Chapter 778 - Monster

Long Chen had no idea that the bored old men would make that kind of bet. He was completely focused on the celestial Qi surrounding his body. The leaf beneath him had long been turned into dust by the celestial Qi. Long Chen had no choice but to use his essence to suspend himself in the air.

He wasn’t worried about anything going wrong with Bai Lan protecting him.

When the celestial Qi came into contact with him, Long Chen felt like his skin was being cut by countless blades. He had merged the Blazing Thunder Crystals with his body to cultivate the Blazing Thunder Combat Body a long time ago. That process was painful, but the pain he was experiencing now was on a whole other level.

Long Chen had put his life at risk when he endured it for an entire hour.

But this was how he faced his problems. The harder it was, the more he wanted to challenge it. Even though it was painful, Long Chen channeled a lot of celestial Qi. His goal was to absorb all of it!

He had decided that he would spend the next seven to eight days cultivating the Seven Star Body exclusively. His willpower far exceeded what the others had thought.

His best quality was his unyielding willpower.

Long Chen closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain that the celestial Qi was causing him.

He controlled it and split off a small part of it before tossing it into his left arm. He knew it would hurt, but he had gained a lot of experience after he succeeded earlier.

Soon, the celestial Qi entered his left arm.

Pain!

Insurmountable pain!

Blades were constantly cutting his left arm, but all Long Chen could do was endure. He even sent more celestial Qi into his arm, steering it through the appropriate pathway to strengthen his flesh, skin, and bone.

Thanks to the tempering of the celestial Qi, Long Chen’s left arm was slowly being strengthened. He continued to endure.

I can only succeed if I endure it!

Long Chen could be very stubborn if he wanted to.

Time slowly passed. It didn’t take long for his face to be completely pale. His forehead was covered in sweat, but he did not even take a break. His entire left arm was covered in purple celestial Qi. The celestial Qi was like a snarling beast that tore his arm apart again and again.

Everytime it did, Long Chen’s arm broke down and reconstituted.

As he persisted, his arm became stronger. Two hours later, a tenth of the celestial Qi had been consumed. Lei Ji was shocked. “His willpower is beyond what I expected! I thought the pain would cause him to stop by now. I never would’ve guessed that he would not only continue, but even consume a tenth of the celestial Qi! Don’t tell me he really intends on using all of it up? He will have to cultivate for an entire day if he wants to use all of it.”

“Let’s just wait and see what kind of surprise he would show us. As expected, there’s no way he would’ve gotten his hands on so many treasures if his willpower and mind were weak. While I won’t deny that luck is important, being able to grab hold of opportunities is the hallmark of a successful person.”

Lei Ji nodded in approval too. He thought Long Chen had only been lucky so far, but now he knew that Long Chen was different from the others.

Time passed, and the amount of celestial Qi surrounding Long Chen slowly reduced. Long Chen had used twenty percent of it by the time dawn broke. Looking at his speed, he was on pace to use up half of the celestial Qi by noon.

Bai Lan and Lei Ji were both incredulous. Bai Lan had made the bet on a whim, never expecting Long Chen to actually be able to do it.

Long Chen was a monstrous genius.

As the two patriarchs watched, noon arrived. Lei Ji frowned because it was clear that Long Chen had used up at least half of the celestial Qi.

“Go now. No need to be shy,” Bai Lan said.

“Just you wait. I will pay you back for the humiliation you made me experience today!” Lei Ji was frustrated, but he was a man who honored his words. He would hold up his end of the bet since he had lost. He disappeared in front of Bai Lan, then his booming voice could be heard throughout Heavenly Wood City.

“I, Lei Ji, am a fool!”

Everyone looked up in shock, thinking someone was pranking Lei Ji by scolding him. But they listened closely and realized that Lei Ji himself had shouted it.

Even though they didn’t know what was going on, many people laughed.

