Practicing Battle Skills

"Slap!"

An extremely loud slap landed squarely on the dark face, interrupting his words. The powerful force sent him flying, and over a dozen long teeth rolled onto the ground.

"Sorry, this young master's hands got itchy."

Long Chen looked apologetically at the dark-faced man, who was stunned by the slap, and said politely.

The slap was incredibly loud, echoing through every corner of the Battle Skill Pavilion. Everyone who had been rushing to flip through battle skills put down what they were holding and looked over in shock.

"Who dares to be so presumptuous in the Battle Skill Pavilion?"

Suddenly, a cold shout came, and a man in black appeared in the pavilion, looking sternly at Long Chen and the dark-faced man.

As soon as the man appeared, his body surged with blood energy, pressing down like a towering mountain, making it difficult to breathe. Long Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

"A Blood Condensation Realm expert."

He hadn't expected a Blood Condensation Realm expert to be hiding here. But thinking about it, this was a crucial area, the Battle Skill Pavilion, so it made sense to have a strong guard.

The Battle Skill Pavilion was a forbidden martial arts zone. Fighting here would result in confinement; no one was unaware of this rule.

"Speak, what exactly happened?" the Blood Condensation Realm expert roared.

"You'll have to ask him," Long Chen said, shrugging innocently without a hint of fear.

The dark-faced man was furious. He had just been slapped, and now they were asking him? "Sir..."

"Sir!"

Just then, Zhou Yaoyang, who had been hiding in the distance, hurried over and said to the Blood Condensation Realm expert, "It's like this, Wang Mang suddenly felt an unbearable itch on his face and slapped himself. It wasn't a fight, please investigate, sir."

The dark-faced man named Wang Mang looked astonished and wanted to say something, but seeing Li Hao desperately signaling to him from afar, he swallowed his words.

"You're the son of the Marquis of the Barrens, aren't you?" the man asked, glancing at Zhou Yaoyang.

"Indeed," Zhou Yaoyang quickly replied.

The man nodded, looked at Wang Mang on the ground, and said, "If your face is itchy, scratching it will help. Your actions made it seem like your teeth were itching. I don't want to see this happen a second time. Clean up the mess you left behind."

After speaking, the man turned and left, leaving everyone in a state of bewildered shock. They couldn't believe Zhou Yaoyang would help Long Chen.

"Heh heh, did you hear that? You're so old, how can you pee anywhere? Clean up the poop you left."

Long Chen chuckled, as if he had expected this outcome, and turned to walk away, leisurely continuing to pick battle skills.

"Damn it."

Watching Long Chen's arrogant figure, Wang Mang's eyes blazed with fury. He felt utterly humiliated by the slap.

"Wang Mang, just endure it. If you accuse Long Chen of hitting you, Long Chen will be confined for a month. After a month, he'll come out unharmed.

But if you swallow this insult, Li Hao will help you get revenge tomorrow. So, you have to endure it," Zhou Yaoyang said.

Wang Mang nodded. He knew about Li Hao's upcoming duel with Long Chen. But he was used to bullying Long Chen, so he hadn't thought much of it, just playing around.

Today, he had gone too far and received a severe slap. He had nowhere to complain, a classic case of swallowing his pride.

The few of them quickly gathered the scattered teeth and wiped away the bloodstains. Zhou Yaoyang suddenly said, "Your face isn't that swollen. It seems Long Chen's strength wasn't that great, but why did so many of your teeth get knocked out?"

The others were also very puzzled. Logically, only extreme strength could knock out such solid teeth.

"Who knows, it's just bizarre," Wang Mang said, also looking dejected. He didn't know that Long Chen, being skilled in alchemy, understood the human body even better.

The slap earlier had used a precise technique, loosening his gums and dislodging half his teeth.

Long Chen's move was ruthless. Teeth are difficult to regenerate, unlike other injuries that can be treated with medicine. From now on, Wang Mang would only be able to eat with half his teeth.

With Wang Mang's experience as a warning, everyone became much more subdued. No one dared to provoke Long Chen anymore.

Long Chen, for his part, was happy to have some peace and quiet. He carefully browsed the ancient texts. The battle skills and cultivation methods here could only be read on-site and could not be taken away.

"Ox Power."

It was a battle skill. In this world, all battle skills were divided into three tiers: Heaven, Earth, and Human. All the cultivation methods and battle skills displayed here were Human-tier low-grade, the lowest rank.

However, even the lowest-ranked battle skills were extremely precious. Even nobles of high status required a Blood Condensation Realm expert to supervise them, which showed how highly the Fengming Empire valued battle skills.

"Although it's a low-grade battle skill, the spiritual energy circulation route is simple, clear, and direct. It's very good."

Long Chen finished reading the battle skill in his hand and nodded. This battle skill was very suitable for him, especially since he was intimately familiar with all the meridians in his body, allowing for rapid mastery.

He read it carefully again. His current Soul Force was immensely powerful, greatly aiding his memory, making it almost equivalent to photographic memory.

After completely memorizing Ox Power, he put it back. Long Chen then spotted an auxiliary battle skill – Wind Chasing Steps.

Wind Chasing Steps was a footwork technique that channeled spiritual energy along special meridians to the feet, enhancing speed and explosiveness. It was very effective for both long-distance travel and short-range evasion.

