Nine Star Hegemon Body Art by:Rhossycute

Transformation

When the medicinal liquid entered his stomach, Long Chen hastily used his will to guide the medicinal liquid through his limbs and bones.

Normally, when martial artists absorbed medicinal ingredients, they would merge it into their Dantian and then spread it throughout their body. But Long Chen didn't have a Spirit Root, so his Dantian was completely empty and unable to store any energy.

He could only spread the medicinal energy through his cells. Although these medicinal ingredients were just ordinary medicinal ingredients, through Long Chen's combination, they were able to release an extremely powerful medicinal effect.

As the medicinal energy entered his body, countless pores slowly opened. Each cell was like a person on the verge of suffocation, crazily absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

BOOM!

A muffled sound came from Long Chen's body. His originally sealed meridians were instantly opened, causing Long Chen to let out a muffled groan.

When other people cultivated, they would use their Dantian's qi to slowly open their meridians step by step without any pain.

But Long Chen couldn't do that. He needed to borrow energy from the outside world. That ferocious energy wasn't something just anyone could endure.

"How painful. Good, I'll remember this pain." Long Chen clenched his teeth. If someone hadn't stolen his Spirit Root, how could he have used such a crazy method?

BANG, BANG, BANG …

Continuous explosions rang out within Long Chen's body as his meridians opened one by one. Each time he opened a meridian, he would experience intense pain.

When all his meridians were opened, Long Chen almost fainted. It took him a whole two hours to recover.

Now that the pain had passed, Long Chen felt all his pores open. As he breathed, the invisible spiritual qi of heaven and earth was also slowly being absorbed by him.

"Excellent, my meridians have been opened. I can finally cultivate."

Long Chen sensed his body. Now that his meridians had been opened, he could naturally absorb spiritual qi through his pores, nourishing his body and making it stronger.

Although he had only just opened his meridians, after the transformation of spiritual qi, Long Chen's body was brimming with energy.

WHOOSH!

A fist whistled through the air. A smile appeared on Long Chen's face. That pain hadn't been in vain.

For ordinary people to cultivate, they first had to reach the Qi Sense realm. Only after being able to sense spiritual qi could they enter the Qi Condensation realm.

But Long Chen had taken a different path. Using the medicinal energy to open his pores, he could forcefully draw in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to open his meridians. That was equivalent to entering the Qi Condensation realm in one go.

But this Qi Condensation realm referred to Long Chen's body being nourished. Because he didn't have a Dantian, he was unable to condense a qi whirlpool, so he wasn't truly in the Qi Condensation realm.

"Although I've forcefully opened my meridians, my Dantian is unable to store any true qi. If I fight with others, I won't be able to last long enough."

Long Chen searched through his memories for half a day. Amongst the countless alchemy techniques, he suddenly found a unique martial art: the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.What pleasantly surprised Long Chen was that the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was practically tailor-made for him. It was a kind of secret technique that opened the body's secret treasures. What it cultivated wasn't the Dantian, but the nine stars.

The nine stars were the nine secret treasures within the body. If he could open those nine secret treasures, that would be equivalent to opening nine Dantians. Seeing that, Long Chen almost jumped up.

But when he read to the end, his heart turned icy cold. That was because cultivating the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art required countless medicinal pills.

Just condensing the first FengFu Star required a huge amount of energy. That energy was something that could only be absorbed through external means. Even if you had a hundred years, you still wouldn't be able to condense it.

In order to condense the first star, you had to use medicinal pills. Furthermore, it had to be a shocking amount of medicinal pills. Otherwise, there was no way for you to cultivate.

But the Long family's financial situation was extremely poor. They didn't have that much money to buy medicinal pills. Furthermore, the medicinal pills he had just eaten couldn't even count as medicinal pills.

"I have to think of a way to make some money."

Long Chen muttered to himself for a moment. Changing his clothes, he walked out of his room. It was already past noon, but there were only a few people in the marquis manor. It was extremely desolate.

