Long Chen's Shock

Among them, Long Chen recognized one person at a glance: it was the Great Xia Kingdom's prince, Xia Changfeng. However, what shocked Long Chen was the familiar face beside Xia Changfeng.

It was a woman, tall and slender, with fair skin, but always wearing a hint of arrogance on her face. It was the crazy woman Long Chen had met at the Alchemist Guild.

Why was she here? And she seemed quite familiar with the Great Xia prince. Long Chen couldn't help but feel confused.

There were about seven or eight people in the group. As soon as Long Chen noticed them, they had already entered a luxurious tea house.

"The Fourth Prince is inside that building."

Chu Yao, standing beside Long Chen, also saw the group and reminded him.

"The Fourth Prince?" Long Chen was slightly taken aback. Wasn't the Fourth Prince known for being low-key and not participating in the struggle for the throne? Why was he so conspicuously walking with the Great Xia prince?

"He's disguised himself, just like us. But there's a ring mark on his finger that he forgot to conceal. The Dragon Pattern Ring he usually wears has a unique pattern, so I recognize it," Chu Yao explained.

As a princess, she usually acted ignorant and overbearing, but she had a very keen observation of the princes' daily habits, so she recognized the Fourth Prince's identity at a glance.

The Fourth Prince was actually in disguise? Long Chen's heart stirred. He wanted to see if he could sneak in and eavesdrop on their conversation using his divine sense.

However, seeing the more than a dozen Great Xia elite soldiers guarding the entrance, he shook his head. That idea was difficult to realize. It was still daytime, and sneaking in was almost impossible. He had to reluctantly abandon the idea.

"Chu Yao, I'll go back and prepare the materials to resolve the foreign spiritual energy in your dantian," Long Chen said.

A hint of reluctance flashed in Chu Yao's beautiful eyes, but she obediently nodded.

After they parted ways, Long Chen returned directly home. As soon as he entered the door, a surprised shout came.

"Brother Long!"

A' Man, who was like a little giant, looked at Long Chen with surprise.

Long Chen chuckled. A' Man seemed much more energetic now. What surprised Long Chen the most was that A' Man was no longer as skinny as before.

His exposed arms were a whole circle thicker than when they first met, and bulging veins could be vaguely seen under his skin.

"Haha, A' Man, have you been eating well lately?" Long Chen patted A' Man's sturdy arm and laughed.

"Brother Long, I eat very well every day. I'm full of strength. I feel very strong now. I want to be with Brother Long and protect Brother Long," A' Man patted his chest like a drum, speaking with great confidence.

Long Chen nodded and brought A' Man into his room. He probed A' Man's body with his divine sense.

"What?"

It was one thing to not look, but seeing it startled Long Chen.

After raising him for so long, and him eating dozens of cows almost every day, the activated cells in A' Man's body were still less than one-tenth.

He then checked the meridians around A' Man's dantian and found that they had widened slightly. However, what made Long Chen's heart jump was that there was spiritual energy flowing within A' Man's dantian.

"A' Man, have you started cultivating?" Long Chen asked.

"Brother Long, what is cultivation?" A' Man asked, his bull-like eyes wide.

"En, it's nothing."

Long Chen couldn't be bothered to explain. After observing for a while longer, he discovered that A' Man's dantian was dormant, but there was a continuous stream of spiritual energy from heaven and earth pouring into his dantian.

"What a monstrous physique. It absorbs automatically without cultivation."

Long Chen gasped. This phenomenon hadn't existed before. Now that his dantian stored a large amount of spiritual energy, it meant that A' Man's body, after becoming stronger, could automatically absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth for his own use.

If other cultivators knew about this, they would be so jealous they'd go mad. In other words, from now on, A' Man would be cultivating continuously whether he was eating or sleeping.

"A' Man, I'll teach you some simple cultivation methods now, teach you how to use the energy in your dantian."

Given A' Man's special dantian, Long Chen didn't plan to teach him combat skills, because A' Man only had four meridians, and basically all combat skills couldn't be activated.

So Long Chen only taught him how to circulate spiritual energy to his arms and legs to passively increase his strength.

However, Long Chen overestimated A' Man's intelligence. It took him a full three hours to teach A' Man a simple method of concentrating energy in his dantian. Long Chen's throat was dry, but A' Man was still clueless.

Long Chen was furious, but looking at A' Man's innocent expression, he couldn't vent his anger.

"Fine, if I keep teaching like this, I'll be exhausted before you even learn," Long Chen sighed helplessly.

"Brother Long, I'm sorry. A' Man is too stupid. Maybe A' Man will never learn," A' Man said dejectedly.

A' Man was indeed too stupid. He couldn't even achieve the most basic task of sinking his energy into his dantian. He couldn't even find where his dantian was.

Seeing A' Man's disappointed expression, Long Chen felt unwilling. A' Man's physique was terrifyingly strong. If it were supplemented by spiritual energy, the power he could unleash would be incredibly terrifying.

