Chapter 6

For Long Chen, although Xiao Huang was a cowardly servant, he had loyally followed him for six years. Long Chen always shared his benefits with him. He didn’t know who wanted to harm him, but to kidnap Xiao Huang, how could he not be enraged!

Long Chen knew that Xiao Huang’s parents were sick and needed care. If anything happened to Xiao Huang, Long Chen would feel extremely guilty!

He tore the note to shreds and, without a word, rushed out of the Yang family compound like a whirlwind, heading straight for the Rising Sun Tavern!

The Rising Sun Tavern was near the Jade Emerald Tower. Long Chen increased his speed, and the people on the street felt a whirlwind pass by, then he was gone!

Lifting his head, the brightly lit tavern was clearly visible in the darkness. Long Chen was steadily approaching it. With many pedestrians in front of the tavern, he had to slow down. The entrance was getting closer and closer!

Just then, a carriage pulled by four horses galloped out from the left side of the street. Pedestrians cursed and dodged, but the carriage’s speed did not decrease. Long Chen could have easily avoided it, but at that moment, a child nearby was staring at the oncoming carriage and suddenly cried out!

If the carriage ran over the child, the child would certainly be crushed to death. Long Chen was startled and, without hesitation, turned to embrace the child, his entire body bursting with true qi. At that moment, a horse crashed into Long Chen’s back, sending him flying!

People on the road let out cries of shock, thinking Long Chen and the child would die, but unexpectedly, Long Chen changed his trajectory in mid-air and landed steadily. He didn’t comfort the child, and the crowd didn’t have time to see what he looked like before he disappeared, as he was rushing to save Xiao Huang.

However, the scene was chaotic, and Long Chen, enduring the pain in his back muscles, entered the Rising Sun Tavern.

Just as he stepped over the threshold, Long Chen almost collided with someone. Looking up, the young man in front of him instantly dazzled him.

This young man was about fourteen or fifteen years old, younger than Long Chen. Long Chen’s appearance was already considered handsome, but this young man was so beautiful that he almost seemed demonic. If not for the obvious Adam’s apple, Long Chen would have thought he was a delicate girl.

The two almost collided, and Long Chen stared at him in shock, while the young man was also sizing him up.

“Are you a boy or a girl?”

Unable to control himself, Long Chen blurted out the question.

Hearing this, the young man felt somewhat insulted, but he didn’t get angry. Instead, he calmly looked at Long Chen and pointed to his Adam’s apple, saying, “I am a boy.”

His expression was serious, and his voice was melodious. Long Chen, used to the coquettish tones of the courtesans, felt a strange itch in his heart when he heard the young man speak.

He cursed himself for being an animal and, remembering that Xiao Huang still needed to be saved, quickly moved past the young man and entered the Rising Sun Tavern.

“Just now, I saw you save a child, saving a life…”

The young man spoke to himself behind Long Chen, but seeing Long Chen rush into the tavern, he closed his mouth and watched curiously, clearly admiring Long Chen’s heroic act.

“This person is similar to my brother, and he also has a faint aura of the stars. He must have practiced a star-related combat technique. I haven’t used the ‘Star Body’ technique for a long time…”

The young man muttered to himself, looking at Long Chen’s back.

Just as Long Chen entered, he felt a piercing gaze. Turning his head, he saw Yang Zhan sitting by a window, with a beautiful woman opposite him.

“Yang Zhan is actually here. Could it be that he arranged for Xiao Huang to be kidnapped?”

Seeing the woman in front of him, Long Chen shook his head and said, “Yang Zhan wouldn’t need to use such methods to deal with me. He’s here to flirt…”

Thinking about this, Long Chen didn’t stop and directly went up to the second floor of the Rising Sun Tavern. The room number one peony mentioned in the note was here. Upon arriving, he could no longer contain his anger and quickly approached the destination, then suddenly pushed open the door. Inside, it was pitch black.