"Excellent, another practical item."

Long Chen smiled slightly and quickly memorized the spiritual energy circulation routes and specific activation methods described.

"Time's up. All young lords, put down the secret manuals you are holding. Anyone caught hiding them will be killed without mercy!"

At this moment, the Blood Condensation Realm expert reappeared, his icy voice reaching everyone's ears. Everyone quickly put down their manuals.

Some shook their heads with lingering reluctance. The Fengming Empire managed battle skills extremely strictly, giving them only half a day each month to study here.

Many people needed months to thoroughly study a single battle skill, but despite their dissatisfaction, no one dared to complain.

Long Chen was slightly taken aback, not expecting time to pass so quickly. However, if others knew he had memorized two combat techniques in just over two hours, their jaws would likely drop.

Many records within the combat techniques were obscure and difficult to understand, especially terms related to spiritual energy circulation and the flow of qi through the Meridians, which could easily leave one confused. It required studying while simultaneously circulating spiritual energy to verify.

After leaving the Imperial Academy, Long Chen bid farewell to Fatty Yu and the others, then whispered a few words to Shi Feng.

Shi Feng's face showed surprise for a moment, but he quickly suppressed his emotions. Yet, a hint of shock still lingered in his eyes, impossible to hide.

Upon returning home, Long Chen saw that his previously shattered house had been cleared. However, it was no longer habitable. Fortunately, his family owned many houses, and another room was prepared for him.

He first went to his mother's room to pay his respects. The events of the past few days had made Madam Long restless.

Ever since Long Chen woke up, he seemed to have changed entirely, giving her a sense of unfamiliarity.

Fortunately, Long Chen had adjusted now. He spent some time talking with his mother, which eased her worries considerably. However, he didn't mention the matter of his life-or-death duel with Li Hao at all.

After returning from his mother's side, Long Chen went back to his room, locked the door, and directly consumed the second Wind Mansion Pill.

As the second Wind Mansion Pill was refined, the Wind Mansion Star beneath Long Chen's feet grew slightly stronger.

With the Wind Mansion Star's growth, it could store more spiritual energy, much like a Dantian.

However, this Wind Mansion Star was currently just a nascent form. To fully take shape, countless Wind Mansion Pills would be needed to fill it.

This was why Long Chen had been so shocked when he learned about this cultivation method.

Now, after consuming two Wind Mansion Pills worth hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins, the Wind Mansion Star was still just a nascent form. It was unknown how far away it was from the true stages of formation, convergence, and star transformation. He also didn't know what the legendary Nine Transformations of Star Transformation entailed. This Wind Mansion Star was simply a bottomless pit.

However, Long Chen knew that this was his only way out. Otherwise, he would only live a mediocre life, or perhaps not even that, and would be at the mercy of others.

After spending two hours refining the Wind Mansion Pill, the nascent form of the Wind Mansion Star grew slightly, and the spiritual energy he could circulate also increased.

It was already past midnight. Long Chen quietly slipped out of his room and went to the woodshed. He took a deep breath and slowly circulated the Ox Power. With his thorough understanding of his own Meridians, Long Chen could learn an Earth-grade low-tier combat technique almost instantly, without any pressure.

He walked over to a stone roller, a tool used for threshing grain, weighing over a thousand pounds.

He clasped the stone roller with both hands and exerted force with his arms.

"Lift!"

The massive stone roller rose in response. Long Chen carefully sensed it, feeling that he still had some strength left. His current strength should be around fifteen hundred pounds.

He recalled that before being defeated by Zhou Yaoyang, his strength was only a hundred and fifty pounds. Now it had increased tenfold.

"Excellent. Putting aside everything else, with my current strength alone, I'm already comparable to someone at the Qi Gathering Fifth Heaven stage."

Long Chen couldn't help but feel excited. At the same time, he looked forward to this cultivation method even more. Just by condensing a nascent form, he had achieved such a significant improvement. He wondered what level he would reach once the Wind Mansion Star truly took shape.

He hesitated for a long time but couldn't suppress his eagerness. He lowered his stance, his qi slowly surged beneath his feet, and a scorching force pressed through his Meridians into his fist.

"Ox Fist!"

"Bang!"

Long Chen punched the stone roller in front of him, creating a loud explosion. The massive stone roller was sent flying by the punch, crashing heavily into the wall ahead, causing the entire wall to collapse.

Long Chen was stunned. Such immense power! He had only intended to test its might, not expecting such a large commotion.

Looking outside, he saw that lights had been turned on in many rooms of the mansion. He immediately realized his actions had alerted everyone. He quickly turned and secretly slipped back into his room, falling into bed to sleep.

However, his heart was so excited he could barely contain himself. What level of cultivation method is this? If all nine stars were gathered, what kind of power would that unleash?

That night, Long Chen was filled with boundless excitement and couldn't fall asleep for a long time. When the next day, the sun sent its first ray of light into his room, Long Chen slowly opened his eyes.

"Heh heh, you want parts of my body? That's a grand ambition, but it seems you won't be able to achieve it."

After getting up and washing, he could still hear the servants discussing the strange incident in the woodshed last night. Facing the rising sun, a line of thought surfaced in Long Chen's mind:

"Today is a good day, and all my wishes will come true."