Long Chen's father, Zhenyuan Marquis, had always lived in the desolate border. During these years, Long Chen and his mother had been looked down upon by everyone in the capital. Although they had a noble title, their lives were still extremely poor. The entire marquis manor only had a dozen or so servants. That was because there were too many of them.

It could be said that amongst all the nobles, the Long family was the one in the most dire straits. As for Long Chen, he was the one in dire straits amongst all the noble heirs.

The Phoenix Cry Empire was flourishing with martial arts. Everyone practiced martial arts. But Long Chen's constitution was special and he was unable to practice martial arts. That made him a target of ridicule.

In contrast to Long Chen, Long Chen's father, Tian Xiao, was a peerless expert guarding the desolate border. Even with the savagery of the barbarian races, they were unable to take even half a step into the Phoenix Cry Empire.

Long Tian Xiao was the military god of the Phoenix Cry Empire, while Long Chen was a piece of trash who couldn't even sense qi. It was impossible for people to not feel that a tiger father was a dog son. Countless people mocked him, but Long Chen didn't care. But a few days ago, Manhuang Hou's heir, Zhou Yaoyang, had mocked Long Chen for not being Long Tian Xiao's son.

At that time, Long Chen's fury had soared to the heavens. That was clearly an insult to his mother's infidelity. Long Chen, who had already lost his head in anger, had brazenly challenged his opponent to a duel.

But his opponent was an expert at the seventh Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, while he was an ordinary person who couldn't even sense qi. That was just asking to be humiliated.

That was why there was news that Long Chen had been beaten unconscious and sent back to the Long family. For a time, Long Chen had become the laughing stock of the entire imperial capital.

Leaving the marquis mansion, Long Chen directly went to the imperial capital's Hundred Herb Shop. That place sold all kinds of precious medicinal ingredients. He needed to understand the market price of those medicinal ingredients.

On the way, quite a few people saw Long Chen and couldn't help pointing at him from behind. Long Chen was already used to that.

At the same time, he sneered inside. His father had suppressed the desolate border, establishing a miraculous merit for the entire Phoenix Cry Empire.

But what did he get in return? He and his mother had been bullied and looked down upon in the imperial capital, and he had almost been beaten to death. That was his reward? A group of people who had been protected by his father had looked down upon him. That was his reward?

Long Chen quickened his footsteps. Although he wasn't afraid of such gazes, he still felt a bit irritated. But just at this time, he was blocked by someone.

"Aiya, isn't that young master Long Chen? I heard you were beaten to the point that even your own mother wouldn't recognize you. How come you're still alive and kicking today? "

In front of Long Chen was a sixteen or seventeen year old youth in luxurious robes. He was accompanied by two guards, looking at Long Chen with ridicule.

This person was also a noble family's young master called Li Hao. But his noble rank wasn't high, and his status couldn't compare to Long Chen's. But in the Phoenix Cry Empire, noble rank and status were secondary. What was most important was still strength.

Li Hao was currently standing in the middle of the road. If Long Chen wanted to pass, he would have to go around him.

If it was the previous Long Chen, he would have turned around and left. But today, Long Chen looked at Li Hao and shook his head, sighing:

"People say that a good dog doesn't block the road. It seems you're not a good dog."

"Long Chen, it seems the lesson last time wasn't enough. Do you want to be beaten between life and death again and then thrown off the martial stage?" Li Hao's expression first changed before he ridiculed him.

"That's why I said you're a dog. You're only fit to eat s**t by Zhou Yaoyang's side." Long Chen shook his head. He didn't want to waste time with such a person. He needed to take care of business, so he would have to walk past him.

"Long Chen, you're courting death!"

Li Hao's expression couldn't help becoming furious. He hadn't thought that the cowardly Long Chen would be so unyielding. He didn't even place him in his eyes and extended a hand to block Long Chen.

Long Chen frowned slightly and was about to say something when a figure suddenly walked over and loudly cursed at Li Hao, "Li Hao, you're the one courting death! Who do you think you are to dare threaten my brother?!"

