by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“Just refine it here. I’ll stick around. If you fail and are near death, I might be able to save you.” Tang Wan-er shook her head. She found a place dozens of meters away to sit.
Long Chen smiled slightly. Although Tang Wan-er had her savage side, she had a good heart. Slowly closing his eyes, he began to circulate his spiritual qi to refine the thunderforce.
Those strands of thunderforce were wreaking havoc throughout his meridians as they wildly barged around his body.
If his meridians were an ordinary Blood Condensation cultivator’s meridians, they would have long since been destroyed, causing them to become a cripple.
But Long Chen’s meridians had been changed by the Spirit World expert. They were much wider and also much more tenacious. That thunderforce was unable to cause much damage.
That was also why Long Chen dared to do such a thing. Now the thunderforce that was in his meridians had become his prey.
“Be refined for me!”
Long Chen snorted. His FengFu Star swiveled. Enormous amounts of spiritual qi began to wildly pour into his meridians, squeezing the thunderforce.
Those strands of thunderforce began to resist with all their might when they were squeezed by the spiritual qi.
Within his meridians, those two began to crazily struggle. The thunderforce became exceptionally violent as it resisted, wanting to break out of his meridians.
But Long Chen’s meridians were like tough tubing. No matter how the thunderforce struggled, it wasn’t the slightest bit effective.
Under the steady flow of Long Chen’s spiritual qi, the thunderforce began to compress together. But the thunderforce was still doing its best to struggle, refusing to give up.
“Then let me add some more!”
The Pill Flame that was hidden within his meridians suddenly began to rage. With its addition, the thunderforce was completely suppressed.
At this time, the thunderforce no longer had a source of energy. It was completely alone. Its violent nature gradually faded and it began to resist less and less.
But this still wasn’t enough. Long Chen increased his spiritual qi and Pill Flame, using them to scour his meridians, completely condensing all the thunderforce in his body.
This thunderforce had been Lei Qianshang’s. Now Long Chen completely eradicated his spiritual imprint on it, causing the thunderforce to become ownerless. Then he placed his own imprint on it, making it his.
To Long Chen who had already refined a beast flame before, this wasn’t difficult at all. The process was just somewhat troublesome.
Six hours later, Long Chen opened his eyes. Although he was clearly exhausted, he was also extremely excited.
Chapter 148 Failure to Steal
When Long Chen opened his eyes, Tang Wan-er immediately noticed and asked, “How did it go?”
Long Chen smiled slightly and raised a finger. With just a thought, his finger immediately became covered by thin bolts of thunderforce, emitting a rumbling sound.
Tang Wan-er covered her mouth, filled with disbelief. She had thought Long Chen’s plan had been completely crazy and absolutely impossible.
But now Long Chen was clearly using thunderforce, meaning he had done what she had thought to be impossible.
“How is this possible?” Tang Wan-er muttered to herself as she examined his finger that was covered with thunderforce.
“Hehe, how is it? Are you convinced? Remember to treat me better now; that way you’ll be able to keep me firmly by your side.
“Of course, that’s still not enough. If you really want to make our relationship more firm, you might consider other methods. For example, giving your heart to me,” said Long Chen with a serious face.
“Tch, you? Do you think a rookie still at the mid Blood Condensation realm is worthy of my heart? Have you still not woken up?” Tang Wan-er raised her head disdainfully.
“Wait, how did you learn my cultivation base?” Long Chen was startled.
“When you fought with Zhao Wu after he used his beast transformation, your aura leaked out. Although you hide it extremely well, you can’t hide it from my senses. And I think it wasn’t just me who sensed it. Lei Qianshang should also have noticed,” said Tang Wan-er lightly.
“Ah, as expected of monster-class geniuses. Those kinds of senses are truly frightening,” sighed Long Chen. In the future, he would have to be even more careful.
He didn’t want to reveal his own cultivation base. That was because all the registrants were all at the peak of the late Blood Condensation realm. In other words, they were all at the ninth Heavenstage.
