Despicable person

Usually, when a Martial Artist absorbs medicine, it is integrated into the Dantian and then transported to every part of the body. However, Long Chen had no Spiritual Root, and his Dantian was completely empty, unable to store any energy.

He could only disperse the medicinal power into every cell. Although these medicines were ordinary herbs, through Long Chen's combination, they unleashed an extremely powerful medicinal effect.

As the medicinal power surged into his body, countless pores slowly opened. Every cell, like a person on the verge of suffocation, frantically absorbed the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

"Boom."

A muffled sound came from within Long Chen's body. The originally blocked meridians were instantly opened, and Long Chen couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

When others Cultivate, they use the energy in their Dantian to slowly open their meridians, progressing step by step without any pain.

But Long Chen could not do that. He needed to borrow energy from the outside world, like drawing seawater to flood a field; such fierce power was not something anyone could endure.

"So painful. Good, I will remember this pain." Long Chen gritted his teeth. If someone hadn't stolen his Spiritual Root, why would he use such a crazy method?

"Bang, bang, bang…"

Consecutive explosive sounds erupted within Long Chen's body as his meridians opened one after another. Each time a meridian opened, Long Chen had to endure excruciating pain.

When the meridians throughout his body were cleared, Long Chen nearly passed out. It took him a full hour to recover.

Now that the pain had passed, Long Chen felt as if all the pores on his body had opened. With his breathing, the invisible Spiritual Qi in the world was slowly being absorbed by him.

"Very good. The meridians have been cleared; I can finally Cultivate."

Long Chen sensed his body. Now that his meridians were cleared, he could naturally absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi through his pores to nourish his body and make it stronger.

Although he had just cleared his meridians, after the transformation by the Spiritual Qi, Long Chen's body was full of strength.

"Hoo."

He threw a punch that carried a whistling wind. A smile appeared on Long Chen's Face; this pain had not been suffered in vain.

Ordinary people Cultivate by first entering the Qi Sensing Realm. Only after being able to sense the Spiritual Qi can they enter the Qi Gathering Realm.

But Long Chen took an unconventional path. By using the medicinal power to open his pores, he forcibly drew in the power of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to pierce through his meridians, which was equivalent to entering the Qi Gathering Realm in one go.

However, this Qi Gathering Realm referred to the fact that Long Chen's body had been strengthened and nourished to the level of the Qi Gathering Realm. Because he lacked a Dantian and could not condense a Qi Cyclone, he was not truly in the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Although I have forcibly cleared my meridians, I cannot store True Qi in my Dantian. In a fight, I wouldn't have any stamina, so this is still not enough."

Long Chen searched through his memories for a long time. Suddenly, among countless Alchemy techniques, he found a unique martial arts memory—the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.

To Long Chen's surprise, the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art was practically tailor-made for him. It was a secret technique that unlocked the human body's hidden treasures. It did not Cultivate the Dantian, but the Nine Stars.

The Nine Stars were nine secret Treasure Troves within the human body. If he opened all nine, it would be equivalent to opening nine Dantians. Seeing this, Long Chen nearly jumped for joy.

However, when he read further, Long Chen's heart instantly turned cold. The cultivation of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art required the consumption of countless Medicinal Pills.

Just the condensation of the first star—the Fengfu Star—would consume countless amounts of energy. If he relied solely on absorbing external energy, he wouldn't be able to condense it even in a hundred years.

To condense the first star, he had to use Medicinal Pills, and in a terrifyingly large quantity at that; otherwise, it would be impossible to Cultivate.

But the current financial situation of the Long Family was dire; they simply didn't have the wealth to buy Medicinal Pills. Furthermore, the pill he had just eaten couldn't even be counted as a Medicinal Pill.

"I must find a way to earn some money."

Long Chen pondered for a moment, changed his clothes, and walked out of his room. It was already past noon, but in such a large Marquis Residence, there were hardly any figures to be seen, making it appear extremely desolate.

Long Chen's father, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, had always been stationed at the border wasteland. Over the years, Long Chen and his mother had suffered the cold shoulders of everyone in the Empire's capital. Although they held a title, they still lived very frugally. The entire Marquis Residence only had a dozen or so maids and servants because they couldn't afford any more.

It could be said that among all the nobles, the Long Family was the most destitute Family, and Long Chen was the most destitute among all the young lords.

The Fengming Empire had a thriving martial culture, and everyone practiced martial arts. However, Long Chen happened to have a special Physique that made him unable to practice martial arts, making him an object of ridicule.

In contrast to Long Chen, his father, Tianxiao, was a peerless expert who guarded the border wasteland. Even with the savagery of the barbarian tribes, they could not invade the Fengming Empire by even a single step.

Long Tianxiao was a generation's Military God of the Fengming Empire, while Long Chen was a piece of trash who couldn't even enter the state of Qi sensing. It was impossible not to make people feel that it was a case of a tiger father producing a dog son.

Countless people mocked him, and Long Chen didn't care. But a few days ago, Zhou Yaoyang, the young lord of the Barbarian Marquis, mocked Long Chen for not being Long Tianxiao's seed.

Long Chen was furious at the time; that was clearly an insult to his mother's fidelity. Having been blinded by rage, Long Chen had boldly challenged the other party to a duel.

But the opponent was an expert at the 7th Heaven of the Qi Gathering Realm, while he was an ordinary person who couldn't even generate Qi sensing. It was simply asking for humiliation.

That was why news later spread that Long Chen had been beaten into a coma and sent back to the Long Family. For a time, Long Chen became the laughingstock of the entire Empire's capital.

Leaving the Marquis Residence, Long Chen headed straight for the capital's Hundred Herbs Pavilion, which dealt in various precious medicinal herbs. He needed to understand the market for medicinal herbs.

