Chapter 152 - Level Two Blazing Thunder Combat Body

Long Chen’s Dragon Soul Qi reserves had increased by more than ten times since he entered the Earthly Core Realm. His previous Qi was enough to suppress thirty Blazing Thunder Crystals, but now he should be able to suppress even more. He believed that he could completely merge the remaining twenty-eight Blazing Thunder Crystals and attain the Level Two Blazing Thunder Combat Body.

He had a vague feeling that it was almost in his grasp.

Merging with the Blazing Thunder Crystals means that I will have to endure great pain. If it wasn’t for my Dragon Soul Transformation and Recovery, I never could’ve merged with them.

Long Chen knew he was lucky. Even with Blood Transmutation and the other techniques, he still felt like the path of cultivation was difficult. Normal cultivators had it tough.

“There should be enough crystals for you to attain the Level Two Blazing Thunder Crystal Combat Body. But you can’t force yourself, Long Chen. Don’t push your luck too much.”

Ling Xi was worried.

She had matured a lot while staying with Long Chen.

“The thirty-first crystal ...”

He circulated his Qi and merged the crystal into his body. The Blazing Thunder Power fused with the original power within his body and started circulating through Long Chen’s veins. It destroyed his muscles and sinews but forged stronger ones in its wake.

With the help of Recovery, Long Chen could heal faster than the others.

He realized that with his newly empowered Qi, it was much easier to merge with the crystals. At the very least, the thirty-first crystal took no time at all to merge with.

Sensing the increasing strength of his body, Long Chen sighed in relief.

“The next one.”

Since he had merged with more than thirty crystals, Long Chen's body had built up a resistance to it. They caused much less damage than before, but the effects of refining his body were still apparent.

“It’s so much easier to merge with them now ...”

Long Chen was surprised too.

Time slowly passed, and he merged with more and more crystals. His supply was slowly dwindling. The time it took to merge with the crystals got longer and longer, but it wasn’t as long as before.

“It took me a day to merge with the forty-ninth crystal, but the difficulty was quite high!”

Long Chen was slightly nervous when he recalled how painful it and arduous it was just now.

There were nine more Blazing Thunder Crystals left.

“Thankfully, Liu Lan got me ten more, or I might not have been able to attain the Level Two Blazing Thunder Combat Body ...”

Long Chen felt like he was just one step away from it.

“The fiftieth crystal is the key to it.”

Long Chen calmed himself down. The more important it was, the more calm he had to be.

“Long Chen, it was already very dangerous when you merged the last one. Do you really need to merge with yet another one?”

Ling Xi stood amongst the remaining Blazing Thunder Crystals. She was currently smaller than the crystals, and she could become larger if she wanted, but she didn’t want to waste her power.

Long Chen took a deep breath and nodded. “This could decide whether I live or die. I can’t give up now.”

Ling Xi was worried even though his tone was calm. She knew Long Chen was under a lot of pressure.

The first heavy burden he had to bear was that he had to find spiritual herbs for her, and the other was Lingqing’s potential marriage. On top of that, he wanted to help Mo Xiaolang. There were also a lot of people itching to fight him. If he failed at the qualifiers, his life would end.

Both Chu Yunxi and Jin Sheng’en could easily end him since he didn’t have the power nor authority.

“Xiao Xi, move back a little.”

Long Chen took the fiftieth crystal and put the remaining eight away.

He had merged with nineteen crystals over the span of three days, which was much more efficient than last time.

“I hope I can finish merging with the final crystal before the qualifiers. If I still don’t manage to complete the Level Two Blazing Thunder Combat Body, the other items won’t be of much use either.”

Ling Xi listened to him and ran towards the end of the underground room. She frowned but had a sudden thought.

Hold on ... How could I forget something this simple? I have an advanced Black-tier martial technique that Long Chen could cultivate. I should tell him later.

Long Chen didn’t know what she was thinking, but he was concentrating on the final crystal.

He picked it up and circulated his Qi. The crystal merged into his body.

The Blazing Thunder Crystal became liquid once it came into contact with his Qi and circulated through his body. But Long Chen suddenly frowned.

Damn, it’s ten times more difficult than the previous one. If I can endure it, it will end soon.

The fiftieth crystal transformed into a horrible storm when it started the merging process. It quickly circulated his body and merged with the existing Blazing Thunder Power, destroying his muscles and ligaments in the process.

Long Chen felt intense pain, sharper than any pain he had ever felt before. It was just the start of the merging, but his face was already contorting from pain. This was much more pain than a normal person could handle.

“Long Chen!”

Ling Xi’s heart was aching when she saw how much he was suffering. She wanted to stop him, but lightning with fire on it streaked past her.

She had no choice but to dodge.

The lightning and fire had exploded from Long Chen’s body.

“Don’t come close!”

Long Chen was feeling an absurd amount of pain, but he didn’t want her to approach. Ling Xi wanted to cry.

Not only did she care for him, she also didn’t know if she could interrupt.

“Long Chen, are you okay ...”

Her face was pale, but not as pale as Long Chen’s face.

Suddenly, the Blazing Thunder Energy exploded!

Blood-red fire and lightning burst forth from his body, surrounding him in their wild power. Soon, the two energies completely encapsulated Long Chen, causing Ling Xi to lose sight of him.

How could she not be anxious?

She circled the underground room in a panic, wondering whether she should help or not. If she didn’t help, Long Chen could die. If she helped, she might stop Long Chen’s growth.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Just then, she heard Long Chen’s calm voice. Ling Xi would cry if she could.

“Bastard! You keep making me worry. I don’t want to be concerned about you ever again!”

Ling Xi was helpless against the youth that was risking his all.

If it wasn’t for him, she would have perished forever.

Long Chen was still her savior, and after living with him for so long, she had started to develop feelings for him.

What should I do? Mother ... What should I do about my future?

Ling Xi looked in Long Chen’s direction, but her heart was empty.

The empty feeling made her afraid of what was to come.

The Blazing Thunder Energy exploded just as she was thinking this and almost destroyed the underground room.

“Long Chen!”

Ling Xi cried out in despair. She saw the exploding energy slowly shrink, being consumed by a human figure. Long Chen slowly came into view before her.

He had undergone another change after breaking through to the Earthly Core Realm. However, he was in his dragon form, so the differences weren’t apparent.

But his eyes contained the faint Blazing Thunder Power and his aura was as sharp as a sword. Ling Xi knew he had succeeded.

Even though Long Chen had merged with the final crystal with surprising speed, it had almost killed him.

It was much more dangerous than the previous one, and he had almost lost his life with that one.

Thankfully, he had survived because his heart was filled with conviction.

Ling Xi didn’t know if she should cry or laugh while looking at Long Chen.

“Young lady, I must ask, how fast does my Level Two Blazing Thunder Combat Body make your heart beat?”

Long Chen had cracked a joke despite the grave moment.

“Idiot!”

Ling Xi looked at him with anger and tried tackling him with her tiny body. She stopped when her body was sore and grumbled, “Hey ... Do you want to learn an advanced Black-tier martial technique from me?”

“Hm? Since when did you have an advanced Black-tier martial technique?”

Ling Xi was embarrassed when she recalled. “Hmm, I learned it when I was young from my father, but I completely forgot about it until now ...”

She forgot and just recalled now?

Long Chen rolled his eyes. “Stop talking nonsense and give it to me, your elder brother.”

“What do you mean by ‘elder brother?’ You should be calling me ‘elder sister’ instead!” Ling Xi rolled her eyes back at him.