Chapter 292 - Fire Essence

After entering Yuqin Palace, Long Chen finally understood the difference between the imperial family and normal nobles. The scale and grandness of the buildings were too different; they were far fancier than the ones he had seen in Yuanling City.

Elder Yan held a high position in Yuqin Palace. Therefore, the servants and guards took notice when they saw him walking alongside Long Chen. They only discussed amongst themselves once Long Chen was gone. Many people visited the palace each day, but it was rare to see Elder Yan escort someone personally.

“Our Lord is waiting for you in the study.” Elder Yan was emotionless as he pointed in a direction before leading Long Chen over there. Elder Yan didn’t talk much, but he did look at Ling Xi a few times, his eyes revealing a suspicious intent.

While walking through the palace, Long Chen felt that the temperature was higher than outside. A sense of warmth circulated around him, completely dispelling the chill from the spring wind. He felt his body become lighter whenever he breathed in.

“What is this? A normal human would be able to extend their lifespan by just being in this environment.” Long Chen carefully inspected his surroundings.

Ling Xi would benefit greatly from the warmth since she was a normal human now, though she retained her knowledge as a cultivator.

“This must be an effect from a treasure that releases a lot of Yang energy. It can dispel the chill while increasing the efficiency of cultivation.”

“I see. I wonder if that treasure would help Xiaolang,” Long Chen whispered.

Elder Yan looked back when he sensed that Long Chen was examining the surroundings. “Do you feel something different here?”

Long Chen nodded.

“All those who enter Yuqin Palace have the same sensation. Just wait a bit and you will see the item that causes it.” Elder Yan was filled with pride.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“I wonder what that item is.” Long Chen probed further.

“It’s not exactly a secret. When our Lord became an adult, the Sword Emperor gifted him ten Fire Essences, a rare item that can only be found deep inside underground lava. It is very difficult to even come across one, much less ten of them. It’s no surprise, considering how much the Sword Emperor adores the Ninth Prince.” Elder Yan smiled at the thought.

The Sword Emperor was the current emperor of the Cangyang Kingdom. He had received the title due to his achievements in swordsmanship.

Long Chen knew the reason why the imperial family could control the entire Cangyang Kingdom was because of their cultivation.

There were three main types of cultivators in the Cangyang Kingdom. The first was the normal cultivators, the second was the Beast Warriors. In the Beast Soul Palace of Yuanling City, most cultivators were Beast Warriors. The final type was the Armament Warrior.

Long Chen had heard of them before but had never seen one. It was said that a Beast Warrior was stronger than a normal cultivator at the same cultivation level, while an Armament Warrior was stronger than a Beast Warrior! Still, Armament Warriors were only the strongest among normal cultivators. They were nowhere close to someone like Long Chen, who was a Dragon Warrior.

Becoming a Beast Warrior required quite a bit of talent, and becoming an Armament Warrior required even more. They needed to be born with something special. Usually, the souls of humans could be separated into ten equal pieces. Armament Warriors were born with one extra piece in their dantian, and that extra piece was called the Armament Soul.

Those with an Armament Soul could merge it with their weapon. Doing so would make their weapon a part of their body, allowing them to utilize stronger techniques. There were also other benefits that Long Chen was unaware of.

Some Armament Warriors used only a single weapon throughout their entire lives, but their weapons were able to grow stronger as they themselves improved in their cultivation. If the host grew extremely strong, even a normal weapon could transform into a Divine Arm.

Most Divine Arms were born directly in the Armament Souls of Armament Warriors.

Long Chen knew that the imperial family of the Cangyang Kingdom was a traditional Armament Warrior family. Everyone in their family used a sword, and they most likely had a complete set of sword techniques in their archives. Swords were the main weapons of most Armament Warriors, and the Emperor was even called the Sword Emperor to honor his accomplishments.

“Ten Fire Essences ... Our Lord used nine of them to forge an advanced Earth-tier Divine Arm. It’s thanks to that sword that our Lord managed to hold out against the Seventh River Stage assassin,” Elder Yan explained with a sigh.

Long Chen had gathered some useful information from their conversation. Such as the fact that the Ninth Prince was at the Sixth River Stage, and he had an advanced Earth-tier Divine Arm.

Long Chen’s Azure Dragon Halberd was only at the intermediate Earth-tier. He could only become the Ninth Prince’s errand boy at best now that he knew how strong the Ninth Prince was.

But so what?

Long Chen had no fear.

