Fire Cloud Palm

Looking at the nine red dots on the animal hide paper in his hand, Long Chen fell into deep thought. The nine dots were distributed without any pattern.

There were no hints, but this time Long Chen looked carefully and realized that there was indeed a faint, almost invisible line connecting those nine dots.

"These must be nine Acupoints."

Long Chen looked at it for a long time before reaching this conclusion. Only by cross-referencing it with the countless meridian diagrams in his mind could he confirm it; if it were anyone else, they wouldn't be able to figure it out even if they worked themselves to death.

"Pass through Liyao, merge with Huiming… rush to Quchi, enter Laogong?"

Long Chen softly recited the Acupoints corresponding to the nine dots. Following the path, Long Chen was stunned: "This is not a fist or palm technique, but a battle skill for wielding weapons."

"What a brilliant method."

Long Chen studied it for a while and discovered that if True Qi circulated through these nine positions, it would be like waves piling up in the Yangtze River, gaining nine layers of amplification. Once unleashed, it would inevitably be terrifyingly powerful.

Haha, I've struck gold! Although I don't know the level of this battle skill, it certainly won't be low. Long Chen was overjoyed.

With a thought, he calmed his heart and focused his Qi. He circulated the energy in his Dantian and poured it into the Liyao Acupoint. However, when he tried to drive the spiritual energy to the second Acupoint, he discovered that his spiritual energy was insufficient.

"Hmm?"

Long Chen was stunned for a moment before immediately understanding. This Cultivation Technique likely had very high requirements for spiritual energy; without enough spiritual energy, it couldn't be activated.

He gave up on the spiritual energy in his Dantian and switched to using the spiritual energy within his Fengfu Star. As expected, the spiritual energy within the Fengfu Star was much more abundant than in his Dantian.

However, when it reached the fourth Acupoint, it stalled again. No matter how hard Long Chen tried, he just couldn't push through to the sixth Acupoint.

"I refuse to believe it."

Long Chen gritted his teeth and pulled a wisp of spiritual energy from his Fengfu Star, injecting it into the vortex within his Dantian. The vortex in his Dantian immediately surged, and a violent force rose up.

Controlling that energy, he rushed forward rapidly.

"The sixth." "The seventh." "The eighth."

"Oh no…"

Long Chen was suddenly alarmed and hurriedly withdrew his spiritual energy, operating his Divine Sense to observe his meridians.

He was shocked to discover that cracks had appeared on his meridians because they couldn't withstand that terrifying energy. If Long Chen had been a second slower in withdrawing his spiritual energy, his meridians might have shattered.

If his meridians had shattered, it would have taken a long time to repair them. Long Chen broke out in a cold sweat.

"This won't work; this thing isn't suitable for me to Cultivate for now." Long Chen had to give up on cultivating the Heaven-Opening technique.

He swallowed a Meridian-Moistening Pill to repair his slightly damaged meridians, then slowly stood up and walked outside.

Pushing open the door, a breath of fresh air rushed towards him. Taking a deep breath, Long Chen felt his fatigue from the past few days lessen significantly.

At this moment, the sun had just risen from the east. Long Chen asked Bao'er about the situation, and everything in the estate was normal. Aman had food and drink every day, and there were no issues.

With that, Long Chen felt relieved. After pondering for a moment, he changed his clothes and prepared to go to the Alchemist Guild to seek help from Great Master Yun Qi.

However, Long Chen felt a bit uneasy. Generally, Alchemists specialized in Alchemy fire and did not Cultivate battle skills, just to concentrate all their energy in hopes of going further on the path of Alchemy.

Alchemists were often very proud and did not hold martial cultivators who fought and struggled in high regard, which was why Great Master Yun Qi had given Long Chen that advice the other day.

However, Long Chen had his own ideas. He had been bullied for too long, and without powerful martial strength, he felt no sense of security.

Status and position were all empty to Long Chen; in the face of absolute strength, they were all like a fragile piece of paper.

