Night Asura (4)

"Big Sis."

The one who had arrived was Li Xin.

Though they could still see each other occasionally, when Li Xin saw Long Haochen's handsome face, she could not help staring blankly for a moment—especially with the faint fragrance of his recent bath still clinging to him.

"I'd just finished cultivating when I saw you come back, so I came over to see you." Li Xin smiled sweetly as she spoke, reaching out to ruffle Long Haochen's damp hair.

A little bashfully, Long Haochen said, "Big Sis, go sit inside first. I'll get you some water."

"Don't trouble yourself. I just came to see you." Li Xin naturally draped an arm around Long Haochen's shoulders and walked inside with him. Although Long Haochen was already 1.7 meters tall, Li Xin was a full 1.75 meters tall herself, enough to entrance countless people. Still, no one dared tease this rose from hell.

Somewhat helplessly, Long Haochen said, "Big Sis, you're doing it again. Do you think I want to look like this? But my looks were given to me by my parents; there's nothing I can do about it. I just take after Mother."

Li Xin giggled. "All right, I won't tease you anymore. Let's talk business. The Demon Hunter Group Selection Competition will be held in another half year. I've already broken through to the second rank of Great Knight, and this time, I'll definitely work hard to become a member of a Demon Hunter Group. I've already spoken to Uncle Nalan. This time, I'll bring you along to broaden your horizons and let you see the spectacle for yourself. Five years from now, you'll still be under twenty and can take part in the next Demon Hunter Group Selection Competition. Consider this time a chance to gain some experience. It's just that Night Asura won't be easy to convince—you'll have to talk to him yourself. Even Uncle Nalan can't do anything about him."

Long Haochen chuckled. "All right, I'll speak to him. Big Sis, I'll be going out with Teacher Asura tomorrow. I'll tell him then." He was quite helpless as well. Night Asura had issued a strict order forbidding him from revealing his Cultivation Level to anyone, even Nalan Shu. In Nalan Shu's words, that zombie-faced man was secretly putting on airs to the absolute limit; this time, he had made up his mind to stun everyone with a single brilliant feat.

A crafty gleam suddenly appeared in Li Xin's eyes. "Little brother, even if you can't tell me how high your Cultivation Level is now, training under Night Asura means it can't be bad. Besides us, several others from Bright Moon City will be participating in the Demon Hunter Group Selection Competition this time. Especially that damned girl Lin Jialu—she's going too. You have to help your big sister when the time comes."

Long Haochen was rather speechless. "Big Sis, you've been at each other's throats for so long. Just let it go. I can tell that although you argue every time you meet, you actually still consider each other friends."

"Peh, peh, peh! Who considers her a friend? All right, I'm leaving. You'd better cultivate diligently over these next six months." Li Xin had always acted with decisive speed. She left as soon as she said she would, giving Long Haochen's damp hair another ruffle before departing from his residence.

Watching her retreating figure, a trace of warmth appeared in Long Haochen's eyes. Ever since his parents had left, this big sister was the only one who could make him feel the warmth of family. In his heart, he had long regarded Li Xin as his true elder sister, someone worth protecting with his life.

Long Haochen was not someone good at expressing himself, but he possessed a grateful heart.

Returning to his meditation room, Long Haochen sat down cross-legged. Almost in the next instant, he entered a meditative state. Those with good talent did not necessarily succeed. Countless geniuses had fallen along the road of cultivation, while countless others had perished midway because of their temperament. Beyond his talent, the reason Long Haochen's Cultivation Level had risen so quickly was his state of mind.

With no distractions in his heart, his mind was like a bright mirror. While cultivating, not a single stray thought existed in his mind, making it far easier for him to enter meditation than ordinary people.

Gentle spiritual power rippled softly from his body, while faint golden light spread outward from within him, appearing and vanishing. At the center of his chest, an even more intense cluster of gold slowly emerged. That light actually pulsed in time with his heartbeat.

Pure light aura was released from Long Haochen's body. Possessing the Child of Light constitution, he found it much easier than ordinary people to absorb the Light Element between heaven and earth. More importantly, as his inner spiritual power continued to rise, Long Haochen discovered that his Holy Light Spiritual Power seemed purer than that of other knights. He had discovered this while practicing Guardian Knight skills.

For the same skill, Night Asura had told him it required fifty points of spiritual power to activate. Yet in truth, Long Haochen had completed it with only thirty points.

He had not revealed this secret. Though he knew full well how kind Night Asura was to him and regarded him as one of the people closest to him, no matter what, Night Asura could not compare to Long Xingyu's place in his heart. Thus, he always remembered his father's words: never completely expose one's foundations. Especially not foundations so inconceivable to ordinary people.

The flickering golden light at his chest was the energy fluctuation of the Holy Guiding Spirit Furnace. At this time, the spirit furnace had turned golden within his body. While meditating, Long Haochen focused inward and could see the Holy Guiding Spirit Furnace floating silently within his chest. Around it, his inner spiritual power had formed into a funnel-shaped vortex that revolved around it.

This mass of inner spiritual power, like pale golden mist, rotated very, very slowly. When he deliberately urged it during meditation, its rotation speed increased somewhat. But if he did not deliberately drive it, it took two hours to complete a single revolution.

At first glance, this circulation speed for cultivating inner spiritual power seemed painfully slow. Yet during this seemingly arduous, sluggish rotation, every six revolutions of the golden funnel vortex increased Long Haochen's inner spiritual power by one point.

In other words, even if he did nothing at all now, he could still increase his inner spiritual power by at least one point every day. Do not underestimate that single point. One point each day meant three hundred and sixty-five points in a year. That was to say, even if he did nothing but sleep every day, after three years he could advance from Great Knight to the realm of Earth Knight.

This funnel-shaped vortex had begun to form a month after he arrived here, when his inner spiritual power had fully recovered. At first, Long Haochen could not sense it rotating at all. Only by urging it with all his will could he make it move with difficulty. From then until today, after breaking through one thousand points of spiritual power, it was already able to circulate on its own every day. Long Haochen's Cultivation Speed was absolutely astonishing.

Naturally, Long Haochen could not possibly spend his days sleeping. Even Night Asura could not find the slightest fault in his diligence.

Sensing, drawing in, absorbing, assimilating, filtering, condensing—this was the complete process of Long Haochen's inner spiritual power cultivation. Before long, he entered meditation.

Morning.

Long Haochen arrived before Night Asura right on time.

"Let's go." Night Asura still wore that zombie-like face.

"Teacher, where are we going?"

"Knight Holy Mountain."

"A mount?"

"Mhm."

An intense surge of excitement erupted within Long Haochen like a volcano. That Rose Unicorn, red as fire and swift as lightning, seemed to be beckoning to him. Long Haochen shouted in his heart, I'm going to have my own mount too!