And the majority were already at the great circle of Blood Condensation and could step into the Tendon Transformation realm any time they wanted. They had merely used medicinal pills to suppress their cultivation base.
Perhaps he was the only one who was merely at the sixth Heavenstage. He didn’t want to stand out too much. It was uncomfortable to be the center of attention.
“I’d say the monster would have to be you. You even have the ability to do such a heaven-defying thing.” Tang Wan-er pointed to his finger.
Although Tang Wan-er didn’t want to praise him, she had no choice but to admit that Long Chen had truly shocked her.
He was actually able to steal someone else’s core energy for his own use. That kind of ability was too shocking, perhaps even heaven-defying.
Long Chen shook his head helplessly. “Ah, what heaven-defying. It was still a failure.”
“What? Didn’t you condense your own thunderforce?” Tang Wan-er said in shock.
“Although I refined his thunderforce, my own spiritual qi is unable to transform into more thunderforce. In other words, all the thunderforce I have is the thunderforce sent to me by Lei Qianshang.
“That means once I’ve used it all up, I’ll need to find another source to replenish it. Basically, I wasted half a day’s work and didn’t get much of anything. It really is disheartening,” he dejectedly explained.
This thunderforce was not the same as his flame energy. His spiritual qi was able to transform into flame energy. So as long as he had enough spiritual qi, he would never run out of flame energy.
But his thunderforce was not the same. Once it was used up, it would be gone forever. He would need to constantly find a source to absorb more. Perhaps he would have to often fight with Lei Qianshang in the future.
But of course, Lei Qianshang also wasn’t an idiot. Once time progressed, he would definitely suspect something. If he refused to fight Long Chen, Long Chen would completely run out of thunderforce.
That was why Long Chen was so dejected. That wasn’t at all the same as what he had been hoping for. His hope of using thunderforce to temper his body had also failed.
“Actually that’s already extremely impressive for your body to be able to contain lightning and thunder. But I do have a way to resolve your current problem.” Tang Wan-er smiled slightly.
“Really?” Long Chen asked, surprised.
“Of course. As long as you go there, it’ll resolve everything.” Tang Wan-er pointed up to the sky. “When a huge storm unfurls and lightning and thunder crash down, you can go up there and gather thunderforce, haha.” Tang Wan-er began to laugh.
Long Chen disdainfully said, “Are you trying to make me receive heavenly punishment?”
“Of course not! I’m just very enthusiastic, and I’m definitely a specialist at flying kites. As long as you say a single word, I am definitely willing to help you fly up,” laughed Tang Wan-er.
Although she was laughing, Long Chen actually thought that was a good way to gather lightning.
Seeing Long Chen was looking up into the sky and was thinking deeply, Tang Wan-er was startled and said, “I was just joking! You aren’t really thinking of trying, are you?”
Long Chen nodded. “Your method really is not bad. When I’m ready to test it, I’ll definitely come to find you.”
Dusting himself off, he began to collect some firewood. With a point
of his hand, a spark shot out and immediately set the wood ablaze.
“What are you thinking of doing?” asked Tang Wan-er.
“I’m going to thank you for helping me. Although I didn’t succeed, I still have to thank you and treat you to a meal,” laughed Long Chen.
Her face reddened. She knew he was talking about the matter of her giving him mouth-to-mouth. She both bashfully and angrily said, “Long Chen, if you mess around anymore, I won’t forgive you.”
“Don’t worry, it will be our secret. I won’t tell anyone even if they beat me to death,” he solemnly swore.
Although she felt as if he had said that weirdly, she saw that he was serious and so she was relieved.
Once the fire was started, it wasn’t long before it became a blaze. Long Chen took out ten Wonder Carps.
“You actually caught Wonder Carps?” Tang Wan-er was shocked.
“Hehe, this is nothing. Tomorrow I’ll catch two dragons for you to eat with no problem.” Long Chen took out a basin of water and began to scrub the Wonder Carps clean. He also took out their essence from their cheeks and put those beside the fire.