Along the way, many people saw Long Chen come out and couldn't help but point and whisper behind his back. Long Chen was already used to this.

At the same time, he sneered inwardly. His father guarded the border wasteland and had performed peerless feats for the entire Fengming Empire.

But what did he get? He and his mother suffered endless bullying and cold shoulders in the capital, and he himself was almost beaten to death. Was this the reward? A group of people protected by his father were now casting cold looks at him. Was this the reward?

Long Chen quickened his pace. Although he wasn't afraid of such gazes, he still felt somewhat annoyed. However, just then, his path was blocked.

"Oh, isn't this Young Lord Long Chen? I heard you were beaten so badly you couldn't even recognize your own mother. How are you running around so lively today?"

In front of Long Chen, a youth of sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed in luxurious clothing and accompanied by two guards, was looking at Long Chen with a mocking expression.

This person was also a young lord from a noble Family, named Li Hao. However, his title was not high, and his status could not compare to Long Chen's. But in the Fengming Empire, titles and status were secondary; the most important thing was strength.

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

If it were the Long Chen of the past, he probably would have turned around and left. But today, Long Chen looked at Li Hao, shook his head, and sighed:

"People say that a good dog does not block the path. It seems you are not a good dog."

"Long Chen, it seems you weren't taught enough last time. Do you want to be beaten half to death and thrown off the arena again?" Li Hao's expression changed for a moment, then he scoffed mockingly.

"That is why I say you are just a dog, only fit to eat excrement beside Zhou Yaoyang." Long Chen shook his head. He didn't want to waste time on such a person; he had important things to do, so he walked past him.

"Long Chen, you are courting death!"

Li Hao was furious. He hadn't expected the usually cowardly Long Chen to be so tough, completely disregarding him, and reached out to block Long Chen.

Long Chen frowned slightly. Just as he was about to speak, a figure walked over and scolded Li Hao loudly: "Li Hao, you are the one courting death! Who do you think you are, daring to threaten my brother?"

The person who came was a very tall man, appearing to be eighteen or nineteen years old, but he was nine feet tall, standing more than a head taller than both of them, with a very intimidating Aura.

"Shi Feng, this is none of your business. You had better not meddle in other people's affairs."

Upon seeing Shi Feng, Li Hao couldn't help but roar, though his voice lacked confidence. Shi Feng was also a young lord with a status similar to his, but Shi Feng was an expert at the 8th Heaven of the Qi Gathering Realm, while he was only at the 3rd Heaven.

Furthermore, Shi Feng was born with Divine Power. Among those of the same rank, very few were his match, and Li Hao didn't have the guts to challenge Shi Feng.

"Brother Long Chen, I heard you were beaten by that bastard Zhou Yaoyang. Brother will go and vent your anger for you." Shi Feng looked at Long Chen, his Face full of anger.

Long Chen looked at the big guy in front of him, a trace of warmth rising in his heart. Shi Feng was the only person in the entire capital who treated him like a brother.

"It's fine. My revenge, I will take it myself. You can rest assured." Long Chen smiled slightly and patted Shi Feng on the shoulder.

Seeing Long Chen say this, Shi Feng felt that Long Chen might be a bit embarrassed, so he didn't bring it up again.

"Let's go, come for a stroll with me." Long Chen laughed, and after saying that, he prepared to take Shi Feng away.

Seeing that the two of them were treating him like air, Li Hao was furious and cursed: "Long Chen, you bastard, if you have any guts, then challenge me to a duel!"

Long Chen had just walked a few steps when his expression suddenly sank. Killing Intent surged in his eyes as he slowly turned his head.

"You want to challenge me?" Long Chen's voice was very cold, like shards of ice, making one feel a chill in their bones.

Li Hao couldn't help but shiver. He felt that today's Long Chen was a bit strange, but he had already boasted. If he turned timid now, he would become the laughingstock of the entire capital.

What's more, he had bullied Long Chen many times in the past and was acting entirely on experience, completely ignoring the trace of fear rising in his heart.

"That's right. Do you dare to accept the challenge?" Li Hao said loudly.

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

"Increase the stakes? Hahaha, your Long Family is already on the verge of starvation. What do you have to gamble with? Your Family's mansion, or will you become my slave if you lose?" Li Hao sneered.

However, he did not notice that a cold smile appeared on the corner of Long Chen's mouth, a smile that carried a hint of sinister intent.

"Brother Shi, how about lending me your precious sword?" Long Chen said.

"Take it."

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

Long Chen nodded, secretly keeping this favor in his heart, and said to Li Hao: "This precious sword, although not a top-tier item, is worth eight thousand gold coins. I will value it at five thousand gold coins. If you win, you can take the sword. If you lose, you give me five thousand gold coins. How about it?"

Li Hao's heart stirred. The sword in Shi Feng's hand was forged from fine steel by a famous master; eight thousand gold coins was definitely a very good value.

Now, the fool Long Chen actually dared to use this as a stake, and he was already overjoyed in his heart.

But verbally, he mocked: "I wonder if, after you lose, someone will turn back on their word?"

"Rest assured, I, Shi Feng, always keep my word." Shi Feng sneered.

"Good, then let's go to the arena and sign the contract. If I don't beat you until you are crawling on the ground looking for your teeth today, I won't be called Li Hao!" Li Hao was overjoyed and said spiritedly.

Long Chen's expression was calm, but a trace of gloom appeared in his eyes. Li Hao was merely a dog beside Zhou Yaoyang and was not taken seriously by Long Chen. However, why were they targeting him so much? What kind of conspiracy was behind this?

But no matter what the conspiracy was, there would be a day when the truth came to light. Long Chen and his group headed straight for an arena outside the capital.