The person who had come was an extremely tall man. He looked to be around ten years old, but he was nine feet tall. He was a head taller than the two of them, and his aura was extremely frightening.

"Shi Feng, this has nothing to do with you. It'd be best if you didn't meddle in other people's business."

When Li Hao saw Shi Feng, he couldn't help trying to put on a brave front. Shi Feng was also a noble heir, and his status was similar to his. But Shi Feng was an expert at the eighth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation, while he was only at the third Heavenstage of Qi Condensation.

Furthermore, Shi Feng's innate divine strength meant that within the same realm, there were very few people who could be his match. Li Hao didn't have the guts to challenge Shi Feng.

"Brother Long Chen, I heard you were beaten by that bastard Zhou Yaoyang. I'll help you vent your anger," Shi Feng angrily said to Long Chen.

Looking at the large fellow in front of him, Long Chen felt a trace of warmth in his heart. Within the entire capital, Shi Feng was the only person who treated him like a brother.

"It's fine. My enmity will be avenged by myself. Don't worry." Long Chen smiled slightly and patted Shi Feng's shoulder.

Hearing Long Chen say this, Shi Feng felt that Long Chen was unable to bring himself to lose face, so he didn't bring up the matter again.

"Let's go. Follow me for a stroll." Long Chen smiled and was about to bring Shi Feng away.

Seeing the two of them treat him as air, Li Hao couldn't help angrily cursing, "Long Chen, you bastard, if you have guts, come and challenge me."

Long Chen had only taken a few steps when his expression suddenly sank. Killing intent surged from his eyes and he slowly turned his head.

"You want to challenge me?" Long Chen's voice was extremely cold, like ice shards, causing people to feel a chill in their bones.

Li Hao couldn't help shivering. He felt that Long Chen was acting a bit strange today, but he had already made such a big promise. If he cowered at this time, then he would become the laughingstock of the entire capital.

Furthermore, he had already bullied Long Chen many times. He acted completely based on experience and didn't care at all about the trace of fear that had risen in his heart.

"Correct. Do you dare accept my challenge?" Li Hao loudly shouted.

"No problem. But I want to increase the stakes." Long Chen thought for a moment.

"Increase the stakes? Haha, your Long family is already on the verge of starving. What are you going to use to bet with me? Use your family's residence, or become my slave if you lose? "sneered Li Hao.

But he didn't notice that a callous smile had appeared on the corner of Long Chen's mouth. That smile was a bit sinister.

"Brother Shi, how about you lend me your treasured saber?" asked Long Chen.

"Take it".

Although Shi Feng was a bit reluctant, he still handed over the saber.

Long Chen nodded, secretly remembering this favor in his heart. He said to Li Hao, "Although this treasured saber isn't top quality, it's still worth eight thousand gold coins. I'll treat it like it's worth five thousand gold coins. If you win, you can take it away. If you lose, you give me five thousand gold coins. How about it?"

Li Hao's heart shook. The saber in Shi Feng's hand was made of steel and came from a famous craftsman. Eight thousand gold coins was definitely worth it.

But now this i***t Long Chen actually dared to use such a thing to block his way. Li Hao's heart was already blooming with joy.

But on the outside, he ridiculed, "I wonder if after you lose, there will be people who will turn hostile and refuse to pay up?"

"Don't worry, I, Shi Feng, always mean what I say," sneered Shi Feng.

"Good, then let's go to the martial arena and sign the contract. If I don't beat you until you're looking for your teeth all over the floor, then I won't be called Li Hao." Li Hao couldn't help but be overjoyed as he spoke in high spirits.

Long Chen's expression was calm, but within his eyes there was a trace of gloominess. Li Hao was just a dog by Zhou Yaoyang's side, and Long Chen didn't place him in his eyes at all. But for them to target him like this, just what kind of conspiracy was there?

But no matter what kind of conspiracy it was, there would come a day when the truth would be revealed. Long Chen's group directly went to a martial arena outside of the capital.