Lei Ji was embarrassed, but he was not someone who held petty grudges. He ignored the embarrassment and soon returned to Bai Lan. However, he was pissed when he saw Bai Lan laughing at him. He turned to look at Long Chen to find that the latter was still cultivating using the celestial Qi.

“Does he even feel pain?” Lei Ji was speechless.

“He does, but he’s enduring it. Many youngsters do not have his resiliency and willpower. As far as I know, Situ Yu and Xue’er would take at least more than a year to cultivate the Seven Star Body. Especially Xue’er, since she can’t handle as much pain as the others. I fear that it's one of her weaker aspects.”

Lei Ji laughed. “Of course she’s afraid of pain. Both Xue’er and Yan’er were doted on ever since they were born! They are indeed talented, but they are far too weak compared to other cultivators in real combat. I never thought you would send your daughter to participate in the Nine Clan Martial Youth Competition. Her chances of winning are very slim, and it will be a very brutal fight.”

Bai Lan smiled mysteriously. “Who said I’m sending my daughter to the competition? I would never sacrifice my daughter for the sake of some Prismatic Key. I have someone else in mind.”

“Who? Stop putting up the act and just tell me.” Lei Ji was confused.

“He’s right in front of us.”

Lei Ji looked at Bai Lan and Long Chen in shock.

“There’s still three months. That’s enough time for him to save Yan’er. With his talent and attitude, as well as the Martial God Tombstone and the Seven Star Lord’s inheritance, he will grow to a monstrous level by then.”

“Three months? I would consider him strong if he could win the duel next month. Situ Yu is quite strong and already at the threshold of the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage.”

“Everything is uncertain for now,” Bai Lan said.

The two of them continued to observe Long Chen in silence. The more time passed, the more awe and fear appeared on their faces. Long Chen finally finished consuming the massive ball of celestial Qi when night came again.

He slowly reset his mental state after enduring constant pain. He was as pale as a sheet of paper. The pain hadn’t subsided for even a moment, but instead grew stronger. Thankfully, he had managed to endure it.

His endurance had led him to success.

Long Chen took an entire day to temper his entire left arm with celestial Qi. It was clear that his left arm was ten times stronger than the rest of his body; even his right arm felt very weak in comparison.

Even though his left arm looked the same on the outside, one could see the purple celestial Qi expel outwards intermittently. His flesh, bones, and veins were now reinforced to a monstrous degree. Now Long Chen only needed to use the same method to temper the rest of body before soaking his entire body in a large amount of celestial Qi for a week straight. Only then would the Seven Star Body be complete.

The Seven Star Body was indeed an extremely hard technique to cultivate.

Bai Lan was right, Suxue would need at least two years to cultivate it. Even Bai Lan wasn’t certain if he could do it faster than Long Chen.

Both Bai Lan and Lei Ji looked at Long Chen’s left arm with awe.

“What incredible physical strength. The Seven Star Body is indeed powerful. I fear that it will be even stronger than your Divine Demon Body after he finishes cultivating it.”

Bai Lan nodded. “The Divine Demon Body’s cultivation method is not as complex as his. I think you may be right. Even though both of them are intermediate Emperor-tier Body Tempering Techniques, the difference between them is huge. The Seven Star Lord was also very strong. If I recall, he was either the strongest or the second strongest of the Seven Lords. His Divine Weapon, the Three Thousand Star Clusters, boasted unparalleled sharpness.”

“Was he really that strong?” Lei Ji was slightly clueless about the strength of the Seven Star Lord.

“Of course. Look at Long Chen ... Wait, he’s channeling even more celestial Qi!” Bai Lan was speechless when he saw what Long Chen was doing.

“What?!” Lei Ji was shocked too. He turned and verified that Long Chen was indeed calling down even more celestial Qi!

“My goodness. He barely got to rest and now he’s doing it again? Have you ever met someone as crazy as him? Is his body made out of steel? Or is his heart made out of iron?”

Bai Lan shook his head. “This little monster is ruthless on himself. People like him are the scariest.”