“Elder Yan, does that mean I get to see the final Fire Essence later on?” Long Chen probed further.

“You can see it if you raise your head now.”

Long Chen looked up. There was a massive building in front of him. The entire building was most likely the Ninth Prince’s study. At the apex of the study was a shining object. Long Chen closed his eyes instinctively from the blinding light, but he managed to catch a glimpse of it.

It was close to what he had imagined—a palm-sized orb that shot out a blinding light. It was hard for people to look at directly. Even though Long Chen did not manage to get a clear look, he was confident that he would be able to identify it the next time he spotted one.

“With the Fire Essence embedded at the top of the study, Yuqin Palace is impervious to ghosts and spirits alike. The Yang energy radiating from it also dispels the chill from the cold wind. The servants and guards alike don’t need to fear the cold. In fact, the Fire Essence even agitates the fire energy in the air and allows us to cultivate more efficiently.”

Mo Xiaolang’s eyes were bursting with greed when he saw the Fire Essence. Long Chen looked at him while listening to Elder Yan. He knew that the Fire Essence would most likely benefit Mo Xiaolang as much as the Eight Clawed Fire Chi.

Long Chen finally understood why the Sun Devouring Wolf was considered such a monstrous beast. He was also glad to be able to find two different items that could help Mo Xiaolang improve drastically, the demonic core of the Eight Clawed Fire Chi and the Fire Essence. As long as they get more treasures of the same nature and let Mo Xiaolang consume them, his strength would grow exponentially. This would also benefit Long Chen.

“Xiaolang, now’s not the time. Let’s wait for now,” Long Chen whispered.

Mo Xiaolang understood that it was not the time.

They could only bide their time since Long Chen was still too weak to plunder it.

“We’ve arrived.”

Elder Yan was at the front of the door and was about to knock when they heard the Ninth Prince’s voice.

“Come in.”

Elder Yan said nothing and nodded as he pushed the door open. He then escorted Long Chen and Ling Xi inside. Mo Xiaolang followed suit.

Once inside, Long Chen gasped when he saw how lavish the interior was. Since it was the study, there was naturally an ungodly amount of books. There was also a large amount of writing utensils and decorations that lent the place a distinguished aura.

Long Chen saw the Ninth Prince sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. The Ninth Prince was drinking tea while reading a book, surrounded by a lot of servants. When he saw Long Chen and Ling Xi enter, he waved his hand at the servants. The beautiful servants nodded and carefully left the place before closing the door.

“Long Chen and Miss Ling Xi, please sit.” The Ninth Prince straightened up as he looked at Long Chen and stole several glances at Ling Xi without betraying any emotion.

“Thank you, my Lord.”

In order to enter the Counter Essence Realm to obtain a Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit so Ling Xi could completely recover, Long Chen was more than ready to enter the imperial capital even though it might be an abyss of no return, much less the Ninth Prince’s palace.

Long Chen took Ling Xi’s hand and sat at the side. Even though Ling Xi was strong as a spirit, she was now a normal human. She had learned how to be docile since she could do nothing now. She usually didn’t speak in front of strangers, but her senses were sharp enough to tell that someone was staring at her greedily.

Is it the Ninth Prince?

Ling Xi looked at the Ninth Prince but saw that he was speaking to Long Chen. He had not once looked at her.

Ling Xi thought she was overthinking it.

“Long Chen, it’s been seventeen days since we separated. I tried to search for you, but you were not at your original location. I kept trying to listen to news of your appearance for the past few days. You sure made me work.” The Ninth Prince’s tone contained a hint of impatience.

“Sorry. I was worried that there were other assassins, so I went and hid myself.”

Despite apologizing, he was not sorry at all. He did not care about the Ninth Prince, as the only thing he wanted was the Nine Heavens Immortal Fruit.

“Tell me everything that happened while we were separated,” the Ninth Prince said distractedly.

Long Chen decided to not say anything about Goldfish Island, as he didn’t trust the Ninth Prince enough.

“I felt that I was on the verge of advancing, so I found a place to cultivate and entered the Second River Stage before coming to the capital.”

Even though he had lied, there was a kernel of truth in his story. He had indeed reached the Second River Stage.

“You’ve broken into the Second River Stage so soon after reaching the First River Stage?”

The Ninth Prince was shocked. Long Chen was only at the late Heavenly Core Realm when he earned his position as an Immortal Guard. To think he had reached the Second River Stage in such a short amount of time.

The Ninth Prince had no choice but to reevaluate Long Chen’s potential.