Xiaoqian continued blushing. Long Chen took a deep breath and brought her into the mountain cave. It was time to face what he had to face.
“This must be junior sister Xiaoqian, right? Long Chen always talks about you.” When he returned to the cave, he saw that Meng Qi and Tang Wan-er were already awake and guarding the entrance for everyone else. Meng Qi was the first to speak.
“I… I’m Xiaoqian. Greetings, big sisters,” said Yue Xiaoqian nervously. She hastily bowed toward the two of them.
“Good sister. Let’s sit and talk. Long Chen, there’s nothing here for you, so you can scram. Don’t eavesdrop on us sisters.” Tang Wan-er glared at Long Chen.
Being glared at by Tang Wan-er, Long Chen’s worried heart instantly relaxed. He felt incredibly grateful to Meng Qi. He knew that Meng Qi had long since explained things to Tang Wan-er. Tang Wan-er was naturally a jealous person, but as long as she didn’t explode at the start, it meant things were going very smoothly. Thinking of when they could all finally be together, his expression became absent-minded.
“Wipe away your saliva and go. We sisters have important things to discuss,” said Meng Qi. She understood Long Chen far too well, and she pushed him off.
Long Chen was incredibly excited. A weight that had been resting on him was finally lifted, and he felt full of energy. He gathered all the workers’ sect leaders and gave them a list of medicinal pills he urgently needed.
Seeing Long Chen converse with them, those sect leaders were incredibly excited. They all ordered disciples to go back to their sects and bring all their stores of those medicinal pills.
Their enthusiasm was at a level that shocked Long Chen, and their efficiency made him speechless. On the very next day, countless pills appeared in front of him.
Long Chen directly gave them three times the money that Pill Valley would sell them at. Although quite a few said that they didn’t want his money, Long Chen still gave it to them. He didn’t like owing favors.
Half a day later, aunt Yu returned here. She was also extremely efficient. The stronghold was already established and only required her to send some people to run it.
When Long Chen gave her a huge pile of medicinal pills, she was indescribably grateful. She directly left for the Skyscraping World. Saving her people was the most pressing thing.
After sending off aunt Yu, Long Chen once more had a meeting with Zheng Wenlong. When he mentioned he wanted to cooperate in terms of alchemy, Zheng Wenlong became ecstatic. The profit from medicinal pills was the greatest in this world.
Long Chen gave Zheng Wenlong over ten medicinal pill formulas in one go. They were all pills that didn’t exist in the outside world. Pill Valley had never sold them, and their medicinal effect was extremely great. Zheng Wenlong almost fainted from joy.
Last time he had cooperated with Long Chen like this, he had earned a hefty sum. Even now, money was flowing into his pockets.
Armed with these new medicinal pills, Zheng Wenlong promised to properly use them and give a fierce slap to Pill Valley’s face.
Chapter 966 Down Below, There’s Nothing
The matter with Zheng Wenlong was settled. The pill recipes Long Chen gave him were all seventh and eighth tier, as well as a few peak sixth tier ones.
Each one of them was at least thirty percent more effective than similar pills sold by Pill Valley. They would definitely cause a blow to Pill Valley once they entered the marketplace.
In any case, the Huayun Sect was already Pill Valley’s rival, so they weren’t afraid of its reprisal. This was a mutually beneficial arrangement, as Long Chen needed the Huayun Sect to refine a huge amount of those pills.
On his own, the amount of pills he could refine was limited. He had already handed off a portion of the medicinal pills the Dragonblood Legion required to Zheng Wenlong to handle.
Stealthily returning to the cave, Long Chen didn’t directly walk in. From a distance, he heard tinkling bell-like laughter. Only then did he dare to enter. But when he heard what they were saying, he immediately wanted to turn and flee.
“You two don’t know, but back then, Long Chen was absolutely evil. Right in front of me, he peed on someone else. Oh, Long Chen, you’ve come just in time! Sister Xiaoqian might not believe me, so why don’t you personally explain what you did?” Tang Wan-er’s sharp eyes instantly saw Long Chen, who was in the midst of trying to sneakily slip away.
The three of them had been chatting this entire time. They had been talking about Long Chen, and it was unknown who started it, but they began to talk about his embarrassing moments. Tang Wan-er had immediately thought of when she had first encountered Long Chen.
With all three of them turning to look at him, Long Chen had an urge to bury himself. Even if his face was thicker than a city wall, he felt a burning sensation on it.
“What nonsense! That was clearly a tactic to drown my enemies![1]” raged Long Chen.
