Chapter 780 – Shell

“Not bad, not bad!” When Bai Lan saw how sorry his good friend looked, he laughed heartily. Lei Ji walked up to him dejectedly and sighed. “He’s halfway through the cultivation process, yet it’s already better than my Heavenly Thunder Combat Body. When he reaches the late stage, then you wouldn’t dare test him even with your Divine Demon Body either, right, Brother Bai?”

“Don’t try provoking me. I won’t fall for it.” Bai Lan chuckled. He knew that Lei Ji was trying to ask him to try taking a punch from Long Chen too. How could he fall for that?

They were utterly impressed by the toughness of Long Chen’s Seven Star Body. It could be considered a top-tier body tempering technique across the whole Ancient Graveyard.

“In that case, I shall excuse myself. There’s only half a day left, and Yan’er needs me.” Long Chen bade them farewell and returned to Suyan’s courtyard. Her body had healed significantly, so she spent most of her time cultivating.

When she saw Long Chen arrive, the girl was overjoyed. However, she knew that there was no chance they would get together, so she chose to wish him well. That was why she always maintained a small distance between them.

Girls matured earlier than boys, and Suyan was fourteen. She was not a child anymore and was at an age equivalent to a budding flower.

Long Chen and Suyan chatted for a while in the elegant courtyard. When it was almost time, Long Chen let her consume dragon blood once more, thus prolonging her life by another ten days. She would completely heal after about a hundred days total.

When it was done, Suyan asked, “Big Brother, I hear that you have been cultivating the Seven Star Body these days. Have you succeeded?”

“I have reached the midpoint. In about ten days, I should be able to reach the late stage.” There were also only ten days left until the promised duel against Situ Yu.

“Really? Then you must complete it as soon as possible. I heard ... I heard ...” Suyan seemed hesitant, afraid to tell him something.

“What is it?” asked Long Chen.

Although Suyan was afraid that Long Chen would give up, she told him, “I heard that Situ Yu has already reached the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage. He is definitely much stronger than he was before. If you fight him, I’m afraid ... I’m afraid ...”

Long Chen squinted.

He has reached the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage? It looks like Situ Yu is more talented than Feng Zhilin. If he had something like Feng Zhilin’s Shapeless Whip, his combat abilities would be greater than hers. I wonder if I can defeat him, even if I cultivate the Seven Star Body to the late stage.

“Big Brother, why don’t we cancel the duel? I have a feeling that those people have malicious intent. I think they’re eying the Seven Star Lord inheritance,” Suyan said worriedly.

She saw Long Chen as one of her own, while the other people, including the Demon clansmen, were only outsiders.

Long Chen smiled and said, “Yan’er, you can’t have so little confidence in your Big Brother! Let me tell you this—I won’t lose no matter what, definitely not to Situ Yu. Don’t worry.”

Suyan did not understand his confidence and asked, “But, Big Brother, there is a huge gap between the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage and Sixth Earthly Martial Stage.”

“Even though there is a large gap, it is not an uncrossable one,” Long Chen said with a smile.

Suyan did not quite understand him.

Twenty days had passed. Long Chen only needed seven days and seven nights to reach the late stage of the Seven Star Body’s cultivation. He had not seen Suyan for a while, so he was not in a hurry to leave.

“Big Brother, there’s still a lot of time. Since you can’t harness celestial Qi right now, why don’t you accompany me for a stroll? I haven’t gone out since you and I returned. The common cultivators who gather in the outer city usually sell the items they have found in the Ancient Graveyard. There will be lots to see, and some of them will be good. Shall we go check them out?”

Long Chen could not bear to disappoint the excited girl, so he could only nod. His nerves had been constantly tense for the past twenty days as he endured inhumane torture. Now that only one task was left, it was time to reward himself and rest for a while.

Heavenly Wood City was divided into two sections, the inner and outer cities. The inner city was taken up by Demon and Thunder clans while the outer city housed the common cultivators. There were more than eight thousand common cultivators who had come to the Ancient Graveyard, and about a thousand of them stayed in Heavenly Wood City. As news of Long Chen getting the Seven Star Lord’s inheritance spread, more and more mysterious people were coming in every day to look out for opportunities amidst the chaos.

The number of people in Heavenly Wood City gradually increased.