Not only A' Man, but even Long Chen felt it was a waste of talent. This was clearly a beggar who, despite possessing a mountain of gold, was still living by begging.

Right.

Long Chen's eyes suddenly lit up. He patted A' Man's back and said, "I'll help you locate your dantian first."

His soul force surged, heading straight for A' Man's dantian. Because A' Man trusted Long Chen immensely, he offered no resistance, and Long Chen easily integrated his soul force into A' Man's dantian.

Most importantly, A' Man wouldn't know how to resist even if he wanted to. However, this time, A' Man finally found the location of his dantian.

"Now that you've found your dantian, the next step is to guard it with your mind."

"What is guarding the dantian with your mind?"

"Use your intention to stir your dantian."

"What is intention?"

Long Chen took a deep breath, almost spitting blood from A' Man's two sentences, but he still patiently said, "Concentrate all your attention on your dantian."

"Oh, and then?"

"Try to make it circulate."

"Clockwise? Or counterclockwise?"

"..."

Long Chen was speechless. "It doesn't matter how it circulates, as long as it circulates."

A' Man found the location of his dantian, but he couldn't activate it for a long time. His dantian was like it didn't belong to him, motionless.

"No, your concentration is not enough. Close your eyes and try again."

Finally, to Long Chen's endless anticipation, A' Man's dantian finally moved slightly. Although it wasn't considered activating the dantian yet, he had at least found the path to activate it, which made Long Chen breathe a sigh of relief.

"Good, next, I will use my Soul Force to guide the qi in your dantian once. You remember the process and the path."

With that said, Long Chen circulated his Soul Force, and A' Man's dantian was stimulated by Long Chen's Soul Force, erupting instantly.

The dantian, which was originally like a calm lake, instantly turned into a raging sea, as if a volcano was about to erupt.

"A' Man, can you activate your dantian?" Long Chen couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"No, I don't know what's going on either." The spiritual energy surged within him, and A' Man was a little stunned by the fright.

"Don't be afraid, remember my circulation path."

Long Chen was too lazy to tell him about the acupoints, as he wouldn't remember them anyway. He might as well let him remember the feeling.

Long Chen's Soul Force guided the qi in A' Man's dantian into his arm. Long Chen originally wanted to circulate it bit by bit, in distinct stages.

Who knew that as soon as the qi from A' Man's dantian entered his arm, it was like a wild horse breaking free from its reins, no longer under Long Chen's control, and a violent power surged out.

A' Man felt a powerful force surge into his arm and instinctively threw a punch.

"Boom!"

With a loud explosion, the terrifying fist wind shattered the entire roof, kicking up dust and revealing the endless starry sky above.

"What a violent power!"

Long Chen couldn't help but be shocked. The fist wind alone was so terrifying. If he were hit by that punch, wouldn't he be smashed into a pulp?

A' Man was also stunned by his own strike. He had never imagined that he would possess such immense power.

Long Chen checked A' Man's dantian again and found that the spiritual energy within his dantian was almost depleted.

"A' Man, go back and rest for a while. Remember what I taught you. You must practice diligently every day and not be lazy," Long Chen said very seriously.

Given his extremely poor comprehension, if he were also lazy, even an immortal couldn't teach him.

"Brother Long, don't worry. A' Man will definitely train hard," A' Man said, jumping with excitement and nodding vigorously.

After A' Man left, Long Chen stared at the open-roofed house, lost in thought. What secrets did A' Man hold?

That punch had even shocked Long Chen. If the Blood Condensation Realm expert with the slanted eyebrows had been hit by A' Man's punch just now, he would have died for sure.

However, more than ninety percent of A' Man's body cells were still dormant. If they were all activated, even Long Chen found the thought terrifying.

But thinking of A' Man's honest and simple face, Long Chen shook his head. His brother, the stronger he was, the better. Why should he worry?

He took out a piece of paper and wrote dozens of names on it. It was a list of medicinal ingredients, totaling forty-eight kinds.

"The Melting Star Pill is a Tier 2 Pill. I can't refine a top-grade Tier 2 Pill yet. It seems I'll have to ask Master Yun Qi for help. But before that, I need to collect all the medicinal ingredients."

According to Long Chen's memory, the Melting Star Pill could dissolve the foreign spiritual energy within Chu Yao's body, but it had to be of top-grade or above.

Now, Long Chen's Pill Fire was too poor. He had immense power but couldn't use it.

The next morning, Long Chen left his home and went to the Alchemist Guild's storeroom, handing the list to the medicine boy.

To Long Chen's surprise, all the other materials were available, except for one main ingredient: Melting Star Grass.

Melting Star Grass was a very rare and precious herb used to refine many Tier 2 Pills, and it was an indispensable ingredient for most of them, making it extremely scarce.

Long Chen nodded. It was only missing one ingredient, which was far beyond his expectations. He collected all the materials. Now, only the Melting Star Grass was missing.

As Long Chen walked out of the Alchemist Guild, he suddenly saw a figure, and a cruel smile appeared on his lips.