“What kind of big talk is that? Dragons are divine beasts in legends. Whether they exist or not is unknown. How are you planning on capturing them?”
“People need dreams. What if one day you achieve it? So dreams are definitely a must-have. Otherwise, would there even be any joy in life?” asked Long Chen.
“Dreams and big talk are two different things. Don’t mix the two up,” defended Tang Wan-er.
“Ah, I won’t talk to someone without a sense of humor. It really is tiresome.” Long Chen shook his head and focused on cooking the fish.
“You…” Tang Wan-er frowned, but she then thought of something and sat down. “Long Chen, I’ve noticed you are extremely strange. Do you not know how to talk to normal people properly?”
“Ah, this question. Well, the crucial point is that I’d have to encounter a normal person first.”
“You scoundrel!” Tang Wan-er couldn’t resist anymore and gave him a rap on the head. “Are you saying I’m not a normal person?”
Long Chen didn’t retaliate or dodge. Letting her hit him, he turned to look at her. “Beautiful sister Tang Wan-er, do you feel you are normal right now?”
She reddened and retorted, “I’m a very normal person. I only became like this because I encountered you!”
“Ah, well, the fish are done. Let’s eat.”
Long Chen handed over a cooked Wonder Fish to her. When she took it, she immediately smelled its alluring fragrance and began to drool. Looking at Long Chen, she couldn’t help but feel a bit bad.
“Just eat. Only once you eat will you have the energy to sort me out,” joked Long Chen.
She blushed and turned away, opening her mouth and taking a bite. She immediately exclaimed, “It’s delicious! No wonder it’s almost extinct in the mortal world. It’s the first time I’ve tasted it.”
She was happily surprised. The Wonder Carp’s great name was known to all, but as for the number of people who had actually eaten it, it was pitifully low.
“Haha, as I said, treat me better and you can eat it often. And if you want to give me your heart, then hehe, you’ll have endless delicacies to eat.” Long Chen was also eating, pleased with himself.
“Hmph, that’s a nice dream. Do you think all women are as easy to trick as you hope?” Tang Wan-er had obviously already become accustomed to Long Chen’s method of joking and no longer became angry. She gave him a cold retort as she continued eating.
After eating one, she didn’t wait on courtesy and grabbed a second one, eating it right in front of Long Chen without any bit of politeness.
“Oh right, you can actually control flame energy. Are you a pill cultivator?” asked Tang Wan-er as she ate.
“Yup, I’m a Pill Adept,” he answered.
“That’s pretty good! Such a young Pill Adept definitely has a bright future. Why wouldn’t you choose to refine pills and come on the path of cultivation instead?” Tang Wan-er asked puzzled.
“Do you think refining pills all day is interesting? The martial cultivation path is much more interesting. I can fight and pick up girls all day. Whoever I don’t like, I can kick away easily. And when I see a beautiful woman like you, I can perhaps take some liberties with her. That’s how to live a life.”
“Scoundrel, you barely said a couple of normal sentences before once more fooling around. Then does your pill cultivation master approve of you choosing the martial cultivation path?” she asked after rebuking him.
Hearing that, Long Chen paused for a moment. Grandmaster Yun Qi’s image floated into his mind. That last scene of grandmaster Yun Qi transforming into ashes was still as fresh in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.
“He should approve.” Long Chen shook his head.
“What do you mean ‘should’?” she said dissatisfied.
“That’s because he’s already dead, so I myself don’t know his true thoughts.” Long Chen smiled slightly, but his smile was somewhat mournful.
Seeing that trace of sadness in Long Chen’s eyes, Tang Wan-er’s heart trembled. That was the first time she had sensed the sorrow deep within his heart.
“Ok, we’ve finished eating the fish. Remember, if you want to keep eating these fish, treat me a bit better in the future. I’ll leave first.” Long Chen stood up.
Seeing Long Chen was about to leave, for some unknown reason she was somewhat disappointed inside. As for why, even she wasn’t sure.
“Wait. Long Chen, have you collected all the jade tiles?”
“No.” Long Chen shook his head. In any case, he had more than enough time so he wasn’t in a rush. At this time, there were still many fragmented sets and so it would be more troublesome to collect them all.
“I have a full set here. I’ll give it to you.” Tang Wan-er handed Long Chen a tablet.
Unlike his tile, this tablet had all four Tian, Di, Xuan, Huang words on it. The four different tiles had merged into a single tablet and could no longer be separated.
Long Chen smiled slightly and received it. “Ah, so this must be what it means to be kind to the one who pays for the meal. Ok, thank you. But don’t think this small favor is enough for me to be unswervingly loyal to you. But if you want that, you can always try giving me your heart.”
“Get lost!”
Tang Wan-er was irritated again. Long Chen had only been normal for a moment before once again messing around. She sent a kick at Long Chen.
Long Chen laughingly dodged her attack and disappeared from the valley in just a few moments.
Seeing Long Chen disappear, Tang Wan-er’s anger faded and she actually laughed. Sorting out her emotions, she also disappeared from the valley.
Chapter 149 The Finch Follows from Behind
After Long Chen separated with Tang Wan-er, he used the tablet’s map to figure out his location and pick out a new goal location.
Currently, he was still at the fringes of the trial region. According to the map, he needed to cross over a large river and pass by a large mountain before reaching the final destination of the trial.
But less than a week had passed into the trial so far, so he still had more than ample time. So first, he found an isolated cave and took out a Wonder Carp essence.
The Wonder Carp essence was around the size of a soybean. It looked like nothing more than a round, unremarkable bone. Even if it was crushed, there weren’t any clues as to what it really was.
He took out a black medicinal pill from his spatial ring. Crushing it into a small bowl of water, the water immediately became black as ink.
Placing the Wonder Carp essence into the bowl, that black medicinal liquid immediately began to boil over. Countless bubbles popped up, and a faint energy slowly spread.
Long Chen smiled. Only this method was capable of drawing out the Wonder Carp’s essence energy.
Touching his forehead, his Spiritual Strength circulated. A
faint vortex appeared between his eyebrows, absorbing the fluctuations being emitted from the Wonder Carp essence, not leaving even the slightest bit.
In just a single breath’s time, all the Wonder Carp essence’s energy was completely absorbed. Taking out the Wonder Carp essence from the bowl, he saw that it had already become much dimmer, in the end falling apart like a ball of mud.
That showed that all the energy within the essence had been completely drawn out. Long Chen closed his eyes and sensed his current state. His Spiritual Strength had advanced slightly from absorbing this Wonder Carp essence, but he couldn’t be too sure about that because it really was just a slight, minor advancement.
Over twenty Wonder Carp essences now appeared in his hand. These were the result of his two meals of Wonder Carp.
Rumble…
He placed them all into the bowl, causing the black liquid to once more boil. Powerful fluctuations began to surge.
Long Chen didn’t dare be negligent, and the vortex over his forehead once more appeared, beginning to absorb this energy.
This kind of energy was invisible to the naked eye. It could only be sensed with the soul. As he absorbed more and more energy, a pleased smile appeared on Long Chen’s face.
With this many essences, Long Chen could clearly sense the powerful energy nourishing his soul. His Spiritual Strength became much livelier.
The Wonder Carp essences’ energy didn’t contain Spiritual Strength, but a kind of marvelous energy that could nourish the soul.
If the Spiritual Strength was a tree, then the Wonder Carp essences’ energy was like its fertilizer.
Under the nourishment of this many Wonder Carp essences’ energy, Long Chen could clearly sense his Spiritual Strength slowly growing. Although this growth was slight, it still made him go wild with joy.
Spiritual Strength was something that was set once you were born. It would only ever advance when you broke through realms.
Treasures that could nourish Spiritual Strength were exceedingly few. And treasures like the Wonder Carp essences were essentially unknown by others. They knew about its flavor, but they thought the Wonder Carp essence was just trash.