Back then, when he had just entered the territory of the Xuantian Monastery, a fellow had found him displeasing and wanted to kick him aside. As a result, Long Chen had thrown him into the river.
That person had refused to take it lying down, and he began to furiously curse him. Long Chen had then used his drowning tactic against the fellow, displaying it in a grand and open manner. Tang Wan-er had been flying over and had criticized him for being a rogue. That was the first time they had met. Now that it was mentioned again, Long Chen felt embarrassed.
Looking at Long Chen’s red face, the three women erupted in laughter. This expression of Long Chen’s was too rare.
“Tch, keep laughing. Sooner or later, you’ll all be grabbing the bed rails and biting the sheets,” Long Chen thought to himself. Just thinking about it made his heart beat faster.
Right now, Yue Xiaoqian wasn’t wearing her veil, and the three of them were gathered together like flowers in bloom. They were all different kinds of beauty that made his heart itch.
“Hey, what’s the point in just laughing. Let’s play a game,” Long Chen laughed sinisterly.
“What game?”
“Pearl in the Dark,” laughed Long Chen, his eyes shining.
“Pearl in the Dark? The name’s a bit interesting. How do you play?” Tang Wan-er didn’t notice that Meng Qi had closed her mouth.
“Hehe, I’ll place a pearl on your collar, and then blindfold myself. Then, you can’t move, and we see how long it takes me to find the pearl,” laughed Long Chen.
“What’s so fun about that? Aiya, you pervert!” raged Tang Wan-er. She saw Long Chen’s gaze roving around her body as if looking for a place to search.
“Alright, don’t mess around anymore. Long Chen, come and sit. It’s rare for us all to have time like this,” said Meng Qi.
Long Chen sighed with relief inside. Tang Wan-er didn’t show any irritation at Yue Xiaoqian. In fact, the two of them were chatting quite happily.
That made him cast a grateful glance at Meng Qi. Then she gave him a warm smile that caused his heart to shake. He suddenly thought of his bath with her in the Spirit World.
Every inch of her body looked like it had been crafted by a god. Thinking of that moving feeling and her bashful gaze, it unconsciously began to affect him.
Looking at Long Chen’s fiery gaze, Meng Qi blushed. She understood Long Chen far too well, and she knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Long Chen, tell us a story,” said Tang Wan-er suddenly.
“No,” said Long Chen.
“Scoundrel, are you looking for a beating?” Tang Wan-er raised her small fists menacingly.
Helplessly, Long Chen said, “Fine, you want a story? Once, there was a eunuch…”
Long Chen suddenly refused to keep going. Tang Wan-er didn’t know if she
was being conned, so she asked, “And then?”
Long Chen sighed, an expression of grief on his face. With a quiet, sad voice, he said, “And then… there’s nothing.”[2]
Tang Wan-er raged. What kind of story was this? There was nothing to it.
Meng Qi scolded him, “Rogue.”
Yue Xiaoqian also came to a comprehension with Meng Qi’s scolding. “Pervert.”
Tang Wan-er was confused for a long while before she finally understood his words. Her fists rained down on him.
After a brief scuffle, they stopped being so constrained. Yue Xiaoqian asked about the matter with the medicinal pills, and he explained what had happened, allowing her to fully relax.
During the next few days, Long Chen also cultivated, condensing the Split the Heavens’ divine runes. He condensed twenty-seven of them easily.
In other words, he had condensed all the runes for the third form of Split the Heavens. But when he tried to condense the fourth form’s runes, he felt a burst of pain at his acupuncture points and gave up.
If he forced it, there was the danger of his acupuncture points rupturing. He hadn’t dared to keep going. It was no wonder Feng Xinglie had said not to try using the fourth form without reaching Foundation Forging first.
But even so, he had the first twenty-seven runes condensed. Now he just needed to nourish them.
As an alchemist, Long Chen had special means to do so. He could use medicinal pills to allow those runes to absorb energy faster.
However, it was still an extremely slow process. Fortunately, he wasn’t in a hurry right now and devoted a great deal of time to cultivating.
During this time, with the assistance of the Immemorial Altar Lamp, the Dragonblood Legion had expanded their seas to a peak. Each one of them now had a qi sea of three thousand miles.
Furthermore, their cultivation bases also rapidly advanced dozens of times faster than going all-out cultivating with medicinal pills.
With the Immemorial Altar Lamp, they didn’t need to bitterly cultivate. Each day, it felt like they were sleeping as they entered a profound state.