However, Long Chen didn't know if Great Master Yun Qi would throw him out when he faced him.

"Long Chen."

While Long Chen was feeling uneasy, he had already walked several streets when suddenly a familiar voice came. Raising his head, he saw a carriage stopped in the distance.

A young girl on the carriage lifted the curtain, looking at Long Chen with a face full of joy. It was clearly Palace Master Chu Yao, who had met Long Chen once before.

"Chu Yao."

Seeing Chu Yao, Long Chen couldn't help but be slightly surprised, but after seeing her, he didn't know why, but his original anxiety was dispelled quite a bit.

Chu Yao suddenly looked around and, seeing that there was no one around early in the morning, waved at Long Chen and said: "Come up quickly."

Long Chen didn't expect Chu Yao to invite him into the carriage. Seeing Chu Yao's look of joy, Long Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he directly boarded Chu Yao's carriage.

The inside of the carriage was very spacious. Besides a fragrant bed, there was also a tea table, with a layer of carpet spread underneath.

"What a coincidence, I actually met you. Come with me to Luoxia Mountain, okay?"

Seeing Long Chen, Chu Yao's beautiful eyes were full of joy, casting aside her usual wilful attitude.

"A beauty invites me; if I dare not go, I fear being struck by lightning," Long Chen laughed.

Chu Yao's pretty face flushed red. Restricted by all sorts of rules in the palace, she really liked Long Chen's unrestrained way of speaking.

The carriage slowly left the city and headed towards Luoxia Mountain outside the city.

"Chu Yao, what are we going to Luoxia Mountain for?" Long Chen asked.

"I… I just want to go and play." For some reason, Chu Yao's pretty face flushed crimson, leaving Long Chen somewhat bewildered.

"Long Chen, I haven't delayed you with anything, have I?" Chu Yao asked tentatively.

"No? I was just coming out for a stroll, and isn't this just catching a ride on your carriage to come out and play?" Long Chen laughed.

"By the way, is your brother doing okay now? I'm really sorry about what happened last time." Long Chen still felt a bit embarrassed about the matter regarding the Seventh Prince.

"It's fine, scaring him a bit is good, so he can be honest for a while," Chu Yao laughed.

The two talked all the way, and before long, they arrived at the foot of Luoxia Mountain. Chu Yao got off the carriage directly and had the guard drive back on his own.

"Accompany me up, I really like the scenery here," Chu Yao pointed to the path ahead and said: "When I was little, I often came here to climb the mountain, but after my Imperial Father went into seclusion, I rarely had the chance to come."

Speaking later, a touch of loneliness appeared on Chu Yao's pretty face, making one feel pity. Long Chen couldn't help but sigh; it seemed that no matter where one was born, there were always unsatisfactory aspects.

"Long Chen, what's wrong? Do you have something on your mind?" Seeing that Long Chen wasn't in high spirits, Chu Yao couldn't help but ask.

Seeing Chu Yao's concerned eyes, Long Chen couldn't help but feel a warmth in his heart. He didn't know why, although he had only come into contact with Chu Yao once, and in that complex situation where friend and foe were indistinguishable, she still gave him a feeling of being very trustworthy; it was an indescribable feeling.

Seeing Chu Yao ask, Long Chen felt a movement in his heart and said: "I have indeed encountered some trouble; I want to Cultivate some more Advanced battle skills now."

"You want to Cultivate battle skills? Then ask me! I don't charge tuition fees," Chu Yao's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"I am proficient in thirteen types of battle skills; they all say I am a supreme Genius."

"Proficient" in thirteen types of battle skills? And then use routines to fight others? Long Chen couldn't help but feel some doubt in his heart.

"Hey, what kind of look is that? Are you expressing doubt about what I just said?" An angry look couldn't help but appear on Chu Yao's pretty face.

"You're wrong. I don't have a shred of doubt about your words; rather, I don't believe them at all," Long Chen laughed loudly.

"You bad guy, take this palm!" Chu Yao let out a soft shout and struck a palm down towards Long Chen.