Just as he entered the room, he felt a blade’s aura approaching. He quickly dodged and then saw the situation inside. The person who had attacked him was now standing at the door, closing it and coldly watching Long Chen. On the other side, Long Chen saw Xiao Huang, bound with ropes and a cloth in his mouth, looking tense and angry, making muffled sounds.

Next to him stood another man, both masked, but their killing intent was unmistakable.

They were the same two people who had attempted to assassinate Long Chen that night. He still couldn’t understand why someone would send assassins after him, a minor figure.

“Who are you two, and why are you targeting me?”

“Taking someone’s money, we do their dirty work. No need to ask more. Yang Chen, prepare to die!”

Two knives immediately slashed at Long Chen. The ferocity of the attack and the whistling wind made his scalp tingle.

“These two have true qi not much different from mine, but they are experienced in combat and have killed many. They are a hundred times more terrifying than Chen Liu. If I don’t use my full strength today, I will surely die here!”

“Judging by their movements, they are skilled in coordinated attacks. I must defeat one of them first to break their combined power!”

In the darkness, Long Chen’s eyes flashed with cold light. The two knives quickly approached him, but he used his agility to roll to one side, cleverly avoiding the situation of facing both at once. The two black-clothed men attacked him one after the other.

“Wild Wind Chaos Blade!”

With a whoosh, the person in front rushed at Long Chen, the blade instantly approaching him.

Seeing the two black-clothed men separate, Long Chen gritted his teeth, gathered all his true qi, and instead of retreating, charged at the black-clothed man!

“Falling Star Fist!”

In the dark room, a starlight burst forth. The black-clothed man’s eyes were momentarily blinded, and he felt a powerful aura push back his blade, crashing into his body.

Bang!

The leading black-clothed man spewed blood and crashed into the other black-clothed man.

Long Chen charged forward, instantly snatching the other’s knife, roared, and stabbed through his heart, splattering blood on his clothes and face.

The scene, though seemingly simple, was actually heart-stopping. The greatest surprise was that the starlight from the Falling Star Fist had blinded the black-clothed man, and as a mid-rank yellow-grade combat technique, its power was equivalent to the strongest attack of a third-stage Dragon Vein Realm expert, allowing Long Chen to severely injure the black-clothed man and subsequently kill him.

Seeing his partner dead, the other black-clothed man, eyes wide with shock, quickly fled through the window. Long Chen was about to chase after him to find out who wanted to assassinate him, but at that moment, the door burst open, and Yang Zhan stood there, frowning deeply upon seeing Long Chen covered in blood and a dead body on the ground.

“Beast, you really don’t know your place. With a little ability, you dare to kill in the Rising Sun Tavern. Do you not know that I am good friends with the owner here?”

Long Chen ignored him, turned around, and untied Xiao Huang’s ropes, saying, “Xiao Huang, leave here first. We’ll talk about other things later.”

With one killer dead and the other escaped, Xiao Huang looked at Long Chen in shock. However, Yang Zhan, who had just entered, also had a hostile look. Xiao Huang, fearing for his safety, though worried about Long Chen, knew he couldn’t help and hurriedly ran down to find help.

Yang Zhan’s face twisted with anger at being ignored.

Behind Yang Zhan, a well-dressed fat man glanced at the bloody scene, his face pale, and said, “This young master is really over the top. You’ve created such a bloody scene, scaring away many of my customers. This business will suffer a significant loss.”

The two were clearly trying to make Long Chen’s life difficult. Just after killing someone, Long Chen was filled with killing intent. A single glance made the owner, Qing, retreat.

He didn’t want to conflict with Yang Zhan, who was at the fourth stage of the Dragon Vein Realm and had practiced many combat techniques. He wasn’t a match for him yet, so he had to endure.

However, even though Long Chen had stepped back, Yang Zhan still felt angry.

He had long found Long Chen annoying. In the past, he had bullied him, but now this guy had some strength, especially after injuring Chen Liu, which made him swallow his anger. Now, with new and old grievances, his eyes were filled with killing intent.