However, this place belonged to the Thunder and Demon clans, so outsiders could only stay for a month.

About three or four months had passed since the Ancient Graveyard opened. There were treasures everywhere in this place, so many people had found good items. Since they did not need some things, this led to many trading activities in the cities. There was a special street in the outer city designated for trade.

This street was colloquially known as Treasure Hunting Street by the Heavenly Wood City folk. After Suyan led Long Chen through the outer city, they finally arrived at Treasure Hunting Street. Long Chen looked down the street at the many stalls. Many cultivators sat around casually, waiting for people to come and trade with them. There were also many cultivators browsing their goods, only talking to the owners when they saw something they needed.

As the daughter of the Demon clan’s leader, Suyan did not need these things. However, she was still a child at heart and was more attracted to the bustling atmosphere. She led Long Chen as they wove through the stalls.

“Woah! Big Brother! What is this? It’s beautiful!” Occasionally, Suyan would cry out with praise. The Ancient Graveyard had countless treasures left behind by the masters of the Middle Ages, including many almost-extinct rare items. That was why Suyan was amazed by them.

The teenage girl’s silver-bell-like laughter and beautiful face attracted many glances along the way. Many people recognized her, partly because she often frequented places like this. However, this was Long Chen’s first time, and this was many people’s first time seeing him up close.

Long Chen had the ultimate treasure, which was the Seven Star Lord’s inheritance.

This was enough to become the center of attention.

Many people had come here for the Seven Star Lord’s inheritance. Most of the outer city folk had changed to a new batch during these past twenty days. The newcomers were mostly people who had come here because they had heard about the inheritance, and some of them were as high as the Eighth Earthly Martial Stage. However, they did not dare attack, because Bai Lan had already made his intentions clear. Whoever dared to touch Long Chen would face his wrath. And who was Bai Lan?

He was one of the top three masters in the Ancient Graveyard.

Although a fat goat like Long Chen was sitting right in front of them, no one dared touch him. They could only stare jealously at the lucky teenager who had both a precious treasure and a beautiful girl by his side.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Hey, Big Brother, what is this?” Suyan picked up a shell from a cultivator’s stall. It was especially beautiful. It was smooth and translucent, as if it was a piece of jade in the shape of a shell.

“Little princess, do not look down on that small shell. It came from the body of a King-tier demonic beast, which does not exist in the Ten Thousand Nations Territory. It can only be found in the great ocean. Although that jade shell looks simple, it has a mind-focusing and soul-nourishing effect. If you wear it on your body, it will offer a great boost to your cultivation!” said the stall owner hurriedly when he saw that Suyan had taken an interest in something.

“Oh, does it really focus the mind?” Suyan was curious and flipped the jade shell over, studying it for a long time. She finally nodded and asked, “What can I trade for this jade shell?”

The cultivator said hurriedly, “Nothing much; I just need an advanced King-tier combat technique. You are the Demon King’s daughter, so you surely have many combat techniques. You can give me any random one you have.”

Although the small jade shell was rare, its effects were not very strong. It was a little ridiculous that the cultivator had given such a high price.

Suyan indeed had many combat techniques, but most of them were exclusive to the Demon clan and could not be passed to an outsider. That was why she said hesitantly, “I apologize. My father forbids me from giving away the advanced techniques I have. Is there no other way?”

Long Chen saw that the little girl really liked the shell, so he took out the manual of the Wind God Kick from the Primordial Realm. It was a technique he had previously gotten from the Great Priest of the Wind God Sect. “This is an intermediate King-tier combat technique. Although your jade shell is rare, it is not worth an advanced combat technique. If you think the Wind God Kick is acceptable, you may take it.”

The cultivator was a little disappointed. He was only trying his luck when he saw the princess. In reality, he was expecting an intermediate King-tier combat technique. He was only at the Fifth Earthly Martial Stage after all, so cultivating an advanced King-tier technique would be difficult.

“In that case, this jade shell ...”

The cultivator knew not to trouble the little princess, and at least Long Chen had taken out an intermediate King-tier technique. It was a kick technique too, which was fairly rare, so he was quite satisfied with the trade. He was ready to accept it when a manual covered in golden brocade cloth suddenly landed in his hand. Then an arrogant voice began speaking.