Slap!

Chu Yao struck Long Chen's chest with her palm. Although she didn't circulate spiritual energy, the force was not small, striking Long Chen's body with an explosive sound.

"You… why didn't you dodge?" Chu Yao didn't expect Long Chen not to dodge or evade.

"If I had dodged, you wouldn't have hit me, and that would be so boring," Long Chen laughed. However, with a jade hand pressed against his chest, even though it was separated by clothing, he could still feel a trace of an unusual sensation.

"Long Chen…"

Looking at Long Chen's bright, laughing face, Chu Yao didn't know why she felt a wave of warmth, and she actually leaned her pretty face slowly against Long Chen's chest.

Long Chen suddenly stiffened all over. What is this situation? Long Chen didn't dare to move at all, like a wooden stake.

"Pfft."

Chu Yao suddenly felt her pretty face heat up. Looking at Long Chen's nervous expression, she couldn't help but cover her lips and chuckle: "You bad person, when you hit me the other day, you were like a tiger baring its fangs and brandishing its claws; why have you become a little kitten now?"

Long Chen couldn't help but feel a bit awkward and hurriedly changed the subject: "Chu Yao, I don't treat you as an outsider. I really need to learn some more Advanced battle skills now."

Chu Yao's pretty face flushed red, and she rolled her eyes at Long Chen. Not treating her as an outsider meant treating her as an "insider"; she had clearly misunderstood Long Chen's meaning.

However, seeing that Long Chen spoke seriously, Chu Yao also said with a straight face: "I'm not joking with you; I really am proficient in many battle skills. If you don't believe me, watch."

Chu Yao extended her jade hand, and a scorching aura rose up; a faint red halo appeared on her jade hand.

"Bang."

She struck a palm against a tree as thick as a water bucket. The tree trembled, and leaves fell in abundance. When her jade hand moved away, a shallow jade handprint had already appeared on the tree.

"See that? This is a Human-rank Advanced battle skill, Fire Cloud Palm. How about it? You were scared, right?"

Looking at Long Chen's dumbfounded appearance, a trace of smugness appeared on Chu Yao's pretty face.

Long Chen was indeed shocked—could this level of power even be considered a battle skill? Even without using a battle skill, Long Chen could snap it with one palm.

"Mm, it looks very good," Long Chen evaluated very objectively. Chu Yao's movements were very smooth and dashing; it was pleasing to the eye.

Chu Yao completely missed the implied meaning of Long Chen's words, thinking that Long Chen had been shocked by her, so she very patiently explained the essentials of the move to Long Chen.

However, upon hearing Chu Yao finish explaining the operational method of the Fire Cloud Palm, Long Chen was slightly surprised; this was clearly a set of powerful palm techniques.

"Let me try."

"So fast?" Chu Yao said, somewhat disbelievingly.

Long Chen smiled slightly. A battle skill was nothing more than a method of utilizing spiritual energy, exerting more powerful force through the layers of overlapping meridians in the body.

Long Chen was as familiar as could be with the meridians in his own body. After listening to Chu Yao explain it once, he already understood it completely.

The spiritual energy in his Dantian circulated, and a dense, scorching hot energy erupted. Long Chen shouted loudly and struck out with a palm.

"Boom."

The giant tree in front of Long Chen, which would take several people to wrap their arms around, snapped in response, and the huge tree crown fell with a whistle.

"Bang."

The big tree smashed onto the ground, sand and stones flying, the momentum astonishing. Chu Yao was already stunned on the side; was this really the Fire Cloud Palm she was familiar with?

Looking at the place where the giant tree broke, it was charred—that was the unique mark of the Fire Cloud Palm. Long Chen nodded secretly; it was worthy of being a Human-rank Advanced battle skill, its combat power was too formidable.

However, looking at Chu Yao beside him, whose pretty face was filled with shock, Long Chen felt a movement in his heart and grabbed Chu Yao's jade hand.

"Chu Yao, let me check your body."