“… Last time you injured Chen Liu, I let you off. Today, you’ve tarnished our Yang family’s reputation. I really need to teach you a lesson so you don’t act so arrogantly and recklessly!”

As he spoke, he took a few steps forward, his powerful aura pressing down on Long Chen.

“This guy… is really strong.”

The fourth stage of the Dragon Vein Realm was no joke. Yang Zhan’s fierce gaze felt like a mountain, forcing Long Chen to step back.

However, he didn’t put down his knife, the blood still dripping, and his eyes were equally fierce, standing up to Yang Zhan.

Seeing Long Chen’s stance, Yang Zhan became even angrier, gritting his teeth and saying, “You bastard, you actually dare to stand up to me. If you don’t kneel and lick my toes, you won’t leave here alive!”

Long Chen remained silent, coldly watching him.

He knew that if Yang Zhan pushed too hard, even if he didn’t care about his life, he would make the other pay a price.

Just as the two were about to fight, the girl who had been with Yang Zhan earlier appeared behind the owner, her face pale, and she took a few steps back.

“Zhan brother, don’t do this. Let’s leave here, okay…”

Yang Zhan reined in his aura, turned to see the girl, then looked at Long Chen, and said fiercely, “Fine, I’ll let you live for one more day. By tomorrow morning, you’ll know what death feels like.”

With that, he left with the girl.

Long Chen let out a sigh of relief, and his knife fell to the ground.

“Yang Zhan, our score just got higher. I’m almost about to break through to the third stage of the Dragon Vein Realm. When I’m stronger than you, you’ll know what death feels like…”

One of the assassins was dead, but the other might still cause trouble, and the mastermind was still unknown. Everything was unclear, and this place was full of trouble, so Long Chen decided to leave.

Running down the stairs, he saw Xiao Huang waiting anxiously. Seeing Long Chen was fine, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Young Master Chen, when I ran down, a very handsome young man gave me this to give to you. He said he admired you, but he had to leave first.”

Long Chen was taken aback, remembering the incredibly handsome young man, his melodious voice, and his serious, somewhat amusing expression. He took the secret manual from Xiao Huang, opened it, and saw the words “Star Body” written in large characters.

“The young man said this matches your Falling Star Fist. Today, seeing you save a child, he thought you were a good person, and since he didn’t need it, he gave it to you.”

Long Chen nodded and carefully examined the “Star Body.”

“It’s a mid-rank yellow-grade combat technique…”

“I just saved a child, and this kid gave me the Star Body. He must have a strong background. He’s probably not from Baiyang Town but from a powerful faction elsewhere…”

“Well, today’s encounter is a matter of fate. I urgently need this, and he gave it to me. If we meet again, I’ll repay him.”

Long Chen smiled, then sent Xiao Huang home and returned to the Yang family compound.

“… Absorb the power of the stars, integrate it into your skin, bones, and flesh… continuous refinement day and night, and you will achieve the Star Body… as you walk, sand and stones will fly, and a single punch will have the power of a combat technique…”

“This Star Body is a body-refinement technique, more precious than attack manuals.”

“The Star Body has two stages: minor and major. Although the incantations are obscure, I can understand them. Tonight, the stars are bright, and I will use this starlight to practice the Star Body. Once successful, every punch will have the power of a low-rank combat technique. When I meet Yang Zhan, I can escape unharmed, or even fight back!”

For Long Chen, the Star Body was not difficult.

The stars were bright, and he practiced under them, feeling like a fish in water.

After some time, the starlight from the sky was projected onto his body, making him seem like a star, emitting a faint glow.

Suddenly, Long Chen opened his eyes.

“The Star Body is not yet complete, but after today’s intense battle, the nurturing by the starlight, and the mysterious jade pendant, my true qi has surged again. Now, I will break through to the third stage of the Dragon Vein Realm!”