Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

“Senior, what do you understand?” asked Long Chen.

“Long Chen, why did you have to be so suicidal?” asked the dragon expert excitedly.

“This doesn’t count as suicidal, right? Right now, I should be in the simplest, easiest part of the Dragon Soul Body Forging Art. Based on my calculations, first I’ll forge the blood, then the qi, and then the bones. After that, I’ll temper the will, soul, spirit, and finally the mind. Don’t ask me why I’m doing it in this order because I don’t know either. In any case, I feel that starting shallow and then going deeper is best. This is starting with the easiest before moving on to the harder part. I want to complete the bone forging in one go as preparation for the pain of forging the soul. Otherwise, if my will isn’t strong enough, I’ll probably be crippled,” answered Long Chen.

“Could it be that this is the will of the heavens? Long Chen, do you know? The bone forging that you just went through created the divine bone meridians. That is precisely the crux of cultivating the Dragon Soul Body Forging Art! When I taught my descendants this technique, not one of them managed to form these meridians. That is why they were unable to undergo a full circulation of the power in their bodies, which caused the backflow to crush them. It’s only when your bone meridians appeared that I understood. This step must be done throughout all the bones at once; otherwise, they won’t be fully linked. Aiya, how could I be such a fool as to not realize this? So many outstanding children died for nothing.” The dragon expert blamed itself for this.

Long Chen had only condensed the divine bone meridians accidentally. After all, these meridians were akin to a giant tree; all the branches, leaves, roots, and trunk had to be completed at once.

However, the dragon expert had been unaware of this despite being the one to create this technique. The pain of this bone forging was so immense that others couldn’t endure it all at once, so they had forged every bone separately.

Once the bones were all forged, they would be like countless puzzle pieces put together. Although they seemed to fit perfectly on the surface, in truth, they were not actually connected. Such a thing would not produce meridians.

Even if meridians did form, they would be fake and not linked. Thus, when their power circulated through the meridians, it led to a complete collapse.

On the other hand, Long Chen’s natural meridians were the result of forging all his bones at once, so there were natural passageways between the bones. Also, with him forging them like this, all his power was spread evenly throughout the bones because of these natural passageways, creating perfect meridians. The dragon expert cursed itself when it saw this.

Long Chen himself had just been blindly doing as he pleased. In fact, he wasn’t even sure what the dragon expert was saying, but it seemed that this step that he had randomly chosen was correct.

“Does this mean that my path is correct?” asked Long Chen.

“It is, it is most definitely correct. This problem that I was unable to figure out after tens of millions of years was just inadvertently solved by you. With this, everything else will be no problem. However, you do need to rest. Stabilize your current power first. Don’t greedily push yourself too far, and don’t do something so stupid again. Just once is enough,” warned the dragon expert.

“Hehe, alright.” It seemed that the dragon expert would be guiding Long Chen properly for everything afterward. Since there was no need for Long Chen to randomly guess, he felt much more relaxed about mastering this technique.

Now, other than the golden dragon blood, Long Chen also possessed golden bones and golden spiritual qi. When the three merged together, they brought him endless power, and Long Chen could clearly sense that his power had gone up a level.

After resting for a few hours, he was fully recovered. He then walked out of the cultivation room and saw Zhu Yifeng and Yu Qianxue waiting for him.

“You’ve finally come out. Any later and I’d have to knock and summon you,” said Yu Qianxue.

“What is it?” asked Long Chen.

“There is a state banquet happening soon, and His Majesty has requested your attendance. Hurry up and change your clothes. You can come with us,” said Yu Qianxue. After that, she handed over a set of robes to Long Chen. These robes were in the standard style of the princes.

Long Chen was startled. Was he being given the status of a prince? Did his stubborn father-in-law have a change of heart? Wasn’t that a bit sudden?

“I don’t need to change clothes. I only like wearing these black robes.” Long Chen shook his head as he didn’t like wearing other colors. Also, he preferred the clothes that his women had made for him.

“Ah… that’s not a good idea. The imperial family cares a great deal about etiquette. On this kind of occasion, your clothes…” Yu Qianxue frowned. Long Chen’s current clothes might be made of decent material, but they were already a bit worn down. It clearly wasn’t suited to a state banquet.

“If I have to change clothes, I just won’t go. Help me thank His Majesty for the invitation,” said Long Chen.

“You…!” Yu Qianxue was speechless. Inviting an outsider like Long Chen to a state banquet was a huge favor, but Long Chen was refusing to attend just because of some clothes.

“If you refuse to wear them, then fine. Let’s just go. But if you aren’t allowed entrance at the gate, don’t blame me!” said Yu Qianxue.

“Big brother, just change! Let me tell you, one time all I did was put a buckler with the design backward, and I was scolded heavily by those dislikable fellows. They’ll probably make things hard on you if you wear this!” pleaded Zhu Yifeng.

“These robes have a special meaning to me. It’s fine. They won’t be the first ones to make things hard on me. Let them do as they please,” said Long Chen.

Hearing this, Yu Qianxue helplessly led the way. She felt like she was already quite stubborn, but she was far too docile compared to Long Chen.

“Long Chen, do you have friends?” Yu Qianxue couldn’t help asking on the way.

“Of course! I have many,” said Long Chen.

“Someone with your smelly temper has friends? Where is the justice in that? Why don’t I have a single one?” demanded Yu Qianxue.

“Perhaps your temper isn’t smelly enough? If you make it smellier, you’ll have smelly brothers and sisters to accompany you,” laughed Long Chen.

Yu Qianxue glared at him. “Let me warn you, the state banquet has many rules. Don’t randomly speak and implicate me when the time comes.”

“More rules?”

Long Chen was startled, seeming to sense something. With his infamous temper, with how he didn’t give face to anyone who made things hard on him, why would the emperor invite him to this state banquet? Was the emperor intentionally causing trouble for him?

Would the emperor find an excuse to erase all his efforts so far? No, if that was what he wanted, it should be taken out as a final trump card! Wasn’t it too early?

Long Chen didn’t know what the emperor was thinking. As he pondered, he was escorted by the guards and arrived at the palace gate.

“Stop!”

As soon as he arrived